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Children’s mental health not improved since Covid, research shows

The pandemic may be behind us but its impacts are still prevalent in the mental health of young people, new research shows.

Now that pandemic restrictions have been lifted, life has not necessarily gone back to how it was pre-pandemic. Wellbeing clearly dropped during Covid and has shown little signs of improvement since then.

The pandemic, sweeping changes in children’s lifestyles – from physical activity and screen time to sleep and diet – and the pervasive influence of social media aren’t regional anomalies. They’re global phenomena likely impacting children’s wellbeing worldwide.

Chief justice designate Gageler has earned a reputation as having an unequalled knowledge and understanding of constitutional law, an expertise that was sharpened before and during his term as solicitor general of Australia.

Justice Beech-Jones has provided extraordinary service to the law in NSW, commencing practice as a solicitor in Sydney for the firm now known as Freehills, before being called to the bar in 1992. His honour’s appointment to the high court of Australia, to replace the vacancy left by Justice Gageler’s elevation, will enhance Australia’s system of justice.

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NSW police watchdog to oversee investigation into arrest of Indigenous man with disability in Taree

Teenager remains in custody and faces seven charges, including hindering or resisting a police officer

The New South Wales police watchdog will oversee an investigation into the violent arrest in Taree last week of a handcuffed Aboriginal teenager with a disability.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (LECC), an independent watchdog that has oversight of NSW police, has confirmed it is involved in the force’s internal inquiry and that police have received a serious misconduct complaint about the incident.

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Senator responds to report – as it happened

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Conroy says comments at Labor conference about strategic balance in Pacific

Conroy is asked about comments he made at the Labor conference, saying it is against Australia’s interest to have one power dominate our region, especially one that breaches international laws.

And is it your view that China is trying to do that, dominate our region?

I’m not going to be going into what other countries are doing but it’s clear that we’re seeing great strategic competition in our region, and it’s appropriate that we respond through increased diplomatic engagement and an increasing deterrence in the Australian Defence Force.

They all play complementary roles in promoting peace and stability in our [region].

So this is about peace and stability in our region by deterring conflict and I know you will respond that saying, well, aren’t we just engaging in military buildup, but in the end, the only way we pursue peace and stability is by presenting strength. This is what this is about.

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Albanese accuses Gary Johns of ‘failure’ to show respect to Indigenous Australians after offensive comments

PM says top no campaigner’s role a ‘concern’ while Liberal MP Matt Kean says Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price ‘will have to clean up this mess’

Anthony Albanese has criticised the no campaign’s decision to give Gary Johns a prominent position in its campaign while the Liberal MP Matt Kean has accused the top voice critic of treating colleagues Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price with “complete disrespect” and “cowardice”.

In a speech at the CPAC conservative conference, Johns, the president of the anti-voice group Recognise a Better Way – which had been founded by Mundine – claimed some people in Indigenous communities lived in a “stupor” and recommended they “learn English”.

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CPAC Australia: hardline culture warriors rail against Indigenous voice, ‘fake news’ and ‘woke corporates’

Tony Abbott, Warren Mundine and Jacinta Nampijinpa Price were among those urging attendees to oppose the voice to parliament

“We are one,” the motto above the CPAC logo proudly blared on the lanyards around the necks of attendees for the Conservative Political Action Conference in Sydney on Saturday.

It clashed somewhat incongruously with the even bigger text attached to the bright red media passes given to the few journalists who came to cover the event: “FAKE NEWS”.

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CPAC Australia: Advance director says claim Indigenous voice would cause division popular with focus groups

Prime minister Anthony Albanese tells Labor conference to ‘campaign like you have never campaigned before’ on voice to parliament

The director of the controversial conservative campaign group Advance says the no campaign aimed to take advantage of voter confusion about the Indigenous voice to parliament, claiming it was able to “shape the conversation” because “very few people” knew about the consultation body.

Matthew Sheahan said the anti-voice group settled on its central argument – that the referendum would cause division – because that theme had been popular in focus groups. He also took credit for the government getting “caught up” in details of the Uluru statement from the heart and treaties.

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Woodside faces Indigenous legal challenge to seismic blasting at WA gas site

Traditional owner alleges company failed to adequately consult on effect of Scarborough project blasting on sea country

A traditional owner has filed a legal challenge to the approval of seismic blasting for Woodside’s Scarborough offshore gas project in Western Australia.

Mardudhunera woman Raelene Cooper is seeking a judicial review of the offshore petroleum regulator Nopsema’s decision to grant the approval despite concerns consultation with traditional owners had been inadequate.

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Australian War Memorial researchers identify 285 Indigenous servicemen who fought in the Vietnam war

A national ceremony in Canberra will mark the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the war

Researchers at the Australian War Memorial say they have identified 285 Indigenous servicemen who fought in the Vietnam war and seven involved in the battle of Long Tan.

Veterans on Friday mark the 50th anniversary of the end of Australia’s involvement in the Vietnam war, which will be commemorated in a national ceremony in Canberra.

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Aboriginal 18-year-old with disability thrown to ground during NSW police arrest while having seizure

Exclusive: Police launch internal investigation over arrest at Taree, as footage shows officer performing a leg sweep while man is handcuffed

New South Wales police have launched an investigation after a young Aboriginal man with disability was violently arrested while having a seizure and thrown to the ground while handcuffed in Taree.

The 18-year-old was arrested on Tuesday after police received reports a man had allegedly tried to break into two homes. Police said the man then fled. A man was arrested on Gwenneth Avenue.

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Catholic church uses death of paedophile priest in bid to stop survivor suing NSW diocese, court hears

Church claims it cannot get fair trial over alleged abuse by the notorious David Joseph Perrett in legal tactic that has drawn widespread criticism

The Catholic church is seeking to use using the death of a “prolific paedophile” priest to permanently prevent a dying Indigenous man from seeking justice for alleged abuse suffered on camping trips in rural New South Wales.

Two survivors are suing the church’s Armidale diocese for the alleged abuse by notorious priest David Joseph Perrett during camping trips from an Aboriginal mission in the mid-1970s.

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Australia news live: authorities given stop and search powers near Qld border in bid to stop fire ants; Matildas public holiday not on national cabinet agenda, PM says

Agricultural officers given power to stop and search cars and trucks near the Queensland-NSW border. Follow the latest news live

Search efforts continue for third Indonesian crew member

Search efforts are continuing today for the third Indonesian crew member who remains missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Indonesia.

The search continues for a crew member who is still missing.

Our thoughts are with them and their loved ones.

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Opposition refers minister to Ibac – as it happened

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Warren Mundine said he has kicked two people off his no campaign group Recognise a Better Way, one of which for allegedly making an antisemitic comment.

I’ve actually kicked several people off our campaign in regard to their comments and I intend to keep on doing that.

That’s just between us and the couple of people we had sent off. I don’t appreciate racist comments … All they know is I got rid of them and I don’t accept any racial comments from anyone in regard to these issues.

… It wasn’t particularly about Aboriginals, one was a very antisemitic comment and I’m not gonna wear that crap.

When I talk about treaties, when I talk about constitutional recognition, it is in regard to treaties that are signed between the commonwealth government and First Nations peoples.

… I believe in treaties between the First Nations and the commonwealth and at that, and I put it in that context.

I was involved in the beginning … and then after it got further down the track in regard to [what] it was looking at, [then I said] I don’t support that.

It has to be the First Nations, it has to be the traditional owners who make those agreements. I can’t speak for other people’s country, and they can’t speak for my country.

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Vandals damage Indigenous birthing tree sacred to Victoria’s Djab Wurrung people

Police investigate vandalism of tree that was set to be demolished for major road project before large protests in western Victoria

A sacred Indigenous birthing tree that was once at the centre of large protests in western Victoria over Aboriginal cultural heritage rights has been vandalised with a pro-highway message and had three drill holes cut into its trunk.

Police are investigating after the tree – sacred to the Djab Wurrung people – was vandalised near Buangor, about 180km west of Melbourne. The Djab Wurrung people have been fighting for four years to prevent the destruction of the birthing trees as part of a major state government road project.

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Warren Mundine urged to give full details of ‘sacking’ of no campaign volunteers over alleged racist remarks

Spokesman for Indigenous voice to parliament no campaign also condemns comments by Advance board member questioning Stan Grant’s skin tone

The Liberals for Yes have demanded that Warren Mundine explain the full details of “secret sackings”, after the Recognise a Better Way spokesman claimed he had ejected two volunteers for making racist remarks.

On Tuesday Mundine separately denounced as “bizarre” comments by the Australian Jewish Association head, David Adler, who is on the advisory board of reactionary campaign group Advance, questioning Stan Grant’s skin tone. Adler has reportedly said he did not intend to insult the presenter, adding “I am 100% zero racism”.

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Coalition’s position on the voice ‘clear as mud’ and ‘completely confused’, Burney says – as it happened

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‘Mistakes of the past’: David Littleproud compares voice to ATSIC advisory body

Littleproud says the proposal for the voice to parliament will “repeat the mistakes of the past”, comparing the proposal to ATSIC.

No, again, David, the problem comes from the lived experience we have. And it might work in suburbs in capital cities but when you’re talking about representative bodies in rural and remote Australia, you’re talking about hundreds of thousands of square kilometres, hundreds of different diverse communities that have different challenges and needs.

We were saying let’s have common sense.

Why not let the market decide but let’s educate Australians. This won’t happen overnight. This is something we need to bring them on that journey. That’s why I wanted to have some political leadership but from across the aisle, and say let’s have a national energy summit, bring Australians into our trust and let them decide what the energy mix should look like and live town our international commitments.

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National party refuses to back Peter Dutton on alternative Indigenous voice proposal

David Littleproud says his party has ‘real concern’ about regional advisory bodies Dutton has promised to put in legislation, but not in the constitution

The Nationals have refused to commit to legislating an Indigenous voice if the Coalition wins the next election, undercutting Peter Dutton’s attempt to win over voters with an alternative proposal.

Dutton has campaigned against enshrining a voice to parliament in the constitution, arguing it is “risky” to mention the advisory body in the nation’s founding document.

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NSW Liberal leader backs Indigenous voice saying rewards ‘outweigh the risks’

Mark Speakman’s statement comes as Peter Dutton says he will ‘fight for’ constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians

The New South Wales opposition leader, Mark Speakman, has announced his support for the proposed Indigenous voice to parliament, saying that “the potential rewards outweigh the potential risks”.

Speakman is now one of two state Liberal leaders publicly backing the yes vote, alongside the Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff. On Friday, Western Australian Liberals leader, Libby Mettam, reversed her position and said she would vote no. Mettam said she changed her mind after the furore in the state over cultural heritage laws.

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‘We were the frontline’: Australia’s only all-Indigenous battalion remembered as last Torres Strait digger dies

They were underpaid and trained with broom handles, but that didn’t stop the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion fighting for their country

The last surviving member of the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion (TSLIB), the only all-Indigenous battalion to serve for the Australian Defence Force, has been laid to rest.

Mebai Warusam, 99, was buried on his home island of Saibai in the Torres Strait on 5 August, only weeks after the second last survivor, Awati Mau, 96, was buried in his community at the tip of Cape York.

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Politics live: tourism boost as China approves resumption of group travel to Australia

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Coalition argue migration rates are behind housing crisis

The Coalition have pursued Labor over those figures, despite the numbers being lower than what was forecast when the Coalition was in power, and due to the re-opening of the borders after the pandemic closures.

I’m very supportive of migration to Australia which helped build this country, but the pace and the rate of that migration is absolutely a legitimate issue for public debate and the impact that has on services into our community is also very legitimate, particularly housing. Frankly, I thought this was a particularly tone deaf contribution from the business community today, suggesting that the only numbers that matter were the permanent migration program and not the temporary workers, students who are coming here right now.

Because we know they are coming in extraordinary numbers and by the end of this year, I’ve been told by people in the industry it’s going to be eye wateringly high numbers, perhaps the largest ever on record.

If we want to continue to be competitive in attracting global talent, our migration system needs to be reformed.

Australia is competing against other countries for the best and brightest; and slow or complex migration systems, which do not provide appropriate levels of certainty for someone looking to uproot their lives to move internationally, puts us at a serious disadvantage.

There is a current misconception that our migration figures are higher than normal.

It is important to recognise migration numbers currently recorded simply reflect a rebalancing after the pandemic border closures in 2020 and 2021.

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Indigenous Australians Agency refutes Jacinta Price’s claim that Uluru statement is 26 pages

Exclusive: Government agency wrote to voice referendum no campaign leader, saying her claim was incorrect and pointing to publicly available one-page document

The National Indigenous Australians Agency has written to Coalition senator and no campaign leader Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to flatly deny her claims that it told her the Uluru statement from the heart was a 26-page document, again confirming it is a one-page document.

It is likely to further escalate tensions in the parliament over the voice referendum, after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described Coalition questions about the Uluru statement as “conspiracy theories”. Prof Megan Davis, the Uluru Dialogue co-chair and architect of the Uluru statement, claimed opponents were seeking to “confuse the mainstream media and our political leaders”.

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