Seniors have told the Herald they had hoped for relief from the high cost of living.

The Children’s Commissioner is ‘deeply disappointed’ for children in hardship.

Authorities have refused to grant parole to Robert Black Farmer, the man who shocked a nation when he carried out a horrific and near-fatal attack on Sydney teenager Lauren Huxley more than 20 years ago.

The decision was handed down by the NSW State Parole Authority following a closed-door meeting today.

Lauren's sister Simone said the decision gave the family "a measure of relief and reassurance" knowing they'd been heard and acknowledged.

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"Nothing can undo what my sister has endured, nor the lasting impact this crime continues to have on our family," she said, in a statement shared by Corrective Services NSW. 

"The parole process has been deeply emotional, forcing us to revisit trauma we have spent years working to navigate.

"While today's outcome offers some comfort and allows us a little more space to breathe, healing is an ongoing journey. For victims and the families who stand beside them, there is no definitive endpoint."

In 2005, Farmer brutally attacked then-18-year-old Huxley inside her Northmead home, leaving her for dead before setting the house on fire. 

Huxley, a TAFE marketing student, had just caught the bus home to Northmead, in the city's west, when Farmer, a 39-year-old stranger, ambushed her.

Farmer chased the teenager through the house and into the yard before cornering her in the garage. 

There, he brutally bashed her with heavy fibro-cutters. He then bound her with electrical cords, doused her in petrol, and lit a fire in the kitchen, leaving her to burn alive.

Doctors gave Huxley a mere five percent chance of survival. She suffered catastrophic, severe brain injuries. Against all odds, and through years of grueling rehabilitation, Lauren survived to rebuild her life, though she has never fully recovered.

Farmer was convicted by a jury in 2008 of serious offences, including wounding with intent to murder, and was sentenced to 24.5 years in prison.

Under NSW parole guidelines, the authority is legally required to consider parole for Farmer before his 20-year non-parole period ends in July 2026. 

Following today's refusal, Farmer has the right to apply for a review. If he does not appeal, or if his application is rejected, the decision stands and he will remain behind bars, unable to be reconsidered for release until his anniversary date next year. 

Farmer's prison sentence does not expire until January 31, 2031.

The decision brings a dramatic end to weeks of agonising tension for Huxley, now 38, who earlier this month spoke to A Current Affair about the terrifying prospect of her attacker walking the streets once again.

"It scares me for sure," Huxley told A Current Affair. 

"Not just for myself, my family and friends, but also the general public. Because you don't know… what is he capable of doing next?"

In making its determination, the NSW State Parole Authority panel accepted the expert advice of the Serious Offenders Review Council, which explicitly stated that parole is completely inappropriate at this time.

"We are not satisfied that his release to parole is sufficient for his re-integration and the protection of the public," the SORC report stated.

The authority was advised that Farmer continues to deny his offences and had failed to participate in a critical violent offenders therapy program.

Instead, for the past six months, he has engaged in an alternative pathway consisting of one-on-one Risk Mitigation Intervention sessions with a senior Corrective Services NSW psychologist.

Before denying parole, the panel considered written submissions made by the Huxley family and members of the public.

Responding directly to the family, the panel expressed its deepest sympathies and admiration for their ongoing strength.

"The Authority recognises the profound and enduring harm caused to Lauren and her family by this offending. We admire their courage and resilience, and our thoughts remain with them," the panel said.

"We understand the concerns they have raised and that of the community. In all decisions, the protection of the community, including the safety and wellbeing of victims and their families, remains our priority."

The decision was kept strictly confidential this morning until the Corrective Services Victim's Register could personally notify Lauren and her family.

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The centrepiece race of the US midterm elections has rapidly turned nasty, with one of the most senior staffers of the White House getting in a profane spat with Democrats online.

White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller posted a photo on X of Democratic candidate James Talarico with an inaccurate caption.

"The Democrats made history in Texas by nominating their first transgender senate candidate," Miller wrote.

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Talarico is not transgender and has never claimed to be.

But the official account of the Democratic Party was not diplomatic in their response.

"Shut up you ugly f—," the account said.

Miller's wife Katie hit back by posting a photo of the woman who runs the Democrats' official X account.

"She's 30, unmarried with no kids," Mrs Miller said.

"This is what a sad, unhappy, female Liberal looks like. It's why Pew reports 50% of them have been diagnosed with a mental condition."

A follow-up post from Stephen Miller showed Talarico eating a turkey leg with the caption: "He's transitioning".

Republicans, including Donald Trump, have falsely accused Talarico of being a vegan.

Earlier today Trump posted a side-by-side image of Talarico and MAD magazine character Alfred E Neuman.

"This Weak on Crime, Open Borders Dumocrat, can never be allowed to represent the Great People of Texas," Trump wrote.

"His 'values' are the exact opposite!!!"

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The attacks on Talarico reflect increasing nervousness among Republicans that he may be the first Democrat since 1992 to be elected to the Senate from Texas.

Talarico has been tied or ahead of Republican candidate Ken Paxton in every poll of the race taken since January.

One poll released earlier this week showed the Democrat seven points ahead of Paxton.

Despite his conservative credentials in a conservative state, Paxton is uncommonly unpopular for a Republican in Texas.

This is in large part because of a series of scandals the politician has faced.

As Texas attorney-general, his own staff reported him to the FBI with bribery and corruption accusations.

Paxton then fired the whistleblowers.

He was impeached by the state House of Representatives but kept his job after a vote to remove him failed by a single vote in the Texas Senate.

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In 2015, he was arrested while attorney-general and charged with security fraud, paying a $A400,000 fine and doing 200 hours of community service in a deal with prosecutors.

He was also caught on CCTV pocketing another lawyer's $A1400 pen when it had been left behind at a metal detector.

His wife Angela filed for divorce last year on "biblical grounds", alleging adultery. 

He is also facing criticism after his office made a plea deal with a lawyer accused of abusing a child.

Adam Hoffman was facing a life sentence, but instead made a deal with Paxton's office to see him serve just 60 days behind bars.

He was released after 30 days last week.

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One of Australia's worst paedophiles, childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith, has launched a bid to slash the life sentence he received for abusing dozens of young children.

Lawyers for the notorious predator today argued in the Queensland Court of Appeal that the 27‑year non‑parole period he was handed in 2024 was "manifestly excessive" as they sought leave to appeal.

Griffith is behind bars after a horrifying history of abuse stretching almost two decades was exposed.

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He pleaded guilty to 307 child sex offences against 65 victims aged between one and nine.

It included 28 counts of rape against girls, mainly aged three to five, at Queensland childcare centres between 2007 and 2022.

Griffith used his trusted role to prey on toddlers and preschoolers as they slept or by taking them into isolated corners of childcare centres, often while their parents believed they were safe in his care.

In court, his legal team claimed the sentencing judge went too far, insisting the case could have been dealt with by a fixed term of 25 to 30 years with a much shorter non‑parole period.

Barrister Sarah Cartledge conceded Griffith's crimes were "truly awful" and that he had preyed upon "the most vulnerable" while in a position of trust.

The appeal is tightly focused on the parole eligibility date, with the defence arguing that while a life sentence was open, the minimum term effectively imposed a harsher punishment than in similar cases of extreme child sex offending.

Cartledge said Griffith had co‑operated fully and openly since his arrest, giving around 18 hours of interviews.

"This was not a case where the court had to drag the truth from him at trial," she said.

"His extensive co‑operation and guilty plea saved an enormous amount of court time and spared child complainants from giving evidence.

"The co‑operation here went well beyond what this court usually sees … he didn't just admit the allegations put to him — he volunteered further instances of abuse and helped police piece together who some of the children were."

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Justice John Bond, presiding on the appeal panel, suggested it was more accurate to view the sentence as a judicial determination that Griffith should serve no less than 27 years.

He pressed counsel on the broader impact of his offending, suggesting the harm extended well beyond his victims.

"These crimes do not end with the children and their families," Justice Bond said.

"They corrode trust in childcare institutions, they wound the people who worked alongside this man, and they burden those who had to investigate and respond to his offending.

"The harm accumulated over nearly 20 years must factor into the sentence."

Throughout two decades of preying on children, Griffith filmed all but one of his victims, building a vast cache of abuse he shared online.

When detectives raided his Gold Coast home in 2022, they seized more than 4000 child abuse images and videos documenting much of his offending.

Prosecutors, led by Ruth O'Gorman KC for the Director of Public Prosecutions, urged the court to reject the appeal, saying the sentence barely reflected the scale and cruelty of the crimes.

"When you weigh the gravity of this offending, the number of victims and the deliberate way it was carried out over nearly 20 years, it cannot seriously be said that this sentence is excessive," O'Gorman submitted.

"It is a strong sentence, but it is a justified one."

She said psychiatric evidence showed Griffith would pose a danger of reoffending if released too soon.

Griffith is also wanted in NSW, where he is the subject of an arrest warrant over alleged child sexual offences during his time working there between 2014 and 2018.

The case prompted a wide‑ranging review of Queensland's childcare system, which found repeated red flags and warning signs were raised but ignored.

The appeal court has reserved its decision.

Support is available by calling 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732), National Sexual Abuse and Redress Support Service 1800 211 028, Lifeline 13 11 14 and Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25.