Key events
On Friday Mutual Obligations were paused for jobseekers, due to an IT issue, the department has said. Participants should not have had their payments suspended for this.
In a statement, the department said:
Due to an IT system issue related to slow response time for users, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations paused mutual obligation requirements for participants in Workforce Australia, Disability Employment Services, and the Community Development Program on 26 July 2024.
The issue is now resolved.
From AAP:
The Victorian opposition leader, John Pesutto, is hoping to avoid a frosty reception from the Liberal masses ahead of a looming defamation trial.
Grassroots party members and MPs are gathering in Melbourne for day two of the Victorian Liberal state council, with Pesutto the headline speaker.
The Hawthorn MP was booed and dozens of rank-and-file members walked out as he rose to give a speech at the same event at Bendigo in May 2023.
The staged reaction was prompted by first-term MP Moira Deeming being expelled from the parliamentary party after she threatened Pesutto with defamation action.
More to come.
Australia’s Ethan Ewing and Tyler Wright through in Olympic surfing
Ethan Ewing has shown no fear on his return to the same waves that broke his back last year, qualifying for the third round of Olympic surfing.
The Queenslander fractured two vertebrae in 2023 at the feared Teahupo’o break in Tahiti, which as part of French Polynesia is hosting surfing for the Paris Games.
He had no such problems on Saturday (early Sunday AEST), topping a low-scoring heat to reach the last 16.
Joining him in round three is two-time world champion Tyler Wright, who survived mighty surf to win her heat.
Ewing caught the first wave of the Olympics after being drawn in the first heat, disappearing in a typical Teahupo’o barrel for a score of 7.33.
He needed to score late points to win the heat and did so with just 82 seconds left, his 2.57 enough to post 9.90 – the lowest winning score of the men’s field.
“I got a really good wave first up. It set up the heat,” Ewing said.
“I’m really happy to get that first win and skip into the next round.”
The women’s field took to the Pacific Ocean water hours later, and found conditions tough going.
Wright bailed from an early run which packed plenty of punch but rides of 4.17 and 3.50 – for a combined 7.67 – were enough to get her through.
Australia is celebrating its most successful opening day in Olympics history. Two gold medals in the pool, and one in cycling, has Australia on top of the medal tally.
– via AAP
We are expecting NSW police to hold a press conference at around 11am about the man who was shot by police last night.
We have a story with more information here:
NSW premier says rental reforms will give tenants ‘more certainty, more peace of mind’
Continued from previous post:
For those on fixed term agreements of less than six months, the termination notice period to tenants will be increased from 30 days to 60 days. For fixed term agreements of more than six months, the termination notice period will be increased from 60 days to 90 days.
There will be no change to notice periods for those on periodic agreements.
Minns said:
Bad tenants will still be able to be evicted. We don’t want homeowners to have to put up with bad behaviour.
But anyone who rents in NSW knows just how anxious and challenging renting can be at the moment. We’ve all seen the lines on a Saturday morning with hundreds of people waiting to inspect new properties.
We believe this reform gets the balance right, but importantly, this will give both homeowners and renters more certainty, more peace of mind, so they can build a home and a life on surer ground.
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NSW government’s proposed reforms to no-grounds evictions
And we have the release from NSW premier Chris Minns about the changes to no-grounds evictions here.
Under the proposed reforms, homeowners will now need a reason to end a tenancy for both periodic and fixed-term leases:
These will include common sense and reasonable reasons such as:
– The existing rules where the renter is at fault, because of a breach of lease, damage to the property, or non-payment of rent.
– Where the property is being sold or offered for sale with vacant possession.
– Where significant repairs or renovations make inhabiting the property too difficult or it will be demolished. If a homeowner seeks to renovate or repair a home, it cannot be relisted for a period of at least 4 weeks.
– If the property will no longer be used as a rental home, i.e a change of use.
– Where the owner or their family intend to move into the property.
– If the renter is no longer eligible for an affordable housing program or if the property is purpose-built student accommodation and the renter is no longer a student.
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Greber on Kamala Harris:
Newt Gingrich said the Republicans are at the risk of underestimating how good she is.
She’s likened her as an athlete who doesn’t do well in training but when you put them on the field they’re very, very good.
The Republicans have framed this entire year being about Joe Biden’s age and competence. There’s really not been much policy in this election so far in the United States.
Turning to US politics, Greber says:
It’s a massive shift. You can see it in the way the Democrats feel the momentum.
One of my old sources, I used to be a correspondent in DC, one of my old sources it was as if a month ago the doctor walked in and said, “I’m sorry the test results are terrible, you got three months to live.”
Three or four weeks later he came into the room saying, “I got I wrong. You’re going to be OK.”
It’s interesting watching how the Republicans are trying to figure out how they now change tact.
On Insiders the presenters are discussing the possibility of another rate rise from the RBA. Jacob Greber says it’s a “diabolical” situation:
They don’t have many options other than hitting people with mortgages to reduce demand in the economy, which by the way has been driven by an awful lot of federal and state government spending.
The RBA needs to get on top of this and unfortunately people who have mortgages will be the ones who are hit hardest.
The question is whether they are at that breaking point, you know. In previous episodes where policymakers have had to get on top of inflation, it’s resulted in recessions and high unemployment.
Asked why Labor’s primary vote is down, O’Connor says there is a trend across all parties:
The Australian Labor party is probably the only party on its own that can actually could form a majority in the House of Representatives and form government.
I mean, the Liberal party doesn’t rely upon the Nationals to form a government. Right now, the ALP of course forms a government on its own and we’re looking forward to doing that again after the election.
O’Connor has been asked if the CFMEU can fix its problems:
There is no tolerance for criminal behaviour and nobody’s above the law, and that doesn’t matter whether it’s the union official, a union, or a corporate director. And I think the Labor Party has been absolutely right and Minister Burke has been absolutely right in ensuring the appointment of an administrator in relation to that union.
Brendan O’Connor on Insiders
The retiring skills minister Brendan O’Connor is up and Speers has asked him about if Labor has changed in the past two years to become more “pragmatic”.
O’Connor says he is “very proud” of helping change Labor’s immigration policies:
After the disaster that happened on Christmas Island, of which I was having to respond to as home affairs minister, not long after that there was the 2011 national conference and I debated, along with Chris Bowen and others, the need to make changes – changes we made. And that really ensured in my view a political party that could be re-elected.
On the Insiders couch, they are talking about how no one wants the immigration portfolio. This was Savva’s recap of Andrew Giles’s performance amid the high court case on immigration detainees.
Whenever he went out there, he either made it worse or he never went out there at all to defend what had happened. So the situation just got worse.
If he went out, he looked like a frightened rabbit, he couldn’t handle the questions, he didn’t speak with any kind of confidence at all. So what you need is someone who knows how to handle situations when they get out of control and that’s definitely not him.
Murray Watt, I think, would be able to do that.
On Plibersek, Maiden says she agrees – she should be moved from “kissing koalas”. She says there was some consideration of putting her in housing instead:
Now, that would, if they go down that path, address the issue that (Savva raised) which is putting Tanya Plibersek in a more frontline role, getting her to take on the Greens.
That part of it wasn’t clear for the people that I spoke to because it wasn’t clear of whether they wanted to put Clare O’Neil into housing or into environment.
Savva:
There has been a lot of talk about moving Andrew Giles and Clare O’Neil. There’s no doubt that Giles needs to be shifted out of that portfolio, but if Clare O’Neil is moved, as some kind of camouflage for Giles’ incompetence in the immigration portfolio, then I think that would be grossly unfair and not warranted.
Savva says Plibersek should be put in a more frontline role:
The other grave mistake that Albanese made after the election was putting Tanya Plibersek in the freezer. That was a big mistake and it’s time that he rectified it and made sure that she was is in the front-line.
Cabinet reshuffle on agenda for ABC’s Insiders
And Insiders has started on the ABC – on the couch this morning is Samantha Maiden, Niki Savva and Jacob Greber.
They are discussing the changes to cabinet, with Malarndirri McCarthy and Jenny McAllister both in line for a promotion.
Immigration minister Andrew Giles and home affairs minister Clare O’Neil are reportedly going to be shifted.
Welcome
Good morning everyone. I will be with you on the live blog this morning.
In New South Wales, Chris Minns will announce the state government’s awaited changes to no-grounds evictions at Labor NSW’s state conference.
The premier will unveil proposed new laws to end no-grounds evictions in reforms that ensure renters must be provided with a genuine reason if they are being evicted.
In Canberra, Anthony Albanese will unveil a new look cabinet today for the first time in two years as senior ministers prepare to retire at the next federal election.
Two Labor parliamentarians are set for a promotion into cabinet after Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney and skills minister Brendan O’Connor announced they would step back from politics.
Senator Malarndirri McCarthy, the assistant minister for Indigenous health, is expected to take over Burney’s role and Senator Jenny McAllister is also expected to be promoted into Albanese’s ministers.
Immigration minister Andrew Giles is expected to be moved sideways into a new job after the government faced strong criticism of his stewardship.
And a man has been shot dead in Sydney’s south-west after he allegedly attempted to stab a police officer with a knife.
Emergency services were called to Bird Walton Avenue in Middleton Grange, about 40km from the CBD, about 11 pm on Saturday after reports a man was armed with a knife.
We will bring more on those first two announcements and the rest of the day’s news as it comes – so let’s get into it!
