As it happened: Labor, Coalition strike deal on CFMEU bill; Higgins’ lawyers reveal she won’t give evidence

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• The CFMEU will be forced into administration as early as next week after Labor struck a deal with the Coalition to amend the legislation. The Greens maintain the bill could set a “dangerous” precedent, while Master Builders Australia says the move means the industry is “finally on the road to meaningful change”.
• The government’s handling of Palestinian refugees once again dominated a rowdy question time, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese telling Peter Dutton, “there is something wrong with you”, and the Opposition Leader reviving the claim Albanese misquoted ASIO spy chief Mike Burgess.
• Teal MP Zali Steggall says she does not regret her comments last week when she called on Dutton to “stop being racist”.
• In Western Australia, Brittany Higgins’ lawyer revealed the former staffer will no longer be called to take the witness stand in Liberal Senator Linda Reynolds’ Supreme Court defamation case against her in an 11th-hour bombshell underpinned by concerns for her health.
• In NSW, about 40,000 people ushered in a new era of public transport for Sydney in the first five hours of the $21.6 billion metro rail line’s operation, although the tunnels under the harbour face their true test in the days ahead.
• In world news, the threat of polio is rising fast in the Gaza Strip, prompting aid groups to call for an urgent pause in the war so they can ramp up vaccinations and head off a full-blown outbreak.
• Indonesian President-elect Prabowo Subianto will meet Albanese and Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles this week.
• In business news, Booktopia has been rescued by the owner of online camera store digiDirect, Shant Kradjian, who is adding 100 jobs back to the collapsed bookseller.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Cassandra Morgan, signing off.

Investigations are continuing into how 80 sheep died while being transported by air to Indonesia.

The Australian Livestock Exporters Council said the breeder sheep deaths happened on Saturday evening after the animals, which departed from Sydney on a plane, had been checked and deemed healthy.

The department of agriculture, as the regulator of live animal exports, is investigating.

“It is premature to comment on the incident or speculate as to possible cause at this time,” a department spokesperson said.

The sheep, which were Dorpers, were headed to Jakarta.

According to government data, 11 sheep died while being exported by air between 2019 and 2023, with 132,499 sheep exported by plane during that period.

The council, LiveAir, the exporter and the air freight operator will work with the regulator as the investigation progresses.

The RSPCA has long campaigned against live exports by sea and says the industry is “unfixable”.

“We expect the exporter, and the government as the regulator, to be open and transparent with the Australian community about what happened, what went wrong, and what steps will be taken to prevent this happening with any more Australian sheep in the future,” a spokesperson for the RSPCA said.

Live sheep exports by sea will be banned from May 2028 after legislation passed the Senate in July but air exports can continue.

AAP

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt has claimed credit for a deal to force the CFMEU into administration but says he has not formally made a decision to take over the disgraced union.

He fended off Coalition spokeswoman Michaela Cash’s claim that the original bill could have been written by former union boss John Setka, saying that the changes the government agreed with the opposition were, “in many cases clarifying things that the bill was initially intending to do, and we have agreed to some minor amendments which preserve the intent of the bill itself”.

Workplace Relations Minister Murray Watt in the Senate today.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

He said it was up to the Coalition to “explain why we could not get it done last Thursday” because Labor was willing to make changes.

The legislation allows Watt to appoint an administrator if he believes it is in the public interest.

“We want to make sure we do this in a way that holds up legally,” he said.

In the WA Supreme Court, lawyers for former staffer Brittany Higgins have revealed she will not be called to give evidence in her defamation row with Liberal senator Linda Reynolds.

In a bombshell dropped this afternoon, Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young, SC, told the court the 29-year-old would no longer be called to take the witness stand, referring to top-secret documents concerning her medical state.

WA senator Linda Reynolds has taken defamation action against Brittany Higgins.Credit: Holly Thompson/ Supplied

Higgins, who is expecting her first child, was due to give evidence over five days from August 26.

But Young told the court the defence no longer considered that necessary.

The shock revelation is due to cut the five-week defamation trial short, with Reynolds’ chief of staff Fiona Brown now also excused on medical grounds.

The former defence minister has been pursuing Higgins for damages, as well as aggravated damages, over a series of social media posts she claims accused her of mishandling her rape allegation and attempting to silence victims of sexual assault.

Higgins is defending the action on the basis the substance of the posts was true, that Reynolds mishandled her alleged rape in her ministerial office in 2019, and she has since used the media to harass her.

Draftstars has been fined almost $600,000 after more than 30 illegal offers to prospective punters.

Liquor and Gaming NSW launched a lengthy investigation into owner PlayUp Interactive in 2022 after Draftstars offered a string of free bets to entice people to sign up for betting accounts and gamble on sports including the NRL and AFL.

The liquor regulator began investigating PlayUp Interactive in 2022.Credit: Getty

It is illegal to offer any inducements to entice people into opening betting accounts, refer friends or keep an account open in NSW.

Liquor and Gaming NSW director of compliance and enforcement Dimitri Argeres said online betting operators were well aware of the legislation in NSW on offering inducements.

“It is the responsibility of the betting service provider to ensure prohibited gambling advertising is not published or communicated in NSW,” he said.

A maximum penalty of $110,000 applies to any corporation and $11,000 for individuals who publish prohibited gambling advertising.

The $586,000 fine is a significant increase from the previous $210,000 record fine issued to Betr last year after its controversial 100-1 odds launch.

Australians should be hearing “warning bells” after Labor and the Coalition struck a deal over legislation to force the CFMEU into administration, the Greens say.

Greens senator David Shoebridge said the party was yet to go through the fine details of the bill with the amendments that were agreed to.

Greens senator David Shoebridge at a press conference earlier this year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

However, he told ABC Afternoon Briefing: “Any time the Coalition and Labor join together to do one of these kind of attacks … warning bells should go off.

“It was pretty clear they had basically done the deal before they brought the motion this morning.

“It was clear to us from last week they had focused on the Coalition, they didn’t really want to talk to us – they only wanted to talk to the Coalition, [and] now they have got their Michaelia Cash amendments.”

The Greens remained concerned about the precedent the bill would set, Shoebridge said.

“Just simply to issue a scheme with no parliamentary or court oversight and sack whoever they like – without any due process, without any natural justice – we think that’s a very dangerous precedent, especially when the same power will now roll over for three years and if we have a federal election you could be handing their power to a Coalition minister over a union.”

The Greens recognised the “very substantial issues” within the union and something external from the union had to be done about them, Shoebridge said.

If the legislation in its revised form was “the worst of the bill without any checks and balances but with a lot of Coalition additions”, it would be hard for the Greens to support it, the senator said.

He added that the Greens have not received “a dollar” from the CFMEU for a decade, while Labor received millions and the Coalition $175,000 in the past two years.

Australia’s leading building and construction industry association has welcomed Labor and the Coalition striking a deal to pass legislation forcing the CFMEU into administration.

Master Builders Australia chief executive Denita Wawn said the industry is “finally on the road to meaningful cultural change”.

“The industry has been at a standstill with a great cloud of uncertainty on the current operating environment and the future of the CFMEU,” Wawn said in an initial statement.

“We thank the government and Coalition for working in a bipartisan way to reach an agreement on a series of amendments while not delaying the bill’s passage beyond this sitting period.”

The CFMEU will be put into administration after the Coalition agreed to the government’s bill to force out the leadership of the construction union.

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash said the Coalition would “provide passage” for legislation that will force the CFMEU into administration.

Shadow attorney-general Michaelia Cash last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Speaking in Canberra just now, Cash said the opposition secured an amendment that will mandate a minimum three-year administration period, and give the administrator the power to ban union officials forever.

The administrator would report to parliament every six months and Fair Work Commission chief Murray Furlong would attend Senate estimates to answer questions, Cash said.

“The bill that was tabled by the minister in the parliament four sitting days ago looked like, quite frankly, it could have been drafted by [former Victorian union secretary] John Setka,” she told reporters.

“Yes, we have strengthened the bill. Yes, it is a better bill as a result of the Coalition securing these amendments. However, stakeholders and the Coalition have made it very, very clear, this is but the first step in the process.

“The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, has this morning introduced into the House of Representatives the bills to stand back up or restore the Australian Building and Construction Commission and our Ensuring Integrity Bill, which will ensure that rogue union members and officials are able to be held to account.

“So whilst yes, we will secure passage of the administration bill based on the significant changes to the bill that we have been able to secure, the government is on notice.

“You now have, Prime Minister [Anthony Albanese], two bills in the House of Representatives that could be passed again immediately.”

Immigration Minister Tony Burke has dismissed a question from Coalition spokesman for immigration Dan Tehan, sarcastically remarking he will not have a conversation about national security in the “privacy” of question time.

Tehan asked: “Is the minister aware of any concerns from security or intelligence agencies about any of the 1300 people who have arrived in Australia from the Gaza war zone?”

Immigration Minister Tony Burke during question time last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Burke rose to answer, criticising Tehan for being irresponsible.

“Mr Speaker, if I could understand the question he’s asking, just here in the privacy of question time, where no one else is listening. Just between you and me, let’s have a conversation about national security conversations and ASIO information. No,” Burke scoffed.

“If you want to be irresponsible, that’s on you.”

Tehan rose to interject, but Burke confirmed to Speaker Milton Dick that was his complete answer.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has quipped “there is something wrong with you” at Opposition Leader Peter Dutton, as question time gets so rowdy Speaker Milton Dick issues a warning to every MP.

Every question by the Coalition has been about the government’s handling of Palestinian refugees, which has caused the House of Representatives to get rowdy with two MPs booted.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton during question time today.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

Dutton asked: “[Has Albanese] confirmed that no other government in Australian history has brought people from a war zone controlled by a listed terrorist organisation on tourist visas without the requisite checks and balances that would normally be conducted on a refugee on the humanitarian visa?”

Albanese began his answer but Dutton rose, arguing the prime minister was not being relevant.

Albanese continued to say when the Coalition were in government they also accepted Palestinian refugees.

“During their entire time in office, they issued, under the former government, more than 1000 visitor visas to Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories,” Albanese said.

Dutton began shouting from his side of the table across at Albanese, causing the prime minister to stop speaking and declare, “There is something wrong with you.”

Parliament erupted into laughter.

Albanese continued, yelling into the microphone with visible anger: “There are two separate points. During [the Coalition’s] time in office, they issued more than 1000 visitor visas to Palestinians from the occupied Palestinian territories. During that entire time Hamas controlled the Gaza Strip. They took over in 2006. They were in charge in Gaza, so I cannot be more in line with what the question was. The hypocrisy, it is just extraordinary.”

Later, when Immigration Minister Tony Burke answered a Dorothy Dixer question on the CFMEU, all sides of the House began yelling at each other.

Dick told every MP their conduct was not appropriate.

“The yelling, the screaming, immediately [will stop] because a general warning is now issued. This is not acceptable,” Dick said.

“Members on my left, the complete disrespect is untenable. Moving forward, anyone now is on a general warning, you will not be warned and [will be] asked to leave. The minister will be heard in silence.”