Clare: antisemitism and Islamophobia ‘just as bad as one another’
Circling back to the education minister Jason Clare’s interview on ABC News Breakfast:
Asked about Islamophobic graffiti in Sydney’s west at the weekend, Clare said that antisemitism and Islamophobia was “just as bad as one another”.
He told the program that children “aren’t born racist” and this is a “parasite that eats away at people and our community”:
As community leaders and in the media we’ve got to call this out when it happens, and we’re the best country in the world because we’re made up of people from all backgrounds living in harmony and this is the opposite of that.
A Jewish friend of mine contacted me and he wanted me to know his little boy’s best friend, before 7 October, was a Muslim boy called Mohammad. He still wanted me to know he’s still his best friend … Next year is his little boy’s bar mitzvah and Mohammad will be there. That’s what is happening in our communities.
It’s brain-dead morons writing things on walls on the streets of Sydney like this that undermine all of that. That’s why we need to call it out and … why we need to do everything we can at the moment to keep our country together.
Asked if there should be a national approach to stopping protests outside of places of worship, Clare said they should be “sacrosanct”.
They’re not the places you want to see protesting let alone people burning them down.
Key events
Two-thirds of Victoria under extreme fire danger
Calla Wahlquist
Two-thirds of Victoria are under an extreme fire danger rating today in the hottest day of the year so far.
In case you missed the fire weather briefing yesterday, CFA chief officer Jason Heffernan said the risk would be highest in a number of small communities west and southwest of Ballarat, including Lake Bolac, Westmere, Strentham, Cressy and Winchelsea, where the fire danger rating will be “at the very top of extreme” and may tip into catastrophic fire danger.
We go into the day with no fires in the landscape… I would like to keep it that way.
Chris Hardman, the chief fire officer of Forest Fire Management Victoria, named Wombat state forest, the Lower Glenelg National Park, Grampians National Park, Wyperfeld National Park, and Great Otway National Park as “in the highest fire risk part of Victoria”.
Hardman said there were 54 aircraft positioned in key areas around the state to respond to fires, along with repel crews who would be sent into fire areas.
We’re going to be doing hard, aggressive first attack to make sure that we keep fires small.
If you’re in a rural or semi-rural part of Victoria today, keep across the bushfire information on the VicEmergency app and through ABC local radio.
A Total Fire Ban has been declared for Mallee, Wimmera, Northern Country, North Central, South West, Central, and West and South Gippsland fire districts – Monday 16 December 2024. No fires can be lit in the open air 12:01 AM until 11:59 PM. Stay informed: https://t.co/lFdBeHgAwP pic.twitter.com/kownMzVIQS
— cfa_updates (@CFA_Updates) December 15, 2024
Physician suggests Australians need to rethink heat in nation’s phsyche
Dr Arnagretta Hunter, a physician and public policy researcher at the Australian National University, suggests its time for Australians to rethink how it views heat amid increasingly hot summers.
Speaking to ABC News Breakfast about the heatwave conditions lashing the country, with some places expected to surpass 45C, she said:
I think heat is a big part of the Australian psyche. We always had hot summers, it’s part of what we celebrate about this nation, but heat can be a significant source of morbidity and mortality. It can kill people and detract from our health and wellbeing. I think that’s the conversation we need to have, with increasing urgency, particularly going into a summer like this year.
She said heat becomes “heat stress” when people cannot cool their bodies, with the combination of heat and humidity particularly lethal.
We start to see stress. We would see a heart rate go up, we start to feel hot and feel uncomfortable. It might change how our imagination and our how brain is functioning, how we’re processing information around us. That’s one of the early signs of heat stress. You may be making decisions that are not the normal sort of quality decisions one would make.
Spender says Islamophobic graffiti ‘must not be tolerated’
Independent MP Allegra Spender says the Islamophobic graffiti in Sydney’s west at the weekend “must not be tolerated”.
In a post to X earlier this morning, she said:
This Islamophobic graffiti is intended to incite hatred and must not be tolerated. These are acts of the few and not the spirit of our country. The perpetrators must be held to account. No group – whatever their religion, ethnicity or sexuality – should be targeted in this way.
Liberal senator scathing of release of Bali Nine members
Liberal senator Hollie Hughes has been scathing of the release of the five remaining Bali Nine members back into Australia. As AAP reports, she spoke with Sky News earlier and said:
I’m sure those Australians doing it really tough at the moment will be just thrilled to know that their taxpayer dollars are going to pay for this.
I feel very badly for families who had children or loved ones lost to heroin addiction, which was what these drug smugglers were trying to bring back to our country.
They would have wreaked death and destruction for a whole lot of families and I think that’s been overlooked here.
Some Melbourne businesses told to reduce dust amid heatwave conditions
The Victorian EPA says it has alerted a number of businesses in the Melbourne suburb of Brooklyn to reduce dust today, amid the heatwave conditions and extreme fire dangers.
It wrote on X:
[W]e have alerted 38 industrial businesses of windy, dry conditions, and advised them to reduce dust by using water carts, sprinklers, street sweepers and limiting dust producing activities.
Dust control measures for Brooklyn today: we have alerted 38 industrial businesses of windy, dry conditions, and advised them to reduce dust by using water carts, sprinklers, street sweepers and limiting dust producing activities. https://t.co/fvi18GKwHW pic.twitter.com/ij1pHVzNyF
— Environment Protection Authority Victoria (@VicGovEPA) December 15, 2024
Regulator sues HSBC Australia over scam response
Jonathan Barrett
The corporate regulator is suing HSBC Australia over allegations it failed to adequately protect customers from being scammed out of millions of dollars.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic) alleges in a new federal court action that the bank “let its customers down when they needed their help the most” after taking an average of 145 days to investigate customers’ reports that they had been scammed.
Between January 2020 and August 2024, HSBC customers lost about $23m, with the majority of scam losses incurred during a six-month period amid an escalation in activity, according to the court claim.
The escalation occurred after scammers obtained access to accounts by impersonating HSBC Australia staff.
Some customers lost more than $90,000, while HSBC Australia “compounded the problem” by failing to comply with its various obligations, according to the regulator.
Asic’s deputy chair, Sarah Court, said:
We allege HSBC Australia’s failings were widespread and systemic, and the bank failed to protect its customers.
An HSBC Australia spokesperson said the bank acknowledged the Asic claim.
We are considering the matters raised and will continue to cooperate and work constructively with ASIC. Protecting our customers from scammers remains a top priority. We continue to make significant investments in our fraud and scam prevention, detection, and response.
74 women killed so far this year due to gender-based violence
So far this year, 74 women have been killed due to gender-based violence – the highest on record since 2015.
This is according to data from Domestic Violence NSW, who said the true tally of people murdered due to domestic and family violence is much higher “given there is no data collected on the number of children, men and gender diverse identities killed.”
Domestic Violence NSW CEO Delia Donovan said:
These devastating figures highlight an ongoing crisis that demands urgent action – and comprehensive funding across the specialist domestic and family violence sector. Each life lost represents a failure of our systems to protect and support those at risk. We need extensive, intersectional strategies that address not only gender-based violence, but the broader systemic inequalities that create it.
Data from the NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research shows DV-related assaults are increasing on average by 3% per year.
NSW is recording the highest rate of murders, but still has the lowest per-capita spend on domestic and family violence in the country – spending just $39 per person in 2022-23, compared to the national average of $53.
Clare: antisemitism and Islamophobia ‘just as bad as one another’
Circling back to the education minister Jason Clare’s interview on ABC News Breakfast:
Asked about Islamophobic graffiti in Sydney’s west at the weekend, Clare said that antisemitism and Islamophobia was “just as bad as one another”.
He told the program that children “aren’t born racist” and this is a “parasite that eats away at people and our community”:
As community leaders and in the media we’ve got to call this out when it happens, and we’re the best country in the world because we’re made up of people from all backgrounds living in harmony and this is the opposite of that.
A Jewish friend of mine contacted me and he wanted me to know his little boy’s best friend, before 7 October, was a Muslim boy called Mohammad. He still wanted me to know he’s still his best friend … Next year is his little boy’s bar mitzvah and Mohammad will be there. That’s what is happening in our communities.
It’s brain-dead morons writing things on walls on the streets of Sydney like this that undermine all of that. That’s why we need to call it out and … why we need to do everything we can at the moment to keep our country together.
Asked if there should be a national approach to stopping protests outside of places of worship, Clare said they should be “sacrosanct”.
They’re not the places you want to see protesting let alone people burning them down.
Police appeal to locate woman missing in Blue Mountains
NSW police are appealing to the public to help locate a missing woman in the Blue Mountains.
Marissa Gee, aged 33, was last seen at Katoomba on Friday evening. On Saturday, her vehicle was located abandoned on Galwey Lane, Mt Wilson. Police and family hold serious concerns for her welfare.
She is described as being of Caucasian appearance, 167cm tall, medium build, tanned complexion, brown eyes and curly blonde/red hair, and is possibliy wearing hiking pants and hiking boots.
Marissa is known to frequent the Katoomba, Mt Wilson and Bilpin areas.
Police and emergency agencies are conducting a land search of bushland at Mt Wilson.
Hillcrest families launch class action against Tasmania after jumping castle tragedy
Families of the children killed and injured in Tasmania’s 2021 jumping castle tragedy have launched a class action against the state and equipment operator, AAP reports.
Law firm Maurice Blackburn announced the move this morning on behalf of lead plaintiffs Georgina Burt and Andrew Dodt, whose sons Zane and Peter died in the incident at Hillcrest primary school in Devonport.
It comes exactly three years after a jumping castle and zorb balls were lifted into the air by a wind gust during end-of-year celebrations at the school, killing six children and injuring three others.
In a writ lodged with the supreme court, the case alleges the state, as operators of the school, and the company that set up the equipment involved in the tragedy, Taz-Zorb, owed a duty of care for the students.
The case also alleges the defendants failed to take reasonable precautions to ensure the safety of the children taking part in the activities.
The principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn Dimi Ioannou said the aim of the class action was “some accountability for what happened on that day”.
The families affected by the tragedy of what happened at Hillcrest feel the pain and the trauma of their loss every day. Nothing will erase the suffering or bring back their lost children. This class action is the first step in the path to securing a measure of justice for the families affected by the Hillcrest tragedy.
Those eligible to join the class action include children who suffered a physical or psychological injury, witnesses and close family members of those killed or injured.
A decision in that case is expected in February.
Clare says it will ‘take some time’ for Bali Nine members to reintegrate back into society
Jason Clare also weighed in on the release of the remaining Bali Nine members back to Australia, and told the program the deal was locked in over the last few weeks.
These men committed a very serious crime, drug trafficking, and they have done serious time, 19 years in an Indonesian prison. They lost a big chunk of their lives for the crimes committed … I think most Australians agree it [was] time for these men to come home.
He said the rehabilitation process was underway in Darwin, as well as reintegration back into society.
When you have been in prison for the best part of two decades it’s going to take some time for these men to rehabilitate and reintegrate into Australian society.
Question from the presenter: At least one of the men is married with a child – what happens to their partners now, since the men can’t go back to Indonesia?
Clare said if their partners wish to come to Australia “that would be the subject of the normal visa processing requirements.”
Clare said it was ‘terrifying news’ four Australians in hospital in Fiji
Earlier, the education minister, Jason Clare, said it was “terrifying news” that four Australians were in hospital in Fiji, with what local authorities suspect is alcohol poisoning.
He told ABC News Breakfast that consular officials were on the ground helping families, and Fijian officers were conducting an investigation.
I guess my message for Australians travelling overseas is just be really, really careful with whatever you consume. Whatever you’re drinking when you’re overseas … There’s a real terrifying sense of de ja vu, it’s only a month ago two young Australian women died in Laos from methanol poisoning. And then when we wake up to hear this horrific news in Fiji, I’m sure all Australians … are hoping for the best.
Released Bali Nine members and family issue statement
The five members of the Bali Nine and their families have released a statement, after they were released back in to Australia yesterday.
Matthew Norman, Si Yi Chen, Scott Rush, Martin Stephens and Michael Czugaj were first arrested on 17 April, 2005. The men said in a statement they were “immensely grateful to President Prabowo and the Indonesian government for allowing them to return to Australia, and sincerely thank them.”
Over the years of their imprisonment, successive Australian Foreign Ministers and governments have advocated for the men. The men and their families sincerely thank them.
The men made special mention of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, saying:
In both Australia and Indonesia, at both a senior level and in prison visits and personal assistance, over many years, Dfat have offered professional and enduring support. The men and their families will always be grateful.
They also thanked their Indonesian lawyers, friends in Indonesia, academics and others in Australia, and numerous friends in Australia:
This support has been essential and invaluable. The five men are relieved and happy to be back in Australia. They look forward, in time, to reintegrating back into and contributing to society. The welfare of the men is a priority, they will need time and support, and we hope and trust our media and community will make allowance for this.
Chalmers comments on ‘disgraceful’ Islamophobic graffiti in Sydney’s west
Wrapping up the interview, Jim Chalmers was asked about Islamophobic graffiti in Sydney’s west at the weekend, with the National Imams Council saying there has been a surge in these kinds of incidents and a failure to address them effectively.
Is the government doing enough on this issue? The treasurer said the responsibility of leaders is to “try and calm these divisions where they exist, and not try and inflame them or make them worse”:
We’ve shown a willingness, whether it’s antisemitism or Islamophobia, to provide the necessary resources to try and keep people safe.
But what we saw with this graffiti in Western Sydney was completely disgraceful, completely unacceptable. It was cowardly, and there’s no place for it. We don’t want to see the problems of the world tearing our communities apart. There’s too much of this, and we all need to come together at this time, because people are genuinely worried about their own communities and their own safety.
Chalmers says opposition’s nuclear policy announcement raised more questions than answers
Moving to energy, Jim Chalmers was asked about the Coalition’s nuclear policy and whether the government was open to having nuclear in its energy mix.
The treasurer lashed the opposition’s “modelling meltdown” which raised more questions than answers:
It’s just a shambolic attempt to paper over the fact that the Coalition’s [policy] is a recipe for less growth, less energy and higher prices. And you know, some of the most basic questions, what does it mean for bills? How big will the off-budget funds be? Why don’t they think they need any transmission?
All of these questions have been unanswered, and that’s why the energy experts and the economists have been so scathing about this shambolic economic insanity that is Peter Dutton’s nuclear fantasy.
Mid-year budget update ‘not opportunity for big new policies’
Jim Chalmers also took some questions on the mid-year budget update, due to be released on Wednesday, and said it would show the “really quite remarkable progress we’ve made in the budget since we came to office”:
That’s a big part of what we’ll be doing on Wednesday, accommodating the pressures on the budget, accounting for them. And one of the big ones is the weakness in the Chinese economy – and that does have implications for us, for our economy and for our budget …
We’ll be downgrading mining exports by about $100bn, we’ll be downgrading company taxes by about $8.5bn dollars over the next four years, and what that shows is that the global economy is uncertain, and that’s weighing pretty heavily on our budget and on our economy more broadly.
Will the government still roll out cost of living relief? Chalmers said the government’s priority was “rolling out the relief that we’ve already announced and already budgeted for.”
Obviously there’ll be new measures in the budget [next year], but the nature of those we haven’t taken decisions on that.
He said the government had already indicated people shouldn’t expect surpluses in the mid year budget update:
We’ve been upfront about some of the reasons why, in some of the years, there’s a little bit of slippage in the budget – but not every year – and that’s the inevitable consequence of some of these pressures.
Chalmers ‘grateful’ to see five Bali Nine members released back to Australia
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, spoke with ABC RN just earlier and also welcomed the arrival of five Bali Nine members back into Australia.
Asked if there were conditions placed on their release, Chalmers said not as he understands it:
I think this was an act of cooperation and commitment and compassion from President Prabowo, and we’re very grateful to him for that. These guys committed some serious offences, but they’ve been in Indonesian jails for the best part of two decades. Now it was time for them to come home, and I’m pleased that they’re home.
And asked to describe the Australia-Indonesia relationship, Chalmers said this shows “the capacity to work closely together and on a range of fronts”:
Not just this one, certainly on the economic front. I work very closely with the finance minister, Sri Mulyani, and my colleagues work closely with their counterparts. And I think this is an indication, really, that President Prabowo has done a good thing, the right thing, and we’re very grateful to him for that.
