What we learned today, Sunday 28 July
Many thanks for joining us on the blog today, that’s where we’ll leave things. Here were the main stories making headlines today:
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, unveiled a number of changes to his cabinet ministry today, which saw Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil dumped from their portfolios and Tony Burke appointed to home affairs. You can read the entire list of changes here and analysis of the changes from Amy Remeikis here.
A knife-wielding man was shot dead in Sydney’s south-west after allegedly attempting to stab a police officer, who narrowly avoided “catastrophic injuries”.
Day two of the NSW Labor conference took place in Sydney, where the premier, Chris Minns, announced an end to no-ground evictions in the state. Legislation is due to be introduced in September. At the same time, a motion to repeal youth bail laws and anti-protest laws in NSW was defeated at the conference. The motion also called for a charter of human rights to be enacted in the state.
A rally against gendered violence was held outside the Labor conference, as part of 26 rallies across the country this weekend.
A pro-Palestine protest was also held outside of the conference in Sydney. A Palestine flag was lowered inside the conference when the premier was speaking earlier this morning.
Updated
Labor delegates speak against motion to repeal youth bail and anti-protest laws
Labor delegate Jack Ayoub, who has previously run for the federal seat of Parkes, spoke against the motion put forward at the NSW Labor conference. He said that by calling for the repeal of bail and anti-protest laws, and for a charter of human rights in the same motion, this “conflated” the issues:
Some people in this room may support the Human Rights Act, but it’s not going to be achieved by conflating it with unrelated issues. They should not have been conflated …
We cannot allow small groups of determined individuals – like Just Stop Oil in the UK and individuals that we’ve seen here – to cluster together with our public support and damage the causes which we ourselves want to advocate for.
Steve Fraser – a retired paramedic of 41 years and member of the Health Services Union – was another Labor delegate to speak against the motion. Noting that he had three minutes to speak, he detailed the importance of three minutes when it comes to an emergency response, and told the conference:
Three minutes, delegates, can sometimes be the difference between life and death. Protests that randomly block streets without notice, actions and that result in the chaos that strands ambulance and emergency responders – or forces those responders to back and change and scramble to find a way around the unplanned mayhem – that’s not our right.
Delegates, we have an obligation to speak out when things are wrong. It is also our obligation to care [and] protect each other. This legislation has not stopped protests and rallies, look outside. It prevents behaviour and thoughtless actions that cause chaos, that will cost lives.
Updated
