Key events
Skilled migrants needed to ‘backfill’ jobs left open as workforces pivot to shipbuilding, SA premier says
Amid the migration debate spearheaded by opposition leader Peter Dutton, the South Australian premier said skilled migration “has to be part of the mix” when it comes to Aukus.
Peter Malinauksus told ABC RN that skilled migrants wouldn’t necessarily participate “in the submarine build itself” but would “back-fill” job shortages that open up when workforces pivot to shipbuilding:
… As we seek to ramp up the participation in nuclear submarine building, we don’t want that to hoover up skills from other manufacturers we’ve got in South Australia at their expense…
I think that’s something we need to think through very carefully as we start to see a policy discussion, if not debate, around migration in this country.
Malinauskas can’t ‘overstate the complexity’ of Aukus endeavour
Peter Malinauskas said his visit to the United States “unequivocally” confirmed what a massive challenge it will be to develop a workforce of 30,000 at the Osborne shipyard to build nuclear-powered submarines.
He told ABC RN this is the “single biggest industrial endeavour that has ever occurred in the history of our nation since federation”.
I don’t think I could possibly overstate the complexity of the task that is before us, simply because it is the most complex machine that has ever been built in human history.
Despite this, Malinauskas said “we are capable of doing this” and called on the other states to get involved in the effort “in earnest, starting effective immediately”.
And that is everything from developing the skills that are required at a vocational level but also the university level, but similarly making sure that we’re starting to upskill existing parts of the naval shipbuilding supply chain, amongst others who can participate in this process. And South Australia industry alone has got more than enough work on its hands for me to be able to say, as a premier, [it’s] time to sort of abandon the parochial nature of industrial policy we see between states around defence and instead invite everyone to lift their eyes and look what is important for the national effort in this regard.
SA premier signs deal for state’s suppliers to supply Virginia class submarine program
The South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, has recently returned from a visit to the United States where he signed a deal with Huntington Ingalls Industries (HII) – the biggest military shipbuilder in the US.
He described what the deal means in relation to Aukus:
We know that building nuclear submarines is going to take a national enterprise and a national effort, but our ambitions to be able to build these submarines domestically requires a supply chain and an industry that are capable of delivering the parts that are required.
Now, in order to be able to do that, I think as a first big step – we’ve got to see if we can’t participate in the nuclear submarine supply chain in advance of the … Aukus submarines construction commencing later this decade. So, what we’ve negotiated with [HII], that builds the Virginia class submarines, is an opportunity for South Australian suppliers to supply to the Virginia class program.
There are already 55 companies that are well advanced in that process to participate in the arrangement that we’ve negotiated with HII.
New information released as inquiries continue into Wollongong woman last seen 30 years ago
NSW police have released new information into the search for Pauline Sowry, who suspiciously disappeared from Wollongong 30 years ago.
Sowry, also known by her married name of Pauline Lawrence, was 49 years old when last seen by her family in the northern suburbs of Wollongong in December 1993.
Despite extensive investigations since then, her whereabouts remain unknown. A 2008 coronial inquest found she had died, most likely after an unconfirmed sighting in 1994.
A strike force was established in 2022 to re-examine her disappearance and in March this year, the state government and police announced a $500,000 reward for information.
As a result, police received information that Sowry was sighted south of Wollongong in a white 1968-model Holden HK Kingswood sedan, which was said to be in ‘pristine’ condition. Police released an image of a similar vehicle.
Anyone who recognises the vehicle, or knows someone who owned a vehicle fitting this description at the time of Pauline’s disappearance, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Regional rents and house values soar to all-time highs
Regional property prices have soared to record highs, AAP reports, as Australia’s housing crisis continues to hit across the nation.
Just three of the 50 non-capital city areas studied by CoreLogic haven’t posted a rent increase in the last three months, with 37 of those at record highs.
The data shows regional dwelling values and rent prices both hit record marks in the first quarter of 2024, rising at a faster rate than those in capital cities.
House prices went up at the fastest quarterly rate in two years, jumping 2.1% compared with 1.7% in the cities. And rents headed in the same direction, rising at 6.3% compared with 4.9% in the previous quarter.
CoreLogic Australia economist Kaytlin Ezzy said in a statement:
Housing affordability has continued to deteriorate through the start of 2024 for tenants and prospective home buyers alike.
After falling 5.8% between May 2022 and January 2023, regional home values have seen a slower recovery compared to capital city values but have now regained the losses from the downturn to reach a new record high.
NSW south coast area Batemans Bay had the biggest quarterly rent increase at 6%, with WA’s Bunbury (4.7) and Queensland’s Sunshine Coast (4.4) rounding out the top three.
Only Nowra-Bomaderry, Maryborough and St-Georges Basin-Sanctuary didn’t cop a rent increase.
Richard Marles also responded to reports of antisemitic graffiti at Melbourne’s biggest Jewish school, and said this has “no place in the country”.
He told ABC RN:
I think all of us have been really confronted with the level of antisemitism that we are seeing in the last few months. It’s a level that I can’t remember in my lifetime, and it’s really important that Australians are standing with the Jewish community today.
Marles is due to visit the school today.
Would Australia use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war efforts?
Richard Marles was asked about a deal to use frozen Russian assets to fund Ukraine’s war efforts, which was pushed during a G7 meeting over the weekend. Marles would not disclose the amount of frozen Russian assets in Australia but said it is “considerably less” than what has been reported ($9bn).
Marles told ABC RN:
There are constitutional issues around simply seizing those assets and using them. But we have those assets frozen and … those steps come on top of significant sanctions that we have in relation to trade, increased tariffs on trade coming into the country from Russia, and Belarus, and that is a situation which constantly evolves and we continue to assess, so we are within the bounds of what we can legally do. We are looking at everything that we can do.
Australia ‘in conversation’ with PNG to provide support following landslide
The defence minister and deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, is speaking to ABC RN about the massive landslide in Papua New Guinea, where more than 670 people are believed to have been killed.
Has the PNG government asked Australia for support? Marles said the government had been in conversation with PNG since Friday:
We’ve made clear to the PNG government what support we could provide, and the exact nature of the support that we do provide will play out over the coming days …
He said the location of the landslide was very remote, and Australia had “airlift capacity”.
There may be other equipment that we can bring to bear in terms of the search and rescue, and all of that we are talking through with PNG right now … it’s just now a matter of working out exactly what we can do in the context of this occurring in a very remote part of the country.
Australian passengers caught in new turbulent flight
Some Australian passengers were on board the latest flight to hit severe turbulence, this time a Qatar Airways flight from Doha to Dublin. Eight passengers have been taken to hospital after the flight experienced turbulence while flying over Turkey.
As Charlie Moloney reports, the incident occurred five days after a British man died of a suspected heart attack and dozens of people were injured when a Singapore Airlines flight from London encountered severe turbulence:
An Australian couple, speaking to Seven’s Sunrise, said:
The plane just seemed to … stop, which it didn’t, but then dropped, quite a severe drop … and it was a little bit worrying each time we felt turbulence again, I was hanging on a bit tight to my husband.
But it was a really, really scary [experience].
Another woman said, “It was so scary at the time, you just don’t know is this it or not”.
Two dead in multi-vehicle crash in Sydney
A 41-year-old man and 12-year-old girl have died following a multi-vehicle crash in Sydney’s west overnight.
Emergency services were called to reports of the crash on Milperra Road, in Milperra, about 7.40pm last night, where officers found a sedan and utility had crashed – with the sedan rolling and trapping the driver and passengers.
The 41-year-old man and 12-year-old girl, both backseat passengers of the sedan, died at the scene. A 10-year-old boy was taken to the children’s hospital at Westmead in a stable condition.
The male driver, a 52-year-old man, was also treated at the scene before being taken to Westmead in a serious but stable condition.
The driver of the utility, a 19-year-old man, was treated for minor injuries and taken to Liverpool hospital for mandatory testing.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation launched. Anyone with dashcam footage or CCTV is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
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 rolling coverage today.
Making news overnight: two people have died and a third is in a critical condition following a multi-vehicle crash in Sydney’s west. Police said a sedan and utility crashed at Milperra last night, with the sedan rolling and trapping the driver and passenger. Two backseat passengers of the sedan, a 41-year-old man and 12-year-old girl, died at the scene.
Australian passengers on board another turbulent flight have detailed their “scary” experience on board a flight from Doha to Dublin. A couple, speaking to Sunrise, said:
The plane just seemed to … stop, which it didn’t, but then dropped, quite a severe drop … and it was a little bit worrying each time we felt turbulence again.
We’ll have more on both these stories in a moment.
See something that needs attention? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or shoot me an email: [email protected].
Let’s get started.