What we learned today – Friday 26 May
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
Authorities have praised Sydney residents for a quick evacuation as fire the fire raged;
Two teenagers have been assisting police with inquiries in connection with the Sydney fire as authorities have been able to locate 13 of 15 people rough sleeping in the building;
A 15-year-old has been charged with multiple offences after allegedly shooting at Perth classroom;
A review of the Modern Slavery Act has found Australia needs stronger anti-slavery laws;
New South Wales is the first state to be considering “breach of trust” fines for companies that leak sensitive government tax information in wake of PwC scandal;
Defence company Australian Naval Infrastructure has been questioned during a Senate estimates committee about contracts it holds with consulting firm PwC which may have given it access to confidential defence information;
Defence minister Richard Marles has accused opposition leader Peter Dutton of “making stuff up” over claims the government is turning off the gas supply.
Joe Biden’s top Indo-Pacific adviser has reiterated the US president’s “deepest regrets” over a cancelled visit to Australia.
The independent inspector general of water compliance has told a Senate committee that Australia’s water laws are “rubbish” and have “more get out of jail clauses, and opportunities, than a Monopoly board.”
ABC chair, Ita Buttrose, said the treatment of Stan Grant is the result of an “abusive and toxic culture”, and called for a return to civility in public life;
Stan Grant has said he is “bewildered” by the furore since he appeared on ABC’s coronation panel during a Sydney Writers festival event;
Consumer lender Latitude Financial will report a 90% fall in profit after hefty costs attributed to a massive cyber-attack;
Senator Lidia Thorpe has proposed an amendment to the constitutional alteration to establish the Indigenous voice to include an explicit acknowledgment of the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people;
Mike Cannon-Brookes has won out over Andrew Forrest in a billionaires’ battle for control of the $35bn renewable energy export project Sun Cable;
A court has found the Office of the Australian information Commissioner is not properly resourced in handing down its decision in former senator Rex Patrick’s legal battle over an FoI decision;
A rally has been held outside South Australian parliament in opposition to a state government crackdown which civil society groups say threatens the right to protest.
Updated
Protest under way against the South Australian government’s anti-protest laws
The South Australian Labor government has proposed increasing the maximum penalty for protesters which obstruct public places to $50,000 and three months in jail.
A large crowd has braved chilly, wet weather to gather outside Parliament House on Friday night.
Huge crowd gathering at Parliament House in Adelaide to protest new laws that would see protesters charged with $50,000 or three months in jail #protectprotest pic.twitter.com/CigxIU71aR
— Jessica Alice (@jessica_alice_) May 26, 2023
The rally has been called by 15 groups and has caused traffic delays along North Terrace during peak hour.
School Climate Striker Aud Mason-Hyde spoke said the changes are “taking democracy away from us.”
We need to rise up to keep joy, community, and the right to protest.
Great to see the turnout here at #saparli tonight! #ProtectProtest pic.twitter.com/z6h7f5ggVi
— Ross Womersley (@RossWomersley) May 26, 2023
Those attending have reported a heavy police presence even before the rally began.
"Dunstan would be ashamed of this Labor government" #ProtectProtest #saparli pic.twitter.com/b4wxFkaTLO
— Sharna Bremner (@sharnatweets) May 26, 2023
The bill was rushed through the state’s lower house within 24 hours of being introduced and is expected to face a vote in the legislative council on Tuesday.
Updated
Calls for government to act after review of Slavery Act finds no ‘meaningful change’
A coalition of human rights groups and academic organisations have called for the Albanese government to act after a review of the Modern Slavery Act found it had not made “meaningful change” during its first three years of operation.
The review, led by Prof John McMillan, made 30 recommendations to strengthen the existing act.
Freya Dinshaw, acting legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre said the act “needs to be strengthened in order to ensure that no Australian companies are profiting from exploitation”.
While we would have liked to see the review go even further and recommend an enforceable duty on companies to prevent modern slavery, its recommendations, if implemented, will substantially strengthen the current law.
The coalition of organisations are calling on the Albanese government to implement these recommendations and ensure that the newly announced establishment of an independent anti-slavery commissioner be adequately resourced to provide effective oversight of the act.
Updated
Andrew Forrest congratulates Mike Cannon-Brookes on Sun Cable project
Andrew Forrest has congratulated Mike Cannon-Brookes on winning out in the bidding war for the future of the Sun Cable project saying “any project that takes the world closer to real zero is positive for the planet.”
Here is the full statement:
While Squadron Energy did not participate in the final binding bid process for Sun Cable, we are delighted that other investors like Grok are playing a role in tackling global warming, by replacing fossil fuel investment with green energy projects.
Squadron decided the capital allocation did not align with Squadron’s strategic goals, as we are already working to deliver 30% of the renewable energy required to meet the Federal Government’s target of 82% renewables by 2030 and want to bring new green electrons into the grid as soon as possible.
We have decided to focus on the existing 20GW pipeline of assets as a much faster way to achieve those goals and take Australia closer to a carbon-free future.
We remain unconvinced of the commercial viability of the Australia-Asia Powerlink but if others believe it can be achieved, we wish them all the best.
As an interested shareholder we look forward to better understanding the details of the deal.
Updated
Part of National Museum collection contaminated by silica
The National Museum of Australia in Canberra is working to remove deadly silica dust that has contaminated part of the national historical collection.
Museum deputy director Ruth Wilson told a Senate estimates hearing late on Thursday the items have been kept in a storage facility next to a concrete factory and the resulting contamination meant staff were banned from entering the site for much of 2022.
There’s a buildup of silica dust in the facility, which requires removal before any collection can be treated.
In April, the federal government announced a $78.3 million funding boost for the institution over the next four years.
That included $13.1m to lease an “urgently needed” new storage facility and move the items from their current site.
The objects include machinery, agricultural equipment, boats, trucks and planes, all of which the museum regards as “relatively robust”.
The institution leased the premises in 1988 when there were no other buildings nearby, but it won’t reveal the location of the contaminated site.
- AAP
Updated
PwC quizzed on contracts with defence company
PriceWaterhouseCoopers, the consultancy firm at the centre of a tax scandal, has contracts with the company that runs key defence shipbuilding infrastructure.
Australian Naval Infrastructure (ANI) confirmed in Senate estimates today that it has two contracts with PwC, which used confidential government tax information to help companies minimise their tax payments.
Greens senator David Shoebridge asked ANI chief, Andrew Seaton, about the contracts with PwC, whom he described as “unable to protect the secrets of the Australian people” and “deeply unethical in wanting to sell those secrets”.
Seaton said one contract was for tax advice, and the other was for “charging mechanisms for infrastructure assets”. He said he had spoken to PwC, would continue reviewing their involvement, and that ANI had not given PwC any information about infrastructure for the nuclear-powered submarines.
I agree with you that PwC’s behaviour, which has recently come to light, doesn’t align with the values of ANI or businesses that we choose to deal with.
An $85 million testing facility, built for the cancelled French submarines, is now being demolished. Some of the scrap steel from the platform land-based test facility in Adelaide will be sold.
Greens senator David Shoebridge questioned the Australian Naval Infrastructure chief, Andrew Seaton, in senate estimates this morning.
He asked about work ANI was doing to prepare for the nuclear-powered Aukus submarines, which former prime minister Scott Morrison picked to replace the French version, and whether they should be charging ahead with plans for “a nuclear submarine that’s not more than a thought bubble”:
Don’t you think the Albanese government should learn from the disastrous mess the Morrison government produced?
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said it was “unfair to blame” ANI for a government decision.
Updated
Scott Morrison – former prime minister, minister for health, finance, home affairs, treasurer … author?
Former PM Scott Morrison appears to be on the verge of publishing a book with an American publisher of Christian titles.
Morrison declared on his register of interests a “royalties advance” from Harper Collins Christian Publishing. The declaration, uploaded to the parliament’s website today, does not give any further information on what the royalties advance is for.
We’ve asked Morrison’s office and Harper Collins for comment.
Morrison’s stewardship of the country through the COVID period has already been the subject of a book, Plagued, which drew on extensive interviews with the former Coalition leader. The book revealed Morrison’s secret appointments to the health and finance departments through the pandemic, with that list later expanding to the departments of industry, treasury, and home affairs.
Morrison has been widely tipped to resign as member for Cook before the next election.
Updated
Home Affairs refuses to release report on risks of social media apps
The Home Affairs Department is refusing to release a report outlining the risks of social media apps on government devices, arguing the report contains information provided by an Australian intelligence agency.
The report was provided to the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, in March, and led to the government banning TikTok from all government-owned devices, amid concern that the company’s links to China would mean the Chinese national security law could see data handed over to the Chinese government. This is something TikTok has long denied could happen.
The report was commissioned to cover a wide array of apps, not just TikTok, but has not been released publicly. The Home Affairs Department on Friday refused a freedom of information request from Guardian Australia for the report, saying it contains information prepared by an intelligence agency exempt from the FOI Act.
The decision doesn’t name the agency, but the list includes Asio, IGIS, the ONI and Australian Signals Directorate.
Greens senator David Shoebridge has also called for the government to provide the report to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs senate committee as part of the Senate estimates process this week. The department secretary, Mike Pezzullo, said on Monday he would need to seek the approval of the minister before providing it.
Updated
‘Ball is in government’s court’ on FOI delays
Grata Fund, which financially supported the former senator Rex Patrick’s freedom of information case, has also responded to the ruling.
Grata Fund’s executive director, Isabelle Reinecke, said the decision “should be an enormous catalyst for the government to improve and future-proof the FOI system” by funding the office of the Australian information commissioner adequately:
By anyone’s measure, multiple year delays are unacceptable, and now the ball is in the government’s court to ensure its public commitments to the democratic operation of government are put into effect.
Updated
David Shoebridge calls on government to properly fund office of Australian information commissioner
Move comes after a federal court judge noted the agency had “an unquestionable shortage of resources”.
Shoebridge, who is the party’s justice spokesperson, said the public should care about the issue because “democracies only work when the public has the information needed to hold governments to account”. Shoebridge said Australia’s “broken” freedom of information (FOI) system was “making that close to impossible”.
As reported here earlier this afternoon, the former independent senator Rex Patrick lost his legal challenge against what he argued were unreasonable delays in the commissioner’s reviews of FOI matters.
Justice Michael Wheelahan found that a claim of unreasonable delays “must take account of the resources that are available to the commissioner and the competing demands on those resources”. He found “the combined force of the evidence pointed to an unquestionable shortage of resources” but “whether that situation is acceptable is not a question for the court to decide”.
Shoebridge told Guardian Australia this afternoon:
The parliament has given the commission statutory functions but the government is starving it of the funds to fulfil them.
This must be a loud wake-up call to the attorney general given all the promises he made on transparency before the election.
Updated
Rally against SA’s anti-protest laws to be held outside parliament on Friday evening
The controversial amendments are expected to come to a vote as early as Tuesday.
Amnesty International spokeswoman Adelaide Xerri said the bill’s broad scope was concerning.
This crackdown on the right to protest means all our ability to fight for human rights and combat the climate crisis are under threat.
People must not face huge fines, and even prison sentences, just for standing up for what’s right.
Unions have also condemned the increased penalties, along with Greens MPs in the upper house.
The government has scheduled the Summary Offences Bill to proceed through the upper house next week. This is unacceptable. The Bill is a massive overreach, and a mess of unintended consequences. It must not proceed as it is.#saparli #protectprotest
— Dale Beasley (@DaleBeas) May 25, 2023
On Friday, the Law Society of South Australia posed a series of questions and said it was “deeply troubling” that those in favour of the higher fines had not explained the rationale for the changes or the urgency for their introduction.
The organisation also questioned why there was no public consultation.
- with AAP
Updated
Stan Grant ‘bewildered’ by furore since he appeared on ABC’s coronation panel
The host of Q+A stood down from the show on Monday after receiving “grotesque racist abuse” which escalated after he spoke on the ABC about the impact of colonialism ahead of the king’s coronation.
Grant told the Sydney Writers’ festival that the ABC panel discussing the impact of the monarchy on Indigenous people was a “respectful” conversation that was misconstrued by some media commentators as a “hate-filled hour of television”.
If a white person had been on air talking about historical realities like martial law and the extermination of the Wiradjuri people they “would not have been abused the way I was”, Grant said.
Race crowded out everything. It wasn’t just what I was saying, it was the fact that I was saying it. And the racial attacks and abuse began before I had even uttered a word.
Grant was talking to constitutional lawyer George Williams at a session about his book The White Queen is Dead, about the bitter legacy of colonialism for Indigenous people.
Updated
Nurses union fined $350,000 for West Australian strike
The nurses union has copped a $350,000 fine for organising a strike during which thousands of Western Australian health workers fought for better pay and conditions.
About 3,000 nurses and midwives walked off the job at hospitals across the state on 25 November last year after the Australian Nursing Federation ignored a lawful direction from the WA Industrial Relations Commission to call off the action.
The commission on Friday handed down its written judgement, in which chief commissioner Stephen Kenner labelled the union’s correspondence before the strike “staggering”, “belligerent noncompliance” and “dripping with contempt”.
In breach of the no-strike order, at least 1,758 members of the ANF employed in the public health system took industrial action by walking off the job or failing to report for duty.
The industrial action included various rallies throughout the state including at Parliament House and Dumas House in Perth, and in Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Geraldton, and Karratha.
Following a negotiation during the hearing, the commission fined the union the agreed amount of $350,000.
- AAP
Updated
Rex Patrick on losing FOI challenge: court found time taken ‘not legally unreasonable’ because of information commissioner’s ‘lack of resources’
The former independent senator Rex Patrick has lost his legal challenge against what he argued were unreasonable delays in the freedom of information (FOI) system.
But the federal court judgment, published today, also says the “picture that is painted by the evidence is that the Australian information commissioner has limited resources” to perform the volume of matters before her.
The federal court action was initiated in 2021 by Patrick. The then senator for South Australia had argued his right to access government documents had been “frustrated by delays” by the information commissioner in deciding on his applications that challenged department’s FOI decisions.
Justice Michael Wheelahan found that a claim of unreasonable delays “must take account of the resources that are available to the commissioner and the competing demands on those resources”. In one of the reviews at the heart of the case, he said the delay was “very significant indeed” but he was “not satisfied that there has been unreasonable delay” according to law:
It is ultimately for the commonwealth parliament to legislate so as to appropriate monies to the Office of the Australian information commissioner in order to enable the discharge of the commissioner’s statutory functions. Any legislative decision no doubt needs to balance competing budgetary demands, which are for the parliament to consider.
Patrick told Guardian Australia:
While I’m naturally disappointed with the outcome, ultimately the court found that it is for the commonwealth parliament to fix the problem, not the court. The parliament needs to pay attention to this judgment. In effect the court found that the time taken by the information commissioner is not legally unreasonable on account of the commissioner’s lack of resources.
Updated
Mike Cannon-Brookes defeats Andrew Forrest for control of solar project Sun Cable
Mike Cannon-Brookes has prevailed over Andrew Forrest in a billionaires’ battle for control of Sun Cable, an ambitious development promised to transmit solar power from the Northern Territory outback to Singapore.
Cannon-Brookes and Forrest had been involved in a five-month bidding process to gain control of the $35bn project after they fell out over its future direction and the company went into voluntary administration.
FTI, the administrators of Sun Cable, have announced that a consortium led by Cannon-Brookes’ Grok Ventures had been successful in acquiring the company’s assets.
In a statement, the consortium said it believed Sun Cable “had the potential to be a nation-building project for Australia”.
We believe Sun Cable can achieve long-term success by delivering globally competitive electrons to Australia and the world. We will continue to pursue customer off-take agreements in Singapore and Darwin, and collaborate with the Singaporean and Northern Territory governments to achieve this mission.
It said the consortium would “deep dive with management over the coming weeks” before saying more about the project’s design and development.
Cannon-Brookes said it was “a big step in the right direction”.
We’ve always believed in the possibilities Sun Cable presents in exporting our boundless sunshine, and what it could mean for Australia. It’s time to stretch our country’s ambition. We need to take big swings if we are going to be a renewable energy superpower. So swing we will.
More to come at Guardian Australia shortly.
Updated
South Australian coroner finds death of five-year-old was preventable
The death of a young boy with special needs, who choked on a nectarine stone while at school, would have been prevented had he been better supervised, an inquest has found.
Five-year-old Lucas Latouche Mazzei died in March 2017 after choking on the stone at Adelaide’s Henley Beach Primary School.
Deputy State Coroner Ian White said Lucas was left unsupervised for an unacceptable period of time.
He ruled that had staff remained in the classroom during the whole time the boy was watching the cartoon, his death would have been prevented.
The coroner said Lucas’ death was “heartbreaking and tragic” and the distressing attempt to save his life had a marked effect on those involved.
Lucas’ parents have been consumed by grief over the death of their precious little son that day.
White found that, under the circumstances, the efforts to save the boy were reasonable.
But he recommended all teaching staff be required to hold up-to-date qualifications in providing first aid assistance in an education and care setting.
He also called for the education department to review its policies on obtaining information about students with special needs and review the first-aid guidelines for dealing with a choking emergency.
Outside the court on Friday, Lucas’ mother Daniela Mazzei said the journey looking for answers about her son’s death had been “extremely hurtful, even cruel”.
Lucas’ death did not receive the attention it deserved from the education department, even when we insisted on it.
Our grief will always be with us. His death could have been prevented.
- AAP
US doesn’t want to drag Pacific allies into “headlong” clash with China
Joe Biden’s senior advisers have acknowledged countries in the Indo-Pacific don’t want to be “trampled by a headlong clash” between the US and China.
In a webinar with an Australian audience on Friday, senior White House national security council (NSC) officials said the US president wanted to give allies and other close partners “breathing space” to engage with China constructively.
Edgard Kagan, the NSC’s senior director for east Asia and Oceania, said Biden had been listening to the region’s concerns.
“I think the president is very focused on the fact that we cannot strengthen our relations with allies and partners if we just try and jam our views down their throat,” Kagan said. “That’s not who he is.”
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence reporter Daniel Hurst.
WA to keep ‘no grounds evictions’
Western Australia will keep provisions that allow landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason in newly announced changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, despite its department advising they be removed.
The decision to keep “no grounds evictions” overrules explicit advice from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulations and Safety that recommended the government introduce a list of grounds for termination of a lease by landlords:
The review recommended that the [Residential Tenancies ACT] be amended to prohibit without grounds terminations by lessors and introduce additional grounds for termination.
In a joint press release on Friday, Minister for Finance, Commerce and Women’s Interest Sue Ellery and Minister for Housing, Lands and Homeless John Carey said “major changes” to the act would strike the right balance between tenants and landlords.
But they said “the McGowan government is not making any chances to the ‘without grounds’ terminations provisions”. This means the current provisions of 60 days notice for periodic leases and 30 days notice for fixed remain in place.
Changes to the Act will include:
a ban on rent bidding, with landlords and property managers unable to pressure or encourage tenants to offer more than the advertised rent;
reducing the frequency of rent increases to once every 12 months;
tenants will be allowed to keep a pet or pets in a rental premises in most cases;
tenants will be able to make certain minor modifications to the rental premises and the landlord will only be able to refuse consent on certain grounds;
the release of security bonds at the end of a tenancy will be streamlined, allowing tenants and landlords to apply separately regarding how bond payments are to be disbursed; and
disputes over bond payments, as well as disagreements about pets and minor modifications, will be referred to the commissioner for consumer protection for determination.
The changes will also mean rents must be advertised as a fixed amount and not as a range, however tenants who make minor changes to their rental property “may be required” to restore it to its original condition at the end of the tenancy.
Ellery said banning rental auctions and reducing rent increases would “help ease the financial burden on many families”.
The new laws proposed by the McGowan government strike a good balance by protecting the owner’s investment property while providing stability and certainty for tenants.
Carey said the changes “strike the balance between the rights and needs of tenants and landlords.”
Our focus is on boosting the supply of housing, which is why we’re investing a record $2.6 billion in housing, lands and homelessness measures throughout Western Australia.
Updated
Lidia Thorpe calls for amendment to voice bill
Senator Lidia Thorpe will seek to amend the constitutional alteration to establish the Indigenous voice, to include an explicit acknowledgement of the sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The bill is still in the House of Representatives, and won’t hit the Senate until at least next week, but the former Greens senator (now independent) has given notice she will introduce an amendment to the alteration. Thorpe, a noted voice critic, hasn’t flagged changes to strengthen the body or give it new powers – but instead to add a whole extra section to the constitution.
The voice, as proposed, would be established in a new section 129 at the end of the constitution (which currently has 128 sections). Thorpe’s amendment would insert another section, 130, titled: “Sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples”.
Thorpe wants that section of the constitution to include the line “Nothing in this Act shall be taken to cede or disturb the Sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.” Her amendment goes on to suggest adding the lines:
The Sovereignty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples means an unceded right held in collective possession by the members of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander nations which confers usage, access and custodianship to the lands, waters, minerals and natural resources of what is now known as Australia, and the right of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to exercise an unimpeded and collective self-determinate governance over their political, economic and social affairs.
Thorpe has long spoken of scepticism about the voice and quit the Greens partly over the party’s commitment to support the voice.
But she told Guardian Australia this week she had “not stated any position on how people should vote in the proposed referendum.”
Prime minister Anthony Albanese yesterday all but ruled out accepting any amendments to the constitutional alteration, telling parliament:
This form of words is legally sound, and should be the words that goes forward.
Updated
Scale of Sydney fire damage revealed
Fire and Rescue NSW has released new aerial photos showing the extent of damage in the Sydney building fire.
Updated
Thanks for following along the news blog this Friday. You’ll be in the excellent hands of Royce Kurmelovs for the rest of the afternoon. Have a lovely weekend!
Latitude hit by financial cost of cyber-attack
Consumer lender Latitude Financial will suffer a fall in full year cash profit of up to 90%, as hefty costs linked to a massive cyber attack weigh on its financials.
In a market update on Friday, Latitude disclosed that it would recognise remediation costs of around $50m after suffering what is the largest-known data breach of an Australian financial institution.
The money would be used by customers to replace stolen documents and identification, such as a passport or driver’s licence.
The company said:
This provision is made up largely of remediation costs but does not include the potential for regulatory fines, class actions, future system enhancements or an assumption of insurance proceeds.
The personal information of 7.9m customers was stolen in the March attack, Latitude said. This included driver licence numbers and personal details such as phone numbers, addresses and income and expense information used to assess loan applications.
A further 6.1m customers had partial records compromised.
The remediation costs, along with disruptions to the business and worsening financial conditions, have combined to severely dent the lender’s profitability. The company said:
While Latitude was able to continue processing transactions as it responded to the March cyber-attack, new account originations and collections were closed or severely restricted for a period of approximately five weeks.
Shares in Latitude, which offers personal loans and credit to customers at stores including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys and Harvey Norman, plunged on Friday after the update, falling more than 5%.
The consumer lender now expects to post a full year cash profit in 2023 of between $15m to $25m, compared to $153.5m in 2022.
Updated
Sewer rats and data security?
We’ve been running through the Senate estimates transcripts as they have been going up and we’ve found this interesting exchange between the Greens senator David Shoebridge and the secretary of the home affairs department, Mike Pezzullo.
Shoebridge:
Sewer rats don’t normally have good data security though, do they?
Pezzullo:
Well, they might well have very good data security, depending on what they do with the cheese that they’ve taken through the pipes, I suppose!
The context for this is last week, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant told Guardian Australia that since Elon Musk had taken over Twitter, the platform had become toxic, with the “sewer rats” let back on the site.
Shoebridge had been questioning Pezzullo about whether he had similar concerns about Twitter as the department has had for TikTok. Pezzullo said that Twitter’s moderation policies are more eSafety’s area rather than Home Affairs – which is more concerned with where a site’s data is hosted, and who might have access to it.
Pezzullo did say he saw Inman Grant’s comments, saying he suspected “you [Shoebridge] and I read it in the same place.”
Nice to see you’re an avid Guardian reader, secretary.
Updated
Consumers warned high price of fresh food here to stay
The high price of fresh fruit and vegetables won’t come down anytime soon according to fresh food suppliers, AAP reports.
Speaking at a food security inquiry, Claire McClelland from the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance said continuing high inputs for producers was keeping prices high:
Once a price is up it very rarely goes back down ... once the price of fuel, or packaging or energy is up we very rarely can reduce that cost.
Ongoing labour shortages and supply chain challenges were also keeping the price of produce high.
Updated
Buttrose unaware of Stan Grant abuse until ‘fairly late in the piece’
Asked about the change that needs to come from within the ABC, Buttrose says:
There is an inquiry going on. Our audience research shows us that 75% of people think that our content reflects the diversity of Australia. But I think what management needs to do is make sure that we support the people who make that content when they are subject to racist behaviour.
It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable. And I’m appalled at what Stan went through. And if I’d known earlier, I would have spoken to see him about it. But I didn’t know and I don’t think many of us knew until fairly late in the piece.
So I think it’s very important that we that we provide that support to Stan that I said and that everybody reflects about social media. Is this the sort of world we want to live in? It’s unacceptable.
Updated
‘We hope he will return’
Buttrose says she hopes Grant will return to ABC programs:
We are providing Stan with as much support as we possibly can – and … to his family – and we hope that he will return to our programs as soon as he feels ready to return. It’s up to Stan. I think he has taken six to eight weeks off, and I understand that but I hold Stan in high regard like so many of our listeners do.
Updated
'Abusive and toxic culture': Ita Buttrose addresses Stan Grant episode
Buttrose says there is “a lesson for the entire community by Stan Grant stepping back”, calling for a return to civility in public life.
I think the strong public reaction has led to what I would call one of the most widespread outpouring of public commentary on public life that we’ve seen for a long time.
I think it’s telling me that people are sick of the abusive and toxic culture that pervades our public discourse, whether it’s sport, social issues, politics. We are sadly living in a time actually when people think it’s okay to abuse others with whom they disagree.
We can’t have a proper discussion in Australia anymore. And I think Australians want to return to civility in public life. And I think … we need to reflect on this, on the abhorrent and unacceptable behaviour that crops up on social media and lead the way to return to civility in public debate.
You can disagree with someone without having to abuse them. And that’s the important lesson from Stan and I know from the many emails I’ve received that Stan is held in very high regard by so many people.
Updated
ABC’s Ita Buttrose to speak on Stan Grant issue
Ita Buttrose, the chair of the ABC, is speaking with ABC Radio Melbourne ahead of an exhibition opening tomorrow celebrating 90 years of the Australian Women’s Weekly. Buttrose started out her career as a copygirl at the Weekly before becoming at age 33 the youngest person to be named editor of the publication.
She’s being asked now about her current role and what she’s learned from Stan Grant standing down.
At the beginning of the week, ABC news chief Justin Stevens says he regrets not defending Stan Grant earlier as the Q+A host faced racist attacks on social media fuelled by what he described as a “relentless campaign” against the ABC’s coronation broadcast from News Corp.
Updated
NSW central coast lashed by wild weather
There have been incredible hail storms on New South Wales’ central and Hunter coast within the last hour.
Hail storm has just rolled through Newcastle. If you need assistance contact the @NSWSES on 132 500. pic.twitter.com/OO3UxUaSEg
— Tim Crakanthorp (@crakanthorp) May 26, 2023
Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Angus Hines says the hail has been generated by thunderstorms along the Hunter Coast north of Sydney:
We’ve got a front moving northwards through that area and along that front, we’ve seen some pretty big thunderstorms develop in these thunderstorms generating some large hail for those coastal areas.
A general #NSW #SevereThunderstorm #Warning has now been issued to cover areas outside the Detailed warning area. This warning includes the #PortStephens region. Expect further updates this afternoon as the situation evolves: Check the details here: https://t.co/z0wSmCLoca pic.twitter.com/9ChukmoT7w
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 26, 2023
Severe thunderstorms are causing large hail around Newcastle, Gosford/Wyong and other parts of the Hunter Coast.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 26, 2023
A Severe Thunderstorm Warning is current.
Latest details: https://t.co/YirEXV8NvB pic.twitter.com/yQciGDXXXM
Updated
Public has a $13bn right to know details of Murray Darling Basin plan
Tony Grant also took issue with the lack of transparency around how the $13bn Murray-Darling Basin plan is being managed:
He said he had conducted a transparency review to determine if an Australian taxpayer would be able to work out - from publicly available information - how much of the money had been spent or committed, and how much was left.
The key observation arising from my review was that there is no simple, definitive, public source of information that clearly shows the breakdown of the $13bn figure.
He said transparency was vital if taxpayers were to have confidence in the plan:
Quite often, with programs of this size and complexity, funding is reprofiled and moved into and out of various program areas, various departments and agencies.
Varying amounts – $10bn to $13bn to $15bn – have been quoted as expenditure on Basin reform with no clarity on what elements of the reform package this money has been allocated to.
And I can understand why the community and senators must be confused at times, and therefore seek answers to many legitimate questions.
The Australian public, in my view, has a $13bn right to know.
– AAP
Updated
Australia’s water theft laws ‘rubbish’
The independent inspector general of water compliance has told senators during a budget estimates hearing that Australia’s water laws have “more get out of jail clauses, and opportunities, than a Monopoly board”.
Tony Grant said his team had 21 open investigations but had closed 62 since February.
The reason they have closed is that the legislation is rubbish.
It’s legislation that needs review ... it’s my strong intent to be articulating that in very clear detail for policy makers and legislators to consider.
Grant took particular issue with governance issues around price reporting.
You’d have to be a moron to get caught on doing anything wrong under that legislation.
Grant was asked by Nationals senator Ross Cadel how many people his team had caught.
None.
There’s too many get-out-of-jail escape clauses in the entire structure of the Basin plan legislation, water acts et cetera, that we feel doesn’t have any enforceability connections.
If there’s nothing to enforce you to do the right thing or follow the law, why would you follow the law?
– AAP
Updated
The humpback whale continues its annual migration northwards along Australia’s east coast, with Guardian writer Jennifer King spotting one at Byron Bay’s lighthouse.
These earlybird whales are likely juveniles racing ahead of the pack in the procession from their summer feeding grounds in Antartica to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The pregnant mothers often leave later to ensure they eat as much as they can before the journey.
First whales of the year spotted at Byron lighthouse on their way north this morning! 🐋 pic.twitter.com/0tHtzmTlNF
— Jen King 💌🌻 (@JustJenKing) May 25, 2023
You can read more about how best to spot them yourself here:
Of the voice – and parking tickets
It’s five months until the referendum, and it’s claims of misinformation at ten paces, with Labor and Liberal politicians accusing each other of spreading mistruths about the Indigenous voice.
Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash has alleged prime minister Anthony Albanese is “not being honest” about the voice, following a radio interview this morning.
Albanese told Cairns 4CA radio:
All that the constitutional change will do is recognise Australia’s first peoples – that’s just a matter of respect.
But Cash took offence at the description, claiming in a statement “it was misleading to portray the change as simply recognition in the constitution”:
The prime minister is spreading misinformation. It is not true that all it does is recognition. If that was true why does there need to be a constitutional right to make representations about everything from submarines to parking tickets?
But Cash’s statement leaves out the fact that, in Albanese’s answer (before saying it was about recognition) he specifically outlined key functions of the voice, saying:
It won’t have a right of veto over any of the parliament’s decision making, it won’t be a funding body, it won’t run programs. It simply is an opportunity that we have to create a body that will be able to speak to the parliament.
Yesterday, of course, Albanese himself accused opposition leader Peter Dutton of spreading misinformation about the voice – and specifically rubbished claims it would weigh in on the matters Cash alleged. Albanese told parliament:
Do you think you would spend a single second thinking about public holidays, or parking tickets, or any of the other nonsense the no campaign go on about?
Updated
If you’re wondering what the scene looks like today, Emily Kowal from the Telegraph shared this video from a nearby rooftop:
Incredible rooftop footage shows the aftermath of the Surry Hills fire. #SurryHills #SurryHillsfire pic.twitter.com/u80uhG1fRu
— Emily Kowal (@KowalEmily) May 25, 2023
‘A happy bride, I imagine’
Amid the fire’s devastation, Fewtrell shares the good news story that firefighters have helped save one soon-to-be-married evacuee’s big day.
He describes the coordinated effort with police to rescue pets, medication and a wedding dress:
We started to get information for people who needed medication, who needed pets and so forth retrieved. We even had one lady who was due to have a wedding in Hobart and firefighters were able to go and get her wedding dress. That is a happy bride, I would imagine.
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‘Perfect set of conditions’ for an intense blaze
Fewtrell:
We have a building that is well over 100 years old. You have all the dry, very seasoned timber that is in that. It is all stacked up as part of the framework of the building, the floors, staircases and so forth, enabling the fire to spread quickly vertically and that is what we saw played out. The perfect set of conditions to have a very intense fire.
Updated
A ‘once in a decade’ fire
This is a once in a decade type of fire.
It is a really defining point for all of the firefighters that attended that in their careers.
We had a mixture of experienced firefighters and new firefighters.
The one thing I can guarantee is, at the end of their careers, this will be one of the highlights that they reflect on.
Updated
Up to four buildings directly affected by fire
Acting police commissioner Fewtrell says up to four buildings close by have been directly impacted by the fire:
At a rough count, there is about three or four very-close-by buildings that have been directly impacted.
The buildings that we evacuated at the time. Some of those had fire starting to extend into them, so the radiant heat or embers that are coming from the building started to set small fires on those adjacent buildings.
Firefighters were able to extinguish all of those and stop them from spreading into the different units.
Fewtrell says two buildings were evacuated.
Updated
Police say 13 out of 15 people sleeping rough in building are safe and they are looking for other two
Dunstan says up to 15 people were sleeping rough in the building the night before the fire and police have confirmed 13 are safe and well. Police are searching “furiously” to locate two other people.
We are aware that building has been vacant for approximately 12 months. Some deconstruction work has been taking place.
We are aware that some people from time to time sleep rough at that location and young people visiting is not something we were aware of prior until yesterday.
… We are aware that people were sleeping rough in the building the night before. Up to 15 people. We have spoken to 13 of those people and confirm they are safe and well.
There are two other people we would like to track down and confirm they are safe and well. Our detectives are working furiously to try and locate those people.
Updated
Dunstan:
One person handed themselves in in Paddington and the other handed themselves in at Kings Cross.
Updated
Dunstan says:
The two people who were spoken to are 13 years old. We believe the others are a similar age … currently assisting us with our inquiries at this point.
Updated
Two teenagers handed themselves into police in relation to Sydney fire, police say
Acting assistant NSW police commissioner Paul Dunstan confirms two young people have handed themselves in relation to the Sydney inferno:
We are aware of reports overnight of a group of young people seen running from the fire scene shortly after 4PM.
I can confirm that two young people handed themselves in at two separate police stations in the late hours of last night.
We are speaking with these young people throughout the evening and they are now assisting police with our inquiries.
I can further confirm we are aware of a further three or four other young people who were present during the fire.
We asked them to come forward with their parents and put their side of the story forward.
Updated
Update on Sydney fire: residents unable to reoccupy building
Authorities are giving an update on the huge blaze which destroyed a heritage building in the centre of Sydney yesterday evening.
Acting commissioner Jeremy Fewtrell says residents of the building will be unable to reoccupy it as the power remains cut off:
We arrived at the fire scene, which is number 1-5 Randall St. It has had the power cut off as part of the electricity authority’s work to cut the power to the fire buildings.
They are all interconnected and could not do it without closing that one off. Unfortunately because of that, the residents cannot reoccupy the building because obviously there is no system to make the building work and to be safe.
Discussions are taking place with EnergyAustralia to work out if there is any other arrangements to make an alternative connection to put a generator in place, and will be ongoing.
We are aware of the impact this fire has had on the residents who have been displaced. We are asking people in that situation to register through the Red Cross website, the register find reunite function. Once we have those details, we will be able to establish contact with them and keep them updated on any information about temporary arrangements or being able to return to their buildings when that is possible.
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Victorian mental health and LGBTIQ+ groups call for tougher anti-hate laws
Some of Victoria’s biggest mental health and LGBTIQ+ organisations, including The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, Transgender Victoria, Drummond Street and Switchboard have written to the attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, asking her to expand the anti-vilification laws.
In the letter, they argue even the current laws are inadequate for everyone.
They write:
The religious and race-based protections are themselves inadequate, with very few successful civil cases before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and even fewer successful criminal prosecutions for serious vilification.
The legal ‘bar’ is too high, meaning the protection for the community is too low. At present, Victoria’s laws do not do enough to protect many marginalised communities from the hate we have seen on Melbourne’s streets.
They applaud the government for expanding additional funding for the LGBTIQ+ specialist mental health care but say it will not be effective if there is increasing vilification of the community:
This investment will cease to remain cost effective in environments whereby disproportionate levels of vilification towards particular groups continues to exacerbate threats of violence, high distress and suicidality.
Symes has previously said she is committed to expanding the anti-vilification laws and will look at them in the next 18 months.
Updated
This week Guardian Australia turns 10! If you didn’t tune into our 10th birthday event last night, you can share in the celebrations and take a look inside how we got where we are thanks to our special edition of Full Story:
Updated
White House official outlines potential for collaboration on defence technologies with other countries
White House official Mira Rapp-Hooper went on to draw a distinction between the two parts of Aukus, the security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK.
Pillar one is the project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Pillar two, however, is the collaboration on advanced defence technologies, including artificial intelligence and hypersonics. The Aukus countries have long signalled their openness to work with non-members on particular advanced defence technology projects.
Rapp-Hooper indicated these would be partners rather than members:
Aukus itself has the potential to add additional partners through its pillar two efforts, which will be focused on expanding partnership in a number of areas of advanced capability ...
I think what these partnerships [Aukus and Quad] have in common is that while the central mission may be designed around a relatively small number of fixture members, the broader mission has much wider opportunities for collaboration, and one could see a world in which that work continues to expand and the partners with whom the original membership is collaborating.
Updated
White House: Quad likely to collaborate with partners but not looking to expand for the time being
The Quad - which brings together the US, Australia, Japan and India - is likely to collaborate with an expanding range of partners in the region, a senior White House official has said.
Mira Rapp-Hooper, the director for Indo-Pacific Strategy at the White House’s National Security Council, was asked during a webinar hosted by the US Studies Centre today how countries like South Korea or Canada or Indonesia might be able to “plug into” groupings like the Quad or Aukus.
She replied:
In the case of both the Quad and Aukus, the original membership of that structure remains the original membership for the time being. So the Quad has no plans to expand its membership, Aukus has no plans to expand its membership in pillar one, which of course is the submarine program, but both of these partnerships are over time going to provide an increasing set of opportunities for other like-minded partners to engage with a broad suite of work that each is doing.
Rapp-Hooper noted the Quad’s project on maritime domain awareness had already seen the provision of radio frequency data to countries in the region:
Now that already has the Quad interacting on a regular basis with countries in the Pacific islands, in south-east Asia and in the Indian Ocean region. So the Quad is actively partnering with countries who are not Quad members. Over time we can see that becoming an expanded set of countries, if for example there was another like-minded partner like Korea or like Canada that had some thing to bring to the table on a submarine cable project, or on a global health effort. But our understanding for the time being is that those outside partners, the collaboration with additional partners, will be on the basis of practical outcomes and work that is ongoing rather than expanding the membership itself.
Updated
GPs urge government to act on inquiry’s recommendations into reproductive healthcare
If you remember the health minister, Mark Butler, was quizzed about why the budget didn’t contain anything for improving reproductive healthcare, including abortion access. He said that was because the government was waiting on the recommendations of an inquiry which would inform its decisionmaking in the area.
Well, that inquiry delivered its findings yesterday afternoon in a report title “ending the postcode lottery” – nodding to the significant disadvantage Australian women living outside capital cities face accessing reproductive healthcare.
The report calls for better training and funding for healthcare workers to be providing long-acting reversible contraceptives (so those are hormonal implants, hormonal IUDs, and copper IUDs), as well as Medicare telehealth items including termination care to be continued.
The Royal College of GPs have welcomed the findings and called for the government to take immediate action on them. Its president, Dr Nicole Higgins, said:
As a Mackay GP, I know my patients who require a surgical abortion must travel over 1000km for care and that is not acceptable. Today’s report contains many promising recommendations the government can and should act on without delay.
Our chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, has more on that Senate inquiry and the lay of the political land when it comes to abortion access here:
Updated
AFP: commissioner does not believe different generations require different levels of praise
The Australian Federal Police says its commissioner does not hold the belief different generations require different level of praise.
The statement comes after the commissioner chose to give this “aside” at yesterday’s Senate Estimates:
Just as an aside – if I can just drop this in – I think this is interesting. We learned too that Gen Zed, the younger generation, need three times a week praise from their supervisors. The next generation only need three times a year and my generation only need once a year.
AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw says Gen Z need "3 times a week praise"; millennials 3 times a year; and Gen X once a year. #auspol pic.twitter.com/Ukmdsul3Si
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) May 25, 2023
The AFP are seeking to set the record straight, releasing this statement this morning:
Reports that AFP commissioner believes different generations require different level of praise are incorrect. The commissioner was referring to information recently presented to a policing forum.
Updated
The former competition watchdog head Rod Sims says Australia’s big supermarkets have likely used their market power to increase prices higher than necessary during a cost-of-living crisis and that the government should consider reforming merger laws to limit their dominance.
Sims, who retired as the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last year, said Coles and Woolworths have little to worry about when making pricing decisions because they control two-thirds of the market.
Updated
Sam Kerr wins again
The Matildas captain, Sam Kerr, received yet another accolade on Thursday in London, becoming the first woman to collect England’s Football Writers’ Association’s prestigious Footballer of the Year trophy in two consecutive seasons.
She picked up the award just a couple of days before she aims to shoot Chelsea to a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title in England, thus completing another FA Cup-WSL double.
Kerr said:
I think to some people it might look easy, but every year it gets harder and harder to win the league.
Anyone that’s involved in football knows how hard it is to come back year after year and to stay at the top. So we’re doing everything to win on Saturday.
– AAP
Updated
Snow is capping Kunanyi/Mt Wellington in Tasmania, which comes off a very blustery day yesterday.
If you glance up at kunanyi/Mt Wellington you'll see a beautiful dusting of snow. The snow level is currently rising, but we are expecting it to briefly lower to around 700 metres about the south on Monday morning (following the passage of a cold front). pic.twitter.com/Y7TXoRynZv
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) May 25, 2023
It was very windy across Tasmania yesterday. The highest wind gust was 133 km/h at Maatsuyker Island (which has a reputation for blowing hard). The strongest wind gust at Hobart was 83 km/h, Launceston 57 km/h, Devonport 80 km/h and Strahan 81 km/h.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) May 25, 2023
📷 @LeonCompton pic.twitter.com/eqKyOPkqtF
Updated
Biden’s official reiterates ‘deepest regrets’ for cancelled Australia visit
Joe Biden’s top Indo-Pacific adviser has reiterated that the US president offered Anthony Albanese his “deepest regrets” about the postponement of his planned trip to Australia.
Biden attended the G7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, last weekend, but postponed trips to Papua New Guinea and Australia (where a Quad summit was to be held in Sydney) to oversee negotiations on the US debt ceiling.
Kurt Campbell, the coordinator for Indo-Pacific affairs at the White House National Security Council, is addressing a webinar organised by the United States Studies Centre.
Campbell said Biden had felt that he could not postpone the entire trip to the region, because that would be “catastrophic”. Campbell acknowledged that the region was looking at whether the US could be “a steady predictable force”.
Campbell said the determination was to still go to the G7 and to try to “resurrect as much as possible”. That included the holding of a Quad meeting in Hiroshima with Australians in the chair. (The Quad brings together the US, Australia, Japan and India.)
Biden reached out to Albanese to express his “deepest regrets, really sincerest concerns about the consequences of this postponement”, Campbell said.
But Campbell said the leaders were able to have a “consequential” Quad meeting in Hiroshima, and Australia and the US “signed a blockbuster agreement on climate and the provision of critical minerals”.
Campbell also said Biden and Albanese also took steps to ensure “all elements of Aukus, both pillar 1 and pillar 2” were “on track”.
Updated
Linda Burney commemorates the Stolen Generations on National Sorry Day
As well as the sixth anniversary of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, today is also National Sorry Day, commemorating the Stolen Generations.
Today marks National Sorry Day and the 6th anniversary of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is such an honour to be on Country in such an amazing part of the world, and to be reminded of where the statement came from. pic.twitter.com/nAyNTwO2wb
— Linda Burney MP (@LindaBurneyMP) May 25, 2023
The minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney, told ABC Radio she felt “mixed emotions.”
Twenty-six years ago the Bringing them Home report was tabled, and I’ll never forget the apology by Kevin Rudd 15 years ago, I was actually in the chamber.
Even now the emotion wells up in you to think that these people in our lifetime were taken and had terrible experiences and the trauma is intergenerational.
It’s also a story of survival, resilience and this country coming to terms with an awful part of its history.
Updated
Marles accuses Dutton of 'making stuff up' after claims government turning off gas supply
In their regular spot opposite each other on Nine News’ breakfast show, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, hits back that Dutton is “making stuff up here.”
At the end of last year, our intervention was about getting more gas into the east coast energy market. That’s what we were doing. Peter opposed it. That’s in the here and now. He can bang on about batteries. At the end of day, when there was an opportunity to act he opposed.
Marles emphasised that the interventions into the energy market meant that even though energy prices are going up, they are lower than what they would have been otherwise.
Updated
Dutton says Labor is reducing gas in energy sector too early
Opposition leader Peter Dutton is this morning calling for more gas to be put into the grid to reduce energy costs following the news this morning that power bills could rise by up to 25% in some states.
Dutton told the Today Show:
We want to see more gas in the system. What the government is doing here is turning off the old system before the new one is ready. That’s what’s driving up prices … and I think the government’s completely underestimating how much families and small businesses are hurting at the moment.
The government’s attacking the gas sector at the moment and reducing the amount of gas into the sector, the system, at a time when there is more demand. If you have got more demand for any commodity and you’re restricting supply, the price spikes.
We’re in favour of renewable energy. But it needs to be firmed up during the hours of darkness when the solar panels won’t work and you have got the baseload cost.
So, whether you have 65 [or] 85% of renewables, you have to firm that up. The trouble is they are turning off coal and gas way too early before the latest technology battery lasts for an hour. So, when the new battery comes, that is great. It’s not here yet.
Updated
Precarious walls left after Sydney blaze may need to be demolished
Superintendent Adam Dewberry from NSW Fire and Rescue is doing the rounds of the breakfast news shows sharing the latest on the Sydney inferno.
He’s told ABC News Breakfast those two walls still in precarious positions will likely need to be demolished:
Our priority is to get people back into their residence and also to get communities and the businesses reopened.
We still have a problem with two walls in precarious positions and could come down without notice, bringing tons and tons of bricks down and causing projectiles and causing injury, damage or even death. That’s why our exclusion zone is so tight.
… It looks like making it safe will include a demolition of the walls down it a level where it is safe.
Dewberry says planning is currently occurring between authorities and local council.
Updated
We’ve heard from Fire and Rescue NSW that there is still the potential for further collapse around the seven-storey Sydney building which went up in flames last night.
The emergency organisation have shared the moment a huge part of the building’s facade came down yesterday evening:
SURRY HILLS | Wall collapses as major fire engulfs seven-storey building. New video footage, released by FRNSW, shows the moment a wall from an engulfed building in Surry Hills came crashing down onto the street below. pic.twitter.com/mZeYGg1Kox
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) May 25, 2023
Updated
Voice referendum ‘not the plaything of politicians’, Indigenous affairs minister says
On the pushback against the voice from the right and left, Burney says she’s met with both the independent Senator Lydia Thorpe and the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Price.
While Price’s position with the Nationals is a hard no to supporting the voice, Burney says the pair spoke about education in central Australia.
Thorpe’s position on the voice is still undecided, with her not advocating for a no or yes vote. Burney says she’d like her to support the alteration bill but ultimately it’s up to her.
The important thing is not about the left or the right of politics. What’s important is the Australian people this is their referendum, this is their decision. It is not the plaything of politicians.
Updated
Linda Burney: voice referendum chance to power ‘the wheel of history’
Indigenous leaders are returning to Uluru today six years since the Uluru Statement from the heart was delivered. The statement underpins the voice to parliament, which the nation will vote on in a referendum before the end of the year.
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is in the Red Centre but she says she is not concerned by a recent poll by the Nine newspapers which indicate the yes campaign is losing support.
Burney tells ABC Radio:
Individuals that know that this is their time to put their shoulder on the wheel of history and give it a shove.
The momentum is just enormous. We are at Uluru – I am looking at Uluru right now with the sun coming up as I was speaking to you – and I feel buoyed and I feel confident.
I know that we’ve still got six or seven months to run and I am sure that the Australian people will rise rise to this occasion.
Read more from our Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, who is also on the ground at Uluru:
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Evacuated dental hospital near site of Sydney blaze becomes emergency services hub
While the light rail that runs past the charred husk of the burnt out building on Randle Ln is running this morning, many of the roads are blocked off by police tape, including a usually very busy section of Elizabeth St, which will likely have an impact on morning traffic.
The total area cordoned off around the building is about six blocks. A hand-scrawled sign on the usually packed Elizabeth St bus stop directs people to the nearby Eddy Ave.
The Sydney Dental Hospital - a short distance away from the burnt out building - was evacuated yesterday. It’s now being used as a hub for the emergency services gathered at the site. Water pours past it in the street, downhill, where the media is gathered.
Updated
Sydney fire ‘pretty much out’ but concern walls may still collapse
Staying on the Sydney inferno, Superintendent Adam Dewberry from NSW Fire and Rescue says the the fire is “pretty much out” after firefighters worked up until 2am this morning to ensure hot spots were out.
However, Dewberry told the Today Show there is still serious concern more walls could collapse without notice.
There’s else a lot of work to be done. The building opposite has been damaged by that extreme heat. Firefighters were able to cut that fire off from spreading into the building across the road. But the main priority is that wall. There are two walls that are in a precarious position.
Dewberry says there is a “very good chance” they are likely to fall “without notice.”
We are talking about tonnes and tonnes of bricks that could come down and become projectiles that is why we have such a tight exclusion zone, not allowing anyone in, including firefighter[s], until we get the engineers in.
Updated
Morning update on Sydney blaze
The charred remains of the heritage listed multi-story brick building on Sydney’s Randle Lane are visible from the Central station underpass this morning.
About three complete storeys of the six storey building collapsed yesterday during the inferno that took hold about 4pm and quickly engulfed the building. The partially collapsed structure is strewn across Randle St, and a police line prevents members of the public from getting too close.
Water pours out from underneath an adjacent building abutting the light rail. A police officer tells me the apartment blocks nearby are still empty as the building is structurally unsound, and spot fires are still being put out.
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NSW to consider ‘breach of trust’ fines in wake of PwC scandal
New South Wales is the first state to consider introducing fines for betrayal of trust for companies that leak sensitive government tax information to clients following the PwC tax scandal.
The state’s finance minister, Courtney Houssos, is telling ABC Radio the fines would be in the multimillions:
I’m working with the chief commissioner for state revenue to implement a change to our policy that will ensure that severe penalties will apply to advisors and also to organisations who seek commercial advantage by sharing confidential tax related information.
We’re looking at multimillion dollar fines for both the individuals involved and also for the organisations.
We think that when you are provided with confidential tax information by the government, that any breach of that trust should be tightened and there should be very, very serious consequences for that.
Updated
Good morning! Natasha May stepping up to the plate to serve you the rest of today’s live news coverage.
Updated
Australia needs stronger anti-slavery laws, review warns
Australia should toughen up its laws against modern slavery, including by imposing fines on businesses that lie about actions they are tacking to tackle the problem, a government-ordered review has found.
The Modern Slavery Act, which took effect in 2019, aims to push businesses to tackle a range of risks in their supply chains, including human trafficking, servitude, worker exploitation, child labour, forced marriage, debt bondage and deceptive recruiting.
Big businesses are required to report steps they are taking to address the problem in statements posted on a government-run register - but the reporting obligations have long been criticised for lacking teeth.
In a report tabled by the government in parliament late yesterday, Prof John McMillan said the consultations he oversaw had found “a widely endorsed view” that there was “no hard evidence that the Modern Slavery Act in its early years has yet caused meaningful change for people living in conditions of modern slavery”.
McMillan has made 30 recommendations, including requiring businesses that have annual revenue of $50m or more to report the steps they are taking on the issue. That means the rules will cover a larger number of businesses, because the current reporting threshold is $100m of annual revenue.
McMillan also recommended making it a penalty for failing to submit modern slavery statements, failing to take specified remedial action, or making a statement “that knowingly includes materially false information”. He wrote:
Proposed legislative changes largely target what are seen to be the three main weaknesses in the present Act – the standard of modern slavery reporting is variable, the reporting obligation is not properly enforceable, and the process is at risk of being drowned by a sea of large and incompatible statements.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the acting attorney general, Katy Gallagher, said the government would consider the recommendations, but noted that many of them were in line with Labor election commitments.
WA premier: ‘unthinkable’ US-style school shooting nearly occurred
Mark McGowan, state premier, said it was “unthinkable” that a US-style school shooting could have happened at a WA school.
He told reporters yesterday during a visit to the school:
We are very lucky no one was killed. The bullets went close. It’s a terrible, terrible thing and it could have been so much worse.
This is extraordinary stuff. This is the sort of thing you see occurring in the deep south of America.
McGowan said work was already under way to dramatically reform the state’s gun laws.
Updated
Boy charged with multiple offences after allegedly shooting at Perth classroom
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with multiple offences after he allegedly drove to a school in Western Australia and shot at a classroom as scared students hid in fear, AAP reports.
The incident at Atlantis Beach Baptist College north of Perth on Wednesday is understood to be the first firearms episode at a school in Western Australia.
Police arrested the boy at the scene at about 11.50am after he allegedly fired three rounds, with two shots hitting a classroom.
Western Australia police on Thursday charged the teen with a count of driving without authority, three counts of possessing an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm to cause fear, possessing a prohibited weapon and acting unlawfully with intent to harm.
The boy was expected to face the Perth children’s court this morning.
Officers took the teen into custody without incident on Wednesday, seizing two rifles, a .243 and .22 calibre, allegedly found in a car at the scene.
The weapons are understood to be registered to the boy’s father.
Updated
Authorities praise Sydney residents for quick evacuation as fire raged
Fire and Rescue NSW Supt Adam Dewberry praised people living in apartments and other buildings near the scene of the huge fire in Sydney yesterday for evacuating promptly when multiple fire alarms went off.
He also said quick-thinking firefighters prevented the flames from destroying adjacent buildings by hosing them down and stopping the fire from spreading.
There were some fires that spread into the apartment buildings … firefighters were able to extinguish those and prevent them further penetrating into the buildings and causing significant damage.
Supt Dewberry said it was believed the two buildings involved in the blaze were vacant.
It was an incredibly intense fire and the age of the building, the type of construction with lots of timber frames and floors, and with that, very well seasoned and dry timber.
Our firefighters have done a wonderful job to get on top of this fire.
Supt Dewberry said there were no reports of injuries to members of the public and only one firefighter suffered a minor burn to his arm.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome everyone to our live coverage of the Australian news day. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the best of the overnight stories before my colleague Natasha May steps up to the plate shortly.
Firefighters and police will today begin their investigation into the huge blaze in Sydney that destroyed a seven-storey building next to the city’s Central station yesterday. More than 120 firefighters with 30 fire trucks battled the blaze at a heritage-listed former hat factory in Surry Hills which broke out at around 4pm, sending fiery debris crashing to the ground in Randle Street. Fire and Rescue NSW Supt Adam Dewberry told ABC News it was incredible no one was hurt in one of the city’s biggest fires in years.
Also this morning, we have an exclusive interview with Greens leader Adam Bandt. He tells our chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, that the government can’t count on his party’s support for its “weak” changes to petroleum resource rent tax. In stinging remarks, Bandt says it is not clear the changes will bring in any additional revenue and the policy was “written by the gas lobby” so “it’s not worth the napkin it was written on after a long lunch”. More on this one coming up.
A 15-year-old boy has been charged with multiple offences after he allegedly drove to a school in Perth, Western Australia and shot at a classroom as scared students hid in fear. Police last night charged him with a count of driving without authority, three counts of possessing an unlicensed firearm and ammunition, discharging a firearm to cause fear, possessing a prohibited weapon and acting unlawfully with intent to harm. The boy was expected to face the Perth children’s court this morning.
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