What we learned today, Wednesday 25 January
That’s where we will leave the blog for today. Thanks very much for your company, as always. Here are some of the stories were covered today:
Jim Chalmers has said he is “absolutely furious” at findings a former PwC tax adviser breached the confidentiality of multinational tax consultations by disclosing them to other staff at the firm without authorisation.
Inflation in Australia reached 7.8% in the year to December, in what economists and the federal government hope will be the peak for runaway prices.
The Greens senator Lidia Thorpe says she may go against the party’s final decision on the voice to parliament and will not back the referendum without assurances that it “guarantees First Nations sovereignty is not ceded”.
The former airline pilot accused of the murder of two elderly campers in Victoria has been committed to stand trial.
Background checks and ID verification systems in dating apps are among the measures being considered as governments around the country grapple with how to keep people safe while they are looking for love online.
Two of senator Jacqui Lambie’s former staffers have been ordered to pay the commonwealth government almost $100,000 for their unreasonable conduct in an unfair dismissal trial in which a judge found they attempted to smear the senator.
Have a great evening, everyone.
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Prepare for the heat
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting some very high temperatures for tomorrow, in parts of the country.
Hot and stormy for much of Australia this week into the weekend. Thursday will be cooler for #Vic, #Tas and #WA, but it will rapidly heat up for central and south-eastern Australia on Friday ahead of a cold front bringing showers and storms on the weekend. https://t.co/tbD1Whkcz4 pic.twitter.com/4SnBpLySy0
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) January 25, 2023
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Electric Uber rides double in six months
Twice as many Australians are riding in electric vehicles via Uber compared to six months ago, the tech giant has revealed as local drivers rush to adopt the next generation of transport, AAP reports.
Uber revealed its electric vehicle advances days after the company confirmed it was working to design its own lower cost battery-powered vehicles specifically for ride-sharing.
Industry experts called Uber’s investment in green transport a “step in the right direction” but warned drivers could need more financial assistance to make the upgrade.
An Uber spokeswoman told AAP the rate of electric vehicle rides on the company’s platform had doubled in Australia over the past six months, and the number of drivers with electric vehicles had increased by almost nine times since July 2021.
Ministers thank Dylan Alcott
Government ministers are thanking Dylan Alcott for his work on what is his last day as Australian of the Year. We’ll find out who gets that award tomorrow.
A legend on and off the court.
— Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) January 25, 2023
It's @DylanAlcott’s last day as Australian of the Year. And what an incredible year he has had.
I look forward to seeing what Dylan does next.
Thank you, Dylan for everything you do. pic.twitter.com/XdCi4l8Zrq
In your last few hours of being Australian of the Year, I want to thank you for being such an incredible role model and advocate. A Cooper local and an absolute legend this guy is! @DylanAlcott pic.twitter.com/jmc20duCEg
— Ged Kearney (@gedkearney) January 25, 2023
SA high schools to ban mobile phones
A ban on mobile phones in South Australian high schools will make it easier for students to focus on learning while also helping to cut bullying and harassment, the education minister, Blair Boyer, says.
As AAP reports, Boyer has defended the move after criticism from the state opposition that the government has been sloppy in delivering its promised policy.
The ban, similar to that in place in Victoria since 2020, will begin rolling out in some schools from the start of term one next week and should be in place across all public schools by term three.
Here’s Boyer:
This ban will contribute to making sure that kids can actually focus on their learning.
It will contribute to reducing bullying and harassment and we are not budging one bit from out commitment to deliver it.
Under the rules, student phones must remain switched off or in flight mode, and out of reach all day including during breaks.
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ACCI boss urges RBA to respond ‘carefully’ to inflation
The Chamber of Commerce and Industry has urged the Reserve Bank of Australia to respond cautiously to today’s inflation rate increase.
The consumer price index rose by 1.9% in the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday, driven by surging electricity prices and the cost of holiday travel and accommodation.
The ABS said the past year had seen “strong quarterly rises off the back of higher prices for food, automotive fuel and new dwelling construction”.
Despite this, ACCI’s chief executive Andrew McKellar believes inflation may have peaked:
There are indications that inflation may well have peaked in the December quarter. That seems to be some of the evidence that we’re seeing.
I think for this reason, we would urge the Reserve Bank to move carefully from here and not overreact to the figures that we’ve seen today.
We know that they will be looking at what they should do next on interest rates from next week. I think we would urge caution, we need to be careful about squeezing the economy too hard because that will start to have an impact on jobs.
Labor responds to Lidia Thorpe’s position on the voice
The Labor senator and cabinet minister Murray Watt has been quick to respond to Josh Butler’s story about the Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, who says she may go against the party’s final decision on the voice to parliament.
Thorpe said she would not back the referendum without assurances that it “guarantees First Nations sovereignty is not ceded”. She said labor had asserted sovereignty wouldn’t be impacted, but called for a clearer assurance.
Here’s Watt’s response:
So the Greens Party hasn’t decided if it supports Voice to Parliament, but its First Nations spokesperson says she will probably oppose it. 🤷♂️ Btw I explicitly told Senator Thorpe at Estimates that the Voice doesn’t cede sovereignty. She just wants to oppose it, no matter what. https://t.co/p7odtaAV0U
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) January 25, 2023
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Your Afternoon Update is ready
Catch up on all the day’s news in this concise story from my colleague, Antoun Issa.
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Queensland man drowns at popular NSW surf spot
A Queensland man has died at a beach near popular NSW surf town Crescent Head – taking the summer’s national drowning toll to 51, AAP reports.
The man, believed to be in his 50s, was pulled unconscious from the water at Delicate Nobby about 5pm on Tuesday, police said on Wednesday.
Members of the public performed CPR until the police and paramedics arrived but the man died at the scene.
He is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be a Queensland man in his 50s.
The death is the 20th in NSW and 51st nationally since December 1, according to Royal Life Saving’s summer drowning toll.
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Lidia Thorpe may break party position on voice to parliament
The Greens senator Lidia Thorpe says she may go against the party’s final decision on the voice to parliament and will not back the referendum without assurances that it “guarantees First Nations sovereignty is not ceded”.
Thorpe says she will stick to that position regardless of the party room’s eventual position - which is to be decided within weeks - opening the possibility that the wider party could back the yes campaign while its First Nations spokesperson does not.
Here’s what Thorpe said today, following a Greens party meeting:
Regardless of the final party room position, I have informed party room I will not support the legislation for voice to parliament unless I am satisfied that First Nations sovereignty is not ceded
It would take a lot for me to change my personal and long-held view that I don’t think First Nations justice will come from being written into the coloniser’s constitution.
However, a statement from the Greens points out that the party’s constitution gives members “the right to vote differently to their colleagues” – but also compels those considering voting against the party decision to inform colleagues at the earliest opportunity, which is what Thorpe has done.
Some Greens members, such as senator Sarah Hanson-Young, have strongly backed the voice and say they will support the referendum. It opens the possibility that the Greens will be split on the final vote.
The Greens are still in negotiations with the Labor government over the voice, but expect to come to a final party room decision in early February.
Here’s the acting leader, Mehreen Faruqi:
Our Party Room will meet early next month to continue to discuss our collective position on Labor’s approach.
The Greens want the best possible outcome and we believe we have a responsibility to continue to apply constructive scrutiny to the government’s plan. We will therefore not be making a party room decision until negotiations with the government have concluded. The Greens want to see progress on all aspects of the Uluru Statement - Truth, Treaty and Voice.
Thorpe said she wanted Labor to “be clear about our sovereignty”:
Labor has asserted through our negotiations that sovereignty isn’t impacted. It’s not enough. It needs to be explicit
My community expects me to fight for our sovereignty. That is what I have always done and will continue to do.
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Dorrelle Anderson officially appointed regional controller
Yesterday we told you the federal and NT governments had agreed to establish a new role, designed to better coordinate action on crime in Alice Springs.
That position has now been officially confirmed. Here’s a statement from a Northern Territory government minster:
Dorrelle Anderson has been appointed as the Central Australian Regional Controller in Alice Springs.
Her focus will be on coordinating government’s response to the current challenges facing Alice Springs, progressing economic development and improving liveability for the region.
She will provide an initial progress report for the Commonwealth and the Northern Territory governments next week.
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Victorian bail laws to be amended
Victoria’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, earlier today confirmed the government will amend the state’s tough bail laws following a major coronial inquest into an Indigenous woman’s death in custody.
Coroner Simon McGregor will on Monday hand down his findings into the death of Veronica Nelson, who was found in her cell at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre in January 2020 after making repeated calls for help over the intercom system.
It is widely expected he will recommend changes to the state’s bail laws, which were tightened in the wake of the 2017 Bourke Street massacre. The changes, designed to keep repeat violent offenders out of the community, have instead disproportionately affected First Nations people and women, who are being remanded in custody for minor offences that would not ordinarily carry a sentence of imprisonment.
Symes conceded some of the most vulnerable Victorians were being caught up “unnecessarily in the justice system” by the bail laws:
What we’re proposing to do this year – it’s been well canvassed in the media – that we’ve gone out for negotiation in relation to bail reform, which is all about getting the balance right between community safety, ensuring that serious offenders are kept away from the public but indeed, recognising that some of our most vulnerable people in the community can be caught up unnecessarily in the justice system on remand, and not custodial sentences, for example, and there is some tweaking we can do around that.
I’ll have more to say once I’ve gone through proper processes and further consultation, cabinet processes and the like. But indeed, I can confirm that’s certainly something we’re looking at.
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RBA may pause rate increases after March, says economist
We’re getting more analysis on what today’s inflation numbers mean for interest rates. Jo Masters is chief economist at Barrenjoey Capital Partners. She was speaking to ABC News a short time ago.
We’re expecting a 25 basis point rate hike in February, and again in March. We think the RBA will then pause for a period. There’s a few reasons for that but the main one is the large number of fixed rate mortgages in Australia at the moment, which peaked at about 40% of all mortgages, as well as the processing delays between rate hikes and increases in minimum repayments from a major banks.
We actually think that for households, two thirds of the interest rate pain that is coming for homeowners is still ahead of us and the RBA want to see how that plays out through the middle of 2023 and then perhaps fine tune monetary policy settings towards the end of this year.
You can read the full story on today’s inflation figures here:
NAB reports increase in loans for school costs
As the treasurer acknowledged earlier today, the cost of living is a real challenge for many families. So much so that one of Australia’s biggest banks has reported an increase in “no-interest loan applications” to help cover back-to-school costs.
The National Australia Bank expects to support more than $450,000 worth of no-interest loans to cover the cost of school essentials. That’s more than double the amount granted during a similar period before the pandemic.
Here’s NAB’s head of customer vulnerability, Mike Chambers:
January is often when the full impact of Christmas spending hits and on top of this, parents are also faced with a list of back-to-school expenses they quickly have to meet.
During the pandemic, we saw a spike in no-interest loans to help meet the need for laptops and software for remote learning.
With the cost of living on the rise, we expect to see even more families on low incomes looking to access no-interest loans to help manage school costs.
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Inquiry launches on marine carbon changes
A new federal inquiry will consider how to regulate the use of seabeds and the geology below for storing carbon emissions, AAP reports.
An international protocol is in force but there are proposed amendments that date back to 2009 and 2013 that need to be considered before Australia starts sucking in carbon.
The London Protocol started as an international anti-dumping measure to control and prevent marine pollution, with limited exceptions that require a permit.
But there are two amendments yet to be accepted by Australia that the inquiry will examine, committee chair Tony Zappia said on Wednesday.
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water will consider the environmental benefits and impacts of importing and exporting carbon for sub-seabed sequestration.
Submissions are due by 10 March.
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Julian Leeser agrees to attend Voice working group
The shadow minister for Indigenous affairs, Julian Leeser, has told Sky News he’d be “delighted to attend” a meeting of the working group developing detail on the Indigenous voice.
He said:
I look forward to meeting with them and talking to them and hearing what they’re doing and also putting the concerns that I’m hearing from Australians who want to support this, but don’t feel that they have enough detail.
Leeser demurred on whether Peter Dutton would also attend, saying it was up to the working group to invite him, and that the opposition leader could “speak for himself” but would give “very serious consideration” to it.
Leeser appeared to blame Labor for the incessant voice detail debate, by noting that Anthony Albanese announced to the Woodford folk festival that there would be a referendum in 2023, and that Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney had said there’d be legislation by March for a referendum in August.
Leeser said:
I just don’t think the government have explained, I don’t think they’ve listened, and I don’t think they’re adopting a normal process. So when I make a contribution to the debate in this way it isn’t to muddy the water or make things difficult, it’s to say ‘look, there is danger ahead – if you are serious about getting a result you need to understand the reasonable questions that reasonable people are asking’.
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Alcohol restrictions ‘not a silver bullet’, says Gooda
Let’s get some more reaction to the NT government’s decision to restrict alcohol service in Alice Springs, to deal with an increase in violent crime.
Former Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social justice commissioner Mick Gooda was on ABC News a few moments ago. He was asked whether restrictions were the key to resolving crime in the town. Here’s his response:
What you’re going to find is there’s not one thing that will fix everything. It’s typical of our world in Australia that people think a simplistic thing like alcohol restrictions will be the silver bullet, and it ain’t. It’s part of it – it’s certainly a big part of it – but there has to be a whole lot of other things happen to make sure we fix this horrible thing happening in Alice Springs right now.
Gooda was also asked whether an Indigenous voice to parliament would have prevented the crime crisis:
I can’t guarantee much in life, but I bet you I can guarantee that if we had a voice to parliament in 2007, that voice would never, ever have endorsed the intervention the way it was proposed and the way it was implemented.
So if we want to track stuff back to the roots of what happened in the intervention, it was total disempowerment, and we are now reaping the outcomes of that.
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Reluctance to wear gay pride jersey ‘undermines’ Basketball Australia efforts
The reluctance of several NBL players to wear a logo supporting the LGBTQ+ community undermines Basketball Australia’s efforts to address discrimination and create a safe environment, according to a human rights law expert.
But Australian national nonprofit inclusion program Pride in Sport, which provided awareness training to players ahead of the NBL’s first pride round, believes the initiative is still a success that sends a strong message of inclusivity.
Several Cairns Taipans players are reportedly hesitant to wear a jersey bearing a rainbow logo during Wednesday night’s match against the South East Melbourne Phoenix, the first game of the pride round, citing their religious and cultural beliefs.
Lucas Lixinski, a human rights law professor and an associate at the Australian Human Rights Institute, said any refusal to wear the rainbow logo was disappointing:
It undermines somewhat what the round is trying to accomplish to the extent that it shows that within sport, things are not as welcoming or inclusive of LGBTIQ+ persons and identities as the sport is trying to showcase itself as being.
But I don’t think anyone assumed that this was going to be an easy road and that everyone was going to be super ready to go. Male sports have a history of very few people being out, and that’s for a reason.
An NBL spokesperson said the league had not received formal confirmation that players would not wear the jersey, although that has been widely reported and is expected. Players are still permitted to play wearing their regular jersey, the NBL said.
NZ PM gets more congratulations
Turns out the Australian doctor Brad McKay went to school with New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins. McKay hosted the TV series Embarrassing Bodies Down Under and claims the pair were best mates during primary school. Small world, indeed.
Huge congratulations to Chris Hipkins (my best mate from primary school and intermediate) on becoming the 41st Prime Minister of New Zealand! Love your work @chrishipkins 🤗 pic.twitter.com/tb3RkGlbJ8
— Dr Brad McKay (@DrBradMcKay) January 25, 2023
‘We have good products’: Albanese says removal of China’s trade actions would benefit both countries
Anthony Albanese has renewed calls for China to remove trade actions against a range of Australian products, arguing such a step would not be “charity” but would be in both countries’ economic interests.
In his Sky News interview, the prime minister said the relationship with China was “clearly more positive than it was this time last year”. He said Penny Wong’s visit to Beijing in December was “positive” and his own meeting in November with China’s president, Xi Jinping, had been “constructive”.
Albanese said he wanted to see a further improvement in the relationship, but the fact that talks were being held across a range of levels was a positive. He noted that assistant trade minister, Tim Ayres, had met his Chinese counterpart in Davos last week.
Australia, he said, was “hopeful of a meeting soon” between the Australian trade minister, Don Farrell, and the Chinese commerce minister. More on that here.
Albanese said removing the trade impediments – which include tariffs on Australian wine and barley and a range of other unofficial bans – would be in Australia’s interest, but argued it was “also important for China”. He explained:
We have good products. Importing Australian products is not a charity – it is good for their economy and living standards and they will gain by importing our meat, our livestock, our seafood, our wine, the other products as well.
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Thanks for your attention today. Henry Belot will take you through the rest of today’s developments!
Albanese: ‘Defending our country is not going to be cheap’
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has warned that Australia’s defence projects are “not going to be cheap”.
Within weeks, the government is due to receive the final report of the defence strategic review headed by former defence chief Angus Houston and former Labor defence minister Stephen Smith.
Labor has committed to an overall increase in defence spending, but that doesn’t mean some projects won’t be axed or scaled back to help fund longer-range missiles and nuclear-powered submarines.
As we reported yesterday, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has not ruled out scrapping some projects to help fund other priorities. In a nod to the budget pressures, Marles told Guardian Australia that “we don’t have limitless resources” and the government would weigh up “how best we can use the resources that we have to make sure that we have a defence force which maximises Australia’s capability”.
On Sky News, Albanese was asked about the cost of the submarines. He said the government would “release costings at the appropriate time”. He added:
We’re working through those issues but defending our country is not going to be cheap. I said that before the election I saw our defence expenditure being not just 2% of GDP, it would be potentially rising.
Albanese said the reason for the defence strategic review was to “make sure that we get the best value out of every dollar” that is spent on defence. The government, he said, wanted “the right assets in the right place”.
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Greg Lynn committed to stand trial over alleged Victoria campsite murders
The man accused of murdering two elderly campers has been committed to stand trial.
Greg Lynn, 56, is charged with murdering Russell Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, who went missing in March 2020 while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley, north-east of Melbourne.
He has faced the Melbourne magistrates court over the past week for a committal hearing, which was completed on Wednesday afternoon.
He has pleaded not guilty to both charges, and will face the Victorian supreme court for a directions hearing on 9 February.
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The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, follows Taylor and also begins reflecting on Jim Molan’s funeral ahead of Australia Day:
A sad coincidence that his funeral is the date before Australia Day because he truly was not only a great soldier and a great senator, but he was a great patriot.
Hume echoes the shadow treasurer’s criticism about Labor’s lack of a plan to tackle the largest inflation figures we have seen in three decades. Hume also claimed that there was a lack of collaboration between the government and industry.
Anthony Albanese said he would work collaboratively with industry to help address the energy crisis. In fact, we have seen the exact opposite. That is why this cost-of-living committee set up by the Senate is so profoundly important right now. We will deal collaboratively with industry.
We want to hear what it is they can do to solve the cost-of-living crisis for all Australians, whether it be in energy, in housing, whether it be in the grocery checkout, the fuel, whether it be where they are pain mortgages. This is most important to Australians right now. Anthony Albanese and Labor aren’t dealing with it.
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Angus Taylor says government has ‘no plan’ to deal with inflation
That interview with Albanese has wrapped up and the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, has stepped up to speak in Canberra after the release of the latest inflation figures.
Taylor begins with a tribute to the late senator Jim Molan whose funeral was today, praising his contribution as a senator and soldier as “enormous”.
Moving on to inflation, Taylor has pulled out his familiar line criticising the Albanese’s government lack of a plan.
Today we have seen inflation figures come out that I well above expectation and tell us inflation is well entrenched in the economy. It is not going away in a hurry.
Australians don’t need to be told that. They are seeing it at the grocery checkout, seeing it when they pay energy bills and they will see it and are seeing it in their credit cards as they come back from holidays. Put the kids back into school, buying bags and uniforms and shoes. They are seeing this inflation pain.
It is no plan for inflation to watch it go up. But that is exactly what we’re seeing from this government. Complete absence from a plan. Lots of excuses and no plan.
Certainly no plan to put in place a ham-fisted price cap that we know not going to solve the energy problems this country is facing. No plan to create a toxic industrial relations environment. And it is no plan to have a big spending budget that we saw in October and no doubt we’ll see again in May. What we do want to see from this government is a clear plan going forward addressing those very real issues that Australians are facing right now.
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Clennell asks Albanese about the new New Zealand prime minister, Chris Hipkins.
Albanese said he had a “good chat” with him on Saturday morning. He also says he had the “great honour” of Jacinda Ardern texting him about her resignation in advance of her announcement.
Albanese says he looks forward to further collaboration with Hipkins and his government when the annual ministerial meeting takes place later this year in New Zealand.
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The interview with the prime minister moves on to the economy with inflation data out this morning.
Asked about the possibility of a recession, Albanese says he’s “positive for a range of reasons”.
We have had a stable unemployment rate, but we’ve also seen the government create under our watch, more jobs in our first six months, than any government in Australia’s history since they started recording these records.
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Voice should be above politics, Albanese urges all parties to show leadership
Clennell:
You’d be having more luck with [the Indigenous voice to parliament] if Josh Frydenberg was the opposition leader right now?
Albanese:
Look, I think they should be above politics, frankly – clearly not – but it should be.
And I’ll make this point, Andrew, that when we talk about leadership, I’m not the only person in a position of leadership in this country. The leaders of other major parties and indeed minor parties, including the Greens political party, this is a moment for them as well. Will they seize the opportunity to unite the nation and to take it forward as well?
And what we saw, what we saw with the apology to Stolen Generations is that some people went out there and opposed that … And what we should not have here is a missed opportunity, which is there. And I think, I think Noel Pearson said during the week, by all means if you want to argue on party political terms, talk about a range of other things. But this should be above politics.
Albanese would not say whether he’s gotten a different tone from Dutton in private than the opposition leader has presented publicly.
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The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, this morning said she did not believe the situation in Alice Springs would have reached this crisis had the Indigenous voice to parliament been in place.
Albanese is now talking about the difference he believes the voice will make:
The reason why it will make a difference – the voice isn’t the end, the voice is the means to the end. The voice is the vehicle by listening to people to get better practical outcomes to close the gap, which is there in health, in education, in housing, in life expectancy in justice outcomes. And we know the programs that are most effective.
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‘Zombie’ measures left in budget failed to fund essential community services, Albanese says
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to Sky News about the situation in Alice Springs after yesterday’s visit.
Albanese says the report based on assessment and consultation with communities will be received on 1 February.
He will also be meeting again with the Northern Territory’s chief minister Natasha Fyles ahead of national cabinet meeting next week.
Albanese says he heard from the police commissioner yesterday that the problems were related to recent weather events and a lack of housing.
There are some specific issues as well, such as the weather. The police commissioner has informed us that what had occurred just prior to Christmas was a range of rain events, essentially, that isolated a number of the community so you had people come into town in order to get dialysis and bring their families and then they couldn’t get back to their communities that created problems with a lack of emergency housing which is there, which is wild.
So yesterday, we announced comprehensive plans across a range of areas including emergency housing, CCTV issues, but also extending funding for Family and Community Services.
Albanese says there have also been problems of “zombie” measures in the budget failing to provide funding for essential community services.
It’s extraordinary that there are a range of zombie measures left in the budget where funding for community-based organisations dealing with issues like domestic violence, ran out or runs out in June of this year, and wasn’t extended … Now we’re providing certainty very early on for those organisations well in advance of the budget, so that they can have that confidence going forward.
About to join @aclennell on Sky News. pic.twitter.com/wMwxTqDLNM
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) January 25, 2023
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Rowland says there are a number of actions which have come out of the summit:
I will convey the outcome of today’s round table to the commonwealth and the state and territory attorneys general as a matter of priority so that consideration of the issues today can be taken forward, particularly looking at criminal justice responses to technology-facilitated violence and abuse.
As I mentioned, we really need the perspectives of victims kept front and centre as policies are developed and implemented. So the domestic, family and sexual violence commissioner, Michaela Cronin, will be undertaking consultation.
On prevention and transparency, my department along with the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, will examine measures currently in place by platforms to identify best practice and key gaps. As part of this, the commonwealth will seek more detailed information from dating services used by Australians to inform consideration on what further actions are needed to lift standards.
And finally, in terms of education, I was very pleased there was agreement in the room between industry and civil society about the need to work together to change attitudes and behaviours of perpetrators.
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Communications minister says victims need to be centre of dating app reforms
Rowland said it was an “important first step”.
It was collaborative. Everyone went in there today, wanting to have outcomes. We all realise those outcomes not going to be instantaneous. They’re going to require more work. But above all else, there’s a collective desire to do better for Australia and a collective understanding that the online dating apps need to do better.
She said victim survivors needed to be front and centre of the discussions and reforms moving forward.
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Online dating safety summit concludes in Sydney
The government has today been hosting its roundtable discussion on online dating safety. The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, who hosted the summit, is speaking in Sydney and thanked the industry for their contributions.
She says the key areas discussed at today’s roundtable were:
Preventing exploitation of online dating services by perpetrators.
Supporting the users who experience harm.
Empowering users with saving online dating practices.
Rowland said across the roundtable looked at existing industry efforts, existing laws and regulations, and what more can be done.
On the prevention front, we heard that work is under way by industry participants which is encouraging. Even earlier this week in the lead-up to the event, tinder released work they have done to release a first of its kind dating safety guide in Australia. The companies like Grindr, Bumble and Match spoke about using artificial intelligence to detect harmful language. They spoke about some of the work under way in other jurisdictions on issues like background checks.
These are early days. We need to understand what can be applied in the Australian context, what will work in Australia. And there’s clearly more to be done.
There were a number of ideas raised in relation to the disclosure of criminal backgrounds by app users. This is a very important issue that needs further examination and thoughtful consideration. None of us underestimate the complex issues around privacy, user safety, and data collection and management that are involved.
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‘Financial ties to the Myanmar military must be cut’, advocate says
More on that report finding that Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade has spent more than $1m on hotels linked to Myanmar’s military junta, Justice for Myanmar spokesperson Yadanar Maung said:
It’s clear that some foreign governments and international organisations are not only neglecting to help the people of Myanmar, but they are also actively supporting the military junta that is committing war crimes and crimes against humanity against the people.
All forms of support for the military junta are unacceptable – from inviting the military junta to represent Myanmar at international meetings to providing training to junta members and spending millions of dollars at military-linked hotels.
All financial ties to the Myanmar military must be cut, and targeted sanctions must be imposed.
Justice for Myanmar has detailed international support – direct and indirect – for the country’s military junta in a new report – Developing a Dictatorship: How governments and international organisations are supporting the illegal Myanmar military junta – and what must be done to stop this.
The report found 22 foreign governments, 26 intergovernmental institutions (including 14 UN entities), and eight foreign financial institutions were providing some sort of support to the military junta.
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Dfat spends more than $1m on hotels linked to Myanmar’s military junta, report finds
Australia’s department of foreign affairs and trade has spent more than $1.6m at hotels linked to Myanmar’s military junta, since the junta’s illegal coup in February 2021, a new report from advocacy group Justice for Myanmar details.
The money was spent on accommodation and other services at three venues, in Myanmar’s largest city Yangon, and the country’s capital Naypyidaw. The spending has been detailed in freedom of information requests and in questions on notice in the senate.
The Australian government spent nearly $994,000 at the Shangri-La Residences in Yangon; more than $571,000 at the LOTTE Hotel in the same city; and $107,000 on short-term accommodation at MGallery in Naypyidaw.
The Shangri-La and LOTTE hotels are linked with Shangri-La Asia. MGallery is owned by the Max Myanmar group.
The UN’s independent international fact-finding mission on Myanmar’s report into the business interests of the Myanmar military named both Shangri-La and Max Myanmar as being financially linked to the Myanmar military and urged the international community to cut ties with them.
That report stated Max Myanmar’s chairperson, Zaw Zaw, donated – through a foundation – more than US$650,000 to the military to fund the construction of a fence along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border in 2017 around the time of the military’s genocide against the Rohingya, in which more than 25,000 people were killed, and more than 770,000 forced to flee across the border into Bangladesh.
The report said officials from Max Myanmar “aided, abetted, or otherwise assisted in the crimes against humanity of persecution and other inhumane acts”.
In response to a question on notice about the government spending, the department of foreign affairs told the Senate “the Australian government’s operations in Myanmar do not directly fund the Myanmar military,” and that the list of property providers were not subject to targeted financial sanctions in Australia.
Updated
Treasury to advise on new Asic commissioner
Chalmers is now taking questions, and is asked about the next steps after the Asic commissioner, Sean Hughes, has stepped down.
Chalmers says as usual advice will come from Treasury but he does not have a preconceived view as to who should replace Hughes.
When it comes to Asic, I think it’s entirely appropriate that we have a proper merit based selection process for the replacement at Asic. And so, that’s what I’ve asked to occur. And typically when you run a process like that, you get some advice from the Treasury and from elsewhere about the best way to fill that vacancy. I don’t have a preconceived view about how we may fill the vacancy left by his departure.
Updated
Energy price interventions will take time, Chalmers says
Chalmers also discusses the pressures on the energy market, saying interventions will take time to flow through but there are early signs of the government intervention starting to moderate prices.
The energy price rises in the numbers released today and the forecast energy price rises in the October budget are precisely why we are acting in such a decisive way to try and take some of the sting out of these price rises which are putting so much pressure on Australian families, pensioners, small businesses and industries as well. It will take a little bit of time for our interventions in the energy market to flow through.
But we are really quite pleased and quite encouraged to see some early evidence that our energy plan will moderate some of these energy price increases that we expected in 2023.
Chalmers points to the energy market operator’s analysis out this morning which showed government policy is taking effect:
The Energy Market Operator has drawn a direct link between the interception we made last year with the price drops which was the market anticipating and then responding to the steps that the Albanese government took.
So, we are starting to see our energy plan take some of the sting out of the energy price rises that we have been anticipating in 2023. And obviously on top of that, there is electricity bill relief coming in the budget as well, and that’s an important part of our energy plan as well, to help people through a period of high and rising energy prices.
Updated
Our hope is inflation has peaked, treasurer says
The treasurer is not denying that today’s inflation figures will likely mean more pain for many homeowners. But Jim Chalmers has also found some positive news. He believes inflation may have peaked:
Our expectation, and our hope, is that inflation has now peaked. But it will still be higher than we would like for longer than we’d like, even on the other side of the peak in inflation.
Even as inflation moderates, the pressures coming at us from around the world will continue to be felt around the kitchen tables of our country.
The big drivers in the numbers released this morning, were holidays and accommodation, new homes as well, and energy prices too. Which is no surprise, I think, to anyone who has been following developments in our economy in recent times.
Updated
Inflation ‘unacceptably high’, treasurer says
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is holding a press conference at Parliament House, reacting to the latest inflation figures.
He’s started by offering his condolences to the family and friends of the late senator Jim Molan. He has also sent congratulations to New Zealand’s new prime minister, Chris Hipkins.
Here’s the treasurer on the inflation figures:
This is very high inflation by historical standards. There’s no use pretending otherwise. It’s unacceptably high. It’s in line with the Treasury forecasts for inflation and it’s almost as high as the Reserve Bank’s forecast for inflation as well.
Now, this is likely the peak in inflation but we won’t know that for sure until we get the numbers for this March quarter that we’re in now.
Inflation was the defining challenge in our economy in 2022, and it will be a defining challenge in our economy in 2023 as well.
We are optimistic about the future of our economy and the future of our country. But we are realistic about the extreme price pressures that Australians are facing right now.
Updated
Report on endangered shark being sold as flake ‘devastating’, Greens senator says
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson has described an article by our environment reporter Graham Readfearn as “devastating”.
Fish and chip shop customers in South Australia are eating threatened and imported shark species labelled as “flake” with less than a third of servings meeting seafood labelling standards, according to an investigation by the University of Adelaide.
Whish-Wilson said the report highlighted the need for stronger seafood labelling laws to protect marine life:
How would you feel rocking up to your local fish and chips shop and unknowingly tucking into an endangered species for dinner?
These reports are devastating. How would you feel rocking up to your local fish and chips shop and unknowingly tucking into an endangered species for dinner?
— Peter Whish-Wilson (@SenatorSurfer) January 25, 2023
We need seafood labelling laws that work to protect marine life, not fish them to oblivion.https://t.co/P9IjDkGC2t
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NSW teachers union critical of planned change to tertiary training
The New South Wales Teachers Federation says the state government’s plan to cut postgraduate teaching degrees will bring in unqualified teachers without addressing major shortages hitting the state.
NSW Teachers Federation president Angelo Gavrielatos said today’s announcement, which would halve postgraduate degrees from one to two years if the Coalition were re-elected, was the latest in a succession of “damaging and inconsistent” policies.
He said uncompetitive pay and unsustainable workloads needed to be addressed to lure prospective teachers to the profession.
The way to stop teacher shortages and creating a sustainable supply of teachers is to address the fundamental problems which are turning people off teaching – unsustainable workloads, uncompetitive salaries and insecure work.
An internal government report provided to the NSWTF found there were 3,311 vacant permanent teaching positions in public schools in November last year, impacting two-thirds of schools across the state.
Gavrielatos:
The federal government’s Quality Initial Teacher Education Review found that substantially increasing the pay of beginning and senior teachers was the number one way to get more mid career people into teaching and was far more attractive than a condensed one-year qualification.
Unsustainable workloads must also be addressed. We have two-thirds of teachers saying they are burnt out and 60% looking to leave in the next five years.
It follows the release of a NSW Productivity Commission report which said the shift to a two-year diploma had deterred more than 9,000 would-be teachers from entering the profession.
NSW premier Dominic Perrottet:
For those who already have an undergraduate degree we want a more streamlined approach for them to start a teaching career.
I don’t want a single person who is considering starting this fantastic career to be deterred by an unnecessary additional year in their training.
Updated
More rate rises likely, says KPMG
Let’s get some more reaction to the latest inflation figure and what that means for interest rates.
KPMG Australia’s chief economist Brendan Rynne has just told ABC News he expects rates to climb higher in the short term.
Our expectation is that you’ll continue to see rates rise at least, in the short term. Although I think we are coming close to the top of the interest rate cycle.
We have described monetary policy acting a bit like a brick with a rubber band. You know, you can stretch it and stretch it, and nothing seems to happen, and then all of a sudden, you’ve got a brick coming at you pretty fast pace.
The economy is likely to slow down pretty rapidly as a consequence of rate rises that we have already had to date.
Updated
Thunderstorms possible for Queensland
⛈️ #Thunderstorm forecast for today (Wed): storms possible across south & west Qld, some possibly becoming severe over the central/southern interior & #SEQld. Heavy rain, large hail and damaging winds are possible with storms. Monitor for warnings at https://t.co/FBmpsInT9o pic.twitter.com/MEP6k3kniH
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) January 24, 2023
Victoria to overhaul strict bail laws
Victoria will overhaul its strict bail laws amid growing calls for reform from MPs and legal rights groups, AAP reports.
The state’s attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, confirmed today that legislative changes for bail were currently being discussed but stopped short of detailing what the review would entail.
She said:
It’s all about getting the balance right between community safety, ensuring that serious offenders are kept away from the public but recognising some of our most vulnerable people in the community can be caught up unnecessarily in the justice system.
I’ll have more to say once I’ve gone through proper processes.
It comes as coroner Simon McGregor prepares to release findings next week into the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson.
You can read more on Nelson’s death from Benita Kolovos:
Updated
Inflation rose to 7.8% last year
Inflation in Australia reached 7.8% in the year to the December quarter, marking what economists hope will be the peak for runaway prices adding to the cost of living.
The consumer price index rose by 1.9% in the December quarter, the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed on Wednesday, driven by surging electricity prices and the cost of holiday travel and accommodation.
The 7.8% annual rise is up on the September figure of 7.3% inflation but just shy of the treasury and Reserve Bank’s estimate that inflation would peak at 8%.
It marks the highest inflation since 1990 despite hopes that a lower than expected figure in the month of October in part driven by easing shipping and housing costs could mean inflation has peaked.
Updated
Violence on dating apps ‘clearly gender-based’, says minister for women
As mentioned earlier, the government is today hosting a roundtable to address sexual violence on dating apps.
The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, has taken to social media ahead of the summit to say the violence being seen is “clearly gender-based”.
.
The violence that we’re seeing more & more on the dating apps is clearly gender-based.
— Katy Gallagher (@SenKatyG) January 24, 2023
It’s devastating & it’s unacceptable.
Important conversations happening today about the role that governments & the apps play in ending this violence on & offline👇https://t.co/biV6K5UTjS
t
Updated
500kg seal attracts hundreds of visitors to Victorian seaside town
An elephant seal has attracted hundreds to a Victorian seaside town, despite authorities warning people to stay away from the 500kg animal.
Max Patton, a foreshore manager from WhiteCliffs to Camerons Bight Foreshore Reserve, said there had been a “nonstop flow of people” trying to catch a glimpse of the seal at Blairgowrie beach.
He said the beach was closed indefinitely, and people should not try to visit the area, especially over the upcoming weekend.
Patton said several groups were monitoring the area, including the local council, the Victorian Conservation Regulator and the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action.
Victoria’s Conservation Regulator stressed it was an offence to interfere with wildlife, carrying a maximum penalty of $3,698.
Glenn Sharp, a regional operations manager with Victoria’s Conservation Regulator, said yesterday that onlookers should keep a safe distance from the animal.
Even though they look large and lazy on a beach, picture a 500kg animal coming towards you quickly while you are distracted.
They do have teeth and they do bite. These things in the wild do fight over space and mate.There is plenty of blood and death as a result of that.
Updated
Inflation figures due from Australian Bureau of Statistics
We’ll shortly get December quarter inflation figures from the ABS.
Look out for a headline rate for the consumer price index of 7.5%, or lower than the 8% forecast by Treasury and the RBA.
Also look for the so-called trimmed-mean gauge of inflation that the RBA pays closest heed to.
A 6.4% reading is what economists were tipping, a record high for that measure. Read more in this preview piece:
Updated
Sussan Ley says measures not enough to remove ‘rivers of grog’ in Alice Springs
The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, believes the temporary measures announced in Alice Springs are “not enough” but does not accept that the former Coalition government she was part of dropped the ball.
Ley told Sky News the trial measures seem insufficient “to remove the rivers of grog that are flowing in Alice Springs and causing such extraordinary damage”.
She said the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, should have spent longer in the community to understand the problems.
So while of course I appreciate the prime minister’s visit, he was there for four hours – probably not long enough – wasn’t there in the evening, didn’t see the violence that happens every night on the streets, didn’t see the despair and the desperation that particularly women and children are experiencing and then announced some measures.
I think we do need stronger leadership. We do need the prime minister to step up and to do more to support this community.
The alcohol ban laws lapsed under the former government. However, Ley said to blame the Coalition is “ridiculous.”
They expired in July last year. We had a plan to address youth crime in Alice Springs as we went into the election.
To point backwards, you know, eight months, nine months before an election and blame a previous government is actually ridiculous at this point of time.
Ley denied that she and the Coalition were not vocal when the alcohol laws were overturned.
Updated
Immigration minister will not comment on reported Kanye West visit
Despite mounting speculation about Kanye West’s potential visit to Australia, the immigration minister has declined to weigh in on whether the rapper would be granted a visa to enter the country.
It’s still not exactly clear when (or even if) Ye, as he is now known, would come to Australia, but media reporting has focused on his apparent recent marriage to Australian designer Bianca Censori.
The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, would have the power to block a visa. A government spokesperson said the minister “cannot comment on individual cases due to privacy” but noted that visitors to Australia did have to meet a character test.
They said:
All non-citizens who enter Australia must meet, and continue to meet, requirements set out in the Migration Act, including security and character requirements.
Updated
Education minister flags Kanye West could be denied visa
Kanye West could be barred from entering Australia due to antisemitic comments he has made, AAP reports.
The rapper, known as Ye, is reportedly planning a visit to Melbourne in coming days to meet the family of his reported new wife, designer Bianca Censori.
Ye was widely criticised last year for praising Adolf Hitler during an interview with American far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones.
The education minister, Jason Clare, suggested Ye’s past comments could prevent him from gaining an Australian visa.
While Clare did not know if the rapper had applied for a visa, he said a quick Google search revealed he “seems like he’s a pretty big fan of a person who killed 6 million Jewish people last century”.
He told Nine’s Today Show this morning:
People like that who’ve applied for visas to get into Australia in the past have been rejected.
I expect that if he does apply, he would have to go through the same process and answer the same questions that they did.
It comes after the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, yesterday said his inclination would be to not allow the rapper to enter Australia.
Updated
University of Melbourne adopts new antisemitism definition
The University of Melbourne has become the first tertiary institution in Australia to adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism as part of its broader “anti-racism commitment”.
The university said it would use IHRA as an “important educative tool” to “understand what constitutes antisemitism, and thus support its prevention”.
The Australasian Union of Jewish Students said in a statement:
This announcement comes a few days before 27 January, which is International Holocaust Remembrance Day. IHRA was created to remember what can happen if hate and discrimination are not called out. In order to ensure that antisemitism and all forms of discrimination have no place on our campuses, we must be able to define it by amplifying the voices of those who experience it.
The Zionist Federation of Australia president, Jeremy Leibler, said it was a “strong step forward” in the “fight against antisemitism”.
This is an example of real leadership … by adopting the working definition, [the University of Melbourne] is taking a meaningful step to demonstrate to Jewish students that antisemitism on campus will not be tolerated.
The Australian government gave bipartisan support to adopt the IHRA working definition in 2021. Since then, a number of states have adopted or endorsed it.
The move follows controversy over a student union motion passed – and later withdrawn – in August last year, which called on the university to divest, boycott and cut ties from “Israeli institutions, researchers and academics who support the Israeli oppression of Palestine”.
In a statement, the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU) said the motion was “robust [and] supported by appropriate consultation” with pro-Palestinian and Jewish bodies on campus.
UMSU and its predecessor organisations, has maintained a 130-year tradition of students standing up for human rights issues, including those relating to international affairs.
Updated
Hipkins takes office as New Zealand prime minister
Chris Hipkins has been sworn in as New Zealand’s 41st prime minister in a ceremony at government house, AAP reports.
Hipkins was sworn in alongside his deputy PM, Carmel Sepuloni, today in Wellington, just minutes after the resignation of the outgoing PM, Jacinda Ardern.
The pair were congratulated by the governor general, Dame Cindy Kiro, who signed their warrants of appointment.
Family and friends of Hipkins and Sepuloni, including several cabinet ministers, packed government house’s ballroom for the occasion.
Hipkins’ first comments after the official photo, asked how it felt to be sworn in, were “it feels pretty real now”.
Updated
Images from space show flood waters surging south
Nasa have this morning shared images showing the the flood waters in northern Queensland moving south.
After several weeks of heavy rainfall in northeastern Australia, the floodwater has moved south.
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) January 24, 2023
The surge of water is visible in this false-color satellite image from January 22 (right) as compared to before the flooding (left).
Full story: https://t.co/mvlg4fCr8U 🌧 pic.twitter.com/7ENAJE7gYY
Nasa’s Kathryn Hansen writes:
After several weeks of heavy rainfall in northern Queensland, floodwater has worked its way south into Australia’s Channel Country. By mid-January 2023, floodwater from the north had combined with local rainfall to cause rivers to overflow their banks.
The surge of water is visible in this false-color image (right), acquired on January 22, 2023, with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite. Water appears light to dark blue; vegetation is green and bare land is brown. The left image, acquired with Terra MODIS on December 10, 2022, shows the same area prior to the flooding.
Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology reported major flooding along parts of the Georgina River, and moderate to major flooding along Eyre Creek, on January 23, 2023. Flooding along Eyre Creek near Bedourie was expected to peak on that day and remain above moderate flood levels (4 meters) for several days.
Updated
New rules don’t properly address antisocial behaviour, Alice Springs mayor says
The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, says he believes the new measures announced last night after the meeting with the federal ministers are not adequate. He says there are two problems in the Territory, of alcohol and antisocial behaviours, and the new rules only address the former.
Paterson told the ABC:
We did ask for a circuit-breaker and hopefully this is it.
Do I think this is everything that was required? No, I don’t. I mean, we go back to Stronger Futures, we knew that that worked. The government were begged not to let that lapse and unfortunately it has lapsed. Whilst we’re talking about alcohol reform, we certainly could go back to those restrictions.
And just remember – we’ve got two issues here. One being alcohol and one being antisocial behaviour. And this really only addresses one of those problems.
Updated
Treasurer says gas and coal price caps ‘starting to have an impact’
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the federal government’s energy market changes late last year are “starting to have an impact”, with a report due out today expected to show power prices on the way down.
The Albanese government’s caps on gas and coal prices last year, which were opposed by many in those industries, aimed to dull the pain of expected sharp rises in power bills. The Australian Energy Market Operator’s quarterly energy report for the last quarter of 2022, due out today, is expected to show significant drops in electricity futures prices, which the government is claiming as the market anticipating and responding to the caps plan.
The report is due out later today but Chalmers has gotten out ahead of it to say it’s good news for consumers, but admitted it would take time for more benefits to flow on.
He said in a statement:
It will take some time for Australians to really feel the benefits of our temporary and targeted action but it’s heartening to see that our plan is already starting to have an impact.
This report shows that – despite significant challenges coming at us from around the world – our action is beginning to make a difference.
You can read more on that report from our economics correspondent Peter Hannam:
Updated
Hipkins sworn in as New Zealand prime minister
Chris Hipkins has just been sworn into office as New Zealand’s prime minister after Jacinda Ardern’s resignation. He’ll host his first cabinet meeting later today.
Updated
Calls for mandatory identity checks for all dating app users
At today’s roundtable on dating app safety, domestic violence service Full Stop Australia will call for a national domestic violence offender register and mandatory ID checks for dating app users.
CEO Hayley Foster says serious action is needed, with almost three-quarters of dating app users subjected to online sexual violence.
Whilst education is important, and there are safety precautions people can take when engaging with apps, the onus shouldn’t be on potential victims to protect themselves from perpetrators of violence and abuse.
The current lack of verification and regulation around the identity of people using dating apps limits the ability of app providers and law enforcement agencies to respond when things go wrong, and this is putting people at risk of violence.
Full Stop Australia will also be calling to establish a national domestic violence offender register, similar to the existing sex offender register, to make it easier for law enforcement agencies to monitor serious and repeat offenders.
Foster says:
We need to make it easier for service organisations like dating apps to screen out those who are abusing their platforms to perpetrate violence. We can’t leave all the responsibility up to potential victims to protect themselves.
Updated
Government to consider requiring dating app background checks
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, has been making the breakfast news rounds ahead of the government’s roundtable to address the issue of sexual violence on dating apps.
Rishworth told ABC News Breakfast:
I think this is a really important conversation but we will need to see action. I think that is the next step you. Engagement has been important but I think it is not just something the should tell companies to do. It makes good business sense. If you are a platform that has a better safety by design, you’re more likely to get more users. Ultimately, the aim of the roundtable is a participants the opportunity to address the gap in the system and discuss how to make these apps more safer for Australians.
Rishworth says that requiring the dating app companies to provide background checks for people who use their platforms is one of the measures the roundtable will be considering. But as well as access, Rishworth also wants to see prevention, early intervention and consultation with victims.
So, how do we use technology to pick up perhaps some trends of behaviour? Someone might not have been convicted of any crime, but may be using inappropriate behaviour, inappropriate comments. How can we pick that earlier than before a crime or abuse is perpetrated? So I think that there is no silver bullet to look at all element that is we outlined in the national plan about how to respond to that. And that includes prevention and early intervention as well as response and recovery.
The other area that we really need to get better at is making sure that those who have experienced the violence have a say in how companies respond. And we need to, for example, make sure that any complaints process is actually done with the victim or someone that could be the victim in mind. So there’s a number of different areas we do need to address to make the online area safer.
Updated
Morning Mail
Don’t forget if you want to get across the national and international headlines, the morning mail is the best place to do it.
There’s a particularly bittersweet story out of Italy where a community is mourning the death of a rare brown bear, known as Juan Carrito, who became famous for his visits to villages in the Abruzzo region, especially his raid on a bakery where he scoffed a plate of freshly made biscuits.
‘NT government admitted that they got it wrong’: Burney
Linda Burney, the minister for Indigenous affairs, is now speaking with ABC News Breakfast and says the NT government has admitted “they got it wrong”.
I think that the NT government admitted that they got it wrong yesterday, which is why there’s this immediate response to additional alcohol restrictions here in Alice Springs starting today.
When the questions turn to the federal government’s responsibility in the matter, as the alcohol ban legislations expired in June when the Albanese government was in office, Burney emphasises the issue is one which has been on her agenda since it was raised with her.
Central Australian Aboriginal Congress chief Donna Ah Chee wrote to Burney in June pleading for her not to allow the legislation to lapse.
Burney says:
There were 40 alcohol management plans that were not signed, by not the previous minister but the minister before that.
Donna and some people did write to me and I have been in constant discussion, direct discussion, with the chief minister and the attorney general as far back as August last year and I have also been in constant discussion with the community organisations here in Alice Springs. This is not something that has come up overnight. This is something that has been brewing for a very long time.
You only have to look at the commitments that the Albanese Labor government made in last budget to see that we were very cognisant of what was needed here in central Australia and I have also had direct discussions with the mayor as well. So this is something that has been on the agenda for some time. Yesterday was the beginning of some very direct action and it will not be the end. We will stay with this right through.
Updated
NT chief minister defends territory government’s path on alcohol
The question of who bears responsibility for the situation in Alice Springs continues to be a live debate, with the territory government, current and former federal governments all accused of dropping the ball.
ABC News Breakfast’s Michael Rowland presses NT chief minister Natasha Fyles on the issue.
Rowland:
Just as recently as a couple of days ago you were pushing back against the reintroduction of wider alcohol restrictions saying they were discriminatory and would disempower Indigenous communities. Have you got it wrong, chief minister?
Fyles:
I think it’s really important for people to understand the context. The intervention caused disempowerment to Aboriginal Territorians. The point of that was to have a purgative time with no alcohol in remote communities whilst alcohol management plans were developed. They were developed by community and it was the previous Coalition government that let them sit on ministers’ desks in Canberra.
Peter Dutton was part of the cabinet that let Stronger Futures lapse without any other measure so the Northern Territory government has done a huge amount around alcohol policy. We put in place a measure to support community, but I acknowledge that with six months of data, we need to do more and that’s why we will continue to work in this space with community, being careful that we don’t disempower people over what is a legal product.
Fyles continues to deny that in hindsight she should have brought in tougher legislation at a territory level when the federal legislation expired in the middle of last year.
We brought in legislation. It was the Coalition federal government, Peter Dutton was a part of that cabinet, that did nothing
Rowland:
But at the time, you were warned by the Country Liberal party opposition and independent member of parliament that your proposal would open the floodgates, lead to rivers of grog, have horrific consequences. Aren’t we seeing all of that now?
Fyles:
So we did put in place a measure and there is also a number of other measures, but what we are saying is we need to be agile in this space. We have had six months of those changes. So what we need to do is work with community around how alcohol is managed not just in Alice Springs, but in the broader central Australian community. It’s a very difficult issue because it’s a legal product, but we know the harm that it can cause.
Updated
Dutton on Indigenous voice: we shouldn’t ‘build up’ one group at the expense of another
Host Andrew Bolt also pressed Peter Dutton for his position on the Indigenous voice in the constitution, suggesting it divides Australians on race.
Dutton said:
I just don’t think we need to pull down one part of who we are as a culture or a people to build up the other, and I think it’s equally applicable to Australia Day, to other debates, including in relation to the voice. I think it’s important that we hear from a regional voice because there is ... acute disadvantage, and people do want to see an outcome, a better outcome and a better future for those people.
This is curious. Last week Dutton told the Herald Sun he was in favour of constitutional recognition, but now he seems to be suggesting the voice “builds up” one group at the expense of others.
Dutton continued:
I’ve been very upfront and honest in relation to my approach: that is that we’re going through a discussion now, we’re going through trying to obtain all of the detail from the prime minister and from the government, and the onus is on the prime minister to provide that detail to millions of Australians. If there are fatal flaws, if there are insurmountable issues that we can’t get over, then we’ll be very clear about that, but I’m considering respectfully all of the information that is there at the moment.
Dutton had a few hints on the ultimate position: that “nobody’s in favour of racism in the Liberal party” and that “of course” all Australians have to have their say in government decisions – not adopting but not refuting Bolt’s view that the voice amounts to special treatment.
Dutton said:
I will make very clear my position in due course. There are a lot of commentators and people who are our supporters and others who were calling for us, demanding that we state a position before the government even made their announcement when it was mooted that there would be a constitutional referendum. Now, we’re in a position where I believe very strongly that we’re putting appropriate pressure on the government, which we wouldn’t have been able to do had we just raced out of the blocks and declared a position without listening to all of the facts. I think the prime minister would be saying now, he’s not releasing any detail because Liberals have already made up their mind and other parties have already made up their mind and therefore they don’t deserve the detail.
Updated
NSW government headed for election defeat, polls suggest
A second opinion poll within days has pointed to defeat for the NSW government at the March election, AAP reports.
The Resolve Strategic poll published in the Sydney Morning Herald on Wednesday shows Labor is ahead with a primary vote of 37%.
The coalition’s primary vote is on 34%, down from the 42% vote it recorded in the 2019 election.
However, Dominic Perrottet’s rating as preferred premier is the highest since he succeeded Gladys Berejiklian in 2021 despite his recent admission that he wore a Nazi costume to his 21st birthday party.
The premier apologised for his behaviour, describing the incident as a naive mistake that did not reflect his views.
The poll found one-third of voters favoured Perrottet as premier, while 29% backed Labor’s Chris Minns. More than one-third of voters remained undecided.
The Greens are on a primary vote of 12%, while independents are polling at 11% as so-called “teal” candidates target a series of coalition blue-ribbon electorates in the hope of repeating successes from the federal election last year.
A recent YouGov poll, published in The Sunday Telegraph, also predicted the end of 12 years of coalition government in NSW at the election on March 25.
If found Labor led the coalition by 56% to 44% on a two-party preferred basis, while it was ahead by 39-33% on first preferences.
Updated
Dutton’s ‘absurd proposition’ on NT crisis: ‘They don’t want to act because of race’
Peter Dutton appeared on Sky News’ Bolt report last night for an I-told-him-so type discussion about how the opposition leader went to Alice Springs in October and called for a royal commission into sexual abuse of children.
Dutton welcomed Anthony Albanese’s trip to Alice Springs, but appeared to chip him for not making it a media event, commenting: “They’re strange circumstances where you don’t tell the media you’re going, you go in just for a short period of time, and I just question who he’s been able to meet with in such a short visit.”
Dutton said:
I just don’t understand how in our country, in this year, any leader in Alice Springs can sit back – or across the country, for that matter… and tolerate the knowledge of what’s happening in Alice Springs. I mean, it kills me to think of the young children who are being sexually violated in that community or anywhere. But the prevalence is acute in Alice Springs and other parts of the Northern Territory at the moment.
There are many people who are having their lives adversely impacted, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous, and we hear from the Northern Territory [chief] minister and … this is a theme that runs through the prime minister’s thinking as well, is that they don’t want to act because of race. I mean it’s just such an absurd proposition. They need to act because these kids need to be protected. They need to act because people are committing offences against the law. If the rule of law isn’t applied equally, then you will get disorder and dysfunction within communities and that’s not what we want to see.
So I just think if you know that there are these abhorrent behaviours and activities taking place, I just don’t know how, as a leader, you can sit there and be quiet. We need to stand up, be heard, make sure that the response is provided, the changes take place, and the lives of these kids and women are improved.
An absurd proposition and not one I’ve heard the prime minister make – a straw man, in other words.
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People of Alice Springs might say help took too long: Burney
Burney was also pressed on what was done to heed early warnings, such as Central Australian Aboriginal Congress chief Donna Ah Chee’s warning that freer access to alcohol would add “fuel to the fire” of social issues.
Burney said:
Yesterday we made important progress and that’s what I want to focus on. This is the beginning of the response. Not the end.
I have been in discussions with the Northern Territory government and community organisations here in Alice Springs for a number of months and yes I have expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.
Asked if the NT government took too long, she replied:
Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long or they haven’t. But clearly, if you ask people in Alice Springs, the answer might be ‘yes’. But the most important thing is that we made enormous gains yesterday, [central Australian regional controller] Dorelle Anderson will report back in one week and then we will know where we will head after that report back.
Burney said the federal government had made commitments at the election related to community safety, denying that it had taken too long to get involved.
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Burney believes Indigenous voice would have prevented Alice Springs crisis
Linda Burney has told ABC radio that she believes “very deeply” that the situation in Alice Springs would not have escalated had there been an Indigenous voice to parliament.
[If] the voice of the parliament had been established previously … we wouldn’t be where we are in terms of Alice Springs at the moment because we would be getting practical advice from people who are representative of the community in relation to these social issues.
I mean, it is wrong to think that the issue out here is just alcohol … There is a seasonal issue involved.
Karvelas:
Do you really think that if we’d had a voice to parliament, making recommendations, you wouldn’t have seen this situation escalate?
Burney:
I do believe that very very deeply. That’s the whole point.
Karvelas:
But the voices were telling you – they might not have been enshrined in the constitution, minister, but they were telling you and the Northern Territory government that things were going to explode.
Burney:
Which is why we are responding, which is why there was substantial money committed in the budget towards central Australia. This is not something that we walked into yesterday, Patricia, this has been something that we’ve been working with and dealing with for a very long time.
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Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?
The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.
Fyles was reluctant to say her government should have heeded warnings that ending alcohol restrictions six months ago would lead to a crisis.
Fyles stressed that the intervention in the NT disempowered Aboriginal Territorians and that it was the previous Coalition government who was responsible for ending the Stronger Futures legislation.
It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.
Burney followed, saying she had brought it up with the Northern Territory government:
I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.
Patricia Karvelas:
Do you think it took too long?
Burney:
Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.
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Linda Burney: ‘Being able to drink is not more important than being safe’
The Indigenous affairs minister, Linda Burney, has spoken to Radio National about social issues including lack of access to drinking water and alcohol related-violence in Alice Springs.
Burney said:
I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.
It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.
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Thorpe’s 'divisive tactics and motives' similar to Dutton’s: Marcia Langton
The Indigenous academic Prof Marcia Langton has written in the Australian newspaper this morning ahead of Australia Day, which she says has “become a field day for the culture warriors”.
It’s unnecessary and boringly ritualistic to persist with this annual festival of identity crisis. It has become a field day for the culture warriors. January 26 was established as the national day only 29 years ago, and yet those who are committed to it like to give the impression it was written in stone in their golden age of imperialism.
Langton, who is co-chair of the Indigenous voice to parliament design group, says that both sides of politics know how the culture war works, saying that the motives and tactics of the opposition leader Peter Dutton and the Greens’ First Nations spokeswoman, Lidia Thorpe, are “very similar.”
Dutton knows how this culture war works. And his confected outrage this week has been timed to undermine the most important idea that could unite Australians in a vision of the nation all can take pride in – the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament and government; the culmination of thousands of Australians discussing ways to overcome the frontier hatreds that persisted from the 18th and 19th centuries.
Greens senator Lidia Thorpe knows how this culture war works too, and has done more than her fair share to wreck the chances of Australians voting for a voice. She is the leader of a new faction in the Greens party – the Blak Greens. Relying on her persona as a Greens senator by day, Thorpe has rallied her gaggle of supporters to con Australians into thinking this year’s Survival Day rallies are protests against the voice. She and the Blak Greens – I think there are three of them – prioritise “treaties and truth-telling” over the voice. That the voice would inform the parliament and governments on not just dire issues such as the urgent need to curtail alcohol supply into vulnerable towns such as Alice Springs, but also about treaty aspirations guided by a Makarrata commission, seems to be beyond the comprehension of the far left.
Thorpe’s divisive tactics and motives are very similar to those of Dutton’s in undermining the voice. Dutton doesn’t want details for the sake of information. He wants the opportunity to undermine any details that will be released. Thorpe wants nothing more than to repeat the claims about “waste of money” and “useless”. It’s just a matter of time before Dutton says this about the information that will be made public in February.
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Good morning!
Thanks to Martin for kicking off proceedings for us this morning.
The government will today host a roundtable meeting to address sexual violence associated with dating apps.
The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, told ABC radio this morning there was “big interest” from the tech companies to address the issue.
Rishworth says she wants to see the design of the apps incorporate features to prevent or intervene early in instances of sexual violence.
Can we put, for example, education about respectful relationships? Can we use the technology to look at patterns of behaviour and intervene early?
And more on the news in the Northern Territory – the federal and territory governments have flagged the reintroduction of alcohol bans, which lapsed last year. Communities have been given the option to opt out of the bans.
After an emergency meeting late last night between community leaders and federal ministers, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese announced a new regional controller to “make sure that we get federal and state programs coordinated in the best possible way”.
The NT chief minister Natasha Fyles announced a three-month trial to ban the sale of takeaway alcohol on Mondays and Tuesday, restrict operating hours for bottleshops and a limit of one transaction per customer per day.
You can read more from our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam:
In South Australia, the former prime minister Julia Gillard will conduct the first public hearings for SA’s royal commission into early childhood education and care.
The hearings start today and will take evidence from a range of expert witnesses, kicking off with Associate Prof Victoria Whitington from the Child Development Council.
Let’s get into it!
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Australians among Oscars nominees
The Australian of the Year contenders may be gathering in Canberra but an already internationally recognised great Australian, Cate Blanchett, will be going for her third Oscar win in March after she was nominated for an Academy Award for her performance in the film Tár. It is her eighth nomination.
The Australian husband and wife team Baz Luhrmann and Catherine Martin have been nominated in the best picture category for Elvis, but Margot Robbie missed the cut despite speculation that she might get the nod for her role in Baylon.
Here’s the full list of nominees.
US state of Oregon plans to ban sale of kangaroo products
Lawmakers in Oregon, under pressure from animal rights activists, are hoping to pass legislation banning the sale of kangaroo products in the state.
Rafqa Touma has been investigating the story and finds that the trade mostly involves the sale of kangaroo leather for turning into football boots, or what Americans call “soccer cleats”.
Australian trade groups have called the idea “emotive misinformation” and say that the lawmakers don’t know what they’re doing.
State education can cost parents $100,000, report says
Experts are calling for greater government investment in public education as a new survey suggests parents could spend up to $100,000 putting a child through the state school system starting this year.
The Futurity Investment Group’s cost of education index found the cost of a government education in Melbourne was $102,807, which was 17% above the national average of $87,528, making it the most expensive city for public education.
Although public schools don’t charge mandatory fees, the survey asked parents about the other costs involved in schooling. Nationally, voluntary student contributions – which are optional – made up just 4% of total costs for government education – the rest going towards optional additional expenses like electronic devices, uniforms and tutoring.
Futurity Investment Group’s Kate Hill said the figures proved there was “no such thing as a free education” in Australia. She said the total cost of education has risen at nearly double the rate of inflation over the past decade.
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Jim Chalmers on ‘Capitalism after the Crisis’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has been busy over the summer, penning a 6,000 word essay for The Monthly headlined Capitalism after the Crisis.
Politics watchers with long memories will recall there’s a tradition of Queensland Labor rightwingers contributing long-form think pieces mulling the state of the country. Kevin Rudd wrote about the global financial crisis more than a decade ago. Wayne Swan wrote about inequality and the power of vested interests in the Australian economy.
The Chalmers essay explores values-based capitalism. The piece highlights the importance of the clean energy transition to setting up a new era of prosperity and sustainability; the importance of healthy democratic and economic institutions; and the centrality of wellbeing to measures of economic success.
The essay also traverses some interesting territory about the prospects for collaboration between government and the private sector. Chalmers says the times are turbulent but “we can do more than simply batten down the hatches and hope for the best”.
He says there is an opportunity to build an economy that is “stronger, more sustainable and more inclusive, where more of our people share in our economic success”.
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Cargo ship taking on water off Queensland coast
A coal carrier that began taking on water off the Queensland coast has been secured by tugboats after sparking an emergency response.
The Panama-flagged bulk carrier Frontier Unity reported seven metres of water in its engine room while heading to Hay Point near Mackay on Tuesday, AAP reports. It was empty of coal.
Twenty four people are aboard the vessel.
An Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) representative said it was notified of an incident off Hay Point about 1pm on Tuesday.
“AMSA was informed the Panama-flagged bulk carrier ship Frontier Unity was experiencing water ingress into its engine room following repair work undertaken by commercial divers,” the representative told AAP in a statement.
“As the ship is within port limits and under the national Plan for Maritime Environmental Emergencies, Maritime Safety Queensland (MSQ) is the lead agency responding to this incident, with AMSA providing additional support.”
AMSA, which has a representative at the scene, tasked the Cairns-based Challenger aircraft to drop de-watering pumps to the Frontier Unity.
No injuries or fatalities have been reported.
“All parties involved are working collaboratively in the response to this incident to minimise risk to safety or the environment,” AMSA said.
The ship has been reported as being stable, with the water ingress now stemmed, and is remaining at anchor with two tugboats alongside.
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Welcome to the blog
Good morning and welcome to our live coverage of the day’s news in Australia. Yesterday was dominated by events in the Northern territory and there’s more reaction to that coming up. We are also counting down to the Australian of the Year awards, and there are Oscar nominations announced overnight to mull over.
Indigenous elders have given a cautious welcome to plans announced by the prime minister to restrict alcohol sales in Alice Springs after the town faced an alarming rise in crime after the relaxation of intervention-era alcohol laws. But community leaders also pleaded with Anthony Albanese and other visitors from Canberra and Darwin that they couldn’t just make yesterday’s high-profile visit a one-off and that more sustained help is needed for the region and its neglected remote areas.
Rajwinder Singh, the man accused of murdering 24-year-old Toyah Cordingley on a Queensland beach four years ago, is to be extradited to Australia after a court hearing in Delhi overnight. Judge Swati Sharma informed Singh that his extradition to Australia had been allowed by the courts. Singh simply said “thank you” when the extradition was approved. It could take three to four weeks before he is back in Australia.
This year’s Australian of the Year finalists are gathering in Canberra for the ceremony later today. The runners and riders include human rights activist Craig Foster, migrant leader John Kamara, Indigenous musician William Barton, insect farming pioneer Olympia Yarger, documentary maker Taryn Brumfitt, Land Council chair Samuel Bush-Blanasi, paediatrician Angraj Khillan and end-of-life care advocate Samar Aoun.
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