What we learned, 20 February 2023
And that’s where we’ll leave you on this summer Monday. Thanks so much for sticking with us. Here are your catch-up cliffnotes for the day’s events:
• Prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has addressed growing calls to ban the import of engineered stone, commonly used in kitchen benchtops, after reports of workers contracting silicosis, which causes irreversible lung damage.
• Federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has proposed changes to superannuation laws that will make it harder for people to withdraw savings before retirement.
• University staff have been underpaid more than $80m in the past three years, a landmark report on wage theft has revealed. The federal government has reiterated its commitment to act on criminalising wage theft by the end of the year, a key Labor election promise.
• Pat Dodson, Labor’s special envoy for reconciliation and implementing the Uluru statement from the heart, has emphatically rejected Peter Dutton’s suggestion the proposal for a local and regional voice is being sidelined.
• Philippine authorities said they would verify whether the wreckage of a small plane spotted near the crater of a restive volcano was that of a Cessna aircraft that went missing with four people onboard over the weekend, including two Australians working for a geothermal power company.
• Former Nationals MP Andrew Gee, who quit the party due to its opposition to an Indigenous voice to parliament, says sceptics will be proven wrong about the proposal, as he joined the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, in regional NSW to kick off the “yes” campaign.
• A shark killed a 59-year-old Australian tourist on Sunday near a crowded beach in the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia.
• A search continues for two men who went missing while bushwalking in the NSW Blue Mountains last week. The 69- and 81-year-old bushwalkers left from Dunphy’s campground in the Megalong Valley on Wednesday, telling a friend they would be back on Friday.
• Young Collingwood forward Jack Ginnivan has been suspended after footage emerged of him allegedly using a banned substance in a Torquay hotel. He’ll be banned from the first two rounds of the 2023 season.
See you tomorrow, folks.
Updated
Action on silicosis ‘should not be a partisan issue’, PM says
Anthony Albanese has addressed growing calls to ban the import of engineered stone, commonly used for kitchen benchtops, after reports of workers contracting silicosis. Silica dust inhaled while working with the stone causes irreversible lung damage.
The prime minister told reporters in Perth:
The issue of silicosis is a really serious one. And it is impacting on workers – that has got to be front and centre. We will look at what can be done with state and territory governments in cooperation. This should not be a partisan issue, it should be an issue, which is about occupational, health and safety, with the safety of those workers front and centre …
And I think that today’s reports that were covered in the Nine newspapers just reinforce the concern, which is there. I have met with Dan Walton and the Australian Workers Union, and people who’ve been impacted by this. That’s what has led to further examination of action.
And certainly, I’m of the view that we should respond as quickly as we can, but we want to work this through with state and territory governments with the industry as well to make sure that there aren’t any unintended consequences. My government acts in an orderly fashion and we will be doing so on this as well.
Updated
