What we learned: Sunday 6 July
That is all for today, folks. Thank you for joining us on the blog. Here is a wrap-up:
A court has agreed to allow the government to seize the house of an online child sex abuser;
A Townsville man has allegedly been fatally shot by police after he approached a police station with a knife;
Queensland’s opposition leader has promised to give adult sentences to children for certain crimes if election;
Police are treating the deaths of three children in a Sydney house fire overnight as a domestic-related multiple homicide;
Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has rejected claims the party is exploiting the situation in Gaza for political gain, describing the suggestion as “deeply offensive”;
Indigenous excellence has been celebrated at the NAIDOC awards in Adelaide on Saturday night;
Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has defended the prime minister, saying he “didn’t overreact” on Fatima Payman exit;
Alex de Minaur ‘relieved’ over easy Wimbledon ride after his opponent pulled out with an injury;
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has congratulated his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, on his election win and discussed Aukus, Gaza and Ukraine in their first call.
We will be back tomorrow morning with all the latest.
Updated
Auction activity remains stable this weekend
There were 1,747 auctions held this weekend. This is a drop compared to the 2,030 held last week but still a gain on the 1,428 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 74.7% across the country, which is lower than the 70% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 63% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 545 of 756 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.7%
Melbourne: 467 of 658 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 70.2%
Brisbane: 95 0f 134 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.9%
Adelaide: 66 of 145 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.8%
Canberra: 28 of 43 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 64.3%
Tasmania: No auctions held.
Perth: Seven of 11 auctions held.
Updated
Tax cuts, rates chatter to play into consumer sentiment
Higher mortgage repayments, rents and other elevated living costs have been dampening spirits and keeping consumer confidence subdued.
The latest survey from Westpac and the Melbourne Institute on Tuesday is unlikely to show much of an improvement in consumer mood, AMP Australia chief economist Shane Oliver said.
[The consumer sentiment index] is likely to remain weak and could fall again following increased talk of another rate hike, although this may be partly offset by high media coverage around the tax cuts.
Stronger-than-expected monthly inflation data for May stirred up speculation interest rates might need to stay elevated for longer or even rise further to tackle persistent price pressures.
The latest retail trade numbers were also on the hot side, although the numbers were likely pushed higher by people taking advantage of early financial year sales rather than consumers feeling compelled to splash out.
Dr Oliver was still of the view interest rates had peaked and the next move would be down, namely because the Reserve Bank of Australia “needed to be very wary of doing too much”.
A check-in on the business sector is also expected on Tuesday when the National Australia Bank releases its monthly survey.
Businesses have been reporting a gradual decline in conditions as the economy slows in response to higher interest rates and global headwinds.
Australian Bureau of Statistics data releases include lending indicators on Monday, the monthly business turnover indicator on Wednesday and overseas arrivals and departures on Friday.
A panel appearance from the RBA’s head of economic research, John Simon, could also contain useful details about the central bank’s view of the economy.
Simon is scheduled to speak at the Australian Conference of Economists in Adelaide on Wednesday.
– AAP
Updated
Complex blood cancer on the rise in Australia
The number of Australians being diagnosed with a complex blood cancer is forecast to rise sharply over the next 25 years, new research shows.
By 2043, 80,000 people will have contracted multiple myeloma, an increase of nearly 15 per cent on previous predictions.
Mortality rates are projected to fall by about 27.5 per cent, according to a study led by the Daffodil Centre in a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney.
But, even so, about 28,000 – equivalent to more than one in a thousand of the current population – will die from the disease, the research published in the Medical Journal of Australia found.
Most people – 90 per cent, according to Cancer Council Australia – have multiple lesions at the time of diagnosis, which is why it is most commonly referred to as multiple myeloma.
It is a complex cancer to treat, and little is known about preventing the disease or identifying people at increased risk, study lead author Associate Prof Eleonora Feletto said.
- AAP
Updated
Two bodies recovered from beach in Sydney’s south
Two bodies have been recovered from a beach in Sydney’s south after a search and rescue operation.
Officers began searching Little Bay Beach around 11.10am today following reports of a concern for welfare. A short time later a body was found near the rocks.
Around 1.40pm a second body was also found near the rocks.
Neither person has been formally identified and no further details are known at this stage, New South Wales police said in a statement.
A police operation is still underway in the area and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Little Bay Beach is less than 10km south of Coogee.
Updated
PNG government minister charged over alleged domestic assault in Sydney
A minister in the Papua New Guinea government has been arrested in Sydney after an alleged domestic assault offence.
Guardian Australia understands that the country’s petroleum minister, Jimmy Maladina, was charged with domestic assault on Saturday after an alleged incident in Bondi.
NSW police said a 31-year-old woman received facial injuries allegedly as the result of an “altercation” with a 58-year-old man who was known to her. The man was arrested and taken to Waverley police station, where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Emily Wind:
Jewish council criticises Mehreen Faruqi’s comments on war memorial vandalism
The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has criticised the deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, over her comments about the recent vandalism of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra with pro-Palestine slogans.
Faruqi told the ABC’s Insiders program today that the Greens supported “peaceful protest”. When pressed by the host, David Speers, on whether it was “OK” for people to target the war memorial, Faruqi said:
I think that talking about some paint on a building rather than rather than what’s happening in Israel …
Speers asked whether it was “a pretty sacred building for a lot of people” and Faruqi replied:
I wouldn’t have done it but I know, I understand that people are angry and people want some way of the government to listen to them.
The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, said in a statement issued this afternoon:
The suggestion that the vandalism of a war memorial was merely ‘a bit of paint’ waves aside the gross disrespect that was shown to our ex-servicemen and women, and particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice that has secured our democracy to this day.
Those who sit in our parliament by virtue of that democracy should be the last people to make excuses for that kind of despicable behaviour.
Updated
Police officer’s documents ‘inadvertently left’ on roof of car
A South Australian police officer has “inadvertently left documents” on the roof of a police car in what is being described by state law enforcement as an “unfortunate, innocent oversight”.
SA police confirmed that the documents were left on the roof of a vehicle as it left a suburban police station before they were found by a member of the public and immediately returned.
The documents are said not to contain any sensitive information and were returned to police without the finder reading the material.
In a statement, SA police said:
The incident was an unfortunate, innocent oversight by the officer involved. The officer has admitted their error.
The documents involved do not represent a security risk for police, divulge any police methodology not already in the public arena or compromise any police operations moving forward.
The documents are described as notes, maps, media articles, a tasking incident running sheet and a meeting agenda. They were returned to the officer intact.
Information concerning South Australian police is strictly controlled at law.
The South Australian police commission has not authorised publication of any details that may identify the officer, including their name, rank and location of the incident.
Updated
Online child sex abuser’s house forfeited to government
The home of a paedophile has been forfeited to the government after he was convicted of possessing thousands of child abuse images and videos.
The 34-year-old was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in December after he pleaded guilty to five online child abuse material offences.
The Australian Federal Police’s new Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) team launched a separate investigation to restrain the offender’s assets.
An application was made to the NT’s supreme court to have the offender’s $375,000 home restrained under the Proceeds of Crime Act and forfeited.
The serious and confronting nature of the offending was considered when launching the action.
It’s the second time a home in Australia associated with online child abuse offences has been forfeited. The first was in South Australia in 2020.
- AAP
Updated
Real criminals, fake victims: how chatbots are being deployed in the global fight against phone scammers
A scammer calls and asks for a passcode. Malcolm, an elderly man with an English accent, is confused.
“What’s this business you’re talking about?” Malcolm asks.
Another day, another scam phone call.
This time, Ibrahim, a cooperative and polite man with an Egyptian accent, picks up. “Frankly, I am not too sure I can recall buying anything recently,” he tells the hopeful con artist. “Maybe one of the kids did,” Ibrahim goes on, “but that’s not your fault, is it?”
The scammers are real, but Malcolm and Ibrahim are not. They’re just two of the conversational artificial intelligence bots created by Prof Dali Kaafar and his team. Through his research at Macquarie University, Kaafar founded Apate – named for the Greek goddess of deception.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd:
Updated
Officers involved in fatal shooting to be interviewed by Ethical Standards Command
Queensland police say a 46-year-old man fatally shot by officers in Townsville approached a police station with a knife.
Police allegedly watched the man approach the station with the weapon.
Officers confronted the man on a footpath outside the station.
Acting Det Supt Jason Brosnan said two officers were involved in the incident.
The officers from inside have responded and challenged him, just in front of the station.
One officer has produced a firearm, the other officer has produced a taser.
Both the taser and firearm have discharged when the male failed to comply with direction.
Two additional officers then left the station to provide support.
Brosnan said the man was not previously known by police.
No witnesses were present, but the officers were wearing body-worn cameras and it was caught on CCTV.
The man’s motivation will form part of the investigation.
The Ethical Standards Command is interviewing the officers involved and a report is being prepared for the coroner.
Updated
Ancient asteroid reveals solar system’s secrets
Unique and ancient asteroid fragments brought to Earth by a Nasa spacecraft are helping Australian scientists unlock secrets about the solar system and how life formed.
The tiny samples were harvested by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft in 2023 beyond the moon more than 300m kilometres and several years travel from Earth on the asteroid Bennu.
Planetary scientist Nick Timms described the samples as “relics of the early solar system”.
They’ve been hanging around and not really changed too much since before the planets were formed.
Timms said the particles, which haven’t been contaminated by the Earth’s ecosphere like meteorites, were answering “age-old questions about how we came to be and our place in the cosmos”.
Bennu is remarkable, it’s so close to being exactly the same composition as the sun.
Analyses showed Bennu, which is 4.5bn years old and about 500 metres across, was among the most chemically primitive materials known to humans.
We don’t quite have anything like it in all the thousands and thousands of meteorites that landed on Earth.
The sample has pre-solar grains created before our solar system existed, which can provide a detailed biography of the lives of ancient stars.
Most of the pieces are almost like soil, they could crumble in your hand, they’re very soft.
- AAP
Updated
Tesla won’t free up use of its batteries, leaving owners unable to reap full benefits
Australian owners of Tesla batteries could miss out on lucrative revenue streams because the US energy company restricts the devices’ ability to interact locally with third parties, and authorities continue to dither over setting and enforcing standards.
An increasing number of products, from air conditioners to hot water heaters and solar panels, can be controlled remotely, and consumers can sign deals rewarding them for altering power usage during peak load periods, including supplying electricity to the grid.
In many US states, Tesla is required to enable so-called battery interoperability. However, industry participants say the company disables that capability in its main storage product – the $15,000 Powerwall 2 battery – it sells to Australians.
They say federal and state governments should impose US mandates on Tesla and other battery suppliers under the AS4777 connection standard to maximise future benefits to consumers and the grid. Firms restricting utility should be excluded from rebates, such as New South Wales’ subsidy program of as much as $2,400 a battery.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Peter Hannam:
Updated
Tasmanian timber showcased in Hobart AFL stadium design
Tasmanian timber will be showcased as a major feature of Hobart’s new AFL stadium design.
Concept designs for the Macquarie Point stadium were released on Sunday.
The 23,000-seat roofed stadium planned for the Hobart waterfront site is a condition of Tasmania’s entry into the AFL, slated for 2028.
Sport and Events Minister Nic Street said the government had worked to design a “welcoming, functional and uniquely Tasmanian” multipurpose stadium.
When completed, the stadium will be the largest timber roofed stadium in the world.
While developing this stadium is an important step in realising our dream of seeing our own AFL and AFLW teams running out on our own field, this facility will offer so much more.
The design features a woven-style facade that is based on the roundhouse structure that used to be part of the Hobart Rail Yard at Macquarie Point.
The maritime heritage of the broader area has also been taken into account, and culturally informed under the guidance of Aboriginal community members.
The transparent roof, which is supported by an internal steel and timber frame, provides an opportunity to showcase Tasmanian timber.
That frame will support a fully transparent roof, which will allow light in, support natural turf growth and avoid the need for large light towers.
Tasmania’s Liberal government, which signed the AFL and stadium deal, has pledged to cap the state’s spend at $375m – with private investment to cover overruns.
- AAP
Updated
International students left feeling like ‘cash cows’ after Albanese government raises visa fees
International students say the Australian government is making them feel like “cash cows” and sending a clear message they are unwelcome after the Department of Home Affairs more than doubled the price of visa applications overnight.
The non-refundable visa fee rose from $710 to $1,600 without prior warning on Monday, making it one of the most expensive in the world and well above competitors New Zealand (A$343), Canada (A$164), the UK (A$932) and the US (A$277).
The rise follows a series of migration reforms, including a prospective cap on foreign enrolments that research suggests may dissuade prospective students from choosing Australia as a study destination.
The education officer at the Sydney University Postgraduate Representative Association, Weihong Liang, said students were “shocked” by the dramatic increase in visa fees – and the short notice provided.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Caitlin Cassidy:
Updated
Townsville man fatally shot by police
Police have fatally shot a Townsville man after he allegedly threatened officers with a knife.
It is alleged a 46-year-old man from Cranbrook attended the Kirwan police station at 10pm on Saturday and threatened officers with a knife.
Police officers shot the man, who died a short time later.
The death is being investigated by the ethical standards committee, with oversight by the crime and corruption commission.
Police are expected to speak to media in Townsville at midday.
Updated
Melbourne Water borrows money from Victorian government to pay back said government
Melbourne Water has had to borrow additional money from the Victorian government to pay back a bigger land tax bill.
The strange set of circumstances were reported in The Age after being revealed in a records request by the Victorian opposition.
Melbourne Water reportedly asked to borrow an extra $55.3m that was forecast in the state budget. The government-owned corporation pays about $28m a year in land tax to the state government.
The situation puts the government entity in the curious situation of having to borrow money from and pay interest to the government in order to cover a tax levied by that same government.
Updated
Deaths of three children in Sydney house fire being treated as domestic-related multiple homicide
Det Supt Danny Doherty from the homicide squad says police are treating a house fire that killed three young children as a domestic-related multiple homicide.
A 28-year-old man has been arrested after police say he allegedly sought to stop first responders from entering the property when they tried to rescue those inside.
A 10-month-old girl and two boys, aged two and four, died.
A nine-year-old girl and three boys, aged 11, seven and six, were treated at the scene by paramedics and taken to Westmead hospital in a stable condition.
The children’s mother, 29, has been taken to hospital for smoke inhalation.
Doherty said the man, the father of the children, was in hospital under police guard, where he was in an induced coma after also being treated for smoke inhalation.
At this stage it does appear that the 28-year-old man is responsible for multiple deaths of young lives that have been tragically taken away.
The man was not known to police or before a court for any matter.
Police arrived at the scene six minutes after calls were made to Triple Zero. Fire trucks were on site within 15 minutes.
Acting Supt Jason Pietruszka said police were “very heroic” as they tried to enter the property along with a neighbour.
Those actions as well saved further life from being lost.
Pietruszka said the deaths would deeply affect the “close-knit community”.
It’s devastating. There is no other word for it. It’s completely and utterly devastating for people who know the family, who go to school with the other children that live within that.
Investigations are under way.
Updated
QLD LNP leader tells convention ‘adult crime, adult time’ for children guilty of serious offences
David Crisafulli has told the Queensland NP convention that the party would treat children guilty of offences like murder and stealing cars as adults in sentencing.
If you murder someone, that’s an adult crime; Adult time.
If you wound someone, adult crime, adult time.
If elected in October the party plans to legislate laws cracking down on youth offenders before the end of the year.
Crisafulli said children guilty of breaking into a home, manslaughter, serious assault, grievous bodily harm, and dangerous operation of a motor vehicle would also be treated as adults under the laws.
He said “consequences” for serious crimes needed to be “severe enough to deter”.
We must send a strong and clear message, and we are doing that today. The generation of repeat untouchables must end.
In Queensland, judges are required to give adult murderers a life sentence.
Updated
Police give update on Sydney house fire that killed three children
New South Wales police are giving an update on a fatal house fire in Sydney’s west that killed two boys, aged two and four, and a 10-month-old girl.
For more on this story, read the report here:
Updated
Inside the renewable energy resistance in regional Australia
In a packed community hall in regional Queensland, a calamitous story is being told. Australia’s east coast is bulldozed into the ground. Rural towns are wiped off the map. Supermarket beef mince hits $60 a kilogram.
The orator is one of the loudest campaigners against Australia’s renewable energy rollout, Katy McCallum.
“Where do you think we are going to be in another 10 years if there’s no farms left? What are we going to eat?” McCallum tells the gathering at Kilcoy, a small town 85km north-west of Brisbane. “We’re going to be starving,” replies someone from the crowd.
The script is well rehearsed. In the last 12 months, McCallum and Jim Willmott, the chair of Property Rights Australia, have delivered the rousing PowerPoint presentation to about 40 community groups in this patch of regional Queensland. She has spoken at anti-renewable rallies in Brisbane, Sydney and out the front of Parliament House in Canberra. This is my third time hearing the spiel.
For more on this investigation into the anti-renewables movement in rural Queensland, read the full story by Aston Brown:
Updated
LNP leader to outline vision to ‘revitalise’ Queensland
LNP leader David Crisafulli will pitch his vision of a better Queensland to voters as he bids to end nine years of Labor rule in the upcoming state election.
Crisafulli will deliver a speech to the party faithful at the annual LNP state conference on Sunday to spruik his party’s policies 111 days out from the 26 October poll.
The issues he is expected to target include cost of living support, budget restraint and investing in law and order.
Labor’s management of youth justice and crime has also been under the spotlight as crime rates spike within the state.
Crisafulli has signalled his government would remove detention as a last resort for youth offenders and put the rights of victims ahead of the rights of offenders in sentencing provisions.
In health, the LNP leader has promised to make hospital data go live within 100 days of winning government, with federal opposition leader Peter Dutton attacking the state government’s record on Saturday.
Four years ago, the term ambulance ramping didn’t really register with the Queensland public, and yet today, ambulance ramping is at a record 45 per cent.
In his address, the opposition leader endorsed Crisafulli as a thoughtful and practical leader who had a demonstrated plan to “end Queenslanders’ despair” with a vision to revitalise the state.
Dutton said that both federal and state LNP parties were in a strong position to win government, but the leaders disagreed on his policy of building reactors to supply nuclear energy.
Crisafulli has repeatedly said nuclear energy isn’t part of his party’s plans despite the federal coalition’s promotion of the technology.
- AAP
Updated
‘Really offensive, David’: Faruqi denies exploiting Gaza tragedy
Faruqi is also asked about protests that have involved paint sprayed on the war memorial and the protests outside the prime minister’s office, where staffers claim to have been “spat on”.
She says she does not know about allegations of assault, but says “people do have a right to go outside the prime minister’s office and request that he meet them.
The prime minister should just meet them rather than blaming those who are protesting a genocide.
Speers then asks Faruqi: “Are you exploiting the tragedy in Gaza for political gain?”
Faruqi: “I find that … I’m sorry to say, but really offensive. Really offensive, David.”
Speers: “This is what the prime minister and the foreign minister constantly accuse; I’m just asking you, do you?”
Faruqi:
I know they are saying that. They are accusing us of causing division, and like I said earlier, that is gas lighting, raising an issue that thousands upon thousands of Australians … And it’s not just Muslims, it’s not just Arabs. I can tell you, I get it if someone in my community gets in touch with me every single day. And I’m not exaggerating to say how grateful they are for the Greens for being their voice on the ground.
Speers: “Do you feel any responsibility to dial down the temperature on this?”
Faruqi:
You were talking about this earlier on social cohesion and how I find that also kind of very weird that here we have two major parties who, right at this time, are dog whistling on migrants, and on international students. Which is really harming and hurting the community to stand there and say – oh, we need social cohesion. You know the message that the community is getting is? You should shut up. You have no right to talk about this – that’s what social cohesion is about. Shutting up people who are saying things that the government doesn’t like. That’s not good enough. That is not good enough. We should have a voice. And people are even more angry now – the only voice in the Labor party, who has kind of spoken out against this issue, has been treated the way that Senator Payman has been treated.
Updated
‘People are really angry’ over government’s Gaza response, says Faruqi
Faruqi says she would support a call to end the practice of starting Senate sessions with the Lord’s Prayer.
I would like to get rid of it, because you know, so many people of different faiths from all over the world live in this country. And that is not representative.
Speers then begins asking Senator Faruqi about recent protests and the various levels of Greens support for such actions; Faruqi is asked whether the Green’s support a recent protest at Parliament House, which Speers describes as a “breach of security”, and other protests at the prime minister’s office.
We’re not encouraging any protests that are violent. And I think that it was a bit rich of the prime minister to say that unfurling a banner from the top of the Parliament House was somehow not a peaceful protest. It was a peaceful protest.
Faruqi says it is necessary to “put this into perspective”.
People are really angry. People have been very angry for months and months. Their government, their prime minister, people who they voted for, who they thought would represent them, have not represented them. Have not even listened to them. Have not even spoken to them.
Updated
Muslim community should run own candidates, says Faruqi
Faruqi says Muslim voters have been “ignored” in Australia that their views overlooked.
Politicians [in] both the old parties have for years, decades, used us as tokens, as photo opportunities at religious events but have never actually deemed to address the issues that affect the communities.
She says it is a reaction to this situation is for the community to begin to run their own candidates.
Updated
Faruqi says she understands Payman’s situation ‘far better than most’
Faruqi says she has been in touch with Senator Fatima Payman.
I’ve been in touch with Senator Payman over the past few weeks and also before that. I think being the other brown Muslim woman in that Senate, I can understand far better than most what Senator Payman has been going through.
Faruqi says that “throughout my political life, I have been a target of Islamophobia” and that she has been “vilified for strong positions that I have taken”, which means she can understand what Senator Payman is going through.
Faruqi says she did not encourage Payman to join the Greens:
There has been a denial of an agency. And again, again, that comes down to how Muslim women are stereotyped in this country. How they are boxed into this person who can’t make up their own minds. You know, that they are led by someone else – someone else forced them to do this. Someone else forced them or encouraged them to make a decision that they wholly made by themselves. Senator Payman, as far as I can see it, made this decision on her moral compass, following her moral compass, listening to the community, and actually looking at what the situation in Israel is at the moment. That’s it. And you know, I’m very proud of her as another Muslim woman for standing strong on her convictions.
Updated
Future of Hamas and Palestinian statehood separate issues, says Faruqi
Faruqi – in her first appearance on ABC Insiders – is repeatedly asked by host David Speers “Do the hostages need to be released” and “Do you think Hamas should dismantled?”
Faruqi has called for the recognition of a Palestinian state and has made the point that the future of Hamas is a separate issue from Palestinian statehood and self-determination.
Who will dismantle it? It is up to the people in Palestine and that region to make sure that people can live in peace, but I will say this again – at the moment, only some people in that region have the rights that every human deserves.
Faruqi says Hamas is listed as a terrorist organisation, and the Greens have made no demands to change that designation.
Updated
Greens to continue pressure on government to recognise Palestinian state: Mehreen Faruqi
Deputy Greens leader Senator Mehreen Faruqi says the government is “kicking the can down the road” on recognition of a Palestinian state and that the Greens will continue to pressure the Labor government to “act in a way that actually makes a difference”.
We have a situation here where Israel who, and I will say that, who has slaughtered 40,000 Palestinians over the past nine months. And then we have the situation where Palestinians are being denied that same right. Let’s bring that to an equal footing. Then talk about peace. Let’s do something to stop the slaughter.
Updated
Indigenous excellence celebrated at NAIDOC awards
The achievements of 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been recognised in the 2024 NAIDOC awards, including one women’s lifetime of advocating for the health of her people.
The awards, held each July and this year in Adelaide, recognise the contributions of First Nations people in their communities and celebrate Indigenous excellence.
They are presented by the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.
Aunty Dulcie Flowers has spent her life advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health and has received the National Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her accomplishments.
Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney congratulated each of the winners, who were chosen from a field of 28 finalists.
This year’s theme, ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’, is fitting for all the winners. You are courageous, you are inspiring, and you are brilliant.
This NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to come together to celebrate 65,000 years of culture and shared history.
The NAIDOC person of the year is Aunty Muriel Bamblett, a Yorta Yorta, Dja Dja Wurrung, Taungurung and Boon Wurrung Elder.
As the chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999, Bamblett has advocated for Indigenous children to be raised within their own culture.
- AAP
Updated
PM 'didn’t overreact' on Payman exit: Shorten
Federal government services minister Bill Shorten has backed Anthony Albanese’s handling of caucus solidarity rules after the first-term senator Fatima Payman quit the Labor party.
Payman resigned from the party on Thursday, saying she was leaving with a heavy heart but a clear conscience after she viewed the government’s response to the bloodshed in Gaza with indifference. She had previously been suspended from Labor’s federal caucus after she warned she might cross the floor a second time to support immediate recognition of the state of Palestine.
Shorten, the minister for the NDIS and a former Labor leader, said in an interview on Sky News this morning:
I think the prime minister has tried to handle this in the very best way possible. He didn’t overreact. He hasn’t under reacted. I thought the suspension was the right way to go. It was saying: ‘you are welcome Fatima, and let’s give you a bit of time and space to work it through’. Clearly that’s not where her head was at – she’s walked. I don’t think there’s anything else the prime minister could have done, frankly.
Asked about reports that Payman had taken informal advice from the controversial political strategist Glenn Druery, Shorten said:
The Senate is littered with people who have taken advice from Glenn Druery. Sometimes they get up, ultimately they flame out. I’m not going to give Fatima Payman advice. I hoped that she wouldn’t leave – I’m disappointed, but that’s her call.
Updated
Mehreen Faruqi to appear on Insiders
Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi will be speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Coming up on #ABCInsiders with @David_Speers
— ABC News (@abcnews) July 6, 2024
• Deputy Greens leader Mehreen Faruqi interviewed🔎
• 📸 Fiona Katauskas
• 🛋️ Phil Coorey, Amy Remeikis and Katina Curtis.
See you at 9am #auspol pic.twitter.com/WGjRCDzOWb
Minister for government services Bill Shorten has appeared on Sky News this morning with the Coalition’s Bridget McKenzie also expected to appear.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Alex de Minaur 'relieved' over easy Wimbledon ride
Alex de Minaur has declared he’s a lucky man after his comfy armchair ride into the second week of Wimbledon.
The Australia No 1 eased into the second week of the grass-court grand slam for just the second time, after needing just two straight-set wins and a walkover to get to the business end of the tournament.
While many rivals, including his fourth-round opponent Arthur Fils, were left with frustrating delays on another rain-interrupted day, de Minaur had the luxury of a relaxing Saturday once his third-round adversary Lucas Pouille withdrew with a stomach muscle injury.
De Minaur said he found out at about 9.15am when he was in the middle of his physical warm-up before going on-court, after the 30-year-old Pouille himself approached him to let him know he wasn’t fit to play.
I think it was a class act by him, letting me know early in the day, especially with the weather forecast showing it could be delayed for a long time.
I’m wishing him a quick recovery. And as for me, I’m probably a little bit relieved. Just because everyone knew the type of day that was coming, that it was going to be a long one and I was able to finish quite quickly.
- AAP
Updated
Albanese talks Aukus, energy transition and Gaza and Ukraine conflicts in call with Starmer
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has telephoned his incoming British Labour counterpart, Sir Keir Starmer, and congratulated him on what Albanese called “an emphatic victory” in Thursday’s election that saw the Tories swept from office in the United Kingdom.
Albanese told Starmer in the call on Saturday that he looked forward to working with the new British Labour government to grow both economies and advance the global transition to clean energy and the Aukus defence partnership.
Guardian Australia has been told the two leaders discussed the Middle East conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Gaza and what was described as Russia’s “illegal and immoral” invasion of Ukraine.
Albanese and Starmer are understood to have been in regular contact in the lead-up to this week’s British election which saw Labour defeat the incumbent Conservative party in a landslide.
The leaders last met in person in London in May last year, when Albanese attended the coronation of King Charles and visited the Aukus submarine facility at Barrow-in-Furness.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has called his now counterpart, Keir Starmer, to congratulate him on his sweeping win at the UK election. Albanese told the newly elected Starmer on Saturday that he looked forward to working with him on Aukus and the transition to renewable energy.
The 2024 Naidocawards were held in Adelaide on Saturday night, marking the first major gathering of First Nations people since the voice referendum. Those recognised with awards include Indigenous elder Aunty Muriel Bamblett and Aunty Dulcie Flowers.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
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