Perrottet issues ultimatum to rail unions
Michael McGowan
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has issued a stunning ultimatum to the state’s rail unions following another day of industrial chaos, saying he will tear up an industrial agreement covering tens of thousands of transport workers unless members agree to the government’s final offer.
Calling the latest strike action on Wednesday “absolutely disgraceful”, Perrottet said he had instructed his transport minister, David Elliott, to finalise negotiations with the rail unions on Wednesday.
Perrottet said he would not be accepting the union’s demands for an extra 0.5% wage rise above the government’s wages cap, and – in a significant escalation of the hostility between the government and the rail unions – vowed to tear up the agreement if union members voted down the government’s offer.
He said:
We will seek to terminate the current agreement immediately. And we’ll have the new agreement arbitrator by the Fair Work Commission and that will be resolved in that manner.
Elliott, who said he had been “shat on from a great height” by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union during the negotiations, had been due to meet with the unions for further negotiations today, and as recently as last week said he did not want to terminate the agreement.
While he conceded had been “overruled” by the premier, Elliott also said he was fed up with the union.
Key events
ACT records no Covid deaths and 90 people in hospital
There were 236 new cases in the last reporting period, and two people are in intensive care.
ACT COVID-19 update – 31 August 2022
🦠 COVID-19 case numbers
◾ New cases today: 236 (129 PCR and 107 RAT)
◾ Active cases: 1,214
◾ Total cases since March 2020: 202,543ℹ For more detail, including an age breakdown of case numbers, please visit https://t.co/qRDoepyJkh pic.twitter.com/hnzTWB8fNR
— ACT Health (@ACTHealth) August 31, 2022
Perrottet issues ultimatum to rail unions
Michael McGowan
The New South Wales premier, Dominic Perrottet, has issued a stunning ultimatum to the state’s rail unions following another day of industrial chaos, saying he will tear up an industrial agreement covering tens of thousands of transport workers unless members agree to the government’s final offer.
Calling the latest strike action on Wednesday “absolutely disgraceful”, Perrottet said he had instructed his transport minister, David Elliott, to finalise negotiations with the rail unions on Wednesday.
Perrottet said he would not be accepting the union’s demands for an extra 0.5% wage rise above the government’s wages cap, and – in a significant escalation of the hostility between the government and the rail unions – vowed to tear up the agreement if union members voted down the government’s offer.
He said:
We will seek to terminate the current agreement immediately. And we’ll have the new agreement arbitrator by the Fair Work Commission and that will be resolved in that manner.
Elliott, who said he had been “shat on from a great height” by the Rail, Tram and Bus Union during the negotiations, had been due to meet with the unions for further negotiations today, and as recently as last week said he did not want to terminate the agreement.
While he conceded had been “overruled” by the premier, Elliott also said he was fed up with the union.
Queensland records 14 Covid deaths and 316 people in hospital
There were 2,294 new cases in the last reporting period, and 10 people are in intensive care.
Eric Abetz to head anti-republic campaign
The Australian Monarchist League has called on the services of the former Liberal senator Eric Abetz as it plans to fight Labor government plans for a republic, AAP reports.
The staunch monarchist lost his seat at the May federal election after being demoted to third spot on the party’s ticket, ending a 28-year senate career.
The Australian Monarchist League on Wednesday announced Abetz had been appointed chairman of the group. The group’s national chair, Philip Benwell, said in a statement:
Mr Abetz has enjoyed a sterling career spanning 28 years in the Australian senate.
[He] will bring to the monarchist cause the same fighting spirit that has characterised his entire political career for nearly three decades.
The Albanese government says it will work towards establishing an Australian republic and has appointed an assistant minister for the republic.
Labor intends to hold a referendum on having an Australian head of state to replace the Queen if it is elected for a second term.
Abetz has previously described the monarch as a “stable, enduring, unifying part of our democratic arrangements”.
Paul Karp
ACTU predicts Covid isolation period will likely not be cut
The Australian Council of Trade Unions’ assistant secretary, Scott Connolly, has suggested it is “unlikely” the Covid isolation period will be cut.
Connolly told a Kingston Reid employment conference on Wednesday:
The Covid crisis remains a big big challenge for us all. Despite how far we’ve come – and it pains me at a personal level to say this … the reality is the pandemic is still here, it shows no real signs of going away in any significant way, no matter how much we would like. The most tangible outcome to that is from national cabinet this afternoon, where we’re unlikely to see change to isolation rules.
I’m not sure how accurate the prediction will be, but it certainly suggests unions are leaning against that outcome.
Paul Karp
ACTU calls for minimum wage and jobseeker rise
The ACTU assistant secretary, Scott Connolly, has told the Kingston Reid employment conference that Australia’s wages have been flat for a decade and we face “real wage cuts for years to come”. Connolly said:
The world of work has changed but the Fair Work Act has not. We are increasingly seeing its shortcomings, exposed almost on a daily basis. It’s not delivering sustainable wage increases, or more secure work. It’s not responding to needs of employers, employees and industries. We need to make the minimum wage a living wage.
Connolly said the minimum wage is currently $127 short of 60% of median full-time earnings, the “biggest gap in history” and something that is “shameful” for a wealthy nation like Australia.
Connolly also called for a “floor” of at least $70 a day on jobseeker, and for the unemployment payment to be indexed going forward. Connolly said:
We need significant reform: a workplace relations system that work for all of us, and delivers good secure jobs. The Fair Work Act needs to be reformed so working people are better ability to achieve fair outcomes. Regardless of label history has put on it … we need new options, multi-employer bargaining.
Asked if this would include rights to take industrial action, Connolly confirmed: “Absolutely.” He said if workers weren’t able to take industrial action, the measure would not even up bargaining power between employers and employees. But he added there would be safeguards including Fair Work Commission supervision that bargaining is in good faith.
Unions call for NSW politicians to respect workforce and ‘stop attacking people’
Alex Claassens, the NSW secretary for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, has called on everybody, especially “boof-head” politicians, to respect all government employees including nurses, teachers as well as transport workers, specifically during industrial relations. (Maybe he didn’t need the descriptor there, though.)
I’m calling on all those boof-head politicians – stop going out there and calling our members names, go out there and do what we’re doing and try to protect people at work. That’s what this has always been about …
We cannot tolerate this behaviour any more. So, as a consequence to that, we immediately lifted our ban at midnight last night on enforcing the government’s own standards on our rolling stock. It is a problem that we still need to go and fix. Having trains not serviced for 60 days is unacceptable …
In the meantime, our delegates have taken the only step they could … respect the workforce. They are there trying to do a job and they have a voice. At the moment, it’s me standing up here being their voice. They have a voice and the only time they can use it is at election time and obviously at enterprise agreement negotiation time.
They are collectively saying to this government and any potential government, we have had enough …
You have nurses taking action, you’ve got teachers taking action. At which point does the New South Wales public realise the problem is not with the workers, the problem is with the politicians, the ruling class people that think they’re better than us?
Today I am calling on everybody to respect the workforce and stop attacking people.
Unions say NSW politicians ‘don’t live in the real world with the rest of us, they don’t catch our trains’
Alex Claassens, the NSW secretary for the Rail, Tram and Bus Union, is holding a conference on industrial action negotiations as Sydney commuters continue to face delays after the state government and unions were unable to reach an agreement.
Claassens says the negotiations only highlight the “need to keep fighting” as he accuses NSW politicians of being out of touch.
This is and always has been about safety. Over the last couple of days, the comments made by certain politicians and their mates, shock jocks, have perpetuated a bunch of actions against our members.
Now, I can cop everything that anyone wants to throw at me, but our members, the people that are on the front … out there every day supplying a transport service, deserve a hell of a lot better, particularly from those politicians that are paid for by the taxpayers in this state.
We pay our politicians to do the work that we need to do. We need we ask to listen to our concerns. There are politicians on both sides of the equation that have listened and tried to help. For the large part a lot of those billionaires are living in some glory world, every day, where they sit in their ivory towers, get in their chauffeur driven cars, they don’t live in the real world where with the rest of us, they don’t catch our trains. They would not know what happens on the trains. They wouldn’t know what happens in our buses. They just have no clue on reality. They are living in a bubble. The rest of us are out here trying to live in the real world.
The NSW Labor leader, Chris Minns, told 2GB Radio this morning that Claassens hadn’t been picking up his phone calls.
Nadal one set apiece against Australian opponent in US Open first round
Tennis buffs may not have heard of Rinky Hijikata, but the Australian has taken the first set off Rafael Nadal in their first round US Open match.
Hijikata won the first set 6-4, but Nadal took the second 6-2 and the third is just beginning.
The 21-year-old Hijikata was ranked 369 in the world at the end of last year and got a wildcard to play at Flushing Meadows, where he is currently ranked 198.
Nadal has never lost a US Open opening round, so the odds are in the Spaniard’s favour – but if you want to follow along to see if an upset could be brewing, keep an eye on Guardian’s US Open live blog:
Leaders remembers Gorbachev’s legacy ‘offering hope for peace’
Australian leaders’ tributes to Mikhail Gorbachev continue to flow in following this morning’s news of the last president of the Soviet Union’s death.
We already brought you government ministers Jim Chalmers’ and Richard Marles’, as well as opposition leader Peter Dutton’s, tributes to the Russian leader. Here are some of the other tributes that have come from the opposition leader in the senate, Simon Birmingham, and the shadow minister for multicultural affairs, Jason Wood.
Mikhail Gorbachev was one of the towering figures of his era. Gorbachev’s leadership, alongside Ronald Reagan & Margaret Thatcher, reshaped the world, offering hope for peace. In these challenging times we should honour his life, his contribution & continue to strive for peace.
— Simon Birmingham (@Birmo) August 30, 2022
Wood wrote on his facebook page:
Sad to hear of the passing of a truly great world leader in Mikhail Gorbachev. Known widely for ending the Cold War with US President Ronald Reagan.
Gorbachev’s legacy will not be forgotten. Although the evil dictator Vladimir Putin seems intent on destroying it.
Hooray for the last day of winter!
Government urged to accept more Afghan asylum seekers after Amnesty report
Christopher Knaus
The Australian government has been urged to lift its humanitarian intake from Afghanistan after a new report found Iranian and Turkish security forces were illegally opening fire on men, women, and children seeking refuge from the Taliban.
Amnesty International this morning released a damning report on the treatment of Afghan asylum seekers at the Iranian and Turkish borders. The report is based on 74 interviews in Herat City and the border town of Islam Qala and documents a string of concerning incidents. It alleges that security forces, mostly on the Iranian border, have shot at Afghans as they climbed over walls or under fences.
Amnesty says that those who do manage to find a way into Iran or Turkey are either being tortured or subjected to other mistreatment, including arbitrary detention, before being forcibly returned to Afghanistan.
Forty-eight of the 74 interviewees reported coming under fire as they attempted to cross the borders. All interviewees were sent back to Afghanistan without the chance to register an asylum claim in either country.
After the release of the report, Amnesty International Australia urged the Australian government to do more to increase its humanitarian intake from Afghanistan.
An estimated 200,000 Afghans have applied for humanitarian visas but the Labor government is yet to provide any additional places beyond what was announced by the former government in March. The Morrison government promised 16,500 places.
Amnesty wants at least an additional 3,500 places to meet calls from the Afghan community for 20,000 places.
Victoria passes affirmative consent laws
Victoria has adopted an affirmative consent model, shifting scrutiny off victims and back onto perpetrators of sexual violence, AAP reports.
Under new laws which passed Victorian parliament on Tuesday, a person must have a clear and enthusiastic go-ahead for their belief in consent to be reasonable.
The consent can include – but is not limited to – verbally asking and getting a “yes” in response, a physical gesture such as a nod, or reciprocating a move such as removing clothes.
The laws make clear that “stealthing” – the removing, tampering with, or not using a condom without consent – is a crime. They also target image-based sexual abuse, which includes taking intimate videos of someone without their consent, as well as distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images.
A person who knowingly distributes an intimate image of someone else faces three years’ imprisonment under the justice legislation amendment (sexual offences and other matters) bill 2022.
The new laws mean judges can give juries directions about consent and have to explain to them what “proof beyond reasonable doubt” means.
Delays on M5 near Liverpool after two-car crash
A two-car crash has occurred on the M5 this morning in Casula, near Liverpool. Authorities are warning drivers to expect delays, with westbound traffic impacted.
Nine news is reporting that the traffic is banked up 15km after two citybound lanes were closed.
CASULA | Two car crash. M5 Westbound. #FRNSW FF’s are currently on scene at a two car crash on the M5. Westbound traffic is impacted. Delays to be expected. @nswpolice and @NSWAmbulance are also in attendance.
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) August 30, 2022
Sarah Martin
Defence responds to Solomon Islands moratorium on foreign naval vessels
Defence has issued a statement in response to reports that Solomon Islands has issued a moratorium on foreign naval vessels visiting its ports.
The issue was thrust into the public spotlight after Honiara did not respond to a request for a US Coast Guard ship to dock and refuel on Friday. The ship was diverted to Papua New Guinea.
A spokesperson for the Australian Defence Force said it was aware of the reports that foreign navy and coast guard vessels had not received approval to visit Solomon Islands.
The spokesperson said:
Diplomatic clearances for visiting foreign vessels are a matter for the Solomon Islands government.
Australia continues to work with Solomon Islands to meet its security priorities and the region’s collective maritime security objectives.
Discussion about this post