Australia falls further behind on Closing the Gap targets

SBS Australia

2 days ago

TRANSCRIPT
Australia falls further behind on Closing the Gap targets
Minimal tsunami impact following major Russian quake
Kimberley Le Pienaar wins stage five of the Tour de France Femmes A new report reveals Australia is on track to meet only four of 19 national targets to close the gap between outcomes for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The latest Productivity Commission report presents another year of data with 16 additional supporting indicators reported for the first time. There are four targets on track to be met by 2031, including preschool program enrolments and employment, and six targets are improving, but will still fall short. These include life expectancy, healthy birth-weights, year 12 or equivalent qualifications and appropriately-sized housing. The target of youth justice has shown no change from the baseline and four targets - including adult imprisonment, suicide and children in out-of-home care - are actively worsening. Productivity Commissioner Selwyn Button says over-incarceration remains a key concern, especially for those held without a sentence. 'We know that a large majority of adults in prison are in prison unsentenced, and that's a similar story for average Trust Islander children who are in youth detention, they're in their unsentenced.' International and local criminals are suspected of working together to firebomb a synagogue, as police arrest one of three men they allege carried out the arson attack. A 21-year-old Werribee man, who is known to police, was arrested in Melbourne's west as multiple search warrants were carried out around the city on Wednesday. Two buildings of the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne's southeast were destroyed in December 2024, with the fire attack forcing two congregants inside to flee for their lives. The man is yet to be charged but Australian Federal Police Deputy Commissioner, Krissy Barrett, says no offence is off the table and she expects more people to be arrested in the future. She says police believe there was involvement by foreign actors in planning the attack. "Our investigation is not limited to Australia. It involves exploring criminals offshore and we suspect these criminals worked with criminal associates in Victoria to carry out the arson attack." A powerful magnitude 8.8 earthquake off Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula that triggered tsunami warnings as far as French Polynesia and Chile, has seemingly passed without causing major devastation. The shallow quake damaged buildings and injured several people, and was followed by an eruption from the region's most active volcano, Klyuchevskoy. Evacuation orders were issued along Japan's eastern coast, still haunted by the 2011 tsunami, and in parts of Hawaii. By evening, most warnings in Japan, Hawaii and Russia had been downgraded, as well as in the United States, as Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem explains. "We're in really good shape right now. We have downgraded the tsunami threat that was established for Hawaii and some of the regions impacting Alaska as well, but we still have a warning out and an alert for the West Coast. But we anticipate it'll be minimal impact." However, authorities in French Polynesia are urging residents of the remote Marquesas Islands to move to higher ground, warning of waves up to 2.5 metres high. Israeli strikes and gunfire in Gaza have killed at least 46 Palestinians, most of them reportedly among crowds searching for food, according to local hospitals. More than 30 people were killed reportedly while seeking aid, with dozens more wounded. The Israeli military has not commented on the latest attacks, but maintains it targets only militants and blames Hamas for civilian casualties, citing its operations in densely-populated areas. The deaths come as the United Kingdom threatens to recognise a Palestinian state in September unless Israel agrees to conditions, after France said it would do so without imposing any conditions. British Foreign secretary David Lammy had this to say. "The decision that we have taken today puts us on a pathway towards recognition. And over the next eight weeks, what we are attempting to do is affect the situation on the ground. We have seen the most horrific scenes. The global community is deeply offended by children being shot and killed as they reach out for aid. The time has come for a ceasefire." Israel's foreign ministry has rejected the British statement. To sport and in cycling, Kimberley Le Pienaar has won the fifth stage of the Tour de France Femmes, making the Mauritian rider the first African to claim a stage in the Tour's history. The 29 year-old reclaimed the yellow jersey after the gruelling 165.8 kilometre day, the longest of the event so far. Multiple riders crashed, some leaving the race altogether. Le Pienaar shared her delight at reclaiming the yellow leader's jersey - and the traditional stuffed toy lion gifted to every stage winner. "Amazing. We had the plan to try and take it back today. The team rode amazingly. The plan was just to take the sprints and if it finishes in a small group try to take the victory, stage victory, and it worked out really well. I don't think it would have been possible without the team work, without Sarah (Gigante) at the end. It really was amazing, and now we have a second Simba (lion toy awarded to stage winners), so super happy."
Demi Vollering is sitting in third place overall, while Pauline Ferrand Prevot is in second, sitting 18 seconds behind Le Court in the general classification.