Peter Dutton says Bali Nine ‘aren’t national heroes’
Opposition leader Peter Dutton believes a message needs to be sent to young Australians about the danger of drug use and distribution, after the news that members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling group have returned to Australia.
Dutton said Anthony Albanese should be transparent about whether Australia would owe anything to Indonesia for the move, before speaking of his experiences as a police officer and the prevalence of drug use.
Dutton said that “from a personal perspective, for those individuals and their families, you can understand that they’ll be overjoyed to be back in Australia for Christmas”.
But as a police officer, I can tell you, I went to many scenes where people had overdosed or people had committed crimes because they needed to feed a drug habit
These people aren’t national heroes. They’re not political captives. They have been serving a sentence because, according to the laws of Indonesia, they broke those laws and they were imposed with a heavy penalty
I just think it should be a very, very significant message to every young Australian, whether you’re traveling overseas or if you’re just staying here in Australia, that drugs, the use of drugs, the distribution of drugs, there’s no good that comes from it.
Heroin is a particularly evil drug – as we know, it’s mind-altering. And 20 years ago, if you think back, the deaths from heroin and the impact that that had on our society are profound, and there are many families who didn’t get their 20-year-old back at all because of the drug overdose from having taken heroin.
Key events
Karen Middleton Dfat has just issued new travel advice via Smartraveller for Vanuatu re the earthquake:
A 7.3 magnitude earthquake has struck near Port Vila. There’s a tsunami warning in place. If you’re in the affected area, move to higher ground. Monitor local media for updates and follow the advice of local authorities.
Townsville elects third mayor in three weeks
Townsville has elected a third mayor in three weeks, after the city’s acting mayor stood aside on Tuesday morning.
The new acting mayor, Ann-Maree Greaney, stood unopposed for the role though two councillors reportedly voted against her appointment.
The mayor’s office has been a revolving door since Troy Thompson was suspended for 12 months, on full pay, amid a Crime and Corruption Commission probe into claims he exaggerated his military service record.
The suspension resulted in the appointment of Paul Jacob as acting mayor. Jacob had been elected deputy mayor – a one-year term – by fellow councillors in April.
But on Tuesday, after speculation of a move against Jacob, he stood aside. Greaney was elected. Jacob was reportedly one of two councillors who voted against her appointment.
Shorten:
The scheme is a little bit in danger of being a two-class scheme. If you’re well off, middle class and in one of the big cities on the mainland, you can get your experts, you can get your reports.
But if you live in areas where there’s not so many, where there’s a shortage of skilled professionals by us bringing in-house the assessors, which is what we’ve essentially announced today for tomorrow’s MYEFO or the mid-term, the midyear budget, it now means we’ll have greater quality control, and it means that poorer people, people in regional areas, they’re going to get a more equitable access to the scheme and the assessments than they’ve currently been receiving
Shorten rejected comparisons between the new model and the former Morrison government’s independent assessments for NDIS participants, which was ultimately abandoned after a major backlash from disability advocates.
The minister said unlike the former government’s “one-size-fits-all” assessments, which were to be conducted by contractors, Labor’s agency-run model would be tailored to the individual needs of participants:
They won’t be done by, you know, contractors working for large companies, working on a clock of half an hour. We will take as long as it needs for the assessment to be done. That’s a big difference.
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Dan Jervis-Bardy
Circling back to Bill Shorten’s announcement of an extra $1bn for the NDIS in Wednesday’s midyear budget update, the minister has been asked about the funding at a press conference in Tasmania.
The investment includes $280m for the National Disability Insurance Agency – which runs the scheme – to roll out a new “in-house” system to assess participants’ funding needs.
The agency will conduct and pay for the assessments, meaning families would no longer have to fork out for reports about their condition from medical professionals.
Shorten said the new model, which was a recommendation from last year’s landmark NDIS review, would stop the NDIS becoming a “two-class scheme” in which wealth and location determined whether a participant could access a proper assessment.
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There is no tsunami threat to Australia after a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit Vanuatu.
Woman missing in Blue Mountains
Police have serious welfare concerns for a woman who went missing in the Blue Mountains and are appealing for information to help their search.
Marissa Gee, 33, was last seen on Friday in Katoomba. The following day, her car was found on Galwey Lane in Mt Wilson, and her tent was located in Cathedral Reserve camping ground.
NSW police said:
There has been no sign of Marissa and police and family hold serious concerns for her welfare due to the extreme heat in the area.
Marissa is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 167cm tall, medium build, tanned complexion, brown eyes and curly blonde/red hair.
Marissa is known to frequent the Katoomba, Mt Wilson and Bilpin areas.
Peter Hannam Westpac surveys find manufacturers, consumers ending 2024 more upbeat than they started
As 2024 heads for the exit, Westpac has a couple of surveys out today that for the most part point to some optimism about either the conditions or what’s ahead.
The one with manufacturers (and compiled with the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry) ended with firms contracting or expanding neatly balanced. More promising, though, were the responses about “expected” conditions, with that sub-gauge reaching its highest level since September 2022.
A modest net 5% of manufacturing firms were looking to increase their staff levels “in anticipation of an expected recovery in demand over the period ahead”.
A separate survey with the Melbourne Institute, meanwhile, provided a bit of a mixed picture. Consumer sentiment eased back in December, snapping a run of increases for most of 2024.
Still, confidence remained well above December of 2022 or 2023. “Consumers continue to report solid improvements in ‘current conditions’ – reflecting assessments of finances compared to a year ago and whether now is a good ‘time to buy a major household item.” Family finances were viewed as markedly better than a year ago.
Still, recent bad news on the economy (such as the weak September quarter GDP figures) and the prospect of more when the government releases its mid-year economic and fiscal outlook tomorrow mean sentiment can be a bit fickle.
The conundrum for the government is that consumer funk will make a Reserve Bank interest rate cut more likely in February or April but gloom in the electorate is not really what they want, either.
A sense of optimism was shared by Guardian Australia’s Essential poll respondents, with more than a third (37%) expecting 2025 to be better than 2024 (up 13 points on views in December 2023 of 2024).
Rafqa Touma ACCC may investigate ‘concerning’ Black Friday sales advertising
The consumer watchdog has “uncovered a range of concerning practices” by recent Black Friday sales advertising, which may have been misleading to customers, they said in a recent statement.
The ACCC conducted a sweep of sales advertising by Australian businesses following consumer reports with concerns “about the veracity of stated discounts” during recent Black Friday sales.
It “uncovered a range of concerning practices,” ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe said:
“‘Site wide’ discounts that are not in fact site wide, potentially misleading ‘was/now’ pricing, as well as dubious claims about the value of discounts on offer.”
The ACCC are considering some instances for investigation and action, Lowe said.
“The ACCC has already asked a number of retailers to justify their advertising claims. In the meantime, we are warning retailers ahead of post-Christmas sales that they must comply with Australian Consumer Law in all the claims they make.”
You can view examples of misleading sales advertising, outlined by the ACCC, here.
Sarah Basford Canales Meta has responded to that earlier news about the privacy watchdog striking a deal with the tech giant to compensate Australian Facebook users caught up in the Cambridge Analytica saga.
A Meta spokesperson said:
We settled as it is in the best interest of our community and shareholders that we close this chapter on allegations that relate to past practices no longer relevant to how Meta’s products or systems work today.
We look forward to continuing to build services Australians love and trust with privacy at the forefront.
Caitlin Cassidy NSW students to receive Atars tomorrow
New South Wales’ deputy premier and minister for education, Prue Car, has congratulated the students in her state that came first in their courses.
Car is in attendance at a congratulatory ceremony at UNSW, which, amid the heatwave, is thankfully in an air-conditioned auditorium. Students have travelled from Lismore to Forbes and Baulkham Hills to attend the event.
Car said:
You’ve topped the state in your course amongst the biggest ever group of students to achieve this credential – something to be truly proud of.
I also want to recognise the communities that helped these students grow and thrive; thank you to the teachers, families, peers and wider community.
All 79,484 students who have graduated in NSW this year will receive their Atars from 6am tomorrow.
Sarah Basford Canales Australian Facebook unders could be eligible for $50m compensation program
Australian Facebook users affected by the Cambridge Analytica incident could be eligible to access a $50m compensation program after the privacy watchdog struck a deal with Meta outside of court.
The office of Australian information commissioner announced on Tuesday the payment program would be available from around April 2025 to those who had been affected by the This is Your Digital Life app based on a “generalised concern or embarrassment”.
The commissioner and Facebook’s parent company, Meta, had been in court-ordered mediation since February 2024 after it first alleged more than 300,000 Australian Facebook users were caught up in the scandal in 2020.
The Guardian revealed Cambridge Analytica harvested the personal data of millions of Facebook users around the world without their consent, before using the information predominantly for political advertising, including to assist the Brexit campaign and Donald Trump.
Only 53 people in Australia installed the quiz app at the heart of the scandal, named This is Your Digital Life, but court documents showed about 311,127 users had their data harvested, typically because they were friends of those who installed the app.
The information commissioner, Elizabeth Tydd, said:
“The payment scheme is a significant amount that demonstrates that all entities operating in Australia must be transparent and accountable in the way they handle personal information, in accordance with their obligations under Australian privacy law, and give users reasonable choice and control about how their personal information is used.”
The OAIC said the scheme will be open to individuals who:
held a Facebook Account between 2 November 2013 and 17 December 2015;
were present in Australia for more than 30 days during that period; and
either installed the This is Your Digital Life app or were Facebook friends with an individual who installed the app.
Dutton welcomes Victoria’s antisemitism laws but criticises premier
Peter Dutton has welcome the Victorian Labor government’s announcement that it will introduce new laws to tackle antisemitism including banning the displaying flags of Hamas, Hezbollah and white nationalist extremist groups in public.
Dutton said the laws, which will also limit the use of face masks and balaclavas at protests, should have been introduced 14 months ago after the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war, which led to broader hostilities across the Middle East.
Dutton said:
I just can’t understand why it’s taken the Allan government so long to react to the reasonable requests, particularly of Jewish Australians, who have been treated in the most deplorable way.
It’s unimaginable that we would allow people of any other background, history, religion, to be treated the way that the Jewish people have been treated.
Dutton accused the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, and Anthony Albanese of “sitting on their hands” since the outbreak of the war.
Of course it’s escalated, and it was always going to, and they were warned about this at the time, if you allow these lunatics to continue on their protests at university campuses and allow them to spew out their hatred and affiliate with a listed terrorist organisation and there to be no consequence.
Opposition leader Peter Dutton believes a message needs to be sent to young Australians about the danger of drug use and distribution, after the news that members of the Bali Nine drug smuggling group have returned to Australia.
Dutton said Anthony Albanese should be transparent about whether Australia would owe anything to Indonesia for the move, before speaking of his experiences as a police officer and the prevalence of drug use.
Dutton said that “from a personal perspective, for those individuals and their families, you can understand that they’ll be overjoyed to be back in Australia for Christmas”.
But as a police officer, I can tell you, I went to many scenes where people had overdosed or people had committed crimes because they needed to feed a drug habit
These people aren’t national heroes. They’re not political captives. They have been serving a sentence because, according to the laws of Indonesia, they broke those laws and they were imposed with a heavy penalty
I just think it should be a very, very significant message to every young Australian, whether you’re traveling overseas or if you’re just staying here in Australia, that drugs, the use of drugs, the distribution of drugs, there’s no good that comes from it.
Heroin is a particularly evil drug – as we know, it’s mind-altering. And 20 years ago, if you think back, the deaths from heroin and the impact that that had on our society are profound, and there are many families who didn’t get their 20-year-old back at all because of the drug overdose from having taken heroin.
Sarah Collard More than 100 died in custody between July 2023 and June 2024
More than 100 people have died in custody according to the latest national data collated by the Australian Institute of Criminology in their 2023-2024 report.
From 1 July 2023 to 30 June 2024, 104 people died in custody, six less than the previous reporting period. Of those, 24 were First Nations people who died in custody, 24% of deaths.
Seventy-six people died in prison custody and one young person died in youth detention. There were 27 deaths in police custody. Eighteen of those were First Nations people while five Indigenous people died in police custody,
The AIC deputy director, Dr Rick Brown, said in-depth, accurate and comprehensive data was important to reduce deaths in custody and improve justice outcomes.
“Accurate and policy-relevant research such as this is vital to inform early intervention and prevention strategies, particularly in an effort to reduce the overincarceration of First Nations people,” Brown said.
The report comes a month after Guardian Australia reported the deaths of 22 First Nations people since January, with justice advocates saying the deaths represented a devastating loss for families and communities.
“These deaths are not just numbers; they represent lives tragically lost, families grieving and a national failure to uphold the rights and safety of First Nations peoples in Australia,” Change the Record’s national director, Blake Cansdale, said at the time.
The AIC’s real-time reporting dashboard provides information on all Australian deaths occurring in police and prison custody as well as in youth detention.
Caitlin Cassidy The education minister, Jason Clare, says his offer to increase public school funding by 2.5% for Australia’s most populous states remains “on the table” despite signing agreements to continue current funding arrangements for 2025.
Interim funding agreements quietly uploaded to the Department of Education’s website confirmed Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland would retain their current Commonwealth funding share next year as disputes over who should foot the bill to fully fund public schools continued.
Guardian Australia understands if the holdout states want to accept the Commonwealth’s offer of lifting its funding to 22.5%, with the remaining 2.5% gap matched by the states, they will not be locked in to their current levels. Negotiations will continue into 2025, with the interim agreement to lapse at the end of next year.
Clare:
The government has reached agreements to increase funding to public schools in Western Australia, Tasmania, the Northern Territory and the ACT and our offer to the remaining states remains on the table.”
Save Our Schools convenor, Trevor Cobbold, lamented “continued squabbling” over respective shares of funding as hindering the learning progress of disadvantaged students.
After a year of negotiations, the Labor government has failed to secure increased funding for the vast majority of public schools and students. The government refused to increase the Commonwealth share of funding the Schooling Resource Standard (SRS) to 25% and NSW, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia refused to increase their share.
It is a disaster for public schools because these states account for 81% of all public schools and 83% of all public school students.”
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has said that the flags of Hamas, Hezbollah and white nationalist extremist groups will be banned in her state, as she speaks on new initiatives to tackle the recent rise in antisemitism.
It follows a spate of antisemitic incidents across Victoria and Australia in recent months, most notably with the arson attack against the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne.
Allan said authorities have “had enough of the protests that have caused division and disruption in our streets”, while insisting that the right to peaceful protest must be protected. She said:
Victorians have witnessed extreme, dangerous and radical conduct in numerous public demonstrations over the past year, and it would be wrong for me to say that everyone who’s attending these protests is antisemitic.
There’s no one saying that, but we know some are, and we know some are saying that we also know that hate and antisemitism are thriving in these environments.
That’s why we’re going to give police … the powers to weed out and stamp out the influence of extreme and radical participation in public protests. Firstly, we will ban the flags and symbols of listed terrorist organizations in public that includes Hamas, Hezbollah and several other groups, including white national extremists and radical racist violent extremist rightwing groups.
We will also ban the use of face masks and balaclavas at protests. We know they are being used to conceal identities, shield agitators from crowd-control measures like capsicum spray … face masks aren’t a free pass to break the law, and there should be no place to hide in this state if you’re a racist stirring up hate on the streets.
Allan said she was also going to ban the use of glue, rope, chains, locks and “other dangerous attachment devices that protesters use to cause maximum disruption and also endanger others”.
Rafqa Touma Licensed venues in regional NSW to open later for summer events
Pubs, clubs bars and now restaurants in regional NSW will be open later over summer “thanks to special event extended trading hours,” as was put in a media release from the Minister for Music and the Night-time economy.
Patrons of summer events like the the Ballina Cup, Thredbo Blues festival, Illawarra Folk festival, Wyong Love Lanes festival and Coffs Big Bash League match will be able to “keep festivities going at nearby licensed venues”.
The types of eligible venues able to participate in special event extended trading have expanded to include restaurants and breweries, the minister, John Graham, said:
“Under the second package of reforms made through the 24-Hour Economy Legislation Amendment (Vibrancy Reforms) Act 2024, the types of eligible venues able to participate in special event extended trading have been expanded.
The eligible licences were previously limited to hotels, clubs, bars and live music and performance venues but now includes venues such as licensed restaurants and breweries.
Here is the full list of special events where longer liquor trading hours will apply.
Donna Lu Australia’s first lunar rover chosen
A suitcase-sized robot called Roo-ver has been chosen as Australia’s first lunar rover. Weighing around 20kg, Roo-ver will be launched by Nasa on a future Artemis mission to the moon later this decade.
Funded by the Australian Space Agency, Roo-ver will be designed, constructed and operated by the Australian consortium ELO2. Controlled remotely from Earth, its task will be to collect lunar soil, known as regolith, a key element of rocket fuel.
Roo-ver’s name was chosen after a public poll that received more than 8,000 entries.
Joseph Kenrick, program manager of Lunar Outpost Oceania, one of the firms co-leading the consortium, said:
We are honoured to have the opportunity to build and operate Australia’s first lunar rover.
This achievement reflects the dedication of our team and the collaborative strength of the ELO2 consortium. It’s an incredible privilege to contribute to this momentous step for Australia and its space industry.
Peter Dutton says Bali Nine ‘aren’t national heroes’
Jacinta Allan announces sweeping anti-protest measures in Victoria ‘to combat antisemitism’
