What we learned: Thursday, 26 September
The time has come, the walrus said, to wrap the blog for the evening. Thanks for joining us, as always, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow to bring you all the latest. But for now, adieu, stay safe and dry.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Australia has signed on to a joint statement alongside the United States, Canada, the European Union, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom and Qatar calling for an immediate 21-day ceasefire across the Israel and Lebanon border. The statement cites an “unacceptable risk of a broader regional escalation”, as Australians in Lebanon have been again urged to leave.
It comes as the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has asked the Israeli government to “respond positively” to requests from Zomi Frankcom’s family to release audio related to the fatal strikes on her aid convoy in Gaza.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission inspector has confirmed she is conducting an investigation into the decision by the commission not to investigate the referrals from the robodebt royal commission.
Anthony Albanese has confirmed his government is not considering taking negative gearing or capital gains tax reforms to the next election.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has lashed out at the University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor over his handling of a pro-Palestine encampment this year. He told 2GB if Mark Scott had a “shred of integrity” he would resign. The university said an independent review of its policies and procedures was currently under way.
And the Victorian government has announced it will have to spend an extra $837m to complete its Metro Tunnel project by the end of 2025.
Updated
NSW Greens call for independent oversight body for disabled children
In New South Wales, the Greens have called for an independent oversight body for children with a disability after the auditor-general released a report into the Department of Education’s practices.
The performance audit found the department had effectively designed approaches and developed reforms under its disability strategy, but pointed to “longstanding issues” with funding, access to targeted supports, monitoring school practice and tracking outcomes for students with disability.
It noted:
This is despite the department being made aware of these performance gaps for almost two decades across multiple audits, parliamentary inquiries and the recent national Disability Royal Commission.
Greens NSW MP Abigail Boyd, who chaired a recent parliamentary inquiry into the experiences of young people with disability, said the report was “damning”.
We need an independent oversight body for children with disability in our education system – as unanimously recommended by all members in the recent multi-partisan parliamentary inquiry report – with the primary purpose of advocating for students with disability and their families at its core, with the ability to oversee all issues from enrolments and adjustments to exclusionary discipline and allegations of discrimination.
The NSW government must commit to implementing in full all recommendations of this report, our parliamentary inquiry, and the Disability Royal Commission. Anything less than this will constitute a tragic failure of leadership and serve to perpetuate the cycle of disadvantage experienced by disabled people in this state.
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