Australia news live: Facebook and X ordered to remove church stabbing content; BoM declares an end to El Niño

LIVE – Updated at 09:38

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09:38

And with that, we are going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:

Thank you for spending part of your day with us – we will be back tomorrow to do it all again.

Until then – Cait

 

09:36

Low-income households are forking out more than half of their income on rent,AAP has reported.

Property data firm CoreLogic and ANZ bank found rents at the lower end of the market were rising faster than more premium offerings, with the 25th percentile rent lifting $53 a week in the past 12 months.

The Housing Affordability report for the March quarter found the 25 percentile of income earners were spending 54.3 per cent of their income to rent in the 25th percentile of available rentals.

And while the large wage boost delivered by the Fair Work Commission in 2023 was recognised in the report, the $48-a-week pay boost for a full-time minimum-age worker was entirely eaten up by the $53-a-week rental increase over the same period.

Rents have re-accelerated in the first few months of 2024, based on CoreLogic data, suggesting there could be more financial pain to come.

Paramedics at Sydney church faced ‘heinous’ hostility and danger, minister says

09:24

NSW Ambulance commissioner Dominic Morgan this morning advised that paramedics who attended the scene at the Wakeley church stabbing and riot came under direct threat.

At one point, he said, some were unable to leave the church for three and a half hours. He said that staff described the scenes as terrifying and violent.

Health minister Ryan Park spent the morning meeting with healthcare workers across the city, including at Liverpool emergency department – which briefly last night went into partial lockdown.

Park said:

The scenes from Wakeley last night were incredibly disturbing. This is yet another instance in which our brave paramedics have thrown themselves into chaos and danger to provide lifesaving care and treatment.

The hostility unleashed upon them is particularly heinous and completely unacceptable.

As Health Minister my focus right now is on the safety and security of our health workers and the people they are caring for.

 

09:24Josh Butler

Peter Khalil, chair of the PJCIS, wouldn’t weigh in on calls from Israel for Australia to designate Iran’s revolutionary guard (IRGC) as a terror entity.

We reported yesterday that Israel’s deputy ambassador in Australia believes Iran’s strikes on Israel over the weekend “should be followed by extreme measures from members of the international community,” with calls for diplomatic sanctions and listing the IRGC on the terror list.

Khalil’s security committee deals with some of those issues. The Coalition has repeatedly suggested the government should list the IRGC (a move the former Coalition government did not make when in office), but government sources maintain the current laws around terror listing do not allow for the listing of agencies of foreign governments.

Khalil said the PJCIS could “have a role in that”, if the government pursued the idea, but added “that is a matter for the government, the Attorney General to make a determination around that, and the National Security Committee of cabinet.”

If they do decide on these types of actions, designations, they do come to my committee and we do the work of reviewing that application and making recommendations to government, [but] I can’t really speak to that unless I have an actual application before the show.

 

09:14

Zoe Daniel, independent MP for Goldstein, has released a statement following the Wakeley stabbing attack.

Everyone should have the right to practise their faith in peace and safety. At this time of extreme stress, our social cohesion is being tested as never before. We must remain calm. There is no room for extremism and violence. My absolute priority remains the safety and security of all in our community.

 

08:55Sarah Basford Canales

PM says investigators looking into stabbing of bishop believe suspect acted alone

Law enforcement and security agencies are combing through the messages and call logs of the 16-year-old suspected of stabbing a bishop in Western Sydney on Monday night as part of a “full and comprehensive investigation”, prime minister Anthony Albanese says.

Telling 2GB radio on Tuesday afternoon, Albanese said those investigating believed he acted alone but are picking apart who the teenager was in contact with in the days and weeks leading up to the incident.

They are, of course, going through this gentleman’s media, with all of his phone conversations, with people who he has been in contact with. There will be a full and comprehensive investigation into this and they will, when it is appropriate, ensure that that information is made public in a transparent way.

The prime minister also turned his attention to the ensuing riot in which police officers attending the scene were attacked.

It’s important that people don’t take things into their own hands … it is completely understandable that people would be distressed with an attack on an Assyrian bishop in a church but police should not have been set upon in the way that they were … there’s no justification for turning on police.

 

08:53Jonathan Barrett

Coles to consider alerting customers of ‘shrinkflation’

Coles chief executive Leah Weckert said the supermarket will consider telling shoppers when a product has been downsized, as scrutiny on the unpopular practice of “shrinkflation” grows.

Food companies have been cutting the size of their products but not the price, angering consumers already grappling with surging household costs. Supermarkets have the ultimate say over whether they will sell a brand’s smaller item.

Size changes are rarely communicated with shoppers, although some overseas supermarkets including Carrefour have been shaming brands by alerting customers when a product has been downsized.

Under questioning at the Senate inquiry into supermarket practices, Weckert said the retailer would consider changing its practices.

“I’m happy to take it away and have a discussion internally about how we might be able to communicate it to customers,” she said.

NSW knife laws may change as 16-year-old alleged attacker at Assyrian church had previous knife offence

08:51Elias Visontay

The New South Wales government will consider strengthening knife laws after it became apparent the 16-year-old alleged to have committed a stabbing attack at an Assyrian church had been charged with a knife possession offence late last year and was on a good behaviour bond when he committed Monday’s terror incident.

New South Wales premier Chris Minns confirmed the teenager had been found in possession of a flick knife at a train station in November last year, and that a magistrate had placed him on a good behaviour bond over the incident earlier this year.

Minns also confirmed the boy had been found with a knife at school in 2020.

Minns told Sydney’s 2GB Radio:

Part of the reason the commissioner for police made a terrorism designation investigation at 1.30 this morning, was because of the person of interest’s history as well as the motives associated with moving to the venue, the church, and some of the rhetoric that is alleged to have used on scene before the alleged offence.

Minns, asked if knife laws should be strengthened in NSW after the incidents at the church and Bondi Junction in recent days, noted rules had already been tightened following the murder of a paramedic in recent months, but said he was open to exploring reforms.

I’m not prepared to rule anything out right now, obviously when people are being killed and you’ve got a situation where a knife is being used, then it would be irresponsible not to look at.

Minns said that as a result of the attack, communities in western Sydney were on high alert for the potential for “tit for tat” retaliations.

He said:

It’s a combustible situation and I’m not gonna sugarcoat it.

 

08:33Karen Middleton

Attorney general renews fight to block release of documents that should be accessible under FoI law

Federal attorney general Mark Dreyfus is renewing his fight to block the release of documents from previous governments including ministerial correspondence on the Morrison government’s so-called “sports rorts affair”, challenging a recent court ruling that they should be accessible under freedom of information law.

Dreyfus lodged an appeal on Monday to a federal court ruling that has been described as a landmark judgment for public access to information. The court recently upheld an argument by former independent senator Rex Patrick that the Albanese government was choosing to define an “offical document of a minister” in a way that allowed it to refuse to release the correspondence and other such documents from previous governments. Its definition was tied to the identity of the individual in the job and when they held it.

When the Morrison government was still in office, Patrick had applied under FoI law for access to documents including ministerial correspondence from then attorney general Christian Porter to then prime minister Scott Morrison on the so-called “sports rorts” affair. The application took so long to be resolved that not only was Porter no longer the minister but the government had also changed.

The Albanese government refused Patrick access to the documents on the grounds that they were no longer in the possession of the relevant minister because Porter had been replaced in the portfolio in a ministerial reshuffle and then the change of government at the 2022 election had also heralded a new incumbent.

The court found that whether or not a document was an “official document of a minister” must be determined at the time an FoI application is first lodged.

Justice Natalie Charlesworth found that once an application had been lodged, the minister had an obligation to preserve the document and pass it to successors in the portfolio.

Dreyfus is arguing that the determination should be made later, at the time the decision is made on the application and again at the time of any review – a period that could allow for a change of minister. He is also challenging the finding that documents need to be preserved from one government to another.

Rex Patrick told Guardian Australia he was disappointed that Dreyfus had decided to appeal “what was a pro-transparency decision”.

Patrick said:

The decision of Justice Charlesworth put a stop to ministers being able to sweep their dirt under the carpet as they left office.

I can imagine no-one other than ministers that would think stopping that would be a bad thing.

 

08:00Sarah Basford Canales

Dutton slams government for being ‘so secretive’ about upcoming legislative proposals

In his press conference in Perth earlier today, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, slammed the Albanese government for its “secret tricky processes” on a number of upcoming legislative proposals.

Dutton was asked about new laws being brought in by environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, that promise to substantially transform how nature is protected in Australia and impact how major mining and industrial projects receive approval.

The consultation process has been criticised by some on both sides of the fence due to secrecy arrangements.

Dutton said on Tuesday:

If [the bill is] so great, and it’s such a good bill, why be so secretive about it?

The Liberal leader described the proposed changes as being anti-Western Australian, and drew connections between this bill and that of secrecy restrictions around Labor’s two bills addressing religious exemptions from discrimination laws and introducing religious protections.

Dutton said:

You’ve got Imams, you’ve got bishops, archbishops, you’ve got priests and others – rabbis – who have had to sign nondisclosure agreements in relation to that issue as they have in relation to this one [environment laws]. It’s quite remarkable. If it’s a secret process, well, why? Is it commercially sensitive to be talking about religious discrimination? I would have thought not. So is it market sensitive? No evidence of that. Is there a national security risk here? Of course there’s not. This is a government trying to divide and conquer.

 

07:59Nino Bucci

Benbrika post-sentence case cost taxpayers $10m, home affairs confirms

Taxpayers forked out almost $10m in legal fees and detention costs associated with holding convicted terrorist Abdul Nacer Benbrika after he completed his sentence, the Department of Home Affairs has confirmed.

In response to a question on notice, the department said that $4.7m in legal costs were associated with Benbrika’s case after his sentence was completed, including external legal costs.

It said $2.8m was spent on housing Benbrika under a continuing detention order from 24 December 2020 to 30 June 2022. There was also a $200,000 cost associated with housing Benbrika under an interim detention order from 5 November to 24 December 2020.

Responsibility for Benbrika’s case passed to the attorney general’s department in July 2022.

After that point, from 1 July 2022 to 30 June 2023, the cost was $2.2m.

 

07:48Rafqa Touma

‘Bollard man’ to be granted permanent residency after holding off man who carried out Bondi stabbing

Damien Guerot will be granted permanent residency after confronting Joel Cauchi on an escalator in Westfield Bondi Junction, where Cauchi allegedly fatally stabbed six people on Saturday, Guerot’s lawyer Belinda Robinson confirms.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, thanked the French citizen, known as Bollard man, today for his “extraordinary bravery” and offered to resolve visa issues after reports his visa is due to expire in July.

Though citizenship will not be granted, Guerot and Robinson were told he will be granted permanent residency.

Guerot told his lawyer:

Amazing news.

They were told they will be informed about when permanent residency can be officially granted as soon as possible.

Robinson told Guardian Australia:

It is truly heartwarming for something positive to come out of all the pain and tragedy.

 

07:36Sarah Basford Canales

Dutton blames ‘left-wing trash media’ for conflating his comments comparing a pro-Palestine protest with Port Arthur massacre

On another matter, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, also took a swipe at “left-wing trash media” for conflating comments he made about the Port Arthur massacre – where 35 people were shot dead – with a pro-Palestine protest outside the Sydney Opera House last October.

During his press conference in Western Australia on Tuesday, Dutton said the point he was trying to make was that “at the time of John Howard’s leadership, there was a strong response which changed the course of our country’s history for the better”.

Dutton said:

[Howard] stood up and he implemented the gun laws, and that was to his great credit. The response from the prime minister – in relation to October 7 and the fear that’s being experienced by the Jewish community now, particularly off the back of what we saw on October 9 on the steps of the Opera House and what we saw at Caulfield and elsewhere – it was pathetic, to be honest.

The opposition leader took issue with “left-wing trash media” criticising the comparison. Shortly after Dutton made the comments at a speech at the Sydney Opera House last Wednesday, Guardian Australia published a story including critical comments from Liberal backbencher, Bridget Archer, and Liberal Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff, with the latter saying it was “never appropriate to compare the Port Arthur tragedy with anything, in any circumstance”.

Survivors of Australia’s deadliest mass murder in recent modern history also labelled the comments “tone deaf” and unhelpful.

To recap, these were Dutton’s exact words:

Whilst no one was killed during the protests on October 9, thank god, the events at the Sydney Opera House were akin to a Port Arthur moment – in terms of their social and national significance. In my judgment, prime minister Albanese has not risen to that moment as John Howard did.

Had Dutton used clearer wording, instead of leaving such a comparison open to interpretation, would there have been as much backlash? You be the judge.

BoM declares an end to El Niño as odds tilt towards La Niña’s return

07:18Peter Hannam

The Bureau of Meteorology has just declared that the El Niño event of 2023-24 is over, with conditions in a key region of the equatorial central Pacific returning to “neutral”.

The so-called El Niño–Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is a major climate driver globally, and when it is in the El Niño state, eastern Australia tends to be drier than normal (at least going into summer).

Globally, there’s also a bump up in temperatures, contributing to the hottest year on record for 2023 (with climate change also pushing up the background readings).

BoM notes:

International climate models suggest ENSO is likely to continue to remain neutral until at least July 2024.

It’s increasingly looking like we’ll get the flipside of an El Niño, the La Niña phase, by spring if not sooner.

We should be cautious, though, that predictions at this time of year are less accurate than at other times … so don’t ink in the forecast just yet.

For Australia, a La Niña typically increases the odds of above-average rainfall for much of the country.

If a La Niña develops, it would be the fourth in five years, and the first time we’ve had recorded three La Niña, with an El Niño, and another La Niña in sequence.

It’s worth highlighting, as BoM does, that global sea surface temperatures (SSTs) have been the warmest on record for each month between April 2023 and March 2024. April 2024 looks like extending that run of records.

Why does that matter? Well, given such unprecedented warmth, it’s also possible that past results aren’t necessarily a good guide for the future. Climate change can throw up surprises, in other words.

Facebook and X ordered to remove church stabbing content

07:05Josh Taylor

Facebook’s parent company Meta and X/Twitter have been issued with notices to remove violent and distressing videos posted online of the stabbing of prominent Orthodox Christian leader Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel at his church in Wakeley in Sydney’s west on Monday evening.

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, told reporters on Tuesday that notices to remove within 24 hours what had been deemed to be class 1 material, that is “material depicting gratuitous or offensive violence with a high degree of impact or detail” to be removed from X and Meta, with the companies facing potential fines if they fail to comply.

The notices relate to Emmanuel’s alleged stabbing by a 16-year-old on Monday evening during Emmanuel’s mass, which was being live-streamed.

Inman Grant said:

While the majority of mainstream social media platforms have engaged with us, I am not satisfied enough is being done to protect Australians from this most extreme and gratuitous violent material circulating online. That is why I am exercising my powers under the Online Safety Act to formally compel them to remove it. I have issued a notice to X requiring them to remove this content. A legal notice will also be sent to Meta this afternoon, and further notices are likely to follow. I will not hesitate to use further graduated powers at my disposal if there is noncompliance.

Comment has been sought from Meta and X. Inman Grant said the quantum of the fines sought could depend on the gravity of the non-compliance. She said more removal notices to other platforms could be issued.

Notices have not been issued in relation to the Bondi Junction Westfield stabbings imagery, which has continued to circulate on social media since Saturday.

Search for Australian-Singaporean couple in Taiwan suspended

07:01Helen Davidson

Taiwanese authorities have suspended the search for an Australian-Singaporean couple still missing after a massive earthquake hit the area where they were hiking.

Neo Siew Choo and Sim Hwee Kok are thought to have been walking the popular Shakadang trail inside the Taroko national park in Hualien when a 7.2 magnitude quake hit the county shortly before 8am on 3 April.

Authorities said 17 people were killed, most inside Taroko national park. On Saturday afternoon the body of a truck driver surnamed Hsiao, was found in another part of the park. Hsiao, Neo and Sim were the last three still missing.

Search and rescue teams had been scouring Taroko gorge searching for missing hikers and tourists but on Sunday the Hualien County fire department stopped the search out of safety fears for crews. Almost two weeks after the earthquake, aftershocks have continued and landslides remain a significant danger. The previous day a search crew had narrowly avoided being hit by a landslide, but survived by jumping into the river at the base of the gorge, local media reported.

On Sunday morning family members of Neo and Sim and rescue workers gathered at a bridge near the Shakadang trailhead to hold a soul-calling ritual, to pray for the missing couple to find their way home and rest in peace. Local media said the family had expressed thanks to the crews for their efforts, and hoped the search could resume later when it was safer.

According to Channel News Asia, the family members said:

We hope that Hualien can be rebuilt as soon as possible so that more people can experience the beauty of Hualien and feel the warmth of the people in Hualien.

On Tuesday Taiwan’s ministry of interior said early assessments put the cost of rebuilding the park and its infrastructure at NTD$1bn ($47.8m).

 

06:46

Victoria police investigating death of woman who fell ill after ‘ingesting a drink’ at a retreat

Police are investigating the death of a woman who fell ill after consuming a drink at a retreat on the weekend.

It is believed a woman was at a retreat on Fraser Street when she became ill after ingesting a drink about 12pm, police said.

The 53-year-old Ringwood North woman died at the scene.

Two other people were taken to hospital for observation.

Investigations remain ongoing and police will prepare a report for the Coroner.

Anyone who witnessed the incident or has information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit a confidential report online at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

More on the story:

 

06:03

McKim on Banducci: ‘He’ll have to live with that in terms of his reputation’

Greens senator Nick McKim held a press conference earlier regarding the supermarket inquiry, which threatened to hold outgoing Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci in contempt for repeatedly refusing to answer questions about the company’s profitability.

McKim told reporters it is “not acceptable for the CEO of a major corporation to insult the Senate, and by extension insult the Australian people, by refusing to answer simple questions”.

[Banducci] had to admit he didn’t know the answer to the question I repeatedly put to him. It’s extraordinary that someone on a multimillion-dollar annual salary, paid over $65m since they became the CEO of Woolworths, doesn’t know what the return on equity of his corporation is. It boggles the mind that someone who is so well paid doesn’t know the answer to such a simple question. However, he’s informed the committee he doesn’t know. And he’ll have to live with that in terms of his reputation.

 

06:00Emily Wind

Many thanks for joining me on the blog today. Cait Kelly will be here to take you through the rest of our rolling coverage. And please, take care.

 

05:58Josh Butler

Labor MP says religious, community leaders should bolster efforts of politicians to call for unity

Religious and community leaders must bolster efforts of politicians to call for unity and calm, says an influential Labor MP, in the wake of concerns about social cohesion following the recent Sydney stabbing attacks.

Peter Khalil is chair of the influential Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security. Speaking in Canberra today, he said it was “really important that the community leaders, the religious leaders, really emphasise the importance of maintaining peace and social cohesion in our communities, and that we have law enforcement for a reason.”

“It’s not for the public to take the law into their own hands. It’s the job of the police and our security agencies to do that,” he said, following police being targeted outside the Wakeley church last night.

Khalil, the son of Egyptian migrant parents, said Australia’s multicultural society was a “minor miracle” that should be protected:

Generations of Australians have worked to build up that harmony and that diversity and embrace it. It didn’t happen by magic. It happened because a lot of people with a lot of goodwill built a society in this country where we all have enjoyed the benefits of that.

I think it’s incumbent upon not just political leaders to show leadership in this space, but community leaders, religious leaders, every Australian needs to be really working hard to de-escalate tensions, to reduce tensions and temperature, and I’m one of them.

We don’t want to see the sort of conflicts from overseas playing out in our streets. We accept others, we embrace others and their faith and their differences. But when we start to see violence play out in our streets, I think that’s unacceptable to the vast majority of Australians and I’m one of those and I want to protect the society that has benefited me and my family, over a generation since we came to this country.

 

05:48Josh Butler

Burgess responds to Dutton comments regarding police response to social cohesion issues

Returning briefly to Anthony Albanese’s earlier press conference – the Asio director general, Mike Burgess, was asked about comments made recently by Peter Dutton about police responses to social cohesion issues, and said that “every single Australian” should be careful in how they respond – renewing his warning to political leaders to curb inflammatory language.

Opposition leader, Peter Dutton, in comments made last week before both of the recent Sydney stabbing attacks, was critical of some police responses to incidents of antisemitism in Australia. Speaking specifically about pro-Palestine protests at the Sydney Opera House days after the 7 October Hamas attacks on Israel, Dutton accused police of demonstrating a “supine” response to antisemitism, adding “it would be concerning if – among our top-ranking police officers – there is a reluctance to enforce the law because to do so risks offending certain cultural sensitivities or stoking tension in particular communities”.

Shortly after the 7 October attack, Burgess urged “all parties consider the implications for social cohesion when making public statements … words matter. Asio has seen direct connections between inflamed language and inflamed community tensions.”

Burgess was asked about his previous comments today, shortly after AFP boss Reece Kershaw had slammed the “un-Australian” attacks on police at the Sydney church. The Asio chief wouldn’t comment directly, but responded that language was important:

My response would be all of us, in terms of the language we use, it applies to every single Australian at moments like this.

 

05:29Mostafa Rachwani

Asked if they felt the attack on Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was a terrorist attack, local Assyrians in Wakeley are adamant it wasn’t.

Speaking anonymously, one woman said she didn’t see the point in labelling the attack a terrorist incident, adding that she thought doing so would only make things worse.

How is this terrorism? … How does it help us to call it terrorism?

This should be treated like a hate crime in my opinion, it’s not the same to me as terrorism.

Separately, another man said he believed labelling it a terrorist incident would only inflame tensions further.

The crowd last night reflected the anger and fear in the community, and now calling it terrorism is only going to make people more afraid.

We need to be honest about the tensions between our communities, and we need to have dialogue. Sure we are passionate and outspoken, but wouldn’t you be if your leader was attacked?

Our leaders called for calm, no one called it terrorism.

 

05:24

Farmers must innovate or risk profits, CSIRO says

Australian farmers must continue to adapt to a changing climate or risk seeing their profits halve by 2050, say CSIRO experts.

A new report from Australia’s national science agency has been released after examining what a sustainable future for agriculture looks like. The Ag2050 Scenarios Report found farm profits could drop by half in some areas by 2050 if producers fail to innovate.

Australia will need to accelerate the transformation of its current farming systems.

Rose Roche, who heads up the Ag2050 team that led the study, said farm profits had already dropped 23% for some producers in the past two decades. She told AAP:

The projections have shown that if everything remains the same, then in some areas farm profits could decrease by up to 53%.

The modelling shows businesses won’t be profitable if farmers fail to innovate as temperatures continue to rise. Roche said there is a “real sense of urgency but optimism”.

The report was compiled over six months with input from a broad range of stakeholders across 54 agricultural organisations, from the dairy industry to wool producers, carbon farmers and government.

– AAP

ABS reveals how Australian generations spend their leisure time

05:22

New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics reveals how different generations spend their downtime – with those over 75 spending the most time watching TV, and gen Z spending the most time playing video games.

The data found that across the population (of those aged over 15), people spend roughly 17% of their day on leisure activities. The interwar generation (over 75) spends the most time on leisure (25% of any given day) and millennials the least (13%).

In every generation men spent at least 30 minutes more time on leisure than women, the data found, with gen Z having the largest difference between the sexes. Millennial women spent the least amount of time on leisure of any demographic.

TV habits have well and truly changed between generations – 96% of the interwar generation said they watch television for leisure, compared to 63% of gen Z.

Gen Z and millennial participation in video games was higher than the other generations, but the gender difference is quite large. 17% of millennial men play video games, compared to 6% of millennial women, the data shows.

47% of the interwar generation said they read for leisure, significantly more than baby boomers who are next in line at 30%. Although just 10% of gen Z men say they read for fun, they spend the most time reading, at an average 2h 46m a day.

 

05:03

Lebanese Muslim Association hopes stabbing attack won’t undo 20 years of inter-religious progress

The Lebanese Muslim Association held a press conference from the Lakemba mosque earlier, calling for all Australians to remain united.

Secretary Gamel Kheir said the last thing his community – and the wider Australian community – needed following the Bondi Junction mass stabbing was “more senseless violence”.

We condemn it outright. It has no place in religion, it has no place in this society …

These 20 years of inter-religious affiliations should not go to waste. We’ve been working very hard with other denominations and religions to foster an understanding and appreciation for each other’s faiths, and it’d be very sad for this to be destroyed by an isolated event.

Kheir said the group was undertaking its own vetting scenario to “find out why these youths … feel alienated within the Australian community”.

He said the association had reached out to Assyrian leaders yesterday and hopes they will agree to a joint statement together. Kheir also called on the wider public to remain patient as the police conducted their investigations.

 

04:58

US embassy in Australia reminds citizens to stay vigilant

The US embassy in Australia has issued a warning reminding US citizens to “remain vigilant” following the Bondi Junction mass stabbing.

The embassy hasn’t changed our travel alert category – we are still on level 1.

The message reads:

In the aftermath of the horrific incident at Bondi Junction this weekend, the U.S. Mission to Australia would like to remind U.S. citizens to remain vigilant; be aware of your surroundings; and practice sound personal security and situational awareness. As this incident showed, dangerous events can occur in the most unexpected of areas. Visitors to congested and popular tourist areas should pay particular attention to their surroundings and always follow the instructions of police and emergency response officials.

 

04:57Mostafa Rachwani

Witnesses respond to video of police pepper spraying man holding a cross

One video from last night’s riot that has stood out to the many community members milling about outside the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church today was of police pepper spraying a man holding a cross.

According to witnesses, who have all asked to remain anonymous, it was this move by police that sparked much of the violence among the crowd.

In the video, a man can be seen holding an illuminated cross above his head, before a scuffle leads to it falling, enraging those standing around him.

According to witnesses, this incident led to some members of the crowd throwing bricks and stones at the assembled police and their cars, shattering windows and injuring some officers.

One bystander, Maria, said the police should have known better how to handle such a crowd:

As soon as the cross hit the ground, people got even angrier, feeling as though their religion had been insulted. So now, our bishop has been attacked and our religion insulted. People are going to react the way they’re going to react.

You just can’t do that, particularly in that situation. You need to be calming people down. They wanted to get in and get to the attacker, and this is how you handle them? Very disappointing.

 

04:53Mostafa Rachwani

Assyrian community critical of police response to stabbing attack

Members of the Assyrian community have criticised how the police handled the situation last night, specifically saying how unprepared they seemed to be for how incendiary the situation was.

Nahro, who was witness to the riot last night, said police had initially attended the scene seemingly under the impression it was a straightforward situation.

There were just a couple of them, alongside the ambulance. They arrived around the same time as the crowd started gathering, and the police looked unprepared, but we all knew what was going to happen … the police should have been more prepared.

Monica Gayed was in attendance last night, saying she had wanted to go to church and was unaware of what was going on until she arrived. She accused the police of behaving “disgustingly” and said they were too aggressive in how they dealt with the crowd.

I was appalled, they pushed and shoved me so much, I had just come to attend the church and they didn’t care what anyone had to say.

She said she saw police barricade themselves in the church to get away from the surging crowd, only enraging them further.

People were outraged, maybe understandably, but there are ways of dealing with people that are angry that doesn’t involve pepper spray and using force.

She said that as the police sought to clear a way out of the church, they were aggressively moving people on and using pepper spray on the crowd. Many had to escape into neighbouring homes to get away from it.

Some of us had just come to see what was going on, some had come to check in on the bishop, it was just unfair.

NSW police were contacted for a response, and referred us to comments made by the commissioner at this morning’s press conference.

 

04:42Mostafa Rachwani

Last night’s stabbing attack ‘triggering’ for Assyrian community

The events from last night are still reverberating around the local Assyrian community, with many saying they felt the crowd gathering and reacting was justified, if a little too passionate.

Maria, who asked to remain anonymous, said many in the community still felt the trauma of being persecuted by Muslim communities in Iraq.

She explained that the community felt “on edge” by the proximity to the Australian Muslim community, and that last night’s attack was “triggering”.

There are a lot of old wounds between these communities. There is a long-standing history between our community and the Muslim community, and this attack has just sparked lots of deep wounds.

We have always felt something would happen. We don’t feel safe. Our trauma still lingers, we are all very connected to Iraq.

Maria said she was close with Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, having attended many of his lessons, and that many in the crowd had great respect for him. She added that the crowd was incited by posts being spread on social media, videos or voice recordings that were “inflammatory”.

They were reacting to what they were seeing on social media. There were many inflammatory posts making the rounds, people advocating for violence and the such. It was making lots of people very angry.

We are a very heartbroken community today. We just want to live in peace. We are fearful and angry at the same time.

 

04:36

‘World is watching’ Australia’s response to Great Barrier Reef bleaching, Greens says

As Graham Readfearn reported overnight, global heating has pushed the world’s coral reefs to a fourth planet-wide mass bleaching event that is on track to be the most extensive on record.

You can read the full story below:

Greens spokesperson for healthy oceans, Peter Whish-Wilson, said the “world is watching” and Australia can’t afford to “continue to monitor the Great Barrier Reef to its death”.

He noted 75% of the reef is now bleached and said the government “must take a leadership role in protecting [it] by increasing Australia’s climate ambition and improving our broken environment laws.”

Frustratingly, Labor appears satisfied with a weak climate target that is consistent with degrading 99% of the world’s coral reefs, and is failing to show meaningful accountability for breaking its election promise to deliver comprehensive environmental law reform.

You can’t acknowledge climate change is the biggest threat to our marine ecosystems on one hand, and on the other rip open new coal and gas projects that are cooking our oceans. It’s completely disingenuous.

So long as Labor is beholden to vested interests and big corporations, Australia will never get the climate action or environmental protection it needs to save the Great Barrier Reef from being annihilated by political stupidity.

 

04:32

Peter Dutton calls for calm following stabbing attack

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, is speaking to the media from Perth after yesterday’s stabbing attack in western Sydney.

He thanked police officers for their efforts and said “violence of any form is not to be tolerated”.

Dutton said he wrote to the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, this morning offering his “full support” for any measures the government believes should be implemented after the two recent stabbing attacks in Sydney.

He has also requested a briefing from Asio and the AFP commissioner in relation to the current threat level in Australia.

Dutton noted community leaders are calling for calm, and said people should heed this:

It is a volatile period. You can understand the anxiety that Australians will be feeling, particularly trying to explain what’s happening in our country in the last week to young children. What we know is that Australia is a peaceful country. We have never had civil conflict as part of our history and we don’t want to be part of our present or future. People come from all parts of the world to our country and we have been an incredible success story and if people have differences of opinion, if they disagree or agree with people, [that] needs to be done in a respectful way and we need to remind ourselves of that.

Leaders in the community … have stood up and called for calm [and] their words should be heeded by people in those communities.

 

04:29Mostafa Rachwani

More from Wakeley locals following yesterday’s stabbing attack

Locals have explained that the gathering at the Christ the Good Shepherd church was a memorial for someone who had passed away a year ago. The service was mostly prayers, unlike the usual weekday services at the Church, which are usually lessons or Bible studies.

Christian, a local member of the Assyrian community, said the service was for a relative of his and that was why there was a relatively large crowd in the Church at the time.

He said the reason a crowd formed so quickly was a combination of the video of the attack spreading like wildfire, and the popularity of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel:

People love him, he has helped so many people in our community and in every community. You have to understand, he has brought young people to the church, he has addressed social issues, he is on top of everything.

Sure he is passionate [but] nothing can justify such an attack.

Another local, Michael, said the surge in the crowd reflected the Bishop’s popularity, as well as the level of anger at what is being perceived in the Assyrian community as a religious attack.

Obviously the boys overreacted, but they were outraged, imagine your faith leader is attacked?

People moved to come to the church within 5 minutes. The boys were nervous, they were on edge, they heard so many rumours and were here to see what happened. They surged when they heard the attacker was Muslim.

Assyrians are never afraid, they wanted to get their hands on the attacker, they wanted to enact street justice. They were angry police were holding them back.

Neither men were involved in any violence outside the church.

 

04:20Jonathan Barrett

Coles CEO concedes suppliers need price transparency

The Coles chief executive, Leah Weckert, has acknowledged the supermarket needs to improve how it interacts with produce suppliers, amid claims the major chains unfairly use their market power when negotiating prices.

“Claims have been made about how we interact with our suppliers,” Weckert told the Senate inquiry into supermarket practices today.

We acknowledge that we don’t always get it right but all our procedures seek to ensure fair and sustainable relationships.

Fresh produce producers and the dairy sector have told the committee that their sectors are at threat due in part to what they describe as unsustainable pricing demands.

Weckert said some suppliers had been working with Coles for generations:

Coles would be very willing to be part of a solution that would involve greater [price] transparency for fresh produce growers.

The Senate inquiry is designed to investigate how big supermarkets set prices and use their market power when dealing with suppliers.

Food consumption data shows that households have been purchasing less food, especially fruit and vegetables, as prices rise. The slump in demand, however, has not dented supermarket profit making, as it typically would in a more competitive market.

 

04:18Adam Morton

More on the changes to environmental laws being announced

Stepping away from the Dutton presser, here are some more on the changes to environment laws being announced today by the environment minister, Tanya Plibersek.

In a statement, she said the promised Environment Protection Agency would have “strong new powers and penalties to better enforce federal laws”. Its chief would be an independent statutory appointment similar to the Australian federal police commissioner “to make sure no government can interfere with the new agency’s important enforcement work”.

Plibersek said the EPA would be able to issue environment protection orders – effectively “stop-work” orders – and that serious breaches could lead to fines of up to $780m and prison terms of up to seven years.

Plibersek said a second new body, Environment Information Australia, would release a national state of the environment report every two years. They are currently compiled every five years.

She said the government would dedicate $100m to speed up environmental approvals.

The Greens said the changes did not go far enough, and accused the government of giving in to a two-year campaign by “the mining industry and big developers” .

The party’s environment spokesperson, Sarah Hanson-Young, said the government was engaged in “piecemeal tinkering” when it had promised a full environment law reform package.

Labor promised to fix Australia’s broken environment laws but without stopping native forest logging and fossil fuel expansions the government will be failing to protect our planet and failing to keep its promise to the Australian people.

Dutton says bipartisanship ‘important’ after Sydney church stabbing

04:14

Asked if there are any specific federal laws he believes need to be changed in relation to knife crime, Peter Dutton said there would be discussions around this but his view is “there are none that are obvious”.

We are willing and we stand ready to support the government. I think the offer of bipartisanship support at the moment is important.

I have expressed that in my letter to the prime minister today that we stand shoulder to shoulder with the government to provide reassurance to the Australian public at the moment who, off the back of Bondi, what we saw in western Sydney and what the Jewish community is experiencing at the moment, I think people would expect us to take that stance and we do.

 

04:13

Peter Dutton is now taking questions from reporters and is asked if he would like to see the states introduce tougher stop and search laws.

That’s an issue for the premiers and if there are laws that need to be tightened on a federal level than we would certainly offer bipartisan support and sensible reforms that the government has put on the table as well.

Commitment to rewrite national environment laws further delayed

04:04Lisa Cox

The Albanese government has further delayed a commitment to rewrite Australia’s failing national environment laws.

The environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the government would introduce legislation in coming weeks to create two previously announced bodies – an Environment Protection Agency and a second organisation called Environment Information Australia, which will provide public data on ecosystems, plants and animals.

But a commitment to introduce laws to address Australia’s extinction crisis, including new national environmental standards against which development proposals would be assessed, has been pushed back to an unspecified date.

The delay is likely to spark accusations that the government has broken a promise to deliver substantial environment reform in one package.

Plibersek had initially promised new laws – initially in draft form for public consultation, and then to parliament – last year. Speaking in 2022, she said the laws were “broken” and the government would act in 2023 to introduce national environmental standards, speed up decision-making and improve trust and integrity in the system.

But in a statement today, she said key reforms recommended by a 2020 review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act – including national standards focused on better outcomes for nature – had been deferred to a “third stage” of legislation.

She said the third stage of the government’s “nature positive plan” would involve the government releasing a “comprehensive draft” of new environmental laws for public consultation.

When I first announced the nature positive plan, I said it would take a bit of cooperation, compromise and common sense to deliver. That’s exactly how we’re approaching the rollout.

 

03:53

The eSafety commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is due to speak to the media about the “spread of distressing and harmful online material” later today.

She is scheduled to front the media at 2.30pm, AEDT. We’ll aim to bring you this live here on the blog.

 

03:44Peter Hannam

China’s economy grew a lot more than economists had forecast in the March quarter

As noted in an earlier post, China’s GDP numbers are out today, and they did surprise a lot.

For the first three months of 2024, China’s economy clocked up 5.3% growth, or well ahead of the 4.8% pace expected by a Bloomberg survey (and much higher than Reuters‘ 4.6% forecast).

Given the government had set a goal of “around 5%” growth from 2024 overall, it’s fair to say that the year has begun well (at least according to official numbers).

Somewhat unusually, the national stats bureau has also revised higher the quarterly growth rate for the December quarter. (Revisions aren’t that common even though the figures are published within a few weeks of the end of each quarter and China is a rather big nation.)

Not all the readings were bullish, though. Retail sales were up 3.1% from a year earlier but shy of the 4.6% pace the Reuters survey of economists had tipped. New construction starts were also down 27.8% from a year earlier, Reuters said. That reflected ongoing weakness in that part of the economy.

Economists in Australia (especially those in treasury) will be watching reaction to today’s figures closely. If iron ore prices hold steady, for instance, that will shore up demand in Australia and revenue inflows.

The Australian dollar, meanwhile, seems to be intent on sinking below the 64 US-cent mark, trading lately at 64.1 US cents. That is about four US cents weaker than where it started in 2024.

Wakeley on edge after stabbing attack

03:40Mostafa Rachwani

Tension hangs in the air in Wakeley, around the Assyrian Christ the Good Shepherd church that was the site of a stabbing attack last night.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was attacked at a service last night, sparking a riot in surrounding streets, with neighbours telling me they feel shaken.

Dharma Nand lives across the road from the church and said he was terrified at the crowd’s violence last night:

We heard a commotion around 7pm last night and we came out to see what was going on. We saw so many people just rushing up to the church.

At first they were standing and shouting but soon it became overcrowded and people were surging at the fence and at the walls – they wanted to get in.

They were parking in my driveway, parking anywhere and just rushing to the church, trying to get in. The police tried to hold them back and things got nasty.

Nand said he was even considering moving because of the violence and said he was feeling shaken by the whole incident.

Other neighbours refused to speak, shutting the door and asking reporters to get off their lawns as they watched police continue their investigation in the church.

Wendy, who asked for her surname to be withheld, lives up the road from the church and said she heard the commotion but stayed indoors to protect her children. She said they could smell the pepper spray and could hear people screaming.

It was terrifying and very loud. We stayed inside and tried to watch from the balcony but the smell of pepper spray became overwhelming.

The roads became blocked by the crowds very quickly. No one could get in or out. They kept chanting ‘let him out’ and yelling at police to allow them to enter the church.

 

03:26

Amy MacMahon returns to Queensland parliament after car crash injuries

A Queensland Greens MP has made an emotional return to state parliament, two months after being seriously injured in a car crash, AAP has reported.

Amy MacMahon on Tuesday said her recovery was far from over despite medical leave stint since the two-car collision at a busy Brisbane intersection on 12 February.

But she was grateful to be back at work after suffering head and suspected spinal injuries in the Kangaroo Point crash.

MacMahon was taken to hospital in a serious but stable condition after her Toyota Prius and a Hyundai i30 collided.

She told parliament:

I returned to parliament today after two months of medical leave following a car crash and I have some recovery ahead of me but I’m feeling immensely grateful to be back at work.

The MP had left a function and was on her way to another community event when the collision occurred.

 

03:05Peter Hannam

Sun shines on rooftop solar as wind hits a bit of a lull

Australian households now have more than 20 gigawatts of solar panel capacity on their rooftops, according to a new half-yearly report on the sector by the Clean Energy Council.

That was enough to supply 11.2% of Australia’s electricity last year, or about one-ninth.

Queensland, dubbed the sunshine state for a reason, has passed the million rooftop systems mark, while the not-very-cloudy New South Wales hit 970 megawatts for new installations last year – a record in itself.

The Albanese government has lately launched a $1bn SunShot program to make more solar panels in Australia, and there’s also the “Future Made in Australia” package that will get more details in next month’s budget. (We looked at the economics of these ideas in this weekend piece.)

The CEC also noted that households added 57,000 so-called behind the meter batteries last year, as the economics of such devices keep on improving. Since 2020, more than 150,000 batteries have been added.

Still, slightly fewer than one-in-five new solar systems came with a battery in 2023, a ratio that offers potential to increase – particularly if battery prices keep falling and power prices don’t look like retreating very far.

Meanwhile, relatively calm mid-autumn weather in eastern Australia is creating a bit of a lull in wind energy generation, according to Paul McArdle, an energy expert.

It’s probably a good time for such a lull, though, given there’s not much need for heating or cooling just now in many parts of the country.

 

02:53

Aboriginal language names for Art Gallery of New South Wales buildings

A new Art Gallery of New South Wales building has been given the Aboriginal name Naala Badu, meaning “seeing waters” in the Sydney language.

The original art gallery building, with its 19th-century sandstone facade, has also received a Sydney language name Naala Nura meaning “seeing Country”.

The name of the 153-year-old institution is unchanged as the Art Gallery of New South Wales, according to a statement.

Art Gallery trustee and inaugural chair of the art gallery’s Indigenous advisory group, Tony Albert, said of the new names:

As an Indigenous Australian for whom English is my second language, having not had the opportunity to learn my first language, I applaud the gift of living, breathing language for the Art Gallery’s two buildings.

With the spotlight on the Art Gallery’s new initiatives for Aboriginal art and culture, we’ve created a globally renowned art destination where visitors can experience the best art and culture Australia has to offer.

The new names are displayed on both buildings as of today, and will be reflected online.

 

02:50

Anthony Albanese has shared this video from his earlier press conference, responding to the stabbing attack in Wakeley last night:

 

02:49

Graffiti on wall dedicated to Israeli hostages ‘deeply distressing’, Zionism Victoria says

Zionism Victoria has expressed “deep distress” after a wall dedicated to hostages held in Gaza was vandalised overnight.

A wall in St Kilda which displayed images of hostages held in Gaza alongside the phrase “bring them home now” appears to have been painted over in black, with the words ‘Free Palestine’ painted in white.

Executive director Zeddy Lawrence said it was a “deeply distressing act of graffiti”:

Targeting a memorial established by members of the Jewish community does nothing to advance the cause of peace and only serves to fuel tensions, further undermining the multiculturalism that Victoria is supposed to pride itself on.

Bruce Lehrmann withdraws from ‘Restoring the Presumption of Innocence’ conference

02:35Tory Shepherd

Bruce Lehrmann has pulled out of a conference called “Restoring the Presumption of Innocence” the day after Justice Michael Lee found that, on the balance of probabilities, he raped Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019.

The sponsors, Mothers of Sons, said Lehrmann “decided not to appear”. They posted on Facebook:

He is being subject to extremely aggressive pursuit by the media and is concerned that his participation may threaten the audience, jeopardise this important event, and distract from its main purpose.

Bettina Arndt, who describes her work as “denouncing feminism and advocating for men’s rights”, is organising the conference along with Australians for Science and Freedom (ASF).

In promotional material shared by Arndt before the trial, Lehrmann is described as the “poster boy for trial by media” who has “endured years of having his reputation trashed”.

ASF comprises people who “objected to the government’s response to the pandemic”, that material said.

The conference is sponsored by Mothers of Sons, who describe themselves as a group of women whose “sons have faced extraordinary ordeals in our unjust, anti-male legal systems and workplaces”.

They said the conference would go ahead with an alternative presenter:

[While] ensuring that the Lehrmann case still receives appropriate attention at the conference as a powerful example of trial by media undermining the vital legal principle of the presumption of innocence.

There was already a petition to cancel the event, which is scheduled for 1 June at a mystery location in Rushcutters Bay. Tickets are $110 for ASF members and $132 for non members.

 

02:33Eden Gillespie

Queensland health minister questioned on government investment in mental health care and services

Queensland’s health minister, Shannon Fentiman, says she is “working very closely” with the state’s mental health commissioner and housing minister after the Bondi mass stabbing incident on Saturday.

Joel Cauchi, the Queensland man who killed six people in Bondi, was diagnosed with mental illness when he was a teenager and had reportedly been sleeping in his vehicle or in backpackers’ accommodation in the lead-up to the incident.

The state’s only independent MP, Sandy Bolton, asked Fentiman about how the government could support those with serious mental health issues in light of the stabbing incident.

Fentiman said the state government is investing $1.6bn over five years in mental health care and services:

I’m also working very closely with the minister for housing and the mental health commissioner to look at what more we can provide [in] supported accommodation.

Words cannot express how devastating the attack was that we saw come out on Saturday afternoon. And of course my condolences go to the friends and families of those who were killed alongside everyone else and witnesses at the hospital that are still recuperating.

 

02:25

Close call for alleged drink-driver in Victoria

A 42-year-old man from Doncaster East had a lucky escape after his car was left hanging over a 5-metre drop last night.

According to a statement from Victoria police, the man allegedly reversed through a garden bed, before crashing into a fence and ending up with his car precariously balanced on the edge of a retaining wall at Blackburn shopping centre at about 6.25pm last night.

The car was winched up by Fire Rescue while the man was still inside, and then pulled to safety in the car park.

Officers spoke to the driver who allegedly returned a reading of .255 on an evidentiary breath test, which police said is more than five times the legal limit.

His licence was immediately suspended and he is expected to be charged on summons with drink-driving offences.

RMIT journalism student Mia Cutugno shared this photo of the incident:

 

02:21Peter Hannam

Consumer confidence perked up a little but Sydney unease won’t help

The economy hasn’t been the centre of news lately for understandable reasons. We do get March jobs figures on Thursday that may create a few ripples in the media pond, depending on how strong or weak they are.

Australians’ consumer confidence, meanwhile, improved a tad last week but “remains stubbornly weak”, according to ANZ/Roy Morgan and their survey of 1,509 people in the week to Sunday.

Inflation expectations also improved a bit, easing 0.1% to 5.2%. (We get the ABS’s March CPI quarter numbers on 24 April.)

Markets have lots to churn over, though, including signs the US economy is running a bit hotter than investors expected. Inflation there has halted its recent decline, prompting forecasts other nations will face similar challenges to rein-in price increases.

For Australia, investors have nudged back to December the month they are fully pricing in an RBA interest rate cut from 4.35% to 4.1%, according to the ASX rates tracker.

China, meanwhile, will release its March quarter GDP figures (and a bunch of others) at noon, AEST. Economists are expecting annual growth to come in at 4.8% (versus 5.2% for 2023).

Statistics from China tend to draw some scepticism. Still, a stronger-than-expected GDP growth number (or signs of a slowing of the slide in property sales) will probably revive confidence about the strength of the world’s second-biggest economy. (Or the reverse.)

We’ll find out soon enough if optimism or pessimism wins out on that particular front.

Translation of video taken during alleged stabbing incident

02:21Mostafa Rachwani

In a video shared via private WhatsApp groups, the alleged attacker is seen being held on the ground inside the church, surrounded by people.

Amid the chaos, the alleged attacker can be heard speaking. He allegedly says in Arabic:

If he [the bishop] didn’t get himself involved in my religion, if he hadn’t spoken about my Prophet, I wouldn’t have come here.

If he just spoke about his own religion, I wouldn’t have come.

The video reportedly shows the mayhem that followed the attack, with people in bloodied clothes walking around as the alleged attacker is held against the ground.

It is unclear who was holding him down and why, or if there were any authorities present at the time.

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel, who has a popular online presence, has previously criticised Islam and the Prophet Muhammad in public sermons.

 

02:16Josh Butler

Asio boss says evidence suggesting religious motivation led to quick labelling as terror incident

Earlier, the Asio boss, Mike Burgess, explained why the church stabbing was classified quickly as a terror incident.

He said the incident appeared to be religiously motivated, but that there was no indication of wider threat or danger to the community, or any indication that there was anyone else involved – but wouldn’t say when the alleged offender, a 16-year-old, first came to police attention, or if he may have been radicalised online.

Simple answer is, to call it a terrorist act, you need indications of information or evidence that suggest actually the motivation was religiously motivated or ideologically motivated. In the case of Saturday [the stabbing at Bondi Junction], that was not the case. In this case, the information we have and the police have before us indicates that is strongly the case. That is why it was called an act of terrorism.

But it’s prudent that we do this to determine there’s no threats or immediate threats to security. At this time, we’re not seeing that.

Burgess explained that one incident of terror did not actually raise the terror threat level that Asio sets, which is currently at “possible”.

When we lowered the terrorism threat level to possible, I said at the time ‘possible’ does not mean ‘negligible’ and the most likely attack is an individual that goes to violence with little or no warning with a knife, car or gun … Our investigation and support of the police continues.

 

02:01

‘Western Sydney is united in standing against all forms of hatred and violence’: Chris Bowen

The federal climate change and energy minister, Chris Bowen, has also issued a statement after last night’s stabbing incident:

Such violence has no place in any community.

We stand in solidarity with the Assyrian community, condemning this heinous act, and sending strength for a swift recovery to Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and others who were victims of this attack.

Western Sydney is united in standing against all forms of hatred and violence. Thank you to the service men and women who are assisting our community at this difficult time.

 

01:59Josh Butler

AFP commissioner labels attacks on police outside Wakeley church ‘un-Australian’

The AFP commissioner, Reece Kershaw, and the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, have been scathing of attacks on police outside the Wakeley church last night. At their press conference earlier, Kershaw called it “a disgraceful act from the community who attacked police at that scene”.

My support goes to the New South Wales police commissioner and the New South Wales police officers who were there to protect the community. It was really un-Australian to see that happen last night.

Albanese called the stabbing attack on the bishop as a “disturbing incident”, saying “there is no place for violence in our community, there’s no place for violent extremism”:

Can I say that we understand the distress and concerns that are there in the community, particularly after the tragic event at Bondi Junction on Saturday. But it’s not acceptable to impede and injure police doing their duty, or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night.

People should not take the law into their own hands but should allow our police, and our security agencies, to do their job. My job as prime minister is to give them that support. And I will continue to do so.

 

01:57

NSW opposition leader joins premier and faith leaders in calling for calm

The NSW opposition leader, Mark Speakman, has issued a statement on the stabbing incident in Wakeley overnight.

He said his thoughts and prayers are with victims of the attack, and with police and paramedics who “exercised their duties under extremely difficult conditions”.

Speakman said the response by “some members of the public was unacceptable”.

The scenes we saw last night have no place in NSW.

I join with the premier and faith leaders in calling for calm.

Speakman said NSW is “one of the greatest testaments to multiculturalism” and during these times “we must come together to support one another”.

He added:

It is important that people receive their information from official sources and don’t contribute to speculation and misinformation through social media.

 

01:40

The Greens leader, Adam Bandt, says he is “horrified” by the stabbing incident in western Sydney overnight.

In a post to X, he said:

We must recommit ourselves to working together for peace and tolerance.

The Greens condemn the shocking violence in Wakeley, including the [alleged] violence against first responders, and join the calls for calm.

Supermarkets inquiry threatens to hold Woolworths CEO in contempt

01:40Jonathan Barrett

An Australian parliamentary inquiry has threatened to hold Brad Banducci, the chief executive of Woolworths, in contempt for repeatedly refusing to answer questions about the company’s profitability.

The Greens senator Nick McKim, who is chairing the Senate inquiry into supermarket practices, ordered a short suspension in the hearings this morning after telling Banducci he may be held in contempt:

I also feel compelled to advise you that that opens up a range of sanctions, personal sanctions that can be applied against you, if that’s what the Senate decides to do.

McKim said a person found to be in contempt could be subject to a penalty of up to six months’ imprisonment.

Banducci was repeatedly asked by the Senate committee to disclose the company’s return on equity, an important gauge of profitability, amid claims that it price gouges customers and unfairly puts pressure on suppliers.

Banducci declined to answer the question, preferring to cite a different profit metric.

 

01:36

Webb takes questions on whether alleged offender had fingers cut off

Circling back to the press conference early this morning with the NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb.

Webb was repeatedly asked about rumours the alleged teenage offender’s fingers were cut off during the incident.

Webb said “it’s really too early to say” and added:

That’s not clear yet whether it’s self-inflicted or through the melee that occurred, or some other way. And I understand that it’s possibly a flick knife. But that’s to be confirmed as well.

Q: You don’t know whether the crowd in their anger cut off his fingers, or his own flick of the knife caused injury:

Webb:

It will be through statements from witnesses and victims that we’ll determine that … The victims are in surgery. The [alleged] offender has been into the surgery. It’s too early to say. We’ll provide more information when it’s available.

She said “no one is trying to be coy about this information” and it would be presented to the public when appropriate.

Full statement from NSW faith leaders

01:32

Earlier, we reported that faith leaders had backed a joint call for unity after last night’s stabbing incident in western Sydney.

Here is the full statement from NSW faith leaders, authorised by Dr Rateb Jneid – president of the Australian Federation of Islamic Councils – and sheikh Riad El-Rifai, from the National Grand Mufti of Australia.

We represent community leaders from our communities.

We are united in calling for calm in response to the events at Wakeley [yesterday] evening.

We reject violence in all its forms.

We are calling on our communities to extend our message of care and compassion to all.

We have trust in our first responders and confidence in their work.

We’re calling on everyone to act with kindness and respect for each other.

Now is the time to show that we are strong and united as a NSW community.

 

01:21Eden Gillespie

Queensland premier offers condolences to people affected by two Sydney stabbing incidents

The Queensland premier, Steven Miles, has offered his “deepest condolences” and “best wishes” to those affected by the two stabbing incidents in Sydney.

Miles said in response to the incident in Bondi, Queensland had stepped up its police presence at shopping centres with additional patrols and business walkthroughs:

I have reached out to [NSW premier Chris] Minns and expressed on behalf of Queenslanders our deepest condolences for what those families are experiencing and indeed the impacts it will have on first responders, and the wider New South Wales community.

I expressed to him that we stand ready to provide whatever assistance we could as they move to progress their investigations.

Miles said Australia’s “greatest asset is our strength and resilience”:

The nation has come together to support each other. Hand in hand, we will get through this.

 

01:13

Someone has asked Asio boss Mike Burgess about a video circulating of the alleged offender speaking in Arabic. Is there something the bishop may have said that could have brought this attack on?

Burgess: “We’re aware of that line of inquiry.”

We will have more on the video in just a moment.

*A previous version of this post incorrectly attributed this quote to Albanese.

 

01:11

PM says he remains concerned over role of social media

Taking a question on the role of social media, Anthony Albanese said he had spoken with the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, about his concerns and says Rowland “has acted this morning, as has the eSafety commissioner”.

We remain concerned about the role of social media, including the publication of videos that can be very harmful, particularly for younger people who have access. Anyone with a phone essentially can do that …

We continue to work with the eSafety commissioner and to use what powers are at our disposal to demand that material be taken down. I know the AFP commissioner and the security agencies are engaged in that as well. We’ll continue to monitor it.

 

01:11

New South Wales police have confirmed with us that the alleged offender involved in last night’s stabbing incident is 16 year’s old.

Earlier, it was reported that they were 15.

Asio head says Wakeley incident ‘does appear to be religiously motivated’

01:08

Asio boss Mike Burgess was next to speak and said Asio’s role in the investigation is to support NSW police:

It does appear to be religiously motivated but we continue our lines of investigation.

Burgess said Asio would “look at individuals connected with the attacker to assure ourselves there’s no one else in the community with similar intent”:

At this stage, we have no indications of that. But it’s prudent that we do this to determine there’s no threats or immediate threats to security. At this time, we’re not seeing that.

 

01:02Jonathan Barrett

Woolworths CEO clashes with Senate inquiry

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci is having a terse exchange with the Greens senator Nick McKim, who is chairing the parliamentary inquiry into supermarket practices.

McKim repeatedly asked Banducci this morning to disclose to the inquiry the company’s return on equity (ROE), an important gauge of profitability.

The head of Australia’s biggest supermarket chain declined to answer the question, preferring to cite a different profit measure.

McKim took issue with this:

I put it to you the reason you don’t want to focus on return on equity is because you don’t like the story that it’s telling, which is that you are basically profiteering and making off with massive profits at the expense of farmers, at the expense of your workers and at the expense of Australian shoppers who you are price gouging.

Why won’t you answer a simple question about what your ROE is?

Are you struggling with the ordinary English language meaning of the words that I’m using in my questions?

There has also been a sharp focus on the strong profits recorded by Coles and Woolworths during a period of fast-rising grocery prices that have put pressure on households.

Profit margins at Woolworths have spiked far above pre-pandemic levels.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:55

Mike Burgess was asked whether the current terror level threat for Australia had been raised:

… One incident like this does not change the threat level but we keep it under review.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:54

AFP commissioner says counter-terror team will investigate incident ‘from all angles’

Australian federal police commissioner, Reece Kershaw, said the AFP, Asio and NSW police would continue to investigate how the alleged stabbing occurred and the individual who was allegedly involved.

This attack will have a significant impact on the Australian community, and I would like to reassure the Australian community that the AFP, together with its law enforcement partners, particularly under the joint counter-terrorism team, is working to investigate this incident from all angles.

As this is an ongoing investigation, it would be inappropriate to discuss further details and we urge anyone with information to contact New South Wales police. All Australians should remain vigilant and I urge people who see or hear something that they feel is not right to contact the national security hotline immediately on 1800 123 400.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:52Josh Butler

Standing by for Albanese press conference

We’re standing by for an update on the western Sydney church stabbing from the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, in Canberra.

The PM’s office advised a short notice press conference this morning, where the PM is expected to be joined by the Asio boss, Mike Burgess, and Australian federal police commissioner, Reece Kershaw.

Albanese and the home affairs minister, Clare O’Neil, said this morning they’d been briefed by security agencies on the church incident. Albanese said a joint counter-terror taskforce had been set up this morning.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:52

The prime minister noted that overnight, police declared the alleged stabbing a terror incident and a joint counter-terrorism taskforce had been established, including the AFP and Asio.

We understand the distress and concerns that are there in the community, particularly after the tragic event at Bondi Junction on Saturday. But it’s not acceptable to impede and injure police doing their duty, or to damage police vehicles in a way that we saw last night. People should not take the law into their own hands, but should allow our police, and our security agencies, to do their job.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:48

In case you’re just joining us, here is the full story regarding NSW police treating last night’s stabbing incident in Wakeley as a terrorist act:

No place for ‘violent extremism’ in Australia, prime minister says

16 Apr 2024 00:48

Anthony Albanese is now speaking to the media about last night’s stabbing incident in Wakeley.

He said the incident was “disturbing” and there was “no place for violence in our community” and no place for “violent extremism”.

We’re a peace-loving nation. This is a time to unite, not divide, as a community and as a country.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:39Jonathan Barrett

Woolworths denies ‘land banking’ claims

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci was asked at the Senate inquiry if the supermarket engages in “land banking”, a strategy that ties up sites to block competitors.

Banducci denied the claim:

All the land that we acquire is with an eye to develop, either as a distribution centre or industrial support infrastructure we need to put in, or to growth corridors where we hope we will see a new Australian community that we will have a privilege to serve.

The Senate inquiry previously heard that Australia’s major chains try to stifle competition by land banking prime sites, buying out competitors and taking over shopping centres to put in their own stores.

Australian National Imams Council condemns alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley

16 Apr 2024 00:24

The Australian National Imams Council and the Australian Muslim community said they “unequivocally condemn” the alleged stabbing incident at a church in Sydney’s west last night.

In a statement, the council said:

These attacks are horrifying and have no place in Australia, particularly at places of worship and toward religious leaders.

Our thoughts and prayers are with Bishop Emmanuel and the victims and we pray for their speedy recovery.

We urge the community to stay calm and work together towards the safety and the security of all Australians.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:24

Circling back to the prime minister’s earlier interview on ABC Radio Melbourne:

Anthony Albanese was asked whether the Labor party needed to withdraw any comments it had made in the past, after a judge expressed scepticism in his defamation findings yesterday about claims that some in the Morrison government tried to cover up Brittany Higgins’ allegations.

Albanese said “I think that at the time we, I believe, acted responsibly”:

Broadly speaking, this is a difficult time for any person that has been the subject of sexual harassment or abuse or assault.

As prime minister, I take these matters seriously. There have been changes made at Parliament House to make this a safer place to work for women. That work is ongoing.

Q: Do you think women are going to think twice before they come forward?

Albanese said “I certainly hope that’s not the case”:

I have every sympathy for the experience that Brittany Higgins has gone through. It’s been extraordinarily difficult for her. The federal court, of course, has made these findings yesterday. What’s clear is that everyone has a right to be safe at work.

Albanese was again asked if he is “comfortable” with everything he said at the time:

Well, it would be quite extraordinary if an alleged incident – which the judge has found on the balance of probabilities did occur – occurred within metres of the office that I now occupy, and we did not ask questions about it.

 

16 Apr 2024 00:07

Greens echo call for unity following alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley

The Greens senator David Shoebridge has added his voice to a growing call for unity, following last night’s alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley.

In a post to X, he said the alleged attack was “utterly against our collective values of tolerance, acceptance and peace”.

The attack in Western Sydney last night was utterly against our collective values of tolerance, acceptance and peace.

The violence against first responders that followed was appalling.

Let’s remember how much we have in common and work towards peace wherever we stand.

Woolworths CEO tells Senate it doesn’t price gouge and says supermarkets are ‘incredibly competitive’

16 Apr 2024 00:02Jonathan Barrett

Woolworths chief executive, Brad Banducci, has denied that the supermarket chain price gouges shoppers, telling a Senate inquiry that Australians wouldn’t shop with it if it did:

I would respectfully submit that this is an incredibly competitive market and that is good for consumers.

The Senate inquiry is designed to investigate how big supermarkets set prices and use their market power when dealing with suppliers.

There has also been a sharp focus on the strong profits recorded by Coles and Woolworths during a period of fast-rising grocery prices that have put pressure on households.

Banducci said that large suppliers had driven grocery price increases:

While at Woolworths we’re now seeing falling rates of grocery inflation, nevertheless, we understand that many of our customers are under immense cost-of-living pressure. If we do not generate value for our customers, they don’t shop with us for the whole or part of their basket.

Supermarkets around the world tend to earn modest margins, but can generate large profits due to the high-volume nature of grocery sales, especially in markets with limited competition.

The Greens senator Nick McKim, who chairs the Senate committee, said the inquiry had heard evidence to suggest the major supermarkets use their market power to pressure suppliers and customers:

You’ve used this market dominance to put the squeeze on your suppliers including farmers, to force down wages, to compromise staff safety and to price gouge your customers.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:59Paul Karp

PM declines to disclose alleged offender’s religion

On ABC Melbourne, Anthony Albanese was asked repeatedly whether authorities knew the religion of the alleged offender in the Wakeley incident, and whether he was refusing to say because he was unsure.

Albanese replied:

It’s a really good idea if politicians don’t lead this information disclosure. It’s a really good idea if police and authorities do, when things are confirmed.

There’s been a declaration of a terror incident, which means it is ideologically motivated. What we are doing here is going through the detail in a systemic way, allowing the police and security agencies to do their job. My job is to support the police and security agencies.

Western Sydney faith leaders back call for calm in community

15 Apr 2024 23:47

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, convened a meeting with western Sydney religious leaders late last night who “supported a unanimous condemnation of violence in any form, called for the community to follow first responder and police instructions and called for calm in the community”.

The attendees of the meeting included:

Bishop Antoine-Charbel Tarabay – Maronite Bishop of Australia

Hazef Alameddine – president, Lebanese Muslim Association

Bishop Robert Rabbat – Bishop of the Melkite Church

Sheikh Shadi Alsuleiman – president of the Australian National Imans Council

Archbishop Zaia Mar Malis – Archbishop of Assyrian Community

Kamalle Dabboussy – CEO, Australian Federation of Islamic Councils

Chris Minns – NSW premier

Steve Kamper – minister for multiculturalism

Anthony Cook – NSW police assistant commissioner

Simon Draper – secretary of the premier’s department

Joseph La Posta – CEO of Multicultural NSW

 

15 Apr 2024 23:47

Liberal MP wishes speedy recovery for Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel

The Liberal MP Michael Sukkar says Middle Eastern Christians “deserve nothing less than to worship in peace, without fear” while wishing Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel a speedy recovery.

Posting to X following last night’s alleged stabbing incident at a Wakeley church, Sukkar wrote:

Middle eastern Christians have suffered terrible persecution for centuries. Those who have come to Australia for a better life have contributed immeasurably to our country. They deserve nothing less than to worship in peace, without fear.

My prayers for a speedy recovery are with Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel and thoughts are with all Australian Assyrian Christians who will be in shock today.

Prime minister briefed by AFP following alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley

15 Apr 2024 23:47

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, says he has been briefed by the Australian federal police following an alleged stabbing at a Wakeley church overnight.

Albanese wrote on X:

I have been briefed by the AFP and our security agencies regarding the shocking incident at Wakeley’s Christ the Good Shepherd Church.

As police continue their investigations, Australians are thinking of those who have been injured, the first responders who rushed to help and the police who worked to restore order.

In testing times, Australians stand together.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:45

Here is a video from last night’s alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley:

Prime minister responds to ‘very distressing’ alleged Wakeley incident

15 Apr 2024 23:42Paul Karp

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has responded to the “very distressing” alleged Wakeley stabbing.

Albanese told WSFM radio:

This incident is extremely concerning. I do urge people in the community to remain calm and listen very careful to police and provide them support. There is no place for violence in our community, there is no room for violent extremism. We’re a peace-loving nation. This is a time to united not be divided as a community.

Albanese warned it was “completely not acceptable” to damage or impede police vehicles, as occurred after the incident.

Albanese noted NSW police had declared the alleged stabbing was a “terror incident”, and that a strikeforce and joint counter-terrorism investigation had commenced.

Albanese said the young man that police allege is “responsible for this incident is in custody” so there was likely no “further danger”.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:33

NSW premier warns against responding to rumours on social media

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, stressed that people should not respond to rumours on social media following last night’s alleged incident.

It’s very important right now that people not respond to rumours on social media, or even in this media conference today. New South Wales police will provide information to the public based on their investigation. And rumours can spread in the community and start disharmony or a breach to the public order very quickly. Wait for official communication from New South Wales police.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:32

Police commissioner details decision to label Wakeley alleged stabbing a ‘terror act’

The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, provided more details on what went into the decision to treat last night’s alleged stabbing incident as a “terror act”:

I had a teleconference with my team from counter-terrorism command for over an hour this morning to talk through this. The things that influenced my decision to declare this a terrorist incident was the actions of the individual, who attended – we will allege attended that church with a knife, armed with a knife, and stabbed the bishop [while] others were also injured.

We believe the elements … are satisfied in terms of religious motivated extremism, and of course, the intimidation of the public through that person’s acts. By attending that church, whilst it was being livestreamed, intimidating not only the parishioners in attendance, but those parishioners watching online, and subsequently those people that turned up to the church on the outside and the subsequent riot that happened.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:32

Police will allege ‘degree of premeditation’, commissioner says

Karen Webb says the teenage offender is known to police but is not on any terror watch list.

Police will allege there was a “degree of premeditation”.

We’ll allege that there’s a degree of premeditation on the basis this person has travelled to that location, which is not near his residential address, he has travelled with a knife, and subsequently the bishop and the priest have been stabbed, who are currently in surgery, as I understand it. They’re lucky to be alive.

Police believe the alleged offender was acting alone, but acknowledged it is early in the investigation.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:28

Six paramedics could not leave church during Wakeley incident amid fears for safety, spokesperson says

A spokesperson from NSW Ambulance said paramedics attended to 30 patients last night over the course of three and a half hours.

Of those, seven were transported to hospitals across Sydney. Another patient was sent by private transport for a range of medical conditions and trauma-related conditions, he said.

Approximately 20 people were affected by capsicum spray.

The spokesperson said it was a “rapidly evolving situation” with crowds going from 50 to “hundreds” in rapid time.

Our paramedics became directly under threat and were supported by police and had to retreat into the church.

He said six paramedics could not leave the church for fear of their safety.

The words of some of our staff last night were ‘this was terrifying and extremely violent’.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:19

Those involved in alleged riot can ‘expect a knock at the door’, police commissioner says

NSW police commissioner Karen Webb said a strike force had been established to investigate last night’s incident, and a referral had been made and agreed by the joint counter-terrorism investigation team.

The investigation would involve NSW police, federal police and other Commonwealth agencies, she said.

She alleged that while police and paramedics were responding to the incident in Wakeley, people “converged on that area and began to turn on police”.

People used what was available to them in the area, including bricks, concrete, palings, to assault police, and throw missiles at police and police equipment, and police vehicles.

We’ve had police injured and taken to hospital overnight. And we’ve had many, many police vehicles damaged – 20 have been damaged, and 10 are unusable.

This is unacceptable. Police attended the incident in Wakeley last night to assist that community in response to calls for assistance, and the crowd turned on police.

That is unacceptable and those that were involved in that riot can expect a knock at the door. It might not be today. It might not be tomorrow. But we’ll find you and we’ll come and arrest you. That is totally unacceptable.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:15

Premier warns against people ‘taking the law into your own hands’

Chris Minns said he wanted to make “very, very clear” that there is “no such thing in Australia [as] taking the law into your own hands”.

He told a media conference:

It doesn’t exist. That’s for several reasons. Firstly, you will be met by the full force of the law if there’s any attempt for tit for tat violence in Sydney over the coming days. Secondly, you are diverting police equipment, investigation power, as well as resources, away from the investigation of this crime.

And lastly and perhaps most importantly, every religious leader representing communities across western Sydney has expressly said don’t do it.

Chris Minns confirms NSW police treating incident as ‘terrorist act’

15 Apr 2024 23:14

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has confirmed police authorities are treating an alleged stabbing incident in Wakeley overnight as a “terrorist act”.

Speaking to the media, Minns said the police commissioner, Karen Webb, made the decision at 1.35am to treat the incident as a “terrorist act” and that decision was validated by the minister for police at 1.45am, who contacted Minns at 2am.

Minns said it was “a major and serious criminal investigation”:

It is crucial that New South Wales police are able to devote their resources and intelligence as well as officers to the investigation of this crime.

Webb added:

At 1:35am this morning, after consideration of all the material, I declared that it was a terrorist incident.

 

15 Apr 2024 23:13

‘We are collectively one community’: western Sydney MP reiterates call for unity

Local MP Dai Le also spoke with Sunrise this morning, reiterating her call for social cohesion.

She said local leaders were “starting on the right foot” following Chris Minns’ call for unity with faith leaders from various denominations:

They are coming out on a united front irrespective of religion, political [or] ideological views, and I think that is really important to send a message [that] we are collectively one community …

We are a fairly big mixed community now in NSW but it doesn’t mean we can’t live side by side.

 

15 Apr 2024 22:54

Western Sydney MP: ‘It looks like some kind of carnage here’

The independent MP for Fowler, Dai Le, said things have calmed down in the community after last night’s alleged incident, although “it looks like some kind of carnage here with broken glass” in the street.

Le, who is a local MP in western Sydney, said she has previously attended the Wakeley church where Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed and said he was a “very great person” and “wonderful human being”.

She noted “people are on edge” following the Bondi Junction mass stabbing and said last night’s alleged incident has “just heightened people’s nervousness”.

But I know the church and I, myself, as a federal member for this wonderful multicultural and multi-faith community, we’re calling for calm …

I think this morning things have calmed down, even though it looks like some kind of carnage here with broken glass everywhere in the street.

It’s often a very quiet residential area and so, it is quite sad, I suppose, that it has happened. And I know that the bishop, when he comes out, he’ll ask for calm and peace and I know he’ll pray for the attacker as well.

 

15 Apr 2024 22:49

Normal to feel ‘shaken, uncomfortable, distressed’ by what has occurred in Sydney, minister says

Rose Jackson also stressed it is “completely normal” for people to feel “shaken and uncomfortable and distressed” by what has occurred in Sydney over the last few days.

People have a right to feel safe, going to a shopping centre on a Saturday afternoon or going to church to pray with fellow parishioners. And when that’s shaken, when those bonds are disturbed and people start to feel as though those things maybe aren’t safe, it can be incredibly distressing.

 

15 Apr 2024 22:48

NSW minister calls for ‘everyone in the community to show some calm’

Rose Jackson said it was important for the community to come together following the alleged incident in Wakeley overnight, noting the unanimous call from faith leaders for unity.

She told ABC RN:

There’s been a call overnight, I think from every religious leader in Sydney, jointly issuing a statement for calm, for cohesion, for the community to come together and obviously that’s important.

… I can understand that these kind of incidents make people feel distress. They make people uncomfortable. You know, these can be really tough times for a city like Sydney, which is normally so cohesive and you know, really prides itself on that.

It’s just worth reflecting on how important our first responders are in maintaining that and just calling for everyone in the community to really show some calm and let the police do their job …

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in stable condition, NSW minister says

15 Apr 2024 22:35

Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel is in a stable condition after last night’s alleged attack, the New South Wales housing minister, Rose Jackson, says.

Speaking to ABC RN earlier this morning, she said the premier, Chris Minns, is due to provide an update around 7.30am but at this stage, there is no further information regarding motive:

We don’t have any additional information in terms of motivation, in terms of what’s behind this. Obviously it occurred quite late yesterday and then the police had a bit of a job in terms of dealing with some community unrest. Obviously people quite distressed to see that [as] it was live streamed [on] social media …

Teenager remains in custody after alleged stabbing

15 Apr 2024 22:34

New South Wales police said a teenager remained in custody after the alleged stabbing at a church in Wakeley overnight.

Providing an update on the incident this morning, police said the 15-year-old boy remained in hospital under police guard after being arrested last night.

The 15-year-old was removed from the church and taken to hospital where he remains under police guard. He has undergone surgery for injuries sustained during the alleged attack.

Police also provided an update on those injured during the alleged attack: a 53-year-old man was treated with lacerations to his head and a 39-year-old man – injured after attempting to intervene – suffered lacerations and a shoulder wound.

They were treated by paramedics before being taken to Liverpool hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, police said.

Officers have established Strike Force Petrina to investigate the alleged stabbing, and Strike Force Dribs to investigate the public order incident and identify those involved.

Welcome

15 Apr 2024 22:15Emily Wind

Good morning and welcome back to the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll take you through our rolling coverage today.

The New South Wales premier Chris Minns has called for calm after hundreds of people clashed with police in Wakeley last night after a prominent Orthodox Christian Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel was allegedly stabbed at the altar of his church.

NSW housing minister Rose Jackson said the bishop was in a stable condition, and there was no additional information in terms of motive at this time.

Minns, who is due to speak about the incident at around 7.30am, convened a meeting with faith leaders across western Sydney last night and said:

[The] leaders endorsed and supported a unanimous condemnation of violence in any form, called for the community to follow first responder and police instructions and called for calm in the community.

We’re calling on everyone to act with kindness and respect for each other. Now is the time to show that we are strong and united as a NSW community.

We will follow this throughout the day and bring you the latest shortly.

See something that needs attention on the blog? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: [email protected].

Let’s get started.