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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Stephanie Convery (now) and Natasha May (earlier)

Queensland to trial GPS tracker for child offenders – as it happened

Kiribati Australia Penny Wong Pacific Islands Forum PIF Sitiveni Rabuka
Annastacia Palaszczuk
Annastacia Palaszczuk is continuing her tough approach on youth crime in Queensland. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here are some of the key things we learned today, Friday 24 February:

• The Ukrainian ambassador Vasyl Myroshnychenko has given an address to the National Press Club on the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. He’s called for continual support in myriad ways from the Australian government and Ukraine’s allies.

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese pledged a further $33m in military aid to the war-stricken nation.

• The prime minister has also thrown his support behind the NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, saying NSW needs a change of government, as Perrottet’s Liberal state government is “too busy fighting each other, to fight for the people of New South Wales”.

• The Queensland government has announced a GPS tracker trial for children in Toowoomba, a week after residents vented their frustrations at a youth crime forum in the city.

• Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister has confirmed the release of one hostage but says he “cannot guarantee” the safety of at least three others, including an Australian-New Zealand archaeologist, held in the southern highlands.

• The Australian Education Union is the latest organisation to back the yes campaign in the voice to parliament referendum, saying its membership of school teachers overwhelmingly back the change and will work to support the movement.

• A hive of foreign spies busted by Australia’s intelligence agency in the past year was reportedly linked to Russia.

That’s all for this Friday. Look after yourselves this weekend!

Updated

Evidence contradicts claims of key robodebt witness

A key witness at the robodebt royal commission has been shown evidence contradicting his claims he didn’t know the unlawful “income averaging” method was being used by Centrelink, the inquiry heard.

The commission is investigating why the Coalition program used so-called “income averaging” to raise hundreds of thousands of Centrelink debts between 2015 and 2019 despite Department of Social Services (DSS) lawyers warning it would be unlawful.

Mark Withnell, former general manager of business integrity at Department of Human Services (DHS), told the commission on Friday he couldn’t explain emails and other documents he’d seen referring to the use of income averaging in the program.

Withnell was asked about his involvement in the 2015 budget process that saw the robodebt proposal adopted, saying he told his boss, deputy secretary Malisa Golightly, income averaging could not be used due to DSS’s concerns.

Withnell told the commission he believed there had been “agreement” to proceed with the plan without income averaging being used.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Victoria records 3,052 new Covid-19 cases and 33 deaths this week

There were 3,052 Covid-19 cases reported in Victoria this week, with 33 Covid-related deaths reported to the Department of Health and Human Services this week.

There are 94 Covid patients in Victorian hospitals, with four in intensive care. Two people are on a ventilator.

Updated

Cummins to miss third Test in India due to ill mother

The Australia captain, Pat Cummins will remain in Sydney and miss the third Test against India to be with his seriously ill mother, AAP reports.

Cummins flew home to Australia on Sunday night, immediately after the team’s second Test defeat to India in Delhi, to be around his family.

The 29-year-old on Thursday night informed coach Andrew McDonald of his decision to remain in Australia, with the rest of the squad told at training on Friday morning.

Cummins said:

I have decided against returning to India at this time as my mother is ill and in palliative care. I feel I am best being here with my family.

I appreciate the overwhelming support I have received from Cricket Australia and my teammates. Thanks for your understanding.

Cummins intends to be available for the fourth and final Test in Ahmedabad, but it is possible he will sit out the rest of the series.

The star fast bowler was expected to return to India on Friday ahead of the third Test in Indore, starting on 1 March. Steve Smith will now fill in as skipper.

It will be the third time Smith has stepped in as Test captain since Cummins became skipper in November 2021.

Cummins has been forced to sit out the two most recent pink-ball matches in Adelaide against England and the West Indies due to Covid-19 and injury.

Updated

The New South Wales Environmental Protection Agency has been made aware of dark brown to black material in the waters off Wollongong and Shellharbour beaches.

They say they believe the material is “naturally occurring and not a pollution incident” but they are investigating, and recommend people avoid swimming in it.

Government expects Qantas to lower airfares after reporting bumper profit

The transport minister, Catherine King, has told Australian airlines she expects them to lower airfares in light of the bumper profit announced by Qantas and other carriers.

On Thursday, Qantas delivered an out-of-the-ordinary $1.43bn underlying net profit in the six months to December that was higher than the profit it recorded in a 12-month period leading up to the pandemic. Its chief executive, Alan Joyce, defended stubbornly high airfares as linked to industry-wide shortages and issues that have stopped airlines from running as many services, despite demand nearing pre-pandemic levels.

Appearing on ABC TV on Friday afternoon, King was asked if she thought Qantas was turning a profit by limiting its capacity.

King said it was “unbelievably fantastic to see the demand has come back and come back so strongly”, and noted capacity constraints were not limited just to Qantas. However she delivered a blunt message that the public would now expect more from the airline given its strong recovery.

King said:

I think the customer experience particularly, to be blunt, on Qantas, has been fairly poor. I think even the CEO would recognise that they’ve had some real challenges in terms of the timeliness of their service plus also the customer experience, and I’m hearing that loud and clear.

You only have to be on Twitter for a few minutes, as aviation minister, to see that and so I think that’s important that you know, that feedback is given very clearly to Qantas there’s an expectation to improve that, but also prices are going to need to come down.

King said she thought some customers were “paying an exorbitant amount, frankly, for some of the air fares that are happening both domestically and internationally”:

I think many people would have some expectation that some of the profits that these companies are making are returned and returned in customer service and in cheaper airfares … I think people are making that loudly and clearly known to me and I’m pretty sure Qantas has heard that message as well.

Updated

Australians thanked for not succumbing to ‘Ukraine fatigue’

The Australian Federation of Ukrainian Organisations has released a statement today, on the one-year anniversary of the Russian invasion. It’s quite long but here’s the crux of it:

As we go into the second year of this full-scale brutal war against Ukraine, we will continue to work with Federal and State Governments to provide assistance to the displaced Ukrainians who have made Australia home, at least temporarily.

We will continue to support Ukraine through our fundraising — over $8 million has already been raised through the UCA, and has helped us to build shelters in Irpin and Bucha for displaced people in Ukraine, and send food and medical supplies to the front line.

We will continue to raise funds for displaced Ukrainians in Australia via our UCA Resettlement Fund. And we will always be grateful to the Australian Government for the humanitarian and military aid it has provided — and that it has re-committed today to assist Ukraine ‘for as long as it takes’.

But most importantly, we want to thank the Australian people for their support. For not succumbing to ‘Ukraine fatigue’. For understanding that what has happened to Ukraine is unfair and unjust. For standing up for democracy and a strong international order. And for recognising that Ukraine’s success is essential not just for Ukraine, but also for Australia and for peace, security and stability globally.

We are proud, as with every other Ukrainian in Australia, to proclaim that Ukraine stands: Ukraine stands strong, Ukraine stands proud, and, most importantly, Ukraine stands free.

Updated

Melbourne motorists take note

We’re heading into peak hour in eastern Australia, and Melbourne residents on the move should note that all outbound lanes of the Monash Freeway are currently stopped due to a serious collision between Eastlink and Stud Road.

Motorists are being advised to avoid the freeway entirely if they’re heading towards Dandenong.

Updated

Time needed to fix teaching shortage ‘crisis’, minister says

The education minister says a whole of sector approach will be required to fix the teaching shortage “crisis”, acknowledging while the sector wants him to go “harder and faster” it will take time to address the gaps.

Speaking at the Australian Education Union federal conference in Melbourne on Friday, Jason Clare said he wouldn’t be a minister who called teachers “duds” or bagged the profession, promising to address teaching shortages as a priority.

It’s not the same job it was just a few years ago. It’s harder. Part of that’s Covid. You see better than anyone the mental health impact that still lingers long after the lockdowns. But it’s not just Covid. Part of it is there are fewer friends now in the staffroom to help bear the load. Not enough young people want to be teachers any more, and more and more experienced teachers are leaving. I know that’s not new. It’s been building for a decade. But now it’s at crisis point. That’s the truth.

Clare said he would engage with ministers, teachers, principals, unions and other stakeholders to consult on ideas for future reform as a priority.

A few weeks ago a report came out from the Productivity Commission on the current National School Reform Agreement. It was blistering in its criticism. It said it doesn’t have any real targets or practical reforms to fix the sorts of things we need to fix. The next one will.

That’s what the job of the team I announce in the next few weeks will be. To advise me and other education ministers on the things that future funding should be tied to ... and that means talking to you. Listening to you. Working with you. I know you want me to go harder and faster than I am. And I get it. I really do. But this is the last best chance to get this right.

Updated

GPS tracker trial for children in Toowoomba announced

The Queensland government has announced a GPS tracker trial for children in Toowoomba, a week after residents vented their frustrations at a youth crime forum in the city.

The premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, did not appear at the forum last Wednesday but spent Friday morning meeting with victims of crime across the “Garden City”.

At the city’s police headquarters, Palaszczuk told reporters a trial of electronic monitoring devices will be expanded to Toowoomba and will apply to offenders 15 years and older.

High-visibility police patrols will also become a permanent feature of policing in the region, and a police flying squad will be expanded into the city.

GPS trackers were first trialled for offenders 16 years and over in 2021 in Townsville, North Brisbane, Moreton, Logan and the Gold Coast.

In deciding whether to impose a tracking device, courts were required to obtain a ‘suitability assessment’ from the department, including whether the child had access to a mobile phone, a power source to keep it charged, and the ability to understand compliance conditions.

Criminologist and the Leneen Forde chair of child and family research at Griffith university, Silke Meyer, said the previous trial had shown the wrong cohort had been targeted:

They used them on low-risk offenders with stable housing. As a result the evidence might look good but we actually know nothing about whether it works for [serious repeat offenders who are often in the state’s care].

Meyer said unless the trial comes with wraparound support, it will only “set [children] up to fail and criminalise them for non-compliance.”

When asked what evidence there was to back such a trial, Palaszczuk said it had worked for adults:

It’s up to the magistrates to make that order for the government. So we will give the judiciary the power to set the rules as they see fit. But what these laws are doing is aimed at those repeat offenders.

Updated

Matt Kean disrupts harmony at energy ministers meeting

Something else on energy ministers’ to-do list, it seems, is the Commonwealth ponying up money promised to New South Wales in relation to energy rebates.

Disturbing the harmony a bit at the energy ministers’ media conference was NSW’s energy minister (and treasurer), Matt Kean, again giving his federal counterparts a bit of a serve.

The tiff involves a promise by the Albanese government that it would provide Queensland and NSW compensation for some of the effects of putting a $125/tonne price cap on black coal as part of the package to lower power prices.

Kean said the feds haven’t matched the energy rebates of the NSW government – a sensitive issue going into a state election in four weeks’ time:

What we haven’t seen yet is a single cent from the Commonwealth in energy rebates for New South Wales or the other states and territories.

Now, I’m sick of the excuse that we’re waiting for [treasurer] Jim Chalmers’ budget to see that energy bill relief that citizens right across the nation are waiting for now.

And to sink the proverbial slipper in a bit deeper, Kean also touched on another sensitive issue this week – possible changes by federal Labor to super:

We saw a federal Labor promise when it comes to superannuation. I hope it’s not going to be like that. We’re expecting energy bill rebates for NSW families and right now we haven’t seen a single cent.

We’ve approached Chalmers’ office. The issue, as we recall from the last time this surfaced, was that NSW won’t start divvying out the dough until 1 July but the point is they need to line up the funds well before that. Perhaps even before caretaker provisions kick in soon. Is that timing playing a role?

Updated

Final word from the energy ministers meeting

The climate and energy minister, Chris Bowen, when wrapping up today’s meeting of energy ministers, touched on those agreements to deal with grid energy congestion mentioned in our earlier post and article, describing them as “a complicated policy matter ... but a very important one”.

In short, the renewable energy industry knew they had a problem with worsening congestion as new solar and wind farms came online, but objected to pricing that could suddenly have added to their costs. Instead, they’ll be able to sign up to a voluntary mechanism - or not.

Anyway, the industry response to the scrapped locational marginal pricing model has been positive:

The Clean Energy Investor Group (CEIG) also welcomed the “decisive actions on reforms to address grid congestion”.

Simon Corbell, CEO of the CEIG, said:

This is a clear signal to investors that energy ministers are listening to industry and are focused on accelerating the decarbonisation of Australia’s energy system.

Bowen said the ministers have asked market authorities and officials to work on the alternative approaches to dealing with congestion, with those efforts to be presented at their next gathering.

This is a big step forward. Today, ministers took it out of the too-hard basket and put it on the to-do list.

Updated

Victorian parliament to examine duck hunting

The Victorian government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into the future of duck hunting while allowing this year’s season to go ahead with restrictions in place.

The Game Management Authority on Friday confirmed the season will begin on 26 April and end on 30 May, with a bag limit for four birds per day.

This is about a month shorter than the average season, which runs from the beginning of the third week of March until the second week of June.

As with last year’s season, hunters will be prohibited from shooting both the blue-winged shoveler and hardhead ducks, given both were recently listed as threatened due to declining populations.

The minister for outdoor recreation, Sonya Kilkenny, issued a media release coinciding with the announcement of the season, confirming the government will establish a legislative council select committee to examine recreational native bird hunting in Victoria.

Here’s her statement:

Over the past number of years, the issue of recreational native bird hunting in Victoria has become increasingly contested.

Given deeply held views on the subject, the Andrews Labor Government will move to establish a Legislative Council Select Committee to examine recreational native bird hunting in Victoria.

The committee will have wide-ranging terms of reference, including the operation of the annual recreational native bird hunting seasons, arrangements in other Australian jurisdictions, their environmental sustainability and impact on amenity, and their social and economic impact.

The committee will hold public hearings to hear from hunting associations, animal welfare groups, and regional communities.

The motion to establish the committee will be moved by the Government in the Legislative Council during the next sitting week, and subject to its passage, a final report will be due to be tabled by 31 August 2023.

Updated

Sticking with Victoria briefly, the Environmental Protection Authority Victoria has released its beach report for today and tomorrow. If you want to go swimming in clear water, it sounds like tonight is your best bet.

Updated

The Victorian government has announced a parliamentary inquiry into the future of duck hunting. Our reporter in Melbourne, Benita Kolovos, will have more on this shortly.

Thank you Natasha for all your work so far today!

All right team, let’s get on with the rest of the week’s news, shall we?

Thanks for your attention this Friday. I’ll leave you with Stephanie Convery now!

ACT records no Covid deaths and nine people in hospital

There were 525 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and no people are in intensive care.

South Australia records 14 Covid deaths and 46 people in hospital

There were 1,777 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and two people are in intensive care.

Minns to put ‘politics second’ and the interests of the people of NSW first

Circling back to the press conference where the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, appeared alongside the NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, at Callala Bay to make an announcement about improving local road infrastructure.

Minns also echoed the federal leader’s words that Labor offers the people of NSW a more united front compared to the Coalition and drew on the federal government putting “urgent needs” before politics.

I think that there’s a real opportunity with the prime minister’s appearance on the campaign trail today and earlier this morning to point out that there’s wonderful opportunities in New South Wales if the state and the Commonwealth can work together on the issues affecting the people of New South Wales.

We’ve seen in the last nine months of the Labor government in Canberra that the adults are genuinely in charge that politics is taking a backseat to the urgent needs affecting the economy and the community in Australia.

And it’s that kind of theory of governing that we want to bring to New South Wales. I lead a united and discipline team that’s putting politics second and the interests of the people of New South Wales first, and I think you’re seeing that in spades at the federal level. It’s wonderful to be here with Anthony and my candidates. Thank you.

Updated

Covid cases rise as mandatory reporting ends

National Covid-19 cases have risen slightly in the final week before mandatory reporting of positive cases comes to an end in Australia, AAP reports.

The ACT government on Thursday confirmed it would remove its requirement for residents to disclose Covid-19 infection.

From Tuesday, people living in Canberra will no longer have to report their positive test to ACT Health, although they are still strongly encouraged to do so.

The ACT is the final state or territory to remove mandatory reporting.

It comes as the latest federal health department data shows a slight increase in average daily Covid-19 infections.

The national average rose to 2,618 daily cases in the week today, up by 1.2% on the previous week.

The largest jump in cases was in Tasmania, where the daily average rose by 34.3%.

That was followed by the ACT, where there was a 8.3% jump.

Victoria and Queensland were the only jurisdictions to record a decline in infections, dropping 8.7 % and 4.2% respectively.

Updated

Ministers settle on efforts to ease renewables grid congestion

As we foreshadowed earlier today, energy ministers from around Australia meeting in the Hunter Valley have agreed to a number of measures aimed at easing congestion on the grid that means some output from solar and wind farms is being “curtailed”, or wasted.

In a communique from the gathering (which also included climate ministers) just posted, ministers “agreed a way forward on the complex issue of transmission access reform”.

This includes an agreement to immediately implement ‘enhanced information’ reforms to provide east-coast market participants with better information on the optimal location for new generation and storage, the statement says.

More transparency will help investors.

Separately, ministers also asked the Energy Security Board (ESB) to work with senior officials and stakeholders to develop a voluntary Congestion Relief Market (CRM) and the priority access model. A detailed design will be provided by mid-2023.

“Ministers decided not to further develop or consider the congestion management model and congestion fee options, ruling out any models using locational marginal pricing,” the communique says, dealing with an issue that the industry did not at all want.

The ministers say improving access to the grid, if the measures are approved later this year, will “yield net benefits for industry and consumers of up to $5bn and lower emissions by 23m tonnes of CO2 by 2050.

And on an issue pressed by Queensland, the Commonwealth will lead jurisdictions in a Review of the National Hydrogen Strategy to “ensure the national strategy positions Australia on a path to be a global hydrogen leader by 2030 on both an export basis and for the decarbonisation of Australian industries”.

This strategy is in part a response to the huge US spending in this sector by the Biden administration with its Inflation Reduction Act. We looked at the risks this act had on Australia’s ambitions in this piece:

The joint gathering, by the way, is dubbed the Energy and Climate Change Ministerial Council (ECMC), and its second meeting is set for May in the Northern Territory.

Updated

'Time for a change' in NSW to see a united government, Albanese says

Albanese is saying he believes NSW needs a change because the Perrottet government is “too busy fighting each other, to fight for the people of New South Wales”.

I do get on well with Dominic Perrottet, I get on well with Jeremy Rockliffe, I get on well with every state premier and chief minister. I’ve got to say when we sit around the cabinet table and the dinners beforehand, the environment is collegiate and we work constructively.

But the problem for Dominique Perrottet – he leads a rabble that is disunited, that’s too busy fighting each other to fight for the people of New South Wales. And that stands in stark contrast with Chris Minns and his team, including Caitlin and Liza, who are with us here this afternoon. That’s the big difference in order to actually take the state forward, you’ve actually got to have a constructive plan.

I find it extraordinary that Mr Perrottet is going to an election with a whole lot of ministers who aren’t re-contesting their seats, because to replace them would cause the sort of chaos that we’ve seen over replacing a single member in the New South Wales Opera House in the last week, let alone the division and fights which are there between the Liberals and the Nationals.

So I think that it’s time for a change in New South Wales. it’s time for a government that is united where the premier and the leader can speak on behalf of the government, without having to watch the back, the whole time.

Updated

Albanese joins Minns’ election campaign in NSW

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has stepped up to speak again on the south coast as he campaigns with the NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, ahead of the state election.

Albanese says he’s heartened by the welcome he’s received from locals on the state’s south coast.

It’s been a big day. But every day is a big day. When you’re determined to make a difference to my government is determined to make a difference each and every day.

And that’s one of the reasons why I want the bloke who’s going to speak next, Chris Minns, to be elected premier of New South Wales, because I know also that he’s determined to make a difference. Each and every day, to be constructive to be positive. And he’s run a positive campaign as opposition leader.

He also shares his praise for Minns, for getting through the difficulty of being a leader of the opposition during the pandemic. It’s something Albanese spoke to our political editor Katharine Murphy about in her Quarterly essay profile on the PM. He likened the experience of being an opposition leader during Covid-19 to needing to duck dive under a massive wave because he knew it wasn’t a time to play politics and raise his own profile when lives were in danger.

Today he says Minns experienced something similar:

He’s been incredibly positive, including during the pandemic. And I know that it’s difficult to be an opposition leader during the pandemic.

You had to put the national interest are in Chris’s case, the interests of New South Wales first, before politics and before raising profile and those issues.

But Chris did the right thing by the people of New South Wales. He’s now running a very positive campaign and I look forward to work with him.

Updated

Ukrainian ambassador’s address wraps

The press club address from the ambassador has wrapped up now. But Australian leaders continue to express their solidarity with the Ukraine.

Independent MP Allegra Spender shared the demonstration that’s taken place, painting the Ukrainian flag on the street outside the Russian embassy in London.

Updated

Ukrainian ambassador speaks on China

A bit of deliberation about Moldova and whether Russia has any likelihood of succeeding strategically there.

Then there’s a question about China, and whether it’s good or bad that Chinese leaders might meet with Russian leaders.

Myroshnychenko:

Depends on how you look at this, right. On one hand, we urged China to… convince [Putin] to pull out of Ukraine. If that is used for that purpose, I think it is good. If that meeting is used to come up with a plan, how to supply Russia with weapons, I think it is bad.

Reporter: “But are you worried of the way in which China has purchased Russian oil, has given Russia some support so far?”

Myroshnychenko:

Absolutely. China is using that situation for their benefit in many different ways, but, look, China is an important trading partner [for] Ukraine. In fact, it was the largest trading partner for Ukraine before the war started … China also has invested in some infrastructure in Ukraine.

Ukraine is part of this initiative with China to Europe, so we believe it is not in the interests of China for this war to end and President Zelenskyy has been calling for a meeting or a call with the leader of China to discuss it. It hasn’t happened yet.

We see the developments, we see what is happening now with the top Chinese diplomat, and the good thing as he had a meeting with the foreign minister on the sidelines at the security conference, so there is dialogue out there. Look, it is a bit complicated of course, but this is what it is, this is where we are.

Updated

Ambassador: ‘Russia must be deterred from using nuclear weapons against Ukraine’

On the matter of an actual roadmap to victory: the journalist says that regardless of the attack strategy, Ukraine still runs the risk of nuclear weapons being used against it. “How is it that you can actually come up with a theory that gives you victory, which means you have got to change something in Putin’s mind?”

The ambassador’s answer is not very clear on specifics here, except that he sees it as a global responsibility. He mentions that Ukraine gave up huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons in 1994 on the assurances of Russia, Britain and the US that their sovereignty and security would be intact. He says:

The nuclear treaty entails a country that has nuclear weapons cannot threaten a country which has not. This is what is happening.

… Russia must be deterred from further aggression. Russia must be deterred from its territorial ambitions and illegal annexation of grand sovereign territory. They must deterred from using infrastructure for war. Russia must be deterred from using nuclear weapons against Ukraine.

The only way we can guarantee that, this is when we demonstrate resolve, because if we don’t, what is the reputation of the United Nations? The UN Charter is ignored. What is the credibility of the permanent member for the UN? It is gone if we allow Russia to do what they have done and to stay there in any way.

So I think it is not a question for Ukraine. It is more of a question to collective security in the world to be restored. How can we change his mind? I don’t know. I think it can be changed. When he is gone.

Updated

Ambassador: Putin is banking on war fatigue, but we cannot afford to compromise

There are a few questions on media-related matters, including press freedom. I think one of the more interesting questions relates to “Ukraine fatigue” – that is, people becoming tired of the war as an issue.

The question is: do you have any concern that as the war goes on, whether Ukraine fatigue will become a bigger issue and will actually undermine some of that support from around the world?

Myroshnychenko:

I think this is what Putin is banking on, for the world to get tired of the war, the fatigue, let us just stop it.

… I can understand that ask for peace. What is important is that we get this ask for justice. In this particular case, justice is very important. We can’t leave those crimes, crimes against humanity, war crimes, crimes of aggression, it cannot be left unpunished, and that is very important.

And every time I get that question again: when is going to end? What can we do? Why don’t you start negotiating? This is just... something we’re not ready … I get this question, but I said, look, you get somebody who breaks into your house, rapes your wife, takes your best room and says I will not kill you but I will live here, rape your wife and live here, and that is the compromise. We cannot afford it, that is the situation now.

Updated

Ukraine needs financial assistance above more soldiers: ambassador

The next question concerns resources: the pool of trained professional defence personnel in Ukraine is waning compared to Russia; what does that mean for Ukraine heading into this next year? Will you be looking for more fighters from countries - coming from afar to help bolster the numbers to continue the war?

The ambassador responds:

We don’t need [boots] on the ground. We appreciate the training that is provided by the Australian Defence Forces to the Ukrainian soldiers … The conscription is on a regular basis, Ukraine is a country of 44 million people so we still have resources and many people who are volunteers, who are joining voluntarily. We need the training and the armour and the weapons and equipment so they are able to use it to defend the country.

Ukraine is needing financial assistance to survive. And speaking of that instance, Norway has recently announced a multiyear man of €7.5bn for the next 3-5 years of assistance. The Japanese government [has] committed $5.5bn for the next five years. Within that systematic approach of how we can deal with that, how we can help, and of course it is important to acknowledge the support of the EU. The EU has contributed collectively €67bn in assistance.

That support is coming from [the] British, American[s and] Canadian[s]. It must be sustained. In that respect, I hope it will happen.

Updated

Ukraine asking for continued, sustained and systemic support from Australia

There’s some back and forth – including a couple of gags – about Bushmasters. Myroshnychenko is asked: how many would you like? The ambassador responds that it’s not about the numbers; “what is important now is … let’s sit down and let’s talk about the plan”.

A follow-up question focuses on whether Bushmasters are really what’s needed at this point. Is artillery or ammunition more useful at this point? Again, the ambassador says it’s not about something specific, although material assistance is welcomes and helpful.

Myroshnychenko:

What is important is that support is continued, it’s sustained, and systematic. That’s the ask of the Ukrainian government.

Updated

Ukrainian ambassador would welcome more humanitarian visas

On to questions now. The ambassador is asked about the humanitarian visas Australia has provided for displaced people from Ukraine.

Reporter: “Given how protracted this war is becoming, would you like to see this program become more generous and then see more Ukrainians come to Australia?”

Myroshnychenko:

Look, we welcome the humanitarian assistance which was provided by Australia so far … Taking the opportunity, I would like to thank the Australian defence force as well for assistance with shipping some of that humanitarian assistance to Ukraine, primarily provided to displaced people, provided to the refugees.

We have according to the statistics only about 6,000 people, Ukrainians, who made it here to Australia. We have about 5 million who are now in Europe, scattered around. We have 1.5 million in Poland, almost 1 million in Germany, 100,000 in the UK, they’re all over Europe. And of course, if more people, Ukrainians could come here as temporary state protection, that would be good. And I think that would be a good thing to do.

Updated

Opportunities will abound after Ukrainian victory, ambassador says

Myroshnychenko wraps up his address (we’ll bring you his answers to questions shortly) with a reflection on the possible length of the war:

I’m often asked how long this war will last. But the question of how long is less important than the question that how Ukraine’s victory can be secured. The answer to that is the more Ukraine can continue to work with its allies, the more we can tap into Aussie mateship, the faster we’ll achieve victory for Ukraine and for democracy.

He shouts out to the mining magnate Andrew Forrest and his wife Nicola, who he says “have helped Ukraine on a number of occasions already”:

They committed money for the Ukrainian farmers, they also recently dispatched 100 power generators to Ukraine, and most importantly, they made a commitment of half a billion US [dollars] for a big reconstruction of … Ukraine’s structure and communications. I hear more and more Australian entrepreneurs are keen to look at those opportunities. We have to think about a positive picture, we need to see what’s at the end of that tunnel. There’s a light there, and once we win, those opportunities will be abound.

The pitch here is very strongly: help Ukraine win, and there will be business opportunities to follow.

Updated

Ambassador outlines road to Ukrainian victory

He goes on to outline “six key features” that Ukraine is pursuing in the “road to victory.”

Now some wish to ask the question: how does this end … Ukraine is crystal clear about our future. Our road to victory will have six key features that I wish to communicated to you.

Number one, we’ll fight for as long as it takes. In the face of the enemy’s genocidal aggression, we have no [choice] of course but to win. This includes if the enemy continues its plan to destroy Ukraine by clearing its prisons for cannon fodder, outsourcing its killings [to] Wagner mercenar[ies and] increasing its manufacture of weapons and ammunition.

Number two, we will stand up [to] fight in the face of an enemy alliance of malice with the likes of Iran, North Korea and Belarus. We’ll look to our own allies to apply pressure on those countries. Every time an Iranian drone heads towards a Kyiv or Mikolaev building, it’s a reminder this enemy has escalated the war to an international level. Every time that Belarus is used as a launching pad, it’s a reminder of complicit[y] in evil that cannot be tolerated. Those who help the invader circumvent military sanctions are accomplices in war crimes.

Number three, we will never accept peace at any cost. We hear rumblings from states whose existence is not at stake [that] there needs to be negotiations. We will never agree to anything that keeps Ukrainian territories occupied. Peace with the aggressor now will lead to more atrocity later.

Number four, we’ll pursue President Zelenskyy’s 10-point peace formula for a comprehensive, justice, and long term peace for Ukraine and security for the globe! In this respect, I hope that Australia will get involved in helping us to implement two tracks there that includes nuclear safety and the environment.

… Number five, we’ll strongly partner with our allies for Ukraine to have the range of modern weapons and ammunitions it needs to not only defend itself, but to achieve victory. There is a very straightforward formula here: more military support equals a quicker end to Russia’s war on Ukraine and democracy. It’s not only war on Ukraine, it’s also a war on democracy.

The last point, number six, of our framework for the future: every enemy, war criminal, every war enemy criminal must be punished. The establishment of a special tribunal will ensure the enemy’s political and military leadership will be prosecuted for their complicity in great crimes, including the very act of aggression.

Updated

Ukraine ‘extremely thankful’ Australia is ‘in our blue and gold corner’: ambassador

Myroshnychenko says “Australia has been a real mate to Ukraine in battling a brutal bully”.

We know that Australia supports Ukraine because Australians stand up for what’s right. It’s who you are as people. We know Australia supports Ukraine because Australia supports the rule of law.

We know, including through the strategy of MH17 and the pointless loss of 38 Australian lives, that Australians are appalled by the Russians’ actions and are committed to Ukraine.

Ukrainians are extremely thankful that Australia is in our blue and gold corner.

Key generous commitments have included placement assistance to over 6,000 [people], mainly women, children [and] refugees and material support of some $700m, including 19 legendary Bushmaster vehicles on our frontlines.

Know this - each additional Bushmaster isn’t just a very handy battle vehicle, it’s the Australian spirit, the Anzac spirit, wheels that roll towards mutual victory.

I shared a video on Twitter of the soldiers who are there with the Bushmasters. They’re thanking Australians for [their] support.

And here I wish to formally acknowledge and thank the federal government, including the leadership shown by the prime minister. Anthony Albanese, who visited Kyiv last year, just as President Joe Biden did this week.

Updated

Ambassador calls Russia ‘terrorist state’ for its opposition to democratic values

After sharing some stories of individual Ukrainians who lives have been turned upside down by war, he goes on:

Indeed, never for a minute should the West forget this: Ukrainians [see] themselves … fighting for you as much as they fight for Ukraine.

The democratic world has recognised this is not only Ukraine’s war, but its war too. The world has made common cause with the fight for democracy and against authoritarianism, and provided Ukraine with material and moral support, for which we’re very grateful.

The democratic world has been invigorated with a sense of unity and shared purpose in the name [of] liberal democratic values and in support of rules-based order.

There’s now common recognition the rogue regime that seeks to wreck those rules for all must be cast as a pariah, a terrorist state.

Updated

Ambassador: Russian invasion ‘genocide by displacement’

Myroshnychenko goes on to describe what the one-year anniversary marks:

As a result, for the last 365 days, my countrymen and women have suffered senseless killings, brutal rapes and barbaric torture.

365 days in which we have seen the names of our cities – Irpin, Kramatorsk, Dnipro – have become synonymous with war crimes and atrocity.

365 days that we have endured air raid sirens screaming across our sophisticated cities, missiles made to destroy the battleships flying towards our homes.

365 days in which thousands of schools, hospitals, churches, museums, sports facilities, the infrastructure of wellbeing and community have been intentionally destroyed by enemy attacks.

365 days where 14 million people – the equivalent of more than half of Australia’s population – have been made homeless and millions of families separated in what can be called a genocide by displacement.

365 days since the start of systematic infiltrations, the disappearances that have robbed Ukrainians of their freedoms and their lives.

He becomes emotional when talking about the last memory before the war of taking his son to a children’s playground, since destroyed:

365 days since we took our young son … to his beloved park in Kyiv. The kid’s playground which was destroyed by [a] Russian missile.

And it is also 365 days … during which Ukraine conducted a successful defence against the world’s so-called second greatest military, while pundits picked us to last only three days.

Updated

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is ‘Tsarism meets Scarface’, ambassador says

Myroshnychenko goes on to call out some of the reasons Russia has attempted to justify the invasion and instead says “the invader’s motive is revealed by its homicidal tactics”:

Ladies and gentlemen, dignitaries, members of the parliamentary press gallery, so many of whom I have now met and come to admire. It is has been 365 days since the neighbouring state made the fatal mistake of invading my country.

Their rationale has changed with the seasons, but rest assured, it was not to ward off the threat of Nato. Not to defend the interests of Russian speaking people, many of whom fill the ranks of Ukraine’s military. Not to de-Nazify a country that has one of the two Jewish presidents in the world. Not to reunite historic lands. Indeed Ukraine has a sovereign history since the 10th century, predating Moscow.

Rather, the invaders’s motive is revealed by its homicidal tactics: To destroy Ukrainian society and culture, and to create a new colony and outpost for the criminal enterprise.

The full-scale invasion is a modern, mechanised and murderous version of old-school imperialism and mafiosa mentality. Tsarism meets Scarface. A horrific throwback to an era that everyone thought over.

Updated

Ukrainian ambassador speaks before national press club

After an acknowledgement of country the ambassador, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, says:

It’s strange task to talk about this one-year [anniversary] of a full fledged Russian invasion. I’m asked to sum up a comment on what that unprovoked, illegal, and immoral war has wrought on Ukraine and the world, what it has taught us, after 12 months of Ukraine’s defence and what may happen in the future.

As a proud Ukrainian who had the honour of representing his country here in beautiful Australia for the last 11 months, it’s hard to lay aside the emotions one feels about this horrible anniversary.

But such is my task, to contain the hurt and the horror one holds in his heart for one’s countryman, and share some thoughts that aim to ensure you a singular key aspect: that Ukraine must win, and that Ukraine will win.

Updated

David Crowe introduces the ambassador, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, saying he arrived in Australia as the Ukrainian ambassador in the months after the 24 February invasion.

He has a background in the private sector and in the non-government sector, including as a cofounder of the Ukraine crisis media centre that amplified the voice of Ukraine at the time of the annexation of Crimea in 2014.

Crow acknowledges members of the audience, including the high commissioner of the United Kingdom, the ambassador of Lithuania, the former deputy prime minister and Nationals leader Michael McCormack, Liberal senator David Fawcett, and the head of the Australian federation of Ukrainian organisations.

Updated

Ukrainian ambassador to address national press club

The Ukrainian ambassador, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, is about to speak at the national press club in Canberra on the one-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion.

Before the ambassador speaks, a special video address is given to the people of Australia from the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska. She thanks Australia “for caring about the fate of the Ukraine and the world.”

We feel your support because there are no borders or distances for help and compassion … I believe humanity and mutual assistance will prevail. We will win. Together with you.

The national anthem of Ukraine is then sung by the Ukrainian community of Canberra choir before the ambassador steps up.

Updated

Minister concerned of ‘strain’ facing aged care sector

The residential aged care system is under significant strain, with two-thirds of providers making a loss late last year, AAP reports.

The aged care royal commission, which uncovered a system under stress and in dire need of reform, recommended greater transparency of the finances of aged care sector players.

The first release of data, covering the September 2022 quarter before major reforms were rolled out by the Labor government, found 66% of providers making a loss.

The aged care minister, Anika Wells, said stronger reporting and oversight were key to improving the system. She said today:

The snapshot shows the strain a decade of inadequate funding from the Coalition has put on the aged care sector.

The report found aged care residents received an average 187 minutes per day of care, including 34 minutes from registered nurses and 138 from personal care workers.

The government is seeking to lift this to 200 minutes (including 40 from registered nurses) from October and 215 minutes from late 2024.

For-profit and non-profit providers returned a collective net loss before tax of $465.3m, or $27.90 per resident a day.

A new funding model is being rolled out as well as funding for 24/7 registered nurses and a pay hike for the aged care workforce.

These changes will support the future of Australia’s aged care service providers’ finances and operations for the long term.

Updated

Emergency warning for fire at Kangaroo Flat in South Australia

A bushfire has broken out at Kangaroo Flat, a locality north-west of Gawler in South Australia.

The CFS have issued an emergency warning telling people it is too late to leave and they should take shelter.

Updated

Queensland records 26 Covid deaths and 234 people in hospital`

There were 3,950 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and eight people are in intensive care.

That’s down from 4,166 cases last week, but deaths (which do lag cases) are slightly up from 24 last week.

Queensland has reported more Covid cases than Victoria since mid-January. However the death count is consistently less.

Updated

Equality Australia launches new campaign

As Sydney prepares for the biggest Mardi Gras parade yet, Equality Australia and Mardi Gras have launched a new campaign calling for the New South Wales government to “act for equality”.

The campaign is advocating for an end to conversion practices against the LGBTQI+ community, access to ID documents that include trans and gender diverse people, an end to the discrimination of LGBTQI+ teachers, and an end to “unnecessary” medical procedures on intersex children without their consent.

The chief executive of Equality Australia, Anna Brown, said:

All these issues and more need to be addressed. And we’re so pleased to see recently the multipartisan commitment to end damaging conversion [practices].

This was the sort of change we need to see in this state, and this is the sort of change that needs to be built upon in the coming weeks as we approach the New South Wales election.

We call on our parliament to act now and ensure that everyone in our community is free from discrimination.

Updated

Voters will ‘draw their own conclusions’ about who is being constructive on the voice, Albanese says

Albanese is asked to respond to the deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s accusation that the voice to parliament is a re-election project for the Albanese government.

The PM hits back that these are a “series of comments aimed at creating confusion” and that the Coalition know they are because a lot of the process leading up to the voice have happened on their watch.

People will make their own judgment as to whether the Coalition are being constructive, as to whether they are trying to sit down. I have sat down and talked with Peter Dutton on no less than six occasions. No less than six occasions.

What I have done, repeatedly, is not be prescriptive about what we are putting forward. I have put forward a draft in good faith at the Garma festival in July last year. Since then, I have not seen any suggestion or wording from Sussan Ley or anyone else in the Coalition to either the draft questions or the referendum changes.

I sit in question time every day. They have an opportunity to ask questions about detail. That does not happen. What you have is a series of comments aimed at creating confusion and making more complex something that is actually very very clear. Do we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our constitution and do we consult them on matters that affect them?

It is not a right of veto. It won’t be a funding body, it won’t run programs. [The Coalition] know that that’s the case. Why do they know it? Because actually a lot of this process has occurred on their watch. In 2017, they were the government. They then set up a parliamentary committee chaired by Julian Leeser, the shadow minister, and Pat Dodson. It came to a unanimous parliamentary committee report. They then had, under Ken Wyatt, a process where Tom Calma and Marcia Langton produced a 270-page document suggesting options in detail. That went to their cabinet twice. They chose not to progress that at all.

I am progressing it. I am being constructive. People will look at those comments and draw their own conclusions.

Updated

Albanese calls on Dutton to campaign with Perrottet

Asked about the purpose of his visit to Kiama, Albanese says he is campaigning with the NSW Labor leader and urges the NSW premier to invite the federal opposition leader to do the same:

I am not meddling, I am campaigning for Chris Minns is to be the premier of New South Wales, and that is what I was doing last night when I was with Chris Minns. That is what I’ll be doing on a number of occasions in the lead up to the election. I encourage Dominic Perrottet to have Peter Dutton come to New South Wales and campaign next to him.

Updated

‘The IPA that put out these figures’: Albanese attacks super reporting

The figures reported in the Australian came from the conservative thinktank, the IPA which Albanese was highly critical of:

The IPA that put out these figures. The IPA have an agenda. The IPA have an agenda that is not about progressing Australia. The IPA have an agenda which is holding Australia back. And we have an agenda about progressing Australia.

What we have said is that on superannuation, we want to see the objectives of superannuation enshrined, and the objectives are about people’s retirement incomes. That is the purpose of superannuation.

Updated

Albanese’s superannuation entitlement questioned

Taking questions, Albanese is asked about reports in the Australian that he will be able to access $400,000 a year in superannuation.

The PM says the reporting is not accurate:

The Australian report is wrong. It is wrong. It is not right.

Updated

‘No question that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine’

Albanese goes on to say “there is no question that war crimes have been committed in Ukraine” and calls on Putin to end the illegal war.

I have seen it first-hand when I visited Kyiv and Volodymyr Zelenskiy. Housing blocks were blown apart. Residential areas bond with missile attacks as well as with tanks that got to the outskirts of Ukraine, just off Kyiv, just to the north. Today, I pay tribute to the people and leadership of Ukraine, and I can pledge in a bipartisan way that the Australian people stand with the people of Ukraine.

We will also provide, and we have announced additional sanctions, against those people and companies who are involved in the Russian war machine. It is appropriate now, the sanctions now have hit more than 1,000, and will continue to act in coalition with other democratic forces around the world to impose these sanctions.

The UN resolution that we’ve supported as well, calling upon a just solution. It has been supported by some 140 countries.

But today, on this, on this time where it is one year since this illegal invasion, we again say to President Putin, stop this war now. Withdraw your forces now. This is an unprovoked attack. No one is threatening Russia. No one is threatening Russia sovereignty. There is no need for you to continue this war, which is causing damage not just to the people of Ukraine but to those Russian soldiers who are being sent to the frontline, who have caused so much death and devastation on both sides. Vladimir Putin can stop this, and he can stop this today.

Updated

More military support for Ukraine

Albanese goes on to speak about that extra support for Ukraine:

Today, we are announcing additional support for uncrewed aerial systems. Some call them drones to provide support for the people of Ukraine.

Today also, 200 Ukrainian soldiers will graduate from the Australian-based training that is occurring in the United Kingdom under Operation Kudu.

I want to pay tribute to the Australian defence force personnel, who are undertaking this training, making sure that people who are enlisting to defend their country, their family, and their sovereignty and their future, get appropriate training before they are sent into this brutal war with the powerful Russian forces that seem determined to inflict damage in such an unprovoked, and, in some circumstances, just a random way.

Updated

Anthony Albanese pays tribute to Ukraine one year after Russian invasion

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Wollongong reflecting on the first year anniversary of war in Ukraine with a further $33m pledged in military aid:

It is one year since the illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine by Russia. This was an unprovoked attack. It was an attack not only on Ukraine sovereignty, it was an attack on the international rules are based order.

It was an attack on the United Nations and on the respect that we thought was something that was going to be permanent. Respect for people’s sovereignty and for nation states to be able to determine their own destiny.

The truth is that Russia thought that this war would be over in a few days. I want to pay tribute to the courage and resilience and determination of the people of Ukraine, led by President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and with such courage, who withstood an invasion by a much larger and more powerful country.

They have made enormous sacrifice, a sacrifice in lives, a sacrifice in infrastructure, a sacrifice in their standard of living. They live under constant pressure. Airways. Atrocities committed by the Russian forces in Ukraine. And yet they have stood tall, not just in their interest but in the interests of all who hold democratic values so clearly around the world.

That is why Australia continues to stand with the people and government of Ukraine.

Updated

Greens bill would remove public school funding cap

The Greens will introduce a bill to remove a 20% cap on commonwealth funding for public schools.

Speaking at the Australian Education Union’s national conference on Friday, Greens spokesperson for schools, Senator Penny Allman-Payne, said she would introduce the legislation to end “buck passing” between state and federal governments.

Since 2013, the commonwealth has contributed a maximum of 20% towards public schools’ schooling resource standard (SRS), while states and territories make up the rest. It meets 80% of private school SRS funding, and states 20%.

Allman-Payne:

Australia now has one of the most privatised school systems in the developed world. This is a critical juncture where the governments of Australia will, in effect, decide whether they are committed to public education or not. It is no exaggeration to say that public education faces an existential threat if we do not turn this around.

Inequity in our education system will not be fixed by tinkering at the edges of the next national school reform agreement. We need to see a wholesale shift away from funding private schools, and reinvestment in our public education system.

Earlier this week, the education minister, Jason Clare, confirmed his counterparts were finalising terms of reference to advice on reforms to embed in the next national school reform agreement (NSRA), which sets out the funding arrangements.

It followed the release of a Productivity Commission report on the current NSRA, which said it was rolling out too slow, had minimal effect and lacked concrete targets.

He has also committed to 100% SRS funding for government schools to close a gab between public and private institutions.

Updated

‘No guarantees’ but PNG hopeful hostages will be freed

Papua New Guinea’s foreign minister has confirmed the release of one hostage but says he “cannot guarantee” the safety of at least three others held in the southern highlands.

At least four people, including an Australian-New Zealand archaeologist, were conducting fieldwork in a remote PNG region when they were captured by an armed group earlier this week.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum in Nadi, Justin Tkatchenko said negotiations to see the group released continued.

He told Australian Associated Press:

So far, so good.

One hostage, who Tkatchenko confirmed was a local woman and who the ABC reports was the program co-ordinator, has been released.

The archaeologist is a New Zealand national but Australian-based academic.

Tkatchenko said a wide range of authorities in PNG were involved in negotiations to free the group.

Our police force, our defence, our negotiators from the government side through the leadership of our minister for internal security.

It’s a combined effort to look at the opportunistic situation by these people and see what their real intentions are.

We don’t at all support these kinds of activities and the full force of the law will go down on those that have carried out these acts that society does not tolerate.

While hopeful the talks would be fruitful, Tkatchenko said he couldn’t promise the hostages’ release.

I can’t guarantee anything.

The capture took place in the border region of the Southern Highlands, Hela and Western Provinces. The ABC reports the hostages have been moved between villages in the area.

Their captors are asking for a ransom from the Australian and New Zealand governments.

- AAP

Messages of solidarity with Ukraine

Australian leaders, including the prime minister Anthony Albanese and minister for foreign affairs Penny Wong, are sharing messages of solidarity with Ukraine on the one year anniversary of the Russian invasion.

If you want to see how Russian forces have been pushed back in the year since they were closing in on Kyiv just two weeks into the invasion, this interactive shows you:

Updated

New farmer funding for storing carbon in soil

Farmers will soon be able to access a new fund to help find ways to store carbon in soil as a way of reducing emissions, AAP reports.

The latest round of funding as part of a national program will see $20m set aside for land management projects to improve soil carbon levels.

Grants of between $500,000 and $5m will be available for farmers and those in the agriculture sector to help develop solutions to measure soil carbon.

Increasing amounts of carbon stored in soil, through ways such as increasing plant cover or land management practices, has been shown to help reduce emissions in the atmosphere.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen said the program would allow for farmers to directly contribute to lowering emissions.

Farmers are at the frontline of climate action and our government will continue to back them to develop technologies that will help them store more carbon, improve farm productivity and create regional job opportunities.

We will continue to work with the agriculture sector to help them manage their soils, reduce emissions and actively participate in the carbon market.

It is the second round of the $50m program. The first round saw almost $29m of grants awarded to develop soil carbon measurement technologies over the next two years.

Monsoon trough forms over Cape York Peninsula

The bureau of meteorology says that a monsoon trough has formed over Cape York Peninsula, which will remain slow-moving for the next week bringing lots of rain.

Monsoon comes from an Arabic word meaning ‘season’, and refers to a seasonal wind that generates widespread, persistent rainfall across a region.

Northern Australia is one of the many tropical regions in the world which experiences monsoons, which fill the sky with dark clouds causing widespread rain showers and thunderstorms which can last for a few days or even a week or more.

Crackdown on child sexual abuse on social media welcomed

Experts have lauded the eSafety Commissioner’s crackdown on social media and tech giants as a “world leading step” in addressing child sexual abuse material.

On Thursday, it issued legal notices to Twitter, TikTok and Google forcing them to report how they tackled child sexual abuse and blackmail attempts on their platforms or risk fines of up to $687,000 a day.

Prof Jon Rouse, from Monash University’s Artificial Intelligence for Law Enforcement and Community Safety Lab, said the serving of legal notices was a “world leading step” and a “major shot across the bow” by the commissioner.

It is abundantly clear that we cannot rely on companies to self-regulate … this is a global issue and it requires a global response. The algorithms utilised by industry are designed to keep our children on device and there is insurmountable evidence that this is leading our children down dangerous pathways.

The sextortion of children has been an evolving issue for over a decade. Increasingly and at a global level we are seeing children take their own lives as a direct result of threats by child sex offenders and in the latest evolution, by financial scammers.

The University of Sydney’s digital cultures and online safety experts team said their eSafety research had indicated young people wanted platforms to make their online environments safer.

Based on our survey findings, seven in ten young people have permanently stopped using a platform or app and 19% have deleted TikTok because they were using it too much, which along with Twitter and Facebook is the platform they feel most unsafe using.

Young people develop their own practices of online safety and engagement tactics. Any rollout of new safety mechanisms will affect them and they are acutely aware of this. Platforms need to involve them in the process.

Updated

Murray-Darling basin plan needs ‘the full suite of measures’, Plibersek says

State and federal water ministers are meeting this morning in Sydney to discuss the Murray Darling basin plans, with water recovery targets due to be met by the middle of next year for projects.

The federal water minister, Tanya Plibersek, told ABC News what she wanted to bring to the table ahead of the meeting:

There is no way of delivering the basin plan in full without the full suite of measures that we need. We need infrastructure programs, we need on-farm efficiencies, we need water buybacks, we need a bit of common sense and compromise, and that’s what I’m bringing to the table.

Updated

MinRes set up for ‘excellent year’ as lithium pays off

Record earnings from lithium have driven a strong first half for mining company Mineral Resources, and it expects an even stronger second half.

MinRes on Friday posted a five-fold increase in underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and impairment of $939m for the six months to 31 December.

Net profit was $390m, up $370m from the same period last year, driven by lithium earnings after spodumene concentrate from its Mount Marion and Wodgina operations was converted into lithium battery chemicals.

There were record earnings from Mount Marion, a hard-rock lithium mine in WA’s Goldfields region, under the agreement with China’s Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium.

MinRes’s managing director, Chris Ellison, said:

This half has seen us take the business from a mining services contractor and upstream miner to a leading downstream supplier of lithium to global auto manufacturers.

During the half, MinRes delivered its first earnings from lithium battery chemicals produced from Wodgina spodumene.

Wodgina, one of the largest known hard rock lithium deposits in the world, continues to ramp up with two trains operational and all three trains commissioned.

MinRes also extended its lithium battery chemicals supply deal with China’s Ganfeng to December 2023, with an option for both parties to further extend it to the end of calendar 2024.

– AAP

Updated

Australian Education Union backs yes to voice

The Australian Education Union is the latest organisation to back the Yes campaign in the voice to parliament referendum, saying its membership of school teachers overwhelmingly back the change and will work to support the movement.

It comes just a day after the Coalition’s education spokesperson, Sarah Henderson, complained of “indoctrination” in classrooms around the voice and called on education groups to not take a stance on the referendum.

The union movement is mobilising to support the voice, with Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus telling Guardian Australia last week that the ACTU executive was “unanimous in our support for the yes campaign”. Unions will mobilise in a large grassroots campaign effort including door-knocking and public events – McManus said they’d had an “overwhelming response from union members wanting to be involved in the campaign”.

Today, the AEU lent its support. Its federal president, Correna Haythorpe, said the union and its Indigenous advisory committee would work to “educate members and the broader community on the significance of the voice to parliament”.

Our union, which consists of public school, preschool and Tafe teachers, principals and support workers, overwhelmingly backs in First Nations Australians and their call for self-determination through constitutional reform.

That’s why the AEU endorsed the Uluru statement five years ago and that is why we extend our unstinting support to the yes campaign today. And, that is why we will back this in with resources including a voice campaign lead officer and project officers.

We cannot allow this critical opportunity to move forward towards reconciliation slip away from us. It is time to right the wrongs of the past and unite all Australians.

On Thursday, Henderson told a universities conference that there was “no room for activism, campaigning or personal agendas in Australian educational institutions”. My colleague Caitlin Cassidy brought you that story yesterday:

But speaking later at the same conference, keynote speaker Prof Megan Davis – co-chair of the Uluru statement, an expert adviser to the government on the referendum and pro vice-chancellor Indigenous at UNSW – said that it was the “role of universities” to support the voice campaign.

I don’t really stomach that we are mere facilitators of the debate … universities say they don’t want to be political, but the decision not to take a stance for Uluru and the referendum for a voice to parliament is a political decision.

Updated

Victoria records 33 Covid deaths and 101 people in hospital

There were 3,052 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and five people are in intensive care.

After last week’s figures showed a slight increase, they are now trending downwards again from 3,344 cases and 56 deaths reported seven days ago.

NSW records 47 Covid deaths and 818 people in hospital

There were 6,545 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and 18 people are in intensive care.

Cases are up by 500 on last week’s 6,033 while deaths are slightly lower than 51 recorded seven days ago.

NSW Labor to ban dangerous benchtops if it wins poll

Dangerous engineered stone benchtops will be banned under a NSW Labor election pledge to address rising rates of asbestos-like lung disease.

Labor said it would aim for a national uniform ban by 2024 to outlaw manufactured stone with silica concentrations above 40%.

The dust of silica, a common substance naturally found in sand, quartz and other stones, can cause pulmonary fibrosis years down the track, much like asbestos dust can.

Labor pointed to a Queensland study suggesting up to one in four stonemasons could have silicosis.

Leader Chris Minns said:

Every day that goes by without reform is another day NSW workers lives are put at risk.

If elected at the NSW election on March 25, the party would create a licencing scheme, more health screening and get Safework NSW to inspect more workplaces including quarrying and tunnelling projects.

There must be a complete ban on manufactured stone, coupled with urgent reform of Safework NSW now, which Labor will deliver.

The construction union CFMEU said all governments must fast-track a national ban on manufactured stone with silica. Incoming CFMEU National Secretary Zach Smith said:

Otherwise, politicians will have to explain to victims and their families why they’re allowing the asbestos of our generation to kill more workers.

- AAP

From our economics correspondent, Peter Hannam:

Updated

We’ve got to be the smart country, says Albanese

Anthony Albanese is visiting Wollongong, Kiama and Nowra today. He phoned in to i98FM to speak about investment in renewable energy and skills.

Albanese said:

When I was infrastructure minister, we funded the smart infrastructure centre today, [providing] the energy futures skill centre with a $10m grant to the University of Wollongong. And we’re also putting $2.5m into upgrading equipment and material at the renewable energy training facility there in Wollongong …

It’s a great region and you’ve been at the heart of manufacturing and skills and innovations and the University of Wollongong, of course, has such a fantastic history of scientific breakthroughs in areas like wave energy, was really pioneered in the University of Wollongong internationally, not just in Australia, so it’s great to be able to be investing once again in that magnificent facility with its world-class researchers.

Asked if it is surreal being PM, he said:

Absolutely. I grew up with a single mum in council housing in Camperdown. When I was growing up my prospects were … I hoped to get a job … I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do. My mum, encouraged me to get an education and to go to university, which was pretty good of her because she, you know, was really struggling that she saw that as the key to opportunity, which I do as well, whether it’s Tafe and a career in a trade or whether it is a going university, I think that education and skills are the key to not just individuals, improving their lot in life, but they’re the key to Australia, doing better, too. We’ve got to be the smart country. I don’t want to compete on the basis of our wages going down. I want to compete on the basis of how smart and innovative we are, and we can be a renewable energy superpower and part of this fits together, the energy future skills center with 180,000 fee-free Tafe places, and 10,000 energy apprenticeships where we will give people $10,000 to go into the new energy jobs of the future. So that as our economy changes, we have the skills based to maintain and build and look after new energy infrastructure.

Updated

NSW Greens pledge push to raise age of criminal responsibility

The New South Wales Greens will use the next term of parliament to push for the age of criminal responsibility in the state to be raised to 14, in line with changes recommended in a report commissioned by all the attorneys general.

On Friday the crossbench party – which could hold significant sway in the event of a hung parliament at the state election next month – will announce its intention to move for the age of criminal responsibility in NSW to be lifted from 10 to 14 in the next term of parliament.

It also wants the state to make it impossible for anyone younger than 16 to serve a custodial sentence. The party’s justice spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said such a change would bring NSW into line with other nations such as Germany and Spain, while also breaking the impasse on reform in Australia. She said:

Medical and legal experts are in fierce agreement that children are developmentally incapable of criminal responsibility and the age should be raised. Primary school aged children should not be in prison.

Other states and territories around the country are raising the age and it’s time that we join them. It’s disappointing that in spite of the evidence, we saw no progress on this issue in the last term of parliament.”

The announcement comes after the Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, last week indicated he was willing to abandon a long-running national process to raise the age of criminal responsibility and instead go it alone by introducing legislation into that state’s parliament. The Northern Territory last year raised the age to 12, while the ACT has committed to raising the age to 14 in a two-step process beginning this year.

Late last year the standing council of attorneys general, chaired by the federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, released a previously secret report dated from 2020, which was commissioned to consider the issue. It made raising the age of responsibility to 14 its key recommendation.

But progress had seemingly stalled until December last year when the council agreed to release the report, and committed to reexamining the issue by focusing on “the need for adequate supports and services for children who exhibit offending behaviour”.

Updated

Energy ministers to turn congestion busters at first gathering of the year

The federal, state and territory energy and climate ministers have gathered in the Hunter Valley region near Newcastle this morning to tick off a range of agreements.

With the market operator this week warning of the need for “urgent” action to address looming “reliability gaps” in the grid as coal plants drop out and new renewables and batteries (and other storage) may not keep up.

It looks like dealing with resolving congestion on the grid is at the top of the to-do list today. As we note this article this morning, one solar farm in NSW is unable to get almost half of its electrons to the market because of grid access:

And as Dylan McConnell at the University of NSW notes, at times as much as 6 gigawatts of power is being “curtailed” because of those access issues.

During December, for instance, solar farms in South Australia were in effect spilling about 20% of their output because they couldn’t get it to customers.

It’s a complex issue and the first thing is not to make things more complicated, and so we understand the ministers will be nixing plans to introduce a pricing system based on location.

Improving information and establishing a way to prioritise those solar and wind farms already generating power over newcomers look like being other matters agreed today.

Queensland’s Mick De Brenni, meanwhile, will be pressing for a nationally coordinated hydrogen plan. (He may be the world’s first hydrogen minister.)

Anyway, ministers will break up around 2.30pm AEDT, so we’ll learn more then.

Australia would be ‘very concerned’ if China sent weapons to Russia, says trade minister

Moving onto China, Farrell says Australia “would be very concerned” if Beijing was to provide ammunition to Moscow after Washington expressed concerns about this.

Officials from Beijing and Australia met yesterday. Farrell said they discussed when he might visit China:

One of the things I discussed was when I might head up to to China and so we’re continuing to have discussions about that. As you know, a couple of weeks ago, I met with my Chinese equivalent, Minister Wang. He very kindly invited me … to China to discuss all of the mutual issues between us.

One of the things he said at that meeting was that the freeze is over and we are moving to a warm spring. I took that as a very positive sign. And so when I go to China, I want to make sure that we’ve got as much work done to make that a successful visit to to ensure that we get things back to a stable relationship.

On whether the sanctions could be lifted, Farrell says “there’s a whole lot of positive signs in the whole range of products.”

The day after we had our meeting, which was a virtual meeting, not a face to face meeting, for the first time, coal had been imported into into China. And since then, there’s been one or two other coal shipments that have arrived in China.

I was at the Geraldton lobster factory earlier this week. And they told me that for the first time, in number of years when they submitted an application for an import permit, that that permit was not rejected.

The Bulla dairy company have started to re-exporting some of their terrific dairy products into into China.

The minister himself told me that the ban on timber products had been had been lifted.

So right across a range of industries, I think there’s a there’s a positive sign there. We’ve got to go further. We want all of these impediments removed, and we want to get back to that normalised trading relationship that we had prior to the implementation of these impediments.

Updated

Trade minister defends presence of Russian ambassador in Canberra

The minister for trade and tourism, Don Farrell, is speaking to ABC Radio. On the first anniversary of the Russian invasion of the Ukraine, there is talk about what more Australia can do as a nation.

RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas asks the minister why the Russian ambassador remains in Canberra.

The Nine Fairfax papers are reporting that Asio dismantled a highly active hive off of Russian spies posing as diplomats in the embassy. The Russian ambassador remains in Canberra. Why shouldn’t he be expelled?

Farrell:

Look, if you expel the Russian ambassador, then you have no mechanism of communicating our displeasure with the with the decisions that the Russian government are taking.

These are operational matters, of course, and they’re not the sort of matters that we discuss publicly. There was a report earlier this week by Asio about these matters. I’m very happy to leave it in the very capable of hands of Mr. Burgess.

Updated

Sussan Ley attacks Labor over discussion of superannuation tax changes

The Liberal deputy leader, Sussan Ley, and the education minister, Jason Clare, have gone toe to toe on superannuation.

Ley has seized on remarks by assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, describing billions in super as “a lot of honey to be shared around”.

Ley told Sunrise:

The government said before the election ... they had no intention of changing superannuation. They floated the idea this week, now they seem to be making jokes about it, calling it a honeypot to be raided for the things they want to spend it on, instead of showing the fiscal responsibility and managing the economy in a way that actually protects the retirement incomes of Australians that have worked really, really hard ...

I’ve met a lot of self-funded retirees who are totally unimpressed with this, because they’ve worked hard, they’ve put their money away and they’re not going to rely on the age pension when they’re older ...

This is the problem, talking about it as if it’s honey to be raided and shared around well, it’s not honey, it’s not funny.

We actually need the government to stick to its election promises instead of all of the different views that we’ve heard this week that actually seem to be saying to Australians, we don’t care about your superannuation, we want it ourselves.


Clare responded:

I don’t think this is a major change. We said two things. One, we think that we should make it clear in the legislation was super is for, that it’s for your retirement. It’s not to be ripped away for other reasons. And two, what the treasurer said is it’s worth having a conversation about the fact that for 1% of Aussies who’ve got 3m bucks or more in their superannuation should the tax concessions for them be the same for everybody else. I don’t know about you Nat I don’t have 3m bucks in my super. 99% of Australians don’t.

We said let’s have a conversation about this and every Liberal MP across the country’s head exploded at that thought. I think that says a lot about the Liberal party. They say they’re for the suburbs, but when it counts, they’re really just for the multimillionaires.

Updated

Coles and Woolworths take responsibility for soft plastic

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has provided an update on soft plastics after the sole soft plastic recycler, RedCycle, collapsed last year, saying supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths have agreed to take on responsibility for the soft plastic they sell.

What I did at the time was get the big supermarket giants around the table. I said to them, you’ve got to take responsibility for the soft plastics that your businesses are generating.

I’m very pleased today to tell you that the taskforce set up with the supermarkets has come to a conclusion and Coles and Woolies will take on responsibility for the tonnes of soft plastic that has been piling up in warehouses.

The government we’re doing our share we’ve got about $60m specifically set aside for upgrading recycling of plastic, soft plastics and other hard to recycle plastics as part of a quarter of a billion dollar investment in upgrading our recycling facilities around Australia.

I’m really hopeful that the supermarkets will soon be able to announce when we’re likely to see a restarting of the collection of soft plastics. We’ve got to keep this stuff out there environment, we’ve got to produce less of it in the first place. And make sure that we’re moving to a circular economy where we get use after use out of the materials that we produce.

Updated

Wong urges China to do 'all it can' to end Ukraine conflict

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has spoken to ABC News Breakfast on the Ukraine war anniversary and added sanctions on Russia.

Wong said:

Today is the anniversary of the full scale invasion by Russia of Ukraine and we mourn those lost. We continue to condemn Russia’s illegal and immoral war and we stand with Ukraine. The government is demonstrating that by what we are doing in addition to what we have provided so far. We are providing additional defence capability, uncrewed aerial surveillance and I have issued more sanctions against Russia overnight, against 90 people and organisations which take our sanctions to in excess of a thousand. It is a heavy sanctions regime against a government which has chosen to engage in an illegal and immoral war, breaching sovereignty and the UN charter, which is why we have to stand against Russia.

Wong was also asked about the possibility of China supplying arms to Russia, and she replied:

What I would say is that Russia is a permanent member of the UN security council. It has a special responsibility to ensure that international law, including the UN charter which protects everyone’s sovereignty, is protected. This war, waged by Mr Putin, is an attack on sovereignty and an attack on the UN charter. We would urge China to do all it can to not only not escalate this conflict but to end it.

ACTU calls out ‘shocking’ greed price spiral

The national secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, has spoken to ABC News this morning following that finding from the Australia Institute that company profits, not wages, are driving soaring inflation.

McManus:

I reckon it’s shocking. I mean, I think your average Aussie already knows that companies are putting up prices more than they need to. And what that’s doing is driving profits and, of course, driving cost-of-living pressures.

One of the most shocking stats that those economists showed was that the average inflation since the pandemic has been 5.2%. If it were not for those excessive profits, it would be 2.7%. Now, that’s within the RBA’s, you know, target, and they wouldn’t have needed to put up interest rates as they have.

So, we’re just calling on companies to moderate their profit expectations, to cut their prices, and also calling on the RBA to stop their interest rate rises.

… The whole wage price spiral thing was always a fantasy from the 1970s, it was never going to happen and it hasn’t happened. The RBA keeps getting this wrong all the time.

Instead, what we’re seeing actually is a greed price spiral – that’s what’s happening. This inflation is driven not just by overseas supply issues, it’s been driven by excess profits. It’s about time that got called out. Why isn’t the RBA, you know, calling out companies and asking them to stop putting up prices way more than they need to?

Updated

One year since Russian invasion of Ukraine

Today, 24 February, marks the first anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The minister for veterans affairs, Matt Keogh, has made a statement affirming Australia continues “to stand with Ukraine’s brave Armed Forces and support them in their self-defence against Russian aggression”.

He said Australia was proud to be providing training to Ukrainian recruits through the UK-based training program was called Operation Kudu.

Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, reflected on the contributions of the bushmasters Australia has provided the Ukraine on ABC’s 7.30 program last night:

Each Australian Bushmaster is more than just a hardy and handy protected vehicle, it’s actually the Anzac spirit, it’s Australian mateship. This is what is saving lives, helping Ukraine win.

You can find a series of articles and interactive features marking the first year anniversary of the conflict here.

Updated

Spy hive uncovered by Asio reportedly linked to Russia

A hive of foreign spies busted by Australia’s intelligence agency in the past year was reportedly linked to Russia.

Nine newspapers on Friday cited unnamed sources as saying the spies posed as diplomats and had been operating for more than 18 months in multiple locations, including the Russian embassy in Canberra.

They were reportedly trying to recruit Australians with access to classified information and steal data.

In his annual threat assessment delivered earlier this week, the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation chief said intelligence officers uncovered a group of spies and had them removed from the country.

Director-General Mike Burgess said the “hive” was working undercover, and some of the spies had been put in place years earlier.

Proxies and agents were recruited as part of a wider network. Burgess said on Tuesday:

Among other malicious activities, they wanted to steal sensitive information. We watched them. We mapped their activities. We mounted an intense and sustained campaign of operational activity. We confronted them. And, working with our partners, we removed them from this country, privately and professionally. The hive is history.

Comment is being sought from the federal government.

- AAP

Updated

NSW government accused of ‘double dipping’ on land offsets

Anne Davies and Lisa Cox have brought you exclusive investigations this week as part of the “Sydney’s growing pains” series examining the spread of housing in the greater Sydney area.

Cox’s story today reveals how Dominic Perrottet’s government is being accused of “double dipping” offsets by using land that’s already been put aside for conservation for Sydney’s koala habitat and some of Sydney’s rarest bushland.

Have a read for yourself:

Updated

Good morning!

Thanks to Martin for kicking things off, Natasha May now on deck with you.

Health ministers are meeting today and the top issue on the agenda is tackling the growing popularity of vaping.

The meeting comes after the Therapeutic Goods Administration finished consulting on ideas for a further restrictions on access to nicotine vapes.

You’ll remember at the end of last year Guardian Australia’s medical editor Melissa Davey published a series of articles investigating how so many young Australians became hooked on vapes.

Davey’s reporting showed most vapes contain nicotine, even though the substance is often not included in the ingredient list.

Independent MP Kate Chaney told the ABC she believes the regulator should target vapes claiming to be nicotine-free:

I think we need to end the black market in vapes by banning all importation and supplies of e-cigarette products, regardless of their labelled nicotine content, unless they’re actually going to a pharmacy for smokers with a prescription.

If we just ban the lot, there isn’t really any compelling reason to have them, even if they don’t have nicotine in them.

That means we can actually then have stronger border controls and enforce that, so that border force can actually intercept any e-cigarette products that aren’t bound for the pharmacy.

Updated

‘Economic fairytale’

The public narrative from the Reserve Bank and others that rising wage demands are causing inflation has been debunked in an analysis from the Australia Institute today.

It found no evidence that wages were to blame, it says, instead blaming a “profit price spiral” and arguing that big business earnings account for 69% of the inflation.

Jim Stanford, from the Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work, said:

We’ve been told a story that workers need to restrict wage growth and accept a permanent reduction in living standards in order to fix inflation. This evidence shows that’s an economic fairytale.

Read the whole story here:

Updated

Push for Pacific unity

The Pacific’s moment for unity has arrived, with Australia and Fiji leading the way towards mending the region’s Micronesian rupture, Australian Associated Press reports.

Leaders from the 18-member Pacific Islands Forum gather in Nadi today with the goal of cementing a deal that brings Kiribati back to the regional body.

Amid heavy influence from China, President Taneti Maamau walked away from the forum last year, furious at other members backtracking from a previous agreement to rotate the grouping’s leadership.

Since then, a heavy diplomatic effort – spearheaded from Canberra and Suva – has patched the rift.

Penny Wong has visited 16 Pacific nations, pledging aid, signing deals and arguing for Pacific unity, which supports Australia’s strategic goal of sheltering the region from outsized Chinese influence.

On her latest trip this week, she had plenty to announce, including an MoU with Kiribati which included the rebuilding of a wharf, a patrol boat and policing support, $10m in new funding for schools damaged in cyclones and $620m to fund healthcare programs in the Pacific and south-east Asia.

Alongside Australia’s reorienting its foreign policy focus, incoming Fiji prime minister Sitiveni Rabuka has been credited with the key act to pacify Kiribati.

Rabuka travelled to Kiribati last month – on an Australian defence plane – to formally apologise.

The deal that followed will result in Micronesian countries all receiving new roles or offices, including a regional forum office in Kiribati, and Nauru picking the next secretary general.

It now needs to be ratified at a meeting, which cannot be taken for granted.

Updated

Welcome

Hello. I’m Martin Farrer, welcoming you to our rolling news coverage. My colleague Natasha May will be taking over soon but in the meantime here are some of the big stories that have made news overnight.

The yes campaign for the voice to parliament referendum was launched yesterday and involved a lively community forum in Perth that was packed out with hundreds of people wanting their say. Our correspondent Narelle Towie was there and she reports that there was some division of opinion among First Nations people but the new Greens spokesperson, Dorinda Cox, summed up well by saying, “We need a seat at the table.” In the same city today, Liberal deputy leader Sussan Ley will accuse Anthony Albanese of using the issue as a “re-election vanity project”.

It is almost exactly a year since Russian tanks rolled into Ukraine in the early hours of 24 February. In a show of support for the embattled nation, the Albanese government is sending drones to assist the war effort and is stepping up sanctions against prominent supporters of the Putin regime, including the head of the Russian Orthodox church, Patriarch Kirill.

Penny Wong will be hoping today to cement a deal that brings Kiribati back to the fold of the Pacific Islands Forum when the latest meeting winds up in Fiji. Canberra and the Fijian government have put a lot of work into bringing the small nation back and Wong has made nine visits to the Pacific in as many months. She said in Nadi:

A strong and united Pacific Islands Forum is in all of our interests.

With that, let’s get going …

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