What we learned today, Wednesday 22 October
That’s all for now, here’s what we covered today:
The opposition leader, Sussan Ley, walked back her calls for the Australian ambassador to the US, Kevin Rudd, to be sacked.
Anthony Albanese’s official jet made an unplanned stop in St Louis, Missouri, after an accident involving an RAAF crew member.
Lidia Thorpe referred the Northern Territory’s attorney general, Marie-Claire Boothby, to the territory’s anti-corruption body.
A New South Wales police officer will now face a second charge over the alleged assault of Hannah Thomas.
Victoria police’s chief commissioner, Mike Bush, admitted it was the “wrong decision” to use a police helicopter to travel to a conference in Tasmania.
A Melbourne man was charged after he allegedly stole $9,000 in Labubu dolls earlier this year.
US-based Air T has made a bid to buy Rex Airlines more than a year after the airline entered voluntary administration.
Tasmania police recovered the body of a man believed to be missing hiker Daryl Fong.
Brittany Higgins reportedly dropped her appeal against the Western Australian supreme court decision that she defamed Linda Reynolds in a series of social media posts.
Thanks for joining us – stay safe in the heat and wind. We’ll be back again tomorrow.
Updated
Lidia Thorpe refers NT attorney general to anti-corruption watchdog
Lidia Thorpe has referred the Northern Territory’s attorney general, Marie-Claire Boothby, to the territory’s anti-corruption body after it was revealed she failed to disclose she was related to a man who was spared prison in September over a hit-and-run car crash that killed an Aboriginal man.
Thorpe said she was not accusing Boothby of any misconduct yet but believed the series of events raised “serious questions” about the case.
Jake Danby, 24, was sentenced to a 12-month community corrections order in relation to the crash in June 2024. Danby hit two Aboriginal pedestrians, killing one, and fled the scene.
He then boasted about the incident to friends, according to text messages tendered in court. Danby wrote that it was “pretty funny watching them roll around on the road after going over my bonnet” and described the crash as a “two for one combo”.
Danby is Boothby’s sister’s son-in-law. Boothby told the ABC at the time she had previously informed the chief minister, Lia Finochiaro, that Danby was her sister’s step-son.
“I have never attempted to hide the fact that the driver was an extended family member,” Boothby told the ABC.
“At all times I have acted with integrity in carrying out my functions as attorney general.”
A spokesperson for Boothby said she “has had no involvement in this matter”.
Thorpe’s complaint to NT’s Independent Commissioner Against Corruption (Icac) claimed the territory’s attorney general’s department had tried to suppress communications between the courts and the media.
The Victorian federal senator said:
This isn’t just about one case. First Peoples are systematically discriminated against in the criminal legal system, we have no trust in it, particularly when we see government departments interfering behind the scenes.
Icac needs to get to the bottom of this, and the NT attorney general can’t just shrug it off. If she denies involvement, she should welcome an Icac investigation.
Updated
