Key posts
Review into major Indigenous art collective over authenticity doubts
By Karl Quinn
The federal, South Australian and Northern Territory governments will conduct a joint investigation into claims that Indigenous artworks created at the highly regarded APY Art Centre Collective had been altered by white staffers to make them more “collectable”.
Arts minister Tony BurkeCredit: Alex Ellinghausen
The inquiry will be jointly funded by the federal and South Australian governments but led by the latter, which is the principal funder of the collective. It has yet to set a timeframe or terms of reference, but is expected to address as a matter of urgency questions of authenticity in the lucrative First Nations art market.
This afternoon’s headlines
By Caroline Schelle
Thanks for reading our live coverage this morning.
If you’re just joining us, here’s what you need to know:
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out changes to negative gearing, after a push from some Labor MPs to cap negative gearing at one investment property.
- Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said it would cost about $2.3 billion for his proposal to allow people receiving JobSeeker payments to work up to 10 hours a fortnight.
- One Nation leader Pauline Hanson asked an appeal court to overturn a defamation decision ordering her to pay former senator Brian Burston $250,000 in damages.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Melbourne on Tuesday.Credit: Joe Armao
- The Reserve Bank board had a “finely balanced” choice on whether to lifting interest rates or holding them steady earlier this month.
- And according to data from Westpac consumer spending slumped to one of its lowest levels on record after the Reserve Bank’s surprise interest rate rise.
- In overseas news, at least six people are dead after a blaze ripped through a hostel in New Zealand’s capital, while authorities here work to confirm if any Australians were hurt.
I’m heading off, and handing over to Anna Patty who will keep readers updated this afternoon.
Lehrmann’s barrister concerned DPP ‘aligned’ himself with Higgins
By Angus Thompson
The barrister who defended former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann during his rape trial said he was concerned ACT top prosecutor Shane Drumgold aligned himself with his client’s accuser, Brittany Higgins.
Steven Whybrow, SC, told the inquiry into the case that Drumgold, the territory’s Director of Public Prosecutions, took a “pejorative stab” at Lehrmann when Drumgold said he still believed there were reasonable prospects of conviction during his announcement of abandoning a retrial.
Drumgold’s barrister, Mark Tedeschi, KC, suggested to Whybrow that Drumgold had a great degree of sympathy for Higgins, to which Whybrow replied, “I was concerned that he had aligned himself with Ms Higgins”.
Bruce Lehrmann’s trial barrister Steven Whybrow SC was questioned at the inquiry today. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Tedeschi then said, “Each of you had concerns for the party that you were most closely associated with”.When Tedeschi asked Whybrow if he believed some senior investigators were resentful of Drumgold, Whybrow said, “My impression was it was Mr Drumgold who was hostile towards the police”.
Whybrow also said Drumgold had referred to police as “boofheads” in a private exchange with him during the trial and said their evidence wasn’t admissible.
“I thought it was an outburst by the director,” he said.
Tedeschi asked Whybrow whether he would agree he’d been involved in some cases where the credibility issues affecting the complainant had been “much more cogent” than those affecting Higgins.
Whybrow responded: “It’s hard to think of any cases where there were so many things that the complainant had said which were able to be demonstrated to be wrong, or inconsistent, or sometimes said knowing they were wrong but for a reason.”
Rogue Lehrmann juror offered to ‘take responsibility’ for mistrial
By Angus Thompson
The juror who caused the rape trial of former Coalition staffer Bruce Lehrmann to be aborted told the judge they were “deeply sorry” before offering to take responsibility for what they had done.
ACT Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucy McCallum discharged the 12-person jury on October 27 last year after five days of deliberations in the three-week trial because one of them had brought in research about the frequency of false complaints of sexual assault.
Bruce Lehrmann has maintained his innocence over rape allegations, which were discontinued against him last year.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“I am deeply sorry for this,” the juror – who has not been, and cannot be, identified – told McCallum in a transcribed exchange between the two before she aborted the trial.
Parliament location key to Higgins’ assault claim being investigated: lawyer
By Angus Thompson
The lawyer acting for the ACT’s top prosecutor Shane Drumgold in the inquiry over the abandoned Lehrmann rape trial says the police would have ignored the criminal allegations had they not occurred in Parliament House.
Mark Tedeschi, KC, told the inquiry today that he and Drumgold wanted to prove the attitudes of ACT police towards former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins’ claim was consistent with their general approach to sexual assault matters.
ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold arrives for the inquiry.Credit: Rhett Wyman
“This was a classic example of it,” Tedeschi said.
“Had it not been for the publicity, had it not been an [alleged] offence that occurred in Parliament House, it would have been one of 250 matters that were just ignored by police,” Tedeschi said.
Lehrmann pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting Higgins in Parliament House in March 2019 after a night drinking with colleagues. The case was aborted due to juror misconduct, and a retrial was abandoned due to Higgins’ mental health.
Inquiry chair Walter Sofronoff said he had to deal with the question of whether the charge should have been laid against Lehrmann.
“Is anybody submitting at the end that Mr Drumgold ought not to have brought an indictment?” he said.
No one in the inquiry responded, and the hearing continues.
Authorities checking if any Australians hurt in deadly NZ hostel fire
By Ashleigh McMillan
The federal government is working to find out whether any Australians were affected by the horror fire that engulfed a hostel in the New Zealand capital of Wellington overnight.
At least six people are dead and 11 more are unaccounted for after The Loafers Lodge in Newtown, in the city’s south, caught alight after 12am on Monday (local time).
New Zealand news publication Stuff said sources had told it that the fire was being treated as suspicious.
A spokesman for the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade said the department was in communication with New Zealand authorities to work out if any Australians were at the hostel at the time of the fire.
“We are deeply shocked and saddened by news of a fire at the Loafers Lodge Hostel in Wellington overnight,” the spokesman said.
“The Australian High Commission is in contact with the New Zealand Ministry for Foreign Affairs and Trade and local authorities to determine whether any Australians are affected.”
NSW premier wants workplace laws to include rideshare drivers
Turning to state news for the moment, NSW Premier Chris Minns has pledged to change the state’s decades-old workplace laws to include rideshare and food delivery drivers.
“We’re committed to modernising our laws and to address what we regard as a historic inequality,” he told the Transport Workers Union national conference in Sydney today.
NSW Premier Chris Minns wants to reform workplace laws to include rideshare drivers.Credit: Kate Geraghty
“I can’t wait to introduce that legislation with a former colleague of yours and now Treasurer of NSW, Daniel Mookhey.”
Mr Minns said gig-economy workers experienced a decade of rapid growth, but NSW laws had failed to keep up.
He said by denying minimum conditions, leave entitlements and other protections available to every other Australian in the workforce, it was almost as if a second class of worker was being engineered.
“Not every issue in politics is about life and death, but this one is,” Mr Minns said.
“Like many people were, I was shocked in 2020 that five people lost their lives working in this economy.”
He couldn’t say when the amendment would be introduced into parliament, but said consultation was under way.
Uber railed against a proposal to allow the Fair Work Commission to set minimum pay and conditions for gig workers, saying workers want to “protect flexibility, while also providing clear, fit-for-purpose standards”.
AAP
Fine balance to lift or hold interest rates came down to inflation risk: RBA
By Rachel Clun
The Reserve Bank board’s “finely balanced” choice between lifting interest rates or holding them steady earlier this month came down to the risk inflation remains too high for too long, driven in part by prolonged pressure from rising rents.
The RBA board surprised economists and the financial markets on May 2 when it decided to lift the official cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.85 per cent, the 11th interest rate rise in 12 board meetings.
The Reserve Bank of Australia board lifted the official cash rate from 3.6 per cent to 3.85 on May 2.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer
Minutes of the meeting released today show board members looked at either leaving the cash rate at 3.6 per cent, or increasing it by 0.25 percentage points.
“In weighing up the two options, members recognised that the arguments were finely balanced but judged it was appropriate to increase interest rates at this meeting,” the minutes said.
“Members also agreed that further increases in interest rates may still be required, but that this would depend on how the economy and inflation evolve.”
But when deciding on whether to leave the cash rate unchanged, the board members noted that inflation had peaked and was showing signs of slowing even further.
They also noted that while wages growth had increased, RBA discussions with businesses signalled there were signs that growth was stabilising.
The board discussed the delayed effect of the past year’s worth of rate hikes, which created economic uncertainty.
And the forecast increase in unemployment - currently at 3.5 per cent but expected to reach 4.1 per cent by June next year - could lead to inflation falling faster than forecast.
But RBA board members discussed the risks that inflation does not fall as expected.
The Reserve Bank is forecasting inflation, currently at 7 per cent, will reach the top of its target range of 2 to 3 per cent by the middle of 2025.
“Strong population growth and low rental vacancy rates could also see rents grow even faster than the central forecast envisaged,” the minutes said.
Higher rents could help prolong the period of high inflation, changing inflation expectations and making it harder to bring inflation back down to target, the board said.
“In reaching their decision, members acknowledged that there were still significant uncertainties surrounding the economic outlook, particularly for household consumption,” the minutes said.
“But, on balance, given the board’s strong commitment to price stability and the importance of ensuring that inflation expectations remain anchored, members judged that a further increase in interest rates was warranted.”
Dutton says negative gearing changes could hit renters
By Caroline Schelle
Earlier, the prime minister was asked about reports that Labor is facing an internal push to reshape the party’s housing policies and limit negative gearing.
Anthony Albanese ruled out any changes to negative gearing were ahead when he was asked in Melbourne.
But Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said if there were changes to negative gearing it could impact renters.
Here’s what Dutton said in Queensland:
If you don’t have investment properties, renters don’t have accommodation to rent ... And for mums and dads who save and, as part of their retire income put some money aside and buy a rental property, they rent it out and that’s supplementing their income, particularly for people that don’t have a big superannuation balance, that is a perfectly legitimate investment for them to make.”
He said it appeared there was a divide between the treasurer and the prime minister on the issue.
Pauline Hanson seeks to overturn $250,000 defamation ruling
By Michaela Whitbourn
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson asked an appeal court to overturn a defamation decision ordering her to pay former senator Brian Burston $250,000 in damages, despite a judge finding she had proven he sexually harassed two female staff members.
Burston, a former One Nation senator and later leader of Clive Palmer’s United Australia Party in the Senate, launched defamation proceedings against Hanson in June 2020 over comments Hanson made in a 2019 Facebook post, a television interview on Nine’s Today program and a text to his wife. He split from One Nation in 2018.
Burston’s claim was successful in relation to the Today interview.
In a decision last year, Federal Court Justice Robert Bromwich found Burston sexually harassed two former staff members, but Hanson had gone further on Today and accused him of “sexual abuse” against a female staff member and physically assaulting Hanson’s chief of staff, James Ashby, “without provocation”.
Pauline Hanson and Brian Burston.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
Bromwich said the “serious imputations” of sexual abuse and physical assault without provocation were “in a different category to sexual harassment”.
He ordered Hanson to pay $250,000 in damages plus interest for making those claims.
In the Full Federal Court in Sydney today, Hanson’s barrister, Sue Chrysanthou, SC, argued the phrase “sexual abuse” in the context of Hanson’s Today interview did not mean “molestation or institutional abuse” but was a “composite notion that embodies a wide range of conduct”.
“On every occasion, my client proved true that Brian Burston sexually harassed staff in his office,” Chrysanthou said.
“The theme of our case ... is that Mr Burston was proved at trial by cogent evidence and by reason of witnesses that were wholly accepted by his honour to have engaged in inappropriate conduct that was so disreputable that he should have been given no damages at all.”
Bromwich found the Today interview conveyed that Burston “harassed a female staffer in his parliamentary office” but Hanson had proven this was substantially true.
“The damning findings made by his honour about Senator Burston, as he was at the time of publication, were so serious ... that a transient statement by my client in the course of a 10-minute interview largely about another topic ... could not have done any harm to his reputation,” Chrysanthou said.
Chrysanthou submitted the Nine interviewer had in any case expressed a “high degree of scepticism” about everything Hanson said during the interview, “including this issue”.
In his judgment last year, Bromwich said he was not in “any doubt” that Burston sexually propositioned former staffer Wendy Leach by saying: “Oh Wendy, you probably just need a good f---.”
He then grabbed Leach’s face, the judge found, and said: “I’m not joking. I can come around to your place. No one would need to know. It will be the best f--- you’ve ever had.”
Bromwich also found Burston harassed former staffer Terrie-lea Vairy over a prolonged period in 2018, including by kissing her on the lips without her consent and making sexualised or suggestive comments.
He said there was some uncertainty about whether Burston tried or succeeded in putting $100 down Vairy’s top or between her cleavage on one occasion, or whether it was “shoved forcefully between her breasts”.
“There was no greater clarity sought about what took place than that,” Bromwich said. On that basis, he said the evidence “clearly proves sexual harassment” but did not make a finding of sexual abuse.
The appeal hearing continues. Burston’s legal team has yet to deliver their submissions to the court.
Most Viewed in National
https://news.google.com/rss/articles/CBMipwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdm90ZXJzLWJhY2sta2V5LWdvdmVybm1lbnQtYnVkZ2V0LW1lYXN1cmVzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtdG8tcGF5LTEzMm0tdG8tcmVzaWRlbnRzLW92ZXItdG94aWMtZm9hbS0yMDIzMDUxNi1wNWQ4bTAuaHRtbNIBpwFodHRwczovL2FtcC5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdm90ZXJzLWJhY2sta2V5LWdvdmVybm1lbnQtYnVkZ2V0LW1lYXN1cmVzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtdG8tcGF5LTEzMm0tdG8tcmVzaWRlbnRzLW92ZXItdG94aWMtZm9hbS0yMDIzMDUxNi1wNWQ4bTAuaHRtbA?oc=5
2023-05-16 04:00:26Z
CBMipwFodHRwczovL3d3dy5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdm90ZXJzLWJhY2sta2V5LWdvdmVybm1lbnQtYnVkZ2V0LW1lYXN1cmVzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtdG8tcGF5LTEzMm0tdG8tcmVzaWRlbnRzLW92ZXItdG94aWMtZm9hbS0yMDIzMDUxNi1wNWQ4bTAuaHRtbNIBpwFodHRwczovL2FtcC5zbWguY29tLmF1L25hdGlvbmFsL2F1c3RyYWxpYS1uZXdzLWxpdmUtdm90ZXJzLWJhY2sta2V5LWdvdmVybm1lbnQtYnVkZ2V0LW1lYXN1cmVzLWdvdmVybm1lbnQtdG8tcGF5LTEzMm0tdG8tcmVzaWRlbnRzLW92ZXItdG94aWMtZm9hbS0yMDIzMDUxNi1wNWQ4bTAuaHRtbA
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Australia news LIVE: Voters back key government budget measures; Government to pay $132m to residents over toxic foam - Sydney Morning Herald"
Post a Comment