That's it for today, Sunday 21 July
Thanks for reading, here are the main stories of the day:
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says the company at the centre of the world’s largest ever IT outage has told the federal government it is close to an automatic fix which would allow systems to return online. But she also expects “teething issues for one or two weeks”;
Business groups say it will take some time to assess the impact of the outage, saying small businesses may not be back to normal for some days;
A father has been hailed a hero after he died alongside his two-year-old daughter when a twin stroller rolled off a railway platform in Sydney’s south on Sunday;
The Albanese government’s plan to appoint an independent administrator to take control of the CFMEU will not be enough to clean up the embattled union’s “toxic elements”, the independent MP Zoe Daniel says, suggesting the industry may need a new watchdog; and
Sydney commuters will face major peak hour disruption for an entire week with light rail workers shutting down tram services over pay and conditions.
Thanks for reading, we will see you here for more news tomorrow.
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Sydney commuters face peak hour pain amid light rail strike
Sydney commuters will face major peak hour disruption for an entire week with light rail workers shutting down tram services over pay and conditions, AAP reports.
All inner-Sydney light rail lines will grind to a halt during peak hours from 8am to 10am and 4pm to 6pm on Monday to Friday after the union decided to ramp up its industrial action.
Workers are fighting transport operator Trandev’s refusal to provide them with more sick days and for a wage increase that keeps up with the cost of living.
The dispute primarily comes down to pay after the operator offered an 18% pay rise over four years compared to workers’ 23% demand, Rail, Tram and Bus Union’s David Babineau said.
“Four years ago that may have been OK but in the last four years, we have seen every single commodity from energy to food to petrol and rent has increased significantly,” Babineau said.
“For a company that made over $9bn turnover last financial year, we don’t think it’s too much of an imposition.”
Buses will replace light rail services during the industrial action, Transdev said.
The company’s Sydney managing director apologised for the service disruptions and urged customers to plan ahead.
“We are working hard with transport partners to minimise impact to customers caused by this industrial action,” Arsene Durand-Raucher said.
“Customers should plan ahead and consider alternate transport options during the disruption period or, if possible, avoid non-essential travel on the trams.”
Staff will be stationed on the ground to help manage the disruptions while the company works to resolve the enterprise agreement.
Babineau also apologised to commuters for the disruption.
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Ai Group says industry ‘lucky’ IT outage occurred on a Friday
Innes Willox, the chief executive of the Australian Industry Group, says it will take some time to assess the damage caused by the global IT outage on the sector.
But he said it was possible losses were limited by the fact it happened on a Friday. Willox said in a statement:
The impact of the disruption is incalculable given it impacted different sectors and different businesses in different ways.
We were probably lucky this occurred on a Friday which may have minimised the damage.
We live in an increasingly connected world and when things go wrong, they can go badly wrong. It will take some time for many businesses to get going and work through how this has hit their bottom line.
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Football game abandoned after players show signs of hypothermia
It takes quite a lot to get a country football game abandoned in Victoria. But one was called off at Newlyn near Ballarat yesterday after players and umpires started showing signs of hypothermia.
The Ballarat Courier reported the game between Newlyn and Springbank in the Central Highlands league was abandoned at half-time because of the freezing conditions.
Players and umpires had signs of hypothermia, the newspaper reported.
Bureau of Meteorology data for nearby Ballarat shows that at 3pm on Saturday, about the time the game was abandoned, the temperature was below 8C degrees, with an apparent temperature below zero.
There had been 5mm of rain and wind gusts above 50 km/h were recorded.
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Man wanted for alleged robbery arrested after walking past police station
A Melbourne man has been arrested after allegedly robbing a retail store on Friday before strolling past a local police station on Sunday morning.
Police allege that the man robbed a store on Tunstall Road after threatening staff and demanding they hand over money on Friday.
Staff handed over cash and the man left in a vehicle.
Police were seeking to speak to the man about the incident when he was spotted walking past the Doncaster police station on Sunday morning at 8am where he was quickly arrested.
The 35-year-old man of no fixed address has been charged with robbery, making threats to kill, making threats to injure and possessing a drug of dependence.
He is due to appear before Melbourne magistrates court on Sunday.
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Train drivers among ‘more experienced’: Sydney Trains
The chief executive of Sydney Trains, Matt Longland, says the two train crews were some of the “more experienced” drivers based at central but added that “clearly the nature of this incident was very confronting”.
Longland says there will be an investigation to determine the full circumstances of the incident.
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Minns praises ‘instinctive bravery’ of twins’ father
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, also praised the “instinctive bravery” of the two-year-olds father.
I hope over time they can gain some small solace knowing that the father died from an extraordinary, instinctive act of bravery. That’s not going to bring him or his little daughter back. But it shouldn’t go unremarked upon in the face of a terrible, terrible accident that he gave his own life to try and save his children.
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Indian community ‘traumatised’ by incident: police
Dunstan says the family were members of the Indian community and have been left “traumatised” by the tragedy.
The mother of the two girls is receiving the support of friends and family, but Dunstan says is “clearly in a state of shock” and is “struggling with what’s happened today”.
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Police praise ‘brave and heroic act’ of twins’ father
Dunstan says the two girls were twins and locals of the St George area.
There is no suggestion of wrongdoing.
Dunstan says the incident occurred after the family caught the lift down to the platform and as they’ve exited the lift, have taken their eyes off the pram “for a very, very short period of time”.
And whether it’s a gust of wind or we’re not quite sure, but it appears that the tram has instantly started to roll in the direction of the, of the mainline train lines.
The father than attempted to save his children.
He’s just gone into parent mode and tried to save his two young daughters if they’ve, you know, fallen on to the tracks and in doing so, it’s cost him his life. But it was an incredibly brave and heroic act.
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Police rescued unharmed child from under train
Supt Paul Dunstan says that the incident occurred at 12.25pm today after witnesses saw a pram containing two small children roll under the path of an oncoming train.
Dunstan says that police heard the sound of a child from beneath the train, climbed down under the train and rescued one of the children, who was unharmed.
The other child died at the scene. Her father, who attempted to save the child, also died.
The mother and the surviving two-year-old girl have been taken to Saint George hospital where they are both in a stable condition.
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Minns expresses deep sympathies to surviving family
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has expressed his deep sympathies to the surviving family members of a man and a child who were killed at Carlton train station after a pram rolled on to the tracks.
The premier said that police were on the scene within two-to-three minutes of an emergency calling being made.
Police were able to grab one of the survivors, a two-year-old girl, and “keep her safe, and out of harm’s way.”
Obviously, this is a terrible, terrible tragedy. It’s a reminder of what goes on every single day of the week with New South Wales police force members as well as members of Sydney Trains, who often have to, without any warning, face a confronting scene every single day of their working lives.
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NSW premier updates on train incident
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, is speaking now with Supt Paul Dunstan, commander of the St George Police Area Command, to give an update on the death of a man and a child after a pram rolled on to the tracks at Carlton train station.
Follow here for updates.
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Experts eye business data for signs of tax relief kicking in
Business sector data will offer insights on the health of Australia’s economy in the weeks since tax breaks and other cost-of-living support came into effect, AAP reports.
Experts will scour the first trickle of financial data for early clues on the state of Australia’s economy since tax relief kicked in.
The purchasing managers’ indexes for the manufacturing and services sectors land this week, as pay packets rise on cost-of-living tax breaks.
The start of the new financial year ushered in the cuts along with energy bill relief and other cost-of-living assistance expected to bolster household finances and improve the fortunes of Australian businesses.
The flash purchasing managers’ indexes from Judo Bank and S&P Global, due on Wednesday, will capture the early impact of the cost-of-living support on the economy.
Cost pressures, namely for energy and labour, persist as a major part of the challenge facing manufacturing.
The outlook for still-elevated inflation remains a key talking point ahead of the next Reserve Bank interest rate meeting on August 5-6.
Stronger-than-expected monthly inflation readouts have pushed back expectations for cuts, but recent overseas data suggests disinflation is still under way despite a few wobbles.
Near-term interest rate cuts are back on the agenda in the United States and New Zealand, and the Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank and other European central banks have already started easing.
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Weekend auction action
Auction activity has lifted slightly this weekend with 1,727 auctions to be held.
This is higher than the 1,512 held last week and roughly equal to the 1,734 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 71.1% across the country, which is on par with the 71% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 63.2% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 417 of 596 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 74.6%
Melbourne: 508 of 734 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 66.9%
Brisbane: 210 0f 86 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 73.3%
Adelaide: 77 of 137 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.6%
Canberra: 41 of 25 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 60%
Tasmania: No auctions held.
Perth: Five of nine auctions held.
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Businesses unlikely to receive compensation for IT outage: ACC
Companies affected by the global IT outage are unlikely to receive compensation, a business group warns, as more emergency meetings are held to deal with the recovery from the incident, AAP reports.
Speaking to reporters in Canberra, the Australian Chamber of Commerce chief executive, Andrew McKellar, said businesses were unlikely to receive money for the loss in productivity.
For many businesses, it’s going to be very difficult to secure direct compensation, but obviously, that’s something that should be looked at.
If there are ways to consider how that might be evaluated, then obviously that’s something that should be on the table.
It is a reminder, regrettably, for a lot off businesses this is going to be water under the bridge, it’s going to be a learning experience.
McKellar said many small businesses would still have a hard time getting systems back up on Monday.
Its timing couldn’t have been worse on a Friday, and in particular, having an effect on a Friday afternoon.
That’s meant for many businesses, they’re going to have to wait until early next week to put in place the fixes that they need to do.
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Rally outside SA parliament on 50th anniversary of Cyprus invasion
A rally has taken place outside South Australian parliament by members of the Cypriot community to mark 50 years since the invasion and partition of the island by Turkey in 1974.
The rally was attended by Tom Koutsantonis, minister for infrastructure, transport, energy and mining, who said: “We will always remember until justice is done”.
Huge crowd on the steps of Parliament to remember the 50th Anniversary of the illegal invasion of Cyprus by the Republic of Turkey on this day in 1974. We will always remember until justice is done. pic.twitter.com/y7tGOSM854
— Tom Koutsantonis MP (@TKoutsantonisMP) July 21, 2024
Turkey’s invasion followed a coup against the independent Cypriot government by a rightwing ethno-nationalist paramilitary group seeking unification between the island and the Greek mainland, then controlled by a military junta.
The series of events triggered the collapse of the regime in Greece, but trapped Cyprus in a frozen conflict.
Today the Cypriot capital, Nicosia, remains the last divided capital in Europe, with the northern half of the country controlled by a breakaway state that is only recognised by Turkey.
For more on this story, read the Guardian’s reporting on the anniversary:
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Sydney commuters urged to avoid Carlton station
Commuters are being urged to avoid Carlton train station in Sydney’s west after the deaths of a child and a man after a pram rolled on to the tracks.
Trains are not running between Hurstville and Wolli Creek on the T4 Illawarra Line. Replacement buses have been ordered, but they are not yet on site.
Shuttle buses will run between Central and Bondi Junction, Hurstville and Waterfall, and between Hurstville and Cronulla.
A Sydney Trains spokesperson said:
Passengers are advised to delay their trips or allow plenty of extra travel time.
Passengers are also advised to listen to announcements and check information displays for service updates.
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Two-year-old girls involved in Sydney train incident: police
Police have provided updating new information confirming that both children involved in the incident at a Sydney South train station were two-year-old girls.
One of the children and a man were killed in the incident after a pram rolled on to the tracks at Carlton.
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Train delays in Sydney after incident
Sydney Trains are advising there will be delays in trains between Wolli Creek and Hurstville owing to the emergency situation at Carlton.
Those travelling are advising to allow extra time for travel.
Allow extra travel time due to an incident requiring emergency services at Carlton.
— T4 Sydney Trains (@T4SydneyTrains) July 21, 2024
Trains between Wolli Creek and Hurstville will stop at or between stations for longer than normal.
Updates to follow. pic.twitter.com/2cG7yKGhpf
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Child and man die after pram rolls on to train tracks
A child and a man have been killed after a pram rolled on to train tracks in Sydney’s south on Sunday.
Police were called to Carlton station shortly before 12.30pm after reports a pram carrying two children had rolled from the platform on to train tracks.
A 2-year-old girl and a 40-year-old man died. A second 2-year-old girl and a 39-year-old woman were assessed by paramedics and were not injured.
Police have established a crime scene, although the incident is not believed to be suspicious.
Emergency services are urging members of the public to avoid the scene.
Buses are replacing trains.
Updated
WA man charged with threatening airline staff
A Western Australian man has been charged with threatening airline and airport staff in an incident at Perth airport overnight.
A 31-year-old man was arrested by Australian federal police in the Perth airport car park after he allegedly jumped a counter to enter a restricted area where he then threatened an airline worker.
The man allegedly made violent threats against security personnel before leaving the terminal where he was arrested.
The man has been charged with two counts of making a threat to unlawfully do an act, behaving in a disorderly manner in a public place, and failing to comply with a request to give police personal details.
AFP Acting Inspector Josh Gilmour said the AFP would not tolerate abusive behaviour towards airport staff.
Workers at our airports around Australia are just trying to do their job and anyone who threatens them or behaves in a disorderly manner will be dealt with swiftly by our officers.
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O’Neil also said there was no need to stockpile food, despite supermarkets experiencing issues.
Supermarkets, like many other sectors, are still experiencing issues, but the sector stressed that there are no food shortages and no need to stockpile food.
— Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) July 21, 2024
We are still seeing examples of the scams and phishing that I discussed yesterday.
She also again warned against scammers trying to take advantage of the outage.
Examples that have been reported include people posed as airlines offering to resolve issues with delayed flights and criminals posing as technical support offering to fix affected technology.
— Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) July 21, 2024
O’Neil said, via X:
There has been a huge amount of work over this weekend to get the economy back up and running. However, it will take time until all affected sectors are completely back online. In some cases we may see teething issues for one or two weeks.
There is no impact to critical infrastructure or government services. Triple 0 and emergency services are completely operational.Crowdstrike informed the meeting this morning that they are now close to rolling out an automatic fix to the issue with their update, as is Microsoft. This should increase the speed at which systems across the economy are back online.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has provided an update on the meeting this morning to discuss the Crowdstrike global IT outage.
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‘Destiny in our hands’: the Indigenous Australians joining the renewable energy transition
Wind turbines may pay the way for Nari Nari man Jamie Woods’ grand ambitions for his people.
“We’ve always said we want the destiny in our hands,” says Woods, the chair of the Nari Nari Tribal Council and land manager of Gayini, a vast property in south-western New South Wales that was returned to the NNTC in 2019.
Within Gayini’s rich landscape of biodiverse flood plains and Indigenous heritage, Woods envisages a cultural centre to train budding bush rangers. In surrounding regional towns, he speaks of Indigenous-led social programs to divert teenagers from entering the youth justice system, or to counter stubborn rates of suicide – particularly high among First Nations people.
Now, moving “at the pace of trust” with the windfarm developer Kilara Energy, Woods says the revenue from hosting turbines on the land may help those plans be fully realised.
“We have big ideas,” he says. “This industry will help us get there quicker.”
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’ Aston Brown:
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Queensland woman charged with murder for allegedly striking woman with vehicle
A 24-year-old Queensland woman has been charged with murder after allegedly striking another 23-year-old woman with her four-wheel drive.
Police will allege the 24-year-old Goodna woman deliberately drove at and struck the second woman, who was walking along a footpath on Allamanda Drive just before 9am on Friday morning.
The driver then allegedly fled the scene in a silver Toyota Prado.
It is not currently believed there was anyone else inside the vehicle.
The 23-year-old was rushed to Princess Alexandra hospital in a critical condition where she died on Friday night as a result of her injuries.
Queensland DI Chris Knight said the incident is “not as simple as domestic violence” and that the family of the woman who died was “deeply traumatised”.
Police executed a search warrant on a Goona property on Saturday where they seized a silver Toyota Prado.
The 24-year-old woman has been charged with one count of murder and is due to appear at Ipswich magistrates court on Monday.
Police are appealing to the public for help, including the driver and passengers of a bus that was travelling along Allamanda Drive just before the incident occurred and those with dashcam footage.
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Two men charged after ATM thefts in regional NSW
Two men have been charged on Sunday after allegations they were responsible for multiple ATM thefts in the New England area.
The string of incidents began in early June when a man entered a business in Werris Creek before leaving the scene with an ATM machine in a trolley.
Two weeks later a similar incident took place at a motel, where two men loaded an ATM machine into a black ute parked outside.
Police say they later found a partially submerged ATM in the Quipolly Dam on 23 June 2024.
On Saturday, police were again called to a business on the New England Highway at Wallabadah after reports another ATM had been stolen.
That afternoon police attended a property at Lake Keepit at Somerton where they arrested a 44-year-old man.
During a search of the property, police seized tools, clothing, drugs and money.
The man was taken to Tamworth police station and charged with three counts of breaking and entering house etc steal, larceny, failing to comply digital evidence access order direction, and possessing a prohibited drug.
Later that night, police attended a home in West Tamworth and arrested another man, 39, who was later charged with two counts of break and enter house etc steal, larceny.
The 44-year-old was refused bail to appear before Tamworth local court on Sunday.
The 39-year-old was granted conditional bail to appear before Tamworth local court on Monday 12 August 2024.
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Man charged with murder after alleged fight in Melbourne home
A man has been charged with murder after an alleged altercation at a home in Melbourne left another man dead and a woman fighting for life, AAP reports.
Emergency services were called on Saturday night to a house in Bentleigh East, in Melbourne’s south-east, where a man was found with critical injuries.
Police say a physical altercation took place between two men and a woman.
One of the men, who is yet to be formally identified, died at the scene.
The woman was taken to hospital with life-threatening injuries.
Detectives have charged a 20-year-old Bentleigh East man with one count of murder and one count of attempted murder.
Police are still investigating the circumstances but believe all three knew each other.
The 20-year-old man is due to appear before Melbourne magistrates court on Sunday.
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‘Brisbane has got its house back’: inside two grand heritage restorations in a famously pro-development city
Claire Moore nurses a cup of tea as she drinks in the view of a broad sweep of river from the back veranda of a stately home set amid august figs and an avenue of queen palms.
“I think there is no more beautiful place in Brisbane,” the former senator says.
Yet despite the proprietorial ease with which Moore moves through its lavish 19th-century decor, the city’s oldest standing European residence is not hers alone.
Once the domain of the city’s colonial elite, Newstead House belongs to the public and over recent decades has hosted hundreds of weddings and served countless Devonshire teas for the city’s more humble folk too, its timber floors resounded with the trudge of many a school group.
Closed for government-funded refurbishments in 2021, the 178-year-old building threw open its doors once more this month, $6.6m later, its exterior painted a vibrant azure blue and interior wallpapered in the Victorian extravagance of its heyday.
Now Moore, chair of the house’s board of trustees, is looking forward to welcoming students and hosting weddings once again.
For more on this story, read the full report by John Hinchlifee:
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Jacinta Allan vows to tear ‘rotten culture’ of CFMEU ‘out by its roots’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has promised to tear the “rotten culture” of the CFMEU “out by its roots”, AAP reports.
The union’s construction division has been accused of taking kickbacks, being linked to organised crime and employing standover tactics on work sites, in a series of Nine newspaper reports.
Allan announced an independent review into the troubled construction industry on Saturday, to be led by Greg Wilson, who has previously served as acting commissioner of the Victorian Public Sector Commissioner.
Allan said she was disgusted by the allegations and an interim report would be delivered to the government in six weeks.
We will tear this rotten culture out by its roots – making sure our construction industry meets the expectations of the Victorian people.
Unions are meant to keep people safe – we are making sure that people coming forward with critical information about conduct on work sites have the complaints processes and protections they deserve.
Wilson’s review is expected to recommend ways to stamp out unlawful conduct on building sites, including those included in Victoria’s Big Build.
The state government also announced the scope of the Independent Construction Sector Review.
It will also consider how government can establish clear processes and protections for whistleblowers and complainants with allegations of criminal or unlawful practices, coercion, bullying or intimidatory conduct.
The interim report will be provided to the government by 29 August and a final report by 28 November.
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Key event
‘Strong parallel’ between support for Trump and Coalition: Taylor
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, believes growing support for Donald Trump among working-class voters in the US is “strong parallel” to growing support for the Coalition in Australia, AAP reports.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday morning, Taylor welcomed the choice of JD Vance as vice-presidential candidate, saying the Coalition expects a similar shift in support in Australia.
[Vance’s] nomination as the vice-presidential candidate is all about reviving the American dream and I don’t think our dream here is so different.
It is about being able to get ahead, being able to come from nothing, and to be able to create opportunities from life.
It was an inspired choice by Donald Trump and his team, and I do think there are strong parallels here in Australia.
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Investigation launched after alleged stabbing death in Sydney
An investigation has been launched after a 37-year-old man died following an alleged stabbing in Sydney’s west on Saturday.
Emergency services were first called to a property in Guildford about 1.45pm Saturday before a man presented at Westmead hospital with abdominal stab wounds about half an hour later.
The man was operated on but died at about 5.30pm
A NSW police spokesperson said investigators “have been told the man was assaulted in Guildford by three men, before he was driven to Westmead hospital by an associate”.
Police are appealing for information.
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IT outage highlights need for wider market share: Angus Taylor
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, says the global IT outage caused by CyberStrike has reinforced the concerns of having large amounts of internet systems in the hands of a few firms, AAP reports.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Taylor said:
It’s also very clear that government and businesses have got to get smarter and better at being able to deal with these situations.
That might mean having redundancy, it might mean ensuring that you’ve got alternatives, it certainly might mean not having one organisation or one company with too much market share.
The widespread outages had led to concerns scammers would use the incident to target Australians with malicious texts and emails to gain personal details.
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Emergency meetings to assess IT outage fallout
Further emergency meetings will be held to examine the fallout of a global IT outage in Australia, AAP reports.
Banks, airports, supermarkets, media companies and retailers were left scrambling following Friday’s outage, which was caused by major cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike deploying a software update.
The National Co-ordination Mechanism – made up of government agencies and representatives from affected sectors – will meet again on Sunday morning to discuss future steps after the outage.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, the assistant energy minister, Jenny McAllister, said work was ongoing between the government and sectors hit by the outage to ensure they were back up and running.
We are still in recovery stage … there is still more work to do to make sure that the residual issues arising from this outage are able to be addressed.
There will be opportunity in time to reflect on what’s occurred over the last couple of days, whether it exposes vulnerabilities that we are able to address.
The key thing at the moment, and the focus for the government, is restoring services.
Most companies affected by the outage were operational again by Saturday.
Senator McAllister urged internet users to be extremely cautious in handing over information online following the outage.
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Labor launches $5m campaign against elder abuse
The Australian government has denounced elder abuse as an “ugly” hidden scourge, as it launched a campaign to get the problem out of the shadows.
On Sunday the federal government began a $5m campaign running across TV, online channels and in health clinics until early November.
The TV ads include the tag line: “Ending the abuse of older people begins with a conversation. If something doesn’t feel right, speak to someone you trust.”
The government says the campaign has been crafted after significant research and testing, including hearing from diverse older voices across the community.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, said if an older person did not feel that they could reach out for help, “then we have failed them”. Launching the campaign, Dreyfus said:
Abuse of older people is a shameful and often hidden form of cruelty and mistreatment.
It is ugly. It is unacceptable. And it must be eliminated.
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Government ‘pathologically unambitious’ on climate change: Daniel
Daniel says both major parties have failed on climate change. Asked about the next election, she says the government been “pathologically unambitious on pretty much everything” on climate change:
Not enough action on climate change, sort of giving with one hand, taking with the other in terms of new fossil fuel developments and squibbing it on environmental reforms, and then from the point of view of the opposition, what’s changed since the 2022 election? What’s changed in their climate policy? If anything, they’ve walked it back.
Daniel says that the pitch at the next election will be for the independents to make the major parties “more ambitious”:
The pitch is you need independents to make the government more ambitious and to make the opposition more ambitious, to make them better, to keep them honest, to make them strive, to provide vision for the country, particularly in an environment where you may well end up with Donald Trump leading the United States, going down a path of isolationism, nativism and division, and we can make a decision as a country not to do that, to differentiate ourselves with a vision from our future, and I’m looking for that from both major parties, and I’m not seeing it.
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Daniel says she voted to abolish ‘politicised’ ABCC
Regarding the allegations against the CFMEU, Daniel says she voted to abolish the ABCC as part of an omnibus bill, saying that the body had become “so politicised” that it was “impossible for it to be effective”.
Daniel says that a state-federal taskforce may be required to investigate the allegations involving the toxic elements of the union but there “needs to be representation for workers in the construction sector, obviously”.
Everyone has known to some degree that it has been going on and it does feel like it has been convenient to turn a blind eye and it is now Labor’s problem. There’s risk and they have to resolve this.
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Palestinian Authority has opportunity to ‘step up’: Daniel
Daniel says she supports Palestinian statehood and that she believes there is an opportunity for the Palestinian Authority to “actually step up” and “prove that they can re-invent themselves to government”.
The issue, I think, with declaration of Palestinian statehood currently – and obviously many countries have done it before us, but just the timing of it now – is that the situation is a complete basket case.
On Friday the Israeli Knesset voted explicitly to rejected the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis it would pose “an existential danger to the State of Israel and its citizens, perpetuate the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and destabilise the region”.
Daniels says she also supports government calls that illegal settlements in the West Bank “should not be happening” as “that is absolutely inflaming the situation”.
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Joe Biden ‘probably can’t win’: Daniel
Zoe Daniel says she does believes the US President, Joe Biden, “probably can’t win” and that the chances of him winning at the election are “next to nil”.
The thing is, though, and I’ve been thinking way before the debate, that Donald Trump will win the election, he is quite extraordinary as a human in his ability to persist, but the thing is who do you put in now who can beat Trump on the time-frame that you have?
Daniel says that she would like to see the US government to continue its support for Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression, saying that to withdraw support would lead to “a whole lot of unintended consequences” relating to the “fragility of democracy with Ukraine really being a pressure point to retain the democratic process.”
Asked whether she thinks the US should continue to support Israel during its attack on the Gaza Strip, Daniel says the 7 October attacks by Hamas “achieved its aim, which was to terrorise people”, but that she thinks “there needs to be a ceasefire in Gaza” and advocates for a “two state-solution” given the risk the conflict may spiral out across the Middle East.
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Trump presidency ‘likely to happen’: Zoe Daniel
Independent MP Zoe Daniel says Australia needs to accept that Trump returning the presidency is likely happen and will have to prepare for a “mercurial” president that acts on his whims.
The only thing that’s predictable about Donald Trump is his unpredictability.
Daniel says that, “at the end of the day, Trump does the hiring and firing,” and that she believes the former president has not been changed by recent events.
I think anyone who thinks Trump has changed as a result of the assassination is living in a parallel universe.
Daniel says that, based on his previous record, Trump pulled the US out of the Paris climate agreement and shredded many of the US government’s climate policies, saying “I think it will be back to where he left off after his first administration.”
I think we will be back to Trump mark one.
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IT failure crashed 8.5m Windows devices worldwide: Microsoft
Microsoft has disclosed that 8.5m Windows devices were knocked offline after an IT failure caused by a faulty update in anti-virus software built by the US cybersecurity company Crowdstrike.
In a blog post published on Saturday night, Microsoft said it had deployed “hundreds of Microsoft engineers and experts to work directly with customers to restore services” and was liaising with service providers such as Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services to assist the recovery.
Microsoft said those affected represented “less than one percent of all Windows machines” but acknowledged that “the broad economic and societal impacts reflect the use of CrowdStrike by enterprises that run many critical services”:
This incident demonstrates the interconnected nature of our broad ecosystem – global cloud providers, software platforms, security vendors and other software vendors, and customers.
It’s also a reminder of how important it is for all of us across the tech ecosystem to prioritize operating with safe deployment and disaster recovery using the mechanisms that exist. As we’ve seen over the last two days, we learn, recover and move forward most effectively when we collaborate and work together.
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Independent MP Zoe Daniel will speak to the ABC Insiders host, David Speers, on Sunday morning.
Coming up on #ABCInsiders with @David_Speers
— ABC News (@abcnews) July 20, 2024
• Independent MP Zoe Daniel interviewed🔎
• 📸 Jack the Insider
• 🛋️ Raf Epstein, Karen Middleton and Shane Wright.
See you at 9am #auspol pic.twitter.com/Aj5YI91YVy
The assistant minister for climate change and energy, Jenny McAllister, has spoken to Sky News this morning.
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
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Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
A software update that caused widespread outages affected 8.5m Windows devices worldwide, according to new details disclosed Microsoft. In a blog post about the incident, the software giant says it has deployed hundreds of engineers and experts to help clients get back online.
Police are investigating a violent incident in Melbourne that led to the death of a man and left a woman in hospital with life-threatening injuries. A 20-year-old man was arrested on Saturday night after an altercation between the three, who are believed to have known each other.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started …
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