Labor senator Fatima Payman leaves the chamber after crossing the floor to vote with the Greens on a motion to recognise Palestine as state. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Labor senator Fatima Payman leaves the chamber after crossing the floor to vote with the Greens on a motion to recognise Palestine as state. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
That’s where we will leave the blog for this evening, but first let’s recap the big headlines:
Health experts decried the watering down of the vaping bill due to amendments from the Greens. Veteran anti-tobacco campaigner Simon Chapman called the changes “hugely disappointing” saying the “Greens have flushed the prescription-only access component of the reforms down the public health toilet”.
The Aukus pact is “already on trial” and its defenders cannot afford to assume it will survive changes in government in the three countries over three decades, a federal government backbencher and former military officer has warned.
Adam Bandt defended the vape deal with Labor saying prohibition doesn’t work.
Reports emerged Julian Assange was to be released under a new plea deal.
The electoral commissioner warned AI could “turbocharge” spread of conspiracies.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, warned social media is degrading Australia’s democracy, adding platforms are putting profit before harmony.
Labor worked to amend the Greens’ Palestine motion to get wording whole government can support. The Greens said they will not support Labor amendments to the Palestine motion.
‘Not in the interests of justice’: Justice Sweeney on fourth Hayne trial
Three separate criminal trials were told the woman, who cannot be identified, changed her mind about having sex with Hayne after realising he had a taxi waiting outside.
He was sentenced to four years and nine months in jail, but had already served some of that time before his earlier successful appeal.
The state’s highest court quashed Hayne’s convictions, ruling the trial judge erred by not allowing further cross-examination of the complainant over her communications with third parties regarding the night of the alleged sexual assault.
The appeal court ruled the judge did not properly direct the jury regarding allegations from Hayne’s lawyers the complainant had lied about the contact, exacerbating the earlier error in not allowing her to respond to questions about it.
Justice Stephen Rothman said in the court’s published reasons there was good reason for no fourth trial, noting it was unlikely to occur before Hayne’s three-year non-parole period expired in May 2025.
Justice Deborah Sweeney was of a similar view given the matter’s history. She said:
To put (Hayne) on trial for a fourth time would not be in the interests of justice.
Hayne’s quashed convictions followed a hung jury in his first trial in 2020 and a previous appeal overturning guilty verdicts from his second trial in 2021.
Upon his release from jail, Hayne’s lawyer Lauren MacDougall said he was “really, really looking forward to getting home to his family”.
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Jarryd Hayne to avoid fourth trial after rape acquittal
Former NRL star Jarryd Hayne will not face a fourth trial over allegations he raped a woman, after having his convictions quashed for a second time, AAP reports.
Hayne had been behind bars for more than a year since a jury found him guilty in April 2023 of two counts of sexual intercourse without consent.
The 36-year-old walked free from jail on June 12 after successfully appealing the convictions in the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal.
The Office of The Director of Public Prosecutions confirmed in a statement on Tuesday that Hayne would not face trial for a fourth time. The statement said:
Having carefully considered the many competing factors that inform the assessment of the public interest in this case, the ODPP has determined not to proceed to a fourth trial against Mr Hayne.
The decision was made in accordance with the Prosecution Guidelines.
As the reasons for the decision are legally privileged, they will not be disclosed and the ODPP will not comment further.
Hayne was accused of raping a woman with his hands and mouth at her Newcastle home on the night of the 2018 NRL Grand Final.
That’s where we will leave the blog for this evening, but first let’s recap the big headlines:
Health experts decried the watering down of the vaping bill due to amendments from the Greens. Veteran anti-tobacco campaigner Simon Chapman called the changes “hugely disappointing” saying the “Greens have flushed the prescription-only access component of the reforms down the public health toilet”.
The Aukus pact is “already on trial” and its defenders cannot afford to assume it will survive changes in government in the three countries over three decades, a federal government backbencher and former military officer has warned.
Adam Bandt defended the vape deal with Labor saying prohibition doesn’t work.
Reports emerged Julian Assange was to be released under a new plea deal.
The electoral commissioner warned AI could “turbocharge” spread of conspiracies.
The home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, warned social media is degrading Australia’s democracy, adding platforms are putting profit before harmony.
Labor worked to amend the Greens’ Palestine motion to get wording whole government can support. The Greens said they will not support Labor amendments to the Palestine motion.
Peak Jewish labels Payman’s crossing of Senate floor ‘astonishing’
The peak Jewish body in Australia is one of the first to respond to this afternoon’s antics in the Senate.
To recap if you’re just tuning in now, the Greens moved a motion to recognise Palestinian statehood in the upper house. Labor tried to amend it by adding extra words while the opposition tried to amend Labor’s changes by adding five preconditions.
In the end, those amendments all failed and the Greens’ original motion, to “recognise the State of Palestine”, was put to a vote. It did not have the numbers but Labor senator Fatima Payman, who has been increasingly vocal on the situation in Gaza, notably crossed the floor against her own party to vote with the Greens.
Alex Ryvchin, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry’s chief executive, said the move was “astonishing”.
The Greens can’t be allowed to set the agenda on Israel and Australian foreign policy. They have brought antisemitism into the mainstream and have legitimised violent protests. This is what Senator Payman has now attached herself to, and she must be held accountable.
Payman has previously rejected claims made by Ryvchin that using the chant, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” is antisemitic.
Payman in May told Guardian Australia:
The slogan of the dispossessed, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,’ is not a call for the annihilation of Jews. Rather, it asserts a desire for Palestinians to live in their homeland as free and equal citizens, neither dominating others nor being dominated over.
PM’s office says there is no definitive sanction for Labor MPs who cross floor
An Albanese government spokesperson has said there is no definitive rulebook on what happens to Labor MPs who cross the floor after the first-time senator Fatima Payman voted against the government to recognise Palestinian statehood.
A government spokesperson told Guardian Australia there was “no mandated sanction in these circumstances” referring to Payman’s decision on Tuesday afternoon.
Labor has a formal pledge requiring members to abide by caucus decisions and has previously expelled MPs who cross the floor, a 2020 parliamentary research paper said.
Former Tasmanian MP, Harry Quick, crossed the floor in 2005, voting against an anti-terrorism bill.
Prior to that, two Labor MPs who had crossed the floor - Senator George Georges in 1986 and Graeme Campbell MP in 1988 - were both suspended from the party for their actions
The government spokesperson said:
The senator says she maintains strong Labor values and intends to continue representing the Western Australians who elected her as a Labor senator.
There is no mandated sanction in these circumstances and previous caucus members have crossed the floor without facing expulsion.
As reflected in our amendment, the government supports the recognition of a Palestinian state as part of a peace process towards a two-state solution.
The statement did not rule out any other consequences.
This post was updated on 25 June to reflect that the most recent Labor MP to cross the floor was Harry Quick in 2005.
Continuing with that Payman presser, the first-time Western Australian senator was asked whether she expected to be expelled from the Labor party after crossing the floor.
Labor has a formal pledge requiring members to abide by caucus decisions and has previously expelled MPs who crossed the floor, a 2020 parliamentary research paper said.
Payman said it was the “prerogative” of her party but added she would like to continue serving as a Labor senator.
“I believe that I have upheld the party ethos and called for what the party’s platform has stipulated.”
Payman added she had been told in “various” ways she risked expulsion by joining the Greens in the vote but not directly. The 29-year-old senator also said she did not inform the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the foreign minister, Penny Wong, about her decision ahead of time.
Speaking about what her colleagues felt about her decision to speak out in the last few months, Payman said it has been mixed.
“There’s been many comrades who feel the same way but don’t agree with the methods I’ve gone about conveying my message to … standing up for Palestinians.”
‘I am proud of what I did today,’ Labor’s Payman says after crossing floor
Labor senator Fatima Payman speaks to the media after crossing the floor on a motion to recognise Palestine. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Fatima Payman, shortly after crossing the floor on a Greens motion to recognise Palestinian statehood, told reporters she cross the floor “for humanity”, adding she was “bitterly disappointed” her colleagues did not feel the same.
I am proud of what I did today and I’m bitterly disappointed that my colleagues do not feel the same way. We saw the watering down of the motion, through the amendment, distracting us from what is a prerequisite and essential to the same very peace process to recognise the state of Palestine. Australia has long stood for a two-state solution. My own party, the Australian Labor party’s policy platform, recognises both Israel and Palestine. We cannot believe in two-state solutions and only recognise one.
She continued:
I was not elected as a token representative of diversity, I was elected to serve the people of Western Australia and uphold the values instilled in me by my late father. Today I have made a decision that would make him proud and make everyone proud to err on the side of humanity.
Independent MP Ryan disappointed vaping legislation watered down
The independent MP and doctor Monique Ryan says it is “disappointing” the vaping legislation was watered down after the government reached a deal with the Greens no longer requiring a prescription from a doctor to buy a vape.
Ryan told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing:
I’m glad that we’re going to get the vaping regulation up because I think it’s important. Vaping is a scourge and it is endangering the health and the mental wellbeing of young Australians. We need to put some regulation around it.
Having said that, it is disappointing the vaping regulation has been watered down in the way that it has and it reflects a few failures.
The first is the government has not made it possible for Australians to see a GP quickly and easily whenever they need to and for many Australians seeing a GP evolves out-of-pocket cost that they can’t come up with in a cost-of-living crisis.
The second thing is that the Nationals are very protective of the vaping industry and they have worked assiduously to block this legislation they haven’t wanted to get up. They want our kids to have ongoing access to vapes and I would draw a relationship between that and the fact that the Nationals are among the very few political parties in this country which continues to take money from the tobacco lobby.
Anthony Tassone of the Pharmacy Guild said neither pharmacists, consumers, nor patients asked for the current model.
The only group of people we understand have asked for this are the Greens.
And as expected, the Greens’ motion on Palestinian statehood has been voted down.
While the Labor senator Fatima Payman crossed the floor to vote with the Greens, it was not enough to pass the motion to “recognise the State of Palestine”.
In the end, the Greens senators voted for the motion, along with senators David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe and Payman.
Labor senator Fatima Payman walks with independent senators David Pocock and Lidia Thorpe as she crosses the floor. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Outside the Senate, Payman said it was the “most difficult decision” she has had to make.
She said:
What you just witnessed was the first Labor member to cross the floor in almost 30 years. My decision to cross the floor was the most difficult decision I have had to make and although … each step I took across the Senate floor felt like a mile, I know I did not walk these steps by myself, and I know I did not walk them alone. I’ve walked with the West Australians who have stopped me in the streets and told me not to give up. I’ve walked with the rank and file Labor party members who told me we must do more. I’ve worked with the core values of the Labor party – equality, justice, fairness and advocacy for the voiceless and the oppressed.
Labor senator crosses floor to support Greens’ Palestine motion
Sarah Basford Canales
The Senate is now voting on whether Australia should recognise Palestinian statehood and the Labor senator Fatima Payman has crossed the floor to vote against her own party.
The Greens motion, moved by Nick McKim, says: “The need for the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine.”
Labor and the opposition senators are voting against the motion but Payman stands up from the adviser’s benches and sits with the Greens, Lidia Thorpe and David Pocock.
It will be voted down on the numbers but Payman’s decision to vote against party lines is a bold one.
Labor senator Fatima Payman votes with the Greens on a motion to recognise a State of Palestine. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Thorpe says ‘shame on you all’ as Senate votes on Labor amendment to Greens’ Palestine motion
Sarah Basford Canales
The Senate’s division bells are ringing after the Albanese government moved to suspend the standing orders in order to pass its amendment to the Greens’ motion to recognise Palestine as a state.
Labor and the Coalition are voting in favour of suspending the standing orders while Greens senators and the independent senator Lidia Thorpe are voting against it.
Senators David Pocock, Jacqui Lambie and Ralph Babet have joined the major parties.
The Labor senator Fatima Payman has entered the Senate chamber but is sitting on a bench for staffers and advisers. It appears she is abstaining from the vote.
The Senate votes on amendments to a motion to recognise Palestine. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian
Thorpe loudly chants “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” while counting the votes takes place.
“All complicit in genocide, everyone one of you,” Thorpe says, pointing to the major party senators sitting to pass the motion to suspend standing orders.
“Shame on you all, have a good night’s sleep,” Thorpe adds.
New governor general’s $200,000 pay rise is fair, republic minister says
Matt Thistlethwaite, the assistant minister for the republic, says the governor general’s $200,000 pay rise is fair, bringing it in line with the chief justice.
The government wants to pass legislation to increase the pay for incoming governor general Sam Mostyn to about $700,000 a year – about a 40% increase.
Matt Thistlethwaite with outgoing governor general David Hurley. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Asked about the potential raise on ABC’s Background Briefing, Thistlewaite said:
It is a pretty important job. It’s the representative of the head of state, with a significant role under our constitution. From what I understand, the pay is pegged to and related to what the chief justice of the high court receives. They are both pretty important roles.
The second point to make is previous governors general have had military careers and have been able to access military pensions. The new governor general, Samantha Mostyn, won’t be able to do that, so there is an element of that in it as well. We think it’s pretty fair.
‘There must be appropriate security guarantees,’ Liberal Senate leader says during Palestine debate
After the Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi finishes her speech on the motion for Palestinian statehood, the Liberal Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, steps up to speak.
As reported earlier, Birmingham is moving to amend Labor’s amendment to include another five “preconditions” that centre on Palestinian statehood only being recognised after the Palestinian Authority achieves reforms and agrees on Israel’s right to exist.
Birmingham says:
There must be agreement and a resolution on the status, including orders and rights of return. And there must be appropriate security guarantees between the two to ensure peace and security within recognised borders.
‘You should feel embarrassed,’ Greens senator tells Labor as she introduces Palestine motion
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi speaks in parliament. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
The Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi is on her feet now to introduce the Greens motion to recognise Palestinian statehood.
The NSW senator says it is “shameful” and “embarrassing” that the Labor government has not supported its previous motion to suspend the standing orders in order to debate recognising Palestinian statehood.
You should feel embarrassed that it has come to this. You refuse – you voted against a similar Greens motion in the house … The Greens are the only party here with a conscience, the only party that gives a damn about Palestinian [rights] and we will do all we can to drag the Albanese government kicking and screaming to take real action at the heart of recognising Palestinian statehood.
Faruqi says Labor members have cemented themselves as “an enemy” of Palestinians and “a traitor” of their own party.
They really are trying to water down a very simple straightforward motion to recognise Palestine as a state, ducking and weaving … trying to move amendments, rather than take a principal position – a position that is actually in their policy platform. You are playing political games while there is a genocide happening.
Pharmaceutical Society says vaping amendments not a health model
Melissa Davey
The peak national organisation for pharmacists, the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia, says it cannot support amendments to the vaping reforms bill, which if passed would see pharmacists issuing vapes without requiring a prescription.
The PSA national president, Associate Prof Fei Sim,said:
Vaping is a public health crisis … PSA continues to strongly support the government’s intent to limit the supply of vaping and removing vapes from retail settings.
However, the amendment proposed undermines the role of pharmacists as health care professionals. The amendment – if it was to pass the Senate in its current form - asks pharmacists to prescribe unapproved, unregulated, untested vaping products to the public.
This would not represent a health model.
She said the PSA “cannot and do not support positioning pharmacists as retailers rather than health professionals”.
It echoes comments from the Pharmacy Guild of Australia, a lobby group which represents pharmacy owners, made earlier on Tuesday that pharmacies do not want to sell vapes outside of the prescription model, and that they were not consulted.
Greens will soon try to move Senate motion on Palestinian statehood
Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi speaks in the Senate. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Over in the Senate, the Greens will soon attempt to move an urgency motion on recognition of Palestinian statehood.
The motion, to be moved by the Greens senator Nick McKim, says:
The need for the Senate to recognise the State of Palestine.
But as we reported earlier in the blog, the Albanese government has amended the wording of the motion to add “as part of a peace process in support of a two-state solution and a just and enduring peace” to McKim’s wording.
It’s understood the Greens will vote against the government wording.
To make things more complicated, the Coalition will attempt to further amend the federal government’s wording to include five “preconditions”.
The amendment, to be moved by the Liberal Senate leader, Simon Birmingham, will call to include:
recognition by Palestinian representatives and the Palestinian Authority of Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish and democratic state;
that there is no role for Hamas in a future Palestinian state;
reform of the Palestinian Authority is achieved, including major security and governance reforms;
agreed processes to resolve final status issues including agreed state borders and rights of return; and
appropriate security guarantees between parties to ensure peace and security within recognised borders.
Brady Heywood has yet to complete its final report on the Queensland coal plant.
The forensic engineer Sean Brady has blamed CS Energy for a “failure to implement effective process safety practices” as part of the switchover.
His preliminary report blames four causes: a lack of DC redundancy, the battery charger, the automatic changeover switch and the loss of AC. It also notes the company was under pressure to save money and there were “likely competing tensions between cost reduction and process safety”.
It concludes:
The planning, execution, and decision-making around the switching sequence did not consider the risks associated with bringing the battery charger into service, without DC system redundancy and with the unit online. Nor was there any requirement in CS Energy’s processes to do so.
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