What we learned today, Tuesday 28 June
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news. Here’s a summary of the main developments:
- Results from the 2021 census were released on Tuesday. Christianity is in decline, millennials are catching up to boomers, and everyone was at home, were among the key insights from the pandemic census night.
- Meanwhile, India has overtaken China and New Zealand to become the third largest country of birth for Australian residents, 2021 census data has found.
- You can check out our interactive looking at how Covid changed Australia and your suburb.
- Forty-six people were found dead and 16 others were taken to hospital after being found inside a truck on Monday on a remote back road in south-west San Antonio, Texas officials have said.
- Twelve more Blockade Australia climate protesters have been arrested over the group’s mass disruption campaign in Sydney’s CBD.
- John Barilaro told the New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, in a “social setting” that he intended to apply for a plum $500,000 trade job in New York, some time after the former deputy premier quit parliament last year.
Thanks for reading. We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow to do it all over again.
Updated
India third most common country of birth for Australian residents, census finds
India has overtaken China and New Zealand to become the third largest country of birth for Australian residents, 2021 census data has found.
On 10 August 2021, 673,352 people living in Australia reported India as their country of birth – an increase of 220,000, or 47.9%, since the previous census in 2016. The most common country of birth was Australia, followed by England.
Overall, more than one million migrants arrived in Australia in the past five years despite Covid-19 travel restrictions.
The census data, released on Tuesday, provides the most up-to-date information on cultural diversity, language and religion, and found Australia continues to be a broadly multicultural nation.
Half of Australians have a parent born overseas, and more than one in four were born internationally.
Read more:
Updated
Cold weather to continue in southern Australia
The southern parts of Australia will experience frosty winter mornings for the next week, the Bureau of Meterology has said, while in the Northern Territory, the normally dry season will be experiencing larger amounts of rainfall.
Bureau of Meterology senior forecaster Christie Johnson said we will see frosty mornings on and off through southern parts of Australia, with the southeast getting a reprieve with a cold front coming through.
It will move through South Australia tomorrow and then across the rest of south-east Australia tomorrow night and Thursday night.
It will bring more cloud cover so it will mean slightly warmer nights, even if it does bring showers and snow. But Johnson said the temperatures, which have been dipping below subzero, were similar to last year.
A cloudband over the Northern Territory at the moment will extend over Queensland in the coming days, and will bring light rainfall to the areas, but due to it being the dry season there it will be many times the monthly average experienced in the area.
The cloud cover, rain and cold winds will mean maximum temperatures will be 8 to 12 degrees below average.
Updated
Victoria’s free flu shot program extended
The Victorian government is extending its free flu shot program over the school holidays.
The new health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, on Tuesday announced the program would continue to 10 July.
Throughout June all Victorians aged six months and over have been eligible for a free flu shot from more than 2,000 GP clinics and community pharmacies across the state.
Thomas says the extension of the program will provide families with additional time to access the free service when it best suits them:
As many Victorians have experienced first-hand already, this is shaping up to be the most aggressive flu season we’ve seen since the start of the pandemic, with thousands of cases being recorded across the state each week.
We’ve been heartened by the huge turnout from Victorians so far for the flu shot, but we can do even better – that’s why we’re extending this program so more people can access this free service.
Getting vaccinated against both Covid-19 and the flu not only keeps the pressure off our hospitals, but also gives you and your loved ones the best protection possible over the winter period.
Updated
New Acland coalmine expansion gets final environmental approval
A controversial Queensland coalmine’s expansion has been given final environmental approval after a decade-long campaign against it, reports AAP.
Stage three of New Hope Group’s New Acland open-cut coalmine, in north-west Toowoomba, was on Tuesday given the green light by the Department of Environment and Science.
Landholders and environmentalists have protested against the project, and last year unsuccessfully tried to have it blocked in the land court.
The project will lift New Acland’s output from 4.8m tonnes to 7.8m tonnes a year, and extend the mine’s life for 12 years to 2034.
“The EA (environmental approval) only takes effect upon the grant of a mining tenure, which is yet to be provided,” a DES official said.
“It includes a number of strict conditions, including ensuring that air and noise emissions from proposed activities are managed and monitored effectively.
“Should there be any activity prior to all approvals being granted, the independent regulator will monitor compliance with environmental obligations in accordance with the EA.”
The New Acland mine is a thermal coalmine, which provides fuel for power plants in Australia and overseas.
Updated
Labor announces mutual obligation changes
The employment minister, Tony Burke, has announced minor changes to the new mutual obligations system set to begin next month.
Some welfare advocates have been calling for a pause to the new model – which uses a “points” system – but Burke said last week it was too late to make changes to the plan, which was passed by the former government with Labor’s support.
Under the new system, rather than simply applying for 20 jobs a month, jobseekers will be able to accumulate 100 points – and therefore meet their obligations – by completing a range of different activities.
Guardian Australia reported this month that under the “points-based activation system” a jobseeker in full-time study would still not obtain the 100 points required to meet their mutual obligations.
Burke said on Tuesday the government would be “ensuring that someone participating in full-time study or training that improves their long-term job prospects is not putting their qualifications at risk. This includes ensuring that vulnerable individuals will have no job search requirements if they are undertaking approved short full-time courses.”
Under a new list circulated by Burke’s office on Tuesday, full-time-equivalent education still attracted only 20 points (or 80 of the 100 required over a month). But a footnote was added suggesting the “points target and minimum job search requirement can be tailored for participants undertaking education”.
Jobseekers have previously complained that although their requirements were already supposed to be flexible and negotiated with their job agency, this had not occurred in practice.
Burke said the minimum number of job applications a person would have to complete each month would be reduced to four, rather than five as originally announced.
Those who have “demerit points” – payment suspensions for breaching the rules that can lead to more significant penalties if accumulated – will also have their record wiped clean when the new system starts, as Burke had flagged in a radio interview last week.
“It is important to note that people who continue to do exactly what they did under the old system – apply for 20 jobs a month – will still meet their points requirements and therefore satisfy their mutual obligation,” Burke said.
Some activities have also had their points allocation boosted in the new list of activities.
The changes are unlikely to satisfy advocates, who have raised concerns about the increase in automation and are more broadly critical of mutual obligations requirements. This will be used to enact welfare payment suspensions when people do not reach their 100 points. An Acoss report today found significant dissatisfaction with the former Jobactive system and warned the new model was set to contain many of the same problems.
Updated
Use our census data interactive
The first lot of data from the 2021 census is out. Use our interactive to find out how your area was affected by coronavirus demographic changes and more.
The 2021 census was conducted on 10 August, when much of the country was deep in Covid-19 lockdown. The first tranche of data provides a snapshot of mid-pandemic Australia.
The country is changing. Millennials are becoming the nation’s largest generation, overtaking the baby boomers, and the population in regional areas is growing.
Census 2021: how Covid-19 changed Australia – search the data for your town or suburb, then tell us about your area!https://t.co/dz9ml0qdwj pic.twitter.com/SYfXXP66m4
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) June 28, 2022
Explore our interactive here:
Updated
Anthony Albanese is speaking from Madrid, where he is condemning Russia’s attack on a shopping mall in Kremenchuk in Ukraine which killed 16 people.
The audio from that press conference was fairly patchy, but the prime minister is about to enter a meeting of Nato nations.
We should hear more shortly.
Weekly Covid fatalities rising steadily since March
Covid deaths have been rising in the past couple of months.
Deaths were as low as 144 per week at the beginning of March but are now hovering around 300 per week.
There have already been 96 reported deaths in the first two days of this week.
Updated
Good Guys pauses trial of facial recognition technology
The Good Guys has paused its trial of facial recognition technology following a Choice complaint to the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) about its use.
The retailer was one of three identified to be using the technology as part of an investigation by the consumer group earlier this month. The company said it was used in two stores only as part of a trial for store safety and theft prevention.
A spokesperson for Good Guys said on Tuesday the company would wait for “clarification” from the OAIC about the technology:
The Good Guys today confirmed it will pause the trial of the upgraded security system with the optional facial recognition technology being conducted in two of its Melbourne stores.
The Good Guys take the confidentiality of personal information extremely seriously and remains confident that the trial complied with all applicable laws. The technology was solely used to review incidents of theft, and for the purposes of customer and team member safety and wellbeing.
The decision was made to pause the trial at this time pending any clarification from the OAIC regarding the use of this technology.
Updated
Rents increasing, census reveals
The census shows rents have shot up in many areas around the country. The median weekly rent increased $90 in Hobart between the 2016 and 2021 census, to $350.
Median weekly rents increased $70 in The ACT, to $450. That is just $20 behind Sydney, which increased just $30 over the same period.
Updated
National Covid update
Here are the latest coronavirus case numbers from around Australia on Tuesday, as the country records at least 75 deaths from Covid-19:
ACT
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 1,159
- In hospital: 121 (with no one in ICU)
NSW
- Deaths: 40
- Cases: 8,623
- In hospital: 1,540 (with 49 people in ICU)
Northern Territory
- Deaths: 1
- Cases: 302
- In hospital: 17 (with 1 person in ICU)
Queensland
- Deaths: 19
- Cases: 5,268
- In hospital: 593 (with 14 people in ICU)
South Australia
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 2,626
- In hospital: 246 (with 8 people in ICU)
Tasmania
- Deaths: 0
- Cases: 1,228
- In hospital: 45 (with 4 people in ICU)
Victoria
- Deaths: 11
- Cases: 7,758
- In hospital: 468 (with 35 people in ICU)
Western Australia
- Deaths: 4
- Cases: 4,810
- In hospital: 246 (with 11 people in ICU)
A woman has died while snorkelling in the Whitsundays, the Courier Mail reports.
The woman, aged in her 50s, reportedly developed chest pain and breathing difficulties on Tuesday.
When she came up for air and indicated her issues, the woman was brought back on board the commercial boat she had been out on and was taken back to shore, at about midday.
First responders reportedly met the woman at the Coral Sea Marina about half an hour later, however the woman could not be revived.
first census results map is live now - you can explore the results by area (SA2) for some key census variables here https://t.co/BfmtdNZvfW pic.twitter.com/p9aGjvnjw1
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) June 28, 2022
More Census data, showing the top ancestries of respondents:
Pastoralist company seeking injunction against fracking in Beetaloo Basin
Some news out of the Beetaloo Basin in the Northern Territory, where a group of fracking companies are currently conducting exploratory drilling, which was incentivised by tens of millions of dollars in subsidies announced by the last government.
One of Australia’s biggest pastoralists, Rallen Australia, has just announced it is seeking an injunction against fracking company Tamboran and its subsidiary Sweetpea Petroleum.
Rallen and Sweetpea have been engaged in a bitter dispute over the latter’s plans to conduct exploratory drilling on the Tanumbirini cattle station, which Rallen holds the lease for. A tribunal has previously ordered that Rallen allow Sweetpea access to the land to conduct exploratory drilling.
The current dispute involves Sweetpea’s attempts to build an access road across Newcastle Creek, home to a number of sacred sites protected by Northern Territory law.
The injunction will seek an immediate cessation of the roadworks. Its argument is supported by one Indigenous group, the Nurrdalinji Native Title Aboriginal Corporation, which says it has repeatedly asked Sweetpea to halt the roadworks. Sweetpea holds the proper authorisation it needs from the NT authority that protects sacred sites.
It submitted detailed plans about its work around Newcastle Creek and says it has left a buffer around sacred sites. Sweetpea says it has consulted widely with recognised Indigenous groups through the Northern Land Council and has consent for the work.
The case will come before the NT supreme court at 2.30pm Australian eastern time.
Updated
Population density unchanged
Much has been said about a shift away from apartments and dense living during Covid but it doesn’t seem to be the case.
Almost exactly the same share of the population live in apartments and detached houses as in 2016.
Updated
Podcaster denies influencing potential witnesses in Chris Dawson murder trial
Investigative journalist Hedley Thomas has rejected suggestions by lawyers for Chris Dawson that he influenced potential witnesses in Dawson’s murder trial by discussing potential movies or miniseries about the case, reports AAP.
Thomas, who produced The Teacher’s Pet podcast on the January 1982 disappearance of Lynette Dawson, was returning to give evidence in the NSW supreme court on Tuesday.
He said talk of interviewees playing a role in a production was merely banter during interviews with them, which occurred before Dawson was charge.
Read more here:
Updated
First day of school vibes as new MPs and senators meet their classmates and are introduced to their new offices in parliament house today. It’s O-week now, ahead of parliament sitting in late July.
The Teals are in the House pic.twitter.com/TaLNRO7f77
— Dan Jervis-Bardy (@D_JervisBardy) June 28, 2022
At least 42 people were found dead inside a trailer truck in San Antonio, Texas, the state’s governor and local media said on Monday.
You can read more here:
Coming up in 25 minutes – our fortnightly conversation about the latest Guardian Essential and the state of politics. Register here if you want the live version https://t.co/4x97BOGkF3 (or you can listen later on my podcast, Australian Politics) #auspol @ebony_bennett
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) June 28, 2022
And this is where I tap out for the day – I’ll pass you over to Elias Visontay now, who’ll take you through the rest of the afternoon. See you bright and early tomorrow morning!
QLD records 19 deaths from Covid-19 with 593 people in hospital
There were 5,268 new cases recorded in the past 24 hours, and 19 people are in intensive care.
Today we have recorded 5,268 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) June 28, 2022
Sadly, we have reported 19 deaths in the past 24 hours.
Full details➡️ https://t.co/6L6VcCs88t… pic.twitter.com/PbTXhUvvN6
if I'm reading this right - rental and housing stress measures actually *decreased* from 2016 to 2021. could this be skewed by pandemic-specific payments? #census pic.twitter.com/aTzTkm1lMc
— Nick Evershed (@NickEvershed) June 28, 2022
Increase in proportion of non-religious Australians
There’s been quite a large increase in the proportion of Australians who aren’t religious, with the percentage of non-religious people increasing from 29.6% in 2016 to 38.9% in 2021.
The ABS reports that while the proportion of Christians has declined, there have also been increases in other religions, such as Hinduism which grew by 55.3% to 684,002 people, or 2.7% of the population.
Updated
Consumer sentiment shows resilience
Amid the concerns about rising prices, it’s worth keeping an eye on how consumer sentiment is faring.
Lately, perhaps surprisingly, consumers have been perking up, at least according to the weekly surveys by ANZ and Roy Morgan. The gauge remains well below neutral levels.
More signs of consumer sentiment perking up - but from very low levels. NSW and Queensland led the gains, perhaps because of the state budgets. (Source: @ANZ_Research and Roy Morgan ) pic.twitter.com/qdizQSDjRw
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) June 28, 2022
The underlying components are also a bit mixed. “Current economic conditions” fell 2.5%, its fourth straight weekly decline, but “future economic conditions” are up 6% – clawing back much of the 7.1% slide over the previous three weeks.
As for “time to buy a major household item”, this gauge rose 9.8%, another upbeat sign.
Also closely watched is whether expectations of higher inflation are taking hold. On this measure, too, there is some good news, with consumers paring back slightly their views of how high prices will go:
Meanwhile, weekly inflation expectations have eased back slightly, @ANZ_Research and Roy Morgan say... pic.twitter.com/B78JZ7LQAt
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) June 28, 2022
One factor that may chill consumer confidence – and expectations about higher prices – is rising interest rates. As of yesterday, here’s what investors were tipping, including a 63% chance that the RBA will lift its cash rate to 1.5% at next Tuesday’s board meeting.
Investors, meanwhile, are still rating the odds the RBA will lift its cash rate to 1.5% on July 5th as almost a two-in-three chance. pic.twitter.com/fyTR4wXyOC
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) June 28, 2022
Another thing to watch is what happens to property prices. Rising “home values” tend to make people feel richer (if you own a house or flat, or are paying one off), and that tends to stoke spending.
On that score, the arrow looks to be pointed lower, as we reported this morning.
Updated
And here’s a visualisation of how migration has grown since 2016.
Census reveals population growth
Would you like some more census graphs? You know you would. Here’s how the population has grown since 2016, broken down by regional and capital city areas.
Interestingly, the only state or territory in which regional growth outgrew capital city growth was in Victoria.
I’d love to know how much of that growth happened since, oh, March 2020.
Updated
An immigration officer working in Australia’s embassy in South Africa acted corruptly by taking money in exchange for providing inside information on visa applications, the law enforcement watchdog has alleged.
The Australian Commission for Law Enforcement Integrity on Tuesday released a report examining allegations of corrupt conduct by visa processing staff in 2017.
It alleged that a local employee engaged by the Australian embassy in Pretoria, named Officer G, abused their office and engaged in corrupt conduct by providing information to applicants in exchange for money.
Aclei also alleged the officer “inappropriately granted visa applications, a number of which were linked to the persons that Officer G was giving advice to in exchange for payment”.
The investigation also identified broader problems within the visa processing area.
The integrity commissioner, Jaala Hinchcliffe, said:
Since the establishment of the Visa Integrity Task Force, numerous vulnerabilities in relation to locally engaged employees and offshore visa processing have been identified. Operation Embla highlights the importance of robust frameworks for allocating visa applications and ensuring there is adequate management oversight of their processing.
Updated
I never thought I’d say this in all seriousness, but here’s Malcolm Roberts quite effectively making the argument about why the parliamentary staffing cuts make the job of government oversight by independents harder.
Anthony Albanese's cuts to the crossbench advisers are an attack on democracy. The less help we have, the easier it is for government to get away with whatever they want.
— Malcolm Roberts 🇦🇺 (@MRobertsQLD) June 28, 2022
Full video: https://t.co/BpmiFs0bGm pic.twitter.com/G0P9mbf7AK
A question from Guardian’s own Sarah Martin:
In regards to the capability gap, what is your latest advice as to when you expect the first of the nuclear subs to be able to be delivered and when you say there are several options on the table, are there any other options you can tell us have been disregarded?
Marles:
That is a process that we’re working through under the framework of Aukus with the United Kingdom and the United States. Within that, there are number of options will be worked through and it is not an obvious choice.
We are seeking to expedite that as quickly as possible but I am not about to commit to a timeline now ... We want to get it as soon as possible. But we are talking about a very big step that will be taken in relation to a capability to driving nuclear-powered submarines. It won’t happen soon. But we want to work out how quickly we can get it and every year counts.
Updated
A reporter asks whether, given the Ukrainian ambassador to Australia has said he would like to see more Bushmasters and armoured personnel carriers in Ukraine, would the Albanese government commit to providing those?
Marles:
In relation to the Ukraine, we are looking at continuing to look at the ways which we can help. I think as it stands now, we are closing in on almost $300m worth of assistance to Ukraine. Not all of that has been delivered and we are continuing the process of delivering it. But we’re also looking an additional way in which we can support Ukraine.
The reason for that is that while Ukraine is a long way from Australia, we really do see that the principles which are at stake in that conflict, which is essentially that the global rule-based order that Australian stands for and has helped build and protect needs to be protected everywhere. In eastern Europe and the Indo-Pacific as well.
While this is a conflict a long way away, we see it as one that very much engages Australia’s national interest and therefore stand with Ukraine against the aggression of Russia and we will continue to look at ways to support them.
The second half of the question was, could we see two nuclear submarines by 2030 from the US as part of the arrangement? Marles says they are “evaluating options”.
Updated
A reporter asks, when will the military have a female service chief?
Marles:
It is a really good question. Again, yes, there is consideration. Ultimately ... the decisions have been made against the backdrop of who we believe are the most capable people to fill these roles. It is a really relevant question.
It is very important that the Australian Defence Force looks like Australia in terms of its diversity. I know that in general Campbell’s time, there has been a real emphasis on improving the diversity of the Defence Force so that it ... look[s] more like Australia. But there is a way to go.
There is not gender equality in terms of the number of representatives in the Defence Force right now. Having said that, there are rising number of women within the Defence Force.
Updated
Marles is asked about the “complex strategic environment” in which he’s making this announcement, especially in relation to “defence acquisition” – think submarines.
Marles says:
We have seen a number of key procurements fall behind. We do have ... capability challenges facing the country. Most significantly, delivering the next generation of submarines.
To that end, it really is important we have some continuity in respect of how we manage that through and particularly, as chief of defence force admiral Johnston and the investment committee has a really such a role in respect of that, and that continuity will serve us well [in] making sure we can deliver those as quickly as possible, because we cannot afford any more delay in terms of delivering Australia’s new submarine capability.
He doesn’t miss the opportunity to take some swipes at the previous Morrison government:
Governments procure. Governments govern, or they don’t, and the former government did not. It is the responsibility of the former government that we have seen that procurements fall behind and it is governments that procure. This new government, the Albanese government, intends to govern.
Updated
Marles is speaking to the media, and he says the new appointments and term extensions are being made at “a time when our nation faces great challenges”.
He’s asked about the Brereton Report:
The report dealt with really difficult matters that face our defence force. These are matters that are incredibly important ... and the country is asking us to deal with them.
I also say that we have been very lucky to have general Campbell in place while this really difficult issue has faced our country. There remains work to be done in terms of the report and we will continue working [on that]. And to that end, the extension of general Campbell’s term, I think, is completely appropriate and will serve the nation well in the full implementation of those recommendations.
Updated
The government has also asked the chief of the ADF to extend the term of the chief of joint operations, Greg Bilton, for two years.
And he’s announced three new appointments:
- Chief of navy: Mark Hammond
- Chief of army: Simon Stuart
- Chief of air force: Robert Chipman
They replace the outgoing service chiefs Michael Noonan (navy), Rick Burr (army), Mel Hupfeld (air force), whose terms were due to expire soon.
Updated
Australian Defence Force chiefs will have terms extended
The chief of the ADF, Angus Campbell, will have his term extended by two years, the defence minister, Richard Marles, has announced.
Marles has also announced that the vice chief of the ADF, David Johnston, will have his term extended by two years. Marles said:
We arrive at a time which is as strategically complex as any since the end of the second world war in terms of our national security and the needs of our defence procurement.
He has also announced new chiefs for navy, army and air force. More details soon.
Updated
Who is the average Australian? The answer might surprise you. Dickenson says according to the census, it’s:
A female aged 30-39 years, living in a coupled family with children in the greater capital city area with an average weekly family income of $3,000 or more. That is our average Australian.
Median personal income for Indigenous adults has increased in real 2021 dollars from $483 to $540.
— Francis Markham (@fmarked) June 28, 2022
But the income gap is hardly closing at the median, from 66.6% of non-Indigenous in 2016 to 67.1% in 2021.
At this rate it will take 329 YEARS for the income gap to close.
And here’s Dickenson talking about some of the data on - my favourite topic – housing:
The 2021 Census showed just over a third of dwellings occupied on census night were owned with a mortgage, just under a third were rented and just under a third were owned outright.
The NT had the highest percentage of renters in Australia, with renters making up 46% of the housing market there.
The number of homes owned either outright or with a mortgage hasn’t changed significantly since 1996; however, the share of homes which are owned with a mortgage – rather than outright – has been growing.
Over the last 25 years the number of homes owned outright has increased by 10%, while the number owned with a mortgage has doubled.
Updated
Dickenson continues, discussing religious affiliation (which we summarised below), migration and housing.
Here’s what she had to say about migration:
While the pandemic has impacted the flow of people into Australia, the Census shows there was still over a million migrants arriving in Australia since 2017. 850,000 of those arrived before the end of 2019.
The number of us who are first generation Australians, those born overseas, and second generation Australians, those with one or both parents born overseas which includes me, has grown and is over half the Australian population now.
From Census data we can see emerging communities. Our population from Nepal has more than doubled since the last Census and this change can be seen with Nepali being one of the top five languages in Canberra and Tasmania.
We have seen the largest increase in country of birth outside Australia being India, with 220,000 additional people counted, making India now the second-highest overseas-born population after England, and leapfrogging China and New Zealand.
Updated
'Australia is undergoing a generational shift'
Theresa Dickenson, the senior responsible officer for the 2021 Census and Deputy statistician at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has talked about some more of the insights from the census data:
Australia is undergoing a generational shift. While Australia is an ageing country, the 2021 Census has seen the number of millennials, those born from 1981-1996, catch up to the baby boomers. The baby boomers and millennials each have over 5.4 million people. The number of millennials is increasing through migration, while the number of baby boomers is decreasing.
The census highlights a variety of differences between baby boomers and millennials, including their propensity to volunteer, religious affiliation and needs for assistance of tasks with daily living.
Updated
Dr David Gruen, chief statistician at the Australian Bureau of Statistics, has been speaking at a media event officially launching the census. He’s noted some of the interesting shifts in population movements we’re seeing in the data:
The 2021 Census provides a unique snapshot of Australia and impacts of Covid-19. The 2021 Census counted 2 million more people at home on Census night than in 2016, with half a million fewer of us travelling overseas and also fewer people away from home within Australia.
In terms of people moving in the other direction – that is, into Australia – these were just over 60,000 international visitors during the Census, far less than the 300,000 we counted visiting in 2016. Areas like the Gold Coast saw the impact of international travel restrictions with a significant drop in people at hotels and motels.
Updated
Charts! Josh Nicholas, one of Guardian’s data journalists, has been making some pretty pictures out of the census data. Here’s one, on population growth by state:
Bees. They’re having a hard time. If you were plugged into the news machine yesterday you would have heard that varroa mite, a major honeybee parasite, has been found at the Port of Newcastle.
It’s in pretty much every other country that has honeybees but hasn’t established itself in Australia before – and it’s bad news for bees. So the government is trying to eradicate it.
My colleague Donna Lu has written this great explainer on the mite and what it might (mite) mean for Australia’s bees.
Some images are coming through on the wires from the Blockade Australia protests this morning.
Albanese has 'constructive discussion' with Solomon Islands PM
Anthony Albanese says his first conversation since becoming prime minister with Solomon Islands counterpart Manasseh Sogavare has been “very constructive”, ahead of the NATO Summit in Spain, AAP reports.
Speaking from the tarmac after arriving in Madrid overnight, Albanese confirmed the two had spoken amid escalating regional tensions in the Pacific:
We talked about the Pacific Island Forum that will be coming up and the important agreement that has been made, led by the Fijian prime minister, to make sure the Pacific Island Forum can remain united and strong.
That’s an important breakthrough. Prime Minister Sogavare reconfirmed his position that Australia remains the security partner of choice.
Albanese says he and Sogavare look forward to holding a meeting together at the forum, which will be held in Fiji mid-July.
China and the Solomon Islands have forged a security pact, which has Pacific nations concerned about Beijing’s expanding influence.
Some footage here that appears to be from the Blockade Australia protest in Sydney this morning. There are more clips in the Twitter thread.
Police knock a Blockade Australia protester to the ground in Sydney. The march was for tougher action to tackle the #ClimateCrisis pic.twitter.com/2ouo32ySNj
— Michael Dahlstrom (@mb_dahlstrom) June 27, 2022
Australia’s peak renewable industry groups say paying coal and gas plants to remain in the electricity market as back-up capacity would be “a retrograde step”, and a lengthy debate about changes could stall much-needed new investment.
Kane Thornton, the chief executive of the Clean Energy Council, said his organisation had “real concerns” about the proposal by the Energy Security Board for a so-called capacity mechanism to be introduced after 2025. Such a scheme would charge consumers for idle generation or supply to reduce risks of potential power shortages, as experienced across eastern Australia this month.
Read the full story here:
Updated
More on Pat Conroy’s appearance at the Pacific event: he says the Albanese government will reintroduce a requirement that 80% of Australia’s development programmes have a gender equity goal as part of the design.
Answering a question about the issue as he addressed the Pacific Update event in Fiji by video link, Conroy acknowledges the gendered natures of challenges the region faces. For example, he says, studies have shown natural disasters have a greater impact on women and girls:
We’re going to have a very strong focus in our development programmes around gender equality, and that’s why I announced that we would be reintroducing the requirement that 80% of our development programmes have a gender equity goal as part of the design.
Conroy also talks about the Pacific labour mobility scheme and the fact that “increasing protection for workers is very important for every worker” but says women are more likely to face exploitation in terms of the power balance in workplaces, “so increasing protection for workers is really important.”
Conroy goes on to promise “enhanced understanding and mutual respect” with the Pacific:
I’m not just here to tell you what the Australian government plans to do to build a stronger and more resilient Pacific family. I also want to hear directly from the Pacific on how we can work together.
I have been meeting Pacific leaders and I look forward to visiting your country [Fiji] soon to continue listening and learning with you, including at next month’s Pacific Islands Forum. This enhanced understanding and mutual respect will help Australia to truly deepen its ties and its commitment to the Pacific family in the years ahead.
Updated
Now I’m back to looking up the formal definition of “superspreader”.
Third new Victorian cabinet member down with covid. Was Saturday’s cabinet meeting a super spreader event? #springst https://t.co/CoMUA24F2O
— Bridget Rollason (@bridgerollo) June 27, 2022
New Pacific minister 'here to listen' after region 'frustrated' by former government
The new minister for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, has told Pacific countries that Australia “is here to listen” and “will be a leader, not a laggard” on climate change.
Conroy has also acknowledged Pacific island countries had been “frustrated by the former Australian government’s approach to climate change” and says being family means respecting and listening to the concerns of each member.
He is addressing an event – Pacific Update – co-hosted by the University of the South Pacific in Fiji and the Australian National University’s Development Policy Centre.
Joining the event by video link, Conroy said:
We meet at a time when the complexity of issues we face is growing. In particular the triple challenges of climate, Covid and strategic contest will test us in new ways.
I will touch on some of those challenges today, but my central message is this: Australia is here to listen. We are here to work together with our Pacific family and we are here to make a difference. All the nations of the world face significant global challenges but we don’t have to face them alone.
Conroy acknowledged for the Pacific, climate change is not an abstract threat but an existential one, an argument the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has made during her travels to the region too.
He assured his audience that the new Australian government “will join with our Pacific family in constructive ways” to deal with climate change:
I know that Pacific family was frustrated by the former Australian government’s approach to climate change in recent years. A new government has been elected and we are absolutely committed to acting on climate change. A true family respects each member, listens to the concerns of family members and acts upon those concerns.
He said the former Australian government “disrespected” Pacific countries by not taking adequate action on climate change.
I mentioned climate change first because the Australian government knows that the issue of security is inseparable from the issue of climate change.
Conroy then turned his attention to strategic challenges. He said Australia deeply respects regional institutions. He cited Labor’s election promises on Pacific security, including stepping maritime surveillance to tackle illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, and better coordinating defence engagement with the region.
Updated
Victoria records 11 deaths from Covid-19 with 468 people in hospital
There were 7,758 new cases recorded and 35 people in intensive care over the past 24 hours.
We thank everyone who got vaccinated and tested yesterday.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) June 27, 2022
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives.
More data soon: https://t.co/OCCFTAtS1P#COVID19Vic #COVID19VicData pic.twitter.com/m6YBr91VsH
NSW records 40 deaths from Covid-19 with 1,540 people in hospital
There were 8,623 cases recorded over the past 24 hours, and 49 people are in intensive care.
COVID-19 update – Tuesday 28 June 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) June 27, 2022
In the 24-hour reporting period to 4pm yesterday:
- 96.6% of people aged 16+ have had one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine
- 95.1% of people aged 16+ have had two doses of a COVID-19 vaccine pic.twitter.com/vioGMLUxht
On those deaths, NSW Health said:
The 40 deaths notified to NSW Health in the 24 hours to 4pm on Monday includes 26 deaths notified through the NSW Registry of Births Deaths and Marriages.
COVID-19 related deaths are notified to NSW Health from a range of sources and not all deaths reported by NSW Health occurred in the week in which they are reported as there is sometimes a delay between a death occurring and it being notified to NSW Health.
1m vacant dwellings in a country struggling with chronic housing insecurity and a rental crisis. Good times.
High level housing figures from the Census.
— National Shelter (@NationalShelter) June 27, 2022
1million vacant dwellings. Incredible. https://t.co/BfEcHSe3Up
Updated
This is unconfirmed as yet but likely to be from today’s Blockade Australia action in Sydney.
A number of protesters have been arrested by officers attached to Strike Force Guard and have been taken to Surry Hills Police Station, where charges are anticipated.
— NSW Police Force (@nswpolice) June 27, 2022
The incident has been resolved, and the site is now cleared. https://t.co/KSu7RhAmDZ
The climate activist group released a statement about half an hour ago, confirming they had continued their actions today.
Christianity continues to decline in followers, census shows
The census shows that Christianity remains the country’s most common religion, AAP reports, with 43.9% of Australians identifying as Christian. But the number of followers continues to decline, dropping from 61.1% in 2011 and 52.1% in 2016.
Catholicism is the largest denomination, followed by Anglicanism. Other religions are growing: Hinduism was listed by 2.75% of respondents and Islam grew to 3.2%.
And close to 40% (38.9) have no religious affiliation, up from 22.3% in 2011 and 30.1% in 2016.
Questions on religion are one of the few voluntary questions in the census, AAP points out; however, 93% of respondents still gave an answer.
Updated
Women more likely to report long-term health conditions
Some 8 million people reported having a long-term health condition in the 2021 census, 2 million of whom suffer mental health problems, arthritis or asthma, AAP reports.
Women are more likely to report having a long-term health condition, with 34% suffering at least one, compared with 30% of men.
Mental illness is one of the most commonly reported conditions across the population, while women more commonly reported arthritis and men asthma.
Almost 63% of people over the age of 65 reported at least one long-term health condition, compared with 22% of those aged 15 to 34 years old.
More than 2.2 million Australians experience long-term mental health issues, more than 2.1m live with arthritis and just over 2m live with asthma. Australians under 14 were the most likely to have asthma.
Updated
🥶Frosty & foggy this morning, with Ts STILL <0 in parts. Fog at sunrise seen in this video of Ballarat Airport.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) June 27, 2022
Coldest min Ts recorded in the alpine areas. Also cold at...
Wangaratta: -2.2°C
Rutherglen: -2.1°C
Hopetoun Airport: -1.9°C#VicWeather: https://t.co/YFyMTqpH8q pic.twitter.com/JNxQUakA8p
Millennials are taking over: it's official
Australia’s millennial generation is becoming the nation’s largest, displacing the postwar baby boomers, census data shows.
Both demographic groups comprise 5.4 million people but the 2021 statistics reflect a diminishing number of “boomers” compared with the 2016 survey.
Defined as the generation of people born between 1946 and 1964, the number of baby boomers fell from 25.4% to 21.5% of the overall population between 2016 and 2021.
Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, increased from 20.4% to 21.5%.
In 1966, baby boomers made up nearly 40% of all Australians.
Updated
A growing number of Australians identify as Indigenous, census data shows
There are 812,728 people who identify as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander in Australia, equal to 3.2% of the population, reflecting an increase of more than 25% since census data was last collected in 2016.
Nearly 48,000 are aged 65 years and older, more than doubling those in the 2011 census.
The statistics also report for the first time on the number of Indigenous Australians who have served in the defence force. More than 3,000 serving members identify as Indigenous, totalling 3.7%. There are 11,000 former ADF members who identify as having Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage.
Language remains an important part of many Indigenous households, with more than 78,000 people speaking traditional language at home.
Of the 167 traditional languages spoken at home in 2021, the most widely reported were Arnhem Land and Daly River region languages, Torres Strait Island languages, Western Desert languages, Yolngu Matha and Arandic.
Of the Indigenous population, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal, 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander, and 4.4% identified as both.
We’ll get into the nitty gritty of the census data over the course of the day, but here are some fast facts:
- The national population in 2021 grew by about 2 million people since the last census in 2016 to 25.4 million.
- Due to the impacts of the pandemic, 2 million more people were at home on census night in 2021 compared with in 2016. Of those who completed the census, 96% did so at their own address.
- Covid led to an 80% decrease in the number of overseas visitors, with 61,860 in 2021 compared with more than 315,000 in 2016.
- More than a million new migrants arrived in Australia since 2017, according to the census, but about 80% of them arrived before the pandemic.
Updated
Blockade Australia protests set to continue today
Activists protesting climate inaction by blocking Sydney streets this week plan to continue, even as 10 protesters were arrested on Monday, including a 22-year-old woman who chained herself to the steering wheel of her car at the entrance to the Sydney Harbour Tunnel.
Blockade Australia spokesman Jonah Shabtay told AAP the protests were designed to demonstrate the effects of the collapse of the climate:
[The protests are] really for making it quite known and unavoidable that disruption is going to come from climate collapse, in which Sydney’s economy is largely responsible. In order to respond to that we’re choosing to disrupt the city.
Shabtay said the group had moved away from its previous tactic of targeting ports and was focusing on roads in Sydney’s CBD:
It’s essentially going to be traffic disruptions that we’ll see throughout the week.
The NSW police minister, Paul Toole, has labelled them “professional pests”. Speaking to Nine on Tuesday, Toole said:
I’m furious. The public are furious. These are professional pests. These people say that they are out there trying to actually protect the climate but yesterday what they were doing was littering all over Sydney.
Seven of the activists were refused bail. They face multiple obstruction and disruption charges and will appear in court on Tuesday.
Updated
Federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek says Australia has had a “fantastic” reception at the UN Ocean Conference in Portugal, which she addressed yesterday, heralding the announcement of five new “blue carbon” projects this week.
She was asked her opinion of the Blockade Australia climate crisis protests in New South Wales this week, and the widely criticised, very punitive anti-protest legislation that came into force in that state earlier this year.
Plibersek said she understood people felt strongly about climate crisis but that they needed to obey the law:
I support the right to protest. I think people need to protest within the bounds of the law ... I have been part of organising a lot of rallies in my life and it was always pretty standard practice to negotiate with police on the route of the march ...
You have a right to make your views known, you don’t have the right to break the law to do that.
She also spoke briefly about abortion rights in Australia, in the wake of those rights being rolled back in the United States, saying it was important for the government to be supporting “the full suite reproductive health [measures] for Australian women”, including sex education, contraception, and safe, legal abortion.
Updated
2021 census: first wave of data released today
Cast your mind back to last August and you probably remember filling out the census, alongside millions of other Australians.
The first and biggest release of this year’s census is out today. It’s the first time since 2016 that Australians will have up-to-date data on where we live, who we are and what we do. It’s a mammoth task to wade through, and takes months to collate.
The 2021 census was completed during the Covid-19 pandemic, when many Australians were in lockdown and working from home and overseas migration had largely halted.
Questions were asked about two new topics – long-term health conditions and service in the Australian defence force.
It’s also the first time “non-binary”was offered as an option to report a person’s gender.
The question directly feeds into the official estimates of Australia’s population, making it one of the questionnaire’s most important questions.
While it should provide a more accurate snapshot of Australia’s LGBTQ+ community than in the past, when “other” was the only option apart from male or female, the Australian Bureau of Statistics has been criticised for neglecting to provide additional categories for people who are transgender or intersex.
An official count won’t be published in the first release. An ABS spokesperson said in a statement:
Later this year, the ABS will be doing more analysis on non-binary sex responses and … working in consultation with key stakeholders in the LGBTQ+ community to understand the complexities, data quality and usefulness of the data.
At this time, the ABS will be publishing our findings and looking ahead to the next Census.
Most topics will be released on Tuesday. Almost all geographic data will be published, as will the answers to questions about ancestry, religion, unpaid work, income, birthrates, family relationship makeups and residence details.
In October the answers to employment questions will be released, while in early to mid-2023 the ABS will release “complex topics” that required additional processing, including socioeconomic indexes and homelessness estimates.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning, folks, welcome to this chilly Tuesday.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is in Madrid, Spain, for the Nato summit which will focus on the Russian war on Ukraine and its relationship with China.
Albanese confirmed on landing that he had also spoken with the Solomon Islands prime minister, Manasseh Sogavare, and had a “very constructive” conversation. We’ll hear more about both of those things over the course of the day.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the first tranche of data from the 2021 census. It covers topics such as housing, languages spoken, Indigenous health and education, employment, religion and paid and unpaid work. We’ve got stacks of analysis on that to bring you this morning.
Industrial action will sweep New South Wales this week beginning with the Rail, Tram and Bus Union who are kicking off today with a “go-slow”, which means train drivers will limit their speeds to 60km/h or under, likely reducing services up to 50% in peak times. It’s the first of four days of rolling action against what they say are unsafe trains.
Nurses and midwives will also take action this week, with a planned walk-off for between one and 24 hours on Tuesday and a mass meeting held in Sydney’s CBD from 2pm. It will be the second time they have gone on strike in recent months.
We’ve got heaps more to bring you over the day. If you see something newsworthy or interesting over the day, send me an email at stephanie.convery@theguardian.com or ping me on Twitter @gingerandhoney.
Ready? Let’s get stuck in.
