The latest national news update from the National Indigenous Radio Service.
Pregnant Greens senator hits out at Howard
A pregnant Greens senator has hit out at comments by John Howard about gender balance in parliament, after he said women’s caring duties limited their capacity.
Larissa Waters says the former prime minister’s remarks are out of touch and men need to step up and do more work in the home.
The Greens co-deputy leader has told ABC television she’s about to have her second child and feels perfectly able to continue in her role.
Plebiscite to come on Feb 11: report
The Turnbull government is expected to announce the plebiscite on same-sex marriage will take place on February 11 next year, with funding for both the yes and no campaigns.
Fairfax Media reports the question asked of Australians will be: “Do you support a change in the law to allow same-sex couples to marry?”
Cabinet’s decision on the date, question and funding is expected to go before the coalition joint party room today and the ABC’s reporting it’s agreed to allocate $7.5 million in public funding for each of the yes and no campaigns.
Turnbull below Shorten in approval ratings
Malcolm Turnbull will mark his one-year anniversary as Prime Minister tomorrow with a worse approval rating than Opposition leader Bill Shorten, according to the latest Newspoll published in The Australian.
Despite last week’s forced resignation of prominent Labor senator Sam Dastyari from its frontbench, there has also been no gain for the Coalition over the Opposition, the poll of 1680 voters, surveyed from last Thursday to Sunday, shows.
Hinch: Remove sex offender passports
New senator Derryn Hinch will meet Immigration Minister Peter Dutton this week to discuss his proposal to take passports away from pedophiles who travel to Asia for child sex tours.
Senator Hinch says it could be an early achievement from his move to politics.
Wran’s jail term comes to an end
Harriet Wran’s mother and brother have left to bring the 28-year-old home from a Sydney prison today, where she’s spent just over two years behind bars for her role in the 2014 robbery and murder of a Sydney drug dealer.
The State Parole Authority signed off on her bid for freedom during a private hearing on Friday.
The daughter of late NSW premier Neville Wran was sentenced in July to four years in jail for being an accessory to the fatal stabbing of 48-year-old Daniel McNulty.
Man charged over Bendigo teen’s murder
A 19-year-old man has been charged with the stabbing murder of a teenager in regional Victoria and will appear at Bendigo court today.
Victoria Police charged the man last night after the fatal stabbing on Saturday of an 18-year-old man at Ironbark, a suburb of Bendigo.
Man charged in NSW & FBI drug probe
A man’s been arrested in Sydney’s east in connection with a long-running joint investigation into drug trafficking by the NSW Police Force and the FBI.
Officers swooped on the 21-year-old at an address in Bronte last night, and he’s subsequently been refused bail to face Waverley Local Court today charged with importing cocaine into Australia.
Flood watch remains for Vic
Parts of Victoria could see a month’s worth of rain in one day as heavy rains continue to cross the state and flood warnings remain in place.
Some areas may even see up to 70mm of rain by this afternoon, with a major flood warning in place for the Glenelg River catchment and a moderate flood warning for the Loddon River catchment.
