That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today. As always, thanks for reading. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live news. Until then, here were the day’s top stories:
The health minister, Mark Butler, expressed concern about Australia’s biggest diphtheria outbreak in decades, as the serious bacterial infection continued to spread through the Northern Territory and bordering states.
The second day of the federal court trial involving classical pianist Jayson Gillham and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra took place in Melbourne. Gillham is suing the MSO over a cancelled concert which he claims was an attempt to silence him over his views on Gaza.
New South Wales police and the health department are expected to sign a new agreement on how to deal with mental health incidents, after a spate of fatal shootings.
Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade officials were “urgently seeking” the status of 11 Australian Gaza flotilla activists detained by Israeli forces in international waters off the coast of Cyprus.
NSW police said they had charged two men after officers allegedly found more than $1m worth of illicit cigarettes and tobacco in a ute on a regional highway during a roadside breath test.
It was confirmed the ABC and SBS have chosen not to adopt the definition of antisemitism used by the royal commission into social cohesion.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said he was “devastated” after the alleged domestic violence murder of a woman and two children in Sydney. A man was charged with three counts of murder in relation to the deaths.
It was announced taxpayers will fork out an extra $11bn to extend the lifespan of Australia’s ageing Collins-class submarines for another decade, bridging the capability gap before the scheduled arrival of the first Aukus vessels in 2032.
And ARN Media added two of Nine’s biggest names, Eddie McGuire and Karl Stefanovic, to its radio stable as it fights to survive $160m in lawsuits from Kyle Sandilands and Jackie “O” Henderson.
Government tables response to antisemitisim royal commission interim report
The federal government’s response to the interim report of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has been tabled in parliament.
The report made 14 recommendations, five of which remain classified. The federal government has accepted eight of the nine remaining, noting that recommendation 1 – around policing operations for Jewish festivals – was a matter for state governments.
The interim report criticised state and federal governments over gun laws, urging all levels of government to prioritise nationally uniform gun laws, and a gun buyback scheme similar to that seen in the wake of the Port Arthur atrocity.
The report said efforts towards reforming gun laws had been “unduly leisurely”, given the vital imperative of community safety.
The royal commission will resume hearings next week. The second block of hearings will examine the circumstances surrounding the attack at Bondi on 14 December 2025. In particular:
The terrorism threat level and security environment in the lead up to the attack.
The conduct of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies relevant to the attack, including what was known about the shooters and what was done with that information.
The security arrangements for the Chanukah by the Sea event.
How intelligence about individuals known to authorities is utilised and shared to inform decisions made by security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, including, for example, decisions about whether and how individuals are monitored and decisions in respect of firearms licence applications.
Resourcing for counter-terrorism, and the effectiveness of current powers, systems and processes of security, intelligence and law enforcement agencies.
A massive legal battle that pitted Australia’s richest person, Gina Rinehart, against two rival mining dynasties over iron ore riches has reignited – but this time it’s over legal costs, AAP reports.
The wealthy heirs of mining pioneer Peter Wright and engineer Don Rhodes in April won some of their claims for spoils from the massive Hope Downs mining complex, in Western Australia’s ore-rich Pilbara region.
Hancock Prospecting, of which Rinehart is executive chair, is fighting parts of a complex court ruling.
Today, more than two dozen lawyers for the parties returned to the WA supreme court in Perth to make submissions about the hefty legal bill resulting from the ongoing 16-year-long stoush, which some commentators have suggested could run beyond $100m.
Wright says Hancock should pay most of its costs because of a “favourable outcome” on many of its claims.
Hancock wants the same from Wright, prompting Justice Jennifer Smith to observe that it would equate to each paying half.
Also at issue is how the costs should be calculated, with Smith suggesting an experienced referee could oversee it.
Rio Tinto was also involved in the battle as the joint-venture partner in Hope Downs.
The deputy prime minister and defence minister, Richard Marles, has given a speech to the Lowy Institute in Melbourne, arguing that, while the conservative side of Australian politics “has enjoyed a brand advantage when it comes to defence”, he believed “Labor has always been, and remains, the natural party of defence”.
Marles used the address to announce the government would begin, next month, the Life of Type Extension of the Collins Class submarine (essentially, extending the working lives of those diesel-electric submarines, while Australia waits for its promised nuclear submarines to arrive from the US).
The Aukus program remains “on track”, Marles said, despite recent concerns in both the US and UK over their capability to provide Australia with submarines.
The US heard evidence last week about shipbuilding rates:
And in the UK, there are significant concerns about that country’s capacity to design and build a new class of nuclear-powered attack submarine:
Marles told his audience in Melbourne:
double quotation markWhile the Morrison government deserves credit for establishing the Aukus partnership with the UK and US, when we came to office this was not expected to provide Australia with a new submarine until the early 2040s. The plans for acquiring a nuclear-powered submarine capability were embryonic.
But within a year we had evolved Aukus into a detailed plan that will deliver Australia its first nuclear-powered submarine 10 years earlier, thus substantially closing the capability gap the Liberals had created.
Aukus is now properly funded and its milestones are on track. And developing our nuclear-powered submarine capability alone represents the biggest leap in our military capability in more than a century and the largest industrial project in our nation’s history.
We have also put the extension of the life of the Collins class submarines back on track.
Here’s some more from that AAP report about the apology for families of those whose remains were taken in secret.
The Tasmanian health minister, Bridget Archer, who moved the motion in the state’s parliament for the formal apology, said recent investigations had fully or partly identified five people likely involved in carrying out the unlawful practice.
This was in addition to now-deceased forensic pathologist Royal Cummings, who was identified in the coronial findings as having provided the majority of the specimens.
Two of the five people had died and none work as pathologists in Tasmania or were employed by the state’s health department, Archer said.
Their names, along with the findings of the investigations, had been referred to the Department of Public Prosecutions, she said.
A further four people were likely involved but their identities cannot be ascertained due to inadequate record keeping at the time, she said.
Archer said the apology was an important step but would not undo past wrongdoing or ongoing harm and that:
double quotation markIt’s important to remember that these were not just body parts, specimens or human remains – they were people.
The Tasmanian opposition leader, Josh Willie, said the practice represented among the “most profound” failures of public institutions in the state’s history.
Formal apology to families of people whose remains were secretly given to a Tasmanian museum
Families of more than 100 people whose remains were secretly kept after autopsies and given to a museum have received a formal apology, as authorities identify five people likely involved in the historical practice, AAP reports.
The apology comes after the state coroner in September released the findings of an investigation into 177 human specimens stored at the University of Tasmania’s RA Rodda Museum from 1966 to 1991.
The remains, which were stored at the pathology museum for teaching and research purposes, were collected without the knowledge or approval of families or loved ones.
Tasmanian politicians of all stripes contributed apologies after the state’s health minister, Bridget Archer, moved a formal motion in the state’s parliament earlier today.
The premier, Jeremy Rockliff, said the motion continued a tradition of acknowledging past wrongs and was needed to pay respects to affected families.
The premier said:
double quotation markThere was no respect given to those who had parts of their body stolen.
There was no dignity in the treatment of their bodies or the treatment of their families.
New South Wales police say they have charged two men after officers allegedly found more than $1m worth of illicit cigarettes and tobacco in a ute on a regional highway during a roadside breath test.
In a statement, police said New England district officers were conducting patrols in the Moree area in the state’s north overnight, and stopped the vehicle on the Newell Highway for roadside testing about 2.15am.
Police said they gave the driver – a 19-year-old man – a roadside breath test, which returned a negative result.
However, police said they searched the ute while it was stopped, allegedly finding and seizing 37 boxes containing 434,600 illicit cigarettes, 11 garbage bags containing approximately 60kg of dried tobacco leaf, and $1,620 in cash.
Police said the driver and his 18-year-old passenger were arrested and taken to Moree police station, where the older man was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime greater than $5,000, and recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime less than or equal to $5,000.
The younger man was charged with recklessly dealing with proceeds of crime greater than $5,000, police said.
They were both were refused bail to appear before bail division court 5 today.
‘You have lost your decency,’ father of Australian on flotilla to Gaza tells Australian government
Chris O’Connor, the father of student Neve O’Connor, became emotional when he spoke of his daughter’s detention. It is the second time she has been held by Israel while attempting to deliver humanitarian aid to Gaza.
He said when he looked at the global flotilla, he saw a “cross-section of decent humans across the world”, made up of:
double quotation markDifferent nationalities, different genders, different religions, different age groups. However, when I look at the Albanese and Wong government, I wonder where is the red line? We have watched the genocide in Gaza … Israel has introduced a death penalty only for Palestinians. We see no sanctions from the Albanese government. The only conclusion that we can make is that they agree with the actions of the state of Israel.
I say clearly to Anthony Albanese and Senator [Penny] Wong, you have lost your decency, you have lost your dignity. If you wish to reclaim them, you will sanction Israel now and you will ensure that the 11 Australians held hostage are returned safely and quickly.
Hello, I hope you’ve had a nice day so far. I’ll take you through the rest of the news this afternoon.
That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will take things from here. Take care.
NT health officials urge caution after two deaths linked to Murray Valley encephalitis
Health officials in the Northern Territory have urged residents and visitors to take precautions after two deaths linked to Murray Valley encephalitis (MVE) this year.
NT Health said two people died from the virus in Alice Springs in April and May this year. MVE is a rare but serious and potentially deadly mosquito-borne disease that can be transmitted after being bitten by an infected mosquito.
The virus has been detected in the NT, with transmission most common between February and June, and most cases between March and May.
Health officials said the risk area for MVE had been extended to include all regions in the territory due to a period of significant rainfall this year.
Symptoms of MVE include severe headaches, fever, nausea and vomiting, muscle aches, drowsiness, confusion and seizures.
Mosquito populations are expected to remain high in large parts of the NT until the end of July.
Source: Guardian - World News
