‘There are traps right throughout the budget’: Jim Chalmers
Peter Hannam
(Continued from previous post)
A final change is that migration has bounced back much faster than expected.
Treasury now expects net overseas migration to be for this financial year in the mid-300,000s or more, compared to 235,000 in the October budget,” Chalmers said, adding that inbound tourists and international students were faster than expected, and more Australians were staying at home. [Blame the impact of higher borrowing costs or even bracket creep, perhaps.]
Still, the effect of Covid has meant migration over the five years to June 2024 will likely be 250,000 fewer than pre-pandemic forecasts had it.
As for the budget itself, there will be eight priority areas:
Cost of living relief; investing in growth and productivity; funding national security priorities including Aukus; strengthening the care economy and essential services; breaking down barriers to the full workforce participation of women in our workforce; targeting entrenched inequality; extending ‘time-limited’ programmes whose funding runs out in June; making the budget ‘as responsible as possible’.
Number seven was particularly irksome, it seems.
“It has been extraordinary and disappointing to see how many areas right across the Cabinet portfolios where there are programs which of course will be funded in an ongoing way but which in the Budget are only funded in some cases to the end of June this year,” he said, citing My Health as one example.
“There are traps right throughout the budget,” he said.
No doubt we’ll hear more about those traps as 9 May nears.
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Bill Nelson, the administrator for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), spoke at the National Press Club about how future space missions would be international, rather than US-run.
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But, he said, China “have decided a different course”, and pointed to their lack of transparency when parts of huge rockets plummeted to Earth while they were launching their own space station, and their lack of cooperation on scientific endeavours.
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Nelson said he ran into the Chinese ambassador at a Sunday brunch in Washington and told him “China has been very secretive, very non transparent”.
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“I gave the example that they had put up one component of their space station and the big rocket that put it up was tumbling back to Earth. They did not save enough fuel for a controlled re-entry and they would not give any information or coordinates about the rocket,” he said.
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The China Manned Space Agency claims most components of the rocket stages burn up on re-entry.
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Nelson, who has been in Canberra and Adelaide meeting with ministers as well as space industry and academics, criticised China earlier this year. He warned the US needed to “watch out” for its lunar rival, who might compete for the moon’s resources.
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On Thursday, Nelson said he also brought up the lack of sharing of lunar soil samples with China, saying the Apollo missions had made their samples available to the international community.
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The relationship used to be better, Nelson said, recounting how he introduced the first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei, to Buzz Aldrin, the “second man on the moon”.
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Earlier, Nelson met with the US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, and in his press club speech he talked about her father (the former US president John F Kennedy) and his famous moonshot speech, in which JFK said: “We go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard”.
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Nelson said Nasa will announce the crew for the Artemis moon mission next week, and that it will include a Canadian. He has said he is keen for Nasa to fly an Australian astronaut.
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(Continued from previous post)
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A final change is that migration has bounced back much faster than expected.
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Treasury now expects net overseas migration to be for this financial year in the mid-300,000s or more, compared to 235,000 in the October budget,” Chalmers said, adding that inbound tourists and international students were faster than expected, and more Australians were staying at home. [Blame the impact of higher borrowing costs or even bracket creep, perhaps.]
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Still, the effect of Covid has meant migration over the five years to June 2024 will likely be 250,000 fewer than pre-pandemic forecasts had it.
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As for the budget itself, there will be eight priority areas:
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Cost of living relief; investing in growth and productivity; funding national security priorities including Aukus; strengthening the care economy and essential services; breaking down barriers to the full workforce participation of women in our workforce; targeting entrenched inequality; extending ‘time-limited’ programmes whose funding runs out in June; making the budget ‘as responsible as possible’.
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Number seven was particularly irksome, it seems.
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“It has been extraordinary and disappointing to see how many areas right across the Cabinet portfolios where there are programs which of course will be funded in an ongoing way but which in the Budget are only funded in some cases to the end of June this year,” he said, citing My Health as one example.
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“There are traps right throughout the budget,” he said.
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No doubt we’ll hear more about those traps as 9 May nears.
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The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has told a closed-door Business Council of Australia breakfast (which we can only report now) that he receives twice-daily briefings on the volatility of the global financial system, and his second budget takes shape for 9 May. (Only 47 sleeps to go.)
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It’s pleasing to see that the actions taken by central banks, the authorities, the institutions around the world have been working to boost liquidity, bolster confidence and keep credit lines open,” Chalmers said, referring to the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and two other lenders in the US, and Swiss bank UBS taking over the ailing rival, Credit Suisse last weekend.
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We convened last week APRA, ASIC, the RBA and Treasury, we’ve been taking soundings from the banks and others in the corporate world, and the consistent message from all of these briefings is that we are well-capitalised, well-regulated and well-placed as we confront this volatility in the global financial system,” he said.
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Our banks don’t have the same exposures as some of their US counterparts, they regularly hedge their risks, and the regime is much tighter since the Global Financial Crisis as well.
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Markets haven’t been so buoyant today, with the ASX200 share index shedding about 0.7% at the opening and trading roughly sideways since then.
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Part of the gloomy mood was the decision by the US federal reserve to hike that country’s key interest rate by another 25 basis points overnight, opting to fight inflation rather than ease the risk of more bank failures as the US economy slows. The Bank of England is expected to lift its key rate by the same amount tonight after February’s annual inflation pace quickened to 10.4% in February. (It was running at 10.1% in January.)
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Anyway, the ongoing tightening of monetary policy and resulting slower global growth will be a factor in the May budget, Chalmers said. On the plus side for Australia, the peak of inflation looks to be behind us, with the treasurer noting the RBA governor Philip Lowe’s views earlier this month that we are near to a pause in interest rises.
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“That’s a key difference in the current conditions compared to what we were expecting in October,” Chalmers said, referring to the government’s out-of-cycle first budget.
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Global commodity prices, while still high by historic levels, are lower now than in October, so the boost to budget is unlikely to be as big as it was back then, he said.
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Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister has lashed Bruce Lehrmann’s failure to send even a letter of demand or concerns notice to media outlets for two years after Brittany Higgins’ allegations were first published.
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Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Wilkinson, is fighting an attempt by Lehrmann to extend the usual 12-month time limit on bringing defamation claims. Lehrmann is suing for publications that are more than two years’ old and must convince a court that it was not reasonable for him to begin proceedings within the usual one-year window.
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On Thursday, Chrysanthou lashed Lehrmann’s failure to even send Wilkinson a concerns notice during the usual 12-month limitation period.
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The court heard Wilkinson didn’t receive notice of the defamation claim until the day after it commenced. Other publishers, including News Corp, Network Ten and Samantha Maiden, received notice of the claim on 16 December.
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That indicated that Lehrmann had never wanted to settle with Wilkinson, Chrysanthou said.
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\n
He always intended to sue her, she was the top of his list.
\n
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Chrysanthou said there was no explanation for Lehrmann not sending a letter of demand or concerns notice to any of the publishers for almost two years after the initial publications:
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\n
Why did he not send a concerns notice ever, that has not been explained, within the limitation period, why was no concerns notice sent? Or even just a letter of demand sent to my client saying ‘I intend to sue you, be on notice’.
\n
\n
There has been no explanation for that and that is a highly relevant matter to the exercise of the discretion. Why should Mr Lehrmann be given any time after 2 December when he had nearly two years to send a concerns notice? Why is Mr Korn’s musings about waiting to see, what does that have anything to do with sending a letter to the publishers? Nothing. That didn’t affect his criminal charges, that didn’t prejudice his position. These publishers had no notice of this claim, in my client’s case until the day after it was commenced, in the case of the other publishers until the 16 December. And no explanation has been given for that.
\n
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Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister has pointed to a series of high-profile defamation claims brought by rugby league player Jack de Belin and actors John Jarratt, Craig McLachlan and Geoffrey Rush to support her argument that Bruce Lehrmann should have filed defamation proceedings earlier.
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Lehrmann is attempting to convince the federal court to give him more time to pursue his defamation claim against Network Ten, News Corp, Samantha Maiden, and Wilkinson over the February 2021 stories about Brittany Higgins.
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Lehrmann is suing two years after the publication of the allegedly defamatory content, well outside the usual 12-month time window.
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He is arguing the prospect of criminal charges delayed him from filing a defamation claim. He also says he was advised by his then lawyer, Warwick Korn, to delay defamation proceedings.
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But Sue Chrysanthou SC said other plaintiffs had filed defamation claims within the 12-month period despite the defamatory material they complained about involving allegations that could be considered criminal. She said that included de Belin, Jarratt, McLachlan, and Rush.
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Chrysanthou said:
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The notion that there’s some generalized or ordinary rule in favour of extension because there’s a possibility of criminal charges cannot be right and the notion that there’s some ordinary rule when charges have already been laid is not right either.
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She said:
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No defamation lawyer advising a plaintiff would tell the plaintiff to miss the limitation period, no rational defamation lawyer.
\n
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I regret to inform you that it is that time again.
“,”elementId”:”90674cd1-f428-45f7-b38d-8494c79c6513″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Question time.
“,”elementId”:”e09322ff-d4ae-4040-8da8-cd8f2df2cf38″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Last one for the week.
“,”elementId”:”52b53ee9-1c10-49fa-a230-cda1d83ef881″},{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Let’s goooooo
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton and shadow attorney general Julian Leeser have held a press conference to respond to the new details on the voice which the government announced today.
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Josh Butler was there and will have a quick report for you soon – you may not be surprised to learn that Dutton wants more detail.
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Opposition leader Peter Dutton on the voice – says Liberals still considering their position but he says he still wants more detail
Says the design principles released by the working group today are still not enough to satisfy his requests for detail pic.twitter.com/3wIulGvg0M
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) March 23, 2023
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Paul Karp is at the “rally” and says independent senator Lidia Thorpe attempted to step up to the podium to disrupt what Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull is spruiking but was stopped by police.
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The court is continuing to hear arguments about whether the usual 12-month time limit on bringing defamation claims should be extended. If successful in extending the time limit, Lehrmann will be able to pursue his defamation claim against Network Ten, News Corp, Lisa Wilkinson and Samantha Maiden over their initial publications of Brittany Higgins’s allegations in February 2021.
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Justice Michael Lee has begun proceedings by explaining his reasons for declining a previous request from Wilkinson’s lawyers to produce a report detailing the contents of Lehrmann’s phone. The report, a single document, contained almost 40,000 pages of contacts, calendar, calls, chats, emails, instant messages, GPS tracking notes, cookies, data files, audio, installed apps and searched items as far back as 2017.
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Lee described the request as a “classic fishing expedition“ and said the case was not some sort of “roving inquiry” into everything that Lehrmann did, said and thought.
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He said “on any rational view, it could never be discoverable, and more importantly has no apparent relevance” to the case.
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The court instead received a more limited version of the contents of Lehrmann’s phone, which, among other things, showed his messages to friends on 15 February 2021, the date the Higgins allegations first appeared in the media.
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In his reasons for delaying his defamation claim, Lehrmann said he was acting on the advice of his then lawyer, Warwick Korn, that he should wait until the conclusion of any criminal proceedings.
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But the messages showed he was telling his then girlfriend on 15 February, while in Korn’s office, that defamation was a “definite” and “he says I’m up for millions as defamation”. He also told another friend that: “Criminal, he says, is off the cards completely”.
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Lehrmann said he had fabricated those conversations with his lawyer to reassure his former partner, who was distraught.
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The court heard on Thursday that Korn would not be called to give evidence. Lehrmann’s lawyers had previously signalled that it would attempt to call Korn to give evidence about his interactions with Lehrmann in February 2021.
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Lehrmann has denied allegations he raped Higgins and pleaded not guilty at trial, which was aborted due to juror misconduct.
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Marcia Langton finishes with:
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But believe us – each one of us here has been involved in a major initiative. The royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody. The inquiry into the forced removal of Aboriginal children from their families. The Don Dale royal commission.
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I could go on and on. And in each case we have doggedly recommended changes to stop the deaths, the incarceration, the early deaths, and the miserable lives and it is so infrequently that our recommendations are adopted.
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This is why we cannot report on many improvements in the closing the gap indicators.
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And each year, people like you come along to listen to that misery fest, and each year, people go away wringing their hands, we’re here to draw a line in the sand, and say, in this has to change, people’s lives have to improve, and we know from the evidence that what improvements people’s lives is when they get a say.
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And that’s what this is about.
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Marcus Stewart answers a question about the concerns of First Nations people who fear the voice will entrench segregation:
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I think I want to be clear that we’re not a homogenous group as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We have parts of our community who don’t agree, but we carry a responsibility to make sure we bring them along in this journey.
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We understand there’s going to be people coming through parliament, like there’s us here, advising government, who will have a difference of views.
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Today is a momentous day because the start gun goes, the race begins towards a yes campaign.
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We’ve got an opportunity on the Sunday after a referendum to wake up a better country and that’s what is in front of us, that’s the opportunity, that’s the moment, and we can’t lose sight of that. We’ll work with our communities closely.
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I think back to the question around what does representation look like? There’s a responsibility that we go out and speak to our communities to understand how they want to represent themselves as well.
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That’s why we’ve got the design principle, that’s why we’ve got confidence in it, but we can’t lose sight of the moment in history of where we stand today, and we’ll get to, hopefully, on the Sunday after the referendum.
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Can the question be altered through the parliamentary committee process which will look at the question?
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Anthony Albanese says “of course”.
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Of course it can be altered. We have a parliamentary process. Of course, it can be altered.
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People can use the numbers to alter it. I said though, very clearly and unequivocally that this is the position, the government’s position, we arrived at it on the basis with the consultation process with the referendum working group.
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This is something that has come up from the fine men and women who stand beside me now and I would take a lot of convincing before I would support any amendment.
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This is quite clearly what we are going forward with. This has been adopted by the cabinet and I don’t know how we can make it clearer than that.
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Tony McAvoy who is also on the referendum working group goes through the principles which have been decided upon:
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Underlying those nine principles is an expansion which we hope will go a long way to eradicating the fears that some people might have about this Voice.
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The design principles are:
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Following the designed principles of the voice to parliament agreed by the First Nations referendum working group.
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A. The voice will give independent advice to the parliament and government.
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B. It will be chosen by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people based on the wishes of local communities.
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C. It will be representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, gender-balanced and include youth.
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D. It will be empowering community-led inclusive, respectful and culturally informed.
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E. It will be accountable and transparent.
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F. It will work alongside existing organisations and traditional structures.
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G. It will not have a program delivery function.
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H. It will not have a veto power.
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The referendum working group encourages everybody, everybody that has an interest this process, to pay close attention to the design principles. This is how we set out where the voice should go.
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Senator Pat Dodson is next to address the media conference:
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The words that ring in my head from the Uluru statement is the tyranny of our dispossession.
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Today is a clear example where the government and the Aboriginal leadership here have laid the foundation to actually give hope – to give hope – to the reversing of that tyranny because a successful referendum will give the Aboriginal peoples a voice to the parliament and to the executive on matters that affect them. This requires all Australians.
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We need your help. All Australians to see the significance that this moment, with this level of unity here, this … level of magnanimity, that we as Australians can arise to a better relationship with our First Peoples. One where we are liberated and when our hearts and minds are clean from the tyranny of the oppression and suffering and shame that we have lived with.
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Thomas Mayo, another member of the referendum working group, says:
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You have heard about the incredibly hard work we have been doing as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This is the culmination of generations of work.
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At Uluru, we gathered with an eye to the lessons from the past and we look to the future.
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We suspended our disbelief that this nation would listen to us, we chose hope for a better future. We must have hope. We must believe in ourselves, we must do better.
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It’s not good enough that here in this country the life expectancy of Indigenous peoples is almost 10 years less than other Australians. It’s not good enough that proportionately we are the most incarcerated people on the planet.
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It’s not good enough that our youth languish in detention in obscene numbers. They should be our hope for the future. It’s time for us to have a voice.
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Today, we have delivered on another major piece of work on this trek to a better future – we have a set of words, a new chapter nine, that does something simple and profound. In its simplicity, it is given Indigenous people who have been ignored and treated poorly for far too long a voice so that we may improve our lives.
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Prof Megan Davis is now speaking:
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This is a historic day, this is a historic agreement. There is still a long way to go, but today we must pause and reflect on this historic achievement.
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When we ran the dialogues all over Australia, our people spoke about not being listened to and not being heard. They spoke about powerless and voicelessness.
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This prime minister, this government, has listened respectfully, genuinely, authentically, this process bodes well for the future of the voice. Almost six years ago, we issued the Uluru statement from the heart to the Australian people and we asked Australians to read it and we asked them to hear our call that retail Australian politics, critical tribalism, means that things never change in our communities.
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And the constitution is something that we have never tried. We have never tried in this country to empower our people, to empower our voice. This is about the right to be consulted on laws and policies that are made about our communities, to be heard on laws and policies about our lives.
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The question which will be put to people at the referendum:
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A proposed law to alter the constitution to recognise the First Peoples of Australia by establishing an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. Do you approve this proposed alteration?
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That’s the question before the Australian people. Nothing more, but nothing less.
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There is a large contingent with the prime minister this morning ahead of his announcement on the wording of the voice referendum.
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Anthony Albanese is standing with minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, the attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, Senator Patrick Dodson, and members of the referendum working group.
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“Bringing people together starts right here on this stage, literally,” he says.
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The press conference is about to begin.
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The Indigenous voice will be “a very powerful mechanism”, promises Prof Megan Davis, a referendum working group member and Uluru statement co-chair, as we await the prime minister’s confirmation of the proposed change to the constitution.
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We’re hearing that PM Anthony Albanese and the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, will give a press conference shortly. The PM was non-committal this morning when asked about the proposed constitutional change, saying he would have more to say later today.
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Davis, one of the key members of the working group and a constitutional academic, told Radio National this morning that recent discussions with the government had been “really respectful” and that the working group “believe we’ve been heard”.
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[Albanese] has really listened to what we’ve had to say, he’s listening and really marked these deliberations.
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Australians will find out more later today. It’s a momentous occasion, a very historic occasion for the nation. We can see the aspirations of our people are on the horizon, the nation needs to grasp this moment.
\n
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Davis again stressed that the voice needed to talk to executive government, shrugging off concerns from a small number of conservative critics about that element of the proposed change. The University of New South Wales academic says the amendment that will soon be revealed “covers off” on any concerns they may have, and noted that the process had been advised by the nation’s best legal minds.
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This has been a very comprehensive and rigorous process. The amendments have been really thoroughly debated and scrutinised, that will continue to happen in the course of the committee process,” she said.
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We’ve had the best legal minds in the country working on this … we believe very much we’ve got the balance right now, and people will see that in due time, but I would say to those people, listen to what we are saying, listen to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
\n
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In the RN interview, Davis was also asked about concerns from progressive critics that the voice wouldn’t be powerful enough. She rejected those suggestions too.
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I’ve never really understood the argument that this voice is merely advisory. The function of the voice is to make representations to the parliament and the executive, it will have an extraordinary impact on the work of the government of the day and the parliament,” she said.
\n
The language of making representations is proactive, it doesn’t have to wait to be engaged by the parliament, it doesn’t have to wait to be consulted, it can make representations on its own initiative … it’s a very powerful mechanism and it will have an enormous impact on the way in which the nation engages with first nations communities.”
\n
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Davis noted 2023 marked the second decade of consultation and work around Indigenous constitutional recognition in Australia, pointing out there had been at least seven processes and 10 national reports conducted.
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EDT”,”blockLastUpdated”:1679529400000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”19.56 EDT”,”blockFirstPublished”:1679526755000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”19.12 EDT”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”19.12″,”title”:”PM ‘really listened’ to voice working group, Prof Megan Davis says”,”contributors”:[{“name”:”Josh Butler”,”imageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/07/01/Josh_Butler.jpg?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=f6e36ddc89d1442611e6b4fe726302d0″,”largeImageUrl”:”https://i.guim.co.uk/img/uploads/2022/07/01/Josh_Butler.png?width=300&quality=85&auto=format&fit=max&s=b99fc3ae31423d51324e5f82baea0af0″}],”primaryDateLine”:”Thu 23 Mar 2023 02.26 EDT”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Wed 22 Mar 2023 15.17 EDT”},{“id”:”641b82498f0889459a760538″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has commented on the ADF helicopter accident overnight. A helicopter carrying 10 ADF personnel ditched into Jervis Bay, but all on board escaped serious physical injury. A wreckage retrieval operation is under way as you read this:
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At about 9pm last night, there was a ditching of an MRH-90 army helicopter. It happened on a routine exercise which was around counter-terrorism training in a maritime environment. It happened around Jervis Bay, so the helicopter was ditched into Jervis Bay. There were 10 crew aboard – a mixture of army and navy, special forces. Everyone has been able to walk away, there were two minor injuries, one hit their head and another person took on some sea water, but they’re being looked after.
\n
And essentially, people have been able to get out of this without any serious injury. That represents an incredible achievement on the part of the crew. This was a textbook response to a loss of power the engine stopped, the crew were able to shut the engine down and to ditch the aircraft into Jervis Bay in a way where it was able to keep the aircraft upright. So, we should all be thankful for the professionalism of the men and women of our defence forces. In this instance, they responded to a very terrifying situation, and in the midst of a crisis managed to act in a way which has kept everyone alive.
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PM Anthony Albanese says he will have more to say on the Indigenous voice referendum later today, with news expected on the exact wording of the constitutional amendment and the referendum question.
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The prime minister held a brief press conference at a childcare centre in Queanbeyan this morning. We reported overnight that the referendum working group of Indigenous leaders had reached an agreement with the prime minister over the crucial referendum details, but the particulars still have to be approved by federal cabinet in a special meeting this morning.
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Albanese told journalists to “be patient” for another press conference later in the day.
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Can I say this about the referendum working group and the work that they’ve done. It’s incredibly constructive and I give such praise to the leaders of Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander peoples who have done work in a way that is so patient. This is a very modest request about being recognised in our constitution.
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The PM said he was happy the Coalition backed the referendum machinery act changes last night. He said the opposition’s wider position on the referendum itself was a matter for them – but urged them to support it.
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I can’t conceive of why a political party would ask to bind its members to a position of opposition to a referendum.
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Asked about the anti-trans rally being held outside Parliament House today, following ugly scenes at other rallies from the same speaker in Melbourne and Hobart, Albanese stopped short of criticising the events.
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I just think that people should be respected for who they are. It costs nothing for an individual to respect someone who is different from them – be it a different gender, a different race.
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Australia is a diverse place, and we should look for ways of coming together, not dividing Australia. And that’s the attitude that I take. I think that’s the attitude overwhelmingly that Australians take as well.
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Liberal MP Bridget Archer has urged people not to join in support of a “hateful agenda” after the anti-trans rights Melbourne protests.
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She told Patricia Karvelas on ABC radio:
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I think they’ve almost stopped pretending that it’s about women’s rights and they are openly saying that it is an anti-transgender protest, as you have said, and, you know, I think I’m bewildered as to what rights it is that they think that they are protesting for, for women. If they want to talk about women’s safety. I don’t think that the issue of same you know, same sex bathrooms is where the issue of women’s safety is at.
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If you want to talk about women’s safety, the most unsafe place for women to be is in their own homes.
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And if these women care about women’s rights, and they want to do something to make the world safer for women, I suggest that they concentrate some more of their time on some of those efforts.
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In terms of safety, the transgender community have much higher rates of violence perpetrated against them, then even women do so. I think it’s just nonsense. It is nonsense. And I’m so proud of Tasmania, the other day showing up in huge numbers in Hobart to reject this hateful agenda.
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The health minister, Mark Butler, is on ABC radio RN Breakfast speaking about the government’s work to put a lid on vaping.
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Vaping has exploded on the black market (you are not supposed to be able to buy nicotine vapes in Australia without a prescription).
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Butler said the government is working to stop vaping, particularly because of its impacts on children:
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I’m committed to making sure we get this back under control because we absolutely must. You’re right vaping in and of itself is dangerous. It is bad for your health to be ingesting that many chemicals into your lungs.
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We know that it causes substantial lung damage including diseases like popcorn lung, but we’re also particularly concerned because this industry is so shamelessly marketing to children.
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I mean products with pink unicorns on them. Bubblegum flavor and suchlike I mean it is causing very real harm to our children right now. The Victorian poisons hotline and the state you’re in right now is reported that in the last 12 months, more than 50 children under the age of four have had to be reported to that hotline because of the dangerous ingestion of nicotine.
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Welcome to the last sitting day of the week – which will open with Anthony Albanese campaigning with the NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, just over the border from the ACT.
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The NSW election is in its last days and is looking close so Albanese is lending his popularity to the cause ahead of what is going to be a pretty messy sitting day.
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The British anti-trans rights agitator Kellie-Jay Keen-Minshull’s “tour” hits Canberra today, with counter protests planned for the event which will be taking place on the parliament lawns.
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So far, there’s no confirmation certain politicians will attend the event, but it’s something people are keeping an eye on.
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Meanwhile, there is the voice and the safeguard mechanism negotiations which remain ongoing.
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It’s going to be one of those days. Thanks to Martin for kicking us off – let’s get into it.
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The Northern territory government has been accused by the Australian Lawyers Alliance of trying to “jail its way of out” of a law and order problem with new bail laws, AAP reports.
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The territory chief minister, Natasha Fyles, unveiled a suite of measures yesterday aimed at addressing antisocial behaviour and violence after the death of 20-year-old Darwin bottleshop worker Declan Laverty who was stabbed multiple times on Sunday.
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The government swiftly announced it would review bail laws for offences involving a weapon, including the presumption for and against bail.
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It follows controversial laws passed in Queensland last week to criminalise bail breaches for children and allow courts to fit 15-year-olds with GPS trackers.
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The Australian Lawyers Alliance national criminal justice spokesperson, Greg Barns SC, said making bail more difficult would lead to overcrowded prisons and would not to lead to any reduction in crime in the NT.
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“We are disturbed to see the NT government following the lead of Queensland in thinking it can jail its way out of criminal activity,” Barns said.
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“All the evidence available shows that placing young people in particular in the jail environment is more likely to increase the risk of criminal activity on release.”
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High-visibility policing patrols will target known hotspots in Darwin and Alice Springs and capsicum spray canisters would be provided to public transport safety officers and permitted for crowd controllers and security guards, Fyles announced.
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The move to allow transit officers to use capsicum spray was also of concern, Barns said.
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While capsicum spray can be used in extreme situations, it’s use must be carefully monitored.
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Overseas experience suggest people with mental illness or with other unusual behaviours can be the victims of spraying.
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If spray is to be used there must be video footage of its use.
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Fyles said the safety of communities was paramount and enough was enough.
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“Our government … is fed up with acts of violence on our streets and towards our workers,” she said on Wednesday.
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An expert teaching panel has released its much-awaited discussion paper into how teaching courses should be reformed at university to address critical shortages in the sector, suggesting funding could be tied to individual program performance.
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The teacher education expert panel, established by the federal government to develop a quality measure for teaching courses and chaired by Prof Mark Scott, listed four key areas of reform.
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They included strengthening initial courses, drawing a link between performance and funding, improving the “practical teaching experience” and luring mid-career entrants to postgraduate teaching by allowing them to enter the classroom sooner as part of their degree and grant greater flexibility of learning.
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The education minister, Jason Clare, said workforce shortages and high drop-out rates remained a large problem in the education sector. Dropout rates in teaching degrees are among the highest industry-wide, sitting at about 50%.
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There aren’t many jobs more important than being a teacher and we don’t have enough of them. Not enough people who start a teaching degree finish it either. In the first few months in this job I have got a better insight into how hard and complex the work of being a teacher is.
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The work of the expert panel will be important in helping us to strengthen initial teacher education, increase completion rates and deliver more classroom ready graduates.
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The discussion paper, provided to Guardian Australia, suggested introducing public performance reports would increase accountability of universities and provide students with more “choice” to choose the best provider.
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High performers would then be rewarded with additional federal government funding.
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It proposed a standardised metric considering those which attracted diverse, “high-quality” candidates, retained students to graduate and supported them to be “classroom-ready”.
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It also suggested the government could require a commitment from providers to improve their performance.
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Scott said the role of teaching was increasingly demanding while also, at its best, valuable and rewarding.
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We have to work together across the country to improve conditions for teachers and raise standards for students. Initial teacher education can play a significant role in making sure our future teachers are properly prepared for the classroom and that they are spending time on the things that matter most.”
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The paper is open for consultation for the next month, with a report to be delivered before the end of June.
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Hello again and welcome to our rolling coverage of Australian politics and news. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight news lines before Amy takes her rightful place in charge.
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There is a decent chance that we’ll get to see the exact wording of the Indigenous voice referendum question and constitutional amendment this morning following meetings in Canberra last night between the referendum working group and Anthony Albanese. Prof Megan Davis, a key member of the advisory group of Indigenous leaders, said the process was “very close” to completion in what would be a big win for the prime minister.
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Peter Dutton may have proposed a federal ban on Nazi symbols but he has so far ducked the issue of whether Victorian MP Moira Deeming should be expelled from the Liberal party for attending a rally in Melbourne headlined by British anti-transgender activist Kellie-Jay Keen where neo-Nazis were photographed performing the Nazi salute.
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Etihad Airways could face action from the consumer watchdog after it was accused of misleading customers through advertising that spruiked its emissions reductions plans. Aviation emissions advocacy group Flight Free Australia alleged in the complaint that two Etihad advertisements that appeared on digital advertising banners during an A-League football match between Melbourne City and Adelaide United at Melbourne’s AAMI Park on 15 February last year were false or misleading, amounting to greenwashing. Etihad advertised the words “net zero emissions by 2050” next to its logo, and in another ad, claimed “Flying shouldn’t cost the Earth”.
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Key events
The defence industry minister, Pat Conroy says he has signed a letter of cooperation with his German counterpart, Thomas Hitschler to start formal negotiations for the Boxer heavy weapon carrier vehicles to be supplied to the German army.
The vehicles are manufactured in Queensland by Rheinmetall and 100 would ultimately be supplied if the deal goes ahead.
Conroy said:
We are excited about the prospect of Boxers for the German Army being built in Brisbane, using suppliers across Australia to assist in the production.
This export opportunity would secure well paid secure jobs in Queensland and across the country, helping to build Australia’s defence industry and boost our economy.
We are keen to export this world-leading capability to a trusted and respected security partner, and to further strengthen the defence relationship between our countries.
Man charged over attack on LGBTQ+ activists sorry for video inciting violence
A man charged over a violent Sydney street attack on LGBTQ+ activists has apologised for a video he made before the fracas, encouraging people to “drag protesters by their head”, AAP reports.
Three men have been charged over the confrontation which erupted at south-west Belfield on Tuesday night when the small group of LGBTQ+ peaceful protesters were attacked outside a church before Mark Latham gave a speech.
The NSW One Nation leader was invited to speak at the church hall about parental rights ahead of Saturday’s state election.
Police said the activists were attacked by a large mob that pelted them and police with glass bottles and other projectiles.
A constable was injured and the riot squad was called to disperse the out-of-control crowd.
Christian Sukkar who is charged with encouraging the commission of crimes now says a provocative video he made was not meant to encourage violence.
In the video he said, “You go there tomorrow and you f***ing shake them up, and you drag them by the f***ing head, and you remove them from St Michael’s Belfield.
“Time to rise, time to let them know where we stand,” he said.
After his arrest he told the ABC he regretted the video and didn’t post it on social media, but did send it to “a couple of boys”.
“I’m very apologetic if my message turned very harmful … if they took my comments as an incitement of hate,” he said.
“This is not what I am about.”
Detectives on Wednesday night charged a third man, 42, with assaulting a police officer during public disorder, hindering or resisting an officer in the execution of duty and affray.
He was granted conditional bail and will appear before Bankstown Local Court on 11 April.
China ‘very secretive’ on space activities, Nasa head says
Tory Shepherd
China is being “very secretive” about its space activities, the head of Nasa said in Canberra on Thursday.
Bill Nelson, the administrator for National Aeronautics and Space Administration (Nasa), spoke at the National Press Club about how future space missions would be international, rather than US-run.
But, he said, China “have decided a different course”, and pointed to their lack of transparency when parts of huge rockets plummeted to Earth while they were launching their own space station, and their lack of cooperation on scientific endeavours.
Nelson said he ran into the Chinese ambassador at a Sunday brunch in Washington and told him “China has been very secretive, very non transparent”.
“I gave the example that they had put up one component of their space station and the big rocket that put it up was tumbling back to Earth. They did not save enough fuel for a controlled re-entry and they would not give any information or coordinates about the rocket,” he said.
The China Manned Space Agency claims most components of the rocket stages burn up on re-entry.
Nelson, who has been in Canberra and Adelaide meeting with ministers as well as space industry and academics, criticised China earlier this year. He warned the US needed to “watch out” for its lunar rival, who might compete for the moon’s resources.
On Thursday, Nelson said he also brought up the lack of sharing of lunar soil samples with China, saying the Apollo missions had made their samples available to the international community.
The relationship used to be better, Nelson said, recounting how he introduced the first Chinese taikonaut, Yang Liwei, to Buzz Aldrin, the “second man on the moon”.
Earlier, Nelson met with the US ambassador, Caroline Kennedy, and in his press club speech he talked about her father (the former US president John F Kennedy) and his famous moonshot speech, in which JFK said: “We go to the moon not because it’s easy, but because it’s hard”.
Nelson said Nasa will announce the crew for the Artemis moon mission next week, and that it will include a Canadian. He has said he is keen for Nasa to fly an Australian astronaut.
Pills but no pillows: bedding shortages reported at Adelaide hospitals
Adelaide hospitals are doing an urgent audit of pillow and blanket supplies after multiple reports some patients are going without, AAP reports.
SA health minister, Chris Picton, says the government has been told by management of the Central Adelaide Local Health Network there are plenty of supplies, yet patients and families are still reporting problems with access.
“There have been repeated patient concerns raised about the availability of pillows and blankets in public hospital emergency departments and inpatient wards and this is simply not good enough,” Picton said on Thursday.
“I thank patients and their families for raising these concerns to ensure that South Australian patients can receive basic comforts when they are in hospital.”
The minister’s action follows a number of cases highlighted by the state opposition where people have relayed stories of being forced to go without a pillow because there weren’t enough to go around.
In one case raised on Thursday, the opposition said a 93-year-old man with a heart condition was left for 23 hours in an emergency department with just a small blanket folded up to use as a pillow.
“This horrifying revelation that an elderly man had to use a folded blanket as a makeshift pillow for more than 20 hours is unacceptable,” the opposition leader, David Speirs, said.
Caitlin Cassidy
Sydney University strikes uncertain as vote on new EBA tied
The jury is out as to whether Sydney University will go ahead with industrial action planned for next week after a perfectly tied vote at a chaotic meeting this afternoon.
Union members were split down the middle on delaying the strike to negotiate a new enterprise bargaining offer that was issued to staff on Thursday morning.
The union has held seven days of industrial action since negotiations for a new agreement began 20 months ago and had vowed to hold two further strikes on 29 and 31 March if their demands were unmet.
In an email sent to staff this morning, management committed to preserving the 40/40/20 model – a key union demand that ensures academic loads are split evenly between research and teaching, with 20% of time allocated to administrative work.
The proposal also offered a 10% increase on new continuing academic roles from 300 to 330, with a “significant number” put aside for casual staff. The university’s current financial offer is around a 15% salary increase over three years plus a $2,000 sign-on payment. It’s been the longest bargaining period in the university’s history.
In an email sent to members after the meeting, branch president Nick Riemer said the tied vote had placed the committee in an “unprecedented procedural situation”.
Despite the tie, speakers on both sides made it clear that we all find management’s offer unacceptable. Branch committee will be meeting as soon as possible and we’ll be communicating … tomorrow about the way forward.
Media union warns of ‘ethical breaches’ from outlets using Chat GPT
The Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance has warned media organisations against using artificial intelligence such as ChatGPT to replace job opportunities for journalists, and said the companies must be transparent with their audiences about the use of AI tools.
The union’s media federal president, Karen Percy, said media professionals must be given a say in decisions by publishers and broadcasters to require the use of AI tools, and said caution must be exercised when adopting the tools.
A balance must be struck between the promise and opportunities of AI and the unique threats it poses to the public’s ability to trust in the news they read, as well as the work, income, rights and creative agency of media workers.
Responsibly designed, AI has the potential to usefully supplement, extend and enhance our work, but it also has far-reaching consequences that need careful consideration, consultation and regulation.
AI can provide efficiencies and new opportunities for storytelling techniques, but it also has the potential for errors and ethical breaches, reduced editorial independence and control and reduced job opportunities for media workers.
Percy also warned media organisations have ethical obligations to be met including fact-checking and appropriate sourcing, and the use of AI raises questions on how this will be achieved.
We also know that there are inherent biases built into all technology, so it’s important to ensure that existing discriminatory practises and shortfalls in diversity are not exacerbated.
Telcos must had over customer data during emergencies under law change
Changes to telecommunications law to allow telcos to provide information about its customers in emergency situations to police and emergency services passed the Senate on Thursday.
The changes will cover missing people and Australians at risk of serious harm during “time critical” investigations.
The NSW deputy state coroner had raised the issue with the minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, in October after there were inquests into two missing persons cases in NSW.
Under the legislation telcos will need to keep detailed records and report when such information has been disclosed.
Rowland said:
These are life-saving changes to the Telecommunications Act, which is why the government acted swiftly to remove these barriers just five months after the deputy coroner urged us to take action.
We know how time-critical cases of missing persons are, and the passing of this Bill will bolster the powers of law enforcement and emergency services as they work to return missing loved ones to their families and friends.
These important changes strike an appropriate balance between maintaining individual privacy and protecting public safety, and I am confident they will make a real difference.
I am going to hand you over to Josh Taylor now to take you through the afternoon. We will be back with Canberra news tomorrow, and of course, the Australia news live blog will keep you up to date in politics live absence.
I’ll be back on Monday bright and early for the final sitting week before the May budget. It is going to be a HUGE week, so make sure you get some time to switch off before then.
Thank you to everyone who followed along this week – I truly appreciate it. I’ll see you Monday – until then, please, take care of you.
‘There are traps right throughout the budget’: Jim Chalmers
Peter Hannam
(Continued from previous post)
A final change is that migration has bounced back much faster than expected.
Treasury now expects net overseas migration to be for this financial year in the mid-300,000s or more, compared to 235,000 in the October budget,” Chalmers said, adding that inbound tourists and international students were faster than expected, and more Australians were staying at home. [Blame the impact of higher borrowing costs or even bracket creep, perhaps.]
Still, the effect of Covid has meant migration over the five years to June 2024 will likely be 250,000 fewer than pre-pandemic forecasts had it.
As for the budget itself, there will be eight priority areas:
Cost of living relief; investing in growth and productivity; funding national security priorities including Aukus; strengthening the care economy and essential services; breaking down barriers to the full workforce participation of women in our workforce; targeting entrenched inequality; extending ‘time-limited’ programmes whose funding runs out in June; making the budget ‘as responsible as possible’.
Number seven was particularly irksome, it seems.
“It has been extraordinary and disappointing to see how many areas right across the Cabinet portfolios where there are programs which of course will be funded in an ongoing way but which in the Budget are only funded in some cases to the end of June this year,” he said, citing My Health as one example.
“There are traps right throughout the budget,” he said.
No doubt we’ll hear more about those traps as 9 May nears.
Chalmers getting two daily briefings on global banking woes, prepares for budget
Peter Hannam
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has told a closed-door Business Council of Australia breakfast (which we can only report now) that he receives twice-daily briefings on the volatility of the global financial system, and his second budget takes shape for 9 May. (Only 47 sleeps to go.)
It’s pleasing to see that the actions taken by central banks, the authorities, the institutions around the world have been working to boost liquidity, bolster confidence and keep credit lines open,” Chalmers said, referring to the failure of the Silicon Valley Bank and two other lenders in the US, and Swiss bank UBS taking over the ailing rival, Credit Suisse last weekend.
We convened last week APRA, ASIC, the RBA and Treasury, we’ve been taking soundings from the banks and others in the corporate world, and the consistent message from all of these briefings is that we are well-capitalised, well-regulated and well-placed as we confront this volatility in the global financial system,” he said.
Our banks don’t have the same exposures as some of their US counterparts, they regularly hedge their risks, and the regime is much tighter since the Global Financial Crisis as well.
Markets haven’t been so buoyant today, with the ASX200 share index shedding about 0.7% at the opening and trading roughly sideways since then.
Part of the gloomy mood was the decision by the US federal reserve to hike that country’s key interest rate by another 25 basis points overnight, opting to fight inflation rather than ease the risk of more bank failures as the US economy slows. The Bank of England is expected to lift its key rate by the same amount tonight after February’s annual inflation pace quickened to 10.4% in February. (It was running at 10.1% in January.)
Anyway, the ongoing tightening of monetary policy and resulting slower global growth will be a factor in the May budget, Chalmers said. On the plus side for Australia, the peak of inflation looks to be behind us, with the treasurer noting the RBA governor Philip Lowe’s views earlier this month that we are near to a pause in interest rises.
“That’s a key difference in the current conditions compared to what we were expecting in October,” Chalmers said, referring to the government’s out-of-cycle first budget.
Global commodity prices, while still high by historic levels, are lower now than in October, so the boost to budget is unlikely to be as big as it was back then, he said.
There is one more sitting week before the budget, so if the government is going to get movement on its housing fund and the safeguard mechanism legislation, it has to hope that the negotiations start moving in the right direction. Soon.
Lorena Allam, our Indigenous affairs editor, has given her analysis on today’s voice news:
Members were privately worried that any big concessions to constitutional conservatives would make the resulting proposition impossible to support or defend to their own communities, and risk failure. Appeasement, they said, was pointless. Critics of the voice would always find another thing to rail against. It seems their message was received.
Lisa Wilkinson was at ‘the top of list’ of Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation targets, court hears
Christopher Knaus
Lisa Wilkinson’s barrister has lashed Bruce Lehrmann’s failure to send even a letter of demand or concerns notice to media outlets for two years after Brittany Higgins’ allegations were first published.
Sue Chrysanthou SC, representing Wilkinson, is fighting an attempt by Lehrmann to extend the usual 12-month time limit on bringing defamation claims. Lehrmann is suing for publications that are more than two years’ old and must convince a court that it was not reasonable for him to begin proceedings within the usual one-year window.
On Thursday, Chrysanthou lashed Lehrmann’s failure to even send Wilkinson a concerns notice during the usual 12-month limitation period.
The court heard Wilkinson didn’t receive notice of the defamation claim until the day after it commenced. Other publishers, including News Corp, Network Ten and Samantha Maiden, received notice of the claim on 16 December.
That indicated that Lehrmann had never wanted to settle with Wilkinson, Chrysanthou said.
He always intended to sue her, she was the top of his list.
Chrysanthou said there was no explanation for Lehrmann not sending a letter of demand or concerns notice to any of the publishers for almost two years after the initial publications:
Why did he not send a concerns notice ever, that has not been explained, within the limitation period, why was no concerns notice sent? Or even just a letter of demand sent to my client saying ‘I intend to sue you, be on notice’.
There has been no explanation for that and that is a highly relevant matter to the exercise of the discretion. Why should Mr Lehrmann be given any time after 2 December when he had nearly two years to send a concerns notice? Why is Mr Korn’s musings about waiting to see, what does that have anything to do with sending a letter to the publishers? Nothing. That didn’t affect his criminal charges, that didn’t prejudice his position. These publishers had no notice of this claim, in my client’s case until the day after it was commenced, in the case of the other publishers until the 16 December. And no explanation has been given for that.
Charlotte Graham-McLay has reported from Wellington:
A former New Zealand soldier who drew an online following with his dispatches from the frontline of the Ukraine war has been killed in fighting there.
The death of Kane Te Tai, 38, was confirmed by New Zealand’s foreign ministry Thursday, citing Ukrainian government sources.
Te Tai, who fought with the International Legion, is the third New Zealander known to have died in Ukraine.
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