What a day! We met Scott Morrison 2.0 (the post-bulldozer period), we tried to work out how worried to be about a Chinese surveillance ship off the west coast, and we were introduced to the new chief minister of the Northern Territory, Natasha Fyles. Here are today’s main stories:
- Defence minister Peter Dutton declared the appearance of the People’s Liberation Army’s vessel an “act of aggression”.
- That dramatic emphasis on national security stole some oxygen from the ongoing conversation about lifting wages.
- Katharine Murphy wrote that “even Scott Morrison is trying to distance himself from Scott Morrison now”, as the PM bulldozed his way through his own birthday. The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, wasn’t having a bar of it.
- Mayo MP, Rebekha Sharkie, is threatening legal action against the Australian Christian Lobby over their election flyers.
- A Senate committee wants a royal commission into the robodebt scandal.
- Queensland is suffering yet another deluge, with hundreds fleeing the flood waters.
And so we roll into the weekend, but the fun won’t stop. The Liberal party will hold its campaign launch on Sunday in Sydney, as we head into the final week of this interminable election campaign. The blog won’t stop either, so see you back here tomorrow.
Updated
AAP reports that serial conman Peter Foster has been granted bail in a Queensland court:
Foster is facing a raft of charges after being arrested in Port Douglas in August 2020 over an alleged $2m bitcoin fraud.
He was granted bail in NSW in March 2021 but was declared a fugitive after he failed to appear in a Sydney court in May that year.
After six months of freedom, Foster was arrested for the second time at a Victorian winery near Gisborne in December.
The 59-year-old was extradited to Queensland where he was charged with five counts of fraud, two counts of obtaining or dealing with identification information and one count of falsifying records.
A long-haired Foster appeared briefly by video link in Southport magistrates court on Friday as his legal team made an application for bail.
Defence barrister, Russell Pearce, said it would be “churlish in the extreme” to suggest there was no risk that the so-called “international man of mischief” might not appear in court. He said:
He is probably a man who has dined out at times on his notoriety.
A Media Watch report showing Nine Network’s footage of Foster’s dramatic arrest on Four Mile Beach at Port Douglas in August 2020 was played to the court as Pearce argued it was a media set-up.
He alleged in court the event was orchestrated by Nine and private investigator, Ken Gamble, who he claimed had a financial interest to promote his own business and was directly credited in reports for “getting his man”.
Crown prosecutor, Christopher Cook, strongly objected to bail, describing the application as “simply breathtaking”:
He has been convicted of dishonesty offences on 11 occasions in four different countries and at least in three states in Australia.
He has used 20 different aliases.
He insisted Foster was a “significant risk” of failing to appear, interfering with witnesses or obstructing the course of justice.
Magistrate Janice Crawford granted Foster bail, ordering he live with his sister at Mount Tamborine in the Gold Coast hinterland.
Foster must also wear a tracking device, surrender his passport, not approach any airport, and report three times a week to the police.
Foster is due to reappear in Southport court in June.
