David Anderson says there is ‘a good case’ for next ABC managing director to be a woman
David Anderson was asked to give advice to his replacement and said because it is such a visible role “anybody coming into it will know what they’re buying into” and committing to with it.
My advice to them would be to always, always see the bigger picture. Always relate this back to purpose and performance. Always be thinking about staff at the ABC, because everybody in this place walks through the door with a commitment, and they’re solidly aligned to the purpose of the place … There are many distractions that come here and, you know, just to stay focused on the things that matter.
Asked if the next managing director of the ABC should be a woman, Anderson replied “I think there is a good case for that”.
I certainly think that there is case for consideration. Of course, you want the best person for the job, but should really be – It is a record that needs correction there … I think you want to see a history that includes women in the CEO role.
Key events
Foreign trio charged with smuggling people by sea
Three foreign nationals have been charged with conspiring to collect and conceal a group of asylum-seekers who landed in Western Australia, AAP reports.
A man aged 26 and two women, 54 and 32, are expected to appear before court in Sydney today after being arrested on Thursday, with each facing one count of conspiracy to conceal non-citizens.
If convicted they could face up to 10 years in prison for the alleged people smuggling venture in early April.
Australian authorities describe non-citizens arriving by boat as unauthorised maritime arrivals, and around 95 have been held in offshore detention on Nauru in recent months.
Police in April found a missing member of a group of asylum-seekers who had become separated in a remote area of the Kimberley region, not far from the Mungalalu-Truscott air base.
They identified him as a Chinese national aged in his 40s.
Christopher Knaus
Inquiry hears of information sharing problems between family and magistrates courts
Circling back to the parliamentary inquiry into domestic violence orders (see earlier post), which has heard of deep problems sharing information between the family court – where family law disputes are heard – and magistrates courts, where intervention orders are sought to protect women’s safety.
Terese Edwards, the chief executive of Single Mothers Families Australia, told the inquiry there had been a “long-standing recommendation” to develop a live dashboard that would allow magistrates and courts to have comprehensive information about all court proceedings before them.
She said the technology already existed. The current gaps in information sharing meant courts were operating oblivious to the detail of family violence orders or child protection orders.
I don’t understand why it’s still so complex. There has been a recommendation, a longstanding recommendation, for some time to have a live dashboard that would have all the [information from] every system before the court, live and updated information on [apprehended violence orders]. Also, the gap means that child protection orders are often missing and, in those child protection orders, they can be the voice of the child or professional who’s made a safety determination upon that child.
Daisy Dumas
Judge finds Roxanne Tickle victim of indirect gender discrimination
In a win for transgender rights, federal court justice Robert Bromwhich found that Roxanne Tickle had been discriminated against when she was barred from using the “women-only” social media app Giggle for Girls.
Bromwich found that Tickle was a victim of indirect gender discrimination, but not direct gender discrimination. The judge needed to be satisfied on one of those pathways to find that the discrimination was unlawful.
In court this morning, he explained that direct gender identity discrimination is by reason of a person’s gender identity, while indirect gender identity discrimination is when a condition has the effect of disadvantaging a person.
He said that the evidence did not establish that Tickle was excluded from Giggle “by reason of her gender identity, although it remains possible that this was the real but unproven reason”.
Instead, the indirect discrimination case succeeded because Tickle was excluded from the use of the Giggle “because she did not look sufficiently female”.
Severe weather warning for strong winds north of Melbourne
A severe weather warning for damaging winds has been issued for parts of Victoria from this evening, with a trough forecast to cross Victoria tomorrow morning.
Locations which may be affected include Mount Dandenong, Apollo Bay, Yarra Glen, Bacchus Marsh, Dargo, Gelantipy, Mount Baw Baw, Falls Creek, Mount Hotham, Mount Buller and Omeo.
Strong winds averaging 50-60km/h and damaging gusts of 90km/h are forecast to develop tonight, into tomorrow morning.
Winds are expected to ease about the Otways and Central District by mid-Saturday morning, then ease about eastern districts during the afternoon.
Severe Weather Warning for damaging winds
Stay informed: https://t.co/T05ONtwAm3
Issued at 5:07 am Friday, 23 August 2024.
For people in parts of Central, East Gippsland, North Central, North East, West and South Gippsland and South West Forecast Districts. pic.twitter.com/LImx6FLHt9
— VicEmergency (@vicemergency) August 22, 2024
Chalmers further outlines proposed changes to government override powers
Taking questions from reporters, Jim Chalmers outlined what powers the government is seeking to change when it comes to the RBA. He said:
As it stands right now, the parliament can override decisions of the independent Reserve Bank. The Reserve Bank review proposed we get rid of those powers to enhance the independence of the Reserve Bank.
Some of the Coalition members of a parliamentary committee indicated their opposition to that change, and so what we’ve tried to find is a way that accommodates all of these views and we think the best way to do that is maintaining the override power that parliament has, but to limit to emergency circumstances and not just differences of opinion.
And so we have drafted some amendments that will give effect to that.
Chalmers says government prepared to limit its override powers on RBA to emergency situations
Jim Chalmers said the government is “prepared to limit the parliament’s override powers to emergency situations, to rare instances”, after conversations with the opposition regarding RBA reform.
We have also been prepared to accommodate the opposition view when it comes to the make-up of the new monetary policy board. So under the arrangements I proposed to the opposition in the interests of getting a deal, I have proposed everyone on the current Reserve Bank board would go on the monetary policy board unless they write and indicate a willingness to go on the government board instead.
The Reserve Bank governor has made clear her views. She would like to see some continuation and experience on both boards, but I have been prepared to make the proposal to the opposition in good faith.
Chalmers said his goal is to legislate changes before the end of the year.
The ball is now in the shadow treasurer’s court. We will see if he can carry his colleagues on these important issues. I don’t want to negotiate with him through the media. I’ll negotiate with him directly, as I have been doing in good faith. I think it is time to end this dragging for too long so we can get cracking from the start of next year.
Chalmers on RBA reforms: we want this to ‘endure after changes in governments’
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to the media from Brisbane.
Speaking about the RBA review and reforms to the Reserve Bank, Chalmers said the government wants any changes to “endure after changes in governments”, which is why a bipartisan approach was taken.
I have decided the most important thing we can do to land these reforms is make sure the major parties come together in the spirit of bipartisanship so we can get cracking on these important changes.
The Reserve Bank governor supports these changes, the government’s proposed these changes in good faith after an independent review and we need the Coalition on board.
Chalmers said he has had three face-to-face meetings with the shadow treasurer, Angus Taylor, and has arranged three briefings with the department and review panel.
We want to make sure the independent Reserve Bank is above and beyond partisan politics and what has guided us at every stage of trying to land these important reforms … I believe we have our differences, myself and Angus Taylor, but in this instance I think he has the right instincts and the right intentions.
Christopher Knaus
Inquiry probing weaknesses of family violence order system
Federal parliament is currently investigating the weaknesses of the family violence order system, including the links between court proceedings and increased risk of violence and harm.
At an inquiry hearing this morning, the Australian Institute of Family Studies research manager, Dr Rachel Carson, said its research suggested reports of physical and emotional abuse tended to increase alongside increased engagement with court processes.
So, for example, taking physical abuse, approximately 27% of families or participants in the [AIFS study] indicated that they were experiencing physical abuse. That increases to about 39% when they’re engaging with lawyers, and that increases again to 38% when they’re engaging with courts.
The National Women’s Safety Alliance executive director, Katherine Berney, said the current system of DVOs had significant gaps and that family violence orders are often undermined by conflicting parenting orders or ineffective enforcement.
Orders must be more than just legal mechanisms. They must offer real protection. There must be a commitment from all sides of government, law enforcement and the courts, to build a system that truly protects the Australians who need it most.
Orrca provides update on whale rescue in Sydney Harbour
Jessica Fox, the second vice-president of volunteer rescue organisation Orrca, has just provided us with an update on the humpback whale entangled in Sydney Harbour.
She said Orrca members are at headlands around Sydney taking observations on what is occurring.
NSW national parks large whale disentanglement teams are on the water – they have two small boats with the whale, and crews on mother ships around the whale, Fox said.
Maritime services are assisting to keep the area clear for first responders.
The whale has been behaving quite erratically. It does seem to be tiring … This could all be over in two minutes, but it could also continue throughout the rest of the day.
Judge finds transgender woman discriminated against when barred from app
Daisy Dumas
A transgender woman who sued a women-only social media app for alleged gender discrimination has been awarded $10,000 plus costs after a judge found she had been discriminated against in a landmark decision that tested the meaning and scope of the Sex Discrimination Act.
Roxanne Tickle, a transgender woman from regional New South Wales, sued the women-only social media platform Giggle for Girls and its chief executive, Sall Grover, claiming she was unlawfully barred from using the app in 2021 after the firm and Grover said she was a man.
This morning, federal court justice Robert Bromwich said the respondents considered “sex” to mean the unchangeable sex of a person at birth.
These arguments failed because the view propounded by the respondents conflicted with a long history of cases decided by courts going back over 30 years. Those court those cases established that on its ordinary meaning, sex is changeable.
He found that indirect gender discrimination took place when Tickle “was excluded from the use of the Giggle app because she did not look sufficiently female.”
Rescue operation underway to disentangle whale in Sydney harbour
Rescue crews are currently working to rescue a humpback whale from Sydney harbour.
The whale was spotted near Bradleys Head this morning and a rescue operation resumed. The whale is currently directly between Middle Head and North Head in the harbour.
A spokesperson with volunteer rescue group Orrca was just livestreaming on Facebook and said drone footage captured yesterday was able to help the team create a plan to disentangle the whale today.
A lot of planning and a lot of prep work has gone in overnight when light … no longer allowed for us to be out here and on the water with this whale.
She said it could take minutes, or hours, to disentangle the whale from ropes and buoys attached to its tail.
We’re very fortunate today to have calm seas in Sydney harbour. There’s very little wind and, fortunately, all the other vessels in the area have been very, very, very good in keeping away and allowing an emergency first response.
More from AAP on the ‘what is a woman’ legal case
The court was told Sall Grover had persistently misgendered Roxanne Tickle in media interviews and across hundreds of posts about the case made to her 93,000 online followers.
Tickle’s lawyer, Georgina Costello, said her client had received an “enormous” amount of online hate as a result of Grover’s actions.
The continued, deliberate misgendering of her cannot detract from the fact that she is a woman.
Costello told the court Tickle had undergone gender-affirming surgery and hormone treatments, identified as a woman with her family, friends and at work, and used women’s change rooms and shops in women’s clothing departments. Tickle said:
Up until this instance, everybody has treated me as a woman.
It is the first time the federal court has heard a case alleging gender identity discrimination.
Judgment in ‘what is a woman’ legal case
A landmark gender-identity case will deal with the question of who can legally claim to be a woman after a transgender user was barred from a female-only app, AAP reports
A federal court judge in Sydney will today deliver his judgment in Roxanne Tickle’s lawsuit against the Giggle for Girls app and its founder Sall Grover.
Tickle has claimed $100,000 for alleged discrimination based on her gender identity and the same sum again for aggravated damages.
The latter is based on an online campaign allegedly waged against her by Grover largely on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter.
Tickle was blocked from the Giggle app in September 2021 on the basis of her gender, despite a birth certificate listing her as female, the court was told during a series of often-heated hearings in April.
The court was told Grover created the Giggle app as a “safe space” for women to interact with each other, free from male patterns of online violence.
Giggle’s barrister Bridie Nolan argued Tickle was a man so it was lawful to exclude her from the app because of provisions in the Sex Discrimination Act.
She told Justice Robert Bromwich the court was faced with the impossible task of determining whether a person was a woman based on their “psychological state” and having undergone surgery to remove their reproductive organs.
This case is the ‘what is a woman case’.
More to come in a moment.