What we learned today, Thursday 24 October
With that, we’ll end our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the main developments:
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe appears to have backtracked on the suggestion that she deliberately mispronounced “heirs” as “hairs” when she was sworn in as a senator, now insisting she misspoke because her “English grammar isn’t as good as others’”.
The prominent Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek has pleaded guilty to displaying a Nazi swastika at a pro-Palestine rally.
Three men have been found guilty under new laws banning the display of Nazi symbols after trying to argue their “heil Hitler” salutes outside the Sydney Jewish Museum were a joke.
Victorians could be able to build two homes on a lot without a permit under a planning reform that Jacinta Allan says will make her state the “townhouse capital” of the nation.
ABC Radio will be elevated to the executive team and moved to a stand-alone audio division in a dramatic reversal by the chair, Kim Williams, of a major restructure announced by the managing director, David Anderson, last year.
Thanks for reading. Have a pleasant evening.
Updated
Italian man jailed over plot to traffic ketamine hidden in Christmas gifts
An Italian man has been sentenced to three years in jail over a plot to traffic ketamine into Australia hidden inside Christmas gifts.
The man, 27, was arrested in January after an Australian federal police investigation triggered when border force officers found about 1.5kg of high-purity ketamine hidden inside stuffed toys in a package that arrived from Spain on 25 December 2023.
The border force alerted federal police, with officers replacing the illicit drugs with a harmless substance before the package was released for delivery on 4 January and taken to a residence in Coogee in Perth.
Later the same day, the police executed a search warrant at the address, where officers found the package open on a table, with the substituted drugs removed from some of the soft toys. One bag of the substituted drugs was located on a set of scales, near a vacuum sealing machine, police said.
The man has been in custody since his arrest on 4 January. After legal proceedings, the Perth district court on Tuesday sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment. He will be released on a good behaviour order after he serves 18 months.
Det Insp Matt Taylor of the AFP said ketamine was a sedative that could be used legally by medical practitioners and veterinarians but was illegal to be imported for recreational use.
“Illegal ketamine can be quite dangerous – people using it will not know how it was made, what strength it is or what else it has been mixed with,” Taylor said.
Updated
Moira Deeming defamation trial concludes
The high-stakes defamation trial brought against Victoria’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, has concluded in the federal court.
Ousted Liberal MP Moira Deeming is suing Pesutto for allegedly falsely portraying her as a Nazi and Nazi sympathiser after she spoke at the Let Women Speak rally held in March last year, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. Pesutto has rejected the allegation.
Justice David O’Callaghan will now consider his verdict in the trial that began last month. He is expected to deliver his findings in the coming months.
Pesutto’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, concluded his closing submissions today.
He told the court that Pesutto reasonably believed the publications he made, including press conferences and media releases about Deeming’s expulsion, were in the public interest and that they reflected his honestly held opinions. He argued Pesutto moved to expel Deeming from the parliamentary team to protect the reputation of the Liberal party.
Deeming’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, previously told the court that Pesutto’s push to expel Deeming from the party was part of a “scheme” to expel her from the party room because he “found it annoying to have to answer press questions about her”. Collins rejected this.
Updated
Queensland shadow treasurer unable to detail costing for proposed pumped hydro replacement
Returning to the Queensland election campaign and the opposition’s costings, the shadow treasurer David Janetzki got just as many questions on what his election costings didn’t include.
The party plans to kill the government’s Pioneer Burdekin pumped hydro scheme and replace it with multiple smaller projects.
But the party has not budgeted a dollar for its smaller pumped hydro projects, or for its energy maintenance guarantee for the state’s coal generators – which it plans to keep open past their planned closure dates.
Janetzki couldn’t rule in or rule out spending a dollar on the additional schemes in the next four years, or identify how much.
“First principles, we need to talk to Queensland Hydro, work out the key projects and then how they’re structured. You’re dealing in a hypothetical right now if the government changes,” he said.
The government has long said it has a credible energy plan, which is “fully funded” and “fully costed” and pointed to the several projects private proponents have suggested. But Janetzki said he needed to get in government before costing the plan.
“It would be irresponsible of me to stand up and promise X, Y and Z when you don’t know how it’s structured and what the proponents are and what Queensland Hydro’s recommendation is.”
Updated
Simon Birmingham backs UN comments on China’s human rights record
The shadow foreign minister has backed the Australian government’s United Nations criticisms of human rights in China, after the Chinese foreign ministry condemned Australia’s own record and accused it of hypocrisy.
Simon Birmingham rejected criticisms made by the Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Lin Jian yesterday condemning Australia’s role in raising concerns about China’s activities in Xinjiang and Xizang, also known as Tibet.
Birmingham, in a statement, said:
The position stated by Australia’s ambassador to the United Nations was factual, balanced and considered, while the Chinese government’s response has none of those attributes.
Australia has acknowledged that none of us is perfect on human rights, yet that is what China pretends. The Chinese government’s abuses in regions like Xinjiang and Tibet have been well documented, including by the UN Human Rights Commissioner.
While our statements at the UN, including calling for open access to Xinjiang and Tibet, is appropriate, it falls a long way short of delivering on the tough talk of sanctions from Senator Wong before the last election.”
Lin Jian had accused Australia of “being plagued by systemic racism and hate crime” and condemned its human rights record in relation to migrants and Indigenous people, and on alleged war crimes by special forces soldiers in Afghanistan.
Updated
Qantas reassures customers ahead of industrial action
Qantas has sought to reassure customers that planned industrial action from hundreds of its engineers on Friday will not cause delays or cancellations.
On Thursday afternoon, after learning that hundreds of engineers from three unions had voted in favour of taking industrial action, Qantas insisted that the two sets of four-hour stop works planned for Friday across Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth and Hobart would not cause disruption for passengers during peak windows as the unions had claimed.
A Qantas spokesperson said:
Our teams have worked hard to put contingencies in place and we expect there to be no impact to our customers.
We had a number of meetings with the unions prior to the industrial action. We want to continue to engage with them to find a way forward but they have chosen to take action. Our preference is to reach an agreement that includes pay rises and other benefits.
The industrial action coincides with Qantas’ AGM on Friday, with union representatives also set to rally outside the hotel in Hobart where the airline’s shareholders and executives are gathering.
Qantas’s engineering workforces comprise 2,600 employees, with only members of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU), the Australian Workers Union (AWU) and the Electrical Trades Union (ETU) able to take part in the industrial action.
While the three unions – which make up the Qantas Engineers Alliance – claim 600 engineers will take part in the action, Qantas believes just 400 are able to.
Friday’s is set to be the latest industrial action of what has been a series of actions by engineers since September, as unions have been locked in negotiations with Qantas seeking better pay and improved conditions.
Updated
Queensland LNP announces plan to cut $7.8bn in private consulting if elected
Queensland’s opposition has announced a plan to cut $7.8bn in private consultancies over the next four years and instead set up a government consultant.
The shadow treasurer, David Janetzki, released the party’s costings just two days before the last day of the state election. It included a gigantic saving from private consultants, including $757m in the first year and $1.5bn in the second.
The party will instead establish a new $87.5m organisation, called Queensland Government Consulting, to replace the private sector.
Janetzki said the idea was modeled on the one established by the federal Labor treasurer, Jim Chalmers.
“We’re not cutting anything. We are slowing down the compound annual growth rate of consultancies into the future,” he said.
Asked if the existing public service would have to pick up more of the slack, Janetzki said the new state consulting form could assist but some work would be done from within the current public service workforce.
The consultancy will employ about 40 to 50 staff, he said, and exist within Treasury.
Updated
Police seize 600,000 illegal tobacco and vape products in Victoria
Victorian police have charged eight people with offences for directing and assisting an organised crime syndicate involved in the illicit tobacco market.
The Therapeutic Goods Association announced on Wednesday evening that Victoria police seized 600,000 tobacco products and vapes as part of the operation.
Reforms introduced in July mean that vapes can only be sold at pharmacies to people with prescriptions.
The arrests come after more than half of the 19,000 NSW tobacco retailers are expected to sign up for the NSW government’s tobacco licensing scheme. Under the scheme, businesses will need to pay $1,100 a year to sell tobacco, and licences can be refused or revoked.
Members of the public are encouraged to report suspected illegal sales of vaping products to the TGA or local authorities.
Updated
Home buying committee hears negative gearing changes could result in new rental housing
The Senate economics references committee, which is discussing lending conditions for first-home buyers, is now hearing from Saul Eslake, an economist and academic at the University of Tasmania. He says investors are only helping supply when they are helping build homes. Eslake:
Defenders of negative gearing in the capital gains tax discount maintain that it is essential to ensuring an adequate supply of rental housing, but over 70% of the amount of money that’s lent to property investors for the purchase of housing is for the purchase of established housing, which means that those investors who purchase established housing are not adding to the supply of housing.
They may be adding to the supply of rental housing, but in outbidding a prospective owner-occupier for the established houses that they purchase, they are adding to the demand for rental housing by exactly the same amount.
So if negative gearing and capital gains tax discount were to be curtailed in some way, or even dispensed with entirely for established housing, then it may well be true that that reduces the supply of established housing that’s available for rent, but if you reduce the demand for it by exactly the same amount, and there would therefore be no impact on rent at all.
And if the end result of any reforms in this area were to be that new housing was the only investment vehicle for which negative gearing and or a capital gains discount was available, the result may well be an increase in investment in new residential housing for rent, which would be a good thing, in my view.
Eslake has argued as such previously in an article republished on the Guardian, originally published at 360info.
Updated
Sydney man charged after alleged car crash kills 49-year-old man
A man has been hit with a slew of charges after allegedly crashing into another car, killing a community leader and father of seven on his way to work.
Police in a marked car saw a grey sedan pulled over on the side of the Great Western Highway at St Marys, in Sydney’s west, about 4am on Tuesday.
When they approached the car it sped away before crashing into a Corolla further down the road. The Corolla driver, Lual Lueth, 49, died at the scene.
The other driver, Edgar Stephen Haufano, 43, allegedly ran from the scene before being arrested a short time later.
He was assessed in hospital and released on Wednesday before being charged on Thursday with dangerous driving occasioning death, driving recklessly and driving while disqualified.
An internal investigation has also been launched into the officers’ actions in the lead-up to the fatal crash.
AAP
Updated
TV star Matt Wright pleads not guilty to perverting cause of justice after helicopter crash
Matt Wright, the star of tv series Outback Wrangler, has been accused of sending police on a fishing expedition for evidence he wants from them to defend a criminal case.
The Netflix television series celebrity pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice following the helicopter crash that killed his co-star Chris “Willow” Wilson in 2022.
Sitting in Darwin’s supreme court on Thursday, Wright heard Nothern Territory police ask for an extension of time for evidence being subpoenaed in the case. Appearing for the NT police commissioner, solicitor Ruth Brebner said the evidence was still being prepared but was unsure if her client could meet the 30 October deadline.
She told the court police were preparing the documents but had queried the relevance of evidence pertaining to the “cause of the crash “. Brebner said police were being sent on a “fishing expedition” for some of the evidence.
Police were granted an extension by Chief Justice Michael Grant.
Wright is excused from appearing at another pre-trial hearing set for 14 November, with his eight-week trial due to begin on 7 July 2025.
- AAP
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. I’ll handover to Elias Visontay, who will take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care.
PM defends human rights record against Chinese hypocrisy claims
Anthony Albanese has dismissed criticisms from the Chinese foreign ministry that Australia is plagued by “systemic racism” and “hate crimes” and is hypocritical on human rights, after Australia raised concerns at the UN about China’s activities in Xinjiang and Tibet.
Arriving in Samoa for Chogm, the prime minister was asked about statements China’s foreign ministry spokesperson, Lin Jian, made at a news conference in Beijing yesterday, claiming Australia’s UN intervention amounted to meddling in China’s internal affairs under the “pretext” of protecting human rights and demonstrated “double standards” on the issue. Jian had said:
Out of their ideological bias Australia, the US and a handful of other Western countries stoked confrontation at multilateral platforms for their selfish political interest, which undermines international fairness and justice, and is by no means what the international community wants.
Australia, long plagued by systemic racism and hate crimes, has severely violated the rights of refugees and immigrants, and left Indigenous people with vulnerable living conditions. Australian soldiers have committed abhorrent crimes in Afghanistan and other countries during their military operations overseas.
Lin said the United States and other western countries had “a bad track record in racism, gun violence, judicial injustice, wealth gap, abuse of force, unilateral sanctions, and other issues”:
These Western countries turn a blind eye to their severe human rights issues at home but in the meantime point their fingers at other countries. This says a lot about their hypocrisy on human rights.
He urged Australia and its allies to address their own human rights issues and stop politicising them.
Albanese dismissed the Chinese allegations:
We, of course, will always stand up for Australia’s interests. And when it comes to China, we’ve said we’ll cooperate where we can, we’ll disagree where we must, and we’ll engage in our national interest, and we’ve raised issues of human rights with China. We’ve done that in a consistent and clear way.
Updated
Home ownership hearing told ‘systemised risk’ pushed into first-home buyers
Kylie Davis, founder and president of the Proptech Association of Australia, is speaking at the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra, which we’ve been following throughout the day.
She was asked about how paying lenders’ mortgage insurance protects the banks, not the buyer, and said we are pushing “systemised risk” on to individuals:
We pile a whole bunch of hurdles upon first-home buyers. They need to save a 20% deposit at a time when they are paying record rents. They need to save a 20% deposit on top of a Hecs loan that their parents never had to pay.
If they take a lower [deposit] than 20% then they have to insure themselves against their own risk, so that the banks – reporting record profits – don’t have to carry that risk.
We are pushing systemised risk on to individuals. Why does a first-time [homeowner] have to guarantee themselves to the level of a risk of a different kind of homeowner?
Proptech Association Australia is the peak body advocating the growth of technology in the real estate, property and construction industries.
Updated
Severe weather warning for inland south-east Queensland
As we flagged earlier, severe thunderstorms are forecast across parts of NSW and Queensland this afternoon.
A severe weather warning is in place for south-east Queensland, with damaging winds and large hailstones likely.
The Bureau of Meteorology says unstable conditions are producing the storms along a trough through inland parts of the south-east. Locations which may be impacted include Dalby, Taroom, Injune, Chinchilla, Miles and Carnarvon National Park.
⚠️ UPDATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING has been issued for parts of the Central Highlands and Coalfields, Central West, Maranoa and Warrego and Darling Downs and Granite Belt Forecast Districts..
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) October 24, 2024
DAMAGING WINDS & LARGE HAILSTONES possible.
Full details: https://t.co/m3kl9lft1d pic.twitter.com/cI1TEDwRRe
No warning is currently in place in NSW, but we’ll keep you updated if that changes throughout the afternoon.
Updated
Minns threatens licence review for Transgrid after power and backup failures in far west NSW
Chris Minns said Transgrid may face the threat of a licence review in the Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal (Ipart) inquiry into the company’s compliance with its regulatory obligations, after last week’s blackout in far west NSW.
Speaking from Broken Hill a short while ago, Minns said:
The Ipart investigation is important because … there’s a $250,000 fine. Now, maybe that’s chicken feed for a major corporation like Transgrid. However, repeated breaches put the licence in jeopardy, and you can’t just set up a utility and supply power to ratepayers in NSW, you need a licence from the government.
The condition of that licence is that you provide mains power, and if the mains power isn’t available, you provide backup electricity.
So yeah, the fines aren’t anywhere near enough to trouble a big corporation when you consider how much money they make, but the threat of a licence review is a serious one, and that’s the leverage the government needs.
Ipart said yesterday it was not yet clear whether Transgrid had breached its licence conditions. Minns said the investigation will take “weeks, but not months”.
Updated
Jacinta Allan says getting millennials into housing ‘the fight of my life’
Jacinta Allan ended her speech saying she’s ready for the fight on housing:
There will be blockers. We know who they are, and we know their greatest weapon, fear. The only thing I know this to be true, the only thing in politics that beats fear, is purpose. And I have one – I want to be the premier who gets millennials into homes, and I consider that to be the fight of my life. Thank you very much.
Updated
Allan makes pitch to millennials with housing announcement
Circling back to the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, who is unveiling a review to help make it easier to build a second home on a block of land.
I’ve already written how the premier’s announcements have been geared towards millennials, but Allan has now raised it too in her speech to the Melbourne Press Club.
She said millennials are the “largest adult generation ever” and the “main characters in our economy”.
They are the ones making the decisions with their wallets that will determine the future of our country and we should be doing absolutely everything we can to give them confidence and security. But by letting the housing crisis fester, we’re making them drive our country forward with one hand tied behind their back, and we’re forcing them to make extraordinary sacrifices just to play the game of life, just to get on the board.
Allan said ratio of house prices to the median wage “isn’t three to one any more, it’s more like 10 to one”. She went on:
It’s not a $60,000 house on a $20,000 wage for 34-year-olds now, it’s an $800,000 house on an $80,000 wage. For a 34-year-old today, the biggest, most vital, most inescapable financial decision of your life is four times harder than what it was 40 years ago, and it’s getting harder every year.
When you bend something for too long, it breaks. And I’ve certainly felt something snap this year. It’s turning; I feel the forces keeping the status quo in place are weakening and the forces of change are getting stronger. I feel like we’re finally ready to have a real conversation about how the nation’s biggest city can build more homes to fix the housing crisis.
Updated
NSW premier unveils first round of government support for far west amid blackout
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has announced the first round of government support for affected communities in far west NSW after last week’s blackout.
The support package will offer $200 to households and $400 to small businesses (see our earlier post for more details). Minns said:
I realise that’s not going to make everybody whole, and there’s been significant disruption and interruption in power, but that’s the first step in us working with the local community to get businesses up on their feet and get the community going again.
Minns said he will be “interrogating” energy officials and company executives today and tomorrow:
The second point I wanted to make is that clearly getting main power back on and ensuring the mines can operate again is integral, not just to the contractors, the employees and the workers in those towns, but also the general economy in Broken Hill.
Clearly the clock is ticking to get services back on and to get supply back on for those major employers in Broken Hill. I don’t have answers for that today, but I can assure you, I’ll be interrogating energy officials as well as company executives this afternoon and tomorrow, to ensure that we can get a guaranteed best estimate of when main power is back on, so that Parrilla can start operating again and other mines in Broken Hill can start operating again.
Updated
Coal power sites ‘might not be adequate’ for nuclear plants, inquiry hears
Circling back to the nuclear inquiry going on in Parliament today, as we reported earlier.
A central part of the opposition’s plans for nuclear power in Australia is to build reactors at the sites of coal-fired power stations to save time and avoid building the extra transmission lines and towers needed to connect renewables to the grid.
Nationals MP Darren Chester asked the Chief Regulatory Officer of the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency, Jim Scott, if that approach could save time.
Scott said it likely would save time, but added “that presupposes that the sites of current coal-fired plants would be adequate for nuclear sites, because that might not be the case. You have to look at external events – flooding, natural events - that could occur. That’s part of the siting process.”
Given that, the potential issue that the sites of current coal fired plants might not be adequate for nuclear plants.
Allan labels protest in Brighton to housing announcement a ‘mask drop’ moment
Jacinta Allan went on to have a crack at both the Liberals and Greens, making reference to a protest that was held as she announced her plan to upzone areas near train stations on Sunday.
Allan has told the Melbourne Press Club that “a million millennials watched the mask drop in real time on Church Street, Brighton, last Sunday morning”.
I’m not sure how the Liberals can continue to call themselves the party of aspiration. And as for the Greens, they’re not even trying to be. Labor believes in home ownership because we believe it is a vehicle for social mobility for millions of working-class people, it’s the only thing that ever has been.
Updated
Victorian government review to make it easier to build second home on block of land
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is making a speech to the Melbourne Press Club about her recent sting of announcements on housing, and has just made another. She said the government would be conducting a review to help make it easier to build a second home on a block of land – “not a granny flat, a house”.
It’s not a review to tell us whether we should do something, it’s to tell us how to get it done. And there are three options available to us, and we’re going to bring together the experts to tell us which is best.
She said all three options will include “protection for things like trees and car parks and rules in flood and heritage overlays”. It will report back by early 2025.
Allan said the suburban townhouse is “uniquely Australian” and the top choice for “particularly [those] in their 30s who are wanting to buy a new home with a few bedrooms, a bit of a back yard and a carport that’s not too far out.”
It’s the achievable dream for the modern millennial, and if you’re an owner too it’s a good way to make a bit of money while you’re building a home for someone else. I can’t think of too many losers when it comes to building townhouses, and I believe that the community is ready to see more of them.
Updated
PM says Australia ‘restored credibility’ in international forums by ‘showing leadership’ on climate
Anthony Albanese was asked whether he thinks there would be “strong outcomes” on climate change and cutting emissions at Chogm.
He said climate change was an “existential threat to countries like Tuvalu and Kiribati and others in our region where we are” – so when engaging with the Pacific “that is front and centre”.
The entry fee for credibility when it comes to international forums such as this, is acknowledgment of the challenge of climate change and the preparedness to act on it.
It is up to countries like Australia to show leadership. We have done that, which is one of the ways that we have restored our credibility in … international forums such as this.
Updated
Albanese questioned on Starmer comments regarding reparations
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to reporters from Samoa amid the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.
He was asked about comments from the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, that reparations should not be the focus of the summit, but rather climate change.
Albanese responded by saying that this was a matter for the UK government, and “certainly the focus that I bring to the next couple of days will be engaging on climate change” and economic development:
What we have in our region, in the blue Pacific – but in other countries as well who are represented here, in Africa, in south Asia – is developing countries that need to provide economic growth and jobs for their people. That will be one of the focuses that I have in meeting for, in some cases, meeting leaders for the first time.
Updated
Tasmanian ferry fiasco sinks further as new berth years overdue
The start date for two new larger Bass Strait ferries has been pushed further back, AAP reports, with vital berth upgrades several years behind an already delayed schedule.
Cost blowouts, finger pointing between state-owned companies and slow infrastructure builds have plagued the delivery of the $900m-plus replacement Spirit of Tasmania vessels.
Tasmania’s government today announced a new terminal in Devonport, needed for the vessels to berth, would not be ready until February 2027. That is more than two years behind the initial schedule and about 12 months later than the most recent estimate.
In a best-case scenario, the berth could be ready by October 2026, the premier, Jeremy Rockliff, said.
The first ship is set to arrive in Tasmania from Finland in coming weeks, with Rockliff saying the vessel would probably be leased out until the new berth is ready, as the Devonport upgrades will not be ready in time.
A proposal to modify an existing berth in Devonport to allow the vessels to begin work before the new berth is finished has been scrapped over safety concerns.
The state government will also explore leasing the second new ferry, which is expected to be delivered by the second half of 2025. If leasing does not deliver financial benefits, a “cost-effective, medium-term” storage option in Tasmania will be explored.
Updated
Read: Lidia Thorpe's 2023 letter to King Charles
As we flagged earlier, independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s office has released a copy of the letter she sent to King Charles in 2023, requesting a meeting to discuss the potential of treaty between the Crown and First Nations people.
Thorpe made international headlines on Monday when she protested the king at his parliamentary reception in Canberra. She later stated she had attempted to hand him “a notice of complicity in the genocide of the First Peoples of this county”, and that requests to meet with him had been ignored.
You can read the full letter from Thorpe to the king, dated 7 March 2023, below:
Afca head says people making sacrifices and doing ‘their utmost’ to maintain mortgage payments
Back in the lending inquiry in Canberra, the chief ombudsman and CEO of the Australian Financial Complaints Authority, David Locke, has been talking.
Locke said they receive around 60,000 financial complaints each year – and they’ve seen an 18% increase period up to 30 June. He said the largest product area for financial difficulties was mortgages, at 30%.
Locke said people were taking out other credit to be able to cover their home loans:
What we’re seeing is people are doing their utmost to maintain their mortgage payments. They’re sacrificing other things, and they’re taking out other forms of credit in order to be able to manage the mortgage payments.
We’ve seen increases, for example, in complaints about buying now pay later, about unsecured lending, and a whole range of other areas, even around credit references. All of these are indicators of stress in the market and indicators that people are seeking other forms of credit and trying to maintain home loans.
He said previously when people would lose their homes, they would go into the private rental market, but with rents so high some cannot afford to do that.
They’re so desperate to maintain the property because they cannot see an alternative route for accommodation. Although it may be anecdotal, it is based upon 1000s of cases that we handle each year.
‘This shouldn’t have happened’: NSW premier on far west blackout
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, and Barwon MP, Roy Butler, spoke to reporters in Broken Hill a short while ago. The premier acknowledged “some dispute” about when the region’s other backup power generator stopped being operational (see earlier post). He said:
We’re now in a situation where this shouldn’t have happened. We need to be very clear about this. Under the contract for electricity supply via Transgrid and other electricity utilities in NSW, power supply must be guaranteed and redundancy or backup power must be part of that deal.
These companies make an enormous amount of money off the back of their customers in NSW. Their responsibility is to provide not just mains power, but also backup power.
And I know there’s been some dispute about whether the gas generators were ready, or knocked out of action late last year or six months ago or three weeks ago or two weeks ago. The bottom line here is that there should have been no interruption in supply after we had that weather event late last week.
And we’re now seeing many members of the community, many small businesses, the hospital, essential services, that have been severely impacted.
Updated
Australian shares edge higher for second day
AAP is reporting that the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 7.4 points, or 0.09%, to 8,223.4 at midday, while the broader All Ordinaries was down one point, or 0.01%, to 8,475.3.
Small cap stocks were struggling a bit: the ASX20 was up 0.3%, while the Small Ordinaries index was down 0.4%. The latter is an index of the 200 companies in the ASX300 but not the ASX100.
Seven of the ASX’s 11 sectors were higher at midday, with four lower. Tech was the biggest mover, dropping 2.1% as Wisetech Global slumped another 4.8% and Nextdc fell 1.9%.
In the heavyweight mining sector, Fortescue slid 3.3%, BHP was down 0.7% and Rio Tinto had dipped 0.6%, while South32 had gained 2.6%.
In the financial sector, ANZ was up 1.3%, CBA had added 1.2%, NAB had gained 0.8% and Westpac had climbed 0.3%.
The Australian dollar was buying 66.38 US cents, from 66.75 US cents at yesterday’s ASX close.
Updated
Severe thunderstorms forecast for parts of NSW and Queensland
Severe thunderstorms are forecast for parts of north-east NSW and south-east Queensland today, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Meteorologist Miriam Bradbury has more on this below:
Severe Weather Update: Severe #thunderstorms for parts of north-east #NSW & south-east #Qld today. Video current: 12pm AEDT 24 October 2024.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) October 24, 2024
Latest forecasts & warnings: https://t.co/jlOoTZLz8d or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/7EOfiZh4pb
Updated
Thorpe's office releases letter she wrote to king requesting meeting in 2023
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s office has released a copy of the letter she wrote to King Charles in 2023, requesting a meeting to discuss the potential of treaty between the Crown and First Nations people.
The letter from Thorpe to the king, dated 7 March 2023, stated that a war was declared on First Nations people 200 years ago through “the invasion of our lands”.
We didn’t have firearms and armies to counter your ancestor’s invasion, and ever since then, our people have been feeling the impact of the diseases brought to our land, the dispossession, the displacement and the cultural disconnection forced upon us.
She noted that today, First Nations people are the “most incarcerated anywhere in the world” with a “lower life expectancy, bad health, and rising suicide and child removal rates, continuing the legacy of the stolen generations.”
Thorpe wrote that First Nations people “yearn for nothing more than for peace” – which she said can be achieved through treaty, pointing to both Canada and New Zealand. Thorpe asked King Charles:
Sir, in light of your commitment to decolonisation, I respectfully request a meeting with you in person, if possible before your majesty’s coronation, to discuss the possibility of the crown entering into a Treaty with Australia’s First Nations people. This reconciliation with Australia’s First Peoples could be an incredible legacy for you, Sir, to start your reign as king with.
I would be grateful if your majesty’s office could get in contact with me through [email] or the address below to further explore the possibility of a meeting and cooperation going forward.
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Premier speaking in Broken Hill after power blackout hit far west NSW
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has been speaking to reporters in Broken Hill alongside the member for Barwon, Roy Butler. The two met with the community in Broken Hill where Butler says people “have had a very difficult week”:
One of the things we know in a crisis is that people need accurate information, in a timely manner, they need to know how to access support. I know there’s been a ton of anxiety and frustration across the far west over the last week.
Obviously people have come along and spoken to us and, let’s face it, people have had a very difficult week … People had to throw out a lot of food, and lost money through doing that. It’s not the circumstances we would like to come to Broken Hill and meet with people in.
A storm left about 20,000 people without power last week, and put pressure on the energy operator Transgrid to explain why it did not have a backup plan to prevent the outage. You can read more from Catie McLeod and myself here:
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You can hear more of Penny Wong’s reflections on the 2009 Copenhagen conference in this episode of Australia vs the Climate: a six-part series that tracked Australia’s behaviours in international talks from Kyoto in 1997 through to Glasgow in 2022.
Wong says she wishes outcome of 2009 Copenhagen conference was different
A reporter noted that on one hand, Australia points to its own record, and on the other, it points to India and China. Penny Wong said “we all have to take responsibility” to tackle climate change, and told reporters:
I wish we were, when I was climate minister between 2007 and 2010 – including the famous Copenhagen conference – I wish that what we were trying to get agreed then had been agreed. And you and I would be having a very different conversation.
But that isn’t what happened globally, and it isn’t what happened in Australia, and we went backwards as a country. We know we have a lot of work to do and I have been upfront with every partner in the Pacific. Of course I listen, I hear what they say, and I think they also see in us a partner that wants to make this transition and we will.
Wong singles out India and China in efforts to reduce fossil fuel usage
Just earlier, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was speaking to reporters in Samoa amid the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.
She fielded questions about the government’s climate action, particularly around fossil fuel exports, and argued the government is “not a government like [Tony] Abbott and [Scott] Morrison’s, or [that] has the views [Peter] Dutton has demonstrated”:
… where the science of climate change isn’t accepted and the experience of Pacific peoples is diminished.
Wong singled out India and China when asked about fossil fuel usage and said:
There are two emerging economies in the world which account for 40% of global emissions – India and China – and in order for us to have a chance at restraining global temperature rises, we all have to commit to reducing emissions and transitioning to cleaner energy.
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Commonwealth Bank next up at home ownership hearing
The Commonwealth Bank is up now in the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra. Andrew Brag asked why the bank has written twice as many loans for people earning more than $500,000 a year than it has for people earning $75,000.
Angus Sullivan, group executive of retail banking services, said:
At the core of the challenge we see here is that a home is expensive for many individuals on lower incomes trying to enter the market, and as a result of fewer lower-income individuals being able to secure affordable home, we see a skew in the profile of income distribution towards high-income earners, or clearly, a massive skew.
He said between 10% to 12% of loans each year are given to first-home buyers, similar numbers to NAB and Westpac.
Sullivan said they look at the buffer as a “prudent” measure to make sure buyers don’t overextend themselves. He said the bank’s portfolio shows they are more at risk of mortgage stress and struggle to get into the market.
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Nuclear inquiry starts with Coalition questioning department on electricity gap analysis
A government-backed parliamentary inquiry into the prospects for nuclear energy in Australia is under way, with the Coalition attacking analysis that claims its pro-nuclear plans would see a massive shortfall in electricity supply.
In September, the energy minister, Chris Bowen, released analysis from his department that he said showed that by 2035, the Coalition’s nuclear policy would likely see a gap of at least 18% between electricity demand and supply.
Under questions from Coalition energy spokesperson, Ted O’Brien, who is the deputy-chair of the select committee set up to run the inquiry, Simon Duggan, a deputy secretary in the department, said the analysis was based on assumptions provided by Bowen’s office.
Those assumptions were that from 2025, there would be no new investment in renewable energy and that coal-fired power stations would stick to the closure schedule assumed by the Australian Energy Market Operator.
But O’Brien said those assumptions were “the opposite” of the Coalition’s positions and were “fundamentally flawed.”
He said the Coalition had made public statements “with respect to ensuring there’s no premature closure of baseload power stations, more gas is poured into the grid and renewables continue to be rolled out.”
He asked if Duggan was comfortable with how the minister had presented the analysis to the public. “I am very comfortable,” Duggan replied.
Earlier in the inquiry, Duggan had reiterated previous advice from other agencies that it would likely take “10 to 15 years” for Australia to start producing electricity from nuclear power if there was to be a change of government policy.
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More from the home ownership inquiry in Canberra
At the hearing, co-CEO of Financial Counselling Australia Domenique Meyrick said we shouldn’t be having a debate about loosening lending criteria.
What we’re seeing is things that are in place, that are keeping a crisis at bay, doing quite an effective job of that.
She said they have seen a change from people calling about personal loans, credit cards and payday loans to people ringing about their home loans.
It’s so important that these protections are in place, we can see them in effect, and we can also see this burgeoning stress in the community.
Since July, 42,000 people contacted the national debt line for help. A third of those have been about mortgage stress.
The group say relaxing lending standards is “a lazy policy idea” that puts all the risk on people who can least afford to manage it. They say they are seeing families go without fresh food to get by.
Nadia Harrison, CEO of Mortgage Stress Victoria, told the hearing:
Home ownership to repossession or an unaffordable debt is both expensive and totally destructive to an individual and the household. Aside from those financial repercussions, [there are also] long-term disruptions to someone’s financial wellbeing. There’s the wholesale indignity of not being able to provide for your family. And as I said, the mental health and other broader health impacts.
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Financial hearing hears lending standards loosening would be ‘devastating’
In today’s financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing, consumer groups are up and in their introduction summary they say it would be “devastating” to loosen the lending standards.
Nadia Harrison, the CEO of Mortgage Stress Victoria, said:
Responsible lending rules came into force in 2011 and the buffer increased. The serviceability buffer, which was discussed so much this morning, increased to 3% … in 2021 in [the] New South Wales supreme court between 2006 and 2009 during that global financial crisis period, there were over 5,000 home [repossessions] each year.
In contrast with comparable hardship in this current cost of living crisis, with significantly higher housing prices in 2023, there were only 1,413 repossessions. And in 2024, they’re projected to be about 1,600.
The Queensland and Western Australian court statistics tell a similar story, she said, while the supreme court of Victoria does not publish statistics.
There is not a shortage of housing credit, there is a shortage of affordable housing. Housing credit grew by 5% last year and 4.5%.
Instead of reducing the buffer, the group called for US style long-term fixed interest rates, raising regulatory standards for non-bank lenders and consistent, standardised hardship guarantees for extreme cases, including domestic violence.
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Study links extreme bushfires to increase in mental health disorders among frontline workers
A new study has linked extreme bushfires to an increase in mental health disorders among frontline workers.
Researchers from Monash university analysed almost 45,000 workers compensation claims filed during the 2019/20 bushfire season and 2009 black summer bushfires.
Published in the journal Nature Scientific Reports, the study found that nearly one in four (23.6%) compensation claims related to mental disorders, compared with almost one in five (17%) in the normal summer period.
The authors attributed the increase in such claims to increased physical and psychosocial job demands, involvement with distressed members of the public, heightened public and media scrutiny and prolonged time away from usual support networks.
They recommended improved psychological aftercare both immediately after the event and on a long-term basis and regular medical health surveillance for those over 55.
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Birmingham suggests standing orders could be strengthened
Simon Birmingham was asked what specific options the Coalition is exploring in relation to this. He responded:
The presiding officers of the Parliament should already, frankly, be looking at this – the speaker and president – as to how the standing orders or the interpretation of the standing orders may well be able to be strengthened, in terms of how we actually can respond.
Birmingham said censure motions “send an important signal” but “doesn’t come with any practical consequence”.
Asked if this was potentially a matter for the privileges committee, Birmingham said it was a matter more for the procedure committee – providing advice around those standing orders:
In terms of a matter of privilege, that would be invoked and occur in a different setting, and particularly the challenge here is because Lidia Thorpe’s conduct was outside of the Senate chamber, it is not necessarily covered by those standing orders at present … but it was clearly an official event of the parliament, conducted within the parliamentary precinct, and so how that actually could be looked at in the future, to try to create greater deterrence, and to try to give greater confidence to potentially visiting guests in the future that they are not going to face embarrassment when the Australian parliament has invited them to actually speak within our confines.
Birmingham compares Thorpe’s oath comments to Sinn Féin members in UK
Earlier, we brought you comments from constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey who weighed in on the matter and said Lidia Thorpe’s ‘hairs’ oath to the Queen doesn’t invalidate her position.
Simon Birmingham said Twomey’s analysis was “important [as] she is one of Australia’s leading constitutional scholars” – and that she suggested there is “something for the president of the Senate to look at here, as to whether in fact the requirements have been fulfilled appropriately”.
If you like, it is analogous in parts of its approach to what happens in the house of Commons in Westminster, where a number of members of parliament there have been elected from Northern Ireland representing Sinn Féin.
Those individuals refuse to make or take an oath or affirmation of loyalty to the British monarch. That is their right to do so, but as a consequence of that, for many, many years, those elected members of the house of Commons in the UK have on principle, therefore, never actually taken up those seats in the house of Commons.
Lidia Thorpe is not showing that type of principle. She wants to try to have it both ways and say I didn’t actually take the affirmation properly, but I’m still going to sit in the Senate. Well, that is not the intent nor potentially the detail of our Constitution.
Birmingham says Thorpe’s oath comments require ‘careful analysis and consideration’
The Coalition has said it will seek legal advice on Senator Lidia Thorpe’s status in parliament, based on her comments she had pledged allegiance to the sovereign’s “hairs” and not “heirs”.
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, was up on ABC TV just earlier to discuss this, and argued Thorpe had admitted to not fulfilling her constitutional obligations “to make and subscribe the oath or affirmation in taking her seat in the Senate.”
That is what section 42 of the Australian Constitution requires an individual to do – to make and subscribe the oath or affirmation of office to then be eligible to take their seat in the Senate, and Lidia Thorpe yesterday clearly made the statement and the claims that in making the affirmation, she actually didn’t do so in accordance with the Constitutional requirements as annexed in the constitution.
So what we see now is a circumstance that creates a doubt over her eligibility and validity to have taken up her seat in the Senate, and that obviously require some careful analysis and consideration.
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eSafety commissioner welcomes new Apple feature for children to report nudity received on iMessage
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, has welcomed Apple’s new feature for children to be able to report nudity in images or video received on iMessage to Apple to potentially pass on to police, but says the tech company needs to do more.
This is particularly important as we continue to see the targeting of Australian children for sexual extortion or grooming on a range of services, through a range of approaches. It can only take one report to ensure an offender is banned, and significant ongoing and future harm to multiple children prevented.
While we welcome this new feature, we continue to call for Apple to broaden its approach, including by introducing measures that help further protect children and all users from the full range of online harms, including terrorist content, technology-facilitated abuse and re-traumatisation through the hosting and sharing of child sexual exploitation material. Other services without these key safety features must follow-suit.
It’s not clear at this stage whether eSafety will consider these measures to be in compliance with new codes around tackling child abuse and terror content on messaging and cloud services which come into force at the end of this year.
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Thorpe now says reading ‘hairs’ in her senatorial affirmation was a misspeak
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has backtracked on her suggestion that she deliberately mispronounced “heirs” as “hairs” when she was sworn in as a senator, insisting she misspoke because her “English grammar isn’t as good as others”.
In an interview with Sky News, Thorpe said it was “an insult” for the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and others in the Coalition to question her legitimacy as a senator when she had simply mispronounced the word “heirs”.
I spoke what I read on the card. Now, forgive me for not being – you know, my English grammar isn’t as good as others and I spoke what I read. So I misspoke, and to have this country question – or particularly people like Dutton and other senators from his party – for them to question my legitimacy in this job is, is an insult. And they can’t get rid of me.
The comments appear to contradict what Thorpe said yesterday when she was asked whether the remarks she shouted at King Charles III during a parliamentary reception for him on Monday amounted to renouncing her affirmation. She had told ABC TV:
I swore allegiance to the Queen’s hairs. If you listen close enough, it wasn’t her heirs, it was her hairs that I was giving my allegiance to. And now that, you know, they’re not no longer here, I don’t know where that stands.
But today, she insisted she had simply misspoken and to her “it said ‘hairs’.”
Well, it starts with a ‘h’. So, you know, I was reading from the card. I signed the card. I was accepted into the parliament to fullfil my role as a senator. I’ve done a lot of good for this country that people don’t talk about.
Thorpe suggested criticisms of her were motivated by dislike and said:
I’m sorry for those that don’t like me but I am here to do a job, and that is to get justice for my people, but also to bring this nation together.
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NAB says Hecs ‘double counted’ during serviceability assessment
Back at the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra, Andy Kerr from NAB has been talking about Hecs – and said right now it’s “double counted”.
We currently have a very conservative approach to treating Hecs, that Hecs debt is paid pre-tax, however, we need to look at post-income, post-tax income, as our starting point for serviceability assessment.
And then we are required to consider Hecs as a standalone debt on top of that. And, to some extent, we see that as double counting in its treatment. Our recommendation would be to treat it as it’s kind of shows up for a customer, which is a deduction pre-tax.
He said 80% of their first home buyers do not borrow to the max.
Kerr was also asked how NAB can share some of its $7.7bn profit to help homebuyers, and responded:
We’ve invested as a bank heavily in the home guarantee scheme. We were the first lender to participate in that, and have been participating in that since 2020. That comes with additional operational costs and it is a scheme that we’ve been very, very happy to invest in.
Asked why banks do not take on and pay their own insurance but make homeowners pay it, he said:
We would see with the returns in mortgages – with the accountability we have to stakeholders, that is not an area we are likely to pursue.
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Victoria’s building watchdog abolished after failing buyers
Victoria’s building watchdog will be replaced after it failed to stop shoddy builders, AAP reports.
A report into the Victorian Building Authority, commissioned by its chief executive, Anna Cronin, has laid bare a series of weak responses to homeowner complaints. Seven complex cases dating back to 2014 were independently examined by building industry regulation expert Bronwyn Weir.
In one example, a family was slapped with a bill for an extra $2m two years after signing a contract. The contract was terminated after they paid the additional money and they had to pay an extra $2.6m to fix defects and finish construction. Another family is yet to move into their home five years after complaining to the regulator.
The report makes 20 recommendations, including giving a new watchdog powers to force builders to rectify work after homeowners move in. The state’s planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, said Victoria’s new building regulator, the Building and Plumbing Commission, won’t be hamstrung by the same restriction.
Cronin also apologised to those who had been let down by the regulator’s failings, stating “we can and will do better.” Kilkenny would not be drawn on whether affected customers should be offered compensation.
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NSW government announces support package for far west residents
The New South Wales government has announced a $4m support package for residents in the state’s far west who have been affected by ongoing power outages.
Broken Hill and other outback communities including Wilcannia have struggled with intermittent electricity supply since severe weather damaged seven transmission towers on the power line into the area a week ago.
As the premier, Chris Minns, prepares to address the media in Broken Hill, the government has released the details of the support on offer for the more than 12,000 properties that have been affected. In a statement, the government has said:
Payments of $200 will be made available to each of the residential electricity account holders affected by the outage. These grants will be available via Service NSW.
Payments of $400 will be made available to affected small-to-medium businesses. These grants will also be available via Service NSW.
While these grants are being established, the NSW government will continue to support people’s immediate needs with pantry staples, fresh produce, food hampers and mobile cold rooms being made available in partnership with Foodbank NSW/ACT at key locations in the far west to support communities where impacts have been greatest.
The government says energy infrastructure operator Transgrid will contribute $1.5m of the $4m package. You can read more of our coverage here:
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NAB says there is opportunity to ‘revisit’ 3% buffer for first home buyers
Back at the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra, Andy Kerr from the National Australia Bank is next up.
Kerr, the home ownership executive, started with citing last year’s intergenerational report, which found that just 35% of 25 to 29-year-olds owned a home in the 2020s compared with 55% in the 1980s.
We know that saving for a deposit is also a significant hurdle for Australians getting into the property market and 12% of all new home [loans] are for first home buyers, which has been stable for a number of years.
He said they “wouldn’t see changes in a buffer as a silver bullet” but it would create a modest increase in first homeowners. Unlike Westpac, he says first home buyers do not present more risk. Reducing the buffer is “one lever” that could be pulled to make it easier, but supply was the biggest issue.
We think there is an opportunity to revisit the 3% buffer for first home buyers. We think it would be a modest change. So we wouldn’t be recommending a significant change, but a modest change would provide first home buyers with additional borrowing power.
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Concerns raised over number of children released from detention without social security payments reinstated
Economic Justice Australia (EJA) says it is concerned by the number of children being released from detention without social security payments reinstated, “exacerbating existing poverty” and the risk of recidivism.
EJA said it interviewed more than 100 service providers who frequently reported people being released from prison or detention without access to their social security entitlements, and no prospect of immediate payment.
They said this was particularly concerning given that the lowered age of criminal responsibility “has become a political issue in both the Northern Territory and Queensland, which will only lead to higher numbers of young people being incarcerated”.
Its chief executive, Kate Allingham, said their research had found “a lack of any standardised process for notifying Services Australia of when a person is released from prison”.
Even in cases where the system ‘works’, systemic delays in having payments reinstated see already vulnerable people leaving detention without any means of financial support.
If young people are offending as a result of poverty, and they are spat back out into the world without even the meagre support afforded by social security, then the choices presented to them as a means of survival are extremely limited. This is a problem with the system, not with the children.
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10,000 retailers expected to sign up for NSW tobacco licensing scheme
About 10,000 retailers are expected to sign up for the New South Wales government’s new tobacco licensing scheme as the state attempts to crack down on the illegal sale of cigarettes.
The state government has announced the new scheme, as well as a doubling of enforcement officers and new penalties for people caught doing the wrong thing.
The NSW chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said she understood why people were turning to cheaper tobacco products to save money but urged them to instead try to give up the harmful products.
We are here to help you. The best thing you can do for your health is to quit smoking.
As it stands, about 19,000 businesses are registered to sell tobacco across the state, but the guidelines do not require a fee or for the registration to be frequently updated. Under the changes, the government expects that number to almost halve, with businesses required to pay about $1,100 each year, and licenses can be revoked or refused.
The health minister, Ryan Park, said he hoped the state could avoid the illegal tobacco-related crime that Victoria has experienced recently by taking proactive measures to shut down illegal trade.
We don’t want to see that criminal element come into NSW. We are not saying for one moment that this will stop every single form of criminal activity related to illegal tobacco or cigarette smoking but [this is] the most significant reform in relation to the selling of tobacco and tobacco products, certainly in recent decades.
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Westpac says housing policy only focused on demand ‘likely to bid up prices further’
Westpac is now up in the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra. Martin Green, the national general manager of property finance, said they have seen more defaults from first home buyers:
If I start with risk weights, we do hold higher risk weights and capital for first time [and] younger borrowers. They do present as risky loans. We do see higher default rates and higher hardship rates off the back, which ultimately results in high risk.
He said $10bn of new lending was given to first-time buyers through FY23 and that’s sitting at $15bn FY24 worth of new lending because of government schemes.
Green was asked how much this scheme may have helped increase house prices, and responded:
I do think it has potentially played through into high prices, and I guess that brings us back to our initial position that any policy focusing on the demand side is only likely to bid up prices further and result in us being in the exact same position we are today, with borrowers who are locked out at the market with higher asset prices.
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Dog breeders to be registered in NSW to curb puppy farms
Dog breeders will need to register and be limited in the number of puppies they can produce in a bid to improve animal welfare in New South Wales.
As AAP reports, the state agriculture minister, Tara Moriarty, will introduce laws to parliament today to curb the prevalence of large-scale puppy farms.
Female dogs will only be allowed to have five natural litters, or three caesarean litters before being retired. Breeders will be allowed a maximum of 20 fertile bitches on any premises, with a minimum of one staffer to care for every 20 dogs.
Moriarty said with half of all households having a dog at home, “there is significant community concern about the welfare of these dogs and puppies, and about the practice of puppy farms”.
The Animal Welfare NSW chief executive, Stephen Albin, said the changes wouldn’t come into effect until the end of 2025, giving breeders time to adapt and apply for registration to run a commercial breeding operation:
We have seen a huge spike in breeding since Covid-19, with a big increase in dogs coming into the shelter, blowing out our waiting lists and making it extremely challenging to find new, loving homes for dogs who are often just puppies.
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MEAA urges government to require digital platforms to pay levy to fund journalism
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance is urging the government to require digital platforms to pay a levy to fund public interest journalism.
The union welcomed the second interim report of the joint select committee on social media and Australian society, and “its focus on the relationship between digital platforms and news media.”
The report recognised that the growth of platforms such as Meta and Google had undermined the sustainability of traditional news outlets, the union said, adding that Meta’s decision to walk away from the news media bargaining code “has exposed its limitations.”
The federal president of MEAA media, Karen Percy, said this should not “let the digital platforms off the hook”, with the committee’s proposal for a digital platform levy “a strong alternative model for these global companies to fund Australian journalism.”
If the news media bargaining code cannot effectively redirect some of this revenue back to media outlets, then the government needs to explore alternatives, such as a digital platform levy. This is a relatively straight-forward way of redistributing the wealth of digital platforms towards ethical public interest journalism.
Continuing from our earlier post, Chris Taylor also said the Banking Association is not suggesting a reduction in the 3% buffer.
What we’re suggesting is it’s worth having a conversation about whether greater flexibility is needed to ensure people can safely access credit.
Taylor was also asked what effect he thinks investor demand is having on house price growth in Australia, and responded:
The same dynamics that apply for first home buyers also apply in the case of investors who purchase homes to make them for rent, and the market needs to have availability of rental properties, and supply is the overarching approach that should be focused on.
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Banks agree addressing supply is key for increasing affordability for first-home buyers
Circling back to the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra: the Banking Association chief of policy, Chris Taylor, has told the hearing Australia needs to build more homes.
We’re seeing that play through not only for home ownership, and for owner occupiers, but also in the availability of rental properties. The national vacancy rate for rentals is 1.2% – a balanced market rate would be around 3%.
We do think that supply is the most appropriate way, because of this imbalance, and that’s where the most fruitful measures will come from – from ensuring affordable homes are being developed in the places where people want to live and that they can ultimately afford to purchase them.
Banks are united in the view that this is a supply-side problem and that the solution for increasing affordability for first home buyers will be addressed by supply-side measures.
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Rory Amon has case adjourned for six weeks
The former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon – who has been charged with 10 child sexual offences against a teenage boy – has had his case adjourned for six weeks.
Amon was not present in court when his case was briefly heard in Sydney’s Downing Centre earlier today, with the magistrate agreeing to adjourn the matter to 12 December for the certification of the charges against Amon.
Amon, 35, was the member for Pittwater in Sydney’s northern beaches when he was arrested, and later granted bail, in August. He was also the shadow assistant minister for transport and roads, infrastructure and youth.
Amon was charged with five counts of sexual intercourse with a person aged over 10 and under 14, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child over 10 and under 14, two counts of indecent assault on a person under 16, and committing an act of indecency with a person under 16.
Amon said in a statement shortly after his arrest that he denied all the charges and resigned from state parliament and from the Liberal party. He said in August:
The nature of the charges against me are such that I will be unable to continue to fully represent my community in parliament. As a result, I have tendered my resignation as the member for Pittwater effective immediately.
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Leading senior constable charged after internal investigation
A leading senior constable with Victoria’s specialist response division has been charged after an internal investigation, police have said in a statement.
The 33-year-old male officer has been charged with two counts of using a carriage service to offend, and one charge of unauthorised disclosure of police information.
The incidents are alleged to have occurred while the officer was off-duty, police said. He has been charged on summons to appear at a magistrates’ court at a later date.
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More from Transgrid on the outage situation in Broken Hill
Continuing from our last post, Transgrid has warned the community to expect further outages in Broken Hill and surrounds. A spokesperson said:
The temporary supply to Broken Hill and surrounding areas remains complex. From time to time, outages can occur in localised parts of the region to enable the bulk of the supply to the community to continue, particularly during the evening peak.
Both Transgrid and Essential Energy have crews onsite to rapidly respond to issues as they occur and minimise impacts.
In addition, Transgrid is working to install additional generators and a transformer that arrived in Broken Hill yesterday as further backup at the substation.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, who is in Broken Hill today to meet with affected residents, has criticised the previous Coalition state government’s decision to privatise the state’s electricity assets and hand control of them to Transgrid.
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Transgrid disputes Broken Hill community’s concerns about second emergency generator
Transgrid has disputed the NSW premier, Chris Minns, and Broken Hill locals who said the town’s second emergency generator had not been operational for nearly a year.
The energy infrastructure operator is under pressure to explain why it did not have a backup plan to prevent the power outage that has affected about 20,000 people in the outback town and surrounding areas since last week.
Broken Hill and other towns including Wilcannia have struggled with intermittent energy since severe weather damaged seven transmission towers on the power line into the area.
The region’s only working emergency large-scale generator, which can run on gas or diesel, failed in hot weather on Monday and was not able to be switched on again until Tuesday.
Yesterday, Minns and the Broken Hill mayor, Tom Kennedy, said the region’s other emergency generator had not been operational since November last year. A spokesperson for Transgrid has now said:
The generator currently out of service in Broken Hill was operational before being taken offline for refurbishment in September 2024. Claims that it has been out of service since November 2023 are not correct.
More to come on this in a moment.
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Banking association says housing supply at decade low with ownership becoming harder to achieve
The Australian Banking Association is up at the financial regulatory framework and home ownership hearing in Canberra.
They have been talking about first home ownership and the serviceability buffer. Chris Taylor, the chief of policy, told the hearing:
In the last five years, banks have provided $298bn of loans to over 683,000 customers to buy their first home. This is a 41% increase in customers over the previous five year period. But with rising house prices and a lack of affordable new homes, the dream of home ownership is becoming harder to achieve.
New housing supply is at a decade low, with only 172,000 homes completed last year, while house prices have surged over 40% since Covid-19, to create more opportunities for young Australians, we need to build more homes.
He said the lending conditions could be more flexible for first-home buyers.
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Lingering smoke from hazard reduction burns to clear across Sydney today
The NSW Rural Fire Service says that lingering smoke from hazard reduction burns in north Sydney is expected to clear throughout the day.
It said crews would return to Killarney Heights, Roseville Chase and the Lane Cove national park to “mop up and patrol the firegrounds”,
Lingering smoke from hazard reduction burns conducted across Sydney's north yesterday is expected to clear across today. Crews will be back on scene in Killarney Heights, Roseville Chase and the Lane Cove National Park to mop up and patrol the firegrounds. pic.twitter.com/ildBwCZitW
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 23, 2024
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One Asic more than enough, says corporate cop chief
The chairman of Australia’s corporate cop has warned splitting the regulator would create inefficiencies, while a funding boost would allow it to launch more investigations into bad behaviour.
As AAP reports, the head of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Joe Longo, said he doesn’t “see any merit” in “one entity doing the investigating and another entity actually doing the court cases”.
He defended Australia’s existing “twin peaks” system of financial regulation, consisting of both Asic and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority. Speaking on Asic’s own podcast he said:
For an economy of our size, a relatively small economy, a population of around 27 million people, the idea that we need more regulators doesn’t readily come to mind.
The regulator’s effectiveness has come under question, with an inquiry led by Liberal senator Andrew Bragg highlighting a broad remit and chronic under-resourcing. Fewer than 2,000 employees are responsible for regulating the country’s corporate and financial markets, according to its report released in July.
Coalition and Greens senators recommended splitting Asic into a companies regulator and a separate financial conduct authority. But Longo maintained the organisational structure was not hampering operations but more funding would be welcomed.
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Miles said he hasn’t heard from Palaszczuk amid election campaign
The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, is speaking to reporters from the Sunshine Coast before the state election on Saturday.
He was asked if he had spoken with former premier Annastacia Palaszczuk throughout the campaign, and said:
No, I haven’t.
She hasn’t offered advice? She led the state for nearly three terms.
No, I spoke to the PM earlier though.
But nothing from Palaszczuk?
No, I haven’t heard from her.
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Four teenagers charged after five-year-old struck with rock through train window
Detectives with the Cairns child protection unit in Queensland have charged four teenagers after a five-year-old boy was struck with a rock, which was allegedly thrown through a train window.
The incident occurred on 19 October near the James and Law Street intersection. The child was initially taken to hospital with serious injuries, but has since been discharged.
Two 14-year-old boys were arrested on Monday, and another two 14-year-old boys were arrested yesterday. All four have been charged with one count of endangering the safety of a person in a vehicle, with intent.
The Cairns North boy was remanded in custody to reappear in Cairns children’s court on 5 November. The Mooroobool boy is expected to reappear on 28 November.
The other Cairns North boy and Earlville boy were remanded in custody to appear in the court today. Investigations are ongoing, police said.
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ACU staff and students welcome refund offer following Joe de Bruyn speech
Australian Catholic University staff and students have welcomed the university’s decision to refund graduation fees after an anti-reproductive rights and same-sex marriage speech, while maintaining the university’s positive duty of care should have protected staff and students from “harm and discrimination”.
Yesterday, the university announced attendees of the graduation ceremony where Joe de Bruyn sparked a walkout would be compensated, while also revealing it had urged the former union chief to reconsider his remarks before he delivered them.
The coalition of student bodies and LGBTQ+ staff backed the move but continued to maintain de Bruyn’s honorary doctorate, awarded at the ceremony, should be reversed.
The Ally Network does not believe that Joe de Bruyn’s history in politics, the union movement or education merits honour. His speech confirms that De Bruyn remains a wholly inappropriate candidate for an honorary doctorate.
ACU, as a public and Catholic university, is well placed to navigate the tensions between freedom of expression and protecting the rights of staff and students in a university environment free from discrimination. In deciding to platform De Bruyn at Monday’s graduation, ACU’s senior management and governance bodies demonstrated more concern for Catholic politics than with student and staff safety.
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Constitutional lawyer weighs in on ‘heir’ vs ‘hair’ oath
Constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey just spoke with ABC News Breakfast about the questions raised by Lidia Thorpe’s admission she had pledged allegiance to the sovereign’s “hairs” and not “heirs”, after her protest at the king’s parliamentary reception.
Twomey said this matter would be sorted out by the House, not litigated in the high court, but that there is no “provision saying you’re disqualified if you renounce your oath”.
If she made an oath to a foreign power, that would be a different matter, but as far as I know, she hasn’t.
Twomey suggested the verbal pronunciation of “hairs” was redundant because the oath of allegiance is set out in writing with “heirs” spelled correctly, and Thorpe “signed it and it was witnessed”.
She has actually made that oath in writing, and even to the extent that she might have mispronounced the word ‘heirs’ … is not itself legally invalidating. She also referred to the Queen’s successors … King Charles is the Queen’s successor, therefore she has made an oath to him both orally and in writing.
The lawyer said if the oath was accepted as valid at the time “that might be the end of it”, but there is “no legal precedent about that”.
It seems unlikely that everyone is required to keep on supporting that oath throughout their term of office. The provision itself is really just directed at before you take your seat.
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Man extradited from Queensland and charged with murder
NSW police have extradited and charged a man for the alleged murder of Jamie Goodworth earlier this year.
On 24 February, 32-year-old Goodworth presented to Liverpool hospital with gunshot wounds but was unable to be revived, and died a short time later.
Strike Force Heye was formed to investigate the incident and on Tuesday, search warrants were executed in Bonnyrigg and Leppington in NSW, and Surfers Paradise and Hawthorne in Queensland.
Police allegedly located and seized electronics, cash, and various documentation relevant to the investigation during the searches. At the Surfers Paradise address, police arrested a 24-year-old man.
He appeared at Brisbane Magistrates Court yesterday where detectives were granted his extradition. He was escorted to Sydney and taken to Mascot Police Station, where he was charged with murder.
He was refused bail to appear in Downing Centre local court today. Police will allege in court that Goodworth was shot while attempting an aggravated break and enter.
NZ man facing court for allegedly assaulting crew member on flight from Perth
A New Zealand man is set to appear before court in Australia today after allegedly assaulting a crew member on board an international flight.
The Australian Federal Police were notified of an allegedly intoxicated and disruptive passenger on a flight from Perth to Auckland, New Zealand yesterday morning.
Flight crew alleged the man, 23, refused to comply with requests and allegedly assaulted a crew member, causing slight injury.
The flight was diverted to Melbourne to enable AFP officers to remove the passenger, who was restrained in the back of the aircraft, a statement said.
He was charged with one count of assaulting a crew member, with the offence carrying a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. AFP detective superintendent Stephen Cook said the incident caused the flight to be delayed.
Any violence or anti-social behaviour in a confined space in the air would be distressing for other passengers and crew. At the very least, in this alleged incident it disrupted everyone’s travel plans.
Assistant treasurer says laws on scam obligations being introduced in coming weeks
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has spoken with ABC News Breakfast about the growing rate of scams.
He said that people are finding it difficult to get their money back because “at the moment there is no clear obligations on either the banks, the telecommunications companies, or the social media platforms”.
We are planning to introduce laws over the next few weeks which will make clear [their] obligations … and have a single front door for redress.
Jones said there is a “lot of shame and emotional distress” with having been scammed, and he wants to normalise this and show that millions have been affected.
It is an international problem, it is not just an individual problem.
Jones said that significant penalties up to $40m would be introduced into law for those failing to meet the new obligations.
I don’t want us to have to levy the penalties. I want the businesses to lift their standards up so Australians aren’t being bombarded by the scams, aren’t being exposed to the dangers and harms of scams. It is always better to have prevention rather than compensation.
He also commented on a bulk email extortion scam going around at the moment (see more details on yesterday’s blog), and said: “Don’t fall for it. Delete the email and provide the information to scam watch.”
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NSW government land audit unveils more sites for housing
Fourteen sites have been announced for housing in New South Wales following a deep-dive of unused government land, AAP reports.
One proposal would redevelop land on the site of the heritage-listed Broadmeadow Locomotive Depot in Newcastle into 208 homes. Another 90 homes could be built on a site used by workers to build the Sydney Metro Victoria Cross station, the state government says.
In Sydney’s north-west, two sites will be given to social housing agency Homes NSW to build about 85 social, affordable and market homes. Other identified sites – mostly vacant lots – are spread over Sydney, the Central Coast and central west.
Twenty-eight sites, capable of providing more than 3,000 homes, had been announced under the land audit, the NSW lands minister, Steve Kamper, said. It’s previously turned up inner-city sites unused for decades.
The final approach to delivering housing on the latest group of sites would be confirmed after further due diligence and planning and regulatory approvals, the government said.
The land audit, which began in April 2023, has been criticised by the opposition for so far failing to build a single home.
The sites included in the new land are:
Broadmeadow – 208 dwellings estimated
Orange – 15
Morisset – 11
Rouse Hill (three sites) – 10 + 691 + 176
North Sydney – 90
Box Hill – 71
Edmondson Park – 47
Chippendale – 21
Fairfield – 24
Riverstone – 11
Stanmore – 5
Earlwood – 3
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Man arrested following fatal stabbing of man believed to be known to him
A man has been arrested following a fatal stabbing in Sydney.
Emergency services were called to a home in Wentworthville about 6.30am to reports a man had been stabbed. Officers found a 64-year-old man had been stabbed in the neck.
Paramedics attended, however the man – who is yet to be formally identified – died at the scene.
A 60-year-old woman was also at the property and was not injured in the incident. A 34-year-old man was arrested a short time later and taken to Granville police station.
All three people are believed to be known to each other, police said.
A report will be prepared for the coroner. Police have established a crime scene and investigations are ongoing.
Thorpe says she will spend next three years ‘getting unfinished business done’
Lidia Thorpe was asked why she chose to swear allegiance when being sworn in as a senator? She responded that it “absolutely” took a bit of her soul.
I had to go through a process with my family prior to doing that, because swearing allegiance to someone else from another country whose ancestors have done a lot of damage to my ancestors, I think is completely inappropriate.
Thorpe said she did it “because my people need a loud and proud Blak voice out there”.
I have a Senate seat for the next three-and-a-half years and I’ll be using that to get justice for my people. I’m constantly on about the 600 deaths in custody. No one’s ever, ever been held responsible for that.
Asked about calls for her to leave the senate, Thorpe said that “I’m an independent [and] no one can kick me out of there”.
I’m there to do fulfil my job. I represent the Blak Sovereign Movement, which is about questioning the sovereignty of the crown, and I’m calling for a treaty.
This government has walked back a treaty. I know the opposition is not interested in treaty. So where else do you go? You go to the king of England … There’s unfinished business. I’ll spend the next three years getting that unfinished business done.
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‘Now it’s up to the King of England to respond’, Thorpe says of protest
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe spoke with Nine’s Today show earlier this morning, where host Karl Stefanovic said “it’s fair to say you might very well be the most loathed woman in parliament … at the moment”.
“It’s just another day in the colony,” Thorpe responded, and spoke about her protest against King Charles:
I’m used to that treatment … I am the black sheep of the family, if you like. But I wanted to send a message to the king. I got that message across, the whole world is talking about it, and my people are happy because my people have been protesting for decades and decades … The message has been sent, delivered. Now it’s up to the king of England to respond.
Thorpe said a treaty is needed “so that we can come together as a nation”, and that Australia needs to “grow up as a nation and get rid of [King Charles] and have our own head of state.”
Asked about the backlash to her protest, Thorpe said she has “the support from many, many thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across this country”.
I’ve had just overwhelming love and respect and, you know, people are saying that it’s put a fire back in their belly and they want to know what’s next.
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Man in custody after body found in Melbourne apartment
A man is in custody after a man’s body was found in a Melbourne apartment complex, AAP reports.
Emergency services arrived at the building in Bellfield, in the city’s north-east, shortly before 11.30am yesterday.
The man, who police are yet to identify, was declared dead at the scene, with investigators looking into the circumstances of the death. Homicide detectives were questioning a 54-year-old man arrested nearby.
A neighbour told television news crews she heard cries and screams from the apartment about 11.30pm on Tuesday:
It was shrills over a period of maybe 10 minutes. There was a police car outside last night, that I saw, so I thought it had been dealt with, but then this morning we heard more sobbing.
To me it sounded like the same voice that I heard crying last night and screaming last night to what I heard this morning.
Officers taped off a toilet block near the scene. They urged any witnesses or anyone with information or CCTV footage to contact Crime Stoppers.
First Nations, environment and civil society groups pen letter opposing fracking in Northern Territory
Traditional owners, doctors and scientists have penned an open letter calling on energy infrastructure company APA to end its plans to build a pipeline enabling gas fracking in the Northern Territory.
The letter has been signed by more than 20 First Nations, environment and civil society organisations and will be delivered to the APA chief executive, Adam Watson, at the company’s AGM in Sydney, a statement said.
Signatories include Healthy Futures, Lock the Gate, Move Beyond Coal, Parents for Climate, Solar Citizens, Doctors for the Environment Australia, the Wilderness Society and more.
Rachel Deans, an oil and gas campaigner with Market Forces, said the proposed pipelines would “unlock emissions from the Beetaloo Basin that are unsafe and incompatible with APA’s own climate goals”.
Samuel Janama Sandy, the chair of Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation which represents native title holders from the Beetaloo Basin region, and has co-signed the letter said:
We don’t want APA laying out pipelines. If they do, they’re helping gas companies frack and destroy our land and water … Gas pipelines are a ticking timebomb. We’re worried about a big explosion and fires spreading. We’ve seen that in Queensland already. Our country is highly flammable, with grasses, trees and strong winds that fan fires.
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Gallagher says Senate chamber will discuss response to Thorpe protest on Monday
Katy Gallagher was also asked about calls for Lidia Thorpe to be censured over her protest against King Charles and whether she agreed with this.
Gallagher said there would be “discussions across the chamber about any response to that behaviour on Monday”.
We need to work out a way to ensure that the institution of the Senate, and the important role it plays in democracy is upheld and respected. And I think that’s at times challenged with some behaviour, in particular from Senator Thorpe, but she also does like attention that comes from these public displays.
And so we have to think through and manage that, and we’ll work with people across the chamber about what the appropriate response is.
Is “penalties for disorderly behaviour” something that should be explored, as Simon Birmingham has called for? Gallagher said there are standing orders in place and that she hasn’t spoken with Birmingham yet. She echoed earlier comments shared by Penny Wong and said:
I think for Senator Thorpe, many in the chamber understand the point she’s trying to make but disagree with the way she chooses to make them. It’s really a matter for her now as well to reflect on her role as a senator, and how she wishes to play that role in what’s an important institution, including for the causes that she seeks to represent.
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Gallagher says she is 'over abortion being played as a political football'
The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, has been speaking to ABC RN about comments from the shadow cabinet yesterday that it doesn’t want abortion back on the national agenda – following calls from Jacinta Price.
Is Gallagher satisfied the issue is now settled? Gallagher responded that “time will tell”.
I’m part of a group of loads of women around Australia who have campaigned for decades for safe and legal access to abortion services for women in Australia, and it’s really only relatively recently, when you think about it, that those rights have been achieved.
The minister said she “always gets worried” when this debate is raised, because “hard fought for gains can often be wound back very quickly”.
I think we have to remain vigilant, and I think from the opposition’s point of view – and certainly I do welcome the [response] from Senator [Jane] Hume and Sussan Ley … but as we see in so many things, when the Nationals raise an issue … they have a very significant say in that Coalition.
I’m kind of over abortion being played as a political football. It’s been happening for too long, and we should just get on and accept that it’s an access to health issue for most women.
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Delays across Sydney train network following five-minute work stoppage
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union of NSW (RTBU) conducted a five-minute work stoppage early this morning, which is leading to delays across the network.
Sydney Trains says this has led to minor delays and “larger than normal gaps in services may be experienced”, according to an alert:
Trains stops and platforms may change at short notice and some trains may be cancelled. Extra travel time may be experienced in some cases and you may need to change to continue your trip.
In an email to members, the RTBU NSW said it was conducting a five-minute work stoppage at 3.10am because this was the last day in their 60-day bargaining period to “ensure that we retain our right to take strike action for the rest of the bargain”.
The action was set to happen in select locations across the network to ensure we could ramp up stoppages whenever needed.
The union said it was a “world first, network wide, 5-minute stoppage”.
A Sydney Trains spokesperson said the stoppage had “caused minor impacts to the start of morning peak services.”
The rail agencies continue to bargain in good faith with the Combined Rail Unions for a new enterprise bargaining agreement. Sydney Trains are working to minimise the disruption to commuters as much as possible.
Thorpe should reflect on role she wants to play in institution of parliament: Wong
The foreign affairs minister was also asked about comments from independent senator Lidia Thorpe yesterday that she had pledged allegiance to the sovereign’s “hairs” and not “heirs”, after her protest at the king’s parliamentary reception.
Penny Wong said it was an “an unusual thing for [Thorpe] to come out and say” and answered:
I don’t share many views with some of the people on the other side of the parliament but we are all part of the same institution – a very important institution in our democracy – and that is the Australian parliament.
I think [it is] a matter for Senator Thorpe to reflect on, you know, the institution of which she is a part and how she wishes to play her role in that institution.
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Gender equality to be on Chogm agenda, Wong says
Penny Wong said that gender equality and violence against women will also be on the agenda at Chogm, and is “increasingly” part of Australia’s international development work.
The foreign affairs minister said that “no country can achieve its full potential if it leaves behind 50% of its population”.
So this is an equity issue, this is an ethical issue, but also a development issue. No country will achieve its full development unless it ensures it brings all of its people including women and girls to that task.
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‘The whole world has to reduce emissions,’ Wong says
Penny Wong was asked how Australia can explain its decision to expand coalmines to countries in the Pacific, which are seeing water levels rise very quickly?
She said the government was transitioning the economy, and it was “a big task”:
When we came to government, I think some 30% of our electricity was from renewable sources and obviously our target is 82% by 2030, that’s a very big turnaround and we’re well on our way of doing that.
Wong argued that the “vast majority” of new coal-fired power is in developing countries and in China.
Australia has to reduce its emissions but the whole world – if we are going to combat sea level rise, temperature rising – the whole world will have to peak and reduce emissions.
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Wong defends government’s climate action ahead of Chogm
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, just spoke with ABC News Breakfast from Apia, in Samoa, before the Commonwealth heads of government meeting.
She said it was a “big deal” that a Chogm meeting was being held in the Pacific for the first time, which is “why we’re so focused on backing in Samoa’s priorities – which are particularly looking at oceans”.
Is Australia listening to calls from the Pacific to end fossil fuel exports? Wong responded:
I have spent the last … two and a bit years travelling through the Pacific. I visited every Pacific Island Forum member. I’m acutely aware, as is the prime minister and our whole government, of what climate change is here in the Pacific.
You know, you might recall Peter Dutton made a joke about water lapping at people’s doors. Well, we are with them working with them on how we increase climate resilience, climate adaptation. We have the groundbreaking treaty with Tuvalu, which enables mobility with dignity, and also we have legislated very ambitious targets.
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Children able to report nude images sent via iMessage to Apple, which could report to police
Children will be able to report nude images and video being sent to them via iMessage direct to Apple, which could then report the matter to police, under changes coming to iOS in Australia.
As part of the beta releases for iOS and iPadOS 18.2 and MacOS 15.2 for Australian users released today, users will now have the ability to report images or video containing nudity to Apple. It is an extension of its existing communications safety features that since iOS 17 have been turned on by default for Apple users under 13, but are available to all users.
Under the changes, when a warning about a nude image comes up, users will also have the option to report to Apple.
The device will prepare a report containing the images or videos, as well as messages sent immediately before and after the image or video. It will include the contact information from both accounts, and users can fill out a form describing what happened.
The report will be reviewed by Apple, which can take action on an account – such as disabling that user’s ability to send messages over iMessage – and also report the issue to law enforcement.
The timing of the announcement as well as picking Australia as the first to get the new feature coincides with new codes coming into force in Australia by the end of 2024 forcing tech companies to detect child abuse and terror content on cloud and messaging services.
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Good morning
Happy Thursday, and welcome back to the Australia news live blog – thanks to Martin for getting things started for us. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through our live coverage for most of today.
As always, you can reach out with any tips or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go.
More on the Commonwealth heads of government meeting in Samoa
We have another story on the summit from our colleagues in the UK where the prime minister, Keir Starmer, has insisted he wants to “look forward” rather than have “very long endless discussions about reparations on the past”.
He has been under pressure to discuss reparatory justice with Commonwealth countries as he gathers with other leaders for his first summit.
Here’s our full story:
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Commonwealth summit to begin in Samoa
Although the Commonwealth summit has been branded a talkfest, it will focus on networking and alliance building over concrete policies – despite Pacific nations susceptible to climate change continuing to push leaders to phase out fossil fuels.
As AAP reports, the meetings “aren’t transformational” but the Pacific would be looking to build on connections to other regions and draw attention to the existential threat of rising sea levels, Pacific expert Meg Keen said.
That’s not trivial, there’s 56 countries – about a third of the world’s population – there are not only leaders, there are key decision makers and, of course, there’s media.
Pacific nations would be looking to raise concerns before the COP environment conference in November and gather support for an International Court of Justice case on obligations states regarding climate change, she said.
Prof Jioji Ravulo, who specialises in Pacific communities, also framed climate as the main issue but said it was important Australia used its diplomatic clout to elevation regional voices. Issues of gender equality, poverty and economic development “all come back to a common denominator, which is climate change”, he said.
Anthony Albanese said Australia “values the significant role Samoa plays in our region and the close partnership between our two countries” as he makes his first trip to the Pacific nation as leader.
While Canberra had a pivotal role in these conversations as a major regional voice, it should not use its weight to impose on Pacific partners and only operate “within the terms of what Australia wants”, Ravulo said.
“It’s not a shared relationship, it’s one where Australia continues to create expectations,” he said, pointing to reports an NRL team agreement with Papua New Guinea would preclude Chinese security forces in the Pacific nation.
Samoan leader Fiamē Naomi Mata’afa is calling for an ocean declaration that would focus on governance of the seas and the impacts rising sea levels and temperatures have on coastal communities and livelihoods, Keen said.
Poorer nations will be looking for larger partners to help economically and Australia is the primary maritime partner for most of the region, she said.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with some of our top overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind takes over.
Could foreign leaders really be put off from visiting Australia because of Lidia Thorpe’s verbal assault on the king? Liberal senators think so and have suggested imposing penalties for overstepping the mark. The opposition Senate leader has flagged the possibility of new penalties for senators who engage in “disorderly conduct” beyond the chamber itself, after independent senator Lidia Thorpe’s shouted protest at a parliamentary reception for King Charles III and Queen Camilla.
Abortion continues to be a key issue in the Queensland election with the Greens promising today to introduce a bill banning the state government from any new deals to outsource public hospitals to organisations that refuse to provide abortions. Guardian Australia reported last year on concerns that Catholic-run public hospitals would not provide reproductive care. The Greens’ move comes after senior Coalition women rejected Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comments about abortion, saying the Liberal party had “no interest in unwinding women’s reproductive rights” and saying it was an issue advanced by “fringe” politicians.
Commonwealth leaders will meet in Samoa from today with the environment, ocean health and economic development on the cards – but the UK prime minister, Keir Starmer, says he doesn’t want to have “endless discussions” about reparations. Anthony Albanese will be attending the Commonwealth heads of government meeting (Chogm) along with King Charles and other leaders from the group of former British colonies. We’ll have more on the summit as it gets into gear.
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