Dutton’s call to deport protesters backed by Zionist federation president – as it happened

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‘Most important vote people will cast in their lives’, Burney says days away from referendum

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has just spoken in Sydney to mark being two days out from “what will be the most important vote that many people will ever cast in their lives”.

Burney said the referendum is about three things:

It is about recognition. Recognition that this land has been occupied for 65,000 years.

It is about giving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people a seat at the table to [provide] views and give advice on issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

And of course … it is about better outcomes, particularly in the areas of health, housing, education, and employment.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, has spoken in Sydney just two days away from Saturday’s referendum. Photograph: William West/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 20.30 EDT

Morrison urges Labor not to ‘haggle’ for end to China trade bans

Continuing on from our prior post:

Morrison used his speech to reflect on how he had “experienced the PRC’s coercive tactics first hand” – a reference to the trade actions rolled out by Beijing in 2020 and the freeze on high-level talks that only ended after the Albanese government was elected last year.

But while the Albanese government has managed to gradually get some of these removed – including barley tariffs and restrictions on hay and coal – Morrison said these moves shouldn’t be “haggled for”:

I will be forever grateful for the resolve of the Australian people in supporting our strong stand, especially those agricultural and resources producers who were targeted by Beijing’s illegal trade sanctions.

I welcome the fact that Australia and the PRC are talking once again. This is always important. However, I note Beijing has not walked back any of their stated grievances with Australia, which included our commitment to freedom of speech, our free press and the sovereign right to make and enforce laws about foreign investment and national security.

And while their removal of some illegal trade sanctions is welcome, this is something that should be expected, not commended, and certainly not haggled for. To do so, demeans the sacrifice Australians made to stand up for our own freedom and sovereignty.

Updated at 20.13 EDT

Morrison says level of ‘concern about Beijing’ was same as Moscow

The former prime minister Scott Morrison has said his government’s decision to provide military assistance to Ukraine was, in part, to send a message to Beijing.

In an address to the Yushan Forum in Taipei last night, Morrison said the future of self-governed Taiwan was “inextricably linked to all our futures and the peace, security and freedom of the world we live in”. He said:

To put this in some context, when my government took the decision for Australia to swiftly provide lethal support to assist Ukraine, following the illegal invasion by Russia, this was as much a decision to support Ukraine, as it was to demonstrate our alignment with a global western resolve to resist the aggression of authoritarianism, especially given the tacit endorsement of the invasion by Beijing, that continues to this day. I was as concerned about Beijing as I was about Moscow.

Morrison pointed out that there were “often confusion and differing interpretations” about Australia’s One China policy. He said that in recognising the People’s Republic of China (PRC) in 1972, Australia acknowledged that the PRC had claims over Taiwan, “however it did not recognise the legitimacy of those claims, either way, on behalf of any party”. He said Taiwan’s ultimate status should be resolved peacefully.

Updated at 20.14 EDT

PwC Australia’s spinoff company can now secure government work

The finance department has formally approved the transfer of existing government contracts with PwC Australia to the firm’s new spin off company, Scyne Advisory.

Earlier this year, the big four firm announced it would divest its government advisory business for just $1 to Allegro Funds, which established the new firm. The divestment was necessary due to a reputational crisis that engulfed the firm after its misuse of confidential government information.

The deal also saved the jobs of PwC Australia consultants who had nothing to do with the scandal, but were impacted by government departments declining to award the firm future work.

Here’s the statement from the finance department which approved the novation of contracts, after consultation with Ethics Centre’s executive director Simon Longstaff.

Finance has undertaken an examination of the ethical soundness of Scyne on behalf of all Commonwealth entities such that they do not need to undertake a similar assessment.

This process sought to determine whether Scyne had the appropriate governance structure, ethics and culture to contract with the government.

This decision allows government departments to start allocating new consultancy work to Scyne and former PwC Australia staff.

Updated at 20.01 EDT

The RFS has issued total fire bans in regions across New South Wales, including in Greater Sydney.

Tesla fined by Australian consumer watchdog

Elon Musk’s electric vehicle company, Tesla, has been fined $155,460 for failing to comply with mandatory safety standards for products using button batteries, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has said.

The fine – just over the cost of two Tesla Model 3 vehicles – was levied by the regulator over Tesla allegedly failing to conduct the required safety tests for three of its key fob models, and two of its illuminated door sill models, and failed to provide the mandatory safety warnings on these products – required since Australia’s standards came into effect in June last year.

The ACCC’s deputy chair, Catriona Lowe said:

Button batteries can be lethal for young children, and the Australian mandatory standards are designed to reduce the risk of injury through testing of the safety of products containing them before they are sold, and explicit warnings on the packaging of the products.

Any failure to test these products before they are sold poses an unacceptable risk to children. We expect all companies, large and small, to comply with the mandatory button battery standards to ensure children are protected from the dangers of button batteries.

In the period between 22 June 2022, and 30 May 2023, Tesla sold 952 of the various devices for its cars. Tesla removed the products from sale when the ACCC began investigating, and has since found the Model 3/Y and Model X key fobs to comply with the standards. The ACCC said testing is continuing for the other products, and supply will recommence once the test results are obtained.

The regulator said Tesla customers concerned about their products should contact the company.

Tesla has been fined over a safety failure on car key fobs, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has said. Photograph: Robyn Beck/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 20.04 EDT

Insurance industry takes stock of rising claims amid weather extremes

Households and businesses won’t need any reminder about the increased costs of insurance, with premium increases of 10% featuring prominently in inflation measures.

Anyway, the Insurance Council of Australia is holding its annual conference today in Sydney, with global risks associated with this week’s attacks on Israel understandably one point of discussion.

Nicholas Hawkins, ICA’s president (and insurer IAG’s CEO) noted too there’s a “worsening of extreme risks” from climate change combined with “poor planning” at home. “That problem is growing,” he said.

On the plus side, the federal government is paying a lot more time and money to the challenges, indeed the most of any government, Hawkins said.

Still, the industry has a bit of a self reflection to do, including how it performed during last years flood events that stretched from Queensland to Victoria and elsewhere. The industry typically manages about 30,000 claims at any one time, but these were surging at the pace of 10,000 a day at one point last year.

How does the industry develop the capacity to meet such surges is one question that needs to be addressed, Hawkins said. An independent study by Deloitte, commissioned by the ICA, will be released in a few weeks’ time, to examine how insurers fared.

As we noted, the impact of big disasters of the past would be a lot more costly if they happened now even before climate extremes are added in:

‘Terrible’ business practices: senators criticise PwC Australia during inquiry

The chair of a Senate inquiry into the consultancy industry, Richard Colbeck, has told PwC Australia’s senior leadership that he was deeply offended by the firm’s breach and misuse of confidential government information.

Here’s what Colbeck told the inquiry:

I find it hard, in polite terms, to describe how offended I am as a member of the then government that was introducing significant tax changes in the interests of the Australian people…. and your company, your business, was deliberately using confidential information, to float that process and to assist major corporations to avoid tax and to use that information to market internationally.

Colbeck also told the inquiry that he was not satisfied by an internal investigation into the firm, conducted by former Telstra executive Ziggy Switkowski. That report found PwC partners who make the firm money were known as “untouchables” and “rainmakers” to whom “the rules don’t always apply”.

It was almost depressing every time I started a new section of the report because it basically reinforced at each level, how crap things were inside your business. I mean, it was just terrible.

PwC Australia’s chief executive, Kevin Burrowes, did not dispute Colbeck’s finding and said “there was a lot of work” required to improve the firm’s culture and practice. He also again apologised for the firm’s conduct.

Here’s Burrowes response to Colbeck’s criticism:

The situation is deeply disappointing and Dr Switkowski’s review is very difficult for us to read.

This matter was never properly investigated. The investigation into this matter only started properly in May.

There were numerous occasions previously to identify this matter. We should have investigated and held those who did wrong to account. We did not do that.

Updated at 19.46 EDT

PwC Australia begins Senate grilling with an apology

PwC Australia’s chief executive, Kevin Burrowes, has begun his appearance at a Senate inquiry into the misuse of confidential government information with an apology.

Burrowes has told the inquiry there are some matters he may not be able to answer during the Senate inquiry, given an ongoing criminal investigation by the Australian Federal Police.

The inquiry has already published a report finding PwC Australia has engaged in “a calculated breach of trust”. That finding was made before an internal investigation by PwC Australia revealed more breaches of confidentiality.

Here’s a section of what Burrowes told the inquiry:

The failures identified should never have been allowed to take place. What happened is totally unacceptable. For this I am sorry.

PwC Australia is sorry to our people, our clients, our stakeholders to the government and to the Australian people.

We cannot apologise strongly enough for breaching the trust placed in us and we accept the justifiable questions raised about our trustworthiness and integrity. Just as we commit to do better in the future.

We were meant to serve and help you but we have let you down. Our failures have deeply impacted the 1000s of current employees and partners who had nothing to do with this poor behaviour.

Liberal senator Richard Colbeck, who is the chair of the inquiry, said PwC Australia had not been called until today to allow the AFP time to get its investigation underway. Colbeck said the inquiry would be careful in its examination.

PwC Australia’s chief executive, Kevin Burrowes, has apologised at a Senate inquiry into the firm’s misuse of confidential government information . Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated at 20.02 EDT

AEC warns against wearing ‘yes’ or ‘no’ T-shirts while voting

The Australia Electoral Commission has advised voters against wearing campaign material such as a pin or T-shirt when they vote in the referendum as it could be misconstrued as campaigning, and the law states that people cannot campaign within 6m from the entrance to a polling place.

It comes after the ABC reported an Indigenous elder had said he was turned away from voting because he was wearing a “yes” campaign shirt.

The AEC said if a voter simply wears campaign material into the polling place, casts their vote and leaves, it “likely won’t contravene the act”.

But, if a voter wears the material into a polling place and is then seen talking with someone inside about it, or gesturing to it, that could be construed as campaigning, the AEC said.

Our advice is to simply avoid that potential by not wearing campaign material into a polling place.

The difference between an election and referendum is of course the quantity of people who may want to wear a shirt or pin that could be viewed as campaign material. There are typically not many voters at an election who wear a party shirt.

Updated at 18.47 EDT