What we learned: Friday, 31 October
We will be leaving it there, thanks for joining us. Here’s what we covered today:
AGL Energy is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs amid a wide-ranging restructure of the electricity company
Dan Tehan has all but confirmed nuclear will play a role in the party’s energy policy
Death data shows the flu is killing more people than Covid-19 for the first time since the height of the pandemic
Australia’s first treaty with traditional owners passed the Victorian parliament to cheers and tears in the public gallery.
Former New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been sentenced to five years and nine months in prison after he was found guilty in July of sexually abusing two young men.
The former Treasury secretary Ken Henry says “a conga line of developers” would lobby the environment minister for special carve-outs unless the Albanese government clarifies the types of projects that could be granted exemptions under its new nature laws.
And BoM’s decision to reinstate its old rain radar colour scheme has been greeted as a “sensible step” by the assistant health minister.
Thanks so much for your company today.
Updated
Queensland education minister says vote down by teachers union ‘disappointing’
Queensland’s education minister, John-Paul Langbroek, says the state government will take the teacher’s union to arbitration, after members voted down a pay offer.
Langbroek said the vote was “disappointing”:
This deal would have seen every teacher in a classroom paid over $100,000 by the end of the agreement and while it now falls to the QTU to explain why this deal was not accepted, the government will now start progressing to arbitration within the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission to ensure we can reach an agreement.
The union says just under 29,000 of 51,500 members voted in this week’s ballot on an 8% pay offer over three years. 32.4% voted to take the deal, with 67.6% voting against.
Updated
