As it happened: Debt hotline inundated with calls as rising cost of living bites; NT Police declare curfew in Alice Springs

A Labor MP says the federal government will consider mixed findings from a review into the scrapped cashless credit card to tackle social issues among welfare recipients.

A review by the University of Adelaide found the majority of past participants of the scheme and a minority of stakeholders, particularly those in the Bundaberg-Hervey Bay area, believed ending the program was a “positive step”.

Yet, a majority of stakeholders and a few past users of the scheme were “disappointed” by the program ending, the review said, and “were concerned about increasing social issues” since it ended.

The review also concluded “no causal statements could be issued from the analyses”, with a number of factors straining these communities, such as the high cost of living and the housing crisis.

The Albanese government abolished the cashless card in 2022 and it became voluntary for people in Ceduna, Bundaberg, the East Kimberley and the Goldfields.

The program – introduced by the Coalition government in 2016 – was designed to reduce social harm by quarantining up to 80 per cent of a person’s welfare payments on to a debit card that could not be used to withdraw cash or buy alcohol or gambling products.

However, the card drew criticism from human rights lawyers and organisations such as St Vincent de Paul, which said it was dehumanising and unfairly targeted First Nations people, who made up 50 per cent of cardholders.

Speaking to ABC radio today, Northern Territory MP Marion Scrymgour said it was “important for government to have a look” at all research into the matter, and it would inform next steps to tackle social issues.

“The card ... is just one tool in a number of tools that need to be brought in place here,” the Lingiari MP said.

Opposition health spokesperson Anne Ruston said the decision to abolish the card was done “solely for political reasons”.

With AAP

A neighbour who charged into a burning house in western Sydney to save four children says he is not a hero and was only following his instincts.

Jarrod Hawkins said he knew his daughter’s school friend was inside the Lalor Park house, which was engulfed in flames when he reached it about 1am on Sunday before anyone else arrived.

“The front door was locked, but I kept shoulder-barging it until I smashed it in,” he said.

“There was too much smoke, I couldn’t see a thing, but I knew the daughter was inside.”

He said he followed the sound of a child’s cough through the blinding smoke and grabbed a girl and carried her out on to the footpath, before re-entering the Freeman Street house three more times to rescue three of her brothers.

Three other children died as result of the fire – two boys aged 3 and 6, who died in hospital, and a 10-month old baby girl whose body was found when the flames were extinguished.

Read the full story here.

The chief minister of the Northern Territory, Eva Lawler, says a three-night curfew in Alice Springs “will improve community safety” after several police incidents across the weekend.

Speaking at a press conference moments ago, Lawler said the curfew, announced by the territory’s police commissioner this afternoon, would include adults as well as youths. She said people could still enter the curfew-zone in the Alice Springs CBD for a lawful reason between 10pm and 6am over the next three nights, such as for attending an event, work, fleeing domestic violence or going to a hospitality venue.

“The offending in Alice Springs over the last few days has been unacceptable. The curfew will provide police extra powers to get on top of the situation on the ground in Alice Springs,” Lawler told reporters in Darwin.

“This is exactly why my government passed curfew legislation in May. We want police to use the curfew powers when it’s needed, and that time is right now. After the first Alice Springs youth curfew, we’ve seen how effective curfews can be as a circuit breaker. We believe a broader curfew for Alice Springs right now will have a similar effect.”

Lawler said any curfew extension will need the approval of the police minister.

A company that imported electrical equipment containing the world’s most potent greenhouse gas has been hit with a record fine of almost half a million dollars.

The Australian arm of the unnamed company was fined after importing equipment containing sulphur hexafluoride (SF6) – the most potent synthetic greenhouse gas – without a licence.

Australian Border Force and the Department for Climate Change, Energy and the Environment and Water investigators intercepted the equipment at every major port in Australia between September 2023 and March 2024.

More than $3 million worth of equipment was seized, containing an estimated 517 kilograms of SF6 which is considered a serious contributing factor to global warming.

If released to the atmosphere that would have a climate impact equivalent to running nearly 5000 cars for a year.

As a result, the company was fined a record $465,480.

It is illegal to import equipment containing a scheduled substance like SF6 into Australia without a licence under both the Ozone Protection and Synthetic Greenhouse Gas Management Act 1989 and the Customs Act 1901.

AAP

Police in the Northern Territory have declared a three-night curfew in Alice Springs after a spate of violence in the outback town over the weekend.

Speaking at a press conference this afternoon, NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said the centre of Alice Springs would be a “declared area” from 10pm until 6am for the next three nights, meaning police could stop anyone in the zone and ask them to leave, with some exceptions, such as for those fleeing family violence.

Murphy said changes to the Police Administration Act introduced to NT parliament in June allowed him to make a “public social disorder declaration” to implement the curfew. He cited four incidents over the weekend as justification.

First, on Friday, he said a vehicle ran over a police officer, causing fractures to his leg and arm.

Second, on Saturday evening, Murphy said police had to respond with “some force” to subdue “a large-scale disturbance involving up to 80 people”. Once dispersed, Murphy said part of the crowd then wandered off and allegedly assaulted off-duty police.

Third, on Sunday at lunchtime, Murphy said a 43-year-old woman was allegedly stabbed at an event at the town’s council lawns.

Fourth, last night, three youths allegedly robbed a service station in a stolen vehicle.

“Cumulatively those harms are not acceptable,” Murphy said.

He said he was mindful to implement a curfew in the town with a large Indigenous population during NAIDOC Week. He promised events relating to the week – that celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia – would not be cancelled.

“[It’s] vitally important during this time, and more important than ever, that we need community support to solve [the] longer-term issues of Alice Springs,” Murphy said.

“And the answer is not in the criminal justice system, but the community and the leadership.”

Good afternoon.

I’m Lachlan Abbott, and I’ll be keeping you updated with the latest Australian news for the rest of the day.

Thanks so much to Josefine Ganko for her blogging efforts this morning.

Let’s look back at the news of the day so far:

• Australia’s “working poor” are inundating financial counselling services as a combination of high mortgage interest rates and inflation leave them struggling to make ends meet, according to National Debt Helpline data and the financial counselling sector.
• Fatima Payman, the WA senator who sensationally left Labor last week, has returned home to Perth as parliament takes a winter break, but has continued to speak out about the war in Gaza and her move to the crossbench. Speaking on the ABC this morning, Payman maintains she doesn’t have plans to form or join a crossbench coalition and said Labor MPs reportedly backgrounding against her was “bizarre”.
• Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has warned against electing Peter Dutton when his ex-Liberal colleague leads to Coalition to the next election, calling him “a thug” on The Project last night.
• In NSW, tributes are flowing for three young children who died after their father allegedly lit their western Sydney house on fire early on Sunday, dragging them back in as neighbours and first responders tried to save them.
• In Victoria, Melbourne Airport has backed down from its demand for an underground station for the airport rail link, ending a stalemate with the Victorian government who want it built above ground. However, Premier Jacinta Allan said this morning that construction still won’t start for another four years.
• In Queensland, detectives are trying to figure out how three young children were allegedly left alone in a car overnight by their father before they walked into a 7-Eleven petrol station this morning.
• In Western Australia, new analysis has found more than 1.2 million people living in Perth don’t have access to frequent, all-day public transport, leaving them stuck using polluting and expensive cars for most of their trips.
• In world news, a coalition of the French left won the most seats in high-stakes legislative elections overnight, beating back a far-right surge but failing to win a majority. The outcome left France facing the stunning prospect of a hung parliament and political paralysis ahead of the Olympics.

Stay tuned for more updates throughout the day.

In business news, the Australian sharemarket has lingered in the red at lunchtime on Monday, with energy stocks and miners weighing down the bourse after a slide in iron ore prices.

The S&P/ASX200 was down 37.5 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 7784.8 at 12:45pm on Monday despite a solid lead from Wall Street.

Nine of 11 sectors are in the red, with only information technology (+0.6 per cent) and consumer discretionary (+0.3 per cent) in positive territory.

RED 5 is the best performer on the bourse so far, up 8 per cent, followed by West African Resources (up 3.6 per cent) and Coronado Global Resources (up 3.3 per cent). Meanwhile, Arcadium Lithium (down 3.5 per cent) is at the bottom of the index, followed by IGO (down 3.2 per cent) and Karoon Energy (down 2.9 per cent).

Fortescue (down 2.5 per cent), Rio Tinto (down 1.6 per cent) and BHP (down 1.6 per cent) are all lower in early afternoon trade to start the week, after iron ore prices lost 3 per cent in Singapore trade over the weekend.

Keep updated with the Australian sharemarket’s movements here.