logo
NSW Premier Chris Minns says he won't ‘rule out' parliamentary inquiry into Ivan Milat

NSW Premier Chris Minns says he won't ‘rule out' parliamentary inquiry into Ivan Milat

News.com.au11 hours ago
Premier Chris Minns has declared he would be 'privileged' to meet with the families of more than 80 unsolved murders, which some claim could be connected to Ivan Milat.
Mr Minns said he also would not rule out a parliamentary inquiry into Milat 'and his associates' during a budget estimates hearing on Wednesday morning.
Milat died in prison in 2019, having been convicted over the deaths of two men and five women between 1989 and 1992, known as the backpacker murders.
He has since become the subject of intense and longstanding media attention, with amateur sleuths and cold case police connecting dozens of alleged murders to him.
Under questions from Legalise Cannabis Party MLC Jeremy Buckingham, Mr Minns said he would not rule out an inquiry into Milat and other cold case murders.
'Perhaps the best thing for me to do is to meet with you (Mr Buckingham), and I'm with you … would be a privilege to meet victims' families,' Mr Minns said.
'I think that's an important thing to do, to understand not just their circumstances and their anguish associated with the loss of their loved one.
'But, I wouldn't rule it (an inquiry) out. I think that may be the necessary next step, given the scale of some of the things.'
Mr Minns was shown pictures of Milat and a police sketch of a man connected with the killing of two women at Wanda Beach in 1965.
Asked if they were similar, Mr Minns said 'I'm concerned they are incredibly similar.
'If there's government information that can shine a light or a spotlight on further investigations, or even advocacy on your part that can prompt somebody with some kind of information about these horrible murders, then I think it's worthwhile.'
The Legislative Council earlier this year passed a motion under Standing Order 52 to produce work records of Ivan Milat from his time with government agencies.
Mr Buckingham said the council was instead supplied with 'just a few pages'.
'They do not show in any way what his role was, what he was doing, and, most importantly, where he worked and when'.
Asked why the records were not supplied, Cabinet Office Secretary Kate Boyd said she would get back to Mr Buckingham later on Wednesday afternoon.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Australian Jewish groups branding Netanyahu's attack on PM as ‘unhelpful'
Australian Jewish groups branding Netanyahu's attack on PM as ‘unhelpful'

Sky News AU

time39 minutes ago

  • Sky News AU

Australian Jewish groups branding Netanyahu's attack on PM as ‘unhelpful'

Liberal Senator Dave Sharma discusses Benjamin Netanyahu's attempts to 'intervene' in Australian domestic politics. On Wednesday, the Israel-Australia relationship hit a new low after the turmoil following the Albanese government's decision to recognise Palestinian statehood. Mr Netanyahu called Mr Albanese 'weak' and accused him of abandoning Jewish Australians. 'You have already seen the reaction from organised parts of the Australian Jewish community saying they find this incredibly unhelpful,' Mr Sharma said.

Productivity summit ends day two with progress on rules changes to boost housing supply
Productivity summit ends day two with progress on rules changes to boost housing supply

ABC News

time2 hours ago

  • ABC News

Productivity summit ends day two with progress on rules changes to boost housing supply

Rules holding back superannuation funds from investing potential billions of dollars into housing and renewables projects could face a shake up, after broad agreement at Canberra's productivity roundtable that there is a need for change. Super funds are required to meet a "performance benchmark", under laws designed to ensure funds are performing and maintaining the retirement savings of their members. But critics have said the rules around those benchmarks discourage investment in some assets, including a rule that requires stamp duty to be disclosed as a fee in a way that they say discourages housing investment. The government flagged it was seeking to rewrite the benchmark after a 2023 review similarly found it could unintentionally be discouraging investment in some assets. Rebecca Mikula-Wright, who heads the Investor Group on Climate Change, said there had been broad agreement at this week's summit that changing those rules could accelerate housing and renewables investment. "The Your Future Your Super performance benchmark was discussed a lot in the session I was in yesterday, and really around how that is constraining the ability of super funds to invest in higher risk projects they really want to invest into," Ms Mikula-Wright told the ABC. 'The treasurer did indicate he is likely to revisit those reforms." After a day of talks focused on finding agreement on one of the thorniest issues impacting housing and the environment — Australia's "broken" environmental approvals process — Treasurer Jim Chalmers expressed his pleasure at the "real prospect of a useful consensus" emerging on some of the country's key economic challenges. "Day two of the reform roundtable was really dominated by how we can boost housing supply, how we can responsibly reduce and improve regulation and speed up approvals," Mr Chalmers said. "I'm really encouraged by the consensus in the room for economic reform in these areas, and we're enthusiastic about some of the policies that participants put on the table." Ms Mikula-Wright said there had also been good support for a Productivity Commission recommendation to establish a "strike team" that could land faster approvals for key infrastructure projects, particularly around renewables. "We're competing with markets that are getting projects up faster and cheaper, so we have to do the same. Then we can attract more capital and get those projects rolling out," she said. After warnings from Housing Minister Clare O'Neil that red tape was dragging down housing approvals — and leaked Treasury documents indicating the government was considering a pause on the National Construction Code — attendees also agreed such a move should take place. The National Construction Code lays out minimum requirements for buildings on everything from fire exits and accessibility to insulation and capacity for electric vehicle chargers. But while changes to safety standards could continue, attendees discussed possible pauses on "non-essential" rules of the construction code, such as new requirements to lift energy efficiency standards. New South Wales Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said a pause on the code was needed, though the finer details were being worked through. "The pause is something that is where the conversation was concentrated on. In terms of how long it needs to be paused, who would do the review, what's the terms of reference, that work can be pursued," he said, "I think we will have a few more conversations at the roundtable and beyond to sort out those levels of detail." The ABC understands the government hopes to move fast on a pause, and not have discussions drag out for several months. After two successive terms of government failing to find a path through the thicket of reform on Australia's Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act, attendees of today's roundtable were cautiously welcoming what appeared to be some progress. The complicated laws govern the environmental approval process for major projects, such as energy and mining projects, as well as housing and other developments where they potentially impact threatened species or significant cultural sites. But a major review of those decades-old laws published in 2020 concluded that they were no longer working for business or the environment — a view that today's roundtable attendees were agreed on. However, attempts under former environment minister Tanya Plibersek to update the laws were abandoned before the federal election — with a key sticking point being a plan to introduce a federal watchdog that could independently monitor EPBC approvals. Mining and other business groups did not support that proposed Environmental Protection Agency. But after extended talks today, they left saying they would be prepared to support an EPA, with a caveat that the final say would rest with the environment minister. There are still devils in the detail, including a desire from environment groups to see the EPA also given final approval powers on projects. But it marks the first significant advancement in EPBC discussions since they stalled last term. Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive, Kelly O'Shanassy, said there was agreement in the room that an EPA was needed but there remained different views on how it should operate. "There is a lot of support for efficient decision making, transparent decision making, accountability — that is not the current process," Ms O'Shanassy said. "You need to have an independent regulator that is held to account for the speed of its decisions and the quality of its decisions." Business Council of Australia chief executive, Bran Black, said a federal EPA should effectively be set-up in the same way as existing state-based authorities. "We take the view that it's really important to have a separation between the entity that is ultimately responsible for compliance and the entity that's ultimately responsible for approvals," Mr Black said. "In an ideal world, we wouldn't need to go down the path of creating multiple bodies at all [but] the government has committed to a new EPA. It's made it very clear, that's a point that it's taken to two elections now." "The question then is: what does this EPA do?" Environment Minister Murray Watt said, however, there was strong support around the table for "stronger" environmental protections and "faster and simpler" project approvals, through a more transparent process for businesses. "These are objectives our government supports, but we will ultimately need support across the parliament for reform. It was therefore very useful for the shadow treasurer, as a roundtable participant, to hear the depth of support for change," Senator Watt said. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said the Coalition was willing to work constructively with the government to see reforms to the environment laws passed.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store