If there have been signs of an improvement in parliamentary culture, they were missing in today’s messy Senate estimate hearings. Labor senator Glenn Sterle was rebuked for calling his Nationals counterpart Bridget McKenzie “a naughty little girl” – drawing criticism from Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson and agriculture minister Murray Watt, who said it was “completely unacceptable”. Sterle later withdrew the remark.
In a separate hearing, Liberal senator Alex Antic accused the ABC of “grooming children” (yes, actually) and questioned the merits of the network’s diverse workforce.
Top news
Antic’s ABC ‘grooming’ remarks | The South Australian senator made the claim about grooming over a Play School segment that featured drag queen Courtney Act reading a story about dressing up. “Why is the ABC grooming children with this sort of adult content?” Antic told the Senate hearing. “We are not grooming Australian children,” the ABC’s managing director David Anderson replied. Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Antic’s language was “deeply, deeply offensive”.
Medibank threat | A ransomware group is threatening to post Medibank customer data “within 24 hours” after the health insurer refused to pay a ransom. Medibank described the threat as a “distressing development”, while the Australian federal police confirmed it had sought FBI help after hackers obtained data of 9.7 million current and past Medibank customers.
Fines for data breaches | Companies could face fines of $50m or more for serious or repeated data breaches, if Labor’s proposed privacy bill is enacted. The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, proposed the new privacy bill after the data breach at Optus, calling for its passage this year to force companies to do more to protect customer data, a concern fortified by the Medibank breach.
Christchurch mosque killer appeals | Australian terrorist Brenton Tarrant has appealed against his convictions and sentence of life in prison without parole. The white supremacist murdered 51 Muslim worshippers at two mosques in Christchurch in 2019.
Bob Brown arrested | The former Greens leader was arrested in north-eastern Tasmania while protesting against logging in forests that environmentalists say are breeding habitat for the critically endangered swift parrot. He is believed to have been charged on summons with trespass. Confirmation was being sought from Tasmania police.
Australian regulator warns Musk | eSafety commissioner Julie Inman Grant has written to Elon Musk, cautioning him that Twitter must comply with Australian law and expressing concern about the cuts to the platform’s safety team and proposed changes to verification. Musk’s takeover has resulted in a surge of sign-ups on the open source social platform Mastodon. But what is it exactly? Our tech reporter Josh Taylor explains.
Ardern criticises bank profits | Jacinda Ardern has taken aim at banks in New Zealand for collecting billions in profits as the cost-of-living crisis deepens, saying they risked losing “social licence” to operate. New Zealand’s 27 banking companies posted before-tax profits of NZ$9.7bn (US$5.6bn; £5bn) in the year to June, and are on track to pass a record $10bn next quarter.
China ‘interfering’ in Canada | Canadian PM Justin Trudeau warned that China is “play[ing] aggressive games” to undermine democratic institutions. His comments came after a news report that Beijing had funded a “clandestine network” of candidates in Canada’s 2019 election.
Socceroos World Cup squad named | Coach Graham Arnold unveiled the 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar. It includes 18-year-old striker Garang Kuol – who has yet to start a professional league match – as a wildcard selection. But there was no place for key defender Trent Sainsbury or in-form goalkeeper Mitch Langerak.
Full Story
US midterms: is it still the economy, stupid?
On the eve of the US midterms, our Washington correspondent looks at the Democrats and whether the party’s messaging during the campaign has been strong enough.
What they said …
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“We were the ones whose blood, sweat and tears financed the industrial revolution. Are we now to face double jeopardy by having to pay the cost as a result of those greenhouse gases from the industrial revolution? That is fundamentally unfair.” – Mia Mottley, Barbados prime minister
The Barbadian leader made the remarks during a blistering attack on rich nations at Cop27 in Egypt.
In numbers
And Queensland saw a net gain of more than 100,000 people in the five years to 2021, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Before bed read
Read our guide to learn how to see the blood moon tonight, as the moon takes on a red hue in a stunning total lunar eclipse. Be sure not to miss it – the next one won’t be visible from the region until 2025.
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