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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Cait Kelly, Emily Wind and Martin Farrer (earlier)

PM arrives at Pacific Islands Forum – as it happened

Australia Jason Clare Jim Chalmers Peter Dutton Police Guardian Australia VET
Anthony Albanese arrives for Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Tonga
Anthony Albanese is welcomed by Tonga’s foreign minister Fekitamoeloa ʻUtoikamanu, right, as he arrives for the Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting in Nuku'alofa on Tuesday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

What we learned – Tuesday 27 August

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Thank you for spending your time with us, before we go let’s re-cap the headlines.

We will be back tomorrow to do it all again – until then, stay safe.

Updated

Deep-sea mining causes rifts and ripples at Pacific Islands forum

One issue simmering below the surface of the Pacific Islands Forum talks here in Tonga relates to the future of deep-sea mining.

At last year’s Pif meeting in the Cook Islands, leaders tried to bridge deep divides on the issue by recognising “the diversity of positions amongst members”. The leaders called for a “Talanoa Dialogue” in 2024, although this hasn’t happened yet. Talanoa means a type of “inclusive, participatory and transparent dialogue” that embraces mutual respect and understand rather than shouting down other ideas.

Deep-sea mining advocates say nodules – clumps of metallic substances found at the bottom of the ocean – could be the answer to global demand for minerals to make batteries and transform economies away from fossil fuels. Several Pacific island governments, such as the Cook Islands, think the option should be on the table for further research and economic development, while a number of other governments in the region are wary of the risks.

Earlier today, civil society groups staged a demonstration in Tonga’s capital, Nuku’alofa, where Pif is being held, to signal their opposition. Pelenatita (Tita) Kara Longopoa, of the Civil Society Forum of Tonga, said:

The Ocean is my identity, my culture, and my inheritance. Mining its depth is equivalent to ripping apart what is central to me as a Pacific Islander and an ocean dweller.

Shiva Gounden, the head of Pacific at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the risks posed by the new industry were “too great”. Gounden called on the Australian government to “show true leadership on ocean protection” and commit to a moratorium on deep-sea mining.

Updated

Perth man jailed for sexually exploiting hundreds of children by posing as social media star

A Perth man who coerced 286 victims – including 180 children – from 20 different countries into performing sexually explicit acts on camera has been sentenced to 17 years in prison.

The 29-year-old, who posed as a teenage social media celebrity to prey on the children and young adults online, was sentenced by the Perth district court today after pleading guilty in December 2023 to 119 charges that covered more than 550 incidents across 11 months.

When determining the sentence, the judge also took into account another three charges capturing 108 incidences of behaviour.

The Australian federal police assistant commissioner David McLean said the scale of the predatory and exploitative offending by the offender made it one of the worst sextortion cases in history:

This type of online exploitation and abuse is devastating and causes lifelong trauma.

As a result of information provided by Interpol and HSI about an Australian sexually exploiting girls in other countries, the AFP was able to identify this man and stop him from hurting anyone else.

During the investigation, AFP officers liaised with police in multiple countries to help identify victims and check on their welfare, and passed on intelligence about other offenders who had been in contact with this man.

Our common goal is to protect children, wherever they live, and to ensure anyone who tries to harm them is identified and brought before the courts.

Updated

Developer’s fine for destroying oak tree in NSW increased from $3,000 to $45,000 in failed appeal

A developer who destroyed an 80-year-old oak tree in New South Wales and appealed against his initial $3,000 fine has seen that fine increase to $45,000.

Unhappy with the initial fine, the developer lodged an appeal and the matter was dealt with at the Bankstown local court earlier this month.

The court heard that a council inspection showed excavation work was occurring within a required tree protection zone without the supervision of a certified arborist. The developer was handed a $45,000 fine.

A City of Canterbury Bankstown spokesperson said the council recognises the importance of protecting valuable tree resources:

Council takes environmental enforcement seriously and we will not tolerate those who want to cut corners.

May this act as a warning that if you are doing the wrong thing, you will be caught and you will be fined.

Updated

Second stuck ride in a fortnight at Sea World

This is the second time in a fortnight passengers at SeaWorld have been stuck on a ride after the Leviathan rollercoaster stopped on 22 August due to a “ride sensor activation” error, according to the company.

People on board were stuck on the ride for around an hour.

Staff then helped them disembark from the emergency access points.

Updated

People rescued from Sea World ride after 90 minutes

The people stuck on the SeaWorld ride have now been rescued.

Bikash Randhawa, the COO of Village Roadshow Theme Parks, said:

Earlier today, the Vortex at Sea World received a ride stoppage due to a sensor communication fault.

Our team were in constant communication with the 13 guests on-board who were safe at all times, and our on-site nurse provided welfare checks in an abundance of caution with them upon exiting the ride. Our engineering team manually lowered the ride to its home position where the guests exited in just over 90 minutes of the ride stoppage.

Due to location of the ride stoppage, QFES was engaged to assist our team exit the guests from the ride, should the manual process not work, however this was not required. Our team regularly train for these exercises and we have a strong working relationship with the QFES team.

The safety and wellbeing of our guests is our highest priority and ride stoppages are proof rides systems and operators are doing as they are designed and trained to do to keep our guests safe.

Updated

SeaWorld says 13 people stuck on Vortex ride are ‘safe’

SeaWorld has put out a statement after 13 people have been trapped on the Vortex ride this afternoon.

A spokesperson said:

The Vortex at Sea World is currently experiencing a standard ride stoppage.

All 13 guests on-board are safe and our team are communicating with them as we prepare to exit them from the ride.

Updated

Multiple people trapped midair on Sea World ride

More than 10 people are understood to be trapped midair on a ride at Sea World on the Gold Coast.

The Queensland Ambulance Service has confirmed it is at the scene while a rescue takes place.

Updated

Top universities criticise Labor’s ‘ill-conceived’ international student cap

The Group of Eight has responded to the government’s announcement on its plan to cap new international student enrolments at 270,000.

Chief executive Vicki Thomson said:

The Group of Eight (Go8) remains implacably opposed to international student caps for the damage they will do to the sector and the nation.

We saw yesterday at the Senate inquiry that there is no economic modelling on the impact of caps, and this has not changed with today’s announcement of a National Planning Level target of 270,000 for international education. This policy was bad yesterday and it is bad today – the unexplained number gives us no comfort.

What has changed is the Government today trying to steamroll the sector into accepting detailed caps before a clearly sceptical Senate has passed judgement on the ill-conceived legislation that enables these enrolment limits.

In doing so, the Government has confused the issues even further and increased the distrust of the sector in its capability to manage this vital $48 billion export industry.

Updated

Guzman y Gomez earnings result gives investors food for thought

The Mexican-inspired fast food chain Guzman y Gomez has failed to impress investors despite beating its own sales forecast.

In its first earnings result since its $335m ASX float in June, the Sydney-based burrito business said global sales grew 26.4% to $959.7m in the year ended 30 June, ahead of predictions published in its IPO prospectus.

The company’s founder and co-CEO Steven Marks was typically ambitious in his earnings call.

“Our vision is to reinvent fast food and change the way the masses eat,” he said.

But the sales beat was not enough to placate the market, which expects robust results to back up GYG’s bold claims.

Its share price was down 1% to $35.48 on the ASX, still well above its $22 issue price.

– via AAP

Updated

Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. Handing over to Cait Kelly, who will bring you the rest of our coverage into this evening! Take care.

Updated

Two charged with murder after death of 12-year-old girl in 2022

Queensland police have charged two people with murder after the death of a 12-year-old girl in April 2022.

It will be alleged that emergency services were called to a Coomera residence after reports a 12-year-old girl was unresponsive, and was later declared deceased, police said in a statement.

Investigations into the circumstances of the girl’s death have led detectives to arrest and charge a 37-year-old man and a 36-year-old woman, both known to the child, with murder. They are both due to appear in Southport magistrates court today.

Det Insp Paul Fletcher from the Gold Coast district vulnerable persons unit praised the dedication of the officers who worked on this difficult case.

The investigation into the death of this young girl has been one of the most heart-wrenching and complex we’ve had to conduct. From the moment the investigation commenced, our priority has been to seek justice for this innocent child.

It is deeply distressing to investigate the death of any child, but the circumstances surrounding this case have been particularly confronting for our officers. Our detectives have worked diligently, using every resource available to ensure we could bring this investigation to a close.

Fletcher acknowledged the “grief and pain this has caused the community” and said police hope the arrests “bring some level of comfort to those who knew and loved this young girl”.

Updated

Andrew Wilkie says move to exclude question about sexuality and gender diversity in census ‘shameful’

The independent MP for Clark, Andrew Wilkie, has described the government’s move to exclude a question about sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming census as “shameful.”

In a post to X, Wilkie wrote:

The census is supposed to tell us who we are as a country, but the [government’s] decision to back away from including questions on sexuality [and] gender diversity is a shameful move that, as Rodney Croome says, pushes LGBTIQA+ Australians back into the statistical closet.

Updated

Extra 22m bags of IV fluids secured, health minister says

An extra 22m bags of IV fluids will ensure Australian hospitals have more than enough of the vital medical supplies after an unprecedented shortage, the government says.

The health minister, Mark Butler, released a statement this afternoon saying the government has worked with local producers and suppliers to secure the supply of more than 22m additional IV fluid bags over the next six months, which will exceed the forecast demand over this period. The extra bags will come from both local production and overseas imports.

Earlier this month the government said it was stepping in to coordinate the distribution of the product with a cross-jurisdictional response group convened by all states and territories and the commonwealth. The group, which met yesterday, indicated the situation had stabilised in most jurisdictions.

The only onshore manufacturer of IV fluids, Baxter, advised the response group it is manufacturing IV fluids at its Sydney site at record levels and that, in coming weeks, it will expand its local manufacturing plant so that more IV fluid bags can be made locally.

In his statement, Butler said the medicines regulator, the TGA, was aware state and territory health departments were alerting staff of the situation and instructing all staff to use IV stock judiciously.

Updated

Man dies after parachuting incident in Queensland

A man has died after a parachuting incident west of Brisbane this morning.

As we flagged earlier, emergency services had responded to a parachuting incident in Tarawera, just off Meandarra Talwood Road, after 8am.

Paramedics had treated a patient for life-threatening injuries, however police have now confirmed the man was declared deceased at the scene.

The forensic crash unit was also on the scene this morning.

Updated

NDIS minister says ‘naysayers’ should ‘stop catastrophising’ about changes to scheme

The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, has urged “naysayers” to “stop catastrophising” about changes to the $40bn scheme that passed in parliament last week.

The former Labor leader has been on the attack after the Greens and some disability advocacy groups warned the changes could leave some participants worse off.

There have also been fears some of the changes could amount to a robodebt 2.0, which Shorten has previously dismissed as “complete rubbish”.

The Australian newspaper reported more than $65m in debts had been raised against NDIS participants and providers in the most recent year.

The figures showed 336 participants had been sent debt collection notices in the 12 months to July 2024, totalling $9m. Another $21m on debt notices was sent to 118 providers with a further $25m initiated by providers and participants to self correct or cancel claims.

Shorten has told Adelaide radio station 5AA the debts were “not exactly ruthless”, representing $65m of the $40bn scheme.

We’re not exactly the ruthless sort of debt police here and in our budgets, we don’t budget for recovering debt, but there’s probably a few hundred people who spend it on the wrong thing or are given wrong advice.

If someone’s got a serious psychosocial condition and they make a mistake, we haven’t been allowed to take into account their disability. Now we can. So, some of the naysayers really need to stop catastrophising and recognising the biggest catastrophe for the NDIS is if we don’t stop the rorts, if we don’t stop the people having a lend of it, demand better outcomes for the money that we’re paying. We want better quality outcomes for people.

Updated

Significant storm system to move through Tasmania and parts of Victoria

Tasmania and parts of Victoria have been warned to batten down the hatches and brace for power outages as one of winter’s most significant storm systems moves through, AAP reports.

The Bureau of Meteorology has issued severe weather warnings for damaging winds across Victoria, Tasmania, and parts of New South Wales, South Australia and Western Australia, along with flood watches for Tasmania’s major rivers and parts of the north-west coast.

Victoria’s State Emergency Service has urged the community to prepare for winds of up to 100km/h from this afternoon and into tomorrow, with gusts of up to 130km/h near the state’s alpine peaks.

Western, southern and eastern Tasmania can expect average winds of about 60km/h to 70km/h, with peak gusts of up to 125km/h in parts of the east coast between Swansea and Orford until tonight.

Community members were encouraged to secure loose items such as outdoor furniture and trampolines and to park away from trees.

Meanwhile, Ausnet urged Victorian customers to prepare for potential power outages, and said life support customers should be ready to activate their emergency plan.

Updated

Continued from last post: Pat Conroy also said the Palm scheme “requires employers to pay Australian wages and conditions”. The minister explained:

Importantly, we then made a further change as the incoming Labor government to require them not just to pay minimum wages and conditions, the legal minimum in Australia, but to pay exactly the same as an Australian worker under an enterprise agreement doing the same job. So if there is a worker from Solomon Islands at a meatworks next to an Australian meatworker, they must get paid exactly the same amount of money.

Importantly, because we do recognise that there are some unscrupulous employers out there, we put lots of money into compliance. So our budget last year put in over $200m into support for compliance. We’ve ramped up actions within the department of workplace relations in terms of inspections. We’ve empowered the Fair Work Ombudsman to be much more active in this area, and we’re engaging more country liaison officers, because we recognise that for a lot of Pacific workers it’s a lot easier to talk to someone from their country about what they’re experiencing than someone from the Australian government.

So we are very conscious of our history in this area but this scheme, if done correctly, is a win-win, where workers send home, on average, $15,000 a year, get skills, start businesses in their home country and fill labour shortages in Australia. Obviously, there are some cases of abuse, like there are cases of abuse of Australian workers, and we will always act to stomp those out because they are unacceptable.

Updated

Conroy acknowledges Australia’s history of ‘blackbirding’ to defend present Pacific worker scheme

A federal government minister, Pat Conroy, says it is “very important” to acknowledge Australia’s past exploitative practices while seeking to rebut concerns about the present-day Pacific labour scheme.

As we reported here on the blog earlier today, Conroy announced an $8m trial of a new scheme to better support workers and their families who participate in the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme.

At Conroy’s press conference in Tonga this afternoon, a journalist noted that some had labelled the scheme as “modern-day slavery”. In light of allegations of unjust behaviour by some employers, the journalist asked what the Australian government was doing to ensure Pacific workers were protected. Conroy began by saying:

Let me address that in a series of steps, because it’s a very serious accusation that does get levelled that I obviously reject utterly for a couple of reasons.

One, I acknowledge our history of things like blackbirding. It’s very important to acknowledge the history of Australia with use of workers from the Pacific … so I’m very conscious of the history of Australia in this area. It’s very important to acknowledge that.

The term “blackbirding” is used to describe the practice of coercing people to work as indentured labourers, often through deception or force. You can read more about Australia’s history of this practice here.

Conroy went on to defend the present-day Palm scheme, noting that “everyone who participates in this scheme does so voluntarily” and “each Pacific country has full control on who they approve to send to Australia”.

Updated

Greens respond to government cap on new international student enrolments

The deputy leader of the Greens and higher education spokesperson, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, has responded to the government’s international student cap.

Faruqi said that the Labor and education minister, Jason Clare, had “ignored the near unanimous opposition from the higher education sector and are charging ahead with this terrible policy”.

If Minister Clare wants to do something about our universities, how about fully funding them, wiping student debt and dumping the disastrous job-ready graduates policy.

After almost a decade of Coalition attacks, universities still can’t get a break. Labor has proven to be a woeful disappointment. The government needs to stop micromanaging universities and start funding them properly.

Updated

Sacked Queensland CFMEU secretary to launch high court challenge

The sacked former Queensland CFMEU secretary Michael Ravbar has announced he will launch a high court challenge against legislation putting the union into administration. He announced at a union rally in Brisbane:

We will be doing a high court challenge as a matter of urgency, and I’ll be the applicant.

This is going to be the biggest challenge and the biggest fight that we’ve ever had, but we’re all up for it. You’ve got to get control of your union back. You will never allow a government takeover again.

More than ten thousand members of the CFMEU and other unions rallied at Queens Park, as part of a wave of protests across the country.

Sacked national president Jade Ingham and leaders from the Electrical Trades Union, the National Union of Students, the Maritime Union of Australia and the Rail Tram and Bus Union also spoke.

Ravbar called on members to vote against Labor at the upcoming state and federal elections because of the “treachery” of the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.

There’s no doubt he’s sold out of workers. I’ve been a huge critic of Albo, because he’s always been anti-union. I’ve been saying that for a number of years. When you’re anti union, what do you create? Anti union laws and that’s what he done to your union and the rest of the union movement.

The thing about Albo is that he would spend more energy in trying to get rid of his political opponents than he will do running this country.

Updated

Workers told to return to central Queensland mine after latest fatality

Workers have been told to return to a central Queensland mine as more details emerged about the second fatality in weeks at the site, AAP reports.

Operations at Byerwen coal mine at Suttor, west of Mackay, were suspended after a worker died when a haul truck and light vehicle collided on 22 August. It marked the second fatality at the Bowen Basin site this month following the death of 48-year-old Chris Schloss about three weeks ago.

Contractor Macmahon provided an update about the incident today, saying according to the latest information the light vehicle appeared to have run into the rear of the truck.

Macmahon continues to fully cooperate with all relevant authorities and their investigations to understand what had occurred in more detail.

Based on current information, Macmahon understands the loaded dump truck was ascending the ramp leading out of the pit at low speed when the light vehicle approached from behind and ran into the rear of the dump truck.

Macmahon said workers had been told to return to the mine tomorrow, but it was still waiting on regulatory approval to recommence operations.

The Mining and Energy Union said workers were still coming to terms with Schloss’ death and were “traumatised” by the latest incident. Macmahon said it was providing necessary assistance and support to all personnel involved including the dump truck operator.

Updated

Universities Australia chair says proposed student caps will ‘handbrake’ major export industry

The chair of Universities Australia, Prof David Lloyd, says that the Albanese government’s proposed student cap for international commencements would “apply a handbrake to Australia’s second biggest export industry.”

You can read more about the announcement below, in case you missed it:

In a statement, Lloyd said Universities Australia acknowledges the right of the government to control migration numbers, but said “this should not be done at the expense of any one sector, particularly one as economically important as education.”

Curtailing growth in the $48bn international education sector risks our nation’s ambition and the university sector’s ability to support the delivery of national priorities.

International student fees help drive Australia’s economy and support universities to operate, making up a shortfall in government funding for research, teaching and campus infrastructure.

Lloyd said every dollar from overseas students is reinvested back into Australian universities, and argued there would be flow-on effects for other sectors that rely heavily on international students.

Updated

Advocates speak out against new NT plan to lower age of criminal responsibility to 10

Travis Borsi, the Northern Territory director of 54 reasons, which delivers Save the Children’s services in Australia, said he is alarmed by the new NT government’s plan to lower the age of criminal responsibility to 10.

In a statement, Borsi said the move was “troubling” and comes “so soon after the age of criminal responsibility was raised to 12.”

[This] risks undermining the rights of children across the Territory and, ultimately, making the community less safe. Along with the proposal to reintroduce the use of spit hoods on children, this plan will only guarantee that more kids cycle through a youth justice system that is built to fail them and inevitably lead to further trauma in the community.

Borsi said it was important to remember that “we’re talking about children who are not even old enough to attend high school”:

There is no evidence that locking up preteens will improve crime statistics, in the Territory or elsewhere … We strongly urge the chief minister to reconsider … and instead address the root causes of offending through culturally responsive and trauma informed services that are best placed to keep the community safe.

Updated

No arrests following unauthorised protest in Sydney CBD this morning

New South Wales police have said all roads are now reopened in the Sydney CBD after officers responded to an unauthorised protest this morning.

In a statement, police said officers had a high-visibility presence in the area and no arrests were made. The police operation has now concluded.

Updated

The CFMEU protests, from the streets

Footage is rolling in on social media from the CFMEU rallies across the nation’s capital cities.

One user, at the Melbourne protest, wrote that the last time they had seen a union crowd of this size was during the “Change the rules” rally in 2018.

Here’s an aerial view of the Melbourne rally:

And here is a view of the crowds at NSW parliament in Sydney earlier:

Updated

Suspension overturned for Victorian student disciplined for pro-Palestine encampment

The suspension of a student in Victoria who was disciplined over their involvement in a pro-Palestine encampment has been overturned.

According to a statement from Students for Palestine, Renee Nayef’s suspension was overturned earlier today. Nayef said in a statement:

Having my suspension overturned is a huge win for the right to protest on campus. This just makes me more confident to continue standing up for Palestinian justice and an end to the horrific bombing of Gaza. It’s appalling that Deakin dragged me and other students through months of bureaucratic disciplinary procedures just for protesting against a genocide.

But I know that we’re on the right side of history. Every university in the Gaza strip has been bombed, so students like me have a responsibility to stand up for the students there who are being denied a voice. Tomorrow I’ll speak about Gaza in front of hundreds of students at a student general meeting that we’ve called on campus to vindicate the encampment and push for divestment.

Updated

Couple arrested after allegedly trying to smuggle 6kg of MDMA boarding Spirit of Tasmania

Two people have been arrested allegedly trying to smuggle 6kg of MDMA in their luggage as they boarded the Spirit of Tasmania, AAP reports, as part of a national anti-drugs operation.

The bust came amid a major crackdown on organised crime across Australia, with more than 1600 people arrested and $93m worth of drugs seized.

All levels of state and territory police took part with more than 2900 charges laid during the week-long operation which ended on 23 August.

Those arrested included a man and woman who were stopped by police as they were about to board the Spirit of Tasmania ferry when it left Victoria from the port of Geelong on 21 August. A search of a suitcase allegedly revealed about 6kg of MDMA.

A 44-year-old man from Newport in Melbourne’s west has been charged with trafficking a large commercial quantity of MDMA. He was remanded to appear at Melbourne Magistrates’ Court on 26 November.

There were 528 search warrants executed throughout Australia and New Zealand with almost 1400kg of illicit drugs and more than 2500 cannabis plants, with a street value of about $93m seized along with 71 guns and $2.2m in cash.

Giant CFMEU rally underway in Brisbane

Several thousand union members have rallied in Brisbane’s CBD for the CFMEU.

The rally is overflowing outside Queen’s Gardens and blocking the road. It includes many members of the ETU and other construction unions who oppose administration.

Several sacked organisers spoke at the rally, including the national president, Jade Ingham, plus Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather.

The ETU’s general secretary, Peter Ong, declared every dollar previously donated to Labor would be donated to a fighting fund for the CFMEU. He said the legislation putting the union in administration was the “worst act of treachery” in the country’s history and would not be forgotten or forgiven.

Updated

BHP full-year net profit slumps on writedowns, charges

Meanwhile, mining giant BHP has reported a slump in full-year net profit after writedowns and other charges and has warned of further volatility in commodity markets.

As AAP reports, net profit fell 39% to $US7.9bn ($A11.7bn) in the year to 30 June, after $US2.7bn ($A4.0bn) was written off the value of mothballed Australian nickel assets and a $US3.8bn ($A5.6bn) charge for the Samarco dam disaster in Brazil.

However, underlying profit rose two per cent to $US13.7bn ($A20.2bn) on record volumes of iron ore and a nine per cent rise in copper production, the company reported today.

The impact of higher interest rates was expected to continue to restrain household consumption in advanced economies for the remainder of 2024, but BHP said it expected steel, copper and nickel demand to recover.

Updated

Woodside profits slip as energy prices dip

Lower energy prices have hit oil and gas giant Woodside’s profit, AAP reports, but the impact has not been as bad as expected due to lower operating costs.

Australia’s biggest fossil fuels producer has announced underlying net profit fell 14% to $US1.63bn ($A2.41bn) for the six months ending 30 June.

That was substantially better than consensus estimates, with analysts discouraged by the continued cooling off of oil and liquid natural gas prices from their 2022 peaks as well as several of Woodside’s mature assets winding down their production.

The company’s strong performance was due to its high operational reliability and effective cost management in spite of inflation, said Woddside’s chief executive, Meg O’Neill:

We continue to deliver on our strategy to thrive through the energy transition whilst maintaining our disciplined capital management.

Updated

Conroy weighs in on New Caledonia at Pacific Islands Forum

The Australian minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has waded in to one of the thorniest issues to be discussed by the leaders at the Pacific Islands Forum this week: New Caledonia.

New Caledonia is a member of the Pacific Islands Forum and a French territory. Deadly unrest in New Caledonia since May has been linked to a proposal to change voting rights.

A Pacific Islands Forum-led delegation was expected to visit New Caledonia to assess the situation, but this was postponed at the request of the president of New Caledonia, Louis Mapou. There have been reports that this stemmed from a disagreement with France about the scope of the fact-finding mission.

Conroy called for progress in reaching agreement on the visit:

Australia welcomes the agreement of France for a delegation from the Pacific Islands Forum to visit New Caledonia. And we urge all parties, particularly France and New Caledonia, to reach agreement on the program and the approach to that delegation. That’s very important.

We’re not going to get ahead of the Pacific Island Forum leaders on this, and we’ll wait to see the outcome over the next few days, but our position is obviously that we welcome that delegation and we think it has a very strong role in helping resolve the challenges in New Caledonia.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to arrive in Tonga tonight. The leaders’ plenary meeting will be held tomorrow before a leaders’ retreat is held on Thursday.

Updated

Australia pledges $8m trial to support Pacific workers and families

The Australian government has announced a $8m trial of a new scheme to better support Pacific workers and their families.

The Australian minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy, made the announcement on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum meeting in Tonga. He said about 35,000 participants from Pacific and Timor-Leste were participating in the Pacific Island Labor Mobility Scheme (Palm).

He said Australia was “so, so grateful” to Pacific workers for contributing to Australia’s economy, particularly in regional areas, but said the scheme was a “win-win” because workers were also sending remittences to their families back home.

But Conroy acknowledged that the scheme may impose “a lot of burden” on families who could be separated from their relatives for up to four years.

He announced an $8m partnership with the UN International Organisation for Migration (IOM) to run “a pilot program” in three yet-to-be-decided countries to boost support for individuals and families. That could include pre-departure training courses for families and courses that coincide with the return of worker to help them return to their community.

Conroy said:

We’re constantly listening to the views of our partners, most notably the Tongan government, listening to their views, listening to their concerns, always trying to improve the scheme.

The director general of the IOM, Amy Pope, said at the same press conference:

This is a direct response to the feedback that we have received and they have received from the communities that participate in the Palm scheme.

Updated

Clare says Labor intends to establish tertiary education commission through legislation

Q: These laws … are you concerned these powers will be abused in future?

Jason Clare:

I do think it is appropriate that this power reside with a body like the Australian Tertiary Education Commission … It does not exist at the moment but we are intending to establish that.

It was a big part of the debate in the House of Representatives on whether these powers should be vested in a minister or a commission like that. I tend to think that it should reside with a commission and so I have made that clear in the debate in the House of Representatives, and I will make that we are in the Senator debate as well.

You will see that when the Australian Tertiary Education Commission bill is presented to the parliament as well.

Updated

Housing incentives part of international student plans, Clare says

Jason Clare said there would be links to housing as part of the plan:

As part of the levels that we set in place for next year, there will be incentives built into that for universities to build more housing. The fact is we need more housing …

Updated

Clare says all universities geting individual student caps

Jason Clare clarified that each university is getting an individual cap today, covering 2025.

Asked for the numbers for Sydney University, for example, Clare said he didn’t have the numbers for each individual university.

I think the professional and appropriate thing to do is to contact each university themselves and give them their numbers before we do a press conference the world.

Clare said that information would “become public in due course”.

Updated

Clare says student caps will apply to all jurisdictions and universities that enrol international students

Q: What you say to concerns about the caps will be subject to legal challenge?

The education minister, Jason Clare:

I saw those comments via the vice-chancellor of Western Sydney University. I think the point he was making was if one jurisdiction or one university was carved out or exempt from the system, that it would create a constitutional issue.

I can assure you and assure him and assure the Australian people that no jurisdiction and no university, no institution that enrols international students, will be exempt from this.

Updated

Clare says 107 withdrawal will mean some universities will have to make ‘individual decisions’ on budget

Jason Clare said that by scrapping ministerial direction 107, some universities would have more students than last year, and some would have less:

The fact is the universities I mentioned like Newcastle and Wollongong, like Griffith, Charles Darwin, Latrobe, University of Tasmania, are the sort of universities that have borne the brunt of ministerial direction 107, the sort of universities that will benefit from building a better and fairer way of setting levels for universities at international [markets] …

They will make their individual decisions about what it means for their budgets … For some of our big universities, they have a lot more students in their universities this year than last year. One of the reasons for that, not exclusively, but one of the reasons for that is the way ministerial direction 107 has operated.

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Clare says Labor is withdrawing ministerial direction 107 on ‘low-risk institution’ student visas

Jason Clare continued:

As part of these reforms, ministerial direction 107 will go. My department has written to universities today outlining their indicative levels and they will work with universities over the next week or two to finalise those levels for next year.

Let me reiterate, international education is extremely important. These reforms are designed to make it better and fairer and set it up on a more sustainable footing going forward.

Ministerial direction 107 is the framework giving priority to students applying to low-risk institutions, meaning their visas will be processed faster.

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Education minister says international student levels will be about the same as pre-pandemic levels

The education minister, Jason Clare, is speaking to reporters following this morning’s announcement of caps on international student enrolments.

As Paul Karp reports, Labor has largely spared universities by allowing them to continue to enrol the same number of international students as 2023 and promising to junk a controversial ministerial direction that gave priority to students applying to low-risk institutions.

The National Planning Level (NPL) for new international student commencements will be 270,000 for calendar year 2025. Speaking to reporters, Clare said:

International education was hit really hard by the pandemic. It was basically cut in half. Students were told to go home and they did. Now students are back. There’s about 10% more international students in our universities today than before the pandemic and about 50% more in our private vocational and training providers.

He said that under the changes announced today, “next year there will be about the same number of international students starting a course here as there were before the pandemic.”

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A history of warnings on opioids and overdoses

Just circling back to earlier news, on calls for the NSW government to curb the rapid emergence of synthetic opioid nitazenes, with fears the state is underprepared for an imminent overdose crisis.

In April, health experts were already warning of the looming threat of Nitazenes among Australian drug users. Former New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark said there was a need for drug decriminalisation, public drug-testing facilities and safe-injecting sites to get ahead of the imminent threat posed by synthetic opioids, which were already causing an epidemic of drug fatalities in North America.

In May, preliminary annual overdose data released by public health research organisation the Penington Institute showed a 40% surge in heroin-related fatalities. This comes after the Victorian coroner’s court released a warning in March that since 2021, at least 16 fatal overdoses in the state had involved Nitazenes.

And just this month, Victorian outreach workers were shining a light on the importance of access to naloxone to treat overdoses:

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International student cap set at 270,000 enrolments for 2025

The Albanese government has announced it will cap international student levels at 270,000 for the next calendar year.

This would cover the higher education and vocational education and training (VET) sectors and bring the number of new international student commencements “back to pre-pandemic levels”, the government said in a statement.

Arrangements for 2026 and beyond will deliver sustainable growth in international student numbers to ensure the sustainability of the sector into the future.

The new approach would see around 145,000 new international student commencements in publicly funded universities next year, “which is around 2023 levels”, the government said.

For other universities and for non-university higher education providers, in aggregate, their new international student commencements in 2025 will be around 30,000.

The new approach will also see around 95,000 new VET international student commencements in 2025.

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The activist Paddy Gibson has shared a photo from Central station as the CFMEU rally in Sydney kicks off:

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Rallies in support of CFMEU under way across Australia

Rallies in support of the CFMEU have kicked off across the nation’s capital cities this morning. Some photos have begun rolling in from Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane:

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Police respond to unauthorised protest in Sydney CBD

New South Wales police says officers are responding to an unauthorised protest in the Sydney CBD.

In a statement, police said there were currently rolling road closures along Macquarie Street and Elizabeth Street, heading towards Hyde Park.

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Patient treated for life-threatening injuries after parachuting incident in Queensland

Emergency services have responded to a parachuting incident west of Brisbane this morning.

Queensland police said officers responded to the incident in Tarawera, just off Meandarra Talwood Road, after 8am.

Queensland ambulance said it treated a patient for life-threatening injuries. The forensic crash unit was also on scene.

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Carlton coach Michael Voss detains alleged car thief

The Carlton coach, Michael Voss, was sitting at a cafe when he saw an allegedly stolen car flip at a roundabout, Guardian Australia understands.

As people tried to flee the scene, Voss detained one person under citizens arrest until police arrived and were able to take over.

The senior AFL coach of the Carlton Football Club was unharmed in the incident.

Victoria police confirmed a teenage boy was arrested after he tried to flee from a stolen car in Hawthorn. Two occupants in the car ran from the scene, however, one teen was detained by a member of the public, according to a police statement.

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Greens to begin election push to ‘make the big corporations pay’

Earlier, Jonathan Barrett reported that Coles had posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business, underpinning an 8.3% rise in annual profit to $1.1bn.

In a post to X, the Greens leader, Adam Bandt, said that “at the same time, demand for food relief services in Victoria are at any all-time high, with millions unable to afford the basics”.

He flagged an election push from the Greens to tackle this, to be presented at the National Press Club tomorrow:

We need to take on the big corporations. Tomorrow at the National Press Club, the Greens will begin our election push to make the big corporations pay. (Hint: Coles won’t like it.)

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Arrival of nitazenes in the Sydney drug trade ‘matter of life or death’: MP

Continuing from our last post, the independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, said the time for drug checking had “never been more urgent” with the arrival of nitazenes in the Sydney drug trade.

It is now a matter of life or death.

Unharm’s CEO, Dr Will Tregoning, said the time to act is now:

Lives are at risk right now. We can’t wait months for the drug summit before taking action. The cost of inaction will be measured in human lives.

The community is completely unprepared – most people don’t know nitazenes exist, let alone how to avoid them and what to do if someone overdoses.

NSW is on the brink of an unprecedented overdose crisis and Chris Minns needs to act now. Without urgent action in NSW we will become the next frontier in the global opioid overdose crisis.

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Calls for urgent action from NSW government on emergence of deadly synthetic opiod

Crossbenchers and health leaders are calling for urgent action from the NSW government to curb the rapid emergence of a deadly synthetic opioid, with fears the state is underprepared for an imminent overdose crisis.

Nitazenes have caused dozens of overdoses in NSW this year, with the opiods up to 500 times stronger than heroin – and just two milligrams can be a fatal dose. They have been found mixed in drugs sold as MDMA, cocaine, ketamine, heroin, illicit vapes and counterfeit pharmaceuticals.

Today, crossbench MPs Alex Greenwich and Jeremy Buckingham, along with the Health Services Union and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners have joined with drug experts and advocates to launch a synthetic opioids preparedness plan.

The plan outlines urgent steps the NSW government should take to help protect the state against an overdose crisis, including:

  • a public communications campaign to increase community awareness and capacity to respond;

  • increased distribution of the lifesaving overdose reversal medication naloxone; and

  • the establishment of publicly accessible drug checking services (also known as “pill testing”) to identify drugs contaminated with Nitazenes and warn the community.

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Victorian police sergeant charged with common assault

A Victorian police sergeant has been charged with common assault by the Independent Broad-based Anti-corruption Commission (Ibac).

The charges follow an investigation by Ibac into the alleged assault of a young person on 13 November last year.

Ibac is Victoria’s independent body responsible for preventing and exposing police misconduct and public sector corruption.

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Australian global shipbuilding company agrees to million-dollar fine to settle fraud investigation

Austal has agreed to pay a fine of US$24m to settle a long-running fraud investigation, taking a $48m hit to profits.

In a company announcement, Austal said it had reached a resolution with the US Department of Justice and the Securities Exchange Commission after it allegedly misstated its performance and financial condition.

The SEC had alleged that from at least January 2013 through July 2016, Austal had artificially reduced cost estimates to complete certain shipbuilding projects for the US Navy by tens of millions of dollars.

Austal has also entered into a plea agreement with the DOJ to resolve criminal charges and will engage an independent monitor for three years. It remains in talks with the US Navy in order to remain a contractor to the US government.

Austal’s non-executive director and immediate past chairman, John Rothwell, said:

The investigations focused on conduct that occurred over 8 years ago, and with a large order book of work ahead of us, we need to concentrate on the future—not the past.

Austal is an Australian-based global shipbuilding company and defence contractor.

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UN chief demands fossil fuel phase-out

Here in Tonga, the UN secretary general, António Guterres, has declared that fossil fuels must be phased out and that all G20 countries must pursue a “drastic reduction of emissions”.

We reported earlier on his warning about the impacts of sea level rise and the climate crisis on the Pacific, but Guterres later took several questions from reporters.

Guardian Australia asked about the call by Guterres for a “fast and fair” phase-out of fossil fuels and whether he believed it was fair or acceptable for a country like Australia to be continuing to approve new coal and gas projects. The UN chief replied:

Well what we say is that we need to have a phase-out of fossil fuels. That is done through a just transition. And that means that fossil fuels need to be phased out. That I believe is [consistent with] the scientific evidence.

But obviously the situation of different countries is different, and justice in the way this is done means that there are different rhythms and there are different ways to do it.

But let’s have no illusion: without a phase-out of fossil fuels in a fair and just way, there is no way we can keep the 1.5 degrees alive.

That is a reference to the goal of holding temperature rise to 1.C above pre-industrial levels.

In response to a different question, Guterres noted that G20 countries “represent 80% of emissions and it is obvious that without a drastic reduction of emissions of all of them we will not be able to keep the 1.5 degrees” within reach.

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Severe weather warning issued over South Australia

Southern parts of South Australia are in for windy conditions today.

A severe weather warning has been issued for parts of the south, with gale warnings also current for some coasts, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

A strong cold front will approach the south-west coast this morning, crossing Eyre and Yorke Peninsulas and the southeast in the afternoon, and moving into Victoria by Wednesday morning. Strong north-westerly winds are expected ahead of the front, followed by westerly winds behind it.

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PM says Western Sydney runways are in locations with lower populations

Anthony Albanese was also asked why people of Western Sydney are “expected to tolerate 24/7 [air] traffic with no legislated caps or curfews like there is at Sydney airport?”

He responded:

This airport will operate in the same way that most airports around Australia operate. There are curfews at Kingsford Smith, at Gold Coast, at Essendon – and they operate on a restricted basis.

Here, the great benefit is that these runways [will] point out towards where there aren’t vast populations in the south-west. That is one of the advantages that this airport has here.

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Albanese weighs in on planned CMFEU protests

Q: Are you able to assure CFMEU workers that this forced administration won’t affect their ability to unionise completely?

Albanese:

The objective here is to get good, proper trade unionism. You need to have unions in the building industry. It’s a dangerous industry … But what we want to do is to make sure that they have a union that’s worthy of the incredible work that construction workers do.

Construction workers, I think, are quite rightly proud of the production of their work. The people who’ve worked on this building or on this tarmac, to be able to come here and tell their kids and grandkids, “I did that,” is a great something. But they need to also be just as proud of their union. That is why the administrators have taken the strong action that they have.

It has the support of the government. And it has the support overwhelmingly of people in the union movement who want to see unions do their job, which is looking after their members, looking after their wages and conditions.

Asked about today’s planned protests, Albanese said if “there is unprotected industrial action, then there are consequences for that”.

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PM backs Chalmers’ description of Dutton as ‘divisive’

The prime minister was also asked about comments from the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, overnight that opposition leader Peter Dutton was “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”.

Anthony Albanese argued that Dutton has “promoted division his entire political career”:

He always looks for what will divide Australians, rather than what will bring Australians together.

The PM said there were two examples of this in the past 24 hours – including the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, announcing $100bn in cuts if it were to win the next election.

We see [Dutton] constantly looking to divide Australians rather than bring them together. But now he has to come out today and say where the $100bn of cuts will be … They’re the answers that Peter Dutton has to answer, and he has to answer them.

Albanese also pointed to the opposition’s nuclear policy as another example, after the opposition said it would ditch nuclear sites if any earthquake zones were declared unsafe.

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Albanese says Setka expelled from Labor party over values

Circling back to the prime minister’s press conference in Western Sydney, where he has been taking questions from reporters.

Asked whether he made a deal with John Setka for him to step down, Anthony Albanese replied, “Obviously not”.

We didn’t make a deal … He’s someone who I expelled from the Labor party because his values aren’t the same values as the Labor party. And they’re certainly not the values of the overwhelming majority of the trade union movement in Australia.

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Climate Council: ‘true global leadership demands more’

Continuing from our last post: a fellow at the Climate Council, Wesley Morgan, said the Labor government had “made progress in cutting climate pollution” but “true global leadership demands more”. Morgan said in a statement:

This new report and briefing document from the UN secretary general confirms what Pacific leaders have been saying for years: climate change is their key security threat.

Pacific island nations are in a fight for survival. The reality is that if we keep burning coal, oil and gas and fail to cut climate pollution far or fast enough then we all suffer, with the future of Pacific island countries at high risk.

The UN secretary general could not be clearer on this – today he called for governments to stop increasing production of coal, oil and gas and start phasing out their use immediately.

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Calls for Australia to end ‘fossil fuel addiction’ after climate reports released

Here in Tonga, reactions are starting to flow after the UN secretary general’s release of two new reports on the climate crisis and rising sea levels.

Joseph Sikulu, the Pacific managing director of advocacy organisation 350.org, urged Australia to act:

Receiving this report when we have leaders from the world’s third-largest fossil fuel exporter on my home island is a painful irony. Australia needs to meet this moment with a sharp turnaround in their climate policy, from one of rhetoric to one of action.

Promises of climate funds and domestic decarbonisation pale in comparison to the scale of coal exports and the shameful future gas strategy that the Australian federal government has proposed.

The Pacific is taking the heat for a fossil fuel addiction the world over, and this Pacific Islands Forum leaders meeting gives Australia the opportunity to signal the end of that addiction.

Australia has committed to cut its own emissions by 43% on 2005 levels by 2030 on the way to achieving net zero by 2050, but the future gas strategy released by the resources minister in May said gas would be needed “through to 2050 and beyond”.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to arrive in Tonga later tonight to attend this week’s Pacific Islands Forum regional meeting. In a statement issued yesterday, Albanese said:

Australia understands that climate change remains the single greatest threat to the livelihoods, security and wellbeing of Pacific Island communities.

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King welcomes Singapore Airlines announcement and says Western Sydney airport ‘85% complete’

The transport minister, Catherine King, also spoke to reporters on the announcement from Singapore Airlines. She said:

We obviously had the first domestic airline, in Qantas, announcing that back a while ago now. And now, to have the first international airline saying that it is coming here to Western Sydney International airport is really saying this airport is getting well and truly ready for take-off…

We know operations are 85% complete, ready for operations by the end of 2026 – on track to do that, the infrastructure [is] in place, and the commissioning will start soon of the airport.

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Singapore Airlines first international airline to commit to operate flights at Western Sydney airport

Singapore Airlines has announced it will fly to the new airport being built in western Sydney, as construction of the city’s second airport progresses past 80%.

Western Sydney international airport, to be named Nancy-Bird Walton airport, has already announced domestic carriers including Qantas will operate from its terminals when it opens from 2026.

Singapore Airlines confirmed it will still continue with its existing operations at Kingsford Smith airport at Sydney’s Mascot and that the new flights to Western Sydney would be additional.

Unlike Kingsford Smith airport’s 11pm-6am curfew, Western Sydney airport will operate 24 hours a day.

WSI’s CEO, Simon Hickey, said:

Western Sydney international airport’s late-night departure capacity, for instance, could allow Singapore Airlines’ business travellers to finish a full day’s work in Sydney, take an overnight flight and arrive in Singapore before their first morning meeting the very next day.

Late-night departures could also allow passengers to transit more swiftly from Singapore through their award-winning Changi airport hub to connect to one of the 125 destinations served by the Singapore Airlines Group.

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Albanese speaking to reporters from Western Sydney airport

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to reporters at the new Western Sydney airport.

This comes as Singapore Airlines becomes the first international carrier to confirm it will operate flights at Western Sydney airport. Albanese said:

By having Singapore Airlines as the first international airline to commit from overseas to use this airport, what it will do is give direct access into all those markets that Singapore Airlines flies to in that wonderful hub that is there at [Singapore’s] Changi airport. The wonderful hub that will provide people in Western Sydney with access throughout the Asian market into Europe, into North America, into all of those areas, as well, where the diaspora in this vast multicultural community here in Western Sydney engages…

What we’re seeing is, for the first time, Sydney – rather than looking inward to the east, towards the CBD and towards the harbour – looking west, to where most Sydneysiders live. And that is why this is such an important piece of infrastructure.

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Coles expands supermarket profits to post $1.1bn result

Supermarket operator Coles has posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business, underpinning an 8.3% rise in annual profit to $1.1bn even as shoppers grappled with rising household costs.

Australia’s second largest supermarket chain significantly expanded its profit margins from its supermarket business to 5.2% from 4.8% a year ago, and recorded a jump in the number of people shopping online as well as those buying its own brand groceries.

Coles attributed a big lift in supermarket sales to $39bn to its seasonal campaigns, collectibles programs, trade events like Christmas and Easter, as well as sales improvement from its digital channels.

Revenue derived from its liquor businesses were up by a modest 0.5% in 2023-24.

The strong boost to its supermarket profit margins could attract political attention, given relentless price rises for essential items, from food to housing and utilities, have emerged as a central political issue for the next federal election, as many voters weigh up which party is best placed to ease cost-of-living pressures.

Elevated prices for essential items have also been a large driver of inflation in recent years.

Coles and its bigger rival Woolworths were the main focus of a Senate inquiry held earlier this year that scrutinised prices paid to suppliers, including many Australian farmers.

The supermarket sector is also subject to a 12-month probe by the competition regulator.

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More on Victoria’s Airbnb levy exemptions

Circling back to news that primary residences will be exempt from Victoria’s short-term stay levy: speaking to reporters, the state treasurer, Tim Pallas, said the levy would “get the balance right” with the state’s mix of housing and tourism.

Pallas said the levy would raise around $60m a year to be funnelled into building and maintaining social and affordable housing.

The housing minister, Harriet Shing, said the levy would help create permanent housing for people in need:

The upshot of this levy is we will be able to provide more housing to victim-survivors of family violence and young people.

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Treasurer’s ‘most divisive’ call branded hypocritical by opposition

Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ branding of Peter Dutton as the “most divisive” party leader in Australia’s history is hypocritical and a political distraction, the Liberal leader’s deputy says.

As AAP reports, the deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, rejected the bold claim and accused the treasurer of hypocrisy. She told Sky News just earlier:

Divisive is to unleash the voice, spend $500m and then say that if you vote no, you’re a bad person – that’s divisive.

The treasurer was trying to “talk tough” in front of Labor colleagues, she said.

I feel a bit sorry for Jim Chalmers, he spent his whole life planning and plotting in Labor’s factual queue, only to come up with this sort of stuff.

He’s got a PhD in politics, not economics, and that’s on full display.

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Victorian government to introduce Airbnb levy with exemptions

Airbnb properties that are the owner’s primary residence will be exempt from Victoria’s short-term stay levy that will begin next year.

The Victorian government will introduce legislation for the Australian-first levy this week that will come into effect on 1 January 2025. It will apply a 7.5% levy on revenue for short-stay accommodation on platforms like Airbnb and Stayz.

In a letter to Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, the Victoria treasurer, Tim Pallas, confirmed that principal places of residence will be exempt from the levy. The letter, viewed by Guardian Australian also lays out additional reforms secured by the Greens.

Under the legislation, local councils and owners’ corporations will have the power to veto or restrict short-term accommodation.

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Coalition of NGOs release climate report ahead of Pacific Islands Forum

A coalition of NGOs has released a report in line with the Pacific Islands Forum, showing that at least US$1tn is needed to support low-income countries bearing the brunt of the climate crisis.

The report – titled Seizing the moment: a new climate finance goal that delivers for the Pacific – reveals the Australian government must “exponentially increase” its support for global climate solutions, and demonstrate its solidarity with Pacific neighbours.

The report calls for Australia to support the US$1tn global climate finance goal and to contribute to a global loss and damage fund established at COP28.

Michelle Higelin, executive director at ActionAid Australia, said that “we can’t tinker around the edges when it comes to climate finance.”

The climate crisis is already pushing Pacific countries into excruciating debt, and deepening gender inequality. Low income countries are bearing the brunt of climate impacts despite doing the least to cause the climate crisis and urgently need finance to adapt and mitigate against climate impacts.

Lyn Morgain, the chief executive of Oxfam Australia, said that Australia – as one of the wealthiest and highest per capita emitters of climate pollution – “contrasts starkly with Pacific communities on the frontlines of the climate crisis, who bear its harshest impacts yet receive only a fraction of the needed climate finance”.

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Tax breaks fuelling widening wealth gap, new report shows

Tax breaks on superannuation and housing investments are fuelling a widening gap between “rich” Australians and those with less money, AAP reports.

Anglicare Australia’s Widening the Gap report reveals the richest people hold 90 times the wealth of low-income earners, and the gap continues to grow.

The average wealth of the highest one-fifth of income earners was $3.2m, which was 90 times the lowest earners bringing in $36,000, the report based on 2019-20 University of NSW analysis found.

Financial inequality has been supercharged by tax breaks on superannuation, housing investments and sky-high home prices which have locked many Australians out of the market. Over the last 20 years, the report found, the average value of superannuation assets grew by 155% while investment property rose by almost 100%.

Anglicare’s executive director, Kasy Chambers, said the growing gap is a direct result of government policies on tax which are driving inequality. However, Anglicare Australia said the solution lies in changing the approach of governments to tax.

The welfare group wants the federal government to wind back “generous” superannuation concessions for wealthy Australians and instead help low-income earners build their retirement savings.

Anglicare Australia also called for housing tax breaks like capital gains tax discounts and negative gearing deductions to be wound back.

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Independent MP calls for census decision to be reversed

The independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, said the decision to exclude a question about sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming census “must be reversed”.

The assistant minister for Treasury, Andrew Leigh, confirmed there would be no changes to the 2026 census more than a year after the Australian Bureau of Statistics issued a statement of regret over the distress felt by the LGBTQ+ community as a result of being left out of censuses.

In a post to X this morning, Spender said she would write to Leigh today about the issue:

Are LGBTIQ+ Australians invisible? Only in the census. The [government’s] decision not to include questions on sexuality [and] gender in the census is inexplicable.

I wrote to the minister in April. I’m writing again today. This disgraceful decision must be reversed.

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Conroy argues Dutton trying to divide Australians as ‘pathway to power’

Pat Conroy was asked about those comments from Jim Chalmers overnight, calling opposition leader Peter Dutton “pathologically divisive”.

Is the government concerned that Dutton is cutting through in Australian households? Conroy responded:

I support Jim Chalmers’ comments because Peter Dutton is the alternate prime minister, and you can’t look at what the federal government is doing in a vacuum. You need to look at what the alternative is.

Peter Dutton is arguing for nuclear power stations in earthquake zones like my Hunter region. He’s arguing for no 2030 target. He makes jokes about Pacific islands being wiped out by rising sea levels. If he was prime minister, our relationship with the Pacific would go backwards, and our national security and our security would be weakened … he tries to divide Australia every single day because he thinks that’s his pathway to power.

Conroy says he can ‘absolutely’ say Australia is doing enough on climate change

The minister for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, spoke with ABC News Breakfast from Tonga earlier this morning, where he is attending the Pacific Islands Forum.

The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has been very strong on urging larger nations to do their bit on climate change, with the Pacific relying on larger countries to take action. Conroy was asked: can we look those Pacific Island nations’ leaders in the eye and say we’re doing enough on this issue?

The minister responded, “absolutely”:

The Pacific leaders understand our very strong targets – our 2030 targets, our net zero targets by 2050, our commitment to deliver 82% renewable energy by 2030 really resonates, as well as our support for action in the Pacific.

We announced last year [a] $100m investment in the Pacific resilience facilities, all about helping the Pacific control their future and adapt to climate change where it is occurring.

In my remarks in response to the UN secretary-general, I requested his help to ask for partner countries – countries outside the Pacific – to make an investment in that Pacific resilience facility, because that’s Pacific-led, Pacific-controlled and, will fund projects critical to their climate future.

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Greens senator says PM’s inclusion in Mardis Gras a matter for the LGBTQ+ community

Finally, Mehreen Faruqi was asked whether the PM should be banned from marching in Mardi Gras, after his government quietly dumped the proposal to include a question about sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming census.

Faruqi said this was a matter for the LGBTQ+ community.

I do understand where they are coming from. This community has been persecuted for so long, and we must take every single step to make sure that that discrimination ends, and that is not happening. The prime minister is not doing that.

At the weekend, the Mardi Gras board said it would hold a vote at the end of the year on the future participation of the NSW police force in the annual parade.

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Faruqi says Dutton has ‘track record on Muslims, on migrants, on refugees’

Mehreen Faruqi was asked if she agreed with treasurer Jim Chalmers assessment of the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of being “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”.

Faruqi said that Dutton has a “track record on Muslims, on migrants, on refugees” and “a lot of the policies [are] coming from that divisiveness”.

She was asked about today’s Guardian Essential poll, that more voters back Dutton’s call to pause arrivals of Palestinians from the Gaza conflict than oppose it.

Faruqi argued that this is “what happens when people propose these divisive policies and then talk about them every single day as if that is the reality”:

The double standards around refugees should be clear to everyone, if it is actually spoken about. Communities are really distraught about the double standards being used between Palestinian refugees and, for instance, Ukrainian refugees …

I think about 71% [of Palestinian refugees] have been refused. So the processes are being followed … but still this narrative being put out in the community every single day … that there is something wrong with Palestinians who are coming here, that they are terrorists. And I think that is absolutely divisive, that is disgusting and disgraceful.

Updated

Faruqi calls for independent investigation into Israeli airstrike that killed Australian aid worker

The deputy leader of the Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, is speaking to ABC RN about the investigation into the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom by an Israeli airstrike.

Zomi’s brother, Mal Frankcom, spoke with ABC’s 7.30 program last night about the investigation and said:

The one thing that stood out was the audio from the drone footage that wasn’t there. I … was told that it was in Hebrew and it wouldn’t be understood, but I think they should be able to get a translation transcript of the audio communication in the lead up to the strike.

You can read more about this below:

Faruqi said she has “long-called for an independent investigation into the murder of Zomi Frankcom and the six other aid workers.”

And absolutely it should happen, and those responsible should be prosecuted … This has to be a completely independent investigation …

Updated

Children's advocate criticises new NT government's move to lower age of criminal responsibility

Catherine Liddle, the CEO of SNAICC, National Voice for Our Children, spoke with ABC News Breakfast just earlier on the incoming Northern Territory government’s commitment to lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 10.

Responding to this news, Liddle said that “your heart sinks, your stomach sinks, and the hard work kicks in”:

At 10, you are just a child. The evidence had long shown, and again it was a royal commission that unearthed it in the Northern Territory, that the conditions in detention centres were absolutely inhumane.

And those findings have been backed up by reports right across the country to say conditions in detention centres actually do very little to work on the rehabilitation of the child and protection of the child. In actual fact, children come out more harmed than when they went in.

Those children, when they’re coming in contact with the child detention centres and juvenile justice systems, they’re the most vulnerable children in the country. These are not children that have food to eat at night. These are not children that know they’ve got shoes to put on. These are not children who have really safe beds to sleep in. These are children that are doing it really, really tough.

So when they come into those detention centres, when they come into contact with the juvenile justice system, the outcomes are not good. Those children are more likely to reoffend and even more alarmingly, the younger you are, the more likely you are to ever break that cycle. What the evidence doesn’t show is that detention, juvenile detention for the ages 10 to 14, has any impact on community safety or reducing crime.

Updated

Treasurer responds to CFMEU protests planned across country today

The treasurer was also asked about rallies planned in support of the CFMEU today, across Australia’s national capitals.

(We covered this a bit earlier in the blog here).

Jim Chalmers said that “obviously, when you appoint an administrator to a union and you move on a couple of hundred officials, there’s going to be blowback.”

We expect that. We want these protests to be peaceful today, but they’re not surprising when you take on the leaders of a union with the sorts of behaviour that has been alleged in recent times.

Updated

Jim Chalmers accuses Liberals of ‘economic insanity’ on potential housing cuts

Jim Chalmers was asked about the $100bn in cuts the Coalition is set to announce today, mostly from Labor initiatives, if it wins the next election. Would this appeal to the electorate?

He responded, “let’s see the detail of these hundreds of billions of dollars in indiscriminate cuts.”

What we know from what’s in the newspapers today is that they plan billions of dollars to cuts in housing at a time when we’ve got a very severe housing shortage, and this goes with the absolute economic insanity of the Liberals and Nationals. During an extreme housing shortage, they want to swing the axe on billions of dollars in housing funding.

Also this is $100bn they reckon – let’s see the details. They flagged more than three times that amount when it comes to cuts, so let’s hear them come clean on the other cuts. Let’s hear what it means for Medicare and pensions and for the economy more broadly.

Updated

Chalmers continues attack on Dutton after calling him 'most divisive leader' during speech

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC RN and reiterating much of what he said during a speech overnight.

Delivering the annual John Curtin Oration in Melbourne, Chalmers unleashed a stinging attack on the opposition leader, calling Peter Dutton “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”. You can read the full details of his speech below:

Speaking to ABC RN, Chalmers said:

He is the most divisive political leader that I’ve seen in my lifetime, and this is a deliberate choice by him. It’s not some accident. He divides deliberately, almost pathologically, and that sort of division in our leadership in our society right now is worse than disappointing. It’s dangerous, and in my view, it should be disqualifying when it comes to leading a great country like ours.

Chalmers said that “every government has its differences with its political opponents”, but argued Dutton was “different”.

[Because] this kind of divisiveness that he deliberately chooses as a political strategy is very dangerous at a time like this, where there is this divisiveness around the world that we want to reject, he seems to want to embrace it.

Severe weather warning for strong winds in parts of Victoria

Strong winds are expected to continue lashing parts of southern Australia today, with a severe weather warning in place for parts of Victoria.

The Bureau of Meteorology said a “deep, complex low-pressure system” well to the south is extending a cold front, set to approach Victoria later today and cross the state early tomorrow.

This, combined with a persistent belt of high pressure across central Australia will result in a strengthening north-westerly gradient across the state during the day. A vigorous westerly airstream will extend across the state with and following the front on Wednesday.

Locations which may be affected include Warrnambool, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne, Wonthaggi and Bacchus Marsh.

Updated

City rallies planned in show of solidarity with CFMEU

Rallies in support of the CFMEU are planned across the nation’s capital cities today, AAP reports, after the union was placed into administration following allegations of links to organised crime and corruption.

In a statement, a spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman said if an employee failed to go to work or walked off the job without permission, this could be a contravention of workplace laws.

Where an employee has engaged in unprotected industrial action, the employer is required under the [Fair Work] Act to deduct a minimum of four hours wages from the employee, even if the industrial action was less than four hours.

The CFMEU flagged it would launch a legal challenge of the takeover, saying members were denied due process and democratic rights.

The Electrical Trades Union and maritime union backed the protest and urged their members to join rallies, describing the administration an “attack on trade unionists’ rights”. A spokesperson for the CFMEU administrator said “the taking of unprotected industrial action is not lawful”.

The CFMEU is no longer involved in organising any protest tomorrow.

Updated

Good morning

And happy Tuesday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you on today’s blog.

As always, you can get in touch with any story tips or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Let’s go.

The Guardian’s analysis of the aviation white paper

Complaining about poor customer service from Qantas and Virgin, and swapping horror stories about delayed flights has become something of a national pastime. Yesterday’s much-anticipated white paper was meant to lay out how the government plans to challenge the duopoly – especially in the wake of the collapse of Rex Airlines.

However, our transport reporter Elias Visontay reckons that despite the promise of an airline ombudsman the government has kicked key decisions into the long grass and passed the buck on others.

Updated

PIF: Australia urged to step up support for Pacific neighbours

Good morning from Tonga, where the Pacific Islands Forum has entered its second day.

With the climate crisis expected to be high on the agenda, an alliance of civil society groups have called on Australia to “step up and support our Pacific neighbours”.

Climate finance is expected to be a major issue at the Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November, due to the imminent expiry of the previous commitment by wealthy countries to mobilise $US100bn of climate finance a year.

An alliance of groups, including ActionAid Australia and Oxfam Australia, have urged Australia to declare its support for a new $US1tn global climate finance goal, arguing this could prompt other wealthy nations to step up. They have set out their case in a new report titled: “seizing the moment: a new climate finance goal that delivers for the Pacific”.

The report said both Australia and New Zealand’s own climate finance contributions were “falling short of need”. It said Australia had committed to provide $AU3bn in the five-year period to 2025, but this was “well short of its estimated fair share of the $US100bn goal, which is $AU4bn per year”.

Rufino Varea, the regional director of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, said Pacific communities were “enduring some of the world’s worst climate impacts despite contributing the least to the crisis”.

The executive director of ActionAid Australia, Michelle Higelin, said:

We can’t tinker around the edges when it comes to climate finance. The climate crisis is already pushing Pacific countries into excruciating debt, and deepening gender inequality.

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is in Tonga and is expected to address the issue a little later today. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to fly out of Australia later this morning and is due to arrive in Tonga tonight for the talks, which wrap up on Friday.

Updated

Police arrest over 1,600 in major anti-crime operation

Police forces across the country have arrested 1,600 people, laid more than 2,900 charges and seized over $93m of drugs in a week-long action targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity.

In a statement, Victoria police said the operation’s sole aim had been “to reduce the availability of illicit drugs – and the associated life changing harm they present – within the community”.

Operation Vitreus involved all Australian state, territory and federal police forces, as well as New Zealand police. It ran from Monday to Friday last week and 528 search warrants were executed across the two countries.

The statement said the operation had seen:

  • 1,611 drug-related arrests;

  • 2,962 drug-related charges;

  • almost 1,400kg of illicit drugs and over 2,500 cannabis plants sezied, with a street value of approximately $93m;

  • 71 gun seizures; and

  • the seizure of over $2.2m in cash.

Updated

Minister to unveil new international student cap

The education minister, Jason Clare, told the Australian Financial Review higher education conference last week the new proposed international student cap will be provided to universities “in the coming week”.

Guardian Australia understands that this will be made public today. The tertiary education sector expects at least an overarching figure of how many international student enrolments the government is planning for 2025.

The universities sector is expected to push back strongly, arguing that restrictions that have already been put in place have already cut numbers.

In his speech last week, Clare set out the justification for the cap:

Two years ago there were 521,831 international student enrolments in Australia. Today there are 810,960. Today there are about 10% more in our universities than there were before the pandemic.

The bigger growth has been in VET (Vocational Education and Training). There are almost 50% more in VET courses than there were before Covid hit.

That growth has also brought back the shonks looking to make a quick buck. It has lured people who really are here to work, not study. And it’s put the reputation of this industry under pressure. That’s a fact.

It has also resulted in ministerial direction 107. If you work in international education you will know the impact that has had.

Some universities have benefited from it. But some have been hit hard. It’s why a lot of universities have asked me to act to put more sustainable arrangements in place. I know universities and other international education providers are craving detail. That detail will be provided to universities in the coming week.

This will be a better way to manage international education. It will be fairer and provide a better foundation for it to grow sustainably into the future.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best overnight stories before Emily Wind takes up the slack.

More voters back Peter Dutton’s call to pause arrivals of Palestinians from the Gaza conflict than oppose it, our latest Essential poll shows, in a sign the opposition leader’s rhetoric is politically profitable. Responding to a question whether Australia was heading in the right direction, 52% said no and 29% said yes.

Following on from that, the government showed last night how it will tackle Dutton’s threat when the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, unleashed a stinging attack on the opposition leader, calling him “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”. Giving the John Curtin Oration in Melbourne, Chalmers accused the opposition leader of starting culture wars, dog whistling and dividing Australians “deliberately, almost pathologically”. More coming up on these political stories with reaction expected to Chalmers’ comments.

Guardian Australia understands that the education minister, Jason Clare, will today reveal the new proposed international student cap for universities. The tertiary education sector expects at least an overarching figure of how many international student enrolments the government is planning for 2025. More coming up.

Australia has recorded its hottest-ever winter temperature, with Yampi Sound in the Kimberley region of Western Australia reaching 41.6C yesterday. The record is expected to be officially confirmed by the BoM later today and exceeds the old national record of 41.2C, which was reached at West Roebuck on 23 August 2020. It comes amid record temperatures across Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales, and has seen spring flowers appear extra early.

And police across the country have arrested 1,600 people, laid more than 2,900 charges and seized over $93m worth of drugs as part of Operation Vitreus, a week-long joint operation targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity. More details soon.

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