What we learned today, Friday 12 May
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go let’s recap the big headlines:
The Victorian Liberal MP, Moira Deeming, has been expelled from the party room, while her ally Renee Heath has been sanctioned.
The Tasmanian Liberal government has become a minority after two MPs announced their resignations over the new $715m stadium in Hobart.
A “litany of failings” led to the death in custody of Wayne Fella Morrison, South Australia’s coroner has found.
The former governor general Peter Hollingworth says he will stop practising as an Anglican priest, citing “distress” for abuse survivors, who have welcomed his decision.
China is ready to work with Australia on “common understandings”, its foreign ministry says.
The Greens say they will continue negotiations with Labor on the social housing bill.
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is back paying thousands of current and former casual professional staff more than $5m.
Victorian Covid deaths are up 19% this week, the chief health officer says.
Victoria’s child protection minister, Lizzie Blandthorn, has apologised for harm done to First Nations families.
Six children and two drivers have been injured in a school bus collision in the Blue Mountains.
Thank you for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow morning – until then, go well.
Updated
Australian War Memorial unveils memorial to torpedoed hospital ship
From AAP:
Within minutes of the Australian hospital ship Centaur being torpedoed, crew members ended up in the water where their watches froze in time, marking when the vessel went down.
It was around 4.10am on May 14, 1943.
The ship, sunk by a Japanese submarine about 80km northeast of Brisbane, is the subject of a new display at the Australian War Memorial.
“The loss of Centaur and the majority of her crew was a tragedy at the time and remains so 80 years on,” memorial director Matt Anderson said.
Of the 332 crew members and passengers aboard the ship, which included 12 nurses and 178 members of the 2/12 Field Ambulance, 64 survived after spending 35 hours on life rafts.
Updated
Children injured in school bus collision in Blue Mountains
From AAP:
The collision of two school buses in the Blue Mountains during the afternoon rush has left eight people in hospital.
Six children and the drivers of the colliding buses were injured when the buses collided near Sun Valley Rd on the Great Western Highway at Warrimoo in the Blue Mountains about 4.15pm on Friday.
One bus was carrying 15 passengers, while the other had 10 children on board when the vehicles collided, police say.
Two children were taken to Westmead Children’s Hospital with minor injuries. Two students were taken to Nepean Hospital with minor injuries and for assessment. And two children with minor injuries were taken to Blue Mountains Hospital.
The children taken to hospital were being treated for bruises and knocks to the head, according to NSW Ambulance.
One of the male bus drivers was taken to Nepean with an injury to his shoulder. The other was taken to one to Westmead Adult’s Hospital with minor injuries.
Updated
NSW health system boosted by 520 new staff
From AAP:
Hundreds of extra nurses and midwives are set to join the NSW public health system as the Minns government works towards a goal of hiring more than 1000 new graduates.
The 520 frontline staff will begin working in western Sydney later this year, the government said, beating a previous record intake of 383 graduates.
The 500 nurses and 20 midwives will be deployed at hospitals in Auburn, Mount Druitt and Westmead and at drug, mental health and integrated health services, premier Chris Minns said on Friday:
This next generation of nurses and midwives in ... are already making a positive impact on the lives of the patients, visitors and the communities they serve.
Each of these nurses and midwives plays an important role in helping the NSW public health system continue to deliver the care that patients expect when visiting our hospitals and health services across the state.
Updated
Man injured in chainsaw accident
An elderly man has been seriously injured after cutting his leg with a chainsaw on a property in remote central NSW, AAP has reported.
The man in his 70s cut his leg while operating the chainsaw at a property at Maitland Bar, south of Mudgee, on Friday.
The Westpac Rescue Helicopter was called by NSW Ambulance to the property, where the man was treated before being flown to John Hunter hospital in a stable condition.
It is likely he will require surgery.
Updated
Disquiet over lack of consultation over proposed Darwin harbour development
The Greens senator Dorinda Cox has responded to today’s Guardian Australia story about concerns about inadequate consultation with Larrakia people about the proposed Middle Arm development at Darwin harbour:
Juukan Gorge, Murujuga, now Middle Arm! In the year of the Voice Ref, First Nations voices must not continue to be ignored.
— Senator Dorinda Cox (@dorinda_cox) May 12, 2023
We had a change of govt now let’s get on with the stand alone cultural heritage legislation you promised @tanya_plibersek https://t.co/YojnhLe25P
Larrakia people say they are concerned the project could cause irreversible harm to cultural artefacts and stories, dreaming and rituals.
The independent MP for Kooyong Monique Ryan has also expressed her concern, directing these comments at the federal government - which is backing the project with $1.5bn - and the minister who would be responsible for the assessment of the Middle Arm proposal, Tanya Plibersek.
Ryan:
I say to Tanya Plibersek and Labor: put your money where your mouth is.
You can’t say on one hand governments must listen to Indigenous voices more, and on the other hand ignore them when they say something you don’t like.
This could be Juukan Gorge 2.0. We don’t know if it is yet, but it’s everyone’s responsibility to protect Indigenous cultural heritage before it’s too late.
Plibersek’s spokesperson has said “Traditional Owners’ views and knowledge should be considered in all project planning and approvals, particularly on matters relating to cultural heritage”, while the NT government has said it is committed to working closely with the Larrakia community and that engagement with Larrakia organisations was ongoing.
For Lisa Cox’s exclusive report on this:
Updated
Report finds problems with risk-prediction tool
From AAP:
A secret assessment of how terrorists can be kept behind bars despite completing their sentences has found serious problems.
The report, released to AAP under freedom of information laws, found strong doubts about the reliability of the way authorities predicted the risk a terrorist would re-offend – which is what underpins decisions to keep them locked up.
The Australian government uses VERA-2R and Radar to determine the risk posed, which is then used as a basis to have a court grant a continuing detention order (CDO).
A CDO allows convicted terrorists to be kept behind bars after they have served their prison sentence due to the risk to public safety.
The report’s authors, Emily Corner and Helen Taylor, found more than 1500 variables were associated with a person’s movement towards radicalisation and violent extremism.
Updated
Child protection minister apologises for harm done to First Nations families
From AAP:
Victoria’s child protection minister has apologised to First Nations people for the harm inflicted on families as a result of the state’s flawed system and colonisation.
In an emotional address to the Yoorrook Justice Commission, minister Lizzie Blandthorn called the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in Victoria’s child protection system “shameful” and vowed to do more to keep them safe.
“I have heard the evidence that this commission has received. As a minister and as a mother, I find that it is truly heartbreaking,” Ms Blandthorn said on Friday.
“I take this opportunity as minister to apologise formally and unreservedly for the harm caused by the historic removal of First People’s children from their families, their communities and their country.”
The former planning minister, who was appointed to the child protection portfolio five months ago, accepted responsibility for current and historic systemic racism and inflicted trauma.
Updated
Former minister planned to take on Google and Apple over contact-tracing app
Former government services minister Stuart Robert once formulated a plan to team up with governments around the world against Apple and Google to force the companies to make government Covid case-tracker apps better, documents reveal.
The now-decommissioned Covidsafe app was barely used by health officials to track Covid-19 cases and their close contacts in the early days of the pandemic, despite more than seven million Australians downloading the app.
Much of the criticism around the use of the app at the time was that the government was not keen on a superior version of the app which had been developed by Google and Apple. The reasoning from the government was that it was decentralised, meaning health officials would not be able to identify close contacts – except where those close contacts identified themselves.
A newly-released letter from Robert to then prime minister Scott Morrison in June 2020 reveals an audacious plan by then minister Robert to force Apple and Google to hand over the app improvements for government-developed apps.
In the letter, released under Freedom of Information law to the transparency website Right to Know, Robert proposed chairing an “international ministerial-level meeting” with countries including France, India, Israel, Iceland, Poland, Cyprus, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore and the UK to team up against Apple and Google.
“The aim of the meeting is to achieve a consensus decision to require that Apple and Google decouple the Bluetooth performance improvements from the overall [contact tracing app] model to allow it to be harnessed within sovereign approaches and tracing capabilities developed by individual jurisdictions.”
The plan appears to never have come to fruition.
Robert announced his retirement from parliament this week.
Updated
Victorian Covid deaths up 19%
We have just got the Covid update from Victoria’s CHO:
There were 7,594 Covid-19 cases reported in Victoria this week, an increase of 18% on the previous week. The average daily number of new cases this week was 1,085, up from 922 last week.
An average of eight deaths were reported each day in the past week. This represents a 19% increase compared to the same period the previous month.
The seven-day rolling average of patients with Covid in Victorian hospitals is 309, unchanged from last week.
There are currently 308 Covid patients in Victorian hospitals. Of those, 17 are in intensive care and five are on a ventilator.
In the past three months, 2,337 Covid patients were hospitalised in Victoria.
Of Victorians aged 18 and over, 17% have recorded a vaccination or Covid diagnosis in the past six months. This means 4.3 million Victorians are eligible for a 2023 booster dose.
A total of 56 Covid-related deaths were reported to the department in the past week.
Updated
In backing a parliamentary committee’s recommendation that the constitutional alteration be passed without changes, Labor senator Nita Green says the Indigenous voice proposal will “enhance Australia’s systems of governance”.
The committee probing the referendum delivered its report today (a few days earlier than expected). Green, the QLD senator and committee chair, said she didn’t believe changes to the initial proposal were needed.
“Eminent constitutional experts, former justices and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community leaders gave evidence to the inquiry during hearings in Canberra, Orange, Cairns and Perth,” she said in a foreword to the report.
“While some witnesses raised concerns regarding certain aspects of the legislation, the committee is satisfied that the constitution alteration is not only fit for purpose but also will enhance Australia’s systems of governance and laws.”
“The committee has only one recommendation: the passage of the constitution alteration, unamended.”
Of course, her comments refer to the majority report of the committee (meaning the Labor members, plus Greens’ Dorinda Cox and independent Andrew Gee). The four Coalition members of the committee presented dissenting reports, calling for changes.
Updated
Voice committee releases report on wording of proposed amendments
The parliamentary committee investigating the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum has released its report early, with Labor members of the committee recommending the wording of the constitutional change be passed unamended, but the Coalition members calling for alterations.
The split along party lines is as expected, with Labor, the Greens and former National (turned independent) Andrew Gee backing the change, while the Coalition has concerns.
Committee chair Nita Green, the Labor senator, tweeted a statement that said “no alternative proposals were necessary or justified, and in most cases, they would have watered down the intent of the proposal”.
Today the Joint Select Committee on the Voice Referendum recommended the Parliament pass the Constitution Alteration Bill unamended. pic.twitter.com/qw4QDU2NdE
— Senator Nita Green (@nitagreenqld) May 12, 2023
But Liberal senator Andrew Bragg, a longtime supporter of the voice concept, said the government should consider adding extra words to the constitutional amendment - which he said would further clarify the power of the federal parliament to decide the power of the voice’s representations.
In extra comments, additional to the dissenting report from his Liberal colleagues Kerrynne Liddle and Keith Wolahan, Bragg said “The idea that the proposed amendment cannot be improved or de-risked cannot be true.”
More to come.
Updated
Thanks for following along today. That’s it from me – I leave you in the excellent hands of Cait Kelly. Have a great weekend!
Updated
Happy International Nurses Day!
It was all smiles this morning as the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, visited Hammondcare Miranda aged care facility in south Sydney to mark International Nurses Day. If you notice former NSW premier Mike Baird standing next to the PM, that’s because he’s the CEO of Hammondcare.
Updated
UTS to pay back $5m in underpayments
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) is back paying thousands of current and former casual professional staff more than $5m after self reporting underpayment to the Fair Work Ombudsman.
A UTS spokesperson said they became aware of the underpayments, which averaged at around $1,590 per employee, while conducting an internal review during designs of a new payroll system in 2021. The highest underpayment was more than $209,000.
Following investigation, with the support of professional services firm Deloitte, it was determined that some staff had been paid less than the three-hour minimum to which they were entitled over a six-year period.
Under an enforceable agreement with the ombudsman, UTS has agreed to back pay 2,777 current and former employees $4.4m plus more than $1.3m in super and interest by July.
Fair Work Ombudsman’s Sandra Parker said since announcing addressing systemic non-compliance was a top priority last year, it had entered into enforceable undertakings with the University of Newcastle and Charles Sturt University, as well as commencing two separate legal actions against the University of Melbourne.
The underpayments by the UTS are the latest warning to all universities, and employers generally, that if you don’t prioritise workplace compliance and apply all entitlements, you risk underpaying staff on a large scale and facing enforcement action.
The UTS spokesperson said they had “apologised unreservedly” to affected staff and “taken steps to make things right”.
UTS has undertaken a remediation program to rectify the identified underpayments and ensure the issue does not reoccur. More than 80% of the above costs have now been paid, with the remainder to be paid in coming months.
Updated
Abuse survivors welcome Hollingworth decision
Survivors and survivor groups have welcomed Peter Hollingworth’s decision to cease priestly duties, saying it was “the only reasonable thing he could have done”.
Hollingworth announced his decision on Friday to return his permission to officiate, which allowed him to continue acting as a priest in a limited capacity for the Anglican church in Victoria.
It followed serious misconduct findings last month over his failure to remove paedophiles from the church’s ranks while Brisbane archbishop in the 1990s.
Blue Knot Foundation president Dr Cathy Kezelman said:
The decision of Peter Hollingworth to resign his position from the ministry is welcome and long overdue. The recent findings of misconduct by the Professional Standards Board of the Anglican Diocese of Melbourne – but support for his ongoing role in the ministry – was an assault to survivors of child sexual abuse.
It caused significant additional harm to those already harmed by the abuse they suffered under his watch, and to countless other survivors and their loved ones.
Beyond Abuse chief executive Steve Fisher said:
We welcome this. It should have happened five years ago but he’s done it now. It’s caused so much trauma and re-traumatisation to survivors, it’s the only reasonable thing he could have done.
Updated
In parliament, Labor MP Josh Wilson has hit back at the Coalition’s support of small-scale nuclear power:
Nothing tells you more about the Coalition’s energy policy vacuum than their daft and dangerous obsession with nuclear energy.#auspol pic.twitter.com/8T0Q45hQAo
— Josh Wilson (@Josh4Freo) May 12, 2023
Vessel in distress off New Zealand coast
From AAP:
Maritime New Zealand is responding to the mayday call of a Singaporean container vessel off the northwestern tip of South Island – with 24 crew preparing to abandon the ship before seas improved.
The Shiling, which was in port at Wellington for much of the last month, found itself in distress after departing the capital’s harbour on Thursday.
It requested assistance at 8:27am local time, before escalating to a mayday call at 11am after losing power, with reports of eight metre swells in the Tasman Sea.
It is currently drifting north-east in rolling seas.
In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, Maritime NZ said the heavy swell meant the crew was “preparing to abandon the vessel”.
Updated
Don Farrell said he was honoured to visit the Forbidden City. Speaking to reporters, he said:
I’m very privileged to have been invited here to this iconic site in Beijing, the Forbidden City, and I’d just like to say just how much we appreciate the organisation by the minister of commerce - who I’ll be meeting a little bit later this afternoon - for organising this very special trip. This is my second time to the Forbidden City.
Asked whether it was a good sign for his subsequent meeting, Farrell quipped:
Well, I’ll tell you what’s a good sign. As I got out of the car and started walking down here I heard a crow - crow - and of course I’m an ambassador for the Adelaide Crows so I think it was a very propitious indication of good luck to hear a crow.
Government rolls out consent education program
From AAP:
A new approach to teach Australian school children about sex and consent using content and resources produced by their peers will form part of a $83m consent education funding plan to be rolled out in schools across the country.
The plan comes after several false starts and flawed approaches, including a government-funded video on sharing milkshakes that was panned by states and community groups in 2021.
Social services minister, Amanda Rishworth:
We’ve seen what happens when governments take on consent education without consultation. We get ads about milkshakes.
If we don’t co-design our campaigns with our target audience, we’re not going to reach them.
The new approach includes a $3.5m investment in advocacy group Teach Us Consent to deliver relevant and evidence-based resources to young people about healthy relationships, sex and consent.
Updated
Trade minister prepares for crucial meeting with Chinese counterpart
The trade minister, Don Farrell, has toured Beijing’s Forbidden City ahead of crucial talks with his Chinese counterpart later today.
Farrell is due to meet with China’s commerce minister, Wang Wentao, in Beijing to push to resolve trade “impediments” imposed at the height of diplomatic tensions in 2020.
The meeting is due to begin about 5.30pm AEST - and a press conference is expected hours later.
The “pool” reporters on the trip, Ben Packham of The Australian and Tom McIlroy of the Australian Financial Review, inform us that Farrell has today been given a tour of the Forbidden City by the deputy director-general of the commerce ministry, Peng Wei.
They also report that in a meeting late yesterday, the chairman of the world’s biggest steel maker, China Baowu Group, raised the possibility of a big investment in Western Australia for a new green steel mill, although West Africa and South America were also being considered.
Updated
Pesutto has confirmed Trung Luu is the new Victorian Liberal party secretary.
Updated
Pesutto would not name the members who moved the motion demoting Heath.
Pesutto says Renee Heath ‘still has a future in the party room’
On how upper house member Renee Heath lost the role of Liberal secretary, Pesutto says the motion was moved because it was a reflection of the view in the room:
There had been a loss of confidence in the performance of the role. Not in Renee personally of course, but in the performance of the role. And that it was an opportunity to elect somebody to that position for a fresh start. Renee still is a member of the party room, she still has a future in the party room with other roles.
Updated
Greens say they will continue negotiations with Labor on social housing bill
After the Senate rejected Labor’s bid to force a vote on the Housing Australia Future Fund bill on Thursday, the Greens party room has met to discuss progress in negotiations.
A Greens spokesperson said:
Labor’s Senate tactics to bully the housing bill through in the middle of negotiations failed this week.
Party room met and discussed the budget and the parliamentary week, including an update on the negotiations on the housing bill, and agreed to continue negotiations in good faith to achieve action on renters and public and affordable housing.
Updated
‘Nobody’ could consider it a ‘tenable position’ for one party member to sue another: Pesutto
Pesutto:
There were a lot of matters discussed in this morning’s party room meeting and I think most reasonable people would draw the inference, very obvious inference, that that played a part in the considerations … I think nobody could look at that and say that is a tenable position in any political party for one member of the party room – whichever the party is – to sue another member of that party.
Updated
Pesutto goes on:
We appreciate that Moira was elected but we also have a responsibility to the broader Victorian people, including people of the Western Metropolitan region, to be an inclusive and welcoming party that can accommodate conservative and more progressive viewpoints but do [so] in a way where we’re contributing to the team and being part the team.
Updated
Pesutto declines to go into detail of party room discussions of legal threat
On whether he believed the legal threat from Deeming made her position in the party room untenable, Pesutto says he won’t go into the detail of what was discussed:
What I will say is that I don’t think that sat well with people in the room. I think people understood that to be a party, you cannot really have such litigation between member for the same party room.
Updated
Pesutto is largely dodging going into the details of why Deeming was expelled. He says much of what’s occurred has been “self-evident” and “in the public realm”.
Party members knew exactly what was before them. I do not think any party member – in fact I am certain – there was no party member who did not understand what the motion was about and what we discussed.
You will appreciate I am not going to go into the discussions that were actually had in this room a short while ago, but what I can say is, a lot of this was self-evident and on the public record.
Updated
Pesutto says what has occurred in recent weeks had “nothing to do with whether somebody is conservative or progressive”.
I know from long experience as a member, a proud member of the Liberal party, that is at its best when it brings people from different perspectives together.
What has happened today and in recent weeks has nothing to do with whether somebody is conservative or progressive.
It is all about: are we a united, disciplined and focused team?
Updated
Unity, focus and discipline first step in reform for Victorian Liberals: Pesutto
Pesutto is asked what he means by the reform that he’s flagged:
Reform starts with being a united, focused and disciplined team. The party room does understand that in order for us to be that effective opposition Victorians desperately need, to hold a tired … and exhausted old government to account, they need us to be focused and disciplined.
That is the first bit of the reform. The second bit is building our resources organisationally, working … to develop policies, campaigning [on] policies and being a strong and present force in the community to represent the community needs.
Reform has many layers and it will take us time to put all those building blocks in place but today, it was about being part of a team and being focused and discipline.
Updated
Pesutto ‘very comfortable’ with level of support as party leader
Pesutto is being asked about how viable his leadership is, given 11 MP voted against the motion.
I am very comfortable with the level of support I had today [and that] my colleagues were able to secure with the motion they brought. As you say, there were 19 votes in favour, 11 against.
That is a strong endorsement of a process that was very difficult but it was very challenging.
Remember when any party has to deal with any kind of question of expulsion or suspension, it is not easy for members and people can fall on either side of the line but here, as a team, we understood how important it was to make a strong stand, and in the party room did that.
Updated
‘We made real progress’ on reform of Victorian Liberal party: Pesutto
Pesutto says he is pleased with the support of his colleagues in the party room meeting today:
We know that a big part of the reform journey is about being disciplined and united and very focused as a team.
Today I was very pleased with the strong support I obtained for that vision of the party, we have a lot more work to do.
Reform is not easy and reform does take time, but I previously asked Victorians to bear with me and my colleagues as we work through that reform process and we are on our way. We are doing solid work and we made real progress today.
Updated
'Today is a turning point': Pesutto
It’s all happening this lunchtime. The Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, has stepped up to speak following Moira Deeming’s expulsion from the Victorian party room.
Today marks a real turning point for the state parliamentary Liberal party which I am honoured to lead.
We had a long meeting in here this morning, as you know. We are as a team committed to being a disciplined, united and focused team.
We know that in order to be an effective opposition – which is our primary responsibility now to hold the Andrews Labor government to account – but also, to be the alternative government in 2026 … we have to be [an] inclusive, welcoming and engaged party that is in touch with our local communities, talking about the issues that are relevant to them.
Updated
‘Full steam ahead’ for Biden’s attendance at Sydney Quad meeting despite debt ceiling standoff concerns
Officials continue to prepare for Joe Biden to attend the Quad in Sydney later this month despite the president hinting there was a chance the debt ceiling standoff could affect his plans to travel to regional events including the G7 in Hiroshima, Japan.
Multiple sources with knowledge of the Quad planning said it was “full steam ahead” with the preparations and they were proceeding on the basis the president would attend.
The Quad summit, to be held at the Sydney Opera House on 24 May, will be hosted by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and will also include the Japanese prime minister, Fumio Kishida, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.
Albanese, speaking in Sydney moments ago, also signalled his expectation that Biden would attend the Quad:
I look forward to welcoming President Biden to Australia.
Updated
Peter Hollingworth resigns from church citing 'distress' for victims
Peter Hollingworth is handing back his permission to officiate as an Anglican priest, citing a desire to “end distress” for victims and stop the “division” in the church.
Hollingworth was last month the subject of six misconduct findings, delivered after a protracted internal church process, including over his failure to act to remove paedophiles from the church’s ranks while he was Brisbane archbishop in the 1990s. But the process recommended Hollingworth be allowed to continue in his priestly duties in Victoria, saying he posed no unacceptable risk of harm.
Hollingworth, Australia’s 23rd governor general, has today announced that he will be returning his permission to officiate regardless.
He has issued the following statement:
I wish to announce that earlier this week I notified the Anglican Archbishop of Melbourne that I will be returning my Permission to Officiate (PTO).
Despite the Professional Standards Board (PSB) inquiry finding that I was fit to retain my licence because I was not a risk of harm to anyone, I am concerned that my continuing to exercise priestly functions as a bishop is a cause of pain to survivors. I want to end distress to them, and division within the church.
As Archbishop of Brisbane from 1990 to 2001, I was ill-equipped to deal with the child abuse issue and, like some other church people, was too defensive of the church on the advice of lawyers and insurers. I say that as a matter of context, not as an excuse. I have lived with my failures every day since.
It is more than 20 years since allegations against me were first made. There have been five separate inquiries, including the five-year inquiry by the PSB. They have occupied countless time, energy, emotion and expense for many people.
Many times I have acknowledged that I made mistakes and issued apologies. My regrets have become even more profound over the years, as we have all gained a better understanding of the impact of child sexual abuse through the Royal Commission into Institutional Child Sexual Abuse and other investigations.
But I did not commit a crime. I did not cover up sexual abuse. And I was not an abuser. The PTO, commonly granted to retired priests, allowed me to conduct services at my local parish as well as marriages, funerals and baptisms. While I will no longer perform these duties, I will continue my lifelong commitment to social justice and service to the community.
Updated
We’ll bring you more on Hollingworth in a moment.
In the meantime, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has paid tribute to nurses on international nurses’ day. Speaking after visiting an aged care home in south Sydney, Albanese said:
I think our nurses and our carers are angels on earth.
Updated
Peter Hollingworth resigns
Peter Hollingworth is leaving the Anglican church and will hand back his permission to officiate as a priest, citing a desire to “end distress” for victims and stop the “division” in the church.
Updated
Wayne Fella Morrison inquest: evidence speculated about ‘controversial syndrome’ known as ‘excited delirium’
The South Australian coroner has found “no single factor or mechanism” responsible for the death of Wayne Fella Morrison, an Aboriginal man who died in custody in September 2016.
The potential causes are multifactorial in nature and include the effects of marked 145 physical exertion, emotional and psychological stress and underlying coronary artery disease.
Morrison, 29, died at Royal Adelaide hospital after being restrained outside his cell at Yatala Labour prison.
In making the finding, the coroner, Jayne Basheer, relied on evidence from Dr Cheryl Charlwood that speculated the “controversial syndrome” known as “excited delirium” may have contributed to his death.
Charlwood, who said she was “not qualified to provide an opinion on whether Mr Morrison was suffering from an acute psychotic episode at the relevant time” described excited delirium as:
A psychiatric or drug-related episode that induces profound agitation and/or aggression, and which may predispose a person to cardiac arrythmia, potential muscle damage and death. Death is reportedly often seen after the person lapses into a tranquil state.
Morrison had no history of drug use.
“Excited delirium” was controversially cited by police in the US as a complicating factor in the death of George Floyd but its role was ultimately rejected.
For more on its history in Australia, read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting:
Updated
Marles defends budget against claims it is inflationary
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has said the government understands inflationary pressures on households. He told Nine:
That’s why obviously our budget was very focused on providing cost-of-living relief … [and] making sure that the budget was one which did not give rise to any inflationary impact on our economy.
The government argues its spending is well spread out and elements such as the energy bill relief will take pressure off the RBA in terms of rates.
The budget papers stated policies to reduce the cost of living would directly reduce inflation in 2023/24 by 0.75 of a percentage point.
Dutton said government spending would increase by $185bn over five years compared with the Coalition’s last budget.
- AAP
Updated
Leading bank says budget won't add to inflation
Australia’s largest bank says it does not think the federal budget will add to inflationary pressures in the economy or push up interest rates, AAP reports.
The Commonwealth Bank’s latest economic note came as opposition leader Peter Dutton sought to cast blame on the Albanese Labor government for driving up inflation and making the prospect of another rate rise more likely.
CBA economists said:
Our assessment is that the 2023 commonwealth budget does not add to inflationary pressures in the economy.
As such, we have not changed our forecast profile for inflation or our call on the RBA.
Our central scenario puts the current 3.85 per cent as the peak in the cash rate, while the near term risk sits with another rate hike.
Energy price relief in the budget would take 0.75 percentage points from headline inflation in 2023/24.
Medicare bulk billing incentives along with childcare subsidies will also put downward pressure directly on measured inflation, the bank said.
The CBA expects the Reserve Bank to cut rates by 50 basis points in the fourth quarter of this year and 75 basis points in 2024 taking the cash rate to 2.6%.
It’s what our economics correspondent Peter Hannam told you yesterday:
Updated
'Litany of failings' in treatment of Wayne Fella Morrison, coroner's report finds
The South Australian coroner has declined to make adverse findings against the corrections officers involved in the restraint of Wayne Fella Morrison despite an excessive use of force at one point in his restraint.
In handing down her findings at the coroner’s court in Adelaide on Friday, the coroner, Jayne Basheer, made a brief appearance where she declined to read her findings in full.
The findings speak for themselves. I am mindful of how long the family has waited for this finding to be delivered. And I do want to take this opportunity to publicly express my condolences to the Morrison family.
The 164-page decision “revealed a litany of failings and shortcomings at every stage of Mr Morrison’s management whilst he was in the care and custody of the Department for Correctional Services”.
Basheer largely attributed the incident to the officers’ lack of training.
The conduct of individuals must be considered against the whole of the evidence which includes glaring deficiencies in the training of correctional officers at Yatala Labour prison which were exposed when these officers were called upon to manage a major incident.
The coroner found that the level of force used during the initial restraint was “reasonable and necessary”; however, the decision to carry Morrison by his arms and legs, face down, once restrained was not necessary and considered “an excessive use of force”.
Updated
$55,000 Christmas charge to defence was made in error, BAE Systems says
BAE Systems Australia has responded to the revelations that it tried to bill the Australian Department of Defence $55,000 for Christmas cards and decorations.
A number of expense claims were detailed in an Australian National Audit Office report on the initial stages of the program to build nine new Hunter-class frigates for the Royal Australian Navy at the Osborne shipyard in Adelaide.
A company spokesperson said in a statement:
The costs reported on today were charged in error and were quickly identified through our stringent financial auditing process.
Every month, costs and expenses billed to the customer are audited to ensure they are reasonable and comply with the terms of our agreement.
In this case, the process worked in identifying the costs that did not meet this criteria or were incorrectly or mistakenly charged in error and were immediately rectified.
Updated
Pesutto to speak in half an hour
John Pesutto, David Southwick and Georgie Crozier have left the party room. Pesutto confirms Deeming has been expelled and Heath stripped of her party secretary position.
Pesutto tells reporters:
Go get a coffee, we’ll be back in half an hour.
Updated
Brighton MP, James Newbury – one of the signatories of the motion to expel Deeming – has also spoken:
You cannot sue your boss and expect to keep your job. Suing your party and your leader is a gross act of betrayal. But we are moving forward united as a team.
Updated
Upper house MP David Davis just told reporters:
It was a strong and decisive, clear result. The party room is resolved to move forward. We’ve made a set of decisions.
I’ll leave it to the leadership group to talk in detail, but I think it’s a clear and firm direction forward. This is about the future and about us taking on the Andrews Labor government – and let’s be clear, there is plenty to take them on.
Updated
‘We’re moving forward’, says Victorian MP who put name to expulsion motion
Roma Britnell and Cindy McLeish have exited the Liberal party room. The two MPs put their name to the motion to expel Moira Deeming. They’re both pleased with the result. Britnell says:
We’re moving forward.
Updated
Deeming expelled from Victorian Liberal party room, Heath sanctioned
Controversial MP Moira Deeming has been expelled from the Victorian Liberal party room, while her ally Renee Heath has been sanctioned.
Nepean MP Sam Groth has confirmed Deeming’s colleagues voted to expel her during a party room meeting on Friday morning, meaning she will have to serve the remaining three-and-a-half years of her term on the crossbench in the upper house of the Victorian parliament. Groth told reporters:
I think it’s a real chance to draw a line in the sand for the party now. We’ve a meeting, we’re going to move forward.
We’re going to get behind John [Pesutto], and I think it’s a chance for us now, as I’ve said, right from the start of this whole drama – it’s time for the Liberal Party to start being a viable option … it’s time to [unite] together behind John to do and do what is best for the state.
Guardian Australia understands the party voted 19-11 to expel Deeming and to remove Heath.
The expulsion motion was put forward by five MPs – Roma Britnell, Wayne Farnham, the former opposition leader Matthew Guy, Cindy McLeish and James Newbury – who alleged Deeming was “bringing discredit” on the parliamentary team.
Heath, who accused Pesutto of bullying last week, was also sanctioned and stripped of her party secretary position after another former opposition leader, Michael O’Brien, moved a successful motion.
Deeming, who had earlier been suspended by the party for nine months, was not present for the meeting.
Updated
Upper house member Renee Heath – a Deeming ally – has just left the party room and told reporters she’s no longer the Liberals secretary.
Updated
We’ve just ticked over the two hour mark for the Liberal party room meeting with no word yet on whether Deeming has been expelled. MPs backing the motion were very confident it would get up.
A heap of Deeming supporters have just left the party room.
Alexander says she cannot answer the questions from her constituents about how the decision to build the stadium was made:
We all started united as a state in supporting a team and somewhere along the line it became a package with the stadium.
And I have not been able to understand where did that come from, where is the basis of the information, when the decision was made, who participated in that decision.
There are a number of questions in addition to the debt, in addition to the future plans, that are unanswered and that have created this big anxiety and split in our community and people deserve to get an answer to all these genuine questions.
‘I want to see what the books say’, Tucker says on stadium
Tucker says he and Alexander do not believe their decision to quit the Liberal party will derail the stadium in Hobart from being built.
Myself and Lara do not believe that we will derail the stadium.
We are interested to look at what the contractors say and what the business case say. If the business case stacks up and everything looks right, I do not have a problem supporting the stadium.
I suppose you could say I’m sitting on the fence with this, I want to see what the books say.
Updated
‘I never imagined I would get to this moment today’, quitting Liberal says
The other MP quitting the Tasmanian Liberal party, Lara Alexander gets up to speak following Tucker and says the reasons for her decision is “very much similar”.
I never imagined I would get to this moment today. But I have to be truthful to what I believe in and I would like to hope that those voters that voted for me just because I was a blue colour, they realised that this is a difficult decision but ultimately my interest in my interest at heart are for the Bass constituents and Tasmanians in this very important matter.
Updated
Tasmanian Liberal MPs explain why they are quitting
The two northern MPs quitting the Tasmanian Liberal party, Bass member Lara Alexander and Lyons member John Tucker, have addressed the media this morning.
The decision of the backbenchers throws the state government into a minority as the premier, Jeremy Rockliff, had been elected with a one seat majority.
Tucker says:
We are leaving the Liberal party because of a few issues, mainly we’re worried about where we’re headed with debt with the stadium and also with Marinus Link. Because we want to know the full facts of what the deals have been done behind closed doors. We have not, as backbenchers, been provided with any of that information. We want to ensure for the Tasmanian taxpayers, that the stadium does not become a nightmare for them going forward as we go forward in the future generations.
Updated
Deeming thanks supporters
Moira Deeming says her lone supporter on the steps of Victoria’s parliament must have missed the memo that she would not be attending the party room meeting voting on her expulsion.
That meeting is still ongoing and we’ll bring you the outcome of the ballot as soon as it’s announced.
A lone Deeming supporter out the front of #springst he’s wearing a Liberal Party tshirt @abcmelbourne pic.twitter.com/Jf4VydDdlK
— Richard Willingham (@rwillingham) May 11, 2023
He might have missed the memo that I wasn’t going to be there. I’m grateful to him, and my other supporters.
— Moira Deeming MP (@MoiraDeemingMP) May 12, 2023
Updated
‘We want to protect country, water and sacred sites’
In a statement sent to the NT government, the Nurrdalinji Aboriginal Corporation said traditional owners in the Beetaloo basin had also not been properly consulted about the expansion of the gas industry, which at full production could see thousands of wells drilled in the region between Katherine and Tennant Creek.
They say they want the government to “come to where we live and meet with us and listen to our concerns.”
The statement says:
We want to protect country, water and sacred sites from damage. We want to be able to take children and grandchildren hunting and keep our sacred places safe.
We have never been properly consulted. We worry about pollution and the many hundreds, maybe thousands of wells to come. Some of us have seen the damage from just one or two.
Updated
Beetaloo basin traditional owners back Larrikia people
Traditional owners in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo basin say they express their solidarity with senior Larrakia people in Darwin who say governments have failed to properly consult them over the Middle Arm development on Darwin harbour.
Guardian Australia revealed today the site of the proposed Middle Arm industrial precinct is near Darwin’s only known remaining Indigenous rock art. Senior Larrakia people, who are the traditional owners of Darwin, say the development could cause irreversible harm to cultural artefacts at the Middle Arm site as well as to dreaming stories and rituals.
They say governments failed their own protocols for consultation with First Nations people, with the NT government waiting two years after announcing the project before proposing a Larrakia advisory committee, which has never had a formal meeting.
The Northern Territory government is the developer and the Albanese government has committed $1.5b for new port infrastructure.
It comes a week after the NT government announced conditions had been met to move to gas production in the Beetaloo. Some gas from the Beetaloo is expected to be transported to Middle Arm for export.
Updated
‘I want to see what the government can come forward with’: Dutton noncommittal on aged care funding
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also faced questions about his offer to work with the government to make aged care funding more sustainable. Asked whether he was advocating for increased charging of residents or some other proposal, Dutton did not go into specifics. He suggested the ball was in the government’s court to put forward options that the opposition would then consider:
I want to see what the government can come forward with, because I want an aged care system that respects our elderly.
All of us have heard horror stories. There are a lot of other stories of good experiences. And we need a better level of care and a sustainable model for aged care to work for an ageing population. There are a lot of people being diagnosed in our country with conditions like early dementia and that high-need care is more prevalent as the years go on. So the government has, I think, mooted some change in change in this area and we’re happy to sit down and talk with them about what options might be available.
I want a dignified system. I want people to be treated with respect: those who have worked hard, they have raised their children, they have paid taxes, they have made our country the great country that it is. And I think as they age, and particularly when they can’t take care of themselves, we have to have a system that treats them with dignity and with respect.
Updated
Dutton backs beleaguered Tasmanian premier
The federal Liberal leader, Peter Dutton, was asked for his reaction to the breaking news about the Tasmanian Liberal government slipping into minority with two MPs flagging they will quit to sit on the crossbench.
Dutton replied with a general endorsement of the premier, Jeremy Rockliff:
Well, I saw Premier Rockliff in Tasmania last weekend. I have known him for a long time. I think he’s doing a great job as the premier of Tasmania. And I am sure at the next state election there will be a lot of support for him … There’s no doubt that he’ll deserve support at the time of the next election.
Dutton said the Tasmanian economy under Labor had been “a complete basket case”.
Updated
The scoop on those sequinned jackets
The internet is loving the Perth synth-metal band’s sequinned jackets. For those, including the BBC, who wanted to know where they’re from, SBS got the answer:
"It's just the coolest thing I've ever worn in my entire life."
— SBS Eurovision (@SBSEurovision) May 11, 2023
Voyager let us into their room for a sneak peek at their amazing jackets.#Eurovision2023 prime time screening | Friday at 7:30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand. pic.twitter.com/pAXraoUIyX
Updated
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, has congratulated Australia’s Eurovision entry, Voyager, on making it to the final of the song competition.
Australia has made it into the Grand Final of Eurovision!
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) May 11, 2023
Congratulations and C’arn Voyager! 🎶🎹🇦🇺 @SBSEurovision https://t.co/hTi46vJ0mU
For those who didn’t get up at 4am AEST here’s a bit of what you missed…
Voyager, Promise me you'll let me know where you got the sequin fits from 👀#Eurovision2023 pic.twitter.com/QwVUi165bu
— BBC Eurovision (@bbceurovision) May 11, 2023
No country has had a bigger reaction than Australia - well done Voyager #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/TMoK1Gpma1
— Priyant 👨🏾🚀 (@Priyant1987) May 11, 2023
Dutton says his jobseeker proposal will give welfare recipients more money
On raising jobseeker, Dutton doesn’t say anything we didn’t know – he’s withholding support and instead wants to negotiate with the government to advocate for the Coalitions’ idea of welfare recipients being able to earn more before payments are reduced.
He highlights the government last year took on board the similar idea they had for aged pensioners and veterans:
We think the better approach is to allow people on a jobseeker payment to work, say, five to 10 hours a fortnight, it would give them a lot of extra money in their pocket, compared to the $40 the government is offering.
… We want to have that conversation with the government, as we did last year. In June last year, I announced our policy which would make the work bonus arrangements more generous, and encourage people on an aged pension or who are veterans to work a few extra hours without it affecting their pension.
The government picked up that policy in part and we hope they’ll do the same here. We’ll have that conversation with them before we make a final decision in relation to the payment.
Updated
Dutton doubles down on migration criticism
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking in the fabulously named suburb of Jerrabomberra following his budget reply speech last night, which doubled down on migration attacks.
Dutton criticised Labor for the projected net migration increase of 1.5 million people over five years, saying it would make the cost-of-living crisis worse.
Asked this morning what that number should be, Dutton said:
This is the biggest migration intake in our country’s history and it’s done in an unplanned way.
We live in an amazing country with a great multicultural story. The success of our country is based on a number of firm pillars but one of those is the successful migration story of bringing people from the four corners of the earth.
We want that to continue but it has to be in a managed way. We have Australians who can’t find rental accommodation, people are sitting in congestion every morning, every afternoon … If we’re going to bring in more people than the entire population of Adelaide, there needs to be some planning.
Immigration is the topic of today’s newsroom edition podcast, have a listen here:
Updated
Ambulance Victoria responds to drug and alcohol test results being posted on intranet
Ambulance Victoria says it will fulfill its reporting commitments to the state’s privacy watchdog after Guardian Australia revealed that the confidential drug and alcohol test results of graduate paramedics were posted on the staff intranet.
According to an email sent late Thursday to members of the Victorian Ambulance Union, confidential spreadsheets relating to pre-employment testing of graduate paramedics in 2017 and 2018 were available on the staff intranet until the union alerted Ambulance Victoria to the problem.
In the member email, the union said the private information included the full names of graduate paramedics, when they were tested, whether the result was positive or negative, and, if positive, the substance that had been detected.
The union said it had written to Ambulance Victoria urging it to contact any affected employee, including past employees, about the breach, conduct an audit to determine who had accessed the files, and immediately cease all alcohol and drug screening until it could be confident the issue had been rectified.
It also said it had told Ambulance Victoria to report the breach to the Office of the Victorian Information Commissioner (Ovic) and other relevant authorities.
An Ambulance Victoria spokesperson said it would fulfill its reporting obligations to the Ovic. They said:
We take privacy very seriously and acknowledge the distress that this may cause. Those affected are being notified and will be provided wellbeing support.
Updated
Liberals consider sanctions against another MP in relation to Deeming
Just got word from inside the party room that they’re considering moving a motion to sanction another MP connected to the Deeming saga.
This had been flagged by some MPs last week.
Updated
Tasmanian government to become a minority as two MPs announce resignations over stadium
The only Liberal government in the country will lead in minority if two MPs quit the party over concerns about the new $715m stadium in Hobart.
The ABC reports that two Tasmanian Liberal MPs say they will quit the party to sit as independents:
Bass member Lara Alexander and Lyons member John Tucker plan to resign later this morning as both party members and members of the parliamentary Liberal Party.
They will also leave their parliamentary positions, including memberships of parliamentary committees. Both politicians will continue to serve their electorates as independents on the crossbench.
Both have flagged concerns about future debt surrounding Hobart’s $715 million Macquarie Point Stadium, with Ms Alexander also taking issue with the transparency of government decision making, and Mr Tucker airing grievances against Marinus Link.
Updated
Moira Deeming not attending party room vote
Last to enter the party room were MPs Bev McArthur, Nick McGowan, Bill Tilley and David Hodgett.
As foreshadowed, Moira Deeming is a no show.
And now we wait.
Updated
Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto arrives at party room for Moira Deeming vote
Pesutto arrives with lots of supporters, including Roma Britnell, Cindy McLeish, Georgie Crozier, Matt Bach, David Southwick and former opposition leader Michael O’Brien.
Liberal leader John Pesutto has arrived for the vote to expel Moira Deeming from the party room. “The party needs to move forward he says,” he says. pic.twitter.com/FGrBgDjVoq
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) May 11, 2023
Updated
Liberals need to ‘refocus on the things that actually matter to Victorians’
Sandringham MP Brad Roswell says he backs Pesutto “100%”:
I’m hoping to get out of the way today, whatever we need to get out of the way and get it out of our system. And refocus on the things that actually matter to Victorians because that’s why I’m here. And that’s why the majority of my colleagues are here.
Updated
Unsurprisingly, conservative MP Bev McArthur says she’s voting against the motion to expel Deeming. Says she won’t comment until after the vote though.
MPs Brad Battin, Richard Riordan and Ryan Smith were all tight-lipped when they arrived together. Asked how they thought it would go, Riordan said “we’ll wait and see”.
Updated
MPs arriving for expulsion vote in Victoria
Liberal MPs have begun arriving at parliament ahead of a party room meeting to expel Moira Deeming.
Rowville MP Kim Wells, who is widely considered a moderate in the party but has been supporting Deeming, made some quick comments to reporters:
I wish it hadn’t come to this but now it’s got to be dealt with in the party room … The expulsion is going to be done today. But it’ll be interesting to see what follows on from that. Obviously, there’s a defamation case now. So it’s going make things I think very difficult.
Asked if John Pesutto would survive as leader, he replied:
It’s an internal matter.
Updated
Virtual kidnappings targeting students on rise in NSW
Virtual kidnapping scams targeting the families of Chinese students in Australia are on the rise, NSW police say.
The FBI defines virtual kidnapping as:
Unlike traditional abductions, virtual kidnappers have not actually kidnapped anyone. Instead, through deceptions and threats, they coerce victims to pay a quick ransom before the scheme falls apart.
Four instances have been reported in the past month, with victims receiving threats unless they pay between $175,000 and $250,000.
The total amount demanded exceeds $750,000.
Incidents of a similar nature have been reported to interstate and international law-enforcement agencies, netting millions of dollars from victims around the world, police said.
– with AAP
Updated
Pacific Highway fire
Meanwhile in NSW, three trucks have collided on the Pacific Highway, sparking a blaze and closing the highway in both directions at Verges Creek.
The fire has now been extinguished and one driver taken to hospital with minor injuries, 9News reports.
#ALERT: The Pacific Highway is closed in both directions at Verges Creek, following a collision between three trucks.
— 9News Sydney (@9NewsSyd) May 11, 2023
The crash near Kempsey sparked a large blaze, which firefighters have now extinguished.
One driver was taken to hospital with minor injuries. #9News pic.twitter.com/YgmmBKl709
Updated
Butler says Dutton's budget reply was 'the same old policies they tried to run at the last election'
Butler hit back at Dutton saying the opposition leader’s budget reply speech did nothing to show they had changed from the party that was “comprehensively rejected” at last year’s federal election:
I think what was missing last night in Peter Dutton’s reply was a sense that this is a party that has listened and learned from their devastating election loss last year.
I mean, he was a senior central member of a government that was comprehensively rejected.
But there was nothing from last night to show that they’ve changed - the same old policies they tried to run at the last election.
Updated
Butler maintains budget helps ‘middle Australia’
Butler also defended the budget against the accusation it abandoned middle Australia, as Dutton said in his budget reply last night.
Butler:
The idea that this budget and our budget in October was not focused on working families – on middle Australia if you want to use that term – it’s complete rubbish.
I mean, the substantial injection into general practice impacts everyone … As I’ve said, there’s billions of dollars additional funding to to to Medicare.
The idea that millions of mums and dads who want bulk-billed services for their children aren’t middle Australia is ridiculous. Cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines, all of these things are focused on the needs of working families who are doing it so tough out there in the economic environment.
Updated
Butler defends not prioritising contraception and abortion access
Circling back to the health minister Mark Butler’s interview with RN Breakfast. Host Patricia Karvelas took Butler to task for quietly abandoning contraception and abortion access as a budget priority.
Although abortion is legal, many Australian women face barriers of access and cost – as opposed to countries like the UK where abortion is free.
Butler says it wasn’t a focus in the budget because there is still a Senate inquiry into reproductive health services, including termination, under way.
Our position is there’s got to be equitable access. It’s a very core principle …
The way in which we put that principle into practice is going to be fleshed out through this inquiry. As I said, I’m looking forward to its recommendations.
I have very little doubt that it is going to require some conversations with state governments because the public hospital system and so many other public health services are delivered by state governments, even if to a very significant extent they’re funded by us.
Updated
Victorian Liberals to vote on Moira Deeming expulsion
Meanwhile in Melbourne, Benita Kolovos is going to be keeping you abreast of all the drama that unfolds today as the Victorian Liberal party room meets for the second time in six weeks to determine whether Moira Deeming is expelled. Stay tuned.
Read into this what you will but the Liberals haven’t placed bollards out the front of their party room this morning. Vote to expel Moira Deeming from the party room kicking off around 9.30am. Will keep you updated via @GuardianAus live blog. pic.twitter.com/2K5RHUDwq2
— Benita Kolovos (@benitakolovos) May 11, 2023
Updated
News Corp revenues hold up despite declining ad takings
News Corporation says a big increase in revenues at Dow Jones & Company helped the media giant overcome economic challenges to post better-than expected revenue results for the quarter, AAP reports.
The US-listed group, which owns several newspapers, pay TV and streaming services in Australia, on Friday reported revenue dropped 2% to $US2.45bn ($A3.66bn) compared with consensus expectations of $US2.39bn for the three months ending March 31 .
News Corp chief executive Robert Thomson said a 38% increase in revenues at professional information business Dow Jones & Company was responsible for the result. He said:
These results demonstrate the fundamental differences in the character of News Corp compared with other media companies.
In a period in which advertising was clearly insipid in certain parts of the world, our core non-advertising revenue has been particularly robust.
Updated
Ley ‘horrified’ at health minister’s criticism of extra psychology subsidies
And oh boy, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley is not happy about Butler’s “lazy policy” comments.
Following the health minister on ABC Radio, Ley called on Butler to seriously reflect on whether he cares about mental health:
I was sitting here seething, as I heard you speak to the health minister, having been a health minister.
To describe restoring Medicare subsidised psychological sessions as lazy policy, when I know young women who have absolutely had their lives rescued by having enough sessions to make a difference …
He actually used the word lazy twice. I’m absolutely horrified.
That’s that’s something he should go away and reflect on and seriously consider whether he really does care about mental health as the health minister of this country.
Updated
Butler says Dutton's pledge to increase psychology subsidies is 'lazy policy'
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, last night pledged to permanently increase the number of subsided psychological sessions from 10 to 20.
However, Butler has called it a “lazy policy”. The health minister continued to defend the Albanese government’s decision not to extend the measure introduced by the Morrison government during the pandemic because he said it was not equitable:
This is a lazy policy. This is a policy that will make wait lists longer for psychological therapy. That was the finding of the independent evaluation that I published in December … It showed that those additional 10 sessions were not going to the people who needed it most, they were not going to people with more complex needs.
Updated
Medicare benefits increase will help all patients, Butler says
The surprise centrepiece of the budget was $5.7bn increased funding for Medicare, including incentives to improve bulk billing for children and concession cardholders.
The health minister, Mark Butler, says the government will also cater for those people who are not eligible for the bulk-billing plan.
He’s told ABC Radio:
Rebates aren’t frozen, every rebate on the MBS [Medicare Benefits Schedule] in going to increase next year – the biggest Medicare increase across the board – every single service, for every single Australian.
Updated
Eurovision fans rejoice, Australia is through to the finals …
Updated
Hume weighs in on Deeming defamation notice
Victorian Liberal MPs will today gather for the second time to determine whether Moira Deeming is expelled from its party room.
Hume, one of the most senior Victorian Liberals, is largely saying she will leave the decision to the state party room.
But she does say on Deeming’s issuing of a defamation concern notice to the party leader, John Pesutto:
I don’t think it’s the sort of thing we would do in the parliamentary team at the federal level.
If you’re still confused by this whole saga, Benita Kolovos has you covered:
Updated
Hume says Coalition will negotiate with Labor to kill off jobseeker increase
Dutton revealed last night the Coalition would withhold support for the government’s $40-a-fortnight increase in jobseeker, and instead call for welfare recipients to be able to earn more before payments are reduced.
On whether the Coalition will oppose the raise to jobseeker, Hume says they are optimistic negotiations will see the government adopt their amendments.
I think the government will see the light here. There is great benefit in giving people incentive to work more, to remove them from that welfare cycle and into work.
Updated
Coalition continues budget attack
The shadow finance minister, Jane Hume, is continuing the Coalition’s attack on the Albanese government’s budget following leader Peter Dutton’s official budget reply last night.
Speaking to ABC News this morning, Hume accused the budget of being inflationary, citing the tax on farmers (through the biosecurity levy) and the tax on truck drivers would combine to push up grocery prices.
Updated
China ready to work with Australia on 'common understandings', foreign ministry says
With trade minister Don Farrell arriving in China for talks aimed at lifting trade sanctions, Beijing’s foreign affairs spokesman, Wang Wenbin, was asked by journalists about the visit at the daily media conference overnight.
Wang said Australia and China were both important countries in the Asia-Pacific with “highly complementary economies and mutually beneficial business ties”.
He added that China “stands ready to work together with Australia to deliver on the important common understandings reached by our leaders, build mutual trust, deepen cooperation, properly handle differences and work for the sustained, sound and steady development of bilateral relations”:
To improve and maintain the sound growth of bilateral ties serves the fundamental interests of both countries and peoples … the two sides may be able to find a balanced way to resolve each other’s concerns on economic and trade issues through constructive consultation to the benefit of both peoples.
Good morning! Thanks to Martin for kicking things off, I’ll be with you until the afternoon.
‘Peace through strength’
The chief of the army, Lt Gen Simon Stuart, was speaking after a meeting with his US counterpart, Gen James McConville, in Canberra.
McConville said he had visited Australia to talk about issues of mutual concern, build the strength of the alliance and ensure “peace through strength”.
In response to a question that mentioned China’s missile technology, Stuart said:
We want to make sure that between us, as like-minded allies, we have credible capabilities, because they really are at the heart of deterrence.
But our aim is very clearly to make sure that the rules of the road, so to speak, the free and open Indo-Pacific, are maintained. None of this is aimed at anyone – all of it is aimed at ensuring that the rules of the road that have served everybody, regionally and globally, very, very well, since the end of the second world war, are maintained.
Because conflict and war comes at a terrible human cost and a price and we’re very cognisant of that, and doing everything we can every day together, and with our regional partners, to ensure that we can deter conflict.
Army chief defends defence shake-up
The chief of the army has promised to “execute the mission we’ve been given” amid political controversy over the government’s cuts to infantry fighting vehicles.
Lt Gen Simon Stuart said the army was “absolutely on the right trajectory” and would faithfully implement the government’s “very clear direction” in the wake of the defence strategic review.
Instead of buying up to 450 infantry fighting vehicles at a cost of up to $27bn, the government will acquire just 129 as part of a shift in priorities.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, used his budget reply speech last night to say the decision “leaves our troops and our new strike forces more vulnerable and lowers morale”.
Speaking to reporters at defence headquarters in Canberra late yesterday, Stuart said he was “really encouraged by the trajectory” of the army’s modernisation, even as he acknowledged a change in direction:
Looking at the changes in our strategic environment, and understanding the changes that we would need to make to our force structure and our capabilities, they’re a little different to the trajectory we were on.
Stuart pointed other gains for the army – including long-range precision strike capability and a greater capacity to operate in coastal areas – as a result of the strategic review:
To your point about the part of the army that can engage in close combat on the land and among populations – the combined arms fighting system – if you look at the capability that we will very soon be able to field, it’s world-class and is a significantly greater capability than we’ve had in the history of the Australian army.
So I’m pretty encouraged in terms of where the opportunities are. And we are very, very focused on executing the mission we’ve been given.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to another day of news live blogging. I’m Martin Farrer and I’m here to bring you the main overnight lines before my colleague Natasha May comes along.
The Albanese government is having a mighty stoush with the Greens over the housing bill and there’s not going to be much love lost over its approval of a coalmine development in Queensland’s Bowen Basin. Tanya Plibersek has indicated that she’s going to give the Isaac River scheme the green light – the first such approval since Labor won power – bringing widespread criticism from environmental activists.
We also have a terrific story about how management consultants have advised aged care providers to exploit the system by considering which residents generate “higher profit margins” and urged them to “get your money now” before new regulations are introduced. Mirus Australia warn reclassifying residents to reflect their deteriorating health, which would result in more mandated care minutes, could hurt a provider’s budget bottom line as increased subsidies won’t cover costs.
Peter Dutton used his budget reply to criticise reforms of the ADF, among other things, but the chief of the army has promised to “execute the mission we’ve been given” amid political controversy over the government’s cuts to infantry fighting vehicles. Lt Gen Simon Stuart says the army is “absolutely on the right trajectory” and will faithfully implement the government’s “very clear direction” in the wake of the defence strategic review.
We also can’t ignore the Eurovision sing-off now going on in Liverpool. Will Australia’s entry by the Perth band Voyager win through to the final? It’s all down to an incredibly convoluted voting system, naturally.
