Australia news live: Victorian police commissioner quits after no-confidence vote; Sydney faces more train disruption
Victorian police commissioner quits after no-confidence vote
Victoria is set to recruit a new police boss after the embattled chief resigned days after a majority of his workforce declared no confidence in his leadership.
As AAP reports, chief commissioner Shane Patton said last night that he had advised the Victorian government he had decided to step away from the role “effective immediately”.
It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.
After more than 45 years of serving the community with Victoria police, he had “utmost pride” in the organisation.
Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, would step into the role “as soon as practicable” until a replacement was chosen, premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement yesterday. Deputy commissioner Wendy Steendam will lead the organisation temporarily.
The state’s top cop had gone to ground since initially vowing to stay on after a union no-confidence vote was passed on Friday. Of the 14,571 Police Association members who took part in the online ballot, more than 12,600 – or 87% – did not have confidence he could lead and manage Victoria police in the future.
Key events
Sydney rail chief says 90% of timetable operating without major delay this morning
Sydney Trains CEO Matthew Longland says 90% of the rail timetable was operating and no major delays were being seen across any lines so far today.
But the situation is unpredictable and we may see conditions deteriorate later today.
Speaking on the Today Show, Longland described the situation as “incredibly frustrating” as negotiations continue with the unions.
We were close to a deal last week. We spent most of the week with unions, working through the last bits and pieces to settle this deal for good. Unfortunately, those discussions came unstuck on Thursday and this new round of industrial action started on Friday.
Friday was a very difficult day on the network. Thankfully, today looks like it’s a more positive day for passengers, but there will still be impacts … Conditions may be unpredictable this afternoon.
Lambie weighs in on latest polling numbers
Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie was up on the Today Show this morning, where she responded to those latest Newspoll numbers.
She said it “doesn’t matter who you have in government at the moment” because “nothing would have been done differently”.
We still would have had those interest hikes. We’re still waiting … for an interest rate drop in the next few weeks. Even then, for many people out there, it’s not going to be a lot of money in the back pocket. So I just think overall they’ve done it really hard.
We’ve been through Covid, nothing’s really picked up. I think that, you know, people had some hope after that and the hope just hasn’t flowed through.
Coalition leads 51-49 over Labor in latest Newspoll
The latest Newspoll published in The Australian newspaper shows the Coalition has a 51-49 lead over Labor in the two-party preferred stakes, AAP reports.
Labor’s primary vote is languishing at 31, compared to the Coalition’s 38, the poll found. Some 53% of those surveyed believed the Albanese government did not deserve to be re-elected, while 34% were happy to give it another term.
About 45% believed Anthony Albanese would be the better PM, compared with Peter Dutton’s 40%. The poll surveyed 1,244 voters nationally last week.
Meanwhile, modelling from pollster YouGov projected the Coalition to win 73 seats at the election – putting Dutton in pole position to form government. Polls show voters consider Dutton a stronger leader on matters of law and order than Albanese, who voters consider the weakest party leader in decades.
While these issues are Dutton’s strong suit, Redbridge polling published in News Corp papers on Sunday showed they are not the most pressing for voters. The cost of living was far and above the biggest concern, with 84% of respondents ranking it in their top three.
Labor won’t touch capital gains tax or negative gearing in lead-up to election – O’Neil
Clare O’Neil was also asked why the government doesn’t do something more significant in the housing space – for example, addressing the capital gains tax or negative gearing?
The housing minister responded that “no”, the government wouldn’t touch either of these issues in the lead-up to the election, with the focus on building more supply.
The reason we have got a housing crisis in our country is because really, for 30 or 40 years, we have not been building enough homes in Australia. And so almost everything the Australian government is doing is making sure that we provide more housing for Australians and then give Australians the opportunity to buy into those homes. So that’s why this is just one piece of this really, really broad agenda for housing.
O’Neil on Labor’s move to ban foreign investors from buying existing homes for two years
The housing minister, Clare O’Neil, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier after Labor matched an opposition policy of stopping foreign investors from buying existing homes for two years.
Asked if she always personally supported this idea, or if it was about getting this on the agenda ahead of the election, O’Neil said this was because “Australians are under real housing pressure today.”
You asked if I always believed in this – the honest truth is yes. I feel really strongly about this. We’ve got serious problems with housing in our country at the moment, and that’s why you’re seeing our government throw absolutely everything at this problem.
She was asked what impact this would actually have on housing prices, with the move catching about 0.5% of the market. O’Neil said it wasn’t “a silver bullet and no one is pretending that it is”.
If this was an easy problem to solve, a government would’ve done this a long time ago. We got a housing crisis in our country which has been in the generation in the making …
Will it make a difference? The answer is, yes, it will mean thousands of Australian families get the opportunity to own their own home that otherwise wouldn’t have had that chance. If we keep making moves like this, then we’re going to make a difference.
Hundreds of train services cancelled across Sydney as transport disruption continues
Transport for NSW says the rail network is running “close to timetable” this morning with minimal delays and a smaller number of cancellations.
But passengers are still being advised to plan ahead and allow extra travel time, with disruptions throughout the day flagged.
197 Sydney Trains and NSW TrainLink train drivers and guards did not report for their normal shifts as of 5am today, and this number could grow throughout the day. As a result, 335 services have been cancelled so far today.
Across Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 1,525 train drivers and guards did not report for work, resulting in 3,935 services cancelled or delayed.
Transport for NSW said the matter would be back in the Fair Work Commission for a full bench hearing on Wednesday.
Victorian police commissioner quits after no-confidence vote
Victoria is set to recruit a new police boss after the embattled chief resigned days after a majority of his workforce declared no confidence in his leadership.
As AAP reports, chief commissioner Shane Patton said last night that he had advised the Victorian government he had decided to step away from the role “effective immediately”.
It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.
After more than 45 years of serving the community with Victoria police, he had “utmost pride” in the organisation.
Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, would step into the role “as soon as practicable” until a replacement was chosen, premier Jacinta Allan said in a statement yesterday. Deputy commissioner Wendy Steendam will lead the organisation temporarily.
The state’s top cop had gone to ground since initially vowing to stay on after a union no-confidence vote was passed on Friday. Of the 14,571 Police Association members who took part in the online ballot, more than 12,600 – or 87% – did not have confidence he could lead and manage Victoria police in the future.
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning, and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.
As AAP reports, Victoria’s police commissioner Shane Patton has advised he would step away from the role “effective immediately”. He said last night:
It is with a heavy heart that I have made this decision, however I think it is the right one to allow fresh leadership in the role.
After more than 45 years of serving the community with Victoria police, Patton had “utmost pride” in the organisation. We’ll have more on this shortly.
Meanwhile, chaos is continuing throughout the Sydney train network amid the rail unions’ ongoing standoff with the New South Wales government. Commuters are being advised to plan ahead and allow extra travel time today, with service disruptions already occurring.
We’ll bring you updates throughout the day as the situation develops. You can read more on this below:
As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s get started.
