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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Caitlin Cassidy and Natasha May

Australian missing in Turkey found alive but two still unaccounted for – as it happened

Penny Wong Australia Turkey Bureau of Meteorology Todd Murphy Queensland BoM New South Wales Norrn Territory
Penny Wong at the Bali Process conference in Adelaide on Friday.
Penny Wong at the Bali Process conference in Adelaide on Friday. Photograph: Matt Turner/EPA

What we learned: Friday, 10 February

With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening.

We’ve made it to the weekend just in time for a mild heatwave. Stay cool, stay safe, we’ll be back first thing tomorrow.

Here were the major developments of the day:

  • The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, has announced the government will nominate Murujuga for a world heritage listing. If it is accepted by Unesco it will be the second site in Australia given World Heritage status for its First Nations heritage – but there’s pushback from some who say the government’s support of local industrialisation is at odds with the environmental nomination.

  • Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle has been upgraded to a category three intensity. It is moving towards the south-east and is expected to make “a direct hit at Norfolk Island” over the weekend.

  • One missing Australia in Turkey has been accounted for, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, confirmed today. Two Australians remain missing after the earthquakes.

  • Meanwhile, Wong told reporters she asked her department to accelerate the replacement of Chinese surveillance cameras in the wake of media reporting this week.

  • The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has committed to campaigning in Aston to retain the outgoing Liberal MP Alan Tudge’s seat.

  • And Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, has attacked a magistrate’s decision to release children from an adult watch house, labelling it a “media stunt” that is “putting the community … in danger”. The spray resulted in him being described as a “disgrace” by the Council of Civil Liberties for breaching the doctrine of the separation of powers.

Updated

Todd Murphy takes four wickets in his debut game

Turning attention from politics for a moment to bring you some breaking news taking place over at our India v Australia live blog: Bowler Todd Murphy has just taken four wickets on his debut game.

Murphy, a 22-year-old from the great city of Moama, incidentally has the same name as my dog – Murphy the labrador.

Now I’m not a betting man, nor do I condone gambling, but this could be the first time in the history of cricket that a bowler has taken four wickets while – simultaneously – a Guardian journalist who has a dog with an identical name is liveblogging.

You cannot make this stuff up!

Updated

As we know, “now just out of left field first” usually leads to a reasonable (and newsworthy) question.

Naplan changes outlined by government

The education minister, Jason Clare, has announced a range of changes to Naplan alongside his counterparts, including bringing forward testing to March instead of May.

Reports will also be reformed to provide ease of reading and clarity on how students are progressing, with schools and parents to receive individualised reports in July.

New proficiency standards for numeracy and literacy will also be implemented including “exceeding, strong, developing” and “needs additional support”.

Benchmarks will be more meaningful and clearer to reflect the personalised online tests that students undertake. They will be set against a challenging but reasonable standard of literacy and numeracy expected for the child at the time of testing.

The Australian Parents Council (APC) firmly backed the changes including the simplification from 10 bands to four levels of achievement.

The standard will support higher expectations for student achievement and ensure students are gaining the important literacy and numeracy skills they will need throughout their lives.

We are really excited about these tweaks to Naplan reporting and believe they will be really useful in stimulating parent-teacher conversations about educational progress.

Updated

Guardian Australia’s Afternoon Update is here, with the major news of the day in brief including 12 ways to meditate without actually meditating (for people like myself, who can’t sit still).

With temperatures expected to exceed 30 degrees over the weekend, a total fire ban is in place in New South Wales in the southern ranges and southern slopes area.

In Western Australia, temperatures are expected to be up to 10 degrees above average according to the Bureau of Meteorology with severe to extreme heatwave conditions.

Maximum temperatures will reach the low to mid 40s for many days with large, but remote areas also exceeding 45 degrees.

High temperatures and heatwave conditions are likely to continue well into next week and intensify over the south of the state, the BoM says.

Before it hits, thunderstorms are continuing:

Updated

More on Victoria’s Covid update

Victoria’s chief health officer has released additional details on the state’s weekly Covid update.

There were 2,941 cases detected – a 3.3% decrease on the previous week. There are 114 Covid patients in hospital including eight in intensive care.

There were 52 deaths in the past week, a 67.4% decrease when compared to the same period in the previous month.

Brett Sutton:

There has been a continued decline in Covid cases and hospitalisations this week. The recent wave of transmission has been driven by a combination of waning immunity and multiple emerging Omicron variants.

The most recent wastewater analysis shows the recombinant strain XBF makes up the highest proportion of detections, accounting for approximately 55% of total detections.

Meanwhile from 20 February, all Victorians who have not had a Covid vaccination or confirmed infection in the past six months will be eligible for a booster, irrespective of how many prior doses the person has received.

The announcement is in line with advice issued this week from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi).

Updated

In the Northern Territory, flooding is possible in some coastal rivers from tomorrow.

The Bureau of Meteorology:

A trough currently sitting over the Top End of the Northern Territory is likely to develop into a monsoon trough over the next day or two, causing an increase in showers and thunderstorms.

In the 24 hours to 9am Friday, north west coastal catchments received rainfall totals of 40 to 110 mm. Rivers and creeks can be expected to rise strongly with further rainfall.

Significant rises in streams and creeks leading to localised flooding is expected in many inland areas … this is expected to affect many roads over the weekend and into the next week.

It comes as the Northern Territory government’s planning department has implemented the recommendation outlined in a report to mitigate flooding in Alice Springs.

Chief minister, Natasha Fyles:

We know Alice Springs has experienced destructive flooding, by taking these steps we can reduce the damage and disruption associated with flood events.

Investing in flood mitigation will safeguard residents and properties, making sure local homes and businesses are protected.

Queensland will follow Victoria in donating $1m to those impacted by the recent earthquakes.

Updated

More on Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle

The Bureau of Meteorology is continuing to monitor Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle, which is expected to produce wind gusts of 224km/h causing hazardous coastal conditions for parts of Queensland and New South Wales.

BoM:

The cyclone continues to move in a south-east direction, roughly parallel to the Queensland coast and is forecast to track near or over Norfolk Island from Friday night or Saturday morning.

A tropical cyclone warning has been issued for Norfolk Island, where heavy rain, damaging to destructive winds and heavy surf and swell are possible.

The severe weather is expected to continue until Sunday afternoon or evening.

Meanwhile, eastern Australia has been lashed by intense thunderstorms in the past few days, with the highest total recorded at Erina Heights in NSW. The catchment recorded 149mm in the 24 hours to 9am Friday.

A 100km/h wind gust was observed at Dubbo Airport; 85km/h on Sydney Harbour.

Updated

Melbourne buildings to be lit up in solidarity with Turkey

A number of buildings in Melbourne will be lit up tonight in solidarity with Turkey and Syria following the devastating earthquakes in the region.

Here’s a full list of the sites that will be doused in white:

  • Bolte Bridge

  • Royal Exhibition Building

  • Flinders Street station

  • Acmi

  • Melbourne Town Hall

  • Aami Park

Updated

Release of children from adult watch house a ‘media stunt’: Queensland deputy premier

Queensland’s deputy premier has slammed a magistrate’s decision to release children from an adult watch house, labelling it a “media stunt” that is “putting the community … in danger”.

Guardian Australia confirmed from multiple legal sources that on Thursday, a children’s court magistrate in Townsville asked that all children being held on remand in the watch house be brought before the court.

It comes after the Queensland police service revealed this week that more than 25 children had spent more than three weeks in watch houses so far this year.

But on Friday, Steven Miles was critical of the magistrate’s decision to release the children from the watch house, telling reporters: “Queensland courts need to do their job.”

We cannot allow the safety of Townsville residents to be held to ransom by rogue courts and rogue justices.

In response, extra police were rostered overnight ... police are seeking legal advice on each individual instance.

The police minister, Mark Ryan, said “community safety will always come first” and the way to “interrupt the offending” of serious recidivist offenders is by detaining them.

Their comments come after a coalition of more than 50 experts and organisations in the youth justice sector wrote an open letter which called on the government to be “smarter not tougher” on crime and invest in evidence-based solutions, such as early intervention and prevention measures.

Updated

University of Melbourne the new ‘wage theft capital’, uni union says

Joo-Cheong Tham, assistant secretary professor at the National Tertiary Education Union Victoria Division, said the ombudsman’s allegations against the University of Melbourne highlighted how the university had become the “wage theft capital” of the sector.

In August, the ombudsman launched the first legal case of its kind against the University of Melbourne over what it said was coercion and punishment of two casual academics from a different faculty who were seeking to be paid for overtime work. The litigation is still ongoing.

Tham:

It illustrates how the insecure workforce approach of the university systematically results in exploitation. It is high time for the university to overhaul its employment model … and establish job security as a key priority through targets for continuing employment in its enterprise agreement.

The NTEU national president, Dr Alison Barnes, said the scale of the problem across higher education was “reprehensible”.

The ombudsman’s allegations of ‘serious contraventions’ show the gravity of the situation we’re dealing with. We have been warning about the scourge of systemic wage theft in our sector for years. When are we going to see some action that finally puts an end to the endless stream of shameful allegations like these?

The root causes of this insidious problem must be urgently addressed. Insecure work and university governance need serious reform to stop more staff from being ripped off.

A spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said separate to the proceedings, the university was “working very hard” on its remediation program, established two years ago.

The university continues to keep staff and key stakeholders updated as this work progresses. Through this program, the University is also improving its payroll and time-recording systems.

A date for a directions hearing in Melbourne’s federal court has yet to be scheduled.

Updated

University of Melbourne faces allegations of staff underpayment

The Fair Work Ombudsman has launched legal action against Victoria’s wealthiest university for the second time in six months over alleged underpayment of casual staff to a total of $154,424 and providing “false or misleading” records.

The regulator alleges between February 2017 and December 2019, the University of Melbourne breached the Fair Work Act when it failed to pay 14 casual academics for work at the hourly rates required under its enterprise agreements.

Instead, the university allegedly paid the staff based on “benchmarks”, which varied depending on the faculty, and in some cases described payment for marking at a rate based on “4,000 words per hour” and at one school on “one hour per student”.

It is alleged total underpayments of the staff amounted to $154,424, ranging from $927 to $30,140 for individuals.

The ombudsman alleges the breaches of its enterprise agreements amounted to “serious contraventions” under the Fair Work Act which were “expressly, tacitly or impliedly authorised … because of a corporate culture involving the use of marking benchmarks”.

The Fair Work Ombudsman alleges that the benchmarking practices continued despite the inadequacy of the system being raised with certain managers as early as April 2016 and up to 2019.

If the allegations are proven the university faces penalties of up to $630,000 a breach for serious contraventions - of which penalties are 10 times higher - and $63,000 for the other allegations.

The Fair Work Ombudsman, Sandra Parker, said allegations of universities underpaying employees by systematically failing to follow their own enterprise agreements were of “great concern”.

Universities, like all employers, should have proactive measures in place to ensure they are meeting workplace laws and paying employees correctly for all hours worked.

A spokesperson for the University of Melbourne said the university had cooperated with the investigation and staff affected by the “historical issue” had already been back-paid.

The university has publicly acknowledged and apologised to past and current employees who had been paid less than they were due for work that they had performed.

Updated

Norfolk Island has been issued an “orange “warning” alert by the Bureau of Meteorology as Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle approaches.

Winds of up to 140 km/h are expected by tomorrow afternoon.

The Bureau is forecasting gales within 24 hours, with the community urged to secure boats and properties:

Gales with gusts to 120 km/h are expected to develop at Norfolk Island overnight tonight, gradually increasing during Saturday morning and becoming destructive with gusts to 140 km/h by Saturday afternoon.

As the cyclone centre passes, destructive winds may ease for short period of time, due to the eye of the system, before it suddenly picks up again, blowing from the opposite direction.

Abnormally high tides are expected about Norfolk Island, but the sea level should not exceed the highest tide of the year. Very heavy surf that may lead to localised damage and coastal erosion is possible.

Heavy rain is also likely to develop about Norfolk Island during Saturday, before easing on Sunday.

Updated

Australian and Indonesia to share defence training areas

Australia and Indonesia have pledged to sign a new binding defence agreement to cover access to each other’s training areas.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, and his Indonesian counterpart, Prabowo Subianto, made the announcement after a meeting in Canberra this afternoon.

They said the plan to elevate defence ties showed their shared commitment to an Indo-Pacific region “where sovereignty is respected”.

Here is the key part of the joint statement issued moments ago:

We acknowledged the importance of the existing Defence Cooperation Arrangement (2021) in guiding our defence cooperation and confirmed our intent to elevate this to an agreement that is binding under international law.

We intend for the new agreement to bolster our strong defence cooperation by supporting increased dialogue, strengthening interoperability, and enhancing practical arrangements. Negotiations will include consideration of issues such as reciprocal access to training ranges and streamlined entry and exit processes for joint activities.

Together, Australia and Indonesia make an important contribution to regional security. Elevating our existing arrangement sends an important message of our shared commitment to a region that embraces Asean [Association of Southeast Asian Nations] centrality and the objectives and principles of the Asean Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, where sovereignty is respected.

We have asked officials to undertake negotiations expeditiously, and report to us regularly on progress.

Updated

NRL star cleared over 2020 street fight on Central Coast

Canberra Raiders hooker Tom Starling has been cleared over a violent street fight because a court found police were not acting in their duty when they punched him in the face multiple times, AAP reports.

The 25-year-old NRL star and his brothers – Jackson, 26, and Josh, 21 – brawled with NSW police officers at a Central Coast pub in December 2020.

Starling and Jackson were charged with hindering police while the youngest brother had been charged with common assault of a security guard, assault of two officers and resisting police.

The charges have been dropped after magistrate Daniel Covington found the police were not acting within their duty.

Police were seen in CCTV footage repeatedly striking Starling in the head, a scene that Covington described as a “free for all”:

One that is more typically seen in a street fight as opposed to officers in their duty. Clearly what occurred was nothing other than Tom being assaulted himself.

Snr const Daniel Drew also admitted to the court that he had “no reason to punch” Starling, the judge said.

Covington acknowledged Josh was acting in self-defence of his brother.

Josh, who was handcuffed, allegedly kicked and punched police officers while Jackson was held back by another police officer, having tried to intervene. Starling was held back and could not defend himself, according to Covington.

The brothers had been celebrating a friend’s 21st birthday that night.

Covington found the youngest Starling guilty of common assault against Morris and resisting police. Josh Starling was sentenced to an 18-month conditional release order without conviction.

Updated

Big thanks to Natasha May for guiding us through another day of news. I’ll be with you for the rest of this fine afternoon.

This is where I leave you in the excellent hands of Caitlin Cassidy. Have a great weekend!

More on Murujuga nomination

The nomination was prepared by the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation in partnership with the Western Australian government, with support and advice from the federal government and technical experts.

The Murujuga Cultural Landscape contains evidence of continuous traditional culture and practice of the area for at least 50,000 years.

It has an estimated 1m to 2m images of an area of more than 100,000 hectares (247,000 acres), across land and sea country, which is the densest known concentration of hunter-gatherer petroglyphs anywhere in the world.

The Board of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation said in a statement:

This nomination is an opportunity to take you on a journey through the ancient, deeply storied and significant place called Murujuga. This is a journey through time and across vast and changing tracts of Land and Sea country. The story of this Ngurra in one that starts at the very dawn of Creation and documents the travels of Ancestral Spirits from when the earth was soft, thousands of generations of Ngarda-Ngarli living and caring for this country, and the strength and survival of our Law and culture during periods of remarkable change.

You can read more on this nomination from my colleague Graham Readfern, and some of the concerns from some First Nations groups who say it comes to late:

Updated

Government nominates Murujuga for world heritage status

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, is speaking in Karratha in Western Australia, announcing the government will nominate Murujuga for world heritage listing.

If it is accepted by Unesco it will be the second site in Australia given World Heritage status for First Nations heritage.

Plibersek:

It is my pleasure to formally confirm that the Commonwealth Government has nominated the Murujuga cultural landscape for the inscription on the World Heritage list.

I feel a little bit embarrassed, because this comes after thousands of continuous culture, care and custodianship of this land. Decades of activism from many of you here, years of hard work on the submission – four and a healf years of writing the submission. And I get to swoop in at the last minute and launch it. So welcome to politics.

This has very obvious benefits for this landscape, for the people who are so connected to this land, for future generations who will grow up strong on this country, but it has real significance for the whole world. This place, the culture, the continuity, it has real significance for the whole world, and, in fact, that is why here today.

Updated

ACT records no Covid deaths and six people in hospital

There were 401 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and no people are in intensive care.

South Australia records 94 Covid deaths and 52 people in hospital

There were 1,495 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and four people are in intensive care.

Cases have risen from last week’s 1,286 as well as deaths have increased from 14 in the last reporting period.

Man in custody after escaping correctional facility

A man who escaped a north Queensland correctional facility and spent three days on the run has been located and returned to custody by police, AAP reports.

Henry Peters, 28, is serving a two-year sentence for breaking and entering a dwelling with violence or threats, and absconded from the Lotus Glen correctional centre on Tuesday.

He escaped from the farm section of the centre, roughly an hour west of Cairns.

The prison houses both high-security and low-security prisoners, and includes a large farm area used by the latter.

Queensland Corrective Services issued a statement on Friday confirming Peters had been found and returned to custody.

Updated

Greens call for stronger legal protections for students living on campus

The Greens education spokesperson, senator Mehreen Faruqi, said it was an “intolerable situation” for students in campus accommodation to face housing battles while not being covered by existing tenancy laws.

Legal protections must be strengthened and enforced.

Students should be treated “fairly and decently”, Faruqi said.

Updated

La Trobe students waiting months for on-campus housing bonds to be returned

Students at Melbourne’s La Trobe University are still waiting for their bond payments to be returned months after vacating their rooms, with some saying they are more than $1,000 out of pocket.

At least 22 on-campus tenants have contacted the student union to say they have not received their bonds back despite returning forms as early as November last year according to the student union president, Monika Galovic, who is among the students waiting for payments.

La Trobe’s on-campus accommodation is run jointly with private company UniLodge, which is responsible for issuing bond payments. It states on its website that all bonds cover a month’s worth of rent and will be returned within 21 business days of the contract end date.

While the contract is confidential, UniLodge is in control of issuing bond payments. The company has student housing at 110 sites across Australia and New Zealand, with assets estimated at $1bn.

Galovic said some students have been asked to pay their 2023 bond of around $1,000 while still waiting for their 2022 bond to be returned.

Students who were hoping to find a new place to rent are unable to without the bond money. We have no tenant rights because we’re not considered tenants … there’s a complete lack of safeguards in place.

University accommodation isn’t covered by the Residential Tenancy Act, meaning the usual legislative avenues, including launching a complaint with Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal (Vcat), aren’t available to students.

In mid-January, La Trobe sent a mass email to students blaming the delay on a computer issue and confirming the bonds would be returned in February.

A spokesperson for La Trobe said UniLodge made the university “aware of a delay” with processing bond payments and the “unforeseen technical error” had now been fixed.

They said:

All affected students will receive payment on 10 February.

Updated

More on search and rescue team heading to Turkey

Jeremy Stubbs, chief superintendent at Fire and Rescue NSW, has given a bit more information about the multi-agency team of 72 search and rescuers who left for Turkey this morning to aid efforts in the recovery from Monday’s earthquake:

We have teams and an incident management team which includes members from health, police, fire rescue in New South Wales and ACT as well as Dfat personnel and national emergency management agency personnel.

That multi-agency team is all about supporting people in the field.

We have four teams who work 24 hours around the clock to rubble piles, searching for persons who they can support and again helping that community of Turkey to return to normal.

Updated

Who is Sharn Coombes?

If the name Sharn Coombes rang a bell in Murph’s earlier post on the names being floated for preselection as the Liberal candidate in the Aston byelection, she was the Australian Survivor runner up in 2018 as well as being a criminal barrister.

Coombes lost favour with the Survivor jury when she was questioned about the role she played when her ally Matt was voted out, which she said “was a bad decision, the whole thing went pear-shaped”.

When she then returned in All Stars, Survivor Wiki fandom informs me that she was determined not to repeat her old mistakes so she remained “fiercely loyal” to “power player David Genat” and once again was runner-up because “the jury found David’s gameplay much more bold”.

She also holds the record for most challenges won in a single season of Australian Survivor.

Updated

Birmingham calls for ‘strong action’ on climate change

The opposition’s Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, has called for “strong action” on climate change and greater certainty for business over the long term, days after Guardian Australia revealed internal divisions over the Coalition’s strategy.

Katharine Murphy reported on Wednesday that Liberal moderates Paul Fletcher and Birmingham had pushed back against a decision to oppose the Albanese government’s planned overhaul of the safeguard mechanism during shadow cabinet deliberations over the past fortnight.

She reported that she understood Birmingham told shadow cabinet colleagues that opposing the crediting reform was both bad policy and bad politics, given the rout of Liberals in city electorates in the election last May. He also made the point the Coalition’s opposition would make it harder for businesses to comply with more ambitious reduction targets.

Birmingham was asked during an interview with Laura Jayes on Sky News today whether he supported calls to block changes to the safeguard mechanism (ie the Coalition’s policy). He did not deny the reports and went on to emphasise the need for long-term certainty (long-term certainty is no doubt helped by having bipartisanship on climate policy):

Well, I’m not going to go into shadow cabinet conversations in detail. Look, I want to see and it’s well and truly on the public record, that I want to see strong action in relation to climate change. I think it’s in Australia’s interest for us to try to have greater policy certainty in the long run there.

There are elements of the safeguard mechanism for which, in terms of the proposed reforms by the government, in which I have concern that the uniform application of reductions at a linear drop-down rate applied consistently essentially to all companies, all sectors, does present concerns for those who have high levels of trade exposure, does present concerns for some of those sectors where the technology to reduce their emissions profile just isn’t possible yet.

So I don’t think the government’s got this perfect or got it right by any means. But I do also think that we need to be making sure that we are as a country leading in terms of our work around emissions reduction, that we are as a parliament trying to provide greater certainty for Australian business for the long run, and that we should be using mechanisms that don’t put greater burden on taxpayers, but do try to achieve positive outcomes.

Updated

Government to finalise energy relief plan by mid-year

A reporter asks Chalmers about why the energy relief plan is taking so long when the prime minister Anthony Albanese had indicated it would be finalised by around April.

Chalmers:

We’ve been saying for some time in response to issues raised by the states themselves that this relief is expected to flow closer to the middle of the year.

I’ve been saying for some time that this will be a centrepiece of the budget that I hand down in May. This is absolutely crucial cost-of-living relief and we want to see it flowing as soon as possible.

We have responded to issues raised by the states and territories about needing to take the time to sort out the implementation issues to make sure that we get all of that sorted so that we can get relief into people’s hands as soon as possible.

The conversation today was about a number of those implementation issues. There are still some issues to be ironed out but we have responded to concerns raised by the state since Christmas. That the best time for this to roll out would be closer to the middle of the year that has been their view and it is our view as well, and we are working on that timeframe as I have been saying for some time.

Chalmers has also met with his state counterparts and says “really important progress” has been made on issues including energy, housing, population, and women’s economic participation.

There is much more that we agree on as the local government, State Government, Commonwealth government than we disagree on.

Updated

Treasurer hails Reserve Bank's approval of government energy plan

The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking in Logan south of Brisbane following the statement released by the Reserve Bank:

This government’s energy plan is all about taking some of the sting out of the energy prices and some of the edge off inflation in our economy and the independent Reserve Bank says that they expect that it will.

Inflation is the biggest challenge in our economy and it is the biggest focus of the Albanese government.

We are not surprised but we are very pleased to see that the independent Reserve Bank has said today that our energy plan it will have exactly the consequences and the impact that we want it to, in taking the edge off some of this inflation in our economy.

Our energy plan is all about making life a bit easier for families and pensioners, for small businesses and the independent Reserve Bank has said today that they leave that it will.

Updated

Wong assures Indonesia over Aukus: ‘Australia has no intention of ever seeking to be nuclear-armed’

Penny Wong says Australia wants to be “very transparent” with Indonesia and other countries across the region about its plans for nuclear-powered submarines under Aukus.

The foreign affairs minister was asked during a press conference in Adelaide about her Indonesia counterpart, Retno Marsudi, saying she has used their talks this week to ask Australian to be open about its plans.

Wong replied:

We want to be very transparent, not just with Indonesia but the region.

Wong said Aukus was a partnership with the US and the UK focused on technological collaboration, but it was more than just the nuclear-powered submarines, which has attracted the most attention.

Wong added:

I understand, given Indonesia’s history, why they want us to be transparent about that nuclear propulsion. It is a new capability for Australia. It is not a new capability, obviously, globally but it is a new capability for Australia, and I have said that Australia is, first, we are strong supporters of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). We have an impeccable record when it comes to our compliance with the NTP. We will continue to have a record of that standing and we will work with the International Atomic Energy Agency to make sure that we maintain that high standard, gold standard, of transparency and compliance.

Secondly, we do want to be transparent with the region, and we will be.

And, third, and just to reemphasise this, and Indonesia and others are completely aware of this, nuclear propulsion does not equal nuclear-armed. Australia has no intention of ever seeking to be nuclear-armed.

Updated

One missing Australian in Turkey has been accounted for, Wong says

Wong was asked to give an update about the Australian citizens who were in Turkey during Monday’s earthquake.

We have Turkish Australians who are there.

I note, I had previously talked about four who were unaccounted for.

I am pleased I can say one of those Australians in the region is accounted for and safe.

Two people are unaccounted for.

One person has been reported as having died in these earthquakes.

We are working to confirm those reports, and I extend my condolences, and a consequence of those reports, I extend to all those waiting for news my sympathy and expression of support. Not just personal but on behalf of the government of Australia.

Updated

Penny Wong ‘hopeful’ anti-slavery laws can be strengthened

Wong is now taking questions, and is asked about what are the solutions to modern slavery. She says she is hopeful domestic legislation will be strengthened to put greater onus on both government and business to ensure that Australian supply chains are free of the “taint” of modern slavery.

The main thing we can do is to strengthen our domestic legislation and to improve and strengthen the Modern Slavery Act.

We announced in the election campaign a range of policies, the appointment of an ambassador against modern slavery, and to amend the act, which is actually in Mark Dreyfus’s portfolio, so he’s got responsibility for it now, and my recollection is that there is a review under way about how we implement that strengthening.

In opposition we moved amendments to that legislation to strengthen it and I am hopeful that we will see a stronger piece of legislation which will put a greater onus on all of us - government and business - to make sure that our supply chains are clean, are free of slavery.

Because nobody wants to make money out of slavery, and no one wants to enable profit from it by what we purchase. So that means we have to know as consumers that what we are buying is free of that taint.

Business needs to know their supply chains are free of that taint and government needs to know the regulation we have put in place will enable that to occur.

Wong says there is “never” enough done to end slavery.

It is never enough until there is no one in this world who is working in those sorts of conditions, but there has been more done in the last few years than I thought, and that is pleasing.

Updated

Penny Wong says there are more people in slavery now than in 2016

The foreign minister Penny Wong is speaking in Adelaide where she and her Indonesian counterpart have been part of the Bali Process Government and Business Forum, which aims to advance ethical business practices.

She’s speaking about what their meeting today has discussed about the state of modern slavery.

This process, ultimately, is about partnership. Regrettably, the work of the Bali Forum remains as necessary as ever.

What we have seen is, if you look at the slavery data, more people in slavery now than 2016, and that is a really sobering thought for all of us.

The value of this engagement was clear to me this morning. We had in 2018, before my time, the business community and governments at the time establish a framework. They called it the AAA framework, and - what is it: acknowledge, act, advance.

And what we had is business leaders and governments talk to the group about what they had done since, and it made me really understand the value of this process, that by coming together and agreeing to voluntarily, what they wanted to do, we saw progress in companies and in jurisdictions around the world. A lot more to do, but it is a really important place for that work to be done.

Updated

Victoria’s ambulance response times worsen

Victoria’s ambulance response times have gone backwards, with the highest-priority patients waiting longer for care, AAP reports.

The state’s latest health performance data, released today, showed it took ambulances an average of 9.53 minutes to arrive at life-threatening incidents in the last quarter of 2022.

That was up from the average of 9.03 minutes reported in the October to December period of 2021.

It also took paramedics longer to get to high-priority or code-one incidents, with an average response time of 13.08 minutes recorded in the latest quarter compared to 12.07 minutes a year earlier.

Ambulance services minister Gabrielle Williams said demand for ambulances had been high across the state. She told reporters today:

We saw over 100,000 code one cases responded to and 3,000 calls a day for an ambulance.

We’ve got to remember that much of what we’re seeing is not unique to Victoria. The demand on our system that we’ve been experiencing is global.

There was also a spike in people presenting at the state’s emergency departments, with 452,031 attending hospital in the final quarter of last year.

Despite the surge, average emergency wait times dropped to 20 minutes compared with 23 minutes in the July to September quarter.

Updated

Chinese security cameras: attorney general requests advice on whether government-wide ban is required

Returning briefly to the issue of CCTV and other equipment made by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua:

So far we’ve had public commitments from both the defence and foreign affairs ministers to remove such equipment from both departments. The government frontbencher Murray Watt, representing Mark Dreyfus in the Senate, also told the upper house yesterday that the attorney general had ordered a broader review that could lead to removal of the equipment from other departments, too:

I have seen the media coverage regarding this issue in the last couple of days. What I can advise the chamber is that the attorney general has requested advice on whether a government-wide ban is required to address protective security risks. Of course, the Albanese government take national security seriously, and we will always act in the national interest.

Updated

RBA lifts inflation forecasts in latest economic projections

The Reserve Bank’s statement on monetary policy helps us understand a bit more of the reasons the central bank said on Tuesday that further interest rate rises are still to come.

As seen in the revisions since its previous statement in November, the RBA is forecasting underlying inflation will be higher in 2023, albeit only marginally so.

The so-called trimmed mean measure of inflation will be 6.25% by June and 4.25% by December. That compares with 5.5% and 3.75% that it had expected three months ago.

Underlying inflation excludes some of the more volatile price movements to get to a truer view of price pressures than the headline (grabbing) consumer price index.

For the December quarter, the media largely focussed on the 7.8:% CPI number for annual inflation, the highest in 32 years.

The underlying rate of 6.9% got less attention but probably warranted more since it was a record high, more than the 6.5% forecast by the RBA, and more importantly is what the central bank most closely watches.

When you hear the RBA has a 2%-3% target band for inflation the measure they want to see in that mix is that trimmed mean version.

Anyway, the slightly more upbeat view today is that underlying gauge will fall back to 3% by the end of next year (earlier than tipped previously). The CPI version won’t drop to that level until mid-2025, according to the latest projections.

Of course these are all model-based forecasts and include inputs such as the bank’s cash rate reaching “around 3.75% in the second half of 2023”. (We saw in the earlier post that investors are now betting it will top 4%, just.)

Things might not turn out as expected, such as household spending could prove more resilient to the interest rate hikes than currently predicted. (Or it could decline faster.)

And “inflation could turn out to be higher than expected if the high inflation environment leads to greater feedback between wages and prices than has been typical in the inflation targeting era” the RBA said.

As it stands, though, the RBA is not forecasting much of an upswing in wages, with the wage price index continuing to lag inflation (and so real wages continue to sink). The RBA says other incentives, including promotions, will mask the full size of compensation for us toilers.

Nothing too surprising so far. Stay tuned for more.

Updated

Greens welcome decision on family reunion visas for refugees who arrive by boat

The Greens have welcomed the government’s decision to scrap ministerial directions that prevent processing of applications for family reunion visas from refugees who arrived in Australia by boat.

Greens immigration spokesperson senator Nick McKim said it would address “one aspect” of a “humanitarian crisis deliberately created by bipartisan immigration policies”.

These discriminatory and unfair directions … have seen families unnecessarily separated for more than a decade. However, this decision alone is not enough to resolve the broader issues facing refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia.

Many of these refugees have suffered trauma and abuse, and the government must provide adequate support to help them heal and rebuild their lives. We now need to ensure that these family reunion visa applications are processed without delay.

McKim also urged the government to deliver its election promise to abolish temporary protection visas and provide a pathway to permanent residency for refugees and asylum seekers currently in Australia.

Updated

Penny Wong on Chinese surveillance cameras: ‘We are removing them’

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, says she has asked her department to accelerate the replacement of Chinese surveillance cameras in the wake of media reporting this week.

The Liberal party frontbencher James Paterson this week publicised figures breaking down the use of Hikvision and Dahua devices including CCTV equipment by government department. Figures published by the Australian said 28 Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade sites used such equipment. Paterson called for an urgent plan “from the Albanese government to rip every one of these devices out of Australian government departments and agencies”.

The government has accused the opposition of politicising the issue (given that the cameras have not suddenly been installed since the change of government, and some concerns were raised as far back as 2018).

Wong told ABC Adelaide today:

We are removing them. I’ve asked my department to accelerate the replacement of these cameras, the defence minister has asked Defence to make sure they’re removed and replaced. So I think this can be resolved. The advice to me is that they’re not connected to the internet, so there’s minimal security concerns, but obviously given what has happened in other countries, it’s probably a good idea to do it ... Obviously there was a decision made to remove them, and I’ve asked that that be accelerated.

Wong said it was important to “decide as a country where you’re going to source certain equipment from, where you’re going to source some of the things you use, and where there are, where it’s important to make sure you take a very cautious approach, that’s what we should be doing”.

Late night a spokesperson for China’s foreign affairs ministry, Mao Ning, warned Australia against “erroneous practices of over-stretching the concept of national security and abusing state power to discriminate against and suppress Chinese companies”. Mao added:

We hope the Australian side will provide a fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for the normal operation of Chinese companies and do more things that could contribute to mutual trust and cooperation between our two countries.

Updated

Severe thunderstorms and heavy rainfalls are predicted in Queensland, NSW and Tasmania today.

The bureau of meteorology is also concerned the storms could lead to more flash flooding for Queensland and NSW.

WA’s Curtin University plans real wage cuts for staff

Curtin University staff will vote today on a proposed enterprise agreement labelled “insulting” by the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU).

The proposal would provide staff 2.2% annual pay increases over the next five years – a real wages pay cut when factoring in inflation, which was 8.3% in Perth’s last quarter.

The university’s pay negotiations with the union were abandoned after reaching a stalemate. The NTEU is calling on staff to reject the offer, with voting to run from today until 16 February.

NTEU Curtin University branch president Scott Fitzgerald said the university posted a surplus of $113.2m in 2021, the most recent reporting period.

It’s clearly not a case of the money not being available.

WA has just seen the largest cost-of-living rise in Australia yet management is offering a real wages pay cut that will put staff under enormous pressure. Staff at Curtin can’t afford a cut at a time when inflation continues to smash household budgets.

This offer is an insult to the hard work staff at Curtin put in every single day.

NTEU national president Dr Alison Barnes said it was “extremely disappointing” senior management were making a “conscious decision” to try to cut real wages.

Curtin staff have the power to send a message to universities all around WA and Australia - workers deserve fair pay rises, especially at a time when profits are soaring at so many campuses.

In December, University of Newcastle staff overwhelmingly voted no to a proposed enterprise agreement following stalled negotiations with unions. It offered staff a 9.5% salary increase over three years amid other limited concessions.

A spokesperson for Curtin University said since the existing agreement expired 18 months ago Curtin had consulted with employees and the NTEU “in good faith”.

While Curtin and the NTEU were able to agree on some terms, the parties are unfortunately too far apart on other matters and negotiations have stalled. .

In light of this and after careful consideration, the university determined it is in the best interest of its employees to proceed with a vote so that all employees … can have their say and receive the benefits on offer.

The new agreement offers employees a range of benefits including improved leave entitlements, flexibility and wellbeing provisions and salary increases of 11% over four years. Current Curtin salaries, on average, are the highest of the WA public universities.

Updated

Housing advocates call for Queensland rent hike limits

Advocates are calling for rent increases in Queensland to be tied to inflation plus 10% and limited to one per year amid a housing crisis, AAP reports.

The Queensland Council of Social Services and Tenants Queensland say the state government must intervene in the private rental market to help people struggling to meet the cost of living.

The two advocacy groups say Queensland has the highest rental inflation in Australia, with median rents rising 80% in Gladstone, 51% in Noosa and 33% on the Gold Coast since 2018.

Brisbane house and unit rents have also jumped 33% and 23%, respectively, since the pandemic began.

QCOSS chief executive Aimee McVeigh said restricting rises to inflation plus 10 per cent at most each year would protect about 30% of Queensland’s population, who are currently renters.

She said today:

With tens of thousands of Queenslanders experiencing housing insecurity who are not eligible for social housing, we also urgently need rental reform to stop more Queenslanders being forced into homelessness.

The housing crisis is happening amidst a broader cost-of-living crisis and the Queensland government must intervene urgently, so people on low incomes do not bear the brunt of inflation.

Cyclone Gabrielle

A tropical cyclone Gabrielle update from Weatherzone meteorologist Ben Domensino:

Updated

Jim Chalmers dismisses NSW treasurer’s ‘confected outrage’ over power bill relief

Federal, state and territory treasurers are gathering (virtually) about now to discuss a range of economic matters, and the tone might not be entirely chummy.

Ahead of the meeting, NSW treasurer and energy minister Matt Kean has been on the airwaves and in print calling for the Albanese government to pony up the support it promised to the states for energy assistance as part of its move to cap electricity and gas prices at the end of 2022.

As Kean says:

We’ve just committed to delivering an additional $250 in savings for NSW households, but there is more bill relief on the way from the commonwealth as part of our energy deal.

In exchange for establishing coal caps in NSW and forgoing royalties, the commonwealth agreed to match our energy rebates to the people of NSW – it’s time to deliver.

Those rebates are worth as much as $535 per low-income households and the NSW treasurer said he expects the commonwealth to “deliver that relief now” as promised.

Such pleas, though, haven’t gone down well with Jim Chalmers, the federal treasurer, who dismissed the comments as part of political posturing ahead of the NSW state election on 25 March.

Chalmers said:

Matt’s part of a government which has been in office for 12 years and is asking for 16, desperate to distract from the mood for change in New South Wales.

I think people will see through his confected outrage, especially when his own scheme doesn’t start until July.

It’s a bit unusual of Matt to demand something from the commonwealth that even he admits he couldn’t deliver.

Guardian Australia understands the NSW government’s beef is not that the payments were meant to start earlier than July 1 but rather it’s worried the federal government is pushing back until its May budget to sort out the payments.

“They’re cutting it bloody fine,” was one insider’s view. They had hoped Canberra would have sorted out how the payments would be made a lot earlier, it seems.

It may turn out to be a storm in a teacup but the spat is a reminder that energy prices remain a politically sensitive issue.

Chalmers is planning a media conference at about 1.30pm AEDT to discuss today’s meeting.

Updated

More names in the mix for Aston byelection

Hello again, just back to the Aston byelection for a moment. There are a few moving parts with this. In terms of candidates, I flagged earlier this morning that barrister Roshena Campbell is one potential candidate, according to Liberals. Other names in dispatches include barrister and reality TV contestant Sharn Coombs, who was a candidate in Dunkley in May, as well as the former state politician Cathrine Burnett-Wake.

There is a strong internal view that the Aston candidate should be a woman. There is also an open question about how the preselection will be conducted. The Liberal party has grassroots preselections in Victoria, but there is also capacity for the state admin committee to parachute someone in. The method will ultimately depend on timing. If the byelection will be held soon, there will be a view that having a candidate is better than a lengthy process to select one.

Updated

Home affairs 'caught in a loop' and faces 'devil's choice' on contracts: Pezzullo

In December my colleague Amy Remeikis revealed that the Department of Home Affairs extended a contract for civil maritime surveillance for six years, just months after a critical report found it had paid for flight time when no planes were in the air.

The auditor general in October 2021 found the department’s management of the contract with Surveillance Australia was “not effective” and “as a result, while surveillance services have been provided, the quantum and range of those services has fallen short of the contractual requirements”.

That included not having actual planes in the air for billed surveillance flight times, which the audit office estimated cost taxpayers up to $87m.

The contract was extended for another six years with very little variation just three months after the auditor general’s report. The contract, now worth $2.6bn to the company, has not been put to tender since it was first awarded in 2006.

Today the department’s secretary, Michael Pezzullo, fronted the audit committee to discuss the issue, conceding that he does not think it is acceptable there had been no competitive tender in 20 years for the contract.

Instead, there had been “market sweeps” to survey whether other providers could give the same capability before the contract was extended.

Pezzullo said the “best practice” would be an investment approach in which the department had guaranteed funds for capital, allowing it sufficient certainty to run a full tender process.

Pezzullo said the department is “faced with the devil’s choice” of losing operational capability or rolling over existing contracts.

He said:

When there’s no competitive process for 21 years we’re in a loop ... there’s no competitive process because there’s no capital program.

Pezzullo said without more capital investment, the government would be forced to deal with a “monopoly provider” of an “outsourced capability” or it would face the “darker” possibility of not flying surveillance aircraft.

Surveillance Australia acted within the terms of its contract, and Guardian Australia is not suggesting it acted improperly.

Pezzullo said the department does not “necessarily agree” with the ANAO’s conclusion, arguing the report’s criticism related mainly to 2008 to 2017 and procurement has improved since then.

He said the report “ does not adequately consider the outcomes based nature of the contract, or the complex and dynamics, civil maritime security operating environment in which the contract itself operates”.

Updated

Australian search and rescuers en route to Turkey

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has confirmed that the team of 72 Australian search and rescuers have left for Turkey from Richmond air base.

The defence minister, Richard Marles, says the emergency service personnel will “make a real difference when they get on the ground” in the earthquake-affected region.

The ABC is reporting that they will stay in Turkey for two weeks where they will have rotating teams so they can work around the clock 24 hours a day.

Albanese and the minister for foreign affairs, Penny Wong, have expressed their thanks to the Australian emergency service personnel.

Updated

RBA to reveal more clues to rate rise plans

Some acronyms catch on, but we’re guessing SoMP won’t be one of them. That’s the statement on monetary policy that the RBA releases every quarter.

We’ll get today’s 80-plus page statement in about an hour. Economists will be parsing the language for clues as to why the central bank is so confident further rises in the cash rate are necessary.

In case you’ve been paddling down a river lately (or otherwise out of the news cycle), the RBA raised its key interest rate for a ninth consecutive month (excluding their January summer break) on Tuesday and warned of more increases to come.

Markets have adjusted their predictions of how high the RBA will go, and are now pencilling in a 4% peak rate, implying three more typical increases from the 3.35% level as of Tuesday.

The statement will provide some updated projections on various economic numbers, with its inflation views likely to be looked at most closely.

Also of interest (so to speak) will be the RBA’s views on China given that the previous statement in November could not have anticipated Beijing’s sudden U-turn on Covid policies. Going from rolling, severe lockdowns to the bulk of 1.4bn contracting the virus in a matter of weeks was no small reversal and it may take a while to understand the economic and social impacts of such a shock move.

Updated

Anthony Whealy calls on Michelle Rowland to become advocate for donations reform

The chair of the Centre for Public Integrity and former supreme court judge Anthony Whealy spoke to ABC News this morning following the revelations that communications minister, Michelle Rowland, accepted donations from a gaming company before the May election.

Nine newspapers reported that Sportsbet paid for a campaign dinner and made a donation to Rowland’s campaign in the lead-up to the federal election. Labor did not disclose the donations because they were below the reporting threshold.

Whealy says the “most important lesson” he draws from the incident is the need for urgent reform to the federal donation system.

As to Michelle Rowland herself, she was not a minister at the time these donations were made, so I find it difficult to see that she has been in breach of ministerial code of conduct.

I think that what has to happen is that we have to reform the donation system, and I would like to see her become an advocate for that reform. That, to me, would expiate this perception that has been created by acceptance of these amounts of money.

And what we need to do is we need to get transparency in relation to disclosing donations. You see, this dinner was probably not disclosed because it doesn’t fall within the definition of a donation, and the amount of $10,000 which was the actual donation, falls underneath the present threshold federally, so you don’t have to disclose it. It’s got to be over $15,000 before you have to disclose it. So that’s the first thing: We need transparency in relation to the disclosure of donations.

Secondly, we need to lower the cap federally, or even impose a cap on federal donations. All the states and territories have caps on donations. Federally we don’t, so you can give as much as you like.

Updated

Foreign ministers in South Australia

The Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, is visiting South Australia, the home state of her Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, after wrapping up the meeting between the two nations’ foreign affairs and defence ministers in Canberra yesterday.

At that meeting they discussed Asean priorities under Indonesia’s Chairmanship, as well as maritime security, economic resilience and cooperation for the Pacific.

Wong has released her own statement at its conclusion saying:

Indonesia’s voice matters to Australia, to our region and to the world.

Updated

More work needed before alcohol ban opt-out, McCarthy says

The Northern Territory government will introduce laws next week reinstating bans in Indigenous communities in an effort to address alcohol-fuelled violence.

The federal assistant Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, said while communities would be able to opt out of the alcohol bans if more than 60% supported it, it would take time before that occurred.

She told ABC Radio on Friday:

We’ve got a tremendous amount of work to do before we even get to that point. I’m not keen on getting to that point right now. I think that right now we have to just stabilise the situation.

McCarthy was meeting with community leaders in Alice Springs on Friday, along with the minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, to discuss crime and alcohol issues.

The NT senator said residents in communities were keen on moving forward.

What I do feel from all the people that I’ve spoken to, whether it’s in person or on the phone from Canberra, is that they want to get to the other side of this.

So I do get a sense that whilst we’ve seen really horrid stuff over the past month or more, I do feel there is a sense of fatigue over them and people want hope for the future.

- AAP

Updated

Australian researchers may have found key to Covid immunity

If you and your family and friends are still puzzling over why it is some you have never become sick with Covid-19 while others have suffered serious illness, you’ll want to read our health editor Melissa Davey’s latest report.

Researchers have discovered a natural immune receptor that’s lining our lungs and blocks and controls the virus, and you can read about it here:

NSW records 62 Covid deaths and 931 people in hospital

There were 6,440 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and 24 people are in intensive care.

As in Victoria, the summer wave continues to ebb. This week’s figures are down from 6,567 cases and 88 deaths last week.

Peter Dutton will campaign in Aston byelection

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has committed to campaigning in Aston to retain outgoing Liberal MP Alan Tudge’s seat.

Dutton is not super popular in progressive Victoria, but he confirmed to Channel Nine he would join the campaign. He said:

Yeah, of course, there’s no question about that. As I say, I mean byelections are always difficult and there are different issues, lots of local issues – the government’s ripped money out of road projects in Aston, they have, I think abandoned the area for a long period of time, and as I say, Alan is a popular local member and that always brings a vote with it, which won’t be present in the byelection. But we’ll preselect a great candidate, and that process has already started. You’ll be seeing lots of us down in Aston and you know, we regularly get to Melbourne.

Dutton is already playing down expectations, describing what was until recently a safe Liberal seat as “a tough seat for us to hold”.

Byelections usually see a swing against the government. In fact, no government has won a seat off the opposition at a byelection in more than 100 years. So it’s a little cute for Dutton to be playing underdog.

Updated

Victoria records 52 Covid deaths and 118 people in hospital

There were 2,941 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and seven people are in intensive care.

That’s down from 3,056 cases and 70 deaths last week.

Australia sends rescue personnel to earthquake zone

Australia will send more than condolences, with 72 NSW emergency service personnel flying out of RAAF Base Richmond today to assist with search and rescue efforts, AAP reports.

The contingent includes 52 firefighters specially trained in urban search and rescue operations and disaster response and five special operations paramedics.

Fire and Rescue NSW assistant commissioner David Lewis said the crews were taking everything they needed to be self-sufficient. This includes 22 tonnes of high-tech equipment and critical supplies, from tents and bandages to bolt cutters, chainsaws and drills.

Lewis said:

We are virtually taking a hardware store over with us.

Technical equipment includes search cameras, or “snake cams”, to help find survivors in the rubble; laser building monitoring systems to alert rescue workers when rubble moves; and seismic listening devices, which can detect further tremors and any survivors tapping for help.

Lewis said:

This gear will go wherever our firefighters are deployed ... we have everything they’ll need from climbing harnesses and portable radios to triple-A batteries and notepads.

Updated

Black ribbon projection in earthquake solidarity

A black ribbon was projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House last night in solidarity with Turkey and Syria as the two nations continue to count the toll of Monday’s earthquakes.

The NSW minister for multiculturalism, Mark Coure, said the projection on the Sydney Opera House sails was a small gesture to show that NSW stands with the people of Turkey and Syria and surrounding nations.

As a multicultural society, when events like this happen we all feel it, and we all rally together to support those affected.

I want to express my sympathy for those with family and friends affected by this terrible tragedy, and we stand in solidarity with the authorities working to support recovery efforts.

You can follow the developments in the region as the death toll passes 20,000 on our live blog dedicated to the event:

Updated

“Severe to intense” heatwave for WA

How says there are “severe to intense” heatwave conditions predicted for Western Australia, with the potential for dry lightning:

It is a very remote part of Australia but we are seeing temperatures climbing to the low to mid-40s for places around the Goldfields, up towards the Pilbara and that will continue over the next few days.

Some of the heat is pushing across the east coast. We are seeing low to severe intense heatwave conditions developing across south-east Queensland and up towards the Capricornia over the weekend.

Temperatures all the way up to Mackay in the mid to high 30s. Very hot conditions which will stick around into next week right across the west and east coast.

Updated

Drier, warmer weather for NSW

How says NSW should get a reprieve from the intense rain that lashed the state yesterday, with drier and warmer conditions set to return to tomorrow:

We have seen huge storms over the last couple of days for eastern New South Wales on the coast and through inland areas.

We have seen falls above 100mm for large parts, from the south coast, to the Central Coast, which led to flash-flooding and disruption, including around Sydney, the Illawarra and Dubbo.

We are not expecting to see the huge totals today. There is a bit of moisture in the atmosphere.

Showers and storms through eastern New South Wales and down to eastern Victoria and they could produce heavy rainfall, large hail and damaging winds.

We are looking at much drier and warmer conditions from tomorrow.

Updated

Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle to make 'direct hit' at Norfolk Island

Jonathan How, a senior meteorologist at the bureau of meteorologist, is speaking to ABC News about Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle being upgraded to a severe category three system.

That means the system is capable of producing wind gusts up to 224km/h. Because it is a bit offshore, we are not expecting that along the Queensland coast. It is going to produce hazardous surf conditions and galeforce winds along the coast.

We have warnings current from the Capricornia down to the Sunshine Coast and Gold Coast today and it will extend to the Hunter coast and Newcastle from tomorrow .

How says Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle is moving towards the south-east and is expected to make “a direct hit at Norfolk Island”.

We are seeing the strong easterly winds picking up and there is a warning current. That means we will see gales of more than 100km/h develop either tonight or early on Saturday morning and peaking on Saturday night and Sunday morning with gusts up to 140, even higher and large waves and heavy lashing rainfall for Norfolk Island.

We might see the centre of the tropical cyclone pass directly over Norfolk Island. They will see a period of strong winds from one direction and then a deceptive lull in the middle and strong winds from the other direction. It hasn’t happened since 2017 that we have had almost a direct hit for for Norfolk Island. We could see the severe conditions last into Sunday afternoon for Norfolk Island.

Updated

Landslides and storm damage in NSW

The rural fire service were one of the emergency partners helping the SES out yesterday. Here’s an idea what those landslides and storm damage looked like:

Updated

SES gets 1,337 calls for storm help in NSW

The New South Wales State Emergency Service has responded to 1,337 calls for help, including 65 flood rescues, in the last 24 hours as heavy rain lashed much of the coast yesterday.

The weather affected 21 schools in the Illawarra and Shoalhaven, including six declared non-operational in Wollongong.

The greater Sydney area received more than 437 calls for help, with storm and flash flood-related incidents in parts of Sydney, the northern baches, Central Coast and the Hunter.

Further south in the Illawarra and south coast, 378 incidents included flood rescues from vehicles and people stuck in buildings, and landslides with one landslide along Lawrence Hargrave Drive stranding a bus. SES said all occupants of the bus were safe.

In the state’s west, a storm led to more than 239 incidents at Dubbo, including leaking roofs, water damage and a few flood rescues.

NSW SES State Duty Commander Colin Malone said SES volunteers and emergency partners would be out in the field again today.

We will continue to respond and assist communities and work through the impacts of this rain.

We’re asking people to check conditions before travelling. If you come across a flooded road, please do not take the risk, find an alternative route.

The SES say unsettled weather conditions are likely to continue, with the traditional storm season far from over.

Updated

Telcos have blocked 90m scam messages since July

We brought you the news on the blog earlier about the first company to breach Australia’s anti-SMS scam rules, months after the regulations came into effect.

AAP has some more details on the work telcos have been doing to block scams:

Since July 2022, Australian telcos have reported blocking almost 90m messages under the new rules.

Last year, financial losses from SMS scams increased by 188% compared to the previous year, from around $2.3m to over $6.5m.

SMS scams accounted for about 32% of all reported scams in 2022.

Updated

Ley denies opposition is a ‘no-alition’

Karvelas:

The prime minister use the word ‘no-alition’ to describe your political strategy this week – the reconstruction fund and your opposition to that, which was revealed this week. Is this opposition going to take the Tony Abbott approach, and just oppose everything?

Ley:

Not at all. We just want the government to deliver on their promises. And we’re not giving them blank checks on the national reconstruction fund, either, because it’s $15bn. They haven’t explained how it will benefit our manufacturing sector with the imperatives right now that the industry sector needs.

The IMF has warned against these off-budget vehicles as $45bn of them in the government’s plan. And it’s not a plan for the economy as it is now. It’s not a plan for rising costs of living, for rising inflation. It’s not a plan that even makes the government’s own promises. So we’re just saying just deliver on your promises, prime minister.

Updated

Ley accuses Labor of putting reconciliation at risk with voice debate

Ley is insisting that the Liberals are being part of the debate on the Indigenous voice to parliament but that it is the prime minister who is politicising the debate:

Julian Leeser asked a perfectly sensible question in question time yesterday, which was about which part of the Calma-Langton report would you adopt? … It was a basic question about detail. The prime minister just didn’t even answer one single part of it.

Karvelas:

But you could be part of the process. The prime minister is saying be part of the process.

Ley:

We are part of the process … but if the prime minister can’t answer a simple question that wasn’t the least bit political, it was asked in a very flat, factual manner in parliament. And if he answered that in a political way, what that tells me [is] he’s politicising the debate. But I agree, I don’t want to see this politicised.

Ley goes on to say Labor is risking reconciliation by not providing the detail on the Indigenous voice to parliament:

We don’t really have any guardrails around a final outcome with detail that lands exactly where we want it to, which is in the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians. … the prime minister has tied that to the concept of the voice but he can’t explain it. So until he provides the details, I believe it’s actually the Labor party that is putting reconciliation at risk.

Updated

Ley discusses byelection battle looming in Aston

Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley is speaking to ABC Radio about the resignation of former cabinet minister Alan Tudge and the byelection battle for the marginal Melbourne seat of Aston.

Ley has not weighed in on whether she believes a woman should be preselected, saying it’s a matter for the Liberal party branch in Victoria, which is responsible for preselection.

Tony Barry, the former deputy leader of the Liberal party, earlier told RN Breakfast that the Liberals have no choice but to preselect a woman in Aston.

Ley goes on to say the Liberals will be the “underdog” in the by-election:

By-elections are always incredibly tricky prospects there is no doubt about that... that substantial personal vote will be lost, we also note the Victorian Labor government was resoundingly elected just months ago.

So the Liberal Party will start this election race as the clear underdog, we know that.

Updated

Victorian Liberal MP Joe McCracken uses first speech to come out publicly as gay

New Victorian Liberal MP Joe McCracken has used his first speech to come out publicly as gay, in what is believed to be a first for the state’s parliament.

The MP for the seat of Western Victorian said he did not want to be defined by his sexuality and had difficulty being associated with the LGBTQ+ movement:

Most people would not know this about me, and it may come as a shock to some. I actually do have a partner in my life, but my partner is a he, not a she.

Jack, I want to thank you for all your support and care over the last period of time. It has been so appreciated. I do not know what I would have done without you.

McCracken said it had taken a long time to come to terms with his sexuality, saying he has experienced “doubt, shame, anxiety and many other things”.

He used his speech to say that “LGBT activists in Victoria carefully consider their public perception” and questioned the need for a separate flag to identify the LGBTQ+ community:

Many, including me, have difficulty being associated with the movement.

Most people in the LGBT community just want to get on with living their lives. Gay people do not need to be treated any differently to anyone else – no separate doctors, no separate radio stations, no festivals and no separate flags.

Flags represent nations and countries, and the only flags I will be saluting are the Australian flag and the Victorian flag. They are the only flags that do not discriminate on the people they represent.

Updated

The second coming of Josh Frydenberg won’t be via Aston

Good morning. If you were watching events yesterday, you will know the Victorian Liberal Alan Tudge resigned from parliament, which will trigger a byelection in his seat of Aston in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. I gather from calls last night and this morning that the former treasurer Josh Frydenberg was sounded out by some local branch members yesterday after Tudge’s position became clear but he’s telling people he won’t run. There’s also a view in some quarters of the Victorian Liberals that Frydenberg, if he’s to return, has to focus on winning back Kooyong. The field in Aston is considered reasonably open. There’s some talk of Roshena Campbell, a commercial barrister, stepping up to be the candidate.

Updated

Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle reaches category three intensity

Good morning! Natasha May reporting for blog duty.

The Bureau of Meteorology has this morning categorised Tropical Cyclone Gabrielle as category three intensity, which means offshore wind gusts of up to 224kmh.

As the cyclone heads towards Norfolk Island, a category two impact is expected for Saturday and Sunday.

You can read more about Gabrielle here:

Updated

Crackdown on spoofing scams

A global messaging company has become the first telco to be investigated by the Australian Communications and Media Authority for breaching Australia’s new anti-spoofing rules.

In spoofing scams fraudsters hide their number and display one from a legitimate organisation like a bank, government agency or road toll company.

An Acma investigation found that the SMS-focused telco Modica allowed customers to send SMS using text-based sender IDs (ie a name) without making sufficient checks to ensure they weren’t being used to perpetrate scams.

The Acma chair Nerida O’Loughlin said:

While we did not find evidence any scammers had used the vulnerability created by Modica, its failure to have adequate processes in place put people at risk of receiving SMS scams.

It is vitally important that all Australian telcos have processes in place to ensure their customers sending this type of SMS are who they say they are.

Uniform action is required across the sector as our experience has shown scammers will target the weakest link in telco systems to reach Australians.

The minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, said strong compliance was part of the “government’s comprehensive approach to scams”:

Fraudsters cause financial and immeasurable emotional and mental stress by impersonating legitimate organisations every day, and we thank the ACMA for its important work to help protect Australians.

Since July 2022 Australian telcos have reported blocking almost 90m SMS under these new rules, she added:

One more scam is one too many, and cases like this prove the action we are taking to fight non-compliance by telcos is effective, as well as serving as a warning to other companies.

Updated

Indonesian ministers in Canberra for ‘2+2’ meeting

Indonesian and Australian ministers have promised to be transparent with each other about their defence plans, as the Albanese government prepares to finalise a significant defence spending shake-up and the Aukus submarine program.

The Australian defence and foreign affairs ministers, Richard Marles and Penny Wong, held talks with their Indonesian counterparts, Prabowo Subianto and Retno Marsudi, in Canberra yesterday for a “2+2” meeting.

Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Retno Marsudi and Prabowo Subianto at Parliament House yesterday
Richard Marles, Penny Wong, Retno Marsudi and Prabowo Subianto at Parliament House yesterday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/EPA

The four ministers committed to transparency about their strategic and defence policy settings. They are due to have another meeting focused on cooperation in Canberra today, while the foreign ministers head to Adelaide for a Bali process ministerial meeting focused on people smuggling and transnational crime.

The previous 2+2 meeting between Australian and Indonesian ministers was held in September 2021 when the Coalition was in power, just a week before the Aukus submarine plans were unveiled.

The lack of a heads-up to Indonesia about Aukus became a difficulty for the former Coalition government to manage (and Indonesia joined Malaysia in expressing concerns about the submarine plans at the time) – so the commitment to transparency in the latest meeting is noteworthy.

Updated

No balloons seen over Australia

Australian defence officials say they are not aware of any incidents of Chinese surveillance balloons travelling over Australian territory.

The comments come as a US official said overnight that the balloon was “clearly” for spying and another claimed China had a “fleet” of surveillance balloons of different shapes and sizes, which it has deployed over five continents or regions including south-east Asia.

The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, said on Wednesday that the US was in touch with its allies and partners about the matter:

We’re not alone in this ... We’ve already shared information with dozens of countries around the world both from Washington and through our embassies. We’re doing so because the United States was not the only target of this broader programme which has violated the sovereignty of countries across five continents.

Asked for an update on whether Australia was aware of any historical incidents over Australia, a Defence spokesperson told Guardian Australia last night:

Defence remains unaware of a similar balloon over Australia, however we monitor such issues closely.

The US shot down a high-altitude balloon off the South Carolina coast on Saturday after it crossed the whole of the continental US. China said the ballon was for weather observation purposes and had been blown off course, but the US said it was manoeuvrable.

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of the Australian news day. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the main overnight breaking stories before my colleague Natasha May takes the reins.

We have a cracking exclusive story this morning about how the former energy minister Angus Taylor asked his department to consider delaying telling voters about electricity price rises before the May election, then made the decision to do so anyway. He later claimed he didn’t know about the rises. And it turns out Scott Morrison and Josh Frydenberg were in on the plan as well.

It comes on the day that rising power and gas bills and making housing more affordable will be on the agenda of a meeting of treasurers. The online meeting, hosted by federal treasurer Jim Chalmers, comes as the Reserve Bank releases its latest statement on monetary policy later this morning.

We also have an excellent story from our medical editor, Mel Davey, about how researchers at the University of Sydney believe the key to Covid immunity might lie with the discovery of a receptor protein in lungs which “acts a bit like molecular velcro” and sticks to the spike of the virus. This means the virus is immobilised in people with lots of the protein, possibly explaining how some people don’t become infected and others become very ill.

The US believe without doubt that the Chinese balloon that flew over North America for more than a week before being shot down over the Atlantic was “clearly for spying”. A US official made the claims overnight. Australian defence officials say they are not aware of any incidents of Chinese surveillance balloons travelling over Australian territory.

With that, let’s get going for the day.

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