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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Natasha May and Caitlin Cassidy (earlier)

Government tries to block rail union action; PM lays wreath in London – as it happened

Australia Australian Queen Elizabeth II Anthony Albanese London Russia King Charles III
Stock image of an Opal card reader at Town Hall station in Sydney
The NSW government has asked the Fair Work Commission to block union plans to deactivate Opal readers at train stations as part of an industrial stoush. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP

What we learned, Saturday 17 September

And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s what we learned:

  • Prime minister Anthony Albanese has laid a wreath in Green Park upon arrival to the UK to attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday.

  • Independent senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie spoke at the Festival of Dangerous ideas in Sydney. In a session entitled “On blowing things up” Lambie condemned Labor for refusing to wind back the $243bn stage three tax cuts announced under the Coalition prior to the federal election.

  • In his weekly op-ed for the Northern Daily Leader the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce defended what Labor has called “pork-barrelling” as delivering essential funds to regional Australia.

  • In the latest development in the ongoing stoush between the NSW government and the rail union, the transport minister, David Elliott, announced the government was headed to court in a bid to block union plans to deactivate Opal readers at train stations.

  • Flood warnings have been issued for inland NSW and northern Victoria. Emergency personnel performed 11 rescues from floodwaters overnight on Saturday, with more wild weather forecast for the weekend.

  • Penny Wong, the minister for foreign affairs, described the discovery of mass civilian burial sites in Ukraine as “horrific”.

  • NSW Health said more than half of NDIS participants and aged care residents in public hospitals had exceeded their estimated discharge dates as of August.

Updated

NSW Health says more than half of NDIS patients and aged care residents in hospitals exceeded their estimated discharge dates as of August

News Corp is reporting that an NDIS patient has been stuck in hospital for more than five years despite being medically cleared for discharge three years ago.

The Daily Telegraph’s Linda Silmalis writes:

A damning internal NSW Health report into the crisis has identified the person as the “longest-stay NDIS” patient in a NSW hospital, having remained 1,068 days “beyond the estimated date of discharge”.

The patient was one of 557 NDIS patients in a NSW hospital as at August 3, with more than half having stayed past their discharge dates. The extra unnecessary days being spent in hospital by the NDIS patients was costing taxpayers a staggering $32.8m.

Guardian Australia has not been able to independently verify the story. However, a NSW Health spokesperson has said:

Patients may sometimes remain in hospital despite being medically ready for discharge as they await a place at a residential aged care facility (RACF) or for National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) services.

NSW Health is working with the Australian government to try and a find sustainable longer-term solution for discharge of older people from hospital to residential aged care facilities.

As of 3 August 2022, there were more than 1,000 RACF and NDIS patients with 620 (58%) exceeding their estimated date of discharge.

Unfortunately, there has been a growing trend of closures of residential aged care facilities in regional, rural and remote areas in NSW. These closures impact small communities and the acute health system.

In 2021-22, 17 residential aged care facilities closed in NSW, equating to around 700 aged care beds. This does not include residential aged care facilities which have reduced their operational bed numbers but remain open.

While aged care is an Australian government responsibility, NSW Health and the Commonwealth Department of Health and Aged Care are working collaboratively to support the aged care sector to ensure timely transfer into suitable residential aged care facilities (RACF) based on the level of care each older person requires.

Updated

NSW government attempting to block NSW rail union Opal action

The NSW government is headed to court in a bid to block union plans to deactivate Opal readers at train stations as part of an ongoing industrial stoush, AAP reports.

A section 418 application has been lodged in the Fair Work Commission to have the “destructive action” to turn off or short-circuit the machines from Wednesday declared unprotected, the transport minister, David Elliott, said.

The move follows legal advice received by the government that the proposed action is prima facie unlawful, he said in a statement on Saturday. Elliott said:

Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink believe the notified action is also unsafe and could cause financial impacts on commuters.

The submission comes after the (Rail, Tram and Bus Union and others) rejected a number of formal requests from transport officials to withdraw the action.

Elliott said the matter was expected to be heard within 48 hours.

In the meantime, the government remained committed to bargaining in good faith but would take all measures to ensure taxpayer assets were not tampered with, he said.

The union plans to leave station gates open as it did last month but this time the Opal readers will also be deactivated, preventing commuters tapping on, rather than giving them an option not to.

Not all stations have gates, although the action will also deactivate standalone payment poles at suburban stations.

The Opal system is operated by a private company and Elliott said on Thursday he planned to seek advice on whether the union action would result in the government having to pay any penalties under its contract.

The RTBU is among unions that recently took Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink to the Fair Work Commission in a bid to keep negotiating a new enterprise agreement and modifications to a fleet of new intercity trains it says is not yet safe to operate.

The premier, Dominic Perrottet, declared negotiations were over at the end of August, after a month of industrial action disrupting services across several days.

He threatened termination of an enterprise agreement if there was further industrial action.

The RTBU NSW secretary, Alex Claassens, said the government and senior bureaucrats were “the ones responsible for this mess, they can now live with it”.

Updated

Whitehaven approved for coal search near Pilliga conservation area

Whitehaven Coal has been granted a licence by the Perrottet government to explore a new site which could lead to the expansion of its Narrabri underground coal operations in north-west New South Wales, Guardian Australia’s rural network freelancer Tom Plevey reports.

The Gorman North strategic release is one of eight sites listed as “potential areas for proactive release for coal exploration under the strategic release framework” (SRF) by former deputy premier John Barilaro.

Updated

Road closures in flood-affected parts of western NSW

Updated

Flood warnings issued in NSW and northern Victoria

Thousands of NSW residents are under flood watch as the Bureau of Meteorology issues major warnings across the state, AAP reports.

Emergency personnel performed 11 rescues from flood waters overnight on Saturday, with more wild weather forecast for the weekend.

Authorities have also issued warnings for communities in northern Victoria along the Murray River.

The weather bureau on Saturday issued minor to major flood warnings across NSW including for parts of the Upper Murray and the Peel, Macquarie and Lachlan rivers.

Communities including Tamworth, Gunnedah and Wee Waa are also on alert.

The State Emergency Service commissioner, Carlene York, said the ground was already saturated from record wet weather in NSW in the past two years. As mentioned on the blog earlier, she told the ABC:

The dams are at capacity, the ground is saturated, so the water that comes from the sky just has nowhere to go.

Two adults and a child were rescued from the roof of their car in flood waters near the NSW central west town of Wellington overnight on Friday.

Spills from the Hume Dam combined with flood waters from the Kiewa River have also caused renewed and prolonged flooding along the Victorian border.

Rises are occurring along the Murray River at Torrumbarry Weir, where minor flooding is possible from Sunday, according to Vic Emergency.

An extended peak is occurring at Barham along with moderate flooding and minor flooding possible at Moulamein in NSW over the weekend.

Along the Edward River, minor flood waters are slowly easing at Deniliquin. River levels at Stevens Weir peaked on Tuesday, where moderate flooding continues.

Updated

Research reveals the mental health burden of being a woman

Psychological distress and mental illness among women has reached dire levels in Australia, with problems only worsened by the pandemic. ​​One in four Australian women reported an anxiety, depression or substance abuse disorder in 2020-21, compared with 18% of males.

Increasingly, research suggests that the double burden of paid work and unpaid domestic labour may be raising the risk of poorer mental health in women. Experts and policymakers say that redressing the issue requires sweeping and long overdue structural and organisational changes to improve gender equity.

The most recent Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (Hilda) survey, released in December, noted that in the year prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, women did 21 hours more unpaid work than men each week, and experienced higher levels of psychological distress.

Severe storms developing in Queensland

The bureau of Meteorology is warning Queenslanders in the state’s centre and east of severe thunderstorms, with damaging winds and large hail also likely.

Thank you Caitlin! I’ll be with you for the rest of today whether you are following along en route to the big game or whatever your Saturday afternoon plans.

With that, I will bid farewell so I can make it to the Sydney Cricket Ground, leaving you in Natasha May’s more than capable hands. Go Pies.

NSW’s Burrendong Dam at 131% as floodwaters rise

In New South Wales, the Burrendong Dam, south of Dubbo, has jumped to 131% capacity in two days as high rainfall hits the region.

Yesterday, a caravan park in Dubbo was issued with a snap evacuation order amid rising waters.

Updated

Doctors call for cash relief for Northern Rivers healthcare services

Some of Australia’s top medicos have held an emergency summit in flood-ravaged Lismore to call for more help for local health service providers, AAP reports.

The groups, including the Australian Medical Association and the NSW Rural Doctors Network, want immediate cash relief to restore healthcare services in the Northern Rivers region following the destructive floods.

They also used Friday’s summit to call for health services to be dubbed essential services so they can secure fast financial relief after disasters such as floods or bushfires.

Floods in the Northern Rivers and Hawkesbury-Nepean regions killed 13 people in NSW in February and March.

In Lismore, pharmacists are living out of caravans and doctors are providing limited services six months after floods devastated the area.

NSW Rural Doctors estimate 10 non-government healthcare businesses have damages exceeding $500,000 and another 15 have slightly lower levels.

That makes grants of $50,000 for small businesses and $200,000 for medium businesses inadequate, the group said.

Acting chief executive Mike Edwards said the summit’s proposal would help keep businesses open as some consider leaving the area.

Flood-affected communities must have access to health services and health professionals. These are essential services.

Updated

AFL carnage is starting to heat up ahead of the bounce.

Sports rort legal challenge dropped

The legality of the Morrison government’s $100m so-called sport rorts infrastructure program may never be tested in court because a tennis club that missed out on funding has dropped its challenge.

The Beechworth Lawn Tennis Club pulled its federal court case after winning half the funding for its project from the Victorian government, a $250,000 grant that put it at risk of a potential finding the case against Sport Australia no longer had practical utility.

The club’s president, Andy Carr, told Guardian Australia it was a “difficult decision to make, particularly because I had a high level of confidence we’d win the legal argument” that Sport Australia “acted unlawfully” and didn’t comply with requirements of the community sport infrastructure grant program.

Updated

Collingwood fans have descended upon Sydney.

On the hunt for (hundreds more species of ) wishbone spiders

Since the discovery of Australia’s first wishbone spider in 1873, another 45 species of the weirdly fearsome, burrowing arachnid have been identified nationwide.

Yet experts are convinced there may be another hundred of them out there, waiting to be classified.

Queensland Museum Network arachnologist Dr Jeremy Wilson has ambitiously given himself three years to complete the task.

Wishbones inhabit a narrow chute in the soil, the entrance to which is lightly laced with silk which they hope their next meal will become tangled in or tumble through into their lair.

Unlike other trapdoor spiders, though, they construct a second entrance with a lid that becomes an escape route in the event of attack. It’s also thought this passage acts as an air pocket if flooding occurs.

In any event, the two entrances give the burrow a y-shape, like a wishbone.

Having already completed their first field trip into central Queensland, Dr Wilson and his team have uncovered 24 new specimens, eight of which they believe are critical to the study.

The initial goal was to “rediscover” Aname pallida, identified a century and a half ago by renowned German taxonomist Ludwig “Spider” Koch in the since-named Whitsunday region.

Dr Wilson:

This particular spider was first described … around the town of Bowen, so we went searching in several habitats there to try to find it again. We have to understand what the currently known species of wishbone spiders look like so we can recognise new species, that’s why we returned to the location of the first species ever described.

While a number of yet-to-be named members of the genus are Queenslanders, they can be found throughout the continent, most commonly in the drier west.

Accordingly, Dr Wilson will be based at the Western Australian Museum and the University of Western Australia for the final two years of his research.

Joint investigator Dr Michael Rix will stay on at Queensland Museum throughout:

This is an amazing project to be a part of, with a principal aim of performing a complete taxonomic revision of the Australian endemic mygalomorph spider genus Aname. Using molecular sequencing we will be able to study the evolution of the group across Australia, which will be very exciting.

The scientist’s $7.6 million collaboration has been partly funded by BHP.

- From AAP

Updated

Teenage girls missing in Sydney’s north-west

Police are appealing for assistance to locate two teenage girls reported missing from Sydney’s north-west.

Clarissa Venter, 13, and Madison Wells, 14, were last seen at a school in Castle Hill about 3pm on Tuesday.

When they couldn’t be contacted, officers from The Hills Police Area Command were notified and commenced inquiries to locate them.

Police hold concerns for Clarissa and Madison’s welfare due to their age; the girls are believed to be together.

Updated

Collingwood president hit by Melbourne-Sydney flights delay

Media outlets are reporting Collingwood president Jeff Browne is among those affected by a series of delays and cancellations for some Melbourne to Sydney flights today.

With the bounce for the preliminary clash between Sydney and Collingwood taking place at 4.45pm at the SCG, he’d want to get a hurry on.

Meanwhile, Transport NSW is urging punters to take public transport to Moore Park today, with a crowd of 80,000 expected to make it out for the double header.

Hundreds of carpark spaces are closed in the area due to recent flooding.

Updated

Many thanks to Natasha May for keeping us going full steam ahead. I’ll be with you for the next little while.

Thanks for your attention this Saturday! I hand you back to the wonderful Caitlin Cassidy.

Wong says Russia must be held responsible for war crimes

Penny Wong, the minister for foreign affairs, has said the discovery of mass civilian burial sites in Ukraine is “horrific”.

In a statement on social media, Wong said:

It is yet more evidence of Russia’s egregious war crimes in Ukraine. Those responsible must be held to account.

We stand with the people of Ukraine against Russia’s brutal and illegal invasion.

Updated

Australian Monarchist League welcomes possibility of William and Kate’s visit

Ahead of flying to London for the Queen’s funeral, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, confirmed preliminary discussions about the now Prince and Princess of Wales, William and Kate, visiting Australia.

In an interview with British media outlet ITV, Albanese said, “Of course, the royal family have always been welcome visitors here in Australia and they would be again.”

The Australian Monarchist League has welcomed the news, releasing a statement saying:

The Australian Monarchist League is delighted to learn that the Prince and Princess of Wales are proposing to tour Australia in 2023. In the event they are accompanied by their children, it will be the first opportunity for Australians to see Princess Charlotte and Prince Louis on Australian soil.

Their Royal Highnesses last visited Australia in 2014 and had planned to visit in 2020 but this had to be cancelled due to the pandemic. The visit was to enable them to pay particular tribute to bushfire affected communities as they, along with the Queen and other members of the Royal Family, were exceptionally distressed at the death toll, widespread ecological damage, and destruction of homes as a result of Australia’s bushfire crisis as they were for the later widespread and traumatic floods.

The proposed visit for 2023 will provide an opportunity for them to empathise with Australians still affected both by earlier bushfires and the more recent devastating floods.

A royal tour of this nature not only embodies the love that the Crown and the Royal Family have for Australia but affords Australians an opportunity to visibly express their support for the system of constitutional monarchy which so many deeply value as a protection of their freedoms and democracy.

The Australian Monarchist League also wishes to thank the Prime Minister, the Hon. Anthony Albanese MP, for his “standing invitation” to King Charles to visit Australia and trusts that it will not be long before Australians have an opportunity to greet their new King.

Updated

Barnaby Joyce says politicians don’t lose any sleep over what they get wrong

In his weekly op-ed for the Northern Daily Leader (a Tamworth-based paper distributed within his Hunter-England electorate) the former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce has defended what Labor has called “pork-barrelling” as delivering essential funds to regional Australia.

The upcoming Labor budget is already heralded by Labor as removing what they claim is “pork-barrelling”… they call any attempt to bring a better deal to regional Australians as “pork-barrelling” and their disregard to regional seats belies their election narrative that they are the party for the Hunter, Gladstone and the Northern Territory.

Our overwhelming wealth comes from regional Australia whilst the benefit in GDP spins around the city. Take away the source of funds and the GDP spin will dry up.

Too few people in politics now have ever been in business and to be honest ever had a job away from politics or similar quasi-political employment such as union apparatchiks, very few have actually done long term manual labour.

Opinions from the grandstand are fatally esoteric to the experience in the field. Get something wrong in business and you lose your house. Get something wrong in politics and you won’t even lose sleep.

Some “pork-barrelling” decisions have of course been to the detriment of regional communities like Nhill, whose sports club missed out in the infamous sports rorts round of funding.

Updated

Severe weather on the way for parts of Queensland and NSW

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather warning for damaging winds in NSW around elevated parts of the Illawarra, southern tablelands and the Blue Mountains.

Meanwhile in Queensland, severe thunderstorms are possible about the Central Coast, according to the Bureau.

Updated

Byelection in WA seat could shake up opposition leadership

A byelection is being held today for the West Australian state seat of North West Central following the resignation of the Nationals MP Vince Catania.

North West Central is WA’s largest electorate, taking in an area larger than NSW, with just over 11,000 registered voters.

Labor is not running a candidate so it is essentially a two-horse race between National Merome Beard and Liberal Will Baston.

Beard is thought to be the frontrunner, but the ABC is reporting that should Baston win, WA could have a new opposition leader. James Carmody writes:

The Labor government dominates the parliament and in the lower house there are just six opposition MPs. Four are Nationals and two are Liberals.

The Nats and the Libs have formed an alliance in opposition, and given the Nationals have more seats, the opposition leader is the Nationals’ Mia Davies.

If the Liberal Party candidate wins the by-election, the opposition parties would hold three seats each, and a decision would need to be made on leadership of the Opposition.

The Liberal Party could use that scenario, and their slightly higher numbers in the Upper House, to try and have Liberal leader David Honey take over.

Updated

Road cycling worlds promise thrilling racing against scenic south coast backdrop

Cycling’s Road World Championships are taking place in Wollongong, kicking off tomorrow and running until next weekend.

The past five road world championships have been held in Europe, with only two editions taking place outside the heartland since the championships were first held in Australia twelve years ago.

My colleague Kieran Pender brings you this fascinating preview, detailing the challenges which have come with bringing the races back to Australian shores as well as what picturesque NSW south coast scenery is expected to be shown off:

The road race course will see the world’s best riders battle it out along a beautiful coastal road, from Helensburgh to Wollongong, including the iconic Sea Cliff Bridge at Stanwell Park, which protrudes into the ocean. The peloton will then head into the highlands to conqueror Mount Keira, before doing laps of a city circuit – 12 for the elite men, six for the women – before the world champions are crowned.

Second man charged over Northern Territory arrow death

A second man has been charged over the death of a man who was shot with an arrow in a remote Northern Territory community.

Police said the 36-year-old was shot in the chest in Peppimenarti, 320km southwest of Darwin, on Tuesday night.

He was pronounced dead after being taken to a local health clinic just before midnight.

An 18-year-old man faced a Darwin court on Thursday charged with manslaughter over the incident.

NT Police said a 22-year-old had since been charged with one count of recklessly endangering life. He will face Darwin Local Court on Monday.

Major crime detectives, crime scene examiners and officers from the NT Police tactical group were sent to the community during the week. Police said in a statement:

Police are working with elders, the local council and other government agencies to maintain community safety.

Detectives have linked the incident to ongoing unrest in nearby Wadeye, where violent clashes between rival Indigenous clans were reported earlier this year.

NT Chief Minister Natasha Fyles has said the government is working to address issues in the region.

West Daly Regional Council said it had closed council services in Peppimenarti until further notice as a result of the incident.

Lambie: Indigenous voice needs to be prioritised ahead of republic debate

On whether Australian should push to be a republic with the death of the Queen, my colleague Caitlin Cassidy reports that Senator Jacquie Lambie says politicians can only do “one thing at once”.

For this reason, Lambie says that the Indigenous voice to parliament needs to be the priority ahead of any debate about the country breaking ties with the monarchy.

What needs to be done before the republic is making sure Indigenous people have a bloody voice.

Updated

Lambie criticises Labor for refusing to wind back stage three tax cuts

Speaking at the Festival of Dangerous ideas at a session entitled “On blowing things up”, the independent senator for Tasmania Jacqui Lambie has shot out at Labor for refusing to wind back $243bn tax cuts announced under the Coalition prior to the federal election.

Labor supported the cuts at the time.

Lambie said the tax cuts were an insult to people on jobseeker who were struggling on low payments:

We’ve got people living below the poverty line, they promised them they’d get pay rises and they haven’t done that but they’re happy to go out there ... and give billions to the richest Australians. Parties encourage you to vote brand, and you get dudded when you do. Politicians aren’t on your side, they’re not your mate.

Updated

Jacqui Lambie praises teal independents as ‘breakthrough our country’s been waiting for’

The Festival of Dangerous Ideas is happening this weekend in Sydney, an event which – as its title suggests – aims to “challenge thinking on some of the most persevering and difficult issues of our time.”

My colleague Caitlin Cassidy is in the audience at Jacqui Lambie’s session, titled On Blowing Things Up.

The Tasmanian senator is praising the intervention of the teal independents, who won a sweep of blue-ribbon Liberal seats at the last federal election, as the “breakthrough our country’s been waiting for”.

More teal independents are set to challenge the major parties in the upcoming state elections:

Updated

Manhunt continues after fatal stabbing in Brisbane

A police manhunt continues for the final suspect wanted in relation to a fatal stabbing in Brisbane after a third man was charged over the attack, AAP reports.

Kyle Martin, 24, remains on the run five days after the death of Levi Johnson, who was stabbed outside a gym car park on Monday.

Two cars boxed in his vehicle before four men got out and started smashing his windows. Johnson ran away but two men caught up with him and he was stabbed multiple times.

Police warned members of the public not to approach Martin as he was “potentially armed and dangerous”.

Detective Superintendent Andrew Massingham told reporters late on Friday:

I think time’s quickly running out for him.

We have three in custody. I’m confident within the coming days we’ll be able to place the fourth one into custody.

It’s believed Martin could be hiding out locally but authorities are on alert in case he attempts to flee Queensland.

On Saturday, Thomas Myler, 35, was charged with one count of murder (serious organised crime).

He was cornered by police during a raid at a home in Wellington Point, in the city’s east, on Friday night after a tip-off from a member of the public.

A woman, believed to be Myler’s girlfriend and earlier in his company, has not been charged but on Friday detectives said they would investigate whether she or anyone else was involved in helping him avoid detection.

Anyone assisting in harbouring Martin could be charged with being an accessory to murder, which carries a possible sentence of life imprisonment.

Updated

Final flood warnings for western NSW rivers

The bureau of meteorology has issued its final flood warnings for the Macquarie and Castlereagh rivers in western NSW.

Heavy rain on already saturated grounds and full dams had caused flooding around central west towns of Wellington, Forbes, Orange and nearby areas.

Damaging winds heading for south-west Victoria

Eleven flood rescues in western NSW overnight

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York also said western NSW is seeing the effects of increased risks of rain due to La Niña. She told the ABC this morning:

It’s been pretty much in play relentlessly for 12 months. We have around 140 volunteers or members out there helping the community and doing those flood rescues – just overnight we have had another 11 flood rescues – and so each day that adds up and really, really important for the community to understand their risk … the rivers, they come up very quickly.

Updated

‘Threat of flooding is real’ this summer with La Niña declared, SES says

This week Australians learned we’ll be in for another La Niña weather event for the third year in a row.

NSW SES commissioner Carlene York was on the ABC this morning talking about what that news means in terms of the flood risk:

Well, it is storm season between October and March and we are expecting much greater rains due to this forecast for La Niña. It is also the threat of flooding is real, is real out there in the community. And we have got to look at what weather we have had over the last 12 to 18 months.

It’s been relentless rain. The rivers are at capacity, the dams are at capacity. The ground is saturated so the water that comes from the sky just has nowhere to go and so it turns into river even flooding and touching into flash flooding. So we are expecting a lot more rain this storm season.

But, of course, we’re hoping and the bureau is saying there is a chance the rain will not be as heavy as we’ve had and particularly seen in the February-March floods earlier this year. But it will be a typical storm season with additional water. So we are very much preparing and preparing the community for what might come.

Updated

Education on Indigenous voice ‘critical’

Australians must be given details on an Indigenous voice to parliament sooner rather than later if the referendum is to succeed, Uluru Dialogue co-chair Megan Davis says and AAP reports.

Recent polling has shown voters are broadly supportive of changing the constitution to enshrine the voice but have limited understanding of what it will involve.

The Albanese government has proposed adding three sentences to the constitution outlining the creation of a body which would represent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

It would advise parliament and the government on matters relating to Indigenous people but would be “subservient” to legislation.

The government will work with First Nations leaders, including Professor Davis, to determine the timing for a successful referendum and the public information needed for it to pass.

Having spent more than a decade working towards the reform as a constitutional law expert, Prof Davis said educating voters would be critical:

That polling’s not surprising but it is obviously impetus to get that detail to the Australian people as soon as possible, or at least in a reasonable time frame in the lead-in to a referendum.

Australians don’t forensically scrutinise everything the parliament and the Senate do. So there’s a lot of work that we have to do to educate the Australian community.

Prof Davis, from the University of NSW’s Indigenous Law Centre, is leading a nationwide consultation process with constitutional and public law experts on the proposed amendment and the wording of the referendum question. She said the amendment proposed by Albanese was a “starting point” for the final model, with mixed views on how simple the wording should be.

Obviously one of the spin-offs of that is brevity might lead to uncertainty,” she said. And then if you have an over-elaborated provision, you might fence in the voice in a way that you don’t want for all time. You need to build in flexibility and agility.

Good morning! And thank you Caitlin for kicking the Saturday blog off in such style. I’m coming to you from Sydney where it is most definitely starting to feel like spring.

Updated

I am dipping out for a minute and will leave you in the highly capable hands of Natasha May. See you all this afternoon.

Anthony Albanese will meet King Charles III during his stay in London, cementing Australia’s importance to the new monarch, AAP reports.

The prime minister, governor-general David Hurley and their partners have arrived in the British capital for a series of events commemorating the late Queen Elizabeth II.

Soon after touching down, Albanese and partner Jodie Haydon laid a floral tribute, a small bouquet of white flowers, at Green Park in London.

Albanese:

It’s a great honour to be representing Australia here. Quite clearly, what we can see all around us is the affection in which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was held by people here in the United Kingdom but also of course in Australia and right around the Commonwealth.

Albanese said his visit to London was about “commemorating a life well-lived”.

He will view the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall and sign the official condolence book at Lancaster House before a brief audience with the King at Buckingham Palace.

King Charles will host the prime minister, heads of state and international VIPs at a function on the weekend.

Albanese said he would convey Australians’ deep condolences to the King.

It is of course the passing of the sovereign but for King Charles it’s also the passing of his mum. We shouldn’t forget that at the end of the day these people are humans as well as being members of the Royal Family.

In Tasmania, the SES is urging communities to monitor conditions after issuing a flood advice warning for St Pauls River, Lewis Hill and surrounds:

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a minor flood warning for the St Pauls river. Flooding in nearby streams and rivers is likely during the next few days.
Some low-lying properties may become isolated by flood waters within the next few days.

Flood waters are a risk to safety. Property, livestock, equipment, and crops in low lying areas may be at risk from flood waters. Driving conditions may be dangerous.

Nick Kyrgios joins tributes to Roger Federer

With a simple paean to Roger Federer’s greatness, Nick Kyrgios has joined the chorus of laments, thanks and tributes following news of the great man’s impending retirement from tennis, AAP reports.

“No one will ever play the game like you,” Australia’s Wimbledon finalist declared in a social media address to Federer – and he was not alone as the game’s greatest players, headed by Novak Djokovic, continued the salutes to the Swiss maestro on Thursday.

Kyrgios, who’s never hidden how he believes Federer was even better than Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the big three, added on his Instagram post: “Enjoy it @rogerfederer ...... was an honour.”

Kyrgios had originally been down to play in what will now be Federer’s farewell competition, next week’s Laver Cup in London, but pulled out after his exhausting recent schedule in the US.

The Australian loves playing for the “world” team against Europe’s best and had previously played Federer three times in the three-day competition - losing on each occasion.

After his Wimbledon final defeat by Djokovic, Kyrgios had noted:

He doesn’t make you feel as bad as Federer does at times. I think Federer, out of the three guys, can make you feel really bad, like he makes you want to leave the court. He can make things seem really quick and that the court’s really small.

Updated

In Queensland, a jointly funded $7m package has been announced to back the state’s tourism industry in the wake of increasing extreme weather events.

The federal minister for emergency management, Senator Murray Watt, said the assistance would help Queensland tourism operators build disaster resilience after the extraordinary flood and cyclone events of 2021-2022.

Ensuring our tourism infrastructure is robust and ready for the next inevitable disaster is critical to the ongoing viability of the sector. This will provide funding for impacted tourism businesses to build their resilience and aid their response to future flooding and natural disasters through innovative solutions, including bespoke engineering solutions and improved business response to disasters.

Updated

More than a dozen flood warnings are in place across New South Wales, with a major flood warning active for the Namoi and Peel rivers.

The BoM:

A moderate flood peak was observed along the Peel River at Tamworth on Friday afternoon. Floodwaters from the Peel River combined with the outflows from Keepit Dam and a flood peak from the Mooki River may cause major flooding at Gunnedah and Wee Waa.

Minor flooding is likely along the Namoi River at Boggabri, Narrabri, Bugilbone and Goangra.

Updated

More than 100 years since New South Wales magnanimously handed over Jervis Bay, the ACT’s chief minister, Andrew Barr, has confirmed talks are under way for what would be the biggest shake-up in state-territorial borderlines in living memory.

The ACT has begun discussions with the NSW government to acquire 330 hectares of farmland called Parkwood. The land lies within a planned housing development called Ginninderry, which covers both the ACT and NSW.

On Friday Barr confirmed the acquisition was all but certain, saying the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, had “personally contacted me to give it the green light” over the land swap.

A man has been arrested after he attempted to rush at the Queen’s coffin inside Westminster Hall.

The Metropolitan police were said to have rushed to detain the man just before 10pm on Friday evening, the second full day that mourners have been able to pay their respects to the former monarch, just hours after senior royals held a vigil.

Updated

The Agriculture department has given the green light for live sheep exports to the Middle East during summer, AAP reports.

Minimum feeding standards and keeping a prohibition of live exports during the hottest periods were recommended to mitigate the risk of heat stress and improve animal welfare during trips.

The department wants prohibition periods between June and mid-September to remain for Kuwait and other Persian Gulf nations aside from Oman. Periods when extra conditions need to be met to conduct live exports to the Persian Gulf, other than to Kuwait and Oman, should be expanded by 10 days, it says.

The department further recommended Oman’s prohibition be reduced by a month, from May 8 to a new date of August 14, and stoppages of exports to the Red Sea reduced by three weeks to September 7. It also recommended boat trips through the Red Sea to nations such as Russia, Turkey and Lebanon should also be subject to the same embargo period.

The department found sheep were visibly impacted by heat on nine out of 15 summer trips to the Middle East between 2019 and 2021.

The Greens attempted in parliament to disallow the export of live sheep, saying the practice was “cruel”.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi:

The entire live export industry should be shut down, and it should be shut down as soon as possible. It’s beyond repair. Its social licence has well and truly expired. It cannot be made safe for animals.

But the push failed following opposition from Labor and the Coalition. Prime minister Anthony Albanese went to the election promising to ban the trade, which has been criticised by animal welfare groups but generates thousands of jobs and millions of dollars in export revenue.

But Albanese said the phase-out would not happen during this term of parliament.

In London, outlets are reporting a member of the public attempted to rush at the Queen’s coffin before being restrained by police and removed from Westminster Hall.

Liberal senator Jacinta Price is appearing on the ABC discussing her calls to introduce a private member’s bill returning alcohol bans to the Northern Territory.

Alcohol is having a huge impact right after these bans have been lifted … what I’m proposing to do is put a hold on alcohol out in those communities until the proper consultation has taken place … to effectively deal with alcohol in remote communities.

We’ve got some of the most marginalised Australians in our communities and … alcohol has a huge negative impact on their lives. We have the ability to put those sorts of measures in place for the benefit of their safety, for community safety, and in an attempt to curb alcohol – the harm of alcohol in those communities.

Asked about a voice to parliament, Price says it’s “pretty irrelevant” in current circumstances.

Myself and Marion [Scrymgour] we are elected Indigenous women from the Northern Territory. We are trying to work together to solve some of our really critical issues. We are connected to communities and so for me personally we have a democratic system that is in place and it is about those of us who are elected, making sure that we are doing our job effectively, making sure that we are representing all our constituents and their concerns in parliament to bring about solutions. I’m not in favour of applying another bureaucracy into our constitution to begin with, and particularly one that is along the lines of race.

Updated

Isolated heavy rainfalls hit Tasmania overnight amid a low pressure trough that moved along the east cost.

Friendly Beaches experienced a peak of 55 mm.

Anthony Albanese lays wreath at Green Park

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has laid a wreath in Green Park upon arrival to the UK to attend the Queen’s funeral on Monday.

He will be meeting with King Charles later today to pass on condolences from the Australian public.

He told the ABC:

It is a great honour to be representing Australia here. Quite clearly what we can see all around us is the affection in which Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth was held by people here in the United Kingdom, but also, of course, here in Australia and right around the commonwealth. Queen Elizabeth gave a life of service. It was a life of dignity. It is a life that brought great respect from the world’s citizens, but in particular Australia, and it has been an honour to leave a tribute for Queen Elizabeth here.

Updated

Good morning.

Prime minister Anthony Albanese and governor general David Hurley are in London for a series of events commemorating the life of Queen Elizabeth II.

Albanese is expected to view the Queen’s coffin in Westminster Hall and sign the official condolence book at Lancaster House before a brief audience with King Charles III at Buckingham Palace. The King will host the prime minister, heads of state and international VIPs at a function over the weekend.

Albanese will also meet with the new UK prime minister, Liz Truss, and Canada’s Justin Trudeau on Saturday, London time.

Meanwhile the Russian government says it has added 41 Australian defence lobbyists, reporters and local council members to a list of people barred from entering the country.

Russia’s foreign ministry on Friday night released the blacklist in what it said was a response to “politically motivated sanctions” by the Australian government against Russian individuals, put in place following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February. Earlier this week Ukrainian authorities said they found a mass burial site of more than 440 bodies in the eastern city of Izium that was recaptured from Russian forces, some of which showed signs of torture.

“Australians from military-industrial complex contractors, journalists and municipal deputies who are shaping the anti-Russian agenda in this country are being denied entry to our country indefinitely,” the foreign ministry said in a statement.

Named journalists from the ABC, Nine News, Seven News, Ten News, SBS, Sky News and The Australian were included on the list along with several academics. Executives from military contractor companies Thales Australia, DroneShield and BAE Systems also featured on the list.

Woollahra councillors Luise Elsing and Matthew Robertson were also named.

Woollahra council, in Sydney’s east, earlier this year proposed renaming the street where the Russian consulate is based – Fullerton Street – to “Ukraine Street”. The council backed down in June, acknowledging “strong opposition from residents” of the street.

Let’s get into it.

Updated

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