What we learned today, Sunday 28 April
We will now wrap the blog for the evening. Thanks for reading.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Fowler MP, Dai Le, said a conversation needs to be had about what constitutes “terrorism” after a 16-year-old boy was charged with terror-related offences following a stabbing attack at a church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said violence against women was a “national shame”.
A man was charged with murder after he allegedly assaulted a woman and set their Perth home alight before fleeing.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said women have had enough of being outraged and that action, not a royal commission, was needed to tackle gender-based violence.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, was heckled by protesters for government inaction over violence against women.
Enjoy these last hours of the weekend.
Updated
Priest injured in Wakeley church stabbing joins congregation for Palm Sunday
Father Isaac Royel, a priest who was injured in a stabbing attack in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley, was back at work on Sunday two weeks after the incident took place.
The priest, who was injured alongside Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel two weeks ago, was part of the congregation commemorating Palm Sunday, which marks the beginning of Holy Week, the final week of lent before Orthodox Easter, the Daily Telegraph reports.
Bishop Emmanuel was not in attendance and is still recovering.
Daniel Kochou, secretary to the Bishop, who led the Sunday service, told the Telegraph he did not know whether the Bishop was well enough to return or whether he would come back on a full-time basis.
People are a little shaken but the other thing is, most of our people are Iraqi or Syrian born so they’re used to conflict.
Their faith is strong.
Updated
Albanese: All governments must do more to curb violence against women
More from Anthony Albanese at the No More rally. He confirmed a national cabinet meeting on Wednesday - we’re told that violence against women will be the sole item on the agenda.
Albanese told the rally:
We’re here today to demand that governments of all levels must do better, including my own, including every state and territory government.
Society and Australia must do better. We need to change the culture and we need to change attitudes. We need to change the legal system.
It’s not enough to support victims. We need to focus on the perpetrators, focus on prevention.
Updated
PM heckled by protestors for government inaction over violence against women
Albanese has now been granted a chance to speak, after the organisers said they weren’t sure whether they wanted the government to speak at all. It is a tense scene, as some in the crowd heckle the government for not doing enough about men’s violence.
Albanese claims the organisers told his office that they didn’t want him to speak, a claim the rally organiser immediately denied.
It’s up to men to change men’s behaviour as well.
Albanese says it is up to all governments to do better, including his own. The PM says he will convene an urgent national cabinet meeting on Wednesday to discuss issues with state and territory leaders.
Albanese lists the actions of his government including family violence payments and housing support. There are loud calls in the crowd for the government to do more.
Someone calls out:
We want action.
Albanese finishes his speech and is whisked into a waiting car to leave the scene.
Updated
‘Why are you even here?’: Labor ministers heckled at Canberra rally against men’s violence
At Parliament House, the Canberra rally of the No More movement against men’s violence has drawn several thousand to the house’s front lawn. Speeches have begun, with the PM, Anthony Albanese, the minister for women, Katy Gallagher, and the social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, in the crowd.
The first speaker and rally organiser, Sarah Williams, began her address by sharing her experiences of domestic violence.
In front of the crowd, she is now challenging the government to commit to changes, including declaring violence against women a national emergency. She is asking Albanese and the ministers to give a thumbs up from the crowd to make that commitment – the ministers look visibly uncomfortable at the public challenge, resisting giving any response. They also resisted a request to come to the front of the rally.
There is some light booing and heckling in the crowd at the lack of response from Albanese and his ministers.
“Why are you even here?” one woman calls from the crowd.
“Shame on you,” calls another.
Walk the walk, don’t just talk the talk.
We want action.
Updated
South Australia mulls new penalties for animal cruelty
Fines up to $250,000 or 10 years’ jail are being flagged as punishments as part of proposed changes to the state’s Animal Welfare Act.
Present laws have a $50,000 maximum fine or four years’ jail for the aggravated ill treatment of an animal.
Corporations found guilty of mistreating animals could be fined of up to $1 million as part of the proposed changes.
South Australia’s Deputy Premier Susan Close said the reforms aimed to ensure the treatment of animals matched community expectations.
Most people show great care towards animals but those who deliberately mistreat them deserve to face serious consequences.
I encourage people to have their say on the final amendments so that we can work together to protect animals across South Australia.
The proposed changes, which will be released for community consultation on Monday, also include a new “duty of care” provision, requiring owners to provide animals with a minimum level of care such as adequate food and water.
The provision gives an opportunity for authorities to address neglect before an animal is harmed.
South Australia would recognise fish as animals under the act to stop deliberate cruelty such as cutting the fins off live sharks.
Another alteration would be to recognise interstate animal cruelty bans before potential animal abusers have the chance to act in the state.
- AAP
Wildlife hospital gets boost for koala conservation
Sick and injured koalas will receive more care with a dedicated centre to care for the depleted marsupial population.
The NSW government will spend $4.5m to establish the centre at the Wildlife Health and Conservation hospital in south-western Sydney.
Koalas were heavily affected by the black summer bushfires, with 17% of the state’s population lost in the disaster.
The environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the funding would bolster koala rescue, rehabilitation and conservation efforts.
Safeguarding these koalas is vital.
We want future generations to be able to step into bushland in south-western Sydney and see koalas in the wild.
Koalas Mack and Gage have been in the care of the Wildlife Health and Conservation hospital since 2023.
Macklin, an orphaned female joey, was found at the base of a tree in Sydney’s south-west in July 2023.
Three months later, Gage was found in the same area after his mother was hit by a car.
The pair are being released back into the wild on Sunday, following their rehabilitation.
- AAP
Updated
‘It’s a pretty simple message’: PM makes appearance at Canberra rally against gendered violence
Canberra’s “No More” rally against men’s violence has drawn several thousand people, including prime minister Anthony Albanese and senior ministers, to march to Parliament House.
The PM was met by numerous rally participants who wanted to call for more action on domestic violence from the government. Speaking to one woman about the issue, Albanese said simply: “We’re over it.”
To another woman, holding a sign saying “stop killing women”, Albanese said: “It’s a pretty simple message.”
The PM said “the whole government” was united in a push to do more on the issue.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, was by Albanese’s side, telling one woman she was concerned about online influencers like Andrew Tate promoting inappropriate messages to young men.
You worry about what your kids will accidentally stumble on.
Another woman expressed major concerns to the PM and Rishworth about coercive control, calling for messages about that issue to be taught to children in primary school
We need to get parents interested in this.
The rally will move to Parliament House where more speakers are expected to address the crowds this afternoon.
Updated
Guardian Australia’s political reporter Josh Butler is on site at the Canberra rally against domestic violence where the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is present along with other Labor MPs.
PM Albanese at Canberra's No More rally against men's violence, with a number of Labor MPs
— Josh Butler (@JoshButler) April 28, 2024
Numerous rally attendees have approached to ask the govenment to do more on domestic violence, coercive control, online issues pic.twitter.com/dN36aF9En9
Updated
Victorian premier says she determined MP’s behaviour did not meet standards required under code of conduct
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has faced questions over Labor MP Darren Cheeseman who has resigned from his parliamentary secretary role following allegations of inappropriate workplace behaviour.
On Friday, Allan said she had requested the South Barwon MP’s resignation from his senior role after allegations of “persistent, inappropriate behaviour in the workplace towards staff”. Allan said Cheeseman would remain a member of the parliamentary Labor party.
Speaking to reporters, Allan says the ministerial code of conduct requires “higher standards” for ministers and parliamentary secretaries:
The allegations were put were in the context of the ministerial code of conduct that I am responsible for enforcing.
Those allegations were looked at, and it was my determination that the behaviour did not meet the standards required under the ministerial code of conduct, which is why his resignation was requested.
Allan says senior staff in her office briefed her about the allegations on Wednesday evening before she asked Cheeseman to resign on Friday.
Cheeseman has been contacted for comment.
Updated
Man charged over Central Coast crime spree
A man has been charged with 20 offences following a rampage on the New South Wales Central Coast yesterday.
Police responded to an alleged armed robbery in Wyong at 10pm on Friday night where they were told a man left with cash.
The man was last seen driving away in a stolen car to the M1 near Ourimbah.
A police operation then tracked the man as he allegedly engaged in a string of break-ins and thefts, including stealing a car with a woman still inside.
Police have been told the man allowed the woman to get out of the car at Kangy Angy before driving away.
A chase ended when a police car was rammed at Ourimbah at 11am.
A 54-year-old Tuggerawong man was arrested just after midnight on Saturday and taken to Wyong hospital under police guard where he was treated for minor injuries.
He has been charged with several offences, including use of an offensive weapon with intent to commit indictable offence, robbery armed with offensive weapon, aggravated break and enter and impersonating a police officer.
Updated
The Queensland premier Steven Miles has made his presence known as the anti-domestic violence rally gets going in Brisbane.
Enough is enough.
— Steven Miles (@StevenJMiles) April 28, 2024
Violence against women has to stop.
It’s not a female problem – it’s a male problem.
Men: talk to your mates.
If you see something wrong, speak up.
My government will do everything we can to end this scourge. pic.twitter.com/Na0maP9I9A
Proud to stand with so many Queenslanders who marched for justice today. pic.twitter.com/N276OmX1eo
— Steven Miles (@StevenJMiles) April 28, 2024
Updated
Auction clearance rate slips to 72.9% across Australia
Auction activity has remained stable this weekend with 1,902 auctions due to be held. This is almost equal to the 1,90o held last week and a modest gain on the 1,739 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.
Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found the preliminary clearance rate was 72.9% across the country, lower than the 74.4% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 66.2% actual rate on final numbers.
Across the capital cities:
Sydney: 469 of 657 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.3%
Melbourne: 603 of 849 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 69.8%
Brisbane: 106 0f 168 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 71.7%
Adelaide: 72 of 135 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.4%
Canberra: 49 of 49 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 63.3%
Tasmania: One of two auctions held.
Perth: Ten of 15 auctions held.
Updated
Retail trading, property data due for release, this week
Fresh retail trading data due this week will show how Australian consumers are coping with the high cost of living.
The Tuesday dataset for March from the Australian Bureau of Statistics follows a lacklustre 0.3 per cent increase in February, in part supported by Taylor Swift concerts.
Consumers have been under pressure from higher interest rates, elevated but slowing inflation and an increasing tax burden.
Selected cost-of-living indexes expected from the ABS this week will illustrate the impact of higher prices on different household types.
However, the tough economic climate and cash-strapped households have not been enough to stop property prices rising.
The April update to real estate data firm CoreLogic’s home value index, due on Wednesday, will follow a 0.6 per cent rise in March, on a par with February’s increase.
Prices rose in every capital city except Darwin over the month, with the biggest increases recorded in Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane.
More housing-related data is scheduled later in the week, with building approvals for March due on Thursday.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers will deliver an address on the state of the domestic and international economy at the Lowy Institute on Wednesday.
The treasurer will hand down his third budget on 14 May.
- AAP
Updated
Burrup campaigners say WA premier may have defamed activists who interrupted Woodside AGM
Campaign group Disrupt Burrup Hub says Western Australian premier Roger Cook may have defamed two activists who interrupted the Woodside annual general meeting on Wednesday.
Three activists, including two 17-year-olds, invoked the names of the Woodside CEO and chair in urging the executives to think about the future impacts of continued oil and gas extraction.
Following the incident, Cook held a press conference on Friday where he made a series of statements about the activists that the activist group says are untrue.
These comments were then quoted in The West Australian, which the campaign group says failed to include the group’s response to the statements in their subsequent reporting.
A spokesperson for Disrupt Burrup Hub says the activists involved made no threats, “either direct or otherwise” and group is now consulting lawyers about whether the premier defamed the activists.
The West Australian made a very foolish editorial choice to uncritically print false statements from the WA Premier while refusing to include any right of response to the teenage targets of his potentially defamatory threats.
The West Australian Premier would want to be very careful about false claims regarding threats based on recorded statements that directly disprove his claims. We are consulting our lawyers.
The spokesperson says the entire incident was recorded on published video.
Updated
Victoria’s Allan agrees action, not royal commission, needed on gender-based violence
A reporter asks the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, about the federal government’s decision not to back a national royal commission into gender-based violence. The federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, this week ruled out holding a federal royal commission into domestic violence, saying the government should instead focus on implementing policies it has already identified.
Allan says she supports the Albanese government’s decision:
What we want to do is take action. We’ve had a royal commission here in Victoria, Australia’s first ever royal commission in Victoria. It laid down the pathway for further investment for further reform of the sector.
We can take that action much more quickly than undertaking another royal commission which is why I support the position of the federal government on this matter.
Updated
Name of Melbourne woman killed in light plane crash confirmed by family
A Melbourne woman has been named as one of two people killed after a powered glider crashed near an airport in Victoria’s alpine region.
Kate Callingham, 39, died when the light aircraft crashed on Saturday afternoon, her family confirmed in a statement.
Callingham was described as a “beloved partner, mother, daughter and friend, and a keen-minded leader in the arts and cultural life in Melbourne”.
Emergency services were called to the incident at Mount Beauty, north of Falls Creek, after 1.40pm on Saturday.
A Victoria Police spokesperson said:
It is believed the pair were flying over Embankment Drive when the aircraft crashed about 1.45pm.
For more on this story, read the full report:
Updated
Police investigating shootings in potential mistaken identity case
Police are investigating two shootings that took place at the same house weeks apart.
The first shooting took place shortly before 6pm on Sunday, 13 April 2024 at a family home in Blacktown in New South Wales.
The house was occupied at the time but no one was injured.
On Saturday night the same home came under fire again, with several shots were fired into it.
Five people were inside but no one was injured.
Police have seized a Ford Ranger for forensic examination and crime scenes have been established.
It is understood the family is a victim of mistaken identity and have asked the perpetrators to stop before someone is hurt.
Updated
Payslip wars: Australian jobseekers suffer harassment in ‘a crazy system’
A former employee of one of Australia’s biggest job network providers has spoken up about the extreme methods they use to claim public money when jobseekers find employment.
One researcher calls the process – supposedly designed to help people enter the workforce or increase their hours – a “crazy system that doesn’t work for anyone”.
Jobseekers must sign up with a private job provider to receive Centrelink benefits, which they can continue to claim if they have work but are earning below a certain threshold.
The providers can claim “outcome payments” when a client on their books has completed four, 12 and 26 weeks of employment, regardless of whether the client or provider found the job, using payslips as proof of the client’s employment. In 2022-23 providers received $329m in outcome payments.
But jobseekers, employers and former staff at the providers say the requirement to obtain payslips has led providers to put unreasonable pressure on clients – who are not obliged to hand over the information – and employers.
In some cases providers trying to obtain payslips have forced jobseekers’ Centrelink payments to be suspended.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia reporter Cait Kelly:
Updated
Victorian premier: Women have had enough of being angry, outraged, sad
Speaking to reporters at a press conference after the rally, Victorian premier Jacinta Allan thanks protesters who attended the marches across Australia:
Women deserve the right to be safe in every space and we are seeing, continuously, too many women are losing their lives.
There were women at the march today, like me, we’ve been marching on this issue for decades and decades and decades. We’ve had enough ... we’ve had enough of being angry and outraged and sad and grieving for women who’ve lost their lives, for women who have been seriously injured, for women who are too traumatised to participate in the workplace, to participate as members of our community.
Updated
More funding needed for family, sexual violence services, women’s advocates say
The federal attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, and the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, have joined thousands in Melbourne to rally against gender-based violence.
Thousands of Victorians gathered outside the Melbourne State Library before marching to Federation Square.
A series of national rallies, organised by non-profit group What Were You Wearing, is calling for boosted funding for family and sexual violence service and for Anthony Albanese to declare the violence a national emergency.
This year, 26 Australian women have been killed – a rate of one death every four days – according to data compiled by advocacy group Destroy the Joint’s project Counting Dead Women.
In one of the latest cases, on Tuesday, emergency services discovered the body of Emma Bates, 49, in Cobram, in northern Victoria.
Updated
Calls for better regulation of pornography, tech to stem violence against women
A rally against domestic violence in Melbourne has heard calls for prosecution for any breach of an intervention order, demands for deep cultural change and questions about the role technology is playing in facilitating abuse.
One speaker says technology isn’t creating the problem but it is used by perpetrators of violence against women.
We are seeing sextortion, coercion. Some of our clients are talking about how their images of being sexually assaulted are being shared online. It’s illegal.
The rally heard also that innovative approaches to regulating pornography should be considered, such as age-requirements to access it.
There was also criticism of the Victorian state government for failing to roll out a state-wide sexual assault strategy, first recommended in 2021.
We need to help people who think what happened to them is their fault. Make sense that it’s because of our community and our structures that what they experienced happened to them. So we want the strategy, we want better funding to our service system so we don’t have waitlists, so we can be innovative, creative and responsive in how we respond to people who contact our service, not just 9 to 5. And not telling people will get to you in six months.
Updated
Big crowds have gathered in Melbourne to protest domestic violence:
Melbourne rally against domestic violence #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/2nA59LTEpU
— MDmelb (@DmelbM) April 28, 2024
Victorians against gender-based violence marching in Melbourne #EnoughIsEnough #auspol #springst pic.twitter.com/9PCpPvSQJt
— Stella Yee (@Stella4Menzies) April 28, 2024
Updated
Perth man charged with woman’s murder
A man has been charged with murder after he allegedly assaulted a woman and set their Perth home alight before fleeing.
Firefighters were called to the Warnbro home in Perth’s southern suburbs early on Friday, where the 30-year-old woman’s body was discovered.
Police allege the 35-year-old man had assaulted the woman sometime prior to 1am at the home where they both lived.
He set the house alight, fleeing the property with the woman’s three-year-old child and leaving the victim inside, police allege.
Paramedics took the toddler to Rockingham Hospital for treatment of smoke inhalation.
The home sustained minimal damage in the blaze.
The man was charged with murder and criminal damage by fire.
He is expected to appear in Perth Magistrates Court on Sunday.
- AAP
Updated
Western Australia drought could be ‘nail in the coffin’ for many farmers
Record-breaking drought conditions, soaring feed costs and plummeting confidence in the livestock export industry could be the “nail in the coffin” for many Western Australian farmers.
Large parts of the state’s fertile southwest have recorded their lowest rainfall in more than 50 years over the past eight months, depleting dams and ground feed at a time when grain and fodder supplies were already low.
WA Farmers livestock president Geoff Pearson says the situation is “critical”.
There’s no rain on the horizon for the next six to eight weeks of any substance, which is going to cause some reasonable issues.
We’ve been caught out ... and it’s putting a lot of pressure on us.
Some livestock producers “have pushed the button” and are de-stocking their properties amid soaring feed costs.
But livestock prices have fallen by up to 75% compared with previous years.
The WA government on Friday announced $8.6m to support farmers, with $2m in hardship grants and $4m in interest-free loans for those affected by drought.
A further $1.5m has been promised to bolster community water infrastructure, with $875,000 for mental health and community wellbeing programs, and $225,000 for rural assistance charities.
Primary producers can apply for short-term loans up to $25,000 per business to cover the cost of stock feed, water and transportation.
- AAP
Updated
Men must be involved in stopping violence against women, Rishworth says
Amanda Rishworth says the government is setting up its new national perpetrator risk assessment framework to encourage early intervention to “break the cycle of violence”.
She says it is a tool service providers or similar organisations can use to identify “how risky a perpetrator could be at offending” which would then lead to interventions in an effort to change that behaviour.
Asked why Australia, “an affluent, educated, progressive nation”, is “still seeing so much violence inflicted on women in this day and age”, she says:
It is incredibly frustrating and incredibly baffling so we do need to look at how we include men in this conversation. There are a lot of men marching today that would like to see the end to violence against women and children and so it is about, how do our leaders, whether they be women or men, show leadership in this area? How do we give men the confidence to call out if they see disrespectful behaviour? If they see harmful attitudes that condone violence, how do we give them the tools and the confidence to call that out?
The minister directs people to visit the Stop It At The Start website for more information .
Rishworth says she will attend the rally in Canberra on Sunday.
This is a really important moment. I hope it continues the conversation but I would say we need to keep the attention on this in a sustained way if we want to see the end goal of ending violence against women and children in a generation.
Updated
Early intervention programs won’t deliver results immediately, Rishworth says
Rishworth is pressed about whether the money spent to date is having an effect and what can be done to get state governments to do more.
She says the states and territories have signed up to the federal government’s national plan, which was formulated by various teams, including survivors.
I have to say when it comes to prevention and early intervention, some of the results of those types of programs will take some time to see. Just one example, is a program … working with adolescent men that may have come into contact with violence, particularly family and domestic violence in the past, and to support and work with them to make sure we are ending the cycle. The result of that will take some time but it doesn’t mean that urgent attention doesn’t need to be focused to deliver [those results].
Updated
Violence against women a ‘national shame’, says social services minister Rishworth
The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, says violence against women is “a national shame” that has “been at crisis levels for some time”.
Speaking to the ABC, Rishworth says the problem has “been pervasive throughout our community and through our society for too long”.
It has to stop. We have to all work together to put an end to violence against women and children. I would like to see both persistent and consistent attention to this and absolutely sustained effort in addressing what is a national shame.
The minister says the government has spent $2.3b in its first two budgets to address family and domestic vehicles, which includes funding for prevention, early intervention, response and healing and recovery.
Part of our response is a commitment to frontline workers. That funding is in the budget, of course; we are not as the Commonwealth, responsible for frontline workers. That money has been transferred … to states and territories to put on those workers. The numbers increase every week. And to the frontline workers being put on as a part of that, I expect we will meet our targets.
Updated
Crowds are beginning to gather in Melbourne for a rally against gender-based violence.
As hundreds of people gather, her a few photos from social media:
Some of the signs at the Melbourne Rally #EnoughIsEnough pic.twitter.com/pVfXxTt6ri
— Lisa Greenough (@LisaGreenough) April 28, 2024
The Melbourne rally - waves of people. pic.twitter.com/Ncs33eC7zW
— Anth 🌏 (@anth0888) April 27, 2024
Updated
The demise of Twitter: How a ‘utopian vision’ for social media became a ‘toxic mess’
If anything is emblematic of the demise of Twitter, it is the rise and stall of the account of Oprah Winfrey.
Oprah joined the platform in 2009, tweeting for the first time live from her wildly popular TV show: “HI TWITTERS. THANK YOU FOR A WARM WELCOME. FEELING REALLY 21st CENTURY.”
It was “a breakthrough moment” for the platform, says Axel Bruns, professor in the digital media research centre at Queensland University of Technology.
That really was the moment where numbers absolutely took off.
These days, Oprah still has an account on the now-renamed X, with 41.7m followers. But since November 2022, a month after Elon Musk’s acquisition of the site was finalised, she has posted just once – in January 2023, when she told Chelsea Clinton she was “still laughing out LoUD for real 😂” over Clinton accidentally wearing two different black shoes to an event.
Debates about X have reignited in the last week, as the Australian government has taken the platform to court in an effort to get it to remove a video of a Sydney bishop being allegedly stabbed as he officiated a church service last week.
X says it has complied with orders to remove footage of the stabbing (though ironically, the post announcing its compliance had a comment directly underneath in which someone had shared the full and graphic video) and Musk has been scathing about Australia’s requests for the footage to be taken down. X has been contacted for comment.
The disinformation hurricane surrounding the Bondi stabbing marks the end of Twitter as a breaking news destination
But as the debate has raged about what responsibility social media platforms have for stopping the spread of violent or extremist content, another question has emerged: what even is Twitter/X any more?
For more on this story read the full report by Guardian Australia reporter Kate Lyons:
Updated
Peter Dutton ‘reached out’ to Fowler community after Wakeley church stabbing, Dai Le says
Finally, Dai Le is asked about a dinner she recently had with the federal opposition leader, Peter Dutton, in her electorate, and whether they spoke about what might happen if there is a hung parliament after the next federal election.
No. Look, the opposition leader reached out following the Wakeley incident and asked us to dinner, just to check in, to see if there are issues important to our community. I think he’s the only one that reached out and came out to see us.
Updated
Dai Le says funding for domestic violence prevention more important than a royal commission
Asked about social media platform Twitter and Elon Musk’s claims that efforts to ensure a video of a stabbing of an Assyrian priest be taken down globally would constitute a threat to “free speech”, Dai Le says supports the government’s effort but has concerns about potential overreach:
Honestly, how can we not stop images of violence?
Asked whether she would support a royal commission into gender-based violence, Le says she is not sure if “another royal commission would do any good”.
What I think government needs to do is to get the funding and target that to communities. Communities are experiencing high domestic violence. Getting it implemented … ,making sure that we don’t alienate one group from another [is important].
Updated
Israel-Gaza conflict traumatic for Fowler community because of their own experiences, says Dai Le
Dai Le says she was one of the first to support a ceasefire in Gaza and many of those in her electorate talk about being appalled at the images of children being killed.
It’s just not something people can take. It is very emotional for people and me as a person who escaped Vietnam and being a child who ran from the war, it’s very traumatic for me and very traumatic for people in my community.
Le also says the Israeli hostages being held by Hamas should also be recognised and says she “cannot understand” how the conflict has “continued for so long” and why the international community have “failed to get those hostages released”.
Asked about whether Australia should recognise a Palestinian state, Le says she is “not a Middle East expert” but the Australian parliament has called for a two-state solution.
I think that everybody, from my understanding, would like a two-state solution.
Updated
Refugee communities fear they are unfairly targeted by police, Sydney MP says
Talking to the ABC, Dai Le says she isn’t criticising police for swiftly labelling the Wakeley church stabbing attack a terrorism-related incident.
I questioned how did [officials] come to that conclusion so quickly.
Le says many in her electorate have escaped tyrannical regimes elsewhere and are concerned their communities may be unfairly targeted by police.
However, she stops short of directly supporting a change to the definition of terrorism.
I’m not an expert in terrorism. I need to leave that with the people in the field. We need to include people in the community to engage with them to get information, to consult with them, because those in ASIO, do [they] have people with different faiths, cultural background and lived experience giving that advice within that space? Or are they making the decision from a group of people, I have to say, who are mainly, I don’t know, Anglo-Celtic and making that decision and bringing it out there?
Updated
Multicultural communities like Fowler worry about safety, financial security, Dai Le says
Dai Le says she will reserve judgement about the conduct of authorities and law enforcement until the investigation is concluded.
I am watching and waiting to see the outcome of the investigation. I’m saying that the police in our area had challenges working and connecting with, especially, the young people.
Over the decades, we had Vietnamese refugee kids and kids from Iraq that are feeling very much disconnected from society in the first place. They are feeling they don’t belong in the first place. They feel like they can’t connect with their own parents in the home because they are growing up here.
There’s all of this challenge that a community we have in Fowler. What we need to understand is that what are some of the work that’s being done to ensure that people are feeling like they belong, that we have so much uncertainty out there in the world.
How do they feel safe, secure, in terms of financial safety, food safety? All of that are the challenges our communities in Fowler are facing
Updated
Fowler MP Dai Le says we need to talk about what constitutes ‘terrorism’
The independent MP for Fowler, Dai Le, says a conversation needs to be had about the definition of terrorism after a 16-year-old boy was charged with terror-related offences following a stabbing attack at a church in the Sydney suburb of Wakeley. Wakeley is in Le’s electorate of Fowler.
The charges have been criticised for having been made based on circumstantial evidence.
Le says she has been speaking to her “multi-faith and multicultural” community, who have concerns:
Living in a very multi-faith, multicultural electorate like mine, it’s so sensitive and is a very difficult conversation that we must have and I need to have with my community.
I doorknocked, for instance, around Wakeley just this week for, Monday to Wednesday, went around to check in with people. About 100 homes so far. A lot of people were shocked by what happened.
At the end of the day, because they live in such a multicultural and cohesive electorate, they didn’t want that destroyed. We had people of refugee back grounds, people who are new arrivals from the Middle East, who escaped terrorism as well.
They are living side by side. When we talk about a terror act, we just need to be aware of how that language lands in a community like [the electorate of] Fowler.
Updated
Marles meets with Ukrainian PM and officials, pledges $100m in extra assistance
The deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, has visited Ukraine overnight where he met with his counterparts and pledged $100m in additional military assistance for the country as he seeks to defend itself against a Russian invasion.
Marles landed in Lviv where he met with the Ukrainian prime minister, Denys Shmyhal, government officials, and toured defence sites.
Marles met with Ukrainian armed forces personnel for a demonstration, visited a defence manufacturing facility that makes drones and the National Army Academy, where he laid a wreath in tribute to academy graduates who lost their lives.
Marles also received a briefing from the assistant minister of defence, Lieutenant General Ivan Havryliuk, and other defence officials.
The $100m additional package promised by Australia takes the total value of Australian support to more than $1bn, including $880m in military assistance.
For more on this story read the full report by Guardian Australia Mostafa Rachwani:
Updated
Independent MP Dai Le will speak to ABC Insiders host David Speers this morning.
Coming up on #insiders with David Speers:
— ABC News (@abcnews) April 27, 2024
• Independent Member for Fowler Dai Le interviewed🔎
• 📸Lewis Hobba
• 🛋️Shane Wright, Karen Middleton, and Bridget Brennan.
See you at 9am! #auspol pic.twitter.com/bGfYWh8qy6
We will bring you all the latest as it happens.
Marches demanding safety for women held in capital and regional cities
Thousands of men and women marched through the streets of Sydney, Adelaide and Hobart on Saturday to call out gendered violence.
Chants of “Whatever we wear, wherever we go, yes means yes and no means no” and “When our right to safety is under attack, what do we do? Stand up, fight back” erupted from crowds at the Sydney rally, attended Malcolm Turnbull, his wife Lucy Hughes Turnbull, the NSW premier Chris Minns and federal independent MP Sophie Scamps.
Addressing a cheering crowd, What Were You Wearing Australia chief executive Sarah Williams said she hoped Albanese would listen to what marchers nationwide were calling on leaders to do.
I’m not sure what to be prepared for but I’m hoping he will name this as a national emergency and changes will be made.
The weekend of action began on Friday when hundreds of people descended on Ballarat and Newcastle.
Demonstrations will be held on Sunday in Melbourne, Bendigo, Geelong, Coffs Harbour, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Wagga Wagga, Brisbane, Perth, Canberra, Orange and Cobram.
- AAP
Updated
Prime Minister joins rallies calling for end to violence against women
The prime minister will join thousands of demonstrators as they march for a third day throughout Australia to demand action to end violence against women.
A dozen rallies will be held in major cities and regional towns on Sunday as part of a series of national events calling for a break in the cycle of violence that has claimed the lives of at least 26 women so far in 2024, according to Destroy the Joint.
Anthony Albanese will attend the Canberra rally on Sunday after former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull and NSW Premier Chris Minns joined crowds at the Sydney event on Saturday.
A 30-year-old Perth woman was allegedly murdered with WA police taking a man in his 30s, who was known to her, into custody on Friday.
It comes after the regional town of Ballarat was rocked by the alleged murders of Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire at the hands of men within two months.
Two weeks ago, Jade Young, 47, Ashlee Good, 38, Dawn Singleton, 25, Pikria Darchia, 55, and Yixuan Cheng, 27, were all killed at a Bondi Junction shopping centre in Sydney when Queensland man Joel Cauchi went on a stabbing rampage.
Earlier this week, Molly Ticehurst, 28, was found dead at her home in Forbes in NSW and Emma Bates, 49, was discovered dead at a property in Cobram in Victoria.
- AAP
Good morning
And welcome to another Sunday morning Guardian live blog.
Australia will send $100m in military assistance to Ukraine in a pledge made during a visit to the country by deputy prime minister Richard Marles. During the visit, Marles told Ukrainian prime minister Denys Shmyhal Australia remains committed to supporting the country as it seeks to fend off a Russian invasion.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese will join ongoing protests demanding an end to violence against women. The protests will enter their third day and take place across major cities and regional centres on Sunday in response to violence that has killed 26 women so far in 2024.
I’m Royce Kurmelovs and I’ll be taking the blog through the day.
With that, let’s get started ...
