Australia news live: Sportsbet pulls ads from Spotify after alleged placement between Disney songs; armed police raid Mosman home | Australia news

Benita Kolovos

The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has defended the state’s business credentials after the Business Council of Australia ranked it the worst place to do business in the country.

The Regulation Rumble 2024 report ranked Victoria last for overall business settings and found “with a low ranking for its property taxes and charges, payroll taxes, and business licencing requirements, the state has much room for improvement if it is to attract and generate business-driven growth.”

But speaking in Melbourne this morning Allan says there’s key data missing from the report. She says:

The ABS data tells us that more and more businesses are choosing Victoria as a place to invest in record numbers. … when you look at our energy prices, we have amongst the lowest energy prices of anywhere in the nation and we have a great and strong skilled work force.

Allan says the report also fails to take into account a string of announcements she made in October to streamline planning and build more homes.

These are the priorities that I’m focused on – a future where we need to keep building homes, renewable energies, building productive transport infrastructure, most certainly focused on building more jobs.

She says she will be releasing an “economic growth statement” “very soon”.

Ben Doherty

Responses to review into Modern Slavery Act agree more reforms are needed

Staying with the government’s response to the independent review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act: the president of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Michele O’Neil, said five years into the operation of the Act, it was clear the law was not strong enough to deliver real improvements for workers in situations of modern slavery in the operations and supply chains of Australian companies.

We welcome the commitment to implement penalties for companies failing to uphold their reporting obligations. However the commitment must go further and should include a requirement for companies to take concrete action to prevent modern slavery – this means introducing a requirement for companies to undertake due diligence, and penalties for companies failing to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains.

Keren Adams, the legal director at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the modern slavery act was failing workers. The introduction of penalties for companies that fail to report, or falsely report, was welcomed, she said.

But simply enforcing better reporting will not drive the transformational changes to corporate practices we know are needed to help end forced labour. The act should also impose a legal requirement on companies to take action. We urge the Albanese government to move swiftly to implement a due diligence obligation on companies, as recommended by the independent review.

Carolyn Kitto, co-director of Be Slavery Free, said the government’s response had been too slow.

The government has had the Modern Slavery Act review report for 557 days – during which an estimated 15 million more people have fallen into slavery. While these commitments are welcome, urgent action to implement all recommendations is critical. We cannot afford another delay like this.

The federal government’s new anti-slavery commissioner, former Labor senator Chris Evans, started his five-year term on Monday.

Ben Doherty

Advocates say government should make companies take active role in fighting modern slavery

Anti-slavery advocates, human rights groups and unions have welcomed proposed changes to strengthen Australia’s modern slavery law, including through the introduction of penalties for companies that fail to undertake modern slavery reporting requirements.

But they have argued the government should go further and also introduce a legal requirement for companies to take action to prevent modern slavery.

An independent review of Australia’s Modern Slavery Act, enacted in 2018, was given to the government in May 2023. More than 18 months later, the government has now responded.

The review of the act found “no hard evidence that the act, in its early years, has yet caused meaningful change for people living in conditions of modern slavery”.

The Act currently requires companies with a revenue of more than $100m to complete a ‘modern slavery statement’ every year. The statement must describe the risks of modern slavery in the company’s operations and supply chains.

The review made 30 recommendations, including that companies that fail to submit their mandated modern slavery reports or that knowingly publish false information face penalties – currently there is no penalty. The government has agreed to that recommendation.

But the review also recommended the act be strengthened with the introduction of the “due diligence” obligation, such as exists in the EU and other jurisdictions. A due diligence obligation would require companies to actively identify modern slavery risks and take action to prevent modern slavery in their operations and supply chains – action beyond simply submitting modern slavery risk reports.

Amanda Meade

Media Watch host Paul Barry thanks ABC managing directors for supporting right to criticise broadcaster

The outgoing ABC Media Watch host, Paul Barry, has thanked managing directors David Anderson and Mark Scott for always supporting the program’s right to critique the public broadcaster.

“It is remarkable that any broadcaster tolerates a program that rips into it as we have done,” Barry said in his final show on Monday. “And two people in particular deserve the credit.”

Mark Scott who was managing director from 2006 to 2016 and David Anderson who has been managing director since 2019.

They have always had my back, and defended Media Watch’s right to criticise, even if they didn’t agree with its criticisms.

Barry said a relentless campaign to hold back action on climate change is the media’s worst crime during his 11 years in the role. Barry was also critical of the News Corp tabloids for “doing their best to keep Labor out of power”.

“But female politicians have been hit even harder and more often than the blokes,” he said. “And none more than Julia Gillard – by Alan Jones in particular”.

Barry said Gillian Triggs at the Human Rights Commission and writer Yassmin Abdel Magied were also targeted by News Corp.

Sportsbet pauses Spotify advertising after children allegedly exposed to gambling content

Henry Belot

Australian gambling giant Sportsbet has paused advertising with the music streaming service, Spotify, after a complaint alleging children were exposed to its content between Disney songs.

Earlier today, Guardian Australia reported on a father’s formal complaint to the streaming service. The father, who declined to be named, said the content was “potentially damaging” to his children and urged Spotify to introduce an opt-out function for wagering content:

I love Spotify and completely understand your need to generate income. However, playing Sportsbet’s ads before and after Disney songs is inappropriate and potentially damaging to my children.

The father was listening to music on his own, free account. Spotify does not have an opt-out of advertising option for free or premium users. Paying Spotify users are exposed to fewer ads, but they are still embedded into some podcasts.

Sportsbet has told Guardian Australia it takes measures to ensure children are not exposed to its advertising:

Sportsbet’s advertising on Spotify and all social media channels uses age gating measures, and excludes kids and family content as an additional control.

We are disappointed this has happened and have paused advertising on Spotify while the issue is rectified.

The Woolworths Group says it has filed an urgent application with the Fair Work Commission seeking orders preventing the United Workers Union (UWU) from blocking access to its Melbourne south regional distribution centre and three other sites in Victoria and New South Wales.

The UWU commenced indefinite strike action at the four sites on 21 November, with the strike action now extending to 12 days, Woolworths said.

In a statement this morning, the supermarket said the application to Fair Work alleges a breach of the good faith bargaining requirements in the Fair Work Act and that the matter had not yet been listed for hearing.

The application comes after the UWU refused to give any assurance of safe passage for team members seeking to return to work at our Melbourne south regional distribution centre yesterday and this morning.

A majority of the team at the site had indicated they wished to return to work to begin being paid, which will help increase supply of essential food and grocery products such as nappies, toilet paper and drinks to Woolworths’ Victorian stores.

The UWU chose to block the site entry points to MSRDC with cars and protesters, which created an unsafe environment for team members who had shown up to work. The majority of our team members at this site are not members of the UWU.

We will again be attempting to operate the MSRDC today, and we will follow the advice of the Victorian police to ensure the safety of our team.

A dramatic police operation on Sydney’s lower north shore has ended with no arrests made.

Police said that at about 7am, officers executed a firearms prohibition order at a home on Prince Albert Street, Mosman.

While police said the operation had since concluded, local news outlet Mosman Collective shared a photo of a specialist officer in a riot squad vehicle taking aim with a high powered rifle.

Alarmed residents told the outlet that “tactical operations officers with high powered rifles entered the home, located close to The Buena, and removed a man ‘very quickly’.”

The outlet reported the police used a loud hailer to “warn the man” of the operation.

An 18-year-old and another man, age unknown, were spoken to by police.

No arrests were made and inquiries were ongoing.

Karen Middleton

Albanese to spend Christmas in Darwin at cyclone memorial

Anthony Albanese will spend Christmas morning in Darwin, attending a dawn commemoration service marking 50 years since Cyclone Tracy devastated Australia’s northernmost capital city.

Albanese told Nova FM Sydney on Tuesday that he would attend the commemorations, which would also include an event on Christmas Eve.

I’ll be heading up to Darwin because it is the 50th anniversary of that terrible event, Cyclone Tracy, when Santa never made it into Darwin. I well recall as a little kid hearing that song over and over again but seeing the devastation that was there.