Man bitten by dingo on K’gari
Rangers have increased patrols and warned visitors to be vigilant after Sunday’s attack, which marked the 21st dingo incident at K’gari, formerly Fraser Island, in 2024, AAP reports.
The man was walking from his car to a picnic area at Lake McKenzie when a tagged female dingo suddenly ran at him from behind, rangers say.
The dingo bit the man on the right calf, causing a minor puncture wound. The dingo retreated when he turned around and kicked sand at it.
Rangers responded quickly and “observed the dingo continuing to walk around the car park and loiter close to vehicles and people for about an hour before it returned to the bush,” Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior ranger Linda Behrendorff said.
A four-year-old girl was flown to hospital after she was bitten on the chest while a group was fishing on the island, north of Brisbane, in August.
Behrendorff said visitors should only use fenced picnic areas when eating or preparing food and should not take food or drinks to the lake’s shores.
“Visitors and residents are also reminded to remain vigilant of their surroundings at all times, keep children within arm’s length, never walk alone and carry a stick at all times,” Behrendorff said.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has previously called on the Queensland government to consider restricting families to camp inside fenced areas on K’gari after a rise in incidents.
Key events
Cait Kelly
The government is investigating four job providers for regularly harassing jobseekers for pay slip information.
Earlier this year a Guardian Australia investigation found providers regularly harass jobseekers to get payslip information, which triggers publicly funded payments.
Under questions from Senator Penny Allman-Payne, DEWR said the department has started investigating providers, which it would complete by mid-November. It could not name the four providers until it was finished.
Deputy Security Tania Rishniw:
One of the things that we have done now in terms of payslips is we have a specific line in terms of the customer service line that any complaint about pay slips automatically gets referred to our complaints team, to be looked at, to be investigated, to make sure that those complaints are taken seriously.
We’ve updated guidelines for providers that make it absolutely clear that there are consequences.
Australia’s red centre is roasting
A large swathe of inland Australia is sweltering today, with five states forecast to hit 44C.
Thargomindah in Queensland and White Cliffs in New South Wales surpassed that, both reaching 45.1C.
Meanwhile, thunderstorms are on their way for almost all of NSW:
Josh Butler
Greens call for ban on MPs getting free flight upgrades
The Greens say federal parliament should implement “a blanket ban on MPs requesting or accepting free flight upgrades”, which they want to apply to both personal and work travel.
The party’s transport spokesperson, Elizabeth Watson-Brown, claimed the move would restore trust and integrity in how politicians deal with the aviation sector.
“Banning free flight upgrades would help curb any potentially inappropriate behaviour from MPs and prevent airlines from wielding undue influence over political decisions,” she said in a statement.
Watson-Brown said it was “completely understandable for people to be questioning Qantas’ relationship with the very same MPs and Ministers that regulate them.”
In a cost-of-living crisis that’s seeing people across the country struggle to pay for food and rent, MPs on generous salaries don’t need to be getting freebies when they travel.
Man bitten by dingo on K’gari
Rangers have increased patrols and warned visitors to be vigilant after Sunday’s attack, which marked the 21st dingo incident at K’gari, formerly Fraser Island, in 2024, AAP reports.
The man was walking from his car to a picnic area at Lake McKenzie when a tagged female dingo suddenly ran at him from behind, rangers say.
The dingo bit the man on the right calf, causing a minor puncture wound. The dingo retreated when he turned around and kicked sand at it.
Rangers responded quickly and “observed the dingo continuing to walk around the car park and loiter close to vehicles and people for about an hour before it returned to the bush,” Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service senior ranger Linda Behrendorff said.
A four-year-old girl was flown to hospital after she was bitten on the chest while a group was fishing on the island, north of Brisbane, in August.
Behrendorff said visitors should only use fenced picnic areas when eating or preparing food and should not take food or drinks to the lake’s shores.
“Visitors and residents are also reminded to remain vigilant of their surroundings at all times, keep children within arm’s length, never walk alone and carry a stick at all times,” Behrendorff said.
Fraser Coast Mayor George Seymour has previously called on the Queensland government to consider restricting families to camp inside fenced areas on K’gari after a rise in incidents.
Cait Kelly
A quarter of job providers underperforming
The department of employment and workplace relations is up in senate estimates where the discussion is focusing on the performance results of providers.
Job providers receive millions of dollars in public funding to help jobseekers get into work.
The most recent data has shown 44 providers out of 178 received a low-performance rating. Low means providers are “not meeting the department’s expectations”.
In comparison, just 15 received a high performance.
Luca Ittimani
NSW Libertarian party’s US election function in full swing
In his Uncle Sam outfit and sneakers, Jim Sternhell is one of the more colourful characters among the crowd at the US election watch party in New South Wales parliament.
Increasingly excited attenders at the pro-Trump crowd have sought out Sternhell for selfies as the results roll in.
The state’s Libertarian party, hosting the event, has already called the election for Trump, but Sternhell is not yet as optimistic, fearing election interference by the Democratic party:
There’s a whole array of tricks they can do both before, during and after.
The dentist and One Nation member has only a tangential connection to the US, spending four months in Arizona as a boy and with one of his daughters now living in the US, but he’s concerned about the election because of what it means for climate change – which he says is a hoax.
Sternhell, who is mulling running for office in his local electorate of Wentworth in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, has popped up in his distinctive outfit at past rallies for Trump and the Conservative Political Action Conference. He’s also a regular attender at anti-climate action rallies and protests against what he describes as “anti-radical Islam”.
Tony Burke addresses high court ruling on ex-immigration detainee monitoring
The minister for home affairs has responded to the high court’s decision to quash the Albanese government’s ankle bracelet and curfew regime for former immigration detainees.
In a statement released a short time ago, Burke indicated he intended fix the problem:
The Australian government is taking immediate steps to protect community safety following the high court’s ruling in the YBFZ case.
Regulations are now being finalised that will allow for an adjusted process for electronic monitoring devices and curfews to be used. I will sign off on these regulations later today.
Tomorrow I will introduce new legislation to support those regulations. The legislation will also strengthen the government’s power to remove people who have had their visas cancelled to third countries.
The government has also boosted personnel and resources for Operation Aegis in order to keep the community safe. The number of officers has been increased by 66%.
The government imposed strict conditions on the NZYQ cohort because community safety is our top priority.
We argued strongly in the high court to keep electronic monitoring and curfews in place.
The court’s decision is not the one the government wanted – but it is one the government has prepared for.
Burke closed by once again assuring the public that the “security and safety of the Australian community will always be the absolute priority for this government.”
Body found in search for boy swept out to sea in NSW
The body of a boy, believed to be that of the 11-year-old who was swept out to sea on New South Wales’ Central Coast on Sunday, has been found.
A short time ago, NSW Police released a statement:
A body, believed to be that of a boy missing at The Entrance, has been located today.
About 5.15pm on Sunday, emergency services responded to reports a child had been swept into the ocean while attempting to cross The Entrance Channel.
An extensive multi-agency search for the missing boy was subsequently conducted, with ongoing taskings continuing today.
About 2.30pm today, emergency services were called to The Entrance following reports a body had been located in the water.
While the body is yet to be formally identified, it is believed to be that of the missing boy.
The boy had been visiting the Central Coast from Sydney with his father and three siblings.
The police said a report will be prepared for the Coroner.
Luca Ittimani
Despite no official election outcome as of yet, New South Wales Libertarian MP John Ruddick has declared Donald Trump has won the US election, getting cheers from the 50 or so attenders at his watch party in state parliament:
The NSW Libertarian party is going to make history around the world. We are calling this election for Donald Trump. Donald Trump has won. And I can say this is the greatest comeback in history since the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
Ruddick told the crowd he hoped to hear from “president-elect Trump” soon and asked:
Do we want to continue to watch Fox [News] or do we want to watch them cry on CNN?
The crowd cheered as the results for the key swing state Georgia, where Trump is now leading 51%, appeared on screen – a CNN presenter said the count in some states would not be completed today and would continue tomorrow, drawing some boos and shouts of: “That’s a steal!”
Thank you, as ever, Tory Shepherd. Let’s get straight on with the rest of the day’s (non-US election) news…
I’m going to leave you with Daisy Dumas for the rest of the afternoon. I may need a shower, some white noise (read: wine), and some dog time after that QT. See you tomorrow!
Question time wraps up
That’s another question time over, and it had the scrappy feeling of the last day of school. But it’s not! It’s back on tomorrow, then there are two more sitting weeks before the end of the year.
Labor ‘considering a whole range of possible reforms’ on childcare, Chalmers says
The independent MP Kylea Tink is asking the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, about abolishing the activity test for childcare.
Chalmers says:
We are big believers in the social and economic value of early childhood education and care. We see it as a gamechanger for families, and for the economy more broadly … we are considering a whole range of possible reforms as part of our commitment to try to get the system as close as we can to something which is a bit more universal.
He says early childhood education and care has been “at the very core of our agenda”, that the government has invested in cheaper childcare and lifted subsidies.
“We’re also delivering a 15% pay rise for our early childhood educators,” he says.
