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The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention has raised major concerns about the detention of indigenous people, children and migrants.
The experts urged Australian authorities to engage in comprehensive reforms to reduce the imprisonment of First Nations peoples, raise the minimum age of detention to at least 14 years, and end the mandatory detention of persons with irregular visa status.
The working group wrote in a statement:
The gross overrepresentation of First Nations peoples in the prison population, the shocking detention of children as young as 10, and the punitive approach to migrants are human rights crises that continue to plague Australia.
First Nations people make up just 3.8% of Australia’s population, yet they account for 35% of those imprisoned in the country.
Addressing this crisis requires authorities to work in genuine partnership with First Nations communities to co-design solutions, from early intervention, including prior to contact with the criminal justice system, through to reintegration after detention—rather than relying on punitive approaches.
ShareTom McIlroy
Chalmers says ‘really strange’ for shadow treasurer to miss mid-year budget update
The shadow treasurer, Ted O’Brien, is on leave this week and will miss the government’s mid-year budget update.
O’Brien is in the United States on a trip with family members.
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, will release the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook on Wednesday, set to give a new snapshot of the government’s budget position and update key economic forecasts.
Chalmers says it will include about $20bn in new savings to help the bottom line.
Speaking on Sky News on Sunday morning, he said there must be a good reason for O’Brien to miss the annual statement.
It would be really strange, if not unprecedented, for the shadow treasurer to go on holidays during the mid-year budget update, particularly when we’ve said for some time now, it will be in the middle of December.
So it’s up for Ted O’Brien to explain to his colleagues. I can’t imagine they’re happy about it, but from my point of view, I’m not going to have a shot at him, because I’ve got more important things to worry about than where Ted is in the country or in the world.
I’m very focused on delivering this mid-year budget update, whether he’s here or not.
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Updated at 23.58 CET
Tom McIlroy
The federal government has taken the next step on plans to stop supermarkets from price gouging their customers.
Promised during the federal election campaign, the new ban is designed to prohibit retailers including Coles and Woolworths from charging prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of the supply plus a reasonable margin.
The new ban, delivered through the Food and Grocery Code, will come into effect on 1 July next year. The competition watchdog, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, will police the laws.
If Coles and Woolworths breach the laws, they face penalties of whatever amount is greater: $10m or three three times the value of the benefit derived, or 10% of the company’s turnover during the past year.
“These changes give the regulator the powers and the penalties it needs to hold supermarkets to account,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said.
“Whether it’s boosting funding for the regulator, banning price gouging or making the food and grocery code mandatory, we’re doing everything we can to ease pressure on Australians.
“One of the best ways to ease the cost of living for Australians is to help people get fairer prices at the checkout and that’s what this is all about.”
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Michelle Rowland to make repayment for 2023 family trip found to be partly outside guidelines
Tom McIlroy
The attorney general, Michelle Rowland, has become the first MP to make repayments for family travel amid growing controversy about politicians expenses, after some of her claims for a 2023 trip were found to be a breach of the rules.
Rowland used family reunion travel entitlements to take her children on a trip to Perth. The independent parliamentary expenses authority has found some of the expenses should not have been paid for by taxpayers.
“During the trip to Perth, the attorney-general had at least 10 official engagements,” a spokesperson said.
IPEA finalised its advice on Friday 12 December and conveyed a portion of the family reunion travel expenses were outside the guidelines.
The attorney-general has formally accepted that advice on Friday and commenced steps to make a repayment.
Rowland did not claim travel allowance payments for the days she did not have official engagements on the trip, and paid for her own expenses and accommodation in Western Australia.
Rowland’s trip cost $21,000, which included about $16,000 for business-class air fares.
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Updated at 23.24 CET
Police investigating shots fired in Sydney’s west
An investigation is under way after an alleged public place shooting in Sydney’s west overnight.
NSW police said that just after 12.30am on Sunday, police were called to a home on Hunt Street, Guildford West, following reports of shots fired.
Officers attached to Cumberland police area command were told a number of shots were fired at a house before a white hatchback left the scene.
The three occupants of the house – two women and a child – were not injured.
About 3.20am on the same day, emergency services were called to James Street, Guildford West, following reports of a car fire. On arrival, police located a white hatchback well alight.
Multiple crimes scenes have been established, and police commenced an investigation if the two incidents are linked.
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Updated at 23.56 CET
Welcome
Good morning, and welcome to the blog! I am Cait Kelly and I will be with you throughout the day.
A few things around this morning :
Australia is experiencing severe weather across the country – with heatwaves in the west and cool fronts in the east. Western Australia is in the grips of a heatwave, with Perth forecasted to reach 39C and surrounding suburbs could exceed 40C on Sunday, according to the Bureau of Meteorology.
The federal government has introduced rules to limit “excessive pricing of groceries” with changes to Australia’s Food and Grocery Code of Conduct, which was made mandatory in April. The ban will prohibit very large retailers from charging prices that are excessive when compared to the cost of the supply, plus a reasonable margin, the government said on Sunday.
And Australia’s koala population could be many multiples higher than previous estimates -New tools such as heat-detecting drones and acoustic recorders uncovered an additional 244,000 of the furry marsupials nestled in trees across NSW. That’s a significant jump from previous figures, which put the state’s koala population anywhere between 15,000 and 30,000.
Let’s get into it!
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