Australia news LIVE: Dutton responds to Turnbull’s ‘thug’ attack; PM visits Queensland

A snap curfew imposed on Alice Springs has worked, the city’s mayor says, but has called for longer-term solutions to address issues in the community.

Renewed clashes in Alice Springs threatened to extend a three-day, snap curfew that was imposed, with police arresting five people on Wednesday following a feud in the town’s centre.

A decision is yet to be made on whether to extend the curfew, which access to the CBD barred from 10pm to 6am unless people had a valid reason to be there.

Alice Springs mayor Matt Paterson indicated the curfew had “worked in the CBD” but has been “pushing crime out into the suburbs”.

“Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town,” he told ABC TV on Thursday.

However, he said imposing constant curfews in response to crime was not the permanent solution to issues.

“This is 30 years of policy on the run that’s got Alice Springs and central Australia to where we are, and it’s decisions driven out of Canberra and Darwin,” he said.

“There is a vision for a long-term plan, and I think that that is welcomed. But what we need to do is speed that process up, because there will be no requirement for a long-term plan if these things continue in Alice Springs, because it will drive good residents out of the community.”

AAP

Australia’s environment ministers are dangerously unprepared for the arrival of a virus that’s been wiping out wildlife around the world for years, conservation groups say.

A deadly strain of bird flu has been sweeping the globe killing legions of poultry and wild birds but also mammals including seals and sea lions. Domestic animals including dogs, cats and farm animals are also at risk.

Experts fear it could reach Australia within months as migratory birds arrive for spring, but the issue wasn’t on the agenda when Tanya Plibersek met state and territory environment ministers three weeks ago, with preparedness efforts being led by the federal agriculture department.

Conservation groups are appalled given the devastation H5 High Pathogenicity Avian Influenza has caused overseas in recent years. South America, for example, has suffered extraordinary losses of marine mammals including sea lions, dolphins and otters and there has been 17,000 elephant seal pup deaths at a single site in Argentina.

Federal Agriculture Minister Murray Watt on Wednesday announced a $7 million to boost Australia’s readiness for the virus, which is different to the one affecting Australian poultry farms. Most of it will go to surveillance programs and to Animal Health Australia, which is investigating the potential of commercial avian influenza vaccines.

But the Invasive Species Council says there’s been a wholesale failure by environment ministers to prepare for impacts on native wildlife, including endangered species such as Australian sea lions.

Invasive Species Council campaigner Jack Gough wants to know where site-specific response plans are for places such as Kangaroo Island, which has the third-largest breeding colony of Australian sea lions.

“This is probably the biggest immediate threat to wildlife we have. This will be on the scale of the Black Summer bushfires in terms of impact if it turns up,” Gough said.

“Environment departments have washed their hands of the issue because they see it as an agriculture department issue - that is the fundamental problem.”

Plibersek’s office has rejected the criticisms, saying the environment and agriculture departments have been working on preparedness for months.

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The Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission wastewater report estimates Australians spend $4 billion on cocaine and $10 billion on methamphetamines each year.

ACIC principal advisor for drugs Shane Neilson said even in a cost of living crisis, many Aussies are still deciding to spend their spare cash on illegal drugs, fuelling organised crime.

“That money is lost to the legitimate economy. It’s laundered in Australia and out of Australia, and it is for the sole benefit of organised crime groups,” he said.

Use of illicit drugs have hit record highs in Australia, according to the latest wastewater monitoring report from the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission.

The data covering the just-passed summer, from December 2023 to February 2024, shows cannabis continues to be the most popular illicit substance, while cocaine use is on the rise across the country, and methamphetamine use increases in Australia’s cities.

While cannabis kept its number one spot, its use slightly decreased overall. Meanwhile, cocaine use hit an all-time high in December 2023.

Methamphetamine use also saw an increase, continuing to be more popular in regional areas, but hitting a record high in capital cities. Australia’s methamphetamine was the second highest per capita in a sample of 29 similar countries, only trailing the US.

Similarly, MDMA use is on the rise, recording its highest levels since 2020.

The wastewater tracking program began in 2016. It assesses 56 sites around the country for the presence of 12 illicit substances. The samples represent just over 50 per cent of the population, covering both regional and urban areas.

Ukraine is on an “irreversible” path to NATO membership, the military alliance said Wednesday in a final agreement from its summit, advancing assurances that Ukraine will be allowed to join the Western coalition but only after its war with Russia ends.

In another boost for Ukraine, the US, the Netherlands and Denmark announced that the first NATO-provided F-16s were on their way and would be flying this summer following months of preparation. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy tweeted his appreciation on the effort to strengthen his air force, coming soon after Ukraine saw one of the deadliest strikes of the war.

“Ukraine’s future is in NATO,” according to the communique from NATO’s 36 members, whose leaders are meeting in Washington this week.

“We will continue to support it on its irreversible path to full Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.”

The alliance welcomed Ukraine’s democratic, economic and security reforms needed to join and said it would get an invitation “when Allies agree and conditions are met”.

While the leaders stand ready to offer Ukraine the means to defend itself in a war now in its third year, nowhere do they say that Ukraine should prevail over Russia.

The statement said that NATO “does not seek confrontation, and poses no threat to Russia. We remain willing to maintain channels of communication with Moscow to mitigate risk and prevent escalation”.

Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg underlined that Ukraine will not join the alliance’s ranks immediately. But he insisted that must happen after the war is over to ensure that Russia never attacks Ukraine again.

AP

Australia is the land of the fair go, according to the Productivity Commission, with most people able to get ahead based on their talents and available opportunities and earn more than their parents.

But at the extreme ends of the income spectrum – the very poor and the very wealthy – people are less likely to move up or down the income mobility ladder.

And there are early signs that the generation-on-generation income growth enjoyed by millions of Australians is stagnating.

The Productivity Commission report on economic mobility in Australia found that about two-thirds of “Xennials” – Gen Xers and Millennials born in the late 1970s to early 1980s – were earning more than their parents did at a similar age.

Read more about the findings here.

Alice Springs residents are cautiously waiting to hear if a snap curfew will be lifted after renewed clashes threatened to extend a three-night lockdown.

Police said most residents had complied with the restrictions before a decision on Thursday on a possible extension.

But on Wednesday afternoon they arrested five people involved in a big family feud on Bath Street in the town’s centre. Police said the families were known to each other.

There are reports they are the same families at the centre of a feud that sparked a three-week curfew in March and April following the death of an 18-year-old man, who had been left trapped under a stolen vehicle.

While no one was injured in the latest clash, weapons including nulla-nullas, spears, a baseball bat and a machete were seized by police.

Acting Southern Commander Drew Slape said the “reprehensible behaviour” had no place in the community.

“Our dedicated officers have responded to calls to assist and we will have extra members working tonight, giving up their time off in order to keep Alice Springs residents safe,” he said.

It is unknown if the disturbance will extend the curfew.

Police Minister Brent Potter said the decision to extend the curfew would be made this morning after he and NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy had reviewed the “most up-to-date” information.

Firefighters have worked through the night battling a blaze at a chemical factory that sent toxic smoke billowing over Melbourne.

The fire was sparked by a large explosion at the Derrimut factory in the city’s west on Wednesday morning.

Chemical drums were sent flying into the air at the height of the blaze, making the emergency response more dangerous for firefighters.

No one was injured and it was declared under control in about four hours, but the fire is expected to burn for days.

Fire Rescue Victoria deputy commissioner Michelle Cowling said it was the most significant blaze in Melbourne in recent years and required an aggressive attack.

The nearby Western Freeway was shut for several hours and thousands of residents were urged to stay indoors because of health risks.

“Smoke is toxic and will cause damage,” Cowling told reporters at the scene.

One worker died and two were injured in a fire at the same building in October 2023, which was also sparked by an explosion.

AAP