Families of Bondi stabbing victims ‘feel as though they are not alone’ thanks to public support: Minns
Chris Minns said he has spoken with some families who have lost loved ones in recent days. While he didn’t go into specifics, he said the families are grateful for the support from the public:
I have spoken to some of the family members who lost loved ones in the last few days. I won’t go into the specifics of the conversation but … they have been bowled over and overwhelmed by the fact that [people have] rallied behind them, and they feel as though they are not alone and they sense there are millions of people in their corner and hopefully that can give some small solace in a terribly dark period.
‘Absolute right decision was made’: Minns on labelling of Wakeley stabbing as terrorist act
Chris Minns responded to some backlash in the community that police acted too quickly to label Monday night’s stabbing attack at a Wakeley church as a terrorist act.
Minns said police should be able to get on with their job, and added:
They are entitled to their view, they can make public commentary about it, [but] it is my judgment that the absolute right decision was made [because] our primary and first responsibility, particularly after a violent alleged attack, is to keep the community safe.
Minns takes questions on New South Wales’ knife laws
Taking questions, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, said there were “reasonable questions” around knife laws in the state.
We changed knife offences in legislation soon after getting elected to government. Mid last year, legislative changes went to through parliament doubling the jail term for the maximum penalty for knife offences in NSW, we took it out of the summary offences act and put it in the crimes act, and doubled the penalty fines that would be issued by magistrates and judges as a result of knife offences.
However, given these very serious criminal attacks in the last week, of course a responsible government [will] look at the existing legislation and see where potential changes could help prevent a similar attack. You’re not [going to] get an exact [same] attack in the future but it is important we look at how they are applied in practice and whether we can make changes to prevent it from happening again.
Minns said the sentencing council was looking at knife-related offences and would report back to government.
Alleged Wakeley offender remains in hospital: police commissioner
Karen Webb said the alleged offender remains in hospital:
However, police will continue to conduct a major investigation concurrently to him being in hospital and when we have material information to share on the progress of that investigation, we will do so.
Forty-two detectives working to identify people involved in Wakeley riot
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, was next to address the media, and spoke about the riot in Wakeley on Monday night following the stabbing attack at a church.
She said 42 detectives are working to “identify those responsible for the riot”.
Webb claimed a number of people disguised themselves during the riot and police will investigate for “as long as it takes” to identify them.
She appealed to the public to help police identify up to 50 people that were involved:
The sooner they are identified [and] put before the court, the sooner they can be dealt with.
We have some people that have jumped on multiple police cars, one individual has a very distinctive tattoo on his torso of a face, while he has cowardly covered his own face, so we’re calling on the public identify these people.
Social media platforms have ‘social and moral licence’ to take down divisive, graphic content: NSW premier
Chris Minns said authorities still hold major concern about rumours and graphic content on social media from the two separate stabbing attacks in Sydney.
He made some scathing comments against the social media companies earlier. Speaking now, he repeated those sentiments:
It proves very difficult to foster community cohesion and harmony, to calm down the community, to send messages of unity in a difficult period when social media firms still continue to disseminate terrible pieces of information, untruths, rumours that circulate like wildfire through an anxious community …
Even the most passionate defenders of social media firms that may argue it is difficult to take down content in the immediate aftermath of a violent incident, it is pretty hard to defend it considering we are 48 hours after the offence and it is still out there, still available. Think about what that does to community cohesion.
In my view, this is the antithesis of what we need to [do to] bring the community together and social media firms have a social and moral licence to take down divisive information and graphic content as soon as it becomes available.
‘Wonderful to see that we are a community that can come together’, NSW premier says at Bondi Junction
The New South Wales premier Chris Minns is addressing the media after he walked through Bondi Junction Westfield just earlier.
The community day of reflection kicked off at 11am, within the past hour.
He said today’s day of reflection was “the first step in healing”, and also encouraged people to attend the candlelight vigil this Sunday.
It is not back to normal for Sydney, but this is an opportunity to [grieve] and to turn the page on what has been a very difficult period, and I know many people want to express solidarity and sincere condolences to those that have lost loved ones …
There has been in the midst of so much violence and anxiety in the community and an overwhelming public response to the suffering of those families, and it is wonderful to see that we are a community that can come together, that we are a community that can stand together in difficult periods and show that grief is universal when it is felt by one family, one individual.
The NSW premier, Chris Minns (second left), speaks with Scentre Group’s CEO, Elliott Rusanow, (far left) and the NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, (centre) at the memorial to the victims who lost their lives in Saturday’s knife attack at Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
Circling back to the new labour figures for March, showing the unemployment rate rose to 3.8%.
The labour market numbers don’t contain too many surprises. The economy did add a fair few full-time roles – almost 28,000 – but not as many as the more than 34,000 part-time positions lost.
The participation rate also dropped back to 66.6%. Had it held steady at 66.7%, the jobless rate might have clicked higher to 3.9%. Total hours worked edged 1m higher – a rounding error when the sum is about 1.93bn.
Not surprisingly, perhaps, markets have barely budged, with the dollar lingering around the 64.3 US cents mark and stocks holding on to most of their gains of just under 0.5% for the day.
‘Behind each and everyone one of these statistics is a name, a woman’: Allan on violence against women
Jacinta Allan said she cannot speak for other jurisdictions but in Victoria, there is a “need for further action” around family violence. She has asked the attorney general, the minister for women and the minister for prevention of family violence to “come together and look how we can build on the work that we’ve done to date and go even further”:
They’re doing some further work and they’ll come back to me … probably in a few weeks time, we will have more to say about what further action we will take.
But Allan said government action alone would not be enough to stamp out the issue and there is “a responsibility on all of us [in the community] to keep calling it out”:
It is my commitment to keep calling this out because it is unacceptable …
Behind each and every one of these statistics is a name, is a woman. A woman who was loved by her family and friends. Just consider the names of the following women: Samantha, Rebecca, Swetha, Hannah, Ashley, Jade, Yixuan, Pikria, Dawn. These are women who have lost their lives in recent days, and this just has to stop, which is why I’m committed and determined to keep doing more with the tools I have as a leader of a government committed to supporting women.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Jacinta Allan flags plan to combat family violence in the works for Victoria
Benita Kolovos
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, said women across the country are “fed up” with family violence rates and has flagged her government is putting together a plan to tackle the issue, which will be announced in the coming weeks.
Speaking at a press conference in Melbourne Park, she said too many women in Victoria and across the nation were losing their lives at the “hands of someone who was meant to love them, or a complete stranger”:
We know that on average one woman in every nine days is killed by someone who is known to them – a current or former partner. This level of violence against women is not just unacceptable. It has to stop and women and the broader community are calling for it to stop … Women are fed up, they’re frustrated, they’re angry.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAP
Allan said violence against women is the “number one law and order issue around the country”.
Not just women who are murdered, but women who are seeing repeated acts of violence perpetrated against them. This has to stop.
