The Australian Federal Police has thrown out an investigation of a witness alleged to have provided false evidence in the 2022-23 Robodebt Royal Commission.
In a statement released on Wednesday, the AFP said it had been alerted to potential false testimony in July 2023 but “did not identify sufficient admissible evidence to prove the alleged offender intended to mislead the Royal Commission”.
“The AFP undertook a thorough investigation, reviewing all material, including additional evidence and documents submitted to the Royal Commission,” the statement read.
“The investigation was oversighted by the Sensitive Investigations Operations Board, which is chaired by an AFP Deputy Commissioner.”
Politics Now: Union brings in national code of conduct; Harris violated campaign finance laws: Trump team; New poll puts Harris ahead
National secretary Zach Smith has appointed a lawyer to investigate recent allegations against the CFMEU. Donald Trump's team has accused the Vice President of 'the biggest violation' of FEC laws over Biden's leftover campaign cash.
Welcome to rolling coverage of the US election following Joe Biden's decision to withdraw from the presidential race.
Here are the key developments you need to know about:
- Trump team accuses Harris campaign of 'brazen cash grab' and FEC law violations over Biden's campaign cash
- Beyonce gives Harris permission to use her hit 'Freedom' in presidential campaign
- Graphic new video of Trump shooter moments after assassination attempt emerges
- Reuters/Ipsos poll post-Biden's exit shows Kamala Harris leading Donald Trump 44pc to 42pc
- Secret Service advises the Trump campaign not to hold outdoor rallies.
- Kamala Harris declares Trump a 'predator, fraudster, cheat' in her first campaign speech as the Democrats' presumptive nominee for president.
- US Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle resigned, a day after acknowledging the agency had failed in its mission to prevent an assassination attempt against Donald Trump.
- Joe Biden will address the nation and the world at 8pm Wednesday (10am Thursday AEST) from the White House to explain his decision to abandon his presidential campaign.
Updates
Federal police dismiss robodebt false testimony
Albanese government considers declaration voting
The Albanese government is floating a policy for the lodging of election votes with uncertain eligibility, as it works to raise enrolment among Indigenous voters.
Labor Jagajaga MP Kate Thwaites is leading the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters, which is currently undertaking community consultations in Maningrida and Darwin.
“We have had some success in recent years in getting more Indigenous people and people in remote communities enrolled to vote, but we still have a gap when it comes to people participating in our elections,” Ms Thwaites said on ABC News.
“We want everyone to feel like this is their democracy.”
Ms Thwaites said the government was considering a model where voters who arrived at a polling booth but were not enrolled could lodge a vote that would later be counted upon confirmation of their eligibility.
“(There are) some ideas around if we allow for declaration voting on the day,” she said.
“If they are not sure if they are enrolled and not coming up on the electoral roll, we could allow them to cast a vote that goes into a special envelope and then is counted once we have checked if those people are able to be enrolled.”
CFMEU brings in national code of conduct
The CFMEU’s construction division will implement a national code of conduct for union delegates, after last week sacking eight Victorian delegates who were members of outlaw motorcycle gangs, or closely affiliated with them.
In an update to members on Wednesday, CFMEU national secretary Zach Smith confirmed he had appointed a lawyer, understood to be Peter Morrissey SC, to investigate recent allegations against the union.
He said he expected to receive an application from the Fair Work Commission in coming days to place a number of the union’s branches into administration.
Mr Smith said some of the allegations against the union were “misleading and false, but I should also be clear about this: some are deeply worrying and warrant investigation”.
Pilot safe after forced ejection during Exercise Pitch Black flight
ADF personnel have responded to an emergency incident involving an international participant during Exercise Pitch Black.
— Richard Marles (@RichardMarlesMP) July 24, 2024
I am pleased to hear the pilot involved is safe and recovering in hospital.
A pilot participating in a multinational defence exercise in the Northern Territory is safe after a forced ejection from their aircraft this morning.
The pilot, from a European nation, got into trouble during an Exercise Pitch Black flight about 10.45am.
The pilot, whose nationality has not been confirmed, was located by search and rescue personnel, arriving at hospital about 1.30pm.
“Defence can confirm an international participant in Exercise Pitch Black 24 is safe and well after ejecting from their aircraft this morning during flying operations,” a Defence spokeswoman said.
“The exercise participant made immediate contact with aircrew in the area via radio following their ejection.”
Pitch Black organisers cancelled all further flights for the day.
This year’s Pitch Black is the largest in the exercise’s 43-year history with about 140 aircraft and more than 4000 personnel from 20 nations taking part.
ASIO boss reinstated to National Security Committee
ASIO chief Mike Burgess has been reinstated as a permanent member of the National Security Committee.
As reported by Sky News, Mr Burgess will return to the committee, which handles consultation and decision making for matters of national security and sensitive foreign affairs.
In March, Sky reported that both ASIS head Kerri Hartland and the ASIO director-general had their permanent membership on the committee revoked, meaning Ms Hartland, Mr Burgess and any future leaders of either body would have required invitations from the cabinet to join.
A reason was not provided at the time for the change. It came after Mr Burgess gave a contentious announcement, alleging a former politician had been compromised by a foreign spy network.
In June Mr Burgess had his stewardship of ASIO extended for another five-year term.
“This is an admission of guilt,” opposition home affairs spokesman James Paterson said.
“No agency head should have been removed from the national security committee in the first place.
“The PM should explain this backflip and apologise for endangering our national security in the process.”
Prayers for Vance in wife's ancestral Indian village
Every day in a simple temple in an Indian village, Hindu priest Subhramanya Sharma prays to his god for JD Vance to become vice-president of the United States.
Bowing before a silver cloth-wrapped idol of Sai Baba, a 19th-century guru revered as a deity by his followers, the priest seeks blessings for the Republican politician and his wife, Usha.
Vadluru, a quiet village on the banks of a canal deep in the verdant countryside of Andhra Pradesh, is the ancestral home of Vance’s wife, who will become the US second lady — and the first who is not white — if Donald Trump is elected again.
“We bless her,” said the priest, whose temple is in a building once owned by Usha’s family, the Chilukuris.
“She should get higher positions in her life. We priests offer special prayers for Usha and her husband.” Usha’s great-grandfather moved out of Vadluru, but her ancestors are respected in the village as academic highflyers and well-versed in Hindu scriptures.
Her father Chilukuri Radhakrishnan – a PhD holder – was brought up in Chennai and went on to study in the United States. He returned to India before the couple moved back across the Pacific, and Usha was brought up in suburban San Diego.
She met Vance at Yale Law School and the couple married in 2014. They have three children.
Usha Vance has never visited the village, but the priest said her father last came around three years ago and checked on temple’s condition.
Little is known about Radhakrishnan’s initial years in the United States, but the film of Vance’s memoirs, Hillbilly Elegy, refers to him coming to the country with “nothing”.
Usha’s character, played by Indian actor Freida Pinto, says in the 2020 movie now streaming on Netflix that her father had to “find his way”.
Usha is a practising Hindu and told Fox News in a recent interview that the faith made her mother and father “good parents… really good people”.
Houses in Vadluru have “Jai Sri Ram” — “Victory to Lord Ram” written in red on their walls.
Villagers now follow the couple’s campaign on Youtube and Facebook, said resident Venkata Ramanayya, 70. “We feel very happy and proud,” he said.
Read the full story here.
– AFP
Chalmers releases draft merger reforms
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has released draft merger reform legislation aimed at speeding up the approval process.
In a statement, the Treasurer says the government's legislation will make the merger approval system "faster, stronger, simpler, more targeted and more transparent".
Subject to the legislation passing through parliament, the new system will commence in 2026 and aims to "speed up the process for mergers that are in the national interest and give the regulator stronger powers to identify and scrutinise transactions that pose a risk to competition, consumers and the economy".
Andrea Gomes da Silva has been appointed as an independent advisor. Ms Gomes da Silva led the United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority after the UK exited the European Union.
Federal funds for consent/relationship training in schools
The Albanese government has bankrolled consent and respectful relationship training in schools as it seeks to push domestic violence interventions across more portfolios.
Education Minister Jason Clare announced the program today. It will operate across all states and territories.
“There is a role to play in the classroom to make sure young people develop healthy relationships,” Mr Clare said on Twitter/X. “That's why we're supporting the delivery of consent education that is age-appropriate, evidence based and developed by experts.
“Funding will support education programs, partnerships between schools and expert organisations, engagement with families, and access to professional development for teachers.
“It will help young Australians, particularly young boys and men, to have healthy, respectful relationships.”
We're funding every state and territory to deliver age-appropriate consent and respectful relationships education in schools across Australia. pic.twitter.com/IxFzq6ovZV
— Jason Clare MP (@JasonClareMP) July 24, 2024
The allocation of funding will be at the discretion of state and territory governments. It will operate with a national budget of $77.6m.
US Congressman tries to impeach Harris
A US Republican Congressman has launched an unlikely bid to impeach Vice President Kamala Harris, who is likely likely to secure the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination.
"Kamala Harris has disgraced the office of the vice president and wilfully disregarded her oath to uphold and defend the constitution,” Tennessee Rep. Andy Ogles said. “She is not only an embarrassment to the country but has also intentionally ignored her responsibility to enforce the laws of the United States and protect the American people.
“On her watch, every single town has become a border town. Hundreds of thousands of Americans have overdosed on illicit drugs brought across the southern border, and countless women and children have been raped and murdered.
“Kamala Harris has betrayed the trust of the public by failing to exercise her sworn duty to employ the provisions of the 25th amendment to remove President Biden from office when it became apparent that he was mentally and physically incapable of continuing to serve. For these reasons alone, immediate action should be taken to impeach her.”
This is the second time Mr Ogles has introduced articles of impeachment against Ms Harris.
Harris rallies Dems with confident campaign call
It was the energy that radiated when before there had been none. Democrats in the crowd stood transfixed at the sight of a younger candidate exuding confidence, vitality and emotion. It had been a long time since they had seen such a thing.
Kamala Harris’ first presidential campaign speech was such a contrast to the frail incoherence of Joe Biden that almost no matter what she said, the contrast was already a winner for the Democrats.
In the end, the new presumptive Democratic presidential nominee did not give a speech for the ages in her campaign debut. It lasted barely 15 minutes. But it was a confident, self assured, debut. It was a feel good, aspirational pitch to America’s middle class, which claimed she had a vision for the future unlike Donald Trump.
The short speech was a once-over-lightly job in that it merely touched upon the issues that she saw as important, including the protection of freedoms, social security, universal healthcare, abortion rights and a ban on assault weapons. She did not give any detail about how she would achieve her agenda.
Read the full story here
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Marles insists nuclear industry, AUKUS subs pact ‘completely separate’
Acting PM Richard Marles has dodged questions about why the UK thought Australia would sign onto the nuclear industry deal; The Coalition says it will release the 'full economics' of its energy plan before the end of the year.
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President Xi calls for ‘sustainable’ ties after Trump election victory
Chinese President Xi Jinping wants to 'get along' and establish a 'stable, healthy' relationship between Beijing and Washington in a message to US President-elect Donald Trump.
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