What we learned today, Monday 26 June
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news. Thanks for joining us today.
Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
The Australian government announced a new $110m assistance package as the next round of support for Ukraine, including military vehicles, ammunition and humanitarian funding.
Anthony Albanese said the support “will make a tangible difference on the battlefield”.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said the support for Ukraine has taken “too long and is too little”, and that Australia should provide Hawkei vehicles, something Ukraine has been publicly calling for.
Despite this call, Ukraine has praised Australia for its support, with their defence minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeting: “Ukrainian soldiers can really feel the Aussie mateship despite the distance of 15,000km.”
Speaking of the conflict more broadly, deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, said the attempted mutiny in Russia over the weekend has weakened the government and is “a crack in the edifice”.
The high court dismissed Russia’s attempt to hold on to the site of its proposed new embassy in Canberra. An hour after the ruling, a Russian official who had been squatting at the site left in a diplomatic vehicle without speaking to reporters.
Commonwealth Bank suffered a major outage, with customers unable to access their accounts, including transfers and payments, for several hours. At 4pm the bank said the issue had been resolved, but did not say what caused the lengthy outage.
Albanese says he is confident majority of Australians will vote yes to the Indigenous voice, even as Newspoll suggests support for a yes vote is slipping below 45%.
Updated
Yuriy Sak, adviser to the Ukrainian defence minister, is speaking on the ABC and said Ukraine wants Hawkeis because of the protection they provide as mobile air defence systems:
Our frontline today stretches over 900kms. The Russian aggressors have air superiority … the only thing we could have to counter it is some type of mobile air defence systems and this is what Hawkeis can be used for.
Everything we’re asking for has a very very clear military explanation to it. We’re not asking for these toys because we like wars … we’re asking for them because they are saving our lives
Updated
Rent caps protect tenants from ‘egregious’ price hikes, Barr says
Paired with the right settings, ACT chief minister Andrew Barr says his territory’s rent cap model could be successfully replicated nationwide.
Barr presides over the only Australian jurisdiction with a rent cap policy, which has limited increases to inflation plus 10% since 2019.
The ACT model has attracted attention as Labor negotiates with the Greens over the federal government’s $10bn housing future fund.
The minor party has demanded protections from surging rents in exchange for supporting the bill.
Barr said the ACT’s policy was effective because it was accompanied by a “very significant” supply-side response as well as robust rules that kept rental standards high.
He told reporters on Monday:
The ACT’s rent capping arrangements are a safeguard, effectively, against the most egregious forms of rental increase.
He said the share of housing available to rent in Canberra had risen from 26% to 31% in the past decade, and the city was the second-most affordable place to rent as a proportion of incomes.
The model could work in other places if combined with a “dramatic increase in supply” and minimum standards for upgrades and repairs, he said.
The Greens want federal incentives for the states and territories to apply a two-year freeze on rents and ongoing caps of about 2%.
– AAP
Updated
Catch up on today’s biggest headlines so far with this wrap from my colleague Antoun Issa:
University of Sydney staff vote in new enterprise agreement with 4.6% pay rise
Staff at the University of Sydney have overwhelmingly voted in favour of the new enterprise agreement after almost two years of negotiations and periodic industrial action.
An “unprecedented” 8,362 staff voted in the ballot, with 96.5% voting in favour. The deputy vice-chancellor, Annamarie Jagose, wrote to colleagues on Monday afternoon in affirmation of the “great and welcome outcome”.
I thank all parties for their engagement in the good-faith negotiations that produced an agreement that will materially contribute towards making the university a better place to work.
She said the conclusion of the agreement provided “much needed certainty” to staff and would contribute to reducing the university’s reliance on casual academic staff.
The agreement offers a $2,000 sign-on payment and an initial salary increase of 4.6%, to be lodged with the Fair Work Commission in coming days.
Read about the campaign here:
Updated
‘Mere existence’ of offshore detention centre in Nauru will deter people smugglers: former Labor adviser
Let’s circle back to former Labor adviser Emma Webster, who appeared on Afternoon Briefing earlier and was asked about the last processed refugee from Nauru being moved off the island.
Greg Jennett (host):
Is this a day to celebrate? If it is, why isn’t the government making more of it?
Webster:
Look, I think it’s a day of mixed emotions, to be quite honest.
It is the fulfilling of an election promise to process people quickly, to get them out of offshore detention; but there’s also the, I guess, the humanitarian aspect of things. When you look back on the last 10 years and what these centres meant, I think there is also a time to pause and think about what this means to the people of Nauru and their economy and their existence.
Also, what keeping the offshore detention centre means going forward – we saw over the weekend what’s happened in Russia and we don’t know how swiftly the global environment can change. We might have people seeking refuge on our shores again, soon, even though we haven’t seen many boats lately. I think just the mere existence of that detention centre in Nauru is a deterrent for people smugglers.
Read Ben Doherty and Eden Gillespie’s coverage of this from the weekend:
Updated
Assistant minister to PM ‘really confident’ voters will support voice to parliament
The assistant minister to the PM, Patrick Gorman, said the entire government is confident that Australians will vote yes for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Speaking about the decline in the yes vote in new polling, Gorman told the ABC:
We have seen a no campaign go quite hard with some of the – in my view – misinformation, but I think: where are we going to be when people are actually walking into the voting referendum? They will have received so much campaigning from both sides; they will have had access to all the information, most of which is already out there, from the explanatory memorandum to the actual amendment to the constitution.
So I am really confident that when they finally get the chance to make that choice they will choose to fulfil the request of the Uluru Statement from the Heart which is constitutional recognition.
Updated
Cost of Ukraine military support must be absorbed by Defence bottom line: Birmingham
Birmingham said the opposition was “deeply disappointed” to see no additional commitments for Ukraine in the recent budget and wrote to the government to bring forward supports:
We welcome [today’s announcement], but frankly, it doesn’t seem to go far enough. And it’s also not, of course, new financial assistance from the Australian budget perspective – Defence is being asked to absorb all of these costs within their budget bottom line, coming on top of billions of dollars of other cuts that defence is already having to find and make adjustments for.
Updated
Birmingham echoes Dutton’s comments labelling Ukraine support as ‘too little’
The Liberal senator Simon Birmingham is also speaking on the ABC in response to Australia’s support package for Ukraine.
He doesn’t believe the support is enough:
Of course this package of support enjoyed bipartisan support, as we have given to everything that the government has done, just as they provided to the previous government.
But when you compare it against the $285 million of military assistance and support provided by the previous government just in the first couple of months, this is a very slow addition and it is probably too slow relative to what could or should have been done, too little relative to what Ukraine has been asking for.
And these are the genuine concerns that we have, that Australia should be striving to keep ourselves at the forefront of non-Nato contributors to Ukraine. We should be listening intently when Ukraine says they want the Hawkei vehicles, Abram tanks, de-mining equipment, that they also deserve to see Australia’s embassy in Ukraine reopened, and a fair dinkum package of humanitarian assistance.
Birmingham doesn’t think support should be “an open cheque”, but Australia should “in principle” be able to “do better in responding to the specific asks of Ukraine”.
Updated
‘Putin will crumble, it’s a matter of time,’ says Myroshnychenko
Wrapping up the interview, Myroshnychenko reflects on the events of the weekend and what this means for Ukraine and the conflict:
I believe it is momentum for Ukraine. The counteroffensive has been ongoing for three weeks. [It is] still difficult to gauge the efficiency of that, but the situation in Moscow, in Russia over the weekend, is very reassuring.
Of course, Putin will crumble, it’s a matter of time when he his regime is going to go down, but I think that was a very first sign of that beginning of the end of that dictatorship.
Updated
‘This war is an existential war for us’, Ukraine ambassador says
Myroshnychenko said Ukraine is “optimistic” of future support packages from Australia, including the possibility of Hawkeis:
We are optimistic about working further on new packages where Bush Masters and Hawkeis and tanks could be included, so I hope this is a very good continuation of that support provided last year, and especially prior to the Nato summit where the prime minister will attend soon.
He is asked whether Ukraine will continue its public campaign for Hawkei’s:
Ukraine is facing an existential threat. A cousin of my wife got killed near Bakhmut earlier this year. The war is real, very confronting. I’m getting information from my friends who are fighting. We see funerals every day. This war is an existential war for us. To be able to survive, we rely on our partners and our friends, which includes over 50 nations providing material support and are thankful to Australia for the Anzac spirit, the mateship they extend to us and whatever they provide, everyone is very thankful.
Updated
Ukraine ambassador ‘very reassured’ by ‘unwavering’ support from Australia
Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, is speaking on the ABC after today’s announcement of $110m in support from Australia to Ukraine.
He said Ukraine is “extremely thankful” to prime minister Anthony Albanese for today’s announcement.
Losses are extremely high and it’s very difficult there, so that package of assistance [and] the announcement [are] a very strong signal of support which Ukrainians can feel from far away, despite this distance that is separating our countries.
I am very reassured by the unwavering support of the Australian government, and of course it’s good that Australia [is] committed to standing strong with Ukraine until this war ends.
Updated
Commonwealth Bank services coming back online
As of 4pm, Commonwealth Bank said its services were recovering after intermittent issues throughout the day with banking services such as the CommBank app.
UPDATE: 4.00PM - Services are recovering following intermittent issues that some customers experienced across our banking services today.
— CommBank (@CommBank) June 26, 2023
In a statement on Twitter, CommBank said:
We can confirm we have identified the cause of the issue and services are being restored.
We are very sorry for the inconvenience this has caused. We know how much customers depend on us and sincerely apologise to those who have been impacted today.
Please note there may be delays in some payments as we continue to bring services back online.
CommBank did not name the cause of the issue in its statement.
Updated
Beazley credits Crean with ‘enormously successful’ regional policy in WA
Beazley speaks to what he says are Crean’s biggest policy achievements, starting with regional policy:
I was surprised; when I was governor of WA, they have an excellent organisation here which is the regional councils, and they bring the whole of the state government activity together in each of the regions, and they have been enormously successful in ensuring that underpinning for WA development.
I remember saying to them when I met a number of them collectively, where did you all start … they said these were [Simon Crean’s] regional organisations.
They have changed their form for over the years, but that’s where they started. He started the process of really good organisation of regional policy, and given the extent to which people outside metropolitan areas often feel neglected and powerless, that’s no mean achievement.
Updated
Kim Beazley calls Simon Crean ‘a Labor icon’
The former Labor leader Kim Beazley is also speaking on the ABC to pay tribute to Simon Crean.
Beazley said Crean was a “Labor icon” and achieved milestones that not many others have:
Simon was good. No question about that. When you actually look at his record, it is truly extraordinary. True, he was not prime minister but he served under four Labor prime ministers. I don’t think anyone else has done that. And I think he was on the frontbench pretty much for the entire time that he was in parliament – both in government and in opposition. Not too many people can say that.
Prior to that, of course, [he was] president of the ACTU. He is a Labor icon.
Updated
Simon Crean ‘was always full of good advice’: Don Farrell
The trade minister, Don Farrell, pays tribute to Simon Crean while speaking on the ABC:
It was terrible news to get last night that Simon Crean had passed, much too young.
I’ve known Simon for more than four decades. Firstly in his role in the trade union movement and then, of course, much more recently in both the Rudd and Gillard governments.
Since I took on this role just over 12 months ago, he’s been a terrific supporter of mine in trying to get trade agreements around the world, but particularly as it related to the European free trade agreement. I was with him last year in Brussels and Paris and I have had numerous conversations with him again this year.
He was always full of good advice. Always happy. He always had a big smile on his face. He could never – you could never put him down. He was always very happy. It’s so sad for Carol and his daughters that he passed at this time.
Updated
Albanese dismisses parliamentary veto on military action
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he still believes cabinet should be empowered to sign off of Australian military deployments, rather than being subject to a binding parliamentary vote.
Albanese made the comments after praising the late Labor leader, Simon Crean, for the stand he took against the Iraq war in 2003.
Crean, who died yesterday aged 74, said at the time that the Iraq war was “illegal, unnecessarily and unjust”. In an address to troops leaving on HMAS Kanimbla, Crean said:
You don’t have a choice and my argument is with the government, not with you.
Albanese said in a statement last night that “history has vindicated Simon’s judgment”. Albanese told reporters in Canberra today that Crean “showed extraordinary courage to oppose the Iraq war, but made clear his support for the men and women who serve us in uniform by farewelling a deployment from Sydney during that period”.
When asked by Guardian Australia whether the government would make any structural changes to ensure the Iraq episode couldn’t be repeated in terms of reforms to war powers, Albanese argued that the question was “conflating a range of issues”. The prime minister said:
Simon Crean’s courage in speaking out as he did after the Labor party made that decision collectively, making sure that he went down to farewell our troops, was I think, a courageous moment. That was a moment where we showed leadership.
I believe that cabinets are the appropriate place, governments, to make decisions with regard to Australia’s involvement in military conflict. I think, though, that parliament should get the opportunity to contribute to debate, and that is the Labor party’s position.
Albanese’s phrasing means that parliaments should be able to debate deployments, but not get a binding vote. Crean himself called for reforms to the war powers in 2018, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald:
It can’t be just a prime minister’s call. We need to find a better way to ensure it is a process and decision of the parliament.
Updated
‘There’s a crack in the edifice’ of Russia: Marles
Marles speaks on the situation in Russia and Ukraine after the events of the weekend:
I think it would be wrong to draw from this that this is, you know, a moment where everyone can take a deep breath. There is still a conflict engaged here. We stand very much shoulder-to-shoulder with Ukraine.
But there’s no doubt that there’s a crack in the edifice. The other point I would make is, I think it does bring into question the whole moral support that existed previously for the appalling invasion by Russia of Ukraine. That’s what I take from this. There’s a breaking down of the morale which underpins that. Obviously, that is good news, but there’s a long way to go.
Updated
Richard Marles said Australia has been making announcements of support for Ukraine every four months, and that “we will be there for as long as it takes to see Ukraine resolve this conflict on their terms”.
Now, the specifics of what the future might hold is difficult to go into. We will have an ongoing conversation where Ukraine about how we can stand shoulder to shoulder with them, which is what our intention is.
Marles wouldn’t say whether Australia would provide F-18 Hornets to Ukraine.
I’m not going to go there. As I say, in terms of our conversations with Ukraine, about anything in the future, we will keep them between ourselves and Ukraine … Future announcements you will see in due course.
Australia has ‘ongoing dialogue’ with Ukraine: Marles
The deputy PM and defence minister, Richard Marles, is appearing on the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing to speak on Australia’s support package to Ukraine.
He said Australia has had an “ongoing dialogue” with Ukraine on what support Australia could provide.
More recently, Ukraine did come to us with a menu of items they thought could make a difference for them … vehicles were very much at the centre of it.
Being able to provide an additional 28 infantry fighting vehicles through the 113s, special operations vehicles, that’s squarely in the frame of what they were seeking, along with … more ammunition.
He was asked why Hawkei’s were not included and if this decision would hold:
It will hold into the future.
There’s a limit to what I can say here, but in essence, we talked this through with Ukraine … we want to make a difference for Ukraine on the battlefield, give them gear that is going to help.
For a range of reasons, which are difficult to go into, our view is that Hawkei’s would not provide the kind of service to Ukraine that would assist them in the context of this battle. We’ve taken them through that. I think there is an understanding around that.
Updated
Ukraine – which had been publicly calling for Hawkei vehicles – has praised the Australian government’s announcement of further support, even though that particular vehicle is not included.
The defence minister tweeted:
I am grateful to Australia for the Anzac spirit and for standing strong with Ukraine. Thanks a lot to @RichardMarlesMP for the new package of military aid, which includes APCs, military vehicles and ammunition. Ukrainian soldiers can really feel the Aussie mateship despite the…
— Oleksii Reznikov (@oleksiireznikov) June 26, 2023
Updated
Wagner uprising ‘a crack in the edifice’ of Putin’s power: Richard Marles
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, says the attempted mutiny in Russia over the weekend has weakened the government and is “a crack in the edifice”.
Marles told Sky News this afternoon that the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, was “still very much in charge” of the country but military morale was staring to be eroded.
Asked whether Russia weaker today than it was last week after the aborted uprising, Marles said:
I think the answer to that question is yes. I mean, it’s hard to get a very clear sense of what’s happening in Russia obviously but this is a significant set of events which has occurred over the weekend …
To me what it brings into light really is the whole immorality of the invasion by Russia of Ukraine last year. And the morale which underpins that – I think we can see that that is breaking down in the context of what has happened with the Wagner group.
But there’s still a long way to go here and President Putin is still very much in charge of Russia and there is still very much a conflict which is going to take time to conclude.
Asked whether it was a matter of time before Putin lost his grip on power, Marles told the broadcaster:
I’m not going to speculate about things as firmly as that. I mean, there’s a crack in the edifice is the way I suppose I would describe it, but how big that is and it’s significance I think time will tell.
The Wagner chief, Yevgeny Prigozhin, had vowed to lead his troops towards Moscow, but he later agreed to leave Russia for Belarus as part of a deal to end his armed revolt.
Updated
Tasmanian man found dead in rail yard
A Tasmanian man was located deceased in a rail yard this morning after he appears to have been struck by a train carriage after climbing fencing.
Insp Steve Jones said about 5.10am this morning, police were notified by TasRail that a man was located deceased in a rail yard near Marine Terrance at Burnie.
Police attended and located a 36-year-old man deceased within a restricted area at the rail yard.
Investigations so far have determined the man had climbed fencing to gain access to the prohibited area of the yard and was struck by a train carriage as freight was being unloaded.
Police spoke to the driver of the train who was unaware that the incident had occurred. The driver, and other staff members on site at the time, are being provided support from TasRail.
Jones said:
Police are aware the man who sadly died was recently itinerant and was in possession of a black suitcase in and around the Burnie area. If anyone locates this case, they are asked to please phone police on 131 444.
I urge everyone to please be aware of the dangers around rail tracks. Please never enter on to any active rail tracks, especially if a train is in operation.
Updated
Macfarlane to retire as head of Qld mining lobby group
Ian Macfarlane has announced he is retiring as boss of the Queensland Resources Council after seven years in the role, AAP reports.
The former federal Coalition minister will finish by the end of the year but vowed the industry would continue its campaign against the Queensland government’s progressive royalties regime.
Macfarlane has led the council’s campaign against the tax increase introduced by the Palaszczuk government last year, which has resulted in billions of dollars in increased coal and gas revenue and a historic surplus in the budget handed down in June.
On his way out, Macfarlane said in a statement the royalty increase was driving down confidence and investment:
The resources sector is more important to Queensland than ever before.
It is the basis of Queensland’s economic prosperity, ongoing jobs and our future success, and it’s worth standing up for.
The council’s board will begin a global search for a replacement, with Macfarlane continuing in his role until a successor is found.
The 68-year-old was the Liberal member for the Queensland federal seat of Groom from 1998 to 2016. He was resources minister from 2001 to 2007 and industry minister from 2013 to 2015.
Updated
Universities Australia welcomes education survey results
Student satisfaction with the quality of their university experience is up across all major indicators according to the latest Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching surveys.
As we brought you earlier, about 76% of students were satisfied with the quality of their education experience – up from 73% in 2021.
International student satisfaction increased by an impressive 7.5% to nearly 75% in 2022.
The chief executive of Universities Australia, Catriona Jackson, said:
These results are testament to the adaptability, perseverance, innovation and hard work of both students and their universities.
The worst of the disruption of the past few years appears to be behind us.
Updated
Australia should provide Hawkei vehicles: Dutton
Peter Dutton says:
The provision of the Bush Masters was at the request of the Ukrainian president and it’s provided a real and tangible effort on the ground.
If president Zelenskiy is now asking for Hawkeis, they should be provided, because that will give them the best chance at defeating president Putin.
Ukraine has been mounting a public campaign for further assistance, including Hawkei vehicles.
But Anthony Albanese said the government had received ADF advice that offering Hawkei vehicles “would not be the best way to provide assistance to Ukraine”.
You can read more about Australia’s complete support package for Ukraine here:
Updated
‘We need to stare down what is happening in Ukraine’: Dutton
Dutton believes that Australia’s support package for Ukraine should have been bigger:
Of course it should have been bigger. I can’t understand what the government is doing here, what their hesitation or reluctance is.
Many other countries … are providing significant support. The last thing that we want from the prime minister is for him to lose interest in what is happening in Ukraine. If we do that and we’re not there hand-in-hand with the Ukrainians over the long run, the Russians will just be there until they exhaust the efforts of the west.
We need to stare down what is happening in Ukraine. We need to stand up for our values, our beliefs, and our fight for democracy. If we stand by Ukraine only for a limited period of time, if there is an expiry date, then we won’t get the outcome that we want for the Russian forces to leave Ukraine and for the Ukrainian people to be free and be able to get back to the lives again.
Updated
Dutton supports court decision on Russian squatter
Peter Dutton also said he welcomes the departure of a Russian squatter who had occupied the site of its proposed new embassy in Canberra:
It’s welcome news, the high court finding in relation to the Russian that had occupied the site in Canberra.
The government’s position, which we strongly support, has been upheld in the high court and that Russian diplomat has now gone from the site. That is a welcome thing.
We should always act in our country’s best interests and when we receive advice on security agencies, it should be adhered to and we will work hand-in-hand with the government to make sure that equities are safe and secure and I welcome the departure of this diplomat.
Updated
‘Too little’: Peter Dutton on Ukraine support
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking from Perth on the government’s announcement of $110m in support for Ukraine.
He said support for Ukraine has taken “too long and is too little”:
We know that Labor party took about $1.5bn out of the defence budget in the recent budget in May, and we know that defence has provided a lot of assistance so far, but they cannot continue to do it from existing resources -they need additional support from the government and this has taken too long and is too little, in terms of what has been provided to Ukraine.
We have seen the insanity of President Putin for a long period of time now. Innocent men, women and children are being slaughtered in Ukraine … president Zelenskiy along with his military advisers know exactly what is required on the ground to have a fighting chance at defeating Putin and his forces.
Updated
The Bureau of Meteorology has released a severe weather warning for damaging winds across parts of south-eastern Victoria this afternoon.
It warned that damaging wind gusts are possible in parts of East Gippsland and West and South Gippsland forecast districts.
This Severe Weather Warning for DAMAGING WINDS for people in parts of East Gippsland and West and South Gippsland Forecast Districts.
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) June 26, 2023
Damaging wind gusts possible across parts of southeastern Victoria this afternoon.
Stay informed: https://t.co/T05ONtx8bB pic.twitter.com/dZtqDac7EQ
Updated
Toddler dies after being hit by car in Brisbane
A toddler has died after being run over in the driveway of a home north of Brisbane, AAP reports.
The accident happened at Deception Bay, with paramedics called to the home just after 10.10am on Monday.
The boy suffered catastrophic injuries and could not be saved.
Police have not released the identify of the driver or their relationship to the toddler.
Updated
‘Australia continues to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes’
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has tweeted about Australia’s $110m support package for Ukraine, saying:
Australia continues to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its own terms.
… Those who are there right now are fighting for Ukraine, but they are fighting for all of us and we will stand with them.
Australia continues to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to resolve this conflict on its own terms.
— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) June 26, 2023
Our Government is pleased to announce today additional support which will make a practical difference on the battlefield. pic.twitter.com/yVyfApeTFS
Updated
More on military assistance to Ukraine
Returning briefly to the news from earlier that the government will provide another $110m in support for Ukraine – the majority of which, $100m, is military assistance:
Defence is expected to fund the new package from within its existing resources. Guardian Australia has been told some of the stocks are surplus to current Australian defence force requirements while some are capabilities that are due to be replaced. A source said the 105mm ammunition was no longer used by Australia but was highly suitable for use by Ukrainian armed forces.
Meanwhile the Australian government has responded cautiously to the events in Russia over the weekend in which the head of the Wagner mercenary group attempted an armed revolt before striking a deal to relocate to Belarus. The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told reporters:
This does demonstrate the divisions in Russia. It does call into question the decision which we have all criticised and which we are standing here to oppose today, which was the decision to illegally, immorally invade Ukraine.
Wong said the Australian government would continue to monitor developments but urged any Australians who remained in Russia to leave if it was safe to do so.
Updated
Greens criticise PwC’s government business sell-off
The Greens senator Barbara Pocock has released a statement criticising PwC Australia’s decision to divest itself of all government work by spinning off a new company for $1, as part of a buyout by the private equity investor Allegro Funds:
The proposal to carve off its public sector work doesn’t deal with the internal inherent conflicts of interest that exist within consultancies doing work for the government. The conflicts are still there, they don’t just magically disappear when you rebadge the partnership and put up a fence.
This new set-up doesn’t stop unethical practice. There is still an opaque partnership model, which will continue working to harvest government contracts – a stream of contracts that is likely falling to a trickle in view of recent events.
There are key questions about ethical practices, proper management and the internal culture at PwC which remain unaddressed by a restructure.
Updated
The latest on the CBA outages
The Commonwealth Bank says it is “urgently investigating” problems that stopped some customers from accessing its services, according to AAP.
Australia’s biggest bank said on Monday its call centres were experiencing higher volumes of customer inquiries on this incident, as well as longer wait times.
It said its branches were open but staff there would not have further details.
The bank released a statement on its website at midday:
We are aware some customers are experiencing intermittent difficulties accessing some of our services and we are urgently working to resolve these issues.
We will provide real-time information here on our service updates page as we know more.
We thank customers for their patience and ask our customers to please be mindful of the wellbeing of our people as they continue to serve our customers.
According to outage website DownDetector, almost 3,500 customers were reporting issues across the country mid morning on Monday.
However that number had dropped below 1,000 by early afternoon.
Updated
PwC: ‘Deep investigation’ into confidentiality breach started ‘only six weeks ago’
PwC’s chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, has been asked why the firm took so long to investigate the misuse of confidential government information, which occurred eight years ago.
Stubbins told the NSW parliamentary inquiry that a serious internal investigation into the breach was not launched until May. That is many months after the scandal was publicly revealed.
Here’s Stubbins:
We first learned there was a confidentiality agreement in place in March 2021. However, the deep root cause analysis and deep investigation into this really started looking at all the aspects I’ve talked about in my open letter, including cultural aspects, only six weeks ago.
Updated
‘The people of Ukraine can count on Australia’
Anthony Albanese has posted on social media about Australia’s $110m support package for Ukraine.
He said:
Australia has stood with Ukraine each and every day since Russia’s illegal and immoral invasion.
… The people of Ukraine can count on Australia.
Australia has stood with Ukraine each and every day since Russia's illegal and immoral invasion.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 26, 2023
Today, we're announcing new support for Ukraine that will make a real difference on the battlefield. pic.twitter.com/N7CYb1wDt6
We'll provide an extra 70 military vehicles and more ammunition.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 26, 2023
And we'll help the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund provide support like clean water, shelter and health services.
The people of Ukraine can count on Australia.
Updated
Hunter bus victim remembered as thoughtful young man
Family and friends are mourning the loss of Angus Andrew Craig, celebrating his short, but full, life after a devastating bus crash which killed 10 people, AAP reports.
The funeral, held in Nowra on NSW’s south coast on Monday, is the first for the victims of the Hunter Valley tragedy on 11 June.
Craig, 28, was among guests travelling home from a wedding when their bus rolled on to its side at Greta on its way to Singleton about 11.30pm.
His sister, Georgia, supported by their parents, Tobi and Duncan, spoke of how her brother made friends easily, with precious memories forever etched in their hearts:
How cruel is this loss?
A lovely, well-mannered gorgeous boy who had matured incredibly to a fun-loving, responsible, thoughtful and good-looking man has been lost.
He is with us when we remember him. He is with us when we think about our time together … and he is with us when we tell him that we love him.
His girlfriend Bella said they moved in together five weeks before the crash, after 18 months of dating:
I know that I am a forever better person for having loved and been loved by you.
Craig’s best friend, Shaun Cunningham, spoke of the cheeky and memorable moments they shared:
We developed a friendship and brotherhood that could never be broken.
He was remembered as an adored son, much-loved brother and brother-in-law and beloved partner.
Craig worked for BHP, a job which led to a move to Brisbane and then to Singleton, the small Hunter town where many of the bus crash victims as well as bride and groom were living.
Investigations into the tragedy continue after the bus driver was charged with 10 counts of dangerous driving causing death. Police allege the bus was going too fast to negotiate a roundabout.
Updated
Russian squatter update
The white minivan has not moved. The driver is sitting impassively, making occasional calls, and not responding when media knock on the window to ask him questions.
The engine is still on but he has no passengers and there’s no sign of movement from within the embassy building itself or the construction site that surrounds it.
Two federal police vehicles are on the other side of the road. Officers have been taking notes and keeping watch, but have not intervened.
Updated
Quality of tertiary education improves after pandemic
The education quality for international and domestic undergraduate students at Australian universities has improved since the pandemic, according to a new survey.
The results of the 2022 student experience and international student experience surveys were released today, collecting data from students across 141 higher education providers, including 42 universities.
According to the surveys, the quality of Australian educators has been recognised with international students recording an all-time high rating for teaching quality at 80%, on par with domestic students.
The rating international students gave to the quality of their entire educational experience rose 7% to 74%, while domestic students rated the quality of their entire educational experience at 76%, up from 74%.
The minister for education, Jason Clare, said:
It’s great to see the high quality of teaching at Australian universities be recognised by both international and domestic students. It’s a testament to the hard work of our educators.
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Chaotic traffic and long bus queues in Melbourne’s west
Commuters in Melbourne’s west have faced chaotic traffic and long queues for bus replacements during rush hour this morning.
Victoria’s West Gate Tunnel project has shut down trains and blocked roads that connect Melbourne’s west with the city centre over the next two weeks. The Andrews government had advised residents in the western suburbs to work from home over for the next fortnight.
A crash on the West Gate Freeway and a truck breakdown caused further delay for commuters who used bus replacement services on Monday morning. Social media footage showed long lines of commuters waiting to board buses that have replaced trains on the Werribee, Williamstown and Sunbury lines.
The transport workers’ union has warned that a bus driver shortage could also hinder planned replacement services.
Tony Morton, president of the public transport users association, said the shutdowns coinciding with school holidays, would be disruptive for residents in the west:
There’s always going to mean a huge demand for travel across the city.
Updated
More from Russian embassy site
The white van with diplomatic plates remains at the site of the new Russian embassy. It is not clear what the driver is waiting for.
His engine remains on and the van, a white Toyota, is idling on the grass immediately outside the partially completed building. He has no passengers with him, has kept the window up and will not answer questions from reporters.
Earlier, a grey Kia reversed up to a perimeter fence close to where the Russian man has been squatting in a demountable for the past week. The man exited the demountable and rushed to the Kia, also a diplomatic-plated vehicle.
He did not answer questions from reporters about his identity. The Kia then drove off.
Here's the diplomatic vehicle as it carried the squatter away from the site. The white mini van remains idling just next to the perimeter fence of the partially completed building. pic.twitter.com/jglsQY73Vg
— Christopher Knaus (@knausc) June 26, 2023
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PwC promises to name all partners involved in tax scandal
PwC senior executives have again declined to name all the partners who have been stood down as a result of confidentiality scandal. So far, only four of the nine partners have been named.
Its acting chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, has told the NSW parliamentary inquiry they will eventually be named:
This is a comprehensive, detailed investigation and as you can appreciate, we need to get it right, When the investigation is complete, which it will be shortly, we will be naming all those people who did anything wrong and there will be appropriate accountability.
But just to be clear, we are not just looking at people who might have been deeply involved in the matter itself. We’re also looking at leadership, governance and accountability as well because it’s very important that we take a holistic view of this and make sure accountability is taken by those who need to take it.
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Many thanks to Rafqa for taking us through a busy morning! I’ll be with you for the remainder of the day – let’s get into it.
That is all from me today – thanks for sticking through a busy morning.
I'll be handing over to my colleague Emily Wind, who will take you through the afternoon’s news.
‘That matters to us all’: Wong on uholding UN charter principle
Australia’s total humanitarian and economic assistance to Ukraine is now $75m, after an additional $10m to the humanitarian fund was confirmed as part of the new $110m support package announced today.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, says:
I often say to my counterparts, when I travelled through south-east Asia and the Pacific, I talk about why Ukraine matters and I talk about the UN charter principle that a large country cannot simply change the borders of another country. That matters to us all.
Updated
Russian squatter leaves new embassy site
The Russian who had been squatting at its proposed new embassy site has left. The man said nothing to waiting reporters as he left the site, picked up in a waiting diplomatic vehicle and rushed off.
Another white mini van, with diplomatic plates, is still waiting at the site.
The events follow a decision in the high court rejecting Russia’s bid to temporarily hold on to the site while it mounts its constitutional challenge against new laws stripping it of its lease.
PM distances Ukraine support from Wagner uprising
When asked about whether the new $110m military and humanitarian support package for Ukraine was prompted by the Wagner uprising in Russia over the weekend, Anthony Albanese says no:
No, we have been working on this proposal with a view to taking her to cabinet this morning, for some time. The events, obviously occurred over the weekend, but this has been working through, you will note, there have been announcements approximately every four months or so, since we came to Government. We have done it as soon as it’s available, as soon as appropriate.
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Ukraine support in ‘our national interest’: Richard Marles
The defence minister, Richard Marles, says Australia’s support of Ukraine against Russia’s invasion is in “our national interest”:
What is at issue in Ukraine today is the sanctity of the global rules-based order, and it is very important that Australians understand that this engages our national interest.
This new package that has been announced today continues to have Australia as one of the largest non-Nato contributors to supporting Ukraine in its efforts, and one of the largest Indo Pacific contributors to supporting Ukraine in its resistance. Those fighters who are there right now fighting for Ukraine, but they are fighting for all of us, and we will stand with them.
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PM supports high court’s decision to oppose Russian embassy
The prime minister Anthony Albanese, welcomes the high court’s decision to oppose Russia’s proposed embassy site in Yarralumla, Canberra:
Can I say that the government welcomes the high court’s decision in opposing the Russian application this morning.
The court has made clear that there is no legal basis for a Russian presence to continue on the site at this time, and we expect the Russian Federation to act in accordance with the court’s ruling.
Updated
Where will $110m of military and humanitarian support for Ukraine go?
According to the PM, 70 additional vehicles will include 28 armoured trucks, and 28 M113 armoured vehicles, taking the total gifted to 56. It also includes 14 special operations vehicles. It will also fund additions to artillery ammunition, and $10m to the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs.
“This is about helping the Ukrainian people with shelter, health services, clean water and sanitation,” the prime minister says.
This additional support will make a real difference, helping the Ukrainian people who continue to show great courage in the face of Russia’s illegal, unprovoked and immoral war. It is sobering that 16 months on from Russia’s invasion, its brutal conflict continues.
Updated
PM announces $110m support package for Ukraine
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has announced a new $110m military and humanitarian package in support of Ukraine in a presser.
Today, we are here to announce a new agreement that has been agreed to by cabinet this morning of new funding for support for the people and government of Ukraine in their defence of their national sovereignty and their defence of international law. This new military and humanitarian assistance package is an additional $110m, bringing our total contribution to $790m, including $610m of military assistance.
He is joined by the foreign minister, Penny Wong, and the defence minister, Richard Marles.
Updated
Chris Minns open to reforming corruption watchdog after delays
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, is open to reforming the state’s corruption watchdog which he said had taken a “long time” to finalise its report relating to the former premier, Gladys Berejiklian.
The Independent Commission Against Corruption will hand down its findings following the completion of Operation Keppel on Thursday after repeated delays. Berejiklian has repeatedly denied any alleged wrongdoing.
Minns said the watchdog was “independent for a reason” while noting the lengthy wait for all involved.
He said:
It’s a long time and I think that any agency that’s responsible for investigating public officials or members of the public has to deliver findings in as short space of time as possible. I’m not sure of the circumstances relating to the delay but it’s obviously been an extended period of time since the inquiry and now the recommendations.
The premier said he was not aware of the contents of the report on Monday morning.
Asked if he would consider reforming Icac, Minns said he was “prepared to sit down and talk” with anyone who had a reasonable proposal.
He said:
I want to see what the Icac report says. In addition to any findings they make about individuals, they’ll make recommendations to government about changes. It’s important that we’re able to look at that independently and assess it on its merits. That’s exactly what I’ll do when that report finally comes down on Thursday.
Updated
Acting PwC chief executive Kristin Stubbins has told a NSW parliamentary inquiry the firm will not make a profit from the divestment of its government consulting services, as part of a $1 buyout by private equity investor Allegro Funds.
Stubbins has told the inquiry the new company will not share offices with existing PwC businesses. More than 1500 PwC staff will be transferred to the new company.
Stubbins:
We will make sure that all staff and partners included in that transaction have not done the wrong thing. Anyone who has done the wrong thing, when we complete our investigation, will be announced and those people will not be going across.
If you can put yourself in the position of a young person who got copied into those emails and does not understand any of the confidential information that might have been shared, then those people will be effectively cleared through this process.
This whole transaction is designed to protect a significant number of jobs. We believe the best opportunity for those people is to go across to a new entitate with absolutely no risk or perception of a conflict of interest, because it will be completely separate from here.
Updated
PwC: No one who breached rules will be transferred to new company
The Acting PwC chief executive, Kristin Stubbins, has repeatedly stressed that no one found to have been involved in the misuse of confidential federal government tax information will be allowed to work for a new spin-off company.
PwC has announced plans to divest itself of all government work in Australia by spinning off a new company, as part of a $1 buyout by the private equity investor Allegro Funds.
Stubbins has told a NSW parliamentary inquiry that about 100 PwC partners will be transferred to the new company, although the details are still being confirmed.
We will announce anyone who has done the wrong thing and those people will not be going across in the transaction.
Stubbins has also sought to assure the NSW government that no one involved in scandal is currently working with the state government:
We deeply regret and I deeply, deeply apologise for the confidentiality breaches that happened back in 2015 and the lack of an effective response to that in our firm. I completely acknowledge that.
It occurred in a small part in our tax practice and we have no reason to believe that any of these issues relate to the NSW government and all. But obviously, if we did have specific instances, we would deal with those instances.
Updated
Australia’s growth outlook trimmed by rating agency
S&P Global has this morning put out a mixed assessment of the growth prospects for the region.
On the plus side, global growth hasn’t contracted as much as feared at the start of the year. In the case of the Asia Pacific, the overall picture has brightened slightly even with China’s rebound from the Covid clampdowns not as robust as previously expected, S&P said.
For Australia, though, S&P is not so upbeat, with “fallout” from the rapid hike in interest rates by the Reserve Bank likely to “become more visible” in the second half of the year. The rating agency expects two more 25 basis-point increases this year because inflation is looking like it will be more sticky than expected.
The RBA’s cash rate should ease back to its current 4.1% by the end of 2024 and still be at 3.1% by the end of 2026. At least for the coming 18 months, that’s enough to trigger S&P’s forecasts for a deeper slowdown than anticipated for Australia this year, and even more so next year.
S&P Global's updated outlook for the Asia Pacific has Australia as one of the economies cut the most in terms of GDP growth for 2024. Exposure to rising interest rates (with two more RBA moves to come) is one factor to dim the outlook. pic.twitter.com/GUIFQl57n2
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) June 26, 2023
The growth figures remain positive, at least according to S&P, and are a reminder that a recession is not a certainty (as we noted here earlier this month).
There’s also a bit of gloom directed at homeowners. Yes, Australian housing prices had lately “regained territory” after falls earlier this year, “this uptrend may not last, given the effect of monetary policy tightening in the pipeline”.
Would-be homebuyers, though, weren’t too put off, with weekly clearance rates at auctions remaining above 70% for an eighth week in a row, according to CoreLogic. The initial rate of 73.8%, albeit on a reduced number as winter sets in on the main markets of Melbourne and Sydney, was also the highest in three weeks.
Updated
Update: the Anthony Albanese, Richard Marles and Penny Wong presser has been pushed back to 12.20pm AEST.
PwC acting chief tells inquiry 'we don't always get things right'
PwC’s acting chief executive, Kirstin Stubbins, is appearing before a NSW parliamentary inquiry. The state government has announced a three-month suspension on new work with the embattled firm after a scandal involving the misuse of confidential information.
Stubbins has told the inquiry that she will remain in the role until the newly announced chief executive, Kevin Burrowes, replaces her. She has also once again apologised:
It is important to acknowledge that we don’t always get things right. We deeply regret the breach of confidential federal tax policy information that happened around eight years ago and I deeply apologise for that. We failed the standards we set for ourselves as an organisation.
Stubbins said the decision to divest PwC’s government consultancy business was not an admission it could not meet ethical and legal requirements.
We started to look at the ring fencing of this business to address the perceived conflicts, but after careful consideration of that (...) we decided that did not go far enough. We made the difficult decision to divest our government business completely.
Stubbins said no one found to have acted improperly will be transferred to a new spinoff company.
Updated
Albanese to speak shortly
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to hold a press conference at Parliament House in about half an hour. He will be joined at the midday presser by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong. The topic is unknown at this stage, but they are sure to be asked about the upheaval in Russia over the weekend and the high court ruling regarding the Russian embassy site in Canberra.
Updated
Russia has had ‘other things on its mind’: lawyer for Australian government
Earlier in the high court hearing, counsel for the Commonwealth Tim Begbie KC told the court Australia had told Russia it would not re-lease the site while the constitutional challenge was heard.
Begbie said he had written to Russia’s lawyers on Saturday to make the offer, but had heard no response.
In an apparent reference to the mutiny of the Wagner group against the Russian military on the weekend, he then said:
I do not criticise my friend for not responding to this letter. Russia has had other things on its mind over the weekend.
Begbie argued that Russia’s challenge to the government’s new laws stripping it of its proposed new embassy site was weak. He said Russia had needed to demonstrate that the high court challenge was compelling to justify temporarily preventing the Australian government from taking possession of the land:
It’s not just that they haven’t made a compelling case for constitutional validity, they’ve made absolutely no case.
The high court agreed and refused Russia’s application to hold onto the site pending the hearing of its more substantive constitutional challenge.
Updated
Amex Taylor Swift presale back online
The Amex ticket site is up and running again after crashing this morning, half an hour before the Taylor Swift Eras Tour pre-sale tickets went live.
An Amex spokesperson said:
Following some technical difficulties this morning as a result of high demand, we are pleased to report that the website link to the American Express VIP Package Pre-Sale for Taylor Swift’s The Eras Tour, is now back up and running.
Updated
Russia loses bid to keep proposed embassy site while case runs
Russia has lost a bid to hold onto the site of its proposed embassy site while the high court hears a challenge against new laws designed to terminate its lease.
The high court handed down a ruling immediately after hearing arguments from Russia and the commonwealth. In seeking to hold onto the land, Russia had to demonstrate its challenge to the constitutional validity of the new laws was “compelling”.
But Justice Jayne Jagot described Russia’s challenge to the laws as “weak” and “hard to understand”. She dismissed the application by Russia to temporarily hold onto the land. The rest of the case will be heard at a later date.
Updated
Wet weather to hit eastern states this week
A large cloud band is set to bring unseasonable wet weather to parts of Australia as it moves eastwards across the country this week.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s forecasts suggest a rain band developing over northern Western Australia on Sunday into Monday will move towards the eastern states over the first half of the week.
It's going to be a wet week for large areas of Australia. This is how much rain the ECMWF-HRES model is predicting over the next 7 days. If this comes off, we can expect to see widespread outback flooding and road closures. pic.twitter.com/SZM4iJlaO2
— Ben Domensino (@Ben_Domensino) June 26, 2023
Read more on the ‘unseasonable’ cloud band from Donna Lu here:
Updated
Voice poll tracker
We have updated our voice to parliament poll tracker with the latest Newspoll result.
The trend continues to show a decline in support for voting yes on the voice:
It’s worthwhile keeping in mind all the issues involved with measuring polling on a referendum question, which we wrote about here.
It’s also worth keeping in mind that the headline Newspoll result includes 10% of people who said “don’t know”, so the figure of 43% who say they’d vote yes can’t be compared to polls without a ‘don’t know’ response without converting the number.
Excluding the “don’t knows” puts the yes vote at around 47%.
Updated
Daryl Maguire charged in connection to Icac investigation
Former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire has been charged with giving false and misleading evidence in relation to a corruption watchdog inquiry involving Canterbury Council.
The announcement of the charges comes just days before the Independent Commission Against Corruption hands down its report relating to the former politician and former premier, Gladys Berejiklian.
A spokesperson for Icac said:
A court attendance Notice was served on Daryl Maguire on 2 June 2023 for one count of giving false and misleading evidence pursuant to section 87 of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988.
This is in relation to the commission’s Operation Dasha investigation into the conduct of councillors of the former Canterbury City Council and others.
The watchdog recommended in 2021 that Maguire face criminal charges over testimony given during the operation.
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Commonwealth Bank app and netbank outage
Commonwealth Bank’s app and netbank services are experiencing an outage, leaving customers unable to access their money.
“We’re aware some customers are experiencing difficulties accessing some our services and we are urgently investigating,” a CBA spokesperson says. “We apologise and thank customers for their patience.”
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Crean a ‘great friend’ of universities
The late former Labor leader Simon Crean has been remembered as a great friend of the higher education sector.
The Australian Technology Network of Universities (ATN) executive director Luke Sheehy paid tribute to Crean’s role as former education minister and ACTU president, describing him as a “political giant” and “great friend” of universities:
I am incredibly sad to hear the news that Simon Crean has passed away. His willingness to engage and work collaboratively was second to none, along with providing great judgment and advice. We at ATN Universities pass on our condolences to his family and friends.”
Crean also served as an adjunct professor at Deakin University and member of the ATN universities industry advisory panel.
Updated
Transport delays in Melbourne’s west
Antoun Issa says Victoria’s “big build” is “big chaos”.
It's a shambles in Melbourne's west. Numerous train lines shut down, key roads linking to the city cut off intermittently.
— Antoun Issa (@antissa) June 25, 2023
Meanwhile, metro passengers can't board V/line despite the fares being the same?
Victoria's "Big Build" - big chaos. https://t.co/X9N8HwD8zp
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ACT cap stops ‘egregious’ rent rises: Andrew Barr
Earlier this morning the ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, appeared at a press conference alongside federal climate change minister Chris Bowen announcing support for apartment buildings to go solar.
Barr was also asked about the ACT’s system of rent control, which limits rent rises to 110% of inflation. For example, a renter paying $400 a week while inflation is 7% could cop a rent rise to $430 but not further. This has become a contentious issue with prime minister Anthony Albanese asking national cabinet to consider renters rights, and the federal Greens stalling the Housing Australia Future Fund bill until they see progress.
Barr said:
The ACT’s rent capping arrangements are a safeguard, effectively, against the most egregious forms of rental increase. But they only work when accompanied by a very significant supply side response. So we’ve seen the share of housing in the ACT available for rent increase from about 26% to 10 years ago to 31% now. We’ve had about a 50% increase in the number of rental properties in the ACT. So having minimum standards for insulation and the like to ensure that the quality of the stock improves and having 110% of CPI cap, they’re effective regulation but only in the circumstance of significantly increasing supply. I would not recommend doing it unless you have a pathway for significantly increasing supply. And that pathway is passing the Housing Australia Future Fund bill through the Senate. So I’m calling on the Senate, the Coalition and the Greens to stop delaying. One of those two political groupings needs to pass this bill so that more supply can be added to the market.
Barr, who is also the ACT’s treasurer, said states and territories were looking to achieve a “dramatic increase in supply”, although they are at different points in planning law reform:
But importantly we need the finance to be able to [build]. And for 10 years we’ve had nothing from the commonwealth government. We not have a commonwealth government at the table working with the states and territories - if only the Senate will get out of the way.
Updated
Russia wants to keep embassy site while court case runs
The Russian government is using the words of prime minister Anthony Albanese to argue to the high court that it should hold on to the site of its proposed embassy while a challenge to new laws designed to dispossess it of the block is heard.
The high court has begun hearing an urgent injunction as part of a Russian challenge to laws designed to kick it off the site of its partially constructed new embassy in Yarralumla. It argued on Monday that it should be allowed to keep hold of the site while the high court challenge is heard, saying its continued possession of the site posed no security risk and had no detrimental impact on the Australian public.
In so doing, lawyers for the Russian Federation pointed to the words of Albanese last week, when he said that the security risk was only posed by a completed embassy building within close proximity to parliament. Albanese said the presence of a lone Russian at the site, who is currently occupying a demountable, was no more than “some bloke” on a “blade of grass”.
Russia’s lawyers says Albanese’s comments prove there is no security concern posed by its ongoing use of the site while the high court challenge is heard.
Russia’s counsel told the court:
The stated position of the prime minister is that the security personnel of my client who is on the land ... is not seemingly a risk.
Updated
In case you missed it …
Australian actress Cate Blanchett has surprised with an animated appearance on the Glastonbury festival stage, performing a dance beside American duo Sparks. She wears a yellow suit and red headphones – mirroring The Girl Is Crying In Her Latte music video, which Blanchett features in.
Here are my favourite shots of the A-lister clearly in her element:
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All you need to know about Taylor Swift tickets
In a feat of public service journalism, my colleague Natasha May has explained everything you need to know about Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour coming to Australia – including where, when and how to get your hands on hotly sought-after tickets.
(Spoiler alert: today’s Amex sale is not your last chance. The general Ticketek sale goes live on Friday). Read more here:
Updated
Amex Australia have shared state-based links to Taylor Swift pre-sale tickets. The pages seem to be working … for now.
To access the American Express Pre-Sale for Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour, please use the links below:
— Amex Australia (@AmexAU) June 25, 2023
Sydney: https://t.co/UShJlyxteF
Melbourne: https://t.co/1uVB6tgzTc
Pre-Sale starts 10am AEST Sydney and 2pm AEST Melbourne Mon 26 June and ends Wed 28 June, or until sold out.
Updated
$400m in unspent Qantas credits to expire in December
Qantas customers still have $400m in unspent Covid-related credits, and the airline is making a push for passengers to spend them before they expire in December, as it continues to mend the relationship with its clientele.
The airline has also launched a new “Find My Credit”' online tool to search for bookings up to three years old, to make it easier for passengers to consolidate the credits they are entitled to.
The Qantas credits must be booked by the end of the year, but those bookings can be for travel through to the end of 2024. The airline said refunds are still an option for “the majority” customers.
Qantas is offering double frequent flyer points for customers who book a flight with their Covid credits before 31 July.
While $400m in credit remains unspent, Qantas Group – which includes budget carrier Jetstar – said about $2bn in Covid related credits had been issued throughout the pandemic, with most related to cancelled travel in March 2020.
Markus Svensson, Qantas group’s chief customer officer, said “the majority of the Covid credits we hold can be converted into refunds but we can’t do it automatically as the credit cards used for the purchase as far back as 2019 may have expired”:
We’d obviously like customers to use their Covid credit to fly with us, but if they’d prefer a refund, we’re putting additional processes in place to help with that.
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Taylor Swift crashes Amex before pre-sale tickets go live
The Australian Swifties have done it. American Express’ ticket site has crashed, half an hour before Taylor Swift pre-sale tickets have even gone live.
Taylor Swift has crashed Amex, half an hour before pre-presale tix go on sale. pic.twitter.com/S9DDiJtG7w
— NickdMiller ❔ (@NickdMiller) June 25, 2023
I wish you luck in the battle for tickets. I shall be eagerly watching the chaos ensue from afar.
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Crean would have been ‘very good’ PM, says Albanese
Prime minister Anthony Albanese pays tribute to former the Labor leader, Simon Crean, on ABC News Breakfast this morning.
Simon is someone who is a giant of our movement, someone who served as a cabinet minister in four governments, someone who made a difference in all of the portfolios, whether it was doing trade deals, revitalising the arts, whether it was regional development, whether it was in employment, getting Australians into jobs.
He was so thoroughly decent and a very honourable man.
Simon Crean is someone who continued to engage and offer support and advice.
He is someone who always had advice and wisdom, as a former Labor leader. It is a difficult job being leader of the opposition. And I had it for three years and I regarded his counsel as being very wise. He was someone who was always worth listening to.
"I think he would have been a very good prime minister."
— 3AW Melbourne (@3AW693) June 25, 2023
— Anthony Albanese on Simon Crean
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SA dam warning
A second dam failure warning has been issued amid a week of wild weather in South Australia.
The first dam with a flood Watch & Act is about 40 minutes out of the Adelaide CBD in Hope Forest. The second is in Basket Range in the Adelaide Hills.
Reporter Charles Brice tells ABC Breakfast the latter dam is “overflowing”.
There has been quite a bit of water that has been coming down. You can see the wash-out on the side of the road and the debris that it has caused. There has been quite a lot of debris. Crews have been here cleaning up.
Low-lying properties near the dam in Basket Range are being warned of overflowing water, and some residents have evacuated, he says.
Around both dams, roads are closed, and SES crews have been trying to reduce the amount of water in the dams.
“The SES are really telling people to prepare for floods and to evacuate if needed,” Brice says.
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'A disaster for Mr Putin': PM
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has been a “disaster” for both Ukrainians and Russians, on ABC News Breakfast this morning.
Albanese says he was briefed three times over the weekend on the Wagner group marching on Moscow. Events were moving so fast “it was unclear what was going on with circumstances that seemed bizarre from this distance”, he says.
Quite clearly, you can’t have events like that and just wipe them out, pretend that you will go back to stability. This has been a disaster for Mr Putin. He overplayed his hand and he got it wrong. And some of the consequences of that, I think we saw playing out on the weekend.
Albanese says “the best thing that Mr Putin can do” is “withdraw from this illegal invasion [and] retreat back behind his own borders”.
Mr Putin thought he could just roll over international law and roll over the people of Ukraine and have regime change there. President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine have shown enormous courage in standing up for their national sovereignty. And, clearly, the democracies around the world, including Australia, will continue to provide support for the people of Ukraine.
What is very clear to me is that the Russian illegal invasion of Ukraine has been a disaster for the people of Ukraine, most importantly, but it has also been a disaster for the people of Russia.
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O’Neil defends decision to keep Nauru offshore processing open
Home affairs and cyber security minister Clare O’Neil was asked about why the offshore processing site on Nauru is being kept open if the last refugee has been removed on ABC RN this morning.
O’Neil says “our approach to the asylum seeker issue is to be strong on borders, not weak on humanity”.
It is an unmitigated good thing for the country that we’ve transitioned the last asylum seeker off Nauru. This has been a festering sore in Australian politics for more than a decade. And I’m very pleased that our government has taken that approach of making sure that we bring that to a close.
However, it is very important that we maintain our strength on the borders. Offshore processing is a part of our overall approach and that is why Nauru will remain open and on standby.
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O’Neil headed to Five Eyes meeting
More from Clare O’Neil on ABC RN this morning.
The minister for home affairs and cyber security is on her way to the Five Eyes Alliance annual meeting, where she will discuss national security intelligence matters with a network of countries including the US, UK, Canada and New Zealand.
“We will spend quite a bit of time talking about counterterrorism and the ways in which that problem has changed shape over the last decade,” O’Neil says.
“We’ll spend a lot of time on issues like foreign interference and espionage” – which is now described by ASIO as the biggest national security threat – “and also talk a lot about cyber security”.
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Albanese confident of yes vote on voice despite polling dip
Prime minister Anthony Albanese says he is confident majority of Australians will vote yes to the Indigenous voice, even as Newspoll suggests support for a yes vote is slipping below 45%.
I think that as Australians focus on what is before the Australian people in the last quarter of this year, recognition and listening all upside, not downside for this proposal.
As they focus on it, as business and unions and faith groups and sporting codes all go out there campaigning, talking to people, having a look at what the actual question is that is being asked here, I believe that a majority of Australians will come to the view that I have come to, which is that we will give greater respect to Indigenous Australians but we will also enrich and lift up our nation.
Albanese tells ABC News Breakfast the referendum comes “from the grass roots,” pointing to the First Nations constitutional convention in 2017 at Uluru.
This is a once in a generation opportunity and we will be saying to Australians, if not now, when will we recognise Indigenous Australians in our constitution?
You can read more on how the public messaging of referendum supporters hopes to offer antidote to fear and misinformation from Lorena Allam and Josh Butler here:
Updated
Crean’s support will ‘stay with me forever’, says Clare O’Neil
Clare O’Neil, MP for Hotham and minister for home affairs and cyber security, pays tribute to Simon Crean on ABC RN this morning.
I met Simon when I was 16 years old. I just joined the Labor party and he was an incredible human being. He treated me as a 16-year-old with such generosity and respect. And that travelled with me through my entire journey in politics. He supported me when I ran for local government when I was 22, when I ran for mayor, and then when I succeeded him in Hotham.
I was just reading over his texts this morning and the warmth and enjoyment he got out of the things that I achieved in politics, it will stay with me forever. He was a friend and a mentor.
Unbelievably sad news this evening that Simon Crean, former Labor Leader, ACTU President and MP for Hotham for 23-years, has passed away very suddenly. pic.twitter.com/TxkzpyXZEN
— Clare O'Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) June 25, 2023
Updated
New ferries for Parramatta
Seven new ferries for Sydney’s Parramatta River route will be made in Australia, AAP reports. The move is part of the state government’s election promise to stop buying transport infrastructure made overseas.
Sydney’s Incat Crowther has designed the new Parramatta Class ferries. The tender has been awarded to Richardson Devine Marine Shipbuilders in Hobart.
The new ferries will allow for future conversion to electric propulsion.
Construction will begin in July.
NSW premier Chris Minns says the new fleet will be an improvement on the 10 problematic River Class vessels that entered service in 2021. They were made overseas.
They were unable to fit under some bridges while passengers were on the top deck, had night-time glare that impeded driver visibility, and reports of asbestos.
Minns said:
The NSW government is committed to building things here again to create jobs, boost manufacturing and end the failed offshore imports of the previous Liberal government.
- With AAP
Updated
Tributes flow for Crean
Tributes are flowing after former Labor leader Simon Crean died, aged 74.
The former opposition leader and Australian Council Of Trade Unions president, died suddenly while in Berlin on Sunday.
Crean led the Australian Labor party from November 2001 to December 2003, and spearheaded Labor’s opposition to the Iraq war.
Colleagues across party lines and industry friends are not short in sharing photos, memories and condolences.
Vale Simon Crean. A great servant of the labour movement and a wonderful human being. Our condolences to Carole and all his family. pic.twitter.com/9o1VDcmC2g
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) June 25, 2023
Deeply shocked and saddened by the loss of Simon Crean. He was a good friend and mentor to me from the moment I entered Parliament, building on the relationship his father had with my grandfather.. A man of enormous intellect, integrity and commitment to this country.
— Mike Kelly (@MikeKellyofEM) June 25, 2023
In Simon Crean Labor has lost a former leader & a principled yet pragmatic advocate. As a former trade minister he was always generous to those of us who followed him & continued to work for Australia’s national interest until the end. Vale. https://t.co/wF1d5bA5A6
— Simon Birmingham (@Birmo) June 25, 2023
I was so shocked and saddened at the news of Simon Crean’s passing last night. Simon was a labor & union leader of integrity, characterised by a life of service. He also generously gave me wise counsel on many occasions. My condolences to carole and family. RIP Simon Crean
— Peter Khalil MP (@PeterKhalilMP) June 25, 2023
I’m shocked to learn the passing of Simon Crean.
— Senator Raff Ciccone (@SenRaffCiccone) June 25, 2023
He was a giant of the labour movement, serving as President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, and federal leader of the Australian Labor Party.
Vale Simon.https://t.co/K02Y9hk74c
Updated
An Aboriginal teenager with an intellectual disability was likely locked in solitary confinement for more than 500 days at Queensland’s troubled Cleveland youth detention centre, in a situation described to a court as a “major failure in our system”.
On Friday, the children’s court heard that during 744 days in the youth prison, Michael was subject to a regime of “fairly routine” solitary confinement – where he was regularly locked in his cell for more than 20 hours a day – and that this was overwhelmingly due to staffing issues at the centre.
Read the full exclusive from Ben Smee here:
Taiwan wants Australian military officer in Taipei
Taiwan is asking Canberra to install a military officer in its Australian office in Taipei so the two nations can work together to prevent “the worst from happening” amid sustained threats from China, AAP reports.
President Tsai Ing-wen’s government wants the officer to liaise with Taiwanese security agencies, foreign minister Joseph Wu told The Australian. The United States, Japan and Singapore had done so for decades, he said.
The Taiwanese government also want to put a military officer in Taipei’s de facto embassy in Canberra.
Wu said in Taipei:
I think it is very important when the Australian government is paying so much more attention to the regional security issues for the two countries to be able to share their observations, their assessment of the situation.
I know the Australian Office over here has started speaking with our security agencies, and that kind of development is very important.
It showed the Australian government attached importance to speaking with Taiwanese security officials “to understand our perspectives on how to prevent the worst from happening,” Wu said.
Australia does not recognise Taiwan as a country, under a “One China” policy. We do maintain informal ties with officials in Taipei.
- With AAP
Updated
Budget measures available from 1 July
The government is out this morning reminding Australians of its cost of living package, spruiking all the budget measures that come into effect from the end of this week.
A stack of the government’s programs are available from 1 July, including power bill relief, boosts to childcare and paid parental leave, aged care worker pay rises, and asset write-offs for small business. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the new measures will “come into effect right when people need a bit more help”, as well as highlighting comments from Treasury and the RBA that some policies will help reduce inflation.
The suite of policies which will start to roll out from Saturday will make a real difference in the lives of millions of hardworking Australians while delivering an economic dividend and laying the foundations for future growth.
Key policies like energy price relief will directly reduce inflation, while others like cheaper childcare and enhanced paid parental leave will boost the capacity of our economy.
This week also sees changes to the National Housing Finance and Investment Corporation to support more lending to community housing providers, as well as expanded eligibility for the First Home Guarantee and Regional First Home Guarantee.
The government highlights that, from July 1, all these policies will activate:
Power bill relief for five million households and one million small businesses, in partnership with states and territories
Cheaper child care
Paid parental leave seeing two separate allowances combined into a single, 20-week scheme
A 15 per cent pay rise for 250,000 aged care workers
$20,000 small business instant asset write-off
Small Business Energy Incentive
Welcome
Good morning, and welcome to a new week of rolling news coverage.
Here are the overnight headlines to kick off the day.
PwC has announced a new Australian boss and confirmed it will sell off government consultancy work by spinning off a new company for $1. British exec Kevin Burrowes will head it up, as the consulting firm deals with multiple scandals to do with its handling of sensitive public information. The NSW minister for finance Courtney Houssos said the state government would be assessing the integrity of PwC’s $1 divested business, as part of combatting waste and ineffectiveness in consultancy hires.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers is spruiking the government’s cost of living package, reminding Australians of budget measures to come into effect from the end of this week. From 1 July, power bill relief, boosts to childcare and paid parental leave, aged care worker pay rises, and asset write-offs for small business will come into effect.
And looking internationally, a crucial advantage for Ukraine may have just been revealed. A day after renegade Wagner mercenaries almost sparked a civil war in Russia, the top US diplomat Antony Blinken has said the uprising is far from over, and showed “real cracks” in Vladimir Putin’s government.
Stick around for the news of the day. I’m Rafqa Touma, and I’ll be with you for the next few hours. If you see anything you don’t want the blog to miss, let me know @At_Raf_ on Twitter.
