National Leader Christopher Luxon says the party’s final and costed package on its tax cuts plan will not be released until about a month before the next election, after the pre-election opening of the Government’s books. National…

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An Adelaide housing trust property has been left in "disgraceful" condition, labelled "beyond disappointing" in the middle of a housing crisis.

Residents in neighbouring homes have complained about the squalor for five months but they said the state government has refused to act.

Video has shown the flat has rubbish strewn across the floor, dog food everywhere and no room on the kitchen bench.

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The property also has holes in the walls and the bathroom has been torn to shreds.

The front yard has overgrown grass and broken windows, which greet 62-year-old neighbour Garry across the court every morning.

"I feel like I want to dig a hole and bury myself, because it's shocking, it's disgraceful," he said.

"It's very outrageous that people out there are crying (out) for houses, especially with kids."

Neighbours first raised concerns about the mess with the state government in May.

They claim the property has now been vacant for a month and they have been ignored.

Opposition spokeswoman Michelle Lensink said the state of the property was "beyond disappointing".

"Particularly when we're in the middle of a housing crisis," she said.

Human Services Minister Nat Cook confirmed the government has known about the mess for five months and admitted action needed to be taken.

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"The state of the property is absolutely unacceptable," Cook said.

"There is a process where everybody's rights need to be taken into account.

"Unfortunately this does often take some time."

The minister said the government will work to ensure the mess is cleaned up.

Thousands of speeding fines are set to be scrapped in Victoria after the state's camera watchdog ruled motorists weren't being treated fairly.

After a two-month investigation, Road Safety Camera Commissioner Neville Taylor recommended that drivers pinged in a 40km/h zone at the intersection of Nepean Highway and Davey Street in Frankston should be excused.

The drivers were nabbed on the highway between April 15 and June 16 of this year.

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Taylor found the stretch highway had different speed limits for different stretches at different times.

Locals in Frankston have told 9News Melbourne that the recommendation was a complete relief.

Seaford businessman Adam Ray received six fines in the space of three weeks at the Davey Street intersection.

"It's been a 60km/h zone for a very long time," he told 9News Melbourne.

"All the fines, I was under 60km/h so to be hit with $100 (of fines) in a short time was pretty scary actually."

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Maria Daveron also received two fines of her own. 

"I'm not a hoon, I was never a hoon," she told 9News Melbourne.

"Like a lot of people, I was just going about my day-to-day, travelling through the intersection."

The road safety camera commissioner found the number of people detected for going over 40km/h "skyrocketed" during April and June.

"I've recommended due to the exceptional circumstances around the speed limit reduction processes that because people were likely confused about it," Taylor said.

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"People detected between 40km/hand 60km/h an hour (should have) their offences excused."

Police have accepted the recommendations and Fines Victoria has already started refunding the money.

The Department of Transport will also be returning demerit points to affected drivers.

The jury in the trial of Bruce Lehrmann, the former political staffer accused of raping Brittany Higgins, has retired to consider its verdict.

Earlier, the jury heard Higgins does not know what happened on the night she alleges she was raped but possibly convinced herself it occurred.

Closing arguments in the trial of the man accused of raping her scrutinised Higgins' credibility before the jury was sent to deliberate on the previous three weeks of evidence.

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https://twitter.com/LaurenTomasi/status/1582581861754150913

Lehrmann is being tried in the ACT Supreme Court, after pleading not guilty to sexual intercourse without consent.

Higgins alleges Lehrmann raped her inside a ministerial office in Parliament House after a night out drinking with colleagues, but he denies the pair ever had sex.

Defence lawyer Steven Whybrow said if Higgins had convinced herself that she had been raped her emotions in the witness box may have been genuine.

"We have these things called con artists because demeanour is a difficult thing for people to pick up sometimes," he said in his closing argument on Wednesday.

"She (Higgins) has reconstructed events to the point that she now genuinely believes they are true. That doesn't mean they are true."

He told the jury there were few statements Higgins presented as facts that had not been demonstrated to be suspect in the trial.

He said there was no DNA evidence or medical complaints to support Higgins' version of events, but instead "contemporaneous lies" about visiting a doctor.

Whybrow used an example of a photograph of a bruise Higgins said she took after the alleged assault.

He said there was no evidence that bruise had anything to do with that night.

"She's been caught out. Other people have come along and checked … and there's no evidence of this," he said.

Before excusing them for deliberations, Chief Justice Lucy McCallum told the jury they must act impartially, without emotion or prejudice and give a true verdict according to the evidence presented in the courtroom.

"You are not answerable to popular opinion … whichever way you may think it sways," she said.

"Your verdict, whether it be guilty or not guilty, must be unanimous."

She reminded jurors of the importance of the presumption of Lehrmann's innocence and that it was up to the prosecution to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

Lehrmann exercised his right to silence and did not enter the witness box during the trial.

Instead, the jury was played his police interview.

McCallum said Lehrmann's decision not to give evidence in court could not be used as an admission of guilt and did not strengthen the prosecution's case.

READ MORE: 'He was in my body': Brittany Higgins finishes giving evidence

Earlier, Whybrow told the jury Higgins had 325,000 reasons to push ahead with her rape accusation.

This was in reference to the $325,000 book deal Higgins was offered after giving two media interviews about her rape allegation in 2021.

Prosecutor Shane Drumgold on Tuesday said Higgins had been a credible and honest witness whose version of events that night had not wavered.

Meanwhile, he said Lehrmann had given inconsistent accounts about his reasons for being at parliament on the night of the alleged assault to the security guards, to his boss and to the police.

Drumgold also said after the alleged rape Higgins was caught in the middle of "strong political forces".

"We say she was right to be scared, she was right to be cautious and she was right to move slowly and carefully," he said.

But Whybrow told the jury on Wednesday that, other than Ms Higgins, no other witnesses had given evidence about "political forces" at play.

1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)

Lifeline 13 11 14

Australia's death rate has remained low during the second year of the pandemic, however alcohol-induced deaths and suicides are up.

Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data released today showed the nation's mortality rate has risen by 3.2 per cent from 2020.

But the data shows a grim trend upward in alcohol-induced deaths nationally and the suicide rate remains "stubbornly high".

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Alcohol-induced deaths increased by 5.8 per cent compared to 2020 and were the highest rate recorded in the past 10 years.

"This was driven by an 8.1 per cent increase in deaths among males," Director of Mortality Statistics Lauren Moran said.

Suicide rates expected to rise amid living pressures

The nation's suicide rate has remained the 15th leading cause of death for the second year in a row.

But Suicide Prevention Australia CEO Nieves Murray said it's more than just mental health causing the deaths.

"It's not just issues to do with mental health, even though mood disorders are a significant contributor to a person's suicidality, it's also relationship breakdowns and financial distress," she said.

The data released today was collected from 2020-2021 but Murray fears the suicide rate could increase this year as Australians battle interest rate rises, cost of living pressures and surging inflation.

"The data is 12 months old, so it's old data. At the time, we were in the thick of the COVID-19 pandemic, we had a number of protective factors the government was putting in place," she said.

"We were surrounding the community with support mechanisms which likely have had a positive effect on people who would have otherwise experienced distress where they felt like they had no help.

"We can't be complacent, this data tells us even during this time with support mechanisms in place people were still feeling such high levels of distress they could see no option."

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Murray said it is two or three years after major events like the pandemic, natural disasters or the cost of living crisis when suicide rates spike.

Murray said the government can't be "complacent" or throw money at suicide prevention, instead calling for legislation from housing and education to finance to be considered through a lens of suicide prevention.

"We do need to invest in suicide prevention and psychologists but we need to pull other levers to prevent because people who are dying by suicide, it's not the majority who are touching the health system," she said.

COVID-19 deaths rise as influenza deaths declined

Other notable trends in the data include COVID-19 deaths moving from the 38th leading cause of mortality in 2020 up to 34th in 2021.

In 2021, 1122 COVID-19 deaths were recorded and Moran said these were mostly associated with the Delta wave which forced most of Australia into lockdown.

"COVID-19 deaths in 2021 had a younger median age than in 2020 (79.1 compared to 86.9) and a higher tendency to have pre-existing chronic cardiac conditions," Moran said.

"In 2020, the most common pre-existing condition among those who died from COVID-19 was dementia (including Alzheimer's disease)."

The data also showed there were only two recorded flu deaths in 2021 while respiratory disease deaths, in general, remained the second lowest on record.

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https://twitter.com/ABSStats/status/1582536484782977026

Moran attributed the low number to COVID-19 lockdowns.

"COVID-19 public health measures appeared to suppress the transmission of many common respiratory illnesses in 2020, and this continued in 2021," she said.

Heart disease remains leading cause of death

Ischaemic heart diseases have remained the leading cause of death in Australia for the past 10 years.

"Heart disease was the leading cause of male deaths while dementia was the leading cause among females," Moran said.

Dementia (including Alzheimer's disease), stroke, lung cancer and chronic lower respiratory diseases made up the top five causes.

Crisis support is available from Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Support is available from Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4636.

MensLine Australia 1300 78 99 78

Multicultural Mental Health Australia

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