What we learned: Sunday, 5 May
That’s a wrap on this rainy Sunday. Here’re the news highlights:
Police say an alleged stabbing in Western Australia “has all the hallmarks” of a terrorist incident. The 16-year-old allegedly called police to say he was “going to commit acts of violence”, the commissioner said.
Jason Clare has called for the community to “lower the temperature” amid university Gaza protests.
He also hinted at further cost-of-living relief for university students in the upcoming budget.
Only about 30 of the promised 500 domestic violence support workers have been delivered so far, Katy Gallagher said.
And finally, there’s rain, rain and more rain in parts of NSW – and more on the way.
We’ll be back blogging again tomorrow – see you then.
Updated
Third man arrested in relation to alleged burglary and assault of elderly Perth couple
Police in Western Australia have arrested a third man in relation to the alleged violent assault of Ninette Simons, 73, and her 76-year-old husband, Phillip, during a home invasion on 19 April, during which Ninette was beaten and $200,000 in jewellery was stolen.
WA police said a 36-year-old man from Balcatta has been charged with aggravated home burglary, aggravated robbery, detention of another with intent to gain a benefit, aggravated assault and impersonating and attending as a public officer.
He is due to appear before the Joondalup magistrates court tomorrow.
The trio of alleged attackers included former immigration detainee Majid Jamshidi Doukoshkan.
Updated
Man charged with animal cruelty in south-west NSW
A 20-year-old man has been charged with alleged animal cruelty in south-west New South Wales.
NSW police arrested the man at his home in Coleambally on Sunday morning after an investigation into incidents allegedly carried out in late 2023.
He was taken to Darlington Point police station and charged with “recklessly beat etc and kills animal and torture, beat, etc and cause prolonged suffering to animal”, NSW police confirmed.
The man was given conditional bail to appear before Griffith local court later this month.
Updated
Flood warning issued for Jervis Bay area
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a minor flood warning for St Georges Basin at Sussex Inlet on Sunday evening and morning.
⚠️Initial minor flood #warning issued for the St Georges Basin at Sussex Inlet. Minor flooding is possible on Sunday evening and Monday morning with the high tides. Details and updates: https://t.co/4UHA6k1BNE pic.twitter.com/CVfSWljfTI
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 5, 2024
Updated
First Nations mental health experts call for more investment in suicide prevention
Still reeling from the tragedy of a 10-year-old Aboriginal boy who took his own life in state care in Western Australia in April, First Nations mental health experts are calling for proper investment in preventative measures.
Tania Brown, chief executive of Indigenous mental health not-for-profit Thirrilli, said the death of any child by suicide is a tragedy.
The death of a child by suicide while in state care is a national disgrace and an indictment on Australia’s child protection system.
Suicide is the leading cause of death for First Nations children and young people in Australia.
Children who are removed from their families are at a higher risk of suicide, and have an increased likelihood of contact with the criminal legal system.
Indigenous children are more than 10 times likely than their non-Indigenous peers to be in out-of-home care nationally.
Professor Helen Milroy, a child psychiatrist and chair of Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia, said her heart goes out to the child’s family and community.
As Indigenous people, our hearts are broken and continue to break every time we lose one of our young ones to suicide, especially when they are in the care of a system that’s supposed to protect them.
Psychologist Dr Clinton Schultz, from the Black Dog Institute, said that governments need to invest in support services to help families stay well and connected within their communities.
These services should be led and operated by First Nations communities, not external contractors.
When we have a system where over 40 per cent of children in out-of-home care are currently Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander what we need is equal investment going to Indigenous community controlled or private entities that are working in this space.
Dr Schultz said more focus was needed on a holistic approach to intervention.
- AAP
Updated
Weekend auction activity heats up
Auction activity is heating up with 2,169 auctions held across the country.
This is an increase on the 1,964 held last week and a significant gain on the 1,724 auctions at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 73.5% across the country, which is slightly higher than the 72.9% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 66.1% actual rate on final numbers at the end of the weekend.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 543 of 750 auctions held so far, with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.1%.
Melbourne: 742 of 1,026 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 69.8%.
Brisbane: 125 of 169 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 68%.
Adelaide: 79 of 130 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.8%.
Canberra: 50 of 81 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 62.5%.
Tasmania: One auction held.
Perth: Twelve of seven auctions held.
Updated
Major super funds continue to dump thermal coal
Some of the nation’s largest superannuation firms are protecting their members from climate risk by dumping thermal coal from their retirement savings.
The Australian Retirement Trust (ART), which looks after more than $280bn worth of savings, has become the nation’s largest super fund to exclude thermal coal.
As a global investor, the fund says it is committed to achieving a net zero greenhouse gas emissions investment portfolio by 2050.
Accordingly, there will be no direct investment from 1 July in companies that generate more than 10% gross revenue from the mining of thermal coal and its sale to third parties.
Australian Retirement Trust applies exclusions in limited circumstances as part of its sustainable investment approach in accordance with members’ best financial interest.
Brett Morgan, super funds campaigner at shareholder activist organisation Market Forces, said the new policy cemented ART’s already nil exposure to “climate wreckers” Whitehaven Coal and New Hope.
The fund’s default investment option has had zero investment exposure to Whitehaven and New Hope since 2022.
It’s a tribute to the thousands of members who have demanded greater climate action from the fund.
ART has finally put its practice into policy and is now the largest super fund in Australia to rule out investment in thermal coal companies.
Aware Super, with more than $170bn in funds under management, Hesta with more than 1 million members who are mostly women working in health and community services, and UniSuper are among funds that have already made the switch.
– AAP
Updated
The imam of Perth’s biggest mosque will hold a press conference at 1.30pm local time about the fatal knife attack that took place on Saturday night.
Imam Wadood Janud said in a statement on Sunday that the community is “shook” by the news.
There is no place for violence in Islam. We appreciate the effort of the police to keep our communities safe. I also want to commend the local Muslim community who had flagged the individual prior to police.
The press conference will be held at Nasir mosque in Bibra Lake.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Updated
NSW Coalition calls for bails reforms to fight domestic violence
The New South Wales opposition leader, Mark Speakman, is holding a press conference to call for bail reforms to fight domestic violence.
Speakman says bail reform is “not the entire answer to fighting domestic violence” and that “we need a holistic approach”, but says his party will introduce legislation next week addressing three elements of bail reform.
The bill will seek to expand the use of electronic monitoring to cover bail for those on serious domestic violence charges, expand the grounds to suspend the granting of bail where a review is sought by a prosecutor, and require magistrates to hear bail applications in cases involving personal violence.
Speakman:
This is about saving lives. This is about protecting women and children. This is about a commonsense approach. We want to be collaborative. We want to be constructive. We want to work with the government. We want to work with the crossbench. We’ll take on their suggestions for amendments and their ideas. We want this to be a multipartisan approach. Because domestic violence has to be above politics.
Updated
Imam Kamran Tahir, who currently serves as the Imam of the Adelaide mosque after previously serving in Perth, told AAP he condemned the attack “in the strongest terms”.
We are once again saddened to learn of another knife attack in which innocent civilians were harmed, this time in Perth.
It should be made very clear that there is no justification for such acts in Islam.
Women’s running relay squad smashes Australian record to secure spot in Paris games
82 days until the Paris Olympics – and a squad anchored by Australia’s fastest woman Torrie Lewis has smashed the national 4x100m record for the second time this year to claim an automatic spot in the field for the Games.
Racing at the World Relays meet in the Bahamas, the team of Ebony Lane, Bree Masters, Ella Connolly and Lewis stopped the clock at 42.83 seconds to finish second in their heat behind Germany, reports AAP.
It was the fifth fastest overall time, with the top two in each heat advancing to the final and guaranteeing their places for the Paris Olympics in early August.
The same quartet had flagged they were destined for great things when they clocked 42.94 at the Sydney Track Classic in late March, breaking an Australian standard that had stood for 24 years.
Lewis, 19, is also well placed to contest either the individual 100m or 200m at the Paris Games.
The US women were fastest in the Bahamas qualifying round in 42.21.
Updated
Economists say Reserve Bank likely to continue pause on interest rates at upcoming meeting
Over to finance, and interest rates are unlikely to move at the Reserve Bank of Australia’s third meeting for the year though stalling progress on inflation may have central bankers on edge, reports AAP.
Following stronger consumer price data and resilience in the labour market, expectations for interest rate cuts have been pushed back, meaning borrowers could be waiting longer for mortgage payment relief.
Ahead of the two-day meeting on Monday, there was little doubt the central bank was extending its pause for the fourth time at the May meeting.
All but one of the 37 economists polled by Reuters were expecting interest rates to stay on hold at 4.35%, with markets pricing in a 97% chance of no change, as of 2 May.
Of greater interest was the RBA’s posturing in the wake of hotter-than-expected inflation data, with suggestions it would be back warning more hikes may be needed after softening its stance at the meeting before.
ANZ’s head of Australian economics, Adam Boyton, said its refreshed forecasts – due for release on Tuesday, at the same time as the monetary policy decision – were also likely to look a bit different.
He said near-term inflation forecasts would likely be bumped higher, similarly with unemployment, to reflect ongoing resilience in the jobs market.
Corinna Economic Advisory economist Saul Eslake said the stronger March quarter inflation data had “put paid to whatever hopes others, including the financial markets, had that the RBA might cut rates this year”.
Updated
Record monthly rainfall soaks NSW coast, with more to come
Records are being broken as rain gauges fill up along the New South Wales coast.
Just five days into May, Point Perpendicular at Jervis Bay hit a new monthly record, with 140mm rain recorded at the site by Sunday morning.
Sydney had by Sunday morning recorded 92.8mm of rain and was fast approaching its monthly average rainfall of 117.4mm. Cronulla in the city’s south recorded 60mm in the 24 hours to 9am.
It’s not likely to ease off, either. The Bureau of Meteorology’s Jordan Notara told Guardian Australia that we can look forward to another week of rain ahead.
“There’s no clear trend of significant dry weather in the modelling,” the meteorologist said. “It’s showing shower activity in the east for at least the next seven days.”
Updated
Police say no ongoing threat to public after Perth incident which saw 16-year-old shot dead by officers
More now on the alleged stabbing in Perth, where Western Australian police say they have shot and killed a teenager who allegedly attacked a man in a Perth car park on Saturday night.
Detectives on Sunday said there was no ongoing threat to the public and the 16-year-old was believed to have been acting alone in Willetton, reports Royce Kurmelovs.
The WA police commissioner, Col Blanch, said the incident “certainly has all the hallmarks” of a terrorism-related incident, but he was not prepared to declare it as such “at this stage.”
“It would be too early for me to act now because I don’t have the concerns of a broader network that might be involved,” Blanch said.
The premier, Roger Cook, said there were indications the 16-year-old “had been radicalised online”.
Blanch said police received a call on Saturday night from a person who told the operator they were “going to commit acts of violence”.
That person hung up without giving their name or location. But the call was followed by another alerting police to someone “running around a car park” with a large kitchen knife.
Three police officers responded within minutes and were immediately confronted by the teenager holding a large knife, Blanch said.
Continue reading:
Updated
Jason Clare hints at further cost-of-living relief for university students in upcoming budget
The education minister, Jason Clare, also set out that today’s changes to indexation are just one part of the government’s response to the Universities Accord, with more to come in the budget.
Asked about whether the government would allocate funds to pay students on placements, Clare acknowledged that the “cost of living while they try to complete their degrees” is one of things that the government will respond to in the budget.
So that’s a hint that the answer is yes, but not definitive. He also promised to address the cost of degrees and the “cost of missing out on going to university in the first place”.
Asked if the government would change how banks treat Hecs/Help debts, he noted the assistant treasurer had written to the Australian Banking Association about that. But he was tight-lipped about whether this and a change to the date of indexation will be contained in the budget.
Updated
Driver rescued from floodwaters on NSW Central Coast
More on the wet weather that is affecting parts of New South Wales, and the state emergency service has rescued a driver from the roof of a car in Tea Gardens on the Central Coast amid flash flooding.
Ben Deacon of the NSW SES said localised heavy rainfall was causing flash flooding.
The SES has responded to 95 incidents since midnight, most of those requests for sand bags in preparation for flash flooding, he said. Of those, 36 of the emergency calls were in the Shoalhaven and Illawarra, where a severe weather warning is in place, and 22 were in the Sydney metro area.
He said the best way to stay up to date regarding the ongoing weather risks was via the SES app.
Updated
Wet start to May for NSW
It’s been a wet start to the month of May for many in New South Wales. In the Illawarra region, a severe weather warning is in place, with the Bureau of Meteorology forecasting heavy rainfall on Sunday, easing into the late afternoon.
The front is moving north, with Sydney and the Central coast next in line for more persistent rainfall.
⚠️🌧️A Severe Weather #Warning continues for the Illawarra District with possible locally heavy rainfall. Rainfall should begin easing in the mid afternoon. Details and updates: https://t.co/4UHA6k1BNE pic.twitter.com/rFnIv92jBs
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 5, 2024
Updated
Jason Clare calls for community to ‘lower the temperature’ amid university Gaza protests
The education minister, Jason Clare, has responded to calls from the Coalition to legislate financial penalties for universities that fail to break up encampments protesting the Gaza invasion.
Clare told reporters in Sydney:
There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, at university … What there is no place for is hate, prejudice, intimidation, antisemitism or Islamophobia. We’ve seen in the lifetime of our grandparents the evil that antisemitism can wreak. We’ve seen in our lifetimes the evil Islamophobia can wreak, just think about Christchurch. What we need to do here is lower the temperature. At a time where parts of our community are being cleaved apart, as political leaders, religious and community leaders we need to bring the country together.
Clare said that he had told vice-chancellors there is “nothing more important than the safety of students” who “shouldn’t be afraid to go to university”.
Clare was asked about phrases like “from the river to the sea” and references to “intifada”. He replied:
Any words that stoke fear … or make people not want to go to university are intolerable.
Clare said he had asked universities to implement their codes of conduct. When he was asked about Sarah Henderson’s call for financial penalties to ensure they do, Clare noted the universities are already implementing their codes of conduct.
Clare noted his department had facilitated a meeting between university leaders and Jewish students last week, an outcome of which was a resolution for better communication about how universities are responding to developments on campus.
Updated
Education minister, Jason Clare, speaking to media
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, is addressing media about changes to the Hecs/Help debt system and has been asked about the alleged WA stabbing and its possible links to extremism.
While he said he could not comment on the incident, he said that “wherever racism exists in our country, we try to quash it”.
There’s no place for antisemitism or Islamophobia in our universities. There is no place for antisemitism or Islamophobia or any sort of racism or hate anywhere in our community. And this isn’t just a responsibility for universities or for schools. It’s for all of us.”
He said that he could not pre-empt the budget, but that there was a range of programs running in schools that are “very important to help with harmony in our community”.
Updated
Albanese responds to Perth incident
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has released a statement regarding the alleged stabbing in WA:
My thoughts are with those who have been affected by the incident in the Perth suburb of Willetton overnight.
I have spoken with WA Premier Roger Cook this morning, and I thank the WA Police for acting swiftly to contain the incident.
I have also received a briefing on the situation by the ASIO Director-General and the AFP Commissioner, and I’m advised there is no ongoing threat to the community on the information available.
We are a peace-loving nation and there is no place for violent extremism in Australia.
Updated
Alleged stabbing not currently declared a terrorist incident but ‘has all the hallmarks’, WA police commissioner says
The WA police commissioner, Col Blanch, says that while the incident “certainly has all the hallmarks” of a terrorist incident, he will not label it a terrorist incident “at this stage”.
I believe this is a person acting alone. I don’t need additional capability at this time. Whilst it meets the criteria, or at least the definition, that’s something that we can work towards as we find out more information from the motivations behind this. It would be too early for me to act now, because I don’t have the concerns of a broader network that might be involved … I’m not declaring it at this stage.
Updated
WA police minister says incident shows ‘how tough a task’ deradicalisation program is
The WA police minister, Paul Papalia, says the state’s countering violent extremism program is open to people who aren’t necessarily criminals and is aimed at “changing someone who has been radicalised and attempting to get them back into a more reasonable pathway”.
It is a good program in that regard, because in the absence of it, there’s no response to that sort of thing.
The program was developed based off work by WA Labor MP Dr Anne Aly and was based on programs overseas that were set up to deradicalise neo-Nazis.
And it did have some success. And that’s why the over-time programs of this type are focused on doing whatever you can based on previous experience to try and change people’s pathways.
Papalia say the incident overnight in Western Australia shows “how tough a task it is”.
I think what it demonstrates is just how tough a task it is. Individuals acting alone, in isolation from other people can easily be influenced online, and have, and we would not necessarily know about it. And they can act with little warning. It’s just an indication of just how serious a challenge that is to deradicalise people.
Updated
‘We are indebted to WA police’, premier says
The WA premier, Roger Cook, is back with a message for the officers involved:
We are indebted to WA police for responding to a very confronting incident and for keeping the community safe.
Cook also says “these situations are never straightforward.”
These cases are never straightforward. There’s always a complex set of circumstance, cases and conditions which sit in the background of that. So it’s not just a situation of someone having a linear progression along extremism. There are other issues that contribute to their to their situation. So we’ll continue to get a better idea of all those, all the ingredients to that, that level of complexity and be able to provide further detail.
Cooke however says it is for police to decide whether this was a “terror-related incident”.
Updated
Police commissioner thanks WA Muslim community for ‘courage to respond’ to 16-year-old’s ‘concerning behaviours’
Blanch has also thanked the Muslim community in Western Australia for their support and stressed that this is an “extremely rare event”.
I work very closely with the Muslim community of Western Australia. They are very supportive of police and we are very supportive of them. In fact, they do participate in all of our programs. I actually want to thank [them] for their support because they did respond. They had the courage to respond and express their concerns that this person was exhibiting concerning behaviours.
Updated
16-year-old acted alone, police commissioner says
Asked about the role of police in the countering violent extremism program, Blanch says:
I think that’s a national conversation. And I want to be very clear again about the police role. We investigate crime. And, you know, we are there to be highly visible in the community. For those who are struggling in a context of radicalisation, needs a different approach and an approach that we have put a lot of effort into. But these things, sadly and tragically, do happen in our community, and I think we see it all too often. Zero would be a good number for me.
The commissioner says the 16-year-old joined when he was 13, and that the incident is a “tragic event”.
I think that is very sad and tragic outcome.
Blanch also reiterates that the 16-year-old “acted alone”.
Updated
16-year-old was known to police, had been involved in counter-extremism program, commissioner says
Blanch says police are investigating “complex issues” relating to mental health and radicalisation. The 16-year-old was known to police and was involved in a countering violent extremism program since 2022 which was providing him with support from psychologists, the department of education and, when required, faith leaders.
We believe he very much is acting alone. And we do not have concerns at this time that there is an ongoing network or other concerns that might have been seen over in Sydney.
Blanch says police are treating the incident as a homicide investigation.
What triggered last night’s event is still not yet known. You know, that is part of the investigation. We have a police shooting. Um, we have a person that has been stabbed, and we have a deceased 16-year-old Caucasian male. We have to do our investigation thoroughly before I can probably give you the answers to those questions.
Updated
Police contacted by Muslim community after ‘alarming’ online posts by 16-year-old, commissioner says
Blanch says that officers became aware that one man, who just happened to be in the area, was injured after being stabbed in the back in the carpark where the 16-year-old was shot.
The man is currently in hospital in a “serious but stable position and by all accounts is doing well”.
Blanch says he has watched the body-cam footage and that he is “satisfied” the officers involved followed their training and “have done their job”.
The commissioner says the 16-year-old posted something online that alarmed members of the Muslim community, who immediately reported this to police.
Again, I do want to thank members of the Muslim community who did that because that enabled us to identify rapidly who this individual was and respond as quick as we did.
Updated
16-year-old called WA police to say he was ‘going to commit acts of violence’, commissioner says
Col Blanch is providing an update now about what allegedly occurred.
He says the 16-year-old called police at 10.10pm on Saturday to say he was “going to commit acts of violence” but did not provide his name or location. Police then received another call from someone in the area around High Road and Leach Highway in Willetton to report a person running around a car park holding a knife.
Three officers attended the scene within minutes of the call and were allegedly confronted by the 16-year-old who was holding “a large kitchen knife” after exiting their car.
Blanch said:
Two officers drew their tasers and one of the officers drew his firearm. They challenged the male to put down the knife, which he did not comply. I have watched the body worn [camera footage]. He rushed one of the officers who was holding a taser and a taser was deployed. A second taser was also deployed. Both of them didn’t have the full desired effect, and the male continued to advance on the third officer with the firearm, who fired a single shot and fatally wounded the male.
Updated
WA police allegedly shoot teenager with knife dead after person wounded, premier says
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, and the state’s police commissioner, Col Blanch, are speaking now to give update about an incident where WA police allegedly shot and killed a 16-year-old man armed with a knife in Willetton on Saturday night.
Cook says “there are indications he had been radicalised online”.
I want to reassure the community at this stage it appears that he acted solely and alone. Members of the WA Muslim community, who were concerned by his behaviour, contacted police prior to the incident and I thank them for their help.
Our police responded within minutes. They encountered a very confronting situation but their rapid and professional response kept our community safe. I’ve called a meeting of the multi-faith community leaders, which I will attend later today.
My heart goes out to everyone affected by this incident, and I hand you over to the commissioner.
Updated
‘It’s going to be messy’: advocates balance climate action and conservation amid Queensland’s green energy boom
A map of operating windfarms in Queensland does not take too long to survey – of the 100 or so across Australia, only six of them are in the sunshine state.
But this is about to change in a very big way. According to state government data, there are 46 separate proposals for windfarms in Queensland with four more already under construction.
Many of those plans target the winds that sweep across the spectacular mountains and ridge tops of the Great Dividing Range from central Queensland to the state’s far north.
While this wind-grab will help wrench the state away from its reliance on coal, the movement is taking turbines and access roads into critical habitat for threatened species.
“It’s going to be messy, and some negative projects will get up, but we have to keep our eyes on the broader goals,” the senior manager of energy transitions at WWF Australia, Rob Law, says.
For more on this feature story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Graham Readfearn:
Updated
Rain, thunderstorm warnings for northern NSW
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of rain and thunderstorms along the northern New South Wales coast.
⛈️Sunday forecast: Chance of thunderstorms north of Wollongong and east of Dubbo, shifting closer to the coast this evening. Possible heavy rainfall in showers continuing in the Illawarra District (see severe weather warning). Warnings: https://t.co/4UHA6k1BNE pic.twitter.com/MZ8Affv361
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) May 4, 2024
It is expected that this weather system will bleed over the border into Queensland before heading offshore overnight.
⛈️Forecast: possible thunderstorms in the southeast this afternoon and evening. Moderate to locally heavy falls possible on the border ranges if any thunderstorms linger over the ranges this evening. Thunderstorms should move offshore overnight. Radar: https://t.co/CocrScN4dU pic.twitter.com/hgHV9NVKrE
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) May 4, 2024
Updated
Plea for NSW residents to stay indoors over flash flooding risk
Thousands of people on the NSW south coast have been warned to stay indoors with heavy rainfall predicted to last until nightfall.
A severe weather warning is current for the Illawarra region south of Sydney due to the risk of flash flooding.
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned the hardest hit areas are likely to be Wollongong, Bulli, Port Kembla, Albion Park, Kiama and Huskisson.
Six-hourly rainfall totals up to 140mm are possible, the bureau says.
A strong wind warning has also been issued for the the Illawarra on Sunday, while those along the Byron Coast, Coffs Coast, Macquarie Coast, Hunter Coast and Sydney Coast have been put on alert for Monday.
The NSW State Emergency Service has told residents and holiday makers in the Illawarra to stay indoors avoid unnecessary travel.
The service said in an alert:
Park your car under secure cover and away from trees, powerlines and drains.
If safe to do so, secure or put away items, such as outdoor furniture, trampolines and roofing iron that could blow around in strong winds.
- AAP
Updated
‘High degree of probability’ bodies found in northern Mexico are missing Perth brothers
Three bodies have been found in an area of northern Mexico where two Australian brothers and an American friend are missing.
Perth siblings Callum and Jake Robinson, both in their 30s, were travelling in the region on a surfing holiday with their friend Jack Carter Rhoad, a US citizen. The trio was reported missing when they failed to check into pre-arranged accommodation near the city of Ensenada last weekend.
The three dead bodies are highly likely to be the American and two Australian tourists, a senior official from Mexico’s Baja California state said on Saturday.
“All three bodies meet the characteristics to assume with a high degree of probability that they are the American Carter Rhoad as well as the Robinson brothers from Australia,” said the state’s attorney general, Maria Elena Andrade.
Late Friday Mexico time, the state attorney general’s office had confirmed at least three bodies had been found in a remote and “difficult to access” area in the Ensenada region of the Baja California peninsula. The bodies have not yet been formally identified.
For more on this story, read the full report by the Guardian’s Thomas Graham, who is on the ground in Mexico, and Ben Doherty:
Updated
Inflation a ‘primary focus’ of upcoming budget, finance minister says
Gallagher faces repeated question about the budget – whether there will be savings, what cost-of-living relief may be included, whether this will be a “contractionary budget”. The minister says all will be revealed at the government time, but repeatedly responds with the message that “there is a lot of pressure on the budget” while also promising that the government will be finding savings – even if they will be lower than last time.
There is a repeated line of questioning about whether the government is putting enough pressure on inflation – without clarifying what that means.
Gallagher:
As I’ve said, inflation is a focus of the budget. It’s been a primary focus of our budget. And you’ll see that the investments we’re making are putting downward pressure on inflation. But at the same time, we need to get serious about the investments that we’re going to make to grow the economy as well.
And that’s a wrap.
Updated
Gallagher: Hecs/Help indexation changes a ‘sensible’ approach to cost of living
The minister is asked about the government’s plan to wipe $3bn in interest repayments on student debt – and what it is going to cost the budget.
Well, we’ll release all that in the budget, but it’s essentially revenue foregone that we would have received from those Hecs debts. But we’ve made no secret that this is what we can do around cost of living. We’ve heard young people. We’ve heard, you know, the big increase and the impact that that’s had. And we’ve responsibly had a look at the way that we can respond to that in the way that the budget can afford. You’ll see a big focus in this budget is cost of living – obviously dealing with inflation, and then putting down the foundations for growth.
It’s worth remembering that the Australian government collects more from Hecs than from the petroleum resource rent tax.
Gallagher also concedes that the decision doesn’t actually change the repayment structure for those repaying their student debts.
Their debt will be less because of the indexation being lower. And that is something that students have asked for. It’s something that came through the Universities Accord review. And we think it’s a sensible way of responding to an area of pressure. But there’s no shortage of them in the budget.
Updated
Violence against women at ‘epidemic proportions’ in Australia, Katy Gallagher says
Gallagher says there is no one thing that causes domestic violence, but “it’s an epidemic proportions across the country”.
We know that 1 in 3 girls over the age of 15 will have experienced physical violence. 1 in 5 will have experienced sexual violence. But it’s not something that we just have to accept. So it’s there, it’s at levels that we can’t accept. And we have to work out how we manage that. And I wish there was one answer to it. But there is a whole range of things. Yes, there are men that perpetrate violence against women. There are a lot of men that don’t. There’s a lot of work that we could do about how we shift responsibility from just being seen as a women’s problem – which is kind of historically how it’s been seen.
The minister also says that the stories of people who have been killed in the news show that “something needs to change”.
And I think there’s an expectation from the community that we have to respond to this. And it be a justice response. That clearly is an area where we need to know more – whether it’s a police response, a court response, the bail response – all of that should be looked at, and we should really, I think, grasp the opportunity that comes to deal with it.
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Only about 30 of promised 500 domestic violence support workers delivered, Katy Gallagher says
Gallagher has conceded that the government has only managed to recruit 30 of 500 frontline domestic violence workers that it promised to deliver prior to the election.
The minister suggests the states are dragging their feet.
So the money is there. I think the states’ view is they’re having issues with recruiting. But Amanda Rishworth has been working with her state and territory colleagues to really try and get these workers in place as soon as possible. They’ve signed on to agreement to have the vast majority of them employed in the first half of this year, but they are saying that staff and recruiting staff is an issue.
The minister also says the federal and state governments are working together on the issue, saying it is the job of the federal government to provide funding and that of the states to implement the policy.
They are saying to us that they’re having issues with recruiting to those positions.
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Gallagher has dismissed the Greens’ demand the government double the $1.6bn it is committing to the national housing and homelessness agreement, saying that “the Greens say you should double everything”.
The budget has a lot of pressure on it. We try to do what we can every budget. And we think about these decisions deeply. And then we come up with what’s possible for this budget.
It is worth remembering the government has flagged both a budget surplus and has committed significant money – $4.6bn – to Rolls-Royce to clear bottlenecks at their nuclear reactor production line.
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Gallagher also won’t be drawn about whether there will be any increase to these payments, rent assistance or single parenting payment, to help women in the coming budget.
I think the treasurer and I have made it clear, and the prime minister, that every budget, we have a look at what we can do with the payment system to make sure that we are providing as much support as we can to people who need that extra help.
On housing, the minister says the government is “currently negotiating the housing and homelessness agreement with the states”.
We are hoping that we are able to finalise that. Obviously that has a huge impact on women and women escaping violent situations. There’s a lot of work going on in housing more generally.
Gallagher does flag that the government is hopeful of finalising that agreement in the “next six or seven weeks”.
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Minister not drawn on raising single parenting payment
Katy Gallagher will not be drawn on whether the government will raise the single parenting payment to ensure women to the poverty line.
The minister said the government already raised the payment in the last budget and has “expanded the access” to the payment “specifically in response to some of the work that was done around women experiencing violence and limiting choices about how they leave”.
Pressed on whether the payment is enough, Gallagher says the government “looks across the board at what is possible”:
Well, these are the decisions we take across the social security system. It’s not just one payment. There’s other payments like the commonwealth rent assistance which goes to providing support for many women and many women who are single parents.
Gallagher says that the government is targeting economic equality for women and issues around financial insecurity.
Part of the answer is the payment system, part of it is how we address gender equality and gender pay gaps more broadly. There’s a whole-of-government response to these issues. It’s not just one thing.
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Asked why the trial program was outsourced to UnitingCare, Katy Gallagher says it was the decision of the former government to outsource the trial to a non-government organisation.
The minister says an evaluation also found that this decision was “appropriate”.
Partly because you are going to need to be linked in to other support services as well. I mean, you don’t just get a payment and then ‘anyway, see you later, wish you all the best’; One of the things the evaluation found was that 80% of people coming in for the payment were self-referring and had not had any other contact with other support services. So part of the reframe of the program is to make sure that we’re doing that.
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Gallagher defends decision to restrict family violence payment to over-18s
Minister for finance and women, Katy Gallagher, says the government’s $5000 grant to help people experiencing domestic or intimidate partner violence leave dangerous situations is not open to people below the age of 18, as “other services would kick in” for a person in that situation, particularly for young people.
The minister defended the decision to leave out those below the age of 18 from the payment, saying “an evaluation found that the age criteria was appropriate for this payment”.
Asked where people get the payment, the minister says searching for the payment will take a person to Services Australia or to the Uniting Care trial program.
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Labor to wipe $3bn from Hecs and Help debts through indexation changes
The federal government will cut around $3bn in student debts through a key change to the Hecs and Help programs, reversing last year’s horror indexation hike and delivering a $1200 saving for the average person.
The measure, to be outlined in this month’s federal budget, will ensure student debts can’t outpace wage growth in the future by capping the indexation rate for Hecs and Help loans – tying them to whichever is lower of the consumer price index (CPI) or wage price index (WPI).
Until now debts have been indexed to the CPI. The WPI has been significantly lower than the CPI in 2022 and 2023, but is expected to overtake the CPI by 2025. In 2023, the indexation rate based on the WPI would have been less than half that of the CPI, sitting at just 3.2%.
The change, which requires legislation, would be retrospective and backdated to 1 June 2023, effectively turning back the clock on last year’s indexation rate of 7.1%. That figure, which was the highest in more than a decade, caused many loans to grow faster than Australians could pay them off.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s education reporter Caitlin Cassidy:
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The minister for women and finance, Katy Gallagher, is speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Coming up on #insiders with David Speers:
— ABC News (@abcnews) May 4, 2024
• Minister for Women and Finance Katy Gallagher interviewed🔎
• 📷Fiona Katauskas
• 🛋️Clare Armstrong, Tom Crowley and Jennifer Hewett#auspol pic.twitter.com/XWd9X9sFOA
Meanwhile, the deputy leader of the Liberal party, Sussan Ley, is speaking to Sky News.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
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Labor hypes savings ahead of budget
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, is today expected to announce the 2024-25 budget will include an additional $1bn in savings from reducing spending on consultants and contractors.
The $1bn save will comprise $625m allocated across government agencies in 2027-28 plus an additional external labour levy of $375m over four years from 2024-25.
This follows the $3bn in savings from reducing spending on external labour that the Albanese government delivered in the 2022-23 October budget, bringing the total savings delivered to $4bn.
Gallagher says:
While the Liberals talked tough about capping public service numbers when they were in government, in reality they were spending billions outsourcing the work to keep the public service headcount artificially low.
The important investments that we’ve made in Services Australia, veterans’ affairs, the NDIA, home affairs and Aukus are to ensure that the public service has enough staff to do the job they need to do to deliver services across the country and to keep Australians safe.
Two years into the public service rebuild, it’s no surprise that the Liberals are already drawing up plans to cut at least 10,000 public servant jobs and reduce services. It is clear Peter Dutton wants to go back to the era of robodebt and slash the services that Australians rely on.
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Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday Guardian live blog.
Labor has begun its budget pitch with promises its upcoming balance sheet will include $1bn in savings by reducing the government’s reliance on consultants and contractors. This comes after the 2022-23 October budget cut $3bn in spending on external labour across government agencies.
The budget drop comes amid reports the government will wipe $3bn in student debts through changes to the Hecs and Help systems after indexation hikes slugged those with lingering student debts. The measure will limit student debt repayments from growing more than wages in a move that is expected to save the average person $1200.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
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