Australia politics live: Qantas CEO Alan Joyce to retire early amid airline’s reputation crisis

Key events

The New South Wales Teachers’ Federation has reached an in-principle agreement to back the state government’s pay deal which will make public teachers in the state the highest paid in the nation.

A previous offer which would have increased wages by 2.5% in years two, three and four was described as a broken promise by the union, who had threatened striking this month.

The agreement returned to the table moves all teachers to a new higher paying step of up to $122,100 for highest-paid teachers.

The union said the proposal was the most “significant improvement to NSW teachers’ wages in decades”. The executive has recommended the agreement be endorsed at an upcoming council meeting on Saturday.

As part of the deal, school counsellors will also have their salaries boosted recognising dual degrees and workforce shortages in their sector, and casuals will move to a three-step scale linked to the new full-time salary.

NSW Teachers Federation acting president, Henry Rajendra, said it was a “historic advance” for the state’s education sector.

The agreement we struck with the government has been resurrected and honoured.The teacher shortage is a crisis that brewed for 12 long years. It can only be tackled by paying teachers what they are worth. The proposed agreement is a breakthrough moment.“

Updated at 20.28 EDT

Pilots’ association hopes Joyce’s retirement can be a ‘circuit breaker’ for Qantas

The group who represent Qantas pilots, The Australian and International Pilots Association have also responded to Alan Joyce’s resignation and said they hope it is a “circuit breaker” which they say is “needed to allow Qantas to move forward”.

AIPA president, Captain Tony Lucas, said:

We look forward to working constructively with incoming CEO Vanessa Hudson to rebuild our iconic airline into the respected and trusted brand that has made all Australians proud.

There is much work to be done, however we trust that Ms Hudson recognises the power of respecting and valuing all Qantas staff and how that can play a significant role in the renewal of the airline.

The Spirit of Australia may be deflated, but it is not defeated and if we all work together, I’m confident Qantas can be great once more.

Elias Visontay has the whole story here:

Updated at 19.47 EDT

‘Your time is up’: TWU secretary welcomes news of Alan Joyce’s early retirement

Transport Workers Union national secretary Michael Kaine has welcomed the news that Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has brought forward his retirement from the role.

Kaine, whose union has had a combative relationship with Qantas, said:

The Australian people have caught up with the type of Qantas Alan Joyce was running.

He claimed the airline had become known for its “decimated workforce, service standards through the floor and air fares through the roof”.

Clearly the board, one of the few good decisions they have made recently is saying to Alan Joyce, ‘your time is up’.

Updated at 19.43 EDT

Labor’s Tony Sheldon says Alan Joyce should forgo $24m bonus

Labor senator and former TWU secretary Tony Sheldon is not holding back when it comes to Alan Joyce.

Sheldon is a longtime critic of Joyce and said his legacy will be a workforce “split across 38 companies and a brand now synonymous with low pay, insecure work, illegal sackings and consumer rip-offs”.

He says the board should also be held accountable, that sacked workers should be reinstated and Joyce should forgo his $24m bonus.

The Qantas board and shareholders now have an obligation to knock Mr Joyce’s bonus off.

Updated at 19.26 EDT

‘I’m not sure I agree with Barnaby Joyce on pretty much anything else’, says Monique Ryan on Assange

Kooyong independent MP Dr Monique Ryan is part of a cross-parliament delegation visiting Washington to urge the US government to drop its extradition attempts and prosecution of Julian Assange. Barnaby Joyce is part of the delegation and Ryan says the two have found some of their only common ground on the issue. Ryan said:

Enough is enough.

Julian Assange should be freed.

I’m not sure I agree with Barnaby Joyce on pretty much anything else, which suggests how important this is.

Assange has been jailed for a decade for publishing evidence of war crimes and human rights abuses.

This sets a dangerous precedent for all journalists, media organisations and for freedom of the press.

His extradition to the US is at odds with that country’s role as world leader on freedom of expression and the rule of law.

It’s time for him to come home.

Updated at 19.34 EDT

NSW pay deal for public teachers would make them best paid in Australia

The New South Wales government has returned to the table with a pay deal that would make public teachers the best paid in the nation.

Teachers have rallied outside the offices of the premier, Chris Minns and deputy premier, Prue Car, in recent weeks after negotiations with the NSW Teachers’ Federation stalled in July. The union was considering taking industrial action this month.

Today, Car has confirmed after “positive discussions” with the teachers’ union, the federation is now considering a renewed offer made by the state government.

The four-year-agreement would raise the starting salary for a NSW teacher from $75,791 to $85,000 and the salary for top-of-the-scale teachers from $113,042 to $122,100.

Wages in the following three years will continue to rise in line with the state government’s wages policy. The offer will require the agreement of the Teachers Federation Council on Saturday.

Car said the state government was “hopeful” the agreement would be made.

Negotiating an outcome that demonstrates respect to teachers has always been my highest priority. In order to tackle the teacher shortage crisis we must restore respect to the teaching profession, so teachers are free to do their jobs without additional stress.

While there is much more to do, today marks an important step forward as we continue working to rebuild our state’s education system.

Updated at 19.33 EDT

Alan Joyce’s early retirement comes as Qantas’ image has taken a battering in recent weeks.

The decision just comes days after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission last Thursday announced it was taking legal action against the airline over damning allegations it had been selling tickets to more than 8,000 flights it had already cancelled in its system.

However, even Qantas itself conceded its image had been “hit hard on several fronts” due to soaring customer dissatisfaction – it was the most complained about company to the ACCC for the past two years – stubbornly high air fares, thousands of job cuts, and refusing to hand back billions in jobkeeper and government subsidies even as the airline posted a record $2.47bn profit in late August.

Pressure on Joyce and senior Qantas leaders had been building this week, with the airline’s board urged to withhold millions of dollars in executive bonuses.

In Canberra, momentum has also been building to investigate the airline’s special relationship with government, with a focus on the decision to reject Qatar Airways’ request to almost double its capacity into Australia and the influence of Qantas in the refusal.

Updated at 19.18 EDT

Tony Burke on ‘closing loopholes’ bill and how it will help truck drivers

In the midst of all of that, Tony Burke held a quick press conference to talk about how the government’s “closing loopholes” bill (the gig economy legislation he introduced yesterday) will help truck drivers.

Burke says the legislation will mean:

And just to head off the coming criticism, Burke’s statement says these proposed changes “follow extensive consultation with the industry and unions”.

Updated at 19.10 EDT

University of South Australia launches new certificate in childhood trauma

The University of South Australia has launched Australia’s first postgraduate degree to support frontline workers responding to child abuse.

The online certificate in childhood trauma was developed in the wake of the royal commission into institutional responses to child sexual abuse, which recommended more training and workforce capacity building for foster carers and relatives, residential care staff and child protection workers.

Deputy director in the Australian centre for child protection, Amanda Paton, said abuse was easy to miss if you didn’t know the signs.

She said social workers and psychologists often graduated from university without any understanding of child sexual abuse or signs of trauma.

It often gets misdiagnosed as autism or developmental disorders because most people working in the sector have not received adequate training.

With nearly one in four individuals across the nation reporting an experience of child sexual abuse, enhanced workforce support in this area is critical.

Analysis released by the eSafety commissioner today found one in eight complaints of child sexual abuse material was self generated, involving perpetrators directing children to perform explicit acts on their phone or webcam.

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, said perpetrators were sliding into DMs on online games and social media to groom children, overwhelmingly girls.

Updated at 18.46 EDT

Well, that news is certainly going to focus the parliamentary agenda today.

The Qatar Airways decision inquiry push probably just got a little bit more of a boost too.

We’ll bring you the reactions as soon as they hear.

Updated at 18.38 EDT