Patterson gives evidence in mushroom murder trial

Australia Broadcast Center

4 days ago

Samantha Donovan: Hello, welcome to PM. I'm Samantha Donovan, coming to you from the lands of the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation in Melbourne. Tonight, in a surprise move, accused triple murderer Erin Patterson called to give evidence at her trial. Also, the Prime Minister rejects a demand from the United States for Australia to spend billions more on defence. And Football Australia names Joe Montemurro as the Matildas' new head coach.
Amy Duggan: The girls will be comfortable with the decision, they'll be excited. There's a number of Matildas who've been coached by him previously. He's very, very well respected, but definitely had some success.
Samantha Donovan: In a development that surprised some observers, accused triple murderer Erin Patterson has been called to give evidence at her Supreme Court trial in regional Victoria. Ms Patterson is accused of deliberately poisoning her husband's parents, uncle and aunt with a meal of beef wellington containing death cap mushrooms. Only one of her lunch guests survived. Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty to three charges of murder and one of attempted murder. Our reporter Kathleen O'Connor is at the trial in Morwell. Kathleen, the defence I understand began by asking Ms Patterson a series of questions about her relationship with her now estranged husband Simon Patterson. What did the court hear?
Kathleen O'Connor: Yeah, that's right, Sam. Aside from the text messages read to the court and the police interview played to the jury last week, this is the first time we're actually hearing from Erin Patterson. She began by telling the jury about the relationship between her and her estranged husband Simon and the relationship he has with his children. She went into how they first met at the council in the Melbourne area and how they travelled a lot, but after a while she wanted to lay down roots somewhere and start a family. Erin Patterson says when her and Simon first met she was originally an atheist and after going to church with Simon and his family she converted to Christianity. Later on in their relationship she described her dealings with Simon Patterson as functional. Erin Patterson telling the court when the pair separated a number of times throughout their relationship she said even though our relationship was struggling it was really important for both of us to cooperate because our child was the priority. Erin Patterson described to the jury that if her and Simon had any problems at all it was that they couldn't communicate well and when they disagreed with something they both just felt hurt and they didn't know how to resolve it.
Samantha Donovan: Her barrister then asked Erin Patterson about her relationship with her in-laws Don and Gail Patterson. What did she tell the jury?
Kathleen O'Connor: Erin Patterson talked about how she had a good relationship with Simon's parents in the beginning and she used to visit them regularly. She told the court she was often invited for a meal with them and her husband Simon Patterson and sometimes he wasn't even there. She explained to the jury that her mother-in-law Gail Patterson was really supportive, gentle and patient with her particularly after the birth of her first child. She was very close with his family often coming to visit the couple when they were living in Perth temporarily. Ian Wilkinson's son and Simon's cousin even walking her down the aisle at her wedding. However in 2023, the same year when the lunch took place, she told the court I'd felt for some months that her relationship between the wider Patterson family was more distant particularly with Simon's parents Don and Gail. She became concerned that Simon didn't want her to be involved in the family as much and she said she wasn't invited to as many things.
Samantha Donovan: And Kathleen, what was Erin Patterson's attitude, her demeanour like when she was giving evidence today?
Kathleen O'Connor: She became quite emotional Sam at times particularly talking about the birth of her child when responding to her defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC's questions. Her eyes were locked on him the entire time. She only paused a few times when questions were being asked just really taking her time to answer each question.
Samantha Donovan: And the lead investigator from the Victoria Police Homicide Squad also wrapped up his evidence today. What did he tell the court that was of significance this morning?
Kathleen O'Connor: Detective leading senior constable from the Homicide Squad Stephen Eppingstall was questioned for most of the morning as the prosecution's final witness. This morning defence lawyer Colin Mandy SC questioned him about Erin Patterson's use of mobile phones after the prosecution alleges a number of factory resets were made on that phone that was seized by police on the day that they searched her property in Leongatha. And that phone and SIM card she actually gave to police to help with their investigation wasn't the main phone that Ms Patterson used to regularly contact her family and friends. Barrister Colin Mandy SC presented a diagram to the jury to demonstrate that it was regular practice that the SIM cards she used were shifted into several different phones in the years before the lunch. And the factory reset may not have been done intentionally. The prosecution has formally closed its case now Sam.
Samantha Donovan: Our reporter Kathleen O'Connor at the Erin Patterson trial in Morwell in Victoria. The Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has rejected a demand from the United States for Australia to spend an additional $40 billion a year on defence. The US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth is urging Australia to boost its spending to 3.5% of GDP up from the current level of 2%. He's of the view Australia needs to be doing more in the Indo-Pacific region to counter the rise of China. But Mr Albanese insists his government is already ramping up its investment in the military. Isabel Moussalli has more. US
Isabel Moussalli: Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth made the most of his time in the spotlight at the weekend Shangri-La Dialogue, a global security conference in Singapore.
Pete Hegseth: I urge all of our allies and partners to seize this moment with us. Our defence spending must reflect the dangers and threats that we face today.
Isabel Moussalli: In his speech he reassures allies they won't be left alone to face increasing military and economic pressure from China, but asks them to ramp up spending. And if Asian countries need an example, he says thanks to President Donald Trump, European nations are boosting their spending.
Pete Hegseth: NATO members are pledging to spend 5% of their GDP on defence, even Germany. So it doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that while key allies in Asia spend less on defence in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea.
Isabel Moussalli: And then there's Australia, which got a specific mention later on. The US Department of Defence published a statement saying Secretary Hegseth conveyed that Australia should increase its defence spending to 3.5% of its GDP as soon as possible. Australia's current defence spending is about 2% of GDP, so meeting that request would cost Australia tens of billions of dollars more per year. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has been quick to brush off that demand.
Anthony Albanese: What you should do in defence is decide what you need, your capability, and then provide for it. That's what my government's doing, investing in our capability and investing in our relationships. We've provided an additional $10 billion of investment into defence over the forward estimates. That adds up to 2.3% of GDP is where defence spending will rise.
Isabel Moussalli: Jennifer Parker from the Australian National University's National Security College says the US pushing for more defence spending isn't surprising, but she raises questions about the way it's been handled.
Jennifer Parker: The way it was pushed out really looks like it was trying to wedge Australia, given the recent debates in Australia about defence spending, which makes you ask questions about how close we are in the nature of our relationship.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Elizabeth Buchanan agrees. She's a senior fellow with the Australian Strategic Policy Institute and the former head of Navy research at the Department of Defence.
Elizabeth Buchanan: So it shouldn't be a surprise that we've been asked to spend more. I think it is a surprise in terms of just how brash the US has been about this request. And I really do think the untidiness of how the US Secretary of Defence read out is a real clear signal that Canberra definitely isn't in the driver's seat in this relationship, and we might have known that.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Buchanan doesn't believe Australia will get anywhere near even 3% GDP, let alone 3.5% in the next decade. She cautions against lifting defence spending for the sake of it.
Elizabeth Buchanan: So I think Australia very quickly will need to start reminding Washington that we have Pine Gap, we have Northwest Cape, we have MRFTI, so our marine rotational force up in Darwin. We do quite a lot that might not be fiscally valuable to Washington, but it does enable US forces throughout the region. So I think it's time that we sit down at a table and just really discuss about what we offer the alliance.
Isabel Moussalli: Dr Buchanan says she hopes those hard discussions happen soon.
Samantha Donovan: Isabel Moussalli, delegates of Russia and Ukraine are expected to meet in the coming hours in Istanbul for a second round of peace talks. The first round ended last month with no sign of a ceasefire. The latest discussions come just a day after Ukraine launched a huge assault on air bases inside Russia, with drones reportedly hitting more than 40 aircraft in sites ranging from Russia's western border right through to eastern Siberia. Elizabeth Cramsie has more on Ukraine's Operation Spiderweb.
Elizabeth Cramsie: For Ukraine, it's a David and Goliath moment. Using more than 100 carefully positioned drones, it launched the attack on four air bases on Russian soil and hit around 40 long-range bombers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
Valeriy Romanenko: Tiny cheap drones made such a powerful strike on huge strategic bomber planes.
Elizabeth Cramsie: That's Valeriy Romanenko, a Ukrainian aviation expert.
Valeriy Romanenko: First of all, this is a powerful blow to one of the main components of the Russian nuclear triad. A blow to the strategic aviation. A powerful blow. At least four TU-95s were set on fire. Everyone saw it. There is a video. I don't think 40 planes were destroyed though. Some of them were damaged.
Elizabeth Cramsie: But if that number is correct, Mr Romenenko says it will have a huge impact on Russia's capabilities.
Valeriy Romanenko: If it was indeed 40 planes, then it's basically half of Russia's strategic aviation fleet capable of carrying out combat missions.
Elizabeth Cramsie: Ukraine is describing this as its biggest long-range attack since Russia invaded. And it was a complicated mission. The drones were smuggled into position behind enemy lines before the attack. The operation has been praised by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy: 117 drones were used in the operation and a respective number of drone pilots were involved. 34% of Russian strategic carriers of cruise missiles on their home airfields were hit. Our people worked in different Russian regions in three time zones. Our people on the eve of the operation were extracted from the Russian territory. Now they are in safety.
Elizabeth Cramsie: It comes on the eve of another round of peace talks. President Zelenskyy has announced Kyiv will send a delegation to Istanbul for the talks, despite Kyiv's insistence at the weekend that they would first need a draft memorandum of a peace accord from Russia, something President Zelenskyy says is yet to be received.
Samantha Donovan: Elizabeth Cramsie reporting. Mick Ryan is a retired Australian Army Major General and a Senior Fellow for Military Studies at the Lowy Institute. I asked him why this Ukrainian drone attack on Russian military bases is so significant.
Mick Ryan: What it shows is that small and medium-sized countries can launch long-range strikes deep inside superpowers or major powers and hurt them. This is a fairly significant strike that was conducted with fairly cheap off-the-shelf componentry.
Samantha Donovan: Does it signal a change in the way warfare is conducted?
Mick Ryan: Well, it signals an evolution in how vulnerable military bases are in our home countries. It shows that we're no longer safe in our home countries and that anyone can take some drones off the shelf, fit some warheads to them and attack our bases, and Australia is not immune to that.
Samantha Donovan: What does Australia need to do to be better prepared for any drone attacks?
Mick Ryan: Well, firstly, it needs to weed itself off this approach where it buys small numbers of exquisite, expensive weapons that take decades to procure. It needs a balance of some of those and lots of cheap, simple drones that we can adapt very quickly. And secondly, we need to be able to defend our bases in Australia. We can't do that.
Samantha Donovan: And what's needed to defend Australian bases from drone attacks?
Mick Ryan: It'll be a mix of different things. Firstly, the sensors to just know they're there. Secondly, it'll need electronic warfare, a range of other hard-kill weapons, including drone interceptors, which the Ukrainians now are world's best practice in.
Samantha Donovan: Do we have any of those?
Mick Ryan: No, we don't.
Samantha Donovan: What's your understanding of how much damage the Ukraine drone attack has done to Russian assets?
Mick Ryan: Well, we have a saying in the military, first reports are always wrong. So, we'll wait and see exactly how it pans out over the next 24 hours. But it's clear that it's certainly damaged or destroyed a significant number of Russian large aircraft, bombers and early warning aircraft, but the exact number we probably won't know for some time.
Samantha Donovan: So, ceasefire talks are about to begin in Turkiye, we understand. What message do you think Ukraine is sending ahead of those talks?
Mick Ryan: Well, it was sending a message to the Russians, firstly, that it's not only the Russians that can undertake large-scale strikes within the country of their enemy. It's also sending the message that unlike the Russians, the Ukrainians target military targets, not civilian targets. So, I think they're important messages to send. But finally, the Ukrainians are messaging to the Americans that a Russian victory is not inevitable and they shouldn't believe Russian misinformation, as seems to be the case at times.
Samantha Donovan: Do you think it'll make any difference in Vladimir Putin's attitude to these ceasefire negotiations?
Mick Ryan: I don't think it'll change his calculus. Ukrainians have been hitting Russian oil refineries, munitions depots and other airfields for quite some time now. Putin appears determined, regardless of the cost, to pursue what he's after in this war, which is to extinguish the sovereignty of Ukraine.
Samantha Donovan: And of course, this isn't all one way either. There was a significant attack by Russia on Ukraine. What happened there in the last couple of days?
Mick Ryan: Well, last night we saw the biggest attack by Russia on Ukraine since the beginning of the war. Last weekend we saw very significant 300-plus drone attacks. Last night was over 400 drones. So, you know, the Russians are not stepping back. They are stepping up their attacks on Ukraine in the hope that they can terrorise Ukrainians into submission and convince the Americans that all hope is lost with Ukraine. That's just not the case.
Samantha Donovan: Moving away from that conflict, may I get your reaction to Pete Hegseth, the US Defence Secretary, calling for Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5% of GDP?
Mick Ryan: Well, we've known this has been coming for some time. I mean, he gave a speech in Munich that should have been read pretty clearly across the other side of the world that we were going to get these demands from America. But he's saying nothing. That Australian defence experts, including myself, haven't been saying for many years 2% of GDP is not enough for Australia's defence. In fact, the way it's being spent at the moment, overwhelmingly on nuclear-powered submarines, is compromising the readiness of the rest of the ADF. We need to be at least at 3%, potentially 3.5%.
Samantha Donovan: Mick Ryan is a retired Australian Army Major General and a Senior Fellow for Military Studies at the Lowy Institute. This is PM, I'm Samantha Donovan. Just a reminder, you can hear all our programs live or later on the ABC Listen app. Ahead, the Matildas have a new head coach. Australia's National Science Agency, the CSIRO, has completed the first ever national stocktake of our $800 billion food system. The researchers say while our farming sector is among the best in the world, there are big gaps, like the fact not all Australians can actually afford fresh food. And that view is backed by academics and even farmers groups, who say that for far too long, so-called food policy has focused on farming rather than the bigger picture. Luke Radford prepared this report.
Luke Radford: Chances are, when you think about where your food comes from, this is what comes to mind. A farm, where hard-working farmers are toiling away so you can enjoy a parmigiana or a salad or a bit of toast in the morning. But Sustainability Research Director at the CSIRO, Larelle McMillan, says that's just scratching the surface.
Larelle McMillan: What we've kind of looked at in this report is everything from nutrition, retail environment, food safety, Indigenous food systems, policy coherence, sustainability aspects, circular economy, hidden costs, as you mentioned, manufacturing and economics.
Luke Radford: That report is an all-encompassing look by the CSIRO at the food industry, from the paddock to the plate. The researchers argue that food as an industry is split up into at least 11 different silos, which are essentially separate industries that don't really talk to each other. Larelle McMillan says because it's been that way for so long, we struggle to come up with long-term plans.
Larelle McMillan: The food system works for most Australians. We're a food-producing nation. Our farmers do an incredible job of producing food, not just for our national consumption, but for our export markets. But we balance this by noting that it doesn't work for all Australians.
Luke Radford: Australian farming is incredibly productive. Just 100,000 farmers feed nearly 100 million people, including 27 million Australians. But the researchers argue that those raw statistics are part of a stark contradiction, because up to 3.5 million Australian households ran out of food at some point last year. Associate Professor Liesel Spencer specialises in food security at the School of Law at the University of Western Sydney.
Liesel Spencer: What that really looks like is they run out of food. They go a day or more without eating. The food in the house runs out and there's no more money to buy anymore. So if we're thinking about regulating the whole food system holistically, we have to go beyond just we're doing an amazing job of producing enough food and think about how we're distributing that and how that's available for everybody so everybody gets a fair chance at a healthy diet.
Luke Radford: What Associate Professor Spencer and the CSIRO are arguing is that we need to change how we actually think about food. The CSIRO report also calls for a national food plan, something the National Farmers Federation has also campaigned for. Jolyon Burnett is the chair of the National Farmers Federation Horticulture Council.
Jolyon Burnett: The compliance burden that producers have to face can make up as much as a third of the cost of doing business for these people. And when margins are shown to absolutely razor thin levels, then you begin to see that price is just one part in a very complex jigsaw puzzle.
Luke Radford: Mr Burnett also says even things like nutritional value and how best to provide it need to be re-examined.
Jolyon Burnett: We already know that the consumption of fresh produce, fresh fruit and vegetables across Australia is declining. These things are all linked and until we begin to sit down and try and map this out, rather than just whacking band-aids on particular parts of it, we'll continue to see the number of farmers declining.
Luke Radford: The Albanese government has committed to a new national food security strategy that it calls Feeding Australia, with more details set to come later this year.
Samantha Donovan: Luke Radford reporting. Well, the long-running search for a new coach of Australia's favourite national sporting team is over. Joe Montemurro has been picked to lead the Matildas after a 10-month recruitment process. His first game in charge is only a few weeks away and the pressure is on for him to return the Tillys to the form they showed at the Home World Cup nearly two years ago. Myles Houlbrook-Walk prepared this report.
Soccer Commentator: Courtney Vine can write the Matildas into history. Cue the party!
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: It was an almighty peak for Australia's most popular sporting team. Watched on by millions, they won a thrilling penalty shootout against France and Brisbane to get through to the semi-final of the Women's Football World Cup. But since then, the team has floundered with a poor Olympics and then a long hunt for a new coach. Now, Football Australia is confident they've got the right person for the Matildas.
Heather Garriock: We have finally got our man, the right man who will take this team to the next level. I am sure. This moment is now and Joe is the coach.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: They've picked Melbourne-born coach Joe Montemurro. The process to get him into the role took so long, the interim coach Tom Sermani says it was wasted time. Interim Chief Executive Heather Garriock today defended the length of the recruitment process and cited complex contractual arrangements.
Heather Garriock: I don't think it's a missed opportunity. Everything happens for a reason. And I believe this moment is now and to have Joe with a French championship under his belt is only going to help the Matildas.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: So, who is Joe Montemurro? He's coached women's teams all over the world. Most recently, he led one of the most successful clubs, Lyon, to become champions of France.
Joe Montemurro: I said to myself and obviously my wife and family and said, look, this is now an exciting cycle for the Matildas, the Asian Cup, World Cup, Olympic Games and the opportunity was too good.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: And with the Asian Cup just around the corner in March next year, Montemurro has a good feeling.
Joe Montemurro: I can smell some success, so let's hope it goes that way. The only promise I make is that we will play an exciting brand of football and that the integrity and the level and the respect of the Matildas will always be at the top of my thinking.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Amy Duggan played 27 games for the Matildas and believes the playing group is likely to be on board with his appointment.
Amy Duggan: The girls will be comfortable with the decision. They'll be excited. And as I said, there's a number of Matildas who've been coached by him previously. So he is very familiar with the culture of Australian football, with a lot of the players and a lot of their history.
Myles Houlbrook-Walk: Amy Duggan says there's not much time before Joe Montemurro's first major tournament, the Asian Cup, but it won't just be that tournament that he and the rest of the nation will want to see the Tillys do well in.
Amy Duggan: The real work for the Asian Cup starts now. Players will be vying for places and what that means for the next four year cycle. Because it's not just the Asian Cup. He'll also have a World Cup and an Olympics over the next four years, too. So, yeah, Joe will hit the ground running. There's no doubt about that. And with the success that he's had previously, I'm hopeful that that will continue to be the blueprint for what's going to happen with the Matildas moving forward.
Samantha Donovan: That's former Matildas player Amy Duggan. That report from Myles Hulbrook-Walk. Thanks for joining me for PM. I'm Samantha Donovan. We'll be back at the same time tomorrow. Good night.