Qantas to pay $120m in penalties and compensation
Elias Visontay
Qantas will fork out $100m as a civil penalty and pay out $20m to customers in compensation, after striking a deal with the consumer watchdog over a landmark action for allegedly selling tickets to flights that had already been cancelled in its system.
Qantas today announced it had come to an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to resolve the court proceedings lodged in August last year, alleging it had advertised and sold tickets for more than 8,000 flights that it had already cancelled in its internal system, revelations which precipitated the early retirement of former CEO Alan Joyce.
In a statement, Qantas said it will “commence a projected $20 million remediation program for impacted passengers, with payments to customers ranging from $225 to $450, and subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia, will pay a $100 million civil penalty”.
The ACCC and Qantas will shortly seek approval of the proposed penalty by the Federal Court. However, Qantas intends to commence the remediation program in advance of the Court approval process.
ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said that as part of the settlement, Qantas had admitted that it misled consumers:
Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled.
Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, said: “Today represents another important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier … we have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Qantas will facilitate payments to 86,597 consumers who, between 21 May 2021 and 26 August 2023, booked or were re‑accommodated on a domestic or international flight scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 until 10 May 2024 after Qantas had already decided to cancel it.
Of customers affected, 94% were flying on domestic or trans-Tasman routes, with the remainder flying on the international network. The financial hit of the penalty and remediation program will be recognised as an expense in the group’s statutory income statement for the current financial year.
Key events
Westpac profit eases as mortgage stress rises
Jonathan Barrett
Westpac has recorded a sizeable jump in the number of mortgage customers falling more than 90 days behind on their repayments, as elevated interest rates and rising living costs pressure households.
The major bank reported a jump in mortgage delinquencies to 1% in its half-year results released today, up 32 basis points from a year earlier. Delinquencies refer to households which are more than three months behind on their mortgages, representing those at higher risk of having homes repossessed.
Westpac chief executive Peter King said that although there were signs of increased mortgage stress, the overall economy was proving resilient.
While we’ve seen an uptick in stress in our loan books, this is to be expected given the large increase in interest rates, high inflation and taxation.
Westpac reported a $3.34bn six-month profit to the end of March, down 16% from a year ago. Its chief gauge of profitability, net interest margins, eased slightly to 1.89%.
King said the bank’s margins were helped by more subdued mortgage competition among lenders during the last six months.
Australia’s major banks have been enjoying a period of share price strength and profitability, despite the recent pullback in profit margins.
Westpac announced today it was increasing its share buyback program by $1bn, a measure used to return excess capital to investors, and that it would also pay a special 15 cent dividend to shareholders.
Telstra announces it will push back closure of 3G network by two months
Telstra has announced it will delay the closure of its 3G network by two months, from 30 June to 31 August, allowing people more time to update their devices.
The telecommunications company has been working towards the change for nearly five years and described it as a significant step, leading to improved connectivity for Australia.
Everyone using devices that rely on 3G for either data, voice or emergency calls need to prepare to stay connected when it switches off.
Customers can check if their handset will be affected by the upcoming closure by texting “3” to 3498, Telstra says.
Stephen Rue appointed as new Optus CEO
Stephen Rue, who is currently CEO of the NBN, has been appointed as the new CEO of Optus.
His appointment will take effect from November, a statement published this morning said. Optus chairman Paul O’Sullivan said:
We’re extremely pleased to have someone of his calibre to lead the next chapter at Optus. His experience in setting up the digital backbone of Australia will serve us well as we reinvigorate Optus as Australia’s leading challenger telecommunications brand.
We expect Stephen’s operational and financial background to lift service standards significantly for the benefit of our customers.
Rue said he was “honoured and excited to be given the opportunity to lead Optus”.
My job will be to take care of Optus’s customers, people and business and to provide strong competition and choice.
His appointment coincides with a new governance model where the Optus CEO and executives will report to the Optus board – with Rue joining the board and reporting to the chairman.
Members of the Optus board include chair Paul O’Sullivan, Yuen Kuan Moon, John Arthur, Lim Cheng Cheng and Michael Venter.
Until Rue begins his role as CEO, Venter will continue as interim CEO.
Only five of 148 promised frontline workers employed in NSW: Jodie Harrison
Jodie Harrison was also asked about funding from the commonwealth to states like NSW to provide about 500 family violence frontline workers.
Yesterday the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, said just 30 had been delivered nationwide so far:
Asked about this on ABC News Breakfast, Harrison said “about five” of the state’s promised 148 have been employed so far. She said:
We’ve been working with the federal government to make sure that we comply with what they have already committed to in local areas, and we’ve been doing a lot of work to analyse where gaps are so that we can make sure that the balance of those 148 workers are actually put into the areas that they are most needed.
We’ve been consulting really heavily with people who work in the domestic and family violence space, and looking at the crime statistics as well, and we are in the process of procuring those workers right now.
Is only five employed so far good enough? Harrison responded:
Look, it would be really wonderful if we could have moved faster on this. Certainly, the domestic and family violence sector are saying and have been saying that they need additional resources. But we want to make sure we’re putting the workers into the areas where they’re most needed.
Ankle monitoring for DV offenders on bail ‘on the table’, NSW minister says
Jodie Harrison, the NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, was speaking to ABC News Breakfast earlier about the $230m emergency package unveiled today.
She was asked if NSW would be in favour of attaching ankle bracelets to domestic violence perpetrators on bail. Harrison said:
We’re certainly looking at all of the options that are on the table [and] really keenly looking at the experience in South Australia. We know that they’re also really having a hard look at domestic and family violence at the moment through their royal commission – we’ll be keenly looking at what comes out of that, but also looking at their experience in relation to ankle monitoring and electronic monitoring.
So is that something the NSW government would be favourably disposed to? Harrison responded: “Nothing is off the table right now for us. Everything is on the table.”
Qantas to pay $120m in penalties and compensation
Elias Visontay
Qantas will fork out $100m as a civil penalty and pay out $20m to customers in compensation, after striking a deal with the consumer watchdog over a landmark action for allegedly selling tickets to flights that had already been cancelled in its system.
Qantas today announced it had come to an agreement with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to resolve the court proceedings lodged in August last year, alleging it had advertised and sold tickets for more than 8,000 flights that it had already cancelled in its internal system, revelations which precipitated the early retirement of former CEO Alan Joyce.
In a statement, Qantas said it will “commence a projected $20 million remediation program for impacted passengers, with payments to customers ranging from $225 to $450, and subject to the approval of the Federal Court of Australia, will pay a $100 million civil penalty”.
The ACCC and Qantas will shortly seek approval of the proposed penalty by the Federal Court. However, Qantas intends to commence the remediation program in advance of the Court approval process.
ACCC chair, Gina Cass-Gottlieb, said that as part of the settlement, Qantas had admitted that it misled consumers:
Qantas’ conduct was egregious and unacceptable. Many consumers will have made holiday, business and travel plans after booking on a phantom flight that had been cancelled.
Qantas CEO, Vanessa Hudson, said: “Today represents another important step forward as we work towards restoring confidence in the national carrier … we have since updated our processes and are investing in new technology across the Qantas Group to ensure this doesn’t happen again.”
Qantas will facilitate payments to 86,597 consumers who, between 21 May 2021 and 26 August 2023, booked or were re‑accommodated on a domestic or international flight scheduled to depart between 1 May 2022 until 10 May 2024 after Qantas had already decided to cancel it.
Of customers affected, 94% were flying on domestic or trans-Tasman routes, with the remainder flying on the international network. The financial hit of the penalty and remediation program will be recognised as an expense in the group’s statutory income statement for the current financial year.
Search for person overboard continuing
The search for a person overboard a cruise ship in waters off Sydney, as we reported just earlier, is continuing.
Here is a photo of the flight path of a rescue helicopter that was sweeping a section of water off the coast:
And here is the path of the P&O Pacific Adventure, whose scheduled arrival into the harbour at 6am was delayed so the ship could take part in search and rescue efforts:
‘Lower the temperature’ on protests at university campuses, education minister says
The education minister was also asked about the pro-Palestine encampments taking place across Australian universities, and whether they should be allowed to continue for as long as students are willing to man them.
He told ABC RN that protests will always be a part of democracy, but said “we’ve just got to lower the temperature”.
There’s always going to be protests in a democracy, that’s part of being a democracy. What there’s no place for is hate or violence or prejudice or discrimination and certainly no place [for] antisemitism or Islamophobia – whether it’s on our university campuses or anywhere else in the country.
What I’d say is that we’ve just got to lower the temperature. You know, what’s happening on the other side of the world is trying to pull our country apart. We’ve got to work together – whether it’s politicians or religious leaders or community leaders, whether it’s the media, or student representatives – to work to keep our country together, not let it get pulled apart.
Placement payment for student teachers and nurses not meant to be a wage, Clare says
ABC RN host Sally Sara noted that the government’s own economic inclusion advisory committee found payments like Austudy and Abstudy are too low and can’t be lived on. Why not tie placement payments to the minimum wage, she asked?
The education minister, Jason Clare, said this measure was not designed to be a wage but “a bit of extra financial support”. He said:
There’ll be a lot of people who will still be able to work at the same time as they’re doing [placements]. But there are people who can’t [and] this will provide that bit of extra help to pay the bills, put food on the table, pay for transport, sometimes the relocation costs that come with prac.
The commonwealth government hasn’t done this before. This is the first time that this has happened. It’s happened in the in response to calls from students – both teaching students and nursing students and social work students – across the country, and it’s come out of the work for the universities accord team that heard loud and clear that there is placement poverty in this country.
If we want more people to finish their teaching and nursing degrees – if we want to get more people teaching our kids, helping us when we’re sick, working in domestic violence refuges – [then] this is part of the way to do it.
Education minister on new placement payments for student teachers and nurses
As Paul Karp reported this morning, student teachers, nurses, midwives and social workers will receive a weekly payment of $320 during their mandatory placements under a new cost-of-living measure in the May budget.
The education minister, Jason Clare, was on ABC RN earlier to discuss the measure. Asked about any means testing model for the payment, he said:
Teaching students do about 600 hours as part of their degree in a classroom, nurses do about 800 hours in a hospital, and sometimes they’ve got to give up their part-time job to do [this]… We’ll work with unions as well as the university sector to make sure that we sharpen and define the means testing model that we’ll put in legislation to make sure that we’re giving this to the people who need it the most.
He flagged a means test could look at students who still live at home versus living independently, as well as those already receiving financial supports or students who work more than 15 hours a week.
Clare said he met a nursing student in Sydney last week who said the payment would mean “the difference between paying for parking at the hospital or paying for food that she wants to eat every night”.
New direct flight between Australia and Palau
A new direct flight between Australia and Palau has been announced today, with the first flight to depart this month.
The non-stop flights will go between Brisbane and Koror, Palau and “help create new opportunities for regional tourism and trade”, a statement from foreign minister Penny Wong and Palau president Surangel Whipps said.
Palau is a tiny country of over 500 islands in the Pacific, with a population of about 20,000 people.
Nauru Airlines will operate the flight until 31 October this year, with eligible Australian, Pacific and Asian airlines invited to participate in a tender to operate the route through to October 2025.
The route compliments the “Island Hopper” flight between Brisbane, Nauru, Tarawa, Majuro, Pohnpei and Koror.
Wong said in a statement:
Australia has heard the calls from Pacific leaders for deeper connections and easier movement around the region, and is working to improve access, mobility, and migration opportunities.
Calls for ‘substantial increase’ to jobseeker and youth allowance
Paul Karp
A group of women and non-binary people from civil society have written to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, seeking a “substantial increase” in jobseeker and youth allowance.
It notes that this was the priority recommendation of the government’s own Economic Inclusions Advisory Committee, quoting chair Jenny Macklin who said: “Women escaping violence also need to know that there will be a decent social security net for them.”
The letter said:
The current social security safety net cannot be described as “decent” nor safe. The JobSeeker Payment is just $55 a day. Youth Allowance is even less at $45 a day. Around 500,000 women receive these payments. While the government’s restoration of Parenting Payment Single to 82,000 single parents whose youngest child is aged between 8 and 14 was most welcome, there remain large numbers of women of all ages in receipt of JobSeeker and other working-age payments that are simply not enough to cover basic costs.
Fixing the adequacy of Jobseeker and Youth Allowance to deliver basic economic security for women cannot wait.
The letter is signed by Macklin, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander commissioner June Oscar, sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody, single mothers advocate Terese Edwards, former NSW women’s minister Verity Firth, unionists Emeline Gaske and Correna Haythorpe and former independent MP Cathy McGowan.
Unlike last year’s letter coordinated by the Australian Council of Social Services, this does not appear to include current Labor MPs.
David McBride sentencing hearing to take place today
The sentencing hearing for military whistleblower David McBride will take place today.
McBride pleaded guilty to stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC, who used the material as the basis for an investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
You can read the background below:
A rally is due to take place this morning, with a number of McBride’s supporters speaking. Saffrine Duggan, the wife of Dan Duggan, said in a statement:
In Australia we pride ourselves on transparent government and the right to a fair hearing in court.
Situations like David’s and Dan’s, where Australians are being used as political scapegoats, cannot stand. It’s time for the prime minister and politicians in Canberra to prove the value of Australian citizenship and our nation’s sovereignty.
I am horrified at this prosecution of both David and of my husband, Dan, and the damage it is doing to them and to their loved ones. We won’t give up, let’s stand together for justice.
Police search for man overboard cruise ship off Sydney
NSW police are leading a search in waters off Sydney after reports a person went overboard off a cruise ship early this morning.
Police said emergency services received reports a person had gone overboard off a ship 10 nautical miles (around 19km) off Sydney Heads just after 4am.
NSW police marine area command have deployed a number of resources to search for the person and are leading the coordination of the water search.
The P&O Pacific Adventure was due to dock in Sydney Harbour at 6am this morning.
P&O said in a statement that the ship – carrying 2,600 guests – was taking part in the search and rescue operation along with other nearby vessels, deployed to the area by AMSA’s joint rescue coordination centre.
The family of this guest is being cared for by our onboard team while every effort is being made to find them. Pacific Adventure’s arrival into White Bay Terminal this morning has been delayed while the search continues.
The flight radar shows a rescue helicopter sweeping a section of the ocean. The Marine Traffic map shows the cruise ship is continuing search efforts.
Daisy Dumas
More on the NSW government’s $230m domestic and family violence package
In a first for the state, $38m will go towards funding a dedicated primary prevention strategy. $48m will fund the Staying Home Leaving Violence program, helping women and their children to remain safe in their homes after leaving a violent relationship.
Offender transformation programs will receive $2.1m and $48m will go towards early intervention, including funding for workers who support children affected by family violence.
Bail laws – blamed in part for the death of Forbes woman Milly Ticehurst – are part of its focus, with $45m earmarked to improve bail laws and justice system responses.
The state’s attorney general, Michael Daley, said the funds would “[ensure] we are reviewing domestic violence supports and systems from every angle”.
NSW needs a coordinated approach across multiple fronts to disrupt domestic violence – that is what this suite of funding initiatives is designed to achieve.
NSW minister for the prevention of domestic violence and sexual assault, Jodie Harrison, said:
There is no shying away from the horrendous statistics, and the tragic stories behind each one of those statistics.
NSW government unveils $230m emergency package for victim-survivors
Daisy Dumas
The NSW government has today committed to an emergency $230m package to support the victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence.
The new funding will cover four years of new programs and extensions of existing programs, and is informed by the lived experience of victim-survivors and leaders from the domestic family and sexual violence sector who met with the state cabinet last week.
The premier, Chris Minns, said in a statement:
Too many lives have been lost and too many families have been broken because of domestic and family violence. It is a blight in our communities, and it is a problem that deserves our government’s concerted attention and response.
We are listening to leaders, organisations, victim-survivors, and communities from across NSW to drive solutions. Domestic, family, and sexual violence is preventable; we cannot accept the status quo.
This funding announcement is an important step to doing better, to recognising that domestic violence supports need to be applied not just from a crisis response perspective, but with an eye to disrupting the cycle of domestic and family violence early and permanently.
Welcome
Emily Wind
And happy Monday – great to be with you for a new week on the Australian news live blog. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage today.
Making news overnight: The NSW government has announced the details of its emergency $230m package to support the victim-survivors of domestic, family and sexual violence. The new funding will cover four years of new programs and extensions of existing programs and follows a dedicated cabinet meeting last week. More on this soon from Daisy Dumas.
NSW police are leading a search in waters off Sydney after reports a person went overboard off a cruise ship around 4am today.
The sentencing hearing for military whistleblower David McBride will take place today. McBride pleaded guilty to stealing commonwealth information and passing that on to journalists at the ABC, who used the material as the basis for an investigative series exposing war crimes in Afghanistan, titled The Afghan Files.
A group of women and non-binary people from civil society have written to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, seeking a “substantial increase” in jobseeker and youth allowance. The letter states jobseeker and other working-age payments “are simply not [earning] enough to cover basic costs”. Paul Karp will bring us more on this shortly.
And Mexican authorities have said the bodies believed to be two missing Australian brothers show they may have been killed with gunshots. You can read the entire story below: