The latest national news update from the National Indigenous Radio Service.
Brandis under fire in Herbert
Federal Labor has expressed outrage that Attorney General George Brandis has been involved in scrutineering votes in the final undecided Queensland seat of Herbert.
Labor’s Cathy O’Toole is ahead of sitting coalition MP Ewen Jones in the contest for the Townsville-based seat by a single vote as of Sunday afternoon. Herbert is the last remaining seat to be decided from the July 2 election.
Shadow Attorney General Mark Dreyfus has written to the prime minister to query Senator Brandis’ involvement in the recount, the Courier Mail reports.
If the LNP wins the seat, the Turnbull government can appoint a Speaker to the House of Representatives, and still retain a majority in its own right.
WA and Qld tumble down economic rankings
The New South Wales economy remains the nation’s strongest and the mining downturn has sent Queensland and Western Australia tumbling down the rankings.
In the latest Commsec State of the States report, NSW extended its lead on Victoria, driven by economic and population growth, a healthy housing market and strong retail spending.
Queensland and Western Australia have each fallen one place on the list to sixth and seventh respectively, while South Australia jumped them both to be fifth.
Queensland’s main areas of weakness are slowing economic growth, high unemployment and low levels of construction work, CommSec said.
CommSec’s rankings are based on each state’s performance in eight key economic areas, including investment, construction work, retail spending and economic growth.
The order, from highest to lowest is New South Wales, Victoria, the ACT, the Northern territory, South Australia, Queensland, Western Australia and Tasmania.
Qld LNP to lift time limit on abuse claims
Child sex survivors will be able to seek damages from their abusers at any time if Queensland’s LNP are elected.
Queensland’s Liberal National opposition have promised to remove the three-year limit on civil claims against child abusers if they are elected.
Opposition Leader Tim Nicholls said the current three-year limit from a survivor’s 18th birthday denied them the opportunity to claim damages as many found it too difficult to deal with the trauma until well into adulthood.
Lambie demands cash to sink ship off Tas
Jacqui Lambie has demanded Tasmania receive federal cash like other states to sink a retired Navy ship off the coast to create a tourism dive site.
The senator-elect argued in a statement on Monday that Queensland, Victoria and NSW have previously received federal funding to scuttle vessels therefore Tasmania should not miss out.
St Helens on Tasmania’s east coast is making a bid to sink HMAS Tobruk in the waters of Skeleton Bay.
Seach continues for missing 5yo Qld girl
A major search is continuing for a five-year-old girl who ran away from her father’s Gold Coast home.
About 150 police, SES personnel and volunteers have been scouring the area around Nerang for the child since Sunday evening without success.
On Sunday evening, Queensland Police issued an amber alert for the girl, after she ran off from family members near Nielsens Road, Nerang at about 4.30pm.
Police said they hold concerns for her welfare because of her age and because she suffers from a medical condition. She is described as Caucasian with blonde hair and blue eyes.
Australian first surgery on baby in womb
A mother and child are well after an Australian-first, spinal surgery on the baby while it was still in the womb.
A Queensland hospital has performed the surgery on a baby diagnosed with spina bifida while it was still in the womb.
A team from the Mater Hospital in Brisbane operated on a 24-week-old in-utero baby on Saturday.
Director of maternal foetal medicine Glenn Gardener said the surgery went as well as we could have hoped and both mother and baby are doing well.
