What we learned, Monday 16 September
As we wind down our live news coverage for the day, here’s what has been keeping us busy this Monday:
The National Tertiary Education Union is calling for Charles Sturt University’s vice-chancellor to resign “immediately” over robodebt.
PM Anthony Albanese said it’s a “good thing” Trump is safe after apparent assassination attempt. Clare O’Neil also reacted, praising Australia’s gun laws.
The official announcement on the first round of funding from the Housing Australia Future Fund was made.
John Pesutto “tarred” Moira Deeming with “the Nazi brush”, a court was told as the defamation trial against Victoria’s opposition leader began.
A new poll showed the Coalition is slightly ahead of Labor on two-party preferred basis.
David Pocock criticised Albanese for speaking out against the inclusion of a climate trigger in Labor’s nature positive bill, while the Greens environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, labelled the PM a “bulldozer”.
The Bureau of Meteorology is still not expecting a La Niña (even if some other agencies are).
The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, refused to say explicitly whether Israel has complied with international law in Gaza.
Thank you for joining us and see you tomorrow.
Updated
Virgin pilots reach in-principle agreement with ‘historic’ pay increases
Virgin Australia pilots have reached an in-principle agreement after the Fair Work Commission intervened in the airline staff’s bargaining process.
In July, Transport Workers’ Union Virgin pilots voted against a proposed enterprise agreement that, they said, failed to address genuine concerns of the workforce.
The Fair Work Commission has now recommended an in-principle agreement that “significantly restores pay and conditions which were decimated during the airline’s administration process”, the TWU said in a statement on Monday.
The revised in-principle agreement provides “historic” pay increases of up to 21% on base salary over three years, the union said.
TWU National Secretary Michael Kaine said:
TWU Virgin pilots led the charge on a strong no vote as the airline continued to present an offer that failed to acknowledge the sacrifices they made during the pandemic.
There is significant work Virgin still must do around rostering and fatigue issues. With Virgin soaring back to profit and a new CEO waiting in the wings, it’s time for Virgin to get back to the fundamental business of listening to its people and rebuilding morale.
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