Australia news live: Hugh Marks says ABC he arrived at too ‘fearful’ and defensive; John Laws state funeral about to begin

ABC managing director says broadcaster should ‘own mistakes’ and move on

Hugh Marks, the managing director of the ABC, is speaking before the Press Club in Canberra this afternoon. He’s speaking about the importance of the national broadcaster to “own mistakes” and move on in a fast-paced world.

He said:

We have to not cower, but we can’t be defensive when we make a mistake, own it. It’s not hard. People accept this is a fast moving world. People expect journalism operates on a very fast cycle. People are under pressure to file and get stories up. And that’s what the public needs because they need to be informed. Sometimes mistakes happen. When mistakes happen, we acknowledge them. We own them. We make the correction. We move on. We don’t defend at all costs. …

When I arrived at the ABC there was a … defensive mindset that existed in the organisation which had been established, and these things happen over decades. They eke up and eke up. The organisation had a fearfulness of external force. And I think that fearfulness drives a counterproductive behaviour. …

We really have our heads around the importance of owning mistakes quickly. Will we get it right all the time? I’m sure we won’t.

ABC managing director Hugh Marks. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

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John Laws’ state funeral is about to begin

Former prime minister John Howard, former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, and actor Russell Crowe have taken their seats in St Andrews Cathedral for the state funeral of John Laws.

Laws’ good friend, musician John Williamson, will perform his hit song True Blue during the service.

Trucking billionaire Lindsay Fox, the Liberal MP for Vaucluse, Kellie Sloane, broadcasters Ben Fordham and Richard Wilkins and Olympian Dawn Fraser are among the mourners.

Parliament launches ‘healthy masculinities’ group

A cross-party group of MPs are urging men and boys to speak up and seek help with their problems, launching a new Parliamentary Friends of Healthy Masculinities group inside federal parliament today.

To mark Men’s Day, the group’s co-chairs – Labor’s Dan Repacholi, independent David Pocock and Liberal MP Aaron Violi – said they wanted to support men and boys feel more comfortable about being open with their feelings, seek help if they needed it, and learn healthy habits about relationships.

“David, Aaron and I may not always agree on everything in this place and in this building, but the one thing that we are rock-solid on is the fact that we need to do better for the young men of this country, because they will grow up to be older men in this country,” Repacholi said in launching the group today, adding:

To all the young blokes out there right now that are listening to this today, I want you to all know that you are not alone, that you can have these conversations, that it is not weak to speak. It is actually strong to speak.

The group will be supported by mental health organisation The Man Cave in doing its work.

Asked to share times they’d been open with their feelings, Repacholi spoke about seeking help with weight loss from his doctor; Pocock, a former Wallabies rugby captain, talked about having recurring nightmares during his playing days and starting to see a therapist; while Violi spoke of his parents separating when he was young, and finding support and role models through playing sport.

Pocock said:

We hear a lot in society about toxic masculinity, and there’s rightly been a focus on men doing better, and men need to be stepping up into the conversation when it comes to things like family violence and when it comes to mental health.

Men have a long way to go, and so this group is really about ensuring that we’re talking about healthy masculinity, what does it mean to be a young man.

ABC managing director says broadcaster should ‘own mistakes’ and move on

Hugh Marks, the managing director of the ABC, is speaking before the Press Club in Canberra this afternoon. He’s speaking about the importance of the national broadcaster to “own mistakes” and move on in a fast-paced world.

He said:

We have to not cower, but we can’t be defensive when we make a mistake, own it. It’s not hard. People accept this is a fast moving world. People expect journalism operates on a very fast cycle. People are under pressure to file and get stories up. And that’s what the public needs because they need to be informed. Sometimes mistakes happen. When mistakes happen, we acknowledge them. We own them. We make the correction. We move on. We don’t defend at all costs. …

When I arrived at the ABC there was a … defensive mindset that existed in the organisation which had been established, and these things happen over decades. They eke up and eke up. The organisation had a fearfulness of external force. And I think that fearfulness drives a counterproductive behaviour. …

We really have our heads around the importance of owning mistakes quickly. Will we get it right all the time? I’m sure we won’t.

NSW attorney general says hate speech investigations may take longer

The NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, says police procedure means they may choose not to bring hate speech charges immediately after an alleged offence, as questions remain over whether proposed laws would have empowered police to break up this month’s neo-Nazi rally.

In question time today, the attorney general was asked if he had consulted with the Director of Public Prosecutions on any potential charges following this month’s rally, at which Nazi slogans and chants were allegedly used. NSW police confirmed today no charges have yet been laid.

Daley said it would be “inappropriate” for him to intervene or comment on the investigation, but said that police procedure meant that charges did not always come straight after an alleged offence.

The police, as we know, in relation to matters such as this, don’t always lay charges on the day. There are occasions where they garner the necessary evidence that they need to investigate, get legal advice and then work out whether they wish to prosecute at a later time.

Earlier, the premier, Chris Minns, also said he was “not particularly worried” about a potential legal challenge to a fresh attempt to restrict protests outside places of worship, as we reported this morning. Minns said:

This has obviously been heavily vetted by the lawyers inside the government. [We feel] that it doesn’t breach the implied freedom of political communication in the constitution. We also believe it’s a much needed and important piece of legislation for the state.

Questions remain over how new NSW laws would have affected neo-Nazi rally

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says new laws targeting neo-Nazis would have made a “big difference” as questions remain over what impact they would have had on this month’s rally on the steps of parliament.

The government is seeking to expand a ban Nazi symbols so that those who chant Nazi slogans could be fined or imprisoned, following this month’s rally by members of White Australia, also known as the Socialist Network.

The changes are being introduced to parliament today but will not have a chance to pass this year as the government will seek to refer them to a lower house committee for oversight.

Asked what effect the changes would have had on this month’s rally, Minns says they will give police the ability to make arrests whether a protest is authorised or not. He said the new bill “as it is written” would give NSW police the discretion to decide what constitutes a Nazi slogan or chant.

The organisers of this month’s rally put in a form 1 application for a protest, which was approved by police. Asked if the laws would capture the banner used at the rally and included in the application, which called for the abolition of the “Jewish Lobby”, Minns says:

Yeah it would, but the police are also looking at the circumstances related to that rally and I can’t go into detail on that.

How to watch John Laws’ state funeral today from 1pm

As well as the official livestream from St Andrew’s Cathedral, Channel Seven and Nine Radio will provide live coverage.

Hosted by Michael McLaren and John Stanley, beginning at 1pm AEDT, the coverage will be carried by 25 of Nine’s stations across the country, which syndicated the John Laws Morning Show for decades.

Nine Radio’s managing director, Tom Malone, said:

John Laws was a giant of Australian radio and we’re proud to be honouring John, and providing his millions of listeners right across the country with the opportunity to be part of the farewell.

Seven News will also broadcast the event from 1pm to 3pm on Seven in Sydney and Melbourne and 7plus nationally.

ANZ CEO says job cuts ‘not something I am proud of’

ANZ’s CEO, Nuno Matos, says the bank’s move to slash 3,500 jobs is “not something I am proud” of, but says it is in the “best interests of our customers”.

Matos, earlier this morning, offered an “unreserved apology” on behalf of the bank for the mistreatment of thousands of vulnerable customers and lying to the government over a massive bond deal.

The chair of the House of Representatives economics committee, Ed Husic, asked whether it was fair that thousands of people faced losing their jobs in the wake of the record $240m fine while executives had only lost their bonuses.

Matos pointed out that four of the nine top executives had left the bank since he had arrived six months ago, but conceded the point.

I need to say the obvious: letting go of approximately 3,500 people and impacting them and their families is not something I am proud [of], is not something I would like to do, not something a human being likes to do.

It is very, very tough.”

Matos said the mass redundancies were “absolutely unrelated to the other topic (the scandals) except in one element that is crucial to us”.

The company needs to work in a simpler manner. The company was and still is too complex. It’s in the best interests of our customers to have a bank that focuses on one simple thing: doing banking.

When Matos revealed the redundancies in September, he insisted the decision was “not about profits”.

‘A lot of work to do’ to improve culture and leadership in higher education, Jason Clare says

The education minister will introduce legislation next week to formally create the Australian Tertiary Education Commission (ATEC), an independent steward for the future of higher education.

Addressing the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA)‘s annual conference on Wednesday morning, Jason Clare said the commission was the “most important” recommendation in the Universities Accord, handed down last year.

It has been operating in an interim capacity since June, tasked with improving equity and fairness in the higher education sector. Clare confirmed in the coming weeks, he would also receive a report from the racism commissioner on racism in universities, compiling a series of recommendations after surveying more than 76,000 students and staff.

The Student Ombudsman, tasked with resolving student complaints on a broad range of issues including student safety and wellbeing, has already been accessed 2,400 times since its establishment in February, Clare said.

Clare noted there was “a lot of work” to do to improve culture and leadership in higher education.

This is not about attacking universities, this is not about belting universities … this is about making the organisations that you run and work in better. Building trust inside your organisations and building public support for the work that you do.

Peak university body issues warning over CSIRO research cuts

The head of the peak university body has warned that hundreds of research job cuts announced at CSIRO yesterday will leave Australia behind the rest of the world in research development.

University Australia’s chief executive, Luke Sheehy, said CSIRO’s announcement to shed jobs and narrow its research focus demonstrated “Australia’s research engine is running short of fuel”.

Sheehy continued:

This isn’t just a CSIRO issue – it’s a warning light for the entire research ecosystem.

Australia is being outspent and outpaced by the world, Australia currently invests 1.69% of GDP in R&D – well below the OECD average of 2.7% and far behind innovation leaders like South Korea and Germany who invest over 3%.

If we continue to underinvest, we will lose the talent, infrastructure and breakthroughs that drive jobs, national security and technological strength.

Read more here:

More from former Liberal senator Hollie Hughes

Former senator and ex-Liberal Hollie Hughes spoke to 2GB yesterday, where she was asked if the Liberal party was “broken beyond repair”. She said she was particularly disgusted by the recent meeting to dump the party’s net zero by 2050 targets, where, she says, female politicians were being “used” to do the party’s dirty work and undermine Sussan Ley:

I mean, to be honest, I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I saw that big rightwing conservative group walking into the net zero meeting together, and they shove three women, one who no one’s ever heard of, and two who, you know, are being used, quite frankly, by the boys who want a challenge but don’t have the gumption to go out and say anything themselves.

So [they] are pushing Sarah and Jacinta out there to make these undermining comments to Susan. And I just I think it’s disgusting.

Government’s nature laws don’t consider fossil fuel projects’ risk to human health, experts warn

Medical experts warn the government’s proposed nature laws will allow coal and gas projects to be approved without assessing their risk to human health.

Doctors for the Environment Australia say that the draft reforms, the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025 and six other related bills, do not include human health effects when defining what is an “unacceptable impact”.

The group says fossil fuel-induced climate change is the biggest health hazard humanity faces, with doctors already seeing the effects including mortality during extreme heat events and increasing climate-sensitive vector-borne diseases like dengue fever and Japanese encephalitis.

The laws are expected to be debated in the Senate next week and the group are calling on the senators to amend the legislation to include human health.

DEA’s executive director Dr Kate Wylie says “ we need to use the available science that can measure the toll on our communities from individual fossil fuel projects.

We call for health impact assessments for all energy projects and for death and disease data to be included in the definition of unacceptable impacts.

Surely if a project causes death it cannot be deemed acceptable? What price a life? What price our health?

State funeral for John Laws begins later today in Sydney

A state funeral for broadcaster John Laws will take place in Sydney in a few hours.

Guests will begin arriving at 12.30pm, with the funeral set to begin at 1.30pm at St Andrew’s Cathedral. It’s expected to end around 2.45pm.

An announcement for the event called Laws a “a towering figure in Australian radio whose voice resonated across the nation for more than seven decades”, adding:

John’s career was extraordinary. Few broadcasters have left such a deep and lasting mark on Australian media … His legacy lies not only in the thousands of hours on air, but in the connection he forged with millions of Australians.

You can watch a livestream of the event here.

Jacinta Nampijinpa Price says Hollie Hughes ‘clearly bitter’ after ex-senator quits party

A war of words has erupted between current and former Liberal members after an ex-senator quit the party in disgust at the behaviour of some MPs, AAP reports.

Hollie Hughes, who lost her Senate seat at the last federal election, resigned from the Liberals on Tuesday, accusing some of her former colleagues of undermining opposition leader Sussan Ley.

“There are some people who are completely inept, who are lazy, who are not across the details,” she told 2GB radio. “It is an absolute rabble.”

Hughes also accused the conservative faction of using women to do the undermining, singling out Jacinta Nampijinpa Price and Sarah Henderson.

(They) are being used, quite frankly, by the boys who want to challenge but don’t have the gumption to go out and say anything themselves.

Price fired back at the remarks, also on 2GB:

It’s pretty disappointing to hear that sort of commentary from a woman … it’s just a ridiculous notion.

She’s clearly bitter, and that’s her issue to deal with herself.

The former shadow minister was dumped from her senate spot in the lead-up to the 2025 election in a factional deal which she says was orchestrated by potential leadership contender Angus Taylor. Hughes rejected suggestions her comments were a reaction to losing her senate spot.

ANZ boss issues ‘unreserved apology’ for failing vulnerable customers

The chief executive of ANZ, Nuno Matos, has offered an “unreserved apology” for what he called “serious and unacceptable” failures by the bank, which included ignoring hundreds of hardship applications and not refunding fees charged to thousands of dead customers.

Speaking at a parliamentary committee hearing this morning, Matos, who was appointed to the top job six months ago, said the bank “must put those we serve at the centre of everything we do”, as he admitted that ANZ “has not always lived up to these expectations”.

The failings of non-financial risk management that led to regulatory actions were serious and unacceptable. Some of them occurred when our customers were at their most vulnerable, facing hardship, bereavement, or relying on us to act with integrity.

The bank fell short of what is expected of us and for that, I offer an unreserved apology.

In September, ANZ was fined $240m by Asic after the bank admitted to lying about bond trading data in its dealings with the federal government, alongside widespread misconduct in its retail division that affected tens of thousands of customers.

Earlier this month, ANZ revealed it had stripped $32m in bonuses from current and former executives, including the former CEO, Shayne Elliott.

Roblox had seen ‘writing on the wall’, Inman Grant adds

Inman Grant said Roblox had seen “the writing on the wall” of having children commingled in the one app with adults.

This negotiation was specific to Roblox and based on the common grooming scenarios that our investigators had seen where offenders tend to use Roblox to connect with children and young people before they potentially move them to another platform where they will continue to groom them.

They might also instruct a child or their avatar to perform sexual acts in games on the platform. And then we’re also seeing children are being coerced into sending explicit images in exchange for gifts like sneakers or Robux, which is the digital currency on the platform.

Read more about reporter Sarah Martin’s week on Roblox here: