What we learned today, Wednesday 13 March
Thank you for joining us on the live blog today – here is a wrap of the main news:
Authorities are working to rescue two people trapped under rock after a collapse in a regional Victorian mine.
Aerial searches will resume for seven people who are missing amid flooding in remote Western Australia after severe weather hampered efforts.
The billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has vowed to build a vessel “far, far superior than the original” as he unveiled designs for his Titanic II project – again.
The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia has been “mugged by reality” over the Aukus submarine deal after the US announced it will halve the number of submarines it will build next year.
Four federal politicians have defended taxpayer-funded trips that allowed them to attend the 2022 Melbourne Cup, costing more than $5,000 in accommodation and transport.
The lives of detainees in Australia’s immigration detention centres are controlled by a secret rating system that is opaque and often riddled with errors, a Guardian investigation has found.
The minister responsible for Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop cannot say how much the underground railway will cost, despite lashing an independent analysis that suggested building and running the first two stages will total more than $216bn.
See you bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
Search to resume for seven people missing in WA floods
The search for seven missing people – including four children – in Western Australia will resume in the next two hours, after delays due to severe weather conditions.
Two vehicles, a beige-coloured Toyota LandCruiser and a white Mitsubishi Triton, were believed to have left Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Sunday between 10am and 2pm, making for Tjuntjuntjara, police said on Tuesday.
Both vehicles contained elderly drivers, with the Mitsubishi Triton also containing five other passengers, four of whom are children aged between seven and 17.
WA police says its air wing and the local Kalgoorlie helicopter and air services have now been deployed to search the vast area between Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Tjuntjuntjara, which are around 650km apart.
The road between the two areas is still dangerous.
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Suburban Rail Loop minister rubbishes cost blowout report
The minister responsible for Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop cannot say how much the underground railway will cost, despite lashing an independent analysis that suggested building and running the first two stages will total more than $216bn.
Analysis from Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office, prepared for the state’s opposition leader, John Pesutto, suggested that building the first two stages of the railway from Cheltenham to Box Hill and then on to Melbourne airport would cost $96.4bn. An additional $120.2bn would be required to operate the line for 50 years.
This was $16.5bn more than was forecast by the PBO in 2022, and well above the $50bn the government said it would cost to construct the entire 90km underground railway when it announced the project in 2018.
Here’s Pesutto:
The Labor government told the Victorian people that the SRL would cost $50bn. We’re now seeing with each new report the cost continues to blow up.
The sensible and responsible thing for the Allan Labor government is to stop this project urgently. To proceed stubbornly, hellbent on a project that just doesn’t stack up but will rack up the debt, is highly irresponsible.
The Suburban Rail Loop minister, Danny Pearson, rubbished the costings and said the government was forging ahead:
John Pesutto is making yet another tired, lazy attempt to discredit a project that Victorians have voted for at the last two previous elections.
Updated
Two trapped underground at Ballarat goldmine
Two people have been trapped under rock after a collapse in a regional mine, the Victorian Country Fire Authority has confirmed.
The CFA responded to a call at about 4.50pm that reported two people were trapped underground at the Indicator Lane mine at Mt Clear, Ballarat.
Ambulance Victoria and Victoria police are also on scene.
The mine at Mt Clear is a goldmine owned by Victory Minerals Pty Ltd.
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Super funds must demand Woodside and Santos abandon expansion plans, activists say
Gas giants Woodside Energy and Santos make up a bigger share of the Australian share market than ever but are attracting a smaller proportion of superannuation savings than other large companies.
As AAP reports, research released by Market Forces has found the biggest super funds are going cold on the two “climate wreckers” by dedicating a decreasing share of their members’ investments to them.
The shareholder activist organisation is ramping up pressure on big carbon emitters and their stakeholders ahead of the next round of annual general meetings.
Here’s the group’s campaigner, Brett Morgan:
Super funds must demand and deliver an end to Woodside and Santos’s oil and gas expansion plans and publicly divest if they fail to comply.
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NSW calls on commonwealth to come to the table on school funding
The New South Wales deputy premier and minister for education, Prue Car, has warned the commonwealth to come to the table on school funding lest her state feels it has been “forgotten”.
Car said it was heartening to see the federal government’s decision to double public school funding in the Northern Territory, which would provide “extraordinary assistance” amid chronic resourcing issues.
But she backed her counterparts in Queensland, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania who have demanded a 5% increase to meet 100% of the schooling resource standard (SRS).
In NSW, the commonwealth currently covers 20% of funding for public schools, while the state government is expanding its commitment to 75% by 2026, leaving a 5% gap.
We are pushing for our relatively modest request … given yesterday’s decision by the Commonwealth Grants Commission to recommend a record cut in GST funding to NSW, coming to the table on public schools funding for NSW would be a good place for the commonwealth to start in reassuring the people of NSW that they have not forgotten the country’s largest state.
Updated
NSW treasurer protests cut in GST revenue from federal government
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, is continuing to complain about a cut in GST revenue that has made the state government’s surplus “virtually impossible”.
On Tuesday, the commonwealth grants commission released its latest report on the carve-up of GST between the states and territories.
Decisions of the independent commission are applied by the federal government as a matter of course, despite protests from states losing GST, which this year includes New South Wales and Queensland. Here’s what Mookhey told the ABC a few moments ago:
I think we need an explanation from the federal government as to why New South Wales is losing out when it comes to infrastructure, why it’s losing out when it comes to health agreements, why it’s losing out when it comes to education agreements.
The reason why we are speaking out about all this is because it does have very serious implications for our capacity to deliver services to the people of New South Wales.
Updated
State education ministers say commonwealth should increasing public school funding
Education ministers are standing firm that the commonwealth should front a 5% increase to public schools after the federal government sealed its second funding deal with the Northern Territory.
Under the statements of intent, WA has agreed to a 2.5% commonwealth funding boost to reach the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS), while the NT will have its funding doubled to 40% due to the additional need.
But Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales have resisted a 2.5% boost, instead demanding the federal government up its funding by 5% before they agree to their own increases.
South Australia’s minister for education, Blair Boyer, said the state “deserves its fair share of funding” from the commonwealth.
That’s what I’m fighting for with my colleagues from Victoria, New South Wales, Tasmania, Queensland and the ACT. Public schools are for every child … these students deserve the right funding levels.
$190m extra per year for public schools would be a gamechanger for SA. It would mean more support for students and more support for teachers. It will change lives.
Queensland’s education minister, Di Farmer, said the NT deal demonstrated the commonwealth could break the previous government’s cap of allocating 20% of SRS funding to public schools.
Queensland has a continued commitment that the federal government will provide a 5% increase to 25% so that all state schools in Queensland can achieve 100% funding.
Tasmania’s minister for education, Roger Jaensch, similarly said the state’s position “has not changed”.
Updated
Marles rejects suggestions Biden administration ‘backsliding’ on Aukus
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has rejected suggestions the Biden administration is “backsliding” on its commitment to provide nuclear submarines under the Aukus deal.
The US has announced it will halve the number of submarines it will build next year, throwing the Australia end of the agreement into doubt. The Pentagon budget draft request includes construction of just one Virginia-class nuclear submarine for 2025.
Marles has been speaking about this to the ABC:
The fact that the American industrial base is stretched in 2024, as it was in 2023 when we made this announcement, is not news. It formed part of the landscape against which this arrangement was agreed a year ago.
I think what’s important to see in the budget that’s been put forward by the Biden administration is an $11bn commitment over the next five years to grow the industrial capacity within the United States to produce Virginia-class submarines, which will see an increase over that time in the tempo of Virginia-class submarines produced.
That’s what we need to see. That’s as expected.
Updated
A Sunshine Coast man has been charged with 116 offences against multiple children, including rape, indecent treatment, stalking and taking a child for immoral purposes.
Queensland police alleged the 31-year-old had been actively targeting minors online since August 2023. He was arrested in February by the child protection investigation unit (CPIU) and taken into custody.
The man has been refused police bail and is due to reappear in Maroochydore magistrates court on 18 March.
Under Queensland law, a person is guilty of taking a child for immoral purposes who “entices away or detains a child who is under the age of 16 years and is not the husband or wife of that person” for the purposes of intercourse or indecent treatment.
Updated
Clive Palmer ‘sure’ high court challenge against electoral spending laws will be launched
Mining billionaire and one-time federal MP Clive Palmer has said he’s “sure” that “someone” will mount a high court challenge against the federal government’s electoral spending laws.
Palmer held a press conference in Sydney earlier today to re-announce his plans to build a true-to-life replica of the Titanic, where he fielded questions from journalists about his history of making lavish political donations.
Palmer, who donated more than $110m to his United Australia Party before the last federal election, criticised Labor’s plan to limit the amount of money a donor can give to a political party. He said:
I think that’s contrary to what the high court said about [the] implied right of political free speech in Australia.
So I’m sure that will be challenged by someone in the high court. Not necessarily me, maybe, but I’m sure it will be.
Asked if he was trying to intimidate the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, out of introducing the legislation, Palmer said:
I don’t think you can intimidate someone as steely-eyed as Mr Albanese, someone as strong and full of his faculty, I couldn’t possibly intimidate him.
The real question should be, is he trying to intimidate me? Is he trying to intimidate Australians?
We know that what the Liberal party and the Labor party would like in this country is to have a monopoly on public debate.
Updated
The Bureau of Meteorology is keeping a close eye on conditions to the north and west of the country. A spokesperson says it is monitoring whether tropical lows could lead to cyclones:
There are still a range of possible scenarios when it comes to their path and intensity.
Three #TropicalLows are currently hovering around Australia's north & west, near #Qld, #NT & #WA. There are still a range of possible scenarios when it comes to their path & intensity, so it's important to keep checking our Tropical #Cyclone Forecast at https://t.co/4KFWWiaPgB pic.twitter.com/5NJfivrneh
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) March 13, 2024
Melbourne rail loop cost blows out to $216b: analysis
Victorian taxpayers could be on the hook for an extra $16bn to build and run the Suburban Rail Loop, with independent analysis projecting the cost to blow out to $216bn.
As AAP reports, the 90km orbital rail line is Victoria’s most expensive infrastructure project, designed to run from Cheltenham in Victoria’s south-east to Werribee in the southwest via Melbourne Airport.
The first two stages, SRL East and North, will cost an extra $9bn to build and maintain and $7.5bn to run over the next 50 years, according to Victoria’s independent Parliamentary Budget Office.
The analysis, requested by the state opposition, is an update to its 2022 report that calculated construction and operational costs for the first two stages at $200bn.
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Henry Belot will take you through the rest of today’s coverage. Take care.
Australians lost $15.9m to social media scams in three months, report says
Consumer group Choice says urgent government action is needed after $15.9m was lost to social media scams in October to December last year, according to a National Anti-Scam Centre quarterly report.
Choice argues that digital platforms should be forced to prevent scam losses. Their senior campaigns and policy advisor, Alex Soderlund, said it was “disappointing” platforms are “refusing to come to the table to stop scammers exploiting their tools”:
From October to December last year, social media scams made up a huge 20% of losses for the quarter. In 2023, social media scam losses stole $95m, a 249% increase since 2020. 76% of 2023’s losses were through Meta-owned companies.
We continue to see an overwhelming number of likely scam ads across Meta and Google-owned services. Big tech companies have a perverse incentive not to act on scams because they generate advertising revenue, so it’s clear that only strong mandatory rules to prevent scams developed and enforced by a regulator will result in any meaningful change for consumers.
According to the report, a majority of the social media scams in 2023 occurred via Whatsapp (47% of losses), Facebook (20%), online dating sites (9%) and Instagram (9%).
During the October to December period, people over 65 experienced the highest losses of any age group at 30% of all social media scam losses – a 57% increase compared to the previous quarter for this age group.
Updated
Kelly Wilkinson’s estranged husband jailed for life over 2021 murder
Former US Marine Brian Earl Johnston has been sentenced to life in prison, with a non-parole period of 20 years, for the 2021 murder of his estranged wife, Kelly Wilkinson.
The Queensland supreme court heard that Johnston “intended” to kill Wilkinson, and that he had gone to her home armed with weapons, duct tape, zip ties and a sedative. He was carrying a 20 litre can of petrol, which he poured on Wilkinson and set her on fire.
Justice Peter Applegarth said:
I find that you intended to kill her, and then kill yourself. Something you failed to achieve.
Johnston was also sentenced to three years in prison for breaching a domestic violence protection order.
Updated
Asbestos detected at two central Queensland facilities
Asbestos has been detected at two central Queensland facilities after a investigation by the state government.
Queensland’s Department of Environment and innovation (DESI) confirmed asbestos was detected in a mulch stockpile at Emu Park transfer station after a joint inspection program by DESI and Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.
Livingstone shire council has closed the station as a precaution while DESI investigates. The department said a small number of residents had picked up mulch from the transfer station over recent weeks.
The contaminated material is believed to be bonded asbestos, which is less deadly than friable asbestos.
Asbestos has also been detected at NuGrow Rockhampton. The department said the samples were not part of a stockpile and are not believed to have left the site.
Updated
Saws down as Victoria’s forest logging firm gets the chop
Victoria’s state-owned logging company will shut down within months, AAP reports.
A 30 June end date was revealed this morning during a court hearing involving VicForests and environmental group Wombat Forestcare.
The winding-up of the body is part of the Victorian government’s decision to end native forest logging, which took effect on 1 January. Stand-down payments to VicForests contractors are due to end on 30 June.
The Victorian Greens’ deputy leader, Ellen Sandell, accused VicForests of being “environmental vandals” and said it was about time they were shut down:
We now need Labor to focus its environment department on restoration and protection of our forests, with specialised staff who have these skills.
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Greens say new funding deal will ‘lock in underfunding’ to disadvantaged students
The Greens have declared they are “not going to do cartwheels” over the school funding deal agreed to by the federal and Northern Territory governments, arguing it will “lock in underfunding” for Australia’s most disadvantaged students.
The Greens’ spokesperson for primary and secondary education, senator Penny Allman-Payne, said an increase to public school funding was welcome but fell short of what was required.
It’s a half-arsed effort that will not deliver 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to a single Territory student.
Not only is this extra funding not going to be fully delivered until 2029, there is no indication that Labor plans to ditch the dodgy Morrison-era clauses that allow states and territories to deduct 4% in non-school costs from their funding contribution.
And we can’t forget that the SRS calculation, on which funding is based, is not ‘full funding’ by any measure. It’s the bare minimum of funding a school needs to get 80% of students above the minimum Naplan standard.
Asked at a press conference today whether Territorians could expect the 4% clause to be removed, the education minister, Jason Clare, said “that’s not part of the agreement”.
I’ve said we’ll look at that with all the states and territories as part of negotiating the next National School Reform Agreement (NSRA).
Updated
Prosecutors begin withdrawing visa breach charges
Prosecutors have already begun withdrawing charges for alleged breaches of visa conditions due to the revelation that a type of bridging visa – Bridging Visa R – which was issued to people released from immigration detention were invalid.
A spokesperson for the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions told Guardian Australia:
The CDPP has carriage of all 10 prosecutions relating to allegations of breaching a condition of a visa. As of 12 March 2024, all 10 prosecutions were still before the courts.
Three matters are listed before the court today. As at the time of this reply, the charges relating to allegations of breaching a condition of a visa in two matters have been withdrawn. The CDPP engages in an ongoing assessment of all matters in accordance with the prosecution policy of the commonwealth.
As the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, has explained: charges being withdrawn relate only to alleged breach of visa conditions, not alleged breaches of state and territory offences.
Updated
Produce growers ‘very, very exposed’ to supermarket bargaining due to perishability, NFF says
The National Farmers Federation says Australian fruit and vegetable growers are “very, very exposed” to the market power of big supermarkets.
This week, a Senate inquiry designed to investigate how big supermarkets set prices and use their market power when dealing with suppliers has focused on the horticultural sector.
Yesterday, older farmers led an attack on practices used by the major supermarkets, accusing supermarkets of sending the fruit and vegetable industry broke. The NFF’s Jeremy Griffith was just speaking about this on the ABC:
The biggest challenge for Australian growers and fruit and vegetable in particular is that they are probably the most exposed sector out of any of these two major supermarkets because their product is perishable.
The supermarkets know that once it’s picked, once it’s ripe, the clock starts ticking. They have a limited window to sell their produce before it rots or becomes worthless.
That is the bargaining power in the hand of the supermarkets. They can exploit this by offering rock-bottom take-it-or-leave-it prices. This leaves the sector very, very exposed.
Updated
Aussie green bank stumps up millions for future lithium
Australia’s green bank has made its biggest investment in the resources sector with a commitment of up to $110m for the nation’s next lithium mine, AAP reports.
The Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) on Wednesday announced the landmark deal to provide Liontown Resources with enough cash to complete and ramp up its Kathleen Valley lithium project in Western Australia.
The Liontown commitment is part of a $550m liquidity financing package from a syndicate including Export Finance Australia, Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Societe Generale.
Located north of Kalgoorlie in the Goldfields region, the underground mine includes 46MW of renewable energy generation and a 17MW battery, allowing it to be powered by at least 60% renewable energy from day one.
Updated
As we mentioned earlier, Yanis Varoufakis has told the National Press Club that a “new cold war” is upending Australia and Europe’s business models. Guardian Australia’s video team has just pulled together that moment - watch it here.
Four MPs defend taxpayer-funded trips coinciding with 2022 Melbourne Cup
Four federal politicians have defended taxpayer-funded trips that allowed them to attend the 2022 Melbourne Cup, costing more than $5,000 in accommodation and transport.
Labor ministers Don Farrell and Anika Wells, along with the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, and the shadow sports minister, Anne Ruston, attended the event in the Victorian capital on 1 November 2022, charging the public for various expenses associated with their attendance.
Littleproud and Farrell were guests of Tabcorp, Wells was invited by beer company Furphy, while Ruston was a guest of Pernod Ricard Winemakers, according to their registers of interest.
A Guardian Australia analysis of the most recent data from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority (Ipea) for the period between October and December 2022 has shown costs associated with travelling to Melbourne, accommodation and the use of official government cars amounted to $5,316 for the four days.
Wells and Littleproud used the Comcar transport service on 1 November, charging taxpayers $244.80 and $489.60, respectively.
Parliamentarians are supplied with the chauffeur service for official parliamentary business, according to the finance department’s advice. The advice adds that the dominant purpose must be parliamentary business and that politicians must be prepared to publicly justify the use of public resources.
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Australia must restore its reputation ‘tainted by blindly following America’: Varoufakis
Turning to international affairs, Yanis Varoufakis said Australia must restore its reputation “tainted by blindly following America into lethal adventures” in Iraq, Afghanistan and, today, via Israel’s war in the Middle East.
By lending credence to the notion that Israel is exercising the right to self-defence and by de-funding, on the basis of unsubstantiated Israeli accusations, the only agency that can ameliorate the starvation (UNRWA), Australia damaged its already wounded reputation.
He also said Australia had a role to play in de-escalating the “new cold war”, as he outlined earlier.
Imagine an Australia that helps bring a just peace in Ukraine, as opposed to a mindless forever war. A non-aligned Australia that is never neutral in the face of injustice but, also, not automatically aligned with every warmongering adventure decided in Washington …
Imagine a truly patriotic Australian prime minister who tells the American president to cease and desist from the slow murder of Julian Assange for the crime of journalism – for exposing American war crimes perpetrated behind the back of US citizens in their name.
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It has never been so ‘dismal’ being young in Australia: Varoufakis
Yanis Varoufakis said that it has never been so “dismal” to be young in Australia, and made the following arguments:
Stop collecting more money from Hecs than from the petroleum resource rent tax
End negative gearing and capital gains exemption on real estate investments
Tax those with concentrated power to set prices and rents “through the nose” and build social housing that benefits those who live in them, and suppresses private house price inflation.
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‘Australia must end its dependence on fossil fuels’: Varoufakis
What should Australia do about this domestically? Yanis Varoufakis argues Australia should adopt a Green New Deal “as a necessity, rather than a luxury”.
Europe is about to impose a border-adjustment carbon tax. America will surely follow. Australia must end its dependence on fossil fuels and unrefined minerals and let rip with solar and wind power that produces green hydrogen, not for export but, for powering new factories that will produce, domestically, green copper, green nickel, green cobalt and green steel for export to south-east Asia and to China where they will be used to produce the electric cars and the cloud capital that Europe will then purchase tariff-free. To achieve this, this country needs a massive public investment project, a latter-day version of the 1950s Snowy Scheme.
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‘New cold war’ upending Australia and Europe’s business models: Yanis Varoufakis
Economist and former finance minister of Greece Yanis Varoufakis, is addressing the National Press Club today.
He argued that Australia and Europe are facing a “common existential threat” – a creeping irrelevance.
Caused, on the one hand, by our failure properly to invest and, on the other hand, by our ill-considered slide from a strategic dependence on the United States to a non-strategic, self-defeating servility to Washington’s policy agenda.
Varoufakis said that a “New cold war” is upending Australia and Europe’s business models, and told the audience:
Almost a year ago Paul Keating, in this prestigious forum, famously lambasted the Albanese government for making the wrong call in allowing Australia to become complicit in Washington’s pursuit of the New cold war against its own interests. The one question Mr Keating did not ask, however, was: Why is Washington doing this? Why did President Trump kickstart it with a ban on Huawei and ZTE? And why did President Biden turbocharge it with the microchip ban which was meant explicitly as a declaration of economic war on Beijing?
When I ask this question, I get two answers. One is Taiwan. The other is China’s escalating military threat to international trade routes in the South China Sea. Neither will do …
In short, the New cold war has nothing to do with trade routes, Taiwan, or Chinese escalation in the Pacific. It is, rather, the manifestation of a dangerous clash between two techno-feudal systems – one denominated in dollars, the other in yuan.
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Choice tells supermarket inquiry to ban member-only prices
Consumer advocates Choice told a Senate inquiry today that supermarket member-only specials should be banned because they pressure shoppers to hand over personal data in exchange for getting the best grocery prices.
Rosie Thomas, the director of campaigns at Choice, said in-app deals were also examples of unfair pricing practices, because they exclude some people from accessing lower prices for essential items.
She told the Senate inquiry into supermarkets in Melbourne:
We think it is unfair to effectively force people to sign up if they want to get the best deal to feed their family.
Again we are talking about excluding people who might need the deals the most from being able to access them.
Thomas cited a recent example of a major supermarket offering member-only prices for mushrooms, which she said was produce that non-members should be able to access for the most competitive price.
That’s an essential item and shouldn’t be the kind of thing you have to sign up to and agree to hand over your data just to access the best price.
The Greens-led Senate inquiry is holding its third public hearing, following meetings in Tasmania and New South Wales, investigating how big supermarkets set prices and use their dominant market power when dealing with suppliers.
Sports betting company fined after 48-hour ‘drunk’ gambling spree
Sports betting company Crossbet has been fined after a man went on a 48-hour gambling spree while allegedly drunk and “under the influence of other substances”.
According to the NT Racing Commission (NTRC), which regulates almost all gambling companies in Australia, the man spent $88,000 with Crossbet between 8.30am on 20 May and 2.44am on 22 May 2022. He gambled continuously for almost 20 hours before taking a three-hour break, and continuing for another 10 hours.
The NTRC also found the man gambled $560,000 over a 48-hour period at multiple bookmakers. The commission did not disclose the other bookmakers.
The NTRC has fined Crossbet $21,365 for failing to appropriately respond to “red flag behaviours”. While it could not substantiate claims the man was drunk and under the influence of drugs, the NTRC cited messages he sent to Crossbet explaining he had “no money left” and “hadn’t slept all weekend”. A $2,500 bonus bet was then credited to his account.
Two days after his gambling spree, the man sent Crossbet a separate message that led to his account being immediately blocked:
I made the account whilst under the influence of alcohol and other substances I was abusing... I was advised by my rehab delegate to get in contact with you guys and the NT racing commission just for an answer as to why my account wasn’t flagged as suspicious and stopped after the first 24 hours of betting.
Crossbet told the NTRC that it did take some action after observing the man’s first 24 hours of betting:
We contacted him directly via email pointing him to responsible gambling tools that were available to him….. We also attempted a phone call but no answer, and it later became apparent that he had lost his phone.
The NTRC found this was “not an appropriate customer interaction” as it “did not make any enquiry [sic] as to whether the complainant was gambling within his means, or taking a sufficient break from his long period of gambling activity”.
Crossbet was also ordered to repay all deposits by the man during his second 24 hours of gambling, which amounted to $42,750.
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PwC to make more than 360 roles redundant
PwC Australia has announced more than 360 roles will be made redundant over the next nine months, as the firm continues to deal with the fallout from a reputation crisis.
The firm will make 329 staff roles redundant and the retirement of 37 partners will be accelerated. The changes impact all areas of the business.
The firm sold its entire government consulting division for just $1 after a scandal involving the misuse of confidential Treasury information. Many government departments refused to offer the firm more work before the divestment.
In November, PwC Australia announced it would cut more than 330 jobs and close its “skilled service hub” in South Australia, which has supported its government and private-sector clients since 2021.
Here’s a statement from PwC Australia chief executive, Kevin Burrowes:
This has been a very challenging and complex process, but an important one, as we realign our business structure with our new long-term strategy.
I’m extremely proud of the contribution every individual at PwC Australia makes to this firm and their ongoing commitment to producing exceptional results for our clients.
We acknowledge that days like today are especially difficult for those affected, as well as their teams and colleagues. I can assure you that we will work closely with impacted individuals to ensure they are aware of their options and next steps.
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Severe weather in WA hinders air search for seven missing people
Western Australia police have been unable to deploy any air assets in the search for seven missing people today due to the severe weather condition.
Police are searching for seven people, including four children, who were travelling from Boulder area to the Tjuntjuntjara Aboriginal Community.
WA police said as soon as the weather improves, an air asset will be deployed:
At this time road conditions are dangerous, particularly in relation to the route we believe the people have taken.
Motorists travelling in the Goldfields area are urged to check the Main Roads and Bureau of Meteorology sites for current information on road conditions.
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CBA restores service, apologises after overnight outage
Commonwealth Bank says it has restored services after an outage overnight stopped customers from making payments, viewing balances, withdrawing cash or using its Netbank website, AAP reports.
Issues for customers using the app began soon after 8pm yesterday. In some instances customers could not view their available balances or withdraw cash.
The outage was first reported on CBA’s X account at 11.21pm AEDT yesterday and all services were restored by 7am today, according to CBA’s support web page.
Debit and credit cards continued to work but payments to customers at other financial institutions were delayed, CBA said in an X post.
Australia’s largest bank apologised to customers for the outage in a social media post. AAP has contacted the bank for comment.
‘History will remember’: advocate group chief on gay conversion ban
The legislative change to ban gay conversion practices in NSW was welcomed by survivors and Equality Australia’s chief executive, Anna Brown.
We stand with survivors in welcoming this bill and we urge all MPs to seize this opportunity to end these archaic and harmful practices which have already caused untold harm and have no place in modern Australia.
Years from now history will remember those who voted to put an end to these damaging practices, saving countless people from a lifetime of pain and in some cases saving lives.
Conversion practice survivor and co-founder of the Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Change Efforts survivors group, Chris Csabs said it was a “good and important step”.
I went through conversion practices in Sydney starting when I was only 16 years old. Now we turn our attention to advocating for the legislation to be in line with the survivor-led gold standard.
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‘We are not broken, we don’t need to be fixed’: MP Alex Greenwich on gay conversion ban
The bill to ban gay conversion practices will be supported by Sydney MP Alex Greenwich, who last year introduced legislation that also would have banned the practice. He said:
This bill will make NSW safer for LGBTQA people, by making it clear that we are not broken, we don’t need to be fixed, and those who attempt to cause harm through these dangerous practices are breaking the law.
He asked colleagues and members of the public engaging on the issue to be “mindful” of the harm and trauma caused by the practices.
The legislation has protections for churches and parents, but most importantly protects LGBTQA+ people from the damage that comes from trying to change or suppress sexuality or gender identity.
Updated
Gay conversion practices could soon be banned across NSW
Gay conversion practices could soon be banned across New South Wales after the state government announced it would introduce landmark legislation to ban the “dangerous and damaging” customs into the state parliament this week.
The legislation would make LGBTQ+ conversion practices illegal and is expected to be widely supported across the parliament following commitments from both major parties and a number of cross bench members ahead of the 2023 state election.
Campaigners including independent MP Alex Greenwich and leading gay rights organisations welcomed the government’s plan.
NSW premier Chris Minns said he had met with survivors of conversion practices and understood why the ban was important:
Every person in NSW deserves to be respected for who they are and that’s exactly what these new laws will do.
It is intolerable that we have a situation in NSW where children can be told something is wrong with them and that they need to be fixed.
The legislation would criminalise conversion practices that attempt to change or suppress someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, causing serious mental or physical harm.
Conversion practices, which are already outlawed in several states, aim to suppress or change an LGBTQI person’s sexuality based on the notion that they require treatment.
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, assured religious groups that the government did “not intend to ban the teachings of a religious leader or expression of a religious belief through sermon”.
Updated
‘Only 42% of the eligible population in the NT completed Year 12’: Clare
Circling back to the press conference in Darwin just earlier, announcing funding for NT schools:
The education minister, Jason Clare, rightly pointed to the ongoing disadvantage facing communities in the Northern Territory, with its public schools among the most underfunded in the country:
If we’re serious about closing the gap … then this is what it’s about. It’s about investing in education … and we tie this funding to the sort of things that are going to help kids who fall behind at school to catch up and keep up and have more kids finish high school and then go on to Tafe or university.
Negotiations for bilateral school funding agreements come at the same time as a major review into higher education – the Universities Accord – which wants to raise the percentage of young people with tertiary degrees to 80% by 2050.
To do so, lagging retention rates in high school will need to be addressed, and the picture isn’t the same across the board. Only 42% of the eligible population in the Northern Territory completed Year 12 in 2022 and only 53% in Tasmania, compared with 71% in NSW, 83% in Victoria and 89% in South Australia.
The 80% target will require about 95% of students to complete high school, Save our Schools projects. That starts with full funding.
Updated
US Coast Guard base in Hobart an ‘emerging prospect’: Tasmanian government
The Tasmanian government has acknowledged the “emerging prospect” of the US Coast Guard basing a vessel in Hobart.
Hobart has marketed itself internationally as a gateway to Antarctica and a US Coast Guard icebreaking vessel docked at the port for four days in December.
A document prepared by the Tasmanian department of state growth, obtained under freedom of information and first reported by the ABC, raises the prospect of a permanent US presence while making the case for a fuel barge.
The document also acknowledges other nations are unlikely to launch their Antarctic operations from Hobart until further investment in the port and refuelling facilities are made:
Consideration of the need for a fuel barge to service the maritime industry in Hobart has once again come into focus with the arrival of the new Australian icebreaker, RSV Nuyina, recent interest from the Antarctic cruise industry, bunkering opportunities for naval vessels and the emerging prospect of Hobart as a home port for the US Coastguard.
Added to this, the premier recently led a trade mission to South Korea and Japan, where he heard first-hand that having a fuel barge with the required fuels was a minimum requirement for them before they would consider using Hobart as a port for their Antarctic vessels.
Updated
Peter Dutton says charges against former immigration detention detainees ‘won’t hold’
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has spoken to reporters in Kirrawee, in the Liberal-held seat of Hughes.
Dutton said that as a result of invalid visas being issued to the people released from immigration detention due to the high court decision on indefinite detention, charges against 10 of them for breach of conditions “won’t hold”.
Dutton said:
So this is a government that goes from train wreck to train wreck … Minister [Andrew] Giles and others shouldn’t be in their jobs. How the prime minister can keep Mr Giles in his job when he’s released 149 hardcore criminals into the community on the wrong visas is beyond the average Australian’s comprehension.
The 149 people were released due to the high court’s decision that indefinite immigration detention is unlawful where it is not practical to deport the non-citizen. All of them had served their criminal sentences before they were taken into immigration detention.
As we brought you just earlier, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has said:
There was a technical issue, that technical issue has been resolved. All of the visas have been issued in an appropriate way. This is a technical issue that goes back to 2013.
Earlier, Dutton had rejected this – noting that the Bridging Visa Rs were granted under the Albanese government.
Albanese said “the high court made a decision – not my government”. He said the Coalition accepted in moments of candour that “no government is above the law”.
Updated
‘We have an agreement’: PM on Aukus submarine deal with US
Taking questions from reporters, Anthony Albanese is asked whether Australia’s position on nuclear submarines has changed, after the United States has scaled down its production of Virginia-class vessels from two to one.
Albanese responded: “No. Our plans are very clear going forward.”
We have an agreement that was reached with the United States and the UK. That legislation went through the US Congress last year. That was a product of a lot of hard work.
Here is more on this issue from Amy Remeikis:
Updated
‘I want this money to glow in the dark’: Jason Clare on NT schools funding
The education minister is under increasing pressure to ditch a Morrison-era loophole that allows states and territories to artificially inflate about 4% of their school funding share on non-school expenditures like capital depreciation, transport and childcare.
Trevor Cobbold, the convener of Save our Schools, told Guardian Australia this morning that retaining the 4% in bilateral agreements would be “disastrous” for public schools and disadvantaged students. The commonwealth was opaque over the future of the clause in its NT and WA agreements.
Quizzed on whether Territorians could expect the clause to be removed during a press conference just now, Jason Clare replied:
That’s not part of this agreement. I’ve said we’ll look at that with all the states and territories as part of negotiating the next National School Reform Agreement (NSRA), as part of making sure we build a better and fairer education system …
I want this money to glow in the dark. I want parents and teachers to be able to trace this money and see it go into the schools to make sure it has the maximum impact.
Read more about the loophole here:
Updated
‘The high court made a decision, not my government’: PM on immigration detainees
Responding to a separate question on whether the government has “bungled” its handling of the NZYQ immigration detainees, Anthony Albanese said:
Let’s be clear – the high court made a decision. The high court made a decision, not my government, and as the opposition have said in moments of candour in between their moments of trying to spread fear, they have acknowledged that no government is above the law. My government isn’t and no government is.
Updated
Reporter: Just on the immigration issue today, how can Australians have confidence in immigration minister Andrew Giles after the latest fumble on reissuing visas?
Prime minister Anthony Albanese:
There was a technical issue [and] that technical issue has been resolved. All of the visas have been issued in an appropriate way. This is a technical issue that goes back to 2013.
Here is what this question is in relation to:
Updated
‘We live in a world now where you need to finish school’: Jason Clare
Speaking about the education funding, Jason Clare said he wants it to “glow in the dark” – in other words, for people to be able to see directly where it is going and what it is doing.
He flagged catch-up tutoring as a priority area for funding:
I want this money to glow in the dark. I want parents and teachers to be able to trace this money and see it go into the schools to make sure it has the maximum impact.
[Chief minister Eva Lawler] talked a moment ago about catch-up tutoring. This is one of the things we want to invest this money in. We know that if little kids fall behind when they’re in first class, second class, third class, only one in five of them catch up by Year 9. If you’re an Indigenous kid, it’s about 1 in 17. So catch-up tutoring is one of the things that we know works, that if you get a child out of a class room of 30 into a class of about 3, they can learn as much in six months as you’d learn in 12, so they catch up and it helps them to keep up and finish school.
We live in a world now where you need to finish school because most of the jobs require to finish school and then go to TAFE or uni. They’re the sort of things we want to tie this money to.
Updated
‘We don’t want to leave any child behind’: PM on NT schools funding
We’ll go now to Darwin, where the education minister, Jason Clare, has been speaking about the education deal struck for the Northern Territory:
Speaking to the media, Clare said:
If we’re serious about closing the gap in opportunity between black Australians and white Australians, if we’re serious about closing the gap between kids from poor families and wealthy families, then this is what it’s about. It’s about investing in education, giving the opportunity to kids wherever they grow up, whoever their parents are, whatever the colour of their skin, the same opportunity in life. And that’s what this deal at its core is all about.
Chief minister of the NT, Eva Lawler, said she had worked in education for more than 40 years and this is a “historic day”, affecting children “way into the future”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said when one child gets left behind in this country, “that is a drag on them and their life but it also is a drag on our nation”.
Which is why we don’t want to leave any child behind.
Albanese said data shows essentially one in five Northern Territory children were being left behind due to underfunding, which is what this agreement aims to address.
Updated
Inquiry hears Australia’s food production at risk
Australia is at risk of becoming a net importer of fresh food as younger farmers exit the industry due in part to pricing pressures applied by the major supermarkets, a Senate inquiry heard this morning.
Bill Bulmer, a farmer with 50 years of experience and chair of the Ausveg industry association, told the inquiry into supermarket practices that the industry was at a “low point of despair” amid floods, fires and low produce pricing.
I’d hate to see in a decade’s time that a country that produces so much food became a net importer of fresh food.
If we keep going down the path that we’re going we’re not going to hold or entice any young farmers in this industry.
The Senate inquiry is designed to investigate how big supermarkets set prices and use their market power when dealing with suppliers, with the horticultural sector heavily represented in the initial hearings.
Fruit and vegetable farmers have consistently told the inquiry that they are at a disadvantage when negotiating prices with major retailers Coles and Woolworths because of the perishable nature of their produce.
Ausveg’s Lucy Gregg told the inquiry:
We not only have a very short shelf life, but we also have a very short harvest life. Baby spinach is only baby spinach for a day or two. If you don’t take the price, what do you do with your product?
The inquiry is considering mechanisms that could be introduced to create a more level-playing field in negotiations.
The major retailers have defended their business practices in submissions to the inquiry, arguing that the negotiations process allow for farmers and supermarkets to quickly respond to the highly variable nature of fruit and vegetable volumes.
The design for Clive Palmer’s Titanic II comes more than a decade after he first announced the project in April 2012.
In 2018 Palmer reignited plans for the project – six years after first announcing the replica, and three years after having to suspend work due to money troubles.
Kate Lyons had the story at the time, for some background on how we got here:
Clive Palmer unveils design of his Titanic recreation project
Mining magnate Clive Palmer is unveiling the design of his Titanic II project and vowing to build a vessel “far, far superior than the original Titanic” at a media event at Sydney’s Opera House.
Palmer is announcing his vision to build a to-scale replica of the doomed ocean liner will finally come to life after years of planning setbacks.
In a media release handed out to journalists before the event, Palmer says he is bringing in some of “the best designers in the world for cruise shipping” and that the Titanic II will be “the ship of love and the ultimate in style and luxury”.
While there’s no real ship in sight, journalists watched a five-minute video on the TV screens set up in the room showing detailed artist impressions of what every floor of the Titanic II will look like.
Set to classical music and featuring CGI animations of people dressed in period attire from the early 1900s, the video detailed the technical specifications of the ship and explained its features, which include a “Lifeboat Overview”.
Palmer says construction will start early next year and with the ship’s maiden voyage over the iconic transatlantic crossing from Southampton to New York scheduled for June 2027.
Addressing journalists, Palmer said:
The love story of Rose and Jack is one that touches the hearts of everybody.
The Titanic we hope can act as a catalyst to reinvigorate some of those values that we’ve got, which will hopefully lead to peace.
Updated
Neighbourhood batteries to power up regional Victoria
A raft of regional towns will host dozens of big batteries as Victoria pushes to reach bold storage targets, AAP reports.
Among 20 towns that will welcome 25 neighbourhood batteries are Phillip Island, Queenscliff, Wodonga, Yackandandah, Tatura and Wangaratta.
The Victorian government has set aside $6m for six battery projects, expected to deliver more than 4.2 megawatt hours of storage capacity.
Popular tourist town Phillip Island will have seven batteries installed, while four will be established at Queenscliff on the Bellarine Peninsula. Another 10 batteries will be spread across the state’s east and north-east, totalling 850 kilowatt hours of storage.
“We’re making Victoria the home of batteries,” energy minister Lily D’Ambrosio said.
Last week, Victoria’s upper house passed a bill to legislate energy storage targets for at least 2.6 gigawatts of energy storage capacity by 2030 and at least 6.3GW by 2035.
The legislation also set a target for the state to reach 95% renewable energy generation by 2035.
Updated
A senate hearing is taking place today, discussing where Australia will store nuclear waste from the Aukus submarines.
Greens senator for NSW David Shoebridge has shared this video ahead of the hearing:
LIVE THREAD:
— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) March 12, 2024
I am about to head into a hearing that will decide where Australia will store nuclear waste from AUKUS submarines.
More below👇 pic.twitter.com/gqcAZK9sjd
Shoebridge said the proposed bill allows for nuclear waste from the US, UK and Australian submarines to be “dumped across Australia”. He said the Greens are concerned this bill would create a new nuclear regulator “with no independence”, among other concerns.
For some background on this, as the hearing kicks off: Amy Remeikis reported last October that Australia still doesn’t have a site for its nuclear waste, despite the Aukus pact.
At the time, the South Australian town of Kimba was slated to take medical nuclear waste following a decision by the former Coalition government, but the federal court upheld a challenge by traditional owners. Labor accepted the court decision and the nuclear waste dump did not go ahead.
Sarah Collard and Donna Lu wrote a fantastic piece about this issue last year:
Updated
Take-up of renewable energy projects slows, industry says
If you listen to some talkback radio (and read certain websites), you might think the countryside is rapidly being turned into giant wind and solar farms, all connected up by giant transmission towers.
In fact, the momentum in the switch off fossil fuels is slowing. Investors dogged by unpredictable plans in some states, rising costs and more attractive locations elsewhere are approving fewer projects.
In 2023, for instance, not a single new windfarm secured financial signoff, while the capacity of new solar farms getting a financial nod shrank by a third.
All up, new investment dived about 80% to about $1.5bn, the Clean Energy Council said in its annual report, as we note here:
This slowdown is bad news for the pace of cutting greenhouse emissions (you know, climate change), but also grid security. The country’s ageing coal and gas plants aren’t going to last for ever, and their replacements need to be up and running before they go.
(Nuclear power might be the answer if we had a couple of decades up our sleeves.)
Actual emissions from black coal-fired power plants were up 5% in NSW, for instance, in the first two months of 2024 compared with a year ago.
That outcome was surprising not least because AGL was still operating much of its Liddell power plant this time last year, as Dylan McConnell, an energy expert at the University of NSW notes.
McConnell reckons a rise of electrification (think the take-up of EVs and reduced use of gas for cooking) might be nudging power use higher. That is what the market operator has been predicting but coal generation was supposed to be falling not rising.
Updated
‘It is patients who will suffer’: AMA on emergency department wait times
Earlier we brought you the latest quarterly report from the Bureau of Health Information, which shows one in 10 patients are still waiting nearly 11 hours in New South Wales hospital emergency departments despite modest improvements in wait times across the board.
Responding to the figures, the Australian Medical Association NSW president, Michael Bonning, said this should be a wake-up call for the state government.
He called for the next NSW budget to include a substantial increase in funding for the health system:
Our drastically overburdened health workforce cannot continue to perform under the current conditions.
Without an urgent injection of health dollars, it is patients who will suffer as they wait longer in the emergency department and are forced to endure longer stays in hospital.
- with AAP
Updated
Education union backs NT school funding, with caveats
The Australian Education Union (AEU) has backed a “landmark”’ school funding deal announced this morning between the NT and federal governments – with caveats.
Its federal president, Correna Haythorpe, said the resources currently allocated to Territory schools were “shameful”. NT public schools receive the lowest proportion of Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) funding despite having the highest levels of student need.
This funding is long overdue and will change lives in the NT. The bulk of the funding must be delivered well before 2029 because we know that teachers and students need resources now.
Haythorpe said the commonwealth’s commitment to doubling its funding to 40% of the SRS was a “recognition of its superior revenue raising capacity” for future state agreements, while also demanding the final agreement removed loopholes.
The prime minister must also ensure that the bilateral agreement signed this year removes the loophole in the current agreement that allows the NT to artificially inflate its SRS share by 4% by including non-school costs such as capital depreciation.
That Morrison-era loophole is denying NT public schools $40m a year and Labor was clear in opposition it would eliminate it from future agreements.
Updated
Angus Taylor refuses to ‘front-run the detail’ of Coalition’s nuclear policy
As the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, flagged during a speech yesterday, the Coalition will soon reveal the “potential host sites” for six nuclear energy plants, suggesting these communities would be offered some kind of incentive.
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, was asked to provide detail around these incentives while speaking on Sky News today, but said:
Well, I’m not going to front run the detail of the policy.
While not providing any details, Taylor said incentives are “pretty common” when major facilities are built in any community, including renewable projects, and that it is “important that that be part of any package”.
Speaking on the fuel efficiency standards proposed by Labor, Taylor was asked if he was open to any kind of concessions. It doesn’t seem as if he is, with Taylor responding:
I’m not going to speculate. I’m going to work with the proposal that we’ve got in front of us, which is completely unacceptable.
Updated
Weather warning issued for north-east Queensland
A severe weather warning is in place for the Peninsula and Torres Strait today and early tomorrow, with 24-hour rainfall totals of 150mm to 250mm possible, the Bureau of Meteorology says:
A Severe Weather Warning for heavy rainfall is current for today and into early tomorrow about the Peninsula and Torres Strait. 24 hour rainfall totals of 150 to 250mm are possible. A flood watch is also current in this area. More details: https://t.co/qmCl5AXm8s pic.twitter.com/RfFizVyJf2
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 12, 2024
Updated
‘We can’t continue to see this recidivism going on and on and on’: NSW on bail changes
The New South Wales police minister, Yasmin Catley, has defended sweeping new laws that would make it harder for teenagers to get bail and would criminalise “posting and boasting” about offences on social media.
These were announced yesterday, as NSW premier Chris Minns also ruled out raising the age of criminal responsibility to 14. Tamsin Rose had all the details yesterday:
Essentially, the Bail Act would be changed to include an extra test for 14- to 18-year-olds charged with committing certain serious break-and-enter or motor vehicle theft offences while on bail for the same offences and seeking further bail.
The changes would mean police, magistrates and judges would need a “high degree of confidence” that a young person would not commit a further serious indictable offence if they were granted bail again. The laws will then be reviewed after 12 months.
Catley was asked why the new laws would work in NSW, given they haven’t worked in other jurisdictions? She told Sunrise:
We’re hopeful that this will actually make a difference because we can’t continue to see this recidivism going on and on and on. We actually have to make sure that we get these kids out of the justice system, that’s the intention here. By having this place-based accommodation with services, we can send kids away from the justice system and get them into education and employment.
The $13.4m pilot program at Moree for bail and support accommodation would be rolled out across the state if successful, Catley said.
It’s not just Moree that’s experiencing these crime waves. There are other areas in rural and remote areas. We’ve got to do something. At the moment, we’re throwing hundreds of millions of dollars at any number of services. But we’re still seeing the crimes increase.
Updated
‘There needs to be some form of reliable base-load power’: Coalition on nuclear energy plan
Moving to the Coalition’s energy policy, Jane Hume said it is “very early days” when asked what incentives would be offered to communities that would host up to six nuclear power plants, as proposed by Peter Dutton.
Hume said:
What we want to do is have a conversation with the Australian community about the potential for nuclear power to be put into the energy mix to bring down the cost of electricity in the long term, but to also make sure that it is a reliable source of energy.
Now, there are over 30 countries out there and more than 400 nuclear reactors that already operating today. Those countries that are on a pathway to net zero – sustainable and realistic pathway to net zero – have nuclear energy in their mix. Why would you not include it in your thinking in Australia?
Host Michael Rowland notes that it is “incredibly expensive”, among other things.
Hume said this “remains to be seen” and argued keeping coal fired power stations open is also expensive and “heavily subsidised by governments”.
Rowland questioned this point and asked which power stations the government is wanting to prolong, noting that AGL and Origin Energy have announced or scheduled the closure of their power plants.
Hume responded:
[Coalition energy spokesperson] Ted O’Brien has said … that the government’s renewable energy policy, although well intentioned, will mean that there isn’t reliable base-load power to support it and that there will be blackouts. Now, for that reason alone, there needs to be some form of reliable base-load power. If it’s not gas, let’s face it, the government has made the gas industry walk away from Australia and, you know, prevented that being the sustainable base-load power, well then what is the alternative?
But this argument has been debunked, as our environment reporter Graham Readfearn writes:
Updated
‘They’re not my words’: Jane Hume on Sussan Ley byelection tweet
The opposition finance spokesperson, Jane Hume, has faced a grilling over a widely condemned tweet made by Sussan Ley during the Dunkley byelection.
Hume was on ABC News Breakfast earlier, discussing the federal government’s admission it had issued invalid visas to the 149 people released from indefinite immigration detention after the NZYQ case.
You can read the full story on this from Josh Butler below, for all the context:
Host Michael Rowland noted the issue has been highly political, and pointed to a tweet made by Ley, which remains online – he asks Hume if she is happy with this?
Hume:
This is an issue that you have canvassed with Sussan and a number of people [have canvassed] with her … It’s Sussan’s tweet and I don’t want to put words in her mouth [and] they’re not my words, they’re her words and she has continued to support that.
And thus ensued a back-and-forth, where Hume was asked if Ley should take the tweet down? She said:
I would not dream of directing any of my colleagues to how they use their social media.
Updated
More from AAP on this:
The New South Wales government says it is working on reducing wait times and improving access to care.
Measures include an emergency department taskforce, boosting staff by making 1,112 temporary nurses permanent and recruiting an additional 1,200 nurses and midwives. About 600 more treatment spaces are planned for western Sydney as well 25 urgent care services to be rolled out across the state.
The health minister, Ryan Park, said while the improvements are promising, too many people are still waiting too long:
We are throwing everything in our ruck sack at improving access and reducing wait times in our hospitals.
This includes boosting staff and infrastructure; but also rolling out urgent care and providing those alternate pathways to care, to treat people outside the hospital; and establishing an ED taskforce to drive improvements in wait times and access to care.
Updated
Modest improvement but hospital waits ‘still too long’
One in 10 patients are still waiting nearly 11 hours in New South Wales hospital emergency departments despite modest improvements in wait times across the board, AAP reports.
Hospitals are treating more patients with the most urgent clinical conditions, with a record number of triage 1 and 2 presentations to NSW EDs in October to December 2023, the latest quarterly report from the Bureau of Health Information shows.
Almost 60% of patients spent less than four hours in the ED, a slight improvement to the preceding quarter and this time in 2022.
One in 10 patients spent longer than 10 hours and 30 minutes in the ED, well above pre-pandemic levels.
Of the 195,269 people treated and admitted, 25.4% spent less than four hours in the ED.
Despite a record number of triage 1 and 2 presentations, the data shows a continued improvement in time patients waited to start treatment.
Two in three patients started their ED treatment on time and almost 80% of patients who arrived by ambulance had their care transferred to ED staff within 30 minutes.
The decrease in non-urgent presentations is reflective of more patients seeking care options outside hospital and relieving pressure on EDs, a government spokesperson said.
Updated
NT leaders to fast-track $1bn in public school funding
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, was also on ABC RN earlier this morning, discussing the funding package announced for schools in the Northern Territory.
As Caitlin Cassidy reports: prime minister Anthony Albanese, chief minister of the NT Eva Lawler, and education minister Jason Clare and his counterpart Mark Monaghan will sign a statement of intent this morning.
This will outline a $1bn investment that will see all public schools in the NT reach 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) by 2029 – more than two decades earlier than would have been the case under current settings. The SRS is the benchmark for required funding based on student needs.
Speaking on RN, Burney said:
I think it’s astounding for a lot of people in the eastern states to know that children in the Northern Territory, particularly in remote communities, actually do not have a secondary education unless they leave home, Country and family and board in Alice Springs, Katherine or Darwin.
Updated
‘We’ve got to get on with it’: Turnbull on fuel standards
Changing topic, and the former PM Malcolm Turnbull has backed the government’s proposed fuel efficiency standards.
He disagreed that the timeline for the standards were too ambitious, and questioned why Australia’s fuel standards should not be the same as the US, China and Europe.
We’ve got to get on with it.
When asked whether the standards would lead to a steep increase in car prices, Turnbull said he doesn’t “buy that”.
Those large cars that you’re talking about … they’re bought in great abundance in North America and they have this higher fuel standard, so I don’t see Americans going away from their huge trucks. So whether you think your trucks are a good idea or not, the Americans have plenty of them – they also have higher fuel standards.
Updated
Australia has ‘lost all sovereignty, all agency’: Turnbull on Aukus
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says that Australia is “bopping along as a cork in the maelstrom of American politics” as he continues to criticise the Aukus pillar 1 submarine deal.
Speaking on ABC RN, Turnbull said if the United States doesn’t dramatically increase the pace in which it is producing submarines, there is “no reason to believe that [Australia] will ever get the submarines that were promised under Aukus”.
This is what happens when … a sovereign nation abandons its sovereignty.
He said former PM Scott Morrison made a “terrible mistake” in abandoning the deal with France, where Australia was building the submarines in Australia and “were actually in control of our own destiny”.
But now we have “lost all sovereignty, all agency” under the current Aukus deal, Turnbull argued.
On Aukus pillar 1 we are effectively in conflict with the needs of the US navy, and you know as well as I do the American government, when it comes to a choice between the needs of the US navy and the Australian navy, are always going to back their own.
[There is] an alternative solution, which has been publicly canvassed in Congress, which is what they call a division of labour, and that is where we don’t get any submarines from the United States [and] we would invest in other capabilities and the Americans … would basically provide that submarine protection for us …
I fear today, Patricia, there are some people in Canberra, there are many people that don’t care about sovereignty the way I do and I hope you do, and I hope many of your listeners do.
Updated
‘We are completely dependent on what happens in the US’: former PM lashes Aukus submarine deal
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has lashed the Aukus pillar 1 submarine deal, arguing the US is producing half as many as needed and Australia has “abandoned our sovereignty in terms of submarines”.
Speaking to ABC RN about the issue, Turnbull said:
The US navy is trying to increase its submarine fleet actually to meet the rapid growth in the Chinese navy, in particular [with] submarines. To do that to meet its own requirements, it needs to double its current production of Virginia-class submarines. And so, of course, in order to transfer submarines to Australia in the 2030s, three and possibly five under the Aukus pillar 1 deal, they’ve got to increase their production even more.
Now, right at the moment, they’re not only producing about half as many submarines as they believe they need, but they also are not able to maintain the submarines they have …
What does that mean for Australia? It means because the Morrison government, adopted by Albanese, has basically abandoned our sovereignty in terms of submarines, we are completely dependent on what happens in the United States as to whether we get them now. The reality is the Americans are not going to make their submarine deficit worse than it is already by giving or selling submarines to Australia and the Aukus legislation actually sets that out quite specifically.
So you know, this is really a case of us being mugged by reality. I mean, there’s a lot of Aukus cheerleaders, and anyone that has any criticism of Aukus is almost described as being unpatriotic. We’ve got to be realistic here.
Updated
US navy to halve submarine procurement in 2025: media reports
The ABC is reporting that the United States will halve next year’s planned procurement of Virginia-class boats, as the defence minister, Richard Marles, says Aukus partners are working “at pace” to help Australia acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
It says defence budget papers released yesterday show the US navy would order just one of the fast-attack submarines in 2025, rather than two, pushing a projected saving of $US4bn into future years.
Democratic congressman Joe Courtney reportedly warned the decision would have a “profound impact” on both countries’ navies:
If such a cut is actually enacted, it will remove one more attack submarine from a fleet that is already 17 submarines below the Navy’s long-stated requirement of 66.
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull is due to speak about this shortly on ABC RN, and we’ll bring you this here on the blog.
Updated
Continued from our last post:
The Australian Grape and Wine chief executive, Lee McLean, said the decision was a “positive step” towards resuming trade with what was formerly the largest export market:
We remain cautiously optimistic about the forthcoming decision and will await Mofcom’s (China’s commerce ministry) final determination.
We appreciate the collaborative efforts from both the Australian and Chinese governments, and industry partners, in working towards a resolution.
China lifted tariffs on Australian barley in August last year following a similar process, after Labor paused a WTO dispute in exchange for a review.
Beijing imposed $20bn in sanctions on Australian products during heightened tensions in 2020.
Sanctions worth $2bn remain on wine, rock lobster and some abattoirs.
China’s ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian, on Monday said the review was “moving on the right track, in the right direction”.
Senator Don Farrell recently met his Chinese counterpart, Wang Wentao, on the sidelines of the WTO’s ministerial conference in Abu Dhabi last month.
- from AAP
Updated
China moves to dump tariffs on $1b wine exports
As we just flagged: China has recommended dropping tariffs on Australian wine exports worth $1bn in an interim decision, AAP reports.
Beijing is reviewing the sanctions through a five-month process after the Albanese government agreed to suspend Australia’s dispute lodged with the World Trade Organization until 31 March. The Chinese government yesterday released its interim recommendation that the duties on wine are no longer necessary.
Beijing will announce its final decision later this month, but the move has sparked hope the tariffs will be fully removed.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, said the government had stabilised the relationship with China without compromising the nation’s values:
We have delivered on that commitment through calm and consistent dialogue. We continue to press for all remaining trade impediments to be removed.
The trade minister, Don Farrell, said the interim recommendation was a welcome development, and “vindicates the government’s preferred approach of resolving trade issues through dialogue rather than disputation”.
Updated
Welcome
Good morning, and happy Wednesday – welcome back to Australia news live blog! Emily Wind here, I’ll bring you our rolling coverage today.
Making news overnight, China has recommended dropping tariffs on Australian wine exports worth $1bn in an interim decision.
As AAP reports, Beijing is reviewing the sanctions through a five-month process after the Albanese government agreed to suspend Australia’s dispute lodged with the World Trade Organization until 31 March.
The Chinese government yesterday released its interim recommendation that the duties on wine are no longer necessary. Beijing will announce its final decision later this month, but the move has sparked hope the tariffs will be fully removed.
We’ll have more on this shortly, but in the meantime, here is this great piece by Eliza Spencer from our rural network on the issue:
The search is continuing for seven people – including four children – missing amid the heavy rain in Western Australia. Yesterday, police said they held “serious welfare concerns” for the people missing hundreds of kilometres north-east of Kalgoorlie, as flooding has cut off road and rail links into the state.
We will bring you the latest on this as we hear further updates today.
See something that needs attention on the blog? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
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