What we learned – Wednesday 14 June
With that, we’ll wrap up our live coverage of the day’s news.
Here’s a summary of the key developments:
Lidia Thorpe has accused Senate colleague David Van of harassment and sexual assault during a heated exchange in parliament, an allegation the Liberal politician vehemently denied.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, visited the town of Singleton to pledge $100,000 in support to victims of the bus crash that killed 10 locals on Sunday night.
Decommissioned gas wells from a Santos project off the coast of Western Australia have been leaking from the seabed for a decade, according to documents published by the national petroleum regulator.
The leader of the opposition, Peter Dutton, has claimed it is “absolutely reasonable” for the Coalition to question whether Labor “conspired to seek political advantage out of an alleged sexual assault” after the release of Brittany Higgins’s text messages.
The Australian government is expected to move all remaining refugees and asylum seekers off Nauru by the end of the month, more than a decade after offshore processing restarted on the Pacific Island nation.
A former Coles executive has admitted stealing $1.9m from the national supermarket giant but a judge said his offending was so inexplicable and unsophisticated he must undergo psychiatric testing.
Sydney’s patchwork toll road network could be split into geographic zones under one idea being explored by the state government’s toll road review that could see it pay compensation to a corporate tollway giant.
Thanks for following along, we’ll be back tomorrow.
Have a pleasant evening.
Updated
‘This is about respect’: Queensland parliament holds tense debate on gender
Back to Queensland politics.
There has been tense debate in state parliament today over laws that would allow Queenslanders to change the sex on their identification documents without having to undergo sex reassignment surgery.
The legislation is expected to pass on Wednesday night, supported by Labor and the Greens, and opposed by the Liberal National party and Katter’s Australian party.
During the Labor MP Chris Whiting’s speech, the deputy leader of the LNP, Jarrod Bleijie, interjected, saying: “Feminine identity? It’s blokes in a dress.”
Bleijie later contributed to the debate, labelling the bill “an attack on women”.
The LNP MP Amanda Camm, also opposed the laws, claiming “a transwoman is … not a woman” and that “a female, by definition, is an adult female human being”.
The minister for women, Shannon Fentiman, said the Queensland government defines a woman as “someone who identifies as a woman”.
The youth justice minister, Di Farmer, apologised to the LGBTIQ+ people sitting in the gallery for the nature of the debate. “I am sorry you had to hear that … This is about respect,” she said.
The Greens MP for Maiwar, Michael Berkman, spoke in support of the bill. He said a lack of accurate documentation “prevents people from enrolling in school, getting a driver’s licence, getting a job, opening a bank account, and applying for housing”.
Updated
