A South Australian agtech company is using innovative new technology in an attempt to stop the rot and make food loss a worry of the past.
Key points:
An agtech company developed low dose hydrogen peroxide vapor satchets for shipping containers to stop food spoilage
Coolsan Australia co-founder Tom DeMasi says the goal is to get more food in mouths and less in landfill
A South Australian government grant will help take the invention to the next level
In 2005, rural New South Wales restaurant operator Merrill Erickson asked her husband, retired scientist Dr Gary Erickson, to come up with a solution to make her fresh produce last longer.
He developed a prototype which would go on to become ChillSafe, a hand-sized sachet that releases a low dose hydrogen peroxide vapor into shipping containers, reducing bacteria and extending the shelf-life of produce.
Food retailer and marketing consultant Tom DeMasi stumbled across the product at an international food expo and could see the value of Dr Erickson’s invention across the supply chain.
In 2010 they co-founded Coolsan Australia, and now they are tackling food waste one truck at a time.
More food into more mouths
Mr DeMasi says the technology has already saved truckloads of produce from going into landfill.(ABC Riverland: Sophie Landau)
It is a strenuous and labor intensive process to get produce from the farm to the plate with hours spent picking, washing, spraying, waxing, imaging, sorting, packing, storing, and then finally shipping.
Mr DeMasi, who is based in the Riverland town of Morgan, said bacteria can decimate a whole shipload of produce in a very small period of time if it makes its way into the container.
“Everything gets wasted — from the fertilizers to grow it, the time it took for the farmer, the petrol, the tractor. Anything it costs to create it is gone,” he said.
“What we’re trying to do is get as much product into more markets, more mouths, and less into landfill.”
Major horticultural company Costa Group first trialled the technology to solve an issue with overripe lemons coming out of storage.
After seeing the results, the group began using the sachets in its shipping containers to prevent food from spoiling during export.
Tom DeMasi’s (centre) product reduces food loss and is now sharing the bacteria-stopping technology with the agricultural world.(ABC Riverland: Sophie Landau)
Riverland packing operations manager Mick Trussell said the transit process is increasingly unpredictable due to the impacts of the pandemic, so protecting food from bacteria is more important than ever.
“With delays in shipping and transit times, and containers getting held out in the middle of the ocean before they can get into ports, it certainly helps,” he said.
Top of the food chain
Coolsan Australia took out one of nine AgTech Growth grants from the Department of Primary Industries and Regions SA in June, and will use the $100,000 in funding to develop a smaller version of the technology.
In its current form ChillSafe can be used in a shipping container for produce in partially open boxes, like citrus.
Mr DeMasi says orders for the new in-box technology are on a timeline of 6-12 months from now.(ABC Riverland: Sophie Landau)
Mr DeMasi said the newer technology will go inside boxes of produce that are enclosed such as blueberries, rockmelon, and table grapes.
“We have interest from EE Muir & Sons and other organizations like Costa to partner with us on a bigger scale moving forward,” he said.
“So maybe we’ll be making it here in Renmark, who knows.”
The Victorian government will establish an Emergency Animal Disease (EAD) task force to prepare for an incursion of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD), which is currently circulating through parts of Indonesia.
Key points:
The Victorian government has developed a task force to prepare for a foot and mouth disease outbreak
Foot and mouth disease affects livestock such as sheep, cattle, goats and pigs
Three hundred biosecurity staff are being trained in disease mitigation
The task force would be co-chaired by Agriculture Victoria chief executive officer Matt Lowe and the Emergency Management Commissioner Andrew Crisp, taking advice from Victoria’s Chief Veterinarian Graeme Cooke.
The Australian government has ramped up biosecurity measures to prevent foot-and-mouth and lumpy skin disease entering the country, since it was discovered in Bali, Indonesia a month ago.
Experts fear the exotic livestock diseases could cost the economy billions if it made it into Australia.
“We want to get a focus and targeted government response to a whole range of things we need to put in place in terms of being prepared and to prevent an outbreak,” Victorian Agriculture Minister Gayle Tierney said.
“[The task force] will be looking at things like developing an EAD response plan and will also be looking at access to sufficient personal protective equipment and the supply chain issues that we have in respect to testing, tracing, destruction, disposal and vaccination.”
‘No delay’ in task force formation
Ms Tierney said there had been a “lot of work already underway” that would help mitigate any EAD threats, including coordinating with the national process for service and infrastructure continuity.
The symptoms of foot-and-mouth disease on the tongue of an Indonesian cow.(Supplied: Dok. Kementan)
“It’s clear that there is anxiety within the farming community, people are wanting to know more and we’ve been able to give very practical advice through webinars,” she said.
“This is a good time [to] have those conversations at a grassroots level that give farmers the opportunity to turn that anxiety into very positive practical measures.
“We have a very clear understanding of what the risks are and what we need to do to ramp things up to ensure our preparedness is the best it could possibly be.”
Three hundred biosecurity staff were being trained through Agriculture Victoria to prepare for an FMD outbreak in the state, learning about scenario planning and emergency exercises.
Ms Tierney said despite Indonesia having FMD present in the country for months, the taskforce was a “rapid response”.
“This is a whole of government response, not just Agriculture Victoria, and that’s a fairly quick landing in terms of getting this task force off the ground,” she said.
“Of course there has been lots of work that has been done all the way through, Victoria’s biosecurity measures lead the pack in terms of other jurisdictions.
“It’s been business as usual but then with this extra change that is required because of FMD being on the island of Bali.”
Agriculture Victoria was experienced and well equipped to handle biosecurity threats, Ms Tierney said.
“They did it recently in terms of the avian flu and Japanese encephalitis — there are so many biosecurity threats with us all the time,” she said.
“I think they have a proven track record of doing a pretty good job and the way they have ramped up preparedness for FMD — they should be congratulated for it.”
More than 400 Brisbane homeowners devastated by the February floods disaster have expressed interest in having their homes bought back with valuations to begin in the next few weeks.
A further 1,300 homeowners are prepared to have their homes raised, and 1,500 want their homes rebuilt to be flood-proof.
Queensland Reconstruction Authority Chair Brendan Moon today said there remained 2000 uninhabitable properties across South East Queensland, and hundreds of people still at a loss as to how to move forward after the disaster.
Hundreds of Queensland homeowners want to have their flood-affected homes bought back by the government. (9News)
“There is still 600 people who are unsure of their next steps,” Moon said.
“Our approach now is very much supporting them, getting them to the right decision, one to get them back into their home as soon as possible, but also to support their decision to reduce flood-risk into the future.”
He said the QRA had identified the most damaged and highest flood risk properties but the buy-back process was voluntary and relied on the homeowner agreeing to an independent valuation of their property.
“This is a big decision for people so we are not going to rush this,” he said.
The government has set a two-year deadline for the work to be done but it’s unclear at this stage what impact the rising cost and falling supply of building materials might have.
On Saturday, Brisbane Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner released the Council’s Rebuild & Recover: Flood Recovery Action Plan with 51 tasks designed to ensure the city is stronger in the face of future severe weather events.
The plan lays out how and when Council will deliver on the 37 recommendations from the 2022 Flood Review report of the disaster by Paul de Jersey AC, including that riverine and waterway infrastructure be better designed, land-use in flood-prone commercial and industrial areas be reassessed, and communities be better informed.
The extraordinary rain event, which hit South East Queensland, the Northern Rivers and other parts of NSW in February and March 2022, was the second costliest in Australia’s history – worse than Cyclone Tracy in 1974 and falling only behind Sydney’s 1999 hailstorm.
Losses from the disaster totaled a record-breaking $5.134 billion, according to data released Friday by the Insurance Council of Australia.
Watch: Scale of flood crisis demonstrated by remarkable video
A recent CSIRO megatrends report has warned the cost of natural disasters will triple over the next 30 years as a result of climate change.
“The scale and impact of the increasing likelihood of further events, as detailed in the CSIRO report, make it imperative that the rebuild and reconstruction from this flood significantly improves the resilience of these communities to future extreme weather events,” ICA CEO Andrew Hall said .
The owner of flood-ravaged properties south-west of Brisbane says he remains in an “awkward position” as he waits to hear whether his houses will be bought back by the government.
Flood-affected home owners in eastern parts of Goodna are being given “initial priority” for voluntary home buy-backs, with 31 owners having confirmed their interest so far.
More than five months after the February flood disaster, authorities say 4,259 people across the state have registered their interest to have their homes raised, rebuilt or voluntarily bought back under the $741 million Resilient Homes Fund.
It includes 443 home owners for voluntary buy-back, with 70 per cent of them living in Ipswich and Brisbane.
Eighteen home owners have been identified in the first tranche of the Brisbane buy-back scheme.
The state government said Goodna east has been given “initial priority” because of the extent of the disaster impact and flood risk, with valuations in Ipswich to start in mid-August.
Enid Street in Goodna was devastated by flooding in February and March.(Supplied)
Resident Johann Koorts applied to be part of the buy-back scheme for the two homes he and his wife own on Enid Street today.
“We are not fixing it. We have no money to fix it,” he said.
“We could have started a month after the floods if we [had] confirmation from the government on what they were going to do.
“I’m not sure if I should be doing anything [to the house]because it is not used — the other people in the neighborhood advise, ‘You’re wasting your time and your money if you fix it’.
“It is a very awkward position to be in now.”
‘We are not going to rush’
Brendan Moon, the chief executive officer of the Queensland Reconstruction Authority, said the buy-back scheme was a voluntary process and would take time.
“It relies on an independent valuation of the property to take place and that home owner agreeing to valuation of that property before they sell their house,” he said.
“This is a big decision for people so we are not going to rush this.”
Of the more than 8,000 properties impacted in the southern Queensland flooding, approximately two-thirds have either been repaired or works were underway, Mr Moon said.
Another 2,000 properties are still uninhabitable at this point in time.
“This will be a long road,” Mr Moon said.
Queen Street in Goodna flooded severely in February.(ABC NewsAlice Pavlovic)
A key driver for work to begin was the progress of the home surveys, which tells authorities “where floodwaters have been and where they may go into the future”, he said.
“Right now we have over 3,000 underway surveys.
“This tells us the best option for those particular home owners … and will drive the outcome for those home owners.”
He said home owners should not wait for funds to be available to conduct repairs.
There are still about 600 home owners who were unsure of their next steps and “our approach now is very much supporting them getting them to the right decision.”
Asked about wider construction challenges and material shortages, Mr Moon said “these are considerations we’ve taken into account in the design of this program”.
“I think when we start to get an understanding of what the scope of works and costs associated with those works look like, I think we’ll be in a better position to make a call on those,” he said.
‘Gap’ in creek system knowledge
It comes as State Recovery Coordinator Major General Jake Ellwood delivered his report into the south-east Queensland floods detailing the recovery plan going forward.
Major General Jake Ellwood says there was a “gap” in knowledge about south-east Queensland’s creek systems.(ABC News: Scott Kyle)
He said from visiting different communities it was clear to him “there was a feeling that there could have been more warning”.
“In some areas they felt there were gauges required, in other areas they felt the gauges might be older,” he said.
“The thing is, we have an opportunity now with technology to actually improve what we have so that we get a better picture.
“There’s also a lot of great work going on with flood mapping that I think is very important so people understand their risk and making sure that is available to everyone.”
The report stated there was a “gap” in knowledge in Queensland around the understanding of creek systems and their impact on catchment flooding and that the QRA was investigating issues and opportunities relating to flood warning infrastructure in creek system.
The Office of the Inspector General of Emergency Management is yet to hand down its review into the flooding event.
Biosecurity Tasmania officials have given up trying to contain the plant fungus blueberry rust — saying “the benefits of containment no longer outweigh the burdens.”
Key points:
The fungal disease causes extensive defoliation and can kill plants with severe infections
Tasmania has been battling unsuccessfully to keep it at bay
Listing it as endemic means restrictions on infected properties will be removed and farmers will have to live with, and manage it
The fungus which first arrived on the island state in 2014 can cause extensive defoliation on blueberry plants and sometimes plant deaths.
Biosecurity Tasmania said it was proving impossible to stop the spread of the fungus, which travels via airborne spores, contaminated clothing or equipment.
“The containment approach that we’ve been undertaking for the past few years clearly isn’t working anymore,” said chief plant protection officer Andrew Bishop.
“It’s worked very well for the first few years, and it was always intended to try and slow the spread to enable producers to adjust to management, but last season we saw a larger number of infections incurring.”
Blueberry rust was first detected in Tasmania in 2014.(Department of Primary Industries Victoria)
Organic farmers expecting price drop
Tasmania’s organic blueberry growers are devastated.
They will now be locked out of their lucrative South Australian market which requires produce to be from rust-free plants.
Organic blueberry farmer Kent Mainwaring is one of those that will lose a market that gave them a premium price.
“It would make our operation here marginal we do rely on getting the peak in the market, if we lost our organic status that would put us on the other side of the ledger,” Mr Mainwaring said.
Kent Mainwaring says he will lose a lucrative market in South Australia.(ABC News: Tim Morgan)
It will also see organic blueberries hit other markets, alongside the conventionally farmed products.
“The South Australian market has traditionally been a very strong market for us … any increase in supply to the markets in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane will decrease prices I believe,” Mr Mainwaring said.
The price drop could be dramatic depending on how many surplus blueberries those markets can absorb.
“We can always hope the consumption of blueberries will increase year on year as it’s been doing,” Mr Mainwaring said.
‘They’ve fought hard’
Researchers are investigating sprays for organic blueberries but a product is still some time away. (ABC News: Clint Jasper)
Fruit Growers Tasmania’s chief executive officer Peter Cornish said those farms infected with blueberry rust were under strict conditions that were affecting their business and it was time to admit defeat.
“All credit to Biosecurity Tasmania and our growers, they’ve fought hard, they’ve fought hard in this battle to try and stop the spread of it,” he said.
“This last year we’ve had very conductive [conditions] for the spread of blueberry rust.”
Since arriving eight years ago, hundreds of plants have been destroyed and tens of thousands of dollars spent as part of an eradication plan, Biosecurity Tasmania.
It was declared a success by mid June 2016 but a second outbreak was detected just a couple of months later and a containment approach was taken instead.
The Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture has been researching and evaluating sprays for use by organic growers.
While that research is coming to an end and has promising results, it’s expected to take some time before a product is ready for market.
More warning signs at a popular lookout spot in Victoria’s west could have prevented a woman’s deatha coroner has found.
Rosy Loomba was taking a photo with her husband at the Grampians’ Boroka Lookout in December 2020 when she fell to her death.
Mother Rosy Loomba tripped over the edge of the Boroka Lookout in Halls Gap. (Supplied)The Boroka Lookout in Halls Gap. (Nine)
Mrs Loomba died from multiple injuries, including skull fractures and a dislocated spine.
While the lookout spot is fenced off, Ms Hawkins said it was common for people to climb over the “easily scaled” wire fence to take photos on the rock ledge.
At the time of Mrs Loomba’s death, there were 30 other people waiting to take their photo.
Ms Hawkins recommended Parks Victoria install extra signage in the area that expressly stated people have died and been seriously injured at the location.
A map of the location of the Boroka Lookout. (Nine)
“Mrs Loomba’s death is a reminder of the dangers associated with ignoring signage and fencing which is put in place to keep people safe.”
The coroner’s report noted Parks Victoria installed additional infrastructure and signage at Boroka Lookout this year.
Parks Victoria will provide a written response to the coroner within three months, setting out how the recommendations will be addressed.
“We’re reviewing the existing signage at the Boroka Lookout, including reviewing the recommendations from the Coroner’s Court,” a spokesperson told AAP in a statement.
Halfway through the year, and Victoria is in the grip of another COVID-19 wave.
It’s believed about half of people with the virus haven’t been officially recorded, leading to a worrying number of people in hospital during the state’s deadliest month on record.
But as the state inches out of winter, there are signs the worst could be behind us.
Here’s what authorities have had to say.
Only about half of cases are being reported to authorities
The true number of COVID-positive people in the community could be about double the official number.(ABC News: Danielle Bonica)
Gone are the days when the number of people infected with COVID-19 each day dictated the level of public health measures in place across the state.
It is now estimated only about 45 per cent of people infected with the virus are officially reported to the Department of Health.
Authorities believe that it is due to a range of possible reasons — not everyone displays symptoms, not everyone with symptoms will test, the tests are not entirely sensitive, and not everyone who tests positive will report their test result.
“We don’t know what we don’t know,” Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton said.
“If people haven’t notified with a positive RAT to the department, we don’t know that they are COVID cases.”
About 10 per cent of the cases we do know about at the moment are people being infected for a second or third time, a much higher proportion than in the January Omicron arises.
“Maybe that doesn’t sound like a lot, but an additional 10 per cent burden for those who’ve already had an infection is quite significant,” Professor Sutton said.
But we appear to be past the peak of new infections
While the official infection rate may not be an accurate reflection of the exact number of people in the community with the virus, the Chief Health Officer is now optimistic of turning a corner.
“We’re certainly seeing a peak in our case numbers,” Professor Sutton said.
The seven-day average of new infections was last week 11,703, which had fallen on Monday to 10,199.
“We look to be on the downslope there with about a 10 per cent reduction in case numbers compared to last week, so that’s good news,” Professor Sutton said.
Hospitalizations are plateauing but tough times lie ahead
The state saw a significant spike in hospitalizations as winter took hold.
Burnet Institute modeling suggests one explanation for the recent spike is the number of cases going undiagnosed or unreported to the health department.
Once an infection is reported to authorities, Victorians can have access to a range of treatments and therapies which can significantly reduce the risk of serious illness.
“There’s too big a proportion of those presenting to hospital, clearly with COVID, and either testing positive on arrival either at the emergency department during their admission in hospital or as they’re arriving, who haven’t taken oral therapies,” Professor Sutton said.
Experts have repeatedly stressed that access to the antivirals at the start of infection is essential to slowing the illness.
The most recent modeling by the Burnet Institute suggested the state was approaching a peak of hospitalizations in early August, of between 900 and 1,000 patients in hospital with the virus.
But as case numbers have begun to decrease, Professor Sutton said the number of people in hospital was “plateauing, if not past the peak.”
He cautioned “the pressures on the health system will be substantial for some weeks to come.”
“Mask-wearing, meeting outdoors, ventilation, getting your vaccine if you’re eligible — they still make a difference on this downslope,” he said.
“So please see this through the lens of our healthcare workers who continue to battle at the frontline.”
Deaths are still surging, particularly in older Victorians
While the number of people in hospital is lower than in the January Omicron peak, July was the month with the highest COVID-related death toll since the pandemic began in both Victoria and the country.
Of the 4,661 deaths recorded in the state since the pandemic began, 3,050 were reported in 2022.
“We still do have a significant number of deaths, that average has gone up in recent weeks,” Professor Sutton said.
Experts and authorities have partially attributed the rise to the BA.4 and BA.5 sub-variants of the Omicron strain, which appear to be more infectious.
Department of Health data shows the BA.4/BA.5 sub-variants were detected in 89 per cent of clinical genomic samples in the two weeks to July 28 and in 87 per cent of all wastewater detections to July 21.
Professor Sutton said another reason for the high mortality rate was “we’ve seen a higher proportion of the very elderly as part of this wave.”
“They are over-represented in our hospital numbers compared to previous peaks and about half of our hospitalized cases are over 75 years of age,” he said.
The older demographic of those infected generally means a longer stay in hospital. A person aged 25 has an average length of stay in a hospital bed of two and a half days, compared to four days for a 75-year-old.
Data released in mid-July showed one third of deaths in the first half of 2022 occurred in unvaccinated people, despite them only making up less than 5 per cent of the population.
Only about 73 per cent of eligible Victorians have had a third dose of a vaccine, and only about 32 per cent have had a fourth shot.
Safety measures will remain important long into the future
The SARS-COV-19 virus which causes COVID-19 has shifted and changed as the pandemic has dragged on.
Professor Sutton cautioned that “in all likelihood, we are facing a new variant and another wave every three, four, five months.”
“I think that will be the picture across the world for some time to come,” he said, adding more effective vaccines would spell an end to the current state of play.
He said that meant measures such as mask-wearing, physical distancing, good ventilation and regular testing would remain important well into the future.
“Even if we can’t avoid it for the rest of our lives, deferring the period of time when we’re getting a COVID infection, reducing the frequency in the number of times that we might get COVID … remains a critically important thing, “he said.
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“Through my 20-year career as an entrepreneur in a competitive, slowly changing, industry environment, I evolved into an outcome and solutions-focused leader,” he wrote.
“My vast business and government experience, and intricate understanding of new State and Federal trade policy and opportunities, places me in a rare position, to deliver beyond expectation in such a role.”
Barilaro’s business, Ryleho Home Solutions, made wooden doors and windows in Queanbeyan, a regional center bordering the ACT. What he calls “a multimillion-dollar operation” and “transformative industry leader” employed 35 people and was placed in administration in 2019.
‘My bold vision’
Barilaro gave up his full-time business career in 2011 when he was elected to the seat of Monaro for the National Party. In 2019, he was given the trade portfolio, and decided to hire trade commissioners to help foreign companies that wanted to invest in NSW find their way through the state bureaucracy, and NSW businesses expand in North and South America.
He told the selection panel, which included a former subordinate, Investment NSW chief executive Amy Brown, that his decision to create the jobs was a qualification for the one located in New York City.
“Where I believe I’m uniquely placed above all other candidates is that as the NSW Trade and Industry Minister, it was my bold vision to grow NSW’s international footprint, expand markets and grow inbound investment, by delivering Global NSW, a government-wide initiative to support the state’s outstanding industry, innovation, trade, investment and industry area development,” he wrote.
Barilaro offered no examples of businesses he had helped invest in NSW, or overseas, apart from his own. His top educational qualification was listed as a graduate diploma of strategic leadership at Churchill Education, followed by the words “currently completing”.
The opposition is conducting a parliamentary investigation to determine if Barilaro’s appointment was due to government favouritism. Faced with the political controversy, Barilaro has decided not to take up the position.
His trade minister successor, Stuart Ayres, says Barilaro was treated like all other candidates, although he acknowledges he texted his former colleague the job ad, which appeared in The Australian Financial Review in December, sparing Barilaro the cost of the newspaper.
The death of a seven-year-old in South Australia is being investigated as a case of possible criminal neglect.
SA Police detective superintendent Des Bray said Craigmore boy Makai was taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital “very sick” on February 10 and was then transferred to the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, where he died later that day.
Task Force Prime, which was set up after the death of six-year-old Charlie, is now investigating whether the boy’s death was a case of criminal neglect.
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Investigators are also examining the care of his five siblings, aged between seven and 16.
Bray said a post-mortem examination following Makai’s death revealed several serious health issues.
He said the provisional cause of death was unusual, but was not a cause for immediate concern.
“The cause of death in itself wasn’t enough to raise concern because it was a serious, recognized health issue,” Bray said, adding that a coronial investigation was launched following the death.
About 10 days after Makai’s death, a coronial direction obtained information from “various child protection authorities”, which was then passed on to SA Police in July.
“Soon after, investigators began reviewing volumes of material and obtained an opinion from a pediatric expert,” he said.
“They formed the view that sufficient grounds existed to commence a criminal investigation of criminal neglect causing death.”
Bray said an interim cause of death had been determined but declined to comment further.
Superintendent Des Bray speaking to media. Credit: DAVID MARIUZ/AAPIMAGE
Investigators will determine whether anyone was guilty for Makai’s death or the neglect of the other siblings, Bray said.
Makai and his siblings had been staying in their father’s care since November 2020. Their mother was not living with him at the time of his death.
“There is neglect and abuse which we believe has occurred over a period of time but it doesn’t have all the same characteristics of Charlie’s,” Bray said.
Charlie was found unresponsive in her family home in Munno Para on July 15 and died in Lyell McEwin Hospital, sparking a police investigation into suspected neglect.
searching for answers
Following Charlie’s death, the state government ordered a review of the interactions between government agencies and the family in recent years.
Premier Peter Malinauskas on Monday announced a new wholly independent review would now investigate these interactions for both families.
“The death of any child is something that breaks all of our hearts, particularly parents across the state,” he told reporters.
“One was shocking, two is desperately heartbreaking.
“There is absolutely merit given the elevation of this for a wholly independent led review.”
Premier Peter Malinauskas said a new wholly independent review would now investigate the interactions between government agencies and the families. Credit: AAP
Malinauskas said he was “not wasting any time” and had appointed former SA police commissioner Mal Hyde to lead the review as “someone every South Australian has complete confidence in”.
“This is about making sure we have a review of integrity, of independence and robustness so we fully understand exactly what interactions occurred between government agencies and these families and to see whether or not there were any failures of systems that could be addressed,” he said.
“Two innocent children losing their lives potentially because of criminal neglect is beyond sad. But we know about it and we have to respond.”
Malinauskas said the findings of the review would be made public.
Bray said criminal neglect occurred when a person with a duty of care to a child failed to take all reasonable steps to protect them from harm, and a child is harmed or dies as a result of that neglect.
A Federal Court judge is set to deliver his long-awaited verdict in the defamation trial between Clive Palmer and West Australian Premier Mark McGowan.
Justice Michael Lee will hand down his judgment in Melbourne on Tuesday, more than three months after reserving his decision.
Palmer sued the WA premier in 2020, claiming “vicious” public comments – including labeling the mining billionaire an enemy of the state – had damaged his reputation.
A Federal Court judge is set to deliver his long-awaited verdict in the defamation trial between Clive Palmer and West Australian Premier Mark McGowan. (Getty, Alex Ellinghausen)
The Queensland businessman is seeking aggravated damages which would allow for a payout above the $432,500 cap.
He has accused the Labor premier of being consumed by malice and seeking to “blacken his name at every opportunity.”
McGowan, who is countersuing Palmer for defamation, has made his own appeal for aggravated damages.
The premier is claiming qualified privilege as a defence. It requires proof there was a legal, social or moral duty for him to say those things.
Palmer is defending various comments he made on the basis of qualified privilege, and substantial and contextual truth.
Palmer is seeking aggravated damages. (Matt Dennien)
At the trial’s conclusion in April, Lee said it was possible neither side would be able to make out any defenses.
He flagged each man could receive a nominal damage sum, describing them as political combatants with entrenched reputations.
“There are people who love them, people who hate them,” Lee said.
“The publications themselves are, it seems to me, highly unlikely to change very settled views about these men.”
The defamation bid is one of several legal challenges Palmer has pursued against the WA premier, including a failed bid in the High Court to have the state’s coronavirus-related hard border closure deemed unconstitutional.
It emerged in 2020 that Palmer was seeking up to $30 billion in damages over a 2012 decision by the former Liberal state government not to assess his proposed Balmoral South iron ore project.
McGowan, who is countersuing Palmer for defamation, has made his own appeal for aggravated damages. (Flavio Brancalone)
The McGowan government subsequently rushed through extraordinary legislation to prevent Palmer from suing the state.
In his evidence, Palmer said he was scared because provisions in the legislation protected the government from criminal prosecution.
Referring to the fictional character James Bond and his “licence to kill”, Palmer told the court: “I didn’t know what the limits might be.”
Any suggestion Palmer had a genuine fear for his physical safety was “inherently incredible,” McGowan’s lawyers said.
In private text messages made public during the trial, McGowan described Palmer as “the worst Australian who’s not in jail.”
His attorney-general John Quigley privately labeled Palmer a “big fat liar.”
