What we learned: Wednesday 11 October
Before we close the blog for today, let’s recap the big headlines:
Prime minister Anthony Albanese greeted ultramarathon runner and former Liberal MP Pat Farmer as he arrived at Uluru.
HSC exams began in NSW.
Richard Goyder revealed his plans to step down as chair of the Qantas board.
Organisers of the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney earlier this week said they will be going ahead with a second rally this weekend, despite comments from the premier saying this is “not going to happen”.
The Australian government asked Qantas and Virgin for urgent help to repatriate Australians from Israel.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said the national coordination mechanism has been triggered in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The federal court dismissed a legal challenge to decisions made by the environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, in relation to two proposed coalmine expansions.
Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist detained in China, returned to Australia.
Thanks for reading, we will be back tomorrow morning.
Updated
Man satisfied with action on anti-Semitic threats
AAP reports a man subjected to anti-Semitic threats on a Melbourne street is satisfied with an investigation into the incident, police say.
The confrontation happened on Tuesday afternoon, just days after Islamist group Hamas launched an attack on Israel from Gaza, triggering tensions around the world.
The incident involved a car pulling over near the man on Toorak Road at South Yarra about 4pm, with the threats made by up to four passengers in the vehicle.
Police said in a statement late this afternoon:
Melbourne Crime Investigation Unit detectives have investigated reports of anti-Semitic threats made in South Yarra.
Police have spoken to the parties involved and after a thorough investigation, the matter has been determined to the satisfaction of the reporting person.
Updated
NSW Board of Deputies president David Ossip says the community is “shocked and shattered”.
He says those in attendance are proud Australian Jews.
Though we may be far away, our hearts and players are with the people of Israel.
He welcomes the premier and the federal opposition leader.
NSW Board of Deputies president David Ossip says the community is “shocked and shattered”. He says those in attendance are proud Australian Jews. “Thought we may be far away, our hearts and players are with the people of Israel.” He welcomes the premier and federal oppo leader. pic.twitter.com/E7viWM2mKJ
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) October 11, 2023
Updated
Thousands of people have gathered in support of Israel in Sydney’s Dover Heights.
Music plays as people enter the event. Sea of white and blue at the Dover Heights cliffs. pic.twitter.com/1C7bJYkObT
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) October 11, 2023
More than 7,000 people registered to attend the evening vigil and organisers estimate some 4,000 are already in attendance, with more streaming in ahead of the ceremony’s commencement.
The gathering of Jewish community members come amid heightened tensions across the city.
Event organisers estimate some 4,000 have already been through security. The park is filled with blue and white flags. pic.twitter.com/ZB6fOHrED6
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) October 11, 2023
Australian writers chuffed to have work in HSC English exams
Australia’s authors have reacted with appreciation and amusement to being featured in this year’s HSC English exams.
Multiple award-winning writer and Gudanji/Wakaja woman Debra Dank said it was an honour for her 2022 book, We Come With This Place, to be the first prose referenced on the exam.
As an educator, it’s an incredibly profound moment to see my work being used as a text within the NSW HSC examination. Being part of that process, that industry, for me it brings a whole other layer to my work within the education space. I’m beyond thrilled.
Freelance writer Eleanor Robertson was “very entertained” her opinion piece on “self-narrativisation” was included.
I thought it would probably have been the easiest text they were assigned and I’ve had a few messages from students saying that was the case ... makes me pleased to know most of the students would’ve read it and gone ‘oh, this is the part where you can get the easiest marks’.
Robertson said she didn’t know how HSC exams were graded in 2023 but wished all students the best, adding: “I’d like to tell them that whatever their interpretation of my piece was, as the author I confirm that it’s valid.”
Updated
Sydney’s Jewish community are gathering this evening in support of Israel. Our NSW state correspondent Tamsin Rose is there:
Hundreds of people are streaming in through multiple security checkpoints to attend the Jewish community gathering in support of Israel. Heavy police presence in the surrounding streets. pic.twitter.com/ZH9xsa3x0B
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) October 11, 2023
Woman suing Qatar Airways ‘very disappointed’ with inquiry report
One of the Australian women taking legal action against Qatar Airways has blasted a Senate inquiry report examining the government’s decision to block the airline from launching extra flights to Australia.
Anna, one of the five women who are taking legal action over a 2020 incident at Doha airport where female passengers were forced from planes by gunpoint and subject to non-consensual invasive bodily inspections as authorities searched for the mother of a baby abandoned in a bathroom, said she and the other women “are very disappointed” with the Senate inquiry report released on Monday.
It fails to hold Qatar Airways to account for its handling of the horrific incident that we were subjected to on a Qatar Airways flight in October 2020. We agree with the finding of Labor’s dissenting report that Qatar Airways is not a good corporate citizen and is not entitled to improved landing rights.
Our experience of Qatar Airways and the state of Qatar is that they have ignored our complaints and have aggressively defended the court proceedings we’ve been forced to commence.
The Senate inquiry report recommended the Albanese government should immediately review its decision to block Qatar Airways from launching extra flights to Australia, as it called for a significantly expanded role and powers for the competition and consumer watchdog in the sector.
The report underscored just how politically charged the saga has become. While senators agreed on a range of recommendations aimed at stamping out anti-competitive behaviour by larger airlines, better considering consumers in government decisions and reducing strategic cancellations at Sydney airport, Labor and Greens senators issued dissenting reports.
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, chair of the committee, accused the Albanese government of obstructing the inquiry from accessing evidence and gagging department officials, while transport minister Catherine King called the inquiry a “political stunt”.
Read more about the report here:
Updated
Coalition welcomes release and safe return of Cheng Lei
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, have issued a joint statement welcoming the release and safe return back to Australia of Cheng Lei.
Ms Cheng’s release and return home to her children and partner Nick Coyle will be a moment of great relief and joy to them.
We thank all of those who have worked tirelessly over three years to secure this outcome and acknowledge everyone who has advocated for Ms Cheng’s release. Particular acknowledgement is owed to Australia’s ambassador to China, Graham Fletcher, along with many Dfat officers and consular officials.We also acknowledge the government’s efforts to continue the work of former foreign minister Marise Payne to secure Ms Cheng’s release and their provision of regular confidential briefings to the opposition on the situation.
After three years of uncertainty, secrecy and zero transparency we are thankful this painful episode for Ms Cheng and her family has come to a welcome end.The opposition remains deeply concerned for Australian Dr Yang Hengjun, who continues to be detained in China, and urges the Albanese government to use all available diplomatic means to equally secure his return and to ensure his wellbeing.
Updated
Doctors’ group says living wonders judgment sets ‘dangerous’ precedent
Earlier on the blog we brought you the news that the federal court dismissed a legal challenge to decisions made by the environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, in relation to two proposed coalmine expansions.
Known as the living wonders case, the legal action launched by the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) alleged the minister failed to protect the environment from climate harm when she decided the projects could move to the next stage of the federal assessment process.
Doctors for the Environment says the dismissal of the challenge sets a “dangerous, short-sighted precedent”.
The court has decided that our govt does not have to consider climate in coal and gas approvals. A dangerous short sighted precedent. Let’s be clear, every coal and gas project adds to global heating and climate breakdown @EDOLawyers #Auspol https://t.co/jzLcmMqrZG
— Doctors for the Environment Australia (@DocsEnvAus) October 11, 2023
Updated
Pro-Palestine rally to go ahead in Sydney without police approval
Organisers of a pro-Palestine protest say an upcoming rally in Sydney will go ahead despite police and the state’s premier rejecting their plan to take to the streets, AAP reports.
Police launched a task force to co-ordinate responses to protest activity across NSW after a widely condemned rally on the steps of the Sydney Opera House.
The rally on Monday night was held as the NSW government lit the iconic venue in the blue and white of the Israeli flag in solidarity with victims of terrorist attacks by Islamist group Hamas.
Some attendees chanted anti-Jewish rhetoric and lit flares, actions denounced by rally organisers Palestine Action Group.
Organiser Josh Lees told AAP a planned Sunday rally at Town Hall would still go ahead despite police saying it was unauthorised.
We’re very confident Sunday will be a peaceful protest [and] we’ve made it clear those racist views are not welcome.
Updated
Read more about Cheng Lei’s release from my colleague Ben Doherty here:
NSW premier urged to affirm right to protest amid pro-Palestine rally plan
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties, human rights organisations and trade unions have written an open letter to the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, regarding the right to protest.
Earlier today, NSW police said a pro-Palestine rally planned for this Sunday was “unauthorised” because the form was submitted too late to be considered properly.
The letter states:
We are deeply concerned by recent comments from the NSW government parliamentary team stating that they: support a prohibition of the right to protest; think protest ought to be more strongly policed; and think that police should more forcefully shut down protest.
… We call on you to publicly affirm your government’s support for the right to protest.
Josh Pallas, the president NSW Council for Civil Liberties, said:
The police minister’s comments yesterday about the right to protest fly in the democratic values that she should be protecting as a democratically elected member of parliament, not trashing live on radio.
Today’s announcement by police that they are blocking another protest by Palestinian activists and are setting up Operation Shelter is deeply concerning and another blow to the right to protest which has already been savaged in this state.
Updated
Ley says that the minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, should not have used the language calling for restraint in the Israel-Hamas war.
She should not have used that expression in the first place, and I say to anyone who looks at this brutality, these atrocities and thinks that this is an expression of the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, go take a long hard look at yourself. What this is is war crimes …I do not want to talk about the footage and repeat the words that have been said. They are horrible, they are revolting and we need everyone to stand up incredibly strongly across the globe and we need our Australian leadership to do exactly that. We don’t need them late or lukewarm.
Updated
Ley thanks the prime minister for organising the repatriation flights of Australians from Israel, but says they should have been organised sooner:
It is important that it happens. It is important that it happens without delay because Australians and others from all around the world are not feeling safe in Israel at the moment.
The prime minister has come to this and I thank him for that – rather late in the piece, I have to say, in the same way he has come to so much late, with insufficient strength and insufficient determination to demonstrate to our Australian Jewish community that we have measures in place to protect them.
Updated
Opposition commends Labor over Cheng Lei release
The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, is speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing and says “all credit to the government” for Cheng Lei’s release.
She says she is not sure whether the opposition was briefed on the matter, but she is delighted.
I am not sure whether our shadow foreign affairs minister was [involved] or not but I am just delighted, just delighted, and all credit to the government. I am so happy for Cheng Lei.
I still remember the letter she wrote from the cell which only got that tiny bit of sunlight every day and I still remember how she talked about missing her children and I am just so thrilled, so thrilled.
Updated
Asked to outline plans for the national security committee meeting about the Israel-Hamas war, Albanese says he won’t foreshadow details and compromise national security:
What I don’t do is foreshadow or either past, present or future talk about the national security committee and I am stunned that somehow people think that it is an appropriate political issue to try to secure some advantage of.
I find Mr Dutton’s comments, I think they speak for themselves. The way that I deal with national security committee and national security issues is to take them seriously.
We have not foreshadowed Cheng Lei’s return before this. We don’t foreshadow when NSC meets.
Updated
Albanese says Cheng Lei’s release follows the completion of judicial processes in China.
Asked by a journalist about whether her release is an acknowledgement that Lei was wrongfully detained, Albanese says:
No, China would not say that that’s the position. China would say that the judicial processes had been completed in China.
Updated
Cheng Lei freed from China and back in Australia
Albanese says Cheng Lei, an Australian journalist detained in China, has returned to Australia:
Earlier today, I was able to have a conversation with an Australian citizen, Cheng Lei, who has arrived safely here in Melbourne and has been reunited with her two children and her family.
She was met at the airport by the foreign minister, Penny Wong. Her return brings an end to a very difficult few years for Ms Cheng and her family.
This is an outcome the Australian government has been seeking for a long period of time and her return will be warmly welcomed not just by her family and friends but by all Australians.
Updated
Repatriation flights from Israel to begin Friday
Albanese says:
My government will assist and will begin the assisted departure of Australians who want to leave Israel.
We understand that many Australians are experiencing difficulties with delays and cancellations with commercial flights.
For Australians who do not already have plans to leave through commercial options, Australian government assisted departure flights will depart from Friday.
I want to thank Qantas for making their facility available for flight to travel from Ben Gurion airport to London … Two flights have been organised already.
Australians who want to leave Israel on our assisted departure flights must register with the Australian government’s 24-hour consular emergency centre.
Updated
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has held a meeting with the cabinet and outer ministry in Melbourne, and is now stepping up to speak following that meeting.
Farmer says if Australians focus on the referendum question and ignore all the rhetoric and the media, he is confident Australians will embrace the voice:
All they need to do is simply read that question, forget about all the media and rhetoric around at all, and you simply read the question and answer it honestly within their heart. And I have no doubt that if people do that, there will be supportive of the voice.
Now that he’s finished his marathon, he’ll be heading straight to work at the polling booths in Adelaide to campaign for the yes vote:
I won’t stop until the very last moment.
Updated
Pat Farmer describes the struggles of his epic run for the voice
Pat Farmer, the ultramarathon runner and former Liberal MP who today finished running more than 14,000km around Australia in support of the voice to parliament, is speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
He’s telling the program what the last months have been like:
Anybody who knows what it’s like to run a marathon and in particular those that have gone beyond that distance onto the ultra marathons… know what it’s like to be beaten down and broken and then rebuilt.
And that’s basically what this land Australia does to you when you take on a challenge such as that. It breaks you down. You are hit with - as I was - with dust storms, with snow, with sleet, with heavy rain, with driving wind, with temperatures regularly around 40 degrees, and then of course headwinds as well.
And every single step is a struggle to make, but in doing that and in pushing beyond that, you discover a new self within yourself and you become in touch with the body that you are, the mind that you are, and the spirit that you have within and the strength that all of that combined brings out in you.
Read more about his message to the nation about the voice here:
Updated
First Kathleen Folbigg interview to air on TV
Seven’s Spotlight program will air the first interview with Kathleen Folbigg, who was pardoned and released after new scientific evidence threw doubt on her conviction for murdering three of her children, on Sunday at 7pm.
Folbigg spent two decades in prison over the deaths of her four children, following a decision of the New South Wales attorney general, Michael Daley.
She has always maintained her innocence since being convicted in 2003 of the murder of three of her children and the manslaughter of one child.
Folbigg will be interviewed by Sunrise host Natalie Barr, who also conducts an interview with Lindy Chamberlain about the similarities between her and Folbigg’s case.
Folbigg spoke in a video released by Seven on the day of her release but this will be her first interview.
Updated
Total fire ban declared for several NSW regions tomorrow
A total fire ban has been declared for the greater Hunter, greater Sydney, lower central west plains, north western, northern slopes and upper central west plains regions tomorrow due to forecast hot and windy conditions.
Extreme-rated total fire bans start at midnight tonight covering the following council areas:
Greater Sydney region
Greater Hunter: Cessnock, Dungog, Lake Macquarie, Maitland, Muswellbrook, Newcastle, Port Stephens, Singleton, Upper Hunter.
Lower central west plains: Bland, Dubbo, Forbes, Lachlan, Narromine, Parkes, Temora, Weddin
North western: Moree Plains, Narrabri, Walgett, Warrumbungle
Upper central west plains: Bogan, Coonamble, Gilgandra, Warren.
A high rated fire ban starts in the northern slopes for Gunnedah, Gwydir, Inverell, Liverpool Plains and Tamworth.
Updated
Dutton incorrect in claiming PM has not condemned antisemitism
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has falsely claimed that Anthony Albanese has not condemned antisemitism – even though the prime minister has done so multiple times since Monday.
During a press conference this afternoon, Dutton said antisemitism “just doesn’t have any place in our country” and added:
I want to welcome the comments by Bill Shorten and by Richard Marles in condemnation of some of the behaviour we saw and the antisemitic conduct of some people who were at the rally at the Opera House.
I just can’t understand why the prime minister can’t get his line and length here and why the prime minister can’t see antisemitism playing out when it’s on the screens, it’s in the newspapers and it’s horrifying millions of Australians. This is conduct that deserves condemnation from the highest office in the country and the prime minister should be out there sending a very clear message that these rallies shouldn’t take place.
However, on Sky News on Monday, Albanese acknowledged that “there’s been a rise in antisemitism” and it was “just wrong”.
On 2GB on Monday afternoon – shortly before the rally in Sydney CBD – Albanese said the march should not go ahead and “people need to really take a step back”.
At a press conference on Tuesday, Albanese said he was “concerned about the rise of antisemitism”.
Later on Sky News on Tuesday, Albanese condemned the chants that were said at the rally outside the Opera House:
I’ve now seen the images just recently and they’re horrific, quite clearly slogans which are antisemitic and just appalling, with no place. And I did say that that demonstration shouldn’t have gone ahead and I stand by that.
On ABC TV on Tuesday, Albanese said:
And there’s no place for antisemitism in this country or, indeed, anywhere else. We need to fight racism wherever we see it, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, some of the racially charged comments that have been made against Indigenous Australians during this referendum. It has no place. And I find the fact that people thought it was appropriate to chant one of the slogans that I’ve heard – I won’t even repeat on air – to be completely reprehensible.
Updated
Environment laws need climate trigger, Greens say after living wonders judgment
The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the judgment highlighted why reform of Australia’s environmental laws needed to include a climate trigger to ensure the climate impact of projects was assessed when they were considered by the environment minister.
The Greens have introduced a bill to establish a climate trigger. Hanson-Young said Australia’s environment laws were “broken so long as they fail to tackle climate change”.
If minister Plibersek wants to protect nature and tackle climate change, she should work with the Greens and back our climate trigger bill in the Senate as part of the environment law reform she has promised. My door is open for that conversation in good faith.
Australians voted for climate action at the last election, but every time the government fights to approve a coal or gas project, they are putting Australia at risk of more frequent and extreme bushfires this summer.
Updated
No decision yet on whether coalmines related to living wonders case will be approved, Plibersek says
In a statement, the environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the government would work through the implications of the judgment in the Living Wonders climate federal court challenge.
She said no decision had been made yet on whether the two projects would be approved.
She said the government had policies to address climate change:
Our strong new climate safeguard laws, developed with the Greens Party and independents, mean that coal and gas projects must comply with Australia’s commitment to net zero.
We are approving more renewable energy than ever before. This week our Government approved the biggest battery project in Asia. And just a couple of weeks ago, we gave the green light to a massive new solar farm in Queensland that will produce enough power for around 200,000 households – a city about the size of Townsville. A million megawatts more power, and a million tonnes fewer emissions.
Updated
Lawyers for environment council ‘bitterly disappointed’ by living wonders judgment
The Environment Council of Central Queensland’s legal representative, Environmental Justice Australia, said unless the case was appealed against, the outcome “effectively clears the way for the minister to ignore climate change in her risk assessment of all new coal and gas projects on her desk”.
The ECoCeQ president, Christine Carlisle, said the group’s members respected the court’s decision “but we are bitterly disappointed and alarmed by what this means for our living wonders”:
I am alarmed that under our law as it currently stands, it is somehow not our Environment Minister’s job to protect our environment from the biggest threat – climate change from new gas and coal.
Updated
Federal court dismisses challenge to living wonders case
The federal court has dismissed a legal challenge to decisions made by the environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, in relation to two proposed coalmine expansions.
Known as the living wonders case, the legal action launched by the Environment Council of Central Queensland (ECoCeQ) alleged the minister failed to protect the environment from climate harm when she decided the projects could move to the next stage of the federal assessment process.
The two mines, both in NSW, were Whitehaven Coal’s proposed extension of its Narrabri underground coal project and MACH Energy’s planned expansion of its Mount Pleasant operations. ECoCeQ had sought a judicial review of Plibersek’s decisions.
In a judgment delivered this afternoon, Justice Shaun McElwaine dismissed the case, finding the minister had not acted outside her obligations.
McElwaine said whether or not the minister should explicitly consider climate change when making decisions under national environmental laws was a matter for the parliament to deal with.
Updated
Two people feared dead after outback crash inferno
At least two people are feared to have perished after a truck and car crashed in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, sparking a chemical fire, AAP reports.
A prime mover truck and car were incinerated on Tuesday afternoon when they crashed on the Great Northern Highway at Karijini, about 20km south of the Auski roadhouse.
Police have not been able to examine the scene because of the fire, but believe there are no survivors.
The truck is thought to have been carrying a significant quantity of ammonium nitrate, a white crystalline salt widely used in fertilisers and explosives.
Radiant heat from the fire prevented firefighters approaching the scene overnight.
A 2km exclusion zone was set up around the crash site and to protect the public and emergency services workers.
Major crash detectives will attend the scene once the area is safe.
Updated
Thanks Emily and a good afternoon to you blog readers.
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. I’ll leave you with my colleague Natasha May, with lots of news still to come this afternoon. Take care.
Consumer spending holding up, surveys by CBA, NAB show
Australia’s economy continues to show resilience, with two monthly surveys of consumer spending by CBA and NAB out today pointing to growth even with the full effects of higher interest rates still to play out.
CommBank’s Household spending Index, with monitors spending by some 7m people, rose 0.5% in September, matching the previous month’s increase. While weak, the pace of growth - averaging about 0.5%-0.6% since June - was faster than the 0.2% monthly clip in February and March.
Higher prices were part of the story but there was “still a preference to spend given strong household income growth and previously accumulated savings”, CommBank said.
NAB’s own transaction data showed greater variation, with spending up 0.3% since September following a revised 1.4% increase in August.
NAB’s chief economist Alan Oster said:
Higher fuel prices have contributed to spending but growth remains positive when fuel is excluded.
On the other hand, some discretionary categories have been declining, including arts, recreation & travel, and transport services.
Many households are no doubt doing it tough, with the Reserve Bank noting earlier today that households were forking out about one-tenth of disposable income on debt repayments. Still, the increase in spending means “near-term upside risks remain” for another interest rate rise.
Consumer price inflation figures for the September quarter, due out on 25 October, will be one set of stats to watch out for.
Circling back to early voting in the regions for the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum:
More than a third of voters from the regional Queensland electorate of Maranoa have already cast their ballot in the upcoming referendum.
As of today, more than 10,000 postal votes and over 23,000 pre-polling votes have been registered by the AEC across the vast electorate that spans from the state’s east to the South Australian border.
At a pre-polling station inside a local church in Warwick, a no campaigner sets up conflutes and hands out how to vote pamphlets as voters trickle by:
I haven’t been very involved in the campaign, but I just wanted to help out today and do the right thing.
The electorate, held by Nationals leader David Litteproud, is expected to record a large no vote in the referendum.
Dutton continues calls for National Security Committee to convene
Meanwhile, at a press conference earlier this afternoon, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, continued his calls for the National Security Committee to convene:
… The prime minister does not have any coherent reason as to why the committee has not been convened. I think it is a very significant issue.
Speaking of the pro-Palestine rally on Monday night, Dutton also said “the NSW police commissioner and NSW police minister [owe an] enormous apology to people from the Jewish community”.
I think the premier [Chris Minns] needs to step up in a way that the prime minister has not, to come down heavily and not issue permits and not allow these protests to take place where there is an element of excitement and hatred and [that] does not have any place in our community.
Updated
Clare O’Neil confirms national crisis mechanism activated over Israel-Hamas war
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has just spoken to Sky News and says the national coordination mechanism has been triggered in response to the Israel-Hamas war.
The NCM was implemented after the Covid-19 pandemic. According to the Dfat website, it is a key tool for preparing for, responding to and recovering from any crises.
It ensures the full capabilities of the federal, state and territory governments and, if required, the private sector are “brought to bear” during a crisis. The NCM ensures coordination, communication and collaboration, but “is not a mechanism for command and control”, the Dfat website says.
Updated
Thousands cast referendum votes early in Cowra, NSW
Pre-polling for Saturday’s referendum is open across regional Australia, and in the New South Wales electorate of Riverina, a steady stream of voters have travelled to Cowra to cast their vote.
Cowra, located near Bathurst in the state’s Central West, hosts one of ten pre-polling voting centres across the electorate.
People who live more than 8km from a voting centre can cast their vote early, alongside those who may be unwell, working on voting day, or travelling.
The local Uniting Church hall has transformed into a pre-polling site, with two no campaign corflutes at the entrance. There are no volunteers for either side handing out pamphlets, with an Australian Electoral Commission staff keeping watch at the entrance.
More than 28,000 voters across the electorate have voted yes or no to an Indigenous voice to parliament. The electorate includes the city of Wagga Wagga, where a Miss Wagga Wagga Quest contestant recently withdrew from the competition after being told not to wear a yes campaign badge.
Updated
In her speech, Penny Wong reiterated her criticism of antisemitic slogans at recent pro-Palestine rallies. The foreign affairs minister told the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce:
Just as we stand with Israel we stand with the Australian Jewish community – and we will do everything we need to do to keep the community safe.
People come to Australia because they want to live in a country that is peaceful, tolerant and respectful. I don’t need to tell you how important it is that we protect that.
There is no place here for antisemitism. There is no place here for hate speech.
The antisemitic slogans in protests these last days have been rightly condemned by the Prime Minister, me and many others.
Those that engage in these acts must understand their hatred rails against the values Australians share, that we together safeguard.
Israel faces a crisis today. But Israel will endure. It must.
Wong says two-state solution now ‘further out of reach’
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says Hamas’s attacks on Israel have pushed a two-state solution “further out of reach”.
Addressing an Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce event in Melbourne today, Wong also promised to “stand with the Australian Jewish community – and we will do everything we need to do to keep the community safe”.
Wong began the speech by condemning the “barbaric attacks on Israel by Hamas”, which she said cannot be justified:
We unequivocally condemn the attack by Hamas: indiscriminate rocket fire, the targeting of civilians and the taking of hostages.
I reiterate Israel’s right to defend itself.
More Jews were killed on Saturday than on any day since the Holocaust. For a people who have known the horror of genocide, this fact cuts deep.
Over 1,000 people in Israel have been killed, as many as 150 people taken from Israel and held hostage in Gaza.
I again express my deepest sympathies to those impacted by these heinous acts.
We are shocked. We are horrified. And we grieve with you.
Wong said it would be “cold comfort at such a time of grief to reflect that the story of the Jewish people is a story of extraordinary courage and resilience”.
But she said it was important to “proclaim that resilience and courage, in the face of thousands of years of persecution and many of the worst atrocities in human history”.
Wong said Australia remained “as steadfast and unwavering as ever in our support for Israel”.
She added that “the just and enduring peace Israelis deserve would only be enhanced by a negotiated two-state solution, in which Israel and a future Palestinian state coexist, in peace and security, within internationally recognised borders”.
One of the many tragic consequences of Hamas’s abhorrent attack is that it has pushed that two-state solution further out of reach.
That also makes this … an unconscionable crime perpetrated by Hamas against the Palestinian people.
Updated
After a week of firefighting efforts conducted by hundreds of volunteers, the Coolagolite Road fire was officially declared contained last night.
In a social media post this afternoon, the NSW Rural Fire Service said crews will continue to patrol the fireground over the coming days:
Following a week of hard work by hundreds of firefighters, the Coolagolite Rd Fire was declared contained last night. Crews will continue to patrol the fireground over coming days, working predominantly on the southern edge to strengthen containment and extinguish hotspots. pic.twitter.com/svSayqnEZA
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 11, 2023
The Coolagolite blaze ripped through the Bega Valley last Tuesday night, with properties confirmed as lost during the fire. It burnt more than 5000 hectares before being downgraded following a southerly change that eased conditions.
Baarack the sheep dies two years after being found with 35kg of overgrown fleece
Baarack the sheep, who was rescued and shorn of his overgrown, 35kg fleece two years ago – capturing the hearts of the world in the process – has sadly died.
Found wandering the Cobaw State Forrest in 2021, Baarack looked more like a moving cloud than a sheep and was taken to not-for-profit haven Edgar’s Mission in Victoria.
The Mission announced today that Baarack has died at about 10 years of age, succumbing to cancer.
A statement says Baarack’s story reached over 12 million people across the world when he was rescued two years ago. Sanctuary founder Pam Ahern said that since posting news of his passing, “people from all around the world are reaching out with their sympathy”.
He really was one truly amazing sheep. That he could touch the hearts of so many without them even meeting him speaks of this.
Ahern said Baarack’s legacy reminds us how “amazing and forgiving” sheep are:
And too the incredible power of kindness, for had the kind heart who saved Baarack that day, all those years ago, looked the other way, Baarack would never have been seen.
Updated
Coercive control to carry maximum penalty of 14 years’ jail under new Queensland laws
Coercive conduct will be criminalised and carry a maximum penalty of 14 years’ imprisonment under new laws introduced into Queensland parliament today.
It comes after Guardian Australia reported earlier on Wednesday that the government will seek to make the removal of a condom without consent illegal under an affirmative consent model.
Under the proposed laws, the coercive control offence will apply to those in domestic relationships in cases where a person engages in domestic violence on more than one occasion.
It will relate to instances where a person intends to coerce or control the other person when their conduct is reasonably likely to cause another person harm.
In the bill, harm is defined as “any [temporary or permanent] detrimental effect on the person’s physical, emotional, financial, psychological or mental wellbeing.”
The legislation was a recommendation of the Women’s Safety and Justice taskforce. The parents of Hannah Clarke, Sue and Lloyd, have long been strong advocates of criminalising coercive control.
Hannah and her three children, Aaliyah, Laianah and Trey, were tragically murdered by her estranged husband in 2020.
Sue Clarke said:
As a result of this legislation victims will at last have that extra layer of support that only the criminal justice system can provide.
We urge everyone who sees friends or loved ones experiencing coercive control to give them unconditional support.
It often takes many attempts to leave, and they need to know that their networks will be there for them when they make that break.
Updated
Tight turnaround for school halls between referendum voting and final exams
Thousands of schools across the nation are facing a dual battle in the week ahead as the upcoming referendum clashes with end of year exams.
Of about 7,000 voting centres to be in operation nationwide for Saturday’s referendum, approximately 3,900 are at primary and secondary schools.
The Australian Electoral Commission said venues were contacted for their availability once the election or referendum date was known.
A spokesperson said:
If the venue isn’t available, we find an alternative where possible in that town or suburb.
New South Wales will face a two-day turnaround to prep halls ahead of a maths HSC exam on Monday morning, expected to be sat by about 65,000 students across the state.
Updated
Division between Aboriginal leaders over voice ‘based on whether you understand our history’: Dodson
Answering his final question at the National Press Club, Pat Dodson is asked if he imagined the voice debate would transpire as it has when we was first appointed as special envoy.
Dodson said he “always thought there would be division and opposition and underlying racism”, and that “nothing with the no case surprises me”.
What does surprise me is this is the first time that we’ve had in the public space a clear division between Aboriginal leaders.
He said this division is “quite substantial” and not “just a matter of opinion”:
It’s a division based on whether you understand our history, that this nation was colonised, that Aboriginal people were forcibly subjugated, that they were denied an opportunity to say how they would be impacted, or whether you say it’s all cosy, and that we were picked up in a truck and taken to the winter wonderland and we live there in some sort of rose garden.
Updated
Dodson expresses concern for future political debates amid no campaign’s ‘methodology’
Still answering questions from the media, Pat Dodson argued there is a “different methodology” underpinning the no campaign that Australians “ought to be concerned about”.
He said this in response to a question around the media’s role in the Indigenous voice to parliament debate.
Dodson:
I’m not saying that just because I support the yes campaign, but I’m concerned for the future political debates and our election campaigns and the quality of our social and civil discourses as a nation around many other issues, if we allow the dynamics that have underpinned the no campaign to dominate the future of how our democratic society will work in the future.
That goes to big questions around individualism and the communal interests.
Updated
‘Huge healing process’ will follow referendum regardless of vote outcome, Dodson says
No matter the outcome of Saturday’s referendum, there will be a “huge healing process” ahead, Pat Dodson said.
We’ve been trying to heal this nation for a fairly long time.
He said there had been a number of opportunities to look at ourselves and a country and do better. He listed Mabo, the Bringing Them Home report, apology to the stolen generation and the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody.
… We’ve had a number of occasions where we can look ourselves in the face as a nation and say, these are the awful things we have done … and [ask] can we do better? And what are the impediments to us doing better?
How we deal with that question is going to require different methodology, he said, that involves finding common ground around contentious issues so we can move forward.
Updated
‘Optimistic’ to hope for Human Rights Act in Australia, Dodson says
Guardian Australia’s Paul Karp asks Pat Dodson whether a Human Rights Act could improve practical outcomes for Indigenous Australians?
Dodson replies that it’s “optimistic to think we’ll ever get a Human Rights Act nationally”.
You can’t even get recognition in the constitution.
We’re battling with recognising the First Peoples at the moment, and you’re wanting to go a step further and saying parliament could consider at a Human Rights Act, that could deal with the rights and interests of its citizens, when it’s been so opposed to that?
Dodson said it “takes a long time” in Australia to develop things “that are positive for the quality of our nation”, and a Human Rights Act would require an extensive education process – requiring the goodwill of all people.
That’s what I’m trying to appeal to today … Goodwill can’t be decided by polls. Goodwill is in the hearts and aspirations and in the hopes of the Australian voter.
The Australian voter has a chance to give us all hope, and remove the fear from the politics that we’ve seen.
Updated
Reconciliation ‘a two-way street’: Pat Dodson
Senator Pat Dodson is asked what reconciliation looks like without a voice to parliament?
“As it looks now,” he says:
It’s the challenge of the Australian people to find common ground with the Aboriginal people.
It’s a two-way street. This is not a one-way street here.
Dodson said he is worried about the future of Australia’s young people – “that’s Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people”.
Do we want to leave a legacy that we stand for supporting lies? That there are no Aboriginal people here and there’s no need to recognise them? Is that what we’re going to stand for?
Updated
Dodson says he will not ‘be ruled by polls’ as voice vote approaches
As the referendum approaches this Saturday, senator Pat Dodson said he is “not going to be ruled by polls” and will wait to see how the public votes.
Regardless of the outcome, Dodson is asked whether he would welcome more transparency around how land council’s operate:
He said it would be “backward-looking” to “destroy what [have] been effective, useful instruments”.
… not just for the Aboriginal people, but for facilitating the way the industry groups are able to interact and assert their interests or bring them to bear.
He argued those in the no campaign are also advocating for “getting rid of any capacity for Aboriginal people to say no on matters that are critical to their future and to their culture and to their sustainability”.
It trickles down through our organisations like land councils and medical service, you may as well put the bureaucrats back in charge. Bring back an over-protector and let those people decide how the Aborigines are going to live and … what we can’t and can do.
Updated
Debate around voice referendum ‘is about the nature of our civic society’: Dodson
Senator Pat Dodson said it saddened him that “division and acrimony has crept into the debate”.
He said he was concerned that “this goes to the very fabric of our civil exchanges as a democratic nation”.
This is not just about the Aboriginal referendum here. This is about the nature of our civic society. This is about how the polity of our country is governed and run.
This will affect us in the future as the modus operandi of what and who is accountable in the way they conduct public discourse.
Dodson said through social media, people could say anything and there was “no weighting of the arguments, no real analysis of the arguments, no historic dimension, no acceptance of history, no acknowledgment of the legacy that history has created”.
There’s consequences from colonisation. There’s serious consequences.
Dodson was then asked directly about comments made by the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, that there were no lasting negative impacts from colonisation:
Dodson responded with a series of questions:
If we were in the promised land, that some mob want to suggest we’re in, why … have so many of our kids been taken away and put in out of home care? Why is there so much domestic violence and internal violence? Why are we living in poverty? Why are we still suffering from mental health problems?
He then said: “We’re not in the garden of Eden here.”
There’s a consequence of how we came to be colonised. They have to be dealt with.
Updated
‘ATSIC disappeared’ after inquiry into deaths in custody: Dodson
Pat Dodson was a royal commissioner on the Aboriginal deaths in custody royal commission. He responded to questions around why there hasn’t been more action to implement the recommendations of its final report:
Dodson said the recommendations were made when the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) existed, which would play a role in implementing the 339 recommendations. But, “within a matter of years of the recommendations being made, ATSIC disappeared”.
So there was no national entity to drive a national agenda to deal with all of those recommendations.
Dodson said there was a “great need for us to redress” why these recommendations were not implemented, particularly by state jurisdictions, but “today we’re not talking about the royal commission”.
Updated
‘We’re going nowhere and the no campaign wants us to stay there’: Dodson on closing the gap
Speaking of the current efforts to enact change for First Nations communities, senator Pat Dodson said “we’re bogged down in a cul-de-sac of going nowhere”.
We know that from the closing the gap statistics … we’re going nowhere and the no campaign wants us to stay there.
We can’t afford to stay there because it doesn’t take the country forward [and] it doesn’t address the serious problems that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people live under every day of the week.
He appealed to each and every Australian to support the voice to parliament:
We ask the Australian people, the decent good people in this country – and that’s all Australians, I’m not separating anyone out here – to support the simple proposition …
Updated
Dodson says witnessing ‘ongoing injustice’ towards First Nations people drives him
Senator Pat Dodson is the government’s special envoy for reconciliation and the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Speaking to the National Press Club via Broome, he said it was the “ongoing injustice” he had witnessed towards First Nations people over the years that drives him on this journey towards reconciliation:
The out of home placements of our kids, the high levels of incarceration, the high levels of suicide that we see amongst our young people, the awful living conditions and poverty that I see, the lack of hope that I see in the streets, in my own home town in Broome, the awfully frustrating changes that are needed in the criminal justice system and the so-called benefits that we should be enjoying [that] are not being delivered.
Dodson added:
That’s what drives me. We need to change. We need to have an effective voice to the parliament, we need to have recognition as the first peoples.
You can’t live in your own country and not be recognised.
Updated
Voice referendum ‘offers us hope’ and ‘courage’, Pat Dodson tells NPC
Senator Pat Dodson, known by many as the father of reconciliation, is addressing the National Press Club today.
He is speaking from Broome, where he has been recuperating after cancer treatment.
Beginning his address, Dodson thanks everyone who has been advocating for a yes vote on the Indigenous voice to parliament, saying there is “nothing to fear with this referendum”:
I want to thank the prime minister for his leadership in this very challenging process of helping our nation find the basis for unity, find the basis for hope, and find the basis for courage.
That is what the referendum offers to us, if we say yes – it offers us hope, it offers us courage, and it offers us the basis to begin to trust each other, so we can work together in a way that delivers better outcomes for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of this country, and that ultimately brings pride to us as an Australian peoples.
Updated
NSW Jewish Board of Deputies pays tribute to Australian killed in Israel
The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies has paid tribute to the Australian grandmother who was this morning confirmed to have been killed in Israel in the Hamas attack over the weekend:
We are deeply distressed and saddened to hear that Galit Carbone, a 66 year-old Australian grandmother who was living in southern Israel, was murdered….
We wish a long life and strength to her family at this unthinkably tragic time. Jews around the world, as well as all people of good faith, share in their devastation.
May her memory be a blessing.
Updated
Queensland Greens push for free public transport
The Queensland government should make public transport free to combat the cost of living crisis, according to the Greens.
Maiwar MP Michael Berkman gave notice this morning of a motion calling for fares to be slashed to zero, also calling for better disability access at rail stations and more frequent bus services.
The motion reads:
The cost of living crisis is hitting Queenslanders hard, with transport costs a major contributor. According to the Australian automobile association, Brisbane households currently spend an average of 18% of their incomes on transport, including fuel, registration, car loans and insurance, with Townsville households spending an average of $355 per week.
Brisbane public transport fares are among the highest in the country.
According to Translink data, weekly patronage on its South East Queensland services has fallen by 16% from pre-COVID levels in 2019.
The motion calls on the government to make public transport free by increasing the general public transport concession. The cost of every bus and train ticket is already subsidised by the taxpayer.
It comes after a push for free trips at the federal level by Ryan MP Elizabeth Watson-Brown.
The parliamentary budget office estimated a 12-month trial would cost the commonwealth about $2.2bn.
Updated
Australian banks only passed on three-quarters of interest rate rises to depositors, Reserve Bank says
Australia’s banks have only passed on about three-quarters of the increase in interest rates since May 2022 to depositors, while debt repayments by borrowers still have further to rise, a senior Reserve Bank official says.
The RBA’s cash rate has risen by 400 basis points since the central bank began lifting rates. The increase for deposits – roughly 300 basis points – is in line with previous phases of interest rate rise, and compares favourably with New Zealand and the US where the proportion passed by banks has been 50% and 35%, assistant governor Christopher Kent said in a speech today.
Read more:
Qantas, Virgin asked to help repatriate Australians from Israel
The Australian government has asked Qantas and Virgin for urgent help to repatriate Australians from Israel.
On Monday the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, directed the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to commence contingency planning for “assisted-departure flights”, meaning government-backed flights.
Guardian Australia understands the minister for transport, Catherine King, has since spoken with the chief executives of both airlines to “convey the government’s sense of urgency and ask them to work with Dfat on options for repatriation flights”.
It is understood about 12,000 Australians are in Israel, although many of these are dual nationals who may not necessarily wish to leave.
Wong last night urged people not to wait for government-backed repatriation flights if they found a commercial option to leave the region.
It is understood at least 122 Australians have left the region since the crisis began at the weekend.
This morning the government confirmed that an Australian woman living in Israel, Galit Carbone, had been killed in the Hamas attack, with Wong saying “there is no excuse for the deliberate killing of innocent civilians”.
Australia must ‘accept responsibility’ for refugees exiled to PNG, advocacy groups say
The Asylum Seeker Resource Centre, Amnesty International Australia, Human Rights Law Centre, community groups and refugees are calling on the Australian government to “accept its responsibility and duty of care” for dozens of refugees “exiled to Papua New Guinea a decade ago”.
As Rebecca Kuku, Ben Doherty and Paul Karp brought you over the weekend, refugees exiled to PNG will be sent back to Australia if the Australian government fails to continue funding PNG’s humanitarian program:
A statement from the ARSC says tensions between Australia and PNG come as the crisis for refugees in PNG worsens:
Many are suffering from complex and multiple physical and mental health conditions, are not receiving adequate medical care, and more than a dozen are so unwell they are unable to function in everyday life, and unable to engage in resettlement pathways.
A refugee held in PNG for more than 10 years, who wishes to remain anonymous, said:
I have been in limbo for 10 years… I don’t know where to go. I don’t know anyone here. Where will I go? It feels like I’m not a human. It’s stressful, confusing, unjust and cruel.
Safety is my main concern. I need safety. I hope the Australian government resettles us in a safe place like New Zealand, US or Australia.
The refugee advocacy groups are calling on the Australian government to urgently evacuate the remaining refugees trapped in PNG to safety in Australia.
Updated
‘History will not look kindly’ on NSW premier, pro-Palestine rally organiser says
An organiser of the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Monday night has said “history will not look kindly” on NSW premier Chris Minns.
This comes as Minns apologised to the Jewish community for the rally, and said “it won’t happen again”.
NSW police have also said a pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday is “unauthorised” (more details here earlier on the blog).
Writing on X, rally organiser Fahad Ali said:
Palestinians are dying. Our families and friends are dying. Where is our space to grieve? Why can’t we protest the devastation of Palestinian lives? Why have politicians centred one group of victims over another?
We’re protesting. History will not look kindly on [Minns].
Meanwhile, the Greens have accused the NSW government of “pouring fuel on the flames of division in the community” after its response to the initial pro-Palestine rally on Monday.
Updated
National Mental Health Consumer Alliance disappointed no mobile polling teams will visit hospitals
The National Mental Health Consumer Alliance has written to the Australian Electoral Commission to express its disappointment that mobile polling teams will not be visiting hospitals during the referendum campaign.
A decision to stay away from hospitals during the 2022 federal election due to the risk of contamination and transmission during the pandemic has been made permanent, surprising many in the medical community.
The AEC told Guardian Australia that “hospital patients who are long term can apply for a postal vote and people who are in hospital for a short stay close to referendum day will have either already voted or are in a serious situation where voting isn’t their priority”.
The Alliance acknowledges that mobile polling teams will not be in place by Saturday, but wants the decision to be overturned for the next election.
Here’s its statement:
Without providing mobile voting teams, or alternatively initiating a proactive in-reach program to facilitate postal voting, the AEC is depriving many people of a fundamental democratic right of Australian citizens to vote in elections and referendum.
Our members are deeply concerned at this decision and would like to see it reversed before the next election whether that be a council, state or federal election in any jurisdiction.
Given that the worst of the pandemic appears to be over, we demand that the AEC reverses its decision and reinstates temporary voting facilities at all public and private hospitals.
Updated
Closing loopholes bill ‘important’ to stop erosion of conditions for labour hire workers, officials say
More on the officials from the Flight Attendants Association of Australia, who are giving evidence at a Senate inquiry into Labor’s closing loopholes bill:
Officials said that Qantas Airways Ltd and Qantas Domestic have clauses that allow them to hire casuals.
Labor’s closing loopholes bill proposes that where companies have struck a collective pay agreement with workers, if it then engages workers through labour hire to perform the same job they must be paid the same rate.
The officials concluded the legislation is “important to stop the continued erosion of conditions in agreements”.
Once we reach an agreement … the company just starts another labour hire [entity] with less conditions [than] they’ve already agreed to.
Employees of the wholly owned subsidiaries will get a payment if they miss a meal break. But employees of labour hire entity Altara get “no break, no payment”, they said.
Updated
Jetstar’s international cabin crew paid as little as $2.16 an hour: union
Officials from the Flight Attendants Association of Australia are giving evidence at a Senate inquiry into Labor’s closing loopholes bill, taking aim at Qantas and Jetstar for paying cabin crew through 17 different entities.
The officials federal secretary Teri O’Toole, and vice president domestic Angela McManus, said “the committee may be surprised to know that there have been no cabin crew employed by Qantas, international or domestic operations, since 2008”.
In 2008 international crew were split into the creation of a new entity, a wholly owned subsidiary company called Qantas Cabin Crew Australia. At the time a Qantas Airlines Ltd flight attendant would have been paid approximately $44.84 an hour.
The new Qantas Cabin Crew, Australia, or QCCA contract was $21.46, approximately 52 per cent less. Domestically the same type of a subsidiary was introduced, this labour hire company was called Qantas Domestic ... the wages were approximately 28 percent less and there was a significant reduction in conditions, more hours over time…
The officials said “this practice didn’t stop there and Qantas have continued to do this”.
Currently, there are 17 cabin crew entities within the Qantas group. Jetstar international have Thai and Indonesian workers that are paid $2.16 and $2.93 per hour, flying on Australian aircraft.
Tributes are flowing from those within the Australian comedy scene following the death of comedian Cal Wilson.
Comedian Rebecca Shaw has remembered Wilson as being “once of the kindest, warmest most generous people” in the comedy world:
So devastated we have lost Cal Wilson. One of the kindest, warmest most generous people I’ve ever known in the comedy world, or out. In the coming days you will see how beloved she was by everyone, and for good reason. Sending all my strength to everyone who loved her too
— Bec Shaw (@Brocklesnitch) October 11, 2023
Comedian Josh Earl has also posted a tribute to Wilson, sharing a number of memories online:
So sad to hear about Cal Wilson. Genuinely one of the nicest people in this industry. And fun.
So sad to hear about Cal Wilson. Genuinely one of the nicest people in this industry. And fun. Here she is in Katherine after we made our tour manager buy us 38 pool noodles so we could act like children in the hotel pool. pic.twitter.com/lcJNtF8sOm
— Josh Earl's 100% Hits Vol. Pod (@MrJoshEarl) October 10, 2023
This same tour Cal was MCing and jokingly asked if anyone owned a crocodile. A woman yelled out "yep" and then Cal convinced her to go home and get it. She did. Look at how happy we were with it pic.twitter.com/Nk9UyE4OQe
— Josh Earl's 100% Hits Vol. Pod (@MrJoshEarl) October 11, 2023
Meanwhile, singer-songwriter and actor Brendan Maclean has shared this tribute:
We only met a few times but Cal used to put my songs on her pre-show playlist and would regularly reach out asking for songs by queer indie artists. I thought that was the coolest thing ever.
Read about Cal Wilson passing - having a very long sit on the ground. We only met a few times but Cal used to put my songs on her pre-show playlist and would regularly reach out asking for songs by queer indie artists. I thought that was the coolest thing ever. 💔
— Brendan 💫 (@macleanbrendan) October 10, 2023
Updated
Greens accuse NSW government of 'pouring fuel' on community division after pro-Palestine protest
The Greens have accused the NSW government of “pouring fuel on the flames of division in the community” after its response to the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Monday.
In a statement, Greens spokesperson for police Sue Higginson argued NSW police “know how to manage emotionally charged protests safely”.
The spontaneous nature of this protest is characteristic of genuine protest and the Police successfully managed the event without arrests or harm.
Peaceful protest is a fundamental act within a mature democracy.
The statement calls on NSW police minister Yasmin Catley to “ensure police fulfil their duty to keep people safe” and for the government to ensure “all people can peacefully assemble to express themselves at this time”.
Higginson said arguments from senior NSW government ministers and the opposition that Monday’s protest was illegal and unlawful are “simply untrue and terribly oppressive”.
People in NSW do have the right to gather peacefully and all Australians have a lawful implied freedom of political communication.
It is also the case that people do not need permission from the police to peacefully assemble and protest on public land and senior members of the Government should know this.
Updated
Almost 70,000 year 12 students across New South Wales are now in exam halls completing their first English papers to kick off the season.
A total of 124 HSC exams will run for the next three-and-a-half weeks, as 13 years of schooling comes to an anxious finish.
Premier of NSW Chris Minns will mark the important day for HSC students at an event in Heffron:
To everyone sitting their exams, I wish you all the very best. All of NSW is behind you as you enter this exam period. Do your best – that is all anyone can ask of you.
Deputy premier and minister for education and early learning Prue Car has delivered one message to the HSC Class of 2023:
Trust in your abilities, reflect on all that you have learnt, and enter every exam room with confidence and determination. Balance your exam and study schedule with regular downtime, connect with friends and loved ones and get plenty of sleep.
I would especially like to thank the parents and teachers who have supported our HSC students to reach this milestone. They have inspired, educated and nurtured a love for learning in their children and students.
Circling back to a new report launched by Airbnb (more on that here):
At the event to launch its report, Airbnb Australia head of public policy, Michael Crosby, was grilled on the Victorian government’s levy.
He said the short-stay platform had previously lobbied the government for the introduction of a lower, broad-based levy on all accomodation to fund housing, as well as better regulation of the sector.
Crosby said in the lead up to former premier Daniel Andrews’ announcement a few weeks ago, Airbnb had a number of discussions with the Victorian government:
We have outlined for some time our support of regulation of the short stay sector in Victoria. We certainly outlined a number of measures, what we saw as sustainable, fair and equitable ways of regulating a sector across the state.
We certainly said that we do support the concept of a short stay levy … on all accommodation providers, contributing to critical infrastructure that could be used for housing.
But he said the government’s levy only applied to short stay rentals and was much higher than the 3% they proposed:
The 7.5% [levy] is out of whack with what we’ve seen in other comparable jurisdictions across the world.
He said in Canada, most levies are about “5% or less”, while there is a proposal in Queenstown, New Zealand, for a 5% levy. Crosby said Airbnb was “disappointed that it was only going to be a short stay levy”.
The levy would raise a lot more, and cost consumers less, if it was completely accommodation agnostic, and applied to any form of accommodation.
He said the short-stay platform would be lobbying the government to exclude budget options - such as renting a room - from the levy:
The 7.5% levy will have a disproportionate impact on budget conscious travellers and people who need affordable accommodation.
Crosby said it’s likely “some visitors may choose to look elsewhere for for their accommodation” as a result of the state government’s changes.
NSW has flagged following suit.
Comedian and TV host Cal Wilson dies aged 53
The comedian, writer and actor Cal Wilson has died at age 53.
She died surrounded by family and friends at Royal Prince Alfred hospital in Sydney, after a short illness.
A statement from Token Artists said:
Cal’s generosity, talent and friendship have been constants in the Australian comedy scene for the last twenty years.
Cal was loved by her family, friends, fans and peers and a huge hole has been torn in the heart of our community.
You can read more here:
Updated
More from NSW police on a planned pro-Palestine rally in Sydney this Sunday:
Speaking to the media, the NSW police officer said police would encourage people “not to attend” the planned rally, and that they will do further messaging on this later in the week once negotiations with the organisers are complete.
The officer said there will be “operational decisions” for those on the ground on the day.
We will be giving instructions to commanders in relation to activities.
He also responded to “criticism” police have received for not making more arrests on Monday night at the last rally:
Identification of the individuals involved proved exceptionally difficult at the time, so [we] going through an investigative process at the moment.
Anyone committing offences, we will take action.
Updated
Pro-Palestine rally planned for Sunday is ‘unauthorised’, NSW police say
NSW police have said a pro-Palestine rally planned for this Sunday is “unauthorised” because the form was submitted too late to be considered properly.
Earlier, police minister Yasmin Catley said if a second rally was to go ahead organisers would need to submit an application form – known as “form one” – and if it was not it would be considered unlawful and “people can be arrested”.
NSW police have now confirmed that while the group has submitted a form one for Sunday, the force did not have the required seven-day time window to “consider it appropriately”.
Q: So it will not be happening?
NSW police officer:
It is unauthorised at this stage.
It was not submitted to us in the appropriate timeframe. Organisers might decide to move it and if that is the case, there will be considerations.
But NSW police said they “do not have the powers to stop people attending”.
He said if a protest is authorised police can “protect the participants from certain offences in relation to the obstruction of traffic, blocking the roadways and doing a number of other things”.
Where a protest is unauthorised, people who meet for that purpose do not meet those protections.
Police added that because the form one was not submitted in time:
That gives us the opportunity of taking them to the supreme court to have that assembly determined to be unlawful.
Updated
NSW police launches ‘operation shelter’ to bolster response to protests
NSW police have announced the commencement of “operation shelter” to coordinate the police response to future protests in the state, after the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney on Monday night.
Speaking to the media, a NSW police officer said the operation will:
Capture all intelligence available to us in relation to community sentiment, potential protest activity and potential demonstrations that might take place in the future.
The officer said it was “not ideal” that police have to take these steps to coordinate activity across the state.
Obviously there has been a fair bit of activity over the past few days which we believe will continue into the foreseeable future, and I think it is incumbent upon us to … coordinate activities not just within the city region, but also across the broader State of New South Wales.
The intent of the operation is to ensure community safety. That is always our primary purpose …
Updated
In pictures – Pat Farmer at the Uluru finish line
Guardian photographer Mike Bowers is on the ground at Uluru covering Pat Farmer’s Run for the voice and this leg of prime minister Anthony Albanese’s yes campaign blitz.
Bowers has been capturing all the action, with these photos just coming through:
Updated
Back to Uluru, where prime minister Anthony Albanese said it has been the “honour of [his] life” to advocate for an Indigenous voice to parliament, the “most important of campaigns”.
To do what John Howard spoke about almost 20 years ago, to make our constitution complete – it is incomplete while it pretends that this nation began in 1788.
Here at Uluru, the heart of Australia, we are given a reminder of the spiritual and cultural significance of this wonderful place in the heart of this great country that … non-Indigenous Australians have the great privilege of sharing with the oldest continuous culture on earth.
ABC and Sky News gear up for voice coverage on weekend
The networks are gearing up for blanket coverage of the voice referendum on Saturday.
From 5.30pm on Saturday, Jeremy Fernandez will lead the ABC’s coverage of the results of the voice referendum.
An expert panel will be anchored by Bridget Brennan, David Speers and Dan Bourchier, with insights and analysis from chief elections analyst Antony Green, chief political correspondent Laura Tingle, Isabella Higgins and Patricia Karvelas.
On Sky News Australia, Kieran Gilbert will anchor a panel from 5pm with political editor Andrew Clennell, Chris Kenny and Peta Credlin.
On ABC Radio Fran Kelly will be live on local radio from 8am on Saturday and ABC NewsRadio will provide continuous coverage of the referendum count.
On the ABC on Sunday, Speers and Higgins will be joined by John Paul Janke and David Crowe for a 90-minute post-referendum Insiders, with analysis from Casey Briggs and interviews with leading figures in the Yes and No campaigns.
Updated
Albanese says Pat Farmer an ‘absolute inspiration’ as he urges yes vote
More from Uluru, where Pat Farmer has spoken to the media on his final leg of his walk for the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Standing with the PM, Farmer said he cried when he finally saw Uluru and understood the importance and deep spiritual power of “this crimson beautiful rock”.
My eyes connected with my soul when I saw it and I felt my purpose in life.
After hugging Farmer, Anthony Albanese said all that Australia needed to do was “walk a few feet into a polling booth and write yes to the request that came from Uluru in 2017”.
There is nothing to fear, everything to gain. Farmer is an absolute inspiration.
Asked what he would say to propel those considering voting no, Farmer said:
Simply read the question and the Uluru statement.
If you read those two things, you can’t possibly go any other way.
Updated
‘What we need is empathy’: Pat Farmer asks Australians to learn about Indigenous culture
Pat Farmer said Uluru has been “a magnet to [his] soul” and he can’t help but feel a spiritual sense of connection between the land and the people who inhabit it.
I invite all of Australia to know and to understand and to learn the Indigenous culture that is Australia … a very proud culture.
On his travels, Farmer said he spoke with an Indigenous leader in Adelaide who said Australians have expressed sympathy to Indigenous people, but they want empathy.
She said we don’t want sympathy … what we need is empathy.
Farmer said empathy allows people to walk in someone’s shows and understand the need to close the gap.
That’s what we have the opportunity to do, and we can change history in this country for the better.
Farmer’s emotion and passion for a yes vote was evident while speaking to the media.
Updated
Pat Farmer says Uluru brought tear to his eye at end of run for the voice
Anthony Albanese is speaking live from Uluru after former Liberal MP Pat Farmer finished his six-month run around Australia advocating for the Indigenous voice to parliament.
The prime minister is making a final pitch to voters ahead of this weekend’s referendum, encouraging people to vote yes with “hope and optimism for the future”.
Speaking after his 14,400km run, Farmer highlights the importance of recognising the rich culture and history of Indigenous Australians through a voice.
I’m very happy to be at this point in the world’s time, where we start to recognise Indigenous communities around the world and the significance of these cultures.
Farmer said while on the final stretch of his run, seeing Uluru brought a tear to his eye as he recognised the significance of this moment and time and reflected on his journey.
Updated
Airbnb contributed $13.6bn to Australia’s economy in a year, report claims
A report commissioned by Airbnb claims the short-stay platform contributed $13.6bn to the nation’s economy and supported 95,000 jobs in the 12 months to March 2023.
The independent report by Oxford Economics, released on Wednesday, said the platform accounted for almost 8% of the tourism industry’s contribution to GDP in between March 2022-2023, up from 5% in the 2019 calendar year.
It also said the platform accounts for 7% of the tourism sector’s total employment in Australia, supporting 94,700 jobs.
Airbnb guests in Australia spent $12.3bn on their trips, including at restaurants, retail and tourist activities. They on average $1,276 per trip during the 12 month period.
The majority – 79% – were domestic tourists, up from 64% in 2019.
Airbnb released the report at an event in Melbourne, where the state government has recently announced a 7.5% levy on all short-stay accommodation.
They said the state accounts for a quarter of Airbnb’s activity in Australia, with the majority (56%) of travellers to the state visiting cities outside greater Melbourne.
Updated
Minns says HSC exams ‘not the end of the world’
NSW premier Chris Minns has joined the chorus of politicians wishing students well ahead of their first HSC exams today.
He urged students to “put it all in perspective” and remember “it’s not the end of the world”.
I realise it can be a really stressful period, so I’m hoping that the students have an opportunity to put it all in perspective … it’s not the end of world.
Minns shared his own experience of completing the HSC, and said there are “many opportunities in our world class education system”.
The HSC is just one part in your educational adventure and I can speak on behalf of my year cohort, the number of people that either didn’t complete the HSC or didn’t get the mark that they hoped for, but went on to lead successful, happy, professional careers, is enormous.
Updated
Labor senator Tony Sheldon has said Qantas chairman Richard Goyder should “go now” after Qantas announced he would retire by late 2024.
Writing on X, Sheldon said “meaningful change” would be compensating the 1700 ground staff who were found to be illegally sacked, or offering employment to any worker who wants their job back.
They should also support closing the Qantas labour hire loophole.
Over their tenure, [Alan] Joyce and Goyder have outsourced much of the workforce to 38 labour hire companies and subsidiaries in order to drive down wages.
This would go some way in repairing the long term damage to Qantas caused by Joyce and Goyder.
Updated
'Hell of a journey': Pat Farmer finishes epic Run for the Voice at Uluru
The ultramarathon runner and former Liberal MP Pat Farmer has reached the base of Uluru and completed his 14,400km Run for the Voice.
At the end of the last stretch on Wednesday morning – a lap around the iconic rock – Farmer was greeted by prime minister Anthony Albanese, yes campaigner Noel Pearson and NT chief minister Natasha Fyles.
Farmer, alongside Josie Douglas, a member of the Central Land Council, was greeted with cheers as he ran to the finish line.
Farmer said it has been a “hell of a journey” and he feels “this is my purpose”.
This body is very old and very tired now.
We will have more very soon.
The last lap for Pat Farmer . Around the rock and to the finish line . pic.twitter.com/j7VrAq7tdM
— Mark Burrows (@MarkWBurrows) October 10, 2023
Updated
Penny Wong expresses condolences to family of Australian woman killed in Israel
Penny Wong has released a statement on the death of Australian woman Galit Carbone in Israel.
Wong said Carbone was “murdered in the attacks on Israel by terrorist group Hamas”, and that Dfat was providing consular assistance to her family in Israel and Australia.
On behalf of the government, I wish to convey my deepest condolences to the family and loved ones of Ms Carbone.
In her statement, Wong said Australia “unequivocally condemns the attacks on Israel by Hamas” and added:
There is no excuse for the deliberate killing of innocent civilians.
The loss of life from these attacks has been devastating and unacceptable. Australia has called for the attacks to stop and for the immediate and unconditional release of all those taken hostage.
Our thoughts are with all those killed and injured in these attacks and all others affected. Australia continues to urge the protection of civilian lives at all times.
Updated
Optus data breach prompted surge in complaints, data shows
The Optus data breach in September 2022 led to a significant number of complaints to telcos and the industry ombudsman, according to new data released on Wednesday.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority said there were 1.04m complaints made to telecommunications companies in 2022-2023, up 2.3% on the prior year. The ACMA data does not report complaint numbers on an individual provider level but Optus has previously said it received a large number of complaints during that period.
The Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) also reported today that while there had been a decrease in phone and internet complaints escalated to it in the last financial year (down 16.5% to 66,388), there had been a growth in complaints about Optus from the breach.
Complaints about mobile services were at 48% of all complaints, partly due to the Optus data breach.
Optus TIO complaints increased 29.5%, while Telstra complaints dropped 36%. Optus accounted for 30.6% of complaints, while Telstra accounted for 40.4%.
The telcos usually note here that proportionally it is very few complaints per customer, and Telstra’s is higher than others in part because Telstra has more customers than the others.
Updated
Pro-Palestine rally organisers vow to march again despite NSW premier saying ‘not going to happen’
Organisers of the pro-Palestine rally in Sydney earlier this week say they will be going ahead with a second rally this weekend, despite comments from the premier this is “not going to happen”.
Speaking to the media earlier, NSW premier Chris Minns said:
The idea they’re going to commandeer Sydney streets is not going to happen and I’m sure the NSW police will make that clear this morning.
This follows comments from the state’s police minister Yasmin Catley, who told 2GB that organisers would need to submit an application to hold their rally and “if it isn’t [granted it] will be considered unlawful, which will mean that people can be arrested”.
After Minns’ comments, one of the organisers, Fahad Ali, wrote on X that “we will be marching again this Sunday”:
Palestinians have a right to peaceful assembly. We have a right to freedom of expression. We have a right to protest against the massacre in Gaza.
We will be marching again this Sunday at 1 pm at Sydney Town Hall. See you there.
Updated
Jason Clare wishes NSW Year 12s good luck as HSC exams begin
The education minister, Jason Clare, has wished Year 12s in New South Wales the best as they undertake their first HSC exams this morning.
English exams kick off at 9.50am – the only compulsory subject in the HSC.
Speaking at South Sydney high school yesterday in support of the voice, Clare said to “every young person in year 12 right across the country who’s about to sit their final exams, good luck” as he recalled his own anxiety as a teen.
I walked in the front door and the first thing I saw was the hall being set up for the HSC that starts tomorrow. So, to every young person in Year 12 right across the country who’s about to sit their final exams, good luck.
As I saw that hall, I got post-traumatic stress remembering doing the HSC, even though that was last century. Can we all remember that?
Updated
Dave Sharma says Jewish community ‘profoundly distressed’
Australia’s former Ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, spoke to Sunrise earlier this morning after the death of Sydney-born woman Galit Carbone in Israel.
Sharma said he was “terribly sad” upon hearing the news, but wasn’t surprised given the number of deaths in the Hamas attacks.
He said during his time there he knows there are “a lot of Australians who live in Israel”.
It is a terrible tragedy for her, her family and grandchildren and the whole nation of Israel. It is very sad news.
Sharma said the events of the weekend have touched the Australian Jewish community very deeply, with people feeling “profoundly sad” and “profoundly distressed”, mourning for loved ones and friends overseas and fearing what may come.
They are really quite understandably in a state of pretty high anxiety right now.
Speaking on the pro-Palestine rallies that have taken place in Sydney and Melbourne, Sharma said those in attendance should be “highly ashamed of themselves” and the “full force of the law should be applied here”.
Updated
Qantas announces renewal of board
In addition to the news that its chairman Richard Goyder will step down ahead of its AGM late next year, Qantas has announced other changes to its board.
It has already been announced that non-executive director Michael L’Estrange will retire at this year’s AGM on 3 November.
On Wednesday, Qantas said that to facilitate further renewal, Jacqueline Hey and Maxine Brenner will retire at the Qantas half-year results in February 2024 after 10 years of service.
As planned, three new directors will offer themselves for election at this year’s AGM (Doug Parker, Dr Heather Smith, and CEO and managing director Vanessa Hudson) as well as two existing directors (Todd Sampson and Belinda Hutchinson).
Updated
Qantas chair Richard Goyder: ‘Accountability is required to restore trust’
Richard Goyder has acknowledged that “accountability is required to restore trust” in Qantas, as he announces that he will be resigning as chairman of the board.
Goyder said he would step down prior to the company’s annual general meeting in late 2024.
In recent weeks Goyder has defended his position and claimed investor support following in the face of calls to move on following his oversight of a raft of sagas that also led to the early resignation of former CEO Alan Joyce.
Goyder said:
As a Board, we acknowledge the significant reputational and customer service issues facing the Group and recognise that accountability is required to restore trust.
Qantas has gone through an incredibly difficult period since our operation was grounded during the pandemic. The recovery has not been easy, and mistakes were made. We again apologise for those times where we got it wrong.
He said he has “always sought to act in the best interests of Qantas”.
Measured and orderly succession at Board level will support the important work underway led by Vanessa [Hudson] and her new management team. Fundamentally, the Group is in a very strong position to overcome its current challenges and deliver for all its stakeholders in the years ahead.
Qantas said the Board has initiated the process to appoint new non-executive directors in the months ahead, as well as a new chairman.
New committee roles will be appointed in due course.
The Board has also commenced a process of independently reviewing key governance matters over the past 12 months and will share outcomes in the second quarter of calendar year 2024.
Updated
Qantas chair Richard Goyder to step down
Richard Goyder has revealed his plans to step down as chair of the Qantas board.
Qantas on Wednesday announced that Goyder – who has been the subject of calls to move on following his oversight of a raft of sagas that also led to the early resignation of former CEO Alan Joyce – will retire prior to the companies annual general meeting in late 2024.
Corporate governance and investor advocates had been calling for his immediate resignation ahead of the upcoming AGM for this year, to be held next month in Melbourne.
Updated
'It won’t happen again': Chris Minns apologises after Sydney rally
The NSW premier Chris Minns has just apologised to the Jewish community after the pro-Palestine rally on Monday night.
The rally travelled from the Sydney Town Hall to the Sydney Opera House, which was illuminated in blue and white colours to support Israel.
The rally was labelled as “abhorrent” by multiple political leaders, including the premier, after people were filmed shouting anti-Jewish chants.
But an organiser claimed that NSW police failed to help shut down a “minority” of people shout antisemitic chants.
Speaking to the media this morning, Minns conceded his intentions were to light up the Opera House to provide a space for the Jewish community to commemorate what happened in Israel, but “we didn’t do it”.
I take responsibility for that and I want to ensure it won’t happen again.
The protest organisers have already proven they’re not peaceful. Shouting racial epithets at Jewish community members is not the definition of a peaceful protest.
The idea they’re going to commandeer Sydney streets is not going to happen and I’m sure the NSW police will make that clear this morning.
Yesterday, the Palestine Action Group, who organised Monday’s rally, said a second rally was being planned for 16 October at Town Hall.
Updated
Victoria police investigating reports of antisemetic threats in South Yarra
Victorian police have said the force is investigating reports of antisemitic threats made in South Yarra in Melbourne’s inner-south yesterday.
In a statement, police said they have been told a car pulled over near a man on Toorak Road and threats were made by occupants of the car at about 4pm on Tuesday.
Victorian police said:
There is absolutely no place at all in our society for [antisemitic] or hate-based behaviour and Victoria Police is committed to responding to any such acts.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Government ‘assessing all options’ for Australians wanting to leave amid Israel and Gaza conflict
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has said the Australian government is “assessing all options”, indicating it may charter special flights out of Israel as commercial options narrow.
Wong said in a social media post on Tuesday evening:
With developments in Israel and Gaza, the Australian Government is assessing all options for Australians wanting to leave.
We understand the difficulties with limited commercial options. If you want to leave and do have a viable option, we encourage you to pursue that.
We will continue to provide updates to registered Australians.
With developments in Israel and Gaza, the Australian Government is assessing all options for Australians wanting to leave.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) October 10, 2023
We understand the difficulties with limited commercial options. If you want to leave and do have a viable option, we encourage you to pursue that.
Anthony Albanese said “there are concerns about Australians in the Middle East”.
He told reporters in Port Lincoln on Tuesday:
I receive briefings every day about these issues.
And we continue to work through [the department of] foreign affairs to provide support.
Updated
Speaking to ABC RN, Noel Pearson also claimed the “entire no campaign is being led by politicians”.
He argued that opposition leader Peter Dutton’s main argument centres on saying the “status quo is okay”.
So this whole no campaign has been led by politicians. [Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s] argument is the status quo is okay, where the politicians are in charge [and] the politicians need not [listen] to communities, and that somehow we’re going to close the gap, repeating the same failures of the past.
I’m telling you, it never is going to happen.
Noel Pearson also told ABC RN that Saturday’s referendum will be the “first true accounting” for the nation’s soul “since white settlement”.
We will find the inner life of our nation with this vote.
All of the love and the hope that the yes campaign are drawing on, and all the fear and rage which the no campaign are trying to tap, we collectively hold in our souls.
And this accounting will bring penetrating insight for all of us … as Australians.
He urged people to vote with the hearts and “a sense of hope” on Saturday.
We really can do this.
Noel Pearson says he understands prime minister Anthony Albanese’s decision not to legislate an Indigenous voice if the referendum fails.
He says it’s the “right thing” to do if the Australian people rejected Saturday’s proposal in the referendum:
I understand completely what the prime minister has said here.
Updated
‘We have every chance still’: Noel Pearson says momentum building for yes vote
The Indigenous activist and yes campaigner Noel Pearson is speaking to ABC RN live from Uluru, watching the sunrise.
This comes as Pat Farmer is due to arrive after sunrise, completing his six-month Run for the Voice, with Anthony Albanese also there for the occasion.
Pearson said there has been “ups and downs” over the last eight to 10 weeks amid the campaign, but this morning, he feels hopeful:
There is just too much evidence of Australians coming out in very quiet ways and giving us the thumbs up that they’re voting yes.
We have every chance still to win this referendum and for the Australian people to [say yes], that will transform our country and take us into the future.
He said he feels “momentum” building around the nation and is not “writing off” the yes campaign’s chances on Saturday, when the referendum is held.
Updated
Pat Farmer nears Uluru finish line of Run for the Voice
As we flagged earlier, the former Liberal MP and ultramarathon runner Pat Farmer is due to arrive at Uluru a little after sunrise, ending his 14,400 kilometre Run for the Voice – a six-month journey that has taken in every state and territory since he departed from Hobart in mid-April.
Farmer, a strong supporter of an Indigenous voice to parliament, has run an average of 80km a day in support of an Indigenous voice to parliament enshrined in the constitution.
Farmer is a few kilometres from his destination now at the Mutitjulu waterhole, where he’ll be greeted by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and leading “yes” campaigners.
If you want to follow along, you can watch him here.
Updated
Hours worked jumped but productivity fell in June quarter: Productivity Commission
Australians worked more in the June quarter amid biting cost-of-living pressures but productivity decreased by 2%, according to the Productivity Commission’s latest productivity bulletin.
The commission’s acting chair Alex Robson said the unemployment rate remains low and even though the hours people worked rose in the June quarter, the rise in output was “more modest”, showing a reduction in labour productivity.
The report finds that output was up 0.4%, while hours worked increased by 2.4% – the largest quarterly rise on record outside the Covid-19 pandemic.
Robson:
Negative productive growth means that on average, Australians worked more hours just to produce and buy the same amount of goods and services. In other words, Australians have been running to stand still.
He said the productivity “challenge” has been “urgent for many years” and we will only see sustainable, long-term productivity growth “if we increase investment and innovation”.
The arts and recreation services industry saw the largest decline in productivity (-7.6%) in the June quarter, as hours worked increased by 9.3% while output rose only 0.9%.
However, three industries drove about 46% of the overall labour productivity decline: mining; electricity, gas, water and waste services; and information, media and telecommunications.
Updated
Palestinian film festival postponed
The Palestinian film festival Australia, set to be held from October 13-29 across the country, has been postponed amid the Israel-Hamas war.
In a newsletter, the festival said: “This is not the time to hold a film festival.”
It is time to mourn the dead, pay our respects to those suffering and work together to bring an immediate end to the ongoing atrocities against innocent civilians.
The festival said the “continuing crisis in Occupied Palestine is heartbreaking” and its “thoughts, prayers and love” are with the “innocent and vulnerable people caught up in this latest war”.
The festival has making two documentaries, 1948: Creation & Catastrophe and Gaza, which have screened at previous festivals, available to watch for free.
Updated
Shane Gould: ‘It’s a crying shame if this vote doesn’t go yes’
The Olympic swimming champ Shane Gould, one of the two dozen former Australian of the Year winners who signed an open letter supporting the Indigenous voice referendum, spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning.
(You can read more on that letter here).
Gould said Indigenous Australians “need to have their needs addressed more accurately and more effectively”.
We know the stolen generations are suffering from trauma, and that trauma has an epigenetic effect, the genes can be changed by trauma and the genes can be handed down through generations. And I think that’s what we’re seeing with a lot of Indigenous people.
Gould said the existing programs to help Indigenous people “haven’t been working”, which is why the voice is needed.
The second reason Gould signed is because the voice is about “national identity”, she said.
It’s a crying shame if this vote doesn’t go yes, because it’s a mark against Australia.
This very strange conversation about the referendum, when it’s a very simple vote.
Updated
Heavy traffic near Sydney airport after truck crash and fluid spill
Traffic remains heavy near Sydney airport after a two-truck crash caused a fluid spill.
Earlier this morning, Joyce Drive was closed between Wentworth Avenue and O’Riordan Street due to the crash.
A contra flow is now in place on Joyce Drive, according to the latest update from Live Traffic Sydney, allowing traffic to pass in each direction of the crash and spill.
Commuters travelling to Sydney airport are being urged to allow plenty of extra time, or consider catching the train, as traffic remains heavy in the area.
MASCOT: Joyce Dr remains closed between Wentworth Ave & O'Riordan St due to a fluid spill following a 2-truck crash. Local diversions are in place but avoid the area if you can as traffic's already heavy. Anyone travelling to @SydneyAirport should allow plenty of extra time. pic.twitter.com/aI7XkAqsIE
— Live Traffic Sydney (@LiveTrafficSyd) October 10, 2023
Updated
O’Neil: ‘We’ll do whatever is necessary to … secure the safety of Australians’
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, was asked whether Australia should send rescue flights to Israel, with roughly 12,000 Australians living there.
She said foreign affairs minister Penny Wong is leading a “significant effort” to assess how the government can best protect Australians currently in Israel.
This is one of the most important priorities for us coming out of what’s occurred in the previous days.
Minister Wong is [working] really hard on that. The Australian government will do whatever is necessary to protect [its] citizens.
However, she did not say whether the government is considering rescue flights specifically, saying the government is looking at “all the options at the moment”.
We’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure we can secure the safety of Australians … We’re working very hard to make sure we protect Australians not just overseas, but here at home.
Updated
Australian woman dies in Israel amid conflict
An Australian woman has died in Israel amid the ongoing conflict, home affairs minister Clare O’Neil has confirmed.
Sunrise reported that the body of 66-year-old Galit Carbone was located by Israeli soldiers near the Gaza Strip border.
The Sydney-born grandmother is the first known Australian victim to have died amid the conflict.
Speaking to the breakfast news program O’Neil confirmed Carbone’s death and said this is “heartbreaking” news for her family and the wider community.
Our hearts go out to … the people who knew her and the Jewish community, who are suffering from what is a violent, abhorrent and unjustified act of terrorism against this country and citizens.
What’s happened here is a senseless act of violence that will get more [violent] and the Australian government condemns it in the strongest possible terms.
I say to the Jewish community we’re standing with you, wrapping our arms around and you and I express my deepest condolences for what has happened here.
Updated
HSC exams begin in New South Wales
Students in New South Wales are gearing up to sit their first HSC exam of the year today, with 72,676 year 11s and 12s expected to roll through exam halls.
All four English subjects – the only compulsory course – are running this morning, kicking off at 9.50am.
It’s a long slog – exams will run in NSW until Friday 3 November, finishing with food technology.
More than 68,000 students are expected to complete the HSC this year, with a total of 124 exams running across 785 testing centres.
Education minister Prue Car said for many teachers, seeing HSC students approach the finish line brought “mixed emotions”.
Despite workload pressures, teachers continue to deliver for our young people. This government will work with teachers to address workload and pay. That is how we keep teachers in the profession and attract the next generation of educators, some of whom will come from this HSC cohort.
Updated
Australian of the Year winners sign letter supporting yes vote
Two dozen former Australian of the Year winners have signed an open letter supporting the Indigenous voice referendum, saying “we must choose the high road to inclusiveness and respect”.
The letter, spearheaded by mental health advocate Patrick McGorry, has the support of Dylan Alcott, Rosie Batty, Taryn Brumfitt, Rob de Castella, Mick Dodson, Peter Doherty, John Farnham, Tim Flannery, Cathy Freeman, Adam Goodes, Evonne Goolagong, Shane Gould, Richard Harris, Grace Tame and many more, as well as former chair of the Australia Day Council, Adam Gilchrist.
McGorry said you “can’t solve problems without listening and you can’t hear people without a voice”.
We have excluded Indigenous views from decisions that affect them for far too long, and now is a rare moment in history when we can come together as a nation, do the right thing, and say yes to the simple request that Australia recognises its first peoples and gives them a Voice.
The letter calls for a yes vote, reading:
The low road leads us into a shameful dead end, with unimaginable consequences for our national identity and self-respect.
The effective exclusion of indigenous voices from decision-making has been at best useless and costly and, at worst, damaging, blocking any meaningful progress.
Dodson said current life outcomes for many Indigenous people were “the shameful results of not being heard”.
A voice will finally mean that we’ll get a say in the policies and laws that affect us and that’s the best chance we have to start closing the gap.
Goodes said:
We’ve got major problems at the grassroots level and to tackle them we need grassroots solutions. And we’ll only get that by voting yes to the Voice.
Updated
Many thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking things off this morning. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the live blog today.
As always, if you see something that needs attention on the blog you can send me an email: emily.wind.casual@theguardian.com.
With that, let’s get into it.
Albanese to meet Pat Farmer at Uluru finish line after run around Australia
Albanese will greet ultramarathon runner and former Liberal MP Pat Farmer as he arrives at Uluru.
Farmer has run 14,400km around Australia over six months. He left Hobart on 17 April and has run almost every day through every state and territory in support of an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Farmer is due to arrive at the rock just after sunrise.
Updated
Digital wallets crackdown coming under proposed laws
Digital wallets like Google Pay and Apple Pay would be regulated under draft laws released by the federal government, AAP reports.
An attempt to modernise Australia’s payments system is expected to hit parliament this year so digital wallets would face the same regulations as credit cards and Eftpos transactions.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, flagged the changes in a speech to the Australian Banking Association, saying new powers were needed to respond to emerging challenges.
Apple representatives told a parliamentary inquiry earlier this month digital wallets were the safest way to pay and more secure than physical cards.
Chalmers said in a statement that Australia’s payments system needs to “remain fit for purpose so that it delivers for consumers and small businesses”.
“We want to make sure the shift to digital payments occurs in a way that promotes greater competition, innovation and productivity across our entire economy.”
The laws would let the Reserve Bank of Australia regulate emerging payment systems and address any risks posed to consumers.
Digital wallet payments were 35% of card transactions in the June quarter, up from 10% in 2020. Nearly two-thirds of Australians aged between 18 and 29 use mobile payments.
Updated
Government assessing options for Australians stuck in Israel or Gaza: Wong
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has urged restraint to protect civilians in Gaza as Israeli forces continued their response to the surprise attack by Hamas militants on Saturday, AAP reports.
But Wong did not weigh in on whether restraint should be exercised by Tel Aviv when it came to a blockade of Gaza that could restrict access to food and medicine.
“It’s always very difficult from over here to make judgments about what security approach other countries take,” she told ABC radio. “Israel has the right to defend itself.”
But Nasser Mashni, president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, said: “Palestinian Australians and their supporters have felt horrified by the one-sided response.
“[Israel] must not be given carte blanche to think they can get away with a genocide”.
Regarding Australians stuck in Gaza or Israel, Wong added that the government is assessing all options for those wanting to leave.
“We understand the difficulties with limited commercial options. If you want to leave and do have a viable option, we encourage you to pursue that.”
Updated
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you some of the breaking overnight news before my colleague Emily Wind comes along to guide you through the day.
Standing last night with the red rock as his symbolic backdrop, Anthony Albanese hailed the Uluru statement from the heart as a “masterpiece”. He then made his own speech from the heart – an emotional plea for Australians to “lift the burden of history” by voting for the voice to parliament this weekend. The prime minister joined traditional owners at Uluru to plead with Australians to vote for the voice and win “a country at peace” with history. He was visibly moved by performances of traditional song and dance by senior Indigenous women who said the voice would help them make changes to their communities instead of accepting “what the government wants”. This morning, Albanese will greet Pat Farmer at the rock – Farmer has run 14,400km around Australia for six months to support the voice.
Australia has the highest debt burden of any households in the world, according to figures from the International Monetary Fund, with 15% of income devoted to paying off loans. Borrowers have been floored by a series of rate rises by the Reserve Bank of Australia starting in May last year and continuing for eight months in a row until December 2022 when the IMF compiled its figures. The increased cost of borrowing has left Australia at the top of the league for debt with Canada second followed by Norway and the Netherlands.
Students in New South Wales are gearing up to sit their first HSC exam of the year today, with 72,676 year 11s and 12s expected to roll through exam halls. All four English subjects – the only compulsory course – are running this morning, kicking off at 9.50am. Our education reporter, Caitlin Cassidy, has been to a high school in south-west Sydney where 10% of the Year 12 cohort is made up of twins and triplets.
And digital payments such as Google Pay and Apple Pay are set to face new regulation. More on that soon.
Updated
