What we learned, Monday 12 February
We will wrap up the live blog here for the evening. Here’s what made the news today:
Contractors suspected of drug smuggling and weapons trafficking were handed multimillion dollar contracts due to a lack of due diligence in the administration of Australia’s offshore detention regime, the scathing Richardson report on home affairs procurement for offshore detention has found.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has expressed deep concerns about plans for an Israeli military operation in Rafah, warning of potentially “devastating consequences” for civilians sheltering there.
Two air traffic controllers who failed to report for duty at Sydney Airport on Monday caused cascading flight delays and cancellations across the country.
Twenty-four individuals have been charged with fresh offences after leaving immigration detention due to NZYQ decision, Senate estimates was told.
Former defence minister, Senator Linda Reynolds, has announced she will leave parliament when her term expires in mid-2025.
Barnaby Joyce has blamed mixing prescription drugs with alcohol for video that emerged of him lying on the street in Canberra over the weekend.
Senate estimates continues into tonight and tomorrow, and the final episode of the ABC’s Nemesis documentary airs tonight at 8pm AEDT, so there will no doubt be much more news tomorrow. Until then, have a good evening.
Business group comes out against ‘right to disconnect’ laws
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has lamented the ‘right to disconnect’ rules as part of workplace legislation passed through parliament without being amended to remove the prospect of employers facing criminal charges.
ACCI chief executive Andrew McKellar said:
Rather than waiting for another Senate sitting day, the government decided to push the bill through today without removing the criminal element to the new right to disconnect laws.
This Greens-inspired amendment was rushed through the parliament with unseemly haste, without the scrutiny the rest of the bill has undergone over months.
While the error in the bill was apparently inadvertent, the result is a complete mess which adds to the grave misgivings business has about this legislation.
It is unfathomable that this botched legislation will become the law of the land once given royal assent.
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