What we learned: Sunday, 29 June
With that, we will wrap the blog for the afternoon. Thanks so much for reading, and enjoy the rest of your Sunday. Here were today’s major developments:
A group of inmates held a peaceful protest over the death of a 41-year-old Aboriginal man who had been held at Parklea prison in Sydney. The man died on Friday evening after being transferred to hospital.
The home affairs minister, Tony Burke, said the high legal threshold for the preventative detention of some stateless asylum seekers was stopping the federal government from locking them up. Burke also said he was concerned about the safety of members of parliament and other public figures after attacks on US and UK politicians and the rise of online organising tools for terror groups.
Tanya Plibersek told ABC Insiders that Israel should turn its attention to ending the war in Gaza. Plibersek has laughed at suggestions that Labor’s quotas for women have “subverted democracy” in the party.
Police in Melbourne are investigating the death of an unidentified person whose body was found on a CBD street in the early hours of Saturday. Also in Victoria, police have arrested a 27-year-old man after human remains were allegedly found at a home in Melbourne’s northern suburbs.
Updated
Burke’s complaint over legal barrier for asylum seeker preventative detention ‘an admission of a catastrophic failure’: Hastie
The shadow home affairs minister, Andrew Hastie, has jumped on comments from Labor’s Tony Burke suggesting the high legal threshold for the preventative detention of some stateless asylum seekers is stopping the federal government from locking them up.
In a statement on Sunday afternoon, Hastie called the comments “an admission of a catastrophic failure” from Labor.
They repeatedly assured Australians they could keep the community safe. Now, after rushing through a preventative regime 18 months ago, they admit it doesn’t work at all.
This government has spent more than $20m on its flawed community safety regime and doesn’t have a single application to show for it.
The government must act immediately to keep Australians safe. We don’t accept that there is nothing that can be done, and the Coalition stands ready to assist if urgent legislation is required to clean this mess up and keep these dangerous individuals off our streets.
Updated
