What we learned; Thursday 2 March
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed – before we go, let’s recap the big headlines from today:
The former Coalition minister Stuart Robert told the robodebt inquiry he made false statements about the scheme in TV interviews because it was “the approach that cabinet had signed off”.
Richard Marles has taken aim at Peter Dutton for his pre-emptive criticism of the possible Aukus announcement.
The federal government received another review into disturbing allegations of sexual harassment and cultural problems on remote Antarctic stations, which includes “substantial” recommendations for change.
Mediation has failed to resolve the legal dispute between Monique Ryan, Sally Rugg and the commonwealth, which employs parliamentary staff.
Sticky Fingers have been taken off the 2023 Bluesfest lineup, after weeks of backlash over their place on the bill.
Updated
Australia backing Vanuatu in international court climate bid
From AAP:
Australia is supporting Vanuatu’s bid to have a top international court outline what responsibilities countries have to act on the climate crisis.
The Pacific island nation is one of the most susceptible to global heating and has asked the International Court of Justice to issue an advisory opinion on the issue.
More than 100 nations including Britain and New Zealand on top of a raft of European, Scandinavian, Southeast Asian and Pacific nations co-sponsored the move.
But some of the world’s largest emitters including the United States, China and India haven’t agreed to sponsor the push, which will come to a vote at the United Nations later in the year.
Any advisory opinion from the Hague-based court would be non-binding.
The Australian government has outlined climate crisis as an urgent challenge and the greatest threat to Pacific nations and security in the region.
Updated
La Perouse site declared an Aboriginal place by NSW government
From AAP:
A former Aboriginal mission that has become a crucial place for Indigenous activism and resistance will be formally recognised in cultural laws.
Aboriginal families have lived at the La Perouse site south of Sydney for more than 7500 years.
The Frenchmans Bay location has a long and troubled history of oppression and dispossession, dating back the late 1800s when Aboriginal people were forced out of the city, with many moving to La Perouse.
The site became a camping and meeting place, and then Sydney’s first Aboriginal reserve from the 1890s to 1930s.
The site has now been declared an Aboriginal place by the NSW government.
Sam Kidman from Heritage NSW said it was a testament to the great resilience of Indigenous people.
“It is a very special place of ancient history and ongoing cultural practices that we’re acknowledging for its cultural significance, and to help protect it for future generations,” he said.
Updated
Warning issued against swimming in WA’s Fitzroy River
People are being urged not to swim across the flooded Fitzroy River after two men drowned while trying to reach the other side of town, AAP has reported.
The body of a 20-year-old man was recovered on Monday after he entered the water near the Fitzroy River Lodge in Western Australia’s north.
Another man, aged 40, was found drowned in the river on 10 February.
Fitzroy Crossing was split by once-in-a-century floods in January which destroyed dozens of homes and collapsed the town’s bridge.
Repair efforts across the Kimberley region have been hampered by continued heavy rain with weeks still left to run in the wet season.
The full rebuild of the Fitzroy Crossing bridge is expected to take years and the state emergency services minister, Stephen Dawson, says it’s not feasible to build a walkway under the conditions.
Updated
Jason Clare highlights international links in address to Delhi students
Ten new memorandums of understanding will be signed between Indian and Australian institutions on Friday, education minister Jason Clare has announced.
Speaking to students at Delhi University on his delegation to India, Clare hypothesised moving through time. He said if you “got in a time machine and went back 50 years” only 7% of Australians had a university degree.
Today, almost one in two young Australians do. We are a different country. Then minister Pradhan took me in his time machine – set to 2035. Twelve years into the future. By then the Indian government plans to have half of its young people in vocational and higher education. That is nation-changing stuff.
He said Australia had heard the call from India to be a part of its higher education plan.
Some already offer courses at Indian universities. Some want to set up campuses. Some are setting up offices. Some are here to sign agreements. All want to learn, want to help and want to be part of this bigger, deeper partnership in India. We’re building on what is already a very close relationship.
Right now, there are around 70,000 Indian students studying in Australia, mostly in higher education and vocational training. In the past 17 years more than one and a half million Indian students have studied in Australia. More than 1,700 of our university lecturers and tutors have Indian ancestry. Right here, Delhi University has memoranda of understanding with three Australian universities – Macquarie University, the University of Wollongong and the University of Melbourne. Tomorrow 10 new memoranda will be signed between Indian and Australian institutions.
Updated
Thinktanks reports Australia a leader in key technology fields
A new report by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute says China is winning the race against the United States to develop advanced technologies and retain talent.
But beyond the headline findings, the research team also found that Australia was amongst the top-five countries for nine technologies.
These included cyber security, critical minerals extraction and processing, electric batteries, hydrogen and ammonia power, novel metamaterials, distributed ledgers (such as blockchains) and 3D printing.
Australia was “well-placed to make lithium batteries and other products that can build local industries and help strengthen the nation’s energy security”, the report said.
Updated
Monique Ryan rejects Sally Rugg’s claims
Monique Ryan has responded to the announcement from Maurice Blackburn this afternoon that mediation between herself and Sally Rugg has failed:
Ms Rugg recently launched legal proceedings against the Commonwealth and against me.
This matter is before the court, and I will not be commenting on it at this point.
Her claims, and the additional matters raised in Maurice Blackburn’s press release of 2.3.2023, are rejected and will be defended.
Updated
Safe Work Australia opens public consultation on engineered stone ban
Safe Work Australia CEO Michelle Baxter:
I welcome the decision by WHS ministers to agree to Safe Work Australia’s recommendations on action to reduce workplace exposure to respirable crystalline silica and prevent silicosis and silica-related diseases in Australia.
Workplace exposure to respirable crystalline silica has led to an unacceptable increase in the number of cases of silicosis and other silica-related diseases.
Today, Safe Work Australia commenced the next stage of consultation on a prohibition on the use of engineered stone. Consultation is open through Safe Work Australia’s Engage website until 2 April 2023.
Stakeholder feedback from the consultation will inform a report to be provided to WHS ministers for their consideration.
We will also work closely with WHS regulators and other stakeholders including industry and unions, to implement the options agreed by WHS ministers, including further national awareness and behaviour-change initiatives and regulation of high-risk crystalline silica processes for all materials, including engineered stone, and across all industries.
I encourage all stakeholders to go to Safe Work Australia’s consultation website Engage to take part and have your say on a prohibition on the use of engineered stone.
Marles calls for bipartisanship on Aukus, says Dutton’s advice out of date
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has taken aim at the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, for his pre-emptive criticism of the possible Aukus announcement.
At some point this month, Australia, the UK and the US are due to announce their plans for Australia’s acquisition of at least eight nuclear-powered submarines. Yesterday and today, Dutton continued to argue the US Virginia class nuclear-powered submarines would be the best choice for Australia, rather than a British model in development.
Marles told ABC TV the former Coalition government had presided over a “lost decade” in terms of procuring a replacement for Australia’s existing diesel-electric Collins class submarines. Marles added:
I’m limited in what I can say. We are at a point where it won’t be long before we are making the announcement about what the optimal pathway will look like.
The opposition leader is obviously giving comments based on confidential advice he was provided almost a year ago. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then. We’re mindful of the issues that have been raised but people need to wait and see what is announced.
Asked whether he was worried Dutton’s comments may have unsettled Australia’s Aukus partners, Marles said:
Look, I think it is really important that there is bipartisanship. I’m confident obviously that our partners in the United Kingdom and the United States are completely sure about where we stand on this and know that there is full government support in relation to it. They would obviously understand that the former government initiated the [Aukus] process and I do accept what the leader of the opposition has said that the opposition will provide support to whatever we announce in the near term.
But I’m not sure that speculation of this kind helps right now. We are really very much on the verge of an announcement. And I think what matters now is, when that announcement is made, making sure that that enjoys the support of the full spectrum of politics in Australia.
Marles said the government would ensure the opposition was “appropriately briefed in respect of the announcement” but added that Australia had “obligations to our partners” in the US and the UK.
Updated
Mediation fails in Sally Rugg, Monique Ryan legal dispute
Mediation has failed to resolve the legal dispute between Sally Rugg and Monique Ryan, Rugg’s lawyers have announced.
In a statement Maurice Blackburn Lawyers Principal Josh Bornstein said:
Ms Rugg will seek to add claims of “serious contraventions” of the Fair Work Act against the Commonwealth. A serious contravention occurs where the breach of labour standards is knowing and systematic. The penalty for serious contraventions is a maximum of $660,000.00.”
Ms Rugg’s claim is expected to include comments made by Dr Ryan. Mr Bornstein said “ Dr Ryan publicly acknowledged that her staff were working 70-hour weeks and that it was not safe. In addition, the Commonwealth has been on notice of unlawful excessive hours being worked for Parliamentary staffers for many years, including by reason of inquiries and reports to Parliament. Most recently, Kate Jenkins’ 2001 Set the Standard report documents that staffers working excessive hours was an important factor in an unsafe workplace.
Ms Rugg’s case will be a test case for what constitutes “reasonable” overtime or additional hours for parliamentary staffers and may impact other white -collar employees in the labour market.
“If Ms Rugg’s case succeeds, it will open the door for further litigation including class actions,” Mr Bornstein said, adding the case would have implications for other Australian workers who claim to have been exploited by working undefined “reasonable additional hours”.
Tomorrow morning, the federal court will hear Ms Rugg’s application for an injunction to restrain the termination of her employment. After that issue is determined, Ms Rugg will then pursue her claims for compensation and other orders against the commonwealth and Dr Monique Ryan.
Updated
Resilient DJs customers send sales higher
David Jones has recorded surging sales at its high-end department stores, defying expectations that inflation pressures would curb spending.
Sales lifted by 13.6% in the first eight weeks of 2023, according to accounts lodged by its South African owner Woolworths Holding, which is not related to the supermarket chain.
In the six months to December, turnover increased by nearly 32% compared to the corresponding period, underpinned by strong shopper demand at its inner-city Australian stores.
The robust sales figures contrast with a spending pullback recorded at retailers Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi, which suggests demand for luxury goods is proving resilient.
Woolworths chief executive, Roy Bagattini, said there were no signs that consumers were switching to cheaper products.
“You would expect these impacts to play through into a much more softening of demand or consumer demand, but we haven’t seen that, frankly, in the first period of our second half and obviously we are buoyed by that,” he said.
Woolworths paid just over $2bn for the department store chain in 2014, and has agreed to sell it to private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners for a fraction of the price after it proved to be a difficult investment.
The sale is expected to be completed by the end of March.
As part of the deal, Woolworths will retain ownership of the department store’s prominent Bourke Street building in Melbourne.
Updated
Sticky Fingers axed from Bluesfest lineup
Sticky Fingers have been taken off the 2023 Bluesfest lineup, after weeks of backlash over their place on the bill.
In a statement festival organisers said:
We are sad to announce that Bluesfest has decided that Sticky Fingers is to step off the Bluesfest 2023 line-up.
Bluesfest cannot, sadly, continue to support Sticky Fingers by having them play our 2023 edition and we apologise to those artists, sponsors and any others we involved in this matter through our mistaken belief that forgiveness and redemption are the rock on which our society is built.
We thank everyone who has contacted us and advised their support in this matter, especially those suffering from a mental illness who feel that they cannot have their illness supported in a manner whereby they feel included in society.
Sticky Fingers has done so many good deeds that have never been reported including building and funding recording studios and music education programs in disadvantaged regional communities. We will now move on, put this behind us and continue to plan and present our best-ever edition of Bluesfest… proudly.
Updated
2/2
Under questioning from senior counsel assisting, Justin Greggery KC, on Thursday, McGuirk was asked why she had not produced her emails to the commission showing she had backed income averaging when the scheme was being finalised.
She told the royal commission she had been unable to locate them on her email archive. She said the commonwealth’s lawyers must have been able to find them through the email accounts of other witnesses.
The commissioner, Catherine Holmes AC SC, pressed McGuirk about evidence she gave last year saying the first she’d learned of income averaging was in early 2017.
Holmes said the most charitable explanation was “a false memory” of “having those sensations”.
McGuirk said she based her evidence on the documents she had reviewed, adding she didn’t have an independent recollection of the time.
Holmes replied: “So you invented a memory?”
McGuirk said she’d given evidence to the best of her ability, but added: “Having seen these [documents] I accept there had been times where I had interacted [with robodebt] before.”
McGuirk denied she had sought the new legal advice from Pulford with a “predetermined outcome” to back her own 2015 approval of the robodebt plan.
That internal advice remained the only formal legal opinion in support of the scheme while it operated.
McGuirk remains a public servant at DSS.
The inquiry continues.
Updated
Public servant grilled over claims she “invented a memory” at robodebt inquiry
1/2
A public servant faced intense questioning at the robodebt royal commission over claims she “invented a memory” to hide her role in the scandal.
Emma-Kate McGuirk held roles at the departments of human services (DHS) and later social services (DSS), including playing a key role in the government response to a Commonwealth ombudsman’s investigation in early 2017.
McGuirk told the commission last year she was among social services officials surprised to learn the robodebt scheme included the use of income averaging, given DSS had warned against this in 2015.
But the commission was shown emails on Thursday that showed McGuirk, while at DHS, had given “program advice” approval for income averaging in May 2015, shortly before it was launched.
The commission was also again shown a 2016 presentation from a DHS official that outlined the use of income averaging in the robodebt scheme. McGuirk, by this stage at DSS, accepted she was present at the presentation.
The inquiry has been told that when the scheme faced the ombudsman’s investigation in early 2017, it was McGuirk who requested legal advice from a senior DSS lawyer, Anne Pulford. Pulford’s new advice contradicted her 2014 opinion saying averaging was unlawful.
Updated
Activists pressuring federal government on Burrup peninsula development
WA campaigners, Save Our Songlines are stepping up their protest against industrial activity on the Burrup peninsula in the Pilbara region, travelling to Sydney to pressure the federal government.
They fear the massive Burrup hub expansion proposed by fossil fuel company Woodside could devastate ancient Indigenous rock art and sacred sites in the area, thought to be more than 60,000 years old.
The federal government is currently deciding whether to grant the area cultural heritage protected status under federal legislation, with federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, recently having visited the state to announce the nomination of the Murujuga petroglyphs for Unesco World Heritage Protection.
The campaigners, including traditional owner Raelene Cooper, were at Plibersek’s office in Sydney earlier today and were pushing for her to step in, saying that important local history is at risk if the project goes ahead.
Cooper said:
Any more industry on the Burrup means another Juukan Gorge on this minister’s watch, and Tanya Plibersek needs to act now to make permanent protections for Murujuga under existing legislation while we wait for World Heritage to be confirmed by the UN.
We know that people in Tanya Plibersek’s electorate, and around the country, care about our culture and demand that this government protect it. We need to hold this government to account on its promises.
The event began with a statement from Gadigal elder Aunty Rhonda Dixon-Grovenor who said she stood in solidarity with their struggle:
I give my whole-hearted support to our guests that have travelled from the Pilbara to bring a message about the importance of protecting their sacred areas at Murujuga on the Burrup peninsula.
The campaigners will also be meeting at the climate strike in Sydney’s Town Hall on Friday.
Updated
Western Sydney airport takes step forward
Sydney’s future second airport in the city’s western outskirts has marked another step forward on its road to opening at the end of 2026, with the International Air Transport Association allocating the facility its three letter airport code.
WSI will appear on routes and flight tickets for those travelling to Western Sydney International, which will be named Nancy Bird-Walton airport. Sydney’s main passenger airport, Kingsford-Smith airport in Mascot, uses SYD, as part of the same IATA code system that lists New York’s John F Kennedy International airport as JFK and Los Angeles International airport as LAX.
In announcing the code allocation, the federal government said the western Sydney airport project has reached 40% completion, with the bulk earthworks finished and the airside, landslide and terminal construction expected to peak later this year.
The airport is scheduled to commence operations in late 2026 and will be capable of catering for up to 10 million passengers a year. It will form the centre of the western Sydney aerotropolis, a new growth region of Sydney that will also feature a new central business district named Bradfield City.
Infrastructure and transport minister Catherine King said the allocation of the WSI code “is an exciting step forward”, and that the airport project “is proving once again to be the catalyst for the socioeconomic transformation of this entire region”.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher said the Western Sydney airport project had already created more than 3,800 direct jobs.
Updated
That’s it from me for today, handing over to the lovely Cait Kelly!
Union gravely concerned by suspension of students over protest
The president of the National Tertiary Education Union at the University of Sydney has written to vice-chancellor Mark Scott expressing his “grave concern” about disciplinary measures taken against student activists who protested at an appearance of former prime minister Malcom Turnbull at the law society last September.
Maddie Clark and Deaglan Godwin were suspended for a semester after a months-long investigation which they claimed they were gagged from talking about to media or friends. The students claimed the institution was attempting to “crack down on activism” by suspending them both for half the year, with their punishments only confirmed after classes returned this week.
In an email sent to Scott, Nick Riemer said the protest was part of a “wider political context” that should have been taken into account by the institution:
For a number of years now, we have been witnessing a dangerous escalation of political authoritarianism in this country ... protest is a cornerstone of any society which values democracy. There is no democratic requirement that it be decorous, measured or polite ... the university must not reinforce the dangerous anti-democratic norms that increasingly prevail in this country ...
The much reported accusation that the protestors who dared to challenge [Turnbull] were ‘fascists’ is outrageous. Through its decision to suspend Deaglan and Maddie, the university can now be seen as validating this disgraceful slur ... the suspension dangerously cheapens our commitment to education, democracy and leadership, and I urge you to reverse it.
A University of Sydney spokesperson wouldn’t confirm the punishments, saying they couldn’t comment on individual processes “due to our privacy responsibilities”. But they defended the institution’s decision, saying “we don’t take any disciplinary action lightly”.
They said in a statement:
We consider attempts to shut down speakers who have been invited to our campuses to participate in an exchange of views and ideas as contrary to our Charter of Freedom of Speech and Academic Freedom which defines the core values of our University in these matters.
We have a rich history of activism and protest on our campuses, and all students and staff have the right to express themselves freely, as long as it’s done safely and in accordance with our policies and the law. Protests may be rowdy and spirited, but they cannot interfere with the rights and freedoms of others. The safety and wellbeing of our community is our number one priority.
Updated
Coalition claims Labor leaders divided on tax policy
The opposition leader Peter Dutton has accused the treasurer Jim Chalmers of “going to ground” after yesterday morning refusing to rule out changes to a capital gains tax on the family home.
Speaking in the Melbourne suburb of Bayswater this afternoon, alongside the Liberal candidate for Aston, Roshena Campbell, Dutton brought out the same line which Sussan Ley used this morning that the PM and the treasurer were “at war” with each other.
(While Albanese ruled out changes to a capital gains tax on the family home on ABC Radio yesterday morning, Chalmers did not on Sunrise before clarifying at a press conference later that day he should have, but adding he did not want to encourage the media playing the “rule-in, rule-out game”)
Dutton went on to say today:
[The Australian people] got a glimpse into the real Jim Chalmers yesterday. Jim Chalmers was rushed back out a couple of hours later to try and tidy up the mess. Obviously the prime minister’s urging and it seems today that the treasurer has gone to ground.
Dutton’s sense of Chalmers having been rushed out yesterday at the PM’s insistence doesn’t quite square with the fact the treasurer had stepped up to speak on the release of the latest GDP figures as he does each quarter.
Meanwhile, the treasurer’s low profile today could have more to do with him celebrating his 45th birthday. However, perhaps Dutton could be forgiven for not knowing, because only the PM received a celebratory tweet from Australian Labor.
Wishing the Prime Minister @AlboMP the very happiest of birthdays today! 🎉🎉🎉 pic.twitter.com/LZAUqTWe9E
— Australian Labor (@AustralianLabor) March 1, 2023
Updated
More electric car charging stations rolling out across South Australia
The push to decarbonise transport is gathering pace, AAP reports.
The Royal Automobile Association will develop a network of 140 stations across Adelaide and regional locations.
It will include 86 AC fast-charging stations and 54 DC rapid and ultra-rapid locations, with construction to be complete by the end of next year.
All will be powered by renewable energy, with the work supported by a $12.5m state government grant.
The premier, Peter Malinauskas, said backing the faster uptake of electric vehicles made sense from an economic and environmental standpoint.
At a time when petrol prices are stubbornly high, South Australia has abundant renewable energy, particularly in the middle of the day.
Electric vehicles will play a crucial role in storing that energy and using it productively.
Updated
Murder suspect arrives in Cairns after India manhunt
The man suspected of killing Queensland woman Toyah Cordingley has touched down in Cairns, where he is expected to be charged with murder.
Rajwinder Singh, 38, arrived on a privately chartered jet today after spending his first night in Australia behind bars.
More than four years after Cordingley’s body was discovered partially buried on Wangetti Beach in October 2018, Singh made his return to the tourist city under police escort.
Handcuffed and flanked by detectives, the former nurse arrived at the Queensland government air base in Cairns early on Thursday afternoon.
He is expected to be taken to Cairns police station, where he will be formally charged.
A day earlier, Singh arrived in Melbourne from Delhi before a Victorian magistrate ordered his return to the state he allegedly fled when Cordingley’s body was found.
Police believe he hid out in Punjab state after fleeing Australia, leaving behind his wife and three children at their Innisfail home.
Detective acting superintendent Kevin Goan said on Wednesday that Cordingley’s family had been told Singh would return to Queensland. He said:
They’re clearly overwhelmed but delighted that, again, the judicial process will commence on Australian soil in the very near future.
Magistrate Martin Grinberg ordered Singh to be extradited to Queensland after hearing police had DNA and telephone evidence linking him to the case.
He has been remanded in custody and is expected to appear at a court in Cairns once charged.
Singh denies having murdered Cordingley.
- AAP
Updated
Coalition vows to back Labor submarine choice
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has pledged the Coalition will support the Albanese government’s choice of nuclear submarine, despite suggesting US vessels are the best option.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to travel to Washington this month to announce alongside US president Joe Biden and his UK counterpart, Rishi Sunak, which submarine Australia will acquire under the Aukus security partnership.
Dutton has repeatedly insisted the US Virginia-class submarines remain the quickest and cheapest option for Australia, as speculation mounts an under-development British boat will be chosen.
But he said the government will receive bipartisan support for its decision.
The former defence minister told 2GB radio today:
Labor’s going to make a decision about which submarine they go with, but we’ll support whatever decision they take.
Dutton said his preference for the US model was “no slight on the Brits”.
The Brits have been allies of ours forever and for the sake of our country I hope that’s always the case of the future.
- AAP
Updated
Wong extends Australia’s condolences to Turkey at G20 meeting
Foreign minister Penny Wong has caught up with her Turkish, Singaporean and Canadian counterparts on the sidelines of the G20 foreign ministers meeting.
Wong has personally conveyed to her Turkish counterpart Australia’s deepest condolences as they rebuild from last month’s earthquakes.
She has also discussed cooperation on the energy transition and combatting food insecurity with Singapore, as well as Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
The thoughts of the Australian people are with Türkiye as they rebuild from the devastating earthquakes.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 2, 2023
I expressed our country’s deepest condolences to @MevlutCavusoglu during our meeting at the G20 FMM.
Australia will continue to support Türkiye’s recovery. pic.twitter.com/PWwp4ScDxF
Australia and Singapore share a region and we share a future.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 2, 2023
Our close cooperation on the energy transition and combatting food insecurity is to ensure the best possible future for our region.
It was great to progress our work with @VivianBala at the G20 FMM. pic.twitter.com/ehjTmPuXcs
Canada is a friend to Australia and our region.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) March 2, 2023
I caught up with @melaniejoly on the sidelines of the G20 FMM to discuss Canada’s Indo-Pacific Strategy.
We’re working together to ensure a peaceful, stable, prosperous region. pic.twitter.com/r6Y9K8PAlj
Updated
NSW MPs trade barbs in housing debate
The politicians vying for control of the New South Wales coffers have been questioned on their plans for housing in Sydney.
Labor’s Mookhey said there needed to be a rebalancing of where development happens, including greater density “across the city” rather than focusing just on Western Sydney.
Treasurer Kean rebuked:
I hope every person living in a ‘teal’ seat has just heard Labor’s plan for overdevelopment across the city’s east and north.
Asked to describe each other in one word, Kean called Mookhey a “unionist” and Mookhey called Kean a “showman”.
The debate has concluded.
Updated
Labor stands by policy on public sector wages
New South Wales Labor’s treasury spokesperson, Daniel Mookhey, defended Labor’s plan to scrap the public sector wage cap if it forms government after 25 March.
He said that the government should not be able to avoid bargaining with workers as private companies are required to do, which he also argued was causing people to leave the public sector.
He said:
When we are facing such a critical shortage, when we don’t even have enough teachers in our classrooms, then yes, we say it is time to do something differently.
Treasurer, Matt Kean, said the policy would cost businesses who would have to compete with the government for labour.
He said:
We have a wage cap in place that’s maintained fiscal discipline, which is how we’ve delivered the services and infrastructure that this state deserves. If that wages cap is removed, then it will blow the budget.
Updated
A graph compiled by the Sydney Morning Herald last week used ATO data to reveal the breakdown of the 300,000 Australians with more than $1m in superannuation in 2019.
I’d love to know
— The Spence (@adambspencer) February 24, 2023
Who is the ONE AUSTRALIAN with over $544 MILLION in super? pic.twitter.com/DwHyQQqT0p
Ever since, speculation has been rife as to the identity of the person with $544m in their super account but news.com.au has crossed one suspect off the list.
Yesterday a spokesperson for Gina Rinehart told the publication she does not own the country’s richest super account:
I can confirm that Mrs Rinehart is not the person with that $544 million super balance.
NSW Coalition and Labor vie for business votes
The New South Wales treasurer, Matt Kean, and opposition treasury spokesperson, Daniel Mookhey, are making their pitches to the NSW business community at an event at the Sydney CBD.
Kean used the Business NSW event to announce a Coalition government would pay businesses dealing with the state within five business days.
He said:
We understand that cashflow is critically important for your success now and into the future.
Kean took aim at Labor’s plan to lift public sector wages:
What it will mean for each and every one of you is that you will now be competing for labour against the public service who were paying huge wage increases. Imagine what happens when you’re competing against the might of government and the public servants who were paid huge pay increases.
Labor’s Mookhey said part of his plan to improve the economy was to stabilise the energy grid and energy prices, as well as bring manufacturing onshore. He said:
We are committed to creating the NSW energy security cooperation, whose mission is to partner with you [businesses] to stabilise the grid so we can bring on more of the future power we need at a price people can afford. I want NSW to be a state that makes things again.
Updated
NSW Greens announce energy policy to ‘decarbonise the economy’
The NSW Greens have announced their energy policy heading into the March state election with a plan to “decarbonise the economy and deliver affordable renewable energy, for every household”.
Under the plan, the party says it would establish a new public, non-profit electricity company called PowerNSW to reduce power bills. They would also invest in publicly owned renewable energy projects, stop all new coal and gas projects and phase out the use of coal and gas for energy by 2030. Gas would be banned on new builds from 1 July 2024.
There is also a proposed package to support households and tackle energy poverty with:
rollout of energy efficiency upgrades,
rebates and zero interest loans of up to $3,000 to help households replace gas appliances with energy efficient ones
mandated minimum efficiency and thermal comfort standards for rental properties by 2028
The Greens spokesperson for treasury and energy, Abigail Boyd, said the proposals would “deliver affordable renewable energy for every household”.
We must take back control over our power supply and ensure that we are never again at the mercy of the private market for our energy needs.
Cath Blakely, the party’s candidate for the seat of Wollongong, said the plan “will immediately provide cost-of-living relief by lowering power bills, and lays out a plan for electrification by getting one million homes off gas”.
Energy bills are skyrocketing across the state, plunging people into energy poverty, but neither NSW Labor nor the Coalition have any credible plan to reduce energy costs for households.
Updated
Robert rejects in ‘strongest possible terms’ that he didn’t take seriously robodebt advice from solicitor general
Former government services minister Stuart Robert has rejected in the “strongest possible terms” claims aired at a royal commission that he didn’t take the solicitor-general advice on the robodebt scheme seriously.
Robert also rejected as non-sensical claims levelled by the former secretary of the Department of Human Services, Renee Leon, on Tuesday that the minister had responded to her recommendation that the program cease and the government apologise by saying “we will double down”.
The inquiry heard on Tuesday that Leon had told Robert in a November 2019 meeting that the best course following the solicitor-general’s advice was to apologise, cease the scheme and tell customers how they’d fix the problem.
She claimed Robert said they would “absolutely not be doing that” and would double down.
Asked about the alleged encounter on Thursday, Robert said:
I don’t recall that. It would be completely inconsistent with the fact that I’ve got the solicitor-general’s advice, advice I wanted.
I’d taken it to the prime minister, the prime minister had agreed to an urgent ERC, he’s agreed to ceasing averaging solely and partially, he wanted to look at further proof points … I would have relayed that to the secretary. The idea, somewhat farcically, that I’ve come out of the prime minister’s office, who’s agreed with the solicitor-general’s view, agreed to an urgent ERC the next week, that I would then ignore those two and say we’re going to double down on the same project, doesn’t make any sense at all.
Robert also rejected claims he had remarked during a verbal briefing on the solicitor-general’s advice in late October 2019 that “legal advice is just advice”.
Leon’s evidence was that Robert was briefed in writing about the risks of continuing the program following this alleged comment, which she said was evidence to demonstrate he didn’t support stopping the program.
Robert said:
I completely reject that ... in the strongest possible terms. I asked for the advice, I wanted it. My department took months and months and months to get it to me, and when they had it, they ostensibly sat on it for six weeks ... When I got it, I demonstrated the seriousness by walking straight into the prime minister’s office.
Updated
Dwelling approvals slump 28%, with houses at 10-year lows
We’re told by the RBA and others that the answer to solving the housing crisis is supply.
Based on the latest dwelling approvals data from the ABS out today, a boost of supply is not likely to be forthcoming for a while at least.
Total approvals slumped 27.6% in January, seasonally adjusted, more than reversing the 15.3% gain in December, the ABS says. (CBA has predicted a 7% slide in the total.)
Dwelling approvals cratered in January, falling 27.6% seasonally adjusted. Private sector house approvals sank 13.8%, the fifth consecutive drop, to be the lowest level since June 2012, ABS says. pic.twitter.com/zCDwvAsH2v
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 2, 2023
For private sector houses, approvals sank 13.8%, the fifth month in a row of falls, bringing the number to its lowest since June 2012.
The overall dwellings retreat was led by a 49% dive in NSW and nearly 39% in Victoria, the two most populous states. Queensland, which is enjoying a bit of a population rush, bucked the trend with a 25.6% rise for the month, led mostly by new flats going up.
In value terms, the building approvals were off 18.6%.
Today’s numbers will also be a drag on economic activity which is already slowing as we saw with yesterday’s GDP numbers. With more interest rate rises to come, it won’t be surprising if approvals fall even more.
The Housing Industry Association, a lobby group for the sector, is already predicting 2023 will be the worst year in a decade for new construction.
Updated
Australia’s RMIT to launch dual degree program with India
RMIT will launch the first dual degree program with India under the nation’s sweeping new education policy.
Announced on a delegation with education minister Jason Clare at Delhi on Thursday, the higher education partnership with Birla Institute of Technology and Science will begin in mid 2023.
India’s National Education Policy came into effect in 2022 with the aim of attracting international universities to set up branch campuses in the nation and rapidly expanding its tertiary education sector.
The partnership will initially offer four undergraduate engineering programs through a dual degree and a PhD program. Students will initially learn at BITS followed by two years at RMIT, with potential careers in Australia or India.
RMIT academics will also be able to teach at BITS.
RMIT vice-chancellor professor Alec Cameron said the academy was a “strategic step” in strengthening the university’s presence in India.
BITS vice-chancellor Professor Souvik Bhattacharyya said the academy would be a “new dimension” in trans-national education and research.
We look forward to a new era of academic cooperation that will define and deliver the best attributes of a global graduate and citizen.
International academics have told Times Higher Education they are skeptical India’s policy will attract many takers, citing concerns over academic freedom and a heavily bureaucratic system.
Updated
Robert: 'I have no choice as a cabinet minister but to defend government policy'
Robert is then asked about his doorstop interview regarding the Gordon Legal class action, which he called a “political stunt”.
Scott:
Do you accept that your assertion of a 99.2% effectiveness rate, based on the state of mind that you say you arrived at on the 4 July 2019, was false?
Robert:
I do accept that now, but again Mr Scott, as I said to the commissioner, I am still at that stage a cabinet minister. I’m still required to uphold, until such time as I am advised lawfully otherwise, the requirement for the government program, I’d still have to defend it. That is the job I’ve got.
Scott:
Despite what you knew to be the case, which is that you could not lawfully rely on income averaging as a sole basis to calculate and raise a debt?
Robert:
Despite what I thought was the case, noting I am not a lawyer …while I couldn’t reconcile the numbers that doesn’t mean I couldn’t be wrong and until such time as I have got the advice, respectfully Mr Scott I have no choice as a cabinet minister but to defend government policy.
Updated
Robert says he made false statements about robodebt in TV interviews because it was ‘the approach that cabinet had signed off’
Robert is admitting he made false statements about robodebt in media interviews because of cabinet solidarity.
Asked about his interview with Laura Tingle in August 2019, Robert says “one doesn’t tend to forget interviews with Laura Tingle.”
Robert’s response to Tingle’s questions about income averaging was a flat-out defence of it. He tells the commission now he was bound by cabinet solidarity regardless of his personal views at the time.
Scott:
Do you accept, Mr Robert, that what you’ve said in response to that question from Ms Tingle is inconsistent with the state of mind you assert you held at the conclusion of the deep dive session?
Robert:
Yes I do, keeping in mind if I’ve got a personal opinion, my next step is to seek the appropriate advice, until such time as that arrives, I remain a cabinet minister and I am responsible for holding the cabinet line which is what I have done in the interview.
… In every interview government ministers are expected to show confidence in the government. Cabinet ministers can’t go out and defend some parts of the government’s program and be wishy-washy on others. That is just not how a government can operate Sir, respectfully.
Robert was also asked about his interview with David Speers in July 2019:
Holmes:
Your evidence was that you could not raise a debt based solely on averaging.
Robert:
That was my belief, yes.
Holmes:
And in 90% of cases that is exactly what was happening under the program to your knowledge.
Robert:
That is correct.
Holmes:
So what you said there, to your knowledge, at the time was false.
Robert:
My personal view, yes, but I am still a government minister and it is still a government program and this was the approach that cabinet had signed off on three or four years earlier and had been going on and until such time as I’m not a lawyer, I’ve got a competent legal view, it is still just my opinion.
Probed that he knew the departmental figures couldn’t be right, Robert answers:
I had a massive personal misgiving, yes, but I’m still a cabinet minister.
Holmes:
Yes, but it doesn’t compel you to say things that you don’t believe to be true, surely? It’s one thing to stick to the policy and say this is how we do it and we are confident in the program but to actually give statistics which you couldn’t have believed to be accurate is another thing, isn’t it?
Robert:
They were the numbers from the department based on the working approach to how the program was being run. They were the accepted figures by government to use. And as a dutiful cabinet minister, that is what we do.
Updated
Robert says it’s ‘unconscionable’ he was not given the advice
Robert:
The fact that that would not be given to me in writing is simply unconscionable. And I’ve chosen my words carefully.
Updated
Robert says he didn’t receive AGS advice on 4 July
Robert is claiming he didn’t receive the advice from the Australian Government Solicitor (AGS).
This wasn’t told to me by the secretary on the 27th, it was not in the blue book, it wasn’t in brief 119 which covered all the legal aspects, it wasn’t attached to nor referred to nor inferred of, in cabinet brief 120.
So on the 4 July, what I’m hearing and seeing from you is that my department had a brief and now had it for 27 March …
Scott:
Yes.
Robert:
Therefore almost 100 days and [they] have not informed me in writing in any way shape or form. I do not recall this being briefed to me, I don’t recall my department saying on the 4 July we have an AGS advice, because if we did, my actions would have been consistent with what I did on the 7 November when the SG advice arrived.
My department had it for seven or eight weeks, I had it for two hours before I walked straight into the prime minister’s office unannounced, put it down and said, we need to stop this, that was my actions then, if I had a copy of this, or if someone had chatted to me, not too sure if I or my staff would have got to the person first to take it from them.
And then if I read that, I suspect my actions would have been the same as what I did on the 7 November as soon as I got the substantive brief in the assistant general.
Updated
Robert says decision was made to seek legal advice on partial use of ATO average income data
Robert says he started thinking the sole use of Australian Tax Office data was insufficient, but partial use might be OK, and therefore a decision was made to seek legal advice.
Scott is confirming with Robert that, based on his statement:
You then held a strong personal view that the sole use of ATO average income data was insufficient to raise the debt but was unsure the partial use of ATO average income data was sufficient to raise the debt. For that reason, you decided that the next [move] to progress the issue was to obtain legal advice.
Robert:
Yes, there would have been a discussion about it, in terms of my staff unable to answer my obtuse, using those words, examples. My recollection is that there was little pushback in the room, everyone agreed that we needed to get it right.
Updated
Stuart Robert: Treasury and Social Services ‘fundamentally different’
Robert tells the inquiry that when he began as human services minister he had previously been assistant treasurer and the way the two departments worked were “fundamentally different”.
At this point coming from Treasury, and having done over 30 bits of [legislation] in nine months I’m very attuned to how Treasury works. Reading through it all became fairly obvious to my team and I that how Treasury works is fundamentally different to how Social Security works. And trying to pair the two is always going to be incredible difficult.
Robert said the Department of Human Services had a different way of calculating from the Treasury portfolio.
He gave the example to his staff that robodebt just did not make sense if someone had earned no income for 51 weeks and then had earned $1m in the 52nd week, if you average that across 26 fortnights it would raise a debt and that could not be possible.
Updated
Stuart Robert faces questions from robodebt royal commission
Stuart Robert, the human services and government services minister during the time of the robodebt scheme, has begun to give evidence at the royal commission on the matter.
Counsel assisting Angus Scott KC will be taking Robert’s evidence.
My colleague Luke Henriques Gomes is listening in too and gives you a bit of background on Robert:
Robert, who was minister when the scheme came under legal challenge, also refused to apologise, including when he finally announced refunds on a Friday afternoon in May 2020.
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) March 1, 2023
Months later, Robert then went on to take credit for being the minister who stopped the scheme. The royal commission heard on Tuesday, his departmental secretary, Renee Leon, actually stopped it before government had approved that.
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) March 2, 2023
Updated
Property prices in flood-hit regions have slumped
With the anniversary of the Biblical deluges in northern NSW and south-eastern Queensland, a lot of attention has understandably been focused on the ongoing challenges facing those flood-hit communities.
Data group CoreLogic, though, has put out an assessment of what’s happened to the regions’ property prices over the past year.
Bearing in mind that capital city prices are down about 9% from their peaks (according to ANZ), it seems these regions have fared a lot worse.
Here’s CoreLogic’s assessment of the regions in northern NSW:
Perhaps not surprisingly, property prices in flood-hit regions of northern NSW and south-east Qld have slumped in the year since the deluge. Here's the NSW view. (Source: @corelogicau ) pic.twitter.com/MNP5hxnQuQ
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 1, 2023
And the view for the suburbs around Brisbane (not quite so bad):
How home values in flood-hit suburbs of Brisbane have fared in the year since those floods. (Source: @corelogicau ) pic.twitter.com/NaANT9VPdU
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) March 1, 2023
Kaytlin Ezzy, a CoreLogic economist, said:
While the current tightening cycle has amplified the downturn in values, the declines seen across flood-impacted suburbs are significantly steeper compared to the broader region and are among the largest suburb declines nationally.
Outside of one flood-impacted suburb in Brisbane, all other suburbs recording similar value declines were more expensive [than] Sydney suburbs, which are generally more sensitive to changes in interest rates.
Given household wealth and consumption are often linked, the slump in property prices might have a lingering effect on economic activity in the areas, it would seem.
On the other hand, would falling values attract more people to live there?
Ezzy leans towards a long-term drag, not least because of the scale of the flood events possibly precluding a rebound in property prices seen after floods in earlier years.
Given the severity of this event, and the short timeframe between major flood events, it’s likely the current value declines across the Northern Rivers and impacted house suburbs in Brisbane could be more enduring.
Notably, “homeowners, lenders and insurers are becoming more cautious of the risks associated with climate change and are adjusting their risk premiums accordingly”, Ezzy says.
Indeed, those higher risk premiums are likely to extend to other regions exposed to climate extremes in a warming world. Given Australia’s notoriously volatile climate, particularly for rainfall, that could just about take in the whole country.
Updated
Government reviewing new report on ‘gobsmacking’ sexual harassment allegations on Antarctic stations
The federal government has received another review into disturbing allegations of sexual harassment and cultural problems on remote Antarctic stations, which includes “substantial” recommendations for change.
The independent report by former Swimming Australia chief executive Leigh Russell, was commissioned by the environment department in September last year. It was prompted by an earlier report by ANU Professor Meredith Nash, which raised allegations of unwanted physical contact, displays of pornography, and limited provision for women menstruating.
Environment minister Tanya Plibersek described the Nash report as disappointing and shocking. She called for urgent cultural change and the department commissioned Russell to make further recommendations to government.
“I was actually gobsmacked to read some of the reports here talking about pornographic material up on the walls [because] I really did think that we had eradicated this thing from Australians decades ago.”
Department of Climate Change, Environment and Water secretary, David Fredericks, said the Russell review makes a significant number of recommendations that need to be carefully assessed.
In a statement, Fredericks said he planned to release the report later this month:
Ms Russell’s review is a comprehensive analysis of progress on cultural change and creating an inclusive workplace, and the adequacy of systems, policies and processes to support people who work for the Australian Antarctic Division.
The report makes a substantial number of findings and it is important that we now give careful consideration to this review, its findings and recommendations.
These are complex workplace issues. our response needs to be considered and have due regard to the work, health and safety of staff.
Updated
ADF deployed to support flood evacuations in Northern Territory
Hundreds of people are being evacuated from remote communities in the Northern Territory as floodwaters threaten to isolate them.
Emergency management minister, Murray Watt, says he’s approved Australian Defence Force aircraft and personnel to assist the evacuations.
Last night I approved a request from the NT Govt to supply ADF aircraft and personnel to evacuate residents of remote NT communities that are experiencing serious flooding. I’ve been in contact with NT Chief Minister @NatashaFylesMLA to offer Federal support to keep people safe.
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) March 1, 2023
Updated
Peter Dutton says voice could disrupt local decision-making in Aboriginal communities
Opposition leader Peter Dutton has levelled his latest criticism of the proposed Indigenous voice, raising concerns it would “disrupt” local decision-making in Aboriginal communities and “override the local elders”.
The Liberal party is still to come to a party-room position on the referendum, and appears to be in no rush to do so – but escalating criticisms from deputy leader Sussan Ley, and maintained concern from Dutton, have some inside the party speculating the Liberals could resolve a formal no position (like the Nationals) or just allow their members to campaign and vote whichever way they like. A formal yes position, according to some, seems unlikely.
On Sky News last night, Dutton pointed to his recent visits to Indigenous communities in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, as factors against the voice – claiming some areas were doing fine on their own.
Dutton said:
They don’t want to be disrupted by a voice. I mean they support a voice, they made that very clear, but they don’t want a voice that is going to disrupt their local decision-making.
The voice has the potential to override the local Indigenous elders voice, and so people are understandably – even in the communities – asking for detail.
Sky host Peta Credlin, former chief of staff to Tony Abbott, claimed “a lot of people are concerned, even when they have sympathy” towards the voice concept.
Dutton agreed, claiming there was “a rising level of frustration with the way in which the prime minister’s approached this debate”.
He said:
In some other communities, in Leonora for example, where we went in WA, huge issues around alcohol and violence etc, domestic violence, abuse of children, all of that playing out there. The voice is the furthest thing from their mind.
Dutton claimed there had been “no engagement with us through any of that process”.
PM Anthony Albanese said he has met with Dutton at least six times about the voice in recent months. Dutton has been invited to two meetings of the government’s referendum working group.
Updated
Australia Post chief: ‘We are very aware of our significant service obligations and we want to ensure we maintain those’
Graham goes on to say how Australia Post has become a “two speed business”:
We have a distinct two-speed business, with our letters business weighing heavily on the e-commerce driven parcel business where we compete with multinationals and strong local players.
We seek to gain bigger market share, but if we don’t address our letter business, that will impact our ability to service the community, not just in our mail business and parcel business, our bank of post and other broad services we provide.
We have started making change amid the challenges we face, but we want to hear from the community about what they want and how we chart our way forward as an essential service to the community.
The good news is a financially sustainable, modernised Australia Post will continue to invest to meet the changing needs of communities in metropolitan Australia and regional and rural Australia.
We are looking to continue to increase more delivery points, create more efficiency and make it easier for people to do business with Australia Post.
We are very aware of our significant service obligations and we want to ensure we maintain those, but the way in doing it is to be sure we have a financially viable Australia Post. We look forward to working with the government and all stakeholders on this process and taking the feedback to help shape the future of Australia Post for the next 214 years.
Updated
Australia Post CEO: ‘We don’t want to be a burden on the Australian taxpayer’
Australia Post CEO Paul Graham follows the minister, saying the organisation welcomes today’s announcement and wants to modernise so as not to become a “burden” on the taxpayer.
Australia Post warmly welcomes the minister’s announcement today and we support both the discussion paper and the consultation process. The discussion paper in modernising the service of Australia Post is a conversation that frankly the Australian community needs to have.
Our letters business is in unstoppable decline since 2008 and we face a difficult future as fewer people send letters and consumers increasingly embrace digital – a trend play playing out globally.
Australia Post plays a critical role in the lives of all Australians and particularly in rural and regional Australia and remote areas. That will never change.
For the past three years we invested more than $1 billion in our network, digital capability, people and services and we will continue to do that to ensure we are meeting the future and today’s needs of our customers.
But despite this, we’re on a path to significant losses as Australians and the national postal service changes. We’re an entirely self-funded business. We don’t want to be a burden on the Australian taxpayer and using the funds we would otherwise lose to ensure that the government continue to invest in the right things for the community – hospitals, schools, roads etc.
Updated
Australia Post workers to trial different delivery models
Michelle Rowland:
Lastly, I want to acknowledge the most important asset of Australia Post is its people – the 60,000 workforce.
I acknowledge the work undertaken by the Communication Workers’ Union in conjunction with Australia Post to jointly develop trials of different delivery models.
Feedback on the model will also be undertaken throughout April and June and it is vitally important the workforce is brought along on the journey, they’re properly consulted and that we understand how important they are to ensure Australia Post remains financially viable, so that their jobs, their good-paying jobs, also remain viable.
Updated
Government 'kick-starting process to modernise Australia Post'
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has stepped up to speak in Sydney alongside the CEO of Australia Post, Paul Graham, announcing the launch of a discussion paper to ensure the service remains viable in the modern age.
Rowland says it’s a matter of updating the regulations in order to ensure Australia Post remains a “key driver of productivity” in the economy:
Australia Post is a cherished national institution over 200 years. It delivers to over 12 million delivery points right around Australia. It performs a range of vital community service obligations, and especially in rural and regional Australia. Australia Post not only serves as the post office, often it is the only banking service in town, the newsagent, or the retailer, so it is important.
But we know that Australia Post has been facing many challenges over a long period of time. These include the decline in letters being sent and received, and also the rise of parcels, and we know that Australia Post faces particular competition from international competitors who are coming in, building their own networks, and Australia Post needs to ensure that it remains viable.
So what I’m doing today is releasing a consultation paper on the future of Australia Post. What do consumers expect? What do small businesses need? How can rural and regional Australia be best served by this iconic institution? It’s important for Australia Post to be seen as a key driver of productivity in our economy.
It needs to be adaptive. It cannot stand still. We have seen what happens around the world to state-sponsored postal services when they fail. They fail their consumers and they fail their economies. We will not let this happen to Australia Post. That is the reason why we are kick-starting this process to modernise Australia Post.
They are currently subject to essentially the same regulatory burdens as they had 25 years ago. We need to understand the challenges that Australia Post faces, but equally we need to be transparent and listen to Australians about what they need and how Australia Post can best service them – that is the purpose of this consultation.
Updated
WA plans to open new areas for oil and gas exploration
The Western Australian government has announced it plans to open new areas for oil and gas exploration.
The state’s mines and petroleum minister, Bill Johnston, said industry could nominate areas for the state’s annual acreage release, part of a government strategy for “promoting petroleum exploration”:
The McGowan government will continue to support opportunities to invest in the petroleum exploration sector to help find the next big discovery.
We are calling for industry to get involved and help shape the future of WA’s petroleum sector.
It comes as bids are due to close for exploration permits over 10 areas covering nearly 47,000 sqkm the Albanese government announced last year would be opened for offshore exploration. At the time, the commonwealth acreage release was described as making a mockery of climate targets.
Tim Beshara, of the Wilderness Society, described the latest announcement in WA as “intergenerational recklessness”.
It’s hard to imagine a worse thing a government could do regarding climate and environment in 2023 than to lock in the carbon someone will seek to burn in 2073.
Updated
Victorian government announces $10m for mRNA training
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, has announced the government will spend $10m to establish a mRNA training centre to create a pipeline of workers to produce the next generation of vaccines and medicines.
The training centre will be based at Monash University in Clayton and will provide specialised training to workers across all aspects of the mRNA manufacturing life cycle.
Speaking at the university on Thursday, the premier said mRNA technology had the potential to be used to treat cancer, neurodegenerative conditions like MS and other conditions:
The possibilities are endless. But if you haven’t got staff, you simply can’t do the work and that will always hold us back. That’s why this $10 million investment, together with our strong partnership with Monash University in so many different ways, really does set us up strongly for the future, whether it be exports, jobs in advanced manufacturing of these therapeutics and other vaccines.
It’s not far from Moderna’s mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility currently under construction in Clayton, which once complete, will be capable of producing 100m vaccine doses annually.
The facility is being established under a 10-year partnership between the federal and Victorian government and Moderna.
It is Moderna’s first mRNA vaccine manufacturing facility to be built outside North America.
Updated
Former Coalition minister Stuart Robert to front robodebt inquiry
Stuart Robert, the human services and government services minister during the time of the robodebt scheme, will today front the royal commission on the matter.
The commission earlier this week heard evidence that the former Coalition minister told the head of his department to “double down” on robodebt rather than admit fault.
My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes will be listening in to the hearings, and we’ll bring you what Robert has to say on the blog.
Updated
Greens say Australia Post must remain a publicly owned service
The Greens have weighed in on the future of Australia Post, with a statement from Greens spokesperson for communications Sarah Hanson-Young calling on the Albanese government to rule out privatising postal services.
Based on communications minister Michelle Rowland’s interviews this morning, she has clearly stated “Australia Post will not be privatised”.
Here’s Hanson-Young’s full statement:
The Greens will look at the consultation paper and changes proposed by the government closely.
Rumours about privatising postal services were at fever pitch under the previous Morrison Government - Labor should rule this out.
Australia Post is a publicly-owned essential service that must truly service all Australians, whether that’s in the city or the bush.
Any review must be centred on delivering what everyday households and businesses need, not simply profits that deliver big salaries and bonuses to executives.
Updated
Australians receiving on average about two letters a week as parcel business ‘booming’, communications minister says
On the state of letter-writing in the country, Rowland says the decline is due to increasing digitisation as well as other considerations like the environment:
The letter volumes we’ve seen are in decline. These are the facts. Some 97% of letters that go out these days are actually sent by businesses and government.
And even in those cases they are becoming increasingly digitised and we know that for many businesses, that is certainly their aim, not only for cost-cutting but also to meet any obligations they have under, for example, environmental obligations.
So when you have Australians receiving on average about two letters a week now, you need to really have a look at where demand is. And I actually see this very much, as I discussed with small business representatives and other people interested in this area – this is very much a productivity driver.
On the other hand, Rowland says parcel business is “booming” but unregulated:
We know that parcels business is booming with some half a billion parcels delivered last year, but this is an unregulated side of Australia Post’s business and it’s subject to intense competition from major international players who are building, or are in the process of having built, their own networks.
So we want to make sure that Australia Post remains financially sustainable and viable, because that means we can have good, well-paying jobs, the needs of Australians are met …
Just to also make this point – I think many of your viewers will be surprised to learn that the regulations governing Australia Post today are essentially the same as they were 25 years ago. So that was 10 years before the first iPhone came into view as well. It’s important we address this now.
Updated
Communications minister: Australia Post will not be privatised
Michelle Rowland, the communications minister, is doing the rounds this morning on breakfast programs following the release of a discussion paper seeking to make changes to Australia Post, with question marks around daily letter deliveries.
Rowland told ABC News Breakfast:
The whole point of this consultation that we’re kicking off today is to understand from Australians and in particular from small businesses and people representing rural and regional Australia, what they need in a modern Australia Post, have a look at the options going forward, but be upfront about the facts and the challenges that Australia Post is facing.
We are very clear [and] upfront in the principles of this consultation that Australia Post will not be privatised, that we prioritise the needs of rural and regional Australia and that we want to hear from Australian consumers, businesses, and anyone with an interest in this great institution, about what they believe needs to be done going forward.
Updated
Fatal drive-by shooting in south-west Sydney
Police are investigating the death of a 40-year-old man who was shot outside a gym in Sydney’s south-west this morning.
Bankstown police were called to Sefton just after 6.30am where they found a man with a gunshot wound.
The man died at the scene despite the efforts of NSW Ambulance paramedics, police said.
There are reports the man was sitting in a car outside the gym when he was shot at from a passing car.
A man who was nearby says he heard a series of shots he initially thought was a car backfiring. He told Sydney radio 2GB:
As I heard a car speed off there was another series of bangs. Within minutes there was a load of ambulances, police everywhere, and then we saw a man on the ground, not in a good way.
Channel 7 is reporting that a car was found on fire at Birrong train station nearby.
Police said in a statement:
A crime scene has been established, which is being examined by specialist forensic officers.
Local detectives, with the assistance of the State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad, have commenced investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
– with AAP
Updated
Remote NT communities isolated by tropical low
Heavy rain continues to batter the Northern Territory as a deep tropical low tracks slowly east across the state, AAP reports.
Hundreds of people are being evacuated from remote communities where flood waters threaten to isolate residents.
Heavy rainfall and potential flash flooding are forecast for parts of the Gregory, Tanami, Barkly and Carpentaria districts on Thursday.
The rain is expected to spread east across the Barkly, with six-hourly rainfall totals between 90mm and 140mm possible.
Intense storm cells and damaging wind gusts are forecast for the area south of Kalkarindji to Renner Springs.
Territory authorities declared an emergency for communities where the upper Victoria River reached major flood levels on Wednesday.
About 700 people were to be relocated by air to Katherine and then driven by bus to temporary accommodation in Darwin.
NT police commander Daniel Bacon said access roads to the communities had been cut, with residents of Daguragu evacuated to Kalkarindji ahead of further inundation expected on Wednesday night.
The Victoria River at Kalkarindji surpassed the major flood level of 14m, and was at 16.02 metres and still rising on Thursday morning.
The town, about 550km south of Darwin, recorded the highest rainfall of 133mm to 9am on Wednesday.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned residents of flash flooding across the Top End in locations including Tennant Creek, Elliott, Kalkarindji, Lajamanu, Renner Springs and Mallapunyah.
Authorities have urged people in the area to avoid unnecessary travel to allow for a safe evacuation.
Updated
Australia one of 105 co-sponsors backing Vanuatu climate bid
Guardian Australia revealed yesterday that Australia had agreed to co-sponsor Vanuatu’s historic bid for the international court of justice to rule on the climate crisis, including the international legal consequences for causing significant environmental harm.
The full list of co-sponsors was released this morning – and it shows Vanuatu’s diplomatic effort over several years has been incredibly successful. Australia is one of 105 co-sponsors. The initiative has strong support from Pacific island countries, and the other co-sponsors include Canada, the UK, New Zealand, France and Germany. But notable exceptions – countries that are not co-sponsors – include the US, China and Russia.
Incredible effort by the #ICJAO4Climate Core Group (🇻🇺🇦🇴🇦🇬🇧🇩🇨🇷🇫🇲🇲🇦🇲🇿🇳🇿🇩🇪🇱🇮🇵🇹🇷🇴🇼🇸🇸🇱🇸🇬🇺🇬🇻🇳) and UN member states, after we issued the L doc we had 105 co-sponsors! Appreciate the active engagement here at the UN during consultations, as well as Vanuatu's diplomatic envoys around… https://t.co/H4WRaKbOpr pic.twitter.com/Nf2OTTID20
— Vanuatu UN (@VanuatuUN) March 1, 2023
The resolution is expected to be put to the UN general assembly within weeks. It seeks an advisory opinion from the ICJ on the international obligations that countries have to act on the climate crisis – with a request to pay particular attention to the harm experienced by small island developing countries that are especially vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis. The ICJ will also be asked to consider “peoples and individuals of the present and future generations affected by the adverse effects of climate change”.
It is understood the Albanese government will portray its support as recognition that climate change is “the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of the peoples of the Pacific”.
In a statement, Jotham Napat, Vanuatu’s foreign minister, said today:
While severe Cyclone Judy is today showing no mercy on the people of Vanuatu, it is welcoming news that countries are committing to co-sponsor Vanuatu’s UN Resolution on clarifying international climate obligations.
Shiva Gounden, a Pacific adviser to Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said:
To see Australia and nations around the world standing with Vanuatu and Pacific island nations on the frontlines of the climate crisis cannot stop these impacts or end the pain they cause. But it does bring the Pacific Vuvale [family] closer together and show that the world recognises Pacific leadership in driving global solutions from the frontlines.
For more on this issue, see our story from last night:
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Kamay spears stolen by Captain Cook returned to country
When James Cook and his crew first made contact with Aboriginal people in 1770, the British soldiers took dozens of spears from their camps.
More than 250 years later, four of those spears will be returned to the Gweagal people of Botany Bay, which is known as Kamay in the local Indigenous language.
A formal announcement will be made at Bare Island today.
The removal of spears by Captain Cook and botanist Joseph Banks was a significant and lasting loss to the local Aboriginal community, as it was a theft of their cultural knowledge handed from generation to generation.
For now, the artefacts remain at Cambridge University in the United Kingdom, as part of an archaeology and anthropology collection.
But they will soon be physically returned to their rightful custodians and displayed at the new visitor centre being constructed at Botany Bay.
The permanent repatriation to the La Perouse Aboriginal Community is being assisted by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies and the Gujaga Foundation.
- AAP
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New music pays tribute to Aboriginal activist’s 1938 protest against Nazi Germany
A new song cycle from Lior, Nigel Westlake and Dr Lou Bennett will pay tribute to Yorta Yorta elder William Cooper and his 1938 march protesting against Nazi Germany.
Following Kristallnacht, Cooper’s group marched two hours to the German consulate on Collins Street to register their “strong protest at the cruel persecution of the Jewish people”.
Their resolution read:
Our people have suffered much cruelty, exploitation and misunderstanding as a minority at the hands of another people. The Nazi government has a consulate here on our land. Let us go there and make our protest known.
As Melbourne-based singer-songwriter Lior and composer Nigel Westlake were contemplating a companion piece to their 2013 song cycle Compassion, they were inspired by Cooper’s courage.
You can read more about the new musical collaboration from Walter Marsh here:
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The opposition finance spokeswoman Jane Hume concedes “there is not a lot of sympathy out there for people with balances of more than $3m”.
However, speaking on the Today Show, she’s questioned the government’s figure of 80,000 people being affected:
How many people will it capture in two years’ time?
Who will fall into the net in five years, 10 years, 20 years because that $3m hasn’t been indexed?
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Swimmer missing in surf off NSW far north coast
A search is resuming for a man who went missing while swimming in rough surf at Byron Bay on the NSW far north coast.
NSW police say two people saw the man struggling in the surf, about 30 metres offshore of Main beach about 5.30pm on Wednesday.
A 22-year-old man swum out in a bid to rescue the distressed man but had to turn back after being overwhelmed by the conditions.
Police, Ambulance, Surf Life Saving, Fire and Rescue, Marine Rescue and Queensland PolAir personnel began searching for the man but they had to suspend it about 8.30pm after failing to find any trace of the swimmer.
His personal items were found on the beach but no one has been reported missing.
- AAP
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It’s a happy birthday to Australia’s prime minister Anthony Albanese and treasurer Jim Chalmers who share the same birthday. Albanese told Radio National yesterday he’ll be celebrating by having lunch with his partner and son, so a joint party does not appear to be on the cards.
It’s the big 60 for Albanese and 45 for Chalmers. A couple of Labor politicians have already taken to social media with a birthday shoutout for the “boss”, but who knows –the rest could be making a concerted effort to boost Australia Post’s letter deliveries.
Happy 60th Birthday boss.
— Jerome Laxale MP (@jeromelaxale) March 1, 2023
My gift to you is a promise to never make this face behind you again 🫣#auspol pic.twitter.com/BHaDXl75Ns
Happy Birthday Prime Minister 🎈 🎁 #auspol #politas @AustralianLabor pic.twitter.com/SzRyd4Z4yV
— Helen Polley (@polley_helen) March 1, 2023
2 March is a big day for political birthdays. I'm 63, PM Anthony Albanese 60, Treasurer Jim Chalmers 45, Former Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett and former WA Premier Carmen Lawrence are both 75 and former Federal Minister John Dawkins is 76. Happy birthday all!! #auspol #birthday
— Antony Green - elections (@AntonyGreenElec) March 1, 2023
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Ley and Dutton express support for Bridget Archer after rumours Liberal party could dump her
Yesterday our political editor Katharine Murphy brought you the story that a veteran party insider suggested that the Liberal party could dump outspoken moderate Bridget Archer ahead of the next federal election.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, came out in support of Archer when asked about the issue at a press conference, declaring her “an important part of our team”.
Archer appears to have the firm support of the Liberal leadership, with Dutton’s deputy Sussan Ley doing the same. Ley told ABC Radio she should “absolutely” retain her spot as the candidate for Bass at the next election:
Bridget is a friend, a colleague and a terrific member for the seat of Bass. I visited her not that long ago, and she’s doing great work and she’s an amazing woman, amazing woman. And you know, Patricia how much I respond well to amazing women.
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Ley quizzed on scale of impact from super changes
Ley doesn’t directly answer whether she believes people with more than $3m in super savings are doing it tough – she says it’s the principle.
Karvelas:
Do you think 80,000 people who’ve got more than $3m are really doing it tough?
Ley:
Well, that $3 million is not indexed. That will change over time. And the principle is the thing that Australians will note.
Karvelas:
But are they doing it tough?
Ley:
I’m not here to say who’s doing it tough and who’s not doing it tough.
Karvelas:
Australians are doing it tough, though, aren’t they? And some are obviously not doing it tough.
Ley:
Well, people are doing it tough for the government that hasn’t got the fiscal policy settings right. And doesn’t understand how to manage money and doesn’t have spending constraints anywhere within its programs. In all of this conversation, we have not heard anyone say that we’re going to save money. I mean, that seems to be just a passing comment from the government. Yes, of course. People are doing tough. They’re doing it tough because they can’t pay their electricity bills. They’re doing it tough because their mortgages are going up.
Karvelas:
But they’re not the people with more than $3 million in their super accounts.
Ley:
I’m not going to comment on what individual people might be experiencing in their family budgets. The direction this government is going is one that breaks faith with the Australian people and misunderstands the sound fundamental basis, which is: it’s your money, you deserve to keep more of it.
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‘Treasurer at war with the PM’ over tax policy, Ley claims
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, follows Gallagher on ABC Radio. She’s not letting go of the divergence that emerged on breakfast shows yesterday morning between the PM and the treasurer on ruling out changes to capital gains tax on the family home. It was cleared up by a lunchtime presser where Chalmers ruled out the measure and acknowledged he “should have done the same this morning”.
Ley says:
Your program exposed it well. We’ve got a treasurer at war with the prime minister, a prime minister who’s openly overruling his treasurer – look, it’s school yard stuff – and breaking promises made more than 97 times, opening the door now to more tax increases, and even taxing the family home.
I think there’s a new test for the Albanese government, Patricia – I’m going to call it the PK test. Whatever idea Jim Chalmers floats in the papers, if that’s confirmed by the prime minister on Radio National, then we know they’re on the same page. Otherwise, I don’t know whether they are at all, and right now they’ve completely failed that test.
Patricia Karvelas goes on to try get Ley to respond to the changes the Coalition made to superannuation without a mandate:
You were a cabinet minister in 2016 when Malcolm Turnbull proposed a 15% tax on super accounts above $1.6m, which affected, actually, eight times the number of people. So it was actually a much bigger policy that had more impact than the latest one announced by this government. Did you support that?
Ley:
Yes, that was a different policy. It’s applied to a balance transfer cap, by the way, it was indexed, and we took it to the election and then we legislated it – and that is the key difference here … The government was so careful to be so definite and prescriptive at the last election about not making any changes to super. I come back to my main point, this is breaking faith with the Australian people.
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Reforms needed to close gap between men and women’s super, finance minister says
Superannuation has been leading this week’s headlines after the government announced balances above $3m will be taxed at a rate of 30%, up from the current concessional rate of 15%.
That change will only affect 0.5% of Australians, but the fact that 60% of that wealthy cohort are men is a reminder how gender impacts how much money Australians have when they retire. The average man will retire with 28% more in his super account that the average woman.
The minister for finance and women, Katy Gallagher, is speaking to ABC Radio about what’s being done to bridge the gap between the retirement savings of men and women.
The issue of gender equality isn’t just about super in this country. We do have a problem. Women are more educated than men but we work less, earn less, have less savings, less super and assets and women over 60 are the most vulnerable group in the sense of being the highest group moving into the homelessness sector, so there’s a whole range of issues.
There’s a couple of things that we’re trying to do. One of the big issues around super is the fact that women earn less. And so closing the gender pay gap is a really important part of that. We’ve got a bill in the parliament right now, which looks to accelerate closing of the gender pay gap, which sits at about 14 or 15%.
And then there are the other issues which we’ve made no secret we would like to do when we make room in the budget, which is looking at how we ensure for those gaps in women’s earnings, when they’re on parental leave and things like that, that we pay super.
Gallagher says she’d like “to do it now” but points to the constraints of the structural deficit in the budget.
I would have liked that it was done 10 years ago. But the reality is we’ve got a $50bn structural deficit, where as far as the eye can see the pressures on the budget aren’t lessening, they’re intensifying.
Updated
NSW leaders to square off in battleground election debate
The election battleground of western Sydney will be the site of a key debate between the premier, Dominic Perrottet, and opposition leader, Chris Minns, as NSW prepares to vote.
With latest polls tipping a Labor victory on 25 March, the leaders will square off on Thursday at Rosehill Racecourse to debate important issues in Sydney’s west.
Winning the support of the region, home to more than a quarter of the state’s population, will be critical to the success of both parties on polling day, amid cost of living pressures and housing affordability concerns.
The event includes a panel discussion with representatives of Western Sydney University, Westpac, global accounting firm PwC and media.
It comes as a poll found the cost of living, including food, utilities and housing is the top concern of 50% of voters.
The survey, conducted by Resolve Strategic and published in the Sydney Morning Herald today, found most voters did not want new infrastructure funded through privatisation.
Just 10% of those surveyed want public assets sold to pay for roads and rail, with 40% say infrastructure projects should be financed by cuts to other services, while 14% thought debt was preferable.
The poll of 803 eligible voters found Labor’s primary vote had lifted one percentage point to 38%, while the Coalition’s had dropped two points to 32%.
With 93 seats up for grabs, the data points to an overall swing of 7% to Labor – enough to deliver the 47 seats required to form a majority government.
- AAP
Updated
Australia Post will not be privatised, Communications minister says
The government is flagging that letters may no longer be delivered five days a week after the release of a discussion paper yesterday. The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, spoke to ABC Radio about the state of letters in Australia:
Letters are certainly still being sent. But the reality is that 97% of them are actually being sent by business and government, but Australia Post has that obligation. And as long as people want to send letters, those letters will be delivered.
Rowland says the discussion paper “absolutely” does not open up the possibility of selling Australia Post off to the private sector, which has happened in other countries:
The guiding principles, the very first one, explicitly states that Australia Post will remain in full public ownership.
Rowland maintains that the community service obligation to serve as all parts of Australia including rural and remote areas will not be axed despite the $348m price tag last financial year:
Australians do expect that they are going to be able to receive their parcels and their letters within a certain timeframe but of course parcels are not part of these performance standards. So that’s precisely what we want to examine through this consultation process.
Updated
Good morning!
Natasha May reporting for blog duty.
Residents north of Melbourne were warned to evacuate their homes in the early hours of the morning due to a bushfire.
The warning has been downgraded to watch and act for the communities of Bonnie Doon, Fawcett, Maintongoon, Woodfield but emergency services say the fire is not yet under control.
VicEmergency warns:
There is a bushfire at Stoney Creek Rd, Maintongoon that is not yet under control.
Firefighters have been able to slow the spread of fire for now, but the situation can change at any time. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act.
This EMERGENCY WARNING - BUSHFIRE - Leave Immediately is for Maintongoon.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) March 1, 2023
Leaving immediately is the safest option, before conditions become too dangerous.
More details at https://t.co/4VlYmuvxCt pic.twitter.com/8SyS5mep9s
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Man dies after being hit by cyclist in Sydney
A man in his 70s has died after being hit by a cyclist in inner Sydney, Australian Associated Press reports.
Emergency services were called to Regent Street, Chippendale, on Wednesday afternoon after reports a pedestrian had been hit, NSW police said.
The critically injured man was treated at the scene by paramedics before being taken to hospital where he died.
The rider – a man believed to be in his 40s – was uninjured and police are investigating.
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Australia Post deliveries rethink
In the modern age, should Australia Post still have to deliver letters every day?
Under law, the letter service must “reasonably meet the social, industrial and commercial needs of the Australian community”. That’s further defined in regulations as letters being delivered every day (barring weekends and public holidays) to 98% of delivery points – letter boxes, mostly – and 99.7% of delivery points at least two days a week.
But with letter volume on a long and inevitable decline (who sends a letter?) that’s a deeply unprofitable business. The government has commissioned a review to ask if our letter service will have to get slower and/or more expensive. Read more here:
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Welcome
Good morning and thanks for joining us for our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you a few overnight headlines and breaking stories before my colleague Natasha May starts up.
The competition watchdog plans to crack down on companies’ environmental claims after an initial sweep found more than half made misleading statements – dubbed “greenwashing”. A survey of 247 businesses or brands across eight sectors by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last October that found 57% had promoted “concerning claims about their environmental credentials”.
Stuart Robert, who served as human services and government services minister in the Coalition government, will be questioned by the robodebt royal commission in Brisbane today. This follows evidence earlier in the week that the minister told the head of his department to “double down” on robodebt rather than admit fault.
The New South Wales state election campaign will hot up this evening when the key battleground of western Sydney will be the site of a debate between premier Dominic Perrottet and opposition leader Chris Minns. The leaders will square off at Rosehill racecourse at 7.30pm to debate important issues in Sydney’s west. A poll for Nine yesterday suggested Labor would be able to form a majority government after the vote on 25 March.
With that, let’s get going …
