3 weeks ago
Adelaide festival reinstates invitation to Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at writers’ week
The Adelaide festival has reinstated its invitation to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah to Adelaide writers’ week and issued an unreserved apology amid the firestorm over the decision to remove her from its program.
The festival said in a statement:
On 8 January 2026 the Adelaide Festival Corporation published a statement announcing that it had decided to exclude Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from participating as a speaker at Adelaide Writers’ Week this year. We stated that this was because it would be culturally insensitive to allow her to participate.
We retract that statement. We have reversed the decision and will reinstate Dr Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to speak at the next Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2027. We apologise to Dr Abdel-Fattah unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused her.
Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell well short.
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Benita Kolovos
Vic emergency services commissioner provides bushfire update
Victoria’s emergency services commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, provided an update earlier on the state’s bushfires. He said three further major fires have been controlled, bringing the total of active fires to nine.
He says there are 10 watch and act and 17 advice warnings in place across the state related to the nine fires, with the Wonnangatta fire has been particularly difficult for firefighters in the last few hours and he was hopeful rain forecast for this afternoon would reach it.
Wiebusch says:
Over the next 24 hours we have the potential for storms, particularly in the north of the state, through into the east. Whilst they will bring showers, we expect to see some decent rainfall, particularly over the Wonnangatta-Dargo fire - 40-50mm is what the bureau says - and on the eastern Gippsland fires, 60-80mm is possible over the next 24 hours.
Whilst that will be welcome rainfall for those fires and will help suppression efforts, there is also wind with the storms. There is a lot of debris from sheds or homes damaged or destroyed in these fires. That can become a missile in these storms. We are alerting communities that if you are cleaning up your properties, please be aware that those winds will pick up when we have that storm activity.
He urged motorists in the fire affected regions to also be aware of tree hazards in the weather.
Petra Stock
Environment groups from river states welcome Murray listing
The Murray-Darling Conservation Alliance, comprising environment groups from river states, welcomed additional protections for the river and its ecosystems following the decision to list its lower reaches as critically endangered under national environment laws.
Char Nitschke, campaigns coordinator at the Conservation Council of SA, said:
This historic listing recognises what First Nations, scientists, conservation groups and river communities have long warned: Australia’s greatest river system is in crisis, and without strong protection, faces continued ecological decline.
Over the last decade conditions across the river Murray system have only worsened.
Repeated toxic algal blooms, mass fish kills, declining flows, rising salinity and intensifying climate stress have pushed the system closer to collapse. Across the Murray-Darling Basin, 286 species are now threatened with extinction.
Today’s recognition of the true state of the river is the first step. Restoring the river to health – for wildlife, communities and future generations — is the goal.
Jordyn Beazley
Organisers behind upcoming Sydney protest confirm plan to remain static
An organiser of a protest in Sydney against the Minns government’s anti-protest laws has said that they don’t intend to march through the city, and plan to remain static outside Town Hall.
The confirmation comes after assistant police commissioner, Peter McKenna, warned on Thursday that if organisers were to choose to march it could result in arrests under the summary offences act.
Adam Adelpour, one of the organisers of the rally – which is also calling for the Albanese government to cancel Israeli president, Isaac Herzog’s, planned visit to Australia, said:
The government has tried to intimidate people by giving the impression they can’t even assemble. Part of what our action does is remind people that it’s not within the rights of police to prevent a static assembly, even under these draconian laws.
A ban on authorising public assemblies via the form 1 system – which would protect protesters from being charged for offences like obstructing traffic of a footpath in certain areas – was enforced in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. People can still protest without risk of being moved on by police, so long as they don’t commit any offences.
The ban on authorised public assemblies, which was met with fierce backlash by civil liberty groups, is now in place until 20 January however can be extended for 14-day increments for up to three months.
The rally on Friday night is being organised by Stop the War on Palestine and Jews Against the Occupation 48’.
It has been endorsed by a number of organisations, including the NSW Greens and Labor Friends of Palestine.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry urge Coalition to support hate speech bill
Tom McIlroy
The head of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) has called on the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, to rethink her opposition to the government’s hate speech laws and seek amendments from Labor.
Ley has signalled the Coalition is likely to oppose the bill when parliament resumes on Monday, prompting claims of hypocrisy from the government.
ECAJ co-chief executive Peter Wertheim said on Thursday that the bill failing to pass would be a “retrograde step”.
He said:
Some of the opposition’s criticisms of the bill are valid and repeat concerns which we ourselves have expressed about the bill’s shortcomings. However, there are also some important positives in the bill, including the introduction of a new listing regime to proscribe extremist hate organisations.
The ECAJ would urge the Coalition not to allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good. By all means seek to amend the bill to remove its shortcomings, but a wholesale rejection of the bill would not at all be warranted. In our view, the defeat of the bill would be a retrograde step.
The entire history of legislative reform concerning this issue has been one of incremental steps towards achieving the effective proscription of speech that deliberately promotes hatred of people based on their race, nationality or ethnic origin. The current bill would represent a significant further step towards that destination even if it does not completely get us there.
Wertheim said the status quo is no longer tolerable after the antisemitic terrorist attack in Bondi.
He said:
We need legislative reform now even if it is less than ideal.
Adelaide festival organisers ‘fully focused on and committed’ to other sections of festival
The chief executive of the Adelaide Festival Corporation, Julian Hobba, has said the new board is now “fully focused on and committed” to other sections of the festival which will still go ahead for 2026.
Hobba said:
I, alongside Artistic Director Matt Lutton, the Festival team and our new Board are now fully focused on and committed to the successful presentation of Adelaide Festival 2026.
We are grateful for the patience of many Festival artists who have been deeply concerned by the events ofthe last week.
We acknowledge and are grateful that the Premier Peter Malinauskas and Minister for Arts Andrea Michaels have taken swift action to appoint a new Board enabling us to rapidly re-set and continue our work in delivering Matt’s outstanding program. We also appreciate the Premier’s consistent position that the curatorial choices of Adelaide
Festival, including Adelaide Writers’ Week, are at the discretion of the organisation.
New Adelaide festival board commits to ‘curatorial independence’ of festival director
Potter also announced that the festival has rescinded a plan to establish a subcommittee of the board to review Adelaide writers’ week operational decisions.
She said:
We commit to the curatorial independence of the Director of Adelaide Writers’ Week while noting the Board’s overarching responsibility for a well-delivered event of the highest quality.
Reinstating 2026 writers’ festival not viable, says Potter
Potter has said the board “fervently” shares the desire of many in the community for the 2026 festival to be reinstated, but she said “our informed assessment of the situation is that it is simply no longer viable for it to proceed”.
She said:
We are determined that Adelaide Writers’ Week will rise again and our energies will be directed to that mission. We are thankful for the many messages of support from within the Adelaide Festival community to assist in the coming weeks and months.
Adelaide festival apologises to ‘revered’ former director Louise Adler
The new chair of the Adelaide festival, Judy Potter, has apologised to Louise Adler on behalf of the festival, saying Adler had worked so hard to curate the now cancelled 2026 program.
Adler had been the director of Adelaide writers festival for three years until she announced her resignation on Tuesday over the dumping of Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from the event.
Potter said:
We also wish to apologise to Louise Adler AM that the incredible Adelaide Writers Week program she had worked so hard to curate for 2026 has been cancelled as a result of the events that have unfolded over the last week after the announcement of the decision to rescind the invitation to Dr Abdel-Fattah.
We acknowledge the principled stand she took in the extremely difficult decision to resign from her role as Director.
Louise is a revered figure of Australian literature who we hold in the highest regard. Her contributions to, and stewardship of, Adelaide Writers’ Week in the time she has been the Director (2023 – 2025) have been outstanding.
We wish also to convey the warm affection of the staff for Louise and their gratitude for her strong convictions.
Abdel-Fattah accepts apology, but says it won’t be a ‘quick fix’ to repair damage done
Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah has already responded to the Adelaide festival, saying she accepts the apology in a comment on Instagram.
I accept this apology as acknowledgment of our right to speak publicly and truthfully about the atrocities that have been committed against the Palestinian people.
I accept this apology as a vindication of our collective solidarity and mobilisation against anti-Palestinian racism, bullying and censorship.
She said she would consider the invitation to speak at the 2027 event, but said she would be there in a “heartbeat if Louise Adler was the director again”. Abdel-Fattah added it was not a “quick fix to repair the damage and injury inflicted,” however.
Adelaide festival reinstates invitation to Randa Abdel-Fattah to speak at writers’ week
The Adelaide festival has reinstated its invitation to Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah to Adelaide writers’ week and issued an unreserved apology amid the firestorm over the decision to remove her from its program.
The festival said in a statement:
On 8 January 2026 the Adelaide Festival Corporation published a statement announcing that it had decided to exclude Dr Randa Abdel-Fattah from participating as a speaker at Adelaide Writers’ Week this year. We stated that this was because it would be culturally insensitive to allow her to participate.
We retract that statement. We have reversed the decision and will reinstate Dr Abdel-Fattah’s invitation to speak at the next Adelaide Writers’ Week in 2027. We apologise to Dr Abdel-Fattah unreservedly for the harm the Adelaide Festival Corporation has caused her.
Intellectual and artistic freedom is a powerful human right. Our goal is to uphold it, and in this instance Adelaide Festival Corporation fell well short.
Jordyn Beazley
NSW police have ‘contingencies in place’ for Australia Day protests
Returning to the NSW police assistant commissioner, Peter McKenna, for a moment, who spoke earlier about the protest restrictions currently in place.
He has said that police will have “contingencies in place” to work with “various public assemblies on Australia Day”, regardless of whether there is a declaration still in place banning the form 1 system.
He said that the police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, will make a decision closer to the 20 January when that declaration due to expire, if it should be extended for another 14 days. The commissioner has the power to extend the declaration for 14 days increments for up to three months.
McKenna said:
I can’t talk for what the commissioner will do at the end of this 14 day mark, which is the 20th of January, and I’m sure the commissioner himself will be waiting until right up until that point, just to see and assess the community tension, the social cohesion.
Australia Day falls outside of that. At the moment, we are working with the organisers for various public assemblies on Australia Day, and we’ll have different contingencies in place to work with them, regardless of whether there is a declaration. So I know it’s not exactly the most clear cut legislation, but we’ve worked with it. We’re working the legislation we’re given right now.
Petra Stock
Lower river Murray listed as critically endangered under national environment laws
The federal government has listed the lower reaches of the Murray river, including the Coorong, as critically endangered under Australia’s national environment laws – the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.
The environment minister, Murray Watt, said:
This listing covers the waterways, the wetlands, floodplains, and vegetation of the River Murray, downstream from its intersection with the Darling River in New South Wales, and includes the iconic Coorong lagoon.
The listing provides important recognition that despite the efforts of governments and communities, the lower Murray remains under great stress, and that we need to do more to protect it and restore it.
A healthy Murray river is crucial for our environment, for agriculture, tourism and local communities.
The listing will require government action to restore the river, and greater assessment of new developments that could impact on the river environment.
Watt also announced the first round of a $20m grants program to support river communities in South Australia.
Wong says Australians can see ‘the Liberals and the s never put Australia first’
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, is speaking in South Australia. She said the proposed legislation after the Bondi attack addressed both hate speech and gun control, calling it legislation that has been subject to a “great deal of attention”.
Wong pointed to Ley’s insistence for weeks that parliament be recalled, saying her concerns now reflected a changing of tune:
It’s important. We know why it’s important. Yet we see from the Liberal and parties nothing more than weakness, nothing more than hypocrisy.
Now we have legislation that is directly addressing what we know was part of the call from the Jewish community and others for stronger protections in the aftermath of Bondi. And now, the Liberal Party and the Party have changed their tune. Instead, they want to delay. Well, I think Australians can see what is happening and Australians can see that the Liberals and the s never put Australia first.
Melissa Davey
NSW Health issues immediate recall for hand sanitiser containing toxic methanol
NSW Health said people must immediately stop using Dr Schwartz Hand Sanitiser after a product recall by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
Dr Schwartz Hand Sanitiser contains methanol, which is highly toxic if ingested, causing serious and irreversible injuries or death, prompting the recall. Significant toxicity from skin exposure is unlikely.
High concentrations of methanol are not permitted in alcohol-based hand sanitiser or any product used by the public.
The product was supplied to guests as a complimentary hand sanitiser at the Paradise Resort, Gold Coast, Queensland from 31 August 2020 to 6 January 2026.
NSW Health said if it is suspected someone has swallowed the hand sanitiser, the Poisons Information Centre should be called immediately on 13 11 26.
NSW Health said it can be disposed of in the general waste.
“NSW Health recommends all alcohol-based hand sanitiser products are stored safely and out of reach of children,” the department of health said in a statement. “Additionally, when these products are used by young children, it should be under the supervision of an adult.”
Carveout for quoting religious texts among Coalition’s main concerns
Ley said one of her main concerns is the carveout for quoting religious texts, which could become a defence for those accused of breaching the new hate speech laws.
The opposition leader characterised the inclusion as a loophole that would become a “carefully planned excuse for hate preachers”.
Guardian Australia’s Krishani Dhanji has more on that proposal here:
Ley: ‘They have taken a month to deliver this bad bill’
Ley is both criticising the government for taking too long to recall parliament – noting she wanted lawmakers back before Christmas – and saying Albanese is rushing too quickly into the proposed legislation:
They have taken a month to deliver this bad bill. Now, had they listened to us which they should have in the weeks after Bondi, we could already have had a package introduced into the parliament with the necessary parliamentary scrutiny already under way with a month to have had that inquiry, that scrutiny, and that submission.
We should have had the opportunity to introduce our measures which we will seek to do when the parliament does return and which we announced weeks ago and we know are the best response to the Bondi terror attack.
Ley said the Coalition was not consulted in the lead-up to the legislation’s introduction. Albanese said this morning he has met with her weekly.
Ley says legislation looks ‘unsalvageable’
Ley said the opposition would continue to look at the proposed legislation, but said from the Coalition’s eyes, it didn’t look good:
Now, the opposition will continue to scrutinise this legislation carefully, but from what we have seen so far, it looks pretty unsalvageable. As it stands, the government’s proposal is half-baked and Australians deserve far better.
She said the Coalition would work to advance its own package of “practical” measures.
