And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Thank you for spending part of your day with us.
Before we wrap it all up, let’s go through the big ones:
Labor’s energy price plan will not fuel inflation: Bowen
Labor to extend access to dental care for vulnerable children
Australian officials in bipartisan visit to Vanuatu on diplomatic mission
Data leak honest mistake: Telstra
Mike Baird to head Cricket Australia
Teenage boy missing along Victoria-New South Wales border
We will be back in the morning - until then, stay safe.
You can get more details on the thunderstorms here:
#NSW Severe Thunderstorm Warning issued. 98km/h wind gust recorded at White Cliffs. Check warning details and updates at https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/VvVdl2ont6
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 11, 2022
Thunderstorms forecast for Sydney on Monday morning
Rain and thunderstorms are forecast to hit Sydney from Monday morning before skies clear again on Tuesday and Wednesday, AAP is reporting.
The SES said flood operations were continuing in western and southern NSW with towns still cut off by waters.
Chief Supt Oyston said people needed to stay vigilant despite the current calm conditions.
“Despite blue skies and a reprieve in rainfall, due to saturated soils and full catchments, flooding conditions can change quickly with future rainfall,” she said.
There are 46 flood warnings in place across NSW including two emergency warnings.
Updated
Hello everyone – this is Cait Kelly. I will be with you for the remainder of the day.
We have an update on the thunderstorms expected to hit the NSW south and west coast tonight and tomorrow from AAP:
State Emergency Service chief superintendent Sonya Oyston said people should be tying down loose items, parking cars under cover or away from trees and cutting branches on properties that may cause damage.
“With already saturated soils, it will not take much for these damaging wind gusts to easily pull out trees and damage your property,” she said.
The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting 90 km/h winds across parts of the state from Sunday night into Monday, including in Bowral, Braidwood, Bathurst, Katoomba, Goulburn and Cooma.
The bureau is also expecting peak gusts of 125 km/h in NSW’s higher alpine areas.
With the storms come cold conditions and graziers across the South West Slopes, Snowy Mountains and ACT are being warned the weather could be deadly for lambs.
Updated
Exclusive: Restrictive rules on Covid vaccines for kids under fire
Labor MP and infectious disease specialist Dr Michelle Ananda-Rajah has criticised Australia’s immunisation experts for keeping “overly restrictive” rules on access to coronavirus vaccines, urging the government to expand eligibility for children and young people in a bid to address long Covid.
The Melbourne doctor called on the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) to provide more transparency on its decision to not recommend fourth shots for people under 30 and to not allow under-fives to receive Covid vaccines. She said many parents were “desperate” to have their children vaccinated.
“We don’t have a lot in our armoury against long Covid except vaccination … there’s not much else,” Ananda-Rajah told Guardian Australia.
“I am frustrated, frankly, that we have overly restrictive criteria and complicated criteria around vaccine eligibility.”
For more on this exclusive story read the full report by Guardian Australia political reporter Josh Butler.
Updated
Teenage boy missing along Victoria-New South Wales border
A search is under way for a teenager who fell off a boat into a lake on the Victoria-NSW border.
Two 16-year-old boys were fishing in a tinnie on Lake Mulwala at Yarrawonga about 9am on Sunday when they were hit by a wave and fell overboard, police said.
Two men swam to their aid and managed to pull one of the boys to shore.
However, they could not find the second teenager.
Police divers and members of the Air Wing and Victoria’s State Emergency Service are searching the lake.
- AAP
Mike Baird to head Cricket Australia
Former NSW premier Mike Baird has been appointed as the new chair of Cricket Australia.
Baird will take over as the organisation’s boss from February, with his predecessor Lachlan Henderson stepping down after moving back to Perth.
Henderson will remain on as a director, but has decided to move out of the role after taking up the chief executive’s job with private health insurance company HBF.
Only appointed in February, Henderson has overseen several crucial developments including the David Warner saga.
The former Waca chairman came into the job weeks after Justin Langer’s exit as men’s coach and has overseen Andrew McDonald’s elevation into the role.
Australia also completed men’s tours of Pakistan and Sri Lanka in trying circumstances amid security concerns.
However this home summer has been more problematic, with CA’s handling of Warner’s bid to have his leadership ban heavily criticised in the past week.
“The new role I’ve taken in my home city Perth will make it difficult to devote the time required as chair, so I have decided this is the right time to hand over the role,” Henderson said.
“It’s been a great privilege to serve as chair and to help oversee some of the great work being done by the CA executive and across Australian Cricket.”
Baird takes over at a time where a new TV rights deal and pay agreement with players loom as significant challenges in the next year.
The 54-year-old brings serious clout to the role, given his previous job as premier of NSW between 2014 and 2017.
He previously spent a year on the Cricket NSW board, before moving into a CA director role in 2020 as the state’s nominee.
Baird was then unanimously endorsed as the new chairman by fellow CA directors and state chairs in the past week.
Baird said he was honoured to take up the role.
It is an honour to take such an important role in Australian cricket at a time when so much exciting work is being done to grow our national sport and take it forward.
I’m pleased to have the chance to work even more closely with CEO Nick Hockley and his team and all those working across Australian cricket.
In a statement, NSW chair John Knox said Baird is “an outstanding leader “ with “an excellent understanding of the key issues driving the future of the game”.
AAP
Updated
Victoria police hunt prison escapee
A sex offender has escaped from a correctional facility in Victoria’s south-west while in “post-sentence” custody.
Victoria Police on Sunday warned Andrew Darling has been known to be violent and go “off grid” in bushland for days at a time.
The 52-year-old was in post-sentence custody at a correctional facility on Warrack Road at Ararat when he fled about 2am on Sunday, police said, prompting officers to search for him.
Darling, who is a registered sex offender, is described as being about 175cm tall, with a strong build and tattoos on his arms, legs and back.
He has short grey hair and a long red-and-grey beard, but could have shaved since his escape, police said.
Officers urged members of the public not to approach Darling if they saw him, and instead call triple zero.
He has strong connections to Ballarat.
AAP
Updated
Fijian opposition parties sense opportunity in upcoming election
Fijian opposition parties believe they are in with a chance to topple the prime minister and his ruling FijiFirst party for the first time in nearly 16 years.
Josaia Voreqe “Frank” Bainimarama is seeking to extend his prime ministership by another four years come polling day on Wednesday.
A victory will take Bainimarama to two decades at the top of Fijian politics after he instigated a coup in 2006 and installed himself as prime minister the year after.
He took FijiFirst to a democratic election in 2014 and won, but his majority was cut to 50.02 per cent at the 2018 poll.
Biman Prasad says Bainmarama’s negligence has been exposed by the COVID-19 pandemic and people are no longer fearful of his government.
Prasad leads the National Federation Party, which is working with the People’s Alliance party, headed by former prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka, to dispel the incumbent FijiFirst.
He says Fiji’s pandemic management was propped up by Australia and New Zealand donating vaccines and medical aid as well as remittances sent from overseas relatives.
He adds that roads, healthcare and poverty have all gone backwards.
[FijiFirst] couldn’t look after its people. It cannot provide them health. It cannot provide them jobs.
People understand the extent of the problems in the country and they’re fed up with the dictatorship, lack of freedoms.
Prasad says there’s less fear of the Bainimarama government and its perceived links to the military than in 2018 after the military commander told his soldiers to respect the democratic process.
“They saw there is no threat of a coup and they’re flocking to NFP and People’s Alliance,” he said.
Prasad and his party’s president Pio Tikoduadua - a former cabinet minister under Bainimarama - accuse the prime minister of continuing his dictatorship and weaponising the Fijian Independent Commission Against Corruption against opposition politicians.
Tikoduadua told a community gathering on Sunday that FijiFirst had been “shoving itself down people’s throats”, and Prasad said “draconian” laws had been enacted to favour the government at the election.
FijiFirst is relying on Bainimarama’s economic credentials and “stable and strong” leadership through COVID-19 to keep him in power, painting the opposition as a risk to the economy and society.
- AAP
Vet nurses bid to stop animal hospital closure in Melbourne’s south-west
Veterinary nurses have launched a last-ditch bid to stop an animal hospital in Melbourne’s south-west from closing, AAP has reported.
The nurses from U-Vet Animal Hospital at Werribee have lodged a Fair Work Commission application over claims the University of Melbourne is trying to “ram through” the hospital’s closure.
It was initially thought the university planned to close the hospital on 19 December, but staff believe this has been moved forward to Monday at 12pm.
Staff were told to finish by 11.30am on Monday to attend an announcement about U-Vet at 12pm.
The university says it intends to inform staff on Monday of its final plan for the animal hospital, rejecting claims it has not properly consulted with them.
“The University has genuinely engaged in consultation with our staff on the planned closure of U-Vet while satisfying the obligations under our enterprise agreement,” a spokesperson said on Sunday.
“The University has received feedback from staff during the consultation period and this has informed the final change plan which is due to be communicated to our staff tomorrow.”
Updated
Bandt says the government’s compensation package provides significantly less money to households than the Greens’ plan for a 2 year bill freeze:
The Greens’ power bill freeze and windfall tax on coal and gas would deliver bill savings of over $750, far more than Labor is offering, and would leave enough money in the kitty to help people get off expensive and dirty gas.
The Greens want more money to go to households, renters and businesses, including to get off gas, switch to electric appliances and install batteries.
People need more support than the government is offering. Without a plan to get people off gas, the price pain will start up again as soon as Labor’s temporary cap ends and we’ll be back here in 12 months’ time.
Greens to oppose compensation for coal companies
Bandt has said the Greens will oppose any compensation to coal corporations, and that the coal and gas corporations should instead fund higher levels of price bill relief through a windfall tax.
Bandt:
The greedy coal and gas corporations should be compensating people, not the other way around.
The Greens will fight any moves to compensate coal and gas corporations, and push for more support for everyday people instead.
He said the party room will meet on Tuesday afternoon to decide on if they will support the government’s price cap package.
Updated
Adam Bandt is expected to speak to media in Melbourne in a minute about power price caps. We’ll bring you that when he is on.
Federal, state Coalition at odds in New South Wales over gas plan
A split has emerged between the federal and NSW Coalition governments over a national plan to cap gas and coal prices.
The plan agreed by state and territory leaders on Friday will see gas capped at $12 a gigajoule and coal at $125 a tonne for 12 months to ease bill shock on households.
But federal opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien has described it as a “monster in the making” that will fail, while NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has thrown his support behind the cap plan.
Perrottet said the federal coalition’s anger at the plan was “a matter for them”:
People have different opinions all the time and that’s fine, I welcome debate but what I know is the agreement we struck ... ensures that we put downward pressure on household bills.
The federal opposition has also lamented the lack of coal and gas supply, which it says is the answer to rising household energy bills.
Perrottet pointed to his government’s approval this week of oil and gas giant Santos’s controversial Narrabri project.
He said part of that approval will see a domestic gas reserve set up in NSW.
“That’s a significant long term solution,” Perrottet said.
- AAP
Updated
Thunderstorms are expected along the east coast with the Bureau of Meteorology monitoring the situation in Queensland and New South Wales.
⛈️ Sunday 11/12 Thunderstorm Forecast ⛈️
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) December 11, 2022
Thunderstorms are possible in central, northern and southwest Qld today. Severe thunderstorms with damaging winds are possible in the far southwest. Warnings will be issued here if required: https://t.co/YY8Wyb564U pic.twitter.com/mS4N0ZV2pI
⛈️ Sunday 11/12 Storm Forecast ⛈️
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 11, 2022
Thunderstorms are possible in western & southern districts today, as well as parts of the northern ranges & coast. Severe storms with damaging winds are possible in the west. Warnings will be issued here if required: https://t.co/Tva8FgQABc pic.twitter.com/3K9ffLOMS5
Down south some showers and thunderstorms are expected for Tasmania.
Showers have extended over most of #Tasmania with some thunderstorms about the northwest. The unsettled showery weather will continue today and tomorrow as a low pressure system moves over the state, and strong and gusty west to southwesterly winds will develop tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/JHMBOLcIV4
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) December 11, 2022
Meanwhile minor flood warnings have been issued for parts of New South Wales and Victoria as a cold front moves across the south-east.
⚠️ #Flood Watch: minor flooding possible along the Upper #Murray, Mitta Mitta and Snowy Rivers from MONDAY. See https://t.co/ww7N3z4IUq for details and updates; follow advice from @NSWSES. #NSWFloods pic.twitter.com/AdHysScLsb
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) December 11, 2022
Flood Watch – Advice for parts of North East Victoria. You should Stay Informed. For more info: https://t.co/qlqZnQiXvQ #vicfloods
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) December 11, 2022
Updated
Funding renewed for vulnerable children’s dental program
Vulnerable children will receive further access to dental treatment following the extension of a government program.
Funding for the child dental benefits schedule will be extended for a further four years.
The scheme allows eligible children up to age 17 access to up to $1026 per year in benefits for basic dental services for two years.
The services can be delivered by dentists in the public or private sectors.
Health minister Mark Butler said the scheme allowed for a boost to oral health for children in low-income families.
The child dental benefits schedule is an important program that ensures vulnerable children get dental care when their families can’t afford it.
By improving access to dental services for children, the program helps address declining oral health and sets children on a path to better health throughout their lives.
The program was first launched in 2014 and since then about 7.6 million dental services have been provided to about 900,000 children.
Nearly $440m of Commonwealth funding has been set aside since the start of the scheme to support state and territory governments to deliver the program.
Children from low-income households are twice as likely to have untreated dental decay compared with children from high-income households.
- AAP
Updated
Brush fire in Flinders Ranges
Country Fire Service crews in South Australia are responding to a brush fire at Mount Remarkable national park in the Flinders Ranges.
Around 30 firefighters on eight trucks are currently on the scene after the CFS was alerted to the situation early on Sunday morning.
Crews are being supported by six aerial firebombing and observation aircraft.
The north of the state experienced wide spread lightning activity overnight and the CFS is currently conducting flights over the area to identify any new fires.
It is expected crews will remain on scene throughout the day.
Updated
Free public transport in Victoria on Christmas, New Year’s
Victorians will be able to travel free on public transport on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve in a move the government says will make it easier for families and friends to get together.
Public transport minister Ben Carroll announced the move on Sunday, saying public transport was the best way for Victorians to get around during the festive season.
“Free travel on Christmas Day and New Year’s Day really makes it easier for people to celebrate with family and friends,” he said.
Victorians will be able to use metropolitan and regional public transport at no cost from 3am on Christmas Day until 3am on Boxing Day, with services running to a regular Sunday timetable.
Boxing Day services will run to a public holiday timetable.
As for New Year’s Eve, travel will be free across the network from 6pm on December 31 until 6am on New Year’s Day.
Trains will run at least every 15 minutes between midnight and 1.45am, every 30 minutes between 1.45am and 2.45am, and every hour from 2.45am onwards.
Most trams will run at least every 15 minutes between midnight and 3am and every hour from 3am.
V/Line passengers are still required to book tickets to travel on Christmas Day and New Year’s Eve on reserved services, but there will be no cost.
Those travelling from regional areas by bus won’t need a ticket, and Victorians do not need to touch their Myki card on or off to use public transport.
- AAP
Updated
Sydney ferry staff to stop work on Tuesday for four hours
Workers on Sydney’s ferry services will stop work on Tuesday to vote on a new agreement.
The stop work will occur between 10am and 2pm on Tuesday, with peak-hour services not expected to be impacted.
The decision to down tools is not a strike and has been planned at the least busy time of day to ease pressure on customers.
The vote on the four-year agreement follows 10 months of negotiations between the workers union and Transdev, which operates New South Wales’s public ferries.
Sydney ferry users are being urged to prepare for delays as workers down tools for four hours to vote on a new workplace agreement.
Howard Collins, transport for NSW chief operations officer, said on Sunday that commuters should plan ahead and seek alternative routes if they plan to travel during that time:
We expect no impact on morning and afternoon peak hour ferry services and normal ferry services will resume from 2pm to meet peak hour demand.
- with AAP
Updated
Three greyhounds killed on race tracks in New South Wales
Two greyhounds have been killed on Sydney racetracks and a third in Newcastle on Saturday prompting calls from animal rights activists for action on the industry.
Kylie Field, director of the Coalition for Protection of Greyhounds, said in a statement on Sunday the deaths showed the dogs are “too easily euthanised with treatable injuries”:
The government gives the racing industry millions of dollars – taxpayers would have wanted these dogs to have been given a chance at rehabilitation.
The government has promised a five-year, $30m track safety upgrade program, but this will shortly end with only a fraction spent. The 55 deaths on NSW tracks this year raises questions about the whole program and there has to be an independent review of track safety.
Field also called for an end to greyhound racing after 156 dogs killed nationwide and almost 10,000 injured this year.
Updated
Data leak honest mistake: Telstra
Telstra has apologised to thousands of Australians who had their details published accidentally online by the communications giant.
In a post released online Telstra executive Michael Ackland said the release of the names, numbers and addresses of some unlisted customers was not the result of any malicious cyber attack and was a mistake.
For the customers impacted we understand this is an unacceptable breach of your trust.
We’re sorry it occurred, and we know we have let you down.
Telstra blamed a “misalignment of databases” and was working to pull the data from off the internet.
- AAP
Updated
Unemployment to remain low for rest of year
The jobless rate is expected to remain in record-low territory heading toward the end of the year as the battle to hire workers rages on.
In October 32,200 jobs were added to the economy, driving the jobless rate back to 3.4 per cent from 3.5 per cent in September.
The unemployment rate is expected to remain in the mid-threes when the Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes labour force figures for November on Thursday.
But the jobs market is likely at capacity and unlikely to get any tighter, amid some signs it’s starting to come off its extraordinary peaks.
Job advertisement numbers fell in November for the sixth month in a row, suggesting the post-pandemic recruitment frenzy is starting to normalise as businesses recover and migration returns to normal.
Despite job ad numbers posted on Seek’s employment marketplace starting to soften, they remain almost 40 per cent above pre-pandemic levels.
– AAP
Updated
Australian officials in bipartisan visit to Vanuatu on diplomatic mission
Senior Australian politicians from both major parties will travel to Vanuatu, the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM) and Palau this week in a bid to signal bipartisan support for the Pacific.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the minister for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, will be joined by their opposition counterparts Simon Birmingham and Michael McCormack. They are due to leave Australia tomorrow morning.
It is the first such bipartisan visit to Pacific island countries since 2019, prior to the pandemic.
The four politicians issued a joint media release today declaring:
As a member of the Pacific family, Australia’s commitment to working with Pacific partners to achieve our shared aspirations and address our shared challenges is bipartisan.
The agenda includes a range of meetings, including with Vanuatu prime minister Ishmael Kalsakau, FSM president David W. Panuelo and Palau president Surangel Whipps Jr. “to discuss their nations’ development objectives, the existential threat of climate change, and key regional security issues”.
Wong said she was “pleased we are delivering on the Albanese government’s promise to reinstate bipartisan parliamentary delegation visits, demonstrating Australia’s enduring commitment to strengthening our Pacific partnerships and addressing regional challenges.”
Birmingham said the trip was “a welcome opportunity to again demonstrate that Australia’s engagement with our Pacific neighbours is of the highest priority and transcends domestic politics.”
Updated
Tasmania to remember Hillcrest victims
In the aftermath of the Hillcrest primary school jumping castle tragedy, an image symbolising Tasmania’s broken heart was shared far and wide.
As part of commemorations marking the one year anniversary, a heart sculpture will be put on display in Devonport for people to leave messages of support.
Six children died after a wind gust lifted a jumping castle and several inflatable balls into the air on 16 December 2021.
Peter Dodt, Jalailah Jayne-Marie Jones, Addison Stewart, Jye Sheehan, Zane Mellor, and Chace Harrison were among grade five and six classmates enjoying end-of-year celebrations.
Devonport mayor Alison Jarman said three other children were seriously injured and spent time in hospital.
[It] is a day that is etched in our memories forever. It’s the day our hearts broke for the Hillcrest primary school community.
The tragedy rocked our close-knit community, it will no doubt for a long time.
A public commemoration at Devonport’s Market Square will be held on Thursday evening, with members of the community invited to leave a flower or message in the sculpture.
Hillcrest will hold a private ceremony at the school on Friday, 16 December.
Jarman urged people to reach out for help should they need it. A dedicated Hillcrest recovery committee, which helped organise the public commemoration, remains on call.
Department of Education secretary Tim Bullard told the Advocate the wellbeing of children, families and staff who had been affected was the priority.
It is our intention that the acknowledgement of the day is managed as sensitively as possible.
We continue to extend our thoughts and condolences to the families, friends, staff, and the broader community.
Streams of people left countless messages, toys, flowers and candles outside the school in the days after the accident.
Some were collected by the council, with planning for a permanent memorial to commence in 2023.
More than $1.4m was raised for the families of the victims.
– AAP
Updated
The Bureau of Meteorology expects scattered showers expected over South Australia.
A few middle-level showers and storms passing over #Adelaide's southern suburbs at the moment. Storms are possible through the morning, with the showers continuing into the afternoon period, but with increasing breaks between them. Keep up to date at: https://t.co/UOKU4OpEX1 pic.twitter.com/w8XJrJYQUy
— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) December 10, 2022
Meanwhile the heatwave that has settled across northern Australia is expected to ease.
#Heatwave conditions ease this week over northern #Aus 🌡️, but it will feel more like winter again in the south☃️
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) December 10, 2022
Showers, storms and Alpine #snow in south-east Aus with maximum temperatures 6 to 16°C below average.
Latest: https://t.co/Mm4U1N4tll pic.twitter.com/5lTHARZaFP
Riverland residents prepare as flood water makes it way downstream
Patients at Renmark-Paringa hospital in South Australia’s Riverland will be moved to higher ground as flood waters from the east coast make their way downstream.
Around 1,500 properties have been affected by flood so far with the Murray River not expected to peak until the end of the month.
Already roads around Paringa have been cut and some residents are leaving as flows have reached 220 gigalitres a day.
#FLOOD Watch and Act MESSAGE issued for Lower River Murray. If you are in this area you should prepare for flooding. Consider going to a safer place if the path is clear. More info: https://t.co/vbw6Lt4YKd ID:401/7
— SASES (@SA_SES) December 9, 2022
Updated
Labor to extend access to dental care for vulnerable children
The federal government says it will extend support for vulnerable children to access dental services by another four years.
The health minister, Mark Butler, is due to the announce the move at a press conference in Adelaide in about an hour. The government spelled out the details in a press release issued in advance. It relates to the national Child Dental Benefits Schedule (CDBS):
Eligible children aged 0 to 17 years can access to up to $1,026 in benefits a year over two years for basic dental services, delivered by both public and private sector dentists ...
Since the program began in 2014, Commonwealth funding of nearly $440 million has supported states and territories to deliver around 7.6 million dental services to approximately 900,000 children. The funding of this program will be extended for a further four years.
Public dental services are delivered by state and territory governments through community-based clinics and school programs. This collaboration between the Commonwealth and state and territories is particularly important for rural, remote and Indigenous communities.
Butler described the CDBS as “an important program that ensures vulnerable children get dental care when their families can’t afford it”.
He added:
By improving access to dental services for children, the program helps address declining oral health and sets children on a path to better health throughout their lives.
Updated
Bowen spars with Dutton over fossil fuels
We brought you some comments from the energy minister, Chris Bowen, earlier today on the government’s energy plans, which includes caps on coal and gas prices.
During his Sky News interview, Bowen was also asked about the opposition’s call for more gas supply as a solution to the price rises.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had said on Friday that there had not been “any experience of success in capping prices” anywhere in the world “and what the government needs to do is to drive more supply – more gas into the marketplace – instead of reducing supply at a time when you’ve got increased demand”.
Bowen retorted:
Well, these are the guys who presided over a decade where you had four gigawatts of power leave the grid and one gigawatt of dispatchable power come on – and they talk about supply now...
In relation to gas exploitation, that’s a matter primarily for state regulation - New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria all have different policies. The fact of the matter is that we deal with the resources we have available to us and we manage those.
We had the opposition last sitting week saying: ‘oh just get more gas into the system’. I mean, I don’t know where they think we just have a magic, you know, pile of gas on standby just to put into the system whenever they think is necessary. What we do is work – as we did in the July energy crisis – we’ll work with companies across the board to ensure, with Aemo and others, that everything is being done possible to get all the supply into the system so the lights stay on. That successfully worked in the midst of the crisis that Angus Taylor left us as his little goodbye present on the way out of the door to the new government. And I’m not going to take any lectures from these clowns who presided over a decade of 23 energy policies, denial and delay, and four gigawatts leaving the system and one gigawatt coming on. I mean, they’ve got no clue.
Updated
Three men arrested in Philippines allegedly linked to Australian drug hauls
Australian Federal Police say three alleged members of an international drug importation ring have been arrested in an operation with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Three men, a 41-year-old French national, a 33-year-old Canadian and a 42-year-old Filipino have been arrested and charged with serious drug offences.
In November the PDEA searched to properties in Manilla were they seized 22kg and 770 grams of cocaine from a suspected methamphetamine from a drug manufacturing operation.
It is believed the haul, valued at $4m Australian dollars, was destined for Australia.
Detective superintendent Andrew Perkins, AFP’s senior officer in Manila, congratulated the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency on the significant outcome in Manila.
This operation again highlights how law enforcement agencies share intelligence across borders to cause maximum damage to these transnational criminal networks.
Illicit drug use in Australia bankrolls dangerous and brutal criminals who undermine our national security and our economy and make our suburbs and roads less safe.
The Australian Federal Police has members in 33 countries around the world and we will continue to use our international networks to ensure drug syndicates do not profit at the expense of our communities.
The AFP has been providing intelligence to the PDEA since 2021 and sought assistances about alleged connections with a methamphetamine and cocaine importation scheme.
AFP provided intel from a series of drug shipment seizures in New South Wales since August 2021 that involved packages concealed inside industrial machinery.
Updated
NSW gets newest national park
New South Wales has announced its latest national park with a 34,000 hectare Brindingabba Station to become Brindingabba national park.
The latest park lies 175km north-west of Bourke and is part of the 602,500 hectares of land added to national park area in the state.
Minister for environment James Griffin said the park will become a refugee for rare and threatening species “in perpetuity” which “the people of NSW will be able to experience […] for generations to come”.
The new Brindingabba national park protects an important part of Lake Wombah and more than 7,000 hectares of Yantabulla Swamp, which are nationally important wetlands.
The 33,903 hectare park supports 30 different ecosystems, protecting habitat for at least 12 endangered and 31 vulnerable species, including a small carnivorous marsupial called the kultarr, pied honeyeaters, hooded robins, pink cockatoos and fat-tailed dunnart.
It also protects an endangered plant called Lancewood [Acacia petraea], which is only found in two other areas in NSW, and hasn’t been previously protected in our national parks estate.
This new national park is a fantastic example of how partnerships can boost our efforts to conserve biodiversity, and we’re working towards more opportunities like this.
The purchase of Brindingabba Station involved a partnership between the state government The Nature Conservancy Australia, with contributions from charitable foundations The Wyss Foundation and artist Haley Mellin’s Art into Acres initiative.
For more on how the land purchase came to be, read The Guardian’s previous reporting:
Updated
South Australia breached UN standards
South Australia has breached United Nations standards by locking up children in adult correctional facilities.
The ABC reports that young people were moved to adult cells more than 2,000 times in the 20-21 financial year with more than 800 cases involving Indigenous children.
More to come…
Updated
Last ditch effort to save animal hospital
Veterinary nurses have launched an 11th hour bid to stop an animal hospital in Melbourne’s southwest from closing.
The nurses from U-Vet Animal Hospital at Werribee have lodged a Fair Work Commission application over claims the University of Melbourne is trying to “ram through” the hospital’s closure.
It was initially thought the university planned to close the hospital on 19 December, but staff have since been advised this has been moved up to Monday at 12pm.
U-Vet veterinary nurse Taylor Reader said the university is trying to shut the animal hospital’s doors with “as little scrutiny as possible”, and they want the commission to deal with their dispute.
Disgracefully, the University of Melbourne is attempting to ram through the closure of our valued animal hospital with nothing but tokenistic consultation of the staff who’ll lose their jobs and their livelihoods.
The University of Melbourne has treated us like we’re nothing and has brought forward the animal hospital’s closure in a deeply cynical effort to stop staff from taking action in the Fair Work Commission to stop it.
The university’s decision to bring the closure forward amounted to one of its “most shameful chapters”, with workers’ offers of assistance and co-operation “met with silence”, Reader said.
The university was hell-bent on closing U-Vet against the wishes of the staff, the community, and Victoria’s best interests, she claimed.
Staff have collected more than 9,400 signatures from the public to oppose the Veterinary hospital’s closure.
We ask the federal government to help us keep this vital institution open for our community and for the future of the veterinarian sector in Victoria.
U-Vet is the state’s only teaching hospital where students can gain hands-on experience, the nurses said.
The hospital’s closure would see more than 100 veterinary staff lose their jobs.
The University of Melbourne has been contacted for comment.
– AAP
Updated
Labor’s energy price plan will not fuel inflation: Bowen
The federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, has rejected any suggestion that the government’s energy price plan could fuel inflation.
He told Sky News this morning:
No, on the contrary, we designed it very carefully for that reason. That criticism would have been valid if we just had sent cheques to households. That would have been a valid criticism. We’re not doing that. That’s why we’re working with the states to ensure that the bill is lower when it arrives in letterboxes and email inboxes and that is not expansionary.
The treasury has been very clear on their advice to us on that point … that this is not expansionary, that this reduces inflation – the secretary of the treasury has made that crystal clear of at least half a percent of inflation. So that argument just doesn’t hold water. It might have if we had gone a different way, a less well designed way, but that’s not what we’re doing.
The opposition shadow minister Ted O’Brien, also interviewed on Sky News, criticised the energy price plan as a “cobbling together” of thought bubbles, and claimed it would not work. Referring to the recall of parliament this Thursday, O’Brien said:
They are calling for a parliament to sign off on something and they have no idea how it’s going to work.
For more detail on the plan announced late last week, see this explainer:
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Australia’s hospitals are groaning as the country enters its latest Covid wave. The Sydney Morning Herald reports 4,000 children were on elective surgery waitlists across New South Wales with staff warning health minister Brad Hazzard they have been unable to recruit and retain the staff they need. The situation follows similar pressure in the Victorian health system where GPs have been overwhelmed by children presenting with summer viruses and over half of the patients who arrived at the Royal Children’s hospital were “triaged” as less urgent.
France will face Morocco in the World Cup semi-final after beating England 1-2 on Saturday night. England missed out after a missed penalty that cost the side the game, opening the way for Morocco to become the first African team to make it through to the semi-final.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day. With so much going on out there, it’s easy to miss stuff, so if you spot something happening in Australia and think it should be on the blog, you can find me on Twitter at @RoyceRk2 where my DMs are open.
With that, let’s get started ...
