Australia news as it happened: Inflation falls to 3.6 per cent; Elon Musk labels Jacqui Lambie ‘enemy of the people’ amid social media furore

A survey undertaken by the human rights watchdog into staff culture within the marine unit of Australian Border Force found it was riddled with inappropriate behaviour that included sexual harassment and bullying.

According to reports by the ABC and Guardian Australia, nine women responded to the survey, however all had witnessed sexual discrimination or harassment, while seven had experienced that behaviour.

“[The survey] portrays a workplace that is not safe for women and challenges efforts to build a genuinely inclusive culture,” the ABC quoted a summary of the confidential report as finding.

ABF commissioner Michael Outram said in a statement he had accepted all of the report’s 42 recommendations after commissioning the survey in April 2022.

“Given the experience of other similar organisations, it was always likely in undertaking such a review that we would find examples of conduct that has been identified in the reports,” he said.

“The purpose of this work was not just to identify inappropriate conduct, but to analyse the culture of the ABF and provide an evidence-based platform from which we can work.”

Climate activists have invaded Woodside Energy’s annual general meeting, shouting out the names of the children of its leadership while accusing the company of “killing children” through its gas projects.

Police were called and the activists were led from the Crown Resort and Casino in Perth, where others tried to disrupt the meeting by singing a modified Crowded House song.

Wednesday’s meeting continued despite the disruption.

Shareholders at the four-hour meeting voted to re-elect chairman Richard Goyder by a comfortable margin, but also to reject Woodside’s climate transition plan in a vote that was purely advisory.

A preliminary tally indicated Goyder would be re-elected with 83.4 per cent support, with 16.6 per cent of votes cast against him, while the climate plan had garnered just 41.6 per cent support and 58.4 per cent opposition.

“Naturally, we’re disappointed, but respect the result,” Goyder said of the vote on Woodside’s climate plan.

“The vote reflects the challenges and complexities of the energy transition, and today’s outcome is one that we take very seriously.”

AAP

Seven teenagers alleged to have adhered to “religiously motivated violent extremist ideology” have been arrested after police raided 13 homes across south-west Sydney today.

A further give teenagers are assisting police with the inquiries of the Joint Counter Terrorism Team.

Police made the arrests in relation to an investigation which was launched following the stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at Christ The Good Shepherd Church, Wakeley last Monday.

A teenager was charged with terrorism offences over the alleged attack.

The raids began at 11.15am on Wednesday and involved more than 400 police officers.

“It was considered that the group posed an unacceptable risk to the people of New South Wales, and our current purely investigative strategies could not adequately ensure public safety,” NSW Police Deputy Commissioner David Hudson said.

“The investigations include comprehensive surveillance activities and intensive scrutiny of these individuals.”

NSW Police Force Deputy Commissioner David Hudson and AFP Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett addressed the media.

They provided an update on the search warrants executed by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team this morning in Sydney.

Watch the presser here:

Senator Jacqui Lambie has taken aim at Elon Musk once again, in the latest tit-for-tat in the pair’s social media feud.

We reported earlier that Musk had responded to Lambie’s decision to leave X amid the social media giants decision to fight the eSafety Commissioner’s ruling requiring the removal of graphic footage of the Sydney church stabbings.

In a post to X, Musk called Lambie an “enemy to the people of Australia”.

With her own X account deactivated, Lambie instead took to Instagram to respond, saying Musk “has no social conscience”.

This is the full caption that was attached to an image of Lambie in a camouflage outfit:

Elon Musk’s X was asked by the Australian online safety regulator to remove 65 tweets containing video of the Sydney church stabbing attack. The AFP told the Federal court that “there is a real risk” the video could be used to encourage people in Australia to join a terrorist organisation or undertake a terrorist act. Elon Musk should put his big boy pants on and do the right thing - but he won’t because he has no social conscience.”

Woodside chair Richard Goyder has been re-elected for another three years during the company’s annual general meeting at Crown Perth.

The vote was 82.73 per cent in his favour. In 2021, more than 99 per cent of shareholders endorsed his re-election.

In a not-so-warm congratulations, however, his speech at the meeting was interrupted by climate change activists who began singing their own version of ‘Don’t Dream It’s Over’ by Crowded House from the crowd before being escorted out.

Watch the vision below:

Good afternoon, I’m Josefine Ganko and I’ll be steering our live coverage for the rest of the day. Thanks to Caroline Schelle for her efforts this morning.

Here’s what we’ve covered in the blog so far today:

• ASIO boss Mike Burgess and AFP commissioner Reece Kershaw confirmed anti-terror raids happening in Sydney are connected to the church attack last week.
• Inflation has fallen to 3.6 per cent in the year to March according to the latest figures from the ABS. Higher education costs and rental price increases helped drive inflation to a 1 per cent increase in the first three months of the year.
• The government says it is considering age limits for children on social media as it battles Elon Musk over violent content on X in the Federal Court.
• Months of conflict in the Middle East are being felt in Australia as many people say the country is suffering more racism and religious intolerance.
• In Sydney, the NSW government has sought advice from a top lawyer to determine if urgent bail reform is needed after the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst.
• An elite Fijian police unit working with Australia and New Zealand to fight surging drug trafficking in the Pacific may have been compromised by a powerful criminal syndicate.
• Overseas, hours after British lawmakers approved a controversial bill to deport illegal arrivals to Rwanda, five people died crossing the English Channel.

Elon Musk’s firm has hired one of Australia’s top silks, Bret Walker, SC, to argue its case against Australia’s online safety watchdog.

X lawyer Marcus Hoyne said the tech giant was in talks with Walker about representing the social media platform in a court hearing on the question of whether the platform should take down all videos of the western Sydney church stabbing.

At a case management hearing on Wednesday, Federal Court justice Geoffrey Kennett set up a hearing on May 10 at which the US firm will argue against the eSafety Commissioner’s takedown order.

Marcus Hoyne, acting for X, said the hearing may need to run over multiple days because of the serious implications of what he said amounted to an Australian government attempt to dictate the content available to users across the globe.

“This is not a satisfactory process, but we are where we are,” Hoyne said, adding the Australian regulator’s view of its own jurisdiction was “exorbitant”.

The court earlier this week granted a temporary order demanding X remove links showing video of the incident. This injunction has been extended until the final hearing, but the platform is fighting the ruling.