Republicans to welcome king’s visit with ‘farewell tour’ T-shirts
Josh Butler
The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) is launching a tongue-in-cheek media campaign ahead of King Charles’ visit to Australia, branding it the “farewell tour” of the British monarchy – claiming it is “time to give the royal wave goodbye.”
Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Australia from 18 to 23 October, with stops in Sydney and Canberra. The ARM points out it’s the first visit from a monarch in more than a decade, and say it’s time to “change the conversation” about the royals.
The unsuccessful Indigenous voice referendum, coincidentally a year ago today (14 October), has stalled momentum for potential constitutional change that would be needed for an Australian republic. The Labor government recently dropped its ministerial portfolio focused on the republic, and political observers theorise it will be some time before a future government proposes another referendum.
But the ARM is preparing to use Charles’s visit to draw attention to the republican push again. Their campaign is titled “monarchy: the Farewell Oz tour”, branded like the final tour of a rock band, with T-shirts and posters printed.
Think Elton’s Yellow Brick Road Tour and Farnham’s The Last Time. It’s time to Wave Goodbye to Royal Reign with Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour!
The group points to their own research showing 92% of Australians are open to becoming a republic, and that 60% of Australians say they’d prefer an Australian head of state to King Charles.
It’s time for Australia to say ‘thanks, but we’ve got it from here’. Expect to see big names leading our new conversation all over Australia as we wave goodbye to royal reign.
Key events
Graffiti, threatening note left at bakery run by Jewish TV chef
Jewish TV chef Ed Halmagyi says a threatening note was shoved under the door of his Sydney bakery yesterday.
In a post to Instagram, he shared an image of the note – reading “Be careful” – and said this was “Being Jewish in Sydney, 2024 edition”.
The chef, better known as ‘Fast Ed’, appeared on Better Homes and Gardens for 20 years and operates Avner’s Bakery in Surry Hills. He wrote on Instagram:
This note was shoved under the door of our bakery overnight. But the fact is, it’s hard to be intimidated by inner-city middle-class Cosplay Radicals who graduated primary school without their pen licence.
Police were called to the Bourke Street business about 3pm on Sunday, after becoming aware of offensive graffiti sprayed on the walls.
Police have been told a man also received a written note containing an alleged threat when he arrived at the business the same morning.
Police said they are investigating the incident, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Spender backs calls for raising small business threshold to 25 workers
The Independent MP for Wentworth, Allegra Spender, says she backs the calls from business to change the definition of small business to include 25 workers, up from 15.
She said this would “make it easier for small and young businesses to grow” and wrote on X:
It’s time to look at IR not through politics, but how it balances protections for workers with increasing wages through productivity.
We need to look at models, such as in Denmark, that provide strong social safety nets as well as flexible working arrangements. And start by simplifying awards, getting the PC to assess the impact of IR on productivity, and increasing the rate of job seeker.
If you’re just joining us – we’ve covered the government response to these calls, as well as the opposition and union responses, earlier in the blog.
Man allegedly assaulted and car stolen from Eastern Beaches home
Police allege a man was assaulted before a car was stolen from a home in Sydney’s Eastern Beaches overnight.
About 11.10pm yesterday, a 65-year-old woman was approached by two men, who allegedly broke into a home at Matraville.
One of the men allegedly assaulted a 70-year-old occupant, causing injuries to his head and hands, before the men allegedly drove away in a blue Subaru XV after taking keys.
The 70-year-old man was treated by paramedics and taken to Prince of Wales Hospital in a stable condition. An investigation has been commenced, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Ley says white supremacists demonstrating in Corowa ‘should be held accountable’
Circling back to Sussan Ley’s interview on ABC RN: She was asked about an incident in her electorate at the weekend, where police had to break up a group of white supremacists demonstrating in the town of Corowa on the Murray River.
Ley said she was “appalled” to see the group try to use Corowa as “the latest backdrop in that campaign to sow division and spread hate.”
Now they were rightly sent away, and they are rightly condemned … But I really want to say how proud I am of my community, because they’ve … called these people out, they’ve said to their face, ‘just go away and get off the street’.
They use a small town to try to get a big national headline, and we don’t want them back.
Asked if anyone should have been arrested, Ley said police would be “looking at any possible laws or breaches that these people have made, and they’ll be tracking them down even now”.
They’re hiding their identities. That’s what they do, these isolated minorities. They need to be called out, found out, and if there’s anything that they can be charged with, I know they will be.
I want maximum pressure on these people. We cannot and we should not tolerate this sort of activity, but it was shocking …
Ley said their words were “pretty awful, and it shouldn’t be repeated anywhere, and they should be held accountable”.
Police investigating after injured man found in Melbourne’s CBD
Victoria police are investigating after a man was found injured in Melbourne’s CBD early this morning.
Officers were called to the intersection of Spencer and Lonsdale streets about 3.30am where the man was found. He is yet to be formally identified, and was taken to hospital with serious injuries.
3AW reported that a section of Spencer Street was shut down, and Lonsdale Street closed eastbound, amid the investigation. Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Sussan Ley won’t confirm if Coalition supports change to definition of small business
The deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, was also asked about calls to change the definition of small business to include up to 25 workers, while speaking with ABC RN.
She responded:
I’m not getting ahead of the discussion we will have in our party room and with colleagues about a range of matters to do with any piece of legislation.
Watt had said the opposition was in favour of this change – are they? Ley repeated her previous answer:
We will run this through our normal party room processes when legislation appears, not via conversations on breakfast radio.
But there won’t be legislation, host Patricia Karvelas said, as the government is against this. Does Ley think it is a good idea?
She said she hopes the government looks at proposals from the Business Council and that “they do turn [it] into something that we consider seriously through the parliament.”
ACTU secretary says it’s ‘wrong in principle’ to have different workers’ rights depending on size of business
The secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Sally McManus, has been speaking with ABC RN about the call to raise the definition of small business from 15 to 25 employees, as we just flagged just earlier.
Asked if she would campaign for any increase, even if it was up to 20 from the current 15, she responded that the union “already, on principle, [doesn’t] like the fact that there are two sets of rights for workers just depending on how big your workplace happens to be”.
We just think that’s wrong in principle. It’s been the case for quite a while now that there have been these small business exemptions, and it’s not been some big thing we’ve campaigned about.
But I’ve got to tell you, we don’t think it’s right in principle, and it’s sort of a dodgy way of being able to take rights off workers by saying, ‘Oh, we’re just going to increase the limit for small business’, because it just means that all of those workers just lose rights – and you can do so, and make it sound like you’re being fair.
Price says yes campaigners need to ‘let go’ and ‘accept result’ of Voice referendum
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price was also asked about comments from yes advocate and Uluru Statement from the Heart architect Megan Davis, that there is still a lot of grieving amongst Indigenous Australians.
Price said “it’s no surprise that there’s still grieving taking place” but “it’s not what I’ve picked up”. She argued that yes campaigners need to “let go” and “accept the result”.
… because Australia has made that determination, and move forward, because there are marginalised Indigenous Australians whose lives need to be impacted in a positive way right now.
Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Voice referendum, one year on
The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier on the first anniversary of the Voice referendum.
Price was a leading no vote advocate, arguing at the time there were better ways to improve the plight of Indigenous Australians. 12 months on, can she point to any alternative methods that have succeeded?
She argued the Albanese government hasn’t “implemented any methods to improve the circumstances or change the things on the ground.”
We have been calling for an inquiry into statutory authorities for the last 18 months, which we believe need to be looked at closely because of their failures to … well, not all statutory authorities, but some, in terms of their failures of how they’re supposed to serve the interests of those that they are supposed to represent.
And this has been ongoing now and something that the Albanese Government has continued to ignore. But those voices – especially of Traditional Owners – that I have been speaking to, are growing louder, with more concern. And, really, there is a need to fix the structures that currently exist, and it begins with an inquiry.
Murray Watt on the government’s review of workplace relations laws
Murray Watt was asked about calls from employers to change the definition of small business from 15 to 25 employees – will he do it?
“No, we won’t,” he said, arguing this would “make it easier for small and medium sized businesses to be able to unfairly sack workers” by losing their unfair dismissal rights.
There’s no evidence at all that current laws led by the Albanese government are stifling businesses from employing people. In fact, we’ve actually created nearly 1 million jobs since coming to office a bit over two years ago … So unfortunately, for some of the leading business groups calling for this, the evidence of what’s going on in the economy just doesn’t back up their wish list.
The business community also wants the government to revisit multi-employer bargaining and same job, same pay legislation – will the government’s review of workplace relations laws look at this?
He argued the laws already introduced by the government “have actually delivered exactly what we said they would – higher pay, more secure jobs, reducing the gender pay gap, delivering safer workplaces and more equality in the workplace”.
Watt also said the government was “very willing to have industrial relations as a key battleground for the next election”.
Watt says government had ‘guts’ to see voice proposal through despite polls
The employment and workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, spoke with ABC RN earlier and was asked about the voice referendum, one year on.
He recognised today was “going to be a pretty painful day for First Nations Australians” and said there were “a lot of hopes invested” in the voice proposal.
One of the lessons that we took is that it’s really pretty much impossible to undertake constitutional reform in this country without bipartisan support. We saw that,w prior to Peter Dutton and the Coalition opposing the voice, support for the voice was actually quite high, and that whittled away as soon as we saw the opposition take a position against it.
Host Patricia Karvelas asked why the government didn’t go to Indigenous leaders and say, “we don’t think we can win this”, when the polls were showing a defeat?
Watt said the PM and the government as a whole wanted the proposal to be led by First Nations people, and “we didn’t think it was appropriate to ignore their wishes, either at the beginning of the campaign or as the campaign went on”.
We see a lot of criticism of the government and the prime minister lately about not taking enough hard decisions and not being bold enough. This was a pretty bold thing to do, and it demonstrated the conviction of the prime minister and the conviction of the government that we were prepared to take on a difficult issue and see it through to the end.
Watts said the government “deserve[s] points for having had the guts to see it through, especially given that was the position of First Nations leaders”.
Alex Greenwich urged to restore protections for LGBTQ+ school staff in equality bill
The Independent Education Union of Australia’s NSW branch says it is “deeply concerned” about the state independent MP Alex Greenwich dropping protections for LGBTQ+ teachers, school staff and students from his equality bill – before cabinet today.
The union said that currently, non-government school employers can discriminate against school staff by terminating their employment because of their sexual orientation or transgender status – and expel students for the same reason.
Greenwich was reported in yesterday’s Sun Herald as dropping proposed protections for school staff pending a review of the NSW Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 by the NSW Law Reform Commission. But branch secretary Carol Matthews says there are “no guarantees this long-running review will recommend protections for teachers and school staff in faith-based schools.”
Nor is there any guarantee the NSW government will legislate recommendations arising from the review …
School employers have nothing to fear from modern community standards – they can still thrive without the need to discriminate. Changes to the Act could still allow religious schools to build communities of faith central to their ethos and character.
The union calls on Mr Greenwich to restore protections for LGBTQI+ school staff and students to his equality bill, and for the NSW government to implement full protections from all forms of discrimination in non-government schools.
Royce Kurmelovs
Gavan Reynolds to be sworn in as ABF commissioner
The former head of defence intelligence Gavan Reynolds will be sworn in as the Australian Border Force commissioner next month.
Reynolds said he would work closely with the government:
It is a privilege to lead the Australian Border Force and the dedicated people protecting the national asset that is our border. I look forward to working closely with the Department of Home Affairs and across Government to deliver prosperity, security and unity for Australia.
Reynolds spent his 40-year career with the Australian Defence Force (ADF), serving in roles including the Australian Military Representative to NATO and the European Union, senior positions within the ADF and a deployment to Afghanistan as part of the International Security Assistance Force.
He will take over from Michael Outram, who retires on 9 November.
Royce Kurmelovs
The new Administrative Review Tribunal opens
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, will attend the inaugural ceremonial sitting of the new Administrative Review Tribunal (ART) today.
The ART will replace the Administrative Appeals Tribunal (AAT) in a major reform to Australian administrative law after concerns that the previous scheme had become inaccessible and unfair.
Dreyfus described the moment as “the most significant reform to Australia’s system of administrative review in decades” that will help “restore confidence in government.”
The new ART will be efficient, accessible, independent and fair for the tens of thousands of people every year who seek independent review of government decisions, such as whether they qualify for an age pension, are compensated for an injury they suffered while serving their nation or receive NDIS funding for essential support.
The Labor government previously accused the former Coalition government of stacking the AAT with supporters in a way that was undermining the institution, particularly in the wake of scandals such as the robodebt fiasco.
The long-awaited revamp to the process, which allows Australian’s to seek review of government decisions, has been in the works since Labor took office. A key feature of the new ART is a “transparent and merit-based selection process” for the appointment of members.
Among the reforms are a demand-driven funding model, greater harmonisation across different case types, mechanisms to escalate issues of significance and a new case-management system.
Staff who worked with the previous AAT have also been transferred to the new ART, along with all existing matters.
Republicans to welcome king’s visit with ‘farewell tour’ T-shirts
Josh Butler
The Australian Republican Movement (ARM) is launching a tongue-in-cheek media campaign ahead of King Charles’ visit to Australia, branding it the “farewell tour” of the British monarchy – claiming it is “time to give the royal wave goodbye.”
Charles and Queen Camilla will visit Australia from 18 to 23 October, with stops in Sydney and Canberra. The ARM points out it’s the first visit from a monarch in more than a decade, and say it’s time to “change the conversation” about the royals.
The unsuccessful Indigenous voice referendum, coincidentally a year ago today (14 October), has stalled momentum for potential constitutional change that would be needed for an Australian republic. The Labor government recently dropped its ministerial portfolio focused on the republic, and political observers theorise it will be some time before a future government proposes another referendum.
But the ARM is preparing to use Charles’s visit to draw attention to the republican push again. Their campaign is titled “monarchy: the Farewell Oz tour”, branded like the final tour of a rock band, with T-shirts and posters printed.
Think Elton’s Yellow Brick Road Tour and Farnham’s The Last Time. It’s time to Wave Goodbye to Royal Reign with Monarchy: The Farewell Oz Tour!
The group points to their own research showing 92% of Australians are open to becoming a republic, and that 60% of Australians say they’d prefer an Australian head of state to King Charles.
It’s time for Australia to say ‘thanks, but we’ve got it from here’. Expect to see big names leading our new conversation all over Australia as we wave goodbye to royal reign.
Lisa Cox
Environment advocates welcome funding boost for bird flu preparation
Work by Wildlife Health Australia more than a year ago warned the consequences of the H5N1 strain of bird flu in native birds could be catastrophic. Environment organisations have been calling for additional funding for preparedness for the disease in wildlife for many months.
The announcement (see previous post) comes ahead of a meeting later this week of federal, state and territory environment and agriculture ministers to discuss preparedness for the deadly strain.
The Invasive Species Council’s advocacy director Jack Gough welcomed the extra funding:
This is incredible news. The Albanese government is finally investing a serious amount into preparation for what could be the worst environmental disaster in Australia’s history.
This level of funding will allow departments to get on with the job of properly preparing to save wildlife and stop extinctions if the deadly bird flu hits our shores.
We will not be able to stop this disease from arriving but we know that vaccination, carcass removal and stopping disturbance can reduce death rates and save species like Tassie devils, sea lions and black swans.
Labor commits $95m to prepare for deadly bird flu
Lisa Cox
The Albanese government has announced an extra $95m to prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly strain of bird flu that has been catastrophic for wildlife globally.
Australia is the only continent that remains free of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza but the chance it will be detected increases during spring with the arrival of migratory shorebirds.
The rapid global spread of the strain has caused mass deaths of wild birds and some mammal species and had significant impacts for industries such as poultry.
The government is committing an extra $37m for initiatives to protect agriculture, including $15m to increase biosecurity response capability and surveillance and $10m for nationally coordinated communications to ensure communities are informed and protected.
The new investment also includes a major increase in funding of $35.9m for environmental measures to “accelerate protective action for threatened species and priority biodiversity”. A further $22.1m is for strengthening public health preparedness.
The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said:
I am particularly concerned about the potential impact on species already at risk of extinction and not well placed to cope with significant mortalities. This includes marine mammals such as the endangered Australian sea lion, and sea birds like the Christmas Island frigatebird, which has only one breeding site.
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning and welcome back to a new week on the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you through our live coverage for most of today.
The Albanese government has announced an extra $95m to prepare for the potential arrival of a deadly strain of bird flu that has been catastrophic for wildlife globally.
Australia is the only continent that remains free of the highly pathogenic H5N1 strain of avian influenza, but the chance it will be detected increases during spring with the arrival of migratory shorebirds. We’ll have more on this from Lisa Cox in a moment.
The Australian Republican Movement is launching a tongue-in-cheek media campaign ahead of King Charles’s visit to Australia – from 18 to 23 October – branding it the “farewell tour” of the British monarchy. The movement is preparing to use Charles’s visit to draw attention to the republican push with a campaign titled “monarchy: the Farewell Oz tour”, branded like the final tour of a rock band with T-shirts and posters printed. Josh Butler will have more on this shortly.
As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: [email protected].
Let’s get started.