Australia news live: Polestar may join Tesla in quitting auto lobby group; girl out of intensive care after horror crash on trip to Taylor Swift concert | Australia news

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has also paid tribute to soldier Jack Fitzgibbon.

Speaking on the Today Show, Dutton noted that Jack’s parents – former Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon and his wife Diane – would be “devastated beyond words”, and that the regiment “will be heartbroken”.

Dutton said he had texted Joel yesterday, and has also reached out to defence minister Richard Marles.

He’ll be feeling it not only as a friend and … former colleague of Joel’s, but also as defence minister. You feel each one of those incidents and you have a special burden that you carry as defence minister, and Richard will certainly be feeling that.

Dutton was defence minister from March 2021-May 2022.

Rishworth pays tribute to son of former MP who died in RAAF base incident

Amanda Rishworth paid tribute to soldier Jack Fitzgibbon, the son of former Labor MP Joel Fitzgibbon, who died in a parachuting incident.

She said the incident is “hitting home really hard”.

My thoughts are with Joel and his family and also all those in the ADF. A training incident such as this would have huge reverberations through those colleagues that perhaps were first responders and those that were around him. So, it’s absolutely tragic news and a reminder that serving in the defence force comes with risk.

And I’d just like to acknowledge Jack’s service to our country and really, though, mainly today, is my thoughts are with his grieving family, which is an absolute tragedy.

Government has employed 17 full-time equivalent frontline domestic violence workers out of promised 500, Rishworth says

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Amanda Rishworth was asked about claims from the Coalition the government has only employed two of the promised 500 frontline domestic violence workers it promised in 2021.

She said the government has 17 full-time equivalent workers on board, but “we do need to work hard” to employ more workers.

She added that the states and territories have received two funding payments towards this and the government is working with them to recruit staff.

But I am disappointed that Sussan Ley has turned this into a political football. Of course, if they had been re-elected, we wouldn’t have seen any money for national partnerships, any money for these workers. We put the money in our budget and we’re working with the states and territories through paying them to employ these workers and get these workers on the ground.

‘Still a lot to do’ on gender equality, social services minister says after status of women report card released

The minister for social services, Amanda Rishworth, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier today, discussing the release of the second annual status of women report card.

This was released yesterday, in time for International Women’s Day, today.

Host Michael Rowland noted that Australia is now ranked 26 globally for gender equality, compared to 43rd in last year’s report, and that 26% of women recently reported experiencing sexual harassment at work.

Rishworth responded “there is a lot still to do” to ensure not only economic equality for women, but also that they feel safe in our society.

Speaking on violence against women, Rishworth said one area the government is focused on is holding perpetrators to account.

That’s something that victim-survivors have said they want us to hear, changing the attitudes of men and boys, but also making sure that perpetrators are held to account for their behaviour. Men that choose violence do get held to account, so there is a lot of work going into that.

One of the biggest challenges in addressing attitudes towards women is online influences, Rishworth said.

There are many online influences that are encouraging negative stereotypes towards women and encouraging violence against women, people like Andrew Tate. And so we need to be tackling that with alternative, healthy role models so that we do not see that the progress we’ve made in terms of the attitude toward violence against women actually go backwards in the next generation.

Bunnings replaces Woolworths as Australia’s most trusted brand

Arrest of man in relation to Samantha Murphy’s death has brought some ‘closure’, Ballarat mayor says

Ballarat mayor Des Hudson says the arrest of a 22-year-old man in relation to the death of missing woman Samantha Murphy has brought some closure to the community.

Speaking to ABC News Breakfast, Hudson said there has been “many questions” and an outpouring of community concern over the past month about what happened to Murphy, who “set off for an early morning run on Sunday morning, and then just didn’t come home to her family”:

I think the fact that Sam was a mum, had young kids, or young teenagers, and just disappeared without any trace, it really sparked the emotion of our community and communities from everywhere …

Samantha will never come home to her family [and] they will never have a beautiful mother, a beautiful wife to be with them as [they] go forward.

Hudson said that rumour-mongering and “speculation” has been “hurtful” for those involved, urging people to allow the investigation to “follow through to its natural conclusion”.

Hopefully in that we will get the answers to what happened to Samantha Murphy.

MH370 mystery endures a decade after disappearance

Australia is supportive of any efforts to find the missing flight MH370, the foreign minister, Penny Wong, has said.

A decade on from the disappearance of flight MH370, families and loved ones of its 239 passengers are no closer to finding answers.

The Malaysia Airlines flight disappeared from radar on 8 March 2014 on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. Six Australian citizens and one New Zealand resident of Western Australia were on board.

Australia’s sympathies remained with the families and loved ones, Wong said.

We recognise their ongoing heartache and grief without the answers they seek.

As Daniel Hurst reported yesterday, the Malaysian prime minister Anwar Ibrahim said he was “inclined to support” the reopening of an investigation into the missing flight, while speaking in Canberra.

Australia was ready to assist the Malaysian government, Wong said:

While the searches have not been successful, and families continue to endure such heartache, the effort to find MH370 demonstrates the close cooperation between our countries through difficult times.

The Australian government is supportive of all practical efforts to find MH370.

– with AAP

Man located at Bondi hotel after accidentally being released from Long Bay correctional complex

A man who was accidentally released from a New South Wales correctional facility has been located in a Bondi hotel this morning.

Police said in a statement that the 30-year-old man was seen leaving the facility in Matraville about 1pm yesterday. Police located the man at a hotel in Bondi around 6am this morning.

He has been taking to Waverley police station and “arrangements are being conducted to return him to the correctional facility”, police said.

Corrective Services NSW said the man was released from Long Bay correctional complex due to an “administration error following a court appearance”, which is now being investigated.

Scooter rider dies in crash in Sydney

A scooter rider has died following a crash at North Ryde in Sydney this morning.

New South Wales police said that just after 5am, emergency services were called to an intersection in North Ryde after reports of a crash involving a car and a motorised scooter.

The rider – who is yet to be formally identified – was treated by paramedics who performed CPR, but died at the scene.

The male driver was taken to Ryde hospital to undergo mandatory testing.

Officers established a crime scene and an investigation is under way into the circumstances surrounding the crash.

Ten-year-old girl leaves ICU after car crash on the way to Taylor Swift concert

The 10-year-old girl who went into a coma following a horror crash on her way to see Taylor Swift has left the intensive care ward.

Freya Pokarier suffered serious injuries when the SUV her mum was driving collided with a semi-trailer, suffering brain injuries, a damaged pelvis and broken leg.

The crash occurred while the family was driving from the Gold Coast to Melbourne for the first night of the Eras tour.

Her 16-year-old sister Mieka died at the scene and the mother has since been discharged from hospital.

Karleigh Fox, Mieka’s godmother, began a GoFundMe page for the family. An update, penned by Freya’s mum yesterday, says that Freya has left the ICU and has moved to a rehabilitation ward:

We are yet to see her beautiful eyes open, however, she has shown some really positive signs that she may be hearing her loved ones.

She said things are progressing “one day at a time”, but any movements are “exciting and bring hopes of progress”.

‘Not everybody is aligned to the FCAI’s narrative’: Polestar spokesperson says other industry players could ‘take a stand’

Polestar spokesperson Laurissa Mirabelli said the company had not had any conversations with the FCAI after suggesting they were poised to quit.

I think it’s a given, given Tesla’s move yesterday. I haven’t received any calls from the peak body either. I think that they are also just waiting for our response and for us to take the next … move from here.

And does Polestar expect more companies will leave the FCAI?

Mirabelli:

I don’t know how that will land. I thought that perhaps it would only be the electric vehicle companies that would take a bit of a stand but I understand that there’s other industry bodies or industry players who are still assessing their own position because obviously, not everybody is aligned to the FCAI’s current narrative …

There are some companies that are going to be able to meet these standards, and we can see that there are companies, even those that are suggesting that they can’t meet the standards, who are meeting them elsewhere in the world.

Vehicle emissions standard would not be ‘that far from business as usual’: Polestar

The FCAI said it had encouraged successive governments to introduce an efficiency standard for more than a decade, but not the kind that the government has proposed.

If the government was to adopt the standards as proposed by the FCAI, Mirabelli said this would not be “that far from business as usual”.

Mirabelli noted the transport sector is the third largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in Australia and is “on track to become the largest” – with passenger cars and light commercial vehicles accounting for 60% of this.

So we have to address it. There are health issues, there are cost issues … There are other things to consider here, not just what importers want to do. We don’t have a local manufacturing industry any more, we’re not protecting anybody. We have to determine, you know, what kind of cars are we letting into this country and what’s best for Australians?

Polestar says proposed standard about ‘cap on emissions’ for fleets, not ‘cherrypicking’

Q: So you don’t think that some of Australia’s most popular cars will see price increases under the proposed vehicle efficiency standard?

Polestar spokesperson Laurissa Mirabelli:

Well, I think it’s a different thing. It’s about a cap on the overall emissions of the brand’s entire fleet, it’s not about cherrypicking different products within a lineup and saying, well, that car is going to increase by x [amount].

The idea is that you’re trying to find balance, you’re trying to determine, you know, of your high emitting vehicles, are they over or are they under the target? And of your low emitting vehicles, how does that all balance? So it’s not about one car or another, it’s looking at the entire fleet.

Polestar may join Tesla in quitting auto lobby FCAI over ‘false’ claims about vehicle emissions standard

State funeral to be held for Lowitja O’Donoghue in Adelaide

Hundreds of mourners are expected to mark the loss of Aboriginal rights trailblazer Lowitja O’Donoghue at a state funeral in Adelaide today, AAP reports.

The Yankunytjatjara woman, who played a key role in the 1967 referendum, lobbied the Keating government to recognise Indigenous land ownership through native title laws and advised on the apology to the stolen generation, will be remembered at a ceremony at St Peter’s Cathedral.

She died on 4 February aged 91 on Kaurna Country in Adelaide with her immediate family by her side.

She gained prominence after becoming the first Aboriginal person to train as a nurse at Royal Adelaide hospital in 1954. After being denied the opportunity because of her Indigenous heritage, she successfully lobbied then-premier Thomas Playford to win her right to admission, setting her on a lifelong path of fighting for equality.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, described her as one of the most remarkable leaders the country had known.

O’Donoghue became the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission in 1990. One of her greatest achievements was lobbying the Keating government to recognise Aboriginal land ownership through the Native Title Act.

The non-profit Lowitja O’Donoghue Foundation was set up in 2022 to continue her legacy. Her family has asked mourners to donate to the foundation in lieu of flowers.

Could the Coalition make nuclear power work?

We’ve already mentioned our piece today looking at some of the problems that might stand in the way of the Liberals’ new policy of building nuclear power stations in Australia.

You can read environment writer Graham Readfearn’s full piece here:

And the wider issue of what policies the Liberals will actually run on is the issue tackled in today’s Newsroom edition of the Full Story podcast.

Gabrielle Jackson talks with head of newsroom Mike Ticher and national news editor Patrick Keneally about how the Dunkley byelection exposed the problem.

Listen here:

Welcome

Martin Farrer