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Dutton repeats claim ‘most basic of detail’ missing on voice to parliament
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was just speaking this morning from Hastings in Victoria about the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Dutton is continuing to call on the prime minister for more detail on the proposed change:
All of us want to see a better outcome for Indigenous Australians. But the prime minister’s proposed this change to our constitution – the most important document we have in our country -and he’s not willing to provide any of the detail.
So, I just think if people in capital cities who are on big pays don’t want to provide detail to the Australian people, then I think the Australian public will start to shake their head. And if there’s a problem, if they’re starting to lose people from the yes vote on the referendum, that’s the responsibility of the prime minister because he refuses to provide even the most basic of detail.
If you haven’t listened to Noel Pearson’s interview with ABC Radio National this morning, try find five minutes to do so. In it, Pearson makes the point that it’s the job of parliament (including Dutton and co) to provide the detail.
The referendum is about the constitution. Legislation is for the parliament.
Dutton also continues to bring up the mistake Albanese made in an interview last week (read the story by Paul Karp here) and says there are other details that need answering.
The detail of people being paid is within the Langton Calma report but the prime minister knew nothing about it when he did the Ben Fordham interview last week. If he hasn’t read the report or [understood] the report, how can he expect Australians to know what it is?
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Ducklings rescued from Brisbane drain
The Queensland Fire and Emergency Service have come to the rescue of three ducklings who fell down a drain at the riverside suburb of Indooroopilly.
🎵 Mother duck said, “quack, quack, quack, quack”, and thankfully all three ducks came back!
Cheers to these Brisbane Region firefighters for coming to the aid of three beautiful little ducklings who fell down a drain at Indooroopilly 🐥 pic.twitter.com/pm9IWfzI8H— Qld Fire & Emergency (@QldFES) January 23, 2023
Road deaths spike in Northern Territory in 2022
The Northern Territory police are providing some statistics on trends in the most recent calendar year, following the appeal from the mayor of Alice Springs last week for more help from the federal government to combat crime rates.
The commander says that the dynamics in Alice Springs are different to those in Darwin. House break-ins have increased this calendar year but have decreased in the last three months.
He said in good news, personal violence (predominantly domestic violence) has decreased by 13% but numbers are still too high, and they constitute most of the police workload in Darwin.
He says this year has also seen a spike in road deaths, with 52 lives lost last year as opposed to 35 the preceding year.
We’re going to concentrate significantly across our road network and our roadways in road safety enforcement education to drive that down.
Strengthening Medicare report will be released in coming weeks, health minister says
The health minister, Mark Butler, has been speaking about the need to strengthen Medicare as gap fees are becoming higher than the rebate itself. As Australians are finding it harder to find and afford GP appointments, hospitals are bearing the brunt of the crisis, and Butler says the status quo cannot continue.
He said his government has “no higher priority than strengthening Medicare” and that a new report due to be released in the coming weeks will guide the Strengthening Medicare Fund.
It’s never been harder to see a general practitioner or a doctor out in the community. It’s never been more expensive, particularly after six years after a freeze on the Medicare rebate, gap fees have skyrocketed over the last decade.
For a standard GP consult, for the first time in the history of Medicare, the average gap fee is now more than the Medicare rebate fee itself and what this means is that too many Australians simply can’t get the care that they need when and where they need it out in the community and too many are ending up, instead, in hospital emergency departments, placing even more pressure on an already very, very stressed hospital system.
… More of the same is simply not going to cut it. Strengthening Medicare means also modernising Medicare. And I want to really thank all of the people who work so hard with me over the last several months on the Strengthening Medicare taskforce for their work.
We had patient groups, doctors groups, obviously, nursing groups, allied health professional representation, and a series of experts all of whom have been working hard over several years frankly to come up with the ideas of what a modernised primary care Medicare system looks like.
Butler says the final report the group has produced will be released in the “next couple of weeks.”
It will guide the decisions that our government needs to take in the May budget to finalise the investment of that Strengthening Medicare fund that was a clear commitment to the Australian people at the last election.
Labor has no higher priority than strengthening Medicare, rebuilding general practice to ensure that Australians get the world-class healthcare they need when and where they need it out in the community.
Body of Tasmanian missing person found in river six years after disappearance
Human remains have been discovered in a submerged car belonging to a Tasmanian man who went missing more than six years ago after a trip to get breakfast and a newspaper.
Dale Nicholson, 61, was last seen leaving his home at New Norfolk, about 35km north-west of Hobart, on the morning of 10 December 2016.
He left in his 1993 blue Ford Fairmont sedan and vanished without a trace.
A coroner’s report, published last year, ruled Nicholson had died, but the cause of his death was unable to be determined.
Divers associated with Downunder Dan Diving, a group specialising in searching for missing people, said they discovered Nicholson’s car and a body on Sunday in the River Derwent at New Norfolk.
Tasmania police confirmed human remains were located in New Norfolk on Sunday evening in a vehicle registered to Mr Nicholson.
Tasmania police said in a statement:
Formal identification is yet to occur. A report will be prepared for the coroner.
Nicholson was reported missing by his family on 11 December 2016, sparking an extensive search in the surrounding Derwent Valley and farther afield.
Coroner Simon Cooper ruled Nicholson may have taken his own life, been the victim of homicide, died of natural causes, or as the result of misadventure.
Cooper said Nicholson had been treated for depression from about 2010 and there was evidence he had tried to take his own life in 2012.
He also noted Nicholson was close with his late mother and three sisters, who were all New Norfolk locals.
In a social media video, the divers involved said fishing rods were found in the car, which had been protected from underwater debris by a large tree.
They said the car was found by sonar in a section of the river near a swimming pool car park.
Nicholson was on his usual morning trip when he went missing and had a “good circle” of friends who found his disappearance out of character, according to the national missing persons register.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Beyondblue 1300 22 4636
– AAP
Omicron jab gets provisional green light
Australia’s medical regulator has given a provisional green light to the first Covid-19 booster shot for two Omicron variants.
The Pfizer jab will be for those aged 12 and over, and targets the BA.4 and BA.5 variants.
The approval was granted on Friday.
A booster for the BA.1 variant and original bivalent vaccine – which is when the original virus strain is included in the vaccine – was approved in October.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration said studies showed the vaccine helped produce neutralising antibodies against the variants and original strains one month after the booster.
It also provided protection against a number of other variants. The regulator said in a statement:
Evidence from extensive use in the US and Europe over recent months has also shown that this booster provides clear reductions in hospitalisation and death.
The rollout of the vaccine is yet to be ticked off, with the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation due to provide advice to the government in coming weeks.
– AAP
Dutton repeats claim ‘most basic of detail’ missing on voice to parliament
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, was just speaking this morning from Hastings in Victoria about the Indigenous voice to parliament.
Dutton is continuing to call on the prime minister for more detail on the proposed change:
All of us want to see a better outcome for Indigenous Australians. But the prime minister’s proposed this change to our constitution – the most important document we have in our country -and he’s not willing to provide any of the detail.
So, I just think if people in capital cities who are on big pays don’t want to provide detail to the Australian people, then I think the Australian public will start to shake their head. And if there’s a problem, if they’re starting to lose people from the yes vote on the referendum, that’s the responsibility of the prime minister because he refuses to provide even the most basic of detail.
If you haven’t listened to Noel Pearson’s interview with ABC Radio National this morning, try find five minutes to do so. In it, Pearson makes the point that it’s the job of parliament (including Dutton and co) to provide the detail.
The referendum is about the constitution. Legislation is for the parliament.
Dutton also continues to bring up the mistake Albanese made in an interview last week (read the story by Paul Karp here) and says there are other details that need answering.
The detail of people being paid is within the Langton Calma report but the prime minister knew nothing about it when he did the Ben Fordham interview last week. If he hasn’t read the report or [understood] the report, how can he expect Australians to know what it is?
Severe thunderstorms and heavy rain in Northern Territory
Hello! Natasha back on deck.
There’s increasing thunderstorm activity in the Northern Territory as a weak tropical low is moving west offshore from the Top End, the Bureau of Meteorology is warning.
Peter Dutton calls for return of alcohol bans in remote Indigenous communities
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has called on the prime minister to reinstate alcohol bans in remote Indigenous communities.
The Central Desert regional council, which covers more than 280,000 square kilometres north of Alice Springs, has reported an increase in antisocial behaviour and domestic violence since the controversial intervention-era Stronger Futures legislation expired last year.
Dutton said police and emergency services have been struggling to respond to alcohol-related incidents since the bands lifted. He spoke to Sky News a short time ago.
The fact is that you do need to have these laws in place, that’s the advice from the women and the grandparents I’ve met with on the ground.
And you have to have that law in order so that kids can go to school, so that they can have a safe environment to grow up in.
– AAP
Henry Belot
Hello all – I’ll be briefly taking over the blog from Natasha May.
The foreign minister, Penny Wong, has tweeted in response to the mass shooting in Monterey Park, California, on the eve of the lunar new year.
At least 10 people were killed at a dance hall, with the motive for the attack still unclear. My colleague, Lewis Beckett, has written about everything we know so far.
Lunar New Year should be a time of celebration and family.
On behalf of all Australians, I send my heartfelt condolences to all affected by the devastating shooting at Monterey Park, California.
— Senator Penny Wong (@SenatorWong) January 23, 2023
Kidnap charges after Sydney police pursuit
Four men have been charged with assault and kidnapping after a pursuit on Sydney’s northern beaches, AAP reports.
Police officers were called to Oyama Avenue in Manly about 9.30am on Sunday following reports of an assault.
They were informed the alleged offenders had left the area in a Toyota Hilux, according to a police statement.
When officers tried to stop the ute on Warringah Road at Forestville the driver allegedly took off, initiating a pursuit.
Officers stopped the vehicle using road spikes and found five men inside, including one with injuries who was taken to hospital and later discharged after receiving treatment.
A 24-year-old from Sefton, a 24-year-old from Auburn, a 25-year-old from Colebee and a 19-year-old from Doonside were arrested and taken to Manly Police Station.
They were each charged with a series of offences, including kidnapping in company, causing actual bodily harm, participating in a criminal group, being carried in a vehicle taken without consent, using a disguise with intent to commit an indictable offence, and affray.
The Sefton man was also charged with police pursuit, failing to stop, driving recklessly and using an offensive weapon to prevent lawful detention.
The men were scheduled to appear at Hornsby local court on Monday, but the hearing was adjourned to a later date.
Lawyer for the men, Mahmoud Abbas, said an application would be made for them to be released on bail.
He told media:
I haven’t really made contact with them, but I’m sure they’re fine. There will be an application for release.
It’s far too early to make any determination as to what the evidence is, but once all the relevant material is released we’ll make a determination and proceed from there.
Luke Henriques-Gomes
Alan Tudge and Christian Porter to appear at robodebt inquiry next week
Former Coalition government ministers Alan Tudge and Christian Porter will front a royal commission into the failed robodebt scheme next week.
Senior counsel assisting Justin Greggery KC told the royal commission on Monday morning Tudge and Porter would be called next week as the inquiry looks at the period of 2017-18 when the scheme was facing significant criticism.
Porter, who was social services minister, and Tudge, as human services minister, publicly defended the scheme after it erupted into controversy in late 2016.
Greggery said the hearings would also examine the use of the media by those ministers to assert that the robodebt scheme was legal and “sound” government policy.
The current schedule says Tudge will appear next Tuesday and Porter will front the commission next Wednesday.
Porter quit politics at the last election while Tudge remains in parliament as the opposition’s education spokesperson.
Greggery said Tudge’s former media adviser, Rachelle Miller, would give evidence about Tudge’s robodebt media strategy and his knowledge of inaccurate debts being calculated by the robodebt scheme.
Tudge infamously warned welfare recipients they could be jailed over the inaccurate reporting of income to Centrelink in late 2016.
Today, the inquiry will hear from two robodebt victims, including an age pensioner who received a $65,000 debt that was eventually reduced to nil.
It will also hear from an advocate, Lyndsey Jackson, who founded the NotMyDebt group, and Christopher Birrer, a senior official at Services Australia.
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