What we learned; Sunday 24 November
With that we’re wrapping up the blog. Before we go, here are the major stories from Sunday:
We’ll pick things up again tomorrow.
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Key events
Clearance rate ticks up on quieter weekend for auctions
Auction activity has fallen this weekend with 2,577 auctions to be held.
This is a drop on the 2,898 held last week, and a figure lower than the 2,949 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 65.3% across the country, which is higher than the 64.1% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 57.3% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 699 of 984 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 68.4%
Melbourne: 784 of 1,111 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 65.2%
Brisbane: 176 0f 233 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 56.8%
Adelaide: 80 of 143 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 66.3%
Canberra: 55 of 91 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 52.7%
Tasmania: No auctions held.
Perth: Six of 15 auctions held.
All eyes on CPI data as inflation fight continues
Inflationary pressures in the economy likely stabilised at the lower end of the Reserve Bank of Australia’s target range last month, data due this week could show.
But progress on underlying measures, which strip away volatility and are the focus of the central bank, is tipped to be less subdued and consistent with interest rates staying on hold at the next board meeting in December.
The October consumer price index numbers from the Australian Bureau of Statistics due on Wednesday will be watched closely.
While not as comprehensive as the quarterly releases, the monthly numbers still provide a steer on the potency of price pressures.
Australians might hear more on the outlook for interest rates on Thursday, when the RBA governor Michele Bullock gives a speech at the annual CEDA Conference in Sydney.
Other data to be released by the ABS includes quarterly updates on construction work, due on Wednesday, and business investment, on Thursday.
– AAP
‘I don’t look like him at all, I’m just tall’: Jacob Elordi lookalike crowned in Melbourne
“If I saw someone who looked like Jacob Elordi, I wouldn’t be mad,” says Milla, one of the spectators of Saturday’s Jacob Elordi lookalike competition, which is occurring on the lawn of the State Library of Victoria in the middle of a heatwave. The only thing hotter than the weather, apparently, is Australian actor Jacob Elordi.
The dating pool in Melbourne is not that great. I think that he is a very attractive man, and if you look like him, then you are also an attractive man.” Another spectator, fanning themselves furiously as they wait for the contest to start, tells me that while they aren’t a fan of his acting, they like “free events” and want to “see some hot guys”.
Unfortunately, as time passes, it becomes increasingly clear that the couple of dozen attendees might be out of luck: there’s not only a conspicuous absence of anyone who looks like Jacob Elordi, but any men at all to compete for the $50 prize.
Elordi is not the first young handsome white man to have a look alike contest – in fact, in the great Australian tradition of being slightly behind every cultural trend, he joins the tail end of the phenomenon. The somewhat baffling movement, reminiscent of the flashmob debacle from the naughties but hornier and sillier, began in October with a Timothée Chalamet lookalike competition in New York. What started as an event poster affixed to a lone streetlight quickly went viral, with YouTuber Anthony Po eventually incurring a $500 fine for hosting the event, which featured not only more than 300 contestants and an arrest, but Timothée Chalamet himself.
In case you missed it, read Patrick Lenton’s full write up on the Jacob Elordi look-a-like contest in Melbourne yesterday:
Education minister orders review into school bullying
A review has been ordered into bullying in Australian schools to stamp out the pervasive behaviour and better safeguard students.
The federal education minister, Jason Clare, wrote to state and territory counterparts to push for a united effort to deal with bullying in classrooms and school yards.
He recommended a short expert-led examination of current school procedures and best practice methods to address bullying.
The study will be funded by the Albanese government and report back to education ministers with options on developing a national bullying standard.
In the letter, Clare said the study would:
Inform policies across jurisdictions and sectors to provide children and parents confidence that no matter where their child goes to school, if they’re experiencing bullying, it will be managed in an appropriate way.
It comes after Year 7 student Charlotte O’Brien, 12, took her own life in September after allegedly being bullied at Sydney’s Santa Sabina College.
Clare conceded bullying doesn’t just happen in schools but they were places where authorities could intervene and provide support for students.
Bullying is not on, anywhere, anytime, in any form. Just like we are taking action to help stop bullying on social media, we also can do more where children are face to face.
– AAP
Meta is ‘reckless’ in ‘need-to-know situations’, Canada warns Australia as it braces for early bushfire season
Twelve months on from Canada’s worst-ever wildfire season unfolding during a news blackout on Facebook, the nation has warned Australia about Meta’s “reckless” behaviour during “need-to-know situations”.
An early start to Australia’s bushfire season is looming for swaths of the country, with large parts of Queensland and the Northern Territory, the south-west of Victoria and south-east corner of South Australia facing higher risk, according to an official assessment in September.
In August 2023, negotiations between the tech company and Canada’s government broke down as Justin Trudeau’s Liberals doggedly pursued news bargaining deal C-18, known as the Online News Act – similar to the one struck in Australia in 2021 following a seven-day news blackout.
The breakdown in negotiations resulted in Meta blocking all news sources on Facebook in Canada “recklessly and dangerously” as all 10 provinces and three territories in the country burned, Canada’s heritage minister, Pascale St-Onge, told Guardian Australia.
Facebook is leaving disinformation and misinformation to spread on their platform, while choosing to block access to reliable, high-quality, independent journalism.
Facebook is just leaving more room for misinformation during need-to-know situations like wildfires, emergencies, local elections and other critical times for people to make decisions on matters that affect them.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd:
Peter Hannam
Construction firm involved in sediment breach says it takes environmental responsibilities ‘seriously’
As noted in an earlier post, Adco, a construction firm, is facing the maximum $30,000 fine issued by the NSW EPA after endangering a rare fish.
Adco’s managing director Neil Harding tells Guardian Australia that the firm “takes its environmental responsibilities seriously and responded vigilantly at all times to address identified erosion and sediment issues, in partnership with its specialist consultant and civil works subcontractor”.
The company said it had taken “expert advice” from the outset of the school project to minimise the risk of sediment releases.
However the project “was impacted by the extreme rainfall events in the half of 2024 and other extenuating circumstances”, and the firm had installed additional stormwater filtration treatment works.
“We are now in the process of reviewing the EPA’s determination and will respond in due course,” he said.
Protest group Rising Tide says it has successfully turned back a coal ship from the Port of Newcastle
Hundreds of people have been taking part in a week-long protest at the Port of Newcastle, one of the biggest coal export ports in the world, to protest Australia’s continued export of fossil fuels and to call for a fossil fuel export tax.
The group says more than 100 protesters have occupied the shipping channel in Newcastle Harbour as a climax to the week-long protest.
The protest coincides with the conclusion of negotiations at the COP meeting in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Police have made over 100 arrests.
Newcastle local and Rising Tide organiser Alexa Stuart said the success came despite attempts by the New South Wales government “to shut down our peaceful blockade”.
We are taking urgent action because the problem is urgent. Right now, Australians are facing increasing floods, bushfires, heatwaves, and rising sea levels are already washing away communities in the Torres Strait.
We have drawn a clear line in the sand here on the shores of Newcastle Harbour. The people are rising, and we won’t stop until the Albanese Government stops approving climate-wrecking coal and gas which threatens our lives and those of future generations.
Naomi Shine, who survived the 2022 Lismore flood, said that experience motivated her to participate.
I’m here to say no to coal. I’m fed up with government inaction. They are totally captured by the fossil fuel industry. Our communities deserve better. The only hope I get is getting together with people to say no to fossil fuels and yes to life.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian premier says her ‘heart breaks’ for young Victorian women who died in Laos
Allan is also asked about the deaths of two young Victorian women who died while holidaying in Laos from a suspected methanol poisoning.
She says:
My thoughts, sympathies and heart breaks for Holly [Bowles] and Bianca [Jones’] families and friends and loved ones. It is just heartbreaking to see the tragic death of these two beautiful, vibrant young women who were on an adventure of a lifetime.
To have it end in this tragic and terrible way is deeply distressing. It has been distressing for many members of the Victorian community to read and hear the news coming out of Laos and Thailand, and I would fully support whatever steps need to be taken for this to be fully investigated.
Obviously, these are matters that will be led by the Department of Foreign Affairs, and our focus will be on supporting Holly and Bianca’s family, they’ve got a really, really awful time ahead of them as they prepare to say goodbye to their beautiful young women. And so where we can provide support for their family, we stand ready to do so.
Benita Kolovos
Possibility of Labor candidate at Prahran byelection is up to federal Labor party, Allan says
Jacinta Allan is asked about a byelection in the seat of Prahran, which was sparked yesterday by ex-Greens MP Sam Hibbins, who resigned after an affair with a staffer.
She says:
In terms of the circumstances that have brought us to seeing a byelection in Prahran, that is obviously a question for the Greens political party and their departing member for Prahran. Ultimately, it will be up to the Prahran electorate to determine who represents them – who replaces the outgoing former Greens representative, Sam Hibbins – in that seat.
Asked whether she would like to see Labor run a candidate, she says:
Those decisions are a matter for the Australian Labor party … We have a significant majority already in the Victorian Legislative Assembly.
She goes on to say she is focused on “getting on with the job the Victorian community elected us for”.
When Hibbins resigned on Saturday, he said he had referred “unauthorised access” to his parliament office to police and parliamentary services. He allegedly said “personal items, including family and my children’s baby photos, were vandalised with offensive and threatening graffiti”.
Asked whether this concerned her, Allan said:
I don’t know the circumstances behind those claims that have been made. Obviously, every individual who works in the parliamentary precinct, whether you’re a member of parliament or a member of staff, everyone deserves the right to a safe and respectful workplace.
Everyone deserves that, and we are strengthening that framework; we are soon to appoint … the first of the parliamentary integrity commissioners who will oversee a much strengthened, accountability framework for members of parliament.
Shadow communications minister denounces PM’s ‘craven inaction’ on gambling ads
David Coleman, who wouldn’t normally get this much time in front of a camera, is using this press conference to flay the Albanese government for their end of year approach.
The end of the year is coming, not with a bang but with a whimper. We have seen today the misinformation bill die its inevitable death. We have seen the prime minister leak to the media his craven inaction on gambling advertising, and we see a whole range of other legislation that is just all over the place. People have to ask the question: what is the point of the Albanese government? What do they stand for?
Coleman repeatedly sought to frame the Albanese government as “weak” and indecisive, in contrast with the “strong” and decisive leadership of Peter Dutton who is “wiling to stand up and take a firm position and say what he would do.”
PM ‘cowers in the corner’ on issue of gambling, shadow communications minister says
Coleman has also accused Anthony Albanese of being “scared” of confrontation after he abandoned an effort to make changes to the rules that govern gambling advertising.
He is scared of gambling advocates like Tim Costello. He is scared of the AFL, the NRL and the media companies. So what does he do? He cowers in the corner and does nothing, and that is a shocking indictment on the weakness of this prime minister. Most people in Australia accept that there is a need for action on gambling advertising.
Shadow communications minister says disinformation and misinformation bill ‘should never have been put forward’
The shadow communications minister, David Coleman, has welcomed the withdrawal of the government’s disinformation and misinformation bill, but says it should never have been introduced.
This bill should never have been put forward. The fact the government spent 18 months trying to get this attack on free speech to become the law of Australia is a disgrace so it tells you everything you need to know about the values of this government. This is a bill that united pretty much everyone in Australia in opposition.
Australia has no constitutionally protected right to free speech, but Australians do have an implied right to political communication.
More than 130 arrested at Rising Tide blockade in Newcastle
New South Wales police say they have arrested over 100 people who have attended a protest organised by Rising Tide in Newcastle.
Police report 138 arrests for refusing to comply with a direction to move away from the channel and say the police operation remains ongoing.
For their own safety and that of the other users of the port, police request that people refrain from entering the harbour with the intention to obstruct other users of the port. We also encourage all participants to follow the directions of police.
Police say they will take a “zero-tolerance approach to actions which threaten public safety and the safe passage of vessels.”
Benita Kolovos
Allan is asked how police will monitor Beyond the Valley. She says:
I know that the Department of Health and Victoria police have been working very, very closely together to implement this trial. The legislation provides for access to the pill testing service to be provided in a confidential way, in a legal way outside of that service, the responsibilities of Victoria police remain in place, and it remains illegal to be in possession or to take illicit drugs. But this is also something that we know has worked in Queensland … we know that this can be achieved where you continue to respect the operational decisions of Victoria Police but provide a safe and legal space for this pill testing to be provided.
Benita Kolovos
Pill testing to be offered at 10 music festivals over next two summers
Victorian mental health minister, Ingrid Stitt, says over the course of the 18-month trial, pill testing services will be offered at five festivals this summer and five in 2025-26. She’ll have a list of all festivals this summer “soon”:
Stitt says:
My department’s been working closely with the festival organisations and peaks, and we’ve been trying to make sure that we’ve got a good mix of different sorts of festivals, both regional and metropolitan, bearing in mind that this is a trial, and we want to make sure that we’re broadly testing how this will go in different settings.
Benita Kolovos
Pill testing chief say teams will be able to identify ‘almost anything’
Cameron Francis, chief executive of The Loop Australia, is talking through how pill testing will work at Beyond The Valley. He says the team will work from 1pm to 7pm each day of the four-day festival using equipment that can “identify and quantify almost anything that comes forward”.
He says:
The equipment we’ll be using down here in Victoria means we can test basically everything. So we’ll be using equipment that can identify and quantify all kinds of substances – pills, powders, liquids.
Two types of equipment will be used – four infrared machines and two GC-MS machines (or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry). Francis says the former is speedy while the latter can detect even small amounts of deadly substances. He says:
The infrared instrument is very quick. It can get us a result in a couple of minutes. It’s not able to quantify though. It can’t tell us purity, and if we get below 5% concentration, we might not be able to detect traces. So because of that, we’re using portable GC-MS on site at the festival. That’s really advanced equipment that is used in sort of military settings. It’s really advanced and it can detect basically anything that we might be trying to find there. So using a combination of equipment means that we’ll be able to detect pretty much anything that comes forward.
He says MDMA purity is the group’s “biggest concern” over the summer.
We know that globally, MDMA purity has increased, and we know that when that purity increases, there’s risks of overdose. So the GC-MS will be focused on our MDMA purity so we can give people that accurate information to try and reduce the risks of overdose.
Benita Kolovos
More on Beyond The Valley pill testing
In 2019, a 20-year-old man died in hospital days after suffering a suspected drug overdose at the Beyond The Valley festival. While there were fewer events in the following years due to Covid, paramedics responded to more drug overdoses at festivals in the first three months of this year than during all of 2023.
At least one young person died, and eight people were placed in medically induced comas, due to overdoses over the summer.
Victoria’s mental health minister, Ingrid Stitt, says
We’re really delighted that we will be out at Beyond The Valley as the first festival for drug checking. It is a very large festival, and it’s important that during this trial, we actually test how the operation is going in lots of different settings. The four-day festival at Beyond The Valley is a really great example of where we have a very large scale music festival across four days, and we can provide this as an additional service to the already comprehensive first aid and medical infrastructure that is in place at Beyond The Valley, a very experienced music festival in Australia.
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