What we learned: Wednesday, 5 June
What a day it has been. Let’s leave it there, shall we? Enjoy your respective Wednesday evenings - the unparalleled Amy Remeikis will be back first thing tomorrow. I will be sleeping in and hiding from the cold.
Here were the major developments of the day:
Australia’s economy slowed to just 0.1% in the March quarter, which was slower than expected. The nation’s gross domestic product barely grew, expanding just 0.1% in the first three months of 2024. On an annual basis, growth was 1.1%.
Question time was certainly A Time. The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, accused some pro-Palestine protesters of being Holocaust deniers. And the Greens leader, Adam Bandt said “severe and direct misrepresentations” were made of him after a move to suspend standing orders to debate the issue of whether Australia is sending parts which are being used in F-35s used by Israel was rejected, with the PM using the Greens of inflaming “tension” at pro-Palestine protests outside electoral offices.
Elon Musk’s X has said “free speech has prevailed” after the eSafety commissioner dropped the federal court case over X’s refusal to remove tweets of the Wakeley church stabbing attack. Speaking on ABC, the commissioner revealed she had received death threats as a result of Musk’s tweets.
An internal survey of ABC news staff has found 25% of people who answered the survey experienced bullying and 13% experienced sexual harassment.
Townsville council has passed a unanimous motion of no-confidence in its embattled mayor Troy Thompson.
And the federal government will spend almost $1bn in the next four years to provide infrastructure to private schools while the public system has been allocated just $225m.
Updated
Report calls for urgent action to prevent another Stolen Generation
Urgent action is needed to address a growing crisis in the removal of Aboriginal children from their families which are “approaching levels akin to the Stolen Generations”, an inquiry warns.
On Wednesday, commissioner for Aboriginal children and young people April Lawrie released Holding On To Our Future, the final report of the inquiry into the removal and placement of Aboriginal children in South Australia.
It found Aboriginal children are over-reported, over-investigated and over-represented in removals and long-term guardianship orders.
“If nothing changes, in South Australia, 140 in every 1000 Aboriginal children will be in state care by 2031,” the inquiry report says.
Lawrie conducted the inquiry as a result of the concerning rates of Aboriginal child removals, extremely low rates of reunification with family of origin, and high levels of non-Aboriginal care for Aboriginal children in SA.
She called on the SA Labor government to act, saying it already knows its investment in early intervention and support is insufficient.
Failure to act means that struggling, vulnerable families will continue to encounter the child protection service system at increasing rates, and that Aboriginal children being removed from their families will mean the government will pay the cost one way or another, for matters that are preventable.
- AAP
Updated
