What we learned, Wednesday 26 February
That’s where we’ll wrap up for today. The blog will be back early tomorrow morning. Have a lovely evening.
Here were today’s major developments:
Labor has approved private health premium hikes after making insurers resubmit three times. Health insurance premiums will go up by 3.37% on average from 1 April.
Bruce Lehrmann was granted an extension of time to file his outline of submissions and the chronology of the relevant events for his appeal against his defamation loss to Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Labor is continuing to probe Peter Dutton’s stock market dealings around the time of the GFC. The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, told reporters today that the opposition leader still has “questions to answer” about his share holdings in 2009.
Dutton’s bank shares were also the topic of much discussion in Senate estimates today. Dutton has strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying he has always acted with integrity and that he had no access to sensitive information before buying shares in the big banks shortly before the then Rudd government proposed a major bank bailout during the financial crisis. At a press conference this morning, he said he had “declared all the detail that’s required to be declared”.
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Richard White has taken control of WiseTech Global, the logistics company he founded three decades ago, after the resignation of two-thirds of its board earlier this week.
Universities Australia CEO Luke Sheehy confirmed while speaking at the National Press Club that the organisation will release its latest survey into sexual assault and harassment on campuses some time this year.
Anthony Albanese promised an extra $2bn for Melbourne’s airport train – taking federal Labor’s total commitment to the project to $7bn – in an effort to kickstart work on the long-awaited rail line and stave off the Coalition in traditional Labor seats.
Australia’s 39 universities will unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after a parliamentary inquiry recommended higher education providers “closely align” with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition.
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Bruce Lehrmann granted extension of time in appeal against defamation loss
Bruce Lehrmann has been granted an extension of time to file his outline of submissions and the chronology of the relevant events for his appeal against his defamation loss to Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson.
Justice Michael Lee found last year that Lehrmann was not defamed by Ten and Wilkinson when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins on 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped by a staffer.
Federal court justice Wendy Abraham has granted him until Monday 3 March to file the necessary paperwork and has also extended the time for the respondents to file any submissions in reply to 12 May.
Lehrmann has always denied the rape allegation and pleaded not guilty at his criminal trial in the Australian Capital Territory supreme court which was aborted.
Prosecutors did not seek a retrial due to concerns about Higgins’s mental health.
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Australians with private health insurance to be hit with 3.37% premium increase
Australians with private health insurance will be hit with a premium rise of 3.73% on average from 1 April. The health minister, Mark Butler, has just announced the approved increase, after forcing private health insurers to resubmit their claims three times.
Just under 55% of Australians have some general health insurance cover, and Butler says he’s given them a “better deal”. Butler said:
In December, I wrote to every single one of the 29 insurers asking that they sharpen their pencils and provide us with an increase that was more in the interests of their members.
Based on the resubmissions, I was not prepared to tick and flick their asks and instead asked them to resubmit again. We’ve now ensured a better deal for the 15 million Australians with private health insurance.
Butler last year approved a rise of 3.03% in March.
Health inflation dropped slightly between the September and December quarters, but over the year to December 2024, medical and hospital services costs increased by 4.4% according to the ABS.
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Australian students stagnant or falling behind on most key performance metrics
Australian students’ long-term trends are heading downwards or remaining stagnant on 11 of 14 key performance measures used to determine student outcomes, an annual report has found.
The 2023 national report on schooling, released by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) on Wednesday afternoon, found the student attendance rate, participation in Naplan and vocational education and training, and the proportion of students in education or work after their studies had all declined or remained the same over a long-term period – while over a short term period, each metric had remained largely stagnant.
The only metric which had improved was for attainment, which measures the proportion of 20 to 24-year-olds who have completed at least Year 12 or equivalent. It was sitting at 90.4%, an increase of 0.5% since 2004.
Acara is the independent statutory body that oversees these aspects of schooling.
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Arts minister Tony Burke says everyone should ‘take a breath’ amid Creative Australia fallout
The arts minister, Tony Burke, has effectively told people to calm down over the fallout from the Venice Biennale fiasco.
Guardian Australia contacted Burke for a response to calls from the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young for him to spill the board of Creative Australia and demand the resignation of its chief executive after last night’s Senate estimates hearing.
We also asked him to respond to new calls by the Zionist Federation of Australia to expand a forthcoming inquiry into the Venice controversy to include an investigation into whether taxpayer funds were being used to “promote hate, antisemitism, terrorism, or extremist ideologies”, as we reported earlier on this blog.
Burke said everyone just needed to “take a breath” and focus on the “incredible” work Creative Australia is doing connecting artists to audiences. He refused to be drawn on the role Creative Australia played in disconnecting one particular artist and his curator from a global audience at next year’s Venice Biennale.
In a statement to the Guardian, Burke said:
Can we consider the way [Creative Australia] helps artists develop their practices so they have a real chance at a creative career?
We cannot let conflicts around the world result in a neverending path of artists being cancelled from the right and the left.
Burke has consistently maintained the decision to cancel Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino was solely made by Creative Australia and he did not intervene.
Burke did not respond to the Guardian’s questions over whether the organisation’s board and its chief executive, Adrian Collette, should stand down over said cancellation.
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Third review into mutual obligations system under way
Back to Senate estimates, where the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (DEWR) has revealed it is undertaking a third review into the legality of the systems that perform mutual obligations for jobseekers.
In her opening statement, the department secretary, Natalie James, said internal and external lawyers were looking into the legality of the targeted compliance framework - a system that ranks and penalises jobseekers when they are not meeting mutual obligations requirements.
Deloitte is undertaking a review into whether the mutual obligations system is functioning properly and DEWR is conducting an internal review of the IT system and legislative framework. James said:
I have also instructed my department to undertake a legal review to examine whether decisions in this area are being properly made and whether decision-making processes are aligned with the relevant legislation.
The review commenced in November 2024 and is being undertaken by internal and external lawyers and is being assisted by advice from the Australian Government Solicitor
Decisions which have the most impact on people’s rights or which affect the most people are currently being prioritised for the legal review. At all times, my department’s highest priority is ensuring that participants’ payments are not affected except in accordance with the legislation.
The Australian Council of Social Services has repeatedly called for an independent review of the TCF.
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Seven men charged with allegedly performing Nazi salute at Geelong venue
Victoria police say they have charged seven men who allegedly performed the Nazi salute at a venue in Geelong on 8 February.
Police said they laid the charges after an investigation into an image that had been circulating online which depicted a group of men performing the prohibited gesture.
The seven men, who are aged between 19 and 25, have been charged on summons for public display or performance of Nazi symbols or gestures, police said.
They are due to appear at Geelong magistrates court on 6 May.
Police have said the maximum penalty for public display of Nazi symbols or gestures is a fine of up to $23,710, 12 months’ jail, or both. In a statement, Victoria police said:
There is absolutely no place in our society for antisemitic, racist or hate-based behaviour and such activity will not be tolerated.
They have asked anyone with relevant information to contact CrimeStoppers.
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Gallagher: Dutton is just asking people to ‘take his word for it’ over stock activity
Peter Dutton refused to say much more about his stock activity at his own press conference earlier today, saying the questions were “ancient history” and declining to say any more about when exactly he bought the shares, how many he bought, or what profit he may have made.
When she addressed reporters after Dutton’s own press conference, Gallagher said the opposition leader was asking people to “just take his word for it”.
Gallagher said:
I think that he needs to ... provide a bit more significant advice around that than just taking his word for it.
The questions we would ask of Mr Dutton is, ‘What was the value of those shares? Why were those shares purchased the day before a very substantial bank bailout?’
These are entirely reasonable questions to ask of someone who wants to be an alternate prime minister of this country.
Dutton has maintained that he declared everything he is required to declare.
The rules of the parliamentary register do not require MPs to say how many shares they bought or what value they came to – but Labor says Dutton should volunteer that information.
However, Gallagher declined to say, in response to multiple questions, whether Labor would agree to upgrade the requirements of the register to demand more information in future.
Several journalists (including this one) put to her that boosting the transparency around politicians’ interests, including requiring more information about property and stock investments, would help such inquiries and accountability in future – but Gallagher wouldn’t say whether Labor would make such changes in future.
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Gallagher says Dutton has ‘questions to answer’ over bank share buys
Sticking with Gallagher’s press conference from earlier, the Labor frontbencher also said Peter Dutton still has “questions to answer” about his share holdings in 2009.
Labor is continuing to probe the now-opposition leader’s stock market dealings around the time of the GFC.
Dutton has strongly denied any wrongdoing, saying he has always acted with integrity and that he had no access to sensitive information before buying shares in the big banks shortly before the then Rudd government proposed a major bank bailout during the financial crisis.
You can read more here:
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The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, has been asked about comments made about the Matildas by a Triple M host and criticised “derisory commentary” about women’s sport.
At a press conference earlier, Gallagher, who is also the finance minister, weighed in on the controversy about the much-criticised comments and how the public talks about women’s sport.
Gallagher said she thought the situation was “improving, but there are obvious examples where women get let down by social commentary, for sure”. She said:
And it’s not just in sport, it’s in a whole range of areas. I think a lot has changed in my time in public office to raise professionalism and commentary around women’s sport, and that being … the excellence and skill and professionalism of those women involved, they deserve respect.
I think that for the large part the Australian community does respect them and I think negative commentary or derisory commentary should be responded to in the harshest possible way.
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Greens call for Creative Australia CEO’s resignation over Venice Biennale dismissal
At a press conference today, Hanson-Young said the impact of Creative Australia’s decision to withdraw the commission had ramifications throughout Australia’s arts community that would take many years to rectify.
She said:
The only way to break this crisis is for the CEO to hand his resignation and for the minister to spill the board.
It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, this has been managed poorly. It’s a shamozzle and it has trashed Australia’s reputation in the arts world, right across the globe.
The senator also called on Burke and Creative Australia to reveal the full costings to the taxpayer that have been incurred through the commissioning, and then decommissioning, of Sabsabi and Dagostino, including how much money had been lost through withdrawn philanthropy.
Within hours of Creative Australia’s decision to rescind the commission on 13 February, investment banker Simon Mordant, one of Australia’s most generous arts philanthropists, announced he was resigning as a biennale ambassador and withdrawing his pledge of a “significant sum”, on the grounds of “poor process by the government’s arts body”.
At Tuesday’s hearing Collette acknowledged additional costs to the taxpayer would be incurred due to the decision to withdraw the commission.
“We will discuss that with Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino and arrive at an agreement, but we absolutely acknowledge we have financial obligations to the artist and the curator,” he said.
Neither Collette or Morton responded to Wednesday’s calls for their resignation, having both testified the night before that they planned to remain in their positions.
A Creative Australia spokesperson said the chair and chief executive’s positions “remain as stated during last night’s hearing” and declined to comment on the ZFA’s call to broaden the impending inquiry into the biennale controversy.
The Guardian has sought comment from Burke’s office.
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Zionist Federation calls for review into Creative Australia arts grants
A day after a bruising ordeal in Senate estimates over the dismissal of Australia’s artistic team for the 2026 Venice Biennale, Creative Australia is facing condemnation on both sides of the divide.
On Wednesday, the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young – who accused Creative Australia’s chief executive, Adrian Collette, and board chair, Robert Morton, of a failure in due diligence, governance and fulfilling the agency’s role as a protecter of free artistic expression – called on the government to sack the Creative Australia board and demand Collette’s resignation.
At the same time, the Zionist Federation of Australia said it had asked the arts minister, Tony Burke, for a “broad and independent” review into the allocation of Creative Australia’s taxpayer-funded arts grants.
Creative Australia has already announced it will do an independent review into the selection process for the Venice Biennale.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Collette suggested that inquiry would also investigate artist Khaled Sabsabi and curator Michael Dagostino’s rescinded invitation.
But in a statement, the ZFA’s president, Jeremy Leibler, and its chief executive, Alon Cassuto, said the review should cover all grant programs and processes to ensure taxpayer funds were not being used to promote hate, antisemitism, terrorism, or extremist ideologies.
They said:
An independent review with a broad remit is necessary to restore confidence in Australia’s arts funding system, as well as ensure antisemitism and the promotion of extremism isn’t allowed to further fester within the arts community.
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Department of Employment and Workplace Relations apologises over IT defencts
In Senate estimates, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has apologised for not having “full confidence” in the system that administers mutual obligations after it said it had to repay over $1,233,527 to 1,280 jobseekers after IT defects affected the system.
As first reported by The Saturday Paper, there were 10 deaths during the time the payments were cancelled.
Under questioning from Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne, the department secretary, Natalie James, said she apologised to the individuals affected. James said:
I absolutely and unreservedly apologise on behalf of the department that we cannot have full confidence in the system delivering what it’s intended to deliver.
It’s not acceptable, and it is my responsibility … legislatively and administratively for overseeing this process.
As you can see from the dates there are some issues that go back some way, and as I said in my statement, am very concerned and making it a top priority to ensure that we address these issues.
I do apologise for the impact that this has had on people.
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Hi, I hope you’ve had a good day so far. I’ll be with you on the blog until this evening.
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Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, I’ll hand the reins over to Catie McLeod to take you through the rest of today’s news. Take care.
All the details on Labor’s $7bn promise for Melbourne’s airport train
Well, that was a very busy afternoon! For all the details on the prime minister’s pledge for Melbourne’s long-awaited airport train, Benita Kolovos has you covered – you can read more below:
Department says it has repaid more than $1.2m to jobseekers after IT defects affected mutual obligations
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has said it had to repay over $1,233,527 to 1280 jobseekers after IT defects affected the mutual obligation system.
The IT system was incorrectly extending the period of time a participant remained in the penalty zone, not exiting jobseekers from the penalty zone or putting them into the penalty zone when they shouldn’t be. When a jobseeker enters the penalty zone, they face financial consequences.
There are two separate reviews being conducted into the legality of the systems that monitor mutual obligations and have the power to cancel Centrelink payments.
Speaking on the review of the legality of the system at Senate estimates, the department secretary, Natalie James, said:
Cancellations were paused on 4 July 2024 and will remain paused until we can be sure the system is operating correctly. I made a subsequent decision to review all payment cancellation decisions that may not have been validly made during this timeframe.
The commonwealth ombudsman, Iain Anderson, also announced on 4 February that he is examining the framework. James said:
I want to reassure the committee that, if following the completion of these processes I remain concerned about the application of the framework, I will take the necessary actions to ensure my department’s compliance with legislation.
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Employment and workplace relations department says it gets one complaint a day in relation to payslips
The Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has said it is investigating four providers for payslip compliance, and is getting an average of one complaint a day in relation to payslips.
Last year Guardian Australia revealed employment services had been coercing jobseekers to hand over payslip details. In some cases, jobseekers are having their payment suspended if they do not hand them over.
Taking a question on notice from Greens senator Penny Allman-Payne during Senate estimates, the department said four providers remain under investigation:
It is not appropriate to identify providers where investigations are ongoing, or where allegations of a breach of the deed are not substantiated.
Between 12 June and 30 September 2024, the national customer service line received 102 complaints in relation to payslips from Workforce Australia, ParentsNext, Transition to Work and Disability Employment Services participants.
The department said it reviewed all 102 complaints and found no instances of inappropriate demerits or payment suspensions relating to the request of payslips.
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Allan says work at Sunshine Station the ‘most complex part’ of project
Jacinta Allan said the work at Sunshine Station is the “most complex part” of the project.
It’s a big part of the project in terms of the huge amounts of track and rail realignment and construction of the platform and the installation of new technology, this is the most complex bit of the project, which is why we’re getting on and doing it now.
Allan said she anticipates the work at the station will be finished by 2030 but did not say when the entire train line would be complete. Asked about the timeline of the rail line, she said:
As we know through some of the challenges we’ve had with the airport rail project ... particularly with some issues with the airport itself that had caused delays. What this does mean [is that] we now have to go through a process of resetting the timeline for delivery of the overall project. But what this investment of the additional $2bn, making a $4bn investment, in and around Sunshine means is that we can get this part of the project moving.
Victorian government to also bring forward $2bn for Sunshine station
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is holding a press conference after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced a $2bn commitment for works at Sunshine station – which is planned to link Melbourne airport, the CBD and regional Victoria – in addition to the $5bn previously pledged to help build the line.
Allan says the state government would also bring forward its own $2bn for the station as a result.
Victorians know that the airport rail project is a project we’ve been waiting for for decades, and it’s fantastic to see that with a partner in the Albanese Labor government, we can get this project moving again. The $2bn that’s been announced today by federal Labor, we’re going to match with bringing forward our investment in airport rail. We want to get this project moving.
Shadow health minister says Coalition has never promised Australians will access free GP services without exception
The shadow health minister Anne Ruston has told Senate estimates the Coalition has never said Australians will access free GP services without exception.
Ruston asked the government representative Malarndirri McCarthy about whether the prime minister and health minister statements in recent days could be “misleading,” referring to the government’s latest bulk billing announcement they have said Australians will only need their “Medicare card, not your credit card” to see their doctor.
Ruston said the claims contradict the department’s website shows bulk billing data showing out of pocket costs still exist. McCarthy responded, highlighting the Coalition had pledged to match Labor’s election commitment.
Clearly, your own policy statement in terms of Medicare bulk billing is also following the health minister and the prime minister, and there is certainly no misleading statements by the minister or the prime minister.
Ruston replied:
Can I make it quite clear for the record in response to the comments that were just made by the minister. At no time have I, or anybody from the Coalition, ever suggested that the only card you needed to take to the doctor going forward was your Medicare card. We have never said that Australians will get access to free GP services without exception.
NSW police provide update on female nurse charged over anti-Israeli video
The NSW police commissioner Karen Webb has given an update on the female nurse who allegedly threatened to kill Israeli patients in a viral video.
Strike Force Pearl investigators arrested and charged Sarah Abu Lebdeh late yesterday, but no charges have been laid against her former colleague Ahmed Rashid Nadir. In an edited video posted by the Israeli influencer Max Veifer, the pair allegedly claimed they would not treat Israelis and boasted of sending them to hell.
Providing an update, Webb said:
A 26-year-old female has been bailed to appear at court on the 19th of March for three very, very serious charges.
There are three commonwealth criminal code charges relating to the use of a carriage service to menace, harass and intimidate individuals, as well as [an] additional charge to threaten a group.
She’s on very, very strict bail conditions – namely prohibiting her from going to a point of departure from Australia, but more importantly, banned from using social media.
Webb said she was charged with commonwealth offences rather than NSW offences as “whilst ...we allege that [they] were in New South Wales, it’s been widely reported that the person that they engage[d] with was overseas and the commonwealth law best applies to those situations.”
Webb said the charge, 13 days on from the investigation, was made in an “incredibl[y] short time” given the complexities of the police work which crossed international borders.
Webb said the influencer’s statement had to be translated from Hebrew into English. She praised the police work done in such a short time and said:
I don’t think I would have ever imagined that an investigation of that complexity across the other side of the world would be done in such a short time.
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Richard White retakes control of $32b WiseTech
Billionaire tech entrepreneur Richard White has taken control of WiseTech Global, the logistics company he founded three decades ago, after the resignation of two-thirds of its board earlier this week.
AAP reports that White has been appointed WiseTech’s executive chairman while the ASX’s biggest tech company searches for a permanent chief executive, WiseTech said in a statement.
WiseTech directors Lisa Brock, Richard Dammery, Michael Malone and Fiona Pak-Poy resigned on Monday, citing “intractable differences” about the role of White, causing WiseTech shares to plunge 20%.
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More from Senate estimates exchange
Continuing from our last post: Deb O’Neill also claimed submissions to that inquiry found Godwin Grech had been sending emails to senior Liberal party figures.
The Treasury submission to the committee of privileges included emails from Mr Grech to senior Liberal party figures and this ran across the period from September 2008 roughly around collapse of the Lehrmann brothers, through to the period ending June 2009.
O’Neill claimed the emails from Grech’s Treasury account to senior Liberal figures were “highly personal” in nature.
There was another major argument over those emails, which were part of submissions to a privileges committee (which has some pretty strict rules on what can and can’t be heard in public, though O’Neill said the submissions are public, and you could find them in the parliamentary library).
The committee went into a private meeting for a solid 40 minutes determining O’Neill’s questions were in order. Oh, to be a fly on the wall for that meeting.
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Dutton’s purchase of bank shares during GFC subject of discussion during estimates
Opposition leader Peter Dutton’s purchase of bank shares during the GFC has been going off in Senate estimates today.
Labor senator Deb O’Neill has asked whether the bank stimulus package increased the share prices of those banks, and then whether Dutton would have been privy to information or briefings on the package before it was made public. The opposition was not happy with that line of questioning, and fought tooth and nail to stop it.
Senator James McGrath at one stage said “Chair, I have a point of order” more than 20 times, trying to talk over O’Neill and the chair, Jess Walsh – it was pretty messy – while Labor members accused the opposition of “running cover” for Dutton. Dutton was asked about the share purchases earlier today and said he’s conducted himself with “integrity” (see earlier post for his full comments).
O’Neill then referred to evidence from a previous privileges committee inquiry, that well-known former public servant Godwin Grech – who is no longer employed at Treasury, and is not at estimates – was “heavily involved in the package”:
The committee of privileges page 84, Mr Grech was heavily involved in the development of the Australian Business Investment Partnership, ABIP, including attending meetings and negotiations with the major banks.
More to come on this exchange in a moment.
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PM asked about prospect of bold taxation reform in Australia
Back at the Herald Sun’s Future Victoria event, where the prime minister is still taking questions.
Anthony Albanese was asked if Australia needs a bold approach and reform of its taxation system across both federal and state governments.
He said the “truth is that tax reform is really hard.” On the decision to scrap the stage-three tax cuts, he said he “can’t find anyone who says that we did the wrong thing there”.
And yet, this time last year, the opposition were demanding we go to an election – at the beginning of last year – because it was so horrific, doing something that was pretty bloody sensible, frankly, and added to workforce participation and had productivity benefits.
Should there be more non-confrontational debate about [reform]? Yeah, of course there should. But I live in the real world, and that’s the one that we have to deal with.
After a few more questions, the PM wrapped up his appearance at the event.
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Universities Australia to release latest survey results on sexual assault on campus this year
Universities Australia will release its latest survey into sexual assault and harassment on campuses some time this year, CEO Luke Sheehy has confirmed while speaking at the National Press Club just earlier.
In 2023, the then-CEO of the body, Catriona Jackson, committed to holding another national survey following backlash from advocacy groups and the federal government over its response to gender-based harm.
The latest survey, released during Covid lockdowns in 2021, found that one in 20 students had been sexually assaulted since starting university, and one in six had reported being sexually harassed. Men made up 84% of alleged perpetrators.
Sheehy said Universities Australia was “absolutely committed” to deliver the next iteration of the national student safety survey.
It was a top priority of mine coming into this job in February. I and the team ... spent more than 100 hours talking to student groups, advocates, victim survivors, practitioners and people that can help us inform how the next survey should look and what it looks like and we’re close to delivering that and we will in 2025.
Asked when in 2025 it would be released, he said it would come out at a “time that suits students”, likely in the second half of the year.
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NSW premier defends state youth bail laws at estimates
The NSW premier has been grilled over comments made by two Supreme Court judges who called out the government’s youth bail laws.
Under questioning during budget estimates from Greens spokesperson for justice, Sue Higginson, Minns was asked about one judge’s comment that the laws were “defying the principles of equal justice”, and another who reportedly said the laws treated “children’s freedom in a less favourable way than an adult’s freedom in exactly the same circumstances.”
Minns said he did not accept the judges characterisation of the laws, and argued that in the circumstances – and in a bid to keep communities safe – the laws were appropriate.
There’s many stakeholders that step in and criticise government legislation and laws, even eminent ones from the bench. But that doesn’t mean that we hand over the administration of justice or law making to the Supreme Court. Parliament needs to make these decisions.
The judge’s comments were in relation to the youth bail laws which were introduced last year and the government has proposed to extend to 2028. The laws make it harder for young people who commit a repeat offence while on bail to get bail again.
Minns told the budget estimate a little earlier that following the introduction of the law, the number of young people that fell into the category and who had been refused bail and held in custody had increased from 30% to 90%.
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PM answers rapid fire question on political figures and groups
Anthony Albanese is now being asked rapid fire questions, and asked to give his response to a number of political figures and groups. He has responded to each as such:
Peter Dutton: Not gonna win.
Daniel Andrews: Friend
Donald Trump: US president
Lidia Thorpe: Careful who you vote for.
The Teals: Only there because the Liberal Party have created that vacuum.
The Greens: Lost their way, don’t care about the environment, don’t vote for them.
Jacinta Allan: Dear friend.
Jodie Hayden: Lover.
And the election date? Good try.
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Albanese asked whether he regrets not visiting Adass Israel synagogue sooner after fire bombing
Anthony Albanese was also asked if he regrets not visiting the Adass Israel synagogue quickly enough after it was fire bombed.
The prime minister said he was already on a plane to Perth and had a range of commitments there, but “I got to Adass … as soon as I could.”
I also have engaged completely with people there … There was an incredibly warm welcome from the leadership of that community at the synagogue … We talked through issues I committed then to come back …
Antisemitism, any racism, is abhorrent. I’ve spent my entire life not looking to punch down on people, never looking to divide on the basis of race, always looking to bring people together.
Albanese said he puts his “record up” when it comes to “standing with communities each and every day.”
You have to be consistent about these things, and I have been consistent. I think that our multiculturalism is really important. I respect people of whatever faith their right to practice it.
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Albanese says it took ‘courage’ to go ahead with Voice to Parliament referendum
Anthony Albanese has now been asked about the Voice to Parliament referendum, and whether he regrets going ahead with this given the result.
The PM said there had been a “rewriting of history”, and that both sides said they would have a referendum after the Uluru Statement from the Heart in the lead up to the 2019 election.
And every time after that, for three years that I stood up and gave an acknowledgement of country, I recommitted to constitutional recognition. Our nation’s birth certificate is unfinished, whilst it pretends the nation began in 1788 … We have 65,000 years of history. That should be acknowledged and sometime it will, history will look back, sometime it will. But we accepted the result.
Albanese said a successful result required bipartisanship, which didn’t occur.
Therefore it wasn’t successful, but it was done out of conviction, certainly not out of convenience … We did it for the right reasons. We went out there and explained it as a difficult thing to do. It took courage, though, and it took courage [from] my entire team.
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Albanese believes Labor can achieve majority government at election
Back to Anthony Albanese, who is still taking questions at the Future Victoria event in Melbourne.
The PM said he has been in politics a while, “mainly opposition”, and knows the hard work needed to provide policy alternatives. He took aim at the Coalition for only having three policies currently:
The Coalition, as of now, have three policies – $600bn nuclear energy plan, sometime in the 2040s, free lunches for some paid for by everyone, and cuts to pay for it all, including 36,000 public servants. And … they’re counting that is going to fund at least three things now. That’s where it’s at, that’s the divide that is there during the campaign.
Albanese said independent seats across the country are those that have historically been held by the Coalition, when asked about the prospects of a minority government. He said:
So that, in terms of a path forward, if you want a majority government, I’m the only person leading a single party seeking majority government and I believe we’ll get there.
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Universities Australia head questioned over high salaries of nation’s VCs
Jumping over to the National Press Club, where the head of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, has been questioned over the high remuneration of the nation’s vice-chancellors, many of whom are paid more than $1m a year – double the pay of the prime minister.
It’s also more than their counterparts at leading universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, Oxford and Stanford, at the same time the majority of higher education institutions are in deficit. Asked how the sector could justify such exorbitant salaries, Sheehy said he was “absolutely delighted” he didn’t set them.
That is a matter for our university governing councils and chancellors who set university vice-chancellors’ salaries but I will say this. Australian universities are incredibly large compared to other global systems, right?
Some of the medium-sized universities that I used to represent in my old job … have more employees … than government departments and they have private income they get from international students that is not commonwealth funding directly.
Sheehy added the matter of university governance was being interrogated right now in the Senate, and by an expert council appointed by Labor.
Universities in Australia are very, very well governed and we did a very good job, despite deliberate policy neglect during Covid. A lot of that is to do with good governance and management.
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Albanese takes questions around infrastructure funding
Anthony Albanese is now taking questions while speaking at the Herald Sun Future Victoria event.
Asked if the funding announced today was because he wants an airport rail and the premier wants the suburban rail, the PM rejected this and said “we are on the same page.”
If you combine the road and rail projects … we’re doing things right around the circuit, if you like. And together with what’s happening with the Metro when [it] opens, it’s about the capacity of the network that will make an enormous difference – together with, of course, the West Gate tunnel.
Albanese spoke about the opposition to infrastructure projects and said once something is opened, the opposition seems to go away:
I obviously don’t live in Melbourne these days. I live in Canberra, but I’m sure that there is an opposition group to the West Gate Tunnel. I’m sure that wherever there is an infrastructure project, I’ve never seen one yet they didn’t have some people saying, ‘No, this is too hard.’ But the other thing I’ve always seen is that when they open, you can’t find anyone who said they were against it.
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Albanese ends speech with message of optimism for future
Wrapping up his speech, the prime minister said “global uncertainty” had presented Australia with “significant challenges” – but the nation had shown resilience and had reason for hope. Anthony Albanese said:
The reward for all this hard work is now within reach, because when you look at the world today, when you think about what will define and shape the economy in the decades ahead, there is nowhere you would rather be in in Australia.
There is no other nation that can match our combination of strengths, our natural resources, our space, our universities and Tafes, our superannuation system and its investment power, our stable democracy, our diaspora communities that give us a family connection with every nation on Earth. Our greatest strength is and always will be our people.
The courage, kindness, aspiration and determination of the Australian people is a great story of our modern history. It is the continuing inspiration of our present and it is the very best reason for all of us to be optimistic about the future of Victoria, and Australia.
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PM also pledges $1.2bn suburban road blitz with Victorian government
Anthony Albanese has also pledged a $1.2bn suburban road blitz in partnership with the Victorian government.
He said this money is “ready right now”, with roads in need of repair and “dangerous intersections” that need tackling.
The first three projects in this blitz will be sealing and upgrading Old Sydney Road, where it connects with Cameron’s Lane … We’ll also partner with the Victorian government to upgrade the intersection of McLeod Road and Station Street in Carroll and Evans Road between Duff Street and Central Parkway in Cranbourne West.
These are three important projects but they’re only the first three more to come will be announced over the coming period in suburbs and regions that need this investment the most.
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PM announces another $2bn for Melbourne airport rail
The prime minister has promised it would partner with the Victorian government to fund and build the rail link to Melbourne airport.
Anthony Albanese outlined the package as follows:
Our Labor government is committing $7bn to build Melbourne airport rail, the next important step in suburban rail loop. This includes our existing $5bn to build the rail line to Tullamarine, funding that will build the track, as well as the bridge and signalling improvements to deliver future upgrades to service Melbourne’s north and west.
On top of this, we’ll invest a further $2bn to help transform Sunshine Station, and the Victorian government will bring forward their funding to kickstart work building the extra platforms and a dedicated spur line that will make Sunshine Station the hub for regional rail services, connecting to the airport.
And in addition to the $7bn we’re committing to this project, we’ll also begin work to enable the electrification of the Melton line.
The PM said “we are locking in this investment now, it’s in our budget”.
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Albanese speaking on Melbourne Metro
Anthony Albanese has been speaking about the “long-term infrastructure investment cycle and the short-term electoral cycle that exists between elections”, and said the Melbourne Metro would be open today if former PM Tony Abbott had not cut funding that was budgeted by Labor.
It is a huge credit to the Victorian government that it held firm and took full responsibility for finishing the job through a decade when it was starved of federal funding. And I know that in a matter of months now, when the Metro tunnel is open, Melburnians will absolutely love it like Sydneysiders love the Metro there.
Here was our explainer on the Melbourne Metro, from last September:
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Albanese touts government action on inflation, Medicare and education
Continuing to address the crowd, Anthony Albanese has been speaking about the government’s action to address inflation, its Medicare pledge, measures for childcare and Tafe, and education:
Under the historic agreement that we signed with the Victorian government just last month, every single public school in the education state will be funded to the national student resourcing standard.
David Gonski did that landmark review 14 years ago, [outlining] the level of funding that every school and every student should receive to get the best possible education, whether it’s private or public, no matter where it is – in the city, out of burbs or regions.
As a nation, we’ve never achieved it, even though that was such a clear piece of science of what was best for our students and for our younger generations. Well, we’re getting it done, and I thank the premier of Victoria for her leadership.
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Albanese addressing Future Victoria event in Melbourne
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has begun speaking at the Herald Sun Future Victoria event in Melbourne.
He has begun by speaking about Labor’s Future Made in Australia agenda, saying Victoria was key to this.
One of the great advantages that we have in Australia of being located where we are in the fastest growing region of the world in human history, is our human-to-human relationships … Our multiculturalism is very much a part of that. Victoria, of course, is very central to that agenda, which is about seizing the opportunities which are there.
Albanese said Victoria represents more than 20% of Australia’s economy, labelling it a “global leader” in renewables:
[In] renewable energy technology, Victoria is a global leader, not just a national one.
On increasing power bills, Albanese laid the blame at “years of a civil war on climate change and energy within the Liberal and National parties”, saying this put Australia “a decade behind the world on renewables.”
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Minns points to boost in police workforce as evidence NSW government is effectively responding to crime
The NSW premier has pointed to the government’s work to boost numbers in the police force and a rise in the state’s prison population as evidence that the Labor government is effectively responding to crime.
Under questioning about regional crime during budget estimates, the premier, Chris Minns, said:
The prison population when we got into government was 12,400. Today it sits at 13,300 as a result of our changes to remand. There was 4,800 people in remand in NSW prisons. Today the number is 5,800. Now the Greens don’t like those statistics but it’s important that the public know that we are prepared to make change when we see problems in our community, and I’m not done yet.
Minns also acknowledged that the laws his government introduced to make it harder for young people who allegedly commit a repeat offence while on bail to get bail again were controversial. But, he said, as a result of the laws 90% of young people that fall into that category are on remand.
I think the government’s record when it comes to confronting violence in our communities is better than the previous government.
Youth advocates have raised that locking more children up is likely to make communities more unsafe in the long-term, with evidence showing that prison time increases a young person’s likelihood to offend.
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PM to address Herald Sun’s Future Victoria event
We’re standing by for the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who is due to speak at the Herald Sun’s Future Victoria event in Melbourne. We’ll bring you those key moments once he begins speaking.
Update on Tropical Cyclone Alfred off Queensland coast
The Bureau of Meteorology says Tropical Cyclone Alfred will continue to linger off the Queensland coast until later in the week.
The cyclone – currently a category 2 system – is tracking slowly south through the Coral Sea. At 11am local time, it was 930km north-east of Mackay.
The bureau says the forecast is for the system to move in a “general southwards direction” during today and tomorrow and that there is a “high confidence” Alfred will “remain well off the Queensland coast until late in the week”.
But where the system moves next – including potentially towards the coast – remains “largely uncertain”.
There is a chance that Alfred may be steered towards the Queensland coast, more likely as a weakening system … or it could continue moving southwards and remain off the Queensland coast. From the weekend the track becomes highly uncertain and there is the risk that Alfred may move closer to the central or southern Queensland coast.
The next update is due at 5pm, Queensland time.
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Queensland’s pill-testing service makes five detections of dangerous synthetic opioids
Queensland’s pill-testing service has made several detections of a dangerous synthetic opioid which has been dubbed “worse than fentanyl”, disguised as legitimate pharmaceutical medicines.
Since December, the CheQpoint pill-testing service has seen five detections of the highly dangerous benzodiazepine bromazolam, and two detections of the deadly synthetic opioid nitazene.
Nitazenes, synthetic opioids developed in the 1950s as an alternative painkiller to morphine, were shelved due their higher risk of overdose. They are up to 500 times more potent than heroin and are responsible for a wave of overdose deaths across the country.
The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission said in a newsletter last year that nitazenes “are a greater threat to Australia than fentanyl, as even the smallest amount can cause an overdose and a milligram of some nitazenes can be fatal”.
In a new report released today, CheQpoint revealed that 490 people have accessed the service, with about 10% of drugs tested containing an unexpected psychoactive substance. One in seven clients of the service destroyed their drugs after testing.
The state government plans to close the service in April or May, when its contract runs out, over the objection of health bodies. Cameron Frances, the chief executive of the not-for-profit drug-checking organisation Loop, said:
It’s terrifying to think what rate of overdoses we will see from nitazenes if we can’t detect them first and warn the public.
The president of the Australian Medical Association’s Queensland division, Dr Nick Yim, called on the state government to retain the “vital” drug-checking service, especially until its efficacy could be “fully evaluated”.
Every person that accesses a CheQpoint service is one less our busy emergency departments may have to treat due to drug misadventure. It saves lives and it saves our health system. If pill testing saves one Queenslander’s life, it will be money well spent.
You can read more of our coverage of the issue of nitazenes in Australia here:
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Search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight resumes after 11 years
In some international news: a new search for Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 has been launched more than a decade after the plane went missing in one of aviation’s greatest enduring mysteries.
Maritime exploration firm Ocean Infinity has resumed the hunt for the missing plane, the Malaysian transport minister, Anthony Loke, said on Tuesday.
Loke told reporters the contract details between Malaysia and the firm were still being finalised but welcomed “the proactiveness of Ocean Infinity to deploy their ships” to begin the search for the plane, which went missing in March 2014.
You can read all the details on this below:
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Market is pricing a 19% chance of second rate cut in April
Back to the monthly CPI data: it won’t do anything to improve the chances of a rate cut on 1 April, given they are slightly, but not dramatically, disappointing.
The market is pricing in a 19% chance of another rate cut on 1 April, when the Reserve Bank hands down its next decision, according to market data released before the monthly inflation figures.
Economists had expected the RBA’s preferred gauge, the underlying inflation rate, could ease to 2.6% in the 12 months to January. Instead it has come in at 2.8%.
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Health department had discussions of antisemitism before NSW nurses video, secretary says
Over in health estimates, the shadow health minister, Anne Ruston, is asking the department about the NSW nurses who spoke about Israeli patients in a viral video, after news of one of the nurses being charged this morning.
Blair Comley, the secretary of the Department of Health and Aged Care, said the department became aware of the issue on the day the news broke when they were contacted by NSW on 12 February and subsequently briefed the federal health minister.
Asked by Ruston about any prior briefings in the department about antisemitic behaviour, Comley said:
We’ve certainly had discussions of antisemitism prior to the 12 February.
Ruston is seeking further information on notice about whether there were specific briefings about antisemitic behaviour.
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Monthly inflation rate flat in January
The headline inflation rate was 2.5% in the 12 months to January, flat on the previous month’s figure, according to consumer price index figures released today.
The Reserve Bank’s preferred measure for inflation, the “trimmed mean” or underlying inflation that strips out volatile items and various government subsidies, increased to 2.8% from 2.7%.
The quarterly results, which came out less than one month ago, are viewed as more authoritative than the monthly figures, which can be volatile.
The RBA cut the cash rate by a quarter-point last week to 4.1%, in the first reduction since the early days of the pandemic. The next rate decision will be on 1 April.
Will there or won’t there be a budget before the election?
Just before the first break, Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy was asked whether Treasury is working on a budget, due 25 March.
As many are predicting an April election, that would mean the budget would be skipped, and during the campaign there’d be an economic statement which would give us a rundown of how the economy is tracking.
Kennedy said his department is preparing a full budget, and when asked if that could be transformed into an economic statement, he said:
We have everything we need in place to deliver a budget on that date. We do whatever the government asks of us, but we’re working on a budget.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, also chimed in, saying the government is working on the budget.
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Australia's 39 universities to unilaterally enforce new definition of antisemitism
Australia’s 39 universities will unilaterally enforce a new definition of antisemitism on campuses after a parliamentary inquiry recommended higher education providers “closely align” with the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition.
A spokesperson for Universities Australia confirmed a working definition had been “unanimously endorsed”, based on close work with members and Jillian Segal, the special envoy to combat antisemitism.
The definition draws closely on the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition and recommendations of antisemitism taskforces at Columbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University and New York University. It includes:
Criticism of the policies and practices of the Israeli government or state is not in and of itself antisemitic. However, criticism of Israel can be antisemitic when it is grounded in harmful tropes, stereotypes or assumptions and when it calls for the elimination of the State of Israel or all Jews or when it holds Jewish individuals or communities responsible for Israel’s actions ...
All peoples, including Jews, have the right to self-determination. For most, but not all Jewish Australians, Zionism is a core part of their Jewish identity. Substituting the word ‘Zionist’ for ‘Jew’ does not eliminate the possibility of speech being antisemitic.
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Dutton says his wealth cannot be compared to that of Turnbull or Rudd
A reporter asked whether Peter Dutton is concerned that “as a society, we’re going to be critical of people who have worked hard for their assets?” He responded:
I think people have worked hard and some people have been lucky, and others haven’t as a result of that. The comparison of me to Malcolm Turnbull’s wealth or to Kevin Rudd’s wealth is just completely and utterly fictional.
Dutton says he’s declared ‘all the detail that’s required to be declared’
A reporter asked Peter Dutton if he was a member of the shadow expenditure review committee at the time he bought shares in CommBank, Westpac and Australia Bank?
He said he would have to “go back” because it was 15 years ago.
Just to be very clear, there’s no information I’ve been privy to that influenced about any share that I’ve bought. I’ve conducted myself with integrity. Why would I be declaring every detail if there was something to be hidden? It’s nonsense … I’ve declared all the detail that’s required to be declared.
Taking a later question, Dutton doubled down and said:
I’ve not received any information that has influenced any share transaction by the selling or buying that I’ve made, or the purchase of any property or other asset or other asset class or type where I’ve been privy to any information other than what is publicly available. It’s not something that I would ever do, and that’s something I’m proud of.
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Dutton says PM has ‘very serious questions’ to answer on whether Defence knew of Chinese warships
Moving back to the Chinese warships, Peter Dutton said there were “significant questions” to be answered about why a Virgin pilot discovered the flotilla rather than Defence.
If there was an incursion across into our waters and Defence didn’t know about it or the defence minister didn’t know about it, we need to ask those questions and they should be answered.
And frankly, the prime minister should stand up and explain what is a very significant event. But at the moment, obviously, the prime minister hasn’t done that and his story seems to be at odds with the version given by the chief of the defence force in estimates and these are very serious questions that the prime minister needs to answer.
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Dutton fields questions on 2009 shareholdings, family property assets
Asked about his 2009 shareholdings, Peter Dutton said he has bought shares over the years starting at 18 and 19 years old.
I’ve invested and a lot of astute investors would have bought bank shares at that time because they saw value in the shares and the balance sheets of Australian banks … I saw value in those shares.
Dutton accused the Prime Minister’s Office of trying to “shop this story to a dozen journalists”.
I think it reflects poorly on the prime minister and the desperation that he’s in at the moment.
The opposition leader said some transactions go back to when he was 20, and said he had always conducted himself with “integrity”.
If the prime minister has some claim to make, don’t get his lackeys to push it out there. Get up and make the claim yourself.
On his family’s property assets, Dutton said: “They’ve trawled through every transaction of my life for, you know, my entire adult life and they’ve come up with the fact that we’ve bought and sold properties.”
My father and I started with nothing in a small building company and half the transactions that are on that list are blocks of land we bought where Dad built a house and we sold the house and land. I never lived in the house. It was never rented out and it was a small business.
Dutton continued that “we have our house which has been declared, our private residence, [and] we have money in the bank and that’s it”.
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Peter Dutton addressing reporters in Sydney
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to reporters in Sydney, alongside the Liberal candidate for Parramatta.
As Josh Butler flagged just earlier, it’s his first press conference since Monday and he is likely to face questions about his historical share holdings which Labor posed yesterday.
Dutton has begun by taking aim at the government for increasing energy prices, saying “it is going to get tougher if Mr Albanese is re-elected”.
He also said he was concerned by “conflicting [reports] between the chief of the Defence force and the prime minister” over what is occurring in the Tasman Sea with the Chinese warships.
He accused Anthony Albanese of “ducking and weaving and failing to answer basic questions”.
I hope that the prime minister can come out and give an honest account of what the government knew and when, in relation to this notable ship that’s off our coastline, what warnings the government had.
It seems that Air Services Australia had notified the Australian defence force, or had notified as a result of a Virgin air crew notification, and it just doesn’t add up.
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Hume makes a personal attack against treasury officials
During Senate estimates, Senator Jane Hume has asked whether the Treasury department has been “politicised” – while questioning the work officials have done in political offices.
It’s a pretty explosive point she’s trying to make, pointing to time Treasury boss Steven Kennedy spent in the prime minister’s office during the GFC, and asks if he worked with Jim Chalmers, who was in then-treasurer Wayne Swan’s office.
Kennedy said he was seconded as a Treasury official to the PM’s office, and points to other deputy secretaries who have previously worked with Malcolm Turnbull and Tony Abbott. He said it would be a “shame” if other public servants were discouraged to do the same.
I think it would be a real shame if public servants felt that it would be a negative for their career if they did not take up those opportunities.
I do completely reject that the department or the officials are politicised as you pointed out through these remarks ... I am very confident that we do not act politically so I do reject that assertion.
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said Hume’s questioning was “disgusting and outrageous”.
[An] outrageous personal attack on people who have served their country with distinction for governments of all persuasions.
Hume ends by saying to Kennedy, “I’m sorry this has happened to you.”
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NBN Co declares lounge memberships for seven executives at company dating back to 2019
NBN Co has declared Chairman’s Lounge memberships for seven executives at the company, including the chief executive, dating back to 2019, after Guardian Australia questioned the government company over its failure to disclose any memberships earlier this month.
The company responsible for the National Broadband Network, confirmed to Guardian Australia at the time that a small number of NBN employees receive airline lounge memberships, but the memberships were not listed on the public gift disclosure page.
Since then, the page has been updated to include memberships given to the CEO, the chief network officer, the chief customer officer, the chief operations officer, the chief strategy and transformation officer and the chief financial officer.
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Inflation data due out shortly
Monthly inflation data is due out shortly, which may provide some insight into whether another cash rate cut is more or less likely ahead of the federal election.
There’s an expectation that the headline inflation rate could rise to 2.6% for the 12 months to January, up from 2.5%, according to analysts at IG Australia. It may tick higher due to a winding down of the energy rebates.
The Reserve Bank’s preferred measure for inflation, known as the “trimmed mean” or underlying inflation that strips out volatile items and various government subsidies, is expected to ease marginally from 2.7% to 2.6%.
Anything that differs greatly from these expectations could shift the odds of another rate cut on 1 April, although monthly figures can be volatile.
The quarterly results, which came out less than one month ago, are viewed as more authoritative.
While there is a widespread expectation among economists of another cut in the first half of this year, the market is pricing in a chance of a reduction on 1 April at less than 20%.
Albanese rejects notion there is cash splash in Victoria
Asked if a cash splash was occurring in Victoria because the state was losing faith in Labor, Anthony Albanese rejected this and said it was “getting [its] fair share of infrastructure spending”.
When we left office I was the infrastructure minister as well as a few other jobs. They ripped $3bn that had been allocated out of the Melbourne Metro project.
Melbourne Metro would be up and running right now, people would be riding on it, if Tony Abbott had not come in and ripped the money out …
Victoria was left abandoned by the federal government for a long period of time. My government is investing in Victorian infrastructure, like we are right around the country.
After a few more questions, the press conference wrapped up.
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PM questioned on how Defence was notified of Chinese warship live firing exercises
Circling back to Anthony Albanese, who has begun taking questions from reporters in Victoria.
Asked about the latest developments on the Chinese warships, as Ben Doherty just brought us, the PM said Australia had been working with its New Zealand colleagues.
I’ve been in contact by phone and have been discussing these issues.
He was asked if comments made in Senate estimates this week were correct, that there was no notification from China on the live firing exercises and Air Services was informed first? Albanese replied:
The New Zealand taskforce was aware at the same time … New Zealand notified the Australian defence force, which is what we were cooperating on.
So Air Services was telling Defence before the New Zealand taskforce? The PM said there were “two areas of notification” around the same time:
One was from the New Zealand vessels that were tailing, and we’ve been cooperating with. The vessels in the area by both sea and air, so that occurred, and at the same time through the channels that occurred when something like this is occurring, Air Services got notified as well.
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Dutton also due to give press conference this morning
Peter Dutton will also hold a press conference shortly in Sydney, where he’ll have to respond to questions about his historical share holdings which Labor posed yesterday. It’s also likely he’ll get questions about a story in the Nine newspapers today on his extensive property dealings over the years.
Labor minister Murray Watt was out earlier this morning, accusing Dutton of being “in hiding” after the shares story broke yesterday in a news.com.au story. He claimed in a press conference:
He’s refusing to answer basic questions about a very strange share purchase that he engaged in in the middle of the global financial crisis.
In a statement yesterday, Dutton’s office said he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”, and stressed “all updates to Dutton’s register of interests were made at the appropriate time”.
Dutton had last held a press conference on Monday. Watt said this morning:
He needs to come out of hiding and answer the most basic questions such as: how many shares did he trade? At what exact times did he trade? How much profit did he make on that share trading, and most importantly, did he know that the very next day the then government was going to be announcing a banking bailout that sent those shares from skyrocketing?
Peter Dutton aspires to be the prime minister of this country. He can’t go and hide when the going gets tough and when there are hard questions to be answered. He needs to come out of hiding today and answer these questions.
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Albanese addressing reporters in Victoria
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is addressing reporters in Victoria.
As with his press conferences in recent days, he has started by touting the government’s Medicare pledge to boost bulk-billing rates, and has taken aim at the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, for his track record as health minister in the past. The PM said:
You don’t need an X-ray to see right through Peter Dutton’s commitment to undermining Medicare, because that is what he has done at every single opportunity.
Speaking from a Medicare urgent care clinic, Albanese said it was one of 87 around the country.
At the last election, we promised to build an open 50 during this term. The fact is we’ve exceeded that substantially.
Chinese warships could sail through Great Australian Bight with undetected nuclear submarine: ADF chief
Chinese warships south of Hobart appear likely to sail through the Great Australian Bight, and could be accompanied by an undetected nuclear submarine, the chief of the Australian defence force has said.
Admiral David Johnston appeared before Senate estimates this morning, saying the Australian defence force had been surveilling the three People’s Liberation Army-Navy vessels since they split from a larger “taskgroup” and sailed into Australian waters from south-east Asia.
The flotilla – the frigate Hengyang, the cruiser Zunyi, and a replenishment vessel Weishanhu – is currently 250km south of Hobart, inside Australia’s exclusive economic zone, sailing south-west.
The fact that they are currently south of Hobart and proceeding south-west suggests that it is more likely now that they may proceed through the Australian Bight.
Asked to comment on reporting the ships were likely accompanied by a nuclear submarine, Johnston said he could not be categoric.
I don’t know whether there is a submarine with them. It is possible: task groups occasionally do deploy with submarines, but not always. I can’t be definitive on whether that’s the case.
Johnston said the Chinese flotilla had undertaken two live-fire drills in the Tasman Sea on Friday and on Saturday, and was critical that, while the drills were conducted in international waters and in accordance with international law, there was insufficient notice before the live-fire drills started.
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We’re standing by for a press conference from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese – we’ll bring you the key moments live once he steps up.
Minns questioned on NSW government stance on legalising cannabis
The NSW premier has said if a report from the state’s drug summit recommends legalising homegrown cannabis for personal use, that does not necessarily mean the government would make that change.
Under questioning in budget estimates from Jeremy Buckingham, a member of the Legalise Cannabis party, on whether the government would move to legalise cannabis, Minns said:
I want to make sure that when we make a change, if we make a change, it in fact works, and I have to have a mandate for a major change like that.
Then asked if he would consider making it an election commitment depending on the recommendations from the drug summit held in December and which is yet to report back, Minns responded:
I’m not prepared to speculate on it, and I wouldn’t take that to mean that we are going to take it as an election commitment. It’s not something that is imminent. It’s not something that we’re considering. We don’t close our mind to legislative change and reform, but I don’t have any plans to do that.
The drug summit – which held hearings in Griffith, Lismore and Sydney – invited experts from various fields to inform the government on how it should deal with drug-related harms.
The summit’s co-chairs – former NSW health minister Carmel Tebbutt, and former state Liberal leader John Brogden – will deliver a report this year with recommendations from the summit.
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Minns reiterates he doesn’t think Haylen broke any rules before stepping down as minister
The NSW premier has reaffirmed that he doesn’t think the former transport minister broke any rules before she stepped down, but that “we both made a decision that she couldn’t stay in her job”.
Jo Haylen has quit as the NSW transport minister following revelations about her use of a ministerial car for private purposes.
It emerged in early February that Haylen had asked her chauffeur to take her and some friends to a winery lunch on the Australia Day weekend. It involved a 13-hour 446km round-trip for the driver, from Sydney to Haylen’s holiday house at Caves Beach, and then to a Hunter Valley winery and back.
Speaking during budget estimates, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said there were “pages and pages” of incidents where ministers from both governments had used a ministerial car for private purposes:
I don’t believe, I genuinely don’t believe, I firmly don’t believe that the admittedly inappropriate use by the minister of the ministerial driver was isolated.
I’ve made a decision to change the rules in relation to the minister of drivers, particularly around private use. I wish I’d done it when we first got elected. But lesson learned.
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Henderson says Coalition would adopt ‘zero tolerance’ policy of antisemitism on university campuses
A Coalition government would adopt a “zero tolerance” policy of antisemitism on university campuses, Sarah Henderson also told the conference.
Academic freedom must not be used to falsely cloak incidents of antisemitism … we will not wait for universities to act in their own time.
Henderson said the Coalition would require all universities to adopt the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, as Labor recommended, and implement a national higher education code. It would also establish a judicial inquiry into antisemitism and amend the Fair Work Act if required to cover university employees.
I am inspired by the words of Ben Sasse, the president of the University of Florida, who said: ‘We will always defend your rights to free speech and free assembly, but if you cross the line on clearly prohibited activities, you will be thrown off campus and suspended. That means a three-year prohibition from campus … The students weighed the costs, made their decisions and will own the consequences as adults. We’re a university, not a daycare. We don’t coddle emotions. We wrestle with ideas.
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Shadow education minister flags Labor reforms Coalition would undo if elected
Sarah Henderson has flagged a number of Labor reforms the Coalition would undo if elected this year, including reinstating the 50% pass rule that removes commonwealth supported funding if students fail more than half of their courses and reversing changes to the Australian Research Council (ARC) grant process.
She said the Coalition’s position on the controversial jobs-ready graduates scheme hadn’t changed, but it would undertake a review into the policy’s outcomes. On ARC, she said the government had “absolved itself” of the “responsibility to safeguard precious taxpayer funds”.
We will seek to reverse this decision, because under our Westminster system of government, the buck stops with the government of the day and not an unelected board.
Henderson said the Coalition would also impose a harsher international student cap than the legislation proposed by Labor, which it rejected, with “more to say in the coming weeks”.
For too long, universities have relied on a business model which yielded them eye-watering revenues, but which are not sustainable or in line with expectations of the Australian community. We will deliver a tougher student cap than what is proposed by the government focused on excessive numbers of foreign students in metropolitan cities, particularly Melbourne and Sydney, where two thirds of foreign students live and study.
She said the government was also concerned about “a range of governance issues”, including the high remuneration of vice chancellors which “does not meet the pub test”.
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Shadow education minister says university sector has ‘suffered loss of community trust’
Universities have left students “high and dry too many times” and are suffering a “loss of community trust”, the shadow minister for education, Sarah Henderson says.
Addressing the Universities Australia annual summit in Canberra, Henderson outlined the Coalition’s priorities for universities ahead of the federal election, underpinned by the premise “Australian students must come first”.
Universities must be governed by strong and principled leaders who run their institutions efficiently, transparently and with integrity.
To put students first, universities must be able to operate with certainty and plan for the long term, free from day to day government intervention and policy chaos overseen by a tough and feared regulator … and universities must treat every taxpayer-funded research dollar as precious.
Henderson accused the Labor government of launching from “crisis to crisis” in the university sector, leaving higher education providers “in considerable turmoil”.
I think it’s fair to say the university sector has suffered a loss of community trust throughout the term of the Albanese government. The government’s weak leadership, chaotic policy agenda and lack of consultation on the issues which matter have not helped your cause.
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Steele-John outlines further details on Greens proposal to add ADHD and autism assessments to Medicare
The Greens disability spokesperson, Senator Jordon Steele-John, was on ABC RN earlier this morning to discuss the party’s plan to add ADHD and autism assessments to Medicare.
He said this was aimed at people seeking diagnosis so they can access services or supports, “but they simply can’t get access to those supports because it costs too much to get the assessment in the first place”.
Self diagnosis is very valid, particularly in a situation where – because of these costs and wait times – it’s often totally beyond possible to get an access to a formal diagnosis. But what it can open up is access to services and supports which you can’t access if you don’t have that formalised diagnosis …
It can also play a role in self-understanding. There’s a kind of ‘aha moment’ where, finally, often, people share that they gain a new understanding of themselves and their experience of life. And I think what I am hearing really clearly from people … is a demand for action from government. We’ve seen in the last week that community and Greens pressure in relation to expanding Medicare can work.
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Greens launch plan to add ADHD and autism assessments to Medicare
The Greens have today launched a plan to add ADHD and autism assessments to Medicare, aiming to save people seeking a diagnosis thousands of dollars.
In a statement, the Greens said the plan – costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office – would add the assessments to Medicare to be billed by a paediatrician, psychiatrist, psychologist, nurse practitioner or general practitioner.
People of all ages would be eligible, and the rebate would be set at the average cost of a diagnosis, allowing health practitioners to bulk bill. The Greens said the plan would cost $181m dollars over the forward estimates.
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said in a statement:
Labor has already adopted the Greens’ plan to expand Medicare to see the GP for free and getting these assessments covered too, as well as dental and mental health, are logical next steps.
Kennedy says ‘we do not cost opposition policies’
Sticking with Senate estimates and we’re on to questions, and to no surprise the shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, is asking Steven Kennedy why Treasury costed the lunch policy.
But before we can get into an answer, there’s a heated exchange between the minister Katy Gallagher, Hume and opposition senator James McGrath (following a major blowup between the three yesterday). Gallagher said:
[You were] talking over the top of witnesses yesterday Senator Hume, yeah, she should be listening to answers ... You were a major offender yesterday, Senator McGrath, particularly if a woman was speaking.
Back to Kennedy, he said the department “did not cost opposition policy”.
I’ve been very clear in the documents that we did not consider that we were costing the opposition’s policy. The opposition had that policy, as I understand from the media, costed by the PBO... We costed a policy that the government gave us some parameters on.
But I said, I can be clear through all of this, we did not cost your policy we don’t cost opposition policies.
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Australia shouldn’t consider reciprocal tariffs: Treasury boss
While the world responds to the Trump administration’s tariffs, Treasury boss Steven Kennedy has told Senate estimates Australia shouldn’t put up it’s own tariffs.
He said Australia putting tariffs on other products would lower productivity and competition:
Ultimately, tariffs can push up a broader set of prices across the economy and reduce economic growth.
If Australia were to impose tariffs, we would bear nearly all the cost, given our size and inability to affect the world prices of the goods we import. Cutting tariffs has provided substantial benefits to the Australian economy.
Kennedy urged policy =makers not to “cut ourselves off” from the global economy.
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Woolworths suffers rare profit slide as customers search for deals
Australia’s biggest supermarket chain, Woolworths, has recorded a slide in profits after it was forced to entice cash-strapped customers with larger discounts and it suffered a financial hit from industrial action at its distribution centres.
Woolworths, which owns supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand and operates the Big W department store chain, reported a 21% drop in its six-month net profit result to $739m, and its profit margins have been squeezed.
The result marks a rare pullback in profitability for a company that has printed large returns throughout the pandemic and inflationary period.
It estimates the impact to sales from the industrial action at its warehouses, undertaken by workers during pay negotiations, was about $240m.
Sales still ticked higher at its main money spinner, its Australian supermarket chain, during the half-year period, but customers have been watching their budgets closely amid cost-of-living pressures.
In its half-year financials released today, the company said:
Outside of the disruption, customer transactions continued to grow during the half but items per basket declined as rates of cross-shopping increased during the year reflecting cost-of-living pressures and more choices for customers.
While we continue to optimise our promotional activity, cost-of-living pressures for customers persist with value-seeking behaviours and cross-shopping expected to continue.
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Treasury secretary fronting estimates this morning
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy is in front of estimates this morning, and is providing an update on the state of the global economy.
He said uncertainty around trade could risk business and employment in Australia:
The escalation in trade tensions is creating significant global policy uncertainty. This may dampen business investment, including in Australia, which will pose risk to both growth and employment.
Kennedy also said while there’s been economic growth in the US, growth in other advanced areas, particularly around Europe “remains weak”.
In Australia, Kennedy said inflation around rent and insurance premiums have been going down, as well as services inflation, which he says has “tended to be more persistent”.
Once questions start, we can expect the opposition to grill the Treasury boss on why his department did costings on the opposition’s tax-free lunch policy (yes, we’re likely to go back to that again).
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Tropical Cyclone Alfred still well-off Queensland coast
Let’s check in with Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which has been tracking through the Coral Sea off the coast of Queensland this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology said it remains a category 2 system, and is currently located 950km north-east of Mackay, moving slowly.
It is expected to reach category 3 intensity today and remain well offshore from the Queensland coast for the rest of this week.
The bureau said there is still a risk of it moving closer to the Queensland coast on the weekend, “however there remains large uncertainty with the track and intensity forecast for Alfred in the longer term”.
Tropical #CycloneAlfred remains a category 2 system, located around 950km north-east of #Mackay. It's expected to reach category 3 intensity on Wednesday & remain well offshore from the #Qld coast for the rest of this week.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) February 25, 2025
Latest forecasts and warnings: https://t.co/VRWX6YDrNx pic.twitter.com/HLmrSE01TA
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Mary O’Kane appointed interim chair of Australian Tertiary Education Commission
The architect of the federal government-commissioned Universities Accord will chair an independent tertiary commission to steer long-term reforms in the embattled sector.
Professor Mary O’Kane, who handed down the commonwealth’s commissioned blueprint for the future of tertiary education last year, will be interim chair of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec) from July, the education minister has announced.
Addressing Universities Australia’s gala dinner, Jason Clare said the independent body – a key recommendation of the Accord – would “help drive and steer reform over the long term”, including implementing a more equitable pricing models for degrees.
If we win the election, I will introduce legislation in the second half of this year to formally establish the Atec and I want it fully operational by this time next year. But I can announce tonight the team I have appointed to get it up and running on an interim basis from the 1st of July this year.
Kane will be supported by jobs and skills Australia commissioner and former vice chancellor Barney Glover and professor Larissa Behrendt.
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Female nurse charged following viral video
The female nurse in a viral video showing two Bankstown hospital nurses allegedly threatening Israeli patients has been charged.
NSW police said a 26-year-old woman was arrested about 7.30pm yesterday, after attending Sutherland police station.
Sarah Abu Lebdeh was previously identified as the woman in the video, which attracted widespread political condemnation after it was published by the Israeli content creator Max Veifer and led to the male nurse issuing an apology.
In the video, Veifer asked a man wearing scrubs with a NSW Health insignia, and a woman sitting beside him, what they would do if an Israeli were to come to their hospital. The woman responded: “I won’t treat them, I will kill them.”
She was yesterday charged with three commonwealth offences, including threatening violence to a group, using a carriage service to threaten to kill, and using a carriage service to menace, harass and offend. She was granted conditional bail to appear at Downing Centre local court on 19 March.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said the charges were a major development in the investigation under Strike Force Pearl, who acted “swiftly under enormous pressure and public expectation”.
These charges have been laid following a lot of hard work and legal advice, received yesterday from the commonwealth DPP. Detectives have overcome obstacles and jurisdictional challenges to get where we are today.
Webb said this marked the 14th arrest under Strike Force Pearl, with 76 total charges laid.
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Universities Australia chief critiques government and opposition for pushing ‘quasi anti-university rhetoric’
Circling back to our earlier post: At the National Press Club today, chief executive of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, will also critique the government and the opposition for pushing “quasi anti-university rhetoric”, including on international students and university governance.
Vice-chancellor salaries and university governance are now in the political crosshairs. And social cohesion issues continue to play out on campuses and in the wider community.
I’m not for a second suggesting that universities are above scrutiny. Our sector is not perfect – far from it. These are really important issues to work through … our responsibility to provide safe and respectful campuses is not something we shy away from. It’s our duty, as educators and employers. A healthy democracy has a healthy university sector. At the same time, we can’t lose sight of or put off the major policy discussions we need to have.
He will claim Australian households could be $20,000 better off if Australia meets its future skills target that estimates around half of all new jobs created in the coming years will require a university degree.
To get there, Australia requires 1.8m domestic students per year – more than double the number currently studying at university.
We’re being asked to educate a million more domestic students every year by 2050 to meet Australia’s skills needs. Our economy stands to gain $240bn if we get there. Every Australian can get around that – it’s a dividend worthy of bipartisan political support. But if we are to deliver on this task, our universities need to be match fit.
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Asio boss questioned on News Corp team's alleged attempt to provoke staff at Sydney restaurant
At Senate estimates overnight, the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, faced questions about an alleged attempt by News Corp staff to provoke workers at a Middle Eastern restaurant in Sydney.
As Krishani Dhanji reported in yesterday’s blog, Burgess had labelled the incident “mind-blowingly stupid” at estimates and said it was “entirely unhelpful” for the “poor person on the receiving end of that”.
Later in the night, still at estimates, Greens senator David Shoebridge questioned Burgess further about the incident. He stood by his original comments and said:
My answer was related to, if a media organisation is going to set something up to provoke, to get a headline, that is mind-blowingly stupid. Of course, if there’s some sinister, well-planned, plotted, approved from the top of the organisation to do that, I think that is completely wrong, should not happen, and I’m hoping there is something law enforcement can do to deal with matters like that.
Burgess said the incident came to Asio’s attention, he was “concerned” by it and thinks it was “totally inappropriate”.
But in terms of what more Asio will do at this point, I have nothing before me that says it should get the weight of my agency’s attention.
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Industry takes aim at clean energy ‘misinformation’
Fresh surveying commissioned by the Clean Energy Council captures broad support for renewables, AAP reports, yet some confusion around household bills and different energy sources persists.
CEC chief executive officer, Kane Thornton, said the council was targeting Australians who understood the need to decarbonise the energy grid at a high level but were “susceptible to some of the misinformation campaigning that’s under way”.
We’re wanting to make sure they hear a different voice and one that’s backed up by facts. Australia is largely on board with the need to continue the nation’s transition towards renewables, but the rise of anti-renewables campaigns plaguing our screens has led to a degree of uncertainty.
The survey conducted by Freshwater Strategy on the CEC’s behalf found just as many Australians thought more renewables in the grid would push up bills as those who thought they would lower costs.
Slightly more of the 2,500 respondents believed a higher proportion of coal and gas would lead to higher energy costs – 37% – compared with the 33% who said they would lower power bills. Similarly, marginally more Australians thought more energy from nuclear would lead to higher energy costs than lower.
A CEC energy fact check website will be supported by targeted ads, including on social media, and follows the appointment of former Channel Nine journalist and 2GB radio host, Chris O’Keefe, as a national spokesperson.
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TikTok star Go-Jo to represent Australia at Eurovision 2025
TikTok star Go-Jo will represent Australia at Eurovision in May, the 10th musical act to head represent his country since Australia joined the annual European song contest a decade ago.
Marty Zambotto, a 29-year-old Sydney-based singer-songwriter, went viral in 2023 after he uploaded a clip to TikTok of himself performing his song Mrs Hollywood while busking around Sydney. To date, the song has racked up more than 60m digital streams and 1bn views across all platforms.
Zambotto told Guardian Australia when he got the Eurovision news he initially thought it was a prank:
I was like ‘Where’s Ashton Kutcher? … I love music and singing – to be representing a country for doing what I love? There’s no better feeling.
You can have a listen to Australia’s entry into the song contest below:
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Hastie says ADF will ‘get weaker before it gets stronger’
Continuing from our last post: Andrew Hastie said that “the Australian people need to realise that we’re living in a new world”.
It’s a more dangerous world, and we have to be able to defend ourselves.
Asked if Australia can rely on the US and other allies to come and rescue us if things go wrong, he responded:
The lesson out of Ukraine, the lesson out of October 7, is you have to be able to stand on your own two feet. You need to be able to make things to sustain yourself, and you need to be able to take a punch as well and be able to punch back. And I think the ADF is going to get weaker before it gets stronger.
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Shadow defence minister says China ‘testing’ US allies as Trump ‘resets relationships in Europe’
The shadow minister for defence, Andrew Hastie, was on ABC RN earlier where he also spoke about the Chinese warships conducting live firing in the Tasman sea.
He said China was “undergoing the biggest peacetime military buildup since 1945” and working to send a “strong message” that it is a “global power”.
Hastie said he believes China is “testing US allies as Donald Trump resets relationships in Europe”.
And I think it’s a message to us … I think they’ve worked out that [Anthony Albanese is] a weak prime minister and they’re testing him.
When Scott Morrison was PM, trade sanctions were imposed and some ministers were unable to have their calls returned from Chinese counterparts – given this, what makes repeating this approach a good idea? Hastie maintained there was a “weakening of our position” under Albanese.
He’s claimed to have fixed the relationship, yet we’re seeing a flotilla of three warships conduct live fire exercises off our coast. So we’ve gone from wolf warrior diplomacy to gunboat diplomacy.
But asked if he conceded that Australia is now dealing with the consequences of some of the decisions from a decade ago, Hastie responded, “I’m happy to concede that.”
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Lambie says Australia would be ‘absolutely stuffed’ if China was to attack
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie says Australia would be “absolutely stuffed” if China was to attack, as reports emerged of Chinese warships conducting live firing exercises in the Tasman Sea.
It was revealed in Senate estimates that Australian officials did not know about the drills until a Virgin commercial pilot alerted aviation authorities half an hour after they had begun.
Speaking on the Today Show, Lambie accused China of being “undiplomatic” by not providing notice of the drills, and said this was the “usual character of China”.
This is what they try and do. This is their big boy tactics are sticking their chests out … But I will say this, we are rowing about Aukus. We’re rowing about submarines that are coming in 20 years’ time, which are an absolute waste of money. And I don’t understand why we don’t have missiles all up the top and around Australia … We cannot protect ourselves … I’m telling you right now, if we were to be attacked, we’re buggered. We’re absolutely stuffed.
Asked if she is actually calling for “thousands, hundreds of kilometres” of missiles around Australia’s huge border, Lambie said “[we] need to do something”.
We are not in a position today to protect ourselves, and we’re certainly not going to be there tomorrow.
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Watt says Dutton needs to answer questions on shareholdings
Circling back to our earlier post: The employment minister, Murray Watt, was also on Sunrise and said there were “some really simple answers” for Peter Dutton to answer around his historical shareholdings, that he “still hasn’t answered.”
How many shares did he trade? … How much profit did he make on those share trades? Most importantly, was he aware that the government was about to bailout the banks when he made the share trades?
Watt rejected that this was a smear campaign from the government and said:
No, these are legitimate questions asking about someone who wants to be the prime minister of Australia.
As we mentioned, a spokesperson for Dutton said he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”.
ABC pays tribute to Antony Green as he announces upcoming election will be his last on-air
Continuing from our last post: the ABC’s director of news, Justin Stevens, has paid tribute to Antony Green as he announces the upcoming election would be his last on-air with the national broadcaster.
Stevens described Green as “an Australian institution and much-loved figure with the public”.
For more than three decades he has performed one of the ABC’s most important roles with precision, impartiality, dedication and unprecedented expertise.
He has the ABC’s immense gratitude and respect. I’m sure our audience joins me in thanking him and wishing him well as he prepares for his final federal election broadcast.
The ABC said Green would remain in a behind-the-scenes role, continuing to work on election-related projects.
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ABC election analyst Antony Green says it's 'time to retire'
The ABC’s election analyst, Antony Green, has just announced that the upcoming federal election would be his last on-air with the ABC and that it is “time to retire”.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Green said this coming federal election would be his last on-camera election for the ABC.
It’s time to retire. I turn 65 this coming weekend. I work on a three-year election cycle with federal elections, I won’t be presenting elections in three years’ time when I’m 68, so this will be my last on-camera election for the ABC.
I’ll stay on for a couple of years, handing over work and doing other things, but essentially I’m deciding to retire and work less.
Green said he began with the ABC 36 years ago as an election worker and that “it’s been a long, fun journey” since. He said throughout his career he took on things such as the election guide, which he has written as handbooks since 1990 and would now give to the National Library.
There are 80 or 90 of them, a book on every election since 1990, state and federal … I [also] redesigned computer system. When I first started this, you had to be in the tally room to get the numbers. It was the only way to get data from the Electoral Commission to the ABC computer, so you had to be there. It’s a completely different world now.
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Hume defends Dutton as historical shareholdings come under microscope
The shadow finance minister, Jame Hume, has defended opposition leader Peter Dutton after his historical shareholdings came under the microscope.
Labor has raised questions about a number of investments in the big banks disclosed by Dutton between October 2008 and March 2009, including on the day before a $4bn package to assist banks during the global financial crisis was announced by the Rudd government.
Speaking on Sunrise this morning, Hume said Dutton was in opposition at the time and “of course, he wasn’t briefed”.
She described this as “a smear campaign from a desperate government that have run out of ideas and think they are going to lose the election”.
They’ve made these accusations under the shroud of parliamentary privilege from Senate estimates, because they’ve run out of ideas. They’ve run out of excuses. They’ve run out of time.
In a statement yesterday, a spokesperson for Dutton said he “had no access to any sensitive information on these matters, nor was he privy to government briefing on the global financial crisis”.
All updates to Dutton’s register of interests were made at the appropriate time.
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Good morning
Hello, and happy Wednesday – Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. I’ll be bringing you our rolling updates for most of today here on the blog. Thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking things off for us.
You can get in touch with any questions, feedback and tips through email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s go.
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Queensland religious sect members to be sentenced over death of Elizabeth Struhs
Fourteen members of a Queensland religious sect are expected to be sentenced today after being found guilty of the manslaughter of eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs.
Elizabeth’s parents, Kerrie and Jason Struhs, and brother Zachary Struhs, are among the 14 adult members of the Saints, a Toowoomba religious group which has been likened to a cult, who were convicted of her manslaughter last month.
The group was found to have caused the death of the type 1 diabetic by deliberately denying her insulin for four days from 3 January 2022. They prayed and sang for her to be miraculously healed – and still believe she will be raised from the dead. Elizabeth died of diabetic ketoacidosis by 7 January at her family home in Rangeville, Toowoomba.
Elizabeth’s father Jason Struhs, and sect leader Brendan Stevens, were found not guilty of murder by reckless indifference, and instead found guilty of manslaughter along with the other 12 sect members after a judge-only trial in the Queensland supreme court last year.
Justice Martin Burns is due to begin the sentencing hearing for the 14 sect members at 2.30pm Queensland time. Under Queensland law, the maximum possible sentence for manslaughter is life imprisonment.
Prosecutor Caroline Marco asked for Kerrie and Jason to be given the longest sentences of 15 years’ imprisonment, with a requirement they serve 80% behind bars. Brendan Stevens should serve 12 years, 80% of it behind bars, she argued. All other defendants should serve between seven and eight years, she said, without the same legal requirement.
NBN ‘advanced’ in selection process for LEO satellite provider
NBN is “advanced” in its selection process for a low-earth orbit (LEO) satellite provider and will announce more soon, the company’s new CEO, Ellie Sweeney, has told Senate estimates.
The two existing Sky Muster satellites are nearing retirement in 2032 and 2033, and customers in regional and remote parts of Australia have been flocking to LEO services provided by Elon Musk’s Starlink to get better speeds than that available on Sky Muster. There are a reported 200,000 Australians using Starlink now.
NBN is planning to replace Sky Muster with a LEO option, which will offer higher speeds.
NBN’s chief network officer, Dion Ljubanovic, said, however, services like Starlink would never replace the fibre portions of the NBN network:
That upgradeability [of fibre] and the cost to upgrade in future decades is much cheaper compared to, obviously, the lifecycle of global satellites, and what that could look like too. So we do see LEOs as an important advance in low-density populated areas [but] when we think about medium density and high-density areas, fiber is the choice for the future.
Search for missing fisherman suspended
Police in New South Wales said last night that the search for a man missing from a recreational fishing vessel has been suspended.
Police were alerted on Sunday afternoon that Paul Barning had fallen overboard during a fishing competition off the coast of Port Stephens.
Crews from the NSW police marine command, PolAir, Marine Rescue NSW and Westpac rescue helicopter responded to the area, about 55km off the coast.
The search for the 58-year-old continued during daylight hours on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but he has not been found. The search was suspended at 5pm yesterday and will not resume today.
'Jobs-ready' graduates scheme is 'self-defeating', UA chief warns
Universities are receiving almost $1bn less for student places a year under the controversial jobs-ready graduates scheme, a new report has found.
The package, which hiked the costs of arts degrees to fund an expansion of places for “in-demand degrees”, was introduced by the Coalition in 2021.
The education minister has deferred reforms to higher education to the yet-to-be-established Australian Tertiary Education Commission (Atec), due to operate in an interim capacity from July.
Addressing the National Press Club today, the chief executive of Universities Australia, Luke Sheehy, will say the scheme has cost almost $1bn annually, the equivalent of 33,000 fewer places per year.
The report also warns government investment in research has never been lower and most universities are in deficit, with “once reliable” international student enrolments now trending downwards due to federal government reforms.
Sheehy will call jobs-ready “epically self-defeating”, urging the next federal government to scrap the package and set new funding rates that are fairer for students.
My question today to the prime minister and the leader of the opposition is simple. If getting our universities match fit isn’t a first-order national priority, how are we going to deliver all our other national priorities?
Our universities have everything to do with building Australia’s future – they are an essential ingredient and should be treated as such.
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Chalmers talks tariffs in US
Jim Chalmers was in Washington DC overnight. The Australian treasurer was there for talks and to hear US Treasury secretary Scott Bessent deliver his first major economic policy address since taking office.
Reuters reports that in the wide-ranging speech at an investment conference hosted by the Australian embassy in Washington, Bessent said his goal was “to re-privatise the economy”.
Bessent said Donald Trump’s planned tariffs were a tool to correct and manage internal imbalances in other economies and deter excess production and supply from other countries, such as China.
In deciding on reciprocal tariff rates, Trump’s administration, including the Treasury, will examine a wide range of factors, including other countries’ tariff rates, non-tariff barriers and currency practices, Bessent said.
Asked about how Australia, which has a US free-trade agreement, was doing in this regard, Bessent said, “So far, so good, but I’m not [US official trade agency] USTR.”
He said he discussed Australia’s request to be exempted from Trump’s restored 25% global steel and aluminium tariffs during a meeting with Chalmers. He added however that that was a matter for the commerce department and USTR to decide.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes you through the day.
The boss of Creative Australia has conceded at a late-night Senate estimates hearing that the Australian Pavilion at next year’s Venice Biennale may remain empty following its decision to rescind the contracts of the artist and curator it chose to represent the country. But Adrian Collette and the chair Robert Morgan told to Senate estimates last night they would not resign over the fiasco. More coming up.
The chief executive of Universities Australia will warn in an address to the National Press Club today that Labor’s ‘“jobs-ready” graduate scheme is self-defeating on an epic scale. Luke Sheehy says the scheme has cost almost $1bn annually, the equivalent of 33,000 fewer places per year, and will use his speech to urge Labor to scrap the program introduced by the Coalition in 2021. More details coming up.
Fourteen members of “the Saints” religious group will be sentenced today over the manslaughter of eight-year-old diabetic, Elizabeth Struhs. She died after the cult members, including her two parents and brother, withheld her insulin treatment. More coming up.
And the treasurer was in Washington DC overnight, arguing for an exemption to the US’s broad new tariffs on steel and aluminium. Did he succeed? We’ll soon find out.
