What we learned: Tuesday, 2 April
With that, we will wrap up the blog for the evening. The lovely Emily Wind will be back on deck first thing tomorrow – until then, have a great night.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Network Ten has won its bid to reopen its defence in the defamation trial launched by Bruce Lehrmann, delaying the verdict until next week.
An Australian citizen is among seven aid workers killed in an alleged Israeli Defence Force (IDF) strike on Gaza. Zomi Frankcom was working for the World Central Kitchen charity when she was killed. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said the death was “completely unacceptable”, adding the government would call in the Israeli ambassador and demand “full accountability”.
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA) has received legal advice that the youth curfew in Alice Springs may be unlawful. The curfew was imposed last week by chief minister Eva Lawler following civil unrest in the town, with anyone aged under 18 banned from going into the CBD between 6pm and 6am.
And the Bureau of Meteorology has released statistics confirming March was Australia’s third wettest on record, with rainfall nearly double the norm. It comes as nearly a month of rain was dropped on Victoria in 24 hours. The state’s emergency services fielded more than 500 requests for help as thunderstorms pummelled Melbourne’s western suburbs and the centre and east of the state on Monday.
Updated
Network Ten wins bid to reopen its defence in the Bruce Lehrmann case
Network Ten has won its bid to reopen its defence in the Bruce Lehrmann case, delaying the judgment until next week.
Read the story here:
Updated
The General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and the Pacific has also released a statement on the death of international aid workers in Gaza, expressing shock and grief by the reports.
Izzat Salah Abdulhadi, ambassador of the embassy, has placed pressure on Australia to harden its response.
This is not the first time that Israel has targeted humanitarian relief personnel during its genocidal onslaught on Gaza.
Since 7 October 2023, the United Nations has recorded an ‘unprecedented number of violations against its staff and facilities that surpass any other conflict around the world’, with at least 174 UN employees killed by Israeli airstrikes and bombardments in just five months.
We urgently call on the international community, including Australia, to condemn this unacceptable and unjustifiable killing in the strongest terms and to call for an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza to enable humanitarian relief personnel to continue their life-saving work.
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Back to the hearing.
Matthew Richardson SC, for Bruce Lehrmann, argued that the new evidence was “trivial” and it was not worth reopening the case for.
Richardson said the additional financial benefits received by Lehrmann from Seven was three weeks’ rent amounting to $12,000 on top of the $104,000 which was already disclosed.
If the case is to be reopened and former Spotlight producer Taylor Auerbach is to be a witness, his psychiatric condition needs to be assessed, Richardson told the court.
Multiple journalists, including I assume some at the back of the court, have described [Auerbach’s] appearances in public in recent weeks as bizarre.
Richardson said re-opening the case would require significant time and may delay the judgement.
Death of Zomi Frankcom a ‘crime’, Palestine Advocacy Network alleges
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has released a statement following the alleged Israeli airstrike that killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom in Gaza, maintaining her death is not just a tragedy – but a crime.
APAN alleges the death is the latest in a series of attacks on humanitarian convoys, workers and civilians seeking aid, that must be unequivocally condemned by the Australian government.
Its president, Nasser Mashni, said:
Even when an Australian humanitarian worker is murdered by Israel while trying to feed starving Palestinians, the best the Australian government can do is to label this a ‘tragedy’ and ‘request a call-in’ from the Israeli ambassador.
This is not a tragedy, this is a crime, and governments like ours are continuing to offer Israel the impunity to commit these crimes every time they respond using weak language like this.
Mashni said the commonwealth must immediately “unequivocally condemn Israel’s behaviour, pull every diplomatic and economic lever at its disposal” and stop issuing permits for the export of Australian-made components for weapons being used by the Israeli government.
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Network Ten lawyers tell court Bruce Lehrmann may have handed AFP briefing documents to Seven’s Spotlight program
Network Ten’s lawyers have told the federal court that Bruce Lehrmann may have leaked confidential material he received in his criminal trial to the Seven network’s Spotlight program, potentially in breach of an implied undertaking not to do so.
Under cross-examination in the defamation trial last year, Lehrmann said he gave Seven an interview only, despite his exclusivity contract saying he was required to give the network all relevant documents.
Justice Michael Lee asked Ten’s barrister, Dr Matt Collins KC, why the fresh evidence is relevant to the judgement he is about to hand down on Thursday in the defamation he brought against Ten and Wilkinson.
Collins said the evidence goes to Lehrmann’s credit and to whether he abused the court process, which may affect the quantum of damages.
Sue Chrysanthou SC, for Lisa Wilkinson, told Justice Lee that Lehrmann had not been entirely honest about the financial benefits that he received from Seven.
The court heard that the fresh evidence raises questions whether Lehrmann may have given instructions to his legal team which were not truthful.
Lehrmann is opposing the application to reopen the case to hear new evidence.
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Civil liberty organisations express ‘deep concern’ over Labor migration bill
Three leading civil society organisations have penned a letter to minister for employment, workplace relations and the arts, Tony Burke, expressing their “deep concern and disappointment” regarding the recent introduction of the migration amendment nill.
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Liberty Victoria and the Queensland Council for Civil Liberties said they were particularly troubled by objectives “apparently underpinning the legislation”, including exclusion of entire nations from migration and further criminalisation of people seeking safety.
Implicit in the government’s legislation are the repugnant ideas that it is legitimate to exclude, detain, and criminalise people based on where they were born and regardless of their fears of persecution, and to respond to judicial consideration regarding infringements of our Constitution made by the nation’s highest judicial body, the high court of Australia, with ill-considered workaround legislation and avoidance of scrutiny.
It is obvious that there is no true urgency to this legislation, and the attempt to pass it in a single day demonstrates that the government has failed to respect the integrity of the parliamentary process.
Read more about the bill here:
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BoM says El Niño 'near its end' but cautions forecasts beyond May are unreliable
The Bureau of Meteorology has confirmed El Niño is “near its end”, with sea surface temperatures in the central tropical Pacific expected to return to neutral later in autumn.
In an update, the Bureau said oceanic indicators were still meeting El Niño thresholds, while consistent with its “decaying” by the end of April, to become neutral in May.
While four out of seven international models are predicting a La Niña by late winter, the forecasts of the ENSO state beyond May should be used with caution. Forecasts have historically had their lowest skill for forecasts issued in April, with skill increasing from May.
The oceans have been the warmest on record globally since April 2023. The global pattern of warmth is affecting the typical historical global pattern of sea surface temperatures associated with ENSO variability. As the current global ocean conditions have not been observed before, inferences of how ENSO may develop in 2024 that are based on past events may not be reliable.
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AAP and Google launch partnership to tackle mis- and disinformation
Australian Associated Press (AAP) and Google have announced a new fact-checking partnership to address mis- and disinformation across Australia and New Zealand.
The program will bolster AAP’s existing fact-checking platform, which is distributed to more than 380 publications across both countries.
For the first time, it will also analyse global misinformation trends and produce video explainers translated to different languages for distribution to local news outlets and social media.
AAP’s CEO, Lisa Davies, said the information environment had never been more challenging for journalists, newsrooms and audiences alike and would significantly expand its ability to crack down on mistruths.
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Details on replacement Lucas Heights nuclear medicine facility released
The ageing nuclear medicine facility at Lucas Heights will be replaced by 2032 – about 15 years after an independent report found it failed to meet modern nuclear safety standards.
A committee inquiry in Sydney this afternoon heard some more details about the new facility, which Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Ansto) officials said would deliver a more reliable supply of isotopes for cancer diagnoses and treatments.
There have been planned and unplanned shutdowns in recent years for maintenance.
A 12,700m2 building will be built across from the Opal research reactor to futureproof Ansto’s facility. Ansto provides almost 80% of the isotopes used in Australia for about 10,000 procedures a week.
Ansto said the facility was “approaching the end of its useful life” after initially being built as a laboratory in the 1950s and the old facility would remain open during the transition.
The replacement will cost about $620m.
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Urgent hearing in Lehrmann defamation case has begun
Meanwhile, an urgent hearing in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case kicked off at 5pm.
The hearing seeks to reopen Network Ten’s defence days before the judgement in the case was due to be handed down.
Justice Michael Lee was scheduled to deliver his judgment in the federal court in Sydney on Thursday morning in the defamation case Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and former Project host Lisa Wilkinson.
This evening, Lee will hear Ten’s argument for reopening its case in light of “fresh evidence”, according to the interlocutory application filed on Sunday afternoon.
Guardian Australia understands the evidence includes an affidavit with new information about Lehrmann’s dealings with the Seven Network’s Spotlight program.
Our media correspondent, Amanda Meade, will bring you the latest.
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Jewish Council of Australia urges government to cut ties with Israel and join arms embargo
The Jewish Council of Australia has urged state and federal governments to immediately cut all military ties with, and place sanctions on, Israel amid escalating violence in Gaza.
It points to a decision made by the International Court of Justice last month for additional provisional measures in the case brought by South Africa against Israel for violating the Genocide Convention.
Three days earlier, the UN Security Council voted for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Sarah Schwartz, a human rights lawyer and the executive officer of the Jewish Council of Australia, said in light of these developments and worsening conditions of Palestinians the Australian government should be using all available forms of diplomatic pressure to push for a ceasefire.
The ICJ’s additional provisional orders are a clear sign that the situation in Gaza has drastically deteriorated … the images emerging today of Israel’s total destruction of Gaza’s Al-Shifa hospital, together with the news that Israel has killed an Australian aid worker, ought to force governments like ours to take concrete action. The world cannot stand idly by in the face of such horrific cruelty.
Australia must heed the additional provisional measures ordered by the ICJ and do everything in its power to prevent Israel committing the international crime of genocide by killing, mass starvation and disease, including imposing sanctions and cutting military ties. In particular, Australia must end its role in supplying weapons parts to Israel and throw its weight behind a global arms embargo.
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Liberal MP says ‘right and proper’ that death of Australian citizen in Gaza be investigated
Wolahan, asked the same question, echoes that a tragedy has occurred, adding the government’s first duty is to Australians.
It is right and proper that questions are asked and an investigation is conducted.
We must not stop short of whether it [is] deliberate or not, most casualties in war are accidents … that does not mean you can’t press for better protections to be made to distinguish between civilians better.
If mistakes are being made and if that’s what has happened here it’s a big one.
According to the most recent figures, 174 UN staff have been killed in the conflict, including 171 UNRWA staff.
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Assistant defence minister says death of Australian in Gaza a ‘terrible tragedy’
The assistant defence minister, Matt Thistlethwaite, and Liberal MP Keith Wolahan are appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
Asked if the government had a “working hypothesis” of what had gone wrong leading to the death of an Australian aid worker, Thistlethwaite said a “terrible tragedy” had occurred.
A young Australian woman seeking to do good in a war-torn area in the Middle East, trying to bring relief to particularly children who have been suffering … that’s why prime minister has said this sort of thing is totally unacceptable and the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade will be working with Israeli authorities to try and work out what’s happened here and gone on.
He said that highlighted Australia’s commitment to working internationally for an immediate ceasefire, while also urging for the immediate release of hostages taken by Hamas.
We want to see the conflict come to an end because innocent people’s lives are being threatened and innocent people are losing their life.
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Hanson-Young: ‘Closed-door consultations only silence experts and stifle environmental protection’
Continued from previous post:
The Greens’ environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the reconvened Senate inquiry into the extinction crisis would hold a hearing this month to ask questions about the proposed reforms:
The Greens will use this inquiry to scrutinise the government’s plans.
She said the government went to the 2022 election promising to fix Australia’s broken environmental laws and “closed-door consultations only silence experts and stifle environmental protection. This will not solve our extinction crisis”:
Two of the greatest threats to our wildlife and nature are habitat destruction and climate change. If the government thinks they can bring laws to this Parliament that don’t stop native forest logging and climate pollution, they are sorely mistaken.
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Greens inquiry to question if Albanese policies ‘heading in the wrong direction’ on environment
A Greens-led Senate inquiry will call federal environmental officials to answer questions about proposed new nature laws amid concerns that the Albanese government’s reforms are “heading in the wrong direction”.
It comes after Guardian Australia reported that draft national environment laws would allow state and territory governments to make decisions about major coal mining and unconventional gas projects where they affect water resources. Currently it is the federal government that has this responsibility.
The proposal is just one that the government has presented to a select group of conservation and business stakeholders in a closed consultation process it has been running since late last year.
The government opted to run the selective consultation process instead of publishing an exposure draft of the proposed new laws for public feedback. The Greens said the consultation process lacked transparency, with participants “not permitted to take laptops or phones into the secret sessions” or to take copies of the draft legislation.
The planned reforms represent the biggest potential change to national environmental laws in two decades. They follow an independent review in 2020 that found Australia’s system of laws had failed to protect the country’s beloved wildlife and ecosystems, which were in alarming decline.
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Seven aid workers killed in alleged IDF strike Gaza, World Central Kitchen says
Still on the alleged IDF strike, the World Central Kitchen (WCK) has released a statement updating the number of aid workers killed to seven.
Among those killed are citizens of Australia, Poland, the United Kingdom, a dual citizen of the US and Canada and Palestine. The statement says:
The WCK team was traveling in a deconflicted zone in two armored cars branded with the WCK logo and a soft skin vehicle.
Despite coordinating movements with the IDF, the convoy was hit as it was leaving the Deir al-Balah warehouse, where the team had unloaded more than 100 tons of humanitarian food aid brought to Gaza on the maritime route.
Its Ceo, Erin Gore, said the attack was “unforgiveable”.
This is not only an attack on WCK, this is an attack on humanitarian organizations showing up in the most dire of situations where food is being used as a weapon of war. This is unforgivable.
I am heartbroken and appalled that we … lost beautiful lives today because of a targeted attack by the IDF. The love they had for feeding people, the determination they embodied to show that humanity rises above all, and the impact they made in countless lives will forever be remembered and cherished.
World Central Kitchen is pausing our operations immediately in the region. We will be making decisions about the future of our work soon.
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‘Little doubt’ IDF strike hit World Central Kitchen convoy, Council for International Development CEO says
Purcell says there is “little doubt” an Israeli Defence Force (IDF) strike led to the deaths of the aid workers.
By the Israeli accounts reported in media, there seems to be little doubt it was Israeli Defence Force strike to what we know is the World Central Kitchen that was assisting people in northern Gaza with the permission of the Israeli Defence Force.
The aid they had been bringing was coming vetted by the Israelis from Cyprus and travelling up through into northern Gaza. It seems to be part of a larger pattern unfortunately though, that humanitarian workers have been targeted … the Israeli Defence Force was aware they were operating in the area.
In a statement provided to Guardian Australia’s Ben Doherty, a spokesperson for the IDF said it was conducting a “thorough review at the highest levels to understand the circumstances of this tragic incident”.
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Council for International Development CEO decries alleged use of ‘deliberate starving’ in Gaza
CEO of the Australian Council for International Development Marc Purcell is appearing on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing now following the deaths of four foreign aid workers and a Palestinian translator in an alleged Israeli strike in Gaza.
Purcell says it’s right the prime minister has called for accountability over Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom’s death, while urging the commonwealth to go further.
The denial of food aid is what appears to be a deliberate tactic in the war by the Israeli Defence Force (IDF).
Insufficient aid has been allowed in for many months now by the IDF with the result that people … are at the risk of starving to death … Australia is a government that upholds the rule of law internationally and what we’re seeing is systemic undermining of the rule of law in the conflict in Gaza by the denial of humanitarian assistance getting through.
What is shocking in 2024 is the deliberate use of starving populations as a target of warfare.
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BoM sees El Niño ‘near its end’, notes others’ predictions of a La Niña later in 2024
The Bureau of Meteorology has held off declaring the El Niño event is over although it is “near its end”.
The fortnightly update of the main climate drivers around Australia said conditions in the central tropical Pacific where El Niños – and their counterparts, La Niñas – develop are likely to return to neutral conditions later in the autumn.
The El Niño has been weakening steadily since December but conditions remain above the BoM’s threshold for such an event.
The bureau’s Access model is one of the more conservative when it comes to predicting what comes next. Four of the seven main international models predict a La Niña will develop by (our) late winter.
@Bom_au says El Nino continues to "near its end", with conditions returning to neutral later in the autumn. Its main model, along with France's, continues to query whether a La Nina is on the way. Other agencies mostly expect one later in the year. pic.twitter.com/xWnjASs7r5
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 2, 2024
As mentioned in an earlier post today, a so-called predictability barrier makes forecasts at this time of year more difficult than during other seasons. In other words, don’t bank on a La Niña returning just yet.
Apart from the annual prediction issues around about now, there’s also the record global sea-surface temperatures to contend with. As the bureau notes, those temperatures have been running at record levels since April 2023.
“The global pattern of warmth is affecting the typical historical global pattern of sea surface temperatures associated with [El Niño Southern Oscillation] variability,” the bureau said.
As the current global ocean conditions have not been observed before, inferences of how ENSO may develop in 2024 that are based on past events may not be reliable.
Those unprecedented conditions might contain a few surprises – will they be nasty ones?
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Body believed to be that of missing fisher recovered in WA
The body believed to be that of a fisher who went missing in the coastal Esperance area in Western Australia has been found, police have confirmed.
In a statement, WA police said officers and SES personnel were attempting to recover a body, believed to be the missing 36-year-old man.
The body is in an extremely difficult position within a rock formation off the coast of Cape Arid. The family of the fisherman have been advised.
Police received reports around 2.20pm on Saturday that the man had slipped off the rocks into water at Cape Arid, near the mouth of Thomas River.
He was with a family member at the time of the incident and had not been seen since.
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Epic CEO appears in court as part of lawsuit against Apple and Google
The CEO of the company behind the Fortnite app has been questioned in court on which phone he uses as part of the Epic lawsuit against Apple and Google.
Epic CEO Tim Sweeney took the stand on Tuesday as part of the Australian case where Epic is alleging anti-competitive conduct over restrictions in the Apple and Google app stores and on in-app payments, after the app was banned from those stores for offering its own payment option.
Sweeney confirmed to the court he owns an iPhone, and prefers the iPhone for the privacy and security benefits it offers over Google’s Android devices.
Epic’s own payments system was referred to as a “hot fix” the company was implementing in Fortnite in 2020, called “Project Liberty”. Fortnite was kicked off the store on the day Epic activated the code.
Sweeney told the court he was aware that Epic’s actions were in violation of the developer agreements signed with Apple and Google, and answered “yes” when asked if he knew that the actions Epic was undertaking were deceitful.
The court has heard how Epic’s games work across a variety of platforms as part of Apple’s bid to frame its app store as in competition with a broader games market rather than just phones and apps.
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Teenagers denied bail after alleged car theft in NSW
Two teenagers have been refused bail after the alleged theft of two cars in the New South Wales west over the Easter weekend.
About 1.30am on Friday, entry was forced into a home in Orange where keys and a Ford Ranger were allegedly stolen by a group of youths. An hour later, they allegedly returned and stole a Holden Acadia.
Later that morning, police attempted to stop the cars after seeing them on Orange’s Bathurst Street. When the teenagers allegedly failed to stop, a pursuit began but was halted short time later due to losing sight.
The cars were later located abandoned and were seized for forensic examination.
Following inquiries, a 17-year-old girl and 15-year-old boy were arrested and taken to Orange police station.
The pair appeared at a children’s court on Sunday where they were formally refused bail to appear at another children’s court next Monday.
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Bureau releases weekly rainfall report
The Bureau of Meteorology has released its latest weekly rainfall report, as tropical moisture brought a pummelling down on parts of the nation.
The series of troughs moved across Queensland, the NT, northern South Australia and north-west New South Wales over the past seven days and generated widespread rainfall.
Weekly totals of up to 200mm were recorded in isolated pockets of the Top End, eastern parts of the Northern Territory and parts of Queensland, exceeding 300mm in coastal areas of Queensland’s north tropical coast and Tablelands district.
The highest weekly rainfall total was 308mm at Menavale alert weather station in Queensland, which usually averages around 130mm in April.
The highest daily rainfall total during the week was 131mm at Mt Sophia, south of Cairns.
Updated
Thanks for joining me on the blog today, Caitlin Cassidy will be here to guide you through the rest of today’s coverage. Take care.
Continued from last post:
Greens and independent MPs have also expressed alarm about the proposal to allow states and territory governments to make decisions under the water trigger.
The Greens environment spokesperson Sarah Hanson-Young said it would be a step backwards for environmental protections months after the party negotiated a deal with the government that expanded the water trigger to all forms of unconventional gas. She said decisions under the trigger should not be entrusted to state and territory governments:
It’s alarming that the Labor government is considering weakening environment law for big gas projects by enabling states to dodge the recently legislated ‘water trigger’. Polluting fossil fuel projects must be assessed under the strictest of laws – enforced and upheld in the national interest.
The independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, who led a push in the lower house to expand the water trigger last year has also raised concerns:
Yet another eg of the Govt’s duplicity -passing laws to strengthen environmental protections or act on climate change -only to swiftly create a back door around it
— Dr Sophie Scamps MP (@SophieScamps) April 1, 2024
eg CCS sea dumping bill created to skirt new Safeguard Mech to permit gas expansion #auspol https://t.co/IwgvbSKiUw
Under the proposal, any state and territory would first have to become accredited to make decisions under national laws and they would be monitored for their compliance with proposed new national environmental standards. The environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, has said she was proud to legislate last year for all forms of unconventional gas to be captured by the water trigger and said the government would still retain “oversight” of any accredited states and territories.
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Traditional owners in Beetaloo Basin raise concerns over draft laws
Traditional owners in the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory have raised concerns about an Albanese government proposal that would allow state and territory governments to make decisions under the federal water trigger.
Guardian Australia reported this morning that draft national environment laws would allow state and territory governments to make decisions about major coal mining and unconventional gas projects where they affect water resources. Currently it is the federal government that has this responsibility.
It comes just four months after the federal government expanded the water trigger so that it would apply to all forms of unconventional gas, including the shale gas found in the Beetaloo Basin.
Djingili elder and chair of the Nurrdalinji Native Title Corporation, Samuel Sandy, said traditional owners with concerns about fracking in the Beetaloo Basin were alarmed by the new proposal:
We were very relieved when the federal government made new powers last year to look closely at how fracking companies use water and the potential risks. Once water is lost or contaminated, it’s never going to be put right.
The federal government shouldn’t pass on this responsibility to the NT government. It should carry it itself. We don’t want another Murray Darling disaster, with our iconic Daly and Roper rivers drained out or our underground aquifers damaged.
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Marine search under way for fisher missing off Esperance coast
Western Australia police have launched a search for a missing fisher in the coastal Esperance area.
Police received reports around 2.20pm on Saturday that the missing 36-year-old man had slipped off the rocks into water at Cape Arid, near the mouth of Thomas River.
The man was with a family member at the time of the incident and has not been seen since.
Police said a number of resources including vessels, jet-skis and air assets are currently searching the surrounding area, with SES assisting on foot at nearby beaches.
The search will remain ongoing throughout the day. Further information will be provided when available.
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March was Australia’s third wettest on record, with rainfall nearly double the norm
The Bureau of Meteorology has released its monthly weather report, noting that rainfall last month was 86.1% above the 1961-90 yardstick it uses.
That made it the third wettest March in records going back to 1900. The spread of results, though, was great:
March was relatively wet inland but dry in the southeast. (Via @BOM_au ) pic.twitter.com/tdowH1gC4z
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 31, 2024
While the Northern Territory had its second wettest March on record and Western Australia its fourth wettest, the south-east was a lot drier than usual.
Victoria, for instance, collected only about one-fifth of the usual rain, making it the seventh-driest March for that state and the driest since 1986. It was Tasmania’s driest March since 2005.
As noted in the blog yesterday, Australia had its equal-second hottest March on record for minimum temperatures. These were 1.79C above average.
By minumum temperatures, it was actually Australia's second hottest March on record. Temps were 1.79C above the 1961-90 average, matching 2019's March, and shy only of the 2.09C anomaly recorded in March 2016. (Via @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/dSax5CzRE8
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
Mean temperatures - which average out minimum and maximum readings - came in at 1.11C above that 1961-90 baseline, making it the equal-tenth warmest March in records going back to 1910, the bureau said. South Australia notched its second-warmest March for mean temperatures, with average readings 2.86C above that long-run norm.
Maximums weren’t that outstanding, coming in at 0.43C above average. For Victoria, though, it was the state’s fourth-hottest March for daytime temperatures, and for SA it was the fifth warmest.
Needless to say, increasing greenhouse gas levels energises the atmosphere, raising the odds that temperatures will keep breaking heat records (far more often than cold ones) and imperil the future of vulnerable ecosystems such as the Great Barrier Reef.
The latter is now in its fifth mass bleaching event in eight years – another event that started to get attention last month.
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Killing of Australian aid worker in Gaza ‘tragic and preventable’: Australian Council for International Development
The Australian Council for International Development (ACFID), the peak body for the aid and humanitarian agencies, has expressed its deepest condolences to the family of killed Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom.
The prime minister Anthony Albanese said the government is demanding “full accountability” over Frankcom’s death, who was working with World Central Kitchen in Gaza when she was killed in an Israeli strike (more details here).
ACFID chief executive Marc Purcell said in a statement:
Humanitarian workers in conflict zones should be ensured safety by combatants to carry out life-saving responses. Time and time again during this conflict we have seen Israeli forces demonstrate disregard for the safety of humanitarian workers with tragic results, with at least 196 aid workers killed to date …
We call on the Australian government to urge the Israeli government to cease attacks on aid convoys and to allow for the safe land passage of humanitarian assistance. Further, Australia should protest in the strongest possible terms the starvation of civilians. Starving civilians is a breach of the laws of war, international law and common decency.
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Government announces $5.22m funding for communities affected by Middle East crisis
The federal government has announced $5.22m in funding for 37 organisations to support communities affected by the Middle East crisis.
In a statement from immigration minister Andrew Giles, he said the funding is part of a $25m commitment to support Palestinian, Arab and Muslim communities. The statement reads:
It will assist organisations and communities to respond to the impact of the conflict and protect Australians from threats of racism, hate speech, violence, polarisation and social exclusion.
The initiatives announced today include $3.22m for 35 organisations to launch new social cohesion projects, and $2m for two organisations to deliver community programs to support Australian Palestinian and Muslim youth.
Giles said:
The Albanese government recognises the distress many Australians are feeling with the ongoing Hamas-Israel conflict and we are committed to working in partnership with affected communities to provide crucial support.
Our approach supports both short and long term impacts of the conflict- enabling funding to be distributed rapidly to communities most in need while also building capacity in affected communities.
Our priority is to provide support to those that have been impacted, and to enhance and foster community connection during these challenging times.
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Private provider fined for advertising non-registered education courses
A private provider has been fined $20,000 for advertising non-registered vocational education and training courses.
The Australian Skills Quality Authority (ASQA) welcomed the verdict for breaching the National Vocational Education and Training Regulator Act.
Following a guilty plea, the Downing Centre local court convicted and fined Qualify Me! Pty Ltd for advertising 187 vocational education and training courses in 2022 without including details of the registered training organisation (RTO) that would issue a VET qualification or statement.
ASQA CEO Saxon Rice said the prosecution should serve as a warning to dodgy providers. ASQA’s VET tip-off line has received more than 1,000 tip-offs since launching last October:
These third-party organisations must accurately and honestly represent those courses in all marketing and enrolment activities – to ensure students’ best interests are protected and they can make an informed choice.
Under amendments to the act, penalties for breaches have increased five-fold to deter providers that saw penalties as a cost of doing business.
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Health minister warns of ‘vaccine fatigue’ ahead of early flu season
The Victorian health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, says the state is facing an early flu season and has urged people to get vaccinated. Speaking alongside the premier on Tuesday, she said:
We’re expecting an early flu season and flu vaccines have just become available, so I’d like to take this opportunity to encourage all Victorians to get their flu vax ... Anyone that’s ever had the flu can tell you it’s a very debilitating, dangerous disease. So it’s important that we continue to send a strong message that our flu vaccines are safe and reliable and accessible.
She said there was evidence of “vaccine fatigue across a range of vaccines”, which is a concern:
I think it’s important that [and] we continue to encourage our Victorians to access vaccines, particularly for seasonal illnesses like the flu because they are safe and effective. Unfortunately, we live in an age where there is a lot of misinformation available, and that sometimes gets in the way of people’s best judgment. So talk to your general practitioner, talk to your pharmacist. If you have any concerns, they will talk you through the efficacy of the flu vaccine, and indeed other vaccines that continue to be available, including Covid vaccine.
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NSW police condemn ‘irresponsible’ minority on roads over Easter weekend
Eight lives were lost on New South Wales roads over the Easter long weekend, police have confirmed.
During the ramped-up police operation, 5,709 speed infringements were issued, 295 people were charged with drink driving and 863 people tested positive to drug tests.
Assistant commissioner Brett McFadden said the state couldn’t accept the “irresponsible behaviour” of a minority.
It is time we as a collective worked together to end this carnage on our roads.
Among infringements were a Toyota Corolla detected travelling at 188km/h in a 110km/h zone on the Hume Highway near Bowning and a 15-year-old recorded doing 150km/h in a 50km/h zone in Orange.
In Victoria, three lives were lost over the same period, including two separate motorbike accidents in Oakleigh South and Gordon.
More than 8,000 traffic offences were detected across Victoria over the Easter long weekend, including almost 4,000 Victorians caught speeding and 378 impaired drivers taken off the roads for getting behind the wheel with alcohol and/or drugs in their system.
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Qantas plane to re-enter service after previous engine issue
A regional Qantas plane is set to re-enter service on Wednesday after an engine issue forced pilots to turn around shortly after take off and land at Lord Howe Island.
On Friday afternoon, the 27-year-old 36-seat Dash-8 Q200 turboprop plane experienced an issue with one of its engines as it took off from Lord Howe Island bound for Sydney.
A Qantas spokesperson said:
The pilots followed standard procedure, shut down the engine and landed safely back at Lord Howe Island without incident.
Engine shutdowns are rare but aircraft are designed to operate safely with one engine, and our pilots are highly trained to manage this ... We know this may have been unsettling for our customers on board and we thank them for their cooperation.
The plane made a priority landing back at Lord Howe Island, and passengers disembarked normally. Customers were provided with overnight accommodation and re-accommodated on flights over the weekend. The Dash-8 is expected to return to service on Wednesday.
The incident followed another Qantas flight – a much larger Airbus A330 – from Melbourne to Perth last week, where an engine issue also forced pilots into shutting down of the engines mid-flight.
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Circling back to the national press club, where Greg Combet has been taking questions in relation to Australia’s net zero transition.
Earlier, Combet mentioned that significant capital will be required throughout this transition. Can he quantify this?
It’s a very significant investment task and ideally institutional investment, private capital, would see the opportunities in it and make commercial judgements and invest and they are, if they can see that making sense. [But] I can see occasions and projects in this particular transformation where government is going to need to play a role and as I said earlier, that is not novel.
And in terms of how many workers will be part of this transition, moving into new renewable jobs, he responded:
We do know that certainly by mid 2030 is 10, 11, 12 coal-fired power stations will be closing. That’s several thousand workers directly impacted by that, and on top of that you have workers who may be employed in what we call captured coalmine – which is their only customer is the power station.
And with that, Combet’s latest appearance at the NPC has wrapped up.
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‘Very urgent inquiries’ being made into death of Australian aid worker in Gaza: PM
The prime minister Anthony Albanese says the Department of Foreign Affairs is making “very urgent inquiries” about the death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza.
He praised Zomi Frankcom as “doing extraordinarily valuable work”. Albanese read out details of her other volunteer work, which he said included helping Australians during bushfire emergencies:
This is someone who was volunteering overseas to provide aid through this charity for people who are suffering tremendous deprivation in Gaza. And this is just completely unacceptable. Australia expects full accountability for the deaths of aid workers, which is completely unacceptable.
Aid workers and those doing humanitarian work, indeed all innocent civilians, need to be provided with protection.
This news today is tragic.
Albanese sent “sincere condolences” to those who knew Frankcom:
The sort of values that are shown by someone going into a very dangerous place, in order to assist mankind, their fellow humans, people she didn’t know. She just wanted to help out through this charity, it says everything about the character of this young woman.
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Meanwhile an Australian judge on the UN’s international court of justice, Hilary Charlesworth, has called for Israel to suspend its military operations in Gaza.
You can read the full story from Daniel Hurst below:
Anthony Albanese went on to say he was “concerned about every innocent civilian” killed in the Gaza conflict. He said civilian deaths were “completely unacceptable”.
The PM says the government continues to call for a “political solution, that means a two-state solution” to the Middle East conflict.
Albanese demands ‘full accountability’ over death of Australian aid worker killed by Israel
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says the death of an Australian aid worker in Gaza is “completely unacceptable” and “beyond any reasonable circumstances”, saying the government will call in the Israeli ambassador and contact Israel’s government.
Albanese says the government is demanding “full accountability” over the death.
Albanese named the aid worker as Zomi Frankcom, who was working with World Central Kitchen in Gaza.
At a press conference in Brisbane, Albanese said Frankcom was doing “extraordinarily important work”.
Four foreign nationals working for the food aid charity were killed in an Israeli strike in central Gaza, according to health officials in the occupied territory. The founder of the charity, World Central Kitchen (WCK), confirmed on Twitter that “several” staff members had died in an Israeli airstrike.
Albanese said the circumstances were “completely unacceptable” and “Australia expects full accountability for the death of aid workers”.
Those doing humanitarian work and civilians need to be provided with protection. Australia has had a very clear position of supporting a sustainable ceasefire ... Australians want to see an end to this conflict.
This news today is tragic. Dfat have also requested a call-in from the Israeli ambassador as well. We want full accountability for this, this is a tragedy that should never have occurred.
The PM said the government had contacted the Israeli government directly. He said the incident was “beyond any reasonable circumstances”.
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Greg Combet is now taking questions, and is asked about the transition away from coal to renewables.
He said it would be a “collaborative effort” between government and companies, and the transition has been “designed to try and achieve that”.
They have got closure dates in mind … but we have to think not just about them and their business, it is important to think about the workers who are involved, who work for those companies and the many other workers in these regions where the power stations are located.
Combet said through his work with the ACTU he has witnessed that restructures are “not always as smooth” as hoped.
It is often pointed to, for example, that the closure of the Hazelwood power station in the La Trobe Valley in Victoria was very disruptive and that was on the back of the privatisation of the assets in the 1990s. And there are many scars there. The community has then deeply impacted for a very long period of time … and I think we have to do a lot better in navigating this period of change and seek the cooperation of the energy companies.
It is not meant to be an adversarial set up, but if access to the Fair Work Commission … is needed because we cannot have a perfectly collaborative approach to a power station closure, then it is there is a backup.
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Combet: Net zero transformation ‘may even define this century’
Wrapping up his speech, Greg Combet said the most vital thing he has learned through his work is the importance of letting values guide change.
Respecting people and ensuring fair treatment, aiming at equitable outcomes, generating a commitment of common purpose, a sense that we are all in it together – we have endeavoured to embed these values in the new authority through the people we have employed, the policies we have developed, the legislation, the culture and our engagement with the community.
I think that will be a key to achieving positive and orderly change. The treasurer has said that the net zero transformation will define the decade. It may even define this century. It should be a transformation built on the very best of Australian values and it should deliver significant benefit for future generations. And we can do it. Just as countless others have done before us at similar moments of historic change.
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A renewable transition for Gladstone in central Queensland is not the only example Greg Combet is referencing. He is outlining a number of upcoming or potential projects, including hydrogen energy in the Port of Newcastle, transitioning the Hunter’s aluminium smelter Tomago to renewable energy, and in the Pilbara, plans with Bluescope steel to decarbonise iron production.
The net zero economy authority is putting together a pipeline of these projects and will be figuring out how to bring them to concrete investment decisions.
Hundreds of billions of dollars in investment will be needed to achieve net zero. The fact is, neither government funding or private capital alone can meet that challenge. It will take both working together to secure the opportunities of Australia’s net zero future. This means providing the policy context and direction that will encourage business to invest.
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Greg Combet on the transition from coal-fired power stations
Continuing his speech at the National Press Club, Greg Combet argued that helping regional communities through the transition away from coal will be key to Australia’s net zero transformation.
He said Gladstone in central Queensland is just one region where new investment and job opportunities can be realised through this transition – a region producing more than 40% of Queensland’s energy and home to almost half of Australia’s coal mines.
All of this heavy industry means the region is also one of the most emissions-intensive places in the country, producing over a third of Queensland emissions. In my view, successfully transforming the region around Gladstone and similar regions around the country must be a key national endeavour and to do it we have to support the people, communities and region through that process …
Combet said the Net Zero Economy Agency will work with companies and unions representing workers to help them transition to alternative jobs, and offer participation in a redeployment scheme.
Workers from the closing power station will then be connected with employment opportunities with another employer in the same or a similar industry. We will try to align people with jobs available in new clean industries.
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Greg Combet said the Net Zero Economy Agency is not seeking to take on the role of existing government agencies, but complement and coordinate policy development, identifying gaps and ensuring “everything is headed in the same direction”.
He said Australia is in “an early stage” of its net zero transformation, with a decades-long journey ahead.
It is important to bear that in mind when you read about the current social license issues, planning problems or supply chain constraints. These are all substantial problems that need to be tackled, no doubt. The … nature of these challenges means that we need new ways of working across governments, in particular with our state [and] territory colleagues. We need to work in an integrated way thinking beyond our individual remits to recognise the interconnectedness of the problems at hand. But significant progress is being made and people are coming together. The energy transition is the catalyst.
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Through his role, Greg Combet said he has witnessed “optimism” about Australia’s renewable future through the “practical action” and “determination” of industrial regions, who are “readying themselves” for new opportunities.
This is “a different story” to when he was climate minister and travelling around the regions around a decade ago, he said.
To me, the economic argument is simple: as our trading partners pursue their own emissions reduction target and wealth from our fossil fuel exports decline, we must create new sources of wealth from industries powered by renewable energy – and at the same time support people, workers, communities and regions through this change.
There is absolutely no doubt about our collective capacity to do it, and do it well.
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Greg Combet addresses National Press Club about net zero pathway
Former Labor minister and former secretary of the ACTU, Greg Combet, is addressing the National Press Club today about the net zero pathway.
Combet is chair of the Net Zero Economy Agency, concluding on 31 May, after which he will begin as chair of Australia’s Future Fund.
My instructions from the boss were clear: develop a plan that will help people and communities through change, respect their interests, create opportunities and leave no one behind.
Combet said the Net Zero Economy Agency will oversee the transformation from fossil fuels to an economy powered by renewable energy and clean industries.
He said the debate surrounding climate science has “largely settled” and a “global consensus has emerged” calling for serious action to cut greenhouse gas emissions.
Lived experience is having a big influence on people [with] more frequent and devastating natural disasters [and] temperature records set and exceeded, with last year recording the highest average temperatures in 174 years of record-keeping.
For Australia I have likened the scale and significance of the net zero transformation to post-war reconstruction, and that is because of our economy’s reliance on fossil fuels.
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Jacinta Allan also paid condolences to the Victorian father and grandfather who died trying to save a two-year-old child who fell into a Gold Coast pool on Sunday.
She said:
I pass on my deepest sympathies to the family who were there on a holiday. To have a holiday conclude in such a tragic and terrible set of circumstances must be devastating for those family members, particularly given they were going in [to the pool] to protect another family member. So this is a really, really tough time for that family and the broader community and my sympathy goes to them.
Asked if the government needed to do more to provide swimming lessons to adults and members of the state’s multicultural communities, Allan replied:
We already have a range of different programs in place and I would certainly encourage everyone to be safe around the water. There will be investigations into what happened in this incident in Queensland, so I don’t want to cut across and presume what may or may not have happened in this incident. Today, I think our focus should be on supporting the family and the loved ones who’ve gone through such a terrible, terrible tragedy at a time when they were hoping to enjoy a really lovely holiday.
Victorian government launches survey as part of inquiry into women’s pain
Jacinta Allan also announced the launch of a survey as part of the government’s inquiry into women’s pain.
She said the government was seeking the views of women and girls who have experiences with pain and accessing related services as well as clinicians and healthcare workers in the field.
Victoria announces locations for five women’s health clinics
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference in Epping, in Melbourne’s north, earlier today to announce the locations of the first five public comprehensive women’s health clinics.
At the 2022 election, Labor committed to opening 20 of the clinics to deliver specialist care for conditions including endometriosis, pelvic pain, polycystic ovary syndrome, perimenopause and menopause.
Allan announced the first five will open at the Northern hospital, Royal women’s hospital, Frankston hospital, Barwon Health Geelong and Ballarat base hospital from June.
Both the Royal women’s hospital and Barwon Health have existing women’s health clinics, which – as a result of the government funding – will now extend their services to five days a week. The three other locations will be new clinics.
Allan said:
These women’s health clinics are being centres in our public health system, and will provide access to a range of services women need. They’ll be able to access support from gynaecologists, urologists, specialist nursing care ... specialist physiotherapist care as well. These are trained professionals who are focused on women’s bodies and women’s health needs, and being able to have all of these services located in one place means it’s easier for women to access the range of different health services they need.
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Melbourne recorded wettest day since 5 March 2020: Weatherzone
Circling back to the Victorian weather, and the Bureau of Meteorology has cancelled a severe weather warning affecting parts of the state.
It says the immediate threat of severe weather has passed, but the situation would be monitored and further warnings issued if needed.
Weatherzone reported that during yesterday’s downpour, Melbourne experienced one of its heaviest days of April rain in 47 years.
This comes after the driest March in 170 years of records, it said. Weatherzone reported the following statistics:
Just 2.8 mm was recorded in Melbourne’s gauge at Olympic Park during the whole of March 2024.
In the 24 hours to 9am Tuesday, a total of 53.2 mm of rain was recorded.
That made it the wettest Melbourne day in any month since 5 March 2020.
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Reserve Bank did not consider an interest rate rise at its March board meeting
Underscoring the likelihood that the RBA is done with lifting interest rates, minutes out this morning from its March board meeting show that there was no consideration given to another rate hike.
Governor Michele Bullock was a bit cagey about what the board had mulled during the 18-19 March meeting in the subsequent media briefing two weeks ago.
With the release of the minutes of the meeting today, though, we see that unlike the previous handful or more of meetings, the board members did not weigh up whether to lift the cash rate or leave it where it sat (at 4.35% presently).
Instead of two cases to consider, there was just an agreement that “it was appropriate to leave the cash rate target unchanged at this meeting”, the minutes show.
Sure, there was a resolve to not “rule in or out future changes in the cash rate”, but given the option of a 14th rate rise was not on the cards, it would take a surprise for that prospect to be back on the agenda you’d have to think.
It also suggests the next time members weigh up multiple options it will be whether to cut the interest rate or stay put. Perhaps we’ll see that former case being made when the RBA board next meets on 6-7 May.
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Spotlight on hotel pool safety after men drown
Safety measures in hotel pools should be examined following the tragic deaths of a man and his father while trying to save a toddler who fell into a pool, lifesaving authorities say.
Dharmvir Singh, 38, and Gurjinder Singh, 65, leapt into the pool at a Gold Coast hotel to try to save the younger man’s child on Sunday. The child had been playing on the step of the pool before losing their footing and falling into deeper water.
When the father and grandfather tried to save the toddler, they got into trouble in the water themselves. Royal Life Saving chief executive Justin Scarr said it was tragic the two men died rescuing a young child.
Scarr said there have been a number of drownings in hotel or motel swimming pools over the past few years and there is a need to look more closely at the safety guidelines of these pools. He told AAP:
It may be that the current regime, signing and fencing is not enough and more needs to be done, given a range of factors including the sorts of activities that people are doing in those pools and perhaps some weaknesses in people’s understanding of water safety.
Scarr said there had been at least 34 drowning deaths in March across the country. Over the 2023/2024 summer months, 99 people drowned.
- from AAP
Alice Springs youth curfew ‘unlawful’, according to advice given to NT police union
The Northern Territory Police Association (NTPA) has received legal advice that the youth curfew in Alice Springs may be unlawful.
The curfew was imposed last week by chief minister Eva Lawler following civil unrest in the town, with anyone aged under 18 banned from going into the CBD between 6pm and 6am.
In a statement, NTPA president Nathan Finn says he sought advice on the legality of the curfew after it was announced, and on 29 March was provided with this response:
In my opinion the declaration is unlawful and police operating under that declaration are at risk of acting unlawfully.
The advice referenced section 4(2) of the Emergency Management Act 2013, which says:
This Act does not authorise a person to do, or make preparations to … put down a riot or other civil disturbance.
Upon receiving this advice, Finn raised concerns with NT police commissioner Michael Murphy. Finn argues the curfew is “nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction and, once again, it is police who are lumped with cleaning up [the] government’s mess following years of poor law and order policy decisions”.
Murphy has defended the curfew on ABC News Breakfast saying “if there’s a formal legal challenge, there’s a process with the court system”. He says there are three things the Act cannot be used for: “the suppression of civil disorder, armed combat, or ending a strike”, adding “we’re not using the Act for any of those”.
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Mal Lanyon to lead NSW Reconstruction Authority
The New South Wales Police deputy commissioner Mal Lanyon has been appointed to act as chief executive officer of the NSW Reconstruction Authority.
According to a joint statement from state ministers Paul Scully and Jihad Dib, outgoing Simon Draper will cease his responsibilities to “solely focus on leading the public service as secretary of Premier’s department”.
Lanyon will commence his role as Acting CEO on 8 April. Draper commenced as secretary of the Premier’s department on 1 September 2023, and has been doing both roles over the past seven months, the statement said.
Scully says he looks forward to working with Lanyon in the coming months. Janelle Saffin, parliamentary secretary for Disaster Recovery, says:
I worked alongside Mal following the devastating floods in the Northern Rivers and am thrilled to be working with him again. There is no better person to lead this organisation, to ensure our state is prepared for disasters, and to help NSW recover after they strike.
The Reconstruction Authority was established last December to reduce the impact of floods, fires and other major disasters, and to help communities from them faster.
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El Niño closer to being declared over; what comes next still a bit unclear
Later today the Bureau of Meteorology will provide its fortnightly update of the key drivers of Australian weather.
Two week ago, the bureau said the current El Niño in the Pacific was “near its end” and perhaps we’ll see that end declared today. If not, its demise is probably not too far off, with the bureau main climate model pointing towards its steady decay:
Australia's @BOM_au will update its climate drivers report later today, and we might be close to the end of the El Nino. The bureau's model sees the odds of a La Nina forming by September at just over 9% (vs another El Nino at about a 7% chance)... pic.twitter.com/ecJJlXmWvW
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
What comes next is the tricky bit because at this time of the year there’s a so-called predictability barrier to clear. There’s less confidence in model forecasts for what sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific will do than at other times of the year.
That said, the US’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has been forecasting a La Niña will quickly replace the El Niño for a while. It rates the odds of the switch happening by August at 62% in its latest update.
The US's @NOAA, though, notes how conditions in the equatorial eastern Pacific have tilted consistently towards another La Nino forming. They put the odds at about two-in-three we'll get a La Nina by August. pic.twitter.com/qTSH6rm6Eo
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 1, 2024
Having sea-surface temperatures cool as they are in the eastern equatorial Pacific is only one ingredient. The atmosphere has to respond and reinforce the pattern.
That’s probably why the BoM only rates the chance that its threshold for a La Niña (a slightly higher bar than NOAA’s) will be cleared by September at about 9%. (A back-to-back El Niño is about a 7% chance by then.)
Anyway, we’ll get the BoM’s update in about five hours’ time, so check in here for the update.
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Yes campaign groups received more than five times as much in donations as no side in voice referendum
The main campaign groups for the yes campaign for Australia’s referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament received more than five times as much in donations than its opponents in the no campaign, with details of major donations from big banks and major companies revealed in newly-published disclosure reports.
The single largest donor was the philanthropic Paul Ramsay Foundation, contributing more than $7m to the yes campaign, according to Australian Electoral Commission disclosures.
ANZ bank ($2.54m), Woodside Energy ($2.182m), Commonwealth Bank ($2.05m) and Westpac ($2.048m) all donated large sums to entities associated with the yes campaign. Wesfarmers, BHP and Rio Tinto all donated $2m to yes campaign groups, while Woolworths tipped in $1.56m.
Continue reading:
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Dfat investigating reports of Australian aid worker killed
The federal government has confirmed it is making inquiries into reports an Australian aid worker has been killed in a strike in Gaza.
The prime minister Anthony Albanese told ABC radio Brisbane:
Well, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are urgently investigating these reports which are there and they are, indeed, very concerning. I’m very concerned about the loss of life that is occurring in Gaza. My government has supported a sustainable ceasefire. We have called for the release of hostages, and there have been far too many innocent lives, Palestinian and Israeli, lost during the Gaza/Hamas conflict.
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Four foreign aid workers killed in convoy strike, including Australian
Four foreign nationals have been killed in a strike in central Gaza, according to health officials in the occupied territory.
The Hamas-run Gaza government media office reported the deaths late on Monday.
The foreign aid workers were reportedly from Poland, the United Kingdom and Australia. The nationality of the fourth aid worker is not yet known. A Palestinian translator was also reportedly killed.
The group was working for World Central Kitchen when a convoy in which they were travelling was hit by a strike south of Deir al-Balah in central Gaza, local officials say.
Continue reading:
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Melbourne’s south eastern suburbs get a drenching
Returning to the wet weather hitting the south-east, Victorian Storm Chasers have shared this image showing the 24-hour rainfall totals since 9am on Monday:
That was some torrential rain overnight in the outer south eastern suburbs! Some decent cracks of thunder too! Here are the 24 hour totals since 9am yesterday. #Melbourne #melbweather #melbourneweather pic.twitter.com/kiPxGkobaM
— Victorian Storm Chasers (@VicStormChasers) April 1, 2024
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Politicians face losing pay for poor behaviour under proposed body
Poorly behaved politicians could have their pay docked under a proposed body tasked with investigating alleged misconduct, AAP reports.
Katy Gallagher says a draft for the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission has been leaked, but it would impose sanctions on politicians found to be in breach. She told ABC News Breakfast earlier:
That’s the whole point of it. We’ve established the parliamentary workplace support service that does handle complaints ... but this other body will be set up, and part of the whole purpose of this body is to look at complaints.
And where complaints are substantiated, to implement sanctions against whoever that may be, whether it be an MP, senator or a staff member who works in this place (parliament).
Former sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins’ 2021 report called for the commission, which would have the power to impose penalties for serious breaches of workplace safety including sexual assault and bullying.
The independent body is supposed to be up and running by October. Asked about the delay in establishing the commission, Gallagher says it hasn’t been done before:
We’re trying to get agreement across the parliament. We’re working really well with the opposition and with the crossbench on this.
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Committee with three Labor senators criticises deportation bill
The Senate standing committee for the scrutiny of bills has criticised Labor’s deportation bill.
The bill, which the Coalition and Greens sent to a six-week inquiry to report in budget week, threatens unlawful non-citizens with a year in prison if they refuse to cooperate in measures to facilitate their deportation.
The Senate committee, which has three Labor senators, Raff Ciccone, Tony Sheldon and Jess Walsh, criticised mandatory minimum sentences. It says:
While the committee acknowledges that the penalty and minimum sentence are intended to reflect the seriousness of the offence and act as deterrents, the committee reiterates its longstanding view that the use of mandatory minimum sentences impedes judicial discretion.
The immigration minister would be able to write regulations adding visa classes to the list that can receive orders. The committee took a dim view of this:
The committee is of the view that the ability to expand the scope of people that may be subject to removal pathway directions is a significant matter that would more appropriately be dealt with by way of primary rather than delegated legislation.
It also criticises powers for the immigration minister to reverse a protection finding:
[This is] clearly a significant and rights affecting matter and it is not clear to the committee why such a power is necessary as it has not been fully explained in the explanatory memorandum. It is also unclear to the committee whether any procedural fairness protections apply in relation to any decisions made by the minister to overturn an existing protection decision.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher has this morning responded to some of the criticism, which we covered in the blog here.
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Australia nabs ‘largest’ defence export deal in history
More than 100 armoured vehicles will be made in Queensland for Germany under a $1bn defence deal, as Anthony Albanese lauds it as the single largest military export agreement in Australian history.
The prime minister will visit Rheinmetall’s Vehicle Centre of Excellence in Ipswich today to spruik the deal, which will support 600 direct jobs in Queensland.
Germany’s parliament has approved a plan to buy the Boxer heavy weapon carrier vehicles. They will be built in Queensland by the German company’s subsidiary, Rheinmetall Defence Australia.
Albanese says manufacturing the vehicles boosted the nation’s sovereign capability while strengthening the country’s security partnership with a European power. He writes in an opinion piece:
Export opportunities like this are a win-win. Sovereignty and safety at home and security abroad is a core priority of my government.
- from AAP
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SES expects calls for help to rise, as Victorians warned not to drive through flood water
SES duty officer Erin Mason spoke to AAP about those four flood rescues in Victoria (see previous post), saying:
Mainly, it’s been people driving through floodwater.
So, just a reminder to people to never drive through flood water. If the road is flooded, I encourage people to stop, turn around and find an alternate path.
Mason expects the number of SES callouts to rise in coming hours as the weather system heads east and more residents wake up to find damage to their homes.
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Victorian SES rescue four people from vehicles in water
The state agency commander of the Victorian SES, David Baker, has been on ABC News Breakfast this morning providing the latest on the weather in Victoria.
As we reported earlier, almost 500 requests for help were made to emergency services as heavy rain, thunderstorms and winds lashed the state on Monday and overnight.
Baker says that number has grown, with crews responding to over 510 requests for assistance around Melbourne and the outer metropolitan region, into South Gippsland and some of the closer western districts, and Geelong.
Most of the jobs have been water through ceilings, Baker says, but there were four rescues from cars in water.
He says it has been the wettest day in Melbourne since around 5 March, 2020:
Let’s get … through today and just stay safe until we’re through to clear skies, and hopefully settled weather later on in the week.
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Gallagher defends handling of deportation bill, says government following advice from agencies
Moving to the deportation bill, Katy Gallagher is asked about criticism it was rushed through parliament. Independent senator David Pocock spoke about this a bit earlier.
Gallagher says “most reports” from the scrutiny of bills committee raises concerns about legislation, so it’s “not that surprising” to her.
The government’s advice from our advisers around how to ensure that we’ve got the most robust migration system was to pass this bill, to pass it last week. That didn’t happen and we’ll work with the Senate about getting it done as soon as possible …
I don’t think it’s a surprise that the Scrutiny of Bills committee, which is a particular committee that looks at legislation and particularly about the technical drafting and where powers exist, has provided feedback on that bill. We’ll work through that as well.
Asked what the rationale is for trying to rush it through parliament last week, she says:
It was the advice from agencies about making sure we had all the tools that we needed ready to go to keep our migration system as strong as it can be. And this was identified as a potential gap in legislation and that, once those gaps are identified, it is pretty important when you’re dealing with the migration system to work to close them as soon as possible.
Gallagher says the government tried to work with the opposition to pass this but it “chose to play politics and not to respond to the advice that we had from our agencies”.
Host Lisa Millar asks whether the government is trying to get ahead of a High Court case due in the middle of April. Gallagher:
Well, there’s a number of cases that are always before the courts, Lisa, and it’s not helpful for me to be in a position where I comment on them.
She again points to the advice from agencies regarding the bill.
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Government expects ‘five to 10’ regulated digital ID providers
Katy Gallagher says private companies could “potentially” access the expanded digital ID. Once fully operational, the government doesn’t expect “hundreds of regulated digital ID providers”, but about five to 10, with potentially more over time.
Gallagher says the scheme would be voluntary and “if you don’t want it, don’t have one”.
We’ve got 10.5 million people with a myGov ID in place already; you know, it’s there and it’s safe. And we will review it over time as well to make sure that we are ensuring that people’s trust is maintained.
But, you know, a lot of people use it already. This is about enshrining it in legislation and hopefully providing people with a really convenient way of proving who they are without sharing all their information many, many times over.
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Finance minister outlines plans for voluntary digital ID
Finance minister Katy Gallagher was speaking to ABC News Breakfast just earlier about the government’s plan to set up a national voluntary form of digital identification.
She says this system already exists in an unregulated way (pointing to the myGov ID), but this would allow people to have a digital ID , enshrined in legislation, “that works across the economy”.
It’s regulated. People who participate are accredited [and] those important privacy protections are enshrined in legislation, as is the fact that it’s voluntary and that government services need to continue to be provided in a range of ways so that people who don’t want a digital ID don’t have to have one.
Gallagher says the digital ID would be to provide “a lot of documentation” to different businesses or governments, and explains it this way:
The idea is that you would provide your ID [such as license, passport] and that would establish who you were. And then as you engage with other people that will be involved in the system – businesses, private companies, state and territory governments – you’d be able to access that, the myGov ID system, as a way of verifying who you are.
So you don’t have to provide all those pieces of paper ID, or emailed ID, to all of those different providers, and thereby reducing the amount that you have to share about yourself. And also, you control how you engage with those companies using your myGov ID system.
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More cocaine ‘bricks’ wash up on Sydney beaches
Five suspicious packages were located along Sydney’s northern beaches on Monday.
It is understood the packages are cocaine “bricks”, which had previously washed up on beaches in New South Wales late last year. As we reported at the time, about 213kg of suspected cocaine was recovered at locations from the south coast to Newcastle:
At about 7.30am on Monday, police were notified of “three suspicious packages” on Sydney’s northern beaches, before two more packages were found at about 8.25am.
Officers seized the items to be forensically examined, NSW police said in a statement.
Police conducted patrols but no further packages were found. They have urged the public to report any suspicious package to authorities.
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Hundreds of calls for help as storms hit Victoria
Almost 500 requests for help were made to emergency services as thunderstorms, damaging winds and heavy rain pummelled Victoria, AAP reports.
There have been close to 250 reports of building damage and 110 flood-related incidents across the state in the 24 hours to 7am, the SES said.
Some 63 call-outs related to trees down on roads during the wild storm.
The suburbs of Melton, Altona and Point Cook in Melbourne’s west are among the areas hardest hit, along with Lara near Geelong and Horsham in the state’s west.
A severe weather warning for heavy rainfall and damaging wind gusts remains in place for much of Victoria’s east stretching from parts of Melbourne down to southern Gippsland and the High Country (more details on this earlier in the blog here).
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Wedgetail returns from support operations in Europe
As Guardian Australia flagged two weeks ago, a Royal Australian Air Force E-7A Wedgetail aircraft will return to Australia this week after a six-month deployment.
According to a statement from Defence, the E-7A aircraft supported the multinational effort to provide early warning for potential threats from Russia outside of Ukraine:
In providing a rapid response option, the E-7A Wedgetail contingent flew around 250 hours, with missions averaging five hours in the air. Up to 100 Australian Defence Force (ADF) personnel deployed to Ramstein Air Base, Germany, in support of the E-7A’s mission.
Defence says Australia’s military assistance to Ukraine will continue under the expanded training element of Operation Kudu, which comprises up to 90 personnel providing vital training to Armed Forces of Ukraine personnel in the UK throughout 2024.
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National security should form part of electric vehicle transition debate, Pocock says
David Pocock says he is “disappointed” that Australia’s fuel efficiency standards have been “watered down a little bit”.
He suggests national security should form part of the discussion because Australia is “so reliant on imported fuels”.
Price and choice [for electric vehicles] is largely due to us not having fuel efficiency standards. It’s us and Russia, we don’t have those standards, which means that we don’t have the same sort of choice that Europe [has] when they go to buy an EV. And when it comes to range anxiety we need a lot more more charging stations.
This is an opportunity for Australians to be saving thousands of dollars every year and I would argue that national security should come into this argument because we’re currently just so reliant on imported fuels. This is a way to actually get rid of that and to be using sunshine and wind power to get people around the country.
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Pocock: religious discrimination bill debate must not ‘become a culture war’
Moving to another piece of legislation, senator David Pocock is asked about the government’s religious discrimination bill.
The government says it wants opposition bipartisanship on the matter. In case you missed it, Paul Karp has written this fantastic explainer on the issue:
Pocock says he hasn’t seen the legislation and can “understand” the prime minister’s desire for bipartisanship, but argues the government can get support for “ambitious” action with the crossbench:
The crossbench is pushing the government on these issues but instead he’s choosing to deal with [opposition leader] Peter Dutton. And I’d say that the Coalition has not shown a willingness to work constructively with the government on difficult issues …
Pocock says it’s important for leaders to conduct this debate “in a way that ensures that religious discrimination legislation doesn’t become a culture war”.
We’ve seen it happen in the past and we know that some of the most vulnerable people in our community will suffer if that happens. I haven’t seen anything to suggest that the Coalition isn’t willing to use this to whip up fear.
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Government unclear on why deportation bill is so urgent, Pocock says
Independent senator David Pocock is speaking to ABC RN about the government’s deportation bill, which was delayed by the senate last week:
Pocock is scathing of the bill and say “I don’t think anyone believes that this is good governance” when discussing how quickly the government attempted to push it through parliament.
This is the third time now that the government has dropped surprise migration legislation on the parliament and tried to ram it through in less than 24 hours. Obviously, the Senate voted to send this to a Senate committee …
It was very unclear why this is so urgent ... the government [was] pretty cagey as to the urgency of this.
Pocock says the proposed legislation gives some “pretty extraordinary powers” to the executive, “being able to ban anyone from a country being able to visit Australia”.
Rightly, there’s a lot of Australians who are concerned about what that means for their family and friends who may want to come and visit Australia …
We may want to move them to other countries, but we still have international obligations to them and should be respecting their human rights. But also to Australians who have moved here [and] now callthis incredible continent home, what does this mean for the countries that they come from?
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Leaked papers reveal ‘extreme’ safety risk at airports
Aviation firefighters will walk off the job amid revelations many of the nation’s airports are ill-equipped to handle emergencies, AAP reports.
Leaked risk assessments carried out by Airservices Australia reveal travellers at 13 airports including Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and Adelaide airports, were found to be at extreme risk if there was a fire or aircraft incident because of a lack of firefighting resources.
Travellers at 14 other airports including Sydney, Canberra and Hobart were deemed to be at a “high risk”.
The leaked internal documents were revealed by the United Firefighters Union of Australia, which has warned that its members will conduct a four-hour strike from 6am on 15 April because of their concerns for the public’s safety.
Risk assessments were carried out between 2021 and 2022, but the union believes the problems remain to this day.
Union secretary Wes Garrett says Airservices Australia knew about the risk to travellers for two years, given the internal documents, but has publicly denied there are aviation firefighting shortages at airports.
These leaked documents confirm that Australia’s air travellers face a dire risk every time they set foot on an aircraft in Australia.
Clearly, this significant and ongoing risk to all Australian air travellers is unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue.
The documents show the risk assessments evaluate the minimum number of firefighting staff required to manage worst-case scenarios with four categories of risk: low, medium, high and extreme.
The union is calling for changes to the enterprise agreement with Airservices to include new clauses, including minimum staffing requirements, set work hours and rostering, and changes to meet work health and safety regulations.
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Woman has ‘lucky escape’ after falling into Victorian stormwater drain
A 58-year-old woman has had a lucky escape after falling into a flooded stormwater drain in Victoria on Monday night.
According to Victoria police, the Daylesford woman fell down an embankment and into a Raglan Street drain at about 8.50pm:
She was carried some distance in the fast-flowing water before coming to a stop in a culvert and managing to grab hold of a metal pole.
With water reaching her neck, she cried out for help but wasn’t heard over the roar of the water.
Miraculously, the woman was able to fight against the force of the water and climb up the embankment to safety.
She walked to a nearby friend’s house where she was treated for only minor cuts and bruises.
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Flash flooding possible in western and central areas of Victoria this evening
Sticking with Victorian weather, and the Bureau of Meteorology has issued two warnings:
A gale force wind warning has been issued for the Central Coast, Central Gippsland Coast and East Gippsland Coast. A strong wind warning was also issued for Port Phillip, Western Port, Gippsland Lakes and West Coast.
Both warnings were issued around 5am and will last until midnight tomorrow.
Meanwhile, a severe weather warning for heavy rain and damaging winds has been issued for people in the North East and parts of Central, East Gippsland, Northern Country, North Central and West and South Gippsland Forecast Districts.
The Bureau said heavy rainfall may lead to flash flooding as thunderstorms and rain hit western and central parts of the warning area this evening.
Six-hourly rainfall totals between 30 to 50mm are likely, with isolated falls of 70mm to 80mm possible.
The highest rainfall since 9am on Monday include:
75mm at Ferny Creek
68mm at Malmsbury
68mm at Avalon Station
64mm at Scoresby
64mm at Pound Creek
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South-east Australia weather outlook
Let’s take a look at the weather across south-east Australia, after parts of Victoria copped an absolute downpour on Monday night.
The Bureau of Meteorology says more rain and isolated thunderstorms are forecast in eastern Victoria today with heavy falls possible, clearing during the morning.
Scattered showers and the chance of thunderstorms to follow, more isolated north of the divide and remaining dry over the far northwest.
The cold front over eastern Victoria is set to clear the state by this afternoon.
Melbourne is forecast to reach a maximum of 20C today, with a “very high” chance of showers throughout the day, becoming less likely in the evening. There is a chance of a thunderstorm in the morning and early afternoon, the Bureau says.
Meanwhile in Tasmania, a severe weather warning for heavy rain in the central north, and parts of the north east, was issued earlier this morning:
.@BOM_Tas has issued a Severe Weather Warning - Heavy Rainfall for people in Central North and parts of North East, North West Coast and Midlands Forecast Districts. For more information, go to: https://t.co/UH9wfPTOcK pic.twitter.com/YDB2AkTGw4
— TasALERT (@tasalert) April 1, 2024
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Man’s body found in lake after he failed to surface
The body of a man has been found following a search of Parramatta Lake in Sydney’s west after he failed to surface, AAP reports.
Shortly after 5pm on Monday, emergency services responded to reports a man was seen to go under the water off North Rocks Road.
Police, paramedics and surf lifesavers commenced an extensive search of the lake and at about 7.55pm the body of the man was retrieved.
He has been identified as a 25-year-old man from Carlton who was at the lake with friends when he entered the water. Police say there are no suspicious circumstances and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
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Good morning
And happy Tuesday! Many thanks to Martin for kicking things off. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you on the Australia news live blog today.
As always, if you see something that needs attention you can get in touch with me via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
With that, let’s get started.
Early identification of autism leads to better outcomes, draft strategy says
Josh Butler has provided some more detail about the autism proposals.
The draft strategy lays out a number of “commitments”. Several key issues are raised about the diagnosis and identification of autism. The draft documents says autistic people and those around them can “experience difficulties” in seeking or receiving a diagnosis, as well as in accessing support services. The document says early identification leads to better educational, social and economic outcomes, as well as better mental health and reduced stigma.
Some points raised by those contributing to the report include “inconsistent approaches” to diagnosis, as well as varying levels of expertise of medical professionals, and the complexity and cost of the exercise.
One major commitment area says the government would “consider the use and consistency of current identification screening, outcome and diagnostic tools”, as well as working with professional bodies to “develop a set of standardised co-designed training/professional development and resource materials” for diagnosis.
Other resources could be developed to support autistic people and their families.
A final strategy, and subsequent action plan, is expected to be released late this year.
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Rishworth launches plans to standardise diagnosis of autism
The federal government has proposed a more standardised set of criteria and resources for diagnosing and assessing autism, as part of a new national strategy released in draft form today.
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth has given a first look at the National Autism Strategy, proposing updates in “a number of key reform areas including healthcare, education and employment”.
“The national autism strategy fosters inclusion and acceptance throughout Australian communities, recognising autistic strengths and the power of individual diversity and capacity,” Rishworth says in a statement.
One key recommendation is for the federal government to “work with states and territories to improve service integration between the NDIS, foundational supports and mainstream services”.
The NDIS is not heavily mentioned in the report; it’s understood this is because of feedback stressing the importance of the “mainstream” support services outside the NDIS. Another commitment is for the government to “explore ways to improve access to primary care, including through the Medicare benefits schedule”.
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Heavy rain and storms across south-east Australia
Severe weather has lashed large parts of Victoria amid thunderstorm warnings for more heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts and large hail, and the prospect of a drenching for much of south-east Australia this week as the front heads north.
The Bureau of Meteorology issued two alerts for more severe weather late on Monday with a cold front lashing Melbourne from about 2pm.
The Geelong and Hawthorn AFL match at the MCG was halted for about 40 minutes because of lightning with players taken from the field and spectators urged to seek shelter.
Further west of the state, the Stawell Gift’s finals were delayed by about two hours after torrential rain hammered the town’s annual running festival, flooding the track. The town recorded 25.2mm of rain since 9am.
Read more here:
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes the reins.
Could Australia come to be seen by its Aukus partners as a “radioactive terra nullius”? That’s how some anti-nuclear campaigners have framed concerns that the US and UK could dump waste here – claims the government rejects as fear mongering. Australia could become a “poison portal” for international radioactive waste under the Aukus deal, a parliamentary inquiry into nuclear safety legislation has heard. The new laws would pave the way for waste from the nuclear subs to be stored in Australia but, with the US and UK struggling to deal with their own waste, campaigners fear Australia will be obliged to pick up the pieces.
Property prices set a record high for a fifth consecutive month in March with the index compiled by CoreLogic showing a rise of 0.6%. Median home prices were $772,730, rebounding just over 10% since its most recent low. A separate index run by PropTrack produced similar results. National home prices were 0.34% higher in March to be up 6.79% from a year earlier, also a fresh peak. There’ll be more focus on this as the day goes on with Reserve Bank assistant governor Christopher Kent making a speech at Bloomberg’s offices in Sydney, while RBA minutes released at 11.30am will potentially shed more light on the next move in interest rates.
South-east Australia is in for a drenching in the next few days as the storm front that has lashed Victoria since yesterday afternoon moves north. Melbourne recorded its driest March ever but Monday’s downpour started the job of refilling reservoirs as many parts of the state saw thunderstorm warnings for more heavy rainfall, damaging wind gusts and large hail. The Geelong and Hawthorn AFL match at the MCG on Monday night was halted for about 40 minutes because of lightning, with players taken from the field and spectators urged to seek shelter.
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