What we learned today, Monday 22 September
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned today:
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has lashed Australia’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, and shadow foreign affairs minister, Michaelia Cash, issued a joint statement saying they “strongly oppose” the Albanese government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state.
Optus has identified another seven people who could not contact triple zero on Thursday during the outage.
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, said he was bewildered by the lack of communication between Optus and the state government during the outage last week.
Nerida O’Loughlin, the Australian Communications and Media Authority chair, said Acma wasn’t “notified at all until the outage was resolved”.
Anika Wells, the minister for communications, said Optus would be held to account after the triple-zero outage.
The RBA is “getting closer” to being able to declare inflation is back under control, the governor, Michele Bullock, said.
Meta will begin testing AI in Australia on teens on Instagram suspected of being under 18 but whose account age is listed as being over 18.
The Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions will decide whether to lay charges over the death of Kumanjayi White, a Warlpiri man with disability who died after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket in May.
A man has been charged with the alleged murder of 49-year-old Crystal Beale in Brisbane in February this year.
A “root and branch” review of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) found the organisation suffers from a lack of leadership, poor budget management and a “culture of fear” among its staff.
Two people were transported to hospital in stable condition after a chemical leak in a building in Brisbane’s CBD this morning.
The Mackay Hospital and Health Service has issued a measles alert for the region.
The NSW government announced a ban on converted ebikes on the state rail network, saying the risk of lithium-ion battery fires was too great.
Thanks so much for your company today. Nick Visser will be back with you bright and early tomorrow morning. Look after yourselves until then.
Updated
Australia set to have its longest ski season since 2022
Some Australian ski resorts will apparently still be open in October, with Weatherzone reporting that about half of all ski lifts are still running at Mt Buller, Falls Creek, Mt Hotham, Thredbo and Perisher. That would make the ski season the country’s longest since 2022.
Updated
Childcare worker charged with assaulting boy at daycare centre
A childcare worker has been charged with assaulting a child in NSW’s central west, police say.
An investigation began on 29 August this year after police received a report that a four-year-old boy had been assaulted at a daycare centre in Bathurst, NSW police said in a statement this afternoon.
Police allege that about midday on Friday 11 July, an 18-year-old female staff member grabbed the child by the arm and dragged him across the room, then grabbed the child a second time before throwing him on to a mattress and tearing the child’s shirt near the armpit.
The 18-year-old woman, who was no longer employed at the centre, was today issued with a court attendance notice for common assault and was due to appear before Bathurst local court on Monday 17 November.
Updated
Owner of Australia’s last white paper mill sues Victorian government
The owner of Australia’s last white paper mill is suing the Victorian government over an alleged contract breach that permanently shut down production, AAP reports.
Opal, the operator of the Maryvale mill in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley, launched a lawsuit in the supreme court on Monday seeking $402m in damages from the Victorian government.
Its statement of claim accuses the state government of breaching an agreement, entered into with the mill’s former owner Amcor in 1996, to supply pulp wood.
The agreement was not due to expire until 30 June 2030 but was ripped up after the state government announced native logging would end on 1 January 2024.
Opal terminated the supply agreement two days after the announcement in May 2023 over a “breach or an anticipatory breach”, the court document alleges.
In November 2022, the supreme court ordered state-owned logging business VicForests to scale back its timber harvesting in parts of East Gippsland and the central highlands, where two endangered possum species live.
Opal alleges the government advised the now defunct VicForests would be unable to fulfil its contractual obligations and delivered a reduced supply that financial year.
Production workers were stood down and the Maryvale mill, which opened in 1937, produced its last ream of white copy paper in January 2023.
The closure of white pulp and paper production led to the loss of more than 400 jobs and caused the company, owned by Japanese multinational Nippon Paper, to suffer “substantial loss and damage”.
In a statement, Opal said it had sought to reach a negotiated outcome with the Victorian government to no avail after three years of discussions.
AAP has contacted the Victorian government for comment.
Updated
Flinders University considers proposal to abolish humanities college
Flinders University is considering a proposal that would see the closure of its arts, humanities and social sciences faculty, with all courses moved to other colleges.
The South Australian university announced last week that it was consulting with staff about changes to the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences which would “improve collaboration and enhance outcomes in the arts and humanities” and would “create new synergies and greater opportunities for students”.
According to the university, the proposal includes a new Flinders Academy of Creative Arts and an Indigenous Studies Academy and would see cuts to a “small number of management and administrative support positions”.
A Flinders University spokesperson said:
Under the College of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences proposal there would be no academic positions lost with any savings we make through reducing administrative costs directed into new academic staff positions.
All current and advertised courses will continue and so students can expect no change to their study plans – in fact, they will experience an overall increase in the teaching resources available at Flinders.
A separate proposal would see up to 30 positions in the College of Science and Engineering being disestablished, while raising academic staff numbers from 132 to 143.
The university said the proposals were not driven by cost-saving objectives.
The spokesperson said no decisions had been made in relation to the proposed changes. Consultation was under way until 7 October.
Updated
SA police carry out 156 welfare checks on Optus customers
Further to that update from Optus, South Australian police confirmed that they have conducted a welfare check on the two people identified and referred to them by the telco. No adverse outcomes were identified in those checks.
SA Police have now completed a total of 156 welfare checks.
Updated
Optus identifies seven more people unable to call triple zero during outage
Optus has identified another seven people who could not contact triple zero on Thursday during the outage, four of whom have not yet responded to a welfare check.
In an update this afternoon, the Optus CEO, Stephen Rue, said after reviewing call logs, the company had identified the additional seven customers who could not get through to emergency services on Thursday.
Rue said:
Our investigations have revealed there was a period from 12.17am to 12.30am, as the upgrade was being readied for deployment, during which the ability of these customers to get through to emergency services was affected.
We have completed welfare checks and can confirm that three of the households have confirmed they require no further assistance.
Two customers have been referred to SA Police and two to WA Police as we have been unable to make contact. This is in line with standard welfare check protocol.
Updated
Meta to use AI to detect under-18s in Australia
From today, Meta will begin testing AI in Australia on teens on Instagram suspected of being under 18, but have their account age listed as being over 18.
The Facebook and Instagram parent company has been testing the tech in the US since April, but as of today it is being expanded.
If an account is suspected of being under 18, it’ll be pushed into the teens account settings, which will restrict the types of content the user sees.
Meta found that when it was tested in the US, 9 out of every 10 teen accounts on Instagram remained in teens account mode.
It’s not difficult to see Meta could seek to apply this AI detection technology to the social media ban from December when those accounts under 16 will need to be deactivated, and teens prevented from re-registering.
But Meta’s regional policy director, Mia Garlick, said in a statement that Meta continues to hold the view that it would be better if a teen’s age was something checked on the device level, rather than social media platforms.
She said:
We’d like to see App Stores, such as the Apple App Store or Google Play, give parents the ability to verify their teens’ age directly at the point of download, which could then send a signal to apps like Instagram regarding a person’s age range.
Updated
Kumanjayi White’s funeral was held in Yuendumu on Friday. The NT police executive director Leanne Liddle said police, at the request of the family, had visited the community in the days after the funeral and “they’ve been fully briefed and informed”.
White’s mother filed papers in July to sue the NT government in the federal court, claiming that the officers involved had committed assault, battery and false imprisonment.
The acting NT police commissioner, Martin Dole, said both officers were still on duty in administrative roles.
The death in custody came weeks before the NT coroner was due to hand down the findings of a long-running coronial inquest into the fatal police shooting of Kumanjayi Walker – White’s cousin who had grown up with him in the remote desert community of Yuendumu.
Nationwide protests and vigils called for an independent investigation into the death, but NT police said no other agency was qualified to conduct such an investigation.
Updated
More on Kumanjayi White developments
As we noted earlier, the Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions will decide whether to lay charges over the death of Kumanjayi White, a Warlpiri man with disability who died after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket in May.
The final autopsy report and brief of evidence has been handed to the DPP, police told reporters in Darwin on Monday.
White, 24, died on 27 May during a confrontation with police in the confectionery aisle of a Coles supermarket. He was living in supported accommodation away from his community of Yuendumu at the time.
Police alleged White was shoplifting and said plainclothes officers had stepped in after an altercation with a security guard.
White’s family have criticised NT police for failing to update them on the criminal investigation and refusing to release CCTV and body-worn video footage of the incident.
The acting NT police commissioner, Martin Dole, said it was not “unusual” for these processes to take a long time to allow a thorough investigation to take place:
In this circumstance, we were waiting for independent medical advice. That’s now been received.
Updated
Social media platforms have ‘obligation’ to protect under-16s from inappropriate content, Labor says
The federal government has responded to our story today on the types of content under-16s teens could end up seeing when they’re locked out of having accounts and view TikTok and YouTube logged out.
Our experiment showed the Shorts and TikTok algorithms could quickly send users down a rabbit hole of often far-right and violent content, for those who are not logged in and have less control over the type of content they can see.
A spokesperson for the Albanese government said the platforms “have an obligation to ensure young Australians are not exposed to harmful or age-inappropriate content”.
The spokesperson said:
We’ll continue to work closely with industry as we progress our significant online safety reforms, including implementing the social media minimum age and a digital duty of care.
Updated
Victoria education minister accepts VCAA recommendations
Victoria’s education minister, Ben Carroll, has wrapped up a press conference following his release of a review into the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA).
He told reporters he would be accepting all 11 recommendations of the review, sparked by the state’s VCE “cheat sheet” bungle last year. Carroll went on:
We know everyone was let down, and the additional stress that was placed on them last year was unacceptable. What I can say is, we’ve been very transparent. We have done a root and branch review by Dr Blacher, a two stage report that’s been released …
We did reconstitute the board. The board has a new matrix of capability, led by the secretary of the department of education. But you can have all the strategies in place. If you don’t have the culture right, then you’re not getting out of the starting blocks, and that is why … changing the culture of the VCAA is so critically important.
Carroll says the recommendation follows eight accepted in April, which were focused on safeguarding the 2025 VCE exams, which are on track:
We are more advanced this year than we’ve been in many years at the VCAA in terms of the exam preparation, all 75 I think it is, are written and ready to be sent out. So we have every confidence in this year’s examinations, and we have left no stone unturned.
Updated
Hanson-Young says PM must use trip to UN to secure COP summit
Sarah Hanson-Young said PM Anthony Albanese must use his trip to the United Nations to secure the COP climate conference for Australia, and it would be a “fail” if he didn’t do so.
The prime minister must bring home the COP. This climate conference is important for Australia. It’s important for our Pacific neighbors. It’s important for the planet, and Australia shouldn’t be cowering and letting Turkiye win this battle.
Australia and Turkiye are both still vying to host the next conference, but the process is decided by consensus, and if the nations can’t agree for one of them to host, then the venue will default to Bonn, Germany.
Hanson-Young is from Adelaide, the city which would host if Australia won the bid. She said Australia should do more diplomacy to win hosting rights.
I’ve been worried for the last few months that we haven’t seen enough diplomatic muscle flexed in order for Australia to win the bid, and we now need the prime minister to turn on the charm, to flex that diplomatic muscle, and to bring the COP home.
If the prime minister doesn’t bring COP home, I think that’ll be a fail.
That’s all from me. The great Stephanie Convery will be your guide for the rest of Monday. Take care!
Sarah Hanson-Young says Optus should face large fines and CEO ‘should go’
Optus should face large fines after its triple-zero outage and CEO Stephen Rue “should go”, according to Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
She called on the government to implement “immediate independent oversight of Optus”, saying communications minister Anika Wells shouldn’t be waiting for the outcome of another review before taking strong action. Hanson-Young told a press conference in Canberra:
She has the power to do this as the minister. Optus, under the carrier licence conditions, they’ve clearly breached them … How many more strikes does this company need?
The failure from Optus has been deadly, and I don’t think we should be waiting for another review before we do what we know needs to be done. The minister should use her powers today, put in place independent oversight of Optus, get the cabinet to approve it and start making sure we regulate this company and this industry properly.
The Greens communications spokesperson said the previous $12m fine on Optus for a similar breach in 2023 was not enough, saying penalties should be substantially higher. Asked about Rue’s position, Hanson-Young said: “I think the CEO should go.”
My concern is, though, clearly the last CEO didn’t avoid and didn’t manage the last Optus outage. We know that this one hasn’t done much better. So it’s not just a problem with the CEO. There’s a problem with the culture of this company. They put profits ahead of people.
Updated
NT police give brief of evidence in Kumanjayi White case to DPP
Going back to the press conference on Kumanjayi White’s death earlier:
NT police acting commissioner Martin Dole said the department has compiled a “full and comprehensive brief of evidence” after an autopsy that has now been provided to the Director of Public Prosecutions, which will then determine how to proceed.
Dole said:
It is the Director of Public Prosecutions that will now determine whether criminal charges will be laid against any officer or officers involved. The coronial process remains ongoing.
Updated
Two people taken to hospital after chemical leak in Brisbane CBD
Two people were transported to the hospital in stable condition after a chemical leak in a building in Brisbane’s CBD this morning.
Queensland Ambulance Service said in a statement paramedics responded to reports of the leak at around 11.15am local time at a building on Brisbane’s Mary Street. Two people were taken to St Andrew’s hospital, and two others were assessed on scene but did not require further treatment.
Updated
RBA 'getting closer' to being able to declare inflation mission accomplished
The RBA is “getting closer” to being able to declare mission accomplished in its fight to bring inflation back under control, the bank’s governor, Michele Bullock, says.
Bullock said the RBA’s forecasts are looking good: inflation is trending back to the midpoint of the 2-3% target range, and without a big rise in unemployment in prospect:
We can’t see … that there is gonna be a sharp deterioration in the labour market.
The unemployment rate is 4.2%, and has been in the low fours for about 18 months. There was a drop in employment in the most recent monthly figures, but Bullock played down monthly swings in the figures.
Job vacancy numbers suggested there was still some corners of the labour market that looked close to full employment, and “maybe marginally on the tight side”.
The governor in her opening statement said that “there are 1.1 million more Australians in employment than in mid-2022, which is clearly a welcome development for those individuals, their families and the wider Australian economy”.
Updated
Delayed rail safety report ‘confronting’, says NSW transport minister
The NSW transport minister, John Graham, has been asked about a report into safety on the state’s heavy rail network, which the government is yet to release.
The review, headed by transport industry expert Kerry Schott, was commissioned after a high-voltage fell on the top of a train at Homebush in May, trapping 300 passengers and causing massive commuter disruption.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said last week the draft report was “sobering reading” and there were “comprehensive changes needed” on the network. Graham agrees that the report is “confronting”:
I agree with the premier’s assessment … We’ll have more to say on that in the near future, but it’s clear that we have to invest in the reliability of our rail system. The government has got the message there. We understand the impact this has on people as they move around the city, going about their everyday lives.
Graham does not say if the report calls for a significant additional spend on maintenance, but says the government remains committed to releasing it publicly.
Updated
No additional staff to enforce converted ebike ban on NSW trains
Between overhead announcements at Martin Place station, the NSW transport minister, John Graham, has laid more details of a ban on converted ebikes on train and metro services in a bid to reduce the risk from lithium-ion battery fires, as we reported earlier.
Penalties will not be effective until 1 November, although Transport for NSW is asking passengers to make the change immediately.
For now, no additional staff will be employed to enforce the change, although transport staff and police officers who work on the rail network will be given additional training to identify ebike conversion kits, which can cost as little as $50. Graham says:
We believe this will be enforceable across the network … We won’t be adding staff, but this will involve major training.
Updated
VCAA review suggests reducing subjects on offer
The VCAA review also suggests reducing the amount of subjects on offer for students, noting 36 have enrolments of 100 students or less and 21 have enrolments of 20 students or less, with nine languages having fewer than 10 students last year.
Many of the challenges in the VCAA can, in part, be traced back to the complexity of managing such a large range and number of subjects, all requiring a significant base workload. A subject with fewer than 100 students enrolled is subject to the same examination development process as one with tens of thousands of students.
Updated
More from the VCAA review in Victoria
The review heard from 180 people, including current and former staff. It said it heard “consistent feedback” that the VCAA “operates under a culture of blame and, sometimes, tolerance for poor behaviour.”
It reads:
Concerningly, in a small number of units, there also appears to be a culture of fear. Staff in these areas are concerned not only about being blamed but about being the subject of sustained criticism or the target of retribution.
The behaviours that have become normalised in these areas include a willingness to engage unprofessionally in disagreements, a tendency to critique others and a lack of respect for colleagues.
Several staff told the review that the VCAA leadership “walk past poor behaviours and tolerate them”.
But it warned culture change would be “extremely challenging” if staff failed to show up to the office, which it found had “very low occupancy”. It said the VCAA would need to “need an agreed standard of working in the office that aligns with general government policy”, which is three days a week.
The report makes 11 recommendations, which it said will take up to three years to implement. They include improving technology, establishing a sustainable budget, a progressive “spill-and-fill of senior roles”, a redesign of operating policies and processes and keeping the independent monitor appointed last year in place for at least another 12 months.
Liddle said investigations behind such deaths “take a long time”, but said the long wait was necessary.
She said:
People have said that this process has taken too long.
But we’ve had to wait this period of time to get the brief together and the information together before we move forward. And it’s difficult for people to understand the depth of the briefs that need to be provided.
Leanne Liddle, NT police’s executive director of cultural reform, said White’s death had prompted “immense grief” among his family and across the community.
Liddle said:
I know that there will be anger and hurt in the days and weeks ahead, and I want to appeal for calm and for the respect as a process by the director of public prosecutions runs its course.
Now is the time for patience to allow the independent authorities to do their job, and ensuring that Kumanjayi White’s family and other affected families are given the space and support that they deserve.
Police hold press conference into death of Kumanjayi White
NT police are holding a press conference in Darwin into the death of Kumanjayi White, the Warlpiri man who died in May after being restrained by police in an Alice Springs supermarket.
Updated
Victorian exams body review finds lack of leadership and ‘culture of fear’
A “root and branch” review of the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) found the organisation suffers from a lack of leadership, poor budget management and a “culture of fear” among its staff.
The review was ordered by the state education minister, Ben Carroll, after VCAA accidentally published exam content weeks before students sat for them last year.
The debacle led to the chief executive officer’s resignation in November. Following an initial report, released in April, Carroll went on to sack the entire board.
This second, more comprehensive report into VCAA’s culture, structure and operations, which was made public by Carroll on Monday, found the organisation “requires renewal in almost all areas of its operations”. Its author, former Victorian public servant Yehudi Blacher, wrote:
It has suffered from lack of leadership, management and governance failures, a poor organisational culture, inefficient business processes and difficult relationships with the department of education and external stakeholders. It also lacks a sustainable budget and the contemporary technology necessary for the efficient and effective performance of its roles and responsibilities.
The report noted over the past five years the organisation has seen seven substantive and acting CEOs, only one of whom oversaw more than one full examination cycle, creating a “destabilising” effect and “a deterioration of morale and acceptable behaviour”.
At the same time, it has been operating at a structural deficit, with its costs “significantly outstrip[ping]” its funding by between $5m to $55m over the five year-period. Much of this is attributed to staff, with 100 extra employees and more than 1,500 casuals hired.
Updated
Coalition says recognition of Palestinian state a ‘hollow gesture of false hope’
Opposition leader Sussan Ley and shadow foreign affairs minister Michaelia Cash issued a joint statement this morning saying they “strongly oppose” the Albanese government’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state.
They said:
Today the Albanese Government extends a hollow gesture of false hope to the Palestinian people. For the Israeli people, it extends a chilling act of concession to the Hamas terrorists who continue to seek their annihilation.
The Coalition opposes this decision and calls for it to be reversed. A responsible Australian government must deal with the world as it is, not as it would wish it to be and it should stand with our most important ally, the United States of America.
Ley and Cash added they remain “committed” to recognition through a “peaceful two-state process” that upholds Israel’s security and an economically viable, democratic Palestine without Hamas.
We are realistic that today is not the day for extending such recognition while Hamas continues to hold Israeli hostages, while it continues to preside over Palestinian territories, and while it continues to launch attacks against Israel.
Updated
Australia has a productivity problem – can we blame ‘non-market’ sectors like health care and education?
Simon Kennedy, the Liberal deputy chair of the House of Representatives economics committee, is keen to make the connection that a rise in government spending is making the economy less productive.
The RBA’s governor, Michele Bullock, says, yes, “mathematically” the growth of these non-market segments drags on measured productivity growth across the economy – largely because the ABS can’t measure productivity in sectors that don’t have market prices.
But, says Bullock, “don’t correlate that to say in order to get productivity up we have to dramatically (decrease) the size of the non-market sector; I wouldn’t want anyone to make that connection”.
Sectors like aged care and the NDIS “do have lowered measured productivity, but they are all essential parts of an advanced economy,” she says.
But, says Bullock, the structural growth of non-market sectors “does mean we have to look for productivity improvements in other areas if we can get them, so this is the challenge for the economy”.
Updated
Fare evasion budget cost hits $80m in NSW
Fare evaders cost New South Wales public transport a record $80m in the first half of 2025 by dodging payment.
The cost to the state’s budget has doubled in the last four years, as fare dodging rates doubled and ticket prices surged nearly 20% on average.
From 2017 to 2021, Transport for NSW projections consistently found fare evasion was costing the government about $40m every six months. That surged to $65m in mid 2023 and has now hit $78.8m, new estimates from TfNSW show.
For perspective, that’s about a fifth of the passenger revenue Sydney Trains earned in the first half of 2024 or about half the estimated cost of opening the new Woollahra station.
NSW has the highest rate of fare evasion in Australia, with about 8% of trips unpaid for, while Victoria’s rate is just 4% and Queensland’s has plummeted after the rollout of 50c fares. Read about why that’s happened here:
Updated
Man charged with murder of Crystal Beale
A man has been charged with the alleged murder of 49-year-old Crystal Beale this year, Queensland police have said.
Beale’s body was found in the Brisbane River by a member of the public on 22 February.
Police allege at 8.30pm on Friday 21 February, Beale left a family dinner at a Sunnybank restaurant and travelled with a 49-year-old West End man, who was known to her, in a car to West End.
The 49-year-old West End man was the last to see her when she left the car at 9.30pm on Ryan Street, West End, police said.
They allege the 49-year-old West End man murdered Beale and moved her body into the Brisbane River where it was later found. The man has been charged with one count each of murder (domestic violence offence) and misconduct with a corpse.
He will face Brisbane magistrates court today. Det Insp Wayne Francis said:
It is reprehensible what happened to Crystal. Over the past seven months detectives have been tirelessly investigating every avenue possible to find answers for her family.
We were not going to give up until we could provide these answers and get justice for Crystal.
Updated
RBA chief points to ‘tariff-related inflation’ in US
There are early signs that Donald Trump’s trade war is leading to higher prices for Americans, the RBA’s governor, Michele Bullock, says.
Answering questions at a regular appearance at a parliamentary committee in Canberra, Bullock said overall it was a “mixed bag” for inflation among peer countries, which showed “we can’t be complacent” about the outlook for inflation overseas:
Some countries are continuing to see inflation coming down, but some are observing continued price pressures – and I think the United Kingdom probably falls into this category.
And the United States, as well, you’re starting to see some signs that there’s tariff-related inflation there, but even abstracting from that, there is some strength in services inflation there.
So I think everyone is comfortable they’ve got inflation back down closer to their targets but I think there are signs that we can’t be complacent.
Updated
Victorian government fast-tracks approval of the state’s largest battery storage project
The minister for planning, Sonya Kilkenny, on Monday announced Pacific Green’s $1.3bn Portland Energy Park, in the state’s south-west, has been fast-tracked via the government’s development facilitation program.
The program was designed to speed up housing approvals but was extended last year to include renewable energy projects. At the time, the government said one in five renewable energy project applications were getting caught up in the Victorian civil and administrative tribunal despite eventually being approved, leading to long delays.
Since then, 20 projects totalling more than $6bn have been fast-tracked by the government. These projects no longer have to go through the planning panel process, including third-party appeals at Vcat.
The Portland project includes four 250-megawatt battery ‘parks’ – enough to power 345,000 homes during peak demand – making it the state’s biggest battery and an on-site terminal station to connect the facility to the grid via existing transmission lines.
As part of its application, Pacific Green was required to show the development will be “compliant with conditions regarding biodiversity impacts, bushfire safety, and noise” the government said, while also committing to upgrading nearby roads as part of the works.
Updated
Higher prices have affected ‘everyone’, Bullock says
“The global environment is particularly uncertain and unpredictable,” Bullock said, adding that the economy and labour market could prove hotter or cooler than expected – which would change the prospect of future rate moves.
She noted that while inflation had come back down from its 2022 peak, prices hadn’t come down and Australia remained a substantially more expensive place to live than a few years ago:
The higher price level has affected everyone – whether you’re paying a mortgage, renting, running a business, or just trying to make ends meet. It’s been especially tough on people with lower incomes and those in more vulnerable situations.
This is why … it’s so important that inflation remains low and stable.
Updated
RBA governor says rising incomes should boost household spending
Michele Bullock, the Reserve Bank’s governor, says rising incomes should boost household spending and support the economy over the year ahead, even as she warned that the outlook was “clouded by uncertainty”.
In the lead-up to the RBA’s monetary policy board meeting in a week’s time – where board members are expected to back keeping the cash rate at 3.6% – Bullock painted a fairly upbeat picture for Australia at a parliamentary committee hearing in Canberra this morning.
In her opening statement, she said inflation had come down from its peak and back within the 2% to 3% target, and that unemployment remained low:
But forecasts are just that – forecasts. And the economic outlook continues to be clouded by uncertainty. This is especially so the further into the future we look.
Updated
Michele Bullock, the governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia, is speaking before the House of Representatives’ standing committee on economics.
She called the hearings an “important part of the accountability process for the Reserve Bank”.
We’ll bring you more from her remarks shortly.
Measles alert issued in Mackay region as cases grow
The Mackay Hospital and Health Service has issued a measles alert for the region after the detection of a case, the latest in an outbreak of the virus, with the state recording at least 12 infections in the past six weeks in Cairns, the Gold Coast and Townsville.
The latest alert in the Mackay region includes people in the small town of Middlemount who visited:
The Middlemount Gym on 12 to 14 September or 17 to 18 September between 6.30pm and 8pm.
The Middlemount Shopping Centre, including the Middlemount IGA and pharmacy, from 17 September between 9.30 -10.30am.
The service said on social media:
Although the most well-known symptom of measles is a blotchy red rash, this is not usually the first symptom. Measles symptoms may appear 7-18 days after exposure, typically around day 10.
If you were at the above locations at the listed dates and times, please look out for symptoms.
Updated
How a Melbourne sewage farm became a haven for 300 species of birds
Brolgas are common in northern Australia but are endangered in Victoria. One of the most reliable places to see them, though, is in the wide grassy plains, ponds and marshlands of Melbourne’s largest sewage farm, the Western treatment plant.
It may seem an unlikely bird haven but the abundance of birdlife famously rivals Kakadu. South of Werribee, at the edge of Port Phillip Bay, nearly 200 human-made lagoons and natural wetlands sit side-by-side across the 105 sq km site. More than 300 species of birds have been recorded here, including many threatened species.
Due to the constant supply of wastewater, the area is protected from drought, and in dry years has become a refuge for half of Victoria’s waterfowl. It was formally listed under the Ramsar convention in 1983 as an internationally significant wetland.
Read more here:
Updated
Half of Australians anxious about retirement savings, reports find
Half of all Australians don’t feel particularly confident about their retirement finances and almost as many don’t have a post-work financial plan, three new reports show.
AAP reports just 50% of 2,000 Australians surveyed in July said they felt confident about their financial security in retirement, with more than one in three of those older than 65 still feeling financially insecure.
The financial services giant AMP commissioned the survey by the independent research company Dynata as part of its new emphasis on retirement services and released the findings today.
Meanwhile, the investment manager Natixis said its Global Retirement Index found 53% of Australians said it would take a “miracle” for them to be able to retire securely – up 5% from 2023.
CoreData Research surveyed 7,050 individual investors in 21 countries in February and March for the Natixis report, now in its 13th year.
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Man dies after being hit by forklift at Sydney workplace
A man died in a workplace in Sydney’s eastern beaches area earlier this morning, police have said.
Emergency services were called to a warehouse in the suburb of Matraville about 5.30am after reports the worker was seriously injured. On arrival, officers with NSW police were told the man had been struck by a forklift.
The man, 57, was treated by paramedics, but he died at the scene.
Police have established a crime scene and opened an investigation.
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Sydney has the highest fare evasion rates in Australia. What can it learn from Melbourne and Brisbane?
NSW has the highest rate of fare evasion in Australia. There is about half as much fare dodging in Melbourne as Sydney, while evasion rates have plummeted in Queensland after the rollout of 50c fares, new data shows.
In 2019 NSW’s transport department all but declared victory on fare dodging. But a subsequent surge in fare evasion has punched a hole in the state’s budget, with lost revenue climbing from less than $80m to almost $130m annually.
By 2022 fare dodgers accounted for nearly one in 10 trips across NSW. That figure has remained high as commuters struggle with surging living costs.
Experts say NSW can learn from the experiences of Australia’s other two big public transport networks.
Read more here:
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Acma not told of Optus triple-zero network issues for more than 10 hours
Nerida O’Loughlin, the Australian Communications Media Authority chair, said Acma usually gets multiple emails a day from telcos when something goes wrong with their networks. But in the case of the Optus outage, Acma wasn’t “notified at all until the outage was resolved”.
O’Loughlin explained more about the typical timeframes as to how the authority was notified earlier:
I would have to say it is variable, but particularly with the local significant outages, we receive multiple emails per day, usually as soon as the telco is aware that something has gone wrong.
In this case we did not know that something had gone wrong until the matter had been resolved more than 10 hours later.
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Major Jewish human rights group criticises Australia for recognition of Palestinian state
The Simon Wiesenthal Center has hit out at Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood, along with the UK, Canada, Portugal and France.
Named for the Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter, the organisation is a global Jewish human rights organisation working to confront antisemitism and hate, and to defend the safety of Israel and Jews worldwide.
The group says recognition of Palestine rewards the 7 October terrorists, responsible for the bloodiest attack on Jews since the Holocaust. Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the center’s director of global social action, said:
If these governments truly cared about humanitarian crises, they would demand the immediate release of every last hostage before Hamas kills them all.
Instead, they have abandoned the innocent men, women and children in Hamas’ brutal hands.
He said diplomatic recognition under the current circumstances was appeasement and wouldn’t bring peace any closer.
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Wells expresses ‘unbelievable disappointment’ to Optus CEO
Wells said she had spoken to the Optus CEO, Stephen Rue, to express her deep disappointment after the outage:
You would be unsurprised to hear that I expressed my unbelievable disappointment that we were here again so quickly. Or here again at all.
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Any penalties would be financial, not criminal
The Australian Communications Media Authority said any penalties would largely be financial if imposed, adding the body could also seek enforceable undertakings from Optus.
Nerida O’Loughlin said the law doesn’t have any criminal convictions “available to us”.
She wouldn’t speculate on the size of any potential penalties.
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Lack of emergency call services can be ‘devastating’, Acma chair says
Nerida O’Loughlin, the Australian Communications Media Authority chair, said Acma did not expect Optus to be here “so soon” after the authority took action against Optus for similar matters in 2023. The company was fined $12m last year for that outage:
Triple zero and emergency call services are a fundamental requirement for all telcos. They are there for people at their most vulnerable and they have devastating effects if they are not in place. We have seen that play out over the last few days.
We have started that by alerting Optus to the investigation being under way. We will be seeking significant information from Optus. Telco networks are complex much we will need time to dig into what has exactly happened here.
As the minister said, we will, as the regulator, be holding Optus to account for this second outage over the last couple of years.
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Optus expected to face ‘significant consequences’
Anika Wells, the minister for communications, said Optus would be held to account after the triple-zero outage.
Wells just said during a press conference that she expected the company to face “significant consequences” after the outage, which may be linked to multiple deaths:
Optus and all telecommunications providers have obligations under Australian law to make sure emergency services calls go through … Optus will be held accountable for this failure. They and all providers have no excuses here.
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Climate change minister meets Turkish counterpart over Cop31
The climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, met his Turkish counterpart in New York overnight as part of Australia’s efforts to secure hosting rights for the Cop31 climate talks next year.
Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan wants his country to host the event, and is blocking Australia’s bid to host in conjunction with Pacific Island countries.
Hosting rights are decided on a consensus system, and if Turkey and Australia stay in the race, the conference could be held in Bonn, Germany, by default.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, could meet Erdoğan in New York this week to discuss the rival bids.
“I’ve had a discussion previously already with President Erdogan and with his foreign minister,” Albanese said overnight, adding:
I will advocate in good faith for Australia and the Pacific’s position.
With these things quite clearly, if we’re going to see our way through to a common position, it is highly likely there will be a need to compromise.
Albanese pointed to the United Nations headquarters, and said compromise happens regularly among member states:
It’s called diplomacy.
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SA premier says state contacted Optus about outage before company reached out
Peter Malinauskas, the premier of South Australia, said he was bewildered by the lack of communication between Optus and the state government during a triple-zero outage last week that may be linked to multiple deaths.
Malinauskas spoke to RN Breakfast, saying there was “genuine concern” about what led to the outage:
When people call triple-zero in their time of the need, it’s just one of those services you need to work …
It’s the way you respond to it that often matters so much. And that’s where Optus has been found wanting, to put it mildly. The lack of communication between Optus officials and appropriate government authorities is bewildering.
Malinauskas said ambulance services and police both noticed a drop-off in the number of calls before the state contacted Optus, rather than the company telling officials of the outage:
As far as I can tell, it was the South Australian government that alerted Optus to there being a problem, rather than the other way around …
Now, the duty is on Optus to let authorities know that there’s a problem, if they indeed are aware of one. And it turns out they were, as early as a few hours before that. So that with and of itself raises very serious questions that we expect to be examined through an independent investigation.
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Converted ebikes to be banned on NSW rail network
The NSW government announced a ban on converted ebikes on the state rail network, saying the risk of lithium-ion battery fires was too great.
Beginning 1 November, the converted ebikes – defined as regular pedal bikes that have been fitted with batteries and motors – will be barred from Sydney Trains, NSW Trainlink and Metro services. Anyone who brings one of the devices onboard could be fined between $400 and $1,110, a comparable offence to bringing a petrol-powered device on a train or railway service.
The ban does not apply to travel on concourses, lifts, escalators or in storage facilities outside fare gates, and riders passing through community access gates won’t be affected.
Other ebikes, shared ebikes and mobility devices will not be affected but Transport NSW said it would continue to monitor all incidents involving them “closely”.
John Graham, the NSW minister for transport, said:
The overwhelming message from the consultation was that banning all ebikes from trains would go too far. Taking out the highest risk ebikes is a sensible and balanced step, but we will watch this space very closely and take further action if necessary.
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Matt Kean says emissions reduction a clear growth opportunity for Australia, ‘not a drag’
Matt Kean, the chair of the Climate Change Authority, said the emissions reduction target set by the government last week would not be a “drag” on the Australian economy, adding the country needed to “get on” with plans to slash emissions and build out renewable energy sources.
Kean spoke to RN Breakfast about the government’s 62% to 70% reduction target over 2005 levels and the need for renewable energy capacity:
We need to get on with it, and we’re going to need everything, everywhere, all at once. We’re going to need batteries, we’re going to need wind, we’re going to need offshore wind, we’re going to need storage … and we’re going to need new transmission lines.
Kean was also asked about opposition leader Sussan Ley’s criticism that the targets would be too costly. He rejected that assertion:
The clear and undeniable truth is that against the backdrop of falling emissions that we’ve recommended, 62% to 70%, there is a net benefit to the Australian economy. There is a clear economic growth opportunity here, not a drag for the economy, and we should get on and do it because it’s in our national interest …
A 62% to 70% fall in emissions is an economic growth opportunity for Australia, not a drag.
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PM meets King Abdullah II of Jordan
Anthony Albanese met King Abdullah II of Jordan in New York overnight, part of a major diplomatic push before the UN general assembly.
The prime minister and the king discussed the Israel-Gaza war and other security issues in the Middle East, hours after Australia formally recognised Palestine as a state.
It’s the start of a big week for Albanese, who announced the recognition move with the foreign minister, Penny Wong, outside the United Nations headquarters in downtown Manhattan.
Australia acted in concert with similar declarations by prime ministers Keir Starmer of the UK and Mark Carney of Canada and before a major conference on the two-state solution hosted by France and Saudi Arabia. Albanese told the travelling media pack:
Australia is a longstanding supporter of a two-state solution as the only pathway to a secure and prosperous future for Israelis and Palestinians alike.
We recognise the legitimate and long-held aspirations of the people of Palestine of a state of their own, and in doing so, we reaffirm Australia’s longstanding position of two-states, the state of Israel and the state of Palestine, living side by side behind internationally recognised borders in peace and security.
Albanese played down concerns that the US could retaliate against Australia for recognising Palestine, a move opposed by the president, Donald Trump.
No meeting between the pair has been confirmed yet this week but the Australian side remains eager to secure face-to-face talks.
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Netanyahu warns Australia to ‘stand by’ for response after recognition of Palestinian state
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has lashed Australia’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood, warning leaders the moves reward terrorism by Hamas.
Anthony Albanese is at the United Nations this week, working alongside the leaders of France, Britain and Canada.
In a statement on Monday morning, Australian time, Netanyahu warned Albanese and other world leaders to “stand by” for his response:
There will be no Palestinian state. The response to the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States.
I have a clear message to those leaders who are recognising a Palestinian state after the horrendous 7 October massacre: You are rewarding terror with an enormous prize. And I have another message for you: It’s not going to happen.
There will be no Palestinian state to the west of the Jordan River.
For years I have prevented the creation of that terror state, against tremendous pressure, both domestic and from abroad.
We have done this with determination and with astute statesmanship. Moreover, we have doubled the Jewish settlement in Judea and Samaria, and we will continue on this path.
The response to the latest attempt to force upon us a terror state in the heart of our land will be given after my return from the United States. Stand by.
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Good morning
Good morning, and happy Monday. Nick Visser here to get the day rolling. Here’s what’s on deck.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has issued a warning after Australia formally recognised a Palestinian state, alongside the UK and Canada. The Israeli leader said Australia should “stand by” for his response, with Netanyahu adding other nations were “rewarding terror with an enormous prize” with the move.
Some ebikes will be banned from Sydney trains, NSW Trainlink and Sydney Metro services from 1 November due to the risk of lithium-ion battery fires, the state’s transport minister announced today. The ban encompasses so-called “converted e-bikes”, classified as pedal bikes that have been fitted with batteries and motors. Other ebikes and mobility devices will not be affected.
We’ll be following any further updates from Optus after the company’s CEO said established processes were not involved when an upgrade to its infrastructure sparked a triple-zero outage that may have cost at least three lives.
And there’s more to come.
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