Morrison says world should not get ‘suckered into’ Gaza ceasefire – as it happened

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What we learned; Monday 6 November

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us, we will be back tomorrow to do it all again.

Updated at 02.52 EST

Scott Morrison says world shouldn’t get ‘suckered into’ backing a Gaza ceasefire

Scott Morrison has told reporters in Israel during his visit that the world should not get “suckered into” supporting a ceasefire in Gaza, warning it is a “play from Hamas”.

The former prime minister touched down in Israel on Sunday, joined by former UK prime minister Boris Johnson.

The two reportedly met with Israeli president Isaac Herzog and have been given a tour of southern Israel amid its conflict against Palestinian militant group, Hamas.

Morrison said in his discussions with Israeli officials there was a “willingness to ensure that there’s humanitarian support” but the former prime minister said he did not support a ceasefire.

Do you provide a pause and a ceasefire to allow Hamas to regroup? To get themselves in a position to resist even further? I mean, this is the play from Hamas and we’ve got to be careful not to be suckered into it.

Scott Morrison, centre, and Boris Johnson, right, in southern Israel on Sunday. Photograph: Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters

Updated at 02.50 EST

Labor revives airline probe to monitor potential price-gouging

Almost three weeks after it announced it would revive an airline industry monitoring program, the Albanese government on Monday formally directed the competition watchdog to conduct the investigation.

After months of scrutiny into Qantas’ influence in the government’s decision to block rival Qatar Airways’ push to boost its flights to Australia, a proposal to extend a Senate inquiry on the topic was knocked back as part of a deal in which the government agreed to recommence an ongoing probe of the airline industry it let lapse in the middle of the year.

The monitoring program had begun in June 2020, when the Morrison government directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to monitor the domestic industry at a time of crisis when Virgin Australia was entering administration and broader disruptions were hampering other airlines. However, by the end of the three-year monitoring direction, the ACCC was examining competition concerns and consumer issues including price-gouging.

Last week, the opposition accused the government of dragging its feet on formally reviving the monitoring program, with no formal directive issued since the government announced its intention to do so on 18 October.

On Monday, treasurer Jim Chalmers formally directed the ACCC to “to monitor prices, costs and profits for a period of three years” and to report back “at least once every quarter on the monitoring during that period”.

The directive said:

A competitive airline industry helps to put downward pressure on prices and deliver more choice for Australians facing cost‐of‐living pressures.

The first report is due starting from the quarter ending 31 March next year.

Updated at 02.30 EST

Risk of ‘stranded’ fossil fuel assets has spiked, says envoy

In the same speech, German government climate envoy Jennifer Morgan said Australia had “great potential to benefit, to be a winner in the dawning age of renewable energy”.

She added that “the sun is rising faster than many people expect” and “for investors in the fossil energy sector, this means that the risk of stranded assets has markedly increased”.

Morgan is due to travel to the Cook Islands later this week to represent Germany at the annual meeting of Pacific Islands Forum members, where the climate crisis is expected to be a key focus of talks. She told the University of Sydney:

You are close to the Pacific Island states and you know what I am talking about – the existential threat to nations and people because of rising sea levels. Weather extremes are also becoming more frequent and more dangerous. Cyclone Lola was the earliest category-5 cyclone ever recorded in the southern hemisphere. It destroyed people’s homes and infrastructure in Vanuatu, a country that is still recovering from devastating category-5 cyclones earlier this year.

Morgan reiterated Germany support for Australia to co-host the 2026 UN climate summit in partnership with the Pacific (Cop31).

But she said it “would be great news” if Australia announced “ambitious contributions to the Green Climate Fund and the Adaptation Fund”.

Morgan said:

This would also be a strong signal of Australian leadership in climate finance, underscoring Australia’s bid to host Cop31.

Germany supports Australia’s bid, and I personally like the idea very much that Australia wants to host Cop31 in 2026 together with the Pacific Island states.

Updated at 02.09 EST

World must phase out fossil fuels including gas, German envoy tells Australian audience

The German government’s climate envoy has used a speech in Australia to say the upcoming UN climate conference “needs to decide upon a phase out of fossil fuels”.

Jennifer Morgan, a former Greenpeace chief who was appointed by the German government last year, told an event at the University of Sydney this afternoon that the world faced “a very decisive phase of climate foreign policy”.

She said the Cop28 summit in Dubai next month would take stock of how the world was implementing the Paris agreement. Morgan said the world was “still off track to meet the goals of the Paris Agreement and keep 1.5 degrees and a stable climate within reach”. She said limiting warming to 1.5C above pre-industrial levels was “an absolutely critical goal for the planet”. She said:

I’ve heard a number of claims that it’s not possible, but it’s only not possible if we don’t act fast enough. In other words, not enough action now – fast enough – is what could make it impossible.

We cannot let go of this goal, and I’d expect Australia to be wanting to be at the forefront of this fight, given your extreme susceptibility to climate impacts.

The International Energy Agency is absolutely clear about what we have to do: We have to keep fossil fuels in the ground. The latest IEA NZE [Net Zero Emissions] scenario sees no need for any new fossil fuels, not coal nor gas nor oil.

This is why Cop28 needs to decide upon a phase out of fossil fuels. Scientists inform us that gas cannot be a bridging fuel. And this means that countries with large exports of fossil fuels need to be working on diversifying their economies now, so that there can be a just and orderly transition. The longer they wait, the more disruptive the transition will be. Thus a Just Transition is a key discussion at the COP.

Continued in next post.

German climate envoy Jennifer Morgan. Photograph: Fabrice Coffrini/AFP/Getty Images

Updated at 02.49 EST

Gambling industry a leading cause of harm, academic tells conference

The gambling industry is “one of the most innovative, health-harming industries of recent times,” a professor of public health at Deakin University, Samantha Thomas, has told a public health conference at the University of Sydney.

The conference has been hearing from health experts about the way powerful industries and corporations try to influence governments and health policy, leading to harms to health.

Thomas spoke about how successive governments have failed to treat gambling like the serious public health issue that it is.

“It [gambling] is a high tech industry,” she said. “Digital technologies have led to the rapid transformation of this industry, not only in terms of the products that they offer, but also in the way that they can promote them. And really governments have not kept up with the regulation that’s needed to govern this rapidly transforming industry.”

Guardian Australia previously reported on the ways children and teenagers are entering adulthood with depression and debt due to the impact of gambling and how they are targeted by gambling advertising.

Thomas said the industry is now also “aggressively targeting young women” especially through using social media and influencers, who often do not declare they are being funded by the gambling industry.

Corporate ‘responsibility’ practices – where harmful multinational companies attempt to be seen as ethical by funding well-recognised research groups, by funding treatment and education services, and by giving money to developing countries to legitimise their influence – should be banned, Thomas said.

“Corporate social responsibility is one of the biggest threats we have to policy or good public health policy and regulation,” Thomas said.

“They step in to fund programs governments should be funding anyway.

“Children are used repeatedly in these activities to create this discourse that this industry is caring, and supporting communities”.

She called for an end to tolerating harmful industries just because they donate money towards addressing harms they cause.

Read more:

Updated at 01.36 EST

Cadia gold mine gets a new general manager

The new owners have announced a leadership reshuffle which will see the general manager replaced just six months after he was appointed.

Global mining company Newmont made a $26.2m buyout bid for Newcrest Mining last month and have appointed their own manager to each of Newcrest’s operations.

Dewar was appointed general manager of Cadia gold mine in March 2023, inheriting an EPA investigation into clean air regulation breaches. Newcrest pleaded guilty in September to breaching air quality regulations.

A spokesperson for Newmont said that Dewar will be replaced by Newmont’s safety coach, Tom Lukeman, once the company transaction is completed.

In a statement, Newmont said:

Newmont is appointing experienced Newmont operational leaders to each of the five new sites (ex-Newcrest) within the Newmont portfolio, including Cadia.

The site had been well led by Mick Dewar, who has worked tirelessly with the site’s workforce towards safe production. He will be supporting a safe handover of operations to the new site general manager, Tom Lukeman, and Newmont look forward to working with the local team for many years to come.

Updated at 01.21 EST

More Centrelink staff a ‘sorely needed addition’, says mental health group

Australians for Mental Health has welcomed the funding boost that will see 3,000 new staff added to Centrelink.

The group’s executive director, Chris Gambian, said:

This announcement of 3,000 new staff as part of a $228m funding boost is a sorely needed addition to a struggling system that is causing real harm to people’s mental health.

The Robodebt scheme was used to gut contact channels at Services Australia, leaving some of the country’s most vulnerable people languishing on waiting lists or unable lodge claim payments.

This failure is a sober reminder that governments must consider the consequences of their decisions on the mental health and wellbeing of people. Services Australia should be oriented towards supporting people who experience disadvantage, not punishing them or restricting their access to services.

Australians for Mental Health executive director, Chris Gambian. Photograph: Jessica Hromas/Guardian Australia

Updated at 01.16 EST

Voice referendum result formally confirmed

The Australian Electoral Commission has returned the writ for the Indigenous voice referendum, confirming the final count of votes – with 60.06% of valid votes backing No, and 39.94% voting yes.

The AEC advised the Governor General today of the result. The result, of course, has been known since early on the evening of October 14 – but now we have final numbers of the vote. As we know, the yes vote failed in all states and did not win a national majority either.

“The return of the writ is the formal confirmation of the result of the 2023 referendum. The AEC has conducted a count of ballot papers, and the mandatory secondary count (fresh scrutiny), required to achieve mathematical certainty of the result nationally, as well as in all six states,” the electoral commission said in a statement.

There were 6,286,894 votes for yes nationally, and 9,452,792 for no. There were 155,545 informal votes.

Queensland had the highest no vote proportion, at 68.21%. The highest yes vote among the states was Victoria, at 45.85%.

The Australian Capital Territory was the only jurisdiction to have a yes majority, with 61.29% of those in the ACT backing the referendum.

Updated at 01.19 EST

Palmer alleged fraud case adjourned

A magistrate has adjourned businessman Clive Palmer’s criminal fraud case until the supreme court can decide whether or not to end the matter entirely, AAP report.

Lawyers for Palmer and his Coolum Resort business first applied on Thursday for an adjournment of hearings across two days into the fraud and dishonesty charges that were first brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission in April 2018.

Palmer’s barrister, Peter Dunning KC, has previously denied any wrongdoing by his client.

Some of the charges relate to an allegation that Palmer and his Palmer Leisure Coolum business broke the law when he attempted to buy out timeshare investors in his Sunshine Coast resort but did follow through on a bid within the required two-month period.

Palmer has also been accused of improperly transferring more than $12.1 million through his company Mineralogy to Media Circus and Cosmo Developments, and ultimately using the funds for the Palmer United Party 2013 federal election campaign.

During a magistrates court hearing on Monday to decide whether to grant the adjournment, Palmer’s barrister Kris Byrne said his client’s right to a fair trial had been impacted by delays of up to two years in ASIC providing copies of evidence.

Mr Byrne said:

There should be an adjournment until disclosure is completed and there can be a proper hearing.

Updated at 00.46 EST

Auditors referred to disciplinary board escape scrutiny by resigning

Dozens of auditors have resigned to avoid disciplinary proceedings by a financial regulator, raising concerns a loophole has been exploited to escape scrutiny.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (Asic) withdrew 27 of 41 referrals to a disciplinary board over one year, after the auditors decided to resign rather than defend their conduct.

Here’s what Asic’s chief executive Warren Day told a parliamentary inquiry:

“There will be some auditors who will just resign either in the face of, or after we have indicated that we might do something.”

Day said that once an auditor has resigned, it may not be the best use of taxpayer money to continue proceedings before the Companies Auditors Disciplinary Board, which can deregister auditors and publicise misconduct. Here’s Day again:

“Sometimes you need a black mark or deterrence factor (…) sometimes we have to weigh up whether or not that’s needed because what we want is that person not to practice anymore.”

Unlike another regulator, the Tax Practitioners Board, Asic cannot stop the subjects of a potential investigation from resigning to avoid an investigation.

Updated at 00.35 EST

The PM has posted some photographs of his trip to Beijing on Twitter:

Vigil to be held tonight for the five victims of tragic Victorian pub car crash

The AAP is reporting a vigil will be held for the five people killed after a car ploughed through a regional Victorian pub in what police described as a confronting scene that could haunt first responders forever.

Two families who knew each other were at the Royal Daylesford hotel sitting in the roadside beer garden when a BMW SUV came down the street, mounted the kerb and hit patrons about 6pm on Sunday.

The Hepburn Shire Council will hold a vigil tonight for mourners.

A steady stream of devastated mourners, including families and community members, arrived throughout the day to lay flowers, teddy bears and leave messages of condolences at the site of the crash.

One message read:

(We) are broken. Rest in peace.

A mourner observes the tributes and flowers left outside of the Royal Daylesford hotel in Daylesford, Victoria. Photograph: James Ross/AAPMourners lay flowers outside the Royal hotel in Daylesford, after a car crashed into the pub’s outdoor dining area, killing and injuring multiple people. Photograph: James Ross/AP

Updated at 23.37 EST

My colleague Josh Butler has more about the Greens’ walkout.

He has just posted this on Twitter:

Updated at 23.17 EST

Thank you for being with me on the blog today. I’ll now hand over to the excellent Cait Kelly, who will take you through our live coverage for the next little while.

Updated at 23.05 EST

And here is a video of the Greens’ Senate walkout, via Senator David Shoebridge:

Updated at 22.59 EST

Greens call for ceasefire in Gaza during question time walkout– in pictures

Photos are starting to come through from Senate question time, via AAP, where the Greens have staged a walk out.

As my colleague Paul Karp reported earlier, the Greens’ 11 senators all walked out on en masse, with Janet Rice raising a printed page with the Palestinian flag.

The walk out was staged over the Albanese government’s inaction in not calling for a ceasefire in the Israel conflict in Gaza.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi wears a Palestinian keffiyeh during question time in the Senate. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPGreens senator Janet Rice holds a Palestinian flag during a walkout by the Greens during question time in the Senate chamber. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPGreens senator Mehreen Faruqi leads the walkout in response to the government’s inaction in not calling for a ceasefire in the Israel conflict in Gaza. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 22.59 EST