‘Suicide by pilot': Shocking evidence emerges in Air India crash tragedy investigation
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Sky News AU
4 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Northern Territory Chief Minister lashes out, exploring changes after cost of inquest into Kumanjayi Walker's death blows out to at least $7.4 million
The Northern Territory government is considering changes to the Coroner's Act following the 'extraordinary' blowout in the cost of the inquest into the death of Kumanjayi Walker. Mr Walker was shot dead by former police constable Zachary Rolfe in the remote Indigenous community of Yuendumu in November 2019. In March 2022 Mr Rolfe was found not guilty of Mr Walker's murder. Coroner Elisabeth Armitage began her inquiry into Mr Walker's death in September 2022. The inquest was supposed to run for three months, but it would be almost three years before Ms Armitage delivered her final report. Last week, Sky News reported the cost to two government departments for the inquest had exceeded $7.4 million. The Department of Attorney General and Justice spent more than $1.9 million on the inquiry, while the bill for the Northern Territory Police was almost $5.5 million. The data provided to the NT Budget Estimates Committee showed the cost of the inquest into the deaths of four Aboriginal women killed in domestic violence incidents was $497,640, while the average cost for 283 inquests in 2024/45 was just $6,120. Government sources have told Sky News the total cost of the Walker inquiry will likely exceed $11 million once the bill for the Northern Territory Health Department and other associated costs are included. Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro said the length and cost of the inquest was unacceptable. "It's an extraordinary amount of money and it's important that Territorians understand what these kinds of activities cost,' she said. 'The coronial process is obviously a very important process but when a usual coronial inquest costs six-thousand dollars and one as complicated as the four domestic violence women costing half a million, you can see how this one has completely blown out." Speaking to host Katie Woolf on Mix FM, Mrs Finocchiaro said the government was considering changes to the Coroner's Act to limit the cost of future inquiries. 'I think that's something the Attorney General is looking at as part of our broader justice reform package,' she said. 'It's really important that our courts are working well and all of our statutory bodies that do this sort of work are working well.' She said there needed to be accountability around how taxpayers' money was spent, saying 'I don't think coronials should cost this much, ever'. "You can see how as a government we are really concerned about how long the coroner is taking to do these inquests and the amount of money she is spending doing it, because at the end of the day, it's not her money, it's not my money, it's your listeners' money Katie and we have to making sure we're spending that on advancing the Territory,' she said. Ms Armitage made 33 recommendations in her final report, including 17 that relate to the NT Police. Mrs Finocchiaro said the government was considering the report but is yet to commit to the implementation of any of the recommendations.
Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
‘Not surprised': New damning accusations against former Obama administration over Russiagate
Former Victorian Liberal Party president Michael Kroger has discussed accusations from US Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard against the former Obama administration on the Trump-Russia collusion probe after the 2016 election. 'Am I surprised? No, not in the slightest,' he told Sky News host James Morrow. 'Am I surprised that people in the Obama administration were somehow behind the scenes trying to put some of this together? No, I'm not surprised, and it will be absolutely fascinating to see what these documents reveal.'
The Advertiser
a day ago
- The Advertiser
'Definite urgency' for action on child safety checks
Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting." Urgency is needed for a national register of childcare workers to improve safety, the attorney-general says, but admits it won't be a silver bullet for issues in the sector. Michelle Rowland said the federal government was working with states and territories on developing a national system, ahead of childcare safety laws being introduced to parliament this week. Implementation of such of a scheme will be brought up during a meeting of federal, state and territory attorneys-general in coming weeks. "We've got different states and territories with their own schemes for working with children checks and reportable conduct - they do not talk to other states and there is no system of oversight," Ms Rowland told Sky News on Sunday. "There is a definite, a definite urgency here and it's been there for some time. "The piece of work that we have ... is to ensure that we have a solution that allows near real-time reporting, access to data, making sure that we've got consistency and uniformity across that. The proposal has been fast tracked after employee Joshua Brown was charged with 70 sex offences against eight alleged victims under two at a childcare centre in Melbourne. Ms Rowland said recommendations for a national working with children scheme were made a decade ago following a royal commission into child sexual abuse. "We're now in 2025. What is important here is that we have action," she said. "We need to be honest, this is not going to resolve everything that we have in the system, but it will be a significant step forward." Laws to strip childcare centres of federal funding if they do not meet national standards will be brought to federal parliament when it resumes. Centres would be required to disclose if they have received a breach notice from the commonwealth. Opposition education spokesman Jonathon Duniam said the coalition would support the changes. "We do need transparency around this. When you're putting your child into the care and trust of people you generally don't know, and you're away for the day, you want to know if there are issues with the centre you're putting your kid into," he told ABC's Insiders program. "We again extend our support to the government to urge state and territory governments to come together and act with urgency to resolve all of the problems we have across the sector." Senator Duniam said he was "baffled" that mandatory security cameras were not in place in childcare centres. "Obviously we need to protect privacy of children, we need to manage those systems," he said. "But with the right safeguards and right management, I think it is essential as part of the protection against kids in this most vulnerable setting."
