Witness J says he is glad the legal process is over, but the saga does not define him
The man at the heart of the failed case against Cardinal George Pell has issued a rallying cry to sexual abuse survivors.
He said he would hate to think that anyone might not report to the police because of his outcome.
Continue reading...Cardinal Pell’s child sexual assault conviction was upheld in the Victorian court of appeal. Now the high court will rule on whether he will stay in jail or walk free. Follow live updates
High court to decide cardinal’s fate
George Pell will not be in the court registry in Brisbane this morning. He is at Barwon Prison and will be informed of the judgment by his legal team.
We are now within 10 minutes of the judgment being delivered in Brisbane. We should have the news for you shortly after that.
Continue reading...Australian high court’s decision is Pell’s last chance to overturn conviction for historical child sexual abuse
On Tuesday, almost two years after being committed to stand trial on multiple charges of historical child sexual abuse, the case against the former financial controller of the Vatican, Cardinal George Pell, will likely end with him either walking free or remaining in jail to serve the rest of his sentence.
After failing to appeal to Victoria’s appellate court in August, Pell’s legal team took his case to the high court, the final avenue in his bid for freedom. Across two days in March, the full bench of seven justices heard Pell’s barrister Bret Walker SC argue that Victoria’s appellate judges, who dismissed Pell’s first appeal in 2019 by a majority of two-to-one, may have been unduly influenced by the complainant’s testimony by watching a recorded video of it rather than just reading the transcript of his evidence.
Continue reading...As the number of cases rises, so does the number of those who have died. Here is a state-by-state list of virus-related fatalities
The Australian death toll from Covid-19 related illnesses stands at 34, as of 4 April. This story will be updated as further deaths are confirmed and Australia’s coronavirus victims are identified.
Continue reading...Brendan Murphy says he is totally confident of infection rates in Australia because of our high rate of testing. Follow live updates
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We might leave it there for the night. Thanks so much for reading today.
Hopefully you’re enjoying your Friday night, despite these strange times.
The @YourAFAP union says all 220 @TigerairAU pilots have been made redundant effective today.
Continue reading...Victoria and Queensland register deaths as Western Australia flags border closure and federal government acts on childcare and industrial relations concerns. Follow live updates
The PM stresses that the “health advice we have is that there is no health reasons why children can’t go to school”.
Asked if taxes will increase to pay for its massive stimulus funding, Morrison does not address this directly.
Obviously there will be a heightened debt burden as a result of decisions we have had to take. They have been necessary decisions. Otherwise the calamity for Australian households economic will be disastrous. We have taken that decisions of government to step up and to make this commitment to provide people with an economic lifeline over the many months ahead. But you are right, we will have to then work hard on the other side to restore the economy. Now, that’s why we are being so careful not to have things that tie the economy and the budget down off into the future. We do need to snap back to the normal arrangements on the other side of this.
Morrison says schools have been planning for a “balance – a combination of distance learning” and, for those who can’t “provide a learning environment at home, for the children to be able to return to school”.
School will return after the holidays. They just won’t be holidays that most school students have known for a long time. And when they go back, it’s the learning that matters, and we hope to have an arrangement that can return as much to normal as possible.
But we have to accept that there will be, for some protracted period of time, this combination of distance learning, and for those who can’t do that at home, no child should be turned away.
Continue reading...We bring together all the Covid-19 confirmed cases, data and stats from NSW, Victoria, Queensland, SA, WA, Tasmania, ACT and NT to get a broad picture of the Australian outbreak and track the impact of government response
Due to the difference in reporting times between states, territories and the federal government, it can be difficult to get a current picture of how many confirmed cases of coronavirus there are in Australia.
Here, we’ve brought together all the figures in one place, along with comparisons with other countries.
Continue reading...Maritime union said the requirement for ships to ‘self-declare’ illness was ‘woefully inadequate’ 50 days before Ruby Princess allowed to offload sick passengers in Sydney
The New South Wales Port Authority ignored warnings in January of the need for tighter biosecurity checks, the Maritime Union of Australia says.
In an email seen by Guardian Australia, MUA secretary Paul Garrett warned the NSW Port Authority chief executive, Philip Holliday, that ship captains could not be relied upon to self-disclose illnesses on board.
Continue reading...Victorian premier Daniel Andrews has called on Victorians to take coronavirus lockdowns seriously to 'buy time' to treat patients. 'We've got queues at Centrelink offices, that's heartbreaking,' he said. 'We can not have people queuing for intensive care beds ... If you can stay home, you must stay home.'
Continue reading...Scheme will involve measures including counselling, funeral or memorial fund and redress payments
The Victorian government will put $10m into a stolen generations redress scheme that the premier, Daniel Andrews, says is a step to right history’s wrongs.
Announcing scheme with the premier, Victoria’s Aboriginal affairs minister, Gavin Jennings, said on Wednesday that Aboriginal families were historically “torn apart by parliaments like this one”.
Continue reading...New South Wales teachers union warns it is ‘impossible’ for schools to practise social distancing measures recommended by the government
Dozens of independent schools across Australia are going ahead with shutdowns as the New South Wales teachers union warns it is “impossible” for them to practise social distancing measures recommended by the government.
On Tuesday, Pymble Ladies College in Sydney joined dozens of private schools in Victoria when it announced it would move to online classes from Thursday.
Continue reading...A nation supposedly forged in the hellfire of war almost crumbled in the face of a virulent threat at home
Newly federated Australia, with its population not yet 5 million, was still enduring shocking fatalities on the European western front when its authorities began paying attention to the virulent strain of pneumonic influenza sweeping Britain.
Early Australian awareness of the “Spanish influenza” – an epidemic in Britain by mid to late 1918 – came with an acknowledgment that the new states grown of old colonies would need to stick together should the virus reach this isolated continent.
Continue reading...Australia is heating faster than the global average, and extreme heat days are on the rise. Doctors say there’s clear evidence that it’s killing people prematurely
Continue reading...Australia’s catastrophic bushfire season has taken 33 lives, destroyed thousands of homes, shrouded cities in smoke and devastated the country’s unique wildlife. Guardian Australia surveys the damage
Continue reading...Victorian environment minister ‘appalled’ by allegations and her department is investigating
Investigators at the scene of a “koala massacre” at a cleared gum tree plantation in Victoria say the number of animals killed is likely to rise above 40 as they make their way through 10 kilometres of felled timber.
A major incident response has been set up at the site, on private land near Cape Bridgewater, with koalas being treated by vets for starvation and broken bones.
Continue reading...A total fire ban remains in place across the capital territory as fires continue to burn, causing severe smoke and dust haze in NSW
A quick recap.
Looks like the forecast rain is heading over Canberra. We’ll wait to hear if this helps or hinders the firefighting efforts.
Rain heading through Canberra. Let's hope this brings some relief. No sign of the storm yet though. pic.twitter.com/YVJDd3HK3u
Continue reading...ACT residents near bushfire south of Canberra told to seek shelter as contact lost with large water-bombing plane fighting New South Wales bushfire. Follow latest news and live updates
There’s a steady stream of people arriving at the Moruya Showgrounds, which has been re-opened as an evacuation centre. For a lot of people, it’s becoming a home away from home.
One woman from Congo, just south of here, told me it was her third time here since New Years Eve.
The sky is looking ominous outside the Moruya showground where our reporter on the ground, Michael McGowan, captured this image.
Continue reading...Hail smashes into Parliament House and brings down trees in the ACT, with heavy rainfall hitting NSW, Queensland and Victoria
Australia’s south-east has been lashed by severe thunderstorms and large hailstones that destroyed buildings and cars in Canberra and left two tourists in hospital after they were injured by lightning.
Two supercell thunderstorms brought hail and heavy rain to cities and towns across the east coast on Monday, battering the outer suburbs of Sydney about 3pm, with 4.5cm hailstones recorded and strong winds bringing trees down over cars in the Sutherland area.
Continue reading...The 84-year-old dies in Sydney’s Concord hospital as Australia’s months-long fire crisis continues
The death toll from the unprecedented bushfires in New South Wales has climbed to 21 following the death in hospital of an elderly man burned in Cobargo on New Year’s Eve.
The 84-year-old was taken from his home on Tuesday 31 December to South East Regional hospital before he was transferred to Concord hospital in Sydney where he died in the early hours of Saturday.
Continue reading...Nine aerial photos depict the crisis from beach to bush, farm to forest, across NSW and South Australia
More than 10.7m hectares of land have burnt so far in Australia’s bushfires – larger than the total area of South Korea, or Portugal, and 1.3 times the size of Scotland.
The ongoing and unprecedented bushfire crisis has spread across six states and multiple months.
Continue reading...