What we learned, 13 October 2024
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
Repatriation flights from Lebanon are expected to wind down as the Australian government seeks to end its evacuation scheme;
The Coalition has doubled down on its support for Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon and Gaza, despite its views being out of step with Australia’s international counterparts;
The Coalition wants to scrutinise Chinese electric vehicle imports over “national security risks”;
Queensland Labor leader Steven Miles has promised free school lunches as part of his bid to seek re-election and fend of a resurgent LNP challenge;
Sussan Ley has condemned a white supremacist rally in Corowa, saying “racism and hate has no place” in the border town;
A man is dead after allegedly being hit by a car in Melbourne.
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
Updated
Olympian posts first marathon win in Melbourne
Some more from today’s Melbourne marathon, where Genevieve Gregson scored her first marathon win, two months after running in the event at the Paris Olympics.
The Queenslander won the Melbourne Marathon on Sunday in two hours, 28 minutes and 13 seconds, beating local Sarah Klein by nearly three minutes. Kate Mason, also from Melbourne, completed the women’s podium in 2:34:08.
Gregson’s husband, Ryan Gregson, finished second in the men’s race behind Jack Rayner, who clocked 2:11:49 after winning the Melbourne half-marathon for the past three years.
‘Steep’ rent hikes pricing more Australians out of homes, advocates fear
Renters in Australian capital cities are on average spending nearly $15,000 more a year to rent a house since the pandemic, analysis has revealed.
Research from the advocacy organisation Everybody’s Home showed on average renters in capitals were paying $14,700 more annually to rent a house and $9,600 more to rent a unit compared with 2020.
Sydney and Perth have endured the steepest rent rises, with annual increases well above capital city averages for units ($10,452 and $14,508 respectively) and houses ($18,512 and $18,304). Adelaide and Brisbane unit rents are also above average.
Everybody’s Home analysed rental data from SQM Research to build its report.
Maiy Azize, a spokesperson from Everybody’s Home, said “keeping a roof over their head” was the biggest cost-of-living expense for most people in Australia.
The steep rise in rents is pushing more people into severe housing stress and homelessness.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Cait Kelly:
Updated
Auction activity remains stable this weekend
There were 2,525 auctions expected to be held this weekend, well above the 1,955 held last week and a gain on the 2,275 auctions at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 66.9% across the country, which is slightly higher than the 63.9% preliminary rate recorded last week but only just above the 65.2% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 736 of 1004 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 69%
Melbourne: 785 of 1044 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 64.8%
Brisbane: 152 0f 216 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 62.5%
Adelaide: 83 of 164 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 67.5%
Canberra: 52 of 83 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 71.2%
Tasmania: One auction held
Perth: Nine of 13 auctions held
Updated
Jobs market on display as inflation picture brightens
Australia’s labour market is tipped to keep softening little-by-little as persistently high interest rates weigh on demand for workers.
Some economists predict another tick higher in the official jobless rate on Thursday when the Australian Bureau of Statistics unveils its monthly labour force report.
The Reserve Bank of Australia has jacked up interest rates and kept them high to slow the economy and tame inflation.
Yet in a promising sign for borrowers waiting for cuts, August consumer price data showed all-important underlying inflation heading in the right direction, falling to 3.4% in August from 3.8% in July.
The RBA maintains it wants to be sure inflation is moving sustainably back within the target band before reducing rates.
Further nuggets of insight into the central bank’s thinking may be revealed in a speech by assistant governor Sarah Hunter, who is due to speak on Wednesday at the Citi Australia and New Zealand Investment Conference in Sydney.
- AAP
Updated
Traffic fines should be income-based to avoid ‘criminalising poverty’, finds new Australia Institute report
Australia’s traffic fine systems are “criminalising poverty” finds a new report calling for fairer fines proportional to a driver’s income.
While it might be an annoyance for high income earners, amid cost-of-living pressures a traffic fine can mean lower income earners are forced to choose between essentials or paying it off, The Australia Institute says.
Fines are the same for every driver caught speeding based on their jurisdiction, with NSW sometimes offering a 50% discount for people on government benefits.
The think tank report is calling for a more equitable Finnish traffic fine model to be implemented in Australia.
Having a billionaire pay the same $200 speeding fine as a low income earner is unfair, the institute’s research manager and report co-author Alice Grundy said.
Australia’s regressive speeding fine system effectively criminalises poverty.
The plan proposes a flat fine based on the speeding range, with drivers accruing more based on their income and whether they have dependents.
NSW drivers currently pay $361 in fines if caught speeding between 10km/h to 19km/h but under the proposal, drivers could receive a fine ranging from $75 to $885 based on their income.
Accrued unpaid fines can trigger a vicious circle, where having the driver’s car registration or licence cancelled leads to a reduced ability to work and pay fines.
The report noted that income-based fines were aimed at fairness, rather than changing driver behaviour, suggesting warning signs and physical road modifications were more effective.
- AAP
Updated
Smoke and toxic fumes erupt on Nullarbor highway due to burning semi-trailer carrying household insecticides
A burning semi-trailer carrying household insecticides is causing smoke and toxic fumes to erupt after an incident on a highway along the Nullarbor, roughly 88km east of the Western Australian border.
South Australian Country Fire Service volunteers are on site with a bulk-water carrier and one truck. SA and WA police and WA fire services are supporting the effort.
An exclusion zone has been set up to protect the public from toxic smoke.
The truck is expected to burn for at least 10 to 24 hours, and sections of the Eyre Highway between Eucla and Yalata have been closed to traffic. It is unknown when the roads will reopen.
Emergency service workers have asked the public not to enter the area due to the injury risk firefighters as visibility is poor.
People in the area are advised to remain indoors and in vehicles, with windows and doors closed and any air conditioning set to recirculation to not draw any fumes or smoke into enclosed spaces.
Updated
Jeff Kennett apologises for derogatory comment at Young Liberals function
Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett has apologised for calling a woman a “bitch” for speaking during his speech at a Young Liberals function on Saturday night.
The Nine papers report that Kennett said he regretted making the comment during the Young Liberal Annual Gala held at the Melbourne Arts Centre.
Speaking to the Age, Kennett said the woman was “very, very distracting”. He said she was apart of a group who continued to talk through his speech, despite being asked to be “respectful”.
I was giving my speech, [the woman] was sitting at the table immediately in front of me, and speaking continually, and I could hear her, and it was distracting.
Kennett said he had been trying to calling the woman to apologise directly but hadn’t “been able to make contact”, saying he suspected they were not taking his calls.
I apologise for using the word.
Updated
Dutton’s focus on ‘dividing Australians’ isolating Libs from international community on Gaza/Lebanon ceasefire
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says the Coalition is “at odds” with the international community and Australia’s key allies over its opposition to calls for a ceasefire in Lebanon and the Gaza Strip.
Responding to an interview earlier on Sunday by the shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, Wong suggested the concession showed Coalition Peter Dutton was “isolated” on this issue and was more concerned with “dividing Australians”.
A few days ago, Mr Dutton said the prime minister should be condemned for calling for a ceasefire.
Now the Liberals finally realise they’re at odds with the international community, including the United States, who are all pressing for peace – but he still can’t bring himself to do so.
He’s so focused on dividing Australians over this conflict that he doesn’t realise how isolated his position is.
We know Mr Dutton is negative about everything but it’s pretty extreme to be negative about a ceasefire that saves civilian lives and prevents further disastrous escalation of conflict.
Updated
They are relics of the Gondwana age but five years after Australia’s black summer these trees are dying a ‘long, slow death’
Thousands of years of accumulated leaf fall makes the ground bounce like a mattress underfoot and, high above, rainforest coachwood trees form a dense canopy that dresses the understory in permanent shade.
Some of the unique plants in this rainforest can trace their lineage back 40 or 50m years when the Gondwana supercontinent was breaking apart and Australia was detaching itself from what is now Antarctica.
Take only a few steps from the cool shade and you emerge to something altogether different. Still rainforest, but changing fast.
Soil and rocks are exposed and, above, the leafless branches of tall and dead trees let the sunlight strike the forest floor.
This is a place packed with threatened species, including the nightcap oak – a true Gondwanan relic that grows nowhere else.
On the ground and at the base of the thin-barked trees is charcoal. Five years ago, chunks of this in rainforest not evolved to burn, did burn, during what became known as Australia’s black summer bushfires.
“It can take a lot of these trees a long time to die. It is a long, slow death,” says Dr Robert Kooyman, an evolutionary ecologist who has spent more than 40 years working and studying the rainforests in and around Nightcap national park in northern New South Wales.
For more on this story, read the full feature from Guardian Australia’s Graham Readfern:
Updated
Anti-war protesters rally in Sydney CBD
Protesters have gathered in Sydney’s Hyde Park as part of anti-war protests, calling for an end to Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon and a ceasefire in Gaza.
Large crowds gathered from 1pm to attend the rally, the latest in a year of consistent protests.
A march has been held in Melbourne for the 53rd straight week.
A crowd had also begun to grow in Brisbane for an anti-war rally.
The Australian Friends of Palestine Association in South Australia has held a Run Ride Walk 4 Palestine event at Glenelg.
Rallies were also held in Perth and Hobart on Saturday.
Updated
NZ Labour leader lays out economic plan on first anniversary of party’s election loss
New Zealand Labour’s Chris Hipkins has managed to stay on as leader of his party and is now looking forward to the next election, saying he intends to make Chris Luxon’s Nationals a one-term government.
Speaking on the eve of the first anniversary of his party’s election loss, Hipkins, who has just visited the UK where Labour has returned to power, laid out his ideas for New Zealand’s future economy to AAP:
If we actually want to grow the economy, government does have a role.
Government investment on missions with a clear purpose can actually generate huge spin-off benefits.
And we shouldn’t be focused on growth for growth’s sake … we should be saying our goal is to ensure that everybody has a good well-paying job.
The economy has been growing – for the last 40 years – but the vast majority of the people who are generating the growth aren’t feeling the benefit.
To implement that economic strategy, Labour needs to win in 2026.
Its odds are poor – no Kiwi government has been turfed after a single term in half a century – and Hipkins concedes Labour was “out-campaigned”.
– with AAP
Updated
NZ government says coalition ‘working well’ one year in
A year on from the election that brought Chris Luxon’s National’s to power in a right-wing coalition, New Zealand’s prime minister has defied expectations of a dysfunctional government.
Luxon’s coalition partner, the ACT leader and transport minister David Seymour, says the experience so far has been “much less obstructive and keener to get along than I’d anticipated’”.
Chris Bishop, National’s campaign chair and the housing and infrastructure minister, insists the coalition is working well behind closed doors.
There’s a real willingness from everybody in the coalition to make it work. Differences are resolved amicably and congenially.
Many of the policies embraced by the coalition have drawn a mighty backlash, particularly those supported by ACT and NZ First, the minority parties which secured 8.6% and 6.1% of the vote respectively.
Public sector cuts – particularly in health – and the abolition of smoke-free strategies, fast-tracked consent for mining projects, gun law reform, and most controversially, Treaty of Waitangi reform, have angered many.
The future remains uncertain with New Zealand mired in recession and GDP per capita falling by 4.6% over the past seven quarters – a larger fall than it experienced during the global financial crisis.
The economic downturn is largely due to the Reserve Bank ratcheting up interest rates to contain high post-pandemic inflation – a challenge which appears contained given the centre bank is now easing rates.
The unemployment rate has grown by 1.4% in the last two years and is likely to keep growing.
- AAP
Updated
Man dead after allegedly being hit by car in Melbourne
Victorian police are investigating after two pedestrians were run down in a car park early on Sunday morning.
Officers were initially called to reports of an illegal rave in a park on Glenferrie Road where they witnessed two pedestrians being struck by a car at 1.10am, killing one.
The second person, who is yet to be identified, was taken to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Police arrested the driver at the scene.
The investigation remains ongoing.
Updated
PM to give speech in Melbourne shortly on centenary of Australia’s Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Prime minister Anthony Albanese will deliver a speech at 1.3opm during a visit to Melbourne to commemorate the centenary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of Australia.
We will bring you the latest as it happens.
Updated
Manhunt afoot for alleged attacker after man dies from hit to head while walking in Melbourne’s CBD
A manhunt is under way after an alleged deadly assault in Melbourne’s central business district.
Police say a man from Seddon died in hospital on Saturday after he was allegedly attacked by another man earlier in the week.
The 44-year-old had been walking on Elizabeth Street from Flinders Street when police allege he was approached and hit in the end.
He sustained significant injuries and was taken to hospital where he later died.
Homicide Squad detectives are appealing for public assistance to find a man named Todd Menegaldo after the alleged assault.
Detectives have conducted a significant search for Menegaldo in the past few days, police said.
Menegaldo, who also goes by the nickname “Rooster”, is described as approximately 180 to 185cm tall with a thin build.
Police said he had a black and white crossbreed Staffordshire terrier and was known to frequent the Melbourne CBD, in particular the areas around Elizabeth Street and Flinders Street station, as well as Mildura and Bendigo.
Menegaldo was last seen wearing a zip-up purple jumper, dark jeans and a yellow beanie.
Police said people should not approach Menegaldo and instead contact triple zero immediately.
Updated
Melbourne Marathon winners cross finishing line
The 2024 Melbourne Marathon is under way with thousands taking part in across the CBD.
Here are a few images from on the ground:
Updated
US official accuses Russia and China of blocking Asia leaders’ statement
Russia and China blocked a proposed consensus statement for the East Asia Summit drafted by south-east Asian countries, mainly over objections to language on the contested South China Sea.
A draft statement, the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations arrived at by consensus, was put to the 18-nation East Asia Summit meeting in Laos on Thursday evening, a US official told Reuters on Saturday.
“Asean presented this final draft and said that, essentially, this was a take-it-or-leave-it draft,” the official said on condition of anonymity.
Australia, the United States, Japan, South Korea and India all said they could support it, the official said.
“The Russians and the Chinese said that they could not and would not proceed with a statement,” the official said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a news conference in Vientiane on Friday the final declaration had not been adopted because of “persistent attempts by the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand to turn it into a purely political statement”.
China’s Washington embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The US official said there were a couple of issues of contention, but the main one was how it referred to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos), going further than in the previous 2023 EAS statement.
“There was certainly no language that was getting into the nitty gritty of any particular standoff, no language that was favouring any claimant over any other,” the official said.
China claims nearly all of the South China Sea and has stepped up pressure on rival claimants, including several Asean countries, notably the Philippines.
– AAP
Updated
‘If you want us to die, we need to know’: hundreds of thousands of Afghans are waiting for visas to Australia – and time is running out
Some managed to evacuate. Many left behind, including the family of Afghan-Australians, live in fear of “beatings” or of simply “disappearing”.
Afghan-Australian Sara* is sobbing as she speaks via video call from Iran, a bandage on her nose that she explains was caused by flying missile debris raining down on traffic.
About a month ago, Sara and her husband, Fadi*, left their Adelaide home to help their Afghan family members, in Iran illegally, in hiding and in danger after fleeing the Taliban after the fall of Kabul in 2021.
Now, Israel is contemplating retaliation for Iran’s rocket attacks amid its escalating war with Iranian proxies Hamas and Hezbollah.
The Australian government has told citizens not to travel to Iran. There are risks of missile strikes, terrorist attacks, kidnapping and a “high risk of arbitrary detention or arrest,” according to the Smartraveller website.
*Names have been changed
For more on this story, read the full report from Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd:
Updated
Sussan Ley condemns white supremacist rally in Corowa, saying ‘racism and hate has no place’ in NSW border town
The deputy leader of the opposition, Sussan Ley, says she has been “heartened” by how Corowa residents, on the New South Wales and Victorian border, have “condemned” a rally of white supremacists.
A group of white supremacists held a rally in the historic town, considered the birthplace of federation, on Saturday. The rally was moved on by police but no arrests have been made.
Ley, whose electorate includes Corowa, described the rally attenders as “thugs” and said “it is clear this is part of a strategy to shock and provoke using regional towns.”
I am heartened by reports that members of the community made it clear to these individuals that racism and hate has no place in Corowa. But I am saddened that this hate was forced upon members of my community, including many families who were simply enjoying their weekend, the day before the Corowa Show.
I want to thank the New South Wales Police for dispersing this group of thugs and sending them out of our community.
Ley said Australians “can not and should not tolerate gangs of balaclava covered thugs spouting hate anywhere in this country”. She said the Coalition would give its support to federal and state authorities to “to take whatever action is necessary to dismantle this organisation and stop these sorts of activities occurring”.
Australians should all be proud of the diversity of our multicultural nation. We must remember this group only represents an isolated minority made up of radicalised individuals, and that the vast majority of our country stands against them.
We must redouble efforts to counter this radicalisation and equip our authorities with every necessary support to take stronger action.
For every day of the past 23 years, I have been so privileged to represent the incredible people of Corowa, but as I reflect on the community’s strength yesterday, I have never been prouder of them than I am today.
Updated
Labor should ‘practise what they preach’ handling Richard Marles office bullying allegation, says Dan Tehan
Shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan has accused the Albanese government of not living up to its own rhetoric on the treatment of women in parliamentary workplaces. It comes after the deputy prime minister’s chief of staff alleged she was moved out of her job and sidelined when she raised a complaint with her boss about bullying in the office.
Guardian Australia reported last week that Jo Tarnawsky alleged Richard Marles forced her to take leave and told her to find another job when she raised her concerns with him on 30 April and has not spoken to her in five months.
Tarnawsky, the government’s second most senior chief of staff, subsequently made a public statement, accusing unnamed staff of bullying her and alleging the government’s handling of the situation had been “cowardly, cruel and completely unnecessary” and had caused her deep distress. She did not accuse Marles of bullying.
Marles said, through a spokesperson, that “a number of the assertions and recollections are contested”.
Tarnawsky remains employed as chief of staff but was moved into a specially created temporary job that expired on 30 September. She said her employment future was unclear.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday, Tehan said prime minister Anthony Albanese should clarify what his office knew about the situation and how long it would continue.
There does seem to be serious questions that need to be answered. We just hope the government – because when they were in opposition they called for full transparency on these types of issues – will practise what they preach.
Tehan suggested the issue demonstrated that Albanese had been inconsistent on the issue of workplace standards.
They talked a big game when they were in opposition. So let’s hope it can be dealt with respectfully and transparently.
Marles told parliament on Thursday that Tarnawsky was a “wonderful person” and he was “very sad that events have got to where they have”.
Ms Tarnawsky remains a member of staff. Ms Tarnawsky has been treated with respect and courtesy. At all times, the wellbeing of staff, including Ms Tarnawsky, has been front of mind.
For more, read the Guardian Australia’s previous reporting here:
Updated
Abortion wasn’t on Queensland election agenda. So why is it now a threat to the LNP campaign?
On front doorsteps in Brisbane’s middle suburbs, LNP candidates campaigning for the Queensland election have started getting questions about abortion.
“It’s becoming an issue … in places we thought we might win,” says one party member.
Two weeks ago, as the Queensland election campaign began, Labor social media posts suggesting the LNP had a “secret plan” to limit abortion rights and access were dismissed as a scare campaign.
The LNP leader, David Crisafulli, says his party has “ruled out” changes to Labor’s 2018 laws that decriminalised abortion.
Abortion is, as Crisafulli says, “not a priority” for the LNP. But it has quickly become a problem.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Ben Smee:
Updated
QLD Labor promises free primary school lunches in bid to defy polling as it officially launches election campaign
Seeking to defy polling and deliver Labor a fourth straight term in government, Queensland premier Steven Miles will officially launch the party’s election campaign on Sunday.
The government has enjoyed almost a decade in power since Annastacia Palaszczuk ousted Campbell Newman in 2015, and with just 13 days until voters head to the poles, Miles is seeking to extend his party’s tenure.
Labor has governed Queensland for 30 of the past 35 years but polling has the party on track for defeat by 56 to 44 per cent on a two-party-preferred basis.
Liberal National Party leader David Crisafulli is tipped to end Labor’s nine-year reign after consistently leading the polls, campaigning hard on the election’s key issues – health, youth crime, homes and cost of living pressures.
Miles has promised to make school lunches free for every student in prep through to year six if re-elected. The proposal would kick off next year, saving parents $1600 a child, a year and benefiting 326,000 students.
The proposal forms part of a broad progressive agenda that Miles is hoping will overcome the “it’s time” factor weighing on his government.
– with AAP
Updated
PM’s Tourette syndrome gaffe and subsequent apology shows he’s a ‘genuine bloke’, assistant trade minister tells Sky
The government is seeking to make a virtue of a difficult parliamentary week and the first anniversary of the failed Voice referendum. It is arguing the latter shows the Albanese government “does what it says” and that the PM’s parliamentary gaffe about Tourette syndrome – for which he apologised – showed he was a “genuine bloke”.
Assistant trade minister Tim Ayres told Sky News on the eve of the referendum anniversary that proceeding with the vote was the government keeping a promise.
One of the things you have to do is do what you say you’re going to do and explain your way through these changes.
Ahead of Monday’s first anniversary of the referendum that rejected constitutionally enshrining an Indigenous Voice to parliament, some Indigenous leaders have said the vote should have been deferred.
Ayres said:
We argued the case for constitutional change. We respect the result that we got. I think a government that does what it says it is going to do is something that people should value and understand.
He also defended the prime minister’s leadership, both in the context of last week’s parliamentary jibe accusing the shadow treasurer of having Tourette syndrome and then apologising, and more broadly since becoming Labor leader in 2019.
The prime minister’s like any other Australian. He said something in the heat of parliamentary debate. He didn’t have to be dragged to a withdrawal … He’s a genuine bloke who responded genuinely when he said something that he knew he shouldn’t have said.
Updated
Protesters dressed in red to ‘represent the blood that connects all species’ outside APGA convention to test SA’s anti-protest laws
Extinction Rebellion associated protesters will hold a demonstration outside the annual convention of the Australian Pipelines and Gas Association (APGA) in Adelaide on Sunday in what may become a test of the state’s stringent anti-protest laws.
A group dressed in red to “represent the blood that connects all species” will “walk slowly to the beat of a single drum” outside the Adelaide Convention Centre to “highlight the devastating impact of fracking and gas extraction” in the Beetaloo Basin in the NT, Extinction Rebellion SA spokesperson Anna Slynn said.
Today’s action is a message for the Adelaide community. The planet is heating up. Extreme weather events like the devastating cyclones in the US are increasing. It is not in our interest to be welcoming the fossil fuel industry to our state while we face the threat of another killer bush-fire season and long term drought.
APGA is supported by companies including Santos, Woodside and Chevron, and the SA energy and mining minister, Tom Koutsantonis, is expected to give a keynote address.
In May last year, Koutsantonis told the annual national oil and gas industry conference that the South Australian state government was “at your disposal”.
For more on that story, read Guardian Australia’s previous reporting:
Updated
Coalition would consider mirroring US action on TikTok due to ‘foreign interference risk’, says Paterson
Paterson has implied that the Coalition would consider taking similar action to the US on TikTok.
The US government recently passed a bill requiring TikTok’s parent company, ByteDance, to divest itself of the social media platform owing to its relationship to the Chinese government.
TikTok will pose a national security risk and particularly a foreign interference risk in our democracy. The US has taken action. The worrying thing is you might end up with a safer version of TikTok in the United States and a more dangerous version in Australia because we have been unwilling to take that action.
And that’s a wrap.
Updated
Coalition wants to scrutinise ‘national security risk’ of Chinese-made EVs
Paterson says the Albanese government deserves credit for ending China’s “economic coercion campaign” but has sought to cast the achievement as “a bipartisan achievement”.
“It started in the Morrison government, it is continuing under the Albanese government,” he said.
Of course, it happened on the Albanese government’s watch. They deserve some of credit for that, but it is a credit to Australia as a whole because the reason why the Chinese government has walked away from these sanctions is because they didn’t work.
Paterson says he wants to “look closely” about whether to ban Chinese-made electric vehicles in Australia because “internet connected vehicles are a national security and cybersecurity risk”.
So much so that the Biden administration is taking very tough action to eliminate them from their market. If our closest ally and friends think it is a concern, we should address it as well.
However, Paterson said there were other ways of mitigating the risks, which may not necessarily involve an outright ban.
For example, you can impose minimum cybersecurity standards that would lift the bar that all Internet devices like that have to meet, not just cars but other devices connected to the Internet.
Updated
Tweet in support of Hamas enough ground to cancel visas, says Paterson
Pushed on where the Coalition’s position lands compared to Australia’s international counterparts, Paterson said:
Of course we aim to get to [a] ceasefire and aim to get to peace. I don’t think that can happen unless Israel removes the very serious and existential problems it faces.
On the cancellation of Palestinian visas, Patterson refers to statements by Asio head Mike Burgess, who said that anyone who liked a tweet showing support for Hamas “constitutes a security threat to Australia”. He said that this should be enough ground to cancel someone’s visa.
Paterson said that visas can be refused not just on security grounds but on character grounds and that should be used to cancel the visas of those who express support for groups like Hamas or Hezbollah.
Updated
Wounding of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon ‘unfortunate … if that is the case’, says Paterson
Paterson says he would have concerns about the wounding of UN peacekeepers in southern Lebanon “if that is the case, that [it was] IDF action that wounded US peacekeepers”.
That would have been very unfortunate and very regrettable. It should be investigated and should not happen.
Paterson is canvassed on the position of other world leaders, particularly the G7 leaders, who have called for a ceasefire and whether that means the Coalition is out of step with Australia’s international allies.
Paterson:
On 26 September, Australia with some other nations, called for a ceasefire in Lebanon. Had Israel followed that advice, Hassan Nasrallah would still be alive today, the former head of Hezbollah.
Updated
Lebanon ceasefire can only happen once Hezbollah ‘degraded and defeated’: James Paterson
Asked about the Coalition position on a ceasefire in southern Lebanon, Paterson said that it could only happen when Hezbollah had been “degraded and defeated”. This is at odds with the position of US President Joe Biden and vice-president Kamala Harris, who have called for a de-escalation and ceasefire.
Patterson said: “it wouldn’t be remarkable for an Australian politician to disagree with an American politician.”
The administration under Biden and Kamala Harris is centre left. I’m from centre [the] right. We can be open and honest as mature adults about where we disagree.
Pushed on whether the Coalition is out of step with the position of Australia’s biggest ally, the US, Patterson said:
Yes, on questions of principle, [the Coalition] are very strong supporters of Israel. We understand the circumstances they face. God forbid Australia ever faces challenges that Israel faces. God forbid that Australian politicians are ever faced with these choices, but if we would expect their Government to respond as decisively as Israel has.
Updated
PM must have ‘have the courage of his convictions’ and ‘op up’ when in disagreement with US, James Paterson says
Shadow home affairs minister James Paterson says prime minister Anthony Albanese should “have the courage of his convictions” and “just be honest and op up” about where he disagrees with the United States.
Paterson said the PM “clearly” disagreed with the United States over Israel’s actions in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
It’s not a remarkable thing that Australia could come to a different judgment from the United States. We are our own sovereign country. The problem here is that the prime minister doesn’t have the courage of his own convictions.
Updated
Regressive steps and broken promises failing to close the gap, says peak Aboriginal group
Monday will mark the first anniversary of the national referendum that voted against creating an indigenous voice to parliament. The peak body for Aboriginal community-controlled groups has taken the moment to check progress against a previous key moment – the signing of the national Closing the Gap agreement in 2020.
The Coalition of Peaks, representing more than 80 peak groups, says there have been regressive steps on youth justice and broken promises on funding and steps to make government services accountable.
Patricia Turner, the coalition’s lead convener and Gudanji-Arrernte woman, says there has also been “real progress” in areas, such as employment and early childhood education.
But the changes have to be systemic and they have to be long-term. There’s important work still to do to make sure the rubber’s hitting the road, funding is getting to communities, and governments are truly changing.
The new NT government wants to cut the age of criminal responsibility to 10 and Victoria had walked back plans to lift the age to 14. Turner said:
Imprisoning vulnerable children, many of whom have developmental delays that make their decision-making capacity that of seven or eight-year-olds, flies in the face of what State and Territory Governments signed up to under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
A 2020 agreement signed by all governments pledged that by the end of 2023 each would create Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led bodies to improve the way they work with those communities. The coalition said:
To date, none of them have.
Turner said dedicated funding for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations was also falling short, seeing “money wasted on programs that aren’t designed by us, and don’t work for us”.
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Lebanon repatriation flights land in Sydney
About 2,400 evacuees from Lebanon have now landed in Australia as the federal government prepares to end its evacuation program.
Demand for help leaving Beirut in the wake of Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon has fallen in recent days, with less than 180 people on board flights to Cyprus that left on Friday.
The last two government-chartered flights will leave Beirut on Sunday before the Albanese government ends the operation.
194 Australians and family members have arrived in Australia overnight.
— Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade 🇦🇺 (@dfat) October 11, 2024
2,135 Australians and their family members have now returned to Australia from Lebanon on assisted-departure flights. pic.twitter.com/AvY8929i5P
Two more government-chartered repatriation flights landed in Sydney on Saturday evening, carrying hundreds of Australians and their family members.
One final Qantas flight is due to leave Cyprus on Wednesday evening.
The arrived passengers add to the 2,135 who have already arrived on long-haul flights chartered by Australia.
Australians and their family members still in Lebanon will need to resort to local flag carrier Middle East Airlines or other commercial outfits.
More than 2,200 people have been killed and another 1.2 million have been displaced across Lebanon, a nation about the size of Melbourne or Sydney.
- AAP
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The assistant trade minister Tim Ayres and shadow immigration minister Dan Tehan have appeared on Sky News this morning, and the Coalition’s shadow home affairs minister James Paterson is speaking to ABC Insiders host David Speers shortly.
Coming up on #ABCInsiders with @David_Speers
— ABC News (@abcnews) October 12, 2024
• Shadow Home Affairs Minister James Paterson interviewed🔎
• 📸 Jack the Insider
• 🛋️ Carly Williams, Mark Kenny and James Massola
See you at 9am #auspol pic.twitter.com/bn0uHIbZKN
We will bring you the latest as it happens.
Updated
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday Guardian live blog.
Almost 2,500 people have returned to Australia from Lebanon as the government is preparing to end its repatriation flights. The program began during Israel’s attacks on southern Lebanon but with falling numbers taking up the opportunity to evacuate, the last two government-chartered flights are expected to leave Beirut on Sunday after two landed in Sydney on Saturday night.
Monday will mark the one-year anniversary of the failed voice to parliament referendum, with Australia’s peak Aboriginal group using the moment to check in on the country’s efforts to close the gap. A body representing 80 peak groups says the last year has been characterised by backward steps and broken promises.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
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