Summary
That’s where I will leave you for now. Here’s what we’ve learned so far today:
- The Australian academic, Kylie Moore-Gilbert, has been released from an Iranian prison, where she has been held for more than two years. Moore-Gilbert thanked the Australian government and in particular diplomats in Tehran, who she said “have been working tirelessly these past two years and three months to secure my release”.
- But the Australian government has refused to confirm that Moore-Gilbert’s release was secured via a prisoner exchange for three Iranians involved in a botched attempt to kill Israeli diplomats eight years ago.
- The football icon Diego Maradona has died of a heart attack, prompting three days of national mourning in Argentina. Maradona was 60.
- Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials revealed there are still 36,875 Australians stranded overseas registered still trying to return home, including 8,070 classed as vulnerable.
- The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, faces yet another scandal after admitting that $140m in grants approved in the nine months before the last state election amounted to pork barrelling. But, she said, it was “not illegal”.
- South Australia has recorded two new Covid-19 cases, including a teenage girl who attended high school while potentially infectious. The girl appears to have contracted the virus while attending the same pizza store linked to a number of cases in the state.
- Six members of the Pakistan cricket squad have tested positive for Covid-19 while isolating in New Zealand before an upcoming series in the country. NZ’s Ministry of Health issued the team a “final warning” after it discovered “several” breaches of isolation rules.
- Telstra faces a $50m fine after admitting to unconscionable conduct when selling mobile plans to Indigenous customers. The telco admitted to using “unfair selling tactics” and exploiting language and cultural barriers to sign up more than 100 Indigenous people to mobile phone contracts that in one case led to a debt of $19,000.
Updated
Some breaking sewage news out of Victoria.
UPDATE FOR GEELONG'S NORTHERN SUBURBS AND LARA:
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 26, 2020
Coronavirus fragments have been detected in wastewater at the Oyster Cove treatment plant in Corio.#COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/rOhRjndZIF
Victoria’s health department says Covid-19 fragments have been detected in a wastewater sample collected from the Oyster Cove wastewater treatment plant in Corio, in Geelong’s north.
The department says residents and visitors to Geelong’s northern suburbs and Lara from Saturday 21 to Monday 23 November are urged to get tested if they have any symptoms, no matter how mild.
“The result is unexpected given that there are no residents in the area known to have recently had a Covid-19 illness or diagnosis,” the department has said in a statement.
Victoria’s acting chief health officer, Allen Cheng, said the viral fragments may be because of residents or people visiting these areas shedding the virus. People who have had coronavirus may shed the virus or virus fragments for several weeks in their stool, well beyond their infectious period.
“We have had few of these positive wastewater results recently and, while we haven’t discovered any undiagnosed case of coronavirus, it is possible that there may be an infectious person in this catchment,” Cheng said.
Updated
The fallout from the damning Brereton report is continuing this week.
The Guardian understands that defence has begun a process to terminate serving Australian Defence Force personnel who were the subject of adverse findings.
On Monday, a series of “show cause” notices were issued to serving ADF personnel, the beginning of an administrative punishment process that can result in anything from formal warnings to discharge.
The ABC has reported that the notices were sent to 10 serving Special Air Service regiment soldiers. The Brereton inquiry had recommended such action for serving ADF members where there was “credible information of misconduct which either does not meet the threshold for referral for criminal investigation, or is insufficiently grave for referral, but should have some consequences for the member”.
Those served with notices have been given just two weeks to plead their cases, though they can apply for more time to respond.
The administrative action is taking place before the beginning of any criminal investigation, which will be conducted by a new special investigator’s office.
Defence confirmed to the Guardian it had “initiated administrative action against a number of serving Australian Defence Force personnel in accordance with legislation and defence policy”.
Read more here:
Updated
Six Pakistan cricketers test positive for Covid in New Zealand
Six Pakistan cricketers have tested positive for Covid-19 while preparing for an upcoming series in New Zealand, while the entire team has been issued a “final warning” from the government after members of its extended squad breached isolation rules.
NZ Cricket has issued a statement confirming six members of the touring squad who are currently in managed isolation in Christchurch have tested positive for the virus.
Two of these six results have been deemed “historical”; four have been confirmed as new. The cricket authority says all members of the 50-plus touring squad tested negative for the virus before leaving Lahore.
But NZ Cricket also says it has been “made aware that some members of the Pakistan team had contravened protocols on the first day of managed isolation”.
“We will be having discussions with the tourists to assist them in understanding the requirements,” it said in a statement.
The NZ Ministry of Health has issued a terse statement saying that “several team members have been seen on CCTV at the facility breaching managed isolation rules, despite clear, consistent and detailed communication of expected behaviours while in the facility”.
“The team as a whole has been issued with a final warning,” it said in its statement.
“It’s important to note that all incidents of breaches occurred within the facility and there is no risk to the public.”
The NZ director general of health, Dr Ashley Bloomfield, said:
It is a privilege to come to New Zealand to play sport, but in return teams must stick to the rules that are designed to keep COVID-19 out of our communities and keep our staff safe.
NZ Health says the positive results mean members of the team will “not be able to leave the facility to train.
“Any training is conditional on a public health assessment, so at this time, no training will be able to take place.”
Updated
Peak employer groups have welcomed the high court’s decision to hear an appeal on whether employees classified as casuals should be able to claim the entitlements of permanent workers if they performed regular, permanent work.
Employers fear the federal court decision could expose them to more than $14bn in backpay claims if allowed to stand.
The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive, James Pearson, said:
The decision of the federal court in Workpac v Rossato upended more than two decades of widespread industry practice and called into question the viability of casual work if it is allowed to stand. Consequently, today’s decision by the high court to hear an appeal is a relief, but not yet a remedy.
The Australian Industry Group chief executive, Innes Willox, said the decision to hear the appeal was “very welcome”.
He said:
The federal court’s decision has alarmed businesses and is no doubt operating as a barrier to employers taking on casual staff. With more than half a million casual jobs lost since March, any barrier to casuals being re-employed is not in the interests of employees or employers ...There are at least eight class actions underway pursuing claims against employers given the interpretation of the law adopted by the federal court.
Updated
Opposition leader Anthony Albanese was on Triple M Brisbane’s Big Breakfast show this morning with ... Marto, Margaux and Nick Cody (I am reading this from a transcript and obviously do not know who any of these people are).
Anyway, while he was there, he took the “real man quiz”, which it is obviously very important that I tell about.
Host: There’s a couple of questions. When’s the last time you reversed a trailer?
Albanese: Reversed a trailer?
Host: Do you own one?
Albanese: Oh my goodness. I certainly don’t own a trailer, mate. I don’t but I have, it would have been when I was moving or helping, actually, someone in my office move. So it was last year.
Host: OK, that’s nice. Last fish caught?
Albanese: I’m pretty ordinary fishing. But I did go fishing on Kangaroo Island down there in South Australia for King George whiting. I’ve got to say, it was fantastic because I had the bloke who, they have really strict catches there, and I had the bloke with us. I cheated a little bit because he knew exactly where to go.
Host: That’s what you need, right mate – right position ... If I gave you the choice – a VB, a Tooheys New, a TED or a XXXX – which one would you prefer to drink?
Albanese: Oh, Tooheys New.
Host: No, the correct answer is they’re all shit.
Updated
'It's not illegal': Berejiklian defends pork-barrelling
Quite an extraordinary admission from the New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, today.
Documents related to the $252m Stronger Communities fund, which overwhelmingly went to councils in Coalition seats, were initially shredded by her office but have been recovered from databases.
Labor and the Greens say the documents show Berejiklian was directly involved in the approval process, but the premier denies she was involved in the approval. She said:
I was consulted and I was provided advice, so were other ministers. But the Office of Local Government was responsible for getting the dollars to councils.
But today Berejiklian has conceded that grants approved in the nine months before the last state election amounted to pork barrelling, but that there was nothing illegal about it. She said:
It’s not something the community likes ... but it’s an accusation I will wear. It’s not unique to our government.
It’s not an illegal practice. Unfortunately it does happen from time to time by every government.
My colleague Anne Davies has the full story:
Updated
Another little tidbit out of that South Australian press conference is that the premier, Steven Marshall, confirmed the state would begin using a QR code check-in system from 1 December.
The system has been in place in New South Wales for several months.
More from Nicola Spurrier on that high school student who has tested positive for Covid-19 in South Australia:
We are still working through exactly this person’s infectiousness period. We are trying to look at the interpretation of the data that we have from her results and we still haven’t completely nailed exactly how she got infected and when she was infectious. There is also the possibility that there might have been somebody else, so another person who has been infected that this person has become infected through and the jury is still out on that at the moment.
The student attended school on Monday while potentially infectious.
The school was closed today, and the South Australian education department has said anyone who attended on Monday “must isolate immediately with all members of their household until further advice is provided”.
Spurrier said the young person “has done absolutely nothing wrong”.
She’s followed the directions and within her understanding of what she needed to do.
Spurrier can’t give detail on the number of close contacts of the student.
She has also not been able to provide information on questions about whether the student took public transport, or on reports that her teacher attended a cricket clinic in Adelaide yesterday.
Updated
Two new Covid cases in South Australia
South Australia has recorded two new cases of coronavirus.
One of the new cases is a school student from Woodville high school. The state’s chief health officer, Nicola Spurrier, is speaking now.
She said the student was linked to the state’s Parafield cluster and appeared to have picked up the virus at the Woodville Pizza Bar, where she picked up a pizza on 14 November.
It is very important for anybody now in that Woodville area, particularly if you have frequented that pizza bar, go back to our web site and look at the dates where we know there were people infectious and absolutely think: do I need to get tested?
That whole area around Woodville, we are going to be putting out more messaging today and we are going to be doing more testing there. And to help people in that area we are going to make sure we have got enough testing sites available.
The second case is a man in his 40s. Spurrier said he was a close contact of another case and was in quarantine with his family.
Updated
The man who has died as a result of his injuries in the New Zealand volcano is 64-year-old Horst Westenfelder.
Police have confirmed Westenfelder actually died four months ago, on 2 July, at a hospital overseas due to medical complications while receiving treatment.
In a statement, Westenfelder’s wife, Angelika, called it an “irreplaceable loss”. She said:
Our lives have changed! It is unbelievable how many months my joyful, sensible and strong husband “Horsti” was fighting for his life and I am thankful to everyone who was thinking of us and helping us during that very hard time. He lost this battle and started his last journey in July.
It is an irreplaceable loss for our family, his friends and of course for myself. In loving memory of a full and exciting life. I will always miss you.
NZ police said:
Our thoughts are with the friends and family of Mr Westenfelder, who have requested privacy as they are still coming to terms with the death of their much-loved husband, father and grandfather.
Updated
A 64-year-old man has died as a result of injuries suffered in New Zealand’s Whakaari/White Island volcano eruption in December last year.
I’ll bring you more on this as I get it.
#BREAKING: Police confirm another person has died as a result of injuries suffered from New Zealand's Whakaari/White Island volcanic eruption.
— 9News Australia (@9NewsAUS) November 26, 2020
It takes the death toll from the tragedy to 22. #9News pic.twitter.com/9BLct6jrgo
Updated
Good afternoon. The former Health Services Union head, Kathy Jackson, has been spared jail after rorting more than $100,000 in member funds.
The 52-year-old was jailed in Victoria’s county court on Thursday for 24 months, but the sentence was wholly suspended for two-and-a-half years.
Judge Amanda Fox said:
You selfishly used the money for your lifestyle purposes. It was motivated by greed not need.
You can read the full story here:
Updated
I’ll be passing over the blog to my colleague Michael McGowan, who will take you through the next part of the afternoon.
I’ve been Elias Visontay. Have a great afternoon.
Updated
The high court has granted special leave to appeal in a landmark case on casual employment.
In the Workpac v Rosatto decision the federal court found employees described as casuals could be owed further entitlements if they performed regular, permanent work.
The decision on Thursday to hear an appeal of the case will give comfort to employers, who have warned it could result in billions of dollars of backpay claims by casuals.
The federal government intervened on the employer’s side, meaning the case will likely reverberate in the political sphere, with Labor taking the Coalition to task for furthering insecure work.
Updated
New South Wales records no new Covid cases
NSW recorded no new cases of locally acquired COVID-19 in the 24 hours to 8pm last night.
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 26, 2020
No cases were reported in overseas travellers in hotel quarantine. The total number of cases in NSW since the start of the pandemic remains at 4,363. pic.twitter.com/3FHFhHjvJ2
Updated
Australia’s resources minister, Keith Pitt, has acknowledged Australian coal is experiencing “longer port processing times” after reports of dozens of ships waiting off ports in China, some of them for several months.
In response to a request for comment, Pitt said in a written response to Guardian Australia:
We are aware of longer port processing times for Australian coal, particularly at this time of year. We continue to engage with industry about the impact that unofficial restrictions are having on resources exporters.”
Overnight, a transcript of the latest Chinese foreign ministry press conference appeared online. Bloomberg asked for information about the ships carrying Australian coal and why they are not able to offload the coal.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson, Zhao Lijian, answered only in general terms:
In recent years, China customs has found many cases where the imported coal didn’t meet our environmental protection standards while conducting risk monitoring and analysis over the safety and quality of imported coal.
In accordance with relevant laws and regulations, customs officials have strengthened quality, safety and environmental inspections of imported coal to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies and ensure environmental safety.”
For more on this issue, see our story from yesterday:
Right now. #CovidCommittee hearing heartbreaking stories from some of the 36,000 #strandedAussies that @ScottMorrisonMP is leaving behind.
— Kristina Keneally (@KKeneally) November 25, 2020
I’m furious with this Govt & the extravagance of funding @MathiasCormann & his ✈️ - one set of rules for them, every else gets left behind. https://t.co/OlyKvk8KMM
The Liberal MP and former Australian ambassador to Israel, Dave Sharma, has praised the “remarkable” courage and strength shown by Kylie Moore-Gilbert over the “gross injustice” of her imprisonment in Iran.
Sharma told Guardian Australia he was “tremendously relieved by news of Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release, after what can only be described as a nightmare ordeal for her and her family”.
He said the government had maintained throughout the process that the accusations against her were without foundation and baseless.
He expressed gratitude to Scott Morrison, Marise Payne and “the many government officials who worked on this case, quietly, tirelessly and resolutely over many months”.
“The courage and strength shown by Kylie and her family was remarkable in the circumstances. Kylie’s many friends, colleagues and supporters who campaigned actively for her release also deserve recognition, for drawing public and global attention to her plight and highlighting the gross injustice of her case to the Iranian authorities and others.”
Labor and Greens accuse Berejiklian over council grants
The NSW Greens and Labor say documents recovered forensically from databases show the NSW premier Gladys Berejiklian was directly involved in approving $140m in grants to councils in the nine months before the state election.
The grants went overwhelmingly to Coalition-held seats and the documents show only Coalition MPs were consulted.
The premier has previously denied involvement in approving the grants.
The documents, which included memos from her senior staff, show a slate of grants was put to her for approval and the recovered document included a place for her to sign.
Berejiklian’s signature is not on this recovered version but it will raise further questions about whether she did in fact sign off on the grants.
The matter has already been referred to the Independent Commission Against Corruption.
Updated
36,875 Australians are stranded overseas, Dfat reveals
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials have revealed there are still 36,875 Australians stranded overseas registered still trying to return home, including 8,070 classed as vulnerable.
That means the number seeking to come home has increased from 26,000 in mid-September, and the number of vulnerable people has doubled.
Dfat officials said since Scott Morrison had promised to bring as many as possible home by Christmas, some 35,000 Australians have returned home including 14,000 who were registered.
Even despite surge capacity in the NT, Tasmania and ACT, and Melbourne hotel quarantine resuming, Greens senator Janet Rice did some quick maths that only about 10,000 will be able to come in time for Christmas, leaving 25,000 still stranded. Officials don’t dispute the figures.
Labor’s Kristina Keneally went on the attack, noting that chief executives and significant investors have been able to come to Australia, while Tony Abbott has travelled overseas twice.
Border Force assistant commissioner, Kylie Rendina, said that 89% of people coming to Australia are citizens, permanent residents or automatically qualify, and only 11% are “discretionary exemptions”.
Keneally suggests this shows there is no process to reserve spots for Australians. Rendina says government chartered flights have a high degree of control, but for commercial flights it is up to the airlines who to sell tickets to – “it’s a commercial decision”.
Dfat’s Tony Sheehan said Services Australia is helping to call all the registered Australians, because many are not ready to fly at short notice.
Earlier, witnesses including Dave Wright and Carly said these calls were interpreted as pressure to drop down or drop off the list, because they were asked whether they are intending to return permanently or just for Christmas.
Updated
Scott Morrison is asked if he is worried about vision of Kylie Moore-Gilbert speaking in Persian outside Evin prison in Iran, in which one translation states her mentioning the “Zionist regime” – the Iranian government’s term for Israel.
Morrison is asked if he is worried that was a condition of her release, and whether the Australian government has thanked Thailand for its reported prisoner release of Iranians convicted of planning to murder Israeli diplomats in Bangkok.
Morrison said it would be wrong for him to comment on the matter, and said the question asking if Thailand had been thanked was an assumption.
Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst has asked a follow-up question, about whether the Israeli government has expressed concern about the reported release of Iranians convicted on terrorism charges of attempting to assassinate Israeli diplomats.
Morrison said he is not aware of Israeli officials expressing concerns to Australia yet.
“Where another sovereign state has made a decision about the release of prisoners, that is a matter for them.”
Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne said “I’m not going to comment on diplomatic discussions with other governments.”
Updated
Scott Morrison and Marise Payne are asked about other Australian detained overseas, including Karm Gilespie, who is facing the death penalty in China.
Morrison said:
It is impossible for the Australian government to give any guarantees about resolution, that is why it is with joy that we welcome the fact that Kylie is on her way home, because there are no guarantees in this situation, nor is there in the case that you have mentioned, but we will continue to apply ourselves assiduously.”
Payne said:
In relation to Mr Gillespie, his matter is still on part of a legal process within China. We continue to seek our consular access to him to ensure that we can provide that consular support and of course to seek to ensure that he has access to lawyers as well.
There are many Australians around the world who find themselves in detention for a vast range of reasons. At any one time, Australian consular officials can be dealing with over 200 cases of people in prison globally, and those reasons are as fast as you might imagine.
Others where domestic criminal laws in the countries where Australians find themselves have been breached and they are dealing with appropriate legal process there.
Every single one of them is a difficult case in its own way. Every single one of them takes considerable consular time to engage on and to provide support for, and we take all of them very, very seriously.
Updated
Scott Morrison was asked about reports of the prisoner swap to secure Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release, which reportedly include an Iranian man convicted of attempting to murder Israeli diplomats in Thailand, as well as an Iranian businessman.
The prime minister is asked if a prisoner exchange encourages rogue states to take hostages.
Morrison doesn’t deny some prisoners may have been released, but says none who were held in Australia who are being released:
The Australian government doesn’t acknowledge or confirm any such arrangement regarding any release of any other persons in any other places.
If other people have been released in other places, they are the decisions of the sovereign governments in those places.
There are no people who have been held in Australia who have been released.
What is important is that Australians are obviously careful in places that they travel to and comply with the travel advice that has been offered by the Australian government,
But we live in an uncertain world and we live in a world where there are regimes that don’t act in relation to people’s liberties and rights and with the freedoms that we enjoy here in Australia and that is just a sad reality of the world which we live in and Australia has to deal in that world ... we have to take actions in that world to secure the safety of Australians and we will always seek to do that in a professional way but I can assure you, we don’t do it in a way that compromises Australia’s national interest.”
Updated
Foreign affairs minister Marise Payne on Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release.
I am extremely pleased that Dr Moore-Gilbert has been released from her unjustified detention in Iran and is safely on her way home. Dr Moore-Gilbert will soon be able to resume her life with her family and work colleagues and this is cause for great relief and also great joy today.
She is healthy and in good spirits. On her return, she will go into quarantine, but she will not be alone and she is well supported. I am not able to disclose the location of her quarantine, nor any other private details.
We have consistently rejected the grounds on which the government of Iran arrested and detained Dr Moore-Gilbert and we continue to do so. These are points I made strongly to [Iranian] foreign minister Zarif during multiple issues on this issue.
I also, especially, thank this morning Australia’s diplomats, for their assistance to me and to the government in securing Dr Moore-Gilbert’s release.”
Payne also reminds Australians not to travel to Iran due to the Covid-19 outbreak but also “the security situation remains volatile and there is a high risk that you could be arbitrarily detained or arrested”.
Updated
Scott Morrison on Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release:
I can think of few greater places of difficulty than an Iranian prison with a sentence over 10 years for a conviction that Australia has always rejected and Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert has always rejected.
These arrangements to secure the release of Australians are very difficult to work through and are very complex.”
Morrison said in the interests of protecting Australians who potentially find themselves in difficult situations in the future, the government will discuss the details of her release, which is thought to include a prisoner swap, with “a great deal of discretion”.
Morrison said Moore-Gilbert is “an extraordinarily intelligent, strong and courageous woman”.
She is an amazing Australian who has gone through an ordeal that we can only imagine and it will be a tough transition for her, as it has been for others in similar experiences in the past.
Both Marise Payne and I spoke to Kylie earlier today and we were in touch with each other last night when we first got the news.”
Morrison said there had been “a few false starts in the past” in securing her release “but we have got there now”.
Particularly over the course of the last few days, we saw how these events were unfolding and we kept up the hope, we kept up the prayers as well and as I said on morning television this morning, I have always believed in miracles and I’m just thankful for this one as well.
She seems to be, in our own conversations, in quite good spirits, but I imagine there is a lot of processing to go through yet and as she returns home to Australia and adjust to life here again.
Finally to you Kylie, you are amazing. Your strength encourages an example to all Australians and what has been an enormously difficult time at home but compared to what you have been going through, well, that is a whole another experience entirely.”
Updated
Scott Morrison and foreign affairs minister Marise Payne have begun their virtual press conference about the release of Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
“This is a great day for Australia, and it’s obviously a wonderful day for Kylie and her family,” the prime minister begins, commending Payne and her team for two years of consular work.
Updated
Australians stranded overseas have given evidence to the Covid-19 Senate inquiry, revealing their struggles with costs of more than $20,000 to return home and repeated cancellations due to overbooked flights.
Dave and Kate Jeffries went to Canada in February to be with their mother, suffering from cancer, and have been unable to return since their flights home were cancelled in March.
Dave said Australians overseas are “exhausted” by living with the uncertainty of knowing when they can come home, and the crippling costs of having to pay bills in two countries.
We are Schrodinger’s travellers – we are both always leaving and never leaving. We’ve had flights cancelled at 24 hours’ notice.”
Dave accused airlines of “preying on Australians” by charging them for flights that won’t run, then taking months to process refunds. Far from receiving sympathy from home, social media is “full of comments that it’s your fault you’re stuck, you should’ve come home already”.
Dave had a massive swipe at Scott Morrison for claiming to pursue an “Australians first” policy on returns.
He said there is “no queue to reserve our spot in hotel quarantine” because they are at the whim of the airlines, and 31,000 non-citizens have arrived in the last six months, making up one quarter of all arrivals.
We are the only country in the world effectively denying their citizens the right to return to their country – it’s unacceptable and about as unAustralian as it gets.”
Carly, who started a campaign called Fly the Babies Home, has returned from the UK and is in hotel quarantine, which she says is ill-equipped for babies.
Food deliveries contain foods like curry puffs, not baby food puree; and many have no fresh air, with one woman taken to the hotel’s smoking area for 15 minutes a day, resulting in her baby crawling in smoke ash because it is “the only place to crawl”.
Fiona Wright, who has returned from India and is now in Darwin, said the message from the prime minister to those stranded overseas was “basically berating me like a naughty child for being late coming home, it was really rude”.
Updated
Scott Morrison is about to do a “virtual” press conference alongside the foreign minister, Marise Payne, to discuss Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release.
Both are appearing remotely: Morrison from the Lodge in Canberra where he is still isolating after his trip to Japan, and Payne from Sydney.
Reporters are assembled at the Blue Room at Parliament House in Canberra in front of a TV which has live footage of the two locations, each with Australian flags behind.
Incredible vision here of Kylie Moore-Gilbert being released.
My colleague Ben Doherty points out there is an Australian flag on the tail of the plane flying Moore-Gilbert out of Tehran.
NEW: Iran state TV just now shows footage of Kylie Moore-Gilbert leaving Evin prison & boarding a plane with dramatic music & lights.
— Farnaz Fassihi (@farnazfassihi) November 25, 2020
She says in Farsi outside Evin, "I visited a few Arab countries & Zionist regime & Iran & Turkey."
"Zionist regime" is Iran's term for Israel. pic.twitter.com/AnV31vvzgY
Young people risk 'drowning in debt' due to unsustainable borrowing
Young people have turned to unsustainable borrowing to get by during the coronavirus crisis and risk “drowning in debt”, according to research by the Consumer Policy Research Centre.
The centre is one of 120 consumer organisations that has written to MPs urging them to block treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s bid to water down responsible lending laws.
It says one in 10 young people reported taking out a personal loan last month, up from one in 50 in May. Young people have also turned to their families for support, with one in five borrowing from family or friends, up form one in eight in May.
The centre said it is also seeing an increase in young people missing bill payments and an increasing reliance by them on credit and largely unregulated buy-now-pay-later to make purchases.
“As the economy rebuilds, it is crucial that vulnerable parts of our community are not pushed further behind after being left stranded without adequate income support and protections from exploitative lending practices.
Young people particularly are at high risk of drowning in debt, from which it may take a lifetime to recover,” chief executive Lauren Solomon said.
“A consumer-led recovery that is fair, safe and inclusive will build a more resilient economy and community coming out the other side of this crisis.”
Updated
Telstra faces $50m fine over mobile phone sales to Indigenous consumers
Telstra could pay up to $50m in penalties after admitting to unconscionable conduct when selling mobile plans to Indigenous customers.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has instituted federal court proceedings against the telco giant after it admitted it breached consumer law and acted unconscionably when sales staff at five Telstra stores signed up 108 Indigenous consumers to multiple post-paid mobile contracts which they did not understand and could not afford between January 2016 to August 2018.
An ACCC statement said in each case, these contracts were entered into with individual consumers on a single day when they visited one of the five stores across the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia.
The average debt per consumer was more than $7,400.
The ACCC statement said:
Many of the consumers spoke English as a second or third language, had difficulties understanding Telstra’s written contracts, and many were unemployed and relied on government benefits or pensions as the primary source of their limited income. Some lived in remote areas where Telstra provided the only mobile network.
In some cases, sales staff at the Telstra licensed stores did not provide a full and proper explanation of consumer’s financial exposure under the contracts and, in some cases, falsely represented that consumers were receiving products for ‘free’.
In many instances, sales staff also manipulated credit assessments, so consumers who otherwise may have failed its credit assessment could enter into post-paid mobile contracts. This included falsely indicating that a consumer was employed.”
ACCC chair Rod Sims said:
This case exposes extremely serious conduct which exploited social, language, literacy and cultural vulnerabilities of these Indigenous consumers.
Even though Telstra became increasingly aware of elements of the improper practices by sales staff at Telstra licensed stores over time, it failed to act quickly enough to stop it, and these practices continued and caused further, serious and avoidable financial hardship to Indigenous consumers.”
Updated
This comes from Jason Rezaian, a former Washington Post bureau chief in Tehran, who was detained for 544 days in the same prison that Australian academic Kylie Moore-Gilbert was in before he release.
It’s far past time for democratic allies — indeed all responsible governments — to work together to end state sponsored hostage taking once and for all, beginning with #Iran, long the world’s most egregious offender of this barbaric practice.
— Jason Rezaian (@jrezaian) November 25, 2020
Here’s an updated version of our story on the release of Kylie Moore-Gilbert, featuring her statement.
From my colleagues Patrick Wintour and Ben Doherty.
Australian politicians have paid tribute to Diego Maradona after learning of his death this morning.
Here’s a great story from Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi:
Vale Diego. I was a huge fan. Even in the throes of labour having @oz_f, I watched the 1990 World Cup semifinal in the hospital waiting room just to see Maradonna play.
— Mehreen Faruqi (@MehreenFaruqi) November 25, 2020
And from Labor’s Brendan O’Connor and Murray Watt:
I was privileged to see Diego Maradona, nick-named “El pibe de Oro” (ie “the Golden boy”) in the 1982 World Cup in Spain just before his prime but brimming with energy and unbelievable talent. A joy to watch. Soccer genius. #MaradonaRIP
— Brendan O'Connor (@BOConnorMP) November 25, 2020
Maradona was THE player of my youth - the best, the most entertaining, the most controversial. RIP to one of the greats. ⚽️ 🙏 ⚽️ https://t.co/kI99Ys4YSE
— Senator Murray Watt (@MurrayWatt) November 25, 2020
But a deafening silence from Coalition politicians, that I’m sure fans of the world game will remember in coming elections.
And here is the Guardian’s sports front from our English edition today:
Guardian back page, Thursday 26 November 2020: El Diego pic.twitter.com/lWoWYlmGG3
— The Guardian (@guardian) November 25, 2020
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I’m greatly relieved to see Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert freed from detention in Iran.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) November 25, 2020
She and her family have shown extraordinary resilience.
We are thankful for the work of dedicated officials to bring Dr Moore-Gilbert home.
We wish Kylie and her loved ones a joyful homecoming.
Fantastic to welcome a cohort of 134 workers from Tonga into Queensland. 🇦🇺🇹🇴
— Alex Hawke MP (@AlexHawkeMP) November 25, 2020
Pacific workers continue to support rural and regional Australian businesses to maintain Australia’s food supply.
More Pacific workers to follow. pic.twitter.com/ymv3XMRpIG
The Senate select committee on Covid-19 will again hear from Australians stranded overseas throughout the pandemic, with officials from the foreign affairs, home affairs, health, infrastructure and transport and prime minister and cabinet departments also set to appear today.
The number of Australians registered as stranded overseas has also risen since the arrival of several evacuation flights to the Northern Territory’s Howard Springs quarantine centre, as well as since the government announced increases to arrival caps.
While the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade has previously provided media outlets with updated numbers of how many Australians were registered as stranded, the department would not provide the latest figures to Guardian Australia on Wednesday. The most recent figure it provided was 36,500, earlier in November.
The government has also come under fire for clarifying that foreign business people and actors will not be subjected to the “Australians first” approach to international arrivals.
Of the 24,700 international passengers to arrive in Australia in October, only 12,300 were Australian citizens, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
On Wednesday, Labor’s foreign affairs spokeswoman, Penny Wong, blasted the government for the rising number of Australians stranded overseas, despite the issue rising to prominence months ago as the effects of Australia’s cap on quarantine spaces for international arrivals became clear.
Wong called for the federal government to set up more quarantine facilities. She told the ABC:
What I can tell you from the numbers we’ve seen to date, is the numbers are going the wrong way and the only thing that’s really happened since Scott Morrison made that announcement is the number of people trying to get home has increased.
He’s left it to the states and there’s been some pretty dreadful consequences of some of what has occurred. But more importantly, there hasn’t been federal leadership and we have seen both more people stranded overseas and problems in some of the state-run facilities.”
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Scott Morrison speaks with Kylie Moore-Gilbert
Scott Morrison spoke with Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert this morning after she was released from detention in Iran.
The prime minister said Moore-Gilbert is now with Australian officials, and that arrangements are being made to transfer her to Australia.
Morrison, who refused to explain the details of the prisoner swap that secured her release, told Channel Seven:
We are very happy. She is obviously thrilled but she is processing it all, as you would expect.
She is with Australian officials who are giving her the support she needs. There will be an adjustment to Kylie, she has gone through a terrible ordeal, an absolutely awful ordeal – the injustice of her detention and conviction.
I’m so pleased she is coming home.
Morrison also said that as Moore-Gilbert had been in detention since September 2018, a month after he became prime minister, “she hadn’t heard much about me”.
In terms of physical health and mental health, she will go through all the normal assessments that are done in these circumstances and debriefing and all of these things.
But I must say, for someone who had just been two years in an Iran present in all sorts of different circumstances of that period of time, she sounded remarkably well.
In another interview this morning with Channel Nine, Morrison said:
I said before I believe in miracles. I tell you what, I just got another one.
Asked about whether the prisoner swap involved convicted terrorists, Morrison again would not go into details, but said: “Any suggestion that there has been prisoners released in Australia or anything like that is completely false.”
Updated
Kylie Moore-Gilbert departs Iran with 'bittersweet feelings'
Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert, who has been released from detention in Iran after more than two years, has just released a statement.
While acknowledging the “injustices” she has been subjected to, she says she will leave the country with her friendly sentiments for Iran “strengthened”.
Her statement in full:
I would like to thank the Australian government and in particular the Australian Foreign Ministry and Australian Embassy in Tehran who have been working tirelessly these past 2 years and 3 months to secure my release.
Thank you also to all of you who have supported me and campaigned for my freedom, it has meant the world to me to have you behind me throughout what has been a long and traumatic ordeal.
I have nothing but respect, love and admiration for the great nation of Iran and its warm-hearted, generous and brave people. It is with bittersweet feelings that I depart your country, despite the injustices which I have been subjected to. I came to Iran as a friend and with friendly intentions, and depart Iran with those sentiments not only still intact, but strengthened.
I ask the media to please respect my privacy and that of my family during what will undoubtedly be a challenging period of adjustment.
With love and thanks,
Kylie Moore-Gilbert.
Updated
Victoria records no new Covid-19 cases
Another day of 0 new cases, 0 lost lives and 0 active cases reported yesterday. #EveryTestHelps and thank you to all were tested – there were 12,862 results received. More detail: https://t.co/pcll7ySEgz #StaySafeStayOpen #COVID19Vic pic.twitter.com/uf35KXKQ7x
— VicGovDHHS (@VicGovDHHS) November 25, 2020
In other significant news, Australia’s foreign affairs chief has warned Beijing against resorting to “pressure or coercion”, declaring China would be wrong to assume it was now so powerful it could set the terms of its engagement with the world.
Amid heightened tensions between Australia and its largest trading partner, Frances Adamson used a major speech on Wednesday night to urge the Chinese government to reflect on how its increasingly assertive actions would be received by other countries.
Guardian Australia’s Daniel Hurst has this report on Adamson’s speech:
Her speech came amid revelations that more than 60 ships carrying Australian coal have been stranded at sea – some for months – while waiting to enter Chinese ports, according to analysts. The Chinese government has claimed they are being held up due to “environmental quality”.
Updated
Australia’s former finance minister Mathias Cormann is continuing to talk up the importance of a “collective green recovery” on the campaign trail to be the next secretary general of the Paris-based Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which contradicts his record while in Australian government.
In a “vision statement” for the position obtained by Guardian Australia, Cormann says undertaking “effective global action on climate change is a must and we must get to zero net emissions as soon as possible”.
My colleague Katharine Murphy has this report:
Updated
An Adelaide high school has been closed after a female student tested positive for Covid-19.
AAP has this report:
The positive test was confirmed late on Wednesday with SA Health issuing a directive for anyone who attended Woodville High School on Monday to isolate immediately along with every member of their household.
Anyone with symptoms was asked to get tested as soon as possible.
The school will be deep cleaned on Thursday as authorities conduct contact tracing and make a risk assessment.
There was no immediate word on whether the case was linked to Adelaide’s recent cluster of infections which has sparked widespread changes to SA’s hotel quarantine system. The so-called Parafield cluster stood at 29 cases on Wednesday.
Under the quarantine changes, anyone who tests positive, including returned travellers, will be moved to a dedicated health facility. All security at that facility will be provided by police and staff will not be allowed to work at other high-risk locations, including prisons and aged care centres.
As an added security measure, premier Steven Marshall will ask national cabinet to consider testing all Australians returning from overseas before they are allowed to board their flights. A negative test would be required before anyone is permitted to travel, under SA’s proposal.
Before the schoolgirl’s case, authorities said SA was on track to ease coronavirus restrictions next week and return the state to the level of measures that were in place before the Parafield outbreak.
Updated
Payne 'extremely pleased' about Moore-Gilbert swap release
The foreign affairs minister, Marise Payne, has released a statement confirming Kylie Moore-Gilbert’s release in a prisoner exchange:
I am extremely pleased and relieved to advise that Dr Kylie Moore-Gilbert has been released from detention in Iran and will soon be reunited with her family.
Dr Moore-Gilbert’s release has been an absolute priority for the Government since her detention.
The Australian Government has consistently rejected the grounds on which the Iranian Government arrested, detained and convicted Dr Moore-Gilbert. We continue to do so.
In full consultation with her family, Dr Moore-Gilbert’s release was achieved through diplomatic engagement with the Iranian Government. This outcome demonstrates the value of professional and determined work, in the most appropriate way for each case, to resolve complex and sensitive consular cases. I thank those dedicated officials and all others involved for their efforts.
I wish Dr Moore-Gilbert well in her recovery and her return to life in Australia. No doubt, as she recovers, she will draw on the same strength and determination that helped her get through her period of detention. I also commend the endurance, trust and resilience of Dr Moore-Gilbert’s family, friends and university colleagues throughout this period.
Updated
Good morning, Elias Visontay here to take you through all the day’s news in Australia.
Kylie Moore-Gilbert, the Australian-British academic detained by Iran since 2018 on espionage charges, has been released in a prisoner exchange. State media sources released video of Moore-Gilbert at liberty, with three Iranians held in Australia for sanctions breaches being returned to Iran.
- A proposed tax on electric vehicles by the Victorian government could reduce uptake by up to 25%, research suggests, with one analyst calling the move “completely incongruent” with the state’s clean energy targets.
- Australia’s foreign affairs chief, Frances Adamson, has warned Beijing against resorting to “pressure or coercion”, declaring China would be wrong to assume it was now so powerful it could set the terms of its engagement with the world. The comments came amid revelations that more than 60 ships carrying Australian coal have been stranded at sea – some for months – while waiting to enter Chinese ports, according to analysts. The Chinese government has claimed they are being held up due to “environmental quality”.
- The federal government has been accused of dropping the ball in approving Santos’s $3.6bn Narrabri gas project without the company first producing a thorough biodiversity plan.
- The NSW attorney general has called on federal counterparts to enshrine 10 days of paid domestic violence leave, with supporters echoing the move, saying “relying on piecemeal, ad hoc arrangements is inadequate”.
If you see anything in your area or a line you think I should know about, you can get in touch with me by email at elias.visontay@theguardian.com or via Twitter @EliasVisontay.
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