What we learned today, Monday 7 April
Thanks for following along on the blog today.
Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
Prime minister, Anthony Albanese, visited Hobart to mark the beginning of the “Run for the voice”, which aims to further encourage support from across the political spectrum. Former federal Liberal MP Pat Farmer began his 14,400km journey around Australia in support of the voice, which will take around six months.
Meanwhile, the no campaign for the voice to parliament launched its campaign with the slogan “don’t know, vote no”.
The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case held an initial public hearing in Canberra today.
Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, spoke on the upcoming budget due in three weeks’ time, saying it will forecast for 2023 and 2024 “the weakest two years of global growth in the last two decades apart from the depths of the GFC and of Covid”.
Speaking at the Press Club, foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said it is Australia’s job “to lower the heat on any potential conflict while increasing pressure on others to do the same”.
During her speech, Wong said former prime minister, Paul Keating’s, previous press club comments “diminished his legacy”.
In a statement, Keating responded that he “never expected more than platitudes” from Wong, and that a Labor government has never been “so bereft of policy or policy ambition”.
The Senate education legislation committee has recommended that the Greens bill to abolish indexation of higher education student loans and raise the threshold of income before repayments start be rejected by the Senate.
Updated
Minister orders inquiry into mental health commission
An investigation has been launched into claims of dysfunction and bullying at the National Mental Health Commission, as reported by AAP.
A report published in The Saturday Paper set out a series of allegations relating to the commission, which was set up just over a decade ago to provide policy advice on mental health.
Health minister, Mark Butler, said on Monday he had initiated an independent investigation into the claims, and the commission’s CEO, Christine Morgan, had voluntarily stepped aside.
The investigation will consider whether the matters raised in the report could be substantiated, as well as conduct a “culture and capability review” to ensure the commission is able to provide a safe working environment and has the capability to perform its role.
There will also be a “functional and efficiency review” to ensure the commission can be financially sustainable.
The independent investigation will be led by Professor Deb Picone, an experienced health administrator.
The nation’s deputy chief medical officer, Dr Ruth Vine, has been appointed interim CEO of the commission.
Butler said:
As minister I take allegations of this nature seriously and will prioritise ensuring a safe working environment for staff.
Updated
Australian man dies while walking Kokoda Track in Papua New Guinea
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) has confirmed it is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who has died in Papua New Guinea.
This afternoon, the ABC reported that an Australian man died while walking the Kokoda Track.
According to the ABC, a spokesperson for Port Moresby’s Pacific International hospital confirmed a 48-year-old man was brought in on Sunday night where he was pronounced dead.
The spokesperson said the man fainted on the track while he was walking, and those who were with him attempted CPR.
The Kokoda Track Authority said it has contacted local police for an investigation to take place.
A Dfat spokesperson said on Monday evening:
We send our deepest condolences to the family.
Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.
Updated
It’s been a big day of news, so make sure to check out the day’s biggest headlines with this wrap from my colleague Antoun Issa:
Informal sperm donation a ‘wild west’ putting parents and children at risk, say authors of Adelaide Law Review paper
Legal experts have warned that the law has not kept pace with informal sperm donation, with outdated definitions of what a family or a parent is.
The authors of a research paper for the Adelaide Law Review say the legal context of informal sperm donation is a “wild west”, which is, in turn, putting vulnerable parents and children at risk.
Sperm shortages and the expense of IVF are driving people to seek sperm donors online.
Deakin Law School associate professor and lead author, Neera Bhatia, said this meant “unsafe and unscreened sperm with potential transmissible disease or other genetic conditions is used”.
Bhatia said:
The time is now for the law and regulatory bodies to pay closer attention to these trends.
Currently, informal sperm donation is a kind of ‘wild west’ — a lawless state where nothing is governed or monitored.
The review recommended greater public accessibility to assisted reproductive technology and greater availability of donor sperm and eggs, better education and the removal of discriminatory language.
In the paper, she wrote that “family” in legislation was often taken as a “nuclear family”; young, white, married heterosexuals with a small number of children.
She wrote:
The notion of the nuclear family in contemporary Australia is wholly inaccurate. Ideology and community attitudes towards what family means and family configurations have significantly evolved over time.
And “parent” needs a broader legal definition that encompasses co-parenting arrangements between donor and recipient, she said, pointing out that there are different laws for sperm donation depending on whether artificial insemination is used, or natural insemination (sex).
Updated
Labor senator Tony Sheldon says ‘it is unclear’ whether Greens’ Hecs indexation bill will ease cost-of-living pressures
On the committee’s decision to recommend the Senate not pass a bill to abolish indexation on Hecs, chair and Labor senator, Tony Sheldon, said:
While the committee agrees that measures should be taken to ease the cost-of-living burden on Australians, it is unclear whether the measures proposed in the bill will achieve this effectively.
The Australian Taxation Office confirmed the average time to repay a debt has increased from an average of 7.3 years in 2005/06 to an average of 9.5 years in 2021/22.
The committee said a comprehensive review of the expense of higher education in Australia was needed and noted a universities review process was examining access, opportunity and affordability.
But Senator Mehreen Faruqi said the government was choosing inaction and making life harder for millions of Australians, saddling students with a debt akin to a “tax for life”.
Student debt is an immediate and growing problem that must be addressed now, people cannot afford another round of brutally high indexation.
- from AAP
Updated
Greens predict ‘student debt avalanche’ after Labor’s rejection of indexation changes
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi says the committee looking into her bill to abolish indexation and raise the minimum repayment income on student debt has recommended the bill not be supported.
The bill, proposed by the Greens, would abolish indexing Hecs as Australian graduates potentially face up to a 7% hike to debt in June this year due to spiking inflation.
In a video posted to Twitter, Faruqi said:
There’s been overwhelming support to scrap indexation.
We’ve seen story after story of student debt locking people out of the housing market, making it harder for them to get loans, to pay rent, to start a family, and it’s crushing their dreams of further study.
Faruqi said the major parties are “completely out of touch with the reality of ballooning student debt and the harm it’s causing”.
Without action, on June 1, millions will be hit with a Student Debt Avalanche.
The system is broken.
We are demanding action from the government before the situation gets any worse.
Updated
Newman says, ‘We need a voice that’s not party bound’
Like Gerald Power and Geoff Whitten before him in the hearing, Jamie Newman also said having Indigenous members of parliament was not enough to help change outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“You push your party line. That doesn’t work for us here on the ground,” Newman said, directly addressing the politicians on the committee.
We need a voice that’s not party bound. We need a voice from the community. It doesn’t mean every community, you won’t get every community voice in this community, but you’ll have voices that understand the community.
Newman stressed that he was “very grateful we have 11 [Indigenous] people in parliament” and said Australians “should be celebrating that”.
Updated
‘We need a change of direction’ to close the gap, says Jamie Newman, CEO of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service, so people should vote ‘yes for change’
The parliamentary inquiry into the Indigenous voice referendum continued with Jamie Newman, CEO of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service.
He said he was not exactly sure how the voice would fix problems in Indigenous health and education, but said there needed to be some radical changes in how problems were analysed.
Newman told the hearing:
We have breakdown in structure and process and systems that need to change.
I don’t know whether the voice is going to do that, but it’s something different. If we look at what we’ve been doing for the last 19 years [of closing the gap] and don’t have a significant change of direction... it’d be remiss of us not to take this opportunity now to say we need a change of direction.
Newman said he didn’t think the aim of ‘closing the gap’ in Indigenous social and health outcomes would occur in his lifetime, airing frustration that each new government or minister or change in the public service led to new frameworks of dealing with Indigenous issues.
He also said he was annoyed that existing systems do not communicate better with one another.
“What’s happened with our people over [the Closing The Gap strategy] hasn’t worked. Fragmentation, siloed approaches, does not work,” Newman said, saying people should vote “yes for change”.
Updated
There is a need for ‘dedicated representatives to speak for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities’: Jeff Whitten, Orange city councillor
Gerald Power said he believed that having a constitutionally-guaranteed voice to parliament and the executive would ensure that public money for Indigenous programs flowed to “the appropriate services”.
I reckon it will start to get better outcomes because then you’re listening, not being spoken to.
Jeff Whitten, asked about the fact that there are 11 Indigenous members of federal parliament already, said there was also a need for dedicated representatives to speak for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities specifically.
He said:
Those Indigenous members of parliament are there to represent a constituency who put them there. Sure, they are of Indigenous heritage and have a voice for Indigenous heritage but that’s not really their role.
Their role is to represent the electorate that voted them in. Having a voice is going to give a framework for all parliamentarians, not just Indigenous parliamentarians ... That’s’ where I see a real value of that structure, it will be overarching all of government.
Updated
Local politicians from Orange, NSW, offer emotional support for voice during regional parliamentary inquiry hearing
The parliamentary inquiry into the Indigenous voice referendum has held an at-times emotional hearing in Orange today, with numerous Aboriginal members of the community imploring Australians to back the upcoming referendum.
“We need a voice,” said Orange city council’s deputy mayor, Gerald Power, as he appeared to fight back tears.
At the age of 61, I never thought that we would even come to this. I thought I’d be dead. I thought my son would have to pick it up. My mother died, my ancestors died without having a voice in the constitution.
The joint committee into the referendum held the second hearing of its inquiry in regional NSW today. Power said the voice was needed because Aboriginal people in Australia “were never identified as humans” in the original drafting of the constitution:
It needs to at least acknowledge that there were humans here, the oldest humans on the face of the planet.
Jeff Whitton, another Orange city councillor, said he believed a constitutionally enshrined voice would give “continuity and reliability” to how Indigenous people could give input into legislation and government programs that affect them.
At the moment rules can be constantly changed by legislation. Out of respect, the symbolism is having it in the constitution, but to have change, you need it there to give continuity, to give trust to the Indigenous people that we as Australia are taking them seriously.
The voice can be built upon. Sure, day one there will be a lot of work but they know it can be built upon and they know it will be there in year two and year three and year 50, that governments changing aren’t going to change or take that voice away from them.
Updated
Tasmanian Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam to campaign ‘no’ on voice
Tasmanian Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing and confirmed he will be campaigning for a “no” vote on the voice referendum, in line with the rest of shadow cabinet.
I am a member of the shadow cabinet and we have formally adopted a position to oppose the proposal on the table and we have made clear the reasons why for that, so I will be advocating for people to vote ‘no’ because my view is that what is proposed will not fix the problems that are being experienced in regional and remote Indigenous communities.
This comes as various politicians spoke from Hobart today in favour of the voice when they saw former federal Liberal MP Pat Farmer off on a 14,400km run around the country in support of the voice.
Updated
Woman comes forward after Melbourne hit-run that left cyclist injured
According to Victorian Police, a woman has come forward following a hit-run collision in Noble Park this month that left a cyclist injured.
Last Thursday, a 59-year-old Pakenham man was cycling on Douglas Street when he was struck by a white car at around 6.40am.
The victim fell off his bicycle and landed on the road as the car continued on, dragging the bike for over 100m.
He was taken to hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injuries.
A 40-year-old Dandenong woman has now been arrested and is currently assisting police with their enquiries.
Video footage of the incident has been circulating online.
Updated
As voice referendum approaches, AEC to ramp up information campaign to help explain process and spot disinformation
Australian electoral commissioner, Tom Rogers, is appearing on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing to speak on the practical side of the voice referendum.
He said the AEC will be ramping up their information campaign as we get closer to the referendum, informing Australians on how the referendum process will work and how to spot disinformation.
Rogers is also urging anyone planning on campaigning on the voice to check the AEC website and make sure they are fulfilling any obligations:
…if you are thinking of campaigning, even if you are a group of friends but you are going to spend money on campaigning, please jump on the website [and] work out what your obligations will be.
It is very clearly explained, and if you do have an obligation I urge you, keep records and make sure you fill out the required paperwork after the event.
Updated
Ibac anti-corruption investigation findings involving Health Workers Union and Victorian government to be released Wednesday
Findings from an anti-corruption inquiry investigation involving Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, will be made public later this week.
Guardian Australia understands members of parliament were informed on Monday that the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission’s (Ibac) Operation Daintree investigation will be released on Wednesday.
The investigation is centred upon grants worth $3.4m, which were awarded by the Andrews government to the Health Workers Union (HWU) on the eve of the 2018 state election. It is understood interactions between the union and members of former health minister, Jill Hennessy’s, staff and the premier’s office were central to the investigation.
Ibac went to court to prevent the publication of draft findings in the weeks leading up to last year’s state election, although a version of the story was published by both the Age and Herald Sun.
It is the fourth known Ibac inquiry that has privately interviewed Andrews in recent years.
When asked about the inquiry in November, Andrews told Guardian Australia he had done “nothing wrong” and had acted “appropriately at all times”.
Sometimes you might very much like to defend yourself, because you know that you act appropriately in all things, but there are processes and there’s an independence to these processes and they should be allowed to run their course.
Updated
Paul Keating’s statement continues:
[Penny] Wong went on to eschew ‘black and white’ binary choices but then proceeded to make a choice herself - extolling the virtues of the United States, of it remaining ‘the central power’ – of ‘balancing the region’, while disparaging China as ‘intent on being China’, going on to say ‘countries don’t want to live in a closed, hierarchical region, where the rules are dictated by a single major power to suit its own interests’. Nothing too subtle about that. She means China and is happy to mean China.
This is the person claiming she does not wish to make binary choices. Yet tells us ‘we have to press for the management of great power competition’, while saying, ‘we want partners and not patriarchs’ but articulating not a jot of an idea of how that great power competition can be settled without war.
Keating also continued his criticism of the Aukus deal:
The foreign minister went on about diplomacy needing to be backed up by military capability – capability she nominates as AUKUS, as if three nuclear submarines at sea in twenty years’ time would provide any additional effective capability.
The minister says the advent of this AUKUS capability will ‘change the calculus for any aggressor’ – of course, meaning China.
He concluded his statement with:
As a middle power, Australia is now straddling a strategic divide, a divide rapidly becoming every bit as rigid as that which obtained in Europe in 1914. Australia’s major foreign policy task is to soften that rigidity by encouraging both the United States and China to find common cause and benefit in a peaceful and prosperous Pacific. Nothing Penny Wong said today, on Australia’s behalf, adds one iota of substance to that urgent task.
Updated
Paul Keating says he ‘never expected more than platitudes’ from Wong’s Press Club speech
Former Labor prime minister, Paul Keating, has released a statement following comments made by Penny Wong at the Press Club today.
Asked whether her speech was a response to Keating’s searing criticism of the Aukus deal and herself personally, Wong said:
…I think in tone and substance, he diminished both his legacy and the subject matter.
Now in a statement, Keating has said he “never expected more than platitudes from [Wong’s] press club speech” and he was “not disappointed”:
In facing the great challenge of our time, a super-state resident in continental Asia and an itinerant naval power seeking to maintain primacy – the foreign minister was unable to nominate a single piece of strategic statecraft by Australia that would attempt a solution for both powers.
Instead, Penny Wong actually went out of her way to turn her back on what she disparaged as ‘black and white’ binary choices, speaking platitudinally about keeping ‘the balance of power’, but having not a jot of an idea as to how this might be achieved.
Keating went on to say that “never before has a Labor government been so bereft of policy or policy ambition”.
During the address she said she was ‘steadfast’ in refusing to talk about regional flashpoints; that is, refusing to talk about the very power issue which threatens the region’s viability.
She told us she will turn her back on reality, speaking only in terms of ‘lowering the heat’ and the ‘benefit from a strategic equilibrium’, without providing one clue, let alone a policy, as to how that might be achieved.
Updated
Following flight delay, WA premier, Mark McGowan, may extend China trip to ensure all key meetings occur
The West Australian is reporting that WA premier, Mark McGowan, is considering extending his visit to China after a fellow passenger’s mid-flight medical emergency forced the plane to return to Perth, delaying the trip by one day.
The visit is McGowan’s first to China in four years, scheduled to last five days and involving multiple high-level meetings with businesses and government.
He is now expected to arrive in Beijing early Tuesday morning and told the West Australian:
We are committed to achieving our goal associated with the China trade mission and, if required, we will stay longer to ensure all key meetings can still occur.
Updated
Tasmanian Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, reinforces support of Indigenous voice
Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, has reinforced his support for the voice in a series of tweets this afternoon, saying that the nation has “failed” Indigenous Australians and that it is time to find “a better way” forward.
He also spoke in support of the voice in Hobart today, while the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was visiting.
Rockliff, the most senior Liberal in Australia, made his position known last week, breaking ranks with the federal party’s “no” position.
On Twitter, he wrote:
That’s why I’m supporting the voice.
To listen to Indigenous Australians about what’s best for them, and provide a seat at the table on matters that directly affect them.
My support is clear, but I know good people can disagree respectfully on this.
My vote has the same value as everybody else, and rightfully Australians will have the final say.
By any metric, as a Nation, we’ve failed Indigenous Australians.
— Jeremy Rockliff (@jeremyrockliff) April 17, 2023
It's high time we found a better way.
That’s why I’m supporting the Voice.
To listen to Indigenous Australians about what’s best for them, and provide a seat at the table on matters that directly affect them.
My support is clear, but I know good people can disagree respectfully on this.
— Jeremy Rockliff (@jeremyrockliff) April 17, 2023
My vote has the same value as everybody else, and rightfully Australians will have the final say.
What I know is that we need to move forward, with unity and purpose.
Together.
Updated
Former PM, Julia Gillard, hands down report recommending universal preschool be extended to all three-year-olds in SA
Circling back to some earlier news via the AAP: A royal commission into early childhood education in South Australia has recommended universal preschool be extended to all three-year-olds.
Handing down her interim report earlier today, former prime minister, Julia Gillard, delivered 33 recommendations, urging SA to take the lead in early education through a program to begin in 2026 and be fully implemented by 2032.
She called for three-year-olds to be provided with 15 hours of preschool for 40 weeks a year, similar to what is currently offered to four-year-olds:
The research tells us crystal clear that intervention in the early years can make the biggest difference.
Gillard’s report found that up to 11,130 new preschool places would need to be created at a capital cost of up to $139 million. Extra ongoing funding to support the system once fully operational was put at between $121 million and $357 million, with between 1497 and 2180 more staff needed in the form of teachers, educators and directors.
The SA premier, Peter Malinauskas, said the government would study the report in detail and respond to the commissioner by 19 May.
Gillard is due to hand down the final report in August.
Updated
Thanks Natasha for leading us through the morning! I’ll be with you for the remainder of the day.
Thanks for your attention this Monday – Emily Wind will take you through the rest of today’s news!
Wong looks to future relationship with China, not the past
Many of the questions at the National Press Club focused on China.
Foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, issued a gentle warning to Australian businesses that it would be no longer possible to separate economic and strategic considerations in a way that might have been possible 15 years ago when the Howard government was in office.
She said “we don’t live in that world anymore”, adding:
What I am trying to do and will keep doing is outlining, explaining and articulating what I see as the future as opposed to the past bilateral arrangement with China.
I have been very clear that we seek to stabilise the relationship [but] both countries know we’re not going to go back to where we were 15 years ago.
Wong said smart businesses understood the importance of resilience and diversifying their trading markets. She said China would “likely remain our largest trading partner in aggregate” and therefore Australia had continued to make clear to the Chinese government “that we do not think the current trade impediments are justified”, and hoped the current pathway to resolve the dispute over barley tariffs worked and could be applied to other sectors such as wine.
Later, in response to a climate crisis question, Wong said this was one of the areas in which Australia and China should cooperate.
She said starkly:
There is no effective response for humanity on climate change unless we are all in. There is no way we can game our way out of it … bearing in mind we are already at the mitigating risk point not the averting risk point.
Updated
Greens dissent from inquiry that rejects higher education debt changes
The Greens dissented, noting that if student debts are indexed by 7% from June, a $24,770 student debt will increase by $1,700
Greens higher education spokeswoman, Mehreen Faruqi, said:
Labor has ignored the loud, desperate calls from students, graduates, young people, women, unions, think tanks and experts for urgent action to address the student debt crisis. The committee majority relied selectively on evidence provided by a handful of witnesses to justify what seems like a foregone, ideological conclusion.
The growing burden of student debt is making news every day and it’s beyond clear that urgent intervention is warranted ...
By choosing inaction, Labor is choosing to make life harder for millions of people, especially young people who are on the front lines of almost every crisis we face: whether it be cost-of-living, housing, student debt or climate.”
Updated
Inquiry rejects higher education debt changes
The Senate education legislation committee has recommended that the Greens bill to abolish indexation of higher education student loans and raise the threshold of income before repayments start be rejected by the Senate.
In their majority report, the Labor senators said:
While the committee agrees that measures should be taken to ease the cost-of-living burden on Australians, it is unclear whether the measures proposed in the bill will achieve this effectively.
The committee accepts the evidence of some inquiry participants that the removal of indexation from student loans will not ease the cost-of-living for individuals with a loan in the short-term, given that an individual’s repayments are calculated based on the individual’s income, rather than the total amount of the loan.
In addition, the committee notes that an increase in the minimum repayment threshold may significantly increase the proportion of debt that is not expected to be repaid, in turn impacting the long-term financial sustainability of the loan programs.
The committee is particularly concerned about the uncosted financial implications of the bill which, according to the departments’ evidence, could be in the order of $2 billion, and $9 billion for ongoing revenue effects.
The Coalition senators agreed, noting that the later someone starts repaying a student loan, the longer it takes to pay it off.
Updated
Wong sticks with government position that Julian Assange case ‘should be brought to a close’
Let’s bring you a few more points from the question and answer session with the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, at the National Press Club, beginning with the case of Julian Assange.
Asked whether it was now time to step up Australian diplomatic pressure to secure the release of Assange, who the US is seeking to extradite from the UK on espionage charges, Wong began by repeating the Albanese government’s position that the case has dragged on “for too long” and “should be brought to a close”.
Interestingly, Wong confirmed that this view had been “communicated at leader level and at my level and other levels throughout our engagement”. (Anthony Albanese has previously been a little ambiguous about whether he had personally raised it with US president, Joe Biden, and UK prime minister, Rishi Sunak.)
Wong said she was pleased that the new Australian high commissioner to the UK, Stephen Smith, had visited the Australian citizen in Belmarsh prison two weeks ago “to better understand his welfare”. She said it would be good to continue to be able to provide consular support to Assange.
Wong also suggested that Australia will raise concerns with the UK about conditions of his detention:
I note that some of his advocates have been raising rightly whether or not the current conditions at Belmarsh are appropriate. And that is something I will be asking my Commissioner to engage on.
Updated
Melbourne airport rail link completion date 'pushed out' from 2029
Victorian deputy premier and transport minister, Jacinta Allan, says the airport rail link won’t be completed on time because of “challenging” negotiations with Melbourne Airport.
Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne, Allan said the 2029 completion date would have to be “pushed out”:
I’ll be really frank with you.
It has been challenging to negotiate with the airport about how the project will be delivered on the land that they lease from the federal government to run the airport.
It’s been slower than I would have liked.
Updated
Circling back to Wong’s questions at the Press Club, Bloomberg’s Ben Westcott asks Wong whether she would consider the idea of a regional free travel zone, something the Samoan prime minister, Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, floated on her recent visit.
That was a long way further from where the government’s policy is - for increased labour movement and the Pacific engagement visa.
We are disappointed the opposition appears to not understand the importance of this idea.
Updated
NSW facing $7.1bn in ‘difficult to avoid’ cost blowouts, new treasurer says
Daniel Mookhey, the newly minted treasurer of NSW, has unveiled an extra $7.1bn in “difficult to avoid” budget pressures in the four years to 2025-26 now that he and Courtney Houssos, the new finance minister, have had a chance to look at the state’s books.
Incoming NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey says the state faces an extra $7bn in ‘difficult to avoid’ costs, now the new government has had a chance to examine the books. #nswpol pic.twitter.com/HzaEX6UqxT
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 17, 2023
The two just announced the government will delay the budget planned for June until September, taking a leaf out of a former treasurer Mike Baird’s book when the coalition took office 12 years ago.
These $7.1bn in extra risks include 1112 new nurses that the Perrottet government announced but apparently didn’t fund very far into the future. The state’s cybersecurity office also runs out of money soon.
These ‘pressures’ include funds for 1112 extra nurses that had not been budgeted for by the outgoing Perrottet government, out of home care funding, and a cyber security office that runs out of money in the next couple of years: pic.twitter.com/EoLycMA2tZ
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 17, 2023
The delayed budget will come after the government releases an updated economic statement to parliament in June.
Mookhey and Houssos will also take the time for a “line by line” review of expenditure to ensure “the public is getting maximum value for every dollar” that the government is investing or borrowing, the treasurer said.
Review capital spending will be a strategic infrastructure review, made more pressing by signs of added over-runs.
And capital expenditure is also running $2.2bln higher than expected, and now mostly debt-funded: pic.twitter.com/FEfUdPXPFn
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 17, 2023
Lots of work to be done, and with a hint there will be other surprises to be revealed.
Updated
No timeline on Labor election commitment to sign Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
Our foreign affairs correspondent, Daniel Hurst, asks Wong:
You spoke a lot in the speech about Australia sharpening its own articulation of its interest and regional interests.
Many countries in our region including Indonesia, Malaysia, Fiji, Samoa, New Zealand, Thailand and the Philippines have signed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons [TPNW].
Labor had a platform commitment to sign and ratify it subject to several conditions. Do you expect Australia will be in a condition to sign it in this term of parliament and what undertakings have you given the US and UK on this front?
Wong:
The position, is not about any private undertakings, the position is what is articulated in the platform resolution which does go to some of the challenging issues associated with the TPNW. I think the TPNW is of substantial normative value.
We share the objective of a world that is free of nuclear weapons. We do believe the best pathway for that, is to ensure that the non-proliferation treaty, the NPT is acted upon and progressed.
In terms of the TPNW, I think the fact that so many states have signed it demonstrates the frustration that there has been insufficient progress in the context of the NPT, and if this can spur that more progress in that arena, that is a good thing.
We set out very transparently in the party platform our consideration of that treaty.
On whether or not it could be signed this term of parliament, Wong says she is not going to set any timeline.
Updated
Paul Keating's press club comments ‘diminished his legacy’: Penny Wong
The first question to Penny Wong from ABC’s Jane Norman chairing this Press Club address is about whether the speech is a response to former Labor prime minister, Paul Keating’s, searing criticism of the Aukus deal and Wong personally.
Norman:
Some of the framing of this speech by some media outlets today framed it as a counter to comments that were made by former prime minister, Paul Keating, in this very forum only a month ago.
In that speech, he said running around the Pacific Islands with a lei around your neck, handing out money, is not foreign policy, it is a consular task. This was criticism of you by one of your own side.
I was wondering were you forewarned that Mr Keating was going to be making those comments and have you spoken to Mr Keating since?
Wong:
You can probably work that out for yourself.
What I would say on the Pacific is the importance of the Pacific to Australia, the importance of a peaceful, stable region to Australia, I think I laid out in this speech and has been well understood by previous prime ministers and governments.
I think – on Mr Keating, what I would say is this - I think in tone and substance, he diminished both his legacy and the subject matter.
Updated
‘We are not hostages to history’
Wong finishes her speech:
Today’s circumstances have prompted comparisons with 1914, the 1930s, and 1962. Those comparisons should serve as warnings, but nothing more.
Because we are not hostages to history. We decide what to do with the present.
We are investing in our national power, not just to guard against regional contest, but to shape and influence it to advance our national and shared interests.
We are doing this by creating deterrence, with major military investments in future capability, including through the Aukus partnership.
We are doing this by creating domestic economic resilience, addressing climate change and energy security, through more robust supply chains, making more things in Australia and skilling our people.
And we are doing this by investing in our diplomatic power, renewing Australia’s closest partnerships, and advancing our interests and values.
Our decision is to use all elements of our national power to shape the world in our interests, and to shape it for the better.
Updated
Engagement with Asean a core priority for Albanese government
Wong says engagement with Asean members is a core priority for the Albanese government, stressing this point that Australia and its regional neighbours must shape their own future beyond the influence of the bigger powers.
Some would see Southeast Asia as a mere theatre for great power competition. That is not a view we share. Because it strips Southeast Asian nations – and the enduring, central institution of Asean – of their influence, dynamism and agency. Of their ability to make sovereign choices in pursuit of their national and collective interests.
… And importantly, it presents passivity as a feasible option: that it’s possible to stand by and hope for the best, while others make choices on our behalf. That diminishes our ability – both Australia and our neighbours in Southeast Asia – to shape the kind of region we want to live in.
That’s why the Albanese government has made engagement with Asean and its members a core priority. By the first anniversary of our government, I will have visited every country in Southeast Asia as foreign minister, except Myanmar.
Updated
US submarines to visit Australia on rotation ‘will not be armed with nuclear weapons’
The US has confirmed that the submarines which will visit Western Australia on a rotational presence will be not be armed with nuclear weapons, Wong says.
Wong says “an undertaking as big as Aukus in a democracy like ours should attract scrutiny”:
Some have raised concerns about nuclear non-proliferation.
… Our Aukus partners understand and recognise Australia’s commitments under international law, including the Treaty of Rarotonga.
Naval nuclear-propulsion is consistent with our obligations under the Treaty of Rarotonga.
The US has confirmed that the nuclear-powered submarines visiting Australia on rotation will be conventionally-armed.
And while we are not a party to it, Australia will continue to act in a manner that is consistent with the basic principles of the Bangkok Treaty.
We have and will continue to engage, regularly and transparently, with the IAEA and with our regional partners.”
Australia has always said the Aukus submarines would be conventionally armed but this assurance applies to the visiting US submarines, too.
Updated
‘China is going to continue to keep being China’ Wong says
A great power like China uses every tool at its disposal to maximise its own resilience and influence, its domestic industry policy, its massive international investment in infrastructure, diplomacy and military capability, access to its markets.
This state craft illustrates the challenge for middle powers like us and our partners in South-East Asia and the Pacific. Yet, we need not waste energy with shock or outrage at China seeking to its advantage. Instead, we have to channel our energy in pressing for our own advantage.
We deploy our own statecraft towards shaping a region that is open, stable and prosperous. A predictable region operating by agreed rules, standards and rules where no country dominates and no country is dominated. A region where sovereignty is respected and all countries benefit from a strategic equilibrium. A region that safeguards our capacity to disagree. A region that preserves our agency. A region that protects our ability to decide our own destiny.
Updated
Australia’s job is to ‘lower the heat’ on potential conflict: Wong
Wong says the rising tensions between states with overlapping claims in the South China Sea and the risk of miscalculation means the regions is facing “the most confronting circumstances in decades.”
So this is why I am so steadfast in refusing to engage in speculation about regional flashpoints – whether the Himalayas, Taiwan, the Korean Peninsula or anywhere else.
In particular, there is much frenzied discussion in media and political circles over timelines and scenarios when it comes to Taiwan. Anyone in positions like mine who feels an urge to add to that discussion should resist the temptation.
It is the most dangerous of parlour games.
… So I’ll say it now at the National Press Club - to avoid any possible misunderstanding - our job is to lower the heat on any potential conflict while increasing pressure on others to do the same. The Albanese government does that here at home, and we do that in our diplomacy.
That may not sell as many newspapers today, but it will help you to sell them for a lot longer!
Updated
Wong says reality of our region more complicated than binary narrative of global powers
As our foreign affairs correspondent, Dan Hurst, wrote about this morning, Wong is using the speech to say that events in the Indo-Pacific region cannot be seen simply in terms of great powers of the US and China competing for primacy.
Despite the appeal of a binary narrative of global powers, Wong says the reality of our own region is more complicated and Australia needs to focus on making its own decisions, not deferring to others:
I want to talk about how we contribute to the regional balance of power that keeps the peace by shaping the region we want. Many commentators and strategists look to what is happening in the region simply in terms of great powers competing for primacy. They love a binary. And the appeal of a binary is obvious - simple, clear choices, black and white.
But viewing the future of our region simply in terms of great powers competing for primacy means country’s own national interests can fall out of focus, and it diminishes the power of each country to engage other than through the prism of a great power.
… So, countries like ours in this contested region need to sharpen our focus on what our interests are and how to uphold them. And our focus must be on what we need to do so that we can live according to our own laws and values determined by our own citizens, pursuing our own prosperity, making our choices and respecting but not deferring to others.
Updated
Penny Wong addresses Press Club on ‘how we avert war and maintain peace’
The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, has gotten up to speak at the National Press Club in Canberra about “how we avert war and maintain peace.”
She begins her speech with this reflection:
When Australians look out to the world, we see ourselves reflected in it just as the world can see itself reflected in us. What that means is we have the ability to build on common ground with people around the world.
This is a powerful national asset for building alignment, for articulating our determination to see the interests of all the world’s peoples upheld alongside our own.
This matters because our foreign policy must be an accurate and authentic reflection of our values and our interests. Of who we are and of what we want. And it matters because our national power more than anything else comes from our people.
We need to harness all elements of our national power to advance our interests when the implications of unchecked strategic competition in our region are grave.
Updated
Phase out of Woolworths plastic shopping bags expands to Vic, Tas and NSW
Woolworths will begin phasing out its 15 cent reusable plastic shopping bags in Victoria, Tasmania and New South Wales over the coming weeks.
The move is part of its commitment to stop selling the bags nationwide from June. Woolworths already removed these bags from stores across the ACT, NT, SA, QLD and WA over the last 12 months.
In a statement, Woolworths said the move will see more than 9,000 tonnes of plastic removed from circulation annually across the country.
Director of stores, Jeanette Fenske, said:
Bringing your own bags is the very best outcome for the environment, and we encourage our customers to keep up the great work. Paper bags will continue to be available for those who forget to bring their own but ultimately we want to sell less bags altogether.
We’re proud to be the first major supermarket to commit to removing these plastic shopping bags from our stores and this change is an important step towards more sustainable grocery shopping across the country.
Updated
Twitter labels ABC ‘government-funded media’
The ABC has today received a new disclaimer on its Twitter page, labelling the broadcaster as “Government-funded Media”.
According to Twitter, labels on government accounts “provide additional context for accounts heavily engaged in geopolitics and diplomacy”.
An ABC spokesperson said the broadcaster is “liaising with Twitter regarding changes to account verification and labels” and also published this Tweet following the change:
FYI: The ABC is a publicly funded broadcaster, governed by the ABC Charter which is enshrined in legislation. For more than 90 years the ABC has always been and remains an independent media organisation, free from political and commercial interests.
— ABC News (@abcnews) April 17, 2023
Last week, US broadcaster NPR quit Twitter after receiving a similar label on its account, which it said “undermine[s] our credibility by falsely implying that we are not editorially independent”.
Updated
Bangarra chair says voice will help take reconciliation to ‘next level’
Phillipa McDermott, chair of the Bangarra Dance Theatre, has been speaking on the ABC this morning after the Indigenous dance company issued a statement saying it fully supports voting yes in the upcoming voice referendum.
McDermott said Bangarra wouldn’t normally get involved in politics, but made this move primarily to educate their staff:
It’s the treaty and the truth-telling that really, I think, is where the rubber hits the road. And that’s what kind of pushed us towards yes, when we understood the reason why it goes in three streams, I suppose.
The national level is the referendum. More at a state level, the treaty making. And then at a local level, the truth-telling, it started to make sense.
So that’s why we thought – OK, we can understand that now. And that’s what pushed us over the line.
McDermott said she has seen change in her lifetime, but the voice will help take reconciliation “to the next level”:
… we have moved forward in the last 30 years with reconciliation. There is no doubt about that. I’ve seen great improvements.
You know, when I went to university … there might have been 200 people that graduated. Now, there’s thousands. Fantastic!
… we’ve come leaps and bounds in some areas, but in some areas we haven’t. So [what the voice] will do is, it will elevate us to the next level.
Updated
Albanese commends Pat Farmer’s ‘Run for the voice’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has taken to social media to share some photos from Hobart where the “Run for the voice” marathon was launched this morning.
Former federal Liberal MP Pat Farmer will run 14,400km around Australia over the next six months and complete the marathon at Uluru.
(You’ll notice behind the Albanese government ministers in the picture, Liberal backbencher Bridget Archer is there supporting the voice)
Pat Farmer is an ultra-marathon runner, a former Liberal MP, and he’s running 14,400km to support the Voice.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 17, 2023
He's leaving today to run around Australia. The whole way around. And he’ll finish at the heart of our country – Uluru. pic.twitter.com/r5CzqtblIh
Just like Pat, people from all backgrounds and all sides of politics are stepping up to support a Yes vote. pic.twitter.com/G7ZIaCrtYo
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) April 17, 2023
Updated
Chalmers on potential changes to the PRRT (petroleum resource rent tax)
Chalmers says he has only very recently received the advice from Treasury for the PRRT review which began when Scott Morrison was treasurer.
Chalmers says he is not yet prepared to say whether he will be releasing the response to advice from Treasury before or after the May budget:
I have now received the report from Treasury, the advice, which is the culmination of not just the work that they’ve been doing over the life of two governments but also the extensive consultation that they’ve been engaged in over a long period of time now.
I’ve only received that advice recently, very recently in fact. I’m working my way through it. I’ll engage in a consultative way with my colleagues and we will come to a view on it at some point. I’m not prepared to say yet whether that will be before or after the budget. We haven’t decided that, to be frank.
But we are working through it right now in a methodical way, considering the recommendations and suggestions and proposals that the Treasury have put to me.
Updated
Chalmers says RBA review will require some legislative change
Chalmers says the RBA review will require some legislative changes and he has ensured that the finalisation of the report has been a bipartisan effort including consultation with the opposition and cross bench.
There will be a legislative element to the elements that were put forward by the Reserve Bank governor review panel.
And my view is that the recommendations should be beyond party politics in this building.
… I genuinely want this to be bipartisan. There are some recommendations which would require legislative change. There are some that would require the governor and the board to change the way that they go about things at the bank. There are some pieces of it which will factor into the statement of conduct of monetary policy.
Updated
Chalmers on flow-on effect on budget from G20 meeting
Taking questions, Chalmers says the grim assessment of the global economy from his G20 meetings will have a flow-on effect in the budget:
The uncertainty and volatility in the global economy will be a really key influence on the budget that we hand down in May.
It will influence our forecast, but it will also influence how we try to strike the balance between maintaining the kind of fiscal restraint which was a hallmark of the October budget, but also making sure that we can support people through a difficult period. That’s the fine balance, and series of fine judgements which are central to this budget that we hand down in May.
And so, the discussions with my counterparts over the latter half of last week were really about – how do we properly understand what’s going on in the global economy: what are the risk and implications for Australia? And more broadly, when it comes to energy and other important parts of our policy suite, what are the opportunities for Australia?
So yes, those meetings that we had last week will be a key influence on the budget. They’ll be a key influence on our understandings of how we expect the budget to play out in the next 12-24 months.
Updated
‘Good reasons’ for cautious commodity price assumptions, Chalmers says
Chalmers finishes his speech saying he has received advice from the Treasury to take a cautious approach to commodity price assumptions in the budget.
There are good reasons to maintain a conservative and cautious approach when it comes to those commodity price assumptions.
My inclination is to accept the recommendations of the Treasury when it comes to changing in a moderate way, in quite a restrained way, cautious, conservative way, the way that we go about making the commodity price assumptions in the budget.
… [Treasury] have a clear view and a firm view that the time is right to change those assumptions. I’ve indicated throughout that my preference is that they remain conservative and cautious for good reason and I’m inclined to accept the advice that I’ve been provided. We will finalise it between now and the budget and you’ll see it on budget night.
Updated
Energy assistance to be ‘centrepiece of May budget’
Chalmers says progress has been made on the energy rebates, with the government reaching the conclusion of discussions with the state governments.
The energy assistance, household assistance and small business [measure] will be a centrepiece of the May budget. Ideally, I can update you on those negotiations with the states and territories before then. But certainly, at the very latest, in the budget, Australians will understand, depending on where they live in the country, what kind of assistance they will be receiving, who is eligible and how much assistance as well.
Chalmers also says that the focus of the second treasurer’s investor roundtable this Friday will be cleaner and cheaper energy.
Updated
Chalmers hope to release Reserve Bank review ‘ideally in next week’
Chalmers also says he wants to flag the release of upcoming reports. He plans to release the review of the Reserve Bank in the next week:
The Reserve Bank review panel have provided their report to me. I’ve had some discussions with Governor Lowe about the contents of the report. Before long, I want to have a discussion with the opposition, and ideally, the crossbench, about the contents of that report as well. I intend to confer with my colleagues as well.
I hope to be able to release the Reserve Bank review quite soon. Ideally in the next week, but certainly in the next couple of weeks.
That will be released with an initial view from the government about the 51 specific recommendations contained in the report.
Updated
Chalmers on Australia’s five objectives at G20 meeting:
Understand developments in the global economy.
Align our budget with the conditions that we confront.
Urge a stronger supervision of banks around the world, particularly when it comes to the speed of these potential spot fires developing.
Find a place for Australia in the investment environment for cleaner and cheaper energy post the American announcement of their own substantial investments.
And fifth and finally, focus the efforts of the multinational institutions, including the new leadership or the incoming leadership of the World Bank on our own neighbourhood here in Pacific.
Updated
Chalmers: budget to come amid global economy ‘tilted to downside’
Returning from “a brief and busy, but very productive” meeting with his G20 counterparts, the IMF and the World Bank, Chalmers says the government will be handing down its May budget in an uncertain and volatile economy:
We are heading now into the home stretch of the Albanese government’s second budget, to be handed down in three weeks tomorrow. This week, we will finalise many, if not most, of the remaining decisions and then the Treasury and finance department and others will do their work finalising with us the 2023 budget.
This budget will be handed down in the context of an uncertain and volatile global economy which is precariously placed. One of the key messages from the engagements in DC was that although the global economy has managed to get through a difficult period in recent months, the risks are still, in the language of the IMF, tilted to the downside – by which they mean that there is still a lot of uncertainty, a lot of volatility, a lot of vulnerability in the global economy.
The IMF has said that they expect an incredibly weak five years of global economic growth. My budget, our budget, in three weeks’ time, will forecast, for 23 and 24, the weakest two years of global growth in the last two decades apart from the depths of the GFC and of Covid.
Updated
Jim Chalmers on three priorities in the budget
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking in Canberra and says the budget will be about three things:
Cost of living help without blowing the budget and adding to inflation.
Secondly, laying the foundations for growth in our economy with a focus on energy, industry and particularly the care economy.
And then thirdly, doing what we can to make our people, our budget and our economy more resilient to the types of international economic shocks that we are becoming more and more accustomed to.
Updated
Albanese on ‘strange’ expectation Indigenous people will all vote same way on voice
Asked about differing opinions on the voice between Tasmanian Aboriginal groups, Albanese responds it’s a “strange” expectation people have that Indigenous people will vote the same way on the referendum:
We should not think somehow that there is something unusual about a group of people – in this case Aboriginal Australians – having some difference of view.
Any more so than people who are half Italian won’t all vote the same way in the referendum later this year. It seems to me it’s rather strange that there’s this expectation there.
So, overwhelmingly what is clear is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people do support constitutional recognition and do support the voice.
Updated
Albanese on Marion Scrymgour’s comments on NT child neglect: ‘I take all of her calls seriously’
The prime minister is taking questions in Hobart. He is asked if he supports the MP for Lingiari, Marion Scrymgour’s, call for the Northern Territory government to establish a statutory body with the powers to income-manage Indigenous families who have been found to have neglected their children.
Albanese says he always takes Scrymgour’s calls seriously and will be having discussions with her about the matter:
I always listen to Marion Scrymgour as someone who’s on the ground as member for Lingiari. I take all of her calls seriously whenever and I’ll be having discussions with Marion.
What we know is that some suggestions have been raised in in the last week, including yesterday. If there are matters of child abuse occurs, that’s a crime and it should be reported to the police.
Updated
Parliament House alarm triggered by smoke from fault in ‘air handling unit’
The evacuation of the Parliament House building was due to a mechanical fault inside a piece of machinery, the Department of Parliamentary Services says.
Dozens of people were forced to scramble out of the building this morning around 9am, after fire sirens started blaring and smoke filled part of the Senate wing. About an hour later, the incident was cleared and people returned to work.
The DPS told Guardian Australia that there wasn’t any fire involved, but a machinery issue. A spokesperson said in a statement:
This morning’s evacuation of the Senate wing was a precautionary measure following the failure of a drive belt in an air handling unit.
The failure resulted in some smoke which triggered the alarm. There was no fire associated with the incident.
Updated
Albanese: voice referendum will give all Australians ‘opportunity to make a difference’
The PM Anthony Albanese is back up speaking in Hobart about how each Australian has the opportunity to make a difference in a more united Australia through the voice referendum:
Now, I can’t, I couldn’t run 80km a day. To say the least. But what we can do as politicians is to get out there and make sure that we promote the work of so many in the community who I know over the next six months will come up with their own way of supporting a voice and constitutional recognition.
… of talking to people at their local school playground, of talking to people in the shops, be they small business owners. Of talking to people in their local workplace as well.
Sporting organisations that will participate and promote the voice and reconciliation. We see this weekend the commemoration of the courageous stance by Nicky Winmar, who was so inspirational some 30 years ago.
Each of us in our own way has an opportunity to make a difference. A difference for progress, a difference for reconciliation. And a difference for a stronger, more united Australia.
When we wake up after the referendum, there’s only two options, yes or no. And a yes vote will mean that people will feel that Indigenous Australians have been given respect. That we are more confident and forward-looking as a nation. And I believe this is an important task.
It’s a historic opportunity that Australians will be given. As Pat said, outside on the steps, this is now over to the Australian people. This is something that won’t be determined by politicians.
Updated
Parliament House evacuation over
The fire evacuation of Parliament House is now over, and staff have returned to work. It’s still not clear exactly what happened, but other journalists have reported that there was smoke rapidly filling the southern end of the press gallery corridor earlier.
The Guardian’s office is at the opposite end, where we didn’t see or smell any smoke, but others have said there was a strong smell of electrical or burning plastic. Some of that smell is still lingering at the southern end of the corridor. A group of firefighters in full gear were walking through the hall earlier, doing a final check before officially ending the operation.
Reporters have returned to work but we’ve also reached out to the Department of Parliamentary Services for information.
Updated
ACT Police and DPP relationship 'beset by tension': inquiry
The inquiry into the handling of the prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann has begun in Canberra.
Counsel assisting began Monday’s hearing by noting the director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, wrote to the ACT police chief in November 2021 complaining of inappropriate interference by police in the case. Guardian Australia revealed the content of this letter in December, after it was released pursuant to a freedom of information request.
Counsel assisting told the inquiry that the relationship between ACT police and the DPP was “beset with tension”. She said “in broad terms the points of conflict were”:
Whether it was proper for ACT police to conduct a second evidence in chief interview [with Brittany Higgins] on 26 May 2021.
Disagreement about whether Bruce Lehrmann should be charged.
Matters of credibility related to Brittany Higgins.
Delivery of the brief of evidence to Lehrmann’s lawyers before a plea was entered, which included counselling notes about Higgins.
“The apparent close engagement” between investigating officers and lawyers for Lehrmann during the trial.
The inquiry will consider the conduct of ACT police, the DPP and the victims of crime commissioner.
Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His first trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
Updated
Pat Farmer says daughter was inspiration for marathon to support voice yes campaign
Pat Farmer takes the mic following the PM. He says the run was the idea of his daughter Brooke and that older Australians need to learn from their kids to embrace the idea of the voice as a “no-brainer.”
My daughter said to me, you ran around Australia for the celebration of the nation for the centenary of the federation, why don’t you do a run for the voice?
It seems to me every person under the age of 30, this is an absolute no-brainer. And they can’t understand why we’re even having a referendum on the issue, it should just naturally be in place already. But it’s not.
And so it’s up to us, their parents, and their grandparents, and their great-grandparents, to show our maturity on this issue as well.
To learn from our kids as we go, to learn from our own children and make the right decisions. My father said to me a long time ago, he said, ‘Pat, the most precious commodity on this earth is time’
Updated
Albanese helps launch former Liberal MP’s 14,400km marathon in support of voice campaign
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is launching the former federal Liberal MP Pat Farmer’s “Run for the Voice.”
Farmer, an ultra marathon runner and member for Macarthur in NSW from 2001 to 2010, is planning to run a 14,400km journey around Australia in support of the voice over the next six months.
Speaking at the launch event in Hobart this morning, Albanese acknowledges the support from the Tasmanians Liberals in attendance including Bridget Archer, the member for Bass, and the Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff.
Albanese says Farmer’s run is an “important opportunity” in mobilising local support for the voice in a “bottom-up approach”:
When he contacted me just a short while ago, with this idea of a run for the voice, and to me, it seemed absolutely perfect.
Because what the voice is about is a bottom-up approach from local and regional voices to be heard through a national voice, having a say for Indigenous Australians. And because of the nature of our constitution, the referendum will give every Australian the opportunity to cast their one vote, one vote, one value. So people in big cities, or small towns, remote communities, will all have a say.
And in Pat’s vision in running some 14,000km plus around this great nation, over six months, 80km a day on average, every day, he’s showing his commitment to reconciliation.
And he will, through this run, mobilise these local communities where he visits … he’s hoping to mobilise that support throughout Tasmania, firstly, but then throughout the entire nation and finishing on 11 October, fittingly, at Uluru.
This is an important statement in itself for Pat’s inspirational journey to begin, to end where the Uluru Statement from the Heart was formed. This is an important opportunity for us.
Updated
Australians report record $3.1bn losses to scams, with real amount even higher, ACCC says
Australians lost a record amount of more than $3.1bn to scams in 2022, up from the $2bn lost in 2021, a new report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has revealed.
The Targeting Scams report, which compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, major banks and money remitters, was based on an analysis of more than 500,000 reports.
It shows that investment scams caused the most financial loss, with combined losses of $1.5bn. This was followed by remote access scams with $229m lost, and payment redirection scams with $224m lost.
Read more:
Updated
Another fire truck has arrived following the evacuation of the Senate Wing at Parliament House due to smoke in the building.
Still outside. Another fire truck turned up recently. The sirens are still blaring in the building. It’s 10 degrees and I didn’t bring a coat. Not thriving here pic.twitter.com/zijBYSNjNk
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 16, 2023
NSW warned against wild mushroom foraging ahead of seasonal bloom
Cooler temperatures have brought on the seasonal bloom of wild mushrooms, but people in NSW are being warned against going foraging for the wild fungi.
The NSW Poisons Information Centre (NSWPIC) is warning against foraging for and ingesting wild mushrooms due to the risk of poisoning.
Last year, the centre received a spike of 382 calls concerning mushroom poisoning and says:
Of these, 159 were from people consuming wild mushrooms intentionally, either from foraging for food or recreationally, while there were 196 mushroom exposures in children, almost all accidental.
If ingested, certain wild mushrooms can cause serious poisoning, including severe vomiting and diarrhea, and some can lead to liver and kidney damage.
Symptoms of mushroom poisoning generally occur within 30 minutes to 24 hours after eating the mushrooms, depending on the mushroom type and amount eaten.
Anyone who is exposed to wild mushrooms should call the Poisons Information Centre (13 11 26) immediately, regardless of the onset of symptoms. In some exposures, symptoms can be delayed but early treatment is vital.
In an emergency, people should call Triple Zero (000) for an ambulance, or seek medical treatment through their doctor or local emergency department.
Senate evacuated after smoke reported in building
The Senate wing of Parliament House has been evacuated. Loud sirens rang through the PA system and an announcement reported smoke in parts of the building.
It’s about 10 degrees outside in Canberra today and the press gallery, plus a lot of staffers, are currently outside.
There’s a few fire trucks outside the building with lights flashing. We’ll bring you more shortly.
Updated
The senate wing of Parliament House has been evacuated this morning due to smoke in the building. Our political reporter, Josh Butler, has been part of the evacuation, and is waiting outside the building with the fire trucks.
The Senate wing of Parliament House has been evacuated with reports over the loudspeaker of smoke in part of the building. Fire truck outside and sirens through the area pic.twitter.com/shdamsS0h9
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 16, 2023
Two charged over Sydney kidnapping and severed finger
Two men will face court accused of a harrowing kidnapping which left a Sydney man with a severed finger, AAP reports.
The victims – a 26-year-old man and a 24-year-old woman – were walking towards a car park at Fairfield in Sydney’s south-west on 18 January when they were grabbed by two men wearing balaclavas, NSW police said.
Two days later, the pair escaped from a location at Swan Bay, about 25km north-east of Raymond Terrace, before calling a family member who contacted police.
Police said today:
The man’s finger was severed during the incident.
Earlier this month officers from Strike Force Bultje raided two homes in Smithfield and Cartwright, arresting two men aged 24 and 25. They have since been charged with a string of kidnapping offences including detaining the couple against their will and participating in a criminal group.
The older man was also charged with one count of damaging property by fire for a separate incident, where a Molotov cocktail was allegedly thrown at a home in Bossley Park on 22 January.
Both men appeared at Fairfield local court earlier this month, where they were formally refused bail to reappear before Parramatta local court on 1 May.
Updated
Penny Wong dismisses Paul Keating’s claim that the military has taken over Australian foreign policy
Penny Wong will insists the defence department and diplomats are working together to “keep the peace”, refuting former PM Paul Keating’s claim of a military takeover of foreign policy.
In a speech today, the foreign affairs minister will say countries across the Indo-Pacific region want to “choose their own destiny” and not have the rules “dictated by a single major power to suit its own interests”.
Wong will push back at Keating’s criticism of the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine program after the former Labor prime minister labelled it “the worst deal in all history”.
Updated
John Anderson says voice may not properly represent smaller Aboriginal groups
Anderson says he is concerned that the voice won’t properly represent smaller Aboriginal groupings.
Karvelas:
If it were to happen, and it was a successful body would you ever support [it] being in the constitution?
Anderson:
As long as it didn’t confer a special group privilege. I’ve always been open to the idea of recognition but no group privileges. The constitution sets the standard. No one’s above the law. No one’s below the board.
… I’m just personally philosophically opposed to the idea that any Australian should be recognised differently to any other Australian.
Anderson says his personal view is that there should be a constitutional convention to “clean up” the constitution so that the government can respond to the needs of any community equally.
Asked about whether the race power should be removed, Anderson says:
I don’t think it’s needed. The government has the power to act on need. And the idea - personally, it’s just a personal view - that we discriminate between Australians in any way on the basis of race I think is unnecessary and unwise.
Updated
No campaign for voice referendum launches with slogan ‘don’t know, vote no’
The no campaign for the voice to parliament is launching its campaign with a slogan “don’t know, vote no.”
On the no campaign committee is John Anderson, the former deputy prime minister and leader of the Nationals, who says Australia is being sent on a “vibe trip” to support a proposal without knowing the full details.
Anderson has told ABC Radio that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is wrong to say all the no side has is negativity:
The negativity and the naysaying is part of the problem.
Let me make one very important point is [the] Australian constitution in its entirety was put before the Australian people … This time we’re being asked for something we don’t know precisely what it is.
It is very evident that its supporters have different views. The prime minister has consistently said this will be a modest change. That is not what many of the proponents are saying and it is not what many of the experts are saying.
Yet we’re being sent on a vibe trip to support something when we don’t know the full details and one of the greatest dangers of that is actually self censorship. People don’t feel brave enough to ask the questions as to what it’ll mean before we lock it into our constitution forever.
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The shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, is chastising the PM for letting there be any doubt whether he will be attending the Nato security summit.
There should be no doubt or equivocation, the PM should attend NATO Summit to ensure European focus on Indo-Pacific security & with a new, comprehensive package of support for Ukraine. https://t.co/00PwkJENeM
— Simon Birmingham (@Birmo) April 16, 2023
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Bangarra Dance Theatre supports voting ‘Yes’ in voice referendum
The Indigenous dance company Bangarra Dance Theatre has this morning issued a statement saying they fully support voting yes in the upcoming referendum:
For over three decades, Bangarra Dance Theatre has been privileged to be entrusted with sharing the powerful voices of the world’s oldest living cultures – the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures of this nation.
The stories we tell have awakened a national consciousness to the deep scars of our colonial history, and the legacy of unseen trauma left in its wake. We attend to this knowing that by carrying Story, we also carry a responsibility to give insight into our experiences, promote understanding, and effect change. But is this enough?
Like our artform, truth-telling has the profound ability to set a course of action that emboldens and steers us towards a future that otherwise lay unimagined - until now.
Bangarra Dance Theatre fully supports voting ‘Yes’ in the national referendum for the constitutional recognition of Australia’s First Peoples. By supporting the vote for ‘Yes’, we not only pay respect to the truth of the past, we state our vision for our future as a nation that values equity and fairness and acknowledges the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
We encourage everyone to inform themselves, listen with an open mind, and trust that they are participating in a process that gave us the Uluru Statement from the Heart – a process that has been collaborative, careful and intensely thorough. We also recognise and respect the importance of empowering our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists and storytellers to define and communicate their individual views on this issue.
We hope for a peaceful and constructive process towards change, and that the resilience and courage that has underscored the survival of our First Nations Peoples inspires all Australians to step forward and walk together in the spirit of truth, reconciliation, and equality for all.
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Albanese happy to attend Nato summit in Lithuania ‘subject to logistical arrangements’
Media reports emerged last week while the PM was on leave that he would not be attending the Nato security summit in Lithuania in July.
Albanese clarifies that subject to logistical arrangements he says he would be pleased to accept it.
I haven’t had a chance to talk to the Nato secretary general. I have had the discussion briefly with the New Zealand prime minister by text about the invite that’s been given.
I haven’t been in the office yet. I was last week on leave. I will give it consideration. I attended last year in Madrid.
Subject to logistical arrangements, then I would be very pleased to accept the invitation.
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PM on aged care: ‘we make no apologies for being ambitious’
Albanese is maintaining that the aged care reforms were the “right ones to make” despite Wesley Mission last week announcing it would close its three remaining facilities in Sydney, citing pressures caused by federal government’s new regulations.
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, accused the government of bringing in the requirements too soon before the workforce was ready.
But Albanese says this isn’t the case, and that as a government “we make no apologies for being ambitious in this area.”
The overwhelming majority of residential facilities – close to 90% – will meet these 24/7 nursing requirements. There’ll be exemptions around 5% of facilities have already been granted who have valid reasons for not being able to meet these targets. The commissioner said they won’t be shutting down facilities that fail to meet the targets.
With experts last week predicting more centres could close, Albanese said the government is closely monitoring the system with the commission.
We are confident going forward that people are receiving the right care, that the sector is heading in the right direction and that our reforms are the right ones to make.
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Albanese on alleged abuse of Indigenous children: ‘it is a crime that should be reported to police’
Asked whether the government will look into the concerns raised by Peter Dutton and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price about the alleged abuse of Indigenous children, Albanese says if there are allegations then it is a matter which should be reported to the police.
I saw Senator Price’s interview yesterday. She was given the opportunity to come forward with some specifics, and failed to do so.
Of course, if there is any abuse it is a crime that should be reported to the police as, as a number of people, including Senator McCarthy and the Northern Territory government have said themselves.
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Anthony Albanese addresses fears over ‘executive government’ in voice proposal
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has spoken to ABC Radio after returning from a week’s leave.
Albanese says the fact that the no case is launching its campaign with a slogan “don’t know, vote no” is “a sign that the no campaign will be negative” in opposition to the “positive campaign” he says is being run by the yes campaign.
Asked about whether he will consider any changes to the proposal, Albanese says the government will consider the evidence from the parliamentary process. However, he says the evidence from eminent lawyers such as a Brett Walker have already made “very clear the legal soundness of the proposition which has been put forward.”
On whether he can rule out the prospect of the reference to executive government being removed, the PM says:
In Australia system of government of course, it’s very different from the US system in Australia. The executive derives its power from the parliament. We have a Westminster system of government in this country.
And what the reference to parliament and executive government is about is making sure that you can get early representation made. Of course it doesn’t change the fact that the parliament is primary.
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Assistant treasurer: ‘It’s going to be a very tight budget’
The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has been speaking to ABC News Breakfast about that record figure of over $3bn which Australians are losing to scams.
Australians are already doing it tough. ACCC report shows households and businesses are losing a devastating $3bn to scammers in 2022 alone. pic.twitter.com/vgbxsy6MKY
— Stephen Jones MP (@StephenJonesMP) April 16, 2023
Asked about the upcoming budget and whether measures like raising jobseeker could be included, Jones says:
I’m not going to get ahead of ourselves on any of the announcements in the budget. It’s worth pointing out the unemployment rate is very low and our main objective is to keep it low, to ensure that every Australian who can work has the opportunity to work. That’s by far the better solution.
It’s going to be a tight budget. It’s going to be a very tight budget. And our capacity to put in place new spending measures is going to be very constrained indeed.
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PM optimistic in run-up to voice vote
Anthony Albanese says he is optimistic the Australian people will vote yes to enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in the constitution – but warns that some days may feel “rocky” and “tough”.
The prime minister, returning to the fold after a week of leave, will be in Hobart today to mark the beginning of the “Run for the Voice” which aims to further encourage support from across the political spectrum.
The ultra marathon runner and former federal Liberal MP Pat Farmer – who held the seat of Macarthur in NSW from 2001 to 2010 – is planning to run a 14,400km journey around Australia in support of the voice over the next six months.
In a speech at the launch event this morning, Albanese is expected to say Farmer has a long journey ahead of him but “we are all on a great journey together”.
Albanese will say the goal is “an Australia that recognises the unique privilege we have to share this ancient continent with the world’s oldest living culture, in our nation’s birth certificate”. He will also speak of “an Australia more united, more reconciled and with greater fairness and opportunity for all”:
For all of us, there will be days when the ground is rocky and the going is tough. There will be days when it’s all we can do to put one foot in front of the other.
But when we cross the finish line, the destination will be worth it.
Despite the federal Coalition formally opposing enshrining the voice in the constitution, the prime minister will say he has “always been optimistic about this referendum – because I’ve always been optimistic about the generosity of the Australian people”. He will say:
Australians everywhere are responding to the gracious, generous, patient invitation of the Uluru statement from the heart with their own instinctive fairness and decency.
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Lehrmann case inquiry
The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case will hold an initial public hearing in Canberra today.
The board of inquiry, headed by former judge Walter Sofronoff KC, was called after a letter from director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold to the ACT chief of police Neil Gaughan alleged police had tried to pressure him not to run the case and later sided with the defence.
The inquiry will examine the conduct of the police in the investigation of Brittany Higgins’ allegations against Lehrmann.
It was set up to make sure the Australian Capital Territory’s “framework for progressing criminal investigations and prosecutions is robust, fair and respects the rights of those involved”. Its website says:
Specifically, the inquiry will examine the conduct of criminal justice agencies involved in the trial of R v Lehrmann. Recent reporting and commentary in relation to the matter of R v Lehrmann raise issues that may have wider implications for the prosecution of criminal matters in the territory.
It will also be able to examine whether the investigation and trial were subject to political influence, Guardian Australia revealed. It is expected to report in June.
This morning, Sofronoff will remark on the nature and scope of the inquiry and hear applications for legal representatives to appear at future hearings. Public hearings are expected to start at the end of the month.
Lehrmann has denied raping Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His first trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
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Good morning!
The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case will hold an initial public hearing in Canberra today.
The board of inquiry was called after a letter from director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, to the ACT chief of police, Neil Gaughan, alleged police tried to pressure him not to run the case, and later sided with the defence.
Lehrmann has denied raping Brittany Higgins and pleaded not guilty to a charge of sexual intercourse without consent. His first trial was abandoned due to juror misconduct and the second did not proceed due to prosecutors’ fears for Higgins’ mental health.
Anthony Albanese will be heading to Hobart today after a week’s leave, to farewell former Liberal member for Macarthur Pat Farmer as he embarks on a 14,400km “Run for the Voice”.
Albanese says he is optimistic the Australian people will vote yes to enshrining an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice in the constitution – but warns some days may feel “rocky” and “tough”.
Australians are losing a record amount to scammers, the consumer watchdog has found. The $3.1bn figure represents an 80% increase from last year.
The minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, will be addressing the National Press Club today. She will say Australia’s foreign policy goal is to create a region “where no country dominates and no country is dominated”.
A Senate inquiry report into a bill that would freeze billions of dollars in student debt will be tabled in federal parliament today. The Australian Greens have proposed a bill to abolish indexing Hecs, as Australian graduates potentially face up to a 7% hike to debt in June this year due to spiking inflation.
Let’s get into it!
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