What we learned – Tuesday 30 July
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. Here is a recap of the main news:
The stunning aurora australis may make an appearance tonight after the Bureau of Meteorology released an aurora watch notice early on Monday morning.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Rex Airlines was “important” as the carrier called a trading halt.
The government was prepared to “work with Rex”, said the infrastructure and transport minister, Catherine King, and it wanted to make sure the airline had a future.
Bill Shorten claimed the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims had fallen 66%.
Tony Burke pushed back against the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, for misrepresenting his record as immigration minister in 2013.
The planned opening of the $21.6bn Sydney Metro project has been delayed and a new starting date has not been identified by the NSW government.
In South Korea, Penny Wong will visit the UN command buildings in the joint security area within the Demilitarised Zone.
There are now at least 33 cases of legionnaires’ disease across Melbourne, with 10 another people also suspected of contracting the infection.
Health departments nationally say no surgeries have been cancelled amid IV fluid shortage
There has been a 12% increase in reports of human trafficking and slavery to the Australian federal police in the 2023-24 financial year, according to data released as part of the UN’s World Day against trafficking in persons.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan acknowledged that the government needed to streamline the entire planning process and said the work had been under way since the release of the housing statement last September.
The numbers of dwelling approvals continue to retreat, with the ABS reporting a 6.5% drop in June alone, reversing the 5.7% rise in May, and for the whole year they were down 8.5% to about 163,000.
Updated
Aurora australis may be visible tonight, BoM says
The stunning aurora australis may make an appearance tonight after the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) released an aurora watch notice early on Monday morning.
The BoM is forecasting significant geomagnetic activity that could possibly result in visible auroras at night. The geomagnetic storm is expected to be at its strongest this evening.
The bureau said it wasn’t absolutely certain the geomagnetic activity would occur – but aurora spotters will likely be keeping watch regardless.
Updated
At least 33 legionnaires’ cases detected in Melbourne
There are now at least 33 cases of legionnaires’ disease across Melbourne, with 10 people also suspected of contracting the infection, as health authorities work to identify the source of the growing outbreak.
Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Clare Looker, confirmed the new figures on Tuesday afternoon, as she warned it was likely there were more cases in the community.
We suspect those numbers may increase over the course of today.
Fortunately, legionnaires’ disease is not an illness that is transmitted from person to person.
What we are really looking for is an environmental source, and in the process of testing and sampling for that, we are disinfecting cooling towers, which should control that risk.
You can read more on the outbreak at our story linked below:
Updated
AMA head says best to ‘prepare for the worst’ on IV fluids
Speaking to ABC Radio Melbourne yesterday afternoon, the president of the Australian Medical Association, Prof Steve Robson, said that when he spoke to senior health officials on Monday, “there was still a sense of not quite knowing where we stood with everything”.
Personally to me that makes me say – well, let’s assume the worst, prepare for the worst, and if it doesn’t come to pass we can all breathe easy.
Robson said Australia should consider manufacturing essential medicines like IV fluids ourselves, as “Australia is at the end of a very, very long and shaky logistic chain at times”.
Robson told Guardian Australia the shortage came with “very little warning”.
Unlike many other medicines, there is no requirement on suppliers to notify potential shortages of intravenous fluids – something that could have assisted in better response planning.
We know that the TGA [Therapeutic Goods Administration] is working with states and territories to make sure our hospitals have enough supply, but the level of awareness among clinicians appears to be low and there is no doubt that doctors need more information about the current situation, particularly as it looks like this situation will last for some months.
Medicine shortages have been an ongoing issue for Australia in recent years. The TGA is doing a good job coordinating responses to serious shortages, but what’s missing is a comprehensive strategy to ensure medicines supply at all stages of the pipeline. We want a strategy that will prevent shortages rather than constantly responding to them.
Updated
Health departments nationally say no surgeries cancelled amid IV fluid shortage
We reported last week on the peak body for doctors warning surgeries could be cancelled this week due to a shortage of crucial IV fluids.
Guardian Australia has contacted all state and territory health departments and none said they would have to cancel surgeries.
While many said they were introducing new measures to manage availability, including alternative methods of medicine administration besides diluting them in IV fluids, Queensland and the Northern Territory’s health departments said there had been no impact on patient care.
A NSW Health spokesperson said it was minimising disruptions by monitoring and managing existing stock, and using alternative administration methods where appropriate.
Canberra Health Services said it was ensuring there was no unnecessary usage of IV fluids, decreasing wastage where possible and considering the use of alternative products and routes of administration, as well as a centralisation of supplies within the hospitals.
A Victorian department of health spokesperson said:
While there hasn’t been any disruption to patient care, we’re actively supporting our health services to conserve and monitor available stock, amid ongoing discussions with the main suppliers.
A Tasmanian Department of Health spokesperson said it had partnered with Statewide Hospital Pharmacy to establish a small buffer of stock of high-volume lines.
A WA Health spokesperson said the department was “confident it has adequate levels of IV fluid stock to continue operating as usual” – but acknowledged it was looking at ways to preserve its current stock and find safe and appropriate alternative products.
South Australia said it had adequate levels of the saline fluid available in hospitals but “out of an abundance of caution, we are conserving stock to make sure the patients who need these products can receive them”.
A Queensland Health spokesperson said:
There has been no impact on patient care in Queensland and we are continuing work to make sure Queenslanders won’t be impacted.
A Northern Territory Health spokesperson said:
There is currently no direct impact to NT Health hospitals.
Updated
Inflation persistent but falls expected this year – treasurer
On the CPI figures expected tomorrow, Jim Chalmers said a 3% inflation rate wouldn’t represent a failure of the budget strategy because a figure like that would be consistent with forecasts.
The treasurer added that whatever the figure was, the inflation “challenge” remained persistent.
There’s a few things about that – first of all a figure like that would be consistent with Reserve Bank’s forecast. I don’t want to make a prediction or pre-empt the number that we’ll get at 11:30 tomorrow, as economists expected inflation was sticky and persistent and stubborn.
We’ll wait and see what those numbers say. We have anticipated for some time that the inflation challenge in our economy is persistent. Inflation is much lower than what we inherited when we came to office a couple of years ago.
We are confident throughout the rest of the year we will see further moderation in inflation.
It is a matter of the independent Reserve Bank how they react to those figures but the government is doing its bit, turning big Liberal deficits into big Labor surpluses. The Reserve Bank governor has said that is helping in the fight against inflation, and also our cost-of-living relief, in a meaningful and substantial way, but also in a responsible way which puts downward pressure on inflation in areas like the energy rebates and also the rent assistance.
Playing our bit, playing our part and doing our bit. When it comes to the fight against inflation, we’ll see those numbers for tomorrow.
Updated
Treasurer worried about Rex but won’t ‘pre-empt any announcements’
Jim Chalmers was on the ABC this afternoon and asked about Rex Airlines.
The treasurer said the announcement today was “concerning” but added he would not pre-empt any further announcements.
Obviously the announcement today from Rex is a concerning one because a lot of people rely on regional air routes. There’s a lot of jobs as well in regional travel, and so a very concerning development today, there’s no use pretending otherwise. As I understand it, the company said they will make more comments later in the week – most likely around Wednesday – about the future of Rex.
My colleague Catherine King, who is responsible for sustainable aviation fuel and for the aviation sector, more broadly as transport minister, she is working with her department to make sure that we are across these developments. beyond that I’m not really keen to pre-empt any announcements or developments that the airline might announce themselves towards the middle of the week.
Updated
Pocock urges Labor to give Palestinian refugee arrivals humanitarian visas
Independent senator David Pocock has called on the Albanese government to issue humanitarian visas to arriving Palestinian refugees.
Speaking to the AAP, Pocock asked why humanitarian visas were issued to people fleeing the Taliban rule in Afghanistan in 2021, or people fleeing the Ukraine war.
Palestinians have been granted other temporary visas but no humanitarian allocation has been made, and Pocock called on the newly appointed immigration minister, Tony Burke, to change the policy:
So far, none have been offered to people fleeing Gaza.
People feel like the government is treating Palestinian lives as though they are worth less than Ukrainian or Afghan lives, and that puts a huge strain on social cohesion.
Updated
Victorian Liberal leader hits at premier’s heritage plan ‘hypocrisy’
Victorian opposition leader John Pesutto has called out the premier for her “hypocrisy” on reforming the state’s culture heritage scheme.
In case you missed it earlier today, Jacinta Allan accused Pesutto of stoking “nasty racial division” over his plan to tighten the rules around Indigenous community involvement in planning decisions.
Allan said the government was looking at reforms to the cultural heritage scheme but as part of a more widespread plan to streamline the planning process. She said:
All elements of the planning process need to be examined as to how we can improve those processes to make good decisions faster … The cultural heritage management approvals process is just one part of all the third-party approval processes that need to be improved so that we can get on and build more homes.
In response to Allan’s comments, Pesutto said housing industry peak bodies voiced their support for improvements to Victoria’s planning system, as did the current co-chairs of the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria in private conversations on Monday.
He said in a statement:
Labor’s hypocrisy on cultural heritage planning reforms has been exposed. Premier Allan’s attacks on the Liberals and Nationals’ plan are nothing more than desperate commentary from an under-siege premier. Only Labor would criticise a policy to improve planning laws, whilst at the same time conducting a secret review to improve those same laws themselves. Our plan to streamline planning and cultural heritage processes is about one thing and one thing only – getting more homes built sooner.
Updated
Finally, King said that in the long term the government was “determined” to make sure regional communities continued to be serviced by aviation services.
We know that Rex is very important for regional aviation, and we’re very determined to make sure that those regional aviation services are there. But the government will also, if we are called upon, will also want to have a bit of a say about what that future looks like, as well as the discussions between our leadership team, yourself and the prime minister.
There’s been discussions with the leadership team and my department today, and I’ve been keeping the prime minister informed and having discussions with him during the course of the day.
Updated
King said the government would “wait and see” before making any kind of announcement of support for Rex.
I would suggest that we just wait and to see what the announcement is. There’s a range of different announcements that could be made in terms of where Rex goes as of tomorrow. And it’s got some rules that it needs to comply with in terms of the Australian stock exchange.
But the government is working and prepared to work with them in terms of making sure that passengers can get to their destination, making sure that airports are still open and available for Rex to fly into.
Updated
Federal government ‘will work with Rex’ to secure airline’s future, transport minister says
Catherine King begins by saying the government is in “no doubt” of the importance of regional aviation, and of Rex’s role in connecting regional communities.
The infrastructure and transport minister said the government was prepared to “work with Rex” and it wanted to make sure the airline had a future.
We’ve been in constant discussions with Rex during the course of the day. My department has been doing that and we’ll wait for Rex to make an announcement about its future.
But can I say very, very clearly the government is in no doubt about the importance of regional aviation and Rex to regional aviation.
We will work with Rex. We want to make sure that they have a future as part of aviation in this country, and we’re very determined to make sure that happens. We obviously don’t want to do that just at any cost. We want to be involved very closely in what that future might look like.
I know this is a very uncertain time for staff, a very uncertain time for passengers, but I would say that there has been significant discussions during the course of today, and certainly we’ll wait for Rex to make their announcement as they need to do under the stock exchange rules.
Updated
Catherine King, minister for infrastructure and transport, is addressing the press on Rex Airlines after the carrier called a trading halt.
Updated
‘More time’ needed for safety regulator to approve Sydney metro, NSW says
NSW transport minister Jo Haylen has told reporters that the government needs “a little more time” for the safety regulator to give the new metro line its approval.
The government announced the opening of the metro has been delayed indefinitely because it failed to secure the green light from the national rail safety regulator.
Haylen fronted reporters earlier today and said the wait would be “worth it” when the Metro did eventually open:
It will be worth it when passengers can jump onboard but we do need a little longer to work through our processes.
We have worked through over 11,000 hours of testing between Chatswood and Sydney. More than 200 exercises have been completed for trial running of the metro, our full fleet of 45 trains has been tested, our bus timetables and changes are ready, our transport team is ready.
But we do need a little more time for the safety regulator to give us the final tick of approval. I’ve always said that safety and reliability comes first. And I’m not in the business of putting additional pressure on the national safety regulator.
Updated
Sydney’s second airport 80% finished
Construction of the western Sydney international airport is 80% complete, with the terminal roof over what will be the city’s second airport now finished.
On Tuesday afternoon, federal transport minister Catherine King appeared at the airport site to mark the milestone, just as the broader aviation industry grapples with concerns about the stability of Australia’s third-largest airline, Rex.
Completion of the roof represented important progress for the project as it weatherproofed the building, allowing for the acceleration of internal works like the feature ceiling, departure areas, lounges and retail space, King said.
Over the past 18 months, more than 3,500 people have worked on the airport’s construction, with more than 40km of Australian-made steel purlins and more than 3,500 tonnes of steelwork used.
King said “the countdown is well and truly on” for the 24-hour airport’s opening, slated for late 2026.
Updated
Mostafa Rachwani with you this afternoon, to take you through the rest of the day’s news.
Thanks for joining me on the blog today. Handing over to Mostafa Rachwani, who will take you through the evening news.
Updated
Former Victorian opposition leader booted from lower house after accusations he called premier ‘corrupt’
The former Victorian opposition leader Michael O’Brien has been booted from the lower house chamber after he was accused of calling the premier, Jacinta Allan, “corrupt” and one of her ministers, Sonya Kilkenny, a “liar”.
The shadow treasurer was asked to withdraw his comments by the speaker, Maree Edwards, but refused, while the current Liberal leader, John Pesutto, denied O’Brien had made the comments.
It sparked a passionate response to Pesutto from the deputy premier, Ben Carroll:
You had his back to him, I had my eyes on him.
Pesutto and O’Brien will be meeting with the speaker after question time wraps up over the incident. The Malvern MP was barred from the chamber for 30 minutes.
Updated
Urgent need for education on use of technology in domestic abuse: Kylea Tink
MP Kylea Tink has called for greater education on how technology is being used to control victims of domestic and family abuse, and legislative action to approach tackling technology-facilitated abuse (TFA).
She said:
While our understanding of domestic violence has evolved to include coercive control and emotional abuse, our responses must evolve too. Amid our domestic violence crisis, and with tracking and other non-physical abuses on the rise, it’s crucial we start addressing the role of technology in gender and family violence.
What has become clear is there is an urgent need for greater education on how technology is being used by perpetrators to control, track and abuse their victims. Not only do we need to educate young people on what is and is not an acceptable use of technology, but we must extend the education all the way to law enforcement and the judiciary so our police and judges are aware of the problem and can act accordingly.
Delegates at today’s roundtable also discussed the need for legislative action and a national approach to tackling TFA to better control and regulate the use of spyware and tracking devices. There is also a greater role for business and government service providers to play in ensuring their technology is not being used by perpetrators to control, track and abuse their victims.
Tink has committed to hosting another roundtable “with the aim of taking an action plan to the federal government before the end of the current parliamentary term”.
Updated
Opening of Sydney’s metro pushed back
The planned opening of the $21.6bn Sydney Metro project has been delayed and a new starting date has not been identified by the New South Wales government.
The new line was due to open on Sunday.
The transport minister, Jo Haylen, will shortly announce that the opening of the metro has been pushed back because the government is yet to secure approval from the national rail safety regulator.
The delay comes as the Minns Labor government remains in a dispute with the Fire Brigade Employees’ Union over wages.
The new metro line, which can accommodate driverless trains, will connect Tallawong in the city’s north-west to Sydenham in the inner west.
The government will not begin the metro conversion of the Sydenham to Bankstown T3 line until the main metro project is operating.
Updated
‘Direct link’ between technology-facilitated abuse and homicide, domestic violence roundtable hears
Technology-facilitated abuse is becoming one of the fastest growing forms of domestic and family abuse in Australia, a roundtable summit hosted by Kylea Tink, the independent MP for North Sydney, has heard.
This type of abuse includes cyberstalking and the use of spyware and tracking devices.
Every woman presenting to domestic service providers is likely to be experiencing some form of technology-facilitated abuse, frontline service providers told the roundtable.
The roundtable was attended by 40 frontline workers, service providers, researchers, advocates, peak bodies, and public sector leaders, according to a media release from Tink.
“There is a direct link between TFA and homicide,” one attendee said.
Another noted tracking software and spyware was “prevalent, cheap, accessible and advertised all over the internet”:
An iPhone is now essentially a spyware device and tracking people is easy to do.
Education around the prevalence of this type of abuse, and legislative gaps around the use and supply of technology, were among other points of discussion.
Updated
Health authorities rush to stem legionnaires outbreak
At least 22 people across Melbourne have contracted legionnaires’ disease – and most of them have been admitted to hospital – with health authorities fearing an outbreak that began on Friday will continue to spread.
There have been “multiple admissions” to intensive care units already due to “severe community acquired pneumonia” as a result of the outbreak, Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Clare Looker, said in a statement.
Along with the 22 confirmed cases, another six people were suspected to have contracted the disease in recent days, with the health department warning those displaying symptoms should see urgent medical care. Legionnaires’ disease can cause chest infections, fevers, chills and aches.
The health department has been investigating the cause of the outbreak, including by testing local cooling towers.
“All cases have visited or reside in metropolitan Melbourne,” Looker said in the statement.
“Those most at risk are adults aged over 40 years, especially people with other medical conditions or immune compromise, or who smoke.
“People who develop symptoms should seek urgent medical care.”
Updated
Queensland’s ‘knee-knocking’ cold to continue, BoM says
Queensland can expect a week of cold mornings.
Southern and central Queensland recorded “some knee-knocking temperatures” this morning, the Bureau of Meteorology said. Wellcamp came in coldest at -5.7C.
🥶Some knee-knocking temperatures recorded again this morning in southern and central QLD, with Wellcamp the coldest at -5.7C. Further cold mornings ahead this week. Observations: https://t.co/Za5afBEYP7 pic.twitter.com/7Bc5Leds2f
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) July 29, 2024
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Does Centrelink backlog data compare apples to apples?
More on that Centrelink data (that the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims have fallen 66%, which we reported earlier in the blog here): numbers like these look all right on the surface, but there are a couple of important caveats.
The data shared by the minister’s office compares the average processing time experienced by people whose claims were finalised in the first 21 days of July against the average processing time over the whole of the last financial year, to state that claims processing times have reduced. It’s not exactly comparing apples to apples.
To take the age pension as an example: for the people whose claims were finalised during the three weeks of July, the average time they had waited for a decision was 60 days. Over the whole previous year, the average wait time was 76 days. That’s the basis of Shorten’s statement that wait times have been reduced by 21%.
But depending on when you looked last year, it was both worse and better – in December, for example, it was 91 days, but back in August, the average wait time was only marginally higher to now: 61 days.
Guardian Australia has previously reported on the extremely long wait times Centrelink applicants have endured, with my colleagues Cait Kelly and Josh Nicholas reporting in March that disability support pension claims took an average of 82.2 days to be processed in the last three months of 2023.
That does put in a different light the suggestion that the average wait time of 81 days for those whose claims were finalised this month is a marked improvement – even against the 93-day full-year average.
Updated
Air New Zealand dumps 2030 carbon intensity targets in climate policy shift
Air New Zealand says it will drop its 2030 carbon intensity reduction target, marking a big shift as global airlines struggle to cope with aircraft shortages and tight supply of sustainable aviation fuel.
Global conflicts are leading to airlines taking longer routes, raising concerns about whether the aviation industry can meet the target for net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 that the global trade body International Air Transport Association adopted in 2021.
Air New Zealand’s CEO, Greg Foran, said in a statement:
It is possible the airline may need to retain its existing fleet for longer than planned due to global manufacturing and supply chain issues that could potentially slow the introduction of newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft into the fleet.
- Reuters
Updated
Housing approvals slumped in June, capping the worst year since 2011-12
Federal and state governments have made much about making housing a priority but so far, there’s little sign of an uptick.
In fact, the numbers of dwelling approvals continue to retreat. They fell 6.5% in June alone, reversing the 5.7% rise in May, and for the whole year, they were down 8.5% to about 163,000 the ABS has just said.
Building approvals slumped 6.5% in June alone, and 8.5% for the whole financial year. The 162,892 dwellings approved was the lowest for an FY since 2011-12,@ABSStats
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 30, 2024
says. pic.twitter.com/5QJbpgFQrp
The ABS said material and labour shortages were partly to blame, with the average approval value for new houses rising by $19,444 in the past year.
The number of private sector dwelling approvals excluding houses (ie flats) dropped about a fifth in June from both the previous month and June 2024.
Private sector houses did a bit better, falling a mere 0.5% in June, to 9,078, the ABS said. For the year, approvals were down about 2% to just over 104,000.
We flagged these problems earlier this year, highlighting why the Albanese government’s pledge of 1.2m new homes over five years (starting this month) was going to be difficult to meet.
Looks like it will be even tougher, given the sagging momentum in approvals at least.
Updated
Pallas aware of allegations of ‘bad behaviour’ at CFMEU before Nine report but says ‘those matters did not go to illegality’
The Victorian treasurer and minister for industrial relations, Tim Pallas, is speaking to the media for the first time about the allegations of criminality within the CFMEU, which was reported several weeks ago by Nine newspapers.
At the time, Pallas was on a trip to the US to visit the credit rating agencies, S&P and Moody’s.
On Tuesday, he said while he had been made aware of allegations of “bad behaviour” in the union prior to Nine’s reporting, “those matters did not go to illegality”.
Pallas continued:
I would be disingenuous with you if I were to say that this industry is not one that disproportionately receives expressions of concern. This is a hard industry, we have large levels of capital tied up, and we have unions that have a difficult job representing people doing hard work in dangerous circumstances. The highest levels of death in any industry are recorded in this industry. This requires a very substantial union that has a capacity to look after the wellbeing of its membership.
He said he had taken any complaints he received about the union seriously but noted the new allegations commanded a strong response:
When the allegations go to illegality, that is entirely a different matter. And it is in those circumstances that the government has to act.
The Victorian government suspended the union’s construction division from the state Labor party and temporarily banned donations from it. The premier, Jacinta Allan, also wrote to police and the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission about the allegations and announced an independent review.
Updated
Two dead after trucks collide on Newell Highway
Two drivers have died and the Newell Highway in northern NSW remains closed after two trucks collided, according to a police statement.
Emergency services were called to the scene about 10pm last night and found two B-doubles – medium-sized articulated trucks that tow two semi-trailers – had collided.
Both male drivers, aged 25 and 63, died at the scene. A report will be prepared for the the coroner.
The Newell Highway is closed north of Moree at Boggabilla Road, and south from Boggabilla at the Bruxner Highway intersection, police said. It’s expected the highway will be closed while the scene is examined and cleared until late today.
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Allan accuses Pesutto of opposing new homes in his own inner Melbourne seat
Allan questioned why Pesutto wanted to overhaul cultural heritage to encourage more homes in the outer suburbs, while rejecting new developments in his inner Melbourne seat of Hawthorn.
The premier said:
We’ve seen John Pesutto in his own electorate campaign against the houses that are being built right now in Bills Street, Hawthorn. That’s not how you build more homes.
How you build more homes is … to address some of those planning backlogs, look at how we can release more government land, which we’ve done today, look at working with local councils as to how they can also bring developments on more quickly.
The Liberal party aren’t focused on any of that. They’re just focused on nasty racial divisions.
Updated
Cultural heritage management just one part of planning process to be improved, Allan says
Back to Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan.
Allan acknowledged that the government needed to streamline the entire planning process and said the work had been under way since the release of the housing statement in September 2023.
She said:
All elements of the planning process need to be examined as to how we can improve those processes to make good decisions faster … The cultural heritage management approvals process is just one part of all the third-party approval processes that need to be improved so that we can get on and build more homes.
That’s what the focus should be on. Not on nasty racial division that’s being driven by true blue Liberal John Pesutto. We need to focus on building more homes as quickly as we can.
And also too, when it comes to the Liberal party, at least we have a target. At least we have a plan and at least we have a program as to how we’re going to build more homes.
The Liberal party don’t even have an ambition to build more homes. They stand on the back of utes in their own electorates opposing the construction of more homes in our state.
Updated
PM: ‘We are engaging as a government’ with Rex Airlines
Asked whether the government is “prepared to bail [Rex Airlines] out,” after the carrier requested a trading halt, Albanese said:
We are concerned about Rex. It’s an important regional airline. What we will do, though, is examine any proposals.
Rex receives substantial government support with no conditions attached. One of the things that I expressed concern about was that no conditions so that Rex, for example, moved [away] from their traditional role of being a regional airline into flights, for example, from Sydney to Melbourne. Sydney to Melbourne has been, always, in the top 10 routes in the world …
Rex, as a regional airline, of course, provides important links with regional communities – and particularly between capital cities and regional communities – it is important for those local economies.
So we want to see the aviation industry in Australia continue to be one that provides those services and that access. But we know, with Rex, we are engaging as a government, through the department and through minister [Catherine] King – who I’ve spoken with again this morning and I met with yesterday afternoon about these issues – that certainly we will continue to work these issues through.
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PM questioned on potential rate rise and what it could mean for Labor’s election chances
Asked whether tomorrow’s inflation will “make or break the federal government’s re-election chances if it causes rates to rise,” Albanese said:
Well, we’re dealing with cost-of-living pressures. We know that inflation peaked at 2.1% in the March 2022 quarter, in just one quarter. That was prior to us coming to office. The response of the former government was to produce a stimulatory budget in March in which they splashed money around trying to win an election in May 2022.
What my government’s response has been stands in stark contrast. Instead of the mass Liberal deficits, we have had consecutive Labor surpluses. We have done that whilst achieving cost-of-living support. Tax cuts for all 13.6 million Australian taxpayers. $300 energy price bill relief. Cheaper childcare, fee-free Tafe and as well supporting, importantly, wages increasing. Real wage increases, more so in our two years in office than occurred under the almost decade in office of the previous Coalition government.
We want Australians to earn more and keep more of what they earn. We want that so that pressure can be taken off cost of living, so all of our cost of living measures, importantly, designed in a way that put that downward pressure on inflation.
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‘This is a troubling area’: PM urges Australians leave Lebanon
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now live.
Answering a question from a reporter about travel advice to Lebanon, he urges Australians already visiting the country to “take advantage of the commercial flights that are available out of Lebanon at this time”:
The travel advice very clearly is don’t go to Lebanon. That is the travel advice, and also that people who are there, who are Australian citizens, should ensure that they take advantage of the commercial flights that are available out of Lebanon at this time.
This is a troubling area. We have been issuing these travel warnings for many months now, and it is important that people are cognisant of those warnings.
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‘We will continue to look at ways in which we can deepen our defence cooperation’: Wong in DMZ
Pivoting to foreign minister Penny Wong, who is speaking live from a joint security area in the Korean Demilitarised Zone.
“We want to cooperate with Korea in those areas they wish us to cooperate with them,” she says in answer to a question from a reporter.
Ensuring peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific requires the engagement of many countries. Peace is never a given, and it is also something that must be worked for.
We see Korea as being a very important part of enabling the strategic balance in the region. And we see our relationship with Korea – which has been an economic relationship, a very important economic relationship, a very important energy relationship – but we see that as part of a bigger relationship, a relationship which will go to increasingly greater economic cooperation, cooperation on climate but also cooperation in the strategic area.
We already have military exercises where we participate together and we will continue to look at ways in which we can deepen our defence cooperation.
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Victoria premier accuses Liberal leader of stoking ‘racial division’ over cultural heritage management
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has accused the opposition leader, John Pesutto, of stoking “nasty racial division” over his plan to tighten the rules around Indigenous community involvement in planning decisions.
Pesutto on Sunday announced a plan to overhaul the state’s cultural heritage scheme. He claimed the legally required cultural heritage management plans were stalling development and creating uncertainty for developers on Melbourne’s fast-growing fringe.
He did not consult First Nations groups before announcing the policy.
Speaking outside parliament on Tuesday, the premier said the Coalition had shown its “true blue colours at their absolute worst”:
Let’s be clear. Less than 1% of all applications are required to go through a cultural heritage management plan … It’s a very small number and the vast majority of those applications go through the process in the required statutory timeframes of 30 days.
This is being used by this true blue Liberal outfit, that John Pesutto leads, to drive nasty racial division at precisely the time that we should be focused on two things, looking doing everything we can to build more homes and everything we can to build that pathway towards treaty, because it provides for better outcomes for all Victorians.
More to come in the next few blog posts.
Updated
Melbourne Airport is having “some residual delays from the fog this morning,” a media spokesperson said.
International flight MF803 has diverted to Adelaide.
The fog has now lifted.
Victorian government struggling to stay on top of road maintenance, minister admits
The Victorian minister for roads, Melissa Horne, has admitted the government has been struggling to keep up with pothole maintenance after wild storms and wetter than average conditions.
Horne on Tuesday responded to the latest RACV My Country Road survey, which identified the 20 worst roads across the state and found potholes and poor road conditions were the biggest road safety concern of two-thirds of the 7,000 drivers surveyed.
Horne said:
I’d really like to thank the RACV for the work that they’ve done in this survey. As you can appreciate, the last time that they did a survey was in 2021 – now, that was pre-all the floods that we saw in 2022 and then the subsequent floods in 2023 and also this year. In October 2022, right at the start of when we were going to get out there and do road maintenance, those catastrophic floods hit so much of Victoria. In fact, we had 63 local government areas that were absolutely inundated by those floods out of 79 local government areas. That had a massive impact on our roads.
She said following the floods, hundreds of thousands of potholes were filled but maintenance was difficult due to wet weather.
Horne explained:
In fact, just last year, I was out in Ballarat talking to a road crew that was saying, even in the height of summer, because the water table was so high, they’d be putting down asphalt at the same time that there would be water then bubbling back up out of the holes that they were filling in.
The challenges for our road crews has been immense, but that’s why this work that the RACV has done, and coupled with the amount of respondents that we’ve had from the community, allows us when October comes this year, when it is warmer and it is drier and to get our road crews back out, doing that important rehabilitation work.
The RACV report identified the 65km stretch of the Melba Highway between Coldstream and Yea as Victoria’s worst regional list.
Updated
Inflation chatter nearing its crescendo with RBA among those watching closest
Ever since inflation started ramping up around the start of 2022, prompting the Reserve Bank to start hiking its key interest rate from May of that year, the quarterly inflation data from the ABS has reliably drawn a lot of attention. Borrowers know the drill only too well.
Tomorrow’s release of the June quarter consumer price index figures are arguably the most important in the past couple of years because of the signs seen earlier this year – and reinforced in the incomplete monthly results for April and May – that inflation wasn’t being brought to heel as the RBA had hoped.
We look more closely here at what the RBA had forecast in May for the quarter just past, and how that stacks up with the punditry (who have had a couple of months more data to tweak their view:
We do know the RBA has given itself a lot of flexibility – and it would rather not hike rates again if it doesn’t have to. They’ve gone five board meetings since the last increase, back in November, and – prior to tomorrow’s CPI release – markets reckon there’s only about a one in five chance the central bank will use its 5-6 August meeting to lift rates again.
The RBA watches not only the actual inflation numbers but also where people think inflation will go. The latest ANZ/Roy Morgan weekly survey points to expectations remaining pretty “anchored” as the central bank would want them to be.
Inflation expectations are hovering at 5% according to the weekly survey by @ANZ_Research and @RoyMorganAus. Rolling four-week average also at that level. pic.twitter.com/1ManzsVOen
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 30, 2024
Anyway, we’ll find out tomorrow at 11.30 AEST whether inflation is stickier than we want.
Updated
Abolish Incoming Passenger Card, Australian travel report recommends
A new report wants to abolish the Incoming Passenger Card, in a call to modernise Australian air and seaports’ passenger processing.
The Future Traveller Strategy report by Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Tourism, says Australia risks losing its reputation as a desirable destination if it doesn’t improve the passenger experience.
On top of binning the Incoming Passenger Card (which requires you declare food, plant material and animal products on a form on your way out of the airport), recommendations include making multiple-entry visas available for key markets, replacing the SmartGate system with “passenger on the move” technology and ensuring appropriate air capacity setting to increase competition and lower air fare costs.
Chair John Hart says:
Whilst Australia ranks fifth in the world for travel and tourism competitiveness, we are 53rd for ground and port infrastructure and 112th for price competitiveness out 119 countries.
The government needs to embrace technology and streamline systems such as abolishing the outdated Incoming Passenger Card, when the passenger information can be provided by travel providers and travel agents.
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New commonwealth-funded short courses for teachers to tackle disruptive classrooms
Teachers will be able to tackle poor classroom behaviour from today with a free short course unveiled to help teachers manage disruptive classrooms.
Some $3m in commonwealth funding has been delivered to the University of Adelaide to design the microcredential classroom management course, which offers strategies to create safe classrooms, address frequent interruptions to learning, build “inclusive practices” and manage escalations in behaviour.
One in three teachers have reported losing teaching time due to disruptive behaviour in Australian classrooms, which are among the world’s most disorderly, affecting teacher safety and work satisfaction and school-leaving results, OECD findings suggest.
A Senate inquiry’s interim report on increasing disruption in Australian school classrooms last year found the issue was contributing to poor literacy and numeracy results for young people – recommending strengthening initial teacher education (ITE) programs, including investing in professional development and explicit teaching methods. The findings were critiqued by some experts and the Greens.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, said the new 48-hour course would help “support new and experienced teachers and help to improve student learning outcomes”.
Microcredential courses funded by the commonwealth in explicit teaching and teaching phonics will also be accessible in coming months.
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Nine-year-old boy missing in Logan, Queensland since last Tuesday
Queensland police are appealing for public assistance to find a nine-year-old boy who has been missing since last Tuesday.
The boy was last seen at school along Arthur Street, Woodridge, around 2.30pm on 23 July, and has not been seen or heard from since. He is approximately 130cm tall, is described as caucasian with light red hair and green eyes, and was last seen wearing a dark green school uniform.
Police are concerned for the boy’s welfare as he has a condition that requires medication.
They believe the boy may still be in the Woodridge area and are appealing to him, or anyone with information about his whereabouts, to come forward.
Updated
Increase in human trafficking and slavery reports to AFP
There has been a 12% increase in reports of human trafficking and slavery to the Australian federal police in the 2023-2024 financial year, according to data released as part of the United Nations’ World Day Against Trafficking in Persons.
In the 2023-24 financial year, the AFP received 382 reports of modern slavery and human trafficking offences – including 91 reports of forced marriage, 69 reports of forced labour, 59 reports of sexual exploitation and 21 reports of domestic servitude.
This is up from 340 reports in the previous financial year.
AFP human exploitation commander Helen Schneider said:
They represent innocent lives in the community. By raising awareness of the laws in Australia and supporting victims, we can make strides in eradicating this crime.
This increase is likely attributed to increased awareness of these crimes in the Australian community.
The theme for World Day Against Trafficking in Persons 2024 is “Leave no child behind in the fight against human trafficking”. Globally, data from the United Nations shows one in three victims of human trafficking is a child.
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Wong to visit DMZ while in South Korea
In the Republic of Korea, Penny Wong will visit the UN Command Buildings in the Joint Security Area within the Demilitarised Zone – “an enduring symbol of international cooperation in addressing North Korea’s challenges to security and stability,” she said in a statement.
Wong will also meet with South Korean foreign minister Cho Tae-yul in Seoul “to progress implementation of the outcomes from our May 2+2 meeting in Melbourne”.
She said in a statement:
Australia and the ROK are building on our strategic alignment with expanded bilateral and regional cooperation, including on the energy transition and economic security.
Updated
Penny Wong visiting South Korea
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is travelling to the Republic of Korea for a bilateral visit today.
Wong departed Australia on Friday, visiting Laos for meetings of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) and Japan for the Quad foreign ministers’ meeting over the weekend.
She said in a statement:
This visit to Laos, Japan and the Republic of Korea is an opportunity to promote Australia’s interests and deepen collaboration with key partners and regional architecture in pursuit of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region.
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Burke blasts James Paterson’s ‘idiotic’ comment on security checks for Palestinians
Tony Burke also swatted away assertions that he could not be trusted to ensure proper security checks for Palestinians hoping to flee to Australia from Gaza.
Patricia Karvelas put to Burke on ABC RN: “[James Paterson] … says, because you’re under pressure from the Muslim Votes group in your seat, and you have expressed views of solidarity for Palestinian people that have been outspoken on that issue, he says you can’t be trusted to ensure proper identity and security checks are conducted for the thousands of Gaza residents who want to come to Australia.”
Burke responded:
Can I just say, what an idiotic comment from somebody who has clearly never been a minister.
If that’s the character of my shadow, then yeah, we’ll just deal with what comes at us.
The issue of making sure that you deal with security checks is fundamental, fundamental to the immigration program. I have never hesitated to reject visas or to cancel visas.
Any decision, regardless of where someone comes from, has to have your appropriate security and identity checks.
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Tony Burke criticises Coalition's ‘horrific misrepresentation’ of his immigration record
Tony Burke has pushed back against the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, for misrepresenting his record as immigration minister in 2013.
Patricia Karvelas asked: “James Paterson says you’re a failed immigration minister … and on your watch, he says 83 boats carrying nearly 7,000 people showed up in just a few days. How do you respond to that charge?”
Burke responded:
Their first attempt to have a go at me on policy is to provide just the most horrific misrepresentation you can imagine.
It’s true when I first was given the job that the number of people arriving by boat was at an all time high. What they failed to mention is the difference between what happened when I arrived and what happened by the time I left.
After about three weeks, we’d found a way to completely change the policy. And in the seven weeks that followed, there was a 90% reduction in the number of people putting their lives at risk at sea.
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Burke says ‘legal challenges’ being discussed regarding immigration detainees released by high court ruling
Asked whether he will review who in the cohort of “foreign nationals released under that high court ruling are under preventative detention orders” on ABC RN, Tony Burke responded:
In terms of those individuals, my priority is keeping people safe. My absolute priority is keeping people safe. So we’ve started to have some conversations about some of the different challenges, legal challenges, that are being tried, and what we need to do to make sure that the community is kept safe here.
Obviously, no one wanted the high court decision, we fought the high court decision. And what we have to do now is, within the confines of what we’ve been given by the high court, make sure that we leave absolutely no stone unturned in keeping people safe.
The high court ruling found indefinite immigration detention unlawful, in a landmark decision overturning a 20-year-old precedent. Read more here:
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Burke says team of six people will enable him to manage home affairs and immigration portfolios
Asked how he will manage portfolios that previously belonged to “a couple of different ministers,” Tony Burke told Patricia Karvelas on ABC RN he “couldn’t be happier with the team I’ve been given”:
The prime minister has put together a team of six people. So there’s myself as the lead minister, there’s two assistant ministers, and it’s three different envoys …
So while there’s been a fair bit of attention to me being the lead minister, the fact that we have a team that will work really effectively across the full range of issues, gives me a very high degree of confidence of how we’ll handle this.
Anthony Albanese cleared out his home affairs ministry, replacing both Clare O’Neil and Andrew Giles with Burke.
He has taken on home affairs, immigration and multicultural affairs on top of his leader of the house and arts minister responsibilities.
You can read more here:
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People smuggling, cybersecurity on the agenda for talks with Indonesia, Burke says
Patricia Karvelas asked minister Tony Burke whether people smuggling and border security are on the agenda for the 10th Indonesia-Australia Ministerial Council on Law and Security.
Burke told ABC RN:
Cooperation with Indonesia is fundamental to a whole range of national security issues.
We’ll be talking about shared national security challenges. Issues of radicalisation, including online, have very much been changing at a pace. There are issues of cybersecurity, where cooperation between the countries is very important.
And obviously as well, conversations about people smuggling is something that – I was in Indonesia meeting with them on people smuggling issues back in 2013.
Those conversations are always very important.
Updated
Tony Burke, who has taken on home affairs, immigration and multicultural affairs portfolios in prime minister Anthony Albanese’s cabinet reshuffle, tells ABC RN the new roles are “a serious job that has to be done”.
“I’ve worked in the area previously, when I was last minister,” he said, pointing to his time as immigration minister in 2013. “Keeping Australia safe is absolutely essential.”
More to come on Burke speaking on ABC RN in the next blog post.
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Albanese says Rex Airlines is 'important' as carrier calls trading halt
Turbulence at Rex Airlines appears to be increasing after the carrier requested a trading halt following speculation it would appoint consultants to turnaround its financial woes.
On Monday, the ASX announced it had suspended trade in the airline’s shares after it had requested the move pending an announcement related to a news article published on Saturday, understood to be a report in the Australian that the airline had appointed turnaround experts from Deloitte.
Rex’s request suggested an imminent related announcement, with the halt in place until the commencement of trade on Wednesday.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said an airline running into trouble was a weekly occurrence in the tough, global industry.
“One thing we need to do is to make sure that we have a viable and ongoing Australian aviation industry,” he told ABC News.
But he added that a range of communities around the nation relied on the carrier.
“Rex is the only airline to go to some of those destinations, so it’s important,” Albanese said.
The prime minister met his transport minister, Catherine King, on Monday and further information had been sought from the airline, he said.
Updated
More on Bill Shorten’s announcement this morning:
The data shared by Shorten’s office also includes notes that the average time it took for an operator to answer the phone at Centrelink during that three-week period in July was 26 minutes “depending on the day”.
For comparison, the average wait time for Centrelink calls to be answered in July and August 2023 was 32 minutes, compared with 22 minutes the previous financial year.
The figures also claim the number of congestion messages in the week ending 21 July were 58% lower than they had been in the week ending 14 January.
Make of it all what you will. It’s unclear if the reductions in processing time for things like the pharmaceutical benefits scheme safety net – from an average of 98 days last financial year to 28 days in the first three weeks of July – will be sustained.
Like all the other improvements claimed, we won’t really know until the end of the year if these figures show permanent progress, or just a blip at a quiet time of year. And they’re averages, not medians, so they’re liable to be skewed by extremes at either end.
Shorten said in a statement overnight:
I know Australians are doing it tough and I’ve asked Services Australia to work hard to reduce its claim processing and call wait times. There’s more to do, particularly in processing complex claims, but we’re making significant inroads across the board.
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Shorten claims backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims have fallen 66%
Bill Shorten will be out and about this morning wearing his minister for government services hat, claiming that under federal Labor, the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims has been reduced by 66%, and that processing times have reduced by 73% on last year for people applying for jobseeker payments.
Some 890,000 outstanding claims had been resolved, Shorten said in a statement overnight, with the total now down from 1.35m in early February to “a regular number” of around 460,000.
Processing times had improved by 84% for paid parental leave (from 25 days down to 4) and 73% for jobseeker (from 22 days down to 6), the minister said.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and these are some of the top stories this morning.
Our lead story this morning is the first part of a new investigation. It reveals that multiple academics have spoken to Guardian Australia about the number of university students who struggle with “basic English” but still receive degrees, saying the integrity of the tertiary sector is under threat – and the rise of AI is accelerating the crisis.
Australians are feeling less opposed to a Donald Trump presidency than four years ago, and less sure the Aukus agreement will make Australia more secure, according to our latest Guardian Essential poll.
Bill Shorten will be out and about this morning wearing his minister for government services hat, claiming that under federal Labor, the backlog of Medicare and Centrelink claims has been reduced by 66%, and that processing times have reduced by 73% on last year for people applying for jobseeker payments. Full details coming up.
The Albanese government turned down a plea from budget airline Bonza for financial assistance 10 days before it entered voluntary administration and ultimately collapsed, we report this morning. Documents obtained by Guardian Australia through freedom of information laws reveal the transport department prepared a brief on Bonza’s financial assistance request for the transport minister, Catherine King, on 20 April. Ten days later the airline’s planes were repossessed and thousands of passengers stranded across the country.
It comes Anthony Albanese said Rex Airlines was “important” to communities not served by Qantas and Virgin after the carrier suspended trading in its shares amid speculation about its future. More coming up.
