What we learned: Tuesday 12 November
We’re going to wrap the blog up here for the day, thanks for following along, here’s what happened today:
Around 2,500 homes and businesses in Muswellbrook were left without power following the 4.1 magnitude earthquake around midday. The earthquake is likely part of an “earthquake swarm” that has been affecting the region for several months, said a government seismologist, who said the swarm could see “hundreds to thousands” of small to moderate shocks.
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has announced that its members will be striking for 24 hours from the start of tomorrow’s morning shift over their ongoing pay dispute with the state government. This comes on the heels of the NSW police yesterday announcing a 40% wage increase, compared with the 15% wage increase nurses and midwives have been demanding. Rallies are being planned for Sydney and in regional centres. NSWNMA general secretary, Shaye Candish, said members were “furious” over the government’s actions, which they said “snubbed” the state’s largest female-dominated workforce.
The Coles chair, James Graham, has told the supermarket’s annual general meeting it had been “disappointing to see how cost-of-living issues have been politicised” as he defended the company’s profit levels. Representatives of Coles and rival Woolworths have appeared at several parliamentary inquiries, and the major chains are the target of a government-ordered examination of their pricing and business practices, conducted by the competition regulator.
La Niña might be off but summer on the east coast is still predicted to be a damp one, according to the Bureau of Meteorology. Despite the BoM saying yesterday it is likely we won’t have a La Niña event later this year (or in early 2025), those hoping for a return to a sunnier summer are likely to be disappointed, with the BoM’s long-range forecasts putting the odds on the summer being a relatively damp one for eastern Australia.
A 53-year-old man has been charged after the body of a woman, aged 50, was found in a Penrith hotel on Sunday, NSW police report.
We’ll see you back here tomorrow.
Updated
Asic sues Cbus, alleging systemic failures in handling of claims
Asic has announced it is suing the Construction and Building Unions Superannuation Fund (Cbus), alleging systemic failures in the handling of claims by its members and claimants, saying the fund “failed its members and claimants at their most vulnerable time”.
More than 10,000 members and claimants of the Cbus fund were impacted by death benefits and total and permanent disability (TPD) insurance claims taking more than 90 days to be processed, according to allegations contained in documents lodged by Asic in the federal court today.
The civil penalty proceedings filed by Asic against United Super Pty Ltd (United Super), the trustee of Cbus, allege that from September 2022 to November 2024, it failed to act efficiently, honestly and fairly in the handling of claims for death benefits and TPD insurance.
The financial loss has been estimated by Cbus to be $20m to members and claimants.
The Asic deputy chair, Sarah Court, said: “Delays in claims processing like those alleged by Asic cause real harm to families who may be relying on the payments to meet critical expenses. This adds to difficult personal circumstances, whether grieving for a loved one or dealing with severe injury or illness. The additional anxiety and pain these delays caused compounded the issues these members and their families faced.
“By late 2022, more than 6,000 Cbus members and claimants had their payments delayed by more than 12 months. Extraordinarily, that equates to more than 50% of Cbus’ total claims at that time. We allege they are yet to completely rectify these issues.”
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Victoria police negotiating with armed man in Weir Views
Victoria police have said officers are negotiating with a man armed with a gun at a property on Leon Drive in Weir Views, on the western outskirts of Melbourne.
In a statement, police said the man fired shots at the officers before entering the house, with no one injured.
The area surrounding has been cordoned off while the incident is under way.
Police have said they will provide further information when it becomes available.
Again, we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.
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Human Rights Law Centre condemns announcement of new penalties for those who obstruct railways during protests
More reaction to the announcement today by the NSW government, of stronger penalties for those who obstruct railways as part of protests.
In a statement, the premier, Chris Minns, and the attorney general, Michael Daley, said new legislation would be introduced this week to implement a maximum fine of $22,000 for “obstructing a railway” on top of two years’ imprisonment.
The Human Rights Law Centre has issued a statement condemning what they described as “Minns’ latest attempt to stifle peaceful protest”.
Earlier this year, the Human Rights Law Centre’s Protest in Peril report found that anti-protest laws disproportionately target environmental defenders and people advocating for action on climate change.
“NSW already has some of the most heavy-handed anti-protest laws in the country, with successive governments enacting the highest number of anti-protest laws over the last two decades,” said David Mejia-Canales, senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre.
Peaceful protest has been critical to advancing reforms we now take for granted, like women’s voting rights, workplace safety, and the protection of the environment from pollution. Instead of criminalising peaceful protesters with draconian laws, Premier Minns should be listening to the urgent calls for climate action.
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Head of group in charge of take-off and landing slots at Sydney airport defends system
The head of the group that allocates take-off and landing slots to airlines at Sydney airport held back tears as she defended against accusations her organisation had granted favourable access to the airport to its majority owners Qantas and Virgin.
Petra Popovac, the CEO of the Capacity Optimisation Group – formerly known as Airport Coordination Australia which counts Qantas Group and Virgin Australia as its largest shareholders – appeared before a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday examining proposed reforms to the legislation governing Sydney airport.
The hearing earlier heard from Qantas representatives who categorically denied that the airline schedules more flights than it intends to operate out of Sydney before strategically cancelling services so as to not lose its slots to new entrants wanting to launch rival services.
The existing system, which allows airlines to keep their slots so long as they don’t cancel a service more than 20% of the time, has been labelled as inappropriate by aviation experts and former competition watchdog chair Rod Sims, amid claims that Qantas and Virgin are hoarding slots to block competition.
However on Tuesday, Popovac hit out at Sims’ previous criticisms of the slot system at Sydney airport, which have included labelling the collapse of Rex’s jet operations between metropolitan cities a public policy failure. Popvac said: “I especially question the remarks made by Rod Sims as it is evident he lacks knowledge on the topic and is providing misleading information to the public”.
In contrast to claims from submissions and previous evidence before the committee, Popovac said Sydney – which is limited by law to 80 take-off and landing movements per hour – had no slot issues, and was “one of the least congested airports” that her group coordinates.
She also blasted what she said had been a “perceived bias” against her group – due to its majority shareholders – and said part of the reason for rebranding the group was to move past the reputation.
Popovac also referenced claims from the heads of fallen airline Bonza, and Rex’s leaders before entering administration, about the challenges of getting access to slots at peak times at Sydney airport, insisting they never formally applied for such slots.
Updated
Man charged with murder after woman’s body found in Penrith hotel
A man has been charged after the body of a woman was found in a Penrith hotel on Sunday, NSW police report.
Emergency services were called to a hotel on Mulgoa Road about 1pm on Sunday 10 November 2024, after the discovery of the woman’s body, in the same room as a man suffering cuts to his arms.
The man was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics before being airlifted to Westmead hospital for further treatment.
The woman is believed to be aged 50.
Following inquiries, detectives charged a 53-year-old man with murder. He was refused bail at a bedside court hearing today and will appear before Penrith local court tomorrow.
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Victoria police respond to incident at Weir Views
Victoria police have said they are attending to an incident at Weir Views, a suburb south of Melton on the western outskirts of Melbourne.
Police issued a statement about the incident a short time ago, telling residents who live near Leon Drive they should stay inside their homes until they receive further advice.
Police have not provided any more details at this stage, but said they would provide further information when it was available.
We will keep you updated as we learn more.
Updated
Earthquake in Hunter region likely part of ‘earthquake swarm’ that could continue for months
A 4.1 magnitude earthquake that rocked the Upper Hunter town of Muswellbrook today is likely part of an “earthquake swarm” that has been affecting the region for several months, said a government seismologist, who said the swarm could see “hundreds to thousands” of small to moderate shocks.
Today’s earthquake is the fourth event over magnitude four in three months in the Hunter region. On 23 August, a 4.7 magnitude earthquake hit Muswellbrook.
“If the earthquake follows a ‘main shock, aftershock’ sequence, the largest aftershock we generally expect to be one unit of magnitude is smaller than the main shock,” said Hadi Ghasemi, senior seismologist at Geoscience Australia. “But what we are observing here is a series of magnitude four and above earthquakes.
“In this case, we have had, I think, four, magnitude four and above events in the sequence so far,” he said. “What we are observing in general is the earthquake swarm activity – a series of moderate-sized events, happening close to each other, both in time and space … and they may continue for months to come.
“And you know, each swarm sequence may include hundreds to thousands of small to moderate side events,” he said.
Ghasemi said a “moderate” shock, which he said was not a technical term, but to him meant an earthquake of magnitude five or below, could see property damage such as cracks in the walls, and items falling off shelves, and that people close to the epicentre would experience “a strong level of ground shaking”.
Updated
Man charged after alleged assault on Oxford Street, Sydney
A man has been charged as investigations continue into an assault in Darlinghurst over the weekend.
An 18-year-old was arrested and charged with affray and stalk/intimidate intend fear physical etc harm (personal), after an incident on Oxford Street, about 3.30am on Saturday 9 November 2024.
Police were told a 19-year-old man was walking through Taylor Square with a friend, when they were allegedly approached by a group of men.
The group of men allegedly yelled homophobic slurs before assaulting the 19-year-old man.
He was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics for facial injuries.
Following inquiries, around 10.30am on Sunday 10 November 2024, detectives attended a home in Malabar and arrested an 18-year-old man.
He was taken to Maroubra police station where he was charged. He was granted conditional bail to appear before Downing Centre local court on Monday 9 December 2024.
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Victorian coal plant goes offline after leak in boiler tube
One of Victoria’s biggest power stations, EnergyAustralia’s Yallourn plant, went offline this morning without notice.
According to a company spokesperson, Unit Three at the coal-fired station “suffered a leak in a boiler tube”.
“While removing that unit from service, automatic safety protections were tripped, forcing the other units offline,” he said.
EnergyAustralia's Yallourn coal-fired power plant had a fault at one of its units this morning that tripped the other three. (Graphic via @dylanjmcconnell ) pic.twitter.com/HvHjOGDreC
— @phannam.bsky.social (@p_hannam) November 12, 2024
Importantly, no one was hurt and EA’s teams are working to have all four units up and running by tomorrow morning.
The plant can supply more than a fifth of Victoria’s electricity, and its sudden exit from the grid caused a drop in frequency below the normal operations band, according to industry analysts, Watt Clarity.
It’s a been a volatile few days for the national electricity market with some big price spikes in wholesale power markets in NSW and Queensland in recent evenings. That’s partly been the result of an extended heatwave across northern Australia.
Let’s hope we don’t too many sudden outages from (ageing) power stations when summer pushes up power demand more broadly across eastern states.
Updated
No La Niña – but a damp summer ahead, BoM update suggests
La Niña might be off but that doesn’t mean summer won’t be a damp one
As flagged yesterday, the Bureau of Meteorology‘s fortnightly update of the climate drivers influencing Australia’s weather reinforces the likelihood that we won’t have a La Niña event later this year (or in early 2025).
Those hoping the absence of La Niña (which would have been four out of five years) might mean a return to a more typical summer (think sunshine) for eastern Australia are likely to be disappointed.
BoM’s long-range forecasts don’t quite declare summer to be cancelled but the odds certainly favour it being a relatively damp one.
But the lack of a formal La Nina declaration doesn't mean eastern Australia will enjoy an average summer. In fact, @bom_au's long range forecast is for a relatively wet one... pic.twitter.com/FT3HjeTFvh
— @phannam.bsky.social (@p_hannam) November 12, 2024
Relatively warm seas around Australia is one factor and globally, there were near record warm levels as of the end of October, BoM says.
And yes, the background heating of climate change means most of Australia faces warmer than usual day and night temperatures on land.
“Muggy” looks to be in season for a while.
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Supreme court judge to resign after losing ‘moral authority’ in wake of assault conviction
A Supreme court judge who could receive a jail sentence for assaulting and emotionally abusing his then-partner will resign from the position, AAP reports.
Tasmanian Justice Gregory Geason struck the woman at a Hobart home in October 2023 and pushed her, causing her to fall into a mantelpiece and suffer concussion and bruising,
He was found guilty on October 16 of assault and one count of emotional abuse or intimidation, which involved tracking her movements, being jealous, aggressive and calling her names.
During sentencing submissions on Tuesday, Geason’s lawyer Fabiano Cangelosi told Hobart magistrates court his client would resign as a supreme court judge.
“(Geason) considers he has lost the moral authority necessary for any judicial officer to sit in judgment over other human beings,” Mr Canglosi said.
“The defendant has reached the conclusion he is not able to sit as a judge.”
Tasmania’s parliament in December abandoned an attempt to suspend Geason, who has been on leave since November 2023, because of constitutional worries.
No date was aired in court for the resignation of Geason, 63, who is expected to be sentenced on Thursday.
The maximum penalties for common assault were 12 months jail and a $4,040 fine, while emotional abuse carried a maximum two-year jail term and $8,080 fine, the court was told.
Director of public prosecutions Daryl Coates SC said Geason’s offending was a serious example of common assault and a jail term, suspended or not, should be considered.
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Kate Lyons will be here to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage.
‘No people smuggling ventures have been successful under our government,’ government spokesperson
A spokesperson for the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, has released a statement following reports of four unlawful maritime arrivals in the Northern Territory:
No people smuggling ventures have been successful under our government. People who come to Australia by boat have zero chance of success.
Updated
Continuing from our last post, the LNP government in Queensland has used the past few days to make a series of announcements and statements claiming budget blowouts in the final throes of the former Labor government.
Comments querying the PsiQuantum arrangement came in addition to claimed blowouts in costs for construction of Olympic venues and key transport projects.
The government today said there had been unannounced cost increases to the Cross-River Rail project – about $490m – signed off in September, just before the former government went into caretaker mode.
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Queensland premier responds to reports treasurer sought briefings on PsiQuantum future
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, says it would be “premature for me to even speculate” about whether the state might cancel a $470m investment in a quantum supercomputer being built in Brisbane.
The Australian reported today that the treasurer, David Janetzki, had sought briefings about the PsiQuantum project to build the world’s first fault-tolerant quantum computer. The federal and Queensland governments plan to invest a combined $1bn in the project.
Asked whether the state might cancel its investment – or if it could face financial penalties for doing so – Crisafulli said the new government’s position remained unchanged from when it had raised questions about the plan while in opposition.
He said Janetzki was seeking a briefing to better understand the nature of the deal and the government’s commitment:
It would be premature for me to even speculate on that. Before the election, during the course of estimates, as well as publicly, we asked questions about how the deal was struck. We’ll ask the same questions after.
Asked if he had an opinion about the merits of the quantum computer project, Crisafulli said: “let’s have a look at the deal”.
It’s early days, [Janetzki] has only just sought that [briefing]. We’d like answers to questions we asked nearly a year ago. Queenslanders could have been furnished with all of this, we asked what we thought were mature and relevant questions.
Unlawful arrivals the latest ‘shocking’ border security failure, opposition says
The shadow minister for home affairs, James Paterson, says reports of four unlawful maritime arrivals in the Northern Territory represent “the latest shocking border security failure under the Albanese Labor government”.
In a statement he said that if confirmed, this would be the eighth boat to breach Australia’s borders and reach the Australian territory since Labor was elected and the 23rd attempted people-smuggling venture to attempt the journey to Australia.
This comes after the Department of Home Affairs admitted at Senate estimates last week that it was setting itself easier homework by removing the performance target for aerial and maritime surveillance of our borders from its latest annual report in the knowledge that, as in previous years, these targets would not be met.
This latest boat arrival is an unfortunate but predictable consequence of Labor’s continued neglect of our border protection architecture, which has seen a decrease in aerial flying hours of 21.4% and a decrease of 16% in ABF maritime patrol days compared to 2020-21 levels since Labor took government.
Paterson said the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, must “immediately act to correct the government’s failed border policies” and restore the Coalition’s Operation Sovereign Borders (OSB) policy.
Updated
NSW nurses to strike for 24 hours from tomorrow morning
The NSW Nurses and Midwives Association has announced that its members will be striking for 24 hours from the start of tomorrow’s morning shift over their ongoing pay dispute with the state government.
This comes on the heels of the NSW police yesterday announcing a 40% wage increase, compared to the 15% wage increase nurses and midwives have been demanding. Rallies are being planned for Sydney and in regional centres including Armidale, Broken Hill, Coffs Harbour, Crookwell, Moruya, Lismore, Port Macquarie, Taree, and Tweed.
NSWNMA general secretary, Shaye Candish, said members were “furious” over the government’s actions:
Once again, the NSW government has snubbed nurses and midwives, leaving behind the state’s largest female-dominated workforce. The decision to give police more than double the offer for nurses, speaks volumes. The message to NSW women, who make up 86% of our nursing and midwifery workforce, is clear: their hard work is worth less in the eyes of this government.
The government cannot continue to ignore the reality that NSW’s healthcare system is crumbling due to severe understaffing and unfair wages. They cannot avoid the responsibility of fixing this crisis any longer. Our nurses and midwives are at breaking point and are crying out for help; they can’t work in these conditions any longer.
Minimal, life-preserving staffing will be maintained in all public hospitals and health services during the 24-hour strike.
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Wildlife Victoria receives highest call volume in 35-year history
Wildlife Victoria recorded its highest volume of calls in a single day yesterday, since the service began 35 years ago.
The wildlife emergency response service said it received 1,032 requests for assistance yesterday, with calls sky-rocketing this spring. October was its biggest month ever with 21,644 calls for help from the public.
But over 1,000 calls in 24 hours is unprecedented and a red flag for Victoria’s wildlife, the service said. Lisa Palma, its CEO, said:
Our native wildlife are under ever increasing pressure and the number of calls for assistance indicates the level of concern from Victorians when it comes to the protection of our native animals. We’re committed to ensuring every call is answered and every animal reported receives the appropriate care. But we’re doing it extremely tough.
The most common reason for calls were reports of sick, injured, or orphaned kangaroos, with many individual animals reported multiple times by concerned callers.
More than 180 kangaroos required volunteer assistance across all parts of the state, from a kangaroo trapped in Melbourne Airport’s short-term parking complex, to another hopping down a busy Newport street, to Geelong and a kangaroo trapped in a residential backyard.
Senator Tammy Tyrrell to oppose government’s misinformation and disinformation bill
Independent Tasmanian senator Tammy Tyrrell says she will be voting against the government’s misinformation and disinformation bill. In a post to X, she listed her reasoning:
Putting the responsibility onto social media companies to decide what is or isn’t misinformation in Australia is a slippery slope. The definitions of misinformation and disinformation are vague and I’m not convinced this bill can actually be enforced.
One person’s truth can be another person’s lie, and both sides have the evidence to back up their arguments. What is and isn’t truth or the facts isn’t always clear cut – I mean, have you met politicians?
Thousands of people reached out to me concerned about this bill. I understand the intent behind this. But it’s important to me that people feel free to express different opinions without fear of being shut down. Having conversations that challenge our views is how we grow.
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South Australian SES testing warning systems
The South Australian SES said it would be testing its warning systems today, “commencing shortly”.
It said it will issue numerous warnings over the next few hours, marked “TEST”, on social media, and will issue another public notice to advise once testing is completed.
We ask that you do not act upon any of these public notices or warnings and thank you for your patience.
Woman dies in collision in NSW
A woman has died in a two-vehicle collision north-west of Sydney.
According to NSW police, a Holden and a Toyota Landcruiser collided at Wilberforce about 12.40pm.
The driver of the Holden, a woman believed to be aged in her 70s, died at the scene. The driver of the Toyota, a 57-year-old man, and his two passengers were uninjured.
The man will be taken to hospital for mandatory testing, police said. A crime scene has been established and police have commenced inquiries. A report will also be prepared for the coroner.
Putty Road is closed in both directions, with motorists advised to avoid the area.
Updated
Coldplay concert, not duopoly, behind airfare price rises, says Qantas
Qantas has sought to quell frustration at fresh data showing that airfares had spiked since Rex’s metropolitan city flights collapsed, insisting a reported 13% rise in ticket prices nationally over the past quarter unfairly captured a surge in demand from a Coldplay concert in Melbourne.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) quarterly domestic airline monitoring report was released today, which found Qantas and Virgin’s duopoly had surged to 98% market dominance since the liquidation of Bonza and collapse of Rex’s jet operations.
The ACCC analysed transport department data and found that since Rex suspended its jet operations between metropolitan cities across 11 routes and entered administration, the average airfare on all major city routes increased by 13.3% in the quarter to September 2024.
The average cheapest economy tickets increased dramatically on routes formerly serviced by Rex: Adelaide to Melbourne services jumped 95% to $296; Melbourne to Gold Coast was up 70% to $432; and Canberra to Melbourne rose 54% to $298.
Qantas hit back at the framing of the data, claiming the fare data quoted by the ACCC “does not reflect the average fares customers are actually paying”. Qantas said:
The data is from the government’s monthly fare monitoring which expressly states that it does not measure ‘average fares paid by passengers’. It is a snapshot of the lowest fares available to purchase on a particular day three weeks prior to travel and does not factor in events which may impact demand and fares.
The day selected in the latest report was 31 October, which is when Melbourne was hosting Coldplay. As such, demand was significantly higher on flights into Melbourne which means lower fares were snapped up early and the fares left available to purchase three weeks out were higher than usual. The average fare increase on these routes between July and October was significantly lower.
Updated
Power restored to 1,700 following earthquake in the Lower Hunter
An Ausgrid spokesperson has confirmed that power has been restored to 1,700 customers in the Muswellbrook region following today’s 4.1 magnitude earthquake.
It said the last 800 affected customers should have power returned “within the next hour”.
Crews are also continuing to patrol the area checking for faults and electrical hazards.
Updated
As we flagged earlier, the ABC has reported that four foreign nationals were found on remote Croker Island in the Northern Territory yesterday.
The four foreign nationals are no longer in Australia. Guardian Australia has asked the government to clarify if this means they have been taken back to their country of departure, of origin, or to Nauru.
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Mt Arthur coalmine the epicentre of 4.1 magnitude earthquake, according to map
According to Geoscience Australia’s earthquake map, the epicentre of the earthquake appears to be at the Mt Arthur coalmine – just outside Muswellbrook.
We’ve contacted BHP for more information, and will bring you the latest when we can.
A number of people on social media have reported feeling the quake, with “felt” reports on Geoscience Australia reaching more than 370.
St James’ primary school in Muswellbrook said it had no power and would need an inspection, asking parents to come and collect their children.
Updated
Widespread power outage in Muswellbrook following earthquake
Around 2,500 homes and businesses in Muswellbrook are without power following the 4.1 magnitude earthquake around midday, which we flagged earlier.
The earthquake struck near the NSW Upper Hunter region town at 12.12pm.
According to Ausgrid, 2,509 customers are impacted by the outage, with an expected restoration time of 2.30pm.
Muswellbrook public school posted to Facebook that everyone is safe and well, and the school would remain operational. Goodstart Early Learning centre said it had power and there was no need to pick up children.
Muswellbrook Doctors said it was experiencing issues with its phone line and “are working hard to resolve the problem”.
At this stage, we’re unsure when the phones will be back up and running.
Updated
Queensland town faces anxious wait as bushfire fight continues
The remote Queensland town of Forsayth is facing an anxious wait as firefighters combat a looming blaze that has burned for almost a week, leaving a 70km trail of damage.
As AAP reports, the blaze destroyed a house after it first began near Einasleigh six days ago and has since burned more than 56,000 hectares, damaging railway lines and bridges.
The Gulf Country town was not pinning its hopes on forecast showers reducing the fire risk, with strong northeasterly winds and another day of 40C-plus temperatures set to again test fatigued crews.
A “prepare to leave” warning for Forsayth, northwest of Townsville, has been downgraded to a “stay informed” alert. Backup has arrived from around the region to relieve exhausted crews who have been battling the blaze on the ground and in the air.
Almost a dozen crews were at one stage fighting the fire – including four planes and a Black Hawk helicopter – along with rangers, council workers and local farmers. The local mayor Barry Hughes said fatigue was “playing a huge role across the front-line fire fighters”.
Temperatures are set to hit 41C at Forsayth, extending a run of hot weather in the region. The state’s north-west is predicted to break a November record of ten straight days above 40C, last recorded back in 2015.
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‘We will miss her like crazy’: Family issues statement on death of kindergarten worker
The family of 43-year-old kindergarten worker Eleanor Bryant has released a statement, after she died saving her young students from an out-of-control truck yesterday.
The statement, released by Victoria police on behalf of the family, says:
We are devastated by the loss of our beautiful Eleanor. She was the light of our lives: a cherished mother, wife, daughter and sister, and beloved by all her family and enormous network of friends.
Her infectious smile, sense of humour and passion for life made her a joy to be around. There is an enormous hole in our hearts today.
We thank the emergency services for their tireless work and the public for their beautiful tributes. We will miss her like crazy. We thank you for respecting our privacy at this difficult time.
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BoM issues thunderstorm warning for NSW
The Bureau of Meteorology says severe thunderstorms may develop around northern NSW today, particularly the Northern Tablelands.
Heavy rain, damaging wind gusts and large hail are possible, it said. This comes as widespread thunderstorms are expected every day this week across large swathes of the country.
Thunderstorm FORECAST for Tues 12 Nov: Storms possible statewide, more likely about the NE where SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS may develop, particularly about the Northern Tablelands. Heavy rain, damaging wind gusts & large hail are possible. Warnings if required: https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL pic.twitter.com/ExU7wGnVXb
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) November 12, 2024
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Four foreign nationals found in remote part of Northern Territory: ABC
The ABC is reporting that four foreign nationals have been found on remote Croker Island in the Northern Territory.
The Northern Land Council told the ABC the four men were found by traditional owners in the area and were suffering from exhaustion amid the ongoing heatwave. The men reportedly told traditional owners they had paid someone to be taken to Australia.
In a statement, the Australian Border Force said it “does not confirm or comment on operational matters”.
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Magnitude 4.1 earthquake felt in NSW Hunter
A magnitude 4.1 earthquake has been felt at Muswellbrook, in the NSW Hunter region.
According to Geoscience Australia, nearly 300 “felt” reports have been lodged so far, since it struck at 12.12pm.
In September, the region – about 125km north-west of Newcastle – experienced an “earthquake swarm”, with a series of moderate to large earthquakes with their own aftershock sequences.
The Liddell power station, one of seven sites where the Coalition has proposed a nuclear power station, is less than 20km away from Muswellbrook.
Here is what we reported at the time:
Nature Conservation Council says renewable transition ‘once in a generation’ opportunity to restore degraded habitat
The Nature Conservation Council of NSW has welcomed a commitment from the state government to reduce planning delays for renewable energy projects (more on this earlier in the blog).
CEO Jacqui Mumford said the state needs a four-fold increase in wind farm construction “to provide clean, cheap electricity ahead of the closure of the state’s aging coal-fired power stations”.
The state is behind on its legislated climate targets and has already made the costly and polluting decision to extend the largest coal power station’s closure date by two years.
Mumford also labelled the renewable energy transition as a “once in a generation” opportunity to restore degraded habitat. She said:
Where developers are siting projects on already cleared land, they should be looking at opportunities to restore damaged creek lines or revegetate, for example.
We are in a biodiversity crisis – only half of NSW’s threatened species are expected to survive in 100 years due to pressures of climate change and land clearing. Action is needed now to strengthen nature laws and use the renewable transition to reach emissions reductions and biodiversity goals.
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Victorian Greens criticise changes to structure of councils
Further to the Victorian Greens leader Ellen Sandell’s comments we brought to you earlier about the party’s local government election results, they have released a statement criticising changes to the structure of councils.
The Greens local government spokesperson, Sarah Mansfield, said while the party had increased its overall vote across the state, it had elected 28 councillors – 8 fewer than elected at the 2020 local government elections.
Mansfield puts the blame on changes introduced by the state Labor government following 2020, which imposed single-member wards. She said:
We’ve seen huge swings to the Greens in many communities across the state, and based on the way people voted we should have even more councillors elected but Labor’s undemocratic single-member wards are distorting the will of communities. Despite Labor’s best effort to wipe out the Greens with single-member wards, we’ve proved that can’t be done.
Manfield said in Merri-Bek, the Greens vote nearly doubled and they won four out of nine council seats, as well as picking up three council seats in Maribyrnong and Darebin and electing councillors for the first time in regional areas like Bass Coast and Mount Alexander.
A previous version of this post incorrectly stated the Greens had elected 11 fewer councillors across the state.
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Jamie Oliver urged to engage with truth-telling inquiry over fantasy novel backlash
Victoria’s Indigenous truth-telling inquiry has called on Jamie Oliver to engage with the commission and learn about Australia’s history after he pulled his children’s book from sale over backlash for stereotyping First Nations people.
The British celebrity chef has issued apologies after his fantasy novel for children received condemnation from First Nations communities.
The commission’s deputy chair, Sue-Anne Hunter, has released a statement saying Yoorrook has invited Oliver to “engage with the truth-telling commission and meet with First Peoples as part of a learning and healing process”:
Too often we see people who mean well cause harm or offence because they don’t know the full story of our shared history in Australia.
The publication of Billy and the Epic Escape shows why truth-telling is so important – to learn and understand history from First Peoples’ perspective.
We hope this can be the start of a positive process that also helps foster greater understanding among everyday Australians.
Guardian Australia understands Yoorrook has written to Oliver’s agent and publisher.
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Spending on concerts, sporting events jumps
Consumers splashed out in October on tickets to Oasis, Luke Combs, Metallica, next year’s Melbourne Formula One race as well as household goods, new figures show.
As AAP reports, money flowed into recreation – especially ticketing services – and online marketplaces, hardware stores and discount department stores in October, contributing to a 0.8% increase in Commonwealth Bank’s household spending index.
CBA chief economist Stephen Halmarick said lower fuel prices, energy bill help and income tax cuts created some breathing room in household budgets to spend on nice-to-haves.
It’s important to note however that this increase in discretionary spending only partially offsets the fall seen in September as the October boost was driven by a number of one-off major events.
Spending on ticketing services was up a massive 27% for the month. Spending was higher across most categories in October, aside from education and utilities, the index based on customer payments showed.
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First of Asian elephant herd arriving in South Australia
The first of South Australia’s new Asian elephant herd is arriving today.
Burma is arriving at Monarto Safari Park in Adelaide, having been transferred from Auckland Zoo. She will immediately begin a standard 30-day quarantine period. Montaro Safari Park said in an earlier statement:
We are thrilled to welcome [Burma] to her forever home, where she is the first of five Asian elephants who will form a herd by the end of 2025.
Burma will have her own police escort after touching down at Adelaide Airport, guiding her along a planned route to the park around 5pm.
Premier Peter Malinauskas told ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning everyone was “pretty excited”.
It’s an iconic venue and something unique around the country … It’s been a long time coming.
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NSW Greens responds to new anti-protest laws from Minns government
The NSW Greens’ democracy spokesperson, Kobi Shetty, has responded to news the state government is introducing tougher penalties for railway protests (see more earlier in the blog here).
She labelled the move as “another shameful attack on the right to protest” from the Minns government and said in a statement:
This is a knee-jerk response and little to no information has been provided to the crossbench on the justification for these severe penalties. It is a targeted attack intended to silence the voices of people concerned about the government’s woeful inaction on the climate crisis.
The government is doubling down on their anti-protest laws despite the fact they have still failed to release the findings of the review into these laws which was meant to be tabled in October.
The so-called review of anti-protest laws has been exposed as a sham. This government has no intention of tabling its findings or repealing laws that the Supreme Court has found partially unconstitutional. Instead, they are expanding undemocratic laws to limit our fundamental right to protest.
Shetty said she has introduced a Greens bill to repeal “draconian” anti-protest laws and will be encouraging the government to support the legislation.
Albanese fields even more questions on election timing
Anthony Albanese is also getting a number of questions today on election timing (because that’s the kind of questions politicians get when there’s not immediately a big political news yarn of the day). The prime minister bat away questions about an article in the papers that the Western Australian government is looking at the potential to shift its March election date if the federal government chooses to hold its poll sometime around that time.
Albanese poured scorn on “speculation” about federal election dates, noting constant media speculation around various dates that have come and gone.
What I have been focused on is governing.
Peter Dutton earlier accused Albanese of seeking a “tricky” plan around election timing and called on him to be upfront about the date. Albanese countered:
Peter Dutton needs to be upfront to the Australian people about anything at all. Anything will do. Can we have a single costed policy?
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Protesters chant ‘save the Maugean skate’ at Albanese press conference
The protesters at Anthony Albanese’s news conference were chanting various slogans including what sounds like “save the Maugean skate” – an endangered species of ray found only in Tasmania, which is being affected by salmon farming in its local habitat. It’s a major environmental issue in the Apple Isle, with governments balancing conservation of the skate against the jobs in salmon farming.
The Albanese government this morning gave cash to the issue, including $21m to boost oxygenation in Macquarie harbour, $5m for Maugean skate breeding programs, and $2.5m to skate population and environmental monitoring (see more earlier in the blog).
Amid the protesters’ chants, Albanese said the announcements were “important measures.”
The task of government is to make sure that industry can operate, jobs are created, but that we have protection of the environment and sustainable industry. I support the industry. I support the jobs that come from economic activity here in Tasmania. I’ve made it very clear. But we need to make sure that the industry operates in a sustainable way.
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NAB’s monthly business survey sees confidence climbing highest since early 2023
We are accustomed to hearing things are gloomy but on both the business and consumer fronts confidence is quietly edging back to almost two-year highs.
The latest NAB business survey out this morning found sentiment “rose sharply” in the past month, and the improvement was broad-based. Services were particularly strong. And while business conditions were steady, they remain at “around average” levels over the past five years.
There was also mildly positive news on the price front, with Input cost pressures easing further. In October, labour cost growth eased to 1.4% in quarterly equivalent terms, down from 1.9% in September, while purchase cost growth eased to 0.9% from 1.3%, NAB said.
Gareth Spence, NAB’s head of Australian economics, said:
It appears that businesses are less able to pass on cost pressures as consumer demand growth slows.
ANZ’s latest weekly consumer survey they do with Roy Morgan found a similar story. Confidence edged up 0.2 points last week to 86.7pts, while the four-week moving average rose 0.8pts to 86.8pts, its highest level since January 2023.
Not going quite in the desired direction, though, were inflationary expectations. These rose 0.1 percentage point to a rolling four-week average of 4.7%. The Reserve Bank, among others, would like to see that trend point lower.
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Former Tasmanian opposition leader selected as Labor candidate for Lyon
Former Tasmanian opposition leader Rebecca White has been selected as Labor’s federal candidate for Lyons for the next election. She is at a press conference in Tasmania now, appearing with the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, who is on a swing through the state.
We’ll bring you more from that press conference – Albanese’s second in one morning in Tasmania – shortly. The PM is being heckled by some protesters who have appeared at the back of the media event.
Lyons is held by Labor, but only on a razor-thin 0.9% margin. It is being targeted by the Coalition, and Albanese is on a trip through Tasmania to shore up support ahead of what’s expected to be a tight election sometime early in 2025.
Current Labor MP Brian Mitchell had been tipped to step aside. The ABC reported just last month that he would be happy to stand aside for White to run in his seat, praising the former state Labor leader as a “once-in-a-generation talent in Tasmania”.
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AFP union say NSW police wage deal in ‘jarring contrast’ to their offer
The union representing Australian federal police employees says the New South Wales police wage deal “stands in jarring contrast” to the deal the Albanese government wants AFP officers to accept.
NSW police officers will receive a pay rise of up to 40% over the next four years, whereas the AFP is being offered 11.2% over three years.
The Australian Federal Police Association president, Alex Caruana, said the difference in the deals was stunning and it was tough to see the offer as “anything short of blatant disrespect.”
From a moral perspective the Albanese government’s deal is clearly inadequate. AFP officers put their safety and health on the line dealing with the worst of humanity so the rest of us don’t have to worry about it.
The Albanese government has dragged AFP officers through months and months of gruelling negotiation before deciding on a lowball offer. Unless they genuinely believe that AFP officers are nowhere near as important as state police then they need to do better.
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NSW government releases new renewables planning guidelines
New South Wales has been the laggard among the states in terms of approving new renewable energy projects for a while, with one industry study last year finding a new wind farm took an average of 3,488 days (almost a decade) to get the nod.
By contrast, in Queensland the average time to assess a windfarm was just 190 days, 384 days in Victoria and 533 in South Australia, that report found.
After much urging and feedback by would-be investors, the government has issued its new guidelines that it hopes will draw more investment into the state at a pace commensurate with the exit of coal-fired power plants (and the need to carbonise).
We haven’t waded through the multiple side reports (such as on wind, solar, community benefits sharing, etc) yet but will do when time permits.
The fine print that investors will look at will include how much setbacks will be needed, say, for wind turbines to minimise their visual impacts, to what extent “hypothetical dwellings” can be used by neighbours to limit turbine or solar panel locations nearby, and so on.
The Minns government, for instance, touts the prospect of “over $400m” in extra funds slowing to “support community and local government initiatives” from the changes.
The “suggested rate” a year includes $850 per megawatt for a solar farm, $1,050/megawatt yearly for a windfarm and $150/Mwhour hour per annum for stand-alone big batteries in rural zones. These sums would be indexed to the consumer price index.
That sounds good but here too its success will hinge a lot on locals either getting their mitts on the money or at least getting a say on what local governments do with any extra cash.
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Labor senator ready to run for federal lower house seat
Labor senator Anne Urquhart is stepping down to run for a federal lower house seat in Tasmania, AAP reports, ahead of an expected tight election race for the party across Australia.
Anthony Albanese wants to retain majority government after next year’s national vote, despite opinion polls showing Labor is behind the coalition.
The seat of Braddon in north-west Tasmania is held by Liberal Gavin Pearce on an 8% margin. It’s seen as a key seat for Labor, given Pearce will not stand for re-election.
Urquhart was first elected to represent the Apple Isle in 2010 and was re-elected in 2016 and 2022. Her current term expires in 2028, meaning Labor will need to appoint a replacement to fill the vacancy in the upper house.
Albanese will soon announce Labor’s candidate for the neighbouring seat of Bass, held by Liberal MP Bridget Archer on a slim 1.4% margin. Labor is also looking to sandbag the adjoining seat of Lyons, which it holds by less than 1%.
All three Tasmanian seats defied the national trend and swung towards the Liberal Party in the 2022 federal election.
The agriculture, fisheries and forestry minister Julie Collins holds the Tasmanian seat of Franklin by almost 14%. But she took a sizeable 7.3% hit to her primary vote in 2022, before surviving with a small 1.5% swing towards her after preferences.
Victorian man sentenced to four-and-a-half-year’s jail for exit trafficking
A Victorian man who tricked his wife into travelling to Sudan and abandoned her there without her two young children and passport for almost 18 months has been sentenced to four-and-a-half years in prison.
In April the man, 52, became the first Victorian convicted of exit trafficking – where someone is coerced, threatened or tricked into leaving Australia against their will. The maximum penalty for the commonwealth offence is 12 years’ imprisonment.
The man appeared in the Victorian county court this morning. Judge Frank Gucciardo says the man’s offending required a degree of planning:
You treated her as a chattel that could be simply discarded.
A Victorian county court jury found him guilty of the federal offence after a month-long trial.
The man pleaded not guilty to the charge and denied having deceived the woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
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Domestic airfares skyrocket after Rex collapse
Domestic airfares have increased by 13% after the collapse of Rex’s flights between capital cities, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has found, as Qantas and Virgin’s duopoly surges to 98% market dominance.
The ACCC, in its latest domestic airline monitoring report, found that since Rex suspended its jet operations between metropolitan cities across 11 routes and entered administration, the average air fare on all major city routes increased by 13.3% in the quarter to September 2024.
Flights are also fuller as a result of Rex’s exit from the market, with the number of seats on these routes falling by 6% despite passenger numbers remaining stable.
ACCC commissioner Anna Brakey said the 13% spike in air fares corresponded with “a less competitive domestic airline sector”. Despite jet fuel prices falling by 41% in the 12 months to September, air fares have remained similar. The average cheapest economy tickets also increased dramatically on routes formerly serviced by Rex, with Adelaide to Melbourne services up 95%.
While we also typically see a seasonal peak in air travel in September due to major sporting events and school holidays, there were additional pricing pressures this year. Passengers were no longer able to access the lower fares that Rex offered, and airline seating capacity decreased following Rex’s exit. This in turn has contributed to higher air fares.
Brakey noted the airline sector had become drastically less competitive after the collapse of Bonza and Rex’s jet operations in 2024.
Earlier this year, almost half of all passengers flew on routes with either three or four airline groups, the ACCC said, but by November, there is no domestic route serviced by more than two major airline groups, with Qantas Group (including budget operator Jetstar) and Virgin Australia servicing 98% of domestic passengers.
The domestic airline industry has become even further concentrated, and it may be some time before a new airline emerges to compete on popular services between metropolitan cities, with normal barriers to entry and growth exacerbated by aircraft fleet supply chain issues and pilot and engineer shortages.
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Qantas blasted for failing to provide specific data
The opposition transport spokeswoman, Bridget McKenzie, has blasted Qantas representatives for failing to turn up to a Senate committee hearing with specific data.
A Senate committee hearing into reforms proposed by Labor in February to amend the strict laws governing airlines’ access Sydney airport has heard from Qantas representatives about the impact the amendments would have on its operations.
We had more on this earlier in the blog, here, where Qantas said it does not expect the reforms to dent its dominant hold of slots at the airport.
Markus Svensson, the chief executive of Qantas’ domestic operations, was asked by the committee about cancellation figures in and out of Sydney airport but provided only Qantas’ national average cancellation figure of about 2%.
McKenzie said:
My question again is not about how many flights you cancel into Devonport or Burney or Cairns. This bill is all about Sydney … The slots into Sydney that you hold, how many of those allocated are regularly affected by cancellations?
Svensson replied:
I don’t have the data for Sydney specifically. I’ll have to take that on notice.
McKenzie then replied:
Of course, because we were always going to be discussing Perth in this inquiry.
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Satisfaction with life in Australia hits record low, according to survey
Australian Unity’s latest wellbeing index has found that satisfaction with life in Australia has hit a record low.
The survey was conducted in partnership with Deakin University in June and measured subjective wellbeing in more than 2,000 adults across areas such as the economy, health, and community connectedness. The key findings included:
Australians’ overall satisfaction with their personal lives remained close to its lowest level recorded, while satisfaction with life in Australia reached its lowest level in the survey’s 24-year history.
Adults aged 18-34 years reported the highest feelings of mental distress and loneliness and some of the lowest levels of personal wellbeing of any group across the adult lifespan.
One in two adults under 55 years old reported going without essential items because of money pressures and felt financially worse off than their parents were at their age.
The results show that satisfaction with life in Australia dropped to its lowest level on record since 2002. Lead researcher Dr Kate Lycett said the findings “go against our expectations of social progress, where each generation will be better off than the next, and point to an urgent need to tackle growing national inequities”.
In 2024, we need to ask ourselves, and particularly those in power, what type of country do we want to be – if we want to boost our collective wellbeing, we need to deal with the big issues facing our nation and stop tinkering at the edges.
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Qantas isn’t worried it will lose slots under reforms
Qantas has told a Senate committee that it does not expect government reforms proposed to help boost competition in and out of Sydney airport will actually dent its dominant hold of slots at the airport.
A Senate committee hearing is under way into reforms proposed by Labor in February to amend the strict laws which limit Sydney airport to 80 takeoff and landing movements – known as slots – per hour, as well as an overnight curfew. Despite the scarcity of slots at the airport, allocation at Sydney airport follows the global standard, which allows an airline to retain its slot so long as it doesn’t cancel a service more than 20% of the time.
For years, aviation experts, the competition watchdog, and smaller airports have accused Qantas and Virgin of strategically spreading their flight cancellations in and out of Sydney so as to not cancel any service more than 20% of the time, and retain the slots to block a new entrant from launching a rival service.
Qantas and Virgin have consistently denied they engage in so-called “slot hoarding”, however experts point to the airlines’ cancellation rates that near 10% some months for routes out of Sydney to Melbourne, Brisbane and Canberra, while airlines such as Rex sometimes had zero monthly cancellations when they operated such routes.
The proposed reforms do not tighten the 80:20 slot cancellation “use it or lose it” rule, something Sydney airport had itself called for due to the overall scarcity of slots and the dominance of the existing duopoly in being able to spread out cancellations.
Markus Svensson, the chief executive of Qantas’ domestic operations, has told the committee that Qantas was likely to support the proposed amendments – pending final details – in part because they appeared to help airlines recover after delays due to weather. He also said the airline did not expect to lose any of its unused or underutilised slots into Sydney airport as a result of the amendments – a compliance move which its critics have long been calling for.
We do not apply for slots without having intention to operate them. I categorically deny that the slots are hoarded and [that we’re] trying to play any games here.
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'Kind, thoughtful, funny' woman remembered after saving children from truck
A preschool worker who died saving her young students from an out-of-control truck has been remembered as a kind and generous person who lit up every room.
As AAP reports, police are investigating after a 68-year-old driver, suspected of suffering a medical episode, veered his water tanker off the road and ploughed into the preschool’s playground, north-west of Melbourne, yesterday.
Eleanor Bryant, a 43-year-old speech pathologist who worked at the preschool, died at the scene while a three-year-old boy was taken to the Royal Children’s hospital.
In an emotional tribute this morning, Nine’s Today presenter Alex Cullen described his childhood friend as “a light that lit up every room and never had a bad word to say about anyone”.
There are people in this world who you can’t quite believe are so kind, so generous, so wonderful and caring. Eleanor Bryant, or EJ, as she was to us, was one of those people.
He said the community was hurting after Bryant’s death.
It does not surprise me one bit that Eleanor pushed those schoolkids out of the way yesterday to ultimately save their lives. She always, always put others first and was a great example to all of us. We will miss you, Eleanor, and thank you for everything you gave us.
She was an accomplished speech pathologist who grew up in Coonamble in central-western NSW and leaves behind a husband, 11-year-old son and nine-year-old daughter.
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Coles chair says cost-of-living issues have been ‘politicised’
The Coles chair, James Graham, has opened the supermarket’s annual general meeting by defending the company’s profit levels and criticising “politicised” attacks.
Graham told shareholders in Melbourne today that:
In this context, it has been disappointing to see how cost-of-living issues have been politicised and targeted at supermarket operations. This is in sharp contrast to the level of engagement and support of supermarkets by governments and regulators during the Covid lockdown years.
Representatives of Coles and rival Woolworths have appeared at several parliamentary inquiries, and the major chains are the target of a government-ordered examination of their pricing and business practices, conducted by the competition regulator.
Separately, Coles and Woolworths are being sued by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over allegations they misled shoppers by offering “illusory” discounts on hundreds of common supermarket products.
Graham said today that its profit margin “remained essentially constant” over the past five years.
Guardian Australia analysis has consistently found that profit metrics at the major supermarkets are now significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels, and have jumped ahead of most of their international peers.
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Dutton: Labor needs to work ‘with and not against our most important ally’
Sticking with US politics, Peter Dutton was asked if he believes Australia will be excluded from Donald Trump’s table? He responded:
When we government we were able to negotiate with the Trump administration and exemption from tariffs that were being applied at that time. The onus will be on the prime minister to negotiate a similar outcome with the Trump administration and that will be a question for him as to whether or not they are able to craft that.
But I think it is obvious America has charted a different course now and the government here needs to course correct and make sure they are working with and not against our most important ally. The prime minister says that we live in the most precarious period since the Second World War, but we need to have a very strong and trusted relationship with our Five Eyes partners including the United States.
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Dutton says incumbent governments that don’t ‘read the room’ will be punished
A reporter asked Peter Dutton what “inspiration” he draws from Donald Trump’s win.
He responded that a clear outcome of the US election is that “families in the US are hurting under higher inflation and unsurprisingly, that is exactly what is happening in our country.”
Secondly, incumbent governments that do not read the room and do not understand the priorities that people have will be punished for it. And the Albanese government has got themselves into all sorts of a problem and a muddle at the moment because they have made bad decisions early in this term.
He argued they did “nothing” to prepare for inflationary concern off the back of Covid, and criticised government spending:
We saw the government announce a $16bn program to cut back some of the debt that people have got [from their] university degrees but the fact is that every other Australian is going to pay for that. $16bn does not just materialise. It is paid for by someone, and it is going to be tradies and workers at the moment who face higher taxes under this government.
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Peter Dutton addresses media in Brisbane
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to reporters in Brisbane.
He criticised prime minister Anthony Albanese for discussing a second-term agenda when “I just don’t know what the first term agenda has been about and what have they achieved?”.
We have six months of this term left, if the prime minister is planning to go earlier in March, that is at odds with what he said earlier, when he said he would go full term. And now it seems he’s trying to do some tricky deal with the WA premier to move their fixed term and I just do not think the Prime Minister has been open and honest or transparent with the Australian public.
Albanese was asked about this at an earlier press conference, and you can read his answer here.
Dutton argued that if Albanese wants to call an early election, “he is in all sorts of trouble.”
I think Jim Chalmers and Tony Burke and others would challenge him in a heartbeat … Maybe he wants an early election before there is leadership chatter within the Labor party.
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Victorian Greens leader on latest polling: ‘The Greens aren’t going anywhere’
The Victorian Greens leader, Ellen Sandell, has been asked about new polling in Nine newspapers showing the party’s primary vote has fallen to a nine-month low, amid a poor showing at the Queensland state election and in some Victorian local government elections.
Sandell, however, says it’s a minor drop and instead has pointed to other figures in the poll, including support for policies such as making visits to doctors, psychologists and dentists free was backed by 73% of voters.
What this poll shows, if we actually look at the poll not just the headlines, is actually broad support for the Greens policies, because we’re out there talking about the things that matter to people, about getting people into housing, about dealing with cost of living, about dealing with climate change.
She said the state may have lost councillors in some areas but gained in others and its share of the vote actually increased.
If you look at the inner city, which everyone seems to be quite interested in, we’ve got three in Darebin, three in Maribyrnong, four in Merri-bek, two in Yarra, two in Boroondara. We’ve elected where we haven’t had councilors before, like places like Boroondara, and we’ve seen big swings towards us, even in places where we might have lost seats. In places like Stockington, Glen Eira, we’ve lost councillors, but we’ve actually had huge swings towards us ... The Greens aren’t going anywhere.
Abortion likely to keep ‘bubbling up’ and Victoria isn’t immune, Greens says
The Victorian Greens health spokesperson Dr Sarah Mansfield has been speaking outside parliament about her bill to enshrine abortion protections in the constitution. She said it’s her hope to debate it early next year:
We have seen all around the country, all it can take is a change in government for this issue to be brought up again, to be made a political football.
We’ve seen it in Queensland recently during their election, and it’s likely that’s going to continue to be an issue in that state for some time. We’ve recently seen in South Australia a bill to restrict or a motion to restrict access to abortion, only narrowly defeated. We’ve seen federal Nationals trying to raise the issue of abortion and restrict access to abortion at the federal level.
So this is an issue that is continually bubbling up. Victoria isn’t immune, and it’s really important that the gains that we have made are protected and enshrined in the Constitution.
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Two e-scooter fires a week this year in NSW, superintendent says
Continuing from our last post, Fire and Rescue NSW superintendent Adam Dewberry told Sunrise the burn patterns indicate a faulty e-scooter battery sparked the fire:
These fires out of e-scooters this year, [we’ve had] two a week at this stage. A fortunate escape for the people here because these fires take hold rapidly.
Be careful where you’re buying them from, don’t charge them when you’re asleep and always make sure you have that working smoke alarm.
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Faulty lithium-ion battery suspected to have sparked house fire in Sydney
A faulty lithium-ion battery is suspected to be the cause of an intense garage and house fire in Sydney’s south this morning.
Fire and Rescue NSW crews were called to a home at Woronora just before 3am, where the garage of the home was fully engulfed by fire and threatening the main residence.
Three fire trucks and 12 firefighters battled the blaze for 90 minutes, preventing the flames spreading to the main residence and neighbouring homes.
Three people were transported to hospital for smoke inhalation, with one suffering serious burns to their lower limbs, FRNSW said in a statement.
After conducting initial inspections, FRNSW investigators believe the battery of a charging e-scooter failed and went into “thermal runaway,” sparking the blaze.
Thermal runaway is a phenomenon where the lithium-ion cell enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state. FRNSW has responded to 81 micromobility incidents this year, which is an average rate of two per week.
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Victorian premier leaves door open to supporting Greens bill to enshrine abortion in constitution
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has been asked about a bill the Greens will introduce to parliament’s upper house to enshrine abortion into the constitution.
She said she hasn’t seen its contents yet, but didn’t shut the door on supporting it.
I was very proud to be a member of the Labor government and a member of this parliament in 2008 that decriminalised abortion in this state, that gave women the right to have choice and agency over their body, and also protected the medical professionals who wanted to support women to have that choice.
I am personally very committed to looking at what more needs to be done to strengthen the safe access for women to reach stronger reproductive choices, because we are seeing here in Australia and indeed globally that there are some who want to take away that right for women to have choice over their bodies. That’s not right.
Allan also said she wanted those in opposition to abortion to “come out of the shadows”.
I haven’t seen the content of what [the Greens] are proposing, so I’m speaking very much in a personal capacity, because I feel deeply committed to this issue … I remain firmly committed to looking at what more we can do, in a climate where there are some who want to take those rights away and they should be called out, they should come out of the shadows and be identified as to who wants to take these hard worked for rights for women’s reproductive choices, away from women around the state.
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Albanese on calls for him to visit Trump during upcoming travel
The shadow foreign minister, Simon Birmingham, has said the PM should try to meet Donald Trump while he is overseas. Will he consider flying past Florida on his way home?
Anthony Albanese responded that “if you have a look at the map, it’s actually not on the way,” but continued:
Simon Birmingham does two things - one, he says I do too [many] trips, and secondly he says I should do more. Simon Birmingham is someone who never has much constructive to say at all. I had a really constructive discussion with president-elect Trump last week, it was a very good beginning to our relationship.
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‘We do need reform’: PM on SA’s move to ban political donations from state elections
Anthony Albanese was asked about moves from the South Australian government to ban political donations and boost public funding for candidates, as we flagged earlier.
Would the government take the same approach in its electoral reform bill? The PM responded:
We think there needs to be electoral reform. Premier [Peter] Malinauskas has taken very strong action. What we’ll be doing is hopefully getting support for our legislation that we’re hoping to advance before the election. It won’t take effect, of course, it’s too late to take effect for the next election, but we are keen on electoral reform because a system whereby an individual can spend over $100m – as we’ve seen occur in the last two elections – is one that I think undermines democracy by giving one person a lot of say, or a lot of input, as well.
We do need reform. There has been reform of electoral systems in state and territory governments, in New South Wales, in South Australia now proposed by Premier Malinauskas, and Don Farrell, our minister, will have more to say about that in coming weeks.
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Albanese criticises Dutton on comments suggesting Labor won’t form majority
Responding to comments from Peter Dutton that the Albanese government wouldn’t be able to form a majority at the next election, the prime minister responded:
We are now in the thralls, apparently, of an election campaign … [but] Peter Dutton does not have a single costed policy out there. Not one. He has one policy which is for nuclear energy sometime in the 2040s – no plan for what happens with energy security in the meantime – just a plan for negativity.
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Albanese hits back at questions on date of upcoming federal election
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking to reporters in Tasmania. He was questioned on the date of the upcoming federal election, and responded:
I’m focused on governing, that’s what I’m focused on. I will leave the speculation to others. I have said repeatedly and I repeat again today – I support four-year terms and I wish it was four-year fixed terms so this obsession with dates that begins halfway through a term didn’t continue.
He was also asked about reports that WA premier Roger Cook was looking to change the state election date to avoid any dislike that voters may have towards federal Labor. He responded:
Media reports every week about election dates, nothing new in that. It was going to be August 30, then September, then November, then December 7. The election, I said the whole way through, will be in 2025, it will be called April or before, but I’m focused on governing.
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South Australian premier suggests it is worth looking into lobbying reform
Asked if the South Australian government would also look at lobbying, Malinauskas suggested this was worth looking at:
I do think that reforms around lobbyists, what happens to MPs post their political life, I think these are question marks that are worthy of pursuit.
He said the state government had three objectives this term – to ban political donations, teach civics in school, and implement social media age limits.
These are the reforms we’re focused on in our first term and those other types of reforms we would love to have an opportunity to look at further into the future. I think this is necessary and we should probably talk about it as a country more than we do.
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Malinauskas on plan to ban political donations from state elections
Earlier, South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas spoke with ABC News Breakfast about plans to ban political donations from state elections to everyone but newcomers.
The program reported that the premier had found support from the Liberal party and the crossbench on this. Malinauskas said that people’s “confidence in democracy globally throughout the west is on the decline” and that Australia is not immune from this:
A contributing factor – not the only factor, but a contributing factor – is the sense that the democratic process is somehow divorced or out of reach of every Australian, and I think one of the things that informs that view is the idea that if you pay big money and you’re a donor to a political party you somehow get access that others don’t.
We should remove that from the equation entirely, hence had the ambitious reform to take all donations out of politics – whether from unions, business or wealthy individuals – take it all out of the process so that we’ve got a relatively level playing field.
Malinauskas announced plans for the changes in June:
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Albanese promises $28m to save endangered Maugean skate
Millions of dollars will be spent boosting water quality and environmental conditions in a Tasmanian waterway dominated by salmon farming to save the endangered Maugean skate, AAP reports.
Anthony Albanese has announced a $28m boost for new measures in Macquarie Harbour, including scaling up oxygenation to offset the effects of human activities on the endangered species.
About $5m of the funding will invested into skate breeding programs which hatch eggs and raise juveniles for release while environmental conservation efforts work to improve its habitat. Another $2.5m will go towards monitoring the skate population and compliance in the community.
There are an estimated 40-120 adult Maugean skates remaining in the wild, according to environmental campaigners. The government’s own conservation advice called for urgent action to eliminate or significantly reduce fish farming impacts on the harbour’s oxygen levels to help safeguard the skate.
A decision to increase the skate’s status to critically endangered was pushed back until after the federal election.
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Victorian government announces tobacco licensing scheme
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, is announcing a tobacco licensing scheme for the state, which she says is the “toughest in the nation”.
Victoria is the only state without any kind of registration or licensing scheme in place, which has hampered police in their efforts to crackdown on the illegal tobacco trade. Police established taskforce lunar in October last year to stamp out firebombing and arson on tobacco stores, of which there have been more than 100 attacks.
Under the bill, to be introduced to parliament today, people will only be able to sell tobacco with a licence. A licence will only available for “fit and proper persons” who pass a strict test, and people can be refused a licence based on criminal history and known associates.
A new tobacco regulator will also be set up, with dedicated inspectors to enforce the scheme, which was a key request of Victoria police. The regulator will be given the power to search shops, suspend licences and seize illegal items, and can pass on intelligence to police.
Victoria police’s search powers will also be beefed up to make it easier and quicker to raid, search and seize illicit products from a retailer suspected of having links to organised crime.
Allan said the scheme will also be coupled with tougher penalties. People found to be selling illicit tobacco will face fines of more than $355,000 or up to 15 years in jail, while businesses will face fines of more than $1.7m. She said:
This new strict new licensing regime includes more boots on the ground, more resources on the ground, more powers, particularly power for Victoria Police to crack down on the illicit tobacco trade. And there will be massive consequences, massive penalties for people who breach this regime. And these penalties are the toughest penalties in the nation.
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Call for children to be allowed super contributions
A new report from the Super Members Council has found that workers aged under 18 across the country could each have $10,000 more at retirement if an “outdated exclusion” denying them super contributions is abolished.
Currently, under-18s are denied compulsory super contributions unless they work more than 30 hours a week. The report found about nine in 10 teenagers do not reach the 30-hour work threshold each week – denying about 505,000 teenage workers about $368m in total super contributions a year.
Super Members Council CEO Misha Schubert said:
Australians strongly support universal super – and know it’s a workplace right. Super should be for everyone, paid from the first hour of your first job, and fixing this outdated exclusion is overdue.
As every smart investor knows, thanks to the magic of compound returns, a dollar invested early in life in super has the most power to grow our retirement savings exponentially over our lives.
SMC research shows 85% of Australians think anyone who does paid work should get super contributions.
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‘Furious’ NSW nurses won’t back away from day-long strike
More than 50,000 public nurses and midwives in New South Wales are perplexed by a seismic pay overhaul for police and will resist calls to back down from a 24-hour strike, AAP reports.
The female-dominated workforce demands a one-off pay increase of 15% to help address a gender pay gap in hospitals. A 24-hour strike and large rally are planned for Wednesday.
While the Labor government maintains the nurses’ claim would be unaffordable, it raised eyebrows yesterday when tabling a major pay deal for police. The offer would lift lower-ranked officers’ wages by an average of 26% over four years, making them the best paid in the nation.
Police deserved the boost but nurses had been “furious” to hear a “reasonable” offer had not also come their way, Nurses and Midwives Association NSW general secretary Shaye Candish said.
We’ve now seen the teachers, the police, paramedics, cleaners and administrative staff, special constables [get offers], the list grows. The biggest public sector, female-dominated workforce is being left behind.
The NSW health minister Ryan Park said that “while I urge the Association not to proceed with this strike, NSW Health has begun contingency planning to mitigate risks to patients and the community.”
The government says its offer of 10.5% over three years is “fair” and comes after major boosts to workforce numbers and staff-to-patient ratios.
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Rishworth responds to data showing three in five Australian renters expect to never own home
As Cait Kelly reports, new research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found three in five Australian renters expect to never own their own home – a significant shift that requires rethinking of tax and housing systems, it said.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier where she was asked about this, and responded:
Look, we want to see people have home ownership as an aspiration if that’s what they want. And that’s why our focus when it comes to housing is about putting more supply, building more homes … It’s something we are very much focused on. And of course part of that includes, for example, our shared home equity scheme – which has been blocked in the Senate by the Liberals and the Greens. So, look, we want to make home ownership an aspiration people believe they can achieve, and we’ll work towards that.
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NSW government’s anti-protest laws have ‘chilling effect’ on social progress, group says
The NSW Council for Civil Liberties has labelled stronger sanctions for obstructing railways as “draconian” and argued growing protest laws “have created a chilling effect on civil movements and social progress.”
NSWCCL president Timothy Roberts said in a statement that the Council was formed in 1963 in response to a crackdown on peaceful protest by NSW police – and that these new laws from the Minns government “represent a return to dark and shameful days where the right to protest was curtailed, criminalised and where protestors were vilified in the press and arrested en masse”.
The introduction of another tranche of draconian anti-protest laws represents another betrayal of the public’s trust by those who should stand to strengthen and defend civil liberties … The Council will continue to fight for the right to protest and will stand beside peaceful protestors. It is shameful that NSW continues to refuse to introduce a state based human rights charter that would protect the right to protest.
Roberts argued that you “cannot arrest your way towards social cohesion” and you “cannot protect democracy by fundamentally restricting the cornerstone civil liberties that create it.”
This is the action of an unthinking premier who seeks only to pander to the right wing media, emboldened by those in his party who have demonstrated a lack of courage in not standing up, speaking out and demanding that fundamental civil liberties be protected – not just today, but tomorrow and for generations to come …
[The NSWCCL] calls on all sectors of civil society as well as members of the public to oppose the laws. Our efforts and campaigns for the right to protest must continue to be coordinated, diverse and fearless.
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NSW government to introduce tougher penalties for railway protests
The New South Wales government has announced stronger sanctions for obstructing railways as part of illegal protests.
In a statement, premier Chris Minns and attorney general Michael Daley said new legislation would be introduced this week to implement a maximum fine of $22,000 for “obstructing a railway”.
The current offence provision under the Crimes Act does not specifying a fine. A fine would now be in place for those found guilty of obstructing a railway – or damaging or disrupting major facilities – or up to two years’ imprisonment, or both.
The statement said this would align with changes to laws in 2022 making it an offence to block or obstruct major roads, bridges and tunnels and major facilities like ports and railway stations. The statement continues:
Many of the recent protesters causing mayhem in the Hunter Valley were charged with obstructing a railway. This provision also covers people found to have assisted those who directly commit the offence.
By strengthening the penalty, this aims to deter extremely dangerous conduct that puts train driver, rail worker and passenger safety at risk. Blocking railway tracks disrupts commuters and commerce and diverts the precious resources of NSW Police.
The change would apply to every railway line in the state as well as light rails, the statement said.
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Coalition ‘not contemplating’ walking away from net zero by 2050
The Liberal senator Jon Duniam said the Coalition remains committed to its net zero commitment by 2050.
We’ve said we remain committed there, and we are going to continue to do things that are in our interests, not necessarily follow suit with the United States. There are some things they do which makes sense, there are others which are suited to them and not to Australia.
Several Nationals backbenchers have suggested Coalition support for net zero by 2050 should be reconsidered, and Senator Matt Canavan has said Australia should withdraw from the Paris agreement. But Duniam said the Coalition’s key policies were not being reconsidered:
We are currently committed to, and as far as I’m aware, remain committed to net zero by 2050 – that’s not the policy in question.
What we need to do is, while we seek to do what we can to achieve those goals, which – including this government, doesn’t seem to be occurring too positively – is ensure that Australians don’t pay inordinate amounts of the things they need to do every day – electricity, getting about in their vehicles, so making sure that the goods so bad at the supermarket are not at increased cost.
So there are a range of things we need to do there, but walking away from net zero as a standalone policy is not something that we are contemplating.
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Coalition environment spokesperson touts cheap energy when asked about Trump’s climate policies
The Coalition’s environment spokesperson, Jon Duniam, was also up on ABC RN this morning to discuss net zero policy. Host Steve Cannane asked him:
Donald Trump has signalled he’s looking to repeal Biden’s signature climate law, pull out of the Paris Agreement, get rid of many of the Biden administration’s regulations intended to cut carbon emissions, and essentially, drill baby drill. Will the Trump presidency be good for the world’s environment?
Duniam responded by talking about the benefits of cheap energy:
Having cheap energy so that countries can come out of developing status into developed is as important as protecting the environment. I don’t think necessarily the two are mutually exclusive.
I think that there are a great many innovators in the US who continue to innovate, despite the change of government, change of policy direction, and have improved technologies that improve outcomes for the environment. I don’t think necessarily Donald Trump being elected to the White House means we are going to see a downward trajectory in environmental outcomes.
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Carr urges Albanese government to recognise Palestinian statehood by next federal election
Moving to the Middle East and what a second Trump presidency means for this, Bob Carr said he doesn’t see Trump retreating from the alliance between Israel and the US.
I think the wily fox Netanyahu is going to win this one. [He] will be able to continue this ruinous war and inhumane war in Gaza without the threats coming from an American president that he will be penalised with a loss of military supplies.
Carr has previously said he wants the Albanese government to recognise Palestinian statehood before the next federal election. Asked about this, he told ABC RN it’s “the right thing to do”:
It sends a message to the Palestinians that there can be hope if they adhere to a peaceful path to negotiated statehood and avoid the temptation, in desperation and despair, to support the murderers of Hamas … It also sends a message to Israel that what you are doing in Gaza – in destroying 80% of the housing of the people, in allowing terrible atrocities … in denying medicines to the hospitals and clean drinking water to a population being forced to evacuate towns over and over again to avoid bombing – what you’re doing there is intolerable [and you will] lose the support of a country like Australia as a result of pursuing such policies.
Carr argued the Albanese government could end up in a minority government if it doesn’t recognise Palestinian statehood:
Then, it’ll be taunted with only moving because it came under cross bench pressure, or if worse – Labor went into opposition – it can have no reputable dialogue with Arab background Australians and others who, for different reasons, support recognition of Palestine, given that we didn’t move when we had the power to move on this.
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Carr says ‘militarisation’ of northern Australia has happened with ‘scandalous lack of consultation’
Bob Carr was also asked about the statement from the former PM Paul Keating, suggesting the Albanese government is out of touch with the Australian public on foreign policy matters.
Carr said in his view, the “militarisation” of northern Australia has “taken place with a scandalous lack of consultation with the Australian people”.
It’s quite striking given the weight of anti Chinese commentary that’s dominated the Australian media in the last eight years, but you’ve got 57% of the population – according to the Resolve Political Monitor poll – … who agreeing with the proposition that Australia should avoid taking sides in a US-China conflict. Only 16% are taking a contrary view …
Australian diplomacy should be quietly working, not only with America and with China, but with partners in Asia, Japan and India, towards the notion of a detente between America and China. If you’re able to build areas of cooperation and reduce areas of adversarial conflict between the Soviet Union under Leonard Brezhnev and the United States under Richard Nixon and later under Ronald Reagan, it’s not this bigger task to aspire to increasing areas of cooperation and diminishing areas of conflict between China and the US, and that ought to be a goal of Australian diplomacy.
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Bob Carr weighs in on future of Aukus deal: ‘You get taken for granted’
The former NSW premier and Labor foreign minister Bob Carr is speaking with ABC RN about Aukus – and said he is not confident the deal is safe under a Trump presidency.
In fact, skepticism about it is is more widespread than is being admitted publicly in Canberra security circles and elsewhere.
Carr said that America is “engaged in a competition over boat numbers with China” and that its shipyards are “terribly constrained and are performing badly.”
We’ve reach a point – and it could be under Trump, it could be under the president who follows Trump – where a secretary of defence will say to the president, we simply cannot achieve [our] targets … and we can’t peel off from our order of battle attack class submarines that are needed in the competition with China to give to Australia. It’s almost inevitable that that is going to happen, and we will be offered a new view of Aukus, which means American attack class subs being stationed on a virtually permanent basis in Australia ports …
One of the prizes you pay for being such a compliant, non-argumentative ally is that you get taken for granted, and will be taken for granted on this when we are presented [with it] in a few years time … with a reinterpretation or re-weaving of the Aukus narrative.
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Widespread thunderstorms expected every day this week
Meteorologists are forecasting that thunderstorms will develop over large swathes of the country every day this week, and likely into next.
Ben Domensino from Weatherzone has outlined the forecast as follows:
Early in the week, showers and thunderstorms will target central, eastern, southern and southeastern Australia on Monday and Tuesday. Severe thunderstorms are likely in parts of NSW and [Queensland] on both days and are also possible in other states.
Storms will become more focussed on a broad arc stretching across Australia’s eastern and northern states and down into the WA interior through the middle of the week. Sydney, Brisbane and Canberra will all be at risk of severe thunderstorm activity on Wednesday.
Showers and thunderstorms will continue then over Australia’s east and north on Thursday and Friday, while also extending towards the south of WA due to the passage of a cold front. This frontal system, combined with deepening low pressure troughs over Australia, will lead to further widespread thunderstorm activity over Australia from this weekend into early next week.
We’ll bring you more weather updates throughout the day as we learn more.
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Large fire at auto repair shop in Sydney’s south-west
More than 100 firefighters worked to contain a large fire in a south-west Sydney auto repair shop overnight.
It took crews around two hours to contain the “intense fire” which started around 6pm, Fire and Rescue NSW said, in an industrial area at Stubbs Street in Auburn.
The roof of the building had started to collapse but firefighters protected neighbouring properties, including an adjoining timber warehouse and petrol station.
Last night it was unsafe for firefighters to enter the collapsed building to fully extinguish it. A number of people were evacuated from surrounding businesses and residents were urged to stay inside, with a large amount of smoke.
Two people in the auto repair shop were taken to hospital with smoke inhalation and burns. Operations were expected to continue throughout the night.
Parramatta Road was closed in both directions between Rawson Street and St Hilliers Road, but was reopened early this morning.
There has been a fire on Stubbs St, Auburn near the intersection of Parramatta Rd. The fire is contained but is expected to smoulder overnight. Because there may be smoke in the area, residents and businesses in the vicinity are advised to keep doors, windows, and vents closed. pic.twitter.com/J8cGMgqbHh
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) November 11, 2024
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Rex gets government lifeline for regional flights
Embattled regional airline Rex has been thrown an operations lifeline, AAP reports, after it went into voluntary administration in July and its management was handed to administrators EY Australia.
Transport minister Catherine King and workplace minister Murray Watt have today announced the government would provide up to $80m and grant early access to entitlements for Rex’s former employees.
Rex’s administrators plan to apply to the federal court to extend the voluntary administration to 30 June 2025. If the application is granted the government will continue to guarantee ticket sales made throughout the administration period to that date.
The ministers said the guarantee has been effective so far, “and has yet to be used with flight bookings holding up well.”
More than 600 workers were made redundant as it was revealed Rex was struggling under the weight of $500m of debt. In August, the federal government stepped in to guarantee bookings on regional flights, but resisted calls for a bailout.
The administration process for Rex was progressing, the government said as it noted the recent sale of its Pel Air Aviation business to Helicorp Pty Ltd, which is part of Toll Aviation. The sale proceeds will be used to repay secured creditors.
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Victorian Greens pushes to enshrine abortion services in state's constitution
The Victorian Greens will use the second last week of parliament for the year to push to enshrine abortion services into the state’s constitution.
While both major parties have no plans to change abortion laws in the state, the Greens say the issue is becoming increasingly politicised and access much be safe guarded.
The party’s health spokesperson, Dr Sarah Mansfield, says access was already a postcode lottery in Victoria and the state “can’t afford to be sent backwards”.
Around the world, and here in Australia, we are seeing many in power increasingly emboldened to attack reproductive rights for political purposes. Reproductive rights have been hard-won, but it’s clear the fight isn’t over. Governments shouldn’t be able to restrict access to fundamental health care based on political agendas.
The change requires a supermajority of 60% of votes in the parliament to pass.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has vowed to protect abortion rights in the state despite “frightening” debate in South Australia and Queensland.
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Good morning
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us. I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.
As always, you can reach out with any tips, feedback or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or sending me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s go.
Australian author shortlisted for Booker prize
Charlotte Wood, who has been shortlisted for the Booker prize, “is a writer of the most intense attention”, according to the British screenwriter Frank Cottrell-Boyce’s review of her shortlisted book, Stone Yard Devotional.
The book’s protagonist is a woman retreating from the world to a convent in New South Wales and is the story, Cottrell-Boyce writes, “of a small group of people in a tiny town, but its resonance is global. This is a powerful, generous book”.
She is an 11-2 outsider to win the £50,000 ($100,000) prize, with the American Percival Everett and Briton Samantha Harvey the bookies’ favourites. You can read our full story here:
And then there is Cottrell-Boyce’s review:
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Jim Chalmers also pointed to the importance of economic ties when building stronger diplomatic relations with Pacific partners. The treasurer said recent work in his portfolio had led to restoring Australia as the Pacific nations’ partner of choice.
Chalmers confirmed he was in the final stages of negotiations with ANZ to ensure it continued its presence in the Pacific
The major Australian bank’s nine existing operations, which include services in Vanuatu and Fiji, will continue operating, he said.
The deal we’re working on is another big part of our efforts to keep communities and economies connected, and finance flowing in our neighbourhood.
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Chalmers: 'Nobody wins from a trade war, but we have more at stake than most'
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has warned that decoupling from major trading partners, such as China, presents a great risk to Australia’s economy, but “derisking” key supply chains could leave the country in a better position than most of the world.
In a speech delivered at an Australian Institute of International Affairs forum in Canberra last night, Chalmers said derisking trade relations was sometimes necessary in the face of unreliable supply chains and other forms of economic or geopolitical tension. Chalmers said:
Most countries are doing this in one way or another and we are no exception ... Because of our combination of industrial, geographical, geological, meteorological, and geopolitical advantages, we stand to be among the biggest beneficiaries of de-risking.
Chalmers conceded Australia was “more exposed than others” in the “global fragmentation” of trade, noting recent IMF’s findings that trade ties have deepened between geopolitically aligned countries, while declining between those who are not.
But he said Australia’s energy, technology and critical minerals would be key in building regional and global supply chains. Developing new industries in green metals and green hydrogen would also contribute to global demand.
Nobody wins from a trade war, but we have more at stake than most.
In the wake of Donald Trump’s win in the US election, the world’s economies are watching closely. During his campaign, the US president-elect said he would place baseline tariffs of 10% on all imported goods, with up to 60% and 100% for China and Mexico respectively. The ripples of such a policy shift on tariffs could lead to lower growth and higher inflation in a number of countries who trade with the US.
The treasurer warned Australia would not be immune from the flow-on effects of escalating trade tensions but insisted the Albanese government was “well-placed and well-prepared”.
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Qantas faces inquiry over use of airport slots
Qantas officials will be grilled on allegations the carrier has been misusing slots at Australia’s busiest airport, AAP reports.
A Senate inquiry is examining proposed laws on flights at Sydney airport, which result in penalties for airlines which deliberately cancel services to maintain valuable slots at terminals.
Markus Svensson, chief executive of Qantas’s domestic operations, will appear before the inquiry on Tuesday, along with officials from regional airline FlyPelican.
Slots at Sydney airport are limited to 80 take-offs and landings per hour. But the Australian Airports Association, which is also appearing at the inquiry today, said large cancellation numbers represented a concern. The association said in its submission to the inquiry:
These higher cancellation rates suggest that … unnecessary flights are scheduled and cancelled for strategic slot-retention purposes. [This] has become a barrier to competition, allowing a duopoly that stifles the entry of new carriers and ultimately limits consumer choice.
Under the proposed laws, the federal transport department would have powers to force airlines to provide information on alleged misuse.
Qantas Group and Virgin have consistently denied they misuse slots. In its submission, Qantas said there was a common interest to ensure capacity at Sydney airport was used effectively:
We look forward to working with the government to understand how the bill, regulations, slot management scheme and any associated guidance material will work in practice.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories before I hand the news baton to Emily Wind.
Amid the swirl of concern about Donald Trump pressing reset on global economic norms, Jim Chalmers has warned that de-coupling from major trading partners presents a great risk to Australia’s economy. “Nobody wins from a trade war, but we have more at stake than most,” the treasurer said in a speech last night. Full details coming up.
Three in five Australian renters expect to never own their own home, research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has found, describing it as a significant shift that requires rethinking of tax and housing systems. Meanwhile the principal of a branch of one of Australia’s largest real estate companies has admitted using Chat GPT to generate property listings after a rental home was advertised as being close to two “excellent” schools that didn’t exist.
Charlotte Wood, the Australian author of Stone Yard Devotional, has been shortlisted for the Booker prize but is an outside bet against favourites Percival Everett and Samantha Harvey. Full details coming up.
And Qantas is up before a Senate inquiry today, ahead of proposed laws that look to make sure precious flight slots at Australia’s busiest airport are not being misused to suppress competition. More on that too, soon.
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