Australia live news update: fifth child airlifted to hospital with irukandji jellyfish sting; Albanese and Dutton trade insults over Indigenous voice | Australia news

And in the exchanges today between Peter Dutton and Anthony Albanese over the handling of the Indigenous voice to parliament, the opposition leader has just fired another salvo at the PM:

Jennifer Rankin

Newly released treasure map sparks hunt for Nazi hoard

As the Nazis fled occupied Europe in the final days of the second world war, four German soldiers buried a hoard of gold coins and jewels in the middle of nowhere in the Dutch countryside.

Nearly 80 years later, hopes of finding the buried loot have been raised after the National Archives of the Netherlands released a trove of documents – and a map to the treasure where X marks the spot.

The treasure – four ammunition cases laden with coins, watches, jewellery, diamonds and other gemstones – is thought to have been worth at least 2m or 3m Dutch guilder in 1945, the equivalent of about $26m in today’s money.

“A lot of researchers, journalists and amateur archaeologists are really interested and excited,” said Annet Waalkens, an adviser at the National Archives, which last week released more than 1,300 historical documents.

Whether any would-be treasure hunter will be able to find the cases is another matter. Among the cache of second world war papers was a 7cm-thick file that recounted the fruitless efforts of the Dutch state to find the looted Nazi treasure after the war.

Researchers believe the treasure was buried in April 1945, when the Allies were on the brink of liberating Arnhem in the eastern Netherlands. German soldiers were fleeing.

They decide to bury the treasure, because it’s just getting a bit too hot under their feet and they’re getting scared.

The precious cargo was buried in the roots of a poplar tree, 70cm to 80cm deep, just outside the village of Ommeren, about 25 miles from Arnhem. The riches might have vanished from the historical record for ever were it not for a chatty German soldier, Helmut S, who was not one of the looters but took part in the burial.

The National Archives are withholding his full name, as Helmut S, born in 1925, may still be alive, although no one has been able to trace him. Of the three other soldiers, two did not survive the war and the other simply vanished.

For more on this story, read the full report by the Guardian’s Jennifer Rankin.

Josh Butler

Labor MPs back PM’s criticism of Dutton’s voice to parliament stance

Labor MPs are backing the prime minister’s “culture war” criticism of Peter Dutton over the voice to parliament. Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney, quote-tweeting Anthony Albanese’s earlier post, replied:

The Voice will be a unifying moment for Australia – it’s about improving the lives of First Nations people by making our voices heard, and taking this country forward, for everyone.

It comes after Dutton’s repeated demands that the government must release more detail about the Indigenous voice to parliament proposal before the referendum.

Michelle Ananda-Rajah, MP for the Melbourne seat of Higgins, also quote-tweeted the PM’s post – simply adding a criticism that the complaint was “not of good faith”.

There’s still an important, open question about whether Dutton will allow his Liberal colleagues to have a free vote or campaign the way they wish on the voice, or lock in a binding party position. He wouldn’t elaborate on that question this morning when asked at his press conference, only saying it was still subject to Liberal party-room processes.

Interestingly, Liberal MP Bridget Archer – who backs the voice and has said the party shouldn’t lock in a binding vote – praised an article written by Marcia Langton, one of the authors of the voice to parliament co-design report process that the government is relying on to underpin its proposal.

In the article, published by the Saturday Paper, Langton criticises “petty diatribes” and “misinformation” from voice opponents, making special mention of the criticisms of Dutton and other Liberals over a supposed lack of detail.

Langton claimed such doubts were being raised in a bid to “seek to deceive the public into believing that there is no detail”.

Archer, linking to the article, called it “powerful”.

Mystery vegetable oil spill hits Melbourne beaches

Stephanie Convery

Beachgoers have been advised to avoid swimming at some Melbourne beaches this weekend, despite the sunny weather, after the Environmental Protection Authority was alerted to an oil spill.

Swimmers and paddleboarders reported emerging from the water covered in an oily substance at Elwood beach on Thursday, with other locals reporting dead fish and large quantities of oil on the surface of the local canal, Elster Creek, which runs into the bay nearby.

On Friday EPA Victoria issued a water quality alert for Elwood, St Kilda, Middle Park, South Melbourne, Port Melbourne, Sandridge and Williamstown beaches, advising the public to avoid contact with oily water and sand.

Large signs erected on the foreshore advised beachgoers not to swim.

Read the full story here:

Hunt for the ‘near-mythical’, ‘super-sneaky’ Australian painted-snipe

“Near-mythical” is how the ecologist Matthew Herring describes the Australian painted-snipe – one of this continent’s rarest birds.

It is believed there are only about 340 individuals left, but that’s not all that makes them rare. Australian painted-snipes exemplify the saying “out of sight, out of mind”. Even birdwatchers with decades in the field forget they exist.

Herring:

They’re a super-sneaky, cover-dependent, mud-loving, waterplant-hiding shorebird.

A research project that correlated the evolutionary uniqueness of the world’s nearly 10,000 bird species against their conservation status, as a way of prioritising them, placed the Australian painted-snipe at No 29.

The bird ranges across a vast area, from the Murray-Darling Basin to the Kimberley. Sightings are few and far between. Like many other Australian wetland birds, painted-snipes appear to be nomadic, but Herring says “they just vanish for months or years at a time”:

And we don’t know where the strongholds are during winter or during droughts. It’s very hard to conserve a bird if you don’t know where they are for years at a time.

Which is why Herring and his colleagues – a mix of shorebird experts from various universities and other organisations – have asked the public for help.

Read the full story here:

A primary school-age girl has become the fifth child airlifted to hospital from K’gari with suspected irukandji jellyfish stings in the past fortnight, AAP reports.

The girl was swimming in the ocean near a popular creek at K’gari – also known as Fraser Island – when she was stung on her lower back and leg.

Her parents used vinegar and water on the stings before the RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter landed on a beach on the western side of the island about 6.30pm yesterday.

The Bundaberg-based chopper flew the girl in a stable condition to Hervey Bay hospital for treatment.

Three young girls were hospitalised with suspected stings on 27 December. The trio included two sisters, aged five and nine, who were playing in a creek on the western side of the island when they were stung. A third girl was stung on the chest in the same creek just an hour before.

The following day a boy was stung on the leg, also while swimming in the creek.

All children arrived in hospital in a stable condition.

Symptoms of being stung by irukandji jellyfish include shooting pains in the muscles, chest and abdomen, nausea, vomiting and breathing difficulties.

Josh Butler

Referendum failure could damage reconciliation efforts, Dutton says

Returning to Peter Dutton’s latest criticisms of the government’s voice to parliament proposal, the opposition leader claims the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, would be “damaging reconciliation efforts in our country” if the referendum fails.

In a letter to the PM, Dutton has implored the government to enact legislation for the voice when parliament resumes next month, and has again listed 15 key questions he wants Labor to answer before the referendum.

The government says the voice will broadly follow the model outlined in the report by Marcia Langton and Tom Calma, which Royce has already referenced earlier, and which sets out the voice in great detail. But the government has also not yet specifically endorsed many details exactly, with Albanese stressing it will be “subservient” to the parliament and subject to legislative change.

Dutton this morning pointed out that Albanese had said the co-design report proposed a 20-person voice. But the report actually calls for 24 – that includes two members from each state and territory, plus the Torres Strait Islands (for 18 people) plus a third member “for remote representation” in NSW, NT, Queensland, WA and SA, plus another member for mainland Torres Strait Islander people (for 24 total).

We’re seeking responses from the government, as well as key voice advocates, to Dutton’s claims. But in the meantime, for your information, here are the questions he says the opposition wants answers to:

• Who will be eligible to serve on the body?

• What are the prerequisites for nomination?

• Will the government clarify the definition of Aboriginality to determine who can serve on the body?

• How will members be elected, chosen or appointed?

• How many people will make up the body?

• How much will it cost taxpayers annually?

• What are its functions and powers?

• Is it purely advisory or will it have decision-making capabilities?

• Who will oversee the body and ensure it is accountable?

• If needed can the body be dissolved and reconstituted in extraordinary circumstances?

• How will the government ensure that the body includes those who still need to get a platform in Australian public life?

• How will it interact with the Closing the Gap process?

• Will the government rule out using the voice to negotiate any national treaty?

• Will the government commit to local and regional voices, as recommended in the report on the co-design process led by Tom Calma and Marcia Langton?

• If not, how will it effectively address the real issues that impact people’s lives daily on the ground in the community?

Therewill be a shake-up to pet ownership rules in NSW rental properties if Labor wins the upcoming state election.

Renters can now ask their landlord if they may have a pet but there’s no timeframe on when a request must be approved or denied.

Under the proposed change, landlords would have to respond within 21 days and it would automatically be approved if they failed to acknowledged the request.

It does not necessarily mean all renters would be able to keep pets but the onus would be on landlords to explain why any request would be refused.

The opposition says the scheme would operate in a similar way to rules in other states and it would provide list of reasons why landlords could say no.

Many people rent for their entire lives and they deserved to have a pet, according to shadow minister for better regulation Courtney Houssos.

The simplification of this process balances both the rights of renters and owners.

Renters have a clear and transparent process to apply to have a pet, while owners can still outline protections for their property, or specific grounds for refusing.

The NSW government sought consultation on the issue in late 2022.

– AAP

China is reopening its borders today after nearly three years of closures ending efforts to control the spread of Covid-19.

The decision extends to all of China, including the special administrative region of Hong Kong.

The decision means travellers to China will no longer have to quarantine or take a Covid test on arrival, however they must have a negative PCR test taken within 48 hours of travel before entering China.

Road travel into and out of the country will also reopen, and international cruise ships will be introduced with a “pilot program” before services will resume in full.

I just wanted to go back a moment in Peter Dutton’s press conference on the voice to parliament to highlight this strange moment:

It breaks my heart that in the year 2022 we can have young Indigenous kids being sexually assaulted on a regular basis in some Indigenous communities in this country.

It’s completely unacceptable.

It’s not entirely clear to me what the opposition leader means by this or why he connected the Indigenous voice to parliament with sexual assault within Indigenous communities.

The role of the voice, as proposed, is to consult on issues as they relate to Indigenous communities – everything from provision of housing and use of water resources, to changes to environmental or mining regulation – and not to serve as a taskforce on sexual violence within Indigenous communities.

Given how the campaign for the voice raises the risk that misinformation may be weaponised against a vulnerable minority group, and Dutton has positioned the opposition as holding the government to account over a lack of information, the same standard also needs to be applied to the opposition leader.

For more information on what we know about the proposal, read this explainer on the Indigenous voice to parliament.