What we learned, Monday 20 November
And that’s it for Guardian Australia’s live news blog today. It’s been a busy start to the week:
The Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, resigned after the company’s nationwide outage almost two weeks ago.
Anthony Albanese says he’s “very concerned” at Australian navy personnel being targeted by a Chinese sonar pulse. The divers affected have been cleared to return to duty.
Both DFAT and the department of defence offered their sympathies to the family for a former Australian soldier who was killed in Ukraine.
Cameraman James Rose was identified as a passenger on the jet that crashed into waters off Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula on Sunday afternoon. The search for the second aircraft downed after the mid-air collision continues.
The man who allegedly killed the son of South Australia’s top police officer by hitting him with his car has been released on bail.
The New South Wales government vowed not to accept the federal government’s infrastructure funding cuts announced last week.
And Richard Marles used his taxpayer-funded jet to make a 2,000km round trip to attend the Cricket World Cup final while on a trip to India for ministerial talks.
Thank you for joining us – and see you tomorrow morning.
Updated
Marles used taxpayer-funded jet to attend Cricket World Cup final
Richard Marles has used his taxpayer-funded jet to make a 2,000km round trip to attend the Cricket World Cup final while on a trip to India for ministerial talks.
The reported six-hour detour to Ahmedabad in India’s west from talks in New Delhi, as first reported by news.com.au, allowed the defence minister to attend the sporting event, where he presented Australian captain, Pat Cummins, with the World Cup trophy after Australia’s win against India.
A spokesperson from his office said all travel arrangements were made in line with the “relevant guidelines and security procedures”.
It comes amid criticism over the lack of transparency around the cost and flight plans of the special purpose flights.
The Defence department has stopped publishing its biannual reports about the use of its RAAF “special purpose” jets, which are used by the prime minister and senior ministers and their staff to travel for official reasons.
The department has declined to publish the details on “security grounds”.
Earlier, Guardian Australia reported the flights are thought to cost about $4,600 an hour and the defence reports were the only way for the public to know how they were being used.
Separately, the reporting system run by the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority remains inactive, and has not reported MP expenses since October last year.
Updated
Bill Shorten has played down reports the federal government is looking to rein in NDIS costs by changing the eligibility criteria for those with autism diagnoses.
Over the weekend, News Corp newspapers reported “discussions” were under way with state governments in an attempt to “raise the bar” to limit the scheme’s exponential growth.
It comes as the Albanese government prepares for a national cabinet discussion in early December to discuss recommendations outlined in the NDIS review, handed over to the government in August but not yet publicly released.
The financial sustainability of the NDIS has been in sharp focus in recent years. Last year’s October budget projected the cost of the program will increase from $35bn in 2022-23 to $52bn in 2025-26. In response, the federal government has pledged to cap growth spending at 8% each year.
Shorten did not rule out eligibility changes but told Guardian Australia the NDIS would continue to “champion early intervention for kids with severe disabilities”:
I can say that our intention is to make sure the NDIS becomes a more human. less bureaucratic experience and that we want to make sure shonky service providers are given short shrift ... but I want to reassure participants and families that we are not going to change things overnight and there will be a transparent transition that we work on together. Any reforms would focus on future participants seeking to enter the scheme.
The NDIS minister added the review would be publicly released after the next national cabinet meeting.
Updated
The federal government has accepted the latest advice from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (ATAGI) on use of the new coronavirus XBB 1.5 vaccine as part of the national Covid vaccine program.
All available Covid vaccines continue to provide strong protection against serious disease. The new XBB 1.5 vaccines have been found to provide modest improved protection against the strains circulating in the community. The XBB 1.5 vaccines will be available along with the existing bivalent vaccines.
There is no change to current vaccine eligibility recommendations.
Updated
Divers in naval incident 'cleared to return to normal duties'
Richard Marles’s office has confirmed the Australian divers involved in an incident with a Chinese warship have recovered and returned to duty.
A spokesperson told Guardian Australia:
Medical assessments conducted after the divers exited the water identified they had sustained minor injuries likely due to being subjected to the sonar pulses from the Chinese destroyer.
All members of the dive team are well, and have now been cleared to return to normal duties.
We understand that several divers were initially involved in the incident, with one reporting more significant effects. Marles’s office had initially reported several naval members injured, but Anthony Albanese said today “one person suffered an injury as a result of the actions of China”.
Updated
Driver in alleged hit-and-run of South Australia top cop son released on bail
The man who allegedly killed the son of South Australia’s top police officer by hitting him with his car has been released on bail, reports AAP.
Dhirren Randhawa, 18, faces four charges, including causing death by dangerous driving, over the death of Charlie Stevens, 18, on Friday night in Goolwa, about 90km south-east of Adelaide.
Police said Charlie died surrounded by family and friends about 7pm on Saturday.
Randhawa appeared via audio-visual link before Christies Beach magistrates court on Monday and his bail application was not opposed by the director of public prosecutions, Martin Hinton.
Read more:
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After high court detainee decision AFP will need more funds, says AFP Association president
Over to the process of releasing some 90 detainees from indefinite immigration detention, and Australian Federal Police Association president, Alex Caruana, says the AFP needs funding and resources to carry out its community protection role properly.
Following the high court’s decision to end detention, former detainees will need to adhere to strict monitoring, including wearing tracking bracelets, adhering to curfews and routine reporting. The plan was resource-heavy and expensive, he told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
Caruana said that a “quick” consultation was done with the AFP, but that the high court decision had serious implications for its officers.
In order for the AFP to do something like this that will need to be pulling police officers away from other jobs or other priorities. For instance, are they being taken away from organised crime, gang mitigation or drug importation mitigation, child exploitation mitigation or are they coming from elsewhere? Is the government happy for us to turn off certain crime types or certain investigative types in order to look after these people? We need to be well-funded and well-resourced, and right now we are the lowest police force in Australia.
Updated
Nationals’ McCormack: PM must ‘rattle China’s cage’ over sonar attack
Labor frontbencher, Tim Ayres, has defended the decision not to provide a formal “readout” of Anthony Albanese’s discussion with Xi Jinping at APEC, saying the “government takes its national interest obligations very seriously” and that the matter was “very serious”.
Also speaking with ABC’s Afternoon Briefing was leader of the Nationals, Michael McCormack, who added his views to the conversation around PM Albanese’s response to the Chinese sonar attack.
“What did Prime Minister Albanese know, when did he know it, did he raise it with Xi Jinping and if not, why not?” asked McCormack.
When we have people who wear uniform for and on behalf of our nation being placed at risk by the actions of Chinese military or any military, we need our prime minister to be rattling the cage, to ask questions as to why this is happening.
If China is great friends with Australia, and we know they are, then they need to be accountable and they need to be absolutely told this is not acceptable and will not be tolerated in the future and the Prime Minister should tell the public that very thing.
Updated
Police present at pro-Palestine protest at NSW premier’s electorate office
A pro-Palestinian protest is currently underway outside premier Chris Minns’ electorate office in Kogarah. NSW Police confirmed to Guardian Australia that it has officers at the scene.
Happening now in front of Chris Minns' office @ChrisMinnsMP pic.twitter.com/9ymGymkGfo
— melanincholy 🔻 (@riotersbloc) November 20, 2023
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China will keep pressing to see how far it can go, policy analyst says
Executive director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Justin Bassi, has told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that Australia must call out China’s dangerous pattern of unacceptable behaviour.
There is no doubt that the actions taken and the use of the sonar was deliberate, it was dangerous and provocative … Australia is silent as China continues to breach one international rule after another. So it is very significant and clearly resulted in injuries to Australian personnel.
He said the pattern of behaviour, including directing lasers at Australian planes and releasing chaff into the engines of surveillance planes, “goes to show China will continue pressing and pressing to see how far they can go”.
We will never know if Xi Jinping or the Foreign Minister Wang Yi knew about it, but … if it is the case that the Prime Minister did not raise the issue, they will leave with the view that Australia is putting economic interests above security interests.”
Updated
Shadow defence minister asks if PM was fully briefed about China sonar incident
Continuing with ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, questioned why PM Anthony Albanese had apparently not raised the issue of the sonar attack with President Xi Jinping at the APEC Summit.
When asked whether the opposition had formed a working hypothesis about PM’s handling of the situation, Hastie said there were “two options.”
Either [the PM] was not briefed to give implausible deniability – and that is a serious concern that the prime minister was not briefed of a serious action taken against Royal Australian Navy divers - or he knew and he did not raise it with Xi Jinping. In the prime minister’s own words, ‘We must co-operate where you can with China and we must disagree where we must’. This is a point where we do disagree and it is a point of disagreement that he could raise man-to-man, peer-to-peer, with Xi Jinping.
If he was briefed why didn’t he raise it and if he wasn’t briefed, why wasn’t he briefed by the deputy prime minister?
Updated
Andrew Hastie: Growing pattern of ‘intolerable’ Chinese behaviour
Shadow defence minister, Andrew Hastie, says there is “no excuse” for a Chinese warship’s sonar attack that injured Australian naval divers.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, he says “there is no excuse for launching this sonar attack” and that “lives could have been lost in the worst-case scenario or a personnel could have been seriously injured”.
This behaviour is not to be tolerated and it is important that we remember last year in February and June when the Chinese Navy and a Chinese fighter both compromised the safety of two P-8A Poseidon aircraft conducting routine maritime surveillance.
This is a pattern that is growing and we need to draw a line under it and assert our interest, our sovereignty and our values.”
Updated
Defence confirms death of former Australian soldier in Ukraine fighting
A department of defence spokesperson has confirmed it is aware of the death of a former Australian soldier in Ukraine.
Defence offers its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the former soldier at this difficult time.
Defence will provide support to the soldier’s former unit and other members of the Australian Defence Force.
Earlier on Monday, DFAT offered its sympathies to the family of the deceased after the ABC reported that a former Australian Army member was among several foreign soldiers killed by a Russian artillery strike during fighting in eastern Ukraine last month.
Updated
NSW doesn’t accept federal infrastructure funding cuts, denies ‘whingeing’
The New South Wales government has vowed not to accept the federal government’s infrastructure funding cuts announced last week.
The roads minister, John Graham, says conversations between Canberra and Macquarie St continued over the weekend but they are yet to reach a new agreement and there are no guarantees about what NSW will receive.
He says:
We don’t accept that’s the final settlement. We don’t accept that’s where things should rest.
The premier, Chris Minns, insists he is not “whingeing” and that the federal government needs to find the money for the infrastructure needed for NSW’s growing population.
Federal Infrastructure minister Catherine King last week announced the government’s plan to strip funding from a number of planned projects.
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Albanese: government will analyse Optus outage to learn from ‘shocking incident’
Anthony Albanese says the Optus outage last week was “a shocker” and that it is “not surprising” CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has resigned.
Returning to the Sky News interview we covered earlier, Albanese was critical that customers were not given more updates on the telco disaster.
“The CEO has resigned, that of course is not surprising given the circumstances which are there,” the PM said.
He said the government would “set up an analysis” to investigate the lessons from the crash.
“This was a shocking incident. [Communications minister] Michelle Rowland was right on top of it out there, giving more information, frankly, than Optus were giving out their to customers.
“This is a really regrettable incident. We’ll be doing further work on a range of issues, including cyber security, this week ... but clearly this was just a complete fail.”
Updated
Virgin, ground workers settle new pay deal but cabin crew concerns not addressed
Virgin Australia has struck a new pay deal with its ground workers, ending the looming threat of them taking industrial action, reports AAP.
The airline isn’t in the clear from strikes just yet, however, with cabin crews to begin voting on a protected action ballot next week as key concerns go unaddressed.
The Transport Workers’ Union declared victory on Monday, claiming its agreement for ground staff brought fairer pay, more secure jobs, safer working conditions and a commitment to sourcing more handling jobs from within.
It says experienced workers, who took the biggest cut throughout the pandemic, are looking at a pay increase of between eight and 20 per cent in the first year, before 6.5 per cent raises across the board in the next two.
“This is the premium enterprise agreement Virgin workers knew they needed to achieve from (owners) Bain Capital to correct pay and conditions and make jobs more secure after administration and pandemic sacrifices had left them struggling to make ends meet,” TWU national secretary Michael Kaine said in a statement.
“Workers are the backbone of an airline. Virgin’s commitment to insource more jobs is a stark contrast to the brutal, illegal outsourcing approach of its rival, Qantas.”
Updated
Thanks, Emily.
A little light relief this Monday afternoon with our gallery about the popularity of jousting in Australia.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the medieval sport in Australia, with Ballarat’s Victorian Medieval Festival drawing crowds to Kryal Castle on Sunday:
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. There’s still plenty more to come, and you’ll have the lovely Daisy Dumas here to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage.
Albanese on Australian cricket captain Pat Cummins: ‘a champion, his leadership is extraordinary’
The interview wraps up as Anthony Albanese is asked about Australia’s victory at the Cricket World Cup overnight.
The PM sends a shoutout to captain Pat Cummins, the team leader who came under heavy fire in recent times in certain media corners for backing progressive social causes, such as reportedly voicing concerns over sponsorship from Alinta Energy and kneeling in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Someone who was being criticised for being woke, articles calling on him to be cast aside ... he is a champion, his leadership is extraordinary,” Albanese said of Cummins.
A gutsy decision to bowl first to India at home, the crowd was extraordinary.
Congratulations, a proud day ... such a fantastic achievement.
Updated
PM responds to criticism Labor has been slow to act after detention decision
The interview moves on to the high court decision on indefinite detention, which has led to the release of 93 people from detention.
Responding to criticisms that the Labor government was slow to react, Anthony Albanese said:
As soon as it occurred, we were ready to go ... we’ve acted within days of this high court ruling.
“We didn’t make the decision to release these people”, Albanese said, noting it was a high court decision.
Asked about the Coalition’s calls for responses like the high-risk terrorist offenders framework to be used, the PM said the government was waiting for the full legal reasons for the high court’s decision before taking further actions.
Updated
Albanese: Australia has raised navy incident with China through ‘all the forums available’
Sky host Kieran Gilbert asked if the sonar incident would trouble Australia’s thawing diplomatic relationship with China.
Anthony Albanese responded that it was “a regrettable incident”. While still resisting confirming whether he brought it up directly with Xi Jinping at Apec last week, Albanese added that Australia had raised the incident through “all the appropriate channels and all the forums that are available”.
Updated
Albanese resists confirming or denying bringing up navy incident with Xi Jinping
On the sonar incident, Anthony Albanese said “we’ve raised it very clearly through all the normal channels” but is resisting confirming or denying whether he brought it up directly in a meeting with China’s Xi Jinping last week.
He told Sky:
I can assure you, we raised these issues in the appropriate way and very clearly, unequivocally. China is in no misunderstanding on Australia’s view on this.
The PM said he won’t speak about private conversations he’s had with other world leaders, including Xi.
Responding to criticisms from deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley, alleging he hadn’t raised it with Xi, Albanese noted the former Coalition government’s communications with Beijing were frozen in a diplomatic dispute, and raised the leaking of former PM Scott Morrison’s texts with French president Emmanuel Macron as an example he didn’t want to repeat.
Updated
Albanese ‘very concerned’ about Chinese navy incident
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says he’s “very concerned” at Australian navy personnel being targeted by a Chinese sonar pulse.
Speaking on Sky News just now, the prime minister described it as “dangerous, unsafe and unprofessional from the Chinese military.”
One person suffered an injury as a result of the actions of China.
This is the sort of incident I’ve spoken about … why we need communication and guard rails, and we need to avoid reckless events like this. This is why we’ve made our strong objections to China.
This is one of those times we disagree with China ... this sort of event should not occur.
The government has said it appropriately registered a complaint with Beijing about an incident between Australian and Chinese navy ships last week.
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, had accused Albanese of “prioritising photo ops” with Xi Jinping rather than taking up the issue.
Updated
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is due to appear on Sky News shortly – we’ll bring you that here on the blog.
Software firm Salesforce appears at hearing into Synergy 360 procurement controversy
Cloud-based software company Salesforce is appearing before a Senate committee hearing about its involvement in the Synergy 360 procurement controversy.
To recap, the joint committee of public accounts and audit is investigating possible “tainted contracts” following allegations that the former Coalition minister Stuart Robert helped lobbying firm Synergy 360 and its client, Infosys, win government contracts.
In March, a review of NDIA and Services Australia contracts found the government spent $374m on contracts deemed to be poor value for money, with deficiencies in 19 out of 95 contracts examined, including perceived conflicts of interest.
Sassoon Grigorian, senior director policy at Salesforce, is fronting senators today, where he’s told them that Salesforce met with Robert through meetings with Synergy 360 on three occasions.
The company’s submission stated two meetings occurred in June 2019 and one meeting occurred in September 2020. It added Salesforce did not request these meetings.
The submission also revealed Salesforce paid Synergy 360 a total of $214,200 over a two-year period with a monthly retainer of $9,000 from July 2019 until December 2020, when it was increased to $9,900 until the contract ended on 30 June 2021.
Robert has denied any wrongdoing. He has previously rejected any “implied imputation” that he had influenced procurement, declaring he had “zero involvement” and that departmental procurement was conducted with the “highest levels of probity”.
Updated
Sarah Hanson-Young on Optus CEO quitting: ‘She has taken responsibility’
Greens communications spokesperson and chair of the Optus outage inquiry, Sarah Hanson-Young, said that in leaving the role, CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin had “taken responsibility” for the 14-hour outage earlier this month.
In an earlier press conference, Hanson-Young said:
It’s more than I can say about some blokes in her position, frankly.
Asked if she faced undue pressure at the Senate inquiry where Bayer Rosmarin was asked if she would resign, Hanson-Young said she faced pressure from the public over the outage, and there is a public expectation that people front up over such an incident.
On whether it could be compared to the treatment of former Australia Post CEO Christine Holgate, Hanson-Young said Bayer Rosmarin was calm and confident at the hearing on Friday, but ultimately Optus did not communicate with its customers when it needed to:
Optus was very reluctant to front the press, and that’s been seen by the public as not good enough.
Updated
Optus says earlier outage in Melton, Victoria was restored by 9.40am
An Optus spokesperson has confirmed an earlier outage affecting Melton in Victoria was restored by 9.40am.
This morning, Optus notified that an underground fibre break had caused customers in and around Melton, Victoria to experience service issues with their mobile, voice and data services.
A spokesperson said by 9.40am network services were restored.
Updated
Public school underfunding to be $39bn over next six years if no new deals, report says
Public schools will be underfunded by $39bn over the next six years unless governments introduce new agreements to address funding shortfalls, a new report suggests.
The report, compiled for the Australian Education Union (AEU) by economist Adam Rorris, suggests public schools will fall short more than $6bn a year of reaching minimum funding arrangements agreed to under the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), while private schools will remain overfunded by just short of $3bn.
In 2023, private schools are expected to be overfunded by around $815m, the report suggests.
Rorris told AAP there was an “an inherent and obvious illogicality” to the findings:
But worse than an illogicality, there is an inherent injustice that goes to the heart of good government and of doing the right thing by Australia’s children.
Financial projections in the report are made from the start of 2023 to 2028 - the last year governments have agreed private school funding will be in excess of SRS levels.
The National School Reform Agreement (NSRA) review, which will negotiate bilateral funding agreements between states and territories, was handed down to education ministers at the end of October. It will be released publicly next month.
Updated
Michelle Rowland on Optus chief’s resignation: ‘no doubt a difficult decision’
Outgoing Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin had attempted to alert communications minister Michelle Rowland of her resignation prior to the announcement but was unable to reach her as she was in cabinet.
The two have since spoken about the interim arrangements at Optus and Rowland sent her good wishes:
This was no doubt a difficult decision and we wish her well for her future endeavours.
The Optus outage experienced earlier this month caused significant disruption to the community, particularly small businesses.
We need to learn the lessons to ensure industry and government is as prepared as possible, given no network is fully immune.
- from AAP
Updated
The Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) has released its first course offers for 2024, showing a drop in health courses offset by management and commerce degrees.
Some 4,193 post school applicants received commencement offers to universities, Tafes and independent colleges today, a slight rise from 2022 (4,126). The vast majority (3,954) of offers were to higher education providers, remaining steady compared with previous years.
The November round is only open to students who have finished secondary schooling and opted to work, travel or undertake a pathway course. Further offers will be issued throughout January and February.
VTAC Ceo Teresa Tjia commended applicants who’s road to further study had “not been as straightforward”. Some 90% of offers were for graduates who completed year 12 in 2021 and 2022.
If you haven’t received an offer today, there are other opportunities. There is still time to seek out support from, tertiary institutions, and VTAC, and adjust your preferences before the change of preference deadline.
Six in ten (64%) offers were to women, compared with three in 10 (34%) to men.
This year’s offers also showed the proportion of health courses decreased from 41.6% last year to 37.9%, predominantly due to a decline in nursing and midwifery.
Management and commerce courses grew from 8.4% to 10.2%, while there was also a rise in information technology and natural and physical sciences.
Mid-air collision over Port Phillip Bay – what we know so far
For those just joining us here on the blog, here’s what we know so far about yesterday’s mid-air collision over Port Phillip Bay:
A recovery mission is ongoing for a pilot and TV camera operator, who are believed dead after their aircraft crashed into the water off Melbourne’s Mornington Peninsula.
Pilot Stephen Gale and his passenger James Rose were on board one of two light Viper S-211 Marchetti planes that collided mid-air about 1.45pm yesterday.
Their aircraft crashed into Port Phillip Bay, while the other plane (which also had two passengers) landed safely at Essendon airport.
Search crews are yet to locate the wreckage, and police confirmed this afternoon it is now “solely a recovery mission”.
The search will continue until the wreckage is found.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau said those on the jets were conducting a promotional shoot, and were “formation flying” in close proximity.
This is the fourth mid-air collision in Australia in the last 12 months, the Australian Transport Safety Bureau also said.
Updated
Coalition has 14 questions about Chinese navy incident
The Coalition will continue demanding answers about the incident between Australian and Chinese navy ships, with the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, lodging a long list of questions in the Senate to the government.
The government maintains it has made an appropriate response to the sonar incident, including strong public condemnation of the altercation, but the Coalition is honing in on whether Anthony Albanese raised the issue when he met Xi Jinping last week.
Now Paterson has lodged a list of 14 questions to the government, through the Senate’s question on notice mechanism, requesting answers on when the incident occurred, what messages the ships exchanged, the medical condition of the Australian divers, and when various offices – from the chief of navy up to Albanese and foreign minister Penny Wong – were notified of the incident.
Paterson has also asked why it took several days for the incident to be publicly announced, between it occurring last Tuesday but only being notified by defence minister Richard Marles on Saturday – and whether there was “any consideration given to the prime minister’s attendance and engagements at Apec 2023, including with the leadership of the PRC, and with the media, as to the content and timing of the media release.”
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Optus CEO’s resignation ‘not surprising’, shadow communications minister says
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, has said it is “not surprising” Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigned as Optus CEO “given the substantial issues related to the Optus outage”.
He said there must be a focus on what went wrong on the day, in particular to the 000 calls that could not connect:
We know that there are at least 228 triple-zero calls that did not go through on the day.
The federal government has a central role to play in regulating and monitoring the provision of the 000 service under the Telecommunications (Consumer Protection and Service Standards) Act 1999.
It’s approaching two weeks since the Optus outage and the communications minister still hasn’t released the terms of reference for the review she announced back on 9 November.
Updated
Further to Amy Remeikis and Paul Karp’s earlier post about indefinite detention, you can read some of Paul’s excellent analysis below on how we got to this point:
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This accident ‘slightly different’ from other recent mid-air collisions
Atsb CEO Angus Mitchell said there have been four midair collisions in Australia in the last 12 months – but this one is slightly different.
12 months ago, I would have told you that [mid-air collisions] are exceedingly rare and we’d only really looked after, or had to investigate one over the past number of years.
But having said that, in the last 12 months we’ve had four midair collisions in Australia.
He said this includes two helicopters that collided at Sea World earlier this year, a light plane and glider tug collision near Caboolture, and a collision near Gympie 12 months ago.
[Mid-air collisions are] rare, and particularly when you put it in context of how many flights occur over Australian air space every single day. But, they do occur and certainly, those risks are there.
But this one is slightly different, because this particular incident had two planes deliberately in close proximity because of the nature of the work that they were doing. So there’s not necessarily a thread between the four that we’ve seen. But certainly, it’s something that has come to our attention, and we’ve paid a lot of attention to some of the risks involved when planes operate in the same air space.
Updated
Safety bureau questioned over standards that could apply to such aircraft
A reporter asks what safety standards apply to these sorts of aircraft:
Is it Casa [Civil Aviation Safety Authority]? Or because they’re former military planes, is it different?
Angus Mitchell said they “certainly come under regulations from the regulator”.
And indeed, the pilots, we understand that many of the pilots involved in these types of operations have ex-air force backgrounds themselves.
So again, we’re still waiting to get the full picture of what happened yesterday before we really make any determination on what may have contributed. But certainly, the aircraft themselves [are] well known, they’re used around the world in both the military and in this joy flight, commercial type industry.
Updated
Safety bureau says aircraft that collided were ‘formation flying’ in close proximity
Atsb CEO Angus Mitchell said the mid-air collision yesterday involved a company that conducts joy flights, but this wasn’t what was happening – it was an internal promotional shoot between two of the company’s planes.
Now, they’ve been in formation flying, which means that they are, by necessity, in close proximity to do that shoot.
Now, something obviously has gone wrong that the two of them have come into contact. Exactly what has gone wrong and what is the circumstances that it led up to it is certainly going to be a part of our investigation.
But there’s a long way for us to go at this point in time. We still need to recover the aircraft that’s gone down. We’ve got interviews this afternoon with the surviving pilot. But equally, that evidence gathering phase will take us a number of weeks to try to build a much better picture of what was happening and the sequence of events that led to this tragic outcome.
Updated
Port Phillip Bay collision was between two aircraft believed to be on ‘photo shoot’
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau chief commissioner and CEO Angus Mitchell has been speaking to the media about yesterday’s fatal mid-air collision over Port Phillip Bay.
We’re less than 24 hours into this investigation, but as we understand it, we had two ex-Singapore Air Force jet trainers [who] have been conducting what we believe to have been a photo or promotional shoot.
Now, in the course of that occurring over Port Philip Bay, there has been a collision between the two. One of those jet trainers has managed to get back to Essendon airport and land safely, with the pilot and a passenger. The other one, tragically, though, has not been able to and it’s been lost in Port Philip Bay.
And that’s had a pilot onboard and what we believe is a cameraman who was there as part of the promotional shoot.
So at this stage there is still a search under way for the wreckage of the plane. Now, we do have parts of that wreckage [that] has washed up. It has hit the water at quite an impact. So we’re certainly holding out some hope that we can locate more of that wreckage today. The longer this goes on, obviously, the more difficult that will become.
Updated
Wet weather ahead
A vast swathe of Australia is in for a wet week ahead, with up to 100mm of rain expected across parts of Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland and the Northern Territory over the next eight days.
The wet weather is a break from El Niño conditions and is likely to ease the threat of bushfires, tweets Peter Hannam:
Quite a wide-ranging damp spell over the next eight days, easing the fire threat for a while. (Source: @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/aU9LfSZIuc
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) November 20, 2023
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Clare O’Neil fails to answer questions about attempts to resettle Rohingya man
Amy Remeikis and Paul Karp report that the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has failed to answer why the Australian government did not approach other countries asking them to resettle a stateless Rohingya man ahead of a high court decision that made indefinite detention unlawful.
On 8 November the high court ruled in favour of the man, known by the court as NZYQ, deciding that detaining a person indefinitely in immigration detention is unlawful in cases where it is not possible to deport the person.
Asked repeatedly today why the government didn’t approach other nations to take NZYQ until after the government agreed to a special case being heard by the high court, O’Neil declined to answer.
The NZYQ case has been before the high court, the information is there. I don’t have any further to add about the proceedings at this stage.
O’Neil also didn’t answer whether she signed off on the special case, or whether it was the immigration minister, Andrew Giles.
The federal opposition’s home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, said the government still had questions to answer over what actions were taken in the lead-up to NZYQ’s successful high court challenge, which potentially means 340 people held in indefinite detention will be released.
It is up to the government to demonstrate that it exhausted every possible resettlement option for each of the 93 detainees now released into the community. Based on their chaotic response to the decision so far, it’s hard to believe they did.
Read more:
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Days of tragedy for South Australian police force
South Australians will have the opportunity to farewell Jason Doig in a public ceremony after the slain officer’s family agreed to a police funeral in honour of his life and service to the community, AAP reports.
The announcement comes after a tragic few days for the force.
Brevet Sergeant Doig was killed and Sergeant Michael Hutchinson wounded after they were allegedly shot by Jaydn Stimson, 26, at a rural property in Senior, near the Victorian border, on Thursday night.
Just hours after addressing the public about the incident on Friday, the police commissioner, Grant Stevens, learned his 18-year-old son, Charlie, had been involved in an alleged hit-run in Goolwa, about 90km south-east of Adelaide.
Charlie Stevens died on Saturday night.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said landmarks would on Monday night be lit up in blue in memory of Doig and in support of the police family more broadly.
He told ABC radio on Monday:
It’s been a weekend in which the preciousness of life, certainly in my little world, has been in full view.
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Optus inquiry chair on resignation of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin: ‘This was never about which individual is CEO’
The chair of the Senate committee investigating the Optus outage on 8 November, Greens communications spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young, has commented on the news this morning of Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigning as CEO:
I’d like to thank the former CEO of Optus for fronting up in person to the Senate inquiry last week to answer questions.
This was never about which individual is CEO, this is about ensuring millions of Australians have access to what is an essential service; including the ability to call 000 in an emergency, access government services, contact loved ones, and make and take essential payments.
The Senate inquiry will continue to focus on solutions, including stronger regulations for telecommunications companies, so that in the event of outages and network failures the community can have confidence that their public interests and safety is protected.
The committee is due to report back to parliament by 9 December.
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Dfat sends condolences to family of Australian killed in Ukraine
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian who died in Ukraine.
A spokesperson said:
We send our deepest condolences to the family at this difficult time. Owing to our privacy obligations we cannot provide further comment.
The ABC reported that a former Australian Army member was among several foreign soldiers killed by a Russian artillery strike during fighting in eastern Ukraine last month.
The Australian government’s travel advice for Ukraine remains at “Do not travel”, with its ability to provide consular assistance limited due to the ongoing Russian invasion.
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Cricket Australia applauds Bluey episode that ‘reminds us what cricket is all about’
Cricket Australia has congratulated the creators of beloved children’s show Bluey, after the “Cricket” episode was voted number one in yesterday’s countdown.
On Sunday the ABC hosted its Biggest Little Bluey Countdown, with the best episodes voted on by fans. “Cricket” was voted number one, followed by “Baby Race” and “Granny Mobile”.
Cricket Australia CEO Nick Hockley said:
The Bluey cricket episode reminds us of what cricket is all about. We would like to thank Bluey for helping us to inspire children to pick up a bat and ball … Congratulations to Joe Brumm and Ludo Studio for their incredible storytelling and to the ABC, BBC Studios and Disney+ for sharing Bluey and her family and friends with the world.
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Port Phillip Bay search to continue until aircraft wreckage found
Terry Rowlands continues providing an update to the media:
We are hoping that we’ll have some advancement on the search today, but as I said, the search will continue until we find the wreckage.
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Police say search for aircraft that crashed into Port Phillip Bay ‘solely recovery mission’
Victoria police inspector Terry Rowlands has confirmed the two people in the aircraft are believed to have died in the crash:
[It is] unbelievably tragic for the families and all involved … At this point in time it’s solely a recovery mission.
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Optus apologises for outage in and around Melton in Victoria
Optus has confirmed an underground fibre break has caused an outage for customers in and around Melton in Victoria.
An Optus spokesperson said customers in this area may be experiencing service issues to their mobile, voice and data services.
Technicians are onsite to repair the fibre and restore services.
We apologise to customers for the inconvenience.
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Search for second aircraft under way after plane collision over Port Phillip Bay
Victoria police inspector Terry Rowlands is providing an update to media in Mount Martha about the aircraft crash.
He says:
At approximately 2pm yesterday there was a plane accident over Port Phillip Bay, with one of the planes crashing into the bay and the other planes successfully making it back to Essendon Airport.
Victoria police, along with other agencies, undertook an immediate search of the area, which is about three nautical miles from where we stand here today.
So far we haven’t been able to find the second aircraft. That search continues today. It was resumed at first light this morning.
Rowlands said water police, air wing and external agencies including the Port of Melbourne authority and coastguard are involved in the search. He confirmed some debris has been found:
Divers haven’t entered the waters yet as I understand and won’t do so until there is some wreckage that’s located. I believe the search that’s being undertaken now is to find any debris that may be floating and also sonar equipment is being used to try and locate anything that might be on the seafloor.
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Greens call for ‘greater ambition and urgency’ to close public school funding gap
The Greens have backed calls from the Australian Education Union for the federal, state and territory governments to close the public school funding gap, but say they want “greater ambition and urgency”.
A new report shows the public system will continue to be underfunded by $6 billion a year under current agreements.
The union has called for full funding to all public schools by 2028, but the Greens want funding delivered in January 2025 – at the start of the next National School Reform Agreement (NSRA).
The Greens education spokesperson, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said:
A free and high-quality public education should be a bedrock of any thriving democracy, not a nice-to-have that’s conditional on who’s in government or which way the political winds are blowing.
… Declining student engagement, teacher shortages, falling scores, school can’t, disruption in the classroom – these are all directly linked to the fact that teachers do not have the resources and support they require to give kids the attention and care they need.
Public schools have been underfunded for decades. Why should students, parents, carers and teachers wait another five years for the bare minimum resources they deserve?
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Man to face court over more than 200 child offences
A man accused of the indecent treatment of children has been charged with more than 200 additional offences, AAP reports.
The 35-year-old initially faced a total of five charges when recently arrested in far north Queensland, police said.
However, he was charged on Saturday with hundreds more after detectives allegedly found additional child exploitation material on his electronic devices.
The additional charges include 64 counts of indecent treatment and 61 counts of involving a child in making child exploitation material.
The man has also been charged with 42 counts of making child exploitation material, 26 counts of taking a child for an immoral purpose and seven counts of using a carriage service to access child abuse material.
He is set to appear in Cairns magistrates court on Monday. Police said:
Investigations are ongoing and police are providing support to those involved.
Updated
Here is the latest on the search for a pilot and passenger involved in a mid-air plane crash over Victoria’s Port Phillip Bay yesterday:
As we brought your earlier, camera operator James Rose has been identified as the passenger.
Simon Birmingham: China’s actions in Japanese waters ‘must be raised at the highest levels’
Liberal Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, said China’s action in Japanese waters that harmed Australian navy personnel “must be raised at the highest levels”.
In a post to X/Twitter, Birmingham wrote:
China’s dangerous military actions are not isolated, but all too frequent. They occur across our region, risking escalation & endangering many lives.
This is why events like China’s actions in Japanese waters harming Australian navy personnel must be raised at the highest levels.
China’s dangerous military actions are not isolated, but all too frequent. They occur across our region, risking escalation & endangering many lives.
— Simon Birmingham (@Birmo) November 20, 2023
This is why events like China’s actions in Japanese waters harming Australian navy personnel must be raised at the highest levels https://t.co/NEJLPIgUVY
This comes as calls grow for the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to confirm whether he raised the issue with Xi Jinping.
Australia’s ambassador to Washington, Kevin Rudd, suggested these calls are a “distraction” from the central question of China engaging in “unsafe practices against the Royal Australian Navy” (we had this in the blog earlier here).
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, told Channel 7 the Australian government “made it very clear at the highest level” that this was “unacceptable and unsafe and unprofessional behaviour”, but did not confirm whether Albanese raised it with Xi.
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Severe storms and heavy rainfall ahead for parts of Queensland
Severe storms are forecast for the southern interior and far north-west of Queensland today.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, heavy rainfall will be the primary hazard in the south, but large hail and damaging winds are also possible.
Large hail and damaging winds are also possible in the north-west.
⛈️QLD Storm Forecast for today Mon 20/11. Severe storms possible in the southern interior and the far northwest. Heavy rainfall the primary hazard in the south, but large hail & damaging winds also possible. In the NW, large hail & damaging winds possible. https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/F4jJLEmbEz
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 19, 2023
Updated
Correction
An earlier blog headline identified camera operator James Rose as having been killed after the jet plane crash off Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula. While he has been identified as a passenger on the plane, his death has not yet been confirmed.
Updated
The NSW Rural Fire Service has welcomed rain in the state’s north west, providing relief from the recent bushfires – and a “new, muddy challenge” for crews.
More than a week after the Hudson Fire was ignited by suspected dry lightning in the state's north west, the rain has finally arrived. Storms rolled into the Walgett area yesterday afternoon and continue across the fireground today, presenting crews with a new, muddy challenge. pic.twitter.com/QJDRJSkCCl
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 19, 2023
Clare O’Neil says naval divers’ run-in with Chinese warship will be handled ‘through the appropriate channels’
AAP has the latest on calls for the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to reveal whether he spoke to Xi Jinping about the Australian naval divers injured after a run-in with a Chinese warship:
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said the attack “put at risk Australians who put on a uniform every day to fight for our country”, adding those views had been made known to China.
O’Neil said the government would not play politics with the countries’ complex relationship. She told reporters in Canberra:
This is one of the largest countries in the world. We are going to have to find a way to coexist in our region over the coming decades.
This is a serious national security issue and an important relationship for our country. We handle it through the appropriate channels and that’s what’s occurred.
Updated
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin resigns
The Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, has resigned after the company’s nationwide outage almost two weeks ago.
In a statement from Optus’s parent company, Singtel, Bayer Rosmarin said it was an appropriate time to go:
On Friday I had the opportunity to appear before the Senate to expand on the cause of the network outage and how Optus recovered and responded. I was also able to communicate Optus’ commitment to restore trust and continue to serve customers. Having now had time for some personal reflection, I have come to the decision that my resignation is in the best interest of Optus moving forward.
Singtel Group CEO, Yuen Kuan Moon, has appointed Optus’s CFO, Michael Venter, to the job of interim CEO while the company embarks on a search for a new CEO.
Former Optus business managing director Peter Kaliaropoulos will join this month in the newly created role of chief operating officer.
Yeun has admitted Optus needs to win back customer trust after the outage and the cyber-attack in 2022.
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Anthony Albanese has shared this photo to X/Twitter, meeting with his team in Canberra this morning:
Starting the week with my team in Canberra. pic.twitter.com/sPX3cWESEF
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 19, 2023
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Grace Tame says child sexual contact report ‘an official confessional that is impossible to deny’
Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has spoken at the launch of a new UNSW study revealing one in 10 Australian men report having sexual contact with under-18s.
The report, described by its authors as the largest study of its kind ever undertaken globally, surveyed a nationally representative sample of 1,945 Australian men and found 9.4% said they had sexual contact with someone under the age of 18.
That would equate to about one million Australian men. You can read more the study here:
Tame – a survivor who fought for the right to speak about her abuse and won a supreme court exemption, leading to the #LetHerSpeak campaign – commended the report’s focus on shifting responsibility for protecting children to adults:
Historically, the burden of detection and community education has been unjustly carried by adult survivors and, worst of all, the children themselves …
This research is an official confessional that is impossible to deny. It is critical, urgent, undeniable, and hopefully, inescapable.
At the launch of the report, Tame said it has taken “every fibre of [her] being” not to say “we fucking told you so”:
To our national shame, it is easier to offend against children and be considered an upstanding citizen than it is to prove your credibility as a survivor of child sexual abuse.
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Camera operator identified as passenger in plane collision
Cameraman James Rose has been identified as a passenger on board a fighter jet that crashed into waters off Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula on Sunday afternoon.
Guardian Australia understands the 30-year-old was in the cockpit of the plane, filming for a new TV show when disaster struck.
He posted on his Instagram stories from Essendon airport on Sunday morning.
Police and the Australian Transport Safety Bureau resumed their search in Port Phillip Bay on Monday morning, about 12km south of Mount Martha.
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Scam sites target Black Friday shoppers
The competition regulator has warned shoppers to watch out for scams ahead of upcoming sales as fraudsters pay for fake sites to appear at the top of search engine results.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said scam websites were impersonating high-profile Australian retailers to lure shoppers during peak periods, such as the Black Friday, Cyber Monday sales.
The ACCC deputy chair, Catriona Lowe, said:
We have seen an alarming increase in reports of fake online shopping website scams, which use the latest technology to look like genuine, well-known Australian fashion and footwear labels
A recent, disturbing development is that scammers are paying for their fake websites to appear at the top of your internet search. This means you can’t necessarily trust the first listing you see.
Black Friday, a US event that has become popular in Australia, falls on 24 November this year.
The regulator said that some fake sites have Australian domain names and stolen business numbers, with some also appearing on social media sites.
The ACCC advises consumers to research the correct site addresses for their favourite brands and to search for independent reviews concerning an online store.
Lowe said to never pay by direct bank deposit, money transfer or digital currency.
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Peak medical body to audit doctor working hours
The doctor’s lobby is today launching an audit to find out how many hours public hospital doctors are working a week, in order to determine the fatigue risks of their current working arrangements.
The last time the Australian Medical Association conducted its Safe Hours Audit was more than six years ago. In 2016, it found more than one in two doctors (53%) were working rosters that put them at significant and higher risk of fatigue to the extent that it could impair performance and affect the health of the doctor and the safety of the patient.
The president of the AMA, Prof Steve Robson, said:
Fatigue can impair judgment and work performance, and potentially affect patient care and the wellbeing of doctors. We know that serious medical errors increase with frequent long shifts and that extended shifts have a similar effect to working under the influence of alcohol.”
Inadequate resourcing of our public hospitals is the main driver putting doctors under “incredible stress” Robson said, citing increasing hours of ambulance ramping and surgery wait lists as evidence hospitals are struggling to keep up with patient demand.
Enforcing rosters is one way of managing fatigue in public hospitals, Robson said, which includes funding for adequate medical staffing that allows doctors to take leave, avoiding fatigue and burnout and supporting safe patient care.
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SA premier on new baby boy: ‘Family is everything’
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, and his wife, Annabel, have welcomed a baby boy into the world – George Robert Malinauskas.
George was born last Thursday afternoon, and the SA premier shared some photos this morning:
On Thursday afternoon Annabel and I welcomed George Robert Malinauskas into the world, weighing 4.14kg.
— Peter Malinauskas (@PMalinauskasMP) November 19, 2023
Both Annabel and George are doing very well, we feel so incredibly fortunate. pic.twitter.com/tnFoGMwaCi
He wrote on X/Twitter that Annabel and George are both doing well and “we feel so incredibly fortunate”.
Thanks so much to all the medical staff who have assisted George and Annabel, particularly Dr Chris Sexton who has done an amazing job delivering all our children.
Family is everything.
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Plibersek won’t comment on what Albanese said to Xi
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has also been grilled about whether the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, spoke to Xi Jinping about the Chinese warship that injured Australian navy divers.
Speaking on Channel 7’s Morning Show, Plibersek said she couldn’t “comment on the timing” but the Australian government “made it very clear at the highest level” that this was “unacceptable and unsafe and unprofessional behaviour”.
But she wouldn’t confirm whether Albanese spoke to Xi on the matter:
I am not going to comment on what the prime minister says to other world leaders.
Pointing to former PM Scott Morrison’s leaking of a text from the French president, Emmanuel Macron, Plibersek stressed the importance of confidential meetings between leaders:
It does not help international relations to behave in that way.
Updated
Police investigating after car crashes into power pole in Sydney
An investigation is under way after a single-vehicle crash in Sydney early this morning, where a car collided with a power pole.
About 2.45am this morning, emergency services were called to Hurstville after reports a Toyota Prado SUV lost control and collided with a power pole and a fence.
Crews freed a 19-year-old female passenger and the driver, an 18-year-old man, while authorities worked to isolate power from the fallen lines.
Both have been taken to Royal Prince Alfred hospital for treatment.
Two further passengers – a 20-year-old man and a 16-year-old girl – were both taken to St George hospital for treatment to minor injuries.
Officers established a crime scene which will be examined by the crash investigations unit.
Due to the crash, a number of powerlines have been damaged and debris from the crash damaged nearby homes.
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Victoria police confirm search ongoing after mid-air plane collision
A spokesperson for Victoria police confirmed the search was continuing this morning for two passengers involved in a mid-air collision off the coast of Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula yesterday:
The investigation is ongoing.
In a statement yesterday, the Australian Maritime Safety Authority confirmed search assets had “located a wreckage in the area”. This morning, Amsa confirmed it had now handed over coordination of the search to Victorian police.
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‘McBride believes what he did was right, and he still does’: lawyer
Asked what penalties McBride faces, Davis said he needed to “be cautious here” and said:
They’re all very lengthy jail sentences … His honour won’t be expecting McBride to exhibit remorse and throw himself on the ground and asking for mercy. Clearly, McBride believes what he did was right, and he still does. That can be an element of sentencing that we can say openly and will be – we say his action was well intentioned and there was no harm with what he did. We believe there was incredible public benefit from what he did.
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McBride’s actions initially taken ‘in defence of Australia soldiers’: lawyer
Defence lawyer Mark Davis was asked what David McBride’s intention was with releasing the documents:
We were hoping to put it before a court. That has been denied to us.
He had in effect two intentions and it lies within the material itself, it’s correct, and it’s one of the complexities of McBride, his initial complaint, the thing that angered him most was what he thought was inappropriate judging of soldiers for war crimes.
These were trivial incidents and suddenly, he’s being written very heavily to prosecute people and he says, well, they haven’t done anything, so that’s absolutely – it was in defence of Australian soldiers, that he kicked off his his actions.
But in that process, he reveals other incidents that had happened just before his time, that were clearly of the most serious nature and clearly had not been investigated properly.
Both of those things were evident.
Updated
David McBride’s lawyer describes separation between state and courts as ‘paper-thin’
Mark Davis claimed that on the last day when David McBride changed his plea, evidence was removed from the brief.
He told ABC RN:
They came in and removed evidence, from us, from the defence, that we could not present.
It really seemed very normal to them, this is Canberra supreme court, that was the new powers that the attorney general now wields, there is a paper-thin division between the state and the courts.
We were smacked in the face with it, that paper thin barrier was denying McBride evidence to put before a jury. You can’t get more …
He trailed off and said “I’ll be careful what I say” and argued there was no need to remove evidence because it was a “completely secret court”.
How many powers can you strip away from the citizen and give to the government and expect a trial to proceed?
It was too great a burden.
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David McBride’s lawyer says court’s ‘narrow definition’ of McBride’s duty ‘cornered’ them
The defence lawyer for whistleblower David McBride, Mark Davis, spoke to ABC RN earlier this morning.
David said “we were cornered” when asked why his client McBride pleaded guilty:
[There were] a number of reasons, I won’t articulate them all, obviously he hasn’t been sentenced yet but in essence, the court ruled the most narrow definition of the duty of an officer imaginable and it was a shock to us, I think would be a shock to many.
The judge was indicating that he was instructing the jury, an element of this offence was what his duty was as an officer, and the instruction was his duty was to follow orders 100%. Now, we were maintaining that he had a duty and an obligation to Australian people under his oath that on occasion … he had another duty … and that was to reveal information of the type that he had.
Once that was denied to us, he was walking into an execution.
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‘Heartwarming’ support after alleged hit-and-run death of SA police commissioner’s son: deputy commissioner
South Australia police deputy commissioner Linda Williams spoke to the Today show earlier this morning about the death of the SA police commissioner’s son following an alleged hit and run.
She said SAPOL were “uniting as the team” amid the tragic incident.
The support we get from the broader community has been fantastic. It’s been heartwarming. We are just overwhelmed by it.
Williams said commissioner Grant Stevens is an “amazing leader”, but now is the time for him to be with family:
It’s the right place for him to be. I would say it’s just been enormous on him and Emma, and them and the four children and the wider family … They are definitely in grief. It is going to take some time.
Williams said there was nothing more to be said at this stage about the alleged hit and run incident:
It was a tragic event that unfolded and now the matter’s before the courts. In time, the fullness of time that will be the process.
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Victoria police now in charge of search for pilot and passenger, Amsa says
We reached out to the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (Amsa) earlier this morning for an update on the search for the pilot and passenger onboard a jet that crashed off the coast of Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula yesterday after a mid-air collision.
Amsa said in a statement it had concluded its search last night and has now “handed over coordination of the search to Victoria Police”.
Here was their statement in full:
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) concluded its search for the two people on board the aircraft at approximately 7:30pm (AEDT) last night.
AMSA has now handed over coordination of the search to Victoria Police.
We’ll continue to bring you the latest updates here on the blog.
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Congratulatory posts have been shared across social media this morning, after Australia was crowned Cricket World Cup champions for the sixth time overnight:
Good Morning Australia
— Jerome Laxale MP (@jeromelaxale) November 19, 2023
We’re World Cup champions!
Tag an Englishman, preferably @piersmorgan, to let them know all about it.#auspol #CWC2023Final pic.twitter.com/bdaWvAcT8R
WE'VE WON THE CUP!!!
— Libby Coker MP (@LibbyCokerMP) November 19, 2023
Congratulations Australian Men's Cricket Team 💛💛💛. pic.twitter.com/SXYr812eby
Congratulations to our Aussie cricketers on winning the ICC Cricket World Cup 🏆 What a great victory heading into the summer of cricket @CricketAus 🏏 🇦🇺 https://t.co/3WTQ9oDd5w
— Anne Ruston (@Anne_Ruston) November 19, 2023
PM under pressure to clarify discussions with Chinese president
As we brought you just earlier, Kevin Rudd was pressed on whether prime minister Anthony Albanese spoke to Xi Jinping about injured naval divers (you can read more here).
This comes as calls grow from the opposition and crossbenchers for Albanese to reveal whether he raised the issue with Xi.
The independent senator Jacqui Lambie said the issue should have been raised and called for the government to be upfront and answer questions. She told Sky News:
You can’t sit there and pretend you’re going to be nice on trade while this is going on with your own navy people that could have bought more harm to them.
This is just ridiculous. What happened to the friendship and the trust that we’re building and all the rest?
This is a pretty big issue, it should have been raised but more importantly, [the prime minister should] come out this morning … come and answer some questions, tell Australia what’s going on, keeping us in the dark is not helpful.
Meanwhile, the opposition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, said if the prime minister knew about the incident and deliberately withheld the information, it was “outrageous and unacceptable”.
He said Albanese needed to come clean about whether he raised the incident with his counterpart as the two nations try to repair their frosty relationship.
He also needs to have petitioned Xi and asked for an apology, Hastie said.
– with AAP
Updated
Australians increasingly relying on credit cards as cost-of-living pressures rise
A survey from comparison site Finder has found an increasing number of Australians are turning to credit cards amid the rising cost of living.
The survey of 1,063 respondents found that 15% of Australians have taken out a credit card in the last 12 months.
The research found 6% are now relying on credit cards to manage their daily expenses.
A further 7% don’t have one but are in the market for one, while 5% are looking to credit cards to pay off debt racked up on a previous card.
Finder credit card expert Amy Bradney-George said credit cards have become a “financial crutch” for people who would have previously only used one for emergencies:
Mounting pressure on households is seeing Aussies borrowing money to keep afloat.
Used responsibly, credit cards can be a great tool for earning rewards such as frequent flyer points and building your credit history.
But relying too heavily on them could cause you to go into a debt spiral which can be hard to bounce back from.
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Coolamon, Kakirra, Mateship or Roo-ver? Australian space agency opens voting to name lunar rover
Voting is now open to name Australia’s lunar rover, set to head to the moon as early as 2026.
After receiving more than 8,000 entries, a shortlist of four names has been released, including Coolamon, Kakirra, Mateship and Roo-ver.
Coolamon is an Indigenous word for a multi-purpose, sustainable tool used for gathering, carrying, and digging regolith.
It symbolises the balance between utility and respect for the environment, mirroring our approach to space exploration.
Kakirra translates from the Kaurna region in Adelaide, and means “moon”.
Mateship is self-explanatory, with the entry stating we all “possess this indescribable trait”.
And the entry for Roo-ver:
It’s time for Australian science to take the next leap all the way up into space, like our roos do back home. Naming the new lunar rover ‘Roo-ver’ will reflect the Aussie spirit as we launch into this new endeavour.
Voting is open until 1 December with the winner rover name announced on 6 December.
You can vote here!
Updated
Rudd ‘will deal equally professionally’ with Trump administration if he is re-elected
Finishing up his interview on ABC RN, Kevin Rudd said he would work professionally with Donald Trump if he is re-elected as US president at the next election:
The great thing about being an ambassador, having started that job in March of this year, is that I deal with the cards as they’re currently dealt.
I think if we’re all held to account [for] statements we made an earlier capacities in life, including those with independent thinktanks and when I would have been commenting more freely on American domestic politics, well, frankly, we couldn’t get on and do any other things in life.
My job is to deal with the US government of the day … [If] the American people choose a different administration in future, [then I] will deal equally professionally with that administration as well.
In fact, I continue to do so with Republican senators and members of the House on an almost daily basis.
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Rudd: Australian PM and other allied leaders ‘constantly call for stabilisation’ for Chinese military activity
Kevin Rudd says the Australian government has spent 12 months advocating for guardrails between China’s military activities in the region and those of the US and allies, air forces and surface vessels.
He listed a number of incidents, with the sonar incident being the latest. ABC RN host Hamish Macdonald asked whether in his mind, the incidents are deliberate or reckless, or what led to them. Rudd:
I think international observers have concluded over the last couple of years … [that there] has been increasingly aggressive, assertive and forward-leaning actions by elements of the Chinese PLA.
To give you one practical example, we now have a regular practice of Chinese fighter aircraft crossing the median line between Taiwan and the mainland. This therefore causes Taiwanese jets to scramble on a regular basis and therefore the number of potential shallow incidents between Taiwanese aircraft and PLA aircraft continues to grow.
That’s the reason why the prime minister Albanese, why President Biden and other allied leaders … constantly call for stabilisation measures, the application of guardrails in order to deconflict these forces.
Updated
Test of Australia-China relationship lies in the long term, Rudd says
Q: Does this matter undermine China’s position that it wants a better relationship with Australia?
Kevin Rudd answers by commenting on the relationship between China and the USA:
Well, as I have said in my own comments here in the American media [on] the overall impact of the meeting between president [Joe] Biden and president Xi Jinping here in the United States in the last several days, the test of that relationship will lie in what happens on the ground in the weeks and months ahead.
It’s true that both governments have sought to stabilise relationship just as the Australian government has sought to stabilise its relationship with China as well. But that is one thing. Often, what unfolds in the field, that will be subject to day by day, week by week, month by month testing.
In the case of the Taiwan Straits in the South China Sea, the test will lie in what happens for the future pattern activity and exercise direction of the PLA forces there and whether actions are taken to effectively de-escalate.
Updated
Question of whether PM spoke with Xi about injured naval divers is ‘a distraction’: Rudd
The former prime minister and Australia’s ambassador to Washington, Kevin Rudd, is speaking to ABC RN about reports Australian naval divers had been injured after a run-in with a Chinese warship:
Rudd is being pressed on whether or not the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, raised this with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, during his recent visit.
Rudd said the actions by the Chinese People’s Liberation Navy against the HMAS Toowoomba were “unacceptable by the international standards”, and that the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, had made this “absolutely clear to the Chinese authorities”.
Rudd added:
The bottom line is these communications occurred between the Australian government through the medium of the acting prime minister, who is also the defence minister.
I’m not in a position to comment on the content of a prime ministerial level discussion with the Chinese president or with any other of the, frankly, dozen heads of government with whom the prime minister spoke while he was here at the Apec summit.
Rudd argued this was a “distraction” from the central question, which is China engaging in “unsafe practices against the Royal Australian Navy”.
The Australian government did not just respond privately and through diplomatic channels, the Australian government went public through the acting prime minister, Richard Marles, and made our position equally clear publicly.
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Merger rules to be reviewed amid concerns they are ‘too permissive’
Rules around mergers will be reviewed under a new federal process, with the government today releasing a consultation paper on potential reforms – with concerns raised that current rules are “too permissive” and not deliver benefits to the wider economy.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the competition minister, Andrew Leigh, made the announcement overnight, saying the government wanted to ensure that merger processes “support competitive markets, economic dynamism, and better outcomes for the Australian people”.
The consultation paper looks at current rules and processes, to ensure they address mergers that could be anti-competitive. The ministers said:
We want mergers to drive improvements in productivity, to put downward pressure on prices and to deliver more choice for Australians dealing with cost of living pressures.
Increasing economic concentration has emerged as a concern in many countries including Australia. International evidence suggests current merger rules may be too permissive, allowing some mergers that don’t deliver benefits to consumers, workers and the wider economy.
Chalmers and Leigh said the paper would also look at tests around whether mergers would lessen competition, and how the effects are analysed.
Submissions on the consultation paper will be open until 19 January 2023.
The Albanese Government is focused on tackling cost of living pressures now and laying the foundations for future growth. Making our economy more competitive is critical to both of these goals.
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Cybersecurity program to give small businesses ‘health-checks’ and assistance
Small businesses will get more federal help to boost their cybersecurity, with a new government program giving security checks and tailored assistance to firms needing to upgrade their resilience.
The cybersecurity minister, Clare O’Neil, and the small business minister, Julie Collins, made the announcement overnight on Sunday, sharing details of two new programs aimed at small and medium businesses.
There’s $11m for the Small Business Cyber Resilience Service, a program giving “one-on-one assistance to help small businesses navigate their cyber challenges, including walking them through the steps to recover from a cyber attack”, the ministers said in a statement.
Additionally there’s $7.2m for a voluntary cyber health-check program. O’Neil and Collins said this program would “allow businesses to undertake a free, tailored self-assessment of their cyber security maturity”.
Businesses can use this health-check to determine the strength of their cyber security measures, and access educational tools and materials they need to upskill.
Businesses that have an especially high risk exposure will also be given access to more sophisticated assessment tools for more security.
The new announcements are part of the upcoming 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy, which the ministers said would include new support for small and medium businesses that are more vulnerable to the impacts of cyber incidents. O’Neil and Collins said:
This new support will be critical as we know that cyber attacks can cause serious financial and reputational damage to businesses of all sizes. Industry consultation in the development of the Strategy heard that small and medium businesses are less likely to have the financial resources, time and expertise to invest in cyber security.
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Search for pilot and passenger continues after Mornington peninsula collision
Crews will continue their search for a pilot and passenger on board a small military-style jet that crashed into the water off Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula yesterday after a midair collision.
We’re working to get the latest update on this situation, but as Catie McLeod reported yesterday, two light aircraft collided over Port Phillip Bay on Sunday afternoon, with one of the planes crashing into the water.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said the two planes were Italian-made Viper S-211 Marchetti jets which are often used for military training. The AAP newswire reported the planes were on a civilian-operated formation flight when they collided.
The second plane – also carrying two people – subsequently landed safely at Essendon airport on Sunday.
You can read more here, and we’ll bring you the latest here on the blog shortly.
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Good morning
And happy Monday. Welcome back to another week on the Australian news live blog – I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage today.
Making news this morning, a search remains under way for a pilot and passenger who were onboard a small military-style jet that crashed into the water off Melbourne’s Mornington peninsula after a midair collision.
Small businesses are set to get more federal help to boost their cybersecurity as part of the upcoming 2023-2030 Australian Cyber Security Strategy.
Rules around mergers will be reviewed under a new federal process, with the government today releasing a consultation paper on potential reforms – with concerns raised that current rules are “too permissive” and do not deliver benefits to the wider economy.
We will have more on all these stories shortly.
And overnight, Australia was crowned Cricket World Cup champions for the sixth time.
If you see anything that needs attention on the blog, you can send me an email: emily.wind.casual@theguardian.com.
With that, let’s get started.
