And that’s a wrap this Thursday evening
Here is what kept us busy today:
After our exclusive story about the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, taking a charter flight to an event where he spoke about the cost-of-living crisis, the PM Anthony Albanese said he would not criticise Dutton for doing his job.
The inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission announced it will “inquire” into the watchdog’s recent decision not to investigate the six individuals referred by the royal commission into robodebt.
The Greens called for Australia to respond to what it called the “state of Israel’s crimes”.
Commenting on two police officers who have been charged after allegedly assaulting a 92-year-old man, NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said “it appears to be the case” that the person who called the police may have been suffering from dementia.
Business groups have not reacted well to Dutton’s intention to ditch the 2030 emissions targets. While it can’t be happy with the plans, either, Climate 200 has seen a surge in donations since news of Dutton’s plans emerged.
Thank you for joining us and we’ll see you again tomorrow.
Good night.
Updated
One dead in Brisbane apartment fire
A man has died and a woman has serious injuries after after a blaze tore through a home in Brisbane’s inner north.
Firefighters were called to the Albion property at 4:25pm, where a fire had engulfed the unit at the rear of a unit complex.
Queensland Police confirmed a man who had been treated with life-threatening injuries died.
Queensland Ambulance took a female, aged in her 30s, with head, facial, hand and foot burns to Royal Brisbane Women’s hospital. She is in a serious condition.
More than 10 crews are still on scene and continue to work to extinguish the fire, which is under control and has not spread to nearby properties.
Police have established a crime scene.
Updated
‘Horrific offending’: Victorian man convicted on several animal cruelty charges
A 38-year-old man has been convicted and sentenced to an 18-month community correction order after pleading guilty to 16 animal cruelty offences on native animals including pythons, possums, barn owls and sugar gliders.
He was also banned from keeping animals for 10 years after being found to have caused the death of three pythons and two possums from prolonged starvation or dehydration.
In a court in Melbourne last week, he admitted to neglecting 28 native animals, including green tree frogs, barn owls, sugar gliders, brushtail possums, dingoes, pythons, a blue-tongued lizard, and a freshwater crocodile, by keeping them in poor enclosures with no food or water.
He also pleaded guilty to two charges for illegally possessing two dingoes, two barn owls, and the remains of a third barn owl.
In sentencing, presiding magistrate Howe said the man had committed “horrific offending against native animals that had no way to protect themselves”.
Victoria’s Conservation Regulator officers investigated the man’s home in March 2021, where they were confronted with the wildlife cruelty.
Kate Gavens, Victoria’s chief conservation regulator today said:
This was an horrific and unacceptable case of wildlife cruelty. We are thankful to the people who reported the poor treatment of these animals, and we urge the public to continue providing information about suspected wildlife crime. We take all allegations seriously and will investigate reports made to us or Crime Stoppers Victoria.
Updated
Queensland opposition leader gives budget reply speech
Conservationists weren’t happy about David Crisafulli’s vow to cancel the enormous Pioneer-Burdekin hydro dam. But the council of social services “enthusiastically” welcomed part of the LNP’s housing policy.
David Copeman from Queensland Conservation Council said “indecision” on renewables is a “grave risk for regional Queensland”, and threatened to prolong the use of coal.
“We could lose the window to lead the world in clean exports if our grid is still contaminated by coal-fired power in the 2030s,” he said.
“Now that Crisafulli has rejected Pioneer-Burdekin, he needs to come clean with his alternative plan to reach our renewable energy targets, which he proclaims to support.”
Crisafulli said they would “investigate opportunities for smaller, more manageable pumped-hydro projects.” The government’s policy is to build two, including the gigantic Pioneer-Burdekin scheme.
“An alternative proposal that involved multiple smaller pumped hydro options could have much greater environmental impacts, potentially daming numerous wild rivers and flooding multiple valleys,” Copeman said.
Housing was a big part of the Liberal policy offering today.
Queensland council of social services boss Aimee McVeigh said both major parties had committed to “nation-leading social housing targets”.
“The Miles’ government’s home for Queenslanders plan includes a commitment to build 53,500 new social housing dwellings, and today the opposition has committed to the same. In addition to that today, the opposition has also committed to increasing funding for specialist homelessness services, Qcoss enthusiastically welcomes this bipartisan approach to grappling with the housing crisis,” she said.
Qcoss also favours rent caps for renters, a policy which neither party supports.
“Neither the Miles government nor the opposition has a policy in place that will deal with the fact that the private rental market has become unaffordable,” she said.
Updated
How would age restrictions on social media actually work?
For those, like me, wondering how social media companies could limit users to those over 16 – as mooted in the Coalition’s social media policy announced today – Prof Michael Salter from the University of New South Wales has some answers.
Speaking with the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, he said biometric assessment – such as facial scanning and behavioural analysis – such as looking at user activity - were both too imperfect to be used.
Instead, the researcher on global internet regulation said third-party providers could supply tokens that users then embed into browsers:
From my point of view, best-case scenario is that we have a range of independent third-party providers who we provide documentation to.
There might be some face-matching that they use to make sure we’re uploading our own material. And these sorts of measures have been in place in other areas for a while.
They would then provide a token that we could embed in our browser and, as we’re going through the internet, it basically tells service providers or tells people from our mobile phone what our age is and effectively what we’re permitted to use.
These tokens can also expire for a while. Maybe they’re live for a week. Maybe they’re live for a couple of days. So I think they’re using a customer interface - that’s something we still need to be polished up. I think the technology has reached a tipping point where it is consumer-friendly.
Updated
Dutton’s plan to scrap 2030 emissions target ‘not helpful’, AGL executive says
Chatter this week from the opposition leader over an intention to ditch Labor’s 2030 emissions target if elected (without presenting the Coalition’s own goals until after the next election), hasn’t gone down well with business groups.
AGL Energy’s chief operating officer, Markus Brokhof, has told Guardian Australia “every investor, not just AGL, needs a stable regulatory and political framework”. Goal changes were “not helpful” not least because energy investments were for the long term.
Brokhof was careful, though, to label the issue as “typical election discussion”. (The Greens, meanwhile, say it’s academic as it’s unlikely the Liberal-Nationals will have the numbers to scrap Labor’s legislated goal of cutting 2005-level emissions by 43% by 2030.)
The executive was keener to discuss AGL’s ambitions to ramp up its hydropower operations, particularly for pumped hydro. After Snowy Hydro and Tas Hydro (both government-owned), AGL is Australia’s largest hydro electricity producer with a 10% share.
Brokhof said rewards for pumped hydro needed to be increased to better reflect its benefits, not just in providing long-duration storage (potentially for days). Others include supporting system strength, frequency and voltage control of the grid, and even enabling a “black start” should things go really pear-shaped as they did in 2016 in South Australia. (Not wind farms’ fault)
One potential project would involve turning a former coal mine void near Muswellbrook in the upper Hunter Valley of NSW into a reservoir. AGL would excavate a smaller reservoir about 500m up a hill, pumping up water at times of low electricity prices and releasing it through 400-megawatt hydro generators when prices are high.
The $1bn-plus project will come up for investment approval probably in 2026, Brokhof said. Interestingly, AGL and mine owner, Japan’s Idemitsu Corp, face similar planning problems identified in the lower Hunter, as detailed in this recent feature.
“If you use existing infrastructure that you [should] get then also faster approvals,” he said. “[A]t at the moment, that’s not the case.”
Given the need for speed to get more renewables and storage into the grid - and a relative abundance of old coal assets in need of repurposing - nimble authorities seem to be in high demand.
Updated
Simon Birmingham spruiks social media policy and defends right to protest
The shadow foreign minister says the Coalition’s social media policy, which would limit children’s access to some online media, “can only be a good thing.”
Speaking with the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, he also commented on Chinese premier Li Qiang’s upcoming visit to Australia.
He said protests have a place in Australian society despite the possibility that Li’s visit to Australia may prove to be divisive. The premier’s visit to New Zealand has seen some clashes between protesters and police in Wellington.
Birmingham said:
Australia, though, is a free and democratic country where people can exercise rights that those in China are denied, including the right to protest. Protests should always be peaceful and they should always be conducted in ways that seek to minimise the disruption to others. But the right of people to protest is one we will always defend.
And that includes those who want to voice their concerns about the erosion of democracy in Hong Kong or human rights abuses in Xinjiang region or Tibet or other genuine concerns that people have, just as the Australian government must and should raise clearly the concerns we have about the destabilising role China’s military presents in our region, as we’ve seen through the Philippines, the Taiwan Strait, and engagements with Australian military.
Updated
Protesters claim McDonald’s ‘is fuelling the deforestation crisis’
Staying in Melbourne, where Greenpeace activists have scaled a well-known McDonald’s outlet, hanging a banner across its art deco facade protest the fast food giant’s “lack of a strong deforestation-free commitment.”
A banner reading “Take Deforestation off the Menu” was dropped under the golden arches of the Clifton Hill store at about 3pm. Protesters, dressed as koalas and driven to the outlet in a bulldozer, handed customers mock menus of koala burgers and wombat nuggets, the group said.
The organisation said 668,665 hectares of threatened koala habitat was bulldozed for beef production in the last five years.
In a statement, Gemma Plesman, senior campaigner at Greenpeace Australia Pacific, said the “beef industry in Australia is killing native wildlife and the big beef purchasers are corporations like McDonald’s, whose customers would be shocked to learn their Big Mac is fuelling the deforestation crisis and pushing globally-iconic animals like the koala to the brink of extinction.”
Updated
Tabcorp fined for failing to stop minors from gambling
Over to Melbourne, where Tabcorp has been ordered to pay more than $370,000 after admitting it failed to stop children from gambling across multiple Victorian venues.
The company pleaded guilty to 43 charges in Melbourne magistrates court after first being charged by the Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission in May 2023, reports AAP.
The commission had found a 17-year-old gambled multiple times between May 2022 and October 2023 at 13 Tabcorp sites.
The company admitted failing to prevent a minor from gambling and not properly supervising its electronic betting terminals.
A magistrate on Thursday fined the company $274,000 without conviction and ordered it to pay costs, bringing the total sanctions to $370,417.
The maximum fine available to the magistrate was close to $700,000.
A Tabcorp spokesman noted the magistrate recognised the considerable remedial steps the company had taken to deter minors from gambling at its venues.
The commission’s chief executive, Annette Kimmitt, said Tabcorp had committed incredibly serious breaches.
“These failures undermine the integrity and safety of the industry,” she said in a statement.
Updated
Greens call for Australia to ‘respond to the state of Israel’s crimes’
The Greens say lasting peace “has been made so much harder to achieve through the actions of the state of Israel and Hamas”, after a UN investigation accused both sides of committing war crimes and crimes against humanity on and since 7 October.
The party’s foreign affairs spokesperson, Jordon Steele-John, said the Australian government should not “pick and choose when to respect international law” and it should “respond to the state of Israel’s crimes in the same way we have rightfully responded to those committed by Hamas”.
A UN commission of inquiry has described serious crimes committed by both sides in the conflict, including by Palestinian armed groups during the attack on Israeli communities near the border with Gaza on 7 October. The commission accuses Hamas’s military wing and six other Palestinian armed groups of killings, torture, sexual violence and systematic kidnapping.
The commission accuses Israeli authorities of responsibility “for the war crimes of starvation as a method of warfare, murder or wilful killing, intentionally directing attacks against civilians and civilian objects, forcible transfer, sexual violence, torture and inhuman or cruel treatment, arbitrary detention and outrages upon personal dignity”.
The Israeli government has long accused the UN commission of inquiry of bias against Israel, and it claimed that the latest findings showed “a narrow-led political agenda against Israel”.
The leader of the Greens, Adam Bandt, has tweeted:
When Greens moved for Parliament to condemn Israeli government war crimes as well as Hamas, Labor and Liberal voted against us. Now a UN report makes clear what has happened in Gaza. Labor, will you still refuse to sanction an Israeli government that has committed war crimes?
Bandt was referring to the Greens’ unsuccessful attempt on 16 October to amend a bipartisan motion to include that the parliament “condemns war crimes perpetrated by the state of Israel, including the bombing of Palestinian civilians, and calls for an immediate ceasefire between all parties and an end to the war on Gaza, recognising also that for there to be peace there must be an end to the state of Israel’s illegal occupation of the Palestinian Territories”.
Updated
Anti-corruption inspector to examine robodebt decision
The inspector of the National Anti-Corruption Commission has announced it will “inquire” into the watchdog’s recent decision not to investigate the six individuals referred by the royal commission into robodebt.
This afternoon, the inspector, Gail Furness, released a statement after receiving nearly 900 complaints about last week’s decision:
Many of those complaints allege corrupt conduct or maladministration by the NACC in making that decision. I also note that there has also been much public commentary. Accordingly, I have decided to inquire into that decision. I anticipate that I will make my findings public, in due course. Information about my role, including the powers I have and how I can deal with complaints, is available on my website at www.naccinspector.gov.au.
Last Thursday, the Nacc said it was “unlikely it would obtain significant new evidence” and had concluded it was “undesirable for a number of reasons to conduct multiple investigations into the same matter”.
The conduct of the six unnamed public officials had been “fully explored” by the royal commission and “extensively discussed in its final report”, the Nacc said.
The Nacc said it was “conscious of the impact of the robodebt scheme on individuals and the public, the seniority of the officials involved, and the need to ensure that any corruption issue is fully investigated”.
The six individuals remain unnamed.
Updated
Review into public hospital after toddler’s death
An independent expert panel will review paediatric emergency care at a public hospital in Perth after the death of a toddler from undiagnosed blood cancer.
Sandipan Dhar died at the Joondalup Health Campus on 24 March, weeks after developing a mild fever after vaccinations, reports AAP.
His parents, Sanjoy and Saraswati Dhar, say they asked for a blood test at the hospital on 22 March but a senior doctor refused to carry it out.
Private operator Ramsay Health Care, which runs the campus, announced a review on Thursday of paediatric emergency services at Joondalup.
An independent expert panel of non-Ramsay specialists from the eastern states will carry out the work.
State manager Shane Kelly said although he believed the hospital was doing a good job, the review would help identify any problems and recommend areas for improvement.
“The independent specialists will look at Joondalup Health Campus clinical guidelines, policies, procedures and processes in the paediatric emergency service area, as well as staffing mix and development,” he said.
“Communication with parents will form a key part of this review with the panel expected to engage with families, staff and management as part of the process.”
Updated
Thanks, as ever, Emily Wind! Let’s get straight on with the rest of today’s news.
Many thanks for joining me on today’s blog, Daisy Dumas will be with you in a moment to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. Take care!
States face battle to host Matildas’ Asian Cup fixtures
Sydney, Brisbane and Perth will vie at the end of the year to host Matildas games as well as the final of the 2026 Women’s Asian Cup, AAP reports.
Football Australia today announced it would receive $15m in federal government funding towards the cost of hosting the event.
FA won the rights to the tournament in May, having successfully co-hosted the 2023 Women’s World Cup which drew record crowds averaging more than 30,000 a game.
NSW, Western Australia and Queensland have been named as host states for the 12-team tournament, with each now required to make a case to FA and the Asian Football Confederation to land the best fixtures.
FA chief executive James Johnson said:
We will move into the strategic decision-making point of the process in the back end of this calendar year, and that’s when all the fun will begin.
The next six to eight weeks it’s about setting up and putting all the governance in place. We’ve got to work through that (hosting) with the states.
You can probably expect by the end of Q3 that those discussions will be where our attention is.
Updated
Peter Dutton defends Angus Taylor after comments by Hollie Hughes
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has described Angus Taylor as a “very decent” and “very smart” colleague after Hollie Hughes speculated to the Nine newspapers the shadow treasurer was considering a tilt at leadership.
Hughes was bumped to third on the Liberals’ NSW Senate ticket – a spot that won’t guarantee her re-election. The NSW senator, who serves in the opposition’s shadow ministry, blamed Taylor for the demotion on Tuesday, accusing him of disrupting the federal team’s unity and suggesting the shadow treasurer “show some maturity and get across the detail on his policy areas”.
Hughes also speculated Taylor made the move to gain supporters in the event of an opposition leadership spill.
Speaking on his regular Thursday spot with 2GB’s Ray Hadley, Dutton told the presenter he didn’t see Taylor’s possible ambitions “as an issue at all”, adding he’d known him for a “very long period of time”.
I work with him very closely. Obviously, he’s my shadow treasurer and I’ve known him for a very long period of time and we’ve been in the trenches together for a long period of time. So he’s a very smart guy, and I think he will be a great treasurer of our country. And he’ll be an integral part of trying to get our country back on track after three years of Albanese disaster.
Dutton said it was understandable Hughes was upset about losing her spot at a winnable position on the Senate ticket but “that’s the democratic process”.
The opposition leader said he supported finding another spot for Hughes to continue on in Parliament.
That’s a conversation I’ve had with Hollie – it’s hard, obviously, to find a space that’s just sitting vacant, or an opportunity that can open up. But we’ll continue to work with her and I hope that she can contribute in some way into the parliamentary party at some point into the future because she is a very valued member of that team. And she’s a good friend of mine as well. And I want the best for her as we all do.
Updated
NSW police commissioner Karen Webb says the time between police arriving at the scene after the two triple-zero calls and the elderly man being arrested would have been “certainly within minutes”.
Updated
NSW police commissioner says police ‘concerned’ for the welfare of 92-year-old man
She says police had spoken with him and his family “because it is important that they were aware that we were … speaking [to the media] today”.
They’ve had support through family, and that gentleman has had support from the NSW police since the incident.
Updated
Webb pressed by journalists about adequacy of NSW police training
Q: Can you admit that there is clearly an issue with training, particularly in relation to mental health patients?
Karen Webb:
As I said earlier, we respond to over two million calls for service across this organisation, across New South Wales every year … and I have confidence that officers are responding to those calls, the majority of times. If there are occasions that we have some concerns about the way we respond, then we will investigate, like we’ve done in this matter – we commenced an investigation the very next day.
Updated
Karen Webb clarified that it was the 92-year-old man’s wife who appears to have dementia.
Updated
NSW police officers were wearing bodycam, Webb says
Karen Webb says the officers were wearing bodycam video cameras, and she has watched the footage.
While she has her “own thoughts and feelings” about the footage she is declining to comment.
I can’t comment about that because I don’t want to prejudice any court matter. These are now before the court and there will be a subsequent parallel employment review that will be undertaken, and I don’t want to prejudice that.
Updated
Case in which NSW police officers charged may involve a civilian with dementia
NSW police commissioner Karen Webb says “it appears to be the case” that at least one person involved was suffering from dementia.
Police were called by 000 on two occasions about seven minutes apart [by] a resident, and that person may or may not have dementia. I think it’s likely that that person has dementia.
Having said that, police officers are called to matters like this, 000 or otherwise, [and] they don’t know what they’re walking into.
It seems that is the first time police have been called to this address and didn’t know what they were looking into.
Webb says “it’s too hard to say” whether a domestic violence event incident took place, but confirmed no one was charged in relation to this.
It’s obviously a complex matter when you’ve got someone elderly, someone who has mental decline through dementia or through something else that can actually articulate any concerns to police properly. And that will all form part of the investigation and the police response.
Updated
Commissioner Karen Webb speaking to media after two officers charged
NSW police commissioner Karen Webb is speaking to the media after two officers have been charged after allegedly assaulting a 92-year-old man.
Webb says that police had responded to a domestic violence matter where the man was arrested using handcuffs, was injured during the arrest and taken to hospital.
The very next day, an internal investigation was commenced and as a result of that investigation, it’s culminated in those charges last night. And as I said, those officers are now before the court. Those officers are currently suspended from duty.
Updated
Albanese fields question about government’s tightened caps on student visas
Circling back to the prime minister’s press conference just earlier:
Anthony Albanese was asked about whether his government’s tightened caps on student visas would affect jobs and the funding of facilities, such as the Flinders research facility he is today visiting.
“Not at all,” he said, adding the policy was about “stopping the abuse of the system that had been allowed to get out of control under the former government, where people were using the visa system in order to get an entry into Australia in order to work here and to stay here for a period of time.”
Institutions like this and the work that’s being undertaken at this magnificent facility is world leading. We want more of it, not less.
I’m the first person in my family to finish school, let alone go to university. I’ve said on election night I want my government to open those doors of opportunity and kick it wide open.
He went on to say that international students are good for the economy:
Foreign students continue to play an important role. It’s an important export for Australia, and it’s good for our economy. It’s good for our universities, but it’s also good for our international standing.
The migration system though, was in a mess that we inherited, and we make no apologies for fixing it.
Sydney faces liquid antibiotics shortage as pneumonia, whooping cough cases surge
Continuing from the news of high flu rates we brought you earlier, unseasonably high levels of walking pneumonia and whooping cough in children have triggered a run on liquid antibiotics, with Sydney residents now facing a shortage.
A NSW Health spokesperson said the service was “taking steps to minimise any impacts caused by supply disruptions of some liquid antibiotics (macrolides) due to increased demand,” stressing the shortage affected liquid versions of children’s antibiotics only.
The latest NSW respiratory surveillance figures, released this morning, show pneumonia cases in children aged 5 to 16 was over 400 at the beginning of June, but had fallen slightly in the week since. Those figures are well above the five-year weekly average of below 50.
The same age group recorded the highest levels of pertussis, or whooping cough, infections, which are this year expected to reach pre-pandemic levels.
The spokesperson said NSW Health was closely monitoring demand for liquid antibiotics locally and that alternatives are available.
They said the disruption is being addressed at a national level by the Therapeutic Goods Administration and that normal supply is expected to resume over the coming months.
Updated
Snowy Hydro still working to free-up its stalled drilling machine
Those with tunnel vision have been fixated by the progress of the giant Snowy Hydro’s $12bn (and counting) 2.0 pumped hydro project.
At the end of 2022, a tunnel-boring machine dubbed “Florence” got stuck in soft rock after drilling just 70m into the start of a vital tunnel from the Tantangara reservoir. That caused a long delay while an additional plant was added sooner than anticipated to get through the mush.
Anyway, the problem more recently has been the extremely hard and abrasive rock snaring Florence. Snowy Hydro says it was using “high-pressure water jetting ... to remove rock impinging on the shield” of the machine.
Snowy Hydro using 'high-pressure water jetting ' to try to free up its tunnel boring machine ('Florence') that got stuck in hard rock. Seems like a hard place:https://t.co/I4ef3y6LZx pic.twitter.com/P4w3aP5w0B
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) June 13, 2024
The technique was “ongoing and working well”, the commonwealth-owned corporation said.
We expect highly variable ground conditions to continue ahead of TBM Florence in the headrace tunnel [which conveys water from the reservoir to the powerhouse].
Ted Woodley, a project opponent with the National Parks Association, says Florence has excavated just 650m in six months; that’s less than 4m per day.
The machine is designed to average 30m/day, or a bit more than a snail’s pace of 1m/hour, he says.
At this rate, the 16km headrace tunnel is going to take 10 years to complete, Woodley says, far later than the entire project’s targeted completion date of December 2028.
A former energy industry executive, Woodley estimates every day of delay adds about $3m to capitalised interest costs. Taxpayers (and Snowy Hydro) will be hoping Florence gets boring again soon – and hits rock that isn’t too soft or too hard!
Updated
Albanese: Federal Labor looking at ‘more transparency’ around political donations
Anthony Albanese also responded to the South Australian premier’s move to ban political donations for elections in the state.
The prime minister says:
Well, we’ve got our own inquiry being undertaken. Don Farrell … has initiated that work. We’re looking at more transparency in political donations, that’s something that Labor governments have always done. And it’s always been undermined by Coalition governments who changed the level at which donations could be declared.
Updated
Albanese: Dutton playing ‘catch up’ on age verification for social media
Earlier today, opposition leader Peter Dutton was calling for bipartisan support for his party’s proposed age verification laws for social media.
Asked if he would support these measures, Anthony Albanese responds: “We’re doing it.”
We have a trial funded with $6.5m in the budget … that was announced before the budget, the funding is in the budget, that trial will be under way. This is Peter Dutton playing catch-up.
He says the government has pursued an age assurance trial because “social media is having a negative impact on young people”.
I want people to spend more time on the footy field, or the netball court, than they’re spending on their phones.
It is a scourge, it is having a negative impact on young people’s mental health and on anxiety. If you look at all of the figures, then we have real issues to deal with.
Updated
Albanese defends Dutton’s charter flight as part of ‘doing his job’
PM Anthony Albanese is taking questions at Flinders University now. He’s been asked whether it is hypocritical of Peter Dutton to take charter flights during a cost of living crisis.
The PM says:
I make no criticism of Peter Dutton catching a charter flight to do his job. That’s his job. He attended a conference, I read that story, in Tamworth. I make no criticism of that. It’s a hard job being leader of the opposition.
He did, however, take the opportunity to then deliver some criticism of the leader of the opposition:
I tell you what I do make criticism of him [for], though, the fact he has done nothing but oppose every cost of living [initiative] that’s been put forward. Peter Dutton, when we had our tax cuts for every single taxpayer, including every single South Australian taxpayer … the Coalition said they would oppose them. Then he said they would roll it back, even before they had seen what it was, then he said we should go to an election on it.
He opposed our energy price relief plan that’s made a difference. He failed to support our $300 support for every household. Now, those two things, tax cuts for every taxpayer, $300 for every household in energy bill relief, will come in, in three weeks’ time.
Peter Dutton has nothing positive to offer the Australian people, he just says ‘no’ to everything.
Updated
Albanese highlights commercial opportunities from Australian research
Anthony Albanese is speaking at Flinders University alongside South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas.
He has visited a new health research facility at the University of Adelaide, where some 600 researchers will study chronic pain control, pregnancy and a range of diseases, doing work “that will change lives”.
The PM says:
When I speak about a future made in Australia, it’s not just things to do with metals, it is to make sure that we take advantage of our human capacity here. And we’ve been very good at scientific research for a long period of time, we haven’t always made the most of the commercial opportunities which are there.
And one of the things we learnt from the visit here today is some of the commercial opportunities – in areas like defence, as well – that will come from this facility, and from the research that’s being undertaken here. This is world’s best.
Updated
Chalmers welcomes jobs figures but some analysts say labour market cooling
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has, not surprisingly, welcomed the drop in the jobless figure to 4% in May, with almost 40,000 extra jobs added (see earlier posts).
By the government’s count, the economy has now clocked up about 880,000 jobs since it came to office two years ago, the most for any first-term administration.
“Despite our economy weakening substantially as a result of higher interest rates, persistent inflation and ongoing global uncertainty, our labour market remains resilient and that’s clear from today’s result,” Chalmers says.
Analysts aren’t quite as upbeat. Harry Murphy Cruise, an economist with Moody’s Analytics, said that removing statistical quirks, “it’s clear the labour market is cooling”.
“In trend terms, unemployment rose to 4% from 3.9% previously,” he said, or half a percentage point from the 2022 lows.
“Rather than an uptick of layoffs or redundancies, employers are instead tempering their hiring plans and shaving off the hours they offer to their employees,” Murphy Cruise says. New entrants to the labour market, such as migrants, are finding it harder to get work, for instance.
“We see the unemployment rate hitting 4.4% by the end of the year and topping out at 4.5% by the middle of 2025,” he says, estimates that are about 0.25pp higher than Treasury expects.
Updated
NSW tenants advocates urge action on public and community housing standards
Twenty-seven housing advocacy organisations, legal services and tenants’ representatives are today demanding urgent action to ensure public and community housing is safe and habitable in the wake of the explosion that killed one woman and injured others in a Homes NSW property nearly two weeks ago.
The 27 organisations, led by the Tenants’ Union of NSW, say in a statement released this morning that the incident has focused community attention on the “historic and ongoing pattern of neglect in public and community housing”.
Mhey Yumol Jasmin, a nurse in her 30s, was killed and several others were injured in the blast at the Waikanda Crescent property in Sydney’s Whalan on 2 June. The explosion completely destroyed the townhouse and blew out some windows in nearby buildings. Jasmin’s body was eventually recovered from the rubble.
At the time, the NSW housing minister, Rose Jackson, ordered an investigation from the housing department following reports that residents had raised concerns about smelling gas over the past year. She said she was “deeply concerned” about what had happened.
The advocacy organisations say poorly maintained housing is a fact of life for their clients.
Sadly, the state of public and community housing is a story of neglect. Our clients have to deal with issues such as chronic and severe mould, sewerage issues, water leaks and problems with essential services without speedy resolution.
Renters in public and community housing report they fear retaliation or poor treatment when seeking repairs. They often face prolonged waits for essential repairs, and receive only temporary fixes that fail to address the root problems. Even when they take legal action the work is not undertaken as ordered. This is exhausting for people who already are juggling many other things in their lives.
Safe, secure housing is a human right, and poor housing affects all aspects of a persons’ life. The current system is broken.
The organisations are demanding the NSW government commit resources in the state budget on 18 June to properly repair, make safe and maintain public and community housing.
Updated
Two police officers charged with assault of 92-year-old man
Two police officers have been charged with the assault of a 92-year-old man in southwest Sydney earlier this year.
Officers responded to a domestic incident at a home in Picton on 21 January and the 92-year-old man received injuries, which were allegedly the result of an interaction with the officers, police said in a statement.
He was taken to hospital and admitted with a fracture to his right elbow, and significant bruising to his head and arms.
Following an internal investigation, a male senior constable and a male constable were served court attendance notices yesterday for assault occasioning actual bodily harm, with the constable facing a further charge of assault.
One of the officers will appear at Campbelltown Local Court on 30 July, and the other is due to appear at Campbelltown Local Court on 6 August.
Both officers will be suspended with pay.
Updated
Origin Energy strikes six-month coal mine deal, sparing about 1,000 jobs
Speaking of jobs, the future of about 1,000 mine workers have brightened, at least briefly, with Origin Energy striking a six-month deal to keep buying coal from two mines near its giant Eraring power station in the lower Hunter Valley of NSW.
Origin last month agreed to keep Eraring open for at least another two years beyond its (re-) scheduled August 2025 closure date.
We had a close look at how this extension went down in the local community (in this feature) with an odd quirk involving two mines run by Thai-owned Centennial Coal that looked like missing out on extra work.
Origin had said fossil fuel supplied by the Myuna and Mandalong mines was more expensive than what it could source from further up the Hunter.
The news today is that Origin will keep buying coal from Centennial for half a year after its current contract ends this month. This will be seen as a reprieve for 350 Myuna miners because the mine there can’t supply any other customer. Mandalong – which sends half of its output to Eraring and the rest for export – has about 650 workers who face possible job cuts.
Belinda Giblin, lead organiser of the Collieries’ Staff and Officials Association, says:
A supply agreement with both mines for the life of the power station maintains a 40-year status quo and is in the interests of the local communities. This would bolster Origin Energy’s social licence and line up with its rhetoric on just transition.
Centennial – and its employees – will presumably be hoping the six-month deal gets extended again, and keeps going until Eraring runs out of puff.
Updated
Chinese premier Li Qiang arrives in New Zealand
The ABC is broadcasting footage showing Chinese premier Li Qiang arriving in New Zealand, ahead of his visit to Australia on Saturday.
As Tory Shepherd reported yesterday, Qiang is expected to make an announcement about the future of Australia’s giant pandas when he visits South Australia on the weekend.
You can read more about that below:
Updated
Victorian police investigate fire at gym that is associated with outlaw motorcycle gang
Victorian police are investigating a suspicious fire at a gym in the Melbourne suburb of Hallam, early this morning.
A passerby noticed a glow from inside the Princes Highway gym at about 4.30am this morning. A number of windows had been smashed and it’s believed an accelerant had been poured inside and set alight.
Police say nobody was inside at the time but say the building sustained significant damage. An arson chemist was due to attend the scene this morning.
Detectives will look at whether the business was targeted due to a number of outlaw motorcycle gang members attending the gym, a statement said.
Anyone with footage or information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Updated
Qld opposition envisages 53,500 social homes by 2044; churches to be allowed to build homes on surplus land
The opposition also plans to change planning laws to allow more social housing on unused church land, a policy adopted in several places overseas.
David Crisafulli says:
Today, I commit the LNP to the delivery of 53, 500 social homes by 2044 and will outline my plan to get there.
The LNP will work with faith-based and charity organisations and amend planning regulations to allow them to build social and community housing on their surplus land. Currently this is not easily permitted.
An initial review by the Brisbane Catholic Archdiocese and the Salvation Army has identified surplus sites that could accommodate 2,000 new dwellings.
Including other organisations, it has been estimated that up to 10,000 homes could be created. I am hopeful this will inspire other organisations to come forward with more sites.
The opposition also wants to sign a “master agreement’ with the social housing sector and create a productivity commission that would hold an inquiry into building regulations.
Updated
More on the latest job figures from the ABS
Among other stats of note from the labour market numbers was the participation rate remaining unchanged at 66.7% and the number of hours worked easing back 9m (out of a total of almost 2bn).
Bjorn Jarvis, ABS’s head of labour statistics, said the number of people unemployed fell by 9,000 in May, reversing some of April’s 33,000 increase.
There are now almost 600,000 unemployed people. However, that is still nearly 110,000 fewer people than in March 2020, just before the pandemic.
Western Australia’s jobless rate last month was the lowest in the nation at 3.6%, improving from April’s 3.9%, seasonally adjusted. New South Wales also posted a drop, to 3.8% from April’s 4%, while Victoria rose to 4.4% from 4.2%, making it the highest jobless rate in Australia.
Queensland, where polls loom in October, had an unemployment rate of 4%, compared with 4.1% in April. The ACT was steady at 3.8%, the equal second lowest in the country.
Updated
NSW police conducting review after senior constable charged
NSW police are reviewing “all aspects” of an incident after a senior constable allegedly failed to conduct a random breath test on a driver as required, and was later charged.
The review will include employment status and the way the matter was managed, police said in a statement.
On 11 August last year, the senior constable conducted a vehicle stop to undertake a random breath test near Narrandera, in the Riverina.
The officer allegedly failed to conduct a proper breath test on the driver as required, and self-reported the incident at his next shift.
On 9 February the officer was charged with two offences.
The matter was first mentioned at Griffith Local Court on 21 March, where the officer pleaded guilty to neglect of duty. The matter was adjourned before the same court to tomorrow for sentencing.
Crisafulli announces housing policy, focuses on land release
The housing policy has six main areas:
A big boost into home ownership
Boost to buy
Unlocking the homes for Queensland’s future
Opening the door
Homes with purpose
Breaking down the barriers to building.
A lot of the language is around land release – that is, sprawl, rather than the so-called “missing middle” of townhouses and small apartments that the government prefers.
For instance, the opposition has a policy to spend $2bn for infrastructure to speed up housing “lots”. David Crisafulli says:
Priority will be given to local governments and developments which are able to deliver the greatest number of lots in the quickest possible time.
Updated
‘Same standards’ to be applied to renewables development as to housing and farming: David Crisafulli
Back to Queensland parliament, where the opposition leader David Crisafulli says the LNP will offer “no special treatment” for renewables in planning or environmental approvals.
He has signalled the government will “preserve the jobs we have and create more new jobs for the future”.
We will bring in new laws to ensure all projects are treated equally.
That process will start with a thorough examination of the costings and planning for the government’s pumped-hydro project at Borumba during estimates.
He says “whether it is a farming project, a residential project or a renewable project, the same standards must apply”.
Crisafulli is promising a “maintenance guarantee” for power plants after part of the Callide coal plant in central Queensland blew up three years ago. The opposition will also cancel the government’s Pioneer Burdekin scheme, which Crisafulli says is “impossible”.
The LNP will investigate opportunities for smaller, more manageable pumped-hydro projects. We will bring in new laws to ensure all projects are treated equally.
Updated
Unemployment rate falls to 4% in May
The unemployment rate for May fell to 4% from 4.1% in April as employers added almost 40,000 new jobs, figures from the ABS show.
The economy added 39,700 jobs last month. Economists had tipped a net gain of 30,000 positions. Full-time roles (35 hours or more per week) rose by 41,700 in May, while part-time jobs fell by about 2,000, the ABS said.
The figures were slightly stronger than expected, with investors nudging the Australian dollar slightly higher against the US dollar, while stocks trimmed some of their gains for the day.
Updated
Queensland opposition tipped to announce housing plan in budget reply
Housing looks to be the issue of the day in Queensland parliament today.
The opposition leader, David Crisafulli, is tipped to use the budget reply speech to announce a modest shared equity scheme, a ministerial taskforce and an aspirational goal of a 25% increase to housing approvals. That’s going to be easy given they’re at record lows.
He’s also tipped to announce opposition to the Pioneer Burdekin scheme, which according to the government is the “world’s biggest” hydro electric scheme. Instead the opposition wants to build several smaller hydro projects.
There might be a bit more in the speech, which has just started.
Updated
Flu cases surge across NSW as people urged to get vaccinated
People across New South Wales are being urged to receive their flu vaccine as cases have surged.
The state’s chief health officer, Dr Kerry Chant, said in the week ending 8 June there was an increase of more than 25% in people diagnosed with influenza compared to the previous week.
Flu is rapidly increasing across the state. In the past week alone, presentations to our emergency departments increased by almost 22% for people with influenza-like illness.
We are expecting the flu season will be around for several weeks to come, so now is the time to book in for your free flu vaccine to get the vital protection you need.
Chant said people over 65 are at a higher risk of severe illness from the flu, but only 52.4% have received their vaccine. The vaccine is free for those at risk, including over 65s.
Updated
More gas secured for Australia’s east coast market, energy minister says
More gas pumping into the east coast market under a new supply deal with Walloons will help ease power prices, according to the federal energy minister.
An additional 40 petajoules would be available for the domestic market through to 2027 under an enforceable supply commitment, Chris Bowen said.
It builds on commitments made by Esso, Woodside, Senex and APLNG, bringing the total amount of gas to more than 600 petajoules. Bowen said in a statement today:
The Albanese government’s gas code has now secured the equivalent of enough gas to power east coast gas generators for six years.
Bowen said gas would supplement the transition to renewable energy, which would further ease power prices in the long run – the argument at the centre of the government’s newly released gas strategy.
- with AAP
Swathes of NSW koala habitat at risk from logging, conservation council says
Up to 19,000 hectares of forest in the proposed Great Koala National Park is at risk of destruction before April next year, according to the Nature Conservation Council of New South Wales (NCC).
The NCC based this on Forestry Corporation’s planning portal, which shows the forest compartments “on the chopping block” before the national park’s boundaries are finalised. The council has developed an interactive map showing past and planned logging in the proposed park.
The park has been identified as home to one in five of the state’s koalas.
NCC chief executive officer Jacqui Mumford said:
The fact is that this is some of the most important intact koala habitat in the state and it should be protected, not put on the chopping block, while decisions are made about the national park.
It is untenable that so much has been destroyed, and will be destroyed in the coming year, before these areas have been assessed.
The NCC is calling for a moratorium on logging in the proposed park “now”.
Updated
Taxi fare price rise flagged for Victorians
The cost of hailing a taxi in Victoria is likely to increase, AAP reports, after the state’s Essential Services Commission recommended a price rise.
The commission released its draft decision on the 2024 taxi review yesterday.
The proposal to recommend a fare increase of 5.7% is primarily driven by the 3.75% increase in the minimum wage announced by the Fair Work Commission and the increase in vehicle and insurance costs since the last review in 2022.
It will increase the cost of a three kilometre trip by 84c and add $3.22 to a trip from the Melbourne CBD to the airport at Tullamarine.
The commission also recommends keeping the maximum surcharge steady at 4% for payments made by credit or debit card, and 6% for charge cards like Cabcharge.
The draft decision covers trips starting in metropolitan Melbourne, Frankston, Dandenong, the Mornington Peninsula, Geelong, Ballarat and Bendigo.
It does not cover rideshare operators or pre-booked fares.
The draft is open for consultation until 12 July and the commission will release its final decision in September.
Updated
Chemist Warehouse ASX listing hits hurdle as ACCC raises competition concerns
The proposed stock market listing of Chemist Warehouse has hit a major hurdle after the regulator expressed a range of preliminary competition concerns over the discount pharmacy’s plans to become a publicly-traded company.
The privately-owned Chemist Warehouse announced in December it planned to merge with the listed Sigma Healthcare, which operates franchised pharmacies and has wholesale pharmaceutical operations, in a deal that would elevate the chain onto the ASX.
In a statement today, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it was concerned by what it described as a “major structural change for the pharmacy sector”.
The ACCC said the key issue was whether the proposed acquisition weakens competition in the supply of pharmaceutical products, given Sigma is one of the largest wholesalers of prescription medicines in Australia.
If a merger went ahead, it may no longer be feasible for independent pharmacies to purchase those wholesale products, the regulator said.
ACCC commissioner Stephen Ridgeway said:
In particular, we are focused on how the newly merged company may have the ability and incentive to favour Chemist Warehouse stores or worsen terms to non-Chemist Warehouse banner stores, raising their costs and rendering them less competitive.
The regulator also raised concerns over the impact on pharmacy retailing given Chemist Warehouse and Sigma currently compete against each other.
The ACCC said it had not reached a “concluded view” on the competition concerns raised and that it would accept submissions from interested parties.
Updated
Reserve Bank’s confidence on rates setting to be tested by May jobs figures
Later this morning we’ll get the May labour force numbers from the ABS and, as usual, it’ll be a mix of noise and signal.
The focus is usually on the unemployment rate, which was 4.1% in April, and economists are forecasting that it will drop to a round 4% for last month. (Sometimes revisions to the previous month mean what looks on first blush to be a rise or fall becomes a “remains steady”.)
Treasury’s forecast in the May federal budget and the Reserve Bank both have the jobless rate pencilled in for June at 4%.
But beyond the headline rate, a better gauge of the health of the economy is probably the actual number of jobs being added or lost. Economists predict May will see a net 30,000 jobs added.
Belinda Allen, a senior CBA economist, estimates we need about 40,000 extra jobs a month to keep up with the swelling workforce.
Changes in the participation rate can also move the dial a bit. A jump in that number, for instance, can send the jobless rate higher even with a lot of new jobs – if labour market stats were nuanced enough.
In any case, the RBA will be watching to see the economy is not heating up or cooling too quickly. The former would nudge higher the odds of another rate rise (the 14th) and the latter would make a rate cut a little more likely.
As things stand, investors expect the RBA board won’t shift its key interest rate after its board meeting next Monday and Tuesday. The first cut isn’t tipped until mid-2025, the ASX’s rate tracker indicates.
Anyway, look out for those jobs stats in about an hour’s time, at 11.30am Aest.
Dutton says Albanese pursuing 2030 targets ‘to get all the backslaps from Trudeau and Macron’
Peter Dutton has also defended the opposition’s decision not to announce 2030 emission reduction targets ahead of the next election.
It’s okay for Mr Albanese to want to feel popular and get all the backslaps from Justin Trudeau and Emmanuel Macron at the Paris conferences. The prime minister’s responsibilities [are] actually to the Australian public and as prime minister, I would make decisions which help us meet our international obligations, but which don’t destroy small businesses and impose a huge cost increases in electricity bills on Australian families.
On Tuesday Dutton followed a similar line of argument, stating “the Labor party can try and please people in Paris”. My colleague Daniel Hurst pointed out that this is similar to what Donald Trump said when announcing the US would withdraw from the Paris agreement:
I was elected to represent the citizens of Pittsburgh, not Paris.
You can read that full analysis on Tuesday’s blog here, in case you missed it.
Dutton responds to Guardian Australia report he took private jet to News Corp event to speak on cost-of-living crisis
Peter Dutton has responded to a Guardian Australia report that he used a taxpayer-funded private jet to travel to a News Corp event, claiming $23,000 in travel expenses to speak at the summit where he criticised the government’s response to the cost-of-living crisis.
Dutton told reporters:
The prime minister flew in to that event as well. I didn’t go in on a 737, but we went in on a charter when a commercial option wasn’t available.
Look, the reality is that, particularly in these roles, 200+ flights a year. We can do three states in a day because there are functions and requirements for us to be at, media events or at meetings otherwise, and [that was] the only available option in that circumstance.
And 99% of the flights we take would be commercial flights [if that was the one] available.
Shadow minister says proposed age verification laws would include penalties for companies in breach
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, is also at the press conference, and was just asked how the proposed age verification laws would actually work in practice.
Facebook [and] Instagram already, in very limited circumstances, use age verification.
It’s happening now and the technology is improving all the time and [we will release] further details in due course. But plainly, the companies will be required to comply with the new law and that will include penalties.
Updated
Peter Dutton takes aim at social media and ‘its influence on young minds’
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to the media from Sydney, where he is touting the opposition’s push for age verification laws. He said:
It’s inconceivable you would allow your 13-year-old to go down to a park and start mingling with any random person who comes by, or you would have a magazine on the table with all sorts of explicit content in it and you would allow your kid to flick through that content. It’s inconceivable.
There’s a lot we can do and the technology is trending in our favour to make sure we can deal with the scale of the problem. Nothing’s ideal, but we want to make sure we can help parents in that conversation and help keep Australian children safer than they otherwise would be.
He is urging bipartisan support on the matter, and said:
We would be happy to work with the prime minister and the government to see the outcome here and send a very clear message that both sides of parliament stand united against the scourge of social media and its influences on young minds.
Updated
Melbourne woman charged over alleged Facebook Marketplace scam
A woman has been charged after allegedly scamming people out of thousands of dollars after listing high-end fashion items on Facebook Marketplace.
According to Victoria police, it is alleged the 37-year-old from Donvale offered the high-end items on social media from April until May, with at least 20 people purchasing items and never receiving them.
Investigators have been told the victims are from all over Australia and at this stage, the deceptions are “in the thousands of dollars worth”.
The woman was arrested at her Donvale home yesterday and has been charged with 25 counts of obtaining property by deception.
She has been remanded to appear at Ringwood magistrates court today.
Updated
Firefighter suffers minor burns while extinguishing car fire in Sydney
A firefighter has suffered minor burns to his face during a car fire in Sydney’s inner west.
The cabin of a hybrid Volvo SUV caught fire in Camperdown on Ross Street around 4.40am, according to Fire and Rescue NSW.
When a firefighter opened the car door “a flashover occurred, causing minor burns to his face”. He was treated by paramedics for superficial burns and slight smoke inhalation, and transported to hospital as a precaution.
The car’s interior was destroyed, while the lithium-ion battery under the cabin was cool and intact. The battery has not been identified as the cause of the fire at this stage. The cause is still being investigated.
CAMPERDOWN | Firefighter suffers minor burns extinguishing hybrid car fire. A firefighter has been treated for minor burns to his face after a car fire this morning at Camperdown in inner Sydney.
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) June 12, 2024
The cabin of the hybrid Volvo SUV caught on fire... https://t.co/TBP7yy5tVz
Updated
Husic concerned about ‘systemic failure to observe international humanitarian law’ by Israel
Circling back to Ed Husic’s interview on ABC RN just earlier: He was asked if he is concerned about the fact more than 270 Palestinians were killed during an Israeli hostage rescue mission.
Husic said he “absolutely was”, and that “innocent Palestinians should not pay the price for holding Hamas to account.” Is that what happened with this hostage mission, he is asked?
Husic responded:
I think the fact that you had so many people killed in that operation speaks to a broader thing as well, of the way in which – as I’ve said previously – the Israeli government is observing international humanitarian law, and being able to distinguish between combatant and civilian. I have said that weeks ago that that was my concern, that there was a systemic failure to observe international humanitarian law…
I’m very happy hostages [have been] released and they’ve been reunited with their families and friends who’ve been absolutely anxious about their welfare, but it is such a brutal price seeing 270+ Palestinians lose their life as a result of that.
We’ve, again, got this opportunity to reinforce our belief that international humanitarian law should be observed by the Israeli government and the IDF.
(Continued from previous post)
Senior CBA economist Belinda Allen said at this point the bank doesn’t expect to see a big spending lift resulting from the extra cash from the tax cuts:
We think it will be a fairly tepid response but we’re also open to the idea that there may be a different response to what consumers are saying at this point of time.
One reason for the restraint is that high interest rates are encouraging extra savings for some.
For now the CBA is still expecting an interest rate cut by November (unlike the ANZ, which on Tuesday pushed its forecast for the first interest rate cut back to February 2025).
One set of numbers to look out for land at 11.30am AEST today when the ABS releases labour market data for May. We’ll have more on that release a bit later on this morning.
Updated
CommBank’s household spending measure posts biggest rise since January
Commonwealth Bank’s monthly household spending insights (HSI) rose 1.1% in May to 150.2, rebounding from April’s 1% drop and marking the strongest month since January.
The index tracks the (anonymous) spending by about 7 million CBA customers and so gives a relatively broad sweep of consumption. Mind you, the average monthly gain is just 0.1% compared with 0.8% for the first four months of 2023.
Perhaps not surprisingly, households have been spending more on items deemed essential. For the year to last month, spending overall is up 4.3%, with insurance outlays up 8.6%, utilities 7.1%, transport up 6.1% and education up 6%. Spending on vehicles was up 1.6%, recreation and communications were both up 2.6% and household goods spending was up 2.8%.
Retailers – and the Reserve Bank – will be watching keenly what households do when they start receiving tax cuts from 1 July, but also the energy rebates. (The latter are $75 a quarter from the federal government, but jump by as much as $1,300 in one hit if you’re a Queensland household and $400 if you’re a WA resident.)
Updated
Ed Husic responds to reports that Muslim leaders seeking to oust Labor MPs in Western Sydney
Earlier this morning, science and industry minister Ed Husic was asked about reports that key Muslim community leaders are mobilising voters across Western Sydney to oust Labor MPs in the area.
He told ABC RN:
I think there are a lot of people that recognise [the] government has gone a long way in terms of being able to say not only should we hold Hamas to account, but also calling for a ceasefire, voting in the UN in December, increasing our humanitarian support in the region, calling for absolute concrete steps towards the establishment of a Palestinian state as part of the two-state solution.
There’ll be people that want us to move faster or do things differently and [that’s] the great thing about democracy – they will have different views and they’ll argue different things and they’ll support different candidates.
Does this put some of your MPs, or yourself, at risk? Husic said looking at an “electoral crystal ball” is “problematic at the best of times” and responded:
I think the bigger thing from my point of view, is that Australia’s got a voice, we need to speak up on what’s happened – the humanitarian catastrophe that’s occurring in Gaza. We need to take steps with friends in the international community to bring them all to an end. And the other thing is to think about reconstruction, because Gaza has been completely levelled, and we have a big rebuild. And that rebuild itself is a big part of the peace process.
Gas supply shortage in WA is a ‘myth’, critics say
Critics have today dismissed a domestic gas shortage in Western Australia as a “myth” and slammed an expansion of liquefied natural gas (LNG) production as at odds with decarbonisation and climate goals, AAP reports.
This comes after a WA parliamentary inquiry into domestic gas supply’s interim inquiry report in February found the domestic gas reservation policy was “no longer fit for purpose” and there was a case for government intervention.
A report by Climate Safe Solutions and clean energy advocacy body Sustainable Energy found policy settings have encouraged an ongoing “overbuild of LNG export capacity”, which they say poses a significant risk to WA’s strategic and economic interests.
Climate Safe Solutions director Piers Verstegen argued a “far better perspective for policymakers to adopt is that the market is facing unsustainable and economically harmful levels of demand.”
The researchers recommend a new policy approach that includes replacing gas demand with utility-scale renewable energy, a moratorium on expansion and extensions of existing LNG facilities and prioritising some critical gas use that supports rapid decarbonisation. According to the report:
If subsidies and other support for new industrial developments encouraged electrification, then the projected increase in gas demand would not occur.
Granting further open-ended approvals to Woodside and other LNG exporters will only increase and accelerate the emerging threat they present to the WA domestic gas market.
Updated
SA premier says lawmakers need to ‘move at warp speed’ on deepfakes
Peter Malinauskas also said allegations of deepfake images depicting 50 female students from a school in Victoria was “very scary”.
The reality is this technology is proliferating around the world and being used for nefarious purposes in a way that puts our most vulnerable at risk, our most precious – that’s, of course, our children.
I think it’s high time that policymakers, legislators move at warp speed to seek to address these challenges.
South Australia is pursuing a ban for under 14s from social media. The premier said deepfakes required “a specific criminal approach” because “this is a crime, it should be treated as such and parliament’s need to catch up – and that includes my own”.
Updated
‘A more robust democracy’: SA premier on bid to ban political donations in state elections
Circling back to South Australian premier Peter Malinauskas, who was speaking to ABC RN about the bill to ban political donations for state elections:
He said the “single biggest challenge” in getting the detail right will be ensuring new entrants who run for parliament won’t be excluded from the process.
What we’ve sought to do is maintain the ability for a new entrant – take an independent for instance – to be able to fundraise for themselves in advance of any potential election, and if they are elected, then they will be captured by the scheme and banned from doing fundraising forevermore.
We think that tries to bridge that gap as best as we possibly can.
Because like I said, we do not seek to diminish our democracy here. We’re simply trying to enhance it in a way that doesn’t advantage one party over another, a major party over a minor party or an independent. This is about levelling the playing field to get a more robust democracy, which is something that no one should fear.
Updated
Treasurer says alleged deepfake incident at school ‘absolutely terrifying’
Jim Chalmers said that allegations of deepfakes depicting 50 female students from a school in Victoria that had circulated online was “absolutely terrifying”.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier, said:
I think all Australians will see these kinds of developments and see them as worse than confronting – absolutely terrifying.
We’ve all got to work together – the tech companies, governments at every level, parents, and the broader Australian community. We can’t see these kinds of developments doing such damage to the mental health of our kids, the prospects of our kids.
And so, we’re doing a lot of work. My colleagues are doing a lot of work trialling things like age verification technology to make sure that we can tighten up where that’s possible to do so. And we need to work with, and we need the help of, the big tech companies as we go about that really important work.
Updated
Chalmers declines to match Dutton pledge to ban under 16s from social media
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has declined to match a pledge from Peter Dutton to ban children aged under 16 from registering social media accounts, but says that’s what the government’s age verification technology trial is “all about”.
“We are interested in an age limit,” Chalmers told Sky News just earlier.
We need to set it an appropriate level – it might be 26. But we need to make sure we’ve got the technology to deliver that.
Dutton told Nova FM radio yesterday that if he won government, he would implement a ban within his first 100 days in office. Last month, prime minister Anthony Albanese suggested in an interview with the same radio station that he was sympathetic to calls for a ban.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has proposed a ban in his state for children aged under 14.
Updated
South Australian premier wants federal ban on political donations
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has been speaking to ABC RN about his bill to ban political donations from state elections. You can read more about this move below:
Malinauskas said this is something he wants to see implemented federally, as well, and said:
I am an advocate for the role of public funding in all elections. But more than that, I’m an advocate of banning donations.
We live in a time where confidence in democracies around the world is declining at a pretty scary pace, and I think any reform that … restores people’s faith in the democratic process, so that people value their vote and believe that their vote is exactly the same as a wealthy donor they’re living next door to, is a really important principle.
Updated
Some context for independent move to challenge Peter Dutton's seat
Just on the possibility of an independent challenger to Peter Dutton at the next election, which we mentioned earlier in the blog:
Dutton’s margin in the seat of Dickson after the 2022 election is pretty narrow – just 3.4% – making it certainly winnable on paper.
But it’s important to remember that party leaders are generally harder to oust than other MPs, even when their seats are quite marginal, because of their high profiles.
Also, Dutton wasn’t Liberal leader at the last election and his profile has risen considerably since then, so the margin is probably stronger than it looks.
Having said that, John Howard lost his seat of Bennelong at the 2007 election when he was not just leader but a long-serving prime minister.
At the very least, facing a community independent would be a significant irritant to Dutton and would likely force him to spend more time campaigning in the electorate than he otherwise might.
Updated
Does Jim Chalmers regret not looking into an increase to jobseeker again in this budget?
He responded:
I think in every budget you work out the best and most responsible way to provide that cost of living relief. In May of last year it was a permanent increase to jobseeker combined with rent assistance, this budget another boost to rent assistance combined with cheaper medicines and energy bill relief …
In every single budget you work out the best, most responsible way to help people. We understand people are under pressure and that’s why there is such substantial cost of living relief in the budget delivered in more than one way.
Updated
Chalmers asked about findings that jobseekers unable to afford ‘basics of life’
The treasurer Jim Chalmers was up on ABC News Breakfast just earlier, asked about new Anglicare data showing Australians on income support are “structurally unable to afford the basics of life”.
Chalmers:
This is the primary motivation for the substantial cost of living relief that we’re providing in the budget. Whether it is the tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, energy bill relief for every household, help with student debt and cheaper medicines, plus the increases to jobseeker – which were in the budget before last – all of these are important ways that we can not just understand and acknowledge the pressures that people are under, but actually respond to them.
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Group looking to run independent in Peter Dutton’s seat, Climate 200 founder says
Simon Holmes à Court confirmed there was a group in Peter Dutton’s Brisbane seat of Dickson that was looking to run an independent there, which he said could be “very interesting” given it was on a relatively narrow margin.
Independent movement could target Labor seats amid ‘Pocock effect’
(Continued from previous post)
Labor MPs may also now face challenges from independents.
In the wake of Labor’s future gas strategy – which commits to supporting the use of gas “to 2050 and beyond” including possibly opening new gas fields – Simon Holmes à Court said the movement was likely to target some Labor-held seats as well.
Holmes à Court singled out the seat of Bean in the ACT, where he said “the Pocock effect” – the impact of independent ACT senator David Pocock – was inspiring people to consider also finding and supporting an independent in the house of representatives.
He said his organisation was hoping to fund 30 independent candidates across Australia at the next election. The community independents movement, which put Cathy McGowan and successor Helen Haines into parliament in the Victorian seat of Indi, would hold a conference on Saturday week to help inform and equip communities considering looking for their own independents to challenge major-party candidates.
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Climate 200 donations surged after Dutton flagged opposition to 2030 target
Donations to the Climate 200 organisation that funded the teal independents’ onslaught at the 2022 election increased 20-fold last weekend after Peter Dutton flagged his opposition to a 2030 emissions reduction target, according to its founder Simon Holmes à Court.
Holmes à Court told ABC RN just earlier that the community independents’ movement had a surge of interest since Dutton’s comments against setting a 2030 target before the next election.
Last weekend, the total of small-dollar donations coming in to our fundraising was about 20 times the normal weekend. We’ve raised nearly $950,000 over the last six weeks, but a big uptick last weekend.
People now know, I’d say, that Dutton is as negative as Abbott but as slippery as Morrison on climate and he’s now nailed those colours to the mast. People see what the threat is. They thought the climate wars were behind us – or would soon be – but Dutton’s saying he wants a climate election.
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Employment numbers to give another pointer on rates
Australia’s job market has remained a bright spot in an otherwise bleak economy under pressure from higher interest rates and elevated inflation, AAP reports.
How well the labour market is faring will be on display when the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its May jobs data at 11.30 this morning.
Even as the economy slows in response to higher interest rates and persistent price pressures, the unemployment rate has been holding at below average levels and jobs growth has been strong.
Yet the jobs market is expected to gradually weaken and in April the unemployment rate rose by 0.2 percentage points to 4.1%.
Economists broadly expect the Reserve Bank to keep the cash rate on hold at 4.35% as it continues to monitor the economy.
Heading into the May jobs data release, ANZ economists were of the view the jobless rate may fall back to 3.9% to reflect more people than usual waiting to start a new gig in April.
They had pencilled in a 15,000 increase in employment over the month, following a 38,500 lift in April and a 5900 drop in the month before.
Good morning
And happy Thursday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage today. As always, you can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go!
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Albanese on Dutton, Palestine protests and the voice – podcast
Guardian Australia political editor Karen Middleton has spoken to Anthony Albanese about the Coalition’s decision to ditch the 2030 emissions target. Albanese said:
It is just not a serious policy and if you don’t have a serious policy on energy and climate then you can’t be taken seriously as the alternative prime minister of Australia.
The point of having a target was to have ambition and try to meet it.
He also talked about pro-Palestine protests outside electorate offices, and the Indigenous voice eight months on.
Listen to the Full Story podcast here:
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Rent assistance recipients finding it increasingly hard to find suitable homes, report says
State and territory governments should investigate landlord partnerships that secure tenancies for low-income families who get rent assistance, the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute has argued in a new report.
The research, out today, looked at private rental assistance schemes, such as commonwealth rent assistance and state and territory bond loans programs, and their interplay with the social housing system.
It found that more than 50% of survey respondents had not been able to sustain their rental tenancy, even with assistance.
There was also no guarantee that households who were eligible for private rental assistance would be able to access a suitable private rental property, particularly when there were affordability cut-offs - limiting the amount of rent people could sign up to pay and still receive help - included in the eligibility criteria.
Bond loans were one of the most common forms of assistance offered, but respondents often did not take it up as they believed they would be unable to repay it, or they were afraid it could affect their reputation with real estate agents.
The report also found the effectiveness of rent assistance to keep people in the private rental market was highly dependent on market conditions.
Dr Fatemeh Aminpour from the University of New South Wales, the lead researcher, said:
Private rental assistance recipients are finding it increasingly difficult to secure private rental properties that conform to the eligible affordability cut-offs.
We saw that sometimes assistance products aren’t being taken up, not because they’re not needed but because of rents being too high to meet the eligibility requirements.
This raises serious questions as to the viability of private rental assistance as an alternative to social housing in jurisdictions like Australia, where the private rental sector is relatively under-regulated and volatile.
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Expert says tech giants should be accountable over AI images
Deepfake apps with the ability to impose women’s heads on naked bodies are being pushed on social media as experts warn more advanced software could be on the horizon, Australian Associated Press reports.
Monash University associate professor Asher Flynn, who specialises in technology-facilitated violence, said tech giants should be responsible for hosting promotion of the apps.
“You can have these advertised on an Instagram feed and just it’ll be an app or a different website that you can go to where you can actually upload an image of any female,” she told AAP.
“Usually they’re just for women, so it will remove the clothing and replace it with female genitalia, breasts, and you’ve got a realistic, fake, sexualised image available.”
It comes after manipulated images were allegedly shared of girls in years 9 to 12 at Bacchus Marsh Grammar, northwest of Melbourne.
Flynn said not enough was being done to stamp out access to the software.
“This type of technology is new in the sense that we’re seeing escalation of it and the quality of the images that are being created,” she said.
“And it’s just becoming more accessible. Three years ago, you’d have to search for it and go to kind of the underground platforms to find it, now it’s readily available.”
Laws cracking down on the sharing of sexually explicit AI-generated images and deepfakes without consent were recently introduced to federal parliament.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you the best of the overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind comes along to grab the controls.
Our exclusive top story this morning reveals that Peter Dutton claimed $23,000 in travel expenses to fly to Tamworth to make a speech at a News Corp event where he spoke about the cost-of-living crisis. The opposition leader had a prior engagement in Canberra and couldn’t take a scheduled flight to speak at the News Corp event so he took a private jet.
In an exclusive Guardian Australia interview, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, tells us that Dutton has forfeited his claim to the top job because refusing to name a short-term emissions reduction target shows he is not serious about addressing climate change. Albanese also talks about Palestine protests and the voice referendum and is the subject of our Full Story podcast today.
The alleged distribution of fake nude images of girls at a school in Victoria has intensified the debate about children’s access to social media. Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan, called out the “disgraceful” conduct yesterday and an academic at Monash University who specialises in technology-facilitated violence said tech giants should be responsible for hosting promotion of the apps. More coming up.
Australians on income support are “structurally unable to afford the basics of life”, according to a report today by Anglicare, with the average jobseeker recipient having a $135 a week on just the basic weekly cost of food, housing and transport. It underlines the parlous state of many Australians’ finances and there will be another pointer about the state of the economy this morning when the ABS releases employment figures for May.
And a new report argues that governments should partner with private landlords to help low-income families find housing, as rental assistance struggles to keep up with the market – more on that soon.
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