Australia news live: new plan to tackle abuse and neglect of First Nations children; Rachelle Miller to front robodebt hearing

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Alice Springs businessman claims $1.5bn is owed community in compensation

Alice Springs’ convention centre was packed last night for a meeting where business owners alleged they’ve suffered losses due to government inaction.

The ABC is reporting that organiser and business owner Garth Thompson told the crowd that the Northern Territory government had neglected Alice Springs and residents “deserve to be compensated for what the government has put us through”.

I’m more than proud to stand here and say we, as a community of Alice Springs, are about to sue our government for $1.5 billion in compensation.

However, First Nations members of the audience like Central Arrernte man Declan Fuller Gillick did not like the tone of the meeting and the fact that no Aboriginal elders were asked to speak. Fuller Gillick told the national broadcaster:

Those of us who came here for a community meeting ended up listening to 20 to 30 minutes of a local business owner essentially stir up a very emotive narrative centred around the protection of private property.

Fuller Gillick is concerned the tone of the meeting threatened to “demonise and continue to criminalise young people”.

Read more about the situation in Alice Springs from our Indigenous affairs reporter Sarah Collard:

Updated at 16.23 EST

Perrottet rejects ‘offensive’ claim his faith is behind pokies policy

Clubs New South Wales chief executive Josh Landis has accused the premier Dominic Perrottet of acting on his “Catholic gut” in pursuing the cashless poker machine proposal.

Landis told the Sydney Morning Herald:

I think it’s fair to say that the premier has very little understanding of this issue and has acted from his conservative Catholic gut rather than based on evidence. A poker machine. Photograph: Tomasz Zajda/Getty Images/EyeEm

Perrottet hit back at Landis’ comments speaking to 2GB radio station earlier this morning, telling Ben Fordham they were “inappropriate and offensive.”

Well, the first point I’d make is, that’s untrue. The decision that I’ve made and the views I have in relation to gaming in New South Wales is not informed by the fact that I’m Catholic. It’s because I believe this is the right thing to do.

Now, I think it’s completely wrong for the CEO of clubs in New South Wales, to say that this is a matter of part of my Catholic faith. And I would say that that’s offensive, not to me, but to people of faith across New South Wales. And if you replace the word Catholic with Islamic, Jewish or Hindu, you would, you’d be resigning before you got to work this morning by the time your program finished.

It’s not about faith, and people shouldn’t attack people’s faith in relation to decision-making. That’s not a matter for me. It’s an attack on people of faith across New South Wales and I believe in a tolerant society and people of faith respect people who don’t have faith and people who don’t have faith respect the views of those who do … It’s not about me. It’s about attacks on people of faith right across New South Wales.

Updated at 16.16 EST

Australian professor earns Unesco equity post

An Australian professor has been given a global opportunity to erode the barriers that limit life’s opportunities for so many, AAP reports.

University of Newcastle Professor Penny Jane Burke will on Tuesday become a Unesco chair in equity, social justice and higher education.

The globally prestigious role will see her work to improve the lives of marginalised groups around the world, including victim-survivors of gender-based violence.

Prof Penny Jane Burke has a new role as Unesco chair in equity, social justice and higher education. Photograph: University of Newcastle

The role, with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, will involve forging partnerships with institutions across the world to address inequalities, including those that lock some out of education.

Burke says the role will extend the work the university has already been doing in that space, and will make a real difference to communities facing social, cultural, political and environmental injustice.

We will be able to challenge the concrete barriers and insidious inequalities that greatly undermine access to and participation in higher education and significantly improve the life chances of communities navigating social inequality, including victim-survivors of gender-based violence.

Updated at 16.12 EST

Bonza to launch first flight today

Today I’ve been given the unenviable assignment no reporter wants – I’ll be heading to Whitsunday Island onboard the inaugural flight of new budget airline Bonza.

Tuesday’s launch flight leaves from the airline’s base at Sunshine Coast airport at 8am and heads to Whitsunday Island, and will mark the first major entrant into Australia’s aviation market in 15 years.

I’ll be filing updates about how the flight goes and if the onboard experience lives up to the hype. Stay tuned.

Bonza received regulatory approval earlier this month and has moved fast to begin offering flights – it’s got fares from $49 and has said airfares should cost roughly $50 for every hour in the air.

Their launch comes at a time of record high domestic airfares, and appetite for budget travel appears strong – the airline says it has sold more than 10,000 tickets so far since opening sales less than a week ago.

Updated at 15.53 EST

Woman arrested in Tasmania after allegedly brandishing a machete at a campsite

At 5am this morning a Hobart woman was arrested after allegedly approaching police brandishing a machete at a campsite near St Helens the previous evening.

When she evaded police going into nearby bushland, it required specialist resources including drones, a rescue helicopter, trained negotiators and members of the Special Operations Group to arrest the woman.

Tasmania police released a statement saying:

At 10:50pm on Monday 30/1/23 Tasmania Police responded to a call of an armed person at the Dianas Basin campsite near St Helens.

Upon arrival, police were approached by a woman brandishing a machete. The woman was sprayed with capsicum spray and went into nearby bushland.

The area was cordoned off for several hours while police worked through resolving the incident as safely as possible. This included evacuation of people from several campsites.

Specialist resources including drones, the Westpac Rescue helicopter, trained negotiators and members of the Special Operations Group attended the scene. This resulted in the safe arrest of the woman at around 5am.

The camp site has been returned to normal.

The 28 year old woman from Hobart is expected to be charged over the incident later today.

Updated at 15.47 EST

New plan to tackle abuse and neglect of First Nations children

Good morning! Natasha May now on deck with you. Thanks to Martin for getting us started.

The government will launch new action plans under its national framework for protecting children, which will aim to reduce the number of children in out-of-home care and reduce child neglect for those who do enter care.

More than 45,000 children are in out-of-home care and 43% are Indigenous, according to the ABC.

The 10-year strategy will aim to put the voices of children at the centre of policymaking and work in partnership with First Nations leaders to tackle child abuse and neglect.

The key actions include agreeing a national approach for a sustainable and skilled children and families workforce, and improved early and targeted supports for children and families.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander plan aims to support First Nations people and communities to exercise authority in family support services and child protection, and invest in the First Nations Community Controlled Sector.

The announcement comes from the minister for social services Amanda Rishworth and minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney who will launch the action plans, which are the result of collaboration from the federal ministers with state and territory community services ministers, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group and the National Coalition on Child Safety and Wellbeing working together.

Rishworth said:

Our vision is that children and young people in Australia reach their full potential by growing up in safe and supportive homes, free from harm and neglect. All children and young people across Australia have the right to grow up safe, connected, and supported in their family, community, and culture.

Burney said the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan reflected the government’s joint commitment and actions to reduce the number of First Nations children in out-of-home care, in line with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

I applaud the efforts of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Leadership Group, SNAICC – National Voice for our Children and governments across Australia in developing this framework, and committing to the actions needed to ensure every child in Australia is safe and supported to thrive.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Action Plan developed with First Nations young people, families and organisations is centred on empowering and supporting self-determination of First Nations families.

The plan focuses on early intervention and prevention measures at a child, family and system level which is crucial to keeping more First Nations families together and safe.

The federal government has committed $30m for five initiatives in the 2022-23 budget.

Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

Updated at 15.40 EST

Australia faces worsening levels of occupational gender segregation: Ceda

Men and women continue to be in traditional occupations, and executive positions remain skewed to men, according to new research by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (Ceda), AAP reports.

The research also found many talented women have left jobs or are actively considering leaving them because of a lack of flexibility or long, non-family friendly hours.

But only one in 10 organisations in Australia set flexible work targets and only 5% have targets specifically for men.

Women continue to dominate in health, care and education, while men make up most of the mining and construction workforce.

“People of any gender should be able to do the job they’re most suited for and most interested in,” the Ceda chief executive, Melinda Cilento, said on Tuesday.

Digital transformation, the energy transition and an ageing population will require a much more agile labour market than Australia has now, Cilento said.

“If economic and social barriers prevent flexible movement between occupations, we will not be able to respond to these changes,” she said.

People of any gender should be able to do the job they’re most suited for, says Melinda Cilento. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP

In the submission to the federal government’s Employment White Paper, the leading thinktank warns of worsening levels of occupational gender segregation – where a job is done by either mostly male or female workers.

And this is despite a skills shortage and more women in the workforce.

Men are still 1.8 times more likely than women to be working in a science, technology, engineering and mathematics field five years after completing their qualification.

And the proportion of women studying and working in these Stem areas has barely changed since 2015, CEDA found.

This worsens the gender pay gap, as these fields are typically highly paid.

Tudge adviser to front robodebt hearing today

Today’s session of the robodebt royal commission will hear from Rachelle Miller, the former adviser to then human services minister Alan Tudge.

Rachelle Miller. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Tudge, along with former social services minister Christian Porter, will appear at the commission later in the week.

Former chief counsel to the Department of Human Services, Annette Musolino, will continue her testimony today after appearing before the commission in Brisbane yesterday.

Musolino told the commission the department did not seek external legal advice on robodebt due to stretched resources.

Adani shares drop sharply in value

Most Adani Group shares fell sharply in India overnight as the Indian conglomerate’s rebuttal of a US short-seller’s criticism failed to pacify investors, deepening a market rout that has now led to losses of $65bn in the group’s stock values.

Led by Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani, the Indian group has locked horns with Hindenburg Research and on Sunday hit back at the short-seller’s report of last week that flagged concerns about its debt levels and the use of tax havens.

Adani Transmission, Adani Total Gas, Adani Green Energy, Adani Power and Adani Wilmar fell between 5% and 20% in Monday trade.

A billboard promoting Adani Capital at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel international airport in Ahmedabad. Photograph: Sam Panthaky/AFP/Getty Images

Flagship Adani Enterprises, which is facing a crucial test this week with a follow-on share offering, swung between gains and losses before settling 4.8% higher. It stayed well below the offer price of the issue, which if successful will be largest such share offering ever in India.

Adani Group has published a 413-page rebuttal of fraud allegations by Hindenburg Research, likening the US investment firm’s report to an attack on India amid mounting financial pressure on the coal conglomerate.

The lengthy response seeks to soothe investor concerns and stir nationalist fervour as Adani attempts to complete a US$2.5bn share sale, one of India’s largest ever fundraising campaigns, designed to finance capital expenditure and reduce debt.

“This is not merely an unwarranted attack on any specific company but a calculated attack on India, the independence, integrity and quality of Indian institutions, and the growth story and ambition of India,” the Adani response said.

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best breaking stories overnight before Natasha May picks up the baton shortly.

The big breaking news overnight is that Richard Marles and Penny Wong have announced a joint deal to supply Ukraine with artillery shells as part of a reboot of relations with France. The “2+2” talks – so-called because they included the Australian pair’s defence and foreign affairs counterparts – took place in the splendour of the Quai d’Orsay in Paris overnight and prompted Marles to call it a “new cooperation between the countries’ defence industries”. Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, will doubtless approve after he again called for more western help.

Divisions over the voice to parliament proposal have continued to grow after politicians clashed on an ABC Q+A program last night focused on the issue. Greens senator Lidia Thorpe, who has criticised the voice proposals, repeated her view that a treaty was a better option for Indigenous people. But assistant federal minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, called her concerns a “misnomer”.

Most Adani Group shares fell sharply in India overnight as the Indian conglomerate’s rebuttal of a US short-seller’s criticism failed to pacify investors, deepening a market rout that has now led to losses of $65bn in the group’s stock values.