What we learned today, Thursday 13 April
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa has been upgraded to category 5, the highest-severity system, and Western Australian residents are being warned to brace for extreme gusts of up to 315km/h.
The Northern Territory police minister and prominent Aboriginal Territorians have reacted angrily to Peter Dutton’s claims that “young Indigenous kids are being sexually assaulted on a regular basis” in Alice Springs, saying he should report any wrongdoing to police for further investigation.
Workers have stumbled upon a “bone room” containing the remains of multiple unknown people inside a Melbourne health agency’s corporate offices.
The Sydney Metro program will undergo a major review after it was revealed the cost of the public transport project had already blown out by $21bn.
Deliberate underpayment or failure to pay superannuation should be treated “in the same way as wage theft”, the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, has declared.
Have a pleasant evening.
Updated
NT Aboriginal child advocate hits back at Dutton’s abuse claims
Catherine Liddle, the chief executive of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocacy group National Voice for our Children (SNAICC) has hit back at opposition leader Peter Dutton’s claims about child abuse in Alice Springs.
During his visit to Alice Springs, Dutton on Thursday claimed that “young Indigenous kids are being sexually assaulted on a regular basis” in the town, however, he has not provided evidence of the claims. He has since attracted criticism from those pointing out the legal requirement to report any such allegations he may be aware of to police.
Dutton also spoke of how he believed the voice – which the Coalition is opposed to – would not address crime in Alice Springs.
Speaking on ABC’s The Drum on Thursday evening, Liddle echoed concerns that Dutton should report any allegations he is aware of.
I’m beyond frustrated, actually, and (it’s) really disappointing that someone in a leadership position can stand up and say the same things over and over and over again.”
She also criticised Dutton’s calls for a royal commission into the rate of abuse in Alice Springs.
Calling for a royal commission is kicking it down the road and it’s ignoring the fact that you’ve just come out of government. You’ve been in government for 11 years and done nothing about these systemic failures. This beggars belief.”
Read more:
Updated
WA residents told to take shelter immediately as Ilsa upgraded to category 5
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa has been upgraded to category 5, the highest-severity system, as authorities issue a red alert for people to take shelter immediately.
People between Bidyadanga and Port Hedland (not including Bidyadanga) to Marble Bar (not including Marble Bar) need to go to shelter immediately.
Ilsa is approaching the Western Australian coast packing winds up to 285km/h.
Initially expected to make landfall as a category 4 system, the Bureau of Meteorology forecast for the cyclone was upgraded on Thursday afternoon as it moved closer to Port Hedland.
A short time ago, the Bom said “Ilsa is now at category 5 intensity”.
“It will cross the coast between Port Hedland and Wallal Downs later tonight or early on Friday morning,” the Bom said.
You can read more here:
Updated
Millions of adults Australians are living with a secret shame. They’re hiding the fact they cannot read recipes or bus timetables, apply for a driver’s licence or financial support, or sign rental agreements without supervision.
The federal government has conceded it does not know how many Australians lack these basic skills. The last comprehensive study, conducted by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2012, put the figure at 3 million people, but no up-to-date data exists.
A new national study will soon be launched to better understand the challenge but business groups, teachers, economists and literacy campaigners have warned the figure could now be much higher, especially in Tasmania.
Read more:
The federal court has issued a permanent injunction against a so-called social media “finfluencer” who posted stock tips to paid subscribers under the name “ASX Wolf”.
Queensland justice Kylie Downes on Thursday issued the order forbidding Tyson Robert Scholz from hosting paid online groups in which messages were exchanged about share trades without an Australian Financial Services Licence.
Scholz was also ordered to pay the legal bills of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic), which filed the suit against him in December 2021.
From early 2020 to November 2021, Scholz engaged in what the court ruled in December was a financial services business.
He spruiked stocks via disappearing stories posted to his Instagram account and sold memberships to private social media channels, where stock tips were discussed for $500, $1,000 or $1,500 a year.
Read more:
Japanese backers of coal-to-hydrogen project defend their venture
Earlier this week, we ran this exclusive article looking at the viability of a $500m plan to produce hydrogen from brown coal in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley:
We note that the Japanese partners behind the plan have published a formal response on their Hydrogen Energy Supply Chain website.
What’s notable is that the partners – which include commercial giants Sumitomo and J-Power – don’t address the matter of requesting “multiples” of the $100m already tipped into the venture by the Victorian and commonwealth governments.
Nor do they address the issue that the Japanese buyers are unwilling to commit to taking the hydrogen produced by the project for more than a few years. (Fewer than five, apparently).
They do, though, state that they are looking for other partners to buy whatever is produced. “The [J-Power-Sumitomo JV] is currently assessing a number of clean hydrogen offtake options in regard to quantity and duration,” they say in the statement.
“[Japan Suiso Energy] is an important off-taker but will not be the only customer for JPSC JV hydrogen.
Some in the Victorian government are scratching their heads, wondering who those other customers might be. We’ve also asked the partners to clarify.
There’s also not much clarity about who will be responsible for capturing and storing the (likely large volume of) carbon emissions from the venture. There are two options, both involving reservoirs in Bass Strait. (The Victorian government is not keen on carrying the risk.)
Anyway, it’s topical because the Victorian government is drawing up its budget and while treasurer Tim Pallas has made it known he’s a big fan of the venture, he can’t sign his own cheques (so we hear).
Updated
Coalition pair say it is 'untenable' for Birmingham to stray from opposition's voice stance
Two prominent Coalition senators have said it would be “untenable” for Liberal Senate leader Simon Birmingham to not fall in line with the opposition’s stance to oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Birmingham’s fellow Liberal from South Australia, rightwing firebrand Alex Antic, claimed Birmingham’s reluctance was “troubling”; while Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie also criticised his position.
To catch you up: Birmingham, the Liberals’ leading moderate voice, told Sky News yesterday that he didn’t intend to campaign against the voice, and hinted that he would prefer there be a compromise from the government that the conservative side could support.
Birmingham joined a growing list of Liberals including Bridget Archer, Andrew Bragg, former Indigenous minister Ken Wyatt, Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff and other state representatives who have outright opposed or shown great reluctance to the federal Liberals’ opposition to the voice.
But Birmingham’s position has been criticised heavily by his Coalition Senate colleagues. On Sky News overnight, Antic claimed Birmingham’s words were “troubling from where I sit”.
“We had a party room meeting, the party room position is clear,” Antic said.
“If that’s to be Simon’s position, I think this makes his position as opposition leader in the Senate and a frontbencher fairly untenable … that’s troublesome.”
On Sky today, McKenzie also claimed Birmingham’s position was untenable.
🚨 Nationals Senate Leader Bridget McKenzie tells @Kieran_Gilbert it would be "untenable" for a Shadow Cabinet Minister to back the Yes campaign.
— Cam Reddin (@CamReddin) April 13, 2023
McKenzie says - "If (Birmingham) had a different view to Shadow Cabinet, he would make the appropriate decision" #auspol @SkyNewsAust https://t.co/2o2OCdm5II
Updated
Australia’s trade minister hopeful China bans will end but warns against putting ‘all our eggs in one basket’
The Australian trade minister says he wants a quick return to normal trade with China but has warned exporters not to put “all of our eggs in one basket”.
In an interview with Guardian Australia, Don Farrell was bullish about the prospect of Australia succeeding in its international challenge against Beijing’s tariffs on Australian barley, saying he thought “we would ultimately win that”.
But he said Australia had agreed to hit pause on that World Trade Organization dispute because “even a positive finding in our favour would still have meant potentially many years of disputation to resolve the issue”.
Read more:
Parliamentary inquiry into Indigenous voice referendum begins tomorrow
The parliamentary inquiry into the Indigenous voice referendum has a packed schedule for its first hearing tomorrow.
The Joint Select Committee on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice Referendum kicks off in Canberra on Friday morning with a welcome to country held outside in a Parliament House courtyard – a very unusual beginning to a parliamentary inquiry.
The first witnesses will be Tom Calma & Marcia Langton, the Indigenous leaders who chaired a co-design process under the former Coalition government which led to the so-called “Calma-Langton report”, which you may have heard of if you’ve been paying attention to this debate.
They will be followed by Thomas Mayo, a member of the government’s referendum working group, and former ABC host Kerry O’Brien. The pair have written a book advocating for a Yes vote and explaining how the Voice would work.
Later, lawyers Louise Clegg and Douglas Drummond KC will appear. Both have expressed concerns about the voice. Then a panel of leading constitutional lawyers, including Anne Twomey and former high court judge Kenneth Hayne, will appear.
Twomey, Hayne and George Williams have been part of the government’s constitutional expert group advising on the Voice; while Bret Walker, an eminent constitutional lawyer, has been vocal in rebuffing the concerns raised by sceptics about the impact of the voice.
The hearings then go to Cairns, Perth, Orange and back to Canberra over the next few weeks.
Updated
Australia aims to boost critical minerals processing to hedge against China’s dominance
Australia needs to develop processing capabilities that would hedge against China’s dominant position over minerals crucial to clean energy and defence technologies, the resources minister, Madeleine King, said on Thursday.
Speaking to a Darwin audience that included key allies and trading partners, King said the concentration of the critical minerals market in China posed a strategic challenge to Australia.
“Working together, like-minded partners can build new, diverse, resilient and sustainable supply chains as part of a global hedge against concentration,” King said at an event organised by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, a defence thinktank with a hawkish reputation on China.
“Diversity, as opposed to concentration, is an intrinsic good and in the interest of all nations.”
Read more:
Updated
Victorian Liberals won’t debate Indigenous voice until next month
The Victorian Liberal party will delay debating the Indigenous voice to parliament until next month when a federal inquiry into the proposed advisory body concludes.
State opposition leader John Pesutto said the Coalition party room would meet after a federal inquiry into the proposed advisory body concluded. The Coalition would then decide if MPs would be bound to a party position or free to campaign on their personal view.
Speaking to reporters, Pesutto said the party would wait until the federal inquiry reported next month:
They’ll be looking at the wording around the referendum so I’m keen to see what comes out of that process.
Last week, the federal Liberal party agreed to formally oppose the Albanese government’s proposal to enshrine the body in the constitution. Pesutto appeared to distance himself from federal counterpart Peter Dutton’s position, saying he had an “open mind” to the proposal.
Pesutto said the Victorian Liberal party and the Nationals would deal with the matter as separate parties.
Updated
Thanks for your attention today. My colleague Elias Visontay will be with you for the rest of the afternoon!
Who will become shadow minister for Indigenous Australians?
Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle says she hasn’t had any discussions about becoming the new shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, but she appears to be in the running for the newly-vacant role.
Liddle, a first-term senator for South Australia, is the only Indigenous member of the Liberal party room. She and Nationals senator Jacinta Price appear to be the frontrunners for the shadow Indigenous spokesperson role, after Julian Leeser quit the shadow ministry in order to campaign for the Indigenous Voice referendum.
Speaking to Sky News, Liddle said she hadn’t been in talks about the role, and said she was focused on her job as a senator. Nationals leader David Littleproud publicly put Price forward for the role, but the fact that Leeser was a Liberal (and rules in the Coalition about how many people from each party sit in the ministry) might complicate her promotion from the backbench.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said he will consider the right person for the job over coming days. He has spent the last 24 hours with Price in Alice Springs.
Guardian Australia understands some Liberals believe the Indigenous affairs spokesperson must have a wider focus on Aboriginal health and social issues, not just the voice referendum.
Liddle on Sky spoke about Indigenous people facing long public housing waiting lists, referencing an Aboriginal family left living on a concrete slab due to a lack of housing support. She accused the government of a “failure of service delivery” in such areas.
Updated
Alice Springs ‘heading in the right direction’: Burney
Linda Burney says despite Dutton using Alice Springs as a political football, the statistics are “heading in the right direction”.
There has been some reduction in presentations to the emergency ward and substantial reductions in callouts for domestic violence. Dramatic changes, which has not been reflected, unfortunately, by the use of Alice Springs as a political football that we are seeing right now.
Burney said governance arrangements for $250m committed by the federal government “are going to be done and are going to be done properly” after Dutton earlier today questioned whether the money was being put to use on the ground.
I will be back in Alice Springs in the coming weeks, probably in the next two or three weeks. But I am not going to be dictated by people who seek to use Alice Springs as a political means to an end. What Alice Springs can offer is its own solutions and we are taking that extremely seriously.
… The way to support long-term change there is working with the local community, working with the Northern Territory government and that is precisely what we are doing.
Updated
NT senator urges Dutton not to use Alice Springs as a 'political football'
The assistant Indigenous Australians minister, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, is asked about Peter Dutton’s raising the issue of abuse and neglect of Aboriginal children being on the rise.
Dutton is touring Alice Springs, where he has been using the dysfunction in the town in his campaign against the Indigenous voice to parliament.
McCarthy responds:
The first thing I would say to opposition leader Peter Dutton is this: it is a very serious allegation to raise the abuse of a child and a serious allegation to make that a child is being returned to an abuser.
Peter Dutton, if you are aware of this, then you need to mandatory report it to police so that there can be an investigation immediately, and if you have not done that I would urge you to do so as soon as possible.
In terms of statistics around Alice Springs, we know that the statistics around DV, attendance at the hospital, assaults, have dropped dramatically.
So I would urge the opposition leader to not use Alice Springs as a political football with irresponsible accusations if they cannot be followed up.
Updated
Government announces 30 dialysis units for First Nations communities
Linda Burney says the most important announcement being made in Darwin today is new funding for dialysis machines to improve access to health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
There is a terrible affliction in our communities, where kidney disease is absolutely rife and the federal government is very determined to provide support, particularly to remote communities.
The assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, says the government will be rolling out at least 30 renal dialysis units, with six being announced today.
The concerns around renal disease for first Nations are people in particular is extremely high.
Anything to do with renal is usually the reason why most First Nations people are hospitalised and they have high statistics in terms of surviving the issues around renal disease.
… The minute someone knows they are diagnosed with renal disease, and I have heard Mum Miriam say it, it is like a death sentence. You know your life is about being on a machine three days a week.
McCarthy says the announcement helps First Nations people to get treatment on country, instead of having to travel to capital cities.
So many First Nations people suffer from this dreadful disease, and we want to make sure they can get home to country and be able to live on country and know they do not have to be in the larger capital cities.
Updated
Voice not about ‘scare campaigns’ or changing Australia Day, but about ‘very practical things’: Burney
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is speaking in Darwin making it clear that the Indigenous voice to parliament “will not be about scare campaigns.”
The voice will be about very practical things, health, education, and about protection, about a whole range of things that are the issues that face Aboriginal people. It will be about housing, it will be about things like incarceration and issues to do with those things that very much impact First Nations people.
But let me be very clear – what it will not be about. It won’t be about making changes to things like Australia Day. That is an act of desperation to start talking about things like that.
The Australian government has a very clear policy on Australia Day. We have no plans to change it. But we do believe that there needs to be a different way of marking that day. It should be in celebration and recognition of the great things about our nation. But it also has to be in reflection about the truth of this country. So let’s be very clear - the voice will be about practical things that affect the daily lives of Aboriginal people.
It will not be about scare campaigns, it will not be about nonsense like changing Australia Day.
Updated
Cyclone Ilsa expected to reach category 5 before it makes landfall
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa is expected to reach category 5 before it crosses the West Australian coast between Port Hedland and Wallal Downs later tonight or early on Friday morning.
Severe tropical cyclone #Isla is now expected to reach category-5 strength before it hits the WA coast overnight. (Source: @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/wzBxKBjs4j
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 13, 2023
The Bureau of Meterology says:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa is a category 4 system and is moving south. Ilsa is expected to turn to the south-east this afternoon and develop further, and is now forecast to reach category 5 intensity as it moves towards the east Pilbara coast.
A severe impact will occur along the coast and adjacent inland parts to the east of Port Hedland and west of Wallal Downs, most likely between Pardoo Roadhouse and Wallal Downs, later tonight or early Friday morning.During Friday, Ilsa is forecast to maintain tropical cyclone intensity as it tracks past Telfer and further inland across the Northern Interior district. The system is expected to weaken below tropical cyclone strength overnight Friday as it moves east into southern parts of the Northern Territory.
As Severe Tropical #CycloneIlsa heads towards the coast, the eye of the system can now be seen on the #PortHedland radar.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Western Australia (@BOM_WA) April 13, 2023
View the Radar: https://t.co/Kh2v4tTPY4
Cyclone Track Map: https://t.co/d3xfh1xCDK pic.twitter.com/1K0L2SdJx7
Updated
Community and Public Sector Union ad attacks Daniel Andrews over reported cuts
The Community and Public Sector Union is rolling out an ad attacking Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, amid reports of looming cuts to the public service. The ad will be rolled out on TV, social media and targeted to postcodes ahead of the May state budget.
Updated
Red alert expected for Cyclone Ilsa this afternoon
Emergency services have just held a press conference as Tropical Cyclone Ilsa tracks towards the coast of Western Australia, increasing in strength.
Emergency services say a red alert is expected to be put in place this afternoon:
The red alert will come on later this afternoon around 3 to 4pm.
Under a red alert, people cannot move around outside. So the expectation you’re going to do anything around your home after that happens, just shouldn’t be there.
People should be enacting their plan, if they’re not in rated accommodation, they need to make their way to an evacuation centre before the red alert gets put on.
Updated
Age of criminal responsibility up for discussion as high court challenge nears
The high court will hear an appeal later this month that could affect the law as it relates to criminal responsibility in four Australian jurisdictions, as the nation’s attorneys general prepare to discuss proposals on raising the age.
The case, appealed from the Queensland court of appeal, will require the high court to rule on whether a wording of the law used in that state, as well as Tasmania, Western Australia and the Northern Territory, properly reflects the presumption that a child aged 10-14 has an inability to know right from wrong.
The case comes amid an ongoing furore about youth crime in Queensland and as potential fissures emerge in the push for a national approach to raising the age of criminal responsibility.
The standing council of attorneys general is set to meet in Darwin on 28 April to discuss a number of issues, including raising the age of criminal responsibility from 10.
The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, flagged in February that he would give it “one more go” to reach a national consensus.
The Australian Capital Territory, Northern Territory and Tasmania have already announced their own changes to the age of criminal responsibility.
On 20 April, the high court will hear an appeal from a man known as BDO against a 2021 supreme court of Queensland court of appeal decision.
BDO was charged with 15 counts of rape and one count of indecent treatment of a child under the age of 16 allegedly committed over a nine-year timeframe when he was aged between 10 and 19.
He was found guilty of 11 counts of rape but cleared of the other charges by a jury in the district court.
One of two grounds in relation to the man’s appeal relates to whether the presumption that a child does not know right from wrong as articulated in a 2016 high court decision can apply to the wording of the law in Queensland.
Updated
Labor must relieve cost-of-living pressures without raising taxes, Taylor says
Angus Taylor:
We need to see a clear plan in the budget that addresses these pressures.
A plan with real fiscal constraint, not just talking about it, not adding $115bn of spending as the government did in the last budget.
We need to see a government that manages its spending just as all Australian households right now are having to manage their spending.
We need a government that doesn’t make a bad situation worse. We need to see them ensuring that we’ve got sensible energy policies in place, not heavy handed government interventions.
And most of all we need a government that doesn’t raise taxes. We saw an increase in the last national accounts of 7% in tax payments by Australian families. 7% increase. Now, that is not what is needed in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis.
To raise taxes further, whether it’s superannuation tax, franking credits, income taxes, we know the government is running the ruler over many taxes and the Grattan Institute has given them a new menu to work with. Higher taxes are not the answer to the challenges that Australians are facing. We want to see a clear plan that takes the pressure off Australians.
Updated
Taylor calls on Albanese to take financial pressure of households
Taylor goes on the offensive against the Albanese government, saying they need to show leadership to take the cost-of-living pressure off Australians:
We need a government that stops running away from these pressures. And starts addressing them head on.
We don’t need a treasurer that hides behind the Reserve Bank on these issues. We don’t need a treasurer that hides behind his forecasting, his grim constant forecasting and commentary.
We need leadership. And we’re not seeing this from the Labor party. There is much the government can do.
The idea that you leave this to the Reserve Bank will impose more pain on Australians. More unnecessary pain on Australians.
The government can play a role in taking pressure, those cost-of-living pressures and those business cost pressures that Australians are facing across the board.
Updated
Angus Taylor says ‘more pain in the pipeline’ due to cost of living
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, is responding to today’s jobless rate, saying despite the strong labour market there’s “more pain in the pipeline” for Australians as cost-of-living pressures mount.
It’s good to see a continuation of the very strong labour market that Labor inherited when they came into government. That is important that Australians get those opportunities and that job market, they get the opportunities to get out there and have a go and make a good income.
But the real pressure that Australians are facing, as Michaelia [Cash] just said, on their cost-of-living pressures. Businesses facing real cost pressures. I’m hearing it loud and clear in businesses in Western Australia. Those pressures are bearing down and there’s more pain in the pipeline.
As hundreds of thousands of Australians move from fixed rate mortgages to floating rate mortgages in the coming months. That is pain that will felt around the kitchen table, it will be pain that will be felt in having to take on extra hours, and pain that will be felt in the way families deal with these extraordinary pressures.
Updated
Queensland premier demands action after spate of dog attacks
The Queensland government has ordered a dangerous-dog taskforce to urgently reconvene after a spate of dog attacks on young children, with the premier saying she wants action by the end of the month.
A three-year-old girl is recovering in hospital from “significant” head and neck injuries after a savage attack at a Yatala property on the Gold Coast on Wednesday.
Four dogs were seized from the property and the attack is being investigated by Queensland Police and Gold Coast city council.
The attack was one of three reported on Wednesday, the Queensland Ambulance Service said.
Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said she was extremely concerned by the rise in dog attacks this week.
A taskforce created in 2021 to strengthen laws related to dangerous dogs, and overseen by agriculture minister Mark Furner, will urgently investigate. Palaszczuk said:
They meet on a regular basis and I’ve asked the minister to personally chair and reconvene this working group urgently next week.
I want action taken before the end of this month.
Palaszczuk said she was also worried about dog attacks on other dogs.
Awful stories where dogs are allowed off-leash and [are] attacking other people’s dogs … Look, honestly, there needs to be stronger measures taken.
The RSPCA is urging people to be cautious around dogs, whether they be owners or otherwise.
– via AAP
Updated
MP says electorate office is ‘coalface of our representative democracy’
Tim Watts has thanked acting prime minister, Penny Wong, for officially opening his new electorate office, which he describes as the “coalface of our representative democracy”.
Thank you to our Acting PM @SenatorWong, for coming to #Melbswest to *officially* open our new electorate office!
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) April 13, 2023
We’ve been operating out of our new office for a while now, but it was a pleasure to be able to welcome friends & supporters for a celebration to make it official. pic.twitter.com/2JZAGrRVic
Thank you to Alison and Sarah, two young leaders from schools in our community, who helped me to introduce our Acting PM on the night and to the Dai Bi Quan Am lion dance crew who came along to bless the office for good luck. pic.twitter.com/YrKdq8IyWd
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) April 13, 2023
While people are more likely to see Parliament House on the news, electorate offices are the coalface of our representative democracy.
— Tim Watts MP (@TimWattsMP) April 13, 2023
It’s where people go for help when their government isn’t working for them. pic.twitter.com/OSo6MSvgZX
Updated
Daniel Andrews says public drunkenness reform is ‘long overdue’
Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has rejected concerns about the state’s decriminalisation of public drunkenness coinciding with the Melbourne Cup holiday.
Victoria is due to repeal public drunkenness in November as an offence and treat it as a health problem after the 2017 death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day, who died after being arrested for being drunk on a train. But the state’s police union warned the reform occurring on the public holiday would be a “baptism by fire” and could risk community safety.
Andrews told reporters that the reform would not burden police because health workers such as paramedics would become the frontline responders:
Will it be easy? No. Of course it’s a big shift.
This is a reform that is long overdue.
Updated
MP Gareth Ward to face one trial in Sydney on sex assault claims
Recently returned Kiama MP Gareth Ward will face one trial in a Sydney court on sexual assault allegations after a judge rejected a bid to have the allegations separated, AAP reports.
Ward, 42, an ex-Liberal turned independent, has pleaded not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent, three counts of indecent assault and one of common assault.
It’s alleged Ward indecently assaulted a 17-year-old at his home on the NSW south coast and had non-consensual sexual intercourse with a 25-year-old man at his Potts Point apartment in inner Sydney.
He retained the Kiama seat at the March NSW election after being suspended from parliament following charges laid.
His trial is expected to last about three weeks, Judge John Pickering said in the NSW district court on Thursday.
The judge granted a motion to have the trial held in Sydney and rejected another motion to have charges separated and dealt with in different trials in Sydney and Nowra on the south coast.
Judge Pickering said:
There must be a joint trial, and there will be.
Overwhelmingly in my view it is in the interest of justice for the trial to come to Sydney.
The trial can be more easily accommodated and quicker in Sydney, the judge said.
A trial date will be set “as soon as possible”, potentially on Thursday afternoon.
Ward was not required to appear in court, being represented by a lawyer via audiovisual link.
Updated
After jobs jump, attention will shift to consumer prices
Instant responses to the March jobs data are, not surprisingly, focused on how strong the labour market remains despite the hammering of 10 Reserve Bank rate rises in a row.
You can follow our main jobs story here:
With the RBA pausing those rate hikes earlier this month, the question may be whether they’ll have to pause that pause and lift the cash rate again.
Sean Langcake, head of Macroeconomic Forecasting for BIS Oxford Economics, says “labour demand remains very strong”, and that it’s likely to increase pressure for higher wages.
In other words, expect a strong consumer price index number for the March quarter, Langcake says. As a result, BIS Oxford reckons the RBA will raise its rates again on 2 May.
Those CPI numbers will land on 26 April. For the December quarter, these came in at an annual rate of 7.8%, the highest since the early 1990s. Economists forecast that number will drop, indicating a peak has passed, with the main question being how fast inflation will retreat towards the 2%-3% rate the RBA targets over time.
Updated
Recount ordered in Ryde after close result in NSW election
A recount has been ordered in the Sydney seat of Ryde, after weeks of counting left the NSW Liberal candidate just 50 votes ahead of his Labor opponent, AAP reports.
The recount will delay the declaration of the results of the 25 March election in the NSW lower house, which was due to take place on Friday.
NSW electoral commissioner John Schmidt said today:
I am satisfied there are factors relevant to this particular election that mean a recount is appropriate before proceeding to declare the final results.
It comes after the NSW Labor party formally requested the recount on Tuesday, with the Liberal candidate, Jordan Lane, about 50 votes ahead of Labor’s Lyndal Howison.
The call was largely due to the very small amount of votes separating the two candidates, after preferences were distributed, Schmidt said.
There is no automatic requirement to recount votes when a result is close in a NSW election, as is the case in a federal election, and no errors in counting had been found.
However, a number of factors meant having a recount was appropriate, including that the Ryde electorate had its boundaries redrawn in 2021, and the margin between the two candidates had tightened significantly since the last election.
The recount will begin on Saturday and extend until Monday if necessary.
If Labor cannot secure a win in Ryde, it will hold 45 seats in the lower house, and require the support of two crossbench MPs to pass legislation.
Three independent MPs, including speaker Greg Piper, have already guaranteed the government confidence and supply.
Updated
‘Everyone is on edge,’ says Port Hedland mayor as Cyclone Ilsa approaches
Pilbara residents are on edge as Tropical Cyclone Ilsa, now a category 4 system, bears down on the Western Australian coast.
The Bureau of Meteorology upgraded the cyclone to a category 4 system on Thursday morning, with gusts near the centre up to 230km/hr as it tracks toward the coast 290km north of Port Hedland.
Port Hedland mayor Peter Carter said residents were preparing for the impact of the cyclone, with evacuation centres set up in the town. Carter told ABC:
Everyone is on edge.
They understand that cyclones are what they are. They’re very, very unpredictable.
Read more:
Updated
Strong jobs result increases chances of the RBA lifting rates again
Most of the details in the March jobs data point to strong demand in the economy, increasing the likelihood of further interest rate rises.
Lauren Ford, ABS head of labour statistics, said both the employment-to-population ratio and the participation rate remain close to historic highs. These reflect “a tight labour market and explaining why employers are finding it hard to fill the high number of job vacancies”.
Ford noted female employment is up 81,000 over the past two months alone, lifting the female participation rate to a record high of 62.5%. Their employment-to-population ratio was also a record 60.4%.
Overall, only last October’s 3.4% jobless rate has been lower during the current cycle. (Gough Whitlam was still PM when it was last at these lows.)
Australia's jobless rate held steady at 3.5% in March, @ABSStats says. The 72,200 extra full-time positions means almost 9.75m Australians are now holding down full-time jobs. pic.twitter.com/boBIxBdM03
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 13, 2023
While hours worked edged 0.2% lower in March, the tally held on to most of the 3.8% jump in February.
“Over the past 12 months, hours worked has increased 5.5%, outpacing the 3.3% increase in employment,” Ford said. “Since March 2020, hours worked have increased 8.4%, compared to a 7.0% increase in employment.
“The strength in hours worked relative to employment shows the high level of demand for labour, to some extent, is being absorbed by people working more hours,” she said.
Among the states and territories, the ACT’s 2.8% jobless rate, seasonally adjusted, remains the lowest. NSW’s came in at 3.3%, to lead the big states.
Updated
Health secretary Prof Brendan Murphy announces retirement
The federal health department secretary, Brendan Murphy, who led the nation through the turbulent Covid-19 pandemic, is retiring.
Prof Murphy took on the top job in mid-2020 after previously joining the department as chief medical officer in 2016.
He will retire on 6 July. The Albanese government said a merit-based recruitment process is under way to find the next health boss.
The doctor helped Australia form its pandemic response as the number of infections exploded globally, sending countries into lockdowns and closing borders.
The health minister, Mark Butler, said Murphy led the department during its “biggest public health response in over 100 years”.
Butler said:
Professor Murphy’s time as secretary was broader than just Covid.
He has overseen the start of aged care, mental health, primary care and health workforce reform.”
The opposition’s health spokesperson, Anne Ruston, said the coalition thanked Murphy for his “outstanding contribution” to Australia’s health and aged care systems.
– with AAP
Updated
Jobless rate stays at 3.5% with 72,200 full-time jobs added
The labour market numbers for March have just landed and it’s another bullish result, with the jobless rate unchanged at 3.5%.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the economy added 72,200 full-time jobs last month, with 19,200 part-time roles shed. The net gain of 53,000 jobs was much more than the 20,000 jobs economists had expected.
Economists had also tipped the jobless rate would tick up to 3.6%, another indication they underestimated the strength of the labour market.
The dollar also bounced higher, above the 67 US cent mark.
Full-time employment increased by 72,200 to 9,748,900 people.
Part-time employment decreased by 19,200 to 4,135,600 people.
Updated
The jobless rate for March remained at 3.5%, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Updated
Queensland premier calls for clear LNP position on voice
The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, has urged the state’s Liberal National party to put forward a clear position on the federal Indigenous voice to parliament.
Speaking to reporters today, Palaszczuk said she “absolutely” supports the voice and believes there are members of the LNP that share the same view – even if they had not said so publicly.
The state opposition leader, David Crisafulli, has repeatedly refused to reveal where he stands on the federal voice, telling reporters he hasn’t yet made up his mind.
He said yesterday:
I’m probably in a similar place to many Queenslanders … There are a lot of people who haven’t made up their mind up on how they intend to vote.
It’s a big deal … changing the constitution is a privilege that’s not afforded to you every day.
Updated
Emma Campbell announced as new director of Antarctic Division
The federal government has announced Emma Campbell as the new director of the Australian Antarctic Division.
Her appointment comes after two damning investigations into the culture of the Australian Antarctic program and allegations of bullying, sexual harassment and abuse.
A report by former Swimming Australia chief executive, Leigh Russell, found 15% of 300 respondents experienced some form of sexual harassment. About a third of these experiences occurred in the last 12 months.
Almost 80% of those who experienced sexual harassment did not report it. Around 40% of staff said they experienced bullying in the last 12 months.
The former director, Kim Ellis, resigned in January with one year remaining on his five year term. Ellis had commissioned an earlier study into allegations of cultural problems on Antarctic stations, which included reports of pornography displayed on walls and unwelcome requests for sex.
Campbell, a senior public servant in the environment department, will lead cultural change and vital climate science. Australia’s icebreaking vessel, Nuyina, is currently returning from repairs in Singapore.
Updated
Jobs barometer to reveal strength of Australian economy
We’ll shortly get the March labour market numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
The consensus among economists is that the economy added a net 20,000 jobs for the month but that tally won’t be sufficient to stop the jobless rate edging higher to 3.6% from a reported 3.5% number for February. (Revisions can be tricky things for assessing whether the arrow is up, down or sideways.)
The unemployment rate is likely to remain near its lowest since the mid-1970s. (It touched 3.4% last October, and hasn’t strayed far from that level even with interest rates rising at their fastest pace in more than three decades.)
Earlier this week, the International Monetary Fund forecast the rate would rise to 4% by the end of this year compared with about 3.75% predicted by the Reserve Bank in its February update.
The labour market outcome will be watched closely for what it may mean for interest rates. Investors, for now at least, think the central bank will pause for a second month in a row when its board meets on 2 May.
Ahead of today's ABS release of March jobs data, investors were rating the chance of an RBA rate rise next month at just 6% (and 94% for another pause). Beyond that, the next move is a cut. (Some economists reckon there's at least another rate rise to come.) pic.twitter.com/CgA8jtjn3D
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 13, 2023
The IMF had a few things in its global outlook update to say about “housing market risk” among advanced nations … and Australia rates second-highest in the world.
IMF views Australia has having the second highest 'housing market risk', behind Canada. pic.twitter.com/Gd7Qr8d4J1
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 13, 2023
“Economies with elevated house prices and high levels of household debt issued at floating rates are particularly vulnerable to any ensuing financial sector stress,” it said.
Mortgage holders under the pump from soaring debt repayments will be hoping the jobs market remains relatively bullish so that “market risk” doesn’t become a reality.
Updated
Tropical Cyclone Ilsa upgraded to category 4 system
The Bureau of Meteorology has upgraded Tropical Cyclone Ilsa to a category 4 system:
Severe Tropical Cyclone Ilsa, now category 4, is expected to cross the coast between Port Hedland and Bidyadanga Thursday night or Friday morning.
The warning zone includes the area south of Broome to Whim Creek, including Port Hedland and extending inland as far as Parnngurr, including Nullagine, Marble Bar and Telfer.
Severe tropical cyclone #Ilsa has just been upgraded to a category-4 tempest. The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre has the storm gusting to 160 knots (almost 300km/h) as it nears the WA coast. (Source: @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/nG6iUadnL7
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) April 13, 2023
Updated
Dutton says Alice Springs can’t wait for voice
Dutton is saying that the people of Alice Springs cannot wait for the voice to get up and running to solve the situation.
Linda Burney will say wait for the voice and that will sort it out.
The voice vote is in October this year and then there is a six month consultation period proposed if the voice gets up to work out what the design of the voice actually is which is a cart before the horse situation, but that is a separate discussion.
You are talking about mid-next year, the bureaucracy will then have to be formed around the voice, so that will take you out to the end of calendar ‘24 and you have kids here tonight who are going to be sexually abused or families where domestic violence has now become a common occurrence all the time and we are told nothing can be done about it. I find it deplorable.
The emotion of the people we have spoken to in tears, about a town that they love being torn apart by the lawlessness that they are seeing play out before their own eyes, the video of kids running rampant in the local CBD, somebody is going to be killed here.
Updated
Dutton calls on PM to send federal police to Alice Springs
Dutton is criticising the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the NT chief minister, Natasha Fyles, for the situation, for their failure to “restore law and order” to Alice Springs.
Dutton is questioning whether the federal money promised in October has yet been allocated to services on the ground:
The fact is that the prime minister promised $250m when we first raised this issue back in October. There is no evidence of that money being spent on the ground and speaking to a lot of operators and those who deliver services on the ground here, their view is that there is still a committee stage going on about where that money will be spent.
Dutton is calling on Albanese to send the federal police to Alice Springs:
… Somebody was killed here in 2021, somebody has lost their life tragically, equally tragic in Darwin but we are going to see further tragedy here and unless the prime minister steps in and restores law and order, that can only be done by supplementing the efforts of the NT police with the Australian federal police and I call on the prime minister to make sure that that is an action that is rolled out.
If Natasha Fyles, the chief minister, is saying there is nothing to see in Alice Springs, the prime minister should listen to the people on the ground here and overrule her. Start to restore dignity and protect the kids from continued violation of their own human rights and make sure that people can do what they want to do as they would in any other part of the country, take their kids to school, go to the park, go out to a restaurant, be involved in life in Alice Springs. That is what they want to do.
It is what we would expect for any Australian and the prime minister really needs to step up here and make sure that we can see a better future for Alice Springs.
Updated
Peter Dutton says Alice Springs tourism down due to safety issues
Staying in the Northern Territory, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking in Alice Springs about the need to address the dysfunction in the town.
NT senator Jacinta Price is standing behind him as Dutton says that locals are leaving and tourism numbers are down due to the lack of safety:
It is heartbreaking to hear some of the stories, particularly from locals who are really concerned for their own safety, for the safety of their parents, their kids.
This is one of the most beautiful parts of our country and I always feel a great privilege whenever I come to Alice Springs or the NT and there would be many more Australians who would want to come to the NT but at the moment are making a decision not to. We have spoken to a number of locals who are making a decision to leave and to relocate to some other part of the NT or to another part of the country. That is devastating.
If you look at the tourism numbers at the moment, the tourism numbers we were told about that just came out from the Easter period, they are down by 40%.
Updated
Explaining state and territory differences in referendum voting
Just for a bit more context around what the Alice Springs mayor, Matt Patterson, means when he says territories will have a smaller say in the referendum outcome than states.
As the Australian Electoral Commission explains, any change to the constitution must be approved by a national majority (of electors from all states and territories) but also a majority of electors in a majority of states (states only).
So that means voters in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and any of Australia’s external territories are only counted in the national majority and not in the state majority.
According to the parliamentary education office that’s because the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory did not exist when the constitution was drafted, so we’re not included in this provision. However, citizens in the two territories are counted in the national majority.
Updated
Animal activist charged with trespass after protest in Benalla
Activist Chris Delforce, who leads the Farm Transparency Project, has been arrested and charged with trespass.
Delforce and other activists chained themselves to equipment at a slaughterhouse in Benalla on Thursday morning, hoping to draw attention to the use of carbon dioxide gas to stun pigs prior to slaughter.
The action came after Delforce and his group covertly recorded disturbing footage showing the effects of gassing on pigs.
Delforce and dozens of other activists attempted to block operations at the Benalla slaughterhouse on Thursday morning, arriving early and chaining themselves to equipment, including a gondola used to move the pigs into the gas chamber prior to stunning.
Delforce told the Guardian about 9.30am that he had been arrested and charged with trespass, but released on bail. He said other activists had also been arrested but there were still members of the group on the facility’s roof.
The Farm Transparency Project says the gassing of pigs, which is considered the most humane method of stunning, causes pigs to go to their deaths in “agony, writhing, screaming, and gasping for air”.
Updated
Alice Springs mayor says NT residents get ‘half the vote of everyone else’
Patterson also said there was an “irony” that referendum votes from the Northern Territory count for less than states’ votes – despite the NT being one of the places where the voice would have the greatest impact with its higher proportion of First Nations people. It is incorrect that people in the NT literally get one vote while those in the states get two – everyone has a single yes or no vote. But a successful referendum needs a majority in a majority of the states (at least four of the six) as well as an overall national majority. As the Australian Electoral Commission explains, the votes of people in the Northern Territory, the Australian Capital Territory and any of Australia’s external territories count towards the national majority only.
The irony for me, is that because we’re in a territory we only get one vote in a referendum and everyone else gets two because it’s a double majority.
So I just find it very ironic that the people that they say that it’s going to help the most, only get one vote where people in other states get two votes …
That’s the extremely frustrating part for me. No one’s speaking about that. But that’s the reality of federation is.
People from both sides are saying the voice, the voice, the voice for Alice Springs. But if you’re in Alice Springs and central Australia, you only get half the vote of everyone else and they quote that it’s going to make twice a difference here. It is very ironic.
Updated
Alice Springs mayor says crime issue and voice vote shouldn't be linked
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is in Alice Springs campaigning against the Indigenous voice to parliament, using the town’s issues of crime and dysfunction as a centrepiece of his approach focused on practical outcomes.
But the mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Patterson, does not believe the issues of crime in the town and the voice should be linked.
Speaking to ABC Radio this morning Patterson said crime was still up and called for the Australian federal police to help local police.
Asked if he believed the issues in Alice Springs should be used either by the yes or the no campaign, Patterson said:
No, I don’t think it should be linked. We have been facing this for a lot longer than the voice debate has been had. If people are linking with the voice, as soon as the referendum is over, they’re going to forget about Alice Springs. That’s not why we’re asking for help. We’re asking for help because we need change here, and we’ll need change a lot longer than when the referendum is held later this year.
Patterson said he has not made his mind up yet on how he will be voting in the referendum.
Updated
David McBride trial set for 6 November
Former military lawyer David McBride has finally received a date for his trial, more than four years after he was first charged.
McBride is accused of leaking classified defence information to three senior journalists at the ABC and the then Fairfax Media newspapers.
The material later formed the basis of “The Afghan Files”, a 2017 ABC expose revealing allegations of misconduct by Australian special forces in Afghanistan, including possible unlawful killings.
McBride was formally charged in March 2019.
This morning, his case appeared back before the ACT supreme court. The court heard the chief justice, Lucy McCallum, had directed that the court’s registrar use today’s hearing to set a trial date this year.
The trial was set down for 6 November and is expected to last three weeks before justice David Mossop.
It means McBride will have waited four years and eight months for his trial.
Commonwealth prosecutors flagged the date may cause them some difficulties, including with the availability of their counsel and witnesses. They plan to call 22 witnesses, the court heard.
McBride has pleaded not guilty to five charges, including the unauthorised disclosure of information, theft of commonwealth property and breaching the Defence Act.
Updated
Wesley Mission to close three Sydney aged care homes
Wesley Mission will close its remaining three Sydney aged care homes, citing problems with staffing, costs and national changes being rolled out for the sector, AAP reports.
The decision will affect nearly 200 people living in its facilities at Sylvania in the south, Carlingford in the north-west, as well as its Narrabeen home on the northern beaches.
The decision comes after the closure of its Wesley Tebbutt facility at Dundas in north-west Sydney last year.
The chief executive and superintendent, the Rev Stu Cameron, said several factors were behind “the difficult decision”, including “challenges to workforce and flow-on impacts from the national reforms to aged care”.
The aged care royal commission made 148 wide-ranging recommendations, and the federal government has committed to having registered nurses in aged care homes around the clock from July.
The sector is experiencing chronic staff shortages, but the minimum pay rate is due to increase by 15% from July.
Cameron said Wesley Mission supported the once-in-a-generation reforms, but that it was a challenging environment to be a smaller provider.
Updated
Protesters chain themselves to equipment at Victorian slaughterhouse
Animal activists have chained themselves to equipment in a Victorian slaughterhouse in an attempt to stop the carbon dioxide gassing of pigs prior to slaughter.
Last month, activist group Farm Transparency Project released covertly recorded footage from three abattoirs showing the use of gassing to stun pigs. The use of gas for stunning is widely regarded as best practice and the safest possible method. But the footage showed pigs in clear distress, thrashing around in a tightly packed chamber, gasping for air and frothing at the mouth.
Activists are this morning attempting to stop operations at Benalla slaughterhouse in Northern Victoria in an attempt to draw further attention to the effects of carbon dioxide gassing.
One protester has locked himself inside a gondola used to lower pigs into the gas chamber prior to slaughter.
Others are attempting to block the chamber known as the “race”, which is used to herd pigs into the gas chamber.
Chris Delforce, one of the activists, told the Guardian they had been in the facility since the early hours of Thursday morning.
A few of us who weren’t locked on have been escorted out by police, but most, including myself, are still here.
Police have not yet attempted to cut the activists out of the facility. In a statement, Farm Transparency Project said:
This is what the pork industry proudly claims to be the ‘most humane’ option out there for stunning pigs. We ask that, if pigs screaming in agony, desperately thrashing, and trying to escape is what this industry can call humane, how can we trust any claims they make to care about the welfare and wellbeing of animals? Australian pork is lying to its consumers and obscuring the reality which is that no pig wants to die. They go to their deaths in agony, writhing, screaming, and gasping for air.
Updated
Jobless rate expected to stay low despite looming economic woes
The jobs market is expected to hold in its strong position for another month despite a dire warning about the trajectory of the Australian economy, AAP reports.
The March labour force report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics will follow several months of ultra-low unemployment levels despite the Reserve Bank delivering a series of interest rate hikes since last year.
In February, the jobless rate returned to its 48-year low of 3.4% (seasonally adjusted) and employment bounced back to 64,600 after seasonal factors drove falls in December and January.
While Westpac economists said there were signs of softening starting to appear in the jobs market, they expected it would take some time to show up materially in the labour force numbers.
The bank’s economists predict the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5% in March, with about 25,000 jobs added over the month.
NAB economists are also pencilling in an unemployment result of 3.5% and an employment gain of 30,000.
Updated
Jacinta Price hasn’t ‘put hand up’ for shadow minister for Indigenous affairs
The Coalition is in the midst of a cabinet reshuffle after the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians and shadow attorney general, Julian Leeser, stepped down from the portfolios is order to be able to campaign yes for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Shadow home affairs minister, Karen Andrews, has told Sky News this morning that Leeser’s resignation is “clearly” a loss for the Coalition.
He was certainly a very valued member of our shadow team, but he will continue to work with us often the backbench and he’s made that very clear.
There’s a push for Country Liberal senator Jacinta Price to replace Leeser as shadow minister for Indigenous affairs. Asked about the possibility appearing on Sky this morning, Price said:
I can’t say that I’ve put my hand up. And that’s certainly a decision for the leadership to make in the coming days.
Pressed by Peter Stefanovic if Peter Dutton had spoken to her about the role, Price confirmed he had “mentioned” it during his visit to Alice Springs this week.
It’s been mentioned and that’s as far as I’ll go … It’s certainly come up in discussion. It can’t not come up in discussion under these current circumstances.
Updated
Three children and two adults injured in dog attacks across Queensland
Three children have been injured after being attacked by dogs in separate incidents across Queensland, AAP reports.
Two children and a woman were injured in animal attacks across the state on Wednesday in a spate of serious attacks, the Queensland ambulance service said.
Paramedics were called after a boy suffered a head injury after being bitten by a dog at Shailer Park, south of Brisbane, about 8.40pm.
The boy was taken to Logan hospital for treatment.
There was also an attack on a three-year-old girl at Yatala on the Gold Coast about 5.20pm. Several dogs were seized after the attack, which involved the toddler being bitten on the neck and head.
Paramedics transported the girl to the Queensland children’s hospital in a serious condition.
In the state’s north, a woman was bitten on the leg near Townsville and taken to hospital in a stable condition.
On Monday, a six-year-old suffered chest and abdominal injuries when she was mauled by two dogs in the southern Brisbane suburb of Woodridge. A family member who intervened after the girl was pulled from a fence by the dogs was also injured in the attack.
Updated
Zimmerman says Liberals’ voice stance alienates young voters
Back on the interview with former Liberal MP Trent Zimmerman, he says the lack of support for issues like the voice is alienating younger voters and risking the party’s future.
Zimmerman told ABC Radio this morning:
I think that what [Ken Wyatt’s] resignation highlights is the fact that on issues like this, we need to be thinking about the type of future we want for the Liberal party.
It’s not just about candidates, it’s about those younger voters that we seem to be losing in spades at every election we face at the federal level, who we know for example, under 40s are supporting the voice currently rates of about 70%.
And they want a Liberal party that’s focused on their economic aspirations. And this is the feedback I got as a federal member. Often those young people are the biggest supporters of our personal income tax cuts, but they also want a Liberal party that is about the modern Australia they want – about things like the voice, about making sure that we’re addressing climate change. And we can do both. And we have to do both if there’s going to be a pathway back for us to government.
… I’m yet to see the party, really responding to the type of concerns and issues that I saw in my own electorate from traditional Liberal voters that abandoned us last year.
Updated
Government to assess adults' literacy and numeracy skills
The government has commissioned a study of basic literacy and numeracy among Australian workers, fearing basic skills are holding back one in five from gaining work.
The latest data the government has available is more than 10 years old and shows that about one in five Australian adults lack the basic literacy, numeracy and digital skills to participate in work.
The minister for skills and training, Brendan O’Connor, said there isn’t any evidence to show the situation has improved for Australian workers.
Given the tightness of the labour market and the duty to make sure Australians aren’t being left behind, O’Connor says it is incumbent on the government to improve its data collection:
The system has failed these people and for the sake of equity, inclusion and economic growth we need to act.
We are facing the tightest labour market in decades, and there is a pool of Australians that businesses are not tapping into because they lack the prerequisite skills most jobs require.
Not only are these skills core to education and work, they are fundamental to life. These are the skills most of us take for granted like reading a note sent home from school, putting together a shopping list, or paying a bill online.
A developed nation and advanced economy like Australia should not be letting these people dow.
The foundation skills study will be led by Jobs and Skills Australia with the first step to deliver the study, a discussion paper being released for feedback today.
The study will have three elements:
A survey of Australian adults to assess their current literacy, numeracy and digital skills levels.
A feasibility study into how best to assess the literacy, numeracy and digital literacy levels of First Nations Australians.
Analysis of commonwealth administrative and other data to “drill down” into the results for priority groups.
Updated
Australia condemns Myanmar airstrikes that killed civilians
The Australian government has condemned the “increasing repression and violence by the Myanmar military regime” after dozens of people were killed in airstrikes.
Initial reports suggested 53 people died in Tuesday’s attacks on a village ceremony in Sagaing region at which women and children were present, but later estimates reported by independent media raised the death toll to about 100.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said Australia was “deeply concerned at reports of Myanmar military airstrikes in Sagaing Region and Chin State, resulting in the deaths of large numbers of civilians”.
A spokesperson for the department said overnight:
We strongly condemn the actions of the Myanmar regime, urge the regime to immediately cease violence, and to allow unhindered humanitarian access. Australia stands by the people of Myanmar, who have shown courage and determined resilience in the face of increasing repression and violence by the Myanmar military regime.
Updated
If the NDIS is improved for people, it will be better for budget, Shorten says
Shorten is being asked about his other portfolio, minister for NDIS. The Grattan Institute yesterday made several recommendations to help rein in the budget, saying the government need to take a hard look at the NDIS.
Shorten says making the scheme better for the participant will also make it better for the budget.
If we run the scheme better for the person, the participant, the person with severe and profound disabilities. I also think that some of the other anxieties which are about money being wasted, will be dealt with.
Shorten says the review of the scheme is “well under way,” with changes to the leadership and features of the scheme already in place.
We’ve been reforming individual features of the scheme already like getting people who are medically discharged from hospital on the NDIS, not languishing in hospital for months and months. We’ve been reducing some of the legacy cases.
So the budget will no doubt have measures which will be about improving the NDIS for participants but the budget isn’t an end in itself. So we’re doing work right now. There’ll be more work being done, and there’ll be work also finally announced when the review happens.
For participants on the scheme the Albanese governments not starting from the viewpoint that the person in the wheelchair, the white cane or the child with developmental delay is the problem – you’re not.
Updated
Shorten says debt issuing process will be overhauled
Shorten says the government is overhauling the whole process of issuing debt, so that the onus is not put on the person with the debt to prove the government is wrong.
The bigger piece first of all, is that when the government thinks that someone owes a debt to the government, we’ve got to have a much more methodical transparent process to establish the accuracy of the debt.
The best thing you can do is not make a mistake to begin with – and I mean the government not make a mistake.
In the event that there’s overpayment, our starting position has to be communication with the person which is not incomprehensible, not full of legal jargon, something which doesn’t immediately put the onus back on the person to prove the government’s wrong.
And that was one of the problems at the heart of robodebt: the onus got reversed and the government in sort of absolutely scaled up venture was issuing debts against people with flimsy evidence and then said to the person you’ve got to prove us wrong.
So we are overhauling the whole process – even the government alleging there is a debt to begin with. And not assuming, not telling the person they have no rights to question out and not putting all the onus and homework back on to the individual.
Updated
Government to stop using external debt collectors
The Albanese government will be severing external contracts with debt collectors. It’s one of the lessons being learned from the unlawful robodebt program, the government services minister, Bill Shorten, says.
Robodebt unlawfully raised more than a billion dollars in debts against Australians, many of whom were chased down by debt collectors for thousands of dollars they didn’t actually owe.
Shorten has told ABC Radio this morning:
One of the problems with robodebt was that the use of external debt collectors meant that some people received very inconsistent treatment from the government.
And when I say consistent, they received a very poor treatment from the external debt collectors. So we’ve made the decision that is one of the lessons of robodebt that we will not be continuing to use external collection agents from 30 June.
We’re going to run out the contracts and in the future, to ensure a higher quality of treatment and consistency of standard Services Australia will be working through that process throughout reference of third parties.
Shorten said $43m is owed to social services from about 10,800 Australians.
Read more from Paul Karp:
Updated
Free vote on voice would have been a ‘simple solution’ for Liberals – Zimmerman
Trent Zimmerman, a former Liberal MP for North Sydney, says the party’s decision to bind the frontbench to oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum is “curious’”.
Zimmerman, who lost his seat to teal Independent Kylea Tink at the May election, and will be campaigning for a yes vote, told ABC Radio this morning:
It’s a very curious approach. I can’t remember a time where the party has decided that a subset of the party room will get a free vote and another subset won’t. Of course, in the normal course of events, every backbencher has the right to cross the floor. But to actually declare that this is the approach is very curious.
And I think it’s given rise to a lot of the problems the party’s encountered over the last seven days. If there’d been a free vote for every member of the party room, I think that that would have been a simple solution.
I would have preferred obviously the party to back the voice but short of that – allowing all its members [a free vote], particularly when we know that there are shadow ministers, as Julian Leeser was – who do strongly support the voice. And I think if you compare it to the Republic debate, which is probably most analogous, that’s exactly what happened back then. You had a prime minister and a deputy leader of the party taking different views and that was managed and it was managed well.
Updated
Treasurer says budget will provide ‘responsible’ cost-of-living relief
The Commonwealth Bank’s chief economist, Stephen Halmarick, is predicting that household incomes will collapse because of a combination of high inflation and interest rates, coupled with growing levels of tax.
Halmarick has told the Nine newspapers this morning:
Growth in real household disposable income in Australia has collapsed and is now deeply negative.
The increase in nominal household income has been more than offset by high and rising inflation, an increase in taxes paid and higher debt interest costs.
This will only get worse through 2023 on the lagged effect of higher interest costs and as wages growth struggles to keep up with the pace of inflation.
While Chalmers says he wouldn’t use Halmarick’s language, he says:
It is obviously true that all of these pressures that are coming at us from around the world are being felt around the kitchen tables of this country. There’s no use pretending otherwise. People are under pressure.
… So, we are conscious of that. That’s why our economic plan, which you’ll see laid out in the budget next month, will provide some cost-of-living relief where it’s responsible, and lay the foundations for future growth in our economy, as we try to make our people, communities, country, more resilient to the sort of economic shocks around the world.
Updated
Good morning! Natasha May with you
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has touched down in Washington DC for meetings with fellow G20 finance ministers and the International Monetary Fund. It comes the day after the IMF’s pessimistic economic forecast hinting many countries are facing a growing risk of recession.
Speaking to ABC News, Chalmers says he’s hoping the talks will allow him “to take the temperature of the global economy” four weeks before he hands down the May budget.
One of the key pressures, one of the key features of the budget that we hand down next month will be this global economic uncertainty. And the best response to economic uncertainty around the world is responsible economic management at home and that’s what we’ll see in the budget again.
Updated
Housing supply is criticial issue for governments, says survey
Housing supply and affordability is the most critical issue needing to be tackled by governments, a survey of property industry organisations has found, AAP reports.
Participants in the Property Council of Australia and ANZ research have also responded to economic uncertainty with a predicted slowdown in forward work schedule expectations compared to December.
The latest survey of 771 industry experts rated housing supply and affordability the highest priority for both the Australian and state governments to address.
More than 40% of respondents selected it as a critical issue, representing a 10 per cent jump from the December quarter results and the highest level since this survey question was first asked in 2019.
The record response far overshadowed industry concerns about economic management and energy, environment and emissions.
Property Council chief Mike Zorbas said it was unsurprising housing affordability and supply was front of mind for the industry, given a predicted national deficit of 79,300 homes in the next decade.
“Governments can move the housing supply needle by twinning planning reforms with the right investment conditions to support more housing choice for Australians,” he said.
The Albanese government is trying to get a package of housing reforms through parliament which includes a $10 billion housing future fund to finance the construction of 30,000 social and affordable rental properties over five years.
But the proposal faces a challenge from the Greens and crossbenchers who want greater investment ambition to meet existing housing challenges.
WA communities make last preparations for category 4 Cyclone Ilsa
Communities are bracing for winds in excess of 250kmh as people in the path of Tropical Cyclone Ilsa are told to make final preparations and find shelter, AAP reports.
The severe storm is expected to cross the Western Australia coast as a category 4 system north-east of Port Hedland near Eighty Mile Beach early on Friday.
It was confirmed as a category 3 cyclone when it was 370km north-west of Broome, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Severe Tropical #CycloneIlsa is now a category 3 system and a #CycloneWarning has been issued for communities from Bidyadanga to Port Hedland (but not including Port Hedland) and inland. Gale-force winds can be expected in these areas within 24 hours. https://t.co/lmJJssYnOO pic.twitter.com/rPkw40qol1
— Bureau of Meteorology, Western Australia (@BOM_WA) April 12, 2023
An alert is in place for Bidyadanga to De Grey in the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.
Abnormally high tides, destructive winds and up to 400mm of rain are forecast as Ilsa moves south-west and turns towards the Pilbara coast.
“The very destructive core of Ilsa, with extreme gusts up to 270 kmh, is expected to cross the coast between De Grey and west of Bidyadanga,” the bureau warned.
Communities from Broome to Marble Bar and Whim Creek have been warned to be ready for cyclonic weather.
Workers and tourists at Eighty Mile Beach caravan park and nearby Wallal Downs cattle station are being evacuated, along with non-critical workers at Newcrest’s Telfer mine and BHP’s sites across the region.
Extra emergency workers, essential supplies and aircraft have been sent to the area as authorities warn the North West Coastal Highway could close between Port Hedland and Broome due to flooding.
The Port Hedland port is being cleared of vessels including iron ore carriers.
Ilsa is expected to be the first category 4 system to strike the region in almost a decade.
Sydney metro cost could blow out to $20bn – government
The price tag of a new metro line being built through Sydney’s CBD and south-west has blown out to more than $20bn, about $8bn more than initially planned.
The new Minns Labor government in New South Wales has said that departmental briefings it requested since winning the election at the end of May have revealed the cost blow out.
When the Sydney Metro City and Southwest was initially announced by the former Coalition government, it was costed at between $11.5bn to $12.5bn, but this estimate was updated to $18.5bn by the former government at the 2022-23 budget.
Costs could further increase beyond the $20bn if the conversion of existing train track to metro track proves costlier than first budgeted for.
A spokesperson for the Minns government said the latest cost blow out suggested that “the former Government kept hidden the true cost of Sydney Metro City and Southwest and the potential impact on passengers”.
The spokesperson said:
Every day, we are asking more about the Sydney Metro and discovering more key details the former government did not reveal to the public.
We are being upfront and honest about the challenges we are inheriting. We’re not interested in assigning blame, we’re interested in finding solutions. The best way to do that is to be upfront and honest with the people of NSW about the true cost of these projects.
The Sydney Metro City and Southwest line will connect with the existing Northwest metro line at Chatswood, run underneath the harbour and service CBD stops including Barangaroo, Pitt Street and Central, before running to Sydenham, Marrickville and out to Bankstown. The Chatswood to Sydenham stretch is planned to open next year.
Welcome
Morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and before my colleague Natasha May gets started, I’ll update you with the top overnight stories.
We’re leading this morning with an exclusive interview with Liberal MP Julian Leeser, who quit the opposition frontbench this week in protest at the party’s decision to camapaign for a no vote in the voice to parliament referendum – and in order to campaign for yes. He explains why he thinks Peter Dutton’s alternative “symbolic recognition” policy won’t work and that the voice has important work to do.
Bill Shorten has announced that external debt collectors will no longer be used by the Albanese government as part of a pledge to ensure robodebt never happens again.
The government services minister said today:
The royal commission into robodebt has put on full display the unfettered cruelty with which debt collection agencies were unleashed against vulnerable Australians. We cannot let this happen again.
The IMF may have predicted Australia’s economy to slow later this year, but the jobs market is expected to hold in its strong position when the March labour force report from the Australian Bureau of Statistics lands at 11.30am this morning. Westpac economists forecast the unemployment rate to remain at 3.5% in March, with about 25,000 jobs added over the month. Worse news for New South Wales’s economy though with a government report pointing to the cost of the Sydney metro blowing out to $20bn.
