Key events
NSW police also investigating home invasion in Port Macquarie
Police said that multiple offenders reportedly entered a home just after 2am in Port Macquarie where they confronted a 26-year-old man and shots were fired. The 26-year-old man was not physically injured and two men fled the property a short time later.
Officers will address the media about the investigations later this morning.
Police investigating after two incidents of shots fired in western Sydney
The NSW police are investigating two public place shootings in Sydney’s west after at least two shots were fired into the air at a roundabout.
The police said in a statement:
About 1am today… Emergency services were called to a home on Bluegum Avenue, Prestons, following reports shots were fired.
Officers attached to Liverpool City police area command arrived to find unknown people had fired at least two shots at a home before leaving the scene in a car.
About 1.20am today… Emergency services were called to Greenway Drive, West Hoxton, following reports of shots fired.
Officers attached to Liverpool City police area command arrived to find unknown people had fired at least two shots into the air at a roundabout, before leaving the scene in a car.
No injuries were reported in either incident.
Minns says portion of struck-down anti-protest law regarding places of worship survives ruling
Staying with the NSW anti-protest law and which was struck down as unconstitutional in NSW yesterday.
Sarah Schwartz, a legal director at the Human Rights Law Center and executive officer at the Jewish Council of Australia, was on ABC a short time ago speaking about the supreme court decision. She said:
I think that what this ruling shows is that our politicians should be looking at ways of strengthening our democratic rights and institutions and acknowledging that that the right to protest is really fundamental to our democracy.
If government wants to make laws that are going to impact our fundamental rights and freedoms, they need to have a really good reason to do so. They’ve got to have a problem that they’re responding to, and evidence that the laws proposed will actually address that problem. And these laws do neither.
On Thursday, after the judgment, the premier Chris Minns said the government would take time to consider the ruling:
These laws were designed to strike the right balance between community protection and the freedom of political expression.
He also noted the decision had no impact on the section of the law making it a crime to impede, harass, intimidate or threaten a person accessing a place of worship without a reasonable excuse. That offence carried a maximum of two years in prison.
Labor MP says ‘weaponisation’ of event where IDF member spoke was catalyst for unconstitutional law
A New South Wales Labor MP has said the political catalyst for the government’s expansion of police powers to shut down protests near places of worship was a “big lie”.
Yesterday the supreme court found a law which gave police the power to move-on protesters who were near a place of worship – regardless of what the protest was about – was unconstitutional.
The police powers were expanded in February as part of suite of reforms by the Minns government aimed at curbing antisemisitm. The outspoken Labor MP Stephen Lawrence posted on his social media yesterday:
The political catalyst for the parliament passing this law was actually a big lie, the suggestion of an antisemitic protest at a synagogue in Sydney.
The Liberal party more than anyone else regurgitated the big lie. What actually happened was a protest was organised at an event about Israeli military industries featuring an IDF speaker at an undisclosed location. At the last minute organisers announced the non religious event at a synagogue and a protest occurred across the road in a peaceful way.
The weaponisation of this was part of the political environment that then led to the unconstitutional legislation. I hope in what is now a calmer time everyone reflects on this unhelpful distortion. We all need to be accurate and truthful in the interests of social cohesion.
Hume says time of introspection for Liberal party is over
Jane Hume, who is not in Ley’s shadow cabinet, was asked if she thinks there’s a cost to having more inexperienced colleagues promoted to the ministry. She said:
It’s very important to make sure that we get renewal, but at the same time, we have those experienced wise heads there with the corporate memory and the experience of governments and oppositions past to make sure that we guide the right policy solution.
Hume, after being asked what her assessment is on the Liberal party becoming a “genuine option”, said “the time for introspection is over”:
Let’s get on with the job. We need to light up that policy agenda, make sure that we build a compelling alternative for ordinary Australians, because that’s what the Liberal party is all about.
She was also asked about comments made by backbencher Andrew Hastie that Australians are “strangers in their own home” and if she was concerned it would isolate the party from multicultural communities. Hume said:
The Coalition and the Liberal party in particular, have been great supporters of multicultural Australia for decades now, it was in fact the Liberal party that dismantled the white Australia policy, something that we’re particularly proud of.
Tim Wilson made a similar claim in 2018, giving the credit to Harold Holt. An RMIT fact check rated the assertion as “simplistic”.
Hume: Ley describing Melbourne as Australia’s ‘crime capital’ just ‘explaining what every Victorian already knows’
The federal Liberal senator for Victoria, Jane Hume, was on ABC Radio National a short time ago speaking about crime in the state.
She was asked if it was appropriate for Liberal leader Sussan Ley to refer to Melbourne as the “the crime capital of Australia”. Hume responded it was “explaining what every Victorian already knows”.
She was then asked what the federal opposition’s policy is to address crime in Victoria is after, Hume responded:
Sussan and the shadow ministry team are putting together our policy agenda as we speak. It is only five months since the last election, but I don’t agree that there is nothing that a federal government cannot do. In fact, there are plenty of things that a federal government can get involved in to help states tackle crime, whether it be working for consistent bail laws across the country.
Hume also mentioned the need to stop threats against retail workers, and that the federal government has a role to play to tackle the “illicit tobacco space”.
My colleague, Benita Kolovos, wrote an analysis on this issue yesterday, saying there’s no question Victoria has a crime problem – but the federal Coalition parachuting in with talking points and a scare campaign is not the answer. Read more here:
Sarah Basford Canales
‘Conflicts of interest’ behind Australian parliamentary official’s $315k retirement payment, report finds
An independent “fact-finding mission” into a $315,126 retirement payment to a senior parliamentary department official has found “multiple procedural failures” including overpayment, a disregard for specialist advice and “excessive pressure” applied in the payment’s timing.
The report by Sydney barrister Fiona Roughley SC, released Thursday, found there were “conflicts of interest” and “conflicted persons” within the Department of Parliamentary Services involved in the decision-making process.
More on this story here:
Looming social media ban on docket for education parley
The government leaders responsible for enforcing a world-first ban on social media for teenagers will gather to hear how the initiative will work.
Education ministers from across the nation, whose armies of school teachers will help police the restrictions, will assemble for the high-level meeting on Friday.
Less than two months from the ban kicking in, the federal communication minister, Anika Wells, and eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, are set to speak to state education ministers on Friday.
The duo will unveil a resource package for both educators and parents to help them understand the laws and how to engage with kids on them.
From 10 December, platforms must take reasonable steps to find underage users and stop under-16s accessing the platforms, as well as provide an accessible complaints process for users.
– AAP
Adeshola Ore
Melbourne pro-Palestine rallies to pause after ceasefire
Melbourne’s weekly pro-Palestine rallies will be paused following the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, the activist group behind the demonstrations says.
In a social media post on Instagram, Free Palestine Coalition Naarm and The Sit-Intifada said the weekly Sunday rallies outside the State Library would be halted after the ceasefire agreement last week:
We will be pausing the weekly protest initiative in response to the cessation of the Zionist offensive.
Melbourne’s pro-Palestine protests – which at its peak attracted more than 10,000 people – began shortly after Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attack and were held almost every Sunday.
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Good morning
Jordyn Beazley
Good morning, and happy Friday. I’m Jordyn Beazley and I’ll be taking you through our rolling news coverage this morning.
If you see anything you’d like to draw my attention to, you can reach me on jordyn.beazley@theguardian.com.
Adeshola Ore
First Peoples’ Assembly says not too late for Victorian Liberals to back treaty
Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly says it’s not too late for the opposition to back the state’s Indigenous treaty bill as it passed parliament’s lower house on Thursday.
The Coalition this week announced it would repeal the agreement – Australia’s first formal treaty with First Nations people – if elected next year.
The opposition already withdrew its support for the treaty process after the failure of the 2023 referendum to change Australia’s constitution to create a federal voice to parliament.
The bill passed the lower house with the support of Labor and Greens MPs. Opposition MPs voted against it. Assembly co-chair and Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg urged the opposition to support the bill in the upper house:
Aboriginal voices from across the state have been clear that Treaty is the change we need to create a better future for our people. As the Bill moves to the upper house, my message to Liberal and National representatives is it’s not too late to again walk with us.
Parliament’s upper house will debate the bill at the end of the month. Once the bill passes parliament, as expected with the support of the Greens and other progressive crossbenchers, the government and the assembly will formally sign the treaty agreement.
Jacqui Lambie accuses parliamentary committee of ‘stealth hearing’ on controversial FOI bill
Krishani Dhanji
The independent senator Jacqui Lambie has accused a parliamentary committee of conducting a “stealth hearing” on controversial changes to freedom of information legislation.
The Senate referred the bill to an inquiry last month, which has now received submissions, will hold its first public hearing today and will make recommendations for the bill, which is due by 3 December.
But notably absent from the list of submissions and list of witnesses is former senator and self-proclaimed “transparency warrior” Rex Patrick, who looks like he’s been “censored” says Lambie.
The Tasmania senator also claims the committee did not provide advance notice to her office of the upcoming public hearing, despite her “strong interest” on the issue.
“I have moved amendments on this legislation … but I wasn’t notified of the hearing in a timely way. There’s something unusual going on here – it’s like they’re trying for a stealth hearing on changes to legislation that is about secrecy and transparency.
What really blows me away is that the witness list has been published without consultation and it looks like Rex Patrick and [former ABC investigative journalist and barrister] Paul Farrell – two of the most experienced FOIers in the country – haven’t been invited to give evidence.
It looks like Mr Patrick’s very comprehensive submission on the bill, has been censored. Mr Patrick did accuse the prime minister of hypocrisy in his submission, but his accusation is grounded in fact.
Guardian Australia has contacted the committee secretary for comment.
Hail and storms forecast for Sydney this afternoon
Sydneysiders: batten down the hatches. According to the Bureau of Meteorology, a storm is coming.
While the city is forecast to hit a high of 32C, it’ll get cloudier during the day and thunderstorms are likely in the afternoon and evening, possibly severe, with damaging winds and large hail.
Good luck out there.
For those outside the NSW capital, Perth will be sunny and 28C, Adelaide partly cloudy and 21, Melbourne cloudy and 20, Hobart showery and 16, Canberra windy and 27, and Brisbane sunny and 28.
Ley says Albanese must get ‘concrete outcomes’ from Trump meeting
Josh Butler
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has challenged Anthony Albanese to extract “concrete outcomes” on Aukus, trade and tariffs from his meeting with President Donald Trump next week.
The prime minister heads to Washington DC on Sunday ahead of a White House meeting on Monday. It will be the first formal face-to-face meeting between Albanese and Trump, after a series of phone calls, a cancelled meeting in Canada and a brief chat in New York last month.
The Labor government is downplaying prospects of any immediate outcomes on the Pentagon’s Aukus review, tariffs on Australia, or a mooted critical minerals deal coming during Albanese’s trip. But Ley has continued the opposition’s criticism that Albanese hasn’t met Trump before now.
She said she’d written to Albanese saying she hoped to see an assurance on the American review of Aukus, “real commitment” on pillar two of the Aukus agreement on future technologies, a “deal” on Trump’s trade tariffs and progress on Australia becoming a supplier of advanced weapons systems.
Ley wished Albanese well, but yet again noted “this meeting could have, and should have, occurred sooner.”
When it comes to the prime minister stepping into the Oval Office, there is only Team Australia. But this must be more than a photo opportunity, Australians are relying on the PM to deliver.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories but then Nick Visser will be along to take you through the day.
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has challenged Anthony Albanese to extract “concrete outcomes” on Aukus, trade and tariffs from his meeting with President Donald Trump next week.
The independent senator Jacqui Lambie has accused a parliamentary committee of conducting a “stealth hearing” on controversial changes to the freedom of information legislation.
And there’s an afternoon storm forecast for Sydney, with strong winds and large hail on the cards.
