Australia news live updates: Hawthorn CEO says racism review allegations ‘a surprise to everyone I’ve spoken to’

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A man has been rescued in in north west New South Wales overnight after becoming trapped while driving through flood waters, NSW Police have confirmed.

About 12.30am, a 22-year-old man was travelling on Rangari Road, Boggabri, towards Narrabri. Multiple road closure signs were present on the side of the road, however police say the car became submerged approximately 5km east of the Kamilaroi Highway.

When emergency services – including NSW Police and the SES – attempted to help the man, they couldn’t reach the location due to the flood levels.

A short time later, the man was rescued from the roof of his vehicle by an SES crew in a boat. He was uninjured.

Western region commander assistant commissioner Brett Greentree said the incident was a reminder of the dangers first responders faced in difficult conditions.

The condition of the roadway underneath cannot be guaranteed, large potholes and sections of bitumen can be washed away by flood water.

I cannot stress enough of the inherent dangers faced by drivers thinking they can cross a flooded road – if it’s flooded, forget it.

The royal commission into Robodebt will hold its first public hearing on Tuesday in Brisbane. No witnesses will be called.

Updated at 00.29 EDT

In Victoria, acting superintendent Jason Templar and Loretto College principal Michelle Broderick will talk to the media outside the school at 2.30 this afternoon regarding the Bacchus Marsh bus crash.

The school has released a statement, asking for the privacy of the victims to be respected.

Victoria’s premier Daniel Andrews has thanked hospital staff and first responders in state parliament.

Updated at 00.30 EDT

Many thanks to Amy Remeikis for keeping us up to date this afternoon. I’ll be with you for the rest of the day.

Caitlin Cassidy will take you through the remainder of the afternoon.

Thank you so much for following along with me today and take care of you.

The Hawthorn press conference was brief.

The Brisbane Lions issued a statement as Emma Kemp reported, on Chris Fagan (former Hawthorn assistant coach) announcing the coach would be taking a leave of absence while the AFL investigation is on-going.

There has been no word from North Melbourne about Alastair Clarkson, who was coach of Hawthorn in the period covered in the report. Clarkson had signed a multi-million dollar deal with North Melbourne.

Updated at 00.16 EDT

Justin Reeves says the club is speaking with current players to make sure they feel safe at the club:

We would like to provide as much assurance as we can. I met with one of our current players this morning. We had a really open and frank conversation and he feels culturally safe, but we will continue to challenge that and we will continue to move forward and we will continue to strengthen those programs.

Does he think the review needs to go wider than First Nations players?

I think we will continue, as we work through the allegations and the processes put in place by the AFL, we will continue to engage all of our family and all of our stakeholders to make sure that anyone who feels they need support gets that opportunity. We won’t leave any stone unturned in that pursuit.

Updated at 00.18 EDT

Justin Reeves:

The plan for the club was that this was always an exercise in engaging an external consultant to go and have discussions with our former and current players and staff to learn about their experiences from the club. That report came back with some, quite disturbing allegations that we acted on straightaway. The report was put together in a confidential manner. People signed away confidentiality and we must respect that confidentiality and to this day it is still de-identified.

Hawthorn received final report with allegations two weeks ago

The Hawthorn football club received the final report with the allegations two weeks ago, Justin Reeves says.

He said it was “more complicated” than just immediately being able to react to:

The report that we received wasn’t identified, so we are actually unaware of who the people and partners were. What we have done from the minute the report was received was offer any support that we could do, whether that was immediate, and we have actually provided some support and some respite way prior to this ABC report even being surfaced.

Updated at 00.10 EDT

Justin Reeves said the report was ordered to check into the welfare of past players:

This process was initiated by the club and it was to speak purely to our First Nations past players and staff. We had no idea of what was to come out of those conversations. We didn’t speak to anyone outside of that group while the consultants didn’t speak to anyone outside of that group. It wasn’t an investigation as such. There were no allegations or – it was more for us, as I said, to check in on people’s welfare and wellbeing post their time at the club, so, no.

Updated at 00.11 EDT

Findings of report ‘a surprise’

Has Justin Reeves spoken to people at the club who were there at the time?

Reeves:

We spoke to a really wide range of people who were at the club at that time and it has been a surprise to everyone that I’ve spoken to, the findings of that report. Unfortunately we haven’t been able to speak directly to those affected but certainly the people I’ve spoken to were [unaware] of these allegations historically.

He says that includes Sam Mitchell.

Updated at 00.06 EDT

‘Australia has a culture problem historically,’ Justin Reeves says

Asked if Hawthorn has a culture problem, Justin Reeves says:

I think Australia has a culture problem historically, and I think, like all of us, we focus on every day being better and building a great environment for our club. I feel confident from the report as well that currently our players feel culturally safe, but like so many institutions, I think we have to face our history and our past and we have to act responsibly and we have to cooperate and move forward from that.

He said before the report was handed to the club, he did not know what had occurred.

Was it just about winning championships?

It is hard to say. I wasn’t here at the time and I don’t want that to be a cop-out, but I think what happened – we can only act on what was produced in the report, all those conversations that have come through the report, and I don’t know – there has been no – nothing in that report to say it was purely around that, but I think the environment needs to be looked at.

Updated at 00.12 EDT

Hawthorn CEO Justin Reeves addresses the media

Hawthorn is responding to the ABC’s reporting and the AFL’s announcement of an external review.

CEO Justin Reeves says the report looking into the Hawthorn situation “was always about finding out if anyone required any further support in their life after football”.

This was really important work. I read the report like you guys today, and it is tough reading. It is heartbreaking. We said in our statement earlier this morning that these allegations are extremely disturbing. We are profoundly disappointed that some of our former players and their families feel like this about their experiences at the club. The club will continue to offer support to those who have participated in this process and their wellbeing remains our priority. As per the recommendation from the report, the information was provided immediately to the AFL Integrity Unit. The AFL have this afternoon announced an external review of which we fully support and will cooperate fully. It is entirely appropriate that there is a thorough investigation from this report. Hawthorn Football Club CEO Justin Reeves. Photograph: James Ross/AAP/PA Images

Updated at 23.59 EDT

Shadow minister for early childhood education lambasts Labor over childcare inquiry

The shadow minister for early childhood education, Angie Bell, wants to know why the Labor government has taken four months to announce an inquiry into why childcare is so expensive, but neglects to mention her party was in government for a decade as costs rose:

After more than four months, the Albanese government have finally gotten around to revealing details on their ACCC price mechanism election promise – which will cost $10m and deliver nothing for Australian families until sometime in 2024.

Labor needs a plan for fees because last time they were in office childcare fees skyrocketed by 53% in just six years,” Bell said.

There is still no plan for how the workforce will meet the increased demand for childcare or to address the establishment of new childcare services in child-care deserts.

Minister Clare’s announcement in inner-city Brisbane doesn’t help those in regional Australia who don’t have access to childcare places.

Updated at 00.00 EDT

NSW releases response to inquiry on ice addiction

It took 32 months, but the New South Wales government has released its response to a landmark inquiry into ice addiction, but has categorically ruled out its key recommendation: the complete decriminalisation of drug possession in the state.

The package unveiled by the premier Dominic Perrottet on Wednesday includes $500m in funding to address “treatment gaps” in drug and alcohol services in the state, as well as justice initiatives including an expanded drug court and pre-court diversion scheme for people caught with small amounts of drugs.

But, as has been widely anticipated, it will not include decriminalisation. Perrottet said during a press conference announcing the response on Wednesday: “I disagree with decriminalisation.”

I want to make very clear the NSW government does not support the recommendation to decriminalise drugs in NSW.

This is the balance you have to get right. We need to send clear messages to people across the state to not take drugs. And then you deal with people who are in the system … you need to provide the care and support and intervention to help them overcome that addiction.”

The pre-court diversion scheme announced as part of the response broadly mirrors the one which was first flagged by the attorney general Mark Speakman earlier this year.

It will see fines – likely of around $400 – for people caught with low level amounts of illicit drugs, but will contain caveats including a “two strike policy” before being charged. The use of the scheme will also be subject to police discretion, and will not be available for people convicted of certain types of offences.

Those carve outs – which exist for other existing diversion schemes in NSW – have been found to lead to some parts of the population, particularly Indigenous people, being more likely to be charged and sentenced for low level drug offences.

Professor Dan Howard first handed down the report and its 109 recommendations in January 2020, but other than immediately ruling out some of his key findings – including the use of pill testing at music festivals – the government has not responded until now.

In his report he argued that decriminalisation was “the bare minimum of change” needed to overhaul of the state’s justice system, which he labelled “tired” and “lacking in imagination”.

Updated at 00.02 EDT

The Hawthorn football club CEO Justin Reeves will speak to the media at 1.45pm.

Updated at 23.52 EDT

Brisbane head coach Chris Fagan to take leave of absence

Brisbane head coach and former Hawthorn staffer Chris Fagan will take a leave of absence from his role to deal with allegations concerning the Hawks’ mistreatment of First Nations former players.

Hours after AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan announced an external independent panel would be created to investigate the “challenging, harrowing and disturbing” allegations detailed in a Hawks-commissioned review, the Lions announced Fagan would take time away to cooperate with the investigation.

The statement reads:

The Brisbane Lions are aware senior Coach Chris Fagan will work with the AFL on an investigation into allegations concerning historical events at the Hawthorn Football Club, where he was a former employee.

Chris supports and welcomes the investigation.

He was not consulted during the Hawthorn sponsored review and looks forward to the opportunity to be heard as part of the AFL investigation.

The Brisbane Lions and Chris have mutually agreed that he will take a leave of absence from the Club so he can fully cooperate in the investigation.

As the matters are now with the AFL Integrity Unit, the Brisbane Lions won’t make any further comment at this stage.

Chris Fagan. Photograph: Michael Willson/AFL Photos/Getty Images

Updated at 23.57 EDT

Australian government seeks First Nations ambassador

The Albanese government has opened up expressions of interest for the Ambassador First Nations People to the public.

Penny Wong, Linda Burney and Pat Dodson have issued this statement:

The Government is delivering on its commitment to implement the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full, and embed Indigenous perspectives, experiences and interests into our foreign policy.

Australia’s foreign policy should reflect our modern diversity and the rich heritage of First Nations people.

The Ambassador will head an Office of First Nations Engagement within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade to listen to and work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This is the first time an Ambassador position has been open to a public expression of interest, enabling qualified and interested individuals to apply.

Further information on the expression of interest process for the Ambassador for First Nations People is available at First Nations EOI.

Lions coach Chris Fagan stood down pending AFL Hawthorn investigation

AFL CEO Gil McLachlan had said that it would be for others to make announcements over whether anyone would be stepping down following the Hawthorn report.

This announcement has just been reported:

Updated at 23.46 EDT