Month: August 2025

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Police investigate firearms incident in Rokeby

Saturday, 16 August 2025 – 5:17 pm.

Police are attending a firearm incident in Rokeby on Hobart’s eastern shore in which a man has received non life threatening injuries to his arm.
Initial investigations indicate the offender and victim are known to each other and it was a targeted incident.
Police were called to the property in Tollard Drive about 3.40pm following a report a man had been shot.
Emergency responders arrived at the house and located a man with non life threatening injuries to his arm. He has been taken to the Royal Hobart Hospital for medical treatment.
A search is currently underway for the offender, who is described as wearing a grey hoodie with a black mask believed to be driving a black mid 2010s Mazda 3 sedan with interstate registration.
Police are currently on the scene and Tollard Drive is between Burtonia St and Benboyd Circle to allow investigations to take place.
Police are calling for anyone with information, including relevant dash cam footage or CCTV in the area at the time of the incident.
Anyone with information should call police on 131444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or crimestopperstas.com.au.

Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority

As the Federal Government was preparing to introduce legislation to ensure early education providers put child safety first, I met with the mother of a child abused in early learning. 

She told me about her daughter, and what happened to her in a place where she should have been safe. A place that should have been giving her a great start in life.

Nobody wants to see the sorts of horrific stories we’ve seen in the news over recent months repeated.

The Albanese Government’s vision is quality, safe, universal early education – giving Aussie kids an amazing start in life and giving parents the confidence to return to the workforce when they’re ready to. 

This time next week, Education Ministers from across Australia will come together to take further action on quality and safety in the sector. 

Like so many Australians, this is an issue I care deeply about. I worked for years advocating for our early educators to be valued and respected. The overwhelming majority are skilled, professional and dedicated. 

I know that a long-term stable and secure workforce is the foundation of quality early learning and child safety.

When educators stay in their roles for longer, building deeper connections with children and families, everyone benefits.

That’s why the Albanese Government is rolling out a 15 per cent pay rise to early educators with our $3.6 billion Worker Retention Payment.

Our investment means the vast majority of workers that are doing remarkable work educating and caring for children can afford to stay in the sector. 

Even with more jobs being created in early education, advertised vacancies are down 23.2 per cent in the past year. 

Keeping educators in their jobs longer means the people caring for your child have a better understanding of their unique traits and rhythms. It allows educators to create calm, consistent spaces where children feel safe, confident, and ready to learn.

And educators who know each other, their children, and families are critical to creating a child-safe culture.

I know there’s more to do. We want to ensure that every early education service is a place where children are safe and thriving. 

That’s why the Albanese Government is working with the States and Territories to protect children in early education and care.

Speeding up work on a nationwide register of early educators will be on the agenda as Education Ministers meet next week, as well as the role of CCTV in centres and mandatory child safety training for educators.

It’s critical that both managers and educators do this training – because providers must drive child-safe cultures from the top. That includes encouraging educators to speak out and report concerns. 

We also need a nationwide register of educators so we can track behaviour from centre to centre and identify any potential red flags. 

And we want to give parents more information about standards in their services – not just to make informed decisions, but to drive providers to do better.  

These steps are building on measures we have already introduced – including passing tough new legislation in Parliament’s first sitting fortnight to allow the Commonwealth to cut funding to providers who fail to put child safety first.

The ban on personal mobile devices in centres – devices we know all too well can be implicated in abuse – comes into force on September 1.

We are committed to this work. That is why we are working shoulder to shoulder with the States and Territories to drive real change. 

And as I think of the mum who had the courage to tell me her story, I know the time for strong action is now. And that is what we are determined to deliver. 

Originally published in The Weekend Australian, Saturday, 16 August 2025

Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies

Member for Solomon, Luke Gosling OAM, MP: This wonderful resort that is such a great testament to the vision and foresight, and investment of the Airport Development Group. To have the Novotel and the Mercure come together in such a magnificent resort is absolutely fantastic. And I could think of no better place for our exciting launch that we’re here to announce today. So, we’ve got Team Territory. I’m Luke Gosling, the Federal Member for Solomon Darwin and Palmerston, but also the PM’s Special Envoy for Defence, Veterans and Northern Australia. And with Team Territory, with the NT Tourism Minister, Marie-Clare Boothby. She’s got lots of other hats, but today we’re talking about tourism. And of course, our favourite honorary Territorian, Don Farrell, the Federal Tourism Minister who’s here to just be part, and to announce this great announcement for tourism in the Northern Territory and for Australia. Thanks very much for coming down, and I’ll pass on to Marie-Claire or Don, sorry.

Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell: Here we go. Thank you. Thank you, Luke. And thank you for the great work you do on behalf of the people of the Northern Territory. And it’s great to be here with Minister Boothby. Things have changed since I first arrived in Darwin in 1976. There was simply a tin shed here that greeted you. And of course, we now have an event at this magnificent Novotel and Mercure resort right here at the airport.

The good news is that in October next year, one of the biggest tourism events in the country and for the first time in the Northern Territory, we’re going to have our G’Day Australia event right here in Darwin. This brings about 300 tourism operators from around the world, plus about 100 Australian operators, all to Darwin, all for four days to talk about one thing and one thing alone. That is just how good Darwin is as a tourist destination, just how good the Northern Territory is as a tourist destination. And of course, how wonderful it is to visit Australia as a tourist destination. Right here on our doorstep, you’ve got so many attractions that appeal to overseas visitors. We know they’re coming back in great numbers. We know from the research that Tourism Australia has done that there’s a real pent-up demand for people to come to Australia. We need to unlock that and get those tourists back here, both in the wet and the dry, to the Northern Territory, to Darwin. And that’s exactly what we’re going to do.

So, thank you to Minister Boothby for supporting this campaign. G’Day Australia, we’ve just launched a terrifically new and successful campaign right across the world to entice people to Australia. We want to get them to Darwin. We want to get them to the Northern Territory so that they get that wonderful experience of travelling in Australia. So, congratulations to the Northern Territory. It’s going to be a wonderful event and I look forward to coming up to joining you then. Now I’m going to hand over to Minister Boothby. Thank you.

Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT Marie-Clare Boothby: Thank you, Don. And it’s incredibly exciting today to announce that we are going to hold the G’ Day Australia Forum right here in Darwin, in the top end. Being in October, that’s actually our off-peak season. So, to have 600 delegates from around Australia and the world to come here and experience what we know and love about the territory and the top end in October, in our build-up to the wet season, we’re on the back of an amazing bumper dry season with the cricket here for the first time in 17 years. The Darwin Festival is alive and well right now as I speak. Of course, we were on the back of the Darwin Cup Carnival as well, which has great interstate numbers that came through the gates. So, of course, now we want to turn our focus to the shoulder season, the off-peak season. That build-up that we know is so hot, and sometimes tourists get a bit afraid of that. But we know and love that the build-up is a wonderful time to visit the territory. There are so many amazing attractions to go and see and experience. Our hot, humid climate, the build-up of the storms, it’s going to be fantastic. So, we welcome this great initiative between Tourism Australia, the Federal Government, of course, the Northern Territory Government. Thank you. Happy to take questions, or Don is as well [indistinct].Actually, I might even throw to [indistinct] quickly. Robin.

Tourism Australia, Robin Mack: Hi, it’s wonderful to be here for the launch of G’Day Australia, and we’re going to be seeing 300 travel agents from around the world coming to Darwin for the first time for this event. They’re from our key markets and very important markets for the NT, for Darwin and for all of Australia. There’ll be travel agents coming from the US, from the UK, Germany, France, Italy, China, Japan, Singapore, Malaysia and many, many more. And the great thing is these 300 travel agents, over half of them have never been to Australia before, and we know when they come and experience the destination, they go home, they’re more confident to sell Australia and Darwin, and they’re really immersed in the destination, and we know they’re going to love it.

Journalist: Sorry, do you mind just saying your name and title as well?

Mack: Robin Mack, Executive General Manager, Global Markets and Business Events for Tourism Australia.

Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: Any questions from anybody?

Journalist: Maybe for yourself. This is in the off-season, when it is very hot and sticky in Darwin. Would it be better to host it during the dry or at a more peak tourism time?

Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: We know that people love to visit the Territory in the dry season, regardless, because it is winter down south, it’s cold and freezing, and we have a beautiful offering here in the Territory, and we do get travellers that come for those major events that we have throughout the dry season. The most exciting thing about having this delegation come in October in our build-up is that we can actually showcase the Northern Territory as a place that you can visit all year round. And I think being able to those delegates to immerse themselves in what we have to offer at that time is the perfect opportunity to showcase to the world what the Northern Territory has to offer.

Journalist: Is the NT Government contributing any funding for this?

Minister for Tourism and Hospitality, NT: This is a supported collaboration between Tourism Australia and the Northern Territory Government. We’ll work hand in hand together to bring this event to Darwin, and we want to make sure it’s a success so that everybody benefits from the event.

Journalist: Just one for Minister Farrell. [indistinct]

Minister for Trade and Tourism: Not that I’m aware of, of course. We have very strict biosecurity rules that apply to American beef coming into Australia. The 10-year process to consider whether we should open our markets to American beef has been completed, and a couple of weeks ago we took the decision that we would allow American beef. But to the best of my knowledge, no beef has arrived. But I will investigate and see if we’ve got any reports that I can pass on there.

Journalist: How much is being spent on this G’Day Australia, and what returns are you expecting?

Minister for Trade and Tourism: Well, we expect fantastic returns because we know that once people come to the Northern Territory, get that first experience, they keep coming back. As to the exact details, I might throw to Robin because he’s a bit closer to the financials of this project.

Mack: Having G’Day Australia here in Darwin shows that we’re actually going to be bringing two million dollars into the local economy during the event itself. It’s four nights, 300 travel agents from around the world, a 100 tourism operators that are here as well. But it’s the future benefit that comes from this event that is the really important thing to note. And what’s going to happen is these 300 travel agents, they’re going to return home and they’re going to be selling a lot more holidays to Darwin, the NT and Australia. And that’s a long tail effect that we’ll see for many, many years to come.

Journalist: Tourism operators in Central Australia, particularly around Alice Springs, over the past year or so, they’ve taken a bit of a hit [indistinct] How are they being moved into this process? How are they being considered?

Mack: So, in terms of operators, this is an open program to everyone around Australia to come and experience G’Day Australia. The 100 tourism operators come from around the country and they’ll include many from all parts of the Northern Territory. And they get the opportunity to showcase their products and experience to these 300 travel agents, and just show how amazing they are.

Source: New South Wales Community and Justice

Two charged over North-West incident

Saturday, 16 August 2025 – 11:51 am.

Two people have been charged in relation to an alleged incident near Natone in state’s North-West yesterday.
A 35 year old Launceston man and a 27 year old Northern Tasmanian woman have been with charged with numerous offences allegedly committed in the Natone area including motor vehicle stealing, drug related offences and breaches of bail.
No one was physically injured in yesterday’s incident, which allegedly involved offenders breaking into a home and stealing a number of firearms. The firearms are yet to be recovered.
The man will next appear in the Launceston Magistrates Court on 1 October and the woman has been detained to appear in the Devonport Magistrates Court this evening.
Police would like to thank the local community for their patience and understanding while investigations were undertaken yesterday.
Investigations into the incident are continuing, and anyone with information should contact Police on 131444 or Crime Stoppers on 1800333000 or crimestopperstas.gov.au.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

Detectives from the Gangs Task Force (GTF) have charged two people in relation to drug offences in Herbert on Friday morning.

Around 8:40am, police members from the Fugitive Task Force (FTF) and the GTF conducted a traffic apprehension on a vehicle travelling along the Stuart Highway. The sole occupant, a 51-year-old female driver, returned positive results for cocaine and methamphetamines during roadside drug and alcohol testing.

Following this, members from the FTF and GTF conducted a lawful search of two properties linked to the female. Police located 28 grams of cocaine, an extendable baton and items linked to an outlaw motorcycle gang. As a result, the 51-year-old and her 45-year-old male partner were arrested.

Both alleged offenders were charged with Possess schedule 1 dangerous drug – traffickable quantity and Possess prohibited weapon, with the female receiving an additional charge of Drive with dangerous drug in body.

They have been remanded to appear in Darwin Local Court on 18 August 2025.

Source: Northern Territory Police and Fire Services

The Northern Territory Police Force has arrested a 40-year-old male in relation to a traffic offence in Bees Creek Wednesday afternoon.

Around 4:20pm, the Joint Emergency Services Communication Centre received reports of a two-vehicle crash on Bees Creek Road.

Police and St John Ambulance attended and located a Toyota RAV4 with a female occupant and a Kia Pregeo with a male occupant inside.

Both drivers were assessed and provided a roadside breath test. The female suffered non-life-threatening injuries and was transported to Palmerston Regional Hospital for further assessment.

The 40-year-old male tested positive for alcohol as well as to cocaine, opiates and methamphetamines. He sustained non-life-threating injuries during the incident.

He has since been charged with:

• Drive high range blood alcohol content
• Drive with prohibited drug in body
• Careless driving
• Possess Schedule 2 dangerous drug – less than traffickable
• Possess Schedule 1 dangerous drug – less than traffickable
• Possess thing to administer dangerous drug

And will face Darwin Local Court on 2 September 2025.

Police urge anyone with information about the incident to make contact on 131 444. Please quote reference number NTP2500081067. Anonymous reports can be made through Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or via https://crimestoppersnt.com.au/.  

Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

Source: New places to play in Gungahlin

Source: South Australia Police

Grandis Park in Banksia Grove is now home to a vibrant new youth space brought to life by the creativity of local young people – thanks to a partnership between the City and WA Police.