Labor MP claims Dutton ‘rolled’ NSW Liberals by not appointing women to review panel
Josh Butler
Federal Labor has weighed into the NSW Liberal’s internal organisational chaos, chiding the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, for not ensuring gender equality on the new panel installed by the federal executive.
As reported earlier, NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman had tried – and ultimately failed – to get two women on to a four-person panel after the federal executive had proposed Alan Stockdale, Richard Alston, and Peta Seaton on a three-person panel.
Speakman’s plan, approved by the state executive, had infuriated conservatives, who accused moderates of attempting to “neutralise” the federal intervention in a “blatant challenge to the leadership of Peter Dutton”.
On Friday afternoon, Labor MP Sharon Claydon gave televised comments on behalf of federal Labor. She claimed Dutton had “rolled” the NSW Liberals, claiming the opposition leader “doesn’t hear women, he doesn’t listen to women”.
Claydon, the Member for Newcastle and chair of Labor’s status of women caucus committee, pointed out the ALP’s commitment to gender quotas and equality, noting the 30th anniversary this week of Labor’s affirmative action policies.
“[Dutton] sits and watches us every day on the opposite side of the bench, and yet cannot see his way to appoint two women to a review panel that might go some way to helping the Liberal Party figure out why they don’t connect with Australian women,” she said.
Key events
Outgoing CEO Jayne Hrdlicka said for Virgin to compete in the domestic market it must also do so internationally through overseas partners by creating an experience that rivalled competitors.
Our international partners are more important to us than any of our competitors because we don’t have a long-haul international business ourselves.
Hrdlicka took over as CEO in November 2020 after US private equity firm Bain Capital rescued Virgin Australia from administration, chartering it through the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of that challenge was revamping location, fleet and operational complexities that had hindered the airline and “magnified costs”.
“We were trying to be something that we could never successfully be, which is the world’s most premium airline based in Australia,” she said.
We’ve learned a lot.
We will not repeat the same mistakes in the past.
The second half of the financial year was super tough and losing Bonza and Rex was a demonstration of how tough the market actually is.
So we’re really proud we’re delivering great results and performing well financially despite the fact it is a tough environment.”
Hrdlicka announced her resignation in February but did not provide an exit date.
Her CEO stint included the “most confronting personal experiences you could ever have”.
I lost my husband to cancer, and I recently lost my father.
I really need to spend more time with my boys – they’re 17 and 19 – and I have a huge passion for tennis.
Hrdlicka has been Tennis Australia’s Chair and board president since 2017.
– Australian Associated Press
Outgoing Virgin CEO plays down Qatar stake speculation
Aircraft delivery delays have added to Virgin Australia’s challenges, with outgoing CEO Jayne Hrdlicka describing the second half of the financial year as “super tough”.
But Hrdlicka played down speculation Qatar Airways was seeking a stake of up to 20 per cent in the airline, saying “some creative fiction” had been written.
She said Virgin was picking up aircraft from Rex after the regional carrier entered voluntary administration on July 30, with supply chain and quality control issues slowing down the arrival rate of the new Boeing 737 Max 8.
Hrdlicka told the CAPA Airline Leader Summit in Brisbane on Friday Virgin would be converting 12 orders of Boeing Max 10s to Max 8s to help fleet expansion. She said:
[It will] help give us more degrees of flexibility as we adjust with Boeing’s needs to manage the challenges that both Boeing and Airbus are facing with respect to getting their supply chains back to balance.
Hrdlicka also addressed reports Qatar Airways was seeking a Virgin Australia stake, saying there had been “a lot of creative fiction written” about a potential deal.
We don’t play with rumour and innuendo but what I will say is we have the world’s best (airline) partners – United Airlines, Air Canada, Singapore Airlines, Qatar, ANA, Hawaiian – and we’re working every day to deepen those relationships and strengthen the experience we provide to our customers.
– Australian Associated Press
(More to come in the next post)
Worker dies in ‘medical episode’ at Darwin court
A worker died after a medical episode at the Darwin local court this afternoon.
Here is NT Courts’ statement:
Today in the afternoon a person who works with the courts suffered a medical episode at the Darwin Local Court.
Unfortunately they passed away and the building had to be closed to ensure the public were not present while the body was transported away.
Court proceedings due to be heard today that were ultimately not heard because of the incident have been adjourned until Monday.
Woman found dead in house fire in NSW town
A woman has died after a house fire in Glen Innes earlier today, NSW police said in a statement.
Emergency services were called to a home on Bourke Street, Glen Innes, about 9.15am after reports of a fire.
Firefighters extinguished the blaze before locating a body during a search of the home.
The body is yet to be formally identified but is believed to be a 79-year-old woman.
A crime scene has been established and police are investigating. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Football Australia on hunt for ‘right’ permanent four-year coach to take Matildas from Asian Cup to World Cup and 2028 Olympics
An interim coach will be in place for the next international window, where the Football Australia (FA) chief executive, James Johnson, hinted Australia would play Switzerland before a confirmed friendly against Germany on 29 October.
We’ve got an upcoming window in Europe where we’ll be in Germany and Switzerland, so we need to appoint an interim coach for that window.
So I think within the next seven to 10 days we’ll be able to name who the interim coach will be, and the purpose of the interim coach is to ensure that we have as much time as we need to get the right permanent coach for the Matildas.
FA wants a four-year cycle coach tasked with winning a home Asian Cup in 2026 before taking Australia to the 2027 Women’s World Cup and the 2028 Olympics.
The coach will also have to navigate new standalone qualifiers for the World Cup, announced by the Asian Football Confederation on Friday. Previously, the Asian Cup doubled as World Cup qualifiers.
“I don’t want to put a timeline on the permanent coach,” Johnson said.
Of course, the sooner the better, but at the same time we want to make sure we get the appointment right because we’re setting up – as we did four years ago – for a whole new cycle and we want to ensure that this is a long-term appointment.
– Australian Associated Press
Matildas narrow down coach search, interim imminent
Football Australia plans to start talks with top candidates for the vacant Matildas head coach role in the coming weeks and will soon announce an interim appointment forfriendlies.
The Matildas return to action for the first time since their disastrous Olympics campaign with friendlies in Europe in late October.
Football Australia announced today that Australia will play Taiwan at AAMI Park on 4 December and GMHBA Stadium four days later – fixtures that are early Asian Cup preparation and could be the new coach’s first games.
The chief executive, James Johnson, wouldn’t say whether Tony Gustavsson’s permanent successor would be at the helm for the December home window.
But when asked what stage the recruitment process was at, Johnson indicated things were heating up. He said:
We’re narrowing down a long list at the moment, and in the coming weeks we’ll be talking to a small group of candidates.
Former Manchester United and San Diego coach Casey Stoney, Sydney FC boss Ante Juric, former Matildas assistant Ross Aloisi and current assistant Mel Andreatta are potential candidates for the full-time role.
– Australian Associated Press
(More to come in the next blog post.)
Labor MP claims Dutton ‘rolled’ NSW Liberals by not appointing women to review panel
Josh Butler
Federal Labor has weighed into the NSW Liberal’s internal organisational chaos, chiding the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, for not ensuring gender equality on the new panel installed by the federal executive.
As reported earlier, NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman had tried – and ultimately failed – to get two women on to a four-person panel after the federal executive had proposed Alan Stockdale, Richard Alston, and Peta Seaton on a three-person panel.
Speakman’s plan, approved by the state executive, had infuriated conservatives, who accused moderates of attempting to “neutralise” the federal intervention in a “blatant challenge to the leadership of Peter Dutton”.
On Friday afternoon, Labor MP Sharon Claydon gave televised comments on behalf of federal Labor. She claimed Dutton had “rolled” the NSW Liberals, claiming the opposition leader “doesn’t hear women, he doesn’t listen to women”.
Claydon, the Member for Newcastle and chair of Labor’s status of women caucus committee, pointed out the ALP’s commitment to gender quotas and equality, noting the 30th anniversary this week of Labor’s affirmative action policies.
“[Dutton] sits and watches us every day on the opposite side of the bench, and yet cannot see his way to appoint two women to a review panel that might go some way to helping the Liberal Party figure out why they don’t connect with Australian women,” she said.
Josh Butler
Hume accuses government of being ‘slow off the mark’ with online scammer crackdown
Liberal senator Jane Hume claims the government has been “slow off the mark” with its scam announcement today, criticising the more than two-year delay in finalising it.
The Victorian senator was also strongly critical of Greens Senator David Shoebridge for attending protests outside the Land Forces arms expo in Melbourne, calling his appearance “despicable”.
Hume gave a brief press conference in Parliament House this afternoon after a hearing of a senate inquiry into the cost of living. Asked about the scams announcement from the assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, Hume said she was still considering its details but wanted to see the government go further.
I can remember the government talking about this in opposition. I can remember them talking about it in the election campaign. It’s been two and a half years, and this is what they’ve come up with, an exposure draft of legislation that’s going to be consulted on until next month. By the time they actually get to final legislation, it could be well into November or even early next year.
They’re a little bit slow off the mark on this one.
She went on to claim that social media and tech companies, especially, “need to step up” to better deal with scams.
On the Land Forces protests, Hume said Greens Senator Shoebridge “is not even from Victoria” and that she was “really disappointed” that he had given a speech to the protesters.
We’ve seen those frontline police officers being threatened and those mounted police officers having their horses attacked. This is vile behaviour, and it’s been condemned by governments, both state and federal, and the idea that one of my colleagues is participating in these protests, and not just participating, but you know, at the frontline of them … I find that just despicable.
Hume, the shadow public service minister, said she had not yet read the report of the Australian Public Service Commissioner into the robodebt scandal, and declined to offer a comment on the findings that 12 public servants had breached the code of conduct 97 times.
Farming fuels NSW land clearing crisis, new government data reveals
Land clearing that is driving NSW’s nature crisis is charging ahead with agriculture largely to blame, new government data shows.
An area more than 160 times the size of Sydney’s CBD was cleared in 2022, according to the latest study that tracks tree and land cover losses across the state, AAP reports.
The 45,000 hectares destroyed that year push the five-year tally above 420,000 hectares – more than one and half times the size of the ACT.
The NSW government released the data amid Australia’s ongoing fight against new European Union rules that will ban imports of Australian beef linked to deforestation.
Agriculture remains the primary driver of land clearing in the state, with significant volumes also lost to infrastructure and the logging of native forests.
While there’s been a downward trend in recent years, conservation groups say land clearing rates remain unsustainable.
WWF warns there’s no way Australia will keep its global commitment to end deforestation by 2030 if the worst offending states don’t lift their game.
Dr Stuart Blanch, the conservation group’s forest policy manager, said:
We are not on track to get there. And if NSW holds out, or Queensland, we can’t. This has implications for our national commitments.
Josh Taylor
The tech critic organisation Reset.Tech Australia has said the government’s revised misinformation and disinformation bill introduced into parliament this week lets tech companies off easy and stymies public accountability.
The legislation gives the Australian Communications and Media Authority powers to monitor and regulate how platforms are responding to misinformation and disinformation on their platforms. It included enforceable industry codes of conduct and also provides for standards to be introduced in the event that this form of self-regulation fails.
Reset.Tech has argued this self-governance method had already failed under voluntary codes and said the transparency reports required to be produced under the proposal are “worryingly poor” and the review process and public complaints process are defective.
On the other end of the scale, the Coalition has already indicated reluctance to support the legislation, after previously campaigning against the draft bill last year over alleged free speech concerns. X’s owner, Elon Musk, responded to the bill today labelling the government as “fascists”.
Sydney’s The Star casino has been issued with a show cause notice by the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC).
The NICC is seeking a response from Star as to why it should not take disciplinary action in respect of breaches substantiated in the second report from the Adam Bell-led inquiry into its operations, published last month.
In a statement on Friday afternoon, NICC said the notice relates to four significant breaches detailed in that report:
…including one that resulted in a cash fraud against The Star, a failure to run source of wealth checks on hundreds of members flagged as high risk, and fraudulent guest welfare entries that put already vulnerable customers at higher risk of harm.
The NICC has also issued correspondence to The Star in relation to its management, operation and culture, the adequacy and implementation of its remediation plan, and The Star’s overall suitability to hold a casino licence.
The casino has 14 days to respond before the NICC determines what action to take. Disciplinary measures open to it include cancellation of the casino licence and a pecuniary penalty of up to $100m.
Catie McLeod
More than 120 people running in the New South Wales local government elections have been identified by researchers as possible “fringe” candidates, including conspiracy theorists and people backed by a high-profile anti-lockdown campaigner.
These candidates make up about 3% of the 3,816 people vying for 1,230 council positions across NSW, according to new research. Some could be elected given a NSW Liberals bungle meant the major party failed to nominate more than 100 candidates.
Sixteen councils including Camden, Blue Mountains, Georges River, Penrith and Canterbury-Bankstown either have no Liberal candidates or fewer than they were meant to.
Australian National University politics lecturer Associate Prof Mark Chou said political parties were beginning to view local government as more of a “strategic front” – including those opposed to mainstream ideas or linked to specific ideological positions.
Chou, who has been reviewing the NSW candidates with researchers Benjamin Moffitt, Rachel Busbridge and Luke Dean, described the Libertarian party – formerly known as the Liberal Democrats – as the “most significant fringe group”.
Read the full story here:
Natasha May
Two people in NSW have died of heroin overdoses after using substances they thought to be cocaine, while another two people have been hospitalised.
NSW Health is warning people of the danger of using drugs thought to be cocaine due to the potential for unknown substances including opioids to be present.
NSW Health Chief Addiction Medicine Specialist, Dr Hester Wilson said:
A heroin overdose could quickly result from a single line. It is important that people recognise the signs of an opioid overdose early and know how to respond.
Opioids such as heroin can cause pin-point pupils, drowsiness, loss of consciousness, slowed breathing/snoring and skin turning blue/grey and can be life- threatening.
One of the dangers of illicit drug supply is the strength and contents of the substance you are getting is unknown and can be inconsistent.
Heroin and other opioids can be sold as or found in cocaine, methamphetamine, and MDMA (ecstasy). You cannot always tell the difference between these drugs by appearance.
In light of this detection, people who use drugs such as cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA or opioids should carry naloxone.
NSW Health encourage anyone witnessing someone else experiencing any unexpected symptoms after using drugs to call 000.
Naloxone, a life-saving medication that reverses the effects of opioids, should be given immediately if available too, the department urged. It does not require a prescription and is free for anyone at risk of opioid overdose in NSW.
Grahame McCulloch, the man appointed to steer the CFMEU’s Victorian branch after the union was plunged into administration, has quit just weeks after taking the role, a spokesperson for administrator Mark Irving confirmed to AAP.
No reason for the surprise departure or further detail has been given.
Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus placed the CFMEU’s construction and general division – including state and territory branches – into administration on 23 August following public allegations of intimidation, bribery and underworld infiltration at the union.
Irving was appointed as administrator and the roles of more than 200 elected CFMEU officers were terminated.
McCulloch had been appointed to helm the union’s Victorian branch, a role previously held by John Setka, who resigned following the allegations against the union.
Several trade unions have announced plans to fight the decision to place the CFMEU into administration in the High Court.
Paul Karp
Climate crisis expert and unionist selected to contest Labor safe seats Gorton and Maribyrnong, vacated by Brendan O’Connor and Bill Shorten
Guardian Australia understands that Labor’s national executive has selected climate crisis and water policy expert Alice Jordan-Baird to contest the Labor-held Victorian seat Gorton.
Jordan-Baird, who was backed by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, defeated Brimbank mayor, Ranka Rasic, in Melbourne’s western suburbs, who was backed by the Australian Workers Union.
The United Workers Union national political coordinator, Jo Briskey, will contest the seat of Maribyrnong for Labor.
Both seats, vacated by Brendan O’Connor and Bill Shorten, are safe for Labor, so barring a major upset, the Labor candidates will become MPs in the 48th parliament.
Mother of two boys found dead in Blue Mountains sacked from government department due to mental health, NSW premier confirms
The NSW Premier, Chris Minns, has confirmed reports that the mother of two boys found dead in the Blue Mountains had been sacked from a government department for reasons related to her mental health, AAP reports.
The bodies of two boys – Russell, 11, and Ben Smith, 9 – were found at their Faulconbridge family home on Tuesday.
Police are waiting to question their 42-year-old mother after she was taken from the scene to hospital with minor injuries.
No charges have been laid over the deaths of the boys.
Minns said on Friday:
The information I’ve been given so far is … the employee was let go from a NSW government agency …
It was challenged in the Industrial Relations Commission, the original decision of the government department was upheld, and I believe it was handled appropriately.
The premier said government departments would cooperate with any of the “major inquiries” into the boys’ deaths:
Both from the homicide squad and the NSW Police as well as potentially the coroner’s court as well.
If new information comes to light, of course government agencies and the NSW government will supply that to any independent investigation that takes place, this is a very serious alleged crime.
The father of the boys has asked for privacy.
Light plane crash in central Victoria
Emergency services are responding to a light plane crash in Redesdale, central Victoria.
Five vehicles, including at least two CFA units and police, are attending the crash.
We’ll have more details on this soon.
How would a government crackdown on scammers help you?
There has been a bit of talk today about the new draft legislation to crackdown on scammers. My colleague Cait Kelly has looked a bit more closely at the proposal and broken down what it involves for you here: