What we learned – Tuesday 18 June
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Here is a recap of the main news:
The Reserve Bank has left its key interest rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting at 4.35%.
The Victorian government will raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
New South Wales Liberal MP Matt Kean has announced his resignation from politics after 13 years in state parliament.
The Australian government has formally complained to the Chinese embassy about “ham-fisted” attempts by its officials to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist, Cheng Lei, during an event inside Parliament House.
The New South Wales government has revealed that the state will be $14bn worse off over the next four years than it had previously forecast as it is now expecting the budget to be in deficit until at least 2027.
About two dozen tents and a handful of Palestinian flags remain at the University of Sydney’s quadrangle after protesters were advised on Friday to pack up their encampment.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has said the Albanese government is looking at a “range of ages” to restrict social media access to - including setting the age at under-16 - but has warned there is “no perfect solution”.
A controversial wind farm project in north Queensland backed by mining magnate Andrew Forrest has been given approval by the federal government with a list of conditions to protect threatened species.
Updated
Albanese raised Cheng Lei incident directly with Chinese premier, Wong says
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, was asked earlier about Peter Dutton’s suggestion that Anthony Albanese was “not standing up for our country”, over the incident involving Cheng Lei and Chinese officials at Parliament House.
Appearing on ABC’s RN Drive, the foreign minister dismissed those criticisms, saying Albanese raised the matter “with the Chinese Premier Li directly this morning”:
And that demonstrates why engagement is important. We are going to have things on which we disagree, on things in which we disagree very deeply because of who we are. And freedom of the press is very important to Australia. So, the Prime Minister has raised the matter with the Chinese premier and I have to say the prime minister and I understand the importance of standing up for Cheng Lei, that’s why we worked for two years to secure her return home. So, you know, Australia has tried it Mr Dutton’s way. You know, it got us nowhere. We know that Mr Dutton’s focus is always on what is a domestic political fight, not actually on getting outcomes for Australians. That’s what we’re focused on.
Updated
Coalition to hold joint party room meeting on Wednesday morning
Following the nuclear announcement speculation, we have just heard that a joint party room meeting has been called for 8.30am tomorrow.
That follows the shadow cabinet meeting being held tonight.
Seems like things are very quickly firming up.
Updated
Coalition might announce nuclear policy this week, speculation about Queensland sites
Canberra is abuzz with talk that the Coalition will announce its much mooted nuclear policy ‘within days’.
There are plenty of Coalition shadow cabinet ministers in town, which would make sense seeing as there is a shadow cabinet meeting, this evening.
The Financial Review reports that is because nuclear is coming.
We’ve made a few calls and can’t confirm what day, but it seems Wednesday or Thursday is firming up as the announcement day. Peter Dutton has the Liberal Party federal council on Saturday, which is not generally when announcements like this are made, and Friday doesn’t get enough press attention.
We can tell you that the policy has not been through the party room, according to the chats we have had, and it seems a lot of Coalition members remain in the dark about what will be in the final policy.
“There doesn’t seem to have been research,” one source says.
“At least none that has been shared with the party room.”
It is all speculative at this point, but it looks like the Coalition may announce one site in Col Boyce’s seat of Flynn, where some of Queensland’s existing coal fired power infrastructure is situated.
The hot tip seems to be Stanwell (in Rockhampton) or Gladstone, with Callide, the aging power station in the central Queensland town of Biloela being named as the potential site of a small modular reactor under the Coalition’s plan, with “consultation” for others.
The Coalition is hoping to capitalise on polls showing nuclear power is popular among voters. Stay tuned.
Updated
Treasurer: inflation remains ‘higher than we’d like’; RBA rate decision no surprise
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says Monday’s RBA decision to keep rates on hold is not a surprise and will provide more certainty for Australians and businesses, but inflation remains “higher than we’d like”.
Speaking from Sydney after the RBA left the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%, he said:
Inflation is higher than we would like, but it’s been moderating substantially since its peaks in 2022 and it’s clear that our policies are helping. We’ve already seen our cost-of-living relief take some of the edge off inflation in our economy, and we expect that to continue from next month, when our cost-of -living help from the most recent budget begins to roll out.
Today’s decision is not a surprise. It is completely as people were expecting. I think for a lot of people and a lot of businesses who are already under enough pressure, it will be seen as a welcome reprieve. We know that the fight against inflation is ongoing, and we are doing our bit in the budget, getting the budget in better nick, rolling out cost-of-living help in the most responsible way at the same time as we deal with all of these pressures that people are confronting in our economy.
Updated
Mike Pezzullo: Chinese embassy officials’ behaviour a ‘desecration’ of democratic space
The former secretary for Australia’s home affairs department, Mike Pezzullo, has described attempts by Chinese embassy officials at a media event to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei as “frankly disgraceful”.
Interviewing Pezzullo, ABC host, Greg Jennett, acknowledged the elephant in the room – Pezzullo’s sacking in November last year – but quickly moved to the former secretary’s analysis of the Chinese premier’s visit, this week. The former department boss has already been interviewed about the code of conduct investigation by ABC’s 7.30 and the Insiders podcast.
Statements at Monday’s media event by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and Chinese premier, Li Qiang, were overshadowed after two officials took up a position immediately in front of Cheng, appearing to block her from being visible to the cameras positioned on that side of the room.
The embassy officials brushed off attempts by Australian government officials to intervene. On Tuesday, Albanese described the actions as “clumsy” and “ham-fisted”.
Pezzullo, in his bid to rebrand as a defence and national security commentator in his post-public service life, said those actions had “desecrated” a “democratic space”:
To come to the heart of our democracy and to seek to desecrate it like that, where we have completely different norms - I would say norms that are universally better norms - where you have contestability, you have press inquiry, you have press freedom, to seek the block that was just a disgrace.
Pezzullo added the Australian officials should be celebrated for their actions:
Full kudos to the Australian officials. There were at least one, if not two, female Australian officials, who frankly should be awarded public service medals on the spot for their grace, their resolve and their courage and their judgment.
Updated
NSW Liberal MP Matt Kean resigns, forcing byelection in Sydney seat of Hornsby
New South Wales Liberal MP Matt Kean has announced his resignation from politics after 13 years in state parliament.
Kean made the surprise announcement in a snap press conference at then NSW parliament on Tuesday, hours after the state budget was handed down.
Kean thanked his family, staff and Liberal colleagues for their support and said he would not run for federal parliament.
I’m firmly committed to the Liberal Party. I always have been, I always will be.
And I’ll continue to fight to ensure Liberal governments are elected at the local, state and federal level.
Kean has been the Hornsby MP since 2011 and served as the energy and environment minister and treasurer under the former Coalition government.
He had been the opposition’s health spokesperson since Labor won the 2023 election.
His resignation will force a byelection in Hornsby, an electorate in northern Sydney.
Updated
RBA examined case for a rate rise amid a ‘complex’ environment
A couple of points stood out in RBA governor Michele Bullock’s now routine media conference after each board meeting.
As expected, the nine-member board did consider the case for raising the cash rate above the 4.35% level that it’s been held at since November. It did not look at whether a rate cut was needed, and from Bullock’s comments, we’re a couple of meetings away (at least) from that.
Bullock makes clear that when the RBA board considers inflation it still pays attention to the quarterly numbers, not the incomplete monthly ones. She mentions, with a hint of frustration, that only New Zealand shares a quarterly inflation set along with Australia (downgrading the value of ABS’s monthly numbers that it’s been reporting since September 2022).
Anyway, it’s a good hint that the market (and the media) should really pay attention to the June quarter inflation figures due out on 31 July, ahead of the board’s next meeting on 5-6 August. (The May CPI number will land on 26 June; expect some huffing and puffing about it).
Bullock says the economy remains on that narrow path of inflation coming down without a recession, although it is becoming narrower. That said, the chances of an interest rate rise have NOT been increasing.
The other big events of late have been budgets, from the federal government to most of the states (including NSW’s released today). Bullock downplays any particular concerns about extra spending.
That said, the bank’s updated forecasts in August will tell us whether the RBA’s inflation outlook is less optimistic than the federal government’s.
For now, Bullock says getting inflation back to its target range of 2-3% will be “a slow grind”, and might not be achieved until the end of 2025 (compared with the federal treasury’s forecast that it might happen by the end of this year).
Here’s our full story:
Updated
NSW health minister: too many people presenting to emergency departments
The NSW minister for health, Ryan Park, is speaking about the state’s flagship policy in its latest budget – $189m over four years on healthcare to reduce the cost of running a GP clinic in an effort to allow GPs to bulk bill more patients.
Ryan says the policy is needed to stabilise a significant fall in bulk billing:
The next priority, working with the commonwealth, will be starting to grow bulk billing because if we don’t have growth in bulk billing, we will continue to see too many people present to emergency departments who simply shouldn’t be there.
Updated
Australia complains to Chinese embassy about ‘ham-fisted’ attempt to block view of Cheng Lei at event
The Australian government has formally complained to the Chinese embassy about “ham-fisted” attempts by its officials to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist, Cheng Lei, during an event inside Parliament House.
The incident, which occurred during a signing ceremony with the visiting Chinese premier Li Qiang, has drawn condemnation from Australian MPs who branded the embassy officials’ actions as “counterproductive” and “inappropriate”.
More on this story here:
Updated
Most Gaza protesters now gone from University of Sydney campus lawns
About two dozen tents and a handful of Palestinian flags remain at the University of Sydney’s quadrangle after protesters were advised on Friday to pack up their encampment.
As of Tuesday afternoon, four sections of the lawn have been cordoned off and all tents removed, replaced with signs reading “lawns closed”.
One section of the lawn remains tightly packed with tents, as a coalition of Muslim students’ associations vows to stay put until the university has sold any investments in companies that have ties to Israel and weapons manufacturers.
There is no police presence at the university, but some security guards remain onsite.
Updated
Bullock: June quarter CPI, and jobs data important indicators for interest rates
Bullock outlined what the RBA will be looking out for over the next few months to determine what will happen to interest rates at the next meeting, in August:
The CPI for the June quarter is going to be important in looking at how the trajectory for inflation is going …
But we’re going to have to look at other things as well. We’re going to have to look at the unemployment situation, the employment data, the suite of employment indicators that we have, which you see now in the statement on monetary policy …
But the June CPI is going to be an important one because it’s going to give us a much more comprehensive view of what’s going on.
Updated
RBA governor says data reinforces need to ‘remain vigilant’ about inflation
Governor of the RBA, Michele Bullock, is speaking about the bank’s decision to leave the cash rate unchanged at 4.35%.
Bullock says inflation has come down a long way since it peaked in 2022, but it remains above the target.
Recent data have been mixed. But overall I think they reinforce the need to remain vigilant to the upside risks to inflation. We still think we’re on the narrow path but it does appear to be getting a bit narrower. We need a lot to go our way if we’re going to bring inflation back down to the 2% target range. The board does need to be confident that inflation is moving sustainably towards target, and it will do what is necessary to achieve that outcome.
Updated
Angus Taylor: Labor has failed to deal with inflation and interest rates
Shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, is responding to the RBA’s decision to leave its key interest rate unchanged at 4.35% for a fifth consecutive meeting.
Taylor, after highlighting that the RBA had some uncertainty around the state of inflation in its statement, says:
The only certainty here is that this government continues to fail to deal with the interest rate and inflation pressures bearing down on Australian families.
Despite remaining unchanged, the RBA did tighten some of its language, saying “inflation remains above target and is proving persistent”.
“Inflation is easing but has been doing so more slowly than previously expected and it remains high,” the RBA said in a statement.
Updated
Labor has approved 54 renewable energy projects, Plibersek says
More on the approval of the Gawara Baya wind farm, which we posted on earlier.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, says this decision means she has approved 54 renewable energy projects during her tenure after the Coalition had “spent a decade trying to kill off renewables and our transition to net zero”.
Australians voted for an end to that and we are delivering. Labor is transforming Australia into a renewable energy superpower while Peter Dutton wants to send us back decades.
Clare Silcock, from the Queensland Conservation Council, says the organisation will look closely at the conditions to see if it's “significant concerns” about the potential impact of the wind farm on four threatened species had been addressed:
Renewable energy is the best option we have to reduce our emissions rapidly to protect our unique ecosystems and threatened species from one of their biggest dangers, climate change.
Unfortunately, Australia-wide and in Queensland our environmental protection laws and regulations are ineffective and allow projects of all kinds in areas of high biodiversity.
Updated
Indigenous women ‘invisible’ in family violence data
A fear of being criminalised means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women often do not report domestic and family violence, a Senate inquiry has been told.
Antoinette Gentile, the acting chief executive of Indigenous-run service Djirra which supports women affected by family violence, said 90% of family violence against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women went unreported in Victoria.
Women are often reluctant to report violence for fear of being criminalised themselves, Gentile told the Senate inquiry into missing and murdered First Nations women. She said almost a quarter of women Djirra worked with in 2023 were mistaken by police as perpetrators of family violence. Gentile said:
Misidentification leads to criminalisation, incarceration and is a major contributor to the removal of our children.
Djirra has supported women who have reported violence to police only to be issued with a warrant for their arrest, often over poverty-related offending such as unpaid fines.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women are 45 times more likely to experience family violence in Victoria, Gentile told the hearing in Melbourne on Tuesday:
These numbers don’t include the instances of family violence that go unreported or the deaths and disappearances that are not properly investigated by police and other services.
Without reliable and comprehensive data we cannot meaningfully catch, capture or tell our stories. First Nations women are made invisible to policy and lawmakers.
- AAP
Updated
More on RBA’s stay decision
Some more on the RBA’s interest rate decision (which will be left at 4.35%):
The RBA, though, did tighten some of the language, saying “inflation remains above target and is proving persistent”.
“Inflation is easing but has been doing so more slowly than previously expected and it remains high,” it said in a statement.
“The path of interest rates that will best ensure that inflation returns to target in a reasonable timeframe remains uncertain and the Board is not ruling anything in or out,” it said, repeating a mantra that leave it the option of another rate rise if needed.
The market response so far has been modest, with the Australian dollar holding its level with the US dollar at about 66.1 US cents but shares pared back some of the day’s 1% gains.
Updated
North Queensland wind farm approved with conditions over threatened species protection
A controversial wind farm project in north Queensland backed by mining magnate Andrew Forrest has been given approval by the federal government with a list of conditions to protect threatened species.
Windlab’s Gawara Baya wind farm will see up to 69 turbines built on a cattle property 65km south-west of Ingham.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the project would boost the capacity of renewables and put “downward pressure on [electricity] prices.”
Last year Apple pulled out of a major agreement to purchase power from the project after environmentalists expressed concern about its potential impact on koalas, greater gliders, Sharman’s rock wallaby and the red goshawk, considered Australia’s rarest bird of prey.
Among the conditions, Windlab will not be allowed to clear any of the wallaby’s home range habitat and will have to ensure gliders can move across the project area and, once the wind farm is running, would be forced to shut down operations and revise operations if “ecologically significant” numbers of threatened bird or bat species are killed.
Windlab is majority-owned by Forrest’s Tattarang group through its company Squadron Energy. The approval comes as the Coalition has become increasingly vocal against the government’s renewable energy transition.
Updated
Hello, I’ll now be with you until this evening.
And with that I leave the blog with Jordyn Beazley, thanks for reading.
Updated
Reserve Bank leaves interest rate at 4.35%
The Reserve Bank has left its key interest rate unchanged for a fifth consecutive meeting at 4.35%.
The outcome, following a two-day meeting in Sydney, was expected by economists and markets. Attention now will focus on the wording of the RBA’s statement and a media conference by the bank’s governor, Michele Bullock, starting at 3.30pm Aest.
Updated
RBA decision due shortly
We’ll shortly get the Reserve Bank’s interest rate decision at the conclusion of its two-day board meeting in Sydney.
All economists surveyed by Reuters expect the RBA will leave the cash rate at 4.35% where it’s sat since November. (That would make it five meetings in a row of stasis.)
Attention will focus on the wording of the central bank’s communique, especially if it implies another rate rise could be imminent. That would make it 14 in this cycle.
However, prior to today’s meeting, markets were predicting the next move would be a rate cut. According to the ASX rates tracker, a move to 4.1% could come as soon as next March.
Anyway, stay tuned for the 2.30pm Aest announcement.
Updated
Man arrested for murder over body found in Nepean River in 2004
Jason Palmer’s body was found in a river at Menangle, south of Sydney, on 29 February 2004, three weeks after he was reported missing.
The 34-year-old’s body was weighed down with rocks in the murky depths of the Nepean River, but an initial investigation did not identify a suspect. A 2007 coronial inquest found Palmer was stabbed to death in the western Sydney suburb of Lakemba.
Authorities restarted an investigation in 2022 that led to the arrest of 52-year-old Queensland man Gofal Baziad in south-west Sydney on Monday. He was charged with murder.
Detective Superintendent Daniel Doherty, who runs the NSW police homicide team, says: “It’s been 20 years since Mr Palmer, who was originally from the UK, is alleged to have been murdered ... he was a husband and father, and police had always remained hopeful of an arrest.”
“This arrest once again demonstrates that investigators will not rest until there’s a resolution for unsolved matters, and to provide answers to families.”
Baziad faced Campbelltown local court on Tuesday, did not apply for bail and will remain in custody. It is alleged he was known to Palmer.
Detectives think there are members of the public who know something about the case and are urging them to make contact.
Via AAP
Updated
Dutton says Liberals want to do renewables ‘in a responsible way’
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has done a doorstop in Bomaderry, in the NSW southern coastal electorate of Gilmore.
With senior Liberals and Nationals contradicting each other on the role of large-scale renewables in reaching net zero by 2050, Dutton claimed the Coalition “want to have renewables in the system but we want to do it in a responsible way”. He said:
We need to be able to firm up that intermittent power. It can’t be reliant on the weather for the ability to turn on the lights. A modern economy just doesn’t work like that ...
I want to make sure we’ve got renewables in the system. We’re happy for batteries, but we can’t pretend that batteries can provide the storage.
CSIRO’s gencost report found that electricity from large-scale nuclear reactors would cost between $141 per megawatt hour and $233/MWh compared with combining solar and wind at a cost of between $73 and $128/MWh – figures that include building transmission lines and energy storage.
Asked about nuclear power’s social licence, Dutton said:
We could have a sort of 14-year-old conversation about these issues but let’s have an adult conversation. I know the Labor party is putting out all sorts of cartoons, Simpsons [memes] and nonsense.
This is about keeping the lights on in hospitals. It’s about making sure pensioners can afford to eat and heat, not one or the other.
Dutton then defended the safety of nuclear power on the basis of the presence of the nuclear heights reactor in Sydney and nuclear propulsion of Australia’s next-gen submarines.
Updated
Dutton demands PM ‘stand up for our country’ over China’s treatment of journalist
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has demanded that Anthony Albanese “grow a backbone and stand up for our country” regarding the treatment of the Australian journalist Cheng Lei - just hours after the prime minister denounced Chinese embassy officials for “ham-fisted” conduct.
Albanese had already confirmed that Australian officials followed up with the Chinese embassy “to express our concern” over the “clumsy” attempt by officials to stand in between cameras and where Cheng was sitting with fellow reporters at a signing ceremony at Parliament House yesterday.
Speaking to ABC Perth Breakfast, Albanese described Cheng - who was detained in China until the government secured her release late last year and who now works for Sky News Australia - as “a very decent human being and a very professional journalist”. Albanese said there “should be no impediments to Australian journalists going about their job and we’ve made that clear to the Chinese embassy”.
Hours later, Dutton said Albanese should be prepared to “call out bad behaviour”. Dutton said he had raised the “very regrettable incident” during his own meeting with China’s premier, Li Qiang, in Canberra late yesterday.
Dutton said he was “very pleased to hear that the government’s raised that with the Chinese embassy because it’s completely unacceptable in our free society for that sort of conduct to take place”.
Dutton contended that Albanese had “clearly misled the Australian people yesterday” when, according to Dutton, Albanese “said that he had heard nothing of it, he didn’t understand what the question was, or didn’t know anything about it”.
While it is true that Albanese said at a press conference yesterday afternoon that he had not personally seen the incident and was “not aware of those issues”, Albanese never said he didn’t understand the question. The prime minister reiterated that it was “important that people be allowed to participate fully” in events at Parliament House.
Updated
Simon Birmingham contradicts Nationals opposition to large-scale renewables
The Liberal leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, has contradicted the Nationals’ opposition to large-scale renewables.
Birmingham told Sky News that there is “absolutely a place for large scale renewables, as part of a technology neutral approach” and they are an “important part of the mix”.
Birmingham said that renewables and other sources of power should be judged on reliability - “which is why nuclear is important” - price, including the cost of transmission, and “social licence” aspects about whether local communities support them.
He said:
There will be difficult discussions on that journey [to net zero by 2050]. We’ve been having them in relation to nuclear energy. The Albanese government has stuck its head in the sand.
Updated
Greens label international student caps ‘blatant power grab’
The Greens have echoed calls amongst the university sector to wind back a proposed cap on international students, labelling the proposal an “audacious attack” on student choice and institutional independence.
In a submission to the draft framework, the Group of Eight and the University of Sydney warned the policy could have disastrous economic and social consequences.
The deputy Greens leader and higher education spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said it was welcome to see a growing list of critics “slamming the government for making policy decisions based on an entirely false and divisive conflation of international students and the housing crisis”:
The bill is a blatant power grab, giving the education minister an unprecedented, dangerous level of ministerial discretion over universities. After years of sustained underfunding of universities by both Labor and Coalition governments, the bill will make things worse and risk thousands of jobs during a cost of living crisis.
Capping international student numbers under the guise of easing pressure on the rental market is not just a dishonest, dog whistling conflation, it is bad policy that will do nothing to fix our broken housing system or higher education system.
Updated
Virgin Australia flight makes emergency landing in New Zealand
A suspected bird strike has caused a Virgin Australia flight to make an emergency landing in New Zealand after one of its engines caught fire.
The Melbourne-bound flight left Queenstown on Monday evening with footage emerging later that appeared to show fire coming from the Boeing 737-800. The jet was carrying 67 passengers and six crew and landed safely about 50 minutes after leaving Queenstown and was met by fire trucks on the tarmac.
Passengers said they saw flames coming from one of the engines and heard loud bangs, the New Zealand Herald reported. A statement from Queenstown airport said bird strikes are a “known risk to aviation” and that the usual risk of bird strikes were “low.”
Bird strikes are a known risk to aviation around the world and airports put considerable effort into mitigating this risk.
The Civil Aviation Authority records the incident rate for bird strikes at Queenstown Airport as ‘low’.
Bird activity varies according to the season and migratory patterns. The primary species of concern at Queenstown are oyster catchers and plovers, along with smaller birds such as finches, starlings, and sparrows.
An inspection was completed minutes before Virgin Australia flight VA148 departed on 17 June and no birds were detected on the airfield at that time.
You can read more at our story below:
Updated
Further changes in Victorian youth crime bill
Other changes included in the bill are:
The creation of a new legislated scheme for warnings, cautions and diversions.
A new magistrate for the children’s court, to specifically handle repeat youth offenders.
The activation of the already-announced two year trial of electronic monitoring of repeat offenders on bail, coupled with a more intensive supervision orders.
A codification of the existing legal presumption known as doli incapax which states a child under 14 cannot be held criminally responsible unless they knew their actions were seriously wrong.
Creation of a new youth justice victims register.
And a focus on ensuring self-determination is taken into account when dealing with Aboriginal youth offenders, including allowing cautions to be administered by Elders.
If the bill is passed, Victoria would become the first state to introduce the change, though the North Territory has also raised the age to 12. The ACT has committed to raising the age to 14 by 2026, while Tasmania will lift the minimum age of incarceration to 14 but leave the age of criminal responsibility at 10.
Several human rights groups and Indigenous organisations had called for Victoria to immediately raise the age to 14 in line with medical expert advice and international standards for child development.
Erdogan said the government has a position to raise the age to 14 “subject to an alternative service model” being created. He said that change would require a seperate bill.
Updated
‘Limited force’ available for Victorian police to compel children aged 10 or 11
Symes is also talking through the new powers police will have to interact with 10- and 11-year olds, once the age of criminal responsibility is raised:
There will still be occasions where a police officer may come across a 10 or 11 year old that they’re concerned about, and we want to ensure that we have the legislative framework to enable them to act in their best interest and to reduce the risk of them hurting themselves or indeed hurting another person.
There will not be the right of arrest because there will not be the ability to charge a child with a crime who is 10 and 11. They’ll be able to interact with that young person, ask their name, ‘Where’s your mom? Where’s your dad?’
She said they will have the ability to use “limited force” to compel the young people:
There will be the ability to use limited force – ie take the child by the arm etcetera, support the child into a vehicle in order to protect them [and] protect the community, to bring them back and make sure that the right services can be provided.
Erdogan says the bill will also tighten the eligibility requirements for people aged 18 to 21 to be placed in a youth justice facility and make it easier to transfer people age 16 and older into an adult prison. He says this is in response to protests at facilities:
From time to time and what we’re finding that some of those instances are caused by young adults in the youth justice system, and that’s why there’s a need to tighten that criteria to ensure the safety and security of our staff and the young people.
Updated
Victoria to raise age of criminal responsibility to 12
The Victorian government will raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12, with no exceptions, close a “loophole” it says allows adults to get children to commit crimes on their behalf and introduce stronger consequences for “serious, high-risk and repeat” youth offenders.
The premier, Jacinta Allan, attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, youth justice minister, Enver Erdogan, and police minister, Anthony Carbines, are holding a press conference to announce the long-awaited youth justice bill to parliament today.
Under the bill, 10 and 11 year olds will no longer be able to be arrested, charged or detained. Police, however, will be given the power to ensure children in this age group who are a risk to themselves or others “can be transported somewhere safe and to someone who can take care of them”.
Symes said the bill will also lower the age of prosecution for recruiting children into criminal activity from 21 to 18. She says this has been a “loophole” that has allowed the recruitment of young people to commit crimes:
Unfortunately we’ve seen some adults and young people exploiting young impressionable people, and using them to commit crimes under the presumption that they’ll face lesser consequences. And it’s easier to pay someone a couple of hundred bucks as a kid and get them to do your dirty work.
We want to ensure that … raising the age to 12 doesn’t create a situation where you are encouraged to recruit younger people to commit crimes. So the offence of recruitment of young people or enticing people to commit crimes currently exists, but you have to be 21 to be charged with that; we’re reducing that to 18.
But I do make the point that if you are under 18, and you are encouraging younger people to engage in criminal activity, there are other relevant offences such as incitement [and] conspiracy.
Updated
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has said the Albanese government is looking at a “range of ages” to restrict social media access to - including setting the age at under-16 - but has warned there is “no perfect solution”.
The Western Sydney Labor MP told Sky News on Tuesday online safety for children was one of the government’s “highest priorities”, adding “there is no one more alive to this than the prime minister”.
Rowland was asked whether the government was seriously considering setting the age limit for social media at 16 after a recent political and media push to prevent children and young teens from signing up for accounts too early.
The minister said:
We are looking at a range of ages. Sixteen is one, certainly just as the prime minister said, it’s one that we’re looking at ... well, you probably don’t want to preempt any of this. But certainly we know that young people’s ages and their brains are evolving and, the evidence is coming in on this, their brains are evolving between that critical 13 to 16 age ... when you turn 16, the harms don’t end. So we need to also examine this in terms of what the platforms are actually doing in terms of pushing content and ensure that we keep pace with those harms.
In the most recent federal budget, the government committed $6.5m in funding for a pilot of age assurance technology. The trial is part of its bid to prevent children from accessing pornography and harmful content as part of its response to the family violence crisis in Australia.
Read more about it from my colleague, Josh Taylor, below:
Updated
University of Sydney says start date for international student cap should be pushed to 2026
In the University of Sydney’s submission, the vice-chancellor, Prof Mark Scott, said any rapid cuts to international students would have “very damaging flow-on consequences for local communities, jobs and economic growth”.
He urged the federal government to change the start date from 1 January next year to 2026, allowing for greater sector consultation.
We are genuinely concerned about the feasibility of the start date ... and the consequences of prolonged uncertainty for thousands of prospective students and our staff. We are already well advanced in making offers for 2025 in line with our normal recruitment and admissions timelines, as are many other universities across Australia.
Acceptances are starting to flow in, with students making deposits towards their fees, accommodation and other arrangements for their studies in Australia. Given these realities, it is obvious that limits on 2025 enrolments will be challenging for universities to implement without seriously disrupting thousands of students and potentially putting us in breach of contractual obligations to students.
In a speech delivered this month, the chief executive of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, said the introduction of a cap and related uncertainty could cost as many as 4,500 jobs across the sector.
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Universities say international student cap could have ‘disastrous’ effect
Australia’s most prestigious universities have warned a proposed cap on international students could have a “disastrous effect” on the economy and “fundamentally compromise” the lucrative sector if the draft framework is implemented.
In its submission to the framework, which would give the education minister new powers to cap the number of international students across providers and individual courses, the Group of Eight (Go8) universities expressed concern that the federal government had already moved it to the legislative implementation phase without proper consultation:
The Go8 believes that the introduction of these measures will fundamentally compromise Australia’s international education sector and constitutes what is effectively a breach of good faith in the consultation on the draft framework.
It is critical to bear in mind what is at stake: … the viability of a $48bn export industry – Australia’s largest export services industry – that underpins essentially all university sector operations and in 2023 contributed half of Australia’s economic growth.
Go8 institutions including UNSW, the University of Melbourne and the University of Sydney receive billions of dollars per year in international student fees.
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Red Cross and Red Crescent win Sydney Peace Prize
The Sydney Peace Foundation has announced the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement has received the 2024 Sydney Peace Prize for “courageous and highly respected humanitarian work and respect for common humanity.”
The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement were officially announced as the recipients of the prize at an event at Sydney Town Hall this morning, attended by Sydney Peace Foundation patron and lord mayor of Sydney, Clover Moore, and the Australian Red Cross’s CEO, Penny Harrison.
Harrison thanked the foundation for recognising the movement’s longstanding commitment to alleviating human suffering during times of conflict and advancing international humanitarian law.
There are currently more than 100 armed conflicts globally creating unprecedented humanitarian needs. Through our humanitarian principles of neutrality, impartiality, and independence, the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement navigates where others cannot, providing vital protection and support to those most in need, including those in the world’s most volatile and complex humanitarian landscapes.
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Victorian Greens say knife search without warrent laws part of ‘race to the bottom’
The Victorian Greens’ leader, Ellen Sandell, has expressed concern proposed reforms that would allow police to check people for knives without a warrant will lead to racial profiling.
The Herald Sun this morning reported the government was looking into changing the law to allow police to carry out weapons searches without restriction at major train stations and shopping centres.
Speaking outside parliament, Sandell said she was worried the government was on a “race to the bottom when it comes to law and order”:
I’m worried about this government’s trajectory when it comes to law and order and I’m worried about the impacts particularly on First Nations communities and culturally diverse communities.
If we want to keep the community safe, the best thing to do is get tough on the causes of crime and the biggest drivers of some of the issues that we’re seeing in society are things like unaffordable housing, people not being able to afford the cost of living.
The changes would be based on Queensland’s Jack’s Law, which was introduced last year following a 24-month trial of the powers on the Gold Coast, sparked by the death of 17-year-old Jack Beasley in 2019. NSW has also followed suit.
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PM says ‘clumsy’ Chinese attempts to block journalist at press conference were ‘ham-fisted’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has called a Chinese official’s attempt to block journalist Cheng Lei “ham-fisted.” The PM was on Perth FM radio station Nova this morning, where he said the attempts to block Lei were also “clumsy.”
There’s no point, you know, shaking your fist. It’s important that what you do is to indicate the differences that we have. We have different values and different political systems.
And we saw some of that yesterday, I’ve got to say, with the attempt – that was pretty ham-fisted – to block Cheng Lei, the Australian journalist who we were able to get brought home, at the press conference.
There was a clumsy attempt, really, to just stand in between where the cameras were, and Chang Lei. And the Australian officials did the right thing and intervened, but you know that showed, I think, the different systems that are there.
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Surge in road deaths prompts call for release of ‘secret’ data
A surge in deaths on Australian roads has prompted renewed calls for “secret” state road trauma data to be made public, a day after three people died in a horror smash in Queensland.
The Australian Automobile Association said the number of road deaths rose 10.4% nationally to 1,303 in the year to May, which the group said pointed to an “urgent need” for the data to inform policymaking.
The key automotive body said the data was being hidden by states and territory officials and wanted it released as part of a looming funding deal between Commonwealth and state transport ministers.
The call comes after a major crash west of Brisbane on Monday claimed the life of a father and his two children, while a woman with the trio was taken to hospital in a critical condition.
The AAA managing director, Michael Bradley, said the best way to understand what was going wrong on the nation’s roads was to get access to the restricted data.
(It’s) about the causes of crashes, the state of our roads and the effectiveness of police traffic enforcement. State and territory governments hold this data but keep it secret.
At a time when current policies are failing and more than 100 people are dying on the roads each month, the secrecy must end.’
According to the AAA, road deaths in the 12-month period surged most in the Northern Territory, where they lifted 72.4% to 50 fatalities.
– AAP
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Rishworth dismisses oppossition criticism over Cheng Lei’s treatment at Chinese-Australian press conference
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, has backed the prime minister’s response to the incident with journalist Cheng Lei yesterday, dismissing opposition criticisms.
Appearing alongside opposition senator Bridget McKenzie on Channel 9’s Today Show, Rishworth asked why the issue was being made “so political” before adding that she was “pleased” Lei was at the press conference:
I agree with you, Bridget, that there needs to be a free and open press. And I’m pleased that Cheng Lei was at that press conference [and] asked the prime minister a question.
Of course, we expect appropriate behaviour, when it comes to our the freedom of journalists and the freedom of the press. But she asked the prime minister a question, and good on her, and he answered it.
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Liberals criticise treatment of journalist by Chinese officials at press conference
Opposition foreign affairs spokesman Simon Birmingham has condemned the treatment of journalist Cheng Lei at federal parliament yesterday.
Lei was blocked by Chinese officials during the press conference featuring Anthony Albanese and the Chinese premier, Li Qiang.
Birmingham told Sky News it was “counterproductive” and that Lei should have been “treated with respect.”
This was an entirely counterproductive and inappropriate act by Chinese officials that should have been called out by our prime minister and government officials.
It is a reminder that we have two very different systems, the Chinese system and the Australian system, different systems of government, of course as a democracy, different respect when it comes to media, to freedom of speech, but this visit is taking place in Australia.
The freedom of press is paramount. Cheng Lei is an Australian citizen, an Australian journalist – she should have been treated with respect.
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Pocock says Dutton using cost-of-living crisis to ‘whip up fear’ and division on climate change prices
Pocock is next asked about polls that show growing divisions on climate change, particularly amidst a cost of living crisis. The senator said he believed much of the division came from the cost-of-living crisis, and that the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was using the crisis to “whip up fear.”
It is concerning, I think a lot of this comes from so many Australians genuinely doing a tough at the moment, having to make really tough decisions, from telling their kids that they can no longer play basketball or be part of the scouts group because they can’t afford the … 500 bucks a year that costs, to other Australians who are deciding between going to see the GP or fulfilling a script and putting food on the table.
People are doing it tough and so when they hear politicians talk about these targets in the future … I think Peter Dutton use this to whip up fear.
The thing I would love to see is that is the government step up and actually use the technology that we have now to help Australians who are doing it tough save money on electricity bills. We know that household electrification, solar batteries, moving away from from gas can save Australian households not a $300 one-off energy bill rebate, but thousands of dollars every year into the future.
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David Pocock says gambling ads ‘denigrate’ power of sport
Independent senator David Pocock is on ABC’s RN Breakfast this morning, addressing a lack of government action on the proliferation of gambling ads during sports broadcasts.
Pocock was initially asked about Gillon McLachlan and what it means to have a former head of the AFL now in charge of Tabcorp, but Pocock turned his attention to the gambling industry in general.
He said the industry was “saturating” their ads across online and television broadcast of sports, which he said “denigrates” the power of sport:
We’re seeing gambling companies spend some $260m a year on advertising and just saturating online TV. And I think that’s where the government needs to step in, because this is about young people in the way we think about gambling and the effects that it has, if you just think this is a totally normal thing that everyone does to enjoy sport.
Let’s actually focus on sport for what it what it can be. They get this sense of being part of something bigger than themselves, working towards goals, making friends. Yeah, that is the power of sport, and I think we we denigrate that, we lose some of that when we turn it into just an avenue for the gambling industry to make money.
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Li’s busy day in Perth
Strengthening business links and critical minerals will be top of the agenda for the final day of Li Qiang’s visit to Australia.
Fresh from high-level talks at Parliament House with Anthony Albanese, China’s second-highest official travelled to Western Australia for meetings with business and community leaders today.
Li visit a lithium plant in Perth before attending an Australia-China CEO roundtable event.
The roundtable will involve representatives from major Australian companies including Wesfarmers, Rio Tinto, ANZ and Fortescue discussing economic opportunity and free-trade agreements between the two countries.
Li will also visit Fortescue’s research and development facility in Perth.
The visit by Li to Australia, the first by a Chinese premier in seven years, has restored hope of China lifting all remaining trade sanctions that had been imposed since 2020.
While sanctions had been lifted on items such as beef and wine, trade restrictions remain on Australian rock lobster.
via AAP
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Rates expected to stay on hold at RBA meeting
The Reserve Bank wraps up its latest two-day board meeting this afternoon with Australia’s borrowers expected to be spared another interest rate rise.
All economists surveyed by Reuters are expecting the cash rate to remain steady at 4.35% for a fifth consecutive meeting.
Attention is likely to focus on the wording of the RBA’s statement and comments by governor Michele Bullock when she holds the now customary post-gathering media conference at the bank’s temporary digs in Sydney. (Its HQ is in the midst of a costly and lengthy refurbishment after the Martin Place building was found to have more asbestos than expected.)
The board is almost certain to have considered another rate rise – which would have been the 14th since the cycle began in May 2022. Mortgage holders on a typical $600,000 loan are already paying back about $1450 more each month since then, according to RateCity.
Prospects of a rate cut before the end of 2024 dimmed after inflation slowed less than expected in the March quarter. The RBA even predicts consumer price increases will accelerate in the current quarter before resuming their retreat.
The economy is also throwing up mixed signals about its strength. GDP growth all but stalled at the start of this year but employment has remained surprisingly strong with the jobless rate hovering at about 4%.
The RBA will also be trying to anticipate the impact of May’s federal budget. The stage three cuts and the first of four quarterly energy rebates of $75 per residence kick in from 1 July.
Bullock, we might expect, will repeat her mantra of not “ruling anything in or out”. Still, her comments will be listened to closely as to what direction the RBA’s next move will be, and when.
Watch out for the board’s decision at 2.30pm AEST and the start of her media conference an hour later.
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Labor regains poll lead
Voters are split on Peter Dutton’s controversial proposal to abandon Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target, despite his plans for nuclear power being unpopular.
In the Guardian Essential poll just more than half (52%) of those surveyed said Australia should “stick to its 2030 target and achieving this target is necessary to meet the 2050 target”.
But after trailing the opposition in late April and May, Labor now leads the Coalition 48% to 46% in two-party-preferred terms, with 6% of voters undecided.
You can pore over the details in Paul Karp’s story here:
And our Full Story podcast today features blogger supreme and political reporter Amy Remeikis giving her two-year report card on the Labor government:
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Andrew Forrest issues warning on emissions
Mining magnate Andrew Forrest has warned that the federal Coalition’s proposed abandonment of a 2030 emissions reduction target to rely instead on nuclear power to reach net zero emissions by 2050 would see Australian exporters hit with penalty carbon taxes and destroy Australia’s export base.
The Fortescue boss told Radio National Breakfast that relying on the introduction of nuclear power in 15 years’ time without any firm commitment to transition away from fossil fuels through interim targets would be dire for Australia.
He said major trading partners were likely to punish exporters in those countries not proving they are moving to cleaner forms of energy in the interim.
“That’s dreaming,” Forrest said of the Coalition’s insistence that it could avoid a “linear” emissions reduction path and just switch to nuclear in 2049:
And we would have been left behind by the rest of world by then. We’d have been hit with carbon taxes from Europe, from America – everywhere where they’re saying, “Well, we’re investing to go green. You didn’t. So we’re going to tax your products on the way into Europe, on the way into North America.”
That decimates the economic model which Australia has lived on since federation, which is an export country.
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Chinese premier heads to Perth
Li Qiang will attend several events in Western Australia today on the final day of his four-day visit to Australia.
Today’s schedule includes a banquet with members of the Chinese-Australian community, with both Li and Anthony Albanese expected to deliver brief speeches.
Li is also expected to meet the WA premier, Roger Cook, and visit two businesses related to critical minerals processing and the transition to net zero.
In Perth today, business leaders will meet for the first Australia-China CEO Roundtable to be held since 2017. The event is co-chaired by the Business Council of Australia and the China Development Bank and will include a range of business leaders including Fortescue’s Andrew Forrest, Rio Tinto’s Kellie Parker and BHP’s Vandita Pant.
China’s premier has travelled to Perth from Canberra, where he and Albanese held the annual leaders’ meeting yesterday.
While both leaders pointed to progress in managing differences and stabilising the bilateral relationship, a signing ceremony at Parliament House was overshadowed somewhat by Chinese embassy officials’ apparent attempt to block the view of the formerly detained Australian journalist Cheng Lei. You can read more about that here:
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Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you to take you through the day’s news.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to the live blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the best overnight news lines and then my colleague Mostafa Rachwani will be along to get into the real business of the day.
The Chinese premier, Li Qiang, will head to Western Australia today on the final day of a four-day visit that has been overshadowed by the apparent attempt by Chinese officials to obstruct the view of Australian journalist Cheng Lei at a ceremony at Parliament House yesterday. Li and Anthony Albanese will be hoping there is no more controversy as they prepare to give speeches in a schedule today that includes a banquet with members of the Chinese-Australian community. More coming up.
Peter Dutton’s back-to-the-future attack line on Labor’s climate ambitions may yet gain some traction with voters, our latest Essential poll suggests today, but Labor has nevertheless regained the lead over the Coalition in two-party-preferred terms after lagging for the previous two months. Voters are split on Dutton’s controversial proposal to abandon Australia’s 2030 emissions reduction target, the poll shows, despite his plans for nuclear power being unpopular. More coming up.
The Reserve Bank wraps up its latest two-day board meeting this afternoon with Australia’s borrowers expected to be spared another interest rate rise. All economists surveyed by Reuters are expecting the cash rate to remain steady at 4.35% for a fifth consecutive meeting. More coming up.
