Victorian premier hints at major housing announcement
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has suggested she will be making a significant announcement on housing soon.
Speaking outside parliament this morning, Allan said the lack of affordable housing could be to blame for the nation’s falling birth rate:
There are many reasons why women, why families choose to have kids and to have a certain number of kids, and these are really personal decisions. Yes, they are influenced by economic circumstances, whether you can get into a home, whether you can get into a home that’s close to your family supports. This is why building more homes is so important and building them in exactly the locations that Victorians are looking.
She said Victorians want to live “close to where they grew up” but are priced out:
Many want to live close to mum and dad or their family networks, so that when they have kids they’ve got that support network around them. Because I can tell you, it takes a village to raise a child. I’m blessed to have my family support me and as we are raising our kids, and that is true for so many Victorians.
If you live an hour more away from your family support, that makes it harder and harder, and that’s why building more homes, particularly in and around the suburbs of Melbourne, is so vitally important … That is why, very soon, I’ll be having a lot more to say about how we are going to do a lot more to build more homes in and around the suburbs of Melbourne.
Key events
$15m fine for Star Sydney casino, suspension prolonged
The suspension of The Star Sydney’s licence has been prolonged and millions more handed down in fines, AAP reports, after a second probe into the casino revealed further, significant failings.
The casino operator was advised this morning that it was being hit with a $15m fine for the breaches, the NSW Independent Casino Commission announced. Star Entertainment Group had started to clean up its act but huge questions remain around competence and capability, chief commissioner Philip Crawford said.
Another extension of its existing Sydney licence suspension and independent manager’s appointment is aimed at protecting employment at the business. Crawford said:
We’ve had in our minds for quite some time that the public interest is served around the jobs. If Sydney Star fails, the Star group will fail, and that’s a group that employs 9000-plus people … it would affect the lives of a lot of people. There’s no coming back if you take the licence away.
An independent review into governance and management at the casino must be completed by the end of the financial year. Senior management will be “refreshed” in a bid to reset the leadership group, while conditions around the casino’s licence have been amended.
ACT chief minister, deputy prime minister, weigh in on middle finger debacle
The ACT chief minister, Andrew Barr, has responded to reports that the opposition leader, Elizabeth Lee, gave a journalist the middle finger yesterday afternoon, ahead of Saturday’s territory election.
As AAP reports, Barr has told reporters:
Over the course of a campaign you learn a lot about how individuals respond to immense pressure. I can understand that frustration but equally that’s part of the role in government.
Every week, you have to make difficult decisions, give press conferences where you are likely to get questions that are uncomfortable, where occasionally if the journalist doesn’t feel you’re answering the question, they may have a follow-up question, or two or three or four.
For more on this, including reactions from Richard Marles and Matt Canavan, have a read below:
How has a fugitive father hidden his three children for so long?
You may have seen reports earlier this month that New Zealand fugitive Tom Phillips and his three children were spotted together for the first time in nearly three years.
Just before Christmas 2021, he fled into the wilderness with his children, Ember, now 8, Maverick, now 9, and Jayda, now 11, after a dispute with their mother.
The group was spotted earlier in the month on Marokopa farmland, in New Zealand’s Waikato region, after a chance encounter with teenage pig hunters.
As Michelle Duff reports, the country is desperate to know where he is and why – after three winters spent hiding in rugged backcountry with his children – he hasn’t been caught. You can read more on this below:
Benita Kolovos
Victorian opposition slams greyhound motion from Animal Justice Party MP
The Victorian opposition spokesperson for racing, Tim Bull, has had a crack at Labor for supporting a motion by Animal Justice party MP Georgie Purcell to introduce further transparency measures for greyhound racing dog deaths.
The motion, which passed parliament’s upper house yesterday, will force Greyhound Racing Victoria (GRV) to report how many dogs are killed off track and the reasons for their deaths, as well a breakdown of all rehoming, including dogs sent overseas and interstate.
But Bull said the new measures were “unachievable and costly”. He said in a statement:
You cannot allow the Animal Justice party, with one MP out of 128, to dictate greyhound governance from the parliament chamber. It is a ridiculous notion. I am stunned the minister would side with an MP who publicly states she wishes to end greyhound racing. He is running with the foxes and hunting with the hounds.
GRV already has in place a microchipping program that tracks the location, custody and medical history of Victorian greyhounds throughout their lives, however it has no power to command members of the general public to report a second change of ownership of a pet greyhound. This is not the job of GRV and falls within council pet registration.
Apart from being impossible to implement, as GRV simply does not have these powers, it is a process that would come at cost in a period when declining betting turnover is impacting all codes.
For more on Purcell’s motion, you can have a read below:
Here’s a look at the national forecasts across Australia’s capital cities, from the Bureau of Meteorology:
Workplace hearing damage affecting one in 10 Aussies
Hearing loss from a workplace incident has affected one in 10 Australians despite most saying ear protection is not necessary, a report has revealed.
As AAP reports, Hearing Australia data released today surveyed more than 1,000 people on their experience with, and avoiding, hearing damage. A quarter of respondents said they knew someone who has experienced workplace noise-related damage.
Eleven per cent experienced damage from workplace noise themselves, but one in three gave little thought to protecting themselves. Hearing Australia’s principal audiologist Karen Hirschausen said:
Many people don’t fully understand the risk to their hearing in a nightclub or concert, and they overestimate the length of time they can spend in these noisy environments without hearing protection before risking hearing damage.
When people are in loud environments like this, they [need to] take steps to protect their hearing, such as having regular breaks and moving away from speakers.
Hirschausen believes workplace laws that stipulate noise-exposed workers should have their hearing tested when they start work, and then at two-yearly intervals, should be reinforced.
Sharlotte Thou
People with asthma urged to stay vigilant as thunderstorm asthma season begins next month
People with hay fever are urged to stay alert this thunderstorm asthma season which starts in November and mainly affects south-east Australia.
According to Prof Jo Douglass from Asthma Australia, many thunderstorm asthma sufferers believe they only suffer from hay fever.
In 2016, only a third of the 3,500 who presented at Victorian hospitals with thunderstorm asthma had previously suffered from asthma. Almost nine in 10 had previously had hay fever.
She said it was important for hay fever sufferers to recognise symptoms associated with asthma, such as night waking and morning wheezing.
Those suffering from asthma and hay fever are encouraged to check pollen levels, ensure their asthma action plan is up to date, use a preventer inhaler and keep hay fever under control.
Bureau of Meteorology testing tropical cyclone warning system
The Bureau of Meteorology says it will be testing its tropical cyclone warning system today. The routine testing will occur from 10am to 5pm Aedt, marked “TEST” and appearing on the Bureau’s website and weather app.
The Bureau is conducting routine testing today, Thursday 17 October 2024 from 10am to 5pm AEDT for:
• Tropical Cyclone warnings
Test products will be marked as ‘TEST’ and appear for short periods of time on the Bureau’s website and BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/gyDACsQMTq
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) October 16, 2024
Caitlin Cassidy
University of Melbourne’s chancellor backs condemnation of actions of some pro-Palestine protesters
The University of Melbourne’s chancellor has expressed “full support” for the vice-chancellor’s condemnation of the actions of some pro-Palestine protesters during a sit-in last week.
Last Wednesday, a group of students, staff and alumni occupied the office of a Jewish staff member in a bid for the university to cut their ties with universities in Israel, some masked and wearing Palestinian keffiyehs.
Jane Hansen confirmed the university council met on campus on Wednesday as part of its usual cycle of meetings. She said there were no specific items or resolutions about these matters, however council expressed its full support for previous statements made by the vice-chancellor and senior staff in relation to the protest.
Around two dozen protesters gathered at the same time on campus, alleging more actions were coming and sit ins were “not violent”.
Hanson said:
Intentional acts of antisemitism, intimidation, violence or vilification against members of our community are completely unacceptable, as is any threat to the principles of academic freedom.
On Tuesday, deputy vice-chancellors Prof Mark Cassidy and Prof Michael Wesley wrote to staff reiterating international research was “fundamental” to the university and staff and students “must be free to undertake their work without fear or intimidation”.
Sarah Basford Canales
McBride to have appeal heard next March in bid to have jail sentence thrown out or reduced
The former army lawyer David McBride will have his appeal heard next March in a bid to throw out, or reduce, his jail sentence.
McBride is serving time in Canberra’s Alexander Maconochie Centre after he was sentenced to five years and eight months for pleading guilty to three charges in November 2023 of stealing commonwealth information and passing that to journalists at the ABC.
The material was used as the basis for a 2017 investigative series exposing alleged war crimes by Australian defence force personnel in Afghanistan, titled the Afghan Files.
McBride was given a non-parole period of 27 months and will remain in jail until at least August 2026 if his appeal is unsuccessful.
His appeal will be heard on 3 March 2025 in the ACT supreme court and is expected to last for a day.
McBride’s legal team is seeking to appeal against the convictions and the severity of the sentence on the basis McBride believed it was his duty to release the information in the public interest.
McBride’s lawyer, Eddie Lloyd, told Guardian Australia earlier this month McBride will argue he took an oath to serve the country and uphold the rule of law and, for that reason, felt he had “a duty to the public” to “blow the whistle”.
Victorian premier hints at major housing announcement
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has suggested she will be making a significant announcement on housing soon.
Speaking outside parliament this morning, Allan said the lack of affordable housing could be to blame for the nation’s falling birth rate:
There are many reasons why women, why families choose to have kids and to have a certain number of kids, and these are really personal decisions. Yes, they are influenced by economic circumstances, whether you can get into a home, whether you can get into a home that’s close to your family supports. This is why building more homes is so important and building them in exactly the locations that Victorians are looking.
She said Victorians want to live “close to where they grew up” but are priced out:
Many want to live close to mum and dad or their family networks, so that when they have kids they’ve got that support network around them. Because I can tell you, it takes a village to raise a child. I’m blessed to have my family support me and as we are raising our kids, and that is true for so many Victorians.
If you live an hour more away from your family support, that makes it harder and harder, and that’s why building more homes, particularly in and around the suburbs of Melbourne, is so vitally important … That is why, very soon, I’ll be having a lot more to say about how we are going to do a lot more to build more homes in and around the suburbs of Melbourne.
