Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Antoun Issa

Afternoon Update: Thorpe alleges being ‘inappropriately touched’ in parliament; NZ enters recession; and did Beyoncé bump Swedish inflation?

Lidia Thorpe
Lidia Thorpe has alleged in parliament that she has been ‘inappropriately propositioned by powerful men’ during her time in the Senate. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Good afternoon. It was anything but a dull day in politics, with Senator David Van booted from the Liberal party room amid allegations of sexual harassment made by independent Senator Lidia Thorpe.

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, said “further allegations” were brought to his attention overnight, but that his decision was not a “judgment on the veracity of the allegations or any individual’s guilt or innocence”.

The announcement came shortly after Thorpe spoke in parliament, alleging “one man followed me and cornered me” in a stairwell, and that she had been “inappropriately touched” and “inappropriately propositioned by powerful men” during her time in the Senate.

Van this afternoon repeated his strong denial of the allegations, calling for an investigation into what he says are “outrageous claims”. Watch Thorpe’s Senate speech and David Van’s response.

Top news

Employees are seen at work during a workshop tour at Eric Jones Stairbuilding in Blackburn, Melbourne
The unemployment rate has again fallen from 3.7% to 3.6% after the economy added five times more jobs than predicted in May. Photograph: James Ross/AAP
  • Unemployment’s surprise fall | Australia’s economy added 76,000 jobs last month – five times more than economists expected – bringing the unemployment rate to 3.6%, down from 3.7% last month. They are figures that will be watched closely by the Reserve Bank, which is hoping to see unemployment rise to 4.5% – that’s 140,000 people losing their jobs – by 2025 to get inflation down to its 2-3% target.

  • Russian embassy lease cancelled | The federal government rushed through special legislation – in just over an hour – to cancel Russia’s lease on a site for a new embassy near Parliament House, citing national security concerns.

ABC political editor Andrew Probyn outside Parliament House
ABC’s political editor, Andrew Probyn, has had his role made redundant as the national broadcaster culls as many as 100 jobs. Photograph: ABC
  • Andrew Probyn made redundant | The ABC political editor is the most high-profile journalist so far to be targeted in a cull of as many as 100 jobs before a major restructure of the national broadcaster kicks in on 1 July. “Very good luck to the ABC. I’m still trying to come to terms with it,” Probyn said.

  • Massive meth bust | Six men have been charged after almost $1.7bn worth of methamphetamine was seized as part of a probe into a global smuggling syndicate. Police allege the operation involved four separate hauls in 2023, mostly involving attempts to hide the drug in bottles of canola oil in Canada, which were destined for Victoria and New South Wales.

  • ‘Smart drugs’ don’t work | People who use so-called “smart drugs” to boost their mental performance tend to be worse at complex tasks despite tackling them with more enthusiasm, a study has found. “It’s an incredibly popular idea that if you take a little bit of this serotonin agent, a bit of this psychedelic, and mix it with some other substances, you’ll be at your best,” said a researcher. “It’s also incredibly dumb.”

People evacuated from a village near Jakhau board a bus to travel to a shelter in Kutch district, India. Cyclone Biparjoy is projected to make landfall near Jakhau port. The cyclone forecast to slam ashore on Thursday is expected to be the most powerful to hit western India and Pakistan since 2021.
Cyclone Biparjoy, expected to be the most powerful cyclonic storm to hit western India and Pakistan since 2021, is projected to make landfall today. Photograph: Ajit Solanki/AP
  • Cyclone Biparjoy | More than 100,000 people have been evacuated in India and Pakistan ahead of the expected landfall of a “very severe cyclonic storm”. Biparjoy means “disaster” in Bengali.

  • New Zealand enters recession | The economy shrank 0.1% in the last quarter, with the downturn exacerbated by the effects of extreme weather that hit the country through February and March, devastating some of New Zealand’s key fruit and vegetable-growing regions and causing extensive damage to the road network.

Beyoncé performs onstage during the opening night of the Renaissance world tour at Friends Arena on 10 May 2023 in Stockholm, Sweden. She is being carried by a number of male dancers; they are all wearing silver holographic clothing
According to analysts, Beyoncé’s two Stockholm concerts were responsible for a measure of the inflation of hotel and restaurant prices. Photograph: Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Parkwood
  • Beyoncé nudging Swedish inflation | The Swedes must be “crazy in love” with Beyoncé – so crazy her two shows in Stockholm may have nudged the country’s high inflation. Analysts say the superstar’s much-hyped concert in May “probably” accounted for 0.2 of the 0.3 percentage points added to inflation by hotels and restaurant prices.

  • Climate activist facing jail over fake letter | Rosemary Penwarden, a 64-year-old New Zealand woman, is facing up to 10 years in jail after being found guilty of forgery. Penwarden’s crime? Writing to oil executives posing as a fossil fuel conference organiser and telling them their gathering was cancelled.

In pictures

A cartoon in watercolour showing three people standing out the front of a sports stadium; on the left, a woman supporting the Magpies, and on the right, a man supporting the Tigers. The woman is wearing black and white and the man is wearing black and yellow. In the centre, a man wearing blue and red with ‘Sport Bet’ on the front of his shirt says: “We’re not actually a footy team but we always end up winning...”

Does Australia have a problem with sports gambling? You bet, according to cartoonist Fiona Katauskas.

What they said …

Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe (right) argues with One Nation Party leader Senator Pauline Hanson after making a personal statement in the Senate chamber at Parliament House in Canberra

***

“This was not an isolated incident. And there are others I could name who have inappropriately touched me. Invaded my space and knowingly made me feel unsafe.” – Lidia Thorpe

In numbers

Infographic which reads: 25bn Hiroshima atomic bombs worth of heat the oceans have absorbed since 1971

On key measures, temperatures across the planet this year are off the charts, climate and environment editor Adam Morton writes. This is especially the case in the ocean.

Before bed read

Part of Lightscape at Vivid Sydney 2023, at the Botanic Gardens in Sydney: large flower sculptures are lit up in a rainbow of colours, with the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the Opera House visible in the background.
‘It’s impressive for a public event in Sydney to even allow a combination of children and fire pits.’ Photograph: Chester See

Vivid Sydney has been called “obscene” and “mean” for charging people for entry ($128 for a family ticket) to the Sydney Royal Botanic Garden – a usually free public space.

Our national news editor, Patrick Keneally, took his family to the exhibition to see if it was worth it.

“If this is your first Vivid, then yes. If you are visiting from overseas or interstate, it’s also worth it. The lack of crowds is lovely and the walk is enjoyable – but if you’ve been to Vivid before, it doesn’t feel hugely different to other, free events you would have seen.”

Daily word game

Screenshot of Wordiply. Play now!

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

Sign up

If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.