NSW government announces free weekend train travel in bid to avoid strikes
Luca Ittimani
Trains will be free this weekend in New South Wales in a government effort to avoid industrial action that would have cancelled extra services getting fans to footy finals.
But the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) could still follow through with its threat to disrupt works on the T3 track’s conversion into a metro service by stopping work along the entire train line.
Earlier this evening transport minister, Jo Haylen, announced that rail travel would be free this weekend. She said:
We’re going to open the gates and deliver free travel for passengers this weekend so tens of thousands of families across our city can get to the footy.
We’re also making train travel free this weekend to give the works to convert the T3 line to metro a chance to go ahead.We’re hoping that the RTBU will come back to the table and lift bans to get Sydney moving this finals weekend and build the infrastructure we need.
RTBU members had refused to work outside normal rosters unless the government cut train fares to 50c or lower, threatening to disrupt services during the Bledisloe Cup and NRL and AFL finals on Friday and Saturday.
But the RTBU NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, said earlier today that the union had inserted a clause in the paperwork to lodge its industrial action that meant its members would legally have to return to work if the government offered cheaper fares.
The RTBU and the government are still locked in disagreement over a new pay deal for train staff and safety concerns about the metro conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown in western Sydney.
The union said its metro concerns were separate from pay bargaining and could be resolved by carrying out a safety audit before the line opened and employing supervisor staff on each new train and station.
Key events
What we learned, Thursday 19 September
As the Senate-only sitting week winds down, so too does the live blog for today. Here’s what made the news:
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Australia joined 42 other countries in abstaining in a vote at the United Nations overnight on a resolution demanding that Israel “brings to an end without delay to its unlawful presence” in the occupied Palestinian territories, and should do so within 12 months.
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There was applause across the UN general assembly chamber when the motion demanding Israel’s withdrawal from the occupied territories was passed by 124 votes to 14 with 43 abstentions.
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The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, says Australia should have voted against the motion with the United States.
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The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to criticism of the government not seeking to ban gambling advertising by saying that ads are not the problem, gambling is.
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The Greens senator, Sarah Hanson Young, described the PM’s comments as “dead wrong” and “weak” and called for the PM to be better “not so crap”.
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Forty years of unsolved murders in New South Wales will be reviewed and evidence that could be investigated with new technological advances will be forensically tested as part of the state government’s response to a landmark gay hate crimes inquiry.
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Young Australians are significantly more worried about their financial future after the Covid pandemic than they used to be, a report from youth-oriented non-profits Orygen and Mission Australia suggests.
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Australia’s unemployment rate in August came in at 4.2%, unchanged from July, and in line with forecasts.
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Australia’s population has grown to 27.1m.
We’ll be back with the news live blog on Friday. Until then, enjoy your evening.
NSW government announces free weekend train travel in bid to avoid strikes
Luca Ittimani
Trains will be free this weekend in New South Wales in a government effort to avoid industrial action that would have cancelled extra services getting fans to footy finals.
But the Rail Tram and Bus Union (RTBU) could still follow through with its threat to disrupt works on the T3 track’s conversion into a metro service by stopping work along the entire train line.
Earlier this evening transport minister, Jo Haylen, announced that rail travel would be free this weekend. She said:
We’re going to open the gates and deliver free travel for passengers this weekend so tens of thousands of families across our city can get to the footy.
We’re also making train travel free this weekend to give the works to convert the T3 line to metro a chance to go ahead.We’re hoping that the RTBU will come back to the table and lift bans to get Sydney moving this finals weekend and build the infrastructure we need.
RTBU members had refused to work outside normal rosters unless the government cut train fares to 50c or lower, threatening to disrupt services during the Bledisloe Cup and NRL and AFL finals on Friday and Saturday.
But the RTBU NSW secretary, Toby Warnes, said earlier today that the union had inserted a clause in the paperwork to lodge its industrial action that meant its members would legally have to return to work if the government offered cheaper fares.
The RTBU and the government are still locked in disagreement over a new pay deal for train staff and safety concerns about the metro conversion of the T3 line between Sydenham and Bankstown in western Sydney.
The union said its metro concerns were separate from pay bargaining and could be resolved by carrying out a safety audit before the line opened and employing supervisor staff on each new train and station.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has suggested his claim he apologised for remarks about “Lebanese-Muslim” migration being a “mistake” was based on a conversation with just one “senior person” in the community.
The opposition leader has come under renewed scrutiny for his 2016 comments due to reports in the Sydney Morning Herald noting that, despite having claimed in 2023 to have apologised, community leaders cannot recall him having done so.
Five leaders of Australia’s Lebanese Muslim community interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald reportedly said they have no recollection of Dutton making that apology.
Asked about the apology on Thursday, Dutton told reporters in Brisbane: “Look, there are a couple of leftwing journalists who are obsessed on this issue, it’s not something I’ve got a further comment on.”
“I had a conversation, and I’ve had that discussion. I’m not going to betray that conversation with a senior person who was in the community at the time, the Sydney Morning Herald can obsess about that all they like.”
Read Paul Karp and Andrew Messenger’s full report:
Men fined $4,000 over Australian of the Year bets
Two Victorian men were sentenced with $4,000 in fines on Thursday over using inside information to bet on the winner of three Australian of the Year awards.
The men, both 39, from Mornington and Mount Martha were charged last year after an investigation into irregular betting on the awards.
The Australian federal police (AFP) said investigators found the Mornington man, then an employee of a federal government-owned corporation, was informed of the names of the Australian of the Year each year between 2017 and 2019 before they were made public.
That information was then passed on to the Mount Martha man, who placed 48 bets worth $2,469 on five online betting accounts, netting the pair $9,363.
The Mornington man pleaded guilty to one count of abuse of public office, while the Mount Martha man pleaded guilty to one count of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring offences of abuse of public office.
The men were fined $4,000 each, had their convictions recorded and were ordered to pay court costs.
Separately, in January the AFP charged a 48-year-old Sydney man for using inside information to win $7,542 on the Australian of the Year awards between 2017 and 2021. The matter was referred to the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal for assessment, and there was no link between the two matters.
No Australian of the Year award winners were suspected or involved in wrongdoing.
Paul Karp
Report calls on government to ‘further explore’ using super accounts to offset mortgages
The economics references committee’s inquiry into retirement incomes has released its second interim report, calling on the government to “further explore” creation of special super accounts that are used to offset homeowners’ mortgages.
The committee is chaired by Andrew Bragg, the shadow assistant minister for housing affordability, who has been examining this as a way to expand the Coalition’s policy of allowing first home buyers to access some of their super.
Independent actuary Jonathan Ng told the inquiry that a super mortgage offset could allow Australians to own their homes sooner. For example a homeowner with a $800,000 unit and $40,000 from their super in an offset account could save $164,000 in interest over the life of their loan and repay their mortgage 3.6 years sooner.
Tabling the report on Thursday, Bragg clarified that super mortgage offset accounts is “not the policy of my party” but an option it is exploring to give people “more choice and more agency” over their money. After the mortgage had been paid off, funds would be returned to their super fund.
Bragg said in a statement:
Mortgage holders have faced 12 interest rate hikes under Labor because of their highly inflationary agenda and economic mismanagement. The committee’s second interim report offers a tangible option for Australians to reduce the overall cost of their mortgage, empowering them to use their own money to own their homes sooner.
Labor senators issued a dissenting report. Senator Jess Walsh said:
This undercooked proposal to raid your super to offset your mortgage won’t help anyone to buy their first home and it won’t see a single new home built when we know the answer to our housing issues is supply. The Coalition’s answer to every issue is to raid your superannuation balance. It’s reckless, dangerous and must stop.
Daniel Hurst
Many readers have been wondering today which aspects of the UN resolution on the Israeli occupation were of concern to the Australian government (Australia abstained on the resolution at the UN general assembly this morning, but said it did so with disappointment and had hoped it would have been in a position to support it).
Guardian Australia understands that Australia argued during the negotiations on the draft resolution that the wording mischaracterised a “prescriptive list of policy demands” as legal obligations on all countries.
Sources familiar with the diplomatic negotiations said Australia was already taking many of those steps, such as imposing sanctions on Israeli settlers, but “as a matter of considered policy not because we are legally obliged to do so”.
During the negotiations, Australia also argued the resolution included demands on matters that had historically been regarded as final-status issues to be negotiated between the Israeli and Palestinian sides.
For example, the resolution demanded that Israel allow all Palestinians displaced during the occupation to return to their original place of residence.
Here’s our latest news wrap on the issue:
And with that, we will hand over to Josh Taylor who will take you through the rest of the evening.
The Senate is being very senate-y – but none of the bills we have been talking about this week – housing, the EPA etc will be coming up for debate. So enjoy having all these same conversations again in the second week of October when parliament resumes.
We’ll be back with Politics Live then – until then, you can reach me at the usual areas (I am almost through answering your questions) – and please, as always – take care of you.
‘Leftwing journalists obsessed’ with Dutton apology to Lebanese Australians
The transcript from Peter Dutton’s press conference has lobbed, with this exchange:
Q: There was a story yesterday in the Sydney Morning Herald about an apology you made to Lebanese Australians. When did you make that apology and who did you make it to?
Dutton:
Well look, there are a couple of leftwing journalists who are obsessed on this issue. It’s not something I’m going to further comment on. I had a conversation and I had that discussion. I’m not going to betray that conversation with the senior person, who it was in the community at the time. The Sydney Morning Herald can obsess about that all they like.
Q: Not just leftwing journalists, Mazhar Hadid, who’s a Liberal on the Liverpool Council wants to know when you made it?
Dutton:
I’ve made comment.
The Senate is moving through its new order of business.
But the senators are also starting to look at the exits.
NSW retains Moody’s triple-A credit rating
Luca Ittimani
New South Wales has held on to its status as a reliable debtor, with global financial agency Moody’s giving it another triple-A credit rating.
In a bit of good news for government finances, the state will avoid the hike in borrowing costs that would have come with a downgrade, reflecting high agency confidence that the government will be able to repay its debts.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey had previously warned the state was set to lose its Triple-A rating after an April carve-up of GST revenue stripped the state finances, and again when he revealed forecasts of persistent deficits in his June budget.
In April, he said the “GST rip-off” had sent NSW “back to square one [and] almost certainly will lead to a downgrade” – apparently trying to pre-empt any bad news on credit agencies.
But Mookhey on Thursday celebrated Moody’s judgment that NSW’s strong governance and management had offset the risks of inflation and costly new programs. He said:
This determination is an acknowledgment of the difficult work that has been done to wrangle the state’s debt back under control.”
For alternative agency S&P, NSW remains at an AA+, after being downgraded from a triple-A under the Coalition government in December 2020. Western Australia remains the only state still holding a triple-A certification from both agencies.
Victoria, Queensland and the Australian Capital Territory have all maintained ratings that are positive but below triple-A in the last week.
It is not the EPA bill – the agreement there is to keep talking on the government legislation.
This is about the cost protection bill – which aims to ensure people suing for sexual harassment would not have to pay costs if they lose.
Penny Wong is moving to guillotine the debate, so there will be a vote on it before the Senate rises.
Which means yes – the Senate will pass two pieces of legislation in the four days it has been sitting.
The last Senate-apoolza question time ends.
Penny Wong is now moving a motion to suspend standing orders to re-order business to consider legislation – which potentially means the Senate is about to pass its second bill for the week.
Exciting times. Two bills in four days – stunning.
Parliament ‘acutely aware’ of effects of past policies on Indigenous Australians, McCarthy says
McCarthy she is more than happy for the interjection and says:
Oh, look, I’m more than happy for people to watch. I think it’s important that people should see what democracy is all about and how debates take place in this Senate. Those that are sensible and those that are nonsensical, but I will say this – that the policies of the past have impacted First Nations people, President.
We are seeing that addressed in the redress, as I was saying to the Senate today in terms of the stolen generations. There are hundreds, if not thousands, of families across Australia still traumatised by the policies of the day, by governments from way back in the 1800s through to the 1970s and I know that the parliament of Australia today is acutely aware of this.
Thorpe asks another couple of questions, but doesn’t get the answers.
