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Key posts
- Full speed ahead for nuclear subs with US breakthrough in sight
- Hundreds more Palestinians killed as Israel pursues Hamas in south Gaza
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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NDIS needs to work better for those with disabilities: Shorten
Turning now to Bill Shorten, who is speaking about changes to the NDIS and setting up a new “foundational scheme” after a review into the system was released yesterday.
A major review unveiled yesterday estimates the new scheme could provide less intensive support to four times the number of Australians currently using the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
He told ABC’s Radio National that the scheme wouldn’t go anywhere, but it needs to work better.
NDIS Minister Bill Shorten gave a speech at the National Press Club yesterday.Credit: James Brickwood
“The reality is most Australians … do want the scheme to work because it is changing lives, but it needs to work better,” he said.
“I’m a glass half-full sort of person, I think that doing nothing is not an acceptable option.”
He also told the program the review sets out the direction of how the NDIS would work in the future.
“One of the things which we will do is talk to people about the review, there might be wrinkles raised, so I wouldn’t to give 100 per cent absolute, that everything [in the review] is exactly what’s going to be because we’ve still got to test these things out with the world and with people with disability,” he said.
“I completely support the direction of the review.”
New arrest sparks calls for tougher checks before detainees released
The arrest of another former detainee has sparked new calls for the federal government to toughen its checks before releasing more people from indefinite immigration detention amid the political dispute over about 150 people released since a High Court ruling four weeks ago.
The fifth detainee was arrested in Queensland on Thursday on an outstanding warrant seeking to return him to prison in NSW for breaching parole conditions over an earlier conviction for assault.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament he was sorry any time someone was the victim of a crime.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
With the Coalition demanding the government apologise for threats to community safety, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told parliament he was sorry any time someone was the victim of a crime.
The government defended its handling of the cases by pointing to stronger laws passed by parliament late on Wednesday to allow the preventative detention of former detainees who could be a threat to the community, as well as the use of community supervision orders and monitoring devices such as ankle bracelets.
Continue reading about this issue here.
Full speed ahead for nuclear subs with US breakthrough in sight
Returning to Australia now, The federal government is confident the United States Congress will agree to authorise the sale of nuclear-powered submarines in a breakthrough deal.
The submarine plan stalled in July when 23 Republican senators, including Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, wrote to US President Joe Biden saying they did not support the proposal to provide nuclear-powered submarines to Australia unless the US doubled its own domestic production capacity.
Australia has agreed to purchase between three and five Virginia-class submarines from the US.
US legislators have been negotiating to include the AUKUS submarine transfer in the annual National Defence Authorisation Act, which also includes funding for military aid to Israel and Ukraine.
The final negotiated bill is expected to be made public as early as today and could pass within weeks.
Learn more about this here.
Hundreds more Palestinians killed as Israel pursues Hamas in south Gaza
In the latest news from the war in the Middle East, Israel battled Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip’s biggest cities on Thursday and said it had attacked dozens of targets, leaving 350 Palestinians dead and the rest struggling to survive in rapidly shrinking areas of refuge.
Gazans crammed into Rafah on the southern border with Egypt, heeding Israeli leaflets and messages saying that they would be safe in the city after successive warnings to head south.
A Palestinian woman gestures following Israeli airstrikes in Khan Younis refugee camp.Credit: AP
But more than 20 people were killed in apartments there late on Wednesday sheltering displaced civilians from the north, said Eyad al-Hobi, a relative of some of those killed.
“All apartments in the building suffered serious damage,” he said as people brought out two apparently lifeless children.
Another relative, Bassam al-Hobi, said the building had been hit by three rockets.
Here’s the latest on the situation, from Reuters.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
It’s Friday, December 8. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- Labour hire workers will be paid more and intentional wage theft will be criminalised after Employment Minister Tony Burke secured a surprise deal with Senate crossbenchers.
- The government is confident the US Congress will agree to authorise the sale of nuclear-powered submarines to Australia.
- The arrest of another former detainee has sparked new calls for tougher checks before authorities release more people from indefinite immigration detention.
- Human trafficking is on the rise in Australia, according to the federal police numbers who found significant increases in child trafficking, sexual servitude and forced labour since 2018-19.
- Australia’s largest business lender has said it is inevitable banks will charge higher interest rates for businesses that aren’t reducing their emissions.
- The Commonwealth agreed to pay $2.4 million under a settlement with Brittany Higgins that included $1.48 million for lost earning capacity, a deed released by the Federal Court reveals.
- Overseas, Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen has sharply criticised the UN secretary-general after he issued a dire warning over the situation in the Gaza Strip.
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