That's it for today, Sunday 21 July
Thanks for reading, here are the main stories of the day:
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says the company at the centre of the world’s largest ever IT outage has told the federal government it is close to an automatic fix which would allow systems to return online. But she also expects “teething issues for one or two weeks”;
Business groups say it will take some time to assess the impact of the outage, saying small businesses may not be back to normal for some days;
A father has been hailed a hero after he died alongside his two-year-old daughter when a twin stroller rolled off a railway platform in Sydney’s south on Sunday;
The Albanese government’s plan to appoint an independent administrator to take control of the CFMEU will not be enough to clean up the embattled union’s “toxic elements”, the independent MP Zoe Daniel says, suggesting the industry may need a new watchdog; and
Sydney commuters will face major peak hour disruption for an entire week with light rail workers shutting down tram services over pay and conditions.
Thanks for reading, we will see you here for more news tomorrow.
Updated
Sydney commuters face peak hour pain amid light rail strike
Sydney commuters will face major peak hour disruption for an entire week with light rail workers shutting down tram services over pay and conditions, AAP reports.
All inner-Sydney light rail lines will grind to a halt during peak hours from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm on Monday to Friday after the union decided to ramp up its industrial action.
Workers are fighting transport operator Trandev’s refusal to provide them with more sick days and for a wage increase that keeps up with the cost of living.
The dispute primarily comes down to pay after the operator offered an 18% pay rise over four years compared to workers’ 23% demand, Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s David Babineau said.
“Four years ago that may have been OK but in the last four years, we have seen every single commodity from energy to food to petrol and rent has increased significantly,” Babineau said.
“For a company that made over $9bn turnover last financial year, we don’t think it’s too much of an imposition.”
Buses will replace light rail services during the industrial action, Transdev said.
The company’s Sydney managing director apologised for the service disruptions and urged customers to plan ahead.
“We are working hard with transport partners to minimise impact to customers caused by this industrial action,” Arsene Durand-Raucher said.
“Customers should plan ahead and consider alternate transport options during the disruption period or, if possible, avoid non-essential travel on the trams.”
Staff will be stationed on the ground to help manage the disruptions while the company works to resolve the enterprise agreement.
Babineau also apologised to commuters for the disruption.
Updated
