What we learned, Friday 27 September
Well readers, that’s all from us on the live blog tonight. If you are reading in Victoria, I hope you’ve had a lovely grand final eve public holiday. If you are reading in Sydney or Brisbane, may the best AFL team win (and stay dry – it’s wet out there).
Here were today’s major developments:
Mpox cases have surged across Australia, swelling from a handful to hundreds in the space of a few months. More than 600 cases have been notified to federal authorities in the current reporting quarter, as of Friday, amid an explosion in the virus worldwide.
The value of Star Entertainment has fallen almost $600m this morning, after shares in the embattled casino operator resumed trading on the ASX for the first time this month.
Former prime minister Paul Keating has accused the government of “flogging a dead seahorse” with its nuclear-powered submarine plan and has argued the Labor party’s rank-and-file membership “abhors Aukus”.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather update for parts of north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland as wet and windy weather continues to batter the east coast.
And a statue of former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is in the works one year after he resigned from the state’s top job.
Updated
Covid report due this week faces month-long delay
We might have to wait a little longer for answers from the much-awaited federal Covid inquiry, with news released late on Friday that its final report – which was due to be delivered to the government by the end of this month – would now be delivered nearly a month later.
After 5pm on Friday evening, the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet uploaded a statement to its website confirming the change. The independent inquiry, set up in September 2023, had – according to its terms of reference – been asked to “deliver a Final Report to Government including recommendations to the Commonwealth Government to improve Australia’s preparedness for future pandemics by the end of September 2024”.
The Monday coming is the last day of September. The Department of PM&C says in a statement that “the inquiry will complete its work on 30 September 2024, consistent with the Terms of Reference”.
But, it goes on to say:
Given the complexity and size of the report the Prime Minister granted our request for an extension to provide the report by 25 October 2024.
This extension enables the report to be prepared for publication so it is available to the wide range of people that participated in the inquiry. This will allow the report to be readily released to the public.
We’ve asked for further clarification on when the report will actually be released to the public.
Updated
Hazardous surf, strong winds forecast for northern NSW; floods possible for northern rivers
Five weather warnings are in place in New South Wales, including for hazardous surf and marine wind, with the Bureau of Meteorology projecting “large, powerful waves” as wet weather moves north.
An initial flood watch is in place for parts of the northern rivers and the mid north coast, while a minor to moderate flood warning is also in place for the Bellinger River.
Dangerous coastal conditions are expected for northern #NSW & far south-east #Qld from today until the end of Saturday. Warnings are in place. Large & powerful waves pose a risk to boats and make coastal activities dangerous. Latest: https://t.co/4W35o8i7wJ pic.twitter.com/XhPXJpsCBk
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) September 27, 2024
A low pressure system has developed off the Byron Bay coast causing strong to gale force winds and large waves for parts of mid and northern New South Wales coasts. The low is expected to remain slow-moving on Saturday before weakening on Sunday morning with conditions easing.
A hazardous surf warning is in place for Byron, Coffs and Macquarie coasts for today, and for Byron and Coffs coasts for Saturday.
Beach conditions in these areas could be dangerous and people should stay well away from the surf and surf exposed areas.
Updated
Political gags about cost of Dutton’s nuclear power plan keep rolling in
Meanwhile, the minister for climate change and energy, Chris Bowen, is celebrating his 100th birthday with what appears to be a store-bought chocolate cake.
It’s been 100 days now, Peter Dutton.
— Chris Bowen (@Bowenchris) September 27, 2024
It’s time to come clean with the Australian people on how much your risky nuclear scheme would cost taxpayers and how much damage it would mean for our grid’s reliability. pic.twitter.com/wwPkNDWc2o
Wait – no, it’s just another prop based political gag calling on the opposition leader to release the costing for his nuclear power proposal (see also: Bob Katter and Andrew Wilkie’s bizarre pig suit protest).
It’s been 100 days since Peter Dutton announced the seven sites for the Coalition’s proposed nuclear reactors, with no further details provided.
Updated
Albanese serves up some hits at Epping Tennis Club for a smashing good time
Have you been spending this Friday afternoon, at your desk or on your couch, musing, ‘I wonder what Anthony Albanese is up to right now?’
Well, boy, do I have an answer for you, dear reader!
Sporting clubs are at the heart of communities across Australia.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) September 27, 2024
We're proud to back them.
Great to have a hit with some rising hot shots at Epping Tennis Club. pic.twitter.com/gOIuDhn2Ut
He’s having a hit with some “rising hot shots” at Epping Tennis Club!
Tennis-heads, or Albo-heads, would know the PM has quite a penchant for a hit at his former local, the Marrickville Tennis Club – so this may not be just another photo op.
Updated
Four children hospitalised with serious injuries after Brisbane car crash
In Queensland, four children have been transported to hospital – two with life threatening injuries – after a car crashed into a power pole in Brisbane.
Queensland’s ambulance service confirmed the single-vehicle crash occurred on Vincents Street in Auchenflower, Brisbane, at about 1.15pm.
Paramedics have transported four male children to Queensland Children’s Hospital … two were transported with life-threatening injuries, one patient with abdominal and seatbelt injuries, the other with head and seatbelt injuries.
Another two patients were transported in a stable condition with minor injuries. An adult male patient was also assessed but has declined transport.
Updated
Teachers Federation: Urgent action need to support public school students with disabilities
The NSW Teachers Federation is calling for urgent action to address issues raised in a new auditor-general’s report on support for students with disability in public schools, which highlighted large gaps in planning and provision of vital support.
The report notes that since 2018, the number of students with disability has grown from one-fifth to one-quarter, finding the Department of Education “does not have a clear and accurate picture of demand compared to supply, or the time taken for targeted supports to be provided to students”.
Federation senior vice-president, Natasha Watt, said the report confirmed what teachers had been saying “for years”.
We have a crisis in support for students with disability.
It’s astounding that 18 years after a 2006 audit recommended monitoring wait times for support, the Department still cannot tell how long students are waiting. This is a fundamental failure of planning.
Without accurate data on demand, the Department cannot properly plan or resource disability support. This is leading directly to growing inequality in learning outcomes.
Updated
Telcos need greater tech safeguards, public accountability, Senate inquiry concludes
Telecommunications companies need greater technological safeguards and public accountability, a Senate inquiry report into the 8 November 2023 Optus outage has recommended.
Inquiry chair and Greens spokesperson for communications, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, says the report requires Optus and other telcos to work towards better network safeguards and a higher standard of public accountability in the future.
These recommendations mean telcos need to work with the Australian government and cooperate with one another to deliver large-scale network roaming and mutual assistance arrangements in the event of future outages.
In 2024 people expect to be able to call triple 0 in an emergency, to be able to access internet banking for their small business, or to contact their kids or grandparents via their mobile phone. It’s therefore appropriate that telecommunications carriers are included as critical infrastructure providers via amendments to the Security of Critical Infrastructure Act 2018.
Updated
Severe weather heading for north-east NSW, south-east Queensland
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather update for parts of north-east New South Wales and south-east Queensland as wet and windy weather continues to batter the east coast.
The BoM said bad weather around Sydney and Newcastle would move northwards today to the mid-north coast, northern rivers and parts of south Queensland.
More than 120mm of rain has fallen in the past 24 hours, with widespread falls of up to 70mm.
That’s expected to continue with a low pressure area developing over the water, in line with the NSW and Queensland border.
⚠️Severe Weather Warning: Damaging winds to develop about the northeast coast and Border Ranges later this evening, easing later on Saturday. Moderate to heavy rainfall expected, and a Flood Watch is current for parts of #MidNorthCoast #NorthernRivershttps://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/bujqTfmW7O
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) September 27, 2024
It will continue to feed moisture, rain, strong winds … on to the coastline for the next few days, particularly on Saturday.
The wet conditions will slowly weaken and move away on Sunday.
Updated
Greens: Plibersek must use water trigger to stop Beetaloo Basin fracking project
The Greens have renewed calls on the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek to call in Tamboran Resources’ fracking project in the Beetaloo Basin under the water trigger, following an Environment Centre NT filing an urgent application to stop the gas company from drilling without an environmental water assessment.
Greens spokesperson for the environment and water, Senator Sarah Hanson-Young, says it is “shocking that gas fracking cowboys have started drilling with zero environmental water assessments”.
It is disgraceful that the minister is leaving it to communities on the frontline of environmental destruction to do the government’s job and make sure all assessments are completed before any work starts.
The minister’s request for scientific advice from IESC isn’t good enough. A recent presentation to IESC made it clear aquifers in the Beetaloo are ‘highly susceptible to contamination or drawdown from activities that support shale gas extraction’.
I urge the minister to do the right thing, right now – call this dangerous fracking project in, look at the science, and listen to the communities and traditional owners who have been pleading with you to protect their water – the lifeblood of the NT.
Updated
Pedestrian reportedly hit by a car in Penrith dies
A pedestrian has died after he was hit by a vehicle in Penrith, in Sydney’s west on Friday.
About 12.45pm, emergency services were called after reports that a man on a mobility scooter was struck by a car, which failed to stop after the crash.
The pedestrian – believed to be a man aged in his 80s – was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics; however, he died at the scene. He is yet to be identified.
Officers attached to Nepean Police Area command established a crime scene, which will be examined by specialist police from the Crash Investigation Unit.
Following inquiries, police arrested a man at a shopping centre on Jane Street, Penrith, about 1.45pm. He has been taken to Nepean hospital for mandatory testing.
Updated
Marles says Keating’s Aukus criticism ‘nothing new’
The former prime minister Paul Keating also took aim at the defence minister, Richard Marles, for his comments in London last night.
Marles had played down the latest Aukus-related criticism from Keating, saying it wasn’t a new line of attack.
Mr Keating, to give him credit, has been consistent in his position over a long period of time. What Mr Keating is saying now is what Mr Keating was saying in March of last year. So there’s really nothing new in his comments. And obviously he is perfectly entitled to the view that he holds.
But what’s also not new is the strategic imperative for Australia to walk down the path of acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability.
Marles also said Aukus was “utterly essential for Australia’s future and the strategic imperative of that remains unchanged, irrespective of what Mr Keating says”. Marles noted Aukus had bipartisan support from the major Australian political parties, and from the Labor party’s national conference in Brisbane in August last year.
Keating countered with this comment:
This may be true at some factionally, highly managed national conference – like the last one – but it is utterly untrue of the Labor party’s membership at large – which he knows.
The membership abhors Aukus and everything that smacks of national sublimation. It does not expect these policies from a Labor government.
Updated
Keating: government ‘flogging a dead seahorse’ with Aukus deal
The former prime minister Paul Keating has accused the government of “flogging a dead seahorse” with its nuclear-powered submarine plan and has argued the Labor party’s rank-and-file membership “abhors Aukus”.
Keating has never been a fan of the Aukus security partnership with the US and the UK, and has said so repeatedly. The former Labor PM has argued that it will constrain Australia’s room to make independent military deployment decisions for decades to come.
His latest statement follows the meeting of the Aukus defence ministers and secretaries in London last night.
At the joint press conference, a journalist asked the ministers and secretaries about Keating’s views. The US defence secretary, Lloyd Austin, said the submarine plan would “provide a generational capability to Australia that will provide benefits for many, many years to come” and was “well worth the investment”.
Austin added:
We are committed to making sure that, you know, Australia has what it needs to have … and it will make its own sovereign decisions about what it will do in the future. We fully expect that.
In a statement issued on Friday afternoon, Keating said the Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, “has his US friend propping him up in London to throw a 10,000-mile punch at me – and as usual, failing to materially respond to legitimate and particular criticisms made of the Aukus arrangement”.
Keating said Austin’s claim about Australian sovereign control “would only be true until the prime minister and Marles got their phone call from the President, seeking to mobilise Australian military assets – wherein, both would click their heels in alacrity and agreement”. Keating said:
The rest of us would read about it in some self-serving media statement afterwards.
(Continued in next blog post)
Updated
Thanks so much to Kate Lyons and Rafqa Touma for steering the blog ship today. It’s Caitlin Cassidy, I’ll be with you until stumps.
Mona’s Ladies Lounge wins appeal in bid to continue barring men from entry
Tasmania’s Museum of Old and New Art (Mona) has won an appeal in the state’s supreme court in a bid to continue barring men from entering an installation known as the Ladies Lounge.
The exhibit was closed in April after Tasmania’s civil and administrative tribunal ordered the museum to admit men to the female-only space, upholding a Sydney man’s complaint that the museum had discriminated against him on the basis of gender.
But on Friday, the supreme court found the Ladies Lounge qualified for an exemption from the state’s anti-discrimination act under a section that allows discrimination if the intention behind the action is to promote equal opportunity for a group of people who are disadvantaged or have a special need.
“The Ladies Lounge can be seen as an arrangement to promote equal opportunity by highlighting the lack of equal opportunity, which generally prevails in society, by providing women with a rare glimpse of what it is like to be advantaged rather than disadvantaged by the refusal of entry to the Ladies Lounge by men,” justice Shane Marshall said in Friday’s decision.
Full story here
Updated
Self confessed human encyclopedia Bill Shorten serves up all you need to know about praying mantises
If you need a little bit of fun to get you through the end of Friday, our political reporter Josh Butler has you covered.
He’s spotted this interesting nugget from Bill Shorten’s interview this morning on the Today Show in which the former Labor leader reveals his extensive knowledge of praying mantises.
didn't expect Bill Shorten to have such immediate encyclopaedic knowledge about insects, but you learn something new every day
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) September 26, 2024
(via Today Show this morn) pic.twitter.com/fNfer45LGs
Updated
Queensland ALP, unions rally in support of women’s reproductive rights
Queensland Labor and the state’s union movement have rallied in the Brisbane CBD, claiming a conservative government would roll back abortion access in the state.
The LNP have repeatedly denied the allegation.
But Queensland Council of Unions head Jacqueline King said “it’s an absolute concern for the union movement, and it should be a concern for all Queenslanders”.
“Queensland will go backwards. Queensland women’s rights will go backwards. We have a whole range of initiatives that the LNP has opposed progressively, even in this last term of government, up until the last sitting, when they opposed respect at work, reforms which were about preventing further sexual harassment, sex based harassment against women in the workplace, but also requiring people to take some positive actions to try to prevent those things,” she said.
“We have the most arch conservative LNP, opposition and members of parliament in Queensland, out of any state in Australia. They are opposed, you know, to any progressive reform.”
Opposition leader David Crisafulli committed this week to implement the government’s Women and Girls’ Health Strategy, although the party voted against legislation earlier this year to permit part of the plan.
Senior Labor minister Grace Grace and several Greens figures attended the rally – plus not-for-profit Children by Choice. It was held before the international safe abortion day, on Saturday.
Updated
That’s all from me on the blog today. Handing over to Kate Lyons who will take you through the afternoon’s updates.
DFAT tells tourists to PNG to exercise ‘high degree of caution’; Kokoda Track still closed
SmartTraveller advises travellers to Papua New Guinea to “exercise a high degree of caution”. The Kokoda Track is closed because of “blockades” on the track, according to the government site. It says:
We continue to advise exercise a high degree of caution in Papua New Guinea due to high levels of crime, tribal violence and civil unrest. Higher levels apply in some areas.
The Kokoda Track is closed while local authorities negotiate with landowners to remove blockades on the Kokoda Track. The blockades and closure are disrupting current and planned treks. Check with your trekking company for the latest information (see ‘Travel’).
The travel advice for PNG was updated on 19 September 2024 to advise that blockades and closure would disrupt current and planned treks.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is not aware of any tour groups remaining on the Kokoda Track.
A DFAT spokesperson says reopening of the track “is a matter for the PNG government”.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is encouraging an early resolution.”
Updated
CEO of drinks retailer Endeavour to step down from underperforming group
Australia’s biggest alcohol retailer is on the hunt for a new CEO as 30-year veteran Steve Donohue said it’s “the right time” to leave the underperforming Dan Murphy’s and parent company BWS.
Endeavour Group is facing a dwindling stock value and its 2023/24 financial year results showed that although sales has increased, profits had been slashed to service its $1.9bn debt.
Donohue, who will remain in the role until a replacement is found, said:
It has been an immense privilege to lead this company and to have been a part of this business for three decades.
Six years after we created Endeavour Group and with the strategy and culture well established as an independent company, now is the right time for me to pass the baton on to the next leader.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Bronze statue of ex-Victorian premier Daniel Andrews in works
A statue of former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews is in the works one year after he resigned from the state’s top job.
Bronze statues of state premiers who spent more than 3,000 days in office are immortalised outside government offices near Treasury Gardens in central Melbourne, under a rule introduced by former Liberal premier Jeff Kennett to honour premiers for their longevity.
The process of installing one of Andrews is under way. It is unclear how much it will cost or its possible location.
A government spokesperson confirmed the Department of Premier and Cabinet has provided a brief to government over the statue but did not reveal further information.
Opposition finance spokesperson Jess Wilson hit back at the decision to immortalise Andrews in a statue.
“As Victoria buckles under a cost-of-living crisis, a failing health system and surging crime, Premier Allan’s priority is to erect a statue for Daniel Andrews instead of delivering relief for Victorian taxpayers,” she said.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Australian numbers of mpox surge, more than half the cases from NSW
Mpox cases have surged across Australia, swelling from a handful to hundreds in the space of a few months.
More than 600 cases have been notified to federal authorities in the current reporting quarter, as of Friday, amid an explosion in the virus worldwide.
The tally is up from only six confirmed cases in the first three months of 2024.
More than half of the 737 diagnoses throughout the year have been in NSW, while there have been another 254 cases in Victoria.
The vast majority of cases are men, although two women have been diagnosed.
Mpox is caused by the mpox virus, which is from the same family as the one responsible for smallpox. Vaccinations against that disease have also been used to suppress mpox.
The virus is transmitted chiefly through prolonged physical or intimate contact with an infected person.
Common symptoms include a painful rash, lesions or sores, fever, chills, muscle aches, swollen lymph nodes and sore throat. Most patients fully recover, but some can become seriously ill.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Australia and UK to negotiate new treaty for implementing Aukus
Australia and the UK will negotiate a new treaty to spell out how the two countries will work together to make the Aukus security pact a reality.
The first pillar of Aukus – which also includes the US – is the project to assist Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines over the coming decades. The second pillar relates to collaboration among the three countries on other advanced defence technologies.
Readers may recall that the three Aukus countries agreed last month on a new trilateral treaty that will allow for the transfer of nuclear material to Australia as part of the plan to acquire nuclear-powered but conventionally armed submarines.
Further to that, Australia and the UK are now starting talks on their own bilateral treaty to complement the overarching plans. The announcement was made at a meeting of the defence ministers and secretaries of the three Aukus countries in London last night.
At a joint press conference, the UK defence secretary, John Healey, said he and his Australian counterpart, Richard Marles, had “agreed that negotiations will soon be under way for a new bilateral treaty to bind our Aukus collaboration into law”.
Healey said this “not only reflects our commitment to a secure Indo-Pacific region where international rules are respected [but] it also sends a very strong message that our defence alliance is one that will endure for many decades to come”.
Marles elaborated on the focus of the UK and Australia treaty talks:
That particularly pertains to the development of the SSN-Aukus type submarine in the future, and we’re really excited about the prospect of undertaking those negotiations.
Australia plans to buy at least three Virginia class submarines from the US in the 2030s before a new class of submarine, SSN-Aukus, starts entering into the Royal Australian Navy’s service in the 2040s. Australia plans to build this submarine in Adelaide, but the UK will also be building the same class of submarine for its own use.
Updated
Casino operator Star suffers share price plunge
The value of Star Entertainment has fallen almost $600m this morning, after shares in the embattled casino operator resumed trading on the ASX for the first time this month.
Star had been in a trading halt after it failed to lodge its financial accounts on time amid concerns over its viability.
Its full year financials were published yesterday, almost one month overdue, showing a $1.69bn full year loss. The casino operator warned that it was facing “significant near-term liquidity requirements” even after securing a new debt facility.
Star’s shares were halted at 45 cents at the start of the month, giving Star a market value of $1.3bn. At midday, shares were trading around the 25 cent mark, which equates to a market cap of about $720m.
The casino group is in discussions with state governments to renew casino licences in NSW and Queensland, while it also grapples with demands from gambling and financial crime regulators that could result in significant fines, adding more financial pressure.
Updated
Chalmers says China’s economic stimulus efforts are helping Australia
By coincidence, Jim Chalmers has been visiting China this week as the first Australian treasurer to do so in seven years.
Before he landed, Chinese officials had already begun announcing the nation’s biggest stimulus package in years in a bid to revive an economy that has been peering into a deflationary hole as its property market wilts.
The sweeping moves – from interest rate cuts and pressure for banks to lend to even handouts to the poor – suggest officials are clearly getting worried the economy won’t meet its 5% growth goal this year.
It remains to be seen what other spending plans are in the works because consumer confidence will take more than lower borrowing costs to revive.
China’s financial markets, though, have generally rocketed this week, with some international investors calling for a buy “everything” China strategy. (That doesn’t seem very discerning.)
Anyway, Chalmers himself didn’t reveal much that isn’t already public, telling a media conference in Beijing today that the news “can only be a good thing for Australia”.
As with “a lot of people around the world, we have been concerned about the softer conditions here in the Chinese economy,” he said. (The Reserve Bank yesterday cited slow Chinese growth as one of three “vulnerabilities” that could shake Australia’s financial stability.”)
The Australia‑China Strategic Economic Dialogue, which Chalmers attended, will be an annual gathering from now on, so the channels of discussion, at least, will become more regular.
But as a reminder of the Jekyll/Hyde relationship Australia (and allies) have with Australia, Chalmers was asked about a ballistic missile launch by China this week, and warships from Japan, Australia and New Zealand sailing through the Taiwan Strait this week.
“I was able to reiterate in the meetings yesterday afternoon our expectations of safe and professional conduct of all militaries operating in our region,” Chalmers said.
“But, as you would expect, the overwhelming focus of our discussions here has been the economy,” he said.
Updated
Townsville police issue emergency declaration for fuel truck rollover on Flinders Highway
Townsville police has issued an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act just before 9am after a fuel truck rolled over on the Flinders Highway at Pentland.
There is an exclusion zone 2km around the crash site, near the Warrigal Creek.
QLD police are urging motorists and the public to avoid the area, and for those within the exclusion zone to remain indoors until further notice.
Townsville police have declared an emergency declaration under the Public Safety Preservation Act (PSPA) due to a truck rollover along the Flinders Highway at Pentland, west of Charters Towers.https://t.co/EX5ltEIcPq pic.twitter.com/GhLLnI9Fgf
— Queensland Police (@QldPolice) September 27, 2024
Updated
Wong says ‘a Palestinian state cannot threaten Israel’s security’
Penny Wong went on to say that Australia supports the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination, but “there can be no role for terrorists” and “a Palestinian state cannot threaten Israel’s security”.
She says Australia is “ready to play our part” in helping the Palestinian Authority reform, including with support for public administration capacity building.
Wong says Israel “must not be allowed to continue to take unilateral actions to entrench the occupation and prevent a viable Palestinian state”. Israel, she says, “must stop establishing settlements, which are illegal under international law and a major obstacle to peace” and should hold to account settlers engaging in violence against Palestinians.
Updated
Australia open to coordinated effort to set 'a clear timeline for the international declaration of Palestinian statehood'
Separate from her speech to the UN security council, Penny Wong also spoke in New York about a pathway to recognising Palestine during a speech to a ministerial meeting focused on Gaza.
While the foreign affairs minister said the most pressing need was for ceasefires in Gaza and Lebanon, she also reiterated the need for a path to “a just and enduring peace”. Wong said the world “can no longer wait”.
Speaking at the UN headquarters at a ministerial meeting on the situation in Gaza and the implementation of the two-state solution, Wong said:
Like other partners, Australia no longer sees recognition of a Palestinian state as only occurring at the end of negotiations but rather as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution.
But individual country actions alone are not moving the dial – which is why Australia wants to engage on new ways to break the cycle, including the role of the UN security council in setting a pathway for two-states, with a clear timeline for the international declaration of Palestinian statehood.
So we commend the collective initiative being discussed here today to build momentum to achieve a two-state solution. We stand ready to support this work.
The reference to individual country actions “not moving the dial” is notable because Spain, Norway and Ireland each recognised Palestine as a state in May this year. The Labor government did not act on calls from the Greens to immediately follow suit at the time. Wong is now speaking about exploring “new ways to break the cycle” and a clear deadline for international recognition of Palestine (more than 140 UN members states already recognise Palestine).
Updated
Jim Chalmers says Australia ‘not immune’ from weaker growth in China
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says he consulted with BHP, Rio, Fortescue, Woodside and others before his visit to China “to understand the implications for our exports of a softer Chinese [economy]”.
We saw iron ore fall 40% since the start of the year. Similar with thermal coal. That has implications for us and for the budget but, importantly, it has implications for the economy. So, even in the course of this week, we saw a minor improvement in the prices we get for some of our bulk commodities, that is obviously a good thing when it comes to our major exporters.
More broadly, softness has implications for growth in the global economy. We’ve seen in the last 24 hours our Reserve Bank putting out its financial stability analysis, talked about the consequences of weaker Chinese growth for the global economy. We’re not immune from that across the board but the easiest way to understand it is when it comes to the impact on our exporters.
Updated
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking live from Beijing, China:
When steps are taken here to boost economic activity and growth in the Chinese economy, subject to the details that will be released in good time, we see that as a very, very good development for Australia.
Chalmers has been meeting his counterparts in economic agencies in a two-day visit to Beijing.
You can read about what is on the agenda here:
Updated
Shorten announces two NDIS pilots
Two NDIS announcements from minister Bill Shorten this morning: one on a new pilot program to gear services toward vulnerable participants who may not be getting the help they need, and another on a trial to design new payment options.
On the first, Shorten said the NDIS would begin a pilot to “focus on the delivery of support coordination and supported independent living (SIL) for participants including those who have complex and high needs”. These are for people who need seven-day-a-week care, often overnight, and programs that ensure people are getting the right support for their needs.
Shorten said reviews of the NDIS found the government needs “to incentivise and pay for high-quality supports from committed high-quality providers”. Some issues at play here include some high-quality providers experiencing financial difficulty – issues that need to be solved to keep those providers running.
The payment options announcement will see 31 providers share in $330,000 to help co-design “blended payment options”, in a bid to “test if there is a better payment option than the current fee-for-service model”.
“Under the current fee-for-service model, a participant pays a provider for their services and often that’s the end of it. The idea of a blended payment method will test if there might be a better option – where both participants and providers are clearer from the start on the desired outcome and thereby work more effectively towards that,” Shorten said
Shorten’s office said the trial would look at two options: “an enrolment payment, where providers are paid for providing supports over a period of time (for example one or two years). The second is an outcome-based payment where a provider is paid when a participant’s goal is achieved.”
Updated
Rideshare driver charged after crash killed girl, dad
A four-month investigation has culminated in charges being laid against a rideshare driver after a father and daughter were killed while passengers in his car.
The 12-year-old girl and her 41-year-old father died when the Toyota sedan they were travelling in was hit by a ute on 26 May.
The car rolled, trapping the 52-year-old driver and his passengers after the collision near an intersection on Milperra Road at Milperra, in south-west Sydney.
The male passenger’s 10-year-old son was also injured in the crash but survived despite suffering serious injuries.
On Thursday, the rideshare driver attended Bankstown police station and was charged with two counts each of negligent driving occasioning death and causing bodily harm by misconduct while in charge of a motor vehicle. He was granted bail to appear at Bankstown local court in early November.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Netanyahu 'needs to listen to the international community': Albanese
Anthony Albanese says Australia supports calls for immediate ceasefires both across the Lebanon-Israel border and in Gaza.
I say to Prime Minister Netanyahu that he needs to listen to the international community. Just like the other players in that region need to listen to the international community. The calls are very clear when you have the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada, other nations all calling for a de-escalation of this conflict.
We are very concerned and the world is concerned about the escalation that is continuing here and the consequences for it.
Updated
Albanese says Home for Australia plan is his ‘only focus’
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is asked again on negative gearing: “There’s a question around the future potential for changes. There was no answer there.”
He responds:
I have said what we’re doing. And I have said what we’re not doing. What we’re doing is very clear, which is our Home For Australia plan. That is what we are doing.
I’m saying that is our focus and our only focus is on that.
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Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking live from Melbourne.
Asked about his statement yesterday that he has “no plans” to change negative gearing and isn’t taking reforms to the next election, Albanese says:
I talk about what we’re doing, not what we’re not doing. What we’re trying to do is get our legislation through in parliament as part of our $32bn Home for Australia plan. There’s two key pieces of legislation. One is Build to Rent. Now, what that’s about is providing incentives for the private sector to make sure that there’s increased supply. And the second is our Help to Buy scheme. That’s about 40,000 people getting assistance to buy their own home. Now, the Housing Australia Future Fund … goes to social housing, that was held up by the Coalition government.
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Penny Wong says Lebanese civilians ‘should not pay the price’ for Hezbollah
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, told the UN security council Australia was calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon. Speaking hours after the Israeli government rejected US-backed international calls for a three-week ceasefire, Wong said:
Hezbollah are terrorists that have not complied with security council resolution 1701, but Lebanese civilians should not pay the price.
De-escalation is urgent, dialogue is needed, and parties must implement this Resolution in full.
Lebanon cannot become the next Gaza. Just as in Gaza, Australia calls for an immediate ceasefire in Lebanon.
Wong made broader comments about “widespread” civilian suffering around the world, including in Sudan, where tens of thousands of people had died and “more than 700,000 children face severe or acute malnutrition”.
She said that civilians in Ukraine continued to suffer “because of Russia’s senseless invasion”. Wong said:
President [Vladimir] Putin’s use of the veto to protect his own illegal actions is the act of a coward.
The UN live stream showed the Russian representative watching and taking notes at this point. Wong added:
Australia was a founding member of the UN. We opposed the veto from the start.
We must reform the council to meet the challenges of today.
Wong said reforms to the security council should include ensuring “greater permanent and non-permanent representation for Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean and the Asia-Pacific”. She noted that Australia’s longstanding candidacy for a non-permanent seat on the UN security council for 2029-2030 “reflects our commitment to contribute to international peace and security”.
She said peace was “not a gift” and “never a given” but was “a duty we all share”.
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No party must obstruct Middle East peace, Wong says
Continuing her address to the UN security council in New York, the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said:
The world demands a ceasefire in Gaza.
Hostages must be released.
Aid must flow. And this humanitarian catastrophe must end.
Yet the only hope to finally break the endless cycle of violence – for a secure, prosperous future for Palestinians and Israelis – is a Palestinian state alongside the State of Israel.
The international community – including this security council – must work together to pave a path to lasting peace.
We cannot wait for the parties to do this themselves; we cannot allow any party to obstruct the prospect of peace.
(Quick analysis: Wong’s rhetorical support for a two-state solution as a long-term way to end the cycle of violence is not new, but it is notable that she has included language against waiting “for the parties” to pave the path to lasting peace “themselves” and that no party must obstruct it.
For months, the government has been swapping notes with other countries about how to build momentum for a two-state solution, and has said recognition of Palestinian statehood need not come at the very end of a peace process. But Australia has not been specific about when it would be ready to take that step.)
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Penny Wong tells UN security council: civilians need to be protected
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, is addressing the UN security council in New York now. Australia is not a security council member at present, but is contributing to an open debate on the maintenance of international peace and security.
Wong began by repeating one of her themes of the week – the need to adhere to international humanitarian law to limit suffering in conflict:
War has rules – even when confronting terrorists; even when defending borders.
Civilians need to be protected.
But in conflicts around the world, this is not happening.
Nearly a year ago, Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis – the worst loss of Jewish life in a single day since the Holocaust – and Hamas terrorists continue to hold hostages.
In Israel’s response, over 40,000 Palestinians have been killed – more than 11,000 children. And more than 300 aid workers since this war began. Gaza is the deadliest place on earth to be an aid worker.
We cannot protect civilians without protecting the aid workers who are delivering food, water and medicine they need to survive.
This week, Australia has convened ministers and humanitarian leaders to pursue a new Declaration for the Protection of Humanitarian Personnel.
Tony Burke rejects Dutton’s criticism of international education system
A spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, says government “won’t apologise for returning integrity to the international education system” in reply to the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, yesterday saying international students trying to stay in Australia are “the modern version of boat arrivals”.
The spokesperson said:
It’s unclear what Peter Dutton is criticising. Is it the AAT that he stacked and we are replacing, or the issues with international education that emerged when he was minister and we have made wholesale reform to fix?
Clearly Peter Dutton doesn’t think we should be rejecting fraudulent student visa applications – our government won’t apologise for returning integrity to the international education system.
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Bridie Jabour spoke to chief political correspondent Paul Karp about why Australia could be gearing up for another election battle over housing.
You can listen to the Full Story here:
They talk negative gearing – the tax incentive that benefits investors, which has become one of the most controversial policies in Australian politics and is widely viewed to have contributed to Labor losing the 2019 election. This week it seemed the prime minister was open to considering change, if only for the briefest of moments.
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Latest search for Samantha Murphy's body called off
The latest search for the body of missing New South Wales mother Samantha Murphy has failed to turn up anything of interest and has been called off.
State and federal police faced wet conditions on Tuesday as they began a new search in Grenville, south of Ballarat, which wrapped up on Thursday.
The 51-year-old was last seen alive when she went for a run on the morning of 4 February.
You can read more about the search efforts here:
– Australian Associated Press
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Dutton says PM ‘desperately hoping’ interest rates will fall
Opposition leader Peter Dutton believes Western Australia will play a crucial role in the election. He told the West Australian:
My judgment is that we’re waiting for the results to come in from WA before we know the outcome of the election this time around.
Dutton suggested that the election date would depend on interest rates:
It depends on whether the prime minister’s waiting to see if interest rates come down.
He’d be desperately hoping that they come down in February of next year and he can go from there.
If he thinks that they’re going to go up, or if there’s no chance of them coming down and if he thinks he’s got a restless backbench, then December 9.
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NT conservation group calls for Beetaloo fracking stay
A Northern Territory conservation group is asking a court to make an immediate order to prevent drilling for gas in the Beetaloo basin, arguing surface water and groundwater should be protected from fracking.
The Environment Centre NT has filed an urgent application to stop Tamboran Resources from drilling at its Shenandoah South fracking project, where work began last month, while the territory civil and administrative tribunal assesses the case.
Tamboran plans to drill up to 15 fracking wells at four locations. The centre argues it could damage surface water, groundwater and water-dependent ecosystems. Tamboran has said it was confident it would not have a significant impact.
The environment centre’s executive director, Dr Kirsty Howey, said:
We live in the territory. This is our home. We are fighting to protect our water from the dangers of fracking.
The NT government signed a supply agreement with Tamboran to supply 40 terajoules of gas a day for at least nine years before the project was approved under territory environment law.
The federal environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has asked a scientific panel to examine whether fracking in the NT would damage water resources. See the details here:
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Pocock says housing being treated as ‘investment vehicle’ rather than ‘human right’
Pockock says:
Housing, it is dire, particularly if you’re a young person or a more marginalised group. You know, women over 55, it is almost impossible to get into housing market unless you have the bank of mum and dad, unless you have wealthy parents. That’s not the Australia I think we want to be living in.
When you actually start to talk about reform, and you say, “Well, what about limiting it to one investment property?”, most people say, “Well, that seems pretty fair.” There are people out there who may not have superannuation. You run a small business, you have an investment property … for your retirement. That seems legitimate.
And I think it is a sensible way to start to turn this ship around where, for so long, housing has been an investment vehicle, a way to build wealth, rather than a human right, something that is actually affordable and accessible to Australians.
More and more people, even people who’ve done well out of property, are realising that this isn’t working for us.
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Pocock says ‘middle path’ the way forward on negative gearing and capital gains
Independent senator David Pocock urges a “sensible middle path to reform” on negative gearing and capital gains, speaking to ABC RN after changes were seemingly snuffed out by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
His proposal with Jacqui Lambie to “grandfather existing arrangements, and then limit negative gearing to one interest going forward and only have a capital gains tax discount for new builds” would incentivise rather than throttle supply, he says.
“That would save you $15bn-$16bn over the next 10 years,” Pocock says. “That could be directly invested into social affordable housing to deal with more supply, which we desperately need.
“I think there are really sensible ways, ways forward, particularly when you know 70% of Australians who own investment properties only own one.
“We are in a housing crisis, and I’m concerned politicians aren’t quite clocking just how bad this is across the country. We should be talking about tax reform, planning reform, stamp duty, migration. We need to be having a sensible conversation about all of these things and then finding a way forward.”
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Paths for negative gearing change
Negative gearing reform attempts are viewed by some as an electoral landmine, others as a long overdue change for housing market equity.
During a frenetic 36 hours this week, changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax were mooted, tentatively backed by numerous Labor MPs and then seemingly snuffed out (for now) by the prime minister, Anthony Albanese.
These two controversial tax settings, respectively, allow property investors to claim the difference between their rental income and their mortgage payments as a deduction, and to reduce the tax an investor pays when they sell a home.
The ensuing scuffle reflected negative gearing’s totemic status in political discourse. But there was little discussion about what might actually be on the table if changes were considered.
You can read some options raised by others, and previously, in Josh Butler’s piece here:
Students challenging visa rulings are new verson of boat arrivals, Dutton claims
Peter Dutton has described the rise in the number of international students appealing against the cancellation of their visa with the aim of extending their stay in Australia as the “modern version of the boat arrivals”.
Talking to Ray Hadley on 2GB radio, the opposition leader was asked about a report in the Australian claiming that courts and tribunals were bracing for “tens of thousands of international students to appeal against the refusal or cancellation of their visas amid concerns that foreign visa holders are gaming the system”.
“Many”, the report claimed, are Indian or Chinese nationals.
Dutton:
This is the modern version of the boat arrivals. So people have found a weakness in the system, they are exploiting the weakness, they obviously will be getting advice from lawyers in this space and others who have tested the system and found success, and ultimately have stayed in Australia or they have extended their stay.
The taxpayer’s picking up every dollar of this. For a lot of these people that Andrew Giles and Anthony Albanese have let out of immigration detention, taxpayers are paying for motel accommodation for meals and providing medical support to them as well.
Dutton also claimed that the Labor government had let in “a million people over the last two years and only 300,000 homes being built”. It had lost control of the migration program, he said.
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Good morning
Thanks to Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’m Rafqa Touma and I’ll take you through the day’s updates from here. If there is anything you see that you don’t want the blog to miss, shoot it my way on X (formerly Twitter) @At_Raf_
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On matters economic …
Our economics correspondent Peter Hannam has been looking at the RBA’s financial stability review, as I mentioned at the top of the blog.
Here is his full report:
And here’s that news from China about efforts to kickstart the declining housing market there that has been one of the biggest drags on its economy – and therefore a big potential problem for Australia’s economy.
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‘We are dying inside’
For migrants on bridging visas like Sukhdeep Kaur and Jaswinder Singh, the need to reapply every three months brings mental torture.
They have been telling Rafqa Touma about the dilemma of having to visit dying parents in India and risk not being allowed back into Australia for three years, or not seeing their parents again.
Jaswinder has just returned to India to see his elderly father leaving Sukhdeep at home where she can only talk on the phone to her mother who has cancer:
We are just breathing. We are not living. We are dying inside.
Read the full report here:
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Welcome
Good morning, this is Martin Farrer welcoming you to the live blog. We’ve made it to the end of the week and Rafqa Touma will be here to take you towards the finishing line after I’ve flagged up some of the best overnight stories.
Peter Dutton has described the rise in the number of international students appealing against the cancellation of their visa with the aim of extending their stay in Australia as the “modern version of the boat arrivals”. In the same interview, he called for the University of Sydney vice-chancellor, Mark Scott, to resign, saying he would do so if he had “any shred of integrity”. More coming up.
And the slowdown in China was yesterday identified by the Reserve Bank as one of the key external threats to the Australian economy when it released its six-monthly review of financial stability. Our economics correspondent Peter Hannam has been looking at the risk factors after the RBA spelled out what it might take to make mortgage holders unable to repay their debt. But overnight there was some potential change when the government in Beijing announced its second stimulus package of the week, this time aimed at propping up the moribund housing market. More on that too.
Australia’s major supermarkets provide broadly similar products, prices and loyalty programs in an oligopolistic market that may limit competition, the ACCC has found in its interim report on the sector. We will have more reaction coming up.
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