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Key posts
- Voice fight flares over releasing detail on draft legislation
- Russia says it downs Ukrainian drones over Belgorod, Kursk regions
- Born in Russia, Australia-based drone boss is proud to help Ukraine
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Byron Bay short term rental cap introduced
In state news, Airbnbs and other short-term accommodations in Byron Bay, on the NSW north coast, will be limited to operating just 60 days a year in a major policy shift aimed at increasing the supply of homes in the holiday hotspot.
A tight housing market and limited housing supply has been further strained over the last few years by a rising number of homes being offered up for short-term holiday rentals.
Byron Bay has the highest proportion of short-term rentals in NSW.Credit: Kiara Bloom
The new rules announced by the state government this morning will not apply to areas in Byron Bay and Brunswick Heads with “high tourism appeal”, close to beaches.
The Independent Planning Commission gave multiple recommendations to alleviate the housing crisis in the region, but only this policy is being accepted by the government.
“Adopting all recommendations from the IPC report at this time would have had broader implications for the whole short-term rental network across the state,” a spokesperson for Planning Minister Paul Scully said in a statement this morning.
The changes will come into effect on September 26 next year, following a 12-month transition period.
McKenzie labels Pezzullo as a ‘patriot’ focused on national security
Nationals senator Bridget McKenzie says Home Affairs department secretary Mike Pezzullo is a “patriot” who is focused on Australia’s national security.
Pezzullo agreed to stand aside from his role yesterday, and an investigation is underway into his conduct after this masthead revealed messages he sent to a Liberal powerbroker.
The senator just appeared on ABC News Breakfast where she was asked if his position was untenable and if he could ever return to a role where ministers trusted him.
Senator Bridget McKenzie.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I have worked with Michael Pezzullo as well, he’s a patriot and I know that everything that he does, no matter who he’s working for whether he’s working for the former leader of the Labor Party Kim Beazley or the now current minister, is focused on our national security,” McKenzie told the program.
“But obviously this is subject to an inquiry and rightfully so, and so I’m not going to pre-empt that.”
McKenzie said the department secretary would have answer questions about his conduct, and was asked whether she would be able to work with him again.
“I’m not going to commentate on what the Prime Minister has set up an inquiry into this very powerful secretary, and I’m not going to offer my opinions on that,” the senator said.
She said the boundaries between politics and public service were “absolutely” important.
Inquiry to probe key Pezzullo decisions after secret texts revealed
Investigators are being asked to examine key decisions by Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo that could have favoured Liberal Party powerbroker Scott Briggs after a political firestorm over leaked messages that forced the senior public servant to step aside.
The inquiry will consider whether Pezzullo declared his friendship with Briggs during a long period when he shared inside information about the federal government and sought to undermine cabinet ministers and public service enemies.
Mike Pezzullo has stood aside as secretary of the Department of Home Affairs.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
In the latest revelations, a series of text messages show that Pezzullo sought to convince political leaders to introduce a system of “D-Notices” to allow government agencies to pressure media organisations not to publish stories deemed damaging to national security.
Pezzullo pursued the issue after his anger was stoked by a report by then-News Corp journalist Annika Smethurst – who is now state politics editor for The Age – about his secret proposal to allow the nation’s external intelligence agency to spy on Australians.
In other messages, Pezzullo wrote that the government could “criminalise” journalists in certain circumstances for reporting on what they were told by government whistleblowers.
Here’s the full story.
Voice fight flares over releasing detail on draft legislation
Returning to Australia, Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says he anticipated a scare campaign over the Voice’s lack of detail but insists Peter Dutton’s demand for more information is unrealistic and political, even though Pearson himself previously supported releasing the draft legislation before going to a referendum.
The contest over detail flared up on Monday when the opposition leader claimed the lack of information was the number one reason approval for the Voice was plummeting.
Anthony Albanese with leading Indigenous figures including Marcia Langton in parliament in March.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has repeatedly said the details of how the Voice would operate would be worked out after the referendum.
He has previously said he was “learning from history” to avoid a repeat of the failed 1999 republic referendum, when questions about the model cruelled the campaign.
But Dutton insisted at a press conference on Monday that “all of the analysis that I read, commentators from the left and right … they miss – most of them – this vital point: It’s turned from 60 per cent support to 40 per cent support because the prime minister won’t give the detail”.
Read the full exclusive here.
Russia says it downs Ukrainian drones over Belgorod, Kursk regions
In an update to the war in Ukraine, Russian air defence units shot down seven Ukrainian drones over southern Belgorod region, regional governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on Telegram.
According to Gladkov, there were no casualties.
People look at Ukraine’s digital transformation minister Mykhailo Fedorov (center) and head of state special communications service, Yuriy Shchygol, pose for a photo next to 1700 drones.Credit: AP
Russia’s Defence Ministry later said Russian forces had destroyed two drones over Kursk region. The ministry provided no details of the attack.
Both Belgorod and Kursk regions border Ukraine.
Reuters.
Born in Russia, Australia-based drone boss is proud to help Ukraine
Oleg Vornik was 15 years old when Vladimir Putin began his rise to power and says even back then the writing was on the wall.
“It was obvious that Putin was a thug,” he said during an interview in London.
Vornik’s family left Russia and moved to New Zealand in 1997, two years before Putin became prime minister, then president. He relocated to Australia as an adult.
DroneShield CEO Oleg Vornik, left, with Australia’s High Commissioner to London Stephen Smith, right, at a defence exhibition in London earlier this month.
Now based in Sydney, Vornik is the chief executive of the Australian defence technology firm DroneShield, which supplies counter-done equipment to Ukraine to help fight his country of birth.
The 41-year-old still speaks fluent Russian but holds no love for his motherland. Anyone his family cared about left long ago.
And being Jewish meant Russia never felt like a home because of its “hugely anti-Semitic” past and the prejudice that still exists today.
Continue reading about the Vornik, and his defence firm here.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day. It’s Tuesday, September 26.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- Emergency Management Minister Murray Watt said heatwaves are a silent killer that lead to more deaths each year than other natural disasters and Australians need to be prepared.
- Indigenous leader Noel Pearson says he anticipated a scare campaign over the Voice’s lack of detail but insists Peter Dutton’s demand for more information is unrealistic and political.
- The jobs white paper has plans to plug skills shortages and motivate older Australians to keep working, but industry says any gains could be stifled by IR reforms.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the Whyalla steelworks in South Australia on Monday.Credit: David Mariuz
- Investigators will probe key decisions Home Affairs secretary Mike Pezzullo made that could have favoured a Liberal Party powerbroker.
- Victorian Greens’ Senator Janet Rice has announced her decision to quit politics and create a casual Senate vacancy.
- Australian households are on track to add a record amount of rooftop solar capacity to the electricity grid this year.
- And overseas, British police have opened a sex crimes investigation triggered by news reports and subsequent complaints about comedian Russell Brand.
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