Category Archives: Australian police and policing

Police seek men rescued clinging to esky off WA coast after over 300kg of cocaine found ashore

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Authorities are requesting public assistance to locate the three men who told authorities their boat capsized while fishing

Three men are being sought after police found about 365kg of cocaine off Western Australia’s south coast.

The men were found clinging to an esky in the ocean off Albany on 1 February, telling authorities their boat had capsized while they were fishing.

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‘Disgraceful and gutless’: Queensland deputy premier pilloried for attack on judiciary

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Steven Miles said a magistrate’s decision to release children locked in Townsville watch house was ‘a media stunt’

Queensland’s deputy premier, Steven Miles, has been accused of engaging in a “disgraceful” breach of the separation of powers for claiming the safety of residents was being “held to ransom by rogue courts and rogue justices”.

At a press conference on Friday, Miles said a decision by a Townsville magistrate to release several children being held on remand in the local watch house was a “media stunt”, prompting fierce pushback from civil liberties veteran Terry O’Gorman.

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Queensland magistrate grants bail to teenage girl after raising concerns over adult watch houses

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Eoin Mac Giolla Ri in a separate case last month said children could be exposed to ‘drunk, abusive, psychotic’ detainees

A Queensland magistrate who previously raised concerns about children being held in “harsh” conditions in adult watch houses has granted bail to a teenage girl after saying he was “conscious” that she may otherwise end up in one.

Mount Isa magistrate Eoin Mac Giolla Ri last week said the 15-year-old girl would probably be held for an “extended” period in a watch house if bail was refused, as all three of the state’s youth detention centres were at capacity. Bail was initially refused for the girl on Friday, and the matter adjourned until Monday, in the hope that the parties could find a solution as to her placement. She was subsequently granted bail on Monday.”

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John Barilaro’s assault charge dismissed by NSW magistrate on mental health grounds

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Former deputy premier had pleaded not guilty to assaulting a camera operator in Manly last July

A magistrate has dismissed an assault charge against former New South Wales deputy premier John Barilaro on mental health grounds.

Barilaro pleaded not guilty to a charge of assaulting a camera operator and damaging their property outside a Manly restaurant in July 2022.

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Dating app background and ID checks being considered in bid to fight abuse

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National roundtable mulls safety strategies as communications minister says ‘no one law is going to fix this issue’

Background checks and ID verification systems in dating apps are among the measures being considered as governments around the country grapple with how to keep people safe while they are looking for love online.

The strategies were discussed by ministers, victim-survivors, authorities and technology companies as part of national dating app roundtable talks in Sydney on Wednesday.

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In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 1-800-273-8255 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org

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Women in NSW could check partners’ past domestic violence convictions under Coalition plan

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Premier says proposed Right to Ask scheme ‘all about ensuring that women across NSW are safe’

Residents of NSW would be able to find out if their partner has a history of domestic violence by checking with police, under a scheme proposed by the Coalition.

The NSW government revealed on Monday it would allow people in a relationship to access the domestic violence offending history of their partner if it wins the March state election.

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Two Victoria police officers charged with assault after allegedly injuring man during arrest

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The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident, which took place on 4 February last year

Two Victorian police officers have been charged with assault after they allegedly injured a man during an arrest.

The 58-year-old man was treated in hospital after the incident in Narre Warren South, in Melbourne’s south-east, on 4 February last year.

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Over 17,000 weapons surrendered in first year of Australian firearms amnesty

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Retrieved weapons include a Vietnam war-era flamethrower, sawn-off shotguns, rifles, gel blasters and revolvers

More than 17,000 weapons, including a Vietnam war-era flamethrower, were surrendered in the first year of Australia’s national permanent firearms amnesty.

States and territories struck an agreement with the Commonwealth in 2019 to establish an enduring amnesty allowing gun owners to hand in unregistered, illegal, or unwanted firearms without punishment or investigation.

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Tara shooting incident brings back Wieambilla memories for traumatised residents

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Four teenagers in custody after reports of shots fired in centre of Queensland town

Residents of Tara, in Queensland’s western downs, say a shooting incident on Wednesday afternoon has stoked trauma after last month’s murder of two police officers and a neighbour in nearby Wieambilla.

Four teenagers have been taken into custody after reports of shots being fired in the area at 3.30pm. Police declared an exclusion zone covering several blocks in the centre of town at 5.30pm.

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Four teenagers in custody after shots fired in southern Queensland town of Tara

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Police had declared an exclusion zone in the centre of Tara, 40km south of Wieambilla which saw a deadly ambush of police in December

Four teenagers have been taken into custody in a small town in south-east Queensland after reports of shots being fired in the area.

Police were called to reports of a shooting in Tara about 3.30pm on Wednesday and declared an exclusion zone covering several blocks in the centre of town at 5.30pm.

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Victoria rejects police calls for offence to replace public drunkenness

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Indigenous representatives celebrate decision not to replace law with police move-on powers

The daughter of Tanya Day, who died in custody after being arrested for being drunk on a train, has welcomed a decision by the Victorian government not to replace the state’s public intoxication laws with new move-on powers, despite opposition from the police union.

The government on Tuesday confirmed it would not give police any new powers to arrest people for being drunk in public once the existing offence is decriminalised in November 2023.

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Russell Hill seen ‘grumpy’ at Victorian campsite days before he and Carol Clay allegedly murdered, court told

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Witness also tells committal hearing for Greg Lynn, the man charged with their murders, that he saw a drone flying over site

A “grumpy old bugger” believed to be Russell Hill was seen speeding into a campsite in remote bushland in Victoria’s high country hours before he was allegedly murdered, a court has heard.

Hill, 74, and Carol Clay, 73, went missing in March 2020 while camping in the Wonnangatta Valley, east of Melbourne.

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Warning over tropical swimming spots after tourist swept away at Mossman Gorge

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Call for closures from water safety researchers comes as police search for woman missing in far north Queensland waterway

Experts have called for popular tropical attractions to be closed when waterways reach dangerous conditions, after an incident at waterhole in far north Queensland.

The search for a 54-year-old woman, who was swept away in distress at Mossman Gorge, 68km north-west of Cairns, entered its fourth day on Monday, with police divers scouring the water for the missing tourist. She was last seen in the water on Friday.

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‘Almost beyond comprehension’: police investigate crash that killed four people in central Victoria

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Two drivers in hospital after alleged ‘high-speed accident’ at four-way intersection near Shepparton

Police are investigating whether some passengers of a car were wearing seatbelts at the time of an alleged high-speed crash between two vehicles that resulted in the deaths of four people in central Victoria.

Those killed were passengers in a Peugeot that collided with a Toyota Hilux ute at an intersection at Pine Lodge, near Shepparton, on Wednesday afternoon.

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‘This is a tragedy’: off-duty NSW police officer rescued teenage son before drowning

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Man, 45, was caught in a rip after getting his 14-year-old son to safety at a beach on the state’s south coast

An off-duty police officer who drowned at a beach on the New South Wales south coast had swum out to rescue his own son from a “substantial” rip, police say.

The man, who has not been named, had entered the water at a beach south of Narooma after his 14-year-old son was caught in a rip on Sunday.

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Investigation to begin into ‘terrifying’ New Year’s Eve crowd crush in Melbourne

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More than 100 people were reportedly caught in a pedestrian underpass just before midnight

Authorities will investigate a “terrifying” crowd crush that occurred in a pedestrian tunnel in the centre of Melbourne on New Year’s Eve, with revellers saying they felt “totally wedged” and “couldn’t move in any direction”.

A City of Melbourne spokesperson said the council was aware of the safety concerns raised about the incident at the Elizabeth Street pedestrian underpass shortly before the midnight fireworks on Saturday.

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Advocates call for urgent action after two ‘incredibly tragic’ Aboriginal deaths in custody

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Linda Burney says rates of Indigenous incarceration and deaths in custody 30 years after royal commission are a ‘national shame’

Advocates say the “heartbreaking” deaths of two Aboriginal people in custody within days of each other in Western Australia over Christmas should jolt state and federal governments into urgent action.

A 41-year-old First Nations woman died in a Perth hospital on Christmas Eve after suffering a “medical episode” in Wandoo rehabilitation prison 13 days earlier.

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Queensland accused of ‘kneejerk’ response in announcing new penalties for young offenders

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Annastacia Palaszczuk announces ‘tougher’ youth crime penalties three days after death of Queensland woman Emma Lovell

Youth crime experts have criticised the Queensland government for announcing a suite of “tough” penalties for young offenders in response to the alleged killing of a woman in her home north of Brisbane on Boxing Day, describing it as a “kneejerk reaction” that will not reduce crime.

Annastacia Palaszczuk made the announcement on Thursday, amid media calls for action in response to the death of 41-year-old Emma Lovell.

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Queensland government defends bail laws amid concerns over youth crime after Emma Lovell’s death

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Cheryl Scanlon says youth crime is ‘complex’ while police minister says number of young people denied bail is proof of tough stance

The Queensland government is facing pressure to tighten its already strict bail laws after two teenagers were arrested for the alleged murder of 41-year-old mother Emma Lovell.

Lovell, originally from Suffolk in the UK, was stabbed in the chest at her home in North Lakes in Moreton Bay on Boxing Day, during an alleged home invasion.

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Queensland police investigate officer for allegedly allowing man to pepper spray himself at party

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Authorities did not confirm if they were charging anybody over use of the restricted spray, which was posted on social media

Queensland police are investigating an officer who allegedly provided a man with pepper spray and allowed him to deploy it on himself.

In a video seen by Guardian Australia, a sole officer stands next to a young man at a pool party and watches him handle a can of pepper spray.

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