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As it happened: Rallies for Cassius Turvey nationwide; RBA warns of ‘severe recession’ if inflation not brought under control; foreign minister to sign anti-trafficking deal

Broede Carmody and Caitlin Fitzsimmons
Updated ,first published

Key Posts

The headlines today
‘We need to do much better’: Indigenous people more likely to suffer violence, PM says
‘Cassius, we’re sorry’: Emotional vigils for allegedly murdered teenager
Thousands gather to mourn Cassius Turvey and call for action
Public service pressured to roll out robodebt, royal commission told
‘I can’t be in all places at once’: Albanese defends decision not to attend UN climate talks
Two Koreas exchange missiles, and more international news
Business Council calls for more migrants with cyber skills
Government considering less ‘palatable’ options to cushion gas price hikes
Voice to Parliament will deliver better practical outcomes: Albanese

The headlines today

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

That’s all for me on the blog today. I kept it open a bit later than usual to bring you the news from the Cassius Turvey rallies, but our breaking news reporters will now take over any live coverage.

The main stories today were:

  • Rallies and vigils for allegedly murdered Indigenous teenager Cassius Turvey are underway across the nation and overseas.
  • The royal commission into the robo-debt scheme heard the public service was under political pressure to roll out the controversial debt-recovery scheme quickly.
  • Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended his decision not to go to COP27.
  • Shadow treasurer Angus Taylor said the government needed to keep an “ironclad promise” to retain the stage three tax cuts.
  • Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the government was considering how to improve the mining super profits tax.
  • North and South Korea filed missiles at each other (but into the ocean).

Changes to gambling slogans target problem gamblers: PM

By Najma Sambul

Staying with the Anthony Albanese interview on The Project, the prime minister said changes to gambling slogans will target problem gamblers and not casual gamblers.

“There’s no problem if people have the occasional punt, on the Melbourne Cup or what have you, but the problem is a group of people who will become problem gamblers and that can be devastating for them,” he said.

When asked about whether the government would regulate gambling ads, Albanese said striking a balance was the priority.

“[The government is] not trying to impose a complete nanny state solution, but trying to warn people that it can be an issue and to give them pause for thought,” he said.

Pressed on whether the election promise of cutting energy prices by $275 by 2025 was still on the table amid surging energy prices, Albanese criticised the former government and pointed to the Victoria and Tasmania deal as a step in the right direction.

“We didn’t know that the government changed regulations to keep the 20 per cent increase from the Australian people until after May, they actually changed the law so that wasn’t revealed,” he said.

“The guarantee is that renewables are the cheapest form of energy that we will fix the transmission of the grid.”

‘We need to do much better’: Indigenous people more likely to suffer violence, PM says

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese spoke about Cassius Turvey on The Project on Network Ten.

When asked about the thousands of people at vigils and rallies to honour the allegedly murdered Indigenous teenager tonight, he said:

This is just such a human tragedy for Cassius’ mum, for people who knew this young man.

You look at his smile, and you think that’s a life that should have been just beginning, and it was over all too soon.

I think that people expressing their concern about it is a good thing.

Of course the [legal] processes have to continue. But this is just a real human tragedy that has impacted so many people.

The prime minister had earlier said he believed the alleged murder of the 15-year-old Noongar boy from Perth was racially motivated.

When asked if Australia had a race problem, Albanese said:

We know that in terms of Indigenous people, they’re more likely to suffer violence in this country than non-Indigenous people.

And so, we need to acknowledge that we need to do much better.

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‘Cassius, we’re sorry’: Emotional vigils for allegedly murdered teenager

By Angus Thomson and Lachlan Abbott

Staying on the vigils for Cassius Turvey, broadcaster Narelda Jacobs addressed the crowd at Sydney Town Hall.

Jacobs, who revealed yesterday that Turvey was her nephew, told the crowd of Indigenous and non-Indigenous supporters that while it was heartening to receive condolences from many prominent Australians, “it shouldn’t take for Cassius to be related to someone that you know to feel grief”.

The vigil for Cassius Turvey in Sydney.Flavio Brancaleone

Legendary broadcaster Ernie Dingo also spoke, describing Turvey as an entrepreneur and mentor to both older and younger kids around him.

Ethan Lyons, a Wiradjuri teenager working with youth on Gadigal land, said: “We watch as our leaders and our media fail again.

Thousands gather to mourn Cassius Turvey and call for action

By Lachlan Abbott and Angus Thomson

Nationwide events are underway for Cassius Turvey, the Indigenous teenager who died after he was allegedly murdered on a suburban street in Perth.

Thousands of mourners have gathered on Wurundjeri land in Melbourne for a rally for justice and a candlelight vigil in Turvey’s honour.

There are also thousands at the parallel event on Gadigal land at Sydney Town Hall in the central business district.

Sam May, Turvey’s cousin, spoke to reporters before the service at the Aboriginal Advancement League in Melbourne earlier this evening.

Sam May, first cousin of Cassius Turvey, speaking to the media at the Melbourne rally.Jason South

Public service pressured to roll out robodebt, royal commission told

By

Government departments faced pressure to finalise a problematic debt-recovery policy despite concerns over its legality, a royal commission has heard.

The commission is investigating the robodebt debacle, which falsely accused welfare recipients of owing the government money, and how the scheme was set up contrary to policy and legal advice.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison was social services minister at the time of the scheme’s establishment and rollout.

Department of Social Services principal lawyer Anne Pulford gave evidence today.

In a draft brief provided to Pulford for review in 2015, director Catherine Dalton asked what action needed to be taken to resolve the legal issues with the proposal.

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Reserve Bank considering update to $5 note

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

In case you missed it, Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe said the bank is considering whether to redesign the $5 note.

Lowe told the Reserve Bank Board Dinner last night that the bank would make its decision after consulting with government.

This is what he said:

The Reserve Bank is ... responsible for the design of Australia’s banknotes.

Given this, we are currently considering the design of the $5 banknote following the passing of Queen Elizabeth II.

We recognise that this is an issue that is of national interest and there is a long tradition of the monarch being on Australia’s banknotes. Indeed, the monarch has been on at least one of Australia’s banknotes since 1923 and was on all our notes until 1953.

Given this tradition and the national significance of the issue, the Bank is consulting with the Australian Government regarding whether or not the new $5 banknote should include a portrait of King Charles III.

We will make a decision after this consultation with the government is complete.

Lowe said despite the decreased use of cash as card payments become more common, the total value of banknotes in circulation in Australia was more than $100 billion or $4000 per person.

On average, there are 18 $100 notes and 38 $50 notes on issue for every person in Australia.

‘I can’t be in all places at once’: Albanese defends decision not to attend UN climate talks

By

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has spoken more about why he’s not personally going to COP27 in Egypt, the latest round of United Nations climate talks.

Albanese said he would focus on passing his government’s policies during the final three parliament sitting weeks.

Preparations are also underway for his upcoming trip to G20, APEC and the East Asia Summit.

He will travel to Thailand, Cambodia and Indonesia for nine days after the sitting week before returning for the last sitting fortnight of the year.

Two Koreas exchange missiles, and more international news

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

Here’s a round-up of international news:

Korean peninsula

South Korea says North Korea has fired a total of more than 10 missiles off its eastern and western coasts.

The launches came hours after North Korea issued a veiled threat to use nuclear weapons to get the US and South Korea to “pay the most horrible price in history” for their ongoing large-scale military drills.

South Korea has fired three missiles back at North Korea’s maritime border, in response to what it called an “effective territorial invasion”.

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Business Council calls for more migrants with cyber skills

By Caitlin Fitzsimmons

To the national economy and immigration policy, the Business Council of Australia has backed calls for skilled migration to include technology professionals.

Jennifer Westacott, chief executive of the Business Council of Australia, gave a speech on immigration at The Australian and Melbourne Institute’s Economic and Social Outlook Conference today.

Westacott said the narrative at the Skills and Jobs Summit in September was that you could either import skilled professionals or train Australians, but she believed you had to do both.

This is a taste of her comments on the issue of IT professionals:

We need to be bringing people in around those key competencies that we’re going to need that will allow us to actually enter those supply chains and diversify our industrial base. For example, semiconductors, quantum printed circuit boards, cyber defence capabilities, logistics and supply chains. And when we want people to come here, we want them to share their knowledge.

Companies tell me the crucial nature of bringing experts out to Australia who then allow them to scale up. Great example: Romar Engineering in Western Sydney brought some of the world’s best experts in cutting-edge manufacturing from Germany. They now have a huge partnership with GE around additive manufacturing and they’re starting to expand dramatically in Western Sydney.

If we are going to reach that goal of 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030, we are going to have to bring people in from international markets. If we want to be a cyber-secure country, we’ve got to bring in some of those world leading cyber experts.

We want to lure the companies where they are going to be on the doorstep of these huge markets in Asia, they are all saying to me, we need to see that the density of skills are here to make it attractive for us to come and relocate or expand our operations in Australia.

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