Peter Dutton says if Mark Scott had a ‘shred of integrity’ he would quit as University of Sydney vice-chancellor
Peter Dutton has called for Mark Scott, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, to resign.
Scott is facing calls to resign over the university’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He has apologised and conceded the university must do better. You can read more about that here:
Appearing on 2GB this afternoon, Ray Hadley asked Dutton:
Can you see Mark Scott surviving as the vice-chancellor after he failed to get support from the chancellor, David Thodey, recently, over his admitted mistakes, you know, misrepresentations as the vice-chancellor, basically the CEO of Sydney Uni?”
Dutton replied:
No, I can’t. I think both Mark Scott and David Thodey should resign. If they had any shred of integrity, they would have resigned by now. They should, because there are people in the Jewish community, whether they’re academics or students who were treated, they were discriminated against and they’ve been treated in a way that we wouldn’t accept any other group, regardless of their religion or background or race or whatever it might be, that they would be treated like that.
So, Mark Scott’s admitted that they got it wrong, and they got it wrong well and truly. Both men were aware of the situation – even though they might deny it – and I don’t think their positions are tenable.
Scott and Thodey have been contacted for comment. A University of Sydney spokesperson said:
The Senate is actively working with the Vice-Chancellor to make sure that the University of Sydney is a safe place for all our staff and students, and has the best governance possible. As we announced two months ago we have an independent review of our policies and processes underway, which is being led by Bruce Hodgkinson. We appreciate the time and consideration that our students, staff and broader community have taken as they shared their experiences and feedback with us.
Key events
Qantas says it won’t drop the ball as engineers strike
Strike action by Qantas engineers has not affected passengers, with plans in place to keep people moving over the AFL grand final weekend. The action kicked off in Melbourne on Thursday and will spread across the nation in coming days.
“As of early Thursday afternoon, we haven’t had any impact to customers as a result of the industrial action,” a Qantas spokesperson said.
We have contingencies in place for the industrial action planned on Friday and the weekend and, like today, don’t currently expect this industrial action to have an impact on customers.
Unions are pushing for a 15% pay rise in 2024 and 5% a year going forward, which they say would make up for three-and-a-half years of wage freezes.
Qantas made a profit of $1.25bn in the 2023-24 financial year, down 28.3% on the previous 12 months.
The Australian Workers’ Union national secretary, Paul Farrow, said:
You can’t expect to announce billions in profits and executive bonuses and simultaneously tell the engineers who keep your planes safe to take less and less home to their families.
Further industrial action is expected on Monday, Wednesday and next Friday, which is days before the NRL grand final in Sydney.
– AAP
Children pulled from suspicious house fire in Melbourne’s west
Children have been pulled from a burning Melbourne home, with police investigating the circumstances surrounding the fire.
The house fire occurred in Albanvale in the early hours of this morning.
Victoria police said:
It is believed unknown offenders set fire to three vehicles in the driveway of a residential property on Jackson Circuit just before 5am.
The fire spread to the residence, causing significant damage.
A woman and three children home at the time were not injured.
A crime scene guard remains and an arson chemist is expected to attend later today.
Investigators are making enquiries into the circumstances of the fire which is being treated as suspicious.
If you’re wondering what’s happening with this cold snap on the east coast, Emily Wind has the answers for you:
Peter Dutton says if Mark Scott had a ‘shred of integrity’ he would quit as University of Sydney vice-chancellor
Peter Dutton has called for Mark Scott, the vice-chancellor of the University of Sydney, to resign.
Scott is facing calls to resign over the university’s handling of a pro-Palestinian encampment on campus. He has apologised and conceded the university must do better. You can read more about that here:
Appearing on 2GB this afternoon, Ray Hadley asked Dutton:
Can you see Mark Scott surviving as the vice-chancellor after he failed to get support from the chancellor, David Thodey, recently, over his admitted mistakes, you know, misrepresentations as the vice-chancellor, basically the CEO of Sydney Uni?”
Dutton replied:
No, I can’t. I think both Mark Scott and David Thodey should resign. If they had any shred of integrity, they would have resigned by now. They should, because there are people in the Jewish community, whether they’re academics or students who were treated, they were discriminated against and they’ve been treated in a way that we wouldn’t accept any other group, regardless of their religion or background or race or whatever it might be, that they would be treated like that.
So, Mark Scott’s admitted that they got it wrong, and they got it wrong well and truly. Both men were aware of the situation – even though they might deny it – and I don’t think their positions are tenable.
Scott and Thodey have been contacted for comment. A University of Sydney spokesperson said:
The Senate is actively working with the Vice-Chancellor to make sure that the University of Sydney is a safe place for all our staff and students, and has the best governance possible. As we announced two months ago we have an independent review of our policies and processes underway, which is being led by Bruce Hodgkinson. We appreciate the time and consideration that our students, staff and broader community have taken as they shared their experiences and feedback with us.
Adam Morton
Conservationists celebrate after seismic blasting project abandoned
Plans for a major seismic blasting project to search for oil and gas west of Bass Strait have been abandoned after the company behind the proposal, TGS, declared it had decided not to go ahead.
The proposed testing area between Victoria’s Otway coast and north-west Tasmania had been scaled back from an initial 75,000 sq km to less than half that before being cancelled.
The news was welcomed by conservation groups and the Greens, which said “immense community pressure” as leading to the decision. More than 30,000 people responded to a call for submissions on the proposal and there were protests in coastal areas.
Greens senator Peter Whish-Wilson said it was a “historic moment” that showed “community pressure works”.
This win belongs to all the people who have rallied hard for years to protect marine ecosystems and avoid irreversible changes to the earth’s climate.
The Australian Marine Conservation Society’s oil and gas campaign manager, Louise Morris, said:
Australians don’t want offshore oil and gas or deadly seismic blasting operations damaging marine life, especially endangered species such as the pygmy blue whale.
Global cocoa shortage sees chocolate prices soar
A sweet block of chocolate could soon leave a sour taste in shoppers’ mouths at the checkout, with skyrocketing cocoa prices set to reach Australian shores, AAP reports.
A global cocoa shortage stemming from disappointing harvests in West Africa, which sources 70% of the world’s cocoa, is triggering price rises in chocolate, according to a report by agricultural lender Rabobank.
The report said:
Significantly higher chocolate prices will likely hit shelves over the coming months and going into 2025, providing a major challenge for the chocolate sector, which is already battling a longer-term, structural decline in demand.
Commodity prices have hit their highest levels in nearly 50 years as cocoa stocks sunk to their lowest in 22 years, pushing producers and manufacturers to pass on costs to consumers.
Benita Kolovos
Minister cites pandemic, Ukraine and Gaza conflicts and interest rate rises as factors affecting Metro Tunnel cost blowout
More on the $837m blow out on Victoria’s Metro Tunnel project.
Danny Pearson has blamed global events, the rising cost of construction and interest rates for this latest blow out. He says:
Since 2017, nobody could have predicted a once in 100 year global pandemic. Nobody could have predicted conflict in Gaza and in Ukraine, and nobody could have predicted interest rate spikes. We are just realising what we’ve had to deal with, and what we’ve seen across the world is that there’s been a pressure on projects.
In relation to the Australian eastern seaboard, we’ve seen a 22% increase in building and material and labour costs since 2021 and that’s had an impact on a number of projects in Australia. So if you look at the Metro tunnel in Sydney that saw a $9bn increase in its budget last year, we’ve seen inland rail more than double to $30bn and we’ve seen Snowy Hydro 2.0 more than double to $12bn, so the reality is, it is just costing more to do anything anywhere in the world. And we are facing similar challenges here in Melbourne.
Pearson says he can’t guarantee there won’t be further blowouts. He says:
I cannot guarantee that there won’t be a one in 100 year event next year. I cannot guarantee there won’t be another pandemic next year. I want to be really clear on this. I can’t guarantee those things. What I’m saying to you is here and now we’ve got a investment into this project which will ensure that the project has the resources that it needs to get on and deliver this project in 2025, 12 months ahead of schedule.
Katy Perry ‘super stoked’ ahead of AFL grand final appearance
Speaking of the AFL, US pop singer Katy Perry will belt out her hit song Roar at Saturday’s grand final – but don’t expect her to barrack for the Lions.
The star of the pre-game entertainment insists she’ll have no special allegiance towards Brisbane over the Sydney Swans when the two interstate teams battle it out at the MCG on Saturday, AAP reports.
“You know, I’m Switzerland,” the performer told reporters at the MCG on Thursday.
What I’m still trying to get over is that Melbourne has 10 teams, and they’re not here!
Perry will perform a string of her biggest hits to the 100,000-strong crowd including I Kissed a Girl with an Australian artist, rumoured to be Tina Arena, in one of her biggest shows since the 2015 Super Bowl.
It will be her second performance at the stadium following her 2020 Women’s Cricket World Cup appearance, which she said was a huge adrenaline rush.
It’ll be almost 10 years since I did something like this in the States, and to be able to do something like this again after so long, that doesn’t always happen for an artist so I’m super stoked.
The American tried her hand at Aussie slang and AFL references in a press conference peppered with “speccy” and “granny” after a run on the grass in heels practising handballs with AFLW stars.
Caitlin Cassidy
Why thank you, Rafqa Touma, and what a pleasure it is to be here on the eve of the AFL grand final public holiday! That I will not receive, because I live in New South Wales.
Rafqa Touma
That is all from me on the blog today. Handing over to Caitlin Cassidy who will roll your news updates into the evening.
Melbourne Metro Tunnel cost blows out by $837m
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian government has announced it will have to spend an extra $837m to complete its Metro Tunnel project by the end of 2025.
The minister for transport infrastructure, Danny Pearson, has just announced the government will provide up to $745m to the project’s builder, the Cross Yarra Partnership, and about $85m to the Metro Tunnel Authority to continue testing and trialling.
He said the builders would be chipping in a “comparable amount”, though he would not provide a figure.
The extra spend brings the total cost of the project to taxpayers to $13.48bn. The project was initially costed at $10.9bn.
Pearson said:
We know from overseas experience, the last 20% of the project represent 80% of the complexity. The 5% of the project represented 20% of the time. So these are very challenging times in terms of doing that testing and trials. But we are so close. We are three stations here with two to go, and this project will be delivered in 2025, 12 months ahead of schedule.
Consisting of two 9km train tunnels under the CBD, the Metro Tunnel will connect the Sunbury line, which runs through Melbourne’s western suburbs, with the Cranbourne and Pakenham lines, in the city’s south-east, taking the pressure off the City Loop.
Five new underground stations have also been created, including Anzac station, near the Shrine of Remembrance, Parkville station, near the University of Melbourne and several major hospitals, and Arden station, a developing area in North Melbourne.
Tamsin Rose
NSW appoints commissioners to lead community consultation on treaty and truth-telling
The New South Wales government has appointed three commissioners to lead a 12-month consultation with the state’s Aboriginal communities about treaty and truth-telling.
The treaty minister, David Harris, announced former senator Aden Ridgeway, academic Todd Fernando and the Koori Mail general manager, Naomi Moran, would lead the process as part of a two-year appointment.
According to Harris, Aboriginal communities will be asked if they would want to participate in a formal agreement-making process and, if so, what they would want it to look like.
He said:
We get better outcomes when we listen to the needs of Aboriginal people and communities. We must ensure Aboriginal people have a direct say on matters that affect them.
Previous reporting:
Jonathan Barrett
Profit plunges at Star as gamblers stay away
Star Entertainment has warned it is facing “significant near-term liquidity requirements” after disclosing a 71% drop in net profit in financial results lodged today.
The delayed release of its financial year books comes a day after the Australian casino owner told shareholders it had secured a $200m debt facility to help it to continue trading.
Its shares have been suspended since the start of the month over viability concerns.
Star operates casinos in Sydney, the Gold Coast and the newly opened Brisbane casino, Queen’s Wharf, which suffered a massive cost blowout at the same time as gambling tourism fell.
The weak conditions have continued into the new financial year, with Star disclosing in its results it has recorded an earnings loss of $7.7m in July and August.
Last financial year, it posted an underlying net profit result of $12m, down 71%. After taking into account impairment charges, linked to regulatory changes that are forecast to weigh on profits, its result plunged to a $1.69bn loss.
The casino group is in discussions with state governments to renew casino licences in NSW and Queensland, while it also grapples with demands from gambling and financial crime regulatorsthat could result in significant fines, adding more financial pressure.
