Government ‘considering’ unsealing confidential robodebt report chapterSarah Basford CanalesThe attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is “giving consideration” to whether a restricted section of the robodebt royal commission report should be publicly released.This morning, the National Anti-Corruption Commission announced it will reconsider its decision not to start a corruption investigation into six robodebt referrals, after its watchdog found its initial refusal was “affected by apprehended bias”.In July 2023, the commissioner, Catherine Holmes, wrote a cover letter for the report that was addressed to the governor general. It explained that the sealed chapter “recommends the referral of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution”.Holmes wrote that the chapter should “remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution”.But after the APSC released its final report into the 12 referred public servants involved in the unlawful scheme, some advocates have questioned whether the restricted section should now be released.The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, told the National Press Club in August he had been unsuccessful in making the case but would try to continue using his “powers of persuasion”.On Wednesday, following the Nacc Inspector’s report, Dreyfus’ office said the matter was still being considered.A spokesperson said:
The government is giving consideration to questions relating to the release of the confidential chapter.
Read more:ShareUpdated at 04.20 CETKey eventsShow key events onlyPlease turn on JavaScript to use this featureCBA reads the room: RBA won’t cut interest rates this yearPeter HannamAustralia’s biggest bank, CBA, had been a bit of an outlier, holding out the hope of a Reserve Bank interest rate cut this year.No longer, it seems. Gareth Aird, the CBA’s head of Australian economics, has just put out the bank’s take on today’s CPI figures.The retreat in underlying inflation – down to 3.5% in the September quarter from a year earlier, and holding steady at 0.8% on a quarter-on-quarter basis, didn’t recede fast enough to justify an RBA cut in December, as the CBA had previously predicted. (The other big three banks had pencilled in 2025 for the first cut for a while.)“We look for the first 25bp rate decrease in February 2025,” Aird said. “Our expectation is that the disinflation process will continue over Q4 24 and the board will view February 2025 as the most appropriate time to commence cutting rates.”Then again, it’s hard to know what might happen in the US (or elsewhere) in the final months of 2024. Let’s hope there aren’t rate cuts for some very bad reasons.ShareUpdated at 04.58 CETCommunity funding will help break disadvantage cycle: treasurerFederal funds being used to provide more localised support to disadvantaged people will help make Australia fairer, the treasurer says.The commonwealth will spend almost $20m over five years to establish partnerships for local action and community empowerment, which will help design and deliver programs that address issues like youth development, health, education, employment and youth justice.The government will partner with local communities to develop solutions to these complex social issues. The initiative is expected to help hundreds of communities and thousands of Australians within its first five years.The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said the funding would help to stop disadvantage flowing across age groups. He told reporters in Melbourne:
We’re working very closely with philanthropic organisations and governments at all levels and local communities to try to see the change that we want so that disadvantage doesn’t concentrate and cascade through the generations.
There’s not just some switch that you can flick to eliminate disadvantage in our country, you need to begin where we can make the most difference, and that’s what we’re doing.
– Australian Associated PressShareUpdated at 04.48 CETTrauma surgeons sound grim warning on dangers of e-scootersChildren as young as five are ending up in hospital with e-scooter and e-bike injuries as officials warn growing use could further clog emergency rooms.As NSW contemplates how best to legalise the electric transport devices, doctors are urging MPs to impose strict regulation – including bans – on riders aged under 16.More and more children are arrive in emergency room after crashes in a “very sharp increase” in 2024, SV Soundappan, a trauma specialist at Westmead children’s hospital, told a parliamentary inquiry on Wednesday.Common injuries include soft-tissue complaints and fractures along with significant head injuries, complex fractures, brain bleeds and internal organ injuries.The inquiry continues on Wednesday, two days after the NSW government revealed its draft plan to overhaul rules for e-scooters.Along with legalising the scooters, which are officially barred from use in public areas of the state, the proposed changes include a ban for under-16s along with mandatory helmets and a 0.05 blood alcohol limit. The e-scooters would be allowed on bike paths and shared pathways as long as riders gave way to pedestrians and stuck to 20km/h speed limits.Electric scooters available for hire are seen in Melbourne’s CBD, prior to the city’s scooter ban. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAPSoundappan said speed limits on shared paths should be 10km/h, to lower the risk of collisions with pedestrians – if e-scooters were allowed to be used there at all.The trauma chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Vikram Puttaswamy, predicted an increase in major injuries without stricter rules governing the use of e-mobility devices.“They would then come to our emergency departments and also increase the amount of morbidity and mortality we are already seeing … in a significantly stretched hospital system,” he said.John Crozier, a trauma surgeon, urged parliamentarians to prioritise the needs of pedestrians when reforming laws.“The devices are powered with electric motors and should be regarded as motor vehicles,” he said.– Australian Associated PressShareUpdated at 04.31 CETGovernment ‘considering’ unsealing confidential robodebt report chapterSarah Basford CanalesThe attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, is “giving consideration” to whether a restricted section of the robodebt royal commission report should be publicly released.This morning, the National Anti-Corruption Commission announced it will reconsider its decision not to start a corruption investigation into six robodebt referrals, after its watchdog found its initial refusal was “affected by apprehended bias”.In July 2023, the commissioner, Catherine Holmes, wrote a cover letter for the report that was addressed to the governor general. It explained that the sealed chapter “recommends the referral of individuals for civil action or criminal prosecution”.Holmes wrote that the chapter should “remain sealed and not be tabled with the rest of the report so as not to prejudice the conduct of any future civil action or criminal prosecution”.But after the APSC released its final report into the 12 referred public servants involved in the unlawful scheme, some advocates have questioned whether the restricted section should now be released.The NDIS minister, Bill Shorten, told the National Press Club in August he had been unsuccessful in making the case but would try to continue using his “powers of persuasion”.On Wednesday, following the Nacc Inspector’s report, Dreyfus’ office said the matter was still being considered.A spokesperson said:
The government is giving consideration to questions relating to the release of the confidential chapter.
Read more:ShareUpdated at 04.20 CETING website and app undergoing access issuesING Australia said they are aware of customers “experiencing issues accessing the ING website and app”.“The issue has been identified and our team are making progress in resolving the disruption,” they said on X.We are aware that some customers are experiencing issues accessing the ING website and app. The issue has been identified and our team are making progress in resolving the disruption.We sincerely apologise to any customers who may be impacted.— ING Australia (@ING_Aust) October 30, 2024ShareUpdated at 04.13 CETJosh TaylorAdvocates say social media age ban laws must first consult youthYouth advocates have urged parliament not to develop policies around restricting young people’s access to social media without consulting with those it will affect.The parliamentary committee on social media in Australian society is today hearing from young people from the eSafety Youth Council and Reach Out Youth Advocates and heard that social media is now an integral part of life for young people.William Cook, a member of Reach Out Youth Advocates member, said regulatory changes affecting social media should be developed with young people:
We believe that any regulations or policy changes affecting social media should be developed with input from young people who are experts in their own digital experiences.
It should also come with increased controls over algorithms, to give young people a say in what they’re shown and keep them protected from harmful content, Cook said. It should also come with education around online safety and digital literacy.The eSafety youth council said an age ban should not be the only change and other changes, including making platforms safer, should also be implemented.The advocates said there was still too little detail on how age assurance would work in practice and what platforms would be covered.ShareUpdated at 03.54 CETMan in hospital after alleged murder of woman in Melbourne homeA man charged with the murder of his girlfriend has failed to appear at his first court hearing because he is in hospital.Joel Micallef, 33, was on Tuesday charged with the murder of Nikkita Azzopardi after family members found her body after a welfare check. The 35-year-old woman was found dead at her South Morang home, in Melbourne’s north-east, on Monday.Micallef was due to face Melbourne magistrates court on Wednesday morning, but his lawyer asked for the hearing to proceed in his absence as he is in hospital.“He’s being treated in hospital for health complications,” defence lawyer Clare Morris told the court. She said it was his first time in custody.Prosecutors were given until 22 January to hand over their brief of evidence to Micallef’s lawyers. He will next appear in court on 5 March 2025.– Australian Associated PressShareUpdated at 03.52 CETCait KellyQueensland LNP to await advice on pill-testing ban three weeks out from schooliesA hardline stance on drugs might be put on hold for schoolies by the new Queensland government, with the premier balking at an immediate pill-testing ban, AAP has reported.Pill testing at the popular end-of-year event on the Gold Coast was to be rolled out at a cost of $80,000, but the LNP said It would ditch the scheme if elected.After ending Labor’s nine-year reign at the election on Saturday, the new premier, David Crisafulli, said he would await advice on a pill-testing ban with the schoolies event just weeks away:
I’m going to take some advice on that and I’m going to do that in a deliberate way – that’s important.
The question was asked about schoolies, which is in three weeks’ time – we’re not talking about in the future, I’m talking about this event here and I’ve asked for some advice.
Queensland is one of only three jurisdictions in the nation to have legalised pill testing, which reduces the risks and harms associated with drug use. It is available in 28 countries across Europe, the Americas and across the ditch in NZ.The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli. Photograph: Jono Searle/AAPShareUpdated at 03.52 CETVictorian coroner calls for ‘improved public awareness’ on wild mushroom dangers after 98-year-old diesThe Victorian state coroner, John Cain, has called for “improved public awareness about the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms” following the death of a Bayswater woman after she and her son were poisoned by a meal made with mushrooms from her garden.The coroner’s report was released today. It found that 98-year-old Loreta Maria Del Rossi, who passed away in May this year seven days after eating the homemade mushroom meal, died from “multi-organ failure due to poisoning from amatoxins”.Poisonous death cap (left) and yellow-staining mushrooms. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPAmatoxins are “the toxin found in lethal ‘death cap’ and yellow-staining mushrooms,” according to a media release from the coroners court of Victoria.
The yellow-staining mushroom is often confused for edible mushrooms that can be purchased in supermarkets and are the most commonly eaten poisonous mushroom in Victoria. The death cap mushroom is usually whitish, yellow, pale brown or green in colour and often grows under oak trees.
The estimated lethal dose of amatoxins in humans is 0.1 mg/kg. As such, a 50g mushroom may contain a potentially fatal quantity of amatoxins for a 70kg adult.
Del Rossi grew her own vegetables, and regularly collected wild edible grasses, the coroners court said. It outlined that Del Rossi located a patch of wild mushrooms growing in her front yard in April, and collected, cleaned and tested them. When her and her son consumed the mushrooms, they “did not experience any negative effects”.One month later, she found more mushrooms growing in the same patch of yard, and prepared them for dinner, the court said. Del Rossi and her son both fell ill that night, called 000 and were transported to hospital. Her son survived, but her own condition deteriorated and she entered palliative care on 20 May.Judge John Cain said:
I commend the Department of Health for publishing a health advisory regarding the consumption of wild mushrooms. However, I believe that additional public awareness is merited.
He recommended the Department of Health and Victorian Poisons Information Centre run an annual advertising campaign each autumn, warning about the dangers of consuming wild mushrooms.ShareUpdated at 02.57 CETJordyn BeazleyNSW police challenge Newcastle anti-coal ‘protestival’ in courtThe New South Wales police force is challenging a planned protest through the supreme court for the second time this month – this time an event in Newcastle calling for climate action.The November protest is organised by Rising Tide and known as the “People’s Blockade of the World’s Largest Coal Port”. It would involve thousands of activists paddling into the Port of Newcastle on kayaks and rafts to stop coal exports from leaving Newcastle for 50 hours.The event, which is also advertised as a “protestival”, includes workshops and music in the lead-up to the paddle-out.This is the second year in a row that Rising Tide planned such an action. Last year, the police accepted the group’s form 1 to block the port for 30 hours.NSW police later charged more than 100 people after protesters blocked the major coal port beyond the agreed deadline. Among those arrested was a 97-year-old man who was a Uniting church minister.One of the protest organisers, Zack Schofield, said NSW police had sought a court order challenging their form 1 application. If accepted, the application protects participants from being charged by police for the disruption under obstruction and unlawful assembly offences.Read more here:ShareUpdated at 02.33 CETDiseases expert says pandemic planning must put a dollar value on lifeKaren MiddletonProf Peter Collignon, a Australian National University microbiologist and infectious diseases expert, says governments need to be more “hard-nosed” about putting a price on life when planning for future pandemics and conduct cost-benefit analyses on the economic and social impact of lockdowns versus how many, and who, they might save.Collignon told ABC radio Canberra on Wednesday that health economists generally valued a life at about $50,000 a year of good-quality life.“So when people say you can’t put a price on life, in fact, health always does when they’re making decisions about allocating billions of dollars, and we need to look at that,” Collignon said.
If you’re going to actually put in severe restrictions, and it’s going to cost you billions of dollars in your economy, you’ve got to look at how many lives are you really going to save from that and what is the age of those lives? Saving a 15-year-old is different to saving an 85-year-old.
Now, if you’re 85 you’ll have a different attitude, but you know, you’ve got to be a bit hard-nosed about this in how you allocate resources in society and how you interfere with people’s livelihoods, as well as trying to make their health as well as you can with the resources you have.
Collignon was responding to the findings of the federal government-commissioned Covid-19 inquiry, published on Tuesday, which found lockdowns during the pandemic’s emergency phase had eroded public trust in governments, seriously damaged children’s mental health in particular and imposed a significant burden on the economy.Dr Peter Collignon. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShareUpdated at 02.43 CETSharePeter HannamCheaper energy drove drop in September quarter inflationThe September quarter inflation numbers will provide some comfort to the Reserve Bank that its interest rate hikes are doing their job. The fact that markets barely budged on the inflation news suggests investors were sanguine too, with the dollar and stocks pretty steady.As flagged, energy prices fell in the September quarter, led by a 17.3% slide for power prices and 6.7% for automotive fuel, the ABS said.The former will vary across the nation, since residents in Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania collected hefty rebates on 1 July (while the rest of us had to make do with $75 per household from the Albanese government that we’ll get at the start of each quarter this financial year).The drop in petrol prices will be more widespread. Whether the drop will be sustained hinges a lot on how the Middle East conflicts fare (and also if China’s economy really does perk up).Anyway, food and non-alcoholic drinks added 0.6 percentage points to the modest 0.2% rise in quarter-on-quarter CPI, itself the smallest increase since the June 2020 drop during the early Covid shutdowns.Less promising, though, was services inflation. This has actually risen by 4.6% from a year ago, versus the 4.5% annual pace in the June quarter. Rents were up 6.7%, the slowest pace since the June quarter of 2023 but still uncomfortably high for many.ShareUpdated at 02.10 CET