The latest national news update from the National Indigenous Radio Service
Alleged Melb mum murderer returns to court
A man accused of stabbing a Melbourne mother to death in her own home three years ago is returning to court today.
Morwell man Scott Alan Murdoch, 38, is charged with the August 2013 murder of 42-year-old Kylie Blackwood who was found dying by her twin daughters when they returned from school. The girls were 11 at the time.
It took police almost three years to make an arrest in relation to the death. Murdoch did not apply for bail when he was brought before the Melbourne Magistrates Court for the first time in April this year. He is scheduled to reappear today.
Child sex abuse changes in Qld parliament
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk will personally introduce into parliament a bill to lift time restrictions on when survivors of institutional child sex abuse can sue the perpetrators.
Currently, survivors can only pursue civil action within three years of their 18th birthday, but lifting that statute of limitations was a key recommendation from the child sex abuse royal commission.
Attorney-General Yvette D’Ath also signalled the government would release an issues paper on whether the restrictions should be lifted for abuse outside institutions and other forms of abuse, such as physical and psychological.
Cath Burn denies ‘operational’ Lindt role
NSW Police Assistant Commissioner Cath Burn has publicly denied playing any operational role during the deadly Sydney Lindt cafe siege.
Ms Burn, the state’s head of counter-terrorism, has begun giving her highly-anticipated evidence at a coronial inquest into the December 2014 stand-off.
The deputy commissioner yesterday flatly denied offering a senior commander suggestions around negotiations strategies when the two spoke during the final hours of the siege.
Ms Burn is set to return to the inquest this morning.
Search continues for missing WA fisherman
The search for a missing West Australian crab fisherman will resume today. A 40-year-old man was reported missing from a commercial crab fishing boat off Denham on Western Australia’s Gascoyne coast Monday morning.
Subsequent police and helicopter searches failed to find the man, and the search was called off late yesterday. Two boats and three aircraft were deployed in the search, while radio contact was being made with other vessels in the area.
Missing fisherman search continues in Tas
Meanwhile, the search for a missing fisherman in Tasmania will also continue today, more than two weeks after he and three others were reported missing.
The bodies of three of the four recreational fishermen who went missing in chilly waters off Hobart on July 31 have been identified by police.
Apprentice sparkies may receive back pay
Electrical apprentices are being urged to check their hourly rate because they could be eligible for a massive back pay claim, says the union.
The Electrical Trades Union estimates as many as 1000 apprentices employed in Queensland Group Training Organisations could have been wrongly paid under the State Award since January 2014.
ETU Apprentices officer Scott Reichman said a Fair Work Commission ruling last week placed all apprentices under the nationwide Modern Award of $12.66 an hour and not the Queensland State Award of $8.75, and some apprentices may be entitled to back pay dating to January 2014.
Paracetamol use during pregnancy clouded
The use of paracetamol during pregnancy is associated with an increased risk of behavioural problems in children, suggests new UK research. However, Australian experts have questioned the data and say further research is needed.
A UK study of more than 8000 pregnant women and their offspring, published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics, found that the use of paracetamol at 18 to 32 weeks gestation was associated with increased risk of hyperactivity.
But Professor of pharmacology Norman Saunders from the University of Melbourne disagrees, arguing such a causal relationship has not been established and the authors claims are “bold”.
