Key events
The day that was, Monday 23 January
We will wrap up the live blog for Monday here. Thanks for spending time with us. Here’s what made the news today:
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First Nations leader Noel Pearson warned the Coalition’s demand for more detail on the Indigenous voice to parliament was a “complete diversion” and a “spoiling game” that threatened to end the chance for reconciliation for ever.
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Labor MP Marion Scrymgour said the proposed voice “couldn’t be further from people’s view” in Alice Springs, and that residents felt “under siege” amid concerns about crime.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, called on the prime minister to reinstate alcohol bans in remote Indigenous communities.
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An age pensioner who was initially told she had one month to pay back a $65,000 robodebt will “never get over” what happened to her, a royal commission has heard.
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A Victorian magistrate has granted a suppression order in the matter of Greg Lynn, a former airline pilot charged with the murder of two elderly campers.
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The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners warned the government’s proposed changes to Medicare could make matters worse.
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One of the nation’s biggest consultancy firms painted a bleak picture for the year ahead, saying Australians were at the mercy of the central bank and warning of a possible recession.
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The Queensland government will make changes to the criminal code and increase jail terms for vilification as it cracks down on hate crimes after a series of “horrific” antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents.
Until tomorrow, I hope you have a pleasant evening.
Airport delays more common this holiday season
Australian travellers endured longer delays than usual at airports over the festive season, AAP reports.
Government data for domestic on-time performance in December 2022 shows arrival and departure times were significantly lower than the long-term average performance for domestic routes.
The December report card reveals on-time performance dropped to 71.1% for arrivals and 70.8% for on-time departures.
The performance was significantly lower than 2021 results of 84.2% for on-time arrivals and 83.2% for departures, according to the report by the Bureau of Infrastructure and Transport Research Economics.
Scammers targeting people seeking tax help, minister warns
The assistant treasurer is urging people to be aware of scammers claiming to be from the Australian Tax Office.
Stephen Jones said the tax office was working with social media companies and other government agencies to take down the online scams.
Jones said the best defence against such scams was community awareness.
Fraudsters impersonating tax office workers on Twitter, Facebook and other social media platforms are duping Australians out of their money and personal information.
They begin by scanning public conversations on social media where taxpayers ask questions or make complaints about the ATO.
They then hijack the conversation using a fake ATO profile, contacting the member of the public directly with an offer to help resolve a complaint or follow up on a comment.
After earning their trust, the scammer asks them to click on a link or provide personal details.
Bill Gates praises Australia’s early response to pandemic
Tech multi-billionaire Bill Gates has told a Sydney audience that stronger political cooperation between nations will be needed when the next pandemic hits.
Gates was speaking at a Lowy Institute event and praised Australia’s policies during the early stage of the pandemic, saying they kept infection rates low before vaccines were rolled out.
Some of the things that stand out are that Australia and about seven other countries did population-scale diagnostics early on and had quarantine policies … that meant you kept the level of infection low in that first year when there were no vaccines.
Australia’s ambassador for climate change, Kristin Tilley, was in the audience and highlighted a different message from Gates.
Booster shots for Omicron variants given provisional approval
Australia’s medical regulator has given a provisional green light to the first Covid-19 booster shot for two Omicron variants, AAP reports.
The Pfizer jab will be for those aged 12 and over and targets the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
The approval was granted on Friday.
A booster for the BA.1 variant and original bivalent vaccine – which is when the original virus strain is included in the vaccine – was approved late last year.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said studies showed the vaccine helped produce neutralising antibodies against the variants and original strains one month after the booster.
Independent MP complains to Iran’s ambassador
The federal member for North Sydney, Kylea Tink, has written to Iran’s ambassador in Canberra, Fereidoun Haghbin, to express her “dismay” about the political and human rights situation in the country.
On the weekend, protesters said they feared Iran’s security services might be planning an assault in the city of Zahedan – the site of a deadly attack on civilians last year – as reports emerge that there are thousands of armed police on the streets.
Today I wrote to Iran’s Ambassador to Canberra, Fereidoun Haghbin, asking him to convey to his government about my dismay at the ongoing situation there. I will sponsor four men in fear of their lives after having been arrested for protesting #saytheirnames
— Kylea Tink MP (@KyleaTink) January 23, 2023
The independent MP has also announced she will be a political sponsor for four Iranian men who have been sentenced to death by authorities. She said executions were being used to stifle public discourse in Iran.
Back to school
The prime minister is wishing students good luck as many head back to the classroom for 2023. They don’t make school caps like that any more.
Share market closes flat
The Australian share market has ended barely changed amid low trading volumes as investors remained cautious ahead of key local and overseas economic data, AAP reports.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index closed 5.1 points, or 0.07% higher, at 7,457.3 after climbing as much as 0.3% earlier in the session.
Energy and technology stocks were the best performers but the gains were offset by weakness in mining, healthcare and consumer stocks.
New counter-ransomware initiative launched
The international counter-ransomware taskforce – a partnership with 37 like-minded nations targeting ransomware – has officially started work.
The taskforce was formed in November in Washington and is all about increasing international cooperation and the sharing on information and intelligence.
After a series of high-profile cyber-attacks in Australia, the home affairs minister, Claire O’Neil, says it is an important step.
Ransomware represents a significant global threat, and Australia will continue to play a leading role working with international partners, industry and the community to develop effective responses to combat cyber criminals and protect our people and institutions.
Recent cyber incidents in Australia and around the globe are a stark reminder of the insidious nature of ransomware, and the ability of cyber criminals to cause widespread disruption and harm to broad sections of the community.
You can read the minister’s full statement below:
Australia will today commence the operations of the International Counter Ransomware Task Force to combat the scourge of ransomware.
The Task Force sits under the US-led Counter Ransomware Initiative, comprised of 37 like-minded governments.https://t.co/z37f84dx3M
— Clare O’Neil MP (@ClareONeilMP) January 23, 2023
Medicare changes ‘may make matters worse’, doctors warn
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has warned the government’s proposed changes to Medicare could make matters worse.
Earlier today, Mark Butler spoke about the challenges many Australians face while finding and affording a GP, with hospitals bearing the brunt of the crisis. He said his government had “no higher priority than strengthening Medicare” and that a new report, due to be released in the coming weeks, would guide the Strengthening Medicare fund.
The RACGP president, Nicole Higgins, took issue with reports in the Australian that the government is considering a “blended” funding system, which could see nurses and paramedics deliver primary care to strengthen universal healthcare.
Higgins said GPs were best placed to manage patient care.
While it’s great that our nation’s leaders recognise the need for reform, I am concerned the government’s proposed new model to overhaul Medicare will not go far enough to improve the situation for patients and may make matters worse.
The problem is decades of neglect and underfunding has made is harder and more expensive to see a GP, and this has caused the crisis in our hospital system, with wait times blowing out and ambulances ramping.
We need short-term action now to stem the bleeding and improve access to care, particularly for those most in need.
Labor MP calls for action on crime in ‘under-siege’ Alice Springs
Josh Butler
Labor MP Marion Scrymgour has said the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament “couldn’t be further from people’s view” in Alice Springs, and that residents felt “under siege” amid concerns about crime and youth misbehaviour in the Northern Territory town.
She said she was a strong supporter of the voice, which she described as “unfinished business”, but that other urgent issues needed to be addressed too, to ensure the referendum succeeded.
Scrymgour, the MP for the Northern Territory seat of Lingiari, has an office in Alice Springs. The town’s mayor has called for further federal government to respond to social and health issues in the area.
The federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has pointed to the issues in the NT as a more pressing concern regarding Indigenous affairs than the voice to parliament, calling for federal intervention.
Scrymgour, a former NT deputy chief minister who was elected to federal parliament at the May election, told 3AW that she believed alcohol abuse was a root cause of the issues in Alice Springs and that locals had never seen the town “as bad as it is today”.
Scrymgour claimed “someone is going to get killed” and that officials needed to “stop pussyfooting around” on alcohol issues. She said children were facing “huge issues” at home like alcohol abuse and overcrowding, which forced them to leave the house at night, and that justice or families services were overwhelmed:
Are we going to wait until there’s a death before there’s any urgency put on this?
Asked about the voice to parliament, Scrymgour claimed “the voice couldn’t be further from people’s view up here”.
People are under siege in their own homes.
People that I know that might have been sympathetic to constitutional reform and the voice, and looking at the referendum, have become really frustrated because nothing has been done. So they’ve gone to the opposite thing of ‘why should we support the voice or this if we can’t even get police to protect me while I’m sleeping in my own home’?
Asked if she supported the voice, Scrymgour said:
Absolutely, it’s probably unfinished business in this country.
But I think that we can’t have these conversations if there’s all these issues that are impacting on communities like Alice Springs … How do we get Aboriginal people but also communities [to] have faith and to vote in this referendum if they don’t believe government is listening to them?
After her 3AW comments were picked up by other media, Scrymgour posted on Twitter to stress that she was a strong supporter of the voice.
I support the Voice to Parliament 100%.
If you look at the Uluru Statement from the Heart you will see my signature on it.
It’s time that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians had their voices heard on the issues that affect us.#VoiceToParliament #VoteYes
— Marion Scrymgour MP (@ScrymgourMP) January 23, 2023
Northern NSW weather warning as hailstones forecast
The State Emergency Service is urging people in northern New South Wales to prepare for damaging winds with large hailstones.
Veterans’ brain bank launched to improve care
A new veteran brain bank will help uncover the impact of traumatic head injuries on defence force service personnel, AAP reports.
The research initiative is the first of its kind in Australia and will be based at Concord hospital in Sydney’s inner west, after it was launched on Monday.
Veterans are encouraged to donate their brains for study, in the hope of diagnosing past issues and improving care for current service personnel.
The NSW health minister, Brad Hazzard, said the initiative would lead to better health outcomes for service men and women by increasing understanding of the impacts of repetitive head injuries.
The establishment of the Australian Veterans’ Brain Bank is a significant step forward in advancing the understanding of the long-term effects of head trauma among veterans.
Civil rights group calls for Ye visa ban
A leading civil rights organisation has called on the Australian government to stop American rapper Ye travelling to the country, arguing he would put the Jewish community at “significant risk”, AAP reports.
The Anti-Defamation Commission is lobbying for the immigration minister, Andrew Giles, to block entry for the rapper, formerly known as Kanye West, deriding him as a “hatemonger”.
Ye is reportedly visiting Melbourne in coming days to meet the family of his supposed new “wife”, designer Bianca Censori.
In a December interview, Ye claimed 6 million Jews had not been murdered by the Holocaust and suggested he liked Hitler and Nazis, the commission said.
The commission’s chairman, Dvir Abramovich, said allowing Ye into Australia would send the wrong signal about the country and violate its core values.
[His comments] must have consequences and Australia should not put out the welcome mat and provide a platform to a hatemonger.
Kanye is a blatant, unvarnished anti-semite, Nazi-lover and Hitler worshipper who openly admires an evil tyrant responsible for the extermination of 6 million Jews, including 1.5 million children.
Ye has denied being anti-semitic.
Victorian authorities urge people to steer clear of seal
Wildlife authorities are concerned for the welfare of a southern elephant seal resting at a Blairgowrie beach in Victoria, which could be the same animal that was seen at Point Lonsdale on Friday.
The Victorian conservation regulator and police returned the seal to the beach at Point Lonsdale, but were disappointed by the behaviour of onlookers who got dangerously close to the animal.
Here’s Kate Gaven, the chief conservation regulator:
We know it’s exciting to see such large and unique animals on our beaches, but a photo or video opportunity is not worth risking yours or a seal’s safety.
We were disappointed to see people get so close to the elephant seal at Point Lonsdale last week and we don’t want to see repeat behaviour in Blairgowrie or with any other seals resting on beaches along the coast.
Photograph: Chamila Karunarathne/EPA
According to the regulator, seals are known to visit and rest on Victorian beaches and can become defensive if approached by humans or other animals. It wants people to stay at least 30 metres from them or 50 metres if with a dog.
And if you missed it, here’s the vision of the seal at Port Lonsdale.
