Source : the age
Hello and welcome to our national news live blog for Wednesday, August 26. Many Australians will be coming to terms with the sad news that country music legend Dolly Parton has died, aged 80, as tributes to the Jolene and I Will Always Love You songwriter and 11-time Grammy winner pour in from around the world.
Here’s what else is making news today.
- National cabinet meets today in Sydney, with a national plan on AI and data centres set to be at the top of the agenda.
- Today is the last day of the royal commission into antisemitism, which has heard from a total of 300 witnesses and has received more than 20,000 submissions. Commissioner Virginia Bell has requested an extension on the delivery of the report, from December 14 to 18, so as not to “distract” from the anniversary of the Bondi massacre.
- Some of the nation’s top international law experts have argued Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada should consider launching an MH17-style joint criminal investigation into the fatal Israeli drone strike that killed aid worker Zomi Frankcom and her World Central Kitchen colleagues in Gaza in 2024.
- And Ghislaine Maxwell’s bid to overturn her sex-trafficking conviction and be freed from prison was rejected by a US federal judge who said on Tuesday (US time) the claims by Jeffrey Epstein’s former girlfriend and longtime associate that new evidence had emerged were “demonstrably meritless”.
Federal MP Luke Gosling has announced he will “temporarily” step aside from his special envoy role amid allegations by NT Police that he breached his bail conditions on Friday, August 14.
Police said they allege Gosling breached his bail conditions on Friday, August 14, and served him with a summons to appear in Darwin Local Court on September 30. Police did not specify what is alleged to have occurred.
Gosling had been on bail in relation to ongoing allegations he assaulted Northern Territory Administrator David Connolly.
In a statement today, he said:
“Due to the ongoing media attention and the distraction that this is causing to the business of government, I have decided to temporarily stand aside as special envoy for defence, veterans’ affairs and Northern Australia, until these matters have been heard.”
The Reserve Bank’s next meeting may have to consider another interest rate rise after new figures showed inflation failing to slow as quickly as the bank hoped.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics this morning said the monthly inflation rate eased to 3.5 per cent in July after coming in at 3.8 per cent in June. It’s the lowest headline inflation rate since November last year.
Prices rose a full percentage point in July, largely due to the increase in petrol prices caused by a lift in fuel excise. Petrol prices jumped by 7.5 per cent in the month after falling for the previous three months.
But there was also an unexpectedly large lift in prices for clothing and footwear which lifted by 2.6 per cent through the month.
One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce has suggested this morning that NT Labor MP Luke Gosling should be “punted” from his role amid allegations he breached his bail conditions while waiting for a court date for an alleged assault.
Joyce told News24:
“Luke, mate, you’re on thin ice. You’re up on charges, you’ve been given bail conditions, and you’ve basically gone, it looks like, posting photos of yourself. What other warnings do you need, mate?
“I hate to say it, I think you’ve gotta get punted, mate. I don’t know, let’s see what Mr Albanese does.”
Independent MP Zali Steggall has demanded national cabinet put domestic violence at the top of the agenda as it prepares to meet today.
She said the meeting must deliver a new action plan to tackle domestic, family and sexual violence.
“The current approach is failing women and children,” the member for Warringah said in a statement.
Commissioner Virginia Bell says she is well-placed to document the antisemitism that has “flourished” since the escalation of hostilities in the Middle East almost three years ago, after hearing from almost 300 witnesses at the royal commission which is concluding today.
“The Bondi Hanukkah attack came after more than two years of a marked increase in antisemitism throughout Australia,” Bell said in opening remarks this morning.
“Predominantly, the commission’s focus has been on hearing from ordinary Jewish Australians from all walks of life … laying out the picture of the lived experience of antisemitism is a critical part of any steps to combat that phenomenon.”
The royal commission has received more than 20,000 submissions from a range of Australians, which will inform the findings of the final report due in December.
Ten witnesses will be called today from a range of community and religious groups. Rabbi Yehoram Ulman of the Chabad of Bondi, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was killed in the December attack, is the final witness expected to appear.
Commissioner Virginia Bell acknowledged frustration among the Jewish community over the antisemitism royal commission’s failure to make the investigation into circumstances leading to the Bondi massacre public, but has defended holding closed hearings into the event as a criminal case against one of the gunmen continues.
Bell proposed the release of confidential aspects of her interim and final reports, much of which addressing the drivers of the attack and what may have prevented it, once criminal proceedings against Naveed Akram, accused of orchestrating the Bondi massacre with father Sajid on December 14, are complete.
“I am conscious that many members of the community, and particularly members of the Jewish community, must find it frustrating that a royal commission established in the aftermath of the Bondi Hanukkah attack has not been seen publicly to be investigating what led to the attack and whether it might have been prevented,” Bell said.
“The commission has had to take care to conduct its inquiry in a way that does not occasion prejudice to pending criminal proceedings, and this has necessitated examination of the third term of reference, which relates to the attack being conducted in closed hearings.”
Confidential aspects of the reports addressing national security are expected to remain sealed regardless of the outcome of the criminal investigation.
Commissioner Virginia Bell has requested a four-day extension from the date she is due to deliver the final report of the antisemitism royal commission, to avoid presenting the report on the one-year anniversary of the Bondi massacre.
Bell shared the proposed extension for the delivery of the report, from December 14 to 18, in opening remarks on the final day of hearings.
“The 14th of December is the anniversary of the massacre. It will be a solemn occasion marked by memorials,” Bell said.
“I am aware of concern within the Jewish community that delivery of the report on the anniversary would be a distraction. I fully understand that concern, and to avoid that distraction, I have asked for a short extension of the term with a view to the submission of my final report on Friday, the 18th of December.”
The lives of slain police officers Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart are being remembered in Victoria’s high country, in Bright.
It is exactly one year since the two experienced officers were killed while serving a warrant on Desmond Freeman, an alleged paedophile, in nearby town Porepunkah.
Hundreds have gathered outside the Bright Police station, under a warm sun and blue sky.
It comes a day after another memorial, twin stones and a garden, were unveiled at Wangaratta police station yesterday, where Thompson served for nearly 20 years.
The federal agency responsible for stopping criminal activity across the financial system has revealed scammers are impersonating its staff to steal money from unsuspecting Australians.
AUSTRAC boss Brendan Thomas this morning said his organisation, which is heavily involved in identifying and preventing money laundering and the financing of terrorism, was itself the target of scammers who tried to pressure people into making urgent payments or release personal details.
In a recent case, a scammer claimed to have access to an “AUSTRAC investigator” and shared a real staff member’s name and LinkedIn-style profile. In another, a scammer claimed to be in contact with the organisation’s general counsel.
“AUSTRAC does not contact members of the public unexpectedly demanding payment,” Thomas said in a statement.
“We take payment from reporting businesses for things like levies and infringement notices but we are never going to ask you to pay in virtual or cryptocurrencies or through social media apps, like WhatsApp or Telegram.”
Readers can report scams on ScamWatch.
Travel giant Flight Centre says the conflict in the Middle East has knocked $60 million out of its leisure profits in the fourth quarter.
The company said it had been on track to deliver a $200 million underlying profit before tax through the third quarter.
A spate of cancellations and a disruption of travel as the US-Israel war with Iran kicked on, “offset
corporate’s full-year profit uplift”, the company said.
Underlying profit before tax fell to $278 million for the year, down 4 per cent from the $289 million the year before.
