What we learned, Tuesday 30 August
And with that we are going to put the blog to bed – thank you for spending the day with us.
Before we go, let’s go though the big headlines:
Sky News broadcaster Erin Molan won a defamation suit against Daily Mail Australia over an article and two tweets which she said portrayed her as racist.
Independent MP Helen Haines called for the prime minister to “protect” any potential federal integrity body from government interference.
Grace Tame alleged her childhood abuser is continuing to threaten her.
Anthony Albanese told people to “chill out” about his press conference with Shaquille O’Neal on the weekend.
Shortening of Covid isolation period to be discussed at national cabinet.
The ACTU president urged the Albanese government to commit to closing the gender pay gap.
The Victorian and New South Wales premiers announced urgent care clinics to counter bulk-billing shortfall in their states.
Chris Dawson was found guilty of murdering his former wife Lynette Dawson.
We will be back tomorrow to do it all again – thank you for spending the day with us.
Updated
Bottlenose dolphins know how to be team players, research shows
From AAP:
Bottlenose dolphins are the best team players in the animal kingdom, second only to humans, a study shows.
Males are able to form complex alliances and interact in a social network, which leads to greater access to females and reproduction.
“There’s another incredible society outside of our own,” study co-author Dr Simon Allen of the University of Western Australia (UWA) and University of Bristol told AAP.
“It’s the biggest social network that we know of outside of humans in terms of big large-brained animals that all kind of know each other.”
“(They) have friends, friends of friends and foes that they’re all familiar with.”
The dolphin study was a joint project between scientists from UWA, University of Bristol, University of NSW and the University of Massachusetts.
Updated
Far-right extremism in Victoria stoked by pandemic, report finds
From AAP:
Neo-nazism and other far-right extremist ideologies are a growing threat in Victoria and are putting marginalised groups at risk of violence, a new report says.
In the 150-page report tabled in state parliament on Tuesday, the Legal and Social Issues Committee delved into the rise of far-right extremism within Victoria.
It found declining mental health, social isolation and economic insecurity brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic has stoked far-right extremism.
Misinformation, conspiracy theories peddled on social media and the normalisation of anti-immigration rhetoric in mainstream media have also put vulnerable people at risk of radicalisation and made them more susceptible to racist narratives, it said.
Multicultural groups, women and LGBTQ+ members were identified as common targets of far-right extremists.
The Greens-initiated inquiry was prompted by a neo-Nazi gathering in the Grampians in January 2021 and the erection of gallows outside parliament as MPs debated pandemic legislation in November.
Updated
Pacific tensions simmer amid Richard Marles and Penny Wong tours
Tensions between Australia, the United States, the Indo Pacific, and China are still simmering as defence minister Richard Marles and foreign affairs minister Penny Wong continue their respective overseas tours.
After two days in Papua New Guinea, during which Wong said Australia’s support for the region came with “no strings attached” (implying that Chinese support came with strings), Wong is set to arrive in Timor-Leste tomorrow.
There, one of the subjects up for discussion is a gas pipeline that Timor-Leste would like to pipe resources into their country, rather than into Darwin.
President José Ramos-Horta has said he will turn to China for support if he has to.
Wong’s message for the Indo Pacific region has been that the new government is listening, is helping to finance infrastructure, and will continue to support economic development.
Marles is in Europe. While in Germany he said the “world is under a lot of pressure right now”, as he welcomed Germany’s interest in the Indo Pacific.
He will also travel to the United Kingdom (which is a contender to provide a new nuclear-powered submarine fleet) and France (which, along with Australia, is also stepping up its commitments in the Indo Pacific).
Germany announced today that it will participate in Exercise Talisman Sabre next year. That pledging of forces is a sign of Germany’s concern about what’s happening in the region. Marles said:
“Now is a time where friends need to stand together, and Australia and Germany have shared beliefs. We’re both democracies. We both support a global rules-based order.”
References to the global rules-based order refer to those who do not respect it, such as China and Russia.
Meanwhile, the Herald Sun reports that Marles has said Australia needs to urgently acquire hypersonic missiles, which can fly at many times the speed of sound. Marles said:
“Hypersonics are really important for the future and I think there is an urgency about acquiring and developing (the capability).”
This afternoon the ABC reported that Solomon Islands, which has entered security agreements with China, put a moratorium on US navy vessels entering its ports.
Updated
The Teacher’s Pet podcast, which has been inextricably linked with the murder trial of Christopher Michael Dawson, won the highest accolade in Australian journalism for Hedley Thomas and Slade Gibson and has been downloaded 60m times internationally.
Updated
Adam Bandt asked the Parliamentary Budget Office to crunch some numbers around the distribution of the stage-three tax cuts. Here’s one thing the PBO found:
Who gets the benefit of the Stage 3 cuts cuts? @PBO_AU analysis pic.twitter.com/aGhUR142tv
— Greg Jericho (@GrogsGamut) August 30, 2022
Updated
Albanese also endorsed a proposal for Papua New Guinea to compete in the NRL.
Albanese said:
Well, it’s something that I think is a pretty good idea. I’ve got to say I was at the Pacific Island forum meeting including with prime minister [James] Marape and other leaders in Tonga and Samara and Fiji the Pacific. And Papua New Guinea in particular is so passionate about rugby league.
That it is something I’ve raised with the NRL with Peter V’Landys. And I think that has a great deal of merit, if you have a look at the rugby league lists, there’s a few players there with Pacific and PNG background. And I think that anything that improves our relations in the region sport can play a role in.
It certainly would be in my view in the national interest, and in the view of good relations in our region.
Updated
‘Lynette’s journey is not complete. She’s still missing’: Lynette Dawson’s brother
Outside court, Lynette Dawson’s brother called on Chris Dawson to reveal where her body is, 40 years after her murder.
Greg Simms said:
Lynette’s journey is not complete.
She’s still missing. We still need to bring her home.
We would ask Chris to find it in himself, to allow us to bring her home for peaceful rest – finally showing some dignity she deserves.
Updated
PM defends decision not to scrap stage-three tax cuts
Anthony Albanese is on ABC Sydney, again on the defensive about why Labor hasn’t reversed its position and decided to tear up the stage-three tax cuts.
Albanese said:
We tried to amend the legislation, we weren’t successful, by one vote. All the crossbench in the Senate voted for stage three. That was a legislated change, we had to make a decision once we weren’t successful whether to block all the tax cuts for everyone. We didn’t do that.
We said at the time it was ambitious to say you know what the economy would look like in 2024. There is also the issue of certainty that is there, these are legislated tax cuts … and we did say we wouldn’t seek to change them, at the election.
Albanese also claims the stage-three tax cuts discussion “wasn’t front and centre” in the election campaign, and that Adam Bandt had a chance to advocate then. Which is odd because: (1) the Greens definitely did advocate this then; and (2) to the extent they weren’t front and centre, it was because Labor promised not to tear them up.
Albanese said Labor will examine jobseeker payments “each and every year”, citing the fact Labor passed the biggest increase in the pension “in history” in its last year in office (2013). “Labor will always be better on these issues,” he said, although jobseeker won’t be raised in the October “mini-budget”.
Updated
Over social media, people are reacting to Chris Dawson’s guilty verdict:
Actually, now I’m sobbing. For Lynette, for everything she endured as a loving mother, and for the fact that Chris Dawson got away with it for so long. The world is changing, yes, and thank goodness for that. For all our sakes - but for our daughters most of all #dawson #guilty
— Nikki Gemmell (@NikkiGemmell) August 30, 2022
The verdict appears to have come down to Dawson’s lies demonstrating an evidence of a consciousness of guilt.
— Samantha Lock (@Samantha__Lock) August 30, 2022
These lies were, as cited by Justice Harrison:
— Samantha Lock (@Samantha__Lock) August 30, 2022
- Travelling to Queensland by himself at Christmas
- His relationship with JC
- His desire for Lyn to come home
- Receiving phone calls from Lyn and bankcard statements that indicated she was still alive
So unjustifiably sad that he was a free man for 40 years and his crimes virtually nullified. May Lynette’s family find peace in the knowledge that this coward is finally brought to his knees.
— Kristy Renae (@KristyRenae1) August 30, 2022
Nino is outside the courtroom still and will bring us an update soon.
Chris Dawson’s lawyer suggests client will appeal guilty verdict
Speaking outside court, Christopher Dawson’s lawyer Greg Walsh suggested his client would appeal Tuesday’s verdict.
He said:
Mr Dawson has always asserted, and he still does, his absolute innocence of the crime of which he’s been convicted. He’ll continue to assert that innocence and he’ll certainly appeal.
Family and friends of Lynette Dawson, along with supporters of Dawson, including his lawyer and twin brother Paul Dawson, have left court following this afternoon’s verdict.
Walsh, who left the court at the same time as Lynette Dawson’s family were speaking on the steps of the court, said his client was in shock and upset.
He said he did not believe Dawson had said anything to him in court immediately after the verdict was handed down.
Walsh said that when Justice Ian Harrison mentioned relatively early in his verdict that he was convinced beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson had died on 8 January 1982 - as the prosecution had alleged - he felt that conviction was “on the cards”.
Walsh said Dawson did not discuss with him whether he felt he had a fair trial. But the lawyer wanted to make clear it was concerning that Harrison had not addressed questions about a missing police homicide-squad file into Lynette Dawson’s disappearance, which may have assisted his client. This could have included information about financial transactions.
He said:
The whole file is gone. How can Mr Dawson rely upon that evidence if it just disappears?
Walsh said it was clear serious miscarriages of justice had occurred in the past, such as in the Chamberlain case, and Dawson maintained his innocence.
He said Dawson’s daughters would “stay strong”, but also wanted to make clear that the “disappearance” of Lynette was a “very sad fact” and it was “in some respects an important day” for her family.
Dawson would find custody difficult, Walsh said, as he had been diagnosed with dementia that may be linked to his history playing rugby league. He said:
Jail will be much harder for him, he’s got real cognitive problems, and he’s got problems with his hips and his knees etc.
Dawson is expected to apply for bail on Thursday.
Updated
From Reuters:
The Solomon Islands government has told the US it will place a moratorium on navy vessels entering its ports, the US embassy in Canberra said on Tuesday.
The notice follows an incident last Tuesday when a US Coast Guard vessel, the Oliver Henry, was unable to enter Solomon Islands for a routine port call because the government did not respond to a request for it to refuel and provision.
The Solomon Islands has had a tense relationship with the US and its allies since striking a security pact with China earlier this year.
“On Aug. 29, the United States received formal notification from the government of Solomon Islands regarding a moratorium on all naval visits, pending updates in protocol procedures,” the embassy said in today’s statement.
A spokesman for Solomon Islands prime minister Manasseh Sogavare earlier denied the reports of a moratorium, and told Reuters that Sogavare would make a speech on Tuesday afternoon.
Sogavare would make a speech to welcome a US navy hospital ship, Mercy, which arrived in Honiara on Monday for a two-week mission, he said.
The embassy said Mercy had arrived before the moratorium.
Updated
With the earnings season all but over, we’ve had one of the last major companies reporting, Woodside Energy.
Needless to say, the company reported a big jump in earnings. Soaring energy prices have propelled profits skyward for most energy companies, with Woodside’s five-fold rise just the latest.
After similar results for Santos, Whitehaven Coal and other fossil-fuel exporters, calls for a windfall tax have been renewed, as we report here:
Woodside’s share price was up about 1.7% in late trade, or about triple the increase in the wider ASX 200 benchmark index.
The Albanese government has so far not given any hint that it is planning another effort to rake back some of those bumper earnings. NSW, too, shows no interest in following Queensland’s example in changing its royalties regimes.
See our report from June:
Instead, any effort in this space is likely to focus on questions around multinational tax. Are companies paying all that they should be (rather than, say, using so-called transfer pricing to book profits in low-taxing states such as Singapore)?
The longer energy prices stay high, though, demands for some redistribution effort won’t go away.
Updated
From AAP:
Laws to put in place a national corruption watchdog will be brought to federal parliament in two weeks.
It is understood the Labor caucus will be asked to approve the bill on September 13 before it is introduced to the lower house.
The Morrison government had flagged the formation of a Commonwealth Integrity Commission, but did not bring its bill to parliament.
The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC), as Labor’s model will be known, will have a broad jurisdiction to investigate commonwealth ministers, public servants, statutory office holders, government agencies, parliamentarians, and the personal staff of politicians.
Updated
From AAP:
Australia’s medical regulators have given a green light for a COVID vaccine that will target the Omicron variant.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration granted provisional approval to Moderna’s bivalent COVID vaccine, the first of its type in Australia.
The bivalent vaccine will be able to trigger an immune response against the original COVID variant and the Omicron strain.
The vaccine has been approved for use as a booster among those over 18 and can be given at least three months after the initial two doses or previous booster.
Final approval for the new vaccine will still need to be granted by the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation.
Updated
From AAP:
Australia’s leading scientific organisation has called for a boost to virus research and vaccine manufacturing capabilities in a bid to future-proof the country from pandemics.
In a new report, the CSIRO outlined 20 recommendations to strengthen Australia’s pandemic preparedness, following on from the experiences of COVID-19.
Among the recommendations were to improve research into five virus families that have the greatest potential to become future pandemics.
Scientists also identified a need to diversify the types of vaccines made in Australia to be better prepared.
“The absence of manufacturing capabilities across diverse vaccine technologies reduces Australia’s capability to produce vaccines onshore for an emergent viral threat,” the report said.
“Australian companies face barriers, such as high input costs and small population for clinical trial enrolments.”
Updated
All the signs are pointing to another wet summer, with the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest update suggesting a good chance of a return of the La Niña that has helped drench the east of the continent for the last two years.
Back in June, scientists warned a rare “triple-dip La Niña“ could be on the cards. Earlier this month, the bureau issued a “La Niña alert” saying the chance of the system returning was on the up.
Today, the bureau said the chance had risen further, with four of seven climate models showing the La Niña conditions could return by early-to-mid spring. The other three models suggest a neutral but cooler than average outlook.
In a La Niña, trade winds strengthen and push warmer surface water closer to Australia, promoting clouds and rain.
In Australia, the bureau says La Niña events increase the chance of above-average rainfall for northern and eastern Australia during spring and summer.
La Niña has opposite impacts elsewhere, with the system blamed for worsening drought in North America and East Africa.
Updated
Nino Bucci – who has done a great job bringing us the news straight from the courtroom today – snapped this picture of the media pack outside the court just after the verdict had been read out:
I believe it’s called a pack in Melbourne, but a scrum in Sydney pic.twitter.com/s6xVzCgkCj
— Nino Bucci (@ninobucci) August 30, 2022
Updated
On social media, people are reacting to the Christopher Dawson verdict - who just moments ago was found guilty of murdering his former wife Lynette Dawson.
A lot of people are saying justice has finally been served:
At last!!…Justice for Lynnette & her family.
— Vote Yes 🖤💛❤️ (@Ljwj5) August 30, 2022
Finally , justice for Lyn.
— Matilda (@matildaaaaa) August 30, 2022
Best news sadly he has lived a normal life for 40 years.
— Ann Moorfield (@AnnMoorfield) August 30, 2022
Updated
Christopher Dawson has been taken into custody. His lawyer, Greg Walsh, told Harrison his client would likely apply for bail before his sentencing hearing.
A date has not been set for that hearing.
Gasps were heard from inside court room 13a, where the hearing was being held, after the verdict. The larger Banco court next door, where the hearing was being streamed, erupted into applause.
An enormous media throng is now waiting on the steps outside court for those involved in the case to speak.
Justice Ian Harrison has said he is “satisfied” that Christopher Dawson resolved to kill his wife when his girlfriend went camping without him.
Harrison said he also agreed that Dawson decided to kill his wife Lynette Dawson in 1982.
He said earlier in his reasons that he accepted Lynette Dawson was dead, and that she did not leave her home voluntarily.
Updated
Christopher Dawson found guilty of murdering his former wife
Christopher Dawson has been found guilty of murdering his former wife four decades ago on Sydney’s northern beaches.
Dawson, 74, had been accused of killing Lynette Dawson in 1982. Her body has never been found and Dawson has always maintained he was not involved in her disappearance.
On Tuesday, New South Wales supreme court Justice Ian Harrison found Dawson guilty, a verdict that brings to a close a case that had exploded into the public spotlight after it featured in a hit true-crime podcast.
Harrison had presided over the matter after Dawson successfully applied for a judge-only trial.
The main reason for Dawson’s application was the publicity generated in the case by the Australian newspaper’s Teacher’s Pet podcast. It was published in 2018, at the same time as NSW police were again investigating Lynette Dawson’s disappearance.
Updated
Employer groups release joint statement of ambition ahead of jobs summit
The three big employer groups – the Business Chamber of Australia, Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry – have released a joint statement of ambition for the jobs and skills summit.
It’s ... a little light-on. The main agreement is to “build support for the interrelated objectives of strong employment growth, higher incomes growth, improved productivity and enhanced social inclusion” – hardly likely to be controversial.
The Australian Council of Trade Unions has helped give the Albanese government the cover it needs to enact changes by striking deals with the Council of Small Business Organisations on multi-employer bargaining, and the BCA on full employment.
This employer agreement, by contrast, is a series of things to consider rather than particular changes. They want:
Greater skills investment.
Improvements in workforce participation and inclusion, particularly of women and people over 60.
To deal with future challenges and opportunities including decarbonisation, the ageing of the population, digitalisation and the scope to improve our approach to health and other caring services.
In the statement, Innes Willox, Ai Group chief executive, said:
The summit is an important step in potentially building a more productive, prosperous and fairer Australia. Agreement at the summit that renewed skilled migration and a wholehearted effort to build our skills base are needed can be key building blocks for our economic well-being. Likewise, there is a lot of common ground in recognising that to build collaboration our workplace relations system needs to be simplified rather than upended. There is obviously much detailed work to be done after the summit in the writing of a White Paper to guide the progress of key policy agreements.
Andrew McKellar, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, said:
The realignment of the global economy presents significant challenges to simply maintain, let alone improve on, economic growth and the broader wellbeing needed to secure national prosperity. The Jobs and Skills Summit offers a critical opportunity to revitalise productivity, grow pay packets and maintain our strong standards of living.
Jennifer Westacott, Business Council chief executive, said:
The Summit is a chance to find common ground and agree on the key resets needed to position Australia for the future, but we can’t solve every problem overnight so the process that comes after will be crucial. This is an opportunity to move Australia to the frontier by driving stronger economic performance, making ourselves more competitive and productive, and attracting the investment needed to diversify our industrial base, do new things and create new opportunities.
Updated
Anti-corruption commission bill to be introduced to parliament in mid-September
Guardian Australia understands the Albanese government will introduce the national anti-corruption commission bill in the second week of the coming sitting fortnight, commencing 12 September. This suggests it will go to caucus on 13 September, and be introduced on Wednesday 14 September or Thursday 15 September.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has been consulting the crossbench and integrity stakeholders, and although they’ve been briefed on its content, they will see the full bill when introduced to parliament.
The independent MP Helen Haines said she has been “very clear” she wishes to be a part of the joint select committee which will consider the bill.
Haines has written to Dreyfus asking for:
An oversight committee that “can’t be stacked”, ie will have independent or crossbench members;
Independent oversight of the body’s funding, as a “longevity safety measure”
Whistleblower protections; and
Broaden the definition of “corruption” to allow investigation of the actions of third parties other than ones the government has contracted with
The Greens have pushed for similar changes and Senator David Pocock has expressed support for Haines’ bill which has these features.
Updated
Albanese government ‘can easily afford’ to lift jobseeker rate to Henderson poverty line, says antipoverty advocate
Antipoverty Centre spokesperson Jay Coonan, who is a jobseeker recipient, has responded to social services minister Amanda Rishworth’s comment that there would be no “room in the budget” to lift the rate of jobseeker payments.
Coonan said:
This is embarrassing. The government is expecting us to believe there is some magic figure that is a ceiling on their spending. Lifting the jobseeker payment to the Henderson poverty line is a drop in the ocean in a federal budget.
If they needed to go into debt to ensure we have enough to live, they should. But they don’t. They can easily afford this. It’s far cheaper than proceeding with their absurd tax cuts.
Starving people who rely on the so-called safety net is nothing more than a cruel political choice.
The Labor party aren’t for all Australians. They are cowards who are happy to leave millions of us on welfare behind for the sake of political expediency. There is no excuse.
Updated
Good afternoon everyone – before we get started, a big thank you to Mostafa. This is Cait Kelly and I will be with you for the rest of the day.
Justice Ian Harrison is still continuing his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder – and I will bring you more from Nino Bucci soon.
First up though, I have this important story from the AAP:
A recent spike in Indigenous youths being denied bail in NSW has undone five years of efforts to reduce First Nations’ representation in youth detention.
The proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in NSW youth detention centres had decreased from 52% in 2017 to 40% in 2021.
Now half the people detained in NSW youth detention centres are Indigenous.
It had been rising since April when bail refusals also began increasing, a senior official told a parliamentary budget estimates hearing on Tuesday.
“It’s clear Aboriginal people have been disproportionately impacted by the bail refusals,” said Paul O’Reilly, the state’s most senior official for youth justice.
“It is shameful to have that level of overrepresentation in custody.”
Indigenous people make up 3.4% of the NSW population and 6% of those are under 25.
Since June, about 480 children have been refused bail by police and then released by a magistrate.
Updated
And with that, I will hand the blog over to the wonderful Cait Kelly. Thanks for reading.
ACTU president urges Albanese government to commit to closing gender pay gap
The head of the Australian Council of Trade Unions has called on the Albanese government to commit to closing the gender wage gap.
President of the ACTU, Michele O’Neil, told reporters earlier today that cutting the pay gap would generate $111bn every year by boosting women’s participation:
Fixing gender inequality is not just good for women. It’s good for men, it’s good for [our] community, and it’s actually really good for our economy and for businesses.
Women continue to be undervalued in the work that they do. They continue to be more likely to be working in casual and part-time work and not get the hours or days or rosters that they need. And [they] continue to be discriminated against in terms of promotions and training and access to work.
We have a very expensive, inaccessible early childhood education and care system. And we had the second worst paid parental leave scheme in the developed world. The other critical issue ... for women workers is that so many of them are excluded from bargaining. We’ve got a bargaining system that only covers one in seven workers.
We also want to see an increase in paid parental leave. In Australia at the moment, there’s only 18 weeks paid at the minimum wage. We think that should be increased, initially, to 26 weeks. And move by 2030 to 52 weeks shared between parents.
Updated
Judge says he found Christopher Dawson was obsessed with his family's babysitter
Justice Ian Harrison says he is convinced Christopher Dawson had decided to leave his wife and start a relationship with a teenage lover, but says this did not mean he is guilty of murder.
Harrison is continuing his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder, but has found that Dawson’s wife Lynette has died, that she died on the date alleged by the prosecution, and that she did not abandon her home on Sydney’s northern beaches voluntarily.
He is yet to deliver the verdict.
Shortly after a 30-minute break for lunch, Harrison said he had found that Dawson was obsessed with his lover, known as JC, and that he had decided to leave his wife to start a relationship with her.
But he said that it this stage of his deliberations the fact that he had accepted these “obsessions” did not “stand alone” as a reason to also find Dawson murdered Lynette Dawson “to achieve the outcome he desired”.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife Lynette Dawson on 8 January 1982.
The verdict continues.
Updated
On Daniel Andrews appearing with NSW Premier Dom Perrottet today to make a joint health announcement Matthew Guy says ‘I’m really pleased that it takes a Liberal Premier to tell Daniel Andrews how to fix the health system’. @7NewsMelbourne
— Sharnelle Vella (@SharnelleVella) August 30, 2022
SA reports three deaths from Covid, 685 new cases; WA reports one death, 1,277 cases; ACT records 202 cases
In the meantime, we have some Covid updates.
The ACT has recorded 202 new Covid cases, with 100 people in hospital.
South Australia has reported three deaths overnight and 685 new Covid cases. There are currently 129 people in hospital with the virus.
Western Australia has reported one death today, and 1,277 new Covid cases.
Updated
Justice Ian Harrison has returned to continue giving his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder.
Updated
Victorian government should call for ban on organisations which meet terrorism threshold, inquiry into far-right extremism finds
A Victorian parliamentary inquiry into far-right extremism has called for the state government to urge the commonwealth to ban extremist organisations which meet the legal threshold of engaging or advocating in terrorism acts.
The report into far-right extremists in the state, also found that access to legal or illegal firearms by far-right groups was of grave concern. It recommended that the Victorian government review the state’s Firearms Act to determine if it should be amended so the “fit and proper person test” includes membership of an extremist group and advocate for a national register of firearms and firearm license holders at national cabinet.
The upper-house inquiry was announced in February after the Victorian Greens secured the support of the Andrews government.
Victorian Greens leader, Samantha Ratnam, said the inquiry “laid bare” the rising threat of far-right extremism.
This report issues a challenge to governments around the country to take this threat seriously, and to act to protect our communities and keep us safe.
Our leaders have a duty to act – to denounce racism and increase social cohesion – if we want to prevent the rise of far right extremism.
Updated
With the verdict by Justice Ian Harrison in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder set to continue, I want to note it has been going on for an unusually long time. He began reading out the verdict at approximately 10.15am, meaning that it has been going now for nearly three hours (if you are counting lunch, otherwise it’s a bit under three hours). Will it go for another three hours? Only Justice Harrison knows.
Updated
Perrottet says NSW Coalition and Labor in opposition are on ‘unity ticket’ in calling for train strikes to end
Amid the industrial strife engulfing the New South Wales rail network, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, has told reporters the government is on a “unity ticket” with the Labor opposition.
The comment, made during a joint press conference in Melbourne with the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, on Tuesday, will be news to many of his colleagues in the NSW Coalition party room, who for weeks have sought to link the chaos on the state’s rail lines with Labor.
Despite the Labor leader, Chris Minns, publicly calling for an end to the industrial action, on social media Coalition MPs including deputy Liberal leader and treasurer Matt Kean have sought to blame Labor for the rail strikes due to the head of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens, sitting on the party’s powerful administrative committee.
August Wrapped stats are now out and there are no surprises this topped every train commuter’s list… pic.twitter.com/8BGkFQumuI
— Matt Kean MP (@Matt_KeanMP) August 29, 2022
But on Tuesday, Perrottet undermined that message somewhat, telling reporters:
I might give a different answer in New South Wales than in Victoria, but look, people will protest from time to time – in relation to the trains have made it very clear. That is a politically motivated strike. It’s been ongoing now for a substantial period of time.
Every time that we have made concessions to fix that issue, the union has come out and said ‘no no, we’ll move on to something else’.
Now you’ve got Labor opposition in New South Wales. It’s also said the strikes must come to an end. There’s a unity ticket here. There’s a unity ticket.
Updated
Justice Ian Harrison has taken a break while delivering his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder, with court to resume about 1.30pm.
Adam Bandt says jobs summit must reconsider stage three tax cuts
The Greens have responded to social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, saying this morning that the government won’t be increasing the rate of the jobseeker payment.
In a statement, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, reiterates his support for scrapping the stage three tax cuts, arguing cost of living relief is more important right now:
This week’s jobs summit must reconsider the stage three tax cuts for the wealthy, or everyday workers will fall further behind.
In their first year, these tax cuts will give the top 1 per cent of income earners as much as the bottom 65 per cent combined.
Labor’s stage three tax cuts cost a fortune, and the wealthiest 20 per cent get close to 80 per cent of the money.
Labor’s jobs summit and the October budget must deliver cost of living relief for everyday people now, axe the tax cuts for billionaires and fund dental into Medicare, free childcare and affordable housing instead.
Updated
Small businesses do not want unions ‘marching through their doors’, Peter Dutton says
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says he has his doubts about the upcoming jobs and skills summit, adding he wants to see if it is “just a tick and flick for the union movement”.
Speaking to the Australian newspaper, Dutton added that Sally McManus was “no Bill Kelty”, and that businesses don’t want unions “marching through their doors”:
It is very clear that Sally McManus is no Bill Kelty, she’s not a pragmatic person, she’s a zealot.
And if you look at the work of John Setka in the CFMEU and the tens of millions of dollars they have donated to the Australian Labor party, their conduct is absolutely reprehensible.
Small businesses don’t want those people marching through their doors thumping the desk and threatening business owners and employees of migrant workers who must sign up to a union – that’s not where we are in the year 2022 in our country, and we should call it out.
We want to think very, very carefully about taking our industrial relations system back to pre-Hawke-Keating into the 1970s.
Updated
Judge says he is satisfied Lynette Dawson did not leave home voluntarily
Justice Ian Harrison has elaborated on his reasons for the finding we mentioned earlier: that he was convinced Lynette Dawson had not left her home voluntarily, as her husband Christopher Dawson had submitted during his murder trial.
Harrison is continuing his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder, but has found that Dawson’s wife Lynette has died, that she died on the date alleged by the prosecution, and that she did not abandon her home on Sydney’s northern beaches voluntarily.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife Lynette Dawson on 8 January 1982. Harrison has not yet made a ruling on this, but has found that Lynette Dawson is dead, and that she died on the date alleged by the prosecution.
Harrison said the prosecution had provided multiple reasons to explain the unlikelihood that Lynette Dawson had left the house voluntarily that he had found “strongly persuasive” when considered together.
These included that she adored her children, was mentally stable, had not taken any clothing or personal belongings with her, had made plans for the future, and remained hopeful of reconciling her marriage with Dawson, despite his affair with a teenager known as JC.
Harrison said that to accept submissions made by lawyers for Dawson that his wife had left the Bayview home of her own accord would be to replace reasonable possibility with “frail speculation”.
Harrison is providing a summary of the prosecution’s circumstantial case. He said it relied upon an alleged motive that Dawson killed his wife Lynette Dawson so he could have an “unfettered relationship” with JC.
Harrison said the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she was killed by Dawson with the possible involvement or assistance of others, and that he – and possibly others – disposed of her body. Her body has never been found.
He has twice made clear that Dawson does not have to prove nor disprove anything in defence of the charge.
The verdict continues.
Updated
Shortening of Covid isolation period to be discussed at national cabinet
NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, says he believes Covid-19 isolation should be reduced from seven to five days.
He said the issue will be discussed by health officials at national cabinet later this week, but called for consistency across states:
We will naturally discuss and debate those things tomorrow and hopefully we’ll have a strong outcome.
Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says his state will move to the shorter isolation period if recommended by health officials.
Both leaders said isolation payments must continue and called for a continuation of the 50-50 funding split with state and federal governments.
Updated
ABS data shows decline in apartment approvals
The latest ABS stats on dwelling approvals for July reveals a few down arrows that point to future declines in the supply of new apartments (we used to call them flats).
The monthly drop of 17.2% in approvals – seasonally adjusted – was much faster than the 0.6% drop in June. Within that tally, though, was a 43.5% dive in approvals for new private sector apartments.
The July drop of 17.2% in new housing approvals from a month earlier includes a 43.5% dive in private sector apartment approvals. (Source: ABS). pic.twitter.com/nn3T70bCXB
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 30, 2022
“This was the lowest level recorded since January 2012 and was driven by a lack of approvals for large apartment developments,” Daniel Rossi, the head of construction statistics at the ABS, said of the slump in apartment approvals.
Private sector housing approvals had previously edged 0.7% higher in July, adding to the 1.6% increase in June.
Among the states, Western Australia had the largest drop in the number of dwelling approvals at 36.9%, with Victoria‘s off 17.4% and NSW down 16.2%. The value of total building approved fell 12.9% in July, following a 6.2% decline in June, the ABS said.
On the subject of values, CoreLogic yesterday put out this chart showing just how property prices have soared.
Here's @corelogicau's rather scary chart of how house and unit prices have fared over the past 30 years. pic.twitter.com/9u3bt3iJHo
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 30, 2022
(Handy for those wondering, “if only we’d bought about there” – just point to one of those dips in the trend lines.)
Updated
Andrews and Perrotett: patients are visiting emergency departments because they can’t find bulk-billing GPs
Premiers Andrews and Perrottet say patients in both their states are visiting emergency departments because they are unable to find a GP that provides bulk billing.
Andrews told reporters:
… what this will do is get people the care that they need, when they need [it], to keep them out of emergency department where they don’t need to be and they don’t want to be.
They want to get primary care but just can’t find a bulk-billing doctor to provide it to them. This is the key point. It’s never been harder to find a bulk billing doctor than it is right now. And instead of complaining about it, we’re doing something about it.
Perottet added:
[People] can wait for hours in emergency because the patients with most need, need to be seen first.
Updated
Judge’s findings continue in Dawson verdict
Justice Ian Harrison is continuing his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder, but has found that Dawson’s wife Lynette has died, that she died on the date alleged by the prosecution, and that she did not leave her home on Sydney’s northern beaches voluntarily.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife Lynette Dawson on 8 January 1982.
Harrison is providing a summary of the prosecution’s circumstantial case. He said it relied upon an alleged motive that Dawson killed his wife Lynette Dawson so he could have an “unfettered relationship” with a teenager known as JC.
Harrison said the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she was killed by Dawson with the possible involvement or assistance of others, and that he - and possibly others - disposed of her body. Her body has never been found.
Harrison made clear that he did not accept any evidence given during the trial regarding multiple reported sightings of Lynette Dawson after 8 January 1982, or claims made by Dawson to police that his wife had phoned him after that date.
The verdict continues.
Updated
Victoria and NSW to partner on urgent care services to ease pressure on emergency departments
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, and the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, are in Melbourne announcing a partnership to expand urgent care services across both states in a move to further try and ease demand on emergency departments following Covid-19.
Both states will establish 25 urgent care services each, in partnership with local GPs. The services will help ease to pressure on emergency departments by handling conditions such as mild infections, fractures and burns, freeing up resources in hospitals for patients with more serious needs.
Services will operate for extended hours and patients will not be charged, even if they do not have a Medicare card.
It comes after the Victorian government announced last week five exisiting GP clinics in Melbourne, Epping, Sunshine, Clayton and Ballarat would reopen as priority care centres, costing $14.3m, with Andrews saying his state needed to “act now”:
Around the country, the pandemic has put enormous pressure on healthcare systems, and part of that is because – through no fault of their own – people have delayed going to their GP and accessing primary care.
Every day, it gets harder to access a bulk-billing GP. Victoria and New South Wales are doing something about it.
We know and appreciate that the commonwealth are investigating longer-term support for primary care, but we also know we need to act now to support healthcare systems across Australia’s two biggest states.
On the partnership, Perrottet said:
Across the country, state and territory health systems are under pressure as a result of the pandemic and we need to boost support so communities can continue to access the care they need.
We are leading the way to adopt a new model of care by investing in our communities to ensure people can access free healthcare.
We continue to work with the commonwealth to make sure we have long-term solutions to offer communities first-class healthcare and provide our frontline health workers with the support they need.
Updated
Queensland records 2,404 new Covid cases and 18 deaths
Today we have recorded 2,404 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) August 30, 2022
Sadly, we have reported 18 deaths since our case post reporting on Saturday.
Full details ➡️https://t.co/rKHIwrH8sQ pic.twitter.com/vIAu3sh36t
Updated
And, if you were wondering, Serena Williams has powered through her opening US Open match in straight sets:
Dutton calls on national cabinet to reduce Covid isolation time from seven days
The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said “the community expects” Covid isolation periods will reduce, calling on tomorrow’s national cabinet to drop the mandatory stay-home time from the current seven days.
Tomorrow’s national cabinet will discuss cutting the isolation period, potentially down to five days as championed by the NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, hasn’t ruled that out.
Speaking in Melbourne this morning, Dutton said he would support the change.
“I’m happy to listen to the health advice but clearly now we’re moving into a phase where the isolation period will reduce and the arrangements otherwise that were in place at the height of Covid will start to unwind,” he said.
“I think that’s what the community expects and what the premiers and prime minister should deliver.”
Dutton called Perrottet a “sensible voice” on Covid rule changes.
The NSW premier will join Victoria’s premier, Daniel Andrews, for a joint press conference in Melbourne at 11.30am. Expect both to share their thoughts on the isolation period.
Updated
Erin Molan defamation case: Daily Mail Australia showed lack of ‘responsibility and basic professionalism’
A federal court judge said the Daily Mail Australia showed a lack of responsibility and basic professionalism in defaming Erin Molan when the online news site portrayed the broadcaster as a racist, according to AAP.
Justice Robert Bromwich said a payment of $150,000 in damages should sufficiently meet the “sting” of the June 2020 online article that referred to her saying “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on 2GB in May 2020.
The 40-year-old denied it was a jibe against Polynesian names, that she was deliberately mispronouncing them for a laugh or speaking in an accent during the broadcast. Rather, the former 2GB rugby league show co-host said the long-running joke was making light of Ray and Chris Warren mixing up the end of players’ names and she was “poking fun of her colleagues”, she told the federal court.
Justice Robert Bromwich said in reasons published on Tuesday that Molan bears responsibility for being, at least, thoughtless as to how someone else might interpret what she was saying without the context of that story.
“Dailymail.com needs to substantially improve the care that it takes, or face further and greater awards of damages,” Justice Bromwich said in his judgment.
Freedom of expression must be balanced with responsibility and basic professionalism which was sadly lacking in this case.
Molan gave evidence that she was subsequently subject to a barrage of online abuse and violent threats towards herself and family that left her traumatised.
Updated
65-year-old Queenslander dies from injuries from house fire in early August
Police have confirmed that a 65-year-old man has died after sustaining injuries in a house fire in Ayr, Queensland on 9 August.
Emergency services were called to a fire at a Home Hill Road residence at approximately 5.40am on 9 August, with a 65-year-old man and 47-year-old woman transported to Ayr Hospital in critical condition.
The woman died from her injuries on 9 August.
Police confirmed they had attended a welfare check at around 2.15am on 9 August, where all parties were “spoken to by officers.”
In a statement, Queensland Police confirmed an investigation had been launched:
Detectives from Ayr Criminal Investigation Branch (CIB), Townsville CIB and the Homicide Unit established Operation Uniform Turmeric to complete the initial investigation into the fatal house fire.
Investigators from Ethical Standards Command will complete a report for the coroner into the deaths of the 47-year-old woman and 65-year-old man.
Updated
Two findings made in Dawson verdict
Justice Ian Harrison is continuing to deliver his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife Lynette Dawson in 1982.
Harrison has delivered two significant findings: that Dawson lied when he claimed his wife had contacted him via telephone on multiple occasions after 8 January 1982, the day on which it is alleged he killed her, and that Lynette Dawson did not leave her home voluntarily.
Harrison said nobody else ever reported receiving calls from Lynette Dawson after 8 January 1982, and nobody had been in earshot when Dawson claimed he received calls from his wife.
Earlier, Harrison said the prosecution case was circumstantial and relied upon an alleged motive that Dawson killed his wife Lynette Dawson so he could have an “unfettered relationship” with a teenager known as JC.
Harrison said the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she was killed by Dawson with the possible involvement or assistance of others, and that he – and possibly others – disposed of her body. Her body has never been found.
The verdict continues.
Updated
Industrial action on Sydney’s train network likely to proceed on Wednesday
The chaos which has seen Sydney’s train network beset by delays for months is set to continue tomorrow, despite the New South Wales government giving in to the union’s demands over the multibillion-dollar intercity trains at the centre of the dispute.
On Tuesday, the head of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, Alex Claassens, said there was little hope of the planned industrial action being wound back before Wednesday, even after both parties spent yesterday locked in negotiations until 8pm.
After months of wrangling over changes to the new fleet of trains – which the union says are necessary because of safety concerns – the industrial relations minister, Damien Tudehope, wrote to the combined rail unions on Sunday with a number of concessions in a bid to break the impasse.
But on Tuesday Claassens labelled the letter a “stunt” and said the union had yet to receive a new deed committing to the changes, adding that the two sides had yet to agree on a number of issues in the enterprise agreement, including pay.
The union is demanding a 0.5% increase over the government’s public service wage cap.
Claassens said:
The NSW government leaked this letter to the media before we’ve even had a chance to look at it.
Now [that] we have had the chance to look over it, we’ve found out it doesn’t actually add anything new to this negotiation. It was purely used to generate another headline for the government.
Yesterday the delegates sat down and decided what it would take for industrial action to cease. If the government wants industrial peace, it now has a clear way to bring it about. The ball is now in the government’s court.
Updated
And you can also hear the verdict from Justice Ian Harrison in the Christopher Dawson murder trial at the link atop the blog.
Judge begins delivering verdict in Chris Dawson murder trial
Justice Ian Harrison has started delivering his verdict in Christopher Dawson’s trial for murder.
Dawson is alleged to have killed his wife Lynette Dawson in 1982.
He is providing a summary of the prosecution’s case, but was clear that it did not mean he accepted all the evidence they had introduced during the trial.
The prosecution case was circumstantial, he said, and relied upon an alleged motive that Dawson killed his wife Lynette Dawson so he could have an “unfettered relationship” with a teenager known as JC.
Harrison said the prosecution had to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she was killed by Dawson with the possible involvement or assistance of others, and that he - and possibly others - disposed of her body. Her body has never been found.
The verdict continues.
Updated
Mixed signals on the economic front
Out today, the weekly survey of consumer sentiment from ANZ and Roy Morgan shows a modest decline after a 6.6% rise in the previous two weeks.
A modest retreat in consumer confidence in the past week...with sentiment still historically weak. (Source: @ANZ_Research, @RoyMorganAus) pic.twitter.com/XENBFYYHXF
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 29, 2022
That jars slightly with the 1.3% month-on-month rise in retail sales recorded in July and reported yesterday by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Economists put that down to rising tourists and returning Australians (although with many people heading overseas to get away from winter last month – including yours truly - it must have also had the opposite effect).
Meanwhile, inflation expectations remain subdued in Australia (at least) even given the chatter from the recent Jackson Hole, Wyoming gathering of the US Federal Reserve herd.
No sign yet of inflation expectations blowing out (unlike in the UK, US, and so on). (Source: @ANZ_Research, @RoyMorganAus ) pic.twitter.com/2BUmZgosUx
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 29, 2022
Those overseas inflation concerns, however, combined with July’s strong retail numbers may have contributed to investors nudging their expectations for how high the Reserve Bank will lift the cash rate.
Investors, meanwhile, have lately lifted their expectations of how high the RBA will raise its cash rate. There's more than 4/5 chance the rate will rise 50bp to 2.35% on 6 Sept, and an increase to 4% by mid-2023 is among their predictions. pic.twitter.com/JZRexMWUmT
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) August 29, 2022
Economists aren’t quite so twitchy, with the rate more likely to peak at about 3% or less, with cuts to follow. This time next week, we’ll likely be posting about another 50 basis point increase is all but certain at the 6 September RBA board meeting.
(We’re saving this headline: “BOOT all but a shoo-in for the jobs and skills summit”. That’s BOOT, as in the better-off overall test.)
Updated
The verdict in the Chris Dawson murder trial is currently being read out, and we will bring you the result as soon as we know it.
We are expecting to hear from the premiers of NSW and Victoria, Dominic Perrottet and Daniel Andrews, at around 11:30am this morning, with a “major health announcement.”
The Premier of Victoria, Daniel Andrews and Premier of New South Wales, Dominic Perrottet will make a major health announcement, 11:30am Melbourne #auspol
— Political Alert (@political_alert) August 30, 2022
Labor's Stage 3 tax cuts will give as much to the richest 1% as to the poorest two thirds (65%) combined.
— Adam Bandt (@AdamBandt) August 29, 2022
These tax cuts will turbocharge economic & gender inequality - stripping $244 billion from the budget that should go into public services. They must be scrapped.
Albanese flags possibility of reducing Covid isolation period to five days
Returning to Anthony Albanese’s interview on 2SM radio earlier this morning, the prime minister has kept open the possibility of reducing the Covid isolation period to five days from the current seven.
National cabinet will meet tomorrow, and Albanese said Covid settings will be a top priority for discussion. NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has been calling for the change for a while, and Albanese said it “has been on the agenda for some time ... we’ll have a discussion with all of the premiers”.
He said he was focused on getting all the states and territories “on the same page so that there’s consistency in the regulations and the rules which are out there”.
Albanese has been embroiled in a strange, somewhat related story after the Sydney Morning Herald reported he had told his beloved South Sydney Rabbitohs football team that the isolation period could be slashed, which comes as their star player Damien Cook battles the virus ahead of a big game this weekend.
Asked about Cook, Albanese responded: “I think it’s a brave thing to play after five days. I doubt whether he’ll play this this week, regardless of the outcome of the decision tomorrow. That’s a decision for South Sydney.”
Elsewhere in the wide-ranging chat, the PM said the referendum on the Voice to Parliament won’t be in the first half of next year, and as previously reported, he said Shaquille O’Neal had approached him about getting involved in the public campaign – defending the surprise involvement of the American basketball star.
“The fact is, that Shaq’s appearance meant that people are talking about it. And one of the things we need to do is to raise awareness in the community that this referendum is coming, that there’s a need for debate around it,” Albanese said.
Shaq appeals to a whole bunch of people, many of whom would have been hearing about the Voice to Parliament for the very first time, and that’s a good thing. So I make no apologies for saying I’ll engage with anyone, anywhere, anytime, about these issues. And anything we can do to raise the profile of this issue is a good thing.
Updated
And Serena Williams is on court in for the opening of her final US Open campaign, and has already gone two games up. You can keep up at our live blog:
eSafety commissioner issues notices to major tech companies to report on anti-child sexual exploitation measures
Australia’s eSafety Commissioner has issued “world-first” notices to tech giants Apple, Microsoft, Facebook and Snapchat to report information on what they’re doing to stamp out online child sexual exploitation.
The notices, issued as part of the Online Safety Act’s “basic online safety expectations”, and require the companies to report back within 28 days or face fines of up to $555,000 per day.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, warned that sexual exploitation of children was becoming “prevalent on the mainstream platforms we and our children use every day”. In a statement, she identified livestreaming, anonymity and end-to-end encryption of messages as growing risks.
We have issued legal notices to some of the biggest tech companies in the world, requiring them to report on the measures they are taking to tackle child sexual exploitation material on their platforms and services: https://t.co/WqFo65e89g#onlinesafety #tech pic.twitter.com/DM5vluUh9D
— eSafety Commissioner (@eSafetyOffice) August 29, 2022
“This has lent itself to range of proliferating harms against children including online grooming, sexual extortion and coerced, self-produced child sexual exploitation material,” Inman Grant said.
Notices have been sent to Apple, Microsoft (which operates Skype), Meta (which runs Facebook and Whatsapp), Snap, and video chat service Omegle. Inman Grant said she “plans to issue further notices to additional providers in due course to build a comprehensive picture of online safety measures across a wide range of services”.
eSafety has taken 61,000 complaints about illegal and restricted content since 2015, with the majority involving child sexual exploitation material, saying there had been “a surge in reports about this horrific material since the start of the pandemic”.
Updated
Verdict due today in murder trial of Christopher Dawson
I’m inside Sydney’s NSW supreme court building, awaiting the verdict in the murder trial of Christopher Dawson.
Dawson has been charged with murdering his wife, Lynette Dawson, in 1982. He has pleaded not guilty.
NSW supreme court justice Ian Harrison is set to start delivering his verdict at 10am. It has been a judge-only trial, which means Dawson’s fate may not be known until later today, if Harrison delivers his reasons before the verdict.
There were cameras scattered across Queen’s Square on the way in, with reporters doing live crosses to breakfast television. A queue had been snaking outside the court 13A for almost an hour before it opened, with the larger Banco court nearby also available for viewing a live feed of the case.
The court room in which the verdict will be delivered has 54 seats. Several of those have been taken by family members of Christopher Dawson, who has travelled to court for the verdict.
Hedley Thomas, whose hit podcast The Teacher’s Pet made the Dawson case a worldwide phenomenon, is among the throng of journalists who are also inside the court.
Updated
Where’s the skills at the jobs and skills summit?
In the run-up to the jobs and skills summit in Canberra over Thursday and Friday, there has been a lot more attention on the jobs (particularly on workplace relations) rather than the skills component.
Here we take a closer look, including the long-term reduction in training provided by companies and states:
People interviewed talked about the role that railways, Testra (nee Telecom), the Gas and Fuel Corporation and the State Electricity Commission in Victoria once played in spawning legions of apprenticeships.
The privatisation of many of those businesses resulted in the culling of much of the training, while funding for Tafe and other public organisations has not kept up.
(Think, too, of how the Morrison government left universities out of the $100bn-plus jobkeeper program in a wilful act of future sabotage.)
John Buchanan, a University of Sydney professor who is working on vocational education with the Swiss government, says that country now sends three students to vocational training for every one student going to universities. In Australia, the ratio is closer to half of students heading to universities.
Norway, Denmark and Germany are among other nations that have made serious commitments to vocational education and training. South Korea, Singapore and Japan in our region aren’t slouches either, apparently.
Perhaps at this summit and beyond, we might want to consider what lessons we can glean from them about what the “world’s best practice” for skills looks like.
Updated
Labor announces review of Australian Research Council
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, will later today announce a review of the the Australian Research Council, with the body facing criticism on a lack of transparency and how it operates.
Clare will be speaking to the Australian Financial Review’s higher education summit in Sydney. The AFR itself has published a preview of his speech, where he will also announce a temporary hold on a three-yearly national assessment of the quality of research conducted in Australian universities.
Clare says he will demand the ARC produce a timetable of when funding rounds are announced, and to stick to it:
Delays and political interference damage our international reputation and make it harder for universities to recruit and retain staff.
We need to make sure all future grant rounds are delivered on time, to a predetermined time frame. I have also committed to an independent review of the ARC and the legislation that underpins it.
I know the way the current national interest test operates is causing problems.
When Brian Schmidt, the vice chancellor of ANU, tells you the research he did that won him the Nobel Prize wouldn’t qualify under the current test, you know you have to make some changes.
Updated
Erin Molan wins defamation suit against Daily Mail Australia
Sky News broadcaster Erin Molan has won a defamation suit against Daily Mail Australia over an article and two tweets which she says portrayed her as racist.
Molan told the federal court last year she did not think she participated in the mockery of Polynesian names when she said “hooka looka mooka hooka fooka” on 2GB in 2020.
She has been awarded $150,000 in damages.
Updated
Victoria records 18 deaths and 2,950 new Covid cases
Victoria has recorded 18 deaths overnight, as well as 2,950 new Covid cases:
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) August 29, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAchah pic.twitter.com/pmHN2kiTOo
Updated
NSW records 4,271 new Covid cases and 37 deaths
NSW has reported 37 Covid deaths overnight, with the state recording 4,271 new cases:
COVID-19 update – Tuesday 30 August 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 29, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 97% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine*
- 95.4% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine* pic.twitter.com/ajiYlZw3If
Updated
College calls on government to waive Hecs fees for nursing students nationally
The Australian College of Nursing has called on the federal government to waive university fees for nursing students across the country.
In a statement, the ACN calls for the government to adopt the Victorian model, with the college’s acting chief executive, Yvonne Mckinlay, saying the waiving of student debt would help grow the domestic workforce:
This one-off measure is crucial to retaining nurses and addressing shortages in both public and private sectors including primary care, hospitals, aged care and mental health. Every nurse everywhere contributes to the health system.
People aspiring to enter the nursing profession usually want to make a difference in the community. It is important to attract these people, so a waiver would be an important step to support them on their journey.
Additionally, it will provide much-deserved recognition of the immense sacrifice nurses have made to protect our communities throughout the Covid-19 pandemic.
Updated
Independent calls for PM to ‘protect’ potential Icac from government interference
The independent MP Helen Haines, has called on the prime minister to “protect” a potential federal Icac from any future government interference.
Appearing on RN breakfast this morning, Haines said she wanted to be co-chair of the committee, adding that she believed someone that wasn’t from either of the major parties was better suited to the role:
We need more detail around how it will be funded to make sure, in subsequent governments, that the powers of this commission can’t be eroded away. And we need to make sure that the broad definition of corruption can really capture anyone who attempts to improperly influence government decisions.
The other part of it that I haven’t seen, and I would like to see, is what the government plans to do to encourage a pro-integrity culture. And I haven’t seen anything about that thus far.
Updated
Grace Tame alleges childhood abuser continues to threaten her
The former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has alleged her childhood abuser is continuing to target her with “open threats and harassment”.
Tame was abused repeatedly as a 15 year old by a then 58-year-old man at St Michael’s Collegiate School. The man was sentenced to two years and 10 months in prison for his abuse and for possessing child exploitation material.
Last night, Tame posted screenshots purported to be from his Twitter page, which refer to Tame via an old email address, adding ““at last I shall come for [email address]”.
While it’s been a largely positive experience in the public eye, and I’m eternally grateful for the unflinching support, it might come as a shock, even to some close to me, that I am still dealing with open threats and harassment from the man who abused me and others. pic.twitter.com/vlPC1tF5zt
— Grace Tame (@TamePunk) August 29, 2022
Another screenshot, posted on 28 August, reads “the good old come-uppance on its way”, again referring to her via her old email address.
Updated
Albanese tells people to 'chill out' about Shaquille O’Neal press conference
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has called on people to “chill out” about former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal’s appearance at a press conference on the voice to parliament campaign last week.
It comes after the PM has faced a bit of a backlash for the appearances, with Greens senator Lidia Thorpe and Country Liberal party senator Jacinta Price criticising the appearance.
Albanese told 2SM that Shaq had actually approached him first, saying he wanted to express support for the voice.
He approached me and I think people should chill out a bit basically.
The fact is that Shaq’s appearance means that people are talking about it. Shaq appeals to a whole bunch of people, many of whom would have been hearing about the voice to parliament for the very first time, and that’s a good thing.
I make no apologies for saying I’ll engage with anyone, anywhere, anytime, about these issues and anything we can do to raise the profile of this issue is a good thing.
Updated
De Minaur makes confident US Open start
Australian Alex de Minaur has continued his hot American summer to steam into the US Open second round in New York, the AAP reports.
The Australian No.1 carved out a 7-5 6-2 6-3 victory over Serbian Filip Krajinovic to live up to his 18th seeding status.
The straight-sets victory atoned for a first-round exit last year after previously producing his two best grand slam results at Flushing Meadows.
He was a quarter-finalist in 2020 and reached the last 16 the year before.
Relishing the faster conditions, De Minaur swept past Krajinovic in less than two hours to book a potential rematch against his Wimbledon conqueror Cristian Garin.
The Chilean broke De Minaur’s heart at the All England Club last month, fighting back from two sets down and saving a match point to deny the Australian a place in the quarter-finals.
Garin was up against Czech Jiri Lehecka in his opener in New York later on day one.
De Minaur arrived at the season’s final major full of confidence after snaring his sixth career title four weeks ago in Atlanta, and also claiming two top-25 scalps in Montreal.
De Minaur’s first projected seeded opponent is Spain’s world No.15 and two-time US Open semi-finalist Pablo Carreno Busta in round three.
De Minaur is among seven Australians scheduled for action on Monday, with Nick Kyrgios taking on doubles partner Thanasi Kokkinakis in the feature men’s night match (about 11am Tuesday AEST).
Updated
Queensland Labor MP: ‘People doing well don’t necessarily need a tax cut’
Queensland Labor MP Graham Perrett has called on his own government to reconsider tax cuts for the wealthy, telling the Australian that there were tweaks to the budget that “might actually make the cause less strident”.
There could be a myriad things that mean they’re more palatable.
I’m seeing the cuts through the lens of a trillion dollars of debt and a deficit a show-jumping horse couldn’t clear. I’ve certainly had lots of people indicate that in these times, people doing well don’t necessarily need a tax cut.
Updated
Buying defence equipment from overseas would save Australia money, study argues
Australia should save money by buying more defence equipment from overseas, an Australian Strategic Policy Institute paper argues.
Author Rob Bourke, a former defence department economic adviser, has used public figures to calculate that by preferencing more Australian content, taxpayers are forking out a premium of up to $602,393 for a single job.
To get to that figure, he calculated the difference between having 40% Australian content and 70% on the equivalent of building a Collins-class submarine.
That drives up the price while costing jobs in other parts of the economy, he argues.
He wrote:
Avoiding a significant price premium on whichever types and classes of new weaponry Australia obtains might be among the few options available to Defence to boost its purchasing power. Given the size of the projects involved, even modest percentage reductions in the price of preferring domestic over foreign supply could translate into significant dollar gains.
Although any future supply may be years away, decisions made in the coming months will largely determine the outcome.
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Social services minister Amanda Rishworth tells RN Breakfast the October budget won't include an increase to jobseeker. "This is not something we're going to proceed with." They'll consider "if there's room in the budget" in future budgets.
— Luke Henriques-Gomes (@lukehgomes) August 29, 2022
Social services minister holds firm on stage-three tax cuts
So, first politician off the bench this morning is minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, who was on the ABC this morning, and was asked about stage three tax cuts.
Rishworth reiterated what we’ve heard before, that the cuts are legislated and don’t come into play until 2024, and although she was pressed on the necessity of the cuts, she held firm:
Look, let’s be really clear about the stage three tax cuts. They’re already legislated and they don’t actually come into play until 1 July 2024. That’s two years away. So, our focus is on the here and now. We’re bringing people together through the jobs and skills summit. We’re getting on with delivering what we promised in the election.
What my focus through the jobs and skills summit is to look at what is a complex issue of boosting women’s participation. It is about training, it is about removing barriers to entering the workforce and remaining in the workforce.
It is about those low-paid sectors that particularly have been low paid, like aged care, where we have supported the fair work – put in a submission to the fair work decision around our aged care workers. So look, we’ll be looking at these issues right across the board. Those tax cuts are not due to even come in for two years. Our focus is right here right now.
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Health union boss says people should be ‘trusted’ to isolate with Covid
So I wanted to start with the head of the Health Services Union, who, as mentioned below, has been calling for mandatory Covid isolation to be scrapped.
Gerard Hayes, the union’s national president, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier, where he said that workers should be trusted to make the right call:
We’re moving into the third year of the pandemic.
We’ve got a community that has complied with vaccinations, all health orders. They need to see some light at the end of the tunnel.
In hospitals over the past four or five months, particularly with the flu, the worst-case scenario hasn’t been realised.
We don’t go to work with measles, chickenpox, we don’t want people to go to work with the flu. We need Covid treated the same as other infectious diseases.
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Good morning
Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you on this Tuesday morning, taking you through the days news.
We begin with anticipation we will hear a verdict in the Chris Dawson murder trial. Later today, NSW supreme court Justice Ian Harrison will hand down his verdict after a two-month trial and decades of investigation. Dawson is accused of murdering his wife and disposing her body in 1982.
Meanwhile, the Health Services Union has called for Australia to adopt the UK model on Covid rules and to scrap mandatory isolation. They say workers should be trusted to stay home if sick, adding that “personal responsibility and community respect” should underpin the rules.
Stage-three tax cuts continue to dominate conversations this morning after senior Coalition backbencher Russell Broadbent said Labor should shelve the tax changes because the world has changed since 2019.
There is much already going on, so let’s dive in.
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