What we learned today, Thursday 26 October
We will now wrap the blog for the evening, thanks for reading.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Communities in Cypress Gardens, Millmerran Downs and Millmerran Woods can return home with caution after the fire in the Western Downs region was downgraded.
Meteorologists are predicting rainfall from November to January to be below average across much of western, southern and north-eastern Australia, as well as two-and-a-half times the likelihood of “unusually high” temperatures.
Bruce Lehrmann has been charged with two counts of raping a woman in October 2021, with the case working its way through early committal proceedings at Toowoomba magistrates court this year.
The Greens deputy leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, said the Israeli government is committing war crimes on the Palestinian people.
The young woman found dead at a school in central Sydney has been identified as water polo coach Lilie James.
The head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jan Adams, says she is “paying very close attention” to the security of Australian diplomatic staff in Israel.
Penny Wong has criticised Iran’s “destabilising role” in the Middle East and said she used a call with that country’s foreign minister to urge it to avoid escalating the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, says Australia has the existing technology to be able to achieve its renewable ambitions, speaking at a renewable energy event in Melbourne.
The US president, Joe Biden, gave an address at the official State Dinner in honour of the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House in Washington.
The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) has joined more than 200 health journals around the world calling for the World Health Organization to declare the climate and nature crisis a global health emergency.
An Uber spokesperson said “we made a mistake” after the company received a $412,500 fine for breaching the Spam Act over one email sent to 2m customers in January this year.
RBA governor Michele Bullock said Wednesday’s September inflation figures were “a little higher” than the central bank had predicted in its August forecasts.
Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.
Hundreds of people have rallied in Perth to call for justice after the death of an Indigenous teenager who self-harmed in the youth wing at an adult prison.
Updated
Queensland police say First Nations man who was shot yesterday ‘struck one of the officers with a hammer’
Queensland police have issued a further statement after the shooting of a 40-year-old First Nations man in Logan Central yesterday.
The Queensland Police Service Ethical Standards Command continues to investigate after a 40-year-old man was shot by an officer in Logan Central yesterday.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the man was wanted for a number of serious matters and police were attempting to arrest him when he struck one of the officers with a hammer and also threatened officers with a screw-driver, resulting in the man being shot.
The man remains in hospital in a stable condition.
Queensland police say all body worn camera footage available will be reviewed and form part of the investigation.
This investigation into the incident is subject to oversight of the Crime and Corruption Commission.
The QPS including senior officers from Logan District, First Nations and Ethical Standards Command have met with family and Elders today.
The man is expected to be charged with one count each of serious assault police officer, obstruct police, and acts intended to resist/prevent lawful arrest, as well as a series of other charges, among them unlawful use of a motor vehicle, enter premises to commit indictable offence, threatening violence and assault occasioning bodily harm whilst armed.
Updated
Tertiary education sector crucial in creating workforce for US-Australia cooperation, Universities Australia CEO says
The peak body for Australia’s universities says the sector will be central to the delivery of the new Australia-United States innovation alliance announced today by prime minister Albanese and president Biden.
In a statement today, the White House announced the pursuit of “new areas of cooperation” on science and critical and emerging technologies to build on its economic, security and trade relationships.
Australia and the United States share a lot of history, but this visit has been all about building for the future.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) October 26, 2023
To overcome the challenges we face, and to take advantage of the opportunities ahead by working together. pic.twitter.com/0WlAzizHMq
Universities Australia chief executive, Catriona Jackson, said universities had a “key role to play in this new era of strategic cooperation between Australia and the United States”.
Universities in Australia and the United States are connected by more than 1,000 formal partnerships, and we welcome the commitment to build on this.
Our institutions educate the skilled workforce and undertake the research and development needed to support all three pillars – defence, economic and clean energy cooperation.
We can’t rise to these global challenges without university-educated workers and researchers.
Updated
Queensland fires: Cypress Gardens, Millmerran Woods and Millmerran Downs residents told to return with caution
Some better news in Queensland.
Communities in Cypress Gardens, Millmerran Downs and Millmerran Woods can return home with caution after the fire in the area was downgraded.
RETURN WITH CAUTION - Cypress Gardens, Millmerran Downs and Millmerran Woods - Multiple Warnings - fire as at 5:31pm Thursday, 26 October 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 26, 2023
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/vqyJTUPBhe. pic.twitter.com/PZxJ7kaeBd
Residents in Kogan, though, have been told to prepare to leave, while Tara is still not safe to return to.
As reported here earlier, there are emergency warnings in place for Mutchilba and Undullah.
The situation is moving quickly, you can keep abreast of emergency warnings on Queensland Fire and Emergency’s website.
Updated
BoM predicts below-average rainfall and unusually high temperatures for summer
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued its latest climate outlook and unsurprisingly, it’s going to be very hot and dry.
Meteorologists are predicting rainfall from November to January to be below average across much of western, southern and north-eastern Australia, as well as two-and-a-half times the likelihood of “unusually high” temperatures.
November to January maximum and minimum temperatures are very likely to be above average for most of Australia.
November to January maximum and minimum temperatures are at least 2.5 times more likely than normal to be unusually high for most of Australia. Unusually high temperatures equate to the warmest 20% of November to January periods from 1981 to 2018.
The long-range forecast is influenced by several factors, including the El Niño and positive Indian Ocean Dipole events currently underway, and record warm oceans globally.
Updated
Labor putting extra money into program that will give ‘super profitable’ miners extra funds, Pocock says
After the revelations in Senate estimates about where the $2bn investment in critical minerals could go, and that it would be the government making those investment decisions, we asked the independent senator David Pocock what he thought about the announcement.
Pocock:
I’m increasingly very concerned the government’s response to the Inflation Reduction Act is too slow and woefully inadequate. We are risking vital clean energy value-add and manufacturing opportunities being lost overseas.
While the Albanese government has made announcements about wanting to get critical minerals processing up and running in Australia, they’ve just put extra money into a Morrison government program that can give taxpayer dollars to super profitable mining companies simply for digging up critical minerals.If the intention is to develop sovereign critical mineral processing there should be a formal requirement that public finance is only provided to those facilities.
Watch this space – because it won’t be the last you hear about it.
Updated
No place for harassment in any sector, says skills minister after Faruqi brings up damning energy sector survey results
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi had raised the survey results reporting 71% of women working in the energy sector had experienced harassment in the last five years during Senate estimates.
Brendan O’Connor told Guardian Australia that yes, things needed to change:
These figures are very concerning and something the energy sector needs to address.
If we’re to overcome skills shortages in energy as our economy transforms to net zero, the sector needs to ensure it’s safe and inclusive for all parts of the workforce, especially women. There should be no place for harassment in workplaces in any sector of the economy in this country.
As a government, we will work with employers, unions and others to change the culture and improve the standing of the sector.
Updated
Combating workplace sexual harassment in energy sector an economic imperative as well as social good: O’Conner
In order to achieve the energy sector of the future, O’Connor said, the work needed to start now. And that included making sure it was open to everyone.
If we’re going to make sure we deliver the skills, the labour required to this remarkable sector that’s under enormous transformation, we have to open those doors.
I mean, what sort of business model in 2023 would start it from the presumption that you can ignore almost half the population and say they need not apply?
This is not just a social good, this is an economic imperative. To open up opportunities for cohorts who have not been encouraged and unfortunately, often are not being supported and not been necessarily safe in workplaces.
That has to change if we’re going to succeed in this area. And as a government, we will be engaging fully with the energy sector, employers and unions and others, about the best possible ways we can mitigate and end, wherever possible, that behaviour and that culture, that needs to quite frankly, disappear, because there should be no place for harassment in workplaces, in any sector of the economy in this country.
Updated
Energy sector must get its act together on workplace culture, skills and training minister says
The minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, has given a speech at the inaugural careers for net zero fair, where he has told the industry it is time to get its act together when it comes to workplace culture.
O’Connor spoke about a survey which found 71% of women working in the energy sector had experienced harassment in the past five years.
O’Connor said the government had made a commitment in dealing with the current skills crisis to “create opportunities for people who have missed out in the past” and no industry could afford to be exclusionary. Why? Because of the sheer number of people needed:
For example, as part of achieving net zero by 2050, we need an estimated 32,000 more electricians over the next seven years.
Thirty-two thousand more electricians over the next seven years. And this demand for electricians only tells part of the story. Preliminary modelling suggests that we need close to 2 million workers in building and engineering trades by 2050.
That meant, O’Connor said, broadening “our view of what our new energy worker looks like”.
We’re not going to pull any punches here. We have to be, I think, candid and frank about some of the challenges that we have in certain sectors of our economy, including the energy sector.
The sector has the third highest incidence of workplace sexual harassment economy-wide, with 71% of women experiencing harassment in the last five years.
That’s more than two in every three women. If the sector is to grow at the scale required, it needs safe participation of all parts of Australia’s population.
There needs to be a change of culture, a change of mindset and shift away from an insular past to support a more diverse workforce of the future; women, First Nations people, people with disability, people shifting from one part of the economy to the other, people changing careers, who maybe haven’t thought of the energy sector.
Updated
Biffo at Commonwealth Games inquiry
There’s been a very fiery back and forth between the former Commonwealth Games legacy minister Harriet Shing and Liberal MP David Davis at the parliamentary inquiry into the event’s cancellation.
Davis is seemingly suggesting that Shing’s relationship with her partner, former premier Daniel Andrews’ then chief of staff, Lissie Ratcliff, meant she would have been aware of the games being cancelled earlier than 22 June, which is the date given in evidence she’s provided to the inquiry.
Davis: As I understand it, what you’re saying is that you were advised on the 22nd of June that the cancellation of the games was under consideration.
Shing: Yes.
Davis: And you expect us to believe that Daniel Andrews knew, Jacinta Allan knew, the secretaries of [the department of premier and cabinet and of the department of jobs, skills, industry and regions] knew, Daniel Andrews’ private office knew that cancellation was on the cards by the 19th of June – but you, as minister responsible, and the partner of Daniel Andrews’ chief of staff Lissie Ratcliffe, did not know? You knew nothing?
Shing: I’ve given my answer to this question. I’ve got to say, Mr Davis, I’m getting a bit sick and tired of the constant inference of impropriety in relation to me and [how] I undertake my work. Mr. Davis, my relationship has been a matter of public record for years. It has been a matter of utmost importance to me in the context of conflict management frameworks, that I have not … in relation to any of the portfolios that I have held, had dealings with the former premier’s former chief of staff. Mr Davis, if you’ve got an allegation, then put it.
Davis: My allegation is simply that you’re not being direct and honest with the committee and I don’t believe the secretary of [the department of jobs, skills, industry and regions] did not tell you. The idea that your secretary in your department would not tell you that … the games that you are managing, that you were one of the key ministers for, was about to be cancelled. It’s just not credible. It’s cloud cuckoo land stuff.
Shing: What – I want to be really careful that you don’t verbal me here, because on the 22nd of June, I was advised that cancellation was under consideration. It wasn’t a decision taken to cancel the games until the 17th of July.
Davis: I’m putting on record, I don’t believe you.
Shing: If you’ve got an insinuation or an allegation, then put that to me.
Updated
Senate estimates: government has power over where $2bn critical minerals funds would go
Back to Senate estimates, and in the resources sphere, senator David Pocock has asked a few pointed questions about the government’s $2bn critical minerals announcement, particularly where that money would be going, and who decides who it goes to.
The short answer? The government will decide.
The money could go to a company which is simply extracting the minerals, but sending the product for China for example.
“Wow,” Pocock said. Are there guardrails around that happening?
The hearing is told that the government has an eye to “value add to the critical minerals processing”, but it will be cabinet deciding where those funds go.
Updated
PwC Australia spin-off Scyne Advisory cuts staff numbers by 78
Almost 80 staff at PwC Australia who were due to move to the firm’s new spin-off Syne Advisory have been told they no longer have a role with the organisation.
PwC Australia divested its entire government services division to private equity firm Allegro Funds earlier this year which has set up the new spin-off. The divestment was designed to save PwC Australia jobs after a reputation crisis triggered by the misuse of confidential government information.
In a statement, a PwC Australia spokesperson said “a number of PwC partners opted not to move to Scyne Advisory, which resulted in Scyne reducing the amount of employment offers to staff”.
Here’s more of the statement:
Consequently, 78 staff have been informed they no longer have a role with Scyne Advisory. PwC Australia is working with these individuals to determine the impact on their employment with PwC. Impacted individuals are being offered approved paid leave and encouraged to look at our internal jobs board.
The government consulting firm has offered graduates who were expected to start in early 2024 the chance to defer their employment for 12 months in return for $10,000 with their positions secured. All 388 graduate offers in the assurance and financial advisory business remain unaffected.
Here’s the statement from PwC Australia chief executive, Kevin Burrowes:
Throughout this process, our priority has been to protect as many jobs as possible for our people in the government business.
PwC will do everything in its power to help support these individuals. This is a challenging time for these people, and our value of care will continue to be at the centre of our approach as we work through this over the coming days.
Updated
Queensland authorities warn of ‘active fire season this year’
Back to the press conference in Queensland, and the reprieve from forecast rain is only likely to be a limited one.
It will be quite an active fire season this year, particularly in the grassland area, however … the eastern coast is just as dry.
Whilst we’re looking forward to some storm rain this afternoon, that’ll ease the conditions only for a very short period of time … with increase of temperatures, the risk will escalate again.
There are currently warnings stretching from Cairns to Brisbane, including four evacuation alerts.
Updated
Bruce Lehrmann named as high-profile man charged with Toowoomba rape
With that court ruling, we can confirm Bruce Lehrmann has been charged with two counts of raping a woman in October 2021, with the case working its way through early committal proceedings at Toowoomba magistrates court this year.
Read the story here:
Updated
Court rules high-profile man accused of Toowoomba rape can be named
A Queensland judge has dismissed a judicial review from a high-profile man charged with rape seeking to protect his anonymity, paving the way for him to be named.
Today’s court proceeding is ongoing, and the man may flag another appeal.
The man is charged with two counts of raping a woman in October 2021, with the case working its way through early committal proceedings at Toowoomba magistrates court this year.
At the supreme court in Brisbane on Thursday, lawyers for the man were unsuccessful in overturning an earlier decision by a Toowoomba magistrate to deny him a non-publication order to prevent his name being published. The judicial review and order were opposed by numerous media companies, including Guardian Australia, the ABC, Nine, News Corp publications and Network Ten.
Until this month, the man’s name had been protected under Queensland law, which prohibited the naming of accused sex offenders until they were committed to stand trial.
However, Queensland introduced new laws in September to allow the naming of accused sex offenders after they are charged. The change, which brings the state into line with most other states and territories, took affect earlier this month.
The man sought a non-publication order to avoid being named, which was denied by a Toowoomba magistrate on 13 October.
Today, the supreme court has upheld that judgment, meaning he will be named unless there is another appeal.
Updated
At least 16 houses are confirmed to have been lost in the Tara fire, as was reported this morning, but it has been difficult to access the area due to fallen trees and power lines.
I’m hoping tomorrow we’ll have a fresh update in relation to the total number.
Updated
'Extreme fire danger' expected in western parts of Queensland on Friday
Emergency services are providing an update on the fires in Queensland. They say the threat will remain tomorrow in western parts of the state.
Alerts are still being issued as we speak.
As you can appreciate with the change that’s come through tonight and into today that’s certainly had an impact.
The Tara fire is not yet contained, and a change in the wind direction has put pressure on north and north-eastern sides of the fires.
There will still be an “extreme fire danger” in western parts of the state tomorrow.
Moving into Saturday, the weather is more favourable, with a slight easing of conditions from extreme to high.
If the wind continues as it is, the risk will continue for the next “three to four weeks”.
Updated
No plans for nuclear waste dump despite Aukus subs deal, Senate estimates hears
Australia still doesn’t have a site for its nuclear waste.
For now, we are talking mostly medical nuclear waste – the South Australian town of Kimba was slated to take the waste following a decision by the former Coalition government – but the federal court upheld a challenge by the traditional owners. Labor accepted the court decision and the nuclear waste dump is not going ahead.
But that means we don’t have a nuclear waste dump, which is a problem, given that Australia is now part of the Aukus nuclear submarine pact. But as the Greens senator David Shoebridge has probed under Senate estimates, there is no pathway as yet when it comes to disposing of that waste.
The government is looking at where to next. It has been a long time coming – this decision has been about 50 years in the making – but the government still needs to decide “the way forward”.
Timelines and processes will depend on the options moving forward. But at the moment, we have a plan for nuclear submarines, but no plan on how to dispose of nuclear waste.
Updated
Four fire emergency warnings in place across Queensland
There are now four emergency warnings in place across Queensland with residents urged to seek shelter or leave their homes immediately due to the threat of oncoming fires.
Communities in Undullah and Mutchilba have been told to seek shelter as the fire approaches in brick buildings with multiple escape points, on the opposite side from the approaching fire.
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services has used its emergency alert text and voice message to warn people in Undullah.
SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY - Undullah - fire as at 3:41pm Thursday, 26 October 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 26, 2023
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/vqyJTUPBhe. pic.twitter.com/HYxp5c8Hzu
Your life is in danger. You need to SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY to survive. Do not try to leave. Driving now could be deadly.
Properties are currently being impacted. Firefighters cannot stop the fire. Do not expect a firefighter at your door. Power, water, and mobile phone services may stop working soon.
Thick smoke will make it hard to see and breathe, and it will sting your eyes. It will be very hot and loud. You may hear explosions nearby. The sky will be dark.
Halliford, near Dalby, and Wieambilla residents are being advised to leave.
Updated
St Andrew’s Cathedral school alumni sent message after death of woman
The head of school at St Andrew’s Cathedral school has written to alumni with an update on the death of a woman on campus overnight.
Dr Julie McGonigle confirmed it was an ongoing investigation and NSW police were dealing with all inquiries.
As I am sure you will all know by now, NSW Police have confirmed that at around 12 midnight last night they were called to do a welfare check at the school and found the body of a female in her early 20s. NSW Police suspect this was a staff member, but, as yet, the body has not been formally identified.
NSW Police have identified a person of interest, a male in his early 20’s, also a staff member whom they are seeking to speak with in relation to this matter.
I understand that this is a highly upsetting and concerning update, and I want to support our alumni community in any way we can.
A drop-in session will be held tomorrow for the community to formally gather, with counsellors and the school’s chaplaincy team in attendance.
Please continue to pray for all involved in this matter.
Updated
Asked about a phrase repeated by politicians across the world that Israel has a right to defend itself, Faruqi says “committing war crimes is not defending yourself”.
Throwing bombs of white phosphorus is not defending yourself, denying 2.3 million people of food, water, electricity, fuel is not defending yourself. Let’s call it for what it is … this is not self-defence … this is collective punishment, and is absolutely a war crime.
The Labor MPs Ed Husic and Anne Aly have voiced concerns of the impact of the ongoing conflict on innocent Palestinians, with Aly suggesting whether war crimes were being committed should be investigated.
Faruqi says she hopes a lot more MPs come out.
I know that there are a lot of demands from the communities across Australia for the Labor government, the ministers, the politicians, to speak up and speak the truth, so it is good to see some of them come out and I do hope that more come out, but what is more important is that the prime minister and the minister for foreign affairs actually call it what it is.
Updated
Greens deputy leader says Israel committing war crimes on Palestinians
The Greens deputy leader, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, says the Israeli government is committing war crimes on the Palestinian people.
Speaking on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Faruqi says “every day, the situation in Gaza is getting worse and worse”.
There are now 6,500 people who have been murdered, more than 2,000 of them are children. There are 1.4 million people who are internally displaced.
Understandably, people of the diaspora here are extremely concerned about what is happening. Also concerned that our government and the Coalition is actually not calling it what it is, the state of Israel is committing war crimes and collective punishment against Palestinians. I think people are horrified and I think it is completely untenable and disgraceful the Australian government do not come out and call it what it is – collective punishment and war crimes.
People are being denied food, water, electricity. I heard from people who are saying they do not even get a glass of clean water at the moment. That is what the situation is and that is why tens of thousands of people came out last weekend … to express their support for the people of Palestine, who are suffering at this point in time and it is only looking to get worse … call for an immediate ceasefire, call for an end to the blockade of Gaza and call for an end to the occupation of Palestine. That is the crux of the problem and unless that is resolved, it will be no peace unless we have justice.
Updated
Coalition accuses Labor of ‘trickery’ in foreign aid budget
The shadow foreign affairs minister, Simon Birmingham, has accused Labor of “secretly” cutting foreign aid in order to inflate the value of its promise to index payments.
A costing done by the independent Parliamentary Budget Office said that between 2014-15 and 2018-19 aid was indexed in line with inflation. It was then paused until 2022-23.
In Labor’s first budget in October “indexation was cancelled for [overseas development aid] projections for all years beyond 2026-27”, the PBO said. But then in the March budget Labor restored indexation at a rate of 2.5% claiming it had increased foreign aid by $8.6bn over a decade.
Birmingham said:
An $8.6bn increase to foreign aid sounded too good to be true, and now we know it was. Labor’s sneaky cut to foreign aid in its first budget was clearly designed to allow it to trumpet big figures in the May 2023 budget. But it’s clear that by scrapping indexation in October 2022, Labor’s claimed $8.6bn, 10-year boost from 2026-27 is in fact overestimated by at least $3.2bn.
On the ABC, Birmingham described this as a “great act of trickery and exaggeration” as Labor had “taken with one hand and given back, claiming credit for giving back what it had cut itself”.
Updated
Mutchilba residents in far north Queensland urged to seek shelter
Back to the bushfire situation.
Residents at Mutchilba in far north Queensland have been urged to seek shelter immediately as the fire escalates.
The community was previously under a “watch and act” warning.
SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY - Mutchilba (near Mareeba) - fire as at 3:02pm Thursday, 26 October 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 26, 2023
QFES has used Emergency Alert text and voice message to warn people in the affected area about this fire. Go to https://t.co/RQMCV5oo1Y for current bushfire warnings. If your life… https://t.co/z7VZlkmHl8
Updated
Asked if Israel cutting off food, water and energy as well as blocking aid envoys into Gaza was an “appropriate response” to the initial attacks on Israel, Simon Birmingham said we have to be “very careful” about the “types of general claims” that can be made.
He said there were a “number of parties” involved in discussions to secure access into Gaza and a lot of “disinformation” was circling.
We give, again, all support to parties to work with Egypt and others to try to get those foreign nationals out, get the humanitarian assistance in and critically, those people who should be able to get out of Gaza are the hostages who we should not forget are still being held by Hamas and along with the Palestinian people in general are being used as a human shield by the terrorists.
Pressed again if the ongoing siege of Gaza was a proportionate response to the initial attacks by Hamas, Birmingham said Israel’s response was to “remove Hamas from a position of influence” and ability to conduct future terrorist attacks.
That is an appropriate response, they should act in accordance with international laws and they should be absolutely mindful in terms of civilian lives lost … but this is a very challenging, very difficult situation that Israel finds itself in to attempt to remove a terrorist power acting on its doorstep.
Updated
Coalition ‘unequivocally’ backs Israel’s right to self-defence
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, fresh from Senate estimates, to discuss the ongoing situation in the Middle East.
Asked if Birmingham felt concerns around what was occurring in Gaza, he replied:
We’ve spent the day exploring a range of foreign-policy issues and most notably, the tragic events unfolding in the Middle East this morning during foreign affairs estimates.
And we’ve been very clear … we supported a bipartisan motion through parliament last week, one that clearly and emphatically condemns Hamas and their actions and terrorist atrocities they have committed.
Birmingham said the Coalition “unequivocally” backs Israel’s right to exist, right to self-defence and intention to remove Hamas from any “position of power or influence”.
But of course … we wish to see the flow of monetary assistance in as many ways as possible, so long as it is not aid to Hamas in terms of their continued activity. And so we give full support to the type of international efforts that have been made to get that humanitarian assistance through, as well as to Israel and their efforts to remove Hamas.
Updated
Emergency evacuation alert issued for Wieambilla
In Queensland, a second emergency evacuation alert has been issued due to ongoing bushfires, this time for Wieambilla.
Communities in Halliford, near Dalby, have also been ordered to evacuate.
There are three “watch and act” warnings active for Mutchilba, near Mareeba, Kogan and Tara, which is still not safe to return to.
⚠️🔥Fire weather #warning will continue in western #QLD on Friday as dry and gusty winds persist. High fire danger ratings are forecast in many other districts. Cooler conditions will extend into southern and central #QLD on Friday. Warnings: https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/IMF0O2opIT
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) October 26, 2023
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned fire weather will continue through to tomorrow as “dry and gusty winds” continue.
Updated
Whitehaven cops shareholder backlash over remuneration and climate goals
Miner Whitehaven Coal has received a couple of shareholder votes today that management weren’t too keen on.
A much-advertised push by Bell Rock Capital, an activist fund, had campaigned against a remuneration package that encouraged the managing director, Paul Flynn, to buy more mines, the AFR has reported.
(And lately they have done so, snapping up two of BHP’s remaining coking coal mines for US$3.2bn (A$5.1bn).)
Anyway, the move attracted support from 40.62% of shareholders voting at today’s annual general meeting, effectively dealing a “first strike” against Flynn’s package.
Should a vote of more than 25% be lodged at next year’s AGM, then Whitehaven’s board – including the former deputy PM and Nationals leader Mark Vaile – would face a spill motion, the AFR says.
Among the other resolutions voted on was one that would have required Whitehaven to demonstrate how it planned to manage down production and protect shareholder capital amid the growing risk posed by the transition required to meet global climate goals.
That resolution collected 17.81% in favour, a result welcomed by Market Forces, an anti-fossil fuel campaigner.
“Nearly one in five of the company’s shareholders have rejected Whitehaven’s reckless coal growth plans and demanded a wind down in production in line with global climate goals,” said Will van de Pol, Market Force’s acting CEO.
The massive revolt at Whitehaven’s AGM today shows investors will not stand for the company’s growth at all costs approach, which threatens shareholder value and a stable climate future.
Updated
More details about Cheng Lei’s release revealed at Senate estimates
Further to the last post, Dfat officials at Senate estimates have given a few more details about the recent release of the Australian journalist Cheng Lei from China.
The Coalition’s Simon Birmingham noted the “incredibly welcome scenes of her being reunited with her family” in Melbourne and asked when the Australian government became aware of Cheng’s potential or pending release.
The assistant secretary in the consular operations branch, Ian Gerard, said Cheng’s verdict hearing was held in Beijing late last month, and Australia was given notice five days before that:
Our embassy in Beijing received a diplomatic note on 22 September that there would be a verdict hearing on 27 September ...
She returned home on 11 October, Ms Cheng, following the completion of all legal processes.
Asked whether any conditions had been placed on her freedoms in Australia, Gerard replied:
No, senator.
Updated
Wong signals PM will raise the case of Yang Hengjun on China visit
The Australian government has expressed concerns about the health of the detained Australian writer Yang Hengjun and signalled that the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will raise the case when he travels to China next month.
In August, Yang said he feared he could die in a Chinese prison from a worsening medical condition he said was not being properly treated. He has told supporters he is in pain from a large cyst on his kidney.
At a Senate estimates committee hearing this afternoon, officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Yang had been detained since January 2019 but had recently been told the verdict in his case had been delayed once again until January 2024.
The assistant secretary in the consular operations branch, Ian Gerard, said:
We do have concerns about Dr Yang’s health and our thoughts are with him and we do share the concerns of his family and friends about his welfare and also delays in his case.
Much of our advocacy for him in Beijing, which is led by the ambassador, is focused on his health and welfare and we do seek assurances that he has access to the medical treatment that he needs and we will continue to seek those assurances.
Dfat most recently had a face-to-face consular visit with Yang yesterday.
Elly Lawson, a Dfat deputy secretary, added that Australia continued “to make representations on Dr Yang’s behalf at every opportunity – as recently as today”.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, was asked by the Coalition’s Simon Birmingham whether Albanese would raise the case on his visit to China.
She said the government had raised consular cases – including the recently freed journalist Cheng Lei – “at every engagement from the prime minister through to post [embassy]” and would “continue to advocate for Dr Yang to be reunited with his family”.
Wong said Australia would “particularly press the Chinese system to ensure he has the medical care he needs – you can rest assured we will continue to advocate for him”.
Updated
More than 200 fires have burnt across NSW and Queensland this week
Back to the fire situation, and more than 200 fires have burnt across New South Wales and Queensland this week as emergency services work to get on top of continuing blazes.
Many fires in NSW were started today due to lightning strikes. Some 55 are not yet contained.
Throughout the day we have continued to see numerous fires started by lightning strikes. As of 3pm, there are over 110 fires burning, with 55 of those not yet contained. It's important you monitor the conditions and immediately report any unattended fires to Triple Zero (000). pic.twitter.com/KOLND6ieKG
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 26, 2023
In Queensland, crews have responded to more than 100 fires across the state, with “challenging conditions” predicted to continue over the coming days in the Western Downs region, bolstered by windy conditions.
Our incredible firefighting crews have responded to more than 100 vegetation fires across the state already this week, including very serious bushfires at Tara, Millmerran and Halliford (near Dalby).
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 26, 2023
Challenging conditions are expected to remain over the coming days, with areas… pic.twitter.com/T1zZHK5lWw
At least 16 homes have been lost in Tara, which is still not safe to return to. An emergency warning is in place for Wieambilla and Halliford, near Dalby, with residents urged to leave immediately.
Sadly, two people have died.
Updated
Westpac jumps on November rate rise bandwagon
After September quarter inflation came in higher than economists had expected, markets lifted their bets that the Reserve Bank would break its four-month pause and hike its cash rate again.
Among the big four banks, NAB had pencilled in a 7 November rate rise for some months. In the wake of yesterday’s consumer price inflation figures, ANZ and CBA shifted their forecasts to now predict a Melbourne Cup Day rate rise.
Just a couple of days after the AFR reported Westpac had ruled out further rate cuts, the bank has now joined those calling an increase next month.
“We assessed that it would take a significant upside surprise to induce the RBA Board to raise rates at the November meeting. A 0.1 [percentage point] difference might not seem like a lot, but the underlying detail was sobering,” Luci Ellis, Westpac’s chief economist, said in a note to clients.
So yes, I’ve seen enough to make my first-ever rate call to be a prediction of a hike.
Ellis was assistant RBA governor until joining Westpac earlier this month, and presumably can read Martin Place’s mood.
Farrell does not want to see fossil fuel companies ‘demonised’
Back to Senate estimates.
Don Farrell then says he does not want to see fossil fuel companies “demonised”.
He tells the Greens senator Dorinda Cox:
... the trick here is to keep fossil fuel suppliers going until such time as you can [turn] over to renewable energy.
The risk is, of course, that companies disinvest in the fossil fuel areas before that process has been completed and that is a real risk.
And the more these fossil fuel companies are demonised, then I think the greater the risk is.
Can I assure you, we are serious about decarbonising our economy, but we don’t want the lights to go out. You are shaking your head. But I’m telling you, we are serious about this.
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Woman found dead at Sydney school identified as water polo coach Lilie James
The young woman found dead at a school in central Sydney has been identified as water polo coach Lilie James.
Police, in what was described as a “confronting scene”, found the woman’s body in the gym bathroom at St Andrew’s Cathedral school on Bathurst and Kent streets just before midnight on Wednesday.
The staff member’s death is being treated as suspicious.
Read more from Tamsin Rose and Nino Bucci here:
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Farrell insists Australia will meet climate targets despite opening new gas fields
Farrell is now being questioned by the Greens senator Dorinda Cox about how the government can say that it is going to meet its climate targets while still opening up further gas fields.
Farrell says to put it simply that “that’s what this government has said it will do”.
Cox is visibly sceptical. Farrell continues:
... It doesn’t happen overnight. You know, I just wish we could click my fingers and all of these problems would would go away, but they don’t senator.
And you’ve actually got to be a little bit practical about this.
I know, you can grandstand on the issues as a Greens senator and not have any worries about actually delivering on the on the ambition.
... But it’s going to take some time. And if we make the wrong decision at any point in time, of course, it could have catastrophic consequences for the supply of energy. So we’re being careful about this. We’re being constructive about it. We’re engaging all of the stakeholders about how we might make this transition from a fossil fuel economy to a carbon-free economy. But we’re not going to be forced into kneejerk reactions.
Updated
Thanks lovely Rafqa Touma. Happy to be here!
Thanks for following along the blog with me today. Handing over now to Caitlin Cassidy, who will roll your news through the evening.
Australian diplomats remain in Israel but many relatives have left, Dfat says
The head of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Jan Adams, says she is “paying very close attention” to the security of Australian diplomatic staff in Israel.
Adams was asked during a Senate estimates hearing whether Australia would withdraw its ambassador from Tel Aviv – where the embassy in Israel is based – “now that Israel’s at war”. The independent senator David Van, who is critical of the closure of the Australian embassy in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, asked whether the same security rules would apply in both cases.
Adams said:
The ambassador and staff remain in Tel Aviv. We have offered voluntary departure for dependents and many of those have taken up the option to leave.
Adams said she was paying close attention to the unfolding situation, but noted Australian staff in Tel Aviv had been “operating under security challenges I suppose for some time”. Adams added:
We have careful assessments and our assessment at the moment is, as I say, we have the staff there but the dependent families in large part have left.
Adams confirmed that the Australian ambassador to Ukraine was operating out of Warsaw in Poland, although had made “one short-term visit to Kyiv”.
Dfat’s chief operating officer, Clare Walsh, told the same hearing that there were different circumstance in each case and “we do do very rigorous assessments” about the ability to ensure security.
Updated
Wong grilled in estimates about China-Timor strategic partnership
Let’s dip back into foreign affairs estimates for a moment.
The former Liberal now independent senator David Van wanted to remind the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, about her pre-election statement that the signing of a security agreement between China and Solomon Islands was Australia’s “worst foreign policy blunder that we’ve seen in the Pacific since the end of World War 2”.
Wong replied:
A lot has happened since that election campaign so I don’t have the quotes in my head ...
I think that [security agreement] was the culmination of a long period of insufficient attention, insufficient engagement and frankly some disrespectful behaviour by Coalition governments including the ‘water lapping at your door’ comment made by your former leader.
The latter is a reference to Peter Dutton’s infamous joke about climate change, captured on a boom mic, in 2015. The video can be seen here.
Van replied:
I would agree with you on that characterisation – there was not enough work done and some of those comments were inflammatory to say the least. Given that … how would you characterise the signing of a comprehensive strategic partnership between China and Timor-Leste last month?
Michelle Chan, a Dfat deputy secretary who once served as Scott Morrison’s national security adviser, said it was “a matter for Timor-Leste and China”. She said Australia respected Timor-Leste’s sovereignty “and its right to make its own decisions about its engagement with other countries”. Chan added:
The CSP is not unusual. China has similar agreements with many other countries – over 30 including Australia. And it’s not the first such agreement between the two countries. In 2014 they signed a joint statement establishing a comprehensive partnership.
Van said “much was made” at time of the signing of the Beijing-Honiara agreement about the potential threat to Australia’s national security, and asked:
Given that Timor-Leste is even closer to Australia than Solomon Islands, does the department have any concerns about our national security since the signing of that agreement?
Chan explained that the China and Timor-Leste CSP was “not a security agreement” and “touches on a broad number of areas of possible cooperation”. She said Australia had “a very close partnership with Timor-Leste”.
She noted that the president of Timor-Leste, José Ramos-Horta, had recently told Guardian Australia that “our preferred defence and security partner for the last 22 years has been Australia … and that will continue”.
Updated
Farrell defends Labor decisions on gas supplies
The economics committee has switched into industry, where the minister representing the resources minister, Don Farrell, is defending the government’s action on gas supplies.
Farrell says he is hopeful that there will not be blackouts in the coming summer season and that he believes the government’s policy positions “are the most sensible in the circumstances”.
Farrell says that also means not breaking international contracts for the gas.
“If we make an undertaking, then we honour those undertakings,” he said.
And as I’ve said to any company that tries this with me, there hasn’t been a kilojoule of gas, contracted gas from Australia, that we haven’t delivered on in our time and covenant.
And we don’t intend not to comply with our contracted gas obligations.
Updated
Scientists discover why dozens of elephants dropped dead
In May and June 2020, the death of 350 elephants in Botswana’s Okavango delta baffled conservationists and sparked global speculation about what had caused it. Elephants of all ages and both sexes were affected, with many walking in circles before dying suddenly, collapsing on their faces. Two months later, 35 more elephants died in north-western Zimbabwe.
At the time, the deaths in Botswana were attributed to an unspecified cyanobacterial toxin, government officials said, and no further details were published.
But tests on the elephants that died in Zimbabwe have finally come back and shown the cause was a little-known bacterium called Pasteurella Bisgaard taxon 45, which resulted in septicaemia, or blood poisoning.
Here’s the full story:
Updated
Here is a look at the aftermath of the bushfire that raged through Queensland Western Downs town of Tara, destroying 16 homes.
Updated
Melbourne man charged for allegedly helping launder tens of millions from cybercrime victims
A Chinese national has been charged for allegedly using an Australian-based crime syndicate to help launder $100m stolen from victims who invested in a global investment scam, according to an AFP statement.
The AFP executed a search warrant at the 37-year-old man’s Sydney and Melbourne homes yesterday, and charged him with:
One count of recklessly engaging, on two or more occasions, in conduct related to the proceeds of general crime, the value of which being greater than $10m.
Providing remittance services while unregistered.
The maximum penalty for these offences are 15 and two years’ imprisonment respectively. The man is the seventh alleged offender to be charged under Operation Wickham – a joint operation between the AFP and the US Secret Service.
He is scheduled to appear in Downing Centre local court on 26 October.
It is alleged that of the $160m stolen in the scam, more than $100m was laundered through the Changjiang Currency Exchange or transferred into Australian bank accounts linked to fake Australian businesses, before being moved elsewhere.
It is alleged the bank accounts were controlled by the Long River money laundering organisation, which the AFP alleges was secretly running the Changjiang Currency Exchange.
The AFP outlined how the scam worked:
1. The victims (a majority in the US) were contacted through a text message on a communications application, like WhatsApp.
2. After communicating with the victims for some time, the scammers encouraged the victims to invest their money into legitimate trading platforms, such as MetaTrader.
3. The scammers, using the trust they instilled in the victims and the manipulations of the data shown on these trading platforms, scammed victims out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Updated
Sixteen homes have been confirmed destroyed by a bushfire still raging on the edge of the Queensland Western Downs town of Tara.
McVeigh said there would be a “massive challenge” ahead for his community.
We will be talking to the state obviously to make sure there’s an awareness of the need of our community here … because it could be 12 months before we get people back into their homes.
As for immediate relief, he said the wind was still up and the sky was full of smoke.
We’re 100km away from where the actual fire is and we have had another fire start. It’s critical that we manage the fire and it is a very, very dangerous fire … over the next few days we’re hoping by the weekend we may have it under control.
Updated
‘A lot of anxiety’ in Western Downs as houses destroyed in fire
The Western Downs mayor, Paul McVeigh, appeared on ABC News earlier, confirming firefighters were still facing extreme conditions.
It’s a very difficult situation, the fire is still a very, very dangerous fire, and we just had a presentation to our community, those in the evacuation centres, and just trying to explain to them the dangers if we try and let them go back.
The current figure of structures destroyed is 25, with confirmation of the official figure still under way.
Whether that’s houses or sheds, we’re still working through that. We’ll be talking to our community … it will take a lot of angst from those individuals about concern about their properties, but most of those are still in our evacuation centres and won’t be able to get back there for at least another day or so.
The majority of the people in the evacuation centres don’t know whether they have a home to go back to, or whether their home has been destroyed, and that creates a lot of anxiety. The next day, next 24 hours, when we’re able to get back and let people have a look, there’ll be some anxiety there for sure.
Updated
Clean Energy Council backs Victorian plan to revive State Electricity Commission
The Clean Energy Council has welcomed parts of the Victorian government’s strategic plan for the revived state-owners electricity body but says it must strike the right balance as it enters the market.
Kane Thornton, the chief executive of the council, says potential private investors are keen to learn the remaining details about the State Electricity Commission:
The industry has capital that is ready to be deployed, and we welcome the government’s acknowledgement of the importance of partnerships and leveraging enormous private sector investment.
Updated
Watch and act warning issued for Deepwater fire
A “watch and act” warning has been issued for a bushfire at Deepwater, about 40km north of Glen Innes on the northern tablelands in New South Wales.
Anyone in the area is being urged to prepare now.
Watch and Act: Four Mile Creek, Deepwater
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 26, 2023
A grass fire is burning in the vicinity of the New England Hwy & Rockdale Rd, 9km north east of Deepwater. Residents near Rockdale Rd and New England Highway at Deepwater should Prepare Now. For more information: https://t.co/SwFG8PzKTA pic.twitter.com/PLWAKwoAaw
There is a heightened level of threat. Conditions are changing and you need to start taking action now to protect you and your family.
Updated
Coalition questions Labor claims on 60-day dispensing reforms
In health estimates, the Coalition health spokeswoman, Senator Anne Ruston – who in August moved a failed disallowance motion to block 60-day dispensing reforms – is questioning government claims that the reforms have seen common medicines halved in price.
The reforms took effect on 1 September.
“There’s been many statements by you and your colleagues that Australians will benefit by half price medicine – is that statement correct,” Ruston asked.
Senator Katy Gallagher responded that it is correct that Australians are able to now get twice the medication for the cost of a single prescription for 100 common medications, with another 200 medications to be added in the next year.
In the first month of the reforms, 200,000 60-day prescriptions have been issued. Once the full suite of medicines are incorporated, 6 million Australians with an ongoing health condition will benefit, Gallagher said.
“Millions of Australians get twice the medication for the cost of a single prescription,” Gallagher said.
“People are getting twice the medication for the cost of a single script. I don’t know what it is you have against people getting access to cheaper medicines.”
Ruston responded: “I don’t have anything against it.”
Gallagher: “I think you do after the antics in the Senate that we saw, where you tried every trick to make sure this [reform] didn’t proceed smoothly.”
Updated
NSW government considers third extension for Racing NSW chairman
The New South Wales government is considering allowing a third extension of Russell Balding’s term as chairman of Racing NSW.
At a budget estimates hearing on Thursday, the racing minister, David Harris, disclosed that Balding’s future at the helm of the prestigious racing regulator was under “active consideration”.
Harris said he had received correspondence from a “range” of thoroughbred racing organisations requesting that Balding’s term be extended in order to give him time to finish “important reforms” happening in the industry.
Harris said:
I think everyone’s got the right to advocate for what they think because we live in a democracy.
Racing NSW at the moment is extremely successful ... I think the board is doing a very strong job. And as the minister, I have to take that into consideration in my decision-making.
Balding’s term was extended under the previous government after the Coalition and Labor joined forces in 2021 to pass legislation to raise the statutory limit of 10 years to 12.
That limit had already been raised from eight years back in 2019, prompting questions about how long tenure on government boards should be.
Updated
Wong urges Iran to stay out of Israel-Hamas war during call with foreign minister
Penny Wong has criticised Iran’s “destabilising role” in the Middle East and says she used a call with that country’s foreign minister to urge it to avoid escalating the Hamas-Israel conflict.
Officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade told a Senate estimates committee hearing that Wong had spoken to “a wide number of counterparts through the region” and beyond since the 7 October attacks by Hamas.
These include with counterparts from Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority, Iran, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, Japan and Brazil. The assistant foreign minister, Tim Watts, has spoken with counterparts from Oman, Qatar, Iraq and Morocco.
Wong has met with the Israeli ambassador and also with the Council of Arab Ambassadors, which included the head of the Palestinian delegation to Australia.
The phone call with Iran’s foreign minister occurred on Monday.
Asked by the Coalition senator Claire Chandler to explain the contents of the call, Wong said:
Our message to Iran is consistent with our public messages in relation to this conflict … in relation to hostages, humanitarian access, the need to not have escalation including via the vectors that you describe and others, and to express our views about these matters.
Asked about Iran’s response, Wong said:
They have very different views to Australia.
Chandler, who has long raised concerns about Iran’s diplomatic footprint in Australia, replied: “Imagine my shock.”
Wong continued:
But, as you know, we maintain diplomatic relations with Iran and other countries. We don’t equate diplomatic relations between Australia and a country as support for that country’s views. It’s an avenue for our interests, not for theirs, and you would also know that we do maintain a diplomatic relationship [with Iran] – some of our other partners do not …
I think Australia knows well that Iran has long played a destabilising role in this region and has a great deal of influence in the region.
A senior Dfat official added that he had regular discussions with the Iranian ambassador to make clear Australia’s position on the conflict – namely that “Iran should stay out of it”.
Updated
Government’s new ad campaign to feature real teachers
The federal government’s multimillion-dollar campaign to elevate the role of the teaching profession will begin next week.
In Senate estimates on Thursday, the Department of Education was pointed to a Guardian Australia article on 23 September in which the education minister, Jason Clare, said the campaign would begin “in the next few weeks”.
The department said the $10m campaign was due to roll out on 1 November, using the primary channels of social media and billboards.
It will feature real teachers talking about some of their real experiences in classrooms ... when we did the call we had almost 900 teachers wanting to tell their story. It’s a really important campaign from our perspective ... next week when you get to see the campaign you’ll really appreciate what these teachers say.
The Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne replied:
I’m not surprised because I think right now teachers are bearing the brunt [of shortages] and want more folks getting into the profession.
Updated
Energy transition is about new opportunities, not stopping things, Cannon-Brookes says
Mike Cannon-Brookes, the co-founder of Atlassian, says Australia has the existing technology to be able to achieve its renewable ambitions.
Speaking at a renewable energy event in Melbourne, he said:
We no longer need to talk quite as much about stopping things, because the economy and the economics will do that for us. Fossil fuels are unreliable and expensive, compared to renewable energy generation.
The gulf or our transition ... has to be about creating opportunities and new infrastructure. This is what will set our country up well beyond our lifetime.
Updated
Queensland Fire and Emergency issues ‘leave immediately’ warning for Halliford residents
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services issue an emergency warning for residents of Halliford, near Dalby, to “leave immediately”.
LEAVE IMMEDIATELY - Halliford (near Dalby) - fire as at 11:27am Thursday, 26 October 2023.
— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) October 26, 2023
QFES has used Emergency Alert text and voice message to warn people in the affected area. Go to https://t.co/RQMCV5oo1Y for current bushfire warnings. If your life is in danger call Triple… https://t.co/GtCSFbxMiR
Updated
Farmers Federation begin public campaign against government
After 18 months of dancing around each other, today the National Farmers Federation have begun a public media campaign against the Albanese government.
Notionally called Keep Farmers Farming, the campaign has headlined the traditional rural papers, with the NFF describing the Albanese government of implementing “anti-farming policies”. The new president, David Jochinke, told the Weekly Times: “If we do nothing, the next three to six months will see decisions made which will reduce our access to farmland, to water, to workers and to overseas markets”:
We need to make ourselves incredibly clear that these are bad ideas that will ultimately drive farmers out of business, harm rural communities and push up the cost of living for everyday Australians.
Farmer advocates are cranky about issues such as the live sheep export ban, industrial relations changes including on labour hire, water buybacks under the Murray Darling Basin plan, running transmission lines for renewables through farm land and negotiations on Australia’s trade deal with the EU.
As I wrote earlier this week, this war of rhetoric has been coming for a while, given Labor has no traditional support amongst farmers or their lobby groups. But the agriculture minister, Murray Watt, was taking no prisoners in his headline speech to the National Farmers Federation annual conference this morning.
Watt is a Queensland Labor senator and seasoned political scrapper who made his reputation in Senate estimates.
Still, it was surprising how quickly he came out of the gates to take the fight to the NFF. I can’t recall a time when the agriculture minister stared down the industry in such a way.
His speech noted he had broad shoulders “for a little fella” and noted his door was always open.
“So I was surprised to read in today’s papers that the NFF is launching a campaign against the government arguing that, and I quote, “food and fibre production is not a central priority for the current federal government”, that Labor is pursuing “a niche ideological agenda” and that “Labor is wilfully ignorant of the plight of farmers”,” he said.
Then he took the audience through the nearly $3bn in extra funding for agriculture since Labor took office, the restoration of trade with China on commodities like wine and barley and the prime minister’s talks with the Indonesian president, Joko Widodo, on live cattle disruptions.
“It didn’t feel like we were pursuing a “niche, ideological agenda” when we delivered the restoration of trade with our biggest agricultural trading partner,” Watt said. “It didn’t feel like “wilful ignorance” of farmers, when the prime minister personally raised live cattle trade disruptions with Indonesia in his recent meeting with President Widodo – disruptions that were lifted hours later.
But I guess that’s just politics, but I do think that both government and industry can do better.”
He noted that governments and “political lobby groups” will have their ups and downs, “whoever is in power”, underlining former Coalition agriculture minister David Littleproud’s arguments with the NFF.
“Ironically, it wasn’t that long ago my predecessor [David Littleproud], from the other side of politics, called the NFF “ignorant”, “sideline critics” and “cowards”,” he said.
Language you haven’t heard from me, or any of my Labor colleagues. Just as we should treat others with respect, we have a responsibility to be honest with each other and the wider community when we disagree.
Updated
And Albanese and Biden cheers over some champers.
Albanese toasts to Australia’s friendship with the US by quoting the words of Irish poet William Butler Yeats:
To capture the essence of the bond between our two nations in all of its warmth and its easy strength, I turn to another of his poems. ‘Think where man’s glory most begins and ends, and say my glory was I had such friends.’
So allow me to make a toast to such friends. Because Australia has no greater friend than the United States of America.
Albanese now has the floor
He starts by praising the “American spirit”:
Ladies and gentlemen, we live in a world that does keep changing, yet one thing that keeps the ground firm beneath us is the great constant that is the American spirit. America has never been held back by the unknown or slowed by trepidation. You stride boldly towards the future, excited by all of its possibility. In every field of human endeavour, your nation has energised by a ceaseless curiosity and the confidence to follow it.
A toast!
The US president, Joe Biden, toasts with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
Updated
Biden addresses White House dinner for Albanese
The US president, Joe Biden, is giving an address at the official State Dinner in honour of the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House in Washington.
He says:
Australia and American workers are building the future together. Australian and American students are innovating together.
Ladies and gentlemen, a great deal of the history of our world will be written in the Indo-Pacific in the coming years. Australia and the United States must, must write that story together. We must continue to advance freedom, security … for all, continue the vital work in both our nations of building strong partnerships, of upholding nation-to-nation commitments and to native peoples, continue to defend the values of great democracies – freedom of expression, freedom of religion and freedom from fear, and continue to build a future worthy of our highest hopes, even when it’s tough, especially when it’s tough. For we know that’s when it matters the most.
Mr Prime Minister, today, our two nations meet, the future emboldens with a confidence and awe of what has come before, all that has come before, all that has brought us here and all that Australia and America are - innovative, courageous, loyal, unwavering, bold of heart and resolute of spirit, determined that tomorrow will be better than today.
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The Department of Education in Senate estimates
The Department of Education has received five complaints of bullying and harassment since 1 July, including two related to sexual misconduct, though the department says four were found to have no merit. It follows the revelations there were 14 allegations of bullying and harassment in the year to 1 July, four of which were investigated.
Speaking in Senate estimates on Thursday, the shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, asked the department what the findings were of the previously revealed investigations. The first assistant secretary, David Paddy, replied they had all been completed and found to not have any merit.
Since 1 July, there have been five complaints in the department, three of bullying and harassment and two sexual harassment complaints.
All were investigated, four were found to have no merit and one was resolved internally through direction to the staff member.
Asked why there had been so few findings of merit, Paddy replied that sometimes once investigations were undertaken complainants were “satisfied” with actions and didn’t want to pursue the matter further.
It’s victim centric … once the investigation progresses sometimes those complainants are satisfied with the response.
Updated
Victorian hospitals and schools to buy renewable energy from state-owned electricity commission
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, and tech billionaire Mike Cannon-Brookes are speaking at a renewable energy event in Melbourne.
Allan has revealed that government-run hospitals and schools will be amongst the first services to buy renewable energy directly from Victoria’s revived state-owned electricity body. The premier is unveiling details about the 10-year strategic plan for the State Electricity Commission.
Allan says the SEC’s first customers will be government services, to provide the body with “commercial certainty and stability”:
I firmly believe that the government should have skin in the renewable game. We have a responsibility to deliver for the people of the state.
During last November’s election campaign, the Victorian government pledged to revitalise the SEC if it was re-elected, saying it would accelerate the state’s pathway towards net zero and push down power prices.
Updated
Here is a look inside the official State Dinner in honour of the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the White House in Washington.
Updated
Leading medical journals call on WHO to declare climate and nature crisis a ‘global health emergency’
The Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) has joined more than 200 health journals around the world calling for the World Health Organisation to declare the climate and nature crisis a global health emergency.
An editorial published today in leading health journals including the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, the Journal of the American Medical Association, the National Medical Journal of India and the MJA, argues that human health is damaged directly by both climate change and biodiversity loss.
Prof Virginia Barbour, the editor-in-chief of the MJA, the official journal of the doctors lobby, the Australian Medical Association, co-authored the editorial. She said:
The international academic community has spoken and it is clear that all governments must come together now to tackle the climate and nature crisis.
Rising temperatures, air pollution, and the spread of infectious diseases are some of the major health threats exacerbated by climate change, the editorial says. For example, pollution damages water quality and causes a rise in water-borne diseases.
The editorial also argues biodiversity loss carries equally bad health consequences. It undermines good nutrition and hampers the discovery of new medicines derived from nature. Changes in land use have also forced tens of thousands of species into closer contact, increasing the exchange of pathogens and the emergence of new diseases and pandemics.
Updated
China’s property sector remains 'a big area of risk', Bullock says
Asked about the economic state of China, Australia’s biggest trading partner by far, Bullock notes Australia’s commodity exports, such as iron ore, are “holding up”, but China’s property sector remains the “big area of risk”.
Many private property developers are “insolvent” and it is a “very difficult situation”.
Still, China has set a 5% GDP growth target for the year, and will “probably make it”.
Christopher Kent, an assistant governor at the bank, says the government has “a lot of tools and a lot of capacity” to respond if further problems arise.
Asked about whether Australia’s “narrow path” to a soft economic landing is widening or narrowing, Bullock says “we’re probably on the same path”.
She notes that the US’s economy has proved “very resilient” to higher interest rates but has been supported by consumers running down their savings.
In contrast, Australians’ savings “have stayed intact” from the Covid-19 buildup.
Updated
Games inquiry: Shing says she first learnt of cancellation on 22 June
Upper house MP, Harriet Shing, has told a parliamentary inquiry she was first informed on 22 June that the 2026 Commonwealth Games could be cancelled.
Photograph: James Ross/AAP
Shing was minister for the Commonwealth Games legacy from December 2022 to 18 July, when the government announced the sporting event would be cancelled, citing cost overruns.
Asked by inquiry chair, Libertarian party’s David Limbrick, when she first became aware the games would be cancelled, Shing said:
On the 22nd of June, I was advised by Ms [Jacinta] Allan, the former minister for Commonwealth Games delivery, that cancellation of the games was under consideration as a result of those cost pressures that had been identified. Those cost pressures had been part of conversations and discussions in my work as legacy minister. My work as legacy was ... to get the best benefit possible for rural and regional Victoria.
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The band won’t play on but B-52s member Kate Pierson arrives for dinner
Artist Monica Coleman and her wife, singer Kate Pierson of the B-52s, pose as they arrive for the state dinner hosted by US president Joe Biden for prime minister Anthony Albanese at the White House in Washington.
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NSW Aboriginal affairs minister defends police commissioner over Closing the Gap comments
The New South Wales Aboriginal affairs minister, David Harris, has defended the police commissioner, Karen Webb, after it was revealed she told the force’s watchdog that officers shouldn’t be responsible for Closing the Gap targets.
Webb wrote to the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission in June saying NSW police’s “primary role” was law enforcement and suggest that it was responsible for achieving the targets of reducing Indigenous over-representation in custody would “lead to competing duties”.
Her correspondence was revealed in the LECC’s five-year review of NSW police’s approach to Aboriginal people, released earlier this week.
Harris was asked about Webb’s statement at a budget estimates hearing on Thursday.
He said:
I think what she was saying, if I understand it, was that you have a situation where police shouldn’t be making decisions on whether they arrest someone or not based on statistics - they should do their job.
Harris said he hadn’t spoken to Webb or the police minister, Yasmin Catley, about the matter but he would organise a meeting with them to discuss it.
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‘The way Israel exercises its right to defend itself matters’: Wong in Senate estimates
Let’s bring you some more from that exchange in Senate estimates regarding Israel’s siege of Gaza.
The Greens senator Jordon Steele-John said the Australian government claimed that the people of Gaza and Palestine should not be punished for the crimes of Hamas “and yet that is exactly what the siege is doing”. He told the Senate committee hearing:
It is a complete siege, a textbook definition of collective punishment ... Why won’t your government condemn this crime against humanity?
Penny Wong said:
They are your words - I will use my words and I have responded.
Marie-Charlotte McKenna, the assistant secretary for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s international law branch, told the hearing that sieges were “not in themselves prohibited under international humanitarian law”, adding:
However, international humanitarian law does provide for the facilitation of humanitarian assistance and Australia has called for safe and unimpeded access and for a humanitarian pause to allow life-saving assistance to reach civilians affected by the conflict.
Wong reiterated her view that “the way Israel exercises its right to defend itself matters”, saying it matters to civilians but it also matters to Israel’s own security.
Steele-John asked whether the government would “now condemn the commission of war crimes by the state of Israel upon the population of Gaza”.
Wong replied that she understood “the politics of why you are trying to press this point”. She said it was “a tragically difficult situation” but Australia would continue to “articulate a principled position” of calling for “the protection of civilian lives and for the observance of international humanitarian law”.
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Fiery exchange between Wong and Greens’ Steele-John on Israel’s siege of Gaza
Penny Wong has acknowledged “there is clearly widespread suffering in Gaza” but has stopped short of saying it amounts to collective punishment, when asked during a Senate estimates committee hearing whether she condemned Israel’s actions.
The foreign affairs minister was challenged by the Greens senator Jordon Steele-John about the topic this morning. Steele-John began by condemning the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October, but he also criticised “the policy response of the Netanyahu government”.
He asked:
Will the government now clearly condemn the siege of Gaza by the state of Israel as a crime of collective punishment?
Wong replied:
We acknowledge the terrible suffering of innocent civilians in the Gaza Strip. This is precisely why the government has called for a humanitarian pause, along with others, to find the space to enable the convoys we’ve talked about already, to get assistance to innocent civilians in Gaza.
Wong went on to say it was an “extraordinarily difficult and complex and distressing crisis”. She noted the “abhorrent attack by a terrorist organisation against civilians”. Wong said Australia had “a longstanding relationship with the state of Israel” and believed in its “inherent right to exist” and to defend itself.
But the minister said that, from the beginning, the Australian government had outlined the principles that should apply to Israel’s actions, including the protection of civilian lives and observance of international humanitarian law:
There is clearly widespread suffering in Gaza, there clearly is. And we know that Hamas, which is a terrorist organisation, has burrowed itself into Gaza’s civilian population, so none of this is easy. This is all tragically difficult.
Wong said the Australian government wanted to safeguard social cohesion in Australia, and acknowledged “how distressed and angry parts of our community are”. She said the government was listening and articulating the principles it adhered to, and she urged “all senators to not engage in making a political difference” within Australian domestic politics.
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‘This will need to see all sides respect the right of the other to exist’: Wong on Israel and Palestine
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has reiterated that humanitarian access to Gaza has been “nowhere near enough” and the situation there is “dire”.
At a Senate estimates hearing today, she has also stressed the need to work for “an enduring peace in the Middle East” based on a two-state solution, where Israelis and Palestinians live securely within internationally recognised borders.
Wong has been updating the situation in the region, saying the government is in contact with 79 Australians who want to leave Gaza. She also reiterates that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade continues to advise Australians not to travel to Lebanon.
Speaking about humanitarian access to Gaza, Wong says:
There has been some access in recent days but it is nowhere near enough.
Wong adds that the Australian government has unequivocally condemned the Hamas attacks on Israel on 7 October and continues to call for the unconditional release of all hostages.
But she also says innocent Palestinian civilians should not suffer because of the outrages perpetrated by Hamas.
Wong reiterates the Australian government’s position of finding a pathway that ends “in a just and enduring peace in the form of a two-state solution”.
This will need to see all sides respect the right of the other to exist.
Wong says that includes the “removal” of Hamas and acknowledging the legitimate aspirations of Palestinians for statehood.
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'We apologise': Uber on Spam Act breach
An Uber spokesperson says “we made a mistake” after the company received a $412,500 fine for breaching the Spam Act over one email sent to 2m customers in January this year.
Here is its statement:
Simply put, we made a mistake in sending out these marketing emails, and we worked collaboratively with [the Australian Media and Communications Authority] to address and resolve it. We apologise to everyone who was impacted by this oversight. We take seriously our obligations under the Spam Act, and we have introduced additional measures to prevent this from happening again.
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Bullock won’t say whether inflation uptick is “material”
Borrowers anxious about the prospect of another rate rise are likely hanging on whether the higher inflation numbers represent a “material” change.
Recall that Bullock’s comment on Tuesday that “the board will not hesitate to raise the cash rate further if there is a material upward revision to the outlook for inflation”.
Liberal senator Jane Hume asks whether the CPI numbers met that “material” yardstick.
“We’re still thinking about that,” Bullock replies, and “won’t say one way or the other”.
Greens senator Nick McKim has a crack too, but is told: “We’re still analysing the numbers”. (And there are a couple more to come, on retail sales, lending and so on, before the 7 November RBA meeting.)
However, Bullock, does say “I don’t believe there is a sign of a price-wage spiral at the moment”.
McKim asks about price-gouging by companies as a contributor to inflation. Bullock repeats the RBA’s line that profit “margins are being maintained”, with the exception of the mining sector.
Asked whether the RBA has done its own work, McKim asks for details of that work to be provided to the economics committee.
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Australian singer Kid Laroi arrives at White House state dinner, with his mother Sloane Howard
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Guests arrive for the White House state dinner
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RBA’s Bullock not surprised by latest CPI numbers, remains wary of inflation
RBA governor Bullock says Wednesday’s September inflation figures were “a little higher” than the central bank had predicted in its August forecasts. (These will be updated at the start of November, and released on 10 November.)
However, the pick-up inflation was “pretty much where we thought it would come out”, particularly given a jump (7.2%) in petrol prices.
As to the elements, Bullock says “although services inflation is declining, it’s still higher than we’re comfortable with and it’s also reasonably persistent”.
Other nations are facing similar trends, she notes. (Australia’s interest rates, though, haven’t risen as much as many comparable nations, and the RBA now looks like one of the few central banks looking to hit the rate rise button.)
“We’ve always said we have a low tolerance” for inflation not declining as the bank expects.
As of the August forecasts, inflation won’t sink back to within the bank’s 2%-3% target range until mid-2025. Should the modelling point to a delay in that goal being reached, the RBA will press on with its 13th rate rise since May 2022.
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More from the White House dinner
The B-52s were going to be the entertainment for the White House dinner with Love Shack and Rock Lobster on the set list. But they’ll no longer be performing. Instead, a US Marine band and the Army and Air Force Strolling Strings will provide the music.
The US First Lady was reported in the Washington Post as saying a few “adjustments to the entertainment portion” of the dinner had been made.
The Israel-Hamas war wasn’t directly mentioned as being among the reasons for the change, but Dr Jill Biden made reference to “tumultuous times”.
Nurturing our partnerships and relationships with our allies is critically important, especially in these tumultuous times.
Food is comforting, reassuring and healing, and we hope that this dinner provides a little of that as well.
The entertainment industry is well represented among the economic, defence, business and foreign affairs guests.
Rap superstar The Kid Laroi and his mum are present, as well as indie pop musician Vance Joy. Actor John Leguizamo, one of the stars of the Baz Lehrmann’s 1996 version of Romeo and Juliet is in attendance and DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg also made the cut. Renowned violinist Itzhak Perlman is also on the guest list.
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Victorian MP Leane appears before Commonwealth Games inquiry
Upper house Labor MPs, Shaun Leane and Harriet Shing, will appear before the Victorian parliamentary inquiry into the cancellation of the 2026 Commonwealth Games this morning.
Leane, who is appearing first, was the minister for the Commonwealth Games legacy from June 2022 to December of that year, when Shing took over the portfolio.
Leane says he will endeavour to assist the inquiry as best as he can but notes his short time in the role, including a month when the government was in caretaker mode during the November election:
“It was a short period of time and we went into caretaker [mode] ... but I did enjoy the support of the premier [Jacinta Allan] in the way I wanted to go ahead with the role I was given.”
Leane says he was pleased he had announced $2.7m to support Traditional Owner Corporations across the four regional cities that would have been hosting the event. He is glad a total of $2bn in regional investment would go ahead despite the event’s cancellation.
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Humanitarian funding ‘to help address immediate and emerging needs’ in Gaza
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has given more details about the Australian government’s announcement of an extra $15m in humanitarian assistance for civilians affected by the conflict in Gaza, the West Bank and across the region.
In a statement, the government said the funding would be delivered “through trusted partners to help address immediate and emerging needs including food, water, medicine and other essential services”.
The $15m includes $6m for the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement to provide life-saving assistance including food, water and medical care and $2m to Unicef for the provision of emergency water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The remainder includes $2m to UN agencies to pre-position supplies and to support those who have been displaced by the conflict, and $2m to UNFPA to provide urgent women’s health services.
The government says the funding is in addition to $10m already committed by the Australian government, bringing the total package of assistance to $25m since 7 October.
Wong said:
Australia has consistently called for safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, and safe passage for civilians from Gaza.
There has been access in recent days but nowhere near enough. Humanitarian pauses are essential to ensure this assistance and that of our partners flows into Gaza.
The way Israel exercises its right to defend itself matters. It matters to civilians throughout the region, and it matters to Israel’s ongoing security.
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RBA’s Bullock to answer senate queries about inflation, rate rise risks
New Reserve Bank governor Michele Bullock is addressing senate estimates this morning in the wake of yesterday’s surprisingly strong inflation figures for the September quarter that could trigger two interest rate rises by Christmas.
Bullock made clear her intolerance earlier this week for signs that inflation was not on the expected declining path, and would wield her interest rate stick to ensure it continue to retreat towards its target range. (Our columnist Greg Jericho states the case against a rate hike here.)
She declines to make an opening statement, and so the questions begin.
White House state dinner special guest list an eclectic group from industry, the voice, sport
Good morning from Canberra where it is a chilly 7 degrees.
Over in the US, the reception is a little warmer for Anthony Albanese – the prime minister is the special guest at a White House state dinner, where Joe Biden and Dr Jill Biden are hosting a group of luminaries.
Among the guest list are the names you would expect – Albanese and his partner, Jodie Haydon are up the top, of course.
There are Fortune 500 heads and defence secretaries and secretary of state representatives on the US side, and thenan eclectic group from Australia.
Professor Tom Calma, one of the co-designers of the voice process is on the list, as well as ACCI head Andrew McKellar. Australia Industry Group chief Innes Wilcox has also scored an invite, as has CEO of Bluescope, Mark Vassella and Macquarie boss Shemara Wikramanayake.
As previously reported, NRL boss Peter V’Landys is there, as are the B-52s.
Australian economist Dr Justin Wolfers and his partner, Dr Betsey Stevenson, a former US chief economist, are also in attendance, along with a cohort of the prime minister’s staff.
It’s also no surprise to see resources minister Madeline King on the list, given the importance critical minerals has played in this visit.
Think of it as the most fancy work dinner you could ever attend.
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Body of woman found in Sydney school gym, police looking for male in his early 20s
Police are addressing the media after the body of a woman was found at a school in Sydney’s CBD overnight.
Superintendent Martin Fileman says the woman, in her early 20s, was found dead in a toilet area in the school gym.
Superintendent Martin Fileman says the woman was found dead in the school gym. She was in her early 20s. pic.twitter.com/r2e3EW5FmE
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) October 25, 2023
Fileman says police are looking for a male person in his early 20s “who we believe can assist us with this investigation”.
We also believe he is also employed by the school.
He says the victim had serious head injuries, and has not yet been identified.
The actual scene itself was quite confronting for the police who turned up.
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US gives Australia an antique desk, while ‘DJ Albo’ gets a custom turntable
The White House released the following statement about the official gift exchange that happened on Tuesday evening:
As the official gift, the President and First Lady will present an antique writing desk, designed in 1886 by an American furniture company in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The side panel will include an inscription set in gold to commemorate the official visit.
President Biden will gift prime minster Albanese a custom signature turntable from a family-owned American audio manufacturer that includes a special engraved plaque to commemorate the official visit.
Dr Biden will gift Ms Jodie Haydon a green enamel and diamond petite necklace designed and hand-crafted by an American jeweler.
Australia’s gifts to the US included a painting by Australian artist Katherine Boland Fire Flower 8, and for Jill Biden a silver leaf brooch by jewellery designer Shimara Carlow and a scarf by Indigenous designer Katarra Butler Napaltjarri.
Photograph: Drew Angerer/Getty Images
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Total fire ban now in place for NSW’s Northern Slopes, North Western areas
The NSW Rural Fire Service has put in place a total fire ban for the Northern Slopes and North Western areas.
Crews have already responded to several fires believed to have been started by lightning strikes overnight.
A Total Fire Ban is now in place for the Northern Slopes and North Western areas. While there's been an easing of conditions overnight, lightening strikes have been detected. Crews have already responded to several fires believed to have been started by lightning strikes. pic.twitter.com/CrvbNuIagL
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) October 25, 2023
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IT innovation deals emerge from Albanese’s White House visit, US ambassador Kennedy says
US ambassador to Australia Caroline Kennedy says “a really significant partnership” sharing innovation between the US and Australia is emerging from prime minister Anthony Albanese’s visit with Joe Biden at the White House.
She tells ABC News Breakfast:
I think, one of the big themes of this entire visit is really the shared innovation of the United States and Australia. A couple of days ago the prime minister announced a huge AI initiative by Microsoft in Australia. And today, the Google subsea cable, which will provide connectivity, digital connectivity to many of the Pacific island nations.
So it will allow them to have the same kind of communications and speed and ease that we all have in larger countries and I think, will connect them, connect us, connect them with us and with each other much faster, much more reliably … so that they won’t be cut off if there’s a natural disaster or other kind of event that they now are quite vulnerable to.
It’s a really significant partnership between the US and Australia.
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Aukus will ‘get done’ despite jitters in Congress, Biden tells Albanese
Joe Biden has played down congressional jitters over the Aukus nuclear-powered submarine deal, assuring the visiting Australian prime minister he is “confident that we can get this done”.
The US president welcomed Anthony Albanese to the White House and insisted he was “confident that we’re going to be able to get the money for Aukus because it’s overwhelmingly in our interest”.
“So the question is not if, but when,” Biden said during a joint press conference in the rose garden on Wednesday US time (Thursday Australian time).
Extra $15m humanitarian aid for civilians in Gaza
Civilians in the blockaded Gaza Strip will receive an extra $15m in humanitarian aid from the Australian government.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese made the announcement at a joint press conference with US president Joe Biden.
The two world leaders reaffirmed their support for a two-state solution to the 75-year-long dispute over Israel and Palestine and a “path toward peace”.
“We grieve for the loss of every innocent life, whether that be Israeli or Palestinian,” Albanese told White House reporters overnight.
However, neither of them have called for a ceasefire and instead continue to advocate for Israel’s “right to defend itself”.
The $15m commitment adds to $10m Australia has already committed to emergency water and medical services to the Palestinian territory.
“In times of crisis, respect for international humanitarian law is paramount - it is a recognition of our common humanity,” Albanese said.
- Australian Associated Press report
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Man sues Victoria over Lawyer X scandal, and 'miscarriage of justice'
A Victorian man who spent almost a decade in prison in what a court found was a “substantial miscarriage of justice” after lawyer Nicola Gobbo helped secure his conviction on drug offences is suing the state of Victoria.
Zlate Cvetanovski is seeking exemplary, aggravated and special damages, likely to be worth millions of dollars, in Victoria’s supreme court, according to a statement of claim set to be filed by his lawyers this week.
Cvetanovski, 56, was charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of methamphetamine in 2008.
He was legally represented at the time by Gobbo, who was secretly working as a police informant. She was also representing another man, known as Mr Cooper, who was an associate of Cvetanovski.
Gobbo convinced Cooper to give evidence against Cvetanovski, and police paid Cooper for doing so, as he was a key witness in the case, a court found.
None of this information was disclosed to Cvetanovski before he was convicted, the Victorian court of appeal found in 2020, in ordering his acquittal because of the “substantial miscarriage of justice”. He had been released on bail only months earlier, pending the outcome of his appeal, having already served the majority of his non-parole period.
The state conceded before the court of appeal that there had been a miscarriage of justice in the case.
In the proposed statement of claim, lawyers for Cvetanovski said:
The plaintiff served years in prison that he otherwise would not have. At no stage did Victoria Police take positive steps to remedy its wrongdoing by expeditiously informing the plaintiff of Gobbo’s conduct in order to quash his conviction. Victoria Police has not apologised to the plaintiff.
In a statement, Cvetanovski said:
Starting this court case is a significant moment for me. I am anxious about the future but also cautiously optimistic about finally holding police to account for what they did to me.
In the pursuit of justice, vindication came first, and now I see compensation as a measure of accountability.
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Queensland credits coal royalties scheme for $14bn record surplus
The Queensland government has credited a record surplus of $13.93bn to its progressive coal royalty scheme as well as a strong performance of the labour market.
The 2023-23 report on state finances shows the surplus is $1.625bn higher than what was forecast in June’s state budget. The government said the higher-than-anticipated result was due to the federal government making advance payments for disaster relief and social housing.
The government said figures also showed that net debt on 30 June was $2.6bn - less than 25% of Queensland’s net debt the previous year.
The treasurer, Cameron Dick, said the coal royalty scheme had delivered “the largest surplus ever recorded in Queensland’s history”.
Our progressive coal royalty tiers are delivering for Queenslanders right across the state, as they rightfully should, at a time that coal producers are benefiting from extraordinary prices.
Dick flagged the state government’s intention to raise coal royalties last June amid surging prices for fossil fuels.
The Queensland Resources Council quickly denounced the plans at the time, taking out angry full-page ads in the Courier Mail.
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Extreme fire danger continues for parts of Queensland
Extreme Fire Danger is forecast for Queensland’s Central West, North West, Channel Country and Maranoa and Warrego today.
The Bureau of Meteorology Queensland issued the fire weather warning this morning, expecting hot and dry conditions with fresh and gusty southeasterly winds to drive elevated fire dangers on.
This comes after hundreds fled a deadly bushfire in Queensland yesterday that destroyed 11,000 hectares of bushland.
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‘Staggering’ number of young people at risk of serious harm from gambling – survey
The vast majority of regular online gamblers aged between 15 and 35 are at risk of serious harm, according to a government research agency that supports tougher regulation.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies‘ (AIFS) national gambling trends study, which surveyed nearly 2,000 gamblers, found this cohort spent an average of $886 a month across all forms of gambling. It found 81% of these people were “classified as being at risk of gambling harm”.
Regular poker machine gamblers aged between 15 and 35 spent an average of $1,453 a month, with around 60 people reporting they’d spent more than 24 hours inside a poker machine venue.
AIFS research director, Rae Kaspiew, said the survey results showed why stronger regulation of the gambling industry was necessary.
We hear every day that Australia is experiencing a cost of living crisis with increasing financial stress borne by everyday Australians – yet every week thousands of people are losing amounts they can’t afford to online betting platforms and pokies venues.
Director of policy and campaigns at Financial Counselling Australia, Lauren Levin, said governments needed to take the survey results seriously:
This research screams loudly that 8 out of 10 young people (18-35) were clinically at risk of online gambling gambling harm under the Problem Gambling Severity Index, the internationally accepted standards for assessing harm. This is a staggering finding. Governments are now on notice that online gambling harm doesn’t just impact one or two percent of people with a pathological gambling condition, but that the vast majority will be harmed in some way.
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Uber fined for breaching Spam Act
Uber has received a $412,500 fine for breaching the Spam Act over one email sent to 2m customers in January this year.
The email, sent to Uber customers about the company’s alcohol home delivery service on 23 January, did not contain an unsubscribe link, and of the 2m people who received the email, 500,000 had previously unsubscribed.
Uber believed the emails were non-commercial and therefore not covered by the Spam Act.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority chair Nerida O’Loughlin said it was unacceptable that a company like Uber, which conducts a high level of marketing, did not have robust systems in place to consistently and accurately categorise messages being sent out:
We are actively monitoring Uber’s compliance and will not hesitate to take stronger action if it doesn’t comply in the future.
Acma has focused on Spam Act compliance in the past 18 months, particularly around the unsubscribe requirement. In the past 18 months, businesses have paid more than $11m in penalties for breaches.
An Uber spokesperson said the breaches were a “mistake”.
“Simply put, we made a mistake in sending out these marketing emails, and we worked collaboratively with ACMA to address and resolve it. We apologise to everyone who was impacted by this oversight. We take seriously our obligations under the Spam Act, and we have introduced additional measures to prevent this from happening again.”
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Woman's body found at Sydney school
The body of a woman has been found at a school in central Sydney, police say, in what is being treated as a suspicious death.
Just before midnight emergency services were called to a school on Kent Street, police said, after reports of a concern for welfare.
The woman is yet to be formally identified. A crime scene has been established and is being forensically examined this morning.
The death is being treated as suspicious and an autopsy will be conducted to determine the cause of death.
Local detectives, with assistance from the state crime command’s homicide squad, have begun an investigation under Strike Force Trineura.
As part of inquiries, a second crime scene was established in the Vaucluse area.
Police are continuing to liaise with school officials.
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Majority backs changing or scrapping stage-three tax cuts, poll shows
A majority of Australians would back changing or scrapping the stage-three tax cuts, a new poll commissioned by the Australia Institute shows.
A survey of 1,600 people showed 37% would support repealing the controversial Morrison-era tax plan, with 24% opposed and 39% saying they’re not sure.
The Australia Institute data shows that, in a second question when respondents are told the tax cuts cost $300bn and benefit mostly higher income earners, the public support changes. After being told that information, 44% supported restructuring the cuts so they benefit lower and middle income earners more, with 25% supporting scrapping stage three altogether.
The cuts, which are due to come into effect in July 2024, are the third phase of the 2019 legislated tax plan – proposed by the Morrison Coalition government but also backed by the then-opposition led by Anthony Albanese. The plan means everyone earning between $45,000 and $200,000 would pay the same 30% tax rate, abolishing some higher tax brackets.
Stage three overwhelmingly benefits higher income earners. Earlier stages had more targeted lower and middle income earners, but with smaller benefits. The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has insisted Labor has no plans to change the tax cuts, arguing they help return bracket creep.
Greg Jericho, the chief economist at the Australia Institute and a Guardian Australia columnist, said the polling showed there was support for revisiting the form of the tax cuts.
Nine months out from them coming into effect, there is no meaningful constituency for stage three, and with good reason. They are the most expensive and inequitable tax cuts in Australia’s history.
The Australia Institute has previously shared suggestions about how the cuts could be renovated to save the budget up to $130bn while still delivering bigger tax cuts to 80% of income earners.
Hundreds rally in Perth after Indigenous teenager’s death in custody
Hundreds of people have rallied in Perth to call for justice after the death of an Indigenous teenager who self-harmed in the youth wing at an adult prison.
Officers discovered 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd in the unit 18 youth detention facility at Casuarina prison on 12 October, after he contacted them through the intercom.
He was taken to a Perth hospital in critical condition, where he later died, causing outrage and grief in the community.
About 300 people gathered in the city’s central business district on Wednesday to demand the unit be closed amid allegations the justice system had failed the boy.
The crowd chanted “Justice for Cleveland” and held placards accusing the state government of having blood on its hands.
Cleveland’s grandmother Glenda Mippy addressed the rally, saying her grandson’s life had been stolen:
My grandson never took his own life. They call it justice but it’s not justice ... Look what happened ... He got carried out on a stretcher.
My grandson is lying in a morgue and why? Because they fucked up.
Cleveland’s other grandmother Roslyn Sullivan said he had been in the wrong place at the wrong time:
He didn’t get to be a man but hopefully his passing will make it better for the future. I’m going to make it my business to know what they were doing to him.
Social justice advocate Megan Krakouer accused premier Roger Cook of betraying Aboriginal people:
Shame on this government. To see the pain, the hurt, to see so many tears, is that right?
She said Cleveland had been unlawfully transferred to unit 18 and demanded to know why he had been sent to a facility opened in July 2022 to house the most challenging juvenile offenders. Both centres have been plagued by high rates of self-harm, riots and detainees being placed into prolonged lockdowns.
Cleveland’s death is being investigated by the Department of Justice and the coroner while the Corruption and Crime Commission has also begun inquiries after allegations of serious misconduct.
The 16-year-old is the first child to die in WA juvenile detention in the state’s history.
The corrective services commissioner has also been replaced and a prison officer has also been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’m going to bring you some of the overnight news before my colleague Rafqa Touma takes over.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has been welcomed at the White House for a one-on-one meeting with Joe Biden in the Oval Office. Albanese and his partner Jodie Haydon were formally welcomed with a 19-gun salute at an arrival ceremony with Biden, first lady Jill Biden, vice-president Kamala Harris and senior US government officials on Wednesday morning local time. The prime minister and president had a one-on-one meeting in the Oval Office followed by talks with US cabinet secretaries, and the pair then held a joint press conference in the rose garden.
We have an exclusive health story today with peak organisations warning that “low carb” and “low sugar” labelling on alcoholic drinks should be scrapped because the claims mislead consumers into thinking alcohol products are “healthier”. Separately, health advocates are also warning against promotion by vape shops and social media advertising because they encourage addiction among young people. And our Full Story podcast today uncovers the way that organised crime is targeting the tobacco and vape market in Victoria.
A First Nations man was in a critical condition in hospital in Brisbane yesterday evening after he became the latest Aboriginal man to be shot by police in Queensland. Police claimed the man, 40, had threatened them before a firearm was discharged. It follows the shooting of Mareeba man Aubrey Donahue and another man in the Brisbane suburb of Grange. In Perth, a large crowd gathered in the city centre last night to protest against the death of an Indigenous teenager after he self-harmed in custody. Officers discovered 16-year-old Cleveland Dodd in the unit 18 youth detention facility at Casuarina prison on 12 October but he later died in hospital. More coming up.
In other breaking news this morning, Uber has been hit with a heavy fine for sending spam emails, a poll shows a majority of voters don’t want next year’s stage-three tax cuts, at least in their planned form, and a new study finds that a large majority of young people who regularly gamble online are at serious risk of harm.
