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This was published 3 years ago

As it happened: PM expected to visit China in October; Russia knows who was behind Medibank hack

Caroline Schelle and Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

Greens reject Leeser’s compromise proposal for the Voice
ABC will hold Q&A host role open for Stan Grant
Mike Baird announces Cricket Australia supports the Voice to parliament
Union sues for the right to monitor silica dust
Burney accuses Dutton of ‘misinformation, disinformation and scare campaigns’
This afternoon’s headlines
Dutton launches blistering attack on Voice, saying it’s ‘Orwellian’
Liberal MP praises ‘moral courage’ of those who raised Voice concerns

Today’s headlines

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

It’s been a pleasure hosting the blog this afternoon, with plenty of interesting news around. For those just catching up, here are some highlights:

  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will visit China later this year, while Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Australia this week, and Indonesian President Joko Widodo will visit later this year.
  • ABC television presenter and Wiradjuri man Stan Grant will host Q&A tonight, then step away because of racist abuse. ABC staff have rallied in Sydney and Melbourne to support Grant. Meanwhile, news director Justin Stevens has hit the radio airwaves to defend Grant, attack News Limited, and promise to keep Grant’s job open in case he wants to return after the mid-season break.
  • The debate over the enabling legislation for the referendum to change the Constitution to enshrine and Indigenous Voice to parliament has kicked off, and is expected to last all week. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has gone in hard against the Voice, which he says is “Orwellian” and will “re-racialise” Australia, in comments that have sparked widespread fury. Linda Burney, Minister for Indigenous Australians, said Dutton is spreading “misinformation, disinformation and scare campaigns”, while Greens Leader Adam Bandt said Dutton is using race to divide the country. Bandt has also explained why the Greens can’t support Julian Leeser’s so-called compromise amendments. Meanwhile, Cricket Australia has declared its support for the Voice, prompting headline writers everywhere to make gags about how it has “come out to bat” for the proposal.
  • The inquiry into the handling of the Bruce Lehrmann trial has also continued, with the cops accused of speaking harshly to Brittany Higgins for speaking to the media.

The blog is closing now, and our breaking news reporters will take it from here. Join us again bright and early tomorrow.

Border Force suspends use of Chinese-made drones

By Matthew Knott

Turning to national security, it’s emerged that Australian Border Force has suspended the use of a fleet of Chinese-made drones because of security concerns.

It was revealed earlier this year Border Force had purchased 41 drones made by Chinese company Da Jiang Innovations, a company banned by the Pentagon last year because of concerns about the firm’s military links and cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Department of Home Affairs chief operating officer Justine Saunders told Senate estimates hearings that the drones were grounded in recent weeks, but she would have to check exactly when it occurred.

Defence Department secretary Greg Moriarty and Defence Force Chief General Angus Campbell signed a cessation order earlier this month suspending the use of all Da Jiang Innovations products pending while a security audit is conducted.

The Department of Finance revealed earlier this year that surveillance cameras and intercom systems made by Chinese companies Hikvision and Dahua were being ripped out from the neighbourhood offices of almost 100 federal politicians over security concerns.

Greens reject Leeser’s compromise proposal for the Voice

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Greens Leader Adam Bandt has been making the rounds this afternoon. As well as his interview on rental affordability, he was also on Radio National explaining why the Greens oppose Julian Leeser’s so-called compromise position for the Indigenous Voice to parliament.

Bandt said Opposition Leader Peter Dutton – who was railing against the Voice as “Orwellian” earlier today – was “just trying to use race to divide this country”.

Greens Leader Adam Bandt at the National Press Club last month.Alex Ellinghausen

Bandt pointed out Dutton had form in using race as a political wedge, for example calling asylum seekers “illegals” or stirring up fear of African gangs in Melbourne.

But nor could the Greens accept the position of moderate Liberals such as Leeser.

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Bandt says Albanese government is not taking rental crisis seriously

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Greens Leader Adam Bandt has also been on radio this afternoon, talking about housing affordability and how to help renters.

He told ABC Radio Melbourne the government was not taking the rental crisis seriously and needed to tackle the issue at national cabinet.

The small-target approach of the government isn’t fixing the big problems that the country is facing. We’ve got to have a discussion about a rent freeze and rent controls in this country in the way that many other countries do.

The federal government has the power of the purse strings and at the moment they’re giving $7 billion in tax concessions and handouts to people who’ve got three or more properties in the form of negative gearing and capital gains tax [concessions]. That’s pushing up prices and pushing houses out of the reach of first-home buyers and making rents unaffordable.

The federal government sits and heads the national cabinet and can do what was done during the pandemic by the former prime minister Scott MOrrison and get everyone around the table, use the power of the purse strings, and say ‘we have a national rental crisis, it’s time we acted on it, everybody needs to do their bit’.

The federal government can reform the handouts to wealthy property investors with multiple properties - we’re not talking about someone who’s got one property - and the states can do their bit too.

The radio host put to Bandt that the Albanese government had done a lot for renters, including raising rent assistance in the recent federal budget.

But Bandt said:

In the budget they have left so many people behind. About 1.1 million people get Commonwealth rent assistance and all the government has done has given some of those people as little as $1 a day when rents are growing 10 times faster than that in our capital cities.

And five and a half million people who don’t get rent assistance get absolutely nothing at all from the budget.

So the government has been dragged kicking and screaming to understand that renters are in crisis, but they’re doing half measures - they’re bringing a bucket of water to a house fire.

Construction firm rejects union claims over silica dust

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

We posted earlier this afternoon about the Australian Workers Union suing construction firm John Holland over the right of union officials to measure deadly silica dust at a major infrastructure worksite.

At the time of the earlier post (at 3.05pm), we did not have a statement from the company.

Now John Holland has responded, saying the health of its employees was its “number one priority” and that its air monitoring processes were “well-established”.

A company spokesperson said the union was routinely provided with air quality test results from its sites.

“We comply with all relevant workplace health and safety regulations to ensure air monitoring on all of our sites, including the Rozelle Interchange Project, is of the highest possible standards,” the spokesperson said.

ABC will hold Q&A host role open for Stan Grant

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

The ABC’s news chief hit the airwaves this afternoon to defend television presenter Stan Grant, and he said he hopes the Q&A host’s departure won’t be permanent.

ABC news director Justin Stevens told ABC Melbourne radio that Grant was an “incredible journalist” and the invitation was there for him to return to hosting Q&A should he want to.

“He is keen for a break, he wants a rest and to spend time with his family,” Stevens said. “We totally respect and understand that. Q&A is due to have a few more episodes after this week, and then it’s got a mid-season break, and then we’ll return.

“We just want to give him space and time to try and have a breather from this. Hopefully, he’ll return after the mid-season, but we don’t want to put him under any extra pressure at the moment.”

ABC news director Justin Stevens has hit the airwaves to defend Stan Grant and said he regrets not doing it earlier.Janie Barrett
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Xanana Gusmao likely to regain power in Timor-Leste

By Chris Barrett

Staying on South-East Asia, Xanana Gusmao’s bid to return as prime minister of Timor-Leste is in good shape this afternoon, with his party accounting for just over half of votes counted so far since yesterday’s election.

There were almost 900,000 registered voters out of a population of 1.3 million for the poll, but technical issues meant the results have not yet been confirmed.

By this afternoon, Gusmao’s National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction party had attracted about 40 per cent of the vote count released.

The other major party, Fretilin, received 27 per cent of the votes.

Without a majority, one of the major parties will need to form a coalition with one or more of the minor parties to form government, so it is expected there will be a period of horse-trading after results are finalised.

For background, read more about the new generation deciding the young country’s future.

Indonesian President to visit Australia this year

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Back to the topic of international state visits, Indonesia President Joko Widodo is set to make his first visit to Australia in more than three years.

South-East Asia correspondent Chris Barrett reports that Widodo, popularly known as Jokowi, discussed his intentions to travel to Australia in the near future with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on the edges of the G7 summit in Hiroshima.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Indonesian President Joko Widodo in Indonesia last year.Alex Ellinghausen

Adi Dzulfuat, the director for Pacific and Oceania affairs at the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said the visit was scheduled for early July.

Read the full story here.

ABC staff rally to support Stan Grant

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Osman Faruqi and Angus Dalton report that ABC staff have rallied across the country to support Stan Grant ahead of his final appearance as host of Q&A tonight.

The Wiradjuri man announced on Friday that he was standing down after being subject to a tirade of racist abuse.

Staff gathered outside the organisation’s Sydney and Melbourne headquarters, holding placards reading “I stand with Stan” and “We reject racism”.

Read the full story here.

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Mike Baird announces Cricket Australia supports the Voice to parliament

By James Massola

Cricket Australia is the latest major sporting code to back the proposed Voice to parliament, throwing its support behind the Yes campaign this afternoon.

The AFL, NRL and Rugby Australia have all announced their support for the proposed constitutional alteration, which will be put to Australians in a referendum by the end of 2023. (October 14 is considered the most likely date.)

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Tennis Australia and the National Basketball League have both also backed a Yes vote.

Baird quit as NSW premier in 2017 and is one of the most senior former Liberals in the country to back a Yes vote, albeit under the auspices of his position as Cricket Australia chair.

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