Key events
What we learned – Thursday 17 October
It’s time to start winding down our live news coverage for the day. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy:
-
Mysterious tar balls washing up in Sydney have forced the closure of seven beaches, including Bondi, but authorities are yet to identify where they are coming from.
-
Nine Entertainment has apologised after an independent report found it has a systemic issue with the abuse of power and authority, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment across the company.
-
The Sydney Harbour Bridge has reopened to traffic after a fatal collision that killed two people, but drivers were urged to avoid the area.
-
An LNP candidate in the upcoming Queensland election has alleged he was physically assaulted by two people and told “shut your union-bashing mouth”.
-
Australia’s economy added far more jobs than expected last month, as the labour market continues to go gangbusters, making an interest rate cut this side of Christmas less likely.
-
A three-year-old child is fighting for life after being hit by a car on a major thoroughfare in Melbourne’s south-east.
-
The ACT Liberal leader, Elizabeth Lee, has apologised for raising her middle finger at a journalist after a heated news conference days out from the territory election, though the journalist said the conflict “undermines the democratic process”.
-
The suspension of The Star Sydney’s licence has been prolonged and an additional $15m handed down in fines after a second probe into the casino revealed further, significant failings.
Thank you for joining us today. We’ll be back bright and early tomorrow morning. Take care!
Catie McLeod
NSW government previews Opera House illumination ahead of Royal visit
Here’s a preview of the light installation that will be displayed on the Sydney Opera House to coincide with the arrival of King Charles III and Queen Camilla this weekend.
The New South Wales government has released images of the photo montage it will project on the Opera House’s sails after testing it out early this morning:
The building will be lit up with a four-minute photo montage depicting the king’s and queen’s previous visits to NSW and Australia from 8pm Friday:
The government has said members of the public will have the opportunity to see the British royals at the Opera House forecourt at 4.20pm next Tuesday, 22 October.
Luca Ittimani
Staff ‘furious’ as ANU announces more job cuts
The Australian National University has announced a further 108 job losses after earlier this month cutting 50 positions, leaving staff “furious”.
The ANU revealed the changes today as part of ongoing restructure efforts, which will also see 21 new roles created.
The university on Tuesday also asked staff to forgo an agreed pay rise to save jobs, which the National Tertiary Education Union’s ACT Division Secretary Dr Lachlan Clohesy claimed would not work:
It is staggering that a Vice Chancellor thinks they can convince staff that giving up their pay will save jobs, while at the same time announcing further job cuts.
The NTEU ANU branch president, Millan Pintos-Lopez, said ANU staff were “furious that a vice-chancellor is promising to save jobs while cutting them”.
Last week the ANU Council gave directions to the chancellery to reduce the university’s recurring cost base by $250m by the end of 2025, including $100m in staff expenditure.
The NTEU estimated that a $100m cut will end up leaving a total of 638 full-time equivalent staff out of work.
An ANU spokesperson said staff affected by the proposed changes had been advised prior to today’s staff meetings. In an email to the community, the vice-chancellor, Genevieve Bell, encouraged staff to engage in consultation processes and seek support:
I urge you to seek support in whatever form you need – including the staff supports provided through our wellbeing teams. Change can be deeply unsettling, and the safety and wellbeing of staff is of paramount importance.
You can read more on ANU’s finances below:
Sydney Harbour Bridge reopens but drivers warned to avoid area
Caitlin Cassidy
We have some breaking news at the conclusion of that press conference.
Two lanes of the Sydney Harbour Bridge have been reopened after extensive delays, the coordinator-general of Transport for NSW, Howard Collins, has confirmed.
Just as the press conference was wrapping up, Collins was alerted traffic was resuming in a limited fashion on the bridge. But he warned with cars backed up for 12km, it was best for drivers to avoid the bridge and take diverted routes.
Jordan Rosser, NSW Ambulance’s acting zone manager for Sydney, said a helicopter came to the scene of the Sydney Harbour Bridge crash and assessed four people at the scene. They found two people deceased and a further two people were transported to Royal North Shore hospital in a stable condition.
Drivers told to ‘avoid the area’ of Harbour Bridge
NSW authorities are urging Sydneysiders to avoid the area around the Sydney Harbour Bridge after today’s crash. Both north and southbound lanes remain closed. The coordinator-general of Transport for NSW, Howard Collins, told the press conference the traffic may be protracted even if lanes open to clear for the afternoon peak.
Luca Ittimani
NSW government employee arrested over alleged sexual assaults
Police allege a man used his position as a NSW government employee to arrange for two women to meet him, where they were sexually assaulted.
The man, aged 54, will face court today in Penrith after being arrested this morning at a home in Windsor, on Sydney’s north-western edge. He was taken to the local police station and refused bail.
Police were investigating reports that a 41-year-old woman was sexually assaulted in August. During the investigation, detectives spoke with a 55-year-old woman who was allegedly sexually assaulted at a Concord home in March.
The man is charged with three counts of sexual intercourse without consent, carry out sexual act with another without consent, and intentionally record intimate image without consent.
NSW police are also holding a press conference this hour with more information about the fatal crash which has closed the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Our reporter Caitlin Cassidy is at that press conference and informs us a 28-year-old man is in hospital in a stable condition.
Motorcyclist arrested at Harbour Bridge crime scene
A motorcyclist has also been arrested for allegedly riding through the crime scene at the Harbour Bridge, police say:
As emergency services were treating those at the scene, a motorcyclist allegedly rode through the crime scene. He was arrested and taken to Day Street Police Station where he is assisting with inquiries.
Second person dies after crash on Sydney Harbour Bridge
A second person has died after the crash on the Sydney Harbour Bridge, police say.
Emergency services were called to the bridge at about 1.40pm on Thursday, where they found three cars and a bus had collided. Police confirmed one man died at the scene and a second was in a critical condition.
In a statement released just now police said a second person had now died:
NSW Ambulance paramedics have treated multiple people for injuries; however, two men died at the scene.
They have not yet been formally identified.
The bus driver was uninjured, and no passengers were on board at the time.
Bombshell report reveals systemic bullying and harassment at Nine
We mentioned earlier the independent review commissioned by Nine Entertainment was due today. That report is now out and has revealed systemic bullying and harassment – you can read the full story from Amanda Meade:
People ‘languishing’ in hospital while waiting for NDIS care
Hundreds of people with disabilities are “languishing” in public hospitals while they wait for adequate support, leaving them vulnerable to harm and infection, AAP reports.
Workforce shortages and a lack of disability accommodation in rural areas has led to an increase in NDIS participants staying in hospital, the Western NSW Local Health District chief executive, Mark Spittal, said at an inquiry today.
NSW hospitals had 294 such people yet to be discharged in early October because no NDIS supports were in place or their assessments had not been finalised.
Spittal told the federal inquiry examining the experience of rural NDIS participants in Dubbo that hospitals were the support providers of last resort for people with disabilities:
That’s certainly not the place that somebody with a significant disability should be languishing. Their risk of acquiring infection, the risk of being marginalised because the acute care needs of somebody else in the ward will take predominance and, as a result, being unintentionally harmed are very, very high.
An NDIS assessment can take several weeks involving a number of health practitioners at a time when GPs in major regional centres had closed their books, he said.
If you’re a highly complex person with highly-complex disabilities needing access to primary care and you do not already have a (GP), your chances of being able to execute that are virtually zero.
People living with disabilities in small towns were also having to move and leave their families behind to access specialised support, he said.
Rafqa Touma
Debris balls getting smaller, EPA says
The size of the debris balls vary between a marble and tennis ball, Stephen Lemon from the Environment Protection Authority tells press:
We are actually seeing, as we move away from the Coogee area, the size of the balls are getting smaller.
Probably getting a lot of wave action in the surf zone, breaking that material up.
Rafqa Touma
NSW EPA analysing “quite unusual” tar ball debris
The NSW Environment Protection Authority is currently analysing samples of the black ball-shaped debris.
Stephen Lemon, EPA’s executive director of operations, confirms their tests results are matching up with those of Randwick city council’s.
Speaking from Coogee, Lemon told press:
We’ve had our specialists out collecting samples and having these samples analysed by our laboratories. We’re using this information to get further detail on what the nature of the material is, so we can use that to identify the … sources of contamination.
Lemon told press the material “is quite unusual,” and that “it is quite a fibrous material”. He said it has a hydrocarbon base.
He said it is too early to predict where it has come from, and clarified that oil can come from both boats and land sources.
Natasha May
Thanks Emily and good afternoon everyone!
Emily Wind
Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, I’ll hand over to Natasha May who will be with you for the next little while. Take care.
Rafqa Touma
Circling back to the Sydney beach debris
Reverse and drift modelling will be used to consider the currents and wind in ascertaining where the black ball-shaped debris is coming from.
David Wood from NSW Maritime has told reporters:
We are also working with the Australian Maritime Safety Authority to find where these contaminants may have come from. They will do reverse modelling and drift modelling, taking into account the currents and wind, for us to be able to work out whether it comes from south, north or east of NSW, to try and give better information on the likely source.
Weather agencies warning of severe storms, unsettled weather
The Bureau of Meteorology has published a severe weather update, with severe thunderstorms possible throughout central and southern Australia today.
The NSW SES has also shared an update, urging people in western parts of the state to prepare for unsettled weather in the coming few days.
Rafqa Touma
NSW Maritime says they can’t see any more tar balls drifting towards Sydney beaches
NSW Maritime said they have seen no more sheen or balls drifting towards Sydney beaches, after black debris forced the closure of seven beaches.
Speaking to reporters from Coogee, David Wood from NSW Maritime said:
We’ve been working over the last two days with Port Authority of NSW.
We’ve had vessels out on our water. We can ensure that we can’t see any more sheen on that water. We also can’t see any more balls that are drifting in towards the beaches of the city, which is a good sign at the moment.
Source link
[redirect url=’https://fastpowers.com/’ sec=’3′]