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ACCC alert to music cartels driving up concert prices, inquiry told
By Karl Quinn
Australia’s competition watchdog has given the strongest indication yet that it has the giants of the music industry in its sights, as the concentration of ownership is leading fans to pay up to 20 per cent more than they ought to for live events.
While declining to reveal details, Scott Gregson, chief executive of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, said the regulator was keeping a close eye on the antitrust case launched against Live Nation by the US Department of Justice in April.
“We do see some consistency in behaviours that are part of that DOJ investigation and action with the type of things we hear in Australia,” Gregson told an parliamentary inquiry into the challenges and opportunities facing Australian live music in Canberra today.
“We don’t comment on matters that might be under investigation, but if your question is, do we receive similar issues, do we look, are we watching the DOJ action, yes is the answer to all of those.”
Sunak concedes defeat to Labour in UK election
British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has conceded defeat, moments ago announcing he has called Labour leader Keir Starmer to congratulate him on his election victory.
“The Labour Party has won this general election,” Sunak said, conceding defeat with 237 seats still to be declared.
“Today, power will change hands in a peaceful and orderly manner with goodwill on all sides.”
Sunak, who retained his seat of Richmond in North Yorkshire, said he had “given his all” to the job of prime minister.
Watch Sunak speak and follow our live coverage of the UK election here.
What we’ve covered so far
By Lachlan Abbott
Good afternoon.
I’m Lachlan Abbott, and I’ll be keeping you updated with the latest Australian news for the rest of the day.
Thanks so much to Josefine Ganko for her blogging efforts this morning.
Let’s look back at the news of the day so far:
- The war of words between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman has continued after the West Australian quit the party to sit as an independent yesterday, citing her caucus suspension for crossing the floor to support a Greens motion to recognise Palestine for her decision. In a heated press conference this morning, Albanese said he was “disappointed” Payman didn’t raise her concerns in caucus, defended Labor’s inclusivity, warned against faith-based political parties, and disputed Payman’s suggestion his comments in question time flagging an announcement pushed her to resign.
- In an earlier interview on ABC Radio National this morning, Payman said she did not decide to leave the party until the day of her announcement, but Finance Minister Katy Gallagher disputed this claim soon afterwards in a separate interview on the station.
- Independent senator David Pocock called out the “grubby politics” of Labor figures reportedly now raising questions about Payman’s eligibility to serve given her Afghan citizenship, which the 29-year-old says she tried to renounce before the election but couldn’t formalise because of the Taliban government, which her family fled from as refugees when they first came to power.
- Meanwhile, Australian Test cricketer Usman Khawaja has accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of “bigotry” and “fuelling Islamophobia” for remarks he made in a press conference on Thursday. The Liberal leader warned the election of “Muslim candidates from western Sydney” in a minority Labor government after the next election would “be a disaster”.
- In business news, the Australian sharemarket is down slightly today despite a positive lead from the European market while Wall Street takes a breather for America’s Independence Day holiday.
In international news, UK election results show Labour, led by Keir Starmer, has swept to power in a landslide defeat for Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government. Follow our live coverage here.
Backyard chickens in latest bird flu detection
A Canberra backyard has become the latest site hit by a strain of bird flu.
ACT authorities on Friday confirmed a group of chickens kept at the home had tested positive to the virus, the territory’s second site to be affected.
The home is in a quarantine area set up after an egg facility in Canberra’s north detected the virus last week.
Along with the two sites in the ACT, eight farms in Victoria and two in NSW have been forced to close to stop the bird flu spreading.
ACT Environment Minister Rebecca Vassarotti praised the home’s residents for preventing further spread of the virus to the broader bird population.
“While disappointing to have a second case, it is not unexpected. Like jurisdictions across the country this is unfortunately the reality of such a highly transmittable virus,” she said.
“Avian influenza is very easily transmitted by moving sick birds from property to property, as well as from contaminated boots, equipment and vehicles if proper biosecurity measures aren’t in place.
“Wild birds may also be carriers of the virus.”
More the one million chickens and ducks have been culled due to the outbreaks.
The spread of bird flu had prompted major supermarkets in NSW, Victoria and the ACT to introduce limits of two cartons of eggs per customer.
Fast-food chain McDonald’s had also been forced to shorten its breakfast hours due to egg supply issues.
AAP
‘Grubby politics’: Pocock calls out Payman citizenship ‘smear’
By Kat Wong and Dominic Giannini
Labor Party figures backgrounding against Senator Fatima Payman, who formally defected from the party yesterday, has angered fellow crossbencher David Pocock.
“Senior Labor figures” quoted in The Australian raised concerns about Senator Payman’s Afghan citizenship after she quit the party and refused to hand the seat back, instead moving to the crossbench.
Senator Payman declared her citizenship before the election and was supported by Labor as a candidate and has declared she made representations to renounce her dual citizenship, but the renouncement couldn’t be formalised because of the Taliban government.
She declared she had received legal advice affirming that she was eligible to contest as a candidate due to the “impossibility” of progressing her application after approaching the embassy.
Fatima Payman, pictured with independent David Pocock, during the vote on the Greens motion to recognise Palestinian statehood last week.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Independent senator David Pocock - who himself had to deal with dual citizenship issues before running - called out the politicking.
“Raising questions about her eligibility under section 44 by people from the same party who took responsibility for ensuring the eligibility of her candidacy and now are too cowardly to put their name to the allegations is such grubby politics,” Pocock said.
“I hope people will see this backgrounding and smear campaign for what it is.”
Constitutional lawyer Anne Twomey said it was unlikely the case would go to the High Court as the 40-day challenge period had expired, and it was up to the Senate to refer it.
“The Labor Party would have some difficulty doing that as they took the view when they endorsed her as a candidate so they would have to reverse that,” Twomey said.
“Basically, it’s extremely unlikely it would go to court.”
But if it did, there was some uncertainty about how the court would rule given uncertainty about the situation in Afghanistan, she said.
While it was legal to run if there was no way to relinquish citizenship, it was “bad luck” if the process was unduly long and Senator Payman’s case could sit somewhere in the middle, the lawyer said, adding she had good grounds to argue.
AAP
Polls predict UK Labour landslide election win
By Rob Harris
Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Party is poised to be swept to power in Britain in the most compelling fashion, crushing the 14-year-old Conservative government to claim one of its biggest parliamentary majorities in history.
A fierce voter backlash across the UK will reduce the number of Tory MPs to a record low, with millions seeking fresh leadership after a tumultuous period that included Britain’s departure from the European Union, political infighting and scandal that led to four prime ministers in five years, the pandemic, war in Ukraine and a cost-of-living crisis.
An exit poll by Ipsos UK for Sky News/BBC/ITV News, coinciding with the end of voting at 10pm local time, forecasts Labour will win 410 of the 650 seats in the House of Commons. It is an estimated 170-seat majority and a win just shy of the 2001 and 1997 elections, when Tony Blair won 412 and 418 seats respectively.
Read more about the projected victory here, and follow our dedicated live blog, which will continue through the UK night as the votes are counted.
Plibersek to expand marine reserves around subantarctic ‘pristine wilderness’
By Mike Foley
Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek has unveiled plans to expand the marine protected areas surrounding Australia’s subantarctic Heard and McDonald Islands.
Located 4,000km southwest of Western Australia and 1,700km north of Antarctica, the adjacent islands are World Heritage listed and home to penguins, seals, whales and albatross.
“There are so few places on earth that can be described as pure, pristine wilderness. Heard and McDonald Islands is such a place,” Plibersek said.
“Nature thrives there without us. It’s free from feral species and has had minimal human intervention. Not only do the islands contain Australia’s only two active volcanoes, but huge populations of marine birds and mammals numbering in the millions.”
Plibersek’s proposal would quadruple the marine reserve, expanding it by more than 300,000 km2.
The proposed expansion also allows for the continuation of the sustainable fishing industry at Heard and McDonald Islands.
The boundary redraw will be open for public consultation until September 5.
Albanese ‘disappointed’ Payman never raised issue to caucus
By Olivia Ireland
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he finds it “disappointing” that newly independent senator Fatima Payman never spoke up in caucus. During a heated press conference, Albanese said Payman would always have been able to speak up in caucus.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese during this morning’s press conference.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“[My caucus] have a common position… One of the things I find disappointing about Senator Payman is that at the decision she’s taken, she has a right to take that decision, at no stage, no stage, did Senator Payman stand in the caucus and make any comments about the Middle East,” Albanese said.
“No comments in the time in which Senator Payman has had the privilege of serving in the Senate as a Labor senator.”
PM calls Parliament House protesters ‘self-indulgent’, defends Labor’s diversity
By Olivia Ireland
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has called on independent senator Fatima Payman to be “upfront” about her plans, as he expresses frustration about her claiming she did not make a choice until yesterday.
Taking a question on the pro-Palestine protesters who climbed on top of Parliament House, Albanese said it achieves nothing and is “completely self-indulgent”, linking it to the protesters outside electorate offices.
“I don’t think [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu is thinking, ‘I wonder what’s happening outside the electoral office … before I make decisions’,” he said.
“It’s just a completely indulgent.”
Pro-Palestine protesters at Parliament House in Canberra on Thursday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Albanese then shifted to defending the Labor Party’s diversity and inclusiveness.
“We are a party that is inclusive,” Albanese said, naming Jewish Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus and Muslim Industry Minister Ed Husic as examples.
“I lead the first two members, first and second, sworn in this term on the Qur’an. We have people of diverse backgrounds,” he said.
“We have people of diverse backgrounds. We have a government led in the Senate by someone called Wong and in the House of Representatives by someone called Albanese.
“We are a mainstream, broad-based political organisation and we seek to do that. But part of being part of the team is just that being part of the team.
“[However], when the worst kept secret in Parliament House is that … you start prepping for a Thursday question time press conference, I know that there’ll be people here, they didn’t prep yesterday morning, because it was out there for all to see that it was going to happen and that’s fine but just be upfront about it.”
Albanese, Payman claim different timelines for defection decision
By Olivia Ireland
A war of words has erupted between Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and newly independent senator Fatima Payman, as the PM disputes her assertion she chose to leave the Labor Party after he made a statement to question time on Wednesday.
Senator Fatima Payman is now a crossbencher.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Earlier this morning, Payman told ABC Radio National that she did not decide to leave the Labor Party until Thursday, but she says that when Albanese told question time on Wednesday, he expected an announcement in the coming days that accelerated her decision-making.
“It wasn’t until Wednesday during question time when the PM said that, you know, ‘we should be expecting an announcement from Senator Payman about what she plans on doing’. And so that made me realise, Oh, I’m expected to make a decision sooner than later,” she said this morning.
“And that’s when I had to really think through and make the decision and resign yesterday.”
Albanese disputes this, telling a press conference in Queanbeyan:
Senator Payman saying that somehow my comments, which just called out what she had said to people, and you know, I heard a month ago … where this was going to go and if you look at some of the meticulous timing of events, including Senator Payman choosing question time yesterday to make the statement that she did … people can draw their own conclusions. Like I think, you know, I have mine. People will draw their own”
People should be upfront about their actions and should be accountable and responsible.”
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2024-07-05 03:53:46Z
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