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KPMG said around 200 senior staff will be cut as part of a global repositioning of its consulting business to focus more on tech services and AI.

Paul Howes, the head of KPMG’s consulting business, said: “Our clients are expecting us to help them leverage technology to transform their businesses at a much faster pace.

“The traditional ways of working, and some of the legacy assessment and advice services our firm has offered the market are no longer in the same demand. We must now make a rapid, foundational shift to our business to adapt to this generational change.

“This is not about minor adjustments, but about flipping our business to have a strong focus on transformation – utilising emerging technologies, including AI.”

About 250 roles will be affected in some way, though the consulting firm will be looking to redeploy staff where possible. Howes confirmed there would also be redundancies.

The cuts are expected to generate $80 million in annualised cost savings which will be reinvested in the revamped business.

Good afternoon, it’s Caitlin Fitzsimmons and I’m hosting the blog for the rest of the afternoon.

NSW Premier Chris Minns is giving a press conference about investment in Sydney buses, alongside Minister for Western Sydney Prue Car, Transport Minister Jo Haylen and Blacktown MP Stephen Bali.

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Thanks for following this morning, I am handing over to Caitlin Fitzsimmons who will steer our live coverage through the afternoon.

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More than 700,000 voters will be moved to different federal seats in a sweeping plan that reshapes the political contests for independent MPs as well as Labor and the Liberals in key seats in Sydney.

The draft redistribution for NSW seats will not only abolish the seat of North Sydney, held by independent Kylea Tink, but also expand the neighbouring seat of Warringah, held by fellow “teal” independent Zali Steggall, into suburbs such as Cremorne and North Sydney.

The other “teal” electorate on the north side of the harbour, Mackellar on the northern beaches, held by Sophie Scamps, will also expand southwards into territory currently in Warringah, such as the areas around Brookvale.

The former Liberal seat of Bennelong, now held by Jerome Laxale for Labor, will expand eastward to take in some of the suburbs that were previously part of North Sydney, such as the suburb of Lane Cove.

The Liberal seats of Bradfield, one of the party’s strongholds over many years, will also expand its borders in ways that could reshape the contest at the coming election.

Now held by Liberal MP Paul Fletcher, a frontbencher and former cabinet minister, the seat is under challenge from independent campaigner Nicolette Boele, who received funding from Climate 200 at the last election.

The NSW government has announced it is considering increasing the point of consumption tax on wagering from 15 per cent to 20 per cent.

The point of consumption tax (POC) was introduced so that corporate bookmakers were made to pay tax to the state in which a bet was placed, instead of where the bookmaker is registered. It was championed by industry stalwart Tabcorp which is registered in every state and has long bemoaned the unequal tax playing field across the wagering sector.

NSW introduced a 10 per cent POC rate in 2019 and will increase to 15 per cent next month.

Queensland and the ACT have already committed to increasing the POC to 20 per cent while Victoria recently increased to 15 per cent. If NSW increases to 20 per cent it is expected Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia and Tasmania will follow suit.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said on Friday his government would now consider whether to increase to 20 per cent, following a proposal from Tabcorp.

“Gambling companies should always be paying their fair share…The NSW government will apply strict scrutiny to Tabcorp’s proposal. Change will happen if it’s clear the public will be better off,” Mookhey said.

The federal seat of North Sydney is set to be scrapped under a draft federal plan to reset the borders of NSW electorates, with sweeping changes across the state and big implications for the next federal election.

The plan would be a blow to independent MP Kylea Tink, the member for North Sydney, because it would abolish the seat and move its constituents into the surrounding electorates held by other “teal” independents as well as the major parties.

The Australian Electoral Commission, which issued the draft plan shortly after midday, says the new borders would mean moving about 712,000 voters into new electorates.

Read the full story here.

Two backbench Queensland MPs have been found to be in contempt over a clash with pro-Palestinian protesters outside state parliament.

Katter’s Australian Party members Robbie Katter and Nick Dametto stood at a fence holding up “condemn Hamas” signs at protesters in March, sparking fiery scenes.

Protesters flocked to the fence shouting “shame” at the MPs before one person grabbed the sign from Dametto and scrunched it up.

“We should be allowed to have alternative views on things, but these people are completely intolerant of anyone else having another view from them, and were acting like lunatics out there,” Katter said at the time.

The matter was referred to the ethics committee, which tabled a report to parliament on Friday.

The committee found both MPs in contempt for disorderly conduct on parliamentary grounds.

It recommended both MPs issue an unequivocal apology on the floor of the house.

AAP

Atlanta Olympics silver medallist Scott Miller will walk out of prison within the next week after being granted parole on Friday morning.

The swimmer, 47, was convicted of commercial drug supply in 2022. He was sentenced to five years and six months behind bars, with a non-parole period of three years dating from his 2021 arrest.

The NSW State Parole Authority heard on Friday that Miller was assessed at a low to medium risk of reoffending.

“Mr Miller has a long history of substance abuse and appears to display some insight into this problematic behaviour,” a Community Corrections report presented to the Parole Authority said.

Sydney’s heated debate on Vivid’s $8.50 sausage sizzle has had input from Australia’s highest office, as Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared it to be an “un-Australian” price.

Patrons at Vivid posted pictures of the festival’s Fire Kitchen menu, which priced a “sausage sizzle with onions” and a “vegetable sizzle with onions” at $8.50.

Speaking about the issue this morning on Sydney’s Triple M, Albanese was asked if he would do something to resolve the sausage sizzle pricing system. Albanese’s response struck a tone similar to a phrase associated with his predecessor Kevin Rudd: “fair shake of the sauce bottle”.

“That’s just rubbish, isn’t it?” Albanese scoffed in disbelief while talking to Triple M host Mick Molloy.

“It’s un-Australian, I tell you,” Molloy declared.

Albanese unequivocally agreed.

“It is un-Australian, absolutely … save your money and get it off the local sports club,” he says.

“I think we’ve all done our share of duty when our kids are doing junior sport, it used to be $2 at Marrickville.”

The prime minister’s office has been contacted for comment on what Albanese believes is an appropriate sausage sizzle price, but it is yet to respond.

Health ministers from every state and territory say it is time for the federal government to step up funding support, releasing an open letter to the Commonwealth on Friday.

As winter rolls on, diseases such as COVID-19, the flu and RSV are weighing on already-strained health systems.

A letter from the eight ministers says it is under pressure right across Australia.

“We recognise that the situation has been exacerbated by a decade of freezing Medicare rates and aged care underfunding,” the letter said.

“But there is more that can be done and needs to be done to tackle this national crisis.”

General practice has been steadily declining for the past decade, the letter said, with fewer new doctors training to become GPs. Australians waiting for support from the NDIS, in-home care packages or federal government-funded aged care facilities are also stuck for weeks in hospital beds.

The ministers want the federal government to further increase GP Medicare bulk-billing incentives and lift restrictions that limit the number of medical school places.

They are also urging the Commonwealth to implement a new agreement that would deliver 45 per cent minimum funding for each person treated in public hospitals and a program to require aged care providers to support eligible patients stuck in hospitals.

NSW Health Minister Ryan Park told ABC Radio the states and territories required immediate support.

With AAP