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National
Stephanie Convery and Natasha May and Martin Farrer (earlier)

Medibank records profit rise despite data breach – as it happened

TikTok Twitter Inc. Penny Wong Australia Pacific Islands Forum Fiji Asia Disease
A general view of Medibank signage
Medibank’s net profit rose 5.9% to $233m for the half ending December 31, despite a one-off $26.2m expense mopping up the data breach. Photograph: Morgan Hancock/AAP

What we leaned – Thursday 23 February

And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a wrap of what we learned today, Thursday 23 February:

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has accused the Coalition of undermining superannuation “at every single opportunity”, as a political stoush continues after treasurer Jim Chalmers opened the door for changes to Australia’s superannuation tax concessions scheme this week.

• Thousands more Australians took up Medibank policies last year despite the hack of millions of customers’ data, helping the health insurance provider to a $233m profit for the half-year ending 31 December, the company reported on Thursday.

• Qantas has posted a record $1.5bn half-year profit, saying strong demand for flights and travel has offset fuel price increases.

• The Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary, Sally McManus, responded to huge profits reported by Qantas today, following similar results from Coles, Woolworths and CBA, warning of a inflation being fed by “companies putting up prices more than they need … a greed-price inflation spiral”.

• The Queensland government says its royalties deferral agreement with mining giant Adani will continue as long as it’s “financially viable”, as the company faces accusations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation.

• The gap between the average weekly earnings of men and women narrowed to a record low last November but remains at 13.3%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

• The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, confirmed that two Australians, Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from Adelaide, were among those who died in a plane crash in the Philippines on the weekend.

• A 37-year-old man attacked by a crocodile in Queensland’s north is recovering in hospital after he and his dog were attacked at the Bloomfield boat ramp, 60km south of Cooktown, yesterday evening.

Thanks for your company. We’ll be back with you bright and early to bring you all the news again tomorrow. Look after yourselves.

Updated

And here is my colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes’s wrap of the robodebt royal commission hearings today.

The former deputy secretary of the Department of Social Services has told the commission she denies “reconstructing events” to protect herself from claims she turned a blind eye to the robodebt scheme.

Kimberley freight to receive $40m subsidy after flooding

More than $40m will be spent subsidising freight to Western Australia’s Kimberley after once-in-a-century-flooding cut a key transport route, AAP reports.

WA premier Mark McGowan said the funding will be the equivalent of any extra transport costs caused by the Fitzroy River flood in January.

The flood swept away part of the Great Northern Highway and a major bridge at the town of Fitzroy Crossing, severing the only road to the north of the state.

McGowan told reporters on Thursday:

We want to make sure people and businesses in that part of the Kimberley are protected from these costs because its just not fair.

I understand it hasn’t been done before but the nature of these floods and the remoteness of these floods means its a unique situation.

Road freight to WA’s north is currently forced to travel via South Australia and the Northern Territory “massively increasing the costs”, McGowan said.

The subsidy, which will cost taxpayers an estimated $42m, is likely to continue until the roads and bridge are repaired.

The joint federal and state government freight subsidy funding for impacted business will be backdated to 1 January.

Updated

Senior official ‘can’t explain’ why she didn’t question robodebt’s income averaging

As she appeared at the robodebt royal commission for a second time, the former Department of Social Services senior official Serena Wilson said she can’t remember or doesn’t know why she did not ask more questions about the use of income averaging to calculate welfare debts.

“It wasn’t a hear no evil, see no evil situation,” Wilson said, adding that her department was “extremely stretched”.

Commissioner Catherine Holmes said:

But it looks as if in 2016 there were at least a couple of occasions in which it was put right under your nose.

To which Wilson replied:

Yeah, and I can’t explain that, commissioner.

Watch here:

Updated

South Australia’s State Emergency Service has issued a severe heatwave watch and act message for the Yorke Peninsula.

They advise staying indoors, scaling back any exercise routines, not letting children climb or play under trees as they can drop bandches, and carrying a waterbottle with you at all times, among other recommendations.

What exactly is the voice and how would it work?

There has been a lot of talk about the referendum on the Indigenous voice to parliament being held later this year. But what happens if it is successful? What is the voice and how would it work?

In this video, Guardian Australia’s Indigenous affairs reporter Sarah Collard explains what we know so far about the voice and what it means.

Updated

Animal welfare activists condemn death of racing greyhound amid SA heatwave

Animal welfare activists have pointed to the death of a young racing greyhound at Gawler, South Australia, last night as an example of the dangers of racing greyhounds in the midst of a severe heatwave.

The dog in question, three-year old Weblec Gem, appeared injured in the late stages of the race and died soon afterwards. The steward’s daily report said the cause of death was “haemabdomen”, or blood in the abdomen where it shouldn’t be, usually a consequence of organ rupture.

The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds (CPG) and RSPCA SA issued calls ahead of the current heatwave to suspend racing when the temperature hit 38C, citing serious risk of organ failure.

The temperature in Gawler at the time of the race was 36C; advocates say the sand the dogs run on would be hotter.

On Thursday, Greyhound Racing SA issued a statement saying this evening’s Angle Park meeting had been cancelled “due to the extreme heat forecast throughout today in the Adelaide region”.

Updated

Albanese emphasises education with India at dialogue

The prime minister raised Australian’s education partnership with India in his first meeting with the Indian counterpart, the nation’s foreign minister has confirmed.

Speaking at an Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) dialogue in Sydney over the weekend, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar echoed comments made by the education minister, Jason Clare, at the Universities Australia conference over a growing partnership between the two nations.

India used the Covid period to bring forward important reforms and is now bullish in its outlook ... for us, it’s not just about Indian students coming to Australia. It’s about India and Australia working together in India.

Jaishankar said mobility migration was “very important” to expanding Indian students’ access to higher education, citing a mismatch between the “geographies of demand and geographies of demographics”.

At least one million students are seeking to pursue higher education in India, while around 100,000 students study at Australian universities.

Frankly that number is very small compared to what the global demand is, so if you are really going to add a few zeroes to that, we need to really get our act together in India to do this very differently and we can only do that if it is actually done as a global collaboration and that’s why our new education policy envisages a regime which will allow in India foreign universities to come in in some form.

He foreshadowed further legislation and regulations would be enacted to facilitate education ties between Australia and India.

Read the background on this story here:

Updated

It’s 38C in central Adelaide

The mercury hit 38C in central Adelaide just before 3pm today, 39C in Edinburgh and Parafield, and 40C in Roseworthy, as South Australians swelter through the third day of a forecast three-day heatwave.

Earlier this week, the Bureau of Meteorology issued a severe heatwave warning for the Adelaide metropolitan area, Yorke Peninsula, Kangaroo Island and many other parts of the state, extending eastwards.

It expects maximum temperatures to hit the low to mid-40s, with minimum temperatures not expected to get much lower than the mid to high-20s.

Severe to locally extreme heatwave conditions will ease following the passage of a cold front during Friday, the BoM says.

You can see more information on the heatwave on the BoM website.

Updated

ACCC loses appeal over allegedly anti-competitive conditions in NSW privatisation of ports

An appeal by the ACCC to challenge allegedly anti-competitive conditions in the NSW government’s privatisation of three major NSW ports has been dismissed, AAP reports.

The competition watchdog sued over two 50-year agreements between the state government and NSW Ports Operations – which relate to the privatisation of the firm’s subsidiaries in Port Botany and Port Kembla in May 2013 – and a third 50-year agreement over the privatisation of the Port of Newcastle in May 2014.

The agreements contained allegedly anti-competitive terms requiring the government to compensate NSW Ports if container traffic at Newcastle exceeded a certain amount.

The Port of Newcastle would then have had to reimburse the government for these amounts, doubling the cost of moving shipping containers through the port, the Australian Competition and Consumer watchdog claimed.

The regulator’s lawsuit against NSW Ports was dismissed in June 2021 after federal court justice Jayne Jagot found the firm had “derivative crown immunity” and that the terms of the three deeds did not act to lessen competition.

An appeal was filed in July 2021 and dismissed by the full court on Thursday.

No judgment is publicly available yet with the ACCC and NSW Ports given one week to examine the decision and redact any confidential information.

NSW Ports CEO Marika Calfas welcomed the decision, calling it a “win for economic certainty and prosperity” for people and businesses across the state:

Maintaining the right ports and freight strategy to cater for NSW’s growing trade needs is crucial to the state’s economic future.

Port Botany and Port Kembla are key economic drivers for NSW and the nation, contributing more than $13 billion a year to the state’s economy and supporting 65,000 jobs.

While the ACCC has yet to comment on its appeal loss, in June 2021, then-chair Rod Sims responded to Justice Jagot’s initial decision, saying that under the deeds, NSW Ports would have an “effective monopoly” on moving shipping containers into the state for 50 years:

This judgment provides an enormous hurdle for the Port of Newcastle to develop a container terminal to compete with Port Botany and Port Kembla, because of financial consequences arising from the deeds. Less competition usually results in higher charges for businesses and consumers.

We took this action to remove a barrier to competition in an important market, the supply of port services, which has a significant impact on the cost of goods paid by Australian consumers. Such barriers damage Australia’s productivity performance.

Updated

Hello dear readers. I’ll be with you for the rest of this Thursday afternoon. Thank you Natasha for all your work so far today!

Updated

That’s it from me for today – I leave you with the lovely Stephanie Convery!

Dreyfus on copyright laws

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has today hosted a roundtable on the state of Australia’s copyright laws. He says:

Australia needs an effective copyright system that keeps pace with new technology while protecting creators and other copyright owners.

Updated

Man suffers serious burns in Perth home explosion

A man is lucky to be alive after he suffered serious burns to his face and body in an explosion in Perth’s northern suburbs.

Police found the badly injured 43-year-old after they were called to a home in Quinns Rocks about 10.30pm on Wednesday.

He was transported to Fiona Stanley hospital with life-threatening injuries and is in a stable condition.

Detectives and firefighter are investigating the cause of the explosion.

– AAP

Updated

Queensland environment department targeting crocodile involved in attack

Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science has provided some updated information about the crocodile attack which took place in the far north of the state yesterday.

They say wildlife officers are preparing to remove the crocodile which bit a man’s leg and dragged his dog into the water:

Wildlife Officers from the Department of Environment and Science (DES) will target the crocodile involved in yesterday’s incident at Ayton, 50km south of Cooktown, for removal.

Initial investigations indicate that at around 5.30pm yesterday, a man and his dog entered the water at the Bloomfield boat ramp at Ayton when a crocodile lunged forward, biting the man’s leg and dragging the dog into the water.

The man sustained lower leg injuries which required medical assistance. The status of the dog is unknown.

DES wildlife officers from Cairns are travelling to Ayton to prepare to remove the crocodile.

DES is liaising with Wujal Wujal Aboriginal Shire Council and the Queensland Police Service to gather information to assist with the ongoing response.

This is the first crocodile attack on a human in Queensland since November 2021, when a man was attacked at the McIvor River, 50km north of Cooktown.

This incident is a timely reminder for people to be Crocwise in croc country and not to be complacent with their own safety or the safety of their family or pets when they are in or near the water.

Updated

More on crocodile attack in Queensland

Queensland’s Department of Environment and Science has come back to me after I inquired about the welfare of the dog involved in that crocodile attack, and unfortunately the status of the dog is unknown.

Updated

Monsoon trough extending across Northern Territory, BoM warns

Updated

Youth Justice NSW to allow caseworkers to support alleged youth offenders on bail

Move comes after a supreme court judge questioned a previous policy that she said prevented them from doing so unless the youth had pleaded or been found guilty.

Guardian Australia revealed last week that NSW supreme court judge Dina Yehia had expressed “disquiet” about a 2005 bail protocol that existed between the children’s court and youth justice when ruling on applications for bail made by 12-year-old and 14-year-old Aboriginal boys.

Yehia said in her decisions, which were published last week but related to court hearings in January, that the protocol prohibited supervision by youth justice workers of an alleged offender on parole unless they had pleaded or been found guilty.

Guardian Australia sent a series of questions to Youth Justice NSW earlier this week regarding the protocol and whether it was being reconsidered in light of Yehia’s concerns.

As of last month, Youth Justice NSW has implemented a new practice that allows caseworkers to provide direct support to young people who do not receive bail supervision. The service is based on support, rather than compliance.

A Department of Communities and Justice spokesperson said:

The NSW Government works closely with the Children’s Court and Police to ensure young people receive the support they need when coming into contact with the criminal justice system.

The NSW Government is committed to early and effective intervention to reduce reoffending and improve outcomes for young people and the community.

Youth Justice NSW (YJNSW) holds no statutory responsibilities to provide community-based services under the Bail Act 2013. However, YJNSW is committed to keeping the safety and best interests of the community and young people at the centre of our work.

The change could potentially affect dozens of young people.

According to the latest data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, there were 112 young people on remand in December. The department did not respond to questions about how many young people were currently on bail who had not pleaded or been found guilty.

Updated

More on greater protections for Macquarie Island

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has made a statement on social media about the greater protections for Macquarie Island. Standing in front of penguins, Plibersek says:

What we’re trying to do is better protect the homes of these animals. We’re tripling the size of the Macquarie Island marine park and we’re adding an area the size of Germany to the highly protected waters around Macquarie Island and that means better protection for animals that rely on the ocean for their home or for their food.

You can read more about the plan from Lisa Cox:

Updated

Medibank posts better-than-expected profit despite bruising data breach

Thousands more Australians took up Medibank policies last year despite the hack of millions of customers’ data, helping the health insurance provider to a solid second-half profit boost.

Net profit rose 5.9% to $233m for the half ending December 31, the company reported on Thursday, despite a one-off $26.2m expense mopping up the data breach.

The result was substantially better than analyst expectations, with Bloomberg estimating a profit of $220m.

Despite losing net 13,000 policies after the October public relations debacle, Medibank policyholders increased by 35,000 over the full year.

Policy numbers have been back on the rise since the start of February with an additional 200 net policyholders, compared to a 1,100 loss in January.

Chief executive David Koczkar said the company continues to support customers whose data was breached, including mental health and wellbeing aid, identity protection and financial hardship measures.

We recognise the significant impact the cybercrime event has had on our customers. There is more work to do, and the lessons we have learned from the cybercrime will continue to shape our response and we will emerge stronger.

Medibank expects to pay another $15m to $20m in the second half, including additional non-recurring investment in IT security.

– AAP

Updated

Australia’s salad sandwich glow-up

Coming back from lunch? You may be one of the many Australians enjoying the renaissance of the humble salad sandwich. If you’re a fan, you’ll want to read Yvonne Lam’s report on how cafes are making the classic sanga fresher than ever with additions like “sexy salt” and “cheese barriers.”

Updated

More hospital beds in Adelaide

While in Adelaide, the PM visited the Flinders Medical Centre, where his government has partnered with the state to deliver a $400m upgrade to the facility.

Here are some of the pictures Albanese has shared from that visit:

Updated

Man survives crocodile attack in Far North Queensland

A man attacked by a crocodile in Queensland’s north is recovering in hospital.

The 37-year-old took his dog to the Bloomfield boat ramp, 60km south of Cooktown, around 5.35pm yesterday when the crocodile attacked from the water’s edge.

He was airlifted from Wujal clinic to Cairns hospital with multiple wounds to his lower leg. He remains there in stable condition.

The Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service will investigate the attack and is asking visitors to the region to expect crocodiles in all Wujal waterways.

The Bloomfield River is a well-known crocodile habitat.

- AAP

Updated

Australia to make area the size of Germany a marine park in Southern Ocean

The Australian government plans to make an area about the size of Germany in the Southern Ocean a marine zone, strengthening protections around Macquarie Island for millions of penguins and seals.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, announced that the government wants to triple the size of the Macquarie Island Marine Park, describing it as a globally significant contribution to marine conservation that would put 388,000 sq km under high protection.

Plibersek said:

Macquarie Island Marine Park is a remote wildlife wonderland – a critical habitat for millions of seabirds, seals and penguins.

Expanding and increasing the protection of the waters surrounding Macquarie Island will allow us to better manage this important ecosystem for the future.

The island between Tasmania and Antarctica is an important feeding and breeding ground for seabirds, penguins and seals.

The 34km-long strip of land and surrounding waters are habitat for species including royal penguins, southern rockhopper penguins, subantarctic fur seals, southern elephant seals, black-browed albatrosses and grey petrels.

Read the full story here:

Updated

Annastacia Palaszczuk: Adani royalties deferral deal will continue as long as ‘financially viable’

The Queensland government says its royalties deferral agreement with mining giant Adani will continue as long as it’s “financially viable”, as the company faces accusations of accounting fraud and stock manipulation.

Greens MP Michael Berkman asked the premier in parliament on Thursday if the government would assess its risk from the deal and “how many millions could be lost if the company goes broke”.

Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk responded that “as with all projects in the state, if they are financially viable, they continue to go ahead” and there was “nothing to indicate otherwise”. She said if there were concerns, they would be raised with the Treasury.

A report conducted by Hindenburg Research this year accused the company of allegedly engaging in a “brazen stock manipulation and accounting fraud scheme”.

Adani Group said in a statement that the report was a “malicious combination of selective misinformation and stale, baseless and discredited allegations”.

It comes after the Queensland government struck a royalties agreement with Adani in 2020 which would allow it to defer payments due at the Carmichael coalmine.

Treasurer Cameron Dick told reporters at the time the agreement would mean Adani would ultimately pay interest on any deferred payments.

Conservationists slammed the move as a “disgrace” and questioned why the government was “handing out freebies to a billionaire coal baron”.

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk
Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk during question time at Queensland Parliament House in Brisbane, Thursday, 23 February, 2023. Photograph: Darren England/AAP

Updated

Gender pay gap shrinks to record low, ABS says

The gap between the average weekly earnings of men and women narrowed to a record low last November but remains at 13.3%, the Australian Bureau of Statistics said.

The gap is 0.6 percentage points less than the pre-Covid level of 13.9% and less than the 14.1% spread recorded in May 2022.

For males in the public sector, average weekly “ordinary time” earnings for full-time adults were a seasonally adjusted $2,091.20, or 12.5% more than females in similar jobs, who averaged $1,857.50.

For those in the private sector, males were averaging $1,874.40 a week or 19.2% more than female workers, who were earning $1,573, the ABS said.

For all adults, the average of $1,807.70 a week in November, up 3.4% from a year earlier.

The weekly wages data follows yesterday’s release of the December quarter wage price index, which showed a 3.3% increase from a year earlier. By contrast, the consumer price index for the quarter was up 7.8% from a year earlier, with the underlying inflation rate that strips out more volatile price movements rising 6.9%

Updated

NSW’s Hunter region could be powered by offshore wind

Australia’s old industrial heartland could be powered reliably by new offshore wind as the Hunter region joins the race with international backers.

Consultation opened on Thursday for a new offshore wind industry in the Pacific Ocean off Australia’s eastern coast, just days after the energy market regulator warned of a shortfall without urgent investment in new assets.

Although the Gippsland zone off Victoria’s La Trobe Valley is expected to be the first region in Australia to power up, the Hunter region in NSW is one of six priority regions around the country with world-class offshore wind potential.

Energy minister Chris Bowen said the proposed area sits alongside the Hunter, an important industrial hub, and home to the nation’s largest smelter.

He said offshore wind in this region could support decarbonisation and new jobs in manufacturing powered by cheaper, cleaner energy.

Bowen said:

The world’s climate emergency is regional Australia’s jobs opportunity, and the Hunter is uniquely placed to capitalise on this.

I’m encouraging residents from across the Hunter to have their say on the proposed area and what they would like to see from this offshore zone.

The renewables arm of French energy giant EDF this month bought the Newcastle Offshore Wind project, which is close to the port and existing transmission.

EDF Renewables says it will be developed in stages to support Australia’s renewable energy targets and align with the retirement of ageing coal‐fired power stations in the region.

- AAP

Updated

Albanese says Dutton ‘wants to create as much confusion’ as possible around the voice to parliament

The Liberal party are showing – at least, Peter Dutton is showing – that he wants to create as much confusion [as possible], and is doing nothing that would indicate that his starting point is: how we work on this together? How will we get this done together?

That is my approach. I want to do this together.

People made a request from the Liberal party and said if you give us a pamphlet that will make a difference and we will get us across the line. They are going to get a pamphlet, at some cost to the taxpayer now. I think that I have made my position very clear. I want to secure maximum support for this.

But what we have from Peter Dutton, I think … people can draw their own conclusions. It’s not like it is very subtle, what is going on here. It is very obvious and I think it contrasts with the goodwill that is required here. The Statement from the Heart was called that for a reason.

Updated

South Australia ‘stands ready’ to work with commonwealth on Aukus subs

Standing alongside Anthony Albanese in Adelaide, the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has said his state is excited about the Aukus announcement that is expected soon (most speculation has had the announcement scheduled for March).

Malinauskas said South Australia “stands ready to work with the commonwealth” to deliver the program. He add:

This is a 100-year program.

A reminder that the government has said the nuclear-powered submarines will be built in Osborne, South Australia, although it remains unclear how soon construction can begin (and there has been a lot of talk that interim solutions may be needed).

We brought you the news this morning that the Australian government had used critical infrastructure laws to impose strict new rules on the Osborne shipbuilding precinct, in part to signal to Australia’s allies that the nuclear secrets will remain safe from spies. See that story here:

Updated

Queensland to recruit hundreds of overseas police officers as state grapples with a front-line responder shortage

Under a new agreement between the state and federal governments, Queensland will recruit up to 500 experienced serving officers from overseas each year for five years. The recruits will have to undergo training to ensure they meet Queensland’s policing standards and there will be no restrictions on the nationality of the applicants.

The police minister, Mark Ryan, said this morning:

The ability to recruit beyond Australia’s borders will strengthen the Queensland Police Service’s efforts in recruiting police officers for the state.

The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, said it was the second labour agreement the Labor government had finalised between federal and state and territory police forces since coming to government.

As reported by the Courier Mail, Queensland’s sworn officers have grown by just 92 officers from the 2020 election to the end of 2022. The state government made an election promise to boost police numbers by 1450 by 2025.

Updated

PM expresses condolences to family of victims of Philippines plane crash

The prime minister is expressing his condolences to the families of the victims of the Philippines plane crash in the Albay province, including two men from Adelaide.

Search teams reached the site where the plane went down overnight and have confirmed there were no survivors.

Albanese:

My heart goes out and my condolences go to the families of the two Adelaide men who were on that flight. My condolences also to the people of the Philippines for the Filipino nationals [killed].

Dfat is providing consular assistance to the families. I would ask that their privacy be respected at this time and it is of course up to them how much detail they wish to make public.

I do also want to thank the search teams who travelled into a relatively remote area in dangerous circumstances and weather as well in order to undertake this task.

My heart goes out to people who were there, visiting the Philippines who tragically will not return to their families.

… the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are providing that consular assistance to the families. They are in direct contact and the family’s wishes will be respected and I will await them out of respect for those families before any further detail is given.

Updated

Albanese: question and detail on voice to parliament is there

Albanese is asked about the detail on the Indigenous voice to parliament, and says people can judge for themselves how genuine these concerns are when he’s fielding questions about where the office for the voice will be.

There is an enormous amount of detail out there already. And what some people are doing – and people can judge for themselves how genuine it is – I’ve been asked things like where will the office be of the voice to parliament.

Now people will make their own judgement about that but Peter Dutton and the Coalition said, before I gave my speech at Garma, that they wanted to know what the question was.

The question is now out there very clearly of what it will be: do you support constitutional recognition [of the] Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voice to parliament? The question and details of the constitutional draft change are there.

Updated

'Coalition have undermined superannuation in every single opportunity,' PM says

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking in Adelaide about superannuation.

He says “four significant changes” were made to superannuation in the 2016/17 budget, when Scott Morrison was the treasurer.

So we see Peter Dutton is really having not much to offer, except saying no and attempting to block everything, wanting the next 10 years to look like the last 10, and that compares with the way that my government functions, working cooperatively with different levels of government, with the private sector, working with people across the parliament, wanting to be constructive. That is the approach that we take.

He reiterates that “there won’t be major changes to super.”

There will be no major changes to superannuation, we are not considering that.

What we are doing is defining properly the objective of superannuation, which is something that is needed, superannuation was created to provide people with an income in retirement. And that is the objective, to make sure that people can have a quality of life in their later years, and that is why we are working on that.

If the Coalition want to oppose an objective for superannuation, let’s be clear, the Coalition have undermined superannuation in every single opportunity. They went to election after election saying they would not interfere with the superannuation guarantee, and then breached it. Every single time, and a whole lot of them trying to do that, last time around, as well during the last term.

Updated

South Australia on alert as five-day heatwave continues

Extreme bushfire conditions have been declared across much of South Australia as the state continues to swelter through its worst heatwave in more than three years.

The Country Fire Service says the bushfire risk is extreme from the west coast to the upper southeast, including the Adelaide Hills with total fire bans in place.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a top temperature in Adelaide on Thursday of 41C, on day three of the five-day scorcher. The mercury is also tipped to hit 41C on Friday before a cool change sweeps through early on Saturday, dropping temperatures to the mid-20s.

That will make it the longest string of days of 35C or more since December 2019.

The conditions have prompted authorities to activate heatwave emergency plans, with the State Emergency Service urging people in the hottest regions to stay indoors if possible.

In some regional centres, temperatures will surge into the mid-40s, including Nullarbor which is forecast to reach a top of 45C on Thursday. Community centres in Adelaide have been opened for rough sleepers and homelessness services are conducting outreach programs around the city.

The Red Cross will also provide free healthcare checks by phone.

- AAP

Updated

Teal independents join farmers in Liverpool Plains to oppose Santos gas development

Our rural editor, Gabrielle Chan, and photographer at large, Mike Bowers, are joining the Sydney Independents Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps at a community forum on the Liverpool Plains, where farmers and traditional owners are gathering to fight a Santos coal seam gas project and the accompanying Hunter gas pipeline.

Chan writes:

North Sydney MP Kylea Tink, who grew up in Coonabarabran on the edge of the Pilliga, returned to NSW’s north-western slopes on Wednesday with fellow independent Sophie Scamps to hear the concerns on local landholders.

… Tink said that if both Labor and Coalition won’t listen to communities on issues such as coal seam gas, change would have to come from the crossbench.

Read the whole article here:

Updated

Coalition ministers to appear before robodebt inquiry next week

The former Coalition ministers Stuart Robert, Michael Keenan and Marise Payne will front a royal commission into the robodebt scheme next week.

The inquiry into the unlawful Centrelink debt recovery scheme heard claims on Wednesday that Robert had suggested an “opinion is just an opinion” when verbally briefed on legal advice suggesting the program was unlawful. He is not said to have contested the advice itself.

Robert was government services minister while the scheme came under court challenge and repeatedly defended it in media interviews and in parliament, while Keenan was his predecessor as human services minister. Payne, who has already appeared at the commission once, was human services minister when the scheme was devised and approved in 2015.

Senior public servants who will front the commission include the former secretary of the Department of Human Services, Renee Leon and the top DHS lawyer at the time, Annette Musolino, who has already faced questioning about her handling of the scheme’s legality.

Andrew Asten and Mark Wood, who were senior staff in the office of the former human services minister Alan Tudge, are also scheduled to appear.

The inquiry will today hear from the former DHS officials Scott Britton and Mark Withnell, who were involved in the design of the program in 2015, and senior DSS official Serena Wilson. Wilson previously admitted to breaching the public service code of conduct in not putting a stop to the scheme, saying she lacked “courage”.

Updated

Queensland marks one year since 2022 February floods

Queensland has marked one year since the disastrous “February floods” which killed 13 people and left hundreds homeless.

In the rain bomb that hit the state, two-thirds of Queensland’s annual rainfall fell in a matter of days across seven cities and 23 local council areas.

In six days, 792.8mm of rain fell in Brisbane alone, 137mm more than in 1974 – the highest six-day figure ever recorded.

More than a dozen people died in the disaster, including the state emergency service volunteer Merryl Dray, who died trying to rescue others.

The State Emergency Service answered 13,685 calls for assistance, with 7,000 residential homes affected.

Addressing parliament on Thursday, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the $741m resilient homes fund – funded by the federal and state governments – has identified 540 properties for voluntary home buy-back, with 230 offers accepted.

It means these homeowners will never again feel the fear of hearing rain on their roof. Their properties will be demolished and the land returned to open space.

Updated

Division emerges at Universities Australia conference over backing of Voice campaign

Shadow education minister Sarah Henderson has urged educational institutions against publicly supporting a yes vote for the Indigenous voice to parliament – labelling the move a form of “indoctrination”.

Speaking at the Universities Australia conference, she said it was “right and proper” that the body hadn’t taken a position on whether to support the Voice.

Henderson:

Whilst not stifling robust debate and the expression of strong and legitimately-held views, this position is entirely consistent with academic freedom. Last week in Senate estimates … I reiterated that classrooms are for education not indoctrination. So many Australian parents share this view. There is no room for activism, campaigning, or personal agendas in Australian educational institutions.

I am concerned about reports that some states intend to teach only one side of the debate – the yes case - on an Indigenous voice to parliament. This is not consistent with the national curriculum, including because it compromises the vital role that fostering curiosity and critical thinking plays in the development of every child.

Speaking at the same conference on Wednesday, the vice chancellor of the University of South Australia, David Lloyd said as a nation, Australia “cannot afford to squander” the opportunity of the Voice.

The keynote speaker, Prof Megan Davis, echoed his call. She said that it was the “role of universities” to support the voice campaign.

I don’t really stomach that we are mere facilitators of the debate ... universities say they don’t want to be political, but the decision not to take a stance for Uluru and the referendum for a voice to parliament is a political decision. Silence is political. We have strong positions on freedom of speech which is political.

Updated

Shadow education minister warns of being caught in ‘review vortex’ over education reforms

The shadow education minister Senator Sarah Henderson has addressed the Universities Australia conference, 11 days into the job after the exit of Alan Tudge.

In taking over from Alan Tudge, I have big shoes to fill. I acknowledge Alan’s exceptional work as the former minister for education – he is a great loss to our team … but as we know, in education, both the opportunities and the challenges are immense.

Henderson used her first major speech to warn the federal government against becoming bogged down in reviews. She said while the Coalition welcomed the reviews being undertaken by the federal government - including the Universities Accord - there was a danger of being caught in a “review vortex”.

As a nation, we cannot slow the pace of reform required to provide greater access to early childhood education and care, to reverse declining standards in our schools and teacher workforce shortages, and to deliver the right skilled graduates to fuel our future workforce.

To lift student performance, we must focus on ensuring we have a strong curriculum, we are teaching phonics in every classroom and that we are using explicit teaching models to support engaged classrooms … it shouldn’t take another review and another 12 months which delays the additional schools funding Labor committed to deliver.

Henderson also labelled it “disappointing” the federal government hadn’t endorsed a one-year postgraduate teaching pathway to address teacher shortages hitting the sector.

Few professionals, particularly with the current cost-of living pressures, can afford to take two years off work halfway through their career to retrain as a teacher. If we are to attract the best and brightest towards a teaching career, we must remove barriers like these.

Updated

Clarke family welcomes Queensland domestic violence reforms

Lloyd and Sue Clarke, who said coercive control laws could have saved their daughter Hannah Clarke and her three children, say they are pleased with the legislation being introduced.

Lloyd Clarke stepped up to speak after the attorney general saying:

No-one wants these laws more than our family.

When we look at it, we need to take these small steps to get them right and to make these laws stick and we’re happy enough the way it’s going and I think that this is something that needs to happen and to stop the scourge of domestic violence out there.

Coercive control is such a complex matter and that’s why it needs to take time to get this right.

Updated

Domestic violence reforms pass Queensland parliament

Queensland’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, stepped up to speak this morning in Brisbane alongside the parents of murdered woman Hannah Clark after a range of domestic violence reforms passed Queensland’s parliament overnight.

Fentiman:

Parliament passed historic laws to better protect women and children experiencing domestic and family violence.

I want to pay tribute to hundreds of victim survivors who shared their story with the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce. We have listened, heard you and acted.

The bill that passed parliament late yesterday does a number of things including amending the definition of domestic and family violence to better protect women experiencing coercive control, including violence that happens over time, a pattern of abuse over time. It’s about identifying those red flags earlier before more blue police tape surrounds another family home.

This bill also modernises the offence of unlawful stalking, which is so important, because we know that it is underutilised, particularly when it happens in intimate partner relationships.

We’ve broadened the definition to include intimidation, harassment and abuse and it will better capture the technology that perpetrators are using to track and monitor victims’ movements.

We’re also doing so much to to ensure that the court system cannot be used to further control and abuse victims, things like ensuring that victims don’t have to be cross-examined by their perpetrator in court and making sure the court considers who is in most need of protection.

We heard from the taskforce that so many victims were misidentified as perpetrators because the real perpetrator was manipulating the court process. This is about making sure women and children are safe. When they come forward and go through the court process, they are supported, and not getting lost in the process.

Updated

Australian defence workforce is a ‘burning platform’

Continuing on the defence strategic review, Monro is asked whether Australia’s current workforce capabilities are sufficient to cope with increased demand.

She tells the Universities Australia conference:

The short answer is no. This is a burning platform and we need your help.

Monro says Australia’s current defence workforce employs 116,000 people, of which around 16,000 are Australian public servants. The ADF is about 3,000 people strong – well below its allocated force strength.

The government has, prior to the release of the upcoming defence strategic review, already agreed to increase the workforce by 18,500 by 2030.

We see that thinness challenging many of the things we need to do. Right now we’re feeling the pain and finding a combination of factors from really small pipelines of people coming through our universities to increased competition in other sectors ... while the mission we address is really compelling ... it often can’t compete in financial terms.

If I add that on top of the clear commitment the government has to reduce contractors ... this will become more acute. It is only going to get worse, if we were to accelerate and make significant changes in the capability plan that’s going to need more workforce in these areas.

Updated

Chief defence scientist says universities have role to play in cybersecurity

Prof Tanya Monro, Australia’s chief defence scientist in the Department of Defence, is appearing at the Universities Australia conference in Canberra.

She says universities are “absolutely critical” to the increased cyber challenges facing Australia:

We’ve really got to up our game to cope with what’s ahead ... nobody in this room will have missed the quickly shifting sands of geopolitics ... this requires a really different approach to the nation’s defence.

We need to harness more of what our universities do for Defence’s highest priority challenges.

Monro says the landmark defence strategic review, soon to be released, will be a “dramatic transformation” to the sector, not a “small tweak”.

Updated

Wong confirms two Australians dead in Philippines plane crash

In Fiji, Penny Wong said:

I’d like to first make some comments about some sad news that we received overnight. Can I confirm that overnight search teams have reached the site of a light aircraft that crashed in Albay province in the Philippines.

Sadly there are no survivors. So on behalf of the Australian government I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the two men - Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from Adelaide … as well as the Filipino nationals involved.

I think we all understand that the families of those who we have lost will be grieving and I express not only our sympathy, our condolences but to say to them that our hearts go out to them in this time of great grief.

I also wish to acknowledge and express condolences to the families of two soldiers who were killed during the search and rescue.

For more information on that crash, my colleague Elias Visontay filed this report two days ago:

Updated

WA to launch review of public universities, including mergers

The Western Australian government will launch a sweeping review to explore “structural change options” to the state’s four peak universities UWA, Edith Cowan, Murdoch and Curtin, including possible amalgamations and closures.

The premier, Mark McGowan, and the education minister, Tony Buti, have appointed an independent panel to report later in the year on how to improve the performance and financial viability of its declining public institutions.

The review follows calls last year for WA’s four institutions to be amalgamated into a “super university” to increase global rankings.

Between 2010 and 2019, WA had the smallest percentage growth in university enrolments in Australia (13.6% compared to 32.3% across Australia). In 2020, WA attracted only 5.5% of Australia’s international student revenue.

The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia recently agreed to a feasibility study of a possible merger.

The Curtin Student Guild condemned the state government’s “ill-conceived review”, describing it as a “gravely irresponsible undertaking”. The guild is WA’s peak student union, representing more than 50,000 students.

Its president, Dylan Botica, said the state government was seeking to fundamentally alter the structure and landscape of universities without consulting with students.

The probe will be led by the former James Cook University vice chancellor Sandra Harding, University of Adelaide’s executive dean, John Williams, the former Western Sydney University chancellor Peter Shergold and the former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Ian Watt.

The panel will consult “relevant stakeholders”, including vice chancellors, but there will be no public submission process.

Botica:

The McGowan government’s rush-job review has ignored the existential threat it poses to student unionism in Western Australia. Student guilds play a fundamental role in the higher education sector and to overlook this is a slap in the face to all students.

Student guilds are statutory bodies that have been completely unrepresented in the panel membership, while university management is an overwhelming majority. Any review that has scope to abolish student guilds cannot be conducted with a complete lack of engagement with those bodies.

Updated

Wong reaffirms Australian recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua

In Fiji, Penny Wong was also asked by a reporter about a West Papuan delegation that has visited Fiji. Asked for a position on the matter, Wong signalled there was no change in Australian government position on Indonesian sovereignty:

Australia under successive governments has made its position clear. We recognise Indonesian sovereignty in relation to Papua. And that’s a position that reflects a bipartisan position and a position that reflects our undertakings and commitments under the Lombok treaty and we remain committed to that.

Updated

Airline pushing for local sustainable fuel industry: Joyce

Joyce also spoke about what the group is doing in the space of reducing emissions, as the cost of fuel is driving fares up 20% compared to 2021.

Every new aircraft that we’re bringing in helps towards our emissions reduction targets, because they burn up to 25% less fuel and therefore 25% less CO2 emissions.

We know electric and hydrogen aircraft are a long way off, especially for the very long distances that we fly. That’s why we’re investing in sustainable aviation fuel, which cuts life cycle emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels.

When you consider the importance of air travel in this country, Australia is a prime candidate to develop its own sustainable fuel industry. That’s the conversation we’re having where governments around the country are some urgency and we welcome the Federal government’s commitment to an industry council that meets for the first time next week.

We know that cost of living is an issue across the economy at the moment. We know air fares are part of that discussion. Fares are up about 20% in Australia compared to 2021, and by similar amounts in key markets like the United States and in Europe.

The main drivers of this are the price of fuel, which is up 65% compared to 2019 levels. The inbalance between supply and demand, airlines are struggling to keep up with the tremendous level of passenger demand and as we get up to speed, and that has pushed prices up, especially in peak times for last-minute travel.

Fares will keep trending down as more airlines can unlock capacity which relies on things like supply chain for aircraft, labour availability and training pipelines. For Qantas, we started adding more flying back in January and have another significant step-up in March of this year. There are also a lot of cheap air fares in the market, especially when you book well in advance.

Updated

Qantas boss says airline most on-time domestic carrier for five months in a row

Joyce said issues of reliability are generally fixed and the airline is recently the most on-time:

We’re keeping more spare aircraft in reserve and rostering more crew to give our operations extra buffer. The estimated disruption cost, the cost of all of that back-up is over $200m this financial year, and it will steadily unwind as operations continue to stabilise.

As I think our customers would agree, that investment has been well worth it, our reliability has improved right across the group. Qantas has now been the most on-time of the major domestic airlines for five months in a row – some months the biggest lead we’ve seen in the history of aviation over this period. We’re working hard to keep it that way.

Updated

Qantas expects new aircraft arrival every three weeks for the next three years, CEO says

Circling back to the Qantas CEO, Alan Joyce’s speaking in Sydney following the big announcement of the group returning to profit after the three years since the outbreak of the pandemic.

Joyce is saying Qantas has invested in the customer experience and expanding its offering:

We’ve also started new routes, like Auckland to New York this June. There’s five new destinations in the last year that have appeared on the Qantas international network and I think over 40 new routes domestically created in the pandemic.

We took delivery of four new aircraft at the end of last year and have 12 new aircraft arriving by December, brand new aircraft.

Overall, we’re expecting a new aircraft arrival every three weeks on average for at least the next three years. That’s an amazing multibillion-dollar investment, renewing our fleet for the future. That order includes the A-350, the ultralong haul range aircraft, that we will use for Project Sunrise flights, flying directly from Australia’s east coast to New York and London.

‘Pacific family’ is stronger together: Wong

Penny Wong, in Fiji, is asked about whether she raised the rule of law during her talks in Kiribati earlier in the week. Read more on the separation of powers crisis here.

Wong says she won’t go into detail of private discussions, but she says “Australia’s position on the separation of powers is clear and it is well known”.

In response to a question about China in the region, Wong says on security “it is a very clear view, not only of Australia but Pacific island leaders, that we believe that security should be provided for within the Pacific family” because “we are benefited by looking after each other”.

A family is strongest when the house is secure, she says. (That is framing that implicitly excludes China, and it is a point she has made many times during her trips to Pacific island countries.)

Wong says she is pleased Kiribati is returning to the Pacific Islands Forum:

We think we are stronger together.

Updated

‘We do better in a region that is more stable’: Wong in Fiji

Penny Wong, the foreign affairs minister, is speaking in Fiji now. She has toured the Blackrock Peacekeeping and Humanitarian and Disaster Relief Camp. Wong says:

Australia regards its relationship with Fiji as paramount importance in the pacific - we understand how important Fiji is for the region.

One of the areas in which it can play a leadership role is in its capability and capacity in peacekeeping and humanitarian work. What you see here in this facility is that on display and that on display in partnership in part with Australia.

This facility … was a joint collaboration between Australia and Fiji in particular. It’s a world-class facility and it has as its purpose the promotion of peace internationally and to be able to support response in times of need particularly when natural disasters strike.

Wong has turned to the previously flagged announcement for health funding for the Pacific and south-east Asia. She says Covid-19 saw a lot of health resources diverted to meet challenges of the pandemic – and that often came at the expense of underlying health systems. Wong adds that the initiative is not just altruistic:

We take it as a key objective of our government to do what we can to strengthen the stability, the security of our region. And in doing so we’re not only doing something that is good for those countries – we’re doing something that is good for Australia, because we do better in a world where we are more secure, we do better in a region that is more stable and more secure – and part of that is health.

Updated

Qantas profits driven by demand, yield and successful restructuring: Joyce

Joyce also shared the factors driving profits, which he says are strong demand for leisure travel, higher yield and restructuring benefits flowing through.

There are some broad drivers of our financial performance that are worth pointing out.

The first is travel demand, which remains very robust, particularly leisure travel. While interest rates and inflation are expected to hit discretionary spending at some point, we’ve yet to see any signs of that … in our forward bookings. In fact, the research shows travel is one area that people want to prioritise over the next 12 months.

That flows into the second factor, which is higher yields, particularly given most international airlines are still working to restore capacity back to pre-Covid levels.

And a last driver is the $1bn in restructuring benefits flowing through to our bottom line. That restructure which we announced almost three years ago was about making sure we survived the pandemic and bounced back quickly, which is what we’re exactly seeing now.

Updated

Joyce: Qantas profits mean reinvestment in the national carrier

And the CEO of Qantas, Alan Joyce, is speaking in Sydney about that profit:

The Qantas Group is back in profit. For the first half of this financial year 2023 we delivered a record underlying profit before tax of just over $1.4bn. This compares to a $1.3bn loss for the same time last year. That’s a turn-around of over $2.7bn.

This is the recovery for people, for shareholders and in many respects [something] our customers have been waiting for. Because the result is not just about a single number. Ultimately it’s about getting back to our best by reinvesting in the national carrier.

Updated

ACTU secretary warns of 'greed-price inflation spiral'

Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has responded to that bumper profit announcement from Qantas following hot on the heels of Coles, Woolworths and CBA. She says:

We are seeing a greed-price inflation spiral.

Updated

Imperative to secure ‘the future of life’ in Southern Ocean: Marine Conservation Society

More reactions on the announcement from the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, for greater protection for Australia’s World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island.

The Australian Marine Conservation Society campaigns director, Tooni Mahto, said:

The proposed expansion of Macquarie Island marine park will be a major contribution towards international efforts to conserve the Southern Ocean.

Globally, our oceans are in big trouble. Across the Southern Ocean temperatures are rising and the rate of ice loss has tripled, with much of this occurring during the past five years. Industrial fisheries are damaging areas of high biodiversity and food chains.

The Southern Ocean’s rich wildlife – fish, penguins, seals, whales, and albatross – are struggling to adapt to these rapid changes and these threats. Marine sanctuaries – which afford an area full protection from extractive industries – play a crucial role in building resilience in the face of these increasing threats.

With this proposal, Australia demonstrates that we can be a global leader by providing strong sanctuary protection for one of the world’s most unique sub-antarctic marine environments at a time when there is an increasing international imperative to secure the future of life in the Southern Ocean.

We also welcome the opportunity to engage in the review of the south-east marine network management plan.

Updated

Qantas turns a record profit after pandemic hit

AAP has more on Qantas’ record half year profits:

Qantas has posted an interim underlying pre-tax profit of $1.43bn in its first return to profitability since the coronavirus pandemic started three years ago. The record first-half result was at the top end of the airline’s forecast for an underlying profit between $1.35bn and $1.45bn in the first half of fiscal 2023.

The statutory net profit for the six months to 30 June was $1b, compared to a $456m net loss a year ago.

The CEO, Alan Joyce, said this morning:

When we restructured the business at the start of Covid, it was to make sure we could bounce back quickly when travel returned. That’s effectively what’s happened, but it’s the strength of the demand that has driven such a strong result.

The profit turnaround was delivered despite a 65% increase in fuel costs during the half. Qantas said domestic flying levels had averaged 94% of pre-pandemic levels, while international capacity also doubled to 60%.

The national carrier will not pay any interim dividend for the half year, but announced an on-market share buy-back of up to $500m.

Updated

Jacqui Munro nominated for upper house seat in victory for Matt Kean after internal NSW Liberal strife

The New South Wales treasurer Matt Kean’s handpicked candidate to fill a vacant spot as a Liberal party upper-house MP has scraped through by a one-vote margin after a fiercely contested preselection.

Jacqui Munro, the president of the party’s women’s council, had faced pushback from the party’s right and centre-right factions who deemed her too progressive to fill the seat vacated by the sacked MP Peter Poulos.

But after days of wrangling, Kean eventually got his way; Munro was nominated for the spot late on Wednesday night, winning by one vote. While 13 people on the party’s powerful state executive voted for Munro, nine opposed her while another three recorded non-votes. Two members of the executive abstained.

The decision likely spells the end of the transport minister David Elliott’s career in Macquarie Street. The controversial MP had publicly stated his desire to fill the spot, but was unable to secure enough support, with the bulk of Kean’s moderate faction opposing him.

The outgoing Holsworthy MP, Melanie Gibbons, was also floated as a potential compromise candidate.

The vote had become a test of the treasurer’s factional sway after he publicly called for a female candidate to fill the spot, and endorsed Munro, a former staffer for the independent federal MP Kerryn Phelps, despite concerns from the party’s conservative wing.

While a vote had been expected to take place on Monday, it was pushed back by 48 hours as factional figures worked frantically to shore up the numbers for Munro.

Updated

Qantas records record half-year profit topping $1bn

Qantas has posted a record billion dollar half-year profit, saying strong demand has offset fuel price increases.

The $1,428m net half year profit is a long way off from the $456m loss for the same period last year.

Updated

Liberals still in wait-and-see mode on voice

Circling back to the interview with the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor is asked about the Indigenous voice to parliament as the “Yes” campaign officially launches. He’s continuing the opposition’s demand for more detail, staying quiet on what the chances are the Liberals will vote for the bill.

Lisa Millar:

Do you personally believe they should be a Voice to Parliament?

Taylor:

Well, I’m waiting to see what it is. This is the point - the detail really matters. This has potential to be a very substantial change but we don’t know the details. There’s lots of questions that have to be answered and I think it is reasonable for us and the Australian people to know more before they come to a conclusion.

Now, we have come to this in good faith. We recognised there [are] real challenges in Indigenous communities that need to be addressed. We want to see those issues addressed on the ground, absolutely, there is no question about that. The real question is, how is the voice going to help solve those problems?

Millar:

Yesterday the prime minister said to the Press Club that the legislation which will go to the parliament in March which is going to pave the way for the Referendum to be held will be very clear about what the working group has decided, so you are going to get that information that you are after in March. And the opposition has also demanded the booklet with the yes and no. You got that as well.

You also wanted each side funded. The government is ruling that out completely. What would you say the chances are of the opposition actually voting to allow this bill to go through next month?

Taylor:

Well, we will know the answer to that when we get more detail, and we have said this consistently. We want to see that detail. Australians want to see that detail.

As I get out and about and talk about this and other issues I consistently hear people saying, “well, I don’t understand it,” and that is a really reasonable point to make and a really reasonable question to ask - what does this really look like? What is the detail?

We look forward to seeing that and we will suspend our judgement until we can come to that. I hope we see it in a timely way.

Updated

Thorpe: media must stop setting up black women against one another

Patricia Karvelas then moves on.

Q: Are you happy to hear that Linda Burney, the minister for Indigenous Australians, is working towards announcing something on makarrate shortly?

Lidia Thorpe:

Yes, I’m glad that Minister Burney listened to the 60,000 people that came out in Victoria on Invasion Day calling for treaty and and many, many thousands more around the country. So I’m glad that the minister has listened and that there is action being taken. Absolutely. I’d love to be a part of it if she wants to have a conversation.

And then the last question:

Karvelas:

You’ve mentioned a few times this word legend which is a play on me. I get it. That’s fine, but I will do have a question about that. Given Linda Burney was actually … I think she’s the first Aboriginal woman to enter the New South Wales parliament and the first Aboriginal woman to enter the lower house in the federal parliament. (Thorpe: “brilliant, brilliant”) Doesn’t that make her a legend?

Thorpe:

Absolutely. I don’t hear you call me a legend. I hear that your tone is very different when you interview me. And that’s got to change, you know, and that’s the media lens on a legend[ary] black woman … absolutely, I agree with but you know, you’ve got to stop setting black women up against one another and allow the truth to be told in a way that your listeners get a fair and accurate account of what black people are saying in this country.

Karvelas responds: “That’s why you’re invited on the show to hear your perspective. Thank you so much for joining us.”

Thorpe:

Thank you, PK. Have a good day.

(* I think senator Lidia Thorpe is speaking about a social media post Patricia Karvelas made about Linda Burney becoming minister for Indigenous Australians, where she referred to Burney as a legend. The managing director addressed this after it was raised by some conservatives and said there was no breach of the ABC’s social media rules)

Updated

Thorpe: Labor should implement recommendations of royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody ‘today’

Patricia Karvelas interrupts Senator Lidia Thorpe to say ‘“it sounds to me that you are leaning very much to no, even though you say you haven’t decided”.

Thorpe responds:

You make your own assumptions, PK ... you know, I had a good conversation with [professor] Megan Davis last night. So I’m not about to cause trouble or be a divisive figure like everybody says that I am. I want what’s best for our people, today …

Implement the royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. Stop the death toll on our people. Stop the removal of children. We have 22,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care today.

And people come together and and have morning teas for Sorry Day and morning teas for Closing the Gap. It’s an absolute insult.

And if Labor are fair dinkum and Burney is such a legend, then implement those recommendations and save people’s lives today.

Asked about her conversation with Megan Davis that she had raised, Thorpe says:

It’s a private conversation … I am just letting people know that this little Blak divisive figure does have respectful, meaningful conversations with people like Megan Davis. I will keep the content of that conversation private. But we will be catching up again.

Updated

If you were wondering what Thorpe meant when she told Patricia Karvelas “You’re out there saying [Linda] Burney is a legend,” she was referring to this Tweet on election night last year, which Karvelas was cautioned by the ABC over.

Updated

Thorpe: ‘We’re not focused on the day after the referendum’

Patricia Karvelas asks again about that point – how much closer is senator Lidia Thorpe to her aims if the referendum fails?

Thorpe:

Well, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Asked again, Thorpe says:

Well, I think what this country doesn’t realise is that the grassroots people in this country who have no say, the ones who are dying, the ones who are being stolen, and the ones who are [saying] let us make decisions for ourselves.

That’s that’s what I have to uphold. And I’m not giving anything to anybody until I see justice in this country for our people.

What the progressives don’t understand out there is that we’re still attending funerals every day while everyone is telling us how great the voice is going to be for us.

… It’s still not too late, PK, to question what this voice actually means for us. It has no power. It has no power. Why is everyone so excited, with their hands on their heart, saying we want to give the Aborigines a powerless advisory...

[Patricia Karvelas interrupts to ask a question, and Thorpe asks to finish her answer]

Because that’s what it is, you don’t want the progressives to hear this, do you? PK?

... You’re out there saying [Linda] Burney is a legend, so we know where your allegiances lie, and you need to allow your audiences to understand that there is a progressive no, and we’re not focusing on the day after the referendum. We’re focusing on survival today.

And it’s not good out there, PK, and we deserve better than a powerless voice. We need a treaty. We want real power. We want real justice in this country. Everything else we’ve been offered for the last 200 years has no power.

Q: Will Thorpe have more power if a no vote is delivered?

Thorpe:

Well, we’ll have to see about that. We’ll have to see about that PK. There is a progressive no and the platform needs to be given to those people, the Gary Foleys of the world, the Irene Watsons of the world, the Michael Mansells of the world, the Jacqui Katonas of the world. We’re talking about people that have been around for longer than any of us on the front line, that have fought for treaty.

If you go around this country and allow people to speak freely, you will hear their demands and that is tied up in a treaty. Not in a voice that has no power.

And I feel that the PM is talking in you know, forked tongues, basically. He’s saying to the conservatives, look, it’s okay everybody. It has no power. We will have the ultimate power. They’re just an advisory body. Then he goes to the black people and he says this is going to save the world, this is going to save the culture.

Updated

Thorpe: 'sad state of affairs’ that ‘white progressives think they know what’s best for us’

The yes campaign is being launched in Adelaide today, with no politicians. Senator Lidia Thorpe is asked about the campaign, and whether she is any closer to making a determination on which side she will support:

Well, not really. I mean, you know, their campaign’s fantastic – it’s great that it’s well funded. They’ve got mining companies backing them. They’ve got the corporates of the world, of this country backing them, so you know it is going to be a lot louder.

Than those grassroots black fellas on the ground there have very serious issues with the proposal. And that’s a shame because at the end of the day, PK you know, we’re … only 3%.

So it’s the progressives in this country that will make the decision for us ultimately and that’s a sad state of affairs in this country that white progressives think they know best for us. And they think that this is a good thing for us, but they haven’t dug deep enough and allowed those grassroots black activists to have a say.

Q: But does it trouble you that you might end up on the side with Peter Dutton and the Liberals? You have lots of differences with that side of politics. Does it trouble you to be campaigning for the same potential outcome which is a no vote with that side of politics?

Thorpe:

To be honest, It troubles me that white progressives use that as an excuse and that’s part of the problem, PK, that … if you vote no, then you’re going to stand with Peter Dutton or Pauline Hanson.

So that is another way of taking away the voice of those grassroots black followers who have a progressive no that the white progressives don’t want to hear. And that’s part of the problem – that’s systemic racism right there, and everyone’s [saying] ‘hand on heart, let’s save the Aborigines. Let’s give them a voice. Let’s give them advisory power, with no power.’

Updated

Thorpe still undecided on support for voice

Senator Lidia Thorpe has not yet decided whether or not she is going to support the voice to parliament. But she says she wants action and movement.

I think all of us, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, First Nations people in this country want the same thing.

We want peace. We want our rights adhered to in this country. We’ve been ignored for over 200 years. So we need to have a conversation with all of those that have been hand-picked, to point out to those that haven’t, about what that looks like going forward.

So there’s no doubt that all of our people want … to end deaths in custody. There’s no doubt that our people want to end this child stealing in this country, which is a form of genocide, it is genocide.

So I know everyone in that room will support action and movement on these two important areas that the Closing the Gap Report continually, every year, continues to fail. So they’re the conversations we need to have, that’s been part of the negotiations since the beginning. And we can’t lose sight of that because people are dying.

Updated

Thorpe canvassing for Blak sovereign movement to meet with working groups on voice referendum

The newly independent senator Lidia Thorpe has been interviewed by ABC Radio RN Breakfast’s host, Patricia Karvelas.

Thorpe says she has written to the prime minister about meeting with the referendum working groups, and says as the leader of the Blak sovereign movement, she has views to bring to the table.

I think it’s important that the black sovereign movement has an opportunity to meet with those that making decisions for our people, but also – given the fact that Peter Dutton has been invited and been, I understand, to meetings and I’ve never been invited to one – and I have a collective of black sovereign grassroots people who’d like to have a conversation or respectful conversation with the working groups, the prime minister and the minister responsible.

Thorpe is yet to receive a reply.

Updated

Liberals: starting point on super is ‘this is Australians’ money’

The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, will push back against Labor’s outlined purpose of super in a speech later today.

He’s speaking to ABC News, answering what is wrong with having an objective for super:

We are very supportive of having an objective for super but it starts from a very simple principle, which is that this is Australians’ money, not the government’s money and it should be treated that way and government should be extremely cautious when they start talking about taxing more or spending that in particular ways on pet projects.

When you start from the point of view that this is Australians’ money, not the government’s money or even fund managers’ money, than you think about super the correct way. That is how we think about it, we are supportive of the objective but it means to be consistent with Australians’ interests.

Asked about why Australians who have large amounts in super in excess of $5m should still be getting the tax concessions, Taylor says “the starting point is this is Australians’ money.”

Labor’s talking about taxing super, there are lots of different kites flying. I don’t know what concessions, what level, and there are issues on that.

What I will say is this – the starting point is this is Australians’ money and Labor made a commitment before the last election, the prime minister made an unambiguous commitment before the last election that he wouldn’t run around and change the rules on the super. Australians heard that, they voted on that basis, and so it is a very, very important starting point that that is what the government promised.

Flying kites and all the things they may want to do on super, whether it is taxing or spending on pet projects, is completely inconsistent with what we heard from the prime minister before the election.

The other point I would make is that people put money into super over very long periods of time, and you treat [it] with real caution – but we will see what the government comes forward with.

Updated

Uncontrolled grassfire rages for third day in Victoria

An uncontrolled grassfire north of Melbourne is growing in size as it rages for a third day, AAP reports.

The blaze at Flowerdale, about 90 minutes north of Melbourne, increased to about 800 hectares in size overnight. It is believed no more structures like sheds or fences have been damaged so far.

On Wednesday, a 71-year-old Flowerdale man was arrested by investigators probing the cause of the fire and released pending further inquiries.

Victoria’s Country Fire Authority chief, Jason Heffernan, said although the fire has been downgraded to “watch and act” the situation could quickly change because hot winds of about 70km an hour are tipped to sweep through the area. Temperatures across Victoria are set to soar above 30 degrees on Thursday.

Heffernan told Nine’s Today show:

We’re in a heatwave situation here in Victoria and I expect fire conditions to continue to escalate today (and) in fact peak tomorrow.

The Wimmera and south-west parts of the state are facing extreme fire danger.

So the next couple of days are going to be very important for Victorian communities, particularly those that live near fires.

Updated

Husic refuses to comment on crossbench negotiations over coal and gas

Moving on from science and industry, Ed Husic is asked if the approval for Santos to expand its Queensland gas field has killed off the government’s negotiations with the Greens over the national reconstruction fund (which Husic has carriage of) and safeguards (where there is a little crossover with Husic, because of manufacturing).

Husic says:

I’m very grateful for their engagement, all the engagement from the crossbenchers, and I’ve sought to make myself as available as I possibly can to work through issues some stuff we agree on some stuff we don’t I would love to go into the ins and outs of it, but I’d rather private negotiations sort themselves out because they will obviously be made public very soon and people that rightly expect that to happen.

But, you know, I am grateful that some of those points that are raised because from our point of view, and I think you heard in the PM’s speech yesterday – we take a view as a government that we’re not the holders of all knowledge, that we do accept, accept and expect people to provide their input so that we can build a better outcome.

But the Greens want no new coal or gas fields, so where does this leave the negotiations?

I think what we’ve tried to do as a government is say we’re going to make decisions in the way that they’re supposed to.

We don’t want decisions to be politicised. We want them to be done a national interest and there’ll be pathways to making decisions that will be quite separate. So the big thing coming to your question, the answer I would, I would give you is they’re separate things.

And the environment minister is required to make decisions in her portfolio on individual matters that arise from time to time. And Tanya [Plibersek] has been doing that she will say yes to some projects, no to others, and she’ll do it on the basis of evidence, [on] fact[s] and what the law requires. So that’s what she does in her space.

So same same, but different.

Updated

Morning!

Labor wants science and research community to shape future innovation agenda

It’s a grey old start to the day in Canberra, and the industry and science minister, Ed Husic, is sounding just a bit too chipper for how early it is, but coffee is helping with that.

He’s speaking to ABC Radio RN Breakfast about future Australia projects in science and innovation and where the government should be looking to fund.

How do you work out what you need in the future? Turns out there isn’t an innovation horoscope, so Husic is opening up consultation to the wider public.

So what should be the focus?

I want them [the public] to answer that question.

I want them to guide us in the way in which we shape research priorities into the future. The last time that we actually updated these national science and research priorities was in 2015, back when Malcolm Turnbull took over as prime minister, a lot has happened since then.

And we’ve said as a new government, we want to put science back on the agenda. We want the science and research community to help shape that agenda. And that’s why we started the consultations today around the look and feel of those priorities for the future.

Updated

One captive freed from abductors in PNG highlands

The negotiations to free an Australian professor held hostage in Papua New Guinea’s highlands remain ongoing as one captive has been freed.

David Manning, the commissioner of police in Papua New Guinea, has announced that one of the four people being held captive in the border region of Hela and the Southern Highlands province has been released.

Manning said that as one of the captives is a New Zealand citizen with Australian residency, the high commissions of both countries continue to be briefed on the situation.

Manning said:

The release of one female Papua New Guinean captive is a positive outcome, and negotiations continue for the safe release of the remaining two female Papua New Guineans and the male New Zealand citizen.

From the information that we have received, the remaining three captives are in reasonable health, though are being held in difficult terrain.

We are continuing to work to strengthen lines of communication, which remains a challenging aspect of this operation.

I will not go into deeper details at this point as this is an ongoing operation. The priority for police is to resolve this situation and return the remaining captives safely to their families.

Negotiations are being undertaken with care so as to seek a peaceful resolution and minimise an escalation of tensions.

That being said, the group behind this abduction are aware that any harm coming to the people they are holding captive will be met with a swift security response.

The commissioner also said the rumours on social media claiming foreign military personnel are involved in the operation are untrue.

Updated

Government expands protection for unique Macquarie Island marine park

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has committed to triple the size of the sub-Antarctic marine park around Macquarie Island, described as “one of the most unique environments on the planet”.

The island lies halfway between Tasmania and Antarctica and is home to species like the royal penguin which are found nowhere else on earth, as well as albatross, seals, whales and penguins.

Royal penguins on Macquarie Island.
Royal penguins on Macquarie Island. Photograph: Pete Oxford/PA

The Save Our Marine Life alliance, made up of 27 leading environment groups, has welcomed the government’s announcement to increase protection for Australia’s World Heritage-listed Macquarie Island.

Fiona Maxwell, the national oceans manager for the Pew Charitable Trusts, said the announcement increases protection for “one of the most unique environments on the planet”:

Macquarie Island is the only place in the world formed entirely of oceanic crust, where rocks from the Earth’s crust are exposed above sea level, creating an island with steep escarpments, lakes and Sub-Antarctic vegetation – a spectacle of wild natural beauty in the Southern Ocean.

In 1999, a commonwealth marine park was established in waters off Macquarie’s south-east. But now, 24 years later, the marine park is well overdue for renewal as our understanding of the incredible values of the region, and the threats it faces, have changed significantly.

The Albanese government’s proposal ensures the region gets the level of protection it deserves, while continuing to accommodate the small footprint of the existing, relatively well-managed and sustainable commercial fishery.

You can read more about Macquarie Island here:

Updated

Missing man’s body found on Sydney beach

A missing man’s body has been found on Sydney’s Coogee beach overnight.

NSW Police say a report will be prepared for the information of the coroner after officers were called to the scene about 6.30pm yesterday.

Police had made a public appeal at the weekend for assistance to find a 54-year-old man who’d told his family on Saturday (18 February 2023), he was going for a swim at Maroubra.

After failing to return home, police were notified Sunday (19 February 2023), and a search was initiated.

While the body is yet to be formally identified, police are liaising with the man’s family.

Updated

‘Yes’ campaign to launch tonight in Adelaide

Thanks to Martin for getting things started, Natasha May here reporting for blog duty.

The “yes” campaign for the Indigenous voice to parliament is officially launching in Adelaide tonight at at the Tandanya National Aboriginal Cultural Institute.

From the Heart is the First Nations organisation leading the yes campaign. Its director, Dean Parkin, said the event will have a conspicuous lack of politicians and is unashamedly focused on bringing Australians from all walks of life together.

Parkin told ABC Radio on Monday:

In some ways we’re not commencing the campaign – we’ve been at this for nearly six years now, but to reorientate and refocus this issue back to where it should be. I’m just really excited. I can’t wait for Thursday.

The group has been hosting “campaign lab” events ahead of the launch where volunteers and community groups are receiving information to share in their own communities.

Updated

Australian university teacher of the year announced

The University of Queensland’s Dr Poh Wah Hillock has been announced the 2022 Australian university Teacher of the year, receiving the highest accolade for her service to the mathematics profession.

The award was announced by the minister for education, Jason Clare, at the Universities Australia gala dinner on Tuesday evening. The 2022 AAUT program honours a range of teachers and programs – from early career academics to lifetime achievers.

Deakin University’s Prof David Boud was the recipient of the career achievement award following four decades of experience in higher education.

The chair of Universities Australia, John Dewar, and the CEO, Catriona Jackson, congratulated the 2022 winners for excelling during a difficult period over the pandemic.

Dewar:

Our hard-working university teachers inspire and educate almost one and a half million students each year. They deserve our heartfelt thanks. It’s not always easy, and the past few years have been especially testing as educators have had to quickly adapt to different modes of teaching to meet professional standards while meeting the needs of their students.

Jackson said the roles of teachers would continue to be “vitally important” with more jobs in the future expected to require a university degree.

Updated

Twitter, TikTok and Google face questions over tackling child abuse

Twitter, TikTok and Google will be forced to answer questions about how they tackle child sexual abuse and blackmail attempts on their platforms after the Australian eSafety commissioner issued legal notices to the companies, AAP reports.

The tech giants, as well as gaming platforms Twitch and Discord, will have 35 days to respond to the commissioner’s questions or risk fines of up to $687,000 a day.

The legal demands come six months after similar notices were issued to Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Snap and Omegle, which revealed some tech platforms were not using well-known safety measures to detect abusive content and protect users.

The commissioner of eSafety, Julie Inman Grant, said she was particularly concerned about the treatment of illegal material on Twitter following massive job cuts to its Australian and safety teams.

“Back in November, Twitter boss Elon Musk tweeted that addressing child exploitation was priority number one but we have not seen detail on how Twitter is delivering on that commitment,” Inman Grant said.

“We’ve also seen extensive job cuts to key trust and safety personnel across the company – the very people whose job it is to protect children – and we want to know how Twitter will tackle this problem going forward. “

The tech platforms must answer questions about how they detect and remove child sexual abuse content from their platforms including live streams, how algorithms could amplify its reach, and how the companies deal with sexual extortion attempts against children.

These attempts typically involve tricking underage users into providing intimate images and later blackmailing them.

“The creation, dissemination and viewing of online child sexual abuse inflicts incalculable trauma and ruins lives. It is also illegal,” Inman Grant said.

“It is vital that tech companies take all the steps they reasonably can to remove this material from their platforms and services.”

Incidents of child sexual abuse on digital platforms is widespread, with 29.1m reports made to the US National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in 2021, including 875,783 reported by Google, 154,618 reported by TikTok, and 86,666 from Twitter.

In a statement this month, Twitter reported it had suspended 404,000 accounts for engaging with child sexual exploitation on its platform in January in what it called “a 112% increase in CSE suspensions since November” 2022.

“Not only are we detecting more bad actors faster, we’re building new defences that proactively reduce the discoverability of tweets that contain this type of content,” the statement read.

Companies in the tech industry have also been asked to draft an enforceable code of conduct for dealing with illegal online material, with the eSafety Commissioner expected to accept or reject the code in March.

Australia to pledge $620m for Asia-Pacific health programs

Australia will provide $620m over five years for health programs across the Pacific and south-east Asia, Penny Wong will announce during a visit to Fiji today.

The foreign affairs minister is set to unveil the new health initiative, called Partnerships for a Healthy Region. It aims to tackle and prevent infectious disease outbreaks, address non-communicable diseases like heart disease, and improve mental health.

The announcement appears to be part of an attempt to signal to regional countries that Australia understands and is responsive to their practical needs (at a time when a lot of media focus has been on traditional security issues and great power rivalry).

In a statement issued ahead of a scheduled press conference in Fiji this morning, Wong said:

Improving the health and wellbeing of communities across the Pacific and south-east Asia is critical to ensuring our region’s security, prosperity and stability …

Covid-19 has reversed health and development gains in our region, and Australia is working with partners to restore their health systems and build on investments made during the acute phase of the pandemic.

It is understood some of the funding had been nominally allocated previously, but the package includes $60m in new money and the announcement also includes key details of the Partnerships for a Healthy Region scheme.

The program will include measures to prevent, diagnose and treat HIV/Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. The government says it will also fund the research and development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics for diseases that affect the Pacific and south-east Asia.

Australia also plans to “expand regional health assistance provided by key Australian government agencies and extend partnerships with international and regional agencies supporting health systems in our region”, while existing investments in sexual and reproductive health and rights will also be continued.

Fiji is the second stop on Wong’s trip to the Pacific this week, following a visit to Kiribati. On Tuesday she signed a memorandum of understanding with Kiribati to boost cooperation, including in the area of maritime security. While in Fiji, Wong is set to represent the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, at the Pacific Islands Forum special leaders’ meeting.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and thanks for joining our daily blog on the Australian news day. I’m Martin Farrer and I’ll bring you our top stories from overnight before my colleague takes over.

The profound demographic shifts in Australian society are no more starkly represented than by the huge increase in dementia cases. The disease has now overtaken coronary heart disease as causing the greatest burden of illness, injury and premature death in older Australians, according to a new report by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Among people aged 65 years and older, dementia was responsible for almost 230,000 years of healthy life lost – up 62% since 2011.

Talking of older people, the vexed question of superannuation tax concessions is shaping up to be a big political issue under the Albanese government. Although the prime minister has expressed caution about reform, his treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has signalled he could cap superannuation balances at $3m as part of efforts to rein in generous tax concessions that benefit Australia’s wealthiest retirees. As Greg Jericho explains in his column today, the cost to the taxpayer has become enormous. And if you’re not sure how these handouts work, here’s a handy explainer.

Penny Wong will attend the Pacific Islands Forum special leaders retreat in Fiji today and will unveil a $620m pledge over five years for health programs across the Pacific and south-east Asia. Called Partnerships for a Healthy Region, it aims to tackle and prevent infectious disease outbreaks, address non-communicable diseases like heart disease, and improve mental health. More details coming up.

And Twitter, TikTok and Google will be forced to answer questions about how they tackle child sexual abuse and blackmail attempts on their platforms after the Australian eSafety commissioner issued legal notices to the companies.

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