Australia news live: Icac hears of ‘shit sheet’ on former NSW Liberal minister’s alleged affair; police treating mother and child’s deaths as murder-suicide
Inquiry hears of photos claimed to show Liberal minister’s alleged extramarital affair
Returning to the NSW Icac’s Operation Rosny, the inquiry has heard more about details in an alleged dirt file prepared by the Liberal “Reformers” against former Liberal minister David Elliott.
The inquiry has heard that a document titled “David Elliott shit sheet” had a subheading “Extramarital affair”.
Asked about this detail, former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw says he recalls being told about the alleged affair by Reformers Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis, who claimed they had photos which were evidence of the affair:
The allegation around Mr Elliot and the affair was something that Mr Greenwood and Mr Ellis kept very, very secretive. It wouldn’t tell me much about it at all, apart from the fact that you know they were aware that this was happening and they had photographs of it, but I wasn’t aware of the specific detail.
On Monday, the inquiry heard a phone call featuring Nassif in which he allegedly claimed he had paid for Chandler’s removal. He also allegedly claimed that “the fair trading minister is gonna to be one of my girls”.
The inquiry heard that two months after the call, the-then Liberal premier Dominic Perrottet, appointed Petinos as fair trading minister in a reshuffle. In July 2022, Chandler handed in his resignation following an investigation into his conduct that had been requested by Petinos, which later cleared him of any wrongdoing. The watchdog heard that evidence would determine if Nassif’s call was “an incidence of wishful thinking that serendipitously came to pass” or the result of work by the Reformers.
Spence, Perrottet and Petinos, who is currently on maternity leave, are not named in any allegations, and have not been accused of any wrongdoing.
On Tuesday, NSW Liberal leader Kellie Sloane said she had checked in on Petinos. She has not asked Petinos to stand aside from shadow cabinet during the inquiry.
Inquiry hears about video allegedly circulated to damage building commissioner
Questioning by the NSW Icac of former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw moved earlier to his time working in 2022 in the office of the then Liberal planning minister, Anthony Roberts.
One of the allegations Icac is investigating is whether members of the Reformers solicited or accepted donations from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif in exchange for the pursuit of outcomes including the removal of the then building commissioner, David Chandler.
Whitelaw has described an incident in which Roberts’ chief of staff, Christopher Spence, claimed to have a potentially damaging video of Chandler, with Spence saying he planned to give it to the then fair trading minister and current Liberal shadow minister, Eleni Petinos, to use in budget estimates.
Whitelaw says he is not aware if Spence spoke to Petinos about the video, saying they “were very close”. Asked if Spence had sought to circulate the video to bring about Chandler’s removal, Whitelawtold the inquiry Spence said words to the effect of: “We’ve just got to get rid of this guy”.
Whitelaw says he never saw the video, which he alleges included the imputation Chandler was racist, and included reference to a list of “dodgy” developers or certifiers that the building commissioner had passed on to banks. He says Spence never told him where he had received the video from.
Asked if he knew of Spence’s alleged plan to discredit Chandler at budget estimates “came to fruition”, Whitelaw says he does not, and he did not know why Petinos would want to have Chandler removed.
No, I don’t believe it did because I recall a subsequent conversation occurring … [Spence] walked into the office and said, ‘I can’t believe it, Eleni fucked it up’, excuse my language, or words to that effect.
Dfat investigating if any Australians affected by Japan quakes
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) is investigating if any Australians were affected by yesterday’s earthquakes in Japan.
A spokesperson for the agency said in a statement:
We are deeply saddened by the loss of life and damage in Japan resulting from the earthquake in Kyushu. Australians in the affected area should follow the advice of local authorities.
Australian officials are liaising with local authorities to determine whether any Australians have been affected. We stand ready to provide consular assistance.
At least 13 people were killed in the temblors and hundreds injured.
Financial markets slash chance of an RBA rate hike next month
Patrick Commins
Financial markets have virtually ruled out a Reserve Bank rate hike next month, pricing in just a 4% chance of a move, down from more than 20% at the start of the day, according to Bloomberg.
The dramatic move comes after ABS figures this morning showed a surprise drop in headline inflation to 3.8% in the year to June, from 4%, alongside softer than anticipated underlying price pressures.
In no world is inflation low enough for comfort – something economists have been quick to point out.
Still, the chance of a fourth rate hike this year has plunged to 49%, from 84%, according to financial markets.
Jim Chalmers earlier told journalists in Brisbane that “we know that people are still under pressure”.
The treasurer said:
We know that inflation is still higher than we would like it to be. We know that the war in the Middle East and the uncertain developments, even in the last couple of weeks, risks that outlook as well. But in the circumstances that we find ourselves in, these numbers today are encouraging.
SA police investigate death of mother and child as a murder-suicide
South Australia police are investigating the deaths of a mother and toddler as a murder-suicide after their bodies were found in the ocean off the coast west of Port Macdonnell.
The 36-year-old mother and her 23-month-old child were located by authorities after emergency services were called to the area when a vehicle was found with its engine running.
The incident has been referred to the coroner to examine the cause and circumstances surrounding the deaths. Police said: “Based on the evidence currently available, the matter is being investigated as a murder-suicide.”
At this time, there is no information to suggest that any person other than the mother and her two children were involved in this heartbreaking incident.
Police are continuing to search for the woman’s second infant, a three-month-old.
ASX200 back above 9,000 points amid Iran war pause
The Australian sharemarket is bounding upwards for the third day in a row as the US holds off strikes on Iran.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index has risen 1.27% to hit 9,061.86, representing a combined $34bn rise in value across Australia’s 200 biggest public companies. The ASX200 hasn’t closed above 9,000 points since March, when the US-Israel war on Iran first broke out, and swinging either side of 8,800 points until Friday, but has risen steadily in the last three days.
Mineral Resources and Rio Tinto are among the biggest gainers, after the miners reported their latest financial results. Rio has added $3.3bn in value, to hit $62.6bn, while MinRes is up $420m for a valuation of nearly $11bn. BHP, also a miner and the nation’s biggest company, is up 1.92% despite not releasing any results, with a market value of $307bn.
Commonwealth Bank is back to a market value of $302bn, with its shares up 0.85% to $181.11 apiece. All of the big four banks’ share prices have recovered from their post-federal budget slump, which had been prompted by predictions of a lending collapse as investors exited the housing market.
The broader all ordinaries index is up 1.18% to 9,219.2 points, which would be its highest level since early March if maintained. The sharemarket lift this morning was despite the crude oil price picking up to US$88 a barrel, after Iran launched “surprise” strikes on US bases. It extended after new data showed Australian inflation is falling, slashing the chance of an interest rate hike.
Inquiry hears of photos claimed to show Liberal minister’s alleged extramarital affair
Returning to the NSW Icac’s Operation Rosny, the inquiry has heard more about details in an alleged dirt file prepared by the Liberal “Reformers” against former Liberal minister David Elliott.
The inquiry has heard that a document titled “David Elliott shit sheet” had a subheading “Extramarital affair”.
Asked about this detail, former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw says he recalls being told about the alleged affair by Reformers Jeremy Greenwood and Christian Ellis, who claimed they had photos which were evidence of the affair:
The allegation around Mr Elliot and the affair was something that Mr Greenwood and Mr Ellis kept very, very secretive. It wouldn’t tell me much about it at all, apart from the fact that you know they were aware that this was happening and they had photographs of it, but I wasn’t aware of the specific detail.
Fears for endangered sea lions after Kangaroo Island bird flu detection
Donna Lu
Conservationists have expressed fears for Kangaroo Island’s iconic Australian sea lion population, after H5N1 bird flu was detected in a greater crested tern at Seal Bay.
South Australian authorities believe it is “extremely likely” that local transmission of the virus is occurring between birds, after 11 new suspected detections were reported on Wednesday morning.
Alexia Wellbelove, campaigns director of the Australian Marine Conservation Society, said:
This is the news we feared but predicted given the experience of bird flu internationally. Endangered Australian sea lions are now on the frontline of the potential wildlife crisis, and a positive detection in a greater crested tern at one of the largest breeding colonies means we must be on high alert. With only 12,000 individuals left, the Australian sea lion simply cannot absorb the kind of losses we have seen bird flu inflict on marine mammals overseas.
In South America, this virus killed 30,000 sea lion pups in just six months following transmission from birds to marine mammals. On our own Heard Island, it killed more than 13,000 elephant seal pups in a single season … we now have to face the very real possibility of similar devastation here at home, in a species already teetering on the edge.
Groups including the AMCS and the Invasive Species Council have called on the federal government to establish a $200m national wildlife resilience fund, “focused on emergency protection and recovery for our most at-risk species”.
Sea lion pups on Kangaroo Island. Photograph: Louise M Cooper/The University of Sydney
Former treasury secretary claims Australia’s climate policy architecture at risk
Former treasury secretary Ken Henry will take aim at other environment and climate advocates in a speech today, making a bold claim that “every bit” of Australia’s climate policy architecture is at risk.
With the Coalition stepping away from net zero climate targets, Henry will warn that renewable energy projects “are being opposed by conservation and community groups because of their environmental impacts”.
Ken Henry. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
In a speech to be delivered today at the Clean Energy Summit in Sydney, Henry, who is now chair of the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation, will say:
Environmental restoration projects financed by carbon revenues are being opposed because they are seen to be making life easier for carbon emitters. And a small set of conservation and climate groups is ramping up a campaign to do away with carbon offsetting altogether.
Last week four major groups – The Australian Conservation Foundation, Bob Brown Foundation, the Wilderness Society and Wilderness Australia – published a set of forest principles that included banning the use of carbon and biodiversity offsets from public native forests.
Inflation eases to 3.8% in the year to June, reducing chance of rate rise
Patrick Commins
Inflation has dropped to 3.8% in the year to June, from 4% in the previous month, with lower than anticipated underlying price pressures weighing against the chance of another Reserve Bank interest rate hike.
The unexpected drop in headline inflation by the monthly measure was married with a softer than expected 0.8% quarterly increase in the RBA’s preferred trimmed mean measure of price growth, the Australian Bureau of Statistics data showed.
Before the latest inflation report, the chance of an 11 August hike had dwindled to 16%, from 50% on Friday, according to financial markets.
The latest consumer price figures come as Iran launched a volley of missiles at US bases in the region, puncturing days of calm and partially reversing some of the steep oil price falls over recent days.
‘Shit sheet’ prepared by NSW Liberal faction group about minister, inquiry hears
Penry Buckley
The NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) has resumed its examination of former Liberal staffer Dylan Whitelaw who yesterday was asked about group chat messages which made reference to a potential donations made by Angus Taylor to the Reformers – a conservative right faction group involved in branch stacking efforts.
This morning, Taylor, who is not accused of any wrongdoing, has denied payments were ever made.
Counsel assisting Juliet Curtin SC has been asking Whitelaw about efforts by the Reformers to brief against the former NSW Liberal minister David Elliott.
Whitelaw says the Reformers – part of the Liberal hard right faction – had a “large distaste” for Elliott, who was a member of the Liberal centre-right faction.
He says he does not recall being asked by a member of the Reformers, Jeremy Greenwood, to prepare a document with negative stories about Elliott. Curtin reads him intercepted messages between from December 2020.
Curtin: You asked Mr Greenwood: “When did you want the Elliot document by?” … You see that? Whitelaw: Yes. Curtin: And Mr Greenwood responds: “Take your time on it.” Whitelaw: Yes. Curtin: So it does appear that you’ve been asked by Mr Greenwood to prepare a document in relation to a person by the name of Elliot. Would that be David Elliot? Whitelaw: I would assume so.
Curtin reads him an email with an attachment titled “David Elliott shit sheet” sent by Greenwood to himself 11 days later. Whitelaw says he does not recall seeing the document or giving it that title.
One of the allegations Icac is investigating is whether members of the Reformers solicited or accepted donations from fugitive property developer Jean Nassif in exchange for the pursuit of outcomes, including damage to Elliott’s career.
Whitelaw, who has been described as an associate of the Reformers, has not been named in any allegations.
Local transmission of H5N1 bird flu ‘extremely likely’ after 11 new detections in SA
Donna Lu
Local transmission of H5N1 bird flu in South Australia is “very, very likely”, authorities believe, after 11 new suspected detections were reported today.
Clare Scriven, SA minister for primary industries, said the detections were all in greater crested terns in the state’s south-east, including four on Kangaroo Island.
Scriven said:
Those samples have been sent to the national laboratory in Geelong and we will wait for confirmation, but it is highly likely they are positive for H5 bird flu …
This is concerning but not unexpected. We knew that eventually when bird flu arrived in Australia it would spread. It has spread on every other continent around the globe.
One of the Kangaroo Island detections was at Seal Bay, which has the country’s third-largest Australian sea lion population. Scriven said beach tours there were temporarily paused to keep people separate from the “very vulnerable” animal population.
She added:
It seems extremely likely that we do have that localised distribution …
There has … around the world been local transmission so it was pretty much inevitable it would occur.
There had been no H5 detections in commercial poultry in Australia to date, Scriven said.
H5N1 bird flu may have been detected in 11 more greater crested terns. Photograph: DEA/P. JACCOD/De Agostini/Getty Images
Daniel Andrews pays tribute to Jacinta Allan and says Carroll will win next election
Benita Kolovos
The former Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has issued a rare public statement paying tribute to his successor Jacinta Allan and declaring that Labor’s new leader, Ben Carroll, can win the state election in four months’ time.
Andrews said he first met Allan when he was the “most junior official at the ALP Head Office and she was the youngest candidate in a seemingly unwinnable Liberal stronghold in Bendigo.” He went on:
Together, we worked to win that seat and for the next 25 years, to elect Labor governments and deliver a Labor agenda for working people. There is no greater compliment in politics than to say someone lives their values – that has always been true of JA. For nearly three decades, she has been a champion for Bendigo, for workers, for women, for the future of Victoria. I wish Jacinta, Yorick and the kids all the very best for the future.
He also congratulated Carroll on his election, saying he is a “great campaigner who will take it up to the Liberal Party and One Nation.” Andrews said:
I well remember campaigning shoulder to shoulder with Ben in the Niddrie byelection in 2012. I saw then what I know now, he is a great campaigner who will take it up to the Liberal Party and One Nation. Elections like this are won by a handful of votes in a handful of seats. I believe Premier Carroll and his team can win in November. As he has rightly pointed out the stakes are high. Working people across Victoria cannot afford the cuts that will come with a Wilson-Hanson Government. I wish Premier Carroll and his team well for the future.
Dan Andrews and Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP
In his first press conference as leader yesterday, Carroll sought to differentiate himself from Allan and Andrews. He told reporters:
Let me make one thing very clear: I am not Daniel Andrews. I am not Jacinta Allan. I will do things differently, because different times require a new approach.
Carroll comes from the right of the Labor party while Andrews and Allan are members of the Socialist Left.