Australia news live: ‘protestival’ to start in Newcastle harbour; thousands to rally against domestic violence
‘Protestival’ to start in Newcastle harbour
Climate activists will take to the water today to protest against fossil fuels at the world’s biggest coal port despite government efforts to crack down on the action, AAP reports.
The multi-day “protestival” will occupy parts of Newcastle harbour and foreshore with a flotilla, live music and other events revolving around protest and climate.
Former federal minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett will join the live music lineup that will be audible both on land and from the water.
It follows a successful last-minute legal challenge by organisers, Rising Tide, to overturn a planned “marine exclusion zone” by the government that would have prevented the protesters from entering the water.
As a result, the group said protesters could peacefully enter the water off Horseshoe Beach, near the mouth of the harbour, to conduct a flotilla without impeding the nearby shipping channel.
NSW police have repeatedly flagged concerns with the safety of the event, citing a similar action in 2023 that resulted in the arrests of nine people who refused to exit the water at an agreed time.
Rising Tide said it was calling for an end to new coal and gas approvals, and the imposition of a 78% tax on coal and gas exports to help fund the energy transition. Read more:
Key events
Heatwave conditions forecast for NSW and Victoria
Heatwave conditions are building over parts of Victoria and New South Wales today.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, much of Victoria will experience heatwave conditions, with maximum temperatures in the mid to high thirties.
Melbourne is forecast to reach 34C today, and 36C tomorrow, with a late cool change. Severe heatwave conditions are expected to ease from Sunday.
In New South Wales, southern parts of the state are forecast to experience heatwave conditions, with max temperatures in the high twenties to mid thirties.
Locations likely to be impacted include Bega, Bombala and Eden. In Sydney, the maximum forecast for today is 26C, followed by 28C on Saturday and 29C on Sunday, reaching up to 32C next Tuesday before a cool change.
A fire weather warning is in place for the West Coast, Eastern Eyre Peninsula and Lower Eyre Peninsula in South Australia, and there is another heatwave warning in place for parts of far north Queensland.
Greens senator reacts to news of ICC arrest warrants in relation to Gaza war
Overnight, the international criminal court issued arrest warrants for the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, the country’s former defence minister Yoav Gallant and the Hamas military leader Mohammed Deif for alleged war crimes relating to the Gaza war.
Greens senator David Shoebridge reacted to the news in a post to X, and said the world – including Australia – must ensure the arrest warrants are enforced:
The world, including Australia, must ensure these arrest warrants are enforced. It’s called justice.
Wayne Swan says criticism about Future Fund changes ‘absurd political criticism’
The national president of the Labor party, Wayne Swan, spoke with the Today show just earlier about changes to the Future Fund.
In case you missed it – the government has announced changes to the $230bn sovereign wealth fund, meaning it will be retooled with an investment mandate to help build houses, improve infrastructure and combat global heating.
Swan was asked about criticism from John Howard and Peter Costello to the changes, but responded that the government had not “changed the mandated investment return at all”.
And that is the critical point. I think Australians want their money invested in this country, if they can get the required return. And what’s wrong with saying that there are some national priorities? This is just absurd political criticism in the lead-up to the next election. Nothing more, nothing less.
Host Karl Stefanovic asked if it was about investments to suit a political agenda? Swan replied:
No, investments that suit the national agenda, because that’s what the government’s focusing on. What the Liberal party is focusing on is the next election.
Independent MP Dai Li was also on the program, and said she is concerned that “when the government talk about their surplus budget, if are they referring to this, you know, counting on this fund”.
Karen Middleton on Shorten’s farewell
Bill Shorten yesterday said farewell on his own terms. The former Labor leader did, of course, have his great failure in the 2019 election but was still able to bow out gracefully, praised even by his weekly TV sparring partner, Peter Dutton.
Karen Middleton was watching and sketched the scene.
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Friday – Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off for us.
I’ll be bringing you our rolling coverage of most of today. As always, you can reach out with any tips via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Paul Karp
Chalmers and Husic convening investor roundtable to unlock capital for housing
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and industry minister, Ed Husic, are convening an investor roundtable with more than 20 investors who have nearly $3tn of capital under management.
The roundtable will discuss unlocking capital for prefabricated housing, which the Productivity Commission has found could reduce construction costs by 20% and lift GDP by $5.7bn. Chalmers said:
A big part of Labor’s economic agenda is about incentivising and mobilising private sector investment and that’s the purpose of our investor roundtables. We’re bringing some of the most influential investors in the country to the table to help get capital flowing where it’s most needed. This will mean more investment in areas like housing and energy in ways that also deliver strong returns. Investing in our national priorities presents big opportunities for investors and big opportunities for Australians.
Husic said that new modelling shows the “huge benefits of using local advanced manufacturing to build more quality homes quickly.”
Modern construction isn’t just faster, it’s cheaper and cleaner too. That’s why earlier this year we moved to update the national construction code to encourage more pre-fab and modular housing.
Caitlin Cassidy
Aged care provider peak body welcomes passing of aged care bill in senate
The peak body for aged care providers has hailed the passing of the federal government’s aged care bill in the Senate as a “watershed moment” for older Australians, paving the way for the act to be legislated into parliament.
The Aged and Community Care providers Association (ACCPA) said the new, rights-based aged care act – the number one recommendation of the Royal Commission into Aged Care – would deliver on dozens of other recommendations made in the final report, passed down three years ago.
ACCPA Ceo Tom Symondson said elected politicians had put older Australians and the future of aged care above party politics “with rare bipartisan support”.
The new act will replace the previous Aged Care Act, which was drafted in 1997.
The path to the new act follows significant consultation with consumers, providers, unions, workers, accountants, economists, and members of parliament. Negotiations have been robust, but in good faith, with everyone putting the future of older Australians at the heart of reforms.
Symondson said providers would need a clearly articulated transition plan so the reforms could be implemented successfully before the currently proposed date of 1 July 2025, calling for “realistic timeframes” and funding.
We need certainty, we need support, and we need time. Everyone wants these reforms to succeed and we only get one chance to get this right.
‘Protestival’ to start in Newcastle harbour
Climate activists will take to the water today to protest against fossil fuels at the world’s biggest coal port despite government efforts to crack down on the action, AAP reports.
The multi-day “protestival” will occupy parts of Newcastle harbour and foreshore with a flotilla, live music and other events revolving around protest and climate.
Former federal minister and Midnight Oil frontman Peter Garrett will join the live music lineup that will be audible both on land and from the water.
It follows a successful last-minute legal challenge by organisers, Rising Tide, to overturn a planned “marine exclusion zone” by the government that would have prevented the protesters from entering the water.
As a result, the group said protesters could peacefully enter the water off Horseshoe Beach, near the mouth of the harbour, to conduct a flotilla without impeding the nearby shipping channel.
NSW police have repeatedly flagged concerns with the safety of the event, citing a similar action in 2023 that resulted in the arrests of nine people who refused to exit the water at an agreed time.
Rising Tide said it was calling for an end to new coal and gas approvals, and the imposition of a 78% tax on coal and gas exports to help fund the energy transition. Read more:
Thousands to rally against gender-based violence
Thousands of people will take to the streets demanding an end to gender-based violence, AAP reports.
The crowds are expected to march in Melbourne on Friday to mark the beginning of 16 days of activism. The global campaign is for the prevention and elimination of violence against women and girls.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said yesterday that “we are seeing in Victoria, and in Australia, too many women are losing their lives at the hands of either someone that was known to them or someone who was a complete stranger – it is happening too often”.
A royal commission into domestic, family and sexual violence in South Australia heard on Wednesday the system was in crisis due to shortages in resources and increased demand.
In Queensland, police deal with about 140,000 calls for domestic and family violence service every year with 2024 tracking towards 190,000.
The Respect Victoria chairperson, Kate Fitz-Gibbon, said today’s walk was a powerful demonstration of unwavering community support to end behaviour and attitudes enabling the use of violence against women.
The 16 days of activism provide great opportunities for all Victorians to get involved in shifting the narrative.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best of the overnight stories, while Emily Wind will be along soon to take charge.
More than 80,000 people could be deported from Australia to third countries paid to take them under Labor’s new bill likened to the UK’s failed Rwanda deportation plan. A Senate inquiry hearing yesterday heard home affairs department officials confirm the migration amendment bill could affect far more people than those released from immigration detention by the high court. But it will not expand the cohort of those eligible for removal, they said.
We have an exclusive story revealing that a secretive memorandum of understanding between the Victorian government and the Israeli defence force will not be renewed when it expires next month. We’ll have more shortly.
After world leaders wrangled all week over what to do about the climate crisis, activists will take to the water today to protest fossil fuels at the world’s biggest coal port despite government efforts to crack down on the action. The multi-day “protestival” will occupy parts of Newcastle harbour and foreshore with a flotilla, live music and other events revolving around activism and climate. We’ll have developments as they unfold.
Meanwhile, thousands are due to march in Victoria against domestic violence: more on that too soon.
A British lawyer, Simone White, has been named as the fifth person to die in a suspected mass methanol poisoning in Laos that has already claimed the life of Melbourne teenager Bianca Jones and left her friend Holly Bowles fighting for her life.
