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NSW Commissioner confirms one person of interest in William Tyrrell case
By Josh Dye and Sally Rawsthorne
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says there is one main person of interest in the disappearance of missing boy William Tyrrell.
The three-year-old child vanished from his foster grandmother’s Mid North Coast front yard in 2014. Despite a $1 million reward, more than 600 persons of interest and hundreds of police searching the town of Kendall, he has never been found and nobody has been charged over his disappearance and suspected murder.
NSW Police Commissioner Mick Fuller says there is one suspect.Credit:James Brickwood
Dozens of police and Rural Fire Service volunteers have today continued the renewed search, converging on Batar Creek Road with chainsaws to cut down trees to make their way through the search zone about a kilometre from the home where William was last seen.
Mr Fuller expressed confidence the case will be solved.
“It’s not a cold case, it’s been an active investigation,” he told radio station 2GB earlier this morning. “There is certainly one person in particular that we are looking closely at.”
Victorian Premier accuses Opposition of ‘standing with anti-vaxxers’
By Broede Carmody, Cassandra Morgan and David Estcourt
Victorian Premier Dan Andrews has addressed the media this morning after it was revealed his government would be making amendments to its controversial new pandemic laws.
During the doorstop, a reporter told Mr Andrews that the Opposition is saying his government is “prepared to lock us down again” off the back of the new legislation – which will give the premier and health officer of the day the power to make public health orders (not the chief health officer, as is currently the case in Victoria).
Protesters are calling for the resignation of Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews over proposed pandemic laws. Credit:Justin McManus
The Premier said the Opposition is “back to just political games”.
“You’ve got the Opposition who are wanting to have it a bit both ways, you know, standing with people who are anti-vaxxers, sharing a podium with people who are anti-science, anti-vaccination,” he said.
“The reason we’re open and the reason we’re going to stay open is people have got vaccinated. I am ... deeply grateful to [Victorians] for them having kept their end of the bargain and now we’re keeping ours.”
Protesters are continuing to camp outside Victorian Parliament, calling for Mr Andrews to “kill the [pandemic] bill”.
Footage posted to social media last night showed a four-wheel-drive pulling a wooden gallows along Spring Street before parking outside Parliament.
Some protesters were seen gathering around the structure chanting threats towards the Premier. The structure had a rope connected to a small cross at the bottom bearing the word “treason”.
A similar structure was carried by a marcher during Saturday’s protest.
Earlier this morning, Victorian Health Minister Martin Foley appeared on radio station 3AW for what was, at times, a combative interview with host Neil Mitchell.
Mitchell asked whether, under the proposed legislation, some of Melbourne’s recent protests during lockdowns would have been legal.
“It depends on the circumstances of the day … but the government of the day will be obliged to make sure that the Charter of Human Rights, including the right to legitimate protest, will be protected in the orders,” Mr Foley said.
“It’s hard to predict what the future might bring because no one knows what the next pandemic might be.”
Mitchell went on to say: “That’s part of our worry, about the difficulty in predicting the future and therefore wanting adequate oversight and wanting this legislation written in a way which doesn’t leave room to be abused by either your government or any other government.”
The Health Minister responded: “Absolutely.”
The legislation has already been passed by the Legislative Assembly and is set to be debated by the state’s upper house later this week.
NSW records 212 new COVID cases, two deaths
By Josh Dye
NSW has recorded 212 new COVID cases and two deaths.
There are 210 people with coronavirus in NSW hospitals, including 32 in intensive care.
So far 94.2 per cent of people aged over 16 have had one dose of a COVID vaccine and 91.1 per cent are fully vaccinated.
Victoria records 797 new cases, eight deaths
By Broede Carmody
Victoria’s daily coronavirus numbers are in.
The state has recorded 797 new cases of COVID-19 and eight deaths. Today’s tally is down from yesterday’s 860 cases.
There are now 14,131 active cases of coronavirus across the state.
Today’s numbers are off the back of yesterday’s 53,527 coronavirus tests.
There are now 394 coronavirus patients in Victorian hospitals. Of those, 72 are in intensive care. Forty-four are on a ventilator.
In terms of vaccines, 87 per cent of Victorians aged 12 and over are fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
More than 10,000 Australians have filed coronavirus vaccine injury claims
By Dana Daniel
Taxpayers are facing a hefty bill for rare but significant coronavirus vaccine injuries, with at least 10,000 people planning to claim under the federal government’s no-fault indemnity scheme.
Services Australia is building an online portal, to be launched next month, for uncapped claims above $5000 from those who suffered injury and loss of income due to their COVID-19 vaccine, with compensation for medical costs and lost wages to be paid by the government.
The government is facing more than 10,000 compensation claims for COVID-19 vaccine injuries.Credit:Getty
The Therapeutic Goods Administration recorded 78,880 adverse events linked to COVID-19 vaccination, representing a small minority (0.21 per cent) of the 37.8 million doses administered to 18.4 million people, by November 7. The vast majority of those 78,000 adverse events were mild side effects, including headache, nausea and sore arms.
NSW towns brace for floods as dam politics resurface
By Josh Dye
Floodwaters are continuing to rise in the NSW Central West ahead of a predicted peak in the next 24 hours.
Residents from about 800 Forbes properties are preparing to evacuate as floods rise to 2016 levels.
The mayor of Forbes, Phyllis Miller, said the “biggest concern” at the moment is Nanami, upstream from Forbes, where the Lachlan River has exceeded the “major” flood level.
Cr Miller said the delay in raising the Wyangala Dam wall was “pretty sad”.
“We are very supportive of it,” she told radio station 2GB.
“I know that there is the environmental movement that thinks that it’s really bad for the environment. Well, they need to come and have a look at this flood and the damage it is going to do. Threatened species, a whole range of natural grasses all get carried away with a flood, so if that dam wall was up, we would not be having this conversation today.”
This masthead reported earlier this year that the cost of NSW’s biggest dam project – promised in 2019 – may blow out to $2.1 billion, or more than triple the original estimate, delivering what is likely to be the most expensive water in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Victorian Ombudsman welcomes pandemic bill amendments
By Broede Carmody
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass says last night’s amendments are “certainly an improvement” for the state government’s controversial new pandemic laws.
As mentioned earlier, fines for breaching public health orders will be halved and the timeframe to release the reasons behind pandemic decisions slashed under amendments proposed by the Labor government and supported by key crossbench MPs.
Victorian Ombudsman Deborah Glass. Credit:Penny Stephens
Some are concerned the bill will give politicians too much power given it proposes allowing the premier and health minister of the day to make public health orders, not the state’s chief health officer (as is currently the case in Victoria). Others say it brings Victoria in line with other jurisdictions and it is good to give these powers to elected officials who can be held accountable at the ballot box.
The draft law, which has passed the lower house and is set to be debated by the Legislative Council this week, has also drawn the ire of anti-government and anti-lockdown protesters.
Here’s what Ms Glass had to say on the Today show earlier (the ombudsman acts as a watchdog for the public sector):
I welcome the changes we’ve seen. I think they are certainly an improvement.
I think there are provisions in the bill that are an improvement on existing legislation [for example, providing the reason for lockdown decisions to Parliament]. It has certainly improved transparency.
[But] it doesn’t go far enough.
Extraordinary times ... call for extraordinary powers. But my point ... is there needs to be a greater level of independent oversight and independent review. We haven’t yet seen that.
I think there should be oversight by a court over pandemic orders. There needs to be some independent place that people can go that will give binding timely decisions on what are, indeed, extraordinary new powers.
Speaking on Seven’s breakfast show Sunrise earlier, Victorian Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said the bill – and proposed amendments – don’t “make any sense”.
“I don’t know any government that passes legislation with as much opposition as you can see behind me,” he said from state Parliament where dozens of protesters camped out overnight.
“The government is trying to negotiate with [minor party MPs] to get this bill through the Parliament as quickly as possible. Again, I ask why?
“The government has said it will have an oversight committee. What is the point of having that in when the majority of the committee is the government? It is just another part of the farce.”
Treasury under Labor to model climate change impact on economy and budget
By Shane Wright, Mike Foley and Nick Toscano
A Labor government would commission the federal Treasury to model the cost of climate change to the national economy as new details of the Morrison government’s net zero emissions plan show it needs massive new gas fields requiring billions of dollars in investment.
In a break from the Coalition, which sidelined Treasury from modelling its net zero by 2050 plan, Labor plans to direct the department not only to cost the impact of climate change to the economy but also the federal budget.
Labor’s Jim Chalmers says he would direct Treasury to model the impact of climate change on the economy and budget.Credit:Alex Ellinghausen
Last month, Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy confirmed it had been “years” since the department had been asked to provide climate change modelling. Prior to 2013, Treasury was heavily involved in the modelling of climate change’s impact on the Australian economy, but that work has not been done for the past eight years.
Labor says it would seek comprehensive modelling by Treasury that would cover the impact of climate change on economic growth, the composition of the economy and its impact on the budget. Government debt last week reached a record $857 billion.
Authorities being ‘very careful’ when handling William Tyrrell case: NSW Police Minister
By Broede Carmody
NSW Police Minister David Elliott was on Nine’s Today show earlier this morning.
He was asked about the renewed search for evidence in the William Tyrrell case. William disappeared from his foster grandmother’s house in September 2014 at the age of three.
Yesterday, police confirmed they are looking for the little boy’s remains. It has also been revealed that NSW Police have sought an apprehended violence order against William’s foster parents on behalf of a child linked to the missing boy (the couple cannot be named for legal reasons).
Here’s what Mr Elliott could say about the case this morning:
“Only that it is a matter of public record that a number of people who had relationships with William have been questioned by police, and that’s appropriate.
“That’s the way that police gather information. I think their movements will now be considered. And of course, as you are well aware, we have to be very careful about how we discuss it in the public domain. Otherwise smart lawyers use that to get clients out of convictions.”
Victorian government agrees to change proposed pandemic laws
By Rachel Eddie, Annika Smethurst and Marta Pascual Juanola
The Victorian government has agreed to amend its controversial pandemic bill before a heated debate in Parliament this week, following daily protests and renewed pressure from the public sector watchdog.
Fines for breaching public health orders will be halved and the timeframe to release the reasons behind pandemic decisions slashed under the amendments proposed by the Labor government and supported by key crossbenchers, provided late last night.
Protesters outside Parliament House on Monday night.Credit:Eddie Jim
Labor hopes the Public Health and Wellbeing Amendment (pandemic management) Bill 2021 — which passed the lower house last month — can pass the upper house this week before existing powers expire on December 15.
The state government needs the support of three crossbenchers in the Legislative Council and Labor will rely on Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, Animal Justice MP Andy Meddick and Greens leader Samantha Ratnam, who all pushed for the proposed amendments.
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2021-11-15 22:06:15Z
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