Australia news live: government under fire over handling of rape allegations as voters lose trust | Australia news

This is just in but Australian music industry icon Michael Gudinski has died suddenly overnight.

Known for running the Mushroom Records Gudinski was also credited with launching Kylie Minogue’s career. He was extremely active in the last year creating a popular Covid at-home music concert.

It’s being reported that he died of a heart attack in his Melbourne home.

Federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg has had a hearty dig at Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk for requests for an extension of jobkeeper for tourism operators in her state.

In a Courier-Mail opinion piece, Frydenberg has accused the Queensland government of not pulling its weight when it comes to Covid-19 supports. The federal government has generally taken the position that it’s Queensland’s own fault its tourism operators are struggling because of their hard approach to borders.

Honestly, most of the opinion piece is just a pretty dry list of federal government support programs, but the general gist is as follows:

No amount of grandstanding and petty politicking by the Queensland Premier will detract from the indisputable fact that when it comes to the economic response in Queensland, the Morrison Government has done the bulk of the heavy lifting.

Cyclone Niran has 85km/h winds and 120km/h gusts as it slowly tracks north-east about 235km north-east of Cairns this morning, leaving homes without power and causing flooding in some areas.

The Bureau of Meteorology says it will continue intensifying over the next day or two.

The cyclone is expected to continue moving slowly to the northeast during today, before becoming slow-moving or drifting back slowly to the west this evening into Wednesday.

Notionally the cyclone will turn into a category 2 system by 1 pm today and intensifying into a category 3 storm by Thursday morning.

Luckily it is moving away from the coast and the eye of the storm isn’t expected to hit land.

But, a gale warning has still been issued for coastal and island communities between Cape Flattery and Innisfail, with gusts up to 100km/h expected by Wednesday.

The winds already left about 42,000 homes without power in the region and two people were rescued from floodwaters near the Star River, west of Townsville on Monday.

Andrew Leigh, the federal Labor MP for Fenner in the ACT has been asked about the allegations of historic rap by a current cabinet minister while speaking to the 2SM radio station this morning, calling for a full investigation:

The Prime Minister needs to live by the words that he uttered when the issue of sexual assault in Parliament House came up, saying that we need to take this seriously. And if he does that, then we need a full investigation of what’s gone on and potentially the minister should also stand aside during the course of that investigation.

As that lock-up has just finished, here are the broad strokes of that report from AAP:

Victoria’s mental health system cannot meet the needs of the people it’s designed to support and a complete rebuild is necessary, a royal commission says.

The creation of a new Mental Health Act no later than mid-2022 and a new authority to hold the government to account are among dozens of recommendations to reform the system.

It also said a mental health and wellbeing commission, with at least one commissioner who has lived with mental illness, should be established to hold the government to account.

Other recommendations include the creation of a chief officer for mental health and the creation of between 50 and 60 local adult mental health services, to ensure people can get treatment close to home:

Despite the goodwill and hard work of many people, Victoria’s mental health system has deteriorated for a multitude of reasons and over the course of many years.

The report says a lack of resources has meant many people were turned away unless they were in absolute crisis.

We heard from people and their families, at times in harrowing detail, about the impacts of being turned away from services at their darkest hour, and the sometimes tragic consequences of this.

The commission’s recommendations – 65 unveiled on Tuesday on top of the nine previously canvassed in its 2019 interim report – include a review of mental health laws five-to-seven years after the new act is introduced.

If this topic is difficult for you, you can call Lifeline 13 11 14 or Beyondblue 1300 22 4636.

Speaking of Victoria, perhaps we will hear more about this slower vaccine roll out at the press conference today.

I should mention that the main thrust of this press conference will be on the release of the Victorian mental health royal commission report.

Journalists have been given two hours of lock-up time to pore over the report before the press conference (which is what people were upset with Scott Morrison for not doing before the aged care royal commission release yesterday).

It seems Victoria’s Covid-19 vaccinations are rolling out slowly, with less than a third of the supplied doses being administered.

According to federal figures, only 30 per cent of Victoria’s doses were injected in the first week of the vaccination program, compared to 74 per cent of New South Wales’ doses.

On Monday, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley called on the federal government to be more transparent about its rollout, as the state ramps up its regional vaccination program”

We just think there’s a bit of a need for the commonwealth to share more information, to be a bit more transparent…

“We were quite disturbed to hear that there had been cold chain breaches that saw this very precious Pfizer vaccine essentially wasted.

The state government launched vaccination hubs in Bendigo and Ballarat on Monday.

There are now six hubs operating in Melbourne and regional Victoria, providing the vaccine to hotel quarantine workers, airport staff, and frontline health staff.

NSW MP Rose Jackson says she will bring racially charged comments made to local councillor Kun Huang to the NSW attorney general tomorrow.

Huang, who is Chinese Australia, publishing a screenshot of the email, which is filled with anti-Asian sentiments and slurs, described it as “repulsive and disgusting”.

Jackson labelled the email as “hate speech” and said action should be taken:

I will be raising this in budget estimates tomorrow with the attorney general. This is why we have s93Z of the Crimes Act. This kind of hate speech is illegal in NSW and I’m so glad Kun has been brave enough to come forward and report to police.

I don’t know about you but I have been obsessed with Calla Wahlquist’s WA election coverage. This is from her profile on opposition leader Zak Kirkup:

Sixteen days before the state election, Western Australia’s opposition leader, Zak Kirkup, conceded defeat. As the doors opened to early voting booths last week, he said what had been obvious for months: the Liberal party was not going to win and needed to work hard just to save the furniture.

At a leadership debate on Thursday night, he urged people to vote Liberal anyway to ensure Labor did not gain “total control”.

“I know what happened in the past when Labor had too much power and a popular premier – it resulted in WA Inc,” Kirkup said. “It is dignified to talk about the future of our state and talk about what it means for democracy if Labor gets too much control.”

Read the full story below:

I told you before that the prime minister held a rather heated press conference yesterday after giving media only 30 minutes’ notice when a damning report following the royal commission into aged care was released.

(Traditionally you would have a full lockup situation as occurs before the budget.)

Here is a little snippet from that presser where Scott Morrison declares “I am the prime minister”, while being questioned by an ABC reporter.

I mentioned before that another 25 asylum seekers are set to be released from detention in Brisbane. Here is a bit more information on that situation via AAP.

The Refugee Action Coalition says refugees brought to Australia for medical treatment under now repealed medical evacuation laws will be released today.

Twenty-three are being held at the Kangaroo Point Central Hotel and two are at the Brisbane Immigration Transit Accommodation Centre.

All will be released on six-month bridging visas, like the 25 detainees who were released on Monday.

The RAC expects another 45 asylum seekers will be released later this week, leaving about 175 still in detention.

Those released on Tuesday will be provided with three weeks accommodation, but the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre has previously warned those being freed were in precarious situations and need government support while they sought work to support themselves on the bridging visas.

“It is uncertain what support people now being released will receive. People on bridging visas are excluded from government safety nets of jobkeeper and jobseeker.”

The Department of Home Affairs said final departure bridging visas issued to released detainees include the right to work and access Medicare.

The department said “short-term support”, including help to link former detainees with essential services and accommodation, was on offer but didn’t say for how long.

The bridging visas are being issued to allow detainees to finalise their medical care and not – the government says – as a pathway to settle in Australia.

Detainees will have to “continue on their resettlement pathway to the United States, return to Nauru or PNG, or return to their home country”, the department said.

Nine news Europe correspondent Sophie Walsh says the man who attacked her live on air in 2020 has been sentenced to four months in prison.

Walsh was speaking to the Adelaide 6pm news program from Hyde Park in London during a Black Lives Matter protest when a man grabbed her, allegedly shouting threatening religious comments and made stabbing motions with his hands, although did not physically hurt her.

The broadcast has cut away to footage of the protest but Walsh’s yells could be heard on air as the attack took place.

He later pleaded guilty to assault, possessing an offensive weapon and possessing cannabis.

New laws are set to be introduced into Victorian parliament this week which aim to prevent offenders or people responsible for causing a death having the right to make decisions about their victim’s grave or memorial, according to the Herald Sun.

The family of slain Melbourne mother Karen Ristevski has pushed for a law that stops jailed husband, Borce, keeping control of her grave.

Karen Ristevski was killed and dumped in Victorian bushland by her husband in 2016. After years of investigation, Borce finally pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2019.

Ristevski currently has control over his wife’s grave, according to the report. Her family wants Ristevski’s headstone changed, as well as stopping her husband from being buried next to her.

It’s hoped the new laws will be able to be backdated to 2005.