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Census to include questions on gender and sexuality, Chalmers says
Speers finishes up by asking Chalmers about the ongoing census questions palaver.
He says there will be a new question covering both sexual orientation and gender for the first time (first there were going to be no questions, then there was going to be one on sexual orientation but gender was going to be left out, now it looks like it’s in):
We have listened to the community. We worked very closely with the Australian Bureau of Statistics. LGBTIQ+ Australians matter. They have been heard and they will count in the 2026 census.
Chalmers says the treasury assistant minister, Andrew Leigh, will make a statement about this later today. And he says:
Really the message that we want to ensure that Australians hear from us today is that we understand the feedback that we got, we listened to that, we took it very seriously, we listened very genuinely.
We said we would find the best way to do this and I believe that we have and we will and the ABS will continue to refine the actual wording of the questions now that this additional topic has been add.
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Drivers’ speed to be tracked in NSW trial
The speed of all drivers, not just truckies, will be tracked through average-speed camera zones in a NSW trial, AAP reports.
But don’t expect a fine in the mail if you mess up in the early days.
Australia’s biggest jurisdiction has announced it would cease being a global outlier on point-to-point speed detection and its heavy-vehicles-only policy.
An all-driver approach will be trialled along two stretches of highway where six people have died in recent years.
Speeding drivers will receive written warnings for the first 60 days before financial and licence penalties kick in.
All other mainland Australian states and countries like the UK, Norway, Italy and the Netherlands had found average speed cameras to be effective, roads minister John Graham said:
We aim to be as rigorous as possible to be sure they will also reduce road trauma in NSW.
Legislation will be required to set up the trial, which will begin along a 15km stretch of the Pacific Highway between Kew and Lake Innes on the mid-north coast and a similar length of the Hume Highway, north of Gundagai.
Six people died and 33 more were seriously injured in the five years to 2022 at those locations.
In 2023, speeding contributed to 44% of road deaths in NSW, three-quarters of which were in regional NSW.
A comprehensive communications campaign will inform drivers about the trial.
An update on those anti-war protests in Melbourne – AAP reports interstate police have been called in to bolster law and order ahead of what could be Victoria’s biggest protest since the chaos surrounding the World Economic Forum in 2000.
Karen Middleton has rounded up everything we know (so far) about the changes to the next census:
SA considers social media ban for under 14s
A bill to ban children under 14 from social media is being considered in South Australia. The proposed legislation would also make social media companies get parents’ consent for children aged 14 and 15.
The state government will now consult on the draft bill, which would have a regulator overseeing compliance, issuing sanctions and penalties, and seeking further action through the supreme court for more serious breaches. Families of children who suffer mental or physical harm as a result of social media access would be able to sue for damages if a provider has breached their duty.
The premier, Peter Malinauskas, discussed the proposed move at national cabinet on Friday.
He said there was clear evidence social media was harming children:
And my intent is clear, we are going to do something about it.
We now have a pathway forward to implement a ban on social media platforms allowing children under the age of 14 to have accounts, and to require parental consent for 14- and 15-year-olds.
When we see products doing children harm, whether it be drugs, cigarettes or alcohol, governments have a role to play. The addictive nature of social media is no different.
Ultimately, we want to see a legal framework in place across the country and to that end, I took the opportunity to brief the prime minister and other state and territory leaders on Mr French’s considerable work while in Canberra this week.
Liked the cute turtles? You’ll love the laughing frog! And the ghost sand dragon, and all the others Lisa Cox has rounded up here:
Man in critical condition after car collides with pole in Sydney's west
A man is in critical condition after a crash in Rydalmere in Sydney’s west.
NSW police said emergency services were called to Pike Street and found a Mazda vehicle had collided with a pole and “split in half”. The statement said:
The driver, a man believed to be in his 20s, was trapped for a short time before being released by Fire & Rescue NSW.
NSW Ambulance paramedics treated the man at the scene before he was taken to Westmead Hospital in a critical condition.
Pike Street is currently closed in both directions and is expected to remain a crime scene for a considerable amount of time. Motorists are area urged to avoid the area.
As inquiries continue anyone with information about the incident – or has any available dashcam, mobile or phone footage – is urged to contact Ryde Police Station or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or online.
When conservationists devised a plan to fence a fox-proof haven for endangered eastern quolls in Booderee national park, they realised this could create a problem for the area’s eastern long-necked turtles.
Graham Readfearn has written about the solution they came up with – turtle tunnels filled with water:
More wild weather in Australia’s south-east
After a week of record flooding in Tasmania, wild weather in Victoria and New South Wales, and temperature surges in other parts of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology says there will be gusty winds and showers in Australia’s south-east later on Sunday. The bureau is warning of more damaging winds in north-east Tasmania and the alpine regions of NSW.
Adeshola Ore has taken a look at the imminent scrapping of a donor-linking service, and how it will affect donor-conceived people:
The donor-linking was the thing I held on to as a safety island in this complete chaos. To know there was a safe way to meet the donor that was a mutually agreed location and to have a counsellor there.
Police prepare for 25,000 protesters at Melbourne weapons expo
AAP reports as many as 25,000 protesters are expected to cause chaos ahead of a weapons expo to be held in Melbourne with some already vandalising hotels and blocking traffic.
Protests kicked off earlier than expected on Friday night, despite the Land Forces expo not starting until Wednesday.
Melbourne hotels were vandalised with red paint and traffic blocked during protests held on Saturday.
On Sunday morning, a small group of protesters from Extinction Rebellion blocked Montague Street near the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre where the expo is being held.
Victoria police said on Sunday they would have a significant presence during and in the lead up to what will be their biggest operation in decades.
Hundreds of police have been diverted from regional areas to provide support and numerous officers can be seen in and around the building, including at all exit and entrance points.
Police also erected a ring of steel around the event.
Census update ‘sensible, pragmatic and moral’: Equity Australia
Including a question on sexual and gender orientation in the census is the “sensible, pragmatic and moral course of action”, Equality Australia says.
The organisation’s chief executive officer, Anna Brown, says it will “ensure vital data about some of the most vulnerable populations in Australia is collected nationally for the first time”:
Service providers, health entities, government departments and businesses rely on the census for baseline population data.
They need a complete picture of who we are as a nation, including where LGBTIQ+ people live, what our jobs are, our health issues, where we go to school and what our families look like.
Rainbow parent April Long, who brought a human rights complaint about the exclusion of sexual orientation questions, says the announcement was “deeply personal”:
For the first time, I feel like we are truly seen.
As a parent, this also means the world to me. When our son starts school, we’ll know how many other kids, just like him, have two mums or two dads. It’s about recognition – it’s about saying to every family, ‘You matter.’ Every child should be seen, and every family should be counted.
Ah, South Australia’s statewide blackout, fodder for renewables sceptics (PS, it wasn’t the windfarms). And look at us now!
More on that census question (or topic) from the assistant health minister, Ged Kearney, who was part of the push to reverse the initial decision to can a question on sexuality (that sentence is quite convoluted, apologies). She says:
Earlier this week I visited the Rainbow Families Youth Council. These amazing, brave young people are why we need this kind of inclusion in our society.
Never forget you are loved, you matter, and you will be counted.
Helen Sullivan spoke to Alliance for Gambling Reform chief advocate, Tim Costello, for this piece:
We have the most lax regulation of anywhere in the world. That’s all there is to it.
Running safe
This is very interesting from Elias Visontay. It feels as if it’s only just gotten light enough in the mornings now, but daylight saving time will scotch that soon enough. But also think of the poor nocturnal animals!
