What we learned, Sunday 31 July
That’s where we’ll leave our live blog for the day. Here’s a wrap up of the biggest developments:
- Indigenous leaders have started planning the next steps in their push for reconciliation following Anthony Albanese’s voice to parliament speech on Saturday.
- Tributes have continued to flow for singer-songwriter Archie Roach, with the Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney describing Roach’s songs as ‘a source of healing’.
- A new tranche of files relating to former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro’s New York trade role will be released on Monday, with the state government expecting the inquiry into how the role was awarded to conclude within a fortnight.
- The AFL is investigating claims Carlton defender Adam Saad was racially abused by a fan at the Adelaide Oval on Saturday.
- The nation recorded 41 Covid deaths on Sunday as the death toll since the coronavirus pandemic began edges towards 12,000.
We’ll be back tomorrow.
Updated
A day after the prime minister Anthony Albanese made his historic voice to parliament speech at the Garma festival, AAP reports that Indigenous leaders have started planning the next steps in their push for reconciliation.
Indigenous Australians and Uluru Statement campaigners must come together with a clear strategy for moving forward, Uphold and Recognise chair Sean Gordon told the festival in Arnhem Land on Sunday.
They also need to consult same-sex marriage and republic campaigners for advice about raising awareness and funds ahead of a referendum on a voice to parliament.
Gordon told a forum on the festival’s third day:
It needs to be a clear, coordinated strategy and a way forward, otherwise we won’t have the success that we would like to think we’re going to have.
Gordon estimated the yes campaign would need about $20 million, saying much of that would need to come from non-Indigenous Australians, who make up 97 per cent of the population.
We now have to do that as Indigenous people and if we can’t, this thing’s dead in the water.
The former Liberal candidate and ALP national president Warren Mundine said a strong narrative was needed to bring people along on the journey.
He lauded the prime minister’s speech, saying “you could not argue with some of the words”.
But he warned that not all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders supported the voice plan.
I want something where the countrymen have their voice. I’m not convinced about [Mr Albanese’s recommendations]. We could do this with legislation. Why do we need to have it in the constitution?
Mundine also wants to know how the proposed voice would help Indigenous people reach the Closing the Gap targets.
He pleaded for the coming debate not to “descend to the margins where you’ve got people abusing people”.
You don’t want to bully people from either side. It’s about a conversation otherwise it defeats the purpose.
The Uluru Statement from the Heart leader Geoff Scott said the movement would like the referendum held as soon as possible to capitalise on the “enormous” goodwill built in recent months.
We’re ready and waiting. The real challenge is getting enough information for people to form their opinion.
In terms of timing, maybe late next year but the prime minister was smart not to nominate a date.
He’s still got to provide a level of information that gives comfort so that Australia supports this.
Updated
Unions in South Australia say record high inflation rates have wiped out any wage growth from the last decade.
Data released today shows Adelaide’s inflation rate is now 6.4%, a 20-year high, with groceries, clothing, fuel, and housing prices among the main contributors.
SA Unions say the inflation data shows how “dire the need is for real wage increases for working people”.
Dale Beasley, SA Unions secretary, said:
Employee wages in SA remain low with inflation growing at almost three times the rate of our wages. In the last year alone, a worker on the average annual income of $69,000 will have experienced a $2,350 pay cut.
It’s clear now that employee wages aren’t driving inflation; ballooning company profits and businesses passing increasing costs on to consumers are.
Despite low unemployment, high productivity and high company profits we are not seeing wage increases flow to workers. Working people are feeling the serious consequences of nearly 10 years of inaction by the previous government.
The need to get wages moving again is urgent. ‘Business as usual’ will not turn this around and the federal government need to take action to lift wages. Our current system has been failing workers for a long time. Our country needs to look anew at our wage system and decide how to ensure a fair share of wealth flows to working people.
Updated
The New South Wales multiculturalism minister, Mark Coure, expects the independent review into the appointment of the former deputy premier, John Barilaro, to a plum New York trade gig will be completed within the fortnight.
Last week documents revealed Ayres asked the Investment NSW chief executive, Amy Brown, to add a name to the shortlist of candidates for the lucrative trade job that was subsequently awarded to Barilaro.
While Investment NSW confirmed the candidate mentioned in the email “was not John Barilaro”, the state opposition said Ayres had questions to answer after insisting that all of the trade commissioner appointments were made by the public service.
When asked if Ayres should stand aside on Sunday, Coure said:
I understand the report will be handed down some time during the course of the week or two and obviously, that’s a decision the premier, a discussion the premier will make with Stuart Ayres.
In answer to the same question, the arts minister Ben Franklin said:
Obviously, that’s a question well beyond our pay grade. That’s something that’s been addressed by the premier and we’re just getting on with the jobs that we’re doing.
Ayres has continued to deny he influenced the process. Barilaro has since withdrawn from the role but always maintained he followed the proper process before his appointment.
Updated
In Sydney, the NSW Nurses and Midwives’ Association (NSWNMA) is preparing for industrial action at the Hornsby Ku-ring-gai Hospital. The union says staff will walk out on Monday over plans to substitute nurses trained in critical care with less experienced assistants in the hospital’s intensive care unit.
Supported by staff from across the hospital, the ICU nurses plan to walk out at the end of night shift around 7:30am.
NSWNMA members hope to raise community awareness of the unsafe staffing issue, including fears AINs would be asked to care for seriously unwell and ventilated patients, despite not being adequately ICU-trained.
With influenza and Covid-19 cases putting increased demand on hospitals, the branch members will call on health minister Brad Hazzard to intervene, concerned highly skilled ICU nurses will be shuffled to other wards and units to plug growing staffing gaps across Hornsby hospital.
Updated
Thanks to the indefatigable Royce Kurmelovs for taking us through much of the news today.
It’s Christopher Knaus here - I’ll be taking you through the final few hours of Sunday.
Murray Watt, the emergency management minister, has just announced that additional rental support payments for flood victims and grants for rural landholders will soon be available for the most recent floods in New South Wales.
The federal and NSW governments have announced:
- rental support payments for up to 16 weeks
- a rural landholder grants scheme for up to $25,000 for those who are ineligible for existing grants
Watt said the funding is available in the 42 LGAs subject to a declaration of natural disaster.
The rental support payments and rural landholder grants will help with the immediate costs of cleanup and repair, which is an important first step in the recovery process.
The NSW emergency services minister Steph Cooke said the funding will be administered by Service NSW and the Rural Assistance Authority.
The rental support payments covering up to 16 weeks rent will help people find safe, secure accommodation while they begin the recovery process, and the $25,000 grants will help kickstart the cleanup for the many rural landholders who’ve been affected by flooding yet again.
Updated
Claims Carlton’s Adam Saad racially abused during Adelaide game
The AFL is investigating claims Carlton defender Adam Saad was racially abused by a fan during the Blues’ shock loss at the Adelaide Oval.
A Carlton cheer squad group has claimed Saad was called a “terrorist” by a member in the crowd during the Blues’ clash with the Adelaide Crows on Saturday night.
The AFL confirmed in a statement that it is looking into the alleged incident:
The AFL is currently investigating alleged comments made by a spectator at AO [Adelaide Oval] last night. Football is a place of inclusion and belonging and there is no place for racist behaviour in our game.
Carlton is working with the AFL’s integrity unit to determined what happened.
The club is fully aware of the seriousness of the alleged comments, and has been providing the appropriate level of support to its people as the matter is investigated.
The club makes clear that vilification of any kind is disgraceful, unacceptable and has no place in society, let alone our game. Further comment will be provided once the investigation is completed in full.
The Crows said they were also looking into claims made on social media.
The Adelaide Football Club is investigating reports of an alleged racially motivated comment made by a spectator during Saturday night’s game against Carlton.
We do not tolerate and strongly condemn any form of discriminatory behaviour and it has no place in football or society. Adelaide Oval should be an inclusive and family friendly environment.
Nobody in our game or in the community deserves to be discriminated and vilified against due to their faith or race and there is simply no excuse for it.
In 2018 when Saad was playing for Essendon, the backman tossed the coin with Richmond premiership hero Bachar Houli as a sign of solidarity for the Muslim community.
The gesture was prompted by an inflammatory anti-immigration speech from former senator Fraser Anning.
– from AAP
Updated
Pacific Islands farmworker allegedly set alight by another worker
A Pacific Islands farmworker who left his fruit picking job to work for a labour hire company ended up in hospital, without access to Medicare, after he was allegedly set alight by another worker.
Sione Lavalu spent 74 days in the Royal Brisbane hospital with stage three burns earlier this year. When he was first admitted, almost half his body was affected, and doctors told his family he had a 20% chance of surviving.
Lavalu spent four years flying in and out of Australia to pick fruit on farms until early 2020, when Covid hit and he could not get home to Tonga.
When Lavalu left his job at the farm he lost access to Medicare – despite the fact he had worked in Australia for six years by then. Four weeks after a seasonal worker disengages from the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme, they lose their access to health insurance.
There are about 22,830 people from the Pacific Islands in Australia under the Palm program. It allows Australian businesses to hire workers on a special visa designed to fill labour shortages in regional Australia.
Read the full story by Cait Kelly:
Updated
Archie was a beautiful soulful singer. He touched a lot of people and he will be sadly missed. RIP my friend. pic.twitter.com/PYwqlXlXLi
— Jimmy Barnes (@JimmyBarnes) July 31, 2022
After 865 days, Samoa reopens to tourists
Samoa will reopen to international tourists again on Monday 865 days after closing borders due to Covid-19.
Flights heading to Apia’s international airports are expected to run close to capacity for weeks to come.
New Zealand is the biggest tourist market for Samoa, but there’s not a single seat available on one of Air New Zealand’s four weekly flights until August 23, with a one-way ticket starting at the princely sum of $NZ1,083 ($A960).
Most of these flights are not expected to be bringing tourists but to be packed with Samoans who have been trapped overseas returning home to visit their family.
The Pacific nation has around 200,000 residents, but a huge diaspora overseas.
Estimates suggest there are as many Samoans living in both the US and New Zealand as Samoa itself, with another 100,000 in Australia.
The first flight to land at Faleolo International Airport will be a New Zealand Defence Force Boeing, carrying prime minister Jacinda Ardern and an entourage of politicians, staff, community leaders and media.
The New Zealand delegation is making a two-day trip on the invitation of prime minister Fiame Naomi Mata’afa, celebrating 60 years of Samoan independence.
Prior to the pandemic, tourism increased to contribute roughly a quarter of Samoa’s GDP.
– with AAP
Updated
NSW town hit by floods buys walkie talkies to communicate
Residents of the Macdonald valley, 90 minutes’ drive north of Sydney, say they feel like the forgotten valley after recent floods left the area in disarray, forcing them to buy walkie-talkies to communicate.
“All those guys had the best intentions in the world,” Steve Kavanagh says of Defence Force and state government assistance in the immediate aftermath of floods at the end of June.
“They came in for six days,” he says, but the help was gone before the town was even close to back on its feet.
Now rubbish piles up in the streets, a Telstra phone box sits overturned, roofs lie destroyed on the ground and tonnes of sand from the river has moved onshore, blocking access.
“It’s like a very mini version of Lismore,” he says of the clean-up efforts.
Read Josh Taylor’s full story here:
Updated
Tranche of files set to be released about John Barilaro's US trade job
More documents relating to the appointment of former NSW deputy premier John Barilaro to a highly paid trade role in the US are expected to be released by the state government tomorrow.
The opposition treasury spokesperson Daniel Mookhey said he expected the tranche of files to be released before 5pm on Monday. Speaking in Sydney on Sunday, Mookhey said:
These documents contain information that the people of NSW will want to see. They will raise serious questions around the selection process, as well as the role of [investment] minister Stuart Ayres here.
Mookhey was glad the premier, Dominic Perrottet, was back from his Asian trade trip but said he had returned to “a government that is disintegrating under the weight of scandal after scandal”.
Last week documents revealed the deputy NSW Liberal party leader, Ayres, asked Investment NSW chief executive, Amy Brown, to add a name to the shortlist of candidates for a lucrative job that ultimately went to Barilaro.
While Investment NSW confirmed the candidate mentioned in the email “was not John Barilaro”, the email calls into question Ayres’ insistence that the appointments were made by the public service at arm’s length from the government.
Moohkey said Ayres had “serious questions to answer”.
Ayres has continued to deny he influenced the process. Barilaro has since withdrawn from the role but always maintained he followed the proper process before his appointment.
To catch up on what has happened so far, you can read the Guardian’s report on the emails that show how Ayres helped produce a shortlist of candidates:
Updated
‘Archie Roach was proof that music could change lives’: Tony Burke
The arts minister Tony Burke has released the following statement on the death of Archie Roach:
What a loss.
Archie Roach was proof that music could change lives and move hearts.
Music changed his life and his music changed Australia.
He was an elder, a storyteller, a songman and one of the most humble people I’ve met in my life.
Before he found music so many of the ingredients of his life had been harsh, even brutal.
He took all of that and used music to create beauty, truth telling and hope.
Burke said he first saw Roach play at ACTU Congress and the final time he saw him was at the Woodford Folk Festival. Burke credited Roach with collaborating with the next generation of artists.
Thank you Archie Roach.
Your strength, strengthened us all.
I extend my deepest sympathies to Archie’s family, particularly his sons Amos and Eban.
Updated
It is a case that captured the attention of Australia and the world, with all the hallmarks of a great mystery novel. A body on the beach. Slumped against the sea wall, the man is well dressed but no one can identify him.
A scrap of paper in a foreign tongue is found inside his pocket – the words “tamám shud”, meaning “it is finished” in Persian. The paper is traced to a copy of an ancient poem, the Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám, in a book containing a secret code and the phone number of a young nurse living close by where the dead man was found on 1 December 1948.
For 73 years, the unknown man has been referred to by the beach where he was found, Somerton, just south of Adelaide, allowing the tantalising threads of the “Somerton man” mystery to spin out, resulting in elaborate theories. Some believed Somerton man was a Russian spy, or a spurned lover who fathered the child of the young nurse.
This week Prof Derek Abbott of the University of Adelaide claimed to have identified Somerton man as Carl “Charles” Webb, a 43-year old engineer from Melbourne who wrote poetry and “seems to be a bit of a loner”.
For more on the latest developments in the mystery of the Somerton man, read the full story by Guardian Australia rural network reporter Natasha May.
ACT budget to focus on health and housing
The upcoming ACT budget will look to tackle social infrastructure with pre-budget announcements focusing on housing and health.
The territory’s Labor-Greens government has announced $37.5m for mental health services such as perinatal mental health screening, enhancing perinatal, infant and child mental health and expanding the childhood early intervention team.
A record amount of land is also due to be made available by the government over the next five years to help tackle housing affordability in the capital.
The government is planning for an increase of 30,000 dwellings in the time frame as the ACT’s population is predicted to eclipse 500,000 by the end of the decade.
Funding for the renewal of public housing stock and the construction of more properties marked as rentals has been slated as well.
There is also more than $13 million in additional support for alcohol and drug services, spanning rehabilitation, family and carer support and specialised treatments.
It comes as the ACT opened Australia’s first static drug testing site under a pilot program.
The 2022-23 budget will be handed down on Tuesday.
– from AAP
Updated
National Covid summary
Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 41 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 556
- In hospital: 163 (with 1 person in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 5
- Cases: 10,993
- In hospital: 2,265 (with 66 people in ICU)
Northern Territory
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 236
- In hospital: 56 (with 0 people in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 4,655
- In hospital: 762 (with 28 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 9
- Cases: 2,364
- In hospital: 346 (with 11 people in ICU)
Tasmania
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 649
- In hospital: 150 (with six people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 21
- Cases: 7,115
- In hospital: 768 (with 43 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 6
- Cases: 3,252
- In hospital: 415 (with 14 people in ICU)
SA records nine Covid deaths
Nine people with Covid-19 have died in South Australia overnight, with the state recording 2,364 new cases on Sunday morning, 346 people in hospital, and 11 in ICU.
South Australian COVID-19 update 31/07/22.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) July 31, 2022
For more information, go to https://t.co/XkVcAlWPSN pic.twitter.com/d39JM00APk
Updated
WA government lifts public worker pay rise offer
Western Australian teachers, nurses, police officers, cleaners and public servants have been offered a 6% wage rise over the next two years as a buffer to rising inflation, AAP reports.
The Western Australia government has increased its pay offer for 150,000 workers to three per cent annually for the next two years, along with an additional $2,500 cost of living payment.
Premier Mark McGowan said in a social media post on Sunday the move was in response to peaking inflation and would cost the budget an extra $634m over the next four years.
Given the current economic climate we’ve listened and reviewed our wages policy.
This is a reasonable and generous policy, but also responsible in these volatile economic times.
The changes will immediately flow through to industries that have already accepted the government’s previous 2.75% pay increase offer, including teachers and public hospital doctors.
Some workers’ wages will be boosted more than the three per cent annual rate, with a patient care assistant who earns just over $55,000 a year set to effectively get a 7.5% wage rise over the first year.
Perth’s consumer price index jumped 1.7% in the June quarter, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data, pushing its annual inflation rate well above the national average to 7.4%.
Health workers and other WA public servants were lobbying for a pay rise above 2.75%, with some holding stop-work meetings outside Perth hospitals in recent weeks.
Updated
Hundreds of new staff to help stretched NSW teachers
Hundreds of school administration, leadership and support staff will be hired in New South Wales to help under-pressure teachers, AAP reports.
More than 200 new administrative positions will be trialled from term four to assist public school teachers with tasks including data entry, paperwork, and co-ordinating events and excursions.
Thousands of teachers walked off the job in late June over wages and conditions, with the NSW Teachers Federation describing the state government’s three per cent pay increase offer as an insult.
The NSW education minister Sarah Mitchell said the new roles will reduce the administrative burden on teachers and open doors to people wanting to re-enter the workforce or upskill.
Our teachers are skilled professionals and their time is precious. However, they are stretched across too many non-teaching and low-value activities.
Running a modern-day school is complex. We need to look at the work staff do in schools and think differently about how it gets done.
She said recruitment had started for 780 assistant principal positions.
The strike on June 30, just a day before two weeks of holidays, was the third in six months.
Updated
Chalmers wants to see ‘strong and sustainable’ wage growth
Sky News has run an interview with the treasurer Jim Chalmers from late last week, where Chalmers was asked about Labor’s position on wage growth amid the high inflation the nation is experiencing.
Chalmers:
I think all of our team understands that we do want strong wages growth, but we want it to be sustainable. You know, I don’t hear anybody in our team calling for exorbitant wages growth. What people really want to see is something that’s strong and sustainable at the same time and enduring.
And there is a high level of understanding not just in our side of the parliament, but I think in the Australian community that one of the problems we’ve had with our economy for the best part of a decade now is those stagnant wages. We’ve got real wages going backwards quite considerably at the moment, unfortunately. And so our job is to see that inflation moderate, do our bit on the supply side in particular, but also to get those real wages growing again.
I think it’s in the interests of all Australians that as we rebuild this economy after this difficult period that sustainable wages growth is part of the story. And that means productivity is part of the story. It means investing in the future of our economy, strong and secure well-paid jobs is a big part of our agenda. Because what we want to see is these wage increases to continue to endure, and to be responsible and sustainable at the same time.
Updated
The Reserve Bank of Australia is on track to lift interest rates again this week, adding to the cost of servicing mortgages and loans.
The central bank’s board will meet on Tuesday to discuss the state of the economy after new inflation data was released last week.
The consumer price index rose at an annual rate of 6.1 per cent in the June quarter, the fastest yearly growth since 2001.
It was followed by a 5.6 per cent lift in the Producer Price Index, which measures wholesale costs for Australian businesses, on Friday.
Now, the RBA must factor the increases into its monetary policy efforts to push the rate of consumer price growth back to its preferred target band of two to three per cent.
The urgency for action increased after Treasurer Jim Chalmers gave an economic update to federal parliament, warning inflation was still rising and would likely peak in the December quarter at 7.75 per cent.
The consensus of financial market economists is for the RBA to raise the cash interest rate, for the fourth time in a row, by 50 basis points to 1.85 per cent.
A 50 basis point rate increase will see the average mortgage holder on a variable interest rate paying an extra $610 per month to service their loan compared to four months ago.
-From AAP.
NT records no new Covid deaths
No people with Covid-19 have died in the Northern Territory overnight, with the state reporting 236 new cases on Sunday morning, 56 people in hospital, and none in ICU.
Updated
WA records six Covid deaths
Six people with Covid-19 have died in Western Australia overnight, with the state reporting 3,252 new cases on Sunday morning, 415 people in hospital, and 14 in ICU.
Updated
Linda Burney hails Archie Roach’s songs as ‘a source of healing'
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has released a statement on the death of Archie Roach.
It was with great sadness I learned yesterday of the passing of Gunditjmara and Bundjalung man Archie Roach and I offer my deepest sympathies to his family.
For many Australians, Archie was their first exposure to the horrors of the Stolen Generations.
His voice, his music and his story came out of trauma and pain.
His powerful songs also brought people together. They provided strength and still serve as a source of healing – putting into words what was unspeakable.
We are all so sad about his passing.
Archie’s songs will live forever – etched into our 65,000+ history – and he will be remembered as one of the early Aboriginal artists to bring our music into the mainstream.
Archie was one of our nation’s greatest songmen and truth-tellers and we have lost a giant of the Australian music industry and of our mob.
Vale Archie.
Updated
Thank you Unc, for everything. Rest easy. pic.twitter.com/sDWukR4jpu
— Senator Briggs (@Briggs) July 30, 2022
Police Facebook group belittled domestic violence victims
Queensland police are investigating social media posts on a private Facebook group for law enforcement personnel that belittled domestic violence victims and implied officers purposefully avoid responding to such incidents.
The posts were made at the same time as public hearings in a commission of inquiry into Queensland police responses to domestic violence have unearthed numerous allegations of a misogynistic culture within the service that has repeatedly failed women.
Guardian Australia has seen several offensive posts published on the Facebook group, which proclaims to be a space for current and former Australian law enforcement officers.
A Queensland member of the group uploaded a photo ranking domestic violence allegations from “dogshit” or “very poor quality” to “bullshit” or “not true” and “batshit – insane”.
The group member said the photo could be used when describing “the parties involved in the 10th DV [domestic violence incident] of the night”, with the post attracting dozens of “likes” or laughing emojis.
For the detail on this story read the full report by Guardian Australia Queensland state reporter Eden Gillespie.
Updated
Covid deaths nearing 12,000
Australia’s daily Covid-19 death tallies are spiking, pushing the nation closer to chalking up 12,000 total virus-related fatalities.
The nation has recorded three straight days of 100-plus deaths related to the virus.
Another 27 have been reported so far on Sunday in Victoria, NSW and Tasmania – taking Australia’s total toll across the pandemic to 11,832 – along with 18,108 new cases.
– From AAP
Updated
Queensland records no new Covid deaths
No one with Covid-19 has died in Queensland overnight, with the state recording 4,655 new cases on Sunday morning, 762 people in hospital and 28 in ICU.
Today we are reporting 4,655* new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) July 31, 2022
Death numbers are not reported on Saturday and Sunday.
Full details➡️ https://t.co/HPyD6fDZIa pic.twitter.com/olwAuLtkco
*The PCR cases today are slightly higher due to a backlog of results being loaded in the system. These range from 10 June - 23 July 2022. Without the backlog, today's PCR and RAT total is 3,858. This has not delayed the time in which people have received their results.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) July 31, 2022
Updated
Tasmania records no new Covid deaths
No one with Covid-19 has died in Tasmania overnight, with the state reporting 649 new cases on Sunday morning, 150 people in hospital and six in ICU.
Updated
ACT records no new Covid deaths
No people with Covid-19 have died in Australian Capital Territory overnight, with the state reporting 556 new cases, 163 people in hospital and one in ICU.
ACT COVID-19 update – 31 July 2022
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) July 31, 2022
🦠 COVID-19 case numbers
◾ New cases today: 556 (295 PCR and 261 RAT)
◾ Active cases: 5,252
◾ Total cases since March 2020: 190,847
🏥 COVID-19 hospital numbers
◾ In hospital: 163
◾ In ICU: 1
◾ Ventilated: 0
◾ Lives lost: 0 pic.twitter.com/iZVk4c4Vqi
Updated
Greens party room to decide on climate bill negotiations
The Greens will meet three times during the upcoming parliamentary sitting week to discuss support for the government’s proposed climate bill to legislate an emissions reductions goal.
Greens leader Adam Bandt, who is leading negotiations with the government, is pushing for the 43% reduction by 2030 to be increased, but Labor is remaining steadfast on its target.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday Bandt said he would take negotiated concessions back to the party room on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday ahead of a proposed vote in the lower house after the final meeting.
There’ll be a vote before the end of the week. We’ll have the discussions and I’ll take a position back to my colleagues. The party room will ultimately get the say about how we vote in the House and how we vote in the Senate.
There remains the chance the bill will be postponed in the lower house until parliament sits again in September.
But climate change minister Chris Bowen wants legislation passed this week to come before the Senate the following month.
Whether any Greens amendments will be moved in the lower house, where the government holds a majority, or the Senate will also be a topic of discussion.
The Greens hold the balance of power in the Senate, where the government needs the minor party and one extra vote to pass legislation the opposition doesn’t support.
Bandt:
Part of the reason we saw the Greens’ vote go up at this election is people want us to work constructively with the new government but to push them to do better.
That’s the approach we’re taking and it’s going to have to be a parliament where everyone gets a bit. The whole ‘it’s my way or the highway’ politics has been rejected by the people at the election.
The Greens are also pushing for a moratorium on new coal and gas projects, something the government has ruled out.
Bandt:
If on the one hand you’re passing legislation ... one week to say let’s talk about cutting pollution ... then the next week you start opening up the Beetaloo basin or any other projects, you could blow that target out of the water.
- From AAP
Updated
Roach’s work recorded the history of First Nations people
Karen Mundine, CEO of Reconciliation Australia, has reacted to the death of Archie Roach by saying that many Australians will be mourning the loss of a “storyteller” and a cultural songman whose work recorded the history of First Nations people.
We found comfort in his songs, we found reflection in his songs.
Speaking to the ABC this morning, Mundine said his music was about healing, both for Roach and for First Nations people.
He did many events with us. He through his songs, but in between [too], he would share his life, his story. Always talk about the importance of how do we work through this? How do we use these stories of sadness to heal us? And to come to something positive.
Updated
Lorena Allam: Roach ‘such an enormous loss to us’
Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam was on the ABC Insiders panel this morning, where she remembered Archie Roach as “a voice who spoke for the soul of the country” and “a beautiful soul”.
It’s such an enormous loss to us. It’s hard to find the words for how much he gave to his people every day, despite the fact that he was treated so appallingly by this country as a member of the stolen generations.
He gave and gave and gave. I used to wonder how he could keep singing that song, but he did it for all of us. He was a truth teller. And the fact that he won’t be with us anymore is just really hard to comprehend.
Updated
Stan Grant: Roach ‘sang to the soul of the country’
Stan Grant has remembered singer-songwriter Archie Roach as “just such an incredible soul” who “sang to the soul of the country”.
I remember one beautiful night, we were sitting down the south coast in my cousin Bob McLeod’s house and Bob was a musician. We were sitting out the backyard, like blackfellas do, under the stars and trees, passing the guitar around.
Archie was the last one. He didn’t really want to sing. We were goading, ‘Come on, give us a song’.
He strummed that guitar and opened that voice, and I, I tell you, it was like the stars fell down from the sky, it was like heaven. Because his angelic voice that spoke to such an enduring pain in our people, and such a joy at the same time.
Updated
Details on the details mixed
A quick note here that was picked up by the Insiders panel: prime minister Anthony Albanese was not being drawn on detail about what information will be available before any referendum, when a vote will be held and how the voice to parliament will actually function.
This is different to what minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney was saying on Q&A last night:
There will be a lot of information out to the community about what people are voting on. It would be nuts for that not to happen.
Whether the difference from the PM is about preserving options ahead of a big campaign or whether the prime minister, a non-Indigenous man, wants to be seen as consulting with Indigenous communities, it does raise several questions.
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‘Give the process that momentum’
Albanese is asked when a referendum will be held but says a decision has not yet seen made and that he is currently focused on building consensus.
Asked whether he is afraid that it may stall if no tangible progress is made, the prime minister says “you can chew gum and walk at the same time”.
This is something that people have been waiting for for a long time. And one of the reasons why I put out the potential question and the potential constitutional alteration for debate is to give the process that momentum.
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‘Respect of being asked their view’
Speers offers Albanese a practical hypothetical to understand how the voice to parliament would work, describing a scenario where such a body advised that the alcohol bans in the Northern Territory should be maintained. He asks whether, if that was the advice that was given, that should happen?
Well, it would be a very brave government that said it shouldn’t. The thing about the voice and consulting people directly is that you will have a clear process whereby people can have input to matters that affect them directly.
You know what they want? They want the common courtesy and respect of being asked their view. That’s what this is about.
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‘Isn’t a body that is on top of the parliament’
Albanese:
This isn’t a body that is on top of the parliament, it’s not even at the side of the parliament, it doesn’t seek to usurp the power of the parliament. What it seeks to do, though, is to break with what I call the tyranny of powerlessness that First Nations people have suffered from over 121 years of the commonwealth making decisions in Canberra without having respect and without having consultation with First Nations people themselves.
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PM: ‘Structure of the voice won’t happen before referendum’
Albanese says that his announcement of the question on Saturday was a “step forward” that was taken to ensure momentum continues after five years of negotiation, consultation and advocacy since the Uluru Statement from the Heart in 2017. If nothing happens there is “a risk of not advancing as well”.
The conversation now turns to detail, where Speers questions whether the Albanese government will release detail about how the body will function before any referendum on whether it should exist. Speers points out that a lack of detail will be a vulnerability for those advocating the establishment of such a body, saying the opposition slogan writes itself “if you don’t know, vote no”.
Albanese:
There will be, as occurred at the end of the last century, when a referendum wasn’t successful, people looking for all of the detail and saying well, if you disagree with these 50 clauses, if you disagree with one out of the 50 but 49 are OK, vote no. We’re not doing that. We’re not doing that. We’re learning from history. We are about maximising the opportunity there. We’re appealing to the good will of the Australian people and as I said, the Australian character as I see it.
What I am not going to do, David, is to go down the cul-de-sac of getting into every detail because that is not a recipe for success.
The legislation of the structure of the voice won’t happen before the referendum. The referendum will need to be put, or else you’ll have potentially – what some people are arguing for is having a debate about the consequences of a constitutional change before you have any idea of whether the constitutional change should happen or not.
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‘People will wonder why we didn’t do it before’
Albanese:
We know the end of the last century, there was a referendum that wasn’t successful. What we need to do is enshrine [the voice] in the constitution, have the voice to parliament, that when it operates, people will wonder why we didn’t do it before. I see this similar to the apology for the stolen generations or the 1967 referendum or native title.
On whether future parliaments could change the powers and functions of the voice to make it less powerful:
We’re a democratic nation. Parliaments are in the end, they’re the accountable body. This hasn’t been, to be clear, this isn’t my wording. This is wording that has risen up from hardworking people who have been involved, Indigenous and non-Indigenous.
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PM: voice not ‘not a third chamber of the parliament’
Albanese is asked whether he believes the question being proposed is simple enough for Australians to understand what they’re voting for. Albanese says it is a “simple proposition which is consistent with good manners”.
It says where you are implementing a policy that affects a group, in this case the oldest continuous civilisation on the planet, something we should be proud about, you should consult, involve them.
Albanese says the language of the question still leaves parliament the right to set the detail about how the voice to parliament will operate and would not enshrine the body’s power in the constitution “because this is not a third chamber of the parliament”.
This makes it very clear this doesn’t change in any way the primacy of our democratically elected parliament.
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Albanese: voice would ensure respect ‘a precondition for advancement’
ABC’s Insiders is airing host David Speers’ interview on Saturday with prime minister Anthony Albanese following his speech at the Garma festival.
Albanese says a voice to parliament would ensure “respect is a precondition for advancement”.
Where we have sought to impose things from Canberra, without that consultation, without their involvement, is where problems have arisen over the last 121 years.
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Victoria records 21 Covid deaths
Twenty-one people with Covid-19 have died in Victoria overnight, with the state reporting 7,115 new cases on Sunday morning, 768 people in hospital, 43 in ICU and seven people on ventilation.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) July 30, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAcOZP pic.twitter.com/md0jnaPqQf
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NSW records five Covid deaths and 10,993 new cases
Five people with Covid-19 have died in New South Wales overnight, with the state reporting 10,993 new cases on Sunday morning, 2,265 people in hospital and 66 in ICU.
COVID-19 update – Sunday 31 July 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 30, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.8% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine*
- 95.3% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine* pic.twitter.com/VrsI1JZfsu
- 69% of people have had three doses of a COVID-19 vaccine**
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 30, 2022
- 82.5% of people aged 12-15 have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine*
- 78.8% of people aged 12-15 have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine*
- 49.8% of people aged 5-11 have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine *
- 2,265 hospitalisations
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) July 30, 2022
- 66 people in ICU
- 5 lives lost
- 10,993 positive tests: 5,401 RAT & 5,592 PCR
*Data as at: 24 July 2022 updated weekly
**Includes both immunocompromised people who have received a third dose and all eligible people who have received a booster.
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Burney: Australia needs a formal truth-telling process
Burney says Australia needs a formal truth-telling process and that “one of the things we’re thinking about at the moment is what form that would take”.
Truth is liberating. Truth grows a country up. And that’s what’s happening.
Burney won’t be drawn on a potential timeframe for when a formal truth-telling process may be set up, saying “we will not be rushed”.
The prime minister was very clear that we will embrace and implement the Uluru statement in full, we will not be rushed, we will do it in consultation, we will build consensus, and part of that is truth telling.
Asked whether a date has been set, Burney’s answer is direct: “no”.
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A powerful advocate for the stolen generations
Burney says Archie Roach was a powerful advocate for the stolen generations who opened the country’s eyes to what occurred through his songs, which also doubled as his autobiography.
She says for her the two most significant lines from the song Took The Children Away were “ripped from my mother’s heart” and “I came back”.
Since Mick Dodson’s 1997 report into the stolen generations that “drew a line in the sand” she says she’s noticed truth telling has become a part of the national dialogue.
Intergenerational trauma is being recognised, both in the medical field but more broadly it’s being spoken about. And it wasn’t before, let me assure you. And, you know, I just remind everyone that the Uluru statement talks about three things. It talks about an enshrined voice in the constitution, but it also talks about the establishment of a makarrata commission that would have two jobs - treaty and agreement-making, and also truth telling.
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Burney says Roach’s story ‘informed by hope’
We are all sad and, I think, grateful.
Asked how she thinks about the legacy of Archie Roach in Australia, Burney says his work speaks for himself as “his story came out of pain but was informed by hope”.
And that’s such a wise and true thing about Uncle Archie’s work. And the fact that his death affects the whole country just says something. It says that he had a national profile, he did something with his music and his life story – he sang about his life, he was one of the children taken, and he sings about coming back to family. And what he’s given us is something that will live on forever.
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Burney on Archie Roach’s death: ‘collective grief and sadness and wailing’
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney is speaking on the ABC now, where she is discussing the legacy of Archie Roach.
She says she first learned of his passing while filming an episode of Q&A last night, when Stan Grant broke the news.
There was just collective grief and sadness and wailing, actually, within the audience. And people just holding each other. And I think that what Archie brought to Australia, at time when Australia was waking up to the stolen generations, was remarkable.
He was a storyteller. He was a truth teller. And we had the most amazing voice and he explored tough issues.
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Here are the full comments from prime minister Anthony Albanese on the death of Archie Roach.
Tonight we mourn the passing of Archie Roach.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 30, 2022
Our country has lost a brilliant talent, a powerful and prolific national truth teller.
Archie’s music drew from a well of trauma and pain, but it flowed with a beauty and a resonance that moved us all.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 30, 2022
We grieve for his death, we honour his life and we hold to the hope that his words, his music and his indomitable spirit will live on to guide us and inspire us.
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Good morning
And welcome to another Saturday morning Guardian live blog.
The four-day Garma festival will continue on Sunday with a forum on economic health in remote Australia. The meeting, taking place at Gulka, a significant ceremonial site overlooking the ocean in north-east Arnhem Land, heard from prime minister Anthony Albanese yesterday, who announced plans for a historic referendum on the introduction of an Indigenous voice to parliament on Saturday.
Reactions to the death of multiple award-winning Indigenous singer-songwriter Archie Roach have come flooding in with the prime minister paying tribute to “a brilliant talent, a powerful and prolific national truth teller”. The 66-year-old Bundjalung elder died last night following a battle with illness and is survived by two sons.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs, taking the blog through the day. With so much going on out there, it’s easy to miss stuff, so if you spot something happening in Australia and think it should be on the blog, you can find me on Twitter at @RoyceRk2 where my DMs are open.
With that, let’s get started ...
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