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Davis says Aboriginal people don’t want to be used as “a political football” anymore.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart was released as an invitation five years ago. Since then, she says she vividly remembers the morning after the 2019 federal election, when elders from the dialogues called to say – “take me off your list … my heart cannot take this”.

Concluding her address to the National Press Club, Davis says she’s “not a Pollyanna” by any means, but it is crucial to believe that Australia can, and will, change.

We won in 1967 and we can do it again.

On election night, the prime minister promised to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full. And that night our hearts were full. Much has been made of the prime minister’s speech at Garma when he released a draft form of words for the nation to discuss and give input into. It is not set in stone, but it is a good beginning.

The process should not be used to hollow out the meaning and the intent which we sometimes see in commentary of political pundits. The political reality is that Australians won’t accept change in the constitution unless they can be sure that the change is worth making. And that they can be confident about its impact.

Despite everything, we responded with a statement of love … you must suspend your disbelief that this country cannot change. Against all the evidence, you must imagine that this country can be better. Imagine that this nation can change.

She reads the statement in full.

Voice to parliament is ‘aimed at enhancing the participation of Indigenous peoples’ in state decisions: Megan Davis

Back to the National Press Club, where Prof Megan Davis is addressing the room on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

She turns to calls by some First Nations people including Greens Senator Lidia Thorpe for a treaty prior to the implementation of a voice to parliament. She says the sequencing was discussed quite deliberately at the dialogues.

I know this has been the subject of some debate; the sequencing was the subject of very diligent consideration in all the dialogues that led to Uluru.

During the dialogues, delegates engaged in very comprehensive discussion of the political and legal reasoning and logic of the ‘voice first, treaty second’ sequencing, but the opportunity on the table for us in 2017 was constitutional recognition and treaty is not constitutional.

She says the commitment to a referendum is being discussed without “any real discussion and understanding of the need and exigency of the body”.

There is an … understandable impatience for detail on voice, but very little scrutiny on why it is needed or why people want a voice.

Discussion is divorced from policy settings that plague our people’s lives on the ground and subjugate our voice to the bureaucracy … it is why the reform proposed will provide an upfront political empowerment. It is tactile, it is pragmatic, it empowers our people.

The outcome captured in the Uluru Statement from the Heart was a testament to the efficacy of a structured process that produced a historic consensus, coalescing around a constitutional mechanism that compels the state to listen to our voice …

It is aimed at enhancing the participation of Indigenous peoples … in the decision-making of the state … because it’s communities themselves that know better than anyone else, what communities need.

Daniel Hurst

Peter Dutton meets with Chinese ambassador to Australia

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has met with the Chinese ambassador to Australia, Xiao Qian.

Dutton said yesterday’s meeting at Parliament House was “constructive” and they had “discussed security, trade and human rights issues”.

He wrote on Twitter that he would “continue to engage in an open and honest dialogue in matters relating to the safety, security and prosperity of our region”.

Dutton, a former defence minister, has been one of the Coalition’s most outspoken members on the security threats posed by China and he said during the election campaign he had “no doubt” the Chinese Communist party wanted the Morrison government to lose.

Dutton was criticised by the Chinese government in November last year when he said it would be “inconceivable” that Australia would not join US-led military action to defend Taiwan in the event Beijing launched military action against the self-governed democracy.

Earlier today, the Chinese embassy in Canberra posted a photo of the meeting with Dutton and said the two sides exchanged views on bilateral, regional and international issues. The embassy said Xiao had argued this year’s 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations were a chance to get the relationship back on the “right track” based on mutual respect.

Paul Karp

PM says secure jobs, better pay bill strikes balance between union and business demands

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has spoken in the House of Representatives debate on Labor’s secure jobs, better pay bill.

Albanese said that Australians voted for measures including putting job security into the Fair Work Act as an objective, and changes to boost gender pay equity. Of course, the bill contains elements that weren’t part of Labor’s election policies – most notably the changes to expand multi-employer bargaining.

Albanese draws authority from the jobs and skills summit for these. He said:

Big business, small business, unions, economists all agree the current enterprise bargaining system is not working – not working for business, not working for workers, and therefore not working for our economy.

[People are] voting with their feet, enterprise agreement takeup is at an all-time low. The system is not delivering productivity gains employers need and the wage rises workers deserve.

It’s failing women worst of all – those industries with the most women have the least bargaining power and the lowest pay. Disability care, cleaners, early childhood educators, nurses … They were the heroes of the pandemic. But they are more than that: they’re heroes every single day. They deserve more than our thanks – they deserve better support, better conditions and better pay.

Albanese particularly thanked the Council of Small Business Organisations of Australia for their “constructive contributions” to the debate – they’re the ones that gave in-principle support for multi-employer bargaining at the summit, while the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Australian Industry Group and Business Council of Australia were opposed.

Albanese said:

Not everyone is happy with 100% of this legislation. Both business and union representatives say this isn’t exactly what they would want. To me that says we’ve got the balance right. That doesn’t mean we expect everyone to agree on every proposal.

While unions have grumbled about some changes making strikes harder (compulsory conciliation, and arbitration of intractable disputes) – they are by and large very happy, as evidenced by the ACTU encouraging members to contact their senators and urge them to pass the bill.

Albanese concluded by observing that it is “easy to say you support higher wages as a hypothetical proposition. The test is: what are you prepared to do?”

Albanese said Australians deserved secure jobs and better pay.

Our position clear and so is our mandate.

In Canberra, more things are being thrown at art pieces to protest the climate crisis.

Climate protesters have attempted to deface one of the National Gallery of Australia’s prized modern art pieces, Andy Warhol’s Campbell’s soup cans, AAP reports.

Images released by the activists showed several blue scrawls across several of the cans, but it is understood the paintings themselves were under glass frames and not damaged.

The Stop Fossil Fuel Subsidies group said in a statement on Wednesday it wants the Australian government to end support for the oil, gas and coal industries.

It said it was part of a global civil resistance network known as A22.

Families are having to choose between medicine and food for their children while fossil fuel companies return record profits. And yet our government gives $22,000 a minute in subsidies to the fossil fuel industry.

The gallery is cooperating with the Australian federal police.

Voice to parliament would constitute substantive recognition of First Nations Australians: Megan Davis

Davis turns to the word “recognition” – one which has been thrown around a lot as of late.

It’s a word that has been used, Davis says, on a spectrum from mere tokenism, as we have seen in our politics, to concrete, nation-altering change – what First Nations people are working towards.

Recognition is a complex legal and political concept. Its dictionary meaning does mean acknowledgment but it can mean many things in a legal and political context. It can mean symbolic acknowledgment. It can mean a preamble. But it also means substantive change, substantive reform, to power relations.

It’s on a recognitions spectrum. At one end of that spectrum is what we call weak recognition … it does not compel the state to do anything. It doesn’t stop or prohibit the state from doing something. It is rather a statement of fact. It is symbolic.

At the other end of the spectrum, which is really where First Nations reside, is concrete or substantive recognition. There is many mechanisms that recognise substantive recognition. It can be something like this parliament.

It could be something like a designated parliamentary seat. It can be treaty, it can be a voice to parliament. The problem in 2015 was the public discussion in Australia rarely rose above the dictionary meaning of recognition, which is acknowledgment.

Australia historically provided ‘minimalism and symbolism’, not substantive change, on Indigenous matters: Prof Megan Davis

Davis says she will use the address to speak about the process of the First Nations regional dialogue, which is vital to convey to the Australian people how important and generous the Uluru Statement from the Heart is.

The First Nations regional dialogue was conducted under the auspices of the referendum council … the first of its kind since the Australian constitutional order commenced in 1901. Many Australians would know that First Nations were excluded from the drafting of the Australian constitution … therefore, this process, the dialogue process, was unprecedented in our nation’s history.

Davis says the dialogue was the first time a constitutional convention had been convened with, and for, First Nations people – a profound response to “the historical exclusion of our people from Australia’s constitutional system”.

She says historically, Australian politics has provided “minimalism and symbolism” when it comes to Indigenous matters.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart and the dialogue process universally rejected symbolism as an acceptable form of constitutional recognition alone … there is an alignment between non-Indigenous Australians and First Nations peoples in terms of their desire [is] that this reform is not tokenistic, that this reform is not symbolic, but that it must be substantive, it must change people’s lives on the ground, otherwise why go to a referendum?

Meanwhile at the National Press Club this afternoon, Prof Megan Davis and Pat Anderson AO, architects of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, are holding an address on the lands of the Ngunnawal and Ngambri people.

Davis and Anderson are two of the three First Nations leaders accepting the 2021 Sydney Peace Prize for the historic Uluru Statement.

Davis acknowledges the presence of First Nations in the room who were present at the 2016 and 2017 regional dialogue, including the women who have pushed the movement forward for five years.

The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a shared endeavour of many minds and many hands. To that end, I want to begin by acknowledging the presence here today of some of the men and women of the First Nations regional dialogue …

I also note the Aboriginal women in attendance. The quiet work in advocacy of women has sustained this movement for change since the Uluru Statement was issued to the Australian people five years ago. It has been led by women, and we are really honoured that a woman – minister Linda Burney – will take that forward.

The publicly owned Future Fund is investing billions into major polluting companies, Senate estimates questioning has revealed.

Answers to questions on notice to the Greens senator Barbara Pocock found the fund is investing a total of $3.4bn into the top 50 fossil fuel emitting companies in the world.

Pocock said there was a deep irony in the government relying on dividends from polluters to pay for infrastructure to deal with the damage the same companies were causing by investing in fossil fuels.

The federal government’s Disaster Ready bill, currently before the Senate, will use proceeds from the Future Fund to pay for infrastructure to mitigate climate damage.

Pocock:

The Future Fund is invested in companies that have absolutely no intention to diversify away from coal and gas, with $549m directly invested in Woodside, $190m in Santos and $83m in Whitehaven.

While Australia is attending Cop27 to mitigate against climate disaster, and is asking the world to let us host a climate summit, our government is sinking money into the world’s biggest polluters.

If the Future Fund is entrusted with paying for the public works needed to keep Australian communities safe from floods, fires, storm surges and cyclones moving south – then it needs to stop profiting from those companies making these natural disasters worse.

Amy Remeikis has had to unexpectedly dash off today, so it’s Caitlin Cassidy here to keep the good times rolling. I’ll be with you for the next little while.

We reported it a little earlier this morning, but here is Labor’s Stephen Jones’ whole comment on the criminals who have released some of the data they stole from Medibank:

They’re scumbags, they’re crooks, they’re criminals, and we shouldn’t be paying ransom. We shouldn’t be giving in to these fraudsters and criminals. The moment we fold, it sends a green light to scumbags like them throughout the world that Australia is a soft target.

We cannot give in. We won’t give in. All the more important that we lift our protection against cyber-threats and lift our protection against scams and fraudsters. That’s why we made our announcement earlier in this week about following through on our election commitment to set up an anti-scam centre. The best protection is ensuring that the data doesn’t get stolen in the first place.

If that fails, we want to ensure that consumers are protected. So establishing an anti-scam centre inside the ACCC will provide consumers with the information and the protection they need and enable us to move quickly if some of these cyber-breaches lead to frauds and theft and scams going on in our economy.

Daniel Hurst

Coalition will support changes to laws governing ex-ADF personnel to safeguard national secrets, opposition says

The Coalition has offered to support legal changes if required to safeguard Australia’s national secrets after the government announced a review of China’s alleged attempts to recruit former Australian defence force personnel.

The opposition’s defence spokesperson, Andrew Hastie, has issued the following statement:

Reports that ex-Australian fighter pilots were approached by Chinese interests to provide military training to the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) are deeply concerning.

Such conduct, if these allegations are verified, is highly improper and contrary to the Australian national interest.

Our national military secrets – including tactics, techniques and procedures for our elite fighter pilots – must be safeguarded by serving defence members and our veterans. They are not for sale to another country.

The opposition therefore welcomes the Department of Defence examining current policies and procedures governing ex-ADF personnel who have served in classified and sensitive capabilities.

The responsibility for protecting these national secrets does not cease when personnel separate from the ADF. It is a continuing obligation on our veterans and the ADF must ensure that this obligation has both moral and legal foundations.

Hastie said the Coalition would welcome the opportunity to receive further information from the government on this matter. He added:

Three weeks ago, the opposition stated that if legislation is required to deal with this matter, we will work closely with the government to further safeguard our sensitive national capabilities.

Our position remains unchanged, and we trust the government is making this an urgent priority.

Government to look at improving access to IUDs and other long-acting reversible contraception, Ged Kearney says

The push for greater recognition of endometriosis and womens’ health more generally has come from female MPs from all sides of politics, which is why Labor, the Coalition and the Greens are happy to come together today to talk about the results of that push.

The previous government had committed funding, and this government is continuing that commitment and is now starting the process to establish the clinics.

Also good news – Ged Kearney says the government is looking at pain relief for IUD insertion. It is one of the most painful things you can go through, in terms of voluntary medical procedures – and most women are only told to take two Panadol for it, which is like handing someone who has lost a finger a Band-Aid and a pat on the stump.

Kearney:

We are looking at all of the barriers that women face, particularly accessing long acting reversible contraceptives, like IUDs. And we’re trying to get to the bottom of that – pain is certainly one that I’m hearing loud and clear.

And it’s anything that we know from this issue that we’ve raised today, too often women’s experiences of pain are absolutely, well, not ignored, exactly, sometimes ignored, but dismissed and something that I really want to get to the bottom of.

But there’s a lot of other barriers right now to women accessing LARCs, that’s one of them. Certainly, the number of doctors and general practitioners that actually … do it – people in rural and regional areas simply don’t have access to clinics that are available.

So, who knows, maybe with this pelvic pain clinic, this is something that we can actually expand on and have these clinics actually deliver very specialty care. So yes, it’s something that we are very much looking at.

Ged Kearney, the assistant health minister and Anne Ruston, the shadow health minister, have joined together for a bipartisan announcement of clinics for endometriosis and pelvic pain.

Kearney:

Today, we are finally on the hunt for clinics that will provide specific services to women with endometriosis and, I’m pleased to say, the broader issue of pelvic pain.

As you would know, endometriosis affects one in nine women in Australia. And their diagnosis often is very long, takes far too long, is painful, because … all too often, women with pelvic pain are ignored. They’re told to just live with it, it’s just part of being a woman, when actually there are very serious issues that can be treated and we could do so much more for women with pelvic pain and endometriosis.

So we have launched today the process to find 16 specific clinics right around Australia, who will provide very special services to women with pelvic pain, who may well have endometriosis. And if they do, they will be able to refer them on to specific services.

We think that this will revolutionise care for women with endometriosis and we are really excited about it. In the hunt for the clinics, we will be taking into consideration things like geographical location – we know that women in rural and regional areas particularly have a great deal of trouble accessing services like this.

We will make sure that clinics are able to scale up and provide care for extra patients coming from outside their area. We’ll make sure that they have an absolute commitment to upskilling their staff and providing special services around the area of endometriosis and pelvic pain. We’ll make sure that they are prepared to be culturally appropriate.

So there’ll be a range of things that we will be looking at in this tender process for clinics to provide the service.

Also, from 1 November we are very pleased to say that women who are having difficulty conceiving will be able to, on the MBS, get an MRI. This will also be life-changing for a lot of women who have tried to conceive for many, many years and have not been able to do so. It will also, of course, help diagnose those conditions which we know are a barrier to fertility like endometriosis and other conditions.

Sarah Martin

Greens continue grilling Treasury on government’s housing accord

The Greens are back to grilling Treasury on the housing accord and the government’s social housing policy.

Senator Nick McKim asked about what definition of “affordable” will be used, and how many of the promised 1m homes under the accord would meet this definition.

Laura Berger-Thomson from Treasury said that while no definition had been agreed to by all parties of the accord, this would be worked through.

She said that the government had pledged 30,000 social and affordable homes under the Housing Affordability Fund, with an extra 10,000 promised by the government and another 10,000 from the states. Berger-Thomson said:

There is general consensus around what is affordable in a broad sense and I think it is really is down to the specifics of whether … it will include just rental stock or whether affordable homes to purchase will be included.

She said an affordable rental would typically have rent at 80% of market rent.

McKim asked whether any of the $350m pledged under the accord would go to private developers and investors. The finance minister, Katy Gallagher, said the government’s preference was to go to community housing providers, but she would not play the “rule in, rule out” game.

She said it was “unlikely” any government funds would go to private developers, but left the option open. Gallagher said:

We are working with investors and I don’t want to … lock down options to deliver the policy outcome.