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Good morning!
For many of you, today will be the last working day of the year before workplaces across the country go into shutdown mode.
We hope you all have a lovely festive season, and if you are having a break, we hope it’s a relaxing one.
I’ve got 10 seconds
Quote of the day
“This assistance package is recognition that our community is at its strongest when it pulls together – and that when it does so, terror can never prevail.”
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey announcing a State and Federal Government support package for Bondi terror attack victims. It includes covering funeral, burial, and travel costs, funding for Jewish community groups, and local business support.
Stat of the day
91.7%
The percentage of U.S. television shows aired in 2024 created by a white person, according to an annual diversity study from UCLA.
I’ve got 30 seconds
Some headlines from this morning:
The youngest and oldest victims of the Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting have been laid to rest as the community continues grieving after the terrorist attack. Scores of friends and family flocked to a funeral home to honour 10-year-old Matilda, who was killed on Sunday. Matilda has been remembered by her school as a “little ray of sunshine” who always brought joy to those around her, and by her aunt as “full of life and happy”. Many of those entering the funeral carried sunflowers and wore bumblebee stickers to commemorate Matilda. A funeral service for 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Alex Kleytman was held earlier on Thursday morning. His wife has remembered her Ukrainian-born husband for his resilience and courage after he moved to shield her from gunfire in his last moments.
There are fears an Australian has been killed fighting in Ukraine, with authorities providing consular assistance to the man's family as they work to confirm the report. A Telegram post in a pro-Russian channel said the man had been killed by Russian forces near the Ukrainian city of Donetsk last week. Russia has intensified its assault in the region. The man reportedly lived in Brisbane but is from the NSW central coast. International media reports claim he moved to Ukraine in 2023 to fight against the Russian invasion. The Federal Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said it’s aware of a report that an Australian has died in Ukraine. “We are seeking urgent confirmation from local authorities,” DFAT noted.
Recommendation of the day
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I’ve got 1 minute
Optus has released an independent review into its fatal Triple Zero outage
Optus has released the findings of an independent review into a network outage that left hundreds of customers unable to contact emergency services earlier this year.
The review, conducted by business executive Dr Kerry Schott, found significant gaps in Optus’ “process, accountability, escalation and information protocols.”
Schott said two deaths had been linked to the outage.
Optus has agreed to implement all 21 of Schott’s recommendations.
Background
On 18 September, Optus began a routine system upgrade. In what CEO Stephen Rue later called a “human error,” calls were not diverted to a different part of the network while the upgrade was taking place.
This resulted in calls to Triple Zero not connecting.
Over a period of about 15 hours, 605 people tried to call Triple Zero and could not get through.
Optus initially reported 10 calls were affected.
The incident came after a previous Optus outage in November 2023, which left millions of people without phone reception and internet, including almost 2,700 people who tried and failed to call Triple Zero.
Optus said that outage was caused by a “routine software upgrade.”
A Government-commissioned review of the 2023 outage recommended a “custodian” be appointed to oversee the Triple Zero system. The Government accepted this recommendation.
Gaps
Schott identified “challenges” in Optus’ workplace culture that have “impacted decision-making and response times.”
Its recommendations included:
Strengthening controls and protocols to ensure the correct processes are followed
Increasing management presence in call centres and training to encourage escalation of issues
Improving customers’ understanding of Triple Zero systems, including possible normal delays.
The company’s board has agreed to adopt all the recommendations.
Reporting by Achol Arok.
Good finds
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Transparency: This is a sponsored section of the newsletter. It's the best way we can keep this newsletter free for you
I’ve got 2 minutes
The Federal Govt has announced a range of new policies to counter antisemitism
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced a range of legislative changes designed to “crack down on those who spread hate, division and radicalisation”.
It comes four days after the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack, where two men allegedly killed 15 people attending a community event to mark the start of the Jewish festival of Chanukah.
Albanese was joined at a press conference on Thursday by senior ministers and the Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal, who handed the Government a report in July.
New laws
Albanese said the Attorney-General and the Minister for Home Affairs would work to change Australian law in five ways:
Creating an “aggravated hate speech offence for preachers and leaders who promote violence”;
Increasing penalties for hate speech that promotes violence;
Allowing judges to consider hate as an aggravating factor when sentencing people for “online threats and harassment”;
Developing a list of organisations “whose leaders engage in hate speech promoting violence or racial hatred”; and
Creating a new federal crime of “serious vilification based on race and/or advocating racial supremacy.”
Special Envoy
Segal said: “This more formal response [to her July report] has been a long time coming, but of course, it does build on a range of activities and work that started as soon as the report was delivered”.
The Government has faced sustained criticism from the Opposition, and from some members of Australia’s Jewish community, for the delay in issuing a formal response.
Hate speech
Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke said there would be “new offences that have never before existed in Australia” and increased penalties for hate speech that promotes violence.
Albanese said the Government will have new powers to “cancel or reject visas for those who spread hate and division in this country, or would do so if they were allowed to come here”.
Burke added that the definition and threshold of hate speech will also be “lowered”, but presented no further detail on this.
Education
A 12-month taskforce will ensure the Australian education system “prevents, tackles and properly responds to antisemitism”.
It will be chaired by business leader and education policy advisor David Gonski.
Education Minister Jason Clare said: “There’s more work we can do in universities... Jewish students have been made to feel unwelcome on campus.”
A message from Zambrero
Great-tasting food and ending world hunger? Get yourself a restaurant that can do both.
Zambrero celebrated its 20th birthday in the best way possible: free burritos, and 100,000 meals donated.
But it only gets better - they also celebrated their hunger relief impact through their Plate 4 Plate initiative and partnerships with hunger aid organisations, reaching a whopping 100 million meals donated (and counting!) That’s more than 5 million meals donated a year.
Give me some good news
Two dozen endangered sea turtles in the U.S. are on the road to recovery after they were rescued off the coast of Massachusetts.
The turtles became what’s known as ‘cold-stunned’ in the icy waters off Cape Cod, leaving them with frostbite and pneumonia. Not for profit organisation LightHawk rescued the 24 Kemp's ridley sea turtles and transported them to a marine conservation facility in Florida. They’ll spend the next few months receiving medical care and recuperating, and are expected to make a full recovery. When they’re back to full health, the turtles will be released into the Atlantic Ocean in the northern hemisphere’s spring. The rescue was an especially important one as Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are the world's smallest and most critically endangered sea turtle species.
Want more good news? Sign up to our weekly Good Newsletter here - we promise it’ll make your week better!
Reporting by Emma Gillespie.
Want more from The Daily Aus? Listen to our podcast!
Last Sunday, Hollywood director Rob Reiner and his wife Michele Singer Reiner were found dead at their home in Los Angeles. Shortly after, the couple’s 32-year-old son Nick was arrested and charged over the murder of his parents. In today’s podcast we’re going to walk you through who Rob Reiner was, what we know about his death, and how Donald Trump is caught up in all of it.
TDA asks
