Pro-Palestine march in Sydney as Opera House lit up in support of Israel – as it happened

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Monash University staff to begin two-day strike over pay and job security

Union members at Monash University will strike for the longest time in more than a decade in a bid for wage increases, eased workloads and increased job security.

It’s the latest round of industrial action to sweep through Victorian universities, following a week-long strike at the University of Melbourne that wrapped up on Friday and a 36-hour strike at RMIT.

The two-day strike, to begin at midday, comes days after the Fair Work Commission rejected a claim for the university to avoid repaying staff by retrospectively changing its enterprise agreement.

The estimated $9m wage claim, launched by the National Tertiary Education Union, will now proceed to the federal court.

NTEU Monash branch president Dr Ben Eltham said job security and wage theft were the key issues behind the strike.

Staff are deeply dissatisfied with the governance failures that are hurting staff and causing teaching conditions to deteriorate.

The university said it would review the commission’s decision and was “committed to paying its staff accurately” in line with its enterprise agreement.

Monash University’s Clayton campus. Photograph: Wikipedia

Updated at 19.33 EDT

Peter Costello won’t seek third term as Future Fund chair

Former treasurer Peter Costello has advised the government he will not seek a third term as chair of the Future Fund.

According to a joint statement from treasurer Jim Chalmers and minister for finance Katy Gallagher, Costello advised the government of his decision a fortnight ago.

The statement reads:

We thank Mr Costello for his significant contribution as a board member and then Chair over the past 14 years. He leaves with the Government’s appreciation and respect.

Chalmers and Gallagher note Costello’s “instrumental” role in establishing the Future Fund in 2006 and setting up its initial investment mandate:

Upon the fund’s inception, Mr Costello spoke about the importance of ensuring that Australia could meet its unfunded superannuation obligations without imposing an undue burden on future generations.

During his time at the Future Fund, its portfolio has grown steadily and is today worth more than $200 billion. It has delivered an average annual return of 8.8% per annum over the past decade.

A formal recruitment process will now commence to appoint a new chair, the statement reads.

The government will also carefully consider any future board vacancies as an opportunity to refresh and renew the Future Fund’s leadership.

Updated at 20.20 EDT

Albanese on Israel-Hamas war: ‘This is a very dangerous time in a volatile part of the world’

Staying with the prime minister’s breakfast television appearances:

Speaking to Karl Stefanovic on the Today Show earlier, Anthony Albanese was asked whether he has spoken with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu yet.

Albanese said he has put a request in for a phone call, but Netanyahu “has the task at hand that he’s focused on”:

We’ve put in a request for a phone call with the prime minister, but I understand that his priority will be organising the defence that needs to occur [there].

Albanese said that across the political spectrum here in Australia, “this isn’t a partisan issue”.

This is one where clearly Hamas has been the aggressor here and … an attack like this requires substantial planning.

The concern about thousands of rockets being shot into Israel, a very dangerous escalation could occur here as well. There’s reports as well of Hezbollah firing rockets into Israel. So, this is a very dangerous time in a volatile part of the world.

Of course Israel will defend itself, but of course there should always be restraint when it comes to the targeting of civilians.

Updated at 20.13 EDT

Paul Keating backs the voice, saying it will ‘drastically’ improve Indigenous outcomes

Less than a week out from the referendum, former prime minister Paul Keating has voiced his support for the Indigenous voice to parliament.

Writing in The Australian, Keating said an Indigenous voice would “drastically” improve outcomes. He said the idea of a voice has been tried, and “it worked big time”.

For this and a host of other reasons, I will be voting Yes on Saturday.

In his piece, Keating pointed to consultation employed over seven months between the commonwealth government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in respect of Native Title.

That consultation began in the cabinet room on 27 April, 1993, and finished on 15 November, 1993, seven months later, on the day before, as prime minister, I introduced the Native Title Bill to the House of Representatives.

He said this consultation was the “very first episode of an Indigenous ‘voice’ speaking directly to the executive government on a matter materially central to Indigenous people”.

Last year, Keating – along with Noel Pearson – urged Labor not to postpone the voice referendum if it won government.

Former prime minister Paul Keating. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

Updated at 18.37 EDT

Voice polling suggests yes still trailing in final run to referendum day

AAP has the latest polling results ahead of the Indigenous voice referendum day this Saturday:

Two surveys show the no campaign is still ahead a week out from referendum day despite one poll indicating a slight late gain in support for the yes vote in the past month.

Almost half of voters opposed the voice, 38% were in favour and 13% remained undecided, according to a Resolve poll conducted for the Sydney Morning Herald.

When allowed only a referendum-style yes or no answer, 56% of respondents opposed the change and 44% were in favour – with the latter up one point since September.

Tasmania was the only state with a majority of yes voters, the survey found.

A Newspoll indicated that the no side was backed by 58% while the support for ‘yes’ was at 34% and 8% were unsure.

The Newspoll of 1,225 voters registered a two percentage point dip for yes and a two-point increase for no since the previous survey two weeks earlier.

A ‘Write Yes’ mural in Sydney’s Erskineville by Wiradjuri artist Benjamin Thomson. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

Updated at 17.43 EDT

First day of phone ban in NSW schools

NSW government high schools will join government primary schools in enforcing a ban on mobile phones during school hours when Term Four begins today, AAP reports.

Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia already have bans in place while Queensland students will face one from next year.

The ACT is asking its residents for feedback on a possible ban.

NSW premier Chris Minns stressed the importance of the ban which will apply “across the board”. He said yesterday:

It’s essential to ensure that young people in particular can focus on the schoolwork in front of them and teachers have an attentive class.

An explosion in phone use in schools had coincided with declining test scores, he said.

He cited UK research that indicated schools with phone bans had better academic outcomes for 16-year-olds.

We cannot expect young people to focus on the academic work while they’ve got a phone pinging in their ear every other second.

The policy – a Minns government election pledge – will affect 320,000 students in 400 schools.

Updated at 18.14 EDT

Noel Pearson warns Australia may ‘never live it down’ if voice referendum fails

Less than a week out from the voice to parliament referendum, Indigenous leader and yes campaigner Noel Pearson says it is time to reflect on the “moral question” of the voice.

Speaking to ABC RN just before, Pearson said a no result would be a “travesty” and Australia may “never live it down”.

Pearson said a no result would form part of our history and when the nation looks in the mirror “we will see who we are, and it will not be a good picture for us”.

I’m very conscious that I’ve avoided talking about the moral dimension of this vote, but it is the truth. And Australians who approach the ballot box this weekend will need to contemplate that this is no ordinary vote … [it is a] critical, historical and ethical choice that we have.

Q: Is it a mistake then to leave the moral question so late?

The importance of the constitutional provision needed to be addressed. We needed to answer questions about the constitutional safety of what we’re doing and we’ve done that uphill and down now.

Pearson said “all of the aspects of the vote” from a constitutional perspective have been interrogated, so the moral question needs to be asked now.

Yes and no are not equivalent choices. Yes is of a different quality to no. Yes is moral choice, and no would be a travesty for the country and we will possibly never live it down.

Noel Pearson at a community Q&A session about the voice in Sydney at the weekend. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated at 17.21 EDT

Man killed in small plane crash in South Australia

A man has died and another is in a critical condition after a light plane crash in rural South Australia, AAP reports.

Emergency crews were called to Mumfords Road at Merriton, 170km north of Adelaide, about 4.10pm on Sunday after reports a light plane had struck power lines and crashed in a field.

The pilot, a 50-year-old Redhill man, suffered serious injuries and was taken to a local hospital before being flown to the Royal Adelaide hospital.

His passenger, a 24-year-old Redhill man, died at the scene.

Major Crash officers are investigating the circumstances of the crash.

Investigators from the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) will join them at the scene on Monday to determine how the crash occurred.

Updated at 16.50 EDT

Top Victorian officials to front inquiry into Commonwealth Games cancellation

Top Victorian government officials tasked with delivering the 2026 Commonwealth Games will face a grilling before a state parliamentary inquiry, AAP reports.

The upper house inquiry into Victoria’s shock decision in July to cancel hosting the Games across five regional hubs will open public hearings on Monday.

Former chair of the now-defunct 2026 Games organising committee Peggy O’Neal and its ex-chief executive Jeroen Weimar are among the first officials listed to appear.

Other officials scheduled to front the inquiry on Monday include department of premier and cabinet secretary Jeremi Moule and former CEO of the government’s dedicated Games office Allen Garner.

Inquiry chair David Limbrick said the upper house committee would be seeking answers on the Games’ cancellation from those closest to the organising process.

We’ll be interrogating the advice provided to government, taking a sharp look at the governance, probity and procurement of this event.

An interim report is due to be handed to parliament by the end of April 2024 and a final report 12 months later.

Updated at 16.49 EDT

Good morning

And welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be with you on the blog this morning. Here’s what’s making news:

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has told ABC RN that the Australian government is working with local authorities to confirm the welfare of Australians in affected areas of the Israel-Hamas war.

Wong said she spoke to Israel’s foreign minister, Eli Cohen, over the weekend and “expressed Australia’s support for Israel, our solidarity and our support for Israel’s right to defend itself”.

We are seeking to confirm the welfare of Australians in affected areas. We are working with local authorities, and I spoke also over the weekend to our head of missions, our ambassador in Israel and our head of missions in the Palestinian territories.

Meanwhile, AAP is reporting that top Victorian government officials tasked with delivering the 2026 Commonwealth Games will face a grilling before a state parliamentary inquiry today.

The Queensland health minister, Shannon Fentiman, has called on the federal government to consider scrapping restrictions that prevent most gay and bisexual men from donating blood. You can read more on this from my colleague Ben Smee here.

In environment news, scientists say they have discovered large flows of pollution are reaching the Great Barrier Reef after soaking into underground water. This finding could have implications for policymakers focused on cutting pollution from river catchments, Graham Readfearn writes.

And if you need a long-read for your morning commute today: take a look back at 50 years’ of the iconic Sydney Opera House.

With that, let’s get started.

Updated at 16.34 EDT