What we learned; Tuesday 2 September
It’s time to wind down our live news blog for the day. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy this Tuesday:
Self-proclaimed neo-Nazi Thomas Sewell crashed a press conference held by Victoria’s premier, Jacinta Allan. He was arrested hours later with police confirming the arrest was made in relation to the attack on Camp Sovereignty.
Allan said she was “unharmed and undeterred” after the incident – she also posted a video to Instagram, saying she “never expected to come face-to-face with a neo-Nazi”.
Senator Lidia Thorpe called for neo-Nazi protesters who targeted Melbourne’s Camp Sovereignty to be investigated for hate crimes – while the federal Indigenous affairs minister Malarndirri McCarthy said the attacks were “reprehensible”.
The Albanese government’s bill to expedite the deportation of about 280 members of the NZYQ cohort will face a snap committee inquiry tomorrow night.
Dave Sharma said Bob Katter’s behaviour towards a journalist who questioned him about his Lebanese ancestry was “pretty menacing”. The Greens said Katter “should apologise or resign” over the altercation with Channel Nine reporter Josh Bavas, seeking to refer his conduct to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission.
The government announced it would work to restrict access to so-called “nudify” apps and undetectable online stalking tools that use generative AI to create deepfake pornographic images.
Australia’s migration intake won’t change for the financial year 2025-26, with the permanent migration program to be set at 185,000 people, the same as last year.
In parliament, aged care minister Sam Rae was asked whether he would apologise to the families of “vulnerable elderly who have died” waiting for home care packages. The Greens, crossbench senators and the Coalition are losing patience with the government on aged care and could force a vote on important amendments tomorrow.
Thank you for joining us. We’ll be back with more breaking political news first thing tomorrow.
Updated
Only 62 GPs across NSW classed as ADHD ‘continuation prescribers’
Tweaks permitting general practitioners to prescribe ongoing ADHD medication have been hailed as “life-changing”, despite less than 1% of eligible doctors undertaking the required training.
GPs in New South Wales can now prescribe continuing medicines to people with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, in a move designed to spare patients the long wait times and high cost of specialist doctor consultations, AAP reports.
It mirrors a move Queensland made in 2017, with Western Australia expected to follow suit.
More than one million Australians are living with the condition, amounting to about one-in-20 people.
But only 62 GPs across NSW have completed the required training to be classed as ‘continuation prescribers’, out of about 9,500 GPs across the state.
Dr Rebekah Hoffman, who chairs the NSW division of the GPs college, has encouraged ADHD patients to ask their doctors to do the required training.
“Over time, the GPs will do the training, will jump on board” she said.
If you’re a patient known to a GP, talk to them about it. Say, ‘Can you do this for me?’ We want to look after our patients, and we absolutely can.
Updated
