Latest news with #KathleenOConnor
ABC News
14 hours ago
- Politics
- ABC News
Chaos continues in Los Angeles
Annie Guest: Hello, welcome to PM. I'm Annie Guest, coming to you from the lands of the Turrbal and Yugera people in Brisbane. Tonight, chaos on the streets of Los Angeles as the National Guard cracks down on thousands of protesters. Also, difficult questions about when a patient should be forced to get electroconvulsive therapy and King's birthday honours for some inspiring Australians. Geraldine Atkinson: We were teaching those children about their culture, about their identity. We wanted them to be children that were going to be proud of their originality. I'd go in classrooms with the children. Annie Guest: First, California's Governor Gavin Newsom has announced he'll sue the Trump administration for deploying the National Guard in Los Angeles without consulting him first. As protests continue for the third day on the streets of LA over Donald Trump's immigration policy, tensions flared when the President brought in soldiers from the US Armed Forces Reserve. Legal experts argue the President is authorised to do so under certain circumstances, but this is different. Kathleen O'Connor reports. Kathleen O'Connor: Gunshots echo through the streets of Los Angeles as thousands of angry protesters respond to President Donald Trump's extraordinary deployment of 2,000 National Guard troops in downtown LA. Protesters blocked a major freeway and set fire to numerous cars. Police fought back, using tear gas and rubber bullets in an attempt to control the crowd. Channel 9's US correspondent Lauren Tomasi was among the chaos and was shot in the leg live on TV. The ABC spoke to her afterwards. Lauren Tomasi: Look, I did get hit by a rubber bullet and we were caught on the side. We were standing out of police way. But unfortunately, you know that we are reporting from the scene. But we are safe now. Kathleen O'Connor: Lauren Tomasi says it's still an unfolding situation. Lauren Tomasi: I'm in the heart of downtown LA now and there are still protesters who are lining the overpass of the highway right now. I'm looking at a few dozen riot police standing at the entrance to the 101 freeway. It's a major freeway in the heart of LA and it runs right up California. It's been shut down because protesters were on there. It feels like things may have cooled off a little bit at the moment. At one stage, there were three vehicles that were burning as police were trying to push these protesters back. But it's just been so much emotion and so much anger in LA. Kathleen O'Connor: The clashes came on the third day of demonstrations against immigration raids carried out as part of Donald Trump's crackdown. But things escalated when President Trump deployed the National Guard, something he says was necessary to uphold law and order. Lauren Tomasi: There is just so much pushback right now against the Donald Trump administration because it is the US president who ordered in the National Guard and Los Angeles residents very much for the most part are against that. This is a democratic city pushing back against a Republican government. Kathleen O'Connor: Typically, a state's National Guard force is activated by the president at the request of the governor. According to American think tank the Brennan Center for Justice, this deployment marks the first time in six decades a state's National Guard was activated without a request from its governor. Political leaders are divided mainly along party lines over whether the president was justified in bringing them in. Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass says it's a dangerous escalation. Karen Bass: What we're seeing in LA is chaos caused by the administration. People should exercise their right to protest. That's their First Amendment right. Kathleen O'Connor: California Governor Gavin Newsom called the National Guard deployment unlawful and formally requested that the Trump administration withdraw its troops. He spoke on television network MSNBC. Robert Brokenshire: Donald Trump needs to pull back. He needs to stand down. Donald Trump is inflaming these conditions. Kathleen O'Connor: President Trump is only allowed to request the National Guard in certain circumstances. President Trump claims the protests in Los Angeles constitute a rebellion against the authority of the government of the United States. Jean Reese is the co-director of the University of South California's Immigration Clinic and an associate professor of law. Jean Reese: The last time that the federal government deployed the National Guard without the request of that state was in 1957 in order to segregate schools where the governor of Arkansas has said, I'm not going to follow federal law. This is a very different situation. So it is likely unlawful to deploy. And I think this is part of kind of creating a spectacle and narrative for the Trump administration to make an example of Los Angeles. Kathleen O'Connor: Los Angeles police say they've made dozens of arrests in the days since the protests began. Annie Guest: Kathleen O'Connor reporting. Earlier, I spoke to migrant activist and Professor Dylan Rodriguez from the Black and Cultural Studies departments at the University of California, Riverside. Professor Dylan Rodriguez, you've not been among the protesters in Los Angeles, but among some of the activist groups. Can you tell us what was your gut reaction to learning that President Trump ordered the deployment of National Guard troops? Dylan Rodriguez: I will say that I, among many others in the communities of organizers and solidarity supporters in the surrounding area and throughout the United States, were quite unsurprised. Why is that? By the mobilisation? Well, we've been waiting for the escalation to happen. And the escalation has already been happening. The way the Trump administration has been operating has been through, you know, spectacles of retaliation against real and perceived political enemies. And the entire state of California, in the view of the Trump administration, is itself an entire geographical and political area of retaliation. So, this is not surprising. Annie Guest: Donald Trump posted online that he sent the National Guard in to restore order, saying LA has been invaded and occupied by what he called illegal aliens and criminals with insurrectionist mobs attacking to stop the deportation operations by federal agents. What do you say to that? Dylan Rodriguez: Well, I'll say that this exhibits some of the prototypical hypocrisy and dishonesty. What he's pronounced is, as always, a pretext to play out his, on the one hand, his political whims and on the other hand, to normalise, and I want to emphasize that term, to normalise a state of one directional domestic warfare. Annie Guest: What do you mean by domestic warfare conducted by his administration? Dylan Rodriguez: Trump is using the inflammatory and racist rhetoric of illegal immigrants, which comes from an old reservoir of white supremacist depictions of brown and black people crossing borders. And it's used as a pretext to mobilise and normalise police violence, repressive police violence, and in this case, National Guard violence, so it actually goes beyond the police at this point on a domestic population. Annie Guest: What do you say is the president's endgame? Dylan Rodriguez: This is all traceable to Project 2025. Trump is simply a figurehead for this execution of what is a somewhat orthodox version of white supremacist fascism in the United States. Annie Guest: You've accused President Trump of white supremacy there, but he says that he's simply deporting or arranging a deportation of illegal immigrants. Can you remind us, what is President Trump's stated immigration policy and how do you say it differs to previous administrations? Dylan Rodriguez: Well, that's a really important question and I think it's important to consider the premises of the question. On the one hand, I think it's important to note that there's actually more continuity than there is difference in terms of the actual policy. The second dimension of that is that I'm not sure the Trump administration knows what its immigration policy is at this point. I think what the Trump administration knows is that it's committed to a militarisation and a normalisation of policing and warfare against whatever it deems to be the target population at that time. And Trump will be consistent in some ways and in some ways seemingly whimsical. In this case, he's focused on California and he's focused on black and brown people in California, which is in some ways nothing new. Annie Guest: Activist and Professor Dylan Rodriguez from the Black and Cultural Studies departments at the University of California, Riverside. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it's taking a group of pro-Palestinian activists to Israel after Israeli commandos seized their vessel in international waters. The ship, called the Medline, launched by the Freedom Flotilla Coalition, was about 160 kilometres from Gaza when it was stopped, with allegations made about the possible use of chemical weapons on the activists. Dijana Damjanovic reports. Dijana Damjanovic: The charity organisation running the mission says this video, which is yet to be verified, shows the moment the Medline was intercepted. The group says just after 1am local time, four speedboats approached their ship and then two drones sprayed a thick, white, paint-like substance onto the vessel before Israeli soldiers boarded it. Yasmin Akar is a 37-year-old activist from Germany. This video of her was posted on the group's social media account. Yasemin Acar: We are masking our face right now. We have protectors right above our heads. We don't know what this is, if this is paint or some chemical. No idea, but please sound the alarm. Dijana Damjanovic: The group says all on board have been detained and contact with them has been lost. The Freedom Flotilla Coalition is a group of international activists attempting to deliver aid and supplies into Gaza, including food, baby formula and crutches. It's understood prominent Swedish activist, 22-year-old Greta Thunberg and Rima Hassan, a French ambassador of the European Parliament, are part of the crew. The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs says the crew was taken to the Israeli port of Ashdod. In a written statement, it described the ship as a selfie yacht full of celebrities. It also said: Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs: While Greta and the others attempted to stage a media provocation whose sole purpose was to gain publicity, and which included less than a single truckload of aid, more than 1,200 aid trucks have entered Gaza from Israel within the past two years. And in addition, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation has distributed close to 11 million meals directly to civilians in Gaza. There are ways to deliver aid to the Gaza Strip. They do not involve Instagram selfies. Dijana Damjanovic: Francesca Albanese is the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the occupied Palestinian territories. Annie Guest: Dijana Damjanovic reporting there. This is PM, I'm Annie Guest. You can hear all our programs live or later on the ABC Listen app. Australian dairy farmers have suffered drought and floods this year, but they say the price of milk is an added challenge. While the price offered to dairy producers by the processing companies is higher than last year, farmers say it's not enough to make a living. Luke Radford reports. Luke Radford: Dairy farming is a tough gig. There's long hours, early mornings, and you can't really just take a week off. Bridget Goulding: We milk twice a day, 365 days of the year, so you don't get a break from it. Luke Radford: That's Bridget Goulding from Kattunga in northern Victoria. Like many farmers, she lives and breathes her job, despite the challenges. But in recent years, the price she's getting for that hard work isn't enough. Bridget Goulding: The problem though that is happening is that it's the costs that are really affecting the farming businesses. Everything has gone up in price and as dairy farmers, we can't just go, we need more. Luke Radford: Dairy farmers sell their milk to processors who turn it into things like drinking milk or cheese. These include brands you may recognise like Bega or Norco. But there are also large multinational companies involved, like Fonterra from New Zealand, Saputo from Canada, and Lactalis from France. Every year, these processors have to announce their base price by the 1st of June, which they then can't go below. But when the price came out in May this year, farmers were shocked to discover it had barely increased. Robert Brokenshire is President of the South Australian Dairy Farmers Association. Robert Brokenshire: Some of the processors have worked really hard to get the best possible price for farmers and other processors we're very disappointed with because we were hoping that they would all come in with at least $9 a kilogram milk solids opening offer. But for quite a lot, particularly some of the bigger multinationals, they came in at prices from about $8.60 to $8.80. And unfortunately, that's not a sustainable and viable price for dairy farmers. Luke Radford: That price of $8.60 per kilogram milk solids is an industry term. It's used instead of price per litre because the raw milk is used for many different products like cheese, yogurt or even protein powder. It translates to somewhere between 75 and 80 cents per litre paid to the farmer. Robert Brokenshire says that number needs to be between 90 cents and a dollar and he fears the fallout if it isn't. Robert Brokenshire: If the milk price is not there to be viable, notwithstanding that we love our cows and in many of our cases we've been breeding them for generations, the fact is that those of us in the high rainfall area with irrigation could turn to horticulture, vegetables and other diverse agricultural products. That would have an impact on the consumer because there'd be less milk production, more demand for that and probably would put an increase on the price in the supermarket. Luke Radford: So given the days of the dollar per litre milk at the supermarket are now long gone, why are those higher prices not trickling down to farmers? There are many factors at play but it's mostly because of the international market. Matt Dalgleish is a market analyst and director of Matt Dalgleish: When it comes to the setting of the price, the domestic processes have to weigh up of course how that supply situation is situated. They've got to be very careful about what they offer because they are very much subject to that international market. They have to be competitive in that international market and when they're thinking of products that they're trying to sell into the domestic market, because we do have a significant amount of imports coming in of various different types of products, some of those imported products can be quite competitive too. Luke Radford: Whatever the cause, dairy farmers say if they don't start getting paid more for their milk, there could be less of their product on Australian shelves in the future. Annie Guest: Luke Radford reporting. The mental health treatment known as electroconvulsive therapy is often used as a last resort to address severe depression. Last year, more than 1,700 orders for involuntary electroconvulsive therapy or ECT were approved by tribunals across Australia. Some advocates are raising questions over consent but psychiatrists say those receiving mandatory ECT are too unwell to do so. Geraden Cann reports. Geraden Cann : Rebecca says she remembers fighting her clinical team all the way to the theatre. 'Rebecca': I felt completely helpless, that my body wasn't my own. I felt like I was in a movie. Geraden Cann : She was about to receive electroconvulsive therapy or ECT. 'Rebecca': I was shocked they could actually administer it against my will. Geraden Cann : Rebecca, who's not using her real name for this story, had been experiencing delusions when she was voluntarily admitted to hospital. At one point she tried to go on holiday without any tickets or identification, but shortly after admission she was placed under a treatment order and told she would be having ECT. Her case raises the issue of when authorities should and should not be able to give a person ECT without their consent. Health authorities describe ECT as a safe procedure where the patient is under general anaesthetic. Electrodes are placed on the head and seizures are induced in the brain. Colleen Loo is a clinical psychiatrist and a professor at the University of New South Wales. She's also a former president of the International Society for ECT and Neurostimulation. She says for many patients receiving ECT their symptoms are so severe they've lost touch with reality, including those who pose a risk to their own safety. Colleen Loo: So this person believed that they were in such a terrible state that they lacked internal organs. This was a delusional belief that they had no stomach, no gut, etc. and therefore they could not eat and drink. Now if you continue without eating and drinking you would die in a few days. Medication treatments hadn't worked. It's not a kind of state that you can talk people out of. Talking therapy does not work with delusions. So this person lacked the ability to understand they had an illness. Geraden Cann : She says that patient was put under the Mental Health Act, treated on an involuntary basis, and was completely well after five or six treatments. Colleen Loo: So this is an example of someone who was seriously ill so much so that they lost insight into actually having a mental illness, so could not have chosen ECT treatment even though in this case it was a life-saving treatment. And this is not just a one-off case. This person is very typical of the kind of people we treat in public mental health. Geraden Cann : There are different rules in each state and territory, but most require a tribunal to approve a clinician's request to give a patient involuntary ECT. Those tribunals usually require a patient to be unable to give informed consent and to be admitted to hospital involuntarily. And there's usually a requirement that less restrictive treatments have been tried first. Simon Cotterill is a mental health advocate and has previously been an internal advisor to Victoria's Royal Health Commission into the mental health system. He says while he hasn't represented anyone before the tribunal, he's heard many others describe the process as a rubber-stamping exercise. Simon Katterl: I spoke to people who gave evidence to the Royal Commission. I supported them to give evidence to the Royal Commission. They said that they felt silenced and that the treating team's perspectives were valued over them and their lawyers. People speak a lot about a lack of procedural fairness, that they're not given information in a timely way, even though that there's obligations under mental health legislation for treating teams to do so. Geraden Cann : Katterl points to high ECT application approval rates as evidence tribunals too readily agree with clinicians. In the 2023 to 2024 year, the New South Wales Mental Health Review Tribunal approved 95% of the 749 applications for ECT orders. In Queensland, 92% were approved. Colleen Lu says the approval rates are so high because the doctors and tribunals work closely together, paying attention to the same legal criteria. Colleen Loo: And we've all, when we started off, presented people who we thought needed treatment but the tribunal said, no, we will not approve that. So you learn kind of what is the threshold that the tribunal is likely to approve and we don't present people who are unlikely to meet that threshold. Annie Guest: Clinical psychiatrist, Colleen Loo, ending that report from Geraden Cann. 830 Australians have been recognised in this year's King's Birthday Honours for contributions to the nation. Among this year's recipients are an Indigenous activist who's worked through all levels of the education system and an avid stamp collector who's traced some of Australia's postal history. Kimberley Price reports. Kimberley Price: Dr Geraldine Atkinson has dedicated almost 50 years of her life to improving the education system for Indigenous students. She started out as an Aboriginal teachers' aide at Wanganui College in Shepparton, Victoria in 1976. Geraldine Atkinson: All schools were given money to employ Aboriginal teacher aides to get students into schools so they said we would see an Aboriginal face. So I'd visit families of the children and I'd go in classrooms with the children. Kimberley Price: Going the extra mile for students and their families is something the Bangerang-Wiradjuri elder continued to do as she saw the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous students. Geraldine Atkinson: A lot of them were leaving school as soon as they turned 15 and that really worried me. I really thought something needed to be done. Kimberley Price: Throughout Aunty Geraldine's career, she's worked across all levels of the education system, including starting a childcare centre in her local Rumbalara community to her role as President of the Victorian Aboriginal Education Association. She's travelled to Canberra to lobby governments to do more for Indigenous education. As an inaugural co-chair of the First People's Assembly of Victoria, she's advocated for a treaty between the state government and Indigenous communities. Geraldine Atkinson: We were teaching those children about their culture, about their identity. We wanted them to be children that were going to be proud of their Aboriginality. Kimberley Price: Growing up in 1960s Australia on missions and communities along the Murray River, Aunty Geraldine says she was always proud to be Aboriginal. Geraldine Atkinson: I think it was where I'd lived, lived in Leighton, that had made the house out of tin from the tip and there would be other families. So we were all together and we had each other and we all knew we were Aboriginal. Kimberley Price: Today she still lives along her beloved Murray River in Barmah and Aunty Geraldine says she's proud to receive the National Award of Officer of the Order of Australia. Many others have received an honour today. In Lismore, near the northern New South Wales coast, Geoffrey Wotherspoon admits he had a bit of imposter syndrome when he found out he was receiving a Medal of the Order of Australia. Geoffrey Wotherspoon: I did think at the time, have I done enough to deserve this and all that sort of stuff, but yes, certainly an honour. Kimberley Price: Geoffrey Wotherspoon began collecting stamps in high school and it's led him down a path of researching his local history. Geoffrey Wotherspoon: There's a close friend of ours, Lloyd Newton, he was an incredible collector and he took me under his wing and I've been collecting ever since. He specialised in the early series, the King George and the Kangaroo series and that's where I specialised. Kimberley Price: As president of the Richmond River Philatelic Society for over 30 years, Geoffrey Wotherspoon has worked with many community members to record Lismore's history. In 2019, he wrote a book detailing Australia's first official airmail flight and led the re-enactment of the event for its centenary in 2020. Geoffrey Wotherspoon: It started from just looking at our own local history, finding something and then it just basically got out of hand on a full blown investigation, took me across Australia and different places, all the national archives, everywhere, tracking down all this information on this aeroplane flight. Kimberley Price: And through his passion for stamps and history, Geoffrey Wotherspoon continues to engage his community. He'll soon start passing his knowledge on to the next generation with school holiday programs. Annie Guest: Kimberley Price with that report. Thanks for joining me for PM, I'm Annie Guest. The podcast of the full PM program is available on the ABC Listen app. That's where you'll find ABC News Daily with Sam Hawley each weekday morning. We'll be back at the same time tomorrow. Good night.
ABC News
6 days ago
- General
- ABC News
New research exposes First Nations trauma
Isabella Higgins: First Nation women's have spoken out about their traumatic experience with the child protection system. Researchers spent five years bringing their painful stories to light through a two-stage healing project aiming to change the system. Kathleen O'Connor reports and a warning, this report contains content that may be distressing for some. Kathleen O'Connor: It was 18 years ago when Tanya says she was first separated from her child. Tanya: Child Protection Services took my son in 2007. Kathleen O'Connor: Tanya's son was 11 years old then. She was told she couldn't visit him and says it devastated her family. Tanya: And I'm just having to watch them scream, yell and want their parents. Kathleen O'Connor: Tanya is a name we're using to protect her identity. At the time her son was removed from her care, in her words, there was a family dispute. Tanya had a traumatic upbringing. She was a foster child for 14 years and she claims Child Protection Authorities took this into account when they took her son. Tanya: I've made it very clear on numerous of times that because I was a ward of the state that I would never be a good mother. Kathleen O'Connor: After a long fight he was returned to her care. Tanya says she was too scared to speak up about the way her case was handled until she was approached by researchers and Victoria University. Tanya: I thought now's the time to start sharing that story and not having any fear. Kathleen O'Connor: Tanya was one of 14 women to share their story as part of a research program called the Black Women's Healing Project to help them speak freely about their experience with the child protection system. Victoria University's Dr Paola Balla led the research. Dr Paola Balla: We're focusing very closely on working with a group of Aboriginal mothers who've self-identified, who've had their children removed, either specifically to them or it's happened to them in their childhood or it's happened to their grandchildren. Kathleen O'Connor: Each workshop provided First Nations women with culturally responsive therapies such as art practice and storytelling, all led by Aboriginal women. Researchers found the participants felt silenced, lied to and were framed as incapable mothers by child protection services. Dr Paola Balla: What was alarming was us seeing the generational impact of colonial policies that have historically disadvantaged Aboriginal women and particularly as mothers and grandmothers and obviously the ongoing increase of the removal of Aboriginal children from their families. Kathleen O'Connor: Researchers are now demanding a change in how the child protection services process applies to First Nations women. Dr Paola Balla: We are calling for the women to be listened to. We are calling for a cease and a slowing down at least and a consideration of the practices and policies that are seeing the increased removal of Aboriginal children from their families. Kathleen O'Connor: Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told the ABC, the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care is unfinished business. The Department of Social Services told the ABC it has a closing the gap target to reduce the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in out-of-home care. It's also investing more than $129 million in wraparound services for families to help reduce the rates of child abuse and neglect. Isabella Higgins: Kathleen O'Connor with that report and if this story has raised concerns for you or anyone you know you can call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Patterson gives evidence in mushroom murder trial
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.
ABC News
02-06-2025
- General
- ABC News
Erin Patterson speaks at murder trial
Samantha Donovan: In a development that surprised some observers, accused triple murderer Erin Paterson 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 Paterson. 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 Paterson 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 Paterson and sometimes he wasn't even there. She explained to the jury that her mother-in-law Gail Paterson 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 Paterson'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.
