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Officeworks underpaid staff, says union

Officeworks failed to roster staff properly or pay them the correct overtime, the retail union has claimed in a new federal court lawsuit, AAP reports.

The Shop, Distributive and Allied Employees’ Association filed the case on Thursday seeking compensation for 70 employees who allege they were underpaid. The union is also seeking pecuniary penalties.

Officeworks allegedly breached its store operations enterprise agreement and the Fair Work Act by failing to roster staff for a prescribed maximum of 19 days in a four-week cycle, and then neglecting to pay overtime for hours worked in excess of this limit.

After employees at the store in Fairy Meadow, NSW raised concerns in August 2020, the union took the dispute to the Fair Work Commission.

Fair Work Commissioner Bernie Riordan ruled in the SDA’s favour in September last year, and an appeal by Officeworks was rejected by the commission’s full bench a few months later in December.

According to court documents, Officeworks engaged in “serious contraventions” by then refusing to follow the FWC’s decisions.

The union wrote:

By virtue of its conduct in refusing to be bound by the Riordan and the Full Bench Decisions, Officeworks’ conduct was part of a systematic pattern of conduct.

The SDA and Officeworks have been approached for comment.

Snow retreating in Tasmania

Adeshola Ore

IPA criticises Victorian opposition’s emissions pledge

The Institute of Public Affairs, a conservative thinktank, has lashed the Victorian opposition’s pledge to legislate a 50% emissions reduction target by 2030.

In a pre-election pitch, opposition leader, Matthew Guy, announced the target on Sunday in a bid to boost the party’s environmental credentials. The target is in line with the Andrews government’s position but more ambitious than the federal government’s target of 43% by 2030.

IPA’s deputy executive director, Daniel Wild, said the pledge showed Victoria’s opposition was “out of touch” with families and small businesses facing rising power bills:

Mr Guy’s announcement that the Victorian Coalition will adopt Labor-Greens policy means millions of Victorians will be without a voice on the critical issue of emissions and climate policy.

The Coalition failed Victorians when they supported Daniel Andrews’ brutal lockdowns and mandates, and they are failing Victorians again by backing in the Labor-Greens radical climate agenda … by seeking to legislate emission reductions of 50% by 2030, Victorians should brace themselves for rolling blackouts.

Here are the latest coronavirus numbers from around Australia today, as the country records at least 31 deaths from Covid-19:

ACT

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 887
• In hospital: 171 (with 5 people in ICU)

NSW

• Deaths: 5
• Cases: 9,761
• In hospital: 2,169 (with 64 people in ICU)

Northern Territory

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 469
• In hospital: 43 (with 1 person in ICU)

Queensland

• Deaths: 0
• Cases: 6,682
• In hospital: 914 (with 18 people in ICU)

South Australia

• Deaths: 2
• Cases: 4,053
• In hospital: 306 (with 11 people in ICU)

Tasmania

• Deaths: 4
• Cases: 1,411
• In hospital: 44

Victoria

• Deaths: 18
• Cases: 10,251
• In hospital: 821 (with 35 people in ICU)

Western Australia

• Deaths: 2
• Cases: 5,514
• In hospital: 411 (with 19 people in ICU)

NDIA chair resigns

Luke Henriques-Gomes

The chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency, Denis Napthine, has resigned.

Bill Shorten, the NDIS minister, announced in a statement on Monday that he’d received Napthine’s resignation.

Napthine’s decision follows the resignation of the chief executive, Martin Hoffman, who had faced significant criticism from Shorten while Labor was in opposition.

At the time, Shorten had also highly critical of the Morrison’s government’s appointment of Napthine, who is a former Victorian Liberal premier.

Napthine had only been on the board since April. Jim Minto will act as chair of the board pending the appointment of Napthine’s replacement.

In a statement, Shorten said:

I have received the resignation of The Hon. Dr Denis Napthine AO as Chair of the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) Board.

I wish to thank Dr Napthine for his service as Chair of the NDIA Board since April 2022.

I also wish to acknowledge his work in reaching agreement with the Gillard Labor Government to establish the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) in Victoria.

Dr Napthine is a committed advocate for the NDIS and as a carer and somebody who has worked in the disability area, he has a great deal of passion for NDIS participants and their families.

I look forward to continuing to work with Dr Napthine in the future to ensure the best outcomes for NDIS participants, their families and carers.

I thank Jim Minto who will act as NDIA Chair pending the appointment of a new Chair as soon as possible.

Chimpanzees at Adelaide zoo contract respiratory virus

AAP is reporting that a respiratory virus has swept through the chimpanzee population at Adelaide’s Monarto Safari Park, forcing the exhibit’s closure.

After they displayed cold-like symptoms, tests revealed the chimps had contracted the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

Zoos SA chief executive, Elaine Bensted, said it was the first time RSV had been detected in Monarto’s chimps.

It is the most common cause of bronchiolitis and pneumonia among infants under one year of age and is usually spread when an infected person talks, coughs or sneezes.

Bensted told ABC radio the virus would have been picked up from a visitor to the park, but it was unlikely the precise source of the infection would ever be known.

The zoo said the two chimps of most concern were males Enzi and Tsotsi.

Enzi’s condition improved on Sunday and he had started playing again.

“Tsotsi is still very poorly but more willing to move around,” the zoo said.

He has eaten some high-value foods including bananas and pineapple and has had to drink. All good signs.

Vets are hopeful Tsotsi has turned a corner but still has some way to go before he is back to his old self.

The other chimps have runny noses and coughs but are otherwise coping well and acting fairly normally.

The keepers and life sciences team who care for the troop will continue to wear full personal protective equipment including masks.

Bensted said it was hoped the chimpanzee exhibit could be reopened at some stage this week.

I just wanted to return to the treasurer’s press conference earlier, where he was asked if there will be any relief for fuel prices in the upcoming budget.

Here is what Jim Chalmers had to say:

We have to be upfront about the cost of the petrol package. We supported [the Morrison government’s temporary reduction in fuel excise] through the parliament for six months – that’s the design that our predecessors put into the legislation.

And in the many times I’ve been asked about that, I’ve been upfront with people and said that my expectation is that it would be too expensive to continue. And I just want to be honest about that.

Clearly, we’ll always try to do the right thing by people. We’ll take the economic conditions into account when the time comes [to announce budget policies].

But my expectation and the expectation I’d encourage people to have is that we can’t afford to continue that petrol price relief forever.

Human Rights Watch urges home affairs minister to make bringing citizens home from Syria top priority

Sophie McNeill, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, spoke to the ABC earlier today in light of the death of Sydney teenager Yusuf Zahab in Syria.

McNeill reflected on the “urgent” situation that up to 80 Australians still face in Syria, and urged greater government action.

You can’t just leave your citizens to languish in these conditions abroad. Particularly when so many of them are children.

We believe around 30 of them are children. There are around 70 to 80 Australians all up. We have to remember these children were brought there against their will or were born over there.

We have said the government needs to create a pathway for their return and rehabilitation. [If it’s] appropriate, carry out criminal investigations and prosecutions. The government knows who the individuals are who they want to investigate and prosecute. Certainly, these children are not part of that group and that is why we are saying they need to be brought home as urgently as possible.

We have seen the United States, Germany, France just recently bring home their citizens. It is not good enough for Australia not to act and unfortunately [Yusuf Zahab’s] death will drive home how urgent this issue is that we need to bring these Australian citizens home as soon as possible.

We know that the minister [for home affairs, Clare O’Neil] hasn’t been in place for very long, and that is why when she came into office we sent her a letter and outlined this as an urgent priority.

We really are hoping that Minister O’Neil now, with the news of Yusuf’s tragic death, will put this at the top of her pile. I can’t think of anything more urgent than saving the lives of Australian children trapped overseas in horrendous conditions. We are really hoping now that we will meet soon with the minister and talk this over further, and that this will be at the top of her to-do list because it is incredibly urgent and we don’t want to see any more deaths … We don’t want to see any more children die.

The Australian sporting community continues to celebrate Cameron Smith’s win, including Greg Norman, the last Aussie to win the Open.

Western Australia has recorded two Covid deaths and 5,514 new cases in the latest reporting period. There are 411 people in hospital with the virus and 19 in intensive care.

Jim Chalmers says childcare and medicine costs will be the priorities in the government’s upcoming budget.

We’ve got the cost of living support coming in the form of relief for those medicine costs and also a fairly substantial cost of living relief in childcare. And we said those are priorities.

The treasurer also says there is global concern about the state of the world economy, having returned from talks with finance ministers as part of the G20 meeting.

The world economy is a difficult if not dangerous place right now. That combination of inflation, rising interest rates and slowing growth, combined with food and energy prices.

A big advantage is we have the right economic plan for these conditions.

Chalmers says pressures on Australia’s economy are coming from the supply side and he wants to lift the “speed limits” on the Australian economy.

He says he will be releasing a ministerial statement on Thursday 28 July which will be “confronting” as his job is “to paint a true picture” of the economy.

Treasurer holds press conference in Canberra

The treasurer Jim Chalmers is speaking in Canberra and has reiterated that the government won’t extend the cut to the petrol excise beyond September because it would be too costly to do so.

Snow blankets Tasmania, from Hobart to Bruny Island

Amazing images are coming through showing the snow in Tasmania.

Peter Clark captured the frosty sunrise he woke to in suburban Hobart, while Susan Rollason snapped the icy roads in the Huon Valley.

Laura Michaelson shared her kids enjoying the snow on Bruny Island.

Victorian premier agrees with Albanese on no cut to Covid isolation

Adeshola Ore

The Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says now is not the right time to cut the Covid isolation period amid rising infections and increasing strain on the health sector.

Over the weekend, the national cabinet discussed reducing the Covid isolation time period from seven days to five days.

While Dominic Perrottet had floated the idea, Anthony Albanese said the medical advice suggested now was not the right time to wind back the mandatory isolation time period.

Andrews echoed Albanese’s words on Monday, but said it would be “terrific” when mandatory isolation could be reviewed.

I don’t think it’s common sense [right now].

We will get to that point some time in the future where we don’t have to isolate. But in the middle of winter, that’s not the right thing to do.

Expert says it’s not known exactly when or how Australian teen died in Syria

Sophie McNeill, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, is speaking to the ABC with more details on the death of the Sydney teenager Yusuf Zahab in Syria.

McNeill says it’s not known “for sure” how Zahab died but that he had untreated tuberculosis, which is common in prisons in north-east Syria.

We know he was also caught up in this horrific attack in January on the present. When he was trapped no one could help him. He sent desperate voice messages to my colleagues asking for help.

It is just such a tragedy. At 11 years old, taken against his will to ISIS territory and put in an adult prison when he was about 15.

And four years now not only have families been begging the Australian [government] to repatriate these Australians and children like him but groups like Save The Children, Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have all been calling for the Australian government to bring these people home urgently. For Yusuf it is too late in such a tragedy.

My colleague had recently been to the camp … It was alarming when she was not able to talk to him recently. This is the issue, we don’t know when he passed away. Whether he had died before she was in the camp in January. It says a lot about the care taken for this child that no one knows ultimately his exact fate.

My colleague Caitlin Cassidy has more on this story: