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Riot footage shows chaos in Alice Springs shop as five arrested
Police have revealed jaw dropping footage of rioters looting a service station amid unrest in Alice Springs.
Five people have been arrested over the riotous behaviour, which started over the alleged murder of five-year-old girl Kumanjayi Little Baby.
Jefferson Lewis has now been charged.
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Police say the service station on Bagot Street, The Gap, as well as a supermarket on Gap Road were targeted by rioters on Thursday night.
Footage shows one man opening what appears to be a locked door of the service station.
Dozens of people pour in and start grabbing items from the shelves.
Some then start tossing shelving over in the packed shop.
The service station is directly opposite Alice Springs hospital.
The burglary happened on the night of Thursday's riot, sparked after Lewis was allegedly hunted down and beaten in what detectives said was vigilante retaliation.
"What you will see is criminal behaviour plain and simple," NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole said.
Police say about $105,000 worth of property was stolen and $80,000 of damage was caused.
Five people – aged 18, 26, 34, 46 and 49 – have been arrested and are expected to be charged.
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Police say more arrests are expected.
Lewis was today charged with one count of murder after the death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby.
A large crowd assembled outside of Alice Springs Hospital on Thursday, with a car allegedly being set on fire, as well as reports of paramedics and police being assaulted.
Shark-spotting drones launched in tribute to surfer
Surfers are being trained to use shark-spotting drones as part of a new plan to keep our beaches safe all year.
The drone program is being launched in tribute to boardrider Mercury Psillakis, who was killed in a shark attack at Dee Why on Sydney's Northern Beaches in September.
For the Psillakis family, the tragedy of a fatal shark attack remains very raw.
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But their grief is tempered by the new program, with each drone carrying the 57-year-old's name.
"He'd be proud that he's somewhat responsible for extra safety on our beaches," wife Maria said.
"He'd probably cry, knowing Merc."
The experienced surfer was fatally bitten by a white shark.
His brother Michael thinks drones could have saved him.
"If there was a drone in the sky that day, my brother would still be with us," he said.
But it won't be just one; 60 drones are being rolled out from Newcastle to Wollongong.
"The government is trying to embrace new technology and new ways of monitoring for sharks and keeping people safe on our beaches," Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarty said.
But unlike those operated by surf life savers only when patrolling, these will be flown by boardrider clubs during carnivals and training sessions 365 days a year.
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Ben Wheeler from Mona Vale Boar riders is one of 125 now undergoing drone pilot training.
"I think having that early warning, as was said earlier, is amazing, you know just to keep our members safe in the water," he said.
The drone program will cost $650,000 out of a $30 million shark safety budget.
"We saw activity from bull sharks over the summer and now we're heading into a period where we'll see more white sharks on our beaches and waterways, so I'd encourage people to download the Shark Smart app," Moriarty said.
That app tracks in real time sharks that have been tagged, alerting surfers to any activity on their local beach.
While these require a pilot to fly, the next generation of fully automated drones with AI technology able to identify sharks and shark species and able to fly from dawn until dusk is already being considered.
It's the legacy of a hero surfer who in the face of an attack, tried to warn others.
"It's just upsetting he's not here to see it," Maria said.
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‘Real uncertainty’: Albanese warns fuel crisis could worsen
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has warned the worst of the energy crisis may be ahead but won't guarantee an extension to fuel price relief.
Speaking with 9News on the first anniversary of his re-election, Albanese said an extension to the reduced fuel excise, which is due to expire in July, won't be detailed in next week's federal budget.
"That'll be decided further down the track, there are too many changes," he said.
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The reduced fuel excise has been saving motorists between 20 and 30 cents a litre since the fuel crisis started in February.
Despite grappling with a strained fuel supply for nearly 10 weeks, Albanese couldn't indicate whether the worst of the fuel crisis was in the past.
"In terms of petrol, are we through the worst of it now, or is there still worse to come?" 9News chief political editor Charles Croucher asked.
"There's real uncertainty there," Albanese responded.
Croucher said: "It will worry people that the answer isn't definitively that the worst is behind us."
Albanese responded: "It's because it's an unpredictable world, and I think people understand there's no certainty here."
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With uncertainty surrounding the war, the prime minister seems sharply focused on sourcing cost-of-living relief elsewhere.
Tax cuts are already legislated for every taxpayer and will begin in July, right as the fuel excise is due to end.
Next week's budget will focus on changes to the capital gains tax discount and potentially negative gearing and trust tax arrangements.
The government says that will make things fairer for future generations.
"One thing young people say to me, but also their parents and grandparents, particularly grandparents, is that they worry about their grandkids," Albanese said.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino also addressed the issue.
"I think the Australian people would hope that we would look at tax in the context of these broader themes of intergenerational fairness and productivity," he said.
READ MORE: Jefferson Lewis charged with murder after death of five year-old girl
But One Nation and the Liberal Party say the tax changes represent broken promises, arguing they weren't flagged in Labor's election campaign a year ago.
"If you want to create more of something – in this case housing – the answer isn't taxing it," Liberal Senator Claire Chandler said.
One Nation member Barnaby Joyce said the government should be "encouraging people to be prudent because the more they put away the less we have to look after them in old age".
"Because if I've got a choice between giving it to Jimmy or spending it myself – I suppose I'll just spend it," he said.
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Auckland man avoids conviction for allowing teen sex work at his Kohimarama home
The judge called the case ‘very unique and unusual’ for such an unsavoury-sounding charge.
Freemans Bay birthday party chaos as Tesla Uber ploughs into house
The car slammed into a downstairs bedroom left empty only moments before.
Drone spots grandma struggling in war zone. A remarkable rescue follows
An elderly Ukrainian woman has been rescued from a war zone by a robot after struggling to escape her war-torn town on foot.
Antonina, 77, had been hiding in a basement in the Donetsk region for four months before she and her family took advantage of a pause in attacks and decided to flee.
While Antonina's family managed to escape, she struggled to keep up, with footage showing her using two walking sticks to pull herself along an isolated village road.
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Antonina said she was about to turn back to the bunker when she was approached by a futuristic robot
"Who knows what it was – how would I know?" she told Reuters.
But the strange machine would prove to be her salvation.
Unmanned military robots are regularly used by the Ukrainian military to evacuate wounded fighters but it's the first time it's been used to rescue a civilian.
A Ukrainian soldier says he sent the vehicle after Ukrainian drones spotted Antonia struggling.
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"There was another question; would she even understand our intentions?" he asked.
"We found some car mats there and used a spray can of paint to write, 'Grandma, get in'."
The evacuation spanned four hours along roads pockmarked by shelling, made dangerous because Russia has targeted the unmanned vehicles in the past.
Antonina is now safe, grateful for her survival and holding hope for the future.
"My dream is for the war to end, for there to be peace, and for people not to die the way they are dying now," Antonina said.
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Missing Motueka tramper Nathan Green found after search and rescue operation
The 52-year-old was last seen on April 14 in the Herring Stream Rd area.
Dakota Nopera Fri Allen jailed for assaults on young boy and girl
Victims suffered broken bones, a brain injury and damage to internal organs.
Family among thousands priced out of life-changing medication
Jade Hlucshniow was on the brink of selling her home to afford treatment for her daughter, whose debilitating skin condition had stolen much of her childhood.
Ruby, age seven, suffered from eczema so painful that it consumed her family's life.
"Watching her suffer was unbearable. She would tear her skin apart, and there was nothing we could do to stop it," her mum, Jade, told nine.com.au.
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"Nights were the worst. For the rest of my life, I will never forget her screams – crying out, begging us to help her – and the overwhelming feeling of helplessness as we stood there, unable to take her pain away."
Jade said that before Ruby had access to proper treatment, life was a living "nightmare."
Missing school, she also stopped eating properly and became too self-conscious to go out in public.
"She was so worried about people staring at her," Jade said.
When the family heard about Dupixent, a treatment Jade describes as a "miracle" injection, the hope came with a brutal price tag: about $1600 a month.
"We found ourselves going over everything – what we could cut from our expenses, how we could earn more money, what we could sell – just to try and make this treatment an option," explained.
"I can honestly say we would have gone as far as selling our house."
Ruby gained compassionate access to the drug a year and a half ago, and according to her mum, has become "a different child."
"I can't put into words the overwhelming relief we felt in that moment…for the first time in so long, we could finally breathe again."
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Now, families who cannot afford the same treatment want the Federal Government to take immediate action by subsidising Dupixent through the PBS for children under 12.
The drug is already available on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme for Australians aged 12 and over, but younger children are excluded without special access.
National charity Eczema Support Australia is spearheading the SOS for Kids with Eczema campaign to advocate for PBS funding of Dupixent for children aged six months to 11 years.
Managing director Melanie Funk is urging for improved access to treatments, saying the current lack of funding leaves thousands of families suffering unnecessarily.
"Families of young Australian children with severe eczema are at a breaking point, unable to afford a medicine that can change lives," she said.
If listed on the PBS, the cost would be slashed from $1600 to about $25 a month.
Eczema affects approximately three million Australians, including one-in-three children aged six years or younger.
Dr Li-Chuen Wong, from the Australasian College of Dermatologists, said severe cases could be debilitating for young children, causing relentless itching, skin infections and sleep disruption.
"In the worst cases, children are in constant discomfort and unable to function normally, and the impact on families is profound," she said.
That was the harrowing reality for the Hlucshniow family – a stark contrast to Ruby's life today, where she can finally enjoy the same experiences as other seven-year-olds.
"She joins in sports, participates in all school activities, and no longer has to sit on the sidelines. She goes to birthday parties – something she used to avoid – and has become such a social butterfly. It's been incredible to watch."
"These might seem like small things, but for Ruby, they mean everything," Jade said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing told nine.com.au that the pharmaceutical company responsible for dupilumab in Australia has not provided the required documentation for the PBS listing to progress.
The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee will consider an updated proposal at its July 2026 meeting.
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