[ad_1]
Wong confirms two Australians dead in Philippines plane crash
Daniel Hurst
In Fiji, Penny Wong said:
I’d like to first make some comments about some sad news that we received overnight. Can I confirm that overnight search teams have reached the site of a light aircraft that crashed in Albay province in the Philippines.
Sadly there are no survivors. So on behalf of the Australian government I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the two men – Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from Adelaide … as well as the Filipino nationals involved.
I think we all understand that the families of those who we have lost will be grieving and I express not only our sympathy, our condolences but to say to them that our hearts go out to them in this time of great grief.
I also wish to acknowledge and express condolences to the families of two soldiers who were killed during the search and rescue.
For more information on that crash, my colleague Elias Visontay filed this report two days ago:
Key events
Teal independents join farmers in Liverpool Plains to oppose Santos gas development
Our rural editor Gabrielle Chan and photographer at large Mike Bowers are joining Sydney Independents Kylea Tink and Sophie Scamps at a community forum on the Liverpool Plains where farmers and traditional owners are gathering to fight a Santos coal seam gas project and the accompanying Hunter gas pipeline.
Chan writes:
North Sydney MP Kylea Tink, who grew up in Coonabarabran on the edge of the Pilliga, returned to NSW’s north-western slopes on Wednesday with fellow independent Sophie Scamps to hear the concerns on local landholders.
… Tink said that if both Labor and Coalition won’t listen to communities on issues such as coal seam gas, change would have to come from the crossbench.
Read the whole article here:
Luke Henriques-Gomes
Coalition ministers to appear before robodebt inquiry next week
The former Coalition ministers Stuart Robert, Michael Keenan and Marise Payne will front a royal commission into the robodebt scheme next week.
The inquiry into the unlawful Centrelink debt recovery scheme heard claims on Wednesday that Robert had suggested an “opinion is just an opinion” when verbally briefed on legal advice suggesting the program was unlawful. He is not said to have contested the advice itself.
Robert was government services minister while the scheme came under court challenge and repeatedly defended it in media interviews and in parliament, while Keenan was his predecessor as human services minister. Payne, who has already appeared at the commission once, was human services minister when the scheme was devised and approved in 2015.
Senior public servants who will front the commission include the former secretary of the Department of Human Services, Renee Leon and the top DHS lawyer at the time, Annette Musolino, who has already faced questioning about her handling of the scheme’s legality.
Andrew Asten and Mark Wood, who were senior staff in the office of the former human services minister Alan Tudge, are also scheduled to appear.
The inquiry will today hear from the former DHS officials Scott Britton and Mark Withnell, who were involved in the design of the program in 2015, and senior DSS official Serena Wilson. Wilson previously admitted to breaching the public service code of conduct in not putting a stop to the scheme, saying she lacked “courage”.
Eden Gillespie
Queensland marks one year since 2022 February floods
Queensland has marked one year since the disastrous “February floods” which killed 13 people and left hundreds homeless.
In the rain bomb that hit the state, two-thirds of Queensland’s annual rainfall fell in a matter of days across seven cities and 23 local council areas.
In six days, 792.8mm of rain fell in Brisbane alone, 137mm more than in 1974 – the highest six-day figure ever recorded.
More than a dozen people died in the disaster, including the state emergency service volunteer Merryl Dray, who died trying to rescue others.
The State Emergency Service answered 13,685 calls for assistance, with 7,000 residential homes affected.
Addressing parliament on Thursday, the premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, said the $741m resilient homes fund – funded by the federal and state governments – has identified 540 properties for voluntary home buy-back, with 230 offers accepted.
It means these homeowners will never again feel the fear of hearing rain on their roof. Their properties will be demolished and the land returned to open space.
Caitlin Cassidy
Division emerges at Universities Australia conference over backing of Voice campaign
Shadow education minister Sarah Henderson has urged educational institutions against publicly supporting a yes vote for the Indigenous voice to parliament – labelling the move a form of “indoctrination”.
Speaking at the Universities Australia conference, she said it was “right and proper” that the body hadn’t taken a position on whether to support the Voice.
Henderson:
Whilst not stifling robust debate and the expression of strong and legitimately-held views, this position is entirely consistent with academic freedom. Last week in Senate estimates … I reiterated that classrooms are for education not indoctrination. So many Australian parents share this view. There is no room for activism, campaigning, or personal agendas in Australian educational institutions.
I am concerned about reports that some states intend to teach only one side of the debate – the yes case – on an Indigenous voice to parliament. This is not consistent with the national curriculum, including because it compromises the vital role that fostering curiosity and critical thinking plays in the development of every child.
Speaking at the same conference on Wednesday, the vice chancellor of the University of South Australia, David Lloyd said as a nation, Australia “cannot afford to squander” the opportunity of the Voice.
The keynote speaker, Prof Megan Davis, echoed his call. She said that it was the “role of universities” to support the voice campaign.
I don’t really stomach that we are mere facilitators of the debate … universities say they don’t want to be political, but the decision not to take a stance for Uluru and the referendum for a voice to parliament is a political decision. Silence is political. We have strong positions on freedom of speech which is political.
Caitlin Cassidy
Shadow education minister warns of being caught in ‘review vortex’ over education reforms
The shadow education minister Senator Sarah Henderson has addressed the Universities Australia conference, 11 days into the job after the exit of Alan Tudge.
In taking over from Alan Tudge, I have big shoes to fill. I acknowledge Alan’s exceptional work as the former minister for education – he is a great loss to our team … but as we know, in education, both the opportunities and the challenges are immense.
Henderson used her first major speech to warn the federal government against becoming bogged down in reviews. She said while the Coalition welcomed the reviews being undertaken by the federal government – including the Universities Accord – there was a danger of being caught in a “review vortex”.
As a nation, we cannot slow the pace of reform required to provide greater access to early childhood education and care, to reverse declining standards in our schools and teacher workforce shortages, and to deliver the right skilled graduates to fuel our future workforce.
To lift student performance, we must focus on ensuring we have a strong curriculum, we are teaching phonics in every classroom and that we are using explicit teaching models to support engaged classrooms … it shouldn’t take another review and another 12 months which delays the additional schools funding Labor committed to deliver.
Henderson also labelled it “disappointing” the federal government hadn’t endorsed a one-year postgraduate teaching pathway to address teacher shortages hitting the sector.
Few professionals, particularly with the current cost-of living pressures, can afford to take two years off work halfway through their career to retrain as a teacher. If we are to attract the best and brightest towards a teaching career, we must remove barriers like these.
Clarke family welcomes Queensland domestic violence reforms
Lloyd and Sue Clarke, who said coercive control laws could have saved their daughter Hannah Clarke and her three children, say they are pleased with the legislation being introduced.
Lloyd Clarke stepped up to speak after the attorney general saying:
No-one wants these laws more than our family.
When we look at it, we need to take these small steps to get them right and to make these laws stick and we’re happy enough the way it’s going and I think that this is something that needs to happen and to stop the scourge of domestic violence out there.
Coercive control is such a complex matter and that’s why it needs to take time to get this right.
Domestic violence reforms pass Queensland parliament
Queensland’s attorney general, Shannon Fentiman, stepped up to speak this morning in Brisbane alongside the parents of murdered woman Hannah Clark after a range of domestic violence reforms passed Queensland’s parliament overnight.
Fentiman:
Parliament passed historic laws to better protect women and children experiencing domestic and family violence.
I want to pay tribute to hundreds of victim survivors who shared their story with the Women’s Safety and Justice Taskforce. We have listened, heard you and acted.
The bill that passed parliament late yesterday does a number of things including amending the definition of domestic and family violence to better protect women experiencing coercive control, including violence that happens over time, a pattern of abuse over time. It’s about identifying those red flags earlier before more blue police tape surrounds another family home.
This bill also modernises the offence of unlawful stalking, which is so important, because we know that it is underutilised, particularly when it happens in intimate partner relationships.
We’ve broadened the definition to include intimidation, harassment and abuse and it will better capture the technology that perpetrators are using to track and monitor victims’ movements.
We’re also doing so much to to ensure that the court system cannot be used to further control and abuse victims, things like ensuring that victims don’t have to be cross-examined by their perpetrator in court and making sure the court considers who is in most need of protection.
We heard from the taskforce that so many victims were misidentified as perpetrators because the real perpetrator was manipulating the court process. This is about making sure women and children are safe. When they come forward and go through the court process, they are supported, and not getting lost in the process.
Caitlin Cassidy
Australian defence workforce is a ‘burning platform’
Continuing on the defence strategic review, Monro is asked whether Australia’s current workforce capabilities are sufficient to cope with increased demand.
She tells the Universities Australia conference:
The short answer is no. This is a burning platform and we need your help.
Monro says Australia’s current defence workforce employs 116,000 people, of which around 16,000 are Australian public servants. The ADF is about 3,000 people strong – well below its allocated force strength.
The government has, prior to the release of the upcoming defence strategic review, already agreed to increase the workforce by 18,500 by 2030.
We see that thinness challenging many of the things we need to do. Right now we’re feeling the pain and finding a combination of factors from really small pipelines of people coming through our universities to increased competition in other sectors … while the mission we address is really compelling … it often can’t compete in financial terms.
If I add that on top of the clear commitment the government has to reduce contractors … this will become more acute. It is only going to get worse, if we were to accelerate and make significant changes in the capability plan that’s going to need more workforce in these areas.
Caitlin Cassidy
Chief defence scientist says universities have role to play in cybersecurity
Prof Tanya Monro, Australia’s chief defence scientist in the Department of Defence, is appearing at the Universities Australia conference in Canberra.
She says universities are “absolutely critical” to the increased cyber challenges facing Australia:
We’ve really got to up our game to cope with what’s ahead … nobody in this room will have missed the quickly shifting sands of geopolitics … this requires a really different approach to the nation’s defence.
We need to harness more of what our universities do for Defence’s highest priority challenges.
Monro says the landmark defence strategic review, soon to be released, will be a “dramatic transformation” to the sector, not a “small tweak”.
Wong confirms two Australians dead in Philippines plane crash
Daniel Hurst
In Fiji, Penny Wong said:
I’d like to first make some comments about some sad news that we received overnight. Can I confirm that overnight search teams have reached the site of a light aircraft that crashed in Albay province in the Philippines.
Sadly there are no survivors. So on behalf of the Australian government I wish to extend my deepest sympathy to the families of the two men – Simon Chipperfield and Karthi Santhanam, both from Adelaide … as well as the Filipino nationals involved.
I think we all understand that the families of those who we have lost will be grieving and I express not only our sympathy, our condolences but to say to them that our hearts go out to them in this time of great grief.
I also wish to acknowledge and express condolences to the families of two soldiers who were killed during the search and rescue.
For more information on that crash, my colleague Elias Visontay filed this report two days ago:
Caitlin Cassidy
WA to launch review of public universities, including mergers
The Western Australian government will launch a sweeping review to explore “structural change options” to the state’s four peak universities UWA, Edith Cowan, Murdoch and Curtin, including possible amalgamations and closures.
The premier, Mark McGowan, and the education minister, Tony Buti, have appointed an independent panel to report later in the year on how to improve the performance and financial viability of its declining public institutions.
The review follows calls last year for WA’s four institutions to be amalgamated into a “super university” to increase global rankings.
Between 2010 and 2019, WA had the smallest percentage growth in university enrolments in Australia (13.6% compared to 32.3% across Australia). In 2020, WA attracted only 5.5% of Australia’s international student revenue.
The University of Adelaide and the University of South Australia recently agreed to a feasibility study of a possible merger.
The Curtin Student Guild condemned the state government’s “ill-conceived review”, describing it as a “gravely irresponsible undertaking”. The guild is WA’s peak student union, representing more than 50,000 students.
Its president, Dylan Botica, said the state government was seeking to fundamentally alter the structure and landscape of universities without consulting with students.
The probe will be led by the former James Cook University vice chancellor Sandra Harding, University of Adelaide’s executive dean, John Williams, the former Western Sydney University chancellor Peter Shergold and the former secretary of the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet Ian Watt.
The panel will consult “relevant stakeholders”, including vice chancellors, but there will be no public submission process.
Botica:
The McGowan government’s rush-job review has ignored the existential threat it poses to student unionism in Western Australia. Student guilds play a fundamental role in the higher education sector and to overlook this is a slap in the face to all students.
Student guilds are statutory bodies that have been completely unrepresented in the panel membership, while university management is an overwhelming majority. Any review that has scope to abolish student guilds cannot be conducted with a complete lack of engagement with those bodies.
Daniel Hurst
Wong reaffirms Australian recognition of Indonesian sovereignty over West Papua
In Fiji, Penny Wong was also asked by a reporter about a West Papuan delegation that has visited Fiji. Asked for a position on the matter, Wong signalled there was no change in Australian government position on Indonesian sovereignty:
Australia under successive governments has made its position clear. We recognise Indonesian sovereignty in relation to Papua. And that’s a position that reflects a bipartisan position and a position that reflects our undertakings and commitments under the Lombok treaty and we remain committed to that.
Airline pushing for local sustainable fuel industry: Joyce
Joyce also spoke about what the group is doing in the space of reducing emissions, as the cost of fuel is driving fares up 20% compared to 2021.
Every new aircraft that we’re bringing in helps towards our emissions reduction targets, because they burn up to 25% less fuel and therefore 25% less CO2 emissions.
We know electric and hydrogen aircraft are a long way off, especially for the very long distances that we fly. That’s why we’re investing in sustainable aviation fuel, which cuts life cycle emissions by up to 80% compared to fossil fuels.
When you consider the importance of air travel in this country, Australia is a prime candidate to develop its own sustainable fuel industry. That’s the conversation we’re having where governments around the country are some urgency and we welcome the Federal government’s commitment to an industry council that meets for the first time next week.
We know that cost of living is an issue across the economy at the moment. We know air fares are part of that discussion. Fares are up about 20% in Australia compared to 2021, and by similar amounts in key markets like the United States and in Europe.
The main drivers of this are the price of fuel, which is up 65% compared to 2019 levels. The inbalance between supply and demand, airlines are struggling to keep up with the tremendous level of passenger demand and as we get up to speed, and that has pushed prices up, especially in peak times for last-minute travel.
Fares will keep trending down as more airlines can unlock capacity which relies on things like supply chain for aircraft, labour availability and training pipelines. For Qantas, we started adding more flying back in January and have another significant step-up in March of this year. There are also a lot of cheap air fares in the market, especially when you book well in advance.
Qantas boss says airline most on-time domestic carrier for five months in a row
Joyce said issues of reliability are generally fixed and the airline is recently the most on-time:
We’re keeping more spare aircraft in reserve and rostering more crew to give our operations extra buffer. The estimated disruption cost, the cost of all of that back-up is over $200m this financial year, and it will steadily unwind as operations continue to stabilise.
As I think our customers would agree, that investment has been well worth it, our reliability has improved right across the group. Qantas has now been the most on-time of the major domestic airlines for five months in a row – some months the biggest lead we’ve seen in the history of aviation over this period. We’re working hard to keep it that way.
[ad_2]
Source link
