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ABC staff to take protected industrial action for first time in 17 years

ABC staff have voted to take protected industrial action for the first time in 17 years over what they say is a poor pay offer from ABC management.

Hundreds of staff met today around the country and agreed to walk off the job for 40 minutes at 2pm on Tuesday to coincide with the Reserve Bank board meeting and BA official cash rate announcement, on 7 March.

Earlier they voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action, which will include different strategies up to and including a full 24-hour stoppage.

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance media director Cassie Derrick said 90% of staff were in favour of taking industrial action because the offer from management was not good enough.

ABC managing director David Anderson has taken over the bargaining with unions but talks have stalled.

Derrick said:

This is not just about pay. It’s about ensuring a fair go at forging a career at the public broadcaster.

The union says the offer must also include back pay to the expiry date of the previous enterprise bargaining agreement.

MEAA media director Cassie Derrick said 90% of ABC staff were in favour of taking industrial action because the offer from management was not good enough. Photograph: Danny Casey/AAP

Updated at 23.05 EST

Key events

The Queensland government has failed to fully deliver on five of the seven recommendations from a five-year-old audit that demanded better protections for Queensland’s threatened species.

Black-breasted button-quail, Julia creek dunnart and Wallum froglet are just three among the more than 900 plants and animals in the sunshine state that are threatened by extinction but do not have recovery plans in place.

But despite being under “considerable and increasing pressure”, species are being failed by a lack of coordinated approach from Queensland’s environment department, auditor-general Brendan Worrall found in a report tabled recently in parliament.

Worrall said the Queensland government’s biodiversity conservation strategy, released last October, “did not include measures or targets”.

“The current lack of measures reduces its ability to monitor outcomes for biodiversity, and demonstrate whether the strategy is achieving the results expected from the resources provided,” the report found.

“The department does not yet have a comprehensive framework to prioritise animals and plants based on risk”.

Queensland Conservation Council nature campaigner Natalie Frost said that in the absence of a comprehensive framework threatened species were not being adequately monitored nor recovery measures implemented

“We are in a climate and biodiversity crisis and it is appalling that species are not getting the protection they need here in Queensland.”

DES doesn’t have a comprehensive framework to prioritise animals and plants based on risk, meaning more than 1000 threatened species in Queensland are not adequately monitored and recovery measures are not implemented.”

Dutton accused of ‘irresponsible’ Aukus comments

The federal government has accused the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, of “incredibly irresponsible” comments in the lead-up to the Aukus announcement.

As reported here on the blog earlier today, Dutton told reporters in Victoria that he still believed the US Virginia-class nuclear-powered submarine was the best option for Australia.

When asked about rumours that the British SSN(R), which is still in development, may be the successful choice, Dutton said the advice to him when he was defence minister “was very clear, that Rolls-Royce didn’t have any production capability left, no headroom”. He said the Virginia class was “a proven design” and he believed they could start to operate this decade – even though US congressional figures have warned their production line is already stretched.

Dutton added:

I worry that if the government has taken a decision to go for a cheaper design that it will delay the delivery of those submarines.

The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy, has taken exception to these comments. Conroy told reporters:

Well, I think those comments from Peter Dutton are incredibly irresponsible. This was a man who received classified briefings up until the 21 May on this program. He is either being mischievous or he’s not privy to the latest information.

Conroy said Australia “would be in a much better position” if the former Coalition government “hadn’t chopped and changed so much” on the replacement for Australia’s existing fleet of Collins class diesel-electric submarines. He went through the history of the initial push for a deal with Japan, before it backtracked and began a process that led to the French bid being selected, before that was torn up in favour of Aukus:

When we came into government, there was a serious risk of having a capability gap and now we are confident that we have a pathway to resolve that capability gap. That will be detailed when we make the announcement.

But I just think it’s incredible for Peter Dutton to make these comments – they’re mischievous, they undermine confidence in the program and it’s like the arsonist burning down a house and they’re complaining about how long it takes for the fire brigade to get there. This man has caused this problem. He’s a man who’s driven 28 projects to be 97 years late. And I just find it completely unhelpful in the public debate for him to be injecting this stuff when he knows that there are security reasons that mean that we can’t detail information until we make the announcement.

The minister for defence industry, Pat Conroy: ‘I just think it’s incredible for Peter Dutton to make these comments – they’re mischievous, they undermine confidence in the program’.’ Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated at 00.07 EST

NT communities evacuated due to flooding

Residents in four remote Northern Territory communities are currently being evacuated to Darwin because of flooding in the region.

The chief minister has signed an emergency declaration and authorities say they are working hard to relocate around 700 people, the ABC is reporting.

The Bureau of Meteorology is warning of major flooding in the upper Victoria River as a result of heavy rainfall.

I will bring you more as it comes.

Updated at 23.49 EST

Man dies in workplace accident

Queensland police are preparing a report for the coroner after a man has died in a workplace incident in Beaudesert, central Queensland.

Channel 7 news is reporting the man was crushed to death by a fibreglass pool at a factory.

Police told the Guardian that emergency services were called just after 10am in relation to a workplace incident.

The man was declared deceased at the scene and police are assisting Health and Safety Queensland with their investigations.

Updated at 23.52 EST

Asic takes legal action over alleged mistreatment of whistleblower

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) has announced it is taking legal action for the first time over the alleged mistreatment of a corporate whistleblower.

Asic announced Wednesday it was lodging a federal court case against coal producer TerraCom Limited and four executives over its handling of a whistleblower complaint about the alleged falsification of coal quality results.

Asic deputy chair Sarah Court said:

This is a significant case because it is the first time Asic has taken action for alleged breaches of the whistleblower provisions. Asic alleges that TerraCom and its senior company employees engaged in conduct that harmed a whistleblower who revealed the alleged falsification of coal quality certificates.

Whistleblowers perform a vital role in identifying and calling out corporate misconduct We take any indication that companies are engaging in conduct that harms or deters whistleblowers very seriously.

The case alleges that the company falsely told the ASX that the whistleblower’s allegations were wrong and that they had been independently investigated. By allowing the “false or misleading statements” to be published, the company is said to have “engaged in conduct that caused detriment to the whistleblower’s reputation, earning capacity, and psychological and emotional state”, Asic said.

Terracom told the ASX on Wednesday that it would “vigorously defend the proceedings”.

The proceedings relate to disclosures made by the company with respect to a former employee in early 2020. The company has lawyers engaged and will vigorously defend the proceedings.

Updated at 23.39 EST

Thank you for your attention today. You’re now in the excellent hands of Cait Kelly!

ABC staff to take protected industrial action for first time in 17 years

ABC staff have voted to take protected industrial action for the first time in 17 years over what they say is a poor pay offer from ABC management.

Hundreds of staff met today around the country and agreed to walk off the job for 40 minutes at 2pm on Tuesday to coincide with the Reserve Bank board meeting and BA official cash rate announcement, on 7 March.

Earlier they voted overwhelmingly in favour of taking industrial action, which will include different strategies up to and including a full 24-hour stoppage.

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance media director Cassie Derrick said 90% of staff were in favour of taking industrial action because the offer from management was not good enough.

ABC managing director David Anderson has taken over the bargaining with unions but talks have stalled.

Derrick said:

This is not just about pay. It’s about ensuring a fair go at forging a career at the public broadcaster.

The union says the offer must also include back pay to the expiry date of the previous enterprise bargaining agreement.

MEAA media director Cassie Derrick said 90% of ABC staff were in favour of taking industrial action because the offer from management was not good enough. Photograph: Danny Casey/AAP

Updated at 23.05 EST

Greek rail tragedy ‘felt intensely’ in Australia

You may have already read about this terrible news out of Greece today, where at least 29 people have been killed and 85 injured after two trains collided near the town of Tempe.

The shadow minister for foreign affairs, Simon Birmingham, says the tragedy is being “felt intensely in Australia” particularly because of the large community of Greek Australians.

Updated at 23.02 EST

Large, fast fire threatens properties in western Queensland

About 20 people are being urged to prepare to evacuate their homes with a large bushfire already threatening some properties in Queensland’s Western Downs region.

Firefighters have urged people living at Weir River, southwest of Dalby, to prepare to leave as they battle the fast-moving blaze.

They say the fire is burning on Cecil Plains Road and Cecil Plains Moonie Road near the Kumbarilla state forest towards North Boondilla Boundary Rd, Colemans Road and O’Connor Road.

The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service said in an alert today:

Conditions could get worse quickly.

Firefighters are working to control the fire, however you should not expect a firefighter at your door. Firefighting aircraft may assist ground crews.

People living at the nearby Waar Waar Homestead, and anyone in Waar Waar state forest and surrounding areas are urged to stay informed of the situation.

– AAP

Updated at 22.54 EST

SBS Audio takes flight

SBS Radio has today become SBS Audio, reflecting the public broadcaster’s offering of programs in addition to podcasts and live streaming services.

David Hua, SBS Director of Audio and Language Content:

Every week we broadcast more than 262 hours of original audio content. The new SBS Audio digital experience across the app and website will further drive growth in a space where we are already seeing more than six million streams and podcast downloads every month.

More than 5.6m Australians use a language other than English at home have access to language services on SBS Radio 1, SBS Radio 2 and SBS Radio 3 channels.

SBS caters to 63 languages in total across radio, podcasting, online and social media, including new programming in Bislama, Malay, Oromo and Tetum.

Updated at 22.52 EST

Privatised cleaning of NSW schools has failed staff and students, UWU says

The privatisation of school cleaning in New South Wales schools is failing staff and students, according to a survey released by the United Workers Union (UWU).

The survey of more than 400 NSW school cleaners found half didn’t have enough time to complete necessary cleaning and a quarter said they hadn’t been properly paid by private contractors.

Almost 80% surveyed reported they worked split shifts, where their day could span 13 hours and the bulk of work completed before and after school.

The UWU said the privatised system was leading to the reduction of full time jobs and an unreasonable workload, citing examples of work schedules providing one cleaner 10 minutes to clean a school’s 36 toilets.

The union is calling on the state government to bring services back under its control when the five-year contract expires in December.

Milena, a school cleaner said contracting “wasn’t working”.

NSW opposition leader Chris Minns has promised Labor wouldn’t pursue further privatisations if elected.

If cleaners in the ACT, Queensland and Western Australia can be employed directly by the government, why shouldn’t we? … we need better.

Linda Revill, UWU property services co-ordinator, said cleaners were being burdened with “unrealistic goals”:

It’s not good enough the state is spending $1.75bn on this five-year contract but cleaners have in some cases seen their numbers more than halve at their schools.

Schools aren’t being cleaned safely or properly and cleaners are barely scraping out a living on $22.76 an hour.

NSW school cleaners are a living example of a failed privatisation that needs to be reversed, to the benefit of children, parents, teachers, schools and the workers.

Updated at 22.47 EST