Victorian government cuts more than 130 bushfire forest service jobs
Henry Belot
The Victorian government will cut more than 130 positions from its bushfire forest service and close six regional locations, acknowledging budget restraints.
A restructure document presented to staff on Wednesday outlined a “need to fit within a sustainable budget envelope” and to “refine our operating model”.
According to the document obtained by Guardian Australia, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s bushfire forest services group will be cut from 1,932 positions to 1,795.
Most jobs (47) will go from the forest fire operations unit, 33 will go from the conservation regulation division, 41 from infrastructure and resources and 16 from policy and planning.
Staff at Lysterfield, Wangaratta, Mount Beauty, Rainbow, Shepparton and Plenty Gorge will be transferred to other locations. Staff will only be based at Tidal River, Wonthaggi and Nelson seasonally.
The restructure was influenced, in part, by the transfer of the Parks Victoria fire program to the department in July 2023. Here’s how the document outlines the change:
We have not reviewed our whole operation model since 2017. We need to update our operating model and adjust to changed priorities, context, technologies and ways of working.
Bushfire forest staff at Mount Beauty will be transferred elsewhere in restructure. Photograph: Piter Lenk/Alamy
And with that we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:
Up to 55% of schools and childcare centres are unsafely close to main roads in some Australian suburbs, exposing children to deadly car pollution, a new report found.
The Greens announced an ambitious plan to offer unlimited mental health sessions on Medicare, expected to cost about $5.9bn over the next 10 years, as it narrows in on inner-city Labor seats ahead of the next federal election.
Consumers and small businesses reported more than 10,000 scams in 2023/24 – an 81% increase from the year before, according to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority’s annual review.
Anthony Albanese insisted he never contacted then Qantas chief executive Alan Joycedirectly, nor through an intermediary, to share travel plans or seek flight upgrades, rejecting the claim in a new book that he solicited them from the airline’s boss while he was transport minister.
Protesters gathered outside the Woolworths Group Limited annual general meeting. The chair, Scott Perkins, was asked a question about Tim Tams in the meeting, after it was recently disclosed that shoppers in the UK pay less for the Australian-made chocolate biscuit.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission began proceedings in the federal court against Optus.
A woman snorkelling in the middle of the ocean off the coast of Queensland was bitten by a shark.
Peter Dutton admitted his office asked mining billionaire Gina Rinehart for a lift on her private jet to a Bali bombing memorial, after claiming the government wouldn’t help him get a flight on a government plane.
The Victorian government will cut more than 130 positions from its bushfire forest service and close six regional locations, acknowledging budget restraints.
Australian diplomat’s partner charged with assault in New Zealand
An Australian diplomat’s partner at the centre of an alleged drunken fight and immunity storm in New Zealand has been charged and summoned to face court, AAP reports.
A 37-year-old man, who has not been publicly identified, has been charged with summary offences assault, according to Wellington newspaper The Post.
The offence can lead to a jail sentence of up to six months or a fine of up to $4,000.
The charge follows an alleged street fight in the aftermath of Australia’s Bledisloe Cup loss in the Kiwi capital in September.
Police detained the man but released him after finding a diplomatic immunity card in his wallet, according to The Post. .
More than 700 new ranger jobs across the country reserved for Indigenous women
The addition of 1,000 new ranger jobs across the country has been welcomed by Indigenous land management groups but they say more funding is needed to support their work.
Patrick O’Leary, the chief executive of Country Needs People, which supports ranger groups across Australia, welcomed the $355m funding commitment.
It’s great to see the first stage of rollout of the new Indigenous ranger positions announced and the federal government delivering on their long-term commitment.
This won’t be the last funding round and there will need to be further rounds of ranger job funding following the next federal election.
Up to 770 of the new ranger roles will be set aside for Indigenous women, who play an important role in protecting women’s sites, preserving cultural knowledge and practices.
Victorian government cuts more than 130 bushfire forest service jobs
Henry Belot
The Victorian government will cut more than 130 positions from its bushfire forest service and close six regional locations, acknowledging budget restraints.
A restructure document presented to staff on Wednesday outlined a “need to fit within a sustainable budget envelope” and to “refine our operating model”.
According to the document obtained by Guardian Australia, the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action’s bushfire forest services group will be cut from 1,932 positions to 1,795.
Most jobs (47) will go from the forest fire operations unit, 33 will go from the conservation regulation division, 41 from infrastructure and resources and 16 from policy and planning.
Staff at Lysterfield, Wangaratta, Mount Beauty, Rainbow, Shepparton and Plenty Gorge will be transferred to other locations. Staff will only be based at Tidal River, Wonthaggi and Nelson seasonally.
The restructure was influenced, in part, by the transfer of the Parks Victoria fire program to the department in July 2023. Here’s how the document outlines the change:
We have not reviewed our whole operation model since 2017. We need to update our operating model and adjust to changed priorities, context, technologies and ways of working.
Bushfire forest staff at Mount Beauty will be transferred elsewhere in restructure. Photograph: Piter Lenk/Alamy
Local shares down to round out worst month since April
The local sharemarket has fallen in its final session of October to end the month lower before a pivotal week for markets, AAP has reported.
The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index finished Thursday down 20.4 points, or 0.25%, at 8,160, while the broader All Ordinaries fell 17.4 points, or 0.21%, to 8,422.1.
After reaching a record high of 8,384.5 earlier in October, a two-week losing streak saw the ASX200 end the month down 1.3% – its biggest monthly fall since April.
Consumer staples were the worst performers on Thursday, down 1.6%, with supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths both falling after reporting softer trading.
Market-moving developments next week include the US election, interest rate decisions from the Australian, US and UK central banks and more details on China’s fiscal stimulus package.
The Australian dollar was buying US65.65 cents, from US65.40 cents at Wednesday’s ASX close.
Woolworths shareholders vote to keep selling farmed salmon despite alleged threat to Maugean skate
Woolworths will continue to sell farmed salmon that allegedly threatens the existence of a rare fish after shareholders voted down a resolution to stop the practice, AAP reports.
A handful of protesters outside the company’s annual general meeting in Sydney on Thursday held signs accusing Woolworths of killing the Maugean skate, a prehistoric ray estimated to number between 40 to 120 individuals in the wild.
Inside, the chair, Scott Perkins, assured shareholders the board took the issue very seriously:
Responsible sourcing of seafood is important to our business, and underpinned by our seafood sourcing policy, our policy requires all own-branded seafood sold in Australia to be third-party certified or independently verified as ecologically responsible.
The remaining wild skates live exclusively in Tasmania’s Macquarie Harbour, where salmon farming has been linked to problematic drops in available oxygen.
Perkins said Woolworths “is not perfect” but rejected allegations it misled customers by inflating prices on products before lowering them and calling it a discount.
Salmon industry in key Tasmanian location should be cut to save Maugean skate, scientists advise government
Labor has been accused of trying to minimise the impact of a once-in-a-generation drug reform summit amid last-minute changes and sector concern over its handling, AAP has reported.
The long-promised NSW Drug Summit begins on Friday in the regional city of Griffith, before hearings in Lismore and Sydney.
All but the opening speeches in Griffith had been closed off to media until a late decision to allow in reporters to hear the co-chairs summarise each session.
Lists of the 49 groups attending were also circulated to media on Thursday as the government sought to hose down complaints of some stakeholders being left out, including a Griffith homelessness organisation.
Advocates want serious consideration of community drug checking, improved funding of addiction services and changes to policing.
NSW woman dies after being run over in her driveway last week
A woman has died in hospital a week after being run over in the state’s west, NSW police have said in a statement:
About 5.50pm on Wednesday (23 October 2024), emergency services were called to Agland Crescent, Orange, following reports a woman had been run over in her driveway.
The 70-year-old woman was treated by NSW Ambulance before being airlifted to Liverpool hospital in a critical condition.
The driver – a 73-year-old – was taken to Orange hospital for mandatory testing.
On Thursday (31 October 2024), police were informed the woman had died at the hospital.
A report will be prepared for the information of the coroner.
