What we learned, Friday 9 August
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. It’s been a big week. Here’s what we learned today:
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to former PM Paul Keating’s comments about Aukus overnight, saying, “The world has changed between 1996 and 2024”. Taiwan’s foreign ministry has also blasted comments made by Keating in which he referred to Taiwan as “Chinese real estate”.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has insisted nuclear waste would not end up in Australia, despite the new Aukus agreement allowing for the transfer of nuclear material to Australia as part of the process of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines.
The workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, confirmed he will introduce a bill allowing him to determine whether an administrator should take charge of the construction division of the CFMEU.
Day six of the defamation trial launched by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against her former staffer Brittany Higgins commenced, with Reynolds continuing to be cross-examined.
Victoria’s legionnaires’ outbreak has “passed the peak” according to the state’s chief health officer, with 107 cases and five suspected infections.
The Rupert Murdoch-backed media conglomerate News Corp will consider offers for its pay television platform Foxtel, which includes the Kayo and Binge streaming services.
The federal court’s Justice Michael Lee has encouraged the media to challenge suppression orders more in the interests of open justice.
Defence troops should only used as a last resort during natural disasters and their role should be scaled back, an inquiry has found.
Former Victorian Liberal MP Matt Bach could be forced to fly back to Australia from the UK to give evidence in the defamation trial between Moira Deeming and opposition leader John Pesutto.
And most public school teachers don’t see a future in the profession, with seven in 10 revealing they don’t think they’ll stay in the job until retirement.
Thanks so much for your company today. Drop by for more over the weekend, and we’ll have Politics Live back on Monday. Look after yourselves until then.
Updated
Linda Reynolds returns to the stand
Linda Reynolds is back on the witness stand facing cross-examination. After cross-examination finishes, questioning will return to Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, and then the senator’s time on the stand will conclude.
But we’re not there yet – we could be in for a later finish than usual.
Updated
Queensland expands contraceptive services program for pharmacists
Pharmacists have welcomed an expanded initiative allowing them to offer contraceptive services to women and girls in Queensland. The state’s pilot program will allow people with uteruses to get prescriptions for hormonal contraception from pharmacists without seeing a GP.
Peak body Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) is offering training for pharmacists to qualify for the program, which it says will be “putting patient care first and ensuring safe and effective contraception options are available”.
PSA’s CEO, adjunct Prof Steve Morris, invited pharmacists to undertake the training:
I encourage all community pharmacists in Queensland pilot pharmacies to engage with this training now so that we can all collectively improve women’s access to hormonal contraception across the state.
The pilot is an expansion of existing programs allowing an increasing number of pharmacists to provide contraception prescriptions.
Updated
Linda Reynolds breaks down in court
Linda Reynolds has broken down in the court, saying she feels “guilty” for playing a role in the late Labor senator Kimberley Kitching’s death.
Under cross-examination by the defence, Reynolds became emotional when questioned about a letter allegedly authored by Kitching before her death.
Reynolds maintained Kitching had allegedly spoken to her in early February 2021 to warn of Labor’s plans to “weaponise” Brittany Higgins’ allegations against the senator and the Liberal party.
Reynolds broke down as she explained to the court that if she hadn’t privately revealed Kitching’s role in the matter, the Labor senator would never have become incensed at her – and “ostracised” by her Labor colleagues.
“I should have never have said it,” Reynolds said. “It was very clear to see how angry [Kitching] was with me ... I carry that guilt.”
Reynolds then repeated the claim that Labor’s alleged bullying of Kitching “led to” her death.
The court adjourned to allow Reynolds to recollect herself. It will resume at 4pm Perth time.
Kitching died of a suspected heart attack in 2022 aged 52.
Updated
Of furniture and finance
What do sales of six-seat modular sofas and matching buffet tables tell us about the financial health of households and the broader economy? Quite a lot, it turns out. And, according to market professionals, it does not look good.
Annual profit at Sydney-headquartered furniture retailer Nick Scali fell almost 20%, according to results released on Friday. Crucially, sales order growth for the past two months has turned negative, down 1.2% from the prior year.
The results came a day after department store Myer disclosed that its profits and sales were down as a result of weaker spending and a decision by the department store operator to discount its fashion brands.
Richard Hemming, editor at Under The Radar Report, said the pullback at Nick Scali did not bode well for similar retailers.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Linda Reynolds tells court ‘I wasn’t her counsellor’ as she defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape
Linda Reynolds has become briefly teary on the witness stand after being asked under cross-examination why she didn’t ask Brittany Higgins how she was feeling on the campaign following her alleged rape.
Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, asked Reynolds if she ever spoke to Higgins about her alleged rape again after 1 April 2019. Reynolds said “no”.
Reynolds added she seemed “engaged” at functions and events during the 2019 federal election campaign and hadn’t thought she might be struggling with her mental health.
Young asked: “You never took her aside, in a private space, to ask her ‘hi Brittany, how are you going?’”
“I didn’t seek to be her counsellor,” Reynolds responded.
Young asked, given Reynolds had her own traumatic experience during the Bali bombings, whether she had considered Higgins might be quietly struggling.
Reynolds started responding but became emotional.
“I tried to give her agency ... but I wasn’t her counsellor,” Reynolds said.
Young asked the senator whether she wanted to take a break. The senator responded: “I[’d] rather we just push through and get this done.”
Updated
Sydney airport left in dark over government tender, inquiry hears
The Albanese government did not inform Sydney airport about changes to the way access to its runways are managed, with the airport’s leaders only learning of the changes the day the minister announced them, a Senate inquiry has heard.
On Friday, a Senate committee hearing into aircraft noise included the CEO of Sydney Airport Corporation, Scott Charlton, as well as its head of public affairs, Joseph Dennis, who were asked about the strict rules that govern access to the airport’s take-off and landing slots.
Access to Sydney airport slots have been a political hot potato for years, but have been the subject of intense debate in recent weeks following the collapse of Rex’s domestic jet operations between capital cities. Allegations have long swirled that the airline couldn’t launch services at peak times in the day to rival Qantas and Virgin flights due to loopholes in legislation that allow for anti-competitive behaviour such as slot hoarding.
While Qantas and Virgin consistently deny they misuse slots, the broader industry, including Sydney airport, has long been calling for reforms to boost competition. The government had not acted on recommendations to fix the system since coming to office in 2022.
However, following comments from former competition watchdog chair Rod Sims last week that government inaction had doomed Rex’s expansion ambition to fail, on Monday the transport minister, Catherine King, announced the government would adopt a key recommendation to boost competition by putting out to tender the role of managing Sydney airport’s slots. Currently, the third party that does this is majority owned by Qantas and Virgin.
At Friday’s Senate hearing, Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie, who is the opposition’s transport spokesperson, asked when the airport was made aware of the government’s decision to tender the role for slot manager for the airport.
Dennis said: “To be honest, we found out on the day … of the announcement.”
Later, McKenzie told Guardian Australia: “Once again Labor acts only in response to political pressure rather than address the clear anticompetitive behaviour in the aviation sector.”
Updated
Reynolds returns to the stand in defamation case
Linda Reynolds has returned to the witness stand after the lunch break in her defamation case against her former staffer Brittany Higgins.
Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has shown the court notes from the AFP assistant commissioner, Leanne Close, written on 4 April 2019 during a meeting with Reynolds and her then chief of staff, Fiona Brown.
The notes said Close thanked the minister for her time and read: “I said – there’s been an allegation of a sexual assault by a female member of her office against a male member”.
The notes followed with Reynolds’ purported response: “She said ‘I thought that’s what is [sic] would be about. Can I bring in Fiona, my chief of staff, who has the specific details’.”
Close noted Reynolds brought in Brown and wrote down that the then minister said “‘it’s about Brittany’ – we became aware on Tuesday that this had happened on Saturday night – on my couch there.” Close said Reynolds pointed toward the couch in her office where the rape allegedly occurred.
Close’s notes indicated Reynolds then said “we found out through a DPS report”. That report was handed to Reynolds and Brown the week before on 27 March 2019.
Reynolds on Friday said she did not point to the couch because she hadn’t yet been aware of details of the sexual assault allegation.
Reynolds told the court the notes were incomplete and were just “four points of abbreviation of a longer conversation”.
“This is not a transcript of a conversation – this is pulling up, as police do, elements of a conversation,” Reynolds said.
Updated
QantasLink axes 51 jobs at Tamworth maintenance facility
QantasLink has axed 51 maintenance jobs at Tamworth airport’s heavy maintenance hangar, which performed the midlife maintenance for the Q200 and Q300 Dash-8 aircraft.
The company says that the new Q400 aircraft, which are replacing the older planes, have fewer maintenance requirements, so the facility is no longer needed. It will keep five roles at Tamworth, with other workers able to apply elsewhere within Qantas.
The Tamworth mayor, Russell Webb, said it was “sad and disappointing” to see Qantas turn away from a community that supported it for many years.
The NSW acting secretary of Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union, Brad Pidgeon, said they were “saddened by the broader trends we’re seeing within the Australian airline industry, but we want to ensure our members at QantasLink and beyond that we are on their side”.
State Nationals MP Kevin Anderson said he had spoke to the CEO of QantasLink about the decision, which had thrown the lives of the maintenance workers “into turmoil”:
We want to keep those skilled workers and their families in Tamworth. They should not be forced to move elsewhere to keep their jobs.
Updated
Australia denies joining US-led boycott of Nagasaki commemoration over Israel exclusion
Australian government sources have denied Australia joined a diplomatic boycott of a Nagasaki nuclear bombing commemoration.
The United States’ ambassador to Japan, Rahm Emanuel, said he would not attend the event because it had been “politicised” by the Nagasaki’s mayor’s decision not to invite Israel. The British embassy took a similar stance to the US.
The Associated Press reported Israel’s ambassador, Gilad Cohen, was not invited to the event in the southern Japanese city because of the risk of possible protests over the Gaza conflict.
Envoys from the US, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, the UK and the EU signed a joint letter expressing their shared concern about Israel’s exclusion, saying that treating the country the same way as Russia and Belarus – the only other countries not invited – would be misleading.
While the Australian ambassador did not attend, an Australian government source said Australia was represented at the memorial event by an embassy official.
The source said:
Media reporting linking Australia to the letter is incorrect.
As Daniel Hurst had previously reported, in November, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, disciplined a junior member of his cabinet who appeared to voice openness to the idea of Israel carrying out a nuclear strike on Gaza. Netanyahu’s office said Israel was “operating in accordance with the highest standards of international law to avoid harming innocents”.
The minister, Amihai Eliyahu, defended his remark, insisting that it was “clear to anyone who is sensible that the nuclear remark was metaphorical” but adding that “a strong and disproportionate response to terrorism is definitely required”.
Updated
CFMEU accuses Labor of ‘full-frontal attack’ after Watt confirms legislative push to appoint administrators
On Thursday we reported that workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, would be pushing ahead with a law next week to gain the power to appoint administrators to the construction division of the Construction Forestry Mining and Energy Union after accusations of criminal misconduct and bikie links.
Watt confirmed this at a press conference today, as the deadline of Friday for the CFMEU to cooperate with the appointment elapsed.
This afternoon the CFMEU national construction secretary, Zach Smith, has written to members advising the government has taken “unilateral action”, despite ongoing discussions with the Fair Work Commission about the process in the federal court to appoint an administrator, and despite the CFMEU’s own efforts to clean up.
These include setting up an independent investigation by barrister Geoffrey Watson, commissioning a review of union governance, introducing a new code of conduct for delegates, and “removing individuals from the union” and standing others down pending investigation.
Smith accused Labor of a “full-frontal attack on our union”, undermining the legal process and stripping the CFMEU of “our rights to a fair process”.
Smith said the govt should have responded to organised crime “wherever it is”, claiming the union has been “attacked by criminals associated with the bosses and big business for years” including a former ACT secretary having shots fired into his home by “standover men and strike-breakers”.
Updated
A quick primer to help you understand why Keating’s comments on Taiwan yielded that response from Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs:
Taiwan (officially the Republic of China) operates as a de facto independent country with its own democratically elected government, currency, and military. Fewer than a dozen governments in the world recognise it as a country, often because Beijing doesn’t allow anyone to recognise both, so governments have tended to choose (or switch to) Beijing.
China’s ruling Communist party and its leader, Xi Jinping, claim Taiwan is a province of China, and have vowed to annex it under what they call “reunification”.
The government and a large majority of the population in Taiwan overwhelmingly reject the prospect of Chinese rule. They want Beijing to respect the status quo – a vague but peaceful stance whereby Taiwan continues to operate independently without actively declaring independence (even though recent administrations have said they are already an independent country – yes, it’s complicated), and China doesn’t invade.
Neither side wants a war – which would have global ramifications – but both are preparing for it.
Taiwan’s supporters, the largest of which is the US but also include Australia, Japan and others, also want the status quo to stay in place.
Updated
Taiwan condemns Keating's comments referring to island as 'Chinese real estate'
Taiwan’s foreign ministry has blasted comments made by Paul Keating on 7.30 last night, in which he referred to Taiwan as “Chinese real estate”, (erroneously) compared its status in relation to China with that of Tasmania’s to Australia, and said it was “of no vital interest to Australia”.
In a press statement sent out a few minutes ago, Taiwan’s ministry of foreign affairs (Mofa) rejected Keating’s characterisation, saying it didn’t match the status quo “generally recognised by the international community”.
The statement continued:
Our country actively defends its democratic system and respects human rights and the rule of law. It will not accept intimidation or coercion from other countries, nor will it change its status as a sovereign country because of the biased speeches of a few international figures who ignore the current international situation.
It said Taiwan and Australia were like-minded partners with common strategic interests in the Indo-Pacific, a position that it said was shared by the current Australian government under Anthony Albanese:
Former Prime Minister Keating’s remarks are incompatible with the current geopolitical situation and completely fail to reflect the mainstream opinions of the international community.
Our government will continue to deepen cooperation with Australia in various fields, establish closer friendly relations, adhere to the democratic front, and actively work with countries with similar ideals to promote democracy, peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.
Updated
Keating hits back at Albanese over criticism of former PM’s Aukus comments
Former Labor prime minister Paul Keating has taken another swing at the current Labor prime minister, Anthony Albanese, after Albanese swung back at Keating for saying, overnight, that signing up to Aukus risks Australia becoming the “51st state of the United States”.
Before we get to those (perhaps the Olympics should replace boxing with Labor PMs trading sledges?), if you’re just tuning in, you can read more about Keating’s original comments here:
Albanese responded to those earlier today by saying that the world is different to what it was 30 years ago, and so the actions of his (that’s Albanese’s) government are also different.
Keating has now said that “our geography has not changed” and “geography is the primary factor in geo-strategic settings”.
Keating’s two-page statement continues:
The fact is, the Albanese government is returning to the Anglosphere to garner Australia’s security …
The strength and scale of the United States’s basing in Australia will eclipse Australia’s own military capability such that Australia will be viewed in the United States as a continental extension of American power akin to that which it enjoys in Hawaii, Alaska and more limitedly in places like Guam.
Such an outcome is likely to turn the Australian government, in defence and security terms, into simply the national administrator of what would be broadly viewed in Asia as a US protectorate.
Instead of recognising and celebrating the rise of China, twenty per cent of humanity, from the abject poverty of its past, and dealing with it diplomatically, Australia under the Albanese government, is dealing with what Defence Minister Richard Marles today called ‘a threat to the rules-based order’. An order he implies is under imminent threat. That is, under threat from China.
All this means that the Albanese government is now searching for Australia’s security ‘from Asia’ if Asia is to include its largest and most populous state, China.
So when the Prime Minister says of me, that as prime minister, I was dealing with an Asia of a different kind thirty years ago, it was not so different then that any rational understanding if it now would force us back to such a defensive, compliant posture as is required of an Atlantic supplicant.
Updated
We’ve broken for lunch over in Perth in the defamation hearing by Linda Reynolds against her former staffer Brittany Higgins.
Just before the break, there was discussion as to whether Reynolds might be able to seek leave from parliament on Monday to return to the witness stand if the cross-examination cannot be completed in time.
Reynolds indicated it would be possible but inconvenient and would prefer the court sit late on Friday instead.
After the lunch break, the cross-examination will continue before it is handed back to Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, to re-examine parts of the senator’s evidence.
We’ll update you once we return at 2pm Perth time/4pm AEST.
Updated
Legionnaires' outbreak has 'passed the peak', Victorian health chief says
Victoria’s chief health officer, Dr Clare Looker, is holding a press conference in Melbourne to provide an update on the state’s legionnaires’ outbreak.
She says there are 107 cases and five suspected infections, indicating that the outbreak has “passed the peak” since last week.
Looker said the source of the outbreak – a cooling tower in Laverton North – was disinfected on 30 July. She said two further “precautionary disinfections” have occurred this week.
Looker said:
I’m confident that we’ve now located the source of this outbreak. We’re working closely with the operator of the cooling tower to understand how this Legionella bacteria grew in the tower and they’ve been supporting us closely with this investigation.
Updated
Reynolds tells court she would 'do the same thing today' if a staffer suspected they had been sexually assaulted
Linda Reynolds said she would “still do the same thing today” if a young staffer suspected they had been sexually assaulted in her office.
Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, asked the former defence minister why she had never offered to listen to Higgins’ experiences of the night she was allegedly raped.
Reynolds told the court she was “not a trained counsellor”.
“I’m no way skilled or experienced to be having those sorts of conversations,” she said. “I was not the person to be asking those questions ... I would still do the same thing today.”
Reynolds said she felt “strongly” that Higgins should have gone to the police to see if they could help her remember.
The hearing continues.
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on today’s blog, Stephanie Convery is here to take you through the rest of the evening. Take care, and enjoy your weekend!
Unseasonably warm weekend predicted for southern Australia
The Bureau of Meteorology has published its weekend weather update, with unseasonable warmth predicted for southern Australia, plus showers for south-west WA and Queensland.
Weekend Weather Update: Unseasonable warmth for southern Aus, showers for southwest WA and Queensland
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 9, 2024
Video current: 1:00 pm AEST 9 August 2024.
For the latest forecasts and warnings, go to our website https://t.co/4W35o8i7wJ or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/bneI85CJhv
Updated
Albanese backs joint statement from US, Egypt and Qatar urging Gaza ceasefire and release of hostages
Anthony Albanese has backed a joint statement from the United States, Egypt, and Qatar, calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
The joint statement called on both sides to resume ceasefire discussions on 15 August in Doha or Cairo and “close all remaining gaps and commence implementation of the deal without further delay”. It reads:
The three of us and our teams have worked tirelessly over many months to forge a framework agreement that is now on the table with only the details of implementation left to conclude. This agreement is based on the principles as outlined by President [Joe] Biden on May 31, 2024, and endorsed by UN Security Council Resolution 2735.
In a post to X, Albanese said that “Australia stands with the United States, Egypt, and Qatar in pressing for a ceasefire in Gaza”.
We call on all parties to agree to the deal. Any delay will only see more lives lost. The human suffering is unacceptable. Civilians must be protected, hostages must be released, and aid must flow.
Updated
Parliament returns next week, with 16 bills to be debated
The House of Representatives and the Senate will both be back next week, so you’ll have Amy Remeikis here with you on the blog for all the latest happenings in Canberra.
The Senate has flagged what we can expect next week, including 16 bills up for debate, and five committee reports to be presented:
It's August (how did that happen???) and the Senate will return on Monday for the first week of the "spring" sittings
— Australian Senate (@AuSenate) August 9, 2024
Find details of expected business in The Week Ahead https://t.co/1QwGit5svx pic.twitter.com/vsltyZQJj2
Updated
Archive to preserve hundreds of Indigenous languages and dialects
Indigenous languages will be gathered from across Australia for an archive project aimed at preserving them and their hundreds of dialects, AAP reports.
The University of Queensland and Australian Research Data Commons will develop the archive, also intended to help people better understand the continent’s myriad native tongues and explore their heritage, culture and history.
Australia was one of the world’s most diverse continents linguistically, project director Michael Haugh said, with the digital archive being built at UQ to centralise the languages scattered around the country.
More than a quarter of the world’s languages are spoken in Australia and its region, including many hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects.
There are more than 250 Indigenous languages, including 800 dialects, in Australia with each language geographically particular to place and people. In some places such as Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory, many different languages are spoken over a small area.
More than 250 Indigenous languages were spoken on the continent in 1788, but that dropped to 120 languages in 2016. Some 90% of Indigenous languages were considered endangered as of five years ago.
Updated
Reynolds denies she should have known 'on face value' Higgins might have been raped
Linda Reynolds denies claims that she should have known “on face value” a report handed to her in March 2019 showed signs Brittany Higgins might have been sexually assaulted, a court has heard.
This morning in Perth, Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has been comparing accounts given by Reynolds in an earlier criminal trial with a parliamentary security report given to her in the days after the alleged rape.
The Department of Parliamentary Services security report, handed to Reynolds on Wednesday 27 March, said Higgins had appeared drunk upon entrance in the early hours of the previous Saturday. It said two welfare checks were provided and she was in a state of undress.
Reynolds insisted she did not know a sexual assault might have occurred because “nothing in the [DPS] report” had indicated “a crime had taken place”.
Later that week, her chief of staff, Fiona Brown, forwarded her advice she had received from the finance department outlining steps Higgins could take for her welfare, including using the Employee Assistance Program and 1800 Respect number.
Young said the email indicated Reynolds had been aware something “untoward” had occurred in her ministerial suite against Higgins.
“I hadn’t jumped to that conclusion,” Reynolds said, adding it was related to Higgins having been involved in a serious security breach.
The hearing continues.
Updated
NSW police commissioner says office will no longer distribute alcohol as gifts
The New South Wales police commissioner, Karen Webb, has said her office would no longer distribute bottles of “Commissioner’s gin”, informing the police minister, Yasmin Catley, of the decision yesterday.
This comes after she outlawed the practice of using taxpayer money to buy alcohol for gifts and hospitality, after controversially buying 50 bottles of high-end gin produced by one of her friends:
In a statement today, Webb said a review of stock and the gift register has confirmed 32 bottles have been distributed as gifts or donated for charity purposes.
I have asked that the remaining 18 bottles be donated to Police Legacy for fundraising purposes.
Webb said a second order of 50 bottles was identified but had not been paid for, and will be returned. She has also asked for a “comprehensive review” of the NSW police force’s gift policies, which she expects to be completed in coming weeks.
I would like to reiterate that the purchase of alcohol for ceremonial gifts and charitable donations was a tradition I continued as Commissioner, continuing with the same supplier as previously used.
I was not aware before the first order was placed that the manufacturer was Hope Estate. I fully accept that at the time I became aware, I should have declared my association to the Hope family.
Webb said the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission had investigated this issue and did not find any evidence of serious misconduct.
Updated
Federal court justice encourages media to challenge suppression orders
The federal court’s Justice Michael Lee has encouraged the media to challenge suppression orders more in the interests of open justice.
Speaking at the Women in Media conference, Lee said it was important that courts were open so that the public can scrutinise the way in which power is exercised.
In an interview with the patron of Women in Media, and former ABC chair, Ita Buttrose, he said:
One way I think the media could do better is by ensuring that courts and judges are held to account when it comes to suppression orders and things that interfere with principles of open justice.
Lee, who delivered the judgement in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case, said the news media has a statutory right to appear and challenge the order, and he believed they should do so more often.
Updated
Australian shares bouncing back, up 1.3% in morning trade
The local share market has bounced back strongly in morning trade after better-than-expected jobless figures belied claims the American economy was headed for recession, AAP reports.
Just before 2pm AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 102.3 points, or 1.33%, to 7,784.3.
Despite its fall the other day, the stock market seems to have recovered to where it was a month ago, as per the ASX200 (7,763 on 8 July).
Overnight the US Department of Labor reported 233,000 Americans filed jobless claims last week, 17,000 fewer than the week before and less than the 240,000 claims economists were expecting. ANZ researchers Brian Martin and Daniel Hynes wrote in a client note:
It is worth noting that these data are typically volatile. The pace of rise does not indicate any undue weakness in the labour market but shows that it is gradually cooling.
The data is considered second-tier but acted to calm markets after two reports last week fuelled recessionary fears and led to a big market selloff.
Updated
Dutton accuses Keating of not acting in national interest with Aukus comments
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has accused former prime minister Paul Keating of not acting in the national interest by denouncing the Aukus pact.
Asked about Keating’s comments at a doorstop interview earlier today, Dutton said:
Paul Keating, you said? No, thanks. I just don’t think he contributes sensibly to public debate anymore. I think Paul Keating’s so far past it, and unfortunately, he’s not acting in our national interest.
Paul Keating hasn’t had the security briefings that are available to the prime minister or to me, and I can tell you as defence minister it was pretty specific about the threat to our country.
Two dead following crash on Bruce Highway
Two people have died following a crash on the Bruce Highway north of Innisfail in Queensland.
Police said two vehicles collided on the highway just after 11.30am, and two people were declared dead at the scene.
Another person was airlifted to Cairns hospital, police said.
The Bruce Highway through Fitzgerald Creek is closed in both directions, and the forensic crash unit is investigating.
Motorists are urged to avoid the area or expect lengthy delays. Anyone with information or dashcam footage is urged to contact police.
Updated
West Australian couple charged over alleged debt bondage of foreign national
A West Australian couple have been charged with allegedly taking the passport of a 41-year-old woman who was their employee, and keeping her in debt bondage.
The 41-year-old woman, a foreign national, had come to Australia in October last year to work at the couple’s massage business in regional WA. The Australian federal police will allege the couple committed offences against the woman, including taking her passport when she arrived in Australia and allocating unreasonable expenses to her.
In July the AFP laid charges over allegations the couple submitted false information on visa documents relating to the two women, a third foreign national who worked at the business, and four others who did not reach Australia.
This case is the first time the AFP has laid debt bondage charges in WA, a statement said. Det Supt Peter Chwal said police would allege the couple attempted to profit from exploiting vulnerable foreign workers and cheating immigration laws.
Updated
Peter Dutton floats ‘zonal tax’ during doorstop interview
At a doorstop interview this morning, the leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, was asked whether he would consider changes to “zonal tax”, to help with skilled labour retention.
He responded that “we’re happy to have a look at taxation arrangements”.
I think there are arguments for people who live in regional towns where you’re paying more for petrol, you’re paying more for your electricity, paying more for housing – there’s an additional cost that comes with it and you’re producing, in many cases, royalties and company tax that go to benefit people in capital cities.
Dutton also pointed to wind turbines in regional areas and argued that they impact “adjoining neighbours” and lack benefits “that [go] back to those local communities”.
I just think they’re all common sense discussions that we should have, and it should include a discussion around whether the current taxation arrangements are fit for purpose and whether it’s through tax or other programs where we can help provide benefit to a local community.
Updated
Call to hold fire on sending in soldiers for disasters
Defence troops should only used as a last resort during natural disasters and their role should be scaled back, an inquiry has found.
As AAP reports, a Senate committee examining natural disaster resilience – set up in November 2022 – has called for pressure to be relieved from defence forces after bushfires or floods.
In its final report, the committee said while many natural disasters have been responded to by the Australian Defence Force, its role should be reduced:
The ADF should only be called upon as a last resort to respond to natural disasters when all other capabilities have been exhausted.
The Commonwealth’s capabilities and national capacity must be enhanced to ensure Australia is prepared to face the increasing frequency and severity of natural disasters due to climate change and to reduce its reliance on the ADF.
Volunteer organisations should be boosted to deal with the aftermath of disasters, the committee said. One suggestion was increasing the role of Disaster Relief Australia, which was set up in 2016 and involves military veterans in a volunteer capacity.
The committee put forward 10 recommendations, including creating a register of national assets to ensure critical infrastructure is repaired more quickly after natural disasters.
Updated
Higgins’ lawyer begins cross-examination of Reynolds
Brittany Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, has begun her cross-examination of Linda Reynolds and is asking about her settlement on other defamation actions arising from Higgins going public with her allegations.
Reynolds posted a statement on her Facebook page on 4 March 2024 that she had settled with the ACT government over a letter published in the Guardian written by its former director of public prosecutions.
In the post, Young showed the court Reynolds had said: “This settlement is the fifth defamation claim I have resolved to my satisfaction.”
Young asked Reynolds to outline what the other four settlements were. Reynolds said she had settled with online publications the Spectator and the Independent. The senator said she believed a settlement against the journalist Aaron Patrick, and his publisher, HarperCollins, over a book Patrick published were separate.
Young requested the production of concerns notices, settlement deeds and any other court documents produced.
The hearing continues.
Updated
Anthony Albanese talks diet, reveals he doesn’t eat bread
The prime minister’s strategy of appearing on FM radio stations across the country continues unabated, and today’s was with one of his favourite shows – the Nova Perth breakfast crew.
Anthony Albanese invited the hosts to dinner at The Lodge with him. They came, ate and have been making radio fodder ever since.
The pair often stray into the personal when speaking with Albanese (that one dinner covered a lot of ground apparently) and today’s revelation, from what are fairly regular chats, is that Albanese isn’t a butter or a margarine man – because he doesn’t eat bread.
Part of the diet. I love Vegemite, I really miss it and I can’t [eat bread].
After a back and forth, he revealed why:
Have you seen what happens to people in this job? You’ve got to have some discipline, you’ve got to have some rules.
So the rules are he doesn’t have bread. And he “limits” himself to one dessert a week.
Recently, that one dessert was reserved for a lime spider from a Bungendore (small town on the way to the south coast of NSW, from Canberra) cafe.
I ordered a lime spider and all my team laughed at me. All these young ones were like, what on earth is that?
But, because he is an Australian prime minister on a FM radio show, he of course had to make clear that he still has a beer.
I haven’t driven in over two years. I don’t have to worry about that [finding a designated driver] … That’s one of the things, you see, if you got a choice between giving up bread or beer. Sorry, the bread goes.
The diet chat continued for a while, before the talk turned to social cohesion.
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Day six of Reynolds-Higgins defamation case has begun
Day six of the hearings in Linda Reynolds’ defamation case against Brittany Higgins has begun.
Reynolds has returned to the witness stand for cross-examination.
Peter V’landys appears before inquiry into government’s plan to redevelop Rosehill Gardens Racecourse
The Racing New South Wales chief executive, Peter V’landys, has used his opening statement at a parliamentary inquiry to accuse “cheats and liars” of trying to “smear him”.
V’landys is appearing before the inquiry into the government’s plan to redevelop Sydney’s Rosehill Gardens Racecourse and build up to 25,000 homes, a school and a train station on the site.
He said:
I should say from the outset that what Racing NSW is is a regulator: one of our main roles is to get rid of the cheats and the undesirables, especially the ones that are cruel to horses.
I’m aware that some of them are using this inquiry to undermine Racing NSW.
I’m aware of an email that’s going around that’s basically saying, this is your chance to get rid of V’Landys, so make up whatever you can, put a submission in. Doesn’t matter if it’s the truth, doesn’t matter if it’s lies, but just smear him.
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Linda Reynolds expected to wrap up evidence in defamation trial today
Day six of the defamation trial launched by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against her former staffer Brittany Higgins will begin shortly.
We are expecting to wrap up Reynolds’ evidence this afternoon but on Thursday the defence flagged its cross-examination might not be finished by lunchtime.
As Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, is due to re-examine Reynolds after cross-examination finishes, it means we could be here a little later. Reynolds is due to conclude her evidence so she can return to Parliament House for sitting week on Monday.
Yesterday, Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, quizzed Reynolds over her decision to leak confidential letters and correspondence to The Australian newspaper columnist Janet Albrechtsen.
Reynolds said she was “incredibly angry” she was being denied the opportunity to defend claims against her in Higgins’ personal injury settlement and accused the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, of “stitching me up”. She wanted the public to know, Reynolds said, adding she chose Albrechtsen because was “fair and balanced”.
Later, Reynolds said she deleted text messages between herself and Bruce Lehrmann’s then barrister, Steven Whybrow, as part of routine “cyber hygiene”.
The 21 messages between the two were sent in the lead-up to, and including, the criminal trial’s start in the ACT. In one message, Whybrow thanked the senator for giving him the contact details of a former staffer, adding: “Hang in there … karma comes to those that wait.”
Reynolds told the court on Thursday she couldn’t remember receiving the particular message. Reynolds added that it would be a “logical conclusion” that Whybrow had been referring to a bad judgment against Higgins.
We’ll update you shortly once the hearing begins.
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Labor wouldn’t support Senate inquiry into CFMEU, Watt says
Asked about the opposition’s call for a Senate inquiry into the CFMEU, Murray Watt labelled this a “political stunt.”
This is not a time for political stunts. This is a time for action, and I note that a number of those within the building industry support [the legislation being put forward] and do not support a Senate inquiry…
We will not be supporting a Senate inquiry, we want to get on with passing the legislation and taking the action that I think Australians expect of us.
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Watt talks with Greens and plans to meet opposition over bill
Parliament is due to return next week, for two weeks. Murray Watt said the timeframe of passage for the legislation would be in the hands of the Coalition and the Greens:
I have begun having discussions with the Greens about this legislation and I intend to have discussions before too long with the opposition, and this will be a test for those parties as to whether they are prepared to join Labor in taking the serious action that these allegations warrant.
Watt said he had a meeting with Greens leader Adam Bandt yesterday regarding the legislation.
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Taking questions, Murray Watt said legislation was being introduced because “it is absolutely clear from the CFMEU’s response that waiting for that application to find its way through the courts will take far too long given the seriousness of the [alleged] issues that we are dealing with”.
That is why we are moving ahead with legislation to provide me with the opportunity to appoint an administrator, if I decide that is in the public interest.
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Government moves to 'clean up' CFMEU construction division
The workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, is speaking to the media and confirming he will introduce a bill allowing him to determine whether an administrator should take charge of the construction division of the CFMEU.
This is a significant step taken to clean up one division of one union. The legislation will not apply to other unions or divisions of the CFMEU, other than the construction and general division.
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‘Who’s he?’: PM draws a blank on departing SA Liberal leader
The prime minister also called in to 5AA Adelaide Radio earlier this morning and weighed in on the resignation of the South Australian opposition leader David Speirs yesterday.
Anthony Albanese said that when he heard the news, he asked: “Who’s he?” Asked if he could name him, the PM said:
I don’t have a clue. I still don’t. I just know he’s gone.
The PM was also asked about rumours the next federal election would be held on 1 March, and joked that his birthday was on the 2nd.
Host: “Either be a great birthday or really depressing one.”
Albanese: “That’s right. One or the other. A big party either way.”
The PM has fielded questions about the date of the next federal election all year.
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PM to bring ministry to WA next month
The prime minister said he would bring his entire ministry to Western Australia on 2 September, in a few weeks’ time.
I will be here from Sunday, here Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. I will be engaging with West Australians. And if possible we will have a regional visit as well as part of that.
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PM questioned over Woodside’s Browse gas project
Asked if his government is supportive of Woodside’s Browse gas project, Anthony Albanese replied:
We of course have environmental laws in place that allow for proper environmental assessment. We support the resources sector, of course subject to those environmental approvals.
Earlier this week, the multibillion-dollar gas export development off Western Australia’s north-west was deemed “unacceptable” by the state’s Environment Protection Authority due to its impact on marine life at Scott Reef.
A reporter asked Albanese about comments from the WA treasurer that job security and energy reliability “can’t be thrown out the window” in favour of environmental concerns. The PM responded:
We of course need job security. We of course need energy reliability and we need to make sure it is done in a way that protects our environment. That is the objective that I am sure we share with the Cook government here.
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‘The world has changed between 1996 and 2024’: Albanese on Keating’s Aukus criticism
The prime minister was also asked about comments from former PM Paul Keating overnight denouncing Australia’s role in Aukus.
Anthony Albanese said Keating was entitled to express his views and told reporters:
Paul was a great prime minister, and that ended in 1996 … My job as prime minister is to do what Australia needs in 2024.
The world is different. The world has changed between 1996 and 2024. And my government is doing what we need to do today.
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Anthony Albanese is speaking to reporters in Perth.
Echoing comments from Richard Marles earlier today, the prime minister said there were no extra political commitments under the new Aukus agreement:
“These arrangements are very clear … We are very pleased that Aukus, both pillar one and pillar two, has been agreed,” Albanese said.
It’s something that we’ve worked very carefully and closely on the detail, it will produce circumstances whereby we’ll have a whole range of jobs created here in WA and in South Australia in particular.
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Guard charged with sexually assaulting female prisoner
A corrections officer stands accused of sexually assaulting a female inmate at a regional NSW prison, AAP reports.
The 36-year-old man was charged with three counts of aggravated sexual assault and one count of engaging in a relationship with an inmate, causing a safety risk, police said.
He was arrested yesterday morning by detectives from NSW police’s corrective services investigation unit, which set up a strike force to investigate claims a 28-year-old inmate had been sexually assaulted.
The assaults allegedly happened at a correctional centre at Wellington in the state’s central west between 18 June and 30 July, though police did not receive a report until the start of August.
The man was taken to Wellington police station, where he was charged and refused bail to appear at Dubbo local court today.
Lifeline 13 11 14
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Pesutto and Deeming’s lawyers discuss whether evidence should be given ‘viva voce’
Also discussed at the hearing was whether John Pesutto, Moira Deeming and other witnesses should give their evidence “viva voce” – verbally in court.
Pesutto’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, said the witnesses were “overwhelmingly professional people, many of them politicians, of course, who like us make speeches for a living” and it could drag out the length of the trial.
Deeming’s lawyer, Sue Chrysanthou SC, suggested the MP appear before the court to provide her hurt-to-feelings evidence.
Collins said that in the defamation case of Bruce Lehrmann’s failed defamation trial against Network 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, in which he represented 10 and Chrysanthou represented Wilkinson, all evidence was given verbally:
Ms Chrysanthou and I have both been involved recently in the case involving Mr Lehrmann. In that case Justice Lee required more than just hurt feelings but actually the entirety of the evidence of the applicant and the entirety of the evidence of Ms [Brittany] Higgins to the given viva voce ... and then other some parts where it was contentious with the evidence of other lay witnesses to be given.
O’Callaghan replied: “I imagine that was because there was such forensic controversy, this case is not like that.”
Collins said this case was “not in the same dimension” – though O’Callaghan said it was helpful to hear from witnesses in person:
Different dimensions but ... it is more all helpful to judges to hear the conflicting evidence about those matters viva voce. Because obviously, we all know the assistance that witnesses are given quite rightly, in preparation of affidavits. Sometimes it can not assist in the exercise I’m talking about.
The issue will be further discussed at another case management hearing scheduled for 3 September.
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More from today’s Deeming v Pesutto administrative hearing
Continuing from our last post: Moira Deeming is suing John Pesutto over a series of media releases, press conferences and radio interviews he gave following an anti-trans rights rally she participated in that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis, who performed the Sieg Heil salute on the front steps of the Victorian parliament last March.
Pesutto will argue he always unequivocally said she was not a Nazi. He said Deeming had damaged her own reputation by continuing to claim he had branded her a Nazi.
Pesutto earlier settled defamation cases with other women – Angie Jones and Kelly-Jay Keen – over the comments. But his lawyer said they would still require the three weeks set down for trial beginning on 16 September.
The court heard Deeming had 21 witnesses listed to give evidence and Pesutto eight, including Matt Bach.
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Moira Deeming v John Pesutto returns to court
Former Victorian Liberal MP Matt Bach could be forced to fly back to Australia from the UK to give evidence in the defamation trial between Moira Deeming and opposition leader John Pesutto.
In a short administrative hearing today before federal court justice David O’Callaghan, Pesutto’s lawyer, Matthew Collins KC, said he would be calling Bach as a witness.
He said Bach, who shocked his colleagues when he resigned late last year to move to the UK and return to his former profession of teaching, would prefer to give his evidence via videolink.
Collins noted Dr Bach is a school teacher and said “there would be matters of seeking leave from his job and the logistical arrangements of getting into Australia and so on”. Bach was the deputy leader of the opposition in the upper house at the time Deeming was expelled from the parliamentary Liberal party.
O’Callaghan said that as a key witness it was his preference he appeared in person:
It’s highly undesirable to have witnesses appear by video because it makes our job as judges harder. That combined with the unreliability of the technology – as much as we like to imagine it is flawless, it simply isn’t.
Collins replied: “Recently we’ve had better experience with video links from the United States than we have from Adelaide.”
We’ll have more from the hearing in a moment.
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Some Australians skipping work to watch Olympics – survey
One in four Australians has woken up early or stayed up late to watch this year’s Paris Olympics, according to a survey from comparison group Finder.
The survey of 1,041 respondents found that 11% are watching Aussie athletes compete while they’re at work, but some are ditching altogether – with 3% calling in sick to watch the Games.
Gen Z were the most likely to have wagged work at 7%, and a further 20% watched on their phone while at work.
Australians in NSW (41%) were the most likely to have changed their routine to prioritise watching the Olympics, followed by Victoria (36%).
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Victorian legionnaires outbreak grows to 100 confirmed cases
Victoria’s legionnaires’ disease outbreak has spread to 100 cases.
In an update today, the health department said there were 100 confirmed and 10 suspected cases. Two Victorians have died from the disease since the outbreak emerged on 26 July.
The state’s department of health this week identified a cooling tower in the city’s west as the likely source of the outbreak – Victoria’s worst in more than two decades.
Dr Clare Looker, the state’s chief health officer, said on Monday she was confident the state had passed the peak of the outbreak.
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Opposition concerned at Asio’s ‘stretched’ resources amid Taylor Swift concert plot overseas
The education minister, Jason Clare, has labelled an alleged plot to launch an attack on Taylor Swift’s concert in Vienna as “terrifying”.
Clare was on Sunrise earlier this morning and said there was “more violence and more extremism around the world”, pointing to what is occurring in the UK at the moment, and said Australia was “not immune from any of that”.
It’s incumbent on all of us, whether we’re in parliament or in the media, to make sure that we’re careful with the words we use. We’ve got to work here to bring the country together, lower the temperature. Words matter.
The deputy leader of the opposition, Sussan Ley, who was also on the program, said this was “every parent’s worst nightmare” and expressed concern over comments by the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, earlier this week that resources were “stretched”.
We have to be aggressive. We have to get in front of this and we have to make sure that we resource our agencies properly. Now, Anthony Albanese was able to find $172m to promote his budget. I think it’s really important that he resources the anti-terror agencies properly.
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Old firefighting hoses get new life with zoo animals
Firefighters in NSW have found a wonderful way to reuse their old hoses – as climbing ropes and hammocks for zoo animals!
Members of the Lake George district RFS brigade delivered a batch of old hoses to the National Zoo and Aquarium in Canberra this week, and wrote on X:
They’ll be put to use in animal enclosures as climbing ropes, hammocks and enrichment items. It’s always a good day when you can help out a pri-mate!
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‘It’s a line but nothing more than that’: Marles on Keating saying Australia ‘51st US state’ under Aukus
Just circling back to the deputy PM Richard Marles’ earlier interview on ABC News Breakfast.
Marles was again asked to respond to comments that Paul Keating made on 7.30 last night regarding the Aukus deal.
Asked specifically about Keating’s claim Australia is becoming the “51st state of the United States” under the deal, Marles responded:
It’s a line, but it’s nothing more than that, and it’s not a fair characterisation of what we’re doing.
Marles went on to say that none of Keating’s criticism was news “in the sense that [he] made his views known very clearly about this arrangement in March of last year”.
And to be fair, he’s been consistent in his approach ever since. So that’s all we’ve seen last night.
I don’t agree with it, but I absolutely acknowledge that as a former prime minister, as a great Labor prime minister, Paul Keating has a right to express his views in the public discourse, and that’s what he’s doing. You won’t hear any criticism from me of him. That said, obviously the views that he’s expressed I happen to disagree with.
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Queensland firefighter cheered by station as she heads to Olympic semi-final
The Queensland Fire Department has cheered on their firefighter Aly Bull, who will be competing in the K-2 500m Sprint Kayak semi-finals tonight at the Olympics.
The department wrote on X:
Yeah the girls, Olympic Finalists!! It has been a privilege to watch you and your team competing on the world stage once again and we know how hard you have worked to get to your third Olympics.
Aly will be running it back in the K-2 500m Sprint Kayak event tonight, tune in to the Semi Finals from 6.50pm! What an incredible achievement!
Yeah the girls, Olympic Finalists!! 🙌
— Queensland Fire Department (@QldFireDept) August 8, 2024
It has been a privilege to watch you and your team competing on the world stage once again and we know how hard you have worked to get to your third Olympics. 💪
Aly will be running it back in the K-2 500m Sprint Kayak event tonight,… pic.twitter.com/2bJqFLGxRs
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Most teachers want to quit school before retirement
Most public school teachers don’t see a future in the profession, AAP reports, with seven in 10 revealing they don’t think they’ll stay in the job until retirement.
Mid-career professionals were most likely to be uncertain about staying or planning to quit, according to a survey of 8,000 public school teachers, principals and other education support staff who are members of the Australian Education Union.
Excessive workloads are the top concerns on educators’ minds, with teachers working an average of 12.4 hours of unpaid overtime a week.
More than 80% are unhappy about their salary, which the research paper highlighted does not increase over time like in other comparable professions. Many also noted a concern with student behaviour, including violence.
AEU Victoria president Meredith Peace said educators were “bogged down” with admin.
Without significant and urgent action to retain current staff, the teacher workforce shortage crisis impacting Victorian public schools will get worse.
They report not having the time for doing their key work, including working directly with students, collaborating on teaching and learning, supporting colleagues and planning curriculum.
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Gold Coast pill testing clinic detects toxic cutting agent in cocaine
Queensland’s pill testing clinics issued a public warning today after detecting a banned cutting agent that causes cancer in cocaine on the Gold Coast.
Phenacetin was an ingredient in Bex powders and Vicks until it was found to cause kidney damage and cancer. CheQpoint, which operates a drug testing clinic on the Gold Coast, said it detected Phenacetin in two recently-tested samples.
Cameron Francis, CEO of the Loop Australia, said it highlighted the importance of drug testing.
Our Gold Coast service has been open for just over a month, and we’ve already detected this harmful chemical. It’s important that people who use unregulated drugs get their drugs checked at our free, confidential service.
This comes as Queensland is set to operate a drug testing clinic during Schoolies for the first time this year:
Phenacetin was banned in pharmaceuticals in 1983 but is still often used to cut cocaine. Users are more likely to experience immediate adverse effects like an abnormal heartbeat or chest pain and hallucinations if it is used to dilute the drug. It’s also toxic and can cause shortness of breath, fatigue, and cyanosis (a bluish coloration of the skin).
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News Corp offsets revenue fall in news business
News Corp has recorded a jump in full year revenue, driven by robust results delivered by its business-focused Dow Jones unit, book publishing arm and Australian real estate portal, which helped offset weakness in its news division.
The Rupert Murdoch-backed conglomerate reported US$10.1bn ($15.3bn) in full year revenue, up 2% from the prior year. Its net profit also bounced back.
There were mixed results among the various divisions of the US-listed company, which owns mastheads in the US, UK and Australia, along with book publishers, subscription television and real estate advertising assets.
Earnings from its news media division plunged 23% over the year, which was weighed down by weaker revenues generated in its Australian business, where circulation and subscription income fell.
The trading period, marked by high inflation, has proven difficult for publishers around the world, due to subdued demand from advertisers and subscribers.
News Corp has recently cut jobs in Australia, where it publishes news titles including The Australian, Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun.
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Marles says Australia not making additional commitments under new Aukus deal
Making the rounds this morning, deputy PM Richard Marles also spoke with ABC News Breakfast about the new Aukus agreement.
He was asked about comments from US president Joe Biden, who referred to additional political commitments from Australia – what are these commitments?
Marles said the agreement “provide[s] the underpinning of what we’ve already agreed” – and suggested there were no further commitments.
The substance of this agreement has been public for more than a year, but this is a critical step in this journey, because this is the legal [and] foundational underpinning at a treaty level of what we agreed last year.
Marles reiterated his earlier comments that there was “no chance” Australia would take foreign nuclear waste under Aukus.
We are responsible for our nuclear waste. We made that clear in March of last year and there’s a process under way with that. The first moment that we need to dispose of our own nuclear reactors will be in the 2050s, so we have time to get that right. But that’s the only nuclear waste that we will be disposing of.
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News Corp considers offers for Foxtel
The Rupert Murdoch-backed media conglomerate News Corp will consider offers for its pay television platform Foxtel, which includes the Kayo and Binge streaming services.
Chief executive Robert Thomson said in a company earnings release that potential buyers had emerged while News Corp was reviewing its portfolio of assets.
That review has coincided recently with third-party interest in a potential transaction involving the Foxtel Group, which has been positively transformed in recent years.
We are evaluating options for the business with our advisers in light of that external interest.
The number of paid subscribers has been increasing for the Binge streaming service and sports-focused Kayo, while audience numbers have been falling for its Foxtel Now platform.
News Corp owns a majority share of the Foxtel Group, alongside minority holder Telstra.
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Fog on Adelaide roads prompts driving weather alert
A road weather alert has been issued for Adelaide amid foggy conditions.
The Bureau of Meteorology says reduced visibility in fog would make road conditions dangerous this morning in the Adelaide area, advising motorists to:
Slow down and take extra care.
Maintain a safe distance between you and the vehicle in front.
Turn on your headlights.
⚠️ #Road Weather Alert issued for Friday around #Adelaide and the #MountLoftyRanges. #Fog will make #driving conditions dangerous. Check https://t.co/mFc7uLj6fg for details. @DPTI_SA @RAAofSA pic.twitter.com/wcC2ue1B7l
— Bureau of Meteorology, South Australia (@BOM_SA) August 8, 2024
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Insurance prices blowing away cyclone-prone communities
Insurers aren’t doing enough to support cyclone-stricken regions of north Queensland as climate change intensifies the impact of natural disasters, a Senate inquiry will hear today.
As AAP reports, property owners in Queensland’s cyclone region are paying up to 12 times more on insurance premiums than those near the southern border, according to a submission by the North Queensland Strata Action Group.
The Senate inquiry will meet for a second day in Brisbane to hear evidence from Strata Action and Suncorp, as well as local governments and climate advocacy organisations.
Insurance prices have more than tripled since 2022 and, as the cost-of-living crisis gets worse, residents are struggling to keep up.
The federal government has made major investments into disaster mitigation in the region but residents are still being denied coverage based on risk, the Queensland Local Government Association said in its submission.
The prices are set for the entire region, which means residents are paying more for risks that might not even affect their community.
The committee is due to report to the Senate on 19 November.
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Marles on Solomon Islands request to fund thousands of police
Wrapping up the interview, Richard Marles was asked about a request from the Solomon Islands prime minister, Jeremiah Manele, for Australia to fund the salaries of more than 3,000 police over the next decade.
Marles said he wouldn’t go into the specifics, but “doing more cooperation on policing is certainly something that we are interested in doing”.
We are looking at ways in which we can contribute more to Solomon Islands national security, and that very much includes its policing activities.
It is definitely a key challenge that Solomon Islands faces, and one of the key asks that they’ve had in a dialogue that we’ve had with them…
I think that Australians absolutely understand that we need to be placing a focus on the Pacific, and greater engagement with the Pacific is, in fact, the most cost-effective thing we can do in terms of the promotion of our own national security.
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Marles says Paul Keating entitled to his views and defends Australia’s role in Aukus
Richard Marles was asked about comments last night from former PM Paul Keating, who said Aukus risked handing military control of the country to Washington and Australia risked becoming the “51st state of the United States”.
Marles said Keating was entitled to his views but that Australia was facing “the most complex strategic circumstances that we’ve had to deal with since the end of the second world war”.
In assessing that, what is clear to us is that our strategic objective lies in the maintenance of that rules based order, given that freedom of navigation on the high seas – as an example – is utterly fundamental to Australia’s national prosperity and national security, when we see a much greater proportion of our national income derived from trade … What we are doing is seeking to protect that.
What we are doing is seeking to make our contribution to the collective security of the region in which we live, and that is the Indo-Pacific, and what that requires is an ability for us to engage in much greater protection. And that is why we are pursuing the capability of a long-range capable submarine. That’s why we are pursuing the capabilities of longer range strike missiles, why we’re looking at having a much more mobile army.
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Marles says no chance Australia would take foreign nuclear waste under Aukus
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, is on ABC RN this morning to discuss the new Aukus agreement signed with the US and UK.
Daniel Hurst had all the details on this earlier in the blog, here, in case you missed it.
Marles labelled the agreement a “foundational document”, providing the “legal underpinning of what we agreed with the US and the UK under the banner of Aukus in March of last year.”
Asked whether there is any legislative assurance that nuclear waste won’t end up in Australia, Marles responded:
Nuclear waste won’t end up in Australia, other than the waste that is generated by Australia … So be completely clear, there’s no circumstance in which we would be taking waste from any other country…
We’re not going to be in a position of needing to dispose of any of those reactors until the early 2050s. What this agreement does, though, is provide for the legal underpinning of what we agreed in March of last year, and we will see a nuclear reactor embedded in the Virginia-class submarines that we procure.
We will be seeing new co-reactors coming from Rolls-Royce, which will form part of the submarines that we build in Australia. In order to actually enable that, it requires a treaty and treaty-level agreement between our countries, and that’s what we’ve now signed.
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Budgets running on fumes as car costs outpace inflation
High transport costs are fuelling household budget concerns, AAP reports, with research revealing a surge of more than 10% over the course of a year.
Figures from the Australian Automobile Association showed households in three capital cities were spending more than $500 a week on transport, and the average cost of driving a car and catching public transport soared to $458 a week across the nation.
The AAA’s latest Transport Affordability Index showed household transport costs rose by 10.5% in the year to June, almost triple the consumer price index of 3.8%.
Car loan payments, fuel and insurance costs consumed the greatest proportion of household transport budgets, the AAA found, while tolls and public transport also impacted costs in capital cities.
Meanwhile, NRMA analysis has ranked Australian capital cities by fuel price and shows the cost of petrol had risen in all states during 2024.
Unleaded petrol in both capitals averaged more than $2 a litre during 2024, followed by Sydney and Melbourne at $1.97 per litre. Perth and Adelaide were the cheapest capitals for unleaded petrol, with average prices of $1.86 and $1.88 respectively.
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What you missed overnight on day 13 of the Paris Olympics
Australia’s river of gold dried up at the Paris Olympics overnight, but two silver and two bronze medals were pocketed – and the Stingers earned a shot at gold with a dramatic water polo win.
Here’s everything you missed on day 13 of the Games, thanks to our sports editor Mike Hytner!
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Costello says government ‘terrified of the broadcasters’ over gambling ad reform
As Melissa Davey and Paul Karp report, Labor’s proposal – according to leaks – is to ban gambling ads online, during televised sports matches and an hour either side of live sport. Labor would also cap two ads an hour during general TV programming.
The proposal, yet to be signed off by cabinet, falls short of the blanket ban advocated by the bipartisan parliamentary inquiry chaired by the late Labor MP Peta Murphy and a chorus of public health experts.
Tim Costello did not agree that this is a sensible compromise, telling ABC News Breakfast:
It’s a bit like – before they went to plain packaging with cigarettes, they said, ‘No, we’ll just have some warnings and graphic pictures of people with cancerous teeth.’ It didn’t work. They had to go to plain packaging…
What Peta Murphy and the multipartisan committee said was when you have the greatest gambling losses in the world, the nation coming second is 40% behind us – that’s how bad it is here – one, it has captured our sport. Two, it is grooming our kids. Three, if there’s gambling in a family, there’s three times the domestic violence.
Costello said the government “want[s] to do the right thing” but was “terrified of the broadcasters going into an election year.”
Which is why I say – why haven’t you even approached Peter Dutton and said, make it bipartisan? Because then the broadcasters can’t pick either of you off.
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Gambling reform alliance urges Labor to implement full ban on ads
Tim Costello, a chief advocate with the Alliance for Gambling Reform, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning to discuss the federal governments plans around gambling reform.
He said advocates were hearing that the government as “watering [legislation] down” from an outright ban, as recommended in the Murphy Report.
They say that it is dangerous enough with sportsbetting ads to have on social media, so we’ll make some restrictions there, but it is not dangerous enough to have on free-to-air TV, so it’s a decision that is a partial ban. That never works…
On Monday, when cabinet receives this, we’ll have full page ads from extraordinary groups right across the country – health professionals, domestic violence professionals, from unions, from political enemies that once fought each other on both sides of politics – saying, put in the full ban. This is the time for them to do it.
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Good morning
And welcome back to the Australia news live blog – thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us! I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage this Friday.
As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email, emily.wind@theguardian.com, with any tips or questions.
Let’s get started.
Aukus pact will turn Australia into '51st state' of the US, Keating says
The Aukus deal news dropped as Paul Keating launched another attack on the alliance when he appeared on 7.30.
The former prime minister, an avowed opponent of the pact, said Australia had no quarrel with China, no vital interest in the fate of Taiwan (“Chinese real estate”), and had only made itself a target for attacks by aligning itself with US “aggression”.
“Taiwan is not a vital Australian interest,” he said, adding that the American attitude to Taiwan was like China deciding that Tasmania needed help to secede from Australia.
What Aukus is about in the American mind is turning [Australia into suckers], locking us up for 40 years with American bases all around…not Australian bases.
So Aukus is really about, in American terms, the military control of Australia. I mean, what’s happened… is likely to turn Australia into the 51st state of the United States.
Read our full story here:
Updated
Back to the Aukus deal:
As part of attempts to reassure the world about nuclear non-proliferation commitments, the new Aukus agreement would not allow Australia to receive information, material or equipment relating to uranium enrichment, nuclear fuel reprocessing, or heavy water production. Australia has reiterated it is not seeking to acquire nuclear weapons.
The US president, Joe Biden, disclosed in a letter to congress this week that Australia, the US and the UK had also concluded “a non-legally binding understanding” which included “additional related political commitments”.
But the Australian government continues to insist that Australia will make “sovereign, independent decisions” on how to use its military capabilities, indicating that no pre-commitment has been given to the US to join any future military action.
The full text of the agreement has not yet been published, but the federal government is expected to table the document when parliament resumes next week.
The defence minister and deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said the new agreement was “a very significant step down the Aukus path” and reflected “our commitment to our international obligations”. He said:
It is another demonstration of the fact that we are making this happen.
Updated
Higgins reveals her grandmother has died
Brittany Higgins, who is in the midst of a trial after being sued for defamation by WA senator Linda Reynolds, has shared some sad family news.
In a post on Instagram, she revealed her grandmother had passed away.
Processing the loss of the strongest woman I have ever known. I love and already miss you grandma x.
Today is day six of the trial, with the cross-examination of Reynolds by Higgins’ lawyer due to wrap up later today. It’s due to get going at the WA supreme court around 10.30am local time (that’s 12.30pm on the east coast) and we’ll bring you the key moments as they happen.
Updated
Australia signs new Aukus agreement on nuclear material
The Australian government has hailed the signing of a new Aukus agreement with the US and the UK as proof “that we are making this happen”.
As reported here on the live blog yesterday, the new agreement will allow for the transfer of nuclear material to Australia as part of the process of acquiring nuclear-powered submarines, and it replaces a pre-existing agreement that allowed “for the exchange of naval nuclear propulsion information”.
Australian government sources have since outlined some of the details of the new agreement, including that it will enable the transfer of Virginia-class submarines from the US from the 2030s. They also said the agreement would pave the way to making Australia’s future SSN-Aukus submarines in South Australia, by enabling the transfer of material and equipment such as “sealed, welded-shut reactors that will not require re-fuelling over the life cycle of the submarine”.
Australian sources insisted that the agreement would not see Australia take spent fuel or high-level radioactive waste from the UK or the US, nor did it require Australia to enrich uranium or process spent nuclear fuel.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage from across Australia. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you some of the top overnight stories before Emily Wind takes over.
Australia’s participation in the Aukus defence pact risks handing military control of the country to Washington and becoming the “51st state of the United States”, according to former prime minister Paul Keating. Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night, Keating argued that Australia had made itself a target for aggression by joining the military alliance with the US and the UK in implicit opposition to China’s growing power in the Asia Pacific region. His broadside came as ministers hailed the signing of a new Aukus agreement with the US and the UK as proof “that we are making this happen”. More coming up.
Getting from A to B is becoming progressively more expensive for Australians as new data in our story today shows that transport costs now represent almost a sixth of household expensesand are growing at almost three times the rate of inflation.
Victoria’s environment watchdog has launched a compliance blitz of waste facilities that produce cheap landscaping soil after a Guardian Australia investigation revealed systemic problems with similar recycled products in New South Wales. It’s the latest in our exclusive series “The dirt files”, which has investigated how the NSW EPA had known for more than a decade that widespread breaches of regulations by producers of recovered fines meant potentially contaminated products had been distributed across the state.
And Brittany Higgins has revealed some sad personal news as the first full week of Linda Reynolds defamation trial against her wraps up – her grandmother has died.
Updated
