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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Donna Lu and Natasha May (earlier)

Albanese meets with NBA legend in support of Indigenous voice – as it happened

Greens Labor Adam Bandt

What we learned today, Saturday 27 August

And with that, it’s time to wrap up the live news blog for the day. Here’s a recap of the top stories:

  • The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, were surprisingly joined at a press conference by the NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal, who will be part of the effort to mobilise support ahead of a referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.

  • The Greens have called for immediate pay rises for those on the minimum wage and in women-dominated industries.

  • With 90 days until the Victorian election, a Newspoll showed the premier, Daniel Andrews, was set to win a third term.

  • Sydney is on track for its wettest year on record, after last night it exceeded two metres of rain in the year to date.

  • The Australian racing industry is “failing miserably” to rehome greyhounds as adoption flatlines, new research from the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds suggests.

  • The first refugee families have been welcomed to Australia under a new community sponsorship program.

Thanks for tuning in. Stay dry!

Updated

National Covid summary: 86 deaths reported

Here are the latest Covid-19 figures from around Australia, with a total of 86 deaths recorded around the country in the last day.

NSW

  • Deaths: 20

  • Cases: 4,738

  • In hospital: 1,781 with 39 in ICU

Victoria

  • Deaths: 39

  • Cases: 2,532

  • In hospital: 377 with 16 in ICU

Queensland

  • Deaths: 18

  • Cases: 1,852

  • In hospital: 305 with 14 in ICU

Western Australia

  • Deaths: four

  • Cases: 1,165

  • In hospital: 223 with seven in ICU

South Australia

  • Deaths: three

  • Cases: 566

  • In hospital: 165 with eight in ICU

Tasmania

  • Deaths: none

  • Cases: 208

  • In hospital: 36 with one in ICU

ACT

  • Deaths: two

  • Cases: 212

  • In hospital: 106 with four in ICU

NT

  • Deaths: none

  • Cases: 97

  • In hospital: 22 in hospital

Updated

The Byron Writers Festival is on this weekend.

Guardian Australia’s Caitlin Cassidy is there:

Updated

Sydney on track for its wettest year on record

Last night Sydney surpassed more than two metres of rain for the year to date. It’s the first time this has happened since 1963, and the months of wet weather mean the harbour city is on track to have its wettest year on record, with less than 200 more millimetres of rain required.

Jonathan How, a forecaster at the Bureau of Meteorology, told the ABC:

As of about midday today, it’s sitting around 2,010mm. It’s absolutely extraordinary figures coming out of Sydney …

Sydney’s highest rainfall on record was 2,194mm and that was set back in 1950. We are on track to reach that, even exceed that … Even if we get the average rainfall for the next three months, Sydney will still break the record for the wettest year since record-keeping began, and that was back in 1858.

For context, How said that Singapore had only recorded around 1,200mm in the year to date, with Sydney having been inundated by “more than 800mm more than a tropical city”. He continued:

Unfortunately for people in Sydney and right across eastern New South Wales, the bureau’s spring outlook does indicate a very high chance of above-average rainfall that extends to pretty much the eastern two-thirds of the country.

What that does mean is that we will see more rainfall events and particularly more heavy rainfall events. Because everything is still so wet and hasn’t had a chance to dry out over the winter, it does increase the risk of flooding heading into spring.

Updated

Extinction Rebellion protesters dance with trolleys

Here’s some footage from an Extinction Rebellion protest on Sydney Road in Brunswick earlier today, which appears to involve a choreographed dance with shopping trolleys. File under: “Tell me you live in Melbourne without telling me you live in Melbourne.”

Updated

Australian space trackers to help return man to the moon

A group of Australian space trackers will from Monday night help return man to the moon, AAP reports.

Nasa’s Artemis 1 mission is scheduled to launch just after 10.30pm Australian time on Monday. The uncrewed spacecraft will take off from the Kennedy Space Centre in the US for a 42-day mission to travel to and orbit the moon, before it returns to Earth.

It is the first of three in the Artemis program aimed at putting a human on the moon in the middle of this decade.

Nasa’s Canberra Deep Space Communication Complex, which is run by Australia’s national science agency CSIRO, will be along for the whole ride – providing 24/7 coverage of the mission with its sister deep space stations in the US and Spain.

The communication complex will receive signal from the spacecraft shortly after it separates from the launch vehicle – about 50 minutes after takeoff, according to the CSIRO.

The staff at the Canberra complex collectively had centuries of space tracking experience, the agency said.

Their expertise will be key to the mission’s success and equipment upgrades including to large antennas at the complex have been a crucial part of Nasa’s preparation for the Artemis program.

The mission will have several important moments, including when a small fleet of “cubesats” or miniature satellites is deployed.

Updated

Australian racing industry ‘failing miserably’ to rehome greyhounds as adoption flatlines

The rehoming of Australian racing industry dogs has flatlined in the last three years, according to research by the Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds.

Just over 2,000 dogs were rehomed annually by industry adoption bodies, a figure that has not increased since 2017-18, a CPG report found.

The national rate of greyhound breeding in 2020–21 was about six times the racing industry’s capacity to rehome them via its official adoption programs, the CPG estimates. “This means the racing industry will continue to fail miserably in convincing the community it has reformed,” the report said.

Read the full story here:

Updated

South Australia records three Covid deaths and 165 people in hospital

There have been 566 new Covid-19 cases in the last reporting period, and eight people are in intensive care.

Updated

Thanks Natasha May! I’m coming to you from Melbourne on a fine Saturday afternoon, and will take you through into the evening.

As always, please get in touch at Donna.Lu@theguardian.com or on Twitter at @donnadlu if you have any news (or cute dog pics) to share.

Updated

Thanks for your attention this Saturday folks. I hand you over to the wonderful Donna Lu, who will be on the blog with you for the rest of the day.

Updated

Bali bombing survivors invited to 20th anniversary event in Canberra

The 202 people, including 88 Australians, killed and the many others injured in the Bali bombings will be remembered in commemorative services at home and abroad to mark the 20th anniversary of the event.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has today released a statement to say the Australian government will host a memorial service at Parliament House in Canberra on 12 October 2022, while a ceremony will also be held at the Australian consulate general in Bali on the same day.

Wong’s statement said:

This anniversary will be a difficult day for many in Australia, Indonesia and around the world, and our thoughts are with the survivors, families and loved ones of those killed.

We will pay tribute to the courage and resilience shown by so many whose lives were forever changed by these attacks.

The Australian Government welcomes survivors and their family and friends, and the family and friends of loved ones lost, to attend the memorial service or ceremony. The Australian Government also extends an invitation to those involved in the response to the blast to attend the memorial services.

Those who wish to attend these services should contact the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for further information via baliservices2022@dfat.gov.au or by phoning 1300 555 135 (in Australia) or +61 2 6261 3305.

In addition to local services being held around Australia, the Indonesian Government and local communities in Bali will also hold commemorative events.

We also remember the 38 Indonesians who were killed in the bombings. We recognise the ongoing work that Indonesia and Australia do together to counter the scourge of violent extremism, and the strength, courage and cooperation of our peoples.

Updated

Wave Hill Walk Off recreated on anniversary

Thousands of people have recreated the Wave Hill Walk Off, originally led by Vincent Lingiari in the remote Northern Territory town of Kalkarindji.

The Freedom Day festival commemorates the day 56 years ago that Lingiari led 200 stockmen and families off Wave Hill station in what became a pivotal moment in the fight for Indigenous land rights.

Senator Pat Dodson and the musician Paul Kelly, whose protest song From Little Things Big Things Grow pays tribute to Lingiari, featured at the festival.

Updated

Melbourne reaches 20C for first time since May

Today is the first time the Victorian capital has reached 20C since 24 May, according to the meteorologist Jane Bunn.

After a cold winter with lots of frosty mornings, spring can’t be too far away!

Updated

First refugee families welcomed to Australia under new community sponsorship program

My colleague Ben Doherty was at Sydney airport last night when the first families under the new community sponsorship program arrived in Australia.

There he met the Al Daoud family from Syria whose biggest dream is for their children to be able to learn in a classroom. It’s a beautiful read for your Saturday afternoon.

Updated

‘Where’s Dan Repacholi when you need him,’ Labor’s Josh Wilson asks

It was hard to miss the disparity in height between Shaquille O’Neal at 2.16 metres tall and prime minister Anthony Albanese and minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney.

Labor’s member for Hunter, Daniel Repacholi, wouldn’t quite reach O’Neal, but at over two metres tall, the ex-Olympic shooter might have helped average out the difference between the NBA star and members of government, as the member for Fremantle, Josh Wilson, has suggested.

Updated

Minor flood warnings issued for parts of eastern Victoria

VicEmergency has issued several minor flood warnings for parts of eastern Victoria, including:

  • Bunyip River downstream of Iona

  • Latrobe River downstream of Traralgon

  • Tarago River

  • Yarra River from Millgrove to Coldstream, and Coldstream to Warrandyte

You can view all current warnings here.

Updated

Australia helps rid Vanuatu of trachoma

Vanuatu has completely eradicated the blindness-causing disease trachoma, thanks to a mass simultaneous treatment by Australia’s Fred Hollows Foundation across the island nation, AAP reports.

It is the first Pacific country to do so, following funding from the government’s Australian NGO Cooperation Program and the UK government.

The World Health Organization’s neglected tropical disease (NTD) spokesperson for Vanuatu, Fasihah Taleo, told AAP:

Unlike the Solomon Islands who did province by province, we wanted to cut the transmission at one time period.

We did six provinces, 290,000 people, in one month.

Trachoma is caused by infection with the bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis and transmitted by close contact. It is particularly prevalent in women and children and also often transmitted by flies. Taleo explained:

There’s dirty discharge coming out of your eyes. It also causes scarring under your eyelids. Then there is alarms going and if you are not treated it can go severe and that’s when you can cause blindness.

Despite working in public health for Vanuatu’s ministry of health and WHO for many years, Taleo was at first unconvinced it was a major issue for the country.

But a survey discovered a prevalence in the community, particularly in children under nine, who were not yet severe.

Eradicating the disease at this stage may have saved the sight of many, with community leaders and health workers involved in rolling out the mass campaign very happy with the result, says Taleo, who is still on the ground working on an intestinal worms and scabies treatment program.

The Fred Hollows Foundation CEO, Ian Wishart, congratulated Vanuatu on the achievement saying trachoma was “an ancient disease that should not exist today”.

The International Coalition for Trachoma Control chair, Angelia Sanders, said it was encouraging news for other Pacific nations. She said in a statement:

Vanuatu’s success ... should provide optimism across the region that the global NTD road map target to eliminate trachoma can be achieved by 2030.

Updated

Western Australia records four Covid deaths and 223 people in hospital

There were 1,165 new cases in the last reporting period, and seven people are in intensive care.

Authorities note the four deaths reported yesterday date back to 20 August.

Updated

Sydney unit rocked by blasts with man left in critical condition

A man is fighting for life following a series of explosions inside a Sydney home unit possibly triggered when a gas stove was left on, AAP reports.

Firefighters were called to Trafalgar Parade at inner-western Concord shortly after 2am on Saturday, with neighbours reporting hearing loud bangs and windows blowing out.

Crews arrived to discover flames coming from the top floor of the three-storey building.

A man inside the engulfed unit jumped to safety but sustained serious burns and cuts to his head, chest and arms.

An off-duty paramedic treated his injuries before ambulance officers took over and transported him to hospital in a critical condition.

Neighbours managed to evacuate before the blaze took hold.

Police have declared a crime scene at the property and are working with specialist fire investigators to establish a cause.

Updated

ACT records two Covid deaths and 106 people in hospital

There were 1,438 new cases in the last reporting period, and four people are in intensive care.

‘This isn’t my decision … we want this to be everyone’s proposal,’ Albanese says

Anthony Albanese faced a question about his role in the referendum on the voice but he defends the fact it is not his decision:

I’m creating the space for people to come on board. This isn’t my decision. This isn’t my proposal. They want this to be the Australian people’s proposal. I want it to be supported, not just by the Labor party, but by as many political parties as possible, by the business community, by the union movement, by the non-government sector, by sporting organisations.

I’ve had discussions with churches, I’ve had discussions with the AFL, with the National Rugby League, with basketball organisations, with netball, with other sporting organisations.

I’ve had discussions, of course, primarily front and centre, with Indigenous Australians. We travelled to the Torres Strait just a week ago to make sure that we heard directly from Torres Strait Islander peoples. So we want this to be everyone’s proposal. We are not being prescriptive here deliberately.

Updated

‘I have never seen the curiosity that non-Aboriginal Australians have about truth,’ Burney says

Linda Burney had some powerful words at that press conference, saying she had never seen non-Aboriginal Australians with so much interest in the true story of the country.

There is a new dawn coming in this country. I have been involved in Aboriginal affairs for 45 years. And they have never felt the optimism, I have never seen the curiosity that non-Aboriginal Australians have about truth, about the story of this country. And this is a chance to give all of those people a way to demonstrate their support. I mean, you actually go and cast a vote for decency. And I think Australians will turn up.

Updated

Government concerned about bad rhetoric arising from voice referendum campaign, but opportunity is greater, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese is also asked about whether he is worried the referendum could create further division, which was one of the key concerns about the same-sex marriage plebiscite where “some pretty bad rhetoric was raised”. Albanese responds:

Of course we are concerned, but the truth is, inappropriate comments have been a feature of unfortunately, from time to time, including from political representatives towards Indigenous people over a long period of time, and I think some of the comments that have been made about this debate are ill-advised.

But it is also such an opportunity to bring the country together, such an opportunity for unity going forward, and there were similar comments made prior to Kevin Rudd issuing the apology to the stolen generations. For a long time there was a delay. There was an argument put that it would be a divisive moment. The truth is, I look back at the footage now of kids at school stopping and watching on big screens that unifying moment for our country, and I was proud to have been part of it, it was the proudest moment I have had in parliament.

I believe this will be exactly the same, it will be one where people look back and go, why didn’t we do it before? There is no downside, only upside, and it is an opportunity to bring the country together.

Updated

‘An opportunity to succeed versus a certainty of not succeeding’: Albanese on the voice

Reporters ask Anthony Albanese if he is personally prepared if the “political test” of the referendum doesn’t succeed. He responds:

We have had a discussion about this prior to the Garma speech that was worked on by Linda [Burney] and Patrick Dodson and others, as part of the discussion that we had as a government. Look, before the 2019 election there was a commitment to advance this issue, to advance the voice, and not much happened during the last term, or not enough happened, and I think that has been acknowledged graciously by the former minister Ken Wyatt.

We are of the view that, yes, there is always a risk, but there is also a very clear non-risk and uncertainty if you don’t have a referendum. If you don’t have a referendum by definition you will not advance and it will not succeed.

You cannot in politics have a view – I certainly don’t have a view – my election as prime minister represents an opportunity to just occupy the space.

It is how do you do things for the better? That requires a risk. But I believe in reality it is either an opportunity to succeed versus a certainty of not succeeding. I have thought that through. We are deliberately creating the space for movement across the political spectrum.

Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney speak about the voice at a press conference in Sydney
Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney speak about the voice at a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Voice ‘subservient to legislation in the parliament’, PM says

Asked what the government is trying to achieve with the referendum, Anthony Albanese responds:

There is a fair bit of detail out there already … it is important that people don’t overcomplicate what this is. The draft wording that I put out at Garma is something that has been worked through. It is not my wording, it has been worked through – including by some of the best legal minds in this country – working through saying what the voice is, and also what it isn’t.

It will recognise First Nations people, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in our constitution, which at the moment is a gap. Secondly, it will make it clear that they should be consulted on matters that affect them. Thirdly, it makes clear through the draft wording that it’s not a third chamber, it’s not something that usurps the power of parliament. It is something that will be subservient to legislation in the parliament.

The reporter’s question mentions a Harbour Bridge analogy, which Albanese picks up on:

It may change over a period of time … just to use your Harbour Bridge analogy, from time to time you might need extra lanes on a road, but you know that the road is necessary, and that is what we need. A bridge isn’t a bad analogy, because it is a bridge between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians that we’re talking about here.

Updated

‘Issues of the rights of Indigenous people … are global issues,’ PM says

Reporters ask Anthony Albanese about what Shaquille O’Neal’s message will be. Albanese responds:

What [Shaq] does know is the gap there between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians in life expectancy, health outcomes, education, housing, infant mortality. The world knows about these issues.

People who are concerned about social justice and opportunity, regardless of people’s background, the circumstances of their birth, they are interested in these issues. The issues of the rights of Indigenous people are ones that are global issues, and here in Australia I just believe that it will send a really positive message to the world about our maturity as a nation if we say we recognise and we are proud of the fact that our history didn’t began in 1788. Of course it didn’t end then either.

We need to recognise the fullness of our history in this nation, the fact that Indigenous people looked after this nation for at least 60,000 years, and since then, of course, we have had people come to this country to share this continent with Indigenous Australians. The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a generous and gracious offer, a hand out asking for that hand to be joined, to be joined in partnership going forward.

Updated

Shaquille O’Neal agrees to do videos ahead of referendum

Anthony Albanese introduced Shaquille O’Neal saying the meeting came as part of the support the government has been trying to garner for the voice to parliament through discussions with sporting figures.

One of the things we have been doing is trying to mobilise support for the voice to parliament by talking with sporting figures … including discussions with the AFL, the NRL.

We want to build the broadest possible to support … and we want to engage with people who can connect with young people in particular, but with all sections of our society.

Shaq has that record when it comes to bringing people together of different backgrounds, which is consistent with our approach to a constitutionally recognised voice to parliament, and recognising that Australian history didn’t begin in 1788.

Shaq has agreed to do some vids and to have a chat about the importance of bringing people together and that’s really what the voice to parliament and constitutional recognition is about: lifting up our great country, providing a moment of which we can all be proud when Indigenous Australians are recognised in our constitution.

Linda Burney, Shaq and Anthony Albanese exchange gifts before their press conference
Linda Burney, Shaq and Anthony Albanese exchanged gifts before their press conference. Photograph: Flavio Brancaleone/AAP

Updated

Albanese encourages all Australians to ‘get on board’ Indigenous voice

Anthony Albanese says there was an exchange of sporting jumpers between Shaq and Albanese’s son, as he urged all Australians to “get on board” the Indigenous voice to parliament ahead of the referendum:

We presented [Shaq] with a Rabbitohs’ jumper from Souths, which was very nice. It was nice of Shaquille O’Neal to give my son a Lakers shirt. He was very chuffed with it.

We just want to seek out support wherever we can, we are up for it. I say to Australians, get on board this.

This will improve the nation, it will improve our self-confidence in the way we see ourselves, but it will also improve the way we are seen by the world.

Updated

Shaquille O’Neal ‘approached us’, Albanese says

Anthony Albanese describes the meeting with Shaq:

It was a very positive conversation ... He is interested in this country, his second visit to Australia. He knows that we are a warm and generous people, and he wanted to inform himself about what this debate was about, more by engaging directly with the minister for Indigenous affairs and myself as the prime minister. It is a really positive discussion about the way that Australia is seen in the world.

He approached us and people who organised his visit to Australia, and we responded very positively to it and it was a terrific meeting. And we will try to meet as many people … anyone who wants to be supportive of this proposal.

Shaq and Anthony Albanese at a press conference in Sydney
Shaq and Anthony Albanese at a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

O’Neal’s participation shows international interest in Indigenous voice, Burney says

Asked if she thinks Shaquille O’Neal will sway the voters, Linda Burney responds:

Well, that is up to voters.

I’m really pleased and very proud that Shaq has sought a request through the prime minister to specifically talk about the plans that we have in relation to a referendum.

He said it was a noble task, that it was important, and I think the most significant thing in what the prime minister has said is that we need to build a broad-based support across the country for a referendum change. It’s not easy in Australia. We all know that.

And I think having Shaquille O’Neal as part of a campaign is important, but it is also extremely important that we build support across the community. It was just so wonderful to meet him and to see that there is international interest from people like Mr O’Neal in relation to the project that we have under way about the referendum.

Shaquille O’Neal, Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney at a press conference in Sydney
Shaquille O’Neal, Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney at a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Voice to parliament about ‘birth certificate’ and practical outcomes for Indigenous Australians, Burney says

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, makes two additional points:

This is a referendum for the Australian people. We are very much seeing it that way. As the prime minister said, it is about making everyone proud, declaring and recognising First Peoples in our birth certificate.

Finally, it will have two important roles, a voice to parliament. It will be about our birth certificate and it will be about all Australians. But it will also be about practical things, about improving the life choices and chances of First Nations people, whether it be life expectancy, incarceration, housing, education. By asking First Nations people, which is an act of common decency and good manners, what the legislation and the laws of the parliament is passing is looking at, what the effect will be on First Nations people, is very much what the voice will be about.

Updated

Voice to parliament will demonstrate Australia’s maturity as a nation, PM says

Speaking about the referendum for an Indigenous voice to parliament, Anthony Albanese says:

Australia is a land where we share with the oldest civilisation on earth. There has been an agreement to have a chat about theirs to bring people together.

This is really what the voice to parliament and constitutional recognition is about. Lifting up our great country, providing a moment of which we can all be proud when Indigenous Australians are recognised in our constitution, and thereby respecting Indigenous Australians and asking them for their views … on education, housing, health and other issues then we stand a much better chance of getting outcomes that are positive in closing the gap, which is something that we need to do.

Finally, it is about how we see ourselves, but it is also about how Australia is seen in the world. Australia will be seen more positively when we demonstrate our maturity as a nation, recognising our full history.

Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney speak about the voice to parliament at a press conference in Sydney
Anthony Albanese and Linda Burney speak about the voice to parliament at a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

O’Neal offered a boomerang by Burney

Anthony Albanese says the minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney, presented Shaq with a boomerang.

Updated

Shaquille O’Neal to be part of athlete support ahead of Indigenous voice referendum

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has praised Shaquille O’Neal for helping lift people up who are marginalised in his home country of the US.

Albanese says the Indigenous voice to parliament campaign is about bringing Australians together and lifting people up.

Albanese says O’Neal will be part of athlete support ahead of the referendum on the voice:

Bringing people together of different backgrounds is consistent with our approach of a constitutionally recognised voice to parliament.

Anthony Albanese and Shaquille O’Neal at a press conference in Sydney
Anthony Albanese and Shaquille O’Neal at a press conference in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Shaquille O’Neal meets with PM and minister for Indigenous Australians

The NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal is in Sydney where he is now joining – also towering over – the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney.

Updated

Queensland records 18 Covid deaths and 305 people in hospital

There were 1,852 new cases in the last reporting period, and 14 people are in intensive care.

Updated

Shaquille O'Neal to attend press conference with Albanese and Burney shortly

The prime minister Anthony Albanese will hold a press conference with NBA legend Shaquille O’Neal and the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, in Sydney at 11.25 this morning.

O’Neal arrived in Australia on Tuesday for a speaking tour, according to News.com.

Updated

Kids capable of Covid self-testing, study finds

School-aged children can test themselves for Covid-19 with almost as much accuracy as healthcare workers, AAP reports.

All it takes is some simple instructions, according to a US study, with participants aged between four and 14 given guidance through a video and handouts.

The study included nearly 200 children and of the self-collected positive results, 97.8% matched up with positive results taken by healthcare workers.

Children who self-tested as negative saw their results match those reported by healthcare workers in 98.1% of cases, according to the Emory University School of Medicine findings published in JAMA.

The study noted each child was supervised while self-testing and all of them were symptomatic. The study said:

Additionally, the results support the potential for non-traditional testing schemes for children, and future studies should investigate unsupervised self-collection and sample drop-off at schools, prior to events, and testing at home.

Updated

Fog in the east expected to lift throughout the day

Gender pay gap at heart of government plan to overhaul Fair Work Act

The minister for employment and workplace relations, Tony Burke spoke to Channel Nine this morning, saying there is “a lot” government can do to help close the gender pay gap.

Burke said there is currently a 14% difference between what men and women are paid, which amounts to $250/week.

He highlights one measure Labor has already started on is supporting the wage increase claim of aged care workers – a predominantly female industry – before the fair work commission.

He says the government wants the fair work commission to have to take into account the difference between what men and women are paid in every decision they make.

Burke says the government also wants to get rid of clauses in job contracts which don’t allow employees to tell each other what their pay.

It’s a really common ploy in workplaces where women are being paid less than men. We want to get rid of those clauses.

He says helping women close the gender pay gap comes as part of the broad effort to get wages moving.

Updated

Legal battle between vaccine big dogs

Australians now know the names of Moderna and Pfizer like the back of their hand after the different varieties of jabs from pharmaceutical companies became a topic of conversation like never before due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

But now, Moderna is suing its US pharmaceutical rival Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech for patent infringement in the development of the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the United States, alleging they copied technology that Moderna developed years before the pandemic, Reuters reports.

Updated

Sophie Torney named as independent candidate in Victorian seat of Kew

The seat of Kew is located almost entirely within the federal seat of Kooyong, which of course saw the former treasurer Josh Frydenberg lose to Independent Monique Ryan at the May election.

The Kew Independents, an offshoot of the Voices of Kooyong movement that saw Ryan elected, today unveiled Sophie Torney would run as their candidate for the state seat.

Torney says she is running on a platform of action on climate change, healthy communities and integrity in politics.

The Liberal sitting member for Kew, Tim Smith, won’t contest the November election in what he described as a “forced retirement”. As my colleagues Tamsin Rose and Benita Kovolos reported:

Smith was told not to run at the next state poll after last year crashing his Jaguar into a parked car and then into a home in Hawthorn. He returned a blood alcohol reading of 0.131 and resigned from the front bench.

Addressing his constituents last year after the crash, Smith apologised, and vowed not to drink again while in public office.

Torney is running against Liberal candidate Jess Wilson, a former director at the Business Council of Australia, and Labor’s Lucy Skelton, the 20-year old founder of national youth advocacy platform the Student Voice Network.

Updated

Victoria records 39 Covid deaths and 377 people in hospital

There were 2,532 new cases in the last reporting period, and 16 people are in intensive care.

Updated

NSW records 20 Covid deaths and 1,781 people in hospital

There were 4,738 new cases in the last reporting period, and 39 people are in intensive care.

Updated

New fire danger ratings system to be introduced in September

Fire danger ratings will change across Australia in September, with the introduction of a new rating system.

Authorities are giving people a sneak preview of the new design, which is supposed to offer an improved and simplified system to make it easier for you to stay safe.

The new rating system has four fire danger rating levels, each with a distinct title, colour and key message (or ‘call to action’).

Newspoll predicts Victorian Labor win in November

Victorian premier Daniels Andrews looks to be on track to win a third term for Labor in the state election according to a Newspoll conducted exclusively for The Weekend Australian.

The poll shows Labor’s primary vote is only slightly below the 2018 election, but dissatisfaction with Liberal opposition leader Matthew Guy has grown.

Three months out from the election, discontent with Guy’s performance has risen seven points since voter sentiment was tested in ­November last year.

The dissatisfaction with the Liberal party at the state level comes off the back of the party losing prized federal seats across Melbourne’s inner east to independents Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniels in the May election.

There are suggestions independents will stand in key state seats after the success in the federal election. The Newspoll says statewide support for “others” is 10%.

Labor holds a 56-44% two-party ­preferred lead in the latest poll taken between Monday and Thursday, compared with the 58-42% lead Labor held in the previous Newspoll.

At 41%, Victorian Labor’s primary vote is equal to or higher than at any time before the 2014 or 2018 elections.

Andrews’ satisfaction rating of 54% is higher than at any time before the previous two elections. His dissatisfaction rating is 41%.

Only 32% of voters were satisfied with Guy’s performance compared with 49% dissatisfied.

The Greens have increased their primary vote support to 13%.

– with AAP

Updated

Greens call for immediate pay rises for minimum wage earners

Greens leader Adam Bandt says he wants to see next week’s jobs summit lead to immediate pay rises for those on the minimum wage and in women-dominated industries, warning his party wouldn’t be a “rubber stamp” for Labor.

The government will hold its jobs and skills summit on Thursday and Friday next week. Bandt, who accepted an invitation and will appear with employment spokesperson Barbara Pocock, said the Greens wanted to see a “greater role for government in setting wages across the board” through the Fair Work Act.

Bandt said the Greens would seek to amend any legislation coming out of the summit to include an immediate lift to wages, through several amendments to the Fair Work Act.

One would set the minimum wage at 60% of the median adult wage, or $23.76 per hour; the other would mandate annual wage rises at least 0.5% above the inflation rate for wages in women dominated industries like the care sector. Bandt said his party would make moves to that effect in the Senate.

Bandt:

Government must lift wages now. Not in three years, not when there have been skills reforms, but now.

If and when any proposals from the jobs summit hit the Senate, the Greens will push to change the law to guarantee wage rises.

Pocock said the Greens still wanted to see an end to the stage 3 tax cuts, due to come into effect in 2024, noting they would disproportionately benefit men as higher income earners. She said:

We need pay increases in the fast expanding care and services economy. We need targeted access for women to the expanding skilled jobs sector as the energy transition unfolds across Australia.

If the test is making working people’s lives better, the summit is doomed to fail unless it lifts low wages now and provides immediate cost of living relief. Instead of the unfair stage 3 tax cuts, the government should fund free childcare, get dental into Medicare and build affordable housing, giving households real cost living relief immediately.

Updated

Sydney records over two metres of rain for first time since 1963

As I blog with the rain falling outside, the drops add to 2,000mm fallen so far this year in Sydney.

Meteorologist Ben Domensino revealed late last night it’s the first time the city has exceeded two metres of rain since 1963 and by far the earliest date to do so since 1859.

Updated

Good morning!

And welcome to this Saturday morning Guardian blog.

The Greens are calling for immediate pay rises for those on the minimum wage and in women dominated industries to come out of the government’s jobs summit.

The Greens leader Adam Bandt and employment spokesperson Barbara Pocock, say they want to see a “greater role for government in setting wages across the board” through the Fair Work Act. We’ll bring you more on their proposals shortly.

With 90 days to go until the Victorian state election is held, a Newspoll conducted exclusively for The Weekend Australian shows premier Daniel Andrews is on track to win a third term for Labor.

The poll shows Labor’s primary vote has fallen only slightly since the 2018 election while dissatisfaction with opposition leader Matthew Guy’s performance has risen seven points since voter sentiment was last tested.

What are you up to this Saturday? If you’re seeing or hearing something interesting, you can ping me @natasha__may on Twitter or send an email to natasha.may@theguardian.com.

Let’s get going!

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