Digital duty of care gives minister too much power, claims Hume
The government’s proposed digital duty of care legislation, part of its crackdown on social media, gives too much power to the communications minister, the deputy opposition leader, Jane Hume, told the ABC this morning:
double quotation markWe don’t feel that the minister should have the powers to determine what is and is not online harm.
You could understand why there would be a natural suspicion. When the government tries to control the internet, it inevitably fails.
Andrew Bushnell from the Institute of Public Affairs echoed Hume’s claim, quipping that Australians would be trading the algorithm for the “alborithm”.
Updated at 21.30 EDT
Key events
Will Queensland’s proposed bail laws reverse the presumption of innocence?
Andrew Messenger
Queensland’s attorney general won’t say if her proposed new bail laws reverse the presumption of innocence.
At a press conference on Monday, Deb Frecklington conceded the laws are expected to lead to more people being jailed longer, but refused to reveal the state’s estimates of the effect the legislation will have on the state’s already overcrowded jail system.
The legislation was tabled in state parliament last month. It will make it much more difficult for some alleged offenders to get bail, requiring them to prove to a court that it should have “high degree of confidence they will not commit a prescribed offence”.
It also creates a new offence applying to some people who breach bail with a mandatory 12 month sentence.
Its explanatory notes show that the change may reverse the onus of proof in criminal proceedings, and may limit the right to the presumption of innocence. Frecklington said:
double quotation markWhat I’m presuming is that if you commit an offence whilst you’re on bail, you will face mandatory minimum 12 months in juvie or in the criminal correction centres.
That’s what we’ve said. Now this this bill will be before the (parliamentary) committee – and it’s currently before the committee. There will be experts left front and centre.
Updated at 22.41 EDT
New shipwreck reef to help marine species
Now for something a little different! The MV Andrew Wilson, a 40m ship, will be scuttled off the coast of South Australia today.
It’s part of the federal and state governments’ algal bloom response.
The wreck will create an artificial reef, which in turn will support marine life.
Environment and water minister Murray Watt said:
double quotation markSinking the MV Andrew Wilson off the coast of Brighton to create Adelaide’s newest artificial reef is the latest example of our joint effort, as we deliver more than $165 million in response measures to the algal bloom.
This builds on the support we’ve delivered for science and environmental measures to help marine life recover, and ensure SA is at the forefront of our country’s algal bloom research.
A typically thoughtful contribution here from Waleed Aly and the “near-constant sense of crisis in almost every sphere of life”:
double quotation markOur political order was built on the promise of expanding wealth and greater control over our lives. It said we could dream big, then pursue those dreams, and that if we didn’t achieve them, maybe our children would.
It assumed each generation would live longer and be more comfortable.
Read more:
ShareAbuse survivors linked to Christian Brothers schools to be paid out
Christopher Knaus
The organisation that runs former Christian Brothers schools says it has formally agreed to pay out abuse survivors and is fast-tracking payments to those who have already been promised compensation.
The Christian Brothers, a Catholic order that ran schools and orphanages across Australia, announced earlier this year that it was going broke and would no longer be able to meet the claims of child abuse survivors. The decision infuriated survivors and lawyers, particularly given the Christian Brothers horrific track record of clergy abuse and the Catholic church’s vast wealth.
It prompted scrutiny of the controversial transfer of asset wealth from Christian Brothers to the Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia (TEREA), an organisation set up in 2007 to take over the running of Christian Brothers schools.
TEREA initially resisted efforts to take on responsibility for survivors’ abuse claims but changed its position following public pressure.
On Monday, ahead of a report by the ABC on the affair, TEREA issued a statement saying it had now formally agreed to compensate Christian Brothers victims and would fast-track payments to those who had already been promised compensation, either through court decisions or settlements.
Dr Stephen Brown, chair of TEREA, said it was “simply the right thing to do”. He said:
double quotation markWe do not want victim-survivors with approved claims to wait any longer and are fast-tracking finance and hope to be able to make an announcement soon.
In July, Guardian Australia revealed the Christian Brothers order had kept nine convicted child abusers within its order and was providing them with financial support, including by using its properties to house two brothers with horrific histories of preying on children.
Brown told the ABC he only learnt of that fact when told by the ABC during an interview three weeks ago, despite repeated prior reporting by the Guardian.
Updated at 21.44 EDT
More than 200 workers stood down at Bathla
Jonathan Barrett
More than 200 workers at Bathla Group have been stood down as the administrator of the embattled property developer seeks emergency funds to stave off a company-wide collapse.
The insolvency advisory Teneo said today that new short-term funding arrangements would only allow Bathla to continue construction on some of the 45 construction sites. It said in a statement:
double quotation markConstruction on other projects will be suspended today, resulting in approximately 213 employees being stood down.
Bathla is a major Sydney headquartered developer that also has operations in regional NSW, South Australia and Victoria.
Thousands of homebuyers were left in the lurch by the announcement on 25 August that the developer had gone into voluntary administration, weighed down by almost $3.6bn in debt.
Teneo has previously said its immediate priority was to finish the estimated 2,000-2,500 homes on which construction had already begun, and that it was not in a position to refund any deposits.
Administrator Stephen Longley said today that short-term funding arrangements with five lenders would allow construction to continue on some projects. He said:
double quotation markSignificant work remains to secure the funding required to progress and ultimately complete all projects currently under construction.
Bathla Group headquarters in August. Photograph: Dan Himbrechts/AAPShare
Updated at 21.45 EDT
The scale of the destruction in Nepal is “almost beyond comprehension”, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, has told the senate.
Thousands of people, including 36 Australians, are still missing in the wake of the devastating flood. Wong said in the condolence motion:
double quotation markAustralia’s Nepali community is grieving for family, friends, and communities in the region.
Members of Australia’s Tibetan community are too experiencing great anguish.
And for many Hindu Australians, including those with connections to the pilgrimage routes and sacred places of this region, this disaster has brought deep sorrow.
To each of these communities, we extend the sympathy and solidarity of this parliament.
Australia has sent about 50 officers to the region, as well as specialist drone operators and AFP disaster victim identification specialists.
The aftermath of the flash flood in Trishuli, Nepal on 2 September 2026. Photograph: Anadolu/Getty ImagesShare
Updated at 21.33 EDT
Digital duty of care gives minister too much power, claims Hume
The government’s proposed digital duty of care legislation, part of its crackdown on social media, gives too much power to the communications minister, the deputy opposition leader, Jane Hume, told the ABC this morning:
double quotation markWe don’t feel that the minister should have the powers to determine what is and is not online harm.
You could understand why there would be a natural suspicion. When the government tries to control the internet, it inevitably fails.
Andrew Bushnell from the Institute of Public Affairs echoed Hume’s claim, quipping that Australians would be trading the algorithm for the “alborithm”.
Updated at 21.30 EDT
Tom McIlroy
How to get up to speed on the Australian political news of the day
Today Guardian Australia launches a brand new political newsletter: Politics, really. No, really!
We’ll be bringing you the latest political news – but more importantly, what it means.
Politics, really will bring you up to speed on the stories that matter in a free email newsletter. Illustration: Guardian DesignShare
Updated at 21.30 EDT
NSW police to ‘smash open’ online platforms where crime is plotted
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, is holding a press conference about those organised crime laws.
He says any “wilful and deliberate attempt to either evade law enforcement or use online platforms to facilitate crime, particularly murder, in NSW … will be a criminal offence”.
Minns says criminal actors are basing themselves offshore and “pulling the strings” of people here using sophisticated technology. To combat that police will be given the latest technology themselves to “smash open and crack open online platforms to understand the full chronology of these criminal actions and their activities as they apply both here and overseas”.
Updated at 20.33 EDT
NSW introducing new laws to target organised crime
New laws being introduced in New South Wales aim to tackle organised crime by giving police more power and creating a new aggravated offence for conspiracy to commit gang-related murder. The maximum penalty will be increased to life imprisonment.
Police would also be able to use new interim serious crime prevention orders to restrict people suspected of serious and organised crime. Those would be applied while the supreme court considers the full order.
Children’s indictable offences would include activities linked to organised crime, and public shootings and firebombings would be added to the scheme.
Police would also have more access to encrypted devices. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said:
double quotation markOrganised crime doesn’t stand still, and neither can the laws and powers we give police to fight it.
We want to hit these criminal networks at every point – the people who organise the violence, the people who facilitate it online and the people who ultimately carry it out.
If you conspire to arrange a gangland murder, you should face the prospect of spending the rest of your life behind bars.
Chris Minns says ‘organised crime doesn’t stand still’. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPShare
Updated at 20.32 EDT
US access to Australian military bases
This is an extraordinary story from Ben Doherty, Andy Ball and Nick Evershed about the extent of the United States’ access to military bases across Australia.
Defence minister Richard Marles said in June that the “hugely significant American presence” in the region was a balance to China’s “very significant military buildup”.
Read more:
ShareNext election a referendum on super, treasurer says
One Nation’s proposal for people to be able to divert some of their super into their pay packet is a “full-frontal attack” that will “make Australian workers tens of thousands of dollars worse off in retirement”, the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, said this morning.
One Nation is “anti-worker” and they “vote the way that [billionaire backer] Gina Rinehart tells them to”, he said, adding that the next election will be a “referendum on super”:
double quotation markEvery time One Nation is asked to support the financial interests of Australian workers, they oppose the financial interests of Australian workers.
By ending super as we know it, by making Australian workers poorer as a consequence, One Nation is showing once again: this is exactly why One Nation poses an unacceptable and dangerous risk to Australian workers.
Jim Chalmers last week. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 19.16 EDT