Bowen says energy transition is a ‘remarkable story of optimism’
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The climate change minister told the forum that the energy transition presented “remarkable opportunities” for households, highlighting the uptake of solar panels and home batteries in Australia.
Bowen said:
So put these two stories together, that the world is taking action and that consumers and individuals and households and small businesses can take control of their own energy use with the right policy settings, then we have a remarkable story of optimism to tell. A story that this is not too hard.
Yes, it is hard, but it is not too hard. And we can reject this all too hard-ism that so often infects the debate, that yes, climate change might be real and maybe it’s important, but it’s all too hard, so we shouldn’t worry.
Key events
Why are Sydney’s water bills rising by hundreds of dollars?
Luca Ittimani
As we reported earlier, Sydney Water has gained permission to hike its prices 14% on 1 October.
NSW’s independent pricing and regulatory tribunal says the increase is necessary to cover the rising costs of water distribution. The hike will give Sydney Water an extra $179m per year to cover its day-to-day operations, including rising costs for water purchase and treatment.
The price increase will weigh more on the variable usage charge, which relates to how much water a household uses up, rather than the fixed fee to connect to the water service. As a result, Sydney customers are expected to cut back their water usage in response to the price hike, meaning water usage will stay at about the same level for the next five years despite a growing population.
The fee increase will also cover an increased spend on capital works so Sydney Water can replace ageing infrastructure and build new connections, storm water connections near the new Western Sydney airport and network expansions to cover greater use of the city’s desalination plant
An extra $180m has been allocated toward works on the city’s ocean-draining sewers, which some experts believe are to blame for thousands of debris balls or “fatbergs” washing ashore in the last year.
Difficult weather, among other factors, has made it harder to carry out expansions of networks around the outfall sewers at North Head, Bondi and Malabar. Ipart suggested the additional spend after NSW Health and the Environment Protection Authority called for the sewers to be prioritised. The review read:
We have sought, and will continue, to protect consumers from unjustified price increases for water and wastewater services. However, increases in maximum prices are required now to fund efficient expenditure to deliver reliable and safe water services and to reflect a fair contribution between today’s customers and future customers.
Adeshola Ore
Eighth person charged with murder over Cobblebank stabbing deaths
Victoria police have charged an eighth teenager with murder after the stabbing deaths of 15-year-old Dau Akueng and 12-year-old Chol Achiek in Cobblebank in Melbourne’s west earlier this month.
In a statement, police said a 15-year-old boy was charged in relation to Dau’s death. He is due to appear at a children’s court at a later date.
Last week, police arrested seven males, aged between 15 and 19 after raids on homes in Melbourne’s north and west by homicide squad detectives. They were interviewed by police before charges were laid on Friday afternoon.
A 19-year-old Thornhill man, two 16-year-old boys and a 15-year-old boy were charged with the murder of Dau.
A 19-year-old Caroline Springs man, an 18-year-old Wollert man and a 16-year-old boy were charged with the murder of Chol.
Jonathan Barrett
Myer sees sharp uptick in threatening behaviour against staff
Myer has warned of a steep increase in threatening behaviour against its staff, prompting the retailer to support the use of body cameras and personal safety alarms for employees.
The department store chain said in financial results released today there had been a 79% increase in incidents of threatening behaviour over the past 12 months, including verbal or physical abuse.
The company said:
With customer violence against retail workers on the rise, resulting in significant increases in abuse, and incidents involving weapons, the company supports both government policy and technology-based solutions, such as the roll out of body-worn cameras and personal safety alarms, to equip the Myer team in addressing this growing trend.
The retailer said it had reduced theft levels from the prior reporting period by boosting in-store security and other measures such as employee safety cameras.
Myer shares are being sold off heavily today, down 30%, following the release of its financials. The department store chain reported a 30% slide in annual net profit to $36.8m, excluding impairments.
Penry Buckley
‘Lack of management capability’ at Sydney trains body
The rail review has also identified significant issues with the way the body which runs the day-to-day operations of the city’s trains, the Rail Operations Centre (ROC), responded to the incident.
The review found that the continuation of delays into a second day appeared to be have been caused by “lack of management capability in dealing with an incident of this kind”.
Asked if anyone has been dismissed from the ROC, the Sydney Trains chief executive, Matt Longland, says there have been a “handful of changes”:
I have made a number of changes to the leadership, both in engineering and also in operations, and people have left the organisation … I don’t want to go into the detail of individual circumstances. I don’t think that’s appropriate … we are committed to improve the way of working at the ROC and also in the way that we respond to incidents on site.
Penry Buckley
More than 120 wire issues detected since Sydney trains incident
The NSW transport minister, John Graham, has given a press conference following the releasing of a “sobering” review into rail safety on Sydney’s train network, as we reported earlier.
Graham says since the incident on 20 May a network-wide digital scan has identified 126 additional points of interest on the network, which have now been resolved.
The review, led by transport industry expert Kerry Schott and commissioned after an overhead wire snapped and fell on to the roof of a train, found the wire was first observed to be beyond its operational capacity – or “condemning limit” – during a network-wide inspection commissioned in 2020.
This inspection was outside the normal program of maintenance, and the issues with the wire were not acted on, although it was visually inspected as recently as April this year.
The Sydney Trains chief executive, Matt Longland, says the network has “let down passengers down”:
I do apologise for what they had to experience over those two days. The gaps in process, in technology and in systems, were made very clear by the review team. I think the key standouts were the fact that this wiring fault should not have occurred. It should have been picked up in the inspection process and it could have been avoided. Secondly, the response and the repair took far too long.
Luca Ittimani
Insurer RACQ allegedly disguised premium hikes with false figures
A top Queensland insurance company allegedly disguised premium hikes as high as 40% by overstating how much customers had previously been billed.
RACQ received complaints about the allegedly misleading price claims just two days after it began sharing them but continued to use them for five years, the corporate regulator has alleged.
The Australian securities and investments commission has taken RACQ to the federal court, as it focuses on insurers’ failures to be fair and show good faith to customers, Asic’s deputy chair, Sarah Court, said, adding:
During a cost-of-living crisis, we believe RACQ misled thousands of customers by including false comparison pricing in their renewal documents. … Customers were potentially left paying more.
RACQ sent more than 570,000 renewal documents to customers from 2019 to 2024, telling them their new premium alongside their “last period premium,” which Asic alleges was often higher than their actual spend the previous period.
Asic alleges one customer had been charged about $5,030 in the prior period but faced a new premium of about $7,030, a 40% hike, but RACQ’s notice quoted a “last period premium” figure of $6,930 incorrectly suggested they were facing a hike of just 1.5%.
RACQ said it had clarified its communications, updated its renewal polices and self-reported comparison price notice issue to Asic, and was working with the regulator and conducting a review, adding:
We are disappointed this has happened and apologise to our members as this is not in keeping with our high standards or the experience we strive to offer.
Tom McIlroy
The federal opposition dug in on criticism of Australia’s decision to recognise Palestine as a sovereign nation and accused prime minister Anthony Albanese of flawed comparisons with Jewish history. Albanese announced recognition at the UN in New York this week, joining about 150 countries.
The shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, said his speech included
“a deeply flawed and offensive parallel” with Jews.
She pointed to Albanese’s statement that the Palestinian people shared “the same hope that sustained generations of Jewish people”. Cash said:
Mr Albanese has shown appalling judgement. By equating Israel’s legitimate historic struggle with a terrorist-led movement, he has insulted Jewish history and betrayed Australia’s values.
In doing so, he has diminished the unique historic plight of the Jewish people and given legitimacy to extremists who openly reject Israel’s right to exist.
Australia’s decision to recognise Palestine is incumbent on the Palestinian Authority recognising Israel’s right to exist. Labor is pushing Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu to end the war and provide urgently needed humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza.
Cash’s statement says Labor is rewarding terror group Hamas for its 7 October attacks against Israel.
Rewarding terrorists while hostages languish in captivity sends exactly the wrong signal, that violence and kidnapping are pathways to international recognition.
Deputy PM says lack of meeting with Trump unrelated to recognition of Palestine
Asked if the lack of a meeting had anything to do with Australia recognising the state of Palestine, Marles says “no” and continues:
The government has taken a position in respect of the recognition of Palestine which recognises the legitimate aspiration of the Palestinian people to statehood. It’s entirely consistent with positions that have been held by successive governments – Labor and Coalition – over many decades in support of a two-state solution. Our government is no different in supporting that.
We believe that a two-state solution is ultimately the only way to seeing an enduring peace in the Middle East. And our recognition of Palestine – along with the United Kingdom and Canada and a range of other countries – is part of a natural progression towards that.
Richard Marles says he has ‘no doubt’ Albanese and Trump will meet
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, is speaking to reporters in Launceston about Australia’s relationship with the United States and the meeting between Albanese and Trump that hasn’t happened.
Marles says:
The prime minister and president have spoken on a number of occasions. Indeed, literally just in the last few days by phone. I’ve got no doubt that, at some point in the near future, there’ll be a meeting between the prime minister and the president.
The fact of the matter is that the relationship between Australia and the United States is in a good place. We have the lowest tariff rate of any country in the world. We have a very significant agenda in terms of our relationship in respect of defence and security. And that work in pursuit of Aukus, for example, continues at a pace. We’re very confident about the relationship.
Bowen says energy transition is a ‘remarkable story of optimism’
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The climate change minister told the forum that the energy transition presented “remarkable opportunities” for households, highlighting the uptake of solar panels and home batteries in Australia.
Bowen said:
So put these two stories together, that the world is taking action and that consumers and individuals and households and small businesses can take control of their own energy use with the right policy settings, then we have a remarkable story of optimism to tell. A story that this is not too hard.
Yes, it is hard, but it is not too hard. And we can reject this all too hard-ism that so often infects the debate, that yes, climate change might be real and maybe it’s important, but it’s all too hard, so we shouldn’t worry.
Bowen urges UN to reject ‘too hard’ argument on climate action
Dan Jervis-Bardy
The climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has urged the global community to reject the “all too hard” argument that opponents of climate action are using to justify delays to the green energy transition.
In a speech to the United Nations during Climate Week in New York, Bowen said the world was decarbonising at a “very rapid pace” as he challenged the “doom and gloom” about a slowdown in global action to slash emissions. He said:
Climate denial is still with us but it takes new forms. All too hard, they said, it’s all too hard. Or no one else is doing enough. Why should we do this when the rest of the world isn’t moving? And that’s an easy message and narrative for the deniers and the delayers to communicate when there’s plenty of doom and gloom and stories about how the world is not proceeding with action on climate change. We know though it isn’t true. Two trillion dollars of investment in renewable energy, twice the investment in fossil fuels.
Donald Trump’s return to the White House, and swift decision to again withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement, has prompted renewed concerns for the fate of the global goal of limiting temperature rise to 1.5C.
Without referencing the US, Bowen said Australia would like “to see more right around the world” on climate action.
But we can’t pretend that things aren’t happening.
Bowen and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have this week submitted Australia’s new 2035 climate target to the UN, which aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions between 62% and 70% from 2005 levels.
Peak industry body says paracetamol continues to play ‘valuable role in public health’
Consumer Healthcare Products Australia (CHP Australia), a peak industry body representing many of the country’s distributors and makers of healthcare products, maintains that paracetamol continues to play a “valuable role in public health”.
The body, which represents 85% of the non-prescription medicines market, pointed to the TGA’s continued classification of paracetamol as safe for use during pregnancy. CHP Australia said in a statement:
Paracetamol is one of the most widely used analgesics, with a long-standing safety record supported by decades of research and everyday use. Globally, paracetamol remains the only option for pain and fever considered appropriate for use during pregnancy, when taken as directed and under the guidance of a healthcare professional.
CHP Australia supports ongoing, independent, high-quality research to further strengthen the evidence base. We also believe it is essential that regulation and public health advice are informed by the best available science, and that Australians are empowered with clear, evidence-based information to support safe and effective self-care.
The Laneway presale is starting
Sydney festival fans vying to see Chappell Roan and Wet Leg can now access Laneway’s presale, with Melbourne’s presale set to open in about an hour. The presale for the events in Auckland, the Gold Coast and Adelaide have already begun, and Perth’s opens up in a few hours.
The lineup is stacked next year after Charli XCX was at the top of the bill for the 2025 event. Indie icon Alex G will appear alongside PinkPantheress, Lucy Dacus, Role Model and Wolf Alice, among many others.
Local acts include Armlock, Shady Nasty and The Belair Lip Bombs.
The presale will be open for 23 hours in each city before general sales open tomorrow for any remaining tickets. Good luck!
Luca Ittimani
Sydney water bills to rise $168 in a year for typical households
Sydney water bills will rise by nearly 14% in the coming year, with typical households set to spend an extra $168 annually or $3.23 a week after the government set new prices.
The new prices will go into effect from 1 October.
Sydney Water and Water NSW today received permission to hike their fees, which will see households with an annual bill of $1,220 spending $1,388 in a year’s time and $1,695 in five years’ time.
The NSW independent pricing and regulatory tribunal’s decision would see the typical household bill rise by nearly 12%, plus inflation, which is above 2%. Prices will rise just over 5%, plus inflation, for each subsequent year until 2030.
The tribunal said it recognised the bill hikes could add to cost-of-living pressures on customers and said it had called for the state government to offer water bill rebates to a wider share of people in need of income support.
Sydney Water had asked for an even bigger bill increase of $4.70 a week to fund its proposed $32bn spend on the city’s sewerage system over the next 15 years.
Waste would have continued to be pumped into the ocean off the city’s famous eastern suburbs beaches plan, as you can read here:
Anthony Albanese addresses UN conference on two-state solution – video
In his first address to the United Nations in New York, Anthony Albanese spoke at a special conference on the two-state solution for the Middle East, saying Gaza “is in the grip of a humanitarian catastrophe” and recognition of a Palestinian state means “real hope” for Palestinians.
