What we learned, Sunday 28 May
That’s that for our live news blog for the day. Thanks for being around.
Here’s what happened:
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe said she would lodge a complaint to the Australian Human Rights Commission alleging racist treatment at the hands of her former party, the Greens.
A teenager is fighting for her life in hospital in Melbourne after a crash in regional Victoria killed four others.
Federal police arrested a Sydney man over a major heroin bust after he was deported from Turkiye.
Two Greek nationals were charged after police allegedly found $60m worth of cocaine in the walls of a shipping container in Sydney.
Some 41,000 hectares of koala habitat in New South Wales have been earmarked for logging, according to analysis from a conservation group.
Thousands of Australians have been out with their dogs across the country for the Million Paws Walk to raise cash for the RSPCA.
Police in Sydney appealed to the public for video footage after a major fire in a former hat factory in the city centre on Thursday.
Republicans announced a “deal in principle” with US president Joe Biden to raise the country’s debt ceiling, averting a potential economic crisis.
Have a fantastic rest of your weekend.
Updated
Prime minister launches draft strategy to improve care and support services
The Albanese government has launched a draft strategy to improve care and support services across aged care, disability support, veterans’ care and early childhood.
According to the strategy, government spending in the sectors is expected to rise from $60bn in the last tax year to $110bn by the middle of 2027.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said he wanted the public’s input.
Every Australian should have access to high quality care and support, and that means we need to invest in high quality jobs in this sector.
The care and support workforce is integral to the Australian economy, particularly as demand for aged care and early education services is on the rise.
The government is also encouraging carers, the care and support workforce, people who receive care and support and the broader community to comment on the draft.
Updated
Tasmanian shot in neck after hunting accident
A 59-year-old Tasmanian man has been shot in the neck after an apparent hunting accident, the Australian Associated Press is reporting.
The injuries to the Sandford man were not life-threatening, police said, after the incident at a rural bush property at Tea Tree, west of Hobart this morning.
The man, who is in a stable condition, was hunting when he was shot, and police say the incident is not believed to be suspicious.
Another person who was at the scene is assisting police with their inquiries, according to the Hobart Mercury.
Updated
Paws in the news as thousands walk their dogs for RSPCA
Taking a short paws from the news.
Thousands of dog owners around Australia have been out with their pooches this morning at events around the country for the Million Paws Walk to raise money for the RSPCA.
After a three year hiatus the @rspcawa Million Paws Walk is back and on such a stunning day! 🐶 🐩 🐕
— Anne-Maree Leonard (@a_m_leonard) May 28, 2023
There’s around 2k doggos here!
(Yes this is the best day of my life) @10NewsFirstPER pic.twitter.com/5RX775SQdo
Lending a helping hound to the fundraising was Queensland premier Annastacia Palaszczuk who was out with her dog Winton (who looks like an oodle of some sort).
Winton loved his walk this morning! Great to see so many people out for the Million Paws Walk 🐶 @RSPCAQld pic.twitter.com/bNoD8Xutcq
— Annastacia Palaszczuk (@AnnastaciaMP) May 28, 2023
The Northern Territory’s chief minister Natasha Fyles took Rumble out for the NT event in Darwin.
All creatures great and small at this morning’s @RSPCA Million Paws Walk.
— Natasha Fyles (@NatashaFylesMLA) May 28, 2023
A lot of very good doggos (and then there was our Rumble - so many new friends to make and couldn’t control his excitement).
Paws down highlight was Luna the sausage dog eating a sausage.
The Walk is… pic.twitter.com/nRQ6g9u7GT
Updated
Two Greek nationals on charges after $60m of cocaine found in shipping container walls
Two Greek nationals have been charged with numerous offences after police allegedly found $60m worth of cocaine in the walls of a shipping container in Sydney.
Police were called to a Port Botany container logistics company after reports of a break and enter about 11pm on Thursday.
The news this Sunday so far
It’s the afternoon already! Here’s a quick summary of the morning.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has revealed she will lodge a complaint to the Australian Human Rights commission alleging racist treatment at the hands of her former party, the Greens.
Federal police revealed they had arrested a Sydney man over a major heroin bust after he was deported from Turkiye.
Police in Sydney have appealed to the public for video footage after a major fire in a former hat factory in the city centre on Thursday.
41,000 hectares of koala habitat in New South Wales have been earmarked for logging, according to analysis from a conservation group.
Republicans have announced a “deal in principle” with US president Joe Biden to raise the country’s debt ceiling, averting a potential economic crisis. Without the deal, in little more than a week the US was facing a debt default.
Updated
First Nations arts awards announce winners
Musician, activist and Kamilaroi elder Uncle Bob Weatherall and award-winning artist and Wardandi elder Aunty Sandra Hill have been awarded the prestigious Red Ochre award at the 2023 First Nations Arts and Culture awards.
The Red Ochre awards were given for outstanding lifetime achievement and the artists’ contribution to the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts culture and community.
Two young First Nations artists were given the Dreaming award that will support the creation of major bodies of work.
Phoebe Graine is a Kuku Djungan, Muluridji, Wakaman, Tagalaka, Kunjen, Warrgamay and Yindinji woman from far-north Queensland.
Naarah Barnes is from the Gija mob in Western Australia.
The awards come at the beginning of National Reconciliation Week.
Updated
Matilda’s striker Sam Kerr scored two goals as her Chelsea Women’s Super League team secured their fourth consecutive championship title.
Kerr’s brace saw Chelsea beat Reading 0-3.
How many times @samkerr1 🤪pic.twitter.com/NmFkthzMX4
— Chelsea Women Supporters Group (@ChelseaWomenSG) May 27, 2023
The Matilda’s captain will now turn her attention to the Women’s World Cup that will kick off at the end of July in Australia and New Zealand.
Updated
Sydney man arrested for alleged major heroin smuggling operation after deportation
A Sydney man has been charged for allegedly orchestrating one of the biggest heroin imports in recent history after being deported from Türkiye, the Australian Federal Police has said.
Police were waiting for the man named in AAP reports as Guy Habkouk, 35 – at Sydney International Airport yesterday morning.
In a statement, the AFP said:
Police will allege the man has been based in a number of countries since March 2020 and is responsible for organising the importation of 347.9kg of heroin into Sydney in December 2020, while he was based in Thailand. It will also be alleged this man has extensive links to transnational organised crime groups, which helped facilitate this importation.
Habkouk is due to appear at Parramatta local court today.
Updated
Republicans and Democrats reach deal 'in principle' on debt ceiling: reports
The US government had less than a week before it risked defaulting on debt payments, but reports are emerging that a deal has finally been struck between Republican speaker Kevin McCarthy and president Joe Biden.
Earlier this month Biden cancelled a visit to Australia to try to strike a deal. The nation faced risk of default in little more than a week, with serious global knock-on effects.
Updated
Teenage girl fighting for life after four die in crash
As we mentioned briefly earlier, a teenage girl is in a serious condition in Melbourne’s the Alfred hospital after a crash that killed four other people yesterday.
Emergency services were still at the scene last night of the Saturday morning crash at Bochara in regional Victoria, AAP reports. The car, with five people on board, had hit a tree.
The two females and two males who died in the crash are yet to be formally identified and their ages have not been confirmed by Victoria police.
Updated
Senator Lidia Thorpe to lodge human rights complaint against Greens
Senator Lidia Thorpe is lodging a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Commission over what she claimed was racist treatment while she was a member of the Greens.
Asked if she was lodging a complaint, Thorpe said “I am” but refused to comment further on advice from her lawyers.
“There is enough grounds for a case, and I’ll have to leave it there,” she claimed.
I don’t want to say any further. But, yes, I’ve experienced racism all my life in every workplace, and the Greens were no different.
The Guardian is approaching the Greens for comment.
Updated
Thorpe says a yes vote from her will depend on ‘what Labor comes good with’
Senator Thorpe has laid out a few conditions that she would want the government to commit to before she could vote yes in a referendum for an Indigenous voice to parliament.
Thorpe has told the ABC’s Insiders program it will “depend on what Labor comes good with” before she could vote yes.
You know, they’re waving our black flag. Implement the royal commission into deaths in custody. You have the time to do that before the referendum. You have time to implement the Bringing Them Home report, which we looked at yesterday on Sorry Day while they’re celebrating at Uluru. I mean, if that’s any indication of what Labor think about stolen generations and child removal, then we have a long way to go.
She also said she was considering abstaining from a Senate vote on legislation to enable the referendum.
Updated
Senator Lidia Thorpe 'won’t sit with racists and white supremacists' on no campaign
DjabWurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara woman and independent senator Lidia Thorpe is speaking to the ABC and says she will “definitely not” vote no in a national referendum on an Indigenous voice to parliament.
But Thorpe says she also can’t support the voice because it would “allow for a powerless voice to go into the constitution”.
She was also considering abstaining from an upcoming vote in the Senate that will pave the way for the referendum. She says:
I’m not in the no camp and I’ve never been in the no camp. I won’t sit with racists and white supremacists on the no side.
Updated
Police appeal for video footage after Sydney CBD blaze
Police in Sydney have launched “Strike Force Strontium” to investigate the city centre inferno on Thursday and are appealing for video footage.
AAP reports more than 100 people have registered as being displaced by the blaze in a former hat factory that lit up the sky
The structure is still too unstable to enter and an exclusion zone will be in place for several more days, police said. Demolition crews are assessing how to bring the Surry Hills building down safely.
Arson unit detectives want anyone with vision, either CCTV, dashcam, or mobile phone, showing activity on Randle Street between 2.45pm and 4pm on Thursday to contact them.
Police are also appealing for anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the vicinity of Randle Street in the lead-up to the fire to make contact.
Teenagers spotted running from the building shortly after the blaze started handed themselves in on Thursday, with officers hoping three or four more teens present to police.
Anyone with information can call Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 and video can be uploaded on the Crime Stoppers website.
Updated
40,000 hectares of koala habitat in line for logging
My colleague Lisa Cox has reported this morning that 41,000 hectares of crucial koala habitat is being lined up for potential logging over the next year.
Dailan Pugh, the president of the North East Forest Alliance, has analysed data in a national recovery plan for koalas and finds habitats in the New South Wales north coast could be particularly in the firing line.
Areas of a proposed great koala national park have also been identified for potential logging, he said.
Both the NSW and commonwealth governments have got to stop logging in areas they have identified as the most important koala habitat.
South Korea is deepening ties with Pacific, Richard Marles says
The deputy prime minister and defence minister Richard Marles has welcomed South Korea’s “interest in deepening ties” with the Pacific.
Marles is heading to Seoul for the first Korea-Pacific Islands summit tomorrow with all 18 members of the Pacific Islands Forum invited.
Marles said South Korea had in December released an Indo-Pacific strategy that showed “its commitment to the Pacific as an engaged and reliable partner.”
Australia welcomes Korea’s interest in deepening ties with the Pacific, and looks forward to building on our foundation of shared values to promote our mutual interest in a prosperous and resilient Pacific.
On the trip Marles will also meet South Korean president Yoon Suk Yeol and his defence counterpart, Lee Jong-sup.
Updated
Good morning
How’s your morning? Graham Readfearn here starting the Guardian’s live news coverage for this Sunday 28 May.
The defence minister, Richard Marles, has announced overnight he is heading to South Korea for the inaugural Korea-Pacific Islands summit that starts tomorrow. A bit more about that shortly.
We’ll also be hearing from the senator Lidia Thorpe, who is a guest on the ABC’s Insiders program later this morning. With the political debate over the Indigenous voice referendum cranking up, we’ll stay across the independent senator’s views. She’s reportedly said she won’t be fronting the leading no campaign.
Here’s a recap of what happened yesterday.
A teenager is fighting for their life this morning after a car crash in Victoria’s west on Saturday that killed four people.
The Victorian Nationals fell into line with federal counterparts and voted to oppose the Indigenous voice to parliament at the start of National Reconciliation Week.
Indigenous Australians minister Linda Burney accused opposition leader Peter Dutton of “playing politics” with the Indigenous voice to parliament referendum and dividing Australians.
Former NSW Liberal party president Maria Kovacic will replace the late senator for NSW Jim Molan after winning a preselection vote on Saturday.
A third teenager came forward to assist police after a fire engulfed a seven-storey building in Sydney’s CBD on Thursday.
Calls are growing for a parliamentary inquiry into use of force by NSW police with justice experts saying too much focus is placed on individual police officers rather than a “festering” systemic problem.
A government meet-and-greet to connect Australian industry with the world’s largest oil company, Saudi Aramco, was criticised by environmental groups as “akin to a joint trade show with a tobacco major”.
Onwards.
