Australia news LIVE: Two more Australians located in Nepal and Tibet as specialist drone operators sent to assist rescue efforts; Coalition continue to defend plan to slash tobacco excise

Emily KaineUpdated September 4, 2026 — 7:35am,first published 6:45amKey PostsTwo more Aussies in Nepal make contactBy Emily KaineTwo more Aussies who had been unaccounted for in Nepal have made contact, the government confirmed this morning, bringing the total number of Australians missing in the flood-hit region down to 36.The two citizens, who were previously uncontactable, confirmed they were safe. They do not require consular assistance.Treasurer Jim Chalmers has just confirmed the news on ABC TV.Latest Posts7.35amHume downplays Canavan’s attack on ‘feminised’ education By Brittany BuschDeputy Liberal leader Jane Hume has downplayed Nationals leader Matt Canavan’s attack on Australia’s Respectful Relationships program, saying he was speaking from personal experience when he said it pushed an “anti-boy ideology”.Hume disagreed that political activism was creeping into classrooms, as Opposition Leader Angus Taylor said yesterday, but said Canavan had the right to speak up about his own child’s education.“Matt was talking about his own experiences as a parent and the program that his son had been through,” she told Sunrise.“This doesn’t need to be an attack on teachers, and we should be able to take a position on whether political activism is taking place in our classroom. That’s unacceptable.” 7.16amNumber of missing Australians revised to 36, Chalmers confirmsBy Daniel Lo SurdoTwo more Australians in Nepal and Tibet have been found safe, Treasurer Jim Chalmers has confirmed, revising the total number of Australians unaccounted for down to 36.“Two more Australians were located overnight, that would be a huge relief to the loved ones of those who’ve been located,” he told ABC TV moments ago. “We still have very serious concerns for the 36 we haven’t been able to locate yet.”Treasurer Jim Chalmers.Alex EllinghausenThe federal government has sent 40 emergency personnel workers to assist with recovery efforts in Nepal and Tibet after catastrophic floods swept through the region last week.More than 1200 people have been killed in the disaster, while more than 4200 are still unaccounted for.Two more Aussies in Nepal make contactBy Emily KaineTwo more Aussies who had been unaccounted for in Nepal have made contact, the government confirmed this morning, bringing the total number of Australians missing in the flood-hit region down to 36.The two citizens, who were previously uncontactable, confirmed they were safe. They do not require consular assistance.Treasurer Jim Chalmers has just confirmed the news on ABC TV.6.45amNepal will have to rebuild 20,000 houses, authorities sayBy Nepal will have to rebuild about 20,000 houses in flood-ravaged areas, authorities said overnight, as rescuers continued to search for workers trapped in tunnels of hydropower projects and thousands remained missing after last week’s catastrophe.A glacier collapse on August 26 sent a deluge of ice, rock and mud sweeping through the impoverished nation’s border region with China, wiping out settlements and villages and leaving few houses standing and undamaged.“Our preliminary estimates are that 7500 houses have been completely destroyed, either washed away or buried under debris and mud,” Dharma Raj Upreti, chief of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, told Reuters.Even houses still standing were not habitable, Upreti said, with authorities estimating that some 20,000 would have to be rebuilt in different, safer locations.6.40amDefence requests juror’s removal in Clancy trialBy Tom HousdenJurors in the trial of a US woman who has admitted killing her three children sent the judge a note on the sixth day of deliberations complaining that one person on their panel wasn’t following the court’s instructions regarding reasonable doubt.The note from the deadlocked jury came after they twice told the judge in the past two days that they could not agree whether 36-year-old Lindsay Clancy was criminally responsible for her children’s deaths in January 2023.Judge William Sullivan, after receiving the note, brought in each juror individually and questioned them in private. The judge then reread his instructions on reasonable doubt before sending them back to continue their deliberations.Lindsay Clancy in court on August 21.Mark Chavous/Pool The Enterprise via AP6.34amWhat’s making news todayBy Emily KaineHello and welcome to our live coverage of national news for Friday, September 4. Here’s what you need to know today.Foreign Minister Penny Wong has said a group of specialist drone operators will be deployed to Nepal “in the coming days” to help ongoing search and rescue efforts after catastrophic floods. There are still 38 Australians unaccounted for in Nepal and Tibet, and the death toll in Nepal has reached 1252 people. More than 4200 are still missing. China has put the death toll in Tibet at 21, with 541 others listed as missing.The deadline to deliver the findings of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has been pushed back four days so the final report does not overshadow the first anniversary of the Bondi terror attack. Commissioner Virginia Bell will deliver the findings on December 18.Opposition home affairs spokesman Jonno Duniam has dismissed suggestions the Coalition had copied One Nation in its plan to slash the tobacco excise after it vowed to cut the tax by 80 per cent.American journalist and second-wave feminism leader Gloria Steinem died at age 92, according to a post on her official Instagram account. Steinem was a leading activist for the second-wave feminism movement in the late 1960s and 70s, which focused on sexuality, reproductive rights, and critiquing patriarchal social structures and institutions, among other issues.1 of 1