TRANSCRIPT
- A new report shows a significant rise in racism and discrimination in Australian universities
- Energy provider AGL receives a record breaking fine
- An iconic Aussie trio help Arsenal to a crucial 3-2 victory
A new report shows a significant rise in racism and discrimination, specifically in Australian universities.
The interim report, published by the Australian Human Rights Commission, says both interpersonal and structural racism are pervasive and deeply entrenched at universities.
The report shows members of the Indigenous community face discriminatory treatment, with their achievements often being dismissed.
It comes following a significant rise in antisemitic and Islamophobic incidents across the country, after the start of the war in Gaza.
The Race Discrimination Commissioner says universities have a responsibility to counteract such harmful notions.
"Universities play such an important role in our society and they can be institutions that either challenge inequality or entrench inequality. And if they don't address the structural racism that can affect them, then they'll be entrenching inequality. And I think we can have this idea that, because they're places of such great learning and scholarship that they're somehow immune from racism but that's clearly not the case."
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The Productivity Commission has revealed a drop by 0.8 per cent in labour productivity for the 12 months to September.
The figure will add to the government's financial woes, with Treasurer Jim Chalmers saying the budget is being pressured by a slowdown in domestic growth.
The federal government will be prioritising an increase to Australia's productivity in its aim to lower deficits in the budget.
The grim mid-year economic and fiscal update, revealed on Wednesday, showed Australia should not expect to be back to a surplus in the budget until 2034/2035.
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Energy provider AGL has been hit with a $25 million fine by the Federal Court after being found guilty of overcharging its clients.
The court found that the company had been overcharging more than 400 ((438)) of its customers who were on welfare payments between December 2016 and November 2021.
It is the heaviest fine to be imposed on any energy provider in Australia, leaving behind the $17 million that Origin was ordered to pay in 2022.
The Australian Energy Regulator found A-G-L and three of its subsidiaries had breached the National Energy Retail Rules over 16,000 times.
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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns has announced that pill testing will be introduced to music festivals across the state during the summer period.
He says the new measure will be on a 12-month trial basis and is not permanent.
It comes following pressures from advocates who have long been calling on the state government to do more to ensure the safety of festival-goers.
People attending festivals will be able to provide a small narcotics sample to a health professional which can be tested for purity, potency and adulterants.
Mr Minns says his government's priority is to save as many lives as possible.
"We acknowledge that there's an essential contradiction to this change in policy. Drugs are illegal in the state yet we've made a decision to allow for pill testing at major music festivals. But there's no perfect law here, there's no law that we can craft that can do both things at the same time, solving effectively for both of those problems. So the government's made a decision to live with the contradiction rather than risk someone dying as a result of having it in place."
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Emergency crews are continuing their attempts to find survivors in the ruins left behind by a disastrous earthquake in Vanuatu.
The Pacific nation was struck by a 7.3 magnitude quake on Tuesday, with at least 14 people confirmed dead so far.
The number of casualties is expected to rise although no Australian citizens are confirmed to be among those caught in the natural disaster.
On Wednesday, close to 150 Australians were returned home by two Royal Australian Air Force planes, with a further 500 registering on the for assistance on the DFAT website.
Francis Herman from the Vanuatu Television Corporation has has told SBS Bislama about the current situation in the nation's capital of Port Vila.
"We have a state of emergency in place. There's a curfew, 6pm to 6am in place as well. Relief efforts are flying in. Military aircrafts are the only ones that can land at the airport in Port Vila."
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Aussie trio Steph Catley, Kyra Cooney-Cross and Caitlin Foord have helped Arsenal to a crucial 3-2 victory over Bayern Munich for the women's Champions League.
The final game of matchday six was essentially a decider on who would finish top of the group, with both teams having already advanced to the knockout rounds.
The London side was able to claim the win thanks to a successfully converted penalty kick by Mariona Caldentey, four minutes before the end of regular time.
Meanwhile, Ellie Carpenter's Lyon made it six wins out of six matches, beating Wolfsburg 1-nil in France.
