BoM decision to reinstate radar colour scheme ‘sensible step’, assistant minister says
Speaking of the BoM … The assistant health minister, Rebecca White, says its decision to reinstate its previous colour scheme on its rain radar is “a sensible step”.
We need to make sure information shared through the bureau is clear and that people can understand it. And it seems like this launch hasn’t gone as well as anyone would expect.
So, while they make some improvements, it’s sensible to move back to what we had before because people understand that and it can sometimes make the difference between someone choosing to leave an area if there’s a storm, it may impact on them, or not.
We need to make sure there’s clear information provided through the bureau and I’m pleased to hear they have taken this step.
Key events
What we learned: Friday, 31 October
We will be leaving it there, thanks for joining us. Here’s what we covered today:
Thanks so much for your company today.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland education minister says vote down by teachers union ‘disappointing’
Queensland’s education minister, John-Paul Langbroek, says the state government will take the teacher’s union to arbitration, after members voted down a pay offer.
Langbroek said the vote was “disappointing”:
This deal would have seen every teacher in a classroom paid over $100,000 by the end of the agreement and while it now falls to the QTU to explain why this deal was not accepted, the government will now start progressing to arbitration within the Queensland Industrial Relations Commission to ensure we can reach an agreement.
The union says just under 29,000 of 51,500 members voted in this week’s ballot on an 8% pay offer over three years. 32.4% voted to take the deal, with 67.6% voting against.
BoM says more changes possible
The Bureau of Meteorology’s acting chief executive, Peter Stone, says there will be more changes to its website soon:
We’ve listened to your feedback and have restored the previous radar colour scheme.
We will continue to assess options for further updates and improvements at the same time as pushing on with our efforts to help the community become more familiar with the new website.
So, more changes are in the pipeline.
BoM decision to reinstate radar colour scheme ‘sensible step’, assistant minister says
Speaking of the BoM … The assistant health minister, Rebecca White, says its decision to reinstate its previous colour scheme on its rain radar is “a sensible step”.
We need to make sure information shared through the bureau is clear and that people can understand it. And it seems like this launch hasn’t gone as well as anyone would expect.
So, while they make some improvements, it’s sensible to move back to what we had before because people understand that and it can sometimes make the difference between someone choosing to leave an area if there’s a storm, it may impact on them, or not.
We need to make sure there’s clear information provided through the bureau and I’m pleased to hear they have taken this step.
Thunderstorm warning issued for south-east Queensland
The Bureau of Meteorology – which has had a bit of a week – has told residents of south-east Queensland to prepare for possibly “giant” hailstones over the next few hours.
Here’s the alert:
VERY DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS are likely to produce large, possibly giant hailstones, damaging, locally destructive winds and heavy rainfall that may lead to flash flooding in the warning area over the next several hours. Locations which may be affected include Toowoomba, Maroochydore, Gympie, Ipswich, Kingaroy, Gatton, Caboolture, Noosa Heads and Maryborough.
Donna Lu
Sydney Uni scientists develop new roof coating that can reduce surface temperatures
Australian scientists have developed roof coatings that can passively cool surfaces up to 6C below ambient temperature, as well as extract water from the atmosphere, which they say could reduce indoor temperatures during extreme heat events.
Heatwaves are becoming more intense, more frequent and more deadly due to human-caused global heating.
One coating made from a porous film, which can be painted on to existing roofs, works by reflecting 96% of incoming solar radiation, rather than absorbing the sun’s energy. It also has a high thermal emittance, meaning it effectively dissipates heat to outer space when the sky is clear. Its properties are known as passive radiative cooling.
Read more here:
Albanese asked about Coalition’s net zero discussion
Anthony Albanese was also asked about the Coalition party room’s meeting to discuss the net zero emissions policy earlier today.
Here’s his response:
The world is getting on with the transition to net zero. Overwhelmingly the world sees that the transition to net zero, that climate change is real, and I’m not going to comment on domestic matters back home.
I’ll let people watch that circus and to make their own decisions. But what we’re about is seizing the opportunity which is there.
Change is always not smooth and not straightforward. It represents a challenge. But it represents an opportunity.
After the meeting, the Coalition frontbencher Dan Tehan said “everyone is absolutely committed that our number one focus and number one priority has to be addressing energy costs”.
Strict secrecy over parole review of South Australia’s Snowtown killer
Snowtown serial killer James Vlassakis has appeared at a hearing to set a date for a review of a decision to release him on parole, AAP reports.
But parole administrative review commissioner, Michael David KC, has ruled the review hearing will be closed to the media.
Vlassakis, who is aged in his mid 40s, appeared via videolink on Friday at a directions hearing in Adelaide.
South Australian attorney general, Kyam Maher, has requested a review of the SA Parole Board’s decision in August to grant parole to Vlassakis, who pleaded guilty to four of the 11 murders between 1992 and 1999.
If freed, it is believed he will be the first serial killer released on parole in Australia.
Counsel for media, Peter Campbell, told David there was significant public interest in the review proceedings, and reporting on the details was important to “preserving confidence in the parole board and the process” and general principles of open justice.
Commissioner David made it clear that under law, proceedings for the review “must be heard in private”.
You can read more about this case:
Albanese declines to comment on Prince Andrew
Anthony Albanese has declined to comment on King Charles’s decision to strip royal titles from his brother Prince Andrew and kick him out of the Royal Lodge in Windsor.
Here’s what he said at a press conference on the sidelines of the Apec summit earlier today.
I think His Majesty King Charles can make decisions without the benefit of my advice, is probably the correct answer to that.
And they work through those things. We respect decisions that are made by the royal family.
You can read about the story here:
AGL Energy to shed hundreds of jobs
Jonathan Barrett
AGL Energy is preparing to cut hundreds of jobs amid a wide-ranging restructure of the electricity company.
The company said in a statement today it has proposed “changes to our organisational structure” and is reviewing costs to improve productivity.
The company said:
We understand this may be a difficult time for our people and we’re committed to communicating with transparency and respect and providing support throughout the consultation process.
It is understood that about 300 roles will be affected, which includes the removal of vacancies. This could result in about 200 workers being affected, although no final decisions have been made.
The expected job losses were first reported by The Australian.
Australia’s largest electricity and natural gas supplier is also the country’s biggest greenhouse gas emitter, due to its two large coal-fired power generators, located in NSW and Victoria.
Billionaire investor and shareholder Mike Cannon-Brookes is among those who have urged the company to speed up its transition to renewables.
Albanese meets Xi on Apec sidelines
Anthony Albanese has met with the Chinese president, Xi Jinping, on the sidelines of the Apec summit in South Korea.
ANZ takes $1.1bn hit to bottom line amid fines and redundancies
ANZ has flagged a $1.1bn bottom-line hit tied to its recently announced mass job cuts and the biggest settlement ever with the securities regulator, AAP reports.
The big-four bank will take an after-tax charge of $414m for the 3,500 staff redundancies announced in September, it said on Friday.
The bank will also take a $271m charge for a $240m fine from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the largest punishment the regulator has handed to a single entity.
As part of that settlement, ANZ admitted mishandling a $14bn bond deal for the federal government and failing to respond to hundreds of notices about customer hardship, making false and misleading statements about its savings interest rates and failing to pay those amounts to customers.
It’s also recognising a $68m charge related to costs associated with accelerating its integration of Suncorp Bank, a $281m write-off of its investment in an Indonesian bank and a $78m write-off of Cashrewards, a digital coupon business that ANZ is shutting down.
The impairments will impact ANZ’s statutory and cash profit, which the bank will announce on 10 November.
Major NT gas reserves could help save projects like Tomago, chief minister says
Lia Finocchiaro, the chief minister of the Northern Territory, says large gas reserves in the Beetaloo Basin could be a lifeline to projects like the Tomago aluminium smelter in New South Wales.
Rio Tinto, which owns the smelter, said recently it may cease operations in Tomago after the enterprise has struggled with high power prices, making its commercial viability difficult.
Finocchiaro told Sky News the Beetaloo project should start producing gas by the end of 2025:
We have 200 years of gas in the Beetaloo Basin which is expected to come into production early-to-mid-next year and we’ve been really giving gas the green light here in the Territory …
We can have a secure, reliable, affordable energy source right here at home, well-regulated in our own backyard and deliver the opportunities for that Australian-made focus.
More on Australia’s first formal treaty with traditional owners
My colleague Benita Kolovos has a more detailed report on Australia’s first formal treaty with traditional owners, which passed in Victoria’s parliament earlier today.
First Peoples’ Assembly co-chair Ngarra Murray said after the vote it was a “historic moment for our people”, adding:
We will tell our children about today, and they will tell their children, passing down to future generations the story of how decades of Aboriginal resilience and activism led to Australia’s first treaty.
Treaty marks the beginning of a new era, one where First Peoples’ 60,000 years of knowledge and culture is respected and celebrated. It’s an opportunity for all Victorians to acknowledge our shared history, heal and move forward together.
Read more from Benita here:
