What we learned today, Friday 4 November
And with that, we are going to put this blog to bed. Before I go, let’s recap the day’s big stories:
Aged care workers will get a 15% pay rise, the Fair Work Commission has announced.
The impact of the most recent NSW floods eclipses the February-March flooding.
Flood water is running into Forbes CBD with homes expected to be inundated.
The federal government is prepared to take action if energy suppliers do not cooperate on power prices, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says.
The Greens call for an electricity bill freeze, paid for by a windfall tax on coal, oil and gas companies.
NSW records 24 Covid deaths and 809 people in hospital.
Victoria records 24 Covid deaths and 231 people in hospital.
Queensland records 14 Covid deaths and 105 people in hospital.
The ACT records one Covid death and 37 people in hospital.
Thousands more seniors are to get access to the healthcare card.
Anthony Albanese says Scott Morrison was “alone” among world leaders in not denouncing the US Capitol riots.
Daniel Andrews courts the votes of Victorian dog owners with a $13m commitment for six new parks.
The Reserve Bank of Australia says inflation will peak at 8%.
The Qantas boss, Alan Joyce, will get millions in bonuses and stay on as the airline’s chief executive until at least the end of 2023.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow to do it all again.
Updated
Queensland Star casino investigators expect ‘outcome’ in coming month
The federal money-laundering watchdog is expecting to have an “outcome” from a joint investigation into Star Entertainment’s Queensland casinos in the next month, AAP reports.
The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) and Queensland police have confirmed an investigation into Star, launched in January with the state’s gaming regulator, is still under way.
The watchdog says the probes, which involve “complex issues of fact and law”, and enforcement actions, can take two years.
The agency says it will soon finalise the investigation into the ASX-listed casino operator in Queensland.
“Austrac’s investigations into Star are nearing completion, with an outcome expected in the coming month,” the watchdog said in a statement on Friday.
The results of that probe will come close to the 25 November deadline Star’s been given to show cause as to why it should not face disciplinary action after being declared unfit to hold its two Queensland casino licences.
Updated
Australian share market ends week on a high note
The local share market has turned around a lacklustre morning with a respectable afternoon performance to finish the week on a high note, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Friday up 34.6 points, or 0.5%, to 6,892.5, while the broader All Ordinaries gained 38.7 points, or 0.55%, to 7,089.3.
“It actually performed pretty well, driven by pretty strong resource and energy gains,” the Tribeca Investment Partners portfolio manager Jun Bei Liu said.
“There is a bit of money being deployed back into the market into a small way,” with those funds going into the larger names, she said.
Liu said that there wasn’t much news driving the market on Friday ahead of key US monthly jobs data that will be released late Friday night Australia time.
For the week the ASX200 rose 106.8 points, or 1.57%, its second winning week in a row.
Updated
Labor to reassess 18 proposed oil and gas projects
Federal environment officials have agreed to look again at 18 proposed new coal and gas projects after a Queensland environment group submitted requests to have the effects of climate change considered.
None of the 18 projects has been approved under the country’s environment law, but have been through a process where the environment minister determines the nature and scale of their likely impacts.
Updated
Aged & Community Care Providers Association welcomes 15% pay rise
The ACCPA CEO, Tom Symondson, said:
We note the decision does not cover staff not involved in direct care such as kitchen, laundry, recreation activities and administrative staff, and we look forward to a further decision by the Commission which addresses their pay.
ACCPA has been engaged with the work value case since late 2020 and we are delighted that the federal government has committed to fully fund the pay increase for aged care workers resulting from this case.
We look forward to working with the relevant unions and the government on the implementation and timing of this important decision so that funding from the government flows at the same time as the pay increase.
Higher pay for aged care workers is a key step towards achieving successful and long-lasting aged care reform as identified by the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety.
A better paid workforce means we can attract more workers into aged care and make our sector an employer of choice. This decision also helps recognise the incredible value that that aged care workers provide to older people.
Most importantly, a better paid workforce means a higher quality of care for older Australians enabling them to live their best lives.
Updated
WA reports 6,874 new Covid cases, 17 deaths since September
The statement from WA Health:
WA Health is reporting a total of 6,874 new cases in the past week to 4pm yesterday 3 November 2022.
As of 4pm yesterday, there were 4,387 active cases in Western Australia.
Sadly, this week’s report to 4pm yesterday includes 17 deaths, dating back to 23 September 2022, which were reported to WA Health in the last week, aged from 67 to 96 years.
Total PCR tests for the timeframe were 8,674.
Total positive PCR tests for the timeframe were 1,621. Total positive rapid antigen tests (RATs) in this period were 5,253.
WA has recorded 1,181,640 cases since the COVID-19 pandemic began.
Updated
Forbes faces worst flooding in 70 years
Water is lapping behind shops in Forbes as stressed locals wait for the worst flooding in the central-west NSW town in 70 years, AAP is reporting.
Emergency services have 22 emergency evacuation warnings out across the state including for Wagga Wagga, Gunnedah and Moama.
Some evacuations have been in place for more than two weeks.
Premier Dominic Perrottet visited Forbes on Friday where the overflowing Lachlan River could by evening exceed 10.8 metres, a mark not reached since 1952.
About 1,000 people have been told to leave for higher ground.
“Follow those evacuation orders, even if you don’t see flooding around you,” Mr Perrottet said.
“That’s the best way to keep you and your family safe.”
He said 50 Australian Defence Force personnel will be deployed in Forbes, with about 200 available for flooded communities around NSW.
SES senior manager Ashley Sullivan said the ADF is helping with night-time rescue capability, and support is on the way to communities in preparation of significant expected flooding.
“The ground that we’re standing on here will be inundated later today,” Sullivan said from Forbes, where floodwaters could be seen behind him.
The flood peak about 20km upstream of Forbes on Friday morning was expected to reach the township by evening, the Bureau of Meteorology said.
Updated
And a statement from Health Services Union on pay rise …
The Health Services Union has welcomed the 15% interim pay rise awarded to parts of the aged care workforce but says a larger and broader increase is needed to stem the industry’s crisis.
The interim decision relates to the HSU equal value case in the Fair Work Commission, which the union launched two years ago.
The Commission made clear today’s decision which applies to direct care workers but excludes some classifications, is only stage one of three stages in its decision.
Gerard Hayes, HSU national president said:
This is a reasonable start but we need the Commission to go further and permanently end the poverty wage settings that dominate aged care.
Fifteen percent is a down payment but nobody should be mistaken. This will not fix the crisis. We still have massive unfinished business in aged care.
For the last decade this industry has relied on the goodwill of an exploited, casualised workforce. Today represents progress, but the legal, political and industrial fight continues.
We won’t rest until we get some semblance of decency and sustainability into aged care.
Updated
Fair Work Commission confirms 15% pay rise for aged care workers
Aged care workers will get a 15% pay rise after a Fair Work Commission decision accepted the arguments the sector’s workers were underpaid.
The FWC released its decision on Friday afternoon.
It is not the full 25% unions had wanted, but it will go some of the way to address one of the biggest issues in the sector – the underpayment of staff.
Workplace minister Tony Burke said it was a step in the right direction.
“Aged care work is hard work – but it’s undervalued work,” he said.
“This result is the first step in changing that.
“We fought for this pay rise because our government is committed to getting wages moving again – particularly in low-paid female-dominated industries like this one.”
Unions have just won a 15% pay rise for Australia’s aged care workers.
— Sally McManus (@sallymcmanus) November 4, 2022
Well done @HSUNational @UnitedWorkersOz @anmf_federal
The pay rise is good news for aged care workers, but will put pressure on other areas within the care sector, including childcare, with fears a pay rise in one part of the sector will cause further shortages in others.
Updated
Football Australia urged to back compensation fund for migrant workers injured or killed in Qatar
Football Australia has been presented with a petition of almost 5,500 signatures calling on the organisation to publicly support a compensation fund for migrant workers injured – and the families of those killed – working on preparations for the Qatar World Cup.
Be Slavery Free, a charity focused on ending slavery, presented the petition to Football Australia on Friday.
The petition states:
When Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup, almost 12 years ago, it had very little infrastructure (3 football stadiums) or labour (1 million population) to support such a mammoth global event. In the years since, thousands of migrant workers, mostly from Asia and Africa, flocked to the Gulf state to make the Fifa World Cup possible.
Alarming reports of abuse, exploitation and forced labour of workers resulting in serious harm and death have not ceased since.
However, very little has been done to remedy the situation.
In a statement, Be Slavery Free said: “Last week, Football Australia and the Socceroos both released statements supporting the establishment of a Migrant Workers Centre but they have stopped short of calling for reparations for the workers who have been injured and the 6,500 or more families who have lost loved ones.
“With global partners Freedom United, Be Slavery Free is asking Football Australia to publicly support a compensation fund for migrant workers, equivalent to the prize money of US$440m. Football Australia was given a petition of almost 5,500 signatures asking for this.”
Controversy has surrounded Qatar’s World Cup preparations, particularly over consistent human rights abuses against migrant workers, and the rights of LGBTQ+ people in the country.
The president of Fifa, Gianni Infantino, took the unusual step this week of writing to all 32 competing nations at this month’s World Cup, urging them to “let football take the stage” in Qatar.
The Be Slavery Free directors Fuzz Kitto and Carolyn Kitto met with Football Australia’s chief operating officer, Mark Falvo, and shared their first-hand experiences of lives being transformed and slavery prevented through football.
Before the last World Cup, Carolyn Kitto met with the Street Child World Cup team in Bujumbura, Burundi. Fuzz and Carolyn Kitto have both seen football be a healer of tensions between communities in places like Egypt, the Palestinian territories and Israel.
“It is remarkable how a round ball and a piece of shared flat earth can bring down barriers and grow community and even friendships. It can cross ethical tensions, political and religious differences and even overcome barriers to peace,” Fuzz Kitto says.
In India, they have seen how the charity Oasis uses football as a means to build positive behaviour and strengthen character and purpose among children at risk of being recruited into begging gangs and other forms of slavery.
Carolyn Kitto says:
Football builds confidence and a positive sense of future in places from refugee camps to slums as well as being one of the most elite and well-paying sports in the world. A positive legacy of this World Cup must include Fifa contributing to make right some of the abuse now undeniably associated with them.
Updated
NSW parliament to debate land tax following inquiry
An inquiry that delayed the debate of a NSW government plan allowing more first home buyers to avoid stamp duty has recommended debate go ahead, AAP has reported.
The upper house had already referred the Property Tax (First Home Buyer Choice) Bill 2022 to an inquiry before it passed the lower house last month.
The bill seeks to begin a two-year trial in January allowing first home buyers to choose an annual land tax rather than paying upfront stamp duty on properties up to $1.5m.
Existing concessions and exemptions are available for first home buyers purchasing property under $800,000.
The government says it will help more first home buyers get their first property sooner by removing the need for them to save up more money for stamp duty.
Labor has smeared the bill as placing a “forever tax” on the family home that will cost the government revenue.
The committee received 15 submissions and held one public hearing, making one recommendation for the upper house to proceed with a debate, addressing concerns identified by stakeholders in the inquiry.
Updated
School in northern Victoria evacuated over flood levee fears
A school in northern Victoria was evacuated amid concerns about the integrity of a nearby flood levee, AAP reports.
Emergency Victoria strongly advised people in and near the Koondrook primary school to evacuate due to flood waters encroaching towards the top of the levee and the school’s location on an effective riverside peninsula.
“There’s a danger that if the levee is breached, water could isolate the school to become an island and then it might be hard to get people off there,” a Victorian State Emergency Service spokesman said.
The warning triggered a response from the state education department to officially close the school and parents were contacted to collect their children.
There was no immediate threat to the broader area.
There are more than 50 flood hazard warnings active across Victoria and more than 460 roads remain closed.
Major warnings remain in place at Echuca, Lower Moira, Barmah and the Murray downstream of Tocumwal to Barham.
Updated
Refugee from Sierra Leone named Tasmania Australian of the Year
A migrant and refugee advocate who escaped war-torn Sierra Leone 19 years ago has been named the Tasmania Australian of the Year for 2023, AAP reports.
John Kamara, who started a new life in the island state after arriving as a refugee, was on Friday recognised for his work assisting migrants, refugees and people from culturally diverse communities.
Kamara, 38, co-founded the Culturally Diverse Alliance of Tasmania, as well as the African Communities Council of Tasmania which strives to build relationships between African Australians and the wider community.
He and wife, Mavis, also established Kamara’s Heart Foundation, a charity to assist children in Sierra Leone.
Kamara sits on multiple boards, helps migrants with resumes and house hunting and founded a community choir to share and explore music of different cultures.
The Tasmania Senior Australian of the Year award was given to the doctor, frontline Covid-19 worker and prisoner advocate Frances Donaldson.
Updated
VicForests failed to protect threatened gliders, court finds
Victoria’s state logging company has failed to protect threatened species of gliders, and its methods to check for them before logging are inadequate, the state’s supreme court has found.
Justice Melinda Richards ordered VicForests on Friday to carry out full surveys of areas for greater gliders and yellow-bellied gliders before logging, and to include buffers around habitats.
Updated
Queensland’s Callide coal power station taken offline by equipment failures
A major Queensland coal power station connected to the national grid has been taken offline by equipment failures, sparking fresh concerns about blackouts in the sunshine state, AAP reports.
State-owned electricity generator CS Energy says all four units at the Callide power station, near Biloela, were offline at one point on Friday morning.
One unit has been out of action since a catastrophic explosion in May 2021, then another turbine unit was taken offline as a precaution after a cooling tower partially collapsed on Monday.
CS Energy says a third turbine unit was tripped out during routine testing on Tuesday, while the mining and energy union says the fourth unit was tripped on Friday morning.
The company has confirmed the third unit had automatically tripped after high temperature gas release during a scheduled test.
“In addition to the unit’s automated control system response, the onsite team acted quickly to make the unit safe,” a CS Energy statement on Friday said.
“No one was injured and an investigation into the incident is being completed.”
Updated
South Australia to ban almost all single-use plastics over next three years
The South Australian government has outlined an ambitious plan to ban more single-use plastics, with almost everything to go over the next three years, AAP has reported.
The government will draft legislation to cover a range of items, with its first targets including single-use plastic plates and bowls to be outlawed by September next year.
Plastic coffee cups and lids, produce bags and single-use food containers will get the chop in the following year, along with a host of other items.
The final wave will ban plastic fruit stickers, soy and fish sauce containers, straws and cutlery attached to pre-packaged food from September 2025.
“With dire predictions that our oceans will contain more plastic than fish by 2050, time’s up for single-use plastic,” the environment minister, Susan Close, said.
“Single-use plastics are often used for moments but they last a lifetime in our environment.
“Moving away from single-use items has been welcomed by South Australians, and our community consultation has left no doubt the public expects more action on more items.”
Updated
Native fish at risk in polluted flood waters of Murray River
Conservationists are working to save unique fish at risk of dying as muddy waters filter into the Murray River, AAP has reported.
Murray cod and crayfish are suffocating and jumping out of the river gasping for clean air in a phenomenon known as hypoxic blackwater, where oxygen levels drop due to bacteria sucking oxygen from polluted flood waters.
Major flooding is still occurring at Echuca-Moama and other Victorian-NSW border towns after the Murray River peaked at record levels in October.
Recreational fishing charity OzFish has deployed an emergency team to rescue the fish in partnership with state fishing regulators and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
The OzFish founder and chief executive, Craig Copeland, said groups had rescued 250 freshwater crayfish at Barham this week and been deployed at Nyah and Swan Hill.
“Coordinating these collaborative rescue efforts is vitally important and we are proud to be playing a part alongside so many like-minded and committed individuals and their organisations,” he said in a statement on Friday.
“Given the situation affecting native fish we have a further Fish Emergency Recovery Team deploying from today to relocate as many native fish, including Murray cod, to safe water.”
Updated
Businesses that can throw millions at a campaign should be paying workers better, PM says
Anthony Albanese has taken aim at business groups threatening a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign against industrial relations changes, saying they should spend the money on paying workers better.
The Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association fired a warning shot against the government over its plans for pay deals across multiple workplaces.
This from Daniel Hurst and Paul Karp:
Updated
Labor takes step towards new religious discrimination laws
The Labor government has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission to review anti-discrimination laws as a step towards improving protections for LGBTQ+ students (and staff) at religious schools.
The terms of reference for the review, which is due back at the end of April, include meeting Labor’s commitments that religious schools:
Must not discriminate against a student on the basis of sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy.
Must not discriminate against a member of staff on the basis of sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital or relationship status or pregnancy.
Can continue to build a community of faith by giving preference, in good faith, to persons of the same religion as the educational institution in the selection of staff.
So protections for students, some protections for staff while balancing religious organisations’ desire to run their schools in line with their doctrines.
It’s going to be a tough ask.
Justice Stephen Rothman of the NSW supreme court has been agreed to head up the review. Rothman is a former president of the Great Synagogue and made headlines when he announced he would be voting in favour of the marriage equality plebiscite, which he said he viewed as a civil matter, and not something which would impact religious beliefs.
But don’t expect legislation any time soon. The review isn’t due to return until April and it will take some time before the government responds. Still, it is a step.
Updated
The Weekly Beast is out!
Amanda Meade’s weekly media column is out, reporting that “Courier-Mail columnist Peter Gleeson weathers scandal as more plagiarism revealed”.
The journalist has apologised for “unintentional” lifting of material from political analysis written by Josh Bavas and is revealed to have copied a Queensland parliament factsheet.
Updated
Major gas line bursts, cutting off supply to Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon
A major gas line under the Macquarie River has burst due to flooding, according to the NSW Rural Fire Service.
As a result, gas supply to towns west of the Blue Mountains, including Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon, has been cut off.
The fire service is currently going from house to house to shut gas taps as a safety measure.
Due to flooding, a major gas line under the Macquarie River has burst, cutting off the gas supply to Bathurst, Lithgow and Oberon. To help the energy company restore gas to these communities, #NSWRFS crews are going from house to house, shutting off and making safe the gas taps. pic.twitter.com/cOKbYguqLp
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 4, 2022
Updated
Ship with Covid passengers to dock in Tasmania
A cruise ship carrying passengers with Covid-19 is set to arrive in Tasmania following a disruption brought on by extreme weather across eastern states, AAP has reported.
About 2,000 passengers aboard Carnival Australia vessel Coral Princess will call into the port of Burnie on Saturday after an outbreak of the virus.
A spokesman said a “small number” of guests have been impacted but could not confirm the exact number.
The company said in a statement on Friday:
As a result of continued and proactive testing, the Covid-19 situation onboard Coral Princess has improved considerably in recent days with a significant number of guests being released from isolation after returning a negative Rapid Antigen Test.
The company added that all cases have been asymptomatic or mildly symptomatic and that anyone who plans to go ashore must undertake a Rapid Antigen Test 24 hours prior to disembarking.
Saturday will mark the first major cruise ship to visit Burnie in nearly three years after the pandemic shut down borders in 2020.
Updated
And the NSW health announcement on Japanese encephalitis …
NSW has widened access to free Japanese encephalitis (JE) vaccine to a broader group of people from today, Friday 4 November.
JE vaccine is now recommended for people aged two months or older who live or routinely work in 39 Local Government Areas with identified JE risk in the west of NSW who:
Spend significant time outdoors (four hours per day), for unavoidable work, recreation, education, or other essential activities, OR
Are living in temporary or flood damaged accommodation (e.g. camps, tents, dwellings exposed to the external environment) that place them at increased risk of exposure to mosquitoes, OR
Are engaged in the prolonged outdoor recovery efforts (clean up) of stagnant waters following floods
The Executive Director of Health Protection NSW, Dr Jeremy McAnulty, said the key to protecting yourself from JE and other mosquito borne infections is avoiding mosquito bites. For those people who will be exposed to mosquito bites in affected areas, vaccination also helps protect against JE infection.
Dr McAnulty emphasised that supply of vaccine continues to be constrained in Australia, but that people most at risk should get vaccinated with the supply available in NSW:
I encourage those people at highest risk because they spend a lot of time outdoors in affected areas to take advantage of the free access to the vaccine as soon as possible, particularly as it can take two weeks or more following vaccination to develop a protective immune response to the virus.
NSW Health has placed orders for additional vaccines that are expected to arrive in the first part of 2023.
Updated
Victoria and NSW to expand access to Japanese encephalitis vaccine
The NSW and the Victorian governments have just announced they will expand access to the Japanese encephalitis virus vaccine.
I’ll bring you the Vic announcement first. From the Health Dept:
While there are currently no confirmed cases of JEV in Victoria, flooding and heavy rainfall across the state can mean greater risk of infections spread by mosquitoes this season.
Vaccination against JEV is now available for anyone aged two months or older who:
lives, or routinely works, in a high-risk area and spends significant time outdoors (four hours per day), for unavoidable work, recreational, educational or other essential activities, or
is living in temporary or flood-damaged accommodation that places them at an increased risk of exposure to mosquitoes, or
is engaged in the prolonged clean-up of stagnant waters following floods.
Victoria’s Deputy Chief Health Officer Associate Professor Deborah Friedman said:
While getting vaccinated is important, everyone should focus on preventing being bitten by mosquitoes. This includes wearing long, loose-fitting, light-coloured clothing, using insect repellents, clearing stagnant water around your home, and avoiding areas with lots of mosquitoes, especially at dusk and dawn.
We know mosquitoes don’t breed in initial flood waters, but that the risk increases as these waters recede and leave behind pools of stagnant water.
People living in areas experiencing mosquito activity should undertake these protective measures now and over the coming months to protect themselves against not just JEV, but other mosquito-borne diseases for which no vaccine is available – including Ross River virus, Barmah Forest virus and Murray Valley encephalitis.
Updated
Alan Joyce to get millions in bonuses and stay on as Qantas chief until at least end 2023
Qantas boss, Alan Joyce, will pocket millions in bonuses despite customer fury over service failures, lost bags, cancelled flights and union anger over staff pay.
Joyce will also stay on as chief executive officer until at least the end of next year, Qantas chair, Richard Goyder, confirmed at the airline’s annual general meeting today.
Joyce’s take-home pay last financial year was $2.27m, up from $1.98m the year before.
On top of that base salary, shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of awarding him bonus performance rights worth about $4m. They also voted in favour of him receiving long-term rights amounting to about $5m.
He has deferred converting those rights and vesting them into shares for now. Other short-term bonuses, deferred during the pandemic, could also be added depending on performance.
Goyder took the opportunity at the AGM to slam the federal government’s planned industrial relations changes, saying multi-employer bargaining would “effectively lead to centralised wage setting”, which would in turn affect productivity.
The Transport Workers’ Union called the AGM a “farce and a wasted opportunity”, because the board would have delivered Joyce a bonus in cash even if shareholders voted against the bonus shares. TWU national secretary, Michael Kaine, said:
It was literally impossible for Joyce not to walk away multi-millions richer.
Shareholders should have been able to cast a genuine vote on the reinstatement of illegally sacked workers, costly legal battles, and a post-Joyce future for the tarnished airline.
Goyder also warned that a new Covid wave could see another spike in sick leave, although he said there was more resilience in the system now to cope.
Ahead of the meeting, Qantas issued a statement saying its performance had improved after “hitting a low point” in July.
Flight cancellations are happening in 2.2% of flights, which is below pre-Covid levels, the airline said. In June, 7.5% of flights were cancelled. “Mishandled” bags are at six in 1,000 passengers, which is “almost” back to pre-Covid levels. Twice that many were mishandled in April.
Updated
ATO official sent DHS ‘cease and desist’ request over robodebt, inquiry hears
A tax office official sent a “cease and desist” request to the Department of Human Services at the initial height of controversy over the robodebt scheme in 2017, a royal commission has been told.
But the inquiry was told on Friday that emails showed the department essentially refused the demand by citing the Coalition government’s support for its debt recovery activities, which turned out to be unlawful.
The ATO’s involvement in the scheme was crucial because it held the annual income data that was shared with Centrelink staff in order to raise debt through the unlawful “income averaging” method.
Emails aired at the commission on Friday showed that as media attention about the scheme increased during 2017, ATO officials began having concerns about how the data was being used.
That led to an email in July 2017 from a tax official asking that DHS “cease and desist” from using the data while it sought assurances that it was being used in accordance with the law.
The documents do not indicate which aspect of the law the official was concerned about.
The inquiry heard that within a couple of hours, a DHS official responded suggesting a working group meeting to discuss the “technical aspects” of the program.
But the DHS official also noted that “there are currently a range of measures the government has asked us to deliver which rely on data matching capabilities”. It added that “this work needs to continue”.
Senior counsel assisting, Justin Greggery, said the emails indicated that DHS had invoked the government in order to apply “political weight” and push back against the request.
Under questioning, Jeremy Hirschhorn, second commissioner at the Australian Taxation Office, noted the email reflected the concerns of one official at the ATO.
“I don’t know which law he might be referring to,” Hirschhorn said, noting the ATO official was not a lawyer.
Hirschhorn was not involved in the discussions around robodebt but has been called to give evidence on behalf of the ATO to explain its understanding of the situation at the time.
The nature of the data meant the ATO was under no obligation to provide the data being used under the robodebt scheme, and thus was doing so voluntarily, the inquiry has been told.
However, at the time the “cease and desist” was sent, a significant amount of tax office data had already been provided to DHS.
The inquiry continues.
Updated
That’s me signing off for the day. The fabulous Amy Remeikis will be back on the blog next week with parliament sitting, so I won’t see you back here for a little while.
As for the rest of the afternoon, the wonderful Cait Kelly is taking over!
Greens call for electricity bill freeze, paid for by windfall tax on coal, oil and gas companies
The Greens are calling on the government to freeze electricity bills for the next two years, proposing a windfall super profits tax on coal, oil and gas companies to pay for the move.
Parliamentary Budget Office costings commissioned by the Greens show a temporary windfall tax would raise close to $50bn over the next two years, with about half going to cover the cost of the bill freeze.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said that energy corporations were “wartime profiteers” and the government needed to make them pay more tax rather than give them concessions.
“Coal and gas corporations are driving up power bills and profiteering from people’s pain,” Bandt said.
“With these greedy power companies paying the difference on electricity bills, prices are frozen for households but won’t hold back investment in the clean energy generation we urgently need to get prices down.”
Under the proposal, retail electricity bills would be frozen for households for two years at the same rates as prior to the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, with any price difference covered by the windfall profit tax.
The median household across the country would save a forecast $776, the PBO analysis shows.
The proposal would increase the budget balance by around $25bn, with an increase in revenue of around $49.6 billion, and the cost of freezing electricity bills at $24 billion.
The PBO modelled the cost of temporarily paying retailers the total difference between retail prices per kilowatt-hour as of 24 February 2022 and the prevailing increased retail price for households. It noted there was “significant uncertainty” in modelling the proposal because of a range of factors.
Updated
WA farewells emergency Covid-19 powers
Western Australia’s Covid-19 state of emergency has come to an end as the country braces for a new wave of infections.
WA’s emergency powers expired overnight after more than two and a half years.
They had been used by the McGowan government to take drastic measures earlier in the pandemic, including declaring border closures.
In a surprise move, the government has opted not to immediately enact replacement powers rushed through the Labor-controlled parliament last month.
The temporary Covid-19 declarations can be used to enforce mask-wearing and isolation requirements but do not allow for interstate travel bans.
Premier Mark McGowan has said the measures will only be activated when necessary but could be triggered by a spike in infections or the emergence of new variants. He told reporters this week:
It’s there and available should we require it.
Public hospitals will individually manage mask and visitor restrictions while still requiring staff and visitors to stay away when acutely unwell.
– from AAP
Updated
ACT records one Covid death and 37 people in hospital
There were 910 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and one person is in intensive care.
Weekly ACT COVID-19 update – 4 November 2022
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) November 4, 2022
🦠 COVID-19 case numbers
◾ New cases this week: 910 (393 PCR and 517 RAT)
◾ Total cases since March 2020: 209,414
🏥 COVID-19 hospital numbers
◾ In hospital: 37
◾ In ICU: 1
◾ Ventilated: 0
◾ Lives lost this week: 1 pic.twitter.com/BUMMn0DCyH
Victorian government has ‘questions to answer’ on reported anti-corruption probe: opposition
Victoria’s opposition leader, Matthew Guy, says the Andrews government has “questions to answer” around a reported anti-corruption probe.
The Herald Sun on Friday reported that the state’s anti-corruption watchdog has been investigating a $1.2m contract awarded to a training organisation controlled by the Health Workers’ Union ahead of the 2018 election. It reported that former employees of the then health minister, Jill Hennessy, and the premier, Daniel Andrews, were among government staff interviewed.
The report in the Herald Sun came after the state’s supreme court granted the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission an interim injunction order against Nine Newspapers to prevent the publication reporting on details of a “proposed report”.
Guy said the report of another corruption probe was “extraordinary”:
This is the fourth time this government is involved in an anti-corruption commission investigation.
It says a lot about why, I believe, the anti-corruption commission should have its powers increased and its financial support increased as well.
The Victorian opposition has promised to boost Ibac’s funding by $10m per year and give it broader powers for public hearings if it wins this month’s state election.
A joint inquiry by Ibac and the Victorian ombudsman, released earlier this year, uncovered extensive misconduct by Labor MPs, including widespread misuse of public resources, nepotism, signatures being forged and attempts to interfere with government grants.
Two more Ibac inquiries in which the premier has reportedly given evidence continue. They involve land deals in the city of Casey and state’s fire services reform.
Updated
Large dams may threaten survival of platypus populations, research finds
Floods continue to put dams on the agenda. At that recent press conference in Forbes, NSW premier Dominic Perrottet was asked about the raising of the Warragamba Dam and said once the business case was complete, he would be working closely with the federal government on a joint funding arrangement.
However, my colleague Lisa Cox has this concerning report out today about the effect that major dams have on the platypus:
Major dams have disrupted gene flow between platypus populations, making them more vulnerable to threats, according to new research.
Scientists from the University of New South Wales examined the genetic makeup of platypuses in free-flowing and dammed rivers in that state.
Their results, published in Communications Biology, found there was greater genetic differentiation between platypus populations located above and below dams compared to populations in free-flowing rivers.
Updated
114 flood rescues in NSW this week: SES
In the previous week, NSW SES has responded to:
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) November 4, 2022
👉 2497 requests for assistance
👉 114 flood rescues
Visit https://t.co/BCnxAdOSBj to view all current warnings.
☎️ For emergency help call NSW SES on 132 500. In life-threatening situations, call Triple Zero (000) immediately. pic.twitter.com/mVNzkMzEro
RBA provides an inflation forecasting ‘mea culpa’
The RBA’s quarterly statement holds lots of data that is worth a good comb through, such as its view that “the prospects of a significant slowing in the global economy have intensified over the past three months” with all those rate rises, Europe’s “energy crisis” and “various headwinds affecting China’s recovery”.
But one of the most interesting parts comes at the end, with a special box on (drum roll, maestro): “What Explains Recent Inflation Forecast Errors?”
Note, there is no “our” in the headline, but I suppose that’s fair. As John Hawkins, a former senior official within both the RBA and Treasury and now a lecturer at the University of Canberra, tells us, pretty much every forecaster misfired.
Anyway, the RBA says:
As one of the largest economic shocks in a century, the inflationary effects of the pandemic-driven imbalance between supply and demand for goods both globally and domestically played an important role in the forecast miss.
Other unforecastable shocks – such as the effects of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the Australian east-coast floods – also contributed.
To limit the risk of future errors, the bank has made “upward adjustments [in its models] based on liaison, surveys and international experience”. Still, the RBA admits not all the errors were eliminated, implying that there are limits to what models can predict.
(It’s a bit like “hind-casting” used to test climate models. You get more confident about your model if it accurately mimics what has been observed in the past.)
The mea culpa might be a bit of pre-emptive explaining on the part of the RBA, which is in the midst of its first formal review in decades.
Hawkins, though, welcomed the RBA’s “self-criticism”, saying it showed it was “keen to learn from past mistakes”, even if no other forecasts saw how much inflation would accelerate.
You can read more on the statement:
Updated
Koondrook primary school told to evacuate in Victoria
EMERGENCY WARNING - RIVERINE FLOOD - Evacuate Immediately
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) November 4, 2022
Incident Location: Koondrook
More details at https://t.co/HYnI3sR9kB...
This Emergency Warning is being issued for Koondrook Primary School. If you are in this area, you should Evacuate Immediately. pic.twitter.com/GexoTq5IMC
Updated
Queensland records 14 Covid deaths and 105 people in hospital
There were 4,427 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and three people are in intensive care.
From 27 October to 2 November, we recorded 4,427 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) November 4, 2022
Sadly, 14 deaths were reported during this time.
Full details ➡️https://t.co/KjEKBzWY9v pic.twitter.com/bVPD5Je1xd
Opposition criticises lack of monitoring of families repatriated from Syria
Opposition home affairs spokeswoman Karen Andrews has criticised the government’s monitoring of the families of Islamic State fighters since they were repatriated last weekend.
Andrews told Sky News:
It seems as if the Labor government was quite happy for there to be a lot of speculation about the monitoring of these women, when in reality there seems to be little to nothing.
We already brought you the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil’s comments this morning about the repatriated families of Islamic State fighters. O’Neil said:
O’Neil’s response to whether the families repatriated from Syria are being monitored:
The same considerations applied in 2019 when the Coalition did the same thing, as has done the governments of Canada, the US, Denmark, the Netherlands and many other countries. They are difficult problems, we handle them calmly and methodically.
NSW/Queensland border rivers reach major peak
⚠️ Flood #Warning update for the Border Rivers: Macintyre River at #Goondiwindi peaked at 9.09 m this morning, likely to fall below major flood level (8.50 m) Friday evening, and remain above moderate (6 m) this weekend. Details: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/ljLqajBZjC
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 4, 2022
RBA’s core inflation measure nudged higher
Among the slew of figures in the 85-page RBA quarterly statement is the uplift in the central bank’s forecast for underlying inflation.
The awkwardly named “trimmed mean” inflation rate that stripped out the more volatile price movements will peak at 6.5% at the end of 2022, up from a 6% peak expected in the RBA’s August assessment.
That change was not unexpected since the trimmed mean was already at a record 6.1% in the September quarter.
Of note, however, is that the RBA predicts this inflation measure will only slow to 3.25% by December 2024, the end of the forecast period. That’s outside the 2%-3% target band the RBA aims to have for inflation, implying it won’t be relaxing its hawkish stance on interest rates any time soon.
That’s in contrast to some banks, such as CBA, that expect the RBA to be cutting its cash rate before the end of 2023.
Updated
Impact of recent NSW flood event eclipses February/March event
Steph Cooke gives a bit more detail about those primary producer grants Perrottet mentioned.
These are grants of up to $25,000 available to primary producers in the 66 local government areas.
She says the number of local government areas affected by recent flooding has now reached 66, which overtakes the 60 affected by the event earlier in the year.
We have extended overnight the number of local government areas covered by natural disaster declaration by an additional 11, taking the total number covered by this event to 66.
To give some context, in our February event, they were just 60 local government areas impacted so this event now eclipses what we have seen earlier this year.
What I have said in recent weeks is that we’re now seeing flood upon flood upon flood. The layering of one flood on another.
Cooke vows to continue to offer more financial aid support in partnership with the federal government.
We know that there is a lot of work to be done in terms of restoration and public infrastructure. We will continue to support councils, continue to work with primary producers and communities and importantly, we will continue to work with the federal government to unlock more layers of support as the need becomes apparent to us.
Updated
‘Nine river systems in major flooding’: NSW emergency services minister
Steph Cooke, says record breaking floods expected in Forbes are part of extensive flooding across inland NSW. She says even as the state’s weather conditions ease, the risk of flood does not.
We do have over 100 emergency warnings in place today, right across NSW.
Nine river systems are in major flooding at present.
We’ve not only got the real risk here in Forbes, in the Lachlan Valley, but major flooding in the Murray, Murrumbidgee and the river systems out west like the Barwon, the Darling, the Namoi, etc.
NSW and federal government offers rural assistance grants of up to $25,000 for flooded communities
The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, has stepped up to speak in Forbes, the central west town expecting its worst flood in 70 years.
Together with the NSW emergency services minister, Steph Cooke, it’s their second visit in recent weeks as the town has seen continuous inundation.
Perrottet says he will be travelling to Wagga Wagga later today which is also experiencing major flooding.
I want to reiterate to everybody to continue to follow the instructions of the emergency services, whether that is in Forbes or anywhere else across our state.
You wouldn’t drive into a bushfire, do not drive through flood waters.
We have seen too many lives lost because people do not follow that simple rule.
Perrottet announces rural assistance grants of up to $25,000 will be offered together with the commonwealth government, and that 50 ADF personnel have been deployed to provide support in Forbes.
Updated
Alan Joyce addresses Qantas annual general meeting
The Qantas AGM is underway now, and the chief executive, Alan Joyce, has addressed shareholders. He conceded the airline hadn’t been living up to expectations. He said:
There were too many delayed flights, long call centre wait times, and too many mishandled bags.
There were good reasons why this happened. But they weren’t good enough.
Joyce said service levels were at, or near pre-Covid levels now but warned that there could be another spike in sick leave if another Covid wave hits.
Updated
RBA says inflation will peak at 8%
The Reserve Bank expects inflation to peak at 8% in the December quarter, propelled by rising energy costs, while wage increases are only forecast to reach a top rate of 4% by June 2024.
In its latest quarterly statement on monetary policy, released on Tuesday, the central bank confirmed the annual consumer price index would accelerate from the 7.3% recorded for the September quarter. If achieved, 8% would be the highest since the first three months of 1990 when it was 8.7%.
More to follow.
Updated
Andrews courts votes of Victorian dog owners with $13m commitment for six new parks
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced $13.4m to build six new dog parks in Melbourne and upgrades for an additional 22 if re-elected later this month.
Speaking at Pawfield Park in Caulfield, Andrews also pledged $2m to support low-cost vet clinics and $5m for the animal welfare fund in honour of Oscar, the dog behind the state’s laws banning puppy farms, who recently died.
He told reporters pet ownership is up by 8% since Covid:
Sixty-nine per cent of families have got a pet. There’s never been a more important time to invest in new dog parks, upgraded dog parks, to support the amazing work that so many community volunteers do.
The new parks will be located in Armstrong Creek, Wollert, Sydenham, Mount Waverley, Wantirna and Endeavour Hills. Pawfield Park will be upgraded.
Caulfield is one of the state’s most marginal seats and is currently held by Liberal MP David Southwick. An electoral redistribution sees it become a Labor seat held by a razor-thin 0.2% margin.
And yes, for those wondering, there’s a lot of pics of the premier with dogs.
Victoria’s Premier .@DanielAndrewsMP and Cath Andrews at a dog park in Caufield East. The Premier’s announcing a $20m animal welfare package today. $13.4m of that would be spent on building six new dog parks @SkyNewsAust pic.twitter.com/aQuHn04Dwz
— Julia Bradley (@_juliabradley) November 4, 2022
We’ve also had our first heckler of the campaign. A man walking a dog has shouted, “you’re a disgrace” at the premier then walked away.
Updated
Government prepared to take action if energy suppliers do not cooperate: Albanese
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking on the Sunshine Coast in Queensland on the topic of surging energy prices:
We know that people and businesses need for some of this pressure to be taken off and are working through the issues.
There will be discussion again next week at our cabinet and that is what the treasurer [Jim Chalmers] is doing, working with our energy minister, Chris Bowen, the resources minister, Madeleine King, minister for industry and manufacturing, [Ed Husic], all working to make sure we get an appropriate outcome.
We want this to be cooperative. But that should not be read as we are not prepared to take action if the energy suppliers are not prepared to cooperate here.
We know that there has been substantial increases in profits at the same time as families and businesses are hurting from the increased charges and that is why we want to work for a solution as a matter of priority.
Updated
Australian Cyber Security Centre’s threat report released
We mentioned the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s annual threat report quite a bit this morning on the blog, with responses from the cybersecurity minister, Clare O’Neil, and the defence minister, Richard Marles.
If you want to read that report for yourself, you can find it here:
The ACSC has released its Annual #CyberThreatReport for 2021-22. It is key to highlighting the national cyber threat picture and helping improve Australia’s cyber defences https://t.co/8qDKw3pKET pic.twitter.com/PFMSHWNE3m
— Australian Cyber Security Centre (@CyberGovAU) November 3, 2022
RBA clues on inflation and wages coming up
At 11.30am AEDT, we’ll get the RBA’s latest quarterly statement on monetary policy.
It’s likely we’ll have the usual wording about the central bank being primed to raise its key interest rate as high and as long as possible to slay that inflation dragon*.
The focus, though, will likely be the confirmation that the RBA expects annual inflation to peak at 8% (or thereabouts) in the December quarter. That would be the highest since the consumer price index was running at 8.7% in the March quarter of 1990. (No idea who was “top of the pops”.)
Also of interest (pun!) will be how high the central bank expects wages to rise and when, finally, they might overhaul the impact of inflation. (We get the September quarter wage price index on 16 November, curiously – or annoyingly – three weeks after the CPI landed.)
Watch out for the bank’s updated view on how high electricity and gas prices are rising, and what that might mean for inflation.
(There’s reason not to panic, as we showed here:)
As for what the RBA might do about interest rate rises to come, here’s what the markets were telling us yesterday:
Ahead of RBA release of quarterly statement on monetary policy, here's how investors were predicting the cash rate to go. There's a 77% chance of another 25bp rise next month to 3.1%, before peaking above 4.1%. (Mind you, Jan shouldn't be higher than Dec because of summer hols.) pic.twitter.com/CBW9cjnVwS
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) November 3, 2022
*As for dragons being slain, the concept rankles those in cultures where dragons are generally beneficent creatures, such as in China. As it happens, prices generally seem to be on the skids, along with the country’s gargantuan property market, so they might welcome an inflation dragon.
Updated
Thousands more seniors to get access to healthcare card
Tens of thousands more seniors will be able to access to the commonwealth seniors health card from today, after last week’s budget increased the income threshold for the card.
The Albanese government committed almost $70m in funding to increase the income threshold from $57,761 to $90,000 for singles and from $92,416 to $144,000 for couples.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said the measure will help seniors amid the cost-of-living crisis to access to medicines and see their GP.
From today more older Australians can access the Commonwealth Seniors Health Care Card.
— Amanda Rishworth MP (@AmandaRishworth) November 3, 2022
This is another election commitment we’re delivering on to help ease the cost of living.
It will help improve access to medicines and the cost of seeing a GP. pic.twitter.com/b6eFWPL5LZ
Updated
Water running into Forbes CBD with homes to be inundated soon
Residents of the central west NSW town of Forbes are bracing for their worst flood in seventy years, as the Lachlan River is predicted to reach the 10.8 metres of the 1952 floods.
The Forbes mayor, Phyllis Miller, told ABC News the community is doing the best it can to prepare for the rising floodwaters.
Unfortunately there is not many of us that were around in 1952, so we are doing the very best we can with the information that we have got at hand.
As a community, we are all pulling together and helping one another. This morning we had a beautiful sunrise but we also had water starting to run into our CBD.
Our iron bridge is sitting at 10.31 metres and of course the prediction is 10.8 metres. That rose 0.6 metres over a two-hour period. That water will start to come in right through today and certainly will go into the business district as well as homes.
Farmers have lost enormous amounts of crops. They are doing a tough, really tough.
Updated
Victorian school ordered to evacuate over levee fears
A school in northern Victoria has been told to evacuate with concerns over the integrity of a nearby flood levee.
Emergency Victoria strongly advises people in and near the Koondrook primary school to evacuate immediately.
With the surging Murray River at peak flow as it passes the small township, the water level is reaching the maximum levee height and there are concerns a breach could happen.
There are currently more than 50 flood hazard warnings active across Victoria while some 400 roads remain closed.
Emergency service volunteers are also undertaking preventative sandbagging and doorknocking on the Murray at Albury, where inflows from the Kiewa River combined with increased outflows from Hume Dam to cause moderate flooding.
Conditions have eased in Rochester, where at least 900 people have been displaced and many more are assessing damage to homes after sandbagging efforts were overwhelmed by flood waters in October.
- from AAP
Updated
Victoria records 24 Covid deaths and 231 people in hospital
There were 10,226 new cases in the last reporting period, and seven people are in intensive care.
This week we reported 10,226 new cases, averaging 231 daily hospitalisations and 7 daily ICU admissions.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) November 3, 2022
24 deaths were reported in the past 7 days.
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/iA9RTKhDLp
NSW records 24 Covid deaths and 809 people in hospital
There were 12,450 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and 17 people are in intensive care.
COVID-19 weekly update – Friday 4 November 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 3, 2022
In the 7 days to 4pm Thursday 3 November:
-12,450 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded: 5,599 rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 6,851 PCR tests
-24 lives lost pic.twitter.com/yNUmdfR4tc
Victorian opposition promises $160m for bus expansion
On day three of Victoria’s election campaign, the opposition leader, Matthew Guy, is in Sunbury in Melbourne’s north-west.
The opposition has pledged that, if elected, a Coalition government would deliver $160m across four years to expand bus services across the state.
Sunbury is a safe Labor seat, but there are fears the party could suffer significant swings against it in this area, due to growing frustration that infrastructure has not kept up with the region’s ballooning population.
Opposition Leader @MatthewGuyMP getting of the local bus in the seat of Sunbury today to promise $40M a year for four years to increase bus routes across the state @abcmelbourne #springst pic.twitter.com/j7k0EIIGLN
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) November 3, 2022
Guy said Melbourne and regional Victorian hubs needed more bus networks:
Rewarding hard working families is part of my agenda and making sure there is a greater number of public transport options is a key part of that.
It’s so important we get bus services right. It’s so important that they compliment our large rail and tram network.
The opposition’s bus package would include 45 new routes and a further 20 under review.
The opposition’s transport spokesperson Danny O’Brien said there were too many public transport deserts in Victoria.
Updated
Police continue search for man swept away in flood waters as companion’s body discovered
Emergency services have issued 22 emergency warnings across NSW including for Wagga Wagga, Gunnedah, Moama and Forbes, which awaits the worst flooding in the central west NSW town in 70 years.
Meanwhile, police divers are continuing to search for the body of a man swept out of a ute tray and into a flooded river in the Southern Tablelands.
The man was one of two flung from the tray on Monday night when the ute was driven across a causeway. Police divers found the other man’s body on Thursday afternoon.
- from AAP
Updated
Police pressure remains high at key mining event
The International Mining and Resources Conference is wrapping up its third and final day in Sydney on Friday, with a “focus on workplace culture in the mining and extraction industry”.
The security has been pretty intense with organisers telling the 7,500 or so delegates that “appropriate security measures” are in place to ensure “attendance is safe and secure”.
The organisers warned that “various groups are planning protests”.
Well, so far, the biggest protest has been this one this morning:
All that security at #imarc for this protest… (plus lots more police etc inside the venue)… pic.twitter.com/64l82CQGrR
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) November 3, 2022
And there’s a bit more of the police presence here. (Inside, there are layers of delegate check, roaming police, including plainclothes officers.)
And more of the police presence outside #IMARC… for a little more than a handful of protesters… pic.twitter.com/8dnwaitaOp
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) November 3, 2022
Security seemed particularly twitchy. Yesterday afternoon, staff were busy making phone calls to determine if protesters had somehow infiltrated the W Hotel construction site to hold some sort of stunt. (Unfurl a flag, perhaps ... that would have been viewed by almost nobody ...)
Anyway, organisers were satisfied with the results so far to confirm the event will return to Sydney from 31 October to 2 November next year.
“Mining has never been more essential,” Anita Richards, Imarc’s managing director said. “A decarbonised global economy depends on it, and as a truly global event, Imarc is all about bringing together industry, government, and community leaders from all over the world to lead the conversations the world needs for a clean energy future.”
Wonder if “community leaders” will include environmental groups next time. Odds don’t look great.
Updated
Rennie underwhelmed by Anzac team talk
Plans for a combined Wallabies-All Blacks “superteam” to tackle the British & Irish Lions appear to have left Australia coach, Dave Rennie, somewhat underwhelmed.
Following reports the NZRU and Rugby Australia have been discussing the possibility of the best players in both countries teaming up for a one-off spectacular against the Lions on the 2025 tour, Rennie admitted he hadn’t heard anything about the prospect.
And when asked whether that might be a team he’d be interested in coaching, given he is a New Zealander who’s overseen the Wallabies, he offered a half-smile and noted:
Jeez, don’t know if I’ll be coaching Australia then ...
It’s above my pay grade. Probably more important is sorting out a domestic competition between the two countries as opposed to picking a team that represents both countries, so I’d be interested to see if there’s any validity in that.
The players were caught by surprise too with Wallabies prop Matt Gibbon enthusing “it would be pretty cool”.
Veteran Bernard Foley couldn’t envisage playing in three years time, never mind in an ‘Anzac XV’.
But could the great trans-Tasman rivals put their Bledisloe rivalry behind them and join forces in perfect harmony?
Foley said:
I’m sure they could. You see the Lions guys able to do it. Australians and New Zealanders – as much as we are competitors, if there was the opportunity I’m sure the guys would get along fine.
- from AAP
Updated
Politics to become completely devoid of anyone ‘who has ever done anything interesting’ Albanese predicts
Albanese said “much of the debate in politics generally has got far worse” during his quarter of a century in parliament, with social media among the trends driving the polarisation:
I can look, at any time, at a social media feed of mine and find something [in response] that is completely over the top.
Albanese said this has a damaging effect on politics itself, with young people likely to be turned off entering politics in the first place.
It undermines people’s participation in the process. I think for young people considering going into politics, they’ve got to worry about what will be said about them. They’ve also got to worry about what’s on their social media feed from 30 years ago.
We’re going to end up with no one who has ever done anything interesting participating.
Albanese called for greater “sophistication” in political dialogue.
Sophistication in political dialogue is an asset.
It’s something that we have that differentiates us from the lack of political discourse in Russia, for example.
Updated
Albanese says Morrison was 'alone' among world leaders in not denouncing Capitol Hill riots
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has told the Australian that “fragile” democracy is under threat in a wide ranging interview on foreign policy and national security.
Albanese called the hammer attack on US Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul, a “horrifying” symptom of the increased polarisation of political discourse. In this environment, the PM said:
Democrats have to stand up for democracy; we can’t duck these issues.
Albanese criticised Scott Morrison for not denouncing former US president Donald Trump’s inciting the riots on Washington’s Capitol Hill last year on January 6.
Then prime minister Scott Morrison was alone, really, among democratic leaders in not calling it out; in the UK, France, Germany, Canada, it was called out and it should have been.
The circumstances in the US, with people almost in paramilitary gear, is a concern. That concern has been expressed, quite rightly, by President [Joe] Biden.
Updated
Warnings intense rainfall could lead to flash flooding in the Northern Territory
⚠️Severe Thunderstorm Warning ⚠️ INTENSE RAINFALL may lead to dangerous and life-threatening flash flooding in the warning area over the next few hours. Locations which may be affected include #Nauiyu, #Batchelor and #PineCreek. Latest warnings at https://t.co/Y3ODTyPbij pic.twitter.com/v3yBjptN5e
— Bureau of Meteorology, Northern Territory (@BOM_NT) November 3, 2022
Queensland casinos issued with show cause notices
Show cause notices have been issued to the licensees of two Queensland casinos following a determination they are unsuitable to hold licences.
The state’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, says major failings at The Star Gold Coast and Treasury Brisbane were highlighted in a review conducted by former judge Robert Gotterson.
His inquiry was ordered after the NSW gaming regulator found Star Entertainment repeatedly breached the law, misled banks and allowed criminals to operate with impunity and gamble almost without restraint.
That probe also heard serious allegations about Star’s conduct in the northern state.
Fentiman says the notices issued late on Thursday provided the two entities with the opportunity to show cause as to why disciplinary action should not be taken against them.
Their responses are due by 25 November. The attorney general said:
While it is important that we do not pre-empt the outcomes of these show cause notices, new legislation ensures the government has a range of disciplinary options available following that process.
These include increased fines of up to $100m and the appointment of a special manager.
- from AAP
Updated
Taxing gas companies won’t bring down energy prices: Marles
If you were watching the blog yesterday you know the industry minister, Ed Husic, accused gas companies of a “glut of greed problem” as Australian households face rising energy bills.
The deputy PM, Richard Marles, is asked if he also believes gouging by energy companies is behind the rising prices:
I think there is a way to go and we’re open minded about what steps we can take here. We’re engaged in this right now to try and get an outcome which places downward pressure on gas prices.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, spoke on Q+A last night about the problem, saying a windfall tax on coal and gas (recently implemented by the UK) was one of three options he had in front of him to try encourage energy companies to bring prices down.
On the idea of a tax, Marles said:
I don’t think that is a plan that is going to place downward pressure on gas prices.
Updated
Marles denies Australia is competing with China amid countries’ donations to Solomon Islands police
Beijing will donate water cannon trucks, vehicles and motorcycles to the Royal Solomon Islands Police Force this morning in a ceremony involving the Chinese ambassador, Li Ming.
It comes two days after Australia gave dozens of semi-automatic rifles and 13 vehicles to the country’s police force.
ABC Radio asks Richard Marles if Australia is trying to compete China in Solomon Islands:
No ... we’ve just got to focus on our own relationships with Solomon Islands, and indeed with the countries of the Pacific, and I genuinely do believe if we are present and if we are engaged with the countries of the Pacific they do want to work with us – we are the natural partner of choice, but we have to be there.
Ultimately countries in the Pacific are free to have the relations they want to with any country. What we’ve got to focus on is making sure we are deeply engaged in the Pacific.
Updated
Government wants public more aware of cybersecurity and to take individual responsibility
Richard Marles:
There’s also a public cyberhealth campaign we need to be running here which is why we’re releasing this report today.
We’re doing interview such as this, to try and get people aware of their own cybersecurity, so that at an individual level people are taking for responsibility for their security.
Will the government launch a formal campaign like it does when it comes to public health issues?
I think there is a public health dimension to this … The message today is this is a threat which is growing.
Updated
More investment needed for cybersecurity regulation in private sector: Marles
Richard Marles says big fines for corporations who don’t do enough to protect customers’ data is “part of the answer” when it comes to cybersecurity, but the government is also thinking about further regulatory measures.
I think a lot of this is about making sure the systems are in place across the private sector, across government that we are investing a lot more in this space – which we are doing.
Updated
'We see this as a domain of warfare': Marles on cybercrime
Richard Marles says cybercrime represents a threat at multiple levels: on a national scale, as well as for big business and individuals.
There are a number of state actors, but I think what needs to be understood and this is a very grey story.
On the one hand, the Signals Directorate is an organisation of defence. That’s in a sense why I’m talking to you today as a defence minister. So we see this as a domain of warfare.
On the other end, we are talking about cybercrime. There is an interaction between both.
The common denominator in all of this is we have just got to be a lot more vigilant. We’ve got to harden our defences here, for critical infrastructure, for government, but [also] for big businesses like Medibank and Optus.
Updated
‘Cybercrime is now big business’: defence minister
We just brought you the cybersecurity minister, Clare O’Neil,’s comments on ABC News following the release of the cybercrime report.
Her colleague, the deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles, has been on radio also responding to the increase in malicious cyber activity.
What’s his take on what’s driving the increase?
In part we’re living more of our lives online. The pandemic has accelerated that.
Cybercrime is now big business. The average impact for small businesses is $40,000 per incident so you can say that there’s a lot of money to be made by cyber criminals.
We’re also seeing more state-based actors now that’s in a sense out in the open with the war in Ukraine with Russian malware attacks on Ukraine, but they’re not the only state actors.
In the murky grey world that is cyber space, we’re seeing a lot of cross-pollination between state actors and cybercriminals and all of this is giving rise to a much more precarious environment online for all of us.
Updated
22 emergency flood warnings across NSW
NSW SES has 104 current warnings across NSW:
— NSW SES (@NSWSES) November 3, 2022
22 Emergency Warnings
58 Watch and Act
24 Advice
Please visit https://t.co/BCnxAdOSBj to view the list of warnings.
Post current at 4 November 2022 at 7.15am. pic.twitter.com/ly8oe7ga5g
Government has not made a decision whether families of IS fighters could be repatriated to Victoria
O’Neil’s response to whether the families repatriated from Syria are being monitored:
You would understand it would be ridiculous for me to talk about the operational ways in which this matter is being handled. I say to viewers, these are difficult things.
The same considerations applied in 2019 when the Coalition did the same thing, as has done the governments of Canada, the US, Denmark, the Netherlands and many other countries. They are difficult problems, we handle them calmly and methodically.
She’s asked about when the next group will arrive and if they will be coming to Victoria:
We haven’t made a decision about that. I will be transparent about those details if further decisions are made.
Updated
Opposition’s ‘politicking’ on Syrian repatriation ‘disgraceful’: O’Neil
O’Neil, who is also the home affairs minister, is asked about the first group of families of Islamic State fighters repatriated to Australia last weekend who have been settled in western Sydney.
ABC News asks the minister about concern by local mayors and residents about the potential security threat posed by these families.
These are sensitive and difficult issues. What I would say is that we are acting on national security advice here. One of the things that hasn’t been properly discussed here is the risk to Australia if we do nothing.
The truth is we have got a relatively large group of Australian children who would otherwise be growing up in a camp where a key focus and influence on their life is violent ideology and I don’t think that is good for the country.
I understand the concerns. I do want to say, the politicking that is going on from the opposition leader is disgraceful. It is rank hypocrisy because the Liberals did exactly the same thing in 2019, repatriated a group of people from these camps. For some reason they are now saying this is not appropriate to do. People are sick of this kind of politics.
National security matters are handled sensitively and delicately and calmly. That is how we have conducted this exercise.
Updated
‘I want the corporate sector to step up and do better’: cybersecurity minister
O’Neil says she doesn’t want to get into “a running commentary” about whether Medibank handled the data breach better than Optus.
We have a big task across the business community to lift our standards.
O’Neil is asked if she still believes the Optus breach was a basic hack:
I have made my comments very clear on the public record. Most cyber-attacks aren’t particularly sophisticated. I expect Australian companies to comply with good standards and they owe a duty to Australians whose data they hold to make sure that they do.
O’Neil is asked if she is unhappy with the way Optus have handled this because it has effected millions of people:
It has caused enormous hassle for a lot of people. I am grateful that we don’t have evidence of financial crimes to date. To big businesses around this country, you have got obligations to Australians, especially if you are collecting and keeping personal information about your customers. I want the corporate sector to step up and do better.
Updated
Cybercrime represents ‘core national security focus’: cybersecurity minister
O’Neil says that cybercrime forms part of a changing global landscape with the war in the Ukraine and “threats in our region.”
Cyber is going to be a core part of this.
She says the threat goes beyond fraud and scam texts.
It’s not just about the frauds or the texts you or I might receive, but real issues around the security of our country going forward.
This is a core national security focus of our government.
Updated
Russia and China ‘specific states’ allowing cybercrime to occur: minister
Natasha May now on deck with you!
The minister for cybersecurity, Clare O’Neil, has been speaking to ABC News following the release of the Australian Cyber Security Centre’s annual threat report.
The report showed a surge in cybercrime as the agency is receiving a report every seven minutes, compared to one every eight minutes the year before.
Since that report was completed, O’Neil says the breaches at Optus and Medibank are the “two largest cyber-attacks in Australian history that have effectively happened within a month of each other”.
O’Neil says that the threat is coming from a number of factors but among those:
We are seeing actors in specific states where effectively governments are allowing criminal conduct to go on.
The report shows “Russia and China are in the mix”, O’Neil confirms. However, she says it is a global threat.
As a country we really need to step up our efforts.
Updated
Forbes and Wagga on flood watch as waters rise
With more than 100 emergency warnings, regional NSW towns from Forbes to Wagga Wagga are bracing for floodwaters to rise even as blue skies appear.
The Murrumbidgee River has also burst its banks, with major floods peaking overnight and evacuation orders for Wagga Wagga in place.
Major flooding is also occurring at Gundagai, with river levels now higher than April 1989 floods.
Moderate flooding continues at Narrandera, with major flooding possible early next week. It’s a similar scenario for Darlington Point as more water rises overnight.
In the wheatbelt town of Forbes in the state’s central west, some 600 people were told to evacuate their homes by 4pm on Thursday as rising waters threaten to cut off properties and strand residents.
Cattle farmer Charles Laverty was busy sandbagging his property on the outskirts of Forbes with about one third of his paddocks already underwater.
Continued flooding has hit inland communities hard, as farmers struggle to recover from repeated bouts of destruction to crops and livestock.
Laverty said:
A lot of [my neighbours] have given up on harvesting those areas, which is very expensive. The losses are going to be devastating for them.
Record flooding is forecast in Forbes on Friday night when the Lachlan River is expected to peak, NSW SES Zone Commander Ben Pickup said.
He said peaks would continue through to Saturday morning.
I really encourage the community of Forbes – please listen to the warning information.
Major flooding on the Lachlan River on Thursday is causing inundations in the town of Nanami. Major flooding continues further downstream at Condobolin, with the river not expected to fall for weeks.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
A report by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia today says that women are ending up in prison at increasingly higher rates compared with men, resulting in huge costs to society and the economy.
If prison populations and costs continue to increase at the same rate, Australia will be spending at least $1.6bn extra each year on its prison system by 2030, pushing the annual bill to taxpayers above $7bn.
Although fewer women are incarcerated than men, the female prison population has grown by more than 60% in the past decade, compared with a 45% increase in the male population.
Read our full report here:
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. Natasha May will be here shortly to take you through the day’s events, but first let’s catch up with what’s been breaking overnight.
Major regional towns in New South Wales including Forbes and Wagga Wagga are on flood alert as rivers peak, even though rain has subsided.
Cybercrime is posing an increasing thereat to Australian organisations, businesses and households, according to a new report by the Australian Signals Directorate. It warns that cyberspace is becoming the world’s new “battleground” and that it is increasingly becoming the “new domain” for warfare, citing hacking attacks by the Russi and and Chinese states in recent years. Here’s our take on what’s sure to be a big talking point this morning.
One you might have from last night is that federal treasurer Jim Chalmers promised on ABC’s Q&A program that the government will unveil its plan to ease pressure on hosuehold energy bills by Christmas. He did not rule out subsidies or changing the way companies are taxed.
On with the news.
