What we learned; Thursday 24 August
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s what we learned today:
Treasurer Jim Chalmers outlined the contents of the Albanese government’s 2023 intergenerational report, published today, saying dealing with climate change is a “global environmental and economic imperative” which brings risks but also “vast industrial opportunities”.
Ben Roberts-Smith’s appeal against the dismissal of his defamation action will be heard by the full bench of the federal court next February, the federal court has heard.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says she hopes supermarket giants will start to lower the price of groceries for customers as production costs drop
The Queensland Labour government has continued attempting to pass an omnibus bill to override the human rights act to allow children to be held in adult jails and watch houses.
Gay conversion practices would be outlawed in New South Wales as part of sweeping changes to the law being proposed by the independent member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich.
A microorganism that causes a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye infection has been detected in the water at four popular New South Wales swimming spots.
A Liberian-flagged bulk carrier has been banned from Australian waters for a year after the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) found “serious issues of wage theft and seafarer mistreatment onboard”.
Offshore platform workers at Woodside have reached an in-principle agreement over pay and conditions with the oil and gas company, averting a possible strike.
Qantas Airways has soared out of the disrupted pandemic era to post a record $2.47bn full-year underlying profit, backed by strong travel demand and high ticket prices. The 2022-23 results mark a huge turnaround from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss.
A Gold Coast city councillor has been charged with murder.
We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning with more of the day’s news for you. See you then.
Updated
Queensland children may have been illegally detained for years, solicitor general advises
Queensland’s urgent move to change laws allowing the indefinite detention of children in watch houses came after advice from the state’s solicitor general suggesting young people may have been illegally detained for years.
The Palaszczuk government suspended the state’s Human Rights Act on Wednesday to introduce legislation to allow children to be kept in watch houses and adult prisons “even if it would not be compatible with human rights”.
The emergency legislation – which was expected to pass on Thursday – was added to an unrelated bill, along with a swathe of other amendments.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Updated BoM forecasts point to relatively dry spring and beyond
The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its long-range forecasts and they don’t look good for those hoping Australia’s relatively dry winter will turn damp come spring.
Conditions for September to November look likely to be drier than average.
So @Bom_au has just updated its forecasts for coming months. Spring looks likely to have below-average rainfall across most of the country. pic.twitter.com/RHM9xFmNC9
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) August 24, 2023
Those conditions ease back a little for the run into summer – unless you live in south-east or south-west Australia.
The picture eases a bit for October-December, but areas of Queensland, near Perth and most of Victoria and Tasmania have the odds remaining heavily skewed towards below-average rainfall. pic.twitter.com/PGCuTgI1DV
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) August 24, 2023
According to the BoM, “[t]he long-range forecast is influenced by several factors, including likely El Niño development, potential positive Indian Ocean Dipole development and record warm oceans globally”.
And, on the subject of warmth, the rest of the year looks likely to see warmer-than-average daytime temperatures virtually right across the country.
Meanwhile, spot the difference between spring and the October-December period (right) for odds favouring above-average maximum temperatures. Pretty emphatic forecasts pointing to a relatively warm end to 2023. pic.twitter.com/yfwstUb9Pk
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) August 24, 2023
As for an El Niño, it does look a bit touch and go as to whether the bureau will follow the World Meteorological Organisation, US agencies and others in finally declaring an event under way.
The bureau has been cautious to this point but perhaps the string of negative-Southern Oscillation Index readings (that track pressure differences between Darwin and Tahiti) might just be enough. We’ll find out next Tuesday.
And as for whether @bom_au will declare an El Nino at next Tuesday's update, a recent run of negative SOI readings (Southern Oscillation Index) might get @bom_au over the line but caution has been their MO so far. pic.twitter.com/Y4czyJWHLc
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) August 24, 2023
Meanwhile, the ABC’s weather expert, Tom Saunders, has been looking at snow depths in the not-so Snowy Mountains – the picture isn’t great.
Deep Creek snow depth is the lowest on record - 0cm! Only time 2 consecutive mid August readings have been ZERO (there was one in 1973). I compared it to 1964 to torture myself since I was in thredbo last week pic.twitter.com/Ja3LYGNQu4
— Thomas Saunders (@TomSaundersABC) August 24, 2023
If it’s cold or wet where you are, embrace it.
Updated
Today’s afternoon update is out! Catch up on all the day’s news here:
‘They care about cops and cages’, anti-prison group organiser says at snap protest over Queensland government’s move to overturn Human Rights Act
A snap protest of 50 Queenslanders has rallied against the state government’s sudden move to overturn its Human Rights Act.
The rally was organised by anti-prison group Sisters’ Inside, led by Debbie Kilroy, herself a former prisoner.
Kilroy said:
As someone who was one of those 13-year-old children nearly 50 years ago, the only thing that I have seen change is the number of children that are caged.
She said the laws wouldn’t solve the problem, and even if the government passed laws to ease the burden on the over-full youth justice system by holding kids in watch houses, they would just fill up next.
They [in parliament] don’t care about community safety. They care about cops and cages. This is organised abandonment by the state. And who gets harmed the most is Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.
With tears in his eyes, Greens MP Michael Berkman told the protest he felt “fucking ashamed to be a part of this institution”:
The only two times that this government has overwritten the Human Rights Act has been, number one, to make sure they can pass laws that ensure more young kids or vulnerable kids – predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kids – can be locked up. And the second time they override the Human Rights Act is to make sure that they can keep them locked up in watch houses and in adult prisons indefinitely.
Debate on the bill continues.
Updated
As capital city unit rents rise seven times as fast as wages over past 12 months, advocacy group calls on NSW government to fund more housing
The NSW government is being called on to urgently invest in more social and affordable housing after data showed rental prices for units rose more than seven times as fast as wages across Australia’s capital cities over the past 12 months.
The Domain data showed the asking price for rents for apartments in Sydney rose 27.6% and for houses grew 13% over the year to June 2023, eclipsing wages, which only grew at 3.6%.
The Community Housing Industry Association NSW (CHIA NSW) CEO, Mark Degotardi, said rising rents, coupled with a lack of supply, is putting an enormous strain on renters:
Stagnant wages and the soaring cost of living are compounding a housing crisis which has been decades in the making.
The disparity between rent increases and wage growth is being felt hardest by low-income workers like cleaners, aged care nurses, and retail workers who help keep our society running.
The private rental market is failing these Australians who desperately need social and affordable housing options.
Right now, thousands of families cannot afford a private rental but when they turn to social housing, they’re met with a queue of 56,000 other families just like them.
CHIA NSW is calling on the State Government ahead of the NSW State Budget to invest in a four-year, $6 billion Social and Affordable Housing Innovation Fund.
Updated
Thanks for your attention this afternoon. You’re now in the excellent hands of Stephanie Convery!
‘National crisis’ should be declared, rental inquiry hears
Professor Alan Morris, from UTS Sydney, was speaking at the national rental inquiry before on public housing:
For example, between 1985 and 1995 we forget that 115,000 public housing dwellings were built, so it is possible. They were building 11,000 homes on average a year, so that is impressive.
That’s what we need. We need a target. And, ideally, we need a proportion of the federal budget to be extended.
The federal government has run about $650bn. And I think at the moment, government allocates about $1.6bn. It’s pathetic.
$13bn - that could build around about 20,000 homes a year.
I think what is needed … there needs to be declared a national crisis.
Updated
National Cabinet suggestions for renter protections are already in play, expert says
Senior research fellow at the City Futures Centre Dr Chris Martin has been speaking to the federal rental inquiry sitting in Sydney today.
Martin said ending no-grounds evictions was “crucial reform”:
It’s the reform on which every other reform, or in the exercise of tenants existing rights, depends.
Other elements of that nine-point agenda … some of the announcements are already the law in most states and there is a blank on how to deal with rental affordability problems.
Martin said most jurisdictions already implement a rent cap, for instance:
We already have a limit to increases. We don’t have in any state or territory a limit on the amount that rent can be increased.
I think there is a compelling case, and I think it will attract support from many people, for a regulation of rent increases during tenancies … by limiting the rate of increases by some percentage. It could be 3%, being the upper limit of the RBA’s inflation rate … or it could be CPI.
Updated
Blanket ban and single regulator wrong approach to AI, tech companies argue
Tech companies have argued against the blanket ban of uses of artificial intelligence, and have said there should not be a single AI regulator as the federal government attempts to grapple with the rise in the technology.
The Tech Council of Australia, which represents companies including Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and IBM, said in its submission to the federal government’s review of the AI regulatory framework that a blanket ban would be the wrong approach to AI.
The organisation said that while there are privacy and surveillance concerns about the use of facial recognition technology, for example, there are also benefits, such as unlocking mobile phones and accessing accounts. The council said there should be a nuanced approach to regulating such technology.
The group also said there should not be a single all-encompassing AI law or regulator.
Layering further technology-specific AI regulation on top of our existing technology-neutral laws could add further regulatory complexity and confusion, and if combined with more restrictive regulation in key policy areas such as copyright, would risk driving capability and investment offshore.
The consultation closed earlier this month. The Industry Department has not published any of the submissions so far, however, several of those who made submissions have released them to media since.
Updated
Word count points to a shift in intergenerational report priorities
This year’s intergenerational report is about 50% larger than the 2021 version compiled under the supervision of then treasurer, Josh Frydenberg.
Word counts don’t provide the full context of how a subject might be treated but they do hint at the relative prominence.
Here are the number of times certain phrases appeared this time around compared with the coalition government’s last IGR.
Climate change 155/31
Disaster 46/9
Extreme weather 6/1
Emissions 91/33
Net zero 81/2
Renewable 50/13
Hydrogen 20/5
Coal 33/5
Critical minerals 33/1
Nuclear 1/0
Carbon capture 0/3
Defence 48/26
China 5/3
Migration 103/101
Debt 113/109
Deficit 33/19
Surplus 14/13
Pandemic 37/97
Covid 46/90
NDIS 99/43
Great Barrier Reef 0/0
The tally, in other words, points at the much greater interest in climate change and a low-emissions economy.
Note, there was no mention of nuclear in the 2021 IGR and only one this time (ie “vanishingly small modular reactors”).
The Great Barrier Reef, though, doesn’t warrant a mention, which – given the climate warming trajectory we’re on – might sadly be a reflection of how much of the Reef will still be there come 2063.
Read more on our top takeaways here (thanks mostly to our colleague Paul Karp):
Updated
Federal court to hear Ben Roberts-Smith's appeal in February
Ben Roberts-Smith’s appeal against the dismissal of his defamation action will be heard by the full bench of the federal court next February, the federal court has heard.
The appeal will be set down for 10 days, federal court justice Nye Perram said at a preliminary hearing in Sydney on Thursday, but an exact date and the composition of the three-judge bench has not yet been determined.
In June, justice Anthony Besanko dismissed in its entirety Roberts-Smith’s defamation action against the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times.
Roberts-Smith, Australia’s most decorated Afghan veteran and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, alleged a series of 2018 articles had falsely portrayed him as a criminal who “broke the moral and legal rules of military engagement” and “disgraced” his country and its army. He denied all wrongdoing and said the allegations against him were motivated by spite and jealousy.
But Besanko found the newspapers had proven to a civil standard – on the balance of probabilities – that Roberts-Smith was complicit in the murder of four unarmed prisoners in Afghanistan, including kicking a handcuffed prisoner off a cliff before ordering him shot dead.
The judge also found Roberts-Smith ordered subordinate soldiers under his command to murder civilians, that he bullied comrades and intimidated other soldiers he thought might testify against him, and threatened a woman with whom he was having an affair.
The federal court heard details on Thursday of the extraordinary security procedures required to hear the appeal, including: dedicated encoded safes installed in judges’ chambers; special secure computers for drafting closed court decisions; additional secure courtrooms; a requirement for blinds to be drawn and windows covered when classified documents were being examined; and even the removal of smart watches from judges’ wrists in closed court.
Updated
More skilled workers needed to meet Australia’s skills shortage, Universities Australia chief exec says
The peak body for Australia’s higher education sector says the release of the latest intergenerational report confirms the “central role” the sector will play in navigating a changing economic landscape.
Chief executive of Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, said Australia’s future prosperity would be determined by how well we address major forces reshaping the economy, citing an ageing population, digitalisation, climate change and geopolitical risk.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers today said addressing climate change was a “global, environmental and economic imperative”.
Jackson:
These are national challenges and opportunities we simply can’t rise to without universities – either through the research and development we undertake, or by the skilled workers we educate.
Jackson said more skilled workers were needed to meet Australia’s skills shortage, projecting a cost of $7bn by 2026 if Australia falls short of employment projections.
University research and development (R&D) activities are also essential to Australia’s technological and social advancement ... but we can’t do more with less. If we could lift investment in higher education research and development by just 1%, we could raise productivity and increase the size of Australia’s economy by $24bn over 10 years.
Constant tweaks to our policy and funding settings have seen university places capped and government investment in R&D fall to its lowest ever share of gross domestic product. The Albanese government has an opportunity to address these problems through the Australian Universities Accord.
Updated
Medibank CEO insists customers continue to prioritise health and wellbeing despite cost-of-living pressures
My colleague Josh Taylor brought you the news earlier that Medibank has posted a net profit after tax of $511.1m, despite the massive cyber attack it experienced costing the business $46.4m over the last year.
The profit also comes despite the peak medical body warning that cost-of-living pressures are affecting the uptake of private health care. The Australian Medical Association earlier this week said that they were concerned about Australians being priced out of private health insurance, with only the highest-tier gold cover actually catering for the services – such as psychiatric care and private birth – that people need.
However, Medibank CEO David Koczkar insisted “despite cost of living pressures, our customers continue to prioritise their health and wellbeing.” According to Medibank, the growth in the business is largely down to non-Australian residents and young people taking up new policies.
The insurer says it has seen a 40% growth in policies taken out by non-residents, such as overseas workers and students, which represents their largest increase in non-resident policyholders in seven years.
Koczkar said the business has also seen its highest growth in customers with hospital cover under the age of 30 in over a decade. Younger people are seeking private health insurance because they want more choice and are concerned about public hospital wait times, he said.
Updated
Antipoverty Centre researcher at rental inquiry calls commonwealth rent assistance ‘a joke’
Commonwealth rent assistance (CRA) has been a recurring topic across the past two days of the rental inquiry - the message from advocates is that it’s too low to help and unfit for purpose.
In her opening remarks, Kristin O’Connell, researcher at the Antipoverty Centre, said CRA [currently capped at $78 per week for a single] was “a joke”.
Commonwealth Rent Assistance is a joke and should not be part of any conversation about a serious response to the rental crisis.
I’ll give just one example of the many perverse outcomes produced by the way CRA operates: When the pitiful increase kicks in on 20 September, the 300,000 people who don’t qualify for the maximum CRA will instead have their payment reduced because of how it is indexed.
It is ignorant to continue to call for an increase in CRA, even a substantial one. If community housing providers want more funding they should ask for it instead of pretending it will do anything for people who rely on income support.
Speaking earlier, Economic Justice Australia’s Linda Forbes said rent assistance rates bear no relation to the private rental market.
She said while they welcome the 15% increase in September, it will do little to help recipients in the private rental market.
The problem here is a lot of the people that we’re talking about should have access to social housing.
Even if the wheels started turning tomorrow to put [more social housing] in place, there are people in abject poverty and crisis right now, who are facing homelessness.
Updated
Climate change looms large in the IGR but not large enough
Treasurer Jim Chalmers (and his treasury team) deserves credit for taking climate change far more seriously in the latest intergenerational report than any of his predecessors.
Some of the projected costs of a heating world were covered by a “drop” yesterday (as covered here), but there’s more that’s not said that makes it into the nearly 300-page tome.
There’s no hint, for instance, of the implications of a collapse in more vulnerable neighbouring nations and the threat of a mass migration such might trigger. (We suspect the Office of National Intelligence has detailed such risks, but the government won’t release its full report, despite calls from ex-military types.)
Treasury does take a stab at costing the increasing impacts from extreme weather events via its Disaster Recovery Funding Arrangements (DRFA). Assuming the world is on a 3C warming path, cumulative spending on DRFA will be $130bn in today’s dollars, or 3-3.6 times current levels.
That assessment, however, only assesses four “natural hazards” – bushfires, tropical cyclones, floods and storms. Drought and heatwaves – two perils facing Australia this summer as landscapes dry out and global temperatures nudge record annual levels – are excluded.
We look at more of the implications of climate change - and what’s omitted - here:
Updated
Universities must ‘take the lead’ on workplace sexual harassment, experts say
Academics are calling on universities to “take the lead” on sexual harassment within workplaces following this week’s launch of a National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) survey into university staff experiences.
The survey will be the first since 2019, which found that while workplace harassment was comparable to other industries, high rates of casualisation appeared to be dissuading staff from speaking out.
NTEU president Dr Alison Barnes said results showed a “culture of sexual harassment on campuses that … applies to staff as much as it applies to students”.
Just under one-in-five respondents said that they had personally experienced sexual harassment in the workplace and, alarmingly, just under 40% of all respondents said that they were aware of others who had been sexually harassed in their workplace.
Last year, Monash university conducted national research into workplace sexual harassment, which included the responses of 100 victim-survivors at universities.
Professor Kate Fitz-Gibbon, director of the Monash Gender and Family Violence Prevention Centre, said incidents of sexual harassment were “well known” in the university, commonly witnessed by bystanders and often involved the same perpetrators.
The vast majority of survey respondents who formally reported the incident were dissatisfied with their university’s response.
Universities need to take the lead on this issue. Creating a culture of accountability for perpetrators and processes that support and validate victim-survivors’ experiences of harm is critical.
This month, Universities Australia announced it would launch its second national survey into sexual harassment and assaults on university campuses following continued lobbying from advocacy groups and education minister Jason Clare.
Updated
On Asic, Chalmers says at Press Club that he sees ‘an opportunity to refresh an organisation’ that has ‘copped flak’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers was asked about the state of Australia’s corporate regulator, Asic, at his National Press Club appearance today.
A Senate inquiry is currently looking into Asic’s ability to effectively investigate allegations of misconduct within the corporate sector and has heard from some particularly critical witnesses within the industry over the past two days.
Witnesses on Wednesday complained their reports to the corporate watchdog of suspected wrongdoing often went unanswered, and former Asic chair, James Shipton, alleged he wasn’t adequately supported by his employer as he faced intense scrutiny in the role.
An Asic spokesperson responded to Shipton’s claims, saying that it took staff wellbeing seriously.
Chalmers was asked whether he is confident in Asic and whether there are plans to overhaul the agency.
The treasurer responded on Thursday:
First of all, we take seriously the issue that is raised at the parliamentary committee. Obviously, I have tried to stay across those matters that were raised. We are trying to reform and renew and refresh our economic institutions and the focus has been on the Reserve Bank and, to some extent, the Productivity Commission.
When it comes to ASIC, I think that we have a really important opportunity with the appointments all coming at one time to see that as an opportunity to refresh an organisation and institution that has copped a bit of flak in recent times.
But I don’t yet have - in the way that we came to office with a very firm view about the Reserve Bank, we had partly formed but now almost fully formed views about renewing and refocusing the Productivity Commission - we haven’t yet gotten to ASIC.
Updated
Renter tells inquiry her 13-year-old daughter has lived in 12 homes due to rental market insecurity
The federal inquiry into the rental crisis also heard from Amity, who rents with her child. She said she has had 16 rentals in 25 years, many of which were unliveable.
She said they experienced: windows painted closed ... being able to feel the wind inside the house ... I’ve had glasses get so hot in summer that my glasses slide down my nose ...
Amity said she wanted:
A real end to no-grounds evictions ... a cap on rent increases ... a short-to-medium-term freeze on rents ... we also need minimum standards on rental properties to protect us from mould and extreme temperatures ... and more public housing.
Another renter in her late 40s spoke of a property she had rented in 2021 which she had seen advertised recently for three times the amount she had paid.
Her 13-year-old-daughter had lived in 12 homes, she said.
I am still fearful of an eviction notice. There is no security.
Updated
Rent caps will create reduction in supply, landlord Simon tells rental crisis inquiry
Renters speaking to the federal inquiry into the rental crisis have revealed how they are terrified of receiving an eviction notice, and how uncertainty and market volatility have meant they often have to move, sometimes multiple times within a year.
The subject of rent caps has again caused debate - about how it might impact supply if landlords will leave the market and whether that is a bad thing.
Simon, who owns and rents out two investment properties, one in Sydney and one in Canberra, said he was motivated to become a landlord to diversify his retirement income.
He said he considered himself a “fair and equitable” landlord who charges below-market rent. Simon said he does not want to see rent caps as it will create a reduction in supply.
They will sell up if there’s no profit in the investment. Investors will move investments into alternative opportunities for investment [and] flatten out the housing industry, discourage new investment, new developments and so forth, which is I think, the opposite of what we want.
This is an argument put forward by many investors, but many economists - including Cameron Murray from The University of Sydney disagree – have said landlords leaving will actually help people become owner-occupiers instead of renters.
When asked what regulations he does support, Simon said he supported tenants being given a notice to vacate and dwellings being maintained in good condition.
There have to be the right regulations.
Updated
Australia Council rebrands to Creative Australia
The Australia Council has now officially rebranded as Creative Australia, with the arts minister, Tony Burke, speaking this morning in Sydney.
Underneath Creative Australia, the nation’s principal arts investment and advisory body, are two councils: Music Australia, intended to support and promote the country’s music industry; and Creative Workplaces, a new body set up to ensure artists and workers in the art industry receive workplace protections. With many workers in the arts being freelancers or employed on short-term contracts, they have often not received the same protections from exploitation as many other workers.
Burke warned arts organisations that if they did not observe the standards set by Creative Workplaces, they would not get government funding:
We are serious. As Creative Workplaces sets minimum standards we expect you to keep to them. And if you choose not to keep to them, don’t come knocking on the door for government money. We are serious about … a safer workplace for people who are in these creative industries.
Updated
Good afternoon! Thanks to Raf for keeping us up to speed today. I’ll be with you for the next little while.
Thanks for following along the blog with me today. Handing over to Natasha May, who will keep you updated with this afternoon’s news.
Not just asleep at wheel – unable to drive the car, critic says of Asic on day two of Senate inquiry
We’re kicking off the second day of Senate inquiry hearings into Asic’s ability to be an effective corporate regulator.
First up on Thursday morning is market trader and chief executive of Select Vantage, Daniel Schlaepfer.
The Canadian investor heavily criticised Asic, telling senators the regulator called up brokers in the industry and warned them to stop doing business with Schlaepfer without ever putting the claims to him to defend.
Deputy committee chair and Labor senator, Jess Walsh, asked whether Australian markets were seen abroad as safe places to invest in.
Schlaepfer said he had no confidence in Australia’s corporate watchdog:
There was a lot of criticism about Asic [at a conference] - that they were asleep at the wheel when it came to corporate regulation, or to regulation. My attitude is that it didn’t matter if they were asleep at the wheel, if they woke up, they don’t even know how to drive the car.
Updated
Queensland government quashes opposition motion, shutting down debate on watch house bill
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Queensland government opposed an LNP motion to send its watch houses bill to a parliamentary committee.
The opposition argued the amendments were so different to the original bill there ought to be additional scrutiny.
The state government used its majority to shut down debate on the motion after just a handful of speakers, before entirely squashing the move for an enquiry.
The police minister, Mark Ryan, who moved the amendments - which would override the Human Rights Act - said most of the changes were technical and had been “requested directly and urgently by the relevant agencies”.
In respect of the inspector of detention services, again, a technical matter addressing a essentially a drafting error. How could you ever say that that is controversial?
He then moved that the debate be ended and for the parliament to hold a vote.
The government won the vote 48 votes to 38, with all Labor members voting not to send it to a committee and all non-government MPs voting the other way.
Manager of government business, Yvette D’Ath, pointed out that the previous government of Campbell Newman repeatedly rammed its own legislation through parliament.
Newman’s government held almost every seat, with 78 seats to just eight for the Labor opposition.
It was kicked out of office after just one term.
She slammed the Liberal opposition for “hypocrisy”.
“That is part of the reason why they lost government, in fact,” D’Ath said.
“The reality is that they have never ... acknowledged that ramming through laws the way they did contributed towards them losing government.”
The debate now returns to the substantial bill.
Updated
‘They are trashing Westminster tradition’, manager of Queensland opposition says in motion to split children in watch houses bill
The debate on the Queensland government’s omnibus bill to override the human rights act to allow children to be held in adult jails and watch houses has kicked off again.
It immediately closed, though, thanks to a procedural motion by the opposition.
Manager of the opposition, Andrew Powell, moved a motion to put off the government’s bill and send it back to a committee.
Powell asked “why are we rushing this through as an amendment”
“Where is the actual legislation? Why can’t that go to a committee?”
“Why can’t the committee consider that as it should?”
If Powell’s motion succeeds, the bill will be split in two, with the uncontroversial child sexual regulation elements passed today and the more controversial amendments brought back to parliament on October 6 after a parliamentary committee looks into them.
Because Powell moved this as a motion, the debate from now will be about the motion, not the substantive bill.
He said the amendments were so significant they shouldn’t be rammed through parliament without scrutiny in detail.
“They are trashing Westminster tradition. They are trashing it because they’ve given up listening to Queenslanders,” he said.
“They’ve given up making sure that legislation reflects the needs of Queenslanders”
Updated
Anti-corruption champion Tony Fitzgerald points to ‘fundamental flaws’ in whistleblowing laws
Anti-corruption champion and former judge Tony Fitzgerald has warned that Australia’s whistleblowing laws suffer from “fundamental flaws” and are failing to properly protect those who speak out about wrongdoing.
Fitzgerald spoke at the launch of the Human Rights Law Centre’s new whistleblower legal support service on Wednesday night, saying the “essential objective” of whistleblower laws was to prevent reprisals or other injustices. He said this was something “not yet being fully achieved”.
Our federal whistleblowing laws suffer fundamental flaws. This problem will continue to exist until governments are prepared to recalibrate the relationship between self-interest and the public interest.
The federal government has committed to reform and passed the first tranche of its new whistleblower protections in June.
Updated
One year ban for bulk carrier
A Liberian-flagged bulk carrier has been banned from Australian waters for a year after the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) found “serious issues of wage theft and seafarer mistreatment onboard”.
In a statement this morning, AMSA said it inspected the MSXT Emily at the Port of Hay Point, Queensland, after a tip off and found evidence of several violations of the Maritime Labour Convention, 2006.
The ship had been chartered by K-Line to deliver coal to Japan.
As part of their investigations, AMSA found that four employment contracts contained “apparently forged signatures from employees” as well as evidence five seafarers had been coerced into signing new employment agreements with lower salaries.
AMSA found evidence of more than US$77,000 in unpaid wages, with the ship’s operators (MSM Ship Management Pte Ltd China) attempting to pay the amount owed once they were aware that AMSA inspectors were onboard.
The AMSA executive director of operations, Michael Drake, said this was a serious case of seafarer mistreatment:
The workforce conditions onboard this vessel are a disgrace, and AMSA will not tolerate this in Australian waters.
Our modern economy relies on the hard work these seafarers do, and when they are mistreated, the flow-on effects can be numerous.
Seafarers are at sea for months at a time, and if morale is low or they are in poor physical and mental health, it can increase the risk of something going wrong.
Updated
Cyber attack cost Medibank $46.4m
Medibank’s massive cyber attack cost the business $46.4m in the last year, the company’s annual results have revealed.
The attack, one of the largest in Australia’s history, resulted in the personal information of 10 million customers being posted on the dark web last year.
In the results on Thursday, the company estimated that there would be continued costs of between $30-35m in IT security upgrades, as well as legal and regulatory investigation costs, but that figure does not include any potential fines or payouts arising from the regulatory investigations or litigation.
When the attack happened, around 13,000 policy holders left Medibank, the company said.
Medibank reported a net profit after tax of $511.1m, up 29.8% on the last financial year. The insurer reported a net resident policy holder growth of 10,900, and non-resident up 78,400.
CEO David Koczkar said momentum had returned to the insurer following the cyber attack.
Updated
Chalmers addresses workforce participation rate drop: ‘We need to make it much easier for people to work and to work more if they want to’
Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, asks the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, about the drop in participation – from 66.6% to 63.8% – at the National Press Club address following the Albanese government’s intergenerational report released today.
Karp asks: “Does this projection indicate that after the Employment White Paper, a lot more is going to need to be done to improve employment services and training so that particularly … blue collar blokes who don’t work in the care economy and who face the biggest disruption of new technologies are not redundant at 50 and never work again?”
Chalmers response:
The way we’re approaching the employment white paper is in five parts. How do we think about full employment as our economy changes? How do we make work secure and well-paid? How do we make our economy more productivity? How do we fill these skills shortages as our workforce needs evolve over time? And then lastly what are the barriers to people participating more?
And there are a lot of barriers … there are areas of entrenched inter-generational disadvantage.
We need to make it much easier for people to work and to work more if they want to. That goes right across incentives, goes across training, across employment services and all of the sort of things that you’ll see in the Employment White Paper when we let it out into the wild.
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IGR expects defence budget to increase to 2.3% of GDP for next decade then remain steady
So what does this all mean for Australia’s defence budget?
The intergenerational report says Australian national security funding pressures will rise in the medium to long term, consistent with Labor’s promise to ensure defence funding above 2% of economic output.
The report says spending on defence (excluding operations) is expected to increase from around 2% of gross domestic product in 2022–23 to about 2.3% of GDP in 2032–33, “its highest share of GDP since around the end of the Cold War”.
After that point, defence spending “is then assumed to remain steady at 2.3% of GDP from 2033–34 to the end of the projection period” (meaning the early 2060s).
The report warns that “the window of opportunity to deal with potential threats is narrowing as the pace of military modernisation in the Indo-Pacific region accelerates” but says difficult choices will also have to be made on which defence projects must be prioritised:
In a fiscally constrained environment, the government will need to prioritise which national security measures best meet security needs to effectively respond in these challenging strategic circumstances.
While the report says the Aukus deal with the US and the UK will “deliver significant long-term strategic benefits for Australia and the region”, it also warns of “significant fiscal, technological and workforce challenges”.
The limited availability of sufficiently vetted and skilled personnel will put additional pressure on agencies …
Demographic change and workforce constraints will limit recruitment and retention across the intelligence community, the Australian Defence Force and defence industry, particularly in shipbuilding.
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National security: IGR points to challenging strategic outlook for Indo-Pacific
Let’s take a quick look at what the intergenerational report says on the national security side of things.
It includes a warning that the global strategic environment “has deteriorated sharply over the past decade”.
It says the Indo‑Pacific faces a challenging strategic outlook, “amid the largest military build-up in the post-war era” (that is a reference to China). It also says the use of coercive statecraft has become the centre of geostrategic competition, warning that the international rules and norms that have underpinned Australia’s security and prosperity “are under increasing pressure”.
With competition between the US and China in the Indo-Pacific rising, the document adds:
…a major conflict would have far-reaching consequences for the Australian and global economy.
The report says Australia has prospered from open markets, international trade and investment, but warns that further gains from global integration are “increasingly complicated by geopolitical challenges, including the increased use of trade, investment, and industrial policy as tools of statecraft, climate change mitigation and military conflict”.
It says financial shocks, extreme weather events, the pandemic, malicious cyber activity and intensifying competition for resources such as food, water and critical minerals “have further highlighted the importance of security and resilience for economic prosperity”.
The report calls for “unprecedented coordination between domestic and foreign policy, and between economic and security settings to keep Australians safe and ensure our economic strength”. It says deepening ties with south-east Asian and Pacific neighbours is a priority.
The report notes that many countries are trying to strengthen resilience by reorganising supply chains and bringing production onshore, but it includes a warning not to go too far, lest the world fragment into US- and China-led rival trading blocs:
Measures to make supply chains and the economy more resilient will need to be targeted and proportionate. The costs of a more fragmented global economy could be large – the International Monetary Fund estimates global output could be up to 7% smaller in the long run. Fragmentation could also complicate climate change mitigation and result in rival trading blocs, more trade and investment restrictions, and weaker international economic governance.
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A future road user charge? Treasurer seems to leave door open to possibility
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ answer to AFR’s Phil Coorey at the National Press Club leaves the door open to road user charging.
Coorey asked whether the government is considering implementing road user charging for electric cars, “or are you worried about it being seen as a tax on motorists and you’re prepared to cop a hole in the budget and find the money elsewhere?”
Chalmers’ response:
I think in the next few years, an increasing focus, certainly of our government and most likely governments that follow us, will be this public policy challenge, this revenue challenge, this challenge to the revenue base.
It is part of the discussions that I have with my state and territory colleagues and in the coming years, people will come at this - at this challenge. Our focus for the time being is a couple of strategies that Catherine King and Chris Bowen are working up when it comes to the broader environment and infrastructure for electric vehicles and no doubt at some point, probably relatively soon, by which I mean in the next few years, a government, our government, or our successor, will turn our mind to it.
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Climate change brings risk to manage but also ‘vast industrial opportunities’, Chalmers says
Dealing with climate change is a “global environmental and economic imperative,” treasurer Jim Chalmers says in his address to the Press Club as he outlines the contents of the Albanese government’s 2023 intergenerational report that was published earlier today.
The IGR makes clear the costs that could come with rising temperatures, the impact on specific sectors like agriculture and tourism, plus, the vast scale of investment needed to respond – some additional $225 billion to decarbonise heavy industries and transition our energy system.
These are not only risks to manage, costs to bear, but vast industrial opportunities, with more clean, cheap, renewable power creating cumulative comparative advantages in the new industries of the net-zero economy, unlocking new sources of growth and leveraging our traditional strengths.
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‘Five transformative forces’ to determine the shape of Australia’s future
Treasurer Jim Chalmers points to the “big five shifts” that will “determine the shape of our future,” set out in the government’s intergenerational report released today.
We have built this whole intergenerational report on five transformative forces, shaping the future of our economy and our society.
From hydrocarbons to renewables, from IT to AI, from a younger population to an older one – which changes our industrial base and places a bigger emphasis on the care economy – and from globalisation to fragmentation.
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Chalmers outlines challenges intergenerational report points to
Treasurer Jim Chalmers outlines what challenges Australia could face in 40 years off the back of the government’s intergenerational report that was released today.
“The IGR that we’ve released today gives us a sense of the context in which that future will play out,” he says at the National Press Club.
As our population ages, this will create some challenges too. Challenges to our Budget and challenges to growth.
As we age, there will be a smaller share of working-age people, putting pressure on our tax base, at the same time as we face growing spending pressures – from the NDIS, aged care, health, defence and debt interest costs – which could keep us in deficit and put debt back on the rise.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ intergenerational report Press Club speech opens with optimism and recognition of importance of First Nations people
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is addressing the National Press Club about the intergenerational report released today.
He opens with:
Australians living longer and healthier lives, in a country powered by renewables and transformed by technology, with care and compassion at its core, adding value and maximising opportunities in a world of churn and change.
An Australia of generational responsibilities and endless possibilities.
A future we can be optimistic about, but not complacent about.
That’s what the intergenerational report lays out for us.
Its 40-year horizon seems like a long time – but it’s a flicker compared to the tens of thousands of years of history that the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people have shaped on this country.
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NSW shadow health minister calls on Minns government to extend nurses’ contracts
The NSW shadow health minister, Matt Kean, has called on the Minns government to ensure more than 1,100 Covid-19 recovery nurses in the state keep their jobs.
Yesterday in Question Time, the health minister, Ryan Park, accused the previous Perrottet government of leaving 1,112 temporary nurses unfunded beyond the 2024-25 financial year.
Former treasurer, now shadow health minister, Kean said the Covid-19 recovery nurses’ positions were part of the former government’s increase of more than 10,000 full-time equivalent staff over four years.
Kean said it is the current government’s responsibility to extend the nurses’ contracts in order to fulfil their election promise to not only match the Coalition’s investment, but to also employ an additional 1,200 nurses.
If Labor were telling the truth during the election, Ryan Park would be renewing the contracts for every one of these essential workers – otherwise this is just another broken Labor promise.
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The Albanese government's 2023 intergenerational report has dropped
The Albanese government’s 2023 intergenerational report has been published.
If perusing through 296 pages of tiny font sounds like your preferred Thursday afternoon activity, you can do so here.
For background on what the report is all about, here is an explainer from our resident economics expert Peter Hannam:
We will bring you a look into the report soon – keep an eye on the blog for more to come.
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Queensland Greens MP ejected from house after asking youth justice minister whether keeping kids in adult jails is ‘business as usual’
Greens MP Michael Berkman has been kicked out of the house after questioning minister for youth justice, Di Farmer, about the Queensland government’s decision to override the youth justice act.
Berkman asked whether Farmer considered keeping kids behind bars in adult jails “business as usual”.
Her office put out a press release she sent out last night which called the changes “business as usual”.
“Does this government consider a child sleeping on a floor with three other people on a watch house cell … business as usual?” Berkman asked.
Farmer said the amendments relate to a legal “technicality” that prevented the government maintaining a custom it has maintained for 30 years in the interests of the safety of children and staff.
“A technicality?” Berkman yelled, before he was evicted from parliament for an hour by acting speaker Joe Kelly.
“For 30 years the CEO has been able to make decisions about whether young people would be accepted into detention,” Farmer said.
“Can I say that it remains the commitment of this government to keep young people in watch houses for the minimum amount of time.”
Berkman’s only party colleague, Amy McMahon, was also warned after taking over the role of interjecting from the Maiwar MP.
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South Australia critical in referendum campaign
As we told you yesterday, the date of the voice to parliament referendum will be announced in Adelaide due to its strategic importance for both the yes and no campaigns.
Josh Butler has been taking a look at why this state is so important in the campaign:
South Australia could be the state that decides the referendum. Our social media analysis shows both the yes and no campaigns have narrowed their advertising to focus more on SA, Tasmania and Western Australia - and far less on larger east coast states
Remember, Yes has to win 4 states to succeed - No has to win 3 to block. A pretty clear focus opening up in campaign spending state-by-state on Facebook (adjusted for population) https://t.co/IsmZCtTPLe pic.twitter.com/3bXnZzNolu
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) August 24, 2023
You can read more on this here:
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Australia to send troops, tanks to Indonesia for military training exercise
Defence has confirmed 125 ADF personnel will take part in a military training exercise known as Super Garuda Shield at the request of the Indonesian Armed Forces.
The exercise will take place in East Java, Indonesia, in late August and early September.
According to Defence, Australia will contribute “a troop of M1A1 Abrams tanks from the 1st armoured regiment, an infantry platoon from the 10th/27th Battalion, the Royal South Australian regiment, command and control elements and a range of armoured vehicles, trucks and recovery vehicles”.
Here’s a section of the Defence statement:
The tanks were transported from their base in Adelaide to Darwin Port, and loaded onto US Army watercraft bound for Surabaya in Indonesia last week.
This provides training and rehearses the ADF’s ability to collaborate with partner nations to effectively deploy significant land forces, including armour, across the Indo-Pacific region.
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Albanese praises Ukraine on independence day
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has marked Ukrainian independence day. He’s posted this statement on social media:
Australia pays tribute to the sacrifices you have made to defend your nation and its independence. Though it comes at a heavy cost, your fight in the name of sovereignty and your efforts to uphold the international rule of law are shaping history. We admire your bravery and resilience.
May the spirit of Independence Day inspire the people of Ukraine in your efforts to defend your sovereignty and emerge victorious. pic.twitter.com/O09mVcu9nn
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) August 24, 2023
Alex Greenwich proposes private bill to outlaw LGBTQ+ conversion practices in NSW
Gay conversion practices would be outlawed in New South Wales as part of sweeping changes to the law being proposed by the independent member for Sydney, Alex Greenwich.
After 18 months of preparation, Greenwich introduced his expansive equality bill to NSW’s parliament on Thursday morning.
Greenwich has been speaking in parliament, where he said:
Many people think that LGBTQIA+ conversion practices in terms of society is more inclusive and accepting, and the medical and psychological professions have denounced pathological views of homosexuality, bisexuality and the trans experience, but the practices are alive and well.
There is a long history of LGBTQIA+ people being told they have broken and need to be fixed.
We are not broken, we are loved, and the law should reflect that.
If passed, the bill would amend 22 existing laws to prohibit the discrimination of sex workers and to ban private schools from discriminating against LGBTQIA+ teachers and students.
Greenwich said:
I can be elected to the New South Wales parliament, but I could be fired as a teacher at the secular private school I went to because of my sexuality. Sam Kerr can kick goals for Australia in the World Cup, but could be fired as a soccer coach in a private girls’ school for embracing her partner.
Surely this is no longer acceptable in a modern NSW and we don’t need a review to tell us this.
The New South Wales branch of the Health Services Union has thrown its support behind Greenwich’s bid to ban conversion practices, but says it will wait to review the full details of the bill before taking a position on the other reforms.
The HSU secretary, Gerard Hayes, said:
In this day and age, the notion that sexuality is being pathologised is beyond repugnant. We strongly support Mr Greenwich’s bill.
The government promised to outlaw gay conversion practices during the election campaign and maintains that it wants to introduce its own legislation to do so rather than supporting Greenwich’s bill.
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Queensland parliament’s maternity debate is sound and fury
Next to the changes to (override of) the Human Rights Act, the week’s big issue is the state of Queensland’s maternity system. There’s a lot of sound and fury in this morning’s debate, and we’ve lost count of how many opposition MPs have been put on a warning.
It all finally blew up in response to a question by Whitsunday’s MP, Amanda Camm. The premier, Annastacia Paluszczuk, was just made to withdraw an allegation Camm “deliberately misled the house”.
The LNP MP initially suggested “Labor has closed 37 maternity services” but was made to reword it. “Labor has either closed or put on bypass 37 maternity services which is the same number that are open right now,” she asked the premier.
Does the premier admit Labor’s legacy is denying Queensland mothers the right to choose where, when and how they give birth?
The acting speaker, Joe Kelly, made her withdraw language, which he said was unparliamentary.
The premier ultimately said the government was trying to keep maternity wards open but patient safety was also important.
“Birthing on a highway’s really safe, isn’t it!” yelled the member for Callide, Bryson Head, who became the latest MP to be put on a warning. Nobody has been kicked out of parliament yet.
But for all the sound and fury, the debate hasn’t proven particularly illuminating. The health minister, Shannon Fentiman, has taken on notice a question about how many wards are either closed or on bypass today.
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Queensland opposition attacks Labor government over override of state’s Human Rights Act
The Queensland opposition has used question time to call the state government “arrogant” the day after its shock decision to override the state Human Rights Act without a parliamentary inquiry.
The police minister, Mark Ryan, yesterday introduced amendments to hold children in adult police watchhouses and jails.
Queensland’s opposition accused the government of being “arrogant”, bringing up the premier’s own words about transparency from 2013.
“Do members of the opposition not support community safety?” the premier, Annastacia Paluszczuk, responded. “Because that’s what these amendments do. They formalise a process.”
Paluszczuk pointed to the record of the government of the former LNP premier Campbell Newman - which totally dominated the state’s only house. She said the Newman government’s anti-bikie legislation was also barely scrutinised.
“VLAD [The Vicious Lawless Association Disestablishment Act, enacted in 2013] did go to a committee, during the week,” then attorney general Jarrod Bleijie yelled across the chamber on Thursday. His contribution drew a laugh from Labor members.
It’s difficult to hear, but one opposition member yelled “what a fall from grace” at the premier across the chamber.
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Greens say Australia’s icebreaker being stuck by bridge height is ‘incredibly frustrating’
The Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said confirmation that Australia’s icebreaking research vessel cannot pass under a bridge to refuel on the other side is “incredibly frustrating” and risks undermining the Antarctic division’s international reputation.
RSV Nuyina, which resupplies Australia’s three Antarctic stations and conducts crucial climate research, is berthed at Hobart’s Macquarie wharf to the south of the Tasman bridge. But its refuelling station at Selfs Point is a short distance upstream – on the other side of the bridge.
Tasmania’s port authority has long been concerned the 160m-long ship is too big to safely pass underneath the bridge, despite the Australian Antarctic Division’s (AAD) previous assurances that it can.
The AAD has confirmed approval has not been granted to pass under the bridge and the ship must instead travel to Burnie this summer, on the island state’s north-west coast, to receive fuel. This must occur before every voyage to Antarctica.
Whish-Wilson said this would increase budget pressure on the division – which must already find $25m in savings this year - and generate more emissions:
Assurances from AAD’s senior management that the Nuyina could be safely re-fuelled in Hobart now look farcical, and risk undermining our Antarctic division’s reputation.
If the AAD cannot manage something as simple as this, what does it say about our competence in meeting Australia’s critical obligations under the Antarctic Treaty?
Re-fuelling the Nuyina hundreds of kilometres away from the port originally earmarked to service the vessel will not only have environmental repercussions but presumably will also mean financial cost savings will have to be found elsewhere in the AAD’s operating budget. It’s incredibly frustrating this comes at a time when important science research programs are already facing significant budget pressures.
You can read more here:
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Victoria and federal government announce joint funding for new recycling facility
The federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is holding a press conference alongside the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, in Melbourne.
The commonwealth and federal government are are announcing a joint $24m injection of funding for a nation-first mixed paper and cardboard recycling technology facility. Andrews said the facility would increase the state’s recycling capacity by 40%.
It comes after Victoria shunned the commonwealth’s revived Murray-Darling Basin rescue plan this week, meaning the state will miss out on federal funding for water saving projects. Victoria has not signed up for the scheme because of concerns about the economic impact of buying water entitlements on the state’s agriculture sector.
Speaking to reporters, Plibersek resisted answering questions about Victoria’s resistance to the Murray-Darling Basin plan. Andrews said Victoria’s position on the scheme would not change:
Our position is longstanding and clear.
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Rare eye infection-causing microbe detected at four NSW swimming spots
A microorganism that causes a rare but potentially sight-threatening eye infection has been detected in the water at four popular New South Wales swimming spots.
University of New South Wales researchers have detected Acanthamoeba in seawater samples at Wamberal, Terrigal, Avoca and Cockrone lagoons.
Acanthamoeba can cause an infection called Acanthamoeba keratitis, which results in near to complete blindness in 25% of patients. The infection is extremely rare – it is estimated to affect 10 to 40 Australians each year.
The study’s first author, PhD candidate Binod Rayamajhee, said in a statement:
Wearing contact lenses is the leading risk factor, particularly if people mix their contact lenses with contaminated water.
Scientists have urged people to prevent infections by removing contact lenses before swimming. Contact lens wearers should not avoid swimming altogether, the researchers say.
UNSW scientists have previously detected Acanthamoeba in around one third of the tap water in bathroom sinks in greater Sydney.
The research is published in the journal Science of The Total Environment.
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It is another day of Townsville residents being told to stay indoors because of fire-related smoke – that’s three days this week so far.
AVOID SMOKE - Townsville - fire as at 9:29am Thursday, 24 August 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) August 23, 2023
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/vqyJTUPBhe. pic.twitter.com/tSJaQPOIuO
Strike avoided after gas workers reach agreement with Woodside
Offshore platform workers at Woodside have reached an in-principle agreement over pay and conditions with the oil and gas company, averting a possible strike.
The proposed deal should bring relief to international energy markets that had experienced volatile trading over concerns Australian liquified natural gas supplies would be disrupted.
Brad Gandy, spokesperson for the Offshore Alliance, said in a statement:
It’s pleasing that Woodside has made our members a strong offer without industrial action being taken.
Despite the lengthy road to this point, we are relieved that Woodside has now taken a more pragmatic approach and decided to offer our members an enterprise agreement with industry standard terms and conditions.
The alliance consists of the Australian Workers’ Union and the Maritime Union of Australia. Woodside was contacted for comment.
The unions have been engaged in negotiations with Woodside and Chevron to lock in industry-standard wage rates and conditions in a sector that typically uses individual contracts. Negotiations with Chevron are ongoing.
The Chevron and Woodside projects combine to make up more than 10% of the global liquified natural gas supply, which is generated and processed through offshore and onshore operations in Western Australia.
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Joyce suggests lack of prosecution over Heard is deal swap for Julian Assange
More from Barnaby Joyce on the director of public prosecutions dropping the case against actor Amber Heard over allegations she illegally imported two dogs into Australia in 2015.
He told Sunrise:
I just [can’t] quite work this out. Maybe they are doing some deal swap with Julian Assange who certainly never committed a crime in the United States …
The thing is, they were saying they didn’t know the biosecurity laws, or they weren’t aware of the dogs, or something in that vicinity, and all of a sudden everyone around said that’s … absurd. They obviously knew about their own dogs, and they knew obviously knew about Australian biosecurity laws.
They signed documentation saying they didn’t have two dogs on them. I mean, do you forget about dogs on your plane? I don’t.
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Barnaby Joyce says we should have pursued Amber Heard over illegal dog importing allegations
Barnaby Joyce told Sunrise the director of public prosecutions was not right to drop the case against actor Amber Heard over allegations she illegally imported two dogs into Australia in 2015.
We’ve got to show the Australian people and people overseas most especially that we are really serious … about our border controls.
If we had rabies in parks, or rabies in national parks, or … in dogs walking down the street, this would be a terrible indictment on Australia.
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Finance minister says grocery prices should begin to fall
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says she hopes supermarket giants will start to lower the price of groceries for customers as production costs drop, AAP reports.
The comments come after Coles and Woolworths announced annual profits of more than $1bn even after a spike in cost-of-living pressures on households.
While checkout costs have increased amid inflation and supply chain pressures, supermarkets should pass on savings as inflation starts to ease, Gallagher told ABC Radio:
As those costs moderate, you would hope to see some of the prices moderate. As we see those causes of inflation moderate, you would expect to see prices go down.
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Alan Joyce: Qantas profits a ‘remarkable turnaround’
More from Alan Joyce, who is delivering his last set of full-year results before handing over to incoming chief executive Vanessa Hudson.
He said the results were a “remarkable turnaround” given the airline was eleven weeks shy of insolvency during the disrupted pandemic period.
Despite cost of living pressures, survey data shows people are planning to spend more on travel over the next six months and less on homewares, renovations and even alcohol.
He said economy fares peaked in December.
They’ve fallen about 12% since then and should keep dropping as more international capacity comes online.
Qantas said the airline had approved orders for 24 new widebody aircraft, a mix of Airbus A350s and Boeing 787s.
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Qantas delivers record $2.47bn result
Qantas Airways has soared out of the disrupted pandemic era to post a record $2.47bn full-year underlying profit, backed by strong travel demand and high ticket prices. The 2022-23 results mark a huge turnaround from a year earlier, when it fell to a $1.86bn loss.
“This is a remarkable turnaround, three years in the making. And it’s been hard,” Qantas’ CEO, Alan Joyce, said.
Fundamentally, travel demand is extremely robust.
Australian international airfares have surged even after major costs, including jet fuel, have fallen from the high prices recorded early last year following disruptions to global oil supply.
All financial metrics accelerated at Qantas, with return on invested capital surging to 103.6%. This compares to less than 20% before the pandemic.
The Qantas results will be bittersweet to some travellers, who have experienced a disrupted period of travel and very high airfares.
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Treasurer wants to broaden productivity discussions beyond ‘industrial relations and tax’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the intergenerational report will discuss how the government will “make our economy more productive, more dynamic, more competitive”.
He points to focusing future investment in moves towards the clean energy transformation. Chalmers told the ABC:
… it’s time for a broader conversation about productivity and one of the things that has troubled me for some time now is we’ve got this … national conversation about productivity which is artificially limited to industrial relations and tax. Obviously those things are important, but we will get productivity gains into the future if we invest in our people and industries and the ability to adapt, and adopt technology and the clean energy transformation.
These are the ways that we can get our sluggish productivity performance turned around over time.
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Chalmers: ‘we’re cleaning up the mess we inherited from our predecessors’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says the government’s intergenerational report being released today is about getting the budget in better shape. Chalmers told the ABC:
What we’re talking about in [the intergenerational report] is getting the budget … in better nick. In lots of ways we’re cleaning up the mess we inherited from our predecessors, including in the budget.
He says the first 15 months of Albanese’s government has made “some really welcome progress when it comes to getting the budget in better nick to face the uncertainties of the future”. He points to meaningful tax reform, spending restraint and finding $40bn of savings.
“But there will always be more work to do,” he adds.
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India became the first country to visit the lunar south pole yesterday, after their Chandrayaan 3 space probe successfully landed on the moon.
BREAKING 🚨: India's #Chandrayaan3 space probe has successfully landed on the Moon
— Latest in space (@latestinspace) August 23, 2023
The first country ever to visit the lunar south pole pic.twitter.com/OSICEho51I
You can read more here:
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Gold Coast councillor charged with murder
A Gold Coast city councillor has been charged with murder, AAP reports.
A 58-year-old man was found deceased inside an Arundel property by emergency services, after police were called to the residence around 3pm yesterday.
A 30-year-old Arundel man, identified on court documents as councillor Ryan Bayldon-Lumsden and allegedly also at the property at the time, was taken into custody. He became the youngest councillor in the city’s history after being elected in 2020.
The victim is understood to be the long-term de facto partner of the councillor’s mother. Bayldon-Lumsden has been charged with one count of murder and is due to face Southport magistrates court today.
The former schoolteacher had been living with his mother and at the Arundel address, according to neighbours.
Fellow councillors are stunned. “This is a complete shock,” one told AAP on Thursday.
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ABC Board extends Managing Director’s term
We’ve had this statement in from the ABC overnight:
Following the announcement that ABC Chair Ita Buttrose will not seek a second term and to end speculation about the tenure of ABC Managing Director David Anderson, the ABC Board is pleased to confirm that Anderson has been reappointed for a further five years effective 1 July 2023.
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Three houses burn in Brisbane fire
A massive blaze spread across multiple homes in Brisbane’s south this morning.
Three houses were fully engulfed in flame, and a fourth was partially involved, on Heaslop St in Woolloongabba. Six people escaped from two of the homes and everyone was accounted for.
17 fire and rescue crews are on the scene.
🚨🚨Active Incident 🚨🚨
— Queensland Ambulance (@QldAmbulance) August 23, 2023
Multiple Ambulance crews are on standby to assist Queensland Fire and Emergency Services - QFES at a major fire involving several properties in the Brisbane suburb of Woolloongabba.
Currently our Paramedics have not treated any patients. pic.twitter.com/BPNsPlXwT8
“Crews are working to bring the fire under control, but large amounts of smoke will impact the area throughout the morning,” according to a QFES spokesperson.
“Nearby residents should close their windows and doors, and those suffering from a respiratory condition should keep their medications close by.”
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Liberals again suggest intergenerational report is about higher taxes
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, suggests there is potential for increased taxes following the Albanese government’s intergenerational report being released today:
Taylor says on ABC:
When Labor talks about tax reform, in my experience they’re talking about higher taxes.
We certainly want a conversation about making sure we get lower taxes. The stage three-tax cuts which Labor has been ambivalent about on occasions, including the treasurer, it’s important they implement those.
We are seeing Australians paying higher taxes. This is what is bearing down on them more … They will continue to because of the increasing bracket crease.
Taylor says he is “sure” the report “will show that bracket creep will continue to raise taxes without the government doing anything”.
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Angus Taylor condemns management of cost of living
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, says the cost of living crisis is “just absolutely extraordinary” after 11 interest rate increases.
Ahead of the Albanese government’s intergenerational report being released today, Taylor says on ABC:
We have enormous challenges bearing down on Australian households, small businesses right now. We need a government that gets the balance right and does have enough focus on those crisis issues we’re seeing in the cost of living, which are just absolutely extraordinary after 11 interest rate increases under this government.
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Thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking off today’s blog.
I’m Rafqa Touma, and I’ll be with you on the blog this morning. If you see anything you don’t want us to miss, let me know on Twitter.
Let’s get into it.
Tony Burke to launch Creative Australia
The revamped national arts funding body will be launched by the federal government, with artists and performers among those tapped to lead it, AAP reports.
Creative Australia will take the place of the 48-year-old Australia Council, as part of a $286m national cultural policy announced in January.
Ahead of the official launch today, the government has named a 14-member board, including artists Lindy Lee and Kitty Taylor, performer Caroline Bowditch, playwright and director Wesley Enoch and Woodford folk festival director Amanda Jackes.
“These appointees reflect the richness, diversity and strength of the arts in Australia,” the arts minister, Tony Burke, said.
Lee is completing a record-breaking $14m sculpture commission for the National Gallery of Australia to celebrate the institution’s 40th anniversary.
A $69m body tasked with revitalising the country’s music industry, Music Australia, will also be launched Thursday, as well as Creative Workplaces, an organisation aimed at improving arts workplaces, to be chaired by former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins.
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Treasurer says company tax reform not on agenda
Ahead of the intergenerational report’s release, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, says company tax reform isn’t on the government’s agenda as calls grow for bold changes to deal with Australia’s struggling budget.
Chalmers said the government was making meaningful changes to the nation’s tax base despite labelling the changes as “modest” as it pushed to boost revenue from offshore gas projects and claw back money from large superannuation balances.
“They are helping us to get the budget in a much better nick,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 program. “They will save us in interest repayments over the course of the intergenerational report period, they will ... rebuild our buffers against this global economic uncertainty.”
The government is bracing for increased spending across health, defence and interest repayments.
“You need to look right across the tax system and your tax base needs to be robust enough to fund the kinds of services that people rely on, particularly as our population lives longer and healthier lives,” Chalmers said.
But he ruled out any changes to the headline corporate tax rate despite the make-up of Australia’s tax revenue into the future changing as money from cigarettes and fuel excises dry up.
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Intergenerational report expected to reveal sluggish growth
The intergenerational report is being released today and will reveal that economic growth will be sluggish over the next four decades compared with previous ones, AAP reports.
But the critical mineral sector is expected to expand as the world moves to net zero emissions by the middle of the century.
Global demand is expected to increase by 350% by 2040, positioning Australia to take advantage of the booming industry with its vast reserves of lithium, nickel, zinc and bauxite.
Australia’s exports of this critical mineral are forecast to double over the next five years.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to Guardian Australia’s live news coverage this Thursday morning. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you some of the best overnight stories before my colleague Rafqa Touma fires up for the day.
Our top story is another controversy related to Centrelink, and specifically how it was managed by the Coalition. With the robodebt scandal still fresh in the national memory, we reveal today that the government has spent $191m on a payment software system that only ever managed to make one type of payment and is now being abandoned as Services Australia looks for the “next steps”. The contract, which was awarded by the former Coalition minister Stuart Robert, has been deemed “not fit for purpose” by his successor, Bill Shorten.
One of the many challenges in meeting the government’s renewable energy target is that the national electricity grid needs a big overhaul. The grid operator estimates the country needs more than 10,000km of new transmission lines and a ninefold increase in large-scale wind and solar energy. But that’s easier said than done as we take a close look at a bush revolt against more lines going across farms and properties. Our reporters speak to one farming couple in southern New South Wales who say they want the lines put underground.
Road safety campaigners in Victoria are suggesting charging a levy on people who drive large SUVs in the city as a possible way to curb “skyrocketing” road deaths after the Covid pandemic. There have been 186 road fatalities in the state this year, up 23.2% on 2022 figures. Pedestrian deaths on roads were up 8%. Experts says a drop in public transport use, a rise in bicycles and greater use of food delivery services have contributed to the problem. Other states have also recorded increases.
In news to come today the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will release the intergenerational report that has been drip-fed over the week so far, with a speech in Canberra. You can read Peter Hannam’s analysis here on what the 300-page document is all about, why it’s important, and what its limitations are.
Also in Canberra, the government is to officially launch Creative Australia, the new national arts funding body replacing the old Australia Council.
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