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‘We need to extend the average time people stay in our defence force,’ says Matt Keough
The defence personnel minister, Matt Keough, has also been talking about that retention and renumeration package for defence.
We need to extend the average time people stay in our defence force.
That does mean it had a vulnerability. We’re looking at moving to more of a mesh-type arrangement of satellites, which provides greater resilience, with a more up-to-date technology, and we’ll be able to deliver the technology faster as well.
We are very much confident that we can meet these targets and that’s because we have properly funded them and we have a plan to get there, which is about really improving the terms of service for those who work in our defence forces.
We’re increasing and expanding the bonuses for continuing on in the defence force. We’re continuing the original retention bonus after your initial service obligation for three years and beyond that. There will be another bonus for people who stay in the defence force after that. And that’s really targeting those who are in their seventh, eighth, ninth years of service, which gets to the middle ranks where we’ve got an issue. And we’re also going to grow the active reserves so there are more opportunities for people in the reserve to do full-time or part-time work in the defence force.
This original plan goes back seven or eight years and it was about having two or three satellites above Australia to deliver that capability. Since then, we have seen technologies develop which can shoot satellites out of the sky but we have also seen technologies develop where you have thousands of micro satellites in a more distributed way providing the same effect and we are seeing that with Starlink above Ukraine.
Continue reading...Record 600 police officers sacked for misconduct in England and Wales
William Tyrrell inquest: foster mother abused outside court after police allege she may have buried toddler
Counsel assisting warns ‘fairness is deserved by all’ after inquest hears foster mother may have disposed of three-year-old’s body following accidental death in 2014
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The coroner overseeing the inquest into William Tyrrell’s disappearance in 2014 has issued a warning after the toddler’s foster mother was abused outside court.
Counsel assisting Gerard Craddock SC told the deputy state coroner Harriet Grahame that someone had yelled at the foster mother at Lidcombe coroners court on Monday as the inquest resumed for two further weeks of evidence.
Continue reading...ABC to review editorial policies after investigation finds gunshots ‘inadvertently’ added to Afghanistan footage
Director of news Justin Stevens apologises for ‘editing errors’ in the video clips
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The ABC will review its editorial policies after an independent review found five additional sounds of gunshots were “inadvertently but inaccurately” introduced into footage showing a commando firing from a helicopter.
But the review by the former ABC editorial executive Alan Sunderland said there was no evidence that anyone at Australia’s national broadcaster “deliberately doctored, falsified, manipulated or distorted information, material or evidence in order to mislead audiences”.
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Continue reading...US elections 2024: 10 key House races to watch
Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to get back control of the lower chamber – here’s what to keep an eye on
Much attention has been paid to the historic race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump, but the results of down-ballot elections will determine whether the new president will actually be able to implement a legislative agenda next year.
With Republicans defending a narrow majority in the House of Representatives, Democrats only need to flip a handful of seats to wrest back control of the lower chamber, and both parties are going all out to win.
Continue reading...Peter Dutton rules out Coalition abortion policy changes and blasts MPs for stirring debate
It follows party criticism of Jacinta Nampijinpa Price for condemning later term abortions, though opposition leader did not name names
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Peter Dutton has blasted Coalition MPs for fuelling a federal debate on abortion laws, declaring there would be no change to policy if he wins government and they must show more “discipline” on the topic.
Dutton told MPs in his private weekly party-room address on Tuesday morning that the 11th-hour emergence of the issue during the recent Queensland state election campaign may have cost the Liberal National party votes.
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Continue reading...Trump vows tariffs on Mexico over border issues
More than 500 new poker machines installed in NSW despite Chris Minns promising to slash numbers
Total number of machines in state increased from 87,094 in March last year to 87,644 in October
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More than 500 new poker machines have been installed since Labor won office in New South Wales last year, despite a campaign pledge to cut their numbers in pubs and clubs.
In January 2023, two months before the state election, the now premier, Chris Minns, declared a Labor government would “reduce the number of poker machines” in NSW.
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Continue reading...North Korea tells UN it is speeding up nuclear weapons programme
Pyongyang’s envoy to the United Nations says buildup is to counter threat from ‘hostile nuclear weapons states’
North Korea’s UN envoy has said Pyongyang will accelerate a buildup of its nuclear weapons programme just days after it test-fired an intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time this year at a moment of rising tensions with the west.
Kim Song, North Korea’s ambassador to the UN, said during a security council meeting on Monday that Pyongyang would accelerate the programme to “counter any threat presented by hostile nuclear weapons states”.
Continue reading...Eight staff of Australian Electoral Commission contractor fabricated voice referendum location data
AEC ‘considering its legal position’ after investigation prompted by Guardian reporting into allegations from McNair whistleblower
- Whistleblower claims he was told to fabricate data for AEC during Indigenous voice campaign
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Eight staff fabricated location data on Indigenous communities while working for a company contracted by the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) during last year’s failed voice referendum process, an investigation has found.
The AEC said it was now “considering its legal position” over the scandal and remained “incredibly disappointed” in the alleged behaviour of McNair yellowSquares, a market research firm engaged as part of the commission’s efforts to improve participation in the vote.
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Continue reading...Injury forces dancer Amy Dowden to leave this year’s Strictly
Spokesperson says Dowden will not take part in the rest of the competition owing to foot injury
The professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be continuing with this year’s season of Strictly Come Dancing to recover from a foot injury.
The development was revealed on the spin-off show Strictly It Takes Two on BBC Two on Monday and comes after a period of absence from the show for Dowden.
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