Headlines: Ex-CFMEU boss arrested over threatening emails

Today's headlines include:

• Liberal MPs have gathered in Canberra to discuss the party’s future position on net zero emissions. 
• Ex-construction union boss John Setka has been charged over alleged threatening emails. 
• ASIO Chief Mike Burgess has accused Chinese hackers of trying to access Australian infrastructure, including telcos. 
• And today’s good news: Researchers are working to develop a camera that can search for life on distant planets as part of future space missions

Hosts: Emma Gillespie and Billi FitzSimons
Producer: Rosa Bowden

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:05):
From The Daily Os. I'm Emma Gillespie.

Speaker 2 (00:07):
I'm belief it's Simon's.

Speaker 1 (00:08):
It's Wednesday, the twelfth of November. Here's what's making headlines
this evening.

Speaker 2 (00:14):
Liberal MPs have gathered in Canberra to discuss the party's
future position on net zero emissions. It comes after their
coalition partner, the Nationals Party, announced it was dumping support
for the twenty fifty target. Net zero refers to balancing
the amount of greenhouse gas emissions produced and taken out
of the atmosphere. Australia has a legislated target to achieve

(00:36):
net zero emissions by twenty fifty. Liberal MPs and senators
shared their views on whether the party should stick with
net zero or walk away from it during closed door
talks this afternoon. Those discussions will inform the Shadow Cabinet,
who will meet tomorrow to determine the party's position. Once
the Liberal Party has reached an agreement, it will negotiate

(00:57):
with the Nationals on Sunday to determine the coalition's final
stance on net zero.

Speaker 1 (01:04):
Ex Construction union boss John Setka has been charged over
alleged threatening emails. Setka, the former head of the cfmeu's
construction union was arrested at his home in Melbourne this
morning as part of a joint operation between the Victorian
and Australian Federal Police. He was charged with seven counts
of using a telecommunications device to menace, harass and offend.

(01:27):
Setka will face court in January, where prosecutors will allege
he sent a number of allegedly threatening, offensive and abusive
emails to a CFMEU administrator. Crime Command Assistant Commissioner Martin
O'Brien said police quote will not tolerate behavior that aims
to intimidate and harass people who simply want to go
to work. It comes more than a year since the

(01:48):
Federal government forced the CFMEU into administration over its alleged
ties to organized crime and biking gangs.

Speaker 2 (01:59):
AZO Chief Mike Burgess has accused Chinese hackers of trying
to access Australian infrastructure, including telco's. Speaking at the Australian
Securities and Investments Commission annual forum, Burgess said the National
Spy Agency is aware of multiple attempts by overseas actors
to penetrate critical infrastructure, including water, transport, telecommunications and energy

(02:22):
networks with potentially devastating results. He confirmed two hacking groups
working for Chinese government intelligence and their military known to
have accessed US telecosystems have also probed Australian networks. Burgess
warned the threat could have led to high impact sabotage.
There is no excuse for not taking all reasonable steps

(02:44):
to manage the risk of security breaches that asioboss noted.

Speaker 1 (02:50):
And Today's Good News. Researchers are working to develop a
camera that can search for life on distant planets as
part of future space missions. NASA's Habitable World's Observatory HWO
is a proposed telescope designed to look for signs of
life on Earth like planets. Physics experts at Durham University
in Northeast England a part of a group of researchers

(03:12):
building a high resolution imaging camera for the observatory. The
camera would be used to measure the mass of suitable
planets and inspect their atmospheres for the chemical fingerprints of life,
including water, oxygen, and methane. Durham University said the observatory
will also be able to stare into black holes and
solve the mystery of dark matter. HWO is expected to

(03:34):
launch in the early twenty forties, not too far away.
I wouldn't hold your breath, Billy, but it's closer than
a black hole.

Speaker 2 (03:41):
It is closer. That is the latest from the Daily
Oz newsroom. If you're looking for something else to listen to,
check out today's deep dive on the landmark inquiry into
Women's Pain.

Speaker 1 (03:51):
We'll be back tomorrow morning with another deep dive, but
until then, have a good one bye.

Speaker 2 (04:00):
My name is Lily Maddon and I'm a proud Arunda
Bunjelung Calkatin woman from Gadigol Country. The Daily Oz acknowledges
that this podcast is recorded on the lands of the
Gadigol people and pays respect to all Aboriginal and torrest
Rate island and nations. We pay our respects to the
first peoples of these countries, both past and present.