Robodebt royal commission kicks off in Brisbane
Luke Henriques-Gomes
In her opening address kicking off the robodebt inquiry today, the royal commissioner, Catherine Holmes, said senior government officials would be called to give evidence explaining their role in the scandal.
Holmes said the Centrelink debt recovery program established by the former government employed an “automated” debt recovery process on a “scale not previously attempted” and had been based on an “unsound premise”.
The robodebt scheme was established in 2015 and ran until November 2019 when the Coalition government accepted in the federal court that the method used for raising welfare debts was legally insufficient.
Holmes said the royal commission would hear from victims of the scheme and take evidence from senior government officials from the period before reporting in April.
She said although much was known now about the way the scheme operated, less was understood about why the scheme was established and how the government had responded to any warnings and criticisms about the program.
“Many people have different levels of government will be asked to give an account of their role in the devising implementation and continuing with the robodebt scheme,” Holmes said.
“But the focus appropriately and in accordance with the terms of reference will be on those in senior positions, who had or should have had oversight.”
The former prime minister, Scott Morrison, current opposition frontbenchers Alan Tudge and Stuart Robert, and former ministers Christian Porter and Michael Keenan, all held portfolios with oversight for the scheme.
Holmes said she understood some victims would not want to “revisit” their stressful experiences of the scheme, but she encouraged those affected to make a submission.
Key events
Paul Karp
The Greens party room discussed the cashless debit card. They will move amendments to try to put transitional plans into legislation with a six month reporting requirement; and to abolish all forms of income management. But they don’t support the Liberals’ likely filibuster against the bill.
The Greens will also move a censure motion against Pauline Hanson for her comments about Mehreen Faruqi in the Senate; and attempt to suspend standing orders in the House of Reps to repeal stage three tax cuts.
The Greens discussed the Optus data breach – apparently they have some concerns that the AFP is leading the response because of a scathing ANAO report about their cyber readiness. The Greens want to reduce the amount of information or the period for which it must be held by telcos to reduce exposure.
The attorney general’s comments about the National Anti-Corruption Commission having jurisdiction over third parties was helpful for winning Greens support, but they’ll be on alert to see that the scope of the body is not narrowly drafted.
Peter Hannam
A bit more on that link between a falling Australian dollar and how much it will stoke inflation – and therefore nudge the Reserve Bank to lift interest rates higher, faster.
Westpac has done some number crunching and for now, at least, the impact is not so big. The “rough rule of thumb” is that a 10% depreciation of the currency will lift the CPI by around 0.3-0.4 percentage points over the next six months, the bank says.
@WestpacMacro has had a look at how a falling $A will spur inflation. Their ‘rough rule of thumb’ has a 10% drop lifting the CPI by about 0.3-0.4 percentage points over the next six months. (Trade-weighted index has not fallen by much in recent months, unlike the $A vs the $US.) pic.twitter.com/ag0poQff4l
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) September 27, 2022
For one thing, Australia’s main trading partners are mostly in Asia, and most (if not all) have lately let their currencies weaken against the US too.
The trade weighted index – which shows how the Aussie dollar is moving, proportionally, to the destination and source of our exports and imports – is down in the past six months, but much less than the fall against the US dollar.
Since late March, the Australia dollar’s trade weighted index is down almost 4%. Roughly over the same period, the $A is down more than three times that against the $US, underscoring how much the greenback has been rising against other currencies too. (Source: RBA) pic.twitter.com/gPwe8Ucplo
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) September 27, 2022
Given Australia’s consumer prices are forecast to be rising at 7.75% by the end of the year by Treasury and the RBA, a proportion of the inflation from a weaker Aussie dollar will get us closer to an annual rate of 8% – but no cause to panic for now.
If you haven’t read it already, Sarah Martin has looked into the federal grants audit:
There are reports the hacker has deleted the Optus data.
Robodebt royal commission kicks off in Brisbane
Luke Henriques-Gomes
In her opening address kicking off the robodebt inquiry today, the royal commissioner, Catherine Holmes, said senior government officials would be called to give evidence explaining their role in the scandal.
Holmes said the Centrelink debt recovery program established by the former government employed an “automated” debt recovery process on a “scale not previously attempted” and had been based on an “unsound premise”.
The robodebt scheme was established in 2015 and ran until November 2019 when the Coalition government accepted in the federal court that the method used for raising welfare debts was legally insufficient.
Holmes said the royal commission would hear from victims of the scheme and take evidence from senior government officials from the period before reporting in April.
She said although much was known now about the way the scheme operated, less was understood about why the scheme was established and how the government had responded to any warnings and criticisms about the program.
“Many people have different levels of government will be asked to give an account of their role in the devising implementation and continuing with the robodebt scheme,” Holmes said.
“But the focus appropriately and in accordance with the terms of reference will be on those in senior positions, who had or should have had oversight.”
The former prime minister, Scott Morrison, current opposition frontbenchers Alan Tudge and Stuart Robert, and former ministers Christian Porter and Michael Keenan, all held portfolios with oversight for the scheme.
Holmes said she understood some victims would not want to “revisit” their stressful experiences of the scheme, but she encouraged those affected to make a submission.
States unwilling to change drivers’ licence numbers without evidence of fraud
One of the key issues relating to the Optus data breach that people are reporting is that their jurisdiction’s transport departments – Queensland and Victoria keep coming up – won’t let them change their drivers’ licence number without evidence fraudulent activity has taken place.
So people are being told to wait until something potentially happens with their data, before they are able to act on securing their identity documents.
Government releases statement on latest Optus hack developments
Clare O’Neil, the minister for cyber security, has released a statement after reports the Optus data breach information was being released as part of a ransom demand:
I am incredibly concerned this morning about reports that personal information from the Optus data breach, including Medicare numbers, are now being offered for free and for ransom.
Medicare numbers were never advised to form part of compromised information from the breach.
Consumers have a right to know exactly what individual personal information has been compromised in Optus’ communications to them. Reports today make this a priority.
I want to re-assure Australians that the full weight of cyber security capabilities across government, including the Australian Signals Directorate, the Australian Cyber Security Centre and the Australian Federal Police are working round the clock to respond to this breach.
Star Sydney’s licenceholder accepts regulator’s finding of unsuitability but pleads for continued operation under supervision
AAP has an update on the Star Entertainment Group response to the regulator’s findings it was unsuitable to hold a casino licence in NSW:
In a pitch to regulators, Star Entertainment Group says it accepts the findings of an inquiry which found it unsuitable to hold a casino licence in NSW and will do whatever is necessary to reform.
The gaming company on Tuesday pleaded to be allowed to continue to operate its Sydney casino under strict supervision.
“The Star Sydney accepts the findings of the Bell report, including the finding of unsuitability,” the company said in a statement.
It acknowledged “the gravity of the conduct which is raised in the Bell report”.
The company says it has taken “significant and urgent remedial steps, including increased risk, compliance, and security staff, approval of upgrades to surveillance technology as well as permanently exiting junkets and closing the Marquee nightclub”.
The company pledged to take “additional necessary and appropriate action” so the NSW Independent Casino Commission (NICC) “can be satisfied the Star Sydney has taken sufficient steps, and has bound itself to take further steps, so that it may continue to hold its licence”.
The Star Entertainment Group (TSEG) says it has developed “a comprehensive remediation plan for a multi-year transformation of the governance, accountability and capabilities, culture and risk, and compliance management practices of the organisation”.
We intend to do whatever is necessary, in consultation with NICC, to restore The Star Sydney to suitability.
We submit that the appropriate action NICC should take is to allow TSEG to continue to operate the licence, under strict supervision and being held accountable to the milestones on the remediation plan.
Achieving the stipulated milestones “should give NICC confidence that TSEG has restored suitability”.
The response comes a day after the Star’s acting chief executive, Geoff Hogg, resigned.
Parenthood advocacy group welcomes childcare reform bill
Advocacy group the Parenthood has welcomed the government introducing its early childcare legislation, but also want to make sure the focus is on ensuring the sector can attract and retain the staff necessary to make it work. And that means addressing the pay and conditions of early childcare educators.
The group’s executive director, Georgie Dent:
At the jobs summit there was consensus among leaders from business, unions, community and government that early education and care is critical to achieving full employment, unlocking the full potential of women’s workforce participation, addressing the educational decline and investing in the future capacity.
To realise the potential increased productivity and benefits for children from the Cheaper Childcare package, we will need the equivalent of 9,650 additional full time educators by next year to absorb the additional demand.
Right now, rather than expanding this critical workforce is contracting. In July there were more than 6,600 staff vacancies in early learning services nationally.
Without early educators, there is no early education. This workforce contracting is a problem for every employer in the country because if a parent cannot access suitable, quality care, they cannot access work.
AFP launches investigation into Optus data breach
For those who missed it yesterday, the Australian Federal Police have launched an investigation into the Optus data breach:
Operation Hurricane has been launched to identify the criminals behind the alleged breach and to help shield Australians from identity fraud.
The AFP is aware of reports of the sale of stolen data and investigations are continuing.
To protect the integrity of the criminal investigation, the AFP will not divulge what information it has obtained in the first few days of Operation Hurricane.
However, the public can be assured that since a report from Optus on 23 September, 2022, the AFP has diverted significant resources to the investigation.
The newly established AFP-led JPC3, which is a joint partnership between law enforcement, the private sector and industry to combat the growing threat of cybercrime, is providing further capability in the investigation.
The AFP is also working closely with Optus, the Australian Signals Directorate and overseas law enforcement.
The assistant commissioner of cyber command, Justine Gough, said while the investigation was going to be extremely complex and very lengthy it was important to note that the AFP specialised in investigations of this type.
“This is an ongoing investigation but it is important the community knows the AFP and our partners are doing everything within scope to identify the offenders responsible, and to also ensure we can protect individuals who are now potentially vulnerable to identity theft,” Gough said.
Good advice in general re clicking links from hackers:
WARNING – do not click on latest link from alleged Optus hacker. IT security experts confirm it “tries to use drive-by and explicit download techniques to install executable files – this appears to be an attempt to capitalise on the publicity from the hack to setup a future hack”
— Andrew Greene (@AndrewBGreene) September 26, 2022
Adeshola Ore
Victorian Labor pledges to legislate major renewable energy storage targets
The Andrews government has committed to reaching Australia’s biggest renewable energy storage targets in a bid to accelerate the transition away from coal.
The pledge was announced on Tuesday morning alongside a $157m package to support renewable energy generation and storage projects.
Andrews said the state would legislate the storage targets that were predicted to create 12,700 jobs and $1.7bn in investment from 2032 to 2035:
Victoria will see by 2030 some 2.3GW of storage by 2030 and 6.3GW of storage by 2035 . That’s about enough power for half of Victorian households when it gets to that full 6.3GW.
In March, Andrews announced Australia’s first offshore wind targets. Under the plan, offshore wind farms could generate enough to power 1.5m Victorian homes by 2032.
The party room meetings are starting to come to a close – we will bring you those updates very soon
Peter Hannam
Australian consumer confidence rises to highest level since May
Australian consumers, it seems, are an optimistic bunch. Perhaps the football finals and the unusual suspended animation after Queen Elizabeth II’s death played a role, but so far shopping sentiment is holding up quite well despite the gathering gloom overseas.
The latest weekly survey by ANZ and Roy Morgan has consumer confidence rising again to the best reading since late May (although it’s a low level by historical measures).
Despite gloomy news on interest rates, etc,
consumer confidence has extended recent rises, so say @ANZ_Research & @RoyMorganAus. Their weekly gauge rose 2.1% last week to its highest since late May. Most sub-indices also posted a rise, eg for ‘time to buy a major household item’. pic.twitter.com/WLmPImjsRY— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) September 26, 2022
“The increase in headline confidence was mainly driven by improved sentiment around Australia’s economic conditions,” Catherine Birch, a senior ANZ economist, said. “Continued strength despite 225 basis points of rate hikes over the past five months may be quelling fears of a sharp downturn.”
Another outcome that will please the Reserve Bank is the drop in inflation expectations. Recall that the RBA rate hikes are as much about stamping out expected inflation as they are for actual price rises.
Businesses, for instance, won’t put up prices as much if they think future costs aren’t going to rise – or that they may be caught out pushing through higher prices that aren’t justified or matched by competitors. Unions, too, won’t be as worried about further erosion of real wages.
Motorists, though, might have cause to be a bit dismayed by what’s going on at the service stations around the country. Weekly data from the Australian Institute of Petroleum shows the gap between retail and wholesale petrol prices has lately widened to more than at any time in the past couple of years.
It’s notable that the gap between average retail and wholesale fuel prices is the widest in years – just prior to the end of excise ‘holiday’ later this week. Coincidence? #auspol (Source: AIP) pic.twitter.com/EtEtoKCLxU
— Peter Hannam (@p_hannam) September 26, 2022
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the ACCC have warned they will be scrutinising how much fuel prices go up when the “excise holiday” ends late on Wednesday night, potentially adding as much as 24 cents a litre to the cost of filling up. Perhaps that scrutiny needs to be backdated a week or so.
Either way, it’s a fair bet that this time next week both consumer sentiment and inflation expectations will be heading in different directions than the current survey. Let’s see.
Graham Readfearn
Positive news as some stranded pilot whales successfully re-released into ocean
For those wanting an update on the pilot whale stranding:
A mission to rescue scores of pilot whales found still alive on a beach after a mass stranding on Tasmania’s west coast has ended, with satellite trackers showing two rescued whales well south of the state.
State government personnel and volunteers from the local salmon farming industry lifted 44 live pilot whales off Ocean Beach, near Strahan, and towed them one-by-one to deeper waters.
Some 230 pilot whales – which are actually large oceanic dolphins – were reported on the beach last Wednesday.
Almost 200 dead whales which died before rescuers were able to assist were tied together and on Sunday pulled out into the deep ocean, where authorities said they were expected to drift south in the Southern Ocean. Only two carcasses remain on the beach.
Preliminary data from satellite tackers on two of the rescued live whales showed they were now well south of Tasmania. Incident controller Nic Deka said:
This is positive news as this indicates that many of the rescued whales have been successfully released back into the Southern Ocean.
Deka thanked colleagues from the Department of Natural Resources and Environment Tasmania, as well as salmon industry staff, volunteers and the Strahan community and local council for their help. Access roads have re-opened.
Authorities said carcasses could wash up in the coming weeks and surveillance flights would be monitoring nearby beaches. Any sightings in the region should be reported to a whale hotline on Whale Hotline at 0427 WHALES.
The stranding came two years to the day after the biggest recorded mass whale or dolphin stranding in Australia at the same location. Some 470 pilot whales were found in Macquarie Harbour and on Ocean Beach.
Things that make you go hmmmmm
Yep. We getting the “special price” of $1.90 before the “extra special” price of $2.20 when by rights it should be $1.60 for the past fortnight and next week.https://t.co/GR1SCaAbAz
— Paul Karp (@Paul_Karp) September 26, 2022
