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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mike Hohnen

Afternoon Update: Fair Work finds ABC sacked Lattouf; Qantas unveils boarding changes; and what bird flu means for Australia

The journalist Antoinette Lattouf leaves a Fair Work Commission hearing in January
The journalist Antoinette Lattouf leaves a Fair Work Commission hearing in January. Photograph: Toby Zerna/AAP

Good afternoon. The Fair Work Commission has found Antoinette Lattouf was sacked from a casual presenting role on ABC local radio, paving the way for the journalist to pursue an unlawful termination case.

Lattouf is suing the ABC in the federal court after she was taken off air three days into a five-day casual contract in December. The ABC said her posts on social media about the Israel-Gaza war had breached editorial policy.

Lattouf is seeking “reinstatement, compensation, pecuniary penalties against the ABC and orders that ABC management undergo training to ensure they comply with their EA obligations”. She said on Monday the ABC’s challenge was “a waste of taxpayers’ money, causing unnecessary delays in my pursuit of truth and justice”.

Top news

  • Police find remains of backpacker who went missing 23 years ago | Human remains found in New South Wales bushland have been formally identified as that of missing woman Kellie Ann Carmichael. Carmichael was 24 at the time of her disappearance and death, last seen by staff at a Katoomba hostel on 29 April 2001.

  • Bruce Lehrmann claims judge denied him ‘fairness’ | Lehrmann’s notice of appeal against the April judgment, which found that on the balance of probabilities he raped Brittany Higgins on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019, was lodged at the federal court on Friday. Lehrmann listed four grounds for appeal.

  • Minimum wage workers to get 3.75% pay rise | The increase will raise the minimum hourly wage to $24.10 (from $23.23), the Fair Work Commission said.

  • State Library of NSW apologises after student asked to leave | The State Library of NSW said it was “deeply distressed” the student was asked to leave by a security guard on Sunday for wearing a keffiyeh. The year 12 student said she had been studying at the library on Sunday and was stopped at the door when returning from a break, and was asked to either remove her keffiyeh or leave the building.

  • Qantas unveils major changes to boarding procedure | The airline is rolling out a new boarding regime that will see passengers split into six boarding groups as it seeks to fill its planes faster and to ensure they depart on time. The new system, which applies to Airbus A330s and Boeing 737s, was put in place at Brisbane airport from Monday, and will start at other major airports this month.

  • Claude the koala returns to nursery to munch on seedlings | Claude became Australia’s cutest thief and a viral sensation when he was filmed munching on seedlings at a nursery near Lismore last September. But fame has only made him more brazen, with the hungry koala now helping himself to a weekday feed in front of staff at Eastern Forest Nursery.

  • Modi expected to win historic third term | Voting has come to a close in India’s mammoth elections, as exit polls widely predicted the prime minister, Narendra Modi, would win a historic third term in proceedings marred by allegations of irregularities. The election, the longest and largest in India’s history with almost a billion eligible voters, began in mid-April.

  • Maldives to ban Israeli passport holders from entry | The office of president Mohamed Muizzu made the announcement as public anger in the predominantly Muslim nation rises over the war in Gaza. In response, Israel’s foreign ministry recommended that Israeli citizens, including Israelis with dual citizenship, not travel to the Maldives.

In video

There’s more than one bird flu: what recent outbreaks mean for Australia

A human case of a deadly and highly contagious bird flu was detected in Australia last month as an outbreak of another strain saw tens of thousands of chickens euthanised. Matilda Boseley explains why not all strains of the avian influenza pose the same risk

What they said …

***

“I literally had to start from scratch to put a roof over my daughters head.” – Tessa, a domestic violence victim-survivor.

Tessa, who asked that a pseudonym be used, took out an apprehended domestic violence against her husband. But she faces inflexible laws when trying to recover her belongings, as Jordyn Beazley reports.

In numbers

The 20th edition of the Lowy Institute annual poll found 61% of respondents “somewhat” or “strongly” support Australia using nuclear power to generate electricity, while 37% “somewhat” or “strongly” oppose it.

Before bed read

The deportation debate is toxic politics – if the system is truly broken, we need more than kneejerk solutions

Too afraid to oppose the Coalition’s repressive measures, Labor is now struggling with the legacies of both the failed home affairs experiment and the human mess of immigration detention, writes Mary Crock.

Daily word game

Today’s starter word is: WAYS. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.

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