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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.
Smoke blanketed Alice Springs and the Stuart Highway was closed to traffic for several hours on Sunday after what was reported to be a planned fuel reduction burn in Tjoritja West MacDonnell national park got out of control.
Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services (PFES) said on Sunday morning the fire was not contained on one or more fronts. The fire incident map for the area showed three separate blazes with two under control around Simpsons North and Larapinta.
Peter Dutton says he did not raise specific instances of alleged child abuse with Anthony Albanese but maintains that he raised broad concerns about assaults in Indigenous communities with the prime minister in private and in parliament.
Dutton’s comments to Sky News on Tuesday were the latest in a back-in-forth between Labor and the Coalition, with the opposition highlighting abuse and neglect in Aboriginal communities as a reason for opposing the Indigenous voice referendum.
Hospitality giant Iris Capital’s licence to sell alcohol in Alice Springs is under investigation by the Northern Territory government after police suspended trading twice in two weeks over “threats to public safety” at two of its venues.
The suspensions come after the NT Liquor Commission warned the company in early January that any further breaches “will be sternly dealt with”.
Alcohol bans are set to be reintroduced in central Australia after a snap review recommended tighter restrictions to address a surge of crime and antisocial behaviour in Alice Springs.
The measures announced Monday mean that Aboriginal people living in remote communities and town camps in the Northern Territory will not be able to buy takeaway alcohol, although communities will be able to lift the bans if 60% of residents vote in favour of an alcohol management plan.
The Northern Territory government must urgently amend its laws to impose alcohol bans in central Australian communities, including the town camps in Alice Springs, according to a snap review.
The bans would remain in place until communities have time to develop their own alcohol management plans. Once those plans are in place, communities may then opt out of the legislative restrictions.
Arrernte traditional owners are urging the prime minster to return to Alice Springs to talk to elders on the ground following his visit last week in response to a surge in crime and antisocial behaviour in the Northern Territory town.
Eastern Arrernte woman Elaine Peckham, senior Western Arrrernte woman Doreen Carroll and Southern Arrernte and Pitjantjatjara, Yankunytjatjara and Ngaanyatjarra woman Brenda Shields form part of the Strong Grandmothers of the Central Desert group, who have come together to advocate for their community and push for change.
Should governments have acted sooner on alcohol restrictions in Alice Springs?
The Northern Territory chief minister Natasha Fyles and the minister for Indigenous affairs Linda Burney have appeared on ABC Radio after the announcements in Alice Springs yesterday.
It was the previous coalition government that walked away and left the Northern Territory with no measures.
I had expressed that there needs to be some very, very real thoughts put into our alcohol restrictions.
Do you think it took too long?
Look, I’m not going to get into whether they’ve taken too long, If you ask the people in Alice Springs, the answer might be yes.
I went to Stuart Park last night and met with local people living in town camps ... many of who had obviously experienced violence. And one of the things that really shocked me is, I was talking to the local member Marion Scrymgour who had visited the hospital and there are 16 beds in ICU, 14 of those were taken by Aboriginal women who had been beaten ... I think alcohol is one of the major contributors to some of the problems.
It’s about balance – but being able to drink is not more important than being safe, in my view.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is heaping pressure on Anthony Albanese over law and order issues in Alice Springs.
Dutton told Nine’s Today Show:
I was really shocked when I went up there in October. I spoke to a number of ... public servants who are at breaking point from what they’re seeing and experiencing. I said to the PM we would support whatever measure the government would take, whether it needed legislation, additional resources, additional money going into the Northern Territory. It was clear speaking with Indigenous elders and women on the ground and business owners this issue was completely beyond the capacity and resources of the Northern Territory government.
The prime minister, you know, was very critical of Scott Morrison at the time for not standing up [during natural disasters] ... I was hoping that the prime minister would take up the offer [to visit Alice Springs together] because it does require both sides to stand shoulder-to-shoulder and that’s what we’re offering to do.
If there is a strong Indigenous voice coming out of the Northern Territory at the moment that they wanted prime minister to lead, to act and to help them out, but the prime minister is not listening to that voice, then I think most Australians would say: why not?
It’s got to be a partnership between the feds and the state. No one is saying it should just be the Northern Territory government left to deal with it.
The highway patrol vehicle followed and in an attempt to pull that vehicle over. At the time the vehicle did not stop. And the police activated all their warning devices and a pursuit was commenced.
The vehicle travelled for approximately 2km north along Centenary Drive, at which point it continued at high speed, and when taking the corner into the on-ramp for the westbound M4, collided with the railing. And as a result of the collision, the vehicle travelling at high speed landed upside down after travelling through the bush onto the M4 upside down and burst into flames.
Northern Territory police minister warns businesses to self-regulate or authorities will toughen laws to help curb rising street crime and family violence
The Northern Territory government has told alcohol retailers in the troubled central Australian town of Alice Springs they need to limit grog sales to help put a lid on spiralling harms, street crime and family violence, or it will step in and toughen up the laws.
The NT police minister, Kate Worden, issued the ultimatum after meeting with the town’s social order response team (SORT), made up of police, local council, business and community leaders, on Friday.
Federal Labor MP Marion Scrymgour says a Northern Territory government plan to take unsupervised children off the streets at night is “putting a Band-Aid on the situation” and she is calling for traditional owners “to show leadership on the issue”.
Scrymgour has raised concerns about the proposal in which children undertaking “risky” behaviour in Alice Springs at night would be taken into custody for assessment, and removed from their families if they are found to be continuously unsupervised.
A Northern Territory police officer who fatally shot Kumanjayi Walker bragged about injuring a man wrongly suspected of escaping custody, an inquest has heard.
Walker, 19, died after Constable Zachary Rolfe shot him three times during a botched arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, on 9 November 2019.
A senior Northern Territory police officer has told an inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker that he attended a gathering at the house of the officer who shot the Warlpiri teenager because he was concerned about his welfare.
Constable Zachary Rolfe shot 19-year-old Walker three times during an attempted arrest in Yuendumu, north-west of Alice Springs, in November 2019. Rolfe was found not guilty of murder and two alternative charges after a six-week trial earlier this year.
The superintendent formerly in charge of central desert remote communities has told an inquest into the police shooting death of 19-year-old Warlpiri man Kumanjayi Walker that racism is a “broader” issue within the Northern Territory police force.
Walker was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe during an attempted arrest by the immediate response team in Yuendumu in November 2019.
A police officer involved in the attempt to arrest Kumanjayi Walker before his death has told a court he was “surprised” other officers had not used their guns when the Warlpiri man threatened them with an axe during a seperate incident days earlier.
Remote Sgt Adam Eberl was the other officer in the room when Constable Zachary Rolfe shot dead Walker on 9 November 2019 in the remote community of Yuendumu, about 300km from Alice Springs.
New South Wales recorded 24 new cases of Covid, including an aged care worker believed to be unvaccinated and a second healthcare worker, as the state’s coronavirus outbreak rose to 195.
The premier, Gladys Berejiklian, expressed concern that “around half” of the new cases on Thursday were out in the community while infectious and urged anyone with symptoms to get tested and isolate.
Gladys Berejiklian says half of new cases were active in the community while infectious; Simon Birmingham admits Australia is ‘back of the queue’ for Pfizer vaccines; Atagi co-chair says AstraZeneca should only be used by under-40s in ‘pressing’ circumstances; Follow latest updates
Ahead of the daily health press conference in Victoria, premier Daniel Andrews has said he is “determined” to avoid another lockdown in the state, and part of that will be arguing in national cabinet on Friday for a reduction in the number of people able to return through hotel quarantine.
He repeated that it was better to lock out a small number of people than lock down whole cities or states, particularly while Victoria will not have a dedicated quarantine facility up and running in Mickleham until January.
Talk to your doctor, talk to your pharmacist. They’re the people to talk to, because whether it’s Atagi or others, there can be very broad statements made. Safety is always a concern – they are risk averse, they need to be. But everyone’s individual circumstances are different, and many people come to this question of ‘should I, shouldn’t I’ when, what vaccine with pre-existing conditions, with all sorts of other issues. So the best thing to do is not to be getting your epidemiological or your vaccination advice from politicians.
Talk to your GP, that’s what I would ask Victorians to do.
NSW police commissioner Mick Fuller is up now:
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
In the last 24 hours, 65 personnel infringement notices were issued. One of those of concern was a hairdresser in Auburn in the shopping area of Auburn.
What police will be doing is matching our taskings to those areas and places of concern on the health website, but in particular today I want to send a very clear message that we will double our efforts in terms of visibility and compliance in south-western Sydney, in particular, around that Auburn, Bankstown area, in those shopping areas, the central business areas, and also back to the eastern suburbs as well. The message is quite clear – police continue to be visible in the community, on public transport. We are stopping and proposing many people and, again, it is just disappointing that infringements continue to be issued.
Hockridge was one of three people to go missing in the Northern Territory outback two weeks ago, but her companions were both rescued in recent days
Searchers have found a body believed to be Claire Hockridge, who has been missing in the Northern Territory outback for two weeks.
Hockridge was in a group of three people who became stranded in the central Australian outback a fortnight ago, but her partner, Tamra McBeath-Riley, and their friend Phu Tran, were both rescued in the last few days.