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Group removes ribbons from St Mary’s Cathedral fence overnight
Christopher Knaus
Ribbons tied to the fence at St Mary’s Cathedral ahead of George Pell’s funeral were removed overnight.
The fence has been stripped bare of thousands of ribbons, tied to the fence in a silent and peaceful protest designed to give voice to survivors.
Protest organisers told the Guardian that a group of unknown men and women arrived on Wednesday night, removing the ribbons and verbally attacking clergy abuse survivors and their supporters. Footage circulating on social media shows a group of men in a verbal confrontation police outside St Mary’s.
Simon Hunt, a satirist who has been helping organise the ribbon-tying, said the incident was traumatic for survivors.
The antagonisers appear to have conflated the two protests – ribbon-tying by abuse survivors and the LGBTQ+ protest – despite them not being linked, Hunt said.
But he said protesters should be proud that they were able to convince the archdiocese of Sydney and St Mary’s staff to allow some of the ribbons to remain on Wednesday, regardless of what happened on Wednesday night.
However painful this removal [of ribbons] last night will be for survivors and their supporters who made up the bulk of the people who were there yesterday, they should really understand that this group is a very diminishing minority of people who essentially are putting the church above the safety of children. This really does not make a difference to that.
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Caitlin Cassidy
Brian Schmidt to step down as ANU vice-chancellor
Vice-Chancellor of the Australian National University Brian Schmidt will step down at the end of 2023 after eight years in the position.
Speaking this morning at the State of the University Address, Schmidt said his love for ANU was “undimmed” but he was ready to return to a research and training position and more “balanced life”.
This year will be my last as Vice-Chancellor, and I have notified the Chancellor and the Council of my intention to step down at the end of December. After 8 years, I will be ready to get back to my research and teaching, and a somewhat more balanced life.
My love for ANU is undimmed. My zest to see it improved hasn’t changed. And I always said that when I stepped down as Vice-Chancellor I wanted to hand on a university I would be happy to continue to work in.
Schmidt also used his speech to call for greater federal government in foundational research amid a highly competitive grants environment.
We have been working in a financially constrained environment. The Australian government has slowly shrunk its support of foundational research. It has never been harder for a researcher to win a competitive grant …
Australia’s future is in peril unless it ramps up its investment in research. I have and will continue to advocate on this front. I hope the government will listen, and help engage business and philanthropy in the cause. Research is like the nation’s superannuation – if you save money now by not investing, you have a much poorer future.
Rafqa Touma
LGBT+ protests kick off as procession into Pell’s funeral begins
As church bells sound at St Mary’s cathedral across the road, protest organiser Eddie Stephenson gives a “eulogy” to Pell in Hyde Park.
Protester Eddie Stephenson gives a “eulogy” to #Pell in Hyde Park as church bells sound at the cardinal’s funeral across the road.
“We are gathered here to give him the send of we know he deserves … A send off that says Pell, rot in hell.”
Protesters shout together: “shame!” pic.twitter.com/kLGVbtj2WX
— Rafqa Touma (@At_Raf_) February 1, 2023
We are gathered here to give him the send of we know he deserves … A send off that says Pell, rot in hell.
We reject Pell and the rotten politics he stood for.
Protesters respond together, shouting “shame”, “monster” and “scum.”
Tensions rising outside church ahead of George Pell’s funeral
Our reporter on the ground Rafqa Touma says tensions are high between attendees of George Pell’s funeral and protesters outside St Mary’s Cathedral.
Rafqa has heard funeral attendees want the protest signs removed and one attendee has told protesters to:
Stop attacking our Church.
Police close off College St from Pell protesters
There is a heavy police presence outside St Mary’s Cathedral as mourners arrive for Cardinal George Pell’s funeral service.
Timeline set for Lachlan Murdoch v Crikey defamation trial
Amanda Meade
The federal court has laid out the timetable for the defamation trial between Lachlan Murdoch and Crikey – it will begin on 9 October and run for three weeks.
Justice Michael Wigney heard from the two parties this morning and made orders about the dates by which new documents had to be produced, after the addition of two more respondents to the suit: Private Media chairman Eric Beecher and its chief executive Will Hayward.
Wigney asked again if mediation was possible and was told no, the two parties understand each other’s position, by Private Media barrister Michael Hodge KC.
On Monday Wigney ruled in Murdoch’s favour to add new respondents and evidence, although he warned it would significantly delay the trial and lengthen it from nine days to three weeks.
Murdoch, the CEO of the Fox Corporation, launched defamation proceedings against the independent news site last year over an article published in June that named the Murdoch family as an “unindicted co-conspirator” in the US Capitol attack. After a concerns notice from Murdoch, Crikey took the article down but it was reinstated on 15 August.
Design honouring First Nations people to replace Queen on $5 note
The Reserve Bank has announced this morning that a new design that honours the culture and history of Australia’s First Nations people will replace Queen Elizabeth II on the $5 note – not her successor King Charles III.
In a statement, the central bank said:
The Reserve Bank has decided to update the $5 banknote to feature a new design that honours the culture and history of the First Australians. This new design will replace the portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The other side of the $5 banknote will continue to feature the Australian Parliament.
This decision by the Reserve Bank Board follows consultation with the Australian Government, which supports this change.
The Bank will consult with First Australians in designing the $5 banknote. The new banknote will take a number of years to be designed and printed. In the meantime, the current $5 banknote will continue to be issued. It will be able to be used even after the new banknote is issued.
More than 1,000 mourners gather outside cathedral for George Pell
There is support for the former Cardinal of Sydney George Pell on display outside St Mary’s Cathedral with more than 1,000 mourners outside the church, the ABC estimates.
One attendee told the national broadcaster:
We are acknowledging George Pell as a hero of the Catholic Church.
Another said:
I think it is a great privilege for us to give our appreciation for the extraordinary work the Cardinal did. I think people have the right to protest but I hope they will be respectful.
Attempts to remove signs from protesters outside Pell funeral
Group removes ribbons from St Mary’s Cathedral fence overnight
Christopher Knaus
Ribbons tied to the fence at St Mary’s Cathedral ahead of George Pell’s funeral were removed overnight.
The fence has been stripped bare of thousands of ribbons, tied to the fence in a silent and peaceful protest designed to give voice to survivors.
Protest organisers told the Guardian that a group of unknown men and women arrived on Wednesday night, removing the ribbons and verbally attacking clergy abuse survivors and their supporters. Footage circulating on social media shows a group of men in a verbal confrontation police outside St Mary’s.
Simon Hunt, a satirist who has been helping organise the ribbon-tying, said the incident was traumatic for survivors.
The antagonisers appear to have conflated the two protests – ribbon-tying by abuse survivors and the LGBTQ+ protest – despite them not being linked, Hunt said.
But he said protesters should be proud that they were able to convince the archdiocese of Sydney and St Mary’s staff to allow some of the ribbons to remain on Wednesday, regardless of what happened on Wednesday night.
However painful this removal [of ribbons] last night will be for survivors and their supporters who made up the bulk of the people who were there yesterday, they should really understand that this group is a very diminishing minority of people who essentially are putting the church above the safety of children. This really does not make a difference to that.
Our multimedia journalist Bertin Huynh is also in Sydney’s CBD where a large crowd has gathered at the entrance to St Mary’s Cathedral to see Cardinal George Pell’s body lie in the state before his funeral commences at 11am this morning,
Amanda Meade
Industrial action looms as ABC staff reject wage offer
ABC staff could take industrial action after rejecting a wage offer from management.
The Community and Public Sector Union and the Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance have lodged an application to run a protected action ballot.
Last year staff voted overwhelmingly to reject the offer of a 9% pay rise over three years and a one-off payment of $750.
The Fair Work Commission will now decide if unionised ABC staff can vote on taking work restrictions, bans and strike action as a final resort.
CPSU ABC secretary Sinddy Ealy said the offer from the ABC was below inflation and had been rejected.
She said:
Staff at the ABC are sick and tired of management crying poor and expecting staff to make financial sacrifices to benefit the growth of the ABC, just because it’s the ABC.
If the ABC cannot pay staff wages that keep up with the cost of living, then that is a problem they should be raising with the federal government. The solution to that issue is not to turn around and ask staff to continuously accept sub-inflation pay rises that leaves them and their families struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
Protest bubbles ahead of Pell funeral
Our reporter Rafqa Touma is on the ground at the protests taking place outside St Mary’s Cathedral where the funeral for Cardinal George Pell will be held at 11am this morning.
Signs are already going up in Sydney’s Hyde Park opposite the church. If you see or hear anything you don’t want us to miss from the protests, tweet her @At_Raf_
Josh Butler
Voice working group’s ‘most important’ meeting is with Dutton, member says
The referendum working group member Marcus Stewart said today’s meeting with Peter Dutton is potentially “the most important” meeting the group has held, imploring the opposition leader to constructively contribute to the voice to parliament process.
Stewart, co-chair of Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly and husband of Labor senator Jana Stewart, told Guardian Australia that the group would seek a commitment from Dutton to help collaborate on and advance the voice proposal.
Stewart said:
We want to work with Peter Dutton and the opposition. We’ll be seeking a commitment that he will work with us, and he will continue to meet with us, as we move toward a moment in history that’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Stewart noted that if the voice referendum was successful, a future Coalition government – whether led by Dutton or others – would be obliged to work with the constitutionally-enshrined voice. He said that should be an incentive for the Liberal Party to engage with the process.
He said:
My advice to Peter, take a step back and think about that you may lead a government one day that, upon a successful referendum on the voice, that you need to work with.
There will be a conservative government at a point in time that will work with the voice… think about what that looks like and how it can be most effective to any government of the day, because the voice’s relationship won’t be with political parties, it will be with the government and the parliament.
Politics aside, we’d think about how we get maximum collaboration.
Speaking later to the ABC, Stewart said the group would discuss with Dutton how best to explain the voice to the Australian people.
As reported this morning, Dutton and shadow Indigenous Australians minister Julian Leeser will join the meeting for around an hour. Stewart said Prime Minister Anthony Albanese would also join the meeting today. Following the meeting, which runs for most of the day, it’s expected the group will issue a communique that may decide on some more concrete details about the voice.
The Chaser pulls stunt at George Pell’s funeral
Comedians from the Chaser have attempted to enter George Pell’s memorial in Sydney holding a fake coffin. The Herald Sun is reporting the pair were turned away from St Mary’s Cathedral where the funeral will take place at 11am this morning.
Bandt defends Thorpe’s stance on voice to parliament
Adam Bandt is also questioned by the ABC on potential division within the Greens. He defends Lidia Thorpe’s calls for assurances the voice to parliament will not compromise Indigenous sovereignty, denying they are muddying the water of the voice debate.
Lisa Millar:
Are you comfortable with where you’ve landed about how you’re going to handle the fact that Lidia Thorpe has a different opinion to the rest of the party and you could end up with a rare split in the Greens going into this crucial debate?
Bandt:
Look, we’ve put to the government a number of areas of concern, including on that issue that we and of course Lidia Thorpe has also raised around this question of sovereignty.
Millar:
With respect, they’ve been pretty clear verbally saying it’s not an impact on sovereignty, and Anne Twomey the constitutional lawyer just yesterday said this is really muddying the waters, bringing in this idea of sovereignty versus the voice. Are you not sort of starting to get yourself muddled up a bit with that?
Bandt:
Look, with respect, no. This is something that has been raised as an issue by a number of First Nations groups for some time and this goes back a number of years, this question about what does it mean to have First Nations sovereignty properly recognised in this country.
Because that is, of course, the forerunner to having a treaty in this country. And that is something that has been raised for some time and has been in the public arena or some time well before the election of this government. And I think it’s a legitimate question that can be answered now.
If the government is able to answer it – and Lidia Thorpe herself made this point publicly – that this is about the government now being in a position and are potentially the parliament being in a position to provide those kind of assurances that would satisfy people. Those are the good-faith discussions and the serious discussions that we’re having with the government … and I think we’re doing the right thing working them through seriously with the government.
If you want an explainer on what constitutional experts say on sovereignty, Paul Karp has you covered:
Greens gather for party retreat to discuss voice to parliament
The federal Greens have gathered together for a party retreat at Mount Macedon in Victoria to discuss the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Their leader, Adam Bandt, says the Greens regularly get together before parliament to talk about the party strategy to tackle the big upcoming issues like climate and cost of living.
Our position on the voice is we want to see progress on all of the elements of the Statement from the Heart which includes truth, treaty and voice.
We’ve got, we think, the best opportunity for more than a decade but potentially for a generation, of getting progress on First Nations justice. How can we ensure we get good progress on all of those elements?
Now, there’s a number of issues of concern to us. For example, what does this mean about how we progress treaty? This is a good opportunity to be progressing treaty, which I think would also have the support of the Australian population. What does it mean about sovereignty? Which is a critical issue for many First Nations peoples. Those are the kind of issues that we’re talking about and we are discussing.
And we’re doing that in a very much in a respectful way, understanding that people will bring different experiences to this discussion. But not only as a party, but as a country, we’ve got to have that kind of discussion to move forward and get First Nations justice.
Total fire ban in place for parts of southern NSW
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