Australia news live: scams almost doubled this year, ACCC says; construction industry exempt from workplace bargaining changes

Iranian diplomat called in three times amid protester crackdown

Daniel Hurst

Iran’s senior diplomat in Canberra has been “called in” by Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade three times over human rights abuses in Iran.

Australian officials have also told a Senate estimates hearing that they have raised “very concerning reports about intimidation of people here in the community”.

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said the government had condemned the crackdown on protesters and the repression of women and called for a prompt and impartial investigation into death of Mahsa Amini.

Marc Innes-Brown, a first assistant secretary for the Middle East Africa and Afghanistan Division, told the Senate committee:

I have called in the Iranian chargé d’affaires on three occasions during this period to convey in the strongest possible terms our concerns about what has happened.

I’ve also spoken to him on another occasion about very concerning reports about intimidation of people here in the community.

Wong did not speculate on potential further sanctions ahead of such decisions being made, but said she understood the call for further steps.

The Dfat secretary, Jan Adams, said the issue of whether Magnitsky-style sanctions could be applied was “under active consideration”.

The Liberal senator Claire Chandler said the Iranian community in Australia was looking for tangible action.

Daniel Hurst

‘You’re asking me to foresee the future’: Wong on recognition of Palestine

The Australian government does not recognise the state of Palestine but acknowledges “their future aspirations for statehood”, a Senate estimates committee hearing has been told.

In both 2018 and 2021, Labor’s national conference backed a resolution that “supports the recognition and right of Israel and Palestine to exist as two states within secure and recognised borders” and “calls on the next Labor government to recognise Palestine as a state”.

However, those resolutions did not set a specific deadline, saying only that the party expected “that this issue will be an important priority for the next Labor government”.

The Coalition’s Simon Birmingham asked the government to outline its position on the recognition of Palestine.

Marc Innes-Brown, a first assistant secretary for the Middle East, Africa and Afghanistan division of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, replied:

The Australian government does not recognise the state of Palestine. We obviously acknowledge their future aspirations for statehood but we at this time do not recognise a state of Palestine.

Wong said the government urged all sides to “resume negotiations towards a just and enduring two-state solution”. She said that principle was “part what drives the reversal” on the recognition of West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

Birmingham asked whether the government’s policy on Palestinian statehood would remain the same in the life of parliament absent a resolution on two-state solution.

Wong said:

You’re asking me to foresee the future.

In a clear attempt not to be locked into a position, Wong distinguished the Labor party platform from the government’s position:

The government’s position is, as Mr Innes-Brown outlined, and I’m sure you would be aware of this: obviously there are many parts of the community who feel deeply about this issue on both sides of the debate. Just as there are communities who feel deeply supportive, as the Labor party has been, of the establishment of the state of Israel and the right of Israel to live in security behind intentionally recognised borders, there are also people who have a very strong view about the lack of progress towards a two-state solution and the consequences of that for the Palestinian people.

This has been a discussion in the community for many years.

The resolution that the Labor party has arrived at is an expression from the national conference about the will of the national conference but a recognition that this is a matter for government.

Number of scams reported to ACCC up 92%

Sarah Martin

The ACCC says the number of scams reported to the regulator in the current financial year is up 92%, with almost $500m in losses reported in the four months since July 1.

Under questioning from Labor senator Deb O’Neil, ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said Australians were losing more than $2bn a year, describing it as “both a financial loss and a source of emotional trauma” for people who were affected.

We also have found that consumers, the victims, are disproportionately older than younger, so all groups you expect to be more vulnerable and experience vulnerability – the Indigenous community, the CALD [culturally and linguistically diverse] community, refugees, for instance, will receive threats of being deported if they don’t take action transfer money etc, so scammers are incredibly capable of targeting people with vulnerability, and the data we receive in our reports indicates that there is a disproportionate impact in each of these more vulnerable members of the community.

She said that the number of reports received by the ACCC was more than 177,000 in just four months, with these figures suggesting a dramatic increase in the incidence of scamming. She said that the $2bn in losses last financial year was a likely underestimate.

Cass-Gottlieb said the ACCC was pleased to receive a $12m government grant which it would use towards the establishment of a national anti-scam centre, whose primary task would be to “make Australia a harder target for scammers”.

She said:

They will target countries that they think are the most vulnerable.

The Queensland premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, says “it’s time to be alert – not alarmed” as the state has switched from green to amber in the state’s Covid-19 traffic light advice system.

Adeshola Ore

Daniel Andrews calls for federal funding to treat long Covid

Victorian premier, Daniel Andrews, says he expects state leaders will be united in calling for further commonwealth funding to treat long Covid.

The state government has called for further funding for overwhelmed hospital clinics treating Victorians for long Covid but has not put a dollar figure on the requested investment.

Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Andrews said if the government was re-elected this month it would push for a continued partnership with the federal government for Covid support:

I don’t think we’ll be on our own there. Whether it’s NSW, every state has been having really important discussions with the commonwealth government about this next phase of Covid.

Last month, the federal budget revealed the equal sharing of Covid-related hospital costs would end at the end of the year, despite peak health bodies and state leaders calling for the arrangement to be extended.

Building and construction industry exempt from multi-employer bargaining

Paul Karp

The industrial relations debate is grinding on in the House of Representatives, with crossbench MPs putting up (largely) doomed amendments.

One detail from earlier when the workplace relations minister, Tony Burke, made fresh concessions.

Labor has agreed to exclude the entire commercial building and construction industry from multi-employer bargaining, replacing the clause targeting the construction union for breaches of industrial law with a general exclusion.

Burke told the House this decision – likely to exclude electricians, plumbers and other trades bargaining together – was “not taken lightly”.

The government does “not believe it is appropriate or necessary to extend multi-employer bargaining to this industry at this time”, he said.

Sarah Martin

ACCC looking to boost gas purchasing power of small manufacturers

The ACCC is also looking at ways to boost the purchasing power of small manufacturers in gas price negotiations, pointing to the potential of collective bargaining.

Nationals senator Susan McDonald raised concerns about the retail end of the supply chain, saying that without any restriction on what retailers can charge, households and small manufacturers “who have the least control in the market place” would be hard hit.

Gina Cass-Gottlieb reveals that the ACCC is also looking at ways to improve the purchasing power of smaller players. She said:

We are considering the questions about whether there are other mechanisms for small manufacturers to participate potentially in a collective bargaining capacity in terms of an acquisition from producers so we are trying to test the question of bargaining power and improving bargaining power in multiple ways.

She also said that while the initial focus of the ACCC’s work was on the “top of the supply chain”, the ACCC was also looking at the retail picture.

We do watch this situation … that at the retail level the market operates in a properly competitive fashion. If the parties are not operating in a properly competitive fashion … we will watch it very closely and take action.

The immediate focus is looking at the top of the supply chain, but we are seeking to ensure that all parties, including all parties who are users and purchasers, would also be subject to obligations.

McDonald then asks about the need to increase supplies, pointing to projects in Queensland and the NSW Narrabri projects as ways to increase supply into the market. She suggests that price controls may make these projects less likely to go ahead, and asks Cass-Gottlieb her view.

The ACCC chair says this view had been put forward by some producers, and it would “take them into account”.

Daniel Hurst

Wong regrets lack of consultation on West Jerusalem reversal

The foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, has conceded she had not intended to announce a change in policy on the recognition of West Jerusalem when she did.

At a Senate estimates hearing, the opposition’s foreign affairs spokesman, Simon Birmingham, asked whether it was always her intention to make the announcement in mid-October:

No. I don’t generally do things that way. I think you know that, Senator. I like to be a little more prepared.

Wong has declined to say who authorised the change in the Dfat website on 17 October to remove the previous Morrison government’s language recognising West Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. She said that change occurred “ahead of government processes”.

There was a mistake made. This was not how we would have dealt with this … Let’s be clear, a mistake occurred and I’ve taken responsibility for it.

Wong said cabinet made a decision the following morning – 18 October – to approve the change in government policy. She implied that the decision was fast-tracked to ensure there was no confusion about the government’s position:

Cabinet made a decision that morning … A mistake was made, I took responsibility for clarifying the government’s position as quickly as possible. I thought that it was best for that to happen and, as a consequence, there were a range of consequences to that, which we’ve discussed. But the decision was made by cabinet on the morning of the announcement.

As a consequence, obviously there was not the consultation and advice that would usually occur … including with Australia’s ambassador to Israel and others and it is not the process we would generally engage in or I have engaged in.

A senior Dfat official told the hearing he had spoken with Australia’s ambassador to Israel, Paul Griffiths, on 17 October, around the time of the media reports. The Dfat official said he had “advised [the Australian ambassador] what the situation was at that point in time, which at that point in time there was no change in policy”. The following day Israel summoned Griffiths to a meeting to register the Israeli government’s displeasure with the cabinet decision.

Asked whether a communications plan had been presented to her office, Wong said:

I think self-evidently the sequence of the events has been well publicised, so it’s pretty obvious there was no communications plan.

Peter Hannam

Origin shares soar after $18.4bn takeover bid lobbed

Origin Energy shares have jumped by more than a third this morning after it received a takeover bid from Canadian asset manager Brookfield and LNG group MidOcean Energy.

Brookfield, you may recall, made a tilt at AGL Energy in February that was rebuffed. (Although Brookfield’s partner in that bid, Mike Cannon-Brookes, later became AGL’s biggest shareholder and will have a big say over that firm’s governance at next week’s AGM.)

Anyway, a takeover by Origin would place a big question mark over the timing of the company’s plan to shut Australia’s biggest coal-fired power station, the 2,880-megawatt Eraring plant, in 2025.

If the consortium confirms its bid of $9 a share (compared with $5.80 of yesterday), Origin’s board would unanimously support the takeover bid. The current share price, recently at just under $8, has a bit higher to climb by the looks.

More to come.