Surging populations of wild dogs and pigs are giving farmers a collective headache, as feral animal numbers continue to grow.
The NSW Farmers Association said members across the state had reported increases in both dog and pig numbers, while deer are also expanding their territory.
Then there’s the ever-present problem of feral cats, which the CSIRO estimates as being responsible for 1.8 billion native animal deaths each year.
Farmers say threats from feral animals such as wild pigs are growing. (Alex Ellinghausen)
Tweed farmer Neil Baker said there were shocking reports of livestock being attacked by feral animals.
“It’s really nasty some of the stories you hear, animals being ripped apart by predators,” Baker said.
“We’re really very concerned that these pests aren’t being properly controlled by some public and private landholders, and that’s giving them safe haven to breed and grow their territory.”
Dingoes and wild dogs can also pose a danger to livestock. (Robert Rough)
He said the rules around controlling pest animals were clear and needed to be enforced.
It is estimated that management of wild dogs by individual farmers and agencies costs $50 million per year and feral pig incursions cost the Australian agricultural industry upwards of $100 million a year.
NSW Farmers western division council chair Gerard Glover said there were a lot of feral cats appearing on cameras that had been set up across the region, and the expansion of deer into new areas would create headaches for motorists, but pigs and dogs remained the main concern for farmers.
Australian marsupial listed as endangered
“Cats and foxes typically prey on small native animals, which is a big concern, while deer present a new danger for people driving on country roads,” Glover said.
“Far and away though the pigs and the dogs are the most destructive, tearing up paddocks and fences, and attacking livestock.
“In my experience you need good, co-ordinated controls that everyone sticks to, otherwise you get these population explosions and the whole problem starts again.”
A gunman is reportedly on the loose after four people were injured in a shooting in rural North Queensland.
Emergency crews were called to a property in Bogie – a small outback mining town in the Whitsundays near Collinsville – at 8.45am on Thursday morning.
Police are still at the scene and have urged members of the public to avoid the area as the incident is still unfolding.
An emergency declaration was made at 11.30am under the Public Safety Preservation Act with boundaries encompassing Sutherland Road, Normanby Road, Mount Compton Road and Starvation Creek.
“One male has been located some distance from the property and is currently being treated for a gunshot wound,” Queensland Police said.
“Police are currently conducting emergency operations in the area and requesting members of the public and aircraft to not attend the location.”
Opal Ridge Motel staff member Elly Colls told The Guardian she was alerted to the incident at 11am.
She said when she received the call from another local she thought she should lock up her house as she didn’t think they had found the shooter.
It is understood the shooting happened at a remote location and there are issues getting there.
Bogie’s population was 207 people, according to the latest census data.
Queensland Ambulance Service reportedly sent eight crews to the scene.
In a now deleted tweet, RACQ CQ Rescue helicopter said it was “responding to reports of four people injured in an alleged shooting west of Collinsville”.
A RACQ Central Queensland spokesperson told the ABC earlier they understood the shooter was still at large.
An employee of a tour bus company has been charged over a fatal road crash in Central Australia earlier this year, which killed a passenger and seriously injured several others.
Key points:
A 43-year-old man was charged on Wednesday with two counts of negligently causing serious harm
The charges were in relation to a tour bus crash near Hermannsburg, in Central Australia
A man, 69, was killed and multiple people were hospitalized after the crash
The bus crashed on Larapinta Drive, about five kilometers east of the remote community of Hermannsburg, on June 6.
In a statement issued this morning, Northern Territory Police said they had arrested and charged a 43-year-old man in Alice Springs yesterday with two counts of negligently causing serious harm.
Police at the time said the bus, which was carrying 19 people from the interstate, had rolled multiple times.
One passenger – a 69-year-old man – died at the scene, and multiple others were seriously injured and taken to Alice Springs Hospital for treatment.
The other passengers and the driver received lacerations and bruising.
The tour bus was carrying 19 passengers from the interstate when it left the roadway and rolled several times, according to NT Police.(ABC News: Xavier Martin)
“The man charged overnight is an employee of the tour company but not the driver of the bus,” Senior Detective Sergeant Brendan Lindner said.
“Police expect additional charges related to the death of a passenger and other injured passengers to be laid at a later time.”
The man has been danced to appear in the Alice Springs Local Court today.
The investigation into the crash by the Major Crash Investigations Unit is ongoing.
Under the rules, a grandfathered large proprietary company is exempted because it was not required to lodge some financial information before changes to the Corporations Act in 1995.
The test for lodgement was ownership-based, rather than based on current economic significance and size. No new companies can be added to the list.
Companies previously on the list will have to comply with ASIC rules, lodging an annual financial report showing revenue, profit, debt and other measures.
Labor, Greens to support the change
Former independent senator Rex Patrick railed against the list in parliament, and repeatedly pushed legislation to amend the Corporations Act to abolish the list, which he said was not line with community expectations.
Changes to a bill dealing with a range of superannuation and tax matters passed the Senate on Thursday morning, with Labor and the Greens teaming up on the repeal of exempt proprietary companies from ASIC rules.
Labor has previously supported abolishing the grandfathered large proprietary companies and Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones expects the amended bill to pass both houses of parliament.
An amendment from Greens Senator Nick McKim, supported by Labor, was the mechanism for change.
The Coalition opposed the change, saying it would increase red tape in the economy.
Ms Gallagher noted Mr Patrick’s efforts to end the grandfathered corporations list under the former Morrison government.
“I’m sure that he will be very pleased to see this amendment pass. I acknowledge the efforts he took to try and put these arrangements in place,” she said.
“There is no clear economic or policy reason for continuing this exemption.”
Planned reviews were previously stopped by the Howard government while companies on the list with annual turnovers of more than $100 million faced losing their exemptions under laws passed by the Rudd-Gillard government. The laws would have required the Commissioner of Taxation to publish some tax information.
But the Coalition overturned that change, fearing directors could face kidnapping or commercial disadvantage from their information being made public.
Regulator has backed the change for years
ASIC recommended the list’s abolition in inquiries into corporate tax avoidance in the last three terms of parliament.
The regulator told parliament the former Coalition government was considering the recommendation to end rules for grandfathered large proprietary companies “in due course”. No action was ever taken.
On the latest public update were 12 companies that lodge financial reports under Tax Office significant global entity rules. Some data for the firms, including 7-Eleven Holdings, Suttons Investments and Baiada companies, is made public already.
In 2018, Mr Turnbull asked for his company, Turnbull & Partners, to be removed from the list, but ASIC said it had “no power” to remove firms, even at the request of an owner or director.
Thursday’s sitting of parliament is the last until September 5. The amended bill will be considered by the House of Representatives, where Labor has a majority.
It’s a long way from a traditional stage, but the secluded paradise of a north Queensland island has provided the perfect backdrop to a unique musical celebration.
Audience members took a two-hour boat ride from Townsville to attend the intimate concert on Orpheus Island headlined by didgeridoo master William Barton.
“As a person who travels the world, coming back home to our country and our islands is a beautiful thing,” Barton said.
William Barton says nothing beats performing in Australia’s natural environments.(ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
The Kalkadunga man from Mount Isa has taken his craft to some of the world’s most prestigious stages but said “nothing beats” performing among Australia’s natural landscapes.
“It’s always special because this is where the language of the land comes from, this is where the songlines flow through you,” he said.
“In Australia, we have these beautiful natural amphitheatres, or outdoor spaces, that reverberate.”
Orpheus Island is a two-hour boat ride from Townsville.(ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
The Orpheus Island concert was a major drawcard at this year’s Australian Festival of Chamber Music festival and attracted crowds from across the country.
Executive director Ricardo Peach said he hoped the tropical showcase would help introduce the genre of chamber music to a new audience.
“Chamber music, when you hear it and you experience it live with professional musicians, is one of the most magnificent experiences of your life,” Dr Peach said.
Chamber music director Ricardo Peach says the festival is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere.(ABC North Qld: Baz Ruddick)
The Townsville-based festival began in 1991 and is the largest of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, but major performances were put on hold for two years during the pandemic.
“More than 60 per cent of our attendees come from interstate … and more and more internationally as well,” Dr Peach said.
“They support this festival like festival groupies — they kept us alive during the lean years during COVID and now they’re back with force.”
The concert attracted audiences from across the country, including chef and classical music fan Maggie Beer.(ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
Among the crowd at Orpheus Island was celebrated Australian chef and classical music fan Maggie Beer, who has long wanted to attend the beachside concert.
“You have to pinch yourself that this could happen. It’s so Australian, isn’t it?” she said.
“It’s nothing short of a joy.”
Mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean traveled from the UK to perform at the festival.(ABC North Qld: Baz Ruddick)
After three canceled trips to Australia due to COVID, mezzo-soprano Lotte Betts-Dean was finally able to travel from the UK to sing on the island alongside the musicians.
“I think all of us performers today felt like it was a surreal moment in all of our performance lives,” she said.
“To be able to perform on a beach with bare feet in the sand in this idyllic spot, it’s just gorgeous.
“I think I will really remember this performance for a long time and treasure it because it’s just unlike anything else.”
Crowds enjoyed the sounds of chamber music with the sand between their toes.(ABC North Qld: Lily Nothling)
Sydney’s The Rocks was set to be razed in the early 1960s to make way for a Brutalist-style complex of up to 40-storey high-rise apartments catering to office workers and “middle-class families” spread across treeless podiums above street level.
Its colonial history was saved from the wrecking ball when developer James Wallace Pty Ltd couldn’t afford to buy existing properties for redevelopment, said Professor Rob Freestone, the curator of a new exhibition called unrealized sydney opening on Saturday.
Professor Rob Freestone, the guest curator of a new exhibition at the Museum of Sydney, stands in front of a model of a proposal that would have razed all of the Rocks. It didn’t go ahead because the company that won the tender couldn’t afford to buy all the properties needed for redevelopment. Credit:Nick Moir
The exhibition at the Museum of Sydney includes other visions of anonymous high-rise precincts that Freestone said were part of a mission to remove heritage and workers’ terraces from Woolloomooloo to Macquarie Street.
Other plans that never got off the drawing board included a multi-storey car park fronting the entire length of Circular Quay; an Opera House in the Domain; and plans for a Discovery Village at Darling Harbor that recalled the 1960s TV show The Jetsons with a futuristic dome.
Freestone, a professor of city planning at the University of NSW School of Built Environment, said an important takeaway from the new exhibition was “beware of high rise”. That’s particularly the case when tall buildings are proposed in precincts that don’t have them already, such as the now moderated plans for Blackwattle Bay.
The exhibition includes official and unofficial plans, competition entries, unsolicited proposals, design challenges and ideas festivals for major projects.
Planning and construction after World War II was promoted by governments as a way of providing for years of prosperity and progress, Freestone said.
“Brave-new-world thinking brought with it new and revived utopian visions of rebuilt cities sweeping away slums, congestion and other unwanted legacies from the past,” he said. “The years after World War II saw complete replanning of precincts, not just buildings, on a scale that increased into the 1960s.
“Alongside the proclaimed technological and mobility advancements came serious community resistance for the first time in Sydney… We have fortunately taken some learnings from past disaster.”
A South Australian man jailed over a child sex abuse ring in the Philippines paid $30 for each live act of abuse online, threatening the children with starvation if they didn’t obey his demands.
Ian Ralph Schapel was jailed for 16 years after pleading guilty to 50 child sexual offences, including paying for children to be abused while he watched from his lounge room in Adelaide.
The investigation into his crimes led to the rescue of 15 young victims and the arrest of five people in the Philippines following an international investigation.
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The 68-year-old former government human resources manager was first detained in February 2020 after Australian Border Force officers examined his bags when he arrived in Melbourne on an overseas flight and allegedly found child abuse material on his mobile phone.
He was charged over the content, which eventually led to the discovery of more than 50,000 images and videos of child abuse material on a range of electronic devices at his Adelaide home.
South Australian man Ian Ralph Schapel. Credit: 7NEWS
The AFP used commonwealth laws for the first time to confiscate Schapel’s home in Mitchell Park because it was used as “an instrument of crime” where the majority of the offending took place.
He was ordered to pay a total of $165,000, half of his home’s value.
Further investigations by SA police found he had communicated with people in the Philippines to procure several children, the youngest aged three.
In February last year, Schapel admitted 50 offences, including viewing, remotely instructing and recording the sexual abuse of children on 55 occasions between March 2018 and January 2020.
An Adelaide man’s crimes led to the rescue of 15 young victims and five arrests in the Philippines. Credit: AAPOne of the alleged offenders of the ongoing child sex abuse hides her face inside a premises in the Philippines before her arrest. Credit: AFP
As part of the international investigation, Philippine authorities executed search warrants at multiple locations in Bislig, a remote area in the country’s east, in August 2020.
Thirteen children and two young adults were removed from harm and five women were arrested and accused of facilitating the abuse for profit. Among the abusers, were mothers, aunts and cousins of the victims.
On Wednesday, Judge Paul Cuthbertson described Schapel’s behavior as “callous” and “disgraceful” with “no thought given to the plight of the poor unfortunate children who were required to perform at request”.
The court had heard Schapel paid $30 for each live recording of the sexual abuse, and that he would threaten to let the children starve if they did not do what he asked.
Australian Federal Police Commander Erica Merrin said the case highlighted the force’s commitment to work with partners to protect children around the world.
“Children are being forced into the most appalling violence and torment on camera by the people who are meant to love and to protect them,” she said.
“This Adelaide man did not just watch children being hurt, he ordered specific abuse to happen and preyed on the economic vulnerability of the people involved.”
The case served as the first example where an AFP taskforce had sought to confiscate the home of a person charged with sex offences. Credit: AFP
Philippine Police Brigadier General Edgar De Mayo Cacayan said close collaboration with the AFP and other international partners should send a strong message to would-be child sex offenders.
“You will not buy and sell the sexual abuse of children in the Philippines,” he said.
“We will not allow it, and we will be their guardians. We will find you, and you will have to answer for your actions in a court of law.”
Merrin echoed a similar warning.
“It doesn’t matter when you offended, when you abused children, if you prey on children, it doesn’t matter where in the world you are, we will come for you.”
The government has succeeded in passing its superannuation legislation, with the House of Representatives overwhelmingly voting in favour.
Greens leader Adam Bandt said his party opposed the changes, which close a potential loophole for public servants to include the value of their free overseas accommodation in their superannuation calculation, because it believes the government is rushing through the changes.
Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones. Credit:alex ellinghausen
Ace Katina Curtis has written, the bill is in response to a case brought by three bureaucrats in the Federal Court. The government’s advice is that if the case succeeds, it could open the door to claims from some 10,000 public servants posted overseas since 1986. It is estimated this could cost the Commonwealth between $3 billion and $8 billion.
The bill was introduced in and has passed the Senate, and is being considered in the lower house.
Independent MP Zoe Daniel has declared a potential conflict of interest and withdrawn herself from a vote given she was a foreign correspondent at ABC, which is a publicly funded broadcaster. Dr Sophie Scamps has also declared a potential conflict in relation to a relative of her.
The Coalition supported the bill.
Shortly before the vote, Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones countered the concerns raised by the Greens by citing the potential amount the government would be liable to pay.
loading
“It is about the cost of the pharmaceutical benefits scheme,” he said.
“These are not small amounts of money. No sane government would do otherwise than this government has done this morning.”
Parliamentarians are now being called to the House of Representatives to vote on the government’s landmark climate change bill that will legislate the 43 per cent emissions reduction target.
The Coalition has signaled they will oppose the bill. However, Tasmanian Liberal MP will cross the floor.
From mid-2023, Canberra residents will have access to free medical and surgical abortions up to 16 weeks’ gestation.
Key points:
ACT Minister for Women Yvette Berry says the move will allow Canberrans “to make a choice … without being influenced by financial barriers”
Free access to abortion services will also be available to ACT residents without a Medicare card
The government expects the services will be available without out-of-pocket costs by mid-next year
The ACT government said the decision to remove out-of-pocket costs for abortion services ensured that Canberrans who became pregnant could “make decisions about their healthcare based on what [was] best for them and their bodies.
“This means that individuals will be supported to make a choice about having an abortion without being influenced by financial barriers,” ACT Minister for Women Yvette Berry said.
“It also means that having an abortion can occur in a time-sensitive manner without being delayed due to an inability to pay.”
These services will be accessible to people without a Medicare card and all those who use abortion services will also be eligible to receive free, long-lasting, reversible contraceptives at the time of abortion, which the government said had been shown to reduce demand for abortions in the future.
The initiative to remove out-of-pocket costs will cost the government $4.6 million over four years and aims to improve access to affordable, accessible health services as part of the ACT Women’s Plan 2016-26.
Ms Berry said it was the latest in a string of actions to improve access to safe, accessible abortion services after the procedure was decriminalized in the ACT in 2002.
One more-recent change included banning protesters outside abortion clinics in 2016.
ACT Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said she was proud of the latest commitment from the government.
“With one in three women estimated to experience an unexpected pregnancy in their lifetime, it is essential that these services are safe, affordable and accessible, regardless of how much money you have,” she said.
Free services to be available by mid-2023
Women’s Health Matters chief executive Lauren Anthes welcomed the funding initiative to provide access to free surgical abortions within the ACT’s existing gestational limits.
“Timely access is vital as services become more expensive and harder to access over time,” she said.
“This funding will help people access surgical abortion as soon as possible.”
The ACT government said it would work with service providers on the specific arrangements to cover the out-of-pocket costs for accessing abortion services in the territory.
It said this consultation work was expected to be completed during the first half of 2023.
In announcing the review, which will be co-led by former Labor defense minister Stephen Smith, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said he expected defense spending to grow beyond the 2 per cent of gross domestic product benchmark to which the government had committed.
Sailors from China’s PLA Navy march for the 70th anniversary of Communist China. AP
Asked whether he thought conflict with China was inevitable, Mr Albanese said all needed to be done to advance peace and security in our region, which included building up the military.
“I firmly believe that one of the objectives front and center of having a strong defense of Australia is to make sure that we avoid conflict,” he said.
“That is the objective of this government. And I believe that’s the objective which the Australian people want to see. And this focus is very much on just that.”
The review will examine how prepared the Defense Force is for the security challenges of the next decade, looking at basing and location of forces, structure of the military and its capabilities, weapons platforms, infrastructure and logistics.
The review is due to report in March, in tandem with separate work on the submarine program.
It could mean personnel are relocated to bolster the northern approaches to the continent. Some projects could be canned or scaled back, others brought forward and new ones funded.
Committed to nuclear-powered submarines
The government, however, said it remained committed to the acquisition of nuclear-powered submarines and the troubled $45 billion Hunter class program was safe from the axe.
“The major programs which are under way are not about to change,” Defense Minister Richard Marles said.
“But we’re going to look at the integrated investment plan [which outlines $270 billion of planned military acquisitions] over the course of the next 10 years to make sure what we have as a schedule of procurements does meet the challenges that our strategic circumstances present.”
Mr Albanese and Mr Marles said the review was the most significant of the Defense Force in 35 years. It was required after the 10-year warning window of an attack on Australia, which has underpinned military planning assumptions, had shrunk as China became more assertive and the risk of state-on-state conflict rose, they said.
Long-range strike missiles
Former senior defense official Paul Dibb, who led the 1986 review that devised the 10-year warning window, echoed Sir Angus’ assessment.
He said the 10-year warning period reflected the window it would take a regional power to build up a force to invade Australia, and short of a nuclear strike, no potential adversaries had that capability at the time.
“Now we have a China that could put one of its aircraft carriers into the South China Sea and threaten us, not directly with military force, but coerce us and in Chinese Communist Party language, teach us a lesson,” Professor Dibb said.
“I would expect the reviewers to find this is dangerous, our warning time is zip and conflict could happen at any time.
“The answer is we need to get lots and lots of long-range strike missiles, with ranges in the thousands of kilometers, not hundreds. The nearest Chinese base is Fiery Cross Reef [about 3000km from Darwin]. We should have the capability to take that out.”
Professor’s appointment under fire
The appointment of Professor Smith, defense minister between 2010 and 2013, came under fire from the opposition and the Australia Defense Association.
Opposition defense spokesman Andrew Hastie said Mr Smith as minister presided over billions of dollars in cuts to the defense budget, with military spending plunging to 1.56 per cent of GDP, the lowest level since 1938.
“The Prime Minister has said this is the most complex strategic environment Australia has encountered – and what does he do? Appoint the man who oversaw the biggest cuts to defense in 70 years to review defense investment,” Mr Hastie said.
“When Mr Smith was last in government he cut and canceled defense projects, delayed decisions, and dismissed warnings about the strategic environment Australia was heading into a decade ago.”
While supportive of a review, ADA executive director Neil James said Professor Smith was the wrong person to co-lead it. This was because as a former minister, Professor Smith might engage in “legacy protection”.
Mr James said as a minister, Professor Smith was known for not making decisions, such as failing to commission any new naval vessels, contributing to delays in shipbuilding still being felt today.
One decision Professor Smith did make, canceling the acquisition of South Korean-made self-propelled Howitzer guns, was reversed several years ago.
Mr James said the Defense Department and Australian Defense Force were often unfairly criticised, and the review needed to look at how governments made decisions about the military.
