As it happened: ASIO raises national terror threat level to ‘probable’; ASX tumbles over recession fears

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As it happened: ASIO raises national terror threat level to ‘probable’; ASX tumbles over recession fears

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What we covered today

By Lachlan Abbott

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

Thanks again for your company. Have a lovely night.

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Grace Tame’s abuser diagnosed with dementia, court told

By Ethan James

Nicolaas Ockert Bester, who sexually abused former Australian of the Year Grace Tame when she was a child, has dementia and isn’t fit to face a court hearing, his lawyer has said.

Bester appeared on Monday in Hobart Magistrates Court where he was expected to face a two-day hearing for allegedly harassing Tame on social media.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The 72-year-old is accused of making public posts in relation to and directed at Tame in April, July and August of 2022.

Bester pleaded not guilty in March 2023 to three counts of using a carriage service to menace, harass or cause offence.

He was jailed in 2011 for possessing child exploitation material and for sexually abusing Tame when she was a 15-year-old student at the school where he taught.

Today, Bester’s lawyer Todd Kovacic told the court his client had vascular dementia and his fitness to face a hearing was an issue.

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Kovacic indicated Bester’s fitness would “almost certainly be conceded” based on medical assessments from the defence and prosecution.

Bester was granted an adjournment by Magistrate Andrew McKee so the question of “where to from here?” could be answered.

The matter is expected to next come before the court on August 28.

The Director of Public Prosecutions had requested more information about Bester’s medical condition, Kovacic said.

The court has previously been told Bester, who was charged in October 2022, had suffered a “medical episode”.

There have also been delays and adjournments in the case to obtain medical reports.

Tame, who was not present in court on Monday but has attended on other occasions, was the 2021 Australian of the Year and has advocated for abuse survivors.

AAP

‘Argumentative’ Bob Brown guilty after logging protest

By Ethan James

Former Greens leader Bob Brown has been found guilty of trespassing during an anti-logging protest and a magistrate said he was an argumentative witness in court.

Brown and two other activists were arrested at Snow Hill in Tasmania on November 8, 2022 as part of a campaign to protect habitat of the critically endangered swift parrot.

Bob Brown

Bob BrownCredit: Peter Mathew

The trio, who all fought separate charges of trespassing, were today found guilty in Hobart Magistrates Court. Brown, who gave evidence during court hearings, had argued logging in the area was unlawful.

Magistrate Jackie Hartnett said Brown had requested a map of forestry activities from the appropriate bodies, but they didn’t provide one.

“I found [Brown] to be not an overly impressive witness – argumentative and not willing to make reasonable concessions,” she said in a written judgment. “[However] I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities [Brown] believed, albeit mistakenly, the area he entered was outside the logging coupe.”

Brown was approached by two police officers and a worker from forestry company Sustainable Timber Tasmania who told him it was a coupe and asked him to leave.

Harnett ruled Brown did not have a lawful excuse for staying there.

She found the veteran environmentalist and former senator intended to be obstructive, and his presence meant it was “inconceivable” forestry work could continue as normal.

Brown, as well as other activists Kristy Lee Alger and Karen Lynne Weldrick, are expected to be sentenced on August 14.

“We’ve been found guilty of breaching Tasmanian laws which expect the public to get out of the way while forestry destroys rare and endangered species,” Brown said. “I will be appealing – I will appeal to the Australian public for more peaceful protests where governments under the impress of big corporations won’t make that stand.”

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The trio’s lawyer Julian Murphy said Brown’s crime did not warrant the recording of a conviction because the case was slightly unusual.

He noted Brown was “sitting” on a log, not locked to machinery and had a genuine concern about the lawfulness of the logging. Alger and Weldrick had locked themselves onto machinery and refused to leave when asked.

Brown also said his foundation would pursue legal action against Sustainable Timber Tasmania for “cutting down a swift parrot nesting tree” after the protest in breach of the company’s guidelines.

AAP

WA senator’s reputation already ‘baked in’ when Higgins took to socials, court told

By Jesinta Burton

Brittany Higgins’ lawyer has declared WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds’ reputation was “baked in” when her former staffer published three critical social media posts now at the centre of their high-stakes defamation row.

Today, Higgins’ counsel Rachael Young SC told the WA Supreme Court any damages Higgins should have to pay over the 2023 posts should consider Reynolds’ public standing at the time, two years after she found herself in the firing line over the handling of Higgins’ alleged rape in Reynolds’ parliamentary suite by colleague Bruce Lehrmann, who has always maintained his innocence.

WA Senator Linda Reynolds (right) and former staffer Brittany Higgins (centre) faced off in court today. Higgins’ partner David Sharaz (left) did not have the financial means to take the matter to trial.

WA Senator Linda Reynolds (right) and former staffer Brittany Higgins (centre) faced off in court today. Higgins’ partner David Sharaz (left) did not have the financial means to take the matter to trial.Credit: Composite image by Aresna Villanueva

The lawyer told the court any potential payout should be moderated by the fact such criticism was “part and parcel” of being a politician, and implied any damages would not be “worth the candle” of a five-week defamation trial.

Young began opening submissions with an attack on Reynolds and on Reynolds’ lawyer Martin Bennett, who had characterised Higgins’ experience as “a fairytale that needed a villain.”

Read the full recap of today’s developments here.

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Payman flags withholding Senate vote to score wins for WA

By Lachlan Abbott

Ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman has flagged she could withhold support for the Albanese government’s agenda in the upper house to gain concessions for Western Australia.

Speaking to the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing from Kalgoorlie, the independent WA senator said she had recently travelled to a dozen towns in as many days, covering more than 7400 kilometres across the state to speak with constituents.

Senator Fatima Payman.

Senator Fatima Payman.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

When asked if she could emulate former South Australian senator Nick Xenophon in getting funding for her home state in return for passing government legislation, Payman said she was “still learning” but was “definitely taking leaves out of many people’s books about how they have conducted and strategised around being an effective independent senator for their states”.

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Later, she was asked: “Would you ever withhold your vote in the Senate contingent on getting support for issues that particularly affect West Australians or particular communities within Western Australia?”

She responded: “That’s definitely a strategy that I will also be utilising to make sure that Western Australia gets bang for its buck... Those projects that may have been left on the back burner, are now in the forefront of the government’s mind.

“And if they want legislation passed and negotiations to take place, I would have things in my back pocket to pull out.”

Bloodbath in Japan as markets tremble over US economy

By Elaine Kurtenbach

Japan’s Nikkei 225 share index plunged more than 12 per cent on Monday as investors worried that the U.S. economy may be in worse shape than had been expected.

The Nikkei index shed 4,451.28 to 31,458.42 at close. It dropped 5.8 per cent on Friday and has now logged its worst two-day decline ever, dropping 18.2 per cent in the last two trading sessions.

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At its lowest the Nikkei plunged as much as 13.4 per cent on Monday. Its biggest single-day rout was a drop of 3,836 points, or 14.9 per cent, on the day dubbed “Black Monday” in October 1987.

A report showing hiring by US employers slowed last month by much more than expected has convulsed financial markets, vanquishing the euphoria that had taken the Nikkei to all-time highs of more than 42,000 points recently.

Share prices have fallen in Tokyo since the Bank of Japan raised interest rates last Wednesday.

In Australia, the local bourse has fallen a more modest 3.6 per cent today. But that is still one of the worst single-day drops in years.

AP with Lachlan Abbott

Dutton claims Albanese government split on Uluru Statement

By Lachlan Abbott

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has attacked Anthony Albanese’s credibility, claiming the prime minister has one message for the Indigenous Garma festival and another for Canberra when outlining the government’s position on the Uluru Statement from the Heart.

Peter Dutton in question time last month.

Peter Dutton in question time last month.Credit: James Brickwood

Yesterday on the ABC’s Insiders program, Albanese appeared to confirm there were no plans for a formal Makarrata commission which the 2017 Uluru Statement called for to work towards a treaty and truth-telling.

“That’s not what we have proposed. What we have proposed is Makarrata just being the idea of coming together,” the prime minister said. Albanese had opened his victory speech on the night of the 2022 federal election by committing to the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart in full.

But this morning, as covered earlier in this blog, Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy called for calm amid reports Labor was stepping back its commitment to the statement after the resounding defeat of the Voice to parliament referendum last October. “The interpretation of what the prime minister said has been taken completely further than what it was meant to,” she said.

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Earlier this afternoon, Dutton said there was “huge division now within the government in relation to this Makarrata commission”.

“The prime minister says one thing when he’s in Garma. He says another thing when he’s in Canberra,” the Liberal leader said.

“And it’s no wonder now that people within the Indigenous community are very concerned about what the prime minister says – what he believes in. Can we take his word? Is he telling the truth?

“The government has money in the budget for a Makarrata commission. So when we now see a huge split, or a divide, between the newly minted Indigenous affairs minister, and the prime minister, you can understand why she’s confused about the prime minister’s position as well.”

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NSW bureaucrats will return to office after new Minns government edict

By Max Maddison

NSW public servants will be forced back into the office three days a week from tomorrow after the Minns government moved away from allowing bureaucrats to work entirely from home.

In an email sent to the public sector on Monday, Department of Premier secretary Simon Draper said public sector workers should be “principally” working from an approved office or workplace.

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“While not mandating a particular pattern of attendance, the starting position is that work is principally done in an approved workplace in NSW,” the missive stated.

Senior government sources said the edict meant public servants would be expected in the office for three days of the week at a minimum. The circular attached to Draper’s email said employees’ ability to work from home required prior approval from managers, citing the reasons and circumstances as to why it was necessary.

After WFH measures were rolled out almost universally for non-frontline public sector workers during the pandemic, Draper accepted the sudden change would not be received well in some quarters.

“I am sure that there will be mixed views about this Circular. Some will need to make changes to workplace attendance and others will experience no change at all,” he stated.

Reynolds takes swipe at Dreyfus as she prepares to give evidence

By Jesinta Burton

WA Liberal senator Linda Reynolds has taken aim at Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus while entering the WA Supreme Court this morning, as she prepares to begin her five-day stint in the witness box in her defamation row with former staffer Brittany Higgins.

Reynolds arrived at the David Malcolm Justice Centre flanked by lawyers shortly before 10am (AWST), stopping briefly to reiterate that she was confident the truth would be told about her role in responding to Higgins’ claim about her rape in Parliament House in 2019 by colleague Bruce Lehrmann.

Former Minister Linda Reynolds arrives at the Supreme Court in Perth last week for the defamation trial.

Former Minister Linda Reynolds arrives at the Supreme Court in Perth last week for the defamation trial.Credit: Trevor Collens

“I’m very much looking forward to, after 3½ years, having the opportunity to tell the truth, and I’m very glad the Attorney-General [Mark Dreyfus] does not have any reach in the Supreme Court of Western Australia,” she told the media.

The pair have been at odds over the government’s handling of Higgins’ $2.4 million compensation claim, with Reynolds lodging a complaint with the anti-corruption watchdog and using observations from Federal Court Justice Michael Lee’s judgment that there was no cover-up as a call for Dreyfus to admit he got it wrong.

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The five-week defamation trial comes more than one year after Reynolds sued Higgins over several social media posts accusing her of harassment, claiming they damaged her reputation and caused her distress and embarrassment.

The former defence minister’s legal team argue the posts implied she had engaged in misconduct, provided inadequate support for Higgins following her alleged rape and wanted to silence victims of sexual assault.

But Higgins has fiercely defended the action by claiming her posts were substantially true that Reynolds mishandled her rape complaint and used the media to pursue a campaign against her.

Lehrmann has long maintained his innocence.

Keep updated with the news in Western Australia here.

Market update: ASX plunges amid US recession fears

By Brittany Busch

Investors have wiped more than $100 billion off the Australian sharemarket over the past two sessions amid a sharp selloff over fears the United States economy will be plunged into recession.

The S&P/ASX 200 dropped 231.3 points, or 2.91 per cent, to 7711.9 about 12.15pm AEST – its lowest point in two months.

The ASX plunged on Monday morning.

The ASX plunged on Monday morning.Credit: Peter Braig

The fall comes after Friday’s 2.1 per cent tumble.

All 11 sectors retreated on Monday with tech stocks (down 4.9 per cent) taking the sharpest hit at midday, while consumer staples (down 1.89 per cent) and healthcare (down 1.61 per cent) recorded the smallest drops.

A report on the US employment data released last week showed the jobless rate was rising faster than expected, which spooked investors.

Keep updated with the market wrap here.

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