Clare says ‘cutting blokes out’ of childcare centres not ‘the solution’ to improving safety
Clare was asked if men should be barred from working in childcare centres. The education minister pointed to safety reviews that found doing so was not the best path forward. He said:
We know what we need to do here. In none of the reports do they recommend this, but they recommend the register and national mandatory safety training, so that the 99.9% of people who work in our centres, who are good, honest people … have the skills they need to identify [a] person that is up to no good …
There will be individual centres that we will talk to mums and dads about the way they operate in the system, but just cutting blokes out altogether is not going to be the solution.
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Key events
Chinese and Australian business leaders were treated to a full rendition of Australian rock classics at a dinner last night, Anthony Albanese says.
Speaking a moment ago at the Great Wall of China, the PM said songs by Paul Kelly, Midnight Oil and Powderfinger were all played as a gesture of respect:
I’ve got to say that the band there in the Great Hall played a different version of Paul Kelly’s To Her Door, of Midnight Oil’s Power and the Passion and a range of songs as well. That obviously took them a long period of time and those gestures matter. Respect matters between countries. And I think I took that as being a very warm gesture indeed and they did it very well, I must say.
Powderfinger as well – they did the full kit and caboodle and so it was a splendid occasion.
Albanese says China trip emphasises need for ‘positive relationship’ between nations
Anthony Albanese is speaking from the Great Wall of China, affirming the longstanding economic relationship between the two countries and his government’s continued support for free trade. The prime minister said:
Yesterday was an opportunity as well for us to develop the relationship between Australia and China. I’ve said consistently that we’ll cooperate where we can, disagree where we must, but engage in our national interest. It is very clear that it is in our national interests for us to have a positive relationship with China.
Tasmanian leaders to face off in only debate of snap election at 12.30pm
Liberal and Labor leaders will front up for the only debate in Tasmania’s snap election campaign as the prospect of another hung parliament looms, AAP reports. Voters will head to the ballot box on Saturday, six weeks after the minority Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff, lost a vote of no-confidence in parliament.
The latest opinion poll has the Liberals on track to win more seats than Labor, but not enough to reach the 18 mark required for a majority. Both major parties have ruled out doing a deal with the Greens, meaning they will probably have to rely on an independent-heavy cross-bench to govern.
Rockliff and the state Labor leader, Dean Winter, will go toe-to-toe on Wednesday at a debate hosted by Sky News and the Mercury newspaper at 12.30pm local time.
Clare says ‘cutting blokes out’ of childcare centres not ‘the solution’ to improving safety
Clare was asked if men should be barred from working in childcare centres. The education minister pointed to safety reviews that found doing so was not the best path forward. He said:
We know what we need to do here. In none of the reports do they recommend this, but they recommend the register and national mandatory safety training, so that the 99.9% of people who work in our centres, who are good, honest people … have the skills they need to identify [a] person that is up to no good …
There will be individual centres that we will talk to mums and dads about the way they operate in the system, but just cutting blokes out altogether is not going to be the solution.
Read more here:
Clare orders racism review of Australian universities
Clare was asked about federal antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal’s report suggesting universities could have funding withheld if they fail to take action against hate. He said he would not say how the government would respond to those recommendations just yet, noting:
There is no place for the poison of antisemitism in our universities. There is no place for the poison of racism in all of its ugly or noxious forms in our universities or anywhere else. I’m not going to say what our response to the recommendation will be.
Clare said he had asked the race discrimination commissioner, Giridharan Sivaraman, to conduct a review of racism in Australia’s universities, pending another report from the special envoy to combat Islamophobia.
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Clare says register would help identify ‘red flags’ if workers change jobs ‘for the wrong reason’
Clare said a register or database could help officials identify potential red flags linked to childcare centres or workers. He said:
If we build this the right way, it helps us to identify or prompt regular red flags when someone is moving for the wrong reason.
Some people will move between centres due to labour hire, but there may be instances they move from centre to centre because they’re quietly being moved on. If the system works the way it needs to, when something is not right, the police are called, the regulator comes in and, if necessary, the centre is shut down.
Clare says parents ‘want action’, not ‘excuses’ after more alleged abuse in childcare centres revealed
The education minister, Jason Clare, is speaking to the media about revelations that a further 800 Victorian children need STI tests and his push for a national register or database of childcare workers. From the University of Tasmania’s Lilyfield campus, he said:
I don’t think Australian parents are interested in excuses; they want action, and action requires all levels of government to work together and [for] industry to join in.
Look at the revelations that another 800 children have to be [tested], blood tests and urine tests. Think about the anxiety that mums and dads are going through today; think about the trauma that kids are going to have to go through with all of that testing.
The Victorian government is working quickly to track all this down but it highlights to me the importance of a national register or a national database.
‘Nightmare’ childcare centre case shows need for worker database to lift safety, education minister says
The education minister, Jason Clare, said the sheer scope of childcare centres in alleged paedophile Joshua Dale Brown’s work history showed the need for a database or register to track workers who moved between centres.
Channel 7’s Sunrise asked Clare this morning about “nightmare” new details surrounding Brown’s workplace history, which prompted officials to recommend 800 more Victorian children be tested for STIs:
You just used the word nightmare. That’s the right word. More parents are being put through the wringer. All the fear and anxiety that their kids might be sick, and all the trauma that kids have to go through …
The Victorian government and authorities are doing everything they can to track the details of where he worked. But this highlights an example of why you need a database or a register, so you know where all childcare workers are and where they’re moving from centre to centre. That’s just one of the things that we need to do.
Clare said the government would introduce legislation next week to cut funding from childcare centres that “aren’t up to scratch” or were not meeting “the sort of safety standards that parents expect and that our kids deserve”.
Josh Butler
Albo’s agenda today? The Great Wall of China and the country’s panda capital
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, will visit the Great Wall of China as his trip continues today. Albanese, who met China’s president, Xi Jinping, and premier, Li Qiang, yesterday, will also move on to the city of Chengdu – known as the panda capital of China – where he is expected to make an announcement related to pandas.
Albanese will also reportedly make an announcement about a tennis tournament.
In Beijing yesterday, Albanese told Xi: “In Chengdu tomorrow, I will look at where Australia has growing ties, particularly on medical technology and sports.” He added:
Tomorrow I’ll also visit the Great Wall, where Australia’s prime minister, Gough Whitlam, who of course, initiated the recognition of the People’s Republic of China when he came as Labor party leader in 1971.
You could expect to see more of the prime minister’s trip and any public statements sometime in the afternoon.
Butler says government to ‘quickly’ move to address child safety in centres
The health minister, Mark Butler, has vowed this morning that the government will introduce urgent legislation when parliament sits next week. This comes after revelations yesterday that an additional 800 children should be tested for STIs after Victoria police said alleged paedophile Joshua Dale Brown had worked at more childcare centres than disclosed initially.
Butler spoke with Nine’s Today, saying “so many” Victorian parents would now be wondering whether they were going to “get a call” about their child’s health. He said:
We have to fix this, and we have to fix it urgently. And the government’s committed to doing that. We’ve been talking to the opposition to make sure that it’s something that has a broad base of support and can happen as quickly as possible.
Tom McIlroy
More on the teenage vaping data released this morning
The federal government believes dangerous vaping rates among younger Australians may have turned a corner after years of rapid growth, with new research showing take-up could have peaked among teenagers and high school-age children.
Data released by the health minister, Mark Butler, on Wednesday showed that vaping rates fell from 17.5% at the start of 2023 to 14.6% in April this year among children aged 14 to 17. The report says the data follows the July 2024 vaping reforms, which were designed to curb youth access and use, and to reduce the social acceptability of vaping.
The figures come as the Therapeutic Goods Administration and Australian Border Force announced more than 10m illicit vapes had been seized since January 2024, worth a combined street value of $500m.
Read more here:
Women who experience birth trauma report high levels of unmanaged pain
Women who experience birth trauma are reporting high levels of unmanaged pain and physical injuries leading to significant mental health impacts, AAP reports.
Research by Birth Trauma Australia has found distressing or emergency procedures and poor management of pain or physical injuries are the most significant contributors to birth trauma. The study has been released during birth trauma awareness week, held each year to highlight the issue and provide support to women and their families.
Birth injuries are linked to a range of physical, psychological and social impacts including conditions like pelvic organ prolapse, painful sex and urinary incontinence.
Relationship strain, reduced body confidence, difficulty returning to work and ongoing social or physical limitations can all be experienced as a result of these injuries. Birth Trauma Australia co-founder Amy Dawes said:
Birth trauma is not new but it’s just historically been shrouded in secrecy and there is an ongoing culture of dismissing women’s problems. At the moment access to care after trauma is based on your post code but we need a holistic approach that all women have access to.
Mark Butler says he is confident ‘peak’ of vaping behind us
Health minister Mark Butler says he is confidence the “peak of vaping” is behind us amid new data that shows vaping rates have fallen among Australian children aged 14 to 17. Overall, rates for those over 15 reduced by more than a third, while vaping rates among the 30- to 59-year age group also dropped by about half.
Butler spoke to the ABC this morning, saying fewer young people were now smoking both vapes and cigarettes, and there were now fewer positive messages about vapes circulating. The data comes a year after Labor introduced world-leading laws restricting the sale of vapes to pharmacies, as well as other requirements. Butler said:
We know we’ve got a long way to go. This is a tough fight against some pretty tough opponents – big tobacco. Organised crime is still determined to make money out this public health menace, but I’m pleased that we look like we’ve turned the corner.
I am confident that we have seen that peak of vaping behind us and we’re starting to see a reduction, particularly among children and teenagers, which was our primary focus. But in no way am I sanguine about this.
I know this is a really, really tough fight and we’ve got a lot more to do, not just in the area of vaping, but illicit tobacco as well, which is probably now the biggest threat we have, the largest public health objective we have as a country, which is to stamp out smoking, still the biggest preventable killer of Australians.
NT police say it is ‘deeply regrettable’ Bradley Murdoch died without disclosing location of Peter Falconio’s body
NT police acknowledged the death of murderer Bradley John Murdoch, saying his refusal to disclose the location of Peter Falconio’s remains had denied the backpacker’s family “the closure they have so long deserved”. The force said:
It is deeply regrettable that Murdoch has died without, as far as we are aware, ever disclosing the location of Peter Falconio’s remains.
His silence has denied the Falconio family the closure they have so long deserved. Our thoughts are with the Falconio family in the United Kingdom, whose grief continues.
NT Police said it remained committed to finding Falconio’s remains, pointing to the reward of up to $500,000 for information that leads to the discovery of his body:
We continue to appeal to anyone who may have information that could lead us to Peter Falconio’s remains to come forward, no matter how small the detail may seem.
Torres Strait community leaders will keep ‘knocking at government’s door’ after court dismisses landmark climate case
The lead plaintiffs in the federal case arguing the government breached its duty of care to protect the Torres Strait Islands from climate change, which was dismissed yesterday, said they will keep urging for more action to protect their homes.
Uncle Pabai Pabai and Uncle Paul Kabai from the islands of Boigu and Saibai had asked the courts for orders requiring the federal government to take steps to address climate harm in their communities, including increased efforts to cut planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions. The class action case, filed in 2021, was dismissed in a decision that said while there was merit to their factual allegations, the common law of negligence was not a “suitable legal vehicle” to claim damages or relief.
Uncle Paul told the ABC this morning the pair were exploring next steps and would continue to call for more action:
It is time now for us to keep knocking at the government’s door. We need to a better outcome for our future, our kids and our kids and the next generation to come.
It’s time for us to pass the message to the community and the people out there, Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, and let them know that climate change is happening. To battle together and give a strong voice to the government.