Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has declared “I will not be campaigning ‘no’” in the looming referendum over constitutional recognition and a Voice to Parliament for Indigenous Australians.
Australian Defence personnel would travel to Europe to help train Ukrainian soldiers under a plan being considered by the federal government after Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the world is bracing for a recession, two weeks out from the government delivering its first budget and ahead of his overseas trip to meet with global economic experts.
In NSW, the government is proposing a legislated cap on yearly increases to land tax to protect first homebuyers from bill spikes, as Premier Dominic Perrottet accuses Labor of a Mediscare-style campaign designed to sink his ambitious stamp duty reforms.
In Victoria, the opposition has pledged to halve V/Line fares for regional public transport trips for four years, if elected at the state election in November.
And in international news, emergency services put all of Ukraine on alert for more missile strikes on Tuesday, a day after heavy Russian attacks.

Thanks again for following along. Broede Carmody will be with you bright and early on Wednesday to take you through the news of the day.

6.02pm on Oct 11, 2022

The Wrap: ASX posts third consecutive loss as $A continues its slide

By Angus Thomson

The Australian sharemarket erased early gains to finish in the red for a third consecutive day on Tuesday after a weak lead from Wall Street.

The ASX 200 closed down 22.8 points, or 0.34 per cent, to 6645.00. Energy stocks were the major drag on the market, down 1.6 per cent, as investors continued to take profits on recent gains across the sector.

Johns Lyng Group finished up 5.8 per cent, recouping some of Monday’s losses; explosives company Orica was up 4.4 per cent; and GrainCorp rose 4.2 per cent after upgrading profit guidance for the 2023 fiscal year.

Baby Bunting Group finished down 20.5 per cent after revealing weaker first-quarter profits; Sayona Mining down was 6.5 per cent; and Imugene dropped 5.6 per cent.

The local bourse climbed as high as 0.6 per cent in early trade despite a weak lead from Wall Street, but eventually crashed to finish in the red for the third consecutive day.

Woodside, Santos and Whitehaven all closed in the red as investors looked to take some profits generated by energy stocks this year. Industrials were the only sector to finish in the green, up 0.4 per cent, while utilities finished 0.1 per cent higher.

Read the full wrap here.

5.19pm on Oct 11, 2022

‘I will not be campaigning no’: Thorpe rejects campaign against the Voice

By James Massola

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe has declared “I will not be campaigning ‘no’” in the looming referendum over constitutional recognition and a Voice to Parliament for Indigenous Australians.

And The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age can reveal Thorpe tweeted Senator Pauline Hanson asking for help to stop constitutional change in March 2017, three years before the Victorian senator entered federal parliament.

The tweet from Thorpe, sent from the now-suspended @lidia_thorpe Twitter account, stated: “Pauline help us stop the constitution changes. Aboriginal people say no to constitutional change”.

Greens senator Lidia Thorpe.Alex Ellinghausen

At the time Thorpe was not a federal Greens senator and the Uluru Statement from the Heart would not be finalised for another two months.

Eight months after the tweet was sent, Thorpe was elected at a byelection to be a Greens MP for the Victorian state seat of Northcote, which she held for a little over a year.

The May 2017 Uluru Statement called for a Voice to parliament be enshrined in the constitution, then a Makarrata Commission be established to supervise truth-telling about Indigenous history and “agreement-making”, or treaty - which the Greens supported.

The Australian reported on Tuesday that Thorpe had met with Indigenous businessman and former Liberal candidate Warren Mundine to discuss working together on the ‘no’ campaign.

But after being approached about her tweet to Hanson, and whether she would join the ‘no’ campaign, Thorpe moved to shut down any suggestion she would oppose the Voice.

“The tweet relates to an old debate around the Liberals hijacking constitutional recognition. Pauline Hanson is no friend to First Nations people, I have no interest in working with her,” she said.

Read the full story here.

4.52pm on Oct 11, 2022

Green groups in Queensland seek new forest plan

The Queensland government has promised to work with green groups calling for it to draw up a plan to halt deforestation, while defending its record on land-clearing.

More land has been cleared, more quickly in Queensland than in any other state or territory, with most vegetation felled to make way for agriculture, infrastructure or housing.

More than 6800 square kilometres of land, an area bigger than the Sultanate of Brunei, was cleared in 2018-19, according to the state government’s latest report.

An expert panel is probing why deforestation is happening so quickly despite stricter land clearing laws being in effect since 2017.

The Queensland Conservation Council, Australian Conservation Foundation, the Wilderness Society and World Wildlife Fund Australia have launched a campaign to halt deforestation to protect native species and reduce carbon emissions.

The alliance wants the government to draw up a plan to manage, regulate and restore 100 million hectares of forest and woodland.

AAP

4.17pm on Oct 11, 2022

Australia considers sending Defence staff to train Ukrainian troops

By Matthew Knott

Australian Defence personnel would travel to Europe to help train Ukrainian soldiers under a plan being considered by the federal government after Russia unleashed a barrage of missiles on Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities.

The government is preparing to deliver another round of military assistance to Ukraine on top of the $388 million it has already committed to the war effort.

Defence Minister Richard Marles says the government is considering providing training to Ukrainian troops.Alex Ellinghausen

While Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia, Vasyl Myroshnychenko, has focused on securing extra military equipment and ammunition, he said Ukraine would welcome any training assistance from Australia.

The United Kingdom has led efforts to provide basic military training to thousands of Ukrainian civilians by hosting them for combat courses in England.

Myroshnychenko said the British training program had provided a “massive” support to the Ukrainian war effort. New Zealand, Sweden and the Netherlands have sent military instructors to the UK to help the training effort, but Australia has so far not participated in the program.

Defence Minister Richard Marles said the government was considering sending Australian personnel to train Ukrainian forces, as well as providing Ukraine with additional military equipment.

“We need to be making sure we are supporting Ukraine over the long term so that we’re putting them in a position where they can actually resolve this conflict and end it on their own terms,” Marles said.

Read the full report here.

3.57pm on Oct 11, 2022

Calls to close border with Indonesia amid foot and mouth concerns

Livestock transporters want the Australian border with Indonesia temporarily closed until foot and mouth is contained on the archipelago.

Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association executive director Mathew Munro told a senate hearing into the adequacy of Australia’s biosecurity that any outbreak of the highly contagious livestock disease would be “devastating” for the whole agricultural industry.

“An Indonesian outbreak cannot yet be declared under control, and we would support a temporary closure of the Australian-Indonesia border to all unnecessary passengers, mail and cargo,” Munro told the inquiry.

“We recognise that many Australians love a Bali holiday, but there’s just too much at stake to risk our domestic livestock industries.”

The senate hearing moved to the cattle country region of Rockhampton in Queensland on Tuesday to focus on foot and mouth disease, which was detected in Indonesia earlier this year.

3.36pm on Oct 11, 2022

APRA’s Wayne Byres highlights ‘repayment shock’ risk

By Clancy Yeates

The banking regulator says highly indebted borrowers and people who locked in record low fixed mortgage rates will be among the most vulnerable mortgage customers as interest rates rise.

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman Wayne Byres told a parliamentary hearing on Tuesday that a key focus for the regulator was how the housing market responded to large and “relatively rapid” interest rate rises.

Byres played down the risks to financial stability from housing, but said there would be pockets of stress due to rising interest rates and the falls in house prices.

Byres, who is stepping down from the role at the end of this month, said one group that would be vulnerable to rising rates were those who had taken advantage of the rock-bottom fixed mortgage rates during the earlier phases of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When I think about the pockets … I think it will be people who had very low servicing capacity even at low rates, people who borrowed at very high debt-to-income ratios, and there will be people who took advantage of the very low fixed rates that were on offer in 2020, in the midst of the pandemic,” Byres told the House of Representatives economics committee.

“Many of those will be two and three year fixed rate loans which will over the next 12 months need to be refinanced. And for those people there will be a significant repayment shock as they have to refinance their fixed rates into higher rates, and the gradual increase in interest rates that variable rate borrowers have experienced will come in one hit to those fixed rate borrowers.

“So they’re the sort of types of loans that, I think, will be particularly vulnerable.”

Following the mass data breach at Optus, Byres also underlined the cybersecurity risks in banking, saying the issue presented banks with a constant challenge. Byres said banks had spent huge sums improving their cyber defences, but an attack would happen at some point.

“I think we would probably say that financial institutions are, at least in a broader context quite advanced, but what we also know is that at some point, some sort of event will happen,” he said.

3.28pm on Oct 11, 2022

Covid cases rise in Shanghai as authorities tighten testing protocols

In international news, Chinese authorities have stepped up testing in Shanghai and other megacities as COVID-19 infections rise again, as well as extending quarantine times and closing some public spaces where the virus could spread.

Local infections have risen this week to their highest since August, and the uptick coincides with increased domestic travel during the National Day “Golden Week” holiday earlier this month.

Shanghai, a city of 25 million people, reported 28 new local cases on Monday, authorities said, the fourth day of double-digit increases.

People in all 16 districts of Shanghai will need to test twice a week until November 10.Bllomberg

Nationwide, 2089 new local infections were reported, the highest figure since August 20.

While most of the cases have been found in tourist destinations, including scenic spots in the northern region of Inner Mongolia, megacities that are often the source of well-heeled and well-travelled tourists started to report more cases this week.

Shanghai, keen to avoid a reprise of the economically devastating and psychically scarring lockdown in April and May, said late on Monday that all its 16 districts were to conduct routine testing on their residents at least twice a week until November 10. That’s a step up from once a week presently, a regime imposed after the earlier lockdown was lifted.

Reuters

3.04pm on Oct 11, 2022

‘We should avoid hubris’: Telstra chair defends Optus, reveals retirement plans

By Zoe Samios

Telstra chairman John Mullen has defended rival Optus as it faces widespread criticism for its historic cyber attack, and urged companies to avoid complacency when it comes to protecting customer data.

Mullen, who has led Telstra since 2016, announced he would retire from his position within the next two years, a decision which he says is contingent on helping new chief executive Vicki Brady settle in her new role and strengthening the board of directors.

Telstra chairman John Mullen will retire within the next two years.Dominic Lorrimer

He said he was not expecting to run for re-election when his term expires next October, which would bring his total time as chair to seven years.

The annual general meeting, which ran in person and online, focused on the completion of Telstra’s T22 strategy (which involved drastic cuts to the workforce and the number of in-market products and bringing contact centres onshore), its proposed corporate restructure, and plans to expand its regional network and 5G capacity across Australia.

Read the full report here.

2.51pm on Oct 11, 2022

New Zealand proposes taxing cow burps to tackle climate change

Over to New Zealand, where the government has proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make from burping and peeing as part of a plan to tackle climate change.

The government said the farm levy would be a world first, and that farmers should be able to recoup the cost by charging more for climate-friendly products.

The NZ government has proposed taxing the greenhouse gasses that farm animals make.AP

But farmers quickly condemned the plan. Federated Farmers, the industry’s main lobby group, said the plan would “rip the guts out of small-town New Zealand” and result in farms replaced with trees.

Federated Farmers president Andrew Hoggard said farmers had been trying to work with the government for more than two years on an emissions reduction plan that wouldn’t decrease food production.

As it happened: Defence minister condemns Russia’s latest missile strikes; Bruce Lehrmann trial set to continue

Key Posts

Today’s headlines

The Wrap: ASX posts third consecutive loss as $A continues its slide

‘I will not be campaigning no’: Thorpe rejects campaign against the Voice

Green groups in Queensland seek new forest plan

Australia considers sending Defence staff to train Ukrainian troops

Calls to close border with Indonesia amid foot and mouth concerns

APRA’s Wayne Byres highlights ‘repayment shock’ risk

Covid cases rise in Shanghai as authorities tighten testing protocols

‘We should avoid hubris’: Telstra chair defends Optus, reveals retirement plans

New Zealand proposes taxing cow burps to tackle climate change

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