After the building was evacuated, leaving hundreds temporarily homeless, we look at what happens next for residents and the council
What has happened at Barton House tower block in Bristol?
Barton House, a 65-year-old 15-storey tower block, was built in the late 1950s using reinforced concrete cross walls, pre-cast concrete floors and reinforced concrete external walls.
Continue reading...Former PM will take seat in House of Lords; former Treasury minister moves to health; Braverman replaced as home secretary by James Cleverly
ITV’s Paul Brand says he has had a text with the word “Rejoice” from a Tory MP celebrating the sacking of Suella Braverman.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, has been seen going into No 10, PA Media reports.
Continue reading...Index reveals rental affordability has plunged over year with situation particularly difficult in Sydney
Rental affordability has plunged in the past year with low-income Australians now completely priced out of living alone, a new report has revealed.
The ninth annual National Shelter-SGS Economics and Planning Rental Affordability Index has found affordability has worsened in the past year in every capital city except Hobart and Canberra.
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Rowland: ‘consumers were clearly frustrated with lack of information’ over outage
Rowland says the key issue of the Optus outage was “getting some more understanding of the nature of the problem”. She tells ABC TV:
I made it clear from the outset that consumers were clearly frustrated with the lack of information. Australians are reasonable people. They understand that things need to be resolved and that may take some time, but the key issue here was getting some understanding of the nature of the problem, how long it may take and what the impacts would be.
And I think it goes to the issue of how reliant we are on our digital devices and connectivity overall, including for consuming messages and news media. And, in this case, the broadcasting platforms were there to be utilised and I did encourage Optus to do that as well.
It’s important, I believe, to have a post-incident review that is both thorough in scope but also is completed expeditiously and goes to the precise issues of what has caused this, considering the considerable amount of disruption, the distress it has caused, but also the economic impact as well. And to understand what [can] be done in future by the sector as a whole to take the lesson and mitigate that going forward.
So this is important, because Australians expect that there will be follow-up, that there will be lessons learned. But, importantly for the sector as a whole, it’s important to understand how this can be certainly avoided in future.
Continue reading...Greens unveil policy designed to freeze rents at January 2023 levels in battle for Brisbane city council
The Greens say they would introduce an effective rent freeze across Brisbane by enacting massive land rates increases for any property investors who increase the rent.
The announcement on Monday will be a centrepiece of the Greens’ campaign for the Brisbane city council, a city where nearly four in 10 homes are occupied by renters.
Continue reading...RBA has left cash rate on hold for four months while warning it might need to keep pushing up interest rates if still-high inflation does not fall. Follow the day’s news updates live
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says the prime minister’s official visit to China is not without challenges but is critical to a “prosperous relationship” between the two countries.
It’s the first official visit by a prime minister into China since 2016 and I think it recognises that this - a stable relationship - is in the interests of both countries. Now, we are clear-eyed about the complexities and the challenges of managing this relationship. But we give ourselves the best chance of prospering together if we engage with one another.
And we’ve already seen some of the fruits of that effort - something like 95% of the trade restrictions by dollar value have been lifted. That’s good for our businesses, our exporters, and our workers. And that’s why it’s so important that this engagement has been happening for some time and why it’s so important that this official visit is taking place this week.
I think this is a sort of rapprochement based on realism. As [Katharine Murphy] was saying earlier, from China’s point of view, they haven’t changed their long-term strategic or economic goals. And neither have we changed our strategic allegiances. But it suits both sides for lots of reasons to get the trade relationship flowing again, to get the economic relationship flowing again, and to be talking again. And that’s what this visit is going to achieve.
Continue reading...Angela Rayner says party’s housing recovery plan will enact reforms delayed by Tories since 2019 manifesto commitments
Labour will deliver more action on housing in the first six months of office than the Conservatives have delivered in the past six years, Angela Rayner has pledged.
Downing Street has confirmed the renters reform bill will be in the king’s speech, allowing it to continue its passage through parliament when the next session opens on Tuesday.
Continue reading...Senior Conservative says home secretary should not discuss complex issue in such terms and advised her to use ‘wiser’ language
Suella Braverman has been rebuked by a senior Tory campaigner on homelessness after the home secretary provoked outrage by describing rough sleeping as a “lifestyle choice.”
Bob Blackman MP, head of the all-party parliamentary group for ending homelessness, said Braverman was wrong to discuss a complex and serious issue in such terms and advised her to use “wiser” language.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Measure in planned bill stopping sale of new properties under leasehold in England and Wales likely to only cover houses
Tory MPs are preparing to force the government to toughen up its planned leasehold reforms in England and Wales, with Downing Street expected to launch a bill that falls short of campaigners’ demands.
Conservative backbenchers say they are ready to bring amendments to the long-awaited leasehold reform bill, which will be one of the centrepieces of next week’s king’s speech but will not end leasehold on the majority of properties.
Continue reading...Ombudsman orders UK housing association Clarion to apologise to family in ‘deeply distressing’ case
A tenant killed himself after his landlord dismissed his pleas for help with a noisy neighbour as “whining” and told him he could not expect silence if he lived in London.
Clarion, the UK’s largest housing association, had been warned by the vulnerable resident’s doctor that the effect of noise from the upstairs flat on the tenant’s mental health was such that he had already attempted suicide twice.
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The NSW RFS has confirmed that just after 4am this morning one of its firefighting tanks rolled over 10km south of Jennings in the Tenterfield LGA.
A spokesperson said there were four firefighters on board. They were all taken from the truck, with three being taken to hospital for observation.
They’ve said they’ll be returning to bulk billing, or many of them who are considering a change would stick with bulk billing, for those more than 11 million Australians.
That’s about 60% or more of the throughput of the average general practice. So it’s a huge boost in confidence and funding to a sector that I think is probably in its most powerless status been in the 40 year history of Medicare.
Continue reading...Economists say limited sales volumes and rising populations have more than made up for the dampening effect of higher interest rates
Australia’s property prices have soared to record levels in several capital cities as limited sales volumes and rising populations more than made up for the dampening effect of higher interest rates, two data groups say.
The new figures show significant growth in Brisbane, Adelaide, and in Perth, where five areas have recorded annual gains of more than 15%, while prices in Sydney are 7.51% higher than a year ago.
Continue reading...Limited supply and strong demand prompts national median weekly advertised rents to rise 14.6% over the year
Tenants are continuing to struggle with rising rents and limited supply, with new data showing the total number of rental listings has fallen to a record low.
PropTrack data shows the number of new rental listings declined 5.7% in the year to September, with the fewest new listings in September for more than a decade. The total number of rental listings fell 7.1% on the year before to hit a record low.
Continue reading...Albanese highlights ‘concerning’ Coalition voice rhetoric as Dutton targets PM over treaty and truth telling. Follow the day’s news live
‘We’re holding a thorough consultation process,’ Jacinta Allan says
Under the proposal, a government minister will appoint commissioners, though the Greens-chaired integrity and oversight committee will have the power to veto candidates.
A new parliamentary ethics committee
Improvements to mechanisms relating to public interest disclosures about MPs
Updates to the MP code of conduct
We’re holding a thorough consultation process to ensure we achieve the highest standards of conduct and integrity of MPs in all aspects of their work for Victorians.
Continue reading...The introduction of 7.5% levy on short-stays will have ‘disproportionate impact on budget accomodation’, company’s head of public policy says
Airbnb will urge the Victorian government to exclude private room bookings and other “budget accommodation” from its recently-announced 7.5% levy on short-stays, and has cautioned other states from immediately following suit.
At a media event on Wednesday morning, the company’s head of public policy in Australia and New Zealand, Michael Crosby, said he was “disappointed” the levy was limited to short-stay platforms, having previously pushed for a 3-5% tax on all accommodation providers.
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Heavy traffic near Sydney airport after truck crash and fluid spill
Traffic remains heavy near Sydney airport after a two-truck crash caused a fluid spill.
This is one of the most important priorities for us coming out of what’s occurred in the previous days.
Minister Wong is [working] really hard on that. The Australian government will do whatever is necessary to protect [its] citizens.
We’ll do whatever is necessary to make sure we can secure the safety of Australians … We’re working very hard to make sure we protect Australians not just overseas, but here at home.
Continue reading...Labour leader says party has ‘plan to get Britain building again’ after security breach where protester threw glitter on him at start of speech
Labour has published fresh details of how the community policy guarantee (see 9.43am) will work.
On community policing
On Starmer, told that after Reeves’ reassurance over economy, his speech designed to paint a ‘picture of hope’ & it ‘emotive rather than a big policy drop’> the word cloud on what Starmer’s about peppered with don’t know and even ‘nothing’. This his chance to hammer home values
Continue reading...Exclusive: Labour leader to pledge biggest expansion of devolution since party was last in power
A new Labour government would give all towns and cities in England new powers and funding to boost local economies, deliver thousands of new homes and create high-quality jobs, Keir Starmer will announce.
In the biggest expansion of devolution since Labour was last in power, he will pledge that councils and combined authorities would get more control over housing and planning, skills, energy and transport of the kind currently held by London, the West Midlands and Greater Manchester.
Continue reading...Shadow health secretary questioned by Guardian editor-in-chief, Katharine Viner
Q: You oppose the Rwanda policy because you don’t think it will work. If the supreme court rules it is legal, and deportations start and it is seen to be working, would you still reverse it.
Yes, says Starmer. He says it is the wrong policy. It is very expensive, and it only affect only a small number of people. And the policy does not deal with the problem at source.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Deputy leader and shadow housing secretary Angela Rayner says party would get tough on developers
The next Labour government will oversee the biggest boost in affordable housing in a generation by getting tough on developers and reforming planning rules, the party’s deputy leader has said.
Angela Rayner, also the shadow housing secretary, said she wanted to “increase, not decrease” the number of affordable new homes built every year, after it fell 12% last year.
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