the Prime Minister’s Easter 2024 message
 
March message from Canterbury-Bankstown Mayor Bilal El-Hayek
 
A solemn funeral to the late Nazih Nicolas in Sydney
 
One Year of Repair, Reform and Action, and much more to do.
 
Kuwait deplores Israeli occupation's seizure of Palestinian land
 
Patriarch Duwaihi's beatification ceremony to be held in Lebanon
 
One Year of Repair, Reform and Action, and much more to do across Canterbury
 
Have your say on a planning proposal in Carlingford
 
Protecting religious institutions
 
AFIC President, stated that AFIC strongly condemns any act of violence and terrorism and stands in solidarity with the Russian people
 
The community’s hopes and expectations of a Muslim public figure
 
Mr Keating has been a public critic of the AUKUS security pact,...”.
 
From Australia News in Brief

***
Earthquake shakes homes in north-west Melbourne with no reports of damage
***
Liberals preselect ex-NSW party president Maria Kovacic to replace late Jim Molan in Senate
***
Turkish President Erdogan claims victory as supporters celebrate amid inflation worries
***
Russia has warned that Western supplies of arms to Ukraine risk escalating the war!
***
Deadline to raise US debt limit extended amid ongoing talks in Congress
***
500 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean returned to Libya, says UN
***
Final Default Market Offer for powers confirms wisdom of government cap on prices: Bowen, Chalmers
***
Donating your waste can now save another’s life, says WA doctor
***
Russian mercenary group Wagner arming Sudanese militia, says US Treasury
***
Energy prices to rise up to 25% in some states from July 1
***
Russian missile attack kills two as US repledges fresh support for Ukraine
***
Community shows its love of Parramatta through new exhibition
***
PM Albanese pays tribute to Australia-India relations with Modi
***
City of Parramatta key stop on Indian PM’s tour
***
Constable charged over elderly women’s death



Earthquake shakes homes in north-west Melbourne with no reports of damage
29/5/2023
(See translation in Arabic section)
Sydney - Middle East Times Int’l: North-West Melbourne have been shaken by a 3.8 magnitude earthquake late at night, rattling homes and waking up thousands.
Geoscience Australia said the tremor struck at a depth of 3km at Sunbury, about 40km north-west of the city, at 11.41pm on Sunday. More than 22,750 people contacted the agency to report shaking.
Most of the reports are centred around Melbourne but there were some as far north as Bendigo in regional Victoria and as far south as Hobart, Geoscience Australia said.
Seismology Research Centre chief scientist Adam Pascale said it was the highest magnitude earthquake with an epicentre in metropolitan Melbourne since 1902.
He said damage usually occurs when earthquakes are above four or five in magnitude but this event may have caused some cosmetic or structural issues as it was quite shallow and close to the city.
“We can start to see damage at this sort of level of earthquake and above,” he said.
“This earthquake is about 100 times smaller than the one two years ago in September 2021, but it was a lot closer to Melbourne. So it was felt in a similar intensity but for a shorter duration.”
Victoria’s SES state commander David Baker said his crews had only received three calls for help.
“We were fortunate that there was no damage or consequences as a result of the earthquake last night,” he said.
He said there was always a concern about aftershocks.
In the last five years, four other quakes of magnitude three or greater have been recorded in Victoria, including a 5.9 magnitude north of Rawson in 2021 which caused localised damage.
The Bureau of Meteorology said there was no tsunami threat to the Australian mainland, islands or territories.
NSW Liberal President Maria Kovacic firms as favourite to replace Jim Molan  in Senate | The Australian
Liberals preselect ex-NSW party president Maria Kovacic to replace late Jim Molan in Senate
The former New South Wales Liberal Party president has been preselected to fill the Senate seat left vacant after the death of Jim Molan earlier this year.
After the vote at a party meeting on Saturday, Maria Kovacic, who is a member of the moderate faction, won 266-243.
She defeated former NSW cabinet minister and Bega MP, Andrew Constance.
The Western Sydney businesswoman said it was an honour and privilege to be selected by members, and looked forward to "holding Labor to account".
"I want to make it very clear that I'm here to fight for our community," she said.
"I'm here to fight for Australians that are suffering in term of the cost-of-living pressures and inflation.
"And look forward to holding Labor to account on their broken promises and the bad decisions."
When asked if she was glad a woman had been selected, she responded: "I certainly am."
It was Ms Kovacic's second tilt at joining federal parliament after she failed to win the seat of Parramatta at the federal election.
In April of this year, she resigned from her role as state party president to run for the Senate vacancy, and was considered to be among the frontrunners at the time.
Fellow moderate, Mr Constance was also considered a strong contender.
Finally being elected, she said was "really special".
"I'm really grateful to our membership for putting their trust in me and for selecting me to represent them in Canberra."
As the co-founder of Western Sydney Women and Western Sydney Executive Women and member of the Committee for Western Sydney, Ms Kovacic has a longstanding relationship with communities in the region.
Deputy Leader of the Opposition Sussan Ley welcomed the result, calling Ms Kovacic a "formidable woman", saying her experience was a good addition to the team at the federal level.
"The only way we can address — and rectify — the gender imbalance in our parliamentary ranks is by preselecting more women," Ms Ley said.
"And I am thrilled that my home division, the New South Wales branch, has chosen to do that today.
"I am looking forward to working with Maria to support local communities across the state."
Senator Molan died in January, two years after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He was aged 72.
Ms Kovacic today paid tribute to the late senator.
"What an important legacy he has left and incredibly big shoes to fill, and I will do my best to do that."
Turkey's Erdogan wins election, solidifying his grip on power - Al-Monitor:  Independent, trusted coverage of the Middle East
Turkish President Erdogan claims victory as supporters celebrate amid inflation worries
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s supporters celebrated long into the night after he secured another five years in power.
He also ridiculed his opponent, Kemal Kilicdaroglu, and took aim at a jailed Kurdish leader although the opposition leader did not explicitly concede victory.
Mr Kilicdaroglu said the president’s political party had mobilised all the means of the state against him and proved no match for the well-drilled Erdogan campaign, even if he took the president to Turkey’s first run-off vote.
He barely dented his rival’s first-round lead, falling more than two million votes behind. President Erdogan ended with just over 52% of the vote based on near-complete unofficial results.
Although the final results are not confirmed, the Supreme Election Council said there was no doubt who had won.
Supporters came from all over Ankara to celebrate; there were Islamic chants and some laid Turkish flags on the grass to pray.
The president admitted that tackling inflation was Turkey’s most urgent issue. The question is whether he is prepared to take the necessary action. 
At an annual rate of almost 44%, inflation seeps into everyone’s lives. The cost of food, rent and other everyday goods has soared, exacerbated by Mr Erdogan’s refusal to observe orthodox economic policy and raise interest rates.
The Turkish lira has hit record lows against the dollar and the central bank has struggled to meet surging demand for foreign currency.
“If they continue with low interest rates, as Erdogan has signalled, the only other option is stricter capital controls,” warns Selva Demiralp, professor of economics at Koc university in Istanbul.
President Erdogan has accused his rival of siding with terrorists and criticised him for promising to free a former co-leader of Turkey’s second largest opposition party, the pro-Kurdish HDP. Selahattin Demirtas has been in jail since 2016 despite the European Court of Human Rights ordering his release.
Mr Erdogan said that while he was in power Mr Demirtas would stay behind bars.
Russia warns U.S. to stop arming Ukraine or face 'unpredictable  consequences' | The Japan Times
Russia has warned that Western supplies of arms to Ukraine risk escalating the war!
One of the strongest supporters of the Russian president: “We may lose Russia” if the war continues without providing additional resources.
Andrei Kelin, Russia's ambassador to Britain, said in a statement to the media that his country has "enormous resources" and that it has not yet "acted very seriously".
In an interview with Laura Kunzberg, he indicated that he was offended when he was impugned at Russia's behaviour.
In his statement, Killeen warned of a "new dimension" in the war.
The ambassador emphasized that Russia "has not yet begun to act very seriously," and said, "Russia is 16 times bigger than Ukraine. We have enormous resources."
He said the length of the conflict "depends on efforts to escalate the war by NATO countries, especially Britain".
"Sooner or later, of course, this escalation may take on a new dimension that we neither need nor want. We can make peace tomorrow," he added.
The ambassador's remarks came as one of Ukraine's top security officials, Oleksiy Danilov, said his country was ready to launch its long-expected counter-offensive against Russian forces.
But Kelin's claim that Russia has "enormous resources" available to combat the clashes contradicts reports that its forces are poorly equipped and without proper training.
But the Russian forces announced control of the city of Bakhmut after months of fighting there.
Even such warnings came from the head of the Russian Wagner Group, Yevgeny Prigozhin, who has been heavily involved in the conflict.
He has been one of the staunchest supporters of Russian President Vladimir Putin, but he is increasingly critical of the regime, saying in the past few days that "we may lose Russia" if the war continues without additional resources.
And earlier this month, he publicly criticized Putin's ministers in a social media post, surrounded by the corpses of his fighters. "Where's the ammunition...? They have come here as volunteers and are dying for you to fatten yourselves in your mahogany desks," he said.
Kelin repeated allegations about Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which he still insists he calls a "special military operation".
He blamed Ukraine for provoking the conflict. It is a view that Russian leaders have used for more than a year to try to justify the invasion.
President Putin continues to say that a neo-Nazi regime was established in Ukraine in 2014 and that it was seeking nuclear weapons, which means that Russia has no choice but to invade.
The ambassador denies allegations about the behavior of Russian forces on the ground during the conflict.
After being confronted with evidence from an official UN report on widespread crimes, torture, rape and forced deportation of children, he responded by saying that Ukrainian forces had committed crimes against civilians as well.
There is evidence of human rights violations by Ukrainian forces. But the scale of Russian violations is well documented.
When it was confirmed that Russia had lied about what happened, and the clear patterns of horrific abuse, the ambassador said in our interview that he was offended.
And he had no other response to the recent missile attack in Dnipro than to say, "The problem is that the shooting has been going on for nine years, and every day there is shooting in Luhansk and Donetsk and all that," considering that the Western media was ignoring the actions of the Ukrainian forces.
The ambassador's remarks that the war is not "dangerous" contrast with the experience of many Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down by the war, and many Russians who are suffering.
But as Ukraine plots its counterattack, and Russia shows no sign of backing down, the war may indeed become more dangerous.
Biden, McCarthy agree to raise US debt ceiling – what's in the deal? | US  Congress | The Guardian
Deadline to raise US debt limit extended amid ongoing talks in Congress
US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has extended the deadline for raising the federal debt limit, saying the government would default on its obligations if Congress does not increase the country’s $US31.4 trillion ($48 trillion) debt ceiling by June 5.
Ms Yellen had previously said a default could happen potentially as early as June 1.
The extension buys White House and congressional negotiators more time to strike a deal to raise the statutory ceiling on the nation’s borrowing capacity.
In a letter to Congress, Ms Yellen said her department will make more than $US130 billion of scheduled payments in the first two days in June, including to veterans and Social Security and Medicare recipients.
“During the week of June 5, Treasury is scheduled to make an estimated $US92 billion of payments and transfers,” including a roughly $US36 billion quarterly adjustment toward Social Security and Medicare trust funds, Ms Yellen wrote.
“Therefore, our projected resources would be inadequate to satisfy all of these obligations,” she said.
Ms Yellen also said the department used an extraordinary cash management measure on Thursday, swapping approximately $US2 billion of Treasury securities between the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund and the Federal Financing Bank to stave off the potential default date.
The measure was last used in 2015, she said.
Earlier on Friday, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said his Republican debt negotiators and the White House had hit “crunch” time, straining to wrap up an agreement with President Joe Biden to curb federal spending and lift the nation’s borrowing limit ahead of the fast-coming deadline.
Treasury now says the government could start running out of money as soon as a week from Monday, sending the US into a potentially catastrophic default with economic spillover around the world.
UN: Migrants Tried to Cross Mediterranean Brought Back to Libya | Sada  Elbalad
500 migrants trying to cross the Mediterranean returned to Libya, says UN
Nearly 500 migrants who tried to cross the central Mediterranean have been brought back to Libya two days after charity groups lost contact with the boat carrying them, a UN spokesman said.
“Libya is an unsafe port where migrants should never be brought back,” Flavio Di Giacomo, a spokesman for the UN’s International Organisation for Migration wrote on Twitter.
He said there were 485 migrants and they docked in the Libyan port of Benghazi on Friday. 
Alarm Phone, a group that picks up calls from migrant vessels in distress, had no signs from the boat since Wednesday morning.
At the time, the boat was adrift, with no working engine, in high seas about 320 km north of Libya and more than 400 km away from Malta or Italy’s southern island of Sicily.
The Italian Coast Guard reported on Thursday the rescue of 423 and 671 migrants in two separate operations in Italian search and rescue waters, and Alarm Phone said they were unrelated to the missing boat.
• In a separate incident, German charity SOS Humanity said 27 migrants were picked up at sea by an oil tanker and illegally taken back to Libya.
Under international humanitarian law, migrants cannot be forcibly returned to countries where they risk serious ill-treatment. Widespread migrant abuse has been extensively documented in Libya.
European governments have taken an increasingly hard line on migration, including in Italy, which is facing a surge in sea arrivals.
More than 47,000 landings have been recorded in the year to date, up from around 18,000 in the same period of 2022.
Bowen plays down power price fears, fans flames of hope and hype from gas  lobby | RenewEconomy
Final Default Market Offer for powers confirms wisdom of government cap on prices: Bowen, Chalmers
Today’s release of the final 2023 Default Market Offer (DMO) for electricity confirms the Albanese Government’s actions to cap coal and gas prices, Treasurer Jim Chalmers and Energy Minister Chris Bowen say.
They said that decision limited the worst of last year’s forecast electricity price spikes.
“While families have been shielded from the worst of the energy price hikes, we know that any increase to bills is difficult for families and businesses,” they said.
“Which is why the government targeted millions of households doing it tough with additional Energy Price Relief Rebates, and is investing in cleaner, cheaper energy ...”
The DMO applies from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, and was designed by the Australian Energy Regulator as a benchmark price. 
It is the maximum price that electricity retailers in NSW, South Australia and South-East Queensland can charge customers from July 1, 2023, with the vast majority, around 90 per cent, on lower rates.
The increases in DMO prices are up to $492 less than they would have been without the government’s intervention for residential customers and up to $1,310 less than they would have otherwise been for small businesses.
Mr Bowen said when the Australian Energy Regulator (AER) provided government with a DMO forecast late last year, customers faced price rises of 40 to 50 percent.
“That’s why the government acted in December to cap coal and gas prices and why we worked with states and territories to deliver up to $3 billion in direct relief for the most vulnerable households and small businesses,” he said.
“In the longer term, we are getting more renewables in the grid through Rewiring the Nation and the Capacity Investment Scheme because the cheapest form of energy is firmed renewable energy – and this will take pressure off bills and help shield Australians from volatile international energy prices.
Should organ donors be paid? The heavy toll of US kidney shortage - BBC News
Donating your waste can now save another’s life, says WA doctor
You might have heard of donating blood on a lunch break but what about popping out to donate faeces?
That is what Red Cross Lifeblood is encouraging people to do in Perth.
Its WA facility is the only place in the country which takes donated stool and processes it into the medical product used for lifesaving faecal microbiota transplants (FMT).
Hospitals throughout Australia use FMT to treat a debilitating and deadly gut infection, Clostridioides difficile or C. diff, which affects 6,000 Australians each year.
FMT involves taking the faeces of a healthy person and processing into a medical product full of good gut bacteria.
When that healthy microbiota is transplanted into the gut of a person with C. diff, the healthy bacteria overwhelm the infection.
A few years back, Esperance man Kevin Young could not catch a break. After fire destroyed his house, Mr Young was diagnosed with bowel cancer and complications from surgery led to him becoming incredibly unwell with C. diff.
"In its mildest form it is extreme diarrhoea. At its most severe, C. diff produces a very nasty toxin that in its highest concentrations can shut down your vital organs," he said.
"Mine was getting pretty bad, and there was talk of removing my bowel to just get rid of the infection."
Antibiotics failed to rid him of the debilitating infection so Mr Young was given FMT.
He felt better within days and the semi-retired agricultural scientist is now getting the most out of life.
A clinical trial at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Perth has shown FMT to be a safe and effective treatment for C. diff infection, with a 70 to 90 per cent cure rate.
According to WA Health, it is reducing the need for antibiotics and saving $14,000 to $24,000 per patient in hospital costs.
Australia's first ever stool transplant took place at Fremantle Hospital in 2013 to treat a man with C. diff and was conducted by gastroenterologist Oliver Waters.
"Clostridioides difficile is an infection of the gut, it gives you profuse, watery diarrhoea, and you can be very unwell, have fevers, and just feel genuinely terrible," Dr Waters said.
"It kills a lot of people, and it takes a long time to do that.
Early trials overseas had shown great success, but it had never been done before in Australia. Some questioned Dr Waters, but he trusted in the science.
Dr Waters said a decade on it was still incredible to see patients get better in front of his eyes after undergoing FMT and that the process itself had gotten a lot easier.
"We've now treated over 80 people with it, and the cure rate is over 95 per cent, so it's really quite impressive," he said.
Wagner Group: US sanctions mercenary head in Mali, confirms CNN  investigation on support to Sudan paramilitaries | CNN
Russian mercenary group Wagner arming Sudanese militia, says US Treasury
The Russian mercenary outfit Wagner Group is sending surface-to-air missiles to one of the sides in Sudan’s war, fuelling the conflict and destabilising the region, the US Treasury Department said in announcing sanctions against a Wagner commander.
Wagner’s role in Sudan is part of a growing presence in Africa aimed at undercutting US and French influence and profiting off African countries’ mining wealth, with the proceeds helping to fund Russia’s war in Ukraine, experts said.
Wagner has had a presence in Sudan since 2017, providing security services and overseeing gold mining concessions. The Treasury Department said that “the Wagner Group has been supplying Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces with surface-to-air missiles to fight against Sudan’s army, contributing to a prolonged armed conflict that only results in further chaos in the region”.
The Rapid Support Forces have been fighting the Sudanese military for control of the country since April and the violence left hundreds dead and more than a million people displaced.
The Biden administration warned about Wagner’s presence in Sudan and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said last month the mercenary outfit “simply brings more death and destruction” where it operates.
The Treasury Department imposed sanctions on Wagner’s chief in Mali, Ivan Aleksandrovich Maslov, saying the group may be seeking help from Mali to secure military gear for Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Maslov has worked “in close co-ordination” with Malian officials and arranges meetings between regional governments and the head of Wagner, Yevgeny Prigozhin, according to the Treasury Department.
The accusation from Washington comes after a leaked US intelligence document suggested that Mali’s interim president, Assimi Goita, an army officer who seized power in a coup, allegedly offered to obtain weapons from Turkey on behalf of the Wagner Group.
Electricity prices rise: Australian Energy Regulator confirms increase of up  to 25 per cent in three states
Energy prices to rise up to 25% in some states from July 1
Energy costs are set to rise, once again. 
This time, it'll be at the start of July based on a draft decision by key regulators. How much bills will increase by depends on where you live and which energy provider you're with.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) is the regulator of the wholesale electricity and gas markets in Australia. It just announced its default market offer for the next financial year, which impacts power prices in the states it covers.
It said electricity prices in some states would increase between 20 and 25 per cent from July 1.
That's higher than its estimate from March when it was between 20 and 22 per cent.
The default market offer is the maximum price that energy retailers can charge their customers who are on default contracts.
In states where there are multiple energy companies competing with each other to supply power to customers, they might offer a range of different contracts or plans for power prices.
This means there's no one set price for electricity in these areas. Customers will typically go on a company's default plan unless they choose a different plan. 
The purpose is to act as a price cap and offer a single point of reference to make it easier to compare retailers, says the Grattan Institutes' deputy energy director Alison Reeve.
Not every person's bills will go by 20 to 25 per cent.  It's only customers who are on the default offer in South Australia, NSW and South East Queensland; about 600,000 customers in these places. 
However, Victoria's Essential Services Commission (ESC) will also lift prices by 25 per cent. Around 400,000 Victorian households and 55,000 small business customers are on that state's default offer, according to the ESC.
Inflation was a substantial factor in the price increase, AER chairperson, Clare Savage confirmed.
Russia launches latest missile attack on Ukraine, killing three in southern  city of Kryvyi Rih and striking Kyiv, Kharkiv - ABC News
Russian missile attack kills two as US repledges fresh support for Ukraine
A Russian missile attack on a clinic in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro on Friday killed two people and wounded 30.
Video footage showed a devastated building with black smoke pouring out of it and rescue workers looking on with what appeared to be a body covered on the road nearby.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy condemned the attack.
At a meeting of European allies on Friday, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Russia must be defeated.
“It is absolutely clear that it could be not a frozen conflict. So if Russia is just thinking that it could succeed with its robbery of land of Ukraine, it will not succeed with this idea and attempt. And this is because and this is why we are supporting Ukraine as long as it is necessary. Russia must withdraw troops, and this is the basis for peace.”
In Kyiv, US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham sat down with the Ukrainian leader on Friday and pledged American support.
“There can be no forgiving and forgetting when it comes to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war crimes. There can be no backing off of helping Ukraine. Because if we fail here, there goes Taiwan.”
He later said Russian President Vladimir Putin could not be forgiven what he called “industrial-level war crimes” against the Ukrainian people, and said if Washington were to cut off aid to Kyiv, China would see it as a licence to seize Taiwan.
“The best way to protect Taiwan and world order is for Putin to lose. If you don’t get that, I think you’re missing a lot.”
And Kyiv raised a new alarm on Friday: that Russia was planning to trigger a radiation leak at a nuclear station controlled by Moscow’s forces.
The Ukrainian defence ministry’s intelligence directorate said Russia would soon shell the Zaporizhzhia power plant. The directorate statement did not provide any proof.
Community shows its love of Parramatta through new exhibition | City of  Parramatta
Community shows its love of Parramatta through new exhibition
The people of Parramatta are being celebrated through a collection of photographic portraits highlighting their diverse stories.
Community Love: A celebration of The People Of Parramatta opened at the City’s community and civic hub, PHIVE, and tells the personal stories of migration, triumph over adversity, sporting achievements and volunteering through photography and digital technology.
The interactive exhibition features photographs of 18 local artists, educators, business owners, social entrepreneurs, conservationists, and volunteers, with a QR code so visitors can also see interviews, videos and blogs for each local identity.
Parramatta Lord Mayor Cr Sameer Pandey said the exhibition was a positive reflection of our community. “This amazing Community Love exhibition proudly shows the past, present and future of our community through a vibrant display of portraits,” Cr Pandey said.
“Parramatta is home to people from many backgrounds and this exhibition celebrates their incredible stories.” 
Some of those featured in this exhibition have witnessed changes over the decades and are grateful for the opportunities the local area has presented them.
“Parramatta’s a community that embraces differences but is also about creating unity and bringing people together,” LGBTIQ+ community advocate and Community Love participant Cedric Yin-Cheng said. “It's about diversity, it's about people with different beliefs, colours, origins and characteristics coming together to form this community we call Parramatta.”
“Parramatta has given me the opportunity to chase my dreams and set my goals, and I’ve been fortunate enough to have accomplished a lot of things in life thanks to the community’s support,” NRL great, Peter Wynn’s Store owner and Community Love participant Peter Wynn said.
Cr Pandey thanked those who had taken the time to tell their very personal stories to make the unique exhibition possible. 
“Don’t miss this great exhibition. It’s a chance to learn more about the inspiring, stories of our residents,” he said.
“You might be inspired to start something new or seek out a new place to explore across our beautiful City.”
Visitors can also have their portraits taken, in a similar style to those featured in Community Love, by using the photo booth available at the exhibition.
The exhibition is open at PHIVE, 5 Parramatta Square, Parramatta.
Narendra Modi Australia tour receives applause with Anthony Albanese | The  Australian
PM Albanese pays tribute to Australia-India relations with Modi
Excerpt of speech by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese at an Indian diaspora event at the Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney on Tuesday, May 23.
It is a huge pleasure to welcome Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Australia. In just my first year as Prime Minister, which I'm celebrating, I have met the Prime Minister six times.
What a joy it is to get to welcome Prime Minister Modi.
In India in March, he hosted me with such generosity and warmth. It was a trip full of unforgettable moments: celebrating Holi in Gujarat, laying a wreath for Mahatma Gandhi in New Delhi, and doing a lap of the stadium at Ahmedabad on day one of the fourth test.
Everywhere I went, I felt that deep sense of connection between the people of Australia and India.
It is a warmth I also felt when I backpacked around India for 5 weeks in 1991. Your million-strong community has contributed so much to this country.
The people here - your families, your communities - will always be the lifeblood of the relationship that India and Australia share.
I can announce that the new Centre for Australia-India Relations will be based in Parramatta: a place that itself is a testament to the vitality of the Indian-Australian experience.
One that now has a proud Indian-Australian – Sameer Pandey – as its Lord Mayor: congratulations.
Now we want to see more connections – more Australian and Indian students living and studying in each other’s countries, and bringing those experiences home.
More business leaders and artists and families sharing your experiences, and your knowledge, and your ideas.
Prime Minister Modi and I have just unveiled a plaque for the foundation stone of the “Little India” gateway in Harris Park. And won't that be good to visit.
But as Prime Minister, I want to say thank you.
You have brought the spirit of the world’s biggest democracy to Australia. And you have helped make our democracy stronger and more inclusive.  
You've strengthened Australian society, bringing our country the benefits and riches of such a beautiful and diverse culture.
I'm so proud that you have made Australia your home - that you see your life and your future here.
You make our nation and our shared communities better. You make Australia stronger.
City of Parramatta key stop on Indian PM's tour | City of Parramatta
City of Parramatta key stop on Indian PM’s tour
“Parramatta is the heart of global Sydney and this visit by Prime Minister Modi in his first visit to Australia in a decade only reaffirms that,” Cr Pandey said.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese have unveiled a plaque to mark the City of Parramatta’s emerging “Little India” precinct in Harris Park. 
Mr Modi tonight addressed more than 18,000 people at a community reception at Sydney Olympic Park’s Qudos Bank Arena following a meeting with six of the City’s councillors including new Lord Mayor Sameer Pandey. 
Councillor Pandey, who is the City’s first Lord Mayor of Indian origin, said the City was a fitting location for the community event. 
“Parramatta is the heart of global Sydney and this visit by Prime Minister Modi in his first visit to Australia in a decade only reaffirms that,” Cr Pandey said. 
“We are honoured he chose to visit the City of Parramatta which is home to one of the largest populations of Indian and South-East Asian people in Australia and took the time to meet with Council.” 
“The relationship between our two countries is built on our strong people-to-people links.” 
“We are proud of our city’s rich cultural tapestry which makes it a great place to live and a growing drawcard for visitors from around the world.” 
Cr Pandey said a bronze plaque unveiled by the two Prime Ministers on the night is intended to be attached to a foundation stone at the gateway to Wigram Street, Marion Street and Station Street East in Harris Park – a precinct already known by many in the community as Little India. 
The City of Parramatta is engaging closely with the community and the Federal Member for Parramatta Andrew Charlton MP to secure grant funding from the Investing in Our Communities Program to fund the installation of the plaque. The project contributes to the shared goal of making the Little India precinct a national and international destination.
Clare Nowland: 95-year-old Australian woman dies after being Tasered by  police | Australian police and policing | The Guardian
Constable charged over elderly women’s death
A senior police constable who tasered a 95-year-old great-grandmother in her nursing home has been charged over her death and.
The 33-year-old officer with 12 years of experience was with his partner when they were called to the aged care home in Cooma, southern NSW.  
Clare Nowland, who had dementia, fell and fractured her skull after she was tasered by the senior constable because she was carrying a serrated knife. She died a week later surrounded by family and loved ones.
The senior constable has been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and common assault.
"With great sadness, the Nowland family share that our beloved Clare passed away this evening while surrounded by the love and support of her family," the family said in a statement on Wednesday.
"We wish to thank the staff at Cooma Hospital for their care and support for Clare and our family."
• Meanwhile, pressure is growing from all sides of politics for the NSW Police Minister to view the body-cam vision over concerns public confidence in the force has eroded.
The NSW Coalition accused Police Minister Yasmin Catley of being "missing in action".
During question time, former police minister Paul Toole asked Ms Catley if she'd seen the body-cam vision.
"It is critically important that the outcome we get has integrity for the family because that is what they deserve," Ms Catley responded.
"I've never come into this place, ever, and used this place to politicise an investigation."
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said he wanted Ms Catley to have greater oversight of the investigation.
"It's quite extraordinary that in an incident like this, which has challenged public confidence in police operations, that she has not done that," Mr Speakman said.
"It's important that there is transparency, accountability and confidence in the robustness of this process and the timeliness of its outcome.
Greens MP Sue Higginson agreed, and said she wanted the footage released so "the people of NSW can know what has happened".



 














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