Australia news live: social media ban comes into effect; apps not included in banned list surge on app stores

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Australian Stock Horse gelding sells for $110,000, equal to top price ever paid

An Australian Stock Horse gelding has sold for $110,000, equalling the Australian record for the top price ever paid for a gelding in the stock horse industry.

The total value of horses sold on Wednesday at the Dalby Australian Stock Horse sale – which has been running in Queensland since 1974 – set a new record at $8.1m. The top priced horse was a nine-year-old mare named McNamara Conbrace who sold for $170,000, while the average sale price was $27,170.

Auctioneers Ray White said the average sale price has increased eightfold since 2020.

Australian Stock Horses were bred to be working farm horses but are now used as performance horses in sports like campdrafting, which is the richest horse sport in Australia outside of racing with prizes of up to $100,000.

Peelvale Truce, an 8-year-old Australian Stock Horse gelding, sold for $110,000. Photograph: Elite Edge Media

University of Melbourne overturns expulsion of two students who took part in pro-Palestine demonstration on campus

The University of Melbourne (UoM) has overturned its decision to expel two students for taking part in a pro-Palestine demonstration on campus after a legal intervention into the case.

The students were referred to the institution’s disciplinary committee after reports they were part of a group of about 20 who occupied the office of an academic they believed was integral to the university’s partnerships with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem last October. They were expelled in June.

A panel that was interrogating the decision, which had been appealed, found “the student disciplinary committee and vice chancellor did not give proper consideration to the relevant human rights under Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act (2006)“.

Principal lawyer Bernadette Zaydan, who was leading the case against the university, labelled it a “huge win” for human rights and Australians’ right to protest.

The Unimelb for Palestine student group said the decision to overturn the expulsion’s was a “correction on the university’s judgement”.

After a year of fighting the university’s attempts to repress pro-Palestine student activists, we have forced the university to admit that our protest was legitimate.

The UoM was approached for comment.

Gina Rinehart helicopter pad blocked by City of Perth

Gina Rinehart’s company’s bid to install a private helicopter pad on its new headquarters has been rejected by the City of Perth after council planners warned it would generate excessive noise and limit new apartment construction.

Hancock Iron Ore wanted to use the pad to transport its executives, saying it would be used only in daylight hours, a maximum of 12 times a year. Councillor Adam Pacan, a pilot and former radio host, voted in favour of the helipad at Tuesday night’s meeting. He was supported by colleague Catherine Lezer, who said:

We need to send a clear signal the city of Perth is more Yimby than Nimby. We welcome investment.

Perth’s lord mayor, Bruce Reynolds, said he agreed with Hancock’s argument a helipad would help attract business to Perth:

It is the kind of infrastructure world-class cities take seriously, and in this case the proponent, in my opinion, is an amazing Australian.

But the lord mayor said the infrastructure should not be private, encouraging councillors to look for a new opportunity to install a public helipad. Councillors voted 5-2 to reject the helipad.

A Hancock Prospecting spokesperson said the company was disappointed with the refusal. They warned the helipad could have provided an extra landing option for emergency services and the Royal Flying Doctor Service – an organisation the mining giant financially supports:

During our discussions with RFDS and emergency services, they advised they are often faced with scenarios where they cannot land at existing facilities and so any additional options could have helped to save lives.

The spokesperson said the company was considering its options for how to handle the issue. The business could appeal the council’s decision, as you can read here:

eSafety commissioner compares ban to efforts to rein in guns and tobacco use

Julie Inman Grant, the eSafety commissioner, is comparing the social media ban to efforts on gun and tobacco reform and sun safety campaigns.

She said:

For all of us here, who consider social media to be one of the great social experiments of our time on our young people, then perhaps a social media ban will stand as the first true antidote. It starts here, in Australia, today.

The world will follow like nations once followed our lead on plain tobacco packaging, gun reform, water and sun safety. How can you not follow a country with clearly prioritising teen safety ahead of tech profits?

She said she expects tech companies to fully comply, using their vast information databases and bank balances:

I have every confidence the most powerful and innovative industry of all time has the technical capability to meet these obligations with precision and with continuous improvement.

‘Today we change lives for the better,’ Anika Wells says

Anika Wells, the communications minister, is speaking again at Kirribilli House.

She said:

Today we change a generation. Today we change a culture. Today we change lives for the better.

This is for the future. A future Australia is leading. Australia, a continent so far away and now yet so far ahead when it comes to online safety.

Anika Wells speaks to reporters in Sydney. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

‘Success is the fact that it’s happening,’ Albanese says

Albanese said he has been asked what a successful ban for under-16s will look like. He said:

Success is the fact that it’s happening. Success is the fact that we’re having this discussion, parents are talking to their children around the breakfast table, teachers, as we’re speaking, will be speaking to their students.

And we as a society, I must say, not just young people as well, but non-young people, are also thinking about the impact that scrolling is having on their sleep. That engaging with each other, nothing beats interpersonal communication.

Albanese hails 'proud day to be Australian' as social media ban arrives

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking at Kirribilli House on the social media ban, where he is championing Australia’s role as a world leader to show “enough is enough”.

He said:

This is world-leading. This is Australia showing enough is enough.

This is indeed a proud day to be Australian. Because make no mistake – this reform will change lives. For Australian kids, and allowing them to just have their childhood. For Australian parents, enabling them to have greater peace of mind. But also for the global community, who are looking at Australia and saying, well, if Australia can do it, why can’t we? This will make an enormous difference.

It’s a profound reform which will continue to reverberate around the world, in coming months, to assist not just this generation but generations to come.

Bushfire-affected NSW residents say planned power outage affected ability to defend homes

A New South Wales energy provider has defended its decision to go ahead with a planned power outage during a bushfire last week after residents said it affected their ability to defend their homes.

Residents had lucky escapes and four properties were lost in Bulahdelah bushfire, which began on Friday. One resident in the Crawford River area told the ABC a planned outage by Essential Energy left him unable to operate water pumps and receive emergency updates. The man, who was able to evacuate, said his home was spared but his property was extensively burnt by fire.

Burnt Christmas decorations hang from a telephone pole south of Bulahdelah. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian

In a statement shared with Guardian Australia, Essential Energy said it undertook “priority one maintenance work” on Friday in the Crawford River area “at a time when there was no active weather or bushfire warning in the location”.

When the weather shifted and a warning was issued for the location, crews were stood down from the work and power was restored to customers.

As part of our commitment to the safety of our people and our communities, Essential Energy crews undergo a comprehensive risk assessment prior to commencing any work on the network and we work in close consultation with the Rural Fire Service in these situations.

Appeal in McPhillamys gold mine case to commence in federal court

The fight over the McPhillamys gold mine in Blayney, NSW has been taken to the federal court with the company appealing a government decision to issue a partial protection Aboriginal heritage protection order at the site last year.

A three-day hearing in the case will begin in the federal court today.

The development attracted headlines last year after the decision, by former environment minister Tanya Plibersek, was criticised by the NSW premier Chris Minns.

A sign on the banks of the Belubula River near Blayney. Photograph: Stephanie Gardiner/AAP

The McPhillamys gold project is a proposed open-cut gold mining operation near Blayney, about 30km south of Orange in the central-west. The developer, Regis Resources, had been planning the mine for several years.

In 2021, Wiradjuri elder Nyree Reynolds lodged an application to protect Aboriginal heritage from being destroyed by the mine’s waste dam, which was to be built at the headwaters of the nearby Belubula River. The application, under section 10 of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heritage Protection Act, was supported by the Wiradyuri Traditional Owners Central West Aboriginal Corporation (WTOCWAC).

Plibersek issued a partial section 10 declaration that prevents the tailings dam being built in this location. Regis Resources said last year the decision would make the project unviable and is seeking to have the order declared invalid.

Anika Wells says social media ban evolving and exceptions won’t last

Anika Wells was asked about some children slipping through the age screenings but she maintained it was an evolving system:

Just because they might’ve avoided it today doesn’t mean that they will be able to avoid it in a week’s time, or a month’s time. The social media companies have to go back and routinely check under-16 accounts … This isn’t just you passed today, you’re fine.

These social media platforms have so much data on us because we choose to give it to them, because we like social media. That is why, we have always said, the onus is on the platform.

Twitch, Reddit still allowing 14-year-olds to register

We’ve been testing out the various platforms named in the ban to see if under-16s can still register. In addition to YouTube, which we reported earlier, Twitch and Reddit were also still allowing accounts to be registered with birthdates set for 14-year-olds.

Both platforms were approached for comment.

Instagram, TikTok, X and Kick would not allow registrations to go through.

TikTok’s message read:

Sorry, looks like you’re not eligible for TikTok … But thanks for checking us out!

That leaves Snap and Facebook, which require registration via the app, and we are just checking that out now.

Wells faces tough questions over travel expenses

Anika Wells, the communications minister, is facing tough questions about her expenses amid an ongoing controversy over the cost of her travel.

She said she has nothing to hide, maintaining she has “followed the rules” surrounding parliamentarians:

I’m always listening carefully to my community. I really have been trying to be focused on my work as we do this incredible world-leading ban. But I hear it, I hear you have questions.

I have, during my time, I’ve abided by the rules the whole time I’ve been a parliamentarian.

My job is to follow the rules, I will follow the rules.

Wells maintained she and others should be sensitive to community sentiment, adding she had made herself available to answer questions “for the absolute avoidance of doubt”.

I have been found to have followed the guidelines so far.

Anika Wells. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Coalition MPs to meet to thrash out migration policy

Coalition MPs will meet on Wednesday afternoon to debate immigration policy, which could include attempts to deport more asylum seekers whose claims have been rejected.

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, has promised to unveil the “principles” that will underpin the Coalition’s plan to reduce migration numbers before Christmas, avoiding a repeat of the lengthy and messy fight over a net zero target.

An announcement was expected this week but is now likely to be delayed with the Coalition keen to keep the spotlight on Anika Wells’ travel expenses controversy.

An opposition backbench committee is hosting a virtual meeting on Wednesday afternoon, where the shadow home affairs ministers, Jonathon Duniam, and the shadow immigration minister, Paul Scarr, will “seek colleague feedback on how the Coalition can best address Labor’s multitude of failures in migration policy”, according to an invite seen by Guardian Australia.

The opposition leader, Sussan Ley. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

The Nine papers and the Australian Financial Review on Wednesday reported the Coalition was planning to target people who remain in Australia after their visas expire, including by lodging asylum seeker claims and then entering the appeals process.

The Coalition would seek to speed-up the processing of asylum seeker claims, including by reducing appeal rights, and deport people where possible, the papers reported.

Sources familiar with the development of the policy confirmed the idea had been discussed but was yet to be agreed.

After the backbench meeting, the policy will be put to Ley’s shadow cabinet before it is announced.

The opposition will not immediately set a target for net overseas migration but will commit to lower the intake.

Ley is under pressure from rightwing colleagues, including Andrew Hastie, and the lobby group Advance to commit to drastically curtail net overseas migration, in part to combat the rising political threat of Pauline Hanson and Barnaby Joyce’s One Nation.

Tell us: how is Australia’s social media ban affecting you and your family?

We would like to hear from you. How have you been affected by the social media ban? Have there been any issues with your child’s account deactivation, or has an account you have been mistakenly affected? Have there been any flow-on effects in using services linked to social media accounts?

Let us know your family’s experiences using the form below. We may publish your words, if you give us permission, or contact you to ask for further information.

‘Obscene’ rates of Indigenous children still being removed from families, report finds

The child protection system needs to be turned upside down to “change the story” of Indigenous over-representation in out-of-home care, advocates say.

AAP reports the Family Matters report, released on Wednesday, found early intervention and community-led supports are chronically underfunded, with investment instead skewing towards crisis interventions such as removals. The report said:

Without action on the underlying causes of intervention, like poverty, housing insecurity, racism and exclusion from services, and improved supports for families experiencing crisis, little will change.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 9.6 times more likely to be removed from their parents than non-Indigenous kids and make up 45% of those in out-of-home care, the report found.

Catherine Liddle, the chief executive of peak body for Indigenous children SNAICC, said the Family Matters report, now in its 10th year, came from a need to keep governments accountable on the number of children being removed from family.

“There were no eyes on this alarming figure,” she told AAP. “Today the number is still obscene.”

Former Obama chief of staff says US should follow Australia’s lead on social media ban

Rahm Emanuel, a former mayor of Chicago and chief of staff to US president Barack Obama, is celebrating Australia’s social media ban.

He posted a video this morning calling on the US to follow Australia’s lead, adding:

I think it’s time for America to pick up its game, and do the same. I think we need to help parents. It’s too much for a parent to push against Facebook, Instagram, TikTok… Snapchat.

Our kids are way too vulnerable. It’s too additive, too alluring.

He compared the effort to banning cell phones from classrooms, writing that “we’ve proven that smart steps are effective. The time for debate and discussion is over”.