What we learned: Tuesday 14 January
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today, but first let’s recap the main events:
The government launched a national autism strategy.
The communications minister said Meta had no ‘immediate plan’ to abandon factchecking program in Australia.
A house in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula collapsed down a cliff amid a landslide.
Peter Dutton said he wants to “see more women running” after six-to-one gender imbalance in recent preselections.
The NSW government raised its pay offer to rail unions as it attempts to prevent worsening disruptions across Sydney’s rail network.
Daniel Duggan’s family has said they will challenge his extradition to the US in federal court.
The blog will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.
US indictment alleges Duggan trained Chinese fighter pilots, which he denies
Following on from that last post about former US marine pilot Daniel Duggan launching a court challenge fighting his extradition to the United States:
Duggan is now being held in prison in Wellington, in the central west of NSW. He was arrested in October 2022 in Orange, where he had been living with his family.
Duggan cannot be extradited while he has a legal challenge before the courts.
In December, Australia’s attorney general Mark Dreyfus said a NSW magistrate had found Duggan was eligible for surrender to the US. Dreyfus said:
Mr Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States.
In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me.
The US is seeking the extradition of Duggan on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots more than a decade ago. The allegations have not been tested in court.
A US indictment alleges he taught Chinese fighter pilots to land jets on aircraft carriers – known as “carrier-arrested landings” – in defiance of arms trafficking laws. The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa, with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.
The father of six – whose children are all Australian citizens – faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.
Duggan, who has no criminal history anywhere in the world, has faced significant isolation in prison, having been classified as a high-risk inmate. He has consistently denied the allegations against him as politically motivated, and has claimed the indictment is filled with “half-truths, falsehoods and gross embellishments”.
Updated
Daniel Duggan’s family to challenge extradition to US in federal court
Former US marine pilot Daniel Duggan has launched a court challenge fighting his extradition to the United States.
Duggan, a naturalised Australian citizen, is wanted by the US over allegations he trained Chinese fighter pilots, in defiance of arms embargos, more than a decade ago.
In December, Australia’s attorney general agreed to surrender the 56-year-old to the US.
But Duggan’s family, which has campaigned relentlessly for his release and described the allegations against him as baseless and politically motivated, has now lodged an appeal in the federal court.
In a video statement, Duggan’s wife Saffrine said his family had no choice but to pursue legal action. Saffrine Duggan said:
We have been forced to resort to court action today because the government has not been transparent about this case, despite Dan being locked up in maximum-security prison for the past 26 months with no Australian charges.
Dan is exercising his rights as an Australian citizen to due process under Australian law.
We are an Australian family and we deserve a fair go.
Updated
University of Wollongong to cut 91 full-time positions
The university aims to find $21m in savings amid a volatile economic climate facing the higher education sector.
On Tuesday, the university announced its final cost cutting measures after a $35m drop in revenue last year, attributed in part to federal government changes to its migration policy.
Interim vice-chancellor and president of the UoW, professor John Dewar, said while a challenging financial outlook for the university would continue to hit future budgets, a number of courses previously up for the chopping block would continue.
Some disciplines originally proposed for closure will now be retained through staffing and curriculum changes, including Human Geography and some teaching in Earth Sciences, French, Spanish and English Language and Linguistics.
The Final Change Plan achieves $21m in recurrent savings resulting from a reduction of 91.6 full-time equivalent positions. To date, voluntary redundancies have been accepted for around three-quarters of those positions. Change is never easy, but it is essential to secure UoW’s future.
Of the 25 disciplines planned to be axed, four will close: Cultural Studies, Japanese, Mandarin and Science and Technology Studies.
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Survivors of Rottnest Island seaplane crash issue statement
Jeremy and Patricia Connor spoke of their gratitude and offered their sympathy for those who died in the crash.
The privately owned seaplane was carrying seven people when it crashed into the sea off Western Australia’s popular tourist site Rottnest Island on 7 January, leaving three people dead.
The 63-year-old man and 65-year-old woman from Perth who were airlifted to hospital with injuries after the crash have said in a statement:
Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with our fellow passengers, their families and friends. We will be eternally grateful that ourselves and others were able to reach safety.
Looking forward, we know that it could have been an even more tragic outcome and we sincerely hope that everyone can overcome what happened and heal as time goes by.
Similarly, our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the pilot, his family, friends and colleagues. We will never forget and will always be grateful that his demonstration of how to open the emergency exit was a critical factor in our survival.
And we would like to personally thank and express our gratitude for the generous assistance and support that we have received from so many people.
In their statement, they went on to thank “members of the public who immediately responded and came to the scene in their boats to selflessly assist in the rescue and transfer the injured to shore.”
They also thanked the medical staff, rangers and volunteers at the Rottnest Island Medical Centre who provided immediate support after the incident, the RAC Rescue Helicopter Crew who airlifted them to Fiona Stanley hospital, the medical staff at Fiona Stanley hospital, as well as WA Police and Australian Transport Safety Bureau personnel involved in investigations.
All of you, without exception, were outstanding and you provided an incredibly generous and professional response that made an enormous difference and means so much to us. Thank you to all of you for everything that you did.
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Sydney Water say there has been normal operations in their plants following the closure of nine beaches in Northern Sydney due to more mystery grease balls being found:
Sydney Water can confirm there have been no issues with the normal operations of the Warriewood, North Head, Bondi, Malabar, and Cronulla Water Resource Recovery plants.
We comply with our licences as set by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and only discharge compliant wastewater during normal operations. Sydney Water is continuing to work with the EPA to investigate the cause of the grease balls.
Charges laid over two separate suspicious Bondi fires
Police have laid charges over two separate suspicious fires in Bondi last year.
In the first incident, around 2am on 17 October, two men allegedly poured accelerant under the front door of a business near Bondi Beach before igniting it and fleeing. The fire self-extinguished, but caused significant damage to the premises.
After inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a home in Jannali on 18 October and charged, next due to appear at Sutherland local court on 21 January. A second man, 37, was arrested at a correctional facility on 12 December and charged, next due to appear at Waverley local court on 22 January.
In the second separate incident, police responded to reports of a fire on 20 October at a Jewish business in Bondi, Lewis’ Continental Kitchen. It was found well alight and then extinguished by firefighters, with no injuries reported among the residents, who were evacuated.
Detectives said that two men – allegedly with their faces concealed and armed with a sledgehammer – attended Campbell Parade at Bondi Beach just after 2am on 15 October, fleeing after they were seen by a security guard who contacted police.
This morning, detectives arrested a 40-year-old at Riverstone police station, charged in relation to both alleged incidents. A second man, 26, was also arrested at a home in Bardia today and charged in relation to the alleged 15 October incident.
Both men were refused bail with the older man due to appear at Waverley local court today, and the younger to appear at Campbelltown local court.
Police are understood to still be investigating possible motives for each alleged incident.
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Greens MP calls for Sydney Water disclosures over waste discharges
As nine Northern Sydney beaches have closed due to more mystery balls washing up – similar to the human waste found on beaches in the Eastern Suburbs last year – NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson says the problem must be addressed by the Environment Protection Authority and Sydney Water:
The repeated discharge of sewage material on to Sydney beaches in recent months is a deep sign that there is a systemic failure in Sydney’s wastewater management. We know that Sydney loses significant amounts of water through cracked and damaged pipes, it’s time for Sydney Water to tell the public how much sewage is leaking into our environment. If they don’t know, why don’t they don’t know, because they should know.
Sydney Water has admitted that the human waste on beaches in Sydney’s east last year may have absorbed wastewater discharges indicating that our current treatment systems are not fit for purpose and the question remains, how much waste products are discharged by Sydney Water as part of their ‘normal operations’?
We need to have a serious conversation about the accountability of utilities like Sydney Water, and we must do better when it comes to taking responsibility for subjects like where our crap goes. The environment cannot afford for us to just shrug and accept human waste turning up on beaches that are in regular use.
Read more about the latest beach closures here:
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Qantas head of operations explains delays caused by falling SpaceX debris
Qantas says it has been forced to delay several of its flights to South Africa at the last minute due to warnings of falling debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets re-entering Earth.
The head of Qantas’s operations centre, Ben Holland, said there was often little advance notice of where the rockets would fall over the southern Indian Ocean – the re-entry zone chosen by the space company due to its remoteness – causing the airline to delay flights on its Sydney-Johannesburg route.
Read more here:
Updated
Thanks Emily! And good afternoon everyone.
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, I’ll hand over to Natasha May to take you through the rest of today’s rolling coverage. Take care.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather update, with storms set to continue in the east with a cold front due tomorrow:
Severe Weather Update: Storms continue in the east, with a cold front due Wednesday.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) January 14, 2025
Video current: 12:30pm AEDT 14 January 2025.
Latest forecasts and warnings: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/gax64XLvSL
Nine of Sydney’s northern beaches closed
Here’s the full story from Catie McLeod, on the closures due to ball-shaped debris washing ashore:
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NSW government ups its offer to rail unions
The New South Wales government has raised its pay offer to rail unions as it attempts to prevent worsening disruptions across Sydney’s rail network resulting from industrial action.
Eight months into negotiations for a new pay deal, and amid proceedings in the Fair Work Commission and federal court, transport minister Jo Haylen announced an improved 13% pay rise plus 1% super rise across four years offer – up from the government’s starting point of 9.5% offer over three years, but much lower than the combined rail unions’ demands of 32% over four years.
Haylen said the sweetened pay offer – which also includes an additional 1% pay rise from mutual gains bargaining – was made possible due to an agreement to merge the two state bodies that run Sydney trains and regional trains over the next four years.
Merging the two organisations will lead to productivity gains and financial savings that will fund an additional 1% rise.
The improved pay offer was first floated by the government during discussions last year, with the government now revealing the details publicly and putting it to the unions formally.
The offer, which will be formally made to unions today, comes after months of rolling industrial action, which included threats of network-wide work bans before reaching a peak when rail unions ditched plans to reduce services on New Year’s Eve.
Without a deal, unions are set to proceed with industrial action which includes observing speed reductions that have gradually been decreasing. From tomorrow, some trains are set to slow to a speed of about 20km/h, far below their potential running speed of 80km/h, with commuters warned to expect delayed services.
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‘Ignorant’ man convicted over trans rally Nazi salute
A young man who performed a Nazi salute to disrupt a march in support of transgender people has been convicted but not jailed, with a magistrate describing his behaviour as unacceptable.
AAP reports that Felix John Jerzy Kiera made the gesture after stepping in front of the Trans Day of Resistance Rally, an event held to protest the marginalisation of trans and non-binary people on 23 November.
The 21-year-old was immediately arrested by police officers attending the march, which was held at Newtown in Sydney’s inner west.
Today, he pleaded guilty in Newtown Local Court to one count of knowingly displaying a Nazi symbol in public without a reasonable excuse. Kiera was supported by his father in the courtroom and handed up a letter of remorse.
He told Magistrate Alexander Mijovich, “I was ignorant, Your Honour.”
His Legal Aid lawyer argued for a non-conviction, saying the gesture was brief and did not incite anyone else to join in. However, the magistrate opted to convict the 21-year-old and impose a $1000 fine, and said:
The message has to go out to the community that this is just unacceptable in any event.
SpaceX debris landed in Australia in 2022
Just circling back to our earlier post, with news Qantas has been forced to delay several of its flights to South Africa amid warnings of falling debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets re-entering Earth’s atmosphere.
You may remember in 2022 that space debris found in the Snowy Mountains in southern New South Wales was found to belong to a craft built by Musk’s SpaceX company.
As Natasha May reported at the time, Brad Tucker, an ANU astrophysicist, first realised the timing and location of the debris falling coincided with a SpaceX spacecraft which re-entered the Earth’s atmosphere at 7am on 9 July, 20 months after its launch in November 2020.
You can read the full story below:
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Nine Sydney beaches close after ball-shaped debris washes ashore
Nine Sydney beaches have been closed after grey ball-shaped debris was found washed ashore. Northern Beaches Council advised beachgoers to avoid the following beaches until further notice:
Manly
Dee Why
Long Reef
Queenscliff
Freshwater
North Curl Curl
South Curl Curl
North Steyne
North Narrabeen
The council was alerted to the debris via the EPA and is working closely to collect samples for testing, it said.
So far, most samples identified are marble-sized with a few larger in size. The Council is organising the safe removal of the matter and is inspecting other beaches.
Last October, thousands of mystery balls washed up on Sydney beaches and were later revealed to be consistent with human-generated waste. It forced the closure of multiple beaches.
Musk's SpaceX causes Qantas delays
Qantas has been forced to delay several of its flights to South Africa at the last minute due to warnings of falling debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets reentering earth.
Ben Holland, head of Qantas’ operations centre, said there was often little advanced notice of where the rockets would fall over the southern Indian Ocean – the reentry zone chosen by the space company due to its remoteness – causing the airline to delay flights on its Sydney-Johannesburg route.
Over the past few weeks we’ve had to delay several flights between Johannesburg and Sydney due to advice received from the US Government regarding the re-entry of SpaceX rockets over an extensive area of the Southern Indian Ocean.
While we try to make any changes to our schedule in advance, the timing of recent launches have moved around at late notice which has meant we’ve had to delay some flights just prior to departure. Our teams notify customers of changes to their flight as soon as we know it will be impacted.
Customers generally understand this is outside of airlines’ control and that we can’t fly in the area when the rocket re-entry is taking place. We’re in contact with SpaceX to see if they can refine the areas and time windows for the rocket re-entries to minimise future disruption to our passengers on the route.
Tropical low forming north of Pilbara in WA
The Bureau of Meteorology says tropical low, labelled 10U, is gradually forming to the north of the Pilbara in Western Australia.
A second tropical low, labelled 11U, may form off the Kimberley coast later this week, it said.
A tropical low, labelled 10U, is gradually forming to the north of the #Pilbara in #WA. A second tropical low, labelled 11U, may form off the #KimberleyCoast later this week.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) January 14, 2025
Keep up-to-date by visiting our #TropicalCyclone 7 day forecast - https://t.co/ZYwfOclhKZ pic.twitter.com/xDrAqqwsuz
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Rishworth wraps up speech, launching national autism strategy
Amanda Rishworth wrapped up her speech, saying that the national strategy provides “a solid pathway forward to a more inclusive Australia, where autistic people are supported and empowered to flourish in all aspects of their lives.”
I am really excited to see what we can achieve together over the next months and years ahead. Thank you for everyone who dedicated their time, their effort, their stories, their lived experience to help create a strategy that’s truly made for and by autistic people. I look forward to continuing to work with you into the future.
Government to develop resources to improve autism diagnosis process
Amanda Rishworth said another common theme throughout consultation was a lack of resources to support people before and after their autism diagnosis.
Through this action plan, we will develop resources to support autistic people to access affordable, quality diagnoses and ensure these resources are in formats that are accessible for autistic people, such as through video, visual information, easy to read and in languages other than English.
Rishworth also launching first action plan to implement strategy
Along with the national autism strategy, Amanda Rishworth is also launching the first action plan – “which outlines the immediate practical steps the government will take to achieve the strategies, vision and outcomes”.
She said the immediate actions would be funded to create tangible improvements in priority areas – employment, social connection, better support through the diagnostic journey and community understanding.
Rishworth said one of the key funding areas in the first instance would be peer support, because “not feeling accepted or understood was something we heard repeatedly through our consultations on the strategy”.
Having someone walk alongside you as a peer, share your journey and exchange advice can make all the difference, ensuring an autistic person doesn’t feel alone.
Rishworth says government was committed to working with Australians with autism to develop strategy
Amanda Rishworth said it was important for the government to work with autistic Australians while developing the strategy, to “promote greater inclusion and acceptance and ensure that spaces and places respond to the needs of autistic people”.
Our government really was committed to work with and for autistic people on this journey. We heard you when you told us that many barriers autistic people face happen every day in their lives, and this includes but is not limited to barriers to receiving good education, barriers to employment, barriers to navigating systems that are only suited to neurotypical people. This strategy lays the foundations to break down the barriers and create a more inclusive society.
Rishworth launching Australia's national autism strategy
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, is launching Australia’s national autism strategy.
Speaking from Perth, Rishworth said this was the first Australian government strategy specifically dedicated to “improving inclusion, support and life outcomes for autistic people across Australia.”
Along with building community understanding and knowledge of the actions we all can take to ensure that our world is inclusive of the autistic community.
We have been working on this strategy for two years. It probably feels longer, to some of the oversight committee, but through its development, we repeatedly heard autistic people often are exhausted because they are masking who they are while living in an neurotypical world.
Albanese warns tech giants that ‘Australian elections are a matter for Australians’
The prime minister Anthony Albanese has warned social media giants that Australia has foreign interference laws and “Australian elections are a matter for Australians.”
The PM gave the warning in an interview with the Age, saying:
We have foreign interference laws in this country and Australian elections are a matter for Australians. I have no intention of being a ... commentator on what people overseas want to engage in. People will make their own judgments and have their own views about that.
Elon Musk, who owns social media giant X, had his super political action committee spend about $200m to help elect Donald Trump to a second presidency.
Musk has previously used X to describe the platform as the home of “freedom” and brand Australia as the home of “censorship” after the Australian federal court ordered him to hide posts containing videos of a stabbing at a Sydney church from users globally, after the eSafety commissioner sought an injunction.
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Australia security aims tangled in Vanuatu election
Australia’s regional security ambitions are on the ballot this week in Vanuatu, where voters will elect a fresh government.
As AAP reports, the Pacific nation is off to the polls on Thursday for a snap election. Plenty is at stake for both Vanuatu and the region – and Australia also has skin in the game.
In 2022, Anthony Albanese’s government announced a bilateral security agreement with Vanuatu, with the foreign minister, Penny Wong, leading a bipartisan delegation to Port Vila to sign the deal.
In 2024, Australia also helped create two new regional entities: a Pacific response group to coordinate military co-deployments, including to disasters, and the $400m Pacific policing initiative.
However, the Australia-Vanuatu deal never entered into force: instead, it was cause for deep introspection in Vanuatu, with many MPs upset with the prime minister Ishmael Kalsakau’s handling of the agreement.
The Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s senior analyst, Blake Johnson, said the agreement was not widely enough consulted amongst Vanuatu politicians and “that was a reason for a vote against [Kalsakau] as prime minister.”
Kalsakau lasted another nine months before shifting allegiances in parliament allowed Sato Kilman a sixth stint as prime minister. Kilman was replaced by Charlot Salwai in October 2023.
While Kilman and Salwai did not ratify the security agreement, Kalsakau has vowed to do so if his opposition bloc is returned to power.
Updated
Carroll says stability of McCrae coastline had not been raised with government prior to landslide
Ben Carroll was also asked about the house in McCrae, which collapsed down a cliff in a landslide earlier this morning.
He said no concerns have been raised with the government about the stability of the coastline hills in that area:
First and foremost, my thoughts are with the family in this house. It must be devastating for them, and obviously their neighbours as well. So this will be something that obviously the planning minister, the minister for building, all authorities will look at what’s happened to you, consult with the local council, but it hasn’t been an issue that’s been raised previously.
Acting Victorian premier says ‘no place at all for family violence’ amid investigations within state police
The acting Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, held a press conference in Werribee earlier this morning with the party’s candidate for the upcoming byelection in the seat, John Lister.
Carroll was asked about reports Victoria police have investigated 680 employees over last five years, including over allegations of family violence, predatory behaviour, sexual harassment or inappropriate comments and sexual assault or child sexual offences.
He said all Victorians need to call out family violence and “as a male, as a leader in the community, I need to call out that this is gendered”:
That it is men that are the perpetrators, no matter what occupation they’re in. We support police doing everything they can to eradicate it, and everything they can to support victim-survivors.
Asked how Victorians are supposed to feel safe when those who work to protect them are at centre of such allegations, Carroll responded there was “no place at all for family violence”:
It is the number one law and order issue in the state. The family home where women should be at their safest, the evidence shows that it is most often the most unsafe place for them. So beyond the police, we have lots of work to do in terms of men’s behaviour change ...
I’ve got more work to do in the area of respectful relationships, educating young boys, and we need to call it out and make sure we can do everything we can to support victim-survivors ... in housing, with their pets, with their kids, doing everything we can to know that they’re supported and continue to can to eradicate it.
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Autism peak body says national strategy needs to be followed with immediate action
Autism Awareness Australia (AAA) has welcomed the government today launching the first National Autism Strategy, but says it must be followed with immediate action to address autistic children who are losing their National Disability Insurance Scheme packages.
AAA’s chief executive officer, Nicole Rogerson, said approximately 600 autistic children are having their NDIS packages removed every week:
There needs to be a streamlined approach to address the funding gaps between the commonwealth and state governments because the current changes to the NDIS are having a real impact on Australian children.
The unintended consequence of removing commonwealth support before the states are ready is a generation of autistic kids who don’t get the help they need.
While the strategy’s extensive list of commitments is a great start, until they are implemented these kids are missing out on the vital support they need. We need action now to fill the gaps.
AAA is calling for additional resources and training for primary and secondary school teachers so they are equipped to support children with autism in the classroom.
Updated
Mornington Peninusla house slide a case of ‘total destruction’
As for the house which has slid down the cliff, Daw said it was a case of “total destruction”:
The house used to be a 3-storey now, it’s no longer a three-storey house. It’s been pushed down by the land slip.
He said drone footage would help give “a better picture of what’s going on there”.
Updated
At least 11 houses being evacuated in Mornington Peninsula
Around 11 houses are being evacuated after a the landslide in the Mornington Peninsula.
Mark Daw from the SES is speaking to the media now about the incident which has seen one house slide down a cliff:
We have started to evacuate all the houses around them… in an exclusion zone.
Daw said experts are currently assessing potential for further collapse but are unsure at the moment.
Daw said he didn’t have a precise figure of how many houses had bee evacuated but estimated “roughly around 11, 12 houses to be evacuated.”
Updated
Missing man’s body found in swollen dam
A man’s body has been found days after he went missing in a rain-swollen dam, AAP reports.
The man in his 40s was reported missing on Sunday afternoon after he dived into Beardmore Dam near St George, in Queensland’s south-west, and failed to resurface.
An extensive search was launched with police, SES volunteers, swift water rescue crews and aerial teams scouring the dam. The man’s body was found in the water within the search area before 6am on Tuesday, police said.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
After months of heavy rain across Queensland, the dam is currently 104.5% full, according to SunWater.
Updated
Female cyclist killed after being struck by car near Sydney
A cyclist has died after being struck by a car in Sydney’s south.
The incident occurred about 8am today on the Princes Highway at Waterfall. Paramedics arrived to treat the woman but she died at the scene.
She is yet to be formally identified, but is believed to be in her 70s.
The female driver, 23, was taken to Sutherland hospital for mandatory testing.
Officers have established a crime scene and commenced an investigation into the crash, with a report to be prepared for the coroner.
All southbound lanes of the Princes Highway are closed at Waterfall and motorists are advised to avoid the area.
No charges have been laid.
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Hamish Macdonald to replace Sarah Macdonald as host of Sydney Mornings
Just to some breaking news, if you missed it amid the Peter Dutton press conference:
Hamish Macdonald will replace Sarah Macdonald as host of ABC Radio Sydney’s Mornings program, a month after listeners and staff reacted angrily to the axing of the popular female presenter.
Amanda Meade has the full story below:
Dutton says one of first calls as PM, if elected, would be to Israeli prime minister
As we flagged earlier, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is travelling to Israel and the Occupied Palestinian Territories.
Asked if he would plan to visit Israel as prime minister if elected, Peter Dutton said:
I visited Israel only a matter of months ago. Israel obviously, as we know, we should remind ourselves of this fact, is our most important ally in the Middle East … One of my first calls after the election will be to the prime minister of Israel, and it will be a priority for our government to mend that relationship quickly, because it’s in our national [interest] to do so … I’m very happy to visit.
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Dutton wants to 'see more women running’ after six-to-one gender imbalance in recent preselections
Q: The Financial Review has reported the Liberal party has pre-selected one woman and six men for seats held by retiring members. Shouldn’t your party be doing more to fix its gender balance?
Peter Dutton responded that the candidates that have been selected are immersed in their local communities:
In our party, we have a democratically based process where our members make decisions about who the candidates will be. In the Labor party, the faceless union bosses decide who will be the candidates.
In many cases, those people either don’t live in the local area, or they’re imposed against the will of the local Labor members. Ours is a much more democratic process.
Of course, we want to see more women running in seats and we have got some incredible candidates … We have more pre-selections to take place between now and when the Parliament dissolves.
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Dutton won’t attend national Australia Day event in Canberra, despite calls from PM
Over the past few days when he has been asked about Australia Day, Anthony Albanese has said he is attending a national ceremony in Canberra, urging Peter Dutton to do to the same.
Dutton just told reporters he would not be attending because “it is not the tradition”.
I know the prime minister carries on with this, but I think, frankly, the prime minister is pretty unhinged in some of his comments …
He criticised the voice referendum and said the PM had “divided our country since then, and the Australia Day episode and the way in which he has tried to walk both sides of the street is another example of it”.
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Would Peter Dutton legislate to make 26 January Australia Day?
He told reporters he was “happy to look at the suggestion and [that we] have to make sure we continue to be proud of who we are as a country.”
Dutton claims modern Coalition is the ‘party for the Australian worker’
Peter Dutton has also been touting the Coalition position that it would force local councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day.
Asked whether this was a decision for local council’s themselves to make, the opposition leader said the citizenship act was a federal act so the federal government should give the direction:
The prime minister, as we have seen in a number of decisions he has made over the term of this parliament, has made decisions he thinks will be popular with left inner-city Green voters because in his seat, he is most at risk from the Greens, and that’s what seems to dominate the prime minister’s every thought.
He continued to criticise Labor, saying “this modern Labor party is not the party of the worker” and went on to claim:
They are the party of the union boss, not the union member, and the Coalition, in its modern form, is the party for the Australian worker, and for small business and for aspiration.
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Dutton says he supports Queensland ‘adult crime, adult time’ laws
Peter Dutton has been speaking about crime laws, and was asked whether he supports the “adult crime, adult time” laws in Queensland:
Yes, I do.
As Andrew Messenger has previously reported, the laws apply to children as young as 10. They designate 13 offences as “adult crimes”, including serious assaults, breaking and entering and dangerous operation of a vehicle.
Children convicted of them are subject to the same length of sentence as adults. If convicted of murder they must be given a life sentence with a 20-year minimum non-parole period.
The government has conceded the laws are contrary to international and state human rights law, are discriminatory against young people and will “have a greater impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children”.
Dutton says Labor has been ‘asleep at the wheel’ on internet connectivity
Responding to the government’s NBN announcement yesterday, Peter Dutton argued consumers are beginning to move to Starlink or other third-party providers “in good part that is because the government has been asleep at the wheel [when] it comes to internet services and providers”:
As I say, this is a decision the prime minister could have made three years ago but instead is making now on the eve of an election.
As a reminder, it was under a Liberal Turnbull government that the NBN’s rollout swapped to a Fiber To The Node model, leaving the last few miles to the faster-to-install but relatively unreliable copper wires.
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Dutton claims interest rate cut would have occurred by now under Coalition government
Taking a question on the prospect of a rate cut, amid the falling Australian dollar, Peter Dutton said Labor had “pulled every wrong lever” over the past two years.
He claimed that interests rates “would have already come down by now if there had been a Coalition government in place”.
But it is a concerning time for many families. We have had a threefold increase in the number of manufacturing businesses that have closed in Australia under Labor’s watch.
Dutton addressing media in Queensland
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to reporters from Ipswich in Queensland. He has been touting the local candidate, saying the seat of Blair is a “must-win” for the Coalition to form government:
If Anthony Albanese wins the seat of Blair, he will stay on as prime minister, so this is a must-win seat for us. I believe we can win the seat and every day we get our country back on track.
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One person in stable condition following landslide in Victoria
Ambulance Victoria has provided an update on the landslide at McCrae, with a house collapsing down a hill.
A spokesperson said paramedics responded to the incident around 8.45am this morning.
One person has been transported by road to Frankston hospital, believed to be in a stable condition.
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Witness tells radio station about collapsed house at McCrae
A caller to Melbourne’s 3AW radio witnessed the landslide at McCrae, saying the house landed at the back of another home and “if there’s a person in there, it would be horrendous”.
The caller, named Kim, said she was driving to a morning walk when she noticed the house had fallen down the hillside:
The house has completely fallen down the hilltop … It’s behind other houses or units that are kind of at the front, and this house has completely crashed down … It’s landed into the back of another house.
Kim said there were two homes at the top of the hill that weren’t impacted and the units that are on the street level were standing.
We had that deep downpour two days ago, so I would say that’s what softened the land[ing]. It’s a fairly steep incline that the houses are built on.
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House collapses down cliff amid landslide in Victoria
A house in Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula has collapsed down a cliff amid a landslide.
The State Emergency Service said it was responding to the incident at McCrae, with other emergency services on the scene, working to make the scene safe.
One person had been treated by paramedics and there are no concerns anyone else is trapped, a spokesperson said.
Tanina Osborne, who swims in the area each morning, posted a video to Facebook from the scene, saying she had heard an “almighty tumble, like a truckload of rock had just been dumped on the ground” – but it was the house collapsing down a cliff.
She said it appeared to have fallen on to another house.
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Victorian police commissioner says force would abide by decision if told not to march in uniform
The Victorian police commissioner, Shane Patton, told ABC Melbourne he did not understand the concerns from Transgender Victoria about police involvement in the pride march and he would be “keen to hear” from the organisation.
We know from time to time we have incidents, and have done over the years. We can’t say that we’re perfect in that regard, but when we have an incident we try and address it. We’ve got training about human rights, about respect, about inclusivity, about diversity. We support our employees who are also part of those communities. So it is important to us, and that’s why we’ve participated.
Patton said the police were still in discussions with Midsumma about their role in this year’s march, scheduled for 2 February, including whether police are allowed to march in uniform. He said his view, and the view of the police pride network is they would only want to march if they’re allowed to march in uniform, but the force would abide by the organisation’s decision:
If they determine that they don’t want us to march in uniform because, for whatever reason, the risk is too great or there’s a feeling among some members of the community that they don’t want us there – well, we’ll abide by that. That would be disappointing but we’d abide by that.
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Transgender Victoria withdraws from Midsumma, citing police engagement concerns
Transgender Victoria has withdrawn from the 2025 Midsumma pride march citing concern about police engagement.
Police clashed with protesters at last year’s march, the culmination of tensions over police taking part in the march.
In a post on Instagram, the Transgender Victoria chief executive, Dr Son Vivienne, said it was a difficult decision to pull out but a community forum and survey revealed trans and gender diverse people have “a deep and pervasive discontent” about their interactions and treatment by Victoria police.
We urge Victoria police to commit to systemic reform pertinent to pride, protest, public safety and TGD human rights, including comprehensive cultural sensitivity education and steps towards nuanced and gender affirming data collection.
TGV has suspended its involvement from the march for one year, pending police accepting TGV’s requests for change.
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Corpse flower about to bloom in Sydney’s botanic gardens
A corpse flower is about to bloom in Sydney for the first time in nearly 20 years.
The plant – the Bunga Bangkai, Titan Arum or Amorphophallus titanum – has the largest, smelliest flower-spike in the world and flowers for just 24 hours, once every few years.
One of them is about to bloom at the Royal Botanic Garden in Sydney, expected to bloom sometime between 15 and 20 January.
The gardens said the plant grew around 20cm over the weekend. It said:
This will be the fifth time a corpse flower has bloomed at the Royal Botanic Garden Sydney, with various plants in our collection previously flowering in 2010, 2008, 2004 and a double bloom in 2006.
Our reporter Henry Belot went along to take a whiff of a separate corpse flower plant in Geelong, which bloomed in November last year:
Patton says officers accused of wrongdoing will face disciplinary action even if no charges
Shane Patton said that “we’re trying to do better”.
We’ve moved a long, long way, but I will not stand for this type of conduct in the organisation. We will hold them to account. We have done so, and we’ll continue to do it.
Patton said even if investigations do not proceed to charges, officers accused of wrongdoing still face disciplinary action:
Where a member of the public wouldn’t be held to account, we hold them to account in a discipline forum at a lower standard of proof, because we are holding those employees to a high standard.
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‘We are doing everything we can because this offending is abhorrent and has to stop’: Patton
Continuing from our last post: Shane Patton said in 2015 Taskforce Salus was set up to look into predatory behaviour committed by Victoria police employees.
In 2021, it was replaced by the sexual offences and family violence unit, which he said investigates the most serious cases involving Victoria police employees.
We changed our policies. We changed our procedures. We have stand alone processes. We have moved a long way.
We’ve still got offending occurring, don’t get me wrong on that, but we are doing everything we can because we realise this type of offending is abhorrent offending and it’s what we have to stop. We are holding police officers to account. We are holding other employees to account and, as I said, have implemented a range of different activities.
We were the first policing organisation in Australia to introduce such a specialist workforce … we were prepared to turn those stones over and investigate them.
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Shane Patton addresses reports Victoria police have investigated 680 employees over last five years
The Victoria police chief commissioner, Shane Patton, just spoke on ABC Radio Melbourne about sexual violence in the force’s ranks after the Herald Sun reported police have investigated 680 of its own officers in the past five years.
This included 90 members investigated over allegations of serious family violence, 270 over alleged predatory behaviour, sexual harassment or inappropriate comments and 185 for alleged sexual assault or child sexual offences.
Asked by host Raf Epstein if the figures were correct, Patton replied: “Yes, it’s around that number.
And when you say officers, that’s all employees. So out of the 22,000 employees we’ve had over the journey, that could be public servants as well. But yeah, it’s an alarming number.
The commissioner said the majority of police investigated were uniformed officers but denied there was a cultural issue in Victoria police.
This isn’t just specific to police. I mean those types of offences – other than the predatory behaviour, where they’re leveraging off their office offences – they are right across the spectrum of the community. Am I trying to defend that? No.
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LA fires could push up Australian insurance costs
Australians may have to pay more for their home insurance, AAP reports, as catastrophic fires in the US add to a growing list of climate disasters driving up premiums.
Natural disasters have fuelled Australians’ insurance costs beyond inflation, analysis from the Australia Institute has shown. Even events on the other side of the world, such as the Los Angeles fires, can still affect Australia as the factors which increase the frequency and scale of natural disasters globally will also do so within Australia.
This has left disaster-prone regions of Australia almost uninsurable as coverage becomes unaffordable, the Australia Institute senior research fellow David Richardson said.
The increasing number, scale and intensity of natural disasters like bushfires, cyclones and floods – due to our changing climate – is a global phenomenon which will impact insurance premiums around the world, including here in Australia.
The LA fires are a tragedy which will have global consequences for years to come.
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PM says Coalition has ‘no plan’ to overcome state opposition to nuclear projects
The prime minister has been criticising the Coalition’s nuclear energy plan. Anthony Albanese told reporters you could “put the detail of [the] policy on the side of an atom, because it’s just not there”.
The idea that you would stop the rollout of renewables supported by gas, that you would say ‘do nothing until the 2040s’ and then we’ll give you nuclear reactors in different parts of Australia … One of the sites that’s been chosen … at Liddell in Newcastle, it’s an earthquake zone. It’s an earthquake zone.
Albanese also said the Coalition has “no plan” for overcoming the opposition towards their plan:
[It’s] there from not just Coalition governments in Queensland and the Northern Territory, but the opposition leader in Victoria, the new one, there’s a new rightwing leader there. They knocked off John Pesutto for being too progressive and he refused to back in [their] nuclear plan. Yesterday, the NSW Coalition [said they] don’t back in his nuclear plan, either.
He’s planning to do it in places that have already got other projects under way, like Liddell and Wyalla. So it’s unclear where they would actually be, but that’s a debate that we’ll have in the election campaign.
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Mark Dreyfus on his way to Israel today: PM
On the attorney general’s visit to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, Anthony Albanese said:
People regularly visit friendly nations and there’s nothing surprising about that. [Mark Dreyfus] was due to go in October [but] due to what was happening on the ground there with attacks from the terrorist organisation Hezbollah, that visit didn’t go ahead, then was deferred until January, and the attorney general is, I think, on his way to Israel today, and he’ll have a range of meetings.
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Albanese defends NBN announcement after ‘joke’ comment from Ley
Back to the NBN, Anthony Albanese criticised comments from the deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, that yesterday’s announcement was a joke. He said:
She called that a joke. Well, what was a joke was pretending that copper was better than fibre in the 21st century. That’s what was a joke. And halfway through their term, they had to reverse that.
The PM said to the media pack in Nowra “imagine what Covid would have been like for people in this community if we didn’t have the [NBN]”.
Just imagine the old dial-up … you’d hear the buzzing going around and around and around, trying to connect. It would have been so difficult for people.
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Albanese takes question on Australia Day
Taking questions, Anthony Albanese was asked whether he supports the proposal from Peter Dutton to force councils to hold citizenship ceremonies on Australia Day?
The PM said his council does hold them on Australia Day, and he would be attending the national Australia Day commemorations in Canberra.
I hope Peter Dutton this year makes the choice to join the national Australia Day celebrations in Canberra, that’s what I did as the opposition leader. That’s what I’ve done as prime minister and I hope as well he attends the national Australia Day awards … It is inspirational and I look forward to celebrating Australia Day.
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Prime minister addressing media in Nowra
Anthony Albanese has been speaking to reporters in Nowra and touting the benefits of NBN, after yesterday’s announcement.
Speaking just now alongside local MPs, announcing $5m for the Nowra riverfront precinct, the prime minister said:
When we were elected last to government, we created the NBN. I was the communications minister, rolling out the [network] in 2013. And then we had the absurdity of the incoming Abbott government saying we don’t need fibre, we’ll go back to copper, and they bought enough copper to go around the world not once, but twice.
We need, when it comes to the national broadband network, to do it right, do it once and do it with fibre. And what this will do is complete the rollout with this $3bn injection.
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Bones being sent to forensics after being located at Sydney beach
New South Wales police conducted searches at South Cronulla and Wanda beaches yesterday, after bones were found at the weekend.
Police said crime scenes were established at both locations, and the bones were being forensically examined to determine their origin.
It is understood the search has been suspended and forensic results may take a number of weeks.
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Queensland teenager charged with attempted murder following alleged supermarket stabbing
A Queensland teenager has been charged after allegedly stabbing a supermarket employee with a knife.
Around 5.22pm yesterday afternoon, the 13-year-old boy allegedly approached a supermarket staff member at Yamanto and stabbed her with a knife.
Police allege the boy fled the scene before being detained by members of the public nearby a short time later.
First aid was rendered to the woman who was transported to the Princess Alexandra Hospital, where it is understood she remains in a critical condition.
The 13-year-old boy was taken into custody and has been charged with attempted murder. He is due to appear before Ipswich Children’s Court today.
Daniel weighs in on public spending debate amid Labor and Coalition spars
Zoe Daniel said the government needs to be careful about public spending feeding into inflation – but that this is not only a federal issue.
I think it’s obvious when you see state governments pumping money into infrastructure that that potentially can have an inflationary impact. That said, we also don’t want the economy to slip into recession.
So we sort of have this really delicate balance going on in terms of the government actually participating in keeping the economy out of that recession stream and fostering inflation at the same time.
Daniel said Australians are frustrated with how this has impacted mortgages, but “many people do understand that a lot of that has been fed by international factors”.
Yesterday, the Coalition attacked Labor for an increase in public-sector employees, labelling it wasteful. Katy Gallagher said the public service “touches every Australian’s life one way or another” and that “Peter Dutton and his team want to go back to the era of robodebt”.
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Daniel accuses Coalition of deliberately throwing nuclear into mix as idea with little clarity on costs
Asked if voters in her electorate are open to the Coalition’s nuclear proposal, Zoe Daniel said: “I think they are.”
She said there are many small business owners in her electorate who are worried about the rising cost of energy, and that there was confusion right across the country as to what the best approach is to tackle costs:
I think that that’s been a little bit deliberate on the part of the Coalition, to sort of throw nuclear in as an idea without enough detail or real clarity around what the actual costs are. It’s become a real ‘he said, she said’ conversation between the Coalition and Labor.
Daniel said she has no ideological objection to nuclear but “I think for Australia now, it’s too expensive and it’s too slow”.
And unlike most other countries, we have other options in renewables that places like the UK and France don’t have with sun and wind and to some degree hydro.
I think the biggest issue with the nuclear conversation is stalling investment in renewable energy, prolonging the future of fossil fuels when we don’t need to, and making it really difficult for business that works on really long run time frames to actually build things like offshore wind.
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Independent MP urges more climate action amid interconnected cost-of-living crisis
The Independent MP for Goldstein, Zoe Daniel, was also on ABC RN this morning to discuss climate change – which she said is interconnected with other issues such as integrity and economics.
I don’t think that you can divide that out and ignore it and then say, ‘Oh, well, are we going to try and reduce the cost of living, but in doing that, we’re going to ramp up fossil fuel production’. Because I think people in an electorate like mine understand that all these things are interconnected, and they find those bigger picture issues really concerning, while they’re also grappling with how to run their household on a day-to-day basis.
She said Australia needs stronger reduction targets for 2035 – “which neither of the major parties have put on the table” – and Australians were looking at the Los Angeles wildfires with “collective horror”.
I think largely people understand the climate change impact that is causing that. But I also think that people are grappling with, well, how do we pay our bills on a day-to-day level?
Daniel said that she wasn’t “pumping up Labor’s record broadly over the last three years either”, but when it comes to the Coalition’s record she doesn’t see “any real change in [its] positioning on climate policy, on women and gender equality”.
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Rowland reacts to number of women preselected by Liberal party to replace retiring MPs
Michelle Rowland was also asked about the fact just one woman has been preselected to replace eight Liberal MPs who are retiring at the next election. Is she disappointed by this?
The minister said this is “par for the course when it comes to the Liberal party”.
Clearly, Peter Dutton talks a big game when it comes to these issues, but the reality is borne out by the fact that they continue to overlook women for public office … For my mind, that says everything about Peter Dutton being stuck in the past, just as he’s stuck in the past around the national broadband network, his response to this announcement is to call it a joke, which is an insult to regional communities.
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Rowland says Meta has no ‘immediate plan’ to abandon factchecking program in Australia
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has been speaking to ABC RN about Meta’s decision to all but abandon factchecking.
Asked how concerned she is the move would potentially worsen the level of misinformation online, Rowland said social media has a social responsibility:
We are aware as a government that, starting in the US, that Meta will be ending its third-party factchecking program. We have been advised by Meta Australia that there’s no immediate plan to end the third-party factchecking program in Australia, including prior to a federal election, but I think that Australians will be questioning the amount of speech, the amount of civic content, for example, that Meta has indicated people will continue to see on their feeds.
As a government, when as a government we make clear that the tech companies do have that social, economic and democratic responsibility, regardless of where companies operate, they must still abide by Australian laws and Meta has indicated to the government that they intend to do that.
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Gallagher says first half of year will be ‘contested space’ amid election debates
Katy Gallagher said Australia was “for sure” heading into election season, telling the program:
The day and the formal infrastructure around that is a decision for the prime minister. It is no surprise that the first half of this year, I think it will be contested space.
She mentioned a number of announcements Labor has made, including for the NBN. But is this too little too late, with the Coalition talking about changing to Elon Musk’s Starlink?
Gallagher said it was important Australia has fixed broadband services across the country:
With other technology like 5G that people use, the speed and capacity of that is contingent on how many people are using that technology at a particular point in time. Having the [NBN] as a publicly owned economic infrastructure, we believe it is really important.
That gives people choice. It gives them reliability and affordability, importantly, to use broadband as they need to … High-speed fixed broadband to premises is really important that part of the technology mix.
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Gallagher says national autism strategy about boosting economic inclusion and community support
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has been speaking with ABC News Breakfast before today’s announcement of a national autism strategy, as we flagged earlier.
Gallagher said this was a personal issue for her and the strategy was focused on areas such as “economic inclusion, community support, better facilities and being conscious of the needs of autistic people”.
As a parent of a young woman with autism, I know first-hand how hard it has been to have the right tests done, the diagnosis done and how, without all of that, how lost I think she felt for many years as we navigated that path.
This [has], for many people with autism, been a hidden condition, where we force people with autism to navigate the non-autistic world and that is difficult for many of them. This is a real step in providing greater community understanding of how autistic people navigate the world that non-autistic people live in, and how we can better support them to do so.
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Attorney general to visit Israel and occupied Palestinian territories this week
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will travel to Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories this week.
In a statement, he said the visit was to “demonstrate Australia’s longstanding friendship with the Israeli people and our commitment to peace in the Middle East”.
He described Australia’s relationship with Israel as “deep and enduring” and said on the trip he will reiterate Australia’s demand for the release of all remaining hostages, a ceasefire, increased humanitarian access to Gaza and for international law to be upheld.
Dreyfus will also restate Australia’s position on achieving a two-state solution, the statement said.
In my meetings with Israeli officials I will convey Australia’s support for Israel’s security and its right to defend itself in the face of terrorism.
I will also visit the occupied Palestinian territories and make clear Australia’s support for Palestinians’ right to self-determination and commitment to meeting humanitarian needs in Gaza and the West Bank.
Israel’s offensive in Gaza has killed more than 46,500 Palestinians and wounded 109,571 since 7 October 2023, the Palestinian territory’s health ministry said, after Hamas’s attack on Israel in which 1,200 Israelis were killed and 250 taken hostage.
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Acoss CEO strongly opposed to super access proposal based on life expectancy
The chief executive of the Australian Council of Social Services, Dr Cassandra Goldie, has been speaking with Sunrise this morning about a pension proposal for superannuation access to be based on differing life expectancies based on where you live.
She said she strongly opposed the proposal, because there are people all over the country struggling to get paid work:
We know that people on low incomes have shorter working lives. They’re often in hard labour jobs, nurses who have been doing labour work for a very long time and we don’t want to see anybody have to wait even longer to get access to the age pension, which is only $82 a day … but jobseeker is way less at just $59 per day. And so, it’s a huge difference if you have to wait even longer to be able to finally get access to the age pension.
Goldie said the super system was “already way too complicated” and what needs to happen is making sure “that regardless of your age, the income support that you need when you can’t get access to paid work is enough”.
The reality is that people on lower incomes across the country are the ones who would be seriously disadvantaged by this. We are really alarmed that anybody would be suggesting now, in a cost-of-living crisis, that you would be having to wait even longer on jobseeker – which is woefully inadequate – whilst you’re waiting to turn, let’s say, 70, just because of where you happen to live.
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Good morning
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us! I’ll be taking you through our live coverage for most of today.
If you see something that needs attention on the blog, you can always reach out via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s go.
Police investigating alleged car theft and crash in Sydney
New South Wales police are investigating the theft of a car and a subsequent crash in Sydney’s south-west this morning.
A 48-year-old man was at a car wash in Macquarie Fields at about 3.30am when he was threatened by three people armed with a knife, police said in a statement.
Two of them took his car, as well as his mobile phone and wallet, while a third followed on a scooter.
About 45 minutes later a woman reported she had been involved in a crash at Ambarvale with a car matching the description of the stolen vehicle.
She told police that after the head-on crash two people got out of the other vehicle and left on a scooter. She was treated for chest injuries by paramedics after her car’s airbag was triggered by the impact.
Crime scenes have now been established in both Macquarie Fields and Ambarvale and police have appealed for anyone with dashcam footage of either incident to contact them.
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National autism strategy 'once in a lifetime' chance
Improving the lives of autistic people and dismantling harmful attitudes barring their participation in society are the goals of a new $42.3m plan, AAP reports.
Australia’s first national autism strategy will be launched today by the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, outlining 22 commitments to boost wellbeing.
Almost $20m across four years will go to a peer support program to provide lived-experience advice for autistic people under an initial two-year action plan to roll out practical measures.
Almost $3m has been earmarked for a study to identify the prevalence of autism in Australia. Social and economic inclusion, diagnosis and services, and health are the key areas the strategy and the first action plan will focus on achieving.
Oversight Council co-chair and autistic person Clare Gibellini, who helped develop the blueprint, said its existence recognised change was needed.
It’s a very significant opportunity to change some of the narrative around autistic people as problems to be solved, continuing a real leadership relationship with the autistic community, and making sure that our voices are heard as we move forward.
Gibellini said the study of autism’s prevalence would provide real data, saying “if we’re not counted, we can’t have good outcomes”.
Women, girls and gender-diverse people were identified by the strategy as facing “substantial disadvantages” due to misconceptions it primarily affected men and boys, leading to under-diagnosis and inadequate support.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you what’s making the news this morning and then it will be Emily Wind taking the helm.
There’s a lot of pre-election sparring going on with Anthony Albanese giving Peter Dutton a spray yesterday. But today he’s down to some practical stuff with Bill Shorten tipped to hand the reins of the national disability insurance scheme to the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, in a small reshuffle prompted by the former Labor leader’s departure before this year’s federal election.
But before she does that she will be launching Australia’s first national autism strategy, containing 22 commitments to boost wellbeing at a cost of $42m over four years. More details coming up.
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young has challenged Labor to “have some guts” and keep its promises on environmental issues such as koala habitats and pushing back against mining interests as her party gears up for the federal election campaign. While cost-of-living pressures are likely to dominate the forthcoming federal election, Hanson-Young says it is the Greens’ role to highlight the “elephant in the room”: the climate crisis and the environment.
