Good morning, this is Tamara Howie bringing you the main stories and must-reads on Wednesday 16 December.
Top stories
Unions have mounted a legal push for casual fruit pickers to be paid a minimum of $25 an hour, putting an end to farmers paying as little as $3 an hour under piece rate arrangements. The Horticulture Award currently allows farmers to pay workers either a piece rate, according to how much fruit they pick, or an hourly rate. Unions say the industry has become “the centrepiece for exploitation in this country” after a series of reports and inquiries found alleged systematic wage theft by labour hire firms. Advocates said the industry was rife with problems including physical violence, harassment and passports being taken away from overseas workers.
Australia’s bushfire recovery fund has given $10m to a paper mill owned by one of Australia’s richest men and major political donor, Anthony Pratt, while bushfire victims struggled through the grant processes. Despite promises that the fund would be simple and accessible to smaller community groups, bushfire-affected residents are struggling to navigate the complex grants processes. The Cobargo Business Recovery Group’s vice-chair, John Walters, described the process as “absolutely exhausting”. Walters is trying to access funding to rebuild Cobargo’s main street and commercial buildings, a job that has relied on hundreds of volunteer hours and the help of pro-bono architects. “You’re doing this on a wing and a prayer hoping you’re going to get a grant, so thank goodness for some pro-bono [help] and some local funding that we’ve obtained from our own community fund to fund some of this work.”
Coronavirus vaccines could be approved in Europe before Christmas, with the EU drug regulator bringing forward its ruling on the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine after pressure from Germany. The Amsterdam-based European Medicines Agency’s will meet on 21 December instead of 29 December to decide whether to authorise the shot followed a growing backlash from desperate EU countries. “The goal is to get approval before Christmas,” German health minister, Jens Spahn, said. “We want to start vaccinating in Germany before the end of the year.” Italy’s health minister, Roberto Speranza, said he hoped the EMA “will be able to approve the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine ahead of schedule”.
Australia
Flood warnings have been issued for towns across northern New South Wales as heavy rain and abnormally high tides continue to batter a 500km stretch of coast. Although conditions eased in some areas on Tuesday, the Bureau of Meteorology said showers and thunderstorms would persist over the coming days and would “continue to bring the risk of flash flooding”.
Trust in the public service has increased during the Covid-19 pandemic, but the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet appears to have inflated the results. The PM’s department counted respondents who “somewhat trust” the public service to bolster lacklustre scores published earlier under freedom of information.
The Morrison government will fund a further 10,000 home care packages for elderly Australians at a cost of more than $850m in Thursday’s pre-Christmas economic update. The December economic update increase comes as 102,000 people remain on the home care waiting list.
Covid drove Australians out to the regions, on to the internet and into second-hand cars, and some changes are here to stay, says Infrastructure Australia, with demands for home offices and improved telecommunications tipped to remain strong.
The world
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have announced a multi-year partnership with Spotify to produce and host podcasts that highlight and elevate diverse perspectives and voices.
US Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell has publicly recognised Joe Biden as the president-elect for the first time after declining to acknowledge Biden as the winner for weeks.
Twenty-nine asylum seekers have died in the UK’s Home Office accommodation so far this year – five times as many as those who have lost their lives on perilous Channel small boat crossings over the same period.
Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygård has been arrested in Winnipeg and faces a class action law-suit in the US alleging sexual assault of dozens of women. Fifty-seven women have joined the lawsuit, which alleges that Nygård used violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims.
Paris city authorities have been fined for employing too many women in senior positions, a decision mocked as absurd by the mayor, Anne Hidalgo. Women make up 69% of senior positions, violating a rule dating that stipulates one sex should not account for more than 60% of nominations to management positions.
Recommended reads
Australia’s favourite cartoon puppy, Bluey, is finally making her way to the big stage after a long, Covid-interrupted journey. In just two years Bluey, the animated blue heeler puppy, has rounded up more than 100 episodes on the ABC, millions of streams, thousands of book sales and made devoted fans out of children and parents alike. Now the show is ready to take to stages from Alice Springs to the Sydney Opera House. “It just nails this family dynamic which I think so many people can relate to – it’s a celebration of family but in a way that feels very contemporary and recognisable, says the director of Bluey’s Big Play, Rosemary Myers. “That’s at the heart of it.”
Although it’s easy to make jokes about how this year is driving people to drink, in Australia it’s never been a more exciting time to be a non-drinker too. Whether you’re interested in moderating your intake or have always abstained, alcohol-free drinks no longer have a whiff of the kids’ table. Not sure where to start? Here’s a list of summer’s best non-alcoholic drinks from craft beer to spirits.
The Morrison government subsidising dirty fuel amid the climate crisis beggars belief, writes Bill Hare. “Australia is one of the few countries in the world with no emissions nor fuel-efficiency standards for light-duty vehicles. The government has given no indication of any intention of introducing them, despite five years of deliberations in the ministerial forum on vehicle emissions. And it gets worse.”
Listen
In the lead-up to Christmas, some Australian communities are still struggling to rebuild homes and vital infrastructure damaged by last summer’s bushfires. In this episode of Full Story we speak to northern NSW resident Melinda Plesman about how she’s coping a year after losing her house. Plus, Christopher Knaus investigates how one grants program has allocated money for fire-hit communities.
Full Story is Guardian Australia’s daily news podcast. Subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or any other podcasting app.
Sport
A year that began with a record T20 women’s cricket crowd has ended with fears Covid may deepen inequalities in the women’s game. What emerged from lockdown is a hierarchical beast with the men’s cricket likely to be prioritised in order to fill the coffers.
Media roundup
China has accused Australia of playing the victim of the alleged coal ban, defending the decision as legal and good for Chinese consumers and companies, reports the ABC. The nation’s most senior special forces soldier has voluntarily stood aside after the Guardian published a photo of him drinking from a prosthetic leg taken from a man killed by the SAS in an on-base bar in Afghanistan, reports the Australian. And the Australian Financial Review says treasurer Josh Frydenberg is working on an overhaul of Asic’s structure, ahead of a shake-up next year that is likely to include fewer full-time commissioners.
Coming up
The winner of the 2020 Archibald prize people’s choice award will be announced.
The Victorian parliament will hold hearings for the Covid-19 inquiry.
And if you’ve read this far …
As if 2020 could get even weirder, scientists have found two new species of fungi that turn flies into zombies.
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