Australia news live: Greens join Labor in push to oust Tasmanian premier in imminent no-confidence motion | Australia news

Raelene Cooper says Dorinda Cox has ‘done nothing for grassroots Aboriginal communities’

Raelene Cooper, a founder of Save our Songlines and a former chair of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation, said “good riddance” to former Greens senator Dorinda Cox after the latter defected to Labor this week.

Cooper, a Mardathoonera woman, had harsh words for Cox after the Albanese government gave a green light to Woodside’s extension of the North West Shelf gas project to 2070. Unesco recently deferred a decision to add an ancient rock art site in Western Australia to the world heritage list unless fossil fuel developments are stopped in the area.

Cooper said in a statement:

Senator Dorinda Cox has done nothing for grassroots Aboriginal communities or to help us protect Murujuga except put out lots of media statements that she walked away from as soon as she jumped ship to the government.

She has clearly realised that her only hope of political survival is to leave the Greens … and run to the government she has spent the past three years attacking.

Cooper went on to say Cox did not speak for the “traditional custodians of Murujuga, for Aboriginal people or for Western Australia”.

She and this government deserve each other – good riddance.

Dean Winter says Tasmanian premier’s minority government has ‘collapsed’, no-confidence motion at 10am

Dean Winter, the leader of the opposition in Tasmania, said he will move a motion of no-confidence against Jeremy Rockliff at 10am, saying the “deals the premier struck for minority government after the last election have collapsed”. Winter said in a statement:

Three independent members of the crossbench have lost confidence in the Premier due to his financial mismanagement, his appalling handling of the Spirit of Tasmania project, and his plan to privatise Tasmania’s most precious assets.

And the State Budget confirmed Tasmania would never get the change it needs under this Premier.

I confirm I will be moving a motion of no confidence at 10 am.

Rosalie Woodruff, leader of the Tasmanian Greens, will support a motion of no-confidence in premier Jeremy Rockliff’s leadership. She wrote on X:

I have spoken to the Leader of the Opposition Dean Winter and informed him that the Greens will support Labor’s motion of No Confidence in Jeremy Rockliff’s leadership.

I have informed the Premier.

Jonathan Barrett

Regulator sues Rams claiming widespread misconduct

The corporate regulator is suing Westpac-owned mortgage provider Rams Financial Group over allegations it engaged in “systemic misconduct” in arranging home loans.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission alleges in a statement that Rams failed to supervise its representatives properly and failed to have adequate policies and procedures in place.

Some of the alleged misconduct includes Rams franchise staff submitting false payslips from nonexistent employers and altering customers’ liabilities and expenses to help them qualify for home loans. In one example, a Rams worker allegedly manufactured a fake contract of sale for a home.

The ASIC deputy chair, Sarah Court, claimed:

This is a systemic organisational governance failure by Rams who did not adequately supervise its franchise network.

Rams allowed years of unlawful conduct to occur across its franchises, creating the opportunity for loans to be provided to customers who otherwise may not have qualified for those loans, and thereby increasing commissions earned by Rams franchisees.

ASIC has started civil penalty proceedings in the federal court against Rams, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Westpac.

Westpac said in a statement Rams would cooperate with ASIC to resolve the proceedings as quickly as possible.

Westpac said after a review of the business, the Rams business was closed to new home loan applications from 6 August 2024.

Natasha May

Second man charged after alleged murder in Sydney’s south-west

A second man has been charged following an investigation into the alleged murder of a man in Sydney’s south-west on Monday. Police allege the victim, 29, had stab wounds to his neck.

Police are yet to formally identify the man found in a Croydon Park home but said he is a Malaysian national.

As reported in the blog yesterday, a 32-year-old man was charged with murder on Tuesday and remains before the courts.

Later Tuesday evening about 6.50pm, police arrested a 36-year-old man following extensive inquiries and an appeal for public information. He has since been charged with concealing a serious indictable offence. He will appear before the courts today.

Greens to prioritise women’s safety in next parliament

Greens leader Larissa Waters has announced the party’s priorities in the next parliament, saying she will focus on women’s safety and women’s policy across health, housing and workplace relations.

Waters will also leverage her time as an environmental lawyer to focus on the party’s climate and energy policies. She will also take over the Greens’ First Nations portfolio after the departure of senator Dorinda Cox, who defected to Labor this week. Waters said in a statement:

This parliament could achieve real progress: climate and environment action, dental into Medicare, free childcare, and meaningful action on the housing crisis. With the Greens being in sole balance of power, there is no excuse now for Labor to resist real reform to help people and nature.

Women’s safety and equality will be a priority of my leadership, as will acting on the climate and environment crisis plus the housing and cost of living crises people are facing.

Independent explains support for no-confidence motion against Tasmania’s premier

The Tasmania independent MP Kristie Johnston spoke to RN Breakfast this morning amid a growing threat to Liberal premier Jeremy Rockliff. Tasmania’s Labor opposition leader, Dean Winter, tabled a no-confidence motion this week against the government’s leadership citing the budget, plans to privatise and its handling of the Spirit of Tasmania replacement project.

A number of other MPs have since joined that effort, Johnston included, presenting a real threat to Rockliff’s leadership. She told RN:

There are three critical issues that many Tasmanians are very concerned about. I’ve been very vocal on, and there are issues that the government has consistently failed over. So, on the face of it, with the motion before us, I have no option but to support it. …

We want an accountable government that’s transparent and acts with integrity and is responsible with our resources. And certainly, that’s not what we’re getting from this government.

Canavan adds the Nationals will fight the super tax changes “to the death”.

Labor has suggested the party could shun the Greens and work with the Coalition to increase those taxes. The plan would double the earnings tax on superannuation balances above $3m from 15% to 30%.

The plan, first announced in 2023, would only impact an estimated 80,000 people and still leaves the highly favourable tax treatment for retirement savings in place.

Read more about those plans here:

Nationals senator Matt Canavan was on Nine’s Today this morning to speak about Labor’s plans to increase taxes on superannuation balances over $3m. Canavan said there’s “no way in hell” the party would support those changes, calling it “incredibly unfair”, telling Today:

There’s no way in hell we’ll support attacks on people that don’t have the means to pay for it … We should have a basic principle that we should only tax people where you’ve got some sort of income to be able to pay the tax man.

The problem with unrealised gains is a lot of people out there, like farmers who have assets in superannuation, they may be asset-rich, but they’re cash-poor and they don’t have the cashflow to pay a tax bill on an annual basis that could come under this scheme.

Lisa Cox

Snap protests continue over extension of major gas plant to 2070

Snap protests are being held in capital cities across Australia in opposition to the Albanese government’s decision to provisionally approve the extension of Woodside’s North West Shelf gas processing plant to 2070.

State and territory conservation councils said the decision could drive demand to open new gas fields – such as Woodside’s proposed Browse project – “while every corner of Australia is reeling from the climate crisis”.

The federal environment minister, Murray Watt, announced last week he intended to approve the North West Shelf extension with “strict conditions”. A final decision is due soon.

The announcement came days after Anthony Albanese visited flood-affected areas of New South Wales. Elsewhere, parts of Victoria and South Australia are experiencing record-low rainfall and a marine heatwave has caused coral bleaching events on the Barrier and Ningaloo reefs and driven a toxic algal bloom that has caused the deaths of more than 200 marine species off South Australia.

Matt Roberts, the executive director of the Conservation Council of Western Australia, said:

Minister Watt’s provisional approval of the North West Shelf last week has received unprecedented national public backlash as new information about the impacts of the project continue to emerge.

Over 65 groups are calling on Minister Watt to release the conditions of the decision and open the decision for public consultation.

Kirsty Howey, the executive director of the Environment Centre Northern Territory said:

From Broome and Darwin, communities are witnessing an alarming trend as these fossil fuel projects get ticked off. It isn’t a coincidence – it’s a pattern of climate change denial.

Victorian police have asked the public for information to help in their investigations into a theft of about $5,000 in computers and a projector from a school. Officials released footage of a man dancing in the school’s car park on 23 April.

Authorities allege the dancing man exited a silver Holdon Commodore about 1.10am that day, where he was captured on CCTV footage “dancing, spinning and jumping while listening to music.” The allege he then scaled school property and broke into a building.

Three laptops and a projector were allegedly taken.

He is described as a Caucasian man in his 30s, with a medium build and long dark brown hair. Take a look at his moves:

Natasha May

Family of man who died in e-scooter collision call for law reform

The family of a man who died after a collision with an e-scooter has called for a review of the governance and safety regulations surrounding the mode of transportation to help prevent more lives being put at risk.

The incident occurred when Thanh Phan was walking in Perth’s CBD on Saturday night when the 51-year-old was allegedly struck by a 24-year-old riding an e-scooter.

Phan was rushed to Royal Perth hospital, where he underwent brain surgery for swelling on the brain.

In a statement released by his family Tuesday evening, they said he was a “beloved husband, father of two, brother, and dear friend”:

Yesterday evening, we received the heartbreaking news that Thanh passed away as a result of his injuries.

We ask that the media respect the privacy of Thanh’s family as they grieve their loss. We also call for a review of the governance and safety regulations surrounding hired e-scooters to help prevent further serious incidents that put lives at risk.

You can read more about the injury toll e-scooters are taking in Australia, with experts in the area also calling for reform to create nationally consistent laws to increase safety:

Amanda Rishworth says protections for penalty rates and paid leave for stillbirths ‘top priority’

Amanda Rishworth, the minister for employment and workplace relations, said the Labor government was set on protecting the country’s safety net and would soon work to legislate protections to penalty rates and paid leave for stillbirth or early death. She told RN Breakfast:

In our safety net, we want to protect penalty rates. And I would hope that whether you’re the Coalition, the Greens, or the cross-bench, that you would be very clear that we were elected at the last election to deliver on our election commitments.

On paid leave for stillbirth, Rishworth said legislation would help fill in a grey area of the law.

I would say that the vast majority of employers do the right thing.

What we have is a situation where sometimes it’s clear when it comes to unpaid leave, it’s clear when it comes to the government paid parental leave, but [support for stillbirth and early death] is a grey area in the law. And so sometimes managers or HR departments are grappling with that issue.

Trade union says even with 3.5% rise, new minimum wage still not ‘livable’

Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, said the body still believes there’s “more catch-up to do” for lower-wage workers after it announced a 3.5% increase to the minimum wage yesterday. While the new rate will be $24.95 an hour, she said for a full-time worker it’s still “not enough to live on”. McManus told Radio National Breakfast:

I think it’s a good outcome. We always wanted one that was more than inflation. …

Minimum wages actually have gone backwards over the last couple of years because of that inflation spike. And that’s also what small business owners have got to think about, too. Their workers have gone backwards in real terms, and if they don’t start to catch up now, when are they going to catch up?

She also addressed criticism that small businesses would struggle to absorb the costs associated with a higher minimum wage, saying critics predict closures every year that don’t take place.

Over the last four years, businesses between one and 19 staff grew by 108,000 or 13%. For those over 20 [people], they grew even faster by 36%. So they don’t come back and say, oh, sorry, we were wrong.

Good morning, and happy Wednesday. Nick Visser here to take you through the day’s breaking news. Let’s get started:

• Sally McManus, the secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, defended the decision to raise the minimum wage by 3.5% yesterday. She said even with the increase to $24.95 an hour, real wages had gone backwards in recent years and “if they don’t start to catch up now, when are they going to?”. She points out the minimum wage is still not enough for most people to live on.

• Police in Victoria are appealing for information to identify a dancing thief who was “feeling the groove” before he allegedly stole laptops from a local school. Officials released video footage of a man “dancing, spinning and jumping” and hope the clip will assist in their inquiries.

• We’ll also be sharing updates on Labor’s plans to change taxes on large superannuation balances, the ongoing fallout over Senator Dorinda Cox’s defection from the Greens and we could have results from the seat of Bradfield today, which is finalising a recount.

Stick with us.