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Nacc receives 44 online referrals on first day
More from Paul Karp sitting in on the National Anti-Corruption Commission’s opening ceremony.
Paul Brereton, who heads the new commission, has revealed it has already received 44 online referrals and five requests for phone callbacks.
#breaking NACC cmr Paul Brereton reveals the new anti corruption body has already received 44 referrals online and had 5 requests for phone callbacks. #auspol #auslaw
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) July 3, 2023
Key events
Peter Hannam
More on housing approvals and new housing loans.
Mish Tan, ABS head of finance statistics, said owner-occupiers lifted the value of new loans for houses by 4% last month to $16.4bn. Those for investors rose even more, up 6.2% to $8.5bn.
The RBA will probably consider these monthly numbers to be too volatile to read a lot about the state of the economy from them.
They might be more interested in data from CoreLogic’s national Home Value Index that showed prices were up 1.1% in June, slightly lower than 1.2% for May. Sydney, the most expensive major city, saw values rise 1.7% last month, bringing the increase since January’s nadir to 6.7%.
The RBA had been modelling falling property prices and the implied lower consumer spending that would result in homeowners feeling a little less wealthy.
Markets were rating the chance of another quarter-point rate rise tomorrow to 4.35% as a 40:60 likelihood, Bloomberg has reported. Economists were split 14/13, with a pause also narrowly in the ascendancy.
Given last month’s RBA rate rise was “finely balanced”, tomorrow’s decision may be even finer.
Housing approvals and new housing loans both increased last month
Peter Hannam
The latest numbers on new housing approvals and housing loans point to a recovery of sorts last month but may not be enough to sway the Reserve Bank‘s rates decision tomorrow.
According to the ABS, the total number of dwellings approved in May jumped by just over a fifth, more than reversing the 6.8% drop in April.
Dwelling numbers can be volatile, particularly for new units, with approvals of “dwellings excluding houses” leaping almost 60% last month.
A big jump in unit approvals in May in NSW helped bump up the total dwelling approvals count by about a fifth. (Tally is still about 10% lower than a year ago.) (Source: @ABSStats ) pic.twitter.com/cavgTaYGfD
— @phannam@mastodon.green (@p_hannam) July 3, 2023
“This increase reflected a large number of apartment developments approved in New South Wales in May,” Daniel Rossi, ABS head of construction statistics, said.
“Approvals for private sector houses remain more subdued, rising 0.9%, following a 3% fall in April.”
NSW posted a 52.9% increase in approvals, with Victoria up 15% and Queensland up a mere 0.9%. Tassie also saw a 41.1% pickup, while WA and SA posted drops.
Data on loans for May painted a similar picture. New loan commitments for housing rose 4.8% for the month and 8.1% for businesses buying property. Personal fixed-term loans were also up 4.3%.
Josh Taylor
Twitter faces lawsuit over alleged non-payment for services
Twitter is facing another lawsuit after the company was accused of failing to pay for services for offices in London, Dublin, Sydney and Singapore.
Sydney-based infrastructure company Facilitate is seeking a collective payment of more than $1m across the three businesses in alleged owed payments dating back to October , when Elon Musk bought Twitter.
Facilitate provided sensor instillation in London and Dublin and an office fit-out in Singapore, while in Australia, it decommissioned Twitter’s Sydney office and temporarily stored its contents, according to case documents obtained by the Guardian.
The firm says that after Musk took over Twitter, the social media company did not dispute the invoices but has simply not paid them. Facilitate is seeking damages and costs.
Twitter has not yet filed a defence.
Read the full story here:
Two men charged over 84kg ketamine importation
Two men have been charged over importing 84kg of ketamine into Australia, hidden in vans on a cargo ship, AAP reports.
The Australian federal police said an international drug syndicate was behind the illicit import worth $3.36m.
Two men in their late 20s were arrested on Saturday, after border authorities found 79 sealed bags of the white powder inside cavities in two vans that arrived in Melbourne on 15 May.
Police said they substituted the drug with another substance and released the vans. They were collected and driven to a Sydney car dealership.
One vehicle was then allegedly stolen and the fake drugs moved to another vehicle which was driven to Yennora before officers intercepted it and arrested the two men.
The alleged offenders were charged with attempting to possess commercial quantity of drugs and refused bail at Parramatta local court on Sunday.
“Ketamine is a dangerous sedative known to be used illicitly as a ‘date rape’ drug,” acting commissioner Kate Ferry said in a statement:
Its dissociative effects block sensory brain signals and can cause memory loss, feelings of being detached from one’s body and the inability to perceive danger.
AFP assistant commissioner Erin Dale said:
This was, simply put, an outrageous attempt to import a highly dangerous substance that could have caused untold harm if let loose on the community.
Tasmanian police to conduct water search for missing Belgian hiker
Tasmanian police are planning to conduct a swift water search in the Philosopher Falls area tomorrow as part of the search for missing Belgian woman, Celine Cremer.
In a statement just now, Insp Anthea Maingay said that while the search has involved ground crews, police drones and helicopters, specialist search and rescue rappelling, and all-terrain vehicles, no signs of the hiker have been found since last Tuesday:
Unfortunately no further signs of Celine have been located since her car was found in the Philosopher Falls car park on Tuesday 27 June.
Weather conditions have been challenging, with personnel facing freezing temperatures, snow, rain and strong winds over the past week.
Tomorrow we will utilise more resources to conduct swift water searching in the area.
We’re doing this in a bid to find some answers for Celine’s family, before we begin to scale back the search.
Last week we received expert medical advice indicating Celine could not have survived the conditions she has been exposed to.
Her car has been in the Philosopher Falls car park since at least Tuesday 20 June and our information indicates it could have been there even earlier.
Our thoughts continue to be with Celine’s family and loved ones at this difficult time.
The Philosopher Falls walking track at Waratah remains closed to the public.
Here is a look at more of Dylan Golden’s drone footage capturing a whale calf, which looks like a rare albino humpback, off the coast of Guerilla bay, Eurobodalla, in NSW.
Queensland announces 71 affordable housing projects
Some 71 proposals for affordable homes will be considered by the Palaszczuk government, to ease Queensland’s social housing shortage, AAP reports.
Queensland housing minister, Meaghan Scanlon, said most of the homes had been proposed for regions outside Brisbane.
Scanlon said:
I’m really pleased to announce 71 projects will now go to the next stage where they’ll submit their detailed designs.
Developers will submit detailed proposals for consideration with the construction of successful projects expected to start in 2024.
We’ll see works happening as soon as next year on some of these projects.
Christopher Knaus
‘Serious invasions of privacy’: Daryl Maguire’s lawyers criticise media tactics after Icac findings
Lawyers for former Wagga Wagga MP Daryl Maguire have issued an unusually worded statement praising his efforts for his old electorate and attacking the media for, among other things, “unsafe u-turns”, spooking “valuable horses” and infringing on government-owned rail corridors in their pursuit of him.
It is the first statement from Maguire since the Independent Commission Against Corruption made damning findings of serious corrupt conduct against him and his former partner Gladys Berejiklian.
The statement begins by praising Maguire’s efforts for Wagga Wagga, including his pursuit of two grants at the centre of Icac’s corruption probe, which he said had been supported by the government.
Let it not be forgotten that during his time representing the people of Wagga and region he worked tirelessly for his constituents. Indeed, he was described in evidence as a dog with a bone, a vociferous advocate for the electorate, or a pain in the arse when it came to getting improvements for the Wagga Electorate [sic].
The final section of the letter begins “Media . !!!!” before criticising journalists for “serious invasions of privacy”.
Media . !!! During the past days there have been serious invasions of privacy, not only to Daryl Maguire and his immediate family but alarmingly the stalking of young women going about their daily routine, harassment of employees and intimidation of clients of his business operations. There have been three traffic near collisions caused by media doing unsafe u turns in front of oncoming cars, parking unsafely, speeding, and following young women to their work at 5 am on at least two occasions.
The statement includes the registration of two cars he alleges to be involved in such behaviour. He also alleges drones have spooked horses “raising concerns from agistees”.
Further media continue to trespass on government owned rail corridors which again is unsafe and illegal.
Rare albino baby humpback spotted off NSW coast
Photographer Dylan Golden captured drone footage of a whale calf, which looks like a rare albino humpback.
It will be the second albino humpback ever seen along Australia’s east coast, if it is proven to be one, ABC reports. The famous Migaloo is the first.
Here are pictures of the whale calf:
Eight PwC partners exit or are in process of removal after internal investigation
Eight PwC partners have exited or are in the process of being removed from the partnership, after the company’s internal investigation identifies “failure of leadership” and “professional standards breached with respect to misuse of confidential information”.
Its conclusions on the handling of confidential Treasury information identified specific examples of the above, and a failure of leadership and governance to adequately address them either at the time or while the matters were under investigation by the TPB or ATO.
A PwC statement reads:
This enabled poor behaviours to persist with no accountability.
These behaviours are not, and never have been, acceptable under PwC’s standards.
The PwC statement outlines the status of each exiting partner.
Acting PwC CEO Kristin Stubbins said:
Accountability is critical to improving our culture and based on our investigation to date, it is clear that the conduct of a number of partners fell short of what was expected of them. They are now being held accountable for their misconduct.
While we cannot change the past, we can control our actions today and in the future. Moving forward, the PwC Australia management team will continue to take all appropriate steps to improve the firm’s culture and standards.
Paul Karp
Nacc head says significance of alleged corrupt conduct will determine public hearings
In his opening address, commissioner Paul Brereton also discussed the circumstances under which the Nacc will hold public hearings.
He said:
In accordance with the legislation, when the circumstances and the public interest justify an exception to the general rule that they be held in private.
On the one hand, it is not in the public interest to have the reputations of people damaged by allegations which might turn out to be baseless. On the other, there is public interest in being informed of evidence of corrupt conduct by or affecting public officials, government departments and politicians; and in public scrutiny of the commission’s activities.
The main considerations will be: the significance of the alleged corrupt conduct, the desirability of exposing evidence of it, and the appropriateness of public scrutiny of our activities. Weighed against any unfair prejudice to a person’s reputation, safety or wellbeing that might be caused if the hearing were held in public.
‘We will listen to you’: Nacc head
Paul Karp
The National Anti-Corruption Commission has held its first sitting, a ceremonial sitting in Canberra presided over by commissioner Paul Brereton, who promised the Australian people that “we will listen to you”.
Brereton said the start of the Nacc is “potentially an inflection moment when we can make an enduring difference in the ethics and integrity of the governance of the commonwealth”.
Brereton said:
The people of the commonwealth are no longer prepared to tolerate practices, which might once have been the subject of if, not acceptance at least acquiescence. You have clearly expressed the desire for a anti-corruption agency … the government with a mandate to act on that desire with an agenda to strengthen integrity across the commonwealth, public sector has legislated to establish this independent commission.
Brereton made clear that the commission will not investigate every matter referred to it, explaining that mistakes and negligent administration may not amount to “serious or systemic” corruption, which is what they are tasked with investigating.
Only a small number of matters will go to full investigation, and these are more likely to be of “current practical relevance” than historic matters. Brereton said he was aware of matters mentioned in the media for potential investigation.
The Nacc will be guided by whether an investigation will “add value, in the public interest”, he said, indicating that whether a matter has already been investigated by another agency will be considered.
Ten people taken to hospital in stable conditions after Gold Coast high-rise fire
Ten patients have been transported to various Gold Coast hospitals, all in stable conditions, after Queensland ambulance services were called to the scene of a high-rise fire in Surfers Paradise at 7.13 this morning.
All up, 17 people have been treated. The youngest patient was five months old, and the eldest was in their late 80s.
Senior operations supervisor Cary Strong, who attended the scene, said:
We’ve had a combination of smoke inhalation and also pre-existing medical conditions being exacerbated by those that smoke.
A young male “unfortunately fell in the fire,” she confirmed. He suffered “a minor trauma” but has been treated and now released back to the care of his parents.
We have assessed the 17, which is very low numbers, which is exceptional. But I’d like to put that down to the fact and praise the public for following all the directions that were given by the emergency services, but more importantly, looking after each other and identifying those that were struggling and needed care and bringing them to our attention. That was all hands on deck.
A Queensland Fire and Rescue spokesperson has told Guardian Australia that their team is going through each floor and the stairwells with a multi-ray, “checking atmospheric monitoring to make sure it is safe with smoke in the building”.
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