Sarah Martin
Veteran suicide inquiry report makes 13 recommendations including more DVA resources to clear 40,000-claim backlog
The interim report of the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has made 13 recommendations to government, seeking to improve the process for veterans dealing with the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The commission, which was chaired by Nick Kaldas, calls for the government to clear the claims backlog by March 2024, with more than 40,000 claims still outstanding.
It also recommends simplifying and harmonising the legislation relating to compensation and rehabilitation, with new legislation to be drafted by the end of next year.
To help clear the backlog, the report says the Department of Veteran Affairs will need additional resources, and will need to have a controversial staffing cap removed to ensure it has the resources required to process claims.
“The allocation of these resources to DVA should not be offset by reductions in other resourcing of DVA,” the report says.
Ahead of the commission’s final report in mid 2024, the report also calls for increased protections for people engaging with the commission, saying there needs to be changes to the royal commission act to ensure that serving Australian defence force members can disclose sensitive personal information, and changes to Criminal Code so that information can be conveyed to the royal commission without being in breach of secrecy offences.
Other recommendations go to administrative issues within the department, including improving access to information for veterans and their families, changes to trauma practices for those seeking DVA information and education programs for families of veterans seeking information.
Updated at 03.29 BST
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Greens call on Labor to rule out any expansion of Senex gas venture
The Greens have urged environment minister Tanya Plibersek against approving billionaire miner Gina Rinehart’s proposed expansion of a coal seam gas project in Queensland.
According to reports today, South Korean steelmaker Posco will partner with Rinehart to lift production at the Senex venture in the Surat Basin, with work set to begin in coming weeks.
The plan still needs approval from Plibersek.
Environment spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said any expanded or new coal or gas projects would “blow” Labor’s 43% emissions reduction target.
Approving more coal and gas in the midst of a climate crisis is reckless and dangerous. Minister Plibersek should rule this one out too.
It is clear we need a climate trigger in our environment laws to require the minister to consider the impact the emissions from the project will have on the climate crisis. The comments from the resources minister backing in the future of coal and gas are a very worrying sign.
If the Albanese Labor government is truly committed to tackling the climate crisis, then making sure they, and the government that comes next, don’t approve projects that make it worse is a must.
Australian Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAP
Last week, Plibersek said she intended to block a coalmine project backed by mining billionaire Clive Palmer that would have dug for the fossil fuel just 10km from Queensland’s Great Barrier Reef coastline. It was her first decision in her new portfolio.
Updated at 04.44 BST
NSW weather warning for sheep graziers
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a warning to sheep graziers in parts of New South Wales and Canberra for unfavourable weather as a cold front moves in ahead of the weekend.
A strong marine wind warning is also active for the Eden Coast.
The BoM:
Sheep graziers are warned that cold temperatures, rain and showers and north-westerly winds are expected during Thursday and Friday. Areas likely to be affected include parts of the Southern Tablelands, South-west Slopes, Snowy Mountains and Australian Capital Territory forecast districts. There is a risk of losses of lambs and sheep exposed to these conditions.
Updated at 04.25 BST
SA taskforce to examine firefighters responding to emergencies
Hopping over to South Australia, and the state’s premier, Peter Malinauskas, has announced a taskforce to look into firefighters responding to medical emergencies.
It comes after a man died from cardiac arrest on Monday night while waiting 42 minutes for an ambulance. The family of the South Australian man have labelled the state’s health system “broken”.
Updated at 04.15 BST
Thanks to the ripper Royce Kurmelovs for keeping us abreast of today’s news. I’ll be with you for the rest of the afternoon.
Updated at 04.08 BST
Shocked and saddened to hear of Paul Green’s death. Deepest condolences to his friends and family.
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) August 11, 2022
Josh Butler
Veterans minister stops short of endorsing royal commission recommendations on immunity and privilege
Veterans minister Matt Keogh has acknowledged concerns had been raised by the royal commission about access to information from government departments, but stopped short of immediately endorsing the interim report’s recommendations to reform parliamentary privilege and public interest immunity claims.
Commissioner Nick Kaldas told Radio National this morning that he was “still awaiting some things to be resolved”, noting “a number of problem areas we’re trying to navigate … privacy, national security issues”.
Veterans affairs minister Matt Keogh speaks to the media on Thursday, 11 August, 2022. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Kaldas has previously said the royal commission had found some relevant information “difficult to obtain”. When asked if that information had been more forthcoming in recent months, Kaldas replied: “not as yet”.
The interim report said it had been “constrained – unreasonably so” by parliamentary privilege and public interest immunity claims in its investigations, as well as raising serious concerns about a lack of legal protections for sources to engage with the royal commission.
The report said previous related investigations had been conducted by the Australian National Audit Office and various parliamentary committees, but that parliamentary privilege “presented a barrier to the royal commission making full use of, or fully reviewing, these reports”.
It recommended the government make changes to public interest immunity claims, introduce exemptions for parliamentary privilege for future royal commissions, as well as provide further legal protections for serving members of the ADF who wish to engage with the commission.
Keogh acknowledged concerns but said he had “not formed a view” on the recommendations about immunity and privilege.
The minister said it was “vitally important” the royal commission get the information it requested, but flagged administrative difficulties in sourcing and providing some information. Keogh noted more than 500,000 people in Australia today had served in the defence force, and that not all records were digitised for easy access.
Updated at 04.09 BST
Greens leader Adam Bandt has attacked a Climate Change Authority report on the international offsets market by calling on the government to “reject international offset accounting tricks”.
Bandt said the report, commissioned by former federal environment minister Angus Taylor, “should be binned”.
We need to cut emissions here in Australia so that we get the benefits of transitioning to a zero economy. These international offsets just delay action and could also undercut our farmers, who could earn income from helping draw down pollution locally.
The EU no longer allows international offsets and Australia should ban them too.
If climate action is left to accounting tricks, pollution will go up and we won’t stop the climate crisis.
AMP to return $1.1 billion to shareholders
AMP move comes after downsizing and simplifying its business through the sale of its funds management arm and asset management business.
The company isn’t paying a dividend but will immediately begin a $350 million on-market share buyback. It has further resolved to return another $750 million to shareholders via a special dividend or further on-market share buyback, pending regulatory and shareholder approval.
“We’re pleased to be able to deliver on this commitment to our shareholders,” chief executive Alexis George said.
AMP also announced on Thursday that its first-half underlying net profit was down 24.5% to $117 million, compared with a year ago.
George said it was the result of both a more challenging economic environment and deliberate actions that AMP took to reprice its wealth management offerings and better set it up for longer-term success.
The slimmed-down company is focusing on being a leading wealth management and banking business in Australia and New Zealand following the roughly $2 billion in sales of its various Collimate Capital business, formerly known as AMP Capital.
It is also using $400 million from the sales to pay down debt.
-from AAP
Updated at 03.51 BST
Tory Shepherd
NSW is failing on key commitment of Murray-Darling Basin Plan, report says
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority report shows that as of June 30, NSW has only formally submitted one of 20 water resource plans, with five more provided for review ahead of formal submission.
Plans for Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, and the Australian Capital Territory are listed as “on track”, while NSW is listed as at “high risk”.
The report notes that just 2 gigalitres of 450GL needed for the environment have been delivered, with another 22.1GL contracted.
Water minister Tanya Plibersek has promised “nothing is off the table” when it comes to delivering the plan in full.
Minister for environment and water Tanya Plibersek. Photograph: Martin Ollman/Getty Images
Updated at 03.53 BST
Peter Hannam
Senex expansion: output for 2022 and 2021 was 20PJ, so plan is to triple production
Senex has been asked about their current gas production, so we can get some yardstick against today’s announcement that they plan to invest $1bn-plus to raise annual output to 60 petajoules a year.
Graeme Bethune, head of EnergyQuest consultancy, said by their reckoning Senex produced 19.5PJ of gas last year, up from 13.1PJ in 2020.
On that score, the expansion would be triple last year’s output, which is in line with their roughly tripling of investment.
Senex has confirmed to Guardian Australia that this year’s and 2021’s output was in the order of 20PJ, so the plan would be to triple the production.
A spokesperson for the company said current output is about 50/50 for the domestic and export markets, and that the “vast majority” of the new production would be earmarked for use in Australia.
Updated at 03.45 BST
Christopher Knaus
Covid outbreaks in aged care down for first time since mid June
The latest data on Covid-related deaths in aged care makes for grim reading.
In the week to 5 August, there were 165 new deaths reported by aged care providers. The week prior, the number of deaths was 176, by far the worst since the January Omicron wave, according to a Guardian analysis.
But there are some encouraging signs.
The number of active outbreaks in aged care has dropped to 952 in the most recent data. That’s down from 1,064 and 1,013 in the two weeks prior. In fact, it’s the first time the number of active outbreaks have fallen since mid-June.
The number of resident and staff cases associated with active outbreaks has also dropped for the first time in more than a month. There were 14,554 resident cases and 7,170 staff cases associated with active outbreaks in the week to 5 August. That’s down from 15,072 residents and 8,190 staff in the week prior.
Updated at 03.38 BST
Sarah Martin
Veteran suicide inquiry report makes 13 recommendations including more DVA resources to clear 40,000-claim backlog
The interim report of the royal commission into defence and veteran suicide has made 13 recommendations to government, seeking to improve the process for veterans dealing with the Department of Veteran Affairs.
The commission, which was chaired by Nick Kaldas, calls for the government to clear the claims backlog by March 2024, with more than 40,000 claims still outstanding.
It also recommends simplifying and harmonising the legislation relating to compensation and rehabilitation, with new legislation to be drafted by the end of next year.
To help clear the backlog, the report says the Department of Veteran Affairs will need additional resources, and will need to have a controversial staffing cap removed to ensure it has the resources required to process claims.
“The allocation of these resources to DVA should not be offset by reductions in other resourcing of DVA,” the report says.
Ahead of the commission’s final report in mid 2024, the report also calls for increased protections for people engaging with the commission, saying there needs to be changes to the royal commission act to ensure that serving Australian defence force members can disclose sensitive personal information, and changes to Criminal Code so that information can be conveyed to the royal commission without being in breach of secrecy offences.
Other recommendations go to administrative issues within the department, including improving access to information for veterans and their families, changes to trauma practices for those seeking DVA information and education programs for families of veterans seeking information.
Updated at 03.29 BST
NRL in shock after league legend Paul Green reportedly found dead
The NRL is in shock after league legend Paul Green has been reported dead at his Brisbane home on Thursday morning.
The Courier-Mail reported news of the 49-year-old’s passing, saying it has left the NRL in shock as Green had not complained about being ill and had been present last weekend for a Cronulla Sharks reunion.
Paul Green poses at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Thursday, 4 February, 2021. Photograph: Darren England/AAP
An autopsy will be carried out to determine the cause of death.
Green is survived by wife Amanda and two children.
More details to come …
Updated at 03.42 BST
Western Australia records 7 new Covid deaths
Seven people with Covid-19 have died in Western Australia overnight, with the state recording 2,739 new cases on Thursday morning, 323 people in hospital, and 11 in ICU.
Paul Karp
Judgment in Palmer defamation case at 4.15pm
The federal court is considering who should pay what costs in Clive Palmer’s defamation case against Mark McGowan.
Earlier in August, the court found the pair defamed each other in a war of words over Covid-19 and extraordinary legislation extinguishing the billionaire’s $30bn claim against Western Australia. Palmer received damages of just $5,000 while McGowan got a little more – $20,000 – because justice Michael Lee accepted his evidence about his hurt feelings.
The costs hearing on Thursday centred on an offer from McGowan to Palmer for the pair to walk away, accepting dismissal of both Palmer’s claim and McGowan’s cross-claim.
WA Premier Mark McGowan at the federal court of Australia in Sydney, 9 March, 2022. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Palmer’s counsel told the court that Palmer’s case had achieved a “finding by the federal court” that he had been defamed, which was “very significant” and “far more favourable” than dismissal, notwithstanding the small damages bill. His counsel noted Palmer had a high reputation in sections of the community, and the court found the defamation was actionable (if not serious). Palmer’s counsel submitted a more reasonable offer would have been judgment for both sides, rather than dismissal.
McGowan’s counsel, Bret Walker, countered:
There is nothing inappropriate about a walkaway offer between two people in the middle of a slanging match that moved from media to the court.
Walker accepted the concept of vindication of reputation, but noted the case had resulted in a “modest” award of $20,000 for McGowan and “even more modest” award of $5,000 for Palmer. Lee quipped that it is “an interesting stage of [a barrister’s] career, when your daily fee exceeds the cost of damages”.
Walker noted the judge had said the “game was not worth the candle” and suggested he might be tempted to conclude vindication was “pretty much even” so no costs order should be made.
But Walker urged the judge to take the settlement offer into account, which he said should tip the balance in McGowan’s favour for a costs order. To save tallying up costs, Walker proposed a lump sum.
The judge accepted there was “an asymmetry in responsibility in starting the proceedings” – because Palmer had started them – and “also an asymmetry in continuing them” – because McGowan had offered to walk away.
Judgment will be given at 4.15pm.
Updated at 04.28 BST
In fairness, I had the same reaction when I caught this press release.
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