What we learned, Friday 8 November
This is where we’ll leave the blog this evening, but first a quick recap of the day’s big events:
A parliamentary inquiry into the big four accounting firms recommended more help was needed for whistleblowers.
Fresh produce suppliers appeared before an inquiry into supermarkets.
Bill Shorten said ‘a duty of care is a legitimate proposition’ when it came to the social media age limit’.
ANZ posted a $6.7bn profit as overdue loans surge.
David Pocock suggested the Aukus deal has limited Australia’s ability to advocate on climate.
A far-right extremist sentenced to one month jail for performing the Nazi salute.
A systems outage affected international arrivals and departures at Sydney airport.
Michelle Rowland said YouTube Kids may be exempt but not YouTube from the social media ban.
Life expectancy decreased for a second year in a row due to Covid-related deaths.
A mental health ruling was handed down over a paramedic’s killing.
A plane made an emergency landing at Sydney airport as crews respond to a fire.
Abortion services will be restored at Orange hospital, the state health minister confirmed.
Indigenous ancestral remains have returned from US museums.
A Melbourne student has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after an accident on one of the school’s decks.
A water pipeline burst in Sydney sending water into nearby homes.
That’s it for now, enjoy your weekend.
Updated
Growers face changing quality guidelines from supermarkets, inquiry told
Back at the ACCC’s supermarkets inquiry, representatives of the fruit and vegetable industry have told the hearing about the challenges growers face due to inconsistent quality specifications by supermarkets.
The Ausveg general manager of public affairs, Lucy Gregg, told the hearing that vegetable suppliers were becoming increasingly concerned that some of the rejections of their produce seemed to be arbitrary.
Gregg said it was often not possible to repackage fresh produce if it was rejected by a supermarket because of the labour costs, the time and effort involved and the feasibility of shipping them back to the shed and reworking it before it perished:
Because margins are so low, if not negligible, a rejection of … a product in a generic bag that you’ve got no option but to dump or give to a charity, that’s now really starting to hurt.
Labour is such a huge cost, and when you’ve got carrots for $1.50 or $2 it just would not be worth repacking.
Gregg said she had heard “anecdotally” from suppliers that supermarkets had rejected their produce without an apparent reason if they had overordered a particular vegetable and were overstocked.
She said:
But … so much of this data is held within the supermarkets [so] that’s very, very hard to know.
As a percentage of rejections, I suspect that they would be very low. But still, as I said before, with such low margins, any rejection hurts.
Gregg said consumers had been “trained” or conditioned to expect fresh produce that looked “more and more perfect”.
Orchardist Peter Hall agreed, saying:
These quality specs, often there’s an element of subjectivity to it. So it’s about colour – is that the right shade, is it deep enough? Is it misshapen?
There’s subjectivity to a lot of this.
It often comes down to some perception.
Updated
Police investigate alleged Nazi saulte at Flemington Racecourse
Victoria police are investigating an alleged Nazi salute at Flemington Racecourse on 7 November.
In a statement police said officers were patrolling the general admission area of the racecourse when they allegedly identified a male performing the Nazi salute:
No patrons reacted to the salute, nor approached police regarding the incident.
Body Worn Camera Footage of the incident was reviewed, before police approached and interviewed a 37-year-old Bell Post Hill man.
He was subsequently ejected from the venue and is expected to be charged on summons.
At this stage, it is not believed that he has any extremist associations.
Updated
BoM scrutinised in parliamentary estimates hearing
Addressing the BoM chief executive, Dr Andrew Johnson, Liberal senator John Duniam noted that the bureau was being questioned separately from other agencies because in previous Senate estimates hearings:
You managed to unite every single member of this committee in fury at your unwillingness to answer questions.
BoM executives were asked about expenditure on the agency’s Robust program, which focused on upgrading BoM technology and equipment. The program, which closed on 30 June, cost $866m, roughly 10% over the expected budget of $788m.
Greens senator Barbara Pocock sought transparency on extensions to government contracts “which are very expensive on the public purse”. She said:
It appears that Robust has not, in fact, been completed as two of the key contractors on the project, Deloitte and Accenture, have had their Robust contracts extended, adding an extra … $26m to the bill …
Taxpayers have a right to know how their money is being spent … We need to know the actual sums of the actual full project and the total amount that’s been delivered or not yet delivered. I’m still looking for transparency that we need in relation to this huge project.
Updated
BoM criticises judgement in unfair dismissal case
The Bureau of Meteorology “strongly disagrees” with the judgement in an unfair dismissal case it settled earlier in the year, its chief executive has told a parliamentary estimates hearing.
The BoM withdrew an appeal in August in a case of unfair dismissal against a senior public servant. The federal circuit and family court of Australia found in February that the BoM had contravened the Fair Work Act in four ways when it drove Jasmine Chambers out of the organisation in 2020.
BoM chief executive, Dr Andrew Johnson, told the hearing that the agency “strongly disagrees with the comments the judge made about current and former Bureau staff”, emphasising:
A number of the comments had no evidentiary basis. The judge, in our view, demonstrated ostensible bias, a lack of procedural fairness, and a range of other errors in his judgment.
When questioned why the agency ultimately dropped the case if it believed the judgement to be flawed, BoM general counsel Astrid Hewardsaid the agency considered there to be “very strong grounds” for appeal, but noted:
We were also very conscious that if the appeal had been successful … the matter would have been remitted for a full re-hearing. That would have imposed a significant burden on both parties.
Water pipeline bursts in Sydney sending water into nearby homes
A water pipeline has burst in Sydney’s south with water rushing into nearby homes.
Adam Dewberry from Fire and Rescue NSW said a “large water main popped” at Binya Place in Como.
Dewberry believes four to five houses have been impacted by the water.
Images show a huge wall of water spurting from the main:
A spokesperson for Sydney Water said they are currently responding to the burst pipe at Binya Place.
Network Technicians were on site assessing a leak on the main when it burst.
Crews have isolated the main and repairs are underway, as customer advocates are working with impacted customers and assessing the damage, the spokesperson said.
Updated
Engine failure confirmed as cause of Sydney airport grass fire
Airservices Australia, which manages airspace and aviation firefighting crews, has now confirmed an engine failure caused the grass fire on a Qantas plane at Sydney airport:
Airservices Australia’s Aviation Rescue Fire Fighting Service (ARFF) has this afternoon responded to an emergency incident involving Qantas Flight QFA520 at Sydney Airport.
An engine failure on departure from Runway 34R caused a grass area adjacent to the runway to catch fire. Airservices’ ARFF crews quickly attended the grass fire and extinguished it.
Airservices’ National Operations Management Centre enacted a 47-minute ground stop at Sydney Airport to ensure the plane could land as quickly as possible. ARFF crews met QFA520 when it landed safely on Runway 34L, with nil passenger injuries.
Runway 34L was returned to service after a safety inspection and clean-up was complete. Runway 34R is expected to reopen later today.The runway closure and backlog of flights is expected to lead to airborne and ground delays this afternoon. Passengers flying into or out of Sydney are advised to reach out to their airlines to see if they are impacted.
Updated
Senate stoush – video
We mentioned earlier Senate estimates was suspended about 10 minutes in due to a bit of a stoush between Independent senator Lidia Thorpe and the Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy. Here is the video of that interaction:
Updated
Mail order firm ‘misled customers about winning prizes’
More than $20,000 in cash, jewellery and iPads are among prizes unwitting customers were duped into thinking they had won from a mail-order firm, the consumer watchdog claims.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is suing Magnamail and its Sydney-based parent company Direct Group in the federal court for attention-grabbing promotional materials it alleges were misleading, AAP reports.
The company allegedly sent fake promotions to hundreds of thousands of consumers via letters, envelopes, catalogues and scratchcards.
The attention-grabbing language used in the material included statements such as:
YOU HAVE DEFINITELY WON a prize valued up to $20,000.
But the prizes had already been drawn and nobody except for a small number of already determined winners were eligible for the money or items on offer, the commission alleges.
The ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said today:
We are very concerned that Magnamail allegedly misled many consumers, some of whom were elderly or vulnerable, and may have enticed them to buy products by representing that they were, at that time, eligible for a major prize, even though they were not.
We allege some consumers paid for products they might not otherwise have ordered and some became distressed after being led to believe that they were eligible to claim up to $25,000 and then discovering this was false.
The commission said it had pursued the legal action after being contacted by many consumers about 12 promotions that occurred between May 2022 and July 2023.
Updated
‘Clickbait’ vegetables used to lure customers to stores: Ausveg
Returning to the supermarkets inquiry, the Ausveg manager, Lucy Gregg, has also told the inquiry that vegetables are known as “clickbait” within the industry because of the way they are marketed by supermarkets.
She told the ACCC’s inquiry that supermarkets sometimes sold vegetables for less than they bought them for, saying:
We often refer to vegetables or fresh produce as clickbait.
It’s the way to get people in the store. That’s why the first point of entry in nearly every supermarket that you go to is the fresh produce.
Michael Crisera, from Fruit Growers Victoria, told the inquiry that retailers could also pay suppliers a price for fresh produce that did not meet their cost of production.
He said:
Definitely over the journey, I’d say pears has been one that they’ve been paid below the cost for a long period of time.
In certain times a year when there’s an oversupply of particular varieties of apples, they’ll definitely pay below the cost of production.
We’ve had some real issues in our industry where some decisions taken by suppliers are purely based on their cashflow requirements for that particular week to cover their business costs. And that that’s [mostly] when suppliers will tend to supply below costs.
Updated
Thanks Emily, and good afternoon to one and all this busy Friday!
Many thanks for joining me on the blog this Friday. There’s a lot happening this afternoon, so Natasha May will be here to continue our live coverage. Take care, and enjoy your weekend.
Some growers believe supermarkets create oversupply to lower retail prices
A senior representative of Australia’s peak body for the vegetable industry says some growers believe supermarkets deliberately request more stock so they can have an oversupply and then lower retail prices.
The Ausveg general manager of public affairs, Lucy Gregg, has been giving evidence today to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s inquiry into the supermarket sector, on its second day of public hearings.
Gregg was asked about Ausveg’s submission to the inquiry, which raised the “serious allegation” based on feedback from growers that retailers may be “deliberately manipulating the market and causing an oversupply through over-inflated supply agreements”.
The counsel assisting the inquiry, Naomi Sharp SC, asked Gregg to what extent Ausveg was receiving this feedback from its member growers. Gregg said:
We’ve had it from different commodities in different pockets around the country.
There might be three or four suppliers of a certain vegetable to a certain retailer, but then they’re aware of another supplier entering the system, but their volumes in their supply agreements aren’t going down, and things like that.
It’s purely anecdotal, because the supermarkets hold all that information, and the growers can’t discuss those supply agreements with anyone else.
So yes, they feel that there is deliberate over inflation of supplies required on a week-by-week basis ... so growers are either forced to lower their price just to move volume, or that they harvest product and then put it on the market floor, which once again, artificially deflates the price as well.
Updated
Woman found unresponsive at Sydney beach this morning
A woman was found unresponsive in the water at a Sydney beach this morning.
About 10am, emergency services were called to Shelley Beach at Manly where officers were told a 63-year-old woman was found unresponsive in the water.
She was treated by paramedics but died at the scene.
Guardian Australia understands the death occurred in a diving incident.
A report will be prepared for the coroner and inquiries are ongoing, NSW police said.
Updated
Boy seriously injured in Melbourne schoolyard
A Melbourne student has been rushed to hospital with serious injuries after an accident on one of the school’s decks, AAP reports.
The student was on the year 7 and 8 deck at St Kevin’s when the incident happened during recess, a school spokesperson said. The boy was “responsive” as an ambulance was called to the Toorak campus, and his parents have been informed.
Ambulance Victoria said paramedics were called to an incident in Toorak about 11.20am:
A teenage boy with upper and lower body injuries was transported by road ambulance to The Royal Children’s Hospital in a serious but stable condition.
Some students and staff witnessed the “challenging situation”, the school spokesman said.
We are aware that incidents such as these can impact people differently.
Counsellors have been called and will arrive on the school site this afternoon to support anyone struggling after the accident.
Updated
Indigenous ancestral remains returned from US museums
The remains of 14 Indigenous ancestors kept in American museums have returned to Australia, AAP reports.
The bodies were repatriated from the Fowler Museum at the University of California, the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County, the Oakland Museum of California and the Phoebe A. Hearst Museum of Anthropology. They were received by Australian representatives at a ceremony in the United States.
One of the ancestors was accompanied home to South Australia by Ngarrindjeri elder Major Sumner, also known as Uncle Moogy. Knowing that his relatives had been dug up, flown around the world and put on display was awful, he said:
The spirit of that person feels terrible and that makes you feel terrible inside your spirit. At the time all our people were taken, we had no say – we didn’t even know that they were being taken.
But repatriation has offered a path to healing for the community and for their land. The Ngarrindjeri person will soon be reburied in their home country.
The rest of the remains, including an ancestor who can be traced to the Wamba Wemba community in Victoria, were returned to Australia under the Commonwealth’s oversight.
Those whose provenance is still being discerned will be cared for by the government until they can be returned to their country. The total number of Indigenous remains held overseas is unknown.
Updated
Abortion services to be restored at Orange hospital, state health minister confirms
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, has confirmed that abortion services will be restored to Orange hospital.
This comes after an ABC News investigation found the public hospital was directing staff to no longer provide abortion services for patients unless they present with “early pregnancy complications”.
In a statement this afternoon, Park said:
I can confirm the level of abortion services historically provided at Orange Hospital will be restored and available to the community. I am committed to improving safe and transparent pathways to abortion care.
Park said the 2023 state budget allocated an additional $3.5m over four years to support abortion access, and that NSW Health is “currently undertaking next steps to enhance safe access to abortion care in NSW”.
Additionally, Western NSW Local Health District is undertaking a review of access to abortion services across its public facilities.
Updated
Qantas confirms engine failure, not explosion
A preliminary inspection has confirmed flight QF520 experiencing an engine failure, Qantas has confirmed.
In an updated statement just moments ago, a spokesperson said that while customers “would have heard a loud bang, there was not an explosion”.
Updated
Union representing Qantas pilots commends QF520 crew
The Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA), a union which represents some Qantas pilots, has commended the crew on board QF520.
In a statement, AIPA safety and technical director, captain Steve Cornell, said engine failures are “extremely rare” but “Qantas pilots are exceptionally well trained to handle them with the utmost professionalism”:
In this instance the crew displayed remarkable skill, expertise, and composure in returning safely to Sydney and protecting everyone on board.
The safety of passengers, crew, and cargo is always our highest priority.
This incident demonstrates the value of having two well-trained and well-rested pilots on the flight deck as the most essential safety feature in aviation.
Updated
Household energy debt increases 6%
Yesterday the Australian Energy Regulator released its annual report, finding there had been an increase in the number of Australians experiencing debt and the average amount.
Between June 2023 and March 2024 the number of customers across NEM regions (Queensland, NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT) with energy debt had increased by 6% to over 200,000.
Average debts for in-debt households ranged between $800 and $1,450 across the states and territories. The average amount of debt increased by 17% in NSW and 10% in South Australia over the last 12 months.
In response to the energy debt findings, Solar Citizens has called on governments to support solar for apartments, rentals and social homes. It’s CEO, Heidi Lee Douglas, said:
Too many Australian households are trapped with increasing energy costs and energy debt, because they are locked out of accessing rooftop solar. On average, solar households are saving $1,500 each year on their energy bills.
We estimate that around 60% of Australians are locked out of the benefits of rooftop solar and consumer energy resources because they are renting, living in an apartment, strata-titled property or social housing, and it is essential that these households receive the funding and support required to ensure they can fully participate in the clean energy transition by electrifying and decarbonising their homes.
Australians need power bill relief, and government support for solar panels and home batteries would provide long-term relief and deliver savings for up to 20 years.
Updated
‘People were very concerned’: Qantas passenger
Describing his experience onboard, Mark Willacy said the plane was in the air for around half an hour before returning to the ground:
So as you’d imagine, people were very concerned. There was one woman who shifted so she could be close to her children – they were apart from each other originally – obviously to calm the kids.
The ABC reporter said he had been flying for decades and been across the world for the broadcaster, but “that big bang as the wheels were leaving the ground and the shudder, that was like nothing I have ever felt”.
I have done hundreds of flights, as I say. I was pretty impressed with everyone around me about how calm they were.
There was some seriously worried looks, you know, can’t hide that, but everyone was very calm. No one panicked or carried on.
Updated
‘Something was badly wrong’: ABC reporter onboard QF520 details experience
ABC reporter Mark Willacy was onboard the Qantas flight, and has spoken on-air about the experience. He told ABC TV that just as the plane was taking off “there was a large bang and a really jolting shudder went through the plane”:
We knew immediately something was wrong, but what was more disturbing, I think, was the plane really laboured after that.
You know, obviously was trying to do a full take-off on one engine – which it can do – but it was a case not really getting the sort of altitude you expect when you’re taking off in the usual manner. It was a real struggle to get airborne and it was clear to everyone, the crew and the passengers, that something was badly wrong at that point.
He said the plane slowly got more altitude and banked to the west, did a loop and came back over Sydney and the ocean. The pilots spoke to passengers after 10 or 15 minutes to alert that someone happened with the right engine but “it was shut down [and] things were under control”.
The plane then landed and firetrucks came to inspect the engine. Willacy said there was a lot of smoke, with passengers also spotting the nearby grass fire.
When we landed there was a lot of applause and cheering amongst the passengers. And have to praise always the professionals and the pilots and the crew and I say the passengers were all very focused. Some worried looks, of course, but everyone safely on the ground now.
Updated
Sydney airport: what we know so far
Here’s what we know so far about what is occurring at Sydney airport:
Qantas flight QF520 from Sydney to Brisbane took off at 12.35pm local time, and experienced a suspected engine failure.
It circled for a short period of time before conducting an emergency landing.
Qantas said it would be conducting an investigation into what caused the engine issue, and passengers would be moved on to other flights.
At the same time, emergency crews are responding to a grass fire that has ignited next to the third runway. It has been brought under control.
Sydney airport said in a statement it is not yet known whether the two incidents are linked.
The airport’s main runway is operational, however, passengers should expect delays.
Updated
Qantas confirms suspected engine failure
Qantas chief pilot captain Richard Tobiano has released a statement, confirming flight QF520 from Sydney to Brisbane experienced a suspected engine failure after takeoff:
After circling for a short period of time, the aircraft landed safely at Sydney Airport.
Our pilots are highly trained to handle situations like this and the aircraft landed safely after the appropriate procedures were conducted.
We understand this would have been a distressing experience for customers and we will be contacting all customers this afternoon to provide support.
We will also be conducting an investigation into what caused the engine issue.
Qantas said customers are being moved on to other flights this afternoon.
Updated
Passenger on Qantas flight says engine issue caused emergency landing
A passenger onboard the Qantas flight which made an emergency landing at Sydney airport shortly after taking off has said the issue was caused by one of the plane’s engines.
The emergency landing coincided with a grass fire at Sydney airport, with authorities saying it is not yet clear if the incidents are related.
Georgina Lewis, an employee of the Nine network, has told that outlet that she was onboard the Qantas flight that departed Sydney for Brisbane shortly after 12.30pm.
However, the flight then circled around Sydney after takeoff before making an emergency landing back at the airport shortly after 1pm. Lewis told Nine:
We were taking off, and we heard a bang. One of the engines appeared to have gone. The pilot came on 10 minutes later to explain that they had a problem with a right-hand engine on take-off.
Updated
Sydney airport says it is not clear if plane departure linked to grass fire
Sydney airport has confirmed a Brisbane-found flight made an emergency return and landed safely just after 1pm today.
In a statement, it said that the departure of this aircraft coincided with a grass fire along the eastern side of the airport’s parallel runway, which has been brought under control:
It’s not clear at this stage if the two incidents are linked and investigations are continuing.
With the safe arrival of the aircraft, Sydney Airport’s priority is to conduct a full inspection of its parallel runway and to return it to service as quickly as possible. Sydney Airport’s main runway is operational, however, passengers should also expect some delays and we thank everyone for their patience.
Updated
Plane makes emergency landing at Sydney airport as crews respond to fire
According to media reports, the grass fire at Sydney airport is linked to Qantas flight QF520 from Sydney to Brisbane.
Flight tracking shows that it took off at 12.35pm Sydney time before it suddenly changed directions and stopped its ascent four minutes later.
It then flew in circles until 1pm, then began its descent back to Sydney airport, making an emergency landing at 1.05pm.
Aviation Rescue and Firefighting is responding to the grass fire next to the third runway, assisted by Fire and Rescue NSW.
Updated
Here is some footage from passengers onboard flights at Sydney airport, of the grass fire:
Our landing at Sydney airport was aborted by a grass fire next to the runway. Have the fire crews something to do. pic.twitter.com/EbTwYD6ZGV
— Nigel Withers (@MajorBlipvert) November 8, 2024
Processing delays at immigration, a fire on the tarmac, what else you got in store for us @SydneyAirport pic.twitter.com/Bhzfd1qMoQ
— SCARLETT WILDE (@scarlettwilde) November 8, 2024
Updated
Grass fire near Sydney airport
Emergency crews are responding to a grass fire near Sydney airport, which has ignited next to the third runway, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.
Sydney airport and Qantas have been contacted for more information, and we will bring you the latest as soon as we have confirmed details.
Sydney Airport | #FRNSW is assisting Aviation Rescue and Firefighting (ARFF) to extinguish a grass fire that has ignited next to the third runway. ARFF is the lead agency for this incident. @LiveTrafficSyd
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) November 8, 2024
Updated
Mental health ruling over paramedic’s killing
A man who stabbed a paramedic to death in an unprovoked attack has been found not criminally responsible for the fatal act on mental health grounds, AAP reports.
Jordan James Fineanganofo admitted stabbing 29-year-old paramedic Steven Tougher 55 times outside a McDonald’s in Campbelltown, in south-west Sydney, in the early hours of 14 April 2023.
The 23-year-old pleaded not guilty to murder on the grounds of mental health impairment and a NSW supreme court judge has found the elements of the defence had been established. Justice David Davies said:
I accept the psychiatric evidence on the balance of probabilities that the accused suffered from a mental health impairment. That mental impairment had the effect that the accused did not know that his actions were wrong.
Prosecutors agreed to a special verdict being appropriate for Fineanganofo, who said he had been hearing voices in the lead-up to the attack.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr Kerri Eagle, who was engaged by the prosecution, found Fineanganofo was suffering from a psychotic illness at the time, consistent with a relapse of schizophrenia.
Eagle said he was aware enough to know what he was doing but could not properly reason that it was wrong due to his mental state.
Updated
Here’s some footage from the earlier press conference, where communications minister Michelle Rowland said big platforms would not be exempt from a social media age limit of 16:
Severe storms likely in Queensland
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting thunderstorms over much of Queensland today. Severe storms are likely south of the Gold Coast, around the Scenic Rim and Border Ranges:
⛈️TODAY's storm FORECAST (8/11). Severe storms LIKELY for southern Gold Coast, Scenic Rim & Border Ranges. Possible for #SEQld south of Gympie.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 8, 2024
Possible hazards: large hail, damaging winds & heavy rainfall. Slight risk: giant hail & destructive winds.
https://t.co/cMyeSCIfhV pic.twitter.com/nPJly5YaNK
Updated
Australian life expectancy decreases for second year in a row
The Australian Bureau of Statistics says Australia’s life expectancy has slightly fallen for the second year straight – due to the number of Covid-related deaths.
Head of demography Beidar Cho said a boy born today is expected to live to 81.1 years old, and a girl to 85.1:
The years 2021-2023 saw the highest number of Covid-19 deaths with 15,982 in Australia, which was up by 4,100 from 2020-2022. As a result, life expectancy has fallen by 0.1 years for men and 0.2 years for women over this period.
Despite this decrease, Australians still have a higher life expectancy than many comparable countries, like New Zealand, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and Canada.
The ACT had the highest male life expectancy of 81.7 years, followed by Western Australia (81.6 years) and Victoria (81.5 years).
The ACT and WA had the highest female life expectancy (85.7 years), followed by Victoria (85.4 years) and New South Wales (85.2 years).
The Northern Territory had the lowest life expectancy for both men (76.4 years) and women (80.4 years) – but it saw the largest rise in male and female life expectancies from 2013-2023, with 1.5 years and 1.2 years respectively.
Updated
‘Lengthy delays’ at Melbourne airport amid system outage
Just circling back to earlier news that a technical outage is affecting international arrivals and departures nationwide today:
A Melbourne airport spokesperson has told AAP passengers are facing “lengthy delays”.
Both Melbourne and Sydney airport earlier said that no flights had been cancelled.
Updated
Wrapping up the press conference, Anthony Albanese was asked about calls from independent MP Andrew Wilkie for a conscience vote on banning gambling ads.
The PM responded said that “we determine our government’s position and we do that through our normal processes”.
I haven’t seen what Andrew Wilkie has done but Andrew Wilkie, I respect his position, he’s had [it] consistently in the entire time he’s been in parliament.
Updated
Our own Josh Butler asked the PM whether the rules regarding declarations need to be enforced better after news Bridget McKenzie did not declare 16 flight upgrades received over the past nine years:
Anthony Albanese responded:
I have complied and, for all the words written about these issues, there has not been one issue raised that has not been a direct result of a declaration that I have made going back to last century, literally, going back to last century.
So I think with regard to Senator McKenzie she needs to explain this quite clearly, and Peter Dutton needs to explain as well the gap between his rhetoric and the reality.
Updated
The PM was asked about comments from constitutional law experts that migration legislation introduced yesterday will be struck down and is a delaying tactic.
He was also asked which specific third countries would take non-citizens instead.
Yesterday, the government introduced a bill to facilitate removal of non-citizens from Australia, including paying third countries to accept people released from immigration detention, triggering cancellation of their bridging visas and possible re-detention.
Anthony Albanese responded:
Lawyers have a lot of opinions and lawyers obviously had opinions about our legislation before the high court made the decision that they did.
We hope, I think the real question in response to your question is will the Coalition support our legislation and make our third country removal power is more effective? I hope that they do.
Updated
A reporter noted that there are very few weeks of parliament between now and the election, with a fair bit of legislation to come – including fee-free Tafe, Nature Positive, housing, Future Made in Australia and now the social media age limit.
The reporter asked if the government is prepared to prioritise what it can do, and not what it can’t?
Anthony Albanese responded:
We want the Senate to pass our legislation and we will be introducing a range of legislation as well in the last fortnight, as much of that we want passed, but some of that will be voted on next year when parliament comes back in February. So we expect that to happen.
Updated
PM says he is showing ‘national leadership’ on social media ban
Q: What social message do you think it sends that a 10-year-old can be sent to prison but will not be able to open an Instagram account?
Anthony Albanese responded:
We are focused on this legislation that I have responsibility for. I have responsibility for this in showing national leadership and that is precisely what we are doing.
Updated
YouTube Kids may be exempt but not YouTube: Rowland
Michelle Rowland said TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram would not be exempt from the legislation.
They are in a range called age-restricted services … Just as alcohol is an age-restricted product these are age-restricted services. The exemptions framework operates on this basis and it was pleasing to see national cabinet understood and endorsed this.
What would be a probable candidate to be considered under an exemptions framework, for example, is something like YouTube Kids.
She said YouTube would likely be age restricted but not YouTube Kids, as a different product.
It would need to be balanced against a set of criteria and I want to point out that the instruments to enable eSafety to make those decisions, they would be disallowable instruments, so it would be subject to review by the parliament.
Updated
Why did national cabinet land on 16 as age cut off?
Anthony Albanese also detailed how national cabinet decided on the age cut off of 16, given Tasmania said it would have preferred 14.
He told reporters that Tasmania’s deputy premier, Guy Barnett, put forward the state’s formal position and that they would “go out there and consult with people in Tasmania further about this.”
All of the other premiers and chief ministers in all of the jurisdictions expressed their support for where we have landed. We think it is the right thing to do … I didn’t come to these issues with an endpoint in mind. We listened and we engaged.
Michelle Rowland added that an age range of 14 to 16 was being examined:
One of the starting points is where 13 is a notional entry point for a lot of these platforms, how much would 14 lift the dial, how much would 15 actually change the dial when it comes to those harms? There was a body of evidence presented from the UK about particularly children’s mental development around that time, so all this helped to inform the position we arrived on.
Updated
Anthony Albanese was asked how he would respond to criticism from Elon Musk, the owner of X, and if he is concerned about his power under the Trump administration?
The PM responded:
We will always advocate Australia’s national interest.
One-year implementation window to address privacy concerns: Rowland
Asked what data would be collected to actually implement this law – such as driver’s licences or MyGov data – Michelle Rowland said the government acknowledges this is “world leading” and privacy is a key issue.
This is why there is a one-year implementation window, she said.
It’s also one of the reasons why we have been conducting this age assurance trial. We know technologies are developing rapidly but privacy must be paramount, including that of children.
We should also be very clear about the realities. These platforms know about their users in a way that no one else does.
I want to stress this is about protecting people, it is about striking the right balance between those protections and privacy, and I want to make very clear to the Australian people that the upmost support needs to be given to young people through implementation of these provisions.
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The communication minister, Michelle Rowland, also addressed the media and said national cabinet viewed the legislation as striking a balance between minimising harms and supporting young people’s access to benefits.
We know the welfare of children is a collective responsibility. It is heartening to see the commonwealth and states working together and the broad support for design principles in the legislation is one of those things.
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Anthony Albanese outlined the key elements of the legislation:
A minimum age of 16 to use social media
Establish an obligation on social media services, not parents or young people, to take reasonable steps to prevent age-restricted users from having the account
Commencing the law 12 months after the bills passage
A provision of exemptions to ensure young Australians retain access to the services they need
Robust protections for personal information and privacy issues with significant penalties for platforms that breach these provisions.
Albanese says the safety and mental health of the young a priority
Addressing the media, Anthony Albanese said social media is doing harm to young Australians and “the safety and mental health of our young people has to be a priority.”
What this will do is send a social message about what society thinks is appropriate going forward.
We will introduce legislation into the parliament in the next sitting week, which is in just a fortnight’s time, and we are hopeful of getting support for that legislation across the House of Representatives and the Senate.
The PM said the government would work closely with stakeholders in the lead-up to the law commencing, with a lead-time of 12 months after its passage “to give industry government and the eSafety commissioner time to implement systems and processes”.
We will ensure as well young Australians retain access to services that are primarily provided education and health services and work constructively to make sure that is able to be delivered.
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National cabinet endorses social media age limit of 16
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is addressing the media after today’s national cabinet meeting, where he proposed a social media age limit of 16.
He said national cabinet has endorsed the move.
Tasmania would have preferred the age of 14 but they did not want to stand in the way of national uniformity and getting a uniform national decision.
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Additional ABF officers brought in to manually process passengers amid outage
The Australian Border Force says it is aware of a technical outage affecting international arrivals and departures nationwide today.
In a statement, it said the outage is affecting SmartGate kiosks:
Additional ABF officers are being surged into work areas to manually process passengers and provide as minimal disruption as possible.
The issue is currently being rectified and systems are slowly returning online. We appreciate travellers’ patience as we continue to work through the issue.
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Systems outage impacting international arrivals and departures
Sydney airport has confirmed there are delays at immigration due to a national outage affecting Border Force processing systems.
In a statement, the airport said passengers are being processed manually and that no flights have been affected – despite queues being longer than usual.
Passengers travelling today are encouraged to check with their airline regarding the status of their flight, and leave plenty of time when travelling to the T1 international terminal.
We apologise for the disruption and appreciate everyone’s patience as the issue is being resolved.
Melbourne airport has also been contacted for comment. We’ll bring you the latest as soon as we hear more.
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National cabinet meeting on social media age limit under way
The national cabinet meeting on social media age limits is under way (we’re expecting a press conference from the prime minister some time after 11am) but Anthony Albanese’s office has dropped out his opening remarks to the virtual meeting.
The meeting today of state and territory leaders is to strike agreement on the federal government’s plan, announced yesterday, to limit social media access to those over 16. As we reported yesterday, there’s still no answers on how the age verification system is likely to work, with the government leaving it to tech companies to make their own arrangements, but Albanese and the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, yesterday didn’t rule out the potential for social media users to have their faces subject to biometric scanning, or for online platforms to verify users’ ages using a government database.
Albanese told the national cabinet meeting that his federal cabinet had passed the age restriction of 16 at a meeting on Monday, and spoke of the need for an Australia-wide consistency. The PM said:
This is what parents want to see around Australia. It’s something that we know is talked about on the sideline of every sporting activity, outside school grounds. And it is something that state premiers and chief ministers have raised with me directly, with Minister Rowland.
So part of the reason for convening the national cabinet is to make sure that we have uniformity. We don’t want to see different rules in different jurisdictions, because one of the things that parents are looking for here is clarity. And this is about keeping our young Australians safe. I think it is a very positive initiative that we’ll be looking to get your endorsement today.
Albanese said the government would provide access to the federal legislation when it is prepared.
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Whooping cough spreading ‘like wildfire’ amid record cases
Australia is in the grips of its worst whooping cough outbreak since the introduction of vaccines, AAP reports, as people continue to fall behind on immunisations.
More than 41,000 cases of the highly infectious lung disease, which can be deadly, have been recorded in the nation so far this year, surpassing the previous annual record of 38,748 in 2011, according to an Immunisation Foundation of Australia report card.
About 130 people a day are diagnosed with whooping cough and, with 53 days left in 2024, figures are expected to surpass 45,000.
New South Wales and Queensland are the hardest hit, with each state accounting for about 30% of cases, according to the foundation’s findings. School-aged children are among the most affected, with those aged 10 to 14 accounting for 37% of all diagnoses.
The head of the molecular medical microbiology lab at the University of Technology Sydney, Laurence Luu, said whooping cough epidemics are fairly predictable as they follow a pattern.
However, we had not anticipated the magnitude of this outbreak, the largest since national notifiable disease reporting began.
Luu said a drop in vaccinations was behind the infection surge, and it can “spread like wildfire” as it is more contagious than the flu.
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Strike action threatened for hospitals and trains in New South Wales
Nurses and midwives across NSW will stop work for 24 hours next Wednesday, AAP reports, after failing to come to an agreement during four weeks of intensive pay negotiations.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association general secretary, Shaye Candish, said the government was refusing to move on the wage deal, leaving workers with no choice:
Our members are extremely frustrated and disheartened. They have been holding on for an outcome on better pay, juggling challenging working conditions, trying to manage their bills in a cost-of-living crisis and now they feel terribly let down.
All NSW public-sector workers have been offered a blanket 10.5% pay rise over three years, including mandatory increases in superannuation payments. But nurses and midwives have been asking for an immediate 15% wage increase.
In a separate threat to state services, rail staff signalled plans to stop work from Thursday unless the government agreed to run metropolitan and intercity trains 24 hours a day from Thursdays until Sundays.
The Rail, Tram and Bus Union NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, said the government had been dragging its heels in negotiations since an enterprise agreement expired six months earlier. The union is seeking a 32% pay rise over four years and a 35-hour working week.
Transport for NSW said it would work through contingency plans for the strike but did not say whether the agency had agreed to the 24-hour timetable.
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Far-right extremist sentenced to one month jail for performing Nazi salute
An Australian far-right extremist has been sentenced to one month in jail for performing the Nazi salute in public.
In October Jacob Hersant, 25, became the first Victorian convicted of intentionally performing the gesture in public.
Hersant appeared in the Melbourne magistrates court this morning, dressed in a navy blue suit.
Handing down his sentence, magistrate Brett Sonnet says Hersant uttering “Australia for the white man” after he performed the salute sought to promote white supremacy and elevated the seriousness of the offence.
He says Hersant’s gesture was “inherent to Nazi ideology”:
This court denounces Nazi ideology in absolute terms.
The maximum penalty for the crime is 12 months’ imprisonment and/or a fine of $24,000.
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Man charged for allegedly pinning another man between two vehicles during altercation
A man has been charged after allegedly driving at a younger man he was having an altercation with and pinning him between two vehicles.
NSW police responded to reports of a crash at Princes Highway, at the intersection with Kanahooka Road, Brownsville, about 8pm last night.
Officers were told two men – aged 28 and 49 – were involved in an altercation before the older man allegedly drove a vehicle towards the younger man, pinning him between two vehicles.
Initial inquiries have led police to believe the two men are known to each other.
The 28-year-old was treated by paramedics and airlifted to St George hospital in a serious condition. The 49-year-old drove from the scene to Dapto police station where he was arrested and subjected to mandatory testing, before being taken to Wollongong hospital for further testing.
He was later charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, dangerous driving, failing to stop and assist, negligent driving and contravening a domestic AVO.
The man was refused bail to appear at Wollongong local court today. Officers have established a crime scene, to be assessed by the crash investigations unit.
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Indigenous estimates briefly suspended amid Thorpe and McCarthy stoush
Indigenous estimates have just been suspended about 10 minutes in due to a bit of a stoush between Independent senator Lidia Thorpe and the minister, Malarndirri McCarthy.
A question from Thorpe about the federal government’s response to the deaths of Indigenous children in custody descended into a shouting match when McCarthy attempted to answer the question and was interrupted by Thorpe.
The committee chair, Labor senator Louise Pratt, suspended proceedings for about five minutes but, when they resumed, Thorpe and McCarthy again locked horns. Thorpe continued to speak as Pratt gave the call to Greens senator Dorinda Cox.
McCarthy sought for Thorpe to withdraw various imputations.
The deputy chair, Richard Colbeck, attempted to restore order, eventually saying “can we just get on with it?”
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Meta’s Australian policy director responds to social media age limit proposal
Tech giants are wary of a social media age limit, saying it shouldn’t be up to them to enforce the rules but rather app stores to ensure safety across the board.
As AAP reports, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram argues against putting the onus on social media companies to enforce a proposed 16-year-old age limit, saying the technology for a perfect solution “isn’t quite there yet”.
Parents and young people would carry the burden if each app needed to implement its own age controls, Meta’s Australia and New Zealand policy director, Mia Garlick, told ABC Radio this morning:
We completely agree that there needs to be age-appropriate experiences for young people on services like the ones we provide. The challenge is the technology isn’t quite there yet in terms of having a perfect solution.
App stores putting in place controls meant that information could be extrapolated, Garlick said.
When you get a new phone or a new device, you do spend a bit of time sitting down as a family, setting it all up. Age information is collected at that time and so there is a really simple solution there, that at that one point in time … verification can occur.
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Pocock suggests Aukus deal has limited Australia's ability to advocate on climate
Moving to the US election, David Pocock was asked how Australia should respond if Donald Trump begins opposing climate targets or international agreements.
He said that Australia should be “stepping up with leadership”:
On the one hand, we’re talking about the transition and, on the other hand, the major parties want to keep doing exactly that – drill, baby, drill. They’re maybe not that explicit but we have a Future Gas Strategy. We’re seeing coalmines being approved. That’s not in line with a safe future or a duty of care to young people.
So I think stepping up here and then using every single avenue available to us to push countries like the US, who obviously have much bigger emissions and have a role to play, ideally we’d be able to do that.
I’m concerned with things like Aukus that we’ve hitched our cart to their wagon, and that probably limits how much we can advocate for an existential threat for our neighbours in the Pacific that will shape the lives of every Australian into the future.
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Pocock says social media age limit needs to be part of broader conversation
Independent senator David Pocock just spoke with ABC News Breakfast about the government’s proposed age limit for social media.
He said limiting the platforms for children 16 and under “strikes a good balance” but the legislation is not “a silver bullet”.
I think it’s great to see the prime minister and opposition leader acknowledging the very real harms of social media and wanting to put the safety of young people front and centre. I would love to see them also extend that to things like gambling advertising, to a duty of care when it comes to climate change, but, you know, this is an important discussion for us we’re seeing the harms of social media.
I don’t think this legislation is a silver bullet. It needs to be part of a much broader conversation in society about how we protect young people and allow them to actually have a childhood.
He said the ban for under 16s, versus under 14s, would give children “an extra three years … to have a childhood [and] develop those skills that are so critically important at that age when it comes to socialising, being physically active.”
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ANZ posts $6.7bn profit as overdue loans surge
ANZ has posted a $6.73bn full-year cash profit, down 8% from last year’s robust result, while reporting a surge in the number of late repayments from struggling mortgage holders.
The major lender revealed that the size of 90-plus day past due loans, mainly consisting of mortgages, leapt 47% over the past year to $4.17bn.
The ANZ chief executive, Shayne Elliott, said:
Higher interest rates are impacting customers and we saw an increase in those requiring hardship support. Our data shows customers, in general, are holding up better than expected.
ANZ’s results followed a similar pattern to rivals Westpac and NAB, which also reported full-year results this week. While bank profits are generally down from last year, they are still high by recent standards.
ANZ’s cash profit for the 12-month period to the end of September is 12% higher than the equivalent 2021 levels.
The bank issued a final dividend of 83c per share.
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'Let's all move on': Hockey on Rudd's comments criticising Trump
Joe Hockey was also asked how Kevin Rudd should “make amends” for his now-deleted social media posts criticising Donald Trump.
Hockey responded that he and Rudd are “different people” but that he is “inherently a good man” and is working hard for Australia in Washington:
Look, I don’t think President Trump or any of his team [are] in a position to say they won’t work with our ambassador. I think it’s really important they do.
Kevin Rudd has the trust and confidence of Anthony Albanese, and that’s the way it should be … I think we’ve just got to move on. It’s been a source of so much talk and conjecture in Australia, let’s all move on.
He is the ambassador. Anthony Albanese is the prime minister. Let’s just make it work and whether you, Liberal or Labor, Green or Pauline Hanson, whatever you are, we’ve got to be all Team Australia and all shoulders to the wheel.
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Trump sees Australia as ‘prepared to do its heavy lifting’: Joe Hockey
Australia’s former ambassador to the US Joe Hockey also spoke with Sunrise earlier on the Australia-US relationship, after the election result this week.
He argued that Donald Trump is “starting in a very positive position with Australia.”
When he was previously president we were able to build up a very good relationship. It got off to rocky start with Malcolm Turnbull, and then Malcolm Turnbull and then Scott Morrison worked hard to repair it.
He likes what we do. He sees Australia as being prepared to do its heavy lifting. It’s not leeching off the United States … We’re partners in war and we’ve been brothers and sisters in arms. Donald Trump knows that Australia is a mate, so that’s a very strong foundation to build a relationship.
He congratulated Anthony Albanese for calling Trump so soon after his election victory and being one of 70 world leaders to speak with him over the last 72 hours.
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Clare says JD Vance has ‘said stronger things’ about Trump ‘than anyone in Australia’
Jason Clare was also asked whether the Albanese government is starting “on the back foot” with Donald Trump, given the comments from US ambassador Kevin Rudd on X – that have since been deleted.
Clare said that Trump’s VP, JD Vance, has “said stronger things about him than anyone in Australia.”
The PM and the president had a chat yesterday, a really good conversation – like every prime minister and president has worked closely together since John Curtin and Roosevelt. This is a mutual interest. Just like Albanese strengthened our relationships with other countries around the world, we’ll work to strengthen the relationship with our closest ally.
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Labor minister ‘absolutely’ believes Trump will uphold Aukus deal
The education minister, Jason Clare, was up on Sunrise earlier where he weighed in on the US election result.
Specifically, he was asked whether he believes the president-elect, Donald Trump, would hold up the Aukus deal, and responded, “absolutely”.
Aukus is one of those examples where [the] Labor party, Liberal party and Republicans are on the same page. When the legislation went through the American congress only a couple of months ago it was bipartisan in its support. Democrats and Republicans [are] both backing this. I think both countries understand it’s in our mutual interest.
The Albanese government has indicated it would persist with the Aukus deal:
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Queensland premier doubles down on ‘adult crime, adult time’ election promise
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, spoke with Sunrise earlier this morning after police charged a 16-year-old boy with manslaughter – after he allegedly ran a red light in a stolen car in Murrumba Downs, killing a 69-year-old woman.
After basing his election campaign on the “adult crime, adult time” slogan, Crisafulli told the program:
It really is one of the most traumatic things to have to experience yesterday for the entire state, but also for that family [and] for police officers who are caught in the crossfires.
I will obviously be very cautious what I say. There’s allegations and they have to be tested. I want the state to know, a state that’s grieving this morning, that change must happen and change will happen.
We spoke about adult crime, adult time. We’ll be sitting here in parliament in the next fortnight. I can tell you it will be the first bit of legislation and it will be law by Christmas. That’s the commitment we made. Things just must change.
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Queensland temperatures 6C to 8C above average: meteorologist
Senior meteorologist Dean Narramore from the Bureau of Meteorology just spoke with ABC News Breakfast to provide more details on the persisting heatwave conditions across much of the country.
He said temperatures were 6C to 8C above average in Queensland:
Now, that translates to temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s … That heat is likely to linger as we get through the weekend [and] slowly cool down in the south-east, but continue for inland areas right through the next week and for much of our tropical north as well.
He said a cool change currently moving through South Australia would reach Victoria, Tasmania and southern New South Wales throughout the day.
But for northern Australia and inland Queensland, that’s where the heat is going to continue over the weekend, and into early and even into the middle part of next week.
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Total fire ban for Sydney amid heatwave and high fire danger rating
Earlier, we flagged that heatwave warnings were persisting across multiple states today – including New South Wales.
The Rural Fire Service has put a total fire ban in place for greater Sydney and the Illawarra/Shoalhaven region today, with a high fire danger rating across much of the state.
Total fire bans are also in place further north near the Queensland border, in the north western and upper central west plains districts.
A Total Fire Ban will be in place tomorrow, Friday 8 November 2024 for North Western, Upper Central West Plains, Greater Sydney Region and Illawarra/Shoalhaven areas. Hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast across NSW.
— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) November 7, 2024
More information on #RFS website https://t.co/R9tDns8ts6 pic.twitter.com/TM8Dnxzea2
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'A duty of care is a legitimate proposition': Shorten on social media age limit
Moving to the government’s latest social media policy – banning under 16s from platforms – Bill Shorten was asked how users will actually verify users’ ages without handing over sensitive information to tech giants.
He didn’t respond directly but said that “the large tech companies have got the ability to do this” and used the example of mandatory seatbelts:
When we first proposed having mandatory seatbelts to protect people, car companies said that would just be the end of it. And well, you know what? It’s not, and we don’t ask civilians and car road users to bring their own seatbelt to a car. So why should social media companies buck past their own duty of care?
You’re not allowed to produce products and monetise and privatise kids experiences when they’re kids, and trade in their data, and just say ‘nothing to do with us’.
Shorten said the cut off of 16 years old was reached through “a lot of consultation”. He described the age limit as “a start” but “not the only tool.”
I recognise its limitations, and I recognise that people will try and do work-arounds, and I recognise social media companies will scream like scolded cats that anything which might affect their gazillion-dollar profit is just a pain in the butt for them.
But you know what? There’s not just them in this world. We don’t just exist to serve big social media companies, and a duty of care is a legitimate proposition. It was one of the recommendations of government inquiries and I think we’ll be hearing more about that.
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Shorten provides more reaction to Trump election win
The government services minister, Bill Shorten, is now speaking with ABC RN to reflect on the results of the US election – having been Labor leader during Donald Trump’s last presidency.
Shorten said he believes the Albanese government will be able to find common ground with Trump despite having different agendas because “the alliance with America runs deep” and “it’s about our national interest”.
The American people have spoken. That’s unequivocal. Mr Trump got 72.7 million votes. Vice-president Harris got 68 million votes. He won. He’s the guy we’ve got to deal with. They’re a democratic country, they’ve had their elections. We respect the outcome.
Asked if he would like to see Anthony Albanese “be outspoken about things that he thinks are wrong”, Shorten answered: “I’ve got no doubt that our prime minister will speak up in the national interest, first and foremost.”
He was also asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton’s focus on cost of living and immigration, and if this mirrors the US, and responded:
One of the gifts which makes Australia one of the luckiest countries in the world is we’re the only nation who occupies a continent entirely to ourselves as a nation. So whilst we want to make sure that crooks and bad people are sent out of the country, we don’t have the same land border challenges as the US. I’m not quite sure it’s an important issue here, but the heat on those border states in America is just red hot.
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Racism, colonialism ‘driving Indigenous self-harm’
Australia’s dark colonial past and ongoing racism are driving self-harm in Indigenous communities, according to a respected Aboriginal psychologist.
As AAP reports, there were 3,214 deaths due to suicide in Australia in 2023, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Just 275 of those were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, but when adjusted for population size and age structure, the rate of death was more than double that of non-Indigenous Australians.
Psychologist Pat Dudgeon says Indigenous self-harm and suicide are often a response to the grief and despair brought by more than 200 years of brutal oppression, genocide, the removal of children from their families, and the unequal power dynamic that persists to this day.
That whole process has left communities suffering from intergenerational trauma, disadvantage and ongoing racism, as well as the exclusion from the benefits of society and a lack of acknowledgment and respect for their different cultural values.
Dudgeon said self-determination was an important cultural solution for suicide and self-harm prevention.
We still want clinical approaches but we want to see culture at the centre of that.
In 2023, suicide was the leading cause of death in Australia for children and people aged 15 to 44 years, according to the ABS. Across all age groups, 2,419 males and 795 females fatally self-harmed.
Three-quarters of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who died from suicide were male and almost 80% of all who died from intentional self-harming were aged between 15 and 44 years.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counselor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org
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Shorten and Dutton weigh in on US election result amid cost of living crisis
The NDIS and government services minister, Bill Shorten, was up on the Today show just earlier, where he was asked about the US election result and the “comprehensive red wave”.
Shorten congratulated the president-elect, Donald Trump, and said there was a “clear win”, pointing to the cost of living as one key issue:
In Australia, we’ve been fortunate over the last period of time with a government who’s been focused on cost of living here, and we’ve been making it our No 1 priority.
Times are tough for Aussies with mortgage rates … but we’ve been putting in place measures to try and help take some of the sting out of it. So hopefully it’s not an identical situation to Australia.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also on the program, argued that US citizens “didn’t believe that the government was listening to them when they couldn’t pay their bills, they couldn’t pay their mortgages, couldn’t pay their insurance, their rent’s gone up.”
They just felt a real disconnect. It seems to be some of the analysis and, to be honest, there’s sort of an eerie parallel with what’s happening here in Australia in that sense … I think there are some parallels. But as Bill points out, there are other parts which don’t have an equivalent here in Australia.
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Heatwave warnings continuing across multiple states
The hot weather is continuing in Queensland today, with a maximum forecast of 38C in Rockhampton, 34C in Noosa Heads and 33C in Brisbane.
It comes after multiple states have had heatwave warnings throughout the past few days, and meteorologists yesterday warned of lightning strike fires at the Queensland-New South Wales border.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting severe thunderstorms in southern Queensland today:
Another 🌡️hot day in #Qld on Friday. 🌦️Showers and ⛈️thunderstorms will continue to be possible along a trough that lies from the NW into the SE for the next few days. Possibility of #SevereThunderstorms in the south on Friday.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 7, 2024
Towns: https://t.co/11KALRy4Mx pic.twitter.com/sapNSAQky2
Severe heatwave conditions are expected to ease in south-east Queensland over the weekend, but remain over central and northern parts of the state throughout next week.
For NSW, heatwave conditions have eased along the east coast and are expected to ease further inland in the coming days.
Severe heatwave conditions will stick around for the remainder of the week in Western Australia and the Northern Territory – with maximum temperatures in the high 30s to low 40s.
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Good morning
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties – thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us. I’ll bring you our rolling coverage today, as another sitting week wrapped up in Canberra yesterday.
As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Security expert on what Trump presidency means for Australia
The new Trump presidency means Australia must think about how to deepen and strengthen other regional security and economic ties to offset the prospects of an unpredictable US government.
So argues security expert John Blaxland in an opinion piece for us today, in which he recommends people should start to re-read the foreign policy white paper drawn up in 2017 shortly after Trump had begun his first term in office.
Full Story newsroom edition: what Trump 2.0 may mean for the future of Australian politics
Countries around the world are coming to terms with what a second Donald Trump presidency will mean for their climate policies, trade and economies. In Australia political leaders will be drawing their own conclusions about what the American result means for their own election campaigns.
In Today’s Full Story episode, Bridie Jabour talks to the editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, the head of newsroom, Mike Ticher, and the national news editor, Josephine Tovey, about how Trump won and how the media will cover his presidency.
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More help needed for whisteblowers, big four report urges
A parliamentary inquiry delivered its report yesterday into the big four accounting firms but one of its recommendations around whistleblowers caught our eye.
Among its 40 recommendations, the Labor-chaired committee said “greater practical support of whistleblowers” was needed.
The Labor senator Deborah O’Neill, who chairs the joint committee on corporations and financial services, backed the push to establish a whistleblower protection authority for both the public and private sector that could offer disclosers civil remedies and financial compensation.
It’s notable because the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has said he was considering such a body following the opening of the National Anti-Corruption Commission but plans to create one before the federal election haven’t yet transpired.
Indi MP Helen Haines, who campaigned for a Nacc since being elected in 2019, has also long reiterated the need for a protection body. The current federal whistleblower protections have been unsuccessful in granting immunity to those who have tried to use it.
In 2023, former tax employee Richard Boyle was unsuccessful in trying to use the laws to shield him for any alleged criminal offences undertaken while preparing the disclosure.
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More on the national architecture awards
As mentioned at the start, it was the national architecture awards last night – here’s our full story.
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Suppliers to raise risk concerns at supermarket inquiry
Fresh produce suppliers are expected to appear before an inquiry into supermarkets, AAP reports.
It follows allegations grocery giants used their market power to get the upper hand over farmers, some of whom feared raising their concerns with their contract partners.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is conducting public hearings as part of its supermarkets inquiry, with produce suppliers scheduled to appear today.
Fruit and vegetable suppliers earlier told the commission there was a lack of transparency around pricing and volumes and supermarkets were able to retain a disproportionate amount of the value, leaving suppliers with more of the risk.
Many expressed concerns about their capacity to negotiate prices, the commission noted in its interim report in August. Other concerns related to supermarkets encouraging oversupply, then rejecting produce more regularly. The commission reported:
These suppliers suspect some rejections are to manage supply levels rather than reflecting genuine quality concerns.
Some complained of being held liable for damage caused to produce during freight, while not being able to pick the transport provider.
Suppliers consistently reported they would not raise their concerns with the supermarket due to fear it would jeopardise their commercial relationship.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Emily Wind with the main action.
Optus has paid more than $12m in penalties for breaching emergency call rules over its nationwide network outage a year ago, which caused significant disruption. The telco failed to provide access to the emergency call service for 2,145 people during the course of the outage, an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority found.
A parliamentary inquiry recommended yesterday that the big four consultancy firms should be banned from providing a client audit and consultancy services at the same time, and have their number of partners slashed by up to 600. Set up after the tax leaks scandal at PwC Australia, the inquiry also recommended giving more protection for whistleblowers whom it said needed “greater practical support”. More coming up.
Mildura’s old power station – converted into an event space – was one of the big winners at the Australian Institute of Architects’ national awards last night when it took our prizes for sustainability and urban design. The renovation of a 19th-century Sydney mansion to house Mike Cannon-Brookes’ private offices also won an award, while an artists’ space in South Hedland, in Western Australia’s Pilbara region, won the top award for steel architecture.
In Canberra, fresh produce supplies are due to appear at a public hearing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is holding for its inquiry into supermarkets – and whether they’re using their market power responsibly. Expect much talk about the price of milk. More on that coming up.
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