What we learned; Monday 8 April
We’ll be wrapping up the blog for the night. Thanks for reading along and join us back here tomorrow. Here’s what happened today:
The Albanese government has appointed Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin as a special adviser to look at the “sufficiency and appropriateness” of Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom.
Anthony Albanese said Australia expects full cooperation from the Israeli defence force and that it is “in Israel’s interest” for there to be transparency around the deaths.
Craig Emerson’s interim supermarket review found the existing voluntary food and grocery code was “not effective” and that the code should be mandatory and come with “heavy penalties” including fines of up to $10m. Opposition leader Peter Dutton called the report commissioned by Labor a “Mickey Mouse review”.
A major flood warning remains current for the Warrego River, which comes as parts of south-west Queensland face major flooding.
Residents are continuing to return to their homes north-west of Sydney and along the Hawkesbury River after a weekend of wild weather which saw floods damage more than 60 homes in the greater Sydney region, leaving 17 uninhabitable.
A 21-year-old man has been charged with the murder of 23-year-old Hannah McGuire, after a woman’s body was found in a burned out car in bushland at Scarsdale, 25km south of Ballarat, on Friday morning.
Updated
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EPA issues warning to councils after asbestos found in Melbourne parks
Victoria’s environment watchdog is warning local councils to tighten quality controls on potential asbestos in mulch, as it investigates suspected illegal dumping of the contaminated material, which has been discovered at several parks.
The Victorian Environment Protection Authority on Sunday said it had ordered Hobsons Bay council, in Melbourne’s west, to hand over records of its supply chain for mulch production and conduct wider testing for asbestos, after the material was found in several reserves in the council area.
The EPA on Monday said its inspections uncovered contaminated material at six parks, five in the Hobsons Bay council area and one in Merri-bek council, in Melbourne’s north. The EPA has sent materials containing suspected asbestos from four sites to be tested, with results expected on Tuesday.
Full story here:
21-year-old man charged with murder of Hannah McGuire
A 21-year-old man has been charged with murder after a woman’s body was found in a burned out car in regional Victoria, AAP reports.
Emergency services were called to a vehicle on fire in bushland at Scarsdale, 25km south of Ballarat, on Friday morning.
The remains of a 23-year-old Clunes woman were located inside the car. She has been identified as Hannah McGuire.
Two Sebastopol men, aged 21 and 22, were arrested shortly before 5pm on Sunday.
The 22-year-old man was later released, while the 21-year-old man was charged with murder on Monday afternoon.
Investigators will allege the man charged knew McGuire.
The charged man will appear in Ballarat magistrates court on Tuesday.
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No date yet for the prime ministerial wedding
One last, and more light-hearted, moment from the interview with Anthony Albanese on ABC Afternoons, that has just wrapped up.
In closing, he was asked whether he and his fiancee Jodie Haydon had had a chance over the Easter weekend to set a date for their wedding.
The prime minister was not biting.
“I can confirm that I will not be discussing the date with yourself or anyone else on a TV program,” he said. “Diaries bounce around and the difficult task of setting a date as prime minister is something that is ahead of us.”
Coalition’s stalling on migration bill ‘beyond comprehension’, PM says
Anthony Albanese is being asked on the ABC about boat arrivals to Australia, after criticism from the opposition that government policies have created a “pull factor”.
While refusing to comment on reports that about 10 people arrived on the mainland, the prime minister has said that “people who come as unauthorised boat arrivals in Australia will not be allowed to be settled here”.
We want to make it very, very clear that there is no incentive on coming to Australia by boat, that people won’t be allowed to settle here. Because we don’t want people risking their lives and we also don’t want the quite evil trade of people smuggling to be able to profit from such activities.
Asked whether the government’s stalled deportation measures contained in the migration bill that failed to pass the Senate before Easter could have been marketed by people smugglers, Albanese was critical of the Coalition for refusing to vote for the bill.
We put forward that legislation in good faith. It passed through the House of Representatives on one day and then the Coalition changed their mind and deferred it on the very next day.
The Coalition need to explain why it is that they deferred that legislation given that they have failed to come up a single policy disagreement that is in that legislation. It is beyond my comprehension how it is that the Coalition have contradicted their own rhetorical position by not passing this legislation.
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The prime minister is responding to a question about whether Israel is being held to a higher standard than Hamas in its conduct of war, as opposition foreign affairs spokesperson, Simon Birmingham, said on the weekend.
Hamas are a terrorist organisation and that is why they are outlawed. They don’t respect the rule of law and they are an organisation that targets civilians and with the atrocities that occurred on October 7, which is why we unequivocally condemn it.
Democratic nations have different responsibilities. They have responsibilities to comply with international law and that is what we expect of Israel.
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Transparency around Zomi Frankcom's death 'in Israel's interest': Albanese
Anthony Albanese says that Mark Binskin is well regarded globally and that Australia expects full cooperation from the Israeli defence force and their authorities, as Binskin participates in the investigation into the aid worker deaths.
We are confident that that will be made available. Because it is in Israel’s interest as well for there to be transparency around these incidents. They have shaken the world.
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Prime minister calls for ‘proper accountability’ from Israel over deaths of aid workers
Anthony Albanese is speaking on ABC Afternoons at the moment about the appointment of former ADF chief Mark Binskin as a special adviser to look at the “sufficiency and appropriateness” of Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
He is calling Frankcom’s death a “tragedy” that has “shaken the world” and says that the Australian government does not find Israel’s investigation into the deaths to be satisfactory.
This is a tragedy. You have Zomi Frankcom, who was there, working, supporting her fellow humans. Doing work in Gaza, providing aid in a way that should have kept her safe.
She did everything possible to do the right thing, as did her organisation, and we had circumstances where one car was hit then another car was hit, then a third car was hit.
We need proper accountability, we need full transparency about the circumstances and I think that is what the Australian public would expect.
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Strong number of first home buyers enter property market, February ABS data shows
A fresh batch of data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics released today shows that first home buyers are making it on to the property ladder in respectable numbers, despite affordability challenges, AAP reports.
The ABS recorded a 4.3% uptick in the number of new loan commitments to first-time owner-occupier purchasers in February.
While this followed a 5.6% fall in January, first home buyer loan numbers were 13.2% higher than a year ago.
With more than 9,300 first home buyer loan commitments recorded over the month, activity was well down from the highs reached in January 2021 but broadly in line with pre-pandemic levels.
National Australia Bank senior markets economist Taylor Nugent said lending approvals for first home buyers had proved resilient.
He said this suggested higher mortgage rates were not proving much of a hurdle, or at least compared to the rising cost of renting.
“Higher mortgage rates and affordability constraints are being offset by tightness in rental markets and underlying strength in housing demand,” said Nugent.
Reflecting higher house prices, the value of loans to first home buyers rose 4.8% over the month to be 20.7% higher annually.
CommSec economists Ryan Felsman and Craig James said demand for homes continued to rise given a “relatively firm job market, a healthy stock of savings and rising migration offsetting higher interest rates”.
They said it was a promising sign first home buyers remained active.
“There is a general perception that interest rates have peaked, and this may be seeing greater urgency by homebuyers to secure their purchase, fearful of a more significant influx of buyers when interest rates actually start their descent,” they added.
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Car industry lobby head grilled over letter to Labor about vehicle efficiency standards
The head of the car industry’s main lobbying group has been questioned about how a document – which warned Labor of the political risks of its proposed vehicle efficiency standards – was given to the energy minister Chris Bowen’s office.
The Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries has been one of the key bodies critical of the proposed changes designed to improve the fuel efficiency of vehicles and bring down overall transport emissions.
Appearing at a parliamentary inquiry into lobbying on Monday, its chief executive, Tony Weber, was presented with the document obtained by former senator, Rex Patrick, under freedom of information (FoI).
The document, which contains no letterhead or date, outlines the “political risks” of introducing a “harsh” standard, warning consumers would blame the government for any loss of choice or increase in the cost of cars.
It reads: “The issue is like the Voice – most people are supportive of the concept, until they see the detail. Once it becomes a cost of living and consumer choice argument, it’s dead.”
It also describes carmakers, referred to as original equipment manufacturers or OEMs, as “almost schizophrenic” on the introduction of vehicle efficiency standards.
“Many OEMs will be privately critical of the policy settings in this area but will publicly position themselves from a marketing perspective to embrace it. This leads to the announcements of EVs that are planned in a situation where there are no real plans to actually build and provide them.”
ACT senator David Pocock asked Weber why the document was allegedly given in hard copy, and had no letterhead or date. Pocock also asked whether it had been given to the minister’s office informally by a lobbyist in Parliament House. Pocock suggested it was done so to avoid being captured in an FoI – which was unsuccessful.
Weber said he needed time to read the document but did not dispute it had come from the peak body. Weber said it could have been a background document provided in a meeting with officials but took other questions on notice around its origin and how it was handed to the minister’s office.
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Hello, I’m Kate Lyons and will be seeing you through until the end of the day.
In case you missed it and are in need of a mid-afternoon pick-me-up, Eliza Spencer, from our rural network, has this utterly delightful story about Woody the (formerly) escaped merino sheep.
The sheep was found wandering the streets of Woodstock, a small New South Wales town on the central tablelands late last year.
At some point he had escaped the shared community paddock and taken up residence near the local tip, relying on food and water left by residents.
Prompted by concern about his large fleece, authorities decided to bring him in.
Volunteers from the Woodstock Rural fire service began the chase on Wednesday, and a livestock transporter, Matthew Blazley, made the capture.
Woody is well, and was sheared of about 10kg of wool, having missed an estimated three shearing seasons.
Full story here:
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Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, the lovely Kate Lyons will be here to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care!
RACGP welcomes drug checking service in Sydney
Australian GPs have welcomed New South Wales’ first drug checking pilot program.
As Catie McLeod reports, the state’s first drug checking service will open at Sydney’s supervised injecting room after the government resisted calls to introduce pill testing at music festivals.
The NSW and ACT chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), Dr Rebekah Hoffman, welcomed the move as “an important step forward”.
Under this pilot, those who present with their drugs will be given an analysis of the substance, including what mix of drugs is actually present, as well as targeted harm reduction advice. The samples will then be sent for further confirmatory testing of the drug makeup.
Drug checking, including pill testing, saves lives. People can find out what substances the drugs they have been sold contain without fear of law enforcement action. Drug testing services also allow trained staff to talk candidly to them free of judgment about why they are using drugs and explain the many risks involved. Many people who submit drugs for testing discard them when they find out what they contain.
Dr Hoffman called on the NSW government to follow Queensland and the ACT by introducing drug testing services featuring fixed and mobile sites across NSW.
Updated
Road and rail disruptions continue following east coast floods
Sticking with the east coast floods: road and rail disruptions are continuing, with parts of the South Coast train line remaining closed due to flood damage.
The wild weather over the weekend caused some significant flooding on the South Coast line.
— Transport for NSW (@TransportforNSW) April 8, 2024
Thanks to the local community for your patience as we work to clean up the damage, with buses replacing trains south of Waterfall while we work to restore services as quickly as possible pic.twitter.com/Es4BIy3CR4
Bulldozers are set to cut through a temporary evacuation road in the Blue Mountains-Megalong Valley after a land slip shut off the only access road, isolating hundreds of residents.
The Blue Mountains mayor, Mark Greenhill, said cutting a temporary road through rock would take three days and would be contingent on careful geotechnical advice. Food and fuel drops via helicopter are underway.
- from AAP
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17 homes left uninhabitable after east coast floods
AAP is reporting that 17 homes have been left uninhabitable following the east coast floods, with that number expected to rise.
Early this morning, that number was sitting at 14.
Residents are continuing to return to their homes north-west of Sydney and along the Hawkesbury River after evacuation orders were lifted following receding floodwaters.
About 800 people were under an evacuation order in the Sydney region where floods have damaged more than 60 homes, leaving 17 uninhabitable.
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Dutton responds to appointment of Mark Biniskin as special advisor
Peter Dutton has also responded to the appointment of former ADF chief Mark Binskin as a special adviser to look at the “sufficiency and appropriateness” of Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
We had more details on this earlier in the blog here.
Dutton said that Binskin is a “fine person” who has “been a great contributor to our country for many decades”, but has been given “mission impossible” from Anthony Albanese when it comes to this position.
Because this is about a political outcome for the prime minister, I’m sorry to say … What the prime minister is doing in importing Mark Binskin is not hoping for some discovery of a silver bullet or some thing that is being hidden by the Israelis. What the prime minister is doing here is trying to find a pathway through what is obviously a torn ALP.
The caucus of the Australian Labor Party is split at the moment … what we have seen here by the prime minister is a political response and, frankly, while Mark Binskin is an excellent public servant and is beyond reproach, an incredible individual, he has been given mission impossible by this prime minister because the prime minister is after a political outcome for what is obviously a lot of anxious and difficulty within the left wing of his Labor caucus.
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Dutton doubles down on claim supermarket review was ‘predetermined’
Continuing from our last post, Dutton also argued the review was a “Mickey-Mouse review”:
[What] we’ve got at the moment is a government with a predetermined outcome for a review conducted by Craig Emerson, you may as well have asked Wayne Swan to conduct a review.
The review was written, the results were dictated by Jim Chalmers and I think this is a Mickey-Mouse review that has been conducted by Labor…
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Dutton calls Emerson response ‘political response from political mate of the Labor party’
Dutton also argued the interim report has delivered a “political response” to the supermarkets issue. He claimed that the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, gave “instructions” to Craig Emerson over the interim report:
I think [what] we’re talking about is a political response from a political mate of the Labor party, and I don’t think anybody would be surprised about the fact that Mr Emerson’s views line up with the instructions he was given by Mr Chalmers.
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Dutton responds to interim supermarket report findings
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is speaking to the media from Brisbane about the interim food and grocery code report, published today.
Dutton does not believe the changes announced by the government today will reduce the price of goods at the checkout:
… I don’t think Australians will see any reduction in their prices at the checkout under what the Labour party has proposed and recommendations Emerson has provided. They are not going to be the solution consumers are looking for.
Earlier today, the prime minister Anthony Albanese said he was “absolutely” confident the changes would lead to a drop in prices.
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University of Adelaide aboard Nasa’s search for lunar volatiles
One of Nasa’s three new lunar surface science experiments will search for lunar ice and other volatiles using input from the University of Adelaide, helping prepare for human missions to Mars.
The three lunar surface experiments have been announced as part of Nasa’s Artmeis III mission. The Lunar Dielectric Analyzer (LDA) will utilise input from the University of Adelaide’s Andy Thomas Centre for Space Resources (ATCSR).
Associate professor John Culton, director of the ATCSR, said:
We are excited to be directly involved in Nasa’s quest to establish a long-term presence on the Moon. The [LDA] will measure the regolith’s ability to propagate an electric field, which is a key parameter in the search for lunar volatiles, especially ice.
This LDA experiment will gather essential information about the structure of the moon’s subsurface, monitor dielectric changes caused by the changing angle of the sun as the Moon rotates, and look for possible frost formation or ice deposits.
Culton said Artemis III experiments will collect “valuable scientific data about the lunar environment, the lunar interior, and how to sustain a long-duration human presence on the Moon”.
This will help prepare Nasa to ‘live off the land’ as its astronauts establish a permanent presence on the Moon, and later explore Mars.
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BoM says Tropical Cyclone Olga unlikely to cross into Western Australia
The Bureau of Meteorology has shared a video update on Tropical Cyclone Olga, located off the coast of Western Australia. The system is unlikely to impact the mainland, according to the Bureau.
Severe Weather Update on Severe Tropical #CycloneOlga, currently off the coast of #WA. The system is not likely to directly impact the WA mainland.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) April 8, 2024
Video current: 9:30am AWST 8 March 2024. Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/Veo06Pl8Cv
Olga is a category three system, located over the open water well to the north-west of Broome.
It is expected to continue weakening as it moves further south, remaining well to the north of the Pilbara coast. Tomorrow, Olga is forecast to weaken below tropical cyclone intensity.
While it is not expected to impact the mainland, peripheral gales may impact offshore islands on Tuesday night and into Wednesday morning, the bureau said.
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Family seek answers as inquest into teen’s death begins
A fresh inquest into the death of an Indigenous teenager will seek to find out how he ended up on train tracks in regional NSW more than three decades ago, AAP reports.
Mark Anthony Haines’ body was found south of Tamworth on 16 January, 1988. An autopsy showed the Gomeroi 17-year-old died from a traumatic head injury. An inquest into his death returned open findings in 1989.
A stolen car was found nearby and police concluded the teenager had laid on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, something his family has never believed. His sister Lorna Haines said the family hoped this inquest would be their “path to justice”.
My family have been waiting 36 long years to find out the truth about what happened that night. We hope that the coroner will not rest until all the facts come out. All we want is accountability and truth.
The latest inquest began in Tamworth today, before the deputy state coroner, Harriet Grahame. Directly addressing Haines’ family in court, Grahame said she was taking the task of finding out what happened to the teenager “extremely seriously”.
I know how long you have been working towards this day and I acknowledge your perseverance and resilience.
In his opening statement, counsel assisting the coroner Chris McGorey said it was likely someone had more information about Mark’s death.
McGorey said one of the key questions for the inquest was how Mark came to be on the tracks. He said the previous inquest heard Mark’s shoes were clean, despite the ground being muddy from rain that evening.
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Here’s some video footage from the rural township of Charleville, which is facing major flooding after south-west Queensland copped heavy rain over the weekend.
Experts request full release of reasoning on not pursuing eradication of gold clam pest
Continued from last post:
Dr Carol Booth from the Invasive Species Council said authorities must release the full assessment behind the decision not to attempt eradication of the freshwater gold clam from the Brisbane River.
She said there could be enormous economic and environmental consequences for Australia if the clam spreads:
It tends to become extremely abundant, sometimes more than 10,000 a square metre, and outcompete native mussels.
It can alter nutrient cycles, reduce water quality, and transform food webs. During extreme weather events, large numbers can die and release toxic amounts of ammonia.
Booth pointed to a research paper published in 2022 that suggested the global cost of the pest was more than $US12bn over the past 40 years. She says that’s an underestimate, given costs have mostly only been documented in North America.
- from AAP
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No plan to eradicate pest that can muscle in on natives
There will be no attempt to eradicate a new exotic pest that could threaten river health and water infrastructure in Australia, AAP reports.
Authorities announced the country’s first detection of the highly invasive freshwater gold clam in mid-February, saying it had been detected at several locations in the Brisbane River.
The fast-growing, prolific breeder had been on a list of priority exotic pests Australia wanted to keep out due to its capacity for environmental harm.
A single clam can produce 400 offspring a day and up to 70,000 a year, meaning they can quickly form large populations capable of blocking waterways, driving down water quality, and crowding out native species.
It has now emerged the pest was in the Brisbane River for a year before its presence was confirmed. The decision not to attempt eradication was made in January before the public learned of its arrival.
So far it’s not believed to have spread beyond the Ipswich region of the river.
The federal agriculture and fisheries department says the National Biosecurity Management Consultative Committee met in January and agreed eradication from Queensland was not technically feasible, because the clam is now “well established” in the Brisbane River and because of the lack of effective eradication methods.
Freshwater gold clam has not been successfully eradicated from any locality it has invaded globally.
In March, the Queensland department said work had started on a national surveillance and preparedness strategy to manage the clam’s spread and impact.
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Summary of the interim supermarket report’s findings
We’ve been talking a lot about the interim supermarket report today, courtesy of Craig Emerson. The government established a review into the food and grocery code earlier this year which Emerson was appointed to lead, and his findings were released today.
In case you’ve just joined us, here are some of Emerson’s key findings, as outlined by AAP:
The existing voluntary food and grocery code designed to ensure grocery retailers and wholesalers treat suppliers fairly is “not effective”.
A “heavy imbalance” exists between suppliers and the concentrated supermarket sector.
The code should be mandatory with “heavy penalties” for major breaches by supermarkets with revenues higher than $5bn – a threshold capturing Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and wholesaler Metcash.
A serious or systemic breach should attract fines as high as $10m or 10% of a supermarket’s annual turnover or three times the benefit gained from breaking the rules, whatever is greater.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission would enforce the code;
The code should better protect suppliers, especially from retribution from supermarkets.
The existing code does not contain penalties for breaches but does offer compensation of up to $5m if a supplier wins a dispute, although compensation has never been paid.
The report does not support forced divestiture powers, noting it could force large incumbents to sell stores to other large players and increase market concentration rather than reduce it.
The final report is due to be released in June.
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Major flooding at Warrego River in south-west Queensland
As we reported earlier, a major flood warning remains current for the Warrego River. This comes as parts of south-west Queensland face major flooding.
Major flooding is occurring along the Warrego Diver downstream of Charleville. At Bakers Bend, the flood level peaked at 10.16m early this morning and is currently falling. It’s likely to remain above the major flood level of 9m into tomorrow, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Here are some photos of the flooding:
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Thunderstorm forecast over far north Queensland
Some thunderstorms are forecast for far north Queensland today, particularly around the Wide Bay coast later this afternoon:
⚠️Thunderstorm Forecast 8th April: As a trough moves offshore, thunderstorm activity is now confined to far northern parts of the state, with a slight risk of a storm also about the Wide Bay coast in the afternoon. Severe thunderstorms are not expected. pic.twitter.com/Q4dCnt9Rsu
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) April 8, 2024
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Two charged in Nigeria over alleged sextortion that led to Australian teenager’s death
Two men in Nigeria have been charged over an alleged sextortion case that led to a teenage Australian boy taking his own life, AAP reports.
The boy had been engaging online with an unknown person who threatened to share personal photos of him with his family and friends if he did not pay $500, NSW police said in a statement on Monday.
He was believed to have taken his own life in 2023 as a result of the threats.
As a result of the investigation, led by the Australian federal police working alongside South African and Nigerian authorities, two Nigerian men were arrested and charged with sextortion offences in March.
The men were found in a slum in Nigeria, NSW police said. They will be dealt with locally, where authorities can prosecute for Australia-based offences.
Read the full story here:
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Search continues for woman who fell from waterfall in NSW Southern Highlands
The search resumed on Monday for a woman who slipped and fell from a waterfall on Sunday, with a NSW police spokesperson conceding rescue crews were now most likely searching for a body, AAP reports.
The 21-year-old woman was hiking near Belmore Falls in Robertson when she fell about 100 metres into the water below.
Emergency services responded to reports she had fallen into the water just after 1pm, a NSW police spokesperson said.
Police and NSW State Emergency Service crews were forced to call off the search on Sunday afternoon because of poor weather conditions and fading light.
The waterfall, which plunges about 77 to 130 metres across three drops, is a popular attraction for tourists.
NSW National Parks and Wildlife has closed the falls until Wednesday to assist emergency services.
Jeisson Leon, a 28-year-old Colombian man, died in September last year after falling from a cliff while abseiling at Belmore Falls.
Authorities have urged travellers not to attempt hiking to the base of the Belmore and Gerringong waterfalls and have closed tracks to the base of both waterfalls.
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Further detail from treasurer Jim Chalmers’ earlier press conference in Canberra
Chalmers told reporters the government is “interested in progressing” all eight of Emerson’s recommendations – including the mandatory code of conduct – “subject to a few weeks of genuine consultation”.
Labor has come under pressure from the Nationals since mid-2023 as well as from the Greens more recently to introduce forced divestiture powers, to allow the competition watchdog to break up big supermarket chains if they breach the code or engage in anti-competitive conduct.
Although the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has also warned of “market domination” by the grocery duopoly, the Liberals and the Coalition are yet to finalise their policy on forced divestiture.
The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, said today the Coalition had been “very clear” that it wants to have a “targeted divestment power” that will have “strong safeguards, but will also deal with this issue of consumers being abused by the market power of the supermarkets”.
Chalmers contrasted the government’s “considered, methodical approach” to the Coalition’s uncertain position, citing comments from shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, earlier today that there is “always concern with divestiture powers whether they will actually decrease prices”.
Chalmers said there are “much higher priorities” and forced divestiture is “not something that we have been exploring”. The treasurer also confirmed “substantial changes to the mergers regime” will be announced this week.
The assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, said the Harper, Hilmer and Dawson reviews didn’t recommend divestiture powers, which are also opposed by the National Farmers Federation and the Australian Council of Trade Unions.
Leigh accused the Nationals of being “tigers in opposition, but kittens in the cabinet”, because they settled for a voluntary code of conduct in the Coalition’s decade in office.
Earlier, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, labelled forced divestiture “a populist response”, suggesting that forcing Woolworths or Coles to sell a regional store to its competitor could lead to “increased concentration”.
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Federation University faces backlash over plans to cut one in 10 staff members
Federation University is facing growing backlash after announcing plans to cut 200 ongoing positions – the equivalent of just over one in 10 staff members.
A spokesperson for the Ballarat university said the announcement came in response to an ongoing decline in student numbers which had been exacerbated by “unexpected but necessary changes to international student visa arrangements”.
The number of international students attending Federation University fell by 49% between 2019 and 2023, causing a drop of around $80m to university revenue.
This is not sustainable … the aim is to return the university to surplus by 2026 which will allow for strengthened investment in the student experience, technology, high-quality teaching and research.
This transformation requires difficult decisions and we acknowledge the impact of these on our people and communities and we will be doing everything we can to support them through the process.
National Tertiary Education Union members at Federation University have called for the resignation of vice-chancellor Duncan Bentley after the proposed cuts, vowing to use “all available means” to push back including rallies and possible legal measures.
Dr Mathew Abbott, president of Federation University’s NTEU branch, said the university “simply cannot sustain cuts of this scale”.
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Victorian environment watchdog addresses media after asbestos found in mulch
Victoria’s environment watchdog is holding a press conference after asbestos was discovered in mulch at several parks in Melbourne earlier this month.
The Victorian Environment Protection Authority on Sunday said it had ordered Hobsons Bay city council, in Melbourne’s west, to hand over records and conduct wider testing for asbestos after the material was found in several reserves in the council area.
The EPA’s director of regulatory services, Duncan Pendrigh, says the watchdog’s inspections uncovered contaminated material at six parks, including five in the Hobsons Bay council region.
We’ve found the contamination in those parks is very low. We’ve only found a handful of asbestos piece through combing through a number of parks in the council area. We can provide assurance to the public that the risk of harm from the contamination is very low.
Pendrigh says council has fenced off the sites as a precaution. He says it’s unlikely that mulch producers are the source of the asbestos given past widespread testing by the regulator.
Pendrigh says the EPA is still investigating the possibility of illegal dumping, noting there has been an uptick in this in recent months.
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Littleproud: government acted too slowly to address supermarket duopoly
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has accused the government of acting too slowly to address Australia’s supermarket duopoly following the release of an interim review of the grocery code.
Speaking to reporters from his south-west Queensland electorate of Maranoa, Littleproud welcomed the report’s recommendations but said they had come too late and should have included powers to break up major supermarkets.
“It’s an absolute disgrace that we’ve now taken 15 months for this government to get a report and we’ll still wait another two months before they get a final report from Dr Emerson to implement anything,” he told reporters in Warwick, a town two hours west of Brisbane.
[Major supermarkets control] 74% of the grocery market in this country. In the UK and the US, the big three supermarkets in those respective countries control between 30 to 40% of the grocery market.
So this market concentration needs competition … we need to increase the opportunity to bring new players in.
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Chalmers and Leigh weigh in on divestiture powers
Jim Chalmers is now taking questions from reporters, and is asked whether he is “deadset against divestiture” if that idea comes before the parliament?
He responded:
I think the prime minister has made clear the government’s view when it comes to that and I think others – whether it is Craig Emerson today, whether it is the chair of the ACCC – it’s clear to us that there are much higher priorities when it comes to competition policy.
That’s not something we’ve been exploring because we have found better, more effective ways to deal with some of the issues in our competition policy landscape.
Andrew Leigh also weighed in and said the Harper review, Hilmer review, Dawson review and now the Emerson review each did not recommend divestiture powers.
The National Farmers Federation have opposed divestiture powers, the ACTU has also been quite clear that they have concerns about it because of the potential impact on workers.
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Consumer group Choice’s first quarterly price monitoring report to come end of June, Andrew Leigh says
The assistant minister for competition, Andrew Leigh, was next to address the media.
Speaking on the interim supermarket report, he said the government has “frequently” heard concerns from suppliers about making complaints under the existing voluntary code because of “fear of retribution” – which is why Emerson has recommended a mandatory code.
Leigh said this sits alongside work he and Chalmers have been doing to make the economy more competitive overall.
The treasurer and I announced the competition taskforce last year which has been working on the issue of mergers … the issue of non- competes … and improving competition in data and digital.
We’re revitalising national competition policy, inspired by the work done in the early 1990s under Fred Hilmer and Paul Keating which put $5,000 a year into the pockets of a typical Australian household. We understand many of these challenges involve working with states and territories and we are actively engaged in that.
In the supermarket space, the treasurer has tasked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to do a deep dive inquiry into grocery store competition and making sure consumers are getting the best deal possible. Choice are now out collecting the data for the quarterly price monitoring report, the first of which will be coming the end of June.
Updated
Treasurer to announce ‘substantial changes to the mergers regime’ later this week
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to the media in Canberra about the interim supermarkets report from Craig Emerson.
If you missed it earlier, Daniel Hurst has all the details:
Chalmers said he would announce “very substantial changes to the mergers regime” later this week.
The changes I announce this week will be all about strengthening and streamlining the mergers regime so we can modernise it and make our economy genuinely more competitive, productive and dynamic in the interests of all the Australian people, employers, employees alike.
Speaking on the interim report on supermarkets, he said would help “strengthen the food and grocery code for the better”, ensuring a “fair go” for farmers and consumers.
It recognises by replacing a voluntary code with a mandatory code that it is easier to enforce and we can impose penalties on people who do the wrong thing, and it is also harder for people to walk away from.
Responding to criticism from the Nationals that something should have been done sooner, Chalmers said: “If David Littleproud thinks more should have been done in this area sooner, where were they for the almost decade that they were in office?”
Updated
Anne Twomey: ‘I honestly don’t see why lobbyists do need to be sponsored for a pass’
Continued from last post:
Labor senator Louise Pratt asked Anne Twomey whether publishing details of which politicians sponsored certain lobbyists could make inferences about their motivations.
Twomey said:
If you don’t want an inference of your relationship with a particular lobbyist then don’t sponsor them for a pass. That’s really a choice …
I honestly don’t see why lobbyists do need to be sponsored for a pass. I mean, the reality is, if you’re the minister for whatever, you could have formal meetings with people who make an appointment to meet you and they get a temporary escorted visitor pass – you’ve got staff in your office that can escort them from the public area to your office and there’s really no problem with that so I’m less concerned about people drawing inferences from who members of parliament sponsor for a pass because no one’s forcing you to sponsor them for a pass.
Twomey and Yee-Fui Ng have both called for better regulation of the register, which is currently being overseen by the attorney-general’s department.
Updated
First hearing of parliamentary inquiry into lobbying kicks off
Lobbyists working in Parliament House are in the spotlight today as a federal parliamentary inquiry takes a look at whether the rules and regulations applying to them are still fit for purpose.
The esteemed constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey appeared this morning along with associate professor Yee-Fui Ng, an accountability expert, who both acknowledged that lobbying was important for informing politicians about issues in the country but warning regulations were “very weak”.
Both experts say the lobbying register, which publicly names those lobbying politicians and holds them to a code of conduct, should be expanded to include in-house lobbyists – sometimes referred to as government relations.
Ng said it meant the register provided an “incomplete picture”, estimating that only one in five lobbyists are actually being captured by it.
There was also discussion about who can access Parliament House unaccompanied. Right now, there are around 2,000 people with “orange” passes, meaning they can access Parliament House at any time unaccompanied once sponsored by a senator or MP. Details surrounding who holds these passes and who sponsored them are not publicly available.
Updated
Thirroul resident details impact of flooding, support from community
Circling back to the flooding in New South Wales, which affected communities in Wollongong and surrounds:
Thirroul resident Jemima McDonald and her family had only moved into their new home two weeks ago, but most of their belongings are now destroyed.
McDonald told ABC News Breakfast she and her partner woke at 5am to neighbours knocking on their door:
They had to wade up through the backyard … it was a metre and a half high up and they had to get up here and start smashing on our windows to get us to evacuate.
We were out the door in a couple of minutes with just our son … When we came back about an hour and a bit later, the house was filled with 20cm of water.
McDonald said the community had rallied around to help with the clean up:
From 6.30am we had people walking up the driveway with rakes and mops, and slowly we got all the mud out … It took all day. There was families coming around with chicken sandwiches, people coming around with cases of beer and water and big pots of soup.
- with AAP
Updated
Government marks 30th anniversary of the Rwanda genocide against the Tutsi
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has released a statement to mark the 30th anniversary since the beginning of the 1994 genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, describing it as “a period of unspeakable brutality and inhumanity”.
In just 100 days, more than one million people, including entire families, were slaughtered simply because of their ethnicity. We honour those who lost their lives and the resilience of those who carry forward their memories.
Australia acknowledges the deep suffering of the Rwandan people and recognises that Rwanda’s story is not defined only by these events. The country’s journey to recovery is a rightful source of pride for the people of Rwanda.
Australia remains unwavering in its support for accountability for serious international crimes committed in Rwanda, including through the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, which carries forward the legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
Rwanda’s genocide against the Tutsi between April and July of 1994 was one of the most brutal pogroms of the 20th century.
In a planned, state-sponsored campaign of violence to exterminate Rwanda’s Tutsi minority, more than half a million men, women and children were murdered by vigilante mobs and trained militia, made up of members of the Hutu majority.
Human Rights Watch estimates that two-thirds of Rwanda’s Tutsi were killed, as well as some moderate Hutu; many were hacked to death with machetes or killed with basic weapons.
Updated
Eight flood rescues conducted across New South Wales
The New South Wales SES has conducted eight flood rescues throughout the past 24 hours.
In the same timeframe, it had 348 volunteers respond to 585 calls for help.
There are still 66 warnings active across the state, the SES said, including nine emergency warnings. These can be viewed on the Hazards Near Me app.
In the past 24 hours, the NSW SES has had 348 volunteers respond to 585 calls for help with 8 of those for flood rescues.
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) April 8, 2024
There are still 66 warnings active across the state including 9 emergency warnings.
Monitor the #HazardsNearMe app and the NSW SES website for warnings. pic.twitter.com/1akSY4yluW
Flooding at Nepean-Hawkesbury rivers reduced to minor levels
Moving to the New South Wales floods, and the Bureau of Meteorology says flooding at the Nepean-Hawkesbury rivers had now reduced to minor levels.
The Hawkesbury river at North Richmond it as 5.94 metres and falling, likely to remain above the minor level throughout today.
At Windsor the Hawkesbury river is at 6.92 metres and falling, likely to remain above 5.8 metres today.
The Hawkesbury river at Sackville fell below the minor flood level this morning and is now at 4.43 metres and falling.
Meanwhile the river at Lower Portland is at 2.98 metres and steady, below the minor flood level.
Updated
Major flooding occurring through south-west Queensland
A major flood peak is approaching the rural Queensland town of Wyandra, expected to reach Cunnamulla later this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology said major flooding is occurring along the Warrego River downstream of Charleville. The river at Bakers Bend peaked at 10.16 metres this morning and is now falling.
Queensland Fire and Emergency said the flood levee “did its job” and protected the Charleville township from a flood peak of 6.72m on Saturday.
As the water flows south, Cunnamulla is likely to find itself facing a major flood peak on Wednesday or Thursday.
Dozens of road closures remain in place, so keep track of which routes are a no-go if you are out and about on Easter holidays. Remember, never drive through floodwater.
The flood levee did its job at Charleville, protecting the south-west Queensland township from a flood peak of 6.72m on Saturday.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) April 7, 2024
As the water flows south, Cunnamulla is likely to find itself facing a major flood peak on Wednesday or Thursday.
Dozens of road closures remain in… pic.twitter.com/hEPArl0gCZ
Updated
UN rapporteur says Australia must put pressure on Israel over aid worker deaths
The UN rapporteur on human rights and counter-terrorism, Ben Saul, said it was important for Australia to put pressure on Israel, after Israeli strikes killed Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
Saul told ABC radio earlier today:
There is a very long history of Israel giving essentially impunity to its own forces where allegations of violations have occurred. Israel has been saying it hasn’t been violating international law, and that flies in the face of all available evidence from day one.
Even if the airstrikes were not a deliberate attack on civilians, Saul said it could still constitute a war crime if Israel’s offensive caused excessive civilian casualties relative to military advantage, or if the state launched strikes that failed to differentiate between targets and civilians.
Every state has an obligation to respect its international humanitarian law obligations.
- from AAP
Updated
Nationals back fines for supermarkets in Emerson report
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, was on ABC News just earlier to discuss the interim supermarket report from Craig Emerson:
He welcomed the move for supermarkets to face big fines under a mandatory code of conduct, and said the Nationals had proposed this 18 months ago.
I think the arbitration piece is very important as well, because of the fear of retribution. The architecture needs to be worked on closely …
We do believe we need to work closely and look more seriously at things like land banking, that does take away competition …
Littleproud was also asked about calls for forced divestiture – which was not recommended in the report. Earlier, Emerson said divestiture could result in supermarkets selling to other large competitors, decreasing competition, and leaving only foreign buyers.
Littleproud said there were already foreign investors in the market, pointing to Aldi and Costco:
If you can increase the number of players, that increases the competition, but there needs to be guardrails that are trigger points to understand [how] that can be achieved. Not necessarily saying those small players can’t deliver the same outcomes as Woolworths or Coles or Aldi can … that’s where we need to make sure we understand in this country there’s a concentration of market power. The big three control 74% of the market …
Let’s have a transparent look at this, and look at it to make sure we get more competition over time, but in the meantime, give protection to farmers and consumers.
Updated
NTEU calls for reforms after University of Melbourne fined over treatment of casual academics
The National Tertiary Education Union has called for major industrial reform at universities after the University of Melbourne was fined $75,000 for penalising casual academics for working outside contracted hours.
On Friday, the federal court imposed $37,295 in penalties after the university threatened to not re-employ two academics in the Graduate School of Education because they made complaints about being required to work more hours, without more payment, than the “anticipated hours” per subject in their contracts.
A further $37,295 penalty was imposed after the university offered no further teaching work to one of the academics after she made a complaint by claiming payment for extra work.
The Fair Work Ombudsman, Anna Booth, said the body was investigating other allegations involving underpayment issues in a number of universities nationally, including failures to pay casual academics for all hours worked.
In his ruling, federal court judge Craig Dowling noted the 89% increase in casual and fixed-term employees in higher education between 2010 and 2021. Two-thirds of university staff are employed insecurely.
NTEU national president, Dr Alison Barnes, said the case highlighted the need for major changes to all Australian universities:
A $75,000 fine is welcome, but shocking incidents like this will keep happening unless there’s major changes to universities’ broken governance model.
In submissions to the court, the university apologised for its contraventions and acknowledged the need to improve.
Updated
Qantas adds 20 million rewards seats in sweeping frequent flyer revamp
Qantas has unveiled sweeping changes to its frequent flyer loyalty program, boosting access to rewards seats and introducing varying pricing.
Under its new Classic Plus rewards scheme, members will have access to 20 million more rewards seats, the cost of which will vary in line with flight demand.
During peak periods, customers will use more points to pay for their seats on both domestic and international flights than during off-peak, better value periods. The changes take effect from 1 July on international flights and later in the year for domestic flights.
The Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, said the change was one of the biggest expansions the carrier had made to the frequent flyer program in its 35-year history:
We’ve spent a lot of time listening to members about how we can better reward them.
Qantas Loyalty CEO, Andrew Glance, added that the new type of reward seat would usually require more points than those needed to book 5 million existing Classic rewards seats across Qantas, Jetstar and 45 partner airlines, with no change to the points required to book those seats.
Updated
Pocock calls for ‘transparency and accountability’ ahead of lobbying inquiry
Senator David Pocock has also been leading calls for lobbying reform. In a statement, he said there is a “legitimate role” for lobbying but it is important to have “appropriate guardrails” in place to ensure the “health of our democracy”.
During today’s public hearing, senators will hear evidence from 14 witnesses and organisations including leading public law expert Prof Anne Twomey, plus officials from the department of parliamentary services and the attorney general’s department.
Pocock said:
There’s currently a real lack of both transparency and accountability around the lobbying activities that take place in Parliament House that must be addressed. I’m hoping this inquiry shines a light on that and comes up with a set of robust recommendations for reform.
Pocock said strong evidence was being presented to the inquiry about “the need to ensure there is a public register of the lobbyists who have passes and who also who gave them that access”:
Politicians have given more than 2,144 people unfettered all-hours, all-areas access to Parliament House, but we don’t know who those people are.
I believe if you’re not willing to own up publicly to either having a sponsored pass or giving someone one, then maybe you shouldn’t have one.
The committee is due to report on 30 April this year.
Updated
Senate inquiry into lobbying to hold public hearings today
A Senate inquiry into lobbying is holding its public hearings today.
The teal MP and independent member for Kooyong, Monique Ryan, introduced a private member’s bill in November to enforce stronger rules and more transparency around lobbying.
She said there had been “overwhelming” support for the proposed measures, with more than 100 submissions made to the inquiry. In a statement, Ryan said:
Lobbyists [who] represent everything from big coal to the big banks are undermining the government’s efforts to take real climate action, manage the cost-of-living crisis and regulate gambling and tobacco compliance …
Lobbyists outnumber politicians 15 to one in federal parliament. On any one day, hundreds of them roam the halls in Canberra, secretly meeting with ministers to influence government policies so they favour vested interests, not the public interest.
Updated
Regional Victorian ambulance mechanics go on ‘historic’ strike
More than 700 regional Victorian ambulances will be without maintenance workers as they take “unprecedented” strike action after a breakdown in contract negotiations, AAP reports.
About 23 fleet maintenance officers, responsible for servicing ambulances across regional Victoria, will walk off the job for 24 hours today after long-running pay negotiations stalled.
Workers who had been bargaining for 14 months accused Ambulance Victoria of failing to recognise their crucial role in keeping the emergency vehicles on the road and refusing reasonable pay increases amid cost-of-living pressures.
They said a workload which involves being on call at all hours was unsustainable.
The United Workers Union says the pay of ambulance mechanics lags their counterparts in other emergency services. Ambulance stations in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong, Hamilton, Horsham, Morwell, Shepparton and Wangaratta will be affected by the strike.
The union’s national ambulance coordinator Fiona Scalon said this action was a “historic first”, with “no record of fleet officers being pushed to take this kind of action previously”.
Updated
Two men arrested after woman’s body found near Ballarat
Two men have been arrested after a woman’s body was found in a rural town, south-west of Ballarat, last week.
Homicide detectives arrested the two Sebastopol men, aged 21 and 22, who are “currently assisting police with enquiries”, according to a statement from Victoria police.
The body of a 23-year-old Clunes woman was located near State Forests Road on Friday.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Pat Conroy to visit US for defence talks
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, will travel to the United States this week to meet with key officials and defence industry leaders, “building on the significant momentum of the Aukus partnership over the past year”.
In a statement, Conroy said he would visit the HII shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia, and attend the Sea-Air-Space Exposition – “a crucial meeting point for leaders within the US defence industrial base, private-sector, and key US military decision-makers”.
While at the expo, I will participate in an Australian industry roundtable focused on doing business in the US, and a panel discussion that will provide an update on Aukus.
Conroy said he would also meet key counterparts in the Biden administration, Congress and the World Bank to “further progress our cooperation on international development, particularly in the Pacific”.
Updated
‘We want proper answers’ over strike that killed aid workers, PM says
Anthony Albanese is asked whether Australia would follow the UK in withdrawing support for Israel. He told ABC News Radio that “we don’t send arms to Israel now”.
We haven’t done so for some period of years.
He said the government would wait for the report from special adviser Mark Binskin, whose appointment was announced today:
We’ve appointed him; it’s a serious step that the Australian government is taking because we take this action very seriously.
… You had three vehicles at work, clearly marked as providing support and aid for desperate people in Gaza and you had a strike on one of the vehicles, you had people then flee to a second vehicle that then had a strike on that vehicle and then somehow some people then got to a third vehicle that was then hit as well, so all of these aid workers were killed.
This is a completely unacceptable situation and Australians are quite rightly outraged by this. And we want proper answers …
Updated
Q: Will the special adviser be actively investigating anything, or acting more as a liaison?
Anthony Albanese:
He will have certainly the confidence of the Australian government to engage and we expect full cooperation of the Israeli government with this investigation.
Obviously it is a difficult circumstance given the conflict that is ongoing in Gaza. But we want him to have full access and we expect that from the Israeli government and Israel Defense Force.
Updated
Prime minister responds to special adviser appointment to examine Israel’s response to killing of aid workers
The prime minister was also asked about the appointment of former ADF chief Mark Binskin to advise the government on Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
You can read more on this earlier in the blog here.
Anthony Albanese told ABC News Radio:
We have made it very clear that these deaths are utterly inexcusable and that action is needed to ensure that such a tragedy is never repeated. And we also want full accountability for these deaths.
Now, the information Israel has provided so far on the investigation hasn’t yet satisfied our expectations. So we would expect that Mr Binskin will be able to work in a way that provides greater information to Australia.
Updated
Albanese reiterates Emerson’s ‘populist’ criticism of divestiture idea
Anthony Albanese said there would be submissions in response to the interim supermarket report, which will go to the final recommendations to be concluded “in the next couple of months”.
He reiterated a point Emerson made earlier when asked about the potential for divestiture, which the report did not recommend.
There’s two supermarkets in a particular town or regional or community and one of them is Woolworths, and one of them is Coles. What do you do? Tell Coles to sell to Woolworths – that would lead to an increased concentration of market power as well. Or do you somehow get a foreign company to come in and have presence in a regional town?
It is a reflection of the need to have serious responses to what is a serious problem rather than a populist response.
Updated
PM ‘absolutely’ confident supermarket review will reduce prices for consumers
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to ABC News Radio, also weighing in on Craig Emerson’s supermarket review.
Albanese has said transparency is needed because there is a gap where “prices have fallen for farmers [but in some instances] prices continue to increase for consumers at the checkout”.
The PM said he was “absolutely” confident the review would reduce prices for consumers:
Including the Senate review … we’ve already announced our funding of Choice, the consumer organisation, to do quarterly price monitoring, ensuring that consumers know where the best deal is available and using that use of information to drive that competition through the system.
Updated
Minns backs heavy fines for supermarkets
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has been making the rounds on breakfast television, and discussed Craig Emerson’s review into supermarkets while on the Today show a bit earlier.
Asked about the recommendation that supermarket giants be hit with heavy fines rather than be split up, Minns said it “can’t hurt”.
We’ve only got a few supermarkets in Australia and it does concentrate a lot of market power in the hands of the retailers, [so] heavy fines might be the way to go. I certainly wouldn’t stand in the way of that.
And I know many people, particularly in one of the richest cities in the world in Sydney, are doing it incredibly tough when you’ve got the dual hits of both interest rate rises and high inflation.
Updated
Why has Craig Emerson not recommended laws around supermarket divestiture?
He told ABC RN that supermarket divestiture was a “populist idea” and questioned who the stores could be sold to:
Let’s say it’s Coles who gets hit by a forced divestiture. Are they going to sell to Woolworths? What does that do for market concentration?
And if they say ‘well, no, you can’t sell to Woolworths because that will increase market concentration’, who do they sell to? Oh, well maybe a foreign multinational, but they don’t want to come here. And so the only options then left [are to start] closing stores, which would terrify their workers [and close local stores for customers], so I just can’t see the sense of it at all.
Updated
Systematised supermarket misconduct could attract penalties of 10% of annual turnover: Emerson
ABC RN host Sally Sara: What kind of penalties or fines would be in place if the big supermarkets are not toeing the line?
Craig Emerson:
If they do it in a very egregious, systemic way? That could be massive, like $10m, or even 10% of the annual turnover of a supermarket in the preceding court months – now that runs into the billions …
Emerson defined this conduct as supermarkets telling their buyers to “screw” suppliers, break contracts with them, de-list them and “brutalise them in order for [the supermarket] to maximise [its] profit”.
Now, you would hope and expect that sort of behaviour won’t happen, but just having the watchdog … on the front porch and off the leash … is designed to focus the attention of the supermarket management so that they know exactly what their buyers are doing and don’t condone it and don’t try to incentivise it.
Updated
Emerson outlines interim report on supermarkets
The former Labor trade minister Craig Emerson was on ABC RN earlier this morning to discuss his interim report on the supermarket giants, which has recommended a mandatory code of conduct.
Daniel Hurst has all the details on this below:
Emerson said his inquiry has been examining the relationship between supermarkets and their suppliers, and he’s found that if suppliers get a better deal, this does not necessarily mean prices will go up:
Because if the suppliers are really, you know, operating on survival mode, they’re not going to have the money to invest to upgrade their facilities, provide [better] products at a lower price. So this actually fits into the cost-of-living issue quite well, and what I’m trying to do here is have the best of both worlds.
And by that I mean yes, have ACCC watchdog enforcement through a mandatory code, but also keep some of the provisions of the existing voluntary code where people are encouraged to sort things out amicably through mediation, but ultimately, if necessary, through arbitration.
I’m asking the supermarkets to accept arbitration and the outcome of arbitration – interestingly, under the constitution, that can’t be required by a government or the ACCC – so I’m asking them to sign up to that.
Updated
NSW premier discusses flood situation, recovery and preparedness
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said 30 homes had been inundated during the floods in Sydney and surrounds.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, he said about 800 people had been evacuated from their homes, or were under an evacuation order – from 300 homes.
Obviously that’s devastating for those families [who have been inundated]. But it could’ve been a lot worse. We’re very grateful for the SES and emergency services across the state who kept us safe during a difficult period.
Minns said the state government would “come down hard on” any insurance companies found to be “dragging their feet”.
There’s no easy answers. We have committed $200m for evacuation routes and local levies. That’s part of a half-a-billion package we want to spend in the next 10 years. We’ve taken a decision to not allow homes to be built in flood-prone land in Sydney’s west. It was a controversial decision, but it’s about managing a difficult situation. We need to be there for families who have been in those towns for decades.
Updated
Major transport impacts amid flood clean up
Rain has eased across NSW after the weekend’s wild weather but flooding still poses a risk to hundreds of people in the Sydney region, AAP reports.
The Hawkesbury River peaked at the major level late on Saturday evening, and at the moderate level at Windsor yesterday. As water levels began to recede, about 800 people in the Sydney region were still affected by evacuation warnings.
NSW State Emergency Service assistant commissioner Dean Storey said it was likely these evacuation warnings would be in place over the next few days:
It is our priority to get people back to their homes as soon as it is safe to do so. Once the flood water recedes our crews will be out in force on the ground assisting with damage assessments.
So far in the Illawarra region 57 properties have been found to be damaged, 28 inundated with flood water and 14 deemed non-habitable.
Residents have been warned that the effects of the weekend’s record-breaking rain could still present danger in the region, with damage to roads and train lines. Parts of the South Coast train line have been closed due to damage from the weekend’s flooding.
The SES had fielded about 4,900 calls for help since the floods began as of Sunday evening.
Updated
Aukus countries consider expanding pact
Australia, the US and the UK are expected to announce – as soon as today – that they will launch formal talks aimed at collaborating with other countries on advanced defence technologies.
Members of the Aukus pact have long expressed openness to inviting other countries, such as Japan or New Zealand, to partner with them on certain “pillar 2” projects. Pillar 2 covers collaboration on technologies such as hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence, but not the high-profile project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
The Financial Times reported over the weekend that the Aukus defence ministers would announce talks on Monday. The paper reported that Australia and the UK had, for months, been pushing back at the idea of inviting Japan into the pact too soon, as they wanted to first iron out existing practical issues.
When asked for comment, a spokesperson for the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said any engagement of additional countries in Aukus projects would be “trilaterally decided and announced”. The spokesperson said:
The deputy prime minister has said publicly, and to Japan, that we will seek opportunities to engage close partners in Aukus pillar 2 as our work on critical defence and security capabilities progresses. Japan is an indispensable defence partner for Australia.
Updated
Former ADF chief to advise government on response to Gaza aid worker deaths
The Australian government has appointed a special adviser to look at the “sufficiency and appropriateness” of Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin will engage with Israel and the Israel Defense Forces on its response to the attack, a statement from foreign minister Penny Wong announced this morning.
Binskin served as ADF chief from 2014 to 2018 and was vice chief of the ADF, and chief of the air force, before this. A statement from Wong said his experience means he is “eminently qualified” to advise the Australian government on the “sufficiency and appropriateness of steps taken by the Israeli government”.
Australia has made clear to the Israeli Government our expectation and trust that this engagement will be facilitated …
The special adviser will provide advice to the Australian government regarding any further representations or actions that could be taken to ensure a full and transparent investigation and to hold those responsible to account.
The Australian government has been clear that we expect full accountability for these deaths. The appointment of ACM Binskin will ensure the family of Zomi Frankcom, and the Australian people can have confidence in this process.
Binskin’s work will include the examination of: arrangements for the investigation of the incident, IDF policies and procedures for operational incidents, measures taken to hold those responsible to account, if further investigation is warranted, and measures adopted to prevent such incidents happening again.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning, and happy Monday – welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through today’s rolling coverage.
The Australian government has appointed a special adviser to look at the “sufficiency and appropriateness” of Israel’s response to its strikes that killed Australian humanitarian worker Zomi Frankcom and six of her World Central Kitchen colleagues.
Air Chief Marshal Mark Binskin will engage with Israel and the Israel Defense Forces on its response to the attack, a statement from the foreign minister, Penny Wong, announced this morning.
The Aukus countries – Australia, the US and the UK – are considering expanding their pact, expected to announce formal talks to collaborate with other countries on advanced defence technologies. The announcement could come as soon as today, with the countries long expressing an openness to invite Japan or New Zealand on board with certain “pillar 2” projects. Daniel Hurst will have more on this shortly.
Meanwhile, rain has eased across New South Wales after the weekend’s wild weather, but flooding still poses a risk to hundreds of people in the Sydney region, AAP reports. About 800 people in the Sydney region are still affected by evacuation warnings.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
