Australia news live: Greens to push for 50c bus and train fares; Victoria police lay charges over ‘Pam the Bird’ graffiti | Australian politics

Stephanie Convery

Productivity Commission report on NDIS

The NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission was notified of more than 1.7m incidents of unauthorised restrictive practices used against people with disability last financial year, according to a new report.

The Productivity Commission’s annual report on government services, released this morning, also showed that of the 26,368 other reportable incidents of which the Quality and Safeguards Commission was notified, nearly half (45%) were instances of abuse and neglect.

Unauthorised restrictive practices include seclusion, or chemical, physical, mechanical or environmental restraint.

The 2023-24 figure of 1,732,298 reported incidents represents an increase from 2022‑23, when there were 1,608,913 notifications of the use of unauthorised restrictive practices – and both represent a huge increase on five years ago.

The rate of reported incidents is noticeably higher in Tasmania and the Northern Territory, with Tasmania reporting unauthorised restrictive practices at a rate of 37.5 incidents for every 1000 NDIS participants, almost double that of NSW, where the rate was 16.7 incidents for every 1000 participants.

Complaints to the Quality and Safeguards Commission have also increased, from 17,553 complaints in 2022-23 to 29,054 in the last financial year, a rate of 43.9 total complaints per 1000 active NDIS participants, up from 28.8.

“Choice and control” is a central tenet of the NDIS and also an indicator by which the program’s success is measured. Nationally, at 30 June 2024, just 53% of NDIS participants reported that they got to choose who supports them, a slight uptick from 2019 (48%), while 42% of families and carers of NDIS participants reported that they feel in control when selecting services – a figure that has not changed over time.

Rafqa Touma

Thank you Martin Farrer for starting off the blog this morning. I’ll be updating you with the day’s news from here.

Blood cancer has been dubbed Australia’s silent killer after a shocking rise in cases prompted calls for more prevention and early detection research, Australian Associated Press reports.

The disease claims the lives of 16 Australians every day.

However the Leukaemia Foundation is asking Australians to make a difference by digging deep for their annual fundraiser, the World’s Greatest Shave.

One in 12 people are set to be diagnosed with blood cancer in their lifetime, almost 10 per cent of the national population. The incidence of the disease in Australia had increased by 79% in the past 20 years.

About 140,000 families are currently facing a blood cancer battle.

The foundation’s head of research Bill Stavreski said we don’t know what causes blood cancers.

“Without these key answers, unfortunately, it will continue to impact Australians of all walks of life and all ages and we urgently need help to save Australian lives.”

The foundation’s national research program has funded about 365 blood cancer research grants since 2000.

It has called on Australians to help raise vital funds by taking part in its annual World’s Greatest Shave campaign launching around the nation today.

Further to Sarah’s post on the electoral reform issue, Labor is on track to pass the centrepiece of its Future Made in Australia plan when parliament resumes next week.

Read more here:

Sarah Basford Canales

Advocates urge politicians to support Labor’s electoral reform laws

Transparency advocates are urging federal politicians to support the Albanese government’s proposed electoral reform changes, warning public trust could be further eroded without it.

Labor’s plan, one of its key election promises in 2022, would impose a $90m cap for a federal political campaign, $800,000 for an individual electorate and separate caps for each state and territory based on their size.

It would also introduce donation caps of $20,000 per independent candidate or per state division for a political party and lower the donation disclosure threshold from $16,300 to $1,000.

“Real-time” disclosures will require parties to declare donations every month during the term, every week during an election campaign and every day in the week before and after election day.

However, the bill remains stalled in the Senate until a deal is struck between Labor and the opposition or the crossbenchers.

Transparency International Australia wrote to key leaders in both houses – including senators Don Farrell, Michaelia Cash and Jane Hume – on Thursday, imploring them to support lowering the donation disclosure threshold and introducing real-time disclosures when Parliament resumes next week.

The group’s chief executive officer, Clancy Moore, said the changes were crucial first steps to ensuring public trust in elections.

Australians deserve to know who is funding their politicians and shaping public policy behind closed doors. Without transparency, we risk further eroding public trust in our democracy.

Alleged ‘Pam the Bird’ vandal charged in Melbourne

Victorian police have charged a man over a series of “Pam the Bird” images graffitied on city landmarks.

The 21-year-old man from Yarraville was arrested on 30 January, police said in a statement. He faces more than 50 charges including criminal damage, burglary, shop theft and theft of a motor vehicle.

Police allege he scaled and defaced the heritage listed Flinders Street railway station clock tower on 10 July 2024.

They allege he is also responsible for graffiti across the rail network, the “Cheese Stick” column on CityLink, a television station building in Docklands, concrete silos on Mercer Street in Geelong and a hotel in South Wharf.

Along with a 39-year-old man from Abbotsford, also changed with graffiti offences, he was remanded to appear at Melbourne magistrates court today.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has accused Anthony Albanese of failing to set red lines not to be crossed after antisemitic attacks began ramping up in Australia, Australian Associated Press reports.

The former Liberal party deputy leader said the discovery of a caravan containing explosives and addresses of Jewish targets was just the latest in a long list of incidents that have left the Jewish community less safe.

“The Jewish community – and it’s about only 116,000 strong – is very scared. People are afraid to send their kids to school. People are afraid now to gather at places of worship,” he told the ABC’s 7.30 Report last night.

Frydenberg, who is Jewish, said he was personally “cautious and extra vigilant” after receiving “very serious threats” that he had referred to federal police.

He said antisemitism had gained a foothold in Australia and from the beginning the prime minister “should have set red lines that were not to be crossed” to make sure culprits were arrested, convicted and punished.

“Because of the absence of action those who hate and those who harm have been emboldened.”

Frydenberg said he backed a coalition call for minimum mandatory sentences for those who commit terror attacks.

Rabbi Zalman Goldstein, who heads the Maroubra synagogue in eastern Sydney, said his congregation was feeling defiant amid a rising tide of antisemitism and would not allow fear to take hold.

“The Jewish community is saddened to see this happening in Australia, and at the same time, the community is very strong and resilient – we don’t get deterred or intimidated by bullies,” he told AAP.

“Our strength comes from thousands of years of Jewish perseverance and survival. We’ve been through a lot.

“We’re not going to allow fear to take hold.”

Greens announce $8.1bn plan for 50c public transport fares

Sarah Basford Canales

The Greens will announce an $8.1bn plan to make all public transport fees across the country just 50 cents a ride as part of a suite of “Robin Hood” policies designed to alleviate the cost of living crisis.

On Friday, the leader, Adam Bandt, will reveal the plan in Melbourne ahead of the state byelection in Prahan next weekend in a bid to put pressure on the major parties to adopt more ambitious cost of living policies at the federal election.

Under the proposal, costed by the Parliamentary Budget Office, the federal government would pay states and territories $8.1bn over the next four years to fully fund public transport costs and allow them to charge a flat rate of 50 cents per trip. An additional $250m would be given to assist the states and territories to adopt a “smart ticketing” system allowing travellers to use their phone, credit or debit cards.

Bandt said:

We can’t keep voting for the same two parties and expecting a different result. This election will be the most important in a generation. By electing more Greens we can keep Peter Dutton out and get Labor to act on the cost-of-living crisis.

The 50c fares have been adopted in Queensland after trials began in August. The Crisafulli Liberal government agreed to keep the cut-price fares in place after being elected.

The Greens claim the policy, if adopted federally, could save households thousands of dollars a year. Bandt said electing a minority Labor government, supported by the Greens, could make the plan a reality.

Greens pressure got 50c fares in Queensland, and now we want it for everyone. The major parties can’t say it’s impossible, because it’s happening right now in Queensland.

Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it’ll be Rafqa Touma to wrap up the week.

The former treasurer Josh Frydenberg has accused Anthony Albanese of failing to set red lines that could not be crossed as antisemitism attacks began ramping up in Australia. The former MP said the prime minister’s failure to act had “emboldened” people to hate. It comes as the investigation into the explosives found in a caravan in Dural along with a list of Jewish targets continues. More coming up.

While one in five women over the age of 15 has been sexually assaulted in their lifetime, almost 90% will not report to police. Of those who do make a report, only a quarter will see their perpetrator charged. These are the statistics behind our latest investigation, Broken Justice, looking at how the legal system fails rape victims. Coming ahead of a report by the law reform commission to be tabled in parliament next week, we also hear from a survivor who explains why the system seems stacked against women who seek justice.

Transparency advocates are urging federal politicians to support the Albanese government’s proposed electoral reform changes, warning public trust could be further eroded without it. With the federal parliament preparing to resume for a fortnight next week, the legislation is in doubt.

More coming up – as well as some details on the Greens’ new policy for national 50c public transport fares.