Category Archives: Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

Media hysteria around Sofronoff report fuelled ‘mob mentality’, Bruce Lehrmann prosecutor Drumgold says

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Exclusive: Former ACT director of public prosecutions plans to return to NSW bar after painful experience of losing his ‘dream job’

The ACT’s former director of public prosecutions Shane Drumgold believes “something went terribly wrong” with the Sofronoff report on Bruce Lehrmann’s prosecution, which resulted in Drumgold losing his “dream job”, a court battle over its findings and a subsequent integrity commission investigation.

Drumgold says media “hysteria” into the report’s findings fuelled a mob mentality against him, in what he described as a “terribly painful process”.

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Labor retains power in ACT election as swing goes to independents

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ABC election pundit Antony Green calls win for Labor-Greens coalition on Saturday night

Australia’s “for ever government” has lived up to its name, with Labor retaining power to extend its record reign in the ACT beyond a quarter of a century.

The ACT Labor leader, Andrew Barr, already the longest-serving political leader in the country, fended off a negative swing and an independent surge to win his third election as chief minister.

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Flipping out: ACT Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee apologises for giving journalist middle finger on eve of election

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Elizabeth Lee gave one-fingered salute to reporter after leaders’ debate with chief minister Andrew Barr

The ACT Liberal leader, Elizabeth Lee, has apologised for raising her middle finger at a journalist after a heated news conference days out from the territory election, explaining it as a “moment of frustration” on the campaign trail.

The moment, captured by cameras at the news conference as the opposition leader walked off, was branded “extraordinary” by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles.

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Canberra Liberal apologises for writing book that paints rosy colonisation picture and skips frontier wars

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One exercise in History of Australia, a student workbook and teaching manual, asks pupils to discuss how Aboriginal people were ‘blessed’ by the British coming

Peter Cain, the ACT’s shadow attorney general, has apologised “wholeheartedly” for a 2002 workbook he wrote which does not mention the frontier wars and paints a rosy picture of how Christian settlers helped First Nations peoples.

In History of Australia, a student workbook and teacher’s manual published by Light Educational Ministries, Cain wrote that when the British arrived, “some were afraid of the Aboriginals; some treated them badly”.

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Weekend cold front to bring hail, snow and chilly winds to parts of east coast

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BoM modelling shows chance of above average rainfall for eastern states in coming months, and high bushfire risk for parts of NT and Queensland

A cold snap will hit Australia’s south-east over the weekend, with cool winds and rain sweeping up through Tasmania to Brisbane from Friday evening.

Victoria will face chilly weather, showers and potential thunderstorms on Saturday, with Melbourne expecting up to 10mm of rain and potential hail amid daytime temperatures of just 12C.

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Senator gives evidence at defamation trial – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

For more on this, Daniel Hurst looked into the issue yesterday. A spokesperson for the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, had said the government was “firmly committed to minimising harms from online wagering”.

The government continues to engage with stakeholders regarding the recommendations from the online wagering inquiry as we formulate our response.

I hope that’s not the case. I hope the long consultation is because the government’s actually going to do the right thing and make gambling ads history, just like we did with tobacco. We live in hope it’s not too late, but the rumors are not encouraging.

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ACT moves to protect dingoes after genetic study into animals in Namadgi national park

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There’s officially just one classification for ‘wild dogs/dingoes’, which lists them as pests

The Australian Capital Territory has taken steps to recognise dingoes as a distinct species in need of protection after DNA research found a population of up to 400 pure dingoes in Namadgi national park.

But farmers worry the change will hamper their efforts to protect their livestock.

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‘False phone calls’ diverted police from Gaza war protest at Parliament House, AFP chief alleges

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Australian federal police commissioner says force is investigating whether ‘diversionary tactics’ were used while activists allegedly trespassed on roof

The Australian federal police are investigating whether “diversionary tactics” were used to distract police as four people allegedly trespassed onto Parliament House’s roof to protest the war in Gaza.

On Thursday, the AFP’s commissioner, Reece Kershaw, told a Senate estimates hearing the protest was “premeditated” and he considered the diversionary tactics, which allegedly distracted police to other incidents inside and away from Parliament House, a “criminal act”.

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Pro-Palestine protesters scale roof of Australia’s Parliament House to unfurl banners criticising war in Gaza

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Call for investigation into security breach after parliament partly locked down as activists reveal banner declaring ‘war crimes … enabled here’

Some areas of Australia’s federal parliament were locked down as pro-Palestine protesters climbed on to the roof of the building in Canberra and unfurled a banner declaring “war crimes … enabled here”.

Thursday’s protest focused on the war in Gaza appeared to be coordinated with other actions highlighting the climate crisis and Indigenous rights.

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Federal court dismisses defamation claim by AFP officers against Shane Drumgold

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Officers had sought $1.42m in damages, claiming former ACT chief prosecutor defamed them in complaint about Bruce Lehrmann prosecution

The federal court has dismissed a defamation case brought by a group of Australian federal police officers against the former ACT top prosecutor Shane Drumgold.

On Tuesday a court registrar dismissed the case, which had sought $1.42m in damages, alleging that Drumgold defamed the officers in a written complaint about their handling of the Bruce Lehrmann prosecution.

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Only 20 doctors listing fees on Australian government’s $24m medical costs comparison website

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Disclosure in Senate estimates comes in response to David Pocock’s questions about ‘astounding’ out of pocket fees for private surgery in ACT

Only 20 doctors are disclosing their fees on the federal government’s $24m medical costs comparison website, despite the health department encouraging patients to shop around for affordable specialist care.

The Medical Costs Finder website was a $2.5m initiative launched in 2019 by the former Coalition government to help patients find and understand typical costs for private procedures.

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ANU warns of potential breaches if pro-Palestinian encampments aren’t dismantled

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Comes after Deakin University similarly requested that student protesters remove camps

The Australian National University has become the second to request pro-Palestine students disband their on-campus encampments, as the National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) backed the protesters.

On Wednesday morning, a small group of students attended a meeting with management at the ANU in Canberra, where they said they were advised to disband their camps by Friday or risk breaching the university’s code of conduct.

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ACT watchdog to investigate if Walter Sofronoff acted corruptly by leaking Lehrmann trial report

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The former Queensland judge leaked his own report to an ABC journalist and The Australian newspaper’s Janet Albrechtsen

The ACT’s integrity watchdog will investigate whether Walter Sofronoff acted corruptly by leaking his final report on the Bruce Lehrmann trial to select journalists ahead of its official release.

On Monday, a statement confirmed the ACT integrity commissioner, Michael Adams, would launch an investigation “into the impugned conduct as [the commissioner] suspects, on reasonable grounds, that Mr Sofronoff’s conduct may constitute corrupt conduct”.

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Police arrest Sydney man for blackmail over major data breach affecting up to 1 million NSW and ACT residents

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IT provider Outabox, used by dozens of hospitality venues, blamed an ‘unauthorised third party’ for the breach

Police have arrested a Sydney man they expect to charge with blackmail as they investigate a major data breach that saw personal details for up to 1 million New South Wales and ACT residents shared online.

NSW police officers have been working with state, federal and international agencies as they investigate the major breach that is believed to be either blackmail or corporate sabotage after data was published this week.

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Bruce Lehrmann to pay Peter FitzSimons thousands in legal costs

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Lehrmann will pay the columnist $4,616 to cover cost of producing documents during failed defamation case against Channel Ten and Lisa Wilkinson

Bruce Lehrmann has agreed to pay the columnist and author Peter FitzSimons’ costs for complying with a subpoena during Lehrmann’s failed defamation proceedings against Network Ten and former Project presenter Lisa Wilkinson.

Lehrmann lost his defamation case against Network Ten and Wilkinson in the federal court earlier this month. Justice Michael Lee found on the balance of probabilities that Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019. Lehrmann has consistently denied the allegation and pleaded not guilty at the criminal trial into the matter which was aborted due to juror misconduct.

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Parliament rape claim was true, judge rules in case that gripped Australia

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Defamation trial judge satisfied, on balance of probabilities, that Bruce Lehrmann raped colleague Brittany Higgins in 2019

For years, the Australian public has been fascinated by a rape allegation in Parliament House that embroiled government ministers, media personalities and political staff in multiple complicated legal and civil battles.

The saga reached a climax on Monday when Justice Michael Lee declared he was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Bruce Lehrmann raped his then colleague Brittany Higgins in 2019.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial live updates: verdict an ‘unmitigated disaster’ for Lehrmann, Ten lawyer says; Wilkinson says she ‘published a true story about rape’

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Justice Lee finds Ten’s defence of truth successful after Lehrmann sued the network and journalist Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court of Australia for defamation. Follow the latest news and updates from the judgment today

Bruce Lehrmann and Lisa Wilkinson have both arrived into courtroom one on the 21st level of the federal court building in central Sydney.

Lehrmann is sitting at the bench, alongside his legal team, while Wilkinson is sitting on the other side of the courtroom in the front row of the gallery, in a row of red reserved seats.

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Bruce Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House, judge finds on balance of probabilities

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Justice Michael Lee finds former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Ten in interview with Brittany Higgins in February 2021

Bruce Lehrmann has lost his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, bringing to an end a sprawling legal saga which has gripped the nation.

In a live oral summary that took two and a half hours, Justice Michael Lee said the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Wilkinson and Ten when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins on Monday 15 February 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.

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Brittany Higgins questions whether she was drugged on night of alleged rape in new court submission

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Higgins says any question about her evidence in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case should take into account her trauma and the possibility she may have been drugged

Brittany Higgins has told the federal court the suggestion by an AFP officer that she might have been drugged on the night she was allegedly raped should have been raised in the defamation trial.

Higgins filed a seven-page submission to the court on Tuesday after being invited by Justice Michael Lee last week to make final submissions concerning her credit before the judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson is handed down on Monday.

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Bruce Lehrmann defamation trial: judge to hand down verdict on Monday

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Federal court announces a new date for the decision after original date delayed by fresh evidence

Justice Michael Lee will deliver his judgment in the defamation case Bruce Lehrmann brought against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson in the federal court in Sydney on Monday.

The federal court announced the date for the decision on Tuesday, more than three months after the five-week trial ended on 22 December and four days after the final hearing of additional evidence last week.

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