As it happened: Senate accepts lock-up laws after child sex ringleader charged; Attorney-general to probe undercover police safety

Thanks for reading the live blog today. These were the top headlines from Wednesday, December 6.

• Anthony Albanese announced the federal government will give the states and territories another $3.5 billion a year in greater GST payments in a national cabinet deal that also boosts funding for public hospitals and eases pressure on the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
• A Sudanese-born man has become the fourth detainee to be charged after being released from indefinite detention, following his arrest in Melbourne for theft and breaching his visa conditions.
• Independent MPs are furious over the decision to vote on preventative detention laws tonight to respond to the High Court decision to release people from indefinite detention.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the three months to the end of September.
• Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus slammed a suggestion the Albanese government should apologise for the release of people previously in immigration detention.
• In state news, the Victorian ombudsman slammed the “culture of fear” under former premier Daniel Andrews and revealed how former staffers were put in senior public service roles.
• Former political staffers were among a list of five witnesses called by Channel Ten on Wednesday in the Federal Court defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann.

• The Matildas lost 1-0 to Olympic champions Canada in a friendly match in Vancouver, just days after game one where the Canucks won 5-0.

Thanks again, we’ll be back tomorrow with more live news.

A Sudanese-born man charged with stealing luggage from an airport and breaching visa curfew conditions is expected to face court on Thursday, following his arrest at a Melbourne hotel today.

The 45-year-old man had been scheduled to front Melbourne Magistrates’ Court this afternoon, charged with theft and breaching new curfew laws introduced on November 16.

He is alleged to have breached the condition of his visa on December 1.

The arrest of the Sudanese-born man, one of about 150 people released after a High Court ruling against indefinite detention, was the fourth among that cohort.

Australia’s first lunar rover will be named Roo-ver after thousands of people cast their votes in a public competition.

The semi-autonomous rover will travel to the Moon as part of a NASA mission as soon as 2026, helping to collect lunar soil from which scientists hope to extract oxygen, a key element in rocket fuel.

More than 8000 submissions were made during the Australian Space Agency’s naming competition, with almost 20,000 votes received.

Roo-ver claimed 36 per cent of the votes to beat three other shortlisted names: Coolamon, an Indigenous name for a multi-purpose tool used for gathering; Kakirra, an Indigenous name for the Moon; and Mateship.

The announcement was made at the Australian Space Forum on Wednesday, which brought together key industry figures from around the world, with guests from various nations joined by NASA astronaut Shannon Walker.

AAP

Brad Banducci, the chief executive of Australia’s biggest supermarket Woolworths, has confirmed he will front the Senate inquiry into supermarket prices.

Initiated by the Greens to examine whether the supermarket giants are price gouging customers during a cost-of-living crisis, the motion to establish the inquiry has passed the Senate, paving the way for a Senate Select Committee on Supermarket Prices to be established.

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says he welcomes the opportunity to appear before a Senate inquiry into Supermarket prices.

While Banducci has not yet received a formal request to appear, the chief executive is eager to make it clear to Australians that he will be appearing.

“We are very aware of the pressures facing many Australian families. We welcome the opportunity to explain to the senate how we are working to balance the needs of our customers, our team and our suppliers in the context of economy-wide inflationary pressure,” he said in a statement.

“As we have done at several inquiries this year, we will openly and constructively assist the parliament with its work on this important topic.

“We are proud to directly employ 180,000 team members in Australia and support the livelihoods of 18,000 suppliers in the communities we serve.”

Woolworths and Coles both posted billion-dollar profits for the 2023 financial year, which has sparked anger among some Australians frustrated at bigger grocery bills, but have repeatedly denied accusations of profiteering.

The first hearings are expected to be held early next year.

Earlier today, we reported on Anthony Albanese’s tribute to Peta Murphy, the Labor MP for the Victoria seat of Dunkley, who died on Monday aged 50 from cancer.

Murphy had been in parliament since 2019, with her breast cancer returning just two weeks before she was sworn in.

Flowers were placed on Ms Murphy’s seat in the lower house in her memory, with many MPs wiping away tears during the condolence speeches.

A bouquet of flowers is placed on the desk of Peta Murphy, as Labor MP Lisa Chesters wipes her eyes during the condolence motion.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

While Albanese led the condolences, here are some of the other remarks made by fellow parliamentarians.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said Ms Murphy had so much more to give the parliament.

“She chose to use the bumps in her life’s journey to make a difference as a member of parliament and make a difference she most certainly did, living up to the ideals that she set for herself,” he said.

Skills Minister Brendan O’Connor, who Murphy served as chief of staff between 2016 and 2019, remembered her humility.

“She was not comfortable with pride or being the centre of attention, which is a funny thing for a politician, unless it was for a cause bigger than her,” he said.

“She was principled, she was in a hurry to change things, but her work was always accompanied by compassion and integrity.”

Labor MP Kate Thwaites, who entered parliament the same year as Ms Murphy, praised her passion and close friendship.

“She never left you in any doubt where she stood on an issue and she would always come down on the side of making things fairer,” she said.

“Peta didn’t like talking about her cancer and it’s not what she wanted to be known for, but she was also very conscious of the platform she had to argue for better outcomes for people with cancer.”

Nationals MP Darren Chester, who earlier paid tribute to Ms Murphy during her last week in parliament, honoured her intelligence, humour and warmth.

“We’ve been a bit ripped off. The nation’s been robbed of even greater achievements of the member for Dunkley,” he said.

“She made sure the cancer didn’t define who she was. Peta defined the cancer on behalf of women around the country.”

AAP with Josefine Ganko

A Sudanese-born man has become the fourth detainee to be charged after being released from indefinite detention, following his arrest in Melbourne for theft and breaching his visa conditions.

The 45-year-old man was arrested at a Melbourne hotel after he allegedly breached the conditions of his Commonwealth visa last Friday, by failing to observe his curfew obligations.

The man is alleged to have visited Melbourne Airport and stolen luggage from a traveller who was asleep in a terminal.

The Australian Federal Police arrested the man earlier today and charged him with one count of theft and one count of failing to comply with a curfew condition under the Migration Act. The new laws were passed on November 16 and carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $93,000 fine.

The man is the fourth former immigration detainee to be charged following a High Court decision against indefinite detention on November 8.

On Monday, Afghan refugee Aliyawar Yawari fronted court in South Australia after allegedly indecently assaulting a woman on Saturday night at an Adelaide hotel, less than a month after his release.

A second ex-detainee, 45-year-old Mohammed Ali Nadari, was accused of drug possession when police allegedly found him with cannabis in western Sydney on Saturday afternoon.

Emran Dad, 33, was arrested in Dandenong on Tuesday morning after he breached his obligations as a registered sex offender.

The Sudanese-born man is scheduled to appear in Melbourne Magistrates’ Court later today.

A 58-year-old US man arrested in connection with the 2022 Wieambilla shootings was in contact with the shooters via YouTube.

Gareth Train communicated with the man via comments on YouTube videos from May 2021 until the shooting in December 2022.

In a press conference, QLD Police Assistant Commissioner Cheryl Scanlon described messages sent by the man to Gareth and Stacey Train as containing “Christian end of days ideology”.

Police previously labelled the shootings by Gareth, Nathaniel and Stacey Train as a religiously motivated terrorist attack.

Before they were killed by Queensland tactical police, Gareth and Stacey filmed themselves in the dark on the rural property and uploaded a video that referenced a man named “Don”. At the time the video was released, the full identity of “Don” was not clear.

Scanlon confirmed the US arrest was in relation to the YouTube video.

“Those matters are only before the court this morning in the US, but that’s the interaction that has emanated to cause this investigation,” she said.

“Evidence has been seized and is being analysed by the FBI,” Scanlon continued.

Queensland police earlier issued a statement saying the Counter Terrorism Command had travelled to the US, and a 58-year-old man was arrested near Heber Overgaard, Arizona.

Scanlon said the 58-year-old had been remanded in custody.

Under US federal law, it is a felony to communicate a threat to injure or kidnap another person online.

The arrest was made in relation to the shooting of officers Rachel McCrow and Matthew Arnold, and Good Samaritan Alan Dare, who were gunned down by Nathaniel, Gareth and Stacey Train at a rural property in Wieambilla, west of Brisbane, in December 2022.

The influential Bank for International Settlements has warned that rapid global growth in buy now, pay later (BNPL) services could create risks in the financial system due to a potential build-up of loans that are more likely to go bad than credit cards or personal loans.

As regulation looms for Australia’s BNPL sector, a new report from the Switzerland-based Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said BNPL had surged globally, and Australia and Sweden had the highest usage rates relative to their population.

Buy now, pay later services could pose risks to the financial system, but Australia is leading the way on regulation, the BIS said.Credit: Louie Douvis

The study credited Australia with leading the way in BNPL regulation, after the government earlier this year unveiled its plan to subject the sector to responsible lending obligations.

But the BIS raised concerns about global risks, saying data on BNPL around the world suggested users were generally younger and tech-savvy, but often less financially literate than older generations.

This raised the risk that some BNPL users engaging in “imprudent” spending on the platforms, and some customers taking on too much BNPL debt.

BNPL services such as Afterpay and Zip allow customers to borrow money via digital instalment loans, but because no interest is charged, the sector has escaped the regulation that applies to credit cards.

Here’s more on the risks facing consumers.

Climate activists have gathered outside Labor MP Peter Khalil’s office in Melbourne’s north, the second demonstration from Extinction Rebellion today designed to put pressure on leaders to take action to protect the environment.

Climate activists, flanked by ‘Blinky’ the smoke-breathing Koala, gather outside Labor MP Peter Khalil’s office in Melbourne’s north.

The group briefly blocked traffic on Sydney Road in Coburg, during what they say will be the first of four days of disruptions culminating in a large-scale demonstration on Saturday.

Activist Violet Coco said the group has targeted Khalil’s office because Labor had approved or expanded eight gas projects since their term in office began.

Coco, who was briefly jailed for blocking the Sydney Harbour Bridge in 2022, said new gas projects were the “opposite of what the science tells us needs to be done”.

Extinction Rebellion began the week of activism, which coincides with the COP28 summit, by stopping traffic during peak hour in the Melbourne CBD on Wednesday morning.

The group plans to disrupt traffic during peak hour again later this afternoon.

Thank you for your company today.

I’m handing over to Josefine Ganko, who will be anchoring the blog for the rest of the afternoon.

Here’s what you need to know if you’re just joining us:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has promised more money to public hospitals following the national cabinet meeting with state and territory leaders.
• Independent MPs are furious over the decision to vote on preventative detention laws tonight to respond to the High Court decision to release people from indefinite detention.
• Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the economy grew by 0.2 per cent in the three months to the end of September.
• Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus slammed a suggestion the Albanese government should apologise for the release of people previously in immigration detention.
• In state news, the Victorian ombudsman slammed the “culture of fear” under former premier Daniel Andrews and revealed how former staffers were put in senior public service roles.
• Former political staffers are among a list of five witnesses expected to be called by Ten on Wednesday in the Federal Court defamation trial brought by Bruce Lehrmann.

• The Matildas are once again taking on Olympic champions Canada in a friendly match in Vancouver, just a week after game one where the Canucks won 5-0.