Abortion gag motion passes Queensland parliament
Andrew Messenger
The abortion gag motion has passed Queensland parliament.
All 50 LNP MPs present voted to ban any debate on abortion for four years.
Labor and the Katter’s Australian party voted against the motion.
The motion passed with just 30 minutes of debate.
Key events
Josh Butler Albanese makes brief remarks to packed crowd at Addas Israel synagogue
As we just reported, Anthony Albanese has appeared at the Addas Israel synagogue in Melbourne, giving quick doorstop remarks in front of a packed crowd before being whisked into a car without taking questions.
Our reporter was at the scene and we’ll bring you more shortly, but in brief remarks televised, Albanese said the government wouldn’t tolerate antisemitism:
We’ll continue to unite as a country. I’m going to now meet with the community leaders to discuss practical steps forward, but I thank them for the welcome here today.
Appearing with local Labor MP Josh Burns, Albanese spoke briefly in front of the crowd before getting into the car to leave the scene, in what appeared to be a somewhat tense scene. Burns had asked the crowd to step back so the PM could speak; Albanese’s security team yelled for the crowd to step away from his car so it could drive away.
Televised video of the scene captured members of the crowd yelling that Albanese hadn’t taken any questions.
Henry Belot Isolated heckling as PM visits Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne
While the prime minister has been welcomed at the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, there was some isolated heckling as he stepped towards a microphone after touring inside.
“Time to resign,” yelled one bystander. “M.I.A,” yelled another. “Off to Kooyong to play tennis mate,” said another.
The heckles were isolated and were silenced by community leaders who welcomed Anthony Albanese.
Some at the synagogue told Guardian Australia they were upset the prime minister hadn’t visited the synagogue until today. Others were frustrated the attack was not declared a likely terrorist incident until yesterday.
Contraceptive device did not harm women, judge finds
A contraceptive device did not directly cause chronic pelvic pain and abnormal uterine bleeding in women, a judge has found.
As AAP reports, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Andrew Keogh handed down his decision today, marking the end of a years-long class action against Bayer Australia and five other companies.
The class action, led by Victorian Patrice Turner, claimed women suffered harm as a direct result of the Essure device being implanted into their bodies.
Turner underwent a hysterectomy at 32, five years after the contraceptive device was inserted into both of her fallopian tubes. She claimed she suffered severe pelvic pain and heavy uterine bleeding, which resolved after she underwent the major abdominal surgery.
Turner and the other class action members alleged Bayer Australia and the other companies involved in Essure’s design, manufacturing and marketing breached a duty of care.
Justice Keogh found Turner and the class action members could not make their claims out. He said he was not satisfied they established the Essure device caused inflammation, and subsequent pain and abnormal bleeding in women.
The case went to trial in the Victorian Supreme Court in 2023. The contraceptive device was discontinued by Bayer for commercial reasons in 2017.
Andrew Messenger The abortion gag motion has passed Queensland parliament.
All 50 LNP MPs present voted to ban any debate on abortion for four years.
Labor and the Katter’s Australian party voted against the motion.
The motion passed with just 30 minutes of debate.
A Qantas flight bound for Adelaide was forced to return to Brisbane shortly after take-off due to an issue with the landing gear brakes.
Pilots were notified of a park brake indication issue on flight QF1929, but the brakes did not fail. Video footage from on board shows people in the brace position, with flight crew shouting “stay down, heads down”.
A Qantas spokesperson said in a statement:
A flight from Brisbane to Adelaide returned to Brisbane shortly after take-off due to an issue with landing gear brakes. The aircraft landed normally and is being checked by engineers.
We understand that this would have been a distressing experience for customers and we thank them for following the instructions of the crew.
We are working hard to get customers on their way as quickly as possible. We will follow up with all customers to provide our support.
The aircraft landed safely, with priority landing into Brisbane airport and emergency services on standby. The aircraft will be checked by engineers before it returns to service.
Andrew Messenger ‘Extraordinary scenes’ at Queensland parliament after ambush abortion gag moved
Debate has continued on the ambush abortion motion in Queensland parliament.
There was absolutely no notice of the move before it was sprung on the house by the premier after question time. David Crisafulli said his motion “ends” a “disgraceful” “US-style scare campaign” during the election campaign.
Abortion dogged the LNP during the election campaign with the party never detailing how it would meet that promise. Crisafulli never ruled out a conscience vote on the issue; many MPs including him have declared their opposition to some forms of abortion. He said:
I said from day one it was not part of our plan. I said there will be no changes. And despite that – Labor knew this – and despite that, the social media tsunami, the grubby phone calls continued unabated. They spent millions of dollars on a disgraceful scare campaign.
The opposition leader, Steven Miles, said the move was “extraordinary”.
Mr Speaker, these are extraordinary scenes. I thought I’d never seen anything as extraordinary as what they did at the last sitting. But this, with no notice, no discussion, no advice to the media that it was even coming, such a grubby, grubby treatment [of a serious issue].
Benita Kolovos A Queensland man has been charged by counter-terrorism investigators after he allegedly threatened criminal damage at a community centre in Caulfield.
Queensland police have issued a statement confirming a 52-year-old Holland Park man was arrested on Saturday night after a “threat of criminal damage to a community centre in Caulfield” on Sunday.
He was subsequently charged with using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence, police said, and is due to front Nanango magistrates court on 16 January.
The threat against the community centre in Caulfield came just two days after the separate and unrelated firebombing at the nearby Adass Israel synagogue in Ripponlea, which Victoria police yesterday declared a terrorist attack.
Victoria police said there was nothing to indicate the incident is linked to the synagogue fire in Ripponlea and the investigation into that matter remains ongoing.
Henry Belot Prime minister arrives at Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has arrived at the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs.
A large cohort of Melbourne’s Jewish community, including Labor MP Josh Burns, welcomed Albanese outside the synagogue, which still has police tape surrounding it.
Community leaders told people at the synagogue not to heckle the prime minister before he arrived.
Andrew Messenger The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, has moved that the state parliament ban the introduction of any bill amending the state’s abortion laws.
The issue persistently dogged the LNP leader during the election campaign.
Crisafulli moved that the house:
Orders that A) no bill or amendment seeking to amend the termination of pregnancy act 2018 is allowed to be introduced. B) No motion or amendment seeking to have this house express its views on the termination of pregnancy act 2018 is allowed to be moved, and 2 the speaker is to rule out of order any bill, motion or amendment that offends the order in 1.
Crossbench MP Robbie Katter has repeatedly vowed to reintroduce the party’s “babies born alive” bill, which regulated abortion providers.
If successful the motion would effectively gag parliament on the issue.
Kean issues statement after Fletcher announces he won’t re-contest election
Former NSW Liberal MP Matt Kean says that Paul Fletcher’s service to the nation has been “extraordinary”, as he announces his departure from politics.
Earlier this morning, Fletcher said he would not run for re-election at the next federal election. In a post to X, Kean responded to the news and said:
Paul Fletcher is one of the best people you could ever meet in public life. Intellectually brilliant, full of integrity and devastatingly effective. His service to the community, the Liberal party and our Nation has been extraordinary.
Kean, who was a powerful figure in the NSW Liberals’ moderate faction, resigned from politics in June this year and is now chair of the Climate Change Authority.
As Josh Butler reported earlier, Fletcher was in line to be the Coalition’s leading moderate after the retirement of Simon Birmingham.
Sarah Collard Burney hits out at Dutton for stance on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags
The Former Indigenous affairs minister Linda Burney has hit out at Peter Dutton on his stance on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has said earlier that he would take down the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags before press conferences or speeches, if elected prime minister.
Burney has said on Instagram that Dutton is known as “the man who walked out on the apology to the Stolen Generations.”
The former minister, who held the portfolio from 2022 to earlier this year, wrote:
This is the man who gave no support to the Referendum. He refuses to offer bipartisan support on all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and justice issues. What else can you expect from a man like him?
The prime minister began holding press conferences in front of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags in 2022, after he was elected.
Ben Doherty Magistrate says Alan Yazbek ‘no Nazi lover’ as restaurateur escapes conviction for displaying swastika
Sydney restaurateur Alan Yazbek has escaped conviction after displaying a Nazi swastika at a pro-Palestinian rally.
Magistrate Miranda Moody did not record a conviction against the 56-year-old on Tuesday instead handing him a 12-month conditional release order in the Downing Centre local court. The magistrate said:
This man is no neo-Nazi or rightwing extremist. He is no Nazi lover.
Yazbek was “deeply remorseful” for carrying the handmade sign, Moody said.
In sentencing, the magistrate took into consideration reference letters from a number of people including multiple Jewish friends of Yazbek. She said the high-profile restaurateur had suffered significant extra-curial punishment.
“He has paid a very high price for his foolishness,” Moody said today, citing abusive letters and his decision to step down as co-director of Nomad Group after his arrest.
More on this story here:
New Zealand to shut down greyhound racing industry
New Zealand will shut down greyhound racing after concluding “the time has come to make a call in the best interest of the animals”.
AAP reports that the NZ racing minister, Winston Peters, announced the decision today after a number of reviews into the industry, with clubs and tracks to be closed by the end of 2026. He said:
This is not a decision that is taken lightly but is ultimately driven by protecting the welfare of racing dogs.
A 2021 report found that 923 dogs were euthanised in the previous four years, with no reason given for about half.
New Zealand is one of a handful of countries which allows greyhound racing – including Australia, the US, UK, Mexico and Vietnam.
In a statement today, Peters said racing clubs had made “significant progress” towards welfare improvement, “the percentage of dogs being injured remains persistently high and the time has come to make a call in the best interest of the animals”.
Part of the transition task will be finding homes for an estimated 2900 racing greyhounds.
Peter Hannam As the nine members of the Reserve Bank board go through their final deliberations ahead of the 2.30pm AEDT rates decision, NAB has released their latest monthly survey of business sentiment and conditions.
Perhaps a little surprising to those who focussed on the admittedly disappointing September quarter GDP numbers, business confidence is actually quite upbeat. In fact, it’s now back to around the long-run average levels and it is now at its highest since early 2023.
Only construction and retail posted retreats, with sentiment otherwise on the rebound (see chart).
Business conditions, meanwhile, tracked sideways at “an around-average level”, NAB said. Outside mining, conditions were strongest in the services sector – which makes up most of the economy.
Cheery news, too, on the prices front, with labour and purchase costs both easing further in the month. NAB said:
Overall, the survey continues to paint a picture of resilient activity levels in the economy and a trend easing in price and cost pressures.
Capacity utilisation remains on the high side but that too declined “a relatively sharp 0.7 percentage points”, so that’s also heading in the right direction.
The RBA, though, will probably view these numbers as confirming what they were probably planning to do anyway: leave interest rates on hold for a ninth meeting in a row.
Remember to check back here in just over two hours for the RBA rates decision.
Sarah Collard The Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, has responded to opposition leader Peter Dutton’s earlier comments that he would take down the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags before press conferences or speeches, if elected prime minister.
On Instagram, McCarthy said Dutton is “once again proving himself unfit to be prime minister” and that he is dividing Australians “once again”.
She said that the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flags were proclaimed flags under the Flags Act 1953 on 14 July 1995.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture is the oldest continuing culture in the world, and I believe all Australians should take great pride in that.
Benita Kolovos Jacinta Allan announces business council to provide her with direct advice
The Victorian premier has also announced a “business council” who she says will provide her with direct advice. The council includes:
Andrew Dillon, AFL chief executive
Andrew Irvine, National Australia Bank chief executive
Anthony Pratt, chairman of Visy
Mark Mentha, co-founder and partner at KordaMentha
Mike Schneider, Bunnings CEO
Nick Reece, Lord Mayor of Melbourne
Penny Fowler, chair of the Herald and Weekly Times and the Good Friday Appeal
Prof Sharon Pickering, vice-chancellor at Monash University
The council will be chaired by Ahmed Fahour, former Australian Post CEO who is now the head of Tim Gurner’s property group.
Abortion gag motion passes Queensland parliament
Qantas flight makes emergency landing in Brisbane
Queensland man charged after allegedly threatening criminal damage at Caulfield community centre
Queensland premier introduces motion to ban any amendment to abortions laws
Business confidence jumps to highest in almost two years
Indigenous Australians minister says Dutton ‘unfit’ to be PM after flag comments
