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Morning News Bulletin 27 June 2024



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  • Julian Assange arrives back in Australia as a free man after US plea deal
  • Fears for social cohesion after a Labor senator was frozen out of a caucus meeting
  • New South Wales record a thumping victory in Game Two of the State of Origin
Wikileaks founder Julian Assange is back on Australian soil for the for first time in more than a decade, after walking free following a plea deal with US prosecutors.
Mr Assange has landed in Canberra and been reunited with his family, after pleading guilty to a single US espionage charge in a deal with the Department of justice.
This ends a 14 year saga, including five years spent in a high security prison in the UK, and seven years before that in self-exile in the Ecuadorian Embassy in London.
His arrival in Australia also brings an end to a 48-hour journey home, beginning on Monday in London on a private jet to Bangkok chartered by the Australian government, touching down in US Territory the Northern Mariana Islands for his sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, speaking after Mr Assange’s arrival in Canberra, said it ended a long-running legal process.
“I do want to express my appreciation to the United States and the United Kingdom for their efforts in making this possible. As Prime Minister, I have been very clear, that regardless of what you think of his activities, Mr Assange’s case had dragged on for far too long.”
The wife of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange says he will need time to recuperate after a US plea deal brought an end to a fourteen-year legal ordeal.
As he disembarked the plane, Mr Assange raised his first in celebration and waived to journalists, before embracing his wife Stella and father John Shipton as he met them on the tarmac.
Speaking after his arrival, Mr Assange’s wife, a former member of his legal team, who he married in 2022 in a ceremony in Belmarsh prison, says he would have liked to express his thanks in person.
“He wanted to be here, but you have to understand, what he’s been through, he needs time, he needs to recuperate, and this is a process. I ask you please to give us space, to give us space, to give us privacy.”
The Albanese government has been warned against adding to social tensions after a senator was frozen out of her party’s caucus for supporting a pro-Palestinian motion.
West Australian Labor Senator Fatima Payman defied her party and crossed the floor on Wednesday to support a Greens Senate motion on recognising Palestine as a state.
The prime minister says he spoke with Senator Payman afterwards, saying at his request she wouldn’t attend Labor’s caucus meetings for the rest of the parliamentary session.
Independent Senator David Pocock has praised Senator Payman’s voting against her party, with it being the first time a member of a sitting Labor government has done so since the mid-1980s.
“Parties vote as parties, so it was a big thing to do. I think we should respect people when they make those calls based on the courage of their convictions.”
Kenyan protesters have vowed to continue their demonstrations against new tax increases, a day after police opened fire on crowds trying to storm parliament.
At least eight people were killed and dozens wounded when police opened fire on demonstrators on Tuesday.
Heavily armed officers have patrolled the streets of the capital Nairobi, as an online outpouring of anger over tax increases aimed at easing debt costs has escalated into a nationwide protest movement calling for a political overhaul.
This resident has criticised the response of President William Ruto, who has accused demonstrators of being criminals pretending to be peaceful protesters.
“We are not happy about it because they killed our colleagues and fellow youths, it is not okay, it is very bad, we are demonstrating peacefully, it is in the constitution, so I want to tell Mr. President to really think about the youths. It is not good, we are just expressing ourselves.’’
To rugby now, a record-breaking first half performance has catapulted New South Wales to an extraordinary win in Game Two of the State of Origin series at the MCG.
The Blues ran in six tries in the opening half, to lead Queensland by 34 points at the break – the biggest ever advantage in Origin history.
The Maroons scored three tries in the second half, but were well-beaten, with the Blues claiming a 38-18 victory in front of more than 90,000 fans in Melbourne.
Latrell Mitchell, who scored a try in his first Blues appearance since 2021, says the team owe their victory to their supporters.
“It’s about the people that showed up today. It’s about everyone here in blue jerseys, blue shirts, our families showing up, New South Wales showing up. It’s a neutral ground to come to, and you know, we’ve got a job to do, we’ve got another one to go, and I’m very proud of the boys, our week was very special.”

The series will now head to a decider in Brisbane next month.



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