Australia news live: Wong urges ‘all parties’ to respect Gaza ceasefire; renters need $130k income to afford average property, report shows
Joe Hinchliffe
Protesters interrupt Jim Chalmers’ budget preview in Queensland
Protesters have interrupted the treasurer Jim Chalmers’ federal budget preview to the Queensland Media Club, with anti-coal and gas signs and chants.
Chalmers was only minutes into what was slated as a relatively lengthy speech followed by questions posed from accredited media, opening with the “big new pressure” on the budget posed by ex-tropical Cyclone Alfred, when the first protester slipped on to stage and stood right next to him holding a small sign reading: “no new coal and gas”.
“When will the Labor party stop funding new coal and gas projects?” the man, who had grey, thinning hair, said repeatedly as he was led from the stage.
Chalmers attempted to relaunch his speech when a younger woman appeared beside him on stage with the same slogan and interrupted him once again. She was also escorted from the stage.
Both went peacefully and were only on stage for moments, but peppered the treasurer with questions.
Chalmers briefly laughed nervously before ploughing ahead with his pre-planned speech.
Key events
Early childhood education minister, Anne Aly, says she has written to the CEO of the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority to seek “immediate advice” on what more can be done on child safety and security following revelations on the sector on ABC’s Four Corners program last night.
She told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing the stories were “deeply concerning” and hopes the advice will build on the 2023 report recommendations on improving child safety in early childhood education and care.
All state and territory ministers and the commonwealth government have agreed on those recommendations and we’re making good progress in implementing those recommendations and we’ll continue working with state and territory governments to ensure that child safety and wellbeing are front and centre of the care system.
She said a royal commission would take years, and the current actions and reviews were the best path forward.
Angus Taylor promotes infrastructure development as way of helping address housing crisis
The shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, was in Legana in Tasmania today to announce $5m in funding for basketball courts for the area, and tied providing basketball courts to addressing housing supply issues. He said:
One of the things that clearly matters a great deal in this area is the rapid growth it is seeing, and the need to have the supporting infrastructure for that rapid growth. If you want more housing supply, you’ve got to have the infrastructure being built alongside it. Transport infrastructure, community infrastructure, sporting infrastructure, like we’re talking about here today …
We know that if we’re going to see enough housing in this country to ensure that young Australians can hope for the real prospect of being able to buy a home, pay down their mortgage over time, there has to be housing supply, and housing supply only happens if you’ve got the infrastructure going into place. So this is an absolutely wonderful project.
Thanks to Katina Curtis at the West Australian for pointing this out on Bluesky.
Measles alert issued for Sydney
A measles alert has been issued for Sydney after a confirmed case who was infectious on an international flight and visited several Sydney locations after returning from Vietnam, where there is an ongoing large outbreak.
The flight was Jetstar flight JQ62 from Ho Chi Minh City at 10.40pm on Sunday 9 March, arriving in Sydney at 11 am on 10 March. People who visited the following locations at the following times should be alert for symptoms:
Monday 10 March:
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Sydney international airport arrivals terminal and baggage claim from 11am to 1pm
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169 Cafe, Alison Road, Randwick from 1:30pm to 2:05pm
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Ooshman Maroubra, Pacific Square, 737 Anzac Parade, Maroubra from 8:30pm to 9:30pm
Thursday 13 March:
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Matraville medical complex, 492 Bunnerong Road, Matraville from 12:30pm to 1:30pm
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HealthSave pharmacy, 496 Bunnerong Road, Matraville from 1pm to 1:35pm
Friday 14 March:
Saturday 15 March:
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Matraville medical complex, 492 Bunnerong Road, Matraville from 9:50am to 10:50am
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Princes of Wales hospital emergency department waiting room from 10:15am to 1:30pm
People who visited the above locations at those times should monitor for symptoms, the NSW health department said. Symptoms include fever, runny nose, sore eyes and a cough, usually followed three or four days later by a red, blotchy rash that spreads from the head to the rest of the body.
It can take up to 18 days for symptoms to appear after an exposure. People are advised to call ahead to their GP or emergency department before visiting should they develop symptoms.
Burns says latest Israeli-Gaza strikes cannot inflame tension here
Labor MP Josh Burns tells ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that he doesn’t want to see an eruption of violence to return in Gaza, with more lives lost, and also doesn’t want to see Israelis continuously taken hostage.
He says the latest conflict cannot inflame further tensions.
We’ve seen over the last 15 months people in politics try to use this conflict for their own political advantage and there is frankly no excuse for targeting Jewish institutions like Adass [Israel synagogue] for however people might feel about what is going on the other side of the world.
We are literally on the other side of the world and we have Jewish communities here in Australia that should be safe and shouldn’t be the target of any angry attack.
There is no justification for that. I want all communities, the Islamic community, the Palestinian community in Australia to be safe as well. I don’t want anyone to feel the sort of wrath or blowback of what people might be feeling about how devastating the Middle East conflict is. There is no excuse for that. I want people in Australia to be safe and that’s our primary focus as leaders of this country.
Asked about polling in his hotly contested seat of Macnamara suggesting he is third behind the Liberals and the Greens, and if he will put Greens last on his how-to-vote card, Burns says there will be lots of polls between now and election day and he’s focused on doing the best for his electorate.
Greens say pressure must be put on Israeli government after strikes on Gaza
The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, has called on the government to impose sanctions on members of the Israeli government’s war cabinet and cease military trade with the nation following Israel strikes on Gaza on Tuesday.
Bandt told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing there was “no justification” that civilians were paying the price through bombing in Gaza.
It is in breach of international law to collectively punish civilians. We have Amnesty International saying that what is taking place over the last year is a genocide of the people living in Gaza.
He said the Australian government needs to put some pressure on the Israeli government:
It is now time for the governments, including the Australian government, to take action and say a line has been crossed, this is utterly unacceptable and we’re going to start bringing pressure to bear to stop this bombing.
Pressure, he said, would include imposing sanctions, ending the military trade between Australia and Israel, recognising Palestine, and other things that “send a clear signal this is wrong”.
Amanda Meade
Lobby group for Murdoch royal commission to be wound up
The lobby group set up by Kevin Rudd five years ago, Australians For A Murdoch Royal Commission, has been wound up, with co-chair Malcolm Turnbull urging supporters to transfer donations to the Australia Institute.
“After today, Australians For A Murdoch Royal Commission will be wound up as an organisation – but the campaign for media reform will be continued by The Australia Institute,” a message to supporters from Turnbull and co-chair Sharan Burrow said.
The lobby group was established after the former Labor prime minister’s petition calling for a royal commission into the Murdoch media reached a historic high of almost half a million signatures in 2020.
Rudd and former Liberal prime minister Turnbull joined forces to launch the group, but the idea of a royal commission was not embraced by either side of politics.
“Murdoch has become a cancer – an arrogant cancer on our democracy,” Rudd, the 26th prime minister, said when he launched the petition. “An inquiry into Murdoch’s dominance in the country would maximise media diversity ownership for the future lifeblood of our democratic system.”
Proposed NSW inquiry to look into Minns’ knowledge of caravan plot likely to pass
A proposed NSW upper house inquiry to examine what the premier, Chris Minns, and members of his cabinet knew about the investigation into a ‘fake terrorism’ caravan plot ahead of controversial laws being rushed through parliament looks set to pass.
The opposition and Greens have indicated they will support the motion which will be moved by independent MP Rod Roberts and likely debated on Wednesday.
If successful, it would see a select committee established to inquire and report “on the relationship between the Dural caravan incident and parliamentary debates on legislation”.
The legislation it refers to is a suite of laws that were aimed at curbing antisemitism in the wake of a wave of antisemitic incidents over the summer. It includes criminalising people who make racist remarks in public and restricts protests near places of worship, regardless of if they are directed at the place of worship or not. It also makes it an offence to hinder someone from entering or leaving a place or worship.
This inquiry would establish what Minns, the minister for police, Yasmin Catley, and the state attorney general, Michael Daley, knew about the caravan found laden with explosives on the outskirts of Sydney from 19 January up until 20 February, the day before the legislation passed. It would also inquire into briefings given by the NSW police and Australian Federal Police before 20 February.
A little earlier today, the state opposition leader, Mark Speakman, told reporters the party would not support the repeal of the laws as pushed by some members of the crossbench, but would support an inquiry. He said this could see the government compelled to provide documents that shine a light on what was known:
This is a matter of accountability to fellow MPs, accountability to the general public and accountability to the Jewish community.
Minns said earlier during question time, in response to a question from Speakman about when he knew the incident could be a “fake terrorism plot”, said:
As we’ve said many times in the media in the last few weeks, we were briefed early on that this could be something other than terrorism as it’s classically defined, and that no line of inquiry was being ruled out by New South Wales police.
WA premier announces new cabinet
The WA premier, Roger Cook, has revealed his new-look cabinet with a focus on economic diversification, following Western Australian Labor’s barnstorming third-term election victory, AAP reports.
The cabinet features several new portfolios, including health infrastructure – to boost capacity in the sector – and the preventative health portfolio to reduce long-term hospital demand.
A new aged care and seniors portfolio is designed to work with the federal government to deliver more care places and free up hospital beds.
Cook said a new housing and works portfolio would focus on government building, while the economic diversification and manufacturing portfolios would work to make the WA economy more resilient in “globally uncertain times”.
We are more impacted by shifts in global trade and the dimensions of that than pretty much any other state, so we need to continue to make sure that we do everything we can to ensure that we manage those troubled waters.
A minister will be introduced for each WA region, prioritising local job opportunities and infrastructure needs. Some ministers have been reshuffled and the climate action portfolio has been replaced with climate resilience.
“We need to make sure that everyone is aware that the globe is getting hotter and we’re all going to have to adapt,” Cook said, adding his government was not giving up on the climate and WA would be the first state to end coal-fired power generation.
The deputy premier and treasurer, Rita Saffioti, has lost tourism and picked up sport and recreation.
Paul Papalia will no longer handle the police portfolio, taking on emergency services; Reece Whitby has dropped his environment role and picked up police.
Amber-Jade Sanderson will no longer be the health minister, with Meredith Hammat appointed to the portfolio.
Cook will handle the state development, trade and investment and economic diversification portfolios.
The new government is scheduled to be sworn in on Wednesday as vote counting continues to determine the winners of a handful of seats.
A jury has been unable to reach a unanimous verdict in the trial of a man accused of murder after a young woman was fatally stabbed on an isolated beach, AAP reports.
Toyah Cordingley, a 24-year-old organic food store worker, was found buried in sand at a beach outside Cairns in far north Queensland on 22 October 2018.
Rajwinder Singh, 40, a former hospital nurse from nearby Innisfail, had pleaded not guilty to murder.
Benita Kolovos
Cannabis legalisation committee’s Liberal MPs say ‘status quo should be upheld’
Legalise Cannabis MP Rachel Payne was on the committee, which travelled to Canberra to see the ACT reforms first-hand. She said they resulted in a fall in the level of policing for personal use and possession of more than 90%:
If Victoria follows and decriminalises small amounts, it means our police no longer have to waste their time, energy and resources policing personal cannabis possession … it’s time for ‘a different approach’ – stop criminalising people and focus on harm reduction.
However, the three Liberal MPs on the inquiry, including the committee’s chair, Trung Luu, released a minority report, in which they said the “status quo should be upheld” and no reforms should be introduced to legalise cannabis in Victoria.
Their report read:
It is our view that more time should be taken to analyse data, and the health and economic consequences decriminalising cannabis has had, particularly on adolescents and young adults – whereby cannabis has been legalised for a considerable period. This would paint a more holistic picture of the ramifications of this model and what these amendments would do if implemented here in Victoria.
