First time PM has missed the major Indigenous event since taking on the role.
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Anthony Albanese won’t attend this month’s Garma festival in East Arnhem Land, the first time he has missed the major Indigenous event since becoming prime minister.
A group of about half a dozen Labor ministers are set to attend, including the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, and the Indigenous Australians minister, Malarndirri McCarthy.
Attending the festival in 2025, Albanese committed to returning each year while he is the country’s leader.
“I commit here that every single year that I have the great honour to be Australia’s prime minister, I will be here and engaged with you,” he said at the time, as reported by the ABC.
At Garma in 2022, Albanese outlined his preferred approach to a referendum on an Indigenous voice to federal parliament. That plan was defeated in the 2023 national vote.
Hosted by the Yothu Yindi Foundation and the local Yolŋu people, Garma is an annual celebration of Indigenous culture and tradition, and brings together community leaders, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advocates, policymakers, business groups and artists.
The shadow Indigenous minister, Julian Leeser, will attend when the festival gets under way on 31 July.
Listen: ‘The risks and rewards of the PM’s podcast era’
Anthony Albanese offered an unequivocal apology this week after making an off-colour comment about Kylie Minogue while playing a ‘shag, marry, date’ game on a podcast.
In this week’s Full Story podcast (newsroom edition), Josephine Tovey speaks with Patrick Keneally, Gabrielle Jackson and Josh Butler about what the prime minister’s latest podcast appearance says about an increasingly fractured media landscape.
How a throwback to 2006 took down Telstra’s national phone network
My colleague Josh Taylor has a deep dive on the issue that threw Telstra’s networks into chaos this week. You can read it here:
Australia’s sandstone universities to appear before antisemitism royal commission next week
The University of Melbourne (UoM) and the University of Sydney have confirmed they will be among a group of higher education providers to appear before the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion next week.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the UoM said it had “fully engaged” with the royal commission and would appear at the Melbourne hearing alongside “several other” universities.
The University of Melbourne is part of the national process to reflect, mourn and seek a renewed sense of trust and belonging for all … As a diverse university community, we must come together and stand united in our continued efforts to eradicate hate and discrimination in all forms.
A spokesperson for the University of Sydney said: “We fully support and are cooperating with the Royal Commission.
Alongside the rest of Australia, we were horrified by the terror attack at Bondi which struck at the heart of Sydney’s Jewish community … Since the disbandment of the protest encampment on campus two years ago, we have taken definitive action including instigating a formal review and introducing significant reforms. We’ve seen the number of complaints related to antisemitism decline substantially from students, but we know there is still work to be done.
Guardian Australia understands the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA) will also appear at the block of hearings, as will student groups. The peak body for the sector, Universities Australia, has not been requested to appear.
Telstra CFO grilled over compensation and executive bonuses
Telstra’s CFO, Michael Ackland, was asked about compensation again, but says customers will need to rely on normal processes.
Brady was also asked if any Telstra executives would forgo their bonuses.
Our focus right now has been on getting the issue fixed, making sure all of our customers are back up and running, and then making sure we get the investigation done. We, again, have very clear processes and governance when it comes to bonuses and remuneration. That process will happen and it will be overseen by our board.
Our focus right now has been on getting the issue fixed, making sure all of our customers are back up and running, and then making sure we get the investigation done.
We, again, have very clear processes and governance when it comes to bonuses and remuneration. That process will happen and it will be overseen by our board.
Telstra CFO says ‘no outages’ in area where death occurred in SA
Telstra’s CFO, Michael Ackland, acknowledged a report of a death in SA – as reported earlier in the blog – echoing the company’s statement this morning.
He said Telstra had conducted a “detailed review” of its network records amid the reports. Ackland said Telstra had no “record of calls” to triple zero from phones linked to the deceased woman’s address. He went on:
We’ve also confirmed there were no active outages affecting the local area at the time. And our records show good mobile signal strength at that location. We can see that a related call was successfully made to 000 from another number, which was connected and transferred to the relevant emergency authority correctly.
Ackland said Telstra would continue to work closely with SA authorities, “and our thoughts remain with the person’s family and loved ones”.
Telstra’s CEO, Vicki Brady, is speaking in Sydney after the company’s network issues, including difficulties accessing triple zero. Brady is fronting the media for the first time after returning from an overseas holiday with her family.
She started off with an apology:
We have let our customers and Australians down. And, for that, I am deeply sorry. I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work, and stay safe. I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down, from things like payments to transport. It’s extremely frustrating and disruptive when services aren’t available, and I am sorry for the impact that this has had on so many people.
We have let our customers and Australians down. And, for that, I am deeply sorry. I understand how much Australians rely on us to keep in touch, to work, and stay safe.
I also understand the broader impact on the community when services go down, from things like payments to transport. It’s extremely frustrating and disruptive when services aren’t available, and I am sorry for the impact that this has had on so many people.
Brady said Telstra understands the cause of the issue and will undertake any work needed to prevent it from happening again.
Pride and protest as thousands flock to see Narendra Modi in Melbourne
The throb of the drum beats intensified as the crowd of 25,000 Indian Australians prepared to welcome India’s prime minister back to Melbourne after more than a decade.
As Narendra Modi and Anthony Albanese stepped on to the red carpet at Marvel Stadium on Thursday night, twinkling phone lights illuminated the feverish audience as they chanted, “Modi, Modi, Modi.”
The Indian prime minister’s three-day visit for talks in Melbourne is his first trip to Australia in three years. Ahead of the community event, Albanese and his Indian counterpart announced a major uranium deal and strengthened defence ties.
Speaking to the crowd, Modi hailed the India-Australia relationship.
