Police informant to testify in Erin Patterson's murder trial
He's told the jury a phone linked to Ms Patterson was never able to be recovered.
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News.com.au
26 minutes ago
- News.com.au
ACTU to propose four-day work week and reduced hours that won't impact pay
The Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) will propose a four-day work week and shorter hours - that won't affect pay - in a bid to improve living standards. Unions have also suggested sector-specific alternatives for businesses where it was not appropriate to reduce the work week and hours. Other options include more rostered days off, lifting the amount of annual leave and 'redesigning the roster to improve predictability, security and work-balance'. Pay and conditions, such as penalty rates and overtime, would be protected to ensure a worker's wage is not impacted. The ACTU will outline its proposal at the Economic Reform Roundtable next week, saying 'workers deserve to benefit from productivity gains and technological advances'. The union pointed to a recent published study of countries, including Australia, which have trialled a four-day work week over six months. It found there was a lift in performance, a reduction in burnout and improved health and retention of workers from the 141 organisations and almost 3,000 employees involved. It also cited a Swinburne University study in 2023 which trialled the 100:80:100 model. In this model workers kept 100 per cent of what they would have been paid for five days from working 80 per cent of their hours as long as they maintained 100 per cent of their productivity. Seven out of the 10 firms involved saw higher productivity. Australians have been working 'record-hours' since the Covid pandemic, leading to a productivity slump. The Productivity Commission also flagged businesses had not made enough investment to improve efficiency. Business groups will likely be opposed to the shorter hours and four-day work week. ACTU President Michele O'Neil said the four-day work week proposal and shorter hours will benefit both the employee and employer. 'They deliver improved productivity and allow working people to work more efficiently,' she said in a statement. 'Unions want all Australians to benefit from higher productivity - not just those with money and power.' Ms O'Neil argued productivity growth did not translate to better living standards otherwise 'the average worker today would be around $350 a week better off'. 'A fair go in the age of AI should be about lifting everyone's living standards instead of just boosting corporate profits and executive bonuses,' she said. Social Services Minister Tanya Plibersek last month did not rule out a four-day work week. 'Well, we'll listen to all views respectfully,' she said on Sunrise.' 'The Treasurer's roundtable on productivity, I think is a great way of bringing unions and businesses and other groups together to discuss how we can make our economy stronger and more we won't be doing to improve productivity is ask people to work longer hours. We want to invest in our people, boost training, invest in technologies and new ways of working, make sure that we're playing to our competitive advantages as a nation.' Prime Minister Anthony Albanese previously said he wants to see practical measures put forward at the three-day event that have 'broad support'. Four-week trial a 'resounding success' The United Kingdom in 2022 trialled its largest four-week work involving 61 companies from different sectors and 2,900 workers. Each company was able to tailor the policy to fit their business to ensure productivity and challenges were met, such as giving workers Fridays off. Results showed almost four in ten employees were less stressed, one in seven suffered less burnout and anxiety, fatigue and sleep issues dropped. Over 50 per cent said they found it easier to balance work and household responsibilities and were overall more satisfied with their finances, relationships and at how they managed time. The study was a 'resounding success', with 56 of the companies continuing the four-day work week model and 18 of those saying it will become permanent. The trial was held between June and December. Shark Tank star and Canadian businessman Kevin O'Leary blasted the movement which has grown in popularity in France. 'That's the stupidest idea I have ever heard,' he told Fox News in June. 'I think we should let the French go to a two-day work week and then kick their arse internationally.' Mr O'Leary backs a traditional work week and the post-Covid new norms of working from home, saying 40 per cent of his staff work remotely.
News.com.au
41 minutes ago
- News.com.au
PM too focused on foreign affairs, opposition says
Anthony Albanese is neglecting Australians because he is focused on matters abroad rather than at home, Sussan Ley says. The criticism comes after the Prime Minister pledged to recognise Palestine at the UN General Assembly (UNGA) next month. Since announcing it on Monday, Mr Albanese has been both accused of 'rewarding terrorists' and praised for joining the global push to realise the rights of Palestinians. In an op-ed published on Wednesday, the Opposition Leader repeated her criticism of Mr Albanese's declaration and said Australians 'expect their government to put their jobs, families and future first'. 'Australians are enduring the worst cost-of-living crisis in a generation, yet you would not know it from the Prime Minister's priorities,' Ms Ley wrote in the Herald Sun. 'Mortgage repayments are up around $1800 a month, power bills have soared and groceries cost more and more. 'But Anthony Albanese seems more focused on foreign conflicts than the crisis in our own backyard.' Ms Ley acknowledged the enormous number of deaths caused by the war in Gaza, where Israeli forces have been relentlessly pursuing Islamist militants behind the October 7, 2023 attacks. Hamas, the group responsible, killed more than 1200 in the shock assault and took hundreds hostage. The ensuing 22-month conflict has killed tens of thousands of people. 'The Coalition's position is clear: Israel has the right to defend itself, Hamas must release all hostages, humanitarian aid should reach those in need and the war must end,' Ms Ley said. 'Recognising a Palestinian state before hostages are freed and Hamas is defeated rewards terrorism, not peace. 'These are serious matters, but Australians expect their Prime Minister's first priority to be the kitchen tables of this country, not negotiating tables 12,000km away. 'Day after day, he appears fixated on one foreign policy issue to the exclusion of everything else.' Ms Ley's criticisms come a day after the Reserve Bank cut interest rates a further 0.25 percentage points to 3.6 per cent amid the lowest inflation figures since 2021. The Albanese government has also committed record funding to Medicare and passed both its signature student debt-slashing Bill and snap childcare safety reforms. The war in Gaza has proven a major issue for Australians, many of whom have family members affected on both sides. Just less two weeks ago, more than 100,000 protesters marched across the Sydney Harbour Bridge calling for an end to the bloodshed. Ms Ley's op-ed also comes ahead of summit season – the final quarter of the year in which a series of major global meetings take place, such as the UNGA. As a middle power with deep trade, defence and diplomatic ties spanning Asia to North America, it is normal for Australia to attend these summits.
ABC News
44 minutes ago
- ABC News
Businesses want electrification costs covered as Solstice Energy shuts gas network
The Victorian government is being urged to subsidise regional Victorians who must convert their homes and businesses to bottled gas or electricity, after a major retailer's surprise decision to cut compressed gas supply next year. Solstice Energy announced it would switch off compressed gas networks and stop trucking gas into 10 regional Victorian towns by the end of next year. More than 1,100 households at Heathcote, Maldon, Marong, Swan Hill, Kerang, Nathalia, Robinvale, Terang, Lakes Entrance and Orbost will be affected. John Maynard and his wife Janelle run a cafe and events venue at Nathalia in northern Victoria and last year spent $40,000 installing natural gas during a renovation. He said his business relied on gas for heating, cooking and hot water. Mr Maynard heard about the Solstice gas switch-off after the ABC contacted him last week. "If I've got to put electricity in, I've got to then spend probably another $20,000, plus to get my whole wall pulled out and put electricity into my wall, which I don't have at the moment to do," he said. Mr Maynard said he also worried that if he switched to bottle gas, it might run out during a large function. "We'd be in a lot of trouble," he said. Solstice Energy said it would support every household and business affected by the gas cuts, providing $1,000 up-front payments, gas appliance subsidies, and support to switch to bottled gas. Those who opt to convert their homes to electricity are advised to apply for Victorian government rebates. A Victorian government spokesperson said it was providing up to thousands of dollars in discounts for electric appliances through the Solar Homes and Victorian Energy Upgrades programs. But Mr Maynard said that was not enough. "A lot of small restaurants and businesses around the area are struggling as it is and we need any help we can get," he said. Mr Maynard said he was already paying $1,500 to $3,000 a month on gas and he would lose money by closing his business to complete works for the transition. "We'd have to be shut down for I reckon two or three weeks just to change everything over," he said. The Victorian government launched the gas substitution road map in 2022 to drive down gas usage across the state. Victoria Energy Policy Centre head Professor Bruce Mountain said it represented a drastic change in direction, given previous Victorian government policy encouraged households to use gas. "Households have invested. As a consequence, they have been locked into those choices," he said. Professor Mountain said he believed Victorians should consider switching away from natural gas, as more suppliers could begin turning off supply. St Vincent de Paul national energy director Gavin Dufty said the gas cuts in regional Victoria had been poorly planned. "The lack of coordination between Solstice and the Victorian government to provide long-term, fit-for-purpose solutions for these communities is a glaring, glaring omission," he said. "You've got these two different options to go to LPG — back to the future — or electrify. "The big issue here is, they're only giving people a year and a half to make what is quite a huge decision for these households. "In the next 20 years, we may see more gas cuts, depending on the size of the communities on the reticulated gas network and government policy. "If you're on the gas network at the moment, when your appliance fails and all that, do consider alternatives." Solstice Energy chief executive Phaedra Deckart said switching from piped gas to bottled gas or electricity would be "better for customers in the long run". "The basis upon which the network was built assumed a much larger demand and a much greater number of customers," she said. Solstice Energy announced a 50 per cent price increase to the 10 impacted towns last Monday. Customers had already been hit with an 80 per cent increase in January 2023. Ms Deckart said Solstice would need to continue raising prices every year for its compressed gas service to remain viable.
