As it happened: Trump blames Biden after US midair collision kills dozens; Dural caravan investigation continues

Thanks for reading the national news blog. Our coverage has concluded for today.

Here’s a recap of what we covered:

• Federal Health Minister Mark Butler announced a review into the prescription of both puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender adolescents and children. Butler has appointed Australia’s peak medical research body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, to develop new national guidelines in place of state guidelines that have seen an explosion in the number of young people transitioning gender.
• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese became testy with journalists asking him about the decision to keep secret this week’s revelation that a caravan filled with explosives was discovered in Sydney over a week ago. He said he would always prioritise safety and support police decisions.
• Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said in a speech on Friday morning that roles in the public service focusing on cultural diversity are an example of positions that “do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Australians”. It faced some blowback, including from Teal MP Allegra Spender and sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody.
• Two men abused by the late Cardinal George Pell in the 1970s have been granted compensation by the federal government’s National Redress Scheme, despite Pell being acquitted of separate criminal charges by the High Court in 2020.

Thanks for your company today. I hope you have an enjoyable evening.

The local share market has finished at its highest-ever level, eclipsing its previous record set eight weeks ago.

The benchmark S&P/ASX200 index on Friday rose 38.6 points, or 0.45 per cent, to 8532.3, breaking its previous record of 8495.2 on December 3.

The broader All Ordinaries climbed 43.8 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8789.7.

The ASX200 rose 1.5 per cent for the week, its fourth straight week of gains and its best weekly performance in six weeks.

The ASX200 also gained 4.6 per cent in January, its best performance since a 7.1 per cent rise in December 2023.

AAP

Australia’s sex discrimination commissioner has welcomed the federal government’s announcement it will review the provision of puberty blockers and hormone therapy for transgender children and adolescents.

Health Minister Mark Butler has appointed Australia’s peak medical research body, the National Health and Medical Research Council, to develop new national guidelines in place of state guidelines that have seen an explosion in the number of young people transitioning their gender.

Sex discrimination commissioner Anna CodyCredit: Oscar Colman

Sex discrimination commissioner Anna Cody, who didn’t support Queensland’s review because it immediately stopped the availability of treatment to new patients, said a singular national review is the “preferable approach”.

“It’s based on both lived experience, which is very important … but also on experts, and there is a growing body of international research that can be drawn on as well as the review of existing research that has occurred and is occurring in Australia,” Cody told ABC Afternoon Briefing.

“We need to recognise our common humanity, and also that all people in our society have a right to healthcare, and that we need to treat everyone with respect.”

Cody added that young people with gender dysphoria had a particular vulnerability to mental health issues and suicide, so politicians must tread carefully on the issue.

A peace park museum will be built on the site of the Bali bombings where 88 Australians were among more than 200 people killed in the terror attack.

The Badung regency government purchased the land where the former Sari Club stood when it was attacked on October 12, 2002.

It’s been welcomed by family members who lost loved ones in the bombings.

An Australian flag during a commemoration ceremony on the attack’s 20th anniversary in Bali in 2022. Credit: Getty

“We’re excited by this purchase, which is the culmination of decades of work by our association to keep the site earmarked for such a development,” Bali Memorial Association spokesperson Keith Pearce said.

The association has been pushing for a peace park to have the terrorist attack properly acknowledged and remembered.

The Australian Department of Foreign Affairs welcomed the purchase and the plan to develop an appropriate place for reflection.

“We hold in our hearts those we lost in the Bali bombings, the survivors and first responders, and those who have since carried the burden of loss,” a department spokesperson said.

Three bombs killed 202 people in the Kuta tourist district in what became the worst loss of Australian lives due to a terrorist attack.

Hundreds more were injured.

AAP

Teal MP Allegra Spender has said cultural diversity jobs are important, following remarks from Opposition Leader Peter Dutton today that the positions “do nothing to improve the lives of everyday Australians”.

During a speech at the Menzies Research Centre, Dutton criticised the government over budget forecasts that show an increase of 36,000 public service jobs over three years to June 2025.

Spender, the member for Wentworth told ABC Afternoon Briefing that she did think government spending needed to be cut down but diversity and inclusion jobs are necessary.

“We need to look at the efficiency of government services, absolutely. But I think … [Dutton’s comments are] pretty Trumpian, in terms of saying, ‘Oh, it’s cultural diversity, that’s the problem’ ... I really see through that.”

“We have a culturally diverse country, and ... I believe our public services, and frankly, our parliament, should reflect that.”

Two men abused by the late Cardinal George Pell in the 1970s have been granted compensation by the federal government’s National Redress Scheme, despite Pell being acquitted of separate criminal charges by the High Court in 2020.

One of the men was offered a payment just five weeks before Pell died, in January 2023, after it was accepted by the scheme that he was groped on the genitals by Pell at a public swimming pool in Ballarat, according to an investigation by the ABC and The Monthly magazine.

George Pell, pictured in 2001, was a former archbishop of Melbourne and Sydney, and a senior Vatican cleric.Credit: Dallas Kilponen

The man, who was just eight years old when he encountered Pell – who was archbishop of Melbourne and then Sydney, before being appointed by the pope to one of the Vatican’s most senior positions in Rome – received $45,000 from the scheme for the alleged abuse.

A National Redress Scheme report on Pell’s conduct said children could be thrown into the air without touching their genitals, and that it was “not incidental touching”, which was contrary to community standards of the time.

The other victim received compensation after the scheme was persuaded Pell had raped the then nine-year-old student at Ballarat’s St Francis Xavier Primary School. The rape occurred in the school’s gym after the boy had stolen Pell’s cardigan, but the late cardinal was never charged over the incident.

In his complaint to the scheme, according to the ABC report, the man wrote: “I remember him saying ‘pull your pants down’ ... I thought he was going to whip me with his belt. He didn’t.”

“It was very painful. I was bleeding from my bottom afterward,” the victim wrote.

The man was granted $95,000 in compensation from the scheme, which is capped at $150,000, and none of his account was disputed, according to the ABC.

A woman who made a harassing phone call to a Sydney synagogue has been fined hundreds of dollars.

Ann Marie Cooper pleaded guilty in Kempsey Local Court on Friday to one count of using a carriage service to menace, harass or offend over a phone call to The Great Synagogue on Castlereagh Street on New Year’s Eve.

The incident was reported to police on January 17.

She was arrested at a home in Hyland Park and taken to Macksville Police Station on the NSW Mid North Coast on Thursday where she was refused bail overnight and released today.

Cooper was convicted and fined $800.

Police, who have said they are taking “hate crimes seriously” have urged anyone who has experienced or witnessed a hate crime to call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Regional music festival Groovin the Moo has been cancelled for a second consecutive year, as organiser’s face financial struggles.

“Groovin the Moo won’t be happening in 2025, while we work on finding the most sustainable model for Australia’s most loved regional touring festival,” it said in a statement on Instagram.

“We will really miss seeing the smiling faces of all our beloved Moo Crew – and that means YOU!”

It comes a week after one of Australia’s biggest festival’s, Splendour in the Grass, was also cancelled for the second year in a row last week.

The music festival industry at large is battling growing supply costs and artist fees, increased insurance premiums and changes in audience ticket buying behaviour.

The treatment of transgender children and adolescents will be subject to a thorough inquiry after the federal government announced a review on Friday.

Health Minister Mark Butler said advice on the use of puberty blockers will be completed in the middle of 2026.

Butler has appointed Australia’s peak medical body to develop new national guidelines in place of state guidelines that have seen an explosion in the number of young people transitioning their gender.

Health Minister Mark Butler.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The review will examine the prescription of both puberty blockers, which stop young adolescents from developing secondary sex features, and also so-called “cross-sex” hormones used to transition young people, so their appearance matches their gender identity.

Butler’s review follows the Queensland government’s move, announced on Tuesday, to become the first state to pause puberty blockers for young people and order for public health facilities to cease offering such interventions to new patients.

Butler sought advice from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the Therapeutic Goods Administration before launching the review and said it was imperative that “highly vulnerable children and adolescents” receive treatment based on the best available evidence.

“We want young people and their families to receive the best health care, led by the best available evidence and wrap-around support,” he said.

“It is imperative there is community confidence that Australian children, adolescents and their families are receiving the most appropriate care.”

The review will scrutinise the Australian Standards of Care and Treatment Guidelines for Trans and Gender Diverse Children and Adolescents.

While Queensland has barred puberty blockers, other states also offer hormone therapy as part of gender-affirming healthcare.

Queensland Health Minister Tim Nicholls said, in announcing the review, there was “widely contested international evidence” around the use of puberty blockers for young people with gender dysphoria.

The NHMRC will develop the guidelines with an expert committee that includes lived experience, public consultation, and international work.

Millions of Australians will avoid paying out-of-pocket fees at dozens of private hospitals after one of Australia’s largest private health funds ended its months-long funding stoush with hospital giant Healthscope.

Healthscope chief commercial officer Dhruv Gupta said the two-year agreement would give certainty to staff, doctors and Bupa customers, who were left furious by Healthscope’s decision to terminate its existing agreement with the insurer from February.

“This new agreement means we can continue to care for Bupa members in our hospitals across Australia, without the need for additional fees,” Gupta said.

The funding war had created uncertainty for customers. Credit: Natalie Boog

Bupa acting managing director Kate Williams acknowledged the funding war had caused uncertainty for customers.

“I want to thank them for their patience and understanding during the past few months,” Williams said.

“Our priority throughout negotiations has been ensuring private health remains affordable for our customers while also acknowledging the cost pressures hospitals are facing.”

Health insurers are lobbying the federal government to allow them to raise premiums by up to 6 per cent ahead of the election, a proposal Health Minister Mark Butler said he was “not inclined” to accept.