What we learned today, Wednesday 1 May
That’s it for today, thanks for reading. Here are the main stories of the day:
The Albanese government pledged almost $1bn to help women leave violent relationships.
Bruce Lehrmann was granted more time to consider an appeal against a ruling he was not defamed.
Pauline Hanson “plainly targeted” the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi with a well-known racist phrase, a court was told.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, stood by his decision to attend a rally in Canberra against violence against women.
Bonza was “unlikely” to resume flights, the transport minister, Catherine King, said after the airline was placed into voluntary administration.
The Queensland government will scrap detention as a last resort for offenders amid growing concerns over youth crime.
The Victorian health minister confirmed public prosecutors had dropped charges against the health department over its handling of the hotel quarantine program that contributed to the state’s deadly second Covid-19 wave.
Qantas is investigating an issue with its app after customers reported seeing strangers’ data.
We will see you back here for more news on Thursday.
Updated
Australian and South Korean ministers condemn settler violence against Palestinians in West Bank
Let’s return to the meeting between the Australian and South Korean foreign and defence ministers held in Melbourne today. A joint statement gives more details about what Penny Wong and Richard Marles and their South Korean counterparts agreed regarding the Middle East:
The Ministers expressed deep concern at the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza. They condemned the horrific Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023 as acts of terror against innocent civilians.
The Ministers agreed on the need for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, and called for the immediate and unconditional release of hostages and a massive and sustained increase in the delivery of humanitarian relief to Gaza. The Ministers reiterated the importance of all parties adhering to international humanitarian law and protecting civilians.
They also voiced their deep concern at ongoing high levels of settler violence against Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and called on all parties to refrain from actions that inflame tensions and undermine stability.
Notably, the Australian and South Korean ministers also “agreed on the need for a negotiated political solution to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict and agreed that a secure and prosperous future for both Israelis and Palestinians will only come through a two-state solution”. The statement said the ministers “discussed how the international community can help build momentum towards a lasting peace” and how South Korea’s approach to a recent vote at the UN security council on full Palestinian membership “reflected this aspiration”.
This line is interesting in light of Wong’s speech three weeks ago when she noted that the international community was “now considering the question of Palestinian statehood as a way of building momentum towards a two-state solution”. South Korea was among 12 of the 15 members of the UN security council to vote on 18 April in favour of a Palestinian request for full UN membership, but the initiative was blocked because of a US veto.
Updated
A blistering analysis on the youth crime situation in Queensland, by my colleagues Ben Smee and Andrew Messenger.
Qantas app ‘remains stable’, airline says
Qantas says its app remains stable after an issue earlier today resulted in customers being able to view the private details of others.
It said in a statement at 4.50pm:
The Qantas app is currently stable and operating normally following an issue with its homepage today.
There were two periods today where some customers were shown the flight and booking details of other frequent flyers.
This didn’t include financial information, and no customers were able to transfer or use the Qantas points of other frequent flyers.
We have processes in place to make sure that customers were not able to board flights using the boarding pass of another customer and there were no reports of this happening.
We sincerely apologise to all customers impacted and continue to monitor the Qantas app closely.
Updated
Australia not worried about sale of Austal to South Korean firm, Marles says
The defence minister, Richard Marles, says the government is not worried about the potential sale of Australian shipbuilder Austal to the South Korean company Hanwha.
Austal – which designs and builds a number of vessels for the Australian and US navies – confirmed last month that Hanwha had proposed to buy the company, subject to conditions.
Those conditions include being able to secure approvals from Australian and US regulators. Austal said at the time that it was not yet satisfied the necessary approvals would be granted, but was “open” to further talks with Hanwha about a potential sale.
Marles was asked about the matter after a 2+2 meeting with South Korean ministers in Melbourne today. He said the proposed acquisition was “a matter for Austal as a private company”, but added:
From the government’s perspective, we don’t have any concern about Hanwha moving in this direction. We have identified Austal as a strategic shipbuilder for Australia in WA.
Wherever Austal goes, whatever it does, there will obviously need to be security arrangements put in place in respect of sensitive technologies and intellectual property that would have to be managed no matter what the future of Austal. And were there anything that were to transpire in relation to Hanwha, that would need to be managed in that context as well.
Updated
Faruqi v Hanson court update
Pauline Hanson’s counsel, Kieran Smark SC, is continuing to summarise Hanson’s defence against Mehreen Faruqi’s racial discrimination case. Faruqi brought the case after Hanson tweeted “piss off back to Pakistan” in response to Faruqi’s critique of colonisation on the day the queen died.
Smark is arguing that the timing of Hanson’s response to Faruqi is also relevant.
Hanson told the court on Tuesday that she doesn’t have access to Twitter herself, but her staff brought Faruqi’s tweet to her attention and she dictated a response, because she was “upset, offended and angry” at Faruqi’s critique on the day the queen died.
Hanson’s counsel says is important as “the timing of her saying that about the queen and the fact that Senator Faruqi had used the occasion of the death of the queen to advance the nominated political causes, whatever the readers thought about those causes, might be favourable, might be negative, [was about becoming a republic]”.
Smark says it is “one thing to say that generally” in the first few months of Charles’s reign, but another to say it “within hours” of the regent’s death.
Justice Angus Stewart asks Smark a question here:
“I’m still trying to understand why the response targeted as it is at the individual and their characteristics is political speech.”
Smark gives a response about political speech which ends with:
“Politics involves the deployment of rhetoric, powerful language, emotion, all with a view to persuading the audience towards a particular view and, in this case, a particular powerful view on on issues, which were clearly ones on which Senator Faruqi and Senator Hanson were separately removed, but also just as part of the political process.”
The court then adjourns until tomorrow at 10.15am when the remainder of the final submissions will be heard, including that of the commonwealth solicitor who is intervening in this case regarding the section 18C and 18D references.
Updated
NSW records leap in pneumonia cases among children
The number of school-aged children visiting NSW emergency departments with pneumonia has increased fivefold on pre-Covid levels.
Last week, 317 children aged between five and 16 visited NSW emergency departments with pneumonia – a fivefold increase on the last week of April 2019, when there were 65 cases.
In steps echoing those advised during the pandemic, the state health minister, Ryan Park, said it was important people exhibiting cold and flu-like symptoms not leave the house, and that if they needed to do so wear a mask.
NSW Health continues to monitor an increase in pneumonia cases among young people throughout the state since March 2024 and is investigating the cause of the increased spread.
Encouragingly, this increase in cases has not led to a corresponding increase in severity.
The increase in cases could be attributed to a number of causes, including increased vigilance in the community around respiratory illness following the Covid-19 pandemic or reduced immunity.
Updated
Earlier in the Senate inquiry, Richard Lee acknowledged Liber’s relationship with Chemist Warehouse as a shareholder.
In response to Senator Ross Cadell’s concerns – after coming off the supermarket inquiry – around access to markets, Lee responded:
“Chemist Warehouse sit on our register. They’re a shareholder, they’re not involved in the day-to-day running of the business as an individual shareholder, as they have no board representation. They support the prescribed access model, as do all our shareholders.”
Cadell said he had “concerns over that relationship going forward”.
“What I don’t want to create is a new big industry that is controlled by channel to market.”
Updated
Pharmaceutical firm CEO appears before vape inquiry
Liber Pharmaceuticals’ CEO has defended its general manager owning a telehealth platform which prescribes vapes.
The Liber Pharmaceuticals CEO, Richard Lee, is today appearing before a Senate inquiry into the latest round of vaping reforms. His company benefits commercially from the regulation of nicotine vapes as medical products sold to people with a doctor’s prescription in a pharmacy, as Liber’s nicotine vapes are stocked by national wholesalers and major pharmacy brands.
The Nationals senator Ross Cadell asked Lee: “Smokefreeclinic.com.au is owned by your managing director, Ryan Boulton, is that correct?”
Lee: “Yes.”
Cadell: “I can go on that site and get a prescription for your products … It says nicotine vaping scripts are available for local pickup in 5,500 pharmacies on that website.”
Lee: “That goes to an independent cohort of doctors with which we have no contractual relationship.”
Cadell: “So the owner of the people that makes the products has a website that goes to an independent cohort of doctors that can prescribe your products?”
Lee: “Correct. That can prescribe any products, correct. And the simple fact of the matter – the reason we created Smokefree was because there was a lack of education and a lack of people knowing where to go to speak to a doctor. That remains the biggest issue with the channel today. It’s not that there are not enough doctors, it’s that people don’t know where to go to access.”
Updated
Judge allows more time for Lehrmann to consider appeal
Following on from our post from earlier, Justice Michael Lee has granted the application to Bruce Lehrmann to extend his time to appeal to 31 May.
Updated
Premier Chris Minns mourns death of his father
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has confirmed in a statement that his father, John Minns, has died after suffering a heart attack earlier this week.
Minns said in the statement:
This afternoon we lost our dad, John Minns. To the end, he was surrounded by love and family, with his wife and children by his side. We thank the NSW paramedics and all the nurses and doctors at St George Hospital, who gave our dad great care this week. We have also been very moved by all the messages of support over the last few days.
Updated
Lehrmann's lawyers want more time to consider appeal
Bruce Lehrmann’s lawyers have asked the federal court for more time to consider an appeal.
The former Liberal staffer lost the defamation case he brought against Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, with Justice Michael Lee finding that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019.
Lehrmann had until 13 May to file an appeal against Lee’s decision but lawyers have now asked for an extension to 27 May.
Lee has heard an application from Lehrmann’s team that new senior counsel had been appointed and they needed more time to consider the lengthy judgement as well as more than 1,000 exhibits.
The application is not opposed by Ten.
Updated
Family violence payments not enough, advocates say
Mission Australia has called for government funding to help women and children escaping family violence find affordable housing, with the number of people experiencing DV seeking help from homelessness services doubling in the past three years.
Sharon Callister, chief executive of Mission Australia, said:
Every day, brave women across Australia confront the agonising choice between escaping violence and facing homelessness, or enduring unsafe and high-risk situations to avoid homelessness. Cost-of-living pressures, coupled with the scarcity of affordable housing and inadequate income support, compounds this horrific dilemma.
Delia Donovan, the chief executive of Domestic Violence NSW, criticised the federal government’s commitment of $925m - which will permanently establish a payment of up to $5,000 to help victims of violence - as not going far enough to help with housing.
Today’s National Cabinet noted the importance of housing reforms and a one-off payment is not going to provide a pathway out of abuse for women and children that are forced to choose between homelessness or abuse.
Updated
Faruqi v Hanson case update
In the other federal court hearing of the day, Justice Angus Stewart is now hearing from Pauline Hanson’s counsel, as the parties involved in Mehreen Faruqi’s racial discrimination action against Hanson comes to a conclusion.
Kieran Smark SC is appearing for Hanson today, and he is urging Stewart to look at how 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act impede on the implied right to freedom of speech.
Smark goes to fair comment and reasonableness of opinions (which has been part of Hanson’s defence).
Smark says:
Reasonableness in the context of a fair comment has a particular interesting character – it’s reasonable given that one is expressing an opinion.
One is licensed to express an opinion in a sense, within the context of it being reasonable, but it’s an opinion and people hold a range of opinions. That’s the nature of opinions.
Opinions are held on reasons which may not be able to be shared with other people on an axiomatic basis – that’s why they’re opinions.
Smark is arguing that Hanson was giving an opinion in good faith, and was making fair comment.
Updated
Queensland youth justice continued
All of this comes in the wake of an almighty backdown by the state Labor government.
Police minister Mark Ryan introduced legislation this morning which he said would eliminate the principle of detention as a last resort.
The legal principle is contained within the UN convention on the rights of the child.
The Liberal National opposition has called for a repeal of the legal clause for years.
Updated
Queensland vows ‘clear and enforceable limits on separations’ for children behind bars
The government has promised to establish “clear and enforceable limits on separations” for kids behind bars.
“Separations” are akin to solitary confinement, where a child is locked in a room alone.
Some particularly troubled kids can find themselves placed into a “separation” for weeks on end, dozens of hours a day.
The Child Death Review board last month reported the death of two children who had been held in solitary for an extended period of time.
The state government committed to changing the practice, in response to a recommendation it do so by a bipartisan parliamentary committee.
“The Queensland government commits to setting clear and enforceable limits on separations. Separations are subject to strict approvals, supervision protocols, time limits and record keeping, ensuring they are reasonable and justified, in keeping with the legislative requirements of the Youth Justice Regulation 2016,” the response reads.
It also promised to “consider ... workforce planning” in response to a recommendation that it work to to clear a staff shortage at the state’s youth detention centre system.
Updated
Queensland releases response to youth justice inquiry report
Queensland’s Labor government has not promised to keep mentally ill or disabled children accused of a crime out of police watch houses.
A bipartisan inquiry last month expressed “significant concerns” about the use of the adults-only facilities to detain children and young people, and made several recommendations about their operation. The government released its response to the report today, shortly after it tabled legislation to eliminate the principle that children only be sentenced to jail as a last resort.
The committee recommended the government “immediately investigate and implement alternative options to watch houses and detention centres for children and young people with significant mental health conditions and/or disabilities so they can be appropriately diagnosed, treated and to ensure justice outcomes are effective.”
The government promises to “further explore alternative options” for kids with a significant mental health issue, problematic substance use and/or disability.
“As part of the community safety plan for Queensland, an additional $7.1 million will be provided to expand physical and mental health screening and cognitive disability screening in youth detention centres.”
Updated
Last month was Australia’s coolest April since 2015, BoM says
April was unusually cool for Australia in a month that was among the hottest globally.
With May under way, we can get a snapshot of Australia’s weather in the month that’s just past.
Perhaps surprisingly, last month was Australia’s coolest April since 2015 on a couple of measures, including for maximum temperatures, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
Australia in April was relatively cool, thanks to a lot of rain and cloud over inland regions. It came in the coolest April for maximums since April 2015. (Via @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/UZC8gDuUKG
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) May 1, 2024
It was a similar tale of overnight temperatures too, with last month actually the coolest April for minimums since 2011. For South Australia, it was the coolest for minimums since 1999.
For minimum temperatures, it was a similar story, with Australia posting its coolest April since 2011. pic.twitter.com/bqebaUAFSX
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) May 1, 2024
For the mean temperatures - that average out the minimums and maximums - Australia recorded its coolest April since 2015.
For mean temperatures (that average out mins and maxs), Australia had its coolest April since 2015. Parts of the west and north had their warmest April on record. pic.twitter.com/W4gqVkstZ8
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) May 1, 2024
Rainfall was about a quarter below the 1961-90 average for April, the bureau said. The east and the north were among the areas with above-average rain.
Australia's rainfall overall was about a quarter below average for April. (Via @bom_au) pic.twitter.com/8xdJ1Vemx6
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) May 1, 2024
The reason why Australia’s relatively cool month is a bit surprising is that the globe has lately been baking. March was the 10th month in a row of record global temperatures, and April might make it 11 or come very close.
Australia is famously/gratingly girt by sea, and as BoM noted yesterday, “global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have been the warmest on record for each month between April 2023 and March 2024, with April 2024 SSTs currently tracking warmer than April 2023.”
The cool Australian April is a reminder that not everywhere is going to set records for warmth all the time. The trend, though, is no friend, and it probably won’t be long before Australia returns to warmer-than-average conditions.
Updated
Hanson v Faruqi defamation case update
Mehreen Faruqi’s counsel Saul Holt is almost through the summation of the case.
There is a little bit of confusion over the “damages” Faruqi is claiming – because Faruqi is not claiming damages for herself. Instead, she wants a $150,000 donation to the Sweatshop Literacy Movement (as well as an apology) which federal court justice Angus Stewart was not aware of.
Holt said that Faruqi wishes for that form of damages because of the meaningful nature of the penalty, if of course one is delivered by the justice.
Stewart said that if he had grasped earlier that Faruqi was wanting a donation rather than damages in the usual sense (monies paid to the applicant, which in this case is Faruqi) he would have handled the cross examination of Faruqi differently, as much of it seems “irrelevant”, in the sense that he believed it was going to the impact Faruqi felt. But as she is not claiming traditional damages, then that wasn’t necessarily needed.
Holt moves on and when it comes to the figure he says he is not going to pretend that there is any maths which is involved, and it will be up to Stewart to decide whether or not any damages are awarded, and if so, what amount that would be.
The submission ends with a nod towards the question of whether this case lends itself to a challenge of section 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act, which has been part of Pauline Hanson’s defence. Holt said that it is Faruqi’s team’s view that they agree with the position of the commonwealth solicitor (who is intervening in this case on the 18C and 18D points) and there is no burden on the implied freedom of speech.
All parties have agreed that Justice Stewart shouldn’t trouble himself with any constitutional questions, unless he sees it as necessary.
Updated
Domestic violence measures ‘good first steps’, advocacy group says
Prime minister Anthony Albanese’s announcements following the national cabinet on men’s violence are “good first steps,” Full Stop Australia CEO Karen Bevan says. “We encourage the government to go much further.”
“We will always support reform that increases safety and agency for victim-survivors ... although we would like to see the government go further.
“Full Stop Australia is ready to work alongside government to scale up response and healing initiatives, in support of ending gender-based violence.”
Bevan welcomes the ongoing funding for the Leaving Violence Program, which helps resource women and children and supports healing and recovery as victim-survivors re-establish their independence.
She also welcomes announcements that aim to increase protections against “the rise of AI-generated deepfakes and the ease with which violent and harmful material can be accessed”.
“It is important that government act to protect young people, through robust classification and age verification technology.
“Sharing data and information across jurisdictions is a key part of managing risk, given how mobile we are as a nation,” Bevan says. “Monitoring high risk offenders must be at the forefront of this effort.”
Updated
Lehrmann defamation case costs hearing: Justice Lee criticises Ten lawyer
Justice Michael Lee has told the federal court he is concerned a lawyer for Network Ten, Justin Quill, “immediately after the judgement and without even reading the judgement” made comments critical of his decision.
In a ten-minute speech outside the federal court last month Quill was critical of the summary judgement delivered by Lee, prompting Lee to request a transcript of Quill’s comments as well as copies of articles he wrote for News Corp newspapers.
Lee has broken his silence on the matter, telling the costs hearing it was disrespectful and wrong for Quill to say that his judgement was “divorced from reality”.
Ten silk Dr Matt Collins KC is now arguing it is not relevant to the issue of costs how the network conducted itself outside court.
Collins said the statements “could not have a rational bearing upon the proper disposition of costs”.
Lee has also been critical of Ten’s final submissions, prompting Collins to say the criticism was “unfair”.
Updated
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. Nino Bucci will be here to guide you through this afternoon’s news. Take care and enjoy your evening.
Faruqi’s lawyer says Hanson’s tweet was ‘playing the person and not the ball’
The federal court hearing Mehreen Faruqi’s case against Pauline Hanson has resumed and Faruqi’s counsel is continuing to sum up Faruqi’s case.
Faruqi is suing Hanson alleging she was racially discriminated against and vilified by Hanson, who tweeted for Farqui to “piss off back to Pakistan” in response to Faruqi critiquing colonisation on the day the Queen died.
This case has had two parts: one, the impact on Faruqi’s health and wellbeing from what she says is racist speech, and the protections she is owed under 18C and 18D under the Racial Discrimination Act; and two, which is part of Hanson’s defence, that 18C and 18D may impede on the implied right to freedom of speech.
Australia doesn’t have a bill of rights so there is no officially enshrined “freedom of speech” but the high court has previously found there is an “implied” right to freedom of speech – which pretty much amounts to we all expect to have freedom of speech, and that expectation has given us a small level of protection.
Faruqi’s counsel, Saul Holt, is now coming to that part of Hanson’s defence. He says that Hanson would need to prove that her tweet in response to Faruqi was “fair comment” and he says that she did not meet that bar. Holt:
It’s incumbent on Senator Hanson to prove that is fair comment. There are aspects of hurtful things in this tweet that by this stage of the analysis have already passed through the section 18 C hurdle, where a comment is on a matter of public interest. And it’s not good enough to say, ‘well, I was commenting on a person who had said something which was a matter of public interest’.
That’s the distinction, which is important in this context. It was playing, as we said at the outset, the person and not the ball and that distinction between abusing a person versus taking on an idea is in fact one that sits very essentially at the heart of that which is protected by section 18 C and Section 18 D.
Updated
Police view more than 500 videos from alleged bestiality offender
Detective superintendent Jayne Doherty has provided more details around the arrest of a 38-year-old man, known as “Beast Boy” online, who police will allege is one of the largest producers of online bestiality content in Australia.
We had more details around this earlier in the blog here.
Doherty said police are reviewing the electronic content that was seized, and so far investigations show the alleged bestiality has been “going on for a number of years”. She could not give an exact date, because police are still reviewing the material.
Doherty said police have viewed “in excess of 500 videos” so far across multiple devices, but his online presence suggests there is “a lot more [content] than we have so far viewed”.
Police will allege the motive was sexual gratification and financial advantage.
Acting inspector Lachlan King from the RSPCA provided more details about the dog seized by police, which was allegedly the victim of sexual abuse by the man. King said:
The seized Jack Russel terrier cross dog, which has been named Lachie whilst in our care, was examined by our chief veterinarian on admission. Samples were taken for analysis and we can confirm that she is safe and doing well. Lachie will remain in our care under protective custody while the investigation continues.
Hearing under way on costs in Bruce Lehrmann v Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson defamation case
Federal court justice Michael Lee is hearing applications on costs in the Bruce Lehrmann v Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson defamation case.
The 24-day civil trial may end up costing the parties as much as $10m in legal costs.
Lehrmann lost the case when Lee found he raped Brittany Higgins on the balance of probabilities.
Ten is arguing that Lehrmann should pay Ten’s entire legal bill after he made the “deliberately wicked” decision to sue.
Justice Lee said he will consider whether to grant Ten a costs order, and if so how much; whether Wilkinson should obtain a costs order and if so what should it be; and whether a witness, Taylor Auerbach, should obtain a costs order.
In Lehrmann’s written submission he asked Lee to consider whether he should be compensated for the failure of Ten’s qualified privilege defence.
Updated
Chalmers signals ‘future made in Australia’ spending won’t stoke inflation
Treasurer Jim Chalmers this afternoon gave a speech at the Lowy Institute outlining how he wants to change foreign investment approvals to give greater emphasis to national security and economic security. (We wrote this piece about his plans.)
Chalmers said that in a “sea of uncertainty” he wanted Australia to be an “island of reliability”, amid the looming challenges of decarbonisation and geostrategic rivalry. (The US and China are seen as the natural heavyweights in this bout but there are other players too.)
The investment guidelines will also play a role in the “future made in Australia” policy that is emerging as the way the Albanese government wants to organise and justify some of its spending efforts. There’s the $15bn National Reconstruction Fund, $2bn for the solar sunshot scheme and a similar amount for green hydrogen, among others.
Anyway, we got to ask about whether these mostly off-budget items would make the job of the Reserve Bank harder since they were adding to demand in the economy at a time when the regular budget items (including a second consecutive surplus for the 2023-24 years) were generally neutral in their impact.
Chalmers said we shouldn’t expect the coming budget to be of “the same magnitude” of last year’s budget surplus (of $22.1bn). (We assume he didn’t mean we should literally cut an “0” off last year’s number. A surplus of about $10bn seems likely.)
The treasurer, though, was keen to impress that these FMIA funds would not all be spent “at the front end” but were part of a “longer term plan”. Indeed, they might take years to be spent.
He summarised the budget as having three parts:
Budget responsibility, running a tight ship; secondly, cost-of-living help where we can do that in the most responsible way; and thirdly, laying the foundations for growth.
The budget will become public (at least the parts that haven’t been dropped to the media in advance) at 7.30pm AEST in 13 days’ time.
Updated
Air traffic control agency CEO contract not renewed by government
The head of Airservices Australia will be replaced after the government chose not to renew his contract, as the nation’s air traffic control agency continues to struggle with staffing shortages and other sagas.
Transport minister Catherine King has announced that Jason Harfield’s contract as CEO of the commonwealth agency would not be renewed, bringing to an end his eight-year tenure in the role and 35 years in air traffic control. His term finishes on 8 June.
The Airservices board has commenced a global search for his replacement and an acting CEO, Peter Curran, the current chief strategy and customer experience officer, will be appointed in the interim.
In an internal email seen by the Guardian, John Weber, chairman of Airservices Australia, said the board was grateful for Harfield’s time as CEO, “in particular, his navigating of the organisation through the pandemic that allowed Airservices to continue to operate pretty much as normal with continuity of services to industry while providing certainty for staff in uncertain times”.
In February, Harfield was grilled before a Senate estimates hearing as the day of his appearance two air traffic controllers who didn’t show up for work at Sydney airport caused cascading flight delays and cancellations across the country.
He also faced questions about an increase in internal organisational bullying, and stubborn staff shortages resulting from a retirement program that saw 140 controllers leave the workforce in 2021, and his pay package – about $950,000 a year – in light of the issues.
You can read more about air traffic control and the work of Airservices Australia here:
Updated
Westpac extends pause on regional branch closures until 2027
Westpac has announced it will extend its moratorium on regional bank closures until “at least” 2027.
This comes more than a year after it first announced plans to pause the closure of regional branches, amid a Senate inquiry into regional bank closures.
In a statement today Westpac chief executive consumer, Jason Yetton, said:
We’ve heard the feedback from customers about the impact of branch closures in the bush and understand they face many challenges such as limited internet connectivity and increased travel times to their nearest branch.
He said Westpac was investing more than $150m in its branch network over the next two years, to support more than 2.2 million customers and 1,000 employees in 182 regional areas.
You can read more about the impact of branch closures on regional and remote communities below:
Updated
More details on proposal for Aukus nations to remove export controls
As we reported earlier, the three Aukus nations – Australia, the UK and US – have proposed the removal of certain export controls between each other.
Reuters has more details, reporting that the sharing of closely guarded technology – which is governed by strict US International Trafficking in Arms Regulations – has been a hurdle for cooperation.
Under the proposed rule change, the US department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls would no longer be required to license or approve defence articles, reducing some administrative burdens for companies seeking to make defence products in Australia or the UK.
Kevin Rudd, the ambassador to the United States, said in a statement:
These exemptions will be a game changer for Aukus countries and revolutionises how the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia cooperate on defence trade.
For the first time, Aukus defence industries will be able to work in a seamless, licence-free environment, making it easier for us all to develop the scientific, technological and industrial capabilities we need for our security and to promote global stability.
The state department said the new rule would still generate an “excluded” items list, making approval necessary for articles with national security import. That includes items governed by an international arms control agreement, and inputs for nuclear devices and some landmines, the state department official said.
A list of authorised users would also be generated to help sensitive technologies remained contained.
Updated
Pharmaceutical companies front vaping inquiry
The vaping Senate inquiry is now hearing from the pharmaceutical companies which will be supplying the vapes to be sold in pharmacies with prescription from a doctor, under the reforms.
The three different companies represented are largely supportive of the move to ensure that only therapeutic – not recreational – vapes are available for Australians to purchase, but they are raising the issues around the details.
David Burns, the director of sales and marketing at Bay Pharma, says he has concerns around the medical access framework – meaning the need for patients to get their prescription from a GP. He says a pharmacy-only model would reduce the burden of access.
Wilhelm David, the CEO and co-founder of Fields Pharmaceutical, says the restriction on simple fruit flavours – such as mango, blueberry and mint – is concerning. He believes the pharmaceutical companies should also be allowed to appropriately market the products.
Richard Lee, the CEO of Liber Pharmaceuticals says their products are tested – meaning they know exactly what chemicals are in their product – unlike the black market products currently being used by Australians.
Lee says he believes the new regulation does enough to allow pharmaceutical companies to compete with black market products he estimates will fall into line with illegal cigarettes, which now occupy less than 20% of the market.
Updated
Advocacy group ‘disappointed’ national cabinet outcome didn’t include action on alcohol
The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education (FARE) says it is disappointed that national cabinet seemingly didn’t discuss the role of alcohol in fuelling violence against women.
Its CEO, Caterina Giorgi, was critical of what she called a “deafening silence”.
I’m incredibly disappointed that action on alcohol was not included as an outcome of the National Cabinet meeting today. We can no longer ignore the role that alcohol plays in increasing the risk and severity of violence against women and children.
FARE also shared a statement from actor and survivor-advocate Kym Valentine:
I want our prime minister, premiers and chief ministers to know that their lack of action on better regulating alcohol is contributing to women and children’s experiences of violence.
Our political leaders need to stand up to the alcohol companies that are profiting off our pain, and implement regulation and policies that they know will work to stop this harm.
FARE pointed to research showing between 23% and 65% of police reported family violence incidents involve alcohol. It called for “commonsense measures on online sale and delivery.”
Updated
South Korea signals interest in joining Aukus projects
South Korea’s defence minister has expressed an interest in his country participating in Aukus projects with Australia, the US and the UK.
The existing Aukus members have long been open to the idea of collaboration with other close partners on advanced defence technology, although Japan is seen as the first cab off the rank. This is known as Aukus “pillar 2” and is separate from the project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines.
South Korean and Australian ministers discussed Aukus during a meeting in Melbourne today. South Korea’s defence minister, Shin Won-Sik, said:
We support Aukus pillar 2 activities and we do welcome that members are considering Korea as an Aukus pillar 2 partner.
The Australian defence minister, Richard Marles, confirmed Aukus pillar 2 was discussed, although he did not spell out a timeframe for South Korea’s potential participation:
Aukus, as you know, is a technology sharing agreement, it’s not a security alliance, and Korea is obviously a country with deeply impressive technology, we have shared values and strategic alignment … so as Aukus pillar 2 develops I think there will be opportunities in the future and we’re seeing that play out in relation to Japan as well, and we talked about that.
Updated
Wong and Marles host South Korean counterparts for 2+2 meeting
Further to our last post about the India spy claims, Penny Wong was speaking during a press conference after what is known as a 2+2 meeting with South Korea.
Wong and the defence minister, Richard Marles, hosted their South Korean counterparts, Cho Tae-yul and Shin Won-sik, for a meeting about a range of foreign affairs and security issues.
Marles said South Korea and Australia had a “close strategic alignment and a shared vision about our place in the region and the world”. He said people should expect to see increasing participation in military exercises.
Marles said Australia supported efforts to improve the relationship between South Korea and Japan (historically strained due to Japan’s colonial rule of the peninsula until 1945, although both are now US allies). Marles described this warming relationship as a “very, very positive step forward in the strategic landscape of the region and represents a huge opportunity for Australia to engage with both Korea and Japan”.
Both South Korean ministers praised Australian veterans for their service in the Korean war.
Updated
Penny Wong refuses to confirm reports about India's intelligence activities
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says Australia will guard its democracy against “any suggestion of foreign interference” but has refused to confirm reports about India’s intelligence activities.
In a press conference in Melbourne, Wong was asked about reports that two Indian spies were kicked out of Australia in 2020. Asked whether diaspora community members in Australia should be concerned about surveillance, and what message she had for the Indian government, Wong said:
You would be unsurprised to hear me respond that we don’t comment on intelligence matters, but at a level of principle ... I think you would have heard me and other ministers on many occasions assert the importance of our democratic principles … [and] that we maintain the resilience of our democracy, including in the face of any suggestion of foreign interference, and we have laws to deal with that ...
We deeply value the multicultural fabric of the Australian community, it is a strength and we welcome people’s continued engagement in our democracy.
Pressed on Australia’s increasingly close relationship with India – including through the Quad – and whether it would be empowered to raise concerns directly with New Delhi, Wong said:
We don’t comment on intelligence matters but, as a matter of general principles, Australia remains consistent to our interests and our values in all of our engagements.
Updated
Woman charged after alleged ramming of police vehicle
A woman has been charged following a ram-raid and ramming of a police vehicle in Carrum Downs, Victoria this morning.
It is alleged two people in a stolen black Toyota Landcruiser forced entry to a business on the corner of Aster Avenue and Latham’s Road about 6.15am. Police arrived on the scene when the people were allegedly loading items into the trailer.
Police said officers parked in front of the Landcruiser, with the pair then allegedly ramming the police vehicle multiple times. The people then allegedly reversed the Landcruiser through the store, causing significant damage inside.
They then allegedly drove through the store windows, before getting the vehicle stuck in a garden bed.
The passenger, a 36-year-old Seaford woman, was arrested by officers while the male driver fled the scene on a bike, police said. A police officer sustained minor injuries during the incident.
The Landcruiser was allegedly stolen from a Safety Beach address on 28 April.
The Seaford woman has been charged with theft, theft of motor vehicle, theft of trailer, burglary, possessing a drug of dependence and possessing a controlled weapon. She has been bailed to appear before the Frankston magistrates court on 24 May.
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Shadow energy minister Ted O'Brien prompts walkout at solar conference
A warning that Australia’s renewable energy plans will make it a “poor and weak nation” with regular blackouts and a call to invest in nuclear power has caused a walkout at a Brisbane solar technology event, AAP reports.
Opposition energy spokesman Ted O’Brien sparked the controversy at the Solar and Storage Live conference today with a speech claiming Australia’s wind, hydro and solar power plans would endanger the nation’s power grid and were not capable of meeting its energy needs.
More than 20 attendees walked out during the speech, with one man heckling the Queensland MP.
O’Brien told the audience the Labor government’s moves to replace coal-fired power stations with investments in large-scale wind, solar, and battery projects were an untested experiment that would damage the national electricity grid.
The days of an affordable, reliable, 24/7 power system will be gone. Australia will be left as a poor and weak nation, highly dependent on foreign supply chains.
O’Brien said Australia needed to invest in nuclear power plants to meet its net-zero emissions goal by 2050 and avoid “blackouts and brownouts” becoming the norm.
He did not dismiss solar technology entirely, however, calling for greater investments in battery technology to stop rooftop solar systems saturating the network.
Solar has enormous potential in this country still yet, but we have to be clear-eyed too on the challenges as much as the opportunities as we move forward. While our current electricity system is powered by renewables, gas and coal, I believe that our future system will be powered by renewables, gas and zero-emissions nuclear energy.
Many attendees walked out of the theatre during O’Brien’s speech, while one man loudly questioned his claims.
Updated
Nationwide house prices set record high for sixth consecutive month
House prices have set a record high for a sixth consecutive month, after rising an average of 0.6% nationwide in April.
Average housing values were up by a tenth since January 2023, pushing the national median to almost $780,000, according to the home value index compiled by data group CoreLogic.
The Western Australian market was especially hot, with Perth facing a 2% increase in April, taking price rises to over 20% over the last year. Regional WA values jumped 1.3% for the month.
But price growth has slowed elsewhere in the country, with Melbourne’s values staying flat for the last three months. Sydney’s monthly increases have stabilised at 0.4% for the last three months, and Brisbane increases have fallen below the 1% mark for the first time in 12 months, to 0.9% in April.
And while the number of home sales was almost a tenth higher than a year ago, the six-month average figure suggests sales have plateaued after peaking in November last year.
Falling home sales saw Australia’s construction industry contract for a sixth straight month in April, according to Ai Group’s Industry Index. Builders said customers were shying away from new builds in the face of inflated prices, high interest rates and declining confidence in the troubled sector.
Updated
Call for more NSW domestic violence funding to meet increased awareness of coercive control
DVNSW has welcomed the NSW government’s campaign to raise awareness about coercive control but said the sector has not been adequately funded to respond to the increased service demand that will come from that awareness.
Elise Phillips, deputy chief executive of DVNSW, said:
When people realise ‘what I’m going through here is not OK, this is abuse’, they are more likely to reach out for support, and we need to make sure our service can respond to that need.
DVNSW is urging the state government to commit at least $145m for domestic and family violence in its June budget. NSW spends less than half what Victoria does on domestic and family violence services, despite servicing a larger population, DVNSW says.
Phillips welcomed the news the federal government would commit $925m to to permanently establish a payment, which can reach up to $5,000, to help victims of violence to leave an abusive relationship. But she said it still doesn’t go far enough to address the emergency:
The $925 million is over five years, and the government is making an existing pilot program permanent ... The payment itself is fantastic, but it’s not announcing a new initiative.
Updated
NSW government launches coercive control campaign
The NSW government has today launched an advertising campaign to raise awareness and understanding of coercive control ahead of the form of domestic violence being criminalised from July.
Flanked by members of the crossbench and members of the domestic violence sector at the launch, the deputy premier of NSW, Prue Car, said:
[The] advertising campaign is going to be so crucial in terms of helping just one part of our efforts to help drive the cultural change that we need to see in our communities.
Karen Bevan, chief executive of Full Stop, said the service regularly gets calls from women experiencing coercive control, which is a common form of domestic violence where the victims have their freedoms restricted and controlled. But she said the people calling often know the behaviour is not right but can’t quite put their “finger on” what it is that’s wrong.
What we know is that the better we educate the whole community about what coercive control looks like, the better that we will do, and in enabling women to name what’s going on in their relationship, to seek help from people like us.
We know that more needs to be done around domestic violence, there’s always more and we’ll be here to have that conversation, but today ... we acknowledge that this is a critical step forward, and we’re delighted to be part of it.
Updated
Faruqi’s lawyer says people in politics ‘not immune to racist speech’
Mehreen Faruqi’s counsel Saul Holt is now going through the impacts of the tweet from Pauline Hanson, and the responses, on Faruqi.
He admits that Faruqi says things that provoke debate and reactions. But he says of the Hanson response “this was a personal racist attack based on a response to a political tweet”.
Holt says that just because of Faruqi’s political position, and that she gave a political response during a political event (the death of the Queen), she is not immune to racist speech and she is still protected by 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act.
Holt says there is a myth that people at a certain position in society cannot be impacted by something like racism. Holt:
There’s this myth that’s perpetrated over decades and generations that once you’re in a certain role, whether it be a judge ... or a teacher or a principal or a senator or something like (Justice Stewart interjects “or a prime minister”), you’re inoculated from the effects [of racism].
We just know that not to be true, and the longer we perpetuate those myths the worse things in fact end up being, because we expect people in those situations to be superhuman.
Holt then moved on to what he said it was was like for Senator Faruqi:
In fact, for someone like Senator Faruqi, who’s come from a position of being the first Muslim woman in parliament from a background of obvious disadvantage as a member of a minority, the likelihood is in truth that an effect on her of that sort of speech is going to be much more substantial because she’s already othered in that space.
She’s already a minority. She’s already different.
She’s already likely to be feeling, as she’s explained, excluded or not legitimate, and that’s what she explained. She felt she felt excluded and she felt othered and she felt illegitimate and not just in the sense of being angry that someone else was describing her in those ways.
Holt said the notion of “taking it on the chin” or “growing a thick skin” because of her position in the parliament, does not mean she has not experienced, or been impacted by, racist speech.
Updated
Victorian premier urges caution on bail overhauls: ‘examine carefully the consequences’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has urged her counterparts in other states to take a cautious approach to changing its bail laws in response to a wave of recent violence against women.
Bail laws were reworked in Victoria in 2018 after the Bourke Street massacre to make the threshold for bail much higher. But the changes were found to have disproportionately affected women, First Nations people, children and young people and people living with a disability.
The government has recently passed laws to address this.
Allan said the experience proves the importance of taking a careful approach to law reform in the wake of traumatic events. She told reporters outside parliament:
Justice reforms are complex and in making change with the best of intentions, the right intentions, you have to examine carefully the consequences of those changes and that is why last year, with the bipartisan support in the parliament, we passed bail reforms to address some of those issues from the 2018 bail changes.
She said jurisdictions should learn from one another:
I’m not necessarily wanting to give lectures and advice across state borders, but other than to note that is it is deeply complex and it’s an area where jurisdictions can learn from one another.
Updated
Vape addicts ‘almost hallucinating’, inquiry told
People who vape over 16 hours a day are turning up to hospitals with “almost hallucinatory effects”, a doctor has told a Senate inquiry considering the next round of vaping reforms before parliament.
Dr Michael Bonning, the chair of the Australian Medical Association’s public health committee, said when people have high levels of nicotine addiction “it’s incredibly hard to intervene”.
When patients use nicotine for 16 or 17 hours of the day the physiological effects become chronic, including higher blood pressure, higher heart rate, insomnia and “almost hallucinatory effects when they present to hospital”, Bonning said.
The president of the peak medical body, Prof Steve Robson, said he was worried about the “heavy price to pay in the years to come” from the health effects of vapes.
Updated
Faruqi’s lawyer says Hanson’s message ‘goes to very core’ of what Racial Discrimination Act is trying to prevent
Mehreen Faruqi’s counsel Saul Holt is continuing to sum up the racial discrimination case against Pauline Hanson.
Faruqi sued Hanson in the federal court for racial discrimination after Hanson tweeted “piss off and go back to Pakistan” in September 2022, after Hanson took offence at a tweet Faruqi sent critiquing colonisation on the day of the Queen’s death.
Holt is summarising the case for Justice Angus Stewart, who is hearing final arguments today. Holt says that the tweet does contravene sections 18C and 18D of the Racial Discrimination Act because it excluded Faruqi based on her migrant status. Holt:
The word ‘pissed off’ is not important just because it’s a swear word. We’re all a bit more tolerant of swearing, Senator Faruqi included, as the evidence overwhelmingly demonstrates [because several of the submissions include evidence of Farqui swearing], but it’s the combination of a phrase like that, of the use of a phrase like ‘piss off’ in the context of the condescension of the phrase ‘pack your bags’.
Telling someone effectively [to almost] command them to leave, to move away from where they are, which is why the words themselves even without taking into account anything else ... and indeed, exclusion based on race or ethnic origin, or national origin.
[That] is the very thing that the Racial Discrimination Act in terms of sections 18C and D seeks to stop. So the message ‘pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan’ as a message of exclusion based on national origin just on the face of the words themselves goes to the core of the very thing that the Racial Discrimination Act provisions are designed to prevent.
Holt then goes to Hanson’s counsel, Sue Chrysanthou’s, explanation of the tweet’s meaning. Holt:
Your honour may recall that she put it well, respectfully, that what the whole tweet was saying was ‘don’t bite the hand that feeds you’. That was the language that was used. [I would just ask you] to pause for a moment and reflect on that.
Being told as a migrant with the language that was being used not to bite the hand that feeds you, is really to be told to shut up and stop engaging in controversial speech because you’re a migrant.
Holt refers to the affidavits submitted to the court from others who read Hanson’s tweet who were also impacted, and said while the tweet may have said “piss off back to Pakistan” they heard “go back to where you came from” because it is such a well known message to people in the migrant communities.
Updated
NSW to hold emergency cabinet meeting on Friday
The deputy premier of NSW, Prue Car, has welcomed the new measures announced by the federal government to combat domestic violence, but said “there’s still a lot of work we need to do”.
She told reporters a little earlier:
I really want to point to the commonwealth government’s commitment to really looking at the prevention of online harm. And really particularly looking at the effect of the online harm of pornography, particularly on young vulnerable men and young boys.
On Friday, the state government will hold its own emergency national cabinet meeting to focus on what it will do next. Car said:
There are many, many levers that we can pull as a state government and we are committed to looking at absolutely everything because we just cannot continue to have women in New South Wales die at the hands of those who have purported to love them.
Updated
Qantas says app issue appears result of technology problem, not security breach
Qantas has issued another statement regarding the cyber issue experienced by some customers earlier today. The airline says the issue, which seemed to allow some passengers to view the private details of others, did not appear to be the result of a security breach. It said:
We sincerely apologise to customers impacted by the issue with the Qantas app this morning, which has now been resolved.
Current investigations indicate that it was caused by a technology issue and may have been related to recent system changes.
At this stage, there is no indication of a cyber security incident.
The issue was isolated to the Qantas app with some frequent flyers able to see the travel information of other customers, including name, upcoming flight details, points balance and status. No further personal or financial information was shared and customers would not have been able to transfer or use the Qantas Points of other frequent flyers. We’re not aware of any customers travelling with incorrect boarding passes.
Updated
One of NSW’s worst alleged bestiality offenders charged and dog seized by RSPCA
NSW police have charged a man it believes to be one of the biggest self-producers of online bestiality content in the state.
In February, strike force detectives executed search warrants across Sydney targeting the online sharing of child abuse material, which led them to the online profile of a user under the pseudonym “Beast Boy”.
“Beast Boy” had a large online presence and allegedly used encrypted messaging to share bestiality material, which police say featured the sexual abuse of various animals such as dogs, sheep, goats, chickens and a dead kangaroo.
Around 7.30am yesterday detectives executed a search warrant in Moorland, around 30km north of Taree, and arrested a 38-year-old man.
A dog, identified as one of the animals allegedly sexually abused, was seized by the RSPCA. Police also seized electronics and hard drives.
The man was taken to Taree police station and charged with eight counts of bestiality, six counts of producing bestiality material, four counts of disseminating bestiality material, as well as possessing child abuse material, and using a carriage service to access and solicit child abuse material – with more charges expected.
He was refused bail and appeared in Taree local court yesterday.
Updated
More from the vaping inquiry
School children are using vapes with the same appearance as an asthma inhaler to smoke in class, Prof Tanya Buchanan, the CEO of Cancer Council Australia, has told a Senate inquiry.
Children are not allowed to vape in school classrooms, but Buchanan says teachers won’t take away vapes if they look like an asthma inhaler - which the Cancer Council has heard of children using.
Nationals senator Matt Canavan was keen to press the point to the experts that the health advice is that vaping is less harmful than smoking. Buchanan said with tobacco smoking killing two in three smokers it is a “very low bar for safety.”
Updated
Vaping Senate inquiry kicks off
The National Heart Foundation of Australia has told a Senate inquiry that if someone wanted to design a device to increase heart risk, they “couldn’t do much better” than a vape.
A Senate committee is today hearing from peak health bodies, academics and the pharmaceutical industry ahead of the next round of vaping reforms being put to vote before parliament.
Vaping laws came into effect in March, banning the importation of vapes unless the importer has a licence and permit. The next round of reforms currently before the parliament would force vape stores to close by preventing the domestic manufacture, advertisement, supply and commercial possession of non-prescription vapes.
First up today is Cancer Council Australia, Lung Foundation Australia and the National Heart Foundation of Australia, who all support the legislation they say will help Australians avoid the health risks vapes pose.
Prof Garry Jennings, the chief medical officer of the heart foundation said nicotine is known to increase blood pressure, heart rate and the “stickiness” of the blood, as well as narrow and stiffen the arteries.
If we were to purposefully design something to increase heart risk, we probably couldn’t do much better.
Mark Brooke, the CEO of the lung foundation, said he hoped parliamentarians would see through the rhetoric claiming the legislation is a ban. He says the approach of needing a prescription to purchase a vape from a pharmacy is entirely consistent with other areas of health where you wouldn’t seek treatment for - for example blood pressure - from a convenience store.
Brooke supported the legislation but made the recommendation the legislation clarify rules around personal possession to ensure individuals aren’t stigmatised.
Updated
Final submissions begin in Faruqi v Hanson case
We are into final submissions to the federal court now, where Mehreen Faruqi’s counsel is summing up Faruqi’s racial discrimination case against One Nation senator Pauline Hanson.
Faruqi’s counsel, Saul Holt KC tells Justice Stewart:
[In] what might sometimes be called the helicopter view – the words published here [piss off back to Pakistan], we’ve heard them a number of times now, are a version of a well known anti migrant racist phrase ‘go back to where you came from’. And they were plainly targeted [against] a brown, Muslim, migrant, senator.
Holt is going through the expert evidence which went to the impact on health and wellbeing of racism and whether that happened here. There is a legal definitional argument over ‘reasonably likely’ or ‘probable’. Holt is saying that while Hanson’s counsel attempted to define ‘reasonably likely’ as proof on the balance of probabilities and more likely than not. Holt is arguing that the ‘reasonable likeness’ definition Justice Stewart should be considering is “proof that there is a chance of an event occurring which is real, not fanciful or remote”. It seems like semantics, but legally it matters.
It will ultimately be for the justice to decide what he believes ‘reasonably likely’ to mean.
Federal court hearing: Hanson’s counsel responds to issues arising after yesterday’s cross examination
The federal court proceedings have opened with Pauline Hanson’s counsel, Timothy Smart, responding to some of the issues which arose during yesterday’s cross examination of Hanson by Faruqi’s counsel.
Hanson was asked by Saul Holt KC whether or not she had ever told a white person to go back to where they came from. She answered yes, but couldn’t give an example.
We have an example today, courtesy of a Sunrise interview – Hanson told Derryn Hinch to go back to New Zealand until he “learnt some manners” in September 2018.
The court works through a couple of left over objections to some of the material which had been tendered (Faruqi’s first speech in the senate where she speaks about being a Muslim – this was objected to because it was said in the Senate, which is protected speech, and not part of this trial, but was put forward as evidence that Faruqi had spoken about being a Muslim while Hanson was a senator) and an article with a swear in it, but that’s not seen as a big deal here.
Updated
Third day of Faruqi v Hanson case begins
Good morning. We’ll be covering the third day of the racial discrimination case Mehreen Faruqi has brought against Pauline Hanson in the federal court. The proceedings began around 11.15am, with the final submissions from all parties starting today.
That is a bit of a surprise – there had been five days set down for this case, but late yesterday there was an acknowledgement that things were moving faster than anticipated.
For those catching up, on 9 September 2022, the day the Queen died, Faruqi tweeted: “I cannot mourn the leader of a racist empire built on stolen lives, land and wealth of colonised peoples.”
Hanson responded, by quote-tweeting Faruqi’s post to her own followers with “your attitude appalls and disgusts me. When you immigrated to Australia you took every advantage of this country. You took citizenship, bought multiple homes and a job in parliament. It’s clear you’re not happy, so pack your bags and piss off back to Pakistan”.
Faruqi said she was hit with a barrage of racial abuse as a result of that statement.
A complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission was terminated, with a spokesman for Faruqi saying the president of the AHRC didn’t see a path to conciliation.
So in May last year, Faruqi announced she would be taking federal court action and this week we are hearing Faruqi’s case and Hanson’s defence. Faruqi says she was racially discriminated and vilified by Hanson’s tweet. She wants an apology, for Hanson to under go anti-racism training at her own cost and for Hanson to donate $150,000 to charity as damages.
Hanson has denied that she racially discriminated or vilified Faruqi, and as part of her defence, is running a claim that 18C and 18D of the racial discrimination act limits the implied right to freedom of speech.
The court has heard from both Faruqi and Hanson over the last two days. So far the court has heard arguments around the impacts of racism on health and wellbeing and whether they apply here and Faruqi and Hanson’s attitudes and previous statements.
In the final submissions, we may hear more about the constitutional argument Hanson’s case has hinted at, as well as some further submissions following Faruqi and Hanson’s testimony.
It’s a judge only trial - federal court justice Angus Stewart is hearing this case, so there is no jury to convince. Faruqi’s case has only been able to focus on statements Hanson has made outside of parliament, as anything Hanson has said in the senate is considered protected speech.
We’ll bring you more updates as the case continues to unfold.
Updated
Unpacking today’s announcements following the national cabinet meeting
To unpack the other major reforms from national cabinet, the government is putting $925 million over five years to permanently establish a payment to help victims of violence to leave an abusive relationship.
The payment, up to $5000 in support, will come alongside referral services and safety planning for people needing to escape violence.
A statement from PM Anthony Albanese, women’s minister Katy Gallagher and social services minister Amanda Rishworth said there were “insidious links” between financial insecurity and vulnerability to family and domestic violence - “too often, financial insecurity can be a barrier to escaping violence”.
There are existing trial programs offering financial support to escape violent relationships, but the new programs will now be permanently established and coupled with greater wraparound services and support. The government said:
The Leaving Violence Program will support victim-survivors of intimate partner violence to make informed choices about leaving violent relationships and receive the vital support they need.
Rishworth said financial barriers “can be a huge impediment to victim-survivors breaking free of a violent relationship”.
We need persistent, consistent and unified action on this issue in order to create real change and this investment will mean there is a permanent lifeline for those people experiencing intimate partner violence
Updated
Can Australian women be satisfied with the outcome of today’s national cabinet?
As the press conference begins to wrap up, the prime minister said he is satisfied today’s national cabinet is a “further step forward” in tackling violence against women.
Asked if women across Australia can be satisfied with the outcomes of today’s national cabinet meeting, Albanese said:
Can we be satisfied when a woman is losing her life on average every four days? Of course not. Of course not.
I will tell you when I will be satisfied: I will be satisfied when we eliminate this as an issue. When we’re not talking about this an issue, where women are not feeling as though they have to mobilise in rallies. I will be satisfied when a parent says the same thing to their daughter that they say to their son when they go out at night. Not ‘how are you getting home from the train station? how are you getting home from the bus stop?’ Not ‘stay safe’.
I will be satisfied when we have gender equality over all of those issues, that is my objective. A major objective of this government is gender equity. We are progressing on a range of areas, this is a difficult issue, but I don’t think any of us should be satisfied until we’re not talking these issues.
Updated
Albanese stands by decision to attend rally in Canberra against violence against women
Anthony Albanese has been asked about the rally against violence against women in Canberra on Sunday, after previously brushing off the claim by an organiser that he lied about being asked not to speak, blaming it on an “emotional” day and issue.
Albanese was asked if he could have handled the interaction better, and responded:
I was happy to speak, happy to not speak … Everyone can look at [the video]. This is a really serious issue …
This is not about me, I attended a rally, I was proud to do so. I think as a national leader it is appropriate that I do that and I stand by that. I congratulated, if you look at the footage, I congratulated the organisers of the rally, there, and said very positive things and I wish everyone who organised that all the very best. It was a good thing, to mobilise people.
The PM said the commission has reached out to the rally’s organisers – What Were You Wearing? – to provide a briefing.
That will occur. I engaged constructively with people and I attended, along with minister Rishworth, minister Gallagher, we were happy to sit there quietly listening to the speeches if that is what people wanted to do. People were asking us to speak in the crowd, hence what occurred.
Updated
How will government be able to take down deepfake content, if posted overseas?
Taking questions, communications minister Michelle Rowland was asked how Australia can reduce access to harmful content online, specifically deepfakes, given so much is posted overseas?
Rowland said laws already exist relating to the sharing of intimate images and this would work in a similar way:
We perceive that this will be part of that ongoing piece of work to ensure that that kind of material is not made available and it has the appropriate records to be taken down because many of these cases, what the affected person wants to see is the material taken down …
We are confident that, based on existing precedent that we have in relation to this type of content that forms deepfakes, that we can have meaningful and impactful change in this area.
Updated
Government to fund new ‘counter-influencer’ program online to combat harmful content
Continued from last post:
To address harmful misogynist content online - an issue we flagged in our reporting this morning - the government will fund a new “counter-influencer” program online, to combat such content.
Anthony Albanese said in a statement:
This new phase will specifically include a counter-influencing campaign in online spaces where violent and misogynistic content thrives, to directly challenge the material in the spaces it’s being viewed.
The campaign is intended to counter the corrosive influence of online content targeted at young adults that condones violence against women. It will raise awareness about a proliferation of misogynistic influencers and content, and encourage conversations within families about the damaging impact of the material.
The final parts of the release, which we will seek more clarification on, include “long overdue classification reforms” to reduce exposure to violent pornography. No further information was given on this.
Finally, previously-flagged reforms to privacy and “doxxing” - the targeted malicious release of private information - will be brought forward to August.
Updated
Government releases full details on changes after national cabinet
The government has shared detailed rundowns of the changes being announced by PM Albanese in his press conference.
In one release, titled “tackling online harms”, the government says it will “introduce a suite of online measures to address easy access to pornography for children and young people and tackle extreme online misogyny, which is fuelling harmful attitudes towards women”.
These include a pilot of age assurance technologies, moves to limit online pornography access for young people, moves to combat online misogyny, classification reforms to crack down on violent porn, and bringing forward Privacy Act reforms on “doxxing”.
The age assurance pilot is about preventing children seeing online porn. The pilot will be funded in this month’s budget, to “identify available products” on how that safeguard could work.
The government will also introduce legislation to outlaw the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography, which could be made through photo-editing programs or artificial intelligence. Albanese said in a statement:
The reforms will make clear that creating and sharing sexually explicit material without consent, using technology like artificial intelligence will be subject to serious criminal penalties.
More to come.
Updated
‘Set and forget’ approach to online content won’t work, Albanese says
The prime minister is now taking questions from reporters. He is speaking about how much the internet has changed, and is continuing to change – which is why a “set and forget” approach won’t work.
Anthony Albanese acknowledged how different the internet is now, compared to when his own son was a child.
That was something that really came through from [Victorian] premier [Jacinta] Allan’s report about the royal commission. From 2016 to today, there are different challenges. Even from 2022 with this 10-year plan.
That’s why the commissioner says there’s a 10-year plan – its framework is very good, but we can’t afford to set and forget. We need to continually look at what are the challenges and how do we overcome them and overcome them together, across the Parliament, across society as well.
Online platforms have ‘responsibility to step up and do more’, communications minister says
Communications minister Michelle Rowland said the reality is that “digital platforms are influencing our culture and our social lives”.
They have a fundamental responsibility to step up and do more. The content that digital platforms service through algorithms and systems, particularly to young Australians, has an impact in re-enforcing harmful and outdated gender norms.
While digital platforms may not be creating the content themselves, they play a major role in determining much of what people see. We must ensure that our community standards are respected online as well as offline.
Rowland said there is growing concern around violent pornography in “normalising gendered violence” and said the government is undertaking a classification review to “examine options to reduce exposure”.
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Harmful content online influencing children
As a mother of two boys, Amanda Rishworth acknowledged harmful content exists online that is influencing and challenging children:
We do know that we need a conversation about this, we do know that we need to give parents the support and resources to have those conversations, and we do need to counter this violent online material.
We know that to end violence against women, we do need generational change and we need positive role models for young boys to ensure that those negative stereotypes are countered and that influencers that promote damaging attitudes towards women are also countered.
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Leaving Violence program aimed at helping women who have ‘fallen through the cracks’, social services minister says
Social services minister Amanda Rishworth was next to speak, and provided more information on the $925m Leaving Violence program.
This program will provide victim survivors with the financial support, risk assessments, safety planning, and referrals to other essential services at that critical time when they are making the decision to leave.
Through the evaluation and redesign of the pilot programs, we know that this program not only assists with financial support, but also helps women that may have otherwise fallen through the cracks, to connect with other supports.
Recent evidence has shown that many people who access this support, it will be the first time they have ever had contact with a service.
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Round table to be held next week with family and domestic violence experts
The family and domestic violence commissioner, Micaela Cronin, says a round table will be held next week with experts to discuss “the things that need to be prioritised to prevent these homicides”.
She told the media:
Like many of you, I wake up everyday and pick up my phone worried about what news I’m going to see and the impact that that will have on communities …
I met yesterday with the national lived experience advisory council, which is one of the most important things I have been able to achieve as I have undertaken this role - bringing together people from across the country who have direct lived experience of domestic, family and sexual violence – and the message from those men and women was that they are very triggered and distressed about what is occurring at the moment, but really pleased that we are finally having such a united national conversation.
I agree with what the prime minister said about the national cabinet today - it was a very unified discussion. There were very consistent themes and I was very pleased to hear the commitment to come back next quarter to report on the efforts that are being made across the country and to keep a spotlight and to keep efforts really on the national agenda to end domestic and family violence.
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‘Very constructive meeting,’ PM says
Finishing his remarks, the prime minister said the national debate occurring across Australia around violence against women is “having an extraordinary impact”.
Anthony Albanese:
That was a common theme of the contributions this morning. It was a very constructive meeting and I thank the premiers and chief ministers for making themselves available for this.
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Government to bring forward legislation outlawing doxxing
The government has also brought forward the reporting date of a review to the Online Safety Act, a year ahead of schedule.
The PM said this is to “ensure we’re keeping up with emerging online threats and harms”.
The government will also bring forward legislation in early August to outlaw the release of private information online with an intent to cause harm – also known as doxxing.
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Albanese announces new suit of online measures to combat violence towards women
Anthony Albanese is also announcing a suite of online measures to help combat male extremist views about women online.
He said:
When I have spoken to parents around the country, they expressed their concern about the exposure of young boys and young men to violent videos and imagery online and that is something that was mentioned by states and territories when they [discussed] what their jurisdictions were doing.
The government will introduce legislation to ban the creation and distribution of deepfake pornography.
A new phase of the Stop It At The Start campaign will launch in mid-June and will run until May 2025, he added:
This new phase will include a counter-influencing campaign in online spaces where violent and misogynistic content thrives to directly challenge the material in the spaces that it’s being viewed.
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$925m over five years for Leaving Violence program
The prime minister has announced the government will invest $925m over five years to permanently establish the Leaving Violence program, to be included in the budget.
This will allow “those escaping violence [to] receive financial support, safety assessments and referrals to support pathways”, Albanese said.
Those eligible will be able to access up to $5,000 in financial support.
• In Australia, the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732
• In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800; adult survivors can seek help at Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380
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Everyone needs to work together to address scourge of violence against women, PM says
The prime minister says governments need to act on violence against women, but this is an issue for “the whole of society” as well.
It’s an issue for civil society, it’s an issue for the media, it’s an issue for all of us to work together in the national interest to deal with what is a scourge of violence against women that is having a real impact out there, with one [woman] every four days … losing their life at the hand of a domestic or former domestic partner. This is indeed a national crisis which is why we convened this meeting.
He also acknowledged the impact this is having on children.
Albanese says every state and territory spoke to national cabinet meeting on ending violence against women
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is now speaking to the media after today’s national cabinet meeting.
He said every state and territory jurisdiction spoke about work they were doing around tackling violence against women:
We determined to move forward in a range of ways [with] practical and immediate steps, as well as setting a further meeting for the next quarter to report back on issues including the different systems in states and territories and how there can be more uniformity going forward as well.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to address the media soon, following today’s national cabinet meeting. We’ll bring you the latest once that kicks off.
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Victorian opposition leader ‘deeply disappointed’ about quarantine charges being dropped
Opposition leader John Pesutto says he is “deeply disappointed” charges have been dropped against the Victorian health department over the hotel quarantine Covid-19 outbreak.
He said:
If this occurred anywhere else in the Victorian community, you would rightly expect that a prosecution will follow … Victorians will never forget the loss of life on such a huge scale at the time.
You can read all the background on this earlier in the blog here.
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Greens want violence against women declared a national emergency
Greens senator and spokesperson for women, Larissa Waters, wants national cabinet to respond to national rallies at the weekend and declare violence against women a national emergency.
Waters is also calling for the issue to be funded like a national emergency, with “crisis accommodation, frontline prevention [and] support, trauma-informed training for first responders [and] judicial staff”.
Posting to X, Waters said raising the rate of income support would be an “immediate act of prevention”, stating:
60% of single mums have experienced abuse. Without adequate financial support or a safe home to go to, many are forced to choose between staying in a violent relationship or homelessness.
She called for better information sharing, as Queensland premier Steven Miles did earlier this morning, and a national death toll to “keep attention on men’s violence and to encourage reduction of the numbers of deaths”.
These are real, immediate actions that Labor can take at today’s national cabinet meeting to keep women safe. Anything less will be a failure to act on women’s safety.
A woman is being killed every 4 days, twice as many women killed compared to this time last year. Continued underfunding will mean more women will die in this national emergency.
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Colac area health apologises after staff found to have posed as patients during minister’s visit
Colac area health’s interim CEO, Prof Steve Moylan, has apologised after a health department investigation found it had staff pose as “fake” patients during a ministerial visit to appear busier.
You can read the full story on this below, in case you missed it:
Moylan said in a statement:
We are sorry for what occurred in the Urgent Care Centre, it is highly regrettable and we’ve accepted all recommendations from the independent investigation.
Whilst the investigation found there was no impact to patient care, we know the incident posed a potential risk and that’s something we will ensure doesn’t happen again.
Colac Area Health is committed to learning from this incident and to keep building a better health service for our community, including by acting on the recommendations.
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Qantas suggests recent system changes may be behind app issue
Qantas says it is investigating whether an issue with their app this morning was caused by recent system changes.
As we flagged earlier, a number of customers have reported being able to see strangers’ data when they logged into their app today. This included people’s name and information, such as upcoming flight details and loyalty points.
In a statement just now, Qantas said:
We’re urgently working to resolve the issue impacting the Qantas app this morning and we sincerely apologise to our customers who have been impacted.
We’re investigating whether this issue may have been caused by recent system changes.
We recommend that customers log out and log in to their Qantas Frequent Flyer account on the Qantas App. Please also be aware of social media scams at this time.
We’ll continue to provide more information as soon as we can.
WorkSafe responds after charges dropped against Victorian health department over quarantine
Following news that public prosecutors have dropped charges against the Victorian health department over its failed hotel quarantine scheme, the state’s workplace safety watchdog has released a statement:
WorkSafe is deeply disappointed by the decision to discontinue criminal proceedings against the Department of Health in relation to the Victorian hotel quarantine program. As an independent regulator, WorkSafe strives to enforce the highest standards of health and safety for workers and the community it serves.
In September 2021, WorkSafe charged the health department with 58 alleged breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in relation to Victoria’s initial Covid-19 hotel quarantine program, which sparked a deadly wave of the virus through the state.
In March 2023, a magistrate found there was sufficient evidence to support a conviction and the department was committed to stand trial. But earlier this month, the county court ruled evidence given at the judicial inquiry into hotel quarantine was deemed inadmissible.
Following this, the department made an application to have the matter discontinued.
The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions considered the application and determined that there were no longer reasonable prospects of conviction and discontinued the prosecution.
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Payments to shareholders from corporate investments grew six times faster than worker pay: Oxfam report
Australian dividend payments to shareholders from corporate investments grew six times faster than worker pay between 2020 and 2023, new analysis from Oxfam has revealed.
Accounting for inflation and through Covid-19, the war in Ukraine and the cost-of-living crisis, dividend payments in Australia rose 37%, while average real wages in Australia have fallen by 6%.
This is as Australia’s biggest banks, miners and retailers record sky-high profits off the back of higher prices, supply chain disruptions and the alleged use of price gouging and unfair pricing practices.
Oxfam Australia chief executive officer Lyn Morgain said:
Corporate profits and payouts to rich shareholders have gone into the stratosphere, while wages continue to go nowhere.
Millions of people hold jobs that trap them in a cycle of working hard while still being unable to afford enough food, medicine or other basics. The super-rich don’t amass their mega-fortunes by ‘working’—they extract it from people who do
No corporation should be shelling out to rich shareholders unless it’s paying a living wage to all its workers. Governments must cap payouts to shareholders, support trade unions and legislate for living wages. We should be rewarding work, not wealth.
Aukus nations propose removal of export controls between each other
Australia, the UK and US have proposed changes to national exemptions on certain export controls between the Aukus countries.
According to a statement from defence, the changes would enable the defence industry across all three countries to “work more seamlessly in a license-free environment, while strengthening collaboration and making it easier to develop advanced scientific, technological and industrial capabilities”.
Defence says the changes would:
Remove the requirement for around 900 export permits, valued at A$5bn per year, which would otherwise be required under current export controls from Australia to the US.
Remove the requirement for approximately 200 permits, valued at over $129m per year, required for defence exports from the UK to Australia.
Enable licence-free trade for over 70% of defence exports subject to International Traffic in Arms Regulations from the US to Australia.
Enable licence-free trade for over 80% of defence trade subject to Export Administration Regulations from the US to Australia.
Stakeholders are invited to provide feedback on the draft arrangements.
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Bonza ‘unlikely’ to resume flights, minister says
The transport minister has conceded that budget airline Bonza is unlikely to get back off the ground, AAP reports. This comes as the budget airline entered voluntary administration yesterday.
Federal transport minister Catherine King said a hotline had been set up for affected passengers but admitted the chances of Bonza resuming operations was small. She told ABC TV:
We have been speaking to the [administrators] overnight, they’re trying to get the airline back up and running, I think they have got to look at the books a fair bit. It’s unlikely that will happen.
Planes are certainly cancelled until May 2 at the very least, and then customers will need to get on to the Bonza website or on to the administrators to find out what the next steps are.
Concerns remained about passengers who had been stranded following the airline’s financial woes, King said.
Obviously, by going into voluntary administration, those planes are still available here in Australia. I think it would be Bonza’s preference they get up and flying quickly, but that is going to be absolutely a matter for the administrator.
Our concern has been about how do we get people home, particularly at the tail-end of the school holidays.
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Vicki Ward suggests internet providers should be held accountable for violent content
Vicki Ward, Victoria’s minister for the prevention of family violence, said she was hopeful national cabinet would come up with a plan to tackle violence on social media, including pornography and “terrible” influencers.
She hopes there is a conversation around “how we hold our internet providers accountable for violence that we see online”, and told reporters:
We see kids who, through no fault of their own, have pornography come into their messages, come into their threads, and then it starts a slippery slope. We see influencers who are held up as heroes who are not heroes. They are weak men who prey on the vulnerabilities of other weak men to belittle and damage and hurt women. These influences are not safe people. They are not good people. They are not people who should be held up and valorised, they are terrible people who preach violence against women and we have to do something online to stop this.
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Victorian minister says family violence a cultural issue
Victoria’s minister for the prevention of family violence, Vicki Ward, spoke outside parliament earlier as national cabinet meets to discuss the national crisis of violence against women.
She said while she welcomed the meeting, there was only “bits and pieces” that can be done at a national level. Ward says:
There are bits and pieces that we can do but the core issue is changing behaviour and that is absolutely what has to be addressed. When you’ve got at least 57,000 male perpetrators of family violence in our state last year alone - and that’s just what Victoria police knows about - we know that we have a serious problem [and] the behaviour of a number of men in our society that we have to change.
Asked whether more needed to be done by the justice system to tackle repeat violent offenders, Ward said:
The justice system does step up. We do have magistrates, we do have our courts that take this seriously. This is a whole community response. It’s not just a justice problem. It’s not just a government problem. It is a community problem and community has to be a part of the solution, just as government is.
We are leading the nation when it comes to responding to family violence. We have people coming internationally to see what we’re doing. We have visitors from interstate coming to see what we’re doing. We are doing a lot. There is still more to do. But it is a cultural change that we have to see in our communities.
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Two charged after woman’s body located in North Bondi yesterday
Two men will face court on drug-related charges after the body of a woman was located in North Bondi yesterday.
Emergency services were called to a unit in North Bondi around 9.20am yesterday following reports a woman was found unresponsive, and the body of a 19-year-old woman was located.
A 32-year-old man, who had an outstanding warrant, was arrested at the home and taken to Waverley police station.
Yesterday afternoon officers executed a search warrant at an address in Bondi and seized 1g of methylamphetamine and cannabis. Police also arrested a 34-year-old man at the address.
The 32-year-old man was charged over the outstanding warrant, three counts of entering a vehicle or boat without consent of the owner/occupier, destroying or damaging property less than or equal to $2000, hindering or resisting a police officer in the execution of duty, and having goods suspected stolen in/on premises.
The 34-year-old man was charged with two counts of possessing a prohibited drug.
The 32-year-old was refused bail to appear before Downing centre local court today, and the 34-year-old man was issued a field court attendance notice to appear at Waverley local court on 18 June.
A post-mortem examination will be conducted to determine the woman’s cause of death, and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Investigations are ongoing as detectives continue to look into a number of lines of inquiry, including misadventure.
No charges have been laid over the woman’s death.
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Prime minister delivers opening remarks at national cabinet
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has delivered his opening remarks at a national cabinet meeting, convened to address men’s violence against women.
Albanese told the meeting:
In the spirit of national unity, today is about who we are as a nation and who we are as a society. Too many women in Australia live in fear and too many are dying from violence. This statistic that a woman is dying every four days is completely unacceptable. Not just to the leaders of states and territories and the nation, but unacceptable for all Australians.
Too many children are growing up with trauma and too many children are growing up without their mothers. And too many stories are ending on the same heartbreaking way. If we want to change this then we all have to take responsibility. Governments, media, civil society. It is very clear that governments alone can’t do this, but we can, of course, show leadership …
For some of us, this is deeply personal, and for all of us, this is incredibly important. [There] are actions that we can take here and now, immediate steps, but there is also the longer term cultural challenge that we face as well. We are committed to dealing with these issues and today we want to read some important outcomes, building on the work that governments have done to date, but doing more, because we know that not enough has been done.
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Qantas investigating app issue after customers report seeing strangers' data
Qantas has confirmed it is investigating an issue with its app after a number of customers have reported being able to see strangers’ data.
The Guardian has viewed screenshots where customers have logged into their profile on the Qantas app, but were presented with a stranger’s profile. This included their name and information, such as upcoming flight details and loyalty points.
A number of users are also reporting the issue on social media.
Qantas has confirmed it is aware of the issue and said in a statement:
Qantas is investigating reports of an issue impacting the Qantas app this morning. We will provide more information as soon as possible.
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Probe as two Melbourne restaurants go up in flames within minutes
Detectives are investigating fires at two Italian restaurants in Melbourne’s north-west that started within minutes of each other, AAP reports.
The first blaze broke out at a La Porchetta on the Melton Highway in Taylor’s Lakes at about 2.45am yesterday.
Just minutes later, another fire started at an Italian restaurant on Mount Alexander Road in Essendon. Smoke billowed over the area but firefighters contained the fire to a small section of the venue and stopped it from spreading to a nearby car wash.
No one was inside either restaurant at the time and both were severely damaged by the flames. Officers have not revealed if they are believed to be linked.
Both restaurants have been taped off and deemed a crime scene as detectives work to establish the cause of the fires.
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Charges dropped against Victorian health department over quarantine
The Victorian health minister has confirmed public prosecutors have dropped charges against the state’s health department over its handling of the hotel quarantine program that contributed to the state’s deadly second Covid-19 wave.
WorkSafe had charged the health department with 58 breaches of the Occupational Health and Safety Act in September 2021, alleging the department failed to provide a safe workplace for its employees and failed to ensure people were not exposed to risks to their health and safety.
Mary-Anne Thomas said the charges were dropped by the office of public prosecutions yesterday:
I’m advised that that has happened yesterday.
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Victorian health minister says she had ‘no reason to think anything was untoward’ during regional hospital visit
Continuing from our last post: Mary-Anne Thomas said she has cast her mind back to the visit and doesn’t remember anything untoward.
I visit health services all the time and I see that our health services are experiencing record demand. We know that for a fact. But I didn’t notice anything in particular, I had no reason to think that anything was untoward. It’s certainly not something that ever crossed my mind that a health service would work to deceive a government minister in such a way.
She said it was not common practice to speak to patients during a tour:
The last thing they want is a politician in their faces, so I’m very mindful and respectful of patient privacy. I don’t look to make eye contact or engage with patients.
Thomas said it was now up to Colac Area Health to take action against the staff members involved. She said this could include “counselling, training, or indeed disciplinary action”.
She said Ambulance Victoria were also conducting their own investigation after confirmation a fake patient was brought to hospital by ambulance.
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Ten people posed as patients during Victorian health minister’s visit to urgent care clinic
Victoria’s health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, is speaking to reporters at parliament after an investigation into allegations staff at a regional hospital posed as patients during a visit from her last year.
She said the department of health investigation has confirmed ten people, who were not unwell, were inside Colac area health’s urgent care clinic during Thomas’ visit in August 2023.
Thomas said:
The results of the investigation are in and it has confirmed that staff at Colac Area Health posed as patients during my visit on that day. These staff members were registered as patients in the urgent care centre registration system. Their registrations were later cancelled after I had left.
She said the group had been enlisted “by some management staff to help the urgent care centre appear busier than it actually was”. At least one staff member was transported to the hospital by ambulance.
Thomas said the investigation found there was no direct impact on the health and safety of “real patients”, but there could have been:
This is a very serious issue … this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable to me.
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Regional and rural women face difficultly in accessing frontline services, Ley says
Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley has described the difficulty regional and rural women face when trying to access frontline services if they are experiencing domestic violence.
Speaking to ABC RN, Ley said the pain is “particularly severe” in regional areas because there aren’t always frontline services available to turn to:
It is so challenging to live your life as a woman who is in a situation like this because it’s so hard to identify yourself in a community that, unfortunately, has made judgments about you in the past. You see how visible this is in particularly our rural areas.
So I’m just sick of men. I’m sick of Mark Dreyfus, I’m sick of Anthony Albanese, I’m sick of their talking, their rhetoric, I want them to stand up today, and I want them to announce action to stop the killings. I’m so sick of the platitudes.
Host Patricia Karvelas asked:
Violence against women was also happening at high and alarming rates under your government. Are you also sick of the men in your frontbench?
Ley said:
I’m sick of all men who don’t understand this problem.
I’m not going to point the finger and I’m not going to be political, particularly on an issue like this … We’re the best country on the planet but gosh, we have to look in the mirror when half the population is saying that their country is beginning to feel unsafe. So all governments have to work to fix this.
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Queensland scraps detention as last resort for young criminals
The Queensland government will scrap detention as a last resort for offenders amid growing concerns over youth crime, AAP reports.
Premier Steven Miles has confirmed the clause “detention as a last resort” in the Youth Justice Act would be amended to children should be detained in custody where “necessary” to keep Queenslanders safe.
We’ve seen a lot of misrepresentation and confusion suggesting that the courts are unable to impose detention. I am concerned that the existing wording of the principle is undermining confidence in the laws and the courts.
The clause will be redrafted to clarify young offenders should be detained in custody where necessary when other measures of prevention and intervention are not sufficient.
It also says children should not be detained for longer than necessary. Miles said:
While prevention and intervention are essential, there are cases where detention is necessary for community safety. These changes will remove any doubt that detention should be used in those circumstances.
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.
For more around this topic, Eden Gillespie has you covered:
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Politicians respond to budget airline Bonza’s voluntary administration
In case you missed it yesterday, low-cost airline Bonza has entered voluntary after abruptly cancelling all of its flights after the repossession of its entire fleet. You can read all the details below:
A number of politicians have reacted to the news on ABC News Breakfast this morning. Deputy opposition leader Sussan Ley said this would be “devastating” for rural Australians, with two Bonza flights in her hometown of Albury at the NSW-VIC border.
I know city-based politicians who actually don’t understand how important it is to have flights to and from the regions… I do want to see this government are doing everything it can to get Bonza back in the air and to recognise that competition in the aviation sector and access to regional roots in regional Australia must be top of the list when they consider airline policy.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the situation was “really disappointing” and he feels for any stranded passengers.
This is a very unfortunate set of events for the workers at that company and also for people who are stuck. We are doing what we can to make sure alternative arrangements are being struck.
And Queensland premier Steven Miles said he would like to see Bonza continue operating because links between regional cities are “really important”.
Queensland is quite different to other states in that we have those regional cities that are really only accessible by air or by very long car drives.
Chalmers touts Aust-India ties despite spy revelations
Australia still has a good relationship with India, treasurer Jim Chalmers says, despite revelations a nest of Indian spies was disrupted by federal spy agencies, AAP reports.
The Washington Post and the ABC have reported Indian spies were kicked out of Australia after trying to steal sensitive information about defence projects as well as airport security.
The nest of spies was disrupted in 2020 by Asio, with director general Mike Burgess revealing in 2021 it had tried to target relationships with politicians, a foreign embassy and a state police service.
However, Burgess did not at the time reveal which country was behind the operation. He said during the 2021 speech:
They successfully cultivated and recruited an Australian government security clearance holder who had access to secretive details of defence technology. They asked a public servant to provide information on security protocols at a major airport.
Chalmers said Australia still had close ties with India, telling ABC News Breakfast:
We have got a good relationship with India and with other countries in the region, it’s an important economic relationship. It’s become closer ... in recent years as a consequence of efforts on both sides and that’s a good thing.
Indian prime minister Narendra Modi visited Australia last in May 2023, holding several large events in Sydney with the Indian diaspora.
Chalmers said he was not aware of efforts by the federal government to express concern to Indian counterparts about the nest of spies, due to the coalition being in charge at the time of the incident.
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More information-sharing between states to help tackle violence against women, Queensland premier says
Queensland premier Steven Miles says he would like to see more information-sharing between states as a way to protect women and children facing violence.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast ahead of today’s national cabinet, Miles said:
I know that our domestic and sexual violence services they’re really stretched at the moment. We increased their funding by 20% earlier in the week but we, of course, like to see even more resources go to them.
I know also that often offenders will move between states and territories, and so information-sharing between our political forces can help them to know the history of offenders.
And then the most important thing I think is prevention and how do we, as a nation, educate our boys and young men that violence against women and children is just unacceptable.
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Gas strategy to be released so national discussion ‘guided by evidence and less by culture wars’
In addition to focusing on offshore wind (see earlier), Chris Bowen’s speech to the energy users association today will also include some observations about the future of gas.
The climate change and energy minister will argue there are “exaggerated claims on all sides of the gas debate”.
Slogans like ‘gas-led recovery’ and ‘no new gas’ are equally catchy – and equally unhelpful to explaining the proper role of gas in our net zero energy mix.
Bowen’s speech, released to journalists by his office, says the resources minister, Madeleine King, will release a future gas strategy in the coming weeks so that the “national discussion on gas can be guided more by the evidence and less by the culture wars”.
Bowen will say gas will play an “important role in electricity by firming and peaking renewables” as unlike coal and nuclear it could be turned on and off at short notice, that there are not yet substitutes for gas in many industrial settings, and that new gas supply will be needed “even as we electrify at pace” as current supplies are dwindling.
The International Energy Agency last year found the growth era for fossil fuels had finished, and that global investment in oil and gas would need to be cut roughly in half by 2030 to put the world on track to reach net zero emissions by mid-century.
Climate Analytics found gas was the largest source of global fossil fuel emissions growth last decade.
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‘This is genuinely a national crisis’: Treasurer ahead of national cabinet on violence against women
Ahead of today’s national cabinet aimed at addressing violence against women, Jim Chalmers was asked how much he as treasurer is willing to spend on this issue.
He told ABC RN:
I think our whole government recognises that we need to do better and we need to do more. This is genuinely a national crisis and women are not safe in our community. We’re very cognisant of that, and very focused on that …
I think this is partly a story about government investment, but not solely a story about government investment. And if there are ways that we can provide more investment or invest differently in these really important services to keep women safe, then obviously that’s something that we’re prepared to consider and that’s one of the reasons why the leaders from around Australia gathering today.
He also spoke about the topic on ABC News Breakfast. He said changes to bail laws are “one of the things that needs to be considered” and also “having a look at the various legal arrangements to make sure that they’re up to scratch”.
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Treasurer on falling retail figures, cost of living
The treasurer was also asked about annual growth in retail figures, which has fallen to its lowest levels since the pandemic.
You can read all the details on this in yesterday’s blog, here.
Chalmers said “this is what happens when interest rates have increased and the economy is slowing”.
And it’s no surprise to us because we know that people are under pressure. We saw that in those very weak retail figures, we’ve seen it in consumption figures, we’ve seen it in the growth figures. And that’s why in this budget, there will still be a primary focus on the fight against inflation, but also a focus on how we grow the economy, how we focus on economic security in ways that we just talked about, to make sure that we are striking the right balance, fighting inflation in the here and now but laying the foundations for future growth in our economy.
There’s no shortage of challenges, and what we’ve demonstrated the first two budgets and will demonstrate again in the third is a willingness to fight inflation as the primary focus, but not the sole focus.
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Foreign investment changes will not target any one particular country: Chalmers
The treasurer is now speaking to ABC RN about the foreign investment changes, and said they are not working to target any particular country.
Jim Chalmers was asked if the laws were introduced to target China, but he denied this:
No, our foreign investment regime is non-discriminatory. We apply pretty tough tests to certain kinds of investments, no matter where they come from, from around the world.
We want to look very closely [at] who’s making the investment, what the structure of the investment is and what kinds of industries people are proposing to invest in, and those pretty tough tests – which will be even stronger [thanks] to the reforms I announced today – they will apply equally to investment from China, as from other parts of the world.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers flags foreign investment changes
As we flagged earlier, the treasurer Jim Chalmers will today announce foreign investment changes, with approvals to be made quicker and greater scrutiny to be placed on potential risks.
You can read all the details on this from Peter Hannam below:
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast just earlier about the changes, Chalmers said it was about ensuring Australia has “the right kind of robust framework” to screen foreign investment proposals and “make sure they’re in our national interest”.
Right now, we treat investments from right around the world more or less the same. We want to streamline it for the less-risky investments so we can devote much more time and energy and resources to screening the sorts of investments that we’re seeing in critical industries – like critical minerals, critical infrastructure, critical data, and the like.
This is all about strengthening the foreign investment framework to make sure that investment is in the national interest. We want to maximise the right kind of investment, but we want to minimise risk and that’s what these changes I’ll announce today are all about.
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NSW police investigating alleged drive-by shooting in western Sydney
New South Wales police are investigating an alleged drive-by shooting in Merrylands, in western Sydney, overnight.
Officers were called to Myall Street around 10pm last night and found several shots were fired from a light-coloured vehicle.
No injuries were reported inside the home, and a crime scene has been established.
A short time later officers were called to Bass Hill following reports of a car fire, and found a white Hyundai hatchback well alight.
The fire was extinguished and it is believed no one was inside. Police are investigating whether the two incidents are linked.
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Steps made towards Australia’s first offshore wind farm
The development of an offshore wind farm zone off Victoria’s Gippsland coast appears a step closer after the Albanese government awarded feasibility licences to six companies.
The licences, awarded by the climate change and energy minister Chris Bowen, allows them to conduct environmental assessments and geotechnical surveys, and gain initial approvals to build turbines that, if delivered as proposed, could have a capacity of 25 gigawatts.
The successful developers are Star of the South, long considered a frontrunner to become Australia’s first offshore wind farm, High Sea Wind, Gippsland Skies, Blue Mackerel, Kut-Wut Brataualung and Ørsted Offshore Australia.
The Gippsland offshore wind zone has to-date not faced the criticism, some of it based on misinformation campaigns, that has been directed towards proposed zones in New South Wales’ Hunter and Illawarra regions.
In a speech to the Energy Users Association of Australia in Melbourne today, Bowen will say offshore wind energy was not about meeting 2030 emissions reduction and energy targets as the industry would take longer than that, it was “very much about planning for a reliable energy system years into the future”.
The International Energy Agency puts offshore wind in a category of its own as ‘variable baseload power’, with similar capacity factors as gas and coal-fired power plants.
As well as jobs rich, offshore wind is energy rich. That’s why major Australian energy users – from Alcoa in Portland, to Bluescope in the Illawarra, to Tomago in the Hunter – say that offshore wind is vital to their energy future.
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Salvos survey: vulnerable Australians facing frightening choices amid cost-of-living crisis
Vulnerable Australians are struggling to afford essentials, with many facing a choice between paying their grocery bill or their landlord, AAP reports.
One in four people have eaten expired or soiled food while about 5% have eaten from rubbish bins, according to a survey by the Salvation Army.
Among 1500 people who approached the charity for help, 45% had to choose between paying for housing or buying food, while 61% struggled to pay utility bills on time, more than six times the national average, the Salvation Army said.
Major Brendan Nottle said the number of people struggling in the community and the choices they faced were frightening:
Individuals and families shouldn’t have to make these sorts of decisions, like choosing whether to eat, pay rent or send your kids to the doctor.
One mother told the charity she was constantly borrowing money from friends, skipping meals so her kids could eat.
The survey highlighted the depths of Australia’s current cost of living crisis, the Salvation Army said.
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Advocacy group calls on government to provide housing support for women fleeing violence
Homelessness Australia is calling on federal and state governments to “plug gaping holes” in the housing and homelessness support available to women fleeing violence.
In 2022-23, homelessness services assisted 58,589 women and 37,825 children who had experienced domestic and family violence. But only 3.7% of those seeking housing got the long term housing they need to be safe.
Homelessness Australia CEO Kate Colvin said:
Lack of pathways to housing mean women experiencing violence are stuck in homelessness, with many returning to violent homes or never leaving.
Violence is the biggest cause of homelessness for women and children. Yet on current settings that’s unlikely to improve. National Cabinet can not avert its eyes. It must confront this challenge on Wednesday.
Homelessness services are so overwhelmed that many women and children can’t even get through the door. Each day homelessness services turn away 295 people; four in five of them are women or children.
The result of these gaping holes in the housing and support women need to be safe is that women return to violence and many never leave.
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Good morning
And happy Wednesday. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll take you through our live coverage here on the blog today – thanks to Martin for kicking things off.
Have any questions, thoughts or tips? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites or shoot me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go.
Churches to front Yoorrook commission
Three of Australia’s most prominent Christian churches are to be grilled at a truth-telling inquiry as it focuses on land injustices against Aboriginal people, AAP reports.
Representatives from the Catholic, Anglican and Uniting churches are expected to face a public hearing at the Yoorrook Justice Commission in Melbourne today.
The inquiry has homed in on land injustice in its latest hearings.
Churches played a significant role in setting up Victorian missions and reserves where Aboriginal people were confined.
Some have acknowledged their ministries were built on stolen Aboriginal land, while churches were also behind the forcible removal of children in the stolen generations.
Children were subsequently placed in churches’ care.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan was the latest witness to give evidence at the inquiry on Monday, revealing that she was prepared to make a formal apology to Aboriginal Victorians.
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House prices rise for 15th month running
Australia has clocked its 15th month in a row of house price growth despite wobbly economic conditions, with prices gaining a further 0.6% in April, AAP reports.
Dwelling values were growing at the same pace in April as in both February and March, according to Corelogic’s home value index.
The research director at the real estate data firm, Tim Lawless, said home values were still rising despite higher interest rates, low sentiment, worsening affordability and ongoing cost-of-living pressures.
Housing values are now up 11.1%, or about $78,000, since the trough in January last year. But the prospect of higher-for-longer interest rates, stubborn price pressures, worsening housing affordability and slowing economic activity could weigh on price growth.
Yet working in the other direction was a supply shortage of housing that “doesn’t look like it will change in the near future”, Corelogic found.
Perth recorded another robust 2% lift in home prices over the month, the fastest increase of any capital city.
The Western Australian capital, Adelaide and Brisbane have been stand-out performers of late, although the Queensland property market was showing signs of losing momentum.
Lawless said:
Affordability pressures may be impacting the pace of growth across the city, following a nearly $300,000 increase in values since the onset of Covid in March 2020, the largest dollar value increase of any capital.
The strongest growth was occurring in the lower range of the market in almost every capital city, with the exception of Darwin.
Similarly, growth in unit prices was typically outpacing house values.
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Farrell hails trade progress with China
Trade minister Don Farrell has held a virtual meeting with his Chinese counterpart, and says it went well. He said in a statement that they had “welcomed progress” in bilateral trade:
Australian coal, cotton, copper ores and concentrates, timber logs, oaten hay, barley and most recently bottled wine, have returned to the Chinese market.
Student and tourist numbers and official and business delegations are increasing.
I reiterated our firm commitment to rules-based trade and I pressed for remaining trade impediments affecting our hard-hit live rock lobster industry, and red meat export establishments to be resolved as soon as possible.
Farrell said he looked forward to welcoming minister Wang to Australia soon.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to the daily news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll be bringing you some of the best overnight stories before Emily Wind gets into the hot seat.
Anthony Albanese has called for a debate on the blocking of misogynistic content online before a snap national cabinet called for today to focus on women’s safety. The federal government has signalled that strengthening violence prevention by countering online harms will be a priority at the meeting, called after a spate of violent attacks on women.
We have a special report today from the Great Barrier Reef where a summer of storm surges and cyclones has left the Unesco heritage site looking like a “graveyard”, according to scientists stunned by the latest bleaching event. Surveying an area of coral off Heron Island, one scientist estimates that “90% of branching corals are dead or dying”.
Foreign investment approvals will be made quicker but greater scrutiny will be placed on potential risks as Australia tries to balance economic and security interests, treasurer Jim Chalmers will say today. The Treasury will set a target to process half of foreign investment cases needing approval within 30 days after from next January, Chalmers will tell the Lowy Institute in Sydney. It will also seek more funds from abroad to support so-called build-to-rent housing ventures and the energy transition off fossil fuels as the government pursues its Future Made in Australia policy.
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