News live: Two more Australians confirmed safe in Nepal-Tibet floods; Kyrgios accepts one-month ban for cocaine use | Australia news
Two Australians found after Nepal-Tibet floods
Two more Australians have been confirmed safe in the aftermath of the devastating Nepal-Tibet floods.
The pair, who were previously uncontactable, have been found safe and do not require consular assistance.
It brings the total number of Australians missing in the floods down to 36.
Fifteen people in the Australian disaster assistance response team are expected to arrive in Kathmandu later today, while seven AFP disaster victim identification specialists are to arrive on Saturday morning.
More than 1,200 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, with more than 5,500 people missing.
Key events
Graham Readfearn
BoM forecasts strongest El Niño on record
The growing El Niño weather phenomenon to Australia’s east is already breaking heat records, with forecasts showing it will likely easily surpass previous events, according to Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology.
Separate research suggests climate change has greatly shortened the odds of the event hitting record extremes.
In an update this week, the Bureau of Meteorology said the El Niño was now forecast to peak in late spring or summer and “reach levels above the warmest observed since reliable records began in 1950”.
Read more:
Patrick Commins
Should Australia be worried about the bond market?
Bonds are supposed to be safe and boring.
Which means when bond markets are getting exciting, you can bet that something big is going down in the global economy and the world of finance.
Australia’s 10-year interest rate on government debt has jumped past 5.2% – the highest in more than 15 years.
And it’s happening around the world.
So what’s going on? And why should you care?
Kyrgios accepts one-month ban for cocaine use
Nick Kyrgios has entered a treatment program after accepting a one-month ban for testing positive to cocaine.
After admitting his “huge mistake” when initially suspended for failing a drugs test on 22 June at an ATP 250 tournament in Spain, Kyrgios is allowed to compete again from Friday.
Kyrgios, who had been provisionally suspended since 4 August, had faced a ban ranging from a baseline three-month period to up to four years.
The 2022 Wimbledon finalist also forfeited the 6,570 euros he won in Mallorca for losing in the first round to countryman Adam Walton.
But his suspension was reduced for agreeing to enter a treatment program.
“I recently failed a drug test in Mallorca after testing positive for cocaine,” Kyrgios posted on Instagram last month.
I made a huge mistake and I take full responsibility for it.
Remembering Gloria Steinem: ‘She’s a hero to all women’
In case you missed the news overnight, we have an obituary for the late, great Gloria Steinem.
Steinem was a groundbreaking campaigner for women everywhere who brought the feminist perspective to the mainstream. She was 92.
Public trust in politicians drops amid voter cynicism
Four in five Australians believe governments should deliver social services directly but a majority no longer think politicians serve their interests, AAP reports.
A new report from the Centre for Policy Development comes amid a surge in support for One Nation as voters vent anger at the two major parties.
The research found more than 80% of people surveyed want governments to maintain the capability to deliver social services directly and believe health, education and childcare must be universally affordable.
But almost six in 10 people believe their elected representatives do not serve their interests, a figure that has steadily increased.
Almost 70% of people surveyed viewed modern politics as far more concerned with short-term political gains than addressing long-term challenges.
The research also found 65% of people want ordinary citizens to have a much greater say in setting core policy priorities.
‘Gut-wrenching’: Bowen to meet with Nepali community today
Chris Bowen said he would meet members of the Nepali Australian community later today.
The minister said news two other Australians were safe was a welcome development but for other families of the 36 still missing or unaccounted for, the reality is just “gut-wrenching”:
Every person who’s been rescued or found is a relief to their family and to the broader Australian community. But of course, we still have 36 Australians who are missing and unaccounted for, which is just gut-wrenching for all Australians and for the Nepalese Australian community in particular, whom I’m spending time with later today.
But all I can say is that we’re continuing to send any support that the Nepalese government asked for.
Chris Bowen says joint statement on China ‘strong’
Chris Bowen has called a joint statement about China’s missile test “strong” despite it not referring to the nation by name.
One of the biggest talking points of this week’s Pacific Islands Forum been the lack of a regional response to China’s nuclear-capable inter-continental ballistic missile test in July, as AAP reports.
The communique includes a reference to the Fiji-led Ocean of Peace declaration made last year, which states that the region should be free from coercion and militarisation. It doesn’t name China.
Speaking to ABC’s Radio National, the climate change and energy minister said:
I think that leaders in the Pacific were deeply concerned: one, that a missile test was done without permission of the countries whose airspace it had travelled through, and two, that there was no notice of the said missile test. So I think it’s both. It is a concern about sovereignty and safety, and one that Australia fully backs.
It’s a pretty strong statement, Sally, and one that Australia played a role in crafting.
‘Serious concerns’ for missing Australians, Jim Chalmers says
The Albanese government still has “serious concerns” for the Australians missing in the Nepal-Tibet floods, Jim Chalmers says.
Speaking to ABC’s News Breakfast, the treasurer said it was “good news that two Australians have been located overnight:
That would be a huge relief to the loved ones of these two Australians who’ve been located, but we still have very serious concerns for the 36 Australians that we haven’t been able to be located yet.
Chalmers said about 40 of Australia’s “best” personnel were either on the ground or en route to assist in recovery and humanitarian efforts. Unicef warned overnight that at least 22,000 children urgently need safe drinking water and better sanitation.
Coalition says main focus of tobacco excise cut is tackling organised crime
Anne Ruston, the shadow minister for health and aged care, spoke this morning to tout the Coalition’s plans to slash the tobacco excise by 80%, saying the effort was designed to “break the business model” of organised crime.
Ruston spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying that after the government wrested control back of the cigarette market with a lower excise, it could step in to “put in place the things to try and make sure that, first of all, we encourage Australians not to smoke, not to use nicotine products”.
Ruston was asked if cheaper tobacco products would lead to an uptick in smoking rates. She had this to say:
This is very much designed to try and get the government back in control of the nicotine market, not organised crime gangs.
We are hoping that the combined package of what we’re proposing here, not just the dropping of the excise, but the regulation of the market and making it certainly more difficult for children to access these products. In the enforcement surge and the anti-smoking and anti-vaping campaigns, we are hoping to put downward pressure on smoking rates.
She went on to say the purpose of the policy was to shut down the black market and, while the Coalition wanted to see smoking rates decline, “the absolute focus of this is to get this market out of the hands of organised crime”.
Good morning, Nick Visser here to take over the blog and see us through Friday. Let’s get to it.
Two Australians found after Nepal-Tibet floods
Two more Australians have been confirmed safe in the aftermath of the devastating Nepal-Tibet floods.
The pair, who were previously uncontactable, have been found safe and do not require consular assistance.
It brings the total number of Australians missing in the floods down to 36.
Fifteen people in the Australian disaster assistance response team are expected to arrive in Kathmandu later today, while seven AFP disaster victim identification specialists are to arrive on Saturday morning.
More than 1,200 people have been confirmed dead in the disaster, with more than 5,500 people missing.
Josh Taylor
Pauline Hanson to make cost of living ‘worse’, union boss warns
Asked if she saw her role as one of countering One Nation on the cost of living, Melissa Donnelly said Pauline Hanson’s party “says one thing and does another”:
The reality is that Pauline Hanson’s track record is voting against penalty rates, voting against rights for casual and gig workers.
She’s opposed the minimum wage. She’s most recently suggested it should be easier to sack workers.
Our job, as the union movement, is to make sure our members and workers understand that is what she stands for. And if you’re worried about cost of living, Pauline Hanson is going to make it worse.
Workers should have a say in when and how AI is used, ACTU secretary says
Josh Taylor
The new secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Melissa Donnelly, has said cost-of-living issues and the rollout of AI in workplaces are two major focuses of her new role.
Donnelly told ABC’s 7.30 program workers “absolutely deserve” a say on AI in their workplaces but it would not amount to a veto.
She said unions would test the existing laws demanding workers are consulted about significant impacts of new technology before suggesting the laws need to be strengthened for AI:
There are a whole range of workplace issues, and workers’ rights issues, that arise with the advent of AI.
The stronger guardrails, Donnelly said, would include the capacity of workers to have a say on “when it’s used and how it’s used”:
There’s a broader conversation that we should be having as a nation about what AI means and how we regulate it. It’s not a tropical cyclone bearing down on the coast. It is technology. We’ve seen governments step in on issues like social media and set some guardrails.
We have all sorts of commentators from Bill Gates to others saying that we’ve got to have some rules around how this works, we’ve got to have protections, because we need to protect workers into there future. We need to make sure there are meaningful and quality jobs going forward.
Krishani Dhanji
Labor scraps course ‘misused by shonks’
Labor says it will shut down a management course amid fears it is being “misused by shonks” and providing a back door into Australia.
As the government faces increased pressure to curb overseas migration, Labor says the graduate diploma of management (learning) which is registered at 452 institutions, showed students either were enrolled but weren’t even starting the course, weren’t completing the course or were transferring out of it.
It’s the first time the government will use powers to shut down courses due to concerns over their integrity – though students now completing the course will be able to finish it.
The assistant minister in charge, Julian Hill, pinned the blame on the Coalition:
The Coalition left behind a shocking mess in 2022, with unsustainably high growth in student numbers in the least reputable parts of the sector, and our high-quality student visa being degraded into a low-rent illegal work visa and misused by shonks.
Australia continues to welcome genuine international students seeking a premium education and must maintain a ruthless focus on quality, integrity and a great student experience.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action.
The new secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Melissa Donnelly, has said cost-of-living issues and the rollout of AI in workplaces are two major focuses of her new role. More coming up.
