Nine CEO Mike Sneesby has been door stopped by Australian journalists outside his boutique hotel Le Pavillon de la Reine in Paris.
A Channel Seven reporter asked Sneesby whether it was appropriate for him to carry the Olympic torch hours after his newspaper staff back home voted to go on strike
“Look guys, (I’ve) just got back from dinner and it’s not really the time to have a chat,” Sneesby said.
“Why don’t you stop and have a chat to us now?” the reporter said.
“Because I’m meeting my family,” Sneesby said.
“You’re the boss of a media business here for work, or are you here on a holiday with your family?” the reporter questioned.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan’s comments follow a vote of no confidence by the ambulance union earlier today, in which 97.8% of members endorsed a call to sack Ambulance Victoria’s current executive.
About 4200 members supported the move, which called for the minister for health, health infrastructure and ambulance services, Mary-Anne Thomas to appoint new management.
Responding to the vote, Ambulance Victoria’s chief executive Jane Miller said the organisation acknowledged the result and was “committed to rebuilding the trust of the workforce”.
“Our people, along with the patients they care for, are our absolute priority,” she said in a statement.
We are negotiating in good faith ... to deliver an enterprise agreement which is fair for all and acknowledges the significant value of our people.
Ambulance union secretary Danny Hill said the no-confidence vote was a “massive wake-up call” to both the Ambulance Victoria board and the Victorian government.
He told AAP that paramedics were being “sent out like robots, just to continue working hours and hours past the end of their shift”.
The biggest factors crippling the ambulance service and our members, are hospital ramping and call-taking accuracy.
[Ambulance Victoria’s] response is always ‘that’s out of our control’.
The workforce is sick of hearing that.
On the same day, about 150 members attended a rally outside Thomas’ office to raise awareness of the ongoing strikes, the union said. Thomas’ office has been contacted by AAP for comment.
- Australian Associated Press
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Paramedic dispute unsustainable, Victorian premier says
Paramedics in Victoria have engaged in five months of industrial action as they continue to call for a new enterprise agreement, which they have been negotiating for 18 months.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said she was concerned about the “protracted” dispute between management and paramedics and the situation was not sustainable.
“We do need to see better, harmonious relationships,” she told reporters today.
It’s important that the Ambulance Victoria is focused on the hard work of paramedics, not on these ongoing relationship challenges.
- Australian Associated Press
More to come
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Queensland police chief questioned over Guardian watch house investigation
The Queensland police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, has faced questions about the Guardian’s ‘in the box’ watch house investigation in parliamentary budget estimates.
Gollschewski said he is “concerned about the levels of complaints we’re seeing coming out of our watch houses” and has appointed a deputy commissioner with reviewing the culture at police watch houses.
Greens MP Michael Berkman asked whether police routinely use isolation cells – which are supposed to only be used for safety reasons – for punishment.
Footage broadcast exclusively by the Guardian shows one officer telling a young Indigenous female inmate who was put in isolation, “you were disobeying the rules, missy”.
“I would be extremely concerned if that were the case. I’m not aware – and would think that that would certainly not be what we were doing in a practice. But if anyone has got information otherwise it’d be certainly wanting to hear about it,” Gollschewski said.
Gollschewski said he was also “not satisfied with the explanation” he’d been given so far about another incident at a Brisbane watch house reported by the ABC.
The state government overturned the Queensland Human Rights Act last year in order to reverse a court decision banning the use of watch houses for children.
Estimates also heard that police unintentionally shared the details of a victim of crime with her alleged attacker in an apparent data blunder. And the police minister, Mark Ryan, announced the rollout of naloxone – a drug which counteracts the effects of an opiate overdose – in police tactical first aid kits.
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Two teenagers charged with vandalising federal MP’s office
Two teenagers have been charged over the alleged vandalism of federal Labor MP Josh Burns’ Melbourne office.
Windows were smashed and covered in painted slogans including “Zionism is fascism” at the electoral office at Barkly Street in St Kilda, on 19 June.
At the time, Burns alleged the damage was a “politically motivated attack” and acknowledged that images of the incident might be distressing for people.
Police charged an 18-year-old woman and a 17-year-old boy on Thursday with burglary and two counts of criminal damage.
The charges included a second incident of alleged vandalism with red paint at a building on St Kilda Road in Melbourne, on 17 July.
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Statement from the NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, on Gladys Berejiklian:
Today’s decision by the NSW court of appeal underscores the legal challenges in contesting Icac findings due to the Act’s limitations on ‘merits’ reviews. The standards required by law applies equally to everyone.
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Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Rafqa Touma will see you through the rest of the evening. Take care, and enjoy your weekend!
Woman found guilty of 73 charges of wildlife and animal cruelty
A Violet Town woman has been found guilty of 73 charges of wildlife and animal cruelty offences for poisoning wedge-tailed eagles and keeping dead wildlife in her freezer.
The woman had pleaded guilty to 26 charges relating to the illegal possession of wildlife, after a search of her property found almost 130 dead wedge-tailed eagles. She had contested 47 other charges, including allegations she had laid baits to kill wedge-tailed eagles.
In the Victorian magistrates court in Shepparton on Wednesday, magistrate David Faram said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the woman was involved by intentionally assisting and/or encouraging the commission of the offences, even if he was not able to conclude she was solely responsible.
He found she had laid baits that were found in the paddocks in 2019 or was complicit in doing so, and that she must have had some knowledge or involvement in the destruction of the birds.
She will be sentenced after a further mention date in September.
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NT government will not renew lease for Jabiluka uranium site
The Northern Territory government will not renew a lease for Energy Resources Australia (ERA) on the Jabiluka Uranium mine. The lease had been previously granted for for 42 years.
Last month, the Northern Territory issued a two-year order to prevent mining and exploration at Jabiluka while the decision was pending on whether to grant the leaseholder a 10-year extension.
The state’s mining minister Mark Monaghan said:
We have gone through a thorough process to ensure that all stakeholder views have been considered in this decision. The federal government advice, along with the wishes of the Mirarr people, were critical to this process and outcome.
As Karen Middleton reported last month, Jabiluka is the site of one of the world’s biggest uranium deposits. ERA, which is majority-owned by Rio Tinto, has held the mining lease since 1991. The mine is surrounded by Kakadu national park and the Mirrar people want the land incorporated into the park.
You can read the full background on this from last month below:
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Greens senator says Great Barrier Reef’s exclusion from ‘in danger’ list is ‘triumph of spin over science’
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson says the decision to keep the Great Barrier Reef off the world heritage “in danger” list is a “triumph of spin over science and denies the reality of the current prospects for the reef.”
(Graham Readfearn reported on this earlier in the blog here).
In a post to X, Whish-Wilson said he travelled to Heron Island in April this year to witness the most recent bleaching event at the reef with his own eyes, and “one thing was undeniable - the Great Barrier Reef is in danger”.
Just this week Labor announced new permits for gas drilling along Australia’s west and south-east coastlines. If we are to have any hope of limiting warming to 1.5C as dictated in Unesco’s decision, there can be no new coal and gas. Labor remains in denial of this fact …
The more coal and gas mines the Albanese government rips open, the closer the Great Barrier Reef is to becoming irrevocably degraded and changed forever. It’s new coal and gas or the reef – you can’t have both.
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Homelessness, harm, health risks for refugee women
Specialist homelessness services say domestic violence is the main reason for women who are refugees in Australia seeking their help, AAP reports.
An Australian Institute of Health Welfare report has found that one in eight humanitarian entrants (male and female) received support from specialist housing services, compared to one in 50 from the permanent migrant population.
Of the humanitarian refugees seeking help, three in five were women. Domestic violence was the main reason (17.8% of the time) that led to housing vulnerability.
Refugees were almost twice as likely to be hospitalised or attend an emergency department as other permanent migrants over a five-year period (2016-2021).
Falls, contact with objects and transport accidents were the three most common reasons for going to the hospital. But the report also found that humanitarian entrants were being admitted for injuries caused by assault at greater rates (more than six times higher) than other permanent migrants.
There are over 210,000 refugees in Australia who have arrived in the last two decades.
Overall they are younger (31.8) on average compared to the general population born in Australia (39.3) and other permanent migrants (37.4), according to the latest census in 2021.
Three men charged over alleged forced marriage of teenagers in Perth
Three men have been charged over the alleged forced marriage of two teenage children in Perth.
The Australian federal police said this is the first time it had laid charges in Western Australia for this crime.
The men – two related to the boy, and one related to the girl – faced Perth magistrates court today, each charged with one count of causing a person to enter a forced marriage. The maximum penalty is nine years in prison.
Police will allege the teenagers – one aged between 13 and 15, and the other aged 17 – wanted to date each other, but the relatives told them they would have to be married for cultural reasons. The men then allegedly facilitated the marriage of the children in a religious ceremony last year.
AFP detective superintendent Peter Chwal said the legal age for marriage in Australia is 18, and while a child aged 16 to 18 can obtain permission from a court to marry, the person they wed must be an adult.
He said forced marriage was a complex crime because it often involved family members as victims and perpetrators. Forced marriage has been illegal in Australia since 2013.
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Cold front to bring snow to Tasmania, Victoria and NSW this weekend
A wintry cold front will bring snow to low levels across Tasmania, Victoria and New South Wales this weekend, the Bureau of Meteorology says.
Snowfall amounts will be low, it said in a post to X.
A wintry cold front this weekend will bring snow to low levels across #Tasmania #Victoria and #NewSouthWales.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) July 26, 2024
Snowfall amounts will be low.
Latest: https://t.co/jlOoTZL1iF pic.twitter.com/yy5zu5GI9b
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ADF chief to travel to Fiji and Vanuatu this weekend
The chief of the Australian defence force (ADF), Adm David Johnston, will travel to Fiji and Vanuatu from today until Sunday.
It will be his first international trip as chief of the ADF, since being appointed in April.
In Fiji, Johnston will formally hand over 14 Bushmasters purchased by the Fijian government. In Vanuatu he will attend the commissioning ceremony of RVS Sokomanu, the nation’s new landing craft.
Johnston said:
Australia and Vanuatu’s bilateral relationship is founded on our shared values and vision for a secure and prosperous Blue Pacific.
We recognise the impact of natural disasters across the Pacific and are committed to working with Pacific partners to respond when disasters occur, build disaster resilience and support communities to recover.
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Striking Nine Entertainment journalists gathered outside the company’s headquarters in Melbourne and Sydney at 11am today to express their frustration with management’s negotiations for a new enterprise bargaining agreement.
Staff at the Age, SMH, Financial Review, Brisbane Times and WA Today are on strike for the next five days after rejecting Nine management’s 3 per cent pay offer. We’ve had a real wages cut of 6 per cent between 2020-23. Enough is enough. #DontTorchJournalism pic.twitter.com/cZl243vFK7
— James Massola (@jamesmassola) July 26, 2024
They have begun a five-day strike which will see the company’s mastheads produced by exempt members of staff, including management.
Staff in Melbourne held a homemade replica Olympic torch and posters saying “Don’t Torch Journalism”, references to CEO Mike Sneesby’s decision to run in the torch relay in Paris.
Nine publishing strike action on now. #DontTorchJournalism pic.twitter.com/KaJA58xPi0
— Lap Phan (@lapphan) July 26, 2024
Sneesby told staff he is “profoundly disappointed” talks had failed to stop the strike.
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Striking Nine journalists locked out of publishing system, internal messaging
At 11am the majority of journalists at Nine’s newspapers logged off for five days, leaving the following message on the the Age’s rolling news blog:
That’s where we’ll leave today’s national news blog. Thanks so much for reading.
Last night, editorial staff from the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, the Brisbane Times and WAtoday voted to reject a last-minute pay offer from management.
We can tell you the striking staff won’t be posting anything else though, because sources say they have been locked out of the publishing system. They have also been logged out of the internal messaging system, Slack.
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Senator urges Albanese government to support a truth and justice commission
Greens senator Dorinda Cox has urged the government to support a bill for a truth and justice commission.
This comes following a report in the Age that the government was considering a minimalist, community-led truth-telling process to “fill the void” on reconciliation after the voice referendum loss, led by local Indigenous groups to unearth local histories.
In a statement, Cox called on the government to implement the Uluru statement from the heart in full and back the Greens legislation:
A ‘minimalist’ model will do nothing and certainly won’t allow us to record the pre-colonial history of Australia and make recommendations to the parliament on how to address the ongoing systemic issues, which will bring practical changes to close the gap for our people, we need something stronger like the Victorian model.
We cannot change the past, but we can build a better future for First Nations and non-indigenous Australians with a federal truth and justice commission, which will help us to heal and move forward together as a nation.
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The Nine Network strike, in pictures
Here are some photos from the Nine Network newspaper journalists strike, filtering through from AAP:
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Continuing from our last post: After visits to Laos and Japan, Penny Wong will fly to South Korea where the Australian foreign affairs minister will meet with her South Korean counterpart, Cho Tae-yul, in Seoul.
Wong said South Korea and Australia were “building on our strategic alignment with expanded bilateral and regional cooperation, including on the energy transition and economic security”.
She said she would then visit the UN Command Buildings in the Joint Security Area within the Demilitarised Zone between South Korea and North Korea, describing it as “an enduring symbol of international cooperation in addressing North Korea’s challenges to security and stability”.
Wong said her travel to Laos, Japan and South Korea was “an opportunity to promote Australia’s interests and deepen collaboration with key partners and regional architecture in pursuit of a peaceful, stable, and prosperous Indo-Pacific region”.
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Foreign minister Penny Wong going to Laos, Japan, South Korea
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is setting off on a trip to Laos, Japan and South Korea.
The agenda in Laos this weekend includes a meeting with foreign ministers from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), following up on outcomes from a special summit held earlier this year in Melbourne.
Laos will also host a meeting of foreign ministers from East Asia Summit countries (in addition to Asean members, this high-powered grouping brings in Australia, China, India, Japan, New Zealand, South Korea, Russia and the US).
Wong will then travel to Tokyo, where she is scheduled to attend a meeting of the Quad foreign ministers on Monday. It’s the second time Wong has visited Japan this month. (The previous trip was focused on talks with Pacific leaders.)
The Quad is a grouping of Australia, Japan, India and the US. It is viewed warily by Beijing, which argues it is an anti-China initiative.
Quad members reject such framing. Wong said the Quad was “working closely with Indo-Pacific countries and institutions to deliver on a positive agenda that responds tangibly to the region’s priorities and most pressing challenges”.
Wong said she and fellow Quad foreign ministers would seek to progress “cooperation on infrastructure, supply chains, connectivity, education, research, humanitarian and disaster responses, counterterrorism and security”.
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Qld police fail to show ‘drastic’ improvement in human rights, estimates hears
The Queensland police has yet to show any “drastic” improvement in human rights, years after the legislation of the state’s Human Rights Act was passed, parliament has heard.
Greens MP Michael Berkman used parliamentary estimates to question human rights commissioner Scott McDougall.
“Has the commission identified any shift in the way QPS [Queensland police service] is approaching any human rights complaints that are brought in respect of the police service or QPS officers?” he asked
McDougall said the commission is currently collaborating with the police to improve its hiring practices, and they have established a good working relationship.
I am yet to see any evidence, though, that that relationship is translating into a drastic improvement in the way that human rights are protected and respected by Queensland police officers. That’s something that’s certainly within my ambit though, it’s certainly a goal of the commission.
The state Human Rights Act became law in 2019.
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‘Unprecedented’ bad behaviour at Queensland council elections
The head of the Queensland electoral commission has told parliament there was “unprecedented” bad behaviour at this year’s local council elections.
ECQ commissioner Pat Vidgen said today:
The poor behaviour of candidates and candidate workers in some local governments in March, such as Redlands, was unprecedented.
On Tuesday, Labor premier Steven Miles made national headlines by criticising the opposition for using AI to create a TikTok video of him dancing.
But Vidgen said the ECQ had few powers outside proscribed election periods and even then their legislation permitted them only to regulate the proper authorisation of electoral material.
The threats to electoral integrity in western democracies is more greater than ever. What we’re seeing is the growth of misinformation, disinformation is on the rise, especially across social media platforms.
Cyber threats are real, the threat of foreign interference is real to elections. The use of artificial intelligence is expanding. And the physical threats to temporary election staff is rising.
Vidgen said the ECQ could and did ask social media platforms to take down problematic posts on social media, but the responses were “inconsistent”.
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Berejiklian: ‘I always worked my hardest’ for NSW
Former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian has responded to losing her legal challenge against an anti-corruption watchdog’s finding that she engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”, saying: “I always worked my hardest to look after the welfare and interests of the people of NSW.”
Berejiklian said:
I would like to thank the NSW court of appeal for its consideration of these matters given the limited nature of a challenge that can be made to Icac findings by any citizen.
As the court noted, the Icac Act does not permit a “merits” review of the findings of Icac. The decision of the NSW court of appeal was split 2-1. The dissenting judgment of the president of the court of appeal held that the report was beyond power and that the findings of Icac should be quashed.
Serving the people of NSW was an honour and privilege which I never took for granted. I always worked my hardest to look after the welfare and interests of the people of NSW.
Berejiklian had argued the finding by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) was invalid because the commissioner, Ruth McColl, was no longer at Icac when the findings were handed down.
The decision, handed down earlier today, was split two to one by the three judges presiding over the case.
The NSW chief justice, Andrew Bell, and Justice Anthony Meagher rejected the judicial review on all grounds, finding McColl handing down the findings while she was no longer at the commission was valid.
In a dissenting judgement, Justice Julie Ward found McColl had made findings she did “not have the power to make”, and on those grounds would quash the findings of “serious corrupt conduct”.
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The Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting thunderstorms through the southern interior of Queensland this afternoon and evening:
⛈️QLD Storm Forecast for Friday 26/7. Thunderstorms are possible through the southern interior of Queensland this afternoon and evening. Severe thunderstorms are not expected. pic.twitter.com/N2e3FKWvLu
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) July 26, 2024
Family ‘heartbroken’ after Australian’s death in Thailand
The family of an Australian man who died in Thailand has released a statement expressing their heartbreak over losing their “beautiful, gifted, much beloved Liam”.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed on Tuesday that an Australian had died in Thailand and it was providing consular assistance to the family. Multiple outlets reported that the man was allegedly stabbed after an argument at a restaurant.
The family wrote in their statement:
We are heartbroken at the loss of our beautiful, gifted, much beloved Liam. The world is a poorer place for his passing. Thanks to family, friends and colleagues for their support.
We requested that all family members be allowed to mourn Liam’s passing in private.
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Financial Review reporter speaks to ABC as strike kicks off
Hannah Wootton, a reporter with the Australian Financial Review, is speaking with ABC TV amid the Nine Network strike.
Asked where negotiations went last night, she said they “fell down on a couple of fronts” – mainly the need for a pay rise amid inflation.
We have had real pay cuts for quite a few years now. We took a 0% pay rises during the pandemic to help the company, this year it’s a cost-of-living crisis – we really wanted and needed 4%. And the company just wouldn’t come to the table on that despite publishing been profitable, despite last year they reported profits of about $150m after tax, and they just wouldn’t do it for us…
Our papers more profitable than the New York Times. We do a lot with not much, and now they are saying they want to cut that even more.
Wootton said there was agreement around AI consultation, and a middle ground was reached on improving diversity in the newsroom – as well as working towards better conditions for freelancers.
When will staff return to the negotiating table? Wootton replied: “When they’ve got an offer for us that matches inflation.”
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Boy, 14, to face Adelaide court on terrorism charges
Counter-terrorism detectives have charged a 14-year-old boy in Adelaide after seizing explosives instructions and extremist material, AAP reports.
South Australian police said the counter-terrorism and security section had arrested the boy, who was charged with possessing explosives instructions, information for terrorist acts and extremist material.
He was refused police bail to appear in the Adelaide youth court today.
It is an offence in South Australia to possess extremist material and instructions on explosives. Material that directly or indirectly encourages, glorifies, promotes or condones terrorist acts, or seeks support for or justifies the carrying out of terrorist acts, is considered to be extremist material.
Anyone who has information on the possession, production or distribution of extremist material can report it to the national security hotline or Crime Stoppers.
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Nine's newspaper journalists walk out of office on strike
It’s just gone past 11am not too long ago, and staff at the Nine Network have begun their walkout:
It’s a walk out #DontTorchJournalism pic.twitter.com/cRAIrA2x8m
— Anthony Segaert (@anthonysegaert) July 26, 2024
Nine’s newspaper journalists are going on strike from 11am today following a pay dispute with management.
Broede Carmody, a state political reporter at the Age newspaper, told ABC RN earlier that the anger among members was “white hot” amid job cuts and he was “not ruling out us taking further action going forward”.
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Fear surgeries will be cancelled over IV fluid shortage
Surgeries at Australian hospitals could be cancelled as soon as next week due to an “unprecedented” shortage of intravenous fluids, AAP reports.
Australian Medical Association president Prof Steve Robson warned supply concerns in all states and territories could have bigger implications than Covid-19 restrictions.
Manufacturing issues and unexpected increases in demand are behind the global shortage of multiple intravenous fluid products, according to the Therapeutic Goods Administration.
Several state health departments have warned of supply disruptions, including NSW Health, which issued a safety alert over critical shortages that could last two or three weeks from mid-July.
Robson said imminent shortages from next week flagged by local health authorities were yet to be experienced, but they could have huge implications across the health sector.
The health system potentially could come to a grinding halt next week if intravenous fluid isn’t available.
The surgeon said he was scheduled to perform procedures next week but they would not go ahead if he did not have intravenous fluids.
That would affect every surgeon, every anaesthetist and every patient awaiting surgery in the country. That has potentially bigger implications than the Covid restrictions.
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If any of your colleagues are looking a little bleary-eyed this morning, they were probably up early – or late? – watching the Matildas’ first match as part of the Paris Olympics.
Bleary-eyed because the match began at 3am AEST, but also because the team were defeated 3-0 by Germany.
But all hope isn’t lost, as Kieran Pender writes from Marseille:
And so the Matildas find themselves in a familiar position. Backs against the wall. Never say die, and all that. The good news is it is early days in France, with two group stage matches remaining. Plenty of time, in other words, for Gustavsson and his players to turn things around.
You can read his full piece below:
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More on the outcome of Berejiklian’s legal challenge
The outcome of former NSW premier Gladys Berejikilian’s legal challenge was split two to one by the three justices presiding over the judicial review.
Andrew Bell, the NSW chief justice, who read out the brief orders a short moment ago, said Justice Julie Ward took a different view on ground one of the amended summons. Bell said he would publish Ward’s view, with the written judgment due later today.
Berejikilian’s legal challenge was dismissed with costs.
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Man arrested after allegedly stripping naked on domestic flight
A Western Australian man will face court today after allegedly stripping naked and assaulting a crew member on a domestic flight to Melbourne.
The 32-year-old was arrested at Perth domestic airport on 27 May after airline staff notified the Australian federal police a passenger had allegedly removed their clothing and assaulted a crew member on the flight.
The man was allegedly restrained by members of the crew and the flight was forced to return to Perth airport.
AFP said its officers boarded the plane and spoke to the man, who was then escorted off the plane and arrested before being taken for a mental health assessment.
The man was charged via summons with one count of assault and one count of offensive/disorderly behaviour on an aircraft.
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Berejiklian loses legal challenge against Icac finding
The former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian has lost her legal challenge against an anti-corruption watchdog finding that she engaged in “serious corrupt conduct”.
Berejiklian had argued the finding by the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) was invalid because the commissioner was no longer at Icac when the findings were handed down.
Berejiklian filed a summons for judicial review in the NSW court of appeal in September. A judicial review, unlike an appeal, is limited to legal missteps and cannot involve challenging the findings of fact.
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Weather outlook points to soggy spring in the east, dry in the west
There’s been a bit of chatter about whether a La Nina will form later this year in the Pacific, making it four years out of five. The event typically brings wetter than average rainfall for much of Australia, particularly in the east.
While climate models mostly point to an La Nina forming, the Bureau of Meteorology’s own model (Access S2) places more likelihood on neutral conditions. The bureau’s long-range weather forecasts, though, are probably what we should watch more closely.
The latest updates for spring and for September-November point to the odds favouring wetter than usual conditions for much of the east. (The leeside of the Great Dividing Range - where most of those in, say, NSW live - should see rainfall “within the typical range”.)
The west, though, tilts the other way to a drier than usual stint:
So @BoM's seasonal forecast for August-October (left) and spring, point to the above-average chance of rainfall for the east for both periods. West, though, looks to tilt increasingly towards drier than usual weather. pic.twitter.com/jP5UCPv5i6
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 26, 2024
There’s much less variation for temperatures, whether for maximums or minimums. And that applies to both the coming three months, and for spring itself.
There's a lot less variation, nationally, for temperatures in Aug-Oct, and spring. That's also true for maximums and minimums for both periods. Here's the chances of warmer than average max temps (left) and mins, for spring. (via @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/TlUBD76PWJ
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 26, 2024
To be sure, these are the general forecasts. As the bureau notes, “periods of cold weather are still possible”, as are dry or wet spells for regions where conditions are currently looking at relatively wet or dry months.
Murder charge laid but no sign of missing Melbourne man’s body
Police have charged a man with murder after the disappearance of Adrian Romeo, who vanished five months ago and whose body is yet to be located despite an extensive search, AAP reports.
Romeo, 43, has not been seen since 10 February, when he told his parents he was going to Greenvale, in Melbourne’s north, to visit friends. His phone and bank cards have not been used since then and police are yet to find a 2004 gold Toyota Camry he was driving.
A 58-year-old man has been charged with murder and will face Melbourne magistrates court today. Police arrested him at a Wallan address, just north of Melbourne, about 7.20pm yesterday.
The charge follows a search of a Greenvale property involving the dog squad, major crime scene investigators, the State Emergency Service, the Australian federal police’s specialist forensic search team and NSW police cadaver dogs.
Anyone with information about the vehicle or Romeo’s whereabouts is urged to contact police.
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Age reporter says anger ‘white hot’ among Nine staff as strike set to begin
Nine Network newspaper journalists will go on strike from 11am this morning following a pay dispute with management.
Broede Carmody, a state political reporter at the Age newspaper, spoke to ABC RN earlier this morning and said the “overwhelming majority” of members voted to take action and hundreds are due to walk out.
Carmody said they were “seeking a fair pay rise that’s in line with inflation”, plus protections from AI and greater diversity measures in the newsroom.
The company announced it would rip out up to 90 jobs out of our newsrooms. It’s an awful, awful situation.
Carmody noted that the roughly 20 staff currently in Paris for the Olympics were not exempt from the strike action and while it was difficult for them on “the trip of a lifetime”, “what we’re fighting for is really important.”
There’s just too much at stake. As to what the paper will look like over the coming days, I think people will see that you can’t put out a proper high-quality newspaper … without really talented journalists.
Carmody said the anger among members was “white hot” amid job cuts, and he was “not ruling out us taking further action going forward”.
It’s the worst that I’ve seen the anger … We took a 0% pay rise during the pandemic to help the company out when everyone else was shedding jobs, and it was really uncertain times. It’s time for the company to help us.
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Queensland corruption watchdog paid $441k in ex-public trustee’s legal bills
Queensland’s Crime and Corruption Commission paid $440,806 in legal bills after a precedent-setting legal case by former public trustee Peter Carne.
But it has yet to agree how much to pay the lawyers of former deputy premier Jacquie Trad.
CCC chairperson Bruce Barbour revealed the organisation’s huge legal bill in a parliamentary estimates hearing this morning. Barbour said the CCC’s own legal bill totalled nearly a million dollars for defending the Carne case, and $91,000 on the Trad case.
Both Carne and Trad challenged the right of the CCC to release reports which were critical of a public figure but which did not recommend “prosecution proceedings or disciplinary action” or after a public hearing.
The CCC took the matter all the way to the high court, where Carne ultimately prevailed last September. The judgment also applies to Trad.
This post was amended on 26 July 2024 to change the figure in the first paragraph after Barbour told parliamentary estimates he had made an error about the costs.
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What kind of leader do voters want in these chaotic times?
After weeks of chaos on the campaign trail, the new Democratic nominee, Kamala Harris, has brought some voters fresh enthusiasm for the US presidential election. But will this early bump propel Harris to the White House? Progressive leaders around the world have countered the chaos of conservatives by projecting calm and by running sensible, risk-averse campaigns.
In today’s episode of the Full Story podcast, Bridie Jabour speaks to Guardian Australia’s editor-in-chief, Lenore Taylor, national news editor, Josephine Tovey, and head of news, Mike Ticher, about the politics of being sensible and what voters really want in their leader.
You can have a listen below:
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The bombshell ruling that made it impossible for Australia to delay sanctions against Israeli settlers
While much of the Australian media were focused on the latest twists in the US presidential election, the international court of justice (ICJ) delivered sweeping findings against Israel’s conduct in the occupied Palestinian territories, ratcheting up pressure on all governments to take a firmer line.
The ICJ ruling comes at a time of significant legal peril for the Israeli government over the way it has conducted its military response to Hamas’s 7 October attacks.
In a separate and ongoing case, the ICJ is weighing up South Africa’s allegations that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Additionally, the international criminal court will soon decide whether to issue arrest warrants against the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and defence minister (along with three Hamas leaders) for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes.
These are significant accusations and the Israeli government denies them all. In some ways, however, the latest advisory opinion from the ICJ regarding the 57-year-long occupation of territories it seized in 1967, including the West Bank and East Jerusalem, has the potential to have the biggest impact.
In case you missed our full analysis overnight, you can continue reading below:
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World Heritage panel keeps Great Barrier Reef off 'in danger' list
As expected, the 21-country World Heritage committee has decided overnight the Great Barrier Reef will not be placed on a list of sites in danger.
The committee, currently meeting in India, accepted a set of draft recommendations from Unesco and the International Union for Conservation of Nature that were published last month.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the decision was a “huge win” for Queensland and the thousands of people who relied on it for their work “and a huge win for all the plants and animals that call it home”.
Australia was urged by the committee to set more ambitious climate targets and expressed “high concern” at rates of land clearing in catchments flowing into the reef.
Australia will need to submit a progress report by February next year and the committee said it could consider the reef for inclusion on the “in danger” list at its 2026 meeting.
The committee has for years been expressing concern at the impacts on the reef from global heating, poor water quality and fishing.
No World Heritage site has ever been placed on the “in danger” list because of climate change impacts.
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NSW venues get extended trading for Olympics
The NSW government has granted extended trading hours to licensed venues showing major events live from the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, AAP reports.
Hotels, bars, clubs, small bars and live music venues could trade until the early morning if they screen Olympics Matildas games or the swimming finals, the government has said.
With an eight-hour time difference between Paris and Sydney, the extended trading will give more fans the chance to cheer on their favourite athletes and teams.
The special trading hours encouraged a vibrant nightlife for residents and tourists, minister for the night-time economy John Graham said.
He said eligible venues did not need to apply individually to open when they screened the Olympics coverage.
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India charges man for allegedly sexually abusing WA girl, 11, via social media
A man has been charged by Indian authorities after allegedly sexually abusing and intimidating a girl from Western Australia through social media, starting when she was 11.
WA police said detectives were notified in 2023 of allegations involving an 11-year-old girl in 2020 and that she was the victim of online grooming, sextortion and other online offences from a person she met online.
Police allege the abuse continued over several years and “caused severe trauma to the girl”.
Detectives determined the alleged offender resided in India and referred the matter to Indian authorities, who arrested and charged a man from Indore, Madhya Pradesh, with criminal intimidation, transmitting material depicting children in a sexually explicit act, and sexual harassment upon a child with sexual intent.
India’s Central Bureau of Investigation used geolocation techniques to track the man and execute a search warrant, where they seized incriminating materials, WA police said.
It is understood the matter is still going through the Indian court system.
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Domestic violence deaths spike but long-term trend down
Violence against women has declined significantly in the past three decades, AAP reports, but experts warn there is still a long way to go.
The latest report card from Our Watch, a leading national organisation in the prevention of violence against women, showed there had been a 66% drop in the number of women killed by men in the past 30 years.
The number of young men supporting harmful ideas of masculinity had fallen by 13% since 2018. But the trends came against the backdrop of an increase in the number of women killed by men this year.
While the findings were welcome, more work needed to be done, the organisation’s chief executive, Patty Kinnersly, said.
In a year where 42 women have [allegedly] been killed by men’s violence, it’s difficult to reconcile we are making progress in ending this national crisis.
But when we look at the longer-term picture, we can see significant reductions in the number of women killed by men’s violence, reductions in women experiencing violence and improvements in community attitudes that reject and challenge this violence.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 13 11 14
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Linda Burney is asked when she realised the voice referendum wasn’t going to be a success.
Burney said she held on to hope until the last minute, but historically referendums had always relied on bipartisan support – which was not reached – and “that made things much, much more difficult”.
I wouldn’t say it was cooked from the start … 6.5 million Australians voted yes, in Aboriginal communities they voted 80-90% yes, and the most fabulous thing is that we’ve got a group of young Aboriginal people who’ve had a fire lit in their belly and they will take things forward.
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Q: Will Malarndirri McCarthy, the assistant minister for Indigenous Australians, replace you?
Linda Burney said that was “way above [her] pay grade” but that McCarthy was a dear friend:
The most important thing is for me to support whoever it is in the role and to give them the space to be able to chart their own path … Aboriginal affairs is every minister’s responsibility, not just the minister for Indigenous Australians.
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Burney reflects on career after resigning from politics
The outgoing minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is now speaking with ABC RN after announcing she would retire from politics.
She said she would miss the camaraderie of her colleagues, the “fact you can affect lives and make the world a little bit better”, and the thousands of First Nations people she has met throughout her career.
Asked what she hoped her legacy will be, Burney replied she wanted to be remembered for her “grace and integrity”.
Burney said she didn’t want the voice referendum debate to turn into a “he said she said” and despite the outcome not being what she had hoped for, “we did move forward with the public discussion”.
The outgoing minister said she would be “lying” if she said some of the public discussion during the debate wasn’t hurtful, but she chose not to engage with it because the “broader objective” was more important.
Burney said she had no regrets and saw “such wonderful leadership in the Aboriginal community” and it was time “to give the new minister the space they need to chart their own way”.
My job is to support that person as much as I can.
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MPs quizzed on ministerial reshuffle
Labor MPs are being questioned about Sunday’s ministerial reshuffle on breakfast television this morning.
As the prime minister announced yesterday, he will unveil a reshuffled ministry on Sunday after Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor announced their retirement from politics:
NDIS minister Bill Shorten made his regular Friday appearance on the Today Show just a moment ago, and suggested he didn’t expect too many changes.
We will [have] to wait and see. I am not expecting a lot, but having said that, I guess we will wait and see. We will find out soon enough. Only three more sleeps.
Education minister Jason Clare was on Sunrise and said: “I haven’t heard anything.”
Meanwhile, Liberal MP Sussan Ley, the shadow minister for skills and training opposite O’Connor, wished both him and Burney well.
It’s absolutely the prime minister’s decision and when he makes it, everybody finds out, including the nation.
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Road safety alert issued as fog coats Brisbane this morning
The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of fog across Brisbane this morning, reducing visibility and making road conditions dangerous.
⚠️Road Weather Alert issued for Brisbane, with areas of fog reducing visibility on the roads this morning. https://t.co/1sDUKU4X0k pic.twitter.com/9rQn8rJ4w9
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) July 25, 2024
Nine staff set to strike over pay from 11am today
Journalists from the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian Financial Review, the Brisbane Times and WAtoday will down tools at 11am today after crisis talks yesterday failed to stop a strike at Nine Entertainment’s mastheads.
Rallies are planned outside the newsrooms of Nine Entertainment across the country, where union membership is as high as 90%.
The industrial action will include the 20 journalists who travelled to Paris for the Olympic Games and who will now have to sit out the opening ceremony and the opening weekend.
Management insists its coverage across all platforms will be unaffected. TV staff are not unionised so the broadcasting of the games, for which Nine has the $100m broadcasting rights, is not impacted.
The media union said journalists were taking a stand for ethical journalism and wages that keep up with the cost of living.
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More on the call to release robodebt report’s ‘sealed’ chapter
Continuing from our last post: It means now the Nacc’s inquiry has ended, and at least one AFP investigation has been finalised, the only remaining known investigations lie within a special public service taskforce investigating the actions of 16 bureaucrats.
In an update at Senate estimates hearings in May, the Australian public service commissioner, Gordon de Brouwer, said one of the 16 people “did not meet the threshold to issue a notice of suspected breach”. Seven final determinations – meaning a finding – had been given and another seven were still under way.
The final outcomes are expected to be made public in the coming months.
But the Greens’ social and government services spokesperson, Penny Allman-Payne, said it was now time for those pages to be revealed publicly:
The illegal Robodebt scheme saw thousands of innocent people pursued like criminals, yet the members of parliament and senior department officials responsible for this injustice have never been held accountable.
And while the victims of the scheme still wait for justice, many of those same people are still trapped in a broken and punitive social security system where aggressive debt recovery practices continue and for-profit job providers can suspend payments on a whim.
It’s been more than 12 months since the royal commission handed down its findings and we still don’t know who the commissioner referred for civil and criminal prosecution, despite minister Shorten saying that keeping this information secret was “not sustainable”.
We can’t allow this to get swept under the carpet and lost to history. The chapter must be unsealed and those responsible for so much death, pain and loss must face the consequences of their actions.
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Greens call for ‘sealed’ chapter of robodebt inquiry report to be made public
A “sealed” chapter of the robodebt royal commission’s final report, containing the names of individuals referred to integrity bodies and the police “for civil action or criminal prosecution”, should be urgently made public, the Greens say.
It comes as the Australian federal police revealed on Wednesday it had finalised an investigation into allegations a witness gave false evidence in a hearing. The AFP said it did not find “sufficient admissible evidence” that the alleged offender had intended to mislead.
The final report, released last July, concluded the robodebt scheme was “crude and cruel”, a “costly failure of public administration” and “neither fair nor legal”.
Upon the final report’s release, commissioner Catherine Holmes recommended an additional chapter “remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution”.
At the time, the government services minister, Bill Shorten, said it was not a “sustainable position” to keep the chapter a secret forever. He added he didn’t believe Holmes’ directions on the sealed chapter implied a “forever situation”.
In June, the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) announced it was no longer investigating the six individuals referred to the new body, saying it was “unlikely it would obtain significant new evidence” because of a separate public service investigation simultaneously under way.
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Good morning
And happy Friday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be taking you through our live coverage today.
Feel free to get in touch with any thoughts, tips or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
Berejiklian set to learn if Icac findings ‘invalid’
The former New South Wales premier Gladys Berejiklian is expected to learn later this morning whether she has succeeded in her legal challenge to findings made against her by the anti-corruption watchdog.
Berejiklian filed a summons for judicial review in the NSW court of appeal last September. She argued that Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) findings that she engaged in serious corrupt conduct were invalid because the assistant commissioner in charge of the investigation was no longer at the commission when the findings were finalised.
Andrew Bell, the NSW chief justice, is expected to hand down his judgment in the case at 10.15am. He is only expected to read out brief orders, before a written judgment is published later on Friday.
Icac had initially been investigating former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire, who was also found to have engaged in serious corrupt conduct. Maguire was alleged to have used his position to conduct a business helping property developers.
After Berejiklian was heard on phone taps, she was called to give evidence at Icac and admitted she had been in a “close personal relationship” with Maguire for several years, which she had not disclosed to colleagues or family.
Icac then investigated a number of grants she had been involved in approving for Wagga Wagga as well as her state of knowledge of Maguire’s business dealings. Berejiklian has maintained she served the public interest “at all times” while in office.
The court heard in February that lawyers for Berejiklian argued that viewing a relationship as a “standing potential for impropriety” is a “black, depressing and utterly unrealistic view of human life”.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be flagging some of the best overnight stories before Emily Wind takes over.
Linda Burney has been praised for her “courage” and “dedication” after she resigned as minister for Indigenous Australians. She tells our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, that her successor must “listen to people, allow people to get to know you and, most importantly, bring people with you”. Meanwhile, our political editor, Karen Middleton, looks at the challenges for Anthony Albanese as he tries to find a replacement for her and outgoing skills minister Brendan O’Connor.
Journalists employed by Nine Entertainment’s publishing division have voted overwhelmingly to strike over pay from Friday for five days, hampering the company’s coverage of the Paris Olympic Games due to officially begin overnight, Australian time. Nine is the official broadcaster of the 2024 games, paying $100m for the broadcast rights for this year alone. The stop work action starts at 11am today and includes all newspaper staff covering the Games in Paris, but not television.
Gladys Berejiklian’s fight to clear her name of serious corruption findings will be decided in a court of appeal ruling for her and the NSW integrity watchdog. Chief Justice Andrew Bell will deliver his decision today as the former NSW premier fights findings she breached public trust through her covert romance with disgraced party colleague Daryl Maguire. We’ll have all the details as they unfold.
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