Closing summary
Thank you for joining us on the blog – here is a wrap of the day’s headlines:
The NSW government committed to an emergency $230m package to support the victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence. The state’s premier, Chris Minns, said his government was “very sorry” the package was not released earlier.
Qantas announced an agreement to pay $100m as a civil penalty, and pay out $20m to customers in compensation, after striking a deal with the consumer watchdog over a landmark action for allegedly selling tickets to flights that had already been cancelled in its system.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said now was the time to “back police” when asked about Western Australia police stopping short of labelling an alleged attack in Perth as terrorism yesterday.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said reports of students ranking female classmates from top to bottom – from “wifey” to “unrapeable” – was “disgraceful and utterly unacceptable”.
Dozens of people gathered in the seaside community of San Miguel in Mexico for a “paddle out” – a late afternoon vigil to honour the Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their travelling companion Jack Carter Rhoad.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said next Tuesday’s budget would bring “more spending restraint” and more savings.
Military whistleblower David McBride pleaded guilty in a sentencing hearing today to stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC, who used the material as the basis for an investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files. The commonwealth is seeking to impose a substantial jail sentence with a non-parole period against him.
That is all for today – see you tomorrow.
Updated
The Kimberley’s peak Indigenous group apologises for underpaying staff
The Kimberley Land Council (KLC) “sincerely apologises” after an in-depth review into historical wage payments identified underpayments of “certain current and former staff”, according to a statement from the Kimberley region’s peak Indigenous body.
“Underpayments have arisen because base rates of pay for certain employees under the Kimberley Land Council enterprise agreement 2014 fell below the base rate of pay as per the underlying modern award,” the statement said.
The KLC sincerely apologises for the error.
KLC received external legal advice in 2018 “that it was acting in compliance with its obligations”, according to the statement. However, “subsequent legal advice to the contrary” prompted KLC to undertake a payroll recalculation exercise covering the period from 1 July 2016 to 22 October 2019.
KLC’s chief executive, Tyronne Garstone, said:
As an organisation with a strong commitment to our staff and community, we are deeply disappointed that this has occurred.
Our priority is to pay the identified amounts to our current and former affected staff members in a timely manner and to ensure that this does not happen again.
I offer my apologies to our staff and community.
KLC has made a voluntary disclosure of this matter to the fair work ombudsman.
Updated
The lengthy soaking of eastern New South Wales, including Sydney, may have at least another week to run as a large high-pressure system all but stalls over Tasmania, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Sydney has already clocked up 124mm in the first six days of May, more than the long-run average of just over 117mm for the month. The city’s record of 16 consecutive days of at least 1mm of rain – set in 1943 and 2022 – could also be in play, according to Ed Medlock, a weather bureau meteorologist.
Read the full story from Peter Hannam here:
The publisher, in its defence, said it could prove Synergy and David Milo “engaged in corrupt conduct” with Stuart Robert when he sat on the Liberal frontbench.
“[Milo and Synergy] received a financial benefit from the conduct, including in the form of retainer payments and success fees from clients of [Synergy], who procured federal government contracts,” Nine’s defence said.
But whether Nine’s claims are true will no longer be tested in court after the lawsuit was discontinued by Synergy 360 and Milo on 26 April.
No judgment was entered against Nine, Nick McKenzie or David Crowe.
The articles remain online and no apology has been issued.
After a parliamentary inquiry, Robert was referred to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) in September over claims Synergy 360 channelled money to a company linked to him to win government work.
Robert previously denied any impropriety, labelling the Nacc referral a “farce” and an example of political payback.
He represented the Queensland seat of Fadden before resigning from parliament in May last year.
A Nine spokesperson declined to comment on the case being dropped.
Robert and Milo have been contacted for comment.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Defamation case dropped over MP corruption allegation reports
A consulting firm and its chief have dropped a defamation case against Nine over reports alleging they engaged in corrupt practices with former federal MP Stuart Robert.
After suing over reports alleging that he engaged in corrupt practices with ex-federal frontbencher Robert, the boss of a consulting firm has dropped his defamation lawsuit against Nine.
Robert has previously denied any impropriety.
Synergy 360 chief executive David Milo had sued in the NSW supreme court for damages over four Sydney Morning Herald articles from November 2022 and March 2023 that he said ruined his and the firm’s reputation.
“Within weeks of and in consequence upon the articles being published, (Synergy) lost a number of existing and potential clients, resulting in serious financial loss,” the lawsuit read.
The reports alleged Synergy 360 and Milo received secret advice from then-Liberal MP Robert to help six of its clients.
Nine vigorously defended the case, saying its articles were true, in the public interest and based on the honest opinions of journalists Nick McKenzie and David Crowe.
– Australian Associated Press
More to come
Updated
Judicial watchdog tells judge to undergo counselling
County court judge Geoffrey Chettle told the judicial commission his use of one particular pejorative word was unnecessary and apologised for using the word.
He said he did not mean any discourtesy or lack of respect, or to cause embarrassment to the alleged victim.
The commission also found that, while the judge leaving defence lawyers off emails was unintentional, a phone call between him and the trial prosecutor was “unorthodox and should have been avoided”.
Chettle was told to undergo counselling with the head of the jurisdiction on the need to exercise sensitivity, courtesy and respect in the courtroom, particularly in sex offence cases.
He will also be counselled on how to direct or supervise the work of his chambers’ staff and on the importance of judicial officers not engaging in private conversations with lawyers.
Judd separately complained to the commission about supreme court justice Lex Lasry a month before the prosecution complaint about Chettle was filed, in May 2023.
But the commission dropped its investigation into that complaint, which was about a ruling on the Eastern Freeway crash that killed four police, when Lasry resigned in February.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Judge found to have made demeaning comments about alleged rape victim
A judge made gratuitous and demeaning comments about an alleged rape victim before permanently staying the case against her two accused attackers, Victoria’s judicial watchdog has found.
The state’s top prosecutor, Kerri Judd, filed a complaint with the judicial commissioner of Victoria against county court judge Geoffrey Chettle in June last year.
It related to court proceedings against two men accused of rape and sexual assault and faced pre-trial in February 2023.
During an argument about the scope of cross-examination the alleged victim would be permitted, Chettle made comments about her, which formed part of the complaint.
He then decided to place a permanent stay on the case, which was successfully appealed against by the director of public prosecutions.
Chettle was also accused of not copying the defence into emails about the case.
Following an investigation, the commission on Monday found Chettle “infringed on the standards of conduct generally expected of judicial officers”.
It found he used language about the alleged victim, when she was not present, that was “pejorative, demeaning and incongruous”.
“The officer’s use of that language lacked the sensitivity expected of judicial officers presiding in sexual offence matters, tended to cause offence and was gratuitous,” the commission said in its finding.
The details of the judge’s comments were not written into the finding.
– Australian Associated Press
More to come
Updated
Crown seeks jail term for whistleblower David McBride
The commonwealth is seeking to impose a substantial jail sentence with a non-parole period against army whistleblower David McBride for leaking secret Defence documents on the war in Afghanistan.
The commonwealth’s counsel, Trish McDonald, says McBride’s actions amounted to “egregious conduct” and as a lawyer he breached the trust of his client, the Australian defence force.
McBride pleaded guilty to three offences in November, including stealing military information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Those documents went on to form the basis of the ABC’s investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
McBride’s legal team is pleading for leniency in any sentence on five bases – that he is of “exemplary character”, that his motivation for leaking was “honourable”, that he didn’t think he was committing an offence, that his decision-making was impacted by poor mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and that the risk of the documents being released to others beyond the journalists was low.
But McDonald says the conduct shouldn’t be downplayed, noting the theft of sensitive government documents wasn’t a “one-off”.
McDonald said 235 documents were taken in total between May 2014 and December 2015 with 207 of them classified as secret.
While McBride did not receive a financial reward, McDonald said it did “not undermine the seriousness of the offending”.
In its submission, the commonwealth said a suspended sentence or intensive corrections order – both options that would allow McBride to skip jail time but be placed on probation or under community monitoring – would not be appropriate as they did “not reflect the seriousness of the offending”.
McDonald said the commonwealth did not believe a two-year sentence would be appropriate for such “serious offending”.
McBride’s counsel, Stephen Odgers, is back up and responding to the commonwealth’s arguments.
Updated
Labor and opposition joust over inflation
Treasurer Jim Chalmers defended his government’s record on managing inflation in the budget, arguing its earlier cost-of-living measures had brought prices down and recommending caution when focusing solely on “the quantity or the magnitude of spending in the budget”.
“The quality of spending, the timing and sequencing of that spending matters, as well as the quantity of that spending,” he said when asked if the budget would be contractionary in the upcoming financial year - that is, taking more money out of the economy than is spent.
Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said he had no doubt the government would keep spending, telling Sky News:
This is why we’re hearing economists from many quarters coming out and saying they’ve got to stop the spend-a-thon ... that will take pressure off this homegrown inflation
Higher tax revenues over the past few years because of high commodity prices and a strong economy are likely to come down over the next five-year forecasting period.
Tax revenue is expected to be $25bn higher over that time period than when Treasury last updated its forecasts in December. Labor will bank about 95% of the additional revenue, it says.
Richardson is forecasting a larger $41bn revenue upgrade.
The economist said Treasury had an incentive to be conservative “to give the treasurer of the day a series of happy ‘surprises’ on the budget front”.
Yet he agreed revenue surprises were shrinking in size, saying: “This trend is not our friend.”
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
‘Under the pump’: expenses relief for battling families
Australians doing it tough can expect extra cost-of-living support in the federal budget.
The well-flagged tax cut relief under the reworked stage-three package will be the primary source of cost-of-living help but Treasurer Jim Chalmers says there will be other sweet spots as well.
“We know that people are under the pump,” he told reporters on Monday, acknowledging the toll of still-high consumer prices and elevated mortgage repayments.
That’s why a central focus of this budget in eight days time will be cost-of-living help for people primarily through the tax system, but not only through the tax system, and also making sure that we’re doing what we can to put downward pressure on inflation.
Students are in line for more financial support, with $3 billion of student debt to be wiped and paid placements for those doing nursing and other relevant degrees.
Following stronger-than-expected March quarter inflation, economists have been warning that too much budget spending could keep pressure on consumer prices and delay interest rate cuts.
Chalmers says cost of-living relief can be designed in a way that takes pressure off inflation, like its energy bill relief last year.
Yet subsidised energy bills free up extra money in household budgets to spend elsewhere, pushing up the price of other goods and services, leading economist and budget expert Chris Richardson said.
The government should try to avoid “poking the inflationary bear” by proceeding cautiously with extra spending, he said.
– Australian Associated Press
More to come
Updated
ACCC chair concerned at Bonza’s potential collapse
The head of Australia’s competition watchdog has expressed concern at the potential collapse of grounded budget airline Bonza, calling for more to be done to allow new entrants to break into the country’s highly concentrated airline sector.
Bonza’s inability to secure peak landing slots at Sydney airport was a frustration that CEO Tim Jordan aired to the federal government, with access to the capacity-constrained airport governed by legislation that critics have claimed favours established players and has led to accusations that larger airlines including Qantas and Virgin deliberately cancel flights out of Sydney to retain slots and shut out competition.
On Monday the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, raised access to Sydney airport slots when asked about Bonza’s struggles. She said:
We are very keen that there is reform to the slot management system at Sydney airport as soon as possible to free up what is a key hub for all of east coast travel, and also that there is close consideration of other barriers that are preventing expansion …
We know very well we currently have a highly concentrated airline sector and we have seen the evidence that increasing competition on routes brings price down.
Cass-Gottlieb said she hoped Bonza would survive the administration process, which it entered last Tuesday after its aircraft were abruptly repossessed, forcing it to halt operations.
“We are very concerned about the loss of a new entrant. We hope that administration may pan out to allow the continuation of [Bonza].
Reports in recent days have suggested the repossessions were due to Bonza’s US-based private equity owners, 777 Partners, and issues with its financial backers, which have resulted in court action overseas and fresh questions about its proposed takeover of English Premier League club Everton.
Industry sources have claimed Bonza’s business model was sound, and that it was close to being taken over by a local buyer before last week’s repossessions.
Updated
Thunderstorms are possible tomorrow morning along the New South Wales coast, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
⛈️Tuesday's forecast: thunderstorms are possible along the coastal fringe of the far north coast during the morning. These thunderstorms are not expected to be severe. Forecasts: https://t.co/JEWtKNZkpE pic.twitter.com/lKfL4CVUCA
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 6, 2024
Updated
Labor urged to do more on student pay
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says the assistance on student pay and debt will help expand access to education and ensure no one is left behind.
We’re proud to be backing the hard work and aspiration of Australians looking to better themselves by studying at university.
Universities Australia executive Luke Sheehy said the payments would prevent students having to choose between study and paying bills.
These students can’t graduate without practical experience but too many are being held back by placement poverty, which can be the difference between commencing and completing a degree.
The Australian Services Union and the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation welcomed paid placements for their future workforces, but the Australian Education Union (AEU) urged the government to do more.
AEU federal president Correna Haythorpe (pictured below) said changes were needed to help those already embarked on careers.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the government plan “lacks ambition” and its reliance on means testing could hurt students.
Students should be paid at least the minimum wage for their work on placement, not a lesser supplementary amount.
Asked if it was a good decision for students, opposition leader Peter Dutton claimed the government was fuelling inflation.
“Every decision they make is inflationary,” he said.
If you ask why inflation is higher here than it is in other parts of the world, it’s because of decisions the government’s made in the last two budgets.
The Australian Medical Students’ Association and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia have called on the government to include their students in the payment plan.
Education minister Jason Clare said a potential expansion to other courses was something the government would look at “down the line”.
The government on Monday also announced it would spend $50.2m on scholarships for nurses and midwives, allowing them to upskill.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Aspiring teachers, nurses to be paid during placements
Thousands of student teachers, nurses and social workers will be paid hundreds of dollars each week during mandatory work placements, in an Australian first.
As part of their degrees, these students must work hundreds of hours of placement, forcing many to give up part-time jobs for unpaid labour.
But from July next year, about 68,000 at university and 5,000 in vocational education and training will be eligible for a $319.50 weekly payment in addition to income support they may already receive.
The 14 May federal budget initiative comes a day after the commonwealth revealed it would wipe about $3bn off student debt in an effort to appeal to young voters.
Education minister Jason Clare said the paid training placements would ease workforce shortages in the care and education sectors, telling ABC radio on Monday:
It’s intended to make sure a lot of people, who struggle to pay the bills while doing [practical work] as part of their degree, finish their degree.
But the allocated money was not intended to be a wage and would be means-tested, Clare emphasised.
It’s designed to be a little bit of extra financial support.
– Australian Associated Press
More to come
Updated
Home affairs minister contradicts PM over community protection board
Clare O’Neil has contradicted the prime minister’s claim that an “independent” board recommended the ankle bracelet be removed from a person who allegedly robbed and assaulted a 73-year-old Perth woman with two other men.
On Monday the home affairs minister clarified that the community protection board was “not independent in the sense that it’s not a separate structure from government”.
The Albanese government established the board – which consists of Australian Border Force, home affairs department and former law enforcement officials – in December to advise on management of people released as a result of the high court’s ruling that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.
Read the full story from Paul Karp here:
Updated
More on Queensland public service boost as unions in Labour Day march
The Queensland premier has marched alongside thousands of union members after making an Australian-first health leave announcement for public service workers.
Steven Miles unveiled the new entitlements along with superannuation contribution changes before leading the Labour Day parade through Brisbane’s CBD on Monday.
The premier said public servants in the Sunshine State would be entitled to 10 days reproductive health leave per year in the Australian-first initiative.
Superannuation payment changes would also be made to help bridge the gap between what male and female state government workers retire with.
Queensland public sector workers will have superannuation contributions paid on all 52 weeks of parental leave – paid and unpaid. pic.twitter.com/gQjZwBo6vZ
— Steven Miles (@StevenJMiles) May 6, 2024
The new leave entitlements will include days off for fertility treatments, chronic reproductive health conditions like endometriosis and preventative screening for breast and prostate cancers.
Workers will also be granted leave for reproductive health treatments such as hysterectomies and vasectomies.
“This leave will be available to them so that they don’t exhaust their other personal leave,” Miles told reporters.
The scheme, which we covered earlier in the blog today, will be in place by the end of September.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Rafqa Touma will be here to guide you through the rest of today’s news. Take care.
Tasmanian Labor opposition backs controversial AFL stadium
Tasmanian Labor has announced it will support the contentious AFL stadium for Hobart.
The stadium is backed by the Liberal state government but has attracted opposition, with thousands protesting at a rally last year. Now, Labor has thrown its support behind the stadium, paving the way for it to pass parliament.
In a statement from state opposition leader Dean Winter, he said:
A stadium will mean thousands of jobs in construction, including hundreds of apprenticeships. That’s why Labor will be backing a new stadium.
Labor’s support doesn’t mean the premier [Jeremy Rockliff] will be let off the hook for promises he has made – far from it. He needs to deliver his capped spend of $375m, with private investors to cover any shortfall.
While we will not be standing in the way of the current Macquarie Point stadium proposal, we still hold concerns around the deliverability of the project. The premier should not rule out the stadium 2.0 project.
The Tasmanian AFL team-to-be launched its name and colours in March, ahead of its scheduled 2028 entry, and had a take-up of more than 100,000 foundation memberships.
Updated
The Bureau of Meteorology has published its national weather outlook for the week ahead, flagging even more rain for the east coast:
Here's your national weather outlook for the week, including a look at the wet week ahead for parts of #Qld & #NSW, & mostly settled conditions elsewhere across Australia. Video current as of 1pm AEST, Monday 6 May 2024. Latest: https://t.co/jlOoTZLz8d or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/vtEaip2bAC
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) May 6, 2024
Kylea Tink welcomes statewide rollout of Staying Home Leaving Violence program in NSW
The independent federal MP for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, has welcomed the state government’s $230m emergency family violence package as a “step in the right direction”.
She also welcomed the statewide rollout of the Staying Home Leaving Violence program but said “ as with all such announcements, the devil will be in the detail”.
This is something I have been calling for on behalf of the North Sydney community, as while the program has proven to be effective it has previously, and inexplicably, not been funded in any of the 9 LGAs on the North Shore or Northern Beaches, at a time when it is needed most …
Ultimately, while we throw money at a system that is geared to women running, we will never make progress. It’s time we flip the system and put dealing with the perpetrators at the centre of our actions. There is a way forward, but we need our governments to be brave and willing to work collaboratively to reset the system.
Updated
Perth stabbing has ‘all the hallmarks of a terror incident’, premier says
A random stabbing attack of a man by a radicalised teenager, who was shot dead by police in Perth, has “all the hallmarks of a terror incident”, the Western Australian premier says, AAP reports.
The WA premier, Roger Cook, has repeated the state police commissioner’s sentiments, saying the stabbing has “all the hallmarks of a terror incident”.
Asked if WA police would declare the attack a terror incident, Cook said it usually happened when there was an ongoing threat, which wasn’t the case.
The police remain confident that this is a single person acting out of their own volition.
Cook also confirmed that his government and the education department were aware of concerns at the boy’s school about his radicalised behaviour. He referred questions about other students, and claims they may have been attempting to radicalise their classmates, to the education department.
This young man was harbouring some extremist thoughts, which is the reason why he was part of the countering violent extremism program.
Asked if more should have been done to counter the teen’s behaviour before the incident, Cook said it wasn’t unlawful to have extremist thoughts.
Updated
Anti-money laundering and terrorism to get budget boost
Australia is at risk of becoming a money laundering haven, the attorney general says, with the federal government to allocate $170m of budget funding for regulators to stamp out the practice.
As AAP reports: lawyers, accountants, trust service providers, precious stone dealers and real estate agents may soon need to do due diligence on customers and report suspicious matters to authorities as controls on money laundering and terrorism financing are extended.
Mark Dreyfus, the attorney general, says Australia is one of only five nations failing to regulate these “tranche two entities”, putting the country at risk of becoming “grey-listed” by the global anti-money laundering taskforce.
As a result of the former government’s failure to act, Australia is falling short of meeting the standards required to combat criminal abuse of our financial system, and at increased risk of becoming a haven for money laundering.
Consultation kicked off last week to bolster and expand Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing regime and more than $166m will be set aside in the federal budget for the task.
The money will go towards helping the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre put the new rules in place and helping lawyers, real estate agents and other newly captured practitioners to comply with the rules.
Updated
Human remains found in Canberra may be missing man Tim Lyons, police say
The human remains found at Canberra’s suburban edge yesterday may be missing man Tim Lyons, ACT police have said, as investigations continue.
Det Supt Hall O’Meagher said it was a “distinct possibility” that the person found near the Point Hut Crossing of the Murrumbidgee River was Lyons, a man who went missing in the area in December last year. He told reporters:
We want to provide answers to the Lyons family.
The 38-year-old’s family is assisting police with inquiries, including providing DNA samples for cross-referencing, but have not been asked to visually identify the body as the remains are too decomposed.
O’Meagher said:
The deceased person has been in the elements for some months, not in a state to be identified visually.
The cause of death is not yet known and police have not found evidence suggesting the death was suspicious. Investigations are ongoing and a post-mortem examination will be conducted this week.
Police have conducted extensive searches for Lyons in recent months since his disappearance in mid-December last year after being seen in the neighbouring suburb of
Gordon, in Canberra’s Tuggeranong region.
O’Meagher asked anyone who has been in the area of Point Hut Crossing in the last few months to come forward and contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Mariners striker Torres fronts court on rape charge
The Central Coast Mariners striker Angel Torres has faced court for the first time since being charged with rape, AAP reports.
The 24-year-old appeared at Gosford local court today after being accused of sexually assaulting a woman on 24 March.
He was arrested at a property in Terrigal before being charged with two counts of common assault, intimidation and aggravated sexual intercourse without consent.
Torres was granted bail on the charges, the most serious of which carries a maximum 20-year jail term.
The A-League player did not speak during the brief appearance and did not indicate how he would plead when questioned outside court.
Torres joined the Mariners at the start of the A-League Men season and has netted 13 goals across 23 games. The Colombian was stood down following his arrest.
Updated
Reproductive health and super boosts for Queensland government workers
Queensland public servants will have 10 days of reproductive health leave a year in an Australian-first initiative, AAP reports.
The premier, Steven Miles, has also announced superannuation payment changes to help bridge the gap between what male and female state government workers retire with.
New entitlements include days off for fertility treatments, chronic reproductive health conditions like endometriosis and preventative screening for breast and prostate cancers.
Workers will also be granted leave for reproductive health treatments such as hysterectomies and vasectomies.
The scheme is due to be in place by the end of September. Miles told reporters today:
This leave will be available to them so that they don’t exhaust their other personal leave.
The move has been supported by the opposition Liberal National party leader, David Crisafulli, and welcomed by unions.
Miles also announced changes to superannuation payments.
Public service workers who take unpaid maternity or paternity leave will have their super contributions paid for by the government for the duration of the 52-week parental leave from July.
Updated
Majority of young people support removing vapes from retailers, survey finds
Seven in 10 young Australians support removing vaping products from retail outlets, according to a study from Cancer Council Australia.
The study of 2,499 vapers aged between 18 and 24 revealed that 80% of respondents who regularly vape bought their vape from a physical store. Additionally, the number of respondents using vapes with over 3,000 puffs doubled between 2022 and 2024.
According to government data, nearly half of vapers aged between 18 and 24 have tried to quit.
Prof Becky Freeman, the study’s chief investigator, says the vape industry is “targeting high concentration nicotine products at young people and setting them up for addiction”.
Having vapes so easily available undermines young people taking steps to quit.
She has urged parliament to vote in favour of the vaping bill, which if passed, would ensure that vapes would only be accessible to those with a doctor’s prescription.
Updated
McBride sentencing hearing continues
The defence team for the army whistleblower David McBride has asked the judge to consider two further points in the former military lawyer’s sentencing.
To recap, McBride’s counsel, Stephen Odgers, is trying to convince the ACT supreme court justice David Mossop to make five factual findings supported by character references, psychological reports and performance appraisals from his time within the Australian defence force.
The first three factual findings canvassed this morning were that McBride was an “exemplary character”, that his motivation in leaking sensitive defence documents to the ABC were “honourable” and that he didn’t believe he was committing a criminal offence but instead acting in his duty.
Following a short recess, Odgers offered two further points – that McBride’s poor mental health and post-traumatic stress disorder “materially contributed” to his decision to offend and that the risk of the “highly sensitive” documents being publicly released was low because the journalists he handed them to were reputable.
McBride pleaded guilty to three offences in November, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Those documents went on to form the basis of the ABC’s investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
The defence’s goal during sentencing is to try to reduce the sentence. The commonwealth is yet to offer its arguments.
Updated
Chalmers on timing of placement payment for student nurses and teachers
Jim Chalmers is now talking about the timing of different measures – he says certain things need to be prioritised while others might need to be pushed back to subsequent budgets.
For instance, the placement payments is a “a compelling case” and the government has “found a way” to deliver that in this budget, he says.
A reporter asks about the placement payment, and a separate DV payment, and notes both are not due to start delivering payments for another year. Is this because of inflationary pressures, or is there another reason they can’t be delivered right away?
Chalmers responds:
It is just about being responsible with the budget in most instances, but sometimes it will take us a while to make sure we have got the relevant arrangements in place.
It is not unusual in budgets for announcements to be made that come in in the coming year or so … We need to get our ducks in a row and we need to make sure it is ready to go, the investment can flow and, on top of that, we have got to make sure we are sequencing and timing and prioritising our spending the best that we can.
Katy Gallagher adds that with the leaving violence payment, that will “continue until the new program is in place”.
Updated
Chalmers accuses Angus Taylor of either making gaffes or ‘deliberately lying’ about Labor’s record
The treasurer says some deficits in the budget would be bigger than they were at MYEFO (the mid year economic and fiscal outlook), and some would be better.
Jim Chalmers says:
But overwhelmingly, what you will get is a sense of the really quite substantial progress that we have made since the budget we inherited a couple of years ago.
He says the government will not “be taking lectures from our opponents”, and calls out the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, directly:
In the last couple of days, he has had two quite egregious gaffes where he is either deliberately lying about key indicators in the economy, or he doesn’t understand that he’s wrong …
Responding to our Hecs announcement, he said that real wages have been falling under this government. Real wages are growing under this government for the first time in years …
Secondly … he said that we had spent most of the revenue upgrades in the budget. We have banked 88% of upward revisions to revenues since we came to government – 92% in the most recent mid-year budget update, 82% in the 2023 budget.
So these are either egregious gaffes or egregious lies, and so I caution you to take with a grain of salt anything that Angus Taylor says about the economy in the lead-up or during or after the 2024 budget. His time would be better spent coming up with alternatives rather than coming up with lies about the economy.
Updated
Government looking ‘line by line’ to find savings in budget
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says there will be savings in the budget, but admits “they are getting harder to find”.
I don’t pretend otherwise. You know, we’re looking line by line, we look under each desk to try to see what we can find.
Gallagher gives one example where $1bn in savings was achieved around the use of external labour, consultants, contractors and labour hire.
You’ll see some of the results of that around the conversions of external labour into public service roles, but also some of the improvements that we have seen from this approach in service standards – whether it be getting rid of the backlog in veterans’ affairs [or] how long it takes to process a passport and some of the work we’re doing in Services Australia.
Updated
Chalmers on the budget: ‘It would not be wise for us to slash and burn’
Jim Chalmers is talking about what people can expect from next Tuesday’s budget.
He says that a second surplus is “in reach” and if achieved it would be “the first back-to-back surplus in almost two decades”.
As for what’s to come, he says there will be “more spending restraint” and more savings in the budget:
This is not the time for scorched-earth austerity. It would not be wise, when people are doing it tough and when the economy is soft, for us to slash and burn in this budget …
There’s no shortage of opinions at this time of year about the budget position. We see that in the papers almost every day and we welcome that, because it helps us to chart a responsible middle course between those who want us to slash and burn in the budget and those who think that it should be some kind of free-for-all of spending.
We are charting a responsible middle path. We are striking the right balance in the budget that we will hand down in eight days’ time.
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‘The whole country’s heart goes out’ to family of Callum and Jake Robinson, says Chalmers
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to the media from Canberra. He begins by acknowledging that the bodies of Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson have been identified in Mexico.
He says their parents are in Mexico and have identified the bodies.
Chalmers says:
We can only imagine what this ordeal has been like for them and for the loved ones of Callum and Jake. I think the whole country’s heart goes out to all of their loved ones. It has been an absolutely horrendous, absolutely horrific ordeal and our thoughts are with all of them today.
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Dozens gather in Mexico for 'paddle out' in memory of trio including Australian brothers
Dozens of people have gathered in the seaside community of San Miguel for a “paddle out” – a late afternoon vigil to honour the Australian brothers Callum and Jake Robinson and their travelling companion Jack Carter Rhoad.
Mexican authorities have identified the three dead bodies found in a well in Mexico as the trio. Residents trekked barefoot from their small beach cottages to the shoreline for the quiet ceremony.
Surfer Phil Brown, who said he spends four months a year in San Miguel, said he had planned to camp last weekend about 10km from the last known location of the surfers – an isolated area he said he’s travelled to often.
And that’s what’s scary is: Did I just get really lucky or did they just get very unlucky?
You can read the full story from Thomas Graham and Wendy Fry below:
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David McBride sentencing hearing begins
As we mentioned earlier, the sentencing of David McBride has begun today and the courtroom is now hearing from his legal team about his character and motivations.
So far, McBride’s defence wants Justice David Mossop to consider making three factual findings on the former military lawyer’s “exemplary character”, that his actions in leaking documents to expose alleged misconduct within the Australian defence force were “honourable” and that he didn’t believe he was committing a crime.
His counsel, Stephen Odgers, said McBride came to believe the ADF adopted a policy of “excessive investigation of soldiers” around 2013 after earlier war crime allegations against Australian special forces soldiers. McBride believed those within the “highest levels” of the ADF had concocted the “PR exercise”.
You can read more about the timeline in his own words below:
Of course, these reasons were already canvassed in the trial in November 2023 – to which he pleaded guilty to three offences, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Today’s hearing – which is scheduled to continue on Tuesday – is instead about sentencing. This means, the parties are making submissions to determine how McBride should be punished.
The federal government is yet to run through its submissions but will base it on a history of prior convictions, and a schedule of comparative cases.
The sentencing continues.
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P&O Cruises ship that aided in search operation cleared to return to port
P&O Cruises says the Pacific Adventure cruise ship has been cleared by police to return to port after this morning’s search operation.
The company has just released a statement, following news a body had been found:
We thank guests for their care, understanding and patience on what’s been a distressing day for guests and crew.
Our thoughts are with the family of the guest at this difficult time.
Pacific Adventure’s next voyage, due to depart White Bay this afternoon, has been delayed.
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Body located in water off Sydney following search for person overboard
The body of a man has been located and retrieved off the coast of Sydney after reports someone had gone overboard a cruise ship.
Emergency services received reports a person had gone overboard a ship 10 nautical miles (about 19km) off Sydney Heads just after 4am.
The P&O Pacific Adventure was due to dock in Sydney Harbour at 6am this morning, but was delayed as it took part in the search and rescue efforts.
NSW police confirmed that at about 10.30am, officers located the body of a man and it was retrieved.
Police will now launch an investigation into the circumstances of the incident.
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Greens poised for historic upper house election win in Tasmania
The Greens are poised to win their first seat in Tasmania’s upper house after the party’s improved showing at the recent state election, AAP reports.
Former party leader Cassy O’Connor has 37% of the primary vote in Hobart – one of three legislative council divisions that went to the polls on Saturday.
It comes after the Greens boosted their lower house representation from two to five MPs at the 23 March election. The party picked up a 1.5% swing, coinciding with the lower house increasing from 25 to 35 members.
Tasmania is widely acknowledged as being home to world’s first ‘green’ party, the United Tasmania Group, which ran candidates at the 1972 state election.
Counting in Hobart, as well as Elwick and Prosser, resumed today with final results potentially known in coming days.
O’Connor has a sizeable lead over independent candidate John Kelly (22%) and is expected to prevail. She resigned from the party leadership in July and left parliament for a tilt at the upper house.
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Education union backs placement payments as win to overcome placement poverty
The Australian Education Union (AEU) has backed the federal government’s Commonwealth Practice Payments as a win to overcome placement poverty, while calling on Labor to do more to prevent high dropout rates in critical degrees.
Its federal president, Correna Haythorpe, pointed to figures showing 20% of teaching graduates leave the profession in their first three years of entering the workforce, citing increased workload, class sizes and contact-hours.
With half of students not completing their teaching degree this measure will help to not only attract students but also financially support them to complete their studies to be a teacher. That will be life changing for many students.
We are very pleased to see this announcement by the Albanese government today as it is a first step towards building a strong teaching profession. However much more needs to be done, including addressing chronic workloads, fully funded professional development and mentoring programs to support teachers as they begin their profession.
Continuing from our last post: The education minister Jason Clare didn’t rule out extending the payment to other types of students when speaking earlier, but said that those professions were identified by the Universities Accord as the priority.
This is what he said at an earlier press conference:
The accord said this is where we go first … They said look at teaching, early education, nursing, midwifery as well as social work, so that’s where we’re focused first.
Greens reject placement payments as ‘slap in the face’ to students
The federal government’s plan to front a stipend for teaching, nursing, midwifery and social work placements has been rejected as a “slap in the face” to students, with the Greens urging Labor to make the payments universal and not limited by degrees.
Students are required to complete hundreds of hours of unpaid placements in a number of courses including psychology, counselling and physiotherapy that are excluded from Labor’s announcement.
Greens deputy leader and spokesperson for education, senator Mehreen Faruqi, said Labor was moving in the right direction but all students should be paid for their hours of work to at least the minimum wage. Labor has suggested the payment be benchmarked to the single Austudy rate of $319.50 a week from 2025.
It’s a slap in the face from the Government to ignore the many students experiencing placement poverty right now. What are they supposed to do until 1 July 2025? It’s simply callous to make them wait over a year.
James Sherriff, spokesperson for Students Against Placement Poverty (SAPP), said without a living wage, students remained in placement poverty despite winning “an important concession” from the government.
This change will do very little to alleviate placement poverty in the vast majority of cases, and [SAPP] urges that more drastic change is needed immediately.
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Reports of students ranking female classmates ‘disgraceful and utterly unacceptable’, Allan says
Circling back to Jacinta Allan’s press conference, where the premier was asked about reports in the papers this morning that four students at a private school in Melbourne’s east have been suspended after rating their female classmates.
According to a report in the Age, the students at Yarra Valley grammar school in Ringwood shared a spreadsheet of photos of their female classmates and ranked them in categories. The girls were ranked from top to bottom as “wifeys”, “cuties”, “mid”, “object”, “get out” and then finally “unrapable”.
Allan said the reported behaviour was “misogynist[ic], it’s disgraceful, it’s disgusting, and it’s utterly unacceptable”.
We have been having, for months now, an ongoing community conversation about how four women every week are losing their lives at the hands of a man. Maybe a current or former partner, maybe a complete stranger. This pattern of violence against women – not only does the act of violence have to stop, but these displays of disrespecting women. Like it’s just disgraceful.
My thoughts today are with the young women and the young men who they go to school with, who are absolutely devastated by this news, [and] with the young women and their families. To think that you’re sitting in a classroom with classmates who may not just hold these views, but write them down and share them.
Allan continued, stating “this is no joke”.
Respect for women has to be at the forefront of every classroom, of every household, of every part of our community, because we are seeing what happens [at the] extreme end of what respect for women looks like with too many women subjected to violence, too many women losing their lives.
My thoughts today [are] with those young women and their families who must be just devastated. I was devastated, utterly devastated when I read those reports this morning.
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DVNSW responds to NSW government’s emergency family violence package
The peak body for NSW’s domestic violence sector has said the Minn’s government’s emergency $230m family violence package is a “positive and substantial first step” that should be followed by more funding for housing and homelessness services.
Delia Donovan, chief executive of Domestic Violence NSW, said:
This is a comprehensive investment for the domestic and family violence sector. We’re glad to see the NSW government respond to our advocacy and recognise the critical need for investing in the sector to address the domestic and family violence emergency in our state.
DVNSW applauded the government’s expansion of the Staying Home Leaving Violence (SHLV) program, which helps victim-survivors remain in their home or another safe home of their choice. Through the funding, the SHLV program will be expanded from 91 locations in the state to 128 local government areas and will help an additional 4,200 women every year.
The organisation also welcomed the increased specialist support for children, which will go towards improving the wellbeing of children who are victim-survivors and help break the cycle of violence. Donovan said:
The recognition of children and young people as victim-survivors in their own right has been a key area of advocacy for us.
The peak body said it hoped to see more on housing in the upcoming budget, including an additional $52m for existing refuges to ensure no victim-survivors were turned away.
It also urged the government to build an additional 7,500 social and affordable homes each year over the next 20 years, and 750 more transitional homes to provide a pathway out of crisis refuges. Donovan said:
We are eager to continue to work with the NSW government to ensure that meaningful investment into the sector remains a priority and includes continued investment.
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Victorian premier urges RBA to consider pressures on households ahead of rates decision tomorrow
As the Victorian government hands down its budget tomorrow, the Reserve Bank will make a decision on interest rates.
Jacinta Allan said she won’t give them any advice but highlighted the pressure that families, businesses and governments are under:
Whether it’s our budget, household budgets, budgets of businesses, we are all already feeling the pressures of successive interest rate rises [and] ongoing inflationary impacts, and if you just look at the construction sector alone, construction costs have gone up by 22% since 2021 – that’s a massive jump in just a really short space of time. You add to that the workforce shortages and the pressures that puts on the ability to deliver projects and services, but also to again it has an inflationary impact on our overall settings.
And I would hope that the Reserve Bank considers these pressures as they are making their deliberations, because these are pressures that are having a real impact on families at their kitchen table, on businesses and on governments who around the cabinet table have been working very hard on making the sensible and disciplined decisions that we need to make to support Victorian families.
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Jacinta Allan speaks ahead of Victorian budget tomorrow
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is speaking in Docklands ahead of her first budget tomorrow. She’s yet to make any announcements ahead of time and has flagged it’ll be a tight one. She told reporters:
It’s been a budget that’s been challenging to put together – a budget in a domestic and global environment that faces many, many pressures.
Whether it’s the inflationary and interest rate pressures, the pressures of workforce shortages, and what that means for our project works and service delivery – also to the global unrest, the ongoing impact of the pandemic – these are challenges that we can’t ignore.
We simply can’t put our head in the sand and ignore these circumstances as we have been putting this budget together. It’s why the budget will be firmly focused on Victorian families, as Labor government budgets always are, but we’ll also make the sensible and disciplined decisions that respond to those challenges.
Asked if the government will be deferring any infrastructure spending, Allan said:
I appreciate there’s a keenness to see that detail. I’m not going to preempt any budget decisions today.
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David McBride speaks ahead of sentencing hearing
The sentencing of army whistleblower, David McBride, begins this morning almost five years after he was first charged for his role in leaking secret defence documents about Australia’s involvement in Afghanistan.
The former military lawyer pleaded guilty in the ACT supreme court in December to three offences, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
This morning, supporters and advocates gathered at the ACT supreme court to rally against the federal government’s pursuit of McBride. McBride arrived shortly before 10am, briefly addressing the media and his supporters:
I say to the federal government, stop talking about doing the right thing and actually do the right things.
McBride said he disagreed with a recent ABC Four Corners episode, which questioned McBride’s framing as a “whistleblower”. Asked how he wanted the public to perceive him, McBride said:
As someone that stood up for Australian values in the face of a government who has lost sight.
The sentencing is scheduled to run until Tuesday.
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Rough seas hamper search for man overboard on cruise
Water police are battling rough seas as they undertake a frantic search for a man who went overboard from a P&O cruise before dawn as the vessel approached Sydney, AAP reports.
NSW police marine area command head Supt Joe McNulty said swells of up to 5 metres were forcing authorities to rely on heat-seeking technology to find the passenger. He told ABC radio:
Hopefully we can identify a person by their heat signature in these cold waters.
The search area was 18km outside Sydney Heads and covered a large area, spanning about 60 square nautical miles of water, he said.
Authorities had some hope of retrieving the passenger alive given a life ring from the cruise ship was yet to be recovered.
“There is a person out there hopefully close to a life ring or in that life ring,” McNulty said, adding that the search would continue through Monday.
The timeframes for survival is still within the limits.
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Firefighters rescue family trapped in home smashed by falling tree
Firefighters have helped rescue a family of four after a large tree fell on their Sydney home and trapped them last night.
A 35-year-old man was putting an 11-month-old to bed just after 8.30pm last night when the tree crashed through the roof of their Avalon Beach home, on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Neighbours reported the family’s screams for help after the near miss, and a Fire and Rescue NSW crew quickly attended the scene, along with paramedics and SES personnel.
Firefighters told the family – who only sustained minor injuries – to stay inside until power company technicians were able to isolate “live” electrical cables, exposed during the incident.
The father and child were treated at the scene and transported to hospital for further assessment. A grandfather drove a second child, aged four, to hospital for a check-up.
The family is seeking alternative accommodation as the house is now uninhabitable.
AVALON BEACH | Firefighters help rescue family trapped in home smashed by falling tree - VIDEO. Firefighters have helped rescue a family of four, trapped in a house crushed by a large tree during last night's rain storm at Avalon Beach, on Sydne... https://t.co/bt4bPugfXc
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) May 5, 2024
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Shadow communications minister responds to Telstra’s delayed 3G shutdown
As we reported earlier, Telstra has delayed its closure of the 3G network by two months in an effort to give people more time to update their devices.
Shadow communication minister David Coleman said this move underscores Michelle Rowland’s “hapless handling” of the issue – with some 4G phones not able to work after the 3G shutdown.
Coleman said in a statement this morning:
The minister claimed that she was not aware of the issue until March. Strange, given that her office received information on this in June last year, and the peak industry body AMTA told the whole world when it published information on this exact topic in November.
The minister only set up her ‘Working Group’ in March. If the minister had acted professionally and expeditiously, there would have been ample time to deal with this issue prior to 3G shutdown.
Human remains discovered in Canberra’s southern suburbs
Human remains have been discovered at the edge of Canberra’s southern suburbs, but police are yet to identify the findings.
Police found the remains a kilometre outside Gordon, near the Point Hut Crossing of the Murrumbidgee River, at about 3.45pm yesterday afternoon after a call from the member of the public.
ACT police said they were still investigating the circumstances of the incident and would probably provide a further update later today.
There are 14 long-term missing people from the ACT, including two missing overseas. Anyone with information was urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
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Five pro-Palestine encampments established at universities across Melbourne
Pro-Palestine encampments have spread to five universities in Melbourne with the establishment of permanent protests at RMIT, Deakin and La Trobe.
The groups are calling on universities to divest from Israel and for a permanent ceasefire. Representatives of Students for Palestine say the camps will be indefinite.
Amelia Christie, general representative of the RMIT student union, said students were “sick of watching a genocide play out” while the university maintained ties with weapons manufacturers.
We are calling our universities to cut all ties with weapons manufacturers, companies that are currently supplying the weapons used to carry out the horrors unfolding in Gaza.
Alicia Griffiths, La Trobe social justice officer, said students were “horrified” by the violent scenes occurring at protests in the United States.
We want to show solidarity with them. Encampments are spreading like wildfire across Australia because students are determined to disrupt the war machine.
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NSW government ‘very sorry’ family violence funding package was not released earlier
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is speaking to the media, outlining what is included in the state government’s $230m emergency family violence package.
We detailed this earlier in the blog, here and here. Speaking to the media, Minns said:
This is the first announcement of our government – major announcement – when it comes to domestic and family violence. There is a lot more to do in this space and the truth of the matter is this is only a first step …
We have heard loud and clear the call from the family members of those who have been killed at the hands of a violent partner and the message from my government today is: more needs to be done.
We are very sorry that this package was not released or announced earlier, but we are determined to learn from the mistakes that have been made by my government and previous governments over the past decades.
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PM applauds ‘very swift action’ of police after WA teen shot dead amid alleged attack
The prime minister says now is the time to “back police” when asked about Western Australia police stopping short of labelling an alleged attack in Perth as terrorism yesterday.
You can read all details on this below:
Responding to the question, Anthony Albanese said:
It is the right time to back in the processes that [police] undertake. My first thoughts are with the victim of this incident, but also to applaud the very swift action of WA police in acting here.
[I] also acknowledge the very important work that the Muslim community did to alert police to the messages that had [allegedly] been sent out by this young man …
Police will go through their processes and that is important, that that be backed up. My job is to back up our security agencies and our police and the important work that they do.
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Albanese responds to pro-Palestinian protests at university campuses
The prime minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities. Specifically, he was asked about the phrase “from the river to the sea” used by protesters, and responded:
It is a slogan that calls for opposition to a two-state solution. My position is very clear and the government’s position is clear and it has been a bipartisan position for a long period of time.
Anthony Albanese continued by saying “the Middle East is a complex issue” that required a “considered response”.
Government’s position is very clear, which is [that] the long-term solution in the Middle East requires a two-state solution – the right of Israel to continue to exist within secure borders but the right of Palestinians to have justice as well, to have self-determination and also to be able to live in security, peace and prosperity.
… And I think the slogan that you refer to dismisses that, which is not in the interests of Israelis, but it is not in the interests of Palestinians.
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Early educators covered by placement payment, Clare says
Taking questions from reporters, the education minister, Jason Clare, said early educators were also covered by the new placement payment:
If you are an early educator doing a teaching degree, you are covered by this. If you check out last year’s budget, there is funding to provide support for early educators doing a Tafe or vocational qualification as part of their prac …
The accord said this is where we go first … They said look at teaching, early education, nursing, midwifery as well as social work, so that’s where we’re focused first.
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PM speaks about new payment for student teachers and nurses
The PM has also been detailing a move to address “placement poverty” in the upcoming budget, as we flagged earlier.
Anthony Albanese said the funding for student nurses and teachers was aimed at encouraging people to take up those professions.
No one, I don’t think, becomes a teacher because they look forward to getting gigantic salaries … They do that out of their commitment to help their fellow Australians, particularly young Australians achieve the opportunity that comes with education. I said on election night I wanted to widen the doors of opportunity …
[These courses are] very satisfying and that is a good thing, but we should also make sure that people who want to do a course – want to become a teacher, want to become a nurse – don’t go, “I would really like to do that but I just can’t afford to do so”.
That is why this measure is practical and so important.
You can read all the details about the measure below:
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Albanese speaking about budget to media in Canberra
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to the media from Canberra, flagging what to expect in next Tuesday’s budget:
Our budget will be focused on three things: cost-of-living support and giving support where we can, but doing it in a way to affirm our second priority, which is putting that downward pressure on inflation; looking at measures that will make a difference without adding to inflation, making sure that fiscal policy works with monetary policy; and the third priority is our national interest – a future made in Australia, making sure that we learn the lessons of the pandemic, that we are a more resilient economy, we take advantage of the opportunities that are there to grow into the future.
He is also speaking about the federal government’s move to cut around $3bn in student debts through a key change to the Hecs and Help programs. Caitlin Cassidy has all the details on this below, in case you missed it:
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Westpac profit eases as mortgage stress rises
Westpac has recorded a sizeable jump in the number of mortgage customers falling more than 90 days behind on their repayments, as elevated interest rates and rising living costs put pressure on households.
The major bank reported a jump in mortgage delinquencies to 1% in its half-year results released today, up 32 basis points from a year earlier. Delinquencies refer to households which are more than three months behind on their mortgages, representing those at higher risk of having homes repossessed.
Westpac chief executive, Peter King, said that although there were signs of increased mortgage stress, the overall economy was proving resilient.
While we’ve seen an uptick in stress in our loan books, this is to be expected given the large increase in interest rates, high inflation and taxation.
Westpac reported a $3.34bn six-month profit to the end of March, down 16% from a year ago. Its chief gauge of profitability, net interest margins, eased slightly to 1.89%.
King said the bank’s margins were helped by more subdued mortgage competition among lenders during the last six months.
Australia’s major banks have been enjoying a period of share price strength and profitability, despite the recent pullback in profit margins.
Westpac announced today it was increasing its share buyback program by $1bn, a measure used to return excess capital to investors, and that it would also pay a special 15 cent dividend to shareholders.
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Telstra announces it will push back closure of 3G network by two months
Telstra has announced it will delay the closure of its 3G network by two months, from 30 June to 31 August, allowing people more time to update their devices.
The telecommunications company has been working towards the change for nearly five years and described it as a significant step, leading to improved connectivity for Australia.
Everyone using devices that rely on 3G for either data, voice or emergency calls need to prepare to stay connected when it switches off.
Customers can check if their handset will be affected by the upcoming closure by texting “3” to 3498, Telstra says.
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Stephen Rue appointed as new Optus CEO
Stephen Rue, who is currently CEO of the NBN, has been appointed as the new CEO of Optus.
His appointment will take effect from November, a statement published this morning said. Optus chairman Paul O’Sullivan said:
We’re extremely pleased to have someone of his calibre to lead the next chapter at Optus. His experience in setting up the digital backbone of Australia will serve us well as we reinvigorate Optus as Australia’s leading challenger telecommunications brand.
We expect Stephen’s operational and financial background to lift service standards significantly for the benefit of our customers.
Rue said he was “honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to lead Optus”.
My job will be to take care of Optus’s customers, people and business and to provide strong competition and choice.
His appointment coincides with a new governance model where the Optus CEO and executives will report to the Optus board – with Rue joining the board and reporting to the chairman.
Members of the Optus board include chair Paul O’Sullivan, Yuen Kuan Moon, John Arthur, Lim Cheng Cheng and Michael Venter.
Until Rue begins his role as CEO, Venter will continue as interim CEO.
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Only five of 148 promised frontline workers employed in NSW: Jodie Harrison
Jodie Harrison was also asked about funding from the commonwealth to states like NSW to provide about 500 family violence frontline workers.
Yesterday the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, said just 30 had been delivered nationwide so far:
Asked about this on ABC News Breakfast, Harrison said “about five” of the state’s promised 148 have been employed so far. She said:
We’ve been working with the federal government to make sure that we comply with what they have already committed to in local areas, and we’ve been doing a lot of work to analyse where gaps are so that we can make sure that the balance of those 148 workers are actually put into the areas that they are most needed.
We’ve been consulting really heavily with people who work in the domestic and family violence space, and looking at the crime statistics as well, and we are in the process of procuring those workers right now.
Is only five employed so far good enough? Harrison responded:
Look, it would be really wonderful if we could have moved faster on this. Certainly, the domestic and family violence sector are saying and have been saying that they need additional resources. But we want to make sure we’re putting the workers into the areas where they’re most needed.
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Ankle monitoring for DV offenders on bail ‘on the table’, NSW minister says
Jodie Harrison, the NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, was speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier about the $230m emergency package unveiled today.
She was asked if NSW would be in favour of attaching ankle bracelets to domestic violence perpetrators on bail. Harrison said:
We’re certainly looking at all of the options that are on the table [and] really keenly looking at the experience in South Australia. We know that they’re also really having a hard look at domestic and family violence at the moment through their royal commission – we’ll be keenly looking at what comes out of that, but also looking at their experience in relation to ankle monitoring and electronic monitoring.
So is that something the NSW government would be favourably disposed to? Harrison responded: “Nothing is off the table right now for us. Everything is on the table.”
Qantas to pay $120m in penalties and compensation
Qantas will fork out $100m as a civil penalty and pay out $20m to customers in compensation, after striking a deal with the consumer watchdog over a landmark action for allegedly selling tickets to flights that had already been cancelled in its system.
Qantas today announced it had come to an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to resolve the court proceedings lodged in August last year, alleging it had advertised and sold tickets for more than 8,000 flights that it had already cancelled in its internal system, revelations which precipitated the early retirement of former CEO Alan Joyce.
In a statement, Qantas said it will “commence a projected $20 million remediation program for impacted passengers, with payments to customers ranging from $225 to $450, and subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia, will pay a $100 million civil penalty”.
The ACCC and Qantas will shortly seek approval of the proposed penalty by the Federal Court. However, Qantas intends to commence the remediation program in advance of the Court approval process.
ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said that as part of the settlement, Qantas had admitted that it misled consumers:
Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled.
Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, said: “Today represents another important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier … we have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Qantas will facilitate payments to 86,597 consumers who, between 21 May 2021 and 26 August 2023, booked or were re‑accommodated on a domestic or international flight scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 until 10 May 2024 after Qantas had already decided to cancel it.
Of customers affected, 94% were flying on domestic or trans-Tasman routes, with the remainder flying on the international network. The financial hit of the penalty and remediation program will be recognised as an expense in the group’s statutory income statement for the current financial year.
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Search for person overboard continuing
The search for a person overboard a cruise ship in waters off Sydney, as we reported just earlier, is continuing.
Here is a photo of the flight path of a rescue helicopter that was sweeping a section of water off the coast:
And here is the path of the P&O Pacific Adventure, whose scheduled arrival into the harbour at 6am was delayed so the ship could take part in search and rescue efforts:
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‘Lower the temperature’ on protests at university campuses, education minister says
The education minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities, and whether they should be allowed to continue for as long as students are willing to man them.
He told ABC RN that protests will always be a part of democracy, but said “we’ve just got to lower the temperature”.
There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, that’s part of being a democracy. What there’s no place for is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination and certainly no place [for] antisemitism or Islamophobia – whether it’s on our university campuses or anywhere else in the country.
What I’d say is that we’ve just got to lower the temperature. You know, what’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart. We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media, or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.
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Placement payment for student teachers and nurses not meant to be a wage, Clare says
ABC RN host Sally Sara noted that the government’s own economic inclusion advisory committee found payments like Austudy and Abstudy are too low and can’t be lived on. Why not tie placement payments to the minimum wage, she asked?
The education minister, Jason Clare, said this measure was not designed to be a wage but “a bit of extra financial support”. He said:
There’ll be a lot of people who will still be able to work at the same time as they’re doing [placements]. But there are people who can’t [and] this will provide that bit of extra help to pay the bills, put food on the table, pay for transport, sometimes the relocation costs that come with prac.
The commonwealth government hasn’t done this before. This is the first time that this has happened. It’s happened in the in response to calls from students – both teaching students and nursing students and social work students – across the country, and it’s come out of the work for the universities accord team that heard loud and clear that there is placement poverty in this country.
If we want more people to finish their teaching and nursing degrees – if we want to get more people teaching our kids, helping us when we’re sick, working in domestic violence refuges – [then] this is part of the way to do it.
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Education minister on new placement payments for student teachers and nurses
As Paul Karp reported this morning, student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a weekly payment of $320 during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.
The education minister, Jason Clare, was on ABC RN earlier to discuss the measure. Asked about any means testing model for the payment, he said:
Teaching students do about 600 hours as part of their degree in a classroom, nurses do about 800 hours in a hospital, and sometimes they’ve got to give up their part-time job to do [this]… We’ll work with unions as well as the university sector to make sure that we sharpen and define the means testing model that we’ll put in legislation to make sure that we’re giving this to the people who need it the most.
He flagged a means test could look at students who still live at home versus living independently, as well as those already receiving financial supports or students who work more than 15 hours a week.
Clare said he met a nursing student in Sydney last week who said the payment would mean “the difference between paying for parking at the hospital or paying for food that she wants to eat every night”.
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New direct flight between Australia and Palau
A new direct flight between Australia and Palau has been announced today, with the first flight to depart this month.
The non-stop flights will go between Brisbane and Koror, Palau and “help create new opportunities for regional tourism and trade”, a statement from foreign minister Penny Wong and Palau president Surangel Whipps said.
Palau is a tiny country of over 500 islands in the Pacific, with a population of about 20,000 people.
Nauru Airlines will operate the flight until 31 October this year, with eligible Australian, Pacific and Asian airlines invited to participate in a tender to operate the route through to October 2025.
The route compliments the “Island Hopper” flight between Brisbane, Nauru, Tarawa, Majuro, Pohnpei and Koror.
Wong said in a statement:
Australia has heard the calls from Pacific leaders for deeper connections and easier movement around the region, and is working to improve access, mobility, and migration opportunities.
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Calls for 'substantial increase' to jobseeker and youth allowance
A group of women and non-binary people from civil society have written to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, seeking a “substantial increase” in jobseeker and youth allowance.
It notes that this was the priority recommendation of the government’s own Economic Inclusions Advisory Committee, quoting chair Jenny Macklin who said: “Women escaping violence also need to know that there will be a decent social security net for them.”
The letter said:
The current social security safety net cannot be described as “decent” nor safe. The JobSeeker Payment is just $55 a day. Youth Allowance is even less at $45 a day. Around 500,000 women receive these payments. While the government’s restoration of Parenting Payment Single to 82,000 single parents whose youngest child is aged between 8 and 14 was most welcome, there remain large numbers of women of all ages in receipt of JobSeeker and other working-age payments that are simply not enough to cover basic costs.
Fixing the adequacy of Jobseeker and Youth Allowance to deliver basic economic security for women cannot wait.
The letter is signed by Macklin, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander commissioner June Oscar, sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody, single mothers advocate Terese Edwards, former NSW women’s minister Verity Firth, unionists Emeline Gaske and Correna Haythorpe and former independent MP Cathy McGowan.
Unlike last year’s letter coordinated by the Australian Council of Social Services, this does not appear to include current Labor MPs.
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David McBride sentencing hearing to take place today
The sentencing hearing for military whistleblower David McBride will take place today.
McBride pleaded guilty to stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC, who used the material as the basis for an investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
You can read the background below:
A rally is due to take place this morning, with a number of McBride’s supporters speaking. Saffrine Duggan, the wife of Dan Duggan, said in a statement:
In Australia we pride ourselves on transparent government and the right to a fair hearing in court.
Situations like David’s and Dan’s, where Australians are being used as political scapegoats, cannot stand. It’s time for the prime minister and politicians in Canberra to prove the value of Australian citizenship and our nation’s sovereignty.
I am horrified at this prosecution of both David and of my husband, Dan, and the damage it is doing to them and to their loved ones. We won’t give up, let’s stand together for justice.
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Police search for man overboard cruise ship off Sydney
NSW police are leading a search in waters off Sydney after reports a person went overboard off a cruise ship early this morning.
Police said emergency services received reports a person had gone overboard off a ship 10 nautical miles (around 19km) off Sydney Heads just after 4am.
NSW police marine area command have deployed a number of resources to search for the person and are leading the coordination of the water search.
The P&O Pacific Adventure was due to dock in Sydney Harbour at 6am this morning.
P&O said in a statement that the ship – carrying 2,600 guests – was taking part in the search and rescue operation along with other nearby vessels, deployed to the area by AMSA’s joint rescue coordination centre.
The family of this guest is being cared for by our onboard team while every effort is being made to find them. Pacific Adventure’s arrival into White Bay Terminal this morning has been delayed while the search continues.
The flight radar shows a rescue helicopter sweeping a section of the ocean. The Marine Traffic map shows the cruise ship is continuing search efforts.
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More on the NSW government’s $230m domestic and family violence package
In a first for the state, $38m will go towards funding a dedicated primary prevention strategy. $48m will fund the Staying Home Leaving Violence program, helping women and their children to remain safe in their homes after leaving a violent relationship.
Offender transformation programs will receive $2.1m and $48m will go towards early intervention, including funding for workers who support children affected by family violence.
Bail laws – blamed in part for the death of Forbes woman Molly Ticehurst – are part of its focus, with $45m earmarked to improve bail laws and justice system responses.
The state’s attorney general, Michael Daley, said the funds would “[ensure] we are reviewing domestic violence supports and systems from every angle”.
NSW needs a coordinated approach across multiple fronts to disrupt domestic violence – that is what this suite of funding initiatives is designed to achieve.
NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, Jodie Harrison, said:
There is no shying away from the horrendous statistics, and the tragic stories behind each one of those statistics.
• This post was amended on 6 May 2024. An earlier version said “Milly” Ticehurst instead of Molly.
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NSW government unveils $230m emergency package for victim-survivors
The NSW government has today committed to an emergency $230m package to support the victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence.
The new funding will cover four years of new programs and extensions of existing programs, and is informed by the lived experience of victim-survivors and leaders from the domestic family and sexual violence sector who met with the state cabinet last week.
The premier, Chris Minns, said in a statement:
Too many lives have been lost and too many families have been broken because of domestic and family violence. It is a blight in our communities, and it is a problem that deserves our government’s concerted attention and response.
We are listening to leaders, organisations, victim-survivors, and communities from across NSW to drive solutions. Domestic, family, and sexual violence is preventable; we cannot accept the status quo.
This funding announcement is an important step to doing better, to recognising that domestic violence supports need to be applied not just from a crisis response perspective, but with an eye to disrupting the cycle of domestic and family violence early and permanently.
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Welcome
And happy Monday – great to be with you for a new week on the Australian news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage today.
Making news overnight: The NSW government has announced the details of its emergency $230m package to support the victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence. The new funding will cover four years of new programs and extensions of existing programs and follows a dedicated cabinet meeting last week. More on this soon from Daisy Dumas.
NSW police are leading a search in waters off Sydney after reports a person went overboard off a cruise ship around 4am today.
The sentencing hearing for military whistleblower David McBride will take place today. McBride pleaded guilty to stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC, who used the material as the basis for an investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
A group of women and non-binary people from civil society have written to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, seeking a “substantial increase” in jobseeker and youth allowance. The letter states jobseeker and other working-age payments “are simply not [earning] enough to cover basic costs”. Paul Karp will bring us more on this shortly.
And Mexican authorities have said the bodies believed to be two missing Australian brothers show they may have been killed with gunshots. You can read the entire story below:
