What we learned today, Friday 16 June
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
Fallout from allegations levelled against the Liberal senator David Van continued. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said he had been made aware of a third allegation against Van since he expelled him from the party room on Thursday, and called for him to resign from parliament. Late on Friday, the Victorian Liberal party’s administrative committee said it would hold an urgent meeting this weekend to discuss Van’s future.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has approved habitat clearing for a defence housing development in Darwin despite acknowledging there is a significant risk for what has been described as one of Australia’s most beautiful endangered birds.
Brian Houston never attempted to “cover up” his father’s paedophilia, instead immediately reporting his father’s confession to church leaders and banning him from preaching, Houston’s lawyer has told a Sydney court.
Sydney property developers are “laughing” about the windfall they will receive under proposed changes to the state’s planning rules, according to an eastern suburbs mayor, as debate continues on how to ease the housing crisis.
What a week it has been. Thanks for reading and have a pleasant evening and weekend.
Updated
Stoker’s message to women: ‘Don’t put up with shit’
Stoker says the past week should be a lesson – to “teach kids by our example” and report incidents “with proportionality” so problem patterns can be identified and dealt with.
“This conduct isn’t OK, it isn’t acceptable. If there’s a pattern, and I say if with some care here, then that cannot be allowed to continue. Let’s chart a way forward for everyone’s sake, raise kids not to accept this nonsense, especially at work.”
To women, she says: “Don’t put up with shit.”
“I’m not out to make this a bigger deal than it is, I’m not scarred for life, and I’m not out to get anyone. I never wanted this to be public, but I’m not about to cover it up.”
Now Van has denied the allegations, she says she is glad she went public and backed independent Senator Lidia Thorpe.
“Well, it tells me something. It tells me that speaking up was the right thing to do. After all, the standard we walk past is the standard we accept.”
Updated
Stoker says Van was right to say the pair “buried the hatchet” at the time and moved on with the incident but she was provoked to go public after being approached by journalists on Thursday.
“I’m a professional, and I don’t hold a grudge ... many journalists approached me yesterday.
“I would’ve preferred the matter to remain private and in the past but if it was going to be reported I wanted it to be done accurately.”
She thanks those who have reached out to her in the past 24 hours but assures “I’m fine”.
Updated
Stoker says the incident with Van “was not appropriate conduct in a workplace ... it was unprofessional and uninvited”.
She says she “dealt with it as you’d expect any woman would in a senior position” – followed up on it.
“I didn’t run to the media and didn’t try to destroy a colleague.”
She says she immediately followed the incident up with a senior colleague and dealt with the matter.
“It was important to me that others were safe, especially staff. Senator Van apologised and said I could be confident he wouldn’t behave that way in future ... I accepted his apology. I got on with the job.”
Updated
Amanda Stoker says 'I'm fine' in Sky News appearance after David Van allegations
Amanda Stoker is filling in for Peta Credlin on Sky News tonight, airing allegations she made against Senator David Van inappropriately touching her in 2020.
She says she’ll have “a few things to say” tonight about what occurred, and “how we can put an end to it”.
Van has denied all allegations made this week against him.
Updated
Victorian Liberals to meet about David Van's future
The Victorian Liberal party’s administrative committee will hold an urgent meeting this weekend to handle the allegations raised against Senator David Van at parliament this week.
A Victorian Liberal party spokesperson told Guardian Australia it has:
… taken action to suspend all organisational resources and support from Senator Van.
There will be an urgent meeting this weekend of the party’s Victorian administrative committee to further consider the allegations raised.
Updated
Former Liberal senator tells party it must ‘reframe’ its position on climate change
Former Liberal senator Greg Mirabella has told the party’s federal council that it must acknowledge climate change as a “political fact”, an issue which they needed to “neutralise” to prevent further damage to the Coalition brand.
Mirabella moved a motion at the federal council in Canberra for the party to “reframe” its position on climate change, to focus on economic costs and benefits of the issue, rather than framed around climate change deniers.
He said:
We must neutralise the climate change debate. We’ve certainly got to neutralise Climate 200.
We must present a transformative face to the electorate. We must reposition as a party that cares about stuff.
His policy motion called on the parliamentary Liberal party to “devote to energy security the same deliberate level of policy priority that it would apply to economic security or national security.”
Mirabella said cost of living would be a major concern at the next election, which was inextricably linked with energy costs and security. He said the Liberal party must offer “solutions” to costs around energy and environment, calling for a “reimagining” of the debate.
Updated
Dutton speaks about allegations levelled against Senator Van on Sky News
Opposition leader Peter Dutton was just interviewed on Sky News about the allegations that have been levelled against Liberal senator David Van.
Speaking about former Senator Amanda Stoker’s allegation of inappropriate touching and her decision not to go public with the matter, host Erin Molan asked Dutton if senior Liberal figures should have taken action against Van earlier.
Molan:
Should action have been taken the moment senior people within the Liberal party found out that this had occurred even if she had handled it the way she wanted to? Should something else have been done to him to stop it happening to anyone else?
Dutton then sidestepped the question. He replied:
Everybody has 20:20 in hindsight. I don’t know, I wasn’t privy to the information at the time. People make decisions as best they can and as I say for Amanda she made a decision that was entirely hers to make. And, you know, I really support her then but now as well.
There are a number of reasons, particularly for people in public life who might make a decision not to have their name splashed over the front page of the paper and in other circumstances, they believe it’s important to call it out publicly. As I say it’s really up to the individual.
Updated
We asked our Embassy colleagues to try @Vegemite for the first time. The results were... interesting 😆
— U.S. Embassy Australia (@USEmbAustralia) June 16, 2023
Happy #VegemiteDay, Australia! pic.twitter.com/YFzPkWv3G5
‘I feel I have run my best race’: MP Robinson will retire after five terms in seat of Oodgeroo
More on Queensland opposition MP Mark Robinson who will not contesting the next state election, and how this potentially paves the way for former senator Amanda Stoker to stand in his seat of Oodgeroo.
An emotional Robinson announced he would retire at the October 2024 poll after five terms in the seat formerly named Cleveland.
He told parliament on Friday:
By the time I complete this term, I feel I have run my best race. I’ve run it strongly. I’ve given it my all and I’ve achieved much of what I set out to do when I started in 2009.
Robinson, 60, said his family needs were also changing, including having four grandchildren and he and his wife caring for their elderly mothers.
Robinson said he hoped a local woman would become the next and first female member for his seat based in Redland, south-east of Brisbane. He said announcing his intentions allowed plenty of time to have the best local LNP candidate out in the field “who can hit the ground running”.
Stoker, a former Liberal senator and Morrison government minister, has moved to the electorate and is considering a tilt at state parliament.
The Sky News host served as a senator from 2018 until losing her seat after being relegated to third spot on the LNP ticket in the 2022 election.
Stoker this week accused Victorian Liberal senator David Van of inappropriately touching her in 2020.
Comment was being sought from Stoker.
AAP
Updated
Liberal party president tells members to stop ‘navel gazing’ and start reflecting modern Australia
Liberal party federal president, John Olsen, has told his partymates that they must overcome “organisational dysfunction” if they are any chance to return to government at the national or state levels.
The Liberals’ annual federal council has just opened in Canberra, with a small-ish room of delegates from around the country gathering not far from Parliament House. Olsen, the federal president, opened the conference by noting his party was now in opposition in every jurisdiction nationwide except Tasmania – with a blunt speech telling his troops to “pick ourselves up off the canvas”.
He warned against “navel gazing”, saying the party would need to make “difficult decisions”, and speaking specifically against the controversies generated by some of the Liberal state branches.
Olsen said they needed to:
Get the organisations out of the news cycle and the media.
Democracy relies on us and we must be seen to be up to the challenge. Organisational dysfunction runs counter to that.
In a written report, published inside the party’s annual report, Olsen described the Coalition’s May 2022 federal election defeat as “one of the most significant losses in our history”, noting the loss of a swathe of seats in inner metropolitan areas, as well as cratering support in seats with higher numbers of professional women and voters of Chinese ancestry.
He said:
To win these seats back the Liberal party must reflect modern Australia – with our people, policies and presentation.
These are difficult days but our party needs us more than ever … we must do the hard work and be ready.
Updated
Speed-cubing world record broken
Some speed-cubing fans were left in tears after a prestigious and longstanding record was broken by American champion cuber Max Park, who took an astonishing 3.13 seconds to solve a 3x3x3 puzzle.
The 21-year-old smashed the previous benchmark of 3.47 seconds set by China’s Yusheng Du in 2018 to enter the Guinness Book of World Records at the Pride in Long Beach 2023 event in California. As the magnitude of his feat became clear, cheers erupted.
Park’s father, Schwan Park, told the Guinness book:
The atmosphere was electric.
Everybody knew that he had broken the record and I think partially everybody was in shock.
Read more and watch the video of the moment Park broke the record (it’s a lot of fun):
Updated
Federal Liberal women’s committee backs expelled Victorian MP Moira Deeming
The Liberal party’s federal women’s committee has called for expelled MP, Moira Deeming, to be brought back into the fold.
The upper house MP was suspended by the Victorian Liberal partyroom in March after she attended an anti-trans rally, which was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis. She was later expelled from the party room after she issued an ultimatum that leader, John Pesutto, apologise or face legal action.
Guardian Australia understands the party’s federal women’s committee passed a motion for Deeming to be brought back on Friday morning.
The motion had the support of the Queensland and Western Australian women’s committee presidents but was opposed by those in New South Wales and Victoria. Federal MP, Sussan Ley, who is the shadow minister for women, addressed the meeting on Friday morning but was unaware of the motion and did not vote in it.
The motion described Deeming’s expulsion as “without basis”:
“Women have a right to participate in the political process without fear of cancellation. The silencing of women has no place in the Liberal party.
Deeming told Guardian Australia:
My husband and I, and our four children, as well as all those who have suffered unjustly for attending the legal & peaceful ‘Let Women Speak’ rally in Melbourne are extremely grateful to [the] federal Liberal women’s committee for their public show of support.
Updated
Sultan of Brunei to meet with Albanese during Australia visit
Anthony Albanese will meet with the Sultan of Brunei when the leader visits Australia in coming days.
The prime minister said His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei is visiting as a guest of government from 18 to 21 June.
Elevating the bilateral relationship with Brunei, Australia’s commitment to strengthening engagement with south-east Asia, and working together with Asean throughout the region are among the opportunities Albanese has outlined as part of the visit.
Albanese said:
I am delighted to welcome His Majesty to Australia. Australia and Brunei share a commitment to a stable, peaceful and prosperous region.
I am committed to forging stronger relationships with our neighbours in south-east Asia and working together and through Asean to meet our shared challenges.
I look forward to meeting with His Majesty in Canberra to reinforce our warm and longstanding relationship.”
Updated
Sydney Uni VC heading to China
Mark Scott, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney is heading to China next week on his first official visit since landing the position.
Scott will embark on a nine-day trip from Monday, where he will speak at a Times Higher Education summit in Hong Kong and open a Shanghai branch of the Centre of China, first established in Suzhou in 2016.
Scott will also renew MoUs with the China scholarship council University of Sydney joint funding program and the traditionally liberal journalism school Fudan University, which last year axed “freedom of thought” from its charter.
The Chinese market continues to be a lucrative one for the university, which accounted for 87% of its international student revenue in 2021.
The last trip university visit to China was by the former vice-chancellor Dr Michael Spence prior to the pandemic in 2019.
Updated
Drowning of Indigenous man during police chase sparks call for water safety review
Police did everything they could to save the life of Indigenous man Brandon Clark who fled into dangerous river waters while evading officers and drowned, a coroner has found.
Clark had been pulled over by police during a vehicle stop when officers discovered an alleged breach of bail. He was also affected by illicit substances at the time.
“Brandon did not like water or swimming. The fact that he entered the water at all is evidence of the state of mind he was in while trying to evade police,” said coroner Erin Kennedy at Lidcombe coroner’s court on Friday.
Wading into the waters of the Manning River at Taree on the NSW mid-north coast on 22 January last year, he was swept downstream and away from officers waiting on the bank. Although initially appearing not to have trouble in the water, his body was later found after he drowned.
Read more:
Updated
And on that note, I shall hand you over to the brilliant Elias Visontay who will take you through the rest of the afternoon. I and Politics Live will be back with you on Monday – until then, take care of you Ax
Kremlin responds to Australia stopping Russian Federation’s embassy plans
I missed this yesterday in *gestures* everything – but the Kremlin responded to Australia’s very swift move to stop the Russian Federation from building an embassy on land adjacent to parliament through its state news site, Tass.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov was reported in the state mouthpiece as saying:
To our regret, Australia diligently continues to move in the main stream of the authors of the ‘Russophobic’ hysteria that is now taking place in the western countries. Australia is trying to be an excellent student there.
… Another unfriendly display from Australia. We will take this into account and if there are issues on the agenda that require the principle of reciprocity, we will act accordingly.”
The legislation was introduced by Clare O’Neil yesterday morning and passed with the support of the parliament in just over an hour, with the opposition, Greens and crossbench having been briefed on the urgency ahead of the bill’s introduction.
This all reminds me of a Lithuanian saying – aiškintis santykius –which roughly translates to there are no fights, just ‘clarifications of relationships’.
Updated
And on that note, question time is ended.
So after a very, very fiery week, with tears and recriminations and a lot of pain, the senate decided to turn down the temperature, at least for question time today.
Senator Watt talks about the ‘decline in culture and science’ during QT
Labor senator Murray Watt takes a dixer on industrial relations and enterprise bargaining and how things are different from the Coalition years.
That gives Watt a chance to compare and contrast and talk about the “decline in culture and science” and reference that the “dark ages had people thinking the Earth was flat”.
He then turns to the Coalition benches and says “hello senator Rennick, how are you going?”
Rennick asks for that to be withdrawn and says it was a ‘personal reflection’.
Watt withdraws.
(In a later answer he makes the Family Feud wrong answer sound and is told to stick to words)
Updated
Queensland MP hopes a female candidate with replace him in 2024 state election
Queensland MP, Dr Mark Robinson, has announced he will not re-contest the 2024 state election and that he hopes that a female candidate will be preselected in his place.
Robinson, an MP for the Liberal National party, said it was time to “hang up” his “political boots” to spend more time with his family after “15 years of service to the community.”
After much deliberation, I have decided not to re-contest the Queensland election in 2024.
Now is the right time for me to move on to other endeavours and, as a new grandfather, be more available for my family.
The Member for Oodgeroo said it was his hope that a woman would be chosen as the next LNP candidate for his electorate.
That is something I would dearly like to see happen as I leave.
It has been an honour to serve the people of the Northern Redlands and North Stradbroke Island and I thank them for their generous support over the past 15 years.
Updated
Gallagher says Reserve Bank and government to tackle cost of living together
We are back in familiar house footing now, with questions about interest rates.
But there is no ‘middle Australia’ tag line or even a “why is everything harder under Labor’ which before this cursed week was the main go-to.
Liberal senator Dean Smith:
The prime minister was quoted in the newspaper on the second of May last year ‘Labor has real lasting plans for cheaper mortgages’. How does the prime minister reconcile the statement with the fact that interest rates are up 400 basis points since May last year, adding $15,168 to annual loan costs?
Katy Gallagher:
I think the lack of acknowledgment of the inflationary environment that we are in at the moment. We came to government after the first interest rate rise in May last year and they have continued since with one pause and the Reserve Bank is doing what it needs to do to put downward pressure on inflation and return it to target range.
The job the government’s got to do … is to generate supply in housing to ease cost of living pressures for households as we tackle some of these challenges in our economy and that’s why our budget had a cost of living package as part of it.
We also had significant investments in Medicare and the care economy in inclusion and equality in growth opportunities to deal with the productivity challenge across the economy, and also sought to improve our budget and put it on a more sustainable footing but we are facing difficult economic times.
These are not challenges, just that Australia is facing but they have been faced around the world. We have an illegal war in Ukraine that is having an impact on the global economy.
The bank needs to do what it needs and that is through monetary policy, controlling inflation because if they weren’t doing that the impacts on everyone across the community, but particularly those on low incomes would be much much much worse.
And so our job is to work hand in hand with the work that the bank is doing, and look at how the budget can support households as we work through these difficult times.
Updated
There has been an on-going inquiry into the Workforce Australia Employment Services. It has led to calls from some in the union movement to bring back employment services under government control – like the Commonwealth Employment Services (CES) used to run, before it was privatised.
In today's hearing of the Workforce Australia Employment Services Inquiry, we got to hear from some unions
— jeremy poxon (@JeremyPoxon) June 16, 2023
Here's @Michtull from @CPSUnion:
"There's abundant evidence that mutual obligations, as it currently operates, does more harm than good" pic.twitter.com/lxjlTvNq8h
Updated
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie just got in trouble for talking.
It’s like high school, but if the high school was only for debating kids, prefects and vice-captains.
Just like in the house, the senate dixer questions are very painful.
Maybe even more so, because there are three in a row.
Just send the press release and save us all these precious minutes in our life.
Murray Watt says communications minister Michelle Rowland has requested a briefing on ABC cuts
Labor senator Murray Watt is asked by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young about the recent ABC job losses which were announced yesterday.
Watt says that Labor has “reversed the Coalition era cuts” as was promised but that the ABC is independent organisation and makes its own staffing decisions.
What was obviously announced yesterday was the decision of ABC management to restructure its operations to move resources from one area to the other as actually to keep pace with changes in the media, environment and audience needs and expectations.
But as I say [communications] minister [Michelle] Rowland has requested a briefing from ABC management in regards to the ABC five-year plan and the announcement this week.
Hanson-Young says not all the funding was restored. Watt says it was. And around and around we go.
Updated
The answers to the following supplemental questions from Larissa Waters are pretty much the same and can be paraphrased as ‘we are better than the Coalition on this’.
But that doesn’t mean it’s enough, in terms of climate action. Because ‘better than the Coalition on climate’ is a pretty low bar.
Updated
Penny Wong disagrees with the Greens on Australia’s gas transitions
Greens senator Larissa Waters takes the questions in a different direction – to policy.
How quaint.
Waters:
Earlier this month, global temperatures crept one and a half degrees above historic averages for the first time in human history. Current coal, oil and gas production continuing in operation will permanently blow the safe one and a half degree limit. We have to wind down production, not expand it if we’re going to have any fighting chance of stopping climate breakdown.
Is the government’s still going to proceed with its $1.9bn taxpayer subsidy for developing Middle Arm now that Tambor have confirmed that it will support their plans to build Australia’s biggest ever gas export hub there?
Penny Wong:
I will in relation to that specific project on Middle Arm … I will get perhaps a little more [of a] sophisticated answer then I’m urged to by those opposite [the Coalition] but I will try and get a little more information on that Senator Waters.
On the broader proposition … I understand that the Greens party has a view that the way to deal with climate change in an international global economies for Australia to shut down its gas exports and to shut down its gas industry.
We don’t agree.
We believe that what the task we have been set with and we wish it were not. After so many years of inaction on the other side is to transition what is a very resource intensive economy on a pathway to net zero by 2050. And that is not only the imperative that is not only climate, the imperative of that is also jobs.
If the majority of the global economy is moving to a net zero by 2050 target, which it is and then 34% of global GDP has made that commitment, then we have to be able to compete in that world.
… We don’t take the view … that the way to deal with this is just to make sure that we don’t shut down some of those industries overnight, so we have a fundamental difference of policy about how to deal with this.
Updated
Gallagher maintains accountability to the Senate regarding Higgins broadcast
The final supplementary question on that section from Marise Payne is:
The minister has a duty to be accountable to this chamber. Yet the minister has continually misused claims of confidentiality in response to questions about a very public media broadcast, which the minister asked hundreds of questions about herself.
Is the minister hiding behind the excuse of confidentiality, because giving a direct answer would confirm that the minister misled the Senate when she said no one had any knowledge and misled the senate when she said that she did absolutely nothing with the information.
Katy Gallagher:
Well, the answer to that is no. And I have been accountable to the Senate. I’ve stood here every day, answering questions that related to something that happened in the previous parliament.
A very distressing situation for everyone, as we all know. (There is an inaudible interjection)
Well, Senator Henderson, I believe, Miss Higgins.
Now … it has been distressing for a lot of people in this building, as has this week. But the answer to your question is no.
And I have been accountable to the Senate on both of those points that I believe needed addressing which was around the nature of whether I’d misled and also role in the compensation payment.
Updated
Gallagher denies doing anything with advanced information on Higgins broadcast
The next question goes to whether or not Katy Gallagher did anything with the information she received advanced knowledge of (four days).
Gallagher says, as she has all week, that she did not.
I did nothing with the information because I was asked to keep the information confidential. I did that. I know it’s hard for you to understand that someone … given the nature of the information given to me would actually do that, but that is what I did. I don’t intend to go into any further details.
Updated
Gallagher: ‘If someone comes to me with information and asked that it be kept confidential, I intend to keep that confidentiality’
Katy Gallagher:
I’m going back to my statement, and yes, I’ve given numerous [answers on this]
If somebody comes to me with information and asked that it be kept confidential, I intend to keep that confidentiality.
That not just in this situation, but I’ve done it hundreds of situations before that. I have no doubt I’ll be doing it again.
Updated
Payne questions Gallagher over Higgins broadcasts
The Senate question time turns to Katy Gallagher and the questions she has been asked (and answered) all week.
Liberal senator and the former minister for women Marise Payne refers to the Senate president, Sue Lines as “Mr President” and is asked by Lines to “rephrase that”:
I’m not Mr President.
Payne:
I’m sorry. My apologies, Madam President. Years of habit, unfortunately for me.
Payne moves to the question, which is to Gallagher:
I refer the minister to her statement to the Senate on Tuesday and subsequent answers in multiple question times. How is it a breach of confidentiality, as the minister has repeatedly claimed, to confirm whether or not the minister received an advanced copy of the media broadcast, which has subsequently been made public?
Updated
Greens senator Larissa Waters says David Van’s senate position is ‘untenable’
Greens senator Larissa Waters claims Liberal David Van’s position in the Senate is “untenable”, adding her voice to Peter Dutton’s calls for him to quit the parliament.
Waters told a press conference at Parliament House this afternoon:
Given the multiple allegations against Senator Van, it’s untenable he remain in the Senate.
… Senator Van should consider his political future.
She did not answer directly when asked if she would support an inquiry or investigation into allegations against Van, but noted that parliament was updating internal processes of reporting such allegations.
Van released a statement earlier today in which he said he was “shattered by the events of the past days and stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged without due process or accountability”. He said:
I will fully cooperate with whatever process Mr Dutton proposes to determine these matters as quickly and fairly as possible.
Updated
Lidia Thorpe on why some victim survivors do not want to report their claims to the police
Ahead of question time, Lidia Thorpe, has thanked supporters for messages she has received in the last 48 hours, after making her allegations in the Senate, and spoke about why some survivors of violence do not wish to report their claims to police.
In a short statement to the Senate this afternoon, just before question time, Thorpe said:
Today I want to send a message of love and support to the women, girls and gender-diverse people out there - black, brown and white - who have experienced gender-based violence and harassment. I have been touched by all the messages of support that I’ve received over the past 48 hours and I thank you.
To all those who continue to stand up and refuse to stay silent about the ongoing violence and harassment inflicted on the bodies of our women and girls, sister-girls and brother-boys and other gender diverse folks - I thank you.
When we speak about violence, we get asked “why didn’t you take it to the police?” We know the police are not the experts. 87% of sexual assault cases go unreported in Australia, because we don’t want to go to the police. Yet they are the only body that is fully resourced and funded and wandering the streets 24/7.
The experts are our friends, our matriarchs, our sisters who answer our calls in the middle of the night when we’re feeling unsafe and look after us. The experts are those working for support services that provide vital assistance and services that are stretched, underresourced and hard to access. They cannot keep up with the demand.
To all those still fighting against the violent colonial system, and the conditions that allow gender-based violence to continue, may we continue to find strength and solidarity with each other. This country has the capacity to properly fund those support services, legal services and advocacy groups, who are saving lives and protecting our community against gender based violence.
Updated
Penny Wong: claim was settled ‘in accordance with legal principle and practice’
Paul Scarr’s final question in this round:
Minister, can you confirm that the commonwealth agreed to settle the matter without putting any of the claims made to the people involved?
Penny Wong:
First, in relation to the comments about when settlements occurred, it is a very long time since I was a lawyer but from the deep dark recesses of my memory I recall that settlements could occur [during] many, many stages in the process.
Sometimes, as you know, before a proceedings are issued, sometimes shortly after proceedings are issued and sometimes, as you identify, after proceedings had commenced, including hearings.
The response I would make to what you put to me is that the advice I have is that this matter was settled in accordance with legal principle and practice, informed by external legal advice and vital litigant obligations were upheld.
Updated
Liberal lines continue on compensation claim
The supplementary questions go to the same issue.
Paul Scarr:
In terms of the follow-up question, can the minister confirm to the chamber that the claim was settled at the very first mediation, which lasted just a single day? And also can the minister confirm that no aspect of this claim ever came before a hearing?
Penny Wong:
As I understand it, the matter was obviously settled and the … intrinsic nature of settlements is the fact that they often occur prior to the letter going to any court or other tribunal.
I don’t have personal knowledge, nor does the advice in front of me indicate how long those discussions were engaged in. I would make the point that these are matters which are settled in accordance with legal principle and practice and … advise that the parties agree that the terms of the settlement are confidential.
Scarr adds:
I would note that in many cases, and the opposition leader has legal experience as I do, that many claims are settled … after court hearings are initiated. And sometimes mediations even occur … on the steps of the court.
Updated
Liberal senators begin on conpensation claim questions
Liberal senator Paul Scarr kicks things off by asking Penny Wong:
Minister, in relation to the settlement of a compensation claim on 13th December 2022, why didn’t the commonwealth or its legal representatives seek any evidence from former ministers or their staff about the matters cited in the claim?
Wong:
The advice I have is that the claim in question was managed consistently with the commonwealth’s obligation under the legal services direction.
And the commonwealth settled, in accordance with legal principle and practice, in relation to the legal representation point of Senator Cash and Senator Reynolds that was managed by the commonwealth consistently with the parliamentary business resources regulations.
Obviously, Senators Cash and Reynolds are under no obligation to seek this assistance from the government. I have some further information which goes to the Legal Services Direction[s] 2017, which was issued by the attorney general under the Judiciary Act, which sets out binding rules for commonwealth legal work. The claim in question was managed in accordance with those principles.
Updated
A very big thank you to Natasha – and thank you for joining me this afternoon as we take you through Senate question time.
Amy Remeikis with you for the next little bit.
Senate question time works a little differently to the house – senators can ask questions and then two supplementary questions.
Updated
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe is speaking in the Senate, so I’m going to pass the blog over to Amy Remeikis who is going to bring you the latest from the Upper House.
Another truck stuck under Melbourne’s Montague St Bridge
In news that will surprise no one … another truck has become stuck under Melbourne’s notorious Montague Street Bridge.
Once again, a truck has struck the Montague Street bridge, becoming wedged beneath the notoriously low overpass. #9News pic.twitter.com/Ly7TFWmUTZ
— 9News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) June 16, 2023
Read more about this perennial problem in Victoria’s capital from my colleague Josh Taylor:
Updated
Two federal bodies created to bolster arts sector
The country’s arts sector will get a support boost after laws setting up two creative bodies passed parliament, AAP reports.
Music Australia will aim to boost the country’s contemporary music sector, while Creative Workplaces will focus on raising the standard of employment conditions in the sector. Both bodies will fall under Creative Australia, a renamed Australia Council that has been overhauled as part of a multimillion-dollar arts policy.
Music Australia will be backed by more than $69m of funding over the next four years. It will focus on delivering songwriting and recording initiatives in schools, as well as supporting professionals in the industry and providing coordination for live music venues.
The bill to establish the two bodies passed the Senate today without amendment.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, said Creative Workplaces would raise workplace standards across all forms of art. He said:
Arts workers are essential workers. They deserve safe workplaces and fair pay, like any other worker. Creative Workplaces will ensure that.
The bill forms part of the government’s $286m arts program called Revive.
The government said further legislation will be introduced to expand on Creative Australia, including setting up a First Nations body, as well a body named Writers Australia.
Updated
South Australia records 12 Covid deaths and 118 people in hospital
There were 1,592 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and five people are in intensive care.
South Australian weekly COVID-19 update 16/06/23.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) June 16, 2023
For more information, visit https://t.co/XkVcAmeZ6V pic.twitter.com/uloCHtNmwA
Greens, crossbenchers back campaign to lower voting age
Academics say it is “in the self-interest” for Labor to back crossbench calls to lower the voting age to 16 after a youth-led campaign was launched in Canberra.
The Make it 16 campaign has been backed by the Greens and crossbench MPs, including independent member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan.
Rob Watts, an RMIT policy, politics and human rights professor said young voters were leaving the Coalition “in droves” in recent elections.
It is in the self-interest of Labor to lock in both the 41% of voters aged 18-34 who swung over to Labor after the 2022 election and secure the support of the 600,000 15-17 year olds by giving them the vote.
Seven countries, including Scotland and Wales, have lowered the voting age while Canada, Mexico and Germany are poised to follow. New Zealand has also entered the debate.
Watts said amid an active global movement, there was “good chance” the legislation would get through.
Sociology professor Judith Bessant said young people already demonstrated a “capacity and an interest in politics”.
There is good research evidence that lowering the voting age leads to greater political participation in formal politics by young people. Countries where the voting age has been reduced to 16 have enjoyed increasing participation by young people in formal politics.
Updated
Australia’s online privacy laws should target websites instead of search engines, says Google
As Australia considers the “right to be forgotten”, Google’s chief privacy officer says the law should target websites that host information instead of the search engines that make it easy to find.
Keith Enright’s visit to Australia coincides with a spotlight on digital privacy after massive data breaches at Latitude, Medibank and Optus. In their wake, the Albanese government announced a raft of proposed changes to the Privacy Act designed to bring the law into the digital age.
One of the key proposals is similar to the European-style “right to be forgotten” laws but specifically targets online search results.
It calls for a right to de-index online search results containing personal information, such as medical history; information about a child; excessively detailed information; or inaccurate, out-of-date, incomplete, misleading or irrelevant information.
Read more:
Updated
Crown cops $20m fine for ‘improper’ casino tax claims
Crown has been slapped with a $20m fine for failing to pay its fair share of Victoria’s casino tax.
Victoria’s royal commission into Crown Melbourne found the casino giant improperly claimed tax deductions by including the costs of certain promotional activities as amounts paid out as winnings.
It also sought to deliberately conceal the nature of these deductions from the regulator.
The practice was highlighted during the 2021 royal commission, with Crown accepting it was wrong to claim the tax deductions and subsequently reimbursing the state about $61.5m.
A further $20m fine was issued by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) on Friday.
VGCCC chair Fran Thorn said:
Not only did Crown breach its obligations by claiming tax deductions to which it was not entitled, Crown also made significant efforts at concealment,
The VGCCC will not tolerate this behaviour … We expect licensees to comply with their tax obligations and to be transparent in their dealings with us.”
The Victorian regulator has imposed $250m worth of fines on Crown following revelations from the royal commission.
AAP
Updated
It’s been a grim morning in the news, so here’s something to ease the yolk of the oppressive media cycle …
A bizarrely round egg has emerged from one Melbourne shopper’s carton.
3AW Football host Jacqui Felgate shared the “eggcellent” footage she was sent by one of her followers:
Updated
AMA applauds The Guardian’s stance on gambling ads
Australia’s peak medical body has applauded The Guardian’s move to reject gambling advertising globally.
The Australian Medical Association said:
Gambling is linked to mental health disorders, substance abuse, family breakdowns, domestic violence, and financial distress, and loss of employment. The AMA will continue calling for tightened regulations on gambling, including an independent gambling regulator.
We applaud @guardian for its decision to reject all online, audio, video and print gambling advertising. The harms of gambling and addiction are far reaching. https://t.co/husO65LfSm
— AMA Media (@ama_media) June 16, 2023
Read more about why we’ve made the decision, from Guardian Australia’s editor Lenore Taylor:
Updated
Victoria records 113 Covid deaths and 313 people in hospital
There were 3,956 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and 17 people are in intensive care.
Case numbers have also dropped from last week’s 6,135 – but deaths (which are always a lagging indicator) are this week nearly double the 64 recorded seven days ago.
This week we reported 3,956 new cases with a daily average hospital occupancy of 313 and 17 patients in ICU. 113 deaths were reported in the past 7 days.
— Victorian Department of Health (@VicGovDH) June 16, 2023
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives. 🧵 1/2 pic.twitter.com/45biNgw2qa
NSW records 53 Covid deaths and 1,412 people in hospital
There were 6,906 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and 35 people are in intensive care.
This week’s numbers are a sharp drop from the 11,719 cases and 81 deaths recorded last week.
COVID-19 weekly update – Friday 16 June 2023
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 15, 2023
In the 7 days to 4pm Thursday 15 June:
- 6,906 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded: 4,149 rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 2,757 PCR tests
- 53 lives lost pic.twitter.com/XqZtwk1Gvo
Dutton urges Van to resign from parliament
Liberal leader Peter Dutton has told Sydney radio 2GB he believes Senator David Van should resign from parliament and seek help.
Dutton said:
I think it is in everyone’s best interest that he resign from the parliament and I hope he’s able to do that sooner [rather] than later. And, and seek the help that he needs.
Dutton said it was up to the Victorian branch of the Liberal party whether he remained in the Liberal party.
Dutton said he had “no regrets” in expelling Van from the Liberal party room and that he did not act “right off the back” of Lidia Thorpe’s allegations, which she raised in the parliament. Van has vehemently denied Thorpe’s claims.
Dutton said he made his decision after speaking to former senator Amanda Stoker, who alleged Van had inappropriately touched her at a social event in November 2020. Van said he recalled a conversation with Stoker, but not the incident she alleged had occurred.
Van has said he believes it is unfair that he was removed from the Liberal party room. Dutton said he stands by his choice and that he does not tolerate the kind of behaviour Van has been accused of.
I’ve been very clear about that for many, many years, and it’s not a throwaway line for me. I believe that very strongly, and I believe that I had to act and I did that and don’t have any regrets in doing so.
Updated
Peter Dutton accuses Lidia Thorpe of besmirching 'everybody who works in Parliament House'
The opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused Senator Lidia Thorpe of besmirching “everybody who works in Parliament House” with sexual assault allegations he says lack detail.
While Dutton moved to ban Senator David Van from the Liberal party room following Thorpe’s sexual assault allegations, Dutton has now taken aim at the independent senator. Speaking to 3AW radio station, he said:
Senator Thorpe – and it’s been well documented in the papers, her conduct inside and outside of the chamber – does need to seek support … with all due respect to her.
... I think Senator Thorpe has lots of issues and some of those and her own conduct have been well documented.
She made serious allegations in the Senate this week. She hasn’t provided the names or details of individuals involved.
She doesn’t wish to make a complaint to the police. She says she doesn’t want the matters to go further. In the absence of any detail, it’s hard to just besmirch everybody without providing details. It’s hard to investigate that and provide an outcome.
… To besmirch everybody who works in Parliament House. This is not a partisan thing. It’s not a party thing. There are individuals who need to be held to account … And that’s what I’ve done in relation to the responsibilities that I have.
Van has denied wrongdoing.
Updated
AGL to reduce dividend payouts from FY24 to fund transition away from coal
AGL narrowed its underlying earnings ranges for FY23 to $1.33bn and $1.375bn (previous guidance was $1.25b to $1.375b) in a statement released to the ASX.
The company also expects a higher underlying profit after tax of $255m to $285m (previously $200m to $280m).
The upgrades reflect increased generation due to improved plant availability, a reduction in forced outages and a higher customer margin.
This is partly offset by higher operating costs on increased maintenance costs, bad debt expenses and the impact of inflation.
In FY24, underlying earnings are forecast to surge to $1.875bn and $2.175bn for an underlying profit after tax of $580m to $780m.
AGL also announced a change to dividend policy from FY24, reducing the payout to 50 to 75% of underlying profit after tax from the previous longstanding guidance of 75%.
Nicks said:
That will allow us to fund the transition and also allows us to provide the appropriate returns to shareholders.
As Australia’s largest emitter, the company is spending up to $10bn over the next eight to 12 years on shutting down ageing coal-fired power stations and replacing them with renewable energy sources and fast-start gas units.
AGL continues to target a complete exit from coal-fired generation by the end of FY35.
- AAP
Updated
AGL ups profit outlook amid ‘tough period for everyone’
AGL Energy has upgraded its profit forecasts as it prepares to slug customers with bill increases of up to 30%, AAP reports.
Announcing a brighter outlook for shareholders this year and next, AGL’s chief executive, Damien Nicks, said the business is highly leveraged to wholesale prices, which have increased significantly in recent years.
We are acutely aware of the impact to our customers in this inflationary period. It’s a tough period for everyone.
Nicks encouraged customers to switch to monthly from quarterly bills to help manage cost of living pressures.
Price changes take effect from 1 July and the company is expecting an increase in customer debt despite taxpayer-funded bill relief hitting accounts.
Updated
Helplines, information and support for those affected by sexual harassment and assault issues
With so much news of sexual assault in the blog this morning, please make sure you are reaching out to the appropriate organisations if this has been re-traumatising for you.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations:
In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Updated
Lidia Thorpe: ‘not at all’ safe for black women to go to the police in Australia
Thorpe said referring her allegations against Van to police was not an option for her or for marginalised people who had experienced sexual violence.
The police need to change their behaviours and look at themselves as to why people like me and so many other women do not go to the police. Do you think it’s safe for black women to go to the police in this country?
Not at all.
So that’s not an option. And they’re the processes, they’re the structures that we need to change to make [for] women and people of colour and [who are] transgender. It needs to be a safe space for us.
We are questioned. We are pulled through the coals to justify what happened to us and it should be the other way around and it’s not a safe space. So that was not an option for me.
Lidia Thorpe says media did not take her allegations seriously until backed up by Amanda Stoker
Circling back to Senator Lidia Thorpe’s interview: she has accused the media of not taking her allegations made against David Van in parliament seriously until a white woman – Amanda Stoker – also came forward.
Speaking about the last week, Thorpe says:
It’s been horrible. I … became the perpetrator. I became the person that was demonised … And I had a media pile-on, that day. And it wasn’t until a white woman stood up and said, ‘yeah, this happened to me, too’, that the media took notice.
And I think that is a great example of the media landscape in this country. And that is systemic racism.
I was not believed. I was questioned. I was absolutely demonised that day, by everybody. And you wonder why women don’t speak out. You wonder why we are silenced. It’s because of that kind of behaviour.
Senator Van has denied allegations made against him.
Updated
Bridget Archer ‘heartened’ by Peter Dutton’s swift action after David Van allegations
Asked about whether she’s having conversations within her own party about how responsible it is to be pursuing the issues around sexual assault in the way the Coalition have, Archer says she has “certainly” made her views known over a long period of time.
She says she has not directly spoken to the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, “recently.” However, Archer says she was “heartened” by his response taking seriously the issues raised by Senator Thorpe.
And he has been clear, I think … publicly that they’re seeking to pursue a line of questioning around whether or not Senator Gallagher misled the parliament and that is a reasonable question to ask.
And in doing that, is trying to kind of be mindful of all of those other issues that sit around it, but that’s a very difficult, very delicate line to walk - I think is just my my point.
And we’ve seen many, many days of that and it’s it really is re-traumatising for a lot of people and very difficult to sit with and … there has got to be a point where there is some type of resolution to that.
Updated
Bridget Archer: issue of sexual harassment in Parliament House ‘triggering’
Archer says she’s received correspondence from community members who are survivors of sexual assault saying they struggle listening to the discourse coming out of the nation’s capital.
Archer says for her too and other parliamentary colleagues, it’s challenging:
For me, personally, I found … the challenge of all of these issues in the last parliament, incredibly difficult. I do find it somewhat triggering, some of these conversations, as many other people in our community do, and I know that many other people here in Parliament House do.
Updated
Bridget Archer agrees with Lidia Thorpe’s assessment of ‘really toxic’ culture towards women
Liberal MP Bridget Archer says she agrees with the independent senator Lidia Thorpe that the culture towards women in Parliament House and the media is “really toxic.”
Archer told ABC Radio that some of her colleagues have turned the issue of sexual assault into a political football:
If you’re observing the behaviour and commentary that’s been going on in parliament in the last couple of weeks, and the commentary in the media, etc, about it … you would be disinclined to come forward and say that you had experienced sexual assault because it’s really as Senator Thorpe said, it’s really toxic.
Everybody’s running a commentary about whether you’re telling the truth or not. Your private correspondence is on the front page of the newspaper for people to commentate about. The parliament [is] still discussing what people knew about this, that and the other thing – in the meantime forgetting that there are victims survivors or alleged, victims at their centre of all of these things.
… They’re sort of turning these issues into political footballs.
Updated
Helen Haines commends Peter Dutton for fast action over David Van allegations
The independent member for Indi, Helen Haines, has commended Peter Dutton for the “fast action” he has taken in banning Senator David Van from the Liberal party room.
Haines has told ABC Radio Melbourne “if one woman doesn’t feel safe in our parliament, then no woman [does]”.
The distress we witnessed in the Senate this week is truly awful.
Van has denied all wrongdoing.
Haines says significant progress has been made since the Jenkins Report but we have “quite a way to go”.
Updated
When is a recession just ‘technical’ and will we get one?
Expect a lot more frenzied commentary about Australia falling into a recession, particularly if the Reserve Bank puts on its boots and hikes interest rates again in July, August and perhaps September.
The odds of such moves increased after yesterday’s jobs numbers (see here) became the latest “upside surprise” about how much heat there is in our economy.
After the surprisingly strong May jobs data investors are betting the odds of a July RBA rise (13th in 14 months) to 4.35% as more than 50:50. Another rise to 4.6% is also more likely than not by September. A cut after than isn't expected before mid-2024. pic.twitter.com/cilZFOPlti
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) June 15, 2023
New Zealand’s 0.1% quarterly contraction in March triggered such headlines yesterday.
Economies are a bit like the weather: the Pacific might nudge into El Niño conditions (any week now, by the Bureau of Meteorology’s measures) but it’s not like a switch has been flicked. Similarly, a recession’s declaration won’t result in the lights flickering or switching off.
That’s not to minimise the financial stress many people are feeling, and likely to feel more of in the coming months. We look here at what counts as a recession and whether we’re headed for one here:
One takeaway is that until the unemployment rate starts to put its own boots on and starts climbing, we might be able to avoid a recession – technical or actual.
Updated
Ute driver dead after police pursuit in Sydney
A ute driver has died after fleeing police and colliding with another vehicle during a short pursuit in Sydney’s south, AAP reports.
The chase began after the driver allegedly failed to stop for a traffic and highway patrol officer on Alfords Point Rd, Menai, about 6am this morning.
Further up the road, the driver’s ute hit another vehicle and then came to a halt, police said.
The man, who has not been formally identified, died at the scene. The driver of the other vehicle was not injured.
Alfords Point Rd has been closed in both directions as specialist police head to the crime scene.
Police from the Sydney city command will lead an internal investigation into the incident, which will be subject to an independent review.
Updated
Temporary leadership switchup at advocacy group The Parenthood
There has been a temporary changing of the guard at advocacy group The Parenthood, with CEO Georgie Dent announcing she is taking a six-month sabbatical in Canada.
Jessica Rudd will take on the role from July while Dent is away.
The organisation’s patron, Wendy McCarthy AO, has accepted the role of chair.
McCarthy said:
Jessica’s skills and professional experience in law, communications, media and business make her eminently qualified to lead and thrive in this role.
As an organisation we are thrilled to enable Georgie Dent to take a well-earned sabbatical relocating with her family to Canada.
As an organisation committed to ensuring parents are supported to combine their caring responsibilities with work and family life, the board’s decision to appoint a CEO in Georgie’s absence was simple. We approached this temporary change in Georgie’s family situation in the same way we would if an employee was taking parental leave: with flexibility and accommodation.
Updated
David Van releases statement
Senator David Van has released a statement this morning:
I am utterly shattered by the events of the past days and stunned that my good reputation can be so wantonly savaged without due process or accountability.
I will fully cooperate with whatever process Mr Dutton proposes to determine these matters as quickly and fairly as possible.
While I understand the public interest is high, I will not be making any more public statements on the allegations until a proper examination of these claims is concluded.
Updated
Labor and Greens stalled on housing future fund negotiations
The government was really hoping for some sort of resolution to its housing future fund bill this sitting, but so far it doesn’t look like it has bent enough to secure the necessary support.
Labor needs the Green’s agreement if it wants to progress the legislation through the parliament, but so far the parties haven’t managed to come to a compromise.
The government has agreed to make the $500m a year for social and affordable housing a floor not a ceiling, but the Greens want to see more done – and sooner.
The first houses from the fund won’t be built until 2025. Greens senator Larissa Waters says more needs to be done, now. Including a rent freeze. She told ABC News Breakfast:
We’ve been in discussions with the government for many months and we continue to make offers of compromise to them to tackle this most serious housing crisis.
This is the worst it’s been in our nation’s history. We have seen rents go up more than 20% in the last 12 months and we know more and more ordinary Australians are literally one rent rise away from sleeping in their car. Including legions of children.
So we have put to the government, just put a freeze on rents. You can do that and coordinate a cap on energy prices nationally. Why is rent any different? You could do this if you wish to.
Anthony Albanese has said that national cabinet has advice that rent freezes won’t work to improve the housing situation, but that the states and territories are looking at solutions.
Negotiations continue.
Updated
Parliament ‘is not a safe workplace for women’, Thorpe says
Circling back to Lidia Thorpe’s interview, she says parliament still has a “toxic workplace culture towards women.”
It is not a safe workplace for women. Yes, there have been improvements, because we now have a plan to try and make it safer. But that doesn’t mean that it’s a completely safe environment.
I have government workers – … parliamentary workers - in that place who have cried to me at the elevator because they don’t feel safe in that building at night. Young women. So these are women that won’t go to the authorities. These are women that won’t even go to their supervisors. They’ve come to me because I’ve shared my story.
It’s just everywhere. It’s such a toxic culture in that workplace. I’ve never experienced such a toxic workplace culture towards women.
Updated
Peter Dutton says he is aware of further allegations against Liberal senator David Van
Opposition leader Peter Dutton says he is aware of further allegations of sexual assault against Senator David Van.
Dutton has told Nine’s Today program:
I have raised another allegation with Senator Van but I’m not going to comment in relation to those matters otherwise. I made a decision yesterday based on all of the information that was available to me.
Nine host:
You are suggesting there is more than just the allegation from Senator Stoker and from Lidia Thorpe?
Dutton:
Yes, and I’m not going into that detail as I said.
Dutton has expelled Senator Van from the Liberal party room and he will now sit on the crossbench. Van has denied all wrongdoing.
Updated
Greens Senator fears ‘chilling effect’ on victim survivors of sexual harassment and assault
Waters says she’s concerned what’s happened in parliament will have a “chilling effect” on victim survivors.
Now it feels like we have taken a huge step backwards … I can only worry about what this week has done to anyone out there who [has] experienced sexual harassment or assault – and we know sadly how many people fit into that category.
What they must be feeling when they see personal text messages splashed across the front page of a newspaper. When they see the tone that was taken in relation to sexual assault allegations this week.
And when they see fresh allegations about the alleged conduct of parliamentarians, I really fear the chilling effect this will have on survivor.
... We need to make sure when women come forward they’re supported and given advice, respected ask they are assisted to seek justice and we need time prove those justice system response processes, as well as cleaning up our own backyard here in parliament.
Updated
Greens senator: ‘feels like we’re back to square one’ on women’s safety in parliament
Meanwhile, Greens senator Larissa Waters says it feels like parliamentary culture around women has “taken a huge step backwards” this week.
Waters has told ABC News Breakfast it had been an “unedifying week” in federal parliament.
I really thought that parliamentary culture had started to turn a corner. And it felt like we were a little safer in our workplaces, but the politicisation of the sexual assault allegations raised by Brittany Higgins has dominated question time this week. And made the place feel, I think again, far less safe for any victim survivor who is watching on and seeing how allegations like this are being weaponised and politicised.
She referred to allegations made in parliament by Senator Lidia Thorpe.
It feels like we’re back to square one and it breaks my heart … and I just hope that we can continue with the reforms that we’ve started to make with the Set the Standard report and hope we can have a safer workplace going forwards.
Waters said the decision to expel David Van from the party room was a matter for the party leader Peter Dutton, but she urged him to take action on how his party raised sexual assault allegations in Question Time:
He now needs to do is to tell his team to rein the politicisation of sexual assault allegations in Question Time.
Senator David Van has denied all allegations made this week against him.
Bruce Lehrmann has denied all allegations made against him by Higgins.
Updated
Thorpe: a voice with no power ‘is not self-determination’
Thorpe reiterates her commitment to Treaty:
It must be between sovereign states and territories are not sovereign.
… You can’t have a government controlled process, which is what it’s been from the beginning. It has to be sovereign ... the crown say that they are sovereign.
… And that’s why we ask, we stand by the fact that we are sovereign. We will continue to fight for treaty as sovereigns, and until the government recognise that we are sovereign, we can’t move forward.
Thorpe says she is not turning her back on the voice, but says the voice will have no power:
It has no money. It has no power, and it’s at the whim of the parliament and it has parliamentary supremacy over it at all times. That is not self-determination.
Updated
Lidia Thorpe says 'at this stage' she will vote no on voice referendum bill
Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe says “at this stage” she will be voting no on the government’s bill for a referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament.
She’s told ABC Radio her position on the voice is:
At this stage, I’ll be voting no to the bill that is before us to change the constitution, given the government have not come forward with proof on what their interpretation of sovereignty is.
I know that for months now that they continue to say that this does not affect the sovereignty of First Nations people in this country, however, they’ve never provided any evidence.
And that’s … why I will be putting in an amendment to that bill for them to acknowledge the sovereignty of First Nations people.
Updated
Good morning from Canberra
It has been a rough week in parliament and usually, Friday is a day MPs are freed from the bounds of parliament, but today there is no relief for the senators, who are sitting an extra day to try and get through the legislative workload.
House MPs are off as usual and won’t return until Monday, but it is a full day for the Senate, including a question time. Yesterday, the finance minister and minister for women, Katy Gallagher, became tearful as she took yet another question on what she knew about Brittany Higgins’ allegations before they were publicly aired. Gallagher said she would keep fronting up but she took her promise of confidentiality seriously and had already explained herself.
Anthony Albanese will address the local government conference which has been in town for most of this week. He’ll give that speech around 8.30. Peter Dutton addressed it earlier in the week.
We’ll keep you updated on the happenings of the Senate and politics more general through this blog today. Take care of you.
Updated
Magnitude 7 quake hits south of Fiji
There has been a magnitude 7.0 earthquake south of Fiji. However, the Bureau of Meteorology says there is no tsunami threat to Australia.
No #tsunami threat to Australia from magnitude 7.0 #earthquake near South of Fiji Islands. Latest advice at https://t.co/Tynv3ZQpEq. pic.twitter.com/ZwxW28LqFT
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) June 15, 2023
Updated
Pig slaughterhouse protests
Activists are planning a weekend of protest at slaughterhouses across the country to draw attention to the use of carbon dioxide gassing to stun pigs.
Farm Transparency Project last month released vision showing the effects of gassing on pigs, which showed animals suffocating and writhing in agony in tightly cramped chambers.
The vision, first reported by the ABC, prompted calls for greater investigation into alternative stunning techniques. Gassing is now considered industry best practice.
Activists, angry at a lack of action, have staged protests at Swickers slaughterhouse in Kingaroy, Queensland and in Hobart. They are planning further protests in Adelaide, Cairns, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne in coming days.
Chris Delforce, founding director of the Farm Transparency Project, said:
What happens to animals inside Australian slaughterhouses is an area of significant public interest, we are taking action to bring much needed attention to an issue that the government would much rather ignore and hide from.
Updated
Good morning! Thanks to Martin for kicking things off. This is Natasha May – I’ll be with you into the afternoon.
Updated
Show of support for Chinese-Australian artist
Australian consular officials in Poland will attend the opening of an exhibition in the country’s capital by Chinese-Australian artist Badiucao today, to send a message to Chinese authorities who have allegedly tried to stop the show going ahead.
On Wednesday Australia’s ambassador to Poland, Lloyd Brodrick, met the Shanghai-born Australian artist, as well as executives from the museum where the show is being held, Warsaw’s Ujazdowski Castle.
Both Badiucao and the museum allege that China’s ambassador to Poland, Yao Dongye, has visited the museum twice over the past two weeks, demanding the exhibition not go ahead.
Badiucao, who is based in Melbourne, uses art to explore censorship and human rights abuses in China, including the manipulation of historical memory about the Tiananmen Square massacre, the forced cultural assimilation of Uyghurs, pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong, and China’s position on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
A spokesperson for Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Brodrick had met the artist and museum executives on Wednesday:
They discussed Badiucao’s work, his concerns in relation to personal safety and the support the Australian government was providing.
Full story here:
More than 600 workers to be axed from Services Australia after procurement bungle
The Australian Services Union has criticised the federal government over its handling of a Services Australia procurement process, which it says will leave more than 600 call centre employees out of work in a matter of weeks.
Services Australia-contracted Serco employees were told today that the company’s contract would end on 30 June. Most are award workers, while some are casual, with little to no termination entitlements.
ASU Victorian private sector branch secretary Imogen Sturni said the decision would see workers unemployed in a fortnight:
Most of these workers do not have the safety net provided by generous termination benefits and, even for those who will receive a minimal termination payment, two weeks’ notice is a pretty shoddy thing to do to them. It is the responsibility of government to ensure that its procurement processes do not have unreasonable adverse effects on workers.
Sturni said ASU delegates had been advised that the decision would impact around 610 workers at Essendon Fields and Mill Park sites.
She said the union was hoping that Serco would be able to reassign some workers to other jobs internally, but it was likely that positions would be limited and only temporary.
A Services Australia spokesperson said it had conducted a competitive procurement process for a new supplementary call centre contract to provide services from 1 July 2023, and Serco had not been selected:
We thank Serco for their support. They’ve provided services to supplement day-to-day operations and to help fill short-term requirements – particularly during business peaks and in the coronavirus pandemic.
Serco is responsible for the arrangements of its staff. Services Australia has been actively recruiting for APS staff and has ensured contracted staff were encouraged to apply for job opportunities as they became available.
PM to announce community energy upgrades fund
Local councils will be able to apply for money to make swimming pools, sporting grounds and courts more energy efficient under a new $100m fund, AAP reports.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will announce today in Canberra the community energy upgrades fund in a speech to the nation’s councils.
Under the scheme, councils can upgrade energy systems for pool heating systems, lighting for sports grounds and courts and fund new storage technology at community centres and libraries. The government plans to have the program up and running before the end of the year.
Albanese is expected to say he is pleased at the number of local governments to have made commitments to net zero. The prime minister will also appeal to mayors to help improve housing affordability and unlock more supply.
Updated
Tributes flow for Olympian and winemaker Sir James Hardy
Triple America’s Cup skipper and dual Australian Olympian Sir James Hardy has died in Adelaide aged 90, AAP reports.
The yachtsman, vintner and community leader died peacefully yesterday.
A member of the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, Hardy helped set the tone for Australia’s momentous and nation-building victory in the famous race.
He skippered Australia’s America Cup challenges in 1970, 1974 and 1980 and was a key adviser for the Australia II crew, led by John Bertrand, that in 1983 ended the 132-year US dominance of the race. In a 2021 interview he said:
Basically I was back-up skipper for Bertrand, and he did pinch a nerve in his neck and he was off the boat. I believe it was nine or 10 races.
Known as “Gentleman Jim”, Hardy was made an OBE in 1975 and knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1981 for services to yachting and the community.
Australian Sailing president Alistair Murray said:
There will never be another Sir James. His contribution to the sport cannot be overstated. He was beloved by everyone he met and could not have given more of himself to driving the success of sailing in Australia.
Personally, he was my hero, and I was proud to call him my friend. On behalf of Australian Sailing, I would like to share our sadness at the news and pass our condolences to his family and the many sailing friends he made along the way.
Hardy competed in consecutive Olympic Games, Tokyo in 1964 and Mexico City in 1968.
Australian Olympic Committee president Ian Chesterman said Hardy was a giant of his sport:
James Hardy’s name is inextricably bound with the sport he loved over so many decades. He ignited Australia’s obsession with claiming the America’s Cup trophy, eventually achieved in 1983, with Sir James advising winning skipper John Bertrand.
He is survived by his wife Joan, brother David, sister Pamela, and sons David and Richard.
A private funeral will be held in Adelaide, with a memorial service to follow at a later date.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer, here to get you up to speed on the main stories while my colleague Natasha May fires up the Mac.
A second female politician has accused Liberal senator David Van of sexual harassment. This follows allegations by Lidia Thorpe on Wednesday, which he strenuously denied. He’s been dumped from the party room by leader Peter Dutton, who said the parliamentary workplace support services would now investigate the claims. We’ll have the latest as it happens.
A cracked windscreen, oil leaks and seatbelts that didn’t work were among the defects found by police when they raided two depots of the bus company Linq Busline at the centre of the Hunter Valley crash tragedy last night.
And the latest data shows Australia’s population grew 1.9% last year, the fastest for 13 years, thanks to returning foreign students and migrant workers after Covid. The population at 31 December 2022 was 26.3 million people, the ABS said. There were 619,600 overseas migration arrivals and 232,600 departures, resulting in Australia’s population growing by 387,000 people from overseas migration. It means a potential boost for growth but, with further rate hikes a possibility, we look at whether recession is likely or not.
And in news out overnight, triple America’s Cup skipper and dual Australian Olympian Sir James Hardy has died in Adelaide. The yachtsman, vintner and community leader died peacefully yesterday.
