Australia news live: rescued whales strand themselves on Tasmanian beach for second time | Australian politics

Rescued whales strand themselves on Tasmanian beach for second time

Graham Readfearn

AAP reports Oz Minerals is moving ahead with a copper-nickel mine in WA after the traditional owners of the land gave their permission for the project:

The $1.7 billion West Musgrave project, 30km south of Jameson/ Mantamaru, will create 1500 jobs during construction and around 400 during ongoing operations.

Once brought into production in the first half of 2025, the open-pit mine will be one of the world’s largest, lowest cost and lowest emission copper-nickel projects, OZ Minerals says.

“Investment approval for West Musgrave unlocks one of the largest undeveloped nickel projects in the world and, with expected lowest quartile costs, it is set to generate ~ $9.8 billion undiscounted cashflow over its 24-year operating life,” OZ Minerals chief executive Andrew Cole said in a statement.

The company has all the regulatory approvals required from the WA government and $1.2 billion in bank financing in place, Mr Cole said.

Projects executive Debbie Morrow said the mine is located entirely on the land of the Ngaanyatjarra people, whom she said have been widely consulted on the mine since 2017.

While the COVID-19 pandemic restricted in-person consultations in 2020 and 2021, OZ Minerals worked with the Ngaanyatjarra Council remotely during that time and extensively on-country in this past April through June, culminating with the signing of a land access agreement on Thursday.

“We thank the Ngaanyatjarra people for sharing their knowledge and helping us design different elements of the project and look forward to continuing to work together into the future,” Ms Morrow said.

The mine will use renewable energy sourced from wind and solar and has the potential to transition to an electric haulage fleet at “first engine changeout”, OZ Minerals said.

Mr Cole said OZ Minerals indicated on a conference call that the company couldn’t make definitive statements about that until it sees what technology is available at the time.

“Certainly our intent is to remove as much carbon from the asset as we can possibly can, as soon as we can,” Mr Cole said.
“Even with our current base case, West Musgrave is still going to be one of the lowest emitters out of all the hardrock nickel mines in the world.”

OZ Minerals has pledged to be a net-zero carbon emitter by 2038.

Optus starts to email customers about data breach

Looks like Optus is beginning to email customers about the data breach, from what we are seeing on social media.

The key advice is to change passwords. But also, if you are contacted by Optus, don’t disclose any further information and call back on the actual Optus number 133 937 just to be sure.

Jim Chalmers says federal budget will start a conversation about the economic choices we need to make

Jim Chalmers’ office has sent out the op-ed the treasurer wrote for the Australian newspaper.

It is all about laying the groundwork for next month’s budget. But here is the bit that should prepare everyone to not expect too much:

We know it’s unusual to hand down a second budget this year, but this is a new government and these are unusual circumstances. It made no sense to us to wait 13 months between budgets when the tasks are so urgent, the challenges so confronting and the needs so substantial.

This will be a fairly standard bread-and-butter budget because, for the times we are in, that’s what it needs to be. It shouldn’t be viewed in isolation from the other two or three we hand down this parliamentary term. It’s the beginning, not the end, of a big national conversation about our economic challenges, the structural position of the budget going forward, and the kinds of choices we need to make as a country in the future about what our priorities are, what’s affordable and what’s fair.

Our efforts to measure what matters in a wellbeing budget, a new intergenerational report next year, the RBA review, work on climate financing, new analysis of tax expenditures, an investor roundtable focused on national priorities – all of this will be key to bringing people together around our challenges like the Jobs and Skills Summit did so successfully.

I’m more convinced than ever that Australians are up for real talk about the state of their economy and the budget, and that there’s a hunger to work together. Australians know there’s no switch we can flick to make our challenges disappear; their expectations are realistic and tempered; they’re aware of the tricky terrain we’re navigating. No one budget can deal with pressures that have been building for a decade, but the hard work has begun.

We have reported the statement, but here are the happy snaps:

The key words which are being repeated here “constructive” and “stabilisation”.

Unions NSW secures 20 days paid domestic and family leave for employees

Unions NSW has claimed a win with NSW government employees now entitled to 20 days of paid domestic and family leave (doubling the previous entitlement of 10 days).

Casual employees can now also access it.

From January next year, NSW government employees will have access to 20 days of paid leave per calendar year. Casual employees will also receive the entitlement having previously been denied it.

The provision was initially agreed upon in negotiations for Sydney Trains but encountered resistance from a number of cabinet ministers.

Unions NSW gender equity officer Karen Willis said good sense had prevailed.

When you give people the right to paid family violence leave you give them more than a entitlement, you shift the culture.

That is why we have campaigned so hard for this new entitlement, both at Sydney Trains and across the NSW public sector.

When people are leaving a violent home they shouldn’t have to think twice about whether they will have leave to do so. A difficult conversation with the boss is the least thing someone wants to navigate.

This is a very positive development and we will closely monitor it implementation.

Condolences for the Queen call for greater reflection on impact of colonisation

There have been a lot of contributions during the Queen’s condolence motions in the House and Senate.

And as AAP reports, it is not as cut and dried as some people would like:

The ongoing pain and trauma inflicted on Indigenous Australians by the British monarchy has been raised in powerful speeches to parliament.

Federal politicians used condolences for Queen Elizabeth II to call for greater reconciliation and reflection on the impact of colonisation.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney, a Wiradjuri woman, said there had been a range of emotions among the community following the Queen’s death.

“For many Indigenous Australians, the legacy of the monarchy is fraught – a complex, difficult and painful reminder of the impact of colonisation,” she told parliament.

“The Queen’s relationship with Indigenous Australians reflects both how far we have come and how far we still have to go.”

Greens leader Adam Bandt called for a treaty with Indigenous people following the Queen’s death.

“We must recognise the cultural, structural and institutional ways in which the crown, which we remain a part of, has oppressed First Nations people here and around the world,” he said.

“When it comes to our history, there is no glory and make-believe because the pain of colonisation is real.”

Greens senator Dorinda Cox, a Yamatji-Noongar woman, said feelings among Indigenous people ranged from anger to stress, hurt and frustration.

“We are a mature nation, people will have conversations that both commemorate the life of a public figure, while calling out the problematic legacy of the British Empire,” she said.

Labor senator Malarndirri McCarthy, a Yanyuwa woman, spoke of the mixed feelings felt among her own family.

“We reflected on what the monarchy has meant, and what the world of colonialism has meant and know deeply, the pain of the frontier wars and the conflicts that came with that,” she said.

“Maybe the Queen was not directly responsible for that, but we know these are the mixed feelings and emotions of so many across the globe in the Commonwealth lands for First Nations people.”

Liberal senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, a Warlpiri woman, said Australia should be “grateful” for the British invasion.

“Like every nation around the globe, our history features dark and shameful incidents, we must never shy away from acknowledging these as they are part of our identity,” she said.

“This landmass we call home was never going to be left untouched by anyone other than our first peoples.

“We can be grateful it was in fact the British who settled here before the many other possible colonists.”

Peter Dutton reiterates support for national anti-corruption commission

Paul Karp

Rescue operation for stranded pilot whales continues in Tasmania

The rescue operation to save the last of the surviving pilot whales in the latest Tasmanian mass-stranding is still underway.

Thirty-two of the 35 surviving whales (approximately 200 died before rescuers could act) have been refloated. The operation is now working on getting the last whales back into the ocean.

As AAP reports:

The majority of the pilot whales died after becoming stranded on Ocean beach near Macquarie Harbour, south of Strahan, on Wednesday.

However 32 of the 35 surviving whales were on Thursday refloated in what rescuers described as a “terrific result”.

The focus will shift on Friday morning to freeing the three remaining surviving animals, which rescuers have been unable to access because of the challenging location and tidal conditions.

Then, over the coming days, the team will prioritise removing and disposing of the about 200 dead whales.

More than 50 Tasmanian government staff, volunteers and workers from a local aquaculture company banded together for Thursday’s rescue effort, incident controller Brendon Clark said.