What we learned today, Friday 25 August
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s what we learned today:
Australia’s electoral body has come out swinging against critics who say counting ticks as a yes response in the upcoming referendum on the voice will undermine its fairness and impartiality.
Australia’s $528m icebreaking research vessel is significantly wider than initially designed and lacks the turning ability to safely pass underneath Hobart’s Tasman Bridge and refuel on the other side.
A man is in a critical condition after a shark attack on Friday morning in Port Macquarie.
The Catholic church’s bid to block a legal ruling that would allow the father of a choirboy allegedly sexually abused by Cardinal George Pell to sue for damages has been knocked down at the first hurdle.
A dramatic overhaul of the nation’s family laws, which puts more focus on a child’s best interests than on shared parental responsibility, is set to go ahead.
The Queensland government’s steadfast defence of new laws allowing children to be held in police watch houses continues to draw harsh criticism from the opposition, the Greens and Katter’s Australian party.
Thanks for sticking with us today. We will be back with you tomorrow morning.
Updated
Green light for nuclear ships, submarines in Tas port
A Tasmanian port has been given the green light to host nuclear-powered vessels after being verified by the national safety agency, AAP reports.
A quarterly report by the Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency said staff completed work at the Hobart port to ensure it could host such vessels and respond in an emergency.
Staff also travelled to Western Australia for a visit by two US nuclear submarines.
Arpansa said it is helping oversee arrangements “to ensure the Australian public and the environment is safe during visits from nuclear-powered vessels”.
American and British nuclear submarines will begin more frequent rotations and visits through Australian ports as part of the alliance known as Aukus.
Dave Sweeney, from the Australian Conservation Foundation, said on an “economic self-interest level” there was a strong case for Tasmania to shun nuclear submarines:
It is known for its food, tourism and clean air, art and cultures – none of these are helped by elevated radioactive risk.
Updated
