Australia news live: NT police commissioner ‘completely’ rejects suggestion of ADF intervention in Alice Springs

NT police commissioner ‘completely’ rejects calls for military intervention in Alice Springs

The Northern Territory police commissioner, Jamie Chalker, has also been speaking to ABC Radio Darwin and says the commonwealth “have to be” at the table for what he says are crime problems which go beyond Alice Springs.

Townsville is suffering significant social order issues as well. The Kimberley are going through these challenges as well. So I don’t think it’s as simple as being a Northern Territory point of failing. There is something acutely underlying here.

I think we need to see the key agency leaders of the commonwealth agencies at the table with the CEOs of Northern Territory government agencies so that we can truly review all of the data, all of the service delivery models in place, and see how we turn the tide and take Aboriginal people with us, not continue to see policies that have been imposed upon them right back to the 2007 Northern Territory leadership response.

Chalker says the commonwealth must be at the table because “they’re an inherent part of the Northern Territory” being a territory, not a state.

But Chalker says he “completely” rejects the calls that have come from leaders for the ADF to be called in – last week Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson told ABC News they needed immediate help “whether that is the AFP [Australian Federal Police], whether that is the army, or whether that is just resources from another jurisdiction”.

Chalker says:

We welcome the contribution of all services. But when there’s a mention that the ADF should be deployed with a suggestion that it’s martial law, I reject that completely. Again, we’re not going to arrest our way out of that. I’m not sure that the imagery of Australian soldiers, who are here to serve their country, dealing with First Nations people in a way that sees them having to effect arrests of them and place them in police vehicles and the like is the imagery that we really want for Australia.

Updated at 17.59 EST

Key events

Filters BETA

Key events (12)Australia (9)Anthony Albanese (6)Alice Springs (6)Sydney (5)Northern Territory (5)

US could seize Australian properties of former marine if convicted of training Chinese pilots

The US government is seeking to seize two country properties in Australia from former fighter pilot Daniel Duggan if he is convicted, as it argues in court for his extradition on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering.

The US alleges Duggan, a former US citizen now naturalised Australian, trained Chinese fighter pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, in defiance of arms trafficking laws, and engaged in a conspiracy to launder money.

Duggan, who maintains his innocence and is fighting his extradition, is in custody. His case returns to court next month.

Flood victims targeted by online scammers

Flood victims in Western Australia’s Kimberley region are being targeted by a social media scam promising thousands of dollars in relief funding, AAP reports.

The scam uses an image of a Serbian politician and contains a link to a phoney Facebook page promising victims $20,000 but actually intended to steal personal information.

Eventually, the scammers request fees be paid up-front to receive the funds.

WA Commerce Minister Sue Ellery says the messages, in order to look genuine, appear to come from a friend who is encouraging the target to contact an agent because they and others have already received the payment.

She said:

We strongly advise people in flood-affected areas to be extremely careful and not click on links or give out personal information such as bank details in response to random messages received via text or social media.

It is unbelievable that criminals have sought to exploit vulnerable people at a time when many of them have lost everything.

Ellery said there had also been reports of social media commentary about relief funding from the “Australian Flooding Agency”, when no such agency exists.

People were also being targeted by fake charities set up to steal money from would-be donors.

In one instance, an Instagram account posing as a legitimate registered charity in Fitzroy Crossing was asking donors to buy Amazon e-gift cards.

‘I’m not a seat warmer for anyone’: Dutton

Mitchell also put to Dutton comments floating in Victoria that he is “just warming the seat for Josh Frydenberg”.

Dutton says he wants Frydenberg to win back the seat of Kooyong, but quashes the idea of his own leadership being a stop-gap measure.

I want Josh to come back into parliament. I think he’s our best chance of winning Kooyong at the next election because I don’t think the member that’s been elected there has a great affinity with her electorate at all.

And I intend to spend a lot more time in Victoria. Speaking to potential candidates, including Josh, who is a great loss to our party.

I’m not a seat warmer for anyone. I’ve been in parliament for 21 years. John Howard identified me after my first term and I’ve been on the front bench since 2004. I’ve had a number of portfolios, I don’t give up, I stand up for what I believe in. And in this game, you can sit on the fence and be popular. I take the path to stand up and fight for what I believe in.

Is your seat warm? Josh Frydenberg and Peter Dutton in 2021. Photograph: Sam Mooy/Getty Images

Updated at 18.57 EST

Dutton denies being ‘toxic’ in Victoria after state election loss

Peter Dutton has spoken to Melbourne’s 3AW radio as part of his visit to Victoria. Host Neil Mitchell doesn’t shy away from asking about the opposition leader’s reputation in the state.

Dutton defends himself, saying people often express their surprise at meeting him and denies he was personally responsible for the Coalition’s loss in the November state election.

Mitchell:

Even your own Liberal people say ‘Peter Dutton is a bit toxic’. What do you do to overcome that?

Dutton:

I think a lot of hype goes around politics and the reality is when you meet people for most people they say, ‘Geez, you’re nothing like we thought you were’. I think people will see more of me and they can make their own judgements instead of listening to social media and people forming their judgments based on something Anthony Albanese or Mark Dreyfus says about me.

Mitchell:

Except your own mates are saying in the Liberal party here. I mean, in the previous election they just about blamed you for losing over accusing Victoria of having African gangs.

Dutton:

I’m not sure that’s quite the case … I don’t think we (the federal Liberals) featured in that result, not in the slightest bit.

Dutton says now Victoria is a “huge opportunity to pick up seats, it’s a low watermark”, joking he is a “glass half full” person.

Updated at 18.52 EST

Free RATs now available from Victorian local councils

The Victorian health department says most local councils are participating in a scheme that allows people to collect free Covid rapid tests, as many times as they need.

Updated at 18.21 EST

Peak body welcomes ratification of UN higher education treaty

The peak body representing independent education providers has welcomed the Australian government’s acceptance of the first global treaty in higher education.

The Independent Tertiary Education Council Australia (ITECA) said the Unesco Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education, accepted by the education minister today, would ensure students who studied with Australian institutions had their qualifications recognised internationally.

The ITECA’s chief executive Troy Williams said:

We can be proud of the quality offered by independent tertiary education providers. This new treaty provides a platform for the qualifications awarded by them to be recognised … in a fair, transparent and non-discriminatory manner worldwide.

With provisions on non-traditional learning modes, the Global Convention also facilitates the recognition of qualifications, prior learning and study periods earned remotely.

The Convention provides a clear framework for recognition of qualifications delivered online and backs Australia’s robust recognition of prior learning framework. In many respects, the Convention plays to the strengths of Australia’s tertiary education system.

The new treaty will be considered at the ITEC23 International Education Symposium convened on 8 June.

Updated at 18.06 EST

Man drowns at Sydney’s Curl Curl beach

A man has died after being pulled unconscious from the water in Sydney’s northern beaches, AAP reports.

Emergency services rushed to Curl Curl beach after a man was pulled from the water just after 7.30am on Tuesday.

Paramedics attempted to revive the man, however he died at the scene, NSW Police said.

The man is believed to be in his 60s, however he has not been formally identified.

Northern Beaches police are investigating the circumstances of the man’s drowning.

A report will be prepared for the coroner.

The entrance to Curl Curl beach. Photograph: Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Updated at 18.48 EST

NT police commissioner ‘completely’ rejects calls for military intervention in Alice Springs

The Northern Territory police commissioner, Jamie Chalker, has also been speaking to ABC Radio Darwin and says the commonwealth “have to be” at the table for what he says are crime problems which go beyond Alice Springs.

Townsville is suffering significant social order issues as well. The Kimberley are going through these challenges as well. So I don’t think it’s as simple as being a Northern Territory point of failing. There is something acutely underlying here.

I think we need to see the key agency leaders of the commonwealth agencies at the table with the CEOs of Northern Territory government agencies so that we can truly review all of the data, all of the service delivery models in place, and see how we turn the tide and take Aboriginal people with us, not continue to see policies that have been imposed upon them right back to the 2007 Northern Territory leadership response.

Chalker says the commonwealth must be at the table because “they’re an inherent part of the Northern Territory” being a territory, not a state.

But Chalker says he “completely” rejects the calls that have come from leaders for the ADF to be called in – last week Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson told ABC News they needed immediate help “whether that is the AFP [Australian Federal Police], whether that is the army, or whether that is just resources from another jurisdiction”.

Chalker says:

We welcome the contribution of all services. But when there’s a mention that the ADF should be deployed with a suggestion that it’s martial law, I reject that completely. Again, we’re not going to arrest our way out of that. I’m not sure that the imagery of Australian soldiers, who are here to serve their country, dealing with First Nations people in a way that sees them having to effect arrests of them and place them in police vehicles and the like is the imagery that we really want for Australia.

Updated at 17.59 EST

Man critically injured in Melbourne fire

A man is in hospital under police guard after a house fire in Melbourne’s north, AAP reports.

Emergency services were called to the Rhodes Parade unit in Pascoe Vale about 4.50am on Tuesday, following reports a man had smashed a window.

Police then received reports there was a fire at the property and a man was seriously injured.

The man was taken to hospital with critical injuries. He is under police guard.

A woman, believed to be known to the man, escaped injury.

Detectives are investigating the fire, which they believe was suspicious.

Updated at 17.33 EST

Australia ratifies UN’s higher education treaty

Australia has joined the first international treaty on higher education in a bid to improve global mobility for students after pandemic disruptions.

Signatories of the new Unesco Global Convention on the Recognition of Qualifications concerning Higher Education will have their qualifications recognised in a “fair, transparent and non-discriminatory” manner worldwide.

The treaty entered into force in December last year when Iceland and Andorra became the 19th and 20th member states to ratify the Convention.

The education minister, Jason Clare, said Australia’s participation in the convention would encourage greater collaboration with other countries and advance Australia’s global competitiveness in higher education.

It follows Covid-19 disruptions to education access, highlighting the need for innovation in the sector beyond traditional in-person and in-country models of learning.

Clare:

Australia’s ratification of the Global Convention is a significant education milestone.

The 1.4 million students who study at our universities each year can now have even greater confidence that their Australian qualification, whether undertaken onshore, offshore or online, will be recognised in other countries, helping them to access higher education abroad, as well as pursue greater employment opportunities.

Students at the University of Sydney. Photograph: Paul Miller/AAP

Updated at 18.02 EST

NT police commissioner urges leaders to make ‘solid plan’ for Alice Springs

Here’s what the Northern Territory police commissioner, Jamie Chalker, told ABC Radio this morning:

I understand that the prime minister is travelling there. I know the chief minister is heading down there this morning as well. I think it’s a positive that both are going down there to see what is occurring on the ground and doing a lot of listening.

But of course, what I would urge is that I really need to be able to have the opportunity to meet with leaders of Australian government agencies, as well as CEOs of prominent territory government agencies, to put in place a really solid plan working with traditional owners and Aboriginal leaders across the Northern Territory.

Updated at 17.43 EST

Eyes on Alice Springs ahead of Albanese’s visit

A few sources are reporting that Anthony Albanese will visit Alice Springs today, including the Northern Territory police, but for now the prime minister’s office hasn’t confirmed that.

We’ve asked Albanese’s team this morning if he will be visiting the town, but there’s no official update available at this time.

Often, public appearances are only confirmed by a politician’s office a few hours before they are scheduled to occur, so that’s not entirely unusual. But we’ll give you more info when it arrives.

As reported earlier, Bill Shorten said Albanese would be visiting Alice in the near future, while the NT police commissioner earlier told Radio National he understood it would occur today.

Updated at 17.12 EST

Echidna rescued on wakeboard at Lake Eildon

A wakeboarder, Brendan Paterson, has rescued an echidna he found stranded in Lake Eildon in Victoria.

Paterson told Melbourne’s 3AW radio station he first thought it was a struggling upside down turtle but as he approached on his wakeboard he realised it was an echidna.

I slowly approached with the board and let it climb aboard. As it climbed on, it took a big breath of air and jumped on, cruised around a little bit, made sure it had a rest.

You can watch the video of the rescue, as the echidna makes its safe passage from board to land here.

Updated at 17.07 EST

System to protect Australia’s threatened species from development ‘more or less worthless’, study finds

Decisions by environment ministers spanning 15 years to either wave through projects or impose stricter conditions to protect threatened species made no actual difference to the amount of habitat destroyed, according to a new study.

More than half of habitat cleared to build infrastructure, mines, urban developments and for agriculture came after a minister had decided projects would have a “non-significant” impact on species and habitat, the study says.

Full story here:

Support for Indigenous voice is falling, poll shows

Public support for an Indigenous voice to parliament is falling as the federal opposition continues to call for more detail on the referendum proposal, AAP reports.

A Resolve Political Monitor survey, published in the Nine newspapers today, showed 47% of voters backed a plan to enshrine an Indigenous voice in the constitution.

The figure, based on more than 3,000 responses during a month from late December, was down from the 53% who supported the move in August and September.

Some 30% said they didn’t back the constitutional change, up from 29% in the previous survey.

A growing number of people were undecided, with the cohort swelling from 19% to 23%.

The survey comes as the opposition ramps up its attacks on the government over a claimed lack of detail on the proposed body.

Indigenous leader and leading “yes” campaigner Noel Pearson yesterday dismissed the call for more detail as a diversion, adding that a referendum failure would permanently harm reconciliation efforts.

Our Indigenous affairs editor, Lorena Allam, has more on this issue:

Updated at 16.48 EST

Morning Mail

Our Morning Mail is covering all the headlines here at home as well as what’s happening overseas as news continues to come in from the mass shooting in California, with the dance hall worker who disarmed the shooter speaking to media and describing the harrowing encounter.

Andrew Bragg wants to support voice, but says it needs to be ‘safe’

Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has spoken to ABC radio this morning about the Indigenous voice to parliament. Yesterday he penned an op-ed for the Australian newspaper saying it was a “good and fair idea”.

Bragg tells the ABC this morning:

I want to be able to recommend a yes. But we need to do that on the basis that it’s a safe change to the constitution. Now the various legal issues that have been raised in relation to how the high court could undermine parliamentary supremacy need to be addressed.

So what we want to have is an inquiry where you can bring in all the various legal experts, cross examine these propositions, separate the red herrings from the legitimate legal issues and then consider amendments to the proposed wording to go into the constitution.

RN Breakfast host Patricia Karvelas clarifies that no legal expert has suggested that the language so far put forward would undermine the supremacy of parliament.

Karvelas asks Bragg about the point made by campaigners including Noel Pearson that the legislation is an issue for the parliament, after a yes vote. Bragg responds:

You don’t go to a referendum to seek a new power in the constitution without a plan to use it. In my view you should at least put forward an exposure draft bill.

I think the most urgent task right now, frankly, is making sure that the amendment that people will be asked to vote on is a safe amendment. And I think we need to address those red herrings – or dismiss them – and we need to address the legitimate legal issues that people have raised, particularly in relation to the role of the high court.

Updated at 16.43 EST