Afternoon Update: ABC staff strike; Australia opposes Israel occupation in Lebanon; and the perils of a crammed Test cricket summer
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Good afternoon. At 11am, more than 2,000 ABC staff around Australia walked off the job for 24 hours, forcing services across television, radio and digital to use BBC content and repeat programming.
“I’ve seen too many sensational journalists, sensational producers leave not because they want to, but because they had to,” broadcasting great Fran Kelly told striking staff outside the ABC’s Ultimo office in Sydney. “It’s not acceptable that you get stuck on a pay level you’re not able to live on.”
The corporation’s managing director, Hugh Marks, has strongly rejected claims that ABC jobs are insecure and said the national broadcaster would not back down against staff demands.
Hundreds of staff from the ABC’s Southbank office in Melbourne walked off the job on Wednesday. ABC journalist Daniel Ziffer said staff were striking because they had seen “real cuts to real wages”.
What they said …
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“It feels less like support and more like a processing centre, echoing the treatment of our people during the Stolen Generation.” – Dheran Young.
The Northern Territory MLA for Daly said he was “appalled” by the treatment of many First Nations people during the response to ex-Tropical Cyclone Narelle, after frail aged care residents were forced to shelter in an open-sided basketball court in Katherine.
Australia is facing skyrocketing oil prices and demand, as supply is blocked at the strait of Hormuz amid the US and Israel’s war on Iran.
Our business editor, Jonathan Barrett, and our political editor, Tom McIlroy, join Reged Ahmad to discuss the scale of the economic pain to come and whether the government will use this moment as an opportunity for bold reform.
On the same subject, Tarryn Phillips, Danielle Couch and Carmen Vargas have argued that pointing fingers at petrol “panic buyers” only fuels demand – and hides who really is to blame.
Before bed read
A crammed Test cricket schedule risks leaving Australian summers unrecognisable, says Geoff Lemon, who writes that four matches in four weeks for the men’s team compromises the quality of the sport – and makes the season a contradiction in terms.
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Today’s starter word is: ZOA. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
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