What we learned, Wednesday 24 July 2024
That’s all for today’s rolling news coverage. Here is a wrap-up, in case you missed it.
An independent grouping of Australia’s top technologists said small modular reactors won’t be fully commercially available until the late 2040s at least. The report comes amid public debate that erupted when the federal opposition announced its nuclear policy in June.
The federal government outlined $77.6m to be given to public and non-government schools for age-appropriate and evidence-based lessons on consent – part of a national push for consent and respectful relationship education.
Nine’s director of sport, Brent Williams, reminded staffers in Paris to remain vigilant after two of them were assaulted in an attack he says was of a “serious physical nature”.
The world’s hottest day on record, which was declared on Sunday 21 July with an average surface temperature of 17.09C, has already been beaten. It took just one more day to set a new high mark, at 17.15C, as clocked by Europe’s Copernicus climate change service.
An “unprecedented” rise in Islamophobia around Australia has been reported since the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel, according to the leading group tracking such incidents in this country, a Senate committee heard.
Ministerial reshuffle rumours are doing the rounds again, and politicians doing the media rounds were getting asked those questions too. Finance minister Katy Gallagher said this morning that such issues are “matters above my pay grade” and “matters for the prime minister”.
A large military exercise in the Northern Territory was suspended after one of the participating aircraft crashed. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and is “safe and well”, according to Australian defence officials.
Thanks for joining us, see you back on the blog tomorrow.
Updated
The Queensland attorney general, Yvette D’Ath, will appeal sentences given to two juvenile offenders convicted over a home invasion involving the Kefu family, after advice from the director of public prosecutions, she said in a statement.
Her statement continues:
Appeals have been lodged on the grounds the sentences imposed were manifestly inadequate, having regard to the maximum penalty and the declaration that some of the offences were heinous.
Given this appeal process is now underway, no further comment will be made on the matter.
Updated
National plan needed to rescue live music, inquiry told
Australia needs a national strategy to ensure the live music industry survives, a parliamentary inquiry has been told.
The sector is facing an existential crisis with smaller venues needing immediate help, according to Kris Stewart from QMusic, the peak body for Queensland’s music sector.
Industry-wide problems include reduced audience spending, huge increases in insurance costs and a weak Australian dollar.
“This is Halley’s Comet, not the end of the dinosaurs,” Stewart said. “I think this is an extraordinary moment in front of our eyes.”
Potential solutions were discussed at the parliamentary committee hearing in Brisbane today: big international tours could be told to hire local support acts; government-funded culture passes that subsidise young people’s spending in Europe might also work in Australia; an extra charge added to ticket sales for large concerts could go into a charitable trust to support grassroots music.
“If we want an Australian industry in 10 years from now, we need to acknowledge that our small music venues are the soil from which our artists grow,” Stewart said.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Work mapping flood-prone areas in Brisbane “still under way”
Work is “still under way” on hazard mapping flood-prone parts of Queensland, two years after the city’s latest floods in the state capital, parliamentary estimates has heard.
Brisbane has flooded four times since settlement: in 1893, 1974, 2011 and 2022. The most recent floods caused $2.5bn in damage in Queensland and cost 27 lives nationwide.
On Wednesday, the Greens MP Michael Berkman used Queensland parliamentary estimates to ask the state’s planning minister, Meaghan Scanlon, whether the state was considering a ban on development on flood-prone land.
Scanlon said developing a resilience policy framework for hazard mapping was one of the priorities of a recent planning update for south-east Queensland. “It identifies no-go zones based on comprehensive hazard assessments,” she said.
That work is still underway.
Brisbane was the first city council in Australia to appoint a publicly paid town planner in 1925. The city was settled on a flood plain in 1825.
Updated
Man dies following single-vehicle crash in Southern Tablelands
A man has died following a single-vehicle crash in the Southern Tablelands this afternoon, a NSW police statement has confirmed.
Emergency services were called to Taralgo Road at Tarlo, north of Goulburn, after reports of a single-vehicle crash after 1.00pm today. A white Mitsubishi and trailer left the roadway and struck a tree. An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash has commenced.
A passenger in the vehicle, believed to be a man in his 80s, was unable to be revived, despite the efforts of first responders.
The driver of the vehicle was taken to hospital for mandatory testing, the statement said. A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
Road closures are in place and police are urging motorists to avoid the area.
Updated
Queensland government rented five-star hotel for emergency accommodation
Queensland housing minister Meaghan Scanlon has confirmed the state government rented a luxury hotel for temporary accommodation of the homeless.
The government both buys disused hotels and aged care homes and rents rooms on a case-by-case basis for high risk persons. The opposition’s housing spokesperson, Tim Mander, used a parliamentary estimates hearing to accuse the government of using the five-star Crystalbrook hotel in Brisbane for the purpose.
He said he’d been told residents had then rejected offers of permanent housing because the hotel is “so nice”.
Scanlon initially took a question about the department’s use of the hotel on notice, but later confirmed it was used on “two occasions”.
“The two people who temporarily used it have been since moved elsewhere,” she said.
The government spends an average of $144 per hotel per night, the hearing heard.
Queenslanders spent 144,000 nights in emergency accommodation in the last financial year, up from 110,000 the year before, it heard.
Some 4,028 people were assisted into social housing in the last financial year, the committee heard. But 5,594 new people were added to the social housing register in the same period. The government’s housing investment fund has built just 615 homes since 2021, with 313 currently under construction.
The committee also heard that the government spent about $20.9 on “unfair wear and tear” in its properties, repairing issues like holes in walls and replacement keys for locks – about 5% of the overall budget.
It had to pay $2.9m to undertake drug remediation works in 154 homes where there had been drug use by tenants, including cleaning up three clandestine drug labs between July 2023 and March 2024.
Updated
Barnaby Joyce claims Lucas Heights as example of how city can handle nuclear reactor, despite expert opinion
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce told a Hunter Valley press conference today that Muswellbrook could “handle” a nuclear plant, pointing to the Lucas Heights Ansto (Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation) facility in Sydney.
After remarks from Peter Dutton, Joyce added:
Peter gave some great examples. I’m gonna give you one more – one more.
And you’ve got to hear this – you’ve got to hear this: Australia does have a nuclear reactor. People don’t realise it, [but] we do.
It’s bang smack in this city – might’ve heard of it – a town called Sydney, right, Sydney. And around Sydney are houses worth $1.5m to $1.6m. And if they look out their front or back door, whichever way they want to face, they see Lucas Heights.
So if Sydney can handle it, I reckon Muswellbrook can handle it.
The Lucas Heights facility, however, is different to a nuclear plant. Last month, NSW’s chief scientist, Hugh Durrant-Whyte, explained that “this is a ‘zero-power’ pool reactor where the complexities of high pressure, high power, high radiation environments do not exist”.
The capabilities learned at the Lucas Heights facility would make “little contribution” to supporting a nuclear power industry in the country, he wrote in his 2019 report.
Read more about the federal opposition’s plans to build seven nuclear power stations in five states at existing coal plant sites, here:
Updated
More details on RAAF operation in which aircraft crashed
It is not yet known what type of aircraft was involved in the crash, or what caused the incident. Australian Associated Press reports:
Pitch Black, one of the largest tactical air operations in the world, is hosted by the Australian Royal Air Force and includes 20 countries, more than 140 aircraft and 4,500 personnel.
The exercise is being held out of both the RAAF Base Darwin and RAAF Base Tindal. The Air Force’s website describes the operation as its “most significant flying activity for strengthening international engagement and enhancing our ability to work with overseas partners”.
Updated
Pilot escapes crash during military exercise
A large military exercise in the Northern Territory has been suspended after one of the participating aircraft crashed. The pilot ejected from the aircraft and is “safe and well”, according to Australian defence officials.
A Defence spokesperson said in a statement issued this afternoon:
Defence can confirm an international participant in Exercise Pitch Black 24 is safe and well after ejecting from their aircraft this morning during flying operations.
Australian Defence Force personnel responded immediately and professionally at 10:45am to an aircraft emergency in the exercise area and coordinated recovery of the pilot with a search and rescue helicopter.
The exercise participant made immediate contact with aircrew in the area via radio following their ejection.
The pilot arrived at hospital by helicopter around 1:30pm (local time).
All flying for the remainder of the day has been cancelled.
News Corp cited social media report as saying it was an Italian aircraft, but Defence has yet to confirm the country.
Updated
NSW ministers visit farmer’s conference
While NSW’s environment minister, Penny Sharpe, acknowledged there had been problems with the rollout of renewable energy she said things were turning around.
“I know many of you struggle with the renewable energy zones ... the rollout is complicated but the rollout is well under way,” the minister told delegates on Wednesday.
I’m not going to tell you that it’s perfect, but it is turning it around.
I would hope that we are learning all the time from the mistakes of the past and we’re getting better on the way through.”
The minister again ruled out sending transmission lines underground. “It is too expensive and it will take too long, our government’s been really upfront about that,” she told reporters.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, also addressed the conference, acknowledging the threat posed by fire ants and feral pigs. The premier outlined efforts that had seen 110,000 pigs killed in a nine-month period but conceded there were still feral pig “hotspots” across the state.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Farmers call for more renewable energy planning control
Farmers want to force renewable energy developers to maintain the agricultural productivity of the land.
At their annual conference in Sydney, farmers were fired up over renewable energy but want more control over how projects are planned. Delegates also called for payments to farmers hosting renewable energy projects to be paid for the life of the project and not the 25-year term currently being offered.
“Delegates are expressing their frustration ... most are saying in living memory they can’t remember anything so badly thought through,” said Xavier Martin, the freshly re-elected president of NSW Farmers. “The impact on the landscape on some of our prime agricultural land is just appalling.”
- Australian Associated Press
More to come.
Updated
Two police suspended after 35-year-old man who became unresponsive during arrest dies
A 35-year-old man who became unresponsive during his arrest by police earlier this month has died in hospital, Victoria Police said in a statement.
A male sergeant and a male constable, both from North West metro region, have been suspended while the investigation is carried out.
The man was arrested in the car park of a convenience store at the corner of Heaths and Tarneit Roads at Hoppers Crossing at about 2am on 15 July. He became unresponsive during the arrest, and police subsequently performed CPR and called for further medical assistance. He was then conveyed to hospital.
“The investigation by the homicide squad remains ongoing and this investigation is being oversighted by professional standards command, as per standard practice when a person is seriously injured or dies while in custody,” the statement said.
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Rafqa Touma will guide you through the rest of our rolling coverage today. Take care!
Call for ad ban on easy credit for groceries, medicines
So-called “Buy Now Pay Later” arrangements for essentials such as food and medicines should be banned, consumer groups say.
As AAP reports, federal parliament is considering changes to credit laws that have not covered wage advances or the increasingly popular short-term form of borrowing that allows shoppers to obtain goods immediately, but pay for them in instalments.
Providers have told a parliamentary hearing the service could be a better option than high-interest credit cards or bank loans. But financial counsellors warned of financial distress, with cash-strapped clients already behind on rent or their mortgage juggling more lines of credit and being stung by late fees.
Paul Holmes, a consumer lawyer at Legal Aid Queensland, said there should be an advertising ban on using the service to pay for grocery shopping or health care.
Choice’s spokesperson, Tom Abourizk, said more people were using BNPL schemes to pay for essentials such as food during the cost-of-living crisis. He said deferring payments for essentials was “a recipe for disaster” that could add extra fees to already strained budgets.
While some are using the service to buy solar panels, wedding dresses, furniture and home upgrades, the average transaction was $132, according to industry data.
Updated
Report handed down following multicultural framework review
The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, has released a report stemming from the multicultural framework review – the first deep dive into multiculturalism in Australia in over half a century.
Giles said the report “notes the vital role of education, English language learning and effective translation services in ensuring that all Australians can enjoy the benefits of this country”:
It challenges standard perceptions that the home of multiculturalism lies in the suburbs of our big cities by pointing to the increasing cultural diversity of regional, rural and remote Australia.
It finds that successful multiculturalism starts with greater understanding and celebration of First Nations peoples, who for at least 65,000 years have sustained many cultures on this continent and built trade and cultural connections between groups and with neighbouring peoples in Asia and the Pacific.
It calls on governments and all citizens to actively combat racism, which is still experienced by far too many Australians.
You can read more about the report online here.
Updated
AFP dismisses allegations a witness gave false testimony to robodebt royal commission
The Australian Federal Police has dismissed allegations a witness gave false testimony in the robodebt royal commission, saying it did not “identify sufficient admissible evidence” that the alleged offender had intended to mislead.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the AFP said it had received the allegation in July 2023. Giving false testimony is an offence under the Royal Commission Act.
The AFP said it had undertaken a “thorough investigation” by reviewing all material, including additional evidence and documents submitted to the royal commission, but ultimately could not identify proof of intent:
A key component in proving the offence is obtaining sufficient evidence to prove intent. The AFP has finalised the investigation and has informed relevant parties of the outcome.
The investigation was overseen by its sensitive investigations operation board, which is chaired by an AFP deputy commissioner.
Updated
‘Unprecedented’ rise in Islamophobia since 7 October, inquiry hears
An “unprecedented” rise in Islamophobia around Australia has been reported since the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas in Israel, according to the leading group tracking such incidents in this country, a Senate committee has heard.
Mariam Veiszadeh, founder and chair of the Islamophobia Register Australia, told the inquiry into right-wing extremism that there was major concern around how such extremist groups perpetrated abuse and attacks against Muslims.
The register has documented an increase on last count of around 581%.
Veiszadeh added and acknowledged there had of course been a rise in antisemitism since that time too.
She said Islamophobia was also a gendered issue, with 78% of victims reported as women and 70% of perpetrators being men, according to a 2023 report from the register.
The committee’s chair, Liberal senator Paul Scarr, spoke of his admiration for Veiszadeh’s “courage in pursuing the work you do, in the face of that awful, despicable intimidation”.
Updated
‘Uncertainty’ in world turning some young Australians to rightwing extremism, Senate committee hears
Rightwing extremism is being fuelled among young Australians partly through major “uncertainty” in the world and even issues around the housing market, according to an expert giving evidence to a federal Senate committee.
The Senate’s legal affairs committee is conducting a hearing into right-wing extremism today, as part of a long-running inquiry. Dr John Coyne, head of the strategic policing and law enforcement program at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, was one of those appearing.
Asked what issues may be leading Australians to become radicalised and involved in right-wing extremism, Coyne said there were people “vulnerable” to adopting those ideologies due to societal factors around politics and the environment:
We face a period of time where there’s a great period of economic uncertainty, social uncertainty, environmental uncertainty for our young people. In that, we’re seeing a great deal of loss of faith in political systems, a loss of faith and loss of confidence in their future, whether [that’s] home ownership for those in their 20s or paying off a huge HECS bill.
In all of that, we have incredibly vulnerable people to being radicalised, from a point of view of pushing blame on some part of the community, and that divisiveness.
Coyne went on to say that “highly personalised wraparound services, focused on supporting an individual, have a better chance of working, than institutionalised courses or interventions”.
The inquiry is currently hearing evidence from the Islamophobia Register and the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network. Later, the Australian Human Rights Commission, Asio and the AFP will be among those giving testimony.
Updated
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population passes one million: ABS
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia is now over one million people, according to new projections from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
This is an increase of 56,300 people since June 2021.
The projections are based on a series of assumptions on levels of fertility, paternity, mortality and internal migration, which are guided by recent data, the ABS said in a statement.
The bureau’s head of demography statistics, Beidar Cho, said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia is projected to reach around 1.2 million by 2031.
We are projecting a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in major cities, and a smaller proportion living in remote and very remote Australia.
We are also projecting that the majority of Indigenous regions will continue to see population growth between 2021 and 2031.
Perth is projected to be the fastest growing Indigenous region – growing by 2.7% to 2.8% on average annually for the next ten years – followed by Brisbane, at between 2.6% to 2.8%.
The median age of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is also projected to increase from 24 years old in 2021, to between 25.4 and 25.7 years old in 2031.
Updated
Accused killer allegedly stole from 85-year-old victim
An accused murderer allegedly stole jewellery, cash and personal items from an 85-year-old woman on the same day she killed her, AAP reports.
Court documents lodged by police state Milena Bogojevska, 49, allegedly trespassed with an intent to steal at Lolene Whitehand’s West Footscray home on 12 July. She then allegedly stole items valued at $2000 from the 85-year-old, including jewellery, cash, a wallet and personal identification documents.
Bogojevska has been charged with murdering Whitehand on the same day. Whitehand’s body was found floating in the Maribyrnong River in Melbourne’s west on 14 July. Police allege Bogojevska knew Whitehand.
Bogojevska faced Melbourne Magistrates Court yesterday where a suppression on her identity was lifted during a closed-court hearing. She was remanded in custody to appear in November for a committal mention hearing.
Melbourne city council vote on billboard curfew proposal
Large digital billboards in the Melbourne CBD could be turned off late at night as early as next year to crack down on light pollution and reduce its health and environmental impacts.
Guardian Australia reported last week that a review, commissioned by the Melbourne city council, recommended the introduction of a curfew for illuminated signs above ground level.
The council yesterday evening voted to endorse the review’s recommendations and begin the planning scheme amendment process to implement the proposals.
The review proposed banning above-ground illuminated signage between midnight and sunrise on Monday to Thursday nights, and 1am to sunrise on other days. The proposal comes comes amid growing research into the impact of light pollution on sleep and circadian rhythms.
If approved by the planning minister, the curfew could be introduced as early as next year.
The Bureau of Meteorology has published a severe weather update, with more details about the damaging winds, showers and cold temperatures forecast for the southeast:
Severe Weather Update: Damaging winds, showers and cold temperatures for south-east Australia. Video current: 12:30 pm AEST 24 July 2024. Latest forecasts and warnings: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/lBwEqI2ptF
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) July 24, 2024
Tasmanian independent says tensions high between food producers and supermarkets
Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell says allegations a Woolworths employee was “spying” on a NSW Farmers meeting “shows just how tense things are between producers and the major supermarkets right now.”
(We covered this earlier in the blog here).
Tyrrell said in a statement:
Producers are worried that if they speak out about bad behaviour by Coles and Woolworths, they’ll lose contracts. And that’s not a hypothetical – I’ve heard evidence of that happening.
That’s why I pushed so hard for the food and grocery code of conduct to become mandatory, with more independent processes for complaints. It’s a great start, but the Senate inquiry into supermarket prices had several good recommendations to help producers deal with this cowboy behaviour.
The federal Labor government needs to act on the good recommendations of the inquiry. If they’re serious about giving farmers a fair crack, they need to start putting policies in place, not just talking about it.
Updated
New Zealand man found dead after failing to return from hike in Tasmania
A New Zealand man has died while bushwalking in the Southwest national park of Tasmania.
As reported yesterday, Tasmanian police launched a search operation after an experienced bushwalker did not make contact with friends as planned following a multi-day hike along the Eastern Arthurs Traverse.
Police have confirmed the 27-year-old man has died, believed to have fallen from a height in the vicinity of Federation Peak. His body was located by search crews about 10am today.
Inspector Colin Riley said the man had been planning to finish the hike near West Picton Road at the weekend, after setting off from the Huon River campground last Tuesday.
The retrieval of the man will require both ground and aerial resources and it is expected to take some days for emergency service personnel to safely undertake this due to the terrain and weather conditions.
Our thoughts are with the man’s family and loved ones, and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Updated
Record for hottest day globally broken after just one day
The world notched its hottest day on record on Sunday, 21 July, with an average surface temperature of 17.09C, as the Guardian’s Ajit Niranjan reported here.
Well, it took just one more day to set a new high mark, at 17.15C, as clocked by Europe’s Copernicus climate change service:
That record didn’t last long… https://t.co/7uSQ47zn1m
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 24, 2024
July is the time of the year when we are more likely to set global heat records – it’s mid-summer in the north and the northern hemisphere has much more land than the south. Land warms (and cools) faster than oceans, hence the amplification at this time of year.
Natural factors play a role, too, but it’s the background warming resulting from loading up our atmosphere with greenhouse gases that is driving heat records.
The last 13 months have also been the hottest for each month on record and looking at the widespread heatwaves roasting parts of North America, Europe and Asia at the moment, July looks like extending that unhappy run to 14 months.
Updated
Blueprint to restore Australia's landscape released
The blueprint for repairing Australia’s environment is now available to read online here.
Updated
Blueprint should form part of national environmental strategy – Prof Jamie Pittock
Next to speak at the press club is Prof Jamie Pittock, who said the blueprint illustrated how environmental repair could contribute towards Australia’s agriculture plan for a $100bn industry by 2030.
The blueprint shows that we know what we need to do to repair Australia’s environment to good health. We’re not trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather supercharge existing efforts and actions of so many Australians.
Pittock said the first recommendation was that the blueprint should form the basis of a long-term, nationwide bipartisanship strategy to repair the nation’s landscapes.
This strategy needs oversight by a national council or similar body to co-ordinate implementation. Landscape repair must be driven bottom-up as well as top-down in a nation as culturally and environmentally diverse as Australia.
Updated
Climate change and nature loss must be addressed together – professor
Wrapping up her speech, Prof Martine Maron said frequent announcements of a few million dollars are made for worthy environmental projects, but “realistically, these amounts are like throwing little cups of water at a burning building”.
We need to stop taking nature of granted. It needs us, and we need it.
I think most people fully understand now the existential threat that climate change poses, and the urgency of addressing it, but we must also remember that nature loss is equally urgent and its impact are intertwined with those in climate change.
We absolutely must address both of those challenges together.
Updated
Professor details blueprint to repairing Australia’s landscapes
Martine Maron said the blueprint would act as a “constant step-by-step recipe”, showing that repairing Australia’s landscapes is achievable and “not an endless task”.
The blueprint focuses on five of Australia’s major landscape asset groups – soil, native vegetation, threatened species, freshwater and coasts – and recommends a set of 24 repair actions.
For example, one of the recommendations is to restore, regrow and replant nearly 13m hectares of degraded or clear native vegetation across the continent.
This factors in things like stewardship payments … as well as other actions that boost productivity on the most suitable agricultural land by improving soil conditions.
Restoring this vegetation could evade almost 1 billion tons of carbon dioxide equivalent, providing government revenues to landholders, but there will be other flow on benefits to the farming systems as well.
Updated
Professors address press club to launch blueprint to repairing Australia’s landscapes
Prof Martine Maron and Prof Jamie Pittock are addressing the National Press Club in Canberra today to launch their landmark report, titled Blueprint to Repair Australia’s Landscapes.
Maron said Australia wasn’t just a biodiversity hotspot but also a “world leader in extinction, habitat destruction and environmental degradation – but we don’t have to be”.
She said the blueprint relied on the contributions of Indigenous custodians, farmers, Landcare groups, catchment organisations and local and state governments to show how “everyone can play an important part in returning our nation’s environment to good health”.
But it is also a call for genuine leadership, for governments of all stripes to uphold their responsibilities to Australians, to properly protect and restore our environment.
Our environment has been treated as an afterthought for too long and today we call the change. The evidence clearly shows that it is long overdue.
Updated
Continuing from our last post: The independent delivery authority has only been legislated in recent months and has yet to appoint a chair and the board. The state signed up to an intergovernmental agreement for a $2.5bn spend on the main arena.
Infrastructure department director general Graham Fraine said:
The government has been clear that it will ensure that the cost of any upgrade to Qsac, to the Gabba, to the Suncorp will be within that $2.7 billion budget envelope that was originally talked about for the Gabba.
Infrastructure minister Grace Grace said later in the meeting:
We will be looking at working with stakeholders on the Gabba about what the needs are to bring these up.
And there are indicative costs in relation to upgrades to those venues. I don’t think Suncorp has had a substantial amount of money spent on it for quite a number of years. And I think it’s well and truly looking forward to a facelift and to becoming the premier state stadium that it is – even better.
Updated
Queensland in the dark on cost of Olympic venues, estimates hears
The Queensland government doesn’t know how much three major Olympics venues will cost to build or upgrade.
The current plan is to build a new stadium at the site of the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre (Qsac), about 10km south of the city centre. Qsac was built for the 1982 Commonwealth Games.
An independent review – which recommended not choosing Qsac – estimated the new stadium would cost about $1.6bn, but the government chose it because it would be cheaper.
At state parliamentary estimates, infrastructure department director general Graham Fraine said the government’s delivery authority would be responsible for producing a project validation report (PVR) – essentially a business case, which would estimate costs.
That was also true of planned upgrades to Gabba and Suncorp, Fraine said.
Deputy opposition leader Jarrod Bleijie asked:
The government’s made the announcement, due diligence is happening after the announcement’s made. What’s the department’s plan if the project validation report says Qsac is not validated?
Fraine said: “The request that the department has dealt with from government is to investigate Qsac, which is the purpose of a PVR and indeed, depending on the outcomes of that, there will be further consideration given to options at that point.”
Updated
Rumours of ministerial reshuffle circulating Canberra
Ministerial reshuffle rumours are doing the rounds again, and politicians doing the media rounds are getting asked those questions too.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said this morning that such issues are “matters above my pay grade” and “matters for the prime minister”. Anthony Albanese has been on leave for a few days this week, due to return tomorrow, and the whisperings around Canberra are that a possible reshuffle of the ministry – as a lead-in to the next election, due in less than a year – could be coming soon.
Gallagher told a press conference:
I serve at the request of the PM and, you know, any matters around changing that are a matter for him.
Richard Marles, the deputy PM, has been acting in Albanese’s stead this week. In a Sky News interview, he too said any ministry changes would be “a matter for the prime minister” – joking he wouldn’t be making any changes while Albanese was away.
Assistant defence minister Matt Thistlethwaite told the ABC “the great thing about our government has been our stability”.
All these policies that we promised, we’ve been able to deliver because we’ve been a good and stable government.
Updated
Nuclear ‘loophole’ on uranium transfers needs closing, UN forum told
The world should close a “loophole” that allows countries with nuclear weapons to transfer highly enriched uranium to non-nuclear weapons states such as Australia, a youth activist has said in a statement to a United Nations conference in Geneva.
Thomas Huckans, from the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation and its youth initiative, Reverse the Trend, delivered the statement on behalf of about 120 groups including the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, the Bob Brown Foundation and the Australian Education Union.
Huckans said paragraph 14 of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA’s) comprehensive safeguards agreement “potentially allows non-nuclear-armed states to acquire nuclear material, which would be removed from IAEA safeguards”.
Addressing countries that have joined the nuclear non-proliferation treaty, Huckans argued that Australia’s “proposed acquisition of large quantities of [highly enriched uranium] outside of usual IAEA safeguards and scrutiny jeopardises non-proliferation efforts and fissile material security”.
Huckans urged countries to use an upcoming review of the treaty to “strengthen rather than weaken the global non-proliferation regime by moving to close the paragraph 14 loophole”.
Australia’s ambassador for arms control and counter-proliferation, Vanessa Wood, responded that Australia was engaging with the IAEA on a strong approach to safeguards and verification and intended to follow “the highest non-proliferation standard”.
Wood said:
It is unfortunate that there is continued politicisation of this important technical work.
Updated
More on Woolies employee ousted from meeting
The woman had attended in a private capacity as “a university student involved with a startup incubator that’s looking to create an app to support farmers”, AAP reports.
She thought it would be a good opportunity to connect with farmers to help inform the app’s development, Woolworths said in a statement.
She informed the organisers of this when requesting to attend the event, and was given permission to do so.
It comes against a backdrop of heightened tensions between farmers and supermarket giants, mainly Coles and Woolworths, as they argue over fair pay for produce.
The government will impose a mandatory code of conduct for how supermarkets treat suppliers after a review of the grocery sector.
Last month, NSW Farmers Horticulture Committee chair Jo Brighenti-Barnard said producers were afraid of the repercussions of criticising the supermarkets.
For too long farmers have been afraid to speak out because of the sheer might of these two big supermarkets.
Updated
Woolworths denies spying after employee ousted from farmers' meeting
A Woolworths employee was kicked out of the NSW Farmers Horticulture meeting on Monday after failing to disclose who they were despite repeated opportunities to do so, according to NSW Farmers.
As AAP reports, NSW Farmers Horticulture Committee chair Jo Brighenti-Barnard was overseeing proceedings when sensitive grower information was being discussed.
She said it felt like corporate espionage by Woolworths. She told AAP:
Once we discovered they did work for Woolworths and didn’t identify themselves we thought, ‘What are they actually doing there, why not be open?’
We did ask the whole room if someone was here from any of the supermarkets and no one put their hand up.
Woolworths said it wasn’t aware the employee was attending but called the incident “an unfortunate misunderstanding”.
“This team member works in our technology team and has no contact or relationship with our commercial buying teams,” Woolworths said in a statement.
This appears to be an unfortunate misunderstanding, and while we are not aware of what was discussed – or by whom – we want to provide the strongest reassurance there will not be any repercussions for suppliers who spoke at the event.
The woman had been formally directed not to share any information she heard at the conference with anyone at the company, it said.
Suppliers who had a complaint or concern were encouraged to raise it with the supermarket giant or confidentially through its whistleblower program, “Speak Up”.
Updated
Save the Children urges Labor to repatriate Australians held in Syrian camp
Continuing from our last post: Save the Children Australia chief executive Mat Tinkler said the Australian government had a responsibility to repatriate the group of 40 Australians.
We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to bring about the repatriation of these innocent Australian children and their mothers.
They are living in sweltering desert heat without reliable electricity or access to suitable healthcare or education, and their situation is getting worse by the day.
Australian citizenship must mean something, and we urge the federal government to end their suffering by immediately repatriating these families back home to safety in Australia. This would stop this legal action in its tracks.
Dozens of countries, including Australia, have repatriated its citizens from camps in north-east Syria, with the cooperation of the Kurdish forces who run the camps.
The Morrison government repatriated eight orphaned Australian children in 2019, and the Albanese government brought home 13 children along with their four mothers in October 2022. It has since refused to bring home the remaining Australian citizens.
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Case of Australian children held in Syrian camps may go before high court
Save the Children Australia has sought special leave to appeal to the high court in the case of Australian children, and their mothers, trapped in displacement camps in north-east Syria for five years. The court may or may not grant leave to appeal.
There are about 40 Australians – 10 women and 30 children – held in detention camps in North Syria. They are the wives, widows and children of slain or jailed Islamic State fighters. Most have been held in the squalid Roj detention camp, near the Turkish border, for five years. None have been charged with a crime or currently face a warrant for arrest.
Several of the children were born in the camps and know no life outside it. Conditions are “dire”, the Red Cross says. Illness and malnutrition are rife and the security situation is “extremely volatile”.
Save the Children has acted as litigation guardian in Australian courts on behalf of 11 Australian children and their mothers who are held in Roj camp, near the Turkish border.
The case has been before the federal court, and appealed to the full bench of that court. In June the full bench ruled the Australian government did not have a legal obligation to repatriate its citizens from the camps.
More to come.
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Giles on wife of Sydney father killed in train accident
Immigration minister Andrew Giles says he’s aware of the visa case of the Sydney wife of a heroic father who has killed alongside their toddler in a train accident over the weekend.
The Daily Telegraph has reported multicultural and faith groups have urged Giles to help the Sydney mother, Poonam Runwal, and her two-year-old daughter who survived remain in the country. The father, Anand Runwal, died alongside the other two-year-old twin when he jumped on to the tracks after the pram rolled in front of an oncoming train.
Speaking to reporters, Giles says it’s a horrific incident:
It is not appropriate for me to comment on individual cases. What I can say is I’m well aware of the case and the circumstances.
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Schools get $78m funding boost for consent education
Schools across Australia are set to get a multimillion-dollar boost as part of a national push for consent and respectful relationship education, AAP reports.
The federal government has outlined $77.6m that will be given to public and non-government schools for age-appropriate and evidence-based lessons on consent.
NSW will receive the bulk of the funding, with more than $25m set aside for the state over five years. Victoria will get $18.3m to deliver the consent classes, followed by $14.3m for Queensland, $8.9m for Western Australia and $5.7m for South Australian schools.
Tasmania will get $2m for the program, while the ACT and the Northern Territory will get more than $1m each.
Education minister Jason Clare said the programs would help to foster positive attitudes towards consent from an early age.
One in five women and one in 16 men in Australia have experienced sexual violence since the age of 15. Sexual violence is a national shame. A range of approaches are needed, and there is a role to play in the classroom to make sure that young people develop healthy relationships.
This investment is important in making sure we help our youngest Australians, in particular boys and men, to have healthy, respectful relationships.
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Damaging winds forecast in Victoria and NSW
Severe weather warnings are in place for damaging wind gusts along elevated regions of Victoria, Melbourne’s northern suburbs and southern alpine New South Wales.
The Bureau of Meteorology said peak wind gusts were likely tonight and tomorrow morning.
Severe Weather Warnings for damaging wind gusts are in place for elevated parts of #Victoria, #Melbourne's northern suburbs, & southern alpine #NSW. Peak wind gusts are likely tonight & tomorrow morning.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) July 24, 2024
Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh pic.twitter.com/SFmnkqPQSO
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City of 70,000 to be built in Brisbane’s far north
A new city of 70,000 residents will be built about 66km north of the Brisbane CBD, a state minister has announced.
Infrastructure minister Grace Grace used a parliamentary estimates hearing to announce the area in Caboolture West known as Waraba would be home to about 30,000 new homes.
The site was to be declared a priority development area, which gives the state government planning powers, she said. The Moreton Bay council would retain development consent authority.
It is about 10km west of Caboolture, which has the nearest railway station and shopping centre. Under the state government’s regional plan for south-east Queensland, 60% of new dwellings are supposed to built in areas that are already developed, with just 40% of them to be sprawl.
Grace said:
This will bring significant benefits to the community in the form of additional housing, jobs, and infrastructure.
Updated
Australian birth rate records sharpest fall since 1970s
Australia is in the grips of a “baby recession” attributed to rising cost-of-living pressures and economic uncertainty, AAP reports.
The number of births in Australia in 2023 dropped to 289,100, which was the lowest recorded since 2006, analysis from KPMG Australia showed.
The pandemic baby boom is over, with 26,000 fewer births last year compared to the spike in 2021 and an overall 4.6% year-on-year decline.
KPMG urban economist Terry Rawnsley said economic uncertainty after the height of the pandemic and stretched household budgets in a cost-of-living crisis meant many families delayed having children or put off having more kids.
We haven’t seen such a sharp drop in births in Australia since the period of economic stagflation in the 1970s, which coincided with the initial widespread adoption of the contraceptive pill.
Sydney births fell 8.6% from 2019 and Melbourne’s dropped by 7.3%.
There was a 6% decline in Perth, 4.3% in Brisbane, 0.8% in Adelaide an overall drop of 3.6% in the Northern Territory. However, there was no change in Canberra, and Tasmania experienced a 2.1% bump compared to 2019.
The overall fertility rate has dropped in recent decades, falling from two babies per woman in 2008 to 1.6 in 2023.
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Six arrested at pro-Palestinian protest outside Melbourne factory
Victorian police have arrested six people at a protest outside Electromold in Melbourne, with organisers calling on the local manufacturer to “stop arming Israel”.
Officers attended an industrial area in Thomastown around 4.30am today following a planned protest of around 60 people.
Police claim people refused to move-on from blocking the front gate following multiple demands. OC spray was used and officers arrested three men and three women.
Six people have been released and are expected to be charged on summons with besetting the premises and resisting and hindering police.
Police said:
There were no police injuries and the scene is now cleared. Investigations remain ongoing and police will investigate criminal damage to the front gate of the premises.
Organisers said the protest was the fourth action in as many weeks targeting Electromold. They are demanding managers stop arming Israel, end their contracts in the F-35 global supply chain and transition from weapons manufacturing to other industries.
Updated
New Zealand changes course on climate
New Zealand’s coalition government has dismantled many of the climate programs of Jacinda Ardern’s government and is without a pathway to a net zero 2050, AAP reports.
Stats NZ has released its latest emissions estimates, showing a 0.5% increase in the year to March 2024 – the first annual rise since 2019. The news comes just after the world’s hottest-ever day, with global average surface air temperature measured at 17.09C on Sunday:
Last week NZ’s climate change minister, Simon Watts, unveiled the government’s 2026-30 plan, with more emissions than the previous government’s proposal.
The projections also showed the nation missing its 2035 and 2050 net zero commitments, which have been codified into law.
In Australia last month, the Coalition was criticised after a frontbencher insisted the opposition was “absolutely committed” to net zero by 2050 a day after leader Peter Dutton flagged he would scrap Labor’s target to reduce emissions by 43% by 2030.
Updated
Newborn humpback whale euthanised after stranding in Queensland
A newborn humpback whale calf has been euthanised after it stranded on K’gari, north of Brisbane, in Queensland.
It is the fifth whale calf to strand on the island, formerly known as Fraser Island, during this year’s migration.
The stranding was deported to the state government about 6pm on Sunday. Rangers who examined the calf on Monday found it had shark lacerations near its abdomen.
It has been moved off the beach and above the dunes, where it will be left in situ for natural processes. In Queensland it is unlawful to touch, move or take whale bones.
Updated
Telstra, Optus and TPG front Senate panel on 3G shutdown
Australia’s three mobile network providers – Telstra, Optus and TPG – are up before a Senate committee today explaining how the 3G shutdown is going today.
Telstra’s government relations manager, John Hewitt, told the committee Telstra was on track to shut down its 3G network on 31 August 2024. Telstra had identified more than 90,000 devices that were incompatible with 4G and would need to be replaced. The company had offered 12,000 free phones to vulnerable customers, and he said he expected it to be a smooth transition but noted, as with the 2G shutdown, there would be some customers who fail to take action to upgrade before the shutdown.
Optus’s vice-president of government and regulatory affairs, Andrew Sheridan, said the company was also offering free handsets to vulnerable customers.
TPG’s head of government relations, Ross Mitchell, noted TPG’s network was shut down at the end of last year and said there was minimal disruption to customers and low levels of complaints.
Both Telstra and Optus said once 3G was shut down, their 4G footprints would be larger than the existing 3G footprint, so there won’t be degradation of network coverage. TPG said its network would expand with investment and the network roaming partnership with Optus.
Updated
Sydney child protection workers to strike amid staffing crisis
Child protection workers at a community services centre in south-western Sydney will walk off the job today amid what it says is an “under-staffing crisis”.
Workers from the Liverpool Community Services Centre will strike at 12.30pm. The assistant general secretary of the Public Service Association of NSW, Troy Wright, said:
Right now only one in five kids reported to child protection services as being ‘at risk of serious harm’ … are being seen by a child caseworker. That is just a massive moral failing of our state.
Wright said that child protection workers were “burning out in record numbers”, while the ones left working were “grossly underpaid and face incredible challenges at work”.
The situation is just unsustainable. Child protection workers have been crying out for change, but so far it has not come. The Minns government did not create this crisis, but it falls to this government to fix it.
Caseworkers are demanding the state government recruit another 500 of them, give them an immediate and substantial pay rise and deprivatise foster care.
Updated
Man in custody after allegedly hitting traffic controller during police pursuit
A man is in custody after allegedly hitting a woman while driving a stolen SUV and being pursued by officers near Newcastle in New South Wales.
Emergency services were called to Jesmond shortly before 2am overnight, after a 21-year-old traffic controller was allegedly struck by a silver Mercedes-Benz SUV that was being pursued by officers.
Police said officers had begun the pursuit only moments earlier when the SUV, reported stolen from Salt Ash, was seen allegedly travelling above the speed limit.
Officers rendered assistance to the injured woman while the driver was arrested after being chased down on foot.
The woman was taken to John Hunter Hospital and is in a stable condition with pelvic injuries.
The 30-year-old man has been taken to Waratah police station. Inquiries are continuing, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Nine staff told to stay vigilant in Paris after attack
Nine’s director of sport, Brent Williams, has reminded staffers in Paris to remain vigilant after two of them were assaulted in an attack he says was of a “serious physical nature”.
In an internal note seen by Guardian Australia, Williams said the Paris crew of around 200 should take care when commuting to the international broadcast centre after a group of people tried to steal a backpack as they were walking to their nearby accommodation in Le Bourget.
No weapons were used but the assault was serious, he said.
The incident has been reported to local police.
Updated
Labor says cost of living a higher priority than becoming a republic
The minister for the republic, Matt Thistlethwaite, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier about his portfolio and if any progress is being made.
He said the government’s focus at the moment was on cost of living, but the longer-term vision for Australia is “one of an independent nation [with] one of our own as a head of state”.
It’s been in the party platform for many years and we’ve taken it to several elections. But at the moment, the priority is cost of living.
The king is coming. He’s coming to my electorate and will be welcomed as our head of state, but hopefully one day in the future we can have a debate with the Australian people about having one of our own as our head of state. I certainly know that there are plenty of Australians that could do that job.
How far in the future are we talking? Thistlethwaite said the government wouldn’t put a timeline on it.
Updated
Members of Nine’s Olympics broadcast team reportedly attacked in Paris
Two tech workers for Nine have reportedly been attacked in Paris while covering the Olympic Games, in a suspected robbery.
Nine reporter Christine Ahern spoke to 3AW radio from Paris and said the two people were working in the international broadcast centre – a giant shed to broadcast from – and were walking back to their accomodation when they were attacked by a group.
It was clear it was a robbery because they went for the backpacks. There was no weapon used, but there was a quite a significant assault. The two workers managed to get away, but obviously it’s a worry.
Ahern said the workers are “OK” and back at work today, but “shaken up” by what occurred. She said the incident had been reported to police and they were investigating.
Updated
Julie Inman Grant said deepfake pornography targeted at high-profile female figures had been an issue since 2017, because there were thousands of images of their faces online – but now, this technology was easily accessible via apps.
The eSafety commissioner said:
What used to be required to create a credible, realistic deepfake were 1000s of images, a high level of technological expertise, and also a lot of computing power. Now you’ve got these powerful AI apps that don’t have safety guardrails … there’s no cost to a perpetrator to create these deepfake image-based abuse, [but] the cost to the victim survivor is lingering and incalculable.
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eSafety chief says more powers needed to tackle deepfake pornography
Australia’s eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, spoke with ABC RN earlier this morning about the growing prevalence of deepfake images.
Asked how hard is it going to be to catch and prosecute people creating and sharing deepfake pornography, Grant said that “it is a bit of a dog’s breakfast” – but in Australia a wide variety of tools were being used to tackle the issue.
These are often independent developers using open source code to develop these deep nude apps. One of the apps purports to nudeify any girl with a power of AI – just choose a body type and an age and you’ll get a result in a few seconds. So if that isn’t nefarious, I don’t know what is.
We’re asking questions about why such why such apps are allowed to exist in the first place.
She said the eSafety commission didn’t currently have account removal or banning powers, and that would “ultimately be up for the government to decide the kinds of powers they want to give us”. But “those are the kinds of sweeping systemic powers we really need to have to tackle this at scale”.
Updated
Missing 91-year-old found and in hospital care
New South Wales police say the 91-year-old man reported missing from Canley Vale overnight, as we flagged earlier, has been found.
The man is being cared for in hospital, and police have thanked everyone who assisted in search efforts.
Updated
Australia could export clean energy ‘in high global demand’ – CSIRO
As AAP reports, CSIRO Futures minerals lead Max Temminghoff said the report proved Australia had the potential to create clean energy exports that were “essential to the energy transition and in high global demand”.
By fostering innovation and collaboration, Australia can ... capitalise on the international demand for minerals needed to support the energy transition.
Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub manager Lucy O’Connor said she hoped the report would provide guidance to the industry, partners and investors about opportunities and challenges in the sector.
Greater research funding, she said, could help Australia boost its mid-stream minerals processing and establish environmental, social and governance guidelines.
We need to ensure research is targeted to industry problems and outcomes and can be developed into commercially applicable technologies.
The report also forecast demand for critical minerals to grow, predicting global demand for lithium would continue to rise with the popularity of electric vehicles and with the emergence of next-generation battery technology.
Updated
Australia could play critical role in EV and solar minerals
Australia could stake a massive claim on the world’s booming critical minerals market, a report has found, but only if policymakers, researchers, mining firms and investors act quickly.
As AAP reports, the CSIRO issued the warning today in a report examining Australia’s processing capabilities for in-demand minerals and opportunities in the industry, valued at $482bn.
Critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt, graphite, silicon and rare-earth elements are used to make electric vehicles, solar panels and wind turbines, and demand for the minerals has doubled over five years.
The CSIRO report, From Minerals to Materials, found Australia was uniquely placed to play a significant role in the industry due to its rich mineral resources, institutions and active research sector.
But the study also identified weaknesses in the nation’s current approach, finding it was advanced in some areas, such as lithium and cobalt research, patents and pilots, but had limited experience in others, such as rare-earth research or solar panel recycling patents.
It called for greater investment in research, development and demonstration projects, particularly those that could uncover more efficient and environmentally friendly methods of processing critical minerals.
Updated
More on today’s defence summit in Perth
As we just flagged, the heads of navies from Australia, the US and UK will be front and centre as part of the Indian Ocean defence and security conference starting in Perth today.
More than 400 delegates from across the region will come together at the two-day summit, with the Aukus partnership firmly on the agenda, AAP reports.
Australia’s navy chief, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, his US counterpart, Admiral Lisa Marie Franchetti, and Admiral Ben Key from the UK will be among headliners addressing the summit.
The trio met in Perth yesterday, where Franchetti affirmed the US would stick to the Aukus agreement, regardless of who wins the American presidential election in November.
Defence industry minister Pat Conroy said progress on the nuclear submarines would be a key focus of the summit.
Conroy said:
This will be all about momentum towards our own Virginia-class submarines and then building our own submarines for Australia, which is a massive uplift in our capability.
There’s strong bipartisan support for Aukus and that will continue through administrations, I’m confident, as it will continue in Australia and the United Kingdom through change of government.
Defence minister Richard Marles will address the summit on Wednesday, along with Conroy and Western Australian premier Roger Cook.
Updated
Mark Hammond was also asked about the US Virginia-class submarine that is due to undergo maintenance in Perth next month, in the context of Aukus.
He said a US navy nuclear attack submarine would arrive and they would conduct “a submarine tender maintenance period – this time in Australian waters, this time with Australian sailors embedded in the sustainment team”.
It’s an opportunity for our people to observe how the United States navy does these activities and participate in that process … This is the first step in many respects, and we will just be gaining momentum and experience over the coming years.
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Australia not planning to boost Red Sea presence, navy chief says
Host Patricia Karvelas asked about reports Australia could command an international maritime taskforce in the Red Sea, after declining to send ships there upon the request of the United States.
Responding to this, Mark Hammond responded:
No, Patricia, there is no intent to do so. We derive our strength as a nation through collaboration with allies and partners … The advice is that they have sufficient capability to deal with the challenge in the Red Sea. We’re contributing a number of people to the task force under the coalition of maritime forces, that has existed for quite a while in the Middle East.
There’s no intent to accelerate further naval presence into the Red Sea.
And Hammond said this about the request from the US:
The invitation to participate in operations in the Red Sea was received last year. We elevated advice to government and the direction was to focus on the region, consistent with the advice and recommendations from the defence strategic review and the policy now enshrined in the national defence strategy, and that’s what we are focused on doing.
Updated
Navy chief says security forum not ‘aimed at any one country’
The head of the navy, Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, has been speaking with ABC RN about the Indian Ocean defence and security conference in Perth today – we’ll bring you more on this soon.
Hammond said the conference wasn’t “aimed at any one country” but an opportunity to bring defence, political and industry leadership “into one room to discuss the role of the state of Western Australia”.
So it’s much broader than the issue of China, which tends to overshadow many things in our region.
Asked broadly about Australia’s ability to defend itself, Hammond responded:
To the greatest extent possible, we are enhancing the capabilities of the fleet we are currently operating, whilst getting after the accelerated delivery of new capabilities as quickly as possible.
Updated
MPs to scrutinise violent extremism
A parliamentary committee will question the Department of Home Affairs, Asio and federal police today about how violent extremism was being tackled and the threat it poses to Australia, AAP reports.
Home Affairs said it was concerned by members of extremists groups moving off traditional social media platforms. The submission said:
While mainstream digital and social media platforms are maturing their moderation efforts, terrorists and violent extremists are migrating to niche and ‘alt-tech’ platforms that are either unable or unwilling to effectively moderate content.
The country’s domestic spy agency said nationalist and racist violent extremists carrying out attacks overseas were resonating with members of extremist groups in Australia. Asio’s submission said online platforms remained enablers of radicalisation:
Over the last 18 months, we have seen an uptick in the number of [extremists] advocating sabotage in private conversations both here and overseas. It is particularly pronounced among extremist ‘accelerationists’, meaning extremists who want to trigger a so-called ‘race war’.
The Islamophobia Register Australia and the Human Rights Commission are expected to give evidence about extremists in Australia at the hearing.
Updated
Import ban fails to curb flow of Nazi-linked items
The number of items imported into Australia bearing Nazi imagery has not been slowed by a national ban on the symbols, AAP reports.
A rising number of goods entering the country bearing imagery linked to nationalist and racist violent extremism groups is alarming the Department of Home Affairs.
In its submission to a parliamentary committee hearing, the department said large numbers of items bearing Nazi symbols were still being imported, despite a federal ban in January.
The ban prohibits the display of symbols linked with Nazis and the sale of items displaying the imagery.
The importation into Australia of Nazi memorabilia, both historically genuine items and modern recreations, has not abated with the passage of [the ban].
Where these goods are imported in quantities which indicates the goods are likely to be traded, the Australian Border Force refers the goods to the Australian federal police to consider investigation under the criminal code.
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Polling shows 73% support for health warnings on gas appliances
Australians want stronger health and pollution labels for gas appliances, according to a new report.
YouGov polling commissioned by climate communications group Comms Declare has found 73% of voters support health warnings on gas appliances and 63% want eco labels on appliance advertisements, not just in stores.
Belinda Noble, founder of Comms Declare, said:
Consumers are crying out for clear information on how to save money, protect their health and reduce emissions – and they want that information online where they make their purchasing decisions.
We call on the state and federal governments to give consumers the real truth about the risks of gas appliances, by mandating comprehensive pollution labels on all their ads and websites.
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Scientists say small nuclear reactors a 'chimera'
Small modular reactors won’t be fully commercially available till the late 2040s at least, AAP reports, according to an independent grouping of Australia’s top technologists.
Amid the public debate that erupted when the federal opposition announced its nuclear policy in June, the learned academy has released a report examining the reactors from a technology and engineering standpoint and finding them wanting.
Katherine Woodthorpe, president of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, told AAP:
They are a chimera at the moment. They are not something today, where we could buy one and put one in and have it add any value to what we are trying to do in terms of reducing our carbon emissions.
The academy’s report found the least risky option for Australia, if it chose to build small modular reactors, would be to wait until several models have been established and are operating in other OECD countries. But that situation won’t emerge for decades. The report says:
Assuming successful prototype trials, licensed vendor supported commercial releases could occur during the late 2030s to early 2040s and a fully formed market could emerge in the late 2040s.
Updated
Search on after man, 91, goes missing in Sydney overnight
Residents surrounding the western Sydney suburb of Canley Vale are being asked to check their yards, sheds and garages for a 91-year-old man who has gone missing.
Police have sent a geo-targeted text as a search continues for the man, who went missing overnight. Van Moi Bui was last seen in Prospect Road, Canley Vale, about 9pm on Tuesday night.
People in Canley Vale, Canley Heights and Fairfield are being asked to check their backyards, in case he took shelter overnight.
Police and family hold serious concerns for his welfare, due to his age and the low temperatures overnight. Biu’s family has told police he does not speak English and lives with dementia.
He is described as being of Asian appearance, about 160cm tall with a thin build, dark grey hair and brown eyes. The photo police have posted depicts what he wearing when last seen: blue/grey trackpants and a grey jacket. Bui is known to frequent the Canley Vale area.
Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Good morning
Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us! I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage for most of today.
As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or email, emily.wind@theguardian.com, with any thoughts, tips or questions.
Let’s get started.
Brisbane 2032 chief defends Games
Brisbane is no “hillbilly town”, insists 2032 Olympic boss Andrew Liveris, who indicated he would have the final say on the city’s controversial Games venue plan.
As AAP reports, the Darwin-born, Brisbane-raised corporate heavyweight addressed the International Olympic Committee session in Paris yesterday, exactly eight years out from Brisbane’s 2032 Games.
Only Suncorp Stadium was shown in his visual presentation that was built around their catch phrase: “Shine brightest. Together.” There were no images of the Gabba, originally proposed as the main stadium before soaring costs saw the project thrown on the scrap heap. Victoria Park’s new stadium, recommended in a subsequent independent review but then disregarded, wasn’t sighted.
And even the 40,000-seat temporary athletics stadium in Nathan – the option currently on the table – didn’t rate a mention.
“I really ask to stop making the Olympics a political football please,” Liveris told journalists in a press conference in Paris that followed.
This [Olympics] is a gift. Let’s get the enthusiasm for what we’ve been given right and whatever ends up happening with venues, we will deliver.
Brisbane is not a hillbilly town, [not] that ‘strange place up north’. It’s very cosmopolitan, maybe not 24/7 yet, but on it’s way.
Full story here:
Updated
Tech giants told to report on child sex abuse measures more frequently
Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft will be forced to report to the Australian eSafety commissioner about measures to tackle child sexual abuse material on their services every six months rather than annually for the next two years under notices issued on Wednesday.
Discord, Snap, Skype and WhatsApp also received notices to explain what they were doing to tackle child abuse material, livestreamed abuse, online grooming, sexual extortion, and the creation of deepfake child abuse material.
The reports are due by 15 February, 2025. Summaries of the reports to eSafety will be published, commissioner Julie Inman Grant said:
When we sent notices to these companies back in 2022/3, some of their answers were alarming but not surprising as we had suspected for a long time that there were significant gaps and differences across services’ practices. In our subsequent conversations with these companies, we still haven’t seen meaningful changes or improvements to these identified safety shortcomings.
If the companies fail to comply, the commissioner can seek fines of up to $782,500 per day that the notices are not complied with.
Updated
Fatima Payman begins 'listening tour' of Western Australia
The newly independent senator Fatima Payman today begins a listening tour around Western Australia, setting a goal of visiting “12 towns in 12 days”.
Payman, who quit the Labor party earlier this month to push for a stronger line against Israel’s war in Gaza, is seeking to hear constituents’ views across the full range of policy issues.
The first-term senator for Western Australia will visit Geraldton today, before spending Thursday in Carnarvon and Friday in Karratha.
Other stops include Port Hedland, Broome, Kununurra, Bunbury, Collie, Katanning, Albany and Esperance. The tour will end on 5 August in Kalgoorlie.
Labor figures have criticised Payman for quitting the party, arguing she was only elected to the Senate in 2022 because she was an ALP candidate.
But Guardian Australia understands that Payman is planning to use the tour to talk to as many locals as possible and to hear their views about priorities and how she can best represent them in Canberra as an independent voice.
Second Australian water polo Olympian tests positive to Covid
A second member of the Australian women’s water polo team has tested positive to Covid-19 ahead of the Paris Olympics, Australian Associated Press reports.
Team chef de mission Anna Meares said overnight that a player had mild symptoms after testing positive on Monday night.
A few hours later the Australian Olympic Committee said a second player also had tested positive.
The AOC statement said:
The player who has tested positive to Covid-19 last night has chosen not to train with her teammates this afternoon.
All close contacts have been tested. A second player who was a close contact has also tested positive, but that player is well enough to train.
The AOC added no other athletes in the Paris team had been diagnosed. Meares said:
This is a high-performance environment, so we are being diligent, but I need to emphasise we are treating Covid no different to other bugs like the flu – this is not Tokyo.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight news lines before Emily Wind picks up the strain.
Brisbane Olympics chief Andrew Liveris has pleaded with the media not to focus on the Gabba stadium shambles as he sought to spruik prospects for the 2032 pageant at a press conference in Paris. Exactly eight years before the world’s best athletes gather in Queensland for the Games, Liveris urged the media not to use the controversy over the Gabba stadium redevelopment as a “political football”. He also rejected suggestion that Brisbane was a “hillbilly town”. It came as a second Australian Olympic water polo player caught Covid. More coming up.
Apple, Google, Meta and Microsoft will be forced to report to the Australian eSafety commissioner about measures to tackle child sexual abuse material on their services every six months rather than annually for the next two years.
And former Labor senator Fatima Payman is to begin a “listening tour” of her home state of Western Australia. More on that, too, in a minute.
Updated
