What we learned; Wednesday 22 Noivember
It’s time to wrap up a big day of news. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy:
Foreign minister Penny Wong commended news of a truce in Gaza and said that 67 Australians, including permanent residents and families, were able to flee Gaza overnight through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt.
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann is seeking justice, vindication and compensation after a broadcast by Network Ten, The Project and Lisa Wilkinson “utterly destroyed him”, the federal court has heard.
Sports administrator and consultant Anter Isaac was elected chair of the board of Football Australia at the organisation’s annual general meeting.
A bushfire threatened lives and homes in Aubin Grove and Hammond Park in Perth’s south and forced the closure of Kwinana Freeway.
Nick Avery, chief executive of South West Autism Network, said the autistic community and their supporters were “extremely concerned” about the reports that the government intends to wind back funding for autism in the NDIS.
More than 20 people were arrested and charged following an unauthorised pro-Palestine protest at Port Botany overnight.
New South Wales set up a scheme to support the development of big batteries with 380 megawatts, as part of its roadmap to renewables.
Victoria Police are contacting about 140 witnesses as part of an investigation into the Daylesford pub crash that killed five people earlier this month, the state’s coroners court has heard.
Thanks for joining us – see you tomorrow.
Updated
Senate committee recommends plain packaging for vaping products
A Senate committee has recommended legislative changes targeting tobacco and vaping products be “passed without delay,” while criticising retail industry lobby groups for lacking transparency.
The proposed amendments to the public health (tobacco and other products) bill include new measures to discourage smoking, and to prevent the promotion of vaping and e-cigarettes.
If passed it would see plain packaging and health warnings on vape products, and updated and improved graphic warnings added to tobacco products, including on individual cigarettes. The use of specified additives in tobacco and vaping products, like menthols, would also be banned.
In September, the senate referred the bill to the community affairs legislation committee for inquiry, with public hearings held earlier in November.
At those hearings, representatives from lobby groups including the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores and the Master Grocers Australia told the committee that vaping reforms would fuel the illicit tobacco and vaping markets. The groups refused to disclose the details of funding they receive from the tobacco and vaping industries.
In submissions made to the inquiry, tobacco companies Philip Morris Australia and Imperial Brands Australasia also argued the bill risked accelerating the proliferation of the illicit tobacco trade.
But the committee’s report, published on Wednesday evening, made only one recommendation – that the bill be passed by the Senate “without delay”.
On illicit tobacco, the report noted comments from health experts including from the co-chief executive officer of the Australian Council of Smoking and Health, Laura Hunter, who said: “the best way to stamp out the illicit market, is to help people to quit smoking and that this ‘piece of legislation is a huge step towards that”.
The report also noted: “that two witnesses who gave evidence to the inquiry, the Australian Association of Convenience Stores and Master Grocers Australia, failed to answer questions put by committee members regarding their potential conflicts of interests despite being told that this would be requested immediately prior to their appearance”.
“The committee considers the refusal by both witnesses to answer these questions… deeply concerning.”
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A little light relief after what has been a big news day …
Architect Nic Brunsdon has explained the concept behind his giant inflatable sphere, which is the latest instalment in the National Gallery of Victoria’s annual architecture commission series, reports AAP.
At more than 14m high, (This is) Air responds to the breeze by swaying slowly and a little disconcertingly.
“It was designed for the wind - this is about as much as it’s ever moved,” he told AAP.
The sphere is made from an inner and outer synthetic fabric shell supported by a weighted steel base, that “breathes” by inflating and deflating over a five-minute remotely controlled cycle.
The installation, which opens tonight, is a meditation on the universal qualities of air, he said, that’s intended to make the invisible, visible.
“It’s a fundamental defining feature of life on earth, from the first breath to the last.”
The sphere’s outer shell measures 14.5m across and when fully inflated, its volume approximates how much air a person breathes in a year.
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Lang Hancock was at ‘breaking point’, court hears
Over to mining pioneer Lang Hancock, who was at “breaking point” as he fought to stop daughter Gina Rinehart from “destroying” his life’s work before his death, a multi-billion dollar legal stoush over iron ore riches has been told.
A lawyer for Mrs Rinehart’s children says the reclusive billionaire’s relationship with her famous father was “not good” in the late ‘80s and she was “crucially worried” about maintaining her claim over his fortune, reports AAP.
“One of the things she’s worried about is (that her mother) Hope Margaret’s shares ... would go to Rose (Porteous),” Adam Hochroth said as he summarised his clients’ case in Perth’s supreme court on Wednesday.
As the pair worked to resolve a family feud, Lang Hancock signed a document handwritten by his daughter that placed an equal number of company shares for her and her children in a trust.
“A week after this letter is signed, Lang wrote to Gina ... and notifies her that he considers that document to have been signed by him under duress and is not legal,” Mr Hochroth said.
Lang Hancock also told his daughter the document that she intended to be legally binding was not enforceable because she had taken her mother’s will to the US and that was holding up probate.
“So I don’t actually have any shares to place in trust for you,” the court was told he said at the time.
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Permanent ceasefire needed, Palestinian advocates say
The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) has reacted to the news of a four-day ceasefire and hostage deal in Gaza.
APAN president Nasser Mashni said while the truce would allow the passage of humanitarian convoys into the warzone, what was needed was a permanent ceasefire.
These four days might give Gazans a chance to access food, water and medicine, a moment to bury their loved ones or perhaps locate those who are still missing, but the Israeli prime minister himself has said he will press on with the violence, which should horrify our communities.
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ClubsNSW investigates holding charges placed on non-customer cards
ClubsNSW has launched an investigation after people who have never had dealings with the association had holding charges placed on their credit cards.
People who had never used ClubsNSW’s services began noticing small charges on their cards, ranging from $0.01 to $1, in the past week.
ClubsNSW, which represents over 1,200 clubs and pubs across New South Wales, identified the charges as holding charges and blamed a “third-party payment gateway system provider”.
“We have taken immediate steps in response, including launching a thorough investigation into the issue, which is progressing,” a spokesperson for ClubsNSW said.
Read more:
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Perth bushfire warning downgraded
The emergency bushfire warning in Perth’s south has been downgraded to a watch and act alert and the Kwinana Freeway has reopened.
Western Australia’s department of fire and emergency services said there is a possible threat to lives and homes as a fire is burning in the area and the conditions are changing.
The alert covers Botany Park, Kwinana Freeway, Rowley Road, Frankland Park and Canary Drive in parts of parts of Aubin Grove, Hammond Park and Wattleup.
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Blacktown council’s novel initiative to curb family violence
Rubbish trucks in Blacktown in Sydney’s west are joining efforts to curb high rates of domestic violence.
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth said the slow-moving trucks would be emblazoned with “Violence is never OK” messages as part of a new Blacktown city council initiative.
The move comes after the council saw a need in the community, she said, which has particularly high rates of family and domestic violence.
Speaking about the government’s five-year plan to reduce the number of deaths of women at the hands of intimate partners, she told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing:
One life lost to domestic and family violence is one life too many … There’s a generational change that we need to make. It involves prevention, it involves early intervention, it involves response and it involves healing and recovery.
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Staying on the topic of the new hostage deal and temporary ceasefire in Gaza, Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie said the development was “not a solution but it is a welcome reprieve”.
Also speaking with ABC’s Background Briefing was Labor MP Luke Gosling. He said the pause was something “we’ve been calling for a long time to allow humanitarian aid and to allow people to get out”.
It’s been absolutely horrendous. But it’s also been a situation where we need to not bow to the demands of terrorism.
And we need to move towards that peaceful resolution and this has been obviously a welcome step today.
Listen to in-depth reporting on the truce in today’s Full Story podcast:
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Retired army general Mick Ryan has told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the four-day ceasefire in Gaza may “bleed away” the momentum that the Israeli Defence Force has generated over the last few weeks in northern Gaza.
“They have been fighting quickly and moving quickly in this operation,” he said. When the pause ends, the IDF “will want to come out of the blocks quickly and shock Hamas and regenerate momentum”.
When asked what IDF troops may typically do during a ceasefire, Ryan said:
One thing I can assure you they will not do is sit idle. They will take the opportunity to sleep, have a shower, rethink, there will be maintenance on the vehicles. They will be planning for what comes next, conducting reconnaissance, intelligence, war-gaming and training so they can leap out of the box as soon as the pause is over and regenerate momentum and regain initiative in the operation.
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Hostage deal an ‘important step’ but not enough, Palestinian ambassador says
Dr Izzat Abdulhadi, ambassador for the General Delegation of Palestine to Australia, has told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the newly forged hostage release deal was an “important step” that will allow people in Gaza to “breathe a little bit.”
But this is not sufficient, actually. Because what we need is a permanent truce, a permanent ceasefire, in which the humanitarian assistance will be delivered effectively to all people in Gaza.
It’s a good deal. I’m happy for the hostages, the Israelis, also very happy that our own children and women in Israeli jails will be also released. This is an important step.
But, he said, Palestine’s objective is still to reach a permanent ceasefire in the near future.
Updated
Another update about foreign minister Penny Wong’s press conference this afternoon:
The ABC has reported the federal government has approved 860 visas for Palestinians with connections to Australia since the 7 October terrorist attack by Hamas. Wong was asked about this in her press conference - she didn’t deny the reporting, but added that over the same period, 1793 visas were issued to Israeli citizens.
“Obviously there’s a lot of demand from those in the region for Australian visas for people who are eligible,” Wong said.
She was asked on several occasions in the press conference about the visas, adding each time that people obtaining visas are “subject to appropriate security checks” from Border Force and other authorities.
Penny Wong confirms 67 Australians fled Gaza overnight
Penny Wong went on to say that 67 Australians, including permanent residents and families, were able to flee Gaza overnight through the Rafah border crossing into Egypt. The government has seen 127 Australians now leave Gaza.
Wong said it was a “very difficult situation” and the government hoped all Australians would be able to leave Gaza, with negotiations ongoing with the US and Egypt on this matter – as she thanked those nations.
The minister said that Australia “would want to see a sustainable ceasefire and we also know that cannot be one-sided”.
“We recognise that the steps that have been taken today, with this agreement that has been negotiated, is progress towards these goals,” Wong said.
We remain deeply concerned about the loss of civilian life, and I know so many Australians are deeply concerned about the loss of civilian life. People are distressed about the horrific attack by Hamas. People want hostages released and people are distressed by the loss of civilian life in the period we have seen over these last few weeks.
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Australia 'commends' Middle East breakthrough
Foreign minister Penny Wong says Australia “commends” reports of a breakthrough deal in the Middle East conflict, calling for more progress toward a “long-term and enduring peace”.
Wong, fresh back from a trip to India, spoke to media in Adelaide after reports of an agreement on hostage exchanges between Israel and Hamas. The minister said Australia has consistently called for the release of hostages taken by Hamas in the 7 October attack, as well as access for humanitarian services into Gaza and the protection of civilian lives - plus “the next steps towards a sustainable ceasefire”.
“What we see today is progress towards each of these goals and we commend it. Details are still emerging but if the deal holds it will see progress,” Wong said.
This is, of course, an important and necessary step in what we must ultimately work towards is a long-term and enduring peace and again I reiterate that a long and enduring peace requires a two state solution with Israelis and Palestinians living securely.
Wong said Australia would continue working with partners “to help protect and support civilians, to help prevent conflict from spreading and to reinforce the need for the just and enduring peace”.
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Number of threatened species in Australia’s north increases
The number of listed threatened species in Australia’s world heritage northern rainforests has increased by 25% since 2020, as ecologists say they are now clearly observing the long-predicted impacts of global heating.
The management and conservation authority for the Unesco-listed Queensland wet tropics this week handed its latest environmental report to the state government, containing “sombre but pragmatic” warnings about the declining health of some species, including the ringtail possum, that were believed robust when the area was given international protection in 1988.
“The insidious and damaging threat posed by invasive species and diseases, and the impacts of climate change, present real danger to the continuing integrity of the area’s biodiversity,” the report says.
Continue reading:
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Court hears of Lehrmann's isolation after The Project broadcast
Bruce Lehrmann was booted out of a Facebook Messenger group chat with three close friends after The Project broadcast and was “unfriended” by friends on social media, the former Liberal staffer has told the court.
“I became severely isolated,” Lehrmann said, detailing that he was blocked, unfriended and cut off by many friends and contacts that led to him shutting down his social media accounts and being admitted to a private hospital suffering emotional distress.
“I was booted out of that group chat in the week after The Project airing,” Lehrmann said when he took the stand on the first day of the trial.
“I have worked out who my real friends were.”
Lehrmann was shown copies of articles which appeared on independent blogs which named him as the alleged assailant referred to by The Project.
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Bushfire warning issued for Perth suburbs
Emergency services in Western Australia have issued a bushfire emergency warning for Aubin Grove and Hammond Park in southern Perth.
The Kwinana Freeway is closed in both directions between Russell Road and Rowley Road, said the state’s department of fire and emergency services.
The ABC reports that heavy traffic is banking up along a 12km stretch of the road.
The region is in the grip of a severe heatwave, with temperatures in Perth expected to reach 39C today.
There is a threat to lives and homes, states the alert. People bound by Hammond Road, Mokare Reserve, Kwinana Freeway, Botany Park and Rowley Road are in danger and need to act immediately to survive.
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Concern in disability sector over reports of funding decrease for autism under NDIS
Another advocate for autistic people has spoken to Guardian Australia about reports that the government intends to wind back funding for autism in the NDIS.
Nick Avery, chief executive of South West Autism Network, today said the autistic community and their supporters were “extremely concerned” about the reports:
Autistic participants already receive NDIS plans with significantly lower funding than for all other disability types. For kids aged 7-14 years, we are seeing NDIS plans with funding as low as $3,500 per year. For context, one hour of therapy per fortnight costs more than $5,000 per year.
Autism is an “invisible disability”, Avery said, which leads to a misperception in the community that most autistic people don’t require support, and ongoing stigma about autism more generally.
Avery’s comments come as another disability advocate, Skye Kakoschke-Moore, chief executive of Children and Young People with Disability Australia, told us that recent reports suggesting families are pursuing autism diagnoses because they see the NDIS as a financial opportunity were “unhelpful” and “misleading”.
Avery agreed, noting that “NDIS funding is not income”:
Participants and families do not benefit financially from becoming an NDIS participant. NDIS funding can only be used to pay for therapy, workers, assistive technology and home modifications - costs incurred as a direct result of the participant’s disability. For every $1.00 invested in the NDIS, $2.25 is delivered back into the Australian economy
People only apply for NDIS support because they desperately need the support. The NDIS is not welfare, and unfortunately there have been politicians and some media who have misrepresented NDIS participants as receiving welfare. It would be wonderful to see the media consult the disability community more, and work with us to change these negative stereotypes.
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The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe thunderstorm warning for parts of New South Wales.
The bureau warns that flash flooding may occur in the central west of the state, with Orange, Parkes, Dubbo and Coonabarabran likely to be impacted by localised heavy rainfall.
🌩️ Severe Thunderstorm Warning for slow-moving storms on and west of the ranges. Storms are likely to produce localised Heavy Rainfall that may lead to flash flooding over the next several hours. https://t.co/jJWt2wlxel pic.twitter.com/UVxxOLlZv9
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 22, 2023
Thanks, Emily.
Let’s return briefly to communication minster Michelle Rowland’s speech at the National Press Club earlier. If you were following the blog live, she got a number of questions about gambling, and the government’s plans to restrict advertising. There wasn’t a lot of news in there, with Labor still planning next steps, but she did hint at a couple of markers on where that might go.
In response to Guardian Australia’s question about gambling ads that could be seen by kids on social media, Rowland did tease with the possibility of using federal regulations to require social platforms to not show such content to minors.
“You highlight the important point that when we talk about vulnerable Australians when it comes to gambling advertising, that we also consider that children are some of those vulnerable Australians as well,” Rowland said.
“No decisions have been made yet. But I would like to share with you that throughout this consultation process, one thing that we have been very focused on in understanding from advocacy and other experts is how harmful this is for children, where it appears and what steps can be taken in response.”
Rowland went on to mention “what the platforms could be doing about minimising that access to those harms as well”, noting that social media companies “know more about their consumers than governments and regulators ever will.”
“So we are continually looking at ways in which we can utilise the Basic Online Safety Expectations to keep vulnerable Australians safe, particularly children.”
Now, the BOSE is interesting to mention here, because the big announcement from Rowland’s main speech was that the government would amend those expectations to ask social media companies to do better on harm reduction around AI-generated content. The fact the minister raised BOSE when asked about social media ads for gambling might hint that this could be an area the government is looking at – for instance, changing that framework to say the government expects social media companies not to show gambling ads to kids.
The minister’s speech also touched on changes to “recommender” functions on social media, the algorithms that serve up content to users, as well as age verification frameworks for accessing content like pornography.
Rowland said the governments wants industry to “lift its game” in that regard, and “invest more in what we know can be effective age assurance technologies”.
So adding up all those pieces, could hint at where things go next as the government addresses public concerns about gambling ads. Watch this space.
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Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. I’ll leave you with the lovely Daisy Dumas, who will take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care!
Lehrmann takes the stand in defamation trial
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann has taken the stand in his federal court defamation trial against the Ten Network and presenter Lisa Wilkinson.
Before lunch the court was told the interview Wilkinson conducted with his former Liberal colleague Brittany Higgins had destroyed his life and he was seeking vindication and compensation.
It will be the first time Lehrmann has spoken in open court as he was not required to give evidence during the criminal trial, which was aborted last year.
Lehrmann sat in the front seat of the court on the opposite side of the room from Wilkinson for day one of the morning’s proceedings.
He is suing both Wilkinson and Ten for the interview which aired on The Project.
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Proportion of Australians expected to go into debt over Christmas rises
One in three Australian adults is forecast to go into debt this Christmas, according to research for The Salvation Army.
More than 12.8 million adults – or 62% – are ending their year worried about their finances, compared to about 50% last year.
The research also found 31% of adults are seeking to use a credit card to pay for Christmas expenses, up from 18% last year.
The number of Australians planning on spending money they don’t already have through buy-now, pay-later services has also doubled to 15%.
The charity is expecting a surge in the number of people seeking support this year and said for those who reach out, almost half are expected to be doing so for the first time.
- from AAP
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Greens back students striking in support of Gaza
Students striking for peace in Gaza deserve support, say the Greens, as school children prepare to walk away from their desks in solidarity with Palestinians tomorrow and Friday.
Victorian Greens education spokesperson, Aiv Puglielli, said:
Every day young people are watching this humanitarian catastrophe unfold on their phones.
The Greens back every student planning to strike tomorrow and use their voices to call for an immediate ceasefire.
Senator Penny Allman-Payne said that “Australian school students are seeing kids their own age pulled from the rubble of Gaza”.
Is it any wonder that they want the government to do something about this horror?
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Worker injured in gas rupture in Sydney
A worker in Sydney’s northern beaches has been injured after a ruptured gas line burst into flames.
Fire and Rescue NSW said it prevented a “potential catastrophic explosion” after a gas main ruptured and caught fire in Manly today.
A worker sustained minor burns when the fire broke out around 10.45am this morning. They were checked by paramedics and taken to hospital for further treatment to their face and hands.
A dozen firefighters worked for two and a half hours to cool adjoining utilities services, a FRNSW statement said.
They didn’t attempt to extinguish the fire as this would have allowed uncontrolled gas to escape and possibly trigger an explosive re-ignition.
Gas supplies have since been shut-off and the residual gas has burnt out. Gas company technicians will now further assess and repair the damaged line.
MANLY | Worker injured after ruptured gas line bursts into flames - VIDEO. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has prevented a potential catastrophic explosion after a gas main ruptured and caught ablaze at Manly, in Sydney's Northern Beaches, today.
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) November 22, 2023
A... https://t.co/eccYK1ocwE
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Prime minister Anthony Albanese has shared some photos to social media from the opening of the Melbourne Holocaust Museum this morning:
I was honoured to open the Melbourne Holocaust Museum today and meet remarkable survivors with @JacintaAllanMP and @joshburnsmp.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 22, 2023
We must never forget the depths of the Holocaust’s cruelty. pic.twitter.com/EVF2ZSCLGM
Within the walls of this museum, quiet dignity co-exists with awful truths, each one of them giving meaning to the words we keep repeating: never again.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) November 22, 2023
Australia will always denounce antisemitism, just as we denounce all forms of racism. pic.twitter.com/DjmAMhzM5x
Albanese wrote on X/Twitter:
We must never forget the depths of the Holocaust’s cruelty.
Within the walls of this museum, quiet dignity co-exists with awful truths, each one of them giving meaning to the words we keep repeating: never again.
Australia will always denounce antisemitism, just as we denounce all forms of racism.
Albanese gave a speech at the museum earlier this morning, and you can read all the details on that here.
Reasoning behind McBride decision to remain hidden for now
The reasons behind why an ACT supreme court judge upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key documents from the trial of David McBride will remain hidden for at least a few more weeks.
McBride pleaded guilty to three offences on Friday, including stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, after the federal government’s public interest immunity claim over some evidence was upheld.
Justice David Mossop handed over his reasons on Wednesday but they will not be made public until the commonwealth applies the appropriate redactions to any sections it believes should remain secret.
That process, Justice Mossop requested, should be completed “as soon as practicable”.
McBride’s team will then be given 14 days to dispute any redactions or to decide whether any additional ones should be applied to the reasons before it can be made public.
Andrew Berger KC, the Australian government solicitor acting for the commonwealth, last week said some material in the case should be kept entirely secret on national security grounds.
Berger said last Wednesday:
The public interest at play here is a very important one, the national security and defence of this country ... indeed, we say it is harder to think of a stronger public interest than the security and defence of Australia?
A potential sentencing date for McBride could be determined as early as Thursday morning.
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Manhunt under way after woman found shot dead in Adelaide
A state-wide manhunt is under way for a man accused of murdering his wife in their Adelaide home, reports AAP.
Police allege Kevin Jewell, 55, shot his wife Jodie dead in their Modbury North property shortly after 6pm on Tuesday.
Supt Doc Bray said Ms Jewell had previously told a friend she had been the victim of domestic violence.
The friend became concerned when she couldn’t contact Ms Jewell and contacted police who went to the property and found Ms Jewell dead with a gunshot wound.
Kevin Jewell lived on the upper level of the house, while Ms Jewell and her teenage daughter lived downstairs.
“They had been somewhat estranged for a period of time,” Supt Bray told reporters on Wednesday.
Police have obtained an arrest warrant for Jewell in the Adelaide magistrates court on Wednesday for the charge of murder.
“If Kevin is watching, I make this appeal to him,” Supt Bray said.
We are actively looking for you and we will locate you. I encourage you forthwith, straight away, without any delay to engage with a solicitor and negotiate your safe surrender to police.
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Ella Cutler, the Western Australian police officer who suffered horrific injuries after falling while on holiday in Croatia, has met with WA commissioner Col Blanch as she continues her long recovery.
The 25-year-old said she “feels good in general” and is keen to return to work, reports the West Australian. In August, Cutler fell 10m at Pile Gate in Dubrovnik, fracturing her spine, skull, limbs and ribs and leaving her fighting for her life.
There are times when my body might hurt a little bit more than what it normally would, but generally, I am OK.
Ella Cutler and her family met with Commissioner Col Blanch yesterday and expressed their appreciation for the support shown by WA Police and the community of Western Australia.
— WA Police Force (@WA_Police) November 22, 2023
Ella is very humbled by the outpouring of love and support she has received 💙 pic.twitter.com/5dv7hmolSH
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Anter Isaac named as new chair of Football Australia
Over to football, and sports administrator and consultant Anter Isaac has today been elected chair of the board of Football Australia (FA) at the organisation’s annual general meeting. Marketing executive Jaclyn Lee-Joe is the new deputy chair.
Isaac said the success of this year’s Women’s World Cup had lifted expectations for the code. “That event has had the effect of emboldening Australian football, shifting the mindset from one of hope to belief that we can actually do this, not only off the field but on the field,” he said.
He said he hadn’t coveted the role, and was “humbled” when the board gave him its support. “I don’t think any sane person would covet a role that adds another, probably, 12 hours to each day.”
FA hopes to win the rights to host the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup. The decision will be made by the Asian Football Confederation in coming months. At Wednesday’s press conference, FA chief executive James Johnson said he was “very confident” of securing the tournament.
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Michelle Rowland has just answered her final question at the press club.
She is asked about the platform X (formerly Twitter), and concerns about increasing hate speech on the platform.
Reporter: Has the platform been responsive to the Australian government and would you go a step further and urge Australians not to use the platform?
Rowland said she wouldn’t comment on ongoing legal matters involving X, but today’s cyber safety consultation announcement involves looking at hate speech:
This will be the first time under the basic online safety expectations that we will have a requirement on the platforms to report against what they may have or their own systems and policies for regulating hate speech.
I do believe this is an area that has been underdone for too long. It is clearly an area of concern, it threatens our social cohesion, particularly in the current environment.
The government has determined that we need to take action in this area.
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Changing from online world to print media, Michelle Rowland is asked what the government is doing to ensure the survival of rural and regional newspapers, which are facing declining revenue and increasing costs.
Rowland said the government has assisted with a number of immediate cashflow issues, and expects to announced a news media assistance program in the “near future”.
That is based on research that is being informed by the ACMA’s work around diversity and areas where for so many years, we did not understand where the news deserts existed or where potential ones were emerging.
We will have more to say shortly in terms of our broader media reform program.
Rowland acknowledged that local newspapers are “critical for democracy” in some areas, with only one local publication existing.
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Guardian reporter Josh Butler asks Michelle Rowland about what is being done to prevent children from seeing gambling ads on platforms such as TikTok, and across social media.
Rowland said the government is considering the recommendations of the committee’s report into gambling promotions and “looking at this holistically”, but no decisions have been made yet:
Not only across the broadcasting space, but across the whole range of recommendations that have been made. No decisions have been made yet, but I would like to share with you that throughout this consultation process, one thing that we have been very focused on in understanding … how harmful this is for children, where it appears and what steps can be taken in response.
eSafety commissioner working on age verification roadmap for pornographic websites, Rowland says
Michelle Rowland is now asked about age verification on pornography websites.
She acknowledged the work of the eSafety commissioner in working on the age verification roadmap, and said the systems that currently exist for age verification are “immature” and “carry significant risks in terms of privacy” and their ability to be implemented overall:
I want to be clear on this point – this isn’t only about accessing pornographic sites. This is about the some 30% and growing [amount] of content that children see, literally, coincidentally. They stumble across this using online platforms. It’s not something that they go looking for. It is incidental to their online experience.
And therefore, what we are seeking to address is ensuring that the digital platforms have measures in place to minimise that from happening.
Rowland said she has asked the eSafety commissioner to start work on the second tranche of codes to address pornographic content to ensure the industry “lifts its game”.
We want the industry to invest more in what we know can be effective age-assurance technologies.
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The conversation moves to gambling ads, and Rowland is asked: Why can’t we just ban gambling ads online?
She said consultation is underway with a range of stakeholders to “understand the impacts in this area” and learn what changes need to be made.
I would point out that the last substantive time that this was amended, actually under the Turnbull government, actual resulted in an increase in gambling advertising. So we need to ensure that we get the policy settings right.
Rowland assures that at all times, she is guided by the “principles of harm minimisation”:
We’re consulting widely with a range of experts in this area. We understand the community concern. I’ve made it clear that the status quo cannot continue, and we will have more to say on this in due course.
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Rowland is asked whether the misinformation bill would include religious exemptions, and what this would look like.
She said the government will “work through precisely what those exemptions will be”:
We understand that there has been concern from a variety of faith organisations that their religious views should not be considered as part of this. We are working through that at the moment and we’ll have more to say in due course.
Rowland is also asked if she will retain the exemption for political parties within the misinformation bill:
There have been calls for exemptions to be removed, including when it comes to authorised election material and also as it applies to media services as well. I’ve made it clear that those exemptions are in there for a reason. It’s because they are regulated elsewhere in different laws.
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And with that, Rowland has concluded her speech and is now taking questions from reporters.
She is asked about a point she made in her speech – that we’ve seen a surge of Islamophobia and anti-semitism on online platforms.
Moderator Laura Tingle:
Doesn’t that suggest that the responsibility isn’t being taken seriously and throw into question the idea that a voluntary code is sufficient?
Rowland:
I think you’re correct, and that is why we are addressing this gap in the framework by updating the expectations to include what the platforms are doing in relation to their own policies about minimising the impact of hate speech.
This is a gap in the regulatory framework. It’s one that a number of jurisdictions are grappling with, and it’s one that I look forward to taking measures on as part of this updating of the basic online safety expectations.
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Michelle Rowland has announced she has appointed Delia Rickard to conduct a comprehensive review of the Online Safety Act, with consultation to begin next year.
Announcing this, Rowland said Australia’s legislative framework needs to do more than “just play catch-up” and incentivise platforms to have protections built-in, as new harms have emerged online and intensified.
She said the Online Safety Act provides protections for individuals who have been targeted by online abuse, but there is no mechanism to address “harmful abuse directed at communities on the basis of their religion or their ethnicity”.
There is deep concern across the community about the way hateful language spreads online, including recent reporting about the rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic rhetoric.
Over the past two years, it’s become harder to distinguish between AI-generated images and genuine ones. And while this technology has incredible potential as a positive tool, it has also been used to create images designed to humiliate, embarrass or even abuse others.
Australia needs our legislative framework to be strong, but also flexible enough to respond to an ever evolving space.
Rickard is a former deputy chair of the ACCC.
Updated
Michelle Rowland has announced the federal government will commence consultation to “strengthen Australia’s basic online safety expectations”.
To address gaps, emerging harms and further clarify the government’s expectations of industry.
Under the proposed changes, Rowland said services using generative AI would be expected to “proactively minimise the extent to which AI can be used to produce unlawful and harmful material”.
The government is also proposing an expectation that industry consider “the best interests of children” in the design and operation of their services.
Consultation on the proposed amendments commences today and I invite submissions before February 16, 2024.
Updated
Michelle Rowland is speaking about a roundtable she convened on the matter of online dating safety.
She said that in September, she formally requested dating platforms operating in Australia develop a new voluntary industry code to better protect Australian users.
Dating industry representatives met earlier this week to progress this work with support from my department, and I look forward to an update on next steps.
Rowland acknowledged the popularity of dating apps in Australia but said people need to be able to engage with them safely.
She expects the code to be in place by the middle of next year.
Updated
Returning to communication minister Michelle Rowland’s National Press Club speech:
She said her approach to online safety has three anchors – the first: addressing the power and information imbalance by increasing the transparency and accountability of platforms and services.
Second: acknowledging that harm manifests differently in the online environment to how it manifests offline, and using this to inform policy.
There is a difference between a young person having a bad experience in the schoolyard, and being subjected to a deluge of round-the-clock abuse and harassment over social media. There is a difference between visiting a local pub and placing a bet, and being home alone betting online. There is a difference between how information spreads when it is shared between neighbours, to when it goes viral on social media.
And third: working with researchers and experts as they better understand the impacts on human physiology and psychology.
She pointed to online radicalisation, saying that more young people are being radicalised, and the age at which that happens is getting younger:
The ASIO director general’s annual general [meeting] last night highlighted that the number of minors being radicalised is getting higher, while the age of the minors being radicalised is getting lower, with children as young as 13 now embracing extremism and, critically, that most of the radicalisation occurs online.
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Search suspended for radio show host missing in ‘croc country’
A search for a former Sydney radio show host who went missing while fishing at a remote river known for crocodiles has been suspended, AAP reports.
Police have been looking for ex-2GB presenter Roman Butchaski, 76, for more than a week at Cape York’s Olive River, in Queensland’s far north.
An extensive land and air search was launched when the popular former fishing show host did not return to his camping ground at Bramwell Station on 12 November.
He had left for a solo fishing trip on the river, about 900km north of Cairns.
Police have confirmed they had suspended the extensive search which also featured emergency services, SES volunteers and wildlife officers, along with a helicopter crew.
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Rowland argues that regulation within the communication sector should be “proportionate, and not stifle innovation”.
But most importantly, it needs to be human-centred.
… The most critical task I have is to support innovative communications service provision that is in the public interest. That helps lift people up and make the country better, while minimising harms and respecting community standards.
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Communications minister 'dedicated' to reducing online harms
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, is addressing the national press club today.
Rowland said she will be outlining her reform program and initiatives to improve online safety throughout today’s address.
She also highlighted recent research from her department showing 58% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are more likely to experience online harms than non-Indigenous people, at 32%.
Both of these figures are unacceptable, as is the gap between them.
I am dedicated to addressing these harms and improving digital inclusion for First Nations Australians more generally.
Updated
23 arrested at pro-Palestine rally in Sydney last night
We contacted NSW police earlier regarding last night’s pro-Palestine rally at Botany Bay, amid accusations from civil liberties groups that the police response was “heavy-handed”.
A NSW police spokesperson said because the matters are now before the court, they are unable to provide additional commentary.
The NSW police force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, however, the first priority for NSW police is always the safety and security of the wider community.
Twenty-three people were arrested and charged following last night’s protest, where police say a move-on direction was not followed.
The Guardian understands two people have been refused bail to appear at Downing Centre local court today.
Updated
Lehrmann seeking ‘substantial’ damages over The Project broadcast, lawyer says
The Project’s producer gave former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann one weekend to respond to an upcoming broadcast which was weeks in the making and already “set in stone”, the federal court has heard.
The subsequent broadcast on Channel Ten of an interview with Brittany Higgins by Lisa Wilkinson was viewed live by 725,000 people and by a further 200,000 on the internet before it was taken down – at which time the “poison would have spread”, Lehrmann’s barrister Matthew Richardson said.
“My client has been publicly maligned, as certainly the most prominent rapist, probably one of the more revolting predators in the recent history of this country,” Richardson said on day one of the defamation trial Lehrmann brought against Ten and Wilkinson.
Mr Lehrmann has lost everything. A substantial award of damages will be called for, accompanied by a written judgement, particularly critical in this case, vindicating Mr Lehrmann.
Richardson said an earlier article written by Samantha Maiden for news.com.au “did not identify the assailant as a senior adviser to [Liberal senator Karen] Reynolds”, or indeed as someone who worked in her office at all, and was therefore not part of this defamation suit.
The case continues.
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Creation of student ombudsman among recommendations to tackle campus violence
Establishing Australia’s first independent student ombudsman is one of seven actions outlined in a draft plan to tackle gender-based violence on campuses.
The draft action plan, developed by a working group on university governance, was presented to education ministers during a meeting yesterday and released publicly this morning.
During the meeting, ministers were briefed by the chair of the working group Our Watch CEO, Patty Kinnersly, and survivor advocates.
The plan outlines seven actions to address sexual assault and harassment, including an independent watchdog separate to the current regulator, a whole-of-sector approach to address gender-based violence via a national code to be tabled in parliament and greater transparency of disclosures.
The education minister, Jason Clare, said ministers were now seeking feedback on the plan to inform potential design of the proposals:
All students and staff should feel and be safe on campus and in residential colleges. More needs to be done to make this possible, and more needs to be done to support students and staff when the worst happens.
This draft action plan sets out the potential reforms to achieve this. I particularly thank the victim-survivor advocates and students involved in its development.
Updated
Plane crash search uncovers suspected human remains in Port Phillip Bay
Victorian police have discovered what is believed to be human remains in Port Phillip Bay, as they continue to investigate a plane crash at Mount Martha on Sunday.
According to a statement, the remains are believed to be the missing occupants of the plane, a 56-year-old Brunswick man and a 30-year-old Surrey Hills man.
Pilot Stephen Gale and his passenger, cameraman James Rose, were onboard one of two light Viper S-211 Marchetti planes conducting a formation flight that collided mid-air about 1.45pm on Sunday.
Yesterday, police located the wreckage off the shore of Mornington.
Updated
More details via AAP:
The chopper was owned and operated by Outback Wrangler star Matt Wright’s company Helibrook, which the bureau found had made a number of errors.
The report said the operator was not using a proper safety management system to “systematically identify and manage operational hazards”.
The investigation also found the aviation regulator had banned the use of sling uses at any height, but had granted Helibrook an exemption to conduct crocodile collecting.
By 2017, all safety conditions limiting height, speed and exposure were removed by the regulator, meaning Wilson could be attached to the helicopter up to 100 feet.
Months after the accident, the ATSB referred the case to the Australian Federal Police, recommending police probe the issue in regards to evidence available in the investigation.
Wright, 44 and his pilot Michael Burbidge were allegedly first on scene, accompanied by former senior police officer Neil Mellon.
Outback Wrangler’s chopper death caused by lack of fuel
The pilot of a helicopter that crashed – killing a crocodile catcher from the hit TV show Outback Wrangler – likely did not refuel the aircraft, causing the engine to stop mid-air, AAP reports, citing a report released today.
The bureau also found the pilot’s “exposure to cocaine” in the previous days increased the likelihood of fatigue and inattention, but there was insufficient evidence to determine if he was affected at the time.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau released its report today, almost 21 months after Chris Wilson plunged to his death in a remote area of the Northern Territory.
The 34-year-old died while on a crocodile egg hunting mission in West Arnhem Land when a Robinson R44 helicopter he was attached to by a 30-metre line using a harness crashed.
The ATSB investigation found the chopper’s engine stopped mid-flight and during the emergency landing, pilot Sebastian Robinson released the hooks and sling line during the emergency landing.
The height of the release, which was above nine metres, was “likely not survivable” for Wilson, ATSB chief commissioner Angus Mitchell found:
Based on analysis of fuel samples and other evidence, the ATSB investigation found that the helicopter was likely not refuelled at a fuel depot about three-quarters of the way between Darwin and the crocodile egg hunting area.
The pilot did not identify the reducing fuel state before the helicopter’s engine stopped due to fuel exhaustion.
Cyber threats will only get worse, home affairs minister says at strategy launch
Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil is speaking to media about the government’s new seven-year strategy on cybersecurity.
The strategy sets out the development of six “cyber shields” – strong businesses and citizens, safe technology, world-class threat sharing and blocking, protected critical infrastructure, sovereign capabilities and resilient region and global leadership.
Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Sarah Basford Canales brought us all the details on the blog early this morning.
Speaking to the media now, O’Neil explains each of these cyber shields in detail:
If we have learned anything in the last year in this country, it is that we cannot continue as we have. We can’t have a situation where we have data flying around the country, where we have critical infrastructure starting to fail, where we have small business and citizens who are continually telling us they feel vulnerable and unable to cope with the cyber threats ...
… The launch of today’s document is really about the future, because we know that as bad as the cyber environment is for us right now, we have reason to believe that things are going to get worse, and that we are going to face increasing risk.
Updated
Federal, NSW governments combine to support new batteries
New South Wales has set up a scheme to support the development of big batteries with 380 megawatts, as part of its roadmap to renewables. The Albanese government in June said it would support the state as part of its capacity investment scheme, expanding the scale to 930MW.
After considering tenders, that scheme will now support even more capacity, with energy ministers Chris Bowen and Penny Sharpe today announcing six projects have been selected to supply 1075MW of capacity. That’s roughly the operating capacity of AGL‘s Liddell coal-fired power plant when it finally shut in April.
As it happens, AGL was one of the six successful bidders, with its plans for a 500MW battery at that Liddell site. (The next largest was a 415MW battery to be built in the central west renewable energy zone by Akyasha Energy.)
None of the six batteries have reached final investment decisions but the scheme, which guarantees a minimum price as part of a long-term energy supply agreement (LTESA), makes it more likely they will proceed.
AGL’s Chief Operating Officer Markus Brokhof says:
We continue to progress the development of the Hunter Energy Hub and the Liddell battery, and we are working towards making a final decision this calendar year.
In August, this year we opened AGL’s first owned and operated grid-scale battery at Torrens island in Adelaide.
meanwhile, NSW working towards getting as much generation and storage capacity as possible online by the summer of 2025-26. Given Origin Energy has scheduled to close its 2880MW coal-fired power plant at Eraring by August 2025, the government wants to have options in case that plant’s life doesn’t get extended.
Updated
Severe storms remain forecast for parts of New South Wales and Queensland today, with heavy rainfall and flash flooding possible.
In NSW, the northern inland area can expect severe storms:
⛈️ Storm Forecast for today Wed 22/11. Severe storms are possible for the Northern Inland. Primary hazard is Heavy Rainfall and potential flash flooding, with a secondary risk of damaging wind gusts and large hail. https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/z4oKjURecD
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 22, 2023
In Queensland, severe storms are possible through much of the interior of the state:
⛈️QLD Storm Forecast for today Wed 22/11. Severe storms possible through much of the interior of the state and inland South East QLD. Primary hazard is Heavy Rainfall with possible flash flooding, with the added risk of damaging wind gusts in the north. https://t.co/CinugnxqkN pic.twitter.com/C9h0zHXnjl
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) November 22, 2023
Victoria police contact scores of witnesses for Daylesford pub car crash investigation
Victoria Police are contacting about 140 witnesses as part of an investigation into the Daylesford pub crash that killed five people earlier this month, the state’s coroners court has heard.
The collision killed five people from two families after a white BMW SUV crashed through a busy beer garden in the regional Victorian town on 5 November.
Det Sgt Peter Romanis, from Victoria Police’s major collision investigation unit, appeared at a directions hearing about the crash at the coroner’s court this morning.
He says the investigation is still in its infancy.
We are in the process of contacting in the vicinity of 140 witnesses, obtaining statements and collecting evidence.
Romanis says it is not possible to estimate how long it would take to determine if charges will be laid.
He says police are investigating the extent to which the driver’s medical condition of diabetes was a factor in the collision.
Updated
Greens’ Shoebridge: Mounted police, riot squad action against protestors “aggressive”
Greens senator David Shoebridge said he has “deep concerns” about police actions at last night’s pro-Palestine protest at Botany Bay.
In a series of posts to X/Twitter, Shoebridge said a “communal meal and direct action on a road were responded to by the riot squad and police on horseback”.
The protest by members of the Jewish and Palestinian communities, unionists, students and families brought hundreds together at the port. They received move on directions, which were then aggressively enforced by NSW Police.
Police have now decided to make the first use of harsh new anti-protest laws recently rammed through the NSW Parliament by Labor and the Coalition, with numerous protestors facing up to two years in jail for their peaceful action.
People must be allowed to peacefully show their support for Palestinian freedom and for an end to war without being violently arrested by police. We stand ready to provide whatever support we can to the protesters.
Updated
‘We must never forget the Holocaust’, Albanese says at Melbourne museum reopening
Anthony Albanese said he was honoured to be at the museum’s reopening, because: “we must never forget the Holocaust. Not the scale of it, not the depths of its cruelty. A savagery that was long in the planning and cold in its calculation.”
Albanese noted the words of Holocaust survivor Peter Gaspar, quoting his oft-repeated words that “The Holocaust didn’t start with gas chambers and murders and executions. It started with stereotyping, prejudice, discrimination, hate speech”. Albanese said they were “words to heed, every day.”
My government is acting to make it clear there is no place in Australia for symbols that glorify the horrors of the Holocaust. And there is no place for those who seek to profit from the trade in these evil symbols, or use them to promote their hatred. We owe it to our multicultural society, our Jewish community, and our survivors.
Updated
Australia will always denounce antisemitism, Albanese says
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says Jewish Australians are “bearing a pain you should never have had to bear again”, saying the federal government wouldn’t allow antisemitism to gain “so much as a foothold” in this country.
Speaking at the reopening of Melbourne’s holocaust museum, in a rare bipartisan moment with opposition leader Peter Dutton, Albanese drew parallels between the extermination of Jews by Nazi Germany in the Second world war and the 7 October attacks on Israelis by Hamas.
In a speech, he says:
Since the atrocities of October 7, Jewish Australians have been bearing a pain you should never have had to bear again. And you are feeling fear. Anxious that the long shadows of the past have crept into the present.
That should not be happening in a land that offered refuge then – and embraces you now. As the conflict continues, antisemitism is on the rise. But we will not let it find so much as a foothold here. Australia will always denounce it and reject it utterly, just as we do all forms of racism and prejudice.
Earlier, in an interview with Sky News, deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley accused the government of sending “mixed messages” on responding to antisemitism.
Updated
Ex-Liberal staffer Lehrmann wants compensation from Network Ten, court hears
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann is seeking justice, vindication and compensation after a broadcast by Network Ten, The Project and Lisa Wilkinson “utterly destroyed him”, the federal court has heard.
“There were no eyewitnesses, no audiovisual recording, no audio recording, no admissions, just two competing versions” of what happened when Lehrmann and his former colleague Brittany Higgins entered Canberra’s parliament house in the early hours in March 2019, Lehrmann’s legal team says.
He understands that he can’t persuade everybody, but following the withdrawal of the criminal proceedings against him he brings these proceedings against his most prominent accusers, Channel 10 and Lisa Wilkinson, and The Project.
He will say what happened to him, he will submit himself to cross examination and he will seek vindication and compensation.
Lehrmann and Wilkinson are sitting in the front row of the Sydney court.
Updated
Spender asks school children in pro-Palestine strikes to think about impact on Jewish students
Independent MP Allegra Spender has called on children participating in school strikes for Palestine to rethink these demonstrations.
In a series of posts to X/Twitter, Spender said these protests “risk isolating Jewish children who are already so frightened by antisemitism that many are choosing to hide their identity”.
Australians are distressed by civilian deaths in Israel and Gaza. It is heartbreaking. But we can’t let the conflict overseas create conflict here amongst us, and our children.
I urge all students to give some thought to the impact their actions may have on the mental health of their classmates, and look for ways to unify. We should all be doing all we can to maintain the social harmony that’s at the heart of this great multicultural country.
School protests for Palestine risk isolating Jewish children who are already so frightened by rising antisemitism that many are choosing to hide their identity. 2/3
— Allegra Spender (@spenderallegra) November 21, 2023
A school strike for Palestine is planned for Melbourne tomorrow, with participating students planning to walk out of school at lunchtime and join a protest in the CBD.
Updated
‘Heavy-handed’ NSW police action at Sydney protest worries civil liberty groups
A joint statement from the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, Human Rights Law Centre and Australian Democracy Network says they are “deeply concerned” about the “heavy-handed police repression of a peaceful protest” at Port Botany last night.
The statement says the protest of 400 people included children and elderly people. It claims protesters were not allowed to march on the road, but were instead moved to a roadside path, and that no vehicles attempted to enter via the road during this time.
When the protest paused near this driveway and protestors were peacefully sitting on the ground, police issued ‘move on’ orders and began arresting attendees. Legal observers and others on the scene did not witness a reason being given for the move on orders.
The statement says the groups are concerned that police issued ‘move on’ orders and arrested individuals for allegedly failing to comply “when no serious risk to safety was present and no traffic was observed to be obstructed”.
Mounted police advanced on the crowd in a way that resulted in a crowd crush, with several protestors having to climb over a fence to avoid being trampled by police horses.
Police also physically pushed several independent legal observers and obstructed their capacity to observe.
Lydia Shelly, President of the NSW Council for Civil Liberties, says:
The right to protest needs to be protected, even if protests are considered disruptive, controversial or inconvenient … The anti protest laws must be repealed if NSW is to be an open and free state.
NSW premier Chris Minns earlier rejected claims that police were heavy-handed in the way they arrested protesters. NSW Police have been contacted for comment.
Updated
Lehrmann defamation proceedings against Network Ten will be live-streamed
The federal court has rejected Network Ten’s submission to not live-stream the defamation proceedings brought against it by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann.
Justice Michael Lee said:
Despite these arguments, I’ve reached the clear view that the administration of justice is best served and facilitated by the court adopting the now common course of live streaming the hearing of this case and rejecting Network Ten’s proposed alternative orders.
Lee said he made his decision because “open justice should not yield to the hypothetical risk of abuse by bad actors”.
The appropriate live streaming of the proceedings of public importance facilitates open justice in the modern courtroom.
Lehrmann did not oppose the live streaming of the trial.
Updated
Newington receives ‘overwhelming’ support from parents to co-educational decision
Prestigious Sydney boys school Newington College says it has had an “overwhelmingly positive” response to the announcement it will progressively move to co-educational after 160 years of single-sex schooling.
In a letter to the Newington community last night, chairman of its council Tony McDonald said it had received more than 280 registrations from prospective girls - more than 50 times the number of registrations on an average day.
By midnight last night, we had received 68 emails to our dedicated mailbox, more than 70% of them positive and supportive of the change, and many of them asking how to enrol their daughters.
On Monday, it was announced the inner west college would phase to co-educational by 2033, starting with prep schools in 2026 and senior campus in 2028. It follows a similar announcement from legacy single sex school Cranbrook last year.
In response to a backlash amongst sectors of the community, McDonald says the “future is co-educational”.
While we are excited about the change and the overwhelmingly positive response it has received, we also appreciate that there are some in our community who disagree with this decision.
We appreciate that everyone is entitled to their view, however we know from all the work conducted since February 2022 that the best interests of Newington and its students in the future is co-educational and one that prepares all our students for an enriching, positive and thriving future beyond their time at school.
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Fewer arrests as school leavers behave themselves at Gold Coast, police say
Queensland police have praised the behaviour of schoolies on the Gold Coast this year, with a quarter of arrests compared with 2022.
Ten school leavers have been arrested this year, compared with 40 at the same time last year. Three knives have been found as part of police operations.
A high police presence has been active in the area, with more than 180 safety cameras in operation across Surfers Paradise.
State minister for police Mark Ryan labelled Queensland’s schoolies season one of the “safest celebrations in the nation”.
Superintendent Peter Miles said the body had been “exceptionally impressed” with this year’s cohort.
I encourage all schoolies to continue celebrating safely and look out for each other for the remainder of the event.
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ABC settles with Lehrmann
The ABC has settled the defamation case brought against it by former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann and the case has been discontinued, the federal court has heard.
On the first day of Lehrmann’s defamation case against the ABC and the Ten network, the ABC and Lehrmann told the court they had settled and the parties had signed a deed of settlement.
The defamation case against the ABC is over a 2022 National Press Club speech by Brittany Higgins.
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Perth heatwave prompts extreme fire warnings
Extreme and high fire danger ratings are in place for Perth and surrounding suburbs today and a number of total fire bans are in place as the city continues to face a heatwave.
The heatwave began yesterday and is set to continue through tomorrow, with high temperatures continuing through the remainder of the week.
Maximum temperatures are forecast to hit 39C today and 40C on Thursday.
This comes as an emergency storm warning is in place for parts of the Lower West and South West districts.
Damaging wind gusts of around 90km/h are likely over parts of the south-west of the state, and are expected to ease below warning thresholds by midday.
Locations which may be affected include Armadale, Harvey, Kalamunda, Midland and Pinjarra.
Updated
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann remained silent as he arrived at court this morning, Tamsin Rose reports:
Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann remains silent as he arrives in court. pic.twitter.com/h2JbqKoO3R
— Tamsin Rose (@tamsinroses) November 21, 2023
Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Ten and the ABC starts today.
All militaries should operate in ‘safe and professional’ way – Wong
Asked about the incident at a press conference in India, Penny Wong said Australia’s “utmost priority” was the safety of its military personnel.
The second point I’d make is to again reiterate that we have raised our serious concerns with the Chinese authorities, following what was, we regard, as unsafe and unprofessional interaction with the PLA Navy destroyer.
I would again make the point that these events occurred within Japan’s EEZ [exclusive economic zone] and in international waters. And Australia’s principal position is that we expect all countries, including ourselves, to operate militaries in a safe and a professional manner.
Wong was with India’s foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar. The pair were asked more broadly about China’s place in the world and the Pacific.
Wong responded:
Certainly we both have a very substantive economic relationship with China, and China is a country with whom we will continue to engage.
The way in which we describe it is we will cooperate where we can and there are areas where we can, we will disagree where we must and we will engage in our national interests, and that is the way in which we have described our approach to the relationship with China.
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Australia in international waters during China ship altercation, Wong reiterates
Foreign minister Penny Wong has again confirmed that the altercation between Australian and Chinese naval ships last week occurred in international waters in Japan’s exclusive economic zone, after Beijing defence officials appeared to question that claim in response yesterday.
Wong, speaking in New Delhi on an official visit to India, again urged “all countries” to operate their militaries in a “safe and professional manner”.
The incident last Tuesday, which defence minister Richard Marles reported included a Chinese destroyer using sonar in the area where Australian divers were working, has led to a public tit-for-tat between Beijing and Canberra.
The Australian government says it raised the “dangerous and unprofessional” incident through official channels.
However, in an article published by state newspaper The Global Times yesterday, Chinese Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Wu Qian said his country was “firmly opposed” to Australia’s response.
According to the Global Times report:
China and Japan have not carried out maritime delimitation in the relevant waters, so the claim of Chinese military activity in “Japan’s exclusive economic zone” is not correct, the spokesperson stressed.
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Minns rejects claims police heavy-handed with Port Botany pro-Palestinian protesters
The NSW premier has been speaking to the media about last night’s pro-Palestine rally at Port Botany.
Chris Minns begins by thanking NSW police for their efforts, noting they had managed 73 protests in the past six weeks across the state.
He said “no city in the world has been handling this perfectly” – in terms of demonstrations related to the Israel-Hamas war – but that NSW police “have been doing a very good job in very difficult circumstances”.
Minns said he rejected claims the police were heavy-handed in the way they arrested protesters yesterday:
Firstly, the protest went mobile. Secondly, they occupied a street without lodging a form-1 declaration. Thirdly, there was a lawful police order given to the protesters to move on.
I think any reasonable person would say once you stack up that chronology, the police acted completely responsible in the same set of circumstances.
You cannot have a situation where our ports are blocked for commerce because one group or another has a political disagreement with another country. That would be hugely damaging to our economy and it would be massively damaging to the reputation of both the state and the country.
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Coalition accuses Labor of sending ‘mixed messages’ on antisemitism response
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley accused the government of sending “mixed messages” on responding to antisemitism, hours ahead of what’s meant to be a bipartisan message against antisemitism from her leader Peter Dutton and prime minister Anthony Albanese at a holocaust memorial.
The Australian reports the leaders will speak at the reopening of Melbourne Holocaust Museum today, with a drop of Dutton’s speech outlining that he’ll call for “a need for unequivocal and unqualified condemnation of the anti-Semitism we are witnessing” in the wake of the conflict in Gaza.
Speaking on Sky News earlier, Ley was asked about comments from government minister Stephen Jones, who said the government had condemned both antisemitism and Islamophobia. Labor MPs in parliament last week spoke strongly about the need to support both Jewish and Muslim communities.
“I think there have been some mixed messages from government ministers and I think even Steven Jones would admit that,” Ley responded.
But today when Peter Dutton joins Anthony Albanese at the Melbourne Holocaust Museum, it is a time for strong bipartisanship, a strong message that comes from both the Leader of the Opposition and the Prime Minister that is clear, and unequivocal, and demonstrates the moral clarity that I believe Peter Dutton has demonstrated from day one on this issue.
Ley was critical of “acts of intimidation and protest on our streets”, noting convoys of cars and protests situated around Jewish population centres.
While everyone knows, you can protest in Australia and that’s something we fundamentally believe in, when that protest turns into convoys driving across suburbs, or individual places of worship being targeted, then that does approach intimidation, and that is not on.
The social cohesion that has built this country in which all Australians value is something we must put front and centre, when it comes to these issues.
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Australia failing mental health patients, report finds
The country’s health system is continuing to fail patients suffering from poor mental health, with more patients needing acute care and facing long waits in emergency departments, a report has found.
The Australian Medical Association’s (AMA’s) public hospital report card: mental health edition shows more patients with mental health-related conditions are arriving in emergency departments by ambulance and police services, and more are arriving in a critical condition needing urgent care.
The report found nationally, the length of stay in emergency departments for patients presenting with mental health-related conditions was at its highest since 2016–17, with patients staying in for more than 30 hours in some states.
AMA president Prof Steve Robson said:
These long waits, which are directly due to a lack of inpatient beds, cause distress for patients and their families and place enormous pressure on hospital staff.
Emergency departments are no place for someone suffering a critical mental health illness. They are not designed in a way that’s conducive to good mental health care. Australia is failing to provide appropriate, acceptable care to these most vulnerable of patients. This needs to change, and it needs to change urgently.
Updated
WWII bombs found in Queensland forest
A routine patrol of a far north Queensland park unearthed an unexpected threat – three 80-year-old bombs from the second world war, AAP reports.
And while the 25-pound (11kg) unexploded ordnances (UXOs) were rusty, they were still potentially as deadly as ever.
Rangers were quick to alert the Australian defence force (ADF) when they came across the bombs lying in the Bilwon state forest near Cairns.
Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service ranger Ben Finnerty said a series of firebreaks through the Bilwon forest last year gave rangers better access to different parts of the area:
During a routine patrol we discovered several unexploded ordnance in a remote part of the forest.
After seeking advice from the ADF, it was decided the best move was to detonate the bombs, which were still considered dangerous despite their rusty appearance and age.
Finnerty said two members of the defence force travelled from Townsville and met rangers on site to make the UXO safe to the public, and “it went up with a bang”.
It was the first time rangers had found UXOs in the region since 2016.
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Most motorists driving less amid soaring fuel prices, survey finds
Seven in 10 Australian drivers have changed their driving habits amid skyrocketing fuel prices, according to new research commissioned by the Climate Council.
A national survey of 1,150 Australians found 71% are taking steps to cut their driving expenses because of soaring fuel costs. People reported driving less day-to-day, avoiding taking holidays using their car, cutting back on vehicle servicing and maintenance, and considering the switch to an electric vehicle.
Fifty-four per cent said fuel efficiency standards would save them money, the survey found.
The Climate Council’s head of advocacy, Dr Jennifer Rayner, said:
Many Australians are doing it tough right now, but they can see there are solutions. Strong fuel efficiency standards will mean less money drained by the petrol bowser and better access to cleaner, cheaper-to-run cars.
A recent consumer benefit analysis commissioned by the Climate Council and Electric Vehicle Council found Australians could individually save $1,200 per year, and up to $10,000 over the vehicle’s lifetime, on running costs with strong fuel efficiency standards.
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‘Just handle this as Aussies’, O’Neil says after Port Botany pro-Palestinian protest
Earlier, home affairs minister Clare O’Neil was asked about last night’s pro-Palestine protest at Port Botany.
Speaking on the Today show, she spoke about footage of protesters’ alleged actions against police and said it was “absolutely despicable”.
Acknowledging people’s strong feelings amid the Israel-Hamas war, O’Neil called on people to “handle this as Aussies” and “calm down a bit”.
We have a bunch of people in our country who are feeling incredibly deeply about what is going on in the Middle East, and I understand that. For a lot of your viewers who don’t have a connection it is incredibly upsetting, but think about if you have friends or family living in Gaza, of course there is strong feelings.
What I would say to Australians is let’s just handle this as Aussies. Let’s respect each other, understand the strong views and feelings in the community, but just calm down a bit.
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Pat Cummins still ‘buzzing’ from Cricket World Cup win as players return home
Pat Cummins and other Australian cricket players have begun landing back home this morning, after days of celebrations in India following their World Cup win.
Seven members of the squad have remained in India to feature in the looming Twenty20 series, while the other half have returned to prepare for the Test summer.
“I think they have created their own legacy,” Cummins said of his side as he touched down at Sydney Airport.
A World Cup, you only get one chance every four years and especially playing somewhere like India, it’s hard.
To be pitted up against the rest of the world and come away with a medal, it doesn’t get any better than that.
Cummins said he was still “buzzing” from the win, with Sunday’s six-wicket triumph over the host nation in the final yet to fully sink in.
– from AAP
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Burke’s IR changes don’t fix bill’s ‘fundamental’ problems, builders association says
Master Builders Australia CEO Denita Wawn said the building and construction industry continued to hold concerns around the government’s proposed industrial relations laws and its impact on business and tradies.
She said changes to the bill announced by minister Tony Burke this morning (which we brought you earlier on the blog here) don’t change “the fundamental structural problems of the bill”.
You can’t amend a few clauses and say concerns with the bill are fixed when there are 300-odd pages of damaging changes that fundamentally upend how business operates.
Minister Burke is attempting to create his own minor loopholes for a couple of specific industries while still leaving the economy high and dry.
Wawn argued the cumulative impact of the bill on the economy would be “devastating” and leave the building and construction industry “hamstrung” in its ability to meet the government’s housing targets.
Independent contractors, self-employed Australians, subcontractors and small business are still in the firing line and their rights to be their own boss are at risk.
This bill ultimately drives down productivity and drives up the cost of goods and services.
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Government considered deporting indefinite detention plaintiff, O’Neil confirms
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, has spoken to Radio National about Labor’s cyber security strategy. In the interview O’Neil also confirmed our exclusive report that the government considered releasing the plaintiff in the high court challenge against indefinite detention.
O’Neil said the government “looked at every possible option in order to improve our chances of winning this high court challenge”, including “operational and policy moves”.
O’Neil said the record was clear that “he was not released from detention and we did not go down that pathway, but I’m not going to apologise for doing everything I could within my power to make sure that we didn’t”.
She said the report the government considered releasing the plaintiff NZYQ was “accurate”.
O’Neil also repeated her claim that when she said on Sunday the government was advised by the home affairs department it was “likely” to win the case, she “was not referring to legal advice when I made comments about prospects in that case”. Instead, she claims she was referring to “operational and policy conversations” that “might potentially change the outcome of the case, specifically could we remove the plaintiff from the country”.
O’Neil “vehemently disagreed” with RN host Patricia Karvelas’ suggestion the government was “flat-footed” in its response, insisting it “absolutely contemplated and planned for that we would not win”.
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Last week, the government passed laws to enable it to impose curfews and ankle bracelets on people released from immigration detention.
Home affairs minister Clare O’Neil was asked on the Today show whether “ankle bracelets, curfews [and] bans on working with children” had started. She said:
Yes, they have … they are being rolled out at the moment.
I certainly know that many people have had those curfews and monitoring bracelets rolled out. If I can just explain to your viewers, minister [Andrew] Giles is required under law to consider each of these base cases on an individual basis, and he is working through that at the moment.
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Here are some more photos from last night’s pro-Palestine protest at Port Botany:
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‘Desperation’ among people to end ‘horrific’ situation in Gaza – Burke
Earlier, industrial relations minister Tony Burke was asked about last night’s pro-Palestine protest in Botany Bay.
He told ABC RN he was “always wary of where some protests can morph or ignite in different ways [into] anti-semitism”, but said the view of his community is they “just want this to stop”.
Host Patricia Karvelas pressed that his community wants a ceasefire, but foreign minister Penny Wong hasn’t called for one.
Burke:
Wong has said that we need to work through the steps towards ceasefire…
I met [with] one of the Australians [we] helped get out of Gaza. When you hear the stories that are happening on the ground, it’s horrific.
And so yes, the views are very strong. I’m limited in what I can say about that particular protest, I haven’t seen the footage of that. But what I can say is there is a desperation of people wanting this to end.
Karvelas: Can’t that only happen with a ceasefire?
Burke:
I’ve repeated what Penny Wong has said about wanting those steps towards a ceasefire to be taken.
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More than 20 charged after Port Botany pro-Palestine protest
More than 20 people have been arrested and charged following an unauthorised pro-Palestine protest at Port Botany overnight.
According to a statement from NSW police, about 400 people gathered at the protest. Police issued a move-on direction, which they say was not complied with.
The group continued to occupy Foreshore Road, blocking vehicle movement.
The road was then closed in both directions, police say, as officers continued to issue move-on directions to several people.
Twenty-three people were arrested “after a number of people continued to refuse police direction”, and all people had left the roadway by 9pm.
Police say inquiries into the incident continue under Operation Shelter – launched after the first pro-Palestine rally in early October to coordinate police response to future protests in the state.
As we flagged in yesterday’s blog, the Palestine Justice Movement Sydney announced it would demonstrate against ZIM container ship “Calandra” as part of a series of actions targeting ZIM in Sydney and Melbourne.
ZIM shipping is the oldest and largest shipping company in Israel. Ahmed Abadla from the group said yesterday the action was occurring because “as Australians we cannot allow business as usual to continue at our ports while Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza and committing the crime of apartheid against my people”.
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Labor strikes deal to exempt service contractors from new workplace laws – Burke
Industrial relations minister Tony Burke is speaking to ABC RN about Labor’s industrial relations bill.
He says he has struck a deal to exempt service contractors from the new workplace laws:
That just gives a really clear line drawn that if it’s labour hire, it’s covered, if it’s service contractors, it’s not.
The difference is as a labour hire company just provides workers, whereas a service contractor will provide machinery, their own systems and their own management, Burke explained.
This change follows weeks-long negotiations between Burke and the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association.
There are hopes the deal will also improve the governments chances of getting the contentious legislation through the senate. Burke said:
In terms of the conversations with the crossbench, I continue to reach out to the crossbench [and] there’s a series of meetings that continue to happen.
They’ve made a decision that they don’t want to deal with this bill until next year. I would rather we were dealing with it over the next fortnight. We certainly will be dealing with it next week in the House of Representatives.
The government has been facing a showdown with David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie over the legislation, after the two crossbenchers successfully passed four private members’ bills in the Senate:
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Key event
Police and protesters scuffle at pro-Palestinian rally in Port Botany
AAP has more details on last night’s pro-Palestine rally at Port Botany:
About 400 people waving flags and calling for ceasefire in Gaza gathered near the boat ramp at Foreshore Road and were met by local and mounted police as well as members of the force’s riot squad.
According to organisers, the demonstrators were there to protest the arrival of Israeli-owned container ship Calandra.
It was the second rally at the port and also followed a protest in Melbourne on 8 November targeting trucks carrying containers owned by the same Israeli company.
The gathering began peacefully but video aired by television networks showed scuffles between police and some of the crowd later in the evening.
One of the demonstrators, who gave his name as Benjamin, told Nine News “things started getting a little bit rough”.
The cops started trying to move people by dragging them.
They mostly arrested the organisers up the front who were not giving any ground.
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Victorian police have confirmed the search for the wreckage of a military-style jet that crashed into Port Phillip Bay will continue at 8am this morning.
Pilot Stephen Gale and his passenger, cameraman James Rose, were onboard one of two light Viper S-211 Marchetti planes conducting a formation flight that collided mid-air about 1.45pm on Sunday.
Yesterday, police located the wreckage off the shore of Mornington and were working to remove the fuselage of the plane from the water to be searched.
Police had earlier said the two people were believed to have died in the crash.
Their aircraft plunged about 20 metres into Port Phillip Bay, while the other plane landed safely at Essendon airport, also with two people onboard.
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Matildas’ Sam Kerr engaged to US football star Kristie Mewis
First up, some great news from overnight – Matildas star Sam Kerr has confirmed her engagement to American soccer star Kristie Mewis! Kerr shared these photos to Instagram:
🥹🥹🥹 Sam Kerr finally confirms the worst-kept secret in woso: she's engaged to Kristie Mewis! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/18iWZ8bvUp
— Samantha Lewis (@battledinosaur) November 21, 2023
The post confirmed weeks of rumours the pair were engaged, with Kerr popping the question on 1 September.
Now *this* is my Roman Empire.
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Good morning and happy Wednesday. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off – I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be bringing you our rolling news coverage today.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can contact me via Twitter/X @emilywindwrites or send me an email: emily.wind.casual@theguardian.com.
With that, let’s get started.
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Rights groups push back against protest crackdown
Sixty legal advocacy and civil rights groups around Australia have teamed up to call on governments to protect the right to protest in the face of recent “draconian anti-protest laws”.
The Human Rights Law Centre (HRLC) and Australian Democracy Network on Wednesday want stronger laws to protect the freedom to protest across states and territories, along with the commonwealth.
The legal advocacy group outlined proposed minimum standards and 10 practical steps toward protecting protest rights in its report, Declaration of Our Right to Protest, released earlier this month.
The latest push follows criticism of the NSW government after it briefly vowed to block pro-Palestine rallies in Sydney last month.
A total of 60 groups, including Amnesty International Australia, the Australian Council of Social Service, Greenpeace Australia and the Australia Institute, have signed on to the proposed declaration.
Around 26 laws curbing protests rights have passed around the country over the past two decades, the HRLC said.
David Mejia-Canales, a senior lawyer at the HRLC, said the right to protest was “a cornerstone of a robust civil society that holds the powerful to account”, describing recent anti-protest laws as “draconian”.
When governments erode our protest rights, they erode our democracy. This declaration provides governments with solutions in law-making to create a democracy where protest rights are protected.
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Key event
More on cyber security from Sarah…
In addition to major funding injection, the federal government’s new cyber security strategy also proposes to establish new programs and review mechanisms.
For example, a free cyber health-check program will be created allowing small and medium businesses to assess their cyber security readiness.
The 2030 strategy also reveals that a new no-fault, no-liability ransomware reporting obligation for businesses will be co-designed with industry and legislated to help the government stay “ahead of the threat”.
Cyber incident scenarios will be run through the office of the cyber coordinator to test the strength of industry and government arrangements. The government has said it will draft up incident response “playbooks” in response to the findings to better inform business leaders on how to deal with cyber attacks.
Cyber security minister Clare O’Neil said of the announcements:
Our government is committed to consulting closely with industry every step of the way. Years of cooperative effort lie ahead, and we need to work together to make our country safe.
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Australia to become 'world leader' in cyber security by 2030
Clare O’Neil has set out her ambitious vision for Australia to become a world leader in cyber security by 2030, announcing a $586.9m funding sweetener to help the country “lead the frontier”.
The seven-year strategy, released on Wednesday, sets out the development of six “cyber shields” – strong businesses and citizens, safe technology, world-class threat sharing and blocking, protected critical infrastructure, sovereign capabilities and resilient region and global leadership.
O’Neil said Australia was an attractive target due to it being wealthy and a fast adopter of new technologies.
The new strategy would help chart the country’s course to becoming a world leader against cyber crime, O’Neil said.
Our strategy will make every Australian citizen, business, government agency and organisation a harder target. It will enable us to bounce back faster from attacks that we cannot prevent. We will put cyber criminals on notice, and we will fight back against the
threat.
The $586.9m funding committed will be in addition to the $2.3bn to 2030 set out for the existing Cyber Security Strategy, delivered by the Australian Signals Directorate.
The strategy’s action plan outlines the first two years, focusing on addressing critical gaps across industry and government, while the period between 2026 and 2028 will work on scaling “cyber maturity across the whole economy”.
From 2029, the action plan says, Australia will “advance the global frontier of cyber security”.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to the rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with some of our top overnight stories before I hand over shortly to my colleague Emily Wind.
The legal complexities around the release last week of indefinite detainees have deepened thanks to our exclusive story this morning which reveals how the government considered releasing the man at the centre of the case – while keeping the other 92 locked up. Documents published by the high court suggest home affairs minister Clare O’Neil was advised that using her powers to grant NZYQ a visa might neutralise the court challenge that last week led to the release of 92 others. And it’s a busy day for O’Neil, who is today announcing plans to make Australia a world leader in cyber security by 2030 with a $586.9 funding boost. More coming up on these stories.
Sixty legal advocacy and civil rights groups around Australia are teaming up today to call on governments to protect the right to protest in the face of recent “draconian anti-protest laws”. The issue has risen to the top of the political agenda amid rival mass protests by supporters of Palestine and Israel in recent weeks. New South Wales police are likely to be handed the power to lay charges for threats and incitement to violence based on race and religion in a reform introduced to state parliament.
The cost of living is still right at the top of that political agenda as a survey reveals today how people are having to pay $600 a week to rent in Australia’s most expensive suburbs. All of the top 10 are in Sydney, led by Warriewood in the northern beaches, although St Kilda in Melbourne is in joint 10th. Energy costs are also a burden on household expenses and a new report today shows that electricity network providers raked in $2bn from customers in “superprofits” in just one year. More coming up on these stories as well, plus later on Reserve Bank governor Michelle Bullock is making a speech in Sydney and might have something to say about the direction of interest rates.
