TRANSCRIPT
- Millions to receive a 3.75 per cent wage increase.
- Penny Wong denounces Peter Dutton's threat to pull out of the International Criminal Court.
- And in rugby, A weekend of upsets in the National Rugby League.
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Millions of Australians will get a 3.75 per cent wage increase, with the Fair Work Commission handing down its annual wage review decision.
The pay rise will come into effect from the 1st of July with anyone on the minimum or an award wage set to see an increase.
About one in five Australian workers, or 2.6 million people, will be affected by the changes.
Fair Work Commissioner Justice Adam Hatcher says the cost-of-living crisis was one of the commission's key considerations.
"Our decision today is to increase the national minimum wage, and all modern awarded minimum wage rates by 3.75%, effective from 1 July 2024. In determining this level of increase, a primary consideration has been the cost-of-living pressures that modern award reliant employees, particularly those who are low paid and live in low-income households, continue to experience."
The Australian Council of Trade Unions had been pushing for a five per cent increase which they say is needed to keep up with inflation rates.
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Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong says the government welcomes the ceasefire and hostage release proposal put forward by US President Joe Biden.
The proposal, which Mr Biden says came from the Netanyahu government, has been quite controversial as two far-right Israeli ministers have threatened to resign if a ceasefire is agreed to and the Netanyahu government now says the deal needs more work.
The deal has a three-phase plan, which includes a truce, the release of both Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners and the cessation of hostilities.
Speaking at a Senate estimates hearing, Penny Wong has reiterated the government's calls for the Israeli government to agree to an immediate ceasefire so that hostages can be returned and Palestinian civilians protected from further catastrophe.
Ms Wong says that Peter Dutton's threat to pull out of the International Criminal Court is reckless and undermines attempts to promote a rules-based order.
"We do nothing to help make it happen by recklessly threatening to pull out of the bodies that uphold international law. That kind of talk may seem tough to some, but it undermines Australia's core security interests. For example, we cannot insist that China abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea but threaten to pull out of the International Criminal Court. We do nothing to shape the kind of region Australia needs by picking fights blowing up relationships or beating the drums of war."
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Assistant Defence Minister Matt Thistlethwaite has rejected reports warning that Australian won't be able to scale up its defence in time for war.
The analysis from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute report had found that despite a $50 billion cash injection over the next decade, more defence funding is needed to ensure Australia is capable if the region deteriorates quickly.
Mr Thistlethwaite says the findings are simply not true, pointing to budget increases directed at strengthening the defence force capabilities over the next decade.
"We're also investing in the red spice program to ensure that we're improving our cyber capabilities and the protection of Australian data into the future. In every respect in Army, Navy, Air Force, cyber and space, the Albanese government is making the necessary investments in our Australian Defence Force over the next four or five years to ensure that we have the capacity to defend Australians into the future."
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The Fair Work Commission has found that journalist Antoinette Lattouf was sacked by the ABC when she was taken off the air mid-way through a five-day presenting stint on ABC Radio Sydney.
She had lodged a claim for unlawful dismissal saying the ABC told her that she had breached their social media policy for posting a Human Rights Watch announcement related to Israel's war in Gaza on her personal Instagram account.
Her dismissal followed what the Sydney Morning Herald reported as "a high-level and co-ordinated letter-writing campaign from pro-Israel lobbyists" pleading for Ms Lattouf's firing to the heads of the ABC.
The ABC had claimed they didn't fire her because she was paid for the full five days of work.
The Fair Work Commission's finding now opens the door for an unlawful termination case, which has already been filed in the Federal Court.
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To rugby league...
It was a weekend of upsets in the National Rugby League, with a win in all five games for the lower ranked teams.
Players were missing from most teams due to State of Origin, with the first men's game kicking off on Wednesday evening at Sydney Olympic Park.
North Queensland beat the Sydney by two points in the last game of the round, with Roosters Captain James Tedesco absent from the side as a late call up to the Blues camp.
