Australia Welcomes The Start of MH17 Trials in The Netherlands

07/03/2020

(See translation in Arabic section)

Australia welcomes the commencement of the trials of four suspects in the downing of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17.

The trials are a significant step towards achieving justice and accountability for the 298 victims of MH17, including 38 people who called Australia home. Prosecuting these crimes in an open and independent court sends a powerful message that alleged perpetrators will face justice.

While nothing can bring back those who lost their lives, Australia will continue to fight for justice for the victims of MH17 and their families. We are supporting the Dutch prosecutions, including funding the victims’ families to participate in, travel to, or otherwise have meaningful access to the trials.  Court hearings will also be livestreamed and translated.

These Dutch trials are the result of a five-year international criminal investigation into the downing conducted by the Joint Investigation Team, comprising Australia, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ukraine and Malaysia.

Australian tourism industry slumps to new low

Canberra: Australia's tourism industry is facing an unprecedented fall in international visitors as the coronavirus outbreak leads to a record number of holiday cancellations.

 Bookings have fallen 36 per cent since December, triggered by the Chinese travel ban.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has committed an additional $4 million to tourism Australia's domestic advertising campaign ahead of the release of a targeted industry support package.

Tourism Minister Simon Birmingham will meet state and ¬territory counterparts in Canberra today to discuss immediate and longer-term stimulus measures.

EPPING Boys High School Closed Due to Covid-19

Sydney: Epping Boys High School is closed today as a precaution after a Year 11 student of the school tested positive for COVID-19.

NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian said the decision was not taken lightly and is a precautionary response.

"Our first concern is for the health of the school's students, and it was decided that until we learned more about this specific case, the school should be closed as a precaution," Ms Berejiklian said.

"I'd encourage the community to remain calm at this time as the men and women in our health system continue their excellent work to minimise the impact of COVID-19."

Minister for Health Brad Hazzard said the NSW Government wants to ensure our citizens are kept as safe as possible from the challenges of the COVID-19 virus.

"We expect over the weekend there will be a detailed examination of where the student has been since he contracted the virus and with whom he has been in contact," Mr Hazzard said.

NSW premier urges virus, toilet paper calm

Sydney: The NSW public is being urged to remain calm and stop stockpiling toilet paper as the state's coronavirus cases continue to grow.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian told reporters the recent escalation in cases was concerning, but encouraged people to not panic.

"All of us should take the advice of the health experts, no doubt about it. But we should also go about our business and not panic, and that's the strongest message we can send," Ms Berejiklian said.

NO Explanation Offered for $12 Million Handout

Sydney: The NSW Labor Opposition has slammed the lack of an explanation for the changing of a $12 million funding agreement from the Berejiklian Liberals and Nationals for a community facility in Penrith.

This grant was meant to deliver sporting facilities to the people of NSW but instead ended up going to a convention centre.

Under questioning in Budget Estimates Acting Liberal Minister for Sport Geoff Lee, could not explain why former Liberal Minister Stuart Ayres signed a funding agreement in January 2019 for this grant and then a week later directed the Office of Sport to draw up a new one.

Former Premier Mike Baird and Minister Ayres had promised $12 million alongside Federal Government funding for the Western Sydney Community and Sporting Centre, before the project was abandoned in 2017 for the Western Sydney Community and Conference Centre, which includes no sporting facilities.

NSW Labor Shadow Minister for Sport Lynda Voltz said the public deserved an explanation.

“Stuart Ayres needs to start explaining why he decided a week after the grant was given that his name should not appear on it,” Ms Voltz said.

“He was well aware at the time that the facility would no longer provide sporting facilities when he signed the grant in January, so why the panic in February.

Best in Class for NSW Students

Sydney: A team of the state’s best teachers will roll out to targeted high schools to lift performance using proven and successful teaching methods.

The new ‘Best in Class’ Teaching Unit is made up of handpicked educators, chosen for being leaders and teaching experts in their respective fields.

They’ll share their classrooms skills directly with those teachers and students who need it most, while also building a new teaching package to build on existing ‘best practice’ research for NSW Schools.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell joined students to announce the teaching program.

NSW Government to Provide Stamp Duty Relief for People Who Lost Homes During Bushfires

Sydney: The NSW Government will provide stamp duty relief for people who lost their homes during the bushfires and who choose to purchase a replacement home elsewhere rather than rebuild.

Deputy Premier and Minister responsible for Disaster Recovery John Barilaro, and Treasurer Dominic Perrottet, said the latest NSW Government assistance would enable people to get back on their feet and back into a new home faster.

“This is about ensuring people have the ability to buy a home to replace the one destroyed by fire and not have to worry about the substantial cost of stamp duty which can be tens of thousands of dollars,” Mr Barilaro said.

“While many people will want to rebuild their homes, there will be others who choose to buy in another location, and we want to ensure that can happen as quickly as possible – this is a big bottom line boost for people during a challenging time.”

Australians will be 'detained' if they refuse to comply with COVID-19 measures

Canberra: Attorney-General Christian Porter says the government will consider detaining people under the biosecurity act who refuse to comply with “absolutely necessary” measures amid the coronavirus outbreak.

Mr Porter said anyone who pushed back against the measures could be detained at airports, hospitals and clinics across the country.

“If they are refusing to do a thing we consider absolutely necessary, like undergo a brief decontamination or provide information about where they’ve been and who they’ve been in contact with, or potentially provide a sample so they can be tested for the disease, then yes detention is an option,” he said.

'Regional depression' coming in wake of bushfire crisis

Sydney: NSW Liberal frontbencher Andrew Constance has issued a strong warning to the prime minister, urging the federal government not to turn its back on bushfire affected regions or risk a “regional depression”.

The state transport minister said there was a great need to “stimulate” the regional economies as small and medium business owners begin the clean up following the tragedy.

 “There is a regional depression stemming from this,” he said.

 “I’ve been very open about my journey through this mentally but I’m seeing it every day where small business people are very much starting to become depressed.”

Govt faces increasing pressure to extend coronavirus travel ban

Canberra: Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton is standing by the decision to ban foreign visitors from Iran over coronavirus fears but says Australia cannot "close its borders" to all impacted countries.

The ban is currently in place for China and Iran, which are both grappling with major outbreaks, but some MPs argued it should be extended to include travellers from Italy and South Korea.

 Mr Dutton said Australia was taking advice from its chief medical officer, but the government could not close the country’s borders to every affected country.

“We can’t just close down every flight, every movement across our borders,” he told reporters.

“We need to be realistic about the fact that we’re a trading nation, we’ve got significant investments on tourism and thousands of jobs rely on people coming and going each day.”

Supermarket shelves stripped amid coronavirus panic

Sydney: Supermarket shelves are being stripped bare across Australia and New Zealand as shoppers stock up on essentials amid rising coronavirus fears.

Woolworths said stores were experiencing stock shortages due to demand for long life pantry items and household staples. Priceline stores also placed limits on the amount of hand sanitiser each customer could buy.

Panicked parents said baby items including formula, nappies and wipes were impossible to find.

Freedom of speech 'no longer exists' in Australia and the UK: Katie Hopkins

UK: Stringent government control and oppressive social media platforms are forcing Australians to self-censor themselves, according to controversial media personality Katie Hopkins.

Ms Hopkins, who is known for her strident support of Donald Trump and Boris Johnson, says social media giants like Twitter and Facebook often punish those whose views fall out of the mainstream.

She said freedom of speech, which was once the bedrock of democracy, "no longer exists" in many western nations.

"Frankly, no one would defend freedom of speech to their death because we (Australia and the UK) don't have it anymore," she said.

 "Good Australians that I know and I love, they self-censor everywhere they go because they can no longer speak about how they think or how they feel. "It's the mechanism of control."

Joint statement from the prime ministers of Australia, New Zealand

Canberra: Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison MP and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern met in Sydney for the annual Australia-New Zealand Leaders’ Meeting.

The Australia-New Zealand relationship is a partnership marked by close bonds of friendship, and anchored in common history, shared core values and genuine fondness between our peoples. It is a relationship of family.

Trans-Tasman co-operation continues to deepen, to the benefit of our two countries and our mutual effort to support an open, inclusive and prosperous Indo-Pacific region and deepen partnerships with our Pacific family.

Jacinda Ardern's swipe at Morrison was 'regrettable'

Canberra: Peter Dutton had told media he "suspects" New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern was grandstanding when she lashed out at Australia's deportation policy.

The Home Affairs Minister labelled the Kiwi leader's comments as "regrettable" after Ms Ardern took a swipe at Prime Minister Scott Morrison at Admiralty house on Friday.

Ms Ardern told Mr Morrison "do not deport your people and your problems" to New Zealand and warned the trans-Tasman relationship was being tested in the face of politics.

NSW State Memorial held to remember and honour those killed in state's bushfires

Sydney: A New South Wales State Memorial service has been held in honour all the lives lost, and the families destroyed, in the state's devastating bushfires. Prime Minister Scott Morrison, NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian, and NSW Rural Fire Service Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons all attended the memorial, sending their condolences to the lives lost and the families affected by the bushfires. “To those here who have served, to those who are watching on from other places today who have served, and our fire services and our emergency services and our defence forces, and in so many other roles, we gather here today and simply say thank you for your service," Mr Morrison said.

The prime minister also commemorated the firefighters from abroad who gave the ultimate sacrifice defending Australia against the devastating bushfire threat. He said the "black summer" of Australia's bushfires presented “an unforgettable trauma absorbed into our very beings".

Mr Fitzsimmons also spoke of the "pain and tragedy of loss," remembering those from the NSW RFS "family" who died while battling blazes in the state. "They died as heroes, selfless individuals paying the ultimate price while simply serving and protecting others in their local community and communities much further afield".

Parliamentary Inquiry Condemns Government Over Nothern Beaches Hospital Public Private Partnership

Sydney: The NSW Labor Opposition has urged the Government to immediately accept recommendations of a damning Parliamentary Inquiry into the Northern Beaches Hospital.

The report tabled in the Legislative Council this morning found the premature opening of the hospital was “inexcusable”, failings in transparency, an erosion of public trust and a lack of staff support and essential resources.

The Committee, including Coalition, Labor and Cross-Bench members, has recommended the NSW Government not enter into any public private partnerships for future public hospitals.

The report also recommended ensuring the same standards of care between public and private patients, significantly enhancing transparency and keeping the sites of Mona Vale and Manly Hospitals in public hands for health services. 

NSW Labor Leader Jodi McKay and Labor Shadow Minister for Health Ryan Park welcomed the report’s findings and urged the Berejiklian Government to act quickly to adopt the cross-party committee’s findings.