Health News at Your Fingertips

Josh Taylor

Sydney airport has started using new scanners in its Qantas domestic terminal as part of the shift away from metal detectors

New South Wales to abolish stamp duty for first homebuyers

From AAP:

First homebuyers in NSW will be able to opt out of one of the biggest barriers to homeownership, as the premier pulls the trigger on his long-held plan to abolish stamp duty.

From January, first home buyers can choose between paying stamp duty once or opting into an annual tax, paying $400 and 0.3% of the land’s value.

The government has budgeted $728.6m for the scheme over four years, with plans to introduce legislation later this year and give first homebuyers the choice by 16 January.

First homebuyers can opt for the tax on properties up to $1.5m and the property won’t be locked into the tax if sold.

Existing stamp duty exemptions for properties under $650,000 and concessions for properties under $800,000 will remain.

NSW opposition leader, Chris Minns, says the government is hiding behind first homebuyers to introduce its coveted land tax.

“If you’re going to put money on the table for first homebuyers, why introduce a brand new land tax system for NSW, one we’ve never had before, rather than just extending exemptions?”

It’s here, it’s short and it means Spring is on its way

Paul Karp

ACT supreme court chief justice ‘regrettably’ postpones trial of Bruce Lehrmann

The trial of the man accused of raping Brittany Higgins will be delayed, likely until October, due to public comments on the case that could “obliterate” the distinction between an allegation and finding of guilt.

At an urgent ACT supreme court hearing on Tuesday, the chief justice, Lucy McCallum, ruled “regrettably and with gritted teeth” to vacate the trial, which was set to begin on Monday, due to comments by journalist Lisa Wilkinson and broadcasters Amanda Keller and Brendan Jones.

Winter solstice celebrations from around the country and Antarctica

Researchers in the Antarctic have taken a dip into a sub-zero pool to mark the winter solstice as Australians prepare to celebrate the shortest day of the year on Tuesday.

The winter solstice marks the middle of winter when the shortest day and longest night occurs. It will occur at 8.14pm AEST on Tuesday evening.

NSW budget bodes well for Hunter region as renewable energy powerhouse

Measures outlined in the NSW State budget today auger well for the Hunter to continue to establish the region as a renewable powerhouse for the nation, according the Hunter region’s peak business organisation, Business Hunter.

The chief executive of Business Hunter, Bob Hawes, said:

The $1.9bn to roll out transmission infrastructure for renewable energy zones in NSW and $50.4m to accelerate the renewable energy zone development in light of earlier-than-expected thermal power plant closures will set a solid base to work from.

We hope there is an impetus provided by these initiatives that will spur on the process to short list and move quickly with projects valued at over $110bn that were lodged in respect of the EOI process for the Hunter-Central Coast renewable energy zone.

Events over the past couple of months have highlighted the urgency required for us to move ahead with building and commissioning renewable energy projects and not just planning and talking about them. The risks are too great for our energy intensive industries to have uncertainty extend for any length of time.

From AAP in Sydney:

Thousands of NSW teachers will strike next week after the state budget failed to deliver an improved pay offer.

Unions representing public and Catholic school teachers met on Tuesday as the NSW budget was handed down, announcing they would strike for 24 hours on 30 June.

“The government has failed students, and continues to fail students and the teaching profession,” the NSW Teachers Federation president, Angelo Gavrielatos, said.

It comes after the two teachers’ unions gave the premier, Dominic Perrottet, an ultimatum to improve the 3% pay deal offered over the next financial year.

Tuesday’s budget papers revealed no further offer was on the table.

“Every single day teachers and principals have been even more burdened with their workloads, and the stress associated with the teacher shortage,” Gavrielatos said.

“This teacher shortage is 10 years in the making.

“What we got from this government is denial, spin, gimmickry, anything but dealing with this crisis.”

The Independent Education Union NSW/ACT secretary, Brett Northam, said the government’s inaction on teacher shortages had left the Catholic school system in a mess.

Catholic schools in inner city areas like North Sydney and Canberra were struggling to recruit teachers.

“If you’re sharing classes, standing in the doorway between classes, having multiple classes in school halls, then teaching and learning has been compromised,” he said.

“[Our parents] sons and daughters are telling them what’s going on and how they’re missing out.”

The new policy confirmed in the budget on Tuesday includes a 3% pay rise in each of the next two financial years, with another 0.5% the following financial year for workers who make a “substantial contribution to productivity-enhancing reforms”.

This allows a possible increase of 6.5% over the period.

Public sector workers say it translates to a real wage cut, with inflation running at 5.2% and forecast to tip over 7%.

“The fact that we met jointly speaks to the crisis in which we find ourselves in,” Gavrielatos said.

Members of both unions will rally outside parliament in Sydney as well as in regional NSW towns and the ACT.

The treasurer, Matt Kean, said it was important to maintain competitive wages to attract and retain the best talent.

“In the context of a strong and growing economy, this two-year increase to wages is an affordable and sensible policy,” he said.

The budget also expanded paid parental leave to 14 weeks for public sector workers, including teachers.

Elias Visontay

Frank Zumbo scolded female employee for social media post, court hears

The office manager of former federal MP Craig Kelly scolded a young female employee for posting a photo to social media that he felt drew attention to her breasts after she had told him she was not interested in him romantically, a Sydney court has heard.

The trial of Francesco “Frank” Zumbo, 55, has also continued to hear covert recordings in which he chastised the young woman – in her early 20s at the time – for not inviting him to her university graduation ceremony and for refusing his request to follow her on Instagram.

The recordings also captured Zumbo referring to Kelly as “absent-minded”, “bumbling” and “simple”. In an earlier hearing, sections of the audio recordings included Zumbo calling Kelly the “worst example” of a politician.

Daniel Hurst

Dfat Covid records not appropriately maintained, audit report says

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report about stranded Australians paints a picture of government officials attempting to respond to a rapidly unfolding crisis in real time.

It said authoritative records relevant to crisis management had not been appropriately maintained by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In one example, it said:

Dfat advised the ANAO that advice to the minister and information to ministerial staff in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic occurred via email, phone calls and WhatsApp. The use of these channels can make it difficult to identify decisions taken or authoritative approvals, if decisions and relevant details are not stored in the department’s record-keeping system. The ANAO was only able to locate one record in Dfat’s document management system relating to the approval of the second evacuation flight from Wuhan.

This record was a WhatsApp screenshot which had not been stored with a file note providing appropriate context in line with Dfat’s records management policy. The ANAO was unable to locate a formal record of approval by the government for the second evacuation flight from Wuhan.

The report also examines the infamous comments by then prime minister Scott Morrison on 18 September 2020 that he “would hope that we can get as many people home, if not all of them, by Christmas”.

The same day, Morrison “directed that an interagency taskforce be established to support the return of Australians before Christmas”.

But the footnotes of the ANAO report reveal: “Dfat advised the ANAO that before the government’s announcement, the return of Australians by this date had not been discussed with the government.”

Twitter suspends two fake accounts pretending to be Fatima Payman

Two fake Twitter accounts have popped up for new Labor senator Fatima Payman, which even briefly fooled the ALP and some senior politicians, before they were suspended for violating Twitter rules.

Payman confirmed to Guardian Australia that neither the @paymanfatima and @Fatima_Payman accounts were operated by her or her team. The first account had already gathered more than 4,500 followers as of Tuesday afternoon, including the assistant foreign minister, Tim Watts, Labor MP Sharon Claydon, and the ALP national secretary, Paul Erickson.

One of the account’s tweets was retweeted by the official Australian Labor account on Twitter, before it was quickly removed. The immigration minister, Andrew Giles, responded to one of the tweets, saying he “can’t wait to get to work with you”. The Labor followers deleted tweets and unfollowed the account as it became known the page was not run by Payman.

By Tuesday afternoon, the account had been suspended, with the notice “Twitter suspends accounts that violate the Twitter Rules”.

The account looked legitimate, with a bio claiming it was her “personal account”, tweeting “thanks to my colleagues in parliament” and mentioning several Labor MPs by name. But a closer look found that the account only started tweeting about politics on Monday, the day Payman was announced as being elected as a senator for Western Australia.

Previous to that, the account – created in April – had only tweeted about Elon Musk’s purchase of Twitter, praising the Tesla founder as “a hero of free speech”. The account appears to have changed its Twitter handle between April and June.

The other @Fatima_Payman account had attracted only 100 followers – including the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, the assistant climate minister, Jenny McAllister, and WA MP Josh Wilson – before it too was suspended on Tuesday afternoon.

Guardian Australia has contacted several users which followed the fake Payman accounts, or which the accounts have interacted with, to ask if they were running the illegitimate pages.

Charities relieved over Labor pledge to scrap gag clauses

The charities sector says it is breathing “a sigh of relief” after the new assistant minister for charities and Treasury, Andrew Leigh, pledged to scrap gag clauses which restricted nonprofits from speaking about public policy.

Leigh said the federal government wanted to encourage social, legal and environmental charities to give feedback on policies – calling the former Coalition government’s opposite stance an “attack on democracy”.

Psychiatrists’ college welcomes Victorian mental health bill

The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP) has welcomed the introduction of the Victorian government’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill, saying it marks a significant transformation in Victorian mental health legislation.

The Victorian RANZCP chair, Astha Tomar, said the proposed legislation – a key recommendation of the royal commission into Victoria’s mental health system – is a welcome step in the right direction when it comes to addressing mental health and wellbeing in the state.

But Tomar said much still needs to be done in order to ensure new legislation doesn’t suffer from the same issues as previous mental health acts.

If passed, this legislation marks a significant transformation of Victorian mental health legislation.

While we’re looking forward to seeing this enacted, there’s a lot that needs to happen at the frontline of Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system before the new legislation can be properly enacted.

Tomar said it was critical that any new legislation supports Victorian consumers and carers to make informed decisions in relation to illness and treatment throughout their journey.

New MPs to learn the ropes in Canberra

With the last declaration of MPs set for tomorrow, the new members will visit Canberra next week to learn about their roles.

In a statement Parliament of Australia said:

Australia’s newest MPs will be introduced to their new lives in the House of Representatives over the two-day seminar held 28-29 June, hearing from officials of the House of Representatives and other parliamentary and executive agencies.

They will learn about the procedural and administrative aspects of their new roles and also hear from seasoned MPs before the 47th Parliament opens.

Learning to navigate the 75,000 sq metre building, understanding chamber proceedings and the work of committees and what a newly-elected MP can expect during their first week on the job, will also be on the agenda.

Pandemic highlighted weaknesses in Dfat’s crisis response, auditor general says

Daniel Hurst

The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade failed to meet all of the government’s objectives during the operation to help Australians stranded overseas during the pandemic, the auditor general has found.

A new report, tabled in parliament this afternoon, focuses on how Dfat managed the return of Australians from overseas during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) report said the department had “adapted its crisis management arrangements and established a new program of activity to provide assistance to a large number of overseas Australians affected by Covid-19, although it did not meet key government objectives”.

The report said the department’s underlying crisis management structures and capabilities “require strengthening to ensure it is prepared to respond to future major and complex crises”.

Here are some key passages from the report’s findings:

Dfat’s preparedness to manage complex crises before the onset of the pandemic was partly effective. While crisis management arrangements align with whole-of-government requirements, Dfat lacks a defined crisis management framework and mature preparedness policies. There is scope to strengthen crisis management planning, capability development and assurance processes over Dfat’s crisis management capability.

Dfat applied its crisis management arrangements to support the return of Australians and adapted these to deliver a new program of flights and financial assistance. The pandemic has highlighted weaknesses in responding to standard and complex, and large-scale crises. While policy advice to the government was largely appropriate, Dfat’s reporting to government on its return of Australians could not be verified by the ANAO.

The report notes Dfat’s consular funding to assist Australians overseas increased by 64% between 2018–19 and 2021–22, and that it helped arrange 150 “facilitated commercial flights” between 22 October 2020 and 24 February 2022.

But it says the department “did not maintain reliable data on registered Australians, including those identified as vulnerable”.

Dfat data and reporting indicate it did not meet all of the government’s objectives. The ANAO could not verify Dfat reporting on: the number of Australians and vulnerable Australians it assisted to return to Australia; and Australians who accessed facilitated commercial flights administered by Dfat. Reporting could not be verified due to data quality issues and unclear methods underpinning its reporting on Australians registered with Dfat.

Dfat accepted seven of the nine recommendations, saying “the circumstances of the pandemic were extraordinary and there are lessons to learn”. Dfat said in a letter to the ANAO:

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade’s established crisis framework enabled it to assist 61,755 Australians to return and facilitate 227 flights…

ANAO’s framing of the government’s objectives focuses narrowly on the period of 18 September 2020 to 25 December 2020. At that time, 26,200 Australians had registered as seeking to return; by Christmas, more than 24,800 had returned.

Bruce Lehrmann trial date postponed

Paul Karp

The ACT supreme court chief justice, Lucy McCallum, has ruled “regrettably and with gritted teeth” to vacate the trial date of Bruce Lehrmann on 27 June due to public comments prejudicing his ability to get a fair trial.

McCallum told a hearing on Tuesday that she was “not in a position to say how long” the trial should be delayed for, but she remarked she wanted it “to be heard this year if it can be”.

McCallum said October would be an appropriate time for “dissipation of prejudice”.
McCallum asked the ACT director of public prosecutions, Shane Drumgold, if he wished to seek injunctions to prevent further commentary on the case. She suggested these could be directed at Lisa Wilkinson, the complainant Brittany Higgins, The Project, and radio hosts Jonesy and Amanda.

The matter was stood over to 9.30am Thursday for a mention only. At that hearing a date will be set to discuss further orders.