The day that was, Wednesday 12 October
We will leave the live blog there for tonight.
Here’s what you might have missed today:
The federal government declared 27 councils in NSW eligible for disaster assistance payments after the floods in the past few weeks. Those LGAs are: Blayney, Bogan, Burke, Brewarrina, Cabonne, Cowra, Dubbo, Edward River, Forbes, Gilgandra, Glen Innes Severn, Greater Hume, Gunnedah, Gwydir, Lachlan, Lithgow, Liverpool Plains, Moree Plains, Mid-Western, Narrabri, Narromine, Tamworth, Upper Lachlan, Walgett, Warren, Warrumbungle and Weddin.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus has said the pursuit of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange has gone on too long but has repeated that the Australian government won’t make its case to the US in public.
Dreyfus also said he wants reforms to whistleblower protection laws in place before the National Anti-Corruption Commission is up and running.
There was a mixed reception to Tourism Australia unveiling a computer generated kangaroo, Ruby the Roo, as Australia’s new tourism mascot.
Russian and Belarusian players will be able to compete in the Australian Open in 2023, but not under their country’s flags. It comes after they were controversially banned from Wimbledon.
Former deputy New South Wales premier John Barilaro has entered a not guilty plea to assault and malicious damage after an alleged altercation with a Channel Seven camera operator in July.
The Australian government said it has signed a $322m contract with Raytheon Australia as part of upgrades to the existing Collins-class submarines.
Natasha May will be back with you in the morning. Until then, I hope you have a nice evening.
Qantas staff apply to take protected industrial action
Qantas domestic cabin crew have applied to the federal industrial umpire to take protected action over fatigue concerns and claims of outsourcing, AAP reports.
The Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia (FAAA) says Qantas management “have threatened employees that they will not have access to work on new aircraft unless they sign onto new enterprise agreements that dramatically cut conditions”.
In May, Qantas ordered 20 Airbus A321XLR aircraft as part of the first tranche of its domestic fleet renewal which will replace its Boeing 737 aircraft.
The association says the airline would extend shifts from 10 to 12 hours for crew on the new Airbuses and cut rest time between shifts.
“To force crew to work even longer and harder than they already are with no additional break between shifts would cause more to go off sick with fatigue, causing further disruption to an already chaotic Qantas flight schedule,” said the association’s general secretary Teri O’Toole.
But Qantas denies the union’s claims, saying the “grounds for taking this step towards industrial action are misleading”.
“The shift length changes we’re asking for are the same that apply to crew working at other domestic airlines in Australia,” a Qantas spokesperson told AAP on Wednesday.
They also denied any plans to outsource the attendants’ shifts.
“The FAAA signed off on these conditions as part of agreements for those airlines, so it’s bizarre they’re now claiming they’re unsafe.”
If the FAAA’s application is successful cabin crew will then vote on industrial action which Qantas says cannot take place before mid-November.
Updated
