Key occasions
What we realized, Thursday 27 February
Catie McLeod
That’s the place we’ll depart the weblog for at this time. Have a very good night – we’ll be again with extra information for you tomorrow.
Right here had been at this time’s main developments:
-
Queensland police say they’ve seized a automobile of their investigation into yesterday’s deadly capturing of a 27-year-old lady on a suburban road in Toowoomba.
-
Qantas launched its half-yearly monetary outcomes, displaying the airline loved a bumper $1.39bn pre-tax revenue within the six months to the tip of 2024, because of improved profitability and a ten% uptick in clients.
-
In additional aviation information, Qatar Airways’ acquisition of a 25% stake in Virgin Australia was permitted by the federal authorities, topic to situations.
-
Passengers will obtain virtually double what they paid to make a journey on what their lawyer dubbed the “cruise from hell”, after a settlement was reached in a category motion over the a Could 2017 journey on the P&O Cruises Pacific Aria.
-
A “suspicious” machine that washed ashore on a Gold Coast seashore and led to it being closed for a number of hours was confirmed to be a practice torpedo.
-
Former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon has been dedicated to face trial over a number of alleged sexual assaults.
-
The Victorian authorities has moved to grab planning controls of 25 suburbs akin to Prahran, South Yarra and Windsor in an effort to extend density and construct extra properties.
-
New evaluation is suggesting an “unprecedented” marine heatwave off the coast of Western Australia that has brought about coral bleaching at Ningaloo Reef and mass fish kills extends right down to deep-sea waters.
-
Playing big Sportsbet confirmed it should now not promote stay betting odds and multi-bet choices throughout sport broadcasts, acknowledging robust neighborhood criticism.
-
And 21-year-old Jack Gibson-Burrell, the person police allege is behind Melbourne’s notorious “Pam the Chook” graffiti, was granted bail to live with his grandmother.
Passengers from 2017 P&O cruise to obtain double the value of their ticket in multimillion-dollar settlement
Staying with that AAP story, P&O Cruises’ mother or father firm Carnival denied legal responsibility, pointing to ticketing phrases expressly rejecting any ensures and giving the cruise operator the power to change a cruise’s circumstances. The agency additionally argued it had moderately anticipated the voyage would proceed appropriately when it departed.
However after mediation the corporate agreed to pay greater than $2.4m to settle the matter.
Authorized prices for the category motion had been capped at $1m, with about $1.2m to be paid out to class-action members after administration charges and taxes.
The passengers will obtain the $944 median value of a ticket on the cruise in addition to an extra $900 in damages, whereas the lead applicant is owed an additional $2,000.
The courtroom famous they might have confronted hurdles in displaying Carnival was liable in any method and must set up disputed info about whether or not the situations had been the results of a cyclone, versus localised climate techniques.
“The truth that the category members obtain something by the proposed settlement ought to be thought to be a victory,” Derrington stated, noting the case was possible settled for industrial causes to keep away from threat.
Multimillion-dollar settlement for passengers on journey described by lawyer as ‘cruise from hell’
Passengers will obtain virtually double what they paid to make a journey on what their lawyer dubbed the “cruise from hell”, AAP stories.
The Could 2017 journey on the P&O Cruises Pacific Aria left passengers disenchanted after the ship hit tough situations, curbing onboard actions and stopping them visiting deliberate ports on the journey from Brisbane to New Caledonia.
They launched a category motion lawsuit, which resulted in a multimillion-dollar settlement that was finalised on Thursday.
“The enjoyment of the cruise was not as desired and, usually, the cruise was a somewhat disagreeable expertise,” Roger Derrington, a federal courtroom justice stated.
Peter Carter, a category motion lawyer, had beforehand described the journey as a “cruise from hell” which left passengers so scared they stayed of their cabins.
Police seize automobile after lady fatally shot on Toowoomba road
A manhunt is underneath approach after a lady was fatally shot on a suburban road in broad daylight on Wednesday, AAP stories.
Police had been known as to a North Toowoomba residence about 2pm after stories of a disturbance and located a 27-year-old lady on the footpath with a number of critical accidents. Surrounding metropolis streets had been locked down and residents warned to remain indoors after the girl was found on Wednesday afternoon.
She was taken to hospital in a crucial situation however later died.
Police have no idea what number of offenders had been concerned and haven’t discovered a weapon. A white Toyota Camry sedan believed to be linked to the capturing has been seized, with police releasing photographs of the automobile on Thursday.
“We’re nonetheless in search of additional info to establish … how many individuals could have been within the space and concerned on this incident,” Appearing Detective Inspector Brian Collins advised reporters on Thursday.
Investigators are calling for any witnesses round West and Christmas Avenue in North Toowoomba on Wednesday from 1.30pm to 2pm to come back ahead. It’s understood the sufferer didn’t stay at both handle.
Investigators are additionally in search of anybody who noticed the Toyota Camry within the space or close to Gladstone Avenue.
Det Collins stated the incident was regarding however didn’t consider there was any threat to the neighborhood. “We’re assured that it’s not a random assault nonetheless, at this cut-off date, we’re nonetheless attempting to research precisely what occurred,” he stated.
Man allegedly behind Melbourne’s ‘Pam the Chook’ graffiti to contest all fees
Guardian Australia’s Victorian state reporter Adeshola Ore was in courtroom in Melbourne earlier at this time to carry you the most recent on the authorized matter involving the younger man who’s allegedly behind Melbourne’s prolific “Pam the Chook” graffiti.
Jack Gibson-Burrell, 21, has been granted bail to stay along with his “no nonsense” grandmother. He was launched after flagging he’ll battle greater than 50 offences, together with prison injury estimated to be value greater than $200,000, aggravated housebreaking, store theft and stealing a motorized vehicle.
Police have alleged Gibson-Burrell was the only real individual behind the notorious signature cartoon-like hen which has been graffitied throughout Melbourne and Geelong on property and heritage buildings together with the Flinders Street station clock.
Gibson-Burrell has indicated he plans to contest all the costs.
You possibly can learn our full story from at this time’s courtroom listening to right here:
Catie McLeod
Hello, I hope you’ve had a very good day to date. I’ll be with you on the weblog till this night.
Emily Wind
Many thanks for becoming a member of me on the weblog at this time, Catie McLeod will likely be with you for the remainder of the afternoon. Take care.
College students for Palestine holds protest over definition of antisemitism agreed to by universities
Caitlin Cassidy
College students for Palestine has held a protest in Melbourne warning a definition of antisemitism agreed to by universities may have a “chilling” impact on grassroots protests.
The physique, which represents a coalition of college and college college students, participated in last year’s pro-Palestine encampments throughout Australian universities. Its members gathered exterior the state library this afternoon, urging universities to reject the definition and for employees to oppose it.
The definition adopted by Universities Australia this week notes criticism of Israel is just not in itself antisemitic however “may be”, together with “when it requires the elimination of the state of Israel”.
Jewish co-convener of College students for Palestine, Yasmine Johnson, stated the brand new definition, which was adopted this week by Universities Australia members, “dangerously conflates Zionism with Judaism”.
Many Jewish college students and workers members don’t determine with the political ideology of Zionism and in doing so, the Universities Australia definition truly silences crucial Jewish voices. Particularly these of us who’ve, over the course of this genocide, maintained that Israel doesn’t communicate for us.
The adoption of a sector-wide definition emerged as a key suggestion of a report on antisemitism on Australian university campuses, which discovered there was an “pressing want for reform” to make sure the security of Jewish college students and workers.
Cait Kelly
NDIS chief says new plans will ultimately be longer than 12 months
Again to the neighborhood affairs Senate estimates for a second: the chief government officer of the Nationwide Incapacity Insurance coverage Company, Rebecca Falkingham, has clarified that new plans will ultimately be longer than 12 months.
When the federal government introduced the modifications, it stated every new plan would initially final for 12 months. Falkingham stated this may change as time passes:
That’s a giant function … to have the ability to give individuals a for much longer plan. So we’ll communicate to individuals.
And clearly, there’s a variety of things that can go into figuring out these time durations, however that’s most positively [the plan to be] not solely extra versatile, however [to have] longer plans.
Benita Kolovos
Victorian opposition lashes authorities’s proposal to extend density in 25 extra suburbs
The Victorian opposition’s planning spokesperson, Richard Riordan, has lashed the state authorities’s proposal to extend density in 25 extra suburbs throughout the internal metropolis.
He stated the plans launched by the federal government to grab planning controls in areas akin to Prahran, South Yarra and Windsor “places worry in owners and tenants and communities proper throughout Melbourne”:
It says to them, the town, the neighbourhood, the neighborhood that you’ve got beloved … that you just stay in and have cherished on your life or for your loved ones, is now underneath risk and won’t be the identical into the longer term.
Not solely not the identical, however vastly totally different. It’s not going to resemble the Melbourne and the town that everybody has beloved and has made us one of the crucial livable cities for a very long time.
There may be extra to housing and the best way individuals wish to stay than being on high of a prepare station in a 20 storey tower or in a as soon as leafy road now crammed with six storey condominium blocks. That isn’t the Melbourne that folks voted for.
Tory Shepherd
China is pushing police into the Pacific, a Senate estimates committee has heard
A variety of agreements have been struck between China and Pacific islands, a few of which embody policing cooperation.
Elizabeth Peak from the Division of Defence, International Affairs and Commerce stated “we’re seeing China push into the Pacific … we see no position for China within the safety sector within the Pacific”.
The international affairs minister, Penny Wong, stated it’s a state of affairs of “everlasting contest” within the area, and that policing is the place “a few of these issues play out”.
Here’s a detailed and engaging piece on the community of agreements and the considerations on policing:
And you’ll learn in regards to the not too long ago signed China/Prepare dinner Islands settlement here.
Watch: replace on Tropical Cyclone Alfred
The Bureau of Meteorology has offered an replace on Tropical Cyclone Alfred, which has been monitoring by way of the Coral Sea properly off the Queensland coast this week:
Extreme Climate Replace: Replace on Tropical Cyclone Alfred.
Video present as of 11:00am AEST Thursday 27 February 2025.
Know your climate, know your threat. For the most recent forecasts and warnings, go to our web site https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Climate app. pic.twitter.com/uNij69SMBz
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) February 27, 2025
Tory Shepherd
Paterson asks Wong if authorities is ‘much less supportive’ of Israel than earlier one
Earlier in Senate estimates, the shadow residence affairs minister, James Paterson, requested international affairs minister Penny Wong a couple of vary of UN votes on Israel and Palestine, and the way Australia’s place had shifted (quick reply: it’s nuanced).
Now, after the lunch break, he will get to the nub:
Do you suppose it’s honest to say that the federal government’s place is much less supportive of or much less near Israel than the earlier authorities?
Wong says Australia’s place is extra in keeping with many of the worldwide neighborhood and progress in direction of a two-state answer.
Paterson asks if there’s a substantive distinction between the 2 main events. Wong says opposition chief Peter Dutton hasn’t expressed assist for the two-state answer.
Paterson protests. It continues.
Learn extra: Victoria strikes to grab planning controls in prosperous suburbs
It’s been a busy day on the weblog to date. Simply wanting again to earlier this morning, right here is our full story on the Victorian authorities’s transfer to grab planning controls of 25 suburbs and construct extra properties:
And listed here are all the main points on that mysterious machine – now confirmed to be a follow torpedo – that washed ashore on a Gold Coast seashore and led to it being closed for various hours:
Hearth threat stays for elements of Victoria this autumn
Giant swathes of western and central Victoria, in addition to south and west Gippsland, are dealing with an elevated fireplace threat in early autumn, in keeping with the most recent seasonal bushfire outlook.
An announcement from Victoria Emergency stated a scarcity of rain over the previous 12-24 months has led to elevated gas in forests and heathlands – which has already led to giant, fast-running fires within the Grampians over summer time.
Forecast hotter than common most temperatures would possibly enhance gas availability, making it simpler for fires to start out and unfold.
Throughout the remainder of the state, Victorians can anticipate regular fireplace potential.
The emergency administration commissioner, Tim Wiebusch, stated:
The Grampians and Little Desert fires confirmed simply how briskly fires can begin and unfold. With no vital rainfall anticipated this autumn, all of us should stay vigilant the danger of fireside throughout the state.
Perceive your native dangers, by no means depend on one supply of emergency info and tune in to your native emergency broadcaster.
1000’s of NDIS clients estimated to be impacted by fraud
Cait Kelly
In Senate estimates, the chief government officer of the Nationwide Incapacity Insurance coverage Company (NDIS), Rebecca Falkingham, stated 140 lively instances of NDIS fraud are actually being investigated, up from 100 in December.
She was answering a query from Labor senator Louise Pratt, who needed to understand how the fraud taskforce was going. Falkingham stated:
On the thirty first of December 2024, there have been 100 lively fraud operations being led by the NDIA, the NDIS Fee Providers Australia and the Australian Abilities and High quality Authority.
530 investigators, together with 50 individuals [who were] referred to the commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions or are at the moment earlier than the courts. And over 18,000 clients of presidency providers are estimated to be impacted.
