What we learned: Monday 9 December
We will wrap up the live blog here for the evening. Here’s what made the news today:
Anthony Albanese announced the Australian federal police have established “special Operation Avalite” to combat antisemitism after authorities declared the fire at a Melbourne synagogue last week was likely a terrorist attack.
Peter Dutton launched an extraordinary attack on Labor MP Josh Burns, claiming the Jewish politician had failed to “speak up” about antisemitism in the community despite Burns speaking at a press conference regarding the synagogue attack just days ago.
The head of Asio, Mike Burgess, again said leaders should “watch our words” amid the heated response to the synagoguge fire.
The University of Melbourne will pay back $72m in staff underpayments and enter into the “most comprehensive” enforceable undertaking in the sector’s history as part of a deal to drop the fair work ombudsman’s (FWO’s) prosecution against the institution.
NSW police are investigating after a body of a woman that is yet to be identified was found in bushes near Sydney airport.
Factory workers at Coca-Cola are set to walk off the job, claiming the global giant pays staff significantly less than major rival Pepsi.
Peter Dutton confirmed the Coalition would reveal its nuclear power plan costings this week.
Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening.
Updated
The NSW transport department is advising there are still delays on the Newcastle line to and from Sydney following an issue with a power pole at Niagara Park earlier. Trips are taking longer than usual and there may be less frequent trains, but the repairs have been completed.
Updated
Victoria slashes environmental approval wait times
Conservationists warn that Victoria’s plan to streamline environmental approvals could throttle community consultation and lead to political decision-making.
AAP reports environmental approval wait times of up to three years for new projects in Victoria would be slashed to 18 months in an effort to drive investment and efficiency.
The planning minister, Sonya Kilkenny, told reporters at a factory in Mickleham on Monday:
When we can reach good decisions faster, everyone wins.
So this is about improving our EES [environment effects statement] process, but definitely not compromising on the outcomes for community … of projects and their environmental impact.
Conservation groups say they have been blind-sided by the move.
Environment Victoria chief executive, Jono La Nauze, said:
It is concerning that the Victorian government did not consult community and environment groups in preparing these reforms.
After a similar lack of consultation over the review into Parks Victoria, this is starting to look like a government that holds the environmental community in contempt.
Biodiversity Council policy lead, Lis Ashby, said a lack of clear criteria for environmental assessments opened the door for political decision-making:
The focus on shortening assessment times alone will not solve these issues. Rather, it risks reducing meaningful stakeholder engagement.
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Frustrated unions hold summit in Canberra
The first-ever Trade Unions for Democracy summit has been held in Canberra. This is the meeting born from some unions’ frustration at the administration of the construction union, and the way the peak body didn’t stand in the way of Labor-Coalition legislation that enabled it.
The meeting has:
Formed an organising committee.
Endorsed annual summits.
Condemned the construction union administration.
Adopted a charter.
Attenders (80 or so) included the Electrical Trades Union, plumbers, maritime union, meat workers, United Firefighters Union, the Victorian Australian Manufacturing Workers Union, locomotive engineers, rank and file members of the construction union and a Queensland teachers union member.
The summit didn’t decide what policies it would be pushing before the next election, and whether it might support non-Labor candidates. Early days.
The Electrical Trades Union national secretary, Michael Wright, told Guardian Australia:
It’s unambiguously true that over the last 40 years we’ve seen worker power go backwards. Workers have never had more rights but it doesn’t matter if you can’t exercise those rights. We’re looking for reforms that are going to build union power: whether that is on right of entry or industrial action, that has to be mapped out quickly in the coming weeks … A Peter Dutton government is a very real threat to our members. [We must decide] how do we thread the needle, how do we stand up for members rights?
The summit also had an update about the construction union officials’ high court challenge, which will be held in Canberra on Tuesday and Wednesday.
Updated
Here’s the video of the earlier press conference announcing the antisemitism taskforce.
Newcastle commuters face train delays
Commuters travelling to Newcastle in New South Wales by train this evening are being advised to allow for extra travel time, with a power pole that may fall on to the tracks causing delays in addition to reduced services due to industrial action.
The trains are still operating but are delayed as workers undertake urgent infrastructure repairs at Niagara Park. Trains may stop at different platforms or wait at stations longer as a result.
The transport department has put on 15 buses to supplement trains between Gosford and Wyong in both directions to reduce delay.
Updated
Public should get used to ‘inconvenience’ of random weapon searches, NSW premier says
People have been told to get used to random weapon searches in public places in New South Wales as freshly implemented police powers are rolled out in an attempt to get knives off the streets, AAP reports.
Police will not need a warrant or suspicion before using metal-detecting wands on random individuals under the NSW measures, which came into effect on Monday.
But the hassle of people being searched would be worth it if the measure saved lives, the premier, Chris Minns, said.
Much like roadside breath testing, the Minns said a random approach to where the searches would occur would keep prospective criminals on their toes.
There will be inconvenience for members of the public, but we believe it’s a small price to pay to keep people safe … the sad reality is that when it comes to a weapon, knives are the most likely reason someone will be killed in NSW.
This is not everywhere and all the time, but what this does, by its randomness, hopefully means an individual doesn’t take a knife out in the first place or doesn’t purchase a knife.
The laws came after a spate of high-profile knife incidents in Sydney, including the Bondi Junction shopping centre attack in April that resulted in six people being stabbed to death.
The NSW government also recently doubled penalties for knife possession to a maximum of four years in prison.
The wanding laws align NSW with Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia, all of which have announced or rolled out similar powers for police.
Updated
Police search for missing hiker in northern NSW
NSW police are searching for a hiker believed to be missing at Wollumbin in the north of the state. .
Csaba Varga, 54, is believed to have been hiking at Wollumbin when he was last heard from about 9.30pm on Saturday 7 December 2024.
Police said the man spoke with a friend that night, indicating he was lost. He was unable to be contacted on Sunday morning, leading to police from the Tweed/Byron to begin a search from noon yesterday.
His car was located in the car park of the Wollumbin national park. The search resumed at 8am today.
Csaba is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 180-185cm tall, of medium build, with grey hair and facial hair, and blue eyes.
Anyone with information into his whereabouts is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Updated
Bowen invites Dutton to submit nuclear plans to CSIRO or PBO costings
Federal energy minister Chris Bowen has – as they say in the cliches – seized on the latest GenCost report by CSIRO that found nuclear power remains the most expensive source of electricity. (Read Adam Morton’s report on the annual assessment here.)
The report, actually, addresses a lot of the criticisms raised about its previous calculations, and anticipates what opposition leader Peter Dutton will say when he releases the Coalition’s estimates to build two small modular reactors (which don’t yet exist commercially) by 2035 and five bog-standard large nuclear plants from 2037.
For one thing, nuclear plants aren’t cost-free after construction, and will require major renovations from about 30 years on. Finland and the US are among the most recent to add nuclear reactors (and they took 17 and 21 years, respectively, in nations with existing nuclear industries. Oh, and they are very unlikely to run 93% of the time (as in the US) and won’t bring down power prices, so GenCost argues.
Anyway, Bowen told a media conference Dutton is “welcome” to have CSIRO or the Parliamentary Budget Office scrutinise the Coalition’s costings. (Suspect that invitation won’t be taken up.)
Bowen was also asked about Frontier Economics’ estimate that the “actual” cost of making the grid “net zero emissions” by 2050 was $642bn. The Australian Energy Market Operator put the cost in net present value terms at $122bn (and about $600bn in “actual” costs – so not a “green hole”). (Think apples and oranges, as we noted here.)
Frontier’s work was compiled by founder Danny Price, who has been working on the Coalition’s nuclear costs too.
Updated
Government agencies investigating whether encrypted messaging apps could undermine FoI act
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and the National Archives are investigating the use of encrypted messaging apps by politicians and staffers for conducting government business.
The investigation began in May, but was not revealed until a recent freedom of information request uncovered a letter between the two agencies noting that the use of such apps has the potential to undermine the role of the FoI act.
Communication for government business on those apps should be retained, but in the past, when the apps are set to delete the messages after a short period, FoI requests for those messages have failed, and there has been no recourse for people seeking those messages.
The OAIC has no powers under the Archives Act that governs document retention to force public servants to retain those messages.
The investigation is looking at the use of encrypted messaging, and what regulatory interventions may be required to promote better practice.
A spokesperson for the OAIC said:
Those interventions may include the development of education and guidance. The OAIC and NAA joined together during Open Government Week to highlight the challenges of information encryption and the importance of information management obligations.
Updated
Investigation launched into missing infectious virus samples
An investigation has been launched after infectious virus samples stored at Queensland’s Virology Laboratory went missing.
The Queensland government announced the state’s health department would conduct an investigation, headed by the retired supreme court justice, Martin Daubney and former head of the virus identification lab, Julian Druce, after samples of the Hendra virus, Lyssavirus and Hantavirus were unaccounted for and were discovered missing in August 2023.
The lab has not determined whether the samples were removed from storage or destroyed, but the state government says there is no evidence of risk to the community from the breach.
The Queensland health minister, Tim Nicholls, said:
With such a serious breach of biosecurity protocols and infectious virus samples potentially missing, Queensland Health must investigate what occurred and how to prevent it from happening again.
The investigation will ensure nothing has been overlooked in responding to this incident and examine the current policies and procedures in operation today at the laboratory.
The chief health officer, Dr John Gerrard, said:
It’s difficult to conceive of a scenario whereby the public could be at risk. It’s important to note that virus samples would degrade very rapidly outside a low temperature freezer and become non-infectious.
It’s most likely that the samples were destroyed by autoclaving as is routine laboratory practice and not adequately recorded.
Gerrard said no Hendra or Lyssavirus cases have been detected among humans in Queensland in the past five years, and there had been no reports of Hantavirus infections in humans in Australia.
Updated
Woolworths works to get shelves stocked after strike ends
Now the warehouse strike is over with an in-principle deal reached with workers, Woolworths has provided an update on how it is going getting stock back on the empty shelves.
By the end of today, 312 truck deliveries will have been made from the four reopened distribution centres to 249 supermarkets across Victoria, the ACT and southern NSW, and the company has processed 1m cartons in the four centres to be delivered in the past 48 hours.
Woolworths is still using the other 20 centres to support stores that had supply issues, and all four sites are expected to be back to capacity in the next 24 to 48 hours.
Updated
Woman found dead near Sydney airport was probably murdered, police say
Police have confirmed that the body found wrapped in plastic and dumped on bushes near Sydney airport was a woman who was “more than likely murdered”.
Speaking to media, New South Wales police detective superintendent Danny Doherty, said the woman’s death was suspicious and they were yet to establish her age, time of death, how she was killed, or where she was killed.
“At the moment she is a mystery woman,” Doherty said.
The body was found in the bushes alongside Foreshore Road in Botany by a passerby at 7.30am this morning.
Doherty told reporters:
What we can say, it appears the body was disposed of on foreshore drive in its attempt to hide the body.
There may be people out there who are missing a loved one, and it may be someone’s – we don’t know the age – so that could be someone’s mother, daughter, sister, friend. So we’re seeking assistance from anyone who may have someone who’s female, who may be missing, or someone who may know something.
While it’s a gruesome discovery, it’s a very sad tale … which is actually sort of playing outright now. And there’s someone’s loved one [that] doesn’t know the news here that their loved one’s … not only been killed, but more than likely been murdered.
Updated
When asked whether armed guards for religious institutions will be allowed under the $32.5m in funding announced by the federal government today – the Coalition has said it is not – the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the funding was developed in partnership with the Jewish community, and people should be seeking national unity, not “looking for areas of distinction or difference”.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said:
This is a time for national unity, for all Australians to stand together against antisemitism. It’s not a time for some political leaders and some political parties to be looking for difference.
Updated
And with that I leave the blog with Josh Taylor. Thanks for reading.
Albanese defends backing of UN resolution
The PM was asked what he made of Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu saying the arson attack was a result of the government’s “extreme anti-Israeli position”.
This is how the PM responded:
With regard to the position that we took in the United Nations, we took – along with 157 nations. Four of the Five Eyes countries had the same position. Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United Kingdom. Along with nations that we have a long-term partnership with – France, Germany, Japan, Korea. Most of the nations in our region. And indeed, the Australian government – under John Howard – supported that exact same resolution on a number of occasions.
So there is – what Australia has had for a long period of time is a bipartisan position for a two-state solution in the Middle East. That is still my government’s position – is that you need a long-term solution of two states in the Middle East where Israelis and Palestinians have a right to live in peace and security and stability.
Updated
Albanese dismisses suggestions he did not respond quickly to synagogue attack
The PM has opened up to questions, and is immediately batting away suggestions he has not responded quickly enough.
First, he said he had commitments in Perth on Friday, then he said he had responded, and had “spoken to the president of the community”.
I’d spoken to the Special Envoy for antisemitism, Gillian Segal. I was fully engaged. I rang into an interview on Raf Epstein’s program in Melbourne. I’d spoken to Josh Burns and spoken to a number of other members of the Jewish community. I will visit there.
Next, there were suggestions the PM was “playing tennis” on Saturday:
I wasn’t playing tennis on the Saturday morning. That’s wrong. I had six appointments on Saturday. After they had concluded late in the afternoon, I did some exercise. That’s what people do. On Saturday morning, I was in a synagogue.
I’ve seen some comments in the media about why there wasn’t media coverage there. That was because it was Shabbat and, as people can confirm, photos and electronic information wasn’t available then. Indeed, I attended the barmitzvah of a young boy there and I was very much welcomed there.
Updated
Politically motivated violence one of Asio’s ‘principal security concerns’: Mike Burgess
Next up, the head of Asio, Mike Burgess, says the agency will be supporting the investigation into the fire at the synagogue on Friday.
He says Asio was also conducting their own inquiries to “ensure there is no ongoing threat similar to the attack we’ve seen in Melbourne”.
At this stage, we have no intelligence to suggest that is the case. The national terrorism threat level remains at probable.
Politically motivated violence is now one of Asio’s and this country’s principal security concerns. Politically motivated violence encompasses terrorism but is broader than that, and covers any violent act or violent threat intended to achieve a political objective. Australia’s security environment is volatile and unpredictable. Anti-authority beliefs continue to grow. Grievances are spreading.
Provocative and inflammatory language are being normalised. Let me close by repeating what I said after the October 7 Hamas terrorist talk: inflamed language leads to inflated tension, and that can lead to violence. We all need to watch our words.
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AFP to take ‘greater role’ in addressing antisemitism
The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, has said the AFP is taking a “greater role” in addressing antisemitism, saying the agency “will not tolerate crimes that undermine Australia’s security or our way of life”.
Kershaw said “people of Jewish ethnicity or religion” are being targeted, and that the AFP will be expanding its remit to support efforts to stamp out antisemitism.
Today, the AFP will expand its recommit with the support of the commonwealth government. Special Operation Avalight will be an agile and experienced squad of counter-terrorism investigators who will focus on threats, violence, and hatred towards the Australian Jewish community and parliamentarians. In essence, they will be a flying squad to deploy nationally to incidents.
The Commonwealth Offences Special Operation Avalight will include emerging violence – urging violence against members or groups, advocating terrorism, advocating genocide, using a carriage service to make a threat, and using a carriage service to menace or harass. I want to assure the Jewish community that the AFP will continue to provide capability and resources to state and territory police.
Updated
Albanese announces new taskforce to investigate antisemitism
Anthony Albanese has stepped up for a presser, where he has begun by announcing that the AFP has established “special Operation Avalite” to combat antisemitism.
This is in response to the attack last Friday morning that is now the third arson attack after the attack on Josh Burns’ office, and the incident in Sydney. This will be the third taskforce that will work with state and territory police forces.
Updated
Dutton arrives at Adass Israel synagogue
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has arrived at the Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea just hours after an arson attack on the site was declared terrorism by police.
Twenty Jewish religious and community leaders are now talking him through the damage that occurred in the fire early on Friday. Dutton is joined by Victorian Liberal senator James Paterson and the party’s candidate for Goldstein, former MP Tim Wilson.
Dutton is expected to make some comments shortly.
Updated
Some photos of the Nauru-Australia treaty signing via the foreign minister, Penny Wong.
Building a stronger Pacific family is a priority for the Albanese Government, and central to Australia’s national interests.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) December 9, 2024
Today @albomp and Nauru President David Adeang signed the Nauru-Australia Treaty.
It will build on our relationship and secure Nauru's economic future. pic.twitter.com/1WBrH3yYXx
Woolworths strike cost supermarket $140m
Woolworths is counting the cost of a 17-day strike by its factory workers, calculating the industrial action cost it a nine-figure sum in lost sales, AAP reports.
Distribution centre employees stopped work citing issues with their pay and safety concerns about an algorithmic performance management system.
They clinched a deal with the grocery giant on Friday, which the company said included an 11% pay rise over three years.
Woolworths said it lost about $140m in sales due to the empty shelves caused as a result of the action.
In a statement to the ASX, the supermarket also forecast a $50m hit to profits due to the dispute, the impact of which was still being felt as stock levels were rebuilt before the busy Christmas period.
Chief executive Amanda Bardwell reiterated an apology to customers and hoped shoppers would see shelves brimming with products in no time.
With just over two weeks until Christmas, we are now moving products out of the distribution centres and on to supermarket shelves as quickly as possible for our customers.
Updated
Tonga’s PM quits in face of no-confidence motion
Hu’akavameiliku Siaosi Sovaleni, the Tonga prime minister, has resigned rather than face a no-confidence motion, AAP reports.
The Tongan parliament was to discuss Sovaleni’s leadership on Monday, with former finance minister ‘Aisake Eke poised to bring on the motion on behalf of 10 MPs.
However, Sovaleni surprised observers by offering his resignation in a parliamentary address, doing so with tears in his eyes, according to local outlet Matangi Tonga.
It is not yet clear who will replace Sovaleni, who was Tonga’s leader for three sometimes difficult years.
Last year, he survived a separate no-confidence vote, while in April he resigned as defence minister when King Tupou VI withdrew confidence.
Sovaleni told Radio NZ “it’s just better for me to leave” and “this is the best way forward for Tonga”.
Sovaleni will address local media later on Monday.
Updated
Union wants anti-wage theft model rolled out at universities nationally
The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has called for the fair work ombudsman’s new anti-wage theft model to be rolled out nationally, hailing it a “major win” for more than 25,000 underpaid staff at the University of Melbourne (UoM).
The comprehensive enforceable undertaking includes a worker voice mechanism to raise any wage and entitlement issues and more transparent compliance reporting - including more robust workplace relations oversight at the council and executive level.
The university has also committed to taking a leading role in sector-wide change by raising compliance at the Group of Eight universities forum.
The NTEU estimates the national university wage theft tally now sits at $249m in underpayments, with a further $159m set aside to repay workers for suspected wage theft.
National president Dr Alison Barnes said the developments at the UoM were a “major win” for workers who had been “fighting hard” for a meaningful response to wage theft.
We welcome education minister Jason Clare’s commitment to tackling systemic wage theft and governance reform, and now he has a blueprint to implement nationally. All universities should use this new model which gives workers a stronger voice in raising underpayments and strengthens the governance model which has allowed wage theft to flourish.
The NTEU Victorian division president and UoM branch president, David Gonzalez, said the 25,000 workers owed back pay was a “staggering breach of trust” that had “devastating consequences for livelihoods, families and futures”.
This enforceable undertaking isn’t just about paying back wages, it’s about ensuring that wage theft on this scale can never happen again.
Updated
University of Melbourne to repay $72m in staff underpayments
The University of Melbourne will pay back $72m in staff underpayments and enter into the “most comprehensive” enforceable undertaking in the sector’s history as part of a deal to drop the fair work ombudsman’s (FWO’s) prosecution against the institution.
In a statement, the university’s interim vice-chancellor, Prof Nicola Phillips, said it was pleased the FWO had dismissed its prosecution, including the allegations that it knowingly underpaid more than 25,000 staff and made and kept ‘false and misleading’ records.
The university is now administering the final phases of its wage remediation program. Final payments are expected to be made in the first half of next year. The university again expresses its sincere regret and reiterates its apologies to affected staff members.
Ombudsman Anna Booth said the commitments would help drive cultural change across the university sector, adding the university deserved credit for “acknowledging its governance failures and non-compliance issues”.
The enforceable undertaking includes future commitments to take a leading role in employment compliance and improvements to systems and processes.
The ombudsman said:
The UoM now accepts that it was unlawful that for many years, its casual academics adhered to ‘benchmarks’ which were inadequate and resulted in some employees not being paid for all hours worked.
This enforceable undertaking is the most comprehensive entered into by any university, and provides an example for the sector on what it means to turn practices around with a long-term commitment to embedding a worker voice mechanism to respond to feedback and to meeting all workers’ legal entitlements.
The FWO has entered into enforceable undertakings with the University of Technology Sydney, the University of Newcastle and Charles Sturt University since announcing that addressing systemic-non compliance at universities was a top priority in 2022. It has also commenced ongoing legal action against the University of NSW.
Updated
Antisemitic chants allegedly heard in Sydney in wake of Syrian regime’s collapse
Police in New South Wales are investigating alleged antisemitic chanting that reportedly occurred on the streets of Sydney amid celebrations at the demise of Syria’s Assad regime.
Footage published by the Daily Telegraph, reportedly from a celebration in the suburb of Chullora on Sunday in the hours after Bashar al-Assad was said to have fled Damascus, appears to capture the chanting in Arabic. The chants allegedly refer to a historic defeat of the Jewish community of Khaybar in what is now modern-day Saudi Arabia.
On Monday morning, NSW police commissioner Karen Webb said that because the chanting was in Arabic, authorities would first have the footage translated. “It has been formally reported to police this morning and it is now under investigation,” she said.
NSW premier Chris Minns said he wouldn’t comment on the alleged chanting specifically due to the police investigation, but added: “I want to make it clear, there is no room for antisemitism in NSW in all its variations, in all circumstances.”
Minns said:
Antisemitism is insidious and can get into the bones of a community and, as a result, it chips away at social cohesion. It is absolutely racist and abhorrent, and everybody has a right to feel safe in the community that they call home.
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s co-CEO, Alex Ryvchin, told the Daily Telegraph:
The Jewish people have literally nothing to do with the civil war in Syria but in the irrational mind of the antisemite, everything is about the Jews.
Updated
Patton is then peppered with questions about the suspects, denying there were reports they carried weapons, and then saying the decision to transition into an anti-terrorism investigation was based on the initial investigation.
We’ve investigated over the weekend, we’ve had significant progress, as I [said], we’ve gained intelligence and evidence, and we’ve then, as a result of that, formed up this morning with our partner agencies conducted a full assessment of that evidence, which has brought us to the situation we hear now, where we are saying we are treating this as a terrorist attack.
He said there was “no intelligence” pointing towards an attack at another synagogue.
Updated
Premier condemns ‘evil, antisemitic attack’ and vows support for Jewish community
Next up, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has stepped up and called the incident “an awful, evil, antisemitic attack that we now know is a terrorist attack”.
Allan reinforced the messages from Barret and Patton, saying the transition to an anti-terrorism investigation grants authorities greater powers, and that there will be ongoing increased police presence “in and around the communities, particularly around the south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne”.
Can I also say very clearly, very clearly, that our thoughts again today …must be with the Jewish community here in Melbourne, the Jewish community of the around the Adass Israel synagogue, the border Jewish community in Melbourne, indeed across Australia. This has been an awful, evil, antisemitic and – now we know, has been confirmed as an attack, a terrorist attack. We must remember and continue to hold those the community who is grieving, who is suffering in our hearts, and give them all of our support.
Certainly that is what I pledge as premier of Victoria [is] to give the Jewish community our ongoing support, the practical support, the work to rebuild the synagogue, support the work of Victoria police and the increased police presence, but also to work to provide that support to a community that is grieving
Updated
Counter-terrorism probe over synagogue attack is ‘well progressed’ – AFP
AFP deputy commissioner Krissy Barrett has followed up by thanking Victorian police for their investigations so far, and confirmed the probe had now transitioned into a counter-terrorism investigation.
She said the decision to transition the investigation that way was “a crucial turning point” in the investigation.
This is now a terrorism investigation led by the Victorian joint counter-terrorism team [JCTT], which includes Victoria police, the AFP and Asio joint counter-terrorism teams, including the best terrorism investigators in the country, and a JCTT investigation unlocks more powers, more capability and more intelligence.
Since the attack, the AFP, Asio and Victoria police have been in regular contact and sharing relevant information. What this means is that now it has been allocated to the joint counter-terrorism team. We are already well prepared, well briefed and well progressed.
Barrett went on to say there were a “number” of ongoing investigations into “prohibited hate symbols, terrorism and foreign interference”.
Now, I want to reinforce a message from the AFP. We have a number of ongoing investigations that relate to prohibited hate symbols, terrorism and foreign interference. Right now, a number of briefs of evidence that relate to prohibited symbols and religiously or ideologically motivated violence have been referred or are close to being referred to the commonwealth director of public prosecutions.
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Melbourne synagogue attack 'likely' a terrorist incident, authorities say
Victoria police chief commissioner Shane Patton has opened a press conference on the police investigation into the fire at a synagogue last week by saying that a joint management committee, including AFP and ASIO deputy commissioners, decided today that the incident was likely a terrorist attack.
Patton condemned what he called a “targeted attack”.
He said police had three suspects they were pursuing, adding that they had made “significant progress” in the investigation.
Patton said the investigation would now transition the investigation under the umbrella of the joint counter-terrorism team, which is a joint team ran by the Australian federal police and Victoria police.
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Australia pledges $140m for Nauru under new treaty
The prime minister has announced a new treaty with Nauru that will bring Australia closer to the small Island nation.
In a joint statement released this morning, Anthony Albanese and David Adeang, president of Naura, said the treaty was “a testament to our bilateral relationship that builds on the shared history, cultural affinity and love of sport which bind our people”.
Under the treaty, Australia will provide $100m over five years in direct budget support, with the Commonwealth Bank set to open operations in Nauru, replacing services currently provided by the Bendigo and Adelaide banks.
Australia will also provide $40m in funding “that will support Nauru’s policing and security needs. This includes Australian support for police and broader national security, capital infrastructure, training, equipment, recruitment and retention.”
The statement said:
To underpin this commitment, both countries will mutually agree on any engagement by others in Nauru’s security and key critical infrastructure sectors and have agreed that critical infrastructure shall not be used by any third party for security purposes. This reflects our understanding that as Pacific countries our interests are intertwined and decisions taken by one can affect the interests of the other.
Work has begun to establish a joint committee to support the treaty’s implementation and regular consultation and dialogue between the two nations.
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Victoria to start supporting 'renewable' gas from 2027
The Victorian government has led the country in trying to wean households off methane gas, with its ban on connections in new homes kicking in from the start of this year.
Now it’s making a start to assist industry to make the move. Recognising electrification is going to be a challenge for a bunch of industries, the government is going to promote the production of renewable gas – either biomethane or renewable hydrogen – using a certificate scheme to support its take-up from 2027.
To be clear, the mountain is a pretty big one to climb for a state that is the most reliant in Australia on gas for residential space heating.
Its Victorian Industrial Renewable Gas Guarantee takes shape today with the release of a directions paper. It notes that as of 2023, Victoria consumed more than 175 petajoules (PJ) of fossil gas; with about two-thirds for heating and about one-third for industry. (Interestingly, gas for electricity generation makes up just 4% of use.)
“We’re supercharging renewable gas to back Victorian manufacturers, create a new revenue stream for gas producers and new jobs for Victorians as we work towards net zero,” said Lily D’Ambrosio, the state’s energy minister.
The ambition, though, is modest (perhaps because the government banks on electrification reducing the need for gas over time). The scheme aims to result in 1PJ of renewable gas by year 3, and 4.5PJ by 2035 when it will make up 6% of fossil gas demand.
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Body found in bushes near Sydney airport
Police are investigating after a body that is yet to be identified was found in bushes near Sydney airport.
The body was found in bushes that run alongside Foreshore Road in Botany on Monday morning and was reported to police.
The person is yet to be identified. The Daily Telegraph reported that the body was found wrapped in plastic.
“A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the incident has commenced,” a New South Wales police spokesperson said.
“Officers attached to South Sydney police area command are being assisted by specialist officers from the state crime command’s homicide squad.”
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Labor warns private health insurers against ‘product phoenixing’
The government is warning private health insurers it will be “closely monitoring” loophole tactics they are using to charge Australians more for cover than what is allowed under the annual premium review process after the commonwealth ombudsman raised concerns.
The ombudsman today released a report into these “loophole” tactics, reviewing the allegations from consumer group Choice earlier this year which found that insurers had increased the price of their gold-tier policies by more than 30%, on average, over a three-year period.
Reviewing these allegations against their own data, the commonwealth ombudsman found that - similar to Choice’s investigation - some insurers had been closing and then opening almost identical private health insurance policies that were much more expensive.
The report found this practice – known as “product phoenixing” – “may be circumventing premium approval processes, but they are also restricting consumer choice”. Analysis by the Department of Health and Aged Care also suggests product phoenixing is widespread.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said he shared the ombudsman’s concerns.
This ‘loophole’ tactic is a sleight of hand that makes the best value policies disappear and forces customers to take out more expensive policies.
Insurers are putting a new name on the same policy with a higher price tag. It’s a cheap trick that makes your health insurance more expensive, and it’s got to stop.
Let me be clear: we will be monitoring this closely. If insurers don’t stop this practice immediately, then I will force them to stop.
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Earlier this morning Dutton accused Burns, who is Jewish, of “losing his voice” on the issue of antisemitism.
But Burns quipped he actually had a “tickle in his throat” for the past week. He says:
This has been my life, my world, my community. My office was attacked. I’ve spent every day working as hard as I can with my community and standing up for them. It doesn’t serve the Jewish community to be arguing amongst ourselves. It doesn’t serve the Jewish community to be fighting amongst the political class. Peter Dutton can say whatever he likes about me. I honestly couldn’t care less. I’m interested in supporting my community.
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Josh Burns dismisses Dutton’s barbs at Labor on antisemitism
Josh Burns said he needs to have a closer look at Dutton’s policy before commenting on it more broadly:
Obviously what happened last week on Friday was completely unacceptable and send shockwaves throughout the community. People, I think, of all faiths, look at a synagogue being burned down and go, I don’t want that happening to my community, and I don’t want that happening to anyone in Australia or anywhere around the world. So we’ve just got to be open-minded. We’ve got to work through these issues in a sensible way, not do it in a haphazard way, and actually support the community, and that’s my focus right now.
The Labor MP dismissed Dutton’s suggestion that the Labor government did not have the political will to tackle antisemitism.
Burns said:
Since last Friday, all I have done is spend as much time with my community, to listen to them, to engage them and support them and represent them and get things done. Yesterday, the prime minister made an announcement around increased security funding. That’s a really important thing was turned around really quickly. But it doesn’t end there. I wish it didn’t have to come to security funding for the Jewish community. Who wants that? I never went to synagogue behind bars when I was younger, but that’s the reality we have right now, that our schools and our synagogues have to be fortified. The work doesn’t end there, because we also need to look to the medium and long term about how we return to that vibrant, multicultural Australia.
Burns says he’s leading a taskforce to tackle antisemitism in universities. He says he is hoping a definition of antisemitism for universities will be introduced:
There are lots of different aspects of campus life – what happens in lectures, what happens in classes, what happens in the university grounds – that a lot of people, frankly, have dismissed it as not being anti semitic, and that’s why it’s important to have a benchmark to be able to say these things are, and we want to protect freedom of speech and we want to protect freedom of academic thought.
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Jewish Labor MP responds to Dutton’s antisemitism policy
Joining assistant minister Josh Wilson in Elwood is local MP Josh Burns, who has spent the weekend responding to the firebombing of a synagogue in Ripponlea, Melbourne.
He’s asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton’s policy – announced this morning – to tackle antisemitism, which includes a special taskforce.
The taskforce would include the Australian federal police, Asio, Acic and Austrac, and Dutton said they would be directed to refer any visa holders involved in acts of antisemitism to be investigated and potentially deported.
Burns says authorities already have the power to deport visa holders.
He says:
Well, there’s already powers to deport people or to cancel someone’s visas. The minister has that ability at the moment, and I would hope that anyone who is vilifying, discriminating or acting in a racist way in Australia, if they are here visiting, enjoying our country, then that would be looked at anyway as a matter of course. So I don’t think that’s particularly new on that point.
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Coalition accuses Labor of failures on antisemitism in wake of synagogue attack
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and shadow minister for home affairs, James Paterson, said the Albanese government had failed to act on antisemitism, following the attack on a synagogue in Melbourne.
Paterson said:
It is extraordinary to me that we are now in the fourth day following this crisis, and we have not seen [home affairs minister] Tony Burke. He’s not stood up, he’s not done a press conference, he’s not done a media interview. He has not visited the synagogue.
Do you think this would have been his response if it was a mosque that was fired on instead of a synagogue?
James Paterson questioned the home affairs minister, Tony Burke’s commitment to act on antisemitism: “How many visas has he actually cancelled?”
“The problem is a lack of will, a lack of desire to act,” he said.
Dutton and Paterson said if elected, the Coalition would create a dedicated antisemitism taskforce led by the Australian federal police.
This would include a ministerial direction to address outstanding complaints and unsolved crimes against the Jewish community since 7 October 2023, including “doxing, public display of terrorist symbols, incitement, harassment and other offences”.
Any visa holders involved in acts of antisemitism would be referred for “immediate cancellation and deportation”.
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Dutton attacks Jewish Labor MP over party response to synagogue firebombing
Returning to Peter Dutton’s press conference in Melbourne earlier, the opposition leader launched an extraordinary attack on Labor MP Josh Burns, claiming the Jewish politician had failed to “speak up” about antisemitism in the community.
Burns is member for the seat of Macnamara, which has a high Jewish population, and is host to the Ripponlea synagogue which was set alight in an arson attack on Friday. Burns’ own office was also targeted in a serious vandalism attack earlier this year, with windows smashed and fires set in the street outside, and photos of him defaced with antisemitic graffiti.
Dutton in his press conference claimed the Jewish community was “rightly” critical of Burns and Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Burns appeared at a press conference with shadow home affairs minister James Paterson – who was alongside Dutton at the Melbourne event – just hours after the synagogue fire.
Asked if it was “fair” to criticise Burns, considering his heritage and the fact he appeared alongside Paterson shortly after the arson attack, Dutton further doubled down, claiming:
Josh is a nice guy, but Josh lost his voice long before the weekend. Josh hasn’t stood up to a weak prime minister, and the job for a Labor MP is to stand up to a prime minister who has put political interests of the Labor party ahead of our national security interests.
When people were brought in from Gaza, people who hadn’t had the security checks undertaken on tourist visas, that’s when Josh Burns should have been speaking up. Josh Burns should have been speaking up when the protest took place at the Opera House. So I don’t doubt Josh Burns’ intent, his passion, but he’s part of a political party here, which is the problem.
Burns has released numerous statements and made numerous speeches condemning antisemitic violence, as well as being a constant presence in the media, including this morning.
As Guardian Australia has revealed, despite Dutton’s claims about Palestinian visas being approved in just 24 hours, the Department of Home Affairs’ median processing time for Palestinian visitor visas in the period October 2023 to August 2024 was four months.
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Wilson pans Dutton on nuclear costings
Asked what he makes of opposition leader Peter Dutton’s plan to reveal his nuclear costings this week, the assistant minister for climate change and energy, Josh Wilson, replied:
Why would you wait to release something in the shadows of Christmas, unless you thought that it was going to be utterly ridiculous, unless you were concerned that it would show that everything you’ve said about nuclear has been a lie, that it’s been a common trick to try to cover up the fact that this is the outfit for nine years that couldn’t be bothered to have a national energy policy, that saw energy generation in the Australian energy sector reduce.
They haven’t been able to have an energy plan in government. They don’t have an energy plan in opposition. They’ve announced this nuclear fantasy six or seven months ago without a shred of factual information or detail.
We wait to see what next bizarre excuse they can come up with for trying to perpetrate this fraud on the Australian people.
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Almost 110 charged as NSW police target alleged ‘dial-a-dealer’ networks
More than 100 people have been arrested and charged under the latest operation run by NSW police against “dial-a-dealer” networks.
Strike Force Northrop, operating since 2017, undertook a targeted operation over three consecutive weekends, with a total of 108 people arrested and charged.
Of these, 64 were charged with supply a prohibited drug, 44 were charged with drug possession offences, and one person was also charged with domestic violence-related offences.
More than $20,000 worth of drugs were seized, including 560g of cocaine, 78 MDMA caps, weed, ketamine and ice.
Almost $99,000 of cash and several cars were also seized.
Among those arrested included a 22-year-old man allegedly found driving in Sydney’s CBD with 14 bags of cocaine and thousands in cash, and a teenager from Cronulla allegedly found with 18 bags of cocaine.
A Korean national was also arrested in Sydney’s CBD allegedly with 21 bags of cocaine and 60 MDMA caps.
Assistant commissioner Peter McKenna of NSW police said operations targeting the distribution of illegal drugs in the Sydney area would continue.
He said:
Whether they are major drug suppliers, mid-level or street level, I will continue to put resources into disrupting their operations and prosecuting them for their true criminality.
We opened 2024 with a significant operation targeting major dealers and have continued to put pressure on illegal drug distribution, with these three weekends of action focused on street-level distributors.
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Labor MP swipes at Coalition nuclear plan after CSIRO report
The assistant minister for climate change and energy, Josh Wilson, is holding a press conference in Melbourne on the expansion of the federal government’s national Australian built environment rating system (Nabers) to include schools.
He’s asked whether the latest CSIRO report, which found that “firmed” solar and wind are the cheapest new electricity options, would draw a line the sand on the opposition’s argument nuclear energy could be cheaper than other options over time.
Wilson replies:
Well, I would hope so, but I’m not sure whether that that hope will be met by the kind of sensible response I think Australians would like to see from the Coalition. The work that the Gen Cost Report represents from both Aemo [the Australian Energy Market Operator] and CSIRO is the latest instalment in a series of reports that have been saying the same thing.
It’s the obvious thing, it’s the truth, which is that nuclear energy is the most expensive form of new generation … I would love it if Ted O’Brien and Peter Dutton would wake up to the reality, which is that there’s no future for nuclear in Australia because it costs so much, because it takes so long, because it’s inflexible and uninsurable and uncommercial.
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Coca-Cola workers vote to strike, saying Pepsi pays more
Factory workers at Coca-Cola are set to walk off the job, claiming the global giant pays staff significantly less than major rival Pepsi.
About 150 workers from Coke’s Northmead factory, in western Sydney, have voted to take industrial action which the union said could impact Christmas supply of the soft drink.
The decision comes days after Woolworths’ distribution centre workers secured a pay rise following a 17-day strike.
Electrical Trades Union NSW secretary Allen Hicks claimed the Coca-Cola workers would be better off at Pepsi.
“Despite doing the same work, workers in Coca-Cola’s Northmead factory are paid significantly lower than those working for Pepsi,” he said.
Coca-Cola has a two-tiered wage system which sees some employees paid significantly less than their co-workers, even though they’re doing exactly the same job.
In response, Coca-Cola Europacific said it was still in negotiations with workers at the Northmead manufacturing and logistics site on a new enterprise agreement.
“We continue to take a constructive approach to negotiations and have proposed an EA that we believe offers rates that are competitive to the market and above the award wage with greater benefits,” a spokesperson said.
Some of our employees at Northmead have made the decision to take action and we respect their right to do so.
Coca-Cola workers also have issues with rostering and the company’s progression structure.
Hicks said it was a new take on the age-old “Coke vs Pepsi” debate.
All these workers want is to be paid in line with industry standards ... when it comes to treating its employees with respect, Pepsi is winning hands down.
- Via AAP
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Coalition to reveal nuclear plan costings this week – Dutton
Peter Dutton confirmed the Coalition would reveal its nuclear power plan costings this week at a press conference in Melbourne.
The opposition leader criticised the CSIRO draft GenCost report released today, which again found “firmed” solar and wind remained the cheapest new electricity sources.
Dutton said:
They haven’t even seen our plan yet. Blackouts and brownouts have become a feature of our energy system under Labor.
Dutton said there was already bipartisan support for nuclear energy as part of the Aukus program, and that Labor’s opposition to nuclear energy was about trying to please the Greens.
Nuclear would “bring prices down” and enable Australia to meet its international climate commitments, he said, though did not provide evidence.
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Canberra man dies in freak road accident in southern NSW
A man has died in a freak road accident along Burley Griffin Way at Galong, about 50km west of Yass.
A 49-year-old man from Canberra was struck in the head by an item that fell off a caravan being towed westbound, penetrating the windscreen.
He died before emergency services arrived.
Three women aged 48, 16 and 13 who were travelling in the vehicle with the man were uninjured.
The 32-year-old male driver of the vehicle towing the caravan was not injured. He was taken to Harden hospital for mandatory testing.
A crime scene was established, which was examined by officers from the Crash Investigation Unit.
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Survivors and victims’ families return to Whakaari/White Island for fifth anniversary of deadly eruption
Survivors and family members of the Whakaari/White Island eruption in New Zealand will mark the fifth anniversary of the tragedy today with a memorial service and ceremony.
Twenty-two people died in the eruption on 9 December 2019, including 14 Australians, and a further 25 people were seriously injured.
At 2.11pm, while 47 people were on the island, the volcano erupted, spewing a mushroom cloud of steam, gases, rock and ash into the air. The loss of life became the country’s deadliest volcanic disaster since the 1886 eruption of Mt Tarawera.
The 33 survivors and family members attending Monday’s event, from Australia, New Zealand and Britain, are reportedly the largest contingent to visit the site since the eruption.
They will receive a private viewing of a memorial design to honour those who lost their lives, RNZ reports, and hold a minute’s silence to remember the victims.
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Peter Dutton proposes federal antisemitism ‘taskforce’ with focus on visa holders
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has announced that, if he were to win the next election, he would develop a new “taskforce” that would look to tackle antisemitism.
The potential taskforce would include the AFP, Asio, Acic and Austrac, and Dutton said they would be directed to refer any visa holders involved in acts of antisemitism to be investigated and potentially deported.
Dutton, though, failed to explain why the target is visa holders, as there has been no evidence of visa holders involved in recent antisemitic incidents.
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Albanese government calls for calm in Syria, urges restart of UN peace talks
The Australian government is calling for civilians to be protected in Syria and for a peace process to restart through the United Nations, after armed rebel groups moved into Damascus on Sunday and allegedly seized control of the country.
With the president, Bashar al-Assad, reportedly fleeing abroad, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is monitoring developments and calling for calm.
“We emphasise that all parties must protect civilians, restore services, and ensure the safety of ethnic and religious minorities,” a Dfat spokesperson said.
“While the situation remains fluid, we urge parties not to further fuel this cycle of conflict and instead re-engage with the UN-facilitated peace process.”
The department’s travel advice for Syria remains at Do Not Travel, due to the threat of “armed conflict, air strikes, terrorism and kidnapping”.
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‘Basically every expert in the world’ thinks Coalition nuclear timeline ‘wildly optimistic’, Chris Bowen says
Sticking with ministers in the media, the energy and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, was just on RN Breakfast, where he slammed the Coalition for criticising a CSIRO report that found nuclear power will be at least 50% more expensive than renewables.
The report found that the lowest possible cost projections for nuclear power would only match the highest possible projections for the cost of renewable energy.
Asked by host Patricia Karvelas what he thought of the Coalition’s timeline for nuclear energy, Bowen dismissed the idea that their plans were in any way accurate:
They can say their plan is that the sky is pink, Patricia, it doesn’t make it realistic or achievable.
GenCost, the CSIRO and Aemo have done a substantial amount of work on the delays, on how long it takes to build nuclear power stations. The CSIRO and Aemo are not the only people. Basically every expert in the world thinks that the opposition’s plans are … wildly optimistic.
This is a record year for renewable energy connections in Australia. More renewable energy connected this year than any other year in Australian history. I mean, we’re doing this today. [Ted] O’Brien says, no, no, we don’t want that, we can wait till 2037 – now, 2037 is not realistic, it’s wildly optimistic.
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Dreyfus says Netanyahu ‘absolutely wrong’ to connect synagogue fire to UN Palestine vote
Dreyfus is then asked about criticism of the Australian government from the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu.
Netanyahu had said the Albanese government has an “extreme anti-Israel position,” linking the firebombing of the synagogue to the Australian government’s recent vote at the UN along with 156 other countries to demand the end of Israel’s “unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory as rapidly as possible”.
Dreyfus rejected the connection:
He’s absolutely wrong. I respectfully disagree with Mr Netanyahu. Australia remains a close friend of Israel, as we have been since the Labor government recognised the state of Israel when it was created by the United Nations.
Now that remains the position. The disappointment to me is that I had thought that there would be, at a time like this, unity in Australia.
I had thought that … everybody in federal parliament, everybody in political leadership in this country, would understand that this is a time to unite and set our faces against antisemitism, and to say we stand together against antisemitism. Instead, what we’ve seen, as you’ve mentioned, is criticism, is disunity, a call to divide from quite a number of senior Liberals, including [Peter] Dutton, and it’s disappointing that that’s the stance that they’ve taken. This is not a time for partisan bickering.
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Dreyfus calls synagogue fire ‘atrocious’ but says terror label a matter for police
Next, Dreyfus is asked about the firebombing of a synagogue in Melbourne, which he called an “atrocious act,” but stopped short of calling it an act of terrorism.
Dreyfus was pushed about the prime minister saying yesterday he personally believed it was an act of terrorism, but refused to budge:
This was an atrocious act which has shocked Australians. It’s caused distress and fear in the Jewish community in Melbourne, in my community, and what we now need to do is unite as a country to make sure that not only this never happens again, but that antisemitism is ended …
What the prime minister said yesterday was right, that this is an event that has struck fear into the hearts of Australians, and particularly into the hearts of the Melbourne Jewish community. But as to the formal technical descriptions, let’s leave that to police, because they’re the ones that are conducting the investigation.
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Mark Dreyfus says ‘no one will mourn’ end of Assad regime in Syria
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, was on the ABC earlier, where he said the Australian government “wishes for peace” in Syria.
Commenting on the fall of the Assad regime there yesterday, Dreyfus said he hopes there will be “respect for life” amid the transition.
No one will mourn the end of the murderous Assad regime in Syria. We wish for peace there. We hope that there will be respect for life and the Syria can get to a peaceful, prosperous future. But clearly, these are unfolding, events unfolding as we speak.
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Warnings of Sydney train network delays despite court order
Transport for NSW this morning has issued a warning that there may still be delays on the rail network this morning, despite the last minute intervention to prevent industrial action.
In an alert issued this morning, they warned that trains along the North Shore, Northern and Western lines may be “less frequent” with trips taking “longer than normal today”:
Trains may be less frequent and trips may take longer than normal today due to the impact of recent protected industrial action. Trains may leave from different platforms, have changed stops or be cancelled. Check station information screens, transport apps and listen to announcements for service updates. Metro services are also running frequently. Please allow plenty of extra travel time.
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Sydney commuters facing delays despite court ordering train drivers back to work
Sydney commuters had hoped to be spared widespread disruption across the city’s train network, after a court sided with the state government in granting a last-minute injunction late on Sunday to cancel planned industrial action after negotiations over a new pay deal collapsed.
However, the Minns government’s eleventh-hour push to seek legal orders barring industrial action – which was ultimately successful – occurred so late on Sunday that some of the impacts to the city’s train network “could not be undone in time”, meaning minor disruptions will occur across Monday.
On Sunday afternoon, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said that a two-week period of “daily exhaustive” negotiations – which combined rail unions and the state government agreed to enter in order to stave off a two-day strike across all Sydney train lines late last month – had not delivered a breakthrough.
Minns said the government could not agree to the rail unions’ pay demands at the same time as it was pushing against similar pay increases requested by the nurses’ and other unions.
As a result, the two-week moratorium on industrial action as part of the negotiation window was set to end, and the government asked the rail unions to pull their planned actions related to limits on how far drivers could travel each day.
The union refused this request, so the state government sought an 11th-hour injunction at the federal court. A government spokesperson said that going to court to prevent the industrial action “was not a decision we took lightly”.
The court ultimately granted interim orders preventing the unions from taking the planned industrial action. A future hearing set by the court will now determine if the unions can take the actions they had planned. However, the unions claimed they can “simply” hold a ballot on taking fresh industrial action, raising the prospect of further disruptions this week.
Rail unions labelled the Minns government’s actions “appalling”. Toby Warnes, the secretary of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW said “to attack a group of essential workers in this way is petulant and disappointing to say the least”.
Natalie Ward, the opposition transport spokesperson, was scathing of the transport minister, Jo Haylen.
Jo Haylen has one job, to keep NSW transport moving. Instead, she’s steering us straight into gridlock. This government’s inability to manage basic industrial negotiations is leaving families stranded and businesses bleeding at the busiest time of the year.
Updated
Good morning
Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the day’s news.
And we start in New South Wales, where transport chaos appears to have been somewhat averted, after a last minute court injunction prevented industrial action by the rail union after wage negotiations broke down.
Elsewhere, Jewish community leaders have vowed to rebuild a firebombed synagogue, as federal and state police meet to investigate a motive for the alleged antisemitic attack.
We will bring you that and more as it comes.
