Australia news live updates: AFL boss pledges independent investigation after ‘disturbing’ Hawthorn racism report

AFL to appoint independent panel to investigate Hawthorn allegations

Gil McLachlan:

We have received the report from the Hawthorn football club and I want to outline we will fully investigate what has been shared. These are serious allegations.

It is important that we treat them appropriately while also ensuring a formal process provides support to those impacted and also natural justice to those people who are accused.

This is a process that is appropriate, that is held independent of a normal AFL integrity department response.

As such, we are appointing an external independent panel that will be made up of four people, led by an eminent king’s counsel.

The independent panel that we will finalise over the next 24 hours will be appropriately skilled, have the right mix of diversity and an approach that prioritises cultural safety for all those who have shared their experiences.

Updated at 21.42 EDT

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Gil McLachlan says what he has heard are “harrowing stories”.

There’s increasing courage of the complainants to speak out. I think the story will evolve and I hope the process that will involve an independent panel, where we’ll make sure – I had discussions with Linda Burney this morning, with Helen Melrose on my commission, with Tanya, with Paul Marsh, Alister Nicholson, it will be the right group of people with the right skill sets to look into this.

I think the information will continue to evolve as people feel confident to tell their stories. We thank those who had the courage to do so far.

Tanya Hosch says it was hard reading the review and the report:

Yes, I mean, almost it’s hard to find the words to describe how you feel when you read something like this, honestly. But how I feel is pretty irrelevant.

What we need to do is really centre around the experiences of the people who have come forward.

So, I would rather not linger on how I feel. What we’ve got to be very focused on as part of the AFL, as Gil has already said, is make sure the complainants are first and foremost our concern, how they’re feeling, what their needs are, and we’ll only know that once our examination

Too early to speculate on what external review will say: Tanya Hosch

Tanya Hosch says it is too early to say what the external review will say or what the solutions are:

It’s too soon to say what that is. Because we have to come up with a process that adequately addresses the allegations in hand today through the report that Hawthorn commissioned, we obviously, as Gil has just said, are going to do further examination on exactly what has occurred. I think that has to be our priority.

These are not things that should be taken lightly. If the design of these things are not done appropriately, if Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people don’t have input into the design, we’ll not come up with an adequate response because the questions will be wrong. So there’s a whole range of things that need to be managed appropriately and very directly.

It’s certainly not something that can be rushed. If you do a rush job in relation to things that are so critical, to speak to the history of this country, as a whole, we don’t do service or show appropriate respect to everyone impacted by any of the number of things that you might expect to find.

Updated at 21.45 EDT

‘The country has a problem’ not just the AFL: Hosch

Tanya Hosch the general manager of inclusion and social policy at the AFL is also at the press conference and says it is not just the AFL which has a problem:

I think the country has a problem. When the Do Better report was released, I said very plainly there, if you look at any organisation in the country, specifically for issues in relation to the treatment, cultural safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, you would anticipate finding a problem.

I don’t think we’re immune to that. It’s really clear that we’re not. And so, we will definitely think in broader scope when the time is right. But we’ve got a very urgent, pressing issue right here and now that has to take absolute priority. But of course we’re thinking about the broader issues.

Updated at 21.47 EDT

Gil McLachlan says there will be a wider review:

I have committed to Paul Marsh and to the coaches association that they will have a say in the formation and these will be people who are appropriately qualified in a functional sense, with an – with an appropriate diverse background and the appropriate skills to do that. I think when you see the credibility of the individuals and they – their qualifications, I feel comfortable that people will be – they will regard it as the right people to look into this.

Has anyone been stood down?

Gil McLachlan:

I had conversations this morning with clubs, representatives of those accused, and I feel that the way they will be approaching this impending investigation will be clear today. I will leave it to the clubs and the representatives clear.

‘We need to do more’: McLachlan

Gil McLachlan:

We need to run a proper investigation to get to the bottom of it and this is important.

Out of respect for those making the allegations and out of respect for those being accused.

We need to provide natural justice and allow the process to go on, but we will seek to have the panel in place and work with the Hawthorn football club to develop the report of the plays and partners involved to engage with them, to expedite it and not extend the trauma.

As a game, we have taken steps in recent times to add resources to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players … with Indigenous player development managers in each club.

An extension of ensuring that we continue to build the games capability in relation to cultural safety and cultural inclusion. I met regularly with senior players over the last 18 months and we had our first meeting with Indigenous AFLW players which will be held several times a year. We need to do more.

And we will. We need greater safety and education across our game, and we will do that.

Tanya, the EGM of inclusion of social policy and her team, will continue part of the work. That so many people are hurting today and have been hurting for a long time.

And to all of them, I want to acknowledge that hurt, and as a game, we’ll do everything to ensure that the hurt you experienced is not a hurt that is experienced by others.

Updated at 21.42 EDT

AFL to appoint independent panel to investigate Hawthorn allegations

Gil McLachlan:

We have received the report from the Hawthorn football club and I want to outline we will fully investigate what has been shared. These are serious allegations.

It is important that we treat them appropriately while also ensuring a formal process provides support to those impacted and also natural justice to those people who are accused.

This is a process that is appropriate, that is held independent of a normal AFL integrity department response.

As such, we are appointing an external independent panel that will be made up of four people, led by an eminent king’s counsel.

The independent panel that we will finalise over the next 24 hours will be appropriately skilled, have the right mix of diversity and an approach that prioritises cultural safety for all those who have shared their experiences.

Updated at 21.42 EDT

AFL CEO Gil McLachlan holds press conference

The AFL CEO has begun his press conference in the wake of the ABC’s story on the experiences of First Nation players at the Hawthorn Football Club.

McLachlan:

What we have seen today is a challenging, harrowing and disturbing read. I acknowledge the hurt, the anger and the grief of people who have shared their experiences and told their stories and all of those impacted.

I want to say to the women and the partners and also the players who have shared their stories that our first priority is to you, and to provide the care and the support that you need.

You have been heard, and as a support and a community, we will do our best to wrap our arms around you in support. It is supported that we continue to communicate with you and to you.

Your welfare is the most pressing priority for us because I know that sharing these stories is not easy, but it is important that you do, and we want to thank you all who have shared their experiences as part of this review.

Updated at 21.35 EDT

Brittany Higgins Project interviews won’t form part of case against Lehrmann

The ACT supreme court has held another pre-trial hearing in the Bruce Lehrmann case today.

Lehrmann has pleaded not guilty to sexually assaulting the former Liberal staffer Brittany Higgins at Parliament House in Canberra in 2019. The case goes to trial on 4 October for up to seven weeks of hearings.

On Wednesday the court heard that two recordings of Higgins giving her complaint to the police will be played, one interview of Lehrmann, audio from security in Parliament House and CCTV including at Parliament House.

Higgins will be absent in a remote location while her evidence in chief interviews with police are played, and also wants to give evidence in court – although it is unclear yet whether she will do this and be cross-examined in person or remotely.

The most interesting revelation today was that the Director of Public Prosecutions does not intend to play Higgins’ six-hour recorded interview with the Project or the one-hour interview that went to air.

The DPP, Shane Drumgold, told the court he doesn’t “have any legal basis to play them” and confirmed it will not rely on them as “complaint evidence”, which consists of a complainant’s statements after an alleged event used to bolster their credibility that the event occurred.

Drumgold confirmed, however, that the DPP will call complaint evidence from a journalist – presumably Lisa Wilkinson – regarding their initial conversation with Higgins which led to a six-hour meeting and a TV interview.

Drumgold also revealed:

He will apply for a closed court for the evidence of two people associated with parliament security.

There will be an application for Higgins to have a second support person.

The DPP is editing some audio material to remove two impermissible questions to Lehrmann that effectively reversed the onus of proof by asking him “can you offer me an explanation as to why?”.

There is a further pre-trial fight about whether the AFP will claim privilege over documents Lehrmann’s legal team say were prepared for the purpose of investigating the case, not to provide legal advice.

The matter will be relisted next week.

Updated at 21.31 EDT

‘No one will ever play the game like you’: Kyrgios pays tribute to Roger Federer

Tributes are continuing to come in for Roger Federer, after the Swiss great announced his retirement from professional tennis.

As AAP reports:

With a simple paean to Roger Federer’s greatness, Nick Kyrgios has joined the chorus of laments, thanks and tributes following news of the great man’s impending retirement from tennis.

“No one will ever play the game like you,” Australia’s Wimbledon finalist declared in a social media address to Federer – and he was not alone as the game’s greatest players, headed by Novak Djokovic, continued the salutes to the Swiss maestro on Thursday.

Kyrgios, who’s never hidden how he believes Federer was even better than Djokovic and Rafael Nadal in the big three, added on his Instagram post: “Enjoy it @rogerfederer …… was an honour.”

Djokovic paid his own fond tribute to the Swiss, saying on Instagram: “Roger it’s hard to see this day and put into words all that we’ve shared in this sport together.

Over a decade of incredible moments and battles to think back on. Your career has set the tone for what it means to achieve excellence and lead with integrity and poise.

It’s an honour to know you on and off court, and for many more years to come.

I know that this new chapter will hold amazing things for you, Mirka, the kids, all your loved ones, and Roger fans still have a lot to look forward to.

From our family to yours, we wish you much joy, health, and prosperity in the future. Looking forward to celebrating your achievements and seeing you in London.

Serena Williams also welcomed Federer to the “retirement club”, with his farewell to the sport coming so quickly after her extraordinary final bow at the US Open.

I wanted to find the perfect way to say this, as you so eloquently put this game to rest – perfectly done, just like your career.

I have always looked up to you and admired you. Our paths were always so similar, so much the same. You inspired countless millions and millions of people – including me – and we will never forget.

I applaud you and look forward to all that you do in the future. Welcome to the retirement club. And thank you for being you.

Venus Williams, hopefully not putting her sister’s nose out of joint, just chipped in on Instagram: “The greatest ever. Miss you already.”

Updated at 21.23 EDT

Queensland premier ‘shocked’ by review into state’s DNA lab as police retest thousands of samples

Meanwhile, if you haven’t read it already, this is another pretty huge issue for Queensland, as Eden Gillespie reports:

Police in Queensland are preparing to review thousands of DNA samples as the state’s premier says she’s “incredibly concerned” by the findings of an interim report into testing failures at the state’s forensic crime lab.

The damning findings, handed to cabinet on Tuesday by commissioner Walter Sofronoff, revealed that Queensland’s DNA laboratory had issued statements of “no DNA detected” and “insufficient DNA for further processing” when samples could have been tested.

The lab’s unusually high threshold for samples may have led to police investigations being “unnecessarily weakened or abandoned”, prosecutors deciding “not to commence criminal proceedings” or “the chance of conviction” being “forever lost”, the report said.

Updated at 21.02 EDT

Queensland to get renewable energy export corridor

Queensland is making a rather large energy announcement:

Updated at 20.57 EDT

There is a press conference with AFL CEO Gil McLachlan coming very soon on this:

The AFL is investigating “extremely serious” allegations about Hawthorn’s mistreatment of First Nations former players, including that the Hawks separated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players from their families and pressured one couple to terminate a pregnancy for the sake of the player’s career.

A Hawthorn-commissioned review has revealed what the club has called “disturbing historical allegations”. Its confronting contents, as reported by the ABC on Wednesday, are the result of interviews with First Nations players and the document has been passed on to the AFL’s integrity unit.

The minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, on Wednesday described the allegations as “harrowing”, while former Hawthorn captain Luke Hodge said the news was “a shock to the system”.

Updated at 20.56 EDT

Shadow trade minister urges Labor to rebuke ‘union bullying’ in opposing free trade agreement

The shadow trade and investment minister, Kevin Hogan, has seemingly just discovered unions are largely against free trade agreements.

Hogan wants the Labor party to rebuke the CFMEU (that’s the Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining and Energy Union) after a representative told a senate joint standing committee on treaties the free trade agreement with the UK should be scrapped.

This is not a new position, and it is one that Labor’s own caucus has struggled with in the past. The CFMEU and other unions are not against free trade, but they have taken issue with agreements and how they effect workers, so they are not universally embraced.

Hogan though, is outraged:

One in five jobs in Australia is trade related so boosting Australian trade with the UK and other nations is in the interests of jobs in this country.

On average, businesses that export employ more staff, pay higher wages, and achieve higher productivity compared to non-exporters.

The agreement will make Australian exports to the UK cheaper, create new opportunities for workers, young people, and businesses.

…I urge the trade minister and the prime minister to stay strong against union bullying on Australia’s trade agenda and focus on delivering the FTA with the UK as well as India and the EU in Australia’s broad interests.

This continues the opposition’s ongoing political animus against unions, with the topic dominating question time since the new parliament opened.

Updated at 20.41 EDT

First meeting of Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce

The first meeting of the Albanese government’s Women’s Economic Equality Taskforce (Weet).

It’s job is to advise government on issues impacting women.

The taskforce includes:

· Sam Mostyn AO (Chair) – President of Chief Executive Women

· Adrienne Picone – Chief Executive Officer of Tasmania’s Council of Social Service

· Chiou See Anderson – President at National Council of Women of Australia; board member of the International Council of Women

· Danielle Wood – Chief Executive Officer of Grattan Institute; President of the Economic Society of Australia; co-founder and first Chair of the Women in Economics Network

· Jennifer Westacott AO – Chief Executive of the Business Council of Australia

· Jenny Macklin – Vice-Chancellor’s Fellow at the University of Melbourne, School of Government

· Michele O’Neil – President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions

· Professor Rae Cooper AO – Director of the Gender Equality in Working Life Research Initiative, University of Sydney; President Elect of International Labor and Employment Relations Association (ILERA)

· Samantha Connor – President of People with Disability Australia

· Shelley Cable – Director of Minderoo Foundation’s Generation One

· Shirleen Campbell – Co-ordinator of the Tangentyere Women’s Family Safety Group; NT Local Hero in 2020

· Sizol Fuyana – Founder of Fuyana Support; 2022 Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year

· Terese Edwards – Executive Director of the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children.

Katy Gallagher, the minister for women said the taskforce “will play an important advisory role to the Government on a range of issues related to driving women’s equality as an economic imperative, including through the National Gender Equality Strategy and the Employment White Paper”.

The collective experience and advice of these outstanding women will be crucial as the Albanese Government works to re-elevate Australia’s status as a leader on gender equality.”

The Government will continue to work with a broad range of representatives from the business, community and advocacy sectors on gender equality issues, including the six National Women’s Alliances.

Gallagher said it was part of a push to keep women at the centre of government policy making.

Victoria police hold media conference on bus roll at Bacchus Marsh

Police are holding a media conference in Victoria after the collusion between a school bus and a truck at Bacchus Marsh this morning, which caused the bus to roll down an embankment.

13 school students were taken to Ballarat hospital across the region, with some others taken to other hospitals in the region. Some have already been released, but at least two, including the truck driver, are listed as serious but stable.

The students were going to the airport for a trip to America to visit Nasa, the ABC reports.

The officer, who is not named, says it is too early to make any comments about the investigation.

Updated at 20.16 EDT

Good morning everyone, thank you for having me.

I’ll take you through the news for the next few hours.

Updated at 20.11 EDT