Key events
Katy Gallagher was asked about a story in the Australian newspaper, stating senior Labor figures are raising Fatima Payman’s Afghan citizenship as a risk to her remaining in the Senate because of a potential breach of section 44 of the Constitution.
Gallagher says she has “no idea about that”.
I’ve seen the headlines in [the Australian] and I have no understanding about any of those issues… You know, the ALP vetting processes are pretty tight these days, but I have no idea where that stories come from.
The finance minister and manager of the government in the senate, Katy Gallagher, is speaking with ABC RN following senator Fatima Payman’s resignation yesterday.
Payman also spoke to ABC Radio this morning (we’ll bring you more on this shortly) and said that she decided to leave the Labor party only yesterday, because on Wednesday in question time the prime minister had flagged he expected her to make an announcement.
Gallagher weighed in on this and said:
It’s difficult to go into, you know, when the decision was made – only senator Payman knows that – but we do know, now that it’s been done, it’s a matter of fact that there had been obviously discussions about her role as an independent senator and for some time.
I think the way these decisions have been made by Senator Payman make it pretty clear that she has been thinking about this for a long period of time, and it was executed this week…
She’s the only one that knows her decision making process. But I mean, it was pretty widely understood across the parliament that there was going to be a statement made by Senator payment on Thursday, and that is what transpired…
People will have their own versions of events, but it’s pretty clear to me that this has been considered for some time.
Nuclear policy flicked before LNP state convention
There are 173 items on the discussion list for the annual Queensland LNP conference but nuclear energy is not one of them.
As AAP reports, the three-day event starting in Brisbane today is not due to canvass the major policy which has sparked a divide between some federal and state Liberal and Nationals party members.
Queensland-based federal opposition leader Peter Dutton has unveiled plans to build seven nuclear power plants if the Coalition wins government in 2025. The policy has been backed by Nationals leader David Littleproud, who is due to join Dutton at the LNP conference tomorrow.
Their approach to nuclear is not supported by Queensland’s Liberal National party leader David Crisafulli.
Crisafulli has confirmed nuclear is “not part of our plan”.
The state convention’s list of resolutions is lengthy but makes no mention of nuclear energy, although Dutton and Littleproud might raise the issue during their addresses to the conference.
Crisafulli will address the event on Sunday.
Government announces ‘pitch day’ for defence technologies
The Albanese government has announced a $4m “pitch day” to continue “fast-tracking the development and deployment of innovative defence technologies” and invest in a “future made in Australia”.
The pitch day – the first of two to be held annually – will allow selected companies invited to pitch their technology or ideas to a defence panel during the Adstar summit from 17-19 September.
The theme of the first pitch day is “innovative asymmetric advantage”, a statement said, which “refers to disruptive technology that can have a deterrence effect”.
Successful participants will be invited to respond to development contracts valued up to $750,000 each through a competitive process. The total value of contracts on offer is up to $4m.
The minister for the defence industry, Pat Conroy, said:
It’s only fitting we announce the inaugural pitch day, underscoring our commitment to supporting industry and ensuring our ADF personnel are equipped with the capabilities they need.
You can read more about Asca from when it was first announced here.
Get the Full Story…
The Fatima Payman saga is the subject of today’s newsroom edition of the Full Story podcast.
Bridie Jabour talks to deputy editor Patrick Keneally and head of news Mike Ticher about Labor’s strict rules on party solidarity, and if Payman’s exit means Labor needs to change with the times.
How Fatima Payman leveraged Gaza anger to poke Labor in the eye
Martin Farrer
Our political editor, Karen Middleton, looks at how Fatima Payman has used public anger and frustration about Gaza to deliver a stinging rebuke to Labor.
She writes that the 29-year-old rookie senator has run rings round the leadership but many among the latter suspect that there was more planning behind her moves than first appeared:
She’s run rings around her own party and left the Labor leadership firmly of the view that there was more orchestration to the sequence of events than the senator has acknowledged.
Read her full article here:
Good morning
Emily Wind
And happy Friday – many thanks to Martin for kicking things off. I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll be with you on our live blog for most of today.
As always, you can get in touch with any thoughts, questions or feedback via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: [email protected].
Let’s get started.
Dating apps sign up to new industry safety code
Josh Butler
Dating apps including Bumble and Tinder have signed up to a new industry code to keep users safer online.
The new code is now in place. We’ll hear more from communications minister Michelle Rowland and social services minister Amanda Rishworth this morning, but their offices have given out some info ahead of time.
The new code will obligate the dating apps to start new systems to detect potential harms, take action against users found to have breached policies, bring on transparent and prominent complaint reporting systems as well as support resources for users, and publish regular transparency reports about their actions.
The apps will also have to improve their cooperation with law enforcement.
The government said the industry had shown “constructive engagement” so far. The code has been developed by companies including Match Group, Bumble, Grindr, Spark Networks, RSVP; and the ParshipMeet Group.
Rowland said:
Online dating is now the most common way to meet a partner in Australia. These services did not develop overnight, and the lack of action over the last decade means that regulation has not kept pace with technology.
The government will be watching industry closely over the coming months as the Code is operationalised, and we look forward to the eSafety Commissioner’s assessment of its effectiveness as we consider any possible next steps.
Rishworth said:
Dating app violence is a form of gender-based violence, and it has to end. We must create communities – both in the physical and virtual world – where everyone is treated equally and with respect.
‘Students shouldn’t need permission to protest on their own campus’
Continuing from our last post: University of Sydney Students’ Representative Council president Harrison Brennan condemned the new measures “in the strongest possible terms” and said campuses must be places where the democratic right to protest could be exercised:
This is a repulsive, full-scale offensive on the right to protest at the University of Sydney … the Vice-Chancellor has whipped up a policy that will strangle the dissenting voices of students, staff, and the broader community.
This policy will not just affect student activists around the topic of Palestine but will have chilling implications for other campaigns … students shouldn’t need permission to protest on their own campus.
Asked why students were not consulted before the policy was implemented, a university spokesperson said:
The policy was updated to ensure that the right settings were in place for semester two so students and staff can fully participate in all aspects of campus life. The policy is in line with similar policies at other universities.
University of Sydney vice-chancellor Mark Scott said the changes had been made to ensure “a safe and welcoming place for all members of our community”:
It upholds our commitment to free speech – while recognising we need to be able to manage our environment for the safety and security of all.
– via AAP
‘Chilling’ new Sydney University protest rules
Students feel “strangled” and “chilled” by a new University of Sydney campus policy severely limiting their right to protest, AAP reports.
At least three days’ notice must be given for protests that include the use of booths or stalls, megaphones or amplifiers and affixing banners or posters to campus buildings.
Camping is banned altogether after an encampment protesting Israel’s war in Gaza stood for almost two months before campus staff ordered students to vacate in June.
Students said the changes had been made stealthily given they were not consulted or told the policy had been introduced.
They only became aware of the policy on Wednesday night when Dave Brophy from the National Tertiary Education Union called the measures an “attack” on freedom at the university in a post on social media platform X:
USyd’s new ‘Campus Access Policy’ – adopted without any notice or consultation – is an astonishing attack on political freedom at the university.
Welcome
Martin Farrer
Good morning and welcome to our final rolling news blog of the week. I’m Martin Farrer and here are some of the top overnight stories before my colleague Emily Wind takes over.
Fatima Payman’s departure from the Labor party has dominated the week and will continue to rumble on today. There is a feeling in Canberra – and no doubt a few other places – that Payman has run rings around the Labor party, writes our political editor Karen Middleton. After leading Labor’s leadership a merry dance over the past two weeks, she finally quit the party yesterday. Our reporters have unpicked the sequence of events that led to her momentous move, which the party’s president, Wayne Swan, claims will “empower Labor’s opponents on the far right”. More coming up.
Online dating apps have pledged to escalate complaints of imminent safety threats more swiftly to police under a voluntary industry code. The companies behind Tinder, Hinge, Bumble, Grindr, RSVP and eHarmony are among those to adopt the code, developed after the 2023 national roundtable on online dating safety. More on that in a minute.
East coast gas shortfalls could emerge as soon as 2027, a year earlier than was forecast six months ago, unless new sources of supply are made available, the competition watchdog has warned in a report. The bulk of gas produced in Australia is exported. In 2025, for instance, liquefied natural gas producers are forecast to export 1,369 petajoules, or about 71% of output, the ACCC said.
And students are up in arms over new rules from Sydney University that put strict restrictions on student protests. More on that soon.
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