AAP Rolling News Bulletin for May 28 at 1400
NZ Budget (WELLINGTON)
New Zealand has unveiled a stripped-back budget with few voter incentives ahead of what is shaping up to be a tightly contested election, as policymakers focus on preserving fiscal firepower amid rising risks linked to the Iran conflict.
"This budget takes careful steps to support New Zealanders now while strengthening the economy for the years ahead," Finance Minister Nicola Willis said in a statement on Thursday, as she warned the war in the Middle East was stoking inflation and threatening the recovery in the trade-dependent economy.
Willis vowed to boost capital spending on defence, schools and hospitals while keeping a tight grip on new operating spending, flagging deeper cuts across the public service that could put thousands of jobs on the line.
Legal: Griffith (BRISBANE)
One of Australia's worst pedophiles, childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has launched a bid to slash the life sentence he received for abusing dozens of young children.
Lawyers for the notorious predator on Thursday argued in the Queensland Court of Appeal that the 27‑year non‑parole period he was handed in 2024 was "manifestly excessive" as they sought leave to appeal.
Griffith is behind bars after a horrifying history of abuse stretching almost two decades was exposed.
He pleaded guilty to 307 child sex offences against 65 victims aged between one and nine.
It included 28 counts of rape against girls mainly aged three to five at Queensland childcare centres between 2007 and 2022.
Griffith used his trusted role to prey on toddlers and preschoolers as they slept or by taking them into isolated corners of childcare centres, often while their parents believed they were safe in his care.
PFAS (MELBOURNE)
Australia has launched an extraordinary multibillion-dollar lawsuit over widespread contamination of defence sites with "forever chemicals".
The federal government is suing manufacturer 3M for more than $2 billion to recover costs from per- and poly-fluoroaklyl substances (PFAS) contamination in firefighting foam at 28 defence bases across the country.
The claim, lodged in the Federal Court, alleges 3M withheld a range of information and misrepresented the effects of its aqueous film-forming foam, including environmental risks.
"This is the largest legal claim ever brought by the Commonwealth," Attorney-General Michelle Rowland told reporters on Thursday.
Recouped money would be used to cover past and future expenses incurred in investigating and managing contamination resulting from the historical storage and use of the foam.
It has already cost Australian taxpayers more than $1 billion to investigate, remediate and mitigate PFAS contamination on defence estates.
Terror Aust (CANBERRA)
A woman linked to Islamic State has been charged with terrorism offences on her return to Australia.
Two groups of women, often referred to as "ISIS brides", and their children returned to Sydney and Melbourne in May after years of detention in Syria's Al Roj camp.
The camp is for families of killed or detained former Islamic State fighters.
The latest cohort, made up of six women and their children, landed in Australia on Tuesday.
The Australian Federal Police on Thursday said one female returnee had been charged with terrorism offences by officers attached to Operation Kurrajong.
The agency is due to provide more details at a media briefing.
Operation Kurrajong is a joint operation of the AFP, domestic spy agency ASIO, and state and territory police focused on investigating individuals alleged to have travelled to Syria during the reign of the Islamic State caliphate.
Mideast (GAZA)
Dozens of Palestinians have carried the body of Hamas' armed wing chief through the streets of Gaza City in a funeral procession, a day after Israel killed him as it moves to eliminate the militant group's top brass despite a ceasefire.
The Israeli military said Mohammad Odeh was killed in a targeted attack on Tuesday night, just over a week after his predecessor, Izz al-Din al-Haddad, was killed in an Israeli strike on a Gaza apartment block.
The deaths mean there are few militant leaders left in Gaza to lead the group's armed wing, at a time when Israel and Hamas are deadlocked in US-brokered talks to advance President Donald Trump's plan for Gaza's future.
Hours after Odeh's funeral, the Israeli military said it targeted two Hamas militants in a strike in northern Gaza, without disclosing their identity.
Ukraine (KYIV)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has announced plans for further counter-strikes deep inside Russian territory following talks with his military leadership.
In his evening video address released in Kyiv, Zelenskiy said the attacks were intended to show Moscow it would "have to pay for the war with its own losses".
Russian oil industry facilities remain a particular focus of the strikes, he said, as Kyiv seeks to reduce Moscow's energy export revenues, which are considered crucial to financing Russia's war economy.
It comes as Anne Keast-Butler, head of the UK's intelligence agency GCHQ, asserted that Russian President Vladimir "Putin is going backwards on the battlefield".
New data shows "almost half a million Russian soldiers have now been killed since the conflict began," she added.
Tax (CANBERRA)
Controversial changes to capital gains tax concessions and negative gearing will be introduced to parliament despite warnings they will worsen Australia's productivity problem.
The proposals to rein in investor tax breaks will be bundled up alongside a $250 a year tax rebate for workers and a $1000 standard tax deduction in a single bill that Treasurer Jim Chalmers will submit to the House of Representatives on Thursday.
The treasurer has said the changes will help level the playing field for many young Australians who have been locked out of the housing market by a system that taxes income earned from labour at a higher rate than income derived from investments.
While the majority of economists and business groups have acknowledged the need for tax reform, and the changes are likely to be passed with the support of the Greens, the government has taken flak in particular for the proposed changes to the capital gains discount.
Iran (TEHRAN)
Iran would restore shipping through the Strait of Hormuz to pre-war levels within a month in a framework deal with the United States that also includes plans for withdrawing US forces from Iran's vicinity, Iranian state television reports.
The report said the US would end a naval blockade of Iranian shipping, citing a memorandum of understanding being negotiated between the two sides to end the war which has choked global energy supplies through the strategic waterway.
Iranian state TV said it had obtained an unofficial draft of the MOU though it was not final and may not be agreed.
State TV said the framework, which excludes military vessels and envisages Iran managing ship traffic through the strait in co-operation with Oman, was not yet finalised and that Iran would take no steps without "tangible verification".
In finance ...
GenX (SYDNEY)
A third of the so-called ''forgotten generation'' fear they'll retire with mortgage debt, despite being one of the key cohorts to have entered the housing market relatively early in life.
Generation X, which sits between Baby Boomers and Millennials, has earnt the moniker as a smaller and less vocal demographic than the other two.
Now these 46- to 60-year-olds are the subject of a new Australian study into how they feel about their financial future.
''This generation is resilient and capable, but tired, under-recognised and coping rather than thriving," according to Toby Ellis, head of the community rewards platform Citro, which commissioned the research.
The study of just over 1000 people found that 51 per cent felt they were mostly or completely invisible in the national debate, despite many government leaders themselves being Gen X.
Markets Aust (SYDNEY)
The Australian share market has handed back most of the previous session's gains, after fresh US strikes on Iranian targets rattled ongoing talks between the nations.
The S&P/ASX200 fell 57.3 points by midday, down 0.66 per cent, to 8,660.4, as the broader All Ordinaries slipped 57.8 points, or 0.65 per cent, to 8,888.4.
"Market participants remain optimistic of an imminent breakthrough, despite guarded and sometimes conflicting rhetoric from both the US and Iran," Capital.com senior market analyst Kyle Rodda said.
Oil prices dipped to three-week lows overnight, following reports the two nations were discussing a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz within 30 days.
However, US President Donald Trump hit back at the idea Iran and Oman would oversee shipping in the waterway.
In entertainment ...
Legal: Perry (LOS ANGELES)
A personal assistant who injected Friends star Matthew Perry with a fatal dose of the hallucinogenic drug ketamine has been sentenced to three years and five months in federal prison, bringing to a close the prosecution of five people who admitted to playing roles in the actor's death.
Judge Sherilyn Garnett delivered the 41-month sentence for Kenneth Iwamasa, the person who found Perry floating face down and lifeless in a hot tub at his Los Angeles home in October 2023.
Federal prosecutors said Iwamasa injected Perry with ketamine at the actor's request before leaving the residence to run errands.
Perry was dead when Iwamasa returned.
An autopsy report concluded that Perry died from the "acute effects of ketamine," which combined with other factors in causing him to lose consciousness and drown.
Cleese (LONDON)
Comedic great John Cleese is to embark on a UK tour celebrating more than 50 years since the release of Monty Python And The Holy Grail.
The 86-year-old will host a 45-minute Q and A session with fans after a screening of the 1975 film introduced by the star.
"I'm delighted to be celebrating more than 50 years of Holy Grail with these incredible live events around the country, mainly because I genuinely never expected either the film or myself to last this long," Cleese said
The sessions will see Cleese reflect on the making of the film and its legacy, with fans able to ask their own questions.
The tour will begin at Basingstoke Anvil Arts on September 1 and run until its final show at Leeds Grand Theatre on September 22, stopping at Manchester, Newcastle and Birmingham, with tickets priced at £39.50 ($A75).
In sport ...
AFL Bombers (MELBOURNE)
Dean Solomon has rejected the notion an "Essendon person" needs to coach the club while insisting he won't consider putting his hand up for the full-time role before the end of the season.
Solomon, who served as a club director last year before stepping down to join the coaching panel, said he had no influence on the board's decision to sack Brad Scott this week.
The 46-year-old has taken the reins as interim coach for the rest of the season, starting with the Bombers' clash with West Coast in Perth on Sunday.
But the full-time role isn't on his agenda.
"I won't even consider that," Solomon said on Thursday.
"While I'm doing this job, I think it's really the wrong thing to do for me to even entertain any thoughts in and around that.
Ten Open Aust (PARIS)
Luckless Australian tennis star Thanasi Kokkinakis has vowed to battle on despite his future again being thrown into doubt after another savage injury blow wrecked his latest comeback bid at the French Open.
The ill-starred 30-year-old was forced to pull out at the start of the third set of his second-round contest with Spanish veteran Pablo Carreno Busta on Wednesday with a recurrence of the chronic right shoulder problem that's been placing a question mark over his career.
But the defiant 30-year-old, who said he'd pulled out because he feared the match might finish his season, was adamant: "I'm doing some scans tomorrow, I'm trying to be optimistic."
Kokkinakis had cut a forlorn figure after duelling with typical bravery to level at one-set all 5-7 6-4 after two hours in the 32C heat at Roland Garros, but having clearly been in some discomfort throughout, as he constantly tried to shake shake out his serving shoulder, he needed physio treatment after the set.
Ends Bulletin
Rolling News Desk inquiries : 02 9322 8611
