What we learned today, Tuesday 22 August
Thanks for joining us on the Australia news live blog today. That’s where we’ll wrap up our coverage – here are some key developments:
The states will get three more years to complete water efficiency projects in the Murray-Darling, but more water buybacks are on the cards as part of changes to the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
Liberal MPs have condemned “abhorrent” and “revolting” commentary about Indigenous people aired at no campaign leader Warren Mundine’s CPAC conference, as pressure mounts on fellow anti-voice spokesperson Gary Johns.
Mark Latham has quit One Nation to sit as an independent in the New South Wales parliament after he was fired as the rightwing party’s state leader.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has conceded that the business case and costings for the axed 2026 Commonwealth Games were “hardly the greatest piece of work” but declined to say if individuals from the various organisations involved in compiling the documents were working on other government projects.
Queensland’s treasurer has warned BHP that its mining leases might be in jeopardy if the company does not continue investing in the state.
Ita Buttrose will not seek a second term as ABC chair when her first term expires in March 2024 but her “formidable” leadership of the public broadcaster has been marked by “speaking truth to power”.
Thanks for your company today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow morning.
Updated
CPAC ‘neither condemns nor endorses’ Johns’ comments
CPAC Australia has responded to the controversy over comments from no campaign leader Gary Johns, saying the conference “neither condemns nor endorses” his views aired at the event on Sunday.
Andrew Cooper, the founder and director of CPAC, said in an email that: “CPAC runs a talkfest with over 40 speakers who each are free to present their ideas to the audience, uncensored by us.”
Here’s more of his statement, in an email response to Guardian Australia:
In turn, audience members, online viewers and the broader world are free to comment on those views. That is how a free society with a robust commitment to free speech works.
Consequently, CPAC neither condemns nor endorses Mr Johns views nor do we feel it necessary to comment on the opinions of others about his views.
Johns’ speech, which included claims that some people in Indigenous communities lived in a “stupor” and recommended they “learn English”, has been heavily criticised by Coalition and Labor MPs, including calls for him to stand down from the no campaign.
As reported earlier, Johns did not resile from his speech in a Sky News interview last night, defending his comments and accusing detractors of “closing down debate”.
Updated
Greens back Australian Research Council reforms but call for additional funding
The Greens education spokesperson, Mehreen Faruqi, says the federal government’s decision to adopt all 10 recommendations of the Australian Research Council (ARC) review is a “victory for the research community”:
It’s good to see that Labor, who rejected a bill I introduced back in 2018 to stop political interference in the ARC, has finally accepted the need for the ARC to be given autonomy to make decisions over research grants.
Board appointments will remain a matter for the minister, so there must be strict guidelines to ensure the Board’s membership is composed of a diverse range of academics and members of the research community and there are no corporate or political appointments.
Faruqi added addressing political interference must come with sufficient funding to the independent research sector, which is at a historic low. Universities Australia has been pushing for spending to be raised to 3% of GDP:
Australian research has so much potential, but will never reach its full potential without substantial, long-term public funding. At a bare minimum, researchers deserve a generous, liveable research stipend and a full entitlement to paid parental leave.
Updated
Nationals support extended Murray-Darling deadline, but not buybacks
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has had a mixed reaction to today’s Murray-Darling Basin plan news. He supports the extended deadline, but not the possibility of buybacks.
Here’s what he told the ABC a short time ago:
We support the extension of time to deliver water to the environmental infrastructure. It is common sense. But to tear up their very own plan about water buybacks on an additional 450 gigalitres will have serious impact for regional and rural communities.
Updated
AMA warns many Australians priced out of private health policies
The peak medical association is warning Australians are being priced out of private health insurance policies that meet their needs, as premiums soar amid rising cost-of-living pressures.
Responding to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s consultation on private health insurance, the Australian Medical Association says reform is overdue for a system which is failing to meet changing customer demographics.
The president of the AMA, Prof Steve Robson, said the highest costing gold tier insurance policies were often the only ones covering the services a patient needs. However, with some providers increasing premiums by up to 8%, their cost had become excessive.
Here’s Robson:
Private health policy has been on the ‘set and forget’ mode for some time now, meaning the system is falling behind changing customer needs and demographics.
... With private birth and psychiatric care only fully covered in Gold packages, the declining take-up rates or increasing costs could lead to troubling implications for our whole health system.
The AMA’s submission agreed with most of the government’s recommendations, including the need to annually index the Medicare levy surcharge.
However, the peak body rejected the recommendation that high-income earners should be required to purchase gold or silver policy tiers to avoid having to pay the Medicare levy surcharge, given the rising costs of these products and inequitable access to private services across the country.
The AMA also called for the government to mandate a minimum amount that every insurer is required to return to patient care in the form of claims benefits.
Updated
Johns claims his detractors are ‘closing down debate’
Further to the commentary about Gary Johns, the man himself is not backing down despite strong condemnation across the political spectrum, telling Sky News that his detractors were “closing down debate”.
Here’s what he told Andrew Bolt’s show last night, according to Sky reports.
I don’t even know what the disrespect thing means.
What’s happened in the last generation or two such that some Aboriginal children mainly in remote, very remote communities, cannot speak sufficiently well English, or read it, or write it.
And if you can’t do that you’re literally locked out of the good life.
Johns told Sky:
I’m very upset at the yes case, and our dear prime minister, who think that they can just close down this debate and somehow solve the problems that they – this Aboriginal industry – have caused.
Updated
Victorian rental inquiry considers ‘complex’ issue of affordability
In the Victorian rental inquiry, the Greens MP Sarah Mansfield has asked why, if the state currently has more dwellings per capita than ever, is there such a big housing affordability issue.
Mansfield:
Why do you think that housing affordability is therefore at an all-time low when we’ve actually got more supply than we’ve ever had?
Chris Munro, the manager of community partnerships at Mornington Peninsula shire council, says:
It’s a really, it’s a complex question, with no simple answer. I think there are a number of things that kind of got us to this position.
There’s probably a lack of obvious investment in social housing over a long period. But also there are a lot of incentives for property developers to have that secondary dwelling like on the peninsula – there are a lot of holiday houses, and secondary houses.
From a pure numbers point of view, there is stock but it’s unavailable. So we need to consider those measures – whether it’s balancing the short stay rentals or [what] incentives or disincentives there are to be able to access those housing.
Updated
Two federal ministers call for Johns to be ejected from anti-voice push
Two federal ministers and the Liberals for Yes group have called for no campaign leader Gary Johns to be ejected from the anti-voice push, after his heavily condemned speech at the CPAC conference on the weekend.
In a tweet, the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, called for Johns’ fellow no campaign leaders Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Warren Mundine to “show they’re serious about having a calm, respectful debate and sack Johns from the No campaign today”:
If Johns isn’t good enough for the Nationals then he’s not good enough for the No campaign.
It came after the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, as well as Liberal MPs Andrew Bragg and Bridget Archer, also criticised Johns’ comments at CPAC – where the former Labor MP claimed some people in Indigenous communities lived in a “stupor” and recommended they “learn English”.
Johns is president of Recognise a Better Way, a group founded by Mundine. He and his organisation have been contacted for comment.
Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the prime minister, quote-tweeted Watt’s message and added his own comments:
The leaders of the “No” campaign have the power under their constitution to sack Gary Johns. They should do it today. Why won’t they?
Liberals for Yes, the group of Liberal supporters backing the voice, has just released a statement on the same issue, welcoming Littleproud’s condemnation of Johns’ comments:
Mr Littleproud is one hundred percent correct – Gary Johns’ deeply disturbing views have no place in any major political organisation, and that includes the official No Campaign in this important referendum.
If the views expressed are not good enough for the National Party, then they are not good enough for the No Campaign either.
Both sides of the referendum campaign have the right to participate with vigour and passion, but Gary Johns has stepped far over the line, and now threatens to poison the No Campaign, and the referendum in general with his out of date, and deeply disturbing views.
All sides of the referendum debate would be well served by Gary Johns’ being excluded from any official role in this important national moment.
Updated
Olympics boss ‘confident’ in Brisbane organisers
Australia’s Olympics chief has defended the nation’s ability to host the world’s premier sporting event, saying he has “every confidence” in the Brisbane 2032 Games organisers, AAP reports.
The Australian Olympic Committee chief executive, Matt Carroll, made the comments to senators as part of a committee hearing in Brisbane on Tuesday into Australia’s preparedness to host the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
The Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie said she had concerns about state-level oversight given Victoria’s announcement last month that it was withdrawing from hosting the 2026 Commonwealth Games.
Carroll said the Brisbane 2032 Coordination Office, which was established by the Queensland government in March, would handle infrastructure, security and transport while the Brisbane Organising Committee (BOCOG) would run the events:
The coordination office needs to work hand in hand daily with the team at (BOCOG), because Brisbane is responsible to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for putting the games on, as we promised.
The BOCOG is funded by the IOC and through BOCOG-generated domestic sponsorships, ticket sales and licensing to deliver the Brisbane Games.
Updated
Murray-Darling announcement ‘kicks the can down the road’: Sarah Hanson-Young
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has responded to today’s news about the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
In short, the states will get three more years to complete water efficiency projects. More water buybacks are also on the cards, with the federal government flagging amendments to lift an embargo on water purchases by the commonwealth.
Here’s a part of Hanson-Young’s statement:
Sadly today’s announcement is little more than an agreement to kick the can down the road yet again.
After a decade of broken promises there is still nothing to guarantee the delivery of 450 gigalitres of water promised to South Australia and the environment.
If Minister Plibersek wants this to pass the Senate we need environmental flows guaranteed and water flowing to SA before the next election.
Lifting a cap on buybacks is welcome in theory, but it means little unless water is actually bought and delivered on time. SA deserves that guarantee.
Updated
Reforms to Australian Research Council ‘vital’, peak bodies say
Peak bodies have welcomed the federal government’s backing of the review into the Australian Research Council (ARC), announced earlier today.
Speaking at the AFR Higher Education Summit, the education minister, Jason Clare, said Labor would accept all 10 recommendations of the review, including establishing a board as the accountable authority of the organisation.
The Australian Academy of Science said limiting the unrestricted use of ministerial discretion to veto properly assessed and reviewed research proposals would bring “great relief” to Australia’s research community.
When the integrity of Australia’s research system is compromised by perceived or actual political interference, there are real costs for the research sector and indeed for the nation – by eroding trust and damaging the relationships researchers have.
The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) said adopting the recommendations would improve the “governance, purpose, oversight and management” of funding for university research, while Universities Australia said reform would be “vital” to the effective running of the ARC.
We are also pleased to see changes that limit ministerial veto power for use only when national security is concerned. Previous interference and delay have not served us well in this regard.
We will also continue to advocate strongly for greater investment in Australian university research. Concerningly, government spending on R&D, as a percentage of GDP, has never been lower. This will continue to affect Australia’s productivity problem and overall economic performance.
Updated
Littleproud protests about land being ‘consumed with solar panels and wind turbines’
Key Liberal National party members have stood with Queensland farmers and landholders outside state parliament urging a rethink of large-scale renewables projects, AAP reports.
The Nationals federal leader, David Littleproud, labelled the state government’s 10-year plan for 80% renewables by 2035 “reckless” and called for a Senate inquiry due to the damage it may cause to agricultural land.
Alongside the Capricornia MP, Michelle Landry, the demonstrators petitioned the Queensland government to speak with affected farmers as it rolls out large-scale wind, solar and water projects across regional areas.
Here’s a bit of what Littleproud said:
Men and women will bear that cost with their land being consumed with solar panels and wind turbines.
Taking out prime agricultural land, taking away our food security, but also taking away remnant vegetation and destroying remnant vegetation.
Updated
Hanson ‘utterly rejects’ Latham’s allegations
Allegations made under parliamentary privilege by Mark Latham and Rod Roberts today have been completely rejected by One Nation’s leader, Senator Pauline Hanson.
Latham and Roberts on Tuesday announced them would quit the party and sit as independents in the New South Wales parliament, about two weeks after Hanson intervened in the NSW executive to sack Latham as One Nation’s NSW leader.
Latham accused the party of misusing taxpayer money by attempting to “misappropriate” funds from the NSW electoral commission meant to be used to reimburse parties for administrative and operating expenditure.
Hanson says the party’s finances both in NSW and nationally are subjected to regular audits by chartered accountants and the NSW and Australian electoral commissions:
I utterly reject the allegations made by these individuals under the protection of parliamentary privilege.
I’d invite them to repeat these statements outside of the parliament but they would never accept it.
Ultimately these men need to accept responsibility for their own actions instead of blaming literally anyone but themselves. Because they have not taken any responsibility for the poor performance of One Nation at the 2023 NSW state election, the party has been forced to appoint a new state executive to review the organisation and improve our performance in future elections.
Their response was entirely predictable – deflecting blame for their shortcomings onto others who have worked hard to grow our party’s vote in NSW.
Updated
States given three more years to complete Murray-Darling Basin projects
The states will get three more years to complete water efficiency projects in the Murray-Darling, but more water buybacks are on the cards, after the federal water minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced she would amend the Water Act to lift the embargo on water purchases by the commonwealth.
Plibersek refused to say how much water will be bought back. But the plan is currently 180,000 Olympic swimming pools short of its target to return water to the environment.
The Victorian government has not signed up for the new Murray-Darling plan because of its concerns about the economic impact on Victorian agriculture and the likelihood that more buybacks will occur within its territory.
Its failure to sign up means it will not get access to new funds and could face more buybacks than other states down the track. Plibersek made it clear she still hoped for negotiations with the Andrews Labor government.
Plibersek will also likely face challenges getting her legislation through the Senate. She will be dependent on Greens and crossbench support, with the Greens likely to push for more rapid action to return water to the environment.
The legislation needs to be through by December to avoid triggering commonwealth takeover powers in the plan.
Here’s how Plibersek put it:
Australia is facing an environmental emergency. The Murray-Darling pumps life into the heartland of our country.
If we don’t act now to preserve it, our basin towns will be unprepared for drought, our native animals will face the threat of extinction, our river ecosystems will risk environmental collapse, and our food and fibre production will be insecure and unsustainable.
An audit of the current plan has found that the plan will likely fall about 750GL short of its total of 3,200GL by the deadline of June 2024. Thats about 20% of the water that was to be recovered for the environment.
About 300GL of the shortfall is due to major water-saving projects either running late or failing to materialise. The states are being given more time to meet their commitments.
Only a small fraction of another tranche of water, 450GL which was to be returned to increase flows in South Australia, has been delivered by the current plan.
The original program of water buybacks under the Murray-Darling Basin plan led to farmers burning copies of the plan in the streets of Deniliquin.
Most of the “Bridging the Gap” water came from the southern basin of the river system. There are now calls for the commonwealth to focus on the northern basin if it seeks to buy back water.
Updated
Best pack that raincoat
Unless you live in Queensland. Beautiful one day, etc.
⛈️A cold front swept across SA and TAS last night, with hail around Adelaide and moderate rainfall in TAS. This is now moving through VIC and NSW. Severe thunderstorms possible today for southern NSW slopes and plains. More: https://t.co/4W35o8i7wJ pic.twitter.com/lSHDEeWDbb
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 22, 2023
Many thanks for being with me on the blog today! I’ll leave you with my colleague Henry Belot, who will continue to bring you the latest into the evening.
Does this mean that Victoria has to meet the earlier deadlines, since it is not part of the agreement?
Plibersek:
When it comes to the timeframes, we can’t single out states under the legislation, but what we need to do to extend the timeframes is come up with new funding agreements for New South Wales.
So we will enter into a new contract with them that says we’ll continue to fund these projects, the deadline has changed from 2024 to 2026. We often have to execute updates to these sorts of funding agreements.
If Victoria is not interested in updating its funding agreements, then that’s a matter for them.
Plibersek clarifies that the commonwealth does not need the agreement of the states to conduct voluntary water purchases:
We’d like the cooperation of the states where that’s possible, but NSW has also made clear that they’re not supporters of buybacks.
They understand that this is something that is a matter for the commonwealth government and we’ll of course be working as cooperatively as we can with state governments like NSW to say if there are any social and economic impacts, we’ll work with you.
Updated
Victoria does not sign up to Murray-Darling Basin agreement
Plibersek also speaks more on why Victoria is not involved in the agreement.
She says it is “a matter for Victoria”, adding:
What I will say is that the states that have agreed will get more time to deliver the water-saving projects that they’re engaged in, they’ll get more money to deliver those projects and also if there are social and economic impacts in their communities, those state governments will have funding to support those communities.
Plibersek says it’s clear this is “an excellent deal for states”:
What I would say is that Victorian officials have continued to work cooperatively with commonwealth government officials and my door will always be open to Victoria joining on with this plan.
It’s certainly in the interests of Victoria to do so …
Updated
Plibersek is asked how much of the 450GL of water will need to be recovered through buybacks.
She says she is “not going to start to speculate” on where the water will come from, “from projects or water purchase or other means”.
She says the government has received more than 130 submissions through consultation on water buybacks and is still working through that to “reduce the need for water purchase” where they can:
I also want to be quite careful about what I say about our water purchase program because as soon as the government is in the market for water, there is the risk that water markets might be distorted.
Plibersek says legislation, set to be introduced in the coming weeks, would look to change the deadlines of elements of the plan as well as remove the cap of 1,500GL of water that can be purchased.
Updated
Plibersek says Coalition ‘deliberately delayed’ Murray-Darling plan
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is speaking about the Murray-Darling Basin plan agreement at a press conference.
She is critical of the previous government’s handling of the basin, claiming it “deliberately delayed” the plan, meaning “we’re way off track for delivery” by the 2024 deadline.
Plibersek says the new agreement, allowing more time for water recovery, is the way forward:
We know that south-east Australia, in particular, is getting hotter and drier and although we have had a few wet years recently, we know that the next drought is just around the corner. We can’t stand by and allow our threatened species, our rivers, our wetlands, and the three million people who rely on this river system for their drinking water to be unprepared for the next dry period.
So that’s exactly what we’re doing today – we’re making sure that we set the river system up for the future.
Updated
Plibersek announces states to have more time to deliver Murray-Darling Basin plan
The federal government has announced a “historic” agreement to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin plan in full, including 450 gigalitres of water for the environment.
Announced by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, this afternoon, the agreement is between the federal, New South Wales, South Australian, Queensland and ACT governments and will “put this vital river system on a healthy and sustainable path for our kids and grandkids”, she said.
The government recently received formal advice the plan could not be delivered by the June 2024 deadline.
The new agreement sets out changes to ensure the plan is delivered in full, including more time to deliver the remaining water:
This includes the recovery of the 450GL of water for the environment by 31 December 2027, and the delivery of water infrastructure projects by 31 December 2026.
In her statement Plibersek said while Victoria is the only basin government not currently part of the agreement, “the door remains open”:
We would warmly welcome their participation. There are significant benefits to signing on.
The legislation necessary to implement the agreement will be introduced to parliament in the coming weeks.
Updated
Rescue chopper joins search for missing bushwalkers
Search crews are trying to find two bushwalkers who went missing in Tasmania’s south-west, AAP reports.
The men, aged in their 60s, activated their personal locator beacons in the Loddon Range shortly after 9pm on Monday.
Crews were dispatched to the area overnight but were unable to persist with the search because conditions were unsafe.
They resumed on Tuesday with the support of a Westpac rescue helicopter.
Tasmania police Sgt Damian Bidgood said:
The search crews are navigating steep terrain, thick vegetation, with low cloud and rain making conditions difficult.
No contact has been made with the walkers since they activated their beacon on Monday night.
Updated
Renter tells inquiry of ‘back door’ eviction after living with leaking roof
Another renter, Teresa Kervin, told the Victorian rental inquiry they were just given a “back door” eviction for their home after living with a leaking roof for more than three months.
In the last three months, we’ve lived in two different rentals, neither of which met minimum standards.
The first rental that we lived in was consistently leaking from the roof for three straight months every time it rained.
We have made countless attempts to contact the real estate agent and the landlord to get it fixed. The landlord would show up to fix it himself.
And after three months of it, we got hit with a notice to vacate so they could do renovations because the property was unliveable. Despite the fact that we’d been living there for three months.
Updated
Renters tell Victorian inquiry of homelessness, dodgy evictions and mushrooms growing in bathrooms
Back in the Victorian rental inquiry, renters are discussing experiences of homelessness, dodgy evictions and mushrooms growing in bathrooms.
Tarek Bieganski has rented for six years in Melbourne and said at one point he was forced to live in his car for two months after being knocked back from places.
I just couldn’t get a place. I had the funds, the employment, the references but it was a vague ‘we just don’t want you’.
[It’s] quite a bizarre situation to be doing quite well money-wise and still be homeless.
Another renter, Erin Buckley, said she has dealt with “subpar conditions” like mould throughout her house, mushrooms growing in her bathroom, and water damage.
She said she does not want to take the landlord to the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal because she is worried she will get kicked out. The landlord has raised their rent by 10%.
We’ve been looking for a new affordable rental for six weeks now. We have put in upwards of 50 applications. We haven’t been able to find anything that is close to our workplaces and my son’s school.
Updated
ACTU criticises supermarket giants after Coles posts $1bn profit
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has published a statement in response to Coles’ earlier announcement of a $1bn profit (we brought you that here).
The ACTU claims that Coles and Woolworths control two-thirds of the supermarket sector, creating “a chokehold” over the prices consumers pay for essentials.
The union launched a price gouging inquiry recently and says 30% of respondents have already cited supermarkets as their main concern.
The ACTU assistant secretary Joseph Mitchell said:
It is little wonder supermarkets are the most complained about industry to the ACTU’s call for information regarding price gouging.
The public have been told that supply chain issues and inflation are to blame for the cost-of-living crisis. But when you see the profits like those posted today, it is legitimate to ask whether Australia’s big supermarkets have used the cost-of-living crisis as a smokescreen to push up their profit margins, despite costs decreasing for themselves.
What this profit season suggests is that some of Australia’s biggest companies are posting significant profits, while either exploiting loopholes to drive down wages, or arguably charging more than is necessary to their customers.
Coles and Woolworths deny they are profiteering, and say that improved productivity has led to bigger profits.
Updated
Stan Grant leaves ABC, but ‘no bad blood’ with broadcaster, Sky News reports
The Indigenous journalist Stan Grant has left the ABC for good, three months after the former host of Q+A stood down from the show after receiving “grotesque racist abuse”, according to Sky News Australia.
The Sky News political editor, Andrew Clennell, said Grant told him he wanted to do other things and there was “no bad blood” with the ABC.
Grant told the Canberra writers’ festival on the weekend he had “walked away” from the media, but the ABC has not confirmed his departure.
He told the festival:
One of the reasons that I walked away from being in the media and walked away from Q+A was not just because of the racism pile-on against my family and the violent threats against us, but because I had to accept that I am part of that ecosystem.
Clennell said he had resigned as a permanent employee but may work on special projects.
Updated
University degrees not the ‘be all and end all’, shadow education minister says
The shadow minister for education has lashed out at the Labor party and the university sector as a whole at the AFR Higher Education Summit, suggesting university is “one pathway” to employment but not the “be all and end all”.
Speaking after Jason Clare on Tuesday, Sarah Henderson said she was “angry” about the state of the education system and “not going to mince [her] words”.
The higher education sector needs to care a lot more about the pipeline of students knocking on their front door … especially when deficient university teaching courses are, in part, to blame for so many students not receiving the education they deserve in Australian classrooms. Our clever country has drifted into mediocrity.
Henderson emphasised the problem was “not about a lack of funding” but “refusal by Labor governments” to mandate evidence-based teaching and learning in classrooms.
The teacher education expert panel, set up by the federal government to improve teaching courses and address workforce shortages, earlier this year released a discussion paper which proposed strengthening standards for initial teacher education (ITE) programs and placing greater accountability on universities to prove their success rates.
Henderson said teaching expertise was “paramount”.
When I enrolled in a BA in Journalism at RMIT, my lecturer in television news reporting hadn’t come to grips with the fact that the industry had moved from film to videotape. I don’t want to be rude, but there was little reason to stay … I am sure things are a lot better these days.
We must also not lose sight of the fact that boilermakers and welders are just as important as engineers and economists. Attending university is one important pathway to future employment, but it is not the be all and end all.
Updated
Mark Latham quits One Nation
Mark Latham has quit One Nation to sit as an independent in the New South Wales parliament after he was fired as the rightwing party’s leader in NSW.
The firebrand upper house MP told parliament on Tuesday that he would resign from One Nation, about two weeks after the party’s federal leader, Pauline Hanson, intervened in the NSW executive to have him axed from the state’s top job.
Latham has accused the party of financial impropriety and detailed the allegations in a letter he sent to the special minister of state, John Graham, and tabled in parliament on Tuesday.
He aired some of those allegations in parliament under privilege as he announced he was quitting.
Latham said:
Following the recent Queensland One Nation takeover of the NSW branch I cannot remain as a one nation MP due to past attempts of defrauding NSW electoral funds and the appointment of a new state executive orchestrated to repeat these rorts.
One Nation has been approached for comment.
Updated
Latham colleague Rod Roberts also quits One Nation to sit as independent
Mark Latham’s upper house colleague Rod Roberts also announced in parliament on Tuesday that he would quit the party to sit as an independent. He voiced his support for Latham’s letter to Graham.
Roberts said:
I’m aware by doing this, I’m committing political suicide and extinguish any further political ambition that I may harbour.
This was not an easy decision to make ... However, this is necessary because I feel so strongly about the issue of integrity and accountability when it comes to the use of public funding by political parties and that money is provided by NSW taxpayers.
Can I say this whole sordid saga is not about election results but a pure grab for money.
Their exit leaves One Nation with only one member in NSW parliament, the ex-Labor shadow cabinet member turned upper house crossbencher, Tania Mihailuk.
Updated
Campaigning on the run
More politicians have been posting photos to social media of them running with Pat Farmer, the former Liberal MP who is completing a 14,400km run around Australia in support of the Indigenous voice to parliament.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has shared some photos online:
Pat Farmer’s Run for the Voice has carried a message of unity and hope around our country.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 22, 2023
This is what voting Yes represents. pic.twitter.com/HEku6xGcAr
And the independent MP Zali Steggall has shared this video:
Such an honour to join Aussie legend @patfarmerrunner running through Warringah on his epic 14,000 km #runforthevoice run around Australia.
— 🌏 Zali Steggall MP (@zalisteggall) August 22, 2023
No challenge is ever too great.
We can unite for a fairer Australia with #yes for the Voice!#VoteYes #Yes23https://t.co/5NjgvVEJQ8 pic.twitter.com/cprq2SxtGD
Updated
Coalition praises retiring chief justice’s ‘outstanding service’
The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, has welcomed today’s high court appointments and praised the retiring chief justice Susan Kiefel’s “outstanding service”.
Here’s the statement from Cash issued a short time ago:
The Coalition congratulates Justice Stephen Gageler AC on his appointment as chief justice of the High Court of Australia and recognises his extensive experience both as a High Court justice and previously as Australia’s solicitor-general.
The Coalition congratulates Justice Robert Beech-Jones on his appointment to the High Court and acknowledges his long service as a justice of the Supreme Court of NSW and as chief judge at common law.
The Coalition also acknowledges the outstanding service of Justice Susan Kiefel AC, who has served with distinction as Australia’s chief justice, including being Australia’s first female chief justice, and wishes her well in her retirement from the High Court.
Updated
Mount Piper’s closure date another coal-fired plant to watch
The media hasn’t paid as much attention to the fate of Mount Piper, a 1,400MW coal-fired power plant near Lithgow to Sydney’s west.
EnergyAustralia has said in the past that it would keep the plant running beyond 2040, but locals viewed that as a very optimistic date (as we reported here).
Anyway, the fate of roughly 10% of New South Wales’ generation capacity will be watched more closely after the Hong Kong-based company said this yesterday:
We are positioning Mount Piper to enable it to transition to a reserve role which we anticipate being in the early to mid 2030s.
We will reduce reliance on it but maintain its ability to contribute to system stability and the orderly entry and exit of capacity.
Its closure by 2040 completes our exit from all coal assets.
As to Mount Piper’s future, the NSW government will only say they are “closely monitoring the impact that the retirement of coal-fired power stations may have and will respond if there is adverse advice from the Australian Energy Market Operator on NSW’s future electricity reliability”.
More headlines to come, no doubt.
Updated
NSW government silent on support to extend life of biggest coal plant
A bit like the gas panic (see earlier post), people are keen to report the New South Wales government will spend big to keep Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station operating beyond the present August 2025 deadline.
Prior to the state election in March, Labor repeatedly said “all options were on the table” about keeping Origin Energy’s Eraring plant on the grid. The Perrottet government was more circumspect, having turned down an earlier option to spend more than $300m (before paying for the black stuff) to keep it belching for a limited spell.
In mid-July, local media said Eraring was “set to remain open“ beyond 2025. Last week we had commercial radio telling a similar tale, and today, another newspaper declared boldly “coal plant to gain new lifeline” (although the underlying piece was not quite so definite).
So, we do know the government has received its “Energy Supply and Reliability Check Up Report”, but what it actually plans to do remains a matter of guesses, informed or not.
The energy minister Penny Sharpe’s office will only say they are “considering the recommendations and will make the report and the government’s response public by the end of the month”.
And yes, “NSW has not ruled anything in or out, which has been the same position since first coming to office”.
A spokesperson for Origin said the company had yet to see the report.
We continue to engage with the market operator, the NSW government, our people and the local community regarding plans Eraring’s closure.
As we stated in the closure notice to AEMO [the market operator], we will continue to assess the market over time and this will help inform the final timing for the closure of all four units.
Eraring’s capacity is about 2,880 megawatts on a good day. We’ll know soon if the government wants all of that capacity online for years to come.
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Townsville harmful smoke warning
For the second day in a row, residents in Townsville are being warned to stay inside and keep their windows and doors shut due to potentially harmful smoke in the air:
AVOID SMOKE - Townsville - fire as at 12:48pm Tuesday, 22 August 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) August 22, 2023
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/vqyJTUPBhe. pic.twitter.com/o63gRUvyfO
Residents in Rosedale, Braeside (near Warwick) and Christmas Creek (near Rathdowney) have been issued the same warning.
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Victorian Liberal president Greg Mirabella to stand down
The Victorian Liberal president, Greg Mirabella, won’t recontest for the position at the party’s annual general meeting next month.
Liberal MPs told Guardian Australia that Mirabella, who was expected to face a challenge at the meeting, has instead announced he will stand down.
They say he told MPs he will run for the third spot on the Senate ticket, which will be decided at a preselection convention in November. Mirabella was previously a senator for Victoria from December 2021 to June 2022.
Mirabella has been a controversial figure within the party in the wake of the state election, with the former opposition leader Matthew Guy publicly calling on him to stand down following the loss.
The former leader of the opposition in the upper house Philip Davis is expected to nominate to fill the position.
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Buttrose: ABC’s ‘90th celebrations last year remain a high point’
In a statement, Ita Buttrose has said she has enjoyed her time as ABC chair and there is still work to be done before March:
There have been many memories, some challenges, and I have relished the opportunity to play a role in the ABC’s history.
Our 90th celebrations last year remain a high point for me but there are many moments I will always remember.
Among those are the many interactions with both ABC staff and our audiences across the country.
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Ita Buttrose to step down as ABC chair
It’s been a busy morning of news so in case you missed it, Ita Buttrose will step down as ABC chair at the end of her current term in March 2024:
The news was announced by the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, who said:
Ms Buttrose is a formidable corporate leader who has served with distinction, speaking truth to power and upholding governance standards to protect independent public broadcasting.
She has much to do in the remainder of her term and will leave the ABC stronger than when she was entrusted with the role in 2019.
(1/3) Ms Ita Buttrose has advised the Government that she is not seeking reappointment as Chair of the ABC.
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) August 22, 2023
The Government respects her decision - and wishes her well for the remainder of her term and her future endeavours. pic.twitter.com/EbVItJKJuw
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‘Who will I be displacing for this house?’ rental inquiry told
Back to the Victorian rental inquiry, where they have been speaking about rent caps.
One tenant, Tarek Bieganski, shared how he is paying 46% of his income and some tenants are worried about falling into homelessness.
Lauren Fawcett, 31, said her rent had gone up $100 a week in February this year:
It will push [me] further west into a cheaper suburb – and who will I be displacing for this house? Where will they go?
If it’s too expensive or unliveable, why not just move? That’s a question that was put earlier to one of the tenants, Michelle Tyrrell, who has a bad mould problem. She answered with another question: and go where?
Obviously supply [is the issue] – at the moment we’re looking and I’ve registered for a couple of properties. They were like, ‘oh, we’ll let you know when inspections come through’. Literally a few days later, they were gone.
The five-year lease has also come up. In 2003 Victoria legislated that agents can offer up to five-year leases, but it is impossible to get the data on how many, if any, tenants are being offered this.
One of the renters, Christine Miller, said she was offered a three-year lease.
The initial lease was only for a year... then the last one we got was a three-year lease because during Covid they were scared that they wouldn’t be able to get a tenant.
Miller says she worries about putting in standards - because the owners may put the rent up if they do.
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Lachlan Murdoch pays Crikey $1.3m in legal costs
Lachlan Murdoch has paid Crikey $1.3m in legal costs for his failed defamation suit against publisher Private Media.
The CEO of Fox Corporation has paid more than the $1.1m Private Media asked for, on the condition the entire $588,735 from a Crikey fundraising campaign is paid to the Alliance for Journalists’ Freedom.
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Adam Cranston to stay in jail for at least 10 years
Taxpayers ripped off for millions of dollars by the son of a former deputy tax commissioner will pay to keep him in jail for at least a decade, AAP reports.
Adam Cranston, 36, was sentenced on Tuesday to 15 years with a non-parole period of 10 years for his role in the Plutus Payroll tax fraud and money-laundering conspiracies.
He was found guilty in March along with four others, including his younger sister, following a marathon trial beginning in April 2022.
They conspired to cause a loss to the commonwealth and deal with the proceeds of crime between March 2014 until their arrests in May 2017.
Cranston is the son of former deputy taxation commissioner Michael Cranston, who was not involved in any wrongdoing.
For more information, we brought you this on the blog earlier.
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Security environment in Asia ‘more worrisome’: US official
Let’s bring you a few more comments from Kurt Campbell, a senior White House official, who briefed reporters on developments in the Indo-Pacific region this morning.
The focus of the call was an agreement between Japan, South Korea and the US to quickly consult each other “to coordinate our responses to regional challenges, provocations and threats that affect our collective interests and security”.
Beijing last night likened this agreement to Aukus and the Quad – both of which include Australia - as examples of US-led “attempts to stoke division and confrontation and revive the cold war mentality”. China’s foreign ministry said the region “should not be turned into a boxing ring for major power rivalry, still less a battlefield of a cold war or hot war”.
Responding to these criticisms, Campbell said:
The three leaders met peacefully, they talked constructively and they engaged openly and transparently. At the same time that we were meeting in Camp David, Russian and Chinese warships were plying waters very close to Japan. And earlier today North Korea has tested a new cruise missile.
I just want to underscore that we believe that there are many reasons why the three countries have chosen to work more closely together, but it is undeniable that the security environment in Asia is not only more complicated but more worrisome to each of us.
We have the unprovoked illegal war in Ukraine, we have provocations on a regular basis form North Korea ... and of course we’ve seen a number of steps on the part of China that are provocative: a massive military buildup and a number of steps that have caused anxiety - not just in Japan and South Korea but in the region as a whole.
So I think this was an effort to work together in ways constructively, peacefully to preserve the operating system, the democratic engagement that we all share – between the United States, Japan and South Korea – and I think we stand by that and we think it’s appropriate.
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Renters call for cap at Victorian inquiry
Most of the renters speaking at the Victorian inquiry on rental and housing affordability today have backed a rent cap.
They say it would help with affordability and future planning, knowing there was a ceiling on how much they would have to pay.
Wren Pleasant, a teacher who has rented for 16 years, added:
A direct rent cap is only a short-term solution. What must be done in the long term is that rental increases be constrained relative to inflation and lending rates on an ongoing permanent basis.
The second thing to be done is an increase in housing stock via public housing.
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Susan Kiefel retires as a trailblazer
Returning to news that the first-ever majority female high court bench is coming to an end.
As we reported earlier, the resignation of the chief justice, Susan Kiefel, and the appointment of Robert Beech-Jones in her place means the end of the high court’s first-ever female majority.
The majority was reached when Jayne Jagot was appointed to the bench last September.
It’s also worth noting that Kiefel herself became the first woman to lead the high court when she was appointed in 2016.
At the time, the then president of the Law Council of Australia, Stuart Clark, said Kiefel “was already a trailblazer for women in the legal profession” before her elevation to chief justice.
You can read more from her initial appointment in 2016 here:
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Sydney lord mayor calls on NSW government to back gas bans
The Sydney lord mayor, Clover Moore, has called on the NSW government to back councils who want to ban gas connections for new homes, warning there were tough decisions ahead in the fight against climate change.
She said banning new connections was one important way councils can reduce emissions:
The state has the jurisdiction but I think what councils do is they take action to encourage state governments to do what they should do.
I will continue to say to the government that we have to do everything we can to address global boiling.
The premier, Chris Minns, has repeatedly ruled out a statewide ban.
Asked about the potential impact on people and small businesses, Moore said:
We have to make really hard decisions when we’re dealing with global warming. We need to put the planet and the future first, as far as I’m concerned, and we need to think about the sort of world we’re creating for our children.
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Sydney city council’s move to ban gas only an investigation
After the Victorian government’s decision last month to end new gas connections for homes and government buildings, fans and critics have been on the watch for other jurisdictions to follow suit.
Sydney city council, with its high-profile mayor, Clover Moore, is potentially among the next places to move. (In the Sydney region, Waverley council has banned gas for new homes and Parramatta has nixed it for new buildings in its centre, but not the whole local government area.)
Anyway, eight of the 10 Sydney councillors last night voted on a motion requiring the city’s CEO Monica Barone to “investigate the opportunities and challenges” with amending city planning control to require new buildings be all-electric.
Barone will report back to the council on the options available and there is no date for any change.
Environmental groups, such as 350 Australia, view the motion’s passage as a move that “kickstarts the process to require new homes and businesses across the municipality to be all-electric and gas-free”.
They point to new research commissioned by 350 Australia that finds each new household in Sydney could save an average of $430 a year on their energy bills by ditching gas.
That may well be true – and any greenhouse gas emissions avoided will be a plus – but the council is discouraging people from taking a ban for granted.
Before that happens, the community is going to be consulted, assuming that’s the option the council takes up.
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Amazon simplifies Prime cancellation process in line with Europe
Amazon has simplified the cancellation process for its Prime subscription service in Australia, after consumer groups raised concern it took twice as long to cancel compared with users in Europe.
Last year, the Consumer Policy Research Centre (CPRC), reported that after a finding by the European Commission that Amazon had breached the unfair commercial practices directive, Amazon reduced the Prime unsubscribe process for European users from four clicks to two.
As of April this year, however, Amazon had not brought in the same process in Australia, forcing Australians to navigate four convoluted steps, with the wording and location of the cancellation button changing between each screen.
But on Tuesday, speaking at a parliamentary hearing on the influence of international digital platforms, Amazon’s director of public policy in Australia, Michael Cooley, said Amazon had now reduced the process in line with Europe.
He said:
We take on feedback from our customers, from regulators, from stakeholders, and where it makes sense we make changes and we listened to that feedback, which is what we’ve done in Australia.
The competition regulator has flagged it wants new powers to crack down on online services that make it difficult for people to unsubscribe.
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Daniel Andrews won’t back rent freeze
Daniel Andrews has also rebuffed Guardian Essential polling that showed three in four Australians believe rents should either be capped to inflation or frozen until economic conditions improve.
He said it was “not surprising that people who rent” like the idea of rent caps. When told the poll included non-renters, Victoria’s premier went on to say the proposal did not have support from all states and territories:
I’ve just come from a national cabinet meeting last week. I’m not at liberty to go through all the back and forth … but I can tell you this, if we would have put a rent freeze or rent cap on here [in Victoria] we’ll be the only one to do it … If you go and put a 10% rent cap in everyone’s rent, rent will go up by 9.9%. That’s just logic.
If you put a rent freeze in, and we’re the only ones to do it, then a lot of capital – money that pays for new developments, more housing – will leave Victoria at a rapid rate.
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Victorian premier admits business case for Commonwealth Games flawed
Daniel Andrews goes on to say the costing documents, which are now subject to an investigation by the auditor-general, are “hardly the greatest piece of work”:
That’s very clear. It’s very, very clear. Because the estimate’s a long way from what the costs were going to be … the Auditor General is looking at that [and] will provide findings, recommendations, learning opportunities for improvement.
And of course, we’ll wait to see what the auditor-general reports. But clearly, when an event is supposed to cost between $2.5-3bn and ends up costing at least $6bn and perhaps $7bn.
(After that remark, Andrews ended his train of thought – just in case you were also wondering why his sentence seems incomplete).
Andrews would not, however, say if the people who worked on the costings were working on other government projects.
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Commonwealth Games business case to be investigated by Victoria’s auditor general
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says the business case for the axed Commonwealth Games was “hardly the greatest piece of work” and will be investigated by the state auditor general.
The government at the weekend revealed Victorian taxpayers would pay $380m for the state’s cancelling of the games. It also released the original business case and costings for the event, which shows the event blew out from an estimated $2.5bn in April 2022 to $6.9bn in July 2023.
The business case also revealed an estimated cost-benefit analysis of between 0.7 and 1.6, meaning for every dollar invested by the government it would receive a return between 70c and $1.60.
Experts have said the cost-benefit analysis should have been a “red flag” that the event should not have proceeded. But Andrews disagrees:
There are always different considerations that come to bear to when it comes to [a cost-benefit analysis]. And again, they are basically estimates. You’re trying to estimate what the benefits will be of something that hasn’t happened yet. So there’s always a qualitative … element to add to that. But again, I’m sure that the the auditor general can go to those issues and indeed the business case.
What constitutes costs [and] benefits for the purposes of calculating the cost-benefit ratio has long been an argument on a national level, even at an international level, whether it’s a sporting infrastructure or events – right the way through to much more tangible things like roads and bridges. There’s an entire industry out there who have views on these things.
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First-ever female majority high court comes to an end
The resignation of the chief justice, Susan Kiefel, and the appointment of Robert Beech-Jones in her place means the end of the first-ever majority female high court bench.
As we reported earlier, Kiefel will retire as high court chief justice and be replaced by Stephen Gageler on 6 November. Beech-Jones will fill the vacancy created by Kiefel.
Last September, the majority of judges on Australia’s high court became women for the first time in history after the appointment of Jayne Jagot to the bench.
Jagot was the 56th justice of the high court and seventh woman appointed to the court.
At the time, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said Jagot was appointed on merit and would not guarantee that a female majority would continue.
– with Paul Karp
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St Vincent de Paul Society calls for improvement to casual workers’ rights
The St Vincent de Paul Society has called on the government to urgently act to improve the rights of casual employees, underemployed workers and the long-term unemployed.
In a statement, the society says “the type of casual employment that exists in Australia is shared by no other developed country”, because it lacks guaranteed hours or continuing employment, entitlements and higher minimum rates of pay than non-casuals.
The national president, Mark Gaetani, said:
If the last few years have taught us anything, it’s that casual and insecure employment disproportionately impacts vulnerable groups, including women, young people, people on visas and people living with disability.
Insecure employment is prevalent in sectors where employees have been chronically underpaid, such as in retail, hospitality, health, child and aged care.
The society wants the government to implement commitments made to address wage suppression and undervalued jobs, implement the Labor party’s national platform to review mutual obligation requirements and employment programs, and implement pathways to assist the underemployed and the long-term unemployed.
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Albanese welcomes marathon runner for the voice Pat Farmer to Sydney
Former parliamentarian and marathon runner Pat Farmer has been welcomed to Sydney by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, this morning as part of his 14,400km run around Australia for the voice.
They were joined by Tanya Plibersek and the lord mayor, Clover Moore, and campaigners. Albanese congratulated Farmer on his efforts so far and called on Australians to get behind the voice to parliament.
He said:
He is indeed an inspiration to all those who are thinking, ‘will I spend an extra Sunday knocking on doors? Will I spend an extra hour making phone calls? Will I go the extra yard to have conversations with my neighbours and friends?’ Think about this: it’s going be easier than running 14,000km.
The Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is outside the Opera House with Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, and Minister, Tanya Plibersek, to welcome Pat Farmer. He’s been running around Australia for the Voice. #auspol #Voice pic.twitter.com/n0AZAwJzFO
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) August 22, 2023
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Jason Clare: university student safety ‘is not good enough’
The education minister, Jason Clare, says student safety on campuses has “not been good enough” and more needs to be done to protect students from sexual harm.
Speaking at the AFR Higher Education Summit on Tuesday, Clare pointed to a priority recommendation of the university accord interim report to renew trust in the sector by improving university governance.
In particular, who is appointed to university governing bodies, how we ensure that staff are properly paid, and how we make sure that staff and students are safe on campus.
I think I have made it pretty clear that what we have done so far, particularly when it comes to the safety of students, is not good enough.
Earlier this month, the federal government appointed a working group to provide recommendations on university governance including the safety of students on campuses.
The most recent national survey, carried out in 2021, found 275 students were being sexually assaulted in a university context every week.
The CEO of Our Watch, Patty Kinnersly, has been made an expert advisor for her background in preventing sexual harm. The group is due to provide recommendations later this year.
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US official: Australia at ‘absolute peak as a close partner’
A senior White House official has praised the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, for “deft” diplomacy across the Indo-Pacific region and says Australia “has probably ascended to the absolute peak as a close partner of the United States”.
Kurt Campbell, the Indo-Pacific coordinator on the national security council, was speaking during a call with media focused on the recent trilateral summit at Camp David between the leaders of the US, Japan and South Korea.
Campbell said:
We also believe that the links and ties that Australia has with each of these countries [Japan, South Korea and the US] is also deepening. We have worked extraordinarily closely with Australia.
Australia has probably ascended to the absolute peak as a close partner of the United States. I think Prime Minister Albanese has deftly handled his diplomatic engagement with south-east Asia, with India, he has remade ties with China, and he has also worked extremely closely with Japan, South Korea and the United States.
So we’re grateful for an actively engaged on Australia on the global scene and we appreciate the support they have expressed for the trilateral summit last weekend.
Guardian Australia had submitted a question about Campbell’s recent remarks that “when submarines are provided from the United States to Australia, it’s not like they’re lost – they will just be deployed by the closest possible allied force” – and what that indicated about Australian sovereign control.
But the moderators did not put the question to him.
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Stephen Gageler appointed chief justice of high court
Stephen Gageler has been appointed the 14th chief justice of the high court.
Gageler will start as chief justice on 6 November upon the retirement of the current chief justice, Susan Kiefel.
A joint statement from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, reads:
Justice Gageler has an outstanding reputation as a jurist. He is highly respected for his leadership abilities and deep knowledge and understanding of constitutional law. Justice Gageler is currently the most senior puisne justice of the high court. He has served on the high court with distinction since 2012. Prior to this, Justice Gageler was the commonwealth solicitor general.
Justice Robert Beech-Jones has also been appointed to the high court, filling the vacancy created by the appointment of Gageler as chief justice. He will also start on November 6.
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Brisbane’s $2.7bn stadium rebuild not a requirement to host 2032 Olympics: AOC head
The multibillion-dollar Gabba stadium rebuild was not a requirement of the IOC for Brisbane to hold the 2032 Olympics, according to the head of Australia’s Olympic Committee.
The Senate’s rural and regional committee is today holding a hearing on Australia’s preparedness to host the Olympics in Brisbane.
The Australian Olympic Committee’s CEO, Matt Carroll, has been grilled by opposition senators about previous comments he made about the Gabba only requiring a “coat of paint” to host the Games.
The Queensland government plans to demolish and rebuild the Gabba, a plan which will cost $2.7bn and require the controversial demolition of the heritage-listed East Brisbane state school.
In response to questions from Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne, Carol said the decision was for the government. The IOC did not “instruct the government” to undertake the rebuild, he said. The new Gabba was largely for long-term use for cricket and AFL games, he said.
The IOC does not dictate what a city should or should not build. The IOC’s position is: please don’t build new venues for the Olympics just for the Olympics.
The committee’s chair, senator Matt Canavan, put it to him that the Gabba rebuild wasn’t “necessary or sufficient” for a successful Olympics and would need to be justified by “broader benefits”.
“Certainly,” Carol said. He said the Olympics committee only requires a structure capable of holding the Olympics, but wouldn’t be drawn on whether that might be the Gabba with a new “coat of paint”.
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Rental inquiry hears about climate crisis affecting housing
The climate crisis has been a big issue in the inquiry this morning, with renters talking about how their dwellings become unliveable in the depths of winter or the heat of summer.
Alison Cooke, 57, rents in Melbourne and says in summer her house gets so warm she has used bubble wrap and reflective screens to insulate the windows and on hot days, leaves so she can travel on trains to enjoy the air conditioning.
Cooke said:
I moved into that house almost five years ago. [The] first couple of summers were manageable, but the Christmas before last was a different story. That house was routinely climbing into the 30s, making [it] unbearable to be in there, despite trying to cool down the house … overnight when it was closed. I even went so far as to put reflective screens on the windows behind closed blinds, but that didn’t make any difference.
What I would like to see is heat safety as part of the rental rules, especially with climate warming. For our planet, our safety, our health, houses must be upgraded and retrofitted and the costs must not be placed on the owners in a way that is passed down to renters.
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Renters suggest ‘liveability’ test for new leases
Renters are asking for set standards in rentals and the introduction of a “roadworthy” system, so when dwellings transfer to new leases it is checked for liveability.
Speaking to the Victorian inquiry on rental and housing adorability, renter Michelle Tyrrell, 42, a secondary school teacher in the west of Melbourne, said her home has a serious black mould issue.
They had to escalate the issues through VCAT before the mould was addressed. Despite the mould doctor treating it, it has remained – making their bed and clothes damp.
Tyrrell said:
I would like to see the equivalent of a ‘roadworthy’ for cars or building inspection for a house … for renting, each time a rental ends and a new lease begins.
The rental needs to pass a very serious liveability test.
The World Health Organization recommends indoor humidity to be 30-50%. I can’t find any standard or set code in Victoria, Australia. So this needs to be fixed.
I want insulation in walls and ceilings in Victoria and Australia and I want [there] to be compulsory … ventilation.
The inquiry is examining the challenges facing renters and factors causing the rental and housing affordability crisis in Victoria. More to come.
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Coles CEO: consumers becoming ‘savvy shoppers’
More from the Coles chief executive, Leah Weckert, following the company’s 4.8% rise in full-year cash profit.
Weckert said consumers are becoming “savvy shoppers” and increasingly turning to things like meal planning:
Eating out, takeaway and coffee from the cafe are increasingly being seen as treats for a special occasion. They are looking to the supermarket to help them to do more with their budget.
She said there is more meal planning occurring and shoppers are “stretching out” the time between purchases of cleaning products and other non-food items.
Customers are still looking to be able to have a treat and a restaurant-quality meal that they do for the family, and they’re using the supermarkets to be able to access that.
What I would probably say is they’ve been really savvy shoppers. They know how much they have to spend and they know what they want to achieve out of it.
She said losses recorded from store theft have risen by 20% a year, linked to a combination of increased organised crime and shoppers under financial pressure.
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Police operation at Westmead children’s hospital resolves ‘without any issue’
Westmead children’s hospital in western Sydney was the location of a police operation this morning.
According to reports, the operation began just before 8am on Hawkesbury Road and concluded just after 9am once emergency services had swept the area for more than an hour.
NSW police told the Guardian that the incident “was resolved without any issue” but would not say what the operation was about.
Reports indicate that people were told to avoid the area, with police thanking the public for their “patience and understanding”. No one inside the hospital was hurt.
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Mock quake test in Brisbane this week
Brisbane will be shaken by a mock earthquake to test the response of emergency crews from around the world, AAP reports.
More than 300 personnel from 30 countries will take part in this week’s Asia Pacific earthquake response exercise, which will make Brisbane the epicentre of the hypothetical disaster.
The scenario beginning on Tuesday will be “a severe earthquake that causes significant loss of life and collapsed buildings in the Brisbane CBD, with impacts crossing the border into NSW”.
The exercise aims to help Australia better prepare for a major disaster, and explore how international urban search and rescue teams would aid the recovery.
The federal emergency management minister, Murray Watt, said in a statement:
While moderate to severe earthquakes happen less frequently in Australia, they still occur and we need to be prepared.
Building on this capability means we are better prepared for any disaster that may occur in the future.
Victoria has been rattled by two earthquakes this year already.
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Education minister agrees to implement all Australian Research Council recommendations
The federal government has agreed or agreed in principle to implement all 10 recommendations from the review of the Australian Research Council (ARC).
Speaking on the same stage he announced the review a year ago, the education minister, Jason Clare, said the legislation that underpins the council is “old and creaking”. The review was the first in more than two decades.
As we all know over the last few years it’s been bedevilled by political interference and ministerial delays. At least four of my predecessors have interfered on at least six occasions in the last few years to upend the independent peer review process.
Interference and delay makes it harder for universities to recruit and retain staff, and it damages our international reputation.
The review, led by Prof Margaret Sheil, in April recommended the establishment of an ARC board responsible for the appointment of the CEO and the approval of grants within the national competitive grants program. The minister for education will appoint the board, set grant guidelines and approve “nationally significant program investments”.
Clare said to strengthen integrity of the grant allocation process, guidelines set by the minister would be a disallowable legislative instrument.
Any future minister who seeks to use the ARC as their own political plaything will be subject to the scrutiny of the parliament.
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Sophie Scamps joins Pat Farmer on voice run
Independent MP Sophie Scamps joined former Liberal MP Pat Farmer on his “Run for the Voice” on Sydney’s northern beaches this morning.
Farmer is currently undertaking a 14,400km run around Australia in support of the Indigenous voice to parliament in the lead-up to the referendum. He will be running around 80km per day.
Scamps ran with him from North Narrabeen to Collaroy Beach today and said:
I joined him this morning because the voice referendum is a monumental moment in Australian history. It’s our opportunity to step into the future on a positive note and to show the rest of the world what type of people we are.
The reality is the proposal for a voice could not be simpler – it will be an advisory body that will provide the opportunity for government to listen to the opinion of the people who will be affected by the policies government creates and implements.
Sadly, the debate so far has been muddied for purely political reasons, but I believe that Australians will rise to this moment in history.
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Christina Aguilera to kick off Melbourne’s Always Live festival
Christina Aguilera will play a one-night-only show at Flemington Racecourse in Melbourne on Saturday 25 November, to kick off the 17-day Always Live festival, which takes place in venues around Victoria.
The gig will coincide with the 20th anniversary of Aguilera’s album Stripped, her fourth record that went five times platinum and featured singles Dirrty, Beautiful and Fighter. It will be the pop star’s first show in Australia since 2007.
The Always Live festival was launched in 2022 to revitalise a live music sector that had been decimated by the Covid pandemic. The program – headlined in its first year by Billy Joel and the Foo Fighters – was set up by the Victorian government and the late music industry heavyweight Michael Gudinski, who died in March 2021.
This year’s Always Live program will also feature Swedish DJ and producer Eric Prydz and UK artists Jessie Ware and Jai Paul, among 165 acts who will perform across more than 60 events in Melbourne and regional Victoria. It will take place from 24 November until 10 December.
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Jason Clare flags reforms on student visas
The education minister, Jason Clare, will return to India next month to open two Australian university campuses – Wollongong and Deakin.
Speaking at the AFR’s Higher Education Summit on Tuesday, Clare hailed Australia’s strengthened partnership with India and said there was “more to come” in other countries in the region.
In March, Clare visited India with a dozen vice-chancellors to sign an agreement on the mutual recognition of qualifications in the two nations – the “most comprehensive education agreement of its type that India has signed with another country”.
Western Sydney University, Deakin University and Central Queensland University all recently announced plans to establish campuses in Indonesia. This is part of the future of international education.
Clare also flagged there would be reforms to come to tackle “serious challenges” in international education, pointing to unregulated agents encouraging students to use student visas as a backdoor to work.
This is a serious threat to the integrity of one of our biggest exports and it has got to be stamped out. This crosses over my portfolio, as well as the minister for home affairs and the minister for skills and training. We are working on this together and you can expect reforms to be announced soon.
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NSW government verdict on the Women’s World Cup: ‘record-breaking’
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has hailed the Women’s World Cup as a “once-in-a-generation moment in Australian sport”, with nearly a third of the record 1.9 million fans who passed through the turnstiles attending games in Sydney.
Almost 604,000 spectators got along to Sydney stadiums during the 32-team tournament jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.
Sunday night’s final between Spain and England at Olympic Park’s Stadium Australia sold out with 75,784 attendees, as did four other matches played at the venue, including Australia’s opening match against the Republic of Ireland and the semi-final against England.
NSW’s jobs and tourism minister, John Graham, said the tournament had exceeded expectations on every level:
This is one of the biggest events in Australia since the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games and was a record-breaking World Cup that will be remembered for generations to come.
Our stadium crowds averaged 97% capacity across the 11 Sydney matches, showing unprecedented support for women’s sport and the Fifa Women’s World Cup 2023.
- from AAP
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Coles lifts annual profit as grocery revenue surges
Supermarket operator Coles has posted a 4.8% rise in full-year cash profit to $1.1bn, lifted by a strong rise in revenue from its grocery business.
While revenue generated from liquor sales fell slightly, the country’s second-biggest supermarket chain generated $36.75bn in revenue from its groceries business, up by more than 6%.
The company’s annual results were the first delivered by the new chief executive, Leah Weckert, who took over earlier this year. Weckert said people were turning to supermarkets as they started to view takeaway meals as something to be purchased for special occasions.
They are looking to the supermarket to help them to do more with their budget.
Supermarket chains have been benefiting from passing on higher prices to shoppers in an inflationary environment, which has also prompted more households to eat at home.
Coles also attributed the strong supermarket sales to drawing customers into its value product range and targeted campaigns around Easter, Christmas and Mother’s Day.
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PM says Indigenous voice to parliament referendum date still being finalised
Albanese was also pressed to announce the date of the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum, but said we’re “working on finalising the date”:
It will be in October or November and we will confirm the date after consulting the AEC and signing off all the things that we’re going to sign off beforehand.
Speaking on ABC Melbourne radio, when asked if he could go back to election night when the referendum was first announced and change anything, Albanese said:
I’m committed to it. This is a matter of conviction. It’s not a matter of convenience.
He was also asked about the tone of the debate, and misinformation being spread:
Well, I’m not in control of some of the misinformation that’s out there … When you remove all the noise, it’s simply recognition and having an advisory body so we can listen to Indigenous Australians and get better results.
… I wish there wasn’t misinformation out there [but] it is what it is.
I did my best to get Peter Dutton onside and to get bipartisan support. It’s clear that that was never going to be the case, and that’s unfortunate. People of goodwill like Julian Leeser, Ken Wyatt, Bridget Archer and others [are] out there campaigning …
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Petrol price gotchas back in season
Albanese was asked about the price of petrol while on ABC Radio Melbourne, after the gotcha question of “name the price of…” made a comeback over the weekend.
Over the weekend, Albanese was asked to name the current price of petrol and said while he doesn’t go and fill up his car, “it was around about $1.80 last time”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, criticised Albanese for this response.
Today, Albanese joked “they don’t let me drive” and said:
But I did notice it was $2.16 when I went to Melbourne airport yesterday.
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Albanese: $200m funding for women’s sports was in the works regardless of the Women’s World Cup
The prime minister Anthony Albanese spoke to ABC Melbourne Radio this morning to speak on a range of issues. He was asked: why did it take a Women’s World Cup to offer up $200m for women’s sport?
Albanese said it didn’t:
We had been submitting that as part of our budget process, we made an announcement at an appropriate time, but we’ve been working as well to make sure that we didn’t [make] the mistakes of what happened last time there was a women’s sports programme, [where] funding went to clubs that didn’t even have women’s teams.
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BHP records steep dive in profit
BHP Group has suffered a 37% fall in underlying annual profit to US$13.4bn, weighed down by price weakness in its major revenue-generating commodities – iron ore, coal and copper.
The result was the miner’s weakest in three years. BHP said:
Our key commodity prices were materially weaker leading to lower revenue generation, while we also managed significant cost inflation across the business.
In the near term, while the outlook for the developed world is uncertain, we expect China and India to remain relative sources of stability for commodity demand.
Prices for iron ore, which is tightly linked to Chinese demand for the steel-making commodity, have fallen heavily from elevated prices recorded over the last two years. Growth has stalled in China, as has foreign investment at the same time as the country’s property crisis deepens, with developers Evergrande and Country Garden facing severe financial difficulties.
Revenue generated at BHP fell 17% to US$53.8bn during the financial year.
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NDIS expert: scheme in danger of overshooting target costs
More on NDIS reforms, via AAP:
Bill Shorten said reforms were being carried out to ensure money involved in the scheme was not being wasted, with some measures already starting.
He told Nine’s Today program:
What we want to do is moderate the rate of growth of the scheme, we’ve put in some reforms which are starting to see green shoots of recovery.
Just because someone has an NDIS package doesn’t mean a service provider should charge double or three times what they charge if a person wasn’t on the scheme.
At a disability conference today, Prof Bruce Bonyhady will say the meeting of the eight per cent growth target might be difficult to achieve:
Due to unmet and still-unrevealed demand, the scheme is in danger of overshooting its target of containing expenditure growth at 8%.
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NDIS reforms showing signs of recovery, minister Bill Shorten says
Reforms to the national disability insurance scheme are showing “green shoots of recovery”, the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten says, as the scheme’s architect described it as a magic pudding.
In a speech set to be given at a disability conference today, one of the designers of the NDIS, Prof Bruce Bonyhady, will say people were treating the scheme as an endless resource:
We must stop thinking of the NDIS as though it is a limitless magic pudding.
Bonyhady is one of the people overseeing an independent review of the NDIS, which will be handed down to the government later this year. Shorten said he agreed with the professor’s assessment. He told Nine’s Today program this morning:
There are some people who are abusing the scheme, and by that I don’t necessarily mean participants. There’s a lot of rent seekers and ticket clippers.
There’s over servicing, there’s unethical behaviour by a minority of service providers. I am completely confident that we can engineer reforms.
The NDIS cost $35bn in the past financial year, with the scheme on track to be more than $50bn by 2025/26, overtaking the annual costs for Medicare.
The government has pledged to rein in spending growth of the scheme to 8% by July 2026.
- from AAP
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City of Sydney votes to ban gas connections from new homes and businesses
On Monday night the City of Sydney council passed a motion kickstarting the process to require new homes and businesses across the municipality to be all-electric and gas-free.
Supported by 8 out of 10 councillors, the motion inserts new clauses into the council’s planning rules to require new homes and businesses, including apartments, to include electric appliances like stoves, cooktops, heaters and hot water units, instead of gas units.
The move could save each new household an average of $340 per year on their energy bills, according to new research conducted by strategy policy research, as well as save 1.7m tonnes of carbon emissions, compared with business as usual over 40 years.
The Sydney Council motion follows Waverley and Parramatta councils who recently passed similar planning rules that prevent gas appliances in new homes and businesses.
This follows a decision by the NSW premier, Chris Minns, who ruled out a Victorian-style ban on new connections arguing the state already had enough energy supply issues:
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Littleproud was also pushed on his renewable energy stance while appearing on ABC RN. Host Patricia Karvelas questioned his attendance at a “rally against reckless renewables” event today, while the Nationals have taken a net zero by 2050 approach.
Littleproud:
We’re not against renewables, we’re just saying there’s a place for them. What’s happening is that we’re accelerating that pathway from 2050 to 2030, to get to 82% … which is what this government’s policy is.
He said his concerns are around “unintended consequences” of renewable energy, such as solar panels on prime agricultural land:
I’m not against solar panels, but if you want to concentrate your solar panels, shouldn’t they be concentrated where the population [is]? Is isn’t capital cities on rooftops? So let’s pause and plan.
Littleproud is asked if he agrees with the UN stance that the world is in an era of global boiling:
No one is disputing the science, and the speed of that. I think obviously there are contestable measures on that … (he is cut off).
Littleproud disagreed with the assertion there has been a decade of inaction on climate change, when put to him by Karvelas.
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Littleproud: CPAC’s defence of comedian ‘doesn’t cut the mustard’
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, is asked about the appearance of a comedian at the CPAC conference:
I see CPAC is trying to say that it was a comedy act that was misinterpreted … I don’t think that cuts mustard from my perspective.
I think the environment which you come in, and understand that you’re going to speak and you need to understand and appreciate it in totality. It’s inappropriate, and it’s up to CPAC and the organisers of that to work through that.
When asked if Johns should stay in his role in the no campaign, Littleproud said that is a matter for their organisation.
He also said this is a “big lesson for both the yes and no” campaigns:
There’s been commentary and name calling from both sides, it doesn’t advance the cause.
Because you know what? This whole referendum will be determined by the sensible centre, by the middle Australia that is sitting there wanting to understand the issue. And this sort of emotional, irrational narrative that is coming out [from] some people’s mouths and name calling, since this debate started, doesn’t advance anyone’s cause.
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David Littleproud says CPAC comments – and ‘jokes’ – were ‘inappropriate
Speaking on ABC RN, Nationals leader David Littleproud said that comments made at the CPAC conference over the weekend were “inappropriate”.
This comes as a chorus of politicians are calling out no campaigner Gary Johns for his comments made at the conference, as well as a comedian, which you can read more about here:
Responding to the comments, Littleproud said:
It’s inappropriate. I mean, I don’t see how that advances any cause whatsoever.
The Nationals have tried to create an environment for an intellectual conversation about the voice, no matter what you philosophically believe. In our point of view, our job as political leaders [and] as representatives is to create the right environment. I’m proud of what we’ve done so far.
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Nationals leader calls for ‘mature conversation’ on tax reform
Nationals leader David Littleproud spoke to ABC RN this morning about tax reforms and the upcoming intergenerational report, due to be released on Thursday.
He said that we need “political leadership from all sides to have that mature conversation” around tax reform:
I think it’s important we look at what that tax mix looks like, what our economy will look like in 34 years with the demographic of the population, and I think that’s about making sure that it’s equitable and having a conversation about [whether] that current system fit for the future … These are the types of conversations I think that the public’s up for.
Littleproud is asked about comments made by the shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, yesterday, where she said the IR report is “essentially a Trojan horse for higher taxes”.
He replied:
This is why exactly why we should have a mature conversation so that this isn’t ideological or one-sided in trying to push the burden on one cohort of the population, when we can look at the entire economy.
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Alleged killer to face court over Fitzroy Gardens death
A man will face court after being charged with murder at a popular Melbourne park, AAP reports.
The 36-year-old, of no fixed address, allegedly assaulted a 52-year-old man in Fitzroy Gardens on Monday morning.
Paramedics worked on the Ringwood man for at least half an hour but he died at the scene.
Investigators were seen searching a nearby pond and gathering evidence after arresting the other man. He was taken to hospital under police guard and later charged with one count of murder.
He will face Melbourne magistrates court on Tuesday after being remanded in custody overnight.
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AEC monitoring disinformation about electoral processes
Rogers said the AEC has seen an increase in mis- and disinformation over the last few years, particularly around the electoral process itself.
Rogers acknowledged this is “an emotive term” and people have a right to express themselves, but where the AEC sees mis- and disinformation, “we do something about it”:
It’s all about the electoral process. We’re seeing an increase in [disinformation]. We’re seeing an increase in threats to staff. Which is very disappointing. And we’re monitoring that very closely.
Giving an example, Rogers said during the last NSW election AEC staff were “being filmed and harassed for doing their job”:
At the last federal election, we had similar issues. We’re seeing behaviours we haven’t seen previously. The people who work elections are community members … Treat people with respect and civility.
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Voice pamphlets already being sent out: AEC
The Australian Electoral Commission’s head, Tom Rogers, spoke on ABC News Breakfast this morning about the mail-outs being sent to Australians on the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum.
He said pamphlets outlining the official yes and no cases, with a second part by the AEC explaining the referendum process, are already being sent out and arriving at households.
Rogers also said he doesn’t know the referendum date yet:
We’re ready for it whenever it may be. That’s what we do in any case. We’re used to these events when we don’t know the date until a few weeks out. We’ve got all systems go.
He said that Australia’s electoral enrolment rate is the highest it’s been since federation, including the Indigenous enrolment:
We would ultimately like the rate to be exactly the same as the general roll, but it’s very close.
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More than half of Aussie tenants overlooking flaws to secure rental, Finder says
Tenants across Australia are overlooking property flaws in a desperate attempt to secure a rental, according to new research by Finder.
A survey of 1,110 respondents, 441 of which are renters, showed that 59% have excused an issue with a property over fears they would miss out on securing a place to live.
That is equivalent to 1.7m renter households, Finder says.
The research shows that 21% of people looked past the size of the property they required, and 14% tolerated a lack of amenities, such as aircon or a laundry. But worryingly, 10% accepted a mould issue in a bid to get a rental.
Richard Whitten, a home loans expert at Finder, said the number of renters living in below par conditions is frightening:
Tenants are having to lower their standards and accept some really unpleasant living situations.
Thousands are stuck in rentals which would be considered hazardous purely because there aren’t enough properties available to rent in their area.
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Adam Cranston to be sentenced for huge tax fraud
The son of a former deputy tax commissioner who ripped off taxpayers for millions will learn how long he will be accommodated at their expense, AAP reports.
Adam Cranston, 36, is due to be sentenced today for his role in the Plutus Payroll tax fraud and money laundering conspiracies. He was found guilty in March along with four others at the end of a marathon trial beginning in April 2022.
They conspired to cause a loss to the commonwealth and deal with the proceeds of crime, using Plutus Payroll and its web of second-tier companies directed by vulnerable patsies to siphon more than $105m that should have been paid to the tax office.
Cranston personally received more than $6.8m for his efforts.
NSW supreme court justice Anthony Payne later described it as “one of the most serious federal tax fraud trials successfully prosecuted in this country”.
Payne will also sentence former professional snowboarder and co-conspirator Jason Onley on Tuesday.
Lauren Cranston was jailed for five years in May.
Updated
Teens seriously injured following stolen car collision in Epping
Two teenagers have been seriously injured and two are on the run following a collision in Epping, Victoria early this morning involving an allegedly stolen car.
Emergency services were called to the two-car collision at the intersection of Civic Drive and McDonalds Road at around 2.25am. Police were told a white MG hatch was seen travelling at high speeds before it appeared to run a red light and collide with another vehicle.
It is believed two people from the MG ran from the scene, leaving two teenagers in the car seriously injured, police said in a statement.
A 16-year-old female and 13-year-old male have both been taken to hospital under police guard. The 30-year male driver of the other car received minor injuries and has been taken to hospital for treatment.
Local police searched for the pair who ran from the scene with assistance from the dog squad, police say. They also said a check of the car has confirmed the vehicle was stolen.
Anyone who witnessed the collision, or has dashcam footage or information, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
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Thanks to Martin for getting us started today! And good morning, my name’s Emily Wind and I’ll be with you today. If you see something you think needs attention on the liveblog, feel free to send me an email: emily.wind.casual@theguardian.com.
And with that, let’s get started.
Study shows home fertility tests making misleading claims
Websites selling home fertility tests are making misleading claims about their usefulness and could influence plans to conceive, AAP reports.
The “egg timer” tests measure the level of anti-Mullerian hormone in the blood, a hormone produced by follicles in the ovaries. Of the 27 websites selling the tests directly to consumers online, 20 stated it could provide information about fertility or the likelihood of conceiving, University of Sydney researchers found.
The majority contained poor quality information or made unsupported claims, including marketing the test as a reliable predictor of fertility, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open on Tuesday.
Evidence shows the AMH test cannot reliably predict current or future fertility in the general population. Co-author Rachel Thompson, from the Sydney School of Health Sciences Faculty of Medicine and Health, said false and misleading claims about the usefulness of the test undermined women’s ability to make an informed decision.
People may also be worried or reassured by the test results without basis and may change their reproductive plans and behaviour as a result.
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China renews attack on Aukus subs deal
China’s foreign ministry has reiterated its criticism of Aukus and the Quad, arguing they are part of US efforts to “stoke division and confrontation” in the region.
Aukus – the 2021 security partnership with the US and the UK – aims to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines and other advanced tech, while the Quad is an increasingly active diplomatic grouping of Australia, the US, Japan and India.
The Chinese government’s objections to these grouping are not new, but the foreign ministry spokesperson, Wang Wenbin, mentioned them again unprompted on Monday night.
When asked about a recent statement issued by Japan, South Korea (ROK) and the US (condemning China’s actions in the South China Sea and urging peace across the Taiwan Strait), Wang sought to sketch a broader narrative. He told a daily press conference in Beijing:
We see two trajectories in the Asia Pacific today. One features efforts to advance solidarity, cooperation and economic integration. The Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP) are two examples.
The other features attempts to stoke division and confrontation and revive the cold war mentality. Examples include exclusionary groupings such as Aukus, the US-Japan-ROK partnership and Quad, to name just a few. Regrettably, the US has been missing in the former and all examples in the latter are centred around Washington DC.
The Asia Pacific region is a promising land for peace and development. It should not be turned into a boxing ring for major power rivalry, still less a battlefield for a cold war or hot war.
Wang went on to say that the US, together with its allies, had “frequently conducted military exercises and close-in reconnaissance in waters around China, including the South China Sea, to flex muscles and intensify tensions in the region”.
China refuses to accept a 2016 arbitral tribunal ruling that rejected the basis for many of Beijing’s claims in the South China Sea.
Australian economic growth will slow – IGR report
Australia’s ageing population and slowing population growth will see the economy grow more slowly than in the recent past, according to the latest drip-feed of the government’s intergenerational report (IGR).
The full report, looking and forecasting 40 years into the future, is due to drop on Thursday. Treasurer Jim Chalmers has been slow-feeding it out to the media, with Tuesday’s figures looking at expected economic growth and receipts.
The Australian economy is expected to grow to 2.5 its current size by 2062 - but economic growth, which has been rapid in recent years, is expected to slow due to the population getting older and not growing as quickly.
“The Australian economy will grow at a slower pace than in past decades, like other advanced economies,” the IGR says, according to an excerpt released overnight.
“Over the next 40 years, Australia’s real GDP is projected to grow at an average annual pace of 2.2 per cent from 2022–23 to 2062–63. That is 0.9 percentage points lower than the average growth of the past 40 years.”
Chalmers says Australia’s future prosperity “depends on our ability to revitalise productivity growth, deliver high quality essential services and ensure we have a sustainable budget position”.
He said:
To lay the foundations for future growth, we’re investing in a more adaptable workforce and working to maximise opportunities in the digital economy, net zero transformation and growth in the care economy.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and here are some of our top stories this morning before my colleague Emily Wind settles in to take you through the rest of the day.
Our latest snapshot of public opinion will keep the cost of living at the top of the national agenda today with the survey showing more than three-quarters of voters think tenants should be helped out with a freeze or cap on rents. Three in four Australians believe rents should either be capped to inflation or frozen until economic conditions improve, according to our new Essential poll. The housing tussle between Labor and the Greens has not impacted Anthony Albanese’s popularity, with 37% still feeling positive about the prime minister.
The Albanese government is playing down a warning in the intergenerational report that the economy is going to grow more slowly in coming years. Although it will double in size in the next four decades, growth will be more sluggish than in recent years, the report will say on Thursday. But the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says today that Australia is one of the best-placed nations to respond to the economic headwinds ahead.
We have an exclusive report about federal MPs expressing concern that the University of Sydney’s reputation has been tarnished by its partnership with Australia’s biggest sports gambling companies. The university has announced its Centre of Excellence in Gambling Research will be funded by a $600,000 investment from the International Centre for Responsible Gaming, which the university has described as “a global leader in research and education on gambling disorder and responsible gambling”. But the group of MPs are demanding that the university should return the money.
And China has some pointed words about Aukus – more on that in a few minutes.
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