Get all your news in one place.
100's of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Michael McGowan now and Amy Remeikis earlier

Pipeline factory near Ningaloo Reef reportedly scrapped – as it happened

Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd.
Former Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd. Photograph: Glenn Hunt/AAP

What we learned: Monday, 7 December.

That’s where I’ll leave you for tonight. We’ll be back with more tomorrow.

Here’s what we’ve learned today:

  • After eight months of separation, Western Australia will reopen its borders to New South Wales and Victoria from midnight. The state’s premier Mark McGowan confirmed on Monday that the reopening would go ahead, leaving South Australia as the only state still subject to domestic border restrictions. McGowan though said the border could still close if outbreaks occurred. “We’ve come so far here in WA, there’s no point in taking unnecessary risks,” he said.
  • Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk also announced the state would reopen its border to South Australia from 12 December, providing there were “no new unlinked cases in the community”.
  • Victoria began accepting international flights again on Monday, with a flight from Sri Lanka the first to touch down in Melbourne. All up, about 125 travellers arrived as part of the new hotel quarantine program in the state on Monday.
  • The attorney general Christian Porter announced criminal penalties of up to four years in prison to crack down on serious wage theft as part of the next plank of the government’s industrial relations reforms. The ACTU secretary Sally McManus had mixed feelings about the proposal. While “welcoming” laws addressing wage theft, she said the ACTU did “not support the high bar set for criminal offences, it is unlikely any employer will ever be caught and it will wipe out stronger and better laws in Queensland, Victoria and the ACT”.
  • The jury in the rape trial of former NRL star Jarryd Hayne was unable to reach a verdict, meaning the case will return on 16 December while the prosecution decides whether or not to pursue the charges in a separate trial.
  • A dangerous bushfire on Queensland’s Fraser Island continues to burn, with residents in some areas being warned to leave immediately on Monday evening.

Updated

Engineering company Subsea 7 has reportedly withdrawn its proposed oil and gas industry pipeline factory. The pipeline had been proposed for Exmouth Gulf, next door to Western Australia’s world heritage-listed Ningaloo Reef.

A campaign against the proposal was fronted by the author Tim Winton and backed by environmentalists and ecotourism operators.

Opponents of the proposal said it would have have led to 10km steel pipe bundles containing gas and communication lines being transported through the gulf to offshore gas fields, putting at risk coral beds and affecting hundreds of species in what is recognised as a nursery and foraging area for the marine life found on the reef.

As I mentioned a little earlier, Queensland will open to Adelaide from this Saturday as long as there are no unlinked Covid-19 cases in the next five days.

Earlier this afternoon the state’s health minister Yvette D’Ath said people travelling from Adelaide to Queensland will not have to quarantine from 1am on 12 December.

AAP reports D’Ath said it was important for people to remember to get tested if they had symptoms and register at venues as the state welcomed more visitors.

This is absolutely critical, the more our state opens up nationally, the more we need to be vigilant to ensure that we can contact trace if there is a case that is identified in the community.

Chief health officer Jeannette Young said that by Saturday, 28 days will have passed since the first case in the Parafield cluster.

If there are no additional cases between now and Saturday morning that are unable to be linked to that outbreak, then Queensland will no longer require quarantine of anyone travelling from those 20 local government authority areas in Adelaide.

Updated

Independent MP Zali Steggall has put out a statement arguing Scott Morrison should only be offered a speaking spot at the COP26 Climate Ambition Summit on Saturday if the government commits to a net zero emissions target by 2050.

Morrison has said he will attend the virtual summit to “correct mistruths” about the government’s heavily criticised record on emissions reduction. The Guardian has previously reported that Britain and France are among the countries that have been leaning on Australia to announce more ambitious climate policies at the summit.

Steggall, who won the long-time Liberal party seat of Warringah from former prime minister Tony Abbott at the last federal election, says she is “regularly contacted by traditional Liberal voters from other electorates dissatisfied by the government’s lack of commitment and action on climate change”.

We have heard a lot recently from the Coalition about the importance of strong climate change policies, but see little action.

If the prime minister does not have sufficient authority in his party room to step up to net zero by 2050, then open it up to a conscience vote. I urge the COP26 Climate Ambition Summit to only offer Australia a speaking spot if the Morrison government commits to meaningful climate action.

As the rest of the world moves forward in drastically reducing their emissions, the government appears unable to commit to anything other than not cheating by counting carryover credit – and this still has to be passed in the party room.

Updated

The ACTU secretary Sally McManus has just issued this statement responding to the government’s new wage theft proposal.

McManus:

We welcome any laws that will address wage theft, increasing penalties and cracking down on those who underpay workers is an important start.

One of the other issues where there was agreement with employers was establishing a quicker and fairer method for workers to recover wages, this is critical to ensuring workers can enforce their rights and get their money back. We wait for details on this.

We do not support the high bar set for criminal offences, it is unlikely any employer will ever be caught and it will wipe out stronger and better laws in Queensland, Victoria and the ACT.

You can real the full story from my colleague Paul Karp below:

Updated

Queensland announces reopening of border with South Australia

Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk has just announced the state will reopen its border to South Australia in time for Christmas, subject to “no new unlinked cases in the community”.

Updated

Police in New South Wales are investigating after a nine-year-old girl was killed in a truck crash in Sydney’s west on Monday afternoon.

In a statement, police said officers were called to Cambridge Gardens near Penrith just after 4pm after reports a child had been hit by a truck.

The child, a nine-year-old girl, died at the scene.

“An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the crash is underway,” police said in a statement.

New Zealand will appoint a new minister to implement recommendations from an extensive inquiry into the 2019 Christchurch mosque shootings in which 51 people died, prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said.

Ardern on Monday promised “accountability” on the report’s findings, but refused to commit to calls for a national apology.

Updated

Kevin Rudd accuses Morrison of having 'misled' parliament

Kevin Rudd has put out a statement accusing Scott Morrison of having “misled” parliament in stating the former prime minister received a travel exemption during Covid-19.

Updated

Good afternoon! It’s so nice outside (if you’re in Sydney)! You should be outside enjoying the weather, but also still constantly and anxiously checking this blog obviously.

The New South Wales premier, Gladys Berejiklian, has put out a press release celebrating the return of “more than 60,000 Murray Cod” into the Darling River.

Berejiklian attended the return of the cod some two years after the first of three major fish deaths along the river.

While she referred to the deaths as the result of “high temperatures and record low rainfall”, a scientific panel put together to examine the fish deaths was also at pains to point out the role that management of the Murray-Darling river system played in the deaths.

In any case, the NSW opposition leader, Jodi McKay, has suggested the return of the cod, which took place near Menindee, about 1,000km west of Sydney, was convenient for Berejiklian.

As McKay has pointed out on Twitter, the visit took place on the day Icac’s counsel assisting had been expected to hand down his submissions over the Daryl Maguire case. The submissions ended up being delayed, however.

Updated

I am going to hand the blog over to Michael McGowan for the next part of the day - thank you to everyone who joined me for the day shift.

I’ll be back early tomorrow morning for the third-last sitting day of the year. It’s also party room meeting day, so there is always some fun and games around that.

(And if you are waiting to see what Queensland has decided on border entry restrictions for South Australians, we haven’t heard as yet. There is no daylight saving there, so there is still time for it to come out tonight.)

Have a lovely evening – and take care of you!

Updated

Coalition senator Andrew Bragg is continuing his crusade against online newspaper the New Daily.

It’s funded through industry super, and changes the government wants to put through would mean super funds would have to prove the financial benefit to members from that (it could always be put into a trust, but let’s see what happens).

This is his latest statement on the issue:

The Senate has voted to see the details of the deal between the ABC and the New Daily, which is the media arm of the super funds’ lobby group.

Despite the ABC being prohibited from advertising, it is taking money from a highly dubious outlet which uses workers’ super to attack critics of super and political opponents.

Super funds have already sunk at least $12m of workers’ super into the New Daily boondoggle. It is a grotesque waste of superannuation guarantee contributions.

I am concerned the New Daily deal may impact ABC reporting on superannuation.

Super funds are supposed to be working for their members - not running propaganda outfits.

The existing fiduciary duty which applies to super funds should prohibit this sort of waste but it has not. The new law proposed in the last budget will certainly prohibit this waste of workers’ money.

The Senate’s passage of the motion should now force the ABC to disclose the commercial arrangements as Mr Anderson promised at estimates.

Mr Anderson had told the Senate in November: “I’m happy to give you a range, if you like, of what revenue we get from that.”

Friday’s disclosure is insufficient and inconsistent with Mr Anderson’s commitment to the Senate. We need to know the details of the ABC’s deal with the super lobbyists.

Updated

Christian Porter told Sky News earlier today he is still looking at whether or not he takes legal action against the ABC for the Four Corners report “Inside the Canberra Bubble”.

Here is the exchange, as per the transcript his office released:

Q: Four weeks ago Four Corners ran a program focusing in part on you. You rejected the claims categorically and described the report as defamatory – at the time you said you’d look at your legal options. Where is that at? Will you take legal action?

Porter:

Well, I’m still having a good think about that and I do reject absolutely the assertions that were made on that show. I don’t want to get distracted from this type of work, so I’m going to have a bit of a think about that as we manage to bed down some of these important economic legislative changes. I’m also going to wait and see what they do by way of response to the minister’s letter which I think put in a whole range of pretty important questions that deserve a response, so I’ll have a bit of a cold hard think about that over the coming weeks.

Q: So a genuine look at it, not one of those lines you say in response to a controversy at the time, you’re genuinely looking at that?

Porter:

Yeah, I mean like any good lawyer, when I have a moment to have a little bit of quiet time to have a sober look at it and particularly the ABC’s responses to the minister’s letter, I’ll have a look at it.

Updated

Rex Patrick (now an independent senator) was just speaking to Patricia Karvelas on the ABC about his position on the cashless debit card – he is one of the senators whose vote could scuttle it or make it permanent.

What does he want to see to pass it (which is how he seemed to be leaning in the interview)?

There are some amendments. For example, where I said to the government if I were to support this and come to the conclusion that this, the card, should stay, I would like to see amendments related to decision times, basically requiring the government to make decisions quickly on people who seek access or seek to remove themselves from the card.

I have some concerns about people in remote areas, where the power goes out, communications go out, the internet goes out, making sure there are backup measures for people to get access to cash.

There are also amendments I’m proposing to make sure that the parliament has the ability to disallow any moves by the minister to either increase or decrease the quarantining amounts. So they’re just a couple of examples of conversations that I’ve been having with the government.

I have not given the government any commitment as to supporting the bill, all we are doing is making sure that if I come to the conclusion that the bill is worth supporting that any amendments that I might want are at least understood and available to move, if that is the case.

Updated

The bells are going absolutely off in the Senate - a Senate watcher has let me know that the Coalition and Labor are voting together to cut the number of motions crossbenchers and minor parties can bring.

The government and the opposition had cut the number of motions which other parties (including independents) could bring - but then a motion was put forward to reinstate the original system. Recently, Jacqui Lambie became quite emotional about not being able to move a motion recognising veterans, particularly those with mental health issues from their service, on Remembrance Day.

The Coalition and Labor are still against it, and that gives them a majority. And it means the five crossbenchers and the Greens will have to share a limited number of motions between them. That cuts down the time the Senate will spend on motions, but also means that a lot of issues won’t get airtime.

Updated

The bill will come down to the crossbench.

The government needs three crossbenchers for it to pass.

Labor and the Greens need two crossbenchers to block the legislation.

Rex Patrick is now an independent, so he negotiates separately from Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff. Jacqui Lambie is another independent, and then One Nation carries two votes. You can probably guess which way One Nation will go. So it’s down to the other three.

Updated

Third reading vote is 62 to 61 - which means it is carried.

Tony Burke asks for clarification on what a tie would have meant in the third reading - Tony Smith essentially says practice determines the Speaker doesn’t create a majority where there isn’t one (the Speaker has a casting vote in the event of a tie).

What Burke was doing there was confirming that Bridget Archer had a chance to actually follow through on her convictions (she passionately opposed the bill in a speech to parliament) and end the legislation there and then - crossing the floor would have given the tie which ended it - but didn’t.

The bill goes to the Senate.

Updated

It looks like Bridget Archer is abstaining again - I can’t see her in the chamber.

The third reading debate is happening on the cashless debit card legislation vote in the House.

The government has a majority of two. So Labor’s calculations are if the previous voters remain as they did, and Bridget Archer crosses the floor, then it is a tie.

If she abstains again, the legislation is carried by one.

One would think she only wants a symbolic opposition to this, not completely scuttle it in the House, before it gets to the Senate, where the crossbench will decide its fate.

Updated

Christian Porter said this in question time - but here are the details on the “unscrupulous employers” penalties he was talking about (as per his statement)

There would be a new criminal offence for “the most egregious” examples of “genuine” wage theft:

· The offence would apply in circumstances where a national system employer dishonestly engages in a deliberate and systematic pattern of underpaying one or more of their employees.

· The new offence will carry a maximum penalty of 5,000 penalty units ($1,110,000 fine) or imprisonment for up to 4 years (or both) for individuals, and 25,000 penalty units ($5,550,000) for a body corporate.

· Individuals convicted of the criminal offence would also be automatically disqualified from managing corporations for a period of five years under the Corporations Act 2001.

· The proposed offence gives effect to Recommendation 6 of the Migrant Workers’ Taskforce.

· Importantly, the criminal offence will not apply to one-off underpayments, inadvertent mistakes or miscalculations.

· The government will encourage a greater focus on compliance by increasing civil penalties for individuals and corporations.

· For most wage underpayments, the maximum penalty will increase by 50 per cent from 60 to 90 penalty units for individuals ($19,980 fine – up from $13,320) and from 300 to 450 units for a body corporate including small businesses ($99,900 – up from $66,600);

· For underpayments by bigger businesses, maximum penalties will now be based on the higher of either “two times the benefit obtained”, or 450 penalty units ($99,900). Small business will be exempt from this change and it will not apply to individuals.

· For wage underpayment contraventions considered serious by bigger businesses, penalties will be based on the higher of either “three times the benefit obtained”, or 3000 penalty units ($666,600). Small business will be exempt from this change (the current maximum serious contraventions penalties of 3,000 penalty units / $666,600, will remain) and it will not apply to individuals (current maximum is 600 penalty units, or $133,200).

· Infringement notice fines and maximum penalties for sham contracting and for failing to comply with a Fair Work Ombudsman compliance notice will all also increase by 50 per cent.

Updated

For those looking for a little more detail on what is happening in the house, Linda Burney has moved for the cashless debit card legislation, which would make it permanent in trial communities (which have large Indigenous communities) and introduce it to the Northern Territory (which again, has a large Indigenous community) to be considered in detail. The government was attempting to rush it through the House.

This is dragging out the time between the second and third reading, to try and convince Bridget Archer, a government MP who has publicly spoken out against the bill, to cross the floor.

Bridget Archer
Bridget Archer has previously publicly spoken out against the bill. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

If Archer votes against the bill in the third reading, the vote will be tied and the legislation is dead.

This seems a very unlikely outcome - the Bass MP is more likely to abstain a third time, in which case it will be carried by one - and head to the Senate, where it will be up to the crossbench to decide its fate.

Updated

Government at risk of losing cashless debit card legislation vote

There is a chance the government’s cashless debit card legislation could go down on the house.

Bridget Archer, who opposes the cashless debit card legislation, has abstained from the first two votes on the bill.

That’s kinda a big deal as we get to the third vote in the next 30 minutes.

If Bridget Archer abstains from the third vote, then the bill will still pass. If she crosses the floor and opposes it, the vote will be a tie.

Under practice, if a vote is a tie at that stage, the status quo continues - meaning the legislation would be defeated at the House stage - it wouldn’t go to the Senate.

We’ll keep you updated - most likely Archer will continue to abstain. But you never know.

This could be a hint to the boss about the cabinet reshuffle, or it could be about getting dumplings for lunch.

My last fortune cookie said ‘never take advice from a girl from Long Island’ and obviously, I would take all the advice from a girl from Long Island because who wouldn’t?

If you are looking for fun advice - go to Co-Star

The Australian Financial Review is reporting the tech giants have won some concessions from the government in the media bargaining code review:

Facebook and Google will be permitted to count the monetary worth of online readers they deliver news websites in calculations to determine how much money they pay media organisations for the value of journalism on their platforms.

The SMH and the Age is reporting the public broadcasters – ABC and SBS – are also included (they had been excluded in the first take of this).

But it doesn’t look like it will be passed until early next year – at the earliest. The bill will go to committee, before it heads to a vote. The Greens and Labor had wanted the broadcasters included, so that goes some way to smoothing its journey through the parliament, but we haven’t seen the detail yet. And as we know, that is where the devil can always be found.

Updated

Sports rorts report shows uncertain 'legal basis for the minister's role in approving grants'

The public accounts and audit committee, which is chaired by government MP Lucy Wicks, has returned its report on sports rorts – it was looking at whether or not there needed to be changes to the way sports grants were awarded.

Julian Hill from Labor says the committee – which includes government MPs – recommends the need for changes:

Sport Australia has been ordered to seek legal advice and report back in six months after the committee found there was “significant uncertainty regarding the legal basis for the minister’s role in approving grants”.

The committee’s report acknowledges evidence of the favouritism shown to government seats and MPs and Liberal party candidates in the allocation and announcement of sports grants, and calls for new processes to be established so that all MPs can advocate fairly for their communities in the future.

Secretive ministerial panels, including the now deputy prime minister, allocated funding in the $222m “Regional Jobs Rorts” program. Yet failed to keep proper records of how and why money was allocated, and whether ministerial conflicts of interest were even disclosed.

This included a controversial and secretive decision to give $5.5m to a LNP donor for a project that was ruled ineligible, yet the grant was approved by the ministerial panel anyway.

And in a Yes Minister-style recommendation, a new 8th principle be added to the Commonwealth Grants Rules and Guidelines is proposed: “Adherence to published guidelines”.

The government’s own MPs have admitted that Scott Morrison’s ministers can’t be trusted to follow the rules – they need a whole new section to remind ministers they have to follow their own rules! It would be funny if it wasn’t so farcical.

Other recommendations for change across that will impact all commonwealth grants programs include:

  • Change to the rules to force ministers and ministerial panels to keep records when they approve or reject grant applications and recommendations from agencies.
  • A requirement for ministerial panels to keep records of their secret meetings in future grants programs, and to disclose and record ministerial conflicts of interest.
  • A full review by the Department of Finance (Finance) of the grants reporting and compliance system that monitors if the rules are being followed and a report back to the JCPAA within six months.
  • An overhaul of Finance’s Resource Management Guidelines to show agencies and ministers what best practice is supposed to look like.

Updated

For those asking, South Australians travelling to WA will have to quarantine for two weeks (at the moment).

NSW and Victoria (along with every other jurisdiction other than SA) will not have to quarantine from midnight.

If you arrive before then, sorry – you will have to quarantine. Those in quarantine will have to stay there.

Updated

Question time ends.

Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:

I refer to the prime minister’s September announcement where he promised to bring all stranded Australians home by Christmas. Why have Tony Abbott and Alexander Downer been able to leave and re-enter Australia multiple times this year when there are thousands of vulnerable, stranded Australians who haven’t been able to get home once?

Morrison:

Why he would want to bring personalities into this, Mr Speaker, given that Mr Rudd has done the same thing, surprises me*.

I think this reflects the politics of negativity that has overtaken the opposition at a time when the country is dealing with one of the biggest crises we have seen, we will focus on the economics recovery while those opposite are stranded in the politics of negativity that they bring Into this place on a daily basis.

Some 29,416 Australians have had travel exemption decisions approved by Border Force. Some 29,416. As I reminded him earlier, even since that day in September, some 43,800 Australians have returned.

Mr Speaker, that is since September, when there were some 26,200 who were registered at that time.

So, Mr Speaker, we continue to bring Australians home, and those who we’ve allowed and given exemption decisions to approve their travel have been for compassionate and compelling reasons for critical skills – medical, critical skills – for national interests including diplomatic, emergency treatment – we have been approving and supporting Australians moving out of this country and into this country as those needs have determined and those decisions have been independently done by the Border Force commissioner, Mr Speaker.

So if the deputy leader of the opposition wants to pick an argument with the Border Force commissioner about how he is independently exercising those decisions, Mr Speaker – if he wants to do that, if he wants to attack the integrity of the Border Force commissioner** he should get up and he should do it and not be doing this in the cowardly way he is doing in this place.

*I am not sure mentioning that another very wealthy former politician has been able to leave and enter when families are crying out for help, after being charged up to $50,000 for flights home is a winning strategy, but anyway.

**This is exactly what Peter Dutton did when he attacked the Queensland government for allowing Tom Hanks and crew into Queensland for a movie shoot – it was days and days of ‘they let movie stars in, but not grieving and sick Australians’ until it was pointed out (by the Guardian) that Border Force (which sits under Dutton’s ministerial umbrella) gave the approvals.

Updated

Peter Dutton takes another dixer as the minister representing the minister for defence (who is in the Senate) – not one on his portfolio.

Just noting it ahead of the cabinet reshuffle.

Updated

Catherine King to Michael McCormack:

Since March, the government has allowed Virgin to fall into administration, costing 3,000 jobs, denied jobkeeper to thousands of workers at council-owned airports, and sat back while Qantas has sacked 8,500 people.

What more will it take for the government finally come up with a plan for aviation?

A (very cranky) McCormack:

As I said in my previous answer, this is a global pandemic. It has hit the aviation sector not just in Australia, but right across the world, extremely hard.

Some airline companies are not now flying, and they will never fly again.

Fortunately in Australia, we now have a situation with two viable airlines flying, and they are Virgin and they are Qantas. The member who asked the question asked about Virgin. Virgin came into the global pandemic with around $5bn of debt.

They were always going to need to restructure and refinance, but thanks to the assistance that we have provided and good management and a situation where we gave them every confidence and optimism, they were able to recapitalise and restructure.

We look to them for the future because they have made a lifeline for the company, which has kept them flying. We thank them for their management, for having the optimism to take that company forward, and spoke to [them] just last week. We had a very good meeting, and [they] see that there are blue skies and tail winds ahead.

We want to see Virgin in the air, and we want to see them taking on more routes and more workers, and will work closely with them to ensure that happens.

The shadow minister for transport mentioned Qantas, and it is tough for those workers who have been laid off. But it is a situation where other businesses to have laid off workers.

That is provided connectivity with workers, but that service would provide across all services has helped businesses re-engaged.

In so many workers who had been laid off now getting their jobs back, returning to the workforce. Sometimes with the companies they work for previously, sometimes in a new endeavour.

And what we’re doing with the apprentices under skills programs that we are putting in place, the subsidies, is making sure that some people can reskill and look to the future.

The shadow minister also mentions the Dnata, it is foreign-owned, owned by the Emiratis, and I appreciate that.

I can hear you loud and clear. You didn’t need to yell it at me.

And we have certainly done things for Australian workers right across the board, and will go on doing things right across the board, but a message to the member for Watson, it is a global pandemic, these are tough times and we will act in a responsible way.

Updated

Michael McCormack is asked about the Qantas job losses again, and gives the same answer he has the whole pandemic - aviation is struggling, but the government is doing what it can to assist.

On a side note, I flew to Canberra from Brisbane yesterday, after a whirlwind trip home, and I saw Qantas staff thank Labor senator Murray Watt for the work he had been doing advocating for aviation workers who had lost their job, or at threat of losing their job.

Chances are they were union members - but it is being noticed. The aviation sector has been hit very, very hard - a friend who runs a communication company says she has had pilots apply for jobs she was offering, because they are struggling to find work.

There is going to be a lot more pain coming, post March. Just keep an eye on it - it’s not a problem which is going to go away and who is and who is not advocating for the industry is being noticed.

Mike Freelander to Christian Porter:

Last week when asked the Minister to help a Coles worker, workers and my electorate locked out of their work place for three months the Minister asked for further information which I provided immediately.

Minister, I have still heard nothing back. Why won’t the government help these workers who have no income as they approach Christmas? Surely these workers and their families deserve a better Christmas present then being locked out of their jobs?

Porter:

I thank the Member for that further question I must say the situation on further investigation is more complicated than the members question alerts the House to being.

It has a deep history as I understand, the situation, that particular area of operation...

That particular operational centre has been scheduled to close for some time, describing people as being locked out of it it...

Mike Freelander rises with a point of order - “it is well known that that centre isn’t due to close until 2023. Three years time.”

(New information is not a point of order, apparently)

Porter:

That is precisely the point there is a scheduled closure of that operation centre, indeed, locking out is not about the closure, the issue is around a dispute of pay, with a percentage difference is in that dispute, that dispute has to be resolved through its normal challenge set up in the Fair Work Act through the fair work commission which is happening.

The offer some considers reasonable sum considered is not but that is something that has to be resolved in the usual way.

Justine Elliott to Christian Porter:

Is the minister aware of a recent report that shows blueberry workers in New South Wales are being paid as little as $3 an hour? Why is the government congratulating itself on using marketing slogans rather than doing anything to help exploited workers like this?

Porter (this includes some new information):

I am aware of that report, it shouldn’t happen, it’s disgraceful, this government has done more on the compliance front both legislatively and as a matter of practice than any other government in the country’s history, and that should not happen.

And when you ask us what further can be done to make sure that kind of compliance, it is interesting that, of the five areas we looked at in 150 hours of groups, one of those areas was compliant on the bill we will introduce to parliament.

Well, for the first time ever created in this country at the commonwealth level an offence of wage theft, for the first time ever. It will significantly increase civil penalties on top of the 10 fold increase we had already instituted, it will also have new principles, whereby the civil penalty can be either or – either the 50% increase or a new concept which is called benefit gained, so you can actually look at the amount of underpayment that has occurred from the employer and you can find them effectively either two or three times that underpayment.

Those of the sort of things. I’ll take the interjection. First you have to catch them, it is the Fair Work Ombudsman that did that, you underfunded them and we increased the funding.

You have strong laws we are introducing this week and you have a strong regulator, which we have made sure has occurred.

So those sort of situations shouldn’t occur, they are regulated and policed heavily by this government and this government has increased the penalties and will further increase the penalties, including creating the criminal tool penalty of wage theft and including and introducing a new type of civil penalty which will link the charge or fine to the amount of the underpayment, which we believe is the way you can make sure that the signals are right so that kind of thing that should never happen does not happen.

Updated

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Will the prime minister guarantee that no worker will be worse off as a result of his industrial relations changes?

Morrison:

What we are focused on is getting Australians back into jobs. If you are a worker who is not in any job, you are worse off.

And so our plans are to get workers who are not in jobs back into jobs. And our plan is to work with employers and employees to make sure we are getting more Australians back in those jobs.

The difference between the Labor party and the Liberals and the Nationals is that we see the workplace is a place of cooperation, not conflict.

We do not see the future of getting Australians back into jobs as an adversarial conflict-based issue in the workplace.

And that is why the package of measures that the minister of industrial relations ... has outlined deals with the practical issues that are preventing people from getting back into jobs.

And Mr Speaker, there is no prouder day for a small business owner than when they create a job and they put someone into a job. That is how you make Australians better off.

Albanese:

Thank you Mr Speaker, the question can’t have been clearer, there was zero rhetoric. Will the prime minister guarantee no worker will be worse off as a result of his industrial relations changes, yes or no.

Tony Smith says practice makes clear that no one can be compelled to answer yes or no and the question invites the government to outline its approach.

Morrison:

Our industrial relations changes are about making Australian workers better off by getting them in jobs and keeping them in jobs.

By understanding that a job is created by a business, eight out of 10 are in private businesses in Australia.

They don’t exist without those private businesses. Those mum and dad businesses are out there employing someone. As I’ve spoken to people around this country, either digitally or otherwise, when jobkeeper came in, and when Australian business owners have talked to me about jobkeeper, they haven’t said thank you for jobkeeper it saved my business, they have said thank you for jobkeeper because it kept my employees in jobs.

Those businesses care deeply about the jobs of Australians. And what we’re doing through these changes is equipping those businesses to employ more Australians ... by ensuring that they have the confidence to go and do so in a recovering economy.

Mr Speaker, the path that the opposition leader has sought to go down today is down the old path of conflict. We are about solutions, not picking fights.

You may have noticed a certain theme in the prime minister’s answers today.

Updated

Once again, back to question time!

The WA parliament has also been prorogued ahead of the March state election (it will be official dissolved in January):

NSW, Victoria residents can enter WA without quarantine

Congratulations to everyone in NSW and Victoria who has been locked out of WA - you can go home

We are just waiting to hear from Queensland now on South Australia.

Updated

Richard Marles to Scott Morrison:

In September he announced that all stranded Australians would be home by Christmas. How many stranded Australians will be overseas on Christmas Day because of his refusal to act on the recommendations of the halt and review and establish national quarantine facilities likely among instead of just blaming the states. Rather than spending 15 million dollars on his comeback advertising campaign, why not do more to help Australians come back home?

Morrison:

This is a serious issue, and one the government has been giving serious attention to. But the question posed by the member opposite demonstrates that Labor and the truth once again have an unhappy relationship.

On about the 18 September we made a commitment. At that time there were about 26,000 people registered overseas. That was our target, we were clear about that. 43,800 Australians have come home since that time.

43,800 have come home since that time, working together with the states and territories, in particular to establish not only a expanded quarantine capability with the Northern Territory government, federal support in the Northern Territory, but to do the same thing in Tasmania.

In addition to that, 13 commercial flights have been facilitated by the government since October 23.

But Mr Speaker there has been some 77 government facilitated flights that has brought home directly, specifically, outside the commercial arrangements, some 32,100 Australians.

Mr Speaker our government has been acting on the course to get Australians home. Back in March we said very clearly that we would advise against Australians going overseas, and those who are overseas we would encourage them to return at the earliest opportunity.

Right now, we have some 39,000 or thereabouts who are still registered to come back. That is higher than the figure that we had in September.

But we have facilitated flights, provided tens of millions in support to those stranded overseas, cash assistance, accommodation support, to support them wherever they are.

Services Australia is contacting all of those Australians to ensure that we have the most up-to-date information about their needs to come home.

But Mr Speaker the Labor ... Party, we said 26,000 need to come home, and we have 49,000 who have come home.

In response to the efforts that we put in place. They can chip away as they seek to do, they are very grumpy over there, our government will leave them to their grumpiness, we will get on with the job of getting Australians home, get on with the job of recovering the Australian economy, getting Australians back in the job, and the politics of negativity will not be our focus.

Right, back to question time.

NSW's AAA credit rating drops

Shortly after the Victorian announcement, S&P’s has also downgraded New South Wales from AAA to AA+.

(A reminder that interest rates for borrowing will remain pretty much the same.)

Here’s the rationale for that:

The Covid-19 recession – and its lingering aftereffects – has had a severe effect on NSW’s budgetary performance. NSW has written down its general government revenue forecasts over the four years to fiscal 2024 by A$14.8 billion, relative to prepandemic expectations. At the same time, the state is rolling out tens of billions of dollars in economic support and stimulus initiatives and has further expanded its already-large forward infrastructure pipeline. We expect NSW to record a cash operating deficit of 12% in fiscal 2021, before returning to balance shortly after as tax receipts rebound and emergency spending measures wind down.

Multiple revenue lines have taken a hit. The largest loss of revenue will likely be from smaller goods and services tax (GST) grants from the commonwealth government (ie the Australian sovereign) on the back of weaker domestic consumption. NSW forecasts that GST revenue over the next four years will be A$8.7 billion lower than anticipated prepandemic. Forecasts for receipts from payroll taxes, stamp duties and mining royalties have also been written down.

The fiscal recovery in future years will occur because NSW’s stimulus measures are temporary and targeted, and an economic upturn has commenced. For instance, NSW will offer a two-year reduction in the payroll tax rate, forgoing A$2.1 billion in revenue. The response to the pandemic has also included more than A$3 billion in new spending to boost health system capacity and a A$3 billion Jobs and Infrastructure Acceleration Fund.

In the medium term, we expect that NSW’s strong commitment to fiscal discipline will limit growth in operating expenses. The November 2020 budget contains several new savings measures, the most important being A$4.3 billion saved from lower public-sector wages growth. This reflects a cap on wage increases of just 0.3% in fiscal 2021 for approximately 170,000 workers, rising to 1.5% for all public servants through fiscal 2024.

The financial implications of a proposed reform of property taxes are uncertain, but likely to be manageable at the current rating. NSW is consulting on a proposal to phase out stamp duties and land taxes, replacing them with a new annual property tax. This proposal is not built into our base-case forecasts. On current modelling, there could be a loss of revenue of around A$11 billion over the first four years. However, in the longer run, the reform is designed to be revenue neutral. We think it could enhance productivity and make the state’s taxation base less volatile.

Updated

Victoria's AAA credit rating drops

RBA governor Philip Lowe told the economics committee last week he didn’t give much thought to AAA credit ratings, and he didn’t see them as a big deal.

Money is so cheap to borrow right now – and a couple of state treasurers have told me that the interest rates for a AAA economy and a AA economy are not that different.

Standard & Poor’s has lowered Victoria from AAA to AA.

Here was its rationale:

The lowered rating reflects our view that the Covid-19 pandemic has dealt Victoria a severe economic and fiscal shock that has materially weakened its credit metrics more than domestic and international AAA and AA+ rated governments.

Victoria’s economy has been affected more significantly than other Australian states and territories, mainly because fallout from the second wave of infections resulted in a substantial and prolonged lockdown. In our view, the Victorian government’s path to fiscal repair will be more challenging and prolonged than other states because of the significant increase in debt stock projected over the next few years and the state’s more limited flexibility to repair its balance sheet through asset sales and some degree of uncertainty about the government’s policy position with respect to expense management.

The government is responding to the exogenous shock by cushioning the economy through this period with large spending initiatives, including a record infrastructure budget. This is materially weakening its budgetary performance, with persistent operating deficits and very large after-capital account deficits. Reflecting this weakening of fiscal outcomes, we expect Victoria’s debt levels to triple relative to operating revenues over the next three years. Debt levels will remain elevated for many years.

Underpinning our AA rating is our belief that the economy is recovering and remains structurally wealthy and diverse on a global scale. Further, we consider that Victoria’s strong financial management should ensure liquidity coverage is comprehensive during this period of disruption. Australia’s extremely supportive and predictable institutional framework continues to support the rating.

Our ratings on Victoria were on CreditWatch negative because of significant uncertainty over Covid-19’s effect on the state’s economy and fiscal accounts. Unlike other Australian states, Victoria experienced a “second wave” of coronavirus infections and is suffering a longer and more severe hit to the economy and government finances as a result.

Updated

Tony Zappia to Karen Andrews:

My question is also to the minister for industry. Can she confirm of the $1.5 billion of manufacturing funds announced in the recent budget only $40 million, or less than 3%, will be spent this financial year? Why is the government always focused on the announcement and not on the delivery?

Andrews spends 2 minutes and 50 seconds filibustering:

In the three minutes that I have to answer that question I’m going to do my best to explain to those opposite how manufacturing actually works and how we will run our funding ...

The final 10 seconds bring this:

Understandably, I have no intention of squandering taxpayer money and trying to rush dollars out the door.

So we have set in place a proper process to make sure industry is engaged right at the beginning and that we are working with them to develop what the priorities are within the six manufacturing areas.

So that money is going to roll out over a number... so the first round of funding for two streams, which is that that deals with exports and that that deals with commercialised good ideas, will open in April.

Updated

Josh Frydenberg continues his mission to turn question time into Australian Idol - each MP who asks him a question gets their life’s work mentioned: “a lifesaver, a small business person, an author and a musician” and moves onto the “journey”. There is, of course, the now constant “comeback” references as well, so if Osher Gunsberg ever gets tired of hosting reality TV shows, Frydenberg could always slot right in.

Updated

Andrew Wilkie has the independents’ question today:

Centrelink’s automated data matching system is now terrorising pensioners, this time with demonic algorithms, bombarding the elderly with reams of ... confusing correspondence. Increasingly I hear from constituents that with automation of income stream reviews a woman who received a letter ordering online to provide the government information or her pension would be cut off, another who did have a payment cancelled due to a mistake that would have been obvious to the human eye. Surely the government if not the minister, learned its lesson from the Robodebt scandal? In which case will you immediately order a halt to this latest Robomonster?

Scott Morrison:

Last financial year, taxpayers of this country were provided almost $200 billion of support, social security and welfare payments. Australia has one of the most effective and successful social safety nets and that is something I think every member of this House should be very proud of.

That figure this year will be significantly higher than that as a result of the significant additional supports which the government has provided to support Australians, including aged pensioners and many other welfare recipients through this crisis. There are other two additional $250 payments paid this year which followed the earlier $750 payments being made to pensioners in particular, as well as other welfare recipients. That $200 million, and what will be more this year and it will rise into the future, some $70 billion or more than that provided through the aged pension. This is an important social support in this country. And all Australians should receive the support through that system that the system is designed to provide to them.

Wilkie stands up on relevance, but Tony Smith points out there was a preamble, which allows for the PM to provide context.

Question time on 7 December, 2020.
Question time on 7 December, 2020. Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Morrison continues:

It’s important for the millions of Australian taxpayers that we run our system to make sure the benefits the system is designed to provide to them is done appropriately. That includes making sure that if their income is different and they are entitled to greater support, that we are aware of that as well in order to make adjustments to their payments.

That is doing the right thing by taxpayers and the right thing by welfare recipients. Services Australia requires information about income streams held by payment recipients to calculate the payment entitlement under the social security income and assets test, that is their job.

I’m aware of the letter the member referred to. I asked for a copy of that letter recently and it provides for the opportunity for people to call a number to clarify any of these issues, and what I would simply ask people to do if they receive such a letter, I would ask them that they would simply contact that number or go online as the letter suggests, and provide the information that they have been asked for, and that should lead to the ready resolution of those issues.

This is an important responsibility of the government, to make sure that the more than $200 billion in taxpayer funding that is provided each year and growing each year, is administered appropriately and people should get every cent they are entitled to, they shouldn’t get a cent less, they shouldn’t get a cent more. And it’s a difficult topic for the department of Services Australia to administer and they do so very professionally and I would encourage all members to encourage constituents to comply and respond as they have been asked to do, to assist the department with their inquiries.

Labor yells out “go online” given part of the question was about aged pensioners receiving the letter, but the prime minister has finished his answer.

Updated

Catherine King to Karen Andrews:

It is nearly two months since Labor announced its rail manufacturing plan to boost Australia’s manufacturing industry and create local jobs.

After bullying car manufacturers out of the country, does this government have any plan to build trains in Australia?

Andrews:

Can I say that one of the things that we make very clear when we announced our modern manufacturing strategy is that it was very important that we put in place the right economic conditions so that every industry or businesses around Australia could be supported.

That is exactly what we have set about doing a number of times, Mr Speaker, so we made it very clear when we announced the strategy that this would build on the work already being done by the minister for industrial relations, by the minister for energy, work in deregulation, all of these set a strong economic foundation that we actually needed.

That means industries such as train building can succeed because we have a government built [on] that very strong economic base.

We also made it very clear Mr Speaker that manufacturing was a national priority for this government.

We have been prepared to put our money where our mouth is. That is why we announced a $1.5 billion modern manufacturing strategy.

We are in the process of rolling that out now.

In fact, on Friday, in the member for Groom’s electorate, I announced that the second round of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund was now open.

So those industries in the key national priorities that we announced could now start applying for grant funding in the order of about $100,000 to $1million. So we announced this strategy in October, and by the start of December we were already starting to roll it out, so we could support manufacturing businesses right across Australia.

That is what this government is about, we understand just how important manufacturing is.

That is why our strategy focuses on how we’re going to build collaboration not just between industry and but also between like-minded manufacturers working in key priority areas and bring behind them the supply chains that they need, and that we need as a nation, so that we can build competition, build resilience and we can build scale.

Because they are the foundations on which we are building manufacturing. As I said at the beginning Mr Speaker, we are making sure that we have put in place exactly the right economic conditions that are needed so that industry right across Australia, and a wide range of sectors, is able to thrive in this country.

Updated

Michael McCormack is taking a dixer, giving me time to grab a cup of tea and his colleagues to catch up on some work.

Anthony Albanese to Scott Morrison:

Why has the prime minister budgeted $15 million for his latest ad campaign, but refused to fix the situation for Australian parents that punishes them for working a fourth or fifth day? Why won’t the prime minister support Labor’s cheaper childcare plan, which will make childcare more affordable for 97% of families and in addition will boost economic growth?

Morrison:

Labor can say what they say, but Australians will remember what they did. Under Labor, childcare fees increased by 53%. 53%.

And Mr Speaker, I remember this, because some of us have been around a bit longer than others in this place.

But the leader of the opposition has been around longer than me, he will know.

Prior to the 2007 election, the Labor party made all these great promises about how they would reform childcare and make it work, but what was the result?

A 53% increase in childcare fees, that is what happens when Labor promises to solve a problem. You always end up paying more. Solutions always cost you more than they will ever tell you.

Not only do they rarely work, at the same time, they demonstrated incompetence in government, whatever they tried to fix they only make the problem worse.

That is their experience, that is why they got rid of them, and that is why under our government we are taking the Australian economy forward.

He is very lippy today, the leader of the opposition is very lippy today, he must be under a bit of pressure. I don’t know what that is about, but what I know is the leader of the opposition and the Labor party, every time they promised to fix a problem, all you end up with is the bill.

Updated

Ignoring the “comeback” reference (the next dixer is also about the “comeback”, the market research term the government won’t release the advice on, which has formed the basis of a $15m advertising campaign) you may have noticed a contradiction in the PM’s answer there.

He attacked Labor’s policy for giving subsidies to higher income earners, but the government’s tax cuts, particularly the next stage, gives bigger tax cuts to higher income earners.

So on one hand, the government is attacking the government for allowing higher income earners to get more money back on their childcare fees, while also celebrating their own tax cuts where “the more they earn, the more they will be able to keep”.

I guess it depends on whether or not you believe childcare is welfare or not.

Updated

Question time begins

And it is straight into it - Amanda Rishworth to Scott Morrison:

Has the prime minister compared the difference for families between his childcare calculator and the one Labor launched today at childcarecalculator.com.au. Isn’t it the case that the prime minister’s childcare scheme punishes parents for working a fourth or fifth day?

Morrison:

I know that when you make that comparison, if you are on a high income, you will benefit greatly from the Labor party policy, providing very significant payments to those on higher incomes. What we have done is ensure that all Australians pay less tax.

That is what we have been doing, to ensure Australians get more money back in their pockets.

The more that they earn, the more they will be able to keep. When they are on a low income or a high income, our government trusts Australians with their own money. And we know that Australians have many needs.

Tony Burke asks him about relevance, but Morrison is allowed to continue as he has “compared and contrasted”.

Morrison continues:

I was doing more than that, I made specific reference to the calculator, where you can see that if you are on high incomes, you get high subsidies.

Something that the Labor party once opposed when we sought to make changes in the earlier days, and they oppose those sorts of changes.

What we have done, our plan, our economic plan, which has seen the comeback of the Australian recovery, is to ensure the comeback of the Australian economy and the recovery we are seeing is putting more money back into Australian pockets Mr Speaker. And we are enabling them to do that, whether to meet the very important costs of childcare, or many other things that Australian families need.

We trust Australians to make their own decisions with their own money, and that is why we want them to keep more of what they own. Whatever they need to do. Working more hours, they keep more of what they own, and that is what our tax policy is designed to achieve. What I know of those opposite, the Labor party, they want to spend more money to take more of your money.

Updated

Oh! I forgot to mention this - George Brandis is back in the building.

Our man in London flew in from Brisbane yesterday afternoon and is now catching up with MPs. (There is no suggestion he has not quarantined)

That demerger bill is going to be very, very tricky for Labor. Very tricky.

Tony Maher, the general president of the CFMMEU’s mining and energy division, has written to members today making the case for the Coalition’s demerger bill.

He said:

It is a weakness of the Fair Work Act as it stands that it is impossible for unions to withdraw from amalgamations, whatever the circumstances, outside of a fixed three-year window. The Withdrawal from Amalgamation bill seeks to replace that narrow timeframe with an appropriateness test. Given the current state of dysfunction within the CFMMEU nationally that is a proposal we will welcome and we will consider if it applies in our circumstances.

Maher has a few shots at the way the CFMMEU is being run:

The construction division has made it clear that they will use their numbers to steamroll smaller divisions, force decisions in their favour and run the CFMMEU as a construction union. We have seen this through poaching members from smaller divisions, tearing down the leadership of national secretary Michael O’Connor and shutting down discussion and debate in meetings.

Maher said mining and energy workers “need a mining and energy union” free from “attacks on the autonomy of smaller divisions”. He set out a process whereby, if the bill passes, the branch will consider leaving the CFMMEU through its convention in March 2021 and a member vote.

Updated

Further to Luke’s excellent story, the Law Council of Australia president, Pauline Wright, also has issues with the expansion of the cashless debit card:

The CDC, especially as expanded, disproportionately applies to Indigenous peoples, and may be inconsistent with the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).

The Law Council is not averse to some form of income management, but participation in the CDC and/or income management needs to be voluntary, based on full, free and informed individual consent (opt-in), assessment of an individual’s suitability to participate, and meaningful community consultation.

The CDC itself should also not been seen as the solution to all problems. What is needed is a full suite of support programs, which are sadly lacking in many rural, regional and remote communities.

It is almost time for question time.

Huzzah.

Four left for the year though.

Given the chat today, I would expect stranded Australians to be on the list of topics, along with the IR changes and what is happening the agricultural sector.

Updated

Luke Henriques-Gomes has done excellent work following the research on the benefits - if any - of the cashless welfare card (a suggestion put forward to the government by Andrew Forrest in 2014). He now reports the government’s own research has found the card has underwhelming support. As he reports:

Researchers say there is ‘little consensus’ the cashless debit card is fulfilling its intended aims of reducing drug and alcohol abuse in one of the trial sites, according to unpublished findings of an evaluation commissioned by the federal government.

Guardian Australia can reveal the University of Adelaide team also found ‘only a minority’ of those interviewed in Western Australia’s goldfields who back the card actually want it to continue in its current form, with most preferring a more ‘targeted’ approach.

It comes as the government faces internal dissent over a bill to make the controversial welfare policy permanent at four trial sites – East Kimberley and the goldfields in WA, Ceduna in South Australia, and Bundaberg and Hervey Bay in Queensland. The bill would also expand the card into the Northern Territory.

While ministers have insisted they are confident the card has a ‘positive impact on participants and the broader community’, the government has refused to release the University of Adelaide’s $2m final evaluation of the scheme.

You can read the whole story here:

Cashless debit card: government’s own research finds underwhelming support

Updated

The amazing Calla Wahlquist tells me that Mark McGowan and Roger Cook will be holding a press conference at 2.30 (eastern daylight saving time) which is when we should have an answer on what WA has decided in regard to NSW residents entering the state without the need to quarantine.

They delayed the decision after a woman who worked at one of the hotel quarantine sites tested positive for Covid....

Updated

One of the issues with the Fraser Island fire (which has been burning for about seven weeks) is biosecurity with using some of the water which is nearby. Fraser is a very delicately balanced eco-system - and world heritage site - and there are also cultural concerns for the local Indigenous people. No one wants to empty some of those amazing freshwater creeks unless they have to.

David Littleproud (speaking to Sky News) says all agencies are working together together to reach solutions:

I think originally most of the management, as I understood, of the fire was taking place at a national parks level, then when it hit a certain juncture the Queensland Emergency Fire Service took over. They’re still confident, in fact, there’ll be retardant that will be dropped today in supporting the efforts on the ground. So obviously they’re moving through this, understanding the local environment, but when the trigger points need to be pulled, they do pull them - and that’s an important point to understand, that the emergency service personnel that we have around the country are well, well equipped and have planned well for these types of events. And particularly when you look at unique environments, about how you can actually intersect that with protecting lives and the environment itself.

Updated

Kristina Keneally had some things to say this morning about stranded Australians discovering they are no longer on the Dfat list of stranded Australians:

We have been contacted all weekend by stranded Australians with stories of how they’ve been contacted by Dfat and then dropped off the stranded list, or even people who thought ‘oh my goodness what’s happening’, went and checked and they’re no longer on the list.

This looks like a prime minister who is attempting to cook the books, so that he can stand up in a few days time and say ‘well, everyone who wants to come home has come home’. The reality is there are stranded Australians - 38,000 of them around the globe – who want to come home, who’ve been trying to come home and they can’t get a quarantine space, they can’t get a flight on a plane and they’re losing their jobs and their homes.

It’s really quite tragic. It’s infuriating as well. I mean these are our fellow citizens. If there’s any Australian value than it’s don’t leave your mates behind, and especially when you make a promise like the prime minister did to get them home by Christmas.

He should deliver not a slogan, not a marketing ploy and not a cynical scheme. He should deliver the planes and the quarantine spaces to get them home.

Adelaide and Melbourne are both accepting international flights again, for hotel quarantine, which means the number of Australians who can come home each week is sitting at just over 6,000.

Updated

Australia should introduce Magnitsky-style laws to allow targeted sanctions to be imposed on individuals, companies and organisations for human rights abuses, a parliamentary committee has said.

This would allow for Australia to impose travel bans and asset freezes.

Kevin Andrews, who headed a parliamentary inquiry, tabled a report a short time ago titled “Criminality, corruption and impunity: Should Australia join the Global Magnitsky movement?”

The main recommendation is that the Australian government “enact standalone targeted sanctions legislation to address human rights violations and corruption, similar to the United States’ Magnitsky Act 2012”.

Sanctions should be able to be imposed on the immediate family and direct beneficiaries of human rights abusers, and that they can be imposed on “all entities, including natural persons, corporate entities and both state and non-state organisations”.

The report – by the human rights subcommittee of the joint standing committee on foreign affairs, defence and trade – has bipartisan support.

Among the 33 recommendations is that the new framework acknowledge that “the importance of maintaining journalist and human rights defenders’ human rights” and that it should “expressly state that systematic extrajudicial actions that intend to limit media freedom can be considered human rights abuses”.

Andrews told parliament that freedoms had been “jeopardised by persons and entities who have engaged in and profited from human rights abuses and acts of serious corruption and who are not likely to be punished or otherwise sanctioned for their crimes”.

“There has also been a growing awareness that country or sector-wide sanctions such as Australia currently has enacted often impact innocent parties disproportionately, and a new way to instigate consequences for unacceptable behaviour is required. It has long been the case that kleptocrats and other perpetrators of serious human rights abuse and corruption have transferred assets to enjoy in western countries with safe stable democracies and secure financial systems such as Australia.”

Andrews said while it would be preferable for the perpetrators to face punishment in this home countries, this was often not what happened.

“The subcommittee has heard evidence of Australians and their families being threatened and instances of human rights abusers investing the proceeds of their crimes in Australia, gaining access to Australian education and health case systems. This is simply unacceptable.”

Updated

Sorry for the delay- slight tech problems.

Here is what you missed:

Reports of hung jury in Jarryd Hayne trial

Reports are coming in regarding the Jarryd Hayne trial:

Updated

The Nationals party room has concluded – the first since Queensland MP Llew O’Brien came back into the fold.

His colleagues report there was “genuine love” in the room and Michael McCormack – the reason O’Brien left the party room (but not the LNP) in the first place, after his spill motion against McCormack failed – made special mention of O’Brien’s return to the room.

Updated

Linda Burney has delivered her speech, introducing a bill which would give people 10 days’ paid domestic violence leave. She ended with this:

Ten days paid DV leave will provide much-needed assistance for those leaving abuse or violence, or for those who elect to stay with the provisions that many state governments have for staying home in safety and having the abuser leave. But that requires time and effort as well.

But it is also my sincere hope that it elevates this as an issue in our community, and changes community attitudes towards domestic and family violence.

It just astounds me that more attention is not paid to this national crisis — a crisis that saw four women die last week alone at the hands of their ex-partner or partner.

It astounds me that this does not have a higher profile in the media; it hardly rates a mention sometimes.

It is women and children who are suffering in the main because of family and domestic violence and we, as a parliament and as a community, have the responsibility whether we’re victims or not.

Updated

Christian Porter says people will view the IR bill through their own biases:

The ideological IR brigade will write it is just tinkering around the edges and is too modest.

Some people will describe it as radical. It is clearly neither of those two things. It’s very consequential change. It is clearly not revolutionary change to the system. It is incremental, consequential change that can possibly, in fact we think hopefully, have a passage through parliament, create jobs by removing barriers to job growth.

Updated

Christian Porter says once the IR bill is introduced to parliament (most likely Wednesday) it will go to committee for review and further consultation will occur – so it won’t be rushed through before parliament rises on Thursday evening:

We will still be listening and expect there will be disagreement on how some things should be done. What’s most important is there is still clear agreement that you can’t go on in Australia, when you’ve got 2.6 million people who are employed as casuals and that percentage level of the Australian economy has been basically constant for decades, that you don’t have a definition of what a casual employee is. That creates massive confusion and stops people from hiring during the time we most need job growth.

There is huge agreement that these are problems that need to be fixed, [but] there is sometimes disagreement on how you structure the processes and the finer points of the fixing.

We will still be talking and listening, have listened all morning. I did want to clear up some of the issues that were raised this morning.

Updated

Is the government still committed to simplifying the awards system?

Christian Porter:

We are. There are limits to how much simplification we can engage in.

How this omnibus deals with awards, we have tried to find the middle ground, so we want to simplify awards. We don’t want people being paid less but we do want to make sure that the classifications are simpler, that there are ways in which businesses have less regulatory costs, because of the confusion and some of the awards, and also dealing with some of the issues that arise by virtue of the fact that small businesses particularly find the award system so confusing they come into genuine errors with underpayment.

Those are the issues we are trying to deal with.

Attorney general Christian Porter addresses industrial relations changes, 7 December.
Attorney general Christian Porter addresses industrial relations changes, 7 December. Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Updated

Given the bill requires employers to make a permanency offer to their casual employees after a year (under certain conditions, including work hours), how will the government police it?

Christian Porter:

Well, there are very strict rules, as you will see in the bill, as to how and when that has to occur, and this is how it works: if someone has been employed with you for 12 months and over the last six months ... has been regular, then you are required, the business, to offer that person the opportunity to convert to full-time employment, whether that is part-time or full-time. You are required to do that. That’s not a right they have to request, that’s an obligation on the business to make that offer.

OK, but how is it enforced?

Porter:

In certain circumstances, that will not be able to occur because it would be unreasonable, and that will be defined. And from time to time there will be disagreements about what is reasonable and unreasonable, and the dispute resolution mechanisms are exactly the same as they are at present. First you try and work out the dispute amongst yourselves; secondly it goes to conciliation, where overwhelmingly they are resolved; thirdly, you can have arbitration; and if all else fails, everyone else has the ability to take any matter that they wish to the courts for an ultimate judgement.

But we’re not doing anything different on the front of how you resolve disagreement about what is disagreement or unreasonable.

So you would ultimately have to take it to court, which as Sally McManus pointed out earlier this morning, is not something a lot of people, particularly those working on a casual basis, have the resources to do.

Updated

Christian Porter continues:

If employees previously had been the subject of a court decision to determine their status as casual or full-time, this bill does nothing to overturn that court decision.

But where people have been paid 25% as compensation for other things, what we say is that if they successfully claim for those other things, that 25% monetary amount should be used to offset any claim that they might have.

And that’s not dissimilar from a motion we put into the Senate, and if you don’t do that, the potential impact on business of having to double pay going back six years, is $38 billion. So what is the alternative to allow Australian business, during the time that it most needs assistance, to potentially face a back liability of double payments because of confusion caused by a court decision of up to $38 billion?

I mean, that would be economically ruinous and destroy job growth.

Updated

On the issue of backpay and loading, Christian Porter says:

The fairness principle in this bill around double payments is that if you’ve been paid that 25% loading to compensate you for other things, you shouldn’t be paid for those other things as well.

And that if you were mischaracterised in your employment, and you make a claim and you are successful, it will be acknowledged, but that if you are paid that 25%, that should be used to offset your other claims, which we just think is a basic issue of fairness.

The business community estimates ... if you don’t have that commonsense, fair offset provision, that the financial impost on the business community going back six years could be upwards of $39 billion, which could cripple a whole range of businesses at precisely the time when those businesses are struggling and need government assistance to grow out of the Covid-19 pandemic.

So this is about fairness, it’s about creating a clear distinction so that an employer knows and an employee knows, are they being employed as a casual, thereby receiving the 25% loading, or are they employed in some other way, as a permanent part-time, permanent full-time employee.

Updated

Christian Porter speaks about proposed IR changes

Christian Porter is speaking about the IR changes the government is proposing. That’s the bill Sally McManus (and others, as Paul Karp has reported) have some issues with, given some of the changes:

And after 150 hours of consultation, it’s clear that uncertainty is a major barrier to business confidence to employ people into casual positions, which are a very important part of the overall employment landscape in Australia – in fact, of the 800,000 jobs to be lost, 500,000 of those workers ... and we want to bring [them] back into the workplace as quickly as possible and give them a significantly enhanced and stronger ability, after six months of regular casual work, to convert, if they wish, to permanent part-time or permanent full-time employment.

So ... there will be debate that goes on as the bill is introduced this week, and no doubt goes into a committee, but people who are paid as casuals should always receive their loading, 25% loading, which compensates them for other things such as sick leave or annual leave or long service leave.

Updated

Not sure what the anti-maskers will complain about now, but I am sure they will find something.

Updated

The Australian Council of Social Service is again urging the government not to cut the Covid supplement for the unemployment payment on 31 December.

I don’t like their chances there, in changing that.

Updated

Once again, there is nothing that says employers have to make you permanent after 12 months’ casual work in the IR bill the government is proposing.

As Sally McManus told the ABC:

These changes, these proposals, will actually leave casuals worse off.

They’d be better off without these laws. What it does is it overrides court decisions that have said that employers can’t just whack a label on someone and call them a casual and take away all their entitlements like their leave – annual leave or sick leave.

And this proposal that says that people can convert after 12 months, well, [the] problem is that workers have got no way of enforcing that and so it’s no point having a right if you can’t actually enforce it.

So when you look at this overall, it takes rights off workers, takes them backwards in terms of institutionalising that employers can just call you a casual when you’re not, and then the conversion rights are really just so weak. So we have got problems with this and we’re going to ask government and the crossbench to fix those problems.

Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus.
Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) secretary Sally McManus. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

NSW reports zero locally acquired Covid cases in past 24 hours

NSW has recorded no locally acquired Covid cases in the past 24 hours. Four people in hotel quarantine have tested positive.

We are still waiting to hear what WA will do with NSW travellers.

Updated

Labor’s Tony Burke also commented at his doorstop on the Coalition bill to make it easier for branches to opt to de-merge from a union (the CFMEU divorce bill):

We’re still looking, we haven’t seen the final legislation on this and we’re looking carefully at the detail. The concept of workers in a division being able to make a democratic decision is something that we want to look at constructively. We want to make sure that it’s done in a way that doesn’t tie every union up in red tape. So that’s something where once we see the detail of legislation I’ll be able to offer you more.

What we’re talking about here is a limited situation where, and there’s already under the legislation a period of time where divisions can decide that an amalgamation isn’t something they wanted to stay with. The extent to which the government wants to expand that is something it’s impossible to give a concluded view on until we see the detail.

Updated

There is no answer yet on whether the quarantine restriction will be lifted for South Australians wanting to enter Queensland – a meeting will be held this afternoon with the CHO, Dr Jeanette Young, and a decision will be made there.

Updated

Queensland is “reaffirming” its commitment to bidding for the 2032 Olympic Games.

Annastacia Palaszczuk is writing to the prime minister today about the bid and hopes to have a chat to him about it at national cabinet on Friday.

Indonesia, the Netherlands, Germany and potentially India are looking at bidding

Updated

This is long overdue

The reserve bank governor, Philip Lowe, has been speaking to the Australian Payments Network at a virtual forum this morning.

Lowe has addressed “buy now, pay later” schemes (among other issues).

These schemes operate with a no surcharge rule (unlike credit cards).

The RBA governor says merchants have a right to apply a surcharge to transactions, especially when they “consider that it is near essential to take a particular payment method for them to be competitive”.

But he says no-surcharge rules can also play a role in the development of new payment methods.

Lowe lands here:

The board’s preliminary view is that the BNPL operators in Australia have not yet reached the point where it is clear that the costs arising from the no-surcharge rule outweigh the potential benefits in terms of innovation. So consistent with its philosophy of only regulating when it is clear that doing so is in the public interest, the board is unlikely to conclude that the BNPL operators should be required to remove their no-surcharge rules right now.

The governor notes the schemes are growing rapidly “but even the largest BNPL providers still account for a small proportion of total consumer payments in Australia”.

If the bank’s risk/reward calculus changes, Lowe says the bank will look to take action with the Morrison government.

In the Q&A component of the presentation, Lowe was asked whether he believed Australia was heading inexorably towards being a cashless society because of Covid-19?

“I don’t think we are going to get to the point of being a cashless society,” the governor said.

Lowe noted there had been a big drop in ATM withdrawals during the pandemic but he said the stock of currency on issue is the highest it’s ever been – or at least the highest in 50 or 60 years. Lowe says there has been strong demand this year for $50 and $100 notes:

In the first days of the pandemic, I think people were nervous, some people were taking money out the bank a bit like we saw in the GFC although it wasn’t on the same magnitude. That settled down pretty quickly.

Lowe says some people have taken out a few hundred dollars to keep at home just in case there was a lockdown and there was a need to buy necessities:

Cash still has an important role to play as an emergency payment method. I think we’ve all heard stories where a bank’s systems have gone down, a merchant’s internet isn’t working, they can’t do a transaction ... in almost every case you can be guaranteed that you can lose cash ... many people will still want to hold cash.

He says cash is the best alternative “so far” to the electronic payments system.

Updated

Labor and the Australian Council of Trade Unions are on a unity ticket in voicing concerns about the government’s proposed changes to casual employment. Asked what rights the bill takes away, the shadow industrial relations minister, Tony Burke, said:

The right the casuals have at the moment is if they are being abused as casuals, if they are in fact being employed as permanents, then they are able to go through a process and get [permanent] entitlements ... So if the employer is only giving them the insecurity of casuals, but you look at the commitments that are being made in terms of future hours, you look at the roster that’s being worked, and they’re really full-time or part-time employees, then they have a pathway to be able to access their leave.

All of that leave disappears with the stroke of a pen if the government gets this legislation through. All those entitlements for casuals, gone. But if an employer breaks the law, if an employer put someone on as a casual, even though they’re giving them a permanent roster and expecting them to work as a permanent, the only penalty that happens is the employer will have to put up with after 12 months the employer saying, “Please can you stop doing that?” And that’s it.

Burke refused to be drawn on whether Labor could support the bill, noting it would not be introduced until Wednesday.

On Sky, the ACTU president, Michele O’Neil, said although the full bill hasn’t been released unions have been told there is no right of review for casual employees if employers refuse to make them permanent.

The test of whether it is “reasonable” to refuse to make someone permanent “leaves a really wide opening for employer to say here’s why I’m not going to do that”, she said.

O’Neil also rejected claims casuals are in effect double-dipping by receiving a loading and permanent entitlements:

In the Workpac the workers weren’t getting a casual loading. And they were working alongside workers doing the same work, and they were getting less pay. If you’re doing the same work, at the same base rate and the casual is getting 25% more, then we understand the argument. But a lot of casuals aren’t receiving the loading, or are paid such a lower rate to begin with that even with the loading, they’re receiving less.

Updated

Christian Porter is holding a press conference at midday to talk up the IR laws.

The government is very keen to push the “path to permanency” line for casual workers to get the bill across the Senate line but here’s the rub – there is no onus on the employer to make it happen. Casuals can ask but that doesn’t mean they get it. And an employer can just let you go for asking (obviously they will come up with another reason) and then hire another casual.

Updated

Summer fruit is about to get more expensive, as Paul Karp reports:

Australia may be able to divert a “limited amount” of wine to its allies in the UK and the US, but China’s tariffs will probably reduce the value of exports.

That is the conclusion of the Department of Agriculture’s Abares commodities report, released on Monday, which lists trade tensions as a dark spot in an otherwise recovering industry.

The report also warns that fruit and vegetable prices are expected to rise in Australia due to Covid-19 travel restrictions limiting labour available for harvesting.

Prices of summer vegetables, stone fruit, apples, pears, and table grapes are forecast to rise by between 15% and 25%.

Queensland reports three new Covid cases in hotel quarantine

Queensland has recorded another day with no community transmission of Covid – three new cases have been diagnosed in hotel quarantine.

Updated

Speaking of leadership rumblings, things are still not rosy in the Nationals (timeless statement) with Michael McCormack still failing to inspire loyalty. Llew O’Brien, the Queensland MP who tried to bring on a spill, failed, quit the party room (but not the LNP – he sat in joint party rooms but didn’t take part in the Nationals gatherings) is back in the tent, officially.

There’s no way he would back McCormack in any future leadership spill, but at this point there is still no consensus candidate. Partly because Barnaby Joyce still thinks he can win the leadership back, and partly because enough of a cohort don’t think David Littleproud is ready.

But keep an eye on it.

Also keep an eye on who goes round for another term in the next election. Ken O’Dowd is expected to retire, leaving Flynn open for preselection, giving Matt Canavan an opening to jump to the lower house if he so wishes (although there is some talk in Queensland that he is waiting for Capricornia, Michelle Landry’s seat to become open, and that isn’t expect to happen at the next election. Capricornia takes in more of his base, so it would make sense, but it depends on whether Canavan wants to wait it out in the Senate for a few more years or not.)

There is also speculation Damian Drum (a McCormack supporter) will retire at the next election. If that happens, his Nationals colleagues expect the Liberals to run a candidate at the next election as well, setting up a three-cornered contest which could see the Liberals win the seat from their Coalition partner. That doesn’t change the government numbers but it does alter the power the Nationals have in the party room, which impacts on everything from policy to cabinet positions.

It’s all very early and no one, despite the speculation of an election being called during the August-October six-week break in the 2021 sitting calendar, knows when the next election will be.

It’s just something to keep an eye on.

Michael McCormack
Deputy PM and Nationals leader Michael McCormack. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

It may have dropped off the news cycle in the past few weeks, but that doesn’t mean Labor has stopped its campaign on childcare.

While we are on campaigns, Labor is also stepping up its campaign for the next election. Anthony Albanese was in Queensland again at the weekend as part of a push to try and convince some local identities to sign up as candidates. Labor needs to hold all its seats, plus win six to take government, although Albanese was heard telling people that if he won three, he could negotiate the rest.

It’s a pretty huge ask in this time of incumbency. Plus, he is still fending off leadership rumblings from inside the tent – although it doesn’t look like there is another consensus candidate, plus, the Victorian branch is still under administration and can’t vote.

Updated

Happy Valley residents told to evacuate as bushfire rages on Fraser Island

Residents of Happy Valley on Fraser Island have been told to evacuate, as a bushfire, which has been raging on the world heritage site for seven weeks, bears down on the village. It will soon be too dangerous to drive.

Keeping everything crossed everyone is safe and that fire is brought under control very soon.

Updated

Surfrider Australia members braved Lake Burley Griffin this morning (and yes, braved is the correct verb) to protest against PEP11 – petroleum exploration permit 11 – a licence for oil and gas exploration in the Sydney basin, being granted.

It is a very big local issue for several Sydney MPs – including Zali Steggall, Dave Sharma and Jason Falinski – with the Greens Tasmanian senator Peter Whish-Wilson also lending his support (Whish-Wilson is not only an environmentalist, he is also a keen surfer, who does a lot of work behind the scenes protecting Australia’s beach breaks, for both ocean health and for the enjoyment of future generations).

Updated

The federal government isn’t saying whether its latest foreign interference laws would spell the end of Victoria’s belt and road agreement with China (although it is believed to be one of the reasons the legislation was created in the first place).

Anyways, there is angst:

Updated

Mark McGowan will announce Western Australia’s decision on whether or not NSW residents will be able to visit the west without quarantining today. I know there are a lot of people watching for that who have missed seeing loved ones for most of this year, so we will bring it to you as soon as we hear.

South Australia residents are also waiting to hear whether they will be able to enter Queensland. We should hear an announcement on that soon – if not today, then tomorrow. Again, we know a lot of you are counting on that as well, so rest assured we are watching for it.

Updated

There is a protest planned for outside communications minister Paul Fletcher’s electorate office at 11am in support of the ABC.

Fletcher wrote to the ABC board with a list of 14 questions over its support for the airing of the Four Corner’s report “Inside the Canberra bubble” – a report the government had attempted to stop going to air. The ABC is funded by taxpayers, through the government, but the government does not control its editorial decisions.

While the government has written to the ABC chair, Ita Buttrose, over the program, it does not appear it has made any complaints to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which independently adjudicates any broadcast complaints.

Updated

Richard Marles spoke to ABC News Breakfast this morning about the foreign interference bill, which he said was “half-baked” – but Labor is still supporting it “reluctantly”.

(“Reluctant” support doesn’t change the votes.)

We’ve made it clear that we support the objective of this bill. It stands to reason that our national government should be in charge of our foreign relations and there an appropriateness about ensuring that the agreements that are reached by subnational bodies, states, universities, local councils that they are consistent with whatever is the national policy in respect of those foreign relations.

Having said that, this bill from the outset was half-baked. It was rushed into the parliament. It is full of flaws. We have been very concerned about it.

We’re supporting it, reluctantly, but we have moved a lot of amendments in relation to and we are asking for the government to sit down with us and talk this through so we can see the reasonable objective that is contained in the bill, realised through good legislation, but what we have got at the moment is something which is really half-baked.

Richard Marles
Shadow minister for defence Richard Marles. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated

Victoria is coming up on 40 days with no locally acquired cases.

Updated

Sally McManus says the Senate must “fix these extreme parts of the bill, the ones which will entrench casual workers and take rights from casual workers” and “if they can’t fix that, they should reject it”.

Sally McManus, the head of the ACTU, is now speaking to ABC radio RN about the government’s proposed IR changes. She says she is “really disappointed” in the bill and that it is “everything the employers wanted”:

It allows employers to put a label on someone and call them a casual even if it’s a permanent job. And what happens then is you lose all your entitlements you lose sick leave and you lose your annual leave.

And yes, certainly after 12 months, your employer’s got to offer you a permanent job but you’ve got no way of enforcing it.

I mean, there’s no point having a right to something if you can’t actually do something about it.

You can’t actually enforce it so it’s, we think, it’s actually it’s going to take [conditions] backwards.

Sally McManus
Australian Council of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated

Victoria accepts international flights again

Victoria will begin accepting international flights again from today – a flight from Sri Lanka is about to touch down in Melbourne. All up, there will be about 125 travellers arriving as part of the hotel quarantine program in Victoria today.

There is no longer any private security guards as part of the Victoria program – and any worker has to work exclusively for the Victorian government.

Updated

The latest foreign interference laws are also due to pass parliament this week – these ones are the ones looking at agreements with foreign governments that private organisations and state governments have made.

Updated

The trade minister and government leader in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, was Fran Kelly’s guest on ABC radio RN this morning, where he again said Australia was prepared to take China to the World Trade Organization if the trade dispute wasn’t resolved soon.

That was in regards to barley. Trade disputes have a few steps to work through before the WTO can be called in, and so far only the barley dispute has reached that stage. But WTO rulings can take years, so Australia is still hoping to come to an agreement away from the adjudicator.

Updated

Good morning

Welcome to the final days of the last parliament sitting for 2020. It has been quite the journey to get here, but of course, this year will not be going out quietly.

The industrial relations changes will be introduced this week. As Paul Karp has reported, the bill would bring about quite a few changes:

Then there is also the latest round of national security laws the government is trying to push through.

These ones would allow the the Australian Signals Directorate more powers to spy on Australian citizens.

We have a habit in this county of ending the parliamentary year with a national security bill being pushed through. The Law Council has urged MPs to take their time with this one so improvements can be made – but that doesn’t look like happening. Labor has indicated it will pass it, even if recommendations from the security committee aren’t picked up, which is another familiar story. No one wants to be accused of not taking national security seriously, which is how the nation has ended up with the tranche of laws it already has.

Meanwhile, Australia’s largest states are easing Covid restrictions in time for the “Covid-safe” Christmas both have been attempting to reach. Victoria will no longer require masks in cafes or offices, while office workers can begin returning to physical offices from 11 January. From Monday, households can have up to 30 visitors in their homes – happy Christmas, Victoria! You deserve all the happiness.

In NSW, restrictions are also easing further, including:

  • one person per 2 sq m (with 25 people permitted before the rule applies), except for gyms and nightclubs (one person per 4 sq m, with a maximum of 50 people allowed in gym classes or on the dancefloor at nightclubs)
  • outdoors: 100% seated capacity, and one person per 2 sq m rule for unstructured seating areas
  • indoors: 75% seated capacity

Plus, you can once again dance at weddings (50 people on the dancefloor – but it doesn’t have to be the same 50).

We’ll bring you all the day’s events as they happen. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day, as well as Katharine Murphy, Paul Karp and Daniel Hurst (Mike Bowers is on assignment but will be popping up during the week.)

Ready?

Updated

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100's of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fact check: Are FaZe Banks and Kendall Jenner dating? viral photo sparks buzz after alleged sighting
A viral claim about FaZe Banks and Kendall Jenner dating is false. The image that started the rumor was edited using AI, as confirmed by the original X post. There is no real proof linking them. Both have separate dating histories, but currently, no verified information suggests any relationship between…
The Times of India
The Times of India
Hey, Netflix, Stop Suggesting Movies To Me I Can't Watch With My Plan (You're Not Amazon!)
Hoo boy, this set me off.
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
I’m Getting Stressed Out Just Hearing Jack Black’s Take On What It’s Like Hosting SNL
Feels like the only show that could rattle Jack Black!
Cinemablend
Cinemablend
Disclosure day: If ET made contact, how would we handle the news?
How would people react if an alien civilization actually made contact with us? Space.com talked to experts, who shared a variety of opinions about a possible real-life "disclosure day."
Space
Space
No one at Waffle House remembers Trump’s FEMA official who claims he was teleported there
None of the two dozen workers and regulars interviewed by The New York Times noticed any metaphysical activity
The Independent UK
The Independent UK
Three-week-old mountain lion cub rescued by California biologists
Crimson, seen alone in Santa Monica mountains for days, gets care in Oakland zoo after mother nowhere to be found
The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.
Download on the AppStore Get it on Google Play