News live: NSW floods destroy more than 20 Eugowra buildings as SES assesses damage; Deliveroo to end operations in Australia
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Editor in chief of the Australian steps down
The editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Dore has resigned suddenly, citing health issues.
In his note to his staff Dore said: “Last month, I marked my four-year anniversary in the job. Any editor will admit the past few years have felt like dog years and as you know, I have no off-switch. I am exhausted, and have recognised I can’t keep going on like this.
“I have long-standing personal health issues I need to resolve and am leaving News to concentrate on restoring my health. I will also be undergoing surgery this week, so will have to postpone farewells until a later time.”
Dore has been editor-in-chief for four years after starting on the paper 31 years ago.
Updated at 00.40 EST
Key events
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What happened on Wednesday 16 November 2022
With that, we’ll wrap up our live news coverage for the day.
Here’s a summary of the day’s main news developments:
Thanks for following along. We’ll be back to do it all again tomorrow.
Updated at 03.00 EST
Government announces review of university sector
The education minister, Jason Clare, is giving the Bradley oration at Sydney University. The oration is named in honour of Denise Bradley, whose work led to the creation of the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency.
Minister for Education Jason Clare. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Clare is continuing the work Tanya Plibersek began during Labor’s time in opposition, working on a reset of government relations with universities.
Part of that reset is an Australian Universities Accord, which will review the university sector as a whole, and government’s role in it.
It’s something universities have been waiting on and tonight, Clare announced the panel and the terms of reference.
Leading the panel will be Prof Mary O’Kane, Prof Barney Glover, Shemara Wikramanayake, Fiona Nash, Jenny Macklin and Prof Larissa Behrendt.
The key areas for review:
Meeting Australia’s knowledge and skills needs, now and in the future This will include recommendations for new targets and reforms recognising that more than nine in ten new jobs will require post-school qualifications, and fifty per cent of new jobs are expected to require a bachelor’s degree or higher.
Access and opportunity, including improved access to higher education and greater access for people from underrepresented backgrounds.
Investment and affordability, which as the title suggests, will look at university funding, as well as its affordability for students and a review of the ‘job-ready graduates package’.
Governance, accountability and community, which will look at the regulatory and workplace relations settings, as well as the contributions higher ed makes to Australia at large.
The connection between the vocational education and training and higher education systems – which will examine whether there is more opportunity to align vocational training with universities
Quality and sustainability, with the challenges for domestic and international students examined
Delivering new knowledge, innovation and capability, a reference which will look at university research and the opportunities for collaboration and commercialisation.
An interim report will be prepared for mid-next year, with the final report due in December 2023.
Updated at 02.44 EST
Australian ambassador to Iran summoned
Iran’s government has taken offence at comments from prime minister Anthony Albanese over the death of Mahsa Amini, with Australia’s ambassador to the country being summoned by Tehran.
Nournews, a semi-official news agency in Iran, reported that Australia’s ambassador had been called in over comments made by Albanese over internal developments in the country.
“It seems that the prime minister of Australia has taken a wrong approach based on false information, which does not help the relations between the two countries,” said foreign ministry spokesperson Nasser Kanaani, according to Reuters.
We’ve contacted the prime minister’s office, and Iran’s embassy in Canberra, for comment.
It is currently unclear exactly which comments Iran has taken umbrage at, but Albanese told SBS News last month that he condemned “the actions of the Iranian regime in cracking down on democratic protests, which were occurring in Iran”.
The protests have continued for weeks after the September death of Amini, who died after being arrested by Iran’s “morality police” for not wearing a head scarf.
“It’s important to assert the human rights of women in Iran,” the PM said to SBS.
SBS reported that Albanese said Australia would support “women who are exercising their human right to dress as they see fit”.
“These protests are protests about human rights, and I stand, I do think most Australians will overwhelmingly stand with the women and the people of Iran in standing up for their human rights,” he said.
Updated at 02.26 EST
NSW Liberal party branch charging $110 for fundraising dinner featuring One Nation’s Mark Latham
A New South Wales Liberal party branch is charging voters $110 a head to listen to outspoken One Nation politician Mark Latham discuss the proposed First Nations Voice to parliament at a fundraising dinner.
The controversial upper house MP is being spruiked for the 9 December event, despite key Liberal figures – including the state’s treasurer, Matt Kean – heavily criticising comments by the former federal Labor leader, who became a rightwing commentator before entering the NSW parliament.
The Liberal senator for the Northern Territory, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, also features on the invite for the Northern Sydney Conservative Forum event, which is being run by the party’s Roseville brach. The invite notes Price “is opposed to the ‘Voice’”.
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Transport Workers Union seeks meeting with Deliveroo’s administrators
A short time ago, food delivery giant Deliveroo announced it would end operations in Australia effective immediately. The company said it had determined that it “cannot reach a sustainable and profitable scale in Australia without considerable financial investment, and the expected return on such investment is not commensurate with Deliveroo’s risk/reward thresholds”.
The Transport Workers Union, which has advocated on behalf of food delivery workers in the gig economy, has already called a meeting with its Deliveroo rider members who it says are “devastated over the sudden loss of their jobs”.
In a statement, the TWU said “Deliveroo has always been the outlier of the gig industry in Australia, railing against reform supported by Uber and DoorDash to level the playing field for companies while lifting standards for workers under deadly pressures.”
Michael Kaine, TWU national secretary, said “workers must be the priority for administrators” and called on the federal government to “urgently act on its commitment to gig reform and fair standards for all transport workers”.
Kaine said:
“This will be a shock to the thousands of food delivery riders who rely on Deliveroo for income. The TWU has sought urgent consultation with administrators on what entitlements might be clawed back for food delivery riders who stand to lose their jobs in the blink of an eye. These are workers that have been ripped off minimum wage and other rights, and put under deadly pressure to prioritise speed over safety when delivering food.
Deliveroo’s sudden and cowardly act treating workers as callously in exit as it did in operation highlights the urgent need for the federal government to enact gig reform.
Updated at 01.57 EST
High court narrows Unions NSW case to byelection spending cap
On Wednesday the high court began hearing the Unions NSW case against NSW’s electoral provisions which threaten third party campaigners with criminal penalties if they coordinate their campaigns and exceed the aggregate electoral spending cap.
At least – that’s what the law said when the case started. Earlier in November the NSW parliament repealed the offending provision (section 35 of the Electoral Funding Act).
Unions NSW’s counsel, Justin Gleeson, had the task of convincing the court they should still hear the case and issue a declaration the law was unconstitutional.
He argued that the unions had refrained from electoral expenditure and citizens were “denied the benefit of communications they were entitled to receive under the constitution” due to the implied freedom of political communication.
Gleeson submitted that his client feared if the case were adjourned or dismissed, that NSW will pass a new law or regulation in a similar form at an “inconvenient time”, raising the prospect of an urgent application to reconvene the court as late as 19 December ahead of the 25 March election.
Gleeson said Unions NSW had sought undertakings the government would not put the regulation back in, but they refused without good reason. “That strengthens our fear,” he said, challenging counsel for NSW to say something to allay that fear.
Counsel for NSW, Bret Walker, rejected the idea that “the state” – the polity of NSW – had “done something unmeritorious” by repealing the law or refusing to provide an undertaking, telling the court that “nothing was further from the truth” and it was an “entirely inappropriate suggestion”.
Walker said it was common that the party in government may not hold a majority in the upper house, and withdrawing or repealing a law was an “unremarkable” thing as part of political compromise. Nor was it “alarming or eyebrow raising” for members of the government to say they deplored the law’s repeal. But nothing can be drawn from that to say what will happen in future, he said.
Walker said it was “completely unrealistic” to expect him as counsel to provide a “monosyllabic answer” about what the future holds.
After the lunch break, the chief justice Susan Kiefel said “at least a majority” of the court would answer that Unions NSW did not have standing to seek a declaration that the now repealed law was unlawful, siding with the NSW government.
The court continued to hear argument on the narrower part of the case – whether the $21,600 byelection spending cap, which is still in place, is lawful.
The court adjourned and will recommence the hearing on Thursday.
Labor accuses tugboat operator of ‘economic vandalism’ over planned worker lockout
Tony Burke has accused tugboat operator Svitzer of “blackmail” and “economic vandalism”, revealing the government will encourage the industrial umpire to stop its lockout of workers.
The workplace relations minister made the comments at the National Press Club on Wednesday as the Fair Work Commission met to consider suspending or terminating the lockout due to its potential impact on the Australian economy.
On Monday the Danish company announced a planned indefinite lockout of 590 workers at 17 ports from midday on Friday fuelling fears of widespread supply chain disruptions ahead of Christmas.
That announcement prompted the Fair Work Commission to intervene – warning the lockout may “threaten to cause significant damage to the Australian economy or an important part of it” – the same reason it suspended a proposed 48-hour stoppage in February.
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Richard Marles visits flood-affected Eugowra township
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, was joined by Nationals MP Michael McCormack in Eugowra today, to meet with residents affected by the floods that have decimated the town.
Marles gave a quick door stop, saying the federal government will support the NSW government in any way it can, particularly with getting basic services, like water and power back online.
I think it is about looking at all of those key services which are not available right now. Communication, running water, sewerage, power is unavailable in different parts of the town.
All of that is what we need to be working really closely with our counterparts of the New South Wales Emergency Services to make sure that we can get back up and running as quickly as possible.”
Marles added that in his capacity as defence minister, he’d ensure defence personnel were available to support recovery efforts.
The Defence Force stands ready to provide all the assistance that it can. This is obviously a matter where we work with the New South Wales Government, wherever requests are made, we’ll be meeting them.”
McCormack only gave a short comment, noting the “bipartisan” support from Canberra for relief efforts, and praising Marles for attending flood affected towns. “I think it shows good leadership coming here today, and we’ve heard some devastating stories,” he said.
Updated at 01.27 EST
SES warns of ‘severe and widespread’ damage to flood-hit Eugowra
The State Emergency Service in New South Wales has entered the flood-hit town of Eugowra to assess damage, with 21 buildings so far deemed “completely destroyed” and 216 buildings damaged.
Sean Kearns, SES NSW assistant commissioner, said a large proportion of the roughly 300 homes in Eugowra are expected to be damaged.
Kearns said:
Emergency services have engaged engineers to determine if houses are structurally sound and whether some residents may be able to return to those homes that are safe to enter. We expect the damage to be severe and widespread for the Eugowra community of about 700 people.”
In a statement, NSW SES said it continues to resupply isolated communities with emergency supplies, including the area of Walgett, Lightning Ridge and Collarenebri, which is about the size of Switzerland.
“NSW SES has directed people in northern parts of Gunnedah to evacuate due to dangerous major flooding, and to continue to stay away from floodwater in western NSW due to prolonged flooding. Storms, including rain and wind, are forecast for next weekend, however it is not expected to be as severe.”
As of 4pm on Wednesday, there were 117 SES warnings active, including 24 emergency warnings, 73 watch and act alerts and 20 at advice level. There were 261 requests for assistance in the past 24 hours, and 17 flood rescues have been performed.
Earlier today, police announced a woman’s body was found in flood waters in the New South Wales town of Eugowra, where locals say they are still in shock after an inland “tsunami” devastated the town.
Read more:
Updated at 01.23 EST
Deliveroo to end operations in Australia
Food delivery service Deliveroo has announced it will end its operations in Australia, citing the company’s “disciplined approach to capital allocation”.
In a statement, the company said “management is committed to driving growth and delivering on its path to profitability while aiming to have strong, profitable businesses in each of the markets in which it operates, built on the foundation of leading hyperlocal market positions”.
The statement said:
In Australia, the market is highly competitive with four global players, and Deliveroo does not hold a broad base of strong local positions. In H1 2022, the Australian business represented approximately 3% of Deliveroo’s total Gross Transaction Value (GTV) and negatively impacted the Company’s adjusted EBITDA margin (as % of GTV) by approximately 30 basis points.
Working with the local Australian leadership, the Company has determined that it cannot reach a sustainable and profitable scale in Australia without considerable financial investment, and the expected return on such investment is not commensurate with Deliveroo’s risk/reward thresholds.
Given this position, Deliveroo has decided to end its operations in Australia. The Company’s subsidiary in Australia, Deliveroo Australia Pty Limited (DAPL), has therefore been placed into voluntary administration by its Director and will permanently cease trading imminently.”
Administrators have been appointed, and “appropriate compensation packages” will be provided to creditors.
“This includes guaranteed enhanced severance payments for employees as well as compensation for riders and for certain restaurant partners,” the company said.
Eric French, chief operating officer, said: “This was a difficult decision and not one we have taken lightly. We want to thank all our employees, consumers, riders and restaurant and grocery partners who have been involved with the Australian operations over the past seven years.”
Editor in chief of the Australian steps down
The editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Dore has resigned suddenly, citing health issues.
In his note to his staff Dore said: “Last month, I marked my four-year anniversary in the job. Any editor will admit the past few years have felt like dog years and as you know, I have no off-switch. I am exhausted, and have recognised I can’t keep going on like this.
“I have long-standing personal health issues I need to resolve and am leaving News to concentrate on restoring my health. I will also be undergoing surgery this week, so will have to postpone farewells until a later time.”
Dore has been editor-in-chief for four years after starting on the paper 31 years ago.
Updated at 00.40 EST
GP suspended over Covid exemptions loses bid to appeal decision
A Melbourne GP who had his registration suspended amid a Medical Board of Australia investigation into whether he was improperly issuing Covid-19 vaccination exemptions has failed in a supreme court bid to review the decision.
Dr Mark Hobart, who is also a candidate for the Democratic Labour Party in the upcoming Victorian election, sought a judicial review of the November 2021 decision to suspend his registration while the board investigated the exemptions, and whether Hobart had published incorrect or misleading information about Covid-19 and the public health response to the pandemic.
Hobart submitted that the board’s power to take immediate action, under s 156 of the National Law, could not be used to suspend a practitioner’s registration indefinitely, as he said had occurred in his case.
But Justice Melinda Richards found on Wednesday that this had not occurred, and dismissed his application.
Hobart had been informed that his registration was suspended following eight reports to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) between 14 December 2020 and 26 October 2021 that Hobart may have advised patients not to get vaccinated against Covid-19 and issued vaccination exemptions to patients without a proper basis.
The decision to suspend Hobart also referred to him being the director of a company that was associated with a website and Facebook page that “disseminates information that may contravene the position of local, state and federal government and health authorities; and evidence-based guidelines which are in place to protect public health and safety”.
Hobart said that the material was not misleading or deceptive in its nature, nor defamatory, and was in accordance with evidence-based guidelines.
Richards said that as of July 2022, six of the eight notifications that were the basis for the suspension were still under investigation, and there were several other notifications concerning Hobart also under investigation.
She said:
While I have sympathy for Dr Hobart’s wish for the process to move more quickly, I accept that the investigation of all of those matters is ‘a time consuming and resource demanding exercise’ involving considerable work for Ahpra staff.
Dr Hobart has declined Ahpra’s requests to participate in an interview or provide a written response to the concerns raised in the notifications, which might have moved the investigation along.
It was estimated that the investigation will be concluded by the end of 2022, at which point Ahpra will provide a report to the board which it will consider before deciding on which action to take against Hobart, Richards said.
Hobart is a candidate in the lower house seat of St Albans, in Melbourne’s west. He has claimed on Twitter that he issued 2000 vaccination exemptions in three months prior to having his registration suspended.
Updated at 01.17 EST
Victoria’s electoral commissioner to take leave of absence
Victoria’s electoral commissioner, Warwick Gately, is set to take a leave of absence mid-way through the election campaign.
Gately issued a statement on Wednesday confirming he will take a leave of absence from Friday to undergo important surgery that cannot be delayed. Dana Fleming, deputy Electoral Commissioner, will be acting electoral commissioner until his return in January.
He says:
I am disappointed that I will not be able to see the State election through to its end, but I have been working closely with Ms Fleming on the planning and delivery of this election for the last 18 months. Part of our business continuity process takes such a situation into account, and I expect a seamless transition.
Early voting opened on Monday, with the state election to be held on 26 November.
Updated at 01.20 EST
A widower whose bride of 10 days was killed in a buggy accident on the couple’s tropical Queensland honeymoon has been charged over her death.
The 30-year-old NSW man was driving a registered golf buggy with his wife on board on Hamilton Island in June when they crashed.
The buggy tipped, leaving his 29-year-old wife with fatal injuries. She died at the scene.
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Australian crptyo exchange freezes withdrawals
A Brisbane-based crypto exchange has suspended withdrawals, citing spillover from the collapse of FTX, reports AAP.
“Due to the impact of FTX Australia’s administration, we are not able to operate business as usual and have suspended all deposits and withdrawals until further notice,” Digital Surge said in a message on its website.
“Our current priority is to protect and support you, our users, and keep you informed as the situation develops.”
In an email to customers the exchange said it “does hold some limited exposure to FTX” and was “working hard to understand the situation as it relates to our users”.
Updated at 01.21 EST
Clive Palmer fails to prevent criminal charges proceeding
Mining magnate Clive Palmer has failed in a supreme court bid to stop criminal charges proceeding against him.
Palmer lost the latest round in his legal fight against the corporate watchdog and regulator after being hit with charges on two fronts.
The billionaire businessman and his company Palmer Leisure Coolum were charged by the commonwealth director of public prosecutions in 2018 for alleged takeover law breaches.
The charges relate to a proposal to buy out investors in timeshare villas at Palmer’s Coolum resort, in south-east Queensland, which did not eventuate.
Read more:
Updated at 01.22 EST
Queensland children may be pleading guilty to crimes they didn’t commit to avoid bail laws, report says
Queensland children could be pleading guilty to offences they didn’t commit, a new report suggests, with the state’s police commissioner saying its nation-leading rates of youth incarceration reflect the “community’s expectation”.
The comments from Mark Ryan came after he released an eight-month-old report, assessing new bail laws designed to enable the Palaszczuk government’s “crackdown on youth crime”, late on Tuesday night.
That report said children could be pleading guilty to offences they didn’t commit or were being imprisoned for first-time, low-level offences under the state’s youth justice laws.
But Ryan said the report showed the laws were working as intended, by keeping more serious repeat offenders in detention for longer.
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Elias Visontay is going to take you through the rest of the afternoon.
Thanks for spending a few hours with me and take care of you.
Since the storms hit central west NSW on Sunday, the Orange Ex-Services Club has been acting as a makeshift evacuation centre for flooded Eugowra residents.
Hundreds were flown to the relative safety of the regional hub after taking shelter in Eugowra’s showgrounds. It’s still only accessible by boat.
When evacuees wander in, the club’s CEO, Nathan Whiteside, says they’re given a voucher for a meal and clothing before they’re rehomed – many of them arriving soaking wet, with nothing but the clothes on their back.
On Monday evening, he reckoned there were around 60 people at the services club for a meal and a chat – many of them shellshocked, having endured 24 hours of trauma. The following day, dozens more continued to arrive.
We had 200 residents evacuated to here, so a third of the town is in Orange. We’ve been referring them to professional help but the staff are helping as well. We had staff walking dogs up and down the street while owners had dinner, and checking on each other.
The club has also been accepting donations – water, vouchers and money, mostly. Bedding and pillows have to be stockpiled. There’s nowhere to take it.
Whiteside visited Eugowra on Tuesday to drop off items. He says it’s hard to describe what he saw outside of cliche.
I’ve never been to a war zone, but that’s what I envision it’s like. There were houses washed away, 800 metres from where they should be. Cars and caravans dislodged, moved and ruined, including police cars, ambulances. It came up so quick trucks had to evacuate. Apart from the showgrounds, it’s gone through everywhere.
One man built hit house 20 years ago on a mound at a 150-year flood height. The water went a metre through his house. It’s never been there before, and it hasn’t just trickled through. It’s come out of nowhere. It was just devastating for someone who knows the town as a kid. It’s only a little town, but it’s going to cost a fortune to rebuild it.”
Updated at 00.36 EST