Antoinette Lattouf v ABC case headed to trial
Amanda Meade
The ABC will defend its decision to sack casual Sydney radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf in a federal court trial listed to start on Monday 3 February.
Lattouf was removed by ABC management after sharing a post from Human Rights Watch alleging Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. The ABC had reported on the Human Rights Watch claim.
The ABC strongly denied the dismissal was the result of outside pressure on the broadcaster after revelations of a campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have her dismissed.
Witnesses called to give evidence include former ABC chair Ita Buttrose, the outgoing chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, and the outgoing managing director, David Anderson.
Former ABC journalist Antoinette Lattouf arriving at the court last year. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPLattouf was taken off air three days into a five-day casual contract in December 2023 after she posted on social media about the Israel-Gaza war, which the ABC said was a breach of editorial policy.
The Fair Work Commission found Lattouf was sacked, paving the way for the journalist to pursue an unlawful termination case.
The ABC had argued at the commission that Lattouf was not sacked because she was paid for the full five days of her contract.
Mediation between the two parties held late last year failed.
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Benita Kolovos
Allan says there is too much ‘US style division coming to Australia’
Jacinta Allan has also rebuffed a question regarding Donald Trump’s executive order rejecting recognition of transgender people in the United States government departments.
Asked how many genders there were by Sky News reporter, Simon Love, she responded, “Really?” and went on:
I’ll say this in a broad sense, we are seeing too much US style division coming to our country, and it’s the responsibility of leaders to call it out and not respond to it and stand up for their communities.
Every Victorian should have the right to practice their faith, whatever that faith may be, and do so safely and to love who they love and to be who they are. That’s what’s important here. What happens in the US, happens in the US. What we should be focused on here is saying enough of that US style division.
We’ve had enough hurt. We’ve got enough division. We don’t need to add to that with this sort of tokenistic behaviour. We’ve got to focus on supporting people to be who they are, to love who they want to love, and to practise their faith, whatever their faith may be.
Allan says Dutton should stop using antisemitism as 'political weapon' after he criticised her response
Benita Kolovos
Circling back to Victorian premier Jacinta Allan’s earlier press conference, where she responded to comments Peter Dutton made yesterday – describing her response to antisemitism as “disgraceful” compared to the NSW premier, Chris Minns.
(Minns, funnily enough, said he was looking to the Victorian government’s legislation as he works to combat hate speech in his state).
The premier said for Dutton and “any Liberal who wants to use this issue as a weapon” to “stop”.
We are seeing enough hurt and division around the country as a consequence of this conflict overseas that they should stop. And if Peter Dutton is fair dinkum about working with communities, about working with governments around the country on this evil of antisemitism, he would tell his Victorian Liberal colleagues to support the bill that is in the Victorian parliament right now.
So stop using this as a political weapon. Stop using this as a political tool and look at what we are doing here in Victoria.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShe said the Victorian government has banned the Nazi symbol and salute and introduced anti-vilification legislation to parliament that puts hateful speech, antisemitic speech, into the Crimes Act, which will lead to tougher penalties.
I’d encourage Peter Dutton to pick up the phone to his colleagues here in Victoria and tell them to get on and support this bill.
Police say footage of brawl ‘confronting and distressing’
Supt Despa Fitzgerald said she had reviewed footage of the brawl and it was “very confronting and distressing”.
It’s only snippets of CCTV footage that we’re still putting together to get a better understanding of the duration of the initial interaction.
Police say without witnesses providing CPR, ‘something more serious’ could have occurred
Continuing to address the media in Newtown, Supt Despa Fitzgerald said there was a couple who rendered CPR at the scene “and I thank them dearly for what they did”.
Because the officer was unconscious for some time and without their assistance, we may be talking about something more serious …
I’m not a medical expert, but if they weren’t there and provided CPR, anything could have happened.
Family of injured off-duty police officer ‘distressed’
Supt Despa Fitzgerald said she had spoken with the family of the off-duty officer who was more severely injured, and they were “distressed”.
[They are] obviously distressed to have to come to a hospital to give support to their son at this time, thinking that, you know, their son was going out for a night out, and this ended up occurring.
Injured officer discharged from hospital will be interviewed about alleged Newtown assault
Supt Despa Fitzgerald said the two off-duty officers had been watching a concert before walking along Enmore Road towards King Street in Newtown, where “some sort of argument has [allegedly] taken place”.
That has not been confirmed as the officers who were injured have not been interviewed, due to the medical conditions that they’re undergoing at the moment, and the medical attention that they’re receiving.
She said the injured officer who had been discharged from hospital would be interviewed later today.
My understanding from reviewing some CCTV footage today [is] that the three males that police want to speak to were involved in some sort of heated discussion amongst each other – and that’s also from witnesses – and the two off-duty officers were walking by, and somehow, some conversation, it appears, has taken place, and then the [alleged] assaults on the two off-duty officers has occurred.
Police say they have ‘positive lines of inquiry’ into alleged Newtown assault
Yasmin Catley said there were three unknown alleged offenders who police were looking for. She urged anyone who knew anything to come forward.
It’s a very busy area where this [alleged] offence occurred. We know that there will be dashcam footage, CCTV footage, indeed, people with their cameras, videoing. Anything you have will be valuable for the police to use in the event of evidence.
Supt Despa Fitzgerald said police had “positive lines of inquiries” and had spoken with various witnesses overnight.
Police and police minister front media after off-duty police assaulted in Sydney brawl
Supt Despa Fitzgerald, commander of the Inner West Police Area command, and the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, are speaking to reporters about an alleged serious assault of off-duty members in Newtown overnight.
Catley said the off-duty officers were enjoying a vibrant part of Sydney, and “now have an officer who is still in hospital, as we speak, in a stable but very serious condition and undergoing further tests”.
I would like to thank those bystanders that were there, that offered assistance, and in particular those that rendered medical assistance until the ambulance arrived …
We have such gratitude for you coming in and helping those officers who were injured, particularly that officer with those crucial injuries. These are really life saving events that took place by them, and we are so thankful.
Benita Kolovos
State government working on timeline to support Lost Dogs’ Home to relocate – Allan
On the prospect of the Lost Dogs’ Home being forced out of its North Melbourne home without the cash for suitable new premises, as reported in The Age this morning, Jacinta Allan said this would not happen.
She said the government, which was planning to acquire the land to make room for housing and commercial development as part of the new Arden precinct, would support the Lost Dogs’ Home through the process. She said work on acquisition hasn’t begun yet.
Now, the acquisition processes around the Arden precinct are yet to get under way, so we have the time and we’re continuing to work with the operators of the Lost Dogs’ Home …
The acquisition process has not commenced.
The premier said she understood it was a “disruptive process” but the home would be supported to “find a new home”.
We’re working on a timeline that will support the Lost Dogs’ Home to be able to find a new home.
Benita Kolovos
Allan ‘disappointed’ police pulled out of Pride March after not being allowed to march in uniform
Jacinta Allan was then asked about another event – the Pride March – after it was decided by organisers that police could not participate in uniform, leading them to pull out of the event.
Allan said she would be marching in the event, but was disappointed police wouldn’t be able to in their uniform:
Equality is not negotiable here in this state. Everyone should have the right to be who they are, pray to their God and practise their faith, and to love who they love, and they should be able to do that respectfully and freely. So I am a bit disappointed.
I am disappointed that these issues have not been able to be resolved because there will be many members of Victoria police who will have wanted to have attended in uniform, both to show their support for the community, but also as members of the community who are proud to be who they are within the Victorian community. So it is disappointing … but this is an outcome that has been resolved between Victoria police and the Midsumma organisers.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPBenita Kolovos
Allan says people can ‘find space in hearts and heads’ to recognise 26 January a difficult day for some
Earlier in the week, the First People’s Assembly held a press conference to encourage people to abstain from celebrating on 26 January and urging Victorians to sign a petition calling for Australia Day to be changed.
The press conference led to criticism from the Victorian opposition leader, Brad Battin, who said the taxpayer-funded body should not be calling for people to attend rallies or protests.
However, Jacinta Allan said the assembly was an elected body independent of government. She went on:
How they choose to conduct themselves is a matter for them, but I think it is important to remember that Australia Day … for some it is a difficult day. And I think we can all find space in our hearts and in our heads to respect that, to understand that.
Respect also goes both ways. We’ve got to make sure that for those who want to acknowledge the day in their own way, have the space to do that, and also those who want to go and participate at Australia Day events also have the opportunity to do so.
The premier was quick to add that she has been attending official Australia Day events for the “last 30 years”.
Benita Kolovos
Allan says police have ‘powers and resources they need’ for weekend protests
Circling back to Victorian premier Jacinta Allan’s press conference in Werribee:
She was asked about the upcoming protests on Sunday – both to mark Australia Day and the weekly pro-Palestinian protests that occur in Melbourne’s CBD – Allan said police have the “powers and resources they need” to handle anything that occurs.
I want to be clear that I support the right to peaceful protest. I think many Victorians support that fundamental principle of the right to protest, but the right to protest peacefully.
What is testing the public’s patience is this behaviour at particular locations and a particular set of behaviour by some protesters. What I’ve been advised by Victoria police, is that in terms of any protest activity on this coming weekend that [they] will be there in large numbers.
Should any protest activity turn violent, they have the powers to arrest, they have the powers to move on people. But it shouldn’t come to that.
Sydney corpse flower ‘Putricia’ appears to be beginning to unfurl
We have movement!
For all the eagle-eyed fans watching the livestream of Sydney icon “Putricia” – AKA the corpse flower expected to bloom at the Botanic Gardens any day now – you may have noticed that over the past hour, her leaves have begun to unfurl.
Her loyal fans in the comment section of the livestream have certainly noticed, too. It might end up being a false alarm, but there’s currently about 3.4k people tuning in for the action – you won’t want to miss this:
Benita Kolovos
Jacinta Allan spends third day in Werribee ahead of upcoming byelection
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has spent a third day this week in Werribee, in Melbourne’s west, ahead of a byelection on 8 February.
Today, she was joined by the federal minister for infrastructure, Catherine King, with the duo announcing $333.5m to upgrade two major roads in the area: the Werribee Main Road and Princess Freeway interchange and Ballan Road in Wyndham Vale.
The duo said the funding would improve connectivity and safety, as well as save time for drivers. According to the 2021 census, 52.5% people in the electorate use their car to get to work.
Allan said:
This is going to see those multiple benefits that will reduce congestion on local streets, provide capacity and room for growth, and also too, it’ll see a substantial saving in travel times of up to 10 minutes a day for motorists to go in and out and around the Werribee community.
We’re delivering on these local connections, because that’s what the community has told us they want to see – that ongoing investment in local road projects that join up and provide for those direct connections for where people want to go.
Labor tips $2bn in green bank amid Trump cloud
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The federal government will tip an extra $2bn into the Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC) in an attempt to harness private capital to turbocharge the renewables transition.
As flagged earlier, the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and climate change minister, Chris Bowen, announced the investment today, which the government expects to unlock $6bn in private finance for clean energy projects.
The CEFC – otherwise known as the nation’s green bank – invests in clean energy projects to help support the transition and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
The latest investment comes amid widespread uncertainty about the impact the new US president, Donald Trump, will have on the global shift to net zero.
Trump has already signed an executive order to withdraw the US – the world’s second largest emitter – from the Paris climate agreement, as he promises to unleash fossil fuel production under his “drill, baby, drill” agenda.
The energy and climate change minister Chris Bowen. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPIn a statement announcing the CEFC investment, Bowen insisted the world was shifting to net zero:
That means there are big opportunities and big benefits for Australia, so long as it acts now to make the most of demand for clean energy and inputs globally. We’re getting on with the changes needed to make the most of Australia’s natural comparative advantage, having some of the best sun, wind, and critical mineral resources in the world.
The Investor Group on Climate Change’s chief executive, Rebecca Mikula-Wright, welcomed the additional $2bn for the CEFC.
We support greater public and private investment to accelerate Australia’s shift to clean energy because an orderly, fair and well-planned transition to net zero emissions delivers the best possible outcome for IGCC members’ beneficiaries.
Splendour in the Grass cancelled for second year running
The Splendour in the Grass festival will not return in 2025, organisers have announced.
In a post to Facebook, organisers said they needed “a little more time to recharge” and would come back “bigger and better” when the time is right:
The rest of the festival team have still been busy cooking up some awesome new things for music lovers in Australia, but Splendour needs a little more time to recharge and we won’t be back this year.
Think of it as a breather so we can come back even bigger and better when the time is right. Lots of other huge events on the horizon so keep an ear to the ground in the coming months – we can’t wait to share what we’ve been working on!
Last year, Splendour was cancelled due to “unexpected events”, organisers said at the time.
The festival had been held annually since 2001, and in the North Byron parklands in Yelgun, New South Wales, since 2013. In previous years it has attracted 50,000 festivalgoers, with headliners including Coldplay, Lana Del Rey and Childish Gambino.
Splendour in the Grass on its last outing in 2023. Photograph: Matt Jelonek/Getty ImagesNSW police to speak to media about alleged assault of off-duty officers
We’re expecting Supt Despa Fitzgerald, the commander of Inner West police area command, to speak to the media in the next hour or so about an alleged serious assault of off-duty members in Newtown.
You can read more on that story here:
Antoinette Lattouf v ABC case headed to trial
Amanda Meade
The ABC will defend its decision to sack casual Sydney radio presenter Antoinette Lattouf in a federal court trial listed to start on Monday 3 February.
Lattouf was removed by ABC management after sharing a post from Human Rights Watch alleging Israel was using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza. The ABC had reported on the Human Rights Watch claim.
The ABC strongly denied the dismissal was the result of outside pressure on the broadcaster after revelations of a campaign by pro-Israel lobbyists to have her dismissed.
Witnesses called to give evidence include former ABC chair Ita Buttrose, the outgoing chief content officer, Chris Oliver-Taylor, and the outgoing managing director, David Anderson.
Former ABC journalist Antoinette Lattouf arriving at the court last year. Photograph: Dean Lewins/AAPLattouf was taken off air three days into a five-day casual contract in December 2023 after she posted on social media about the Israel-Gaza war, which the ABC said was a breach of editorial policy.
The Fair Work Commission found Lattouf was sacked, paving the way for the journalist to pursue an unlawful termination case.
The ABC had argued at the commission that Lattouf was not sacked because she was paid for the full five days of her contract.
Mediation between the two parties held late last year failed.
Labor and Coalition blame each other for continuing slump in school attendance
Caitlin Cassidy
The federal education minister says the former Coalition government is to blame for falling school attendance, with new data from the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara) showing rates are still languishing at pandemic lows.
The data, released yesterday, found school attendance rates from Years 1-10 were 88.3% in 2024, down slightly from 88.6% in 2023 and sitting well below 91.4% in 2019.
The percentage of students with above 90% attendance was 59.8% in 2024, down from 61.6% in 2023.
Jason Clare said the poor trend was a result of the previous government’s national school reform agreement, which “didn’t contain the necessary reforms or targets”.
School attendance began trending down under the Liberal party from 2015. The Liberal party was happy to hand over a blank cheque, I’m not. That’s why the reforms and targets included in the Better and Fairer Schools Agreement are so important. Four jurisdictions have signed on to this agreement which includes a target to increase the student attendance rate to pre-pandemic levels. The government is continuing to work with other jurisdictions.
Liberal senator Sarah Henderson. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPThe shadow education minister, Sarah Henderson, said Labor had “failed to implement meaningful reforms to lift attendance”.
While the government has adopted the Coalition’s call for explicit instruction and other evidence-based teaching methods, Jason Clare has failed to detail how teachers will be sufficiently supported in the classroom, ignoring … recommendations for a national behaviour curriculum.