Goodbye for now: Sunday 10 September
Thanks for joining us with today’s developments. We’re closing the blog for now.
Here are the major events of the day so far:
Anthony Albanese says a G20 statement is the “strongest” message yet on Ukraine from the world’s richest economies
The PM has flagged the signing of a trade deal with the European Union by the end of the year
A man has been charged with murder after a collision in Melbourne’s CBD on Saturday
A man has died from multiple snake bites in Queensland
New South Wales Labor claims the Coalition made $190m in secret cuts before the March election
NSW premier Chris Minns has announced a $3bn funding surge for health services in western Sydney
Noel Person says he is undeterred by negative polling and that Indigenous Australia’s are the “underdogs” in the voice to parliament referendum
Deputy PM Richard Marles says he was also not consulted about the decision to block Qatar Airways from additional flights in Australia
Updated
A few snaps from prime minister Anthony Albanese’s attendance at the G20 summit on Saturday.
Updated
Nothing to suggest a Melbourne gang war – Andrews
Premier Daniel Andrews has attempted to quell fears of an escalating Melbourne gang war after an underworld figure was gunned down in an execution-style shooting at a cafe.
Gangland identity Gavin “Capable” Preston, 50, was killed and another man he was dining with was critically injured after shots were fired outside Sweet Lulus cafe in Keilor Village on Saturday morning.
Security camera footage shows the moment Preston and the other man, aged in his 20s, were peppered with bullets.
In the vision, a hooded gunman dressed in black runs from the passenger-side door of a black SUV and fires several shots from a handgun at Preston, who falls to the ground as smoke lingers in the air.
The other victim appears to see the gunman just before he fires his first shot and begins to run away as other diners also flee and hit the deck.
The shooter then runs back to the getaway car before it speeds away, with the attack over in less than 20 seconds.
No arrests have been been made amid a major police manhunt.
Andrews said diners caught up in the daylight shooting would have been traumatised but expressed confidence the offenders would be brought to justice.
No one should underestimate the resolve of Victoria police to fight crime and to keep us safe and to deal with incidents like this.
Asked if Victorians should be concerned about a possible gang war escalation, Mr Andrews said: “I have no advice to suggest that that’s likely.”
Andrews backed police boss Shane Patton’s assessment that Melbourne is a safe place, pointing to more than 250,000 people packing the Melbourne Cricket Ground in recent days for three AFL finals.
– AAP
Updated
Scissor-lift joyride ends in charges
A man has been busted taking a stolen scissor lift for a late-night joyride through Adelaide’s CBD.
The 26-year-old was spotted on CCTV driving the scissor lift down Hindley Street about 4am on Sunday.
He had earlier stolen the scissor lift from a construction site before driving it along King William, Currie and Leigh streets, police allege.
The adventure came to an end as the man drove along the footpath on Hindley Street, with police stopping and arresting him.
The driver then allegedly returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.138, more than double the legal limit.
Police immediately stripped the man of his licence for six months and charged him with illegal use of a motor vehicle, drink driving, and driving an unregistered and uninsured motor vehicle.
He was bailed to face Adelaide magistrates court on 10 November.
– AAP
Updated
Turf war: fake grass is growing in popularity despite concerns
For those living in small spaces, artificial grass has its upsides. It’s uniformly green, year round, without the need for watering, mowing or any other upkeep.
The allure of evergreen sporting fields has also seen synthetic turf become an increasingly popular surface, driven by constraints on open space while population density increases.
In New South Wales, the number of suburban sporting fields made from artificial turf has increased sixfold in the last five years, jumping from 30 in 2018 to 181, according to a report released by the state’s chief scientist in June.
But concerns about microplastics, urban heat and the chemical compounds in synthetic grass have become points of contention for environment and community groups, who are calling for the surface to be banned.
For more on this story, read the full feature by Guardian Australia science writer Donna Lu:
Updated
The Western Sydney Leadership Dialogue has welcomed the government’s announcement of a much-needed $3bn budget boost for the region’s hospitals.
Adam Leto, CEO of the region’s leading not-for-profit thinktank, said the cash injection to build and fix five of the west’s hospitals was a critical step in improving local healthcare services.
The Minns government had promised a stronger focus on our vital healthcare services. We welcome this commitment to deliver on its election pledge and invest in the west’s hospital network.
The government’s healthcare funding will help create the modern health facilities and services our region deserves, and we congratulate premier Chris Minns and minister for health Ryan Park for their support of the region.
Updated
Labour force resilience to be tested as market softens
The health of Australia’s jobs market is set to be on show after the last set of numbers revealed a weakening pulse.
August labour force numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) are due on Thursday following a weaker-than-expected report for July.
Australian employers shed 14,600 jobs in that month, surprising economists expecting to see employment tick higher.
The unemployment rate also lifted to 3.7%, its highest level since May.
The ABS flagged the influence of the school holiday period on the weaker result, suggesting the timing of the break may have artificially depressed the numbers.
The labour market has proved remarkably resilient to four percentage points of interest rate hikes.
While finding workers remains challenging in many sectors, the July result suggested the jobs market was starting to cool.
The Reserve Bank of Australia expects the unemployment rate to drift up as higher interest rates work to take demand out of the economy and bring down inflation.
The central bank hopes to preserve as much of the gains in the labour market as possible, however, and is willing to tolerate a drawn-out timeframe to return inflation to its two-to-three target range in its bid to keep most people in their jobs.
Fresh insights into the private sector will also be revealed when NAB drops its monthly business survey on Tuesday.
Business conditions have also proved resilient despite expectations of a weakening economy, although confidence levels remain subdued.
Other data sets of interest include the ABS overseas arrivals and departures figures and dwelling value numbers, both scheduled for Tuesday.
Officials from Treasury, the Productivity Commission and the consumer watchdog will front a parliamentary hearing into economic dynamism and competition on Friday.
– AAP
Updated
Auction rates steady across country
Auction activity has remained stable this weekend, with 2,285 auctions expected to be held.
This is one lower than the 2,286 auctions held last week and above the 1,918 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on the 1,725 results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 71.7% across the country, which is higher than the 71.2% rate recorded at the weekend last week and last week’s 65.4% actual clearance rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 698 auctions of 907 with a clearance rate of 73.4%
Melbourne: 790 auctions with a clearance rate of 71.5%
Brisbane: 105 auctions with a clearance rate of 59%
Adelaide: 63 auctions with a clearance rate of 88.9%
Canberra: 62 auctions with a clearance rate of 53.2%
Tasmania: Two auctions scheduled, but no results returned.
Perth: Seven of eight auctions have been held.
Updated
Man dies after snake bite in Queensland
A man who attempted to remove a snake coiled around another man’s ankle in Queensland has died after being bitten.
Queensland ambulance service treated two men in Mackay for snake bites around 6.30pm on Saturday, with one man receiving multiple wounds to his chest and arm.
Paramedics used CPR and a defibrillator but the man in his 60s died at the scene.
The other man, also in his 60s, was taken to Mackay Base hospital in a stable condition.
Authorities are yet to reveal details about the species of snake.
– AAP
Updated
Western Sydney hospitals to get $3bn boost for upgrades, premier says
Western Sydney’s ageing and under-resourced public hospitals will receive a billion-dollar upgrade in a new announcement by the New South Wales government.
Four hospitals will receive a total of $3bn in funding for major infrastructure improvements as part of commitments announced by the premier, Chris Minns, on Sunday.
He said:
When you look at the recent statistics over the last few years, we need to do better when it comes to the number of beds and the services provided by the hard-working men and women in NSW Health.
He said funding allocation for hospital upgrades had come at the expense of infrastructure projects not backed by return on investment, with information on those to be released when the budget is handed down on 19 September.
Some $400m will be set aside to build the $700m Rouse Hillhospital, the first new hospital for the western corridor in 40 years.
The facility will include an emergency department, maternity services, ambulatory and outpatient care and medical imaging services.
Fairfield, Canterbury, Bankstown-Lidcombe, Blacktown and Mt Druitt hospitals are part of the state government’s “game changer” capital investment package that aims to increase capacity and ease pressure on health services in the harbour city.
Fairfield hospital will receive its first refurbishment since opening 34 years ago, while Canterbury hospital will be redeveloped for the first time since 1998.
More than $1bn has been committed to building a new site for the Bankstown-Lidcombe hospital, which merged from two facilities in 1997.
The commitments form part of a push for 600 new beds across Sydney’s stretched western health services.
– AAP
Updated
Hundreds of Aboriginal children likely buried in unmarked graves at three WA missions
As many as 400 Aboriginal children and babies are likely to have been buried in unmarked graves at three former Western Australian missions, the vast majority of them interred after dying when aged five or under, a Guardian Australia investigation can reveal.
Spanning decades, more than 740 First Nations people, the majority of them very young, were most likely buried with no record at just three church and government-run missions in the state: Moore River, Carrolup and New Norcia.
Guardian Australia has spent the past year investigating missions and institutions in Western Australia where children taken from their families were incarcerated as part of the Stolen Generations.
Up until the 1970s, Indigenous children were taken to institutions and reserves as part of government assimilation policies, sometimes with adults. Unsanitary, overcrowded and bleak conditions contributed to the deaths of hundreds.
The Guardian’s investigation examined public records, including WA births, deaths and marriages records, state library and public cemetery records and contemporary media reports.
Hundreds of people, mostly young children, babies and stillborns, were recorded as dying at Moore River, New Norcia and Carrolup. However, there are no official records of burial for those individuals and no marked graves that correspond with those numbers.
Survivors of the missions now want this to change.
For more on this exclusive from this investigation by the Guardian Australia’s Sam Collard and Lorena Allam, read the full story:
Updated
Former WA EPA chief says he was pressed to scrap new emissions guidelines
The former head of Western Australia’s Environmental Protection Authority says he was pressured to back down on the introduction of tough new emissions guidelines after a direct intervention by the premier.
Former agency chief Tom Hatton has told the ABC of what happened in 2019 when his agency announced it would introduce ambitious new emissions guidelines within the state.
However, within 48 hours of the announcement, a massive backlash by industry prompted then WA premier Mark McGowan to intervene with a short, direct phone call.
Hatton said:
It wasn’t a very long phone call. It was a very direct, very straightforward request that he did not want us to continue with those guidelines and wanted us to withdraw them.
He made it very clear that he didn’t feel that consultation was sufficient within industry, and he asked us to withdraw the guidelines.
I tried to have a conversation to say … we are happy to do further consultation if that’s what’s required. He said: ‘no, I want you to withdraw the guidelines.’
Hatton was then given an hour to brief his board before the premier held a press conference announcing the guidelines had been withdrawn.
The former agency head described the moment as “extraordinary” and “colouring outside the normal lines of the interaction between the government and EPA”.
Updated
NSW Labor claims Coalition made $190m in pre-election cuts
The New South Wales government says it has discovered about $190m of previously undisclosed cuts made by the former Coalition government just prior to the March election, which have shortchanged several arts, innovation and trade schemes.
In a joint statement, NSW ministers John Graham and Anoulack Chanthivong said the cuts – from the pre-election budget update in March – would have repercussions for more than a dozen trade, innovation, tourism and screen programs, and could result in some being scrapped.
The statement said cuts were made to rebates for filmmakers, Destination NSW marketing programs, and an arts initiative to attract “blockbuster” exhibitions at cultural institutions.
Labor claims the former government also cut money from research and development programs, including one that offered grants for businesses working on bushfire response innovation projects.
The discovery of these previously unannounced, pre-election cuts have placed additional budget challenges.
Updated
PM defends going overseas amid voice campaign
Anthony Albanese has defended his week-long diplomatic mission through Asia at the start of the Indigenous voice referendum, saying his major meetings with world leaders were critical.
Asked about his justification for heading overseas during the referendum campaign at a press conference overnight in New Delhi, where he joined the G20 meeting, the prime minister said: “Australia needs to be represented here.”
This is a G20 meeting of the world’s 20 leading economies.
I’ve made it very clear that I’ll continue to do my job as the Australian prime minister. Whether it’s dealing with cost-of-living pressures, we continue to engage day after day. Next week when we’re back, there’ll be further announcements.
The Labor government has sought to maintain its focus on day-to-day governing while also pushing a yes vote in the referendum, seeking to stress it is also focusing on daily issues like cost of living and the economy.
I’ll continue to engage on economic, social and environmental issues. We have passed legislation on the referendum that will take place. But Australia has to have a seat at the table.
One in four Australian jobs is dependent upon trade. I make no apologies for being engaged, because it’s important that Australia has a seat at the table, because it impacts on the living standards of Australians.
Updated
McKenzie lashes Labor over Qatar Airways
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says it “beggars belief” deputy prime minister Richard Marles wasn’t notified about the decision to refuse Qatar Airways additional flights.
Speaking to Sky news on Sunday, McKenzie accused the government of running a protection racket for Qantas and rejected suggestion that strip searches of Australian women at Doha’s airport were behind Catherine King’s decision.
When we have diplomatic issues, you usually deal with them through diplomatic means and there’s a whole raft of escalation processes that that are required.
To immediately go to an economic sanction ... is incredibly rare and concerning if that is the case.
Qatari authorities were searching for the mother of a baby found abandoned in a bathroom, before they pulled women off several flights to examine them for signs of childbirth.
King has said she made her decision on 10 July and told prime minister Anthony Albanese before it was made public on 18 July.
– AAP
Updated
Marles says he wasn’t consulted over Qatar Airways decision
Acting prime minister Richard Marles says he was not consulted on the decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request for additional flights, as the opposition continues to pile pressure on the government over the call.
Transport Minister Catherine King has faced intense scrutiny over why she rejected a bid by the airline to double the 28 weekly services it currently offers.
Marles told Sky News on Sunday he was not asked by King when she made her decision.
I was acting prime minister on that day ... and consultation happens over a significant period of time.
King said last week that the invasive body examinations conducted on a group of Australian women at Doha’s Hamad international airport in October 2020 provided the “context” for her decision to block more flights.
A Senate inquiry will be held to scrutinise the ruling that blocked the competitor airline from offering more services.
– AAP
Updated
EU trade deal by end of year: PM
Anthony Albanese says he wants to see negotiations on a free-trade agreement with the European Union settled by the end of the year, as he held talks with world leaders on advancing the deal.
The prime minister held formal talks with French president Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 summit in India on Saturday, where the pair discussed steps needed to finalise the trade agreement.
Australia has been locked in tense negotiations over an agreement with the EU, with the federal government insisting what was on the table did not offer enough market access for Australian producers.
If a deal is not reached by the end of the year, it’s unlikely an agreement will be signed off in the near future, due to EU elections taking place.
Albanese said Australia would not “sign up to an agreement for the sake of having an agreement”.
We believe that you can get an agreement because trade is good for both parties, that is in Australia’s national interest and in the interests of the European Union.
Talks on the deal had been stalled due to an impasse on geographic indicators for products such as feta and prosecco.
Albanese had held talks with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen informally before the G20 started.
The prime minister said the talks with the EU had been quite positive.
We will wait and see ... our officials have continued to have discussions, but I would like to see the Australia-EU free-trade agreement settled as soon as possible.
It’s quite clear with the timetables that are there that the prospects of that being done are much greater this year than next year.
The EU was Australia’s second-largest trading partner in 2020, as well as the seventh-largest export destination, fourth-largest services market and second-largest source of foreign investment.
– AAP
Updated
PM welcomes G20 statement on Ukraine
World leaders have delivered “the strongest messaging yet” in denouncing the invasion of Ukraine, Anthony Albanese says.
In a leaders’ declaration issued on day one of the G20 summit in New Delhi, nations agreed on the Ukraine conflict that all states “must refrain from threats” and that “today’s era must not be war”.
There had been concern before the start of the summit that a consensus would not be reached due to Russia being unwilling to condemn its own military action.
The prime minister welcomed the leaders’ declaration and said the G20 had delivered its most striking condemnation of Russia’s invasion.
The G20 has delivered a strong consensus on Russia’s war on Ukraine, that message is very strong language and is the strongest language yet to be agreed by the international community.
A backdrop of this G20 has been the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the impact it’s having on the global economy, on food security, as well as obviously the devastating impact of of this war on the people of Ukraine.
However, the declaration made concessions in that “there were different views and assessments of the situation”.
Russian president Vladimir Putin did not attend this year’s G20, with foreign minister Sergey Lavrov taking his place.
Albanese said the message from leaders repudiating the war was “extraordinarily strong”, rejecting claims the statement was watered down.
It makes it very clear about sovereignty, about UN resolutions.
It’s a call for the peaceful resolution of conflict. I think it is a very strong statement.
The leaders’ declaration also called for a tripling of renewable energy technology capacity.
During an earlier intervention, Albanese expressed the need for countries to act sooner to commit to net zero, saying urgent action was needed to prevent a further exacerbation of climate change.
– AAP
Updated
Asked what a no vote will say about Australia, Pearson says he withhold judgement until the night of the referendum.
I will make that judgement the day after the referendum. I believe we still have the capacity to do the right thing. I tell you one thing, though, I just don’t believe when the hand of friendship and reconciliation is extended from Indigenous people that at the end of the day, their love will be unrequited. I can’t believe that. I cannot believe we’re still in an Australia where that hand would be just slapped aside. This unrequited love is my worst nightmare. I just don’t believe Australians are capable of that at this time in our history.
And that’s a wrap.
Updated
Pearson says claims the voice to parliament will foster division are unfounded.
The separation was there in 1901. The original separation, the original equality was in our constitution in 1901. What we’re going to do in 2023 is fix that exclusion, fix the omission, fix the lack of recognition and when we do that, our constitution will be whole. We will complete the commonwealth of Australia and it will be a great thing to do.
He also says criticisms about the scope have been overblown. Pearson says it is necessary for the voice to parliament to speak to politicians and bureaucrats who actually “affect our lives”.
In relation to the scope issue, David, our opponents in the no campaign said that somehow we’d be dictating policy on nuclear submarines. That wasn’t reasonable. That wasn’t a fair representation of the scope.
Updated
Pearson says the last time symbolic recognition was put to a vote, it failed “worse than the republic”, and that the proposal is not supported by Australians.
It’s just an absolute mirage. The thing that it does, it pushes this debate for another five years. We’re already 15 yers into it. John Howard promised this thing, David, as you will recall on the election eve 2007. And we’re now 15 years later. Peter Dutton wants to kick this can and get the debate and division and argument going for another five years. Wait until he becomes prime ,inister he says. Then they will have another go.
Updated
Coalition wants ‘constant argument’ over constitutional recognition – Pearson
Pearson says opposition leader Peter Dutton has “eviscerated” his credibility on the issue by proposing a second referendum which was then shot down by the Coalition’s Indigenous affairs spokesperson.
Pearson says the proposal was “ridiculous in their own terms” and that the Coalition has no interest in resolving the issue.
The leader of the opposition saying let’s have a second referendum, and then his own Indigenous affairs spokesman kills it on Thursday night. Not only that, his Coalition partner is absolutely not going to entertain another referendum. The fact is we will never get a referendum for constitutional recognition out of these people. They are here for constant debate, constant argument, conflict and debate. They want this issue to never end. They love conflict and disputation.
The yes campaign are saying we do this on October 14th. We settle one of the biggest issues the country still has outstanding. It’s outstanding. John Howard called it, in 2007, unfinished business.
Updated
Asked about concerns from people who might be supportive of the body but don’t like the model chosen for the Indigenous voice to parliament, Pearson says the model has been in development for 15 years.
There’s been lots of consultation around the countryside. This attempt to separate recognition from us setting up an advisory committee, that’s what it is, an advisory committee to the government and to the parliament so that government can best help us with better policies and better solutions.
I think when Australians concentrate on the real meaning of what’s going on, they say: oh, that sounds pretty reasonable. That’s something we can back. It’s just that politics has entered the frame.
Updated
Pearson says he does not believe “reasonable, decent Australians will say no” at the referendum.
We’ve extended the hand of invitation and friendship and, dare I say it, love to our fellow Australians. I don’t believe we will be repudiated on October 14th. How could you turn away the hand of invitation and friendship? And the settlement.
A lot of young people I speak to – young Australians who are going about their lives, raising their young families, developing businesses, getting first into employment – they say to me: just get this thing done, mate. We need to move on. We need to settle this.
Updated
'We are the underdogs', Pearson says – but he is confident referendum will back voice
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says he is undeterred by polls showing falling support for the Indigenous voice to parliament as the civil rights battle fought by Australia’s First Nations over the past 100 years “has always been uphill”.
We’ve always been the underdog. It’s always been very hard for us, but we have won gains over these years, over these decades. And we won the native title decision with Mabo. We won the Native Title Act 30 years ago. We got justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander peoples under the common law of Australia and justice has played out over the past 30 years.
All of these gains are not easily won. We have persuaded governments and we’ve persuaded the Australian people of the gains that we’ve made. We’re always the underdog. We’re 3% of the population. We are the most powerless people in the country, with the weakest political constituency in the country, but through persuasion and through argument and through constant campaigning, we’ve managed to make gains. We’re the underdog in this referendum but I still believe we can achieve victory.
Updated
Man charged with murder over Melbourne CBD collision
Homicide detectives have charged a 26-year-old man with murder after he allegedly drove his car into pedestrians and vehicles in Melbourne’s CBD.
Police said on Saturday night the Melton West man had been charged with one count of murder, three counts of attempted murder, three counts of intentionally causing serious injury and two counts of conduct endangering life.
The man appeared at an after-hours court hearing where he was remanded in custody to reappear at Melbourne magistrates’ court on 15 January 2024.
The charges follow an incident in which emergency services were called to a report of a man driving a white Toyota Aurion that allegedly collided with three pedestrians, a Mazda CX-5 and a Hyundai in Bourke Street and Russell Street about 6.20pm on Friday.
The driver of the Hyundai, a 76-year-old man from Brunswick, died at the scene.
The three pedestrians, the driver and passenger of the Mazda CX-9 – all aged in their 20s and 30s – were taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police do not believe this was a terror-related incident.
In the aftermath, Victorian premier Daniel Andrews said on Saturday that there was no further feasible safety measures that could have prevented the fatal incident.
For more on that story, read the full report by Guardian’s Australia’s Natasha May:
Updated
Noel Pearson will be speaking to ABC Insiders about the Indigenous voice to parliament.
We will bring you the latest as it happens.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese has praised a joint statement from the G20 denouncing the invasion of Ukraine as the “strongest messaging yet” from the world’s richest economies. There had been concern before the summit that consensus might not be reached owing to Russia’s presence at the meeting, but the final statement said all states “must refrain from all threats” and that “today’s era must not be war”.
Meanwhile the PM says he wants trade talks with the European Union wrapped by the end of year, after formal talks with French President Emmanuel Macron on the sidelines of the G20 summit on Saturday. Albanese said Australia will not “sign up to an agreement for the sake of having an agreement” but hoped a deal would be in the interest of all.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
