Treasurer responds to CFMEU protests planned across country today
The treasurer was also asked about rallies planned in support of the CFMEU today, across Australia’s national capitals.
(We covered this a bit earlier in the blog here).
Jim Chalmers said that “obviously, when you appoint an administrator to a union and you move on a couple of hundred officials, there’s going to be blowback.”
We expect that. We want these protests to be peaceful today, but they’re not surprising when you take on the leaders of a union with the sorts of behaviour that has been alleged in recent times.
Key events
Conroy argues Dutton trying to divide Australians as ‘pathway to power’
Pat Conroy was asked about those comments from Jim Chalmers overnight, calling opposition leader Peter Dutton “pathologically divisive”.
Is the government concerned that Dutton is cutting through in Australian households? Conroy responded:
I support Jim Chalmers’ comments because Peter Dutton is the alternate prime minister, and you can’t look at what the federal government is doing in a vacuum. You need to look at what the alternative is.
Peter Dutton is arguing for nuclear power stations in earthquake zones like my Hunter region. He’s arguing for no 2030 target. He makes jokes about Pacific islands being wiped out by rising sea levels. If he was prime minister, our relationship with the Pacific would go backwards, and our national security and our security would be weakened … he tries to divide Australia every single day because he thinks that’s his pathway to power.
Conroy says he can ‘absolutely’ say Australia is doing enough on climate change
The minister for international development and the Pacific, Pat Conroy, spoke with ABC News Breakfast from Tonga earlier this morning, where he is attending the Pacific Islands Forum.
The UN’s secretary general, António Guterres, has been very strong on urging larger nations to do their bit on climate change, with the Pacific relying on larger countries to take action. Conroy was asked: can we look those Pacific Island nations’ leaders in the eye and say we’re doing enough on this issue?
The minister responded, “absolutely”:
The Pacific leaders understand our very strong targets – our 2030 targets, our net zero targets by 2050, our commitment to deliver 82% renewable energy by 2030 really resonates, as well as our support for action in the Pacific.
We announced last year [a] $100m investment in the Pacific resilience facilities, all about helping the Pacific control their future and adapt to climate change where it is occurring.
In my remarks in response to the UN secretary-general, I requested his help to ask for partner countries – countries outside the Pacific – to make an investment in that Pacific resilience facility, because that’s Pacific-led, Pacific-controlled and, will fund projects critical to their climate future.
Greens senator says PM’s inclusion in Mardis Gras a matter for the LGBTQ+ community
Finally, Mehreen Faruqi was asked whether the PM should be banned from marching in Mardi Gras, after his government quietly dumped the proposal to include a question about sexuality and gender diversity in the upcoming census.
Faruqi said this was a matter for the LGBTQ+ community.
I do understand where they are coming from. This community has been persecuted for so long, and we must take every single step to make sure that that discrimination ends, and that is not happening. The prime minister is not doing that.
At the weekend, the Mardi Gras board said it would hold a vote at the end of the year on the future participation of the NSW police force in the annual parade.
Faruqi says Dutton has ‘track record on Muslims, on migrants, on refugees’
Mehreen Faruqi was asked if she agreed with treasurer Jim Chalmers assessment of the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of being “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”.
Faruqi said that Dutton has a “track record on Muslims, on migrants, on refugees” and “a lot of the policies [are] coming from that divisiveness”.
She was asked about today’s Guardian Essential poll, that more voters back Dutton’s call to pause arrivals of Palestinians from the Gaza conflict than oppose it.
Faruqi argued that this is “what happens when people propose these divisive policies and then talk about them every single day as if that is the reality”:
The double standards around refugees should be clear to everyone, if it is actually spoken about. Communities are really distraught about the double standards being used between Palestinian refugees and, for instance, Ukrainian refugees …
I think about 71% [of Palestinian refugees] have been refused. So the processes are being followed … but still this narrative being put out in the community every single day … that there is something wrong with Palestinians who are coming here, that they are terrorists. And I think that is absolutely divisive, that is disgusting and disgraceful.
Faruqi calls for independent investigation into Israeli airstrike that killed Australian aid worker
The deputy leader of the Greens, Senator Mehreen Faruqi, is speaking to ABC RN about the investigation into the killing of Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom by an Israeli airstrike.
Zomi’s brother, Mal Frankcom, spoke with ABC’s 7.30 program last night about the investigation and said:
The one thing that stood out was the audio from the drone footage that wasn’t there. I … was told that it was in Hebrew and it wouldn’t be understood, but I think they should be able to get a translation transcript of the audio communication in the lead up to the strike.
You can read more about this below:
Faruqi said she has “long-called for an independent investigation into the murder of Zomi Frankcom and the six other aid workers.”
And absolutely it should happen, and those responsible should be prosecuted … This has to be a completely independent investigation …
Children’s advocate criticises new NT government’s move to lower age of criminal responsibility
Catherine Liddle, the CEO of SNAICC, National Voice for Our Children, spoke with ABC News Breakfast just earlier on the incoming Northern Territory government’s commitment to lower the age of criminal responsibility back to 10.
Responding to this news, Liddle said that “your heart sinks, your stomach sinks, and the hard work kicks in”:
At 10, you are just a child. The evidence had long shown, and again it was a royal commission that unearthed it in the Northern Territory, that the conditions in detention centres were absolutely inhumane.
And those findings have been backed up by reports right across the country to say conditions in detention centres actually do very little to work on the rehabilitation of the child and protection of the child. In actual fact, children come out more harmed than when they went in.
Those children, when they’re coming in contact with the child detention centres and juvenile justice systems, they’re the most vulnerable children in the country. These are not children that have food to eat at night. These are not children that know they’ve got shoes to put on. These are not children who have really safe beds to sleep in. These are children that are doing it really, really tough.
So when they come into those detention centres, when they come into contact with the juvenile justice system, the outcomes are not good. Those children are more likely to reoffend and even more alarmingly, the younger you are, the more likely you are to ever break that cycle. What the evidence doesn’t show is that detention, juvenile detention for the ages 10 to 14, has any impact on community safety or reducing crime.
Treasurer responds to CFMEU protests planned across country today
The treasurer was also asked about rallies planned in support of the CFMEU today, across Australia’s national capitals.
(We covered this a bit earlier in the blog here).
Jim Chalmers said that “obviously, when you appoint an administrator to a union and you move on a couple of hundred officials, there’s going to be blowback.”
We expect that. We want these protests to be peaceful today, but they’re not surprising when you take on the leaders of a union with the sorts of behaviour that has been alleged in recent times.
Jim Chalmers accuses Liberals of ‘economic insanity’ on potential housing cuts
Jim Chalmers was asked about the $100bn in cuts the Coalition is set to announce today, mostly from Labor initiatives, if it wins the next election. Would this appeal to the electorate?
He responded, “let’s see the detail of these hundreds of billions of dollars in indiscriminate cuts.”
What we know from what’s in the newspapers today is that they plan billions of dollars to cuts in housing at a time when we’ve got a very severe housing shortage, and this goes with the absolute economic insanity of the Liberals and Nationals. During an extreme housing shortage, they want to swing the axe on billions of dollars in housing funding.
Also this is $100bn they reckon – let’s see the details. They flagged more than three times that amount when it comes to cuts, so let’s hear them come clean on the other cuts. Let’s hear what it means for Medicare and pensions and for the economy more broadly.
Chalmers continues attack on Dutton after calling him ‘most divisive leader’ during speech
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to ABC RN and reiterating much of what he said during a speech overnight.
Delivering the annual John Curtin Oration in Melbourne, Chalmers unleashed a stinging attack on the opposition leader, calling Peter Dutton “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”. You can read the full details of his speech below:
Speaking to ABC RN, Chalmers said:
He is the most divisive political leader that I’ve seen in my lifetime, and this is a deliberate choice by him. It’s not some accident. He divides deliberately, almost pathologically, and that sort of division in our leadership in our society right now is worse than disappointing. It’s dangerous, and in my view, it should be disqualifying when it comes to leading a great country like ours.
Chalmers said that “every government has its differences with its political opponents”, but argued Dutton was “different”.
[Because] this kind of divisiveness that he deliberately chooses as a political strategy is very dangerous at a time like this, where there is this divisiveness around the world that we want to reject, he seems to want to embrace it.
Severe weather warning for strong winds in parts of Victoria
Strong winds are expected to continue lashing parts of southern Australia today, with a severe weather warning in place for parts of Victoria.
The Bureau of Meteorology said a “deep, complex low-pressure system” well to the south is extending a cold front, set to approach Victoria later today and cross the state early tomorrow.
This, combined with a persistent belt of high pressure across central Australia will result in a strengthening north-westerly gradient across the state during the day. A vigorous westerly airstream will extend across the state with and following the front on Wednesday.
Locations which may be affected include Warrnambool, Ballarat, Geelong, Melbourne, Wonthaggi and Bacchus Marsh.
Severe Weather Warning for damaging, locally destructive winds.
For people in Central, East Gippsland, West and South Gippsland and parts of South West, North Central, North East and Wimmera Forecast Districts.
Stay informed: https://t.co/T05ONtwAm3 pic.twitter.com/PeA0qIo3je
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) August 26, 2024
City rallies planned in show of solidarity with CFMEU
Rallies in support of the CFMEU are planned across the nation’s capital cities today, AAP reports, after the union was placed into administration following allegations of links to organised crime and corruption.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Fair Work Ombudsman said if an employee failed to go to work or walked off the job without permission, this could be a contravention of workplace laws.
Where an employee has engaged in unprotected industrial action, the employer is required under the [Fair Work] Act to deduct a minimum of four hours wages from the employee, even if the industrial action was less than four hours.
The CFMEU flagged it would launch a legal challenge of the takeover, saying members were denied due process and democratic rights.
The Electrical Trades Union and maritime union backed the protest and urged their members to join rallies, describing the administration an “attack on trade unionists’ rights”. A spokesperson for the CFMEU administrator said “the taking of unprotected industrial action is not lawful”.
The CFMEU is no longer involved in organising any protest tomorrow.
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Tuesday – thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you on today’s blog.
As always, you can get in touch with any story tips or questions via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s go.
The Guardian’s analysis of the aviation white paper
Complaining about poor customer service from Qantas and Virgin, and swapping horror stories about delayed flights has become something of a national pastime. Yesterday’s much-anticipated white paper was meant to lay out how the government plans to challenge the duopoly – especially in the wake of the collapse of Rex Airlines.
However, our transport reporter Elias Visontay reckons that despite the promise of an airline ombudsman the government has kicked key decisions into the long grass and passed the buck on others.
PIF: Australia urged to step up support for Pacific neighbours
Daniel Hurst
Good morning from Tonga, where the Pacific Islands Forum has entered its second day.
With the climate crisis expected to be high on the agenda, an alliance of civil society groups have called on Australia to “step up and support our Pacific neighbours”.
Climate finance is expected to be a major issue at the Cop29 climate summit in Azerbaijan in November, due to the imminent expiry of the previous commitment by wealthy countries to mobilise $US100bn of climate finance a year.
An alliance of groups, including ActionAid Australia and Oxfam Australia, have urged Australia to declare its support for a new $US1tn global climate finance goal, arguing this could prompt other wealthy nations to step up. They have set out their case in a new report titled: “seizing the moment: a new climate finance goal that delivers for the Pacific”.
The report said both Australia and New Zealand’s own climate finance contributions were “falling short of need”. It said Australia had committed to provide $AU3bn in the five-year period to 2025, but this was “well short of its estimated fair share of the $US100bn goal, which is $AU4bn per year”.
Rufino Varea, the regional director of the Pacific Islands Climate Action Network, said Pacific communities were “enduring some of the world’s worst climate impacts despite contributing the least to the crisis”.
The executive director of ActionAid Australia, Michelle Higelin, said:
We can’t tinker around the edges when it comes to climate finance. The climate crisis is already pushing Pacific countries into excruciating debt, and deepening gender inequality.
The UN secretary general, António Guterres, is in Tonga and is expected to address the issue a little later today. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is due to fly out of Australia later this morning and is due to arrive in Tonga tonight for the talks, which wrap up on Friday.
Police arrest over 1,600 in major anti-crime operation
Police forces across the country have arrested 1,600 people, laid more than 2,900 charges and seized over $93m of drugs in a week-long action targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity.
In a statement, Victoria police said the operation’s sole aim had been “to reduce the availability of illicit drugs – and the associated life changing harm they present – within the community”.
Operation Vitreus involved all Australian state, territory and federal police forces, as well as New Zealand police. It ran from Monday to Friday last week and 528 search warrants were executed across the two countries.
The statement said the operation had seen:
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1,611 drug-related arrests;
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2,962 drug-related charges;
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almost 1,400kg of illicit drugs and over 2,500 cannabis plants sezied, with a street value of approximately $93m;
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71 gun seizures; and
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the seizure of over $2.2m in cash.
Minister to unveil new international student cap
Paul Karp
The education minister, Jason Clare, told the Australian Financial Review higher education conference last week the new proposed international student cap will be provided to universities “in the coming week”.
Guardian Australia understands that this will be made public today. The tertiary education sector expects at least an overarching figure of how many international student enrolments the government is planning for 2025.
The universities sector is expected to push back strongly, arguing that restrictions that have already been put in place have already cut numbers.
In his speech last week, Clare set out the justification for the cap:
Two years ago there were 521,831 international student enrolments in Australia. Today there are 810,960. Today there are about 10% more in our universities than there were before the pandemic.
The bigger growth has been in VET (Vocational Education and Training). There are almost 50% more in VET courses than there were before Covid hit.
That growth has also brought back the shonks looking to make a quick buck. It has lured people who really are here to work, not study. And it’s put the reputation of this industry under pressure. That’s a fact.
It has also resulted in ministerial direction 107. If you work in international education you will know the impact that has had.
Some universities have benefited from it. But some have been hit hard. It’s why a lot of universities have asked me to act to put more sustainable arrangements in place. I know universities and other international education providers are craving detail. That detail will be provided to universities in the coming week.
This will be a better way to manage international education. It will be fairer and provide a better foundation for it to grow sustainably into the future.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best overnight stories before Emily Wind takes up the slack.
More voters back Peter Dutton’s call to pause arrivals of Palestinians from the Gaza conflict than oppose it, our latest Essential poll shows, in a sign the opposition leader’s rhetoric is politically profitable. Responding to a question whether Australia was heading in the right direction, 52% said no and 29% said yes.
Following on from that, the government showed last night how it will tackle Dutton’s threat when the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, unleashed a stinging attack on the opposition leader, calling him “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”. Giving the John Curtin Oration in Melbourne, Chalmers accused the opposition leader of starting culture wars, dog whistling and dividing Australians “deliberately, almost pathologically”. More coming up on these political stories with reaction expected to Chalmers’ comments.
Guardian Australia understands that the education minister, Jason Clare, will today reveal the new proposed international student cap for universities. The tertiary education sector expects at least an overarching figure of how many international student enrolments the government is planning for 2025. More coming up.
Australia has recorded its hottest-ever winter temperature, with Yampi Sound in the Kimberley region of Western Australia reaching 41.6C yesterday. The record is expected to be officially confirmed by the BoM later today and exceeds the old national record of 41.2C, which was reached at West Roebuck on 23 August 2020. It comes amid record temperatures across Queensland, Western Australia, Northern Territory and New South Wales, and has seen spring flowers appear extra early.
And police across the country have arrested 1,600 people, laid more than 2,900 charges and seized over $93m worth of drugs as part of Operation Vitreus, a week-long joint operation targeting illicit drug and organised crime activity. More details soon.