Two climbers found dead on K2
Natasha May
An Australian and a Canadian climber have been found dead on K2, the world’s second highest mountain in Pakistan.
Mt Everest Today, a blog site that publishes expedition updates, reports that the Australian mountaineer was Matthew Eakin and the Canadian was Richard Cartier.
A Dfat spokesperson has confirmed the deaths, saying:
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died during a climbing expedition in northern Pakistan.
Key events
Government introduces paid family and domestic violence leave legislation
Paul Karp
The workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, has introduced the paid family and domestic violence leave bill.
Burke explains that leaving a family and domestic violence leave situation is difficult – and the bill aims to remove one more obstacle to getting help and getting out. The bill will add the entitlement to the national employment standards, meaning it will cover all 11m employees including 2.6m casuals.
Burke said:
Getting out shouldn’t mean losing pay … Workers will no longer have to ask ‘do I have leave to help me getting out?’ The answer for every employee will be yes.”
Burke said employees will be paid leave not at the base rate of pay, but at the rate they would’ve earned if they’d gone to work. For casuals this will mean where shifts have been offered and accepted, they will be paid for those. If they weren’t rostered on, it will be unpaid leave.
Burke said:
Family and domestic violence doesn’t pick and choose whether you’re a casual or permanent worker.”
Burke also explained that employees claiming the leave entitlement do not need to live with their alleged abuser to access the leave.
He said the Fair Work Commission review of paid family and domestic violence leave had found “no instances” of employees claiming the leave, it’s simply “not an entitlement that employees rort”.
In case you missed it this morning, here’s Murph’s view on what has happened, and what is coming:
As part of the change in standing orders, the sittings on Wednesday and Thursday start at 9am, instead of 9.30am.
The day’s schedule is out for the house
The House resumes at 9am. After a government bill is introduced this morning, debate will resume on the proposed Address in Reply to the Governor-General’s opening speech. At 12.30pm, the Treasurer will make a ministerial statement on the economy. Program: https://t.co/A2KHNZ63jJ pic.twitter.com/kUbgJEI7SZ
— Australian House of Representatives (@AboutTheHouse) July 27, 2022
You may have seen this on Guardian Australia’s Instagram but, in case you missed it, here is part of Brisbane Greens MP Stephen Bates’ first speech to parliament.
One of the sometimes-forgotten parts of coming out is that it doesn’t just happen once. You come out again and again and again. And as the new MP shows in this speech, representation matters.
(Side note: I very much appreciated the representation of Brisbane on Stephen’s lapel – it looks as though he is wearing an ibis bird badge with rainbow wings. The ibis is the unofficial national bird of the Greatest Nation on Earth’s capital.)
Liberal senator pushes for climate policy certainty
On the “debate” on climate within the Liberal party at the moment, Andrew Bragg says:
I mean, the point is I’m a Liberal party senator, I’m wanting to support my party, but I’m also wanting to get the best possible economic outcome for the country.
Now, this has been a wretched issue for more than a decade. I would like to see us get to a much clearer centre point on the issue of emissions and the transition. And I think whatever happens with this bill, the real game is how do we get more stable medium- to long-term settings for our country, so that we can attract this capital because this is a race and unless we have policy certainty, over the long term, we will lose the race.
Andrew Bragg won’t rule out crossing floor on emissions target
Moderate Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has a different view. He tells Patricia Karvelas that he wants to see what the economic impacts are. But he’s not a hardline no and he’s not ruling out crossing the floor:
I’m certainly not intending to cross the floor. I want to keep my options open. As we undertake this inquiry, which we now have a month or so to do, there are discussions to be had with colleagues. But the key point is this is an economic judgment, not a political judgment for the country. This bill, whatever it happens, won’t be the silver bullet. I mean, the the real game here is the medium- to long-term policy settings for the country, and making sure we can get the capital to fund this transition.
.@ajamesbragg making it clear he wants a Senate inquiry into Labor’s climate bill to shift the Coalition’s starting position to one informed by economics rather than politics @RNBreakfast #auspol
— Katharine Murphy (@murpharoo) July 27, 2022
On ABC radio RN Angus Taylor has joined Peter Dutton and Michealia Cash in outright refusing to even come to the table in legislating a climate emissions reduction target. No discussion will be entered into.
Two climbers found dead on K2
Natasha May
An Australian and a Canadian climber have been found dead on K2, the world’s second highest mountain in Pakistan.
Mt Everest Today, a blog site that publishes expedition updates, reports that the Australian mountaineer was Matthew Eakin and the Canadian was Richard Cartier.
A Dfat spokesperson has confirmed the deaths, saying:
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian man who died during a climbing expedition in northern Pakistan.
‘I have laid out a number of elements of what a good plan would look like’
What is Angus Taylor’s and the Coalition’s plan to deal with the economic issues? What would the Coalition have done if it won?
Taylor:
I have laid out a number of elements of what a good plan would look like. Dealing with the short-term supply pressures. Taking pressure off the budget. Releasing some of the longer-term productivity pressures in the economy as well, adding to that.
The Labor party, just in the last day, have [legislation to end] the ABCC. That will raise the cost to construction and one of the things we saw in the figures yesterday was a big escalation in the price of renovating and building a house*.
These are real costs for Australians. Labor is focused on all sorts of other things but not this. This really counts for Australians. They feel it at the checkout, they feel it at the bowser and when they are renovating or building a house.
*Just on that – the ABCC does not have jurisdiction over domestic builds (unless there are more than five on a site – so a housing estate, for instance). Abolishing the ABCC will not impact your renovations.
Just four of 17 Closing the Gap targets are on track
Sarah Collard has an update on how Australia is meeting the Closing the Gap targets:
The nation is failing to address the systemic disadvantages experienced by First Nations communities, according to the latest Closing the Gap data released by the Productivity Commission on Thursday.
Four of the 17 targets are on track: the birth weights of Indigenous babies, preschool kids attending early childhood education, and youth detention rates are trending in the right direction, while gains are being seen in land and sea rights.
As of 30 June 2021, 89.5% of Indigenous babies were born at a healthy weight compared with 88.8% in 2017 (its baseline year) while 97.6% of preschool-aged children are enrolled in early education compared with 76.7% in 2016, the baseline data year.
So as we reported yesterday, yes, the cashless debit card is being scrapped. But the BasicsCard, which does much the same thing to communities in the Northern Territory, who are primarily Indigenous, will continue. There is a plan for consultations but no timeline for when that will occur.
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