Appeal filed in landmark Torres Strait Islands climate case
Lisa Cox
Torres Strait community leaders Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai have filed an appeal to the full federal court seeking to overturn the court’s finding that the commonwealth did not owe Torres Strait Islanders a duty of care to protect them from climate breakdown.
The original case, dismissed by Justice Michael Wigney in July, sought orders requiring the government to take steps to prevent climate harm to their communities, including by cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the pace climate scientists say is necessary.
Wigney found that the Torres Strait Islands “have been, and continue to be, ravaged by climate change and its impacts”. He found the applicants’ case had failed “not so much because there was no merit in their factual allegations” but because the common law of negligence “was not a suitable legal vehicle”.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul will challenge the decision in the full federal court. Their legal team will argue that the judge erred in several of his legal conclusions.
Uncle Paul said:
We’ve decided we’re going to continue this fight because we don’t have a choice. We have to keep fighting, not just for our own communities – but for our brothers and sisters on the mainland, and in the Pacific, the bushfire and the flood survivors, the farmers and the school kids.
Key events
Opposition calls for explanation of Nauru president’s visit
The shadow home affairs minister, Jonno Duniam, has called on the federal government to explain the unannounced visit to parliament today by the president of Nauru, David Adeang.
Duniam said:
It is bizarre to have a head of state from one of our closest neighbours visit without any prior notice or proper diplomatic protocol. The prime minister needs to explain why he didn’t want Australians to know about this meeting.
Common courtesy and proper protocol would typically mean that the government would announce to the parliament, the press and the wider community that we were hosting a head of state, especially from our Pacific family.
Duniam said there had been months of secrecy surrounding the deal to deal with the NZYQ cohort to resettle in Nauru, and called on the government to be transparent with Australians.
Through this continued excessive secrecy and obfuscation, Australians are realising that the Labor Government is avoiding transparency and making policy decisions it doesn’t want Australians or their parliament to know about.
Australians deserve to know what deals are being discussed, especially when it comes to community safety and national security. The government’s refusal even to brief the Canberra press gallery about today’s visit by the Nauruan president raises even more questions about what it’s hiding – and whether taxpayer funds are being used with integrity.
Air T to acquire Rex after creditor support
US-based Air T will acquire regional airline Rex after the majority of creditors voted in support of the company’s bid.
The bid includes a support package including a loan of up to $60m and a restructuring of existing Australian government debt.
Rex will be administered under a binding deed of company arrangement while the transaction is finalised.
More energy rebates under consideration, Leigh says
The assistant minister for productivity, competition and charities, Andrew Leigh, says more energy rebates to bring down electricity bills are under consideration but has warned the rebates can’t last “forever”.
Leigh told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing:
It’s under consideration by the government but is sitting alongside the work we are doing in moving to the renewables transition.
While the Liberals and Nationals are fighting amongst themselves the question of renewables transition Labor is getting on with the job of getting more wind and solar into the system providing subsidies for household batteries in my own electorate we opened one of the community batteries. All this is really important in order to provide cheaper power to Australians. For those on the default market offer they will now be getting three hours of free power every day.
On the news of housing price rises following the 5% deposit scheme introduction, Leigh said the primary driver for increase in housing prices is the lag in building more homes- something the government has been addressing and working with states on planning and zoning reforms.
Appeal filed in landmark Torres Strait Islands climate case
Lisa Cox
Torres Strait community leaders Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai have filed an appeal to the full federal court seeking to overturn the court’s finding that the commonwealth did not owe Torres Strait Islanders a duty of care to protect them from climate breakdown.
The original case, dismissed by Justice Michael Wigney in July, sought orders requiring the government to take steps to prevent climate harm to their communities, including by cutting greenhouse gas emissions at the pace climate scientists say is necessary.
Wigney found that the Torres Strait Islands “have been, and continue to be, ravaged by climate change and its impacts”. He found the applicants’ case had failed “not so much because there was no merit in their factual allegations” but because the common law of negligence “was not a suitable legal vehicle”.
Uncle Pabai and Uncle Paul will challenge the decision in the full federal court. Their legal team will argue that the judge erred in several of his legal conclusions.
Uncle Paul said:
We’ve decided we’re going to continue this fight because we don’t have a choice. We have to keep fighting, not just for our own communities – but for our brothers and sisters on the mainland, and in the Pacific, the bushfire and the flood survivors, the farmers and the school kids.
Nauruan president visits parliament for unannounced meeting
Sarah Basford Canales
The Nauruan president has stopped by Parliament House for a brief unannounced meeting amid media reports of alleged security contracts offered to an Australian motorcycle gang by his Pacific Island government.
The president, David Adeang, was spotted by ABC cameras with a small entourage heading into Capital Hill on Tuesday afternoon.
Guardian Australia has contacted the offices of the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and of the prime minister.
We’ll have more shortly.
Queensland Liberal frontbencher says electorate survey backs ditching net zero
The shadow attorney general, Andrew Wallace, has revealed that in his Queensland electorate, there has been an “emphatic” response to a survey he had conducted calling for the Liberal party to ditch the net zero policy.
Ahead of Liberals meeting on Wednesday to thrash out its position on net zero, Wallace told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that in response to over 23,000 emails sent out to his electorate of Fisher, the response was to dump the policy of net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
He said:
It has been emphatically that we should dump net zero. It does not mean that I will necessarily support that. Ultimately it is a matter for discussion, particularly amongst the shadow executive.
Wallace would not say what position he would take to the party room tomorrow, and wasn’t going to pre-determine what the outcome of the meeting would be.
On Sussan Ley’s leadership, Wallace said Ley was “cool and calm under pressure” and he supported her as leader. He said rival Angus Taylor has been an “exemplar” in the shadow ministry, and was “not throwing his toys out of the cot”.
He said Taylor had not done anything “privately or publicly” that would confirm he was trying to destabilise Ley’s leadership.
Tory Shepherd
Understanding full impact of algal bloom could take years, Senate committee hears
Continued from previous post:
The committee also heard it could be years before the full impact is understood. It recommended funding and frameworks to better research, monitor and respond to future blooms. Other recommendations include better role definitions for all levels of government and better arrangements for incorporating “climate-induced, slow-onset and significant ecological events” into a national framework.
Marine ecosystem restoration and resilience through “meaningful reef restoration” should also be funded, along with better support for industry.
The committee also noted the “eco-anxiety” created by the bloom, and the need for First Nations knowledge to be integrated into recovery and management.
SA algal bloom caused ‘an outpouring of grief’, Senate inquiry reports
Tory Shepherd
South Australia’s algal bloom, which has been likened to an “underwater bushfire”, caused an “outpouring of grief” at its scale and impact, a senate inquiry has reported.
In March, a mysterious brown sludge was spotted on the SA coast, and surfers reported respiratory symptoms from what would turn out to be a harmful algal bloom.
Since then, more than 82,000 deaths from almost 700 different species have been reported to a citizen science project being run on the iNaturalist app.
Little was known about the specific algal bloom, leading to changing health advice. Last week, research was published showing that the bloom was predominantly Karenia cristata, not Karenia mikimotoi as had been previously thought.
While there are similarities in how the species act, less is known about cristata and the brevetoxins it produces.
The committee reported today it was concerned at the length of time it took the state government to communicate and coordinate with the federal government, after it heard that a lack of information had led to the spreading of misinformation and conspiracy theories.
Initial advice was that the bloom was caused by a combination of an ongoing marine heatwave, an “upwelling” over the 2023-24 summer that pushed more nutrients to the ocean surface, and the 2022-2023 Murray River floods washing other nutrients out to sea. However, experts who gave evidence to the inquiry have cast doubt on the role of the floods, and the changing nature of the algal species within the bloom mean much is still unknown about what caused it.
Adeshola Ore
Police charge 21-year-old over Sydney plumber shooting death
NSW police have provided an update after charging an alleged gunman over the shooting death of Sydney plumber John Versace.
Versace, 23, was shot dead in the driveway of his Condell Park home in Sydney’s south-west in May in a possible case of mistaken identity. Police have previously charged two men over the incident.
Speaking to reporters, Det Sup Jason Box said police charged a 21-year-old man with Versace’s murder:
We allege this 21-year-old man was driven to Mr Versace’s premises in a vehicle by a co-accused. He [allegedly] approached Mr Versace in the driveway of his premises and fired multiple shots from a pistol which proved fatal.
Box alleged the 21-year-old then returned to the vehicle and was driven from the scene by the co-accused:
These two people have fled the location using a number of stage vehicles that they have placed previously and destroying or attempting to destroy them by fire.
The pair then continued to another location where they were collected by a third man, Box alleged.
Tom McIlroy
Albanese set to host Indonesian president in Sydney
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is preparing to host Indonesia’s president, Prabowo Subianto, in Sydney on Wednesday.
The one-day visit will be Prabowo’s first to Australia since taking office in October last year.
Albanese plans to use the visit to continue discussions on how both countries can further deepen bilateral relations. This year marks 75 years of cooperation between Indonesia and Australia.
“I am delighted to host President Prabowo in Australia and to return the warm and generous hospitality he provided when I visited Jakarta earlier this year,” Albanese said in a statement, adding:
Australia and Indonesia share a deep trust and unbreakable bond as neighbours, partners and friends. Together we are committed to working for a secure, stable and prosperous Indo‑Pacific.
I look forward to building on our previous discussions about how we can develop the strength and depth of our bilateral relationship.
Sarah Basford Canales
High court fight over compensation claims for indefinite detention
The federal government is in the high court today to fight off a claim made by a member of the NZYQ cohort over his indefinite detention that could result in millions of dollars in compensation.
The Saudi-Austrian businessman Safwat Abdel-Hady was placed in immigration detention in 2017 when his visa was cancelled after pleading guilty in 2012 to offences related to alleged drink-spiking.
As reported at the time by my former colleague Paul Karp, Abdel-Hady was declared not medically fit to travel and therefore there were no real prospects of removing him from Australia.
On Tuesday, the court heard from Abdel-Hady’s legal team, who argued he should not have been detained by authorities using a precedent established in the 2004 case of Al-Kateb. The high court’s ruling in 2004 had authorised the indefinite detention of non-citizens without a valid visa even in circumstances where it is impossible to deport the individual before it was overturned almost two decades later in November 2023. If his lawyers are successful, the former businessman stands to win millions of dollars in compensation.
The 2023 ruling facilitated the release of approximately 350 non-citizens from indefinite detention and resulted in the Albanese government signing a $2.5bn deal with Nauru to off-load the cohort there.
Lawyers acting for the government said Abdel-Hady’s argument that the 2023 NZYQ ruling changed the “interpretation” of Al-Kateb’s case was wrong. Instead, it looked at whether the high court held an opinion that the ruling in Al-Kateb’s case could allow authorities to detain someone indefinitely under the Migration Act.
“In a real practical way, the plaintiff was detained because of the way in which Al-Kateb was decided, and the detention in this case thus sits at the intersection of legislative, judicial and executive power,” a summary of the defence’s legal arguments said.
Read more:
Nick Visser
That’s all for me, thanks for sticking with us today. Adeshola Ore will take things from here before Josh Taylor steps in to see you through the evening. So long!
Penry Buckley
NSW attorney general believes new protest laws will not be affected by supreme court decision
The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, says he believes the government’s second attempt to restrict protests outside places of worship will not be captured by a supreme court decision striking down earlier laws.
In question time, he told parliament it was never the government’s intention to restrict peaceful protests “that happened to be near a place of worship”. The earlier law gave police the power to move on protesters who were “in or near” a place of worship. Daley said:
The supreme court’s decision did not affect the offence of intentionally blocking, impeding, harassing, intimidating or threatening a person accessing a place of worship, and that is important … The amendments in the bill balance community protections with the freedom of political expression, sometimes that is difficult.
The premier and the police minister, Yasmin Catley, have continued to field questions about why they were not aware of Saturday’s neo-Nazi rally before it happened, and whether anyone in their offices was warned, but have repeated earlier denials.
It comes after the NSW speaker, Greg Piper, and NSW police deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell revealed that they were advised about the rally before it took place.
Minns government again moves to limit protests outside places of worship
Penry Buckley
The NSW government will outline fresh laws restricting protests outside places of worship, just a month after the supreme court struck down legislation that had given police expanded powers to move on protesters as unconstitutional.
In question time today, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said the laws were being considered in response to Saturday’s neo-Nazi rally outside parliament, and this time would limit people “harassing, blocking, intimidating people from entering a place of worship”. The government is already considering expanding a ban on Nazi symbols to include chants and slogans.
Last month, Justice Anna Mitchelmore ruled that the police powers to move on protesters “in or near” places of worship impermissibly burdened the freedom of political communication implied in Australia’s constitution, following a challenge by the Palestine Action Group.
The Minns government passed the laws in February after a wave of antisemitic attacks over the summer, which included a caravan being found laden with explosives in Dural, on the outskirts of Sydney.
As he announced the laws today, Minns challenged the belief of the Australian federal police that the Dural caravan incident was “a hoax” by organised crime. He said:
We also need to address directly the assertion that antisemitism is a hoax, that the Dural caravan plot, the so-called Dural caravan plot, was a hoax. Mr Speaker, it emboldens extremists, and they used that rhetoric to justify their appalling, obnoxious behaviour on Macquarie Street.
