Westpac ‘aware’ some customers having difficulties with banking services
Westpac just released a statement after hundreds of customers reported difficulties with online and mobile banking. The company said:
We’re aware some customers are experiencing issues accessing banking services. We’re working to restore services as quickly as possible and apologise to customers for the inconvenience.
We’ll keep you up to date.
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Updated at 22.43 EST
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Boy, 16, arrested after man fatally stabbed in Melbourne on Sunday
Victoria police have arrested a boy, 16, after a fatal stabbing in the Melbourne suburb of Ascot Vale last Sunday.
Police said emergency services were called to the area around 3.45pm on Sunday after a man was reportedly found with stab wounds. The man, 40, was taken to the hospital with life threatening injuries, where he later died.
Police arrested a man, 18, on Monday and charged him with intentionally causing injury, array, escaping custody and theft. He will appear before court on Thursday.
The latest arrest of the teen boy took place around 10.45am Wednesday morning in Carlton. He has been taken to hospital under police guard for treatment to an existing injury and will be interviewed. No charges have been laid.
Police are not looking for any additional people in relation to the incident.
ShareAdeshola Ore
Jacinta Allan says rise of hate abroad threatening Australian multiculturalism
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, says the rise of the radical right abroad is one of the multitude of the challenges threatening multiculturalism in Australia.
Speaking at an anti-hate summit this morning, Allan said multiculturalism was “under threat”. The Victorian government announced an anti-hate taskforce in July following a series of antisemitic attacks in Melbourne.
Allan said factors including insecurity of work, social media “that spreads lies”, technology allowing bad actors to recruit people online, the rise of radical right in the UK and US, and conflict in the Middle East were at the core of the current challenge:
In the decades to come, I do believe we will look back on the current era and say, ‘That was when diversity faced its biggest test.’
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 22.37 EST
Westpac ‘aware’ some customers having difficulties with banking services
Westpac just released a statement after hundreds of customers reported difficulties with online and mobile banking. The company said:
We’re aware some customers are experiencing issues accessing banking services. We’re working to restore services as quickly as possible and apologise to customers for the inconvenience.
We’ll keep you up to date.
Share
Updated at 22.43 EST
Catie McLeod
‘Significant’ safety failures identified in toys from online marketplaces, Choice finds
Six out of 22 toys from online marketplaces AliExpress, Amazon, eBay and Temu fail to meet mandatory safety standards for Australian children, testing by consumer group Choice has found.
Choice says the toys which failed safety testing were: the AliExpress rattle; Amazon lip shaped whistle; Amazon rattle set; eBay rattle; eBay foam letters and numbers; and the Temu elephant teether.
The consumer group’s campaigns director, Andy Kelly, says some of the failures they identified could result in children under three years old choking from ingestion or inhalation of small objects or balls, or choking from objects like handles that could become lodged in the back of the throat.
Kelly says:
The fact that we were easily able to purchase these toys online is simply not good enough.
It’s really disappointing to see more safety failures in toys purchased through online marketplaces, particularly as we get closer to Christmas, when we know many people will be buying products like these for the children in their lives.
Choice says when it contacted the retailers, Amazon, eBay, and Temu responded to say the products had been removed from their platforms.
It says AliExpress “rejected” its claims and said it could not find the product in question on its site. However, Choice says it then found similar items on sale.
Choice and other consumer advocates have urged the federal government to introduce stronger product safety laws.
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Hundreds of users reporting difficulties with Westpac app
Some Westpac customers are reporting issues accessing some banking services today.
The website Downdectector currently has more than 1,000 reports of issues accessing Westpac services, including with online and mobile banking.
Guardian Australia has reached out to the bank for comment.
Photograph: Hollie Adams/ReutersShare
Updated at 22.08 EST
Matilda Boseley
Are Australian kids breaking the law if they sneak on to social media? – video
Does Australia’s social media ban mean kids aged under 16 will get in legal trouble for circumventing the ban? Will parents get in trouble for letting their kids use banned social media sites?
Take a look below.
Are Australian kids breaking the law if they sneak on to social media? – videoShare
Updated at 22.27 EST
Luca Ittimani
Petrol prices rose in September quarter: ACCC
Petrol prices picked up from July to September after purchaser costs rose, the consumer watchdog has found.
Australia’s five big cities faced an average price for regular unleaded of 178.8 cent per litre, up from 175.7 cents the previous quarter, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Brisbane faced the highest average price at 185.8 cents, followed by Melbourne at 182.9. Most of the increase was the result of retailers covering higher costs from wholesalers and importers, who were accounting for pricier international shipping and operations.
Today, average prices are over 200 cents in Melbourne and Brisbane and set to fall in coming days, while in Sydney and Adelaide they’re under 185 cents but on the rise, according to Informed Sources data used by the ACCC.
The watchdog celebrated the fact that every state and territory now has a fuel price transparency scheme in place, on top of Service Victoria launching a “servo saver” real-time price feature in its app. Anna Brakey, an ACCC commissioner, said:
There is often a range of prices available, and we encourage motorists to utilise fuel price apps and websites to shop around for lower prices to save some money at the bowser.
ShareDaisy Dumas
Parents and students celebrate at Albanese’s social media ban launch
More from Anthony Albanese’s launch of the social media ban at Kirribilli House: among those in attendance is Emma Mason, who has been campaigning for change since her 15-year-old daughter, Tilly Rosewarne, died in February 2022. She held back tears as the PM spoke.
Mason said the moment felt like the end of a marathon, “with another marathon ahead”:
I feel very excited but it’s the dawning of the next moment, which is to keep young people safe.
We’re all in. It’s not going to be perfect, it’s an evolving space but, good God, it’s a good day to be an Australian.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the communications minister, Anika Wells. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP
Landmarks around Australia, including the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Adelaide Oval, will tonight be lit with the colours of green and gold to celebrate the occasion, she said.
Year 9 students from Inner Sydney High flipped sausages with the PM and the South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, on the lawn of Kirribilli House.
One of them was Maya Bayarbyamba, 15, who said she was looking forward to spending summer with her younger sisters, rather than online:
I have a 10-year-old sister and I could see how that Charlie Kirk shooting video really affected her. I try to help her – I really feel the mental health aspect of [social media].
Anthony Albanese with families at the event. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 21.31 EST
Penry Buckley
Tasmanian bushfire alert downgraded to ‘watch and act’
Residents are being told it is still not safe to return to an area of north-east Tasmania after a bushfire warning was downgraded to “watch and act”.
As we reported earlier, the Tasmanian fire service issued a “leave immediately” warning this morning for residents of Stieglitz, near the town of St Helens, amid an encroaching bushfire at nearby Diana’s Basin which threatened lives and properties.
In an update at midday, the service downgraded the warning, asking residents to monitor conditions while the fire was “being actively fought”:
It is not safe for residents or vehicles to enter the area due to firefighting activities, fallen powerlines, dangerous trees and other hazards.
If you have remained in the area, continue to monitor conditions and be alert for any changes.
There are watch and act warnings currently in place across Diana’s Basin, Flagstaff Hill, Parkside and Parnella, with a wider warning to avoid bushfire smoke in the area.
You can stay up-to-date on alerts at TasAlert.
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Updated at 21.13 EST
Arson squad finds no sign NSW bushfire was deliberate
Luca Ittimani
An arson squad investigation of a bushfire that destroyed 16 homes has found no signs the blaze was lit deliberately or with ignitable liquids.
The fire swept across Koolewong on the New South Wales Central Coast on Saturday afternoon, with the flames damaging a further 23 homes and at one point jumping a stretch of water 1km wide.
Local police on Saturday established a strike force to investigate the fire’s origin on behalf of the state coroner, with help from the arson squad and forensic officers.
Police today said they found the fire likely began in bushland on Nimbin Avenue and, while the cause remained undetermined, there was no sign it was started intentionally. That blaze was believed to be the cause of another spot fire near Koolewong railway station.
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Updated at 20.41 EST
Calla Wahlquist
Australian Stock Horse gelding sells for $110,000, equal to top price ever paid
An Australian Stock Horse gelding has sold for $110,000, equalling the Australian record for the top price ever paid for a gelding in the stock horse industry.
The total value of horses sold on Wednesday at the Dalby Australian Stock Horse sale – which has been running in Queensland since 1974 – set a new record at $8.1m. The top priced horse was a nine-year-old mare named McNamara Conbrace who sold for $170,000, while the average sale price was $27,170.
Auctioneers Ray White said the average sale price has increased eightfold since 2020.
Australian Stock Horses were bred to be working farm horses but are now used as performance horses in sports like campdrafting, which is the richest horse sport in Australia outside of racing with prizes of up to $100,000.
Peelvale Truce, an 8-year-old Australian Stock Horse gelding, sold for $110,000. Photograph: Elite Edge MediaShareCaitlin Cassidy
University of Melbourne overturns expulsion of two students who took part in pro-Palestine demonstration on campus
The University of Melbourne (UoM) has overturned its decision to expel two students for taking part in a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus after a legal intervention into the case.
The students were referred to the institution’s disciplinary committee after reports they were part of a group of about 20 who occupied the office of an academic they believed was integral to the university’s partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem last October. They were expelled in June.
A panel that was interrogating the decision, which had been appealed, found “the student disciplinary committee and vice chancellor did not give proper consideration to the relevant human rights under Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006)“.
Principal lawyer Bernadette Zaydan, who was leading the case against the university, labelled it a “huge win” for human rights and Australians’ right to protest.
The Unimelb for Palestine student group said the decision to overturn the expulsion’s was a “correction on the university’s judgement”.
After a year of fighting the university’s attempts to repress pro-Palestine student activists, we have forced the university to admit that our protest was legitimate.
The UoM was approached for comment.
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Gina Rinehart helicopter pad blocked by City of Perth
Luca Ittimani
Gina Rinehart’s company’s bid to install a private helicopter pad on its new headquarters has been rejected by the City of Perth after council planners warned it would generate excessive noise and limit new apartment construction.
Hancock Iron Ore wanted to use the pad to transport its executives, saying it would be used only in daylight hours, a maximum of 12 times a year. Councillor Adam Pacan, a pilot and former radio host, voted in favour of the helipad at Tuesday night’s meeting. He was supported by colleague Catherine Lezer, who said:
We need to send a clear signal the city of Perth is more Yimby than Nimby. We welcome investment.
Perth’s lord mayor, Bruce Reynolds, said he agreed with Hancock’s argument a helipad would help attract business to Perth:
It is the kind of infrastructure world-class cities take seriously, and in this case the proponent, in my opinion, is an amazing Australian.
But the lord mayor said the infrastructure should not be private, encouraging councillors to look for a new opportunity to install a public helipad. Councillors voted 5-2 to reject the helipad.
A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the refusal. They warned the helipad could have provided an extra landing option for emergency services and the Royal Flying Doctor Service – an organisation the mining giant financially supports:
During our discussions with RFDS and emergency services, they advised they are often faced with scenarios where they cannot land at existing facilities and so any additional options could have helped to save lives.
The spokesperson said the company was considering its options for how to handle the issue. The business could appeal the council’s decision, as you can read here:
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Updated at 20.37 EST
eSafety commissioner compares ban to efforts to rein in guns and tobacco use
Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, is comparing the social media ban to efforts on gun and tobacco reform and sun safety campaigns.
She said:
For all of us here, who consider social media to be one of the great social experiments of our time on our young people, then perhaps a social media ban will stand as the first true antidote. It starts here, in Australia, today.
The world will follow like nations once followed our lead on plain tobacco packaging, gun reform, water and sun safety. How can you not follow a country with clearly prioritising teen safety ahead of tech profits?
She said she expects tech companies to fully comply, using their vast information databases and bank balances:
I have every confidence the most powerful and innovative industry of all time has the technical capability to meet these obligations with precision and with continuous improvement.
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Updated at 19.50 EST
‘Today we change lives for the better,’ Anika Wells says
Anika Wells, the communications minister, is speaking again at Kirribilli House.
She said:
Today we change a generation. Today we change a culture. Today we change lives for the better.
This is for the future. A future Australia is leading. Australia, a continent so far away and now yet so far ahead when it comes to online safety.
Anika Wells speaks to reporters in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAPShare
Updated at 19.52 EST
‘Success is the fact that it’s happening,’ Albanese says
Albanese said he has been asked what a successful ban for under-16s will look like. He said:
Success is the fact that it’s happening. Success is the fact that we’re having this discussion, parents are talking to their children around the breakfast table, teachers, as we’re speaking, will be speaking to their students.
And we as a society, I must say, not just young people as well, but non-young people, are also thinking about the impact that scrolling is having on their sleep. That engaging with each other, nothing beats interpersonal communication.
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Updated at 19.49 EST
