Nurses union fined $350,000 for West Australian strike; Rex Patrick loses FOI challenge – as it happened

Protest under way against the South Australian government’s anti-protest laws

The South Australian Labor government has proposed increasing the maximum penalty for protesters which obstruct public places to $50,000 and three months in jail.

A large crowd has braved chilly, wet weather to gather outside Parliament House on Friday night.

The rally has been called by 15 groups and has caused traffic delays along North Terrace during peak hour.

School Climate Striker Aud Mason-Hyde spoke said the changes are “taking democracy away from us.”

We need to rise up to keep joy, community, and the right to protest.

Those attending have reported a heavy police presence even before the rally began.

The bill was rushed through the state’s lower house within 24 hours of being introduced and is expected to face a vote in the legislative council on Tuesday.

Calls for government to act after review of Slavery Act finds no ‘meaningful change’

A coalition of human rights groups and academic organisations have called for the Albanese government to act after a review of the Modern Slavery Act found it had not made “meaningful change” during its first three years of operation.

The review, led by Prof John McMillan, made 30 recommendations to strengthen the existing act.

Freya Dinshaw, acting legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre said the act “needs to be strengthened in order to ensure that no Australian companies are profiting from exploitation”.

While we would have liked to see the review go even further and recommend an enforceable duty on companies to prevent modern slavery, its recommendations, if implemented, will substantially strengthen the current law.

The coalition of organisations are calling on the Albanese government to implement these recommendations and ensure that the newly announced establishment of an independent anti-slavery commissioner be adequately resourced to provide effective oversight of the act.

Andrew Forrest congratulates Mike Cannon-Brookes on Sun Cable project

Andrew Forrest has congratulated Mike Cannon-Brookes on winning out in the bidding war for the future of the Sun Cable project saying “any project that takes the world closer to real zero is positive for the planet.”

Here is the full statement:

While Squadron Energy did not participate in the final binding bid process for Sun Cable, we are delighted that other investors like Grok are playing a role in tackling global warming, by replacing fossil fuel investment with green energy projects.

Squadron decided the capital allocation did not align with Squadron’s strategic goals, as we are already working to deliver 30% of the renewable energy required to meet the Federal Government’s target of 82% renewables by 2030 and want to bring new green electrons into the grid as soon as possible.

We have decided to focus on the existing 20GW pipeline of assets as a much faster way to achieve those goals and take Australia closer to a carbon-free future.

We remain unconvinced of the commercial viability of the Australia-Asia Powerlink but if others believe it can be achieved, we wish them all the best.

As an interested shareholder we look forward to better understanding the details of the deal.

Part of National Museum collection contaminated by silica

The National Museum of Australia in Canberra is working to remove deadly silica dust that has contaminated part of the national historical collection.

Museum deputy director Ruth Wilson told a Senate estimates hearing late on Thursday the items have been kept in a storage facility next to a concrete factory and the resulting contamination meant staff were banned from entering the site for much of 2022.

There’s a buildup of silica dust in the facility, which requires removal before any collection can be treated.

In April, the federal government announced a $78.3 million funding boost for the institution over the next four years.

That included $13.1m to lease an “urgently needed” new storage facility and move the items from their current site.

The objects include machinery, agricultural equipment, boats, trucks and planes, all of which the museum regards as “relatively robust”.

The institution leased the premises in 1988 when there were no other buildings nearby, but it won’t reveal the location of the contaminated site.

- AAP

Scott Morrison – former prime minister, minister for health, finance, home affairs, treasurer … author?

Former PM Scott Morrison appears to be on the verge of publishing a book with an American publisher of Christian titles.

Morrison declared on his register of interests a “royalties advance” from Harper Collins Christian Publishing. The declaration, uploaded to the parliament’s website today, does not give any further information on what the royalties advance is for.

We’ve asked Morrison’s office and Harper Collins for comment.

Morrison’s stewardship of the country through the COVID period has already been the subject of a book, Plagued, which drew on extensive interviews with the former Coalition leader. The book revealed Morrison’s secret appointments to the health and finance departments through the pandemic, with that list later expanding to the departments of industry, treasury, and home affairs.

Morrison has been widely tipped to resign as member for Cook before the next election.

Home Affairs refuses to release report on risks of social media apps

The Home Affairs Department is refusing to release a report outlining the risks of social media apps on government devices, arguing the report contains information provided by an Australian intelligence agency.

The report was provided to the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, in March, and led to the government banning TikTok from all government-owned devices, amid concern that the company’s links to China would mean the Chinese national security law could see data handed over to the Chinese government. This is something TikTok has long denied could happen.

The report was commissioned to cover a wide array of apps, not just TikTok, but has not been released publicly. The Home Affairs Department on Friday refused a freedom of information request from Guardian Australia for the report, saying it contains information prepared by an intelligence agency exempt from the FOI Act.

The decision doesn’t name the agency, but the list includes Asio, IGIS, the ONI and Australian Signals Directorate.

Greens senator David Shoebridge has also called for the government to provide the report to the Legal and Constitutional Affairs senate committee as part of the Senate estimates process this week. The department secretary, Mike Pezzullo, said on Monday he would need to seek the approval of the minister before providing it.

‘Ball is in government’s court’ on FOI delays

Grata Fund, which financially supported the former senator Rex Patrick’s freedom of information case, has also responded to the ruling.

Grata Fund’s executive director, Isabelle Reinecke, said the decision “should be an enormous catalyst for the government to improve and future-proof the FOI system” by funding the office of the Australian information commissioner adequately:

By anyone’s measure, multiple year delays are unacceptable, and now the ball is in the government’s court to ensure its public commitments to the democratic operation of government are put into effect.

David Shoebridge calls on government to properly fund office of Australian information commissioner

Move comes after a federal court judge noted the agency had “an unquestionable shortage of resources”.

Shoebridge, who is the party’s justice spokesperson, said the public should care about the issue because “democracies only work when the public has the information needed to hold governments to account”. Shoebridge said Australia’s “broken” freedom of information (FOI) system was “making that close to impossible”.

As reported here earlier this afternoon, the former independent senator Rex Patrick lost his legal challenge against what he argued were unreasonable delays in the commissioner’s reviews of FOI matters.

Justice Michael Wheelahan found that a claim of unreasonable delays “must take account of the resources that are available to the commissioner and the competing demands on those resources”. He found “the combined force of the evidence pointed to an unquestionable shortage of resources” but “whether that situation is acceptable is not a question for the court to decide”.

Shoebridge told Guardian Australia this afternoon:

The parliament has given the commission statutory functions but the government is starving it of the funds to fulfil them.

This must be a loud wake-up call to the attorney general given all the promises he made on transparency before the election.

Rally against SA’s anti-protest laws to be held outside parliament on Friday evening

The controversial amendments are expected to come to a vote as early as Tuesday.

Amnesty International spokeswoman Adelaide Xerri said the bill’s broad scope was concerning.

This crackdown on the right to protest means all our ability to fight for human rights and combat the climate crisis are under threat.

People must not face huge fines, and even prison sentences, just for standing up for what’s right.

Unions have also condemned the increased penalties, along with Greens MPs in the upper house.

On Friday, the Law Society of South Australia posed a series of questions and said it was “deeply troubling” that those in favour of the higher fines had not explained the rationale for the changes or the urgency for their introduction.

The organisation also questioned why there was no public consultation.

- with AAP

Nurses union fined $350,000 for West Australian strike

The nurses union has copped a $350,000 fine for organising a strike during which thousands of Western Australian health workers fought for better pay and conditions.

About 3,000 nurses and midwives walked off the job at hospitals across the state on 25 November last year after the Australian Nursing Federation ignored a lawful direction from the WA Industrial Relations Commission to call off the action.

The commission on Friday handed down its written judgement, in which chief commissioner Stephen Kenner labelled the union’s correspondence before the strike “staggering”, “belligerent noncompliance” and “dripping with contempt”.

In breach of the no-strike order, at least 1,758 members of the ANF employed in the public health system took industrial action by walking off the job or failing to report for duty.

The industrial action included various rallies throughout the state including at Parliament House and Dumas House in Perth, and in Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Geraldton, and Karratha.

Following a negotiation during the hearing, the commission fined the union the agreed amount of $350,000.

- AAP

South Australian coroner finds death of five-year-old was preventable

The death of a young boy with special needs, who choked on a nectarine stone while at school, would have been prevented had he been better supervised, an inquest has found.

Five-year-old Lucas Latouche Mazzei died in March 2017 after choking on the stone at Adelaide’s Henley Beach Primary School.

Deputy State Coroner Ian White said Lucas was left unsupervised for an unacceptable period of time.

He ruled that had staff remained in the classroom during the whole time the boy was watching the cartoon, his death would have been prevented.

The coroner said Lucas’ death was “heartbreaking and tragic” and the distressing attempt to save his life had a marked effect on those involved.

Lucas’ parents have been consumed by grief over the death of their precious little son that day.

White found that, under the circumstances, the efforts to save the boy were reasonable.

But he recommended all teaching staff be required to hold up-to-date qualifications in providing first aid assistance in an education and care setting.

He also called for the education department to review its policies on obtaining information about students with special needs and review the first-aid guidelines for dealing with a choking emergency.

Outside the court on Friday, Lucas’ mother Daniela Mazzei said the journey looking for answers about her son’s death had been “extremely hurtful, even cruel”.

Lucas’ death did not receive the attention it deserved from the education department, even when we insisted on it.

Our grief will always be with us. His death could have been prevented.

- AAP

US doesn’t want to drag Pacific allies into “headlong” clash with China

Joe Biden’s senior advisers have acknowledged countries in the Indo-Pacific don’t want to be “trampled by a headlong clash” between the US and China.

In a webinar with an Australian audience on Friday, senior White House national security council (NSC) officials said the US president wanted to give allies and other close partners “breathing space” to engage with China constructively.

Edgard Kagan, the NSC’s senior director for east Asia and Oceania, said Biden had been listening to the region’s concerns.

“I think the president is very focused on the fact that we cannot strengthen our relations with allies and partners if we just try and jam our views down their throat,” Kagan said. “That’s not who he is.”

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s foreign affairs and defence reporter Daniel Hurst.

WA to keep ‘no grounds evictions’

Western Australia will keep provisions that allow landlords to evict tenants without providing a reason in newly announced changes to the Residential Tenancies Act, despite its department advising they be removed.

The decision to keep “no grounds evictions” overrules explicit advice from the Department of Mines, Industry Regulations and Safety that recommended the government introduce a list of grounds for termination of a lease by landlords:

The review recommended that the [Residential Tenancies ACT] be amended to prohibit without grounds terminations by lessors and introduce additional grounds for termination.

In a joint press release on Friday, Minister for Finance, Commerce and Women’s Interest Sue Ellery and Minister for Housing, Lands and Homeless John Carey said “major changes” to the act would strike the right balance between tenants and landlords.

But they said “the McGowan government is not making any chances to the ‘without grounds’ terminations provisions”. This means the current provisions of 60 days notice for periodic leases and 30 days notice for fixed remain in place.

Changes to the Act will include:

• a ban on rent bidding, with landlords and property managers unable to pressure or encourage tenants to offer more than the advertised rent;

• reducing the frequency of rent increases to once every 12 months;

• tenants will be allowed to keep a pet or pets in a rental premises in most cases;

• tenants will be able to make certain minor modifications to the rental premises and the landlord will only be able to refuse consent on certain grounds;

• the release of security bonds at the end of a tenancy will be streamlined, allowing tenants and landlords to apply separately regarding how bond payments are to be disbursed; and

• disputes over bond payments, as well as disagreements about pets and minor modifications, will be referred to the commissioner for consumer protection for determination.

The changes will also mean rents must be advertised as a fixed amount and not as a range, however tenants who make minor changes to their rental property “may be required” to restore it to its original condition at the end of the tenancy.

Ellery said banning rental auctions and reducing rent increases would “help ease the financial burden on many families”.

The new laws proposed by the McGowan government strike a good balance by protecting the owner’s investment property while providing stability and certainty for tenants.

Carey said the changes “strike the balance between the rights and needs of tenants and landlords.”

Our focus is on boosting the supply of housing, which is why we’re investing a record $2.6 billion in housing, lands and homelessness measures throughout Western Australia.

Thanks for following along the news blog this Friday. You’ll be in the excellent hands of Royce Kurmelovs for the rest of the afternoon. Have a lovely weekend!

Sewer rats and data security?

We’ve been running through the Senate estimates transcripts as they have been going up and we’ve found this interesting exchange between the Greens senator David Shoebridge and the secretary of the home affairs department, Mike Pezzullo.

Shoebridge:

Sewer rats don’t normally have good data security though, do they?

Pezzullo:

Well, they might well have very good data security, depending on what they do with the cheese that they’ve taken through the pipes, I suppose!

The context for this is last week, the eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant told Guardian Australia that since Elon Musk had taken over Twitter, the platform had become toxic, with the “sewer rats” let back on the site.

Shoebridge had been questioning Pezzullo about whether he had similar concerns about Twitter as the department has had for TikTok. Pezzullo said that Twitter’s moderation policies are more eSafety’s area rather than Home Affairs – which is more concerned with where a site’s data is hosted, and who might have access to it.

Pezzullo did say he saw Inman Grant’s comments, saying he suspected “you [Shoebridge] and I read it in the same place.”

Nice to see you’re an avid Guardian reader, secretary.

Consumers warned high price of fresh food here to stay

The high price of fresh fruit and vegetables won’t come down anytime soon according to fresh food suppliers, AAP reports.

Speaking at a food security inquiry, Claire McClelland from the Australian Fresh Produce Alliance said continuing high inputs for producers was keeping prices high:

Once a price is up it very rarely goes back down ... once the price of fuel, or packaging or energy is up we very rarely can reduce that cost.

Ongoing labour shortages and supply chain challenges were also keeping the price of produce high.

Buttrose unaware of Stan Grant abuse until ‘fairly late in the piece’

Asked about the change that needs to come from within the ABC, Buttrose says:

There is an inquiry going on. Our audience research shows us that 75% of people think that our content reflects the diversity of Australia. But I think what management needs to do is make sure that we support the people who make that content when they are subject to racist behaviour.

It’s unacceptable. It’s unacceptable. And I’m appalled at what Stan went through. And if I’d known earlier, I would have spoken to see him about it. But I didn’t know and I don’t think many of us knew until fairly late in the piece.

So I think it’s very important that we that we provide that support to Stan that I said and that everybody reflects about social media. Is this the sort of world we want to live in? It’s unacceptable.

‘We hope he will return’

Buttrose says she hopes Grant will return to ABC programs:

We are providing Stan with as much support as we possibly can – and … to his family – and we hope that he will return to our programs as soon as he feels ready to return. It’s up to Stan. I think he has taken six to eight weeks off, and I understand that but I hold Stan in high regard like so many of our listeners do.

ABC’s Ita Buttrose to speak on Stan Grant issue

Ita Buttrose, the chair of the ABC, is speaking with ABC Radio Melbourne ahead of an exhibition opening tomorrow celebrating 90 years of the Australian Women’s Weekly. Buttrose started out her career as a copygirl at the Weekly before becoming at age 33 the youngest person to be named editor of the publication.

She’s being asked now about her current role and what she’s learned from Stan Grant standing down.

At the beginning of the week, ABC news chief Justin Stevens says he regrets not defending Stan Grant earlier as the Q+A host faced racist attacks on social media fuelled by what he described as a “relentless campaign” against the ABC’s coronation broadcast from News Corp.

NSW central coast lashed by wild weather

There have been incredible hail storms on New South Wales’ central and Hunter coast within the last hour.

Senior meteorologist at the Bureau of Meteorology Angus Hines says the hail has been generated by thunderstorms along the Hunter Coast north of Sydney:

We’ve got a front moving northwards through that area and along that front, we’ve seen some pretty big thunderstorms develop in these thunderstorms generating some large hail for those coastal areas.

Public has a $13bn right to know details of Murray Darling Basin plan

Tony Grant also took issue with the lack of transparency around how the $13bn Murray-Darling Basin plan is being managed:

He said he had conducted a transparency review to determine if an Australian taxpayer would be able to work out - from publicly available information - how much of the money had been spent or committed, and how much was left.

The key observation arising from my review was that there is no simple, definitive, public source of information that clearly shows the breakdown of the $13bn figure.

He said transparency was vital if taxpayers were to have confidence in the plan:

Quite often, with programs of this size and complexity, funding is reprofiled and moved into and out of various program areas, various departments and agencies.

Varying amounts – $10bn to $13bn to $15bn – have been quoted as expenditure on Basin reform with no clarity on what elements of the reform package this money has been allocated to.

And I can understand why the community and senators must be confused at times, and therefore seek answers to many legitimate questions.

The Australian public, in my view, has a $13bn right to know.

– AAP

The humpback whale continues its annual migration northwards along Australia’s east coast, with Guardian writer Jennifer King spotting one at Byron Bay’s lighthouse.

These earlybird whales are likely juveniles racing ahead of the pack in the procession from their summer feeding grounds in Antartica to the warmer waters of the Great Barrier Reef. The pregnant mothers often leave later to ensure they eat as much as they can before the journey.

You can read more about how best to spot them yourself here:

Of the voice – and parking tickets

It’s five months until the referendum, and it’s claims of misinformation at ten paces, with Labor and Liberal politicians accusing each other of spreading mistruths about the Indigenous voice.

Shadow attorney general Michaelia Cash has alleged prime minister Anthony Albanese is “not being honest” about the voice, following a radio interview this morning.

Albanese told Cairns 4CA radio:

All that the constitutional change will do is recognise Australia’s first peoples – that’s just a matter of respect.

But Cash took offence at the description, claiming in a statement “it was misleading to portray the change as simply recognition in the constitution”:

The prime minister is spreading misinformation. It is not true that all it does is recognition. If that was true why does there need to be a constitutional right to make representations about everything from submarines to parking tickets?

But Cash’s statement leaves out the fact that, in Albanese’s answer (before saying it was about recognition) he specifically outlined key functions of the voice, saying:

It won’t have a right of veto over any of the parliament’s decision making, it won’t be a funding body, it won’t run programs. It simply is an opportunity that we have to create a body that will be able to speak to the parliament.

Yesterday, of course, Albanese himself accused opposition leader Peter Dutton of spreading misinformation about the voice – and specifically rubbished claims it would weigh in on the matters Cash alleged. Albanese told parliament:

Do you think you would spend a single second thinking about public holidays, or parking tickets, or any of the other nonsense the no campaign go on about?

If you’re wondering what the scene looks like today, Emily Kowal from the Telegraph shared this video from a nearby rooftop:

‘A happy bride, I imagine’

Amid the fire’s devastation, Fewtrell shares the good news story that firefighters have helped save one soon-to-be-married evacuee’s big day.

He describes the coordinated effort with police to rescue pets, medication and a wedding dress:

We started to get information for people who needed medication, who needed pets and so forth retrieved. We even had one lady who was due to have a wedding in Hobart and firefighters were able to go and get her wedding dress. That is a happy bride, I would imagine.

‘Perfect set of conditions’ for an intense blaze

Fewtrell:

We have a building that is well over 100 years old. You have all the dry, very seasoned timber that is in that. It is all stacked up as part of the framework of the building, the floors, staircases and so forth, enabling the fire to spread quickly vertically and that is what we saw played out. The perfect set of conditions to have a very intense fire.

A ‘once in a decade’ fire

This is a once in a decade type of fire.

It is a really defining point for all of the firefighters that attended that in their careers.

We had a mixture of experienced firefighters and new firefighters.

The one thing I can guarantee is, at the end of their careers, this will be one of the highlights that they reflect on.

Up to four buildings directly affected by fire

Acting police commissioner Fewtrell says up to four buildings close by have been directly impacted by the fire:

At a rough count, there is about three or four very-close-by buildings that have been directly impacted.

The buildings that we evacuated at the time. Some of those had fire starting to extend into them, so the radiant heat or embers that are coming from the building started to set small fires on those adjacent buildings.

Firefighters were able to extinguish all of those and stop them from spreading into the different units.

Fewtrell says two buildings were evacuated.

Dunstan:

One person handed themselves in in Paddington and the other handed themselves in at Kings Cross.

Dunstan says:

The two people who were spoken to are 13 years old. We believe the others are a similar age … currently assisting us with our inquiries at this point.

Victorian mental health and LGBTIQ+ groups call for tougher anti-hate laws

Some of Victoria’s biggest mental health and LGBTIQ+ organisations, including The Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council, Transgender Victoria, Drummond Street and Switchboard have written to the attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, asking her to expand the anti-vilification laws.

In the letter, they argue even the current laws are inadequate for everyone.

They write:

The religious and race-based protections are themselves inadequate, with very few successful civil cases before the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and even fewer successful criminal prosecutions for serious vilification.

The legal ‘bar’ is too high, meaning the protection for the community is too low. At present, Victoria’s laws do not do enough to protect many marginalised communities from the hate we have seen on Melbourne’s streets.

They applaud the government for expanding additional funding for the LGBTIQ+ specialist mental health care but say it will not be effective if there is increasing vilification of the community:

This investment will cease to remain cost effective in environments whereby disproportionate levels of vilification towards particular groups continues to exacerbate threats of violence, high distress and suicidality.

Symes has previously said she is committed to expanding the anti-vilification laws and will look at them in the next 18 months.

This week Guardian Australia turns 10! If you didn’t tune into our 10th birthday event last night, you can share in the celebrations and take a look inside how we got where we are thanks to our special edition of Full Story:

White House official outlines potential for collaboration on defence technologies with other countries

White House official Mira Rapp-Hooper went on to draw a distinction between the two parts of Aukus, the security partnership between Australia, the US and the UK.

Pillar one is the project for Australia to acquire nuclear-powered submarines. Pillar two, however, is the collaboration on advanced defence technologies, including artificial intelligence and hypersonics. The Aukus countries have long signalled their openness to work with non-members on particular advanced defence technology projects.

Rapp-Hooper indicated these would be partners rather than members:

Aukus itself has the potential to add additional partners through its pillar two efforts, which will be focused on expanding partnership in a number of areas of advanced capability ...

I think what these partnerships [Aukus and Quad] have in common is that while the central mission may be designed around a relatively small number of fixture members, the broader mission has much wider opportunities for collaboration, and one could see a world in which that work continues to expand and the partners with whom the original membership is collaborating.

White House: Quad likely to collaborate with partners but not looking to expand for the time being

The Quad - which brings together the US, Australia, Japan and India - is likely to collaborate with an expanding range of partners in the region, a senior White House official has said.

Mira Rapp-Hooper, the director for Indo-Pacific Strategy at the White House’s National Security Council, was asked during a webinar hosted by the US Studies Centre today how countries like South Korea or Canada or Indonesia might be able to “plug into” groupings like the Quad or Aukus.

She replied:

In the case of both the Quad and Aukus, the original membership of that structure remains the original membership for the time being. So the Quad has no plans to expand its membership, Aukus has no plans to expand its membership in pillar one, which of course is the submarine program, but both of these partnerships are over time going to provide an increasing set of opportunities for other like-minded partners to engage with a broad suite of work that each is doing.

Rapp-Hooper noted the Quad’s project on maritime domain awareness had already seen the provision of radio frequency data to countries in the region:

Now that already has the Quad interacting on a regular basis with countries in the Pacific islands, in south-east Asia and in the Indian Ocean region. So the Quad is actively partnering with countries who are not Quad members. Over time we can see that becoming an expanded set of countries, if for example there was another like-minded partner like Korea or like Canada that had some thing to bring to the table on a submarine cable project, or on a global health effort. But our understanding for the time being is that those outside partners, the collaboration with additional partners, will be on the basis of practical outcomes and work that is ongoing rather than expanding the membership itself.

GPs urge government to act on inquiry’s recommendations into reproductive healthcare

If you remember the health minister, Mark Butler, was quizzed about why the budget didn’t contain anything for improving reproductive healthcare, including abortion access. He said that was because the government was waiting on the recommendations of an inquiry which would inform its decisionmaking in the area.

Well, that inquiry delivered its findings yesterday afternoon in a report title “ending the postcode lottery” – nodding to the significant disadvantage Australian women living outside capital cities face accessing reproductive healthcare.

The report calls for better training and funding for healthcare workers to be providing long-acting reversible contraceptives (so those are hormonal implants, hormonal IUDs, and copper IUDs), as well as Medicare telehealth items including termination care to be continued.

The Royal College of GPs have welcomed the findings and called for the government to take immediate action on them. Its president, Dr Nicole Higgins, said:

As a Mackay GP, I know my patients who require a surgical abortion must travel over 1000km for care and that is not acceptable. Today’s report contains many promising recommendations the government can and should act on without delay.

Our chief political correspondent, Paul Karp, has more on that Senate inquiry and the lay of the political land when it comes to abortion access here:

AFP: commissioner does not believe different generations require different levels of praise

The Australian Federal Police says its commissioner does not hold the belief different generations require different level of praise.

The statement comes after the commissioner chose to give this “aside” at yesterday’s Senate Estimates:

Just as an aside – if I can just drop this in – I think this is interesting. We learned too that Gen Zed, the younger generation, need three times a week praise from their supervisors. The next generation only need three times a year and my generation only need once a year.

The AFP are seeking to set the record straight, releasing this statement this morning:

Reports that AFP commissioner believes different generations require different level of praise are incorrect. The commissioner was referring to information recently presented to a policing forum.

The former competition watchdog head Rod Sims says Australia’s big supermarkets have likely used their market power to increase prices higher than necessary during a cost-of-living crisis and that the government should consider reforming merger laws to limit their dominance.

Sims, who retired as the chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) last year, said Coles and Woolworths have little to worry about when making pricing decisions because they control two-thirds of the market.

Sam Kerr wins again

The Matildas captain, Sam Kerr, received yet another accolade on Thursday in London, becoming the first woman to collect England’s Football Writers’ Association’s prestigious Footballer of the Year trophy in two consecutive seasons.

She picked up the award just a couple of days before she aims to shoot Chelsea to a fourth consecutive Women’s Super League title in England, thus completing another FA Cup-WSL double.

Kerr said:

I think to some people it might look easy, but every year it gets harder and harder to win the league.

Anyone that’s involved in football knows how hard it is to come back year after year and to stay at the top. So we’re doing everything to win on Saturday.

– AAP

Snow is capping Kunanyi/Mt Wellington in Tasmania, which comes off a very blustery day yesterday.

Linda Burney commemorates the Stolen Generations on National Sorry Day

As well as the sixth anniversary of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, today is also National Sorry Day, commemorating the Stolen Generations.

The minister for Indigenous affairs, Linda Burney, told ABC Radio she felt “mixed emotions.”

Twenty-six years ago the Bringing them Home report was tabled, and I’ll never forget the apology by Kevin Rudd 15 years ago, I was actually in the chamber.

Even now the emotion wells up in you to think that these people in our lifetime were taken and had terrible experiences and the trauma is intergenerational.

It’s also a story of survival, resilience and this country coming to terms with an awful part of its history.

Dutton says Labor is reducing gas in energy sector too early

Opposition leader Peter Dutton is this morning calling for more gas to be put into the grid to reduce energy costs following the news this morning that power bills could rise by up to 25% in some states.

Dutton told the Today Show:

We want to see more gas in the system. What the government is doing here is turning off the old system before the new one is ready. That’s what’s driving up prices … and I think the government’s completely underestimating how much families and small businesses are hurting at the moment.

The government’s attacking the gas sector at the moment and reducing the amount of gas into the sector, the system, at a time when there is more demand. If you have got more demand for any commodity and you’re restricting supply, the price spikes.

We’re in favour of renewable energy. But it needs to be firmed up during the hours of darkness when the solar panels won’t work and you have got the baseload cost.

So, whether you have 65 [or] 85% of renewables, you have to firm that up. The trouble is they are turning off coal and gas way too early before the latest technology battery lasts for an hour. So, when the new battery comes, that is great. It’s not here yet.

Precarious walls left after Sydney blaze may need to be demolished

Superintendent Adam Dewberry from NSW Fire and Rescue is doing the rounds of the breakfast news shows sharing the latest on the Sydney inferno.

He’s told ABC News Breakfast those two walls still in precarious positions will likely need to be demolished:

Our priority is to get people back into their residence and also to get communities and the businesses reopened.

We still have a problem with two walls in precarious positions and could come down without notice, bringing tons and tons of bricks down and causing projectiles and causing injury, damage or even death. That’s why our exclusion zone is so tight.

… It looks like making it safe will include a demolition of the walls down it a level where it is safe.

Dewberry says planning is currently occurring between authorities and local council.

We’ve heard from Fire and Rescue NSW that there is still the potential for further collapse around the seven-storey Sydney building which went up in flames last night.

The emergency organisation have shared the moment a huge part of the building’s facade came down yesterday evening:

Voice referendum ‘not the plaything of politicians’, Indigenous affairs minister says

On the pushback against the voice from the right and left, Burney says she’s met with both the independent Senator Lydia Thorpe and the shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Jacinta Price.

While Price’s position with the Nationals is a hard no to supporting the voice, Burney says the pair spoke about education in central Australia.

Thorpe’s position on the voice is still undecided, with her not advocating for a no or yes vote. Burney says she’d like her to support the alteration bill but ultimately it’s up to her.

The important thing is not about the left or the right of politics. What’s important is the Australian people this is their referendum, this is their decision. It is not the plaything of politicians.

Linda Burney: voice referendum chance to power ‘the wheel of history’

Indigenous leaders are returning to Uluru today six years since the Uluru Statement from the heart was delivered. The statement underpins the voice to parliament, which the nation will vote on in a referendum before the end of the year.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, is in the Red Centre but she says she is not concerned by a recent poll by the Nine newspapers which indicate the yes campaign is losing support.

Burney tells ABC Radio:

Individuals that know that this is their time to put their shoulder on the wheel of history and give it a shove.

The momentum is just enormous. We are at Uluru – I am looking at Uluru right now with the sun coming up as I was speaking to you – and I feel buoyed and I feel confident.

I know that we’ve still got six or seven months to run and I am sure that the Australian people will rise rise to this occasion.

Read more from our Indigenous affairs editor Lorena Allam, who is also on the ground at Uluru:

Evacuated dental hospital near site of Sydney blaze becomes emergency services hub

While the light rail that runs past the charred husk of the burnt out building on Randle Ln is running this morning, many of the roads are blocked off by police tape, including a usually very busy section of Elizabeth St, which will likely have an impact on morning traffic.

The total area cordoned off around the building is about six blocks. A hand-scrawled sign on the usually packed Elizabeth St bus stop directs people to the nearby Eddy Ave.

The Sydney Dental Hospital - a short distance away from the burnt out building - was evacuated yesterday. It’s now being used as a hub for the emergency services gathered at the site. Water pours past it in the street, downhill, where the media is gathered.

Sydney fire ‘pretty much out’ but concern walls may still collapse

Staying on the Sydney inferno, Superintendent Adam Dewberry from NSW Fire and Rescue says the the fire is “pretty much out” after firefighters worked up until 2am this morning to ensure hot spots were out.

However, Dewberry told the Today Show there is still serious concern more walls could collapse without notice.

There’s else a lot of work to be done. The building opposite has been damaged by that extreme heat. Firefighters were able to cut that fire off from spreading into the building across the road. But the main priority is that wall. There are two walls that are in a precarious position.

Dewberry says there is a “very good chance” they are likely to fall “without notice.”

We are talking about tonnes and tonnes of bricks that could come down and become projectiles that is why we have such a tight exclusion zone, not allowing anyone in, including firefighter[s], until we get the engineers in.

Morning update on Sydney blaze

The charred remains of the heritage listed multi-story brick building on Sydney’s Randle Lane are visible from the Central station underpass this morning.

About three complete storeys of the six storey building collapsed yesterday during the inferno that took hold about 4pm and quickly engulfed the building. The partially collapsed structure is strewn across Randle St, and a police line prevents members of the public from getting too close.

Water pours out from underneath an adjacent building abutting the light rail. A police officer tells me the apartment blocks nearby are still empty as the building is structurally unsound, and spot fires are still being put out.

Good morning! Natasha May stepping up to the plate to serve you the rest of today’s live news coverage.

WA premier: ‘unthinkable’ US-style school shooting nearly occurred

Mark McGowan, state premier, said it was “unthinkable” that a US-style school shooting could have happened at a WA school.

He told reporters yesterday during a visit to the school:

We are very lucky no one was killed. The bullets went close. It’s a terrible, terrible thing and it could have been so much worse.

This is extraordinary stuff. This is the sort of thing you see occurring in the deep south of America.

McGowan said work was already under way to dramatically reform the state’s gun laws.