‘We will govern for everybody’, NSW premier-elect says
Chris Minns says his New South Wales election win has been a “really humbling experience” and that “the message from the people of NSW is they want us to get down to work immediately on their behalf”.
The premier-elect says there will be a leadership group meeting this afternoon where the party will begin stepping through how they will proceed.
Minns says that despite who a person voted for, he wants the NSW public to know that “we work for you”.
Our message for the people of NSW is that we will govern for everybody and we’re ready for the responsibilities for office.
We took nothing for granted in this election campaign.
New South Wales Labor leader ChrisMinns went into Saturday’s election holding a marginal seat by a hair and leading a party that had not held power in the state for a more than decade, but woke up on Sunday morning as premier-elect.
Minns spent the morning touring his electorate and speaking to the media, promising he would govern “for all”.
Meanwhile, South Australia has become the first state to legislate an Indigenous voice to parliament, closing off North Terrance and holding a ceremony for the public to watch. Crowds began to gather on an overcast morning to watch the bill be enacted in a special signing ceremony held in public. It is thought the development will feed into the federal referendum by giving the yes campaign a practical example to point to.
Other stories today included:
The final results from the NSW election are unknown as counting takes a break before resuming on Monday.
The Coalition began Sunday morning with a tug-of-war about the future direction of the party. Liberal senator AndrewBragg called for the party to avoid lurching to the right, while former Nationals leader BarnabyJoyce says the influence of moderate MattKean cost the Coalition votes in NSW.
Federal attorney general MarkDreyfus has refused to release the solicitor general’s advice that informed the final wording of the referendum question on the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Business groups want the federal government to pass the safeguard mechanism reforms before the end of the financial year to provide “certainty” to businesses.
Australia’s oil and gas industry has congratulated Chris Minns on his election win and called for the state to fast-track new gas projects.
Queensland’s LNP announced its candidates 18 months out from the next state election.
A woman was arrested in an anti-abortion protest in Sydney for allegedly breaching the peace.
Pioneering Greens councillor to step down in Brisbane
Queensland’s first Greens city councillor, JonathanSriranganathan, has announced he will step down at the end of April, saying he is “ready for a break and some other adventures” after seven years in the job.
In a post to Facebook on Sunday, he said there were a “whole combination of factors” behind his decision to resign.
These include wanting more time with loved ones, the urge to put more energy into music and writing, a desire to explore other forms of grassroots activism, feeling a little worn out by racism and police harassment combined with such heavy public scrutiny, having to deal with overly-entitled people who think that how often grass gets cut in the local park is the MOST important thing I should be looking into, and of course, the banal pointlessness of sitting through mind-numbingly farcical council meetings every Tuesday where Labor and LNP councillors mostly just hurl insults at each other.
Sriranganathan also said that “perhaps the most important reason I’m stepping down is that I think it’s important that politicians don’t hold on to safe seats for too long, gradually accruing more power and influence while losing perspective.”
As the Greens’ first city councillor, Sriranganathan made political history as his election marked the start of the “Green wave” in Queensland.
Sriranganathan: If I’m honest, this role hasn’t always been easy. I’ve copped a lot more racism & police harassment than any other councillor I know of, but it’s also been a joy & an honour to connect with so many people & to help elevate so many important issues and struggles.”
He will be replaced in his seat by Trina Massey, an arts worker and DJ.
Massey: As a queer Black Asian immigrant woman, I grew up not seeing people like me in politics. It means a lot to me to be able to elevate the voices of diverse intersectional communities in such a prominent role.
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued thunderstorm warnings across the New South Wales northern ranges and western slopes today.
Thunderstorms most likely about the northern ranges and western slopes this afternoon/evening. Severe thunderstorms possible across the northern ranges and western slopes. Heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail are of concern. See https://t.co/FLYnOTRhz0 if warnings issued pic.twitter.com/om1WNEG4HF
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) March 25, 2023
Farther north in Queensland, isolated severe thunderstorms are expected for the parts of the state.
Isolated severe thunderstorms possible in the southern Darling Downs & Granite Belt & Scenic Rim areas today in the afternoon/early evening. Risk much lower than Sat. Risks are damaging wind gusts & localised heavy rain leading to flash flooding; lesser risk of large hail. pic.twitter.com/o1FRbAwRX3
— Bureau of Meteorology, Queensland (@BOM_Qld) March 25, 2023
Meanwhile, fog has blanketed parts of Tasmania with cloud cover expected into the afternoon.
Check out the pretty circulation in the cloud just off the northwest coast before it disappears underneath high-level cloud. You can also see the areas of fog slowly decreasing through the morning. Middle to high-level cloud will extend over all of Tasmania today. pic.twitter.com/rDnVhIdunx
— Bureau of Meteorology, Tasmania (@BOM_Tas) March 26, 2023
And in parts of WA storms are expected today, bringing heavy rain, damaging winds and large hail.
Property owners in danger of missing out on vital Covid-19 era cash grants through no fault of their own have won a reprieve, with the deadline to submit paperwork for the national HomeBuilder scheme extended.
Subject to agreement with the states and territories, Housing Minister JulieCollins says otherwise eligible applicants who would have missed the April 30 cut-off will now have until the end of June 2025 to provide supporting documentation.
The extension will only apply to existing, already-approved applicants who have formal approval for off-the-plan purchases or renovations.
Collins said on Sunday said this will support those who entered into financial commitments on the basis that they would receive the grant but were affected by supply constraints and construction delays.
Too many Australians stood to miss out on support they believed they would receive through no fault of their own.
This decision will not cost the budget but it will ease the burden on families right across the country who are relying on this grant.
A woman has been arrested for allegedly breaching the peace at an anti-abortion protest in Sydney.
NSW police confirmed the woman was arrested and given a move on direction for disrupting the Christian-led protest. She has since been let go without charge.
About 12.15pm, officers attached to Sydney City Police Are Command issued a move on direction to a woman in Hyde Park, who complied.
The NSW Police Force recognises and supports the rights of individuals and groups to exercise their rights of free speech and peaceful assembly, however, the first priority for NSW Police is always the safety of the wider community.
The operation is ongoing.
The Day of the Unborn Child rally began with mass at St Mary’s Cathedral in Sydney. Hundreds of anti-abortion Christian activists then marched to NSW parliament, where they were reciting prayer and singing the Australian national anthem.
— Nabil Al-Nashar | نبيل النشار (@NabilAlNashar) March 26, 2023
Marchers were holding signs with messages including “Baby Lives Matter” and “Net zero abortions by 2030”.
In a video of her arrest, the woman can be heard yelling “I’m too much to handle … like any woman who wants control over her body. How dare you”.
Can you believe that in 2023 a woman is getting taken away ... for peacefully protesting in the middle of Sydney, Australia. Ladies, it is time to rise up.
Insurance company “preyed” on vulnerable Aboriginal people
NSW woman of the year LyndaEdwards has called on the federal government to help thousands of Aboriginal people who are still reeling almost a year after a company selling junk funeral insurance collapsed.
Aboriginal Community Benefit Fund, also known as Youpla, sold junk funeral insurance plans to Indigenous people across Australia for more than 30 years, despite concerns being raised by First Nations, financial, legal and consumer organisations.
From the early 1990s until the company’s collapse last year, it targeted Aboriginal communities by going door to door and running misleading advertisements in Indigenous publications.
In 2018, the banking royal commission found it engaged in conduct that fell below community standards in a number of respects, including that it relied on the cultural significance of funerals to Indigenous people to market its policies.
Edwards says the company “preyed on cultural values around family, community and the importance of ‘sorry business’ in social and spiritual life.”
They pressured mums into buying funeral insurance for their babies and small children.
Edwards said that governments and regulators had failed, including by approving insurance instalments to be made via Centrepay, which involves regular deductions being taken from Centrelink payments.
This kind of exploitation of First Nations people and culture is completely unacceptable and now is the time to try and make it right for the tens of thousands of families who were harmed.
Last year the Australian government created the Youpla Group Funeral Benefits Program to help the families of fund members affected by the collapse.
The program will pay a grant in place of a funeral benefit that would otherwise have been paid by Youpla. Applications will be accepted until November 30.
The Save Sorry Business coalition is asking the government to consider providing more help to those affected during its budget deliberations.
Power and privilege in the world of Australian superyachts
Visible from the footpath at the water’s edge, the superyachts berthed at Melbourne City Marina bob gently up and down, their sleek and shiny exteriors reflecting the placid waters below.
For me, and most people on this planet, this is about as close as we are likely to get to a superyacht. In Australia, that’s a pleasurecraft longer than 24 metres. Internationally, the starting length is 30 metres. The City of Melbourne recently spent $1.97m upgrading Victoria Harbour, including its four superyacht berths, to fit vessels up to 67 metres long. But for the tiny portion of the world’s ultra wealthy for whom superyacht size is a matter of concern, 67 metres is fairly moderate. The longest privately owned superyacht in the world is the 180-metre Azzam, reportedly built for the former president of the United Arab Emirates, the late Sheikh Khalifabin ZayedAlNahyan.
Superyachts are markers of power and extravagance. They are floating, transportable six-star hotels, capable of including everything from nail parlours to gyms, helipads and boardrooms, marble bathrooms and priceless art, as well as what the industry calls “toys” – from jet skis worth the equivalent of the average Australian worker’s salary to private submarines worth millions.
In a recent memoir, the longtime Australian seafarer and superyacht captain BrendanO’Shannassy writes: “Until space travel becomes a commercial reality, [superyachts] are the greatest display of wealth on the planet.”
For more on what the presence of superyachts in Sydney Harbour say about the widening wealth gap in Australia, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s inequality reporter Steph Convery.
The premier of South Australia, Peter Malinauskas, has taken to Twitter to celebrate the enshrining of the state’s First Nations voice to parliament into law.
He describes it as a “momentous occasion” for South Australia, which is the first state to have legislated for an Indigenous voice.
This is the moment the First Nations Voice to Parliament in South Australia became law.
This is a momentous occasion for our State.
Put simply, our First Nations people deserve the right to have a say on the issues that affect their lives. pic.twitter.com/b34PaqoPnC
They will now have the opportunity to speak directly to decision makers at the highest levels of in this State.
I am proud that South Australia is leading the country with its first Nations Voice, and I look forward to working with the Vocie to strengthen our work in closing the…
Analysts undecided on which way RBA will go on rates
The Reserve Bank of Australia will soon get the final two pieces of the economic puzzle that will inform its key April cash rate decision.
Both a pause and another hike are still in play, with analysts undecided on which way the central bank will go.
A pause will be welcomed by mortgage holders, who have endured 10 interest rate hikes in a row that have added hundreds or thousands of dollars to their monthly repayments.
Since the central bank signalled it was getting closer to holding fire on interest rate rises to observe the impact of its tightening, it has digested robust employment data and business condition surveys that will bolster the case for another hike.
On the other hand, financial instability in the US and Europe should help cool the global economy, although further interest rate increases from the US Federal Reserve and other major central banks last week will complicate matters for the RBA.
The RBA will be looking for further signs inflation has peaked. Photograph: Steven Saphore/Reuters
Australian Bureau of Statistics retail trade data, due on Tuesday, will provide some insights into consumer spending behaviour, a key source of uncertainty for the central bank.
The monthly gauge of consumer prices, due on Wednesday, will also give the RBA an up-to-date picture of where inflation is headed.
The central bank will be looking at the volatile index for further signs inflation has peaked and is tracking down.
An independent review of the RBA is due to wrap up this week and treasurer Jim Chalmers is expected to release its findings and the government’s response before the May budget.
The national statistics bureau will release February job vacancy data on Thursday and private sector credit data on Friday.
US markets finished higher on Friday after a week dominated by investor fears over a potential crisis in the banking sector.
Victorian Labor premier DanielAndrews will be the first Australian leader to visit China since the pandemic with a four-day trip planned this week.
In a statement on Sunday, Andrews said he would meet with senior officials from the ministry of education and Beijing government.
I look forward to being the first Australian leader to visit China since the onset of the global pandemic – continuing our long-held relationship with China on trade and culture, and further strengthening our deep ties.
Daniel Andrews will make his seventh visit to China since being elected. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
High on the agenda will be the return of Chinese students to Victorian education providers.
About 42,000 Chinese students are currently enrolled at institutions across Victoria.
In addition to Beijing, Andrews will travel to Jiangsu and Sichuan, meeting with key senior officials from Victoria’s sister states.
China is Victoria’s main trading partner, with two-way trade valued at almost $40bn in 2022.
The trip will mark Andrews seventh visit to China since his election.
South Australia becomes first state to enact voice
South Australia has become the first state to legislate for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
The Labor government’s bill passed the House of Assembly in a special sitting on Sunday.
MPs applauded as the final vote was taken with the legislation approved on the voice, removing the need for a formal count.
A large crowd outside the parliament watched the broadcast and cheered as the bill was endorsed.
It will be immediately proclaimed by governor FrancesAdamson, premier PeterMalinauskas and Aboriginal Affairs minister KyamMaher in front of a large crowd on parliament’s front steps.
SA has enshrined a voice to parliament in law (and it’s a little weird that it had to happen with “royal assent”) pic.twitter.com/eSehSePGag
Closing debate in the house on Sunday, Malinauskas said he acknowledged the legislation did not enjoy unanimous support in the parliament.
But the debate that has got us to the point we are today has been extraordinarily civil, considered and courteous.
This is a momentous piece of legislation for our First Nations people.
It has been a long time coming, but a First Nations voice will now be heard in the state of South Australia.
The SA legislation allows for six regions to be established across the state each with directly elected representatives.
Two members from each group will then form the State First Nations Voice, which can address either house of state parliament on particular legislations of interest to Aboriginal people.
Some administrative work remains to be done, including finalising the boundaries for each of the representative regions, but the state government hopes to have the system operational by the end of the year.
