Health News at Your Fingertips

Cait Kelly

A man is in critical condition after a serious incident at URBNSURF in Melbourne’s north on Friday morning.

Police and paramedics were called to the surf park at Tullamarine at 11.30am.

The surfer, a man believed to be in his 40s, was treated for a medical condition at the park and is now at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a critical condition.

URBNSURF, which opened in 2020, uses technology to create waves for surfers at every level.

The park released a statement saying the it had been immediately closed after the incident.

“There has been a serious incident at URBNSURF Melbourne, our team has provided support and care for the friends on site,” a statement from URBNSURF read.

“Our first priority is the health and safety of our customers.

“As soon as the incident occurred, we immediately closed the park and are continuing to provide our full cooperation to the first responders and police.

“The facility will remain closed until further notice. As a police investigation is under way, we are unable to provide any further comment.”

Tim Watts says 250 passport processing staff to be added over six weeks to address backlog

Watts says the backlog of passport applications is a “big failure” of the former Coalition government, that should have been foreseen given borders opening up after two years.

He says people need to factor in at least six weeks for passport applications. Thirty-five additional staff were put on this week, and 35 will be put on next week.

He says 250 passport processing staff will be put on in the next six weeks to deal with the backlog, but says “it’s not going to be a quick fix but will take some time to work through, so we ask Australians to please plan ahead and get your passport applications in as soon as possible”.

Dutton ‘close to the last person you’d listen to’ on defence procurement acquisitions, says Tim Watts

Assistant foreign affairs minister, Tim Watts, says on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has shown he “never got off the training wheels” during the time he was defence minister, following his recent comments about the plans for a stop-gap submarine purchase prior to the election.

He said:

The only operation of these six unsuccessful defence ministers of the Abbott, Turnbull and Morrison government is announcing things, desperate to ensure no-one looks at the record of failure on delivery, a record of decades of delays, billions of dollars, tens of billions of dollars of cost blowouts and little delivered for the Australian taxpayer.

And today in the newspapers we see that Peter Dutton is continuing to deliver announcements as a political tactic from opposition. It’s fair to say that Peter Dutton would be close to the last person you’d listen to on advice on defence procurement acquisitions, but he has a bit of company on that list with the five other failed defence ministers …

Eden Gillespie

‘We can come together as one’: friends of Nadesalingam family vow to keep fighting for permanent protection

As Priya Nadesalingam touched down in Biloela for the first time in four years she bent down and kissed the ground.

Supporters and friends of the Nadesalingam family welcomed the family home with hugs, rainbow streamers and signs embellished with cockatoos.

The humble Thangool airport in Central Queensland was overwhelmed this morning, as media and supporters swarmed the airport, awaiting the family’s arrival.

The excitement was such that an airport worker had to ask the crowd to stay to one side so that when the family touched down they would able to get out smoothly.

As Priya, Nades and their children, Kopika and Tharnicaa, exited the plane, the family received a celebrity welcome and applause from the crowd – one of the girls even blew supporters a kiss.

Teary, Priya said she was “very happy” that she was able to return to Biloela. She said she hoped the government would grant her family with permanent protection and provide other refugees with certainty.

She said the family had been treated “inhumanely” in detention.

In May, interim home affairs minister, Jim Chalmers, granted the family bridging visas, allowing them to leave community detention in Perth and return to their home in Biloela.

But they are still fighting for permanent protection – something the government could grant them with the stroke of a pen using the “godlike” powers of ministerial discretion.

Angelica Fredricks, a friend of the family, said the Home to Bilo campaign is going “to keep fighting until this family has permanency”.

“Australians have shown that we can unite.. we can come together as one,” she said.

With the family attending the Flourish festival on Saturday and Tharnicaa’s fifth birthday party on Sunday, it’s looking to be a hectic welcome home for the Tamil refugee family.

Myself and photographer Mike Bowers have flown up to Biloela and will be speaking with the family, locals and their friends over the next few days – so keep an eye out.

Mehreen Faruqi appointed deputy leader of the Greens

Calla Wahlquist

Senator Mehreen Faruqi has been appointed deputy leader of the Australian Greens, replacing Senator Nick McKim and Senator Larissa Waters.

The party voted on leadership positions at a party room meeting in Melbourne today.

Adam Bandt was reappointed as leader, Faruqi is in the deputy position. Waters was appointed leader in the Senate, Lidia Thorpe is deputy Senate leader, and Sarah Hanson-Young is manager of Senate business. McKim, whose office issued the statement announcing the leadership change, was appointed senate whip.

Senator Janet Rice is the party room chair. They have also established a new position: house whip, a position they have not needed previously, with Bandt in the lower house on his lonesome. That position will be voted on at a later date.

The statement said all appointments were “supported unanimously and decided by consensus”.

A happy day in Biloela – a rare outcome in Australia’s immigration system

The press conference has wrapped up. That was wonderful to see the Nadesalingam family back in Biloela.

I’d covered their court battle – almost every hearing from the day an emergency injunction was issued preventing their removal from Australia, while they were mid-flight being removed from Australia.

Australia’s immigration law is harsh, and almost all of the thousands and thousands cases do not get the attention that this family’s had.

Sitting in court watching each small progression, and incremental victory, it always seemed like an impossible hill for them to climb – even though the immigration minister always had the power to fix it at any time.

So today is a happy day.

It’s not over for them yet. They still don’t yet have permanent residency, but the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, said this week he is being “briefed on options” and will make a decision as soon as possible.

There are many, many others who won’t get a happy resolution in Australia’s immigration system who should, but that shouldn’t detract people from feeling happy today for this family for finally getting back home to Biloela.

Priya Nadesalingam says (through a translator) that the family’s treatment in the detention was inhumane:

We were treated very badly and my children [were] affected mentally and physically and even my youngest one lost teeth. We had a really hard life and I hope that nobody goes through that.

She says she is very thankful the change of government has allowed her to return home to Biloela today.

She says she is hoping the government comes through with permanent residency for the family soon (they are currently on bridging visas).

There is a Facebook live stream of the Nadesalingam family press conference if you want to continue watching it. The sound isn’t great, but we will have a more full report soon.

The press conference at Biloela with the Nadesalingam family has started.

Priya says she is very happy to be there.

One of the supporters from the Tamil Refugee Council has noted that although Priya and Nades were treated with “unimaginable cruelty” by the former Coalition government, they were first put into detention by the former Labor government.

He says that it is still not safe for Tamil people to live in Sri Lanka, and calls for the new Labor government to review the policy that Tamil people can return to Sri Lanka.

My colleague Eden Gillespie will have a full report from the press conference soon.

Daniel Hurst

Arden’s statement on ‘successful’ meeting with Albanese

And now the New Zealand prime minister, Jacinda Ardern, has issued her own statement about the “first successful bilateral meeting” with Anthony Albanese in Sydney today. Ardern said she was delighted to congratulate the Australian prime minister in person on his election win. She also confirmed that they would meet again in July.

Our time together today cements an already very close relationship between our two nations. To meet so quickly after the Australian election is indicative of the close relationship of our two countries. I look forward to continue working together, and hosting the Prime Minister in New Zealand in the future.Through our single economic market, our people-to-people ties and our shared interests in our region and the world, wherever New Zealand and Australia face challenges and change, we both gain more by facing them together.

Ardern’s statement said the pair had “discussed cooperation and engagement in the Pacific region, in particular the importance of working together to support Pacific partners facing a complex and growing array of challenges, including climate change and an increasingly contested strategic environment”.

The talks also covered Australia and New Zealand’s “common goals on the international stage”, the statement said.

Ardern welcomed the new Australian government’s emphasis on First Nations voices and Albanese’s commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart. The statement said both prime ministers agreed to continue to ensure Indigenous perspectives were at the centre of policy making.

Here is what Ardern’s statement said about Australia’s section 501 visa cancellation policy:

I’ve asked Prime Minister Albanese to see what changes might be possible, in particular to take greater account of potential deportees’ links to New Zealand. In New Zealand for instance, we do not deport individuals who have lived here for 10 years or more.

Victorian vegetable farm fined $60,000 for hiring illegal workers

Cait Kelly

Australia’s largest grower of broccolini and asparagus has been fined $60,000 for employing illegal workers to pick vegetables.

Workers for M&G Vizzarri Pty Ltd, which is headed by Giuseppe Vizzarri, were paid under the award rate – female employees were paid $14 an hour, while men were given $15 an hour – when they worked at its Gippsland farm in 2016.

Vizzarri pleaded guilty to eight charges of allowing an unlawful non-citizen to work and one charge of allowing a lawful non-citizen to work in breach of their visa requirements.

In the county court this morning, judge Trevor Wraight said no one at M&G Vizzarri ever checked if the workers had visas, even though the company was aware of an online government site that helps businesses check.

Wraight said if the business had not pleaded guilty he would have fined it $100,000, close to the maximum penalty of $108,000.

“It was not an early plea, but still has significant utilitarian value,” Wraight said.

Eden Gillespie is on the ground in Biloela and has footage of the Nadesalingam family’s arrival.

Paul Karp

Barnaby Joyce welcomes Nadesalingam family’s return to Biloela

The shadow veterans affairs minister, Barnaby Joyce, has welcomed the fact the Nadesalingam family has been allowed to return to Biloela.

Joyce first called for this while a backbencher, before returning as Nationals leader and deputy prime minister, but it has taken a Labor government to release them from detention.

Joyce told Sky News:

Should’ve happened, job’s done, tick. Those young girls were born in Australia. Send them back to Sri Lanka? Why not send them back to Rwanda? That’s another country they weren’t born in. Or Finland. Or Mozambique. They were born in Australia – they are Australians. Why do I get so worked up about this? Because I was kicked out of the parliament because apparently someone thought I was a New Zealander. That was a small slight. Imagine if I was kicked out of the country.

A shaky understanding of citizenship aside, there’s no denying his passion on the issue.

Nadesalingam family finally home after four years

It’s an emotional time for the family as they leave the plane and arrive back in Biloela for the first time in four years, after they were removed by Border Force and put into immigration detention.

The Nadesalingam family have touched down in Biloela, so we are expecting a press conference with the family and supporters shortly.

Media and supporters gather at airport for Nadesalingam family

Eden Gillespie

Mike Bowers and I have arrived in Biloela where the Nadesalingam family will be landing today at Thangool airport.

“Airport” is a generous term – there is one runway, a toilet and a small waiting area, with the aerodrome surrounded by farmland.

We’ve arrived over an hour early and there is already one supporter of the family waiting for them to arrive in the car park, with red and yellow flowers secured under the window shield of her car and rainbow paper mache tucked under her mirror.

The media pack is also here early, staking out a spot to welcome the family. Things are pretty quiet for now but stay tuned – it looks like it’ll get crowded soon.

I’ve just spoken with friends of the family, Lorraine and Margot, who have been waiting for hours for the family to touch down in Thangool airport. Both women have been fighting for the family to return home to Biloela.

Margot drove three hours from Bundaberg to be here. She calls herself the girl’s grandma and has known the family for years.

“I’ve known Kopi since she was four years old and Tharnicaa since she was four days old. They’re my little granddaughters,” she said.

“I’ve been crying to myself, I’ve been laughing to myself. I can’t wait to give them a hug.”

Lorraine has picked flowers for the family from her garden and brought streamers and signs to welcome the family home.

Margot says she is happy the family has been granted bridging visas but hopes the family will be granted permanent protection.

“These are our people here … the people here embrace them. I would like to see them get the family out of this town now. They’ll have a fight.”

Daniel Hurst

Albanese says Australia and New Zealand share a ‘uniquely close relationship’

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has issued a statement about his talks earlier today with New Zealand’s Jacinda Ardern.

Albanese said the two countries shared “a uniquely close relationship”:

It is a relationship of whanau—of family. That’s why it’s fitting that Prime Minister Ardern is the first foreign leader I’ve met with as Prime Minister on Australian soil.

We are countries with common culture and values, shared interests and outlooks.

The Prime Minister and I both know that trade and integration mean jobs, growth and opportunities. We are determined to work together to take the trans-Tasman economic relationship to new heights.

Next year, we will celebrate 80 years of diplomatic relations, and 40 years of our ground-breaking Closer Economic Relations trade agreement—one the most comprehensive trade agreements in the world.

The statement also addresses the increasing contest for influence in the Pacific:

Australia and New Zealand are proud Pacific nations and we value our relationships with our Pacific partners very deeply. We will work side-by-side with our Pacific brothers and sisters. We are committed to deepening our partnerships in support of a stable and prosperous region.

There is also a big emphasis on climate in Albanese’s statement:

Together, Australia and New Zealand face the global challenges of a changing climate, economic uncertainty and shifting dynamics in global security. And together, we can work towards solutions to these challenges, including realising a free, open and resilient Indo-Pacific.

Prime Minister Ardern and I discussed climate change and the ambitious action my Government will take. We will reduce Australia’s emissions by 43 per cent by 2030 and ensure we are firmly on track for Net Zero by 2050.

Like New Zealand, we intend to legislate our Net Zero target. We will also submit an updated new Nationally Determined Contribution to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) soon.

I look forward to working closely with Prime Minister Ardern to ensure the continued success of our Trans-Tasman relationship.

TWU calls for overhaul of airline industry standards amid airport chaos

The Transport Workers’ Union has called on the federal government to lift standards in the airline industry to bring workers back to the sector and fix the issues causing the long lines seen at airports today.

The union has called for a “Safe and Secure Skies” commission.

Michael Kaine, national secretary of the TWU, said this weekend is a repeat of the chaos at Easter:

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing twice and expecting a different outcome. Little action has been taken since Easter to address the serious skills shortages we’ve seen in aviation caused by low wages, poor working conditions and collapsing safety standards.

The workers that remain in the industry are under enormous pressure from airports and airlines to plug gaps and keep the gears moving. While the workers that remain are over-worked and stressed out, there’s hundreds of experienced workers forced to sit at home because their jobs were illegally stolen from them by Qantas through its shameful outsourcing.

We are an island nation dependent on a viable aviation industry. It’s critical we fix this crisis.

Nine long years of inaction has allowed this insecure work rot to set in. The newly minted Albanese Government must move quickly to fix it. Workers need an independent Commission with the power to lift standards and correct power imbalances within the industry. Lifting wages and reversing the skills exodus in aviation must be top of the agenda if we are to sustainably rebuild the industry.