Wong criticises American influencer for ‘dreadful’ baby wombat video
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has criticised an American influencer visiting Australia who stole a baby wombat from its distressed mother and uploaded the footage to social media.
Posted to Instagram by influencer Sam Jones, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” and goes by the username @samstrays_somewhere, the video showed Jones holding a baby wombat while laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat. The video also shows the baby wombat hissing in distress. Jones then returns the wombat to the bush.
Wong told Seven’s Sunrise program this morning:
It looked pretty dreadful, didn’t it? I will leave those sorts of questions [about whether the influencer should be deported] to [Home Affairs minister] Tony Burke and to the authorities, but, really, leave the wombat alone.
… I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, leave the baby wombat alone. Leave it with its mum.
Key events
Clive Palmer addresses National Press Club
Clive Palmer, heading up a newly named (but similarly colour-schemed to his previous) political party, Trumpet of Patriots, is giving an address to the National Press Club.
We’ll bring you the interesting tidbits as it goes along, but here’s a little snippet of his preamble, where he speaks about the party’s alleged growth:
We’ve got now over 20,000 members across Australia, and thousands of people are joining every day because they’ve had enough of the boring politicians that don’t answer questions. They’ve had enough of seeing their income decline lower and lower every week. They’ve had enough of their children being harassed at schools, and they want change.
Wong criticises American influencer for ‘dreadful’ baby wombat video
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has criticised an American influencer visiting Australia who stole a baby wombat from its distressed mother and uploaded the footage to social media.
Posted to Instagram by influencer Sam Jones, who describes herself as an “outdoor enthusiast and hunter” and goes by the username @samstrays_somewhere, the video showed Jones holding a baby wombat while laughing and running away from the distraught mother wombat. The video also shows the baby wombat hissing in distress. Jones then returns the wombat to the bush.
Wong told Seven’s Sunrise program this morning:
It looked pretty dreadful, didn’t it? I will leave those sorts of questions [about whether the influencer should be deported] to [Home Affairs minister] Tony Burke and to the authorities, but, really, leave the wombat alone.
… I think everyone who would have seen that would have thought, leave the baby wombat alone. Leave it with its mum.
Research suggests Islamophobic incidents in Australia have doubled
Daisy Dumas
Islamophobic incidents – including physical attacks, verbal harassment, people being spat on and rape threats – have more than doubled in the past two years, with girls and women bearing the brunt of hatred towards Muslims in Australia, new research shows.
The fifth Islamophobia in Australia report details 309 in-person incidents between January 2023 and December 2024 – a more than 2.5-fold increase from the previous reporting period. Verified online incidents more than tripled to 366.
Girls and women accounted for three-quarters of all incidents and were a third more likely to be physically attacked than boys and men.
Dr Nora Amath, the executive director of the Islamophobia Register, said:
It’s really become a gendered Islamophobia. The majority of victims are Muslim women and the majority of perpetrators are male. It’s very obvious and really concerning.
Read the full story here:
Cait Kelly
Further the previous post, the Antipoverty Centre spokesperson and jobseeker recipient, Jay Coonan, said:
Today’s news about price hikes for electricity is devastating for people on low incomes, most of whom are unable to access options such as rooftop solar to reduce our bills.
Tens of thousands of welfare recipients, who are already using as little energy as they can, are struggling with huge energy debts and cannot get ahead.
Suggesting that people can “switch to better plans” to deal with the burden of rising energy costs shows that Minister Chris Bowen is out of touch with the daily reality for people in poverty.
You can’t just shop around for a better deal when you are trapped in debt.
Price gouging energy companies must be reined in to relieve pressure for everyone, but first the government must take urgent action to wipe energy debts so people are not locked out of accessing cheaper plans.
Cait Kelly
Antipoverty Centre responds to AER draft determination by calling for wiping of energy debt
The Antipoverty Centre is repeating its call for the government to wipe energy debt for 332,000 customers as the Australian Energy Regulator announces price hikes of 5-10% due to begin in July 2025.
The centre’s activists joined the Stop the Bill Shock campaign in December, calling on energy companies to provide relief to customers, but retailers have failed to act.
Statistics from the December 2024 Australian Energy Regulator annual markets report show:
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131,746 people with an energy debt were in a hardship program (an increase of 37.8% on 2023, which was a 30% increase on 2022 figures) with the average debt amounting to $1,687.
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52.3% of all people in a hardship program have a concession, generally meaning they receive an income support payment from Centrelink.
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41.9% of people on a hardship plan have higher electricity costs in each billing period than the amount they are able to repay as part of their plan. This is an increase of 64% on the previous year.
Dutton blames Labor energy policy for AER’s anticipated price increase
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has criticised the Albanese government’s record on energy policy.
Dutton held a press conference a short time ago after the Australian Energy Regulator released its default market offer draft determination, showing energy prices for households and businesses are expected to rise.
With the federal election imminent, Dutton has used the information to attack Labor.
He said:
We find out today that because of Anthony Albanese’s energy policy your electricity bill is going to go up by 9%, that is another 9%, that is not a $275 cut, which is what the prime minister promised you before the last election.
I believe that there is a much better way, a much better path for our country. We have to have a balanced and sensible energy system and if we do that we can bring downward pressure on energy prices
Nine formally appoints Matt Stanton as CEO
Amanda Meade
Australia’s biggest locally owned media company, Nine Entertainment, has formally appointed its former finance and strategy chief Matt Stanton as CEO.
The broadcaster and publisher undertook a global search for a new leader after Mike Sneesby stepped down in September following a tumultuous year for the company, during which allegations of predatory behaviour and bullying in newsrooms were aired.
Nine chair, Catherine West, said Stanton, who has been acting CEO for six months, had reset Nine’s operating model and refreshed the executive team.
West said:
Matt was clearly the best credentialed leader to maintain the momentum on our strategic or cultural transformation.
He has done an outstanding job as acting CEO.
Stanton said:
It’s an honour and a privilege to lead the talented and dedicated team at Nine. Nine is a great Australian company that plays a vital role in the national conversation.”
Trade minister downplays impact of US tariffs on Australian economy
The trade minister, Don Farrell, says the US has done itself “great harm” by imposing tariffs on aluminium and steel imports, including from Australia.
Farrell held a press conference in Adelaide a short time ago, where he downplayed the impact the 25% tariffs would have on the Australian economy.
He said:
Our total trade with the United States, two way trade, is about $100bn, so less than one-third of what we do with China.
And that, strangely enough, is overwhelmingly in America’s favour. We buy $70bn with a products from America, sell them $30bn,
OK, bad news from America, but we have a whole lot of other countries around the world where we want to sell our wonderful food and wine and we will continue to do that.
Minns says NSW will not scrap new hate speech laws after antisemitic attacks revelations
Jordyn Beazley
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said he will not repeal controversial hate speech laws in the wake of revelations a number of antisemitic attacks were not hate crimes but a plot by organised crime figures to distract police and influence prosecutions.
Minns said:
I want to make clear the NSW government will not be repealing hate speech laws passed in parliament last month.
Our laws criminalised intentionally and publicly inciting hatred towards another person, or group, based on race.
They send a clear message: the people of NSW stand together against inciting racial hatred in our great multicultural state.
While the caravan was part of a criminal conspiracy – and not the plot of a terrorist organisation – it was still appalling racial hatred.
It targeted the Jewish community. It targeted a racial group to instil terror in our state.
It comes after the police minister, Yasmin Catley, refused to answer questions in a budget estimates hearing as to when she knew the caravan plot was not a terror event, and if that was before legislation designed to stem antisemitism was rushed through parliament.
The NSW police deputy commissioner, David Hudson, told the same hearing that the government was briefed that both the possibility of the incident being a terror threat or a criminal plot were being investigated.
Hudson said he told Catley on 7 March, ahead of a public announcement on 10 March, that it was a criminal plot.
Dutton responds to reported internal criticism from Coalition MPs
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has responded to reports of discontent among Coalition MPs.
The Australian reported Coalition MPs are pushing Dutton to unveil big policies in his upcoming budget reply speech and are concerned the opposition needs a more compelling economic agenda.
The newspaper quoted several unnamed MPs who expressed concerns over what they saw as a lack of policy from the Coalition ahead of the upcoming federal election, due to be held by May.
Dutton was asked about the report on 2GB Radio earlier this morning, where he said the Liberal party had “put itself forward as a credible alternative” to Labor.
Dutton said.
There’s always free advice, plenty of it going around, and most of it contradictory.
The opposition leader rejected the notion the Coalition didn’t have any policies, citing examples including cutting immigration and building nuclear power plants.
Asked specifically whether the Coalition was planning to unveil a policy of tax cuts, he said:
We are not going to fuel inflation, so we’ll make the decision that is right for our country at the time, knowing how much money we have in the bank and whether we want to pay down debt or whether we want to put money into tax cuts or provide support through other policy.
We’ll announce that in due course, but we have been working day and night on policy over the last two and a half years.
Any suggestion that we haven’t got policy out there, as I just pointed out, is a complete nonsense.
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane lord mayor announces crackdown on people living in city’s parks
Brisbane lord mayor, Adrian Schrinner, has announced the council will move on every homeless person in the city living in parks “within 24 hours”.
The crackdown comes in the aftermath of Ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, when hundreds of homeless people sheltered in temporary evacuation centres that have since closed.
Schrinner said the crackdown came as a reaction to changes by the City of Moreton Bay to ban homelessness and reports that “people who are homeless by choice” are planning to “pour into Brisbane”.
He said:
I’ve asked our officers to work with police and state housing agencies to ensure anyone living in a park who has refused accommodation is moved on within 24 hours.
We’ll also remove unused empty tents to prevent the creation of more dangerous encampments.
Brisbane is Australia’s second-most expensive city and is facing a historic housing crisis.
Rental vacancy is now at a near-record low, in part due to council planning approvals being at record lows.
The state planning minister, Jarrod Bleijie, yesterday announced he would review a state-level planning law after lobbying by local government to allow them to approve even fewer development applications.
You can read more here:
PM wants western Sydney rail connection ‘completed before 2040’
The prime minister was on ABC Radio Sydney earlier this morning, talking about the rail investment.
Albanese said the money would go towards purchasing land to build the rail corridor, as well as planning, and he wanted the project to be completed before 2040.
He said:
What I would like to see is for the railway line once it gets to Bradfield to continue the [work to] continue on to Leppington, and then continue on to link into MacArthur.
But we’ll have those discussions.
Federal government announces $1bn investment for western Sydney rail connection
The federal government has announced a $1bn investment in a “missing link” rail connection in western Sydney.
The Leppington to Bradfield connection will join the new western Sydney international airport to Sydney’s south-west.
Previously in the works, the Albanese government says the project was shelved under the then-Coalition government in 2014.
The government says the new corridors will pave the way for Metro or Sydney Trains network extensions that would give passengers and workers at Sydney’s new airport rail access to Sydney’s south-west, and onwards to the Sydney CBD.
In a statement announcing the funding, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said:
Back in 2014, as shadow minister for transport, I said we needed rail as well as road in order for this airport to work.
We don’t want residents of Sydney’s south west to have to rely on buses to get to the airport. We want them to have fast, frequent rail access, and our investment today will help deliver that.
