Australia news live: Clare accuses Dutton of using flag comments to distract from policy failures; Queensland rail project ‘three times over budget’
Clare says Dutton using flag comments to distract from losing two big policies
Jason Clare was also asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton’s comments regarding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and said this was merely “a distraction”. The education minister said:
In the last two weeks he’s lost two senior members of this team – the leader of the Liberals in the Senate, and the leader of opposition business in the House.
He’s also lost two of his big policies. You know, he promised tax cuts and now he’s broken that promise. He promised to cut migration, now he’s broken this promise. He’s breaking promises before he’s even elected. This is like buying a second-hand car and it breaks down before it even leaves the lot. What this shows is that Peter Dutton is not ready to govern.
Key events
As Chris Minns flagged a moment ago, Karen Webb said Operation Shelter would return to its post-October 7 operational settings.
That means there will be community engagement, prevention, response into all matters reported to us, but importantly engaging with the community.
She described what occurred in Woollahra as “disgusting” and said “we will be using all our resources to investigate this matter.”
The NSW police commissioner Karen Webb is addressing the media alongside Chris Minns.
She said police were called to the graffiti and a car on fire, and alleged two men in disguise were seen running from the location – “we believe in their late teens, early 20s.”
A full police response is under way and it commenced immediately, with local, regional and terrorism police being called out last night. There are still a very active crime scene investigation at that location in Woollahra and police have been working around the clock to follow all leads. It will be an extensive investigation and it will take time.
Minns announces further resources for Operation Shelter
The NSW premier Chris Minns is addressing the media following the anti-Israel graffiti in Woollahra overnight.
He described this as “a violent act of destruction, clearly antisemitic, designed to strike fear into the community that lives in this part of Sydney.”
I want to make it clear that this is antithetical and completely opposite to the kind of community and society we want in Australia in 2024. This violent act will be met with a full response from NSW Police.
Minns also announced that NSW police’s Operation Shelter – launched in 2023 to coordinate the police response to protests in the state – would have “operationally the same level of resources that were in place on October 7”.
This is a full response across New South Wales to ensure that the public feel safe at a time of heightened community tension.
GPs say health system ‘broken’ amid record pressure on NSW hospitals
A new report from the NSW Bureau of Health Information shows an increasing number of people are attending emergency departments with non-life threatening conditions in NSW because they cannot find appointments in time, or that bulk bill.
The report found 28% of emergency department patients surveyed would have gone to a GP to treat their condition, but had no choice other than going to hospital.
The latest BHI data for the September quarter shows record pressure on NSW hospitals, with 787,590 ED attendances – up 2.1% compared with the same quarter a year earlier. Ambulance responses were also the highest on record in the state at 385,873 – an increase of 6.2%, compared with the same period in 2023.
Royal Australian College of GPs NSW chair Dr Rebekah Hoffman said the system is “broken” and “pouring billions more taxpayers’ dollars into hospitals and non-doctor services won’t fix it.”
It’s deeply frustrating to see governments continuing to pour billions into hospitals when we know the best investment is funding preventive care and management of chronic conditions by GPs in the community …
I strongly encourage [state health minister] Ryan Park to get in touch with the RACGP to discuss real solutions that will ensure people across [NSW] can access the essential healthcare they need today, and into the future.
In a statement, Park acknowledged the Commonwealth had made significant efforts to address its GP shortage crisis, but said this is “placing severe pressure on our hospitals as people have little choice but to present to our EDs for non-emergency conditions.”
Donna Lu
Scientist who made flying dinosaurs discovery among new ‘superstars of Stem’
Sixty female and non-binary scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians have been named as the latest “superstars of Stem” by the minister for industry and science, Ed Husic.
Among the researchers named in the cohort are a paleontologist who discovered two new species of flying dinosaurs, an ecologist who collects data in crocodile-infested waters and a mathematician using numbers to tackle violence against women. Other issues being studied by researchers in the program include ovarian cancer, bushfires, renewable energy and livestock parasites.
The federally funded Superstars of Stem program, an initiative of Science & Technology Australia, upskills researchers to lend their expertise to public media commentary.
Dr Sandra Gardam, deputy chief executive of Science & Technology Australia, said the program was changing public perceptions of scientists in the media.
We know it’s really hard to be what you can’t see … By becoming highly visible role models in the media, these superstars of Stem are showing our diverse next generations of young people – especially our girls and non-binary kids, regardless of where they live and whatever their background – that Stem is for them.
The announcement comes as the latest Trends in international mathematics and science study results show, for the first time, a gender gap in favour of boys across both maths and science in both years 4 and 8.
Husic said the initiative celebrated Australia’s “diverse talent”:
These Superstars show young Australians that STEM careers can take them anywhere: from studying cold-water species beneath Antarctic waters to gazing into outer space and everything in between.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland major train project three times over budget, government says
Queensland’s transport minister has claimed the previous Labor government’s flagship rail project is three times over budget and years behind schedule.
Transport minister Brent Mickelburg also claims it will take “at least two years” for the project to be commissioned by the national rail safety regulator and will cost at least $17bn. In low-construction cost countries like Spain, certifying and testing is safely completed in a matter of weeks or months, though more lengthy testing is common in high-cost countries such as Australia, the UK and the US.
The first train ran through the tunnel in October. The $17bn figure for the total cost of Cross River Rail includes the cost of maintaining the project for 25 years, buying new trains and stabling them, among others.
Mickelburg said the budget overruns should instead have been spent on “hospitals, schools, houses and roads”.
The project was originally planned under Anna Bligh 15 years ago, but cancelled by premier Campbell Newman. The party took no public transport projects to the October election, which it won. Since then, the LNP halted another rail project in its tracks, promising to take Gold Coast light rail stage 4 back to the drawing board. But Mickelburg said the government was committed to completing the Cross River Rail scheme.
The project was initially scoped at $5.4bn but the Labor government acknowledged it had blown out to $6.3bn last year.
Plibersek ‘horrified’ by anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney
The environment minister and MP for Sydney, Tanya Plibersek, has also issued a statement on the anti-Israel graffiti:
I am horrified by the news this morning of another abhorrent act of antisemitism in Woollahra.
As the member for Sydney I have always been welcomed and included with open arms by the Jewish community.
Antisemitism has no place in Australia. Everyone has the right to feel safe in their community. And each of us has a responsibility to ensure that.
Targeting Jewish communities with vandalism ‘disgraceful and antisemitic’ – Wong
The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has issued a statement on X regarding the anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney overnight:
Targeting Australian Jewish communities with violence and vandalism is disgraceful and antisemitic. We condemn and reject antisemitism wherever it occurs. Acts of hate have no place in Australia. Australian Jewish communities have a right to be and feel safe.
Clare says Dutton using flag comments to distract from losing two big policies
Jason Clare was also asked about opposition leader Peter Dutton’s comments regarding the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and said this was merely “a distraction”. The education minister said:
In the last two weeks he’s lost two senior members of this team – the leader of the Liberals in the Senate, and the leader of opposition business in the House.
He’s also lost two of his big policies. You know, he promised tax cuts and now he’s broken that promise. He promised to cut migration, now he’s broken this promise. He’s breaking promises before he’s even elected. This is like buying a second-hand car and it breaks down before it even leaves the lot. What this shows is that Peter Dutton is not ready to govern.
‘We’ve got to do everything in our power to help to keep our country together’ – Clare
The education minister, Jason Clare, spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning, where he described antisemitism as a “poison” – with the “conflict in the Middle East [acting] as an accelerant here”.
Responding to the anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney overnight, he told the program:
It’s incumbent on all Australians working together to make sure this doesn’t pull us apart … [This] is a country that’s made up of people all around the world, living in harmony.
Asked if more needs to be done, Clare said “we don’t rule any action out”.
Number one, we need to make sure we catch the perpetrators of these evil acts. Number two, we need to protect the community, protect religious institutions, places of worship should be sacred. Number three, we need to rebuild the synagogue that was torched to the ground last week, and rebuild community harmony. What I talked about a moment ago, that’s been strained and tested at the moment. We’ve got to do everything in our power to help to keep our country together.
Alex Ryvchin expects AFP taskforce to ‘bring perpetrators swiftly to justice’
The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Alex Ryvchin, says the Jewish community has awoken to “scenes of terror and devastation” in Woollahra.
In a statement this morning, he said:
Another act intended to terrorise us, drive us from our country and make our fellow Australians fearful of associating with us. How long will this continue and with what horrors will it end? … We expect the new AFP taskforce to bring the perpetrators swiftly to justice.
Anti-Israel graffiti ‘nothing short of abhorrent’, state MP says
The New South Wales minister for multiculturalism, Steve Kamper, has also issued a statement following the anti-Israel graffiti overnight, stating the events in Woollahra overnight are “nothing short of abhorrent.”
We unequivocally condemn violence and antisemitism in all its forms. We will continue to take the necessary steps to ensure our communities are protected.
Our multicultural and multifaith society is one of our greatest achievements, but it can’t be taken for granted. It requires constant work to ensure harmony is maintained.
We must continue to reject the importation of overseas conflict and instead aim to empathise, to listen and to respond to global issues as a unified community, as Australians.
NSW police minister vows to ‘throw everything’ behind anti-Israel graffiti response
The New South Wales minister for police and counter-terrorism, Yasmin Catley, says the state government is committed to “throwing everything we can” behind the investigation and response to anti-Israel graffiti in Woollahra.
In a statement, she noted a police investigation was under way and said:
Two vehicles, two buildings and the footpath along Magney Street were damaged and defaced with graffiti.
We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, acts of hatred and violence directed at our Jewish community. There is no place for hatred or antisemitism in our society. Every person has the right to feel safe in their own city, their homes, and their places of worship.
We are committed to throwing everything we can behind this investigation and response and will provide further details on our actions in due course.
