The day that was, Tuesday 13 February, 2024
With that we’ll end our live coverage of the day’s news. Here’s a summary of the main news developments:
Half a million households in Victoria are without electricity and trains have been suspended across metropolitan Melbourne after a power station went down during storms.
Australia’s last Liberal government has announced plans for an early election after the Tasmanian premier failed to resolve a standoff with two crossbench independents.
Up to 150 Australian Taxation Office staff have been investigated over suspicions they took part in a social media scam worth $2bn.
The company that supplied mulch found to be contaminated with asbestos across Sydney including at a primary school has launched a legal challenge against the environmental watchdog as it fights to keep selling the product.
Meanwhile, emergency warnings have been issued over fires burning in and near the Grampians national park, with some communities told to take shelter, as a cool change brought respite to scorching temperatures in Melbourne.
Have a pleasant evening.
Updated
Commonwealth legal costs in McBride matter now total $2.4m
The attorney general’s department has revealed the commonwealth’s external legal costs in the David McBride matter now total $2.4m.
In November, the whistleblower and former military lawyer pleaded guilty to three charges after an ACT supreme court upheld a commonwealth intervention to withhold key evidence it deemed as having the potential to jeopardise “the security and defence of Australia” if released.
This afternoon, at a hearing of the Senate’s legal and constitutional affairs committee, the Greens senator David Shoebridge asked for an update on the legal costs incurred by the commonwealth to date in the McBride matter. Departmental officials replied that it was $2,438,905, as of 22 January.
(About this time last year, the costs stood at $1,875,348.)
Updated
X/Twitter accused of ‘making a mockery of our legal system’ after seeking review of $610,000 fine over jurisdiction and name issues
The platform formerly known as Twitter is seeking to argue against a $610,000 fine issued by Australia’s online safety regulator over issues of jurisdiction and whether the correct name was provided in the fine.
X applied to the federal court late last year for a judicial review of the fine, and the eSafety commissioner also launched a federal court case to seek penalties for failing to pay the fine.
Estimates heard on Tuesday that the grounds for the review is to challenge the initial notice, based on a couple of technicalities around jurisdiction and the change in name from Twitter to X Corp.
Greens senator David Shoebridge raised questions on whether X would ever pay the fine:
In effect, you’ve issued an infringement notice and Twitter have just thumbed their nose at you [and] at the laws of Australia and just said we’re not paying your infringement notice ... I mean, they’re making a mockery of our legal structure.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said the issue of jurisdiction for tech companies would be one facing any regulator outside of the United States and said it was something that she would welcome being addressed in the review of the online safety act announced on Tuesday.
Updated
Why is the Tasmanian government calling an early election?
Australia’s last Liberal government has pulled the trigger for an early election after the premier failed to resolve a stand-off with two cross bench independents.
Tasmania’s premier, Jeremy Rockliff, on Tuesday said he would ask the governor to call an election.
The island state’s Liberals have governed in minority since May 2023, when John Tucker and Lara Alexander left the party to sit as independents.
“The parliamentary Liberal party this afternoon met to discuss the failure of former Liberal MPs John Tucker and Lara Alexander to commit to a new, enduring confidence and supply agreement,” Rockliff said in a statement on Tuesday.
Rockliff on 2 February threatened an early election if Tucker and Alexander didn’t sign up to a deal that would have restricted their ability to vote for opposition bills and amendments.
The pair, who have provided votes of confidence of supply to prop up the government, said their preference was to continue with an original agreement.
The next Tasmanian election was not due to be held until mid-2025.
AAP
Updated
Tasmanian premier to call election
Tasmania’s premier Jeremy Rockcliff intends to request the state’s governor call a general election.
Rockliff said:
This afternoon I met with my team to discuss the failure of former Liberal MPs John Tucker and Lara Alexander to commit to a new, enduring agreement.
It was unanimously agreed that in the light of this, it was appropriate for me to request the governor to call a general election. So that’s what I’ll be doing.
The only way to restore the stability and certainty Tasmanians need is to re-elect a majority Liberal government.
It was unanimously agreed that in the light of this, it was appropriate for me to request the Governor to call a general election.
— Jeremy Rockliff (@jeremyrockliff) February 13, 2024
So that's what I'll be doing.
Updated
Man charged with assault after Melbourne bridge shooting
A man who was shot after allegedly threatening protective services officers on a Melbourne bridge has been charged with assault.
Police and protective officers were attending a separate violent incident near Princes Street bridge in Melbourne’s CBD about 7.30pm on Friday when a man allegedly confronted them.
The 20-year-old Pakenham man allegedly produced a broken glass bottle and began making threats towards a protective services officer. The officers attempted to use pepper spray on the man to no effect and he allegedly continued to pursue and threaten an officer.
Both officers then drew their weapons, with one firing two shots at the man. One shot hit him in the abdomen and the second bullet has not been accounted for.
The man was taken to hospital with non-life threatening injuries.
On Tuesday the man was charged with two counts of common assault, two counts of assaulting protective services officers, two counts of threatening the officers and reckless conduct.
He was remanded in custody following a hospital bedside hearing and is due to front the Melbourne magistrates court on 7 May.
Police do not believe the incident was terror-related.
AAP
Updated
Asbestos traces found at Parramatta light rail site
To break from the wild weather for a moment …
The NSW government has released a statement on bonded asbestos being detected in a garden bed at the Parramatta light rail site.
The statement comes after friable asbestos (the more dangerous type) was found at Harmony park in Surry Hills this morning. Less immediately dangerous bonded asbestos was also found in Victoria and Belmore parks.
The NSW government has said, on the latest finding:
A single positive trace of bonded asbestos has been identified in recycled mulch in a garden bed of the Parramatta light rail project at Telopea.
The fragment of bonded asbestos – which is considered low risk – was identified by testing undertaken at two sites across the project.
The NSW Environmental Protection Authority has been notified and the affected area is in the process of being fenced-off.
The adjacent 5.7km shared walking and bike riding path from Carlingford to Tramway Avenue in Parramatta remains open and is safe to use. Transport for NSW [is] working closely with the EPA to assist its wide-ranging investigation.
We thank the community for their patience and understanding while we work through the next steps and will update them as more information becomes available.
Updated
Aemo says 90,000 Victorian households have had power restored after major storms, but 500,000 still without electricity
The Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) has announced that the approximately 90,000 customers in Victoria who had their energy disrupted have since had their service restored.
At around 4pm, Aemo said it cancelled the controlled disruption to people’s electricity supply in Victoria (load shedding), required as a last resort to return the power system to a secure operating state.
However, 500,000 customers throughout the state are now without electricity, with the power outages due to high temperatures, strong winds and lightning causing damage to the electricity network.
“Crews are actively working to restore power to these impacted areas, clearing vegetation to make the areas safe before replacing poles and mending fallen powerlines,” Aemo said.
Updated
A big thank you to Benita Kolovos for bringing us the latest on the Melbourne storms.
If you aren’t in Victoria, here is what some people are sharing online …
No other words than OMG. #melbourne #melbournestorm #melbourneweather pic.twitter.com/L5ncjjlinD
— Jordz ✨ Music (@JordzAus) February 13, 2024
#melbourneweather
— Flex (@flexgirl9) February 13, 2024
school pick-up Bayside Melb pic.twitter.com/nsiioUrAEh
Victorian energy minister shares update; 500,000 households across state without power
Victoria’s energy minister, Lily D’Ambrosio, has just issued a statement about the storms that have left thousands of people across the state without power.
She says:
I have met with the CEO of the Australian Energy Market Operator (Aemo) about the current unprecedented impact of extreme weather on Victoria’s power grid. Due to the physical collapse of some transmission lines caused by this severe weather, many Victorians are currently without power. We are working with Aemo and relevant authorities to get Victorians back online as quickly as possible and we want to thank those impacted for their patience.
The government’s current advice is there are around 500,000 customers offline across the state. This is due to two transmission towers having physically collapsed, making them unable to transmit electricity through the lines, and causing Loy Yang A to go offline.
Updated
Latest on Victoria transport delays due to severe thunderstorms
Unfortunately Sunbury has now been added to the list of train services suspended. PTV says buses will be replacing trains on services between Footscray and Watergardens stations.
But as with all the other lines, these buses could take up to 60 minutes to arrive.
In some good news though, the Lilydale and Craigieburn lines have resumed - but again there are lengthy delays.
PTV says:
Trains may be less frequent and trips may take longer than usual. Stopping patterns may change at short notice. Replacement buses may supplement train services as we restore the regular frequency.
Updated
Buses to replace trains across parts of Victorian public transport, but major delays expected
The Victorian Department of Transport and Planning has just sent a travel alert through with more information.
V/Line services are also suspended on sections of the Gippsland, Seymour and Shepparton lines and will be replaced with buses.
Across the public transport network, replacement buses have been ordered but they warn they will take more than 60 minutes to arrive. They said:
We ask passengers to check station platform displays, listen for announcements, and allow extra time for their journey.
Motorists are asked to be vigilant for extra pedestrians and buses around all impacted train stations.
Our signals team is monitoring conditions in the area and will adjust traffic lights to assist with bus movements.
Real-time traffic conditions are available at traffic.vicroads.vic.gov.au. The latest public transport information and network status is available at ptv.vic.gov.au or in the PTV mobile app.
Updated
Half a million without power in Victoria
Earlier my colleague, Peter Hannam, reported on the blackouts across Victoria thanks to an outage at the state’s largest coal generator.
As many as half a million households in Victoria have lost power after a major transmission line was brought down by a storm, tripping a power station and sending spot electricity prices soaring.
Customers accounting for as much as 1,000 megawatts of load have gone without electricity after transmission towers near Anakie to Melbourne’s north-west were left crumpled by the wild weather. The load shedding was aimed at protecting the grid with about 300MW since restored.
The lines failure prompted AGL Energy’s 2,210MW coal-fired power station to drop offline at 2.15pm, the company said. Read more below:
Updated
Victorian SES reports ‘significant’ number of calls
VICSES has said it is getting a “significant” number of calls right now. Please be patient and if there is a threat to life call 000.
There is currently significant call volumes in to 132-500.
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) February 13, 2024
If you need emergency assistance to storm damage or flooding, please be patient and keep trying. If your need is not urgent, please try again later.
If there is a threat to life, phone 000@TripleZeroVic @vicemergency pic.twitter.com/tl5N5E3XxS
Updated
Following on from our previous post: here is a visual of the public transport lines with delays and suspensions for any commuters in Melbourne trying to get home.
Updated
Post-storm chaos expected for Melbourne peak-hour commuters as blackout hits
Storms have wreaked havoc on Melbourne’s public transport system, with half of the city’s 16 metropolitan train lines partly suspended just as commuters begin to make their way home from the CBD.
While commuters will be able to get on a train from the city, the Alamein, Belgrave, Craigieburn, Cranbourne, Frankston, Glen Waverley, Lilydale and Pakenham lines will all move onto buses at various parts of their journey.
Public Transport Victoria says passengers should allow extra time for their journey, and “consider alternative travel plans, such as altering your departure time, or using a different mode of public transport”.
Major delays of up to 25 minutes are also expected on the Hurstbridge, Sandringham and Sunbury lines due to multiple reports of storm damage. PTV have warned some trains on these lines may also terminate at “intermediate locations” as it works to recover the timetable.
Here’s the list of the most major disruptions:
Buses are replacing Alamein train services between Camberwell and Alamein stations.
Buses are being organised to replace Belgrave train services between Ringwood and Belgrave stations.
Buses replace Craigieburn train services between North Melbourne and Craigieburn stations.
Buses replace Cranbourne and Pakenham train services between Oakleigh and Westall stations.
Buses replace Frankston train services between Caulfield and Moorabbin stations
Buses replace Glen Waverley train services between Darling and Glen Waverley stations.
Buses are being organised to replace Lilydale train services between Ringwood and Mooroolbark stations.
Updated
Severe thunderstorm warning issued for Victoria
While we’ve been following parliament stuff, Victoria has been hit by massive storms.
BoM recently issued a severe thunderstorm warning for Croydon, Scoresby, Pakenham, Lilydale, Mt Dandenong and Poowong.
BoM said this advice replaces the Watch and Act issued at 4.05pm on 13 February. It has urged people to be aware of potential hazards caused by the severe thunderstorm, including building damage, trees down and fallen powerlines.
Severe Thunderstorm - Advice for Metropolitan Melbourne. You should Stay Informed. For more info: https://t.co/sysQ4fVsMf #vicstorms
— VICSES News (@vicsesnews) February 13, 2024
Updated
Crackdown on violence against WA retail workers
Assaulting a retail worker in Western Australia could attract a jail term of up to seven years under proposed legislation, the AAP reports.
The legislation would bring the state in line with tough penalties in NSW, South Australia and the Northern Territory. Under the proposed laws the maximum penalty for assaulting retail workers will be seven years imprisonment or three years and a fine of $36,000 if dealt with summarily.
Under the change the maximum penalty increases from 18 months imprisonment and a fine of $18,000.
Labor is seeking to curb increased rates of violence against retail workers, which records show have doubled over the past two years.
The proposed laws have been welcomed by the Australian Retailers Association’s chief executive, Paul Zahra, who said:
All retail workers, whether they’re a casual in their first job or doing the night shift at the local convenience store, have a right to feel safe at work.
Updated
Extra limited tickets released for Taylor Swift Sydney show
To break from politics for a bit …
Extra tickets are now on sale for Taylor Swift’s upcoming Eras shows in Sydney.
Frontier Touring announced earlier today that a limited number of tickets would be released for sale on Tuesday, including restricted view tickets priced at $65.90.
Melbourne’s tickets already went on sale at 2pm and sold out by 2.50pm, according to the SMH.
ABC reporter Xanthe Gregory spoke on Afternoon Briefing just before from Penrith Panthers club in Western Sydney, where Ticketek is selling tickets in person, and said “a few hundred people” had lined up.
There’s 200 people in line here and I’ve actually got a ticket here myself - I’m number 131. They stopped it, they capped it at about 200.
Australian Swifties have been warned of scammers hacking Ticketek accounts and reselling people’s tickets. In a statement, a Ticketek spokesperson said it was “aware of [unauthorised] access to individual accounts” via “information that has been obtained from other sources”.
Ticketek will set up customer service pop-ups at the Melbourne Cricket Ground and Accor Stadium in Sydney from the Wednesday before each show to help deal with the issue.
You can read more on it here:
Updated
On that note, I am going to hand you over to Claire Keenan to take you through the rest of the day. We will return with more Politics Live very early tomorrow morning – thank you to everyone who has followed the team today and please remember to take care of you.
Updated
Question time, from the Guardian’s photographer at large
Here is how Mike Bowers saw QT:
Updated
Over 17,000 people registered with BetStop to exclude themselves from gambling sites, Senate hears
As of the end of January, there are 17,423 people who have registered with BetStop to exclude themselves from online gambling sites, Senate estimates heard.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority chair, Nerida O’Loughlin, said that number of people had registered since the program launched in late August. The committee heard 48% of those who registered are 30 years old or younger, 32% between 31 and 40, 12% between 41 and 50, 6% between 51 and 60 and 3% over 60.
In terms of the length of time they have chosen to be self-excluded, 38% have opted to be excluded for life, 17% for three months, 29% for between three months and two years, 4% between two and five years, and 1% for five years.
Updated
Dutton says SA Liberal preselection fight a matter for the state party
Peter Dutton did an interview with ABC radio Adelaide which was mostly about the chance frigates will be built in Adelaide, but did include a little bit about the SA Liberal Senate ticket fight, where Anne Ruston is battling to maintain her number one spot against David Fawcett and Alex Antic.
Everyone always wants number one because it is a guaranteed position.
Dutton said he “strongly support my colleagues including Anne, and obviously Alex as well, and David Fawcett...” but said it was a matter for the SA Liberals.
Well, the decision for number one is an issue for the members within the South Australia division. I think any member of the Liberal party, including from the leader down, has one vote and leaders often have – I think there’s a great history in our party of leaders directing people where to cast their votes and people doing the opposite.
So all I can say is that, to your question, Anne is a very valued colleague, I’ve worked closely with her, she’s in the leadership group, she’s in the shadow ministry now doing a great job in the shadow health portfolio, she would be a minister in my government; and equally, Alex and David are great colleagues and each bring different skills and different attributes.
We’ve got a great team in South Australia, and we want to increase the team in Boothby and Makin, and perhaps a couple of other seats otherwise.
So will Dutton pick a side? (Between Alex Antic and Anne Ruston)
Well, I’ve answered the question. I don’t even have a vote in South Australia preselection. I have a delegate who will attend on my behalf, but as leaders past have said, it’s an issue for the members; great members of the South Australian division of the Liberal party, and they’ll cast their votes in due course.
Updated
Queensland Greens hit out at Labor ‘hypocrisy’ for approving two coalmines
The Greens MP Michael Berkman has hit out at the Queensland government for approving two coalmines after vowing to double its emissions reduction target.
Steven Miles used his first speech as Queensland premier to more than double the state’s emissions reduction target to 75% by 2035 – making it one of the most ambitious in the country.
But the government has since approved the Vulcan South and Winchester South coal mines which are now seeking federal government approval before they can go ahead.
Berkman told reporters on Tuesday the approvals were a prime example of Queensland Labor “talking both sides of their face on climate”:
Steven Miles wants to claim to be … a real climate champion. Meanwhile, we’re exporting many more times our domestic emissions each and every year.
You can’t expect to solve the climate crisis while we’re opening up new coal and gas and that’s what it boils down to – rank hypocrisy.
Updated
Our own Paul Karp has a question:
Yesterday the Coalition directed every single #qt question to immigration minister, Andrew Giles. Same again today. Is this a record? Has this happened before?
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) February 13, 2024
Julie Collins was a favourite for a while there. Then again, Labor had a habit of targeting people as well – Melissa Price was favourite of the week for a hot moment, and Angus Taylor was returned to like a favourite toy you forgot was under the bed.
But two entire question times in a row? That seems new.
Updated
ABC staff member received death threats over drag queen reading event
An ABC staff member whose details were included in a call out for a planned drag queen storytime event as part of the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras received death threats, Senate estimates has heard.
The event, to be hosted at Rockdale library later this month, had to be cancelled after the email address of one staff member used in a callout for rainbow families was inundated with abuse, including death threats, the broadcaster’s managing director, David Anderson, said:
The abuse suffered by our staff member as a result of that. And clearly in hindsight, you need to advise that we did not pull callouts like that with personnel’s individual details because the threats that came with death threats as well.
We’ve supported the people involved with that when it comes to the event itself. The intention was that it was simply reading a story to kids [who] come from LGBTQI families in a safe environment that was meant to be fun.
He said the event is still currently cancelled, but if it runs, it won’t be at an external venue.
Updated
Question time ends as Clare O’Neil says Dutton ‘drove our migration system into a ditch and walked away’
Question time has continued long enough for the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, to give her latest performance in her ongoing series, “Peter Dutton was a terrible home affairs minister”.
This particular performance is dedicated to the findings of the Richardson review.
O’Neil:
What makes these questions so critical, is what we see in the unbelievable gulf between who the leader of opposition pretends to be, and who he is.
This report exposes the leader of the opposition as an absolute fraud. Someone who over saw a system funnelling taxpayer dollars into human trafficking and drug smuggling all the while marketing himself as a tough guy.
This joins the Parkinson review and the Nixon review to report that showed for all the tough talk, the leader of the opposition drove our migration system into a ditch and walked away. Living me and the immigration minister to clean up his mess.
Don’t forget, he was known as [the] worst health minister in history, he ran a defence department that oversaw years of delays, I’m not sure why – when he clearly can’t run a government department – that he thinks he should run our country.
And with that, question time ends.
Updated
Queensland Greens MP in ‘stable but serious’ condition after traffic accident
The Queensland Greens say it could be days before the full extent of MP Amy MacMahon’s injuries are known after she was involved in a traffic accident on Monday night.
MacMahon is in a “stable but serious condition” at Brisbane’s Princess Alexandra hospital following the accident at Kangaroo Point.
Party colleague Michael Berkman said in a statement that witnesses had reported her vehicle being hit by a car that had run a red light.
Video footage of the incident obtained by the Courier Mail shows MacMahon’s Toyota Prius turning right at traffic lights when it is hit by a car coming from the right hand side.
Witnesses say that the person who hit her ran through a red light … the forensic crash unit is conducting a full investigation into the accident.
It will be a few days before we know the full picture as her healthcare team continues to assess her condition.”
McMahon is one of the party’s two MPs in state parliament. She won the seat of South Brisbane from the then deputy premier, Jackie Trad, in 2020.
Berkman said his colleague was responsive and resting in hospital:
Anyone who knows Amy will know how keen she’ll be to get back out there serving more free community dinners and fighting for her community as soon as possible.
We’ve been overwhelmed with well-wishes and concerns for Amy, and we’re so grateful for all the support from the community.
Updated
Matt Kean calls for NSW to create register of asbestos-contaminated parks
The former New South Wales environment minister, Matt Kean, has called on the state government to create a register for residents to check if asbestos had been found in their local parks. He said:
As a father, I’d want to know if the park that I took my kids to has asbestos in it and I’m sure every other parent across NSW would feel the same way.
That would be a logical step for the government to have a transparent register so families and parents could know that the playgrounds that kids are playing in [are] safe.
It comes after asbestos was found in three more parks in the inner city on Monday.
Updated
Giles quotes Tehan to himself when asked over delay in applying for community safety orders
Dan Tehan and his very serious voice wants to know why Andrew Giles has not applied for any community safety orders.
Giles says:
We are preparing applications and we are making sure … that we will do so properly. As Senator Paterson pointed out back in 2021, and I quote him again, “There is a high threshold for a court to agree to the ongoing detention of an offender who continues to pose a risk.”
There is a serious amount of work to be done and that is why we are taking it seriously to ensure that applications are made properly. It isn’t just Senator Paterson who made this point. This morning, a member of the opposition said this. “Of course, we are all aware that there is a high threshold and we knew that before we put the legislation through parliament in Christmas,.” That was the member for Wannon (Dan Tehan)
Updated
Dan Tehan continues attack lines over release of detainees release following high court decision
Dan Tehan is back again:
In Senate estimates last night it was revealed that on 8 August, 14 September and 12 October last year, the general counsel of the Department of Home Affairs met staff in the minister’s office to discuss the legal prospects and policy options that led to the release of the 149 hardened criminals into the community. This further revealed the minister did not attend any of these meetings. Why?
(It was a high court decision that led to the release. Because you can not lock people up forever)
Andrew Giles:
I thank the shadow minister for his question and I’d say once more, it was the decision of the high court that required the release of the individuals. As minister and as a member of this government, my number one priority has been doing everything they can to keep the community safe. That continues to be my commitment.
Updated
ABC managing director says he does not believe there is institutionalised racism at the broadcaster
Back to estimates for a moment and the ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, says he does not believe there is institutionalised racism at the broadcaster, in response to a question from Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi.
He said there are instances and complaints, and racism has occurred at the ABC, agreeing that the ABC is not without its problems and does need to improve. He pointed to the review on ABC systems and processes for staff who experience racism currently under way by Dr Terri Janke which is due back by the end of June.
Anderson later pledged to provide a response on making a public interest immunity claim over responding to questions regarding Antoinette Lattouf being let go from her on-air role by this Friday. Anderson has said legal advice says he should restrict what he says given it is going to a hearing before the Fair Work Commission on 8 March.
Updated
Chalmers praises Stephen Jones for work with banks tackling scams
The newly independent MP Russell Broadbent (he moved to the crossbench after he lost preselection for the Liberal party) asks Jim Chalmers:
Treasurer, although it is annoying, there is a reason why banks are asking customers why they want to withdraw cash. A bank manager told me recently, a significant number of customers who came in to withdraw cash were being scammed. Recently in my circle, a sensible couple were scammed of $100,000 and another friend of mine, $40,000. What more can we do to protect the Australian people from this evil?
Chalmers:
This is a big focus for the government as well. And for that I want to be upfront and say that I’d take absolutely no credit for the government’s focus on scams and that is because the work of the assistant treasurer (Stephen Jones) in this regard has been absolutely terrific.
He has worked tirelessly to tackle and take on this evil in our community and in our economy or a really impressive our economy or a really impressive way and he has done that in collaboration with the banks, he has done it in elaboration with key institutions and with other ministers including the minister for communication and others …
It is a huge issue and I think the hundreds of people who come to his community forums around Australia, and all the people who come through our doors and our electorate officers and come up to us in mobile offices too.
In 2022 Australians lost over $3bn to the absolute grubs who try to scam money out of people. Often the most vulnerable people but … not just people that we would traditionally considered to be vulnerable.
That is why we are taking decisive action, that is why we have an ambitious agenda here led, as I said, by the assistant treasurer. In last year’s budget we invested $86.5m in fighting scans and online fraud. $76m to bust fake investment website[s], $58m for the ACCC to establish a … national antispam centre and over $10m for ACMA to enforce an SMS registry to stop scam text[s]. It is still a big problem but the crackdown on scams is already showing some signs of success.
In [the] six months since the centre was created, losses to scams reduced by 29%. Call disruption technology saved potential victims from major losses, with one consumer saving $300,000.
By last week ASIC had taken down many scam websites and overall data [shows] losses are lower than the same period in 2023.
The assistant treasurer and the minister for communications are also working with telcos and digital platforms to see what else can be done in that regard is a very big focus of the government, there has been some absolutely terrific work by the assistant treasurer, it is a very important and welcome question from the member for Monash and I thank him.
Updated
Giles reiterates released detainees subject to continuous monitoring
The Liberal MP for Flinders, Zoe McKenzie, is next up and asks Andrew Giles:
Can you confirm all offenders have been and remain continuously monitored?
Giles:
I thank the member for her question as I’ve said on a couple of occasions, individuals required to be released by reason of the high court decision [are] subject to at least one of the four layers of protection. Including the stringent visit conditions [which] will apply to everyone.
Updated
Labor’s Anika Wells continues to display strong school vice captain energy, which is now going up against Paul Fletcher’s prefect-but-not-head-prefect-because-it’s-a-stupid-popularity-contest-anyway energy.
Wells ups the vice captain energy in response.
Updated
Jim Chalmers says Labor giving cost-of-living relief in response to Katter question on incoming splitting
Bob Katter asks about his idea of income tax splitting, which would mean (I am paraphrasing this) that families with one earner would be able to split the income tax across the family, which would limit the amount of tax they would pay. (There is also something about resource taxes in there as well)
Katter’s concern is “Australians are a dying race” and people can’t afford to have children or stay home and look after the children because of how expensive things are.
Jim Chalmers gives a very gentle answer.
I know that the member for Kennedy has a view around income splitting, our view is that we have found more effective ways to provide relief to those types of families that [Katter] is talking about.
For example: tax changes. Every one of the 71,000 taxpayers in Kennedy will get a tax cut because of our changes. 86% of them will get a bigger tax cut than they would have otherwise. In fact, Mr Speaker, the average income earner in Kennedy will have their tax cut multiplied by more than three times by what we are proposing in our changes.
Because of those policies, whether it be medicines, tax, rent assistance and others, we are providing more support to the people of Kennedy. 39,000 people will benefit for cheaper medicines in Kennedy alone, almost 5,000 benefiting from income support … 4,500 [renters] get access to rent assistance and 86% of taxpayers in his community would be paying more taxes for other services.
I said to the member for Kennedy, I am grateful to the question, I know that [we have] contested views on tax about resources, what is not contested is that you [are] doing something about that and that is hoping to find … cost-of-living relief not in his community, but in every community represented in this place.
Updated
Linda Burney refuses to comment on potential regional voices
(continued from previous post)
Asked about the potential for the federal government to advance a set of regional voices, instead of a national voice – as suggested by experts including Marcia Langton – the Indigenous affairs minister, Linda Burney, said that was under discussion, but said the government was being guided by the outcome of the referendum.
Issues like regional voices are something I know are being discussed in places like the Kimberley ... I’m not going to say anything definitive today, it’s not my job to do that right now, there are discussions to be had with the community and within the structures that we need to within this place.
Asked about a successor to Dodson’s role, she said that “had not been resolved yet”. Burney also waved away a question about her possible retirement from politics, saying she was “honoured” to have her ministry role and “I intend to keep doing that”.
Updated
Indigenous affairs minister signals progress on truth and treaty may be slow after voice referendum failure
Dipping out of question time for a moment, the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, has just given an important update on the Uluru statement, saying it would be “rude to proceed” with its call for truth and treaty after the failure of the voice referendum.
Burney said there was a lot of hurt among Indigenous Australians about the referendum result, signalling next steps in this area may be slow.
While Burney and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, both said in their closing the gap responses that the government would “take the time to get Makarrata and truth telling right”, but Labor’s formal commitment to the Uluru Statement is potentially up in the air. The minister said the government had also not yet decided on whether they would name a new person to Pat Dodson’s former role as special envoy on reconciliation and the Uluru statement.
Burney gave a press conference in Parliament House just before QT. She was cagey on exactly what she and Albanese meant in their commitment to Makarrata – a Yolngu word meaning the coming together after a struggle – but when Guardian Australia asked about the Uluru statement, the basis for the voice referendum, Burney said the failure of the referendum was a blow.
Labor accepts absolutely the outcome of the decision of the Australian people. It does leave the truth-telling and treaty components.
Burney said the government would “take things as fast or as slow as the community wants to”:
I cannot describe to you, the hurt out there about the outcome of the referendum. It would be rude and wrong, and against everything we spoke about today, to go forward without the community sanction – particularly in terms of truth telling and treaty.
(continued in next post)
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Andrew Giles confirms former detainees are being continuously monitored
LNP MP Llew O’Brien is up next:
Can the minister inform the house if the whereabouts of any of the 149 criminals is unknown?
Andrew Giles gets up and starts giving the same answer we have heard for the past two days. Peter Dutton gets up with a point of order on relevance. Giles sticks to his answer.
Each one is being continuously monitored.
Paul Karp hears someone on the Coalition benches yell “Albo’s laughing at you” because the prime minister seems to be having a bit of a giggle about something. Albanese mumbles something about receiving a text message.
Probably not the best timing.
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Giles says he has followed the advice of the community protection board over conditions imposed on former detainees
Sussan Ley has the next non-dixer:
In Senate estimates last night it was confirmed the minister, not the community protection board, is the final decision-maker in relation to the conditions placed on the 149 former detainees.
Given this, can the minister now tell the Australian people how many of the seven murderers and 37 sex offenders released into the community by the Albanese government are not wearing ankle bracelets?
(Released following a high court decision that found indefinite detention was unconstitutional. And any government would have had to have taken the same action.)
The Liberal MP for Casey, Aaron Violi, says “you’re out of your depth” as Giles gets up, leading to Milton Dick to tell him to start showing respect for members in the house after a week of interjections.
Andrew Giles:
What we heard in Senate estimates was a detail of the relentless effort that has been made by the government since November last year to maintain the safety of the Australian community and the critical part was of course the establishment of the community safety board, a body composed of eminent law enforcement and other professionals to provide us with expert advice, advice on how to manage this cohort in the community.
I have greatly valued their advice and the input of the ADF commissioner and indeed I have acted in accordance with their advice on every decision I have made.
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Chalmers, quizzed on cost-of-living measures, says Labor will raise tax out of industry under ‘responsible economic management’
Independent North Sydney MP Kylea Tink tries to bring question time back to some form of reality:
Last financial year, Origin Energy reported a net profit of more than $1bn, listing elevated commodity prices as a contributing factor. In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, will the government consider taxing windfall profits to fund the cost of living measures in the made budget?
Jim Chalmers says:
Thanks to the member for North Sydney for her question. As the home affairs minister rightly points out … at last, someone in that direction [the other side of the chamber] who cares about the cost of living.
The Coalition does not like this. Chalmers continues saying that the last budget was focussed on cost-of-living while not being inflationary:
The principle that is in the member for North Sydney’s question is a principle we have adopted, trying to raise more tax out of the industry that she identifies to fund some of our priorities. Because of that, because of our responsible economic management – whether it is sensible changes to resource taxation, changes to multinational tax, our changes to high balance superannuation account, efforts on compliance in a range of areas, in addition to the $50bn of savings we found in two budgets compared with the $0 in savings in their last budget.
We have managed to get the budget in much better nick [at] the same time as we roll out that substantial cost-of-living help, strengthening Medicare … easing the pressure on families and pensioners and young people in communities like yours … right around Australia.
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ABC director says conversations with union ongoing over social media policy and cultural staff safety
The ABC managing director, David Anderson, says he is considering concerns raised by union members over the broadcaster’s personal social media use policy following meetings held last month.
Anderson met with the union following concerns over how the broadcaster had handled external complaints and whether it was standing up for its staff.
He told Senate estimates that staff wanted to know about what happens with complaints, and what support there is for staff of culturally or linguistically diverse backgrounds, first nations journalists and women. He said:
We do what we can, we have social media wellness advisors, we have trauma counsellors ... there are things that we put in place, but to hear them say that whatever we’re doing … what I heard was, that wasn’t enough.
We’ve launched some other initiatives in both content divisions with regard to that, certainly with regard to forums where we can hear people’s concerns ... they’ve also raised concerns around the personal use of social media guidelines.
They just want to be able to provide some constructive feedback with regard to that for the moment and which I’ve undertaken to, yes, I’ll listen to them and I’ll go back and meet them again.
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Peter Dutton delivers closing the gap statement
While Anthony Albanese takes a dixer just to talk about Nemesis and how much the Coalition loves talking about how much they love talking about how much they hate each other on television, here is Peter Dutton’s opening remarks from his Closing the Gap statement.
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Tehan continues Liberal attacks over safety conditions applied to released detainees
Dan Tehan gets the next question:
On 13 November, in between releasing criminals, the minister told the house that he had, and I quote, ‘issued visas to impacted individuals with appropriate conditions to ensure community safety can be upheld”.
Last night, the Department of Home Affairs revealed it had always advised these conditions would be unenforceable. Asked why, they said “I think you would have to ask the ministers for an explanation”.
Can the minister please explain why they misled the house?
First there is a question over whether or not Tehan took too long to get the question out. Paul Fletcher (the Liberal’s manager of business in the House) is University-of-Sydney-educated-OUTRAGED over this (it’s a special kind of outrage I have discovered since arriving in Canberra) because government ministers get extra time all the time (according to him).
The speaker, Milton Dick says he will be the judge of all of it and orders all sides to never yell “time” again. He won’t be having it.
Andrew Giles:
I remind him also that question and I remind him also that the release of detainees was required by the decision of the high court in November. It was required.
In response to that, we made a range of steps to ensure the Australian community was kept safe, including immediately setting up Operation Aegis so we saw the coordination of the ABF, AFP and state and territory law enforcement authorities, and put in place stringent … conditions and moved to change the law to criminalise breaches of those … conditions as part of the four layers of protection we now have in place. Stringent … conditions, electronic monitoring and curfews, community safety orders...
Tehan gets in trouble for using the despatch box to just speak and not raise a point of order and Giles finishes with ‘four layers of protection’.
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Giles reminds Dutton that governments should abide by decisions of the high court
Andrew Giles:
I remind [Peter Dutton] and all members that it was the decision of the high court that required this government, and indeed any government, to release the detainees in question, and I remind him as well the arrangements in place for the support for people who are from immigration detention [are] the same as they were when he was the minister responsible.
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Dutton targets Giles with questions over detainees released after high court decision
Peter Dutton kicks off the questions:
The Albanese government has released hardcore criminals from immigration detention, including seven murderers, 37 sex offenders and 72 other violent offenders, putting Australians at risk … can the minister confirm hardcore criminals he has released, including rapists and murderers, have now received over $3m in free accommodation and welfare payments?
Once again for the people up the back and to the right, it was a high court decision which found indefinite detention was unconstitutional. Governments can not ignore the high court. When you complete a custodial sentence in Australia, as an Australian, you are released.
Australia gives welfare payments to people who have been in jail. The alternative, particularly in this case, would be that people would be left to fend for themselves, in the community and given the Coalition’s concerns over the people in the cohort, how on earth is that safer?
The question is to Andrew Giles who the Coalition has decided is the latest weakest link to target. Every question from the Coalition yesterday was to Giles. Looks like this is happening again today (and probably for the rest of the week).
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Question time begins
Every one of the Labor MPs’s 90-second statements were on the tax cuts.
This follows no Labor MPs asking questions of their leadership in the caucus meeting this morning. Everything is fine, apparently. No questions, queries or comments here!
And now we are into question time.
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Snaicc CEO says national children’s commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youths ‘decades in the making’
The CEO of First Nations young person’s child care body Snaicc, Catherine Liddle, was part of the press conference announcing the national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
She said that the idea had not come out of nowhere:
This has been a piece of work that has been decades in the making, and as the minister said, it is the first real illustration of how the national agreement works. Safe and supported was the first national plan, negotiated under the closing the gap agreement, and it is the first time we have been able to consult with communities across the country to say what is it that you need and how fast do we need to move?
And without fail, they said we need the national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s commissioner.
We know the outcomes from our children are not good.
We know that our children are being removed from our families at a rate that should be a national disgrace, and is a national disgrace.
We know we need a mechanism that stops it, we need a mechanism that works with communities to see what is happening, that puts children first and foremost in front of what their needs are.
There is no other way to describe it.
This is a groundbreaking moment and when we reflect on what today is, the 16th anniversary of the national apology, there is no better day to bring in a mechanism like this.
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Question Time looms
The chamber has switched to 90-second statements, which is also known as the airing of the MP grievances.
That leads into question time – you can tell what both sides of politics wants attention by the 90-second statements that are scheduled just before 2pm when attention switches to the chamber (it tends to just be sickos like me who pay attention before then).
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ABC has received 3,000 complaints over reporting on the Israel-Gaza conflict, with majority alleging a pro-Israeli bias
There have been 3,000 complaints received by the ABC about the Israel-Gaza conflict, with the largest portion of complaints alleging the broadcaster has a pro-Israel bias.
ABC editorial director, Gavin Fang, told Senate estimates that of the 3,000 complaints, there were 1,300 issues raised, largely about impartiality and bias. He said about 58% of the complaints have alleged the ABC has been pro-Israeli or anti-Palestinian, and 42% have said the ABC has been anti-Israeli.
He said:
This is a really complex story, a very fast moving story. So we are always trying to meet our editorial policies and our standards. And we’re always looking to update stories and fix stories where we get things where we don’t come up to the mark straight away.
It followed questions from the Liberal senator Hollie Hughes, who was claiming the ABC was demonstrating anti-Israel bias in a TikTok report on the BDS movement, which the ABC subsequently updated to include more perspectives.
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David Anderson says he does not believe anyone who signed media petition faced limitations on reporting
The ABC’s managing director, David Anderson, says the ABC has received consistent feedback emails from pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian lobby groups since 7 October but won’t be specific to the Antoinette Lattouf case, citing legal advice.
He said if the chair, Ita Buttrose, is contacted, it is passed on to others through the usual complaints process. He says he would receive hundreds of complaints, from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestinian groups.
He says he doesn’t believe anyone who signed a petition for better media reporting on the matter faced any limitations on their reporting, but says staff were counselled against signing petitions.
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Anthony Albanese speaks on closing the gap
For those who were interested, here is Anthony Albanese’s opening remarks in his closing the gap statement.
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ABC director cannot comment on Lattouf case due to legal advice
ABC managing director, David Anderson, has said he cannot speak about the sacking of journalist Antoinette Lattouf from her casual on-air radio role due to the ongoing fair work proceedings.
He says he has legal advice that anything he says might prejudice fair work proceedings and cannot speak to it: He said:
Senator, this is with absolute respect, but my advice is that at fair work, they are legal proceedings and that they are precursor to the federal court. And I did ask that question specifically with regard to it being fair work. So I’m happy to take that on notice and submit a public interest immunity claim as per the normal practice with regard to it.
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi says she does not care about the legal advice. She accuses Anderson of hiding away, given he’s taken the issue on notice and will make a public interest immunity claim.
Anderson says the matter will be heard in public at the Fair Work Commission, so he is not hiding.
The chair, Karen Grogan, says once Anderson goes away and makes the PII claim, then the committee can call him back if required.
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CDPP ‘not shamed’ after charging autistic boy with terror charges after undercover operation
Shoebridge also asked Bruckard about the conduct of the CDPP after the boy was charged, including in applications to have the boy’s bail refused, and to have the case uplifted from the children’s to the supreme court. Shoebridge said:
You were a key player in proceedings that were found to be so wrongful that they undermined public confidence [in the] judiciary. You sought to have a 14-year-old boy with autism, who came to the police for care, tried in an adult court with the maximum 10-year prison sentence, and you sought to have him refused bail and spend those two years in jail, and you are not in any way shamed by, concerned by – you don’t even do a review?
Bruckard responded:
We haven’t done a review yet, Senator, as indicated. I am not shamed by it. What I am saying, Senator, is we have dedicated and hard-working prosecution staff who take these matters very seriously, who look for the evidence really carefully, who get advice from independent counsel where they need to and in this case we did engage with independent internal counsel where we thought it was appropriate to do so and we may consider judgements applying the constitutional policy of the commonwealth and that is the basis upon which we proceed.
Bruckard appeared to not rule out a review in future. It is worth noting that the new director, Raelene Sharp KC, only started in December.
The AFP confirmed before the Senate last week that there were a “range of reviews” underway into the matter.
Mike Burgess, the director general of Asio, also confirmed last night before estimates that the agency was not undertaking its own review but would support the AFP review.
Asio is a part of the joint counter terrorism team, along with the AFP and Victoria police, that investigated Thomas.
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Senate hears it was in public interest to charge autistic boy with terror offenses
The acting commonwealth director of public prosecutions has told a Senate estimates hearing it was in the public interest to charge an autistic boy with terror offences after he was targeted in an undercover police operation.
Scott Bruckard, the acting CDPP, also said the courts had previously acknowledged there was a “fine line” between acceptable and improper conduct when it came to the work of undercover operatives, whose role was heavily criticised in the boy’s case.
Guardian Australia revealed earlier this month that a Victorian children’s court had ordered a permanent stay in the case of the boy, known as Thomas Carrick.
Bruckard, responding to questions from Green senator David Shoebridge in an estimates hearing late on Monday night, said the CDPP were not currently reviewing the case. He did not directly respond when asked if he had ever seen “such a complete savaging” of a case as had occurred in the matter, but said a permanent stay was “an unusual outcome” for a prosecution. Bruckard said:
We’re mindful of that. It was an unusual, difficult case. We’re conscious of the criticism that’s been levelled at some of the activities of the police in the course of the investigation. They are matters that I understand are reviewed by the AFP and its partner agencies.
But Bruckard said the CDPP stood by the process it went through before Thomas was charged. As part of this process, the CDPP relied upon transcripts of online chats between the boy and an undercover operative which the court later found demonstrated he had been further radicalised by police. He said:
Yes, we considered those ... transcripts ... but we also considered all the other evidence that was available to us in the brief of evidence, and having considered it and applied the prosecution policy of the commonwealth, we were of the view it was an appropriate matter to proceed and that’s what we did.
I point out in the course of the ruling delivered by the magistrate, she also said that there was sufficient evidence of criminal conduct in the ... possession of investigators for the young person to be charged.
We are of the view that there was sufficient evidence to sustain the charge, that there was a reasonable [prospect] of conviction and that the prosecution was in the public interest ... it was a very serious allegation that was made against this young person and applying the prosecution policy of the commonwealth, aware of his tender years, it was our view that given the very serious nature of the allegations, that it was appropriate to proceed with the prosecution.
Bruckard rejected a suggestion from Shoebridge that the CDPP had tried to “put this child in jail”.
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Macquarie’s highest paid executive to step down
Nicholas O’Kane, the highest paid banker at Macquarie Group, will leave the financial conglomerate after almost three decades with the company.
O’Kane, who has headed Macquarie’s commodities and global markets team since 2017, made headlines after earning $57.6m in 2023, which was more than the group’s chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake.
Macquarie uses a performance-based remuneration system that rewards executives who drive profits with enormous wealth. The profitability of Macquarie’s commodities division surged after Russia invaded Ukraine, which sparked huge volatility in energy prices and raised fears that parts of Europe would run out of gas.
The division tends to profit from market disruptions.
O’Kane will “pursue opportunities outside of Macquarie” according to a statement released on Tuesday.
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ABC estimates begins
ABC estimates has begun. David Anderson is facing questioning from a range of senators, including the Greens’ Mehreen Faruqi.
Faruqi is questioning Anderson over the network’s coverage of Gaza and Antoinette Lattouf.
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Dutton calls for more details on new funding for closing the gap programs
Further on Peter Dutton’s response to the closing the gap statement, the opposition leader has called for more details about the hundreds of millions in funding announced today for Indigenous community programs.
He said there were “important questions” about the government’s latest plan, particularly pointing to the $707m for remote jobs, and questioning whether the target of 3,000 jobs “is achievable rather than simply being a wishful target”.
As Amy noted, Dutton’s speech leant into the words from Kevin Rudd in the 2007 apology to the stolen generations – an address Dutton famously boycotted and was not actually in the chamber to witness personally.
Dutton said the latest closing the gap report showed the federal government was “continuing to fail our most marginalised Indigenous brothers and sisters.” PM Albanese earlier said of the 19 CTG targets, only four were on track, 11 were improving (but still not on track) and four were actually getting worse.
We’ll have more breakdown of those stats for you soon.
Dutton called for more “practical solutions” to address Indigenous disadvantage, particularly in remote and central Australia, saying the Coalition would continue to raise issues about crime and socioeconomic issues in Alice Springs – and repeated his calls for a royal commission into child sex abuse in Indigenous communities.
If we continue to do more of the same, we will only get more of the same.
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Child care body welcomes announcement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander national children’s commissioner
The Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (better known as Snaicc) has responded to the announcement of a national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
Catherine Liddle, the secretariat’s CEO, said it was an overdue measure First Nations’ experts and communities had been calling for.
The national commissioner will be the champion, the voice and facilitator for our children, young people and families, who will hold governments to account.
They will help turn the tide of our children being overrepresented in out-of-home care … one of the key targets under Closing the Gap.
They will be able to investigate and make strong recommendations on issues impacting our children, ensuring their safety and rights are upheld.
Our sector has consistently said the most effective and immediate action government can take to make children safe and protect their human rights is to stand up a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s commissioner, with the legislated power to investigate and make recommendations on issues impacting our children.
The national agreement on closing the gap has given us the leverage and mechanism to finally make this a reality.
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Mike Bowers is in the chamber and says that the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, is not in the chamber for these addresses.
Liberal senator Kerryn Liddle, who is the shadow minister for child and family violence, is in the chamber however.
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Peter Dutton is now giving his address on closing the gap. He has opened his speech with what Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said in 2008 when he delivered the National Apology to the Stolen Generation.
That is deliberate. Because Dutton wasn’t there when Rudd delivered the apology. He deliberately boycotted it. He has since apologised, but he was not there.
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Details on new training and jobs programs for First Nations and Torres Strait Islander young people
As Amy brought you from Anthony Albanese’s speech, the government has announced a new remote jobs program, training hubs and a new commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children as part of the closing the gap statement.
A press release expands on the overnight drop, outlining plans for a replacement to the community development program that the government hopes will create 3,000 jobs in remote Australia through a $707m investment.
Additionally, the government has announced $30.2m for seven remote training hubs in central Australia, $10.7m in funding for the Justice Policy Partnership on reducing incarceration rates, community wiFi services for 20 remote communities and $24m to expand the Junior Rangers program to 50 sites.
The Albanese Labor government is also announcing it will establish a national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people to help achieve progress under the closing the gap agreement …
Indigenous children are almost eleven times more likely to be in out-of-home care than non-Indigenous children. The national commissioner will focus on working with First Nations people on evidence-based programs and policies to turn those figures around.
The statement said the reform comes after “extensive discussions” with peak body SNAICC – National Voice for our Children. An interim commissioner, still to be decided, will be appointed in the middle of this year. The roles and powers of the commissioner are also still to be decided.
“The national commissioner will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and wellbeing of First Nations children and young people, as well as calling on their strengths, sense of hope, and ideas for change,” Albanese said.
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Albanese tells Labor caucus they should be proud for backing Voice referendum
Back to the Labor caucus meeting for a moment –Anthony Albanese has told Labor colleagues they should be proud of taking up the referendum request from First Nations Australians, even after its failure to win support last year.
It was a short and relatively uneventful Labor party room meeting this morning, according to the party spokesperson at least, with senators tied up in estimates hearings. Media were told there was no debate in the room on any bills the government plans to advance at the moment, including bills related to autonomous sanctions, military invalidity payments, community television, offshore petroleum and greenhouse gas storage, and amendments to the “closing loopholes” industrial relations bill (which relate to clarifying penalties for the right to disconnect).
Addressing colleagues, Albanese pointed to the closing the gap statement he is making in the parliament now.. He said the first closing the gap statement in 2007 was “one of Labor’s finest moments”, according to the spokesperson.
Looking back to the unsuccessful voice referendum, Albanese said Labor should be “proud that we took up the gracious invitation and request from Indigenous leaders, while still respecting the outcome”.
Moving to the ABC’s Nemesis program last night, on Scott Morrison’s years in government, Albanese claimed: “the Liberals hate each other, the Nats hate each other, the Liberals hate the Nats”.
He accused the Coalition of “a lack of purpose” in government. Albanese went on to claim the opposition “hate” Labor’s changes to the stage-three tax cuts, and said he looked forward to the amendments the Coalition has flagged introducing.
We want to lift everyone up ... [the Coalition’s] sense of aspiration is limited to people who already have financial success.
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National comissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people announced
Anthony Albanese has announced a national commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.
The national commissioner will be dedicated to protecting and promoting the rights, interests and well being of First Nations children and young people as well as calling on their strengths, sense of hope and ideas for change.
The commissioner will address the unacceptable rates of out-of-home care. What it all comes down to [is] strengthening families and keeping children safe.
It is what the coalition of … experts have been calling for, guided every step of the way by the evidence, and we have listened.
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Coalition urges members to ‘stay on message’ in party room briefing
The Coalition held its party room briefing this morning, where the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, readied members for a potential election later this year urging them to “stay on message” and “exercise discipline”.
Dutton thanked Victorian colleagues for their campaigning and fundraising in the Dunkley byelection and encouraged everyone to keep it up. He added there was still work to be done, telling the joint party room it needed to “expose” the government’s agenda on industrial relations laws and any further changes to taxes, such as the capital gains tax discounts or negative gearing.
The deputy Liberal leader, Sussan Ley, had been out on the hustings in Labor minister Tony Burke‘s electorate in western Sydney talking to people about cost-of-living issues. She encouraged her colleagues to “get out there” and connect with families and small businesses in the coming weeks.
The Nationals leader, David Littleproud, congratulated the Coalition for its question time performance on Monday, saying the attacks on immigration minister, Andrew Giles, revealed him as “weak and incompetent”. He added Giles was the “weakest link” in the Labor ministry.
One Queensland member raised their concerns about the rise of vaping in Australia’s youth and urged the Coalition to protect young Australians from these things.
While there was a Barnaby Joyce-shaped elephant in the room, there were apparently no comments from the floor on the Nationals MP’s filmed incident last week.
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Albanese speaks on anniversary of national apology to the stolen generation
Parliament has begun its sitting, and Anthony Albanese is addressing the chamber on the 16th anniversary of the national apology to the stolen generation.
As part of that, he will then provide an update on the closing the gap targets. Albanese:
Anniversaries matter deeply but what will shape the future is the actions that we take now.
Sixteen years after the apology, only 11 out of 19 socio- economic outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are improving. Just four are on track to meet their targets.
What should give us pause is that outcomes have worsened the four critical targets: children’s early developments, rates of children out of home care, rates of adult imprisonment and, tragically, suicide.
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ABC estimates delayed until 1pm
ABC estimates has not begun as yet (was scheduled for 11am) so everyone is still waiting for that.
It will most likely run over, as these things are wont to do.
Oh – the committee has just announced a break and won’t be returning until 1pm so there you go – if you have been waiting for it, go grab some lunch.
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Stem diversity review calls for stronger links between industry and universities
The report comes on the same day that science minister Ed Husic released the final review into increasing diversity in Stem.
It found better coordination was needed between university and industry, including improved access to work placements and up-skilling.
The report made 11 recommendations, including establishing a dedicated advisory council to the government and changing grant processes for Stem programs.
Husic said more women and people from diverse backgrounds were needed to fill Stem shortages.
We need more people skilled-up to make the most of the opportunities in the growing science and technology jobs market.
The Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering said the review was a “potential gamechanger” if the recommendations were implemented in full.
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Australia’s Stem graduates face job insecurity, particularly women, report finds
Stem graduates are facing job insecurity and barriers to research funding, a Science and Technology Australia report has found.
The report, commissioned by the office of chief scientist Dr Mary Foley, surveyed more than 3,500 people with Stem qualifications. It found that among PhD graduates who had been in the workforce for 15 years or more, just a quarter were on fixed-term contracts.
Experiences were also gendered, with women less likely to have full-time work and be on fixed-term contracts (58% compared with 78% of men).
Foley said Australia was not getting the “full value” of its investment in Stem education.
The system needs to do more to support people once they’ve chosen a Stem career, so we don’t lose the value of this highly trained group.
We’re not necessarily training people in the right areas – engineering, mathematics and physics, for example, are areas of chronic shortage.
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And Labor will also be holding its party room briefing in the next 10 minutes. So we’ll get both the major parties ahead of parliament sitting, where attention turns to the Closing the Gap address.
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The Coalition party room briefing is under way, so you will hear an update from that very soon.
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LNP calls for scrapping of ‘detention as a last resort’ principle in Queensland
Queensland’s Liberal National party opposition has used the first minutes of question time to call on the government to remove the principle of “detention as a last resort” from the state’s Youth Justice Act.
The measure of detention as a last resort for children is enshrined in international law, including in the United Nations’ Convention on the Rights of the Child which Australia has ratified.
Premier Steven Miles said the government would listen to expert advice and the state’s police force. He said his administration would not introduce “mandatory detention as those opposite propose”.
At the Queensland media club last week Miles said the LNP policy was “incredibly dangerous”.
”All of the evidence suggests that if you detain offenders for low level offences, you expose them to hardened criminals,” he said.
You make it much more likely they’ll reoffend …. You’d actually make the situation worse.
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Michaelia Cash questions ‘political ally’ pick for Nacc deputy
Over in Senate estimates, Michaelia Cash is not happy with the answers she is receiving over the Albanese government’s nomination for the second-highest position on the National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc).
The Liberal senator wants to know if Mark Dreyfus recommended Stephen Rothman, a supreme court judge, as deputy commissioner of the Nacc. Cash says Rothman is a “political ally” of Dreyfus, so wants to know if he was involved.
There was no immediate answer.
“It is outrageous the minister representing the attorney general took on notice a very simple question on whether the attorney had recommended Justice Rothman,” Cash said.
This government promised a new level of transparency and integrity before the election but has now completely retreated from that promise.
Cash said no one questions Rothman’s experience.
The proposal to appoint Rothman as deputy commissioner has now been abandoned, the Sydney Morning Herald reports.
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Queensland Greens MP conscious and speaking after serious car crash, colleague says
The Queensland Greens MP Amy MacMahon is conscious and speaking after a “very serious” car crash on Monday night, her colleague says.
“We’re hopeful that she’ll make a full recovery. Anyone who’s seen the photos of the accident will know it was a very serious crash,” the Greens MP Michael Berkman told ABC radio on Tuesday morning.
The South Brisbane MP was driving from a free community barbecue to another event with a Kangaroo Point neighbourhood watch ground on Monday evening when the crash occurred, Berkman said.
At about 6.30pm a Hyundi I30 collided with her Toyota Prius as she turned right from Baines Road on to Main Street, Kangaroo Point, police said. Both drivers were taken to Princess Alexandra hospital, with MacMahon reportedly suffering head and suspected spinal injuries. The other driver suffered minor injuries, police said.
Berkman said MacMahon was conscious and speaking last night and didn’t suffer any life-threatening injuries.
Today is the Queensland parliament’s first sitting day and MacMahon was expected to have spoken in a debate on a Greens bill to ban new coal and gas developments, scheduled for this evening.
Berkman said:
Anyone who knows Amy would know that her first priority would be for everyone just to get on with the job of doing what we’re here to do. I’m sure she’ll be eager to get back to work and fiercely fight for our community as soon as she’s able. But the team and I will just carry on as well as we can.
I hope we’ll have her back here as soon as possible.
The forensic crash unit is investigating the crash.
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NSW to look at increasing fines for companies after asbestos found in park
The New South Wales government will look at increasing fines for companies “doing the wrong thing” after friable asbestos was found in a park in Surry Hills.
Premier Chris Minns said:
Clearly, this is completely unacceptable and the government is currently investigating certain actions that we will take in the weeks ahead firstly to raise the fines that are imposed on companies that do the wrong thing. Cabinet will be looking at that in the next couple of weeks.
He said communication between councils, the Environmental Protection Agency and the government needed to be improved as the asbestos crisis continued to unfold.
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Air travel has become 'much less reliable' in Australia, ACCC says
Domestic air travel “has become much less reliable” with delays and cancellations more common than before the pandemic, despite passenger numbers and air fares returning to and often exceeding pre-Covid figures, the consumer watchdog has found.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, in its first domestic airline monitoring report released since its directive was reinstated late last year, has noted that that
Despite evidence of falling airfares and stability in overall passenger volumes and capacity, service reliability remains a significant concern…Unfortunately for passengers, air travel has become much less reliable. The rates of cancellations and delays have settled at levels well above long-term averages,” the report found.
Over the past 12 months, cancellation rates were consistently above the long-term average of 2.2%. In December 2023, the rate was at 5%. Meanwhile, on-time performance was also poor at 63.6% in December, compared to the long-term average of 81.1%. At the same time, it found that “best discount economy airfares have not yet fallen to pre-pandemic levels”.
The ACCC found a raft of reasons contributing to the lack of reliability. Some were within airlines’ control, such as efforts to manage systemic issues, pilot shortages and training bottlenecks. The ACCC also flagged the shortage of air traffic controllers as wreaking havoc across the country. “A single disrupted flight can often have an impact that cascades down the schedule to another 2–3 flights due to aircraft and crew arriving late or not at all,” it said.
The report follows senate estimates hearing that two air traffic controllers who didn’t show up for work at Sydney airport on Monday caused flight delays and cancellations across the country. You can read more about Airservices Australia’s controller shortage here:
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Gallagher on parliamentary workplace body: ‘We are taking the time to get it right’
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, has told Senate estimates an exposure draft of a bill to create a parliamentary workplace enforcement body should be ready later this month.
An independent parliamentary standards body with the power to sanction MPs was a key recommendation of the Jenkins report, Set the Standard. It would be given powers to investigate complaints of misconduct against parliamentarians and to determine the appropriate reprimand or punishment for it. Such sanctions could include fines, temporary suspensions from parliamentary business and even the possibility of being sacked for serious breaches.
The Jenkins report, published in November 2021, recommended such a body be operational within 12 months but that start date has been pushed back a few times and is now slated for October 2024.
Upon questioning by Greens senator Larissa Waters, Gallagher said she hoped an exposure bill would be ready this month and that the body would be up and running by 1 October 2024.
I think people can see that the commitment is there. But we are taking the time to get it right. This body’s going to last for ever. So it’s only right that we put in the work to get it right.
She said she expected it might be harder to negotiate multi-partisan support because it dealt with reprimands and punishments against elected officials and people are “naturally cautious” about that.
Gallagher added:
I haven’t had any pushback, I think the discussions I’ve had, you know, everyone is committed to it, but they want to ensure that it’s fair. And I think that’s entirely reasonable.
Updated
Looks like the party room meetings are beginning to come to an end.
We will have those updates very soon.
Parliament will start at noon today, where there will be the Closing the Gap address by Anthony Albanese.
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‘Dying race’: Katter calls for tax system that encourages people to have children
Fresh from his victorious battle against the trough (parliamentary staff dining room) not accepting cash, Bob Katter is now taking aim at the tax system.
Katter wants a “split income” taxation model, which he says would exempt families from paying income tax.
Why?
Because he believes Australians are “a dying race as no one could afford to have families and the current tax models we’re favouring dual income, career-minded individuals, rather than someone wanting to raise children”.
The average income being about $100,000, tax on that is $25,000. Each individual in a [double income no house] household is left with $75,000 disposal income.
Now a family of five. There might be a stay-at-home parent (if they can afford it). So an average income of $100,000 is also $75,000 after tax, however, that’s split five ways – so really each individual has $15,000.
So where would you rather be? With a disposable income of $75,000 or a disposable income of $15,000?
So it’s pretty simple, if you’re the sole income earner for a family of five (or however many children), you’re income should be split among your dependants before tax is calculated. That means $100,000 five ways – income $20,000 each – you’re paying virtually no tax.
And being Katter, his idea goes places. In this case, the 1950s. (Katter does not seem to comprehend that some women did not want to have children, could not have children, or just made different choices and that there are many ways to receive satisfaction and a sense of accomplishment in life outside of children).
I was among the first generation where women were supposed to have careers. Well, they’re careering off into nonexistence. A lot of them, very sadly, are old people now. They sit at home, they have no kids to love and no kids to love them, no grandkids to love and no grandkids to love them. It’s very sad because society cheated them and lied to them.
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Sydney housing prices driving young families out of city, research shows
Sydney is on track to become “the city with no grandchildren” as high housing costs drive young families to the regions and interstate, AAP reports.
NSW Productivity Commission research found Sydney lost twice as many people aged from 30 to 40 as it gained between 2016 and 2021.
The driving factor for the exodus was unaffordable housing costs, highlighting the need for greater housing density across the city, the research found.
“Sydney is losing its 30- to 40-year-olds; if we don’t act, we could become known as the city with no grandchildren,” Productivity Commissioner Peter Achterstraat said.
“Many young families are leaving Sydney because they can’t afford to buy a home, or they can only afford one in the outer suburbs with a long commute.”
He said Sydney needs hundreds of thousands of new homes over the next two decades and that building them in inner-city areas has social and economic benefits.
“Building more in the places people want to live is a key piece to solving the housing jigsaw puzzle.”
The Productivity Commission research found 45,000 extra dwellings could have been built between 2017 and 2022 without extra land being released by raising building heights.
Achterstraat called for a fresh discussion on heritage restrictions on housing close to the city centre and the role this can play in keeping prices high.
“We can preserve the gems of Sydney’s heritage without inadvertently freezing young people out.”
Meanwhile housing continues to be one of the biggest issues facing the parliament, with another fight set over the government’s “help to buy” shared equity scheme. The Coalition have once again deployed the no-and-moan strategy, which means they say no to a policy at the outset and then spend a lot of time moaning about the policy.
That leaves the Greens and the crossbench in the hot seat and the Greens want changes to negative gearing and capital gains tax. The government has given that a hard no, so the cycle of housing policy fight continues.
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Parliamentary calendar to remain unchanged despite pushback
The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, says the 2024 parliamentary sitting calendar won’t change after the opposition suggested it wasn’t “family friendly” as it coincided with a number of public and school holidays.
This morning in Senate estimates, Gallagher is appearing alongside the Jenkins Report Implementation Team and officials from the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet.
It’s a little bit insider baseball but ensuring the parliamentary calendar is family friendly is a recommendation of the Jenkins report to make Parliament House a safer, more respectful workplace.
The Liberal senator Jane Hume quizzed the head of the Jenkins report team, Christy England, on whether she was consulted about the sitting calendar. She said she wasn’t.
Hume pointed out the last time politicians had to sit on the Thursday before Good Friday was 2008. She said that’s because it’s difficult for staff, particularly those returning to Western Australia, to get flights home the evening before the public holiday.
Gallagher responded the sitting calendar isn’t new – it was presented and agreed to by the Senate at the end of last year. The finance minister said changes had already been made, such as not having Friday sitting days and axeing evening divisions, but added it wasn’t possible to accommodate sitting weeks around every school holiday across the country.
Gallagher said she’d discuss with Hume about getting staff home before Good Friday.
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What happens in the party room stays in the party room
The party room meetings are under way. We will bring you those updates when they start breaking up.
The parties hold their all-in meetings on Tuesdays (Monday is for cabinet, senior teams, separate Liberal and National party meetings and so on) and afterwards hold an “on background” briefing which details the minutes which were taken at the meeting.
It’s where you’ll often see “party room sources” used. No names are given about MP contributions, instead journalists have to work it out by speaking to people afterwards.
As we have discussed it is a weird Canberra quirk – what happens in party room stays in party room, except for the parts they release themselves.
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Israel needs ‘to act with appropriate caution’, Birmingham says
The Liberal senator Simon Birmingham spoke to Sky News this morning where he was asked if he shared the “concerns” about Israel’s planned military offensive on Rafah. Birmingham responded:
Birmingham:
Well, it is important that Israel act with regard for international humanitarian law and be very mindful of the huge humanitarian toll that is occurring in Gaza. Obviously, there is massive displacement of individuals, and we still wish very clearly to support Israel, to see Hamas disabled and believe that the best pathway to ceasefire would be for Hamas to release the remaining hostages and the rescue of two hostages in the last day or so …
Q: Do you support the invasion, though, on Rafah of if that’s what it takes, a military operation?
Birmingham:
Well, it’s not a matter of whether I can sit here and say I support this action or that action. Israel needs to act with regard to international humanitarian law. They need to act with appropriate caution in terms of how they handle displaced people and ensure humanitarian support is there for them, and ultimately, they need to ensure that they are conducting these operations in ways that effectively target Hamas and the disablement of Hamas leadership and infrastructure.
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Hate speech to be included in religious discrimination reforms
Asked about the timing of hate speech laws, Mark Dreyfus appeared to confirm they will be included in and accelerate religious discrimination reforms.
He said:
We’ve already been working on the hate speech provisions. It is our intention to bring them forward with the religious discrimination bill that we plan to bring forward. The prime minister has asked me to accelerate the work on this hate speech part of that package.
Asked if leaking the contents of the WhatsApp group to Nine newspapers would qualify as doxing, Dreyfus equivocated:
We see that with massive changes in digital technology that is throughout our society that the opportunities for invasions of privacy, the opportunities for the use of people’s personal information without consent, the opportunities for really malicious actions to take place affecting hundreds or thousands of people very, very quickly has been made possible. Legislation has struggled to keep up. That’s part of the reason behind this reform of the Privacy Act that we’ve embarked on. And clearly though all of those things that needing to be looked at.
We also asked whether doxing laws would protect only religion and race, or other attributes such as sexuality and gender identity.
He replied:
Doxing is a broad term, but I think it’s generally understood to be the malicious release publicly of personal information of people without their consent. It takes different forms, it’s clearly got different malicious purposes, depending on the context. But that’s something that we’re going to have to deal with when we prepare this legislature.
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Dreyfus promises ‘stronger privacy protections’ in anti-doxing laws
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has spoken about plans to ban doxing and strengthen protections against hate speech.
Dreyfus told reporters in Canberra:
The Albanese government is committed to protecting the safety of Australians and stronger privacy protections for individuals are essential. The increasing use of online platforms to harm people through practices like doxing, the malicious release of their personal information without their permission is a deeply disturbing development.
The recent targeting of members of the Australian Jewish community through those practices, like doxing, was shocking. But sadly, this is far from being an isolated incident. We live in a vibrant multicultural community, which we should strive to protect. No Australian should be targeted because of their race or because of their religion.
The Albanese government committed last year to stronger protections for Australians through reforms to the Privacy Act …
The prime minister has asked me to bring forward as part of that, several reforms to privacy[laws], some new provisions, to deal with this practice of doxing with the s use of people’s personal information without their consent. And we’ll also be bringing forward … some provisions that strengthen current laws that deal with hate speech.
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RBA’s Kohler says inflation coming down but services prices still high
Marion Kohler, head of the RBA’s economic analysis department, is addressing the annual forecasting conference of the Australian Business Economists in Sydney this morning.
Coming so soon after the RBA’s first two-day board meeting, release of its quarterly economics update and two “grillings” of governor Michele Bullock, it’s not surprising if Kohler’s comments sound familiar.
The economy is slowing, inflation continues to fall and the jobs market should hold up reasonably well, is the gist of things. Kohler, though, does expand on a few points.
One is that services price inflation “remains high and broadly based”.
We are forecasting that services inflation will decline from here, but only gradually as demand moves into better balance with supply and domestic cost pressures moderate.
(Since we’re mostly a services economy we can’t rely on deflation exported from China to get inflation down to the 2%-3% range. My two-fen’s worth.)
The RBA looks at a bunch of measures – 10 in fact – to assess if the labour market remains tight or loose. By most measures, it’s still tilting to the “tight” side of the ledger with “hires rate” the “loosest” but pretty much in the middle of its scale.
Kohler said:
Looking ahead, we expect the labour market to slow in response to the softening in economic growth.
We expect much of the adjustment in the labour market to happen through a decline in average hours worked.
If the latter forecast is correct, that would be a better result than people losing their jobs. And any uptick should still see the jobless rate “remain at low levels relative to the past couple of decades”.
We get the January labour market figures on Thursday from the ABS, so we’ll see how the 3.9% unemployment tracks. In the meantime, investors are betting there’s about a one-in-six chance of a cut in the RBA’s key interest rate when the board next meets, on 18-19 March.
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Tony Burke says he has “no recollection” about criminal penalties being put into the legislation “at any time”.
Burke also spoke about some parliamentary tactics he says the opposition have been using to cut down on the time for debate:
The Opposition have a new strategy which is effectively to try to talk out the debate and to keep the debate going for as long as possible. They spent about 45 minutes this morning debating whether or not we would debate this today. Effectively, what they are doing is they are trying to fill up the parliamentary time so that we have less time talking about the tax cuts.
Burke quizzed on criminal penalties in right to disconnect bill
Tony Burke was on ABC’s 7.30 last night where he was pushed over whose idea it was to put criminal penalties for employers into the right to disconnect laws.
Q: Who came up with the idea of including criminal penalties for employers who break the rules?
Burke:
I don’t think it had been deliberately put there in the amendment that was moved but it was worked out that the effect of the amendment would interact with another section of the Bill and therefore there was a pathway where they could potentially be criminal penalties. That is why Senator Gallagher went ahead with wanting to seek leave to be able to introduce an amendment to fix it. And for reasons I will never understand, Senator Cash, on behalf of Peter Dutton, blocked that amendment and insisted that if the bill was going to go through, the criminal penalties would be there. So, I will introduce separate legislation on Thursday to fix that.
Q: Were there discussions about a possibility of having criminal penalties over the course of the last year since you have been considering this?
Burke:
No, there were discussions about fines and then effectively the idea came up during discussions with the crossbench and with business, I might add, that another way of doing this would be to simply give the right to the worker rather than frame it as the obligation on the employer. And when you did that, you ended up with the same outcome in terms of the change in balance but without some of the fear and alarm that would otherwise be there.
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Thousands of sheep and cattle freed from ship in Fremantle after five weeks
The 16,000 sheep and cattle stranded aboard a live export ship, which was turned back from the Middle East and has spent about two weeks in a WA port, are being freed from the ship after more than five weeks at sea.
The animals have begun to be unloaded from the MV Bahijah. The ship had left Fremantle on 5 January but was ordered to abandon its voyage after concerns about Houthi rebel attacks in the Red Sea.
AAP reports the livestock would be put into [quarantine] yards for at least 10 days to rest and the exporter may look at obtaining another permit to export.
At least 60 animals had died on the ship.
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What’s coming up in Senate estimates
It is also day two of the estimates hearings. Up today:
Environment and Communications, which today will focus on communications. The ABC is up just before lunchtime.
Finance and Public Administration, where it will be mostly about finance (so you can expect a lot of questions from Coalition senators about the stage three tax cut changes)
Legal and Constitutional Affairs – the attorney general’s department will be the main focus this morning. So it will be high court decision and Nacc appointees.
Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport – this one will be a bit of a mixed bag.
Updated
We will have Mark Dreyfus’s comments on doxing for you very soon.
There have been a few events on this morning for National Apology Day, and there is also the party room meetings, which means that the official proceedings for parliament will start a bit later today (as is usual for a Tuesday).
Catastrophic bushfire conditions in parts of Victoria today
Please take care if you are in Victoria today.
Schools and national parks will close as parts of Victoria face the first catastrophic fire conditions since the Black Summer of 2019-20.
Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia are also braced for extreme fire danger amid heatwave conditions.
Hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast across Victoria on Tuesday, with the possibility of thunderstorms and dry lightning.
A catastrophic fire danger rating has been declared for the Wimmera region, extreme in the Mallee and high danger rating for rest of the state except for East Gippsland.
A total fire ban is in place for most of the state.
The emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, said Tuesday’s weather forecast, with some areas predicted to reach 40C, would be challenging
“We’re going to have an extremely hot, dry and windy day … followed by thunderstorms and lightning,” Nugent said on Monday.
“We are doing everything possible to make sure we are well prepared to respond to any fires that may occur anywhere in the state.”
Read the full report:
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Sydney park closed after asbestos found in mulch
An inner-city park has been closed after friable asbestos was found in mulch after an investigation by the City of Sydney.
The council on Monday night revealed it had been contacted by the New South Wales Environment Protection Authority last week that while investigating other cases, the council’s suppliers may have received contaminated products.
The council then began testing at Victoria Park at Broadway, Belmore Park near Central Station, Harmony Park and Prince Alfred Park in Surry Hills and Pope Paul VI Reserve in Glebe.
The dangerous friable asbestos was found in mulch at Harmony Park in Surry Hills, which has been closed.
“This park will be fenced off and temporarily closed. Signs will be installed, and the site cleaned,” a council spokesperson said.
Bonded asbestos was also found in much at Victoria and Belmore parks. Fences and signs will be installed at those parks while the material is cleaned up. The mulch was used in garden beds and under trees, not in playgrounds, the council stressed.
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Survivors of stolen generations represent ‘gap within the gap’, advocates say
Today marks 16 years since the national apology to the stolen generations.
Advocates say that stolen generations survivors, who are growing old and in urgent need of redress, represent the “gap within the gap” of Aboriginal disadvantage.
The National Healing Foundation said today:
As the report is handed down today, we must recognise that Stolen Generations survivors are a ‘gap within the gap’, a statistical indicator of truth not reconciled.
As Stolen Generations survivors age, urgency grows. Many survivors have still not had access to redress schemes, a cornerstone of the Bringing Them Home report that was delivered nearly 30 years ago.
Survivors are ageing and face multiple challenges stemming from histories of forced removal, many will not access aged care services as a result.
We must ensure consistent and adequate compensation is seen by survivors in their lifetime. And with many survivors sadly passing away, there is no time to waste.
We invite Australians to stand alongside Stolen Generations survivors as we renew our call for the counting of actions, not anniversaries.
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Malarndirri McCarthy then speaks about the voice being voted down and what that means for Indigenous people and policy making,
We have to we have to look at other opportunities. But I just want to remind your listeners that that came at the request of First Nations people. They had the solution and they gave that to us, but the country didn’t agree with it. What we have to do now is look at other ways.
Indigenous works package the ‘first step’ to overhauling CDP program, McCarthy says
The Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy is speaking to ABC radio RN Breakfast this morning about the government’s announcement for an additional $707m for Indigenous work programs.
McCarthy says:
The community development program has many has had many iterations, even if we go back as far as the community development employment program in the 90s.
And one of the things we do know in terms of remote and regional areas is it is the sole source of employment opportunity for First Nations people in particular in those areas, but over the last five to 10 years, it has had some real serious problems.
And when we came to government, we said we needed to look at the CDP program … and abolish it because we recognise that didn’t have superannuation, it didn’t have holiday leave, it didn’t have all the entitlements that come with supporting workers.
So this is our first step. It’s the significant announcement that the prime minister is going to make today embarking on the future of this remote jobs program, and that we have to give some confidence to First Nations people across the states who are on the CDP currently, that we have a plan.
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Albanese to deliver latest Closing the Gap report
Anthony Albanese will deliver the latest Closing the Gap report, just a week after the Productivity Commission warned that without major change, Closing the Gap would fail. As Josh has reported, the government has responded with an additional $707m for Indigenous work programs and we will hear more in the speeches today.
The question remains over whether the government will legislate a version of the voice, to ensure that local voices are heard by government.
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Today is the 16th anniversary of Rudd’s national apology
It is National Apology Day, which marks the anniversary of the day the former prime minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to Indigenous people for the stolen generations.
It is different to National Sorry Day, which marks the tabling of the Bringing Them Home report and is acknowledged on 26 May.
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Dreyfus to speak on anti-doxing proposal
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will be making a rare appearance at “doors” this morning – that’s when a MP goes through the main doors of Parliament House, where they know journalists are waiting, to give the lines of the day.
If a minister walks through there, it is for a reason – to talk legislation. Dreyfus will be speaking on the anti-doxing legislation that Anthony Albanese announced yesterday.
Doxing is shorthand for documents and refers to the publishing of private information online, such as addresses and the like.
The government wants to get a rush on this and it has support from both sides of the political divide.
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Nemesis spills the beans on Morrison years
The final episode of the ABC’s Nemesis documentary series aired last night, focusing on the years of Scott Morrison’s prime ministership.
Tracing from his “miracle” election campaign in 2019 against the odds, through the Black Summer bushfires and Morrison’s infamous Hawaii holiday, to the French submarine fracas and the Aukus agreement, and of course the Covid pandemic – these are some of the key takeaways:
Morrison’s deputy Michael McCormack expressed surprise at the handling of his boss’s holiday to Hawaii during the Black Summer bushfires of 2019-20, and hinted that the PM’s office simply didn’t want to admit Morrison had gone away. For his part Morrison pointed to errors from his staff in how the trip was communicated, and admitted: “Some of those issues were clunky in their handling.”
Former Coalition figures gave their verdict on Morrison’s secret decision to assume control of five government ministries during the pandemic, including James Paterson (“deeply shocked”), Katie Allen (“livid”) and Warren Entsch (“stupid”) were among those to criticise the decision. Morrison said the decision was taken “on the run” but that it “drifted from my memory later on because [the powers] were never used. So yeah, regrets over that”.
Jane Halton, the former senior health bureaucrat involved in vaccine logistics for the Covid rollout, said she was furious with Morrison’s comments about the search for a vaccine was “not a race”. But government colleagues praised Morrison’s hard work and former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews, somewhat surprisingly, said his Coalition rival “did a good job. Some people will be shocked to hear me say that, but they forget that JobKeeper was incredibly important”.
Read Josh Butler’s full roundup here:
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Demand for homelessness services surges across NSW, analysis shows
The number of people receiving assistance at specialist homelessness services increased across 58 of the 128 local government areas in New South Wales in 2023, an analysis by Homelessness NSW shows.
The analysis of new Australian Institute of Health and Welfare figures shows the Inner West, Canterbury-Bankstown, Penrith, Sydney and Wollongong local government areas recorded the largest rises.
Dom Rowe, the chief executive of Homelessness NSW, says “plummeting housing affordability is affecting people right across the state”.
Right now, one out of every two people seeking help for homelessness in NSW do not receive it because underfunded services are full.
It is heartbreaking that women and their children fleeing domestic violence have to choose between staying in a dangerous home or sleeping in a tent or a car because they can’t get the help they need.
NSW must increase funding for specialist homelessness services, as Queensland has just done with a 20 per cent boost.
We must also urgently build more social and affordable homes. Right now just one in 20 homes are social housing but we need this to be at least one in 10 by 2050 to slash the 57,000-strong, decade-long waitlist and end NSW’s homelessness crisis.
• This post was amended on 14 February 2024 to correct an error in the table. The two columns of figures were inadvertently transposed in an earlier version.
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Good morning
A very big thank you to Martin for starting us off today.
Amy Remeikis is with you now and I’ll take you through the rest of the day.
Ready? Let’s get into it.
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Spy chief plays down domestic Middle East terror threat
The ongoing war in the Middle East and allegations an Australian was fighting for a designated terrorist organisation have not heightened the risk of terrorism at home, AAP reports.
The national terrorism threat remained probable, with intelligence agency ASIO concerned about spontaneous violence, the chief spy said.
“No, there’s no reason you should be concerned,” Asio head Mike Burgess told a Senate hearing last night when asked about an increased risk at home.
The opposition home affairs spokesperson, James Paterson, pressed Burgess on whether he could confirm an Australian man claimed by Hezbollah was fighting for the designated terrorist organisation.
But Burgess questioned what the risk to Australia would be without confirming whether Ali Bazzi was part of the organisation.
“I’ll talk to generics: if there is an Australian overseas fighting for an organisation that the Australian government considers a terrorist organisation, that is a potential concern,” he said.
“But it really depends on where they direct the energy of their ideology and what they believe.
“If that’s not against Australia … that’s not a direct threat to Australia or Australians.”
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Florence the tunnelling machine back in action for Snowy
Florence the tunnelling machine is back, boring for Australia. The massive piece of equipment being used to clear a path underneath the Kosciuszko national park to build the Snowy Hydro 2.0 pumped hydro development had been stuck since hitting unexpectedly soft ground near Tantangara in December 2022.
Senate estimates heard on Monday that it was finally freed from where it was trapped about 70 metres underground late last year, and that the machine nicknamed Florence has since cleared 241m of earth.
It has about 15km to go. Snowy Hydro chief executive Dennis Barnes said it was expected to move about 15m a day on average.
We’re mindful that some of the ground conditions ahead of Florence will be challenging, and we are continuing to closely examine options to de-risk this work.
The delays have contributed to the expected finishing date for the project, which was announced by then prime minister Malcolm Turnbull in 2017, being pushed back to the end of the decade.
The expected cost has blown out from $2bn seven years ago to $12bn. Once finished, it is promised to provide 2 gigawatts of capacity and about 350,000 megawatt hours of large-scale storage to the national electricity market.
While critics have questioned the project on a range of grounds, Barnes told the environment estimates committee the project made economic sense.
He said options were being considered to accelerate the work, including acquiring another boring machine, and that Snowy would rehabilitate a large sinkhole that has opened up in the national park.
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Government to spend $707m on jobs programs in central Australia
The federal government has revealed plans to invest $707m into reforming jobs programs in central Australia as it gears up for today’s statement on Closing the Gap.
The statement on Indigenous life outcomes will be tabled in parliament today. It is expected to again show disappointing results on key indicators. One statistic briefed out in advance by Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney’s office was that a target to increase the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in employment, education or training “is not on track”.
The government will today confirm a new remote jobs program, hoped to create 3,000 jobs over the next three years, as a replacement for the scrapped community development program.
“The new program is designed to help build the remote workforce and reduce the reliance on the fly-in-fly-out workforce,” Burney’s office said in a statement.
“It will be implemented in partnership with First Nations people, build skills and experience, and deliver services that communities want. The new remote jobs program will be about remote communities deciding what will make the biggest difference locally, not a one-size-fits-all program that takes the same approach across the country.”
The statement says the government will work with Aboriginal organisations, including the Coalition of Peaks, to design the program.
“For too long, people in remote communities have missed out on economic opportunities and have been stuck in cycles of poverty,” Burney said.
“People in remote communities should have access to the benefits and dignity of work – for themselves, their families and the next generation. This is about putting communities in the driver’s seat to create local jobs and businesses. Rates of unemployment in remote communities are unacceptable and this is the first step in turning that around.”
The government will be under pressure to outline its plans to reform the Closing The Gap program, after a scathing Productivity Commission report last week warned the program was on the brink of failure because governments nationwide were not taking the problem seriously enough.
The report accused the federal government of “weak” action on key areas, not fulfilling its promises and a “disregard” for the suggestions of Indigenous communities. It says efforts to eliminate institutional racism in areas such as justice and health have “received little effort”.
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Queensland Greens MP severely injured in car crash in Brisbane
The state Greens MP Amy MacMahon was in a critical condition last night after a collision at a busy Brisbane intersection, AAP reports.
The crash occurred about 6.30pm on Monday when MacMahon’s Toyota Prius was struck by a Hyundai i30 at the intersection of Baines Street and Main Street in Kangaroo Point.
Emergency responders transported 37-year-old MacMahon to Princess Alexandra hospital, where she remained in serious condition.
Max Chandler-Mather, a federal MP from the Greens, confirmed MacMahon was conscious and while her injuries are severe, they were not life-threatening.
Photos from the Courier Mail show MacMahon’s car severely damaged.
The occupants of the i30 were also hospitalised but were reported to be stable.
A third vehicle was also involved, sustaining minor damage.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling politics coverage. I’m Martin Farrer and I’m going to round up the best of the morning stories before Amy Remeikis guides you through the main events of the day.
The Albanese government’s tax changes appear to be going down well with voters, our latest Essential poll shows today, but there’s no sign of similar popular support for taking on negative gearing. A majority of voters told our latest Guardian Essential poll that they backed handing more benefit to low- and middle-income earners at the expense of wealthier people. But support for modest limits on negative gearing concessions has slipped in the past month, along with any proposal to reduce the ability of wealthy families to avoid inheritance tax.
In an action-packed final part of the ABC documentary about the Coalition’s nine years in power, Scott Morrison admitted “regrets” over his secret ministries plan but dismissed concerns about his infamous Hawaii holiday as a problem of “clunky” communications. He declared the Aukus defence pact to be his crowning achievement, despite France’s forthright reaction. Former colleagues remembered a “lack of humility” and a “women problem” in his government.
Today sees the release of the latest Closing the Gap report: in anticipation, the government has announced a boost to Indigenous work programs. Read more on that in a few minutes.
The application by Shane Drumgold, the ACT’s former director of public prosecutions, for a judicial review into the inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann case will be heard at the territory’s supreme court today. Drumgold argues that some of the findings against him were unreasonable, he was denied a fair hearing and the inquiry broke the law through the unauthorised disclosure of material.
And Queensland state MP for the Greens Amy MacMahon has been seriously injured in a car accident in Brisbane: more on that soon.
