Facebook and X ordered to remove church stabbing content
Josh Taylor
Facebook’s parent company Meta and X/Twitter have been issued with notices to remove violent and distressing videos posted online of the stabbing of prominent Orthodox Christian leader Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at his church in Wakeley in Sydney’s west on Monday evening.
The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, told reporters on Tuesday that notices to remove within 24 hours what had been deemed to be class 1 material, that is “material depicting gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail” to be removed from X and Meta, with the companies facing potential fines if they fail to comply.
The notices relate to Emmanuel’s alleged stabbing by a 16-year-old on Monday evening during Emmanuel’s mass, which was being live-streamed.
Inman Grant said:
While the majority of mainstream social media platforms have engaged with us, I am not satisfied enough is being done to protect Australians from this most extreme and gratuitous violent material circulating online. That is why I am exercising my powers under the Online Safety Act to formally compel them to remove it. I have issued a notice to X requiring them to remove this content. A legal notice will also be sent to Meta this afternoon, and further notices are likely to follow. I will not hesitate to use further graduated powers at my disposal if there is noncompliance.
Comment has been sought from Meta and X. Inman Grant said the quantum of the fines sought could depend on the gravity of the non-compliance. She said more removal notices to other platforms could be issued.
Notices have not been issued in relation to the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbings imagery, which has continued to circulate on social media since Saturday.
National eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, speaks to the media during a press conference. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Low-income households paying more than half their income on rent
Low-income households are forking out more than half of their income on rent, AAP reports.
Property data firm CoreLogic and ANZ bank found rents at the lower end of the market were rising faster than more premium offerings, with the 25th percentile rent lifting $53 a week in the past 12 months.
The Housing Affordability report for the March quarter found the 25 percentile of income earners were spending 54.3% of their income to rent in the 25th percentile of available rentals.
And while the large wage boost delivered by the Fair Work Commission in 2023 was recognised in the report, the $48-a-week pay boost for a full-time minimum-age worker was entirely eaten up by the $53-a-week rental increase over the same period.
Rents have re-accelerated in the first few months of 2024, based on CoreLogic data, suggesting there could be more financial pain to come.
Peter Khalil, chair of the PJCIS, wouldn’t weigh in on calls from Israel for Australia to designate Iran’s revolutionary guard (IRGC) as a terror entity.
We reported yesterday that Israel’s deputy ambassador in Australia believes Iran’s strikes on Israel over the weekend “should be followed by extreme measures from members of the international community,” with calls for diplomatic sanctions and listing the IRGC on the terror list.
Khalil’s security committee deals with some of those issues. The Coalition has repeatedly suggested the government should list the IRGC (a move the former Coalition government did not make when in office), but government sources maintain the current laws around terror listing do not allow for the listing of agencies of foreign governments.
Khalil said the PJCIS could “have a role in that”, if the government pursued the idea, but added “that is a matter for the government, the Attorney General to make a determination around that, and the National Security Committee of cabinet.”
If they do decide on these types of actions, designations, they do come to my committee and we do the work of reviewing that application and making recommendations to government, [but] I can’t really speak to that unless I have an actual application before the show.
Zoe Daniel, independent MP for Goldstein, has released a statement following the Wakeley stabbing attack.
Everyone should have the right to practise their faith in peace and safety. At this time of extreme stress, our social cohesion is being tested as never before. We must remain calm. There is no room for extremism and violence. My absolute priority remains the safety and security of all in our community.
Paramedics at Sydney church faced ‘heinous’ hostility and danger, minister says
NSW Ambulance commissioner Dominic Morgan this morning advised that paramedics who attended the scene at the Wakeley church stabbing and riot came under direct threat.
At one point, he said, some were unable to leave the church for three and a half hours. He said that staff described the scenes as terrifying and violent.
Health minister Ryan Park spent the morning meeting with healthcare workers across the city, including at Liverpool emergency department – which briefly last night went into partial lockdown.
Park said:
The scenes from Wakeley last night were incredibly disturbing. This is yet another instance in which our brave paramedics have thrown themselves into chaos and danger to provide lifesaving care and treatment.
The hostility unleashed upon them is particularly heinous and completely unacceptable.
As Health Minister my focus right now is on the safety and security of our health workers and the people they are caring for.
Coles to consider alerting customers of ‘shrinkflation’
Coles chief executive Leah Weckert said the supermarket will consider telling shoppers when a product has been downsized, as scrutiny on the unpopular practice of “shrinkflation” grows.
Food companies have been cutting the size of their products but not the price, angering consumers already grappling with surging household costs. Supermarkets have the ultimate say over whether they will sell a brand’s smaller item.
Size changes are rarely communicated with shoppers, although some overseas supermarkets including Carrefour have been shaming brands by alerting customers when a product has been downsized.
Under questioning at the Senate inquiry into supermarket practices, Weckert said the retailer would consider changing its practices.
“I’m happy to take it away and have a discussion internally about how we might be able to communicate it to customers,” she said.
PM says investigators looking into stabbing of bishop believe suspect acted alone
Law enforcement and security agencies are combing through the messages and call logs of the 16-year-old suspected of stabbing a bishop in Western Sydney on Monday night as part of a “full and comprehensive investigation”, prime minister Anthony Albanese says.
Telling 2GB radio on Tuesday afternoon, Albanese said those investigating believed he acted alone but are picking apart who the teenager was in contact with in the days and weeks leading up to the incident.
They are, of course, going through this gentleman’s media, with all of his phone conversations, with people who he has been in contact with. There will be a full and comprehensive investigation into this and they will, when it is appropriate, ensure that that information is made public in a transparent way.
The prime minister also turned his attention to the ensuing riot in which police officers attending the scene were attacked.
It’s important that people don’t take things into their own hands ... it is completely understandable that people would be distressed with an attack on an Assyrian bishop in a church but police should not have been set upon in the way that they were ... there’s no justification for turning on police.
NSW knife laws may change as 16-year-old alleged attacker at Assyrian church had previous knife offence
Elias Visontay
The New South Wales government will consider strengthening knife laws after it became apparent the 16-year-old alleged to have committed a stabbing attack at an Assyrian church had been charged with a knife possession offence late last year and was on a good behaviour bond when he committed Monday’s terror incident.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns confirmed the teenager had been found in possession of a flick knife at a train station in November last year, and that a magistrate had placed him on a good behaviour bond over the incident earlier this year.
Minns also confirmed the boy had been found with a knife at school in 2020.
Minns told Sydney’s 2GB Radio:
Part of the reason the commissioner for police made a terrorism designation investigation at 1.30 this morning, was because of the person of interest’s history as well as the motives associated with moving to the venue, the church, and some of the rhetoric that is alleged to have used on scene before the alleged offence.
Minns, asked if knife laws should be strengthened in NSW after the incidents at the church and Bondi Junction in recent days, noted rules had already been tightened following the murder of a paramedic in recent months, but said he was open to exploring reforms.
I’m not prepared to rule anything out right now, obviously when people are being killed and you’ve got a situation where a knife is being used, then it would be irresponsible not to look at.
Minns said that as a result of the attack, communities in western Sydney were on high alert for the potential for “tit for tat” retaliations.
He said:
It’s a combustible situation and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.
Attorney general renews fight to block release of documents that should be accessible under FoI law
Federal attorney general Mark Dreyfus is renewing his fight to block the release of documents from previous governments including ministerial correspondence on the Morrison government’s so-called “sports rorts affair”, challenging a recent court ruling that they should be accessible under freedom of information law.
Dreyfus lodged an appeal on Monday to a federal court ruling that has been described as a landmark judgment for public access to information. The court recently upheld an argument by former independent senator Rex Patrick that the Albanese government was choosing to define an “offical document of a minister” in a way that allowed it to refuse to release the correspondence and other such documents from previous governments. Its definition was tied to the identity of the individual in the job and when they held it.
When the Morrison government was still in office, Patrick had applied under FoI law for access to documents including ministerial correspondence from then attorney general Christian Porter to then prime minister Scott Morrison on the so-called “sports rorts” affair. The application took so long to be resolved that not only was Porter no longer the minister but the government had also changed.
The Albanese government refused Patrick access to the documents on the grounds that they were no longer in the possession of the relevant minister because Porter had been replaced in the portfolio in a ministerial reshuffle and then the change of government at the 2022 election had also heralded a new incumbent.
The court found that whether or not a document was an “official document of a minister” must be determined at the time an FoI application is first lodged.
Justice Natalie Charlesworth found that once an application had been lodged, the minister had an obligation to preserve the document and pass it to successors in the portfolio.
Dreyfus is arguing that the determination should be made later, at the time the decision is made on the application and again at the time of any review - a period that could allow for a change of minister. He is also challenging the finding that documents need to be preserved from one government to another.
Rex Patrick told Guardian Australia he was disappointed that Dreyfus had decided to appeal “what was a pro-transparency decision”.
Patrick said:
The decision of Justice Charlesworth put a stop to ministers being able to sweep their dirt under the carpet as they left office.
I can imagine no-one other than ministers that would think stopping that would be a bad thing.
Benbrika post-sentence case cost taxpayers $10m, home affairs confirms
Taxpayers forked out almost $10m in legal fees and detention costs associated with holding convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika after he completed his sentence, the Department of Home Affairs has confirmed.
In response to a question on notice, the department said that $4.7m in legal costs were associated with Benbrika’s case after his sentence was completed, including external legal costs.
It said $2.8m was spent on housing Benbrika under a continuing detention order from 24 December 2020 to 30 June 2022. There was also a $200,000 cost associated with housing Benbrika under an interim detention order from 5 November to 24 December 2020.
Responsibility for Benbrika’s case passed to the attorney general’s department in July 2022.
After that point, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, the cost was $2.2m.
‘Bollard man’ to be granted permanent residency after holding off man who carried out Bondi stabbing
Damien Guerot will be granted permanent residency after confronting Joel Cauchi on an escalator in Westfield Bondi Junction, where Cauchi allegedly fatally stabbed six people on Saturday, Guerot’s lawyer Belinda Robinson confirms.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, thanked the French citizen, known as Bollard man, today for his “extraordinary bravery” and offered to resolve visa issues after reports his visa is due to expire in July.
Though citizenship will not be granted, Guerot and Robinson were told he will be granted permanent residency.
Guerot told his lawyer:
Amazing news.
They were told they will be informed about when permanent residency can be officially granted as soon as possible.
Robinson told Guardian Australia:
It is truly heartwarming for something positive to come out of all the pain and tragedy.
Dutton blames ‘left-wing trash media’ for conflating his comments comparing a pro-Palestine protest with Port Arthur massacre
On another matter, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also took a swipe at “left-wing trash media” for conflating comments he made about the Port Arthur massacre - where 35 people were shot dead - with a pro-Palestine protest outside the Sydney Opera House last October.
During his press conference in Western Australia on Tuesday, Dutton said the point he was trying to make was that “at the time of John Howard’s leadership, there was a strong response which changed the course of our country’s history for the better”.
Dutton said:
[Howard] stood up and he implemented the gun laws, and that was to his great credit. The response from the prime minister – in relation to October 7 and the fear that’s being experienced by the Jewish community now, particularly off the back of what we saw on October 9 on the steps of the Opera House and what we saw at Caulfield and elsewhere – it was pathetic, to be honest.
The opposition leader took issue with “left-wing trash media” criticising the comparison. Shortly after Dutton made the comments at a speech at the Sydney Opera House last Wednesday, Guardian Australia published a story including critical comments from Liberal backbencher, Bridget Archer, and Liberal Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, with the latter saying it was “never appropriate to compare the Port Arthur tragedy with anything, in any circumstance”.
Whilst no one was killed during the protests on October 9, thank god, the events at the Sydney Opera House were akin to a Port Arthur moment - in terms of their social and national significance. In my judgment, prime minister Albanese has not risen to that moment as John Howard did.
Had Dutton used clearer wording, instead of leaving such a comparison open to interpretation, would there have been as much backlash? You be the judge.
BoM declares an end to El Niño as odds tilt towards La Niña's return
Peter Hannam
The Bureau of Meteorology has just declared that the El Niño event of 2023-24 is over, with conditions in a key region of the equatorial central Pacific returning to “neutral”.
The so-called El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major climate driver globally, and when it is in the El Niño state, eastern Australia tends to be drier than normal (at least going into summer).
Globally, there’s also a bump up in temperatures, contributing to the hottest year on record for 2023 (with climate change also pushing up the background readings).
BoM notes:
International climate models suggest ENSO is likely to continue to remain neutral until at least July 2024.
It’s increasingly looking like we’ll get the flipside of an El Niño, the La Niña phase, by spring if not sooner.
We should be cautious, though, that predictions at this time of year are less accurate than at other times ... so don’t ink in the forecast just yet.
Climate models, though, are pointing to a La Nina forming, perhaps by September. (There is an autumn 'predictability barrier' - so forecasts need to be taken with some caution.) pic.twitter.com/KGQf79muMT
For Australia, a La Niña typically increases the odds of above-average rainfall for much of the country.
If a La Niña develops, it would be the fourth in five years, and the first time we’ve had recorded three La Niña, with an El Niño, and another La Niña in sequence.
It’s worth highlighting, as BoM does, that global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have been the warmest on record for each month between April 2023 and March 2024. April 2024 looks like extending that run of records.
Why does that matter? Well, given such unprecedented warmth, it’s also possible that past results aren’t necessarily a good guide for the future. Climate change can throw up surprises, in other words.
Dutton slams government for being ‘so secretive’ about upcoming legislative proposals
In his press conference in Perth earlier today, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, slammed the Albanese government for its “secret tricky processes” on a number of upcoming legislative proposals.
Dutton was asked about new laws being brought in by environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, that promise to substantially transform how nature is protected in Australia and impact how major mining and industrial projects receive approval.
The consultation process has been criticised by some on both sides of the fence due to secrecy arrangements.
Dutton said on Tuesday:
If [the bill is] so great, and it’s such a good bill, why be so secretive about it?
The Liberal leader described the proposed changes as being anti-Western Australian, and drew connections between this bill and that of secrecy restrictions around Labor’s two bills addressing religious exemptions from discrimination laws and introducing religious protections.
Dutton said:
You’ve got Imams, you’ve got bishops, archbishops, you’ve got priests and others – rabbis – who have had to sign nondisclosure agreements in relation to that issue as they have in relation to this one [environment laws]. It’s quite remarkable. If it’s a secret process, well, why? Is it commercially sensitive to be talking about religious discrimination? I would have thought not. So is it market sensitive? No evidence of that. Is there a national security risk here? Of course there’s not. This is a government trying to divide and conquer.
What is the religious discrimination bill? And why are Australians still talking about it? – video
Federal opposition leader Peter Dutton speaks to reporters at a presser in Perth on Tuesday 16 April. Photograph: Aaron Bunch/AAP
Victoria police investigating death of woman who fell ill after ‘ingesting a drink’ at a retreat
Police are investigating the death of a woman who fell ill after consuming a drink at a retreat on the weekend.
It is believed a woman was at a retreat on Fraser Street when she became ill after ingesting a drink about 12pm, police said.
The 53-year-old Ringwood North woman died at the scene.
Two other people were taken to hospital for observation.
Investigations remain ongoing and police will prepare a report for the Coroner.
Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au
