As it happened: Home Affairs Minister lashes Dutton amid $50m integrity boost to department; RBA holds interest rates

“If Virgin and Rex can do it, I do not understand why the largest and most dominant carrier in the country can’t respect this committee by putting pen to paper and addressing the terms of reference,” McKenzie said last week.

In the submission, Qantas said claims Qatar would have generated hundreds of millions of dollars in additional tourism revenue– aired by much of the aviation and tourism industry – were overbaked. It said Qatar Airways carries a “disproportionately high” number of Australians out of the country.

“On that basis, suggestions that granting the Qatar Civil Aviation Authority application would have materially advanced the Australian tourism industry’s recovery are overstated,” Qantas said.

The carrier group also said its international competitors have “significantly lower cost bases” due to lower labour costs in their home markets, meaning Qantas needs to continue restructuring to “improve our own competitiveness”.

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As Dutton continues to lead the No campaign, Anthony Albanese denied that he only pursued the Voice to parliament referendum because he was assured Peter Dutton would provide bi-partisan support for the proposal.

Albanese told Richard Glover on ABC Radio Sydney that Dutton had “never declared opposition or support” but that he believed the “turning point where he declared his opposition” was the Liberal Party’s loss at the Aston by-election.

But Albanese did concede that the appointment of outspoken Yes supporter Julian Leeser to the shadow cabinet gave him reasons to believe the opposition would provide their support.

“When Mr Dutton appointed Julian Leeser as not just his Shadow Indigenous Affairs Minister, but also Shadow Attorney-General, I took that as a sign, as I think was a reasonable expectation, that Mr Dutton wasn’t going to be hostile to this proposal. Because if he was, why would he appoint Mr Leeser to that position?”

Total rainfall in that area was 150mm in the 24 hours to 9am on Wednesday and further rain was forecast into Thursday.

The river was at 5.75 metres and rising on Wednesday afternoon, with further planned releases from Lake Glenmaggie.

There were hundreds of calls for help as rivers continued to rise and damaging winds lashed the region following days of bushfire threats.

Most calls for assistance to the State Emergency Service overnight were connected to flooding near Eildon.

Emergency Services Minister Jaclyn Symes said the situation was dynamic.

“We have, in good news, downgraded emergency warnings for fire,” Ms Symes told reporters at state parliament.

“We’ve had a lot of rain across the state and that has brought flood concerns and flash flooding concerns.”

The Bureau of Meteorology placed Melbourne and most of the state’s east under flood watch with more rain expected throughout Wednesday.

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“If you think I’m going to take a lecture from Clare O’Neil and Anthony Albanese in relation to migration and how to keep our country safe, you’ve got another thing coming,” he said.

Dutton focused on the visa cancellations he oversaw during his time leading Home Affairs, claiming he “cancelled over 6000 visas of criminals”.

“Labor has not done a fraction of the visa cancellations over the course of the last 15 months compared to what we did when we were in government,” Dutton said.

Dutton instead focused on the timing of the report, claiming the government “sat on the report for seven months” and was releasing it now “as a distraction from the Voice”.

Albanese said his visit was an opportunity for himself and Premier Minns to thank emergency services personnel for their efforts.

“This must have been an incredibly traumatic experience,” Albanese said.

“That would be causing a triggering response for people who went through the summer of 2019-20.

“But at the worst of times we see the best of the Australian character and sometimes putting their lives on the line.”

Australia has experienced its hottest July on record and the south coast copped a dry start to spring and is trending into drought conditions due to lower than average rainfall.

Minns said it was a very difficult time for the local community and encouraged people to listen to emergency services announcements for safety updates.

“It’s encouraging to hear the commissioner say the community followed the advice and put in place bushfire emergency plans and listened to communications,” Minns said.