Australia news live: Australia Post chair says he ‘will not be resigning’ over Holgate scandal
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5.23am EDT 05:23
What we learned: Tuesday, 13 April
That’s where I will leave you on what has been an eventful day. Here’s what we learned:
Updated at 5.31am EDT
4.45am EDT 04:45
Porsche driver Richard Pusey is set to contest a charge of assaulting a woman in Melbourne.
But AAP reports that other charges, including that he threatened to kill her and placed a noose around her neck in December, are likely to be dropped.
Pusey’s lawyer Vincent Peters told Melbourne magistrates court on Tuesday the assault charge was “trite”.
He said Pusey would plead not guilty.
“It seems hardly worthwhile pursuing,” the lawyer said.
Prosecutor Meagan McDonnell replied that it was not a trivial matter.
“There was screaming and distress observed,” she said.
The court was told prosecutors were set to drop five other charges from the same incident, including the noose allegation.
Meanwhile, Pusey was expected to admit to another charge of using a carriage service to menace the woman. He would also plead guilty to an unrelated charge of damaging a motorbike worth $3,400 at Richmond in 2019, the court was told.
Pusey is due back in Melbourne magistrates court on 13 May.
He is awaiting sentence in the county court for other charges including outraging public decency after he filmed a fatal police crash last April.
He repeatedly described the scene as “amazing” and zoomed in on the injuries of the dead and dying officers on the Eastern Freeway.
Judge Trevor Wraight during a pre-sentence hearing for those charges said Pusey was “probably the most hated man in Australia”.
Updated at 4.56am EDT
4.29am EDT 04:29
The independent MP for the federal seat of Indi, Helen Haines, has written to prime minister Scott Morrison calling on the government to “change course” on the vaccine rollout.
She’s raised concerns that GPs are not being supported in delivering the vaccine that regional communities are being left behind, and says frontline healthcare workers are not being vaccinated quickly enough.
Haines has outlined quite specific – and concerning – issues with the rollout in her electorate.
Over recent weeks, I have spoken to many GP clinics across Indi and it is abundantly clear that they are not receiving the support they need from government in terms of equipment or clear advice
“Some GPs have told me they received half as many vaccines as they ordered, others told me they receive significantly more than they ordered. For a small clinic, booking in an additional 100 appointments at the last minute, or cancelling 100, is a huge impost. Both of these circumstances are untenable. Some clinics have pulled out of the program for reasons such as this.
“Many clinics have told me that vaccines arrive without notice, on irregular intervals, and the clinics have no assurance that the will continue to receive their orders. This means they are having to book appointments into the future with no guarantee they will be able to administer them.”
On frontline workers she says:
I am deeply alarmed at many local instances of frontline healthcare workers not being able to access vaccinations. I have heard from local ICU nurses and residential aged care workers unable to book in for a second dose of Pfizer, and hospital staff being given no advice about how they can get vaccinated or being made to travel hours to access a vaccine.
There are still many frontline healthcare workers in my electorate who were supposed to be in Phase 1a who have not been able to be vaccinated. As we move into winter, it is not acceptable to still have not completed Phase 1a. We cannot have aged care workers and ICU nurses being unvaccinated. The government needs to urgently expedite the completion of Phase 1a.”
Updated at 4.30am EDT
4.15am EDT 04:15
Cessna ‘seen spinning’ before it crashed.
The New South Wales police have confirmed that two people have died in a light plane crash. Here’s the brief statement:
About 4.30pm today, emergency services were called to a property on Tallagandra Lane, Sutton, north of the ACT, after reports a light plane had crashed into a paddock.
Two people on board died at the scene.
Officers from the Hume police district have commenced inquiries and a crime scene has been established.
While the cause of the crash has not yet been confirmed, I can tell you witnesses reported seeing the plane – a Cessna 172 – spinning before it crashed.
The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will be responsible for investigating how the crash occurred.
Updated at 4.38am EDT
3.57am EDT 03:57
Two dead after light plane crash near ACT border
In breaking news, two people have died in a light plane crash in the Yass Valley just across the ACT border.
The NSW Rural Fire Service say the Cessna fixed-wing aircraft crashed about 4.35pm in Tallagandra, near Sutton. I’ll bring you more on this as it develops.
Updated at 4.07am EDT
3.54am EDT 03:54
Brittany Higgins announces book deal
Brittany Higgins has announced a book deal with Penguin Random House. She says half of the royalties from sales will be donated to the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre.
In a statement, Penguin said Higgins’ book would be “a call for desperately needed reform, and a watershed moment for Australian women in public life”.
“This is the personal account of a young woman who took on the most formidable institution in the country, spoke truth to power and sparked a reckoning with systemic abuse that will be felt for years to come,” the statement reads.
Higgins said:
I feel privileged to be afforded the opportunity to share my experience inside Parliament House with readers. This book will shine a light on the toxic workplace culture inside the corridors of power and provide a firsthand account of what it was like surviving a media storm that turned into a movement.
I’m proud to commit half of the royalties for each book sold to the Canberra Rape Crisis Centre who were a lifeline for me in the wake of my sexual assault. It is an absolute honour to sign with Penguin Random House and join the ranks of their many esteemed writers.
Penguin Random House chief executive Julie Burland said:
I was moved and angered by Brittany’s story. Her fearless pursuit of justice for herself and her resolute truth‐telling is an inspiration to me and so many other women. She has named behaviours that we have tolerated for far too long. I’m so proud that Penguin Random House will stand by her side and bring her story to readers everywhere.
Updated at 4.07am EDT
3.34am EDT 03:34
That last hour was spent on whether or not there are plans to privatise more of Australia Post’s services. That’s denied by the executives.
That finishes up the hearing – although there will be another hearing scheduled, and some witnesses – such as Christine Holgate and Lucio Di Bartolomeo – will be called to reappear.
Updated at 3.43am EDT
3.28am EDT 03:28
In New South Wales politics, the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party MP Helen Dalton has accused the Nationals of treating female candidates “in a disgraceful way” ahead of the Upper Hunter byelection.
The reason? The junior Coalition partner’s habit of registering the names of Shooters party candidates ahead of elections.
On Monday the Shooters – who have a decent shot at taking the Upper Hunter from the Nationals at the looming byelection – announced Singleton Business Chamber president Sue Gilroy as their candidate.
They soon realised that the domain name suegilroy dot com had been registered to NSW Nationals state director Joe Lundy.
The website reads: “vote shooters, risk Labor”.
It’s not the first time it’s happened. The Nationals have also registered the name of Victorian independent MP Ali Cupper. That site reads: “who really is Ali Cupper?” and lists her previous political affiliations.
Dalton – the NSW Shooters MP for Murray – says the Nationals also did the same to her, prompting her to complain to Australia’s domain name regulator. She says she will now write to the deputy premier, John Barilaro, and the federal Nationals leader, Michael McCormack, to ask them to stop.
Dalton said:
I felt violated when the Nats stole my own name. It’s like someone stealing your farm property.
When Nationals MP Michael Johnsen resigned from parliament in disgrace following rape allegations, the Nationals said they’d turned a new leaf.
But they continue to target female MPs in a disgraceful way.
Updated at 3.42am EDT
2.56am EDT 02:56
The last session of the day has moved on to Australia Post executives, including the acting chief executive, Rodney Boys.
So far, not a lot has been learned. Asked if they had problems with the gifting of the Cartier watches, most say that they were not in the roles at the time (2018) and unaware until later.
Susan Davies, head of people and culture, who was in the role, is asked the same question and said vouchers and cash bonuses was what was usually seen.
Updated at 2.59am EDT
2.52am EDT 02:52
ClubsNSW is expected to drop a legal bid to force the state’s gaming regulator to hand over correspondence with a whistleblower who alleged there was widespread money laundering through the pokies. Christopher Knaus has the story:
2.48am EDT 02:48
Having read through my notes in that brief break, it is worth pointing out that Lucio Di Bartolomeo said the shareholder ministers (then minister for finance – Mathias Cormann and communications minister – Paul Fletcher) were informed of Christine Holgate’s resignation through their chief of staff(s) ahead of it being made public.
It was reported on Sky News as ‘rumours’ and Holgate said she had not spoken to Sky News.
Updated at 3.12am EDT
2.33am EDT 02:33
The agency that runs the national disability insurance scheme has quietly established a new taskforce aimed at cutting growth in funding packages and participant numbers. My colleague Luke Henriques-Gomes has the story: