Midday News Bulletin 11 December 2024
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Police doorknocking houses in Sydney as they search for suspects in this morning’s anti-Israel arson attack
Environmentalists mount a Federal Court challenge against gas fracking in the NT
Lani Pallister sets an Australian record in the 400 metre freestyle.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb says officers will be doorknocking as they search for two people believed to be responsible for torching a car after vandalising it with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney.
It is the second in a spate of what police are calling anti-Semitic acts over recent weeks in the suburb of Woollahra.
Commissioner Webb says those behind the attack will be found.
“There is no place for hate of this nature in Sydney or anywhere – and we will be using all our resources to investigate this matter. Recently, there had been a similar type of incident where those two offenders are currently before the court. The penalties they can expect, if convicted, are up to 10 years. These are serious matters and we will investigate them and use the full extent of the laws available to us in New South Wales.”
The President of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, David Ossip says it has been distressing for members of the Jewish community to wake up to this news.
He says he welcomes the response from politicians and police in vowing that those behind the attack will face the full force of the law.
“As a community, we are outraged, we are appalled and we are deeply saddened by what transpired in Woollahra in the early hours of this morning. This is the latest incident, the latest attack in a sustained campaign of intimidation, harassment, and terror against the Jewish community. But the message to perpetrators and all those who wish ill on the Jewish community is that the Jewish community is strong. It is proud, it is united. And it will not be cowed by these attempts to intimidate and harass us.”
The incident has been condemned by New South Premier Chris Minns who says it threatens multiculturalism.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack a hate crime, saying there is no place for such violence in Australia.
Environmental activists have launched legal action over a controversial gas fracking project in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin.
Court documents have been filed by lawyers for the Lock the Gate Alliance in the Federal Court, against US-based gas company Tamboran B2 Pty Ltd.
The company has plans to frack 15 gas wells in the Northern Territory’s Beetaloo Basin, near the town of Daly Waters.
It is the first legal case to be brought under the so-called “water trigger” legislation that passed by federal parliament in 2023.
The law requires the federal Environment Minister to consider the impact of large coal mining and coal seam gas projects on water resources.
Lawyers for Lock the Gate Alliance are seeking a court order to stop the project from proceeding until the water assessment is carried out.
The United Nations says it is following Israel’s actions “extremely closely” – as the country breaks with a longstanding agreement and occupies additional areas in southern Syria.
The Israeli military over the weekend began seizing control of Syrian-controlled areas of the Golan Heights.
The area is part of demilitarised buffer zone in Syria created as part of a 1974 ceasefire between the countries.
Israel says its entry into the area is temporary and meant to secure its border.
But the incursion has sparked condemnation from the United Nations, Qatar, Egypt and Saudi Arabia, who say the actions by Israel risk violating the ceasefire and international law.
UN Special Envoy for Syria, Geir Pedersen, says Israel’s actions must stop.
“And of course, the message from New York is this the same that what we are seeing is a violation of the disengagement agreement in 1974. So we will obviously, together with our colleagues in New York, follow this extremely closely in the hours and days ahead.”
The Prime Minister’s pre-election pledge on improving access to subsidised childcare has been welcomed by the Australian Education Union.
Australian families earning less than $530,000 a year will be guaranteed access to the government’s child care subsidy for three days a week, if Labor wins re-election.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is formally announcing the policy today.
He says the move would be a step towards building a universal childcare system that is simple, affordable and accessible for every family.
The plan would cost $427 million over five years and begin in January 2026.
Nationals Senator Matt Canavan told Channel Nine, he takes issue with the plan.
“In the context of lots of other families who are already got their kids in childcare – and are already working; that billion dollars a year could probably be spent a lot better and also maybe the government should stop spending so much taxpayers dollars because that is only fuelling inflation. And that is a much bigger cost, in terms of higher interest rates.”
In sports, Lani Pallister has set a new Australian record at the World Aquatics Swimming Championships in Budapest.
The defending champion in the 400-metre freestyle event, the Sydneysider took out the silver medal with a time of 3 minutes 53.73 seconds – to a set a new Australian and Oceania record.
Canadian swimmer, Summer McIntosh, took first place.
