ADF chief unaware Fijian officer handed senior Australian army role was accused of torture, parliament told

Angus Campbell tells parliament recently appointed brigade deputy commander Penioni (Ben) Naliva is entitled to presumption of innocence

The chief of the Australian defence force has told a parliamentary committee he was unaware of serious allegations against a Fijian military officer before approving his appointment to an Australian army brigade.

Colonel Penioni (Ben) Naliva, an officer from the Republic of Fiji Military Forces (RFMF), was named last month as a deputy commander of the 7th Brigade based at Gallipoli barracks in Brisbane.

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Australia politics live: Queensland introduces bill for carbon reduction target; Garnaut argues for zero-carbon exports

‘Export of zero-carbon goods can underpin a long period of high investment, rising productivity, full employment and rising incomes,’ economist tells press club. Follow the day’s news live

When it comes to treaty and truth-telling though, things are a little less clear. For all intents and purposes the government seems to be backing away from a designated federal process. We heard some of that yesterday, but Linda Burney continues it today.

For all Jacinta Price is accusing the Labor government of doing treaty “by stealth” that doesn’t appear to be the reality. Instead, existing processes look like being utilised.

I am having discussions with the cabinet about that, and I’m not going to go into those discussions. But the issue of truth-telling is incredibly important. And there are many, many ways in which that can happen, including the school curriculum.

The reality is the treaty process is well under way at a state and in many ways at a local level. You look at the Noongar agreement in and around Perth. For all intents and purposes, that’s a treaty.

What I’m suggesting is that we will listen to what people are saying.

I know that there are some people in the media, but I want to talk also to community leadership. I’m meeting with land councils today, for example, who are in Canberra this week for estimates. Those are the organisations that really worked very hard towards the referendum and I want to hear from them where they believe the next steps should be.

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Australia news live: Victoria power outage, fires and storms; Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial – latest updates

AGL says Loy Yang A units due to be ‘returned to service over the next 24 hours’. Follow the latest news and updates today

Bureau of Meteorology’s first look ruled out tornadoes in Victoria

Reports of 120km/hour gusts in Victoria gave an indication of the ferocity of the storms that brought down half a dozen power transmissions towers – and many local poles and wires.

The Bureau of Meteorology does not at this stage have direct evidence of tornados having occurred.

Many severe thunderstorms carry with them a slight chance of tornado development. Predicting tornadoes is difficult and specific warnings are only issued if signs consistent with tornadoes occurring are visible on radar or direct observations are received.

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‘Significant credit issues’ with both Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins in defamation case, judge says

Justice Michael Lee made remarks during cross-claim hearing made by journalist Lisa Wilkinson against Network Ten over legal fees

There are “significant credit issues” with both Bruce Lehrmann and Brittany Higgins in the defamation case the former Liberal staffer brought against Network Ten and its presenter Lisa Wilkinson, Justice Michael Lee has told the federal court.

“There are a number of significant differences they’ve given in court, a number of in-court representations and out-of-court representations,” Justice Lee said of the two principal witnesses.

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NSW opposition calls for central register of sites under investigation amid asbestos crisis

Environment spokesperson Kellie Sloane says park users should not hear about potential contamination through the media

The New South Wales opposition has called for a central register of all sites being investigated for possible asbestos contamination by the state’s environmental watchdog, including parks and schools.

Councils across Sydney have been assessing their parks and landscaping providers after the City of Sydney announced 32 sites were under investigation for possible contamination in addition to three where asbestos was found in mulch earlier in the week.

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Commonwealth Bank posts $5bn half-yearly cash profit after ‘deliberate’ shrinking of home loan book

Latest financial results show CBA now targeting savers over mortgage holders, amid concerns over weakening competition among major lenders

Australia’s biggest lender, Commonwealth Bank, is losing market share in its home loan book through a deliberate strategy of not competing for less lucrative mortgage customers.

The bank’s tactics feed into concerns there are few signs of healthy price competition between Australia’s major lenders operating in one of the most concentrated sectors among comparable economies.

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Kelly Wilkinson’s estranged husband pleads guilty to murdering her in Gold Coast home

Prosecutors previously alleged Brian Earl Johnston, 37, tied up the mother-of-three before dousing her with petrol and setting her alight

The estranged husband of Kelly Wilkinson, who was doused in petrol and set alight, has pleaded guilty to her murder less than a month before his scheduled trial.

Brian Earl Johnston, 37, appeared before Brisbane supreme court on Wednesday via video link for arraignment on one count of murdering 27-year-old Wilkinson on 20 April 2021 in a Gold Coast backyard as a domestic violence offence.

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NSW taskforce aims to return Indigenous children to their families

Plan includes consultation with community-controlled organisations to reduce number of Indigenous children in out-of-home care

The New South Wales government has announced a new “restoration taskforce” to oversee efforts to return as many Aboriginal children to their families from the child protection system as is safe.

In a significant policy shift from previous governments, the minister for families and communities, Kate Washington, said the “shocking proportion” of Aboriginal children in out-of-home care can be reduced by working in partnership with Aboriginal community-controlled organisations.

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Australian fossil fuel tax could raise $100bn in first year alone, Rod Sims and Ross Garnaut say

Revenue from carbon solution levy could subsidise green iron, aluminium and fuel production, veteran economists argue

A tax on fossil fuel production could help fund Australia’s transition to becoming a carbon-free energy giant, lower the cost of living and assist the world to cut greenhouse emissions, according to two veteran economists.

Ross Garnaut, a leading economist during the Hawke government, and Rod Sims, a former head of the competition watchdog, say a so-called carbon solution levy would raise $100bn in its first year alone if introduced in 2030-31 and set at Europe’s five-year average price of $90/tonne of carbon dioxide-equivalent.

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Avoid swimming pools if you’re part of Australia’s surge in diarrhoea cases, say authorities

Cryptosporidium parasite causes 498 diarrhoea cases in NSW this year and 736 in Queensland in January alone

Health authorities are urging people with diarrhoea to avoid swimming pools as cryptosporidiosis infections surge across New South Wales and Queensland.

The cryptosporidium parasite, which causes acute diarrhoea and can survive in chlorinated water for many days, has been responsible for 498 cases of diarrhoea in NSW this year – a five-fold increase on the five-year average of 95 for the same period.

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Half a million Victorian homes without power and trains cancelled as storm causes outage at state’s largest coal-fired plant

Authorities working to ‘get Victorians back online as quickly as possible’, state’s energy minister says


Half a million households in Victoria are without electricity and trains have been suspended across metropolitan Melbourne after a power station went down during storms.

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Third man charged in NSW over alleged plot to kill OneFour rappers

Police charge 28-year-old over alleged criminal cell plan to murder members of Sydney rap group

A third member of an alleged criminal cell allegedly hired to kill gang rivals is being held by police.

Police believe the group is behind multiple contract kidnappings and a plan to target Sydney-based drill rap group OneFour.

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Commuter chaos as wild weather leaves half of Melbourne’s train lines offline – as it happened

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Today is the 16th anniversary of Rudd’s national apology

It is National Apology Day, which marks the anniversary of the day the former prime minister Kevin Rudd formally apologised to Indigenous people for the stolen generations.

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Schools and national parks close as Victoria faces worst bushfire conditions in four years

Hot, dry and windy conditions are forecast across Victoria with a catastrophic fire danger declared for parts of the state

Schools and national parks have been ordered to close as parts of Victoria face the first catastrophic fire conditions since the Black Summer of 2019-20.

Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia were also braced for extreme fire danger amid heatwave conditions.

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Australian red meat industry’s net zero target based on land-clearing data that is ‘not reliable’

Meat and Livestock Australia says it has reduced emissions by 65% on 2005 levels but data analysis suggests figures underpinning claim are ‘erroneous’

Greenhouse gas reduction figures celebrated by Australia’s red meat industry are based on unreliable land-clearing data and could be erroneous, an independent analysis has found.

In Queensland, where roughly 44% of the national cattle herd grazes and the majority of land clearing has occurred, the Statewide Landcover and Tree Study (Slats) has recorded deforestation at almost twice the rate of the national system used to calculate emissions on the red meat industry.

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Australia’s sun safety guidelines updated to take account of diverse skin types

New Australian guidelines balance the risk of getting too much sun exposure with the benefits of vitamin D

Growing evidence about the health importance of sun exposure and genetic differences in the population have prompted Australia to adopt new sun safety guidelines.

The research informing the update was published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health on Tuesday, and led by Prof Rachel Neale from the QIMR Berghofer medical research institute in Brisbane.

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Psychics and amateur sleuths toss unfounded theories into search for missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy

As the police investigation enters its second week, wild speculation and conspiracy theories spread on social media

A CCTV image of her moments before she left home for an early morning run and a ping on a mobile phone tower 11km south of Ballarat – these are among the few clues to Samantha Murphy’s disappearance.

Yet, from these two pieces of evidence, psychics, armchair detectives and online sleuths have created and fuelled theories about how the Ballarat woman vanished, as the investigation enters its second week.

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More than 1,000 cases of neglect reported each month in Australia’s aged care homes

Regulator worried about ‘concerning spike’ in neglect cases, which advocates say are the result of workforce shortages

More than 1,000 cases of neglect are being reported in residential aged care homes each month, prompting a warning from the sector’s regulator.

The Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission (ACQSC) has flagged “a concerning spike” in neglect cases over the past 12 months and raised concerns about inadequate care standards.

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Australia politics live: flight chaos across country after air traffic controller no-shows, Senate told; Linda Reynolds announces retirement

Airservices Australia were grilled in Senate estimates after nationwide flight disruptions due to the missing staff. Follow the day’s news live

Dutton says Liberals will bin ‘right to disconnect’ if they win next election

Switching gears now – Peter Dutton has vowed to scrap the “right to disconnect” if the Liberal party wins the next election. Last week, Dutton told Sky News:

If you think it’s OK to outsource your industrial relations or your economic policy to the Greens, which is what the prime minister is doing, then we are going to see a continuation of the productivity problem in our country.

And as the Reserve Bank governor pointed out, if you don’t address it you’ll see interest rates continue to climb or you’ll see them stay higher for longer.

We’ve been overwhelmed by positive feedback from people who say - yeah, it’s not right that I should be on call 24/7 when I’m not getting paid for it.

And Peter Dutton wants you electronically bound to your boss, and having to answer calls 24/7, even if you’re not getting paid for it.

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Australia warns Israel’s plans for Rafah ground offensive could have ‘devastating consequences’

Failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area would ‘cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests’, foreign minister, Penny Wong, says

The Australian government has warned that Israel’s plans for a military offensive on the southern Gaza town of Rafah could have “devastating consequences” for Palestinian civilians sheltering there.

The foreign minister, Penny Wong, also suggested on Monday that a failure to ensure special care for more than 1 million civilians in the area, many in makeshift tents, would “cause serious harm to Israel’s own interests”.

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