Good afternoon. Qantas has conceded its reputation had already been “hit hard on several fronts” before the consumer watchdog launched legal action and that “it will take time to repair” its standing in the eyes of Australians.
In a lengthy statement on Monday, Qantas said it was still reviewing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s case alleging the airline had sold tickets for thousands of flights that were already cancelled in its system.
Meanwhile, the deputy chairman of Rex Airlines earlier accused Qantas of acting like a “bully” towards smaller aviation players and questioned the pay packet of its outgoing chief executive, Alan Joyce.
Top news
Liberal backbencher criticises robodebt scheme | The Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie has acknowledged that the Coalition’s robodebt scheme was “one of the poorest chapters” of public administration in Australian history and caused “avoidable human suffering”. McKenzie joins fellow first-term MP Keith Wolahan and Bridget Archer as Liberals who have spoken up about the unlawful program.
William Tyrrell’s foster mother pleads guilty to assault of different child | The former foster mother of William Tyrrell, who went missing as a toddler in 2014, has admitted assaulting another child on two occasions but denies intimidating the victim. The woman appeared with her partner at Parramatta local court on Monday for the start of a five-day hearing on the charges.
Ben Roberts-Smith case ‘based on a lie’, court told | The former soldier’s defamation case against three newspapers was an “abuse of process … based on a lie” because he knew the allegations of war crimes made against him were true, the federal court has been told, in an ongoing dispute over who should pay for the marathon trial.
Yoorrook report calls for shakeup of child protection system | Victoria’s truth-telling commission has published its second interim report, calling for First Nations people to be given the power to make decisions over the potential removal of Indigenous children from their families as part of a shakeup of the child protection system.
Japan eases migrant rules amid population crisis | With Japan’s population expected to decline dramatically in the coming decades – leaving a gaping hole in the workforce – it is quietly easing restrictions and accepting record numbers of migrants. The shift provides a welcome boost to the size of Japan’s working-age population, but requires authorities to negotiate the country’s complex relationship with “outside people”.
High interest rates cause UK businesses to fail | About 7,000 businesses are likely to fail every quarter in 2024 as high interest rates cause financial strain and the UK economy enters recession, according to a thinktank. There were more than 6,700 business insolvencies in Britain in the second quarter of 2023.
Ukraine president announces new defence minister | Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced his intention to replace his defence minister, setting the stage for the biggest shake-up of Ukraine’s defence establishment since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022.
Full Story
Labor’s new rules for the gig economy
The government’s long-awaited plan to protect gig economy workers comes before parliament this week. Under the bill, the Fair Work Commission will be given the power to set minimum standards for hundreds of thousands of “employee-like workers” on digital platforms such as Uber and Hungry Panda.
Chief political correspondent Paul Karp tells Jane Lee whether the proposed reforms go far enough to keep workers safe.
What they said …
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“We know Mr Dutton is playing political games because when he had the chance to do something, he didn’t, and now someone else is trying to do something, he tries to tear it down.” – Penny Wong on Peter Dutton and the voice
Wong was attacking comments by the opposition leader after he suggested the Coalition would hold a second referendum if elected and the voice vote fails in October. Dutton said yesterday that he would support holding another referendum for constitutional recognition, but not the government’s voice proposal.
In numbers
Crowds for the first round of the AFLW season have returned to levels not seen since the early years of the competition, and the league has attributed it to the phenomenal interest in the Matildas.
Before bed read
After John Farnham’s iconic song You’re the Voice was revealed as the soundtrack to a new series of ads from the yes campaign, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, took a swipe: “The key line in the lyrics there [is] ‘You’re the voice, try and understand it’,” he told Sky News. “I honestly don’t think most Australians understand it and they want to be informed.”
But as Andrew Stafford argues, Farnham’s song is in fact a gift to the yes campaign that couldn’t have been better timed.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: PARK. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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