Tag Archives: oceania

PM refuses to rule out double dissolution over contentious bill

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has ruled out an early election in 2023 – but didn't rule out a double dissolution if the government's key housing bill stalls in the Senate for a second time.

Albanese today announced plans to send the Housing Australia Future Fund Bill back into the lower house when parliament returns next week.

One of the government's signature policies, the bill previously passed the House of Representatives but became bogged down in the Senate. 

READ MORE: Common condition forced Laura to stop working in her 30s

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The fund would provide $500 million annually to build social housing.

While the Coalition opposes it as wasteful, the Greens have also proved a roadblock, saying the bill doesn't offer enough.

The minor party wanted $5 billion a year for housing, which they later scaled down to $2.5 billion – both pitches the federal government knocked back.

READ MORE: Teen girl charged with murder over man's death in western Sydney

Albanese said this morning that the government had a clear mandate for the legislation as it had been a long-time central proposal from Labor.

And he put the onus for any double dissolution on the parties opposing the bill across the political spectrum – who he characterised as a "no-alition" of the Liberals, Nationals, Greens and One Nation.

"The way in which you rule out having a double dissolution election is to have no triggers – that's the way that you rule it out," he said.

"This is a sensible reform that has the support of the housing industry, has the support of the building sector, has the support of community and social housing providers, has the support of (the Australian Council of Social Service) and the welfare sector."

A double dissolution would see the governor-general dissolve both houses of parliament, and send voters to the polls early.

During a double dissolution election, all seats in the Senate go up for grabs, instead of half as in a standard election.

The last time Australia had a double dissolution election was in 2016, which was the first since 1987.

Only seven have ever been held since Federation.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Married couple killed in 'devastating' mid-air plane crash

A married couple who were light plane enthusiasts have been killed after two planes collided mid-air in a "devastating" incident at an airfield north of Brisbane, 9News understands.

The Brisbane man and woman, both aged in their 60s, were in a Jabiru J430 that was involved in the crash just after 10.30am at the Caboolture airfield.

The aircraft's registration states it was an "amateur-built aircraft".

READ MORE: Gas to be banned in all new Victorian homes from January

Plane crash at Caboolture Airfield

The second aircraft involved was a Piper PA-25 Pawnee, which is generally used for agricultural spraying.

The pilot of the second plane survived the crash "relatively uninjured", with that aircraft sustaining damage to the left wing.

Earlier Queensland Police Superintendent Paul Ready said officers were determining who was onboard the two aircraft.

"It occurred low to the ground at the eastern end of the airfield," he said.

Ready said the two people that died were in an aircraft that was taking off at the eastern end of the airfield.

The pilot in the second aircraft was assisting police with the investigation.

READ MORE: Gina Rinehart's kids' claims to mining riches 'a distraction'

Light plane crash at Caboolture Airfield

Ready said it was incredibly lucky the pilot in the second aircraft survived "when you look at the damage on the ground".

Images from the scene show the wreckage of a light aircraft on the airfield and another aircraft with damage to the wing.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau will carry out an investigation into the crash.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

Newborn baby's death may have been prevented in Adelaide

A newborn baby's death may have been prevented had his heart rate been properly monitored and his delivery hastened, a coroner has found.

Bodhi Leo Searle died in August 2021, the day after his birth at Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide.

The cause of death was hypoxic ischaemic encephalopathy or a lack of blood and oxygen to the brain.

READ MORE: Two people dead after light plane crash mid-air north of Brisbane

In her findings on Friday, South Australian Coroner Naomi Kereru said the mother's pregnancy had been largely uneventful but after being admitted to hospital and with her labour not progressing a decision was made to watch her more closely.

During this time there was a period when Bodhi's heart rate went unchecked with a monitor connected to his mother's heart instead in what coroner Kereru said was a "fundamental and tragic error".

By the time the baby was properly monitored he was found to be in foetal distress, with a trace showing a severely abnormal heart rate for a period of about 13 minutes.

A decision was made to deliver Bodhi urgently but the doctor on site was not sufficiently experienced to conduct the complicated instrument procedure.

READ MORE: Gas to be banned in all new Victorian homes from January

An on-call consultant was contacted but by the time she arrived at the hospital the boy's mother had begun to effectively push and he was delivered a few minutes later.

Resuscitation efforts were performed, but were not enough to reverse the damage that had been done, the coroner found.

"It is difficult to know at what point exactly the hypoxia from which Bodhi succumbed was irreversible," Kereru said.

"However, it is important to acknowledge that delivering him at any time earlier than he was may have prevented his death."

The coroner said expert evidence to the inquest suggested there were signs of foetal distress as early as 90 minutes before the birth and that there were a number of missed opportunities during the course of the labour to recognise those issues and adequately respond.

READ MORE: Gina Rinehart's kids' claims to mining riches 'a distraction'

The coroner said following the boy's death, a number of practical and sensible changes had been made at the hospital to provide a safety net for when errors occurred, including a check system to ensure heart rate monitors were correctly connected and a nurse allocated to watch it at all times.

But she said the hospital's current procedures did not require a consultant to be on-site overnight, with the onus on a more junior doctor to notify the senior clinician if they wanted them there.

Kereru said that was an unrealistic expectation and placed an uncomfortable onus on the less-experienced doctor.

The coroner recommended all SA maternity hospitals consider a policy that ensured the most senior registrar on duty was appropriately credentialled to perform complex deliveries independently, unless there was a consultant on-site and available.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.

'Desperate' carer laced husband's soup with drugs

Judith Ann Venn had reached the end of the road when she overdosed her husband of over 40 years by lacing his favourite soup with pills before cutting his wrist, a court has been told.

The now 69-year-old was not coping as carer of Lance Hilton Venn whose bipolar disorder had worsened significantly over the previous 18 months.

But she also could not bear the prospect of their daughters enduring the difficulty of caring, monitoring and managing him, Venn's barrister Christopher Wilson said on Friday.

READ MORE: Two people dead after light plane crash mid-air north of Brisbane

Venn pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Brisbane Supreme Court over the death of her husband in their home at Alexandra Hills, southeast of Brisbane, in August 2020.

Venn felt trapped as part of a close Christadelphian Church community that did not look outside for help, Wilson said.

"Because of her shame and her desire not to besmirch her husband in that group she kept secret a lot of what was going on in his mental health and his deterioration."

The month before her husband's killing Venn told a mental health service of her desperation but received very limited support.

"For her it was the end of the line, for them it was the first presentation," Wilson said.

A psychiatrist surmised Venn habitually understated her husband's physical violence to her, perhaps because she was ashamed, thought she failed him or knew he couldn't help it, the court heard.

"Out of sheer loyalty to him (she) did not mention it or did not make a big issue of it," Wilson told the court.

READ MORE: Gas to be banned in all new Victorian homes from January

She was also likely chronically sleep-deprived and getting more and more isolated and desperate.

Shortly before he was killed Venn, a former fisherman, used money they could not afford to buy a boat, although they already had four in the yard, indicating how bad his condition was.

On the morning of August 14, Venn was hopeful of some relief in managing her husband as he was due to see a psychologist that day.

But Venn ended up at their daughter's house at the end of one his nocturnal walks.

Venn cancelled the appointment and overdosed him by dissolving prescribed pills in his favourite vegetable soup.

"She had just reached the end of the road," Wilson said.

She cut his wrist when he was unconscious before eating the laced soup in an attempt to take her own life.

Venn admitted to police she had decided to end her husband's life and her own due to frustration with his behaviour.

She was a stoic woman with an extraordinary ability to cope who reached the end of her tether because she was doing it all on her own, Wilson said.

Venn – who wiped away tears during the sentencing submissions – pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter over her husband's death.

She has been behind bars since the day she killed her husband and was in the trusted position of working in the prison's reception counter.

Justice Frances Williams has reserved her decision until a date to be set.

Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Sign up here to receive our daily newsletters and breaking news alerts, sent straight to your inbox.