What we learned: Friday 11 November
That’s a wrap for the blog today, here are the major developments:
Queensland became the first state to officially urge people to mask up as the state enters its fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton said Labor’s IR bill, which is designed to help people get pay rises after a decade of stalled wage growth, is “killing confidence in the economy”.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he has given the Australian Federal Police permission to give more information on who is behind the Medibank hack.
NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant confirmed the state is experiencing a spike in community transmission with a fourth Covid wave “taking off” but said it may not peak until before Christmas.
Victoria recorded a 63% increase in Covid-19 cases this week on the previous week.
Queensland experienced a 61% increase in Covid-19 cases, as hospitalisations nearly doubled.
The AFP held a press conference revealing they believed Russian hackers to be responsible for the Medibank data breach. The AFP warned the criminals “we know who you are” and said they would be holding talks with Russian law enforcement.
National Family Planning organisation, the Marie Stopes Institute, partnered with Medibank following the data leak to provide free specialist counselling services for customers whose sexual and reproductive healthcare information was involved in the cybercrime.
Have a good weekend!
Updated
Government mindful it ‘will never please everyone’ on Indigenous voice to parliament
The federal government says it won’t be able to “please everyone” by implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart as it faced fierce criticism from Indigenous Greens and opposition senators in Canberra today.
The Albanese government pledged to implement the statement in full as part of its election campaign promising to enshrine an Indigenous voice to parliament as well as truth-telling and treaty through the proposed Makarrata commission.
The government pledged $5.8m in the budget handed down last month for the Makarrata commission. Labor NT senator Malarndiri McCarthy, the Green’s Victorian senator Lidia Thorpe and the Northern Territory’s Country Liberal Party senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price addressed a Senate estimates hearing on Friday.
Thorpe and Price were critical of the Voice citing concerns about gaining the consent of all Indigenous peoples and representing diverse Indigenous peoples.
McCarthy, representing the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, said the government was “very aware” it had just three years to implement its ambition including the voice, truth-telling and treaty oversight bodies. She said:
We’re very mindful, also that we will never please everyone.
This is a huge project and we have to not only work with all the First Nations groups across the country – we also have to work with all of Australia and Australians.
McCarthy said the Makarrata commission’s work on truth-telling and treaty was important and it was vital to bring all Australians onboard to deliver broad consensus.
We are very conscious that by putting into the budget – our commitment to the Makarrata commission – that we wanted to be very clear that this is the direction we’re going… but first our work is on the voice but there will be some undertakings in preparation of the Makarrata commission.
McCarthy said the government was not yet sure about legislation to enact the commission but said that they wanted the truth-telling and treaty oversight body to withstand “the generations”.
I would certainly like to make sure that the Makarrata commission … be there well beyond any of our time in the Senate and any other politicians time in the parliament. So it is there, truthfully, for generations to come.
Updated
‘When I set foot inside the MCG, I felt a joy myself and other Afghan refugees won’t forget’
For those of you who have knocked off for the week and looking for something to read as you commute home this Friday evening, I would highly recommend this piece from Shadi Khan Saif:
I will never forget the moment I set foot inside the glorious Melbourne Cricket Ground to watch Afghanistan play in the T20 cricket World Cup.
Sitting inside the magnificent arena, I felt every moment of the experience. The joy of seeing my team up close lifted the gloom that I and other Afghan refugees had been feeling, bringing us, momentarily, back to life. I’ve never seen a single resettlement program deliver such joy and sense of belonging, and it made me desperately want to see more of it in the coming days as our team battles for survival – just like us refugees.
Key seats in focus after Victorian ballot draw
From AAP:
Not all political candidates need luck but those in marginal seats have found a spot of serendipity in the form of the Victorian election ballot draw.
All 88 lower house seats and eight upper house regions had their ballots drawn for the November 26 poll this afternoon after nominations closed. The process sets the order candidates’ names appear on voting forms and was conducted by a random number generator.
Generally, it is considered an advantage to be drawn first as some voters are known to cast a “donkey vote”, numbering their ballot in descending order.
But it’s unclear exactly how much of an effect it has on the final outcome.
Premier Daniel Andrews was drawn first for his safe Labor seat of Mulgrave in Melbourne’s southeast, while Opposition Leader Matthew Guy grabbed fifth spot on Bulleen’s ballot.
In Hastings, ranked the most marginal in the state by the Victorian Electoral Commission after last year’s electoral boundaries redistribution, former Dancing with the Stars judge turned Labor candidate Paul Mercurio was drawn third.
His name will be listed four ahead of Liberal hopeful Briony Hutton, who is vying to replace retiring MP Neale Burgess in the Mornington Peninsula seat.
Teal independent Nomi Kaltmann secured top billing in Caulfield, notionally held by Liberal deputy leader David Southwick on a 0.2 per cent margin after the redistribution.
Southwick was ordered fifth, ahead of Labor’s candidate Lior Harel.
Unable to attend his local draw after testing positive for Covid-19, retired principal and Labor MP John Kennedy claimed second spot for the nearby seat of Hawthorn.
While Kennedy is the incumbent, pollsters increasingly suggest Hawthorn is shaping as a two-way content between teal independent Melissa Lowe and Liberal hopeful John Pesutto.
The pair will be listed fifth and seventh respectively on the Hawthorn ballot.
In a boon for fellow teal candidate Sophie Torney, she was drawn first in the neighbouring seat of Kew, which Liberal MP Tim Smith is not recontesting after drunkenly crashing his car into a Hawthorn property’s fence last year.
The Liberals pick to replace him, Jess Wilson, was ordered sixth among the list of eight candidates.
A record number of candidates have nominated for the 2022 Victorian state election, including 740 for the lower house and 454 for the upper house.
If you haven’t been following the lead up to the Victorian state elections but want to get the low-down, our Victorian state reporters have you covered in Guardian Australia’s State Night video series:
Weather low to weaken on Monday
More from the Bureau of Meteorology of what Australians can expect looking a little further ahead over coming days:
By Saturday, a low-pressure system will deepen over Southern South Australia with a cold front developing through central and southern Australia ahead of the low.
Cool and showery conditions are occurring for southern western Australia, continuing until the end of the weekend.
Rain and thunderstorms will increase and spread across Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria on Sunday. Severe thunderstorms are likely with large hail, strong winds and heavy rainfall.
Heavy falls are likely with thunderstorms, and in northeast Victoria and south-east New South Wales.
The low will weaken on Monday with rain and thunderstorms contracting into Queensland and north-east New South Wales. Cold and unstable air will follow bringing showers with possible hail and thunder to Tasmania, Victoria and Southern New South Wales, whilst easing in South Australia. Temperatures will be well below November average.
Along with the warm weather comes an increased pollen outlook, reaching high to extreme across Victoria over the coming days. With forecast thunderstorms, thunderstorm asthma is also a risk.
The heatwave has eased for northern Australia, but ongoing showers and thunderstorms continue.
Updated
Eight people in NSW severely poisoned from poppy seeds
NSW Health is warning people against consuming large amounts of poppy seeds after at least eight people have presented to hospital with severe poisoning.
Authorities say the symptoms of poisoning have only been observed when people have purposely consumed poppy seeds as a drink.
Reported symptoms have included seizures, severe muscle pain and severe muscle spasm, cramping, stiffness or abnormal movements.
Authorities say the investigation is ongoing and there have been no cases of poisoning in people who have eaten poppy seeds as part of a baked food product.
That last part at least comes as good news for those of us who enjoy poppy seed cakes and bagels.
The NSW Poisons Information Centre can be contacted 24/7 on 13 11 26 and can provide more information about poisons and what to do in suspected cases of poppy seed poisoning.
NSW Health is warning people about the dangers of consuming large amounts of poppy seeds after at least eight people in NSW presented to hospital with severe poisoning soon after ingestion. More cases have been reported interstate. pic.twitter.com/oXyNte0d5h
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 11, 2022
Updated
Severe thunderstorms, heavy rain and humid conditions across eastern Australia
The bureau of meteorology says that warm, humid and unsettled conditions, along with thunderstorms, will continue for central and eastern Australia ahead of further rain and storms this weekend.
Ongoing major flooding will continue along the Barwon and Darling, Macquarie, Lachlan River, Murrumbidgee, Murray, Bogan, Namoi, Narran, and Culgoa rivers in NSW, as well as the Murray River in Victoria.
In a statement the BoM said:
Forecast rainfall in coming days will likely push many rivers and creeks back in to moderate to major flooding, as well as prolonging existing flood peaks.
Flood Watches are current for much of Victoria and NSW in anticipation for forecast heavy rain.
Showers and thunderstorms will become widespread across Tasmania, northern and eastern Victoria, inland New South Wales and western and southern Queensland today.
Showers and storms are clearing in western New South Wales and western Victoria, however they will redevelop in parts of western and central South Australia.
Updated
Greens concerned investigations going ahead for nuclear waste dump site
“Investigative studies” will begin at the site of a proposed nuclear waste dump in South Australia next week.
Opponents, including the Barngarla traditional owners, are still hoping to stop the facility going ahead. The Barngarla Determination Aboriginal Corporation has launched legal challenges to the federal government’s plan to build the facility near Kimba.
Most of the waste that will be stored at the site comes from the nuclear medicine program run by Australia’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation.
Resources minister Madeleine King, in a letter provided by SA Greens senator Barbara Pocock, said “low-level, localised investigative studies” would be carried out to gather more information on matters including the site’s “geology, hydrology, seismology and baseline radiological conditions”.
Pocock said those studies were a “significant escalation”, that went against government assurances and they would not pre-empt the outcome of the court case, and that they had not been mentioned in Senate estimates as recently as Thursday.
She said:
I am deeply concerned that these preparatory works are going ahead. The site selection process was done without proper community consultation. This is a terrible decision inherited from the previous government. Labor can still turn this around. They must stay true to their word and immediately halt all works.
King said the studies, which will take up to two years, did not signal the start of construction on the site. She said:
I am mindful that these activities have the potential to be misconstrued as the commencement of construction, so I am writing to ensure it is clearly understood that the site characterisation activities are investigative only, and do not signify the commencement of construction of the proposed facility or site preparation for construction.
Updated
Opposition welcomes potential Albanese meeting with Chinese counterpart
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has today left for a nine-day trip to south-east Asia where he will participate in three world global summits. Albanese has indicated he will seek a face-to-face meeting with his Chinese counterpart, but said today it hasn’t been “locked in”.
The China Daily today editorialised that China values its relationship with Australia and talked positively about rebuilding trust in the relationship.
ABC’s Afternoon Briefing asked the shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham if it was a positive sign that China was offering an olive branch?
All the signs indicate a meeting will take place. US president Joe Biden has announced he will be meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in the margins of the G20 summit in Bali. That will be welcomed if our prime minister has such meetings and discussions as well.
It was nothing but counter-productive for China to cease having such discussions and meetings with Australia in recent years. Even when you had points of difference, you should still make sure you sit down and talk. Cancelling talks should be the last thing you do rather than one of the early penalties, as China made it.
I did see the editorial … some of the tone of that is welcome. Of course that continued language by China that there should be some meeting halfway is a misrepresentation of the facts. The reality is that Australia has been on the end of receiving coercive behaviour and sanctions from China that have attacked Australian industries like our wine industry, our barley industry and a range of other sectors indirectly. And we should be seeing those economics sanctions from China lifted on Australia.
We should expect to see progress in relation to matters such as detained Australians in China and that they should have their legal rights respected. These are important issues and the test of any talks is whether there are outcomes in resolving some of these challenging issues.
Updated
Shadow foreign affairs minister supports safe harbour laws for companies in data breaches
The government has called for bigger penalties for companies who allow their customers data to be compromised.
However, the shadow cybersecurity minister, James Patterson, said earlier this week he believes there needs to be safe harbour laws, so that a company that is the target of cyber-attack doesn’t fear going to the authorities for help.
Birmingham said he supported the measure:
I think there is a very important issue that James has raised. He has plenty of experience working with our intelligence and security agencies in terms of their oversight, their legal frameworks and understanding and in this case, is seeking to make sure that we don’t end up in a situation where companies feel they can’t get the best available help.
As a government, we made sure we invested significantly more in providing funding and support for cybersecurity services into the future. We want to make sure Australian companies have incentives to make sure they are doing everything possible to protect their customers and businesses and informational data but we also need to make sure that when they do face the inevitability of cyber-attacks upon them, they feel confident in going to the experts and the agencies of government and getting all the help they can possibly seize so the government has to tread carefully through these types of reforms, by all means, have stronger penalties to help make sure the incentives are there for companies, put protections in place, but also make sure they don’t create any deterrent for companies getting help they need.
Updated
Opposition supports ‘transparency’ in government attributing Medibank attack
The shadow foreign affairs minister Simon Birmingham spoke to the ABC about the government’s decision to attribute the Medibank attack:
Transparency is important and transparency can be an important part of justice and prevention.
Obviously we want to see and hear all the details about what steps will be taken to bring these people to justice, there needs to be every effort undertaken to ensure that if penalties can be applied, if charges can be laid and successfully put in place, we ought to make sure the full weight of the law goes against people who undertake these types of activities.
But of course, there are often challenges in terms of distance, geography and otherwise and I know the AFP and other agencies put every effort into supporting as well as protecting and for individuals out there who may be affected, they should definitely make sure they are taking all of the advice from the Australian Cyber Security Centre and following the steps to ensure protection for themselves and families.
Free counselling for those whose abortion procedures leaked in Medibank breach
The Medibank hackers are putting some of the most personal health data on the dark web including sensitive medical procedures like pregnancy terminations.
National Family Planning organisation, the Marie Stopes Institute, has partnered with Medibank following the data leak to provide free specialist counselling services.
A spokeswoman for Marie Stopes Institute said:
We are partnering with Medibank and ahm to deliver free specialist counselling services.
All Medibank and ahm customers whose information relating to their sexual and reproductive healthcare was involved in the cybercrime are eligible.
To access this service, please contact Medibank and ahm directly (13 23 31 for Medibank and 1300 627 860 for ahm) and they will provide a confidential referral to our counselling and support team.
We are partnering with @medibank and @ahmhealth to deliver free specialist counselling services.
— MSI Australia (@MSI_Australia) November 11, 2022
All Medibank and ahm customers whose information relating to their sexual and reproductive healthcare was involved in the cybercrime are eligible. #Abortion #AbortionIsHealthcare pic.twitter.com/2gNI34W6J0
Updated
‘We need to lift our game’: previous government’s ambitious plastic targets not being met, Plibersek says
Plibersek:
The previous government set some pretty ambitious targets for Australia to be diverting about 70% of plastics from landfill by 2025. We are so far away from achieving that at the moment. We have been sitting at 16% for the last four years. We need to lift our game.
In fact Australians are huge users of raw materials. We need to get the design better, we know about 70% of waste is embedded in the design phase of products. So we need to design out the waste we are using in products. And then we need to reduce the use of plastics.
Just this week I put plastic medical waste onto the ministers product stewardship list along with tyres and mattresses. I’m showing that we are prepared to put industries on notice, to regulate and we have said we will work with the solar industry now to regulate and reduce waste from solar panels. We are prepared to do that, but it is important for the private sector to do their share as well. Of course, states and territories and local government have a huge role to play here as well.
Updated
Government ‘absolutely ready to do our bit’ on soft plastic recycling: Plibersek
This week also saw the revelation that the country’s largest soft plastic recycling facility REDcycle has been forced to pause collections from Coles and Woolworths.
Plibersek has said it is up to the supermarkets to come up with solutions. Norman asks the environment minister why won’t the government introduce regulation to ensure the change happens?
The government is absolutely ready to do our bit. We have set aside about $250m to upgrade recycling facilities… $60m set aside in the last budget specifically for these soft plastic and difficult to recycle plastics to make sure that we have the facilities here in Australia to recycle.
We know that these industries are huge producers of plastic waste. It is really important for them to do their share as well. And in fact, Coles and Woolworths have said in my conversations with them that they accept that they have responsibility in the first place to reduce the amount of plastics that they are using, and in the second place to make it easier to recycle plastics wherever possible.
Updated
Australia to share mangrove expertise with Pacific neighbours
Plibersek says joining the international alliance to increase mangrove habitat is not a binding target for Australia but more about knowledge sharing with the international community.
It’s about Australia using our know-how and expertise to help in the global effort to increase mangrove coverage around the world.
We have five terrific programs at the moment that I funded recently, $9.5m in protecting mangroves and restoring mangrove areas and restoring seagrass and salt marsh as well.
Those blue carbon opportunities are great for the environment, but if we are able to measure the carbon sequestration benefits we can share the information with our Pacific neighbours and actually look at carbon farming opportunities as well.
Updated
Australia joins international alliance to increase global area of mangrove habitat
Australia has joined an international alliance increasing the global area of mangrove habitat by 20% by the year 2030, amid the Cop27 climate change conference.
Plibersek gives a bit more detail on what that means for Australia:
Australia has about 7% of the world’s mangroves. And that’s fantastic for Australia because mangroves are really vital habitat. They’re fish-breeding, crab-breeding, bird-breeding wonderlands.
But they are also really powerful carbon sequestration opportunities. Mangrove forests sequester carbon at almost five times the rate of terrestrial forest.
They also do things like clearing up waterways, prevent storm surges along the coast, eroding coastal areas. They are just great environmental assets.
Australia wants to join with the global community to protect the mangroves we’ve got, restore and replant mangroves where we can.
This is also a good opportunity for some countries to earn money through planting mangroves as carbon sequestration opportunities, earning carbon credits by doing so. It’s great that the environment and also potentially really good source of income, particularly for our Pacific neighbours.
Updated
‘Disgusting human beings’: Plibersek on Medibank hackers
The environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, is up next on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing.
It’s not often that the government chooses to attribute cyber-attacks. Plibersek explains why the government has chosen to go public on this occasion:
What we know is that these cyber-attacks are becoming more common, more frequent and, in this case – the Medibank case in particular – quite catastrophic for the people involved.
We want to do anything in this government’s power both to catch those responsible, to hold them to account, but also to work with companies that hold such vast amounts of people’s data to make sure that they are holding it safely.
On the criminals involved in the Medibank breach, releasing the most personal health data, the minister says:
They are disgusting human beings. People who make a living out of invading other people’s privacy and causing them this sort of distress, just revolting human beings.
If you’re talking about big criminal syndicates, we shouldn’t be surprised. A lot of these big criminal enterprises have cyberhacking on the one hand, human trafficking on the other, and they are really bad human beings.
Updated
Russia less likely to help because of Australian stance on Ukraine war: ASPI
Hanson says that the act of attribution is a political decision. However, he says:
Russian is a state that we have near-zero relationship with, because they invaded Ukraine and we’re supplying weapons to the opposite side. That makes it politically easier to make the attribution.
ABC’s Jane Norman asks:
Do you think support for Ukraine in this conflict has triggered the attack by the Russian cybercriminals?
Hanson:
One of the interesting things about the campaign in Ukraine is that the Russians haven’t taken a broader approach to try and wreck havoc in the cyber domain globally. I don’t think there is necessarily a correlation but obviously the willingness to do anything about it is made even less likely because we are in that situation of war.
Updated
Likelihood of Russian handing over cybercriminals ‘almost zero’: ASPI
The AFP wouldn’t name the hackers beyond identifying they were from Russia at that press conference. Hanson said the government might likely go down that route later.
Yeah, it sounds like they will after doing a few more investigations and maybe winding up a few more things. They might come out to name the group and potentially put some pressure on Russia to do something about it; whether Russia will do anything, I doubt they will.
However, Hanson is sceptical about the likelihood of Moscow actually handing over the cybercriminals to face justice in Australia.
I think the reality is almost zero [chance], unfortunately.
Particularly for the people involved, the customers having data leaked, I think the real tragedy here is that they won’t get justice because these people do appear to be based largely in Russia.
We heard the commissioner say that there are affiliates and other countries, and there is potential to do something there, and Australia has an offensive cyber-capability which it is able to use against offshore cybercriminals.
So there is a potential to conduct operations against the groups to disrupt their operations, but in terms of seeing them go to prison or appear before a court, I think that is pretty unlikely.
Updated
‘Everything pointed to Russia’ but particular group has been narrowed down: ASPI
ABC’s Afternoon Briefing is beginning, with the first item on the agenda being the news from the AFP about the Russian hackers responsible for the Medibank hack.
This is the reaction from the director of the international cyber policy centre at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, Fergus Hanson:
I don’t think it comes as a surprise. Right from the outset, we heard that the credentials were being sold on a Russian forum. I think everything pointed to Russia from the beginning. I think we have heard now that they have narrowed down to which particular group.
Updated
‘Any ransom payment, small or large, fuels the cybercrime business model’: AFP
Kershaw ended that media conference with this message:
The Australian government policy does not condone paying ransoms to cybercriminal.
Any ransom payment, small or large, fuels the cybercrime business model, putting other Australians at risk.
I thank you for your time today.
Kershaw had said at the beginning of the press conference that he would not be taking any questions at the end of the media conference “because it is a very complex and serious ongoing investigation”.
He said he intended to “give us as much information as I can without putting at risk the criminal investigation”.
Updated
‘Cybercrime is the break-and-enter of the 21st century:’ AFP
Kershaw says he has a “number of messages today” for various stakeholders:
To the Australian public, the AFP and our partners are not going to give up bringing those responsible to justice. Investigators are under operation Guardian, are also scouring the Internet and the dark web to identify people who are accessing this personal information and trying to profit from it.
To the criminals, we know who you are, and moreover, the AFP has some significant runs on the scoreboard when it comes to bringing overseas offenders back to Australia to face the justice system.
To the media and social media, I know you will do the right thing and continue to assist us in protecting the community by not aiding these criminals by posting or publishing this sensitive information.
This is a time for all Australians, the community, business and law enforcement to stand together and refuse to give these criminals the notoriety that they seek.
And can I make a plea to business, ensure your systems are protected. Cybercrime is the break-and-enter of the 21st century and personal information is being used as currency.
Updated
Russia has responsibility to cooperate as part of international intelligence sharing arrangements: AFP
Kershaw said the Australian federal police will be in talks with Russian law enforcement about the individuals they believe are responsible for the Medibank hack.
He goes on to give more details about those arrangements:
The AFP is responsible for the Australian Interpol national central bureau which has direct contact with national central bureau Moscow.
Interpol national central bureaux cooperate on cross-border investigations, operations and arrests. To taken to investigations beyond national borders, they can seek cooperation from any other national central bureau.
It is important to note that Russia benefits from the intelligence sharing and data shared through Interpol and with that comes responsibilities and accountability.
Updated
AFP believe Russians responsible for Medibank hack
The Australian federal police are giving a press conference disclosing who is behind the Medibank hack.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, told media earlier today he had authorised the AFP to disclose the information about who is responsible.
The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, says:
I know Australians are angry, distressed and seeking answers about the highly sensitive and deeply personal information that is been released by criminals who breached Medibank Private’s database.
This is a crime that has the potential to impact on millions of Australians and damage a significant Australian business. This cyber-attack is an unacceptable attack on Australia and it deserves a response that matches the malicious and far-reaching consequences that this crime is causing.
The AFP is undertaking covert measures and working around the clock with our domestic agencies and our international networks including Interpol. This is important, because we believe those responsible for the breach are in Russia.
Our intelligence points to a group of loosely affiliated cybercriminals who are likely responsible for past significant breaches in countries across the world. These cybercriminals are operating like a business with affiliates and associates who are supporting the business. We also believe some affiliates may be in other countries.
Everyone involved in this attack is focus of the ongoing investigation through the AFP-led operation Pallidus. We believe we know which individuals are responsible but I will not be naming them. What I will say is that we’ll be holding talks with Russian law enforcement about these individuals.
Updated
WA records six Covid deaths in past week, 176 people in hospital
There were 8,029 new cases in the last reporting period, and five people are in intensive care.
This is our WA COVID-19 weekly update.
— Mark McGowan (@MarkMcGowanMP) November 11, 2022
https://t.co/uoWTTWm99r pic.twitter.com/Rr1s6PW9N9
Updated
Australian researchers trial temporary sperm blocker for men’s contraception
Australian women rejoice!
Researchers at Epworth Freemasons in Melbourne have performed a world-first trial for men’s contraception.
The 25 men taking part in the study will have a hydrogel injected into the vas deferens – the tubes that carry sperm – to stop sperm travelling from the testicles.
Average age of Covid cases has increased with each successive wave this year in Queensland, CHO says
Gerrard gives a bit more information about the stats which have seen the average age of Queenslanders reporting positive Covid results increase with each successive wave this year.
Specific numbers are that in the first wave, this was the wave that occurred in February, the average age was 33 and you might recall this was when we saw lots of young people in nightclubs and socialising and also schoolchildren getting Covid at that very first wave. In the second wave, the April wave, at that age, the average age increased to 39. In the third wave, the wave that peaked at towards the end of July, the average age was 44. And so far the average age has been 47.
If you look at the top 25% of cases in the first wave, the top 25% was aged over the age of 46. And the top 25% of cases in this wave so far has been over the age of 63. In the first wave in February, the top 25% of cases was aged over 46 and in this wave, the top 25% so far has been aged over 63.
Older Queenslanders more affected by this wave than previous waves, CHO says
Gerrard is speaking about the high-risk groups:
Compared with the last week, the number of cases detected amongst aged care residents have doubled from 63 to 126.
The number of cases among people over the age of 70 overall reported … has increased by 88% in the last week from 400 to 825. Most of this rise has occurred since the weekend. It has been quite a rapid rise.
I would like to also share an important and interesting fact that is not widely known. The average age of Queenslanders reporting positive Covid results has increased with each successive wave this year.
We know that older people have been less likely to get Covid during the course of the year because they have been protecting themselves. But with each wave, we are seeing more and more older Queenslanders acquired infection.
Updated
Queensland experiences 61% increase in Covid-19 cases, as hospitalisations nearly double
Dr John Gerrard, Queensland’s chief health officer, has stepped up to speak in Brisbane on the latest Covid wave as the state has moved to an “amber” alert.
He says a new wave was always expected:
This was always expected and we continue to see waves of Covid-19 in the coming months and even longer. That is why we have devised the traffic light system so that Queenslanders can no when we are entering a wave and equally important, when we are living a wave, so they might modify their behaviour appropriately.
Gerrard moves on to the data:
The number of active cases continue to increase significantly. There were 7130 active cases reported this morning, up from 4438 reported last Friday morning. An increase of 61%.
There were 199 hospital beds occupied by people with Covid-19 yesterday, both public and private, which was a 97% increase on the hospital bed occupancy data reported a week ago.
Updated
South Australia records seven Covid deaths in past week, 83 people in hospital
There were 6,867 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and seven people are in intensive care.
South Australian weekly COVID-19 update 11/11/22.
— SA Health (@SAHealth) November 11, 2022
For more information go to https://t.co/XkVcAmeZ6V pic.twitter.com/eADUuMV8vm
Updated
Flood-affected NSW communities could see deja vu if peaks return in coming days
In NSW, communities still struggling with the effects of recent flooding are being told to prepare for more rain, as a low pressure system moves into the state this weekend from the north.
The storms are affecting the central and inland parts of the state today including Condobolin, Bourke and Hay.
Jane Golding from the Bureau of Meteorology said at a press conference today:
We are also seeing on our charts a cold front start to approach the state, which looks like it will move into New South Wales on Sunday. The cold front looks like it will produce widespread rainfall again over the inland of New South Wales, so unfortunately, that will affect areas that have seen major flooding four weeks now, on and off for weeks now.
There are concerns flooding levels could reach the major peaks towns such as Forbes only just saw, but the SES say it will depend on where the rain falls.
Carlene York from the SES said:
It’s possible that it could get to those major levels again. It does just depend on where the rain falls, whether it’s an intense rainfall near the town or falling into the catchment areas of the river – but at this stage, we are quite concerned about those river levels going back to some of those earlier peaks.
Updated
Franchise Council of Australia at IR inquiry
Mary Aldred, the chief executive officer of the Franchise Council of Australia, has appeared at the Senate inquiry into Labor’s industrial relations bill.
Aldred said it was a “very rushed process, with a huge volume of information to get across, and a significant lack of understanding of what’s coming”.
Senator Jacqui Lambie is very sympathetic to the arguments that the bill is being rushed. She said:
There’s all of about four weeks left. By the time this hits, if it was to get up, these businesses won’t know what’s hit them until it plays out – they wouldn’t have had a clue what was going on.
Labor’s chair, Tony Sheldon, and senator Linda White then really muscled up against the Franchise Council.
Sheldon read from Shop Distributive Allied Employees Association allegations in underpayment litigation against McDonald’s, one of its members. Aldred declined to answer questions about specific members and alleged underpayments.
Then there was a back and forth where Aldred had to take on notice how many of the Franchise Council’s members were franchisors (head office) or franchisees (the small businesses).
A parliamentary inquiry in 2017 noted it had just two franchisee members – but Aldred said this was out of date, and they now have a substantial role in its governance.
White suggested it was misleading for the Franchise Council to claim to represent 94,000 small businesses, when it only has a few hundred members. White then targeted the Franchise Council for drawing conclusions from a survey of just 60 franchisees.
Aldred replied that demonstrated the rushed nature of the bill – there hadn’t been enough time to get more responses.
David Pocock asked a few short questions, mainly focused on whether the submission reflected the 150 amendments the government made this week. Answer: no.
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Victoria records 63% increase in Covid-19 cases this week
Speaking of Covid-19, the latest stats are in from Victoria’s chief health officer, Brett Sutton, showing the state is seeing a spike in cases with a 63.1% increase in cases this week on the previous week.
The average daily number of new cases this week was 2,377, up from 1,461 last week. The number of active cases in Victoria on Friday was 15,653, up from 9,607 the same time last week.
Hospitalisations also saw an uptick of 18.1% which Sutton said was driven by the emerging Omicron subvariants including BQ.1 and XBB.
There is currently no evidence to suggest these subvariants cause more severe disease. However, hospitalisation rates are likely increasing due to waning immunity from past vaccination and the ability of these new subvariants to escape immunity from past infection.
Cases increased this week across all age groups.
The overall number of Covid patients in intensive care remains low, however the daily average has increased by more than 50% when compared to last week.
This week we reported 16,636 new cases, averaging 274 daily hospitalisations and 11 daily ICU admissions.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) November 10, 2022
41 deaths were reported in the past 7 days.
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/EZlNU1TJPF
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States vary approach to Covid-19 wave
We mentioned on the blog earlier that Queenslanders are again being urged to wear face masks as the state enters its fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
AAP has more on what’s going on elsewhere in the country, with most Australian states and territories holding the line on mask-wearing.
Mask advice has not shifted in NSW, with Premier Dominic Perrottet saying authorities are looking to health experts to get the balance right.
Perrottet told Sydney radio 2GB:
We do advise people when you’re visiting aged care facilities to wear masks and in hospitals.
Here in NSW, we’re open and free.
The Victorian deputy premier, Jacinta Allan, also said there had been no change to health advice in the state, despite a 62% uptick in cases over the past week.
But the government did say face masks remain a low-cost and highly effective tool to help reduce transmission. Allen told reporters:
It is a timely reminder. Doesn’t matter whether you’ve got the cold, the flu or Covid it just makes sense to stay home if you’re sick.
The Northern Territory is “strongly” encouraging, but no longer requiring, residents to get tested if they feel unwell. Face masks are still recommended in indoor settings.
University of South Australia biostatistics chair, Prof Adrian Esterman, said a mix of waning immunity and few public health measures was driving the new wave.
Esterman said:
Many people have had their last dose of vaccine over six months ago and by now have comparatively little protection against symptomatic disease.
The onus is now on the other states and territories to follow Queensland’s lead and upgrade their health advice.
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Good afternoon!
I’ll be with you ‘til the close of the blog this evening. First off, here are some visuals of the Remembrance Day service which occurred in Sydney’s Martin Place this morning to mark 104 years since the end of the first world war.
I spent a bit of time this week perusing the newly digitised archives of the Australian War Memorial, where you can find the letters and diary entries of Australians on the battlefields.
If you want to read what they experienced 104 years ago to the day, I put together some of those writings reflecting the diversity of experiences and emotions on the original Armistice Day:
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And with that, I will hand the blog over to Natasha May, thanks for reading.
Sarah Hanson-Young says Murray-Darling Basin Authority head not being ‘upfront’
The Greens senator blasted Andrew McConville for turning up to Senate estimates without giving an opening statement.
Officials are not compelled to give opening statements before fielding questions from senators, but Hanson-Young claimed it was “extraordinary”, saying it was out of the ordinary for the MDBA not to do so in the environment committee.
Hanson-Young asked McConville, who was appointed head of the important river agency in the dying days of the Morrison Coalition government, to list his salary at the beginning of her questions to the MDBA chief executive. He said his salary was $455,000.
“And you didn’t think you should front SE, on your first session, to give an update, introduce yourself, ‘this is where I’m taking the authority, this is what I’ve done’?” Hanson-Young said.
“I felt if questions were raised, I would answer them directly,” McConville said, when asked why he didn’t give an opening statement.
McConville was CEO of the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association before being appointed to the Murray authority in April, shortly before former prime minister Scott Morrison called an election. Guardian Australia reported in April that McConville caused consternation after sending an all-staff memo outlining his approach to the job which failed to mention the regulator’s environmental role.
Hanson-Young described his position as a “political appointment”. She claimed the chief executive hadn’t been “upfront” by not giving an opening statement.
“I believe I set out quite clearly in my answers to you what I’ve been up to,” McConville said.
Other senators in the hearing pointed out that few other witnesses before Friday’s hearing decided to give opening statements. Assistant energy minister Jenny McAllister, the minister representing the portfolio to answer questions in the environment hearing, said that in many other hearings, some senators had asked witnesses not to give opening statements in order to save time for more questions.
Chair Karen Grogan said only the secretary of the department had provided an opening statement during the day’s proceedings. Hanson-Young claimed it was unusual not to do so during MDBA appearances.
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And speaking of Covid, Queensland has released its weekly case numbers, showing a slight lift in numbers week-on-week:
From 3 November to 9 November, we recorded 5,828 new COVID-19 cases.
— Queensland Health (@qldhealth) November 11, 2022
Sadly, 15 deaths were reported during this time.
Full details ➡️https://t.co/KjEKBzWY9v pic.twitter.com/zNGyBp0644
Kerry Chant: Covid fourth wave in NSW ‘taking off’ but ‘may well peak before Christmas’
There have been some discussions of the fourth Covid wave hitting NSW, with the chief health officer Dr Kerry Chant confirming to ABC TV earlier that the state is experiencing a spike in community transmission.
Chant added that she believed the wave may peak before Christmas, but urged people to take protective measures from now:
I can confirm we are entering the fourth wave of Covid.
The wave is taking off with some trajectory, it will be quite a steep wave and hopefully the decline will be equally as steep.
There is a sense that the wave may well peak before Christmas and we may be on the decline.
But the message is clear … this is an increased risk period for Covid so please, now is the time to take those protective behaviours.
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Adam Bandt on small business exemption for multi-employer bargaining
Earlier this morning, Greens leader Adam Bandt appeared on Radio National and appeared to leave the door open to agreeing to a small increase to the small business exemption for multi-employer bargaining.
But Bandt conditioned that by saying that his party was unlikely to agree to a significant lift beyond 15 employees.
For workers working for businesses in the retail sector, for example, we’ve seen rents rise seven times faster than wages over the last couple of years.
We’ve got to make sure they see a pay rise as well. And so the exclusion of huge numbers of low-paid workers, young workers, women workers from the legislation is something that ultimately would concern us.
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Good afternoon, this is Mostafa Rachwani with you for a short while, taking over from the always amazing Amy Remeikis. As she mentioned, we are on standby for an upcoming AFP presser.
Mostafa Rachwani will take you through the afternoon, including the coming AFP press conference Anthony Albanese has spoken about this morning.
Take care of you, Ax
AFP to disclose who is behind Medibank hack: Anthony Albanese
Anthony Albanese said he has given the AFP permission to give more information on who is behind the Medibank hack:
I am disgusted by the perpetrators of this criminal act and I’ve certainly authorised the AFP Commissioner later today to disclose where these attacks are coming from. We know where they’re coming from, we know who is responsible and we say that they should be held to account.
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Victorian push for more focus on women’s mental health
The Victorian election is heating up and there are hopes it will lead to a better focus on mental health.
Prof Jayashri Kulkarni, a professor of psychiatry at Monash University and director of Her Centre, which performs leading research into the treatment of women’s mental health in collaboration with Cabrini, has launched a campaign in the Victoria election calling for $33mn to quickly address the crisis in women’s mental health.
Women experience twice as much depression and four times the anxiety of men. And the way the mental health system is structured right now, many women leave mental health facilities more traumatised than when they entered,’ Kulkarni said.
The second biggest suicide cohort is peri-menopausal women aged 45-52, and we know that it’s also the leading cause of maternal death during pregnancy.
We also know that antidepressants are an ineffective course of treatment for menopausal women and that hormone replacement therapy is, yet there are no clinical trials under way to determine the best course of treatment that can be rolled out widely to health professionals.
We’ve had a royal commission but there are no robust measures in place in the commission recommendations to safeguard women’s mental health and properly address the substantial issues women face here.
Kulkarni is hoping to put women’s mental health on the agenda for the Victorian election, but also on the federal stage, and is campaigning for:
· 12 specialist women’s mental health centres in Victoria staffed by GPs, set up by clinical psychologists, with consultant psychiatrists available to guide – $20m
· clinical trials on the efficacy of hormone replacement therapy versus antidepressants for women suffering depression (multicentre trial) - $10m
· the rollout of online education to GPs and the general public on menopausal depression - $3m
The campaign has been launched in the Victorian seat of Caulfield, where a three-prong contest is playing out between independent Nomi Kaltmann, Labor’s Lior Harel and the incumbent, Liberal deputy leader David Southwick.
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ACCC on telcos fined over broadband speeds: they ‘should be better informed about their obligations towards customers’
The Australian competition and consumer commission head, Liza Carver, has released a statement on the fines for three of Australia’s telcos, who were found to have misled customers about NBN internet speeds:
Fast and reliable internet is a necessity for Australian households, and consumers need accurate information when choosing the best internet plan to meet their needs.
These significant penalties reflect the seriousness of the breaches of consumer laws by these large and sophisticated businesses that should be better informed about their obligations towards their customers, particularly given the promises they made to their customers and in undertakings previously provided to the ACCC regarding speed claims for their NBN plans in 2017.
The ACCC statement continued:
Telstra, Optus and TPG also each admitted that by failing to notify consumers whose maximum attainable speeds were lower than the speed of their purchased plan, they had falsely represented to those consumers that their NBN connections were capable of attaining the higher speeds.
Some customers may have paid for a 50 or 100 Mbps plan believing their NBN connection could support the higher download speeds, even though they would have been better off paying for a lower speed plan,” Carver said.
It is illegal for businesses to make false or misleading representations to consumers about the performance characteristics, nature, standard or quality of products and services.”
Telstra, Optus and TPG have each implemented remediation programs and have already contacted impacted customers to provide refunds. The court has ordered that Optus re-contact affected customers who have not already responded to previous contact or been credited, to offer compensation within 120 days. These Optus customers can expect to receive an update on their speed data and there will be a dedicated customer service line for them to contact Optus regarding compensation.
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Key event
Expect an announcement on the Medibank hack a little later today from the AFP:
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says authorities know who is responsible for the #Medibank hack. Says the AFP will reveal where the attack originated from later today. @abcnews
— Jake Lapham (@JakeLapham) November 11, 2022
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Law Council says more time needed on anti-corruption commission legislation
From president Tass Liveris:
We welcome the proposals to tighten the ‘corrupt conduct’ definition, include a proactive inspector audit function, enable individuals to disclose information which is subject to a non-disclosure notation to their medical practitioner or psychologist, and ensure that persons investigated are notified of findings that they have not engaged in corrupt conduct.
We also welcome the acknowledgement that broader reforms for press freedom and whistleblowers are needed; and that Coalition committee members reflected the Law Council’s concerns on a range of issues such as the abrogation of the privilege against self-incrimination and client legal privilege, removing the ability of the commission to investigate future corrupt conduct, and access to judicial review.
However, this legislation is extremely complex, running to over 300 pages. It also raises a number of complex and important issues and further detailed consideration of these is still required.
Liveris says more time is needed to reach a unified view:
We would strongly urge against rushing these bills through parliament as these outstanding matters are worthy of further attention and debate. It is essential the Nacc legislation works well for all Australians.
In the Law Council’s view, the committee was unable to sufficiently evaluate certain issues owing to the truncated period made available for the inquiry, with the bills being introduced on 28 September 2022 and submissions open until 14 October 2022, before the committee reported yesterday.
We urge the government to ensure further careful attention be given to certain matters including post-charge coercive powers and information sharing, the privilege against self-incrimination and client legal privilege, application to future conduct and thresholds for investigation. Several of these matters go to the heart of the right to a fair trial.
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Tanya Plibersek urged to reject wetlands project in Queensland
Scientists and shorebird experts have written to the environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek to urge her to reject a residential and marina development in protected wetlands in Queensland.
Last month, Walker Corporation published the draft environmental impact statement for the project, which proposes the construction of up to 3,600 dwellings at the Ramsar-listed Moreton Bay wetlands in Queensland.
Scientists have written to Plibersek in the same week international talks between parties to the Ramsar convention are taking place in Geneva.
They said the development - which would destroy 42ha of the Moreton Bay Ramsar site - would contribute to the “death by a thousand cuts” that has reduced wetland habitat globally.
Proposed clearing for the Toondah development will affect habitat for the critically endangered eastern curlew, the great knot, the lesser sand plover and the bar-tailed godwit, which migrate to the site.
The letter, led by BirdLife Australia, says:
A private development of this scale, within the boundaries of internationally important Ramsar wetlands, has never been approved in Australia , which has to date maintained an important global role model for protection of its Ramsar estate.
The scientists said if the federal government approves the development it would result in a weakening of flyaway connectivity and stand in “harsh contrast” to Australia’s publicly-stated commitments under international treaties to protect wetlands, biological diversity and migratory birds.
With the Ramsar talks under way and with international talks for a new global agreement for nature to take place in December, the scientists wrote Plibersek should “embrace this opportunity to continue Australia’s leadership role in wetland and migratory shorebird conservation and to reject the Toondah Harbour proposal”.
Public consultation on the development continues until early December.
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Albanese on Remembrance Day: ‘an important day for our nation’
Anthony Albanese has attended the Sydney Remembrance Day march, and from there will head to the airport for the first of his summit appearances
We must always remember the brave men and women who have defended our nation at our time of need, who have made the ultimate sacrifice, and today’s a day in which Australians do just that. Today’s a day also that we remember those who didn’t come home but also those who have come home with issues that are ongoing, many of which have been identified by the royal commission into veteran suicide, that is doing its ongoing work. Today is an important day for our nation, and I wanted to make sure that I was here this morning prior to [leaving for the airport].
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Simon Birmingham on relationship with China: it’s important to ‘hold firm to issues in Australia’s strategic interest’
The opposition foreign affairs spokesperson gave his thoughts on the possibility of a meeting between Anthony Albanese and China’s president Xi Jinping while talking to Sky News:
This is a meeting that should take place. It was always counterproductive of China to put this pause on having ministerial-level dialogue. Now, the last high-level dialogue between an Australian prime minister and a Chinese leader was actually at the last lot of face-to-face leaders summits that occurred back in 2019 pre-Covid. When Scott Morrison then met with the then Chinese premier, Li Keqiang. I obviously hope that this meeting takes place because even where there are differences, dialogue is important to have and to be able to work through those differences and to pursue the areas where there is potential for mutual agreement and mutual cooperation. And it’s certainly in China’s interests and Australia’s interests for us to both pursue peace and prosperity across this region.
But there are some threats and some challenges to that, including in the way in which China has engaged across the region. It’s important that the government does as they have said they are doing. Which is that they hold firm to issues that are in Australia’s strategic interest, that they don’t deviate from those, that the talk of meeting halfway, which was in the editorial that you referenced in your introduction and your question, is not something that Australia can do.
The things that we have done in recent years to strengthen our democracy, to protect our systems and our critical infrastructure across Australia are all important things.
The actions of China in terms of seeking to apply economic coercion through trade sanctions and others are deplorable, and the test of meetings and dialogue as they occur will be whether we get outcomes that can see better improvement for Australian industry in terms of removal of those trade sanctions, better treatment for Australians facing sensitive consular issues and legal matters in China. And ultimately better engagement by China in the region that doesn’t threaten the stability in ways that some of their actions have.
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Remembrance Day ceremony under way at the Australian War Memorial
The minister for veteran affairs, Matt Keogh, was asked about the day’s resonance 104 years on from the end of the first world war, and he told the ABC:
I think Remembrance Day absolutely still has resonance because, whilst it’s 104 years since the end of the first world war, since then we’ve had 103,000 Australians that have given their lives in service to their country, as well as many more wounded and, of course, all the families that have been impacted since then. It’s only last year that we saw Australia pull out of Afghanistan and, of course, we saw just recently the ending of our involvements in Afghanistan and Iraq, military involvement that lasted for 20 years. So we have a significant number of what we now call contemporary veterans, people that have served their nation proudly. And Remembrance Day is an important opportunity as a nation to come together to remember all of our personnel that have given the ultimate sacrifice and service to our nation. And all of those that have served Australia.
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NSW proposal for Aboriginal place name at Coffs Harbour
The NSW Geographical Names Board seeks feedback on a proposal to name a peak in the suburb of Coffs Harbour as Niigi Niigi (pronounced nee/gi nee/gi).
From its statement:
Chair of the Geographical Names Board Narelle Underwood said feedback would be sought on the proposed name which has the support of regional Aboriginal language centre Muurrbay Aboriginal Language and Culture Co-operative.
‘The Geographical Names Board supports the recognition of traditional Aboriginal place names and prefers the use of Aboriginal names for geographical features,’ Underwood said.
‘We want to make sure everyone has an opportunity to provide their feedback on the proposed name.’
The peak is located at the end of Sealy Lookout within the Bruxner Flora Reserve, Orara East State Forest.
The word Niigi Niigi means ‘like charcoal’ and is the traditional Aboriginal place name used by the Gumbaynggirr people for the peak. The name reflects the practices of burning of scrub at the top of the peaks to assist with hunting.
Details of the proposal, including a map, can be viewed and submissions lodged on the Geographical Names Board’s website: www.GNB.nsw.gov.au
Alternatively, written submissions may be mailed to the Secretary, Geographical Names Board, 346 Panorama Ave, Bathurst, NSW 2795.
The closing date for submissions is 11 December 2022.
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Farmers federation sets out its objections to the IR bill
The National Farmers Federation has given evidence at the Senate employment committee’s inquiry into Labor’s IR bill, which passed the lower house on Thursday.
The NFF set out substantive objections, including concern about “widespread industrial action”, citing the example of the Waterfront dispute. Labor’s bill actually makes such disputes less likely by allowing the Fair Work Commission to arbitrate intractable disputes.
The NFF also warned that small business could be “steamrolled” into multi-employer pay deals that “give big business a competitive advantage”. As Labor’s Linda White noted, businesses can only be joined to multi-employer pay deals where their workforce agrees.
The NFF accused the government of “treating parliament to some degree with contempt” because of the consultation period of a few weeks. Ben Rogers, the workplace relations general manager, said that non-disclosure agreements meant it could only begin consulting members when the bill was introduced on 27 October.
Most interesting was the distinctive approaches of senators David Pocock and Jacqui Lambie.
Pocock asked for basic factual information about how people are employed in the agricultural sector, then went to the NFF’s objections on the bill and whether these could be addressed by splitting it.
Lambie asked a series of leading questions, including noting that the price of meat and vegetables is “bloody atrocious” and asking witnesses to “remind Australians of the effect if unions have too much power”.
When NFF officials dutifully agreed, Labor’s Tony Sheldon accused them of “hysteria”.
There are some aspects the NFF does approve of: gender pay equity in the Fair Work Act, and banning job ads without below minimum wage pay.
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Internet providers fined for failure on broadband speeds
Three broadband internet providers have been fined $33.5 million after failing to ensure some customers could achieve internet speeds they were paying for, AAP reports:
Telstra will pay $15 million after action was taken by consumer watchdog the ACCC in the federal court.
The penalty was agreed between Telstra and the watchdog, and approved by Justice Mark Moshinsky on Friday.
Optus agreed to pay $13.5 million while TPG will pay $5 million.
Each of the three providers admitted liability for contraventions of the Australian consumer law, Justice Moshinsky said.
Three separate cases were brought by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission over representations made to residential customers about broadband internet services using the NBN.
The judge said each of the representations differed, but broadly involved customers being told their maximum attainable speeds would be tested within a reasonable time.
In a majority of cases that occurred, but some customers did not have speeds tested and ended up subscribing to a plan for speeds they couldn’t achieve.
Customers weren’t notified or given the option to move to a different plan, Justice Moshinsky said.
Reasons for the orders will be handed down at a later date.
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Aged care visitors urged to wear masks amid new Covid wave
The aged care sector is urging staff and visitors to “remain vigilant and take every precaution to protect older people” in the face of a new Covid wave.
Aged & Community Care Providers Association chief executive, Tom Symondson, urged anyone who entered an aged care home to take a rapid test or wear a mask, and urged staff who have tested positive to stay away from residents.
Aged care providers are well equipped and prepared with supplies of PPE and their IPC protocols to manage Covid outbreaks but we must continue to do everything we can to keep our residents and clients safe.
We ask visitors to support staff in ensuring their loved ones are protected and remember to show your appreciation for their commitment in incredibly challenging circumstances.
The vast majority of aged care residents have had four doses of vaccine or more, and 99% of staff have had at least two doses.
Symondson said:
Whilst many in the community believe Covid has passed, for us in aged care that is simply not the case.
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Dominic Perrottet on Narrabri gas project: ‘We need this project up and running’
AAP reports on delays with the project:
The boss of Santos will meet the NSW premier to resolve confusion and delays to the $3.6 billion Narrabri gas project.
The controversial project across 95,000 hectares in the Pilliga forest and nearby grazing land in north-west NSW has the potential to provide up to half of NSW’s natural gas needs in the next 20 years.
But it has been bogged down in the first part of a four-stage approval process since the NSW Independent Commission green-lit the project in 2020.
NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet said he has stepped in, speaking with his bureaucrats this week ahead of a meeting with Santos chief executive Kevin Gallagher next week.
“We need this project up and running,” he told Sydney radio 2GB on Friday.
“This project also has a reservation policy attached to it. This is gas for the people of NSW. It can provide gas for the next 30 years and I want to see it up and running.”
Santos, which has approval to operate the project until 2045, can drill up to 850 new gas wells on up to 425 new well pads across the region.
Up to 1,300 construction and 200 operational jobs will be created, the oil and gas giant says.
A handful of pilot wells have been drilled already and the planning secretary has approved management plans for waste, onsite fires and Aboriginal cultural heritage.
But a rehabilitation management plan is still pending approval, having only been ticked off by the resources regulator in October.
Phase two of the project, comprising construction for production wells and activities, is expected to commence in mid-to-late 2023, Santos says.
Gas will potentially be routed through a yet-to-be-constructed gas pipeline between Queensland and Newcastle recently acquired by Santos.
The project has been heavily criticised by farming and conservation groups.
The Australian Conservation Foundation has called Narrabri a “climate bomb” while Lock The Gate says building fossil-fuel infrastructure as the world decarbonises “made no sense”.
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O’Neil: Medibank hackers ‘lacking in humanity’
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, also spoke to the Nine network this morning about the information the Medibank cyber criminals are releasing:
It is just completely lacking in humanity what these cyber thugs are doing to innocent Australians right now. You mentioned that some deeply personal information of Australian women in particular has been leaked online. I know for every woman across the country, that will cut deeply.
People’s decisions about terminations are private, they are personal, they are unique to that woman, and I feel very deeply [that] women should feel no shame about the decisions they make in this regard … the fact that their right to keep this private has been taken away tells us everything we feed to know about the horrible people that are behind the criminal act that has led to this.
… I just know that this is private personal information, and it’s not just about women. You know, I feel the pain of these people personally, and I can just look everyone in the eye right now and say: if there was a damn thing I could do to put a stop to this, I would do it.
An enormous amount of work has done to try to wrap the arms [of the law] around the victims of this horrible crime.
If anyone had any question about the calibre of people we are dealing with, this is now beyond question.
These people are the lowest of the low, and we need to stand up against them and really get into this fight against these cyber thugs and cyber criminals.
They are horrendous, horrible people who are terrorising innocent victims and this cannot be allowed to happen in our country.
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It is Remembrance Day – Natasha May has looked at the digitised collection behind Armistice Day, which gives readers an up close and personal look at that pivotal moment in history:
NSW premier announces former Snowy Hydro head as ‘special adviser on energy’
NSW’s premier Dominic Perrottet has surprised a few people this morning, announcing on 2GB that Paul Broad would start as a “special adviser on energy” as of today.
I want the best and brightest minds giving me advice.
Broad left his role as head of Snowy Hydro in August, as the commonwealth-owned energy giant struggles with delays of at least a year on its $5.9bn (and rising) 2.0 pumped hydro plant.
He also reportedly clashed with the federal energy minister, Chris Bowen, over public comments about whether Snowy’s Kurri Kurri gas plant (now under construction in the Hunter region of NSW) could have hydrogen as part of its initial energy mix when it starts operations some time after the end of 2023.
Broad’s appointment raises questions about Perrottet’s confidence about the energy sector in NSW. If Snowy 2.0 is late, or if other coal-fired power plants close early, the state could face supply gaps. (Mt Piper, for instance, may close a lot sooner than currently planned, as we reported here.)
We’ve sought comment from the NSW energy minister, Matt Kean, who has been attending the COP27 climate talks in Egypt (where the AFR described him as a “lonely Lib” at the event).
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Haines: proposed anti-corruption legislation is ‘very strong’, but still room for improvements
There are eight sitting days left and during that time, Labor wants to pass its National Anti-Corruption Commission (Nacc) legislation.
The Indi independent MP, Helen Haines, was on the joint parliamentary committee examining the bill and she says she will try and make some improvements (as Paul Karp lays out here) but overall, she told the ABC, she believes it is a strong, independent commission:
We have from the consensus report that we have a strong independent national anti-corruption commission legislation so I want to be clear, the legislation is very strong.
However, I think that we do have some improvements that we could still make through the parliamentary process and one of those is around the safeguards for public hearings and, in my opinion, from the evidence that I’ve looked at carefully, I think that we could remove the exceptional circumstances test and strengthen the other tests and I think that would hit the balance right in the sweet spot.
One of the things I want to be clear about is that this isn’t about dragging anyone before a commission. This is about a powerful investigation [body], and in order to undertake an investigation where we’re looking at serious or systemic corruption – so, very serious matters – the commissioner needs to be satisfied that in order to do that in public, that there are … the right safeguards to ensure that it’s fair and people’s reputations aren’t unnecessarily being put in jeopardy.
So, I think there is some elements there that in the legislation as it’s drafted – it says that the commissioner may have regard to things like reputation.
At the moment, it says “may,” I think that can go to “must” and if we had that, we could knock out this other bit which says “as in exceptional circumstances”. Look, it’s a bit technical, but there are elements in this bill that we can polish up even more.
There’s some pieces there around the oversight committee to ensure that that is fully independent, not to be interpreted in any way that it’s doing the bidding of government rather than taking a good look at the integrity commission. There’s bits of this bill we can improve and that’s what I’ll seek to do.
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Factcheck: did Labor surprise the business community with their multi-employer bargaining position?
There is this idea that Labor “sprung” multi-employer bargaining on the business community – but it was one of the ideas from the Jobs and Skills summit.
It was also mentioned in Labor’s 2021 policy platform.
From that platform:
The Fair Work Act has not adequately facilitated multi-employer collective bargaining. This is a particular issue for those industries where employees are low paid and where they lack industrial power.
Labor will improve access to collective bargaining, including where appropriate through multi-employer collective bargaining.
And again:
Labor will facilitate bargaining for multi-employer and multi-agency public sector agreements.
Labor didn’t make a big deal about it during the election campaign, but it was there.
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Richard Marles: Dutton is wrong on IR bill
The deputy prime minister (and soon to be acting prime minister when Anthony Albanese takes off), Richard Marles, was in that same interview with Peter Dutton on the Nine network:
What Peter has said there is completely wrong – that it takes bargaining out of the hands of businesses. We are in a situation where we’ve seen the enterprise bargaining system [is] really not fit-for-purpose in terms of where the modern workplace is at and this is going to get bargaining going again.
Peter can talk about wages now but he has been quoted in the past as saying his precise concern about this bill is that it will see wages go up. We make no apologies for the fact that a key ambition here is to see wages grow again but we are doing this in a way where we’re encouraging people to get around the table – employers and their workers – so that they can do more productive, better deals, and particularly in those workplaces which are low-paid, which are dominated by female workers, where we haven’t seen bargaining delivering the results both to employers and to workers.
That’s what this legislation is about and we’re confident that it is going to achieve that end. This is what we said we would do at the last election, so we are carrying through with that promise which is why we’re keen to get this moving. It is now a matter for the crossbench in the Senate and we will obviously talk to them about why this should happen, why there is a mandate for this and how this will make the workplace fairer.
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Dutton: Labor’s industrial relations bill ‘killing confidence in the economy’
Peter Dutton says Labor’s IR bill, which is designed to help people get pay rises after a decade of stalled wage growth, is “killing confidence in the economy”.
The opposition leader told the Nine network:
All of the business organisations have really worked constructively with the government and were prepared to support a sensible package, but they have all come out in a united way and said that this is a bad bill.
At the moment, you’ve got an economy with high inflation, high interest rates, high cost of living, Labor predicts that under their government over the next two years electricity prices go up by 56% and gas goes up by 44%* and this is just another wet blanket over the economy.
For the $100m that the unions have donated to Labor over the last 15 years or so, this is a huge win for them but it’s a massive loss for employers and employees.
Everyone is in favour of wages going up, but this is going to mean unions in small businesses right around the country, and I’m not sure yet that small businesses fully understand the impact on their businesses and the fact that it takes away from them the ability to negotiate and puts it in the hands of the unions with Fair Work Australia.
So, it’s a hugely disruptive model at exactly the wrong time and Labor really is killing confidence in the economy at exactly the wrong time.
*At least 20% of these energy price increases were known, and delayed for release until after the election by the previous government.
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Queenslanders encouraged to mask up as state enters fourth Covid wave
AAP reports:
Queenslanders are again being urged to don face masks and take added precautions as the state enters its fourth wave of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The government has raised its virus alert from green to amber, which means masks are recommended indoors when people cannot socially distance in healthcare facilities and around older or vulnerable people.
Masks are also urged while on public transport and in crowded settings.
However, the state’s chief health officer, John Gerrard, says there is no need for alarm and Queensland will not return to forced mask mandates.
“We are entering another wave here in Queensland as in other states of Australia, and this is not unexpected, but these waves will probably go on for some months or even longer,” Dr Gerrard told ABC Radio on Friday.
He said said the wave’s peak was expected within weeks.
“The duration of these waves is unclear … we believe the peak will certainly be before Christmas, some time early in December.”
Hospitalisations have more than doubled to 205 in the past week, while 73 people have died and 21,761 new cases have been recorded since the beginning of October.
Case numbers have erupted since the weekend with the BQ.1 variant, which has swept Europe and the US, spreading in northern Brisbane and on the Gold Coast.
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Not that it went anywhere, but another Covid wave is impacting Australia.
NSW and Victoria have reported their weekly figures.
This week we reported 16,636 new cases, averaging 274 daily hospitalisations and 11 daily ICU admissions.
— VicGovDH (@VicGovDH) November 10, 2022
41 deaths were reported in the past 7 days.
Our thoughts are with those in hospital, and the families of people who have lost their lives. pic.twitter.com/EZlNU1TJPF
COVID-19 weekly update – Friday 11 November 2022
— NSW Health (@NSWHealth) November 10, 2022
In the 7 days to 4pm Thursday 10 November:
-19,800 new cases of COVID-19 have been recorded: 8,392 rapid antigen tests (RATs) and 11,408 PCR tests
-22 lives lost pic.twitter.com/RBQjhJ8mq5
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Katharine Murphy has a preview on what summit season will look like for Anthony Albanese over the next week.
Murph is travelling with the media following Albanese (everyone pays their own way, even when flying on the PM’s plane) and so will bring you updates as they come.
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ACCC releases interim report on digital platforms
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has released its latest interim report into digital platforms (this is part of a series which will go until 2025)
Jim Chalmers, Stephen Jones and Andrew Leigh have a joint statement out on the report, which, as you would expect, doesn’t paint the rosiest of pictures:
The inquiry has identified significant consumer and competition issues across a range of digital platform services including search engines, social media, online private messaging, app stores, online retail marketplaces and digital advertising.
The interim report released today makes four recommendations to strengthen consumer and competition laws:
the introduction of economy-wide consumer measures, including to prohibit unfair trading practices and unfair contract terms;
digital platform-specific consumer measures to prevent and remove scams, harmful apps and fake reviews, including dispute resolution processes;
mandatory codes of conduct for designated digital platforms to address competition harms; and
targeted competition obligations for designated platforms based on legislated principles.
The government will consult before looking at any legislative changes.
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Labor’s industrial relation bill passed the House of Representatives last night
After four hours of back and forth, the government’s IR bill passed the house. That was never going to be a problem – the government has the numbers in the house. The issue were the amendments that other MPs wanted to make to the bill.
That was a taster of what is coming in the senate, where the bill will most likely go through the wringer and emerge watered down in order to get it passed.
The big sticking point is multi-employer bargaining, with those against the bill (and that part in particular) warning it will pit small business against unions, which the Centre Alliance’s Rebekha Sharkie said would be an unfair contest.
But that ignores the fact that employees of small businesses have never really been unionised. Not when unions were at their peak in the 1970s and certainly not now that union membership is about 14% of all workers.
As the Australian Council of Trade Unions’ secretary, Sally McManus, told the ABC:
We are not organising multi-employer bargains in small businesses. We’ve never had high union membership in small businesses, even when we had 60% membership and we’ve got 14% now, it is not going to happen. This is really a scare campaign.
Nothing will happen to small businesses. These laws will pass. Life will go on for them. It’s just a scare campaign that’s been run because … big business don’t want to face up to the fact that they really need to give people pay rises.
The threshold for a small business in the bill is 15 employees and up; Some want that threshold increased. Tony Burke, the workplace relations minister, has already changed the bill so it now requires a majority in each workplace to sign on, rather than a majority across the sector.
It is interesting to note that the small business line is being run quite hard by interest groups which represent big business. We’ll see how that all plays out.
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PM calls Medibank hacked information release ‘totally reprehensible’
Anthony Albanese was also asked about the Medibank hack:
Well we know it’s already incredibly distressing. The fact that information was published going to very personal health details of Australian citizens is disgusting, and something that is I think, just totally reprehensible. And it’s causing a great deal of distress in the community. The government acknowledges this and we’re doing all we can to limit the impact of this and to provide that support to people who are going through this distressing time.
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Albanese: we want to see a stabilisation in Australia-China relationship
What does Australia want from China for the relationship between the two countries to get back to a constructive footing, Sabra Lane asks Anthony Albanese?
Albanese:
Well, firstly to lift its economic sanctions, they total some $20bn. They’re not in Australia’s interests, of the wine industry, the meat industry and other industries where sanctions have been placed on, but it’s also not in the interests of China. This is a counterproductive measure because the products that Australia sells to China are the best-quality products in my view in the world. And it makes sense to actually normalise the relationships. We want to see a stabilisation in the relationship.
And what would China want from Australia for things to return to normal?
Albanese:
Well, it’s not up to me to put forward their case, it’s up to me to continue to pursue Australia’s national interests. We’ll always stand up for human rights, we’ll stand up for our values, and we won’t be compromising on that and nor should we. But that should be respected, just as we should have open and constructive dialogue with other international partners.
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Albanese on Xi Jinping: ‘we will no doubt be at the same meetings’
Will Anthony Albanese meet with China’s president Xi Jinping in the coming week? He’s staying mum.
He told ABC Radio AM:
What I want to see with the relationship with China is cooperation where we can, but we of course will maintain our Australian values where we must. So dialogue is always good, a meeting is not locked in at this point in time. But we will no doubt be at the same meetings. The East Asia summit, the G20, and Apec is going to be a busy time in international diplomacy.
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Liberal deputy to female victims of Medibank hack: ‘we hear you, we are with you’
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley was part of that same interview:
Now this act is just disgusting, targeting women who have had a pregnancy termination is about as cowardly as you can get.
I just want to say to those women this morning, we hear you, we are with you, and we love you. If you need help, please reach out and we are absolutely determined to target the criminals who have done this disgusting act.
You know, I feel sick when I hear more and more of this awful information being released. And as you and Jason have said, the intensely private nature of this is something that really cuts to the core for every single woman. So for women who are nervous and upset, just please reach out for help. Help is available, and everything that can be done I am sure the government will do, in order to, not just to get the criminals, but to make sure we don’t have this happen again.
Medibank has much work to do, and I know that they’re doing that, and I know that they have a line that people can call and that’s perhaps the first step to take. But remember, there’s a range of supports and the community will wrap around the people who are affected by this because every single person realises how absolutely disgusting it is.
Updated
Information on pregnancy terminations included in stolen data Medibank data hackers posted
The education minister, Jason Clare, spoke to the Seven network this morning and said the government is working on the information not being spread further:
This is serious. You’re talking about rolled gold mongrels here. It doesn’t get much worse than releasing people’s abortion details. So that’s what we’re seeing happening here. There’s a number of things the government’s doing first and foremost is what the federal police and the Australian Securities Directorate are doing, which is to hunt down these criminals.
The second is getting Services Australia embedded inside Medibank to help them with the work that they’re doing. It’s also the work that we’re doing with social media companies to make sure that they don’t spread this information on the internet.
And then finally, for everybody that’s a Medibank customer, there’s a phone number that you should have at your fingertips, which is 13 23 31. That’s a phone number which is a one stop shop for you if you need to talk to Medibank or state governments, territory governments, or federal governments, about anything related to your data which could be being released by these criminals.
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Albanese speaks on power prices and potential meeting with Chinese leader
Anthony Albanese has spoken to 2GB about his upcoming trip, the possibility of meeting Xi Jinping, and efforts to contain power prices.
Albanese said:
We have an immediate challenge [on power prices]. We know there have been some windfall gains occurring at the same time as businesses and households are under pressure. We’ll work through that, and land on a solution going forward, before Christmas, to put some downward pressure on those increases.
Albanese then played a rule-in, rule-out game, where he confirmed caps on the price of gas is “one option under consideration”. On a mining tax, Albanese first said that “all sensible measures remain on the table” but then said “no – I’m not sure what a mining tax is, besides a slogan”.
He said:
No, we’re not looking at a MRRT [mining resource rent tax], that was just speculation from the Australian based on the secretary of treasury at estimates, who said we would look at all sensible options.
On the possibility of meeting the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, Albanese said:
We’ll wait and see – I will of course be at the same summit.
Albanese said the G20 would discuss “economic headwinds, global inflation rising due to Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine, the challenges of climate change, strategic competition in the region and rising tensions in some areas of Indo Pacific”.
He said this was a “difficult backdrop” but he looks forward to engaging constructively at the G20, East Asia and Apec summits.
2GB’s Ben Fordham asked financial assistance for Fortem, a mental health service for emergency services workers.
Albanese said the former government promised the organisation $10m in April but didn’t deliver. Albanese said last night he signed off on $10m upfront funding over one year for Fortem, after which funding for those services will be open to tender.
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The counting for the US midterms might still be going, but people are already demanding more action.
Teterboro airport is one of the busiest private airports in the world. Kylie Jenner regularly flies from there (Jenner having recently drawn ire for her short private jet trips, and resulting carbon emissions).
BREAKING: Climate activists shut down entrance of Teterboro Airport, the busiest private airport in the US, joining other private airport shutdowns around the world today.
— New York Communities for Change (@nychange) November 10, 2022
Billionaires produce a million times more climate pollution than the average person.#MakePollutersPay! pic.twitter.com/eAnbcPhKnR
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Plibersek on temporary shutdown of recycling program: first thing we can do is ‘use less plastic’
There’s no solution at yet for the Coles and Woolworths recycling program not actually managing to, well recycle. (Which one would think is a key part of a recycling program)
Tanya Plibersek has told ABC radio RN Breakfast that state and territory environment ministers are working on local solutions. But she also says people have a role to play;
should just be using less plastic?
— RN Breakfast (@RNBreakfast) November 10, 2022
"Absolutely. The first and most important thing we can do is use less plastic, each and every one of us"
- @tanya_plibersek
Updated
Good morning from Amy
Happy Friday!
A big thank you to Martin for getting us started this morning. There are just 51 days left in 2022, but plenty of news to get through, including the continuation of estimates.
Negotiations for the government’s IR bill are continuing now it’s hit the big league in the Senate. There is no sitting for a week, but that doesn’t mean the talks haven’t been and aren’t still happening.
Meanwhile, Tanya Plibersek is addressing the soft plastics recycling issue, which is a bit of a sticking point, given no one seems to be able to find a workable answer.
Anthony Albanese leaves for his summit week today – he’s got Asean, Apec and the G20 on the agenda all before parliament resumes for its final sitting in a week, and Chris Bowen is headed to Egypt for Cop27.
But it won’t all be politics here today – we’ll keep you abreast of all the news you need to know. You’ve got Amy Remeikis with you on the blog for the next few hours .
Ready?
Let’s get into it.
Updated
Key event
A former New South Wales premier and the boss of construction giant Grocon will face a parliamentary inquiry today into potential bias during the alleged “wild west” planning of multibillion-dollar harbourside development Barangaroo, AAP reports.
The state parliamentary committee is examining “any actual or perceived biases” during negotiations between the government, builder Lendlease and casino and resort company Crown.
The key issue is sight lines of Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House.
Grocon is due to tell MPs on Friday it was misled by Infrastructure NSW on sight lines, causing a key project to fail.
What is it like to find out that a massive, terrible war you are fighting has ended? To coincide with Armistice Day, the Australian War Memorial has digitised a trove of diaries and letters written by soldiers. Natasha May has this fascinating read delving into anecdotes on how troops welcomed the news from the western front to London, and explores their sense of joy, relief and loss.
A pre-Amy good morning
Welcome to our live coverage of Australian news. Amy Remeikis will be along shortly to guide you through the day, but in the meantime let’s look at some of the main stories about this morning.
Anthony Albanese is leaving for Cambodia where he will kick off a series of diplomatic manoeuvres with the East Asia and Australia-Asean summits in Phnom Penh, followed by the G20 in Bali and completing his trip at the Apec summit in Bangkok towards the end of next week. Speculation is mounting that he could have talks with the Chinese premier, Li Keqiang, or even president Xi Jinping himself, which would be the first such high-level meeting between Canberra and Beijing since 2019. Albanese will also meet Britain’s new PM, Rishi Sunak, and the US president, Joe Biden. The latter will definitely be meeting Xi at the G20 in Bali, the White House confirmed overnight.
Australia’s competition watchdog has called for legislation to crackdown on “widespread, entrenched and systematic” consumer and competition “harms” by tech giants such as Google and Facebook. In its fifth report since launching its investigation into anti-competitive behaviour by digital platforms, the ACCC also wants firms to provide user-friendly processes for alerting to scams.
People will pause today to remember the more than 100,000 Australians who have lost their lives in wars and peacekeeping operations. A minute’s silence will be observed at 11am, while the national event at the Australian War Memorial will be the first held without Covid-19 social restrictions since 2019.
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