Main events
Dutton called for a 1967-style referendum on recognition, saying there wasn’t enough support for the vote:
All the pollsters at the moment and the reliable commentators believe that it will fail in October or best case scenario for the yes cases that get 51/49. And in that scenario, our country is split in half.
I think there is an opportunity to unite our country here instead of being divided, and that is that we should continue to recognize the constitution.
And I think most Australians would support that. We’ll get our ’67 moment where we have 80 or 90% support. That will be a national unifying moment.
… The sound era proposal is more than I believe where the Australian public is. and I think it should be the prime minister in that situation, to find a unity moment. The unifying moment is to recognize the constitution on which we can all agree.
We can talk about the soundness of the legislation, come together to do that in a reasonable way, and deliver the practical results that we want. But for now, it is a big risk that they are proposing words that will be voted on by the people in October.
The coalition supported the referendum bill because it was Labour’s election promise, Dutton said
Dutton voted in the Coalition earlier this week to pass the referendum, but is now being proposed Albanians drop it. So why did Dutton pass the bill to make the vote in the first place?
He said he did not want to derail Labour’s election promise:
The government went into an election with an election promise that they would go to a referendum. They promised they would explain this to the Australian people and we did not go through a democratic process or a commitment given by the government. We do not seek to derail what is an important question for our country.
Dutton said Albanese made a ‘personal attack’ on him because of the voice
The leader of the opposition, Peter Duttonrejected criticism of the prime minister who accused his speech on the Voice of lacking empathy and “unworthy” of the alternative prime ministership in parliament yesterday.
Dutton told ABC Radio this morning:
I think the prime minister is under pressure to voice, and I think that personal attacks have no place in this debate.
We all want better outcomes for Indigenous Australians. And I think, like a lot of debates, when people start losing on the important issue, they get personal and I don’t think it has any substance.
I think that was an off the cuff comment by the prime minister. I doubt he regrets it. And it doesn’t advance the debate.
Flooding in Adelaide and Adelaide Hills
Overnight in South Australia, heavy rain caused flooding in metropolitan Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills.
The SES responded to more than 240 requests for help, including seven separate rapid water rescues as people were trapped by rapidly rising flood waters.
Most calls are for flooding but some are also for downed trees and rock slides on roads. Many roads remain closed this morning.
The SES warns:
A Watch and Act Message has been issued for Waterfall Gully Road between Waterfall Terrace and the Waterfall Gully Car Park due to flooding, with the road closed.
A Flood Advisory Message remains in effect for Swamp Road in Lenswood after a private dam spillway overflowed, resulting in localized flooding. Road closures are in place around Swamp Road.
There was also flooding near the Hahndorf exit of the South Eastern Freeway at Mount Barker Road in Verdun. Members of the public are advised to avoid these areas and check traffic.sa.gov.au for updates.
Good morning! Thanks to Martin for stepping things up, I’m Natasha May and I’ll be with you until the afternoon.
Candidates to be revealed for Fadden byelection
Voters in the Queensland seat of Fadden will know the full list of candidates for the upcoming by-election created by the resignation of Stuart Robert
Today the Australian Electoral Commission will conduct the ballot draw for the July 15 by-election, due to the resignation of the controversial former minister in the Coalition government.
As many as eight candidates are expected to be on the ballot.
The Liberal National party hopes its candidate, Gold Coast councilor Cameron Caldwell, can retain the seat Robert holds in 2022 with a 10.6% margin.
WA inquiry into justice for survivors of child abuse
Support and compensation available to survivors of institutionalized child sex abuse in Western Australia will be put under the microscope, reports the Australian Associated Press.
The WA parliament’s community development and justice standing committee has launched an inquiry into the options available to survivors seeking justice and restitution.
“Concerns have been expressed that there are barriers to accessing civil court remedies, such as the difficulty of getting timely hearing dates,” said chair David Honey last night.
He said the lack of qualified lawyers willing to act on such matters and the allegations that some institutions are deliberately delaying the claims of elderly survivors are also issues.
The inquiry will investigate the experience of survivors who used the civil litigation process and the response from the courts, government and non-government institutions.
It will also examine the effectiveness of the national recovery procedure, with any obstacles to the timely resolution of civil claims and the support provided to survivors who have used it.
Other options for providing justice, resolution and compensation to survivors and their families will also be considered.
The committee is expected to report its findings in June next year.
Anti-Aukus rally in Melbourne
We reported this week on growing concern among voters about China, with three in four Australians believing the superpower will pose a military threat to the country within 20 years.
It’s not a view shared by everyone and tonight the Australian Anti-Akus Coalition is holding an event in Melbourne to rally against the government’s plan to spend billions of dollars buying submarines powered by US nuclear – an agreement that everyone considers the answer to defense concerns. China’s rising power.
The keynote speaker at tonight’s rally, with the slogan “No to nuclear submarines – no to war. Yes to peace, jobs, climate justice” – will be former Labor minister and rock star Peter Garrett.
It also came as a parliamentary inquiry heard yesterday that the ABC should be given more funding to expand its Asia Pacific coverage to counter Chinese propaganda.
Claire Gorman, the ABC’s head of international services, told the democracy support inquiry in the region that China spends at least $3bn a year on international media, compared with $11m for the ABC.
Full story here:
Welcome
Good morning and thanks for joining us for our rolling news coverage today. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best stories of the night before my partner Natasha May blows up.
The Albanese government is under pressure to freeze or cap rent increases after the Senate set up an inquiry into the crisis facing tenants in a maneuver by the Greens to force long-overdue Labor action. conflict between the parties. The Greens and the Coalition teamed up on Monday to delay consideration of Labor’s $10bn housing futures fund (Haff) until 16 October. And yesterday they did it again to establish the inquiry, which will give an interim report on September 23.
Alcohol control groups say the bans re-introduced earlier this year in the Northern Territory amid a well-publicised rise in crime have had a positive effect, with police statistics shows a reduction in callouts of family violence, property offenses and other antisocial behaviour. Police data revealed a 37% drop in domestic violence assaults from January to April, advocates say, while all other assaults fell 35% and property offenses dropped. 25% over the same time period.
Civil liberties campaigners are pushing back against a plan by the New South Wales Labor government to stop climate activists from livestreaming protests on Facebook. Under pressure to stop the protests, Minns announced via the Daily Telegraph yesterday that he will ask to meet with the social media giant, along with the police, to see what they can do to “stop the broadcasting of illegal acts”. and try to limit their impact. . Independent crossbench MP Alex Greenwich said it was a “profoundly significant” development.
