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Independent Senator Lidia Thorpe has alleged she was "followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched" in parliament.

Speaking in the Senate the day after she had used parliamentary privilege to accuse Liberal Senator David Van of sexually assaulting and harassing her – comments later withdrawn to comply with standing orders – Thorpe gave a tearful statement detailing her alleged experiences.

Van this morning strenuously denied the claims made yesterday by Thorpe, labelling them as "completely unfounded" and "disgusting".

READ MORE: Lidia Thorpe makes – then withdraws – claim against senator

In her statement today, Thorpe did not identify a man she alleged had cornered her in a parliamentary stairwell and 9news.com.au does not suggest she was talking about Van.

"I experienced sexual comments and was inappropriately propositioned by powerful men," Thorpe said to the Senate this afternoon.

"One man followed me and cornered me in the stairwell, and most of this was witnessed by … staff and a fellow member of parliament.

"No one witnessed what happened in the stairwell, as there were no cameras in stairwells.

"I know there are others that have experienced similar things and have not come forward in the interest of their careers and fear that they would be presented to the world by the media in the same way that I have been today.

"There are different understandings of what amounts to sexual assault and what I experienced has been followed, aggressively propositioned and inappropriately touched."

Thorpe said the alleged behaviour occurred around the same time that Brittany Higgins came forward with her allegations of rape against then-Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann, and so she did not publicise her own claims to not take anything away from Higgins – something she said was "the right decision".

The independent senator, a former member of the Greens, said she did speak to others in parliament about what she alleged happened.

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"I was afraid to walk out of the office, I would open the doors slightly and check the coast was clear before stepping out," she said.

"It was to the degree that had to be accompanied by someone whenever I walked inside this building.

"That is how the Greens supported me and I thank them for that.

"To me, it was sexual assault. And the government at the time recognised it as such.

"At the time I spoke to the President of the Senate about it.

"I spoke to my colleagues about it. I spoke to the sex discrimination commissioner Kate Jenkins about it during the inquiry.

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"I spoke to senior leaders in the Liberal Party and it was assured that the prime minister was informed at the time.

"I was convinced that the government believed me. The actions immediately moving the person's office reassured me that they understood the seriousness of what I experienced."

In her statement to the Senate, Thorpe also criticised Van's reaction to her allegations made yesterday.

"I am disappointed by the reaction of the senator," she said.

"Instead of stepping up, taking accountability for the fact that he made me feel unsafe, he denied it.

"He asked his lawyers to send a letter… this type of behaviour makes it harder for other women to come forward."

Earlier in the day, a "shattered" Van again denied what he called the "utterly disgusting" allegations made against him, but has conceded he did relocate his office in 2021 after Thorpe made a complaint against him.

Van said "he'd rather have been accused of murder than this".

"To say I'm shattered by those allegations would be an understatement, I feel just battered," Van said on 2GB's Ben Fordham Live.

READ MORE: 'Thundersnow' hits Alps despite record-breaking winter warmth

"How someone can make an allegation like that against another person that is completely unfounded – I've been in shock.

"People who have seen the video can see how shocked I was at the time, it's just awful, it's just terrible for me and my family."

Asked by Fordham if there was any truth whatsoever to the allegations, Van said "utterly no".

"I think the only time I've ever even touched her would've been shaking her hand after her maiden speech," Van said.

"No, no. I have not harassed her in any shape or form.

"It's utterly disgusting that she would say those words and I'm kind of upset that you would even raise those."

If Thorpe held any genuine belief "that anything happened", Van said he would "encourage her to take it to the police and let the courts decide".

Van admitted that he did move offices back in 2021 after Thorpe made complaints about his conduct in parliament.

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https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/i-m-in-shock-liberal-senator-denies-sexually-abusi/embed?style=cover

"She had made allegations to our leadership through her leadership that I was following her into the chamber, which made her feel uncomfortable, but that was just the way that we all file into the chamber when there are divisions," Van said.

"At times I'd be in front of her, at times I'd be behind her, but at no time did I harass her.

"So, the leadership offered me another office and so I moved."

Van said the offer was made by former Liberal Party Senate President Scott Ryan.

"If I'm sounding a bit shaky this morning, it's because I haven't slept much last night," Van said.

"I'd feel less bad if she had have accused me of murder than this."

Van was speaking in the Senate yesterday about the Jenkins report into parliamentary culture when Thorpe began interjecting, calling out "perpetrator" and "you can talk".

As Senate deputy president Andrew McLachlan repeatedly asked Thorpe to stop, the independent senator rose on a point of order.

READ MORE: 'Those are the facts': Katy Gallagher denies misleading parliament

"I'm feeling really uncomfortable when a perpetrator is speaking about violence," she said, using parliamentary privilege.

After being asked by McLachlan to withdraw the "inappropriate" comment, Thorpe continued.

"I can't because this person harassed me, sexually assaulted me and the prime minister had to remove him from his office.

"And to have him talking about this today is an absolute disgrace, on the whole party."

Thorpe later withdrew her remarks at the request of the deputy president "in order to comply with the parliamentary standing orders".

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

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Mars' landscape is covered with incredible mountain ranges, sand dunes and ice caps.

Australia's warm start to winter has seen records tumble, but you wouldn't know it depending on where you are, with a stormy "thundersnow" event also hammering our alpine regions this week.

Weatherzone reported that large parts of Australia experienced warmer than usual temperatures for the first fortnight of June, particularly in the central, eastern, and south-eastern parts of the country.

Melbourne has had its sixth warmest start to winter in 169 years of records, with an average minimum temperature of 10 degrees in the past fortnight.

READ MORE: Ben Roberts-Smith breaks silence as he returns to Australia

Longreach in Queensland averaged a maximum of 28.6 degrees in that same time – five degrees above average and the town's warmest winter start since 1897.

Adelaide's mean temperature was 16.1 degrees – its second warmest beginning to winter since 1887.

But it's still winter and that has meant snow in Australia's south-eastern mountains, although this time with an unusual companion.

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Weatherstone reported a flurry of "thundersnow" earlier this week in the Australian Alps.

A map shows multiple lightning strikes around Thredbo Village near Mount Kosciuszko.

As Weatherzone explains, lightning usually comes with warm air, but it can also strike when it's cold enough to snow.

"With most thunderstorms, you have relatively warm air sitting below cooler air, which creates an unstable atmosphere and causes the warmer air to rise," meteorologist Ben Domensino said.

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"In snowy areas, there is generally only a small temperature contrast between the surface and upper levels, so there's usually not enough instability to create the uplift needed for thunderstorm development.

"But when you've got a very cold airmass, there can be enough of a temperature contrast between surface and upper level temperatures to make storms."

Another snowy weather system is expected next week.

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A family who settled in Australia eight years ago say they are "upset and frustrated" after being told they must return to the UK – because they are too old.

Glenn and Sheena Tunnicliff swapped England for Perth in 2015.

Glenn, now 57, is a plasterer who has relatives in Western Australia, while 50-year-old Sheena's job as a travel agent manager was in demand and meant she could get the family a visa.

READ MORE: 'This is our home': Family facing deportation after 13 years

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They sold up in East Sussex, near London, and uprooted children, Tamzin, now 21, and Molly, 18, as well as the family Jack Russell Roxy.

They settled in Perth and got jobs, with Sheena going on to open her own travel agency and Glenn working as a plasterer.

They bought a house in Warwick in the city's north.

Their children, who were at school when they moved over, are now also pursuing their own careers: Tamzin is a nurse and Molly is studying Auslan at TAFE.

READ MORE: Warning Australia's 'broken' migration system needs fixing

But visa changes over the years mean the family have never managed to get permanent residency, known as PR, which would have allowed them to stay for good and eventually get Australian citizenship.

It has an age limit of 45, so neither now qualifies.

Now they've run out of options and must go home by August 4.

"We don't want to go back to the UK – we've made a life here," Mrs Tunnicliff said.

"Now we are over that magic figure of 45 there is no route to PR for us.

"Australia classes us as too old.

"We are the ones with the experience and training.

"Australia is turning around saying, 'You're too old but we'll hang on to your kids.'"

Mrs Tunnicliff initially worked as a travel agency manager but now has her own business, a branch of Helloworld.

She employs three people.

Mr Tunnicliff works as a plasterer – an in-demand job on the nation's list of needed skills – and the family is now on his work visa.

But the company which sponsored his visa is about to wind up and there's no other way for the family to get a permanent visa.

Even if he finds a new employer, they're too old to get permanent residency now.

"It's absolutely pointless looking for a sponsor knowing it won't lead to PR," Mrs Tunnicliff said.

She said they have spent more than $80,000 on visas over the years, as well as on advice from visa agents they say has not always been correct.

Daughter Tamzin is able to stay on her own visa as she's now a nurse but faces being separated from the rest of her family.

The family is calling for the rules to change to allow more people who have come to Australia to work to be allowed to stay for good, even if they are over 45.

Do you have a story? Contact journalist Sarah Swain: ss****@******om.au

"We are just a pure working family that have been caught up with all the visa changes over the years," Mrs Tunnicliff said.

"For us to have to leave the country is very frustrating, there has to be something done."

Mr Tunnicliff said much of his family, including his grandparents, moved over as "ten pound Poms" and said it's "disappointing" they're facing having to leave.

"I get why they want to be tough, but I don't understand why someone's not looking at us as a family," he said.

"That's the problem, the moving of the goalposts all the time, and if anything changes with your circumstances you start again.

"We never came here to go home."

Molly, 18, also has to leave, as she won't qualify for a student visa because of the course she is studying.

The family has also been told their dog, Roxy, at 14, might not make the flight due to his age.

Joanne Kinslor, principal solicitor at immigration law specialists Kinslor Prince Lawyers, said the rules are designed for the benefit of Australia – specifically the economy.

"The age limit in place for the vast majority of skilled migrants arises from a policy concern that the working lives and economic contributions of older skilled migrants are likely to be smaller than that of younger migrants," Kinslor said.

"As well as benefiting from the skills and labour of skilled migrants, the Australian community also meets costs in supporting permanent residents of Australia, such as publicly funded healthcare and aged pensions."

However, migration agent Mateja Rautner thinks the 45 age limit is "unreasonable" and said many skilled workers now only have the option of moving to regional areas if they want to stay in Australia.

"The Australian government is actively promoting Australia as the destination for skilled migrants and we are amid global competition for talent and yet we are limiting the options for skilled workers over 45," Rautner told 9news.com.au.

"For this reason, Australia is no longer preferred the destination of choice for many of the world's skilled migrants."

A report in April found the nation's immigration system was broken.

Despite the family's plight, Western Australia, where the family lives, has pledged to cut red tape to get more workers into the state.

The Department of Home Affairs told 9news.com.au they don't comment on individual cases.

READ MORE: Callous email tells mum to leave Australia hours after sister dies

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A New Zealand league player critically injured during a weekend game is not going to recover, with family and friends now saying their goodbyes.

Papamoa Bulldogs rugby league player Tere Livingston, from the Bay of Plenty, was critically injured on the field on June 10, and suffered a major brain injury from which he will not recover, the club said in a message to members.

"We've received the devastating news that Tere won't recover."

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Livingston's partner, Chloe Withrington, said she knew many would want to say their final goodbyes, and would share arrangements soon.

"I am utterly broken, torn in two," she told the community in a heartbreaking message about her partner's injury.

"You were the most generous, warm-hearted person on this earth. The most doting father to our son … I will miss you every minute for the rest of my life."

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A fundraiser to support the family with funeral costs has already raised more than NZD$50,000 (A$45,543).

"Tere's partner Chloe and their beautiful 19-month-old baby boy, Nīkora, will be deeply impacted by these circumstances. An amazing man on and off the field, Tere has impacted us all," the Bulldogs club wrote.

"His fun-loving nature is unmatched and the community of people who love him will feel his loss immensely."

Members of the club travelled to Waikato Hospital and will not be playing games this weekend.

This article originally appeared on Stuff and is republished here with permission.

A fishing boat carrying migrants trying to reach Europe has capsized and sunk off the coast of Greece, authorities say, leaving at least 79 dead and many more missing in one of the worst disasters of its kind this year.

Coast guard, navy and merchant vessels and aircraft fanned out on Wednesday for a vast search-and-rescue operation set to continue overnight.

It was unclear how many passengers were missing, but some initial reports suggested hundreds of people may have been aboard when the boat went down dozens of kilometres from shore.

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Coast Guard spokesman Nikos Alexiou told state ERT TV that it was impossible to accurately estimate the number of passengers.

He said it appeared that the 25- to 30-metre vessel capsized after people abruptly moved to one side.

"The outer deck was full of people, and we presume that the interior (of the vessel) would also have been full," he said.

"It looks as if there was a shift among the people who were crammed on board and it capsized."

Ioannis Zafiropoulos, deputy mayor of the southern port city of Kalamata, where survivors were taken, said that his information indicated there were "more than 500 people" on board.

"It sank very quickly and was gone by the time the rescue helicopter got there," he said.

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"The area where this happened has very deep water."

Authorities said 104 people were rescued after the boat sank in international waters some 75 kilometres south-west of Greece's southern Peloponnese peninsula.

The spot is close to the deepest area of the Mediterranean Sea, and the depth could hamper any effort to locate a sunken vessel.

Twenty-five survivors ranging in age from 16 to 49 were hospitalised with hypothermia or fever.

At the port of Kalamata, around 70 exhausted survivors bedded down in sleeping bags and blankets provided by rescuers in a large warehouse, while outside paramedics set up tents for anyone who needed first aid.

Katerina Tsata, head of a Red Cross volunteer group in Kalamata, said the migrants were also given psychological support.

READ MORE: Lidia Thorpe withdraws sexual assault and harassment allegation against senator

"They suffered a very heavy blow, both physical and mental," she said.

Rescue volunteer Constantinos Vlachonikolos said nearly all the survivors were men.

"They were very worn out. How could they not be?" he said.

Rescuers said many of the people pulled from the water could not swim and were clutching debris. The coast guard said none had life jackets.

The Greek coast guard said 79 bodies have been recovered so far. Survivors included 30 people from Egypt, 10 from Pakistan, 35 from Syria and two Palestinians, the agency said.

The Italy-bound boat was believed to have left the Tobruk area in eastern Libya — a country plunged into chaos following a NATO-backed uprising that toppled and killed longtime autocrat Moammar Gadhafi in 2011.

Human traffickers have benefited from the instability, and made Libya one of the main departure points for people attempting to reach Europe on smuggler's boats.

The route from North Africa to Italy through the central Mediterranean is the deadliest in the world, according to the United Nations migration agency, known as IOM, which has recorded more than 17,000 deaths and disappearances there since 2014.

Smugglers use unseaworthy boats and cram as many migrants as possible inside — sometimes inside locked holds — for journeys that can take days.

They head for Italy, which is directly across the Mediterranean from Libya and Tunisia, and much closer than Greece to the Western European countries that most migrants hope to eventually reach.

In February, at least 94 people died when a wooden boat from Turkey sank off Cutro, in southern Italy, in the worst Mediterranean sinking so far this year.

The Italian coast guard first alerted Greek authorities and the European Union border protection agency, Frontex, about an approaching vessel on Tuesday.

The IOM said initial reports suggested up to 400 people were on board. A network of activists said it received a distress call from a boat in the same area whose passengers said it carried 750 people — but it was not clear if that was the vessel that sank.

After that first alert, Frontex aircraft and two merchant ships spotted the boat heading north at high speed, according to the Greek coast guard, and more aircraft and ships were sent to the area.

But repeated calls to the vessel offering help were declined, the coast guard said in a statement.

"In the afternoon, a merchant vessel approached the ship and provided it with food and supplies, while the (passengers) refused any further assistance," the coast guard said.

A second merchant ship later offered further supplies and assistance, which were turned down, the agency added.

In the evening, a coast guard patrol boat reached the vessel "and confirmed the presence of a large number of migrants on the deck," the statement said.

"But they refused any assistance and said they wanted to continue to Italy," it said.

The coast guard boat accompanied the migrant vessel, which the statement said capsized and sank early on Wednesday (Wednesday afternoon AEST), prompting a massive rescue operation by all the ships in the area.

Alarm Phone, a network of activists that provides a hotline for migrants in trouble, meanwhile, said it was contacted by people on a boat in distress on Tuesday afternoon. That boat was in the same general area as the one that sank, but it was not clear if it was the same vessel.

The organisation notified Greek authorities and Frontex. In one communication with Alarm Phone, migrants reported the vessel was overcrowded and that the captain had abandoned the ship on a small boat, according to the group. They asked for food and water, which were provided by a merchant ship.

"We fear that hundreds of people have drowned," Alarm Phone said in a statement.

The Mediterranean's deadliest shipwreck in living memory occurred on April 18, 2015, when an overcrowded fishing boat collided off Libya with a freighter trying to come to its rescue.

Only 28 people survived. Forensic experts concluded that there were originally 1100 people on board.

Greek President Katerina Sakellaropoulou visited the area where rescued migrants are being tended to, and political parties called off planned campaign events ahead of June 25 national elections.

Former prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, who is widely expected to win easy re-election, said the emergency "dramatically highlights how migration is a problem that requires a cohesive European policy, so that the vile criminal networks that smuggle desperate people at last meet with the decisive response that they deserve".

Separately Wednesday, a yacht with 81 migrants on board was towed to a port on the south coast of Greece's island of Crete after authorities received a distress call.

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Two states are going head to head in a State of Origin showdown of a different kind, lacing up their virtual runners for a great cause. 

Fans are gearing up for the ultimate Sonic celebration as AusSpeedruns and Five Star Games present the Sonic State of Origins Plus speedrunning competition. 

Speedrunning is considered a hardcore sport for many gamers, with the goal of completing a video game as fast as possible. 

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Australia's fastest Sonic speedrunners are revving their engines to compete in classic Sonic titles, bringing a whirlwind of excitement to Australia's largest esports gaming venue, Fortress Sydney, on June 23.

But it's not just about speed – the event is about giving back too. All proceeds go to Cure Cancer's Game On Cancer initiative, supporting early-career cancer researchers. 

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Cure Cancer's Shane Bailey says there's no better fit than Sonic to headline the tournament.

"We're honoured to be partnered with AusSpeedruns as their charity of choice," Bailey said.

"To see a new speedrunning competition come to Australia – from the original speedster himself, no less – is simply wonderful."

With Queensland fielding a team in red jerseys, represented by Knuckles, and NSW in their blue jerseys, represented by Sonic, the competition will crown the fastest team and see winners raise the Sonic State of Origins Plus shield. 

Rumour has it that Sonic himself might make a special appearance.

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It's shaping up to be an adrenaline-fuelled spectacle, filled with surprises and giveaways. 

Gamers keen on a ringside seat can grab tickets through Eventbrite. The event will also be streamed online.