What we learned; Wednesday 8 November
And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin says “technical network issues” were behind a nationwide network outage that affected everything from train services to wifi cat feeders.
Experts suggest the blackout of internet and mobile services could have been caused by the same issue that brought down Facebook two years ago.
Indefinite immigration detention is unlawful, the high court has held, in a landmark decision overturning a 20-year-old precedent.
A driver who ploughed through a roadside beer garden, killing five people, is an insulin-dependent diabetic who required immediate treatment at the scene, his lawyer says.
The Matildas and Socceroos have struck a new pay deal that will mean the country’s top women’s footballers could receive a pay increase of up to $80,000 per year.
And ANZ, Westpac and NAB have raised interest rates following the RBA’s decision on Tuesday to hike the official cash rate.
Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us. We will be back tomorrow morning!
Updated
Coalition says Labor must ‘limit the risk posed by problematic individuals’ after immigration detention ruling
The Coalition has responded to the high court decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful.
The shadow attorney general, Michaelia Cash, said:
The government must act immediately to ensure the safety of the Australian community and explore all available options to limit the risk posed by problematic individuals.
We are yet to see the reasons of the High Court but will study them as soon as they are available. It appears the High Court has overturned a 20-year-old judgement which has underpinned the migration policies of Governments on both sides for the last two decades.
The decision is likely to lead to the release of a number of individuals who have been refused visas on character grounds, and who cannot be returned to their country of origin.
The precise legal impact, both in this case and for the Migration Act, will need to be assessed once the reasons are handed down.
Cash is quite right that we have to see the full reasons, but based on the fact that the plaintiff, NZYQ, won the constitutional argument it seems unlikely that this is a decision the government can legislate away with an update to the Migration Act.
It’s more likely that we’ll see a series of residence determinations with conditions, meaning long-term detainees with no prospect of deportation will live in the community subject to some supervision.
Updated
WA brings in fire restrictions early and calls on people to prepare survival plans
The increasing bushfire risk in Western Australia has prompted the authorities to bring burning restrictions forward, as the state’s top firefighter warns not enough people have survival plans, AAP reports.
The Fire and Emergency Services commissioner, Darren Klemm, said the seasonal conditions were about five to eight weeks ahead of where they would normally be.
“The bushfire season has arrived in WA much earlier this year,” he said on Wednesday.
WA firefighters have battled more than 100 blazes in the past fortnight, including in the Perth suburbs.
“We simply can’t afford fire being introduced to the landscape any longer,’ Klemm said as he explained the early introduction of the restrictions that take effect on Friday.
Prohibited burning times across 13 local governments in the Perth area will start on Friday, with landowners and local governments no longer able to undertake planned burning activities or set fire to bushland.
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Indefinite detention ruling has ‘life-changing consequences for people who have been detained for years’
The Human Rights Law Centre, which intervened to support the successful plaintiff in the case striking down indefinite detention, has welcomed the high court decision.
HRLC acting legal director, Sanmati Verma, said:
Indefinite detention ends today. The High Court has overturned a two-decades old authority that allowed the Government to lock people up in immigration detention potentially for the rest of their lives. Today, the High Court held that the government can no longer detain people if there is no real prospect that it will become practicable to remove them from Australia in the reasonably foreseeable future. Detention in these circumstances is unconstitutional.
This has life-changing consequences for people who have been detained for years without knowing when, or even if, they will ever be released.
The government must respect the constitutional limits of detention and act immediately to free people who have been indefinitely detained.
Updated
ANZ and Westpac to pass on interest rate rise
ANZ and Westpac have today followed in NAB’s footsteps, announcing they will be passing on Tuesday’s cash rate hike to their variable mortgage customers in full.
ANZ’s rate increase will be effective on Friday 17 November, while Westpac’s rate rise will take effect on Tuesday 21 November.
So far NAB, ANZ, Westpac, ME Bank, BOQ and Virgin Money have announced full rate increases for variable mortgage customers.
Updated
Optus releases statement
Optus sincerely apologises to customers for today’s outage.
We know that customers rely on our services, which is why the whole team at Optus has been working hard to fix this.
Services have now been restored, and customers should now be able to be back online.
We again thank customers for their patience.
Updated
Officer saved from charging bull by protective gear
A Queensland police officer will have a tale to tell for the rest of his life after walking away from a charging bull thanks to new protective gear, AAP reports.
A video released by the force on Wednesday shows the bull walking away after some words and hand signals by the officer.
The officer later said policing was a diverse job on any given day and you never know what kind of horns might come at you in the role:
That was pretty unexpected, and I’ll admit, it was a bit of a shock.
The vest is a integrated load-bearing vest, or ILBV, that combines ballistic and edged weapon technology through advancements in textiles and design, Queensland police said.
A statewide roll out of the ILBV’s began in January to frontline officers across Queensland.
Check out our new Integrated Load Bearing Vest (ILBV) in action. More than Bull-istic!https://t.co/G0PaY0ithW pic.twitter.com/OOkj4c3o26
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) November 8, 2023
Updated
Cutting of 600 Optus jobs in 12 months nothing to do with outage: CEO
Bayer Rosmarin has said the 600 jobs lost at Optus in the last 12 months had nothing to do with today’s outage.
We have a lot of dedicated, fantastic people at Optus who really try and do their best for our customers every single day. Really had fantastic top-notch team of engineers working very hard today to restore services as quickly as possible. But we’re very sorry that this occurred. And we will take all the learnings if you can’t ensure this sort of thing doesn’t happen.
Bayer Rosmarin defended how the telco communicated with customers, saying she did several media appearances.
Unfortunately, when you have an outage like this, the only message customers want to hear is that we’ve restored the network so they were available by the afternoon that we were able to let customers know that the service was fully restored.
Asked if Optus was losing the trust of Australians considering the data breach and now this, Bayer Rosmarin said the telco offered customers ‘a fantastic service’.
No company is working harder to do what it can to go the extra mile for customers and we’ll continue to be focused on being a customer champion. But we’re very apologetic that today we let our customers down.
Updated
Optus chief says ‘technical network issues’ behind outage
The CEO of Optus, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, has been talking on ABC.
She said a “technical network issues” were behind the outage today.
As a critical infrastructure provider, we strive to have our services available 365 days a year, 24/7. We largely succeed. In my three-and-a-half years as the CEO of Optus, we’ve never had an outage of this nature. So it’s a very rare occurrence, but unfortunately, it does happen.
It happens to telcos all around the world. It happens to other telcos in Australia. We try and avoid that happening and we will make sure we learn as much as we possibly can from what occurred and hopefully keep it as an extremely rare occurrence.
She apologised to customers but stopped short of agreeing to compensate people whose businesses were impacted.
Updated
High court rules indefinite detention unlawful in landmark decision
Indefinite detention is unlawful, the high court has held, in a landmark decision overturning a 20-year old precedent that underpins Australia’s immigration detention system.
The result overturns the case of Al-Kateb, which had authorised indefinite detention even in circumstances where it is impossible to deport an alien.
On Wednesday the chief justice, Stephen Gageler said that “at least a majority” of the justices agreed that sections of the Migration Act which had been interpreted to authorise indefinite immigration detention were beyond legislative power.
The home affairs department believes the result could trigger the immediate release of 92 people who cannot be returned to their country of origin, with the detention of a wider cohort of 340 people in long-term detention also in doubt.
Updated
There’s been a tsunami near the Banda Sea, but it should not be felt in Australia.
No #tsunami threat to Australia from magnitude 7.1 #earthquake near Banda Sea. Latest advice at https://t.co/Tynv3ZQpEq. pic.twitter.com/SRMxQU3Qsx
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) November 8, 2023
Updated
QT gets chaotic
Senate question time has just descended into mostly unintelligible shouting at this point.
Murray Watt, the only other Labor minister in the chamber able to answer questions, has taken a dixer on the economy to give Don Farrell a bit of relief from answering about eight questions in a row.
Watt gives a colourful response, sledging the opposition about inflation. Opposition finance spokesperson Jane Hume hits back, calling Watt a “fool” for his take on the economy.
Coalition senator Bridget McKenzie is giving some loud play-by-play commentary as things develop, loud enough for us in the press gallery to hear – she calls Watt “undergraduate”.
When One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts asks Watt another question, this time on inflation, McKenzie comments:
People in the suburbs hate this.
It’s unclear how long Senate QT will go on today, considering the first 30 minutes of the normally scheduled block was taken up with the debate on Pauline Hanson’s comments about Mehreen Faruqi. It’s clear that some of the senators are enjoying the Senate-only week, taking their time in the spotlight with their lower house colleagues not sitting this week.
Updated
Murray Watt spruiks Labor’s plan to fix infrastructure budget blowouts
Earlier Murray Watt, who is representing the infrastructure minister in the Senate, was talking up what the Albanese government is doing to manage the infrastructure pipeline.
The infrastructure minister, Catherine King, said on Monday some of the 250 projects that had not begun construction in the $120bn pipeline would need to be cancelled or delayed as a result of the infrastructure review expected to be released soon.
Watt, known for riling up the opposition in Senate question time, started listing the reasons why the federal government is going to fix up the $33bn in budget blowouts across infrastructure projects announced under the former Coalition government.
Surprising few veteran Senate watchers, opposition senators started heckling across the chamber, making references to state governments that are now concerned their projects will face the cutting room floor.
Shadow infrastructure minister Bridget McKenzie was among the loudest to interject, saying:
I hope your state colleagues agree.
Updated
The letter, addressed to prime minister Anthony Albanese, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong, defence minister Richard Marles and attorney general Mark Dreyfus, urged Australia to use its influence to help broker a ceasefire to the “ever-escalating and horrific conflict in the Middle East”.
The well-accepted limits of international law, human rights law and the law of armed conflict have been exceeded. There is mounting evidence that atrocity crimes have been committed. Atrocity crimes are considered to be the most serious crimes against humankind. Their status as international crimes is based on the belief that the acts associated with them affect the core dignity of human beings.
Pursuant to those obligations, we call upon the Australian government urgently to exert its influence to secure a ceasefire in Gaza and the West Bank, and to ensure urgently the adequate provision of food, fuel, medicine and other humanitarian assistance to Gaza, and the unconditional restoration of water and electricity.
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Lawyers urge Albanese government to press for Gaza ceasefire
More than 300 lawyers in Australia have signed an open letter calling on the federal government to “exert its influence to secure a ceasefire” in Gaza as the humanitarian crisis in the occupied territory worsens.
The legal signatories to the letter - including Greg Barns SC, spokesperson for the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Rawan Arraf, executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice, and Guy Gilbert SC, chairperson of the International Commission of Jurists, Victoria - acknowledged the suffering of Israeli and Palestinian communities, and diasporas around the world.
We are deeply mindful that many people in Australia – including Israelis and Palestinians, and those in the broader Jewish, Arab and Muslim communities – have close ties to the region, and we express our sympathy to all of them, particularly the bereaved, and those whose loved ones are still in grave danger. The death, trauma and other harm visited on individuals, families and whole communities in the last month has been devastating.
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Updated
Australian uni campuses in India a ‘win-win’ deal, city chief says
The CEO of India’s Gujarat International Finance Tec (Gift) city, Tapan Ray, has welcomed the establishment of two Australian university campuses from July 2024.
The setting up of campuses ... heralds a promising era for India’s international education landscape. This event also underscores our vision of creating a world-class education centre that focuses on a continuous supply of talent to further strengthen our finance and tech hub at Gift city, resulting in win-win outcomes for all stakeholders.
Under India’s sweeping national education plan, the government is aiming for half of its young population to gain vocational or higher education degrees by 2035 – an increase of 500 million students.
The executive director of the Australian Technology Network of Universities, Luke Sheehy, said student applications for the Deakin campus were about to begin, with building work expected to be completed by the end of December.
This is a great milestone for Australian higher education with Deakin and, of course, the University of Wollongong being two of the first in the world to have international branch campuses in India.
Updated
Labor backs roadmap for boosting Australia-India education ties
The federal government has emerged from today’s Australia India Education and Skills Council meeting with an education strategy to ramp up Australia’s presence in the rapidly expanding nation and reduce barriers for Indian students to pursue higher education.
The meeting, co-chaired by education minister Jason Clare and minister for skills and training Brendan O’Connor, followed the announcement Deakin and the University of Wollongong would be the first two foreign universities to establish campuses in India’s Gujarat International Finance-Tec (Gift) city.
The strategy sets out closer education and research partnerships between the two nations, including the establishment of further offshore campuses, increased recognition of qualifications and scholarship and mobility programs.
India is Australia’s second-largest source of international students behind China.
It comes as Deakin and Monash University signed four new partnerships with Indian counterparts this week, including between Monash and the International Centre of Excellence in Mining.
It brings formal partnerships between the Australian higher education sector and Indian universities to more than 450, following a fivefold increase between 2007 and 2020.
Clare said the meeting was “all about strengthening the education relationship between Australia and India”.
These developments also highlight that international education is not a one-way street. It is not just about international students coming to Australia, it is increasingly about Australian universities going to the world.
Also announced today was an inaugural $11.2m Maitri scholars program, offering around 45 Indian students the opportunity to complete post-graduate Stem degrees at Australian universities.
Updated
The minister for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has shared these photos from the Cook Islands, where the Pacific Islands Forum is being held:
Today I joined Pacific leaders for the opening of the Pacific Partnerships for Prosperity Pavilion in #CookIslands.
— Pat Conroy MP (@PatConroy1) November 8, 2023
It’s on the site of a market rebuilt after the original was destroyed in a cyclone—one of many examples of Pacific economic resilience.#OurPacificWay#PIFLM52 pic.twitter.com/lUy9jp23kn
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today – and what a big day it’s been! There’s still plenty more to come, so I’ll leave you with the lovely Cait Kelly to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage.
Coalition tries to trip up Don Farrell in Senate shenanigans
Back to the Senate, where question time has descended into some serious shenanigans as the Coalition opposition seek to cause some chaos with the Labor government’s ministerial ranks depleted.
The Coalition is trying to trip up trade minister Don Farrell, who is one of only two ministers in the chamber at the moment, and therefore answering the bulk of the questions – in several portfolios he isn’t normally responsible for. Liberal senator James McGrath asks Farrell a housing question, querying what Labor defines as rental stress.
Farrell spoke around the question for a few minutes, noting some of the government’s housing policies but not giving a concrete definition. There’s some back-and-forth bickering, before opposition Senate leader Simon Birmingham stands to object, brandishing a piece of paper at Farrell upon which he says is written the definition of housing stress.
Birmingham, mocking Farrell, suggests the minister simply read out a highlighted section of the paper, thrusting it across the chamber and on to Farrell’s speaking lectern – something you don’t see very often.
Labor senator Deb O’Neill stands herself, starting to object, before Senate president Sue Lines interjects to ask:
Why are you on your feet?
A Liberal senator (we couldn’t make out who) jokes that it’s “the best question asked today”.
Updated
Meanwhile, it seems the Optus website is down – it briefly came back, but was showing this message just minutes ago:
It appears the Optus website is down after coming back briefly: pic.twitter.com/2ft4IZwsGg
— Emily Wind (@emilywindwrites) November 8, 2023
NAB lifts mortgage rate
National Australia Bank is lifting its variable home loan by 25 basis points in response to yesterday’s increase in the official cash rate.
NAB is the first major bank to announce the increase, although it will likely be matched by Commonwealth Bank, Westpac and ANZ.
Rachel Slade, the NAB group executive for personal banking, said while most customers were in “good shape”, some would be concerned about the first rate rise since the middle of the year.
The Reserve Bank announced a quarter-point hike to the cash rate to 4.35% on Tuesday, marking a 12-year high. It was the thirteenth rise since May last year.
A 25 basis point increase will add roughly $100 to monthly repayments for a standard loan of about $600,000, according to RateCity data.
The NAB increase will come into effect on mortgages from 17 November. It also announced increased rates for some of its savings and deposit products.
Updated
Optus outage update: some services return, root cause unclear
An afternoon update on where things are at with the Optus outage:
Optus hasn’t provided any further updates since its last post at 12.55pm AEDT, indicating that services were gradually being restored.
Some customers posting on social media say they have now been able to call and text. Some still don’t have their connections restored, or have lost their connection since it came back online.
Optus also hasn’t provided detail on the cause of the outage. The last we heard from CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin at midday was the telco was “still investigating the root cause”.
She told 3AW radio:
This is a very unusual occurrence and as soon as we understand exactly what happened we will be forthcoming with details.
As soon as those details are announced, we’ll bring you them right here on the blog.
Updated
As the Senate chamber moves on to question time (the first one is from the opposition and is on the economy), Josh Butler reports from the chamber that the Greens senators have moved to comfort Mehreen Faruqi with hugs.
Faruqi has left the chamber.
Updated
Senate president to ‘reflect’ on Hanson’s comments after senator refuses to withdraw
Larissa Waters has made her three-minute statement – which is what she had attempted to do at the beginning.
The Senate president, Sue Lines, says she will now look at Pauline Hanson’s original contribution, which has sparked this (Lines was not in the chair when Hanson made the earlier comments). Lines will then take a look at today’s contribution and then “reflect” on whether there needs to be further action taken against Hanson for refusing to withdraw.
Hanson is not allowed to make any further contributions to the Senate until Lines has made her ruling (which will be later today).
The Senate moves on to question time.
Updated
Greens ‘simply wanted … Hanson to withdraw her racially charged remarks’, Larissa Waters says
Back in the Senate, Labor and most of the crossbench have supported the motion to suspend the standing orders, so Larissa Waters gets to continue.
Waters says that the Greens “simply wanted Senator [Pauline] Hanson to withdraw her racially charged remarks and instead we heard a repetition of them”.
So now the Senate president has to decide whether there will be further consequences for Hanson for refusing to withdraw.
Waters is speaking to the larger point of setting better standards and “not permitting racial divisive speech and religious discrimination in this chamber”.
At the moment, there is still no independent commission which can investigate these complaints, so the Senate has to do it themselves.
Updated
Mutual obligations temporarily paused today amid Optus outage
Earlier, the Australian Unemployed Workers Union were told that mutual obligations had been temporarily paused for today due to the nationwide Optus outage.
Workforce Australia later confirmed this in a post to X, writing:
Due to the current Optus Outage, mutual obligation requirements are paused nationally for all participants today, Wednesday, 8 November 2023 (inclusive).
Due to the current Optus Outage, mutual obligation requirements are paused nationally for all participants today, Wednesday, 8 November 2023 (inclusive). #WorkforceAustralia #DES
— Workforce Australia (@WorkforceAusGov) November 8, 2023
For more information visit https://t.co/r4oVuZIism
This is what the Workforce Australia website says about the pause:
Due to the nationwide Optus outage, there’s a pause of obligations for the full day on Wednesday 8 November 2023 for everyone in:
• Workforce Australia Services
• Workforce Australia Online
• Disability Employment Services
• Community Development Program.
Updated
Greens senators say they want to hold Hanson ‘to account’ after remarks telling Mehreen Faruqi to ‘go home’
In the Senate, the wider point the Greens are making is about the standard and conduct of parliamentary debate and holding senators to account.
Labor’s Don Farrell and the Liberals’ Simon Birmingham are both on board with that. When it comes to suspending the standing orders though, though there is a split –Labor is in support of Waters making her statement, while Birmingham want the senate to focus on its scheduled business.
So the message is – live up to higher standards, but also the Senate business needs to continue as scheduled.
Malcolm Roberts is now coming to Pauline Hanson’s defence, saying Hanson did not refer to race or skin colour, but told Mehreen Faruqi (who was born in Pakistan) to “go home”.
Faruqi says she notes the “nice words” of Farrell and Birmingham, but that the actual request is to hold Hanson “to account” for her actions, which she says is not occurring.
Labor will support this motion though, so Waters will get to say the statement she was originally denied time to make at the start of all this.
Updated
Greens’ Larissa Waters faces off against Pauline Hanson over comments made about Mehreen Faruqi
Back in the Senate and the Greens senator Larissa Waters is attempting to suspend standing orders to deal with comments the One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, made earlier in the week in regards to the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.
Waters wants the Senate to direct Hanson to withdraw the comments. Hanson is reading from a speech she has made in parliament recently, which is in the Hansard, and is being directed from Senate president, Sue Lines. Hanson is refusing to, saying she is speaking on behalf of “millions” of Australians.
A bit of a standoff is under way.
Updated
Australian family of three leave Gaza via Rafah crossing overnight, Wong says
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said an Australian family of three was able to leave Gaza overnight via the Rafah crossing.
In a post to X, she wrote that 28 individuals have now left Gaza supported by the Australian government.
The government is continuing to provide assistance to 76 people.
An Australian family of three has been able to leave Gaza via the Rafah crossing overnight.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) November 8, 2023
They are being supported by our consular staff in Egypt.
28 individuals supported by the Australian Government have now left Gaza. We continue to provide assistance to 76 people.
Updated
Tuvalu PM tells Albanese his country ‘is going to be under the water’
The prime minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, described himself as “the leader of a country that is going to be under the water” if the world doesn’t tackle the climate crisis, at the opening of a meeting with Anthony Albanese.
In a meeting on the sidelines of the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands, Natano thanked the Australian prime minister for the opportunity to meet. Natano spoke of the need to give his people confidence about the future.
At the outset of the meeting, Albanese said:
We know that Tuvalu is on the frontline of climate change. The impact is certainly felt most acutely in island states such as Tuvalu. My government, of course, was elected with a platform of taking action on climate change. And I look forward to working with you in the interests of both of our respective countries but also in the interests of the globe.
The climate crisis is expected to be a topic of intense discussion at this week’s talks, amid growing calls from the Pacific for a fossil fuel phase-out. Some have suggested that the Pacific’s support for Australia’s bid to co-host a UN climate conference should be condition on stronger action against fossil fuels.
Speaking to reporters briefly once the meeting wrapped up, Natano said he was “very happy” with the meeting with Albanese.
Asked how he felt about Australia approving more fossil fuel and gas projects, Natano said
Well, it’s an issue that we are working [on] with Australia to see that we can get them to assist, because fossil fuel is the main contributor to global warming.
But pressed on whether he felt there was enough urgency in Australia’s response to climate change, he said: “Yes, yes.”
It is understood Albanese used the meeting to affirm Australia’s support for Tuvalu’s Long-Term Adaptation Plan and commitment to help Tuvalu adapt in practical ways to address sea level rise. The two leaders also discussed their priorities for this week’s meetings, including regional cooperation and the importance of continued unity among the Pacific Islands Forum.
Updated
Mehreen Faruqi begins reading list of 10,000 Palestinians killed to Senate
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi has used a two-minute statement ahead of Senate question time to name some of the people who have died in Gaza.
Faruqi repeated her condemnation of the Labor party for refusing to call for a ceasefire, and then began reading the names.
Given the size of the list – more than 10,000 – Faruqi only had time to read a handful before her allotted speaking time ended. After a short off-microphone exchange with the LNP Senator James McGrath, who was next on the speaking list, the Senate moved on.
The Greens have signalled they will continue to use their parliamentary platform to raise the issue of Gaza.
Updated
‘Customer loyalty is already on shaky ground’: experts weigh in on Optus outage
More commentary around the Optus outage has been flowing this afternoon, as services start to come back online for some customers.
Here is what experts have had to say, via AAP:
ANU honorary lecturer Tom Worthington predicts the Optus outage is “most likely a regular software upgrade gone wrong”.
The problem is too widespread to be due to a cable break or equipment failure.
Monash University senior lecturer Dr Bill Corcoran suggested the outage will “cause us to have a closer look at how we want to run this critical national infrastructure across multiple private companies”.
Flinders University adjunct senior lecturer Dr Paul Gardner-Stephen said:
Optus is unlikely to face any significant financial penalties for today’s outage compared with the cost to society of the outage.
Meanwhile, Finder tech expert Angus Kidman suggested the outage could be a “two strikes and you’re out” situation for Optus:
… Customer loyalty is already on shaky ground following the data breach in 2022.
Updated
Armagh residents in SA told to leave as uncontrolled bushfire approaches
The community of Armagh near Clare in South Australia’s mid-north are being told to leave now due to an uncontrolled bushfire.
Issued this afternoon, the watch and act alert applies to Emu Flat Road in Armagh, about 137 km north of Adelaide.
An uncontrolled fire is burning in a north-easterly direction towards Blyth Road, James Road and Main North Road.
The alert reads:
Take action now as this bushfire may threaten your safety. Leave now. Check that the path is clear and go to a safer place. Do not enter this area as conditions are dangerous.
The scrub fire is uncontrolled … Conditions are continually changing.
Watch and Act #Bushfire - Leave Now - #ARMAGH,_EMU_FLAT_ROAD_ #fire. Take action now as this bushfire may threaten your safety. #WAM ID=0007100 #SAFires https://t.co/MJgBcYgowQ pic.twitter.com/Ey5O6r00XG
— Country Fire Service (@CFSAlerts) November 8, 2023
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Customers in regional Australia gather in shops and McDonald’s for wifi
Our rural reporters Aston Brown and Eliza Spencer have the latest on how the Optus outage is affecting regional areas:
Shopping centres, McDonald’s restaurants and public pay phones in regional Australia have attracted clusters of Optus customers trying to access the internet in the midst of a nationwide network outage.
In south-east Queensland, where fires have been burning for the past month, communities that rely on Optus for coverage are breathing a sign of relief that the outage came after a significant downpour of rain, which has temporarily reduced the fire risk.
Had it happened last week, when several towns were under an emergency bushfire warning, it would have been more worrying.
You can read the full story here:
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Meanwhile, The Shovel is having some fun at Optus’s expense …
Optus executive Gladys Berejiklian has provided her daily update on the latest Optus numbers pic.twitter.com/whXhPndFp3
— The Shovel (@TheShovel) November 8, 2023
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Ambulance Victoria says Optus outage affecting radio and phones but emergency care not affected
Ambulance Victoria’s director of operational communications, Danielle North, has just issued a statement about the Optus outage:
Ambulance Victoria is experiencing some issues with radio transmission and phone coverage as a result of the nation-wide Optus outage.
This is not having an impact on our ability to provide emergency care, with ambulances being dispatched as normal.
We have well-established processes in place for unexpected events such as this to ensure we can still respond to emergencies.
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NSW Labor in damage control over transport department staffing allegations
Moving away from Optus briefly for some New South Wales government news:
The NSW government has sent out a transcript of late evidence given at yesterday’s budget estimates hearing as it attempts to clear up fresh allegations of improper staffing involving the transport minister, Jo Haylen.
The Transport for NSW chief of staff, Susan Carroll, told the hearing yesterday that Haylen’s office asked the former department secretary for a transition office to be established shortly after the election and for this office “to be led by a particular transport executive”.
The opposition transport spokesperson, Natalie Ward, seized on the evidence to accuse Haylen of breaching government sector employment laws, because ministerial offices are “not allowed to tell the public service what to do”.
The Transport for NSW coordinator general, Howard Collins, was asked to clarify Carroll’s evidence later in Tuesday’s hearing.
According to a transcript of his evidence distributed by the government as it went into damage control on Wednesday, Collins said he became aware of the transition role shortly after taking up the position of acting secretary.
He said:
We discussed [the transition role] with a number of people … and the best advice was we will advertise for this role. We do this internally.
Nobody directed me to do anything.
I reviewed the role of the transition office in previous organisations, particularly when government changes. It’s very useful to have extra resources when you’re doing reviews.
Haylen and her office are in hot water over revelations a Labor campaign manager and junior public servant undertook political work while seconded to her office in a strictly apolitical role.
It follows an earlier saga over the hiring of ex-Labor staffer and Labor donor Josh Murray as transport secretary.
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One Optus customer had an unwelcome email arrive, just as her connection was restored:
Can’t make this up. First email I got when my service was restored… 🫣#Optus pic.twitter.com/QfdvFMIj69
— Jess Rudd (@Jess_Rudd) November 8, 2023
Some mobile phones still having trouble connecting triple zero calls
An Optus spokesperson has again confirmed it is progressively returning services, but noted some mobile phones are having trouble connecting to triple zero:
We reiterate our apology to customers for the nationwide service outage that has occurred this morning. Some services across fixed and mobile are now gradually being restored. This may take a few hours for all services to recover and different services may restore at different sites over that time.
We are aware of some mobile phones having issues connecting to 000. If Optus customers need to call emergency services, we suggest trying to find an alternative device.
Updated
Raymond O’Flaherty says Optus has not provided Metro Trains with any specific details about what caused the outage.
Metro Trains to consider alternative contingency plans
O’Flaherty says it’s unclear when the internal backup system that runs on the Optus network will be available again.
He says he is confident the main system, which does not use the Optus network, will continue to run.
O’Flaherty says Metro Trains will consider alternative contingency plans but says it is focused on helping commuters get home.
He says he hopes Optus will quickly resolve its network issues.
Updated
Melbourne trains chief executive says about 500 services cancelled today
Victoria’s Metro Trains chief executive, Raymond O’Flaherty, is proving an update after Melbourne’s entire train network was brought to a halt early this morning due to the national Optus outage.
Services resumed after 6am but commuters faced major delays across the metropolitan train network.
Speaking to reporters, O’Flaherty apologises to all passengers affected by service disruptions.
He says the network’s primary communication system is a train radio system not on the Optus network but did experience some issues due to the outage.
O’Flaherty says about 500 services have been cancelled today.
The trains are now running on all of our lines.
Updated
Nationwide outage ‘highly unusual’, Optus CEO says
3AW host: Do you expect an exodus of customers who have just given up on you?
Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin:
I believe at Optus that we are customer champions and we go to great lengths to give our customers great value for money, excellent service and coverage and unique features they can’t get anywhere else. Nobody works harder to make sure our customers are looked after and trusted.
All telcos occasionally have outages and we hope our customers will understand how hard we’ve been working to restore services as a priority.
Rosmarin said in her time as CEO for three and a half years, this was the first nationwide outage.
We’re very sorry for our customers but it is certainly not a regular occurrence; it’s highly unusual. We will get to the bottom of it.
Updated
Customers should expect a ‘thank you … for their patience’, says Optus CEO
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said Optus customers can expect an announcement soon in regards to a “thank you … for their patience”.
She was asked on 3AW radio if she is bracing for a wave of compensation claims:
We work very hard to give our customers a great service, which we [do] for the majority of the time. Of course we are looking at what we can do to say thank you to our customers for their patience, and you should expect that you’ll see something coming out from us in that regard.
We do everything we can to give fantastic service all the time and we’re very apologetic for the outage.
Updated
No indication outage was related to cyber-attack or hack: Optus CEO
Speaking to 3AW, the Optus CEO was still not able to confirm what caused the outage:
There is no indication that it has anything to do with a hack or cyber-attack.
We’re still investigating the root cause; as you know we work very hard 24/7 to keep our customers connected.
This is a very unusual occurrence and as soon as we understand exactly what happened we will be forthcoming with details.
Updated
Optus CEO confirms outage was nationwide as services begin to come back online
The Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, spoke to 3AW radio just before about the Optus outage.
She confirmed services are starting to come back online now amid a “path to restoration”, also confirming it was a nationwide outage:
Unfortunately, it was a nationwide outage … [we are] very, very sorry that this occurred, we know how important it is for all our customers to be connected, and we have been working tirelessly since the outage started to restore services for our customers.
She said a team of engineers are working “expeditiously” to restore nationwide connectivity.
Updated
Optus confirms services returning for some customers
Optus has just confirmed its services are coming back online for some customers.
In a post to X, Optus wrote:
Some services across fixed and mobile are now gradually being restored. This may take a few hours for all services to recover, and different services may restore at different sites over that time.
UPDATE
— Optus Help (@optus_help) November 8, 2023
Some services across fixed and mobile are now gradually being restored. This may take a few hours for all services to recover, and different services may restore at different sites over that time.
Updated
PNG-Australia security agreement to be signed off ‘shortly’
It’s not just Optus making news today, with the prime minister in the Cook Islands for the Pacific Islands Forum.
Papua New Guinea’s deputy prime minister expects that a security agreement with Australia should be going to both cabinets for signoff “shortly”.
John Rosso, who is attending the forum this week, told Bloomberg News the two sides had made “great progress” on the agreement. He added:
It should be going to both cabinets shortly.
The status of the negotiations have been unclear.
Anthony Albanese had said during a visit to Port Moresby in January that he wanted a “swift conclusion” to negotiations on a “bilateral security treaty”.
At the time, Albanese said the aim was to deepen defence ties and national security cooperation. This would include addressing PNG’s priority needs “including law and order challenges, strengthening the justice system and rule of law” and also climate and cybersecurity.
The April deadline to finish negotiations and the June deadline for signing the deal were both missed. The PNG prime minister, James Marape, told the Nikkei in July that changes to the draft were needed to “preserve our own sovereignty issues”.
Last week PNG media reported that the deal may end up being called a framework agreement rather than a treaty.
Updated
SA government already talking to Telstra about switching some ‘critical services’, premier says
Back to the press conference in South Australia, where the premier, Peter Malinauskas, says his government is already engaging with Telstra, assessing how it can switch over some critical services.
We are actively engaging with Telstra … regarding what we can do to switch over some of the critical services that we might want to resolve, particularly given we do not how long [the outage] will last for.
Optus have not communicated to the best of my knowledge how long the [outage] will last for so it is prudent for us to explore other options as quickly as possible, and we are actively engaging with Telstra on doing that.
Is the government considering making the switch to a different provider long-term, given the outage?
In respect of what happens subsequent to this … that is something the government will turn its mind to, yes.
Updated
Greens to call for Senate inquiry into Optus outage
The Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the Optus outage is a “disgrace”, accusing the telecom of “phoning it in” by not giving customers more information or fronting a press conference.
Hanson-Young said there should be “consequences” for the outage for the company.
The Greens communications spokesperson savaged the phone issues in a press conference at Parliament House this afternoon. She said customers were “rightly angry” about the outage, and took aim at the CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin:
It’s a disgrace that so far, eight hours on, the CEO of Optus has done nothing more than phone it in, rather than fronting the Australian community, the customers, the media, to explain what they’re doing, how long this is going to go on for, and how they’re going to help Australians get through it.
The Greens will move for an urgent inquiry into the outage in the Senate later today.
I urge the government to do everything they can to pressure Optus to do better.
Asked what consequences she would like to see for Optus, or if there should be more government oversight for critical infrastructure like phone lines, Hanson-Young said those answers could be answered through a Senate inquiry.
Updated
‘Absolute disgrace’: union slams Optus job cuts amid nationwide outage
The Communication Workers Union has labelled today’s Optus outage as an “absolute disgrace” that has left vulnerable people “relying on landlines without emergency help”.
The union says the outage comes two months after Optus cut 200 jobs, bringing the total job cuts announced during the last year to more than 600.
The national assistant secretary, James Perkins, said “this is what happens” when you “repeatedly slash jobs and outsource critical services to contracting companies”:
Australians deserve better than to have one of the major national carriers leave them in the dark for hours, with no answers.
… The latest round of job cuts at Optus has left staff morale low – with hundreds of their peers now staring down Christmas and the New Year without a job. This is in the face of a serious cost-of-living crisis, rate rises and increasing household pressures.
Slashing your workforce has a direct impact on quality of service – and we’re seeing the impact of that today.
The union is calling on Optus to reverse its job cuts and make a commitment to their workforce for no more redundancies.
The Australian community deserves better from Optus.
Updated
Connections briefly resuming then disappearing again for some Optus customers
Some Optus customers right across the country are reporting their services coming back online – and going off again straight away, for some.
Reports from customers in Sydney suggest some are able to use the internet but not able to make or receive calls:
It looks like the Optus broadband internet is back in Sydney, though one still can't make or receive calls to Optus mobiles.
— Vijay A (@VAAChandran) November 8, 2023
It's over 8 hours since this outage has happened.
It will be very interesting to know the analysis & root cause for this. #Optusoutage #Optus
A customer in Canberra is back online:
Optus is back #optus
— Akash Arora (@akash_arora_ink) November 8, 2023
A customer in Adelaide is able to SMS but cannot call:
At 11:40am Adelaide time - I now have SMS - but when I try to make a call - I get no ringtone but can leave a voice message - seems the network may be slowly coming back ? A friend a few miles away has SMS but no ability to call at all - so different results. Rebooting ?
— Lindsay Parry (@Lins_Oz) November 8, 2023
Another customer in Adelaide saw their connection briefly resume, but it’s not working again:
Optus mobile came back briefly, although pretty sketchy, in Adelaide, now dead again.
— Matthew (@mj_berryman) November 8, 2023
Updated
SA government ‘disappointed with Optus’, says premier
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said the state government was “disappointed with Optus”.
They have let their customers down throughout the state, including the government.
Optus need to respond swiftly, communicate effectively with everybody about exactly what is going on here. There hasn’t been a great degree of communication coming out of Optus up until this point, which is disappointing, but not any more disappointing than [the fact] the service is not operating itself.
Telecommunications now is essential to the functioning of the Australian economy and it has a big impact on services across governments. If Optus want to seek [the] government as a customer, they need to be able to be a reliable service in this modern age, and this is a very unfortunate failing on their part that they will have to explain for themselves and I think should be held accountable in every respect possible. I don’t think there is any two ways about it.
Updated
Concern over SA mental health triage service access, says Malinauskas
The SA premier says unlike telecommunication outages in the past, this is affecting both mobile and landline and “we are no different within SA Health”.
He said the impact they were most worried about at the moment was the mental health triage service:
Where there is people who are looking to contact the mental health triage service, that outbound call coming in is a challenge internally within SA Health.
People are still able to contact each other, that is, clinician to clinician through basic services, but there have been some implications that we’ve seen throughout the morning in other internal communications. But that is being worked on and being addressed.
Updated
SA Health affected by outage but clinical services remain ongoing, premier says
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, is now speaking to the media about the Optus outage.
He said SA Health is a customer of Optus and “there has been an impact”.
Critically, we have not seen any clinical implications as a result of the outage. All clinical services within SA Health remain ongoing and are able to be performed.
Updated
Unconfirmed reports Optus connectivity returning
There are signs the Optus network may be coming back online for some customers.
I myself am an Optus customer and have been able to successfully text and make a call using mobile data, as well as browse the internet.
We also know of a school in Melbourne that just alerted parents its phone is now back up and running again.
There is no definitive word from Optus so far and some customers appear to still not be able to make calls, but we will keep you updated as we hear more.
Updated
Abortion provider MSI Australia impacted by Optus outage
One of Australia’s biggest abortion providers, MSI Australia, has also been impacted by the outage. The service gets 150,000 calls annually.
MSI said:
Our phone lines are temporarily offline due to the Optus outage. Please consider booking online, or check back with us shortly. Thank you for your patience.
Updated
NSW Poisons Information Centre sets up temporary hotline
NSW Poisons Information Centre have set up a temporary hotline due to the Optus outage. It said NSW residents needing poison advice should call the temporary hotline number on 1300 392 539, and 000 if it is an emergency.
Updated
Financial platform predicts latest interest rate rise will hit harder than previous ones
Fintech platform Lendi Group is warning Tuesday’s RBA cash rate increase will hit Australian homeowners harder than previous rate rises, causing two in five borrowers to run out of surplus income and face significant mortgage stress.
Analysis conducted by Lendi in June on home loan applications taken out since 2021 shows 41% of borrowers would exceed their monthly budget if banks passed on two more rate rises in full. This week’s decision by the RBA is the second rate rise since Lendi revealed that research.
Lendi Group’s COO, Sebastian Watkins, said for this cohort of homeowners, the action by the RBA will leave them with no other choice than to live beyond their means to pay the mortgage:
Tuesday’s 0.25% rate rise will put intense pressure on many Australian families, at the beginning of the gifting season, when many are already feeling the pinch.
While this data is based on the borrower’s circumstances and income at the time of settlement, it does provide a clear snapshot of the stress many Aussies will be facing, if their banks move to pass on the full rate rise.
Lendi Group analysis also says 6 in 10 families are still on fixed rates between 2-3% that are yet to expire, while 3 in 10 mortgages on fixed rates are single mortgage holders who will face the full brunt of rate hikes alone.
Updated
Mary-Anne Thomas said “Victorians expect better” from Optus.
The state’s health minister said:
Victorians expect better. We at least expect to be told exactly what’s going on. Obviously in healthcare, we’ve got a very warm day, we’re in the midst of an asthma season.
People need to know that they can access triple zero when they need to.
Minister says some hospital phones down but patient care unaffected
Thomas says a number of hospital’s phone lines are down but patient care is unaffected:
Hospitals now have systems in place to manage this outage. But of course, patient care remains the number one priority.
My department is working with those health services just to stay alive to the situation as it unfolds. The pressure now is really on Optus to respond and let us know exactly what’s going on.
Updated
Victorian health minister on Optus outage
Victoria’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, is urging people not to use Optus-linked phones to call triple zero.
She said the state’s triple zero call taker - the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority - can receive calls but some Optus users are reporting they are unable to get through. Thomas told reporters:
Esta is able to receive calls but not from the Optus network. So the challenge is for people seeking emergency care to make sure that they are calling triple zero from a non Optus network.
Liberals say Optus outage ‘catastrophic’ and government should be doing more
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, said the government needs to step up and assist Optus amid its nationwide outage. Speaking to the media just now, he said:
The government has a lot of powers around cybersecurity and other issues and the government can’t simply say, ‘It’s not about us.’ The government needs to assist Optus, it needs to get on the front foot and it needs to help bring this to an end.
Coleman also said the government needs to help Australians who can’t access government services amid the outage.
What is the government doing to help those people, to put in place alternative arrangements so that people can still access these really important services?
This is a catastrophic incident. There’s no precedent for an incident of this kind and Optus needs to do everything it can to get this resolved…
Updated
Marles defends PM’s travel agenda as important to Australian economy
Marles is asked about prime minister Anthony Albanese’s recent travel to China and the Cook Islands, and whether he is travelling “too much” amid cost of living pressures back home. He said Albanese’s work overseas is “profoundly important” for the nation’s economy, particularly in stabilising Australia’s relationship with China for trade ventures.
Trade means Australian jobs, trade contributes to the Australian economy, that is what the prime minister is doing.
Whether the prime minister is in China or Washington or the Pacific Islands Forum, his work is about the national interest here and his work is about the Australians livelihood here. And that is a focus of his work of the past few days.
Updated
Marles addresses media on rate rises
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, is now speaking to the media about yesterday’s rate rise. He said the government is “very mindful” of the impact:
…we know that it is not easy news for mortgage holders and it does have an impact on household budgets, as it has an impact on budgets of small businesses.
We are looking at a range of measures that we have been working on since the day we came into government, $23bn worth of measures focus on using the cost-of-living pressures.
Marles said housing has also been a priority, which is why the government was “so committed to getting the HAAF (Housing Australia Future Fund) through the parliament”.
Updated
Communication minister advises keeping Optus receipts as ‘evidentiary base’ for recourse and redress
Just circling back to one point Rowland made during her presser, advising small businesses need to “keep receipts” amid the blackout.
Rowland pointed to the statement from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsmen (TIA) (which we have included earlier in the blog) and said:
I note the comments by the [TIA] that at this time, it is probably too early to be discussing or giving definitive views about compensation or other consumer rights.
But I do reiterate the statement of the TIA’s statement that it is important, especially for small businesses, to keep receipts, so that any recourse and any redress that may be available to them has that evidentiary base.
Updated
Impact of Optus outage on agencies such as Medicare being ‘monitored’
Rowland said that the impact of the Optus outage on government agencies, such as Medicare, is “being monitored”.
My understanding is there are a number of government agencies that are being monitored for the impact on them. They include state and federal agencies. My understanding is that has been monitored at the moment.
And that concludes her press conference.
Updated
Rowland: Optus will be judged in the marketplace
Michelle Rowland is asked whether Optus has “learned anything” following the cyber attack last year:
I think that is a matter for Optus to answer.
The most important thing here is that consumers will be making judgements about the quality of service that they receive in a competitive market.
Rowland said its important services are restored “as soon as possible” and this is communicated to customers “because there is a high level of anxiety and frustration at the moment”.
Updated
Telecom Ombudsman issues statement
Here is the statement from the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman, which Rowland referred to just earlier:
If you have contacted Optus and you are unhappy with the response, you can make a complaint with the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman.
If you have not contacted Optus, or you have been unable to contact them, we can forward your complaint to Optus on your behalf.
We can help you with refunds for the time you have been unable to use your service, compensation claims and disputes about your contract.
Updated
Minister urges Optus to continue to communicate with costuomers
Speaking to the media, Rowland urged Optus to “step up” and utilise “every channel available” to keep customers informed amid the outage:
I would urge Optus to utilise every channel available, including the broadcast media, to ensure these messages get across. We rely so much on our communications devices, including for consuming media. And when that isn’t available, that is noticeable.
I think it is important for Optus to continue to step up. Customers expect this. Customers are clearly frustrated about it and Optus should respond to that accordingly.
Updated
Optus has not given ‘precise timeframe’ on when service will return, minister says
Rowland said that Optus has not given a “precise timeframe” on when services will return.
They have assured that they are working as quickly as possible but I reiterate that it is important for Optus to keep customers updated, and in a timely way, because this is precisely the questions that customers are asking.
Updated
Michelle Rowland says small businesses should ‘keep receipts’ as Optus outage continues
Michelle Rowland said the Optus outage is a “deep fault”, occurring deep within the network:
It has wide ramifications across mobile, fixed, and broadband services for Optus customers. It also means that for those customers they are being impacted by the inability to make calls or use their services.
Rowland has advised small businesses to “keep receipts” as Optus works to resolve a nationwide blackout.
Updated
Communications minister holds press conference on Optus outage
Communications minister Michelle Rowland is now addressing the media on the Optus outage. She said she appreciates people are frustrated not just in terms of inconvenience, but also economic.
From the outset, I reiterate that it is vital for Optus to be transparent and timely. In the update is that it is giving to customers about the nature of the fault, its impacts, and its possible rectification. It is essential that we have that timeliness and the transparency to get consumers competence what is a vital part of our infrastructure and services in this country. That is access to telecommunications, mobile broadband, as well as fixed line services.
Updated
Greens senator calls out privitisation and corporate duopoly in midst of Optus outage
Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says “millions of Australians are understandably angry” at being caught in today’s Optus outage. Writing on X, she said:
Access to reliable mobile and internet is an essential service … Privatisation and corporate duopoly is leaving customers stranded.
Optus must do better.
Access to reliable mobile and internet is an essential service.
— 💚🌏 Sarah Hanson-Young (@sarahinthesen8) November 7, 2023
Millions of Australians are understandably angry at being caught in today’s Optus chaos. Privatisation and corporate duopoly is leaving customers stranded.
Optus must do better. #Optus
Updated
Forest Fire Management Victoria phone services down due to Optus outage
Forest Fire Management Victoria’s phone lines are also down amid the nationwide Optus outage. It wrote on X:
We apologies for any inconvenience this may cause. We will keep you updated with any changes.
In the meantime, if you have any queries, please email customer.service@delwp.vic.gov.au…
Updated
Rowland provides further update on triple zero calls
A further update from communications minister Michelle Rowland, regarding triple zero calls from Optus landlines:
The regulator is monitoring the situation regarding triple zero access, and working with Optus and the Emergency Call Operator.
The regulator is monitoring the situation regarding Triple Zero access, and working with Optus and the Emergency Call Operator.
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) November 7, 2023
Updated
Optus CEO says ‘fundamental issue’ not resolved despite ‘number of hypotheses’
Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has said the company has tried “a number of paths of restoration to bring its mobile and internet services back online” but so far have not had the results that were hoped for.
She told ABC Sydney:
Our team is still pursuing every possible avenue. We had a number of hypotheses and each one so far that we’ve tested and put in place new actions for has not resolved the fundamental issue.
The CEO said the company has no more information on the outage that has affected services nationwide since 4am, and could not say when services were likely to be restored.
Bayer Rosmarin said it is “highly unlikely” the outage was caused by a hack, and that this was a “very, very rare occurrence”.
Updated
Optus CEO directs customers to ‘other avenues’ including through WiFi and app
The Optus chief executive says the media should direct people to its website and the Optus app because “it is very clear what customers need to do”. However, those without data and internet cannot access the website or app.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin says:
There are definitely places where people can connect to Wi-Fi, there are plenty of organisations that offer Wi-Fi. Our stores have connectivity, our messaging is still working through the MyOptus app, and so we hope that customers are taking advantage of all of the other avenues during this period where our service is being returned.
Updated
How long until services are restored?
Optus CEO, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin:
We are working really hard to get it up and running as soon as possible can.
Updated
Optus CEO: ‘no indication’ outages is a hack at this stage
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the first indication of a problem was around 4.05am this morning:
We have a 24/7 operating centres and as soon as … an issue was identified by us … we started working on it.
Q: Could it be a hack?
There is no indication that there is anything to do with cyber at this stage.
She said the outage is a “rare occurrence”:
Our systems are actually very stable, we provide great coverage to our customers, this is a very rare occurrence. And when I have more information about the root cause I will be the first to let our customers know.
Updated
Optus CEO says updates may be coming in next hour
Optus’ chief executive, Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, is speaking to ABC Radio Sydney about the Optus outage. She provides an update on where the situation is at:
The mobile network and that network is down, but there are some customers still able to get the Optus Wi-Fi and connect that way. We may have some additional updates to provide in the next hour … I also want to make sure customers know that 000 is still working on the mobile network, even if you just see the SOS option in the top you can still call 000 from your mobile phone. But landlines are not working. If you have an emergency, we would encourage all customers to use your mobile phone and call 000.
Updated
ACCC/Qantas case over alleged ticket sales for cancelled flights could enter mediation
The consumer watchdog believes Qantas has failed to adequately respond to key allegations it levelled against the airline, accusing it of selling tickets to thousands of flights that had already been cancelled.
During a case management hearing in the federal court in Melbourne this morning, Christopher Caleo, the barrister representing the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said the parties had reached agreement on proposed orders.
However, Caleo flagged that if the parties are unable to agree on the particulars of the case, the ACCC would need to raise issues it had with Qantas’ concise response to the landmark legal action. Caleo said:
In particular, what the commission (ACCC) sees as failure on the part of Qantas to respond directly to the key allegations.
Caleo also told justice Helen Rofe the case could “potentially” enter mediation, pending progress between both sides.
Robert Yezerski, the barrister appearing for Qantas, said he rejected the idea there were issues with the airline’s response in the concise statement of defence. The matter will next be heard on 28 February.
Last week, Qantas released its legal defence, claiming the allegations that it breached consumer law don’t apply because it doesn’t sell customers tickets to any particular flight but rather a “bundle of contractual rights” that includes alternative options in the event of cancellations. Gina Cass-Gottlieb, chair of the ACCC, previously said she wants to see Qantas hit with penalties of at least $250m, which is twice the current record penalty.
Read more:
Updated
Communications minister provides update on Optus outage
Communications minister Michelle Rowland has just provided this update on the Optus outage:
UPDATE: Optus has advised triple zero (000) is operating normally on mobile devices, but has flagged that the fixed-line network (eg; landline) is not operating for 000 calls.
The regulator has advised me that it is continuing to work with Optus and relevant carriers to get this technical fault resolved ASAP.
The regulator has advised me that it is continuing to work with Optus and relevant carriers to get this technical fault resolved ASAP.
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) November 7, 2023
Updated
NSW joins list of organisations affected by Optus outage
NSW Health has confirmed some hospitals phone lines are down due to the Optus outage. A spokesperson said in a statement:
NSW Health is aware of impacts on some NSW Health telephone and internet services as a result of today’s Optus outage.
NSW Health continues to investigate the situation and is taking steps to minimise disruption to services where required. Maintaining patient care and safety remains our highest priority.
Updated
Ambulance Union concerned for patients who live alone
Danny Hill from the Victorian Ambulance Union said the Optus outage is “incredibly concerning” for patients who live alone:
If someone is with Optus and they live alone, they’ll be in dire straits if they have a medical emergency and they’re by themselves. That’s incredibly concerning for them. We hope this is resolved quickly.
… I think the best thing that someone could do, if they have an elderly relative who may be with Optus and may have a health concern, it would be worth trying to be with them so there’s some backup there, if they’re with Optus and that fails.
Updated
Victorian Ambulance Union says Optus outage impact primarily on patient callbacks
Danny Hill from the Victorian Ambulance Union is speaking to ABC TV about the nationwide Optus outage. He said that Ambulance Victoria runs on a Telstra system, backed up by an Optus system.
Once that call comes through Triple Zero, there’s a number of backup systems that enable the call to get through. That should continue operating fine.
It would be an issue with some [Optus customers] to try to make sure the call does get through, if it doesn’t, look for alternative options like a friend’s phone or someone else’s phone.
Hill said the union hasn’t heard “anything at all” from Optus:
I understand Ambulance Victoria are working through those processes now … Our focus is primarily on trying to find out from our membership if there’s been any front-line implications and to date, they’re pretty much limited to our referral service paramedics having difficulty calling back patients. That’s primarily where it sits.
Updated
Optus landline calls to triple zero not working
Optus has advised customers who need to call triple zero for emergency services to call from their mobile rather than a fixed-line phone.
The company said landline calls will not work, but mobile calls to 000 will work if another carrier is available.
Updated
Minister for regional development joins calls for Optus information on outage
The minister for regional development, Kristy McBain, said she has sought further information from Optus about its outage and when it expects services to be restored. She wrote on X/Twitter:
We know how essential connectivity is in our regional & rural areas for running businesses, accessing health & other services, studying, & keeping in touch with family & friends!
We’ve sought further info from @Optus about their outage & when they expect services to be restored.
We know how essential connectivity is in our regional & rural areas for running businesses, accessing health & other services, studying, & keeping in touch with family & friends!
— Kristy McBain MP, Member for Eden Monaro (@KristyMcBain) November 7, 2023
We’ve sought further info from @Optus about their outage & when they expect services to be restored.
Updated
Nine Newspapers deliveries affected by Optus outage
Subscribers to The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age are impacted by the nationwide Optus outage.
According to a statement from the masthead, its contact centre is currently unavailable and the outage has affected newspaper deliveries:
Additionally, the outage has also affected many newspaper deliveries today, resulting in a number of late deliveries. If you haven’t received your newspaper, please send us a request and we’ll credit your account as soon as possible.
Updated
Ramsay Health Care reports communcations impact due to Optus issues
Phone lines at Ramsay Health Care, which operates 73 private hospitals and day surgeries across Australia, are also down as a result of the Optus outage.
It wrote on its website:
Ramsay hospital phone services are being impacted by a national outage of Optus telecommunications.
At this time, we are unaware how long this outage will continue.
If you need to contact your local Ramsay hospital, please direct inquiries via the contact form on the hospital’s website.
Updated
What we know so far about the Optus outage
Here’s what we know about the Optus outage so far:
• According to DownDetector, reports of an outage began at 4am AEDT. A spike of reports flooded through at 5.45am, with 8,180 reports of an outage.
• Optus provided a statement online around 6.45am, saying it was “aware of an issue impacting Optus mobile and nbn services” and were working to restore services “as quickly as possible”.
• At 8.30am, Optus wrote on X:
Our teams are working urgently to restore services. We will provide updates as soon as possible. We apologise sincerely to our customers.
This is the latest update from Optus – it has not posted anything more since this.
• The outage caused major service disruptions and delays across the Melbourne train network this morning. It is also impacting phone lines at hospitals across the country.
• Communications minister Michelle Rowland said information is limited but suggested a “deep network problem” is behind the outage. She said there is no information at this stage suggesting a cyber attack. She is due to speak to the media at 11am.
Rowland and the shadow communications minister, David Coleman, have both urged Optus to proactively keep its customers updated.
Updated
Workforce Australia IT network down due to Optus outage
Workforce Australia says its IT network is down amid the Optus outage:
We’re currently experiencing a IT network outage related to the Optus network, which may impact your ability to connect to some of our services.
We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.
The Australian Unemployed Workers Union has called for mutual obligations to be suspended amid the outage:
‘We apologise for the inconvenience’ is unacceptable from a department that can mass suspend payments. Mutual obligations must be suspended while you cannot render your side of those ‘mutual’ obligations.
Jobseekers in the Workforce Australia program must obtain 100 “points” by completing a range of activities such as submitting job applications, doing paid work or studying in order to receive their welfare payments.
"We apologise for the inconvenience" is unacceptable from a department that can mass suspend payments. Mutual obligations must be suspended while you cannot render your side of those "mutual" obligations @Tony_Burke @WorkforceAusGov @natjamescitz #AbolishMutualObligations https://t.co/k9f804ZwJa
— AUWU (@AusUnemployment) November 7, 2023
Updated
Press conference on Optus outage scheduled for 11am
Communications minister Michelle Rowland will be holding a press conference at 11am AEDT responding to the nationwide Optus outage.
We will bring you the latest here on the blog once she steps up.
Updated
Four agreements signed on Australian and Indian universities
Since Monday, education minister Jason Clare has launched an Australian education strategy for India laying out a “partnership for the future”, launched an $11m Maitri Scholars Program to facilitate Indian researchers to complete their PHDs and Masters in Australia and set out a roadmap with his counterpart for the next 12 months.
Four new agreements were signed between Australian and Indian universities.
Today one in 26 Australians can trace their roots back to here. Punjabi is the fastest growing language in Australia. Hinduism is the fastest growing religion. We have more Indian residents per capita than any other country in the Oecd. And that living bridge has helped bind our two countries closer today than ever before.
Updated
Jason Clare says Australia has heard India’s ‘challenge’ on higher education
The education minister, Jason Clare, has flagged multiple Australian universities are “ready” to set up campuses in India while speaking at the annual Australia India Institute oration in Gandhinagar.
Speaking yesterday, Clare nodded to India’s education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s national education policy, which scales up the country’s higher education target to 50% of the population.
I am still shocked by the boldness of it. By the audaciousness of it. It will mean that by the middle of next decade one in four people around the world that get a university degree will get it in India.
Clare said Pradhan’s calls for Australia to be partner’s in the effort had been “heard” and “heeded” by Australian universities, leading to two delegations to India in less than 12 months and the announcement of two campuses in Indian GIFT cities led by the University of Wollongong and Deakin.
This is just the start. There are other Australian universities ready to take up the challenge … [and] it’s not just universities that heard your challenge though Dharmendra. I heard it too.
Updated
SA police warn public to only use triple zero in emergency
South Australian police have reminded people to only contact Triple Zero (000) in an emergency amid the nationwide Optus outage:
SAPOL is aware of the Optus outage and remind the public to contact Triple Zero (000) in an emergency ONLY.
— South Australia Police (@SAPoliceNews) November 7, 2023
It is not known when the outage will be resolved. pic.twitter.com/7Gtr3nVXGv
Updated
PM’s agenda for Pacific Islands Forum
As mentioned on the blog a short time ago, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has landed in the Cook Islands ahead of talks with Pacific leaders.
He arrived on the island of Rarotonga, where the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) is meeting this week. Albanese did not speak to media on arrival, but has three bilateral meetings scheduled today.
These include talks with the prime minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, who yesterday renewed concerns about Aukus and said the region “should rediscover and revisit” the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. That treaty, signed in Rarotonga in 1985, remains in force and the Australian government has repeatedly said its Aukus plans for nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines are compliant.
Albanese is also scheduled to meet today with the prime minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, and the president of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau.
The climate crisis is expected to be a topic of intense discussion at this week’s talks, amid growing calls from the Pacific for a fossil fuel phase-out.
Updated
Israel government spokesperson says campaign in Israel dedicated to destroying Hamas and its infrastructure
Early this morning, Eylon Levy – a spokesperson for the Israeli government – spoke to ABC RN about the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.
Just before the interview he said he had taken shelter in Tel Aviv following rocket sirens, but came up early for the interview because “it’s very important that people in Australia understand what is happening”.
Levy said following the Hamas attack on 7 October, Israel is moving ahead with its campaign to defeat Hamas and “destroy its terrorist and governing infrastructure”.
Just as the world wiped out ISIS so it could no longer control territory in Syria and Iraq, we plan to do the same inside Gaza, and now our forces have surrounded Gaza City, because that is where Hamas has embedded most of its military infrastructure.
That’s where it has built most of its tunnels under people’s homes, where it has built its military headquarters underneath hospitals, where it has stored its rockets underneath mosques.
Levy said another humanitarian corridor was being opened today in the south-west of the Gaza strip:
We’re urging them to move south of the Gaza river because we’re going to be concentrating our fighting in the north, that is where Hamas has embedded most of its infrastructure and the fighting is located there.
Updated
Albanese touches down in Cook Islands
The ABC has just broadcast some images of prime minister Anthony Albanese arriving in Rarotonga. Albanese has travelled to the Cook Islands for the Pacific Forum, right off the back of his visit to China.
Updated
Palau’s president says Australia has ‘responsibility’ from profiting off fossil fuels to lead in addressing climate change
Palau’s president, Surangel Whipps Jr, spoke to ABC RN just earlier about the Pacific Islands Forum taking place in the Cook Islands. Prime minister Anthony Albanese was due arrive on the island of Rarotonga around about now (9am AEDT) for the forum.
Whipps said top of the agenda will be climate change and keeping below 1.5 degrees of warming, as well as implementing the Pacific strategy.
I think we’ve made progress with Australia from Glasgow to when we met and by the time we came to Sharm el Sheikh [2022’s Cop27 climate conference], Australia’s climate policies have vastly shifted and we need to encourage Australia to continue in that direction and not go backwards.
Whipps said that as a member of the forum, he expects Australia to take a leadership role when it comes to addressing climate change:
With all the money that is gained by fossil fuels, Australia needs to take a leadership role in helping people decarbonise and promoting technologies that decarbonise … I think there’s a dual responsibility that Australia has and making sure that not only do they reduce fossil fuels, but also act to help people transition.
You can read more about the forum below:
Updated
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services and Victoria police unaffected by Optus outage
We’re hearing about a lot of services that are impacted by Optus’ outage but in some good news, we’ve just received confirmation that Queensland Fire and Emergency Services’ communications are operating normally.
Victoria police also have confirmed their station lines are unaffected.
Updated
Coles Mobile affected by Optus outage
Coles Mobile, which uses the Optus network, is also down. They posted on their website:
We’re currently experiencing nationwide outage which may impact your ability to connect to our services. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.
Updated
It’s not a good day to be having snake problems in Melbourne.
Stewy the Snake Catcher posted on Facebook that he is with Optus, and aware of the major outage:
We apologise in advance if you try to get through to us this morning and are having trouble. Hopefully they rectify the issue asap.
Austin Health affected by Optus outage
We have just received confirmation of another hospital unable to take external calls amid the nationwide Optus outage. A spokesperson for Austin Health, in Melbourne’s north-eastern suburbs, said in a statement:
Austin Health is experiencing telecommunication issues that we believe is a result of the Optus outage.
We are currently unable to receive phone calls from external numbers, however our internal systems are functioning meaning patient care is not impacted.
We thank our patients and community for their patience while we work through this issue.
Updated
Shadow communications minister on Optus outage
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, is also urging Optus to update its customers “quickly and effectively” amid the nationwide outage.
He wrote on X:
The Optus outage is impacting millions of Australians and businesses. Am urging Optus to update customers quickly and effectively. Government should provide any assistance needed to get this issue resolved as soon as possible.
The Optus outage is impacting millions of Australians and businesses. Am urging Optus to update customers quickly and effectively. Government should provide any assistance needed to get this issue resolved as soon as possible.
— David Coleman MP (@DavidColemanMP) November 7, 2023
Updated
Phone lines down at Sydney Westmead hospital amid Optus outage
Sydney’s Westmead private hospital is also affected by the Optus outage, with their phone lines down. The hospital wrote on Facebook:
Due to the National outage of Optus all our phone lines are unfortunately down, to contact the hospital please email us on admissions.WMP@ramsayhealth.com.au.
Updated
Rowland tells Optus to keep communications with customers open ‘by whatever means possible’ during outage
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, is urging Optus to communicate with its customers “by whatever means possible” amid the nationwide outage. Writing on X (formerly Twitter), she said:
Connectivity is essential for Australian consumers & businesses. The impacts of this outage are concerning & has left many Australians feeling anxious.
The government has sought further information from Optus about this development & when they expect services will be restored.
We urge Optus to communicate with their customers by whatever means possible to keep them updated.
Connectivity is essential for Australian consumers & businesses. The impacts of this outage are concerning & has left many Australians feeling anxious.
— Michelle Rowland (@MRowlandMP) November 7, 2023
The Government has sought further information from Optus about this development & when they expect services will be restored.
Updated
Victorian coroner renews calls for pill testing as overdoses remain ‘concerning public health issue’
More on a new report from the coroners court, showing Victoria has recorded its highest number of overdose deaths in a decade (more on this earlier in the blog):
According to the coroner’s data, more than three quarters of the deadly overdoses occurred in metropolitan Melbourne. Melbourne recorded the highest number of heroin related fatal overdoses (24), almost double that of Yarra (14), which operates a safe injecting room facility.
New psychoactive substances (NPS) - synthetic drugs which mimic traditional drugs but are often more harmful - have also contributed to an increase in deaths every year since 2019.
In 2018, just two deaths were attributed to psychoactive substances but that rose by over 2,000% to 46 in the past 12 months, which will likely prompt calls for pill testing.
The state coroner John Cain, who has repeatedly called on the government to introduce a pill testing service, said overdose deaths remain a “concerning public health issue”. He said:
We must continue to improve access to supports, treatment and education. Addressing drug-related harms requires an understanding of the complexities around access to drugs and alcohol and the drivers of use.
Through coronial data we can contribute to this understanding – providing vital insight into ongoing and emerging drug-related harms and how best to save lives.
Updated
Hayfever warning: pollen forecast over most of Victoria
There is an extreme grass pollen forecast for most of Victoria today:
#Melbourne grass #pollen forecast for today (Wednesday, Nov 8) is High. Get the App for more pollen forecasts: https://t.co/9tGM9OKvvQ
— Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast (@MelbournePollen) November 7, 2023
Note: Other locations within Victoria have an Extreme forecast today. pic.twitter.com/anq41Qlgg3
This follows an extreme grass pollen forecast for all of Victoria during the past two days.
Meanwhile, there is a moderate risk of epidemic thunderstorm asthma for parts of Victoria:
Attention: @VicGovDH has forecast a MODERATE risk of epidemic thunderstorm asthma for parts of Victoria. Be prepared and not alarmed. For more information visit the following link.
— Melbourne Pollen Count and Forecast (@MelbournePollen) November 7, 2023
Alert generated Wednesday Nov 8, 7:02 AMhttps://t.co/6FhyZL4kf1 pic.twitter.com/IcSzlKyA3F
Don’t forget your medication today as you’re leaving the house.
Updated
Victoria records highest number of overdose deaths in decade
Victoria has recorded its highest number of overdose deaths in a decade, according to a new report released by the coroners court.
The report showed there were 549 overdose deaths in 2022, exceeding the previous peak of 543 overdose deaths recorded in 2018. Heroin deaths have also increased with 230 deaths in 2022, compared to 173 in 2021 and 187 in 2020.
It comes as the Victorian government is yet to respond to a report into a safe injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD, despite committing to one in 2020.
The state’s mental health minister, Ingrid Stitt, on Monday said she was giving the report “proper consideration” after taking on the portfolio last month. Her predecessor, Gabrielle Williams, was handed a report by the former police commissioner Ken Lay into the possible location for a second facility in Melbourne’s CBD more than five months ago.
Victoria’s peak medical bodies and unions have all called on the government to urgently open a facility in the city, where it has said unsafe injecting has worsened post-Covid.
Updated
Hume defends Liberal record on inflation figures
Jane Hume was pushed on inflation figures, with host Patricia Karvelas noting that in quarterly terms it was highest under the then Liberal government in March 2022, at 2.1%.
Hume said this was driven directly by two things: supply chain issues that were hanging over from Covid, which are “gone now” (she then corrects to, “have been largely alleviated”), and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she said.
Those were the two factors that drove that first quarter of inflation. But now inflation has set in, it’s been baked in, and inflationary expectations … which is one of the great drivers of more inflation, ironically, have also set in.
People think that higher prices are going to remain and that actually causes higher prices to remain, which is why we are calling on the government to have a plan to actively tackle inflation, not just the cost of living, because when you tackle the cost of living that’s terrific but it only tackles the symptoms, not the causes.
We want the government to come up with a plan to tackle the causes because if they don’t the RBA will have to keep raising interest rates.
Updated
Jane Hume claims RBA had ‘no choice’ but to increase rates because of Labor failure to tackle inflation
The shadow minister for finance, Jane Hume, spoke to ABC RN earlier this morning about yesterday’s rate rise.
When asked if the Reserve Bank made the right decision, Hume said “the RBA has really been left with no choice”.
They sent the Albanese government a very, very direct message yesterday, and that is that they need to do more to get inflation down.
Hume said this is an “extraordinary tough decision … for many Australian mortgage holders” but argued “the government’s had their eye off the ball”.
They’ve spent the last 17 months focusing on the wrong priorities. And in fact, that cost-of-living crisis has been getting worse. And that’s been driven by higher and higher inflation.
Yes, those numbers came down, but the core inflation, that sticky inflation, remains stubbornly high. – and in fact, just the last quarters worth of inflation was much higher than forecast, so of course the RBA has had to act.
Updated
There are reports that the Optus outage is also affecting customers overseas. As one customer shared on X (formerly Twitter):
I’m roaming overseas and due to this Optus outage I can’t use the internet or make calls.
I'm roaming overseas and due to this Optus outage I can't use the internet or make calls.
— Andrea Gibbs (@AndreaGibbs) November 7, 2023
Updated
Victorian VCE exams to go ahead despite train delays
Exams in Victoria will go ahead as planned this morning, despite major delays on the entire metropolitan train network after all services were stopped early in the morning. A Victorian Curriculum And Assessment Authority spokesperson said:
This morning’s VCE chemistry exam will go ahead as planned. The VCAA will work with metro schools to support students impacted by travel delays.
Train services are resuming but major delays of up to 45 minutes are expected across the network.
Updated
Assistant minister says Reserve Bank ‘can answer for its own decisions’
The assistant minister for competition, charities and treasury, Andrew Leigh, spoke to ABC News Breakfast earlier about yesterday’s rate rise. (You can read more about that below):
Leigh acknowledged the rate increase will “be a big squeeze on many Australian households who are feeling the pinch of a mortgage”.
We know when inflation is too high for too long, it has an adverse impact on the economy … The Reserve Bank says it will even worsen inequality. But the medicine will be tough for many Australian households.
We as the federal government are doing what we can to put in place responsible cost of living relief that works with the Reserve Bank to put downward pressure on inflation.
Asked if this is the right decision to fight inflation, Leigh said the Reserve Bank “can answer for their own decisions”.
I don’t deny this is tough for Australian households, but it’s also critical that we understand that our system works at its very best when people ‘stick to their knitting’. Our knitting is working on issues on getting randomised trials and good evaluations, making sure we’re doing multinational tax reform … [that] cost of living relief is flowing through in the area of health.
And a final question: are the stage-3 tax cuts here to stay?
Leigh:
We don’t have any intentions to change it.
Updated
Rowland says no information at this stage Optus outage result of cyber attack
Michelle Rowland says she hasn’t been contacted by the Optus CEO about the nationwide outage but “it’s more important for officers to be communication with its customers at this stage”.
I would urge operators to utilise other mechanisms including broadcasting radio and television to get these messages out because I’m out in Quakers Hill this morning and people [are] asking me questions. They’re very anxious. And I think as long as people know that something is happening, that people are on the job and they have some expectations then I think that will allay some concerns that are there right now.
Rowland said there is no information at this stage that the outage is a result of a cyber attack and she “would be reluctant to speculate on that”.
It appears to be nationwide affecting broadband services and mobile, it would be a problem that is what we call deep in the network, but certainly one that would require … full resources.
Updated
Michelle Rowland suggests 'deep network problem' behind Optus blackout
The minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, is speaking to ABC RN about the Optus outage. She said her information is limited at this stage, but it appears broadband and mobile services have been down for at least the last four hours.
That would indicate potentially a deep network problem and one that is significant.
I do know, having reached out to Optus and sought some advice, is that limited information [is available] at this stage, but Optus is trying to get to the bottom of it.
I think what’s important here is that consumers be kept updated about the progress, what is happening, when there can be some expectation of restoration. I think it’s been a very anxious morning for many Australians so far.
Updated
And here is a perfect anecdote for how reliant on mobile coverage we are, from @SpudBenBean on Twitter/X:
A woman who rang ABC Sydney radio said she found out about the Optus outage from her cat.
The cat has an automatic wi-fi feeder (connected to Optus) & when breakfast wasn’t delivered at 6:10 am, the cat went to the bedroom to lodge a complaint with management.
A woman who rang ABC Sydney radio said she found out about the Optus outage from her cat.
— Denise C. (@SpudBenBean) November 7, 2023
The cat has an automatic wi-fi feeder (connected to Optus) & when breakfast wasn't delivered at 6:10 am, the cat went to the bedroom to lodge a complaint with management.
Updated
Survey shows one in three renters avoid contacting landlord for fear of rent increases
A survey by comparison site Finder has found almost one in three renters avoid contacting their landlord or real estate agent for fear their rent will be increased.
The survey was conducted of 1,073 people, 394 who rent.
27% said they were worried their rent would go up if they contacted their landlord, while 42% of tenants said they struggled to pay their rent in October, according to Finder’s consumer sentiment tracker.
Richard Whitten, home loans expert at Finder, said the housing crisis has caused distress amongst renters:
Tenants are living in a state of fear that should they do or say something wrong, they will be faced with a rental increase – or worse, be forced out when their lease is over. Many don’t have the funds to spare and are already going beyond their means to keep a roof over their heads.
Millennials were most likely to say they are reluctant to contact their landlord for fears of a rent increase (38%), compared to 9% of baby boomers.
The survey also found 24% have never needed to contact their landlord or real estate to fix anything, while 48% said they are fine to do so.
Updated
Victorian department of transport links train delays to Optus outage
Victoria’s department of transport has confirmed the Melbourne train outage is linked to the Optus outage.
A full statement from the department is due later today, but teams are currently working hard to restore train services.
We will bring you any developments as they arise.
Updated
Bushfire reports across Western Australia
There are still a number of bushfires at watch and act level across Western Australia, including:
West of the Manuwarra Red Dog Highway to the railway line in parts of Fortescue, Hamersley Range and Millstream in the shire of Ashburton. The fire is moving in a north-easterly direction, is out of control and unpredictable.
Yardie Creek to the north and Bruboodjoo Access Road to the south on the Ningaloo Coast in the shire of Exmouth. The fire was started by multiple lightning strikes and there are multiple bushfires burning in this location. It is moving in a northerly direction and is not contained or controlled.
Goldfields Highway between Kalgoorlie and Menzies in the Comet Vale area in the shire of Menzies. The bushfire is moving fast in a northerly direction, and is uncontained and not controlled.
North of the Harold Hold communications tower and Yardie Creek Homestead in the northern parts of the North West Cape in Exmouth. The alert for this fire was upgraded due to increased fire activity. It is moving in a fast northerly direction and is out of control and unpredictable.
Updated
Optus outage takes out Amaysim
Amaysim, which uses the Optus network, says it is currently experiencing a “nationwide outage”. The company has posted this alert to the top of its website:
We’re currently experiencing nationwide outage which may impact your ability to connect to our services. We apologise for any inconvenience and appreciate your patience as we work to resolve this matter.
Updated
Cancellations and delays of up to 45 min across all Melbourne train lines
Turning to the disruptions to Melbourne trains this morning: There appears to be delays of up to 45 minutes on all lines, with selective cancellations. The latest update from Metro Trains on X (formerly Twitter), posted around 6am AEDT, reads:
Train services have resumed across the Metro network after an earlier communications outage. There are major delays to all lines as we restore services with select alterations and cancellations. Listen for announcements and check displays.
You can stay up-to-date with disruptions here.
Updated
Victoria’s Northern Health phone lines affected by Optus outage
Northern Health in Melbourne said all phone lines into its campuses are affected by the current Optus outage.
In a statement to Facebook, it said:
This includes phone lines into Northern hospital Epping, Broadmeadows hospital, Bundoora Centre, Craigieburn Centre, Kilmore district hospital, and [the] Victorian Virtual Emergency Department (VVED).
We apologise for any inconvenience.
Updated
Downdetector approximates Optus outage to around 4am this morning
Here is when Optus customers began reporting an outage, according to community reporting site DownDetector:
It shows that reports began early this morning, with 349 reports at around 4am. A spike of reports flooded through at 5.45am, with 8,180 reports of an outage.
OptusHelp tweeted an hour later:
We’re aware of an issue impacting Optus mobile and nbn services and are working to restore services as quickly as possible. We understand connectivity is important and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
We're aware of an issue impacting Optus mobile and nbn services and are working to restore services as quickly as possible. We understand connectivity is important and apologise for any inconvenience caused.
— Optus Help (@optus_help) November 7, 2023
Updated
It’s worth mentioning there was an Optus outage in five regional towns yesterday.
As our regional reporter Eliza Spencer covered in yesterday’s blog, communities across the Central West including Young, Cowra, Grenfell, Canowindra and Eugowra were affected by an outage.
An Optus local general manager said the outage was attributed to a malfunctioning air conditioner.
There is no suggestion at this time this outage is linked to the current nationwide Optus outage, but worth noting.
Updated
Thanks to Martin for kicking things off this morning! I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the blog today.
If there is anything you think needs attention on the blog, you can send me an email: emily.wind.casual@theguardian.com.
With that, let’s get started.
Optus apologises for network outage
Optus has issued an apology for the ongoing network outage that has affected millions of phone and internet users.
On the social network X, it posted: “We’re aware of an issue impacting Optus mobile and nbn services and are working to restore services as quickly as possible. We understand connectivity is important and apologise for any inconvenience caused.”
Updated
Qantas due in court over sale of tickets for cancelled flights
Qantas is due to front up to the federal court today as the case into the airline’s decision to sell thousands of already cancelled tickets takes off, reports Australian Associated Press.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission sued the airline in August claiming it had engaged in false, misleading or deceptive conduct after continuing to sell thousands of tickets for flights that were already cancelled.
Qantas acknowledged it had let customers down but said airlines cannot guarantee specific flight times which could be delayed due to the nature of travel, including weather and operational issues.
Both parties will face a case management hearing before Justice Helen Rofe in Melbourne, who will hear both sides’ cases for the first time.
The consumer watchdog alleged Qantas did not notify existing ticket holders for 10,000 cancelled flights for an average of 18 days, and up to 48 days, between May and July 2022.
The ACCC is seeking penalties, injunctions, declarations and costs.
Qantas will fight allegations, saying the ACCC’s case ignored the realities of the aviation industry.
All customers on cancelled flights were offered alternative flights or refunds with no “fee for service”, the airline said in its defence.
The court action comes amid a turbulent period for Qantas, which saw shareholders reject pay rises for the airline’s board following a high court defeat over illegal job outsourcing, vicious Senate grillings over its role in the cost-of-living crisis and the federal court case.
Updated
Albanese due to arrive for talks with Pacific leaders
Good morning from Rarotonga in the Cook Islands, where the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to arrive for talks with Pacific leaders.
The Cook Islands is hosting this year’s summit of the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif), an 18-member grouping of 16 Pacific nations, including Australia and New Zealand, and two French territories.
Last night more than 200 performers – chanting, singing, dancing, beating drums and playing the pu (shell trumpet) – welcomed delegates to the national auditorium for the opening ceremony last night, where Australia was represented by the minister for the Pacific, Pat Conroy.
Albanese, who has just wrapped up his official visit to China, is due to land on the island of Rarotonga shortly before midday local time (9am AEDT).
Albanese’s schedule today includes meetings with the prime minister of the Cook Islands, Mark Brown, who yesterday renewed concerns about Aukus and said the region “should rediscover and revisit” the South Pacific Nuclear Free Zone Treaty. That treaty, signed in Rarotonga in 1985, remains in force and the Australian government has repeatedly said its Aukus plans for nuclear-powered, conventionally armed submarines are compliant. More on that story from our news wrap here:
Albanese is also scheduled to meet today with the prime minister of Tuvalu, Kausea Natano, and the president of Kiribati, Taneti Maamau.
The climate crisis is expected to be a topic of intense discussion at this week’s talks, amid growing calls from the Pacific for a fossil fuel phase-out. There is speculation the Australian government will announce climate funding, including a contribution to the Green Climate Fund after the Coalition stopped funding it in 2018.
But the leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, said Albanese “risks becoming a Pacific pariah like Scott Morrison if he keeps backing more coal and gas”.
There will be further talks tomorrow before Albanese and his counterparts fly to Aitutaki, another of the Cook Islands, for a leaders’ retreat where they will try to find consensus on key issues.
Updated
Police interview alleged Daylesford driver
Police have interviewed but not charged the man allegedly behind the wheel of a car that ploughed through a roadside beer garden in regional Victoria, killing five people, AAP reports.
Three groups were sitting outside the Royal Daylesford Hotel on Sunday when a BMW SUV mounted the curb and hit patrons.
The 66-year-old driver from Mount Macedon has been in hospital since the incident and was interviewed there on Tuesday evening.
Inquiries will continue after his eventual release from care, police said in a statement.
Updated
Optus network suffers national blackout
Optus’ network is suffering a major, apparently national blackout this morning, leaving people unable to make calls.
The company’s website says: “Our engineers are currently investigating a network fault that is impacting Optus Mobile & Fixed customers.”
On social media, people in multiple capital cities, from Sydney to Perth, are complaining about the outage.
Their social media rep has replied, saying: “We’re aware of an issue impacting connections for some Optus mobile and fixed customers. We understand connectivity is important and are working to restore services as a priority. We apologise for any inconvenience caused while we have the issue resolved.”
It is unclear if this outage is linked to public transport issues in Melbourne, where the entire train network came to a halt due to a “communications outage”.
The Public Transport Victoria website reported: “All train services on the Metropolitan network are currently stopped due to a communications outage. Passengers are advised to reconsider travel on the Metropolitan network and consider alternate travel arrangements, such as Yarra Trams and local bus services, until further notice.”
Around 6am the trains appeared to be up and running again, but all lines reported major delays.
According to the PTV site: “Train services are now resuming across the Metro network after an earlier communications outage. We are expecting major delays to all lines as we restore services with select cancellations and alterations. Services may terminate/originate at intermediate locations. Please listen for announcements and speak to staff for more information.”
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll bring you some of the top overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind gets settled into the hot seat for the rest of the day.
In breaking news, Optus’s network has suffered an apparently national blackout this morning, leaving customers unable to make calls. It’s unclear if this is linked to trains grinding to a halt in Melbourne, where a “communications outage” was blamed for all train services coming to a stop, resulting in major delays.
Also overnight, police revealed they have interviewed, but not charged, the driver of a car that crashed into a Daylesford pub garden that left five people dead.
We have exclusive news for you too: as the pandemic hit more than three years ago and the world scrambled for protective equipment, the Coalition government agreed to pay $100m to an obscure company to supply masks and gowns. Today we expose how the deal left the taxpayer massively out of pocket and with 46m unusable masks. An alarming letter from doctors to ministers pleading for massive amounts of personal protective equipment set the deal in train.
Anthony Albanese will arrive at the Pacific Islands Forum in the Cook Islands today after a diplomatic reset with China which includes an agreement to create a new multi-entry visa to facilitate exchanges and closer links between people. Topping the agenda in the Cook Islands will be concerns about whether the Aukus submarine deal is stretching the region’s nuclear treaty. We’ll have all the latest as it happens.
With yesterday’s decision by the Reserve Bank to hike rates again – the 13th rise in the current cycle – the economic outlook is darkening. The good news is that our economics correspondent reckons the bank is unlikely to go again next month and impose another rise on borrowers. The bad news is that the screw is already tightening and today we’re reporting on how one sector of the economy – the craft brewing industry – is suffering from rising costs in the post-pandemic era.
