Graeme Samuel ‘bitterly disappointed’ with Coalition’s stance on environmental law reform
Graeme Samuel, the former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC), has been interviewed on the ABC about the government’s attempts to overhaul federal nature laws amid Coalition and Greens opposition.
Samuel was the author of a review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act handed to the Morrison government five years ago – when the opposition leader, Sussan Ley was environment minister – which inspired Labor’s changes.
Asked for his view on Ley’s late reversal of her stance of being open to deal with Labor, Samuel says:
What I am prepared to say is I am bitterly disappointed … if it is beyond posturing I am disappointed, frustrated and a bit angry. This is not just for me, because the review was not about me or the group or the department, it is about future generations of Australia knowing the degradation of the environment will cease and we’ll start to restore it.
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Updated at 08.20 CEST
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What we learned today, Friday 24 October
That’s where we’ll leave our live coverage today. Here’s what we learned:
The Australian Defence Force faces new class action over allegations of widespread sexual abuse.
The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, said ‘true’ conservatives would back net zero to tackle global heating.
Former ACCC chair Graeme Samuel, said he was ‘bitterly disappointed’ with Coalition’s stance on the reform of federal environmental laws.
A new taskforce has taken over control of the search for alleged Porepunkah killer Dezi Freeman.
The NSW government will allow up to 10 major cultural events at Royal Randwick Racecourse every year in addition to race days.
Australian scientists have observed signs consistent with bird flu in elephant seals during a voyage to the sub-Antarctic Heard Island.
Emergency management minister Kristie McBain said this week’s wild weather a ‘wake-up call’ before bushfire season.
A pedestrian in Sydney died after he was allegedly struck by an e-bike earlier this week.
NSW police have resumed the search for body in infamous cold case of Indigenous teenager Colleen Walker-Craig, who was killed in 1990.
Thanks for joining us! Until next time.
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Lambie to undergo spinal surgery and will miss final weeks of parliament
Krishani Dhanji
Jacqui Lambie will undergo spinal surgery in coming weeks, her office has advised, saying her health has been deteriorating since August.
In a statement, the Tasmanian senator’s office said her doctors have ordered bed rest and minimal movement until the operation. She will miss the final sitting weeks of the year.
The statement does not give further details about what lead to the spinal injury.
Independent Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 08.18 CEST
Graeme Samuel ‘bitterly disappointed’ with Coalition’s stance on environmental law reform
Graeme Samuel, the former chair of the Australian Competition and Consumer Competition (ACCC), has been interviewed on the ABC about the government’s attempts to overhaul federal nature laws amid Coalition and Greens opposition.
Samuel was the author of a review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act handed to the Morrison government five years ago – when the opposition leader, Sussan Ley was environment minister – which inspired Labor’s changes.
Asked for his view on Ley’s late reversal of her stance of being open to deal with Labor, Samuel says:
What I am prepared to say is I am bitterly disappointed … if it is beyond posturing I am disappointed, frustrated and a bit angry. This is not just for me, because the review was not about me or the group or the department, it is about future generations of Australia knowing the degradation of the environment will cease and we’ll start to restore it.
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Updated at 08.20 CEST
Heatwave warnings for Queensland and Northern Territory
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued heatwave warnings through the weekend for the Northern Territory and large parts of Queensland, with temperatures from the high 30s to the low-to-mid 40s expected.
The BoM has advised the conditions, which follow the record-breaking heat in the south-east this week, are expected to last from today through to Monday, before starting to ease. It said:
Severe heatwave conditions are building over northern, central and eastern Queensland, and are expected to persist until a milder southerly change contracts the severe heatwave conditions to the far north of the state early next week.
Similar conditions are expected in northern and western parts of the NT, with residents advised to seek a place to keep cool, close windows and draw blinds early in the day to keep the heat out.
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Updated at 07.36 CEST
Call for joint federal and state government action on plastic waste
The NSW government says the reduction in plastic litter has been achieved through bans on single-use plastic items, an expansion of the return and earn scheme and litter prevention grants.
Return and earn, which launched in 2017 under the former Coalition government, has seen a 73% reduction in littering of bottles and cans accepted under the scheme. From 2027, it will include wine bottles.
Jeff Angel, director of the Total Environment Centre, has praised the Minns government’s passing of legislation to force battery suppliers to manage handling and disposal.
But he says federal and state governments could be doing more to address plastic waste:
We’re yet to see an effective decision on a global plastics treaty. Australia joined the high ambition group on the global plastics treaty. And whatever happens globally, we need to have high ambition at home, and that involves both federal and state governments doing as much as they can.
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Updated at 07.26 CEST
NSW reduces plastic litter by 45% since 2019 amid warnings Sydney landfill running out
New South Wales has reduced its plastic litter by 45% since 2019, the state government says, as it targets a reduction of 60% of all litter by 2030 amid concerns Sydney’s landfill could run out by then.
The NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe (centre). Photograph: NSW Government
Research by the state’s Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), which collects and measures litter in urban waterways and on select remote beaches along the NSW coast, shows plastic litter has almost halved since 2019, a greater reduction than the government’s 30% target.
While plastic litter has reduced, the EPA has warned that greater Sydney’s landfill space is expected to run out by 2030 unless urgent action is taken. Plastic contributes 75% of NSW’s landfill.
The NSW environment minister, Penny Sharpe, says:
Landfill waste continues to grow, but you’ve got to remember that over that period of time, our population is growing as well.
It’s about making sure that we’ve got facilities that are there. It’s about supporting the manufacturing and the processing of recycled material. It’s about putting in within our procurement the use of recycled material in road base and those kind of things.
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Updated at 07.19 CEST
Melissa Davey
Union expresses ‘deep disappointment’ after cohealth closures force thousands to find new GPs
The Australian Services Union (ASU) has written to the federal and Victorian health ministers to express “our deep disappointment and concern at the proposal to close community cohealth services” in December at the Collingwood, Footscray, Kensington and Niddrie sites.
Thousands of Victorians with complex health needs will be forced to find new GPs and allied health care such as counselling after a sudden announcement earlier in October that certain clinics and services will close.
The ASU letter says at least nine counselling service workers alone have been made redundant and staff “have expressed that they have been blindsided by this proposal”.
“Any moves to alter the service delivery will be profoundly damaging to the community,” the letter says.
The ASU Victoria/Tasmania branch secretary, Tash Wark, said: “This is a heartless and shortsighted decision that will pull the rug out from under hundreds of the most vulnerable people in the community”.
Community health services, including counselling, are for the people that need to access it most – people on low incomes and at high risk.
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Updated at 06.40 CEST
More details on the ADF class action suit
Female members of the military shouldn’t have to fight off their colleagues on a daily basis, a lawyer for four women told the AAP.
JGA Saddler lawyer Josh Aylward said the legal case is a demand for action, accountability and real change, as sexual violence and discrimination continue to plague female ADF members. He went on:
The threat of war often isn’t the biggest safety fear for female ADF personnel, it is the threat of sexual violence in their workplace.
They have signed up to defend their country, not to fight off fellow ADF personnel on a daily basis, all while simply trying to do their job.
Aylward noted these were not historical cases and some incidents had occurred within the last 12 months.
Read more here:
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Updated at 06.36 CEST
Nick Visser
That’s all for me. Penry Buckley will be your guide into the weekend. Take care, and enjoy the rest of your Friday.
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Two childcare workers charged on allegations of assaulting a toddler
NSW police have charged two childcare workers for allegedly assaulting a toddler multiple times at a Sydney childcare centre in the city’s western suburbs.
Officials said officers received reports on Monday that multiple workers had allegedly assaulted the child earlier this month. They were told the pair, a woman, 28, and a woman, 54, had allegedly committed the offences several times on 13 October.
After inquiries, both women were charged with five counts of common assault.
The have been issued court attendance notices and will appear in December.
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Updated at 07.14 CEST
Shadow immigration minister Paul Scarr on the ‘mass migration’ myth – Australian Politics podcast
In the aftermath of former frontbencher Andrew Hastie’s fighting words, the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, continues to struggle with persistent internal tensions in the Coalition over its direction on immigration policy.
Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to shadow minister for immigration Paul Scarr about why he rejects rhetoric about “mass migration” and argues that those seeking to inflame emotions are hurting the national interest.
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Updated at 05.17 CEST
Woman charged with murder after Queensland house fire killed three
A woman has been charged with murder and arson after a devastating house fire that killed a woman and two boys, AAP reports.
Jordana Johnson, 36, her 12-year-old son, Jordan Norris, and his friend Chazz Mather, also 12, were killed in the 15 October blaze that destroyed a two-storey home at Gladstone in central Queensland.
After a week-long investigation, police said they believed the blaze was deliberately lit, charging a 37-year-old Toolooa woman with three counts of murder and two counts of arson. She is expected to face a bedside hearing in hospital on Friday.
The devastated family spoke publicly for the first time earlier in the week as the Gladstone community planned to remember the trio at a beachside gathering.
“Three beautiful souls were tragically taken from us,” they said in a statement posted on social media, writing:
The impact of this horrific event is being deeply felt not only by our family but by the Gladstone community and across the nation.
Our lives, and all those that loved and knew Jordana, Jordan and Chazz are forever changed.
Police are expected to provide a further update on the investigation on Friday afternoon.
Three people have died after a fire tore through a two-storey home in Gladstone in central Queensland. Photograph: Peter Davis/AAPShare
Updated at 05.15 CEST
Air New Zealand flight met by emergency services after landing at Sydney airport
An Air New Zealand plane was met by emergency services this morning after the plane reported a technical issue while in flight.
NZ221 was travelling from Christchurch to Sydney, and landed safely just before 8.20am.
Nathan McGraw, the chief safety and risk officer for the airline, said in a statement:
NZ221 from Christchurch to Sydney reported a technical issue while in flight. Emergency services met the aircraft on arrival as a precaution.
The aircraft landed safely, and our engineering team will now carry out inspections to ensure the aircraft is safe to return to service.
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ADF faces new class action over allegations of widespread sexual abuse
Women alleging widespread and systemic sexual abuse, harassment, discrimination and victimisation during their employment within the Australian defence force (ADF) have launched a class action in an unprecedented legal step against the commonwealth, AAP reports.
There are four applicants in the class action, whose names are withheld for legal reasons, but any woman subjected to sexual violence, sexual harassment or discrimination while working in the ADF between 12 November 2003 and 25 May 2025 is eligible to participate.
The first applicant from the air force was the only woman on her training course with eight to 12 men and one of two women in a building of about 200 people. She alleges comments from her sergeant during her training included “women shouldn’t be paid as much as men because they are not as strong” and “women aren’t pulling their weight in the air force”.
She also alleges several sexist and hostile comments along with number of inappropriate conversations, as well as being shown unsolicited photos of pornography.
An Australian air force aircraft Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAP
In a statement, a Defence spokesperson said the ADF was developing a comprehensive sexual misconduct prevention strategy. The spokesperson said:
Defence acknowledges there is work to be done and that is why the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide which relate to sexual violence are being implemented as a priority.
All Defence personnel have a right to be respected and deserve to have a positive workplace experience in the ADF.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, was contacted by the AAP for comment.
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Updated at 04.30 CEST
Natasha May
GPs vow to fight Melbourne clinic closures and protect vulnerable patients
The peak body for GPs is vowing to ramp up the pressure on government to save the cohealth clinics set to close, leaving some of Melbourne’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged patients without care.
The Collingwood service will close its doors entirely, while the Fitzroy and Kensington services will close their general practice services and maintain some of their allied health offerings.
This afternoon, the Royal Australian College of GPs Victoria chair, Dr Anita Muñoz, will attend an emergency meeting at Fitzroy Town Hall. She urged citizens to attend or consider writing to their local MPs.
Muñoz said:
We won’t give up on this cause. Mark my words – we’ll fight these closures every step of the way.
It’s unconscionable to leave these patients behind. We need cohealth patients to have timely access to a GP they know and trust. Otherwise, they’re more likely to end up in hospital with a serious condition, or come in to contact with law enforcement, particularly for those seeking care for conditions such as schizophrenia.
At a time of high cost of living pressures, I fear many patients will delay or avoid care.
You can read more about the situation in the story we wrote when the news broke last week:
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Updated at 04.13 CEST
Penry Buckley
Map shows just how far avian flu would need to travel from sub-Antarctic islands to Australia
Earlier, we reported that Australian scientists have recently observed signs consistent with H5 avian influenza, or bird flu, in elephant seals during a voyage to Heard Island in the sub-Antarctic.
Experts have expressed concern that the virus, which has already spread over thousands of kilometres to reach the French sub-Antarctic islands of Kerguelen and Crozet earlier this year, could spread to islands closer to Australia, including Macquarie Island.
This map shows just how far that would be. Heard Island, more than 4,000km south-west of Perth, is about 500km away from Kerguelen. Macquarie Island, about 1,500km south-east of Tasmania, is about 5,300km from Heard Island.
A map showing the position of the sub-Antarctic islands of Kerguelen, Heard and MacquarieShare
Updated at 04.03 CEST
