What we learned today, Friday 17 May
We are wrapping up the blog for tonight. Here’s what made the news:
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, revealed Australia, in coordination with international partners, would be imposing financial sanctions on six bodies associated with North Korea’s arms exports to Russia.
A pro-Palestinian protest encampment at Monash ended while the University of Queensland calls for an end to the encampment on its campus.
Negotiations over the Melbourne university encampment remain in deadlock.
Three A-League players were arrested this morning, after an investigation by the organised crime squad into alleged betting corruption under Strike Force Beaconview.
Half a million Australians may have phones that won’t connect to triple zero after the 3G network shuts down, a situation the federal government says is “deeply concerning”.
Alcohol consumption is decreasing across the country, but city-dwellers are curbing their drinking at higher rates than their regional counterparts, a study has found.
Enjoy your evening.
Updated
Chalmers dismisses Dutton’s budget reply as 'unhinged'
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has dismissed the opposition leader, Peter Dutton’s, budget reply speech as “unhinged” and lacking in economic credibility.
With parliament now on a break for a week, Chalmers has headed to Port Augusta in South Australia with the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and South Australian state and federal colleagues to promote the government’s renewable energy transition agenda which it calls the Future Made in Australia. But the treasurer was also focused on criticising Dutton’s reply speech, delivered in parliament last night.
“All we got from Peter Dutton was the usual unhinged, nasty, nuclear negativity in the rant which he tried to pass off as a budget in reply,” Chalmers said. He accused the opposition leader of failing to explain how he would pay for the suite of measures he promised a future Coalition government would deliver, including more generous tax cuts and the construction of nuclear reactors at unspecified sites around Australia.
Dutton also promised to cut the number of incoming permanent migrants annually from 185,000 to 160,000 to address the nation’s housing shortage.
Tuesday’s federal budget capped migration at 185,000 places with most dedicated to skilled workers.
Chalmers said Dutton was just “scratching around for something to say in a budget reply speech”.
Updated
Here’s Amanda Meade’s weekly look at what is going on in Australian media.
AEC error reveals candidates’ addresses
The Australian Electoral Commission has temporarily taken down its Transparency Register that contains political donations and other financial disclosures after it was discovered that candidates’ postal addresses – including, in some instances, residential addresses – had been posted online for some candidates on their nomination form.
The AEC said it was communicating with those affected, and it was taken down as soon as the AEC became aware. The office of the information commissioner has been informed, and the AEC is investigating how it happened.
At this stage, 68 people are affected.
The AEC said it was not a cybersecurity breach and its systems were not compromised, but it was an internal process issue in the AEC’s IT environment.
The AEC said:
Privacy is a matter the AEC takes extremely seriously. We deeply regret what has occurred and we sincerely apologise to those people affected. The electoral commissioner will initiate a … external review led by an appropriately experienced person once initial investigation and remediation is complete.
Updated
Melbourne University and protesters fail to resolve encampment deadlock
Just to add to the previous post – a meeting between a handful of pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Melbourne and senior executives has failed to reach a resolution.
A group of protesters camped inside the university’s Arts West Building have defied the university’s request to depart, despite administrators threatening police action. A handful of students earlier on Friday met with Melbourne University acting provost Pip Nicholson and deputy vice-chancellor Mark Cassidy.
Speaking after the meeting, protester Dana Alshaer says the university “did not offer anything”.
They said that they’re willing to talk about transparency. We did not receive any single concrete answer.
Alshaer says the university has not provided the encampment with a specific deadline to leave the university.
The protesters did not rule out the university’s claim that “external actors” are involved in the encampment inside the Arts West Building.
Updated
University of Melbourne concerned at ‘intimidatory impact’ of pro-Palestine encampment
The University of Melbourne’s acting provost, Pip Nicholson, has told staff and students in an email that the university is “concerned and disappointed to see the refusal to leave the Arts West building on our Parkville campus”.
She said:
The continued occupation of university sites presents an unacceptable risk to the safety, security and work of our entire community. We remain deeply concerned about this activity, damage to university property and disruptive intent of some, including external actors, to our Parkville campus. There is no doubt that this group has underestimated their intimidatory impact on members of our community.
We are also concerned about the level of misinformation and disinformation being shared online, and I urge everyone, including protestors and media to consider what is being shared and to verify facts.
Nicholson said the final week of lessons for the semester will continue next week, and staff and students are reminded to carry their university IDs at all times to access buildings. She said the university continues to meet with student representatives and groups including those claiming to be leading the occupation, who the university met with this afternoon.
As we have always stated in relation to this matter, freedom of speech is respected and supported at the University of Melbourne and is central to our values and identity. However, any form of protest extending to sustained disruption for other students and staff, violence, property damage, threat or intimidation contravenes the university codes of conduct or law.
Updated
Pro-Palestine encampment at Monash University ends
Monash University says a pro-Palestine encampment on its Clayton campus in Melbourne has ended.
In a statement, Monash University says encampment organisers notified the university on Friday that they “planned to pack up the encampment”:
All tents, banners and other remnants of the encampment have been removed by the encampment organisers with support from the university.
We will continue to work with our student and community leaders, and with staff, to ensure safety and security on campus and, importantly, to meet the academic and pastoral needs of our staff and students during this time.
Updated
Protesters hold press conference over university encampment
Pro-Palestine protesters at the University of Melbourne are holding a press conference at the Parkville campus a day after administrators threatened police action over an encampment inside a building.
A group of protesters have been camped inside the university’s Arts West building since Wednesday. Police have not been directed to intervene or remove protesters, the university has confirmed. A handful of students met with the university’s senior executives earlier on Friday.
Dana Alshaer of the University of Melbourne for Palestine group says they attempted to have an open dialogue with university executives:
We have been explicitly told they will not divest .. they have made it clear Australia’s national defence interests are the interests of the university.
Protester Mercedes Scott says the university is trying to intimidate students by threatening police action.
Gemma O’Toole says protesters will make a “collective decision” if police intervene to break up the encampment.
Updated
Activists post video showing cutting down statue of colonial premier and surgeon
Video of vandals cutting down the statue of a controversial Tasmanian colonial premier and surgeon has been posted on social media as police investigations continue, AAP reports.
The tribute to William Crowther was discovered on the ground next to its plinth at Franklin Square in Hobart on Wednesday morning, cut off at the ankles.
The words “what goes around” and “decolonise” were spray-painted on the plinth in red.
Crowther was in 1869 accused of removing and stealing the skull from the body of Aboriginal man William Lanne. He briefly served as premier in the 1870s.
Hobart City council in 2022 voted to have the statue removed and an appeal against the decision failed on Wednesday, mere hours after the statue was cut down.
A video showing people dressed in black using an angle grinder to cut the statue’s legs was posted online by Crym, which describes itself as a civil resistance youth movement.
The group says the video, shared on Thursday night, was provided anonymously.
“We can’t erase history, but we can tear down the horrible colonialists who have disgraced it until we wake up to the reality of colonisation on this continent,” the group said.
A Tasmania police spokeswoman said investigations into the matter were ongoing and no charges had yet been laid.
CCTV footage from the area is being examined.
Updated
Hospital beds to reopen as nurses reach in-principle agreement with Victorian government
Nurses have reached an in-principle agreement with the Victorian government and will reopen hospital beds as industrial action slows down, AAP reports.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation members had closed one in four beds and stopped one in four elective surgeries from going ahead as they ramped up their industrial action on Friday.
However, the union called off the escalated action just before 3pm after the parties reached an in-principle agreement.
Victorian branch secretary Lisa Fitzpatrick said the deal included an “improved wages, allowances and conditions offer”.
The commitment of our members across the state to their campaign has sharpened everyone’s focus on these negotiations and (the union) was always prepared to work around the clock.
Members will continue to participate in stage one of their industrial action, which involves wearing union T-shirts at work, refusing to work overtime and not completing paperwork.
Full details of the deal have not been made public and the union will keep the offer under wraps until a statewide meeting on Monday afternoon.
The union previously rejected a 3% pay rise with an annual $1500 payment.
The Victorian government has been contacted for comment.
Updated
University of Queensland wants student encampments ended
The University of Queensland wants a “peaceful resolution” to the ongoing Israel-Palestine encampments on campus, according to a statement posted online on Friday.
Chancellor, Peter Varghese, said the university “cannot allow the encampments to continue indefinitely”.
The university senate met on Thursday. It agreed that vice-chancellor Deborah Terry should take all appropriate steps to protect students and staff from the “risk of disruption” during exams.
Terry said they had advised both camps on Friday that their “objective is to discontinue the camps as soon as possible”. She said the university is “continuing to engage with nominated protest representatives, to agree a peaceful resolution to the current camp arrangements”.
Updated
Two injured in incident south of Brisbane
Queensland Ambulance Services say two people were injured after a disturbance in Acacia Ridge south of Brisbane this afternoon.
Queensland police say they are responding to the disturbance, with emergency services called just before 2.30pm to Gregory Street and Rothesay Street. The location is a couple of blocks away from a state school.
An adult male has been transported to Princess Alexandra hospital in a serious condition, after sustaining stab wounds to the abdomen and back at the private residence.
Another man is currently being assessed with superficial wounds to the hand.
The incident is ongoing.
Updated
Current prescriptions have not been caught up in the MediSecure cyberattack, the national cyber security coordinator has said, but it has yet to be revealed how many people have had their personal information exposed.
Updated
Endangered glider’s death sparks new forests management debate
An endangered glider found dead near a fire break has reignited a conservation debate a year after a ban on native logging was announced.
Environmentalists who found the greater glider in the Yarra Ranges national park on Wednesday said a habitat-bearing tree had been felled in firebreak works despite their warnings.
“We specifically told the (Victorian) government that greater gliders were nesting in this tree,” said Blake Nisbet of Wildlife of the Central Highlands.
Instead of stepping in, they chose to knowingly kill endangered wildlife.
Forest Fire Management Victoria is maintaining existing fuel breaks in the national park and says removing trees poses a risk to firefighter safety.
The organisation is a branch of Victoria’s Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action (DEECA), which said it will investigate the animal’s death.
Greater gliders and Leadbeater’s possums were at the centre of legal battles that led to a ban on Victorian native logging from the start of 2024 and the upcoming disbanding of state logging company VicForests, slated for June 30.
Greater glider possums make their habitats in multiple hollows, which take between 170 and 350 years to form.
“So the damage that’s been done today by DEECA in these actions will take up to the next 200 years to remedy,” Australian National University ecologist David Lindenmayer told AAP.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
More on wastewater revealing a divide in alcohol consumption
Researchers also found socioeconomic status impacted drinking habits.
“What we found was that socioeconomically advantaged sites actually had higher consumption of alcohol but they’re actually decreasing at a faster rate than the lower socioeconomic status areas,” University of Queensland senior research fellow Dr Tschark said.
In lower socioeconomic areas, the rate of alcohol consumption decreased at a rate of 1%, while more advantaged communities had a 3% decline.
Wastewater was collected from 30 regional treatment plants and 20 city-based facilities, testing for traces of alcohol as part of the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission’s national wastewater drug monitoring program.
Tscharke said the samples were taken from every state and territory across Australia, representing about half the country’s population.
Researchers then used census data to compare patterns of alcohol consumption to remoteness and the community’s average socioeconomic status.
Tscharke said there could be a number of explanations for decreasing alcohol consumption, but further data would be needed to pinpoint those reasons.
Potentially this decrease is happening because there’s less people consuming alcohol or it could be that within the heavier drivers, that group is using less alcohol.
We can’t really separate any of those sorts of issues, and that’s where we’d need to cross-reference and bring in some survey information to understand the why behind it.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Research reveals change in nation’s alcohol consumption
Alcohol consumption is decreasing across the country, but city-dwellers are curbing their drinking at higher rates than their regional counterparts, a study has found.
Wastewater samples from 50 sites across the country, collected over the past seven years, were analysed by researchers according to community socioeconomic status and remoteness.
The study found alcohol consumption is higher in regional and remote communities than in capital cities.
University of Queensland senior research fellow Dr Ben Tscharke said there was a decline in alcohol consumption in city areas of 4.5%, while regional and outer regional communities decreased consumption 2.4% and 3.5% respectively.
Tscharke said knowing the differences in alcohol consumption across regional and urban areas could help to tailor government responses.
“We may want to look at these differences and figure out if we want to act differently in different places,” he said.
It also shows that if there are actions that the government takes, we can actually see them in the wastewater and evaluate if they’ve worked or not based on changes in total consumption.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Penguins at risk
A once-thriving population of little penguins on a tourist island off Perth’s coast has plummeted to no more than 120 birds, with plans to build a container port in nearby foraging grounds further threatening the survival of the colony.
The latest population study on Penguin Island – 600 metres offshore and 50km south of Perth city – has revealed that penguin numbers have crashed by two-thirds in the past five years, sources say.
The little penguin population, called Weedee in Noongar, has declined by 92% since 2007.
A scientific report, commissioned by the local Rockingham council and detailing the extent of the problem, was provided to the council in late April before being passed to the state government. Guardian Australia has repeatedly requested the report, but neither office has made the findings public.
Read the full story:
Updated
Car rules could help Australians catch up in EV race
Rules that will see Australian drivers offered more efficient and less polluting vehicles over the next five years have been welcomed by environmental and motoring groups despite earlier clashes over the legislation.
The Labor government’s proposed new vehicle efficiency standard passed the parliament on Thursday with the support of the Greens, following two public consultations and two years of debate over its content.
But while environmental and motoring groups welcomed the change and its potential to bring Australian regulations in line with the rest of the world, some warned challenges would lie ahead including securing compliant vehicles and further government and corporate investments.
The standard will set emission targets for vehicles from 2025, with penalties in place for automakers whose fleets fall short of the limits or which fail to trade credits with other car brands.
Australia had been one of the only developed nations without a standard in place, alongside Russia.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
NSW regional airstrips get funding boost after Bonza blow
Millions of dollars in funding will go to rural and remote airstrips in NSW as officials try to attract carriers to under-serviced communities.
Some $15m in airstrip funding was announced today as part of a $35m pool of state regional development funding.
An audit of remote and rural airstrips across 20 local government areas in western NSW has been launched to prioritise those most in need of the money.
Upgrades of airstrips and related infrastructure should start before the end of the year, the state government said.
The announcement comes after budget airline Bonza entered voluntary administration, leaving the future of the carrier – which flies to many lesser-served regional locations - uncertain.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, told ABC Radio the investment into rural airports, combined with the opening of Western Sydney airport, will make regional destinations more attractive for airlines.
We’re hopeful that with the increased capacity of the second airport in metropolitan Sydney, we can lower the costs across the board.
We want to make sure the investment we’re making for regional airstrips is taking place so that we can attract some of these (aviation) firms back into the marketplace.
The Friday announcement represents the first phase of funding from the $350m NSW regional development fund.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Two fire ant nests detected as advocates urge government to prioritise Senate inquiry recommendations
Two suspected fire ant nests were detected in Queensland area of Meringandan West in Toowoomba, by the National Fire Ant Eradication Program’s odour detection dog team on Tuesday.
The nests have been treated using liquid insecticide, but the Invasive Species Council, urges state and federal governments “prioritise implementation of the fire ant senate inquiry recommendations”.
Advocacy manager Reece Pianta says:
Even more community outreach and advertising is needed - undetected nests out there growing and spreading are a huge risk.
With increased fire ant compliance and checking for nests, more nests will be found.
If we don’t get on top of the infestation, fire ants will be a multi-billion dollar impact on Australia every year, impacting human health and devastating agriculture and our natural environment.
Updated
Protesters to meet with Melbourne university staff over camps
Pro-Palestine students at the University of Melbourne will meet with staff for the first time since they seized a building and set up camp inside.
Demonstrators occupied the Arts West building for a third day today, setting up tents and deck chairs and have no plans to move on unless the university meets their demands.
A handful of the student protesters will meet with university representatives this afternoon in an attempt to resolve the ongoing action.
About 150 classes meant to be held in the building were cancelled in the first two days, impacting about 6000 students in the second-last week of the semester.
Signs were put up on Friday by the protesters indicating classes inside the building had been moved elsewhere by the university.
Protest organisers said the university had not given them formal orders to move on yet, which would open the door to Victoria police being called.
They said notices were put up by the university on Thursday saying any non-university student or staff involved in the occupation were trespassing.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
New Australian health security unit to work with intelligence agencies to combat biological threats like Covid-19
The interim Australian Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is working to create a health security unit, which will work with intelligence agencies and the security sector to address issues including biological threats, the chief health officer, Paul Kelly says.
Labor made the election commitment to establish a CDC in 2020 in the midst of the Covid pandemic with the new centre to focus on future pandemic preparedness, the control of infectious disease outbreaks and preventing chronic and infectious diseases.
At the Royal Australasian College of Physicians’ annual congress taking place in Sydney today, Kelly is providing an update on the work of the interim CDC, housed within the department of health and aged care as part of the phased approach to developing a standalone centre.
In the effort to create a national approach to pandemics (as opposed to having different approaches in each state as was seen during the Covid-19 pandemic), the interim CDC have three simulated exercises planned for this year, starting with communicable diseases and then more complex scenarios.
Kelly also acknowledged the growing influence of climate change on future pandemics and said the interim centre is working to improve one health policy coordination. The “One Health” approach recognises the wider environment - ecosystems, animals and human health - is all interlinked and needs to be supported.
He also said stronger international engagement was needed to identify and assess emerging health threats.
Updated
Half a million Australians may lose connection to triple zero after 3G network shuts down
Half a million Australians may have phones that won’t connect to triple zero after the 3G network shuts down, a situation the federal government says is “deeply concerning”, AAP reports.
The nation’s 3G network is in its final months of operation, with Telstra switching off on 31 August, having recently extended its deadline.
Optus will shut down from September, while TPG Telecom/Vodafone shut its network down late last year.
Though the end of 3G has been flagged for years, there are up to 530,000 Australians with devices incompatible with the 4G network, according to the latest industry figures.
These devices - often bought overseas or on the grey market - may use 4G data for regular calls and texts, but bump triple-zero calls to 3G because they are not enabled with a technology called Voice over LTE.
Users may not realise their phone is configured this way until 3G is switched off.
The telcos’ estimates on these devices have changed from one million in April, to 400,000 earlier this month, and up to 530,000 this week.
The communications minister, Michelle Rowland, said the fluctuating figures were “deeply concerning”.
The telcos have been contacting affected customers and those users should take action, she said.
Both Telstra and Optus have launched a service for customers to check the status of their device by texting “3” to the number 3498.
Updated
‘No evidence’ players from other clubs involved in alleged betting corruption, NSW police say
NSW police continued in the presser:
We would like to state that there is no evidence of other players involved from other clubs.
We took action today because we were concerned that the principles involved in this matter would have left our shores in the coming days and weeks, and that is what brought us to take this action as quickly as we wished.
Updated
NSW police say A-League 'players betrayed the trust of their supporters' over alleged betting corruption
“We will allege that [in] these instances … these players betrayed the trust of their supporters,” NSW police continue.
While $10,000 may seem a lot of money to a young sportsperson, we will advise that is incredibly insignificant when you consider the damage [of] being charged with this offence and convicted result – the damage to the young person’s reputation, damage to their club and their reputation, their livelihood and their future livelihood … More importantly, it affects the confidence and trust their supporters have in these young sportspeople that they will always play to the best of their ability.
We will allege that these instances in November and December 2023 that these players betrayed the trust of their supporters.
Updated
Police allege senior member of team paid junior A-League players ‘up to $10,000’
More on the three A-League soccer players arrested over alleged betting corruption, from the NSW police presser:
Police will allege that the senior member … paid the junior players … up to $10,000 for intentionally giving away those yellow cards and receiving penalties during those games.
Police will allege that that senior figure within that [alleged] criminal group was acting under the instruction and direction of an organised crime figure currently offshore in South America.
All sports fans understand even one penalty can change the way the game flows and also the way the momentum of that game can be carried out.
We will allege that the giving out of four yellow cards and the subsequent penalties that arose out of those yellow cards could in fact change the way that result of that game went.
Updated
NSW police allege the A-League players ‘intentionally gave out yellow cards’ for ‘purpose of corrupt payment’
NSW police are speaking to press about the three A-League soccer players arrested over alleged betting corruption:
Police … arrested three senior players from an A-League team in the south-west of Sydney. Police have charged those three players with participating in a criminal group. They have also charged them for engaging in conduct that corrupt the betting outcome from a game that occurred in December 2023.
We will allege that those players intentionally gave out yellow cards in the receipt and for the purpose of a corrupt payment.
Police have also charged … [one man] with a further charge of engaging in conduct that corrupt a betting game in another game in 2023.
There is currently one further player that police wish to interview and is currently out of the state.
Updated
Victorian fire management amounting to de facto native logging, conservationists warn
The Victorian government has been accused by conservationists and a leading ecologist of allowing a de facto native logging industry to emerge under the guise of fire management just months after closing down the industry.
Environmental lawyers said the state government agency, Forest Fire Management Victoria, was acting “with impunity”, and conservationists and the Victorian greens called on state and federal ministers to step in.
Logging in Victoria’s native forests ended at the beginning of this year but Prof David Lindenmayer, a forest ecologist at Australian National University, said:
There’s a de facto logging industry now emerging under the guise of fire suppression.
To me, when you cut down big trees and put them on a truck and take them to a sawmill … that is logging.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Firefighter union loses case against Victoria’s attorney general
The firefighter’s union has lost its battle against Victoria’s attorney general after a judge found she did not use unlawful coercion.
The United Firefighters Union brought federal court action in February, claiming attorney general Jaclyn Symes had acted in a way that was either unlawful, illegitimate or unconscionable.
The dispute centred on letters Symes sent to Fire Rescue Victoria in August and September 2022, instructing the body not to support a new fire registration board.
The board, set up by the union, would have had complete control over who FRV could employ as an operational member.
Symes, who is also the emergency services minister, told the fire service the new board had insufficient transparency and oversight measures in place.
She said FRV required her consent to sign the service agreement with the registration board and she would not provide it, the federal court was told in February.
The union argued FRV did not need the minister’s consent and her direction was either unlawful, illegitimate or unconscionable.
But Justice John Snaden disagreed, finding the union could not prove that Ms Symes acted in such a way.
He said in a written judgment on Friday:
The minister’s conduct was not conduct that was engaged in ... with intent to coerce FRV.
The court dismissed the union’s application for declaratory relief and made no order for costs.
- Australian Associated Press
Updated
Victorian opposition leader reaches out-of-court defamation settlements with gender-critical activists
Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, has reached out-of-court settlements with gender-critical activists Kellie-Jay Keen and Angela Jones after they sued him for defamation.
Keen and Jones sued Pesutto after comments he made about them in the wake of the Let Women Speak rally that was gatecrashed by neo-Nazis last year.
In a statement online, Pesutto apologised to Keen, a British-based activist, and Melbourne woman Jones.
It has never been my intention to convey that I believed Ms Keen and Ms Jones to be Neo-Nazis, or that they were members of Neo-Nazi groups. As far as my comments may have been misunderstood as conveying that I believed this to be the case, I apologise for any hurt, distress or harm that has occurred.
In a statement, Keen says is “delighted” Pesutto has offered an apology.
Open debate is a sign of a truly vibrant and stable democracy and Pesutto’s apology is a step in the right direction.
The details of the settlement have not been made public. Pesutto is also facing legal action from expelled Liberal MP Moira Deeming, which is expected to be heard in the federal court in September.
Updated
‘Policy settings under … Coalition are not right’, Albanese says on Dutton’s budget-reply
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is speaking on opposition leader Peter Dutton’s budget-reply, addressing press in North Melbourne:
Policy settings under Peter Dutton and the Coalition are not right, that is the point. They left a system where people could come in, not really attend any courses, not get any skills, reapply through appeals and mechanisms to stay here for a long period of time, and the system did not have integrity in it.
What we are doing is talking to universities through the Universities Accord, and what we have done is to make sure if universities want additional international students to participate on the campuses, and they can bring economic benefits, they need to provide additional student accommodation at the same time.
Updated
More on A-League soccer players arrested over alleged betting corruption, per a NSW Police statement:
At about 6am today, strike force detectives executed a search warrant in South Coogee, where they arrested a 33-year-old man.
He was taken to Mascot police station, where he is expected to be charged with two counts of “engage in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event”, and two counts of “facilitate in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event”.
Simultaneously, strike force detectives executed three other search warrants in Parramatta, West Hoxton, and Emu Plains.
At the Parramatta address, detectives arrested a 27-year-old man. He was taken to Parramatta police station, where he is expected to be charged with “engage in conduct that corrupts a betting outcome of an event”.
In West Hoxton, detectives arrested a 32-year-old man. He was taken to Campbelltown police station, where he is expected to be charged with the same.
Inquiries will continue.
Updated
Three A-League soccer players arrested over alleged betting corruption
Three A-League players have been arrested this morning, after an investigation by the organised crime squad into alleged betting corruption under Strike Force Beaconview, according to a New South Wales police statement.
The strike force was established in December 2023 assisted by the United Kingdom Gambling Commission to investigate alleged yellow card manipulation by players attached to a south western Sydney football club.
Police allege a senior player was allegedly taking instructions from a man, believed to be offshore in South America, to organise for yellow cards to occur during certain games in exchange for profit.
The number of yellow cards were allegedly manipulated during games played on Friday 24 November 2023 and Saturday 9 December 2023.
Failed attempts were then allegedly made to control the number of yellow cards during games on Saturday 20 April 2024 and Saturday 4 May 2024.
No charges have been laid.
Updated
Future Made in Australia’s $45m advertising campaign to run before election
The Albanese government has earmarked $45m in this week’s budget for an advertising campaign to promote its plan to fund and underwrite clean-energy technology and innovation under the banner Future Made in Australia.
Jim Chalmers has confirmed and defended spending on the ad campaign, which is funded across the next two financial years but expected to run before the next election.
“We make a sensible provision when it’s a big policy change,” the treasurer told Guardian Australia in an interview for the Australian Politics podcast.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Post-mining world set for NSW government microscope
Mining sites and how they can be used after they are shut down are going under a New South Wales parliament microscope, AAP reports.
Advanced manufacturing, clean energy initiatives and commercial and tourism use are some ideas floated for the post-mining world.
A state government inquiry will look at NSW’s more than 50 large active mine sites, of which 37 are coal mines.
It follows March’s announcement that Lake Macquarie’s Rhondda Colliery mine site will be turned into a $95m motorsport complex, which the government says has created 450 construction jobs.
NSW natural resources minister Courtney Houssos said the Black Rock Motor Resort was an example of how mining land can be turned into new opportunities.
She said:
Mining is a temporary use of land … we need to make sure NSW has the right policy mix to keep employment and economic opportunities even after mines close.
This is an important inquiry … we need to make sure these large mine sites can continue to be put to economically productive and efficient use long into the future.
Other coal mines, including in Muswellbrook and Stratford, are being targeted for pumped hydro and other clean energy usage.
The inquiry will look at how land use after mines are shut down is split between communities and operators.
It will also examine how workers will need to reskill and be retrained.
Labor MP Emily Suvaal, who lives in Cessnock, said ensuring “secure, well-paid, local jobs” was a priority. She said in a statement:
Exploring how we can improve the use of post-mining land is crucial for the continued success of our rural and regional communities, who have contributed so much to our state’s success.
Updated
Peak bodies release statement opposing yesterday’s ‘river to the sea’ Senate motion
Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, the Australian National Imams Council and Jewish Council of Australia, along with a host of Muslim peak bodies, have issued a statement opposing yesterday’s Senate motion which stated the phrase “from river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is “frequently used to intimidate Jewish Australians via acts of antisemitism”.
The joint statement says:
It is entirely misconceived and based on an incorrect understanding of the phrase.
Historically, this phrase has been associated with the Palestinian cause for self-determination and statehood. The phrase is rooted in an aspiration for freedom for all people, irrespective of their background, faith or nationality. It is a vision that encompasses the right of all individuals to live in peace and dignity within the lands stretching from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.
It should not be controversial that Palestinians reject their oppression or aspire to their own liberation and life in their homeland, free from Israel’s racist systems and laws of control.
Updated
Australia to impose sanctions against bodies associated with North Korean arms exports to Russia
Entities linked to North Korea’s supply of weapons to Russia for its war with Ukraine have been sanctioned by Australia.
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, revealed Australia, in coordination with international partners, would be imposing financial sanctions on six bodies associated with North Korea’s arms exports to Russia.
The continued transfer of weapons is a “flagrant violation” of UN security council’s resolutions, and Wong said Australia will continue working with allies to address the security threat posed by North Korea.
She said in a statement:
Australia condemns, in the strongest possible terms, North Korea’s illegal export and Russia’s procurement and use of North Korean ballistic missiles, in support of Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine
The use of North Korean ballistic missiles by Russia increases the suffering of the Ukrainian people, supports Russia’s illegal and immoral war of aggression and undermines the global non-proliferation regime.”
The developing relationship between two authoritarian nations has “grave implications” for Europe, the Korean peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region, Wong said.
She urged North Korea and other nations to comply with the UN resolutions and make moves towards permanent peace. She said:
Australia remains steadfast in supporting Ukraine to defend itself.
Today’s announcement underscores that those who provide material support to Russia’s illegal and immoral war will face consequences.
– Australian Associated Press
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Shorten and Dutton clash over reduced migration
Earlier this morning the NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, and the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, clashed over Dutton’s promise to reduce Australia’s migration intake in his budget reply speech last night.
Appearing on Today, Shorten said: “You said we cannot have those foreigners buying houses. Now that sort of sounds interesting. So I went and checked overnight. How many people in the last two years who are foreigners bought houses in Australia, Pete?”
Dutton replied:
Well, Bill, a couple of points. One is that we say that, in the first year, 40,000 homes will be freed up. That includes the numbers who would be bidding at auctions this weekend against Australian citizens.
If the government had have adopted our policy over a five-year period, you would free up 325,000 homes. So the number of people who are foreign citizens, who are buying houses in our country is low, but nonetheless it contributes to an overall shortage of housing in our country.
Later on ABC RN, Shorten said he “went back and checked overnight” and “in the last two years, less than 5,000 foreigners have bought houses”.
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Funding package to help women who suffer miscarriages
Women who experience miscarriage will receive bereavement support and boosted follow-up care through $9.5m in new federal government funding.
The support package will also address gaps in data to understand more about miscarriage, the assistant health minister, Ged Kearney, announced on Friday.
It is estimated up to 110,000 Australian women experience a miscarriage every year, taking a lasting toll on their physical and mental health.
This is especially so for the 1% to 2% who have three or more miscarriages in a row.
Gearney said women who experience miscarriage commonly report a lack of information, poor access to follow-up care and limited referral to counselling or other services.
They can also experience stigma and a feeling of shame compounded by a medical system that doesn’t meet their needs.
– Australian Associated Press
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Shorten defends NDIS spending
Shorten says the recent federal budget’s anticipated savings of $28bn on the NDIS will not mean a cut for services, speaking on ABC RN:
We spent $42bn this year, we’re going to spend $46bn next year. By the fourth year we’re going to invest $60bn in the NDIS.
When you put it in the context that we’re going to invest over $200bn, the [anticipated savings is] actually is far less drastic for people on the scheme than it sounds.
The reality is [the NDIS] is growing too fast … We still want the scheme to grow by 8% in three years but it can’t keep growing at 20%. So we’re putting in place measures to stop money being wasted.
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Bill Shorten says Dutton’s promise to reduce migration intake ‘a bit of a slogan’
The minister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, is being asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton’s promise to reduce Australia’s migration intake on ABC Radio National, saying “it was a bit of a slogan”.
Both sides have talked about trying to reduce some of the pressure caused by large numbers of people coming to Australia. Mr Dutton has offered one way. But the real criteria I feel is that you look at net overseas migration.
What we need to do is reduce, I think, in a structured way, the number of visas we’re issuing for people to come to this country. We want to get it back towards long-term average.
[Dutton] said: ‘I want to reduce the number of permanent citizens that we issue from 180,000 to 140,000’. But a lot of these people are already here.
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A new tariff that will see solar panel owners charged for exporting their energy during the middle of the day could discourage solar uptake, consumer groups say.
Ausgrid, which has around 280,000 customers in New South Wales with rooftop solar panels, has introduced a two-way tariff system to incentivise solar panel owners to export their power into the grid in the evening, when it is most needed.
This will include a charge to solar panel owners of 1.2 cents a kilowatt hour to send electricity to the grid between 10am and 3pm once exports hit above a free threshold.
Read the full story here:
Victoria police ‘monitoring’ University of Melbourne pro-Palestine protests
Victoria police is “continuing to work closely with the University of Melbourne in response to ongoing protests”, it has confirmed in a statement after students were threatened with police action over a pro-Palestine sit-in on Thursday.
There hasn’t been a request for police to intervene or remove any protesters yet, according to the statement, but “police are constantly monitoring the activity and are well equipped to respond to any public order issues if required”.
Police will continue to liaise with university security and patrol the area to provide reassurance to the broader community.
People can only been removed by police from private property if a formal report of trespassing is made.
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Australia records worst road fatalities since 2012
Australia’s roads are becoming more deadly, with the latest 12-month figures the worst since 2012.
There were 1,310 deaths on Australian roads in the year up to 30 April, an 11.2% increase, and the highest number of deaths recorded in a 12-month period since the same number of fatalities were recorded in the year ending 30 November 2012, according to the data from the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.
The figures include a 31.2% surge in fatalities in New South Wales and a 35.3% increase in the Northern Territory – a jurisdiction which received funding injections for road safety programs more generous than others in Tuesday’s budget. Fatalities also increased by 12.4% in Victoria, 5.7% in Queensland and 9.8% in South Australia.
Road deaths have been trending upwards in recent years, despite a long-term campaign to bring down fatalities, with the peak motoring body, the Australian Automobile Association (AAA), pleading for an agreement from states and territories and funding to collate road accident data so experts can better understand what is causing the uptick in danger. In its recent budget, the federal government unveiled funding and plans to share the road data.
Michael Bradley, the AAA managing director, called on state and territory leaders to comply with the government’s road trauma data sharing initiative. Bradley said:
These figures tragically show Australia’s current approach to road trauma management is failing and that we need a data-driven response to a problem killing more than 100 people every month.
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Jim Chalmers tells Guardian Australia about his budget balancing act
As mentioned at the top, Jim Chalmers has sat down with our political editor, Karen Middleton, to explain the thinking behind this week’s federal budget.
He also revealed that the party is going to splash $45m on advertising to promote its Future Made policy.
Chalmers rejected the suggestion that taxpayers should not have to pay for the government to explain its vision to them:
Some of these changes that we’re contemplating are big, meaty changes. We’re talking about, over time, transforming our energy base, transforming our industrial base, our human capital base, and so it’s not, I think, unreasonable or unusual to provision in a responsible way to communicate that to people.
Karen’s full story is here:
And you can listen to what he had to say in our Australian Politics Podcast here:
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Rise in rental availability gives hope to tenants
Australian renters looking to move house had slightly more choice in April but, with competition for vacant homes still fierce, prices will probably continue to rise, Australian Associated Press reports.
Vacancy rates have been holding at low levels in most parts of the country, leaving more renters scrambling to secure the few available properties and pushing market rents higher.
And while a minor rise in the national vacancy rate was recorded in April, according to real estate data firm PropTrack, conditions for renters remain tough, with just 1.21% of properties sitting vacant during the month.
Even with the 0.09 percentage point lift in April, PropTrack economist Anne Flaherty said vacancy rates were still less than half the level considered healthy:
With vacant properties scarce, homes that do come up for rent are continuing to see high levels of competition, which is driving rent prices higher.
Canberra and Perth had the most substantial increases to vacancy rates, with the latter recording its first increase in vacant rentals since July 2022.
Tenants looking for a new place have endured a 9.1% rise in advertised rents in the 12 months to March, based on the property data firm’s figures, and Reserve Bank of Australia analysis suggests there’s more pain to come.
The dynamics in the housing market keeping rents and property prices high are taking time to unwind, the central bank’s chief economist, Sarah Hunter, said in a speech on Thursday.
New home building has been sluggish, fewer people are living together and the population has been growing fast since borders reopened, keeping prices elevated.
And although there were signs developers were responding to strong demand for housing by building more homes, Hunter said this was taking time and many projects were still not viable.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome. It’s been a busy old week but there’s still a lot of news to come. I’m Martin Farrer and I will guide you through the best of the breaking news before Rafqa Touma comes along shortly.
Jim Chalmers in particular has had a busy week and sat down with our political editor, Karen Middleton, to explain the thinking behind his cost-of-living budget. He also reveals a $45m advertising blitz to spruik the government’s plans to fund and underwrite clean-energy technology and innovation under the banner Future Made in Australia. More coming up. But his budget was attacked last night by opposition leader Peter Dutton, who said in his official reply that he would said cut permanent migration by a quarter.
After framing the budget in terms of helping people with the cost-of-living crisis, Chalmers and the rest of the government will be pleased to note that renters had slightly more choice last month. A survey out this morning shows that there was a minor rise in the national vacancy rate, according to real estate data firm PropTrack. But it’s still a tough market with just 1.21% of properties sitting vacant during the month. There might also be a glimmer of light for borrowers after the prospect of a cut in US interest rates sent the Dow Jones industrial average powering past 40,000 points. Three UK banks cut mortgage rates as well. That could mean the RBA could follow suit sooner rather than later.
Tens of thousands of women fleeing family violence are unable to get legal assistance each year, forcing them to represent themselves in court, incur huge debts to pay legal fees, agree to unfair parenting and child support arrangements, or stay in abusive relationships. Alleged perpetrators are using the legal system to drag out proceedings, forcing women to either run up huge costs of up to $200,000 or endure abuse. “He just wants to keep fighting and fighting,” one woman tells our reporter Kate Lyons. “It really came very close to completely destroying my life.”
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