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Isabella Higgins: Good morning, welcome to AM. It's Tuesday the 3rd of June. I'm Isabella Higgins coming to you from Gadigal land in Sydney. A third of Australian men have used some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime, according to a new long-term national study. And this new data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies shows there's been an increase in self-reported violence since 2014. The research also indicates risk factors for this behaviour, which could help prevent violence before it happens, as Bridget Fitzgerald reports.
Bridget Fitzgerald: For more than two decades, David Nugent has had a front row seat to Australia's gender-based violence crisis.
David Nugent: Men often will look for a reason to justify their behaviour, and when it comes to family violence and the way we act out, it always comes back to a choice.
Bridget Fitzgerald: As the founder of Heavy METAL, Men's Education Towards Anger and Life, David Nugent runs behaviour change programs and counselling for men.
David Nugent: One of the things that keep men away from doing this work is that they don't believe that they're abusive towards their partner because he's physically not violent.
Bridget Fitzgerald: Data from the Australian Institute of Family Studies' Ten to Men report estimates that 35 per cent of adult men have used some form of intimate partner violence in their lifetime. The report shows a rise in intimate partner violence, up from one in four men reporting using violence in 2013-14.
Dr Kelsey Hegarty: Domestic or intimate partner violence is not reducing in this country.
Bridget Fitzgerald: Dr Kelsey Hegarty is the Chair in Family Violence Prevention at the University of Melbourne and a report co-author. Based on the responses of more than 4,000 men, the study found emotional abuse was the most common form of violence, with 32 per cent reporting that they'd made a partner feel frightened or anxious. Nine per cent had responded that they'd hit, slapped, kicked or otherwise physically hurt a partner in anger.
Dr Kelsey Hegarty: And it's the leading contributor to death and disability for childbearing women. It's harmful to children. It's harmful to the people who are using it. We need to try some new ways of preventing and early intervention.
Bridget Fitzgerald: The report also found that men with moderate or severe depressive symptoms have a 62 per cent increased risk of using violence.
Dr Kelsey Hegarty: We really need to identify and treat severe depression in men, but we also need to be asking more about their relationships and what's happening in their relationships. And the reason we're doing that is obviously to prevent escalation later on, but also particularly if there's children in those settings, to actually try and interrupt the role modelling of that sort of behaviour.
Bridget Fitzgerald: Men who had an affectionate father or father figure were less likely to use violence. So too were men with good social support. Micaela Cronin, Australia's Domestic, Family and Sexual Violence Commissioner, says prevention is the best way to end gender-based violence.
Micaela Cronin: If we're going to really radically look at how do we end gender-based violence, we need to be looking at what the causes are, where are the points that we can be intervening at every point to prevent violence.
Bridget Fitzgerald: David Nugent says he sees proof every day that violent men can choose to change.
David Nugent: It's very, very important to have those role models and support that don't hold that misogynistic, unhealthy perspectives of how men should be.
Isabella Higgins: Domestic violence advocate David Nugent ending that report from Bridget Fitzgerald. And if you're in an abusive situation or know someone who is, call 1800RESPECT. If it's an emergency, call 000. Australia's three million lowest paid workers will soon find out how much their pay packets will rise this year. The Fair Work Commission is set to determine the increase to minimum and award wages today. Many are looking for reprieve from the mounting cost of living, but business and employer groups warn too large a lift risks fuelling inflation. Political reporter Nicole Hegarty has more from Parliament House.
Nicole Hegarty: For Australia's lowest paid, every dollar counts.
Sally McManus: When you're a minimum wage worker it's all essential. So you don't save money, you survive.
Nicole Hegarty: And with the cost of living biting, that's truer than ever. Sally McManus is the Secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions. The Fair Work Commission is set to reveal how much minimum and award wages will increase from July. The ACTU is asking for a 4.5% increase.
Sally McManus: The Fair Work Commission didn't order enough for these workers to be able to keep the same position they were back in 2019. So part of our claim is catch up claim.
Nicole Hegarty: But businesses and employers are also under pressure as rents rise and consumers tighten their belts. The Australian Retailers Association is recommending an increase of no more than 2.5% on top of the 0.5% superannuation guarantee increase. In its submission it argues for an equitable and modest increase to the minimum wage that helps households without increasing business costs beyond what is needed to ensure wages keep pace with higher prices. Cost of living dominated the election campaign and the re-elected Albanese government is now asking for an economically sustainable real wage increase for the almost 3 million Australians on minimum and award wages. Treasurer Jim Chalmers says that can be achieved without pushing up inflation.
Jim Chalmers: The submission that we take reflects all of our economic objectives and primarily making sure that when people work hard they can get ahead.
Nicole Hegarty: It's a position employer groups have challenged. The Retailers Association warning in its submission additional wage pressure risks fuelling renewed price pressures and undermining economic progress. Chris Wright is a professor of work and labour market policy at the University of Sydney and says the international evidence is that there is room for an increase.
Chris Wright: The OECD has identified that there is scope for wage increases, especially for the lowest paid to occur without there being inflationary pressures of any significant scale.
Nicole Hegarty: And as the conversation turns to how to address Australia's productivity problem, Professor Wright says a wage rise may have a positive impact.
Chris Wright: Workers who feel like they're being paid fairly are more likely to be productive in their jobs and they're more likely to stay in their jobs.
Nicole Hegarty: The Workplace Relations umpire has historically decided on increases that fall somewhere between the demands of business and unions. And along with workers who rely on the wages at the heart of this decision, they'll find out soon how much pay packets will grow as of July.
Isabella Higgins: Nicole Hegarty there. WA Senator Dorinda Cox has quit the Greens and joined Labor in a shock defection. She says it's about getting results and not rebellion, but her exit has left the Greens blindsided and fuming. Political reporter Olivia Caisley joins me from Parliament House. Olivia, why did she walk away from the Greens?
Olivia Caisley: Well, standing alongside the Prime Minister in Perth yesterday, Senator Dorinda Cox says that her values align more closely with Labor and that she believes she'll be able to deliver better outcomes and results for the people of WA. She was a member of Labor briefly in her youth before she did join the Greens. Her switch though comes after months of internal tensions within her former party, so she failed in her bid to become deputy leader following the party's poor showing at the election, and there were also growing doubts that she'd secure a winnable spot on the next Senate ticket. The Greens say they were blindsided by this, that Senator Cox only called the Greens leader Larissa Waters about an hour before announcing her shocked defection, and there have also been allegations of bullying or a toxic workplace culture in her office, which emerged during the last term of Parliament. Anthony Albanese was asked about this yesterday and he says that he's confident that those issues have been dealt with. Here's, Senator Cox, yesterday announcing her defection from the Greens.
Dorinda Cox: Being in the government and alongside the wonderful team that the Prime Minister has, you are able to make change. You are able to do the things that raise up and represent the voice of Western Australia and Canberra, and that's what they elect me to do, so I will continue to do that.
Isabella Higgins: And Olivia, what does this mean for the Senate and for both of those parties?
Olivia Caisley: Well, when it comes to the composition of the Senate, it's not a major shift. The Greens will still ultimately hold the balance of power. So this defection takes Labor's senators in the upper house to 29. The Greens, meanwhile, will drop to 10. But Labor will still need to rely on the Greens for votes in order to pass legislation. Symbolically, though, this is a major blow to the Greens. So at the election, they lost three of their four lower house seats and also their former leader, Adam Bandt, who was unable to retain his seat of Melbourne. And now they've got a high-profile senator defecting without warning. There is a question about how Senator Cox will square some of her policy positions with Labor's party platform. So for example, just last week, she criticised the Albanese government for extending WA's North West gas shelf, a move that environmentalists have also slammed. So how she reconciles those views while inside the Labor tent remains to be seen.
Isabella Higgins: Olivia Caisley reporting there. A second round of direct peace talks between Russia and Ukraine has ended without a major breakthrough as other nations say they must be prepared for war with Moscow. Britain's Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer says the threat of Russia can't be ignored, announcing the UK will expand its nuclear-powered attack submarine fleet under the AUKUS security pact with Australia and America. Europe correspondent Kathryn Diss reports from London.
Worker: Hello, Keir, nice to see you.
Kathryn Diss: On the front line of British security, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer announced what's billed as the biggest defence plan since the Cold War.
Kier Starmer: We are moving to warfighting readiness as the central purpose of our armed forces.
Kathryn Diss: After a ten-month review, the UK has revealed its strategy to tackle rising global threats, including those posed by Russia, China and North Korea.
Kier Starmer: When we are being directly threatened by states with advanced military forces, the most effective way to deter them is to be ready.
Kathryn Diss: The plan will include 12 more nuclear-powered submarines to better protect Britain's waters, which will come under the AUKUS alliance with Australia and the US. Six new munitions factories will be constructed across the UK. Investment in new technologies such as drones will be upped. Hundreds of long-range missiles will be manufactured and thousands of jobs will be created. It comes as Moscow and Kyiv met in Turkiye for a second round of peace talks. But, as expected, little progress was made towards a ceasefire. Ukraine's Defence Minister is Rustem Umerov.
Rustem Umerov: We firmly believe that all key issues can only be solved at the level of leaders. And the leaders' meeting could be with possible involvement of other leaders, such as the President of the United States.
Kathryn Diss: Moscow's demands for peace include ones we've heard before, such as recognition of Crimea, Luhansk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as regions of Russia, a complete withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from these areas and a ban on any military activities by third countries. Here's the head of Russia's delegation, Vladimir Medinsky.
Vladimir Medinsky: First, we've handed over our memorandum to the Turkish side, which consists of two parts. First, how to achieve a real long-term peace. And the second part is what steps should be taken to make a full-fledged ceasefire possible. Moreover, in the second part, there is even a variety of options. To enter this path or this path. The memorandum is quite detailed and worked through properly from our side. Therefore, the Ukrainian side decided to take it for study. If they study it, they will react to it. And we will see.
Kathryn Diss: The two sides did agree to another prisoner swap of the sick and wounded, as well as those under 25. Russia will also return the bodies of 6,000 fallen Ukrainian soldiers. But when it comes to ending the war, both sides appear worlds apart. This is Kathryn Diss in London reporting for AM. Earlier in the program, we heard about how prevalent domestic violence is. In a separate report released exclusively to AM, the Commonwealth Ombudsman found abusers are weaponising Australia's child support system. More than $1.9 billion in child support is unpaid, with the Ombudsman calling for new legislation to ensure this money goes to the one million children who rely on it. National Education and Parenting reporter, Conor Duffy, has this story.
Conor Duffy: After a four-month investigation and complaints from hundreds of parents, the Commonwealth Ombudsman, Iain Anderson, is today releasing a report highlighting financial abuse in Australia's child support system.
Iain Anderson: This is really important, Connor, because child support is all about children, vulnerable children who need to be financially supported while they're growing up.
Conor Duffy: The Ombudsman has concluded Services Australia is acting in an unfair and unreasonable manner in not using its enforcement powers to stop widespread financial abuse, defined as one parent weaponising the payment of child support. Mr Anderson says his report makes eight recommendations for sweeping changes, including new legislation. He says under the current system, some women feel unsafe just asking for what they're owed.
Iain Anderson: We've certainly had complainants who've said to them that this made them feel very unsafe and they in fact withdrew from processes and rather than seeking to pursue unpaid child support, they just said, I can't deal with this, I won't deal with this, I don't feel safe.
Conor Duffy: Mr Anderson also highlighted a provision in the law which requires Services Australia to assume all child support has been paid when assessing eligibility for Family Tax Benefit A.
Iain Anderson: Services Australia will actively pursue that debt and require it to be paid, even though the child support itself might not have been paid. So you might find you haven't been paid child support, but now you are actively being pursued for a debt for Family Tax Benefit A.
Conor Duffy: There are roughly 1.2 million parents in child support arrangements, with 83 per cent of paying parents male and 84 per cent of receiving parents female. Terese Edwards from Single Mother Families Australia says the Ombudsman's report is a breakthrough moment she hopes will turbocharge a long-running push for change.
Terese Edwards: The child support system has been a problem for decades. We're really letting our children down, but in the last decade we've understood it to really harm women as well.
Conor Duffy: In a statement, a Services Australia spokesperson said it fully accepted the recommendations and would be working to implement them between December 2025 and June 2026. Financial abuse and all forms of family and domestic violence are serious and damaging issues affecting many of our customers, the spokesperson said. In a statement, a spokesperson for the Minister for Social Services, Tanya Plibersek, said the government recognised child support was being used to exploit and traumatise women and where acting.
Isabella Higgins: Conor Duffy reporting. More than 80 years after he died, an Indigenous family have discovered the secret war history of one of their relatives. For decades, the story of service of Private Ngakyunkwokka was lost due to a spelling error. Now the Australian War Memorial is fixing that, as James Vyver reports.
James Vyver: In Wik country on the western side of Queensland's Cape York, the old Aurukun Mission Cemetery is filled with white wooden crosses. Among them, a gleaming white headstone stands out, the war grave of an Aboriginal World War II soldier, whose service and story has only recently been discovered by his great-niece, Ariana Yunkaporta.
Ariana Yunkaporta: We didn't know our great-great uncle was serving in the World War II. We were like, wow, we had an ancestors, you know, who served before and I was like really happy. I was like, wow, I don't know any white Australian served in the World War.
James Vyver: The soldier, Private Ngakyunkwokka, died in 1945 while on active duty for the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion. Incorrect mission and army records dating back over the last century led to the veteran being buried with the wrong name, Private Ngarkwokka. That error, carved in gold lettering, is still on the headstone today.
Ariana Yunkaporta: Seeing that grave for the first time, it was emotional and then I started like, had tears coming down.
James Vyver: It meant Ariana Yunkaporta and her family had no idea their ancestor was with them in Aurukun. The mystery of how the headstone bears the wrong name has now been solved after 80 years, thanks to a fellow digger and some luck.
Tim White: The last thing I expected to find in a cemetery in a remote Aboriginal community was a war grave.
James Vyver: In 2022, Aurukun local and army veteran Dr Tim White recognised the significance of the headstone, but not the Ngarkwokka name.
Tim White: My inquiry started that day. I've got to find out who this is and what the story is. If one of our Afghanistan or Vietnam veterans were buried under the wrong name, there'd be national outcry about it.
James Vyver: The incorrect records had also led to the soldier being listed with the wrong name on the roll of honour at the Australian War Memorial, twice. Well, his name has been changed three times. Australian War Memorial Director Matt Anderson.
Matt Anderson: We're determined now with the help of family, with the help of community that we've got it right. That's the right answer, to keep on striving for perfection. This is a roll of honour. This is the nation's debt recorded in bronze and if we can get it right, that's what we're determined to do and I'm just so pleased we've been able to do that.
James Vyver: A supplementary bronze panel now correctly reads Ngakyunkwokka C.B. The previous two incorrect names remain on the roll of honour. Army Reservists themselves, Ariana Yunkaporta and her brother Irwin, travelled to Canberra last week for a last post ceremony at the War Memorial. A service dedicated to a fellow soldier and their new-found uncle, finally recognised with his true name.
Ariana Yunkaporta: He's not just a role model for us, he's a role model to Aurukun as well, to the whole community.
James Vyver: The headstone on Private Ngakyunkwokka's grave will be replaced in the coming months.
Isabella Higgins: James Vyver reporting there. And that's AM for today. Thanks for your company. I'm Isabella Higgins.
Sam Hawley: Hi, it's Sam Hawley here, host of the ABC News Daily podcast. Since Donald Trump returned to the White House, Elon Musk has spent a lot of time inside the Oval Office. Now the world's richest man has been farewelled from his role in the Trump administration. Today, staff writer at The Atlantic, Ashley Parker, on Elon's exit and whether that's really the end of his role in politics. Look for the ABC News Daily podcast on the ABC Listen app.