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Key posts
- Pearson concedes No campaign got ahead of Voice supporters
- Insiders reveal how much money the Yes camp has to spend
- Trade discussions resume between EU and Australia
- Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in the US
- This morning’s headlines at a glance
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Pearson rejects Mundine claims that WA, Qld ‘sewn up’ for No vote
Returning to Noel Pearson, who has responded to claims from leading No campaigner Warren Mundine that it had “virtually sewn up” the states of WA and Queensland.
Mundine told ABC radio yesterday that it only needed one more state to secure a majority No vote for the referendum.
Pearson, Indigenous leader and Yes campaigner, told RN Breakfast that he didn’t believe that was the case.
“Oh absolutely not,” he said of Mundine’s comments.
Voice architect Noel Pearson rejected claims from No campaigner Warren Mundine that it had ‘sewn up’ WA and Queensland. Credit: Rhett Wyman
He said there were tens of thousands of conversations happening about the Voice referendum every week, which would continue to grow ahead of the October 14 vote.
“That’s what I’m saying out there, I’ve been on the road for six weeks, with barely a day to spare because I and my colleagues are going to leave no stone unturned,” he said.
He said once people focus on the words of the alteration to the Constitution, many people found it was a “profound but simple change.”
Qantas, Virgin set for turbulence as government examines domestic airfares
The federal government’s blueprint to boost competition in the domestic aviation market to help drive down plane ticket prices will be released within days, with Qantas and Virgin in its sights.
A green paper on the future of Australian aviation to 2050 comes ahead of the formal white paper due by the middle of next year.
Competition across the sector will be at its centre, examining its role in boosting the standard of living for all Australians.
The domestic power of Virgin and Qantas will be at the centre of the aviation green paper to be released within days.Credit: Brendon Thorne
The government is under fire for its decision to reject a proposal by Qatar Airways to boost the number of seats between Europe, Doha and Australia by between 800,000 and 1 million.
Peter Costello, head of the Future Fund, said yesterday it was hard to understand the government’s decision not to allow Qatar the extra flights.
“By not allowing further international flights into Australia, you’ll have less competition, you’ll have higher fares, you’ll have higher inflation,” he told analysts during a briefing on the Future Fund’s annual results.
Find out more about the report on the aviation industry here.
Pearson concedes No campaign got ahead of Voice supporters
Indigenous leader Noel Pearson and Voice campaigner has spoken about the referendum, following the announcement it will be held on October 14.
Speaking on ABC News Breakfast, Pearson said he had been around the country and the Voice would move the country forward.
“We will get there. And we will do a great thing together as a country. We’ll move our story forward rather than backwards,” he said.
Voice architect Noel Pearson says the Yes campaign would target “ordinary Australians” in its bid to win the referendum.Credit: Getty Images
“We’ve got 400 metres of the race to run. And we’re the ones going forward, the other mob want to take the country backwards.”
But he conceded that No campaign was able to get out in front of the Yes campaign with the “If you don’t know, vote No” slogan.
“Yes, they did get out in front of us,” he said.
It was Australians duty to read the words for the proposed amendment and decide whether it was a reasonable proposition.
“I’m finding around the country, the minute people focus on the words of the change, they say, ‘oh, I get it’.
“This is something that is reasonable, this is something that is supportable, and this is something that will take the country forward.”
Insiders reveal how much money the Yes camp has to spend
The Yes campaign is hurrying to tap donors to plug a funding shortfall that reduces its ability to buy crucial advertising space during the Voice campaign.
It comes as the prime minister urged Australians not to “close the door” on improving the lives on Indigenous Australians by voting against the Voice, as he announced the October 14 referendum date.
Qantas is a supporter of the Voice to parliament campaign.Credit: Louie Douvis
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is claiming that the Voice movement has an unprecedented $100 million to blitz Australia with promotions, echoing many commentators who have suggested the Yes side could reverse its opinion polling deficit via heavy spending.
But top Yes officials said they were frustrated with the incorrect assumption that their camp was flush with cash.
Several campaign sources, speaking anonymously to detail tightly held financial information, said they had half the $35 million to $40 million that a major party would spend on advertising and other material in an election campaign.
Read more on the campaign’s funding here.
Trade discussions resume between EU and Australia
Talks between Australia and the EU on a trade deal will resume on Thursday after both sides failed to reach an agreement last month.
Trade Minister Don Farrell and EU’s Trade Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis will resume discussions via video link after having agreed to reconvene in August following the deadlocked talks in July.
Trade Minister Don Farrell (left) with European Commissioner for Trade Valdis Dombrovskis in Brussels in June.Credit: Twitter
Farrell wants the EU to open its agricultural market to Australian farmers, a sensitive issue in Paris and Dublin. Ireland is worried it will lose its market share to Australia in the UK after the British agreed to eventually allow Australian beef and lamb to be exported in unlimited amounts.
This leaves Dombrovskis with little room to move, but Brussels wants access to Australia’s critical minerals to help reduce its dependencies on China as it transitions to net-zero.
Continue reading about the talks here.
Hurricane Idalia makes landfall in the US
Hurricane Idalia made landfall in the US state of Florida, lashing sparsely populated stretches of the state’s Gulf Coast.
The hurricane had weakened to Category 1 strength by Wednesday afternoon as it may its way towards Georgia and the Carolinas.
US President Joe Biden used the latest weather event – which comes after record wildfires in Canada and Maui – to highlight the impact of climate change.
People kayak past an abandon vehicle in the intersection of Boca Ciega Drive and Pasadena AvenueCredit: Tampa Bay Times
“I don’t think anybody can deny the impact of a climate crisis anymore,” he said at the White House. “Just look around. Historic floods. More intense droughts. Extreme heat. Significant wildfires that have caused significant damage like we’ve never seen before.”
Despite the storm not being as fatal as authorities initially feared, FEMA Administrator Deanne Criswell said Idalia was the strongest hurricane to hit the Big Bend area of Florida in 100 years, which takes in coastal towns such as Keaton Beach, Cedar Key and Steinhatchee.
“While it is still too soon to assess the damage, we know that the storm made landfall as a category 3, which means over 120 mile per hour (193 km/h) winds and up to 10 inches (25 cm) of rain in some areas,” Criswell told reporters in Washington.
Read more about the storm here, from North America correspondent Farrah Tomazin.
This morning’s headlines at a glance
Good morning, and thanks for your company.
It’s Thursday, August 31. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.
Here’s what you need to know before we get started:
- The prime minister appealed to Australians not to “close the door” to improving the lives of Indigenous Australians by denying them a Voice as he launched the campaign to the October 14 referendum.
- Yes campaigners say the No side’s portrayal of the Voice drive as an elitist endeavour backed by unlimited corporate generosity is misleading.
- Risks of power outages this summer have been raised with state and federal leaders amid escalating closures of ageing coal-fired power plants and delays to new energy projects.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said decades of failed policy had to be reversed.Credit: Getty
- Millions of consumers will be asked to accept tough new rules to protect food delivery drivers and other “gig economy” workers despite industry claims the changes will push up prices.
- The federal government’s blueprint to boost competition in the domestic aviation market to help drive down plane ticket prices will be released within days, with Qantas and Virgin in its sights.
- The federal government has shied away from making people prove they are old enough to watch pornography, preferring to let the industry police itself.
- Talks between Australia and the EU on a trade deal will resume today after both sides failed to reach an agreement last month.
- And in the US, Hurricane Idalia unleashed devastation in Florida after making landfall as a Category 3 storm, submerging streets and homes, and resulting in at least two deaths.
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