Linda Burney says government still deciding way forward after Indigenous voice loss
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has said the government is yet to decide how to best consult with First Nations people after the loss of the Indigenous voice referendum.
Burney was on RN Breakfast earlier and said today’s Closing the Gap meeting, the first since the referendum, would focus on the silver linings from the loss.
She also conceded that a tangible plan likely won’t emerge from the meeting today, with a long-term re-evaluation of Indigenous policy necessary to address Closing the Gap targets:
What we have seen is a group of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get involved in the political process.
We had 6 million Australians say yes. And the thing that really excited me about the outcome in places like the Tiwi Islands, where … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanted this change. And those votes are really important.
But clearly, we need to pursue that in the long run. Today’s meeting is about helping to frame up where we go but, most importantly, it’s about looking at the issues in Closing the Gap.
Key events
Out-of-control Perth bushfires show no sign of easing
AAP is reporting that out-of-control bushfires that have claimed at least 10 homes in metropolitan Perth have shown no sign of easing overnight.
Authorities warn strong winds and high temperatures mean it could be days before crews bring the fires under control after they ripped through semi-rural properties and threatened other homes on Thursday.
It was too late for many people to leave in eight suburbs in the city of Wanneroo and the city of Swan, in Perth’s north-east.
More than 150 firefighters worked through Wednesday night to save homes as the massive blaze forced hundreds of families to leave as embers rained down.
Teams worked on Thursday to assess damage to properties so evacuated residents could be informed, with fears more destroyed homes would be found.
More than 1000 people were also left without power as critical infrastructure was brought down in unforgiving temperatures that peaked at 40C, with winds of up to 80km/h fanning the flames.
East Wanneroo primary school and Wanneroo secondary college have been closed.
The emergency services minister, Stephen Dawson, said a huge amount of firefighting resources, including multiple water bombers, were being used to battle the blaze.
“This is a significant fire … this will be a long-running incident and could take some time before the fire is brought under control given the situation we find ourselves in terms of the wind and high temperatures,” he said.
A number of firefighters have suffered smoke inhalation and minor injuries and one crew was involved in a “burnover” incident while in a truck.
After peaking at 39C on Thursday, the forecast is set to ease to 35C on Friday and Saturday before rising to 37C on Sunday.
Burney says she has no regrets about referendum campaign strategy
Burney has continued, saying she has no regrets on how she and the government approached the referendum.
I’m not a person who spends a lot of time looking at the entrails of things.
I’m more interested in going forward … we’ve been on this merry go round before. Sixty-five thousand years is a pretty long time and I don’t think that’s going to stop any time soon.
Burney also said she expected to remain in her portfolio:
I guess there’s a lot of speculation, post-referendum. But if ever anyone thinks that the Aboriginal affairs portfolio was just about the referendum, they are very, very wrong.
Linda Burney says government still deciding way forward after Indigenous voice loss
The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has said the government is yet to decide how to best consult with First Nations people after the loss of the Indigenous voice referendum.
Burney was on RN Breakfast earlier and said today’s Closing the Gap meeting, the first since the referendum, would focus on the silver linings from the loss.
She also conceded that a tangible plan likely won’t emerge from the meeting today, with a long-term re-evaluation of Indigenous policy necessary to address Closing the Gap targets:
What we have seen is a group of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people get involved in the political process.
We had 6 million Australians say yes. And the thing that really excited me about the outcome in places like the Tiwi Islands, where … Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people wanted this change. And those votes are really important.
But clearly, we need to pursue that in the long run. Today’s meeting is about helping to frame up where we go but, most importantly, it’s about looking at the issues in Closing the Gap.
Labor tells students to stay in school
Sticking with the School Strike, education minister Jason Clare has again pleaded with students to remain in class today.
Clearly believing teenagers respond well to being told what to do, Clare told Channel Seven’s Sunrise that children should stay in school if they want to “change the world.”
Education is the most powerful cause for good in this world, that is where you learn.
If you want to protest, do it on the weekend. School is on, we expect them to be there.
Dai Le says it’s ‘OK’ to miss a day of school due to protest
Before the School Strike for Palestine planned today in Sydney and Wollongong, independent MP Dai Le says it’s “OK” to miss a day of school.
The western Sydney MP told the Today show young people have the right to express their opinion:
They believe they don’t have a voice at all in our elected representatives.
I think that absolutely they should be at school but children have the right to express their opinions and they’re at an age now where they can have that say.
Missing out on one day of school probably will be OK from my perspective.
Good morning, Mostafa Rachwani with you this morning, to take you through the day’s news.
Students prepare to walk out of class to support Palestine
Hundreds of school students are preparing to miss class to show support for Palestine as part of nationwide events, AAP reports.
The organisers of High Schoolers For Palestine are encouraging students to walk out of class across Sydney, Wollongong and Byron Bay to show support for the Palestinian cause.
Year 12 student and rally organiser Eva said attendees had a moral duty to show solidarity for children in Gaza.
“High school students in Gaza right now can’t go to school, can’t get an education,” she saidP.
“The least we can do here in Australia is come out to show our support for an end to the bombing.”
The New South Waleas premier, Chris Minns, and the education minister, Prue Car, told students to stay in class.
“If you want to change the world, get an education,” Minns said this week.
The Sydney rally is one in a series of national student strikes for Palestinians.
More than 1,000 Victorian school students blocked city streets and staged a sit-in at a major shopping centre in Melbourne on Thursday in support of Palestine.
In Adelaide, pupils held a demonstration at Parliament House.
Calls for urgent royal commission into domestic violence following deaths of four women in SA
A royal commission into domestic violence is “urgently needed” following the deaths of four women in one week in South Australia, AAP reports.
Hundreds of advocates are expected to rally outside Parliament House in Adelaide today after the murder of 55-year-old mother Jodie Jewell by her husband on Tuesday rounded off a horrific seven days for the state.
Domestic violence services peak body Embolden SA co-chair Maria Hagias said a national probe would mean better-targeted funding.
“A royal commission will help our state target much-needed investment where it will have the most impact, across prevention, early intervention, crisis response and recovery.”
New statistics from the AIHW show that more than half of assault injury hospitalisations in 2021–22 involving children under 15, where the perpetrator was specified, were domestic violence-related.
Latrobe University family violence researcher Leesa Hooker said a royal commission examining the issue at a national level would be a “fabulous start”.
“It is a crisis,” Hooker said.
The SA attorney general, Kyam Maher, said the government was looking to pass legislation to crack down on people who breach intervention orders, would review strangulation laws and is conducting consultation on coercive control laws.
Bruce Lehrmann is due to continue to give evidence today in his defamation action against Network Ten and its presenter Lisa Wilkinson.
Yesterday his cross-examination began with questions over his after-hours visit to Parliament House with Brittany Higgins.
For more, read our report:
Firefighters battle out-of-control blazes in WA
Firefighters continue to battle out-of-control bushfires that have claimed at least 10 homes in metropolitan Perth, Australian Associated Press reports.
Authorities warned on Thursday it could be days before the fires were brought under control after they ripped through semi-rural properties and threatened more homes in up to eight suburbs.
As of 3am today, Western Australia emergency services had an emergency warning in place for four Perth suburbs in the City of Wanneroo and the City of Swan, in Perth’s north-east.
More than 150 firefighters worked through the night to save homes as the massive blaze in the city’s north forced hundreds of families to leave on Wednesday night as embers rained down on their homes.
Teams worked to assess damage to properties so evacuated residents could be informed, with fears more destroyed homes could be found.
More than 1,000 people were left without power as critical infrastructure was brought down in unforgiving temperatures that peaked at 40C, with winds of up to 80km/h fanning the flames.
After peaking at 39C on Thursday, the forecast is set to ease to 35C on Friday and Saturday before rising to 37C on Sunday.
Black Friday shopping splurge expected
Australian shoppers are tipped to splurge a record amount in today’s Black Friday sales after a year of sluggish retail spending, Australian Associated Press reports.
The National Retail Association expects there will be up to $6.3bn worth of sales over a four-day period while comparison website Finder predicted a $6.7bn spend.
The association’s director, Rob Godwin, said many brands had brought their discounting strategies forward after a flat start to the festive season.
It is now the nation’s most popular sales event, with a Finder survey of 1,063 people showing up to 9.3 million Australians have already taken part or planned to shop the sales.
The large number of shoppers is partially attributed to people trying to find a way through rising cost of living pressures, Finder head of consumer research Graham Cooke said.
Cooke said the categories shoppers were planning to save on had not necessarily seen the highest price increases.
“Eight out of the top 10 price increases are for food items – so consumers might be better off hunting for discounts in the grocery aisle rather than the clothes shop,” he said.
Black Friday sales are held on the Friday after Thanksgiving in the United States and gained traction in Australia in the past decade.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer and after I’ve run through a couple of overnight stories and breaking news my colleague Mostafa Rachwani will step up to the plate.
In February, the Productivity Commission was asked what an affordable, accessible, high-quality, universal early education system should look like. Its new report calls for all under-fives to be able to access at least three days of childcare a week regardless of their parents’ work or income – and families earning less than $80,000 should get a universal 90% subsidy rate.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, says that the indefinite detainee NZYQ at the heart of the government’s difficulties over its asylum policy could have been deported – but almost all of the facts suggest otherwise. So what’s going on? Our chief political correspondent Paul Karp investigates. The whole issue of illegal migration will get another turbocharge after a group of migrants were detected on a remote beach in Western Australia. Expect some opportunistic questioning from the Coalition.
Still out west, more than 150 firefighters have been battling a massive blaze in the Perth’s northern suburbs overnight after it destroyed 10 homes and forced hundreds of local families to leave as embers rained down on their streets. The state’s emergency commissioner said the blaze was unlikely to be brought under control for days as firefighters were hampered by strong north-easterly winds bringing dry air across the land.
And it’s expected to be another big day on the stand for Bruce Lehrmann in his defamation fight against Channel Ten. We’ll have all the latest developments.