What we learned, Thursday 25 August
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s what we learned:
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced a royal commission into the robodebt scheme, which he called a “cruel system”, with a report due by April next year. Catherine Holmes, a former judge who led the Queensland floods inquiry, will head up the commission.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton called the royal commission a “witch-hunt”.
The social services sector and advocates for welfare recipients have broadly welcomed the announcement, but have expressed their concerns about its scope and argue that it ought to pave the way for fixing the welfare system as a whole.
The Greens are urging the Albanese government to impose a nationwide rent freeze for two years, saying the issue of rental affordability should be elevated to national cabinet ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit.
Independent MP Zali Steggall has come out against new offshore oil and gas exploration announced by the Labor government, saying they are “creating opportunities to make the [emissions] targets impossible to achieve”.
The Qantas Group have posted their 2022 financial year results, experiencing a loss of $1.86bn before tax. It’s the group’s third consecutive major loss, which they say reflects the effects of the pandemic.
Thank you so much for your company today. We’ll be back with you tomorrow.
Updated
Australian shipments of foot and mouth vaccine arrives in Indonesia
Australia’s first shipment of foot and mouth vaccine has reached Indonesia as efforts continue to contain the disease, AAP reports.
The 1m doses will be distributed by the Indonesian government, with priority given to areas most in need.
Australian agriculture minister Murray Watt confirmed on Thursday the vaccines had landed, noting the doses will be effective in protecting Indonesian livestock:
We’ve been able to match the doses to the FMD strain present in Indonesia.
This is part of our three-pronged approach to keep Australia FMD free – helping our neighbours deal with the outbreak, strengthening our biosecurity borders and enhancing our preparedness at home.
The vaccine was promised to Indonesia in July after a visit to the archipelago by the minister.
Australia also committed an additional $10m in biosecurity funding to Indonesia in August.
As part of that package, vaccinations worth a further $4.4m are due to be delivered to Indonesia in the coming months.
Foot and mouth was detected in Indonesia in May and spread to Bali in June.
The re-emergence of the highly contagious livestock disease increased the likelihood of it reaching Australia in the next five years, to 11.6%.
Updated
Telstra to offer free wifi at payphones
Telstra has announced today that free wifi will now be available at payphones.
In a press release this morning, the telecommunications company said:
From today, around 3,000 of our Wi-Fi enabled payphones across Australia will offer free Wi-Fi access to anyone, with work already underway on the rest of our 12,000 payphones to provide free Telstra Wi-Fi over the next few years.
This was the next step in ensuring all Australians are able to stay connected and follows our decision last year to make calls from public payphones free.
The decision has been welcomed by Michelle Rowland, the federal communications minister:
Today’s announcement should increase digital access for vulnerable Australians and builds on Telstra’s decision last year to make local and national calls from payphones free of charge. Telstra should be commended for this important initiative, and its ongoing commitment to improving connectivity and digital access across Australia.
Increasing the public benefit from payphones is especially important given that payphones are co-funded by industry and taxpayers under the Universal Service Obligation (USO) funding arrangements. I appreciate Telstra’s confirmation that it will not seek any increase in the USO funding it receives for payphones as a result of Telstra’s decision today.
Updated
Politicians being normal: is it cool or cringe?
The Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese and the Finnish PM Sanna Marin made headlines this week while doing normal human activities – having a beer at a rock concert and dancing at a party. We took a look back at the thin line that separates politicians from being cool or cringe.
Updated
US deputy envoy says ‘no turning back’ on climate action at ANU forum
A little bit earlier today, ANU hosted a climate change forum featuring the US deputy special envoy for climate, Rick Duke, and the head of the Australian government’s international climate division, Kushla Munro.
As with all these talks, there is never enough time, but the main gist of the conversation was ‘we need to work together more’ to tackle the climate challenge – not just on a global scale, but at home too.
Munro said there was a lot of opportunity for diversification – and from Australia’s perspective, there was a lot to gain from looking strategically at where it can make stronger partnerships for research and technology.
Not just the US, although Munro says there is a lot of room for growth there, but also with India, Japan and Korea:
One thing that’s really come under a lot of scrutiny is – for the clean energy transition that we do – where are the solar panels made? And the answer is largely in China. That’s not a bad thing.
It’s just that the scaling up of what we’ve got to do, potentially that diversification of what we’ve seen through supply chains and through Covid is incredibly important.
Duke said he believed there was “no turning back at this point” on climate action, which he said was being driven by younger people, but also by private industries:
There is, I think, no turning back at this point on this as we move into a mode in which we’re going to be investing in all of these industries at a scale that people I think are just beginning to get their heads wrapped around.
That is going to create more buy in, that’s going to be more jobs, that’s going to create more consumer benefit.
It’s cheaper to own and operate an electric vehicle by far – you’re not subject to the whims of oil prices.
It’s cheaper to have a house that’s got solar and heat pumps. And again, you’re insulated from energy price shocks. And if you’ve got jobs in those industries as they expand, you’re going to be on the side of climate action accordingly.
Updated
some Beckett-esque wait times for Sydney trains at peak hour this afternoon pic.twitter.com/eKcQYL1F9c
— Josephine Tovey (@Jo_Tovey) August 25, 2022
Good luck, Sydney train commuters
Peak hour in Sydney is shaping up to be a cracker of a time for all involved.
Not even a reduced timetable comes close to providing any kind of basic service - this is beyond ridiculous. @RTBUnion @T2SydneyTrains @Dom_Perrottet #SydneyTrains pic.twitter.com/V4pfZ91noh
— The T2 Commuter 🎢 (@T2commuter) August 25, 2022
Updated
Mental health nurses should have more access to bulk billing, college says
In response today’s Guardian Australia story about a lack of bulk-billing psychologists, the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses has urged the federal government to give credentialed mental health nurses greater access to Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) items.
The Australian Association of Psychologists has suggested allowing provisional psychologists – in their last stages of supervised practice before achieving full registration – to provide services under Medicare. This could allow more psychologists to see more patients, relieving pressure on an overloaded sector.
The College of Mental Health Nurses said it supports this call, and said giving mental health nurses greater access to MBS items would offer “significantly better impact for the patient population most in need of additional mental health services”.
The college’s CEO Stephen Jackson said:
[Mental health nurses] have an evidenced track record of successfully offering clinical services to those with moderate to complex needs.
They are severely limited in their access to MBS where they would greatly assist in the mental health skills shortage ... Let them help.
Updated
Peta Murphy hits back at Liberals on robodebt: ‘Lives were turned upside down’
Labor’s Peta Murphy has returned fire:
It’s just so disappointing to hear David trotting out those lines and continuing what has been the practice and the history of not admitting mistakes and not taking responsibility or being accountable from the previous government.
I mean, what fundamentally changed in July 2015 was people were taken out of the system by the Liberal government, they relied entirely on an algorithm and they reversed the onus of proof on to people who were getting welfare.
People’s lives were turned upside down and some people were devastated because of the way the previous government changed the system and preyed on vulnerable people. Accountability is vitally important.
Updated
Liberal MP David Coleman suggests Labor also responsible for robodebt
The Liberals’ David Coleman seems to be trying to suggest the Labor party were ultimately responsible for the architecture of Robodebt:
The concept of income averaging in Centrelink goes back decades and I was looking today, in 2011, there is a press release from Tanya Plibersek and Bill Shorten talking about the automation of that income averaging process for the purpose of collecting debts in Centrelink.
This inquiry is obviously very politically motivated. If it wasn’t, it would go back to the genesis of this idea, which of course it doesn’t.
It’s transparent as cellophane this is a politically motivated inquiry. That is obviously not unique to this particular area because we see that Mr Albanese has a great desire to launch investigations and somewhat less to actually govern. Clearly this should go much further back if it were to genuinely open a transparent inquiry.
Updated
‘Peter Dutton is our leader’: Karen Andrews on whether she agrees robodebt inquiry is a ‘witch-hunt’
The Liberal frontbencher Karen Andrews followed Shorten, and she was also asked about the robodebt royal commission and whether she agrees with Peter Dutton that it’s a “witch hunt”.
She’s quite evasive on the latter:
Peter Dutton did call it a witch-hunt. He’s gone out very strongly on that and, as leader of the opposition, he is the one that makes the primary calls in relation to this. Peter has made it very clear that in his view this is a witch-hunt.
Journalist: “And you agree with that?”
I am part of the Liberal-National party. Peter Dutton is our leader. I think we have to be very careful that Labor doesn’t go into a position where every single inquiry is justifiably called a witch-hunt simply because it is one inquiry after another. And all that they will end up doing is devaluing the intent of inquiry if it is just going to be one thing after another.
Updated
Robodebt royal commission will have ‘tight’ focus: Bill Shorten
Bill Shorten, the minister for government services, has been speaking on the ABC about the robodebt royal commission. He says it will be tightly focused, and that it “isn’t designed for tens of thousands of people to just come forward”, although it will likely involve victim case studies:
This is a pretty tight royal commission. The voices of the people who went through the ordeals is going to be paramount. It is to identify who knew what and when. How can you create the most unlawful scheme and for all these years ignore the warnings and act as if you are behaving legally when you are behaving illegally.
One of the reasons we have gone for a royal commission is, given the enormous scale of the unlawful conduct by the previous commonwealth government and the sheer numbers of people who were caught up in the net of an unlawful scheme, we need to get to the bottom of it, so it needs to have all the powers it can.
Updated
Robodebt royal commission 'a witch-hunt’, says Peter Dutton
The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was talking to 2GB’s Ray Hadley this afternoon about the inquiry into Scott Morrison’s secret ministries and the royal commission into robodebt.
Hadley suggested that the inquiry into Morrison’s ministries is a “witch-hunt”, to which Dutton agrees. Dutton then suggests that the robodebt royal commission is also a “witch-hunt”:
It’s clearly now turned political. I think the points the prime minister made at the start were legitimate. We’ve said we’d support a process to ensure it can’t happen again. We didn’t agree with the decision that Scott [Morrison] had made. He’s explained it, he’s apologised for it, and the question now is how you make sure it doesn’t happen again, which is a pretty simple process in terms of requiring prime ministers to declare the acting arrangements and that would resolve the matter.
But clearly, the prime minister sees political advantage in this and you know, one thing you know about people like Dan Andrews and Anthony Albanese is they’ve been around a long time; they know lots of tricks in the book and you’re seeing it now with the announcement of a royal commission into robodebt – again, a witch-hunt.
This has become more politicised and it’s morphing into a witch-hunt rather than pointing out a problem that needed to be solved.
Updated
IPA ‘welcomes’ oil and gas exploration announcement
The Institute of Public Affairs, meanwhile, is right into oil and gas exploration.
Here’s the top-line take from Daniel Wild, deputy executive director of the IPA:
It is absolutely critical, in a time of energy shortages and global instability, that Australia secures its domestic oil and gas supplies. This is why resources minister Madeleine King’s exploration announcement is very welcome.
Updated
Zali Steggall says new oil and gas wells ‘unnecessary and irresponsible’
Independent MP Zali Steggall has come out against new offshore oil and gas exploration announced by the Labor government, saying they are “creating opportunities to make the [emissions] targets impossible to achieve”.
Minister Bowen has repeatedly reaffirmed that 43% emissions reduction by 2030 is a floor not a ceiling, yet the minister for resources Madeline King has released 10 more areas for offshore oil and gas exploration. This totals 46,758 sqkm of commonwealth waters.
These are incompatible statements and will damage the hard work done by minister Bowen to date on the climate change bill, and the indications given by environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek to do better on environment.
New oil and gas wells are unnecessary and irresponsible.
Steggall is calling on the government to reverse the decision to open exploration areas and end seismic testing in Australian waters.
She continues:
Exploration will cause environmental damage, even if no project is ever commissioned.
Updated
We look forward to robodebt royal commission examining whether Coalition knew scheme was lawful, Gordon Legal partner says
Peter Gordon, senior partner at Gordon Legal, which ran the successful robodebt class action, has also issued a statement in response to the royal commission announcement:
The royal commission will serve as an important mechanism to explore how the unlawful robodebt scheme came into existence and the responsibility of individual ministers.
Scott Morrison, Alan Tudge and Stuart Robert all oversaw the ministry during the scheme and the question of what they knew, what decisions they took, remains unresolved. The opportunity to properly examine their involvement was denied by the Coalition while it was in power, which sought to sweep the truth about robodebt under the rug.
This makes it all the more important that a robodebt royal commission, which is appropriately equipped to forensically examine these ministers’ knowledge and decision-making, tackles these issues head on.
In particular, we look forward to the royal commission exercising its powers to request documents that reveal whether the former government knew the robodebt scheme was lawful. These documents were withheld during Gordon Legal’s class action under legal privilege and cabinet confidentiality.
Updated
PM to give first post-election address to National Press Club on Monday
JUST ANNOUNCED: @AlboMP, Prime Minister of Australia, will make his first Address as Prime Minister, to the #NPC on Monday, August 29th, 2022. Watch it live at 12:30pm AEDT on @abcnews. #auspol pic.twitter.com/k4mYlgzqFu
— National Press Club (@PressClubAust) August 25, 2022
Updated
Robodebt royal commission needs to examine factors that continue to exist, Greens say
Greens social services spokesperson, Senator Janet Rice:
The Greens have been fighting against robodebt since it started, and Greens senators chaired the Senate inquiry that highlighted how far this injustice went. We are pleased the Labor government is acting on this promise for a royal commission …
It’s important, however, that the royal commission also examines the structural factors that continue to exist in our broken social security system. We need the royal commission to inform how we fix the system, rather than it simply be an opportunity for the Labor government to attack the former government …
It’s also worth noting that the new Labor government has questions to answer on its own current algorithm mess – Workforce Australia – and the problems and stress this automation is causing to thousands of people on income support.
Edwina MacDonald, acting chief executive of Acoss:
Robodebt hit people when they were going through the hardest of times – after the death of a family member, in the wake of a natural disaster, and when they were living on next to nothing, struggling to cover the cost of three meals a day.
In allowing an algorithm to make crude decisions about an essential human service, robodebt revealed disdain and contempt for people receiving social security payments.
This royal commission must eliminate any possibility of robodebt happening again and focus on improving protections for people receiving social security. We stand ready to work with the royal commission in its investigation.
Updated
Royal commission an opportunity to ‘make sure robodebt debacle is never repeated’
Advocates for welfare recipients and the social services sector have been responding this afternoon to the federal government’s announcement of a royal commission into Robodebt.
Anglicare Australia executive director Kasy Chambers said:
This royal commission is not just an opportunity to learn who knew what and when. It an opportunity to make sure the robodebt debacle is never repeated again.
From the start, this system had no human oversight …
The wrongs and personal pain caused by robodebt could have been avoided if the government had listened to those who know. At this royal commission, decision makers will need to explain why they dismissed almost every piece of feedback and advice.
Kristin O’Connell from the Antipoverty Centre said:
We’re frankly disturbed by the government’s attempt to distract from its recent increase in ‘debt’ collection activity against welfare recipients with this announcement.
The terms of reference should allow for anyone harmed by Centrelink debt recovery to be heard, no matter how or when the debt was raised.
Every person affected by robodebt, no matter the sum they were pursued over, deserves justice. But so does everyone else who’s been issued with a debt notice they couldn’t afford to pay.
Updated
Santos claims there’s no need to consult traditional owners on offshore gas project
Traditional owners from the Tiwi Islands did not need to be consulted on a massive offshore gas project because they were not relevant stakeholders, a barrister representing Santos claims.
Tiwi Islander Dennis Tipakalippa from the Munupi clan is fighting the national gas regulator’s decision to allow Santos to drill eight wells in the Barossa gasfield, 265km north-west of Darwin, AAP reports.
Under the law, the Munupi people were relevant and interested parties who needed to be consulted on the project, Tipakalippa’s barrister Claire Harris QC told the federal court on Wednesday.
The clan’s cultural and spiritual connection to the land and sea readily falls into the legal understanding of an interest, Harris said.
But Santos has argued the traditional owners were not relevant people and therefore the company did not need to consult with them. The Tiwi Islanders did not hold individual interests in the project, the company’s barrister Stephen Free SC told the Darwin court on Thursday.
Even if the Tiwi Islanders were considered relevant persons, Free said Santos would only need to consult with them on a collective basis through a representative body.
That body would have been the Tiwi Land Council which Santos contacted, the barrister said.
Justice Mordecai Bromberg on Thursday also questioned Santos’s environmental plan for the project, noting it did not have clear methodology explaining who was considered a relevant person. That would make it difficult for the National Offshore Petroleum Safety and Environmental Management Authority to determine whether all of the relevant parties were consulted with, the justice said.
But Free argued the plan did outline the company’s method for deciding who was a relevant person so the regulator had enough information to make its decision.
Updated
Train drivers in Sydney take industrial action
Sydney commuters are experiencing another day of disrupted train services with more industrial action being taken by the rail union.
The planned action went ahead after a last-minute bid to stop it by the state government failed.
My colleague Tamsin Rose has taken a look at how we got here and where to next.
Updated
Woolworths announces net profit after tax of $1.51bn
Woolworths says Covid and floods have led to financial performance that was below the supermarket giant’s aspirations, AAP reports.
The supermarket giant announced a net profit after tax of $1.51bn for the year to June 26, up 0.7% from the previous year.
Woolworths Group chief executive, Brad Banducci, said:
The extremely challenging operating environment caused by supply chain disruptions, product shortages, team absenteeism and flooding led to an inconsistent customer experience and financial aspirations that was below our aspirations for the year.
Sales grew 9.2% to $60.85bn, up 9.2%, while earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) were down 2.7% to $2.69bn.
Sales at Woolworths’ Australian supermarkets were up 4.5% to $45.5bn, with EBIT up 0.3% to $2.4bn.
Absenteeism at Woolworths supermarkets was 5.3% in June as a percentage of total hours worked.
That’s down from 6.5% in January but up from about 4.5% a year ago and a pre-Covid baseline of about 4.0%.
Updated
Catch up: Robodebt royal commission to review ‘untold harm’
If you’re just joining us and need to catch up on the big news of the day, my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has the full story about the just-announced Robodebt royal commission here:
Updated
Reports Solomon Islands threatens to ban foreign journalists
The Solomon Islands government has reportedly threatened to ban foreign journalists from entering the Pacific nation if they are not “respectful” or if they engage in “racial profiling” in stories about the country’s ties with China.
The office of the prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that overseas journalists needed to understand they could not operate in the Pacific the same way they did in other countries, the ABC has reported.
The statement read:
The Pacific is not the same as Australia or United States. When you chose to come to our Pacific Islands, be respectful, be courteous and accord the appropriate protocols.
The statement said journalists who did not appreciate the differences would “not be allowed to enter Solomon Islands and other Pacific Islands nations”.
The statement was particularly critical of the ABC’s reporting of China’s growing presence in Solomon Islands, accusing the Four Corners program of engaging in racial stereotyping and the “intentional use of misinformation” in an episode from 1 August titled Pacific Capture: How Chinese money is buying the Solomons.
The ABC rejected those accusations in an earlier statement, saying it stood by the episode and that its main interview subjects were Solomon Islanders raising concerns about China’s presence.
Read the full story here:
Updated
South Australia records one Covid-19 death, with 257 people in hospital
There were 749 new Covid cases recorded in the state. Eight people are in intensive care and one is on a ventilator.
South Australian COVID-19 update 25/08/22.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) August 25, 2022
For more information, go to https://t.co/XkVcAlWPSN pic.twitter.com/iCKbNaeQ2u
Greens cite Victorian state Labor rent freeze in response to Albanese dismissal of proposal
The Greens have replied to the prime minister’s response to their proposal that the government freeze rents for two years to help manage the cost of living crisis. (Stay with me here!)
Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather said in Brisbane this morning:
Anthony Albanese said this morning that he had no idea how a rent freeze would work. Well newsflash for the PM – his own party in Victoria froze rents for six months.
It seems like the PM would rather feign ignorance and use bad faith arguments to dismiss a legitimate policy proposal that actually have the backs of the millions of Australians who rent and freeze their rents and give them a chance to get on and live a good life.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers’ acknowledgement that ballooning rents were part of the cost of living crisis but that the solution lay in building 4000 social housing dwellings a year was “not good enough”, Chandler-Mather said.
The government needs to wake up and realise that just like governments around the world, just like the Australian government previously, just like the Victorian Labor party, have got to freeze rates and protect the millions of renters. Right now, we’re on the brink of catastrophe.
Updated
Stronger laws needed on puppy farms, NSW inquiry recommends
Dog breeders are moving to NSW to evade stronger animal protection laws in other states, a parliamentary report on puppy farming warns.
Limits are needed on the number of dogs a breeder can have, the upper house committee examining the large-scale breeding of dogs and cats found, AAP reports.
It makes 18 recommendations for increasing protections to crackdown on the unethical breeding of dogs and cats.
Committee chair Mick Veitch said on Thursday there were more than 900 submissions to the inquiry and 6000 responses to an online questionnaire.
There is no doubt that puppy and kitten farming at its worst is an abhorrent practice, with offenders largely operating underground.
The more dogs there were, the less likely it was a breeder could guarantee their welfare, the report found.
Ensuring the welfare of animals at industrial-scale breeding facilities would be impossible without imposing staffing ratios and socialisation requirements for the animals.
The report recommends the government introduce an extended liability scheme holding breeders responsible for congenital or genetic health issues arising in the first year of an animal’s life.
Stricter laws introduced in Victoria and Western Australia, expected to be introduced in South Australia, had prompted larger breeders to relocate across the border, the inquiry heard.
Veitch said:
The NSW government needs to act to address this impact, and to keep up with changed community expectations about animal welfare.
Greater guidance on breeding arrangements, limits on the number of animals a breeder can have and the litters they can deliver, and increased funding for animal welfare organisations are among the other recommendations.
The government has three months to respond.
Updated
Push for changes to wage bargaining rules ahead of jobs summit
Unions are calling for “multi-employer bargaining” to help grow wages, but employers warn the idea is a dangerous “throwback”.
So, what is it? How could it help reverse wage cuts? And is there any chance the Albanese government could agree to the reform at the September jobs and skills summit?
Paul Karp has all the answers to all your questions:
Updated
What #NSW currently looks like from space 🚀A slow-moving high pressure system over the Great Australian Bight is extending a ridge into the state from the west, while a weak cold front will flick across the southern districts through today.
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) August 25, 2022
Satellite: https://t.co/d52YqP73U8 pic.twitter.com/WpU8HK7pFc
WA records no deaths from Covid-19, with 225 people in hospital
WA Health is reporting a total of 1,366 new Covid-19 cases to 6pm last night.
There were 225 people with Covid in hospital, with six people in intensive care.
You can read the full update on WA Covid numbers here.
Thanks Natasha May for your work this morning! I’m Stephanie Convery and I’ll be with you for the rest of the afternoon.
I am handing the blog over to the wonderful Stephanie Convery who will be with you for the rest of this Thursday.
Crikey warns of fake crowdsourcing appeals following defamation allegation from Lachlan Murdoch
Crikey is alerting readers that someone is impersonating their news outlet and crowdfunding money.
“If anyone contacts you to ‘donate’ to help us fight our case against Lachlan Murdoch, it’s a scam,” the news outlet posted on Twitter.
It comes after the news yesterday that Lachlan Murdoch has launched defamation proceedings against Crikey.
This is not us. At this stage all we have encouraged is for people to subscribe and support our journalism. https://t.co/EEzq2ya44N
— Gina Rushton (@ginarush) August 24, 2022
You can read Amanda Meade’s latest article on the case here:
Updated
ACT records no Covid deaths and 109 people in hospital.
There were 252 new cases in the last reporting period, and two people are in intensive care.
ACT COVID-19 update – 25 August 2022
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) August 25, 2022
🦠 COVID-19 case numbers
◾ New cases today: 252 (132 PCR and 120 RAT)
◾ Active cases: 1,463
◾ Total cases since March 2020: 201,338
ℹ For more detail, including an age breakdown of case numbers, please visit https://t.co/qRDoepyJkh pic.twitter.com/pjzr94joDS
Oracle customers face wait on homes in Queensland
Queensland’s building watchdog says it is working with hundreds of customers of collapsed builder Oracle Homes to ensure their partially built homes are completed, AAP reports.
The residential builder collapsed on Wednesday, with about 70 staff sacked and building work halted on about 300 homes.
Robson Cotter Insolvency Group has been appointed as liquidator, saying Oracle could be about $14m in debt.
Premier Annastacia Palascczuk said the collapse was a major concern with building companies, urging Queenslanders to be diligent and seek advice before entering into contracts. The premier told reporters today:
I think it’s very important that people familiarise themselves with the contracts they’re entering into, they speak to the owners, the people who they’re sitting down with (who are handling) the contracts and that they get legal advice to reassure themselves.
The Queensland Building and Construction Commission (QBCC) says it is contacting all 386 policy-holders who took out insurance with Oracle in the past two years to help them lodge claims. The regulator told AAP in a statement:
The QBCC knows that when any building company collapses, it can have a significant impact on everyone who has had dealings with that company.
That is why the QBCC has set up a dedicated team to handle the non-completion claims from homeowners affected by this event, and we will be doing everything we can to help them continue to get their homes built.
Master Builders Queensland chief executive, Paul Bidwell, said the state’s mandatory home warranty insurance scheme will cover most Oracle customers in Queensland for up to $200,000.
However, he said Oracle customers have faced months of delays on their homes, and getting them completed won’t be fast enough for those caught up in this situation.
Updated
Queensland records 12 Covid deaths and 343 people in hospital.
There were 2,216 new cases in the last reporting period, and 16 people are in intensive care.
Today we have recorded 2,216 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) August 25, 2022
Sadly, we have reported 12 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Full details ➡️https://t.co/rKHIwrH8sQ pic.twitter.com/djWIsY6UpF
Albanese calls for “sensible” approach to climate amidst granting of offshore petroleum permits
Prime minister Anthony Albanese was also asked about the announcement from the resources minister granting offshore petroleum exploration permits for 47,000 sq km of ocean.
Ten areas stretching from the Ashmore and Cartier Islands in the Indian Ocean to Victoria’s Gippsland basin have been opened for exploration.
The Greens and independent ACT Senator David Pocock have been critical of the effects this will have on the environment, calling into question the government’s commitment on greater climate action and cutting emissions.
Albanese responds that there is a need to be “sensible” about balancing climate commitments and human needs:
Well, people still put petrol in their cars at the moment. I don’t know how you got to the press conference, but chances are it was in a car. Am I right?
But you got there. You know, we need to be sensible about this. And we need to change the way that our economy functions, our energy mix across the board. But these lights that are on in this press conference are powered with - and this building is a pretty good building, there’s solar panels, all of that - but chances are if you’re in NSW at the moment and you flick a switch, then that will be powered not by renewables.
But we have a plan to change that energy mix, to lower our emissions. And that plan includes 82% of renewables being part of the energy mix by 2030. But what that doesn’t mean is that immediately you can stop using fossil fuel sources today. We have a plan to get there. It’s outlined very clearly, that plan. And, you know, we had that endorsed, indeed, by the House of Representatives by a huge majority just a couple of weeks ago.
Updated
No “concrete proposals” from Perrottet about buyback scheme for flood victims, PM says
At the robodebt media conference, Albanese was also asked about his recent conversation with NSW premier Dominic Perrottet about the joint buyback scheme for people in Lismore.
Asked what timeline he can give people who are desperate for clarity on whether they should rebuild their homes or not, Albanese responded:
Well, I’ve had a very brief discussion with premier Perrottet about that. I haven’t as yet had concrete proposals from the premier. We’ll work constructively.
I had another discussion with the New South Wales premier just yesterday. I have a good working relationship with all premiers and chief ministers. Of course, state governments are responsible for planning. And one of the things that needs to happen is that state governments have to get better at planning … with climate change, these events are occurring more frequently and with greater intensity.
If you want to hear more about what the flood victims of Lismore are going through, my colleague Tamsin Rose was in the northern rivers last week and spoke to our audio team about how people are faring six months on:
Updated
Albanese questions feasibility of Greens calls for rent freeze
Circling back to the news out of the press conference that was just held in Sydney announcing the royal commission into the robodebt scheme. In a question after the announcement, Albanese was asked about the the Greens’ call to freeze rents for two years to allow wages to catch up.
Asked if he supported the measure in principle, Albanese said:
What we do is support real action that has a real process to occur. It’s not clear to me, short of nationalising property, how that could be achieved. And I haven’t seen any proposal, nor have the Greens raised with the government that at all.
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Tougher seven-star energy efficiency standards for new Australian homes set to be approved
We hear a lot about emissions from the electricity and transport sector but relatively little about the built sector.
Our homes, though, contribute to about 12% of Australia’s emissions (and consume 24% of electricity). More than that, they are where we usually spend the majority of our time - particularly during these WFH days - so how our homes “perform” has a big impact on our health and well-being, not to mention our budgets.
And yet, scandalously so, we haven’t bothered to upgrade our minimum energy standards since 2010, when we moved to “6 stars“ minimum rating required for new homes’ energy performance. Building ministers around the nation will gather on Friday in Canberra (or remotely) to discuss raising the minimum standard to 7 stars as we reported here today.
Technology continues to improve, so we should be updating our standards regularly (some countries apparently manage to do it annually).
Andrew Pickard, an expert with Powerhaus Engineering, an ACT firm, tells us the national construction codes to be tweaked - assuming the ministers concur - are effectively “the worst house you can legally build”.
As it happens, though, the legal aspect is itself rarely tested. Phil Harrington, a consultant with Strategy Policy Research and someone who has advised governments for decades in this field, tells us, “enforcement is non-existent in Australia, full stop”.
Once upon a time, independent surveyors would have assessed whether a new home met various standards - but those roles have been privatised. In some regions, builders can self-assess, while elsewhere they get to hire the assessor. Interests, in other words, conflict.
Harrington reckons the issue of non-compliance goes beyond energy to wider construction standards. Builders know they’ll typically win about nine out of 10 disputes that go to court.
Renters are also poorly served because landlords typically have little incentive to improve the energy performance of properties for tenants. Homes marketed to first-home buyers are also likely to be poor performers too, Harrington says.
What to watch for from Friday’s meeting, though, will be the timetable for lifting the star ratings each state and territory government signs up for - and what exemptions they’ll make to account for their particular climate (and housing lobbyists’) demands.
In any case, a moment to ponder why we continue to put up with outcomes that lag “world’s best practice” by a good Coo-ee or three.
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Putting Ukrainian embassy on former Russian site a possibility Albanese could discuss with ambassador
The press conference has ended but I’ll continue to bring you a bit more information that was said in questions on topics outside the announced royal commission into robodebt scheme.
Anthony Albanese was asked about the call from the shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham for the land in Canberra that’s used by the Russian embassy be given to Ukraine for an embassy of their own.
Albanese responds he would be discussing the matter with the Ukrainian ambassador rather than with Simon Birmingham.
I have a good relationship with the Ukrainian ambassador… He was there when I visited Kyiv and met with President Zelenskyy. The Ukrainian people are a beacon for democracy and the struggle for national sovereignty for the world…This is important beyond just Ukraine. It’s important for the upholding of the international rules-based system. And that is why we’ll continue to be available for any practical suggestions that are made, and requests that are made.
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‘They governed for their own interest, not the national interest’: Albanese on previous government
Albanese continues his response on that question about the Morrison secret ministries saga, criticising Barnaby Joyce’s concern for keeping the National party’s ministerial position.
Various people in the former government … knew about this for a long period of time. So, we’ve waited years for that information.
… I thought Barnaby Joyce’s interview on Insiders was very enlightening last Sunday, where he said essentially that when he was made aware of the decision around Pep-11 and the overriding of the National party[’s] minister for resources by the Liberal party[’s] minister for resources, Mr Morrison, [Joyce] was concerned – not about any policy outcome, not about any national interest … that the National party would lose staffers and would lose a ministerial position.
That said everything about the way that the … Morrison-Joyce government functioned. They governed for their own interest, not the national interest … they took their eye completely off the ball of what good governance looked like.
The government that replaced them has put in place proper structures, proper processes, proper cabinet government, and that’s the process that we’re going through to make sure that we get this right. And when we make a decision by the cabinet, it will then be announced at an appropriate time, but with the support of the government and in a transparent way.
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More details on Morrison inquiry to come ‘pretty soon’ Albanese says
Albanese is asked about the the inquiry into the former prime minister Scott Morrison’s portfolios, and what the timeline will look like. “When the Australian people can start getting some answers?”
Albanese quips back:
Well, it’s a pity that the people who knew about it for years didn’t give the Australian people some answers and some transparency.
There’s a book about it! And when … excerpts of the book [were] published is when I found out about it, and I assume that’s when most people found out about it.
Former prime minister Morrison has said that that was a contemporaneous interview. We found out some things by Scott Morrison’s press conferences, but what we haven’t found out is, I think, any reasonable explanation for how this came about, who knew about it at the time, how it occurred, why it was kept secret.
And it goes to, as the solicitor general’s advice very clearly indicates … the very functioning of our parliamentary democracy and our Westminster system that provides for accountability. … We’ve waited a long time for this information to come out.
Very soon, we are examining the details of exactly what form of inquiry it should take, who should be responsible for that inquiry, and we’ll be making an announcement pretty soon about that. We want to make sure that we get it right.
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Discussion around union collective bargaining proposal ‘a good thing’, PM says
The press conference has moved onto questions beyond the royal commission into robodebt. Anthony Albanese is asked if the government is in support of the unions’ push to have collective bargaining agreements across entire sectors.
The union movement speaks for itself. And employers speak for themselves. At the moment, there is discussion taking place in the leadup to the jobs and skills summit – that’s a good thing.
What our government has acknowledged, in a speech I gave to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry during the election campaign, [is] that enterprise bargaining at the moment simply isn’t working, that wages aren’t keeping up with the cost of living.
The difference between our government and the former government is that the former government saw low wages as a key feature of their economic architecture. We have a different view.
We think that the economy should work for people, not the other way around, and we look forward to constructive discussion at the jobs and skills summit.
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Government won’t preempt recommendations from robodebt royal commission
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, answers the question of whether the government anticipates this royal commission could recommend further compensation for the victims of robodebt.
There are broad terms of reference for this royal commission, as the prime minister has just said – we’re not going to preempt what the outcome will be.
The commission will have full power to inquire, full power to require the production of documents, full power to require witnesses to appear before it, and make whatever recommendations the commission thinks are appropriate. Both as to any actions arising from what has already occurred and, most importantly, how we can make sure, as a nation, that this never happens again.
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RC needs to examine why previous government didn’t act, social service minister says
The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, spoke before Shorten and this is what she had to say:
The robodebt fiasco was something that should be of deep concern to all Australians. Of course, we know as late back as 2016, there were members of the public flagging concerns that these debts weren’t right, that there were problems with it, and we saw the government take no action whatsoever.
These concerns … where people were finding debt notices which they believed were not correct kept coming and the complaints continued through 2017.
These were red flags that the government should have listened to and there are real questions about … why the former government didn’t take any action.
These are really important questions that need to be looked at through this royal commission, but I think also the human consequence of what happened to people is also important as well. We’ve continued to hear stories where individuals felt increasingly anxious, depressed and worried because these debts kept coming and they couldn’t understand them.
And so I think there is a real issue here about why the government didn’t act, why they didn’t listen to the concerns coming through, and what were the real impacts? Of course, we know this program was meant to save money. It clearly didn’t save money. And the human cost was great.
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Human cost justifies cost of review, Albanese says
Albanese is asked by reporters about criticism that this is an expensive review into something that has already been through the federal court.
Question:
What do you say to that? That this has already been through the justice system, so what are you hoping to learn, and is this just another expensive way to trash the former government?
Albanese:
I tell you what’s expensive – the more than billion dollars that this process has cost. A federal government that cost that money because of … the way that this was handled.
I’ll tell you the other cost. This is what minister Shorten has been speaking about: the human cost of this. People lost their lives.
Every single one of my local constituents, and every member of parliament can tell stories like this, [of people] who came through to my electorate office with one of these alleged debts [who] had it either wiped in full or wiped in almost-full.
What that told us was that those people who were more capable of going to their local member and making representations got their debts squashed, because they didn’t owe any money.
But what we also know is that those people who were most vulnerable were the least likely to go to their local member, to have the confidence to do that. And that’s why we need to get to the heart of why this occurred. This is such a serious issue.
We committed, at the time, to this royal commission. This is a commitment that we have a mandate for and a commitment that we have a responsibility to fulfil.
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‘We still don’t know who conceived of this’: Shorten
Shorten:
Yes, Labor helped organise a class action which has seen justice and the money repaid for the victims. But, no, we still don’t know who conceived of this.
The Federal Court judge, justice Murphy, said that the senior public servants and responsible ministers should have known … but didn’t know.
This royal commission has to fill a gap. At one level, it was certainly the conduct of irresponsible ministers and senior public servants. At another level, no-one ever asked the question, “Maybe the machine was wrong and the people complaining were right”.
Until we have these answers, we’ll never be able to have full restitution for the victims, nor can we guarantee that it can never happen again.
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Shorten says ‘untold harm’ of robodebt affected victims of domestic violence, and led one young woman to attempt suicide
Shorten is describing the real human toll of the robodebt scandal, with some pretty harrowing details.
Citizens will recollect that the government unlawfully raised debts of at least $1.76bn against 433,000 Australian citizens. The previous Liberal administrations had no lawful right to raise these debts. It caused untold harm.
I was speaking to some of the victims before this announcement today. There was Maddy, who received a debt which she didn’t owe at all from her time she was receiving Youth Allowance, legitimately, whilst also holding down jobs at university. She attempted suicide.
We’ve spoken to Catherine, a 45-year-old lady who … didn’t know she owed an unlawful debt of $3,500 until it was taken out of her tax return.
We’ve spoken to Anguli, a victim of domestic violence. She fled to a refuge while pregnant. She had been holding down three jobs and she was chased for a debt that she never owed. There’s a real toll.
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‘Robojustice’ for victims: Shorten
The minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten, has taken the mic:
The last government gave us robodebt. The last government gave us robovictims. The last government gave us robodenial. Today, Labor will give the victims some robojustice.
Robodebt, as you will recall, was an online automated debt collection system started by the previous government in July of 2015, and it continued to November of 2019, when a successful class action finally forced the government, at the door of the final hearing of the class action, to stop this program.
Robodebt was a shameful chapter in the history of public administration in this country. It was a massive failure of policy and law.
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PM names royal commissioner and delivery date of April 2023
Albanese:
We know that almost 400,000 Australians fell victim to this cruel system. A human tragedy with very real consequences for its victims.
The royal commission will examine the establishment of the scheme, who was responsible for it, and why it was necessary, how concerns were handled, how the scheme affected individuals and the financial costs to government, and measures to prevent this ever happening again.
Catherine Holmes AC SC had been appointed the royal commissioner. The commissioner is a former chief justice of the supreme court of Queensland. She led the Queensland floods commission of inquiry after the 2010-11 floods, and acted as counsel assisting the commission of inquiry into abuse of children in Queensland institutions in 1998-99.
The final report will be delivered to the governor general by 18 April 2023. It is vital so that we get to the bottom of how robodebt came about so that we can ensure that it can never, ever happen again.
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Robodebt was ‘Coalition’s brainchild’: Albanese
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has begun speaking in Sydney, announcing the terms of reference for the royal commission into robodebt which Labor committed to while in opposition.
Robodebt was, of course, the Coalition’s brainchild – a computer program to find out if someone owed the government money rather than involving a real person.
One of the commitments that I made was to put the humans back into human services to make sure that this can never happen again. We know that almost 400,000 Australians fell victim to this cruel system.
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Albanese to speak shortly announcing royal commission into robodebt
We are expecting the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to speak in Sydney shortly after 10am.
Albanese will hold a press conference with the minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, the minister for the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Bill Shorten, and the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus.
They will announce details of the royal commission into the robodebt scheme, which was a Labor election promise.
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Charging bargaining fees for non-union members undermines freedom of association, Cash says
Cash’s statment has also criticised the union movement’s “desire to potentially charge hundreds or thousands of dollars in bargaining fees for non-union members”.
My colleague Paul Karp reported on this proposal from the NSW union body, which was made in a submission ahead of the jobs and skills summit, to see bargaining fees for non-union employees covered by union-negotiated pay deals to prevent the problem of “free riding”.
Cash said:
Charging ‘bargaining fees’ for non-union members would also trash the fundamental right of Australians having freedom of association. This can never be allowed to happen.
At a time when less than 10% of the private sector workforce is a member of a union, this is clearly a case of the unions pressuring the Albanese government to legislate their relevance.
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‘Outrageous union demands a devastating blow to economy’: shadow minister for employment
The Australian Council for Trade unions is calling for workers to be able to negotiate with multiple employers at once in a reform to enterprise bargaining agreements.
The shadow minister for employment and workplace relations, Michaelia Cash, has joined the Australian Industry Group and Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry in criticising ACTU’s proposal.
Cash released a statement saying:
All Australians should be alarmed today at the union movements demands that the nation be plunged back into the bad old days of the 1970s with the introduction of industry-wide bargaining.
Their demands are proof that the so-called jobs summit will be nothing more than elaborate theatre and has already been hijacked by the Albanese government’s paymasters.
Industry-wide bargaining would be devastating for the Australian economy, leading to widespread strike action, including sympathy strikes by those unrelated to a particular dispute.
We will see a return to the days where Australia’s economy can be brought to a standstill at the whim of the union leadership.
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AiGroup rejects union 'job killer' wage proposal
The Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, has accused unions of pursuing “throwbacks” in their call to be able to negotiate with multiple employers at once.
Willox told Sky News the call amounted to wanting “everyone to be paid the same, across whatever industry no matter what size, scale or geography of the business”.
Willox accused unions of showing a “mania for conformity” that was “not reflective of where the economy needs to be”. Instead, the jobs and skills summit should be about productivity and easing labour and skills shortages, not an imposition on business that would be “a complete job killer”.
Willox also argued the proposal would mean businesses would have “no flexibility to pay more” due to the unions’ “command and control” approach.
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National Landcare Conference draws big names
The three day National Landcare Conference is wrapping up in Sydney.
Prof Mark Howden from the Australian National University yesterday addressed the conference, saying companies shouldn’t be allowed to offset with carbon credits without first reducing their emissions.
The chair of Landcare Australia, Doug Humann, said the recent state of the environment report has left many reeling and highlighted the need for greater investment in the conservation sector.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, who released that report was also in attendance, admitting to being a little “starstruck” by the conference MC, Costa Georgiadis.
Just a little star struck…
— Tanya Plibersek (@tanya_plibersek) August 24, 2022
With the king of compost and wizard of worm farming, @CostasGarden at the @LandcareAust conference. pic.twitter.com/FGyxZIJLVM
- with AAP.
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Daniel Ricciardo to leave McLaren at the end of 2022 season
The first blog post this morning mentioned the big news in racing that Australian driver Daniel Riccardo is leaving McLaren after the Formula One team terminated his contract early.
Ricciardo will leave McLaren at the end of the season, and is expected to be replaced by another Australian, the highly rated Oscar Piastri, 21.
If you want to hear Riccardo’s announcement in his own words, here is the video he posted on Twitter:
— Daniel Ricciardo (@danielricciardo) August 24, 2022
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NSW records 29 Covid deaths and 1,836 people in hospital
There were 5,790 new cases in the last reporting period, and 37 people are in intensive care.
COVID-19 update – Thursday 25 August 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) August 24, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.9% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine*
- 95.4% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine* pic.twitter.com/KZ8Gp47IwH
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Business chamber rejects need for multi-employer bargaining
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry has rejected unions’ claims that they need the ability to strike deals across multiple work sites in order to lift workers’ pay.
The chamber’s chief executive, Andrew McKellar, told Radio National:
No [it isn’t needed], the point here is we need to make sure that enterprise bargaining can work, at the moment it’s tied in knots.
The rules the Commission are required to apply just don’t encourage that flexibility, they don’t link back into productivity, and they discourage parties from getting into negotiations. What we’ve got to have is an approach where it’s simplified, the Commission is able to apply a simple set of rules that apply to everybody.
If we can do that, if we can get that sort of confidence back in the system, then I think we can get real productivity improvements at the enterprise level, and in return, you get real wage increases. I think that’s what we want to see.
McKellar said the focus should be increased productivity:
Even over the past decade, real wages have grown more rapidly than productivity growth. I think we want to see productivity growing more strongly. That’s the way to get real wages going. If we can get that, then we will see increases in living standards and higher wages.
That’s something that business fully agrees to, but we can’t have a situation where it’s simply nominal wages chasing inflation, pushing up costs. That’s just going to lead to higher price increases and higher interest rates.
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Pocock criticises government’s new offshore oil and gas exploration
David Pocock, the independent senator for the ACT, is joining the Greens in criticising Labor’s announcement of its annual release of ocean acreage available for companies to explore for oil and gas.
The minister for resources, Madeleine King, yesterday announced 46,758 sq km of new acreage would be available for exploration, saying it would play an important role in securing future energy supplies.
Last month the PM declared a climate emergency standing alongside Pacific island leaders.
— David Pocock (@DavidPocock) August 24, 2022
Yesterday Minister King announced new offshore oil and gas exploration.
We need real action to back up the symbolism and gestures. https://t.co/i0b41kIznl
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Qantas posts third major loss but says recovery under way
The Qantas Group have posted their 2022 financial year results, experiencing a loss of $1.86bn before tax.
It’s the group’s third consecutive major loss, which they say reflects the “Delta and Omicron impacts as well as the upfront costs from restarting the airline as lockdowns finally ended”.
The statement put out by the group says the results of the final quarter of the year, which were profitable, gives them hope their economic situation is turning around:
While the first three quarters of the year were defined by border closures and waves of uncertainty caused by Covid variants, the fourth quarter saw the highest sustained levels of travel demand since the start of the pandemic.
Overall, the group’s flying levels for the year averaged at 33% of pre-pandemic levels but finished at 68%.
The reopening of borders saw a huge increase in forward travel demand, which when combined with the group’s recovery plan, has resulted in a significant improvement to the balance sheet. Net debt has fallen from a high of more than $6.4bn to $3.9bn at the end of FY22, putting it below the optimal target range of $4.2bn to $5.2 bn.
With the existential crisis posed by the pandemic now over, the group is focused on responding to current operational challenges.
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Enterprise bargaining system needs reform, deputy prime minister says
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) is calling for a return to collective bargaining ahead of the government’s Jobs and Skills Summit next week.
Sally McManus, the secretary of the ACTU, told ABC’s 7.30 program last night she had no faith that wages will grow without reforms to the bargaining system.
You need to have a critical mass of people who can collectively bargain to push wages up. And we don’t have that. We all agree it’s collapsed. We all agree it’s far too complicated.
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has spoken this morning agreeing there is the need for reform. He told the Nine Network this morning everyone within the economy, employers and unions alike, agrees “getting productivity going is the key to getting wages going and that’s what we need to do to build prosperity in our nation”:
We do need to be thinking about how we can reform the enterprise bargaining system in a way that gets productivity growing.
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Above-average temperatures in NSW
Current temperatures across #NSW. Cloud cover bought above average temperatures to parts of the state, while #MidNorthCoast experienced below average overnight temperatures with clear skies and calm winds and #PortMacquarie currently 1°C. See forecasts: https://t.co/SPHgGeA3yx pic.twitter.com/vkhZnULxSz
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) August 24, 2022
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Ukrainian embassy should be established on plot previously allocated to Russia, opposition leader in the senate says
Simon Birmingham, the Coalition’s Senate leader, is calling for Ukraine to be given a “permanent home” with a proper embassy in Canberra and has suggested Ukraine be given the plot of land that was previously allocated to Russia.
(The Russian embassy’s lease on the plot was terminated under a ‘use it or lose it’ policy after the Russian government failed to complete building within three years)
Patricia Karvelas asks Birmingham: what message would that send?
I think it would send a very fitting message.
Particularly right now we should be ensuring we support Ukraine in every way possible ... we have to make sure we continue to provide practical assistance.
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Small business’ hiring power will be test of jobs summit success: Coalition
Birmingham says he hopes the government’s upcoming jobs summit will succeed, and he has his own litmus test for whether it does:
The test of the job summit will be whether small and medium business owners look at what is recommended and think ‘it will be easier for me to grow my business, it will be easier for me to hire more people’ ... that is really the simple test that it has to pass.
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‘There should have been questions asked’: Birmingham on Morrison saga
Simon Birmingham, the shadow minister for foreign affairs and the leader of the opposition in the Senate, spoke to ABC Radio earlier. The first question was about the Morrison secret ministries saga, following the government’s announcement earlier this week of a further inquiry after the release of the solicitor general’s advice.
Birmingham has reinforced calls the inquiry should go beyond Morrison’s role:
Logically, if they’re having one then it should look at the role of others in terms of advice and the like that’s been provided.
Asked if he would have expected there to be pushback along the chain at the time, Birmingham said:
I would have thought there should have been questions asked down the track when we got to appointments in things such as Treasury and home affairs more than a year later.
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Qantas engineers begin industrial action today
Qantas engineers will delay their shifts by one minute as an industrial action strategy, according to the ABC.
Catherine Taylor reports:
The one-minute strike is to protest Qantas’s inaction over negotiations for a 12% pay rise over four years, equivalent to 3% a year, and is designed to send a message to management: patience has run out.
The engineers’ strike over wages comes on the same day Qantas releases its annual profit results and in the same week management attempted to win back customers disgruntled over delays and lost baggage with $50 travel vouchers.
To anyone scoffing that a one-minute strike is hardly worth it, Steve Purvinas, the federal secretary of the Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers’ Association (ALAEA), says the stoppage reminds Qantas ‘there is another party negotiating here’.
The announcement from Qantas comes as train strikes occur in Sydney today, and the nurses’ union yesterday announced their members will walk off the job next week.
Shaye Candish, the nurses’ union general secretary, said nurses will strike for 24 hours on 1 September while maintaining life-preserving measures.
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Government not working on rent freeze, treasurer says
Asked whether the government is open to the Greens’ proposal for a nationwide 2 year rent freeze, Chalmers responds:
That’s not something we’ve been working on, but we do accept that a big part of the inflation problem in our economy is skyrocketing rents.
That’s why we’ve got a housing Australia future fund which is about building more affordable homes, it’s why I’m working with the super industry and the states to see if we can build more stock.
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Government will look at NSW proposal for a low-skilled visa category
Are you considering the call from the NSW govt and business groups for a low-skilled visa category?
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) August 24, 2022
"We have had some discussions about it ... there are a range of levers in the migration system and the skills system which the relevant ministers will look at"
- @JEChalmers
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Cost prohibitive to fast tracking childcare reform, treasurer says
ABC Radio is asking the treasurer whether he would bring forward the start date for changes to the childcare system to 1 January to boost women’s workforce participation. Chalmers says:
I have been considering it is the truth of it, but there are substantial costs associated with it.
Chalmers said there have been extensive discussion with his colleagues including Anne Aly, but that the “cost is most likely prohibitive.”
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Summit will be seeking common ground between unions and employers, treasurer says
Chalmers says the government is “not naive” about how contentious ACTU’s proposal for collective bargaining will be. He says:
We’re not surprised people have different views about it … the job in this instance for [the minister for employment] Tony Burke … is to see where there is some common ground.
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Treasurer says unions’ collective bargaining proposal belongs at summit
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is asked about the Australian Council of Trade Unions making industry-wide bargaining a centrepiece of their pitch to the jobs summit. He responds:
Our view is that there’s something broken in the enterprise bargaining system as it’s just not delivering that strong, responsible, sustainable wages growth we need to see.
Chalmers says if the ACTU’s ideas could boost wage growth “they belong at the summit”.
We’re not naive about this view being contentious.
We welcome the contribution of all sides.
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Treasurer to discuss union’s collective bargaining proposal ahead of jobs summit
Workers and their union representatives want to be able to negotiate deals on pay and conditions with multiple employers at once. The Australian Council of Trade Unions is taking these proposed changes to the fair work laws to the government’s jobs summit.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC Radio ahead of the summit which will be held next week.
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Sydney cops second rail strike of the week
Sydney commuters face a second day of train strikes this week, with major delays expected across inner city and suburban lines, AAP reports.
Rail strikes are planned for Thursday with workers across the city circle and Redfern to walk off the job, while suburban trains will run on reduced timetables as workers come from other parts of the network to fill the gaps.
The industrial action comes two days after a chaotic Tuesday on Sydney’s rail network, with the T1, T7 and T9 lines impacted and the T5 line prevented from operating.
On Wednesday, the state employee relations minister, Damien Tudehope, called on the Rail, Tram and Bus Union to give up on industrial action, saying an agreement was close to being reached which would satisfy union demands.
The government and union are engaged in a long-running dispute over a fleet of Korean-built new intercity trains, which the union said are unsafe and require modifications.
The fleet was designed for drivers to monitor platforms via CCTV, with a risk a driver would not be able to see if someone had fallen through the gap between platform and train, the union said.
Tudehope said a deed had been presented to the RTBU on Wednesday afternoon, which had been negotiated over a two-week period to please the union. He said:
We call on the union today to execute that document and to call off the industrial activity, which has inconvenienced the people and commuters of this state.
However, Tudehope conceded the deed had not yet been signed by either party, and the RTBU maintained it was too late to avert planned strikes on Thursday.
The RTBU said it had received the deed ten minutes before Tudehope stepped out for his media appearance.
In a statement on Wednesday night, the union’s NSW secretary, Alex Claassens, dismissed calls from the government to call off industrial action, saying the government was aware it was too late:
Now that a deed has finally been received, we will go through our usual democratic processes and discuss the situation with our elected delegates.
The government knows that it has given us this new deed far too late for any actions planned for tomorrow.
The RTBU said it would follow regular processes while considering the government’s offer.
The union is expected to make a statement on Thursday morning.
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‘A failure as shameful as robodebt leaves questions only a royal commission can examine’: Luke Henriques-Gomes
A royal commission into robodebt is expected to be announced today. If you’re wondering why the commission is needed after a class action was successful, my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes – who won a Walkley award for his coverage of the issue – gives you the answer.
Updated
Good morning!
The government is set to announce a royal commission into the failed robodebt scheme today, fulfilling the election promise they made to address what the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has described as a “human tragedy.”
Albanese is expected to announce the details of the commission, which will examine how welfare debts were unlawfully issued to 443,000 people.
A class action launched by the victims of the scheme was successful in 2021, but the former government never detailed who was accountable.
Also, the Greens are urging the government to freeze rent rises for two years to avoid a “national tragedy”. The party says the issue of rental affordability should be elevated to national cabinet ahead of next week’s jobs and skills summit.
You can read the full story from Guardian Australia’s chief political correspondent, Sarah Martin:
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) want to see more options for collective bargaining, including multi-employer or sector bargaining, which would allow multiple workplaces to make an agreement together.
The proposed changes to fair work laws would help employees raise wages, according to the ACTU.
In Formula One news, Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo is set to leave McLaren after the British F1 team terminated his contract early.
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