Source: New South Wales – News
Police are at the scene of a serious crash at Uleybury.
Just after 6.30am today (Friday 27 June), police and emergency services were called to Medlow Road after reports of a crash involving a truck and ute.
The road is closed in both directions near Craigmore Road.
Please avoid the area if possible.
Source:
Between 17 May 2024 and 31 March 2025, Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) attended 750 residential fires that started in the kitchen, accounting for nearly half (39.8%) of all residential fires within its jurisdiction during that period.
During the same period, CFA responded to 219 structure fires originating in the kitchen, representing 28.3% of all house fires in CFA serviced areas.
The combined total equates to an average of just over three kitchen fires per day in Victoria.
Among those who’ve been affected by a kitchen fire is Melbourne woman Jen Vuk, who suffered serious burns in September 2024 after her flowing top caught alight while she was making tea on a gas stovetop.
“Before I’d even had the chance to realise what was happening, the flames had already devoured my top and was spreading fast across my chest, up my neck and under my arm. It felt like it wanted more with every second,” Jen said.
“I tried to put the fire out by sprinkling water from the tap onto myself. It didn’t help. In fact, it only helped to fan the flames.”
Jen believes that if it weren’t for the quick actions of her family, including her then 17-year-old son who came to her aid and removed most of her burning clothes, and standing under a cold shower for 20 minutes before being taken to The Alfred, her injuries would have been much worse.
She spent two weeks in the Alfred burns unit and underwent multiple surgeries. She’d suffered mid to deep dermal burns to her chest, neck, right arm and back, and superficial burns to her face.
Now months into recovery, Jen hopes that by sharing her experience she can help others understand how quickly life changing incidents can unfold.
“If this helps even one person remember to stop, drop and roll when their clothes catch fire, then job done,” she said.
Unfortunately, stories such as Jen’s are on the rise.
Acting Deputy Director, Victorian Adult Burns Service at The Alfred, Dr Tam Quinn said, “we’ve already seen a 21% increase in patients presenting with burns sustained in the home this year, and many of these patients require surgery and skin grafting.”
“Any burn injury requiring grafting can be life changing, because while lifesaving, they can leave scarring and result in some functional impairment.
“Depending on the severity of the burn, patients may require prolonged stays in the intensive care unit, weeks in hospital and potentially a rehabilitation facility. In the long-term patients may require months to years of scar management, not to mention the psychological impact that such an injury can have.”
Victoria’s fire agencies encourage all Victorians to take the following steps to remain safe while in the kitchen:
Source: Tasmania Police
Issued: 26 Jun 2025
Wildlife officers have confirmed the presence of an estuarine crocodile in the Mary River near Dundathu in the Wide Bay region, which will be targeted for removal from the wild.
On 24 June 2025, the Department of the Environment, Tourism, Science and Innovation (DETSI) received a crocodile sighting report of an estimated 2.5 metre crocodile basking on the bank before sliding into the river.
Wildlife officers have contacted the person who submitted the report, and conducted a site inspection on 25 June 2025. Wildlife officers will attempt to direct capture the crocodile.
DETSI would like to thank the person who made the crocodile sighting report which provided important information about the location and behaviour of the animal.
The Mary River in the Wide Bay area is considered atypical crocodile habitat, and any crocodile confirmed to be present is targeted for removal from the wild.
Anyone who sees what they believe to be a crocodile in the Mary River, or the Wide Bay region is encouraged to make a sighting report as soon as possible.
Crocodile sightings can be reported by using the QWildlife app, completing a crocodile sighting report on the DETSI website, or by calling 1300 130 372. The department investigates every crocodile sighting report received.
Source: New South Wales – News
Police and emergency services are currently at the scene of serious crash where a pedestrian has been struck by a car on Thirteenth Street at Gawler South.
Major Crash investigators and Barossa detectives are making their way to the scene.
Thirteenth Street is closed to all traffic between Fourteenth Street and Sixteenth Street. Please avoid the area.
Source: Australian Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry
Today I have taken action in the Federal Court of Australia against Indian Ocean International Shipping and Service Company Ltd (Indian Ocean) and its former associate for not complying with Australia’s foreign investment law.
Foreign investors in Australia are required to follow Australian law.
We are doing what is necessary to protect the national interest and the integrity of our foreign investment framework.
On 2 June 2024, I issued Disposal Orders directing five foreign investors, including Indian Ocean, to dispose of shares in Northern Minerals Limited (Northern Minerals) to persons who were not their associates, by 2 September 2024.
The Disposal Order was issued to Indian Ocean to address risk to national security posed by its acquisitions of shares in Northern Minerals, which is an important Australian critical minerals company.
This is the first case to be brought by a Treasurer before the Federal Court for an alleged breach of the foreign investment laws.
In May 2024 I announced reforms to strengthen and streamline Australia’s foreign investment framework to ensure foreign investment is in our national interest.
Through the proceedings, I am seeking penalties, declarations, and costs. The Federal Court will make the court filings available in due course.
Source: Australian Attorney General’s Agencies
In April, the Albanese Labor Government pledged to send five new trade and investment missions to priority markets. I am pleased this week to see the third mission get underway with a delegation visiting Singapore and Malaysia.
Southeast Asia is experiencing rapid economic growth, and Singapore and Malaysia serve as vital gateways to access these markets for Australian exporters, investors and businesses.
Delegates on this investment mission will gain firsthand insights into Singapore’s role as a regional industrial and investment hub and Malaysia’s emergence as a key industrial and trade gateway in Southeast Asia.
The mission brings together representatives from 16 leading Australian companies. It is led by Shayne Elliott, Australia’s Business Champion to Singapore and former CEO of ANZ Bank, and Tony Lombardo, Business Champion for Malaysia and Group CEO of Lendlease.
Since the launch of our government’s Southeast Asia Economic Strategy to 2040, the $2 billion Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, and the deployment of dedicated Investment Deal Teams, engagement with the region has surged.
Australian businesses supported by Austrade recorded more than $1 billion in trade outcomes across Southeast Asia last year, a 45% increase on previous years.
When Australian businesses grow their footprint in Southeast Asia, the benefits flow back home creating jobs, opening markets, and strengthening our economy.
Source: New South Wales – News
Detectives from SAPOL’s Anti-Corruption Section yesterday (Wednesday 25 June) arrested a Western District police officer for one count of abuse of public office, one count of aggravated stalking and two counts of aggravated assault following a lengthy investigation.
The officer has been suspended with pay and will appear in the Adelaide Magistrates Court at 10am on 10 September 2025.
As the matter is before the courts, no further comment will be made.
Source: New South Wales Community and Justice
Two youths charged with property offences in Kingston and Blackmans Bay
Thursday, 26 June 2025 – 3:40 pm.
Two youths will be proceeded against in relation to a series of property offences allegedly committed at Kingston and Blackmans Bay between 20-23 June.
A 16-year-old youth was arrested, charged and will appear before the Youth Justice Court at a later date.
A 15-year-old will be proceeded against pursuant to Youth Justice provisions.
They have been charged with 2x burglary, 3x aggravated burglary, 4x stealing and 1x attempted motor vehicle stealing.
Police have recovered several items of allegedly stolen property.
“Police remind all residents to ensure their homes, external buildings and vehicles are always locked and secured,” said Senior Sergeant Peter Borish.
Anyone with information relating to suspicious activity in the Kingston and Blackmans Bay area between 20-23 June is asked to contact police on 131 333 or report anonymously through Crime Stoppers Tasmania at crimestopperstas.com.au or on 1800 333 000 – quote Case No 1657.
Source: Murray Darling Basin Authority
KIERAN GILBERT: Let’s turn our attention to education. And the nation’s education ministers will hold their first gathering tomorrow since the Federal Election, that is. I want to go live to Adelaide. The Education Minister, Jason Clare, joins me.
A big part of the lead-up to the election. I know that you and the Prime Minister were focusing on the deals done with the states on education funding arrangements, those Gonski reforms, as they’re known. But you’ve said you want it tied to reform, what sort of thing are you talking about on that?
JASON CLARE, MINISTER FOR EDUCATION: Yeah, it’s important to make the point, this isn’t a blank cheque. The agreement that we’ve struck with every State and Territory over the course of the last 12 months represents the biggest extra investment by the Australian Government in our public schools ever. Something like an extra $16.5 dollars billion invested in our public schools over the next decade to finish the work that David Gonski started. But, I’ve been at pains to make the point that it’s not a blank cheque, that we want to tie this funding to real practical reforms, really to make sure that more kids finish high school.
Over the last decade, we’ve seen a drop in the number of kids finishing high school, particularly in public schools, from about 83 per cent down to 73 per cent, and we need to turn that around. And that requires reform not just at high school, but at primary school. One of the things we want to do is roll out a phonics check or a literacy check for kids in Year One, and that’s already underway, a lot of states are doing it this year, the others will roll it out from next year and that’s a 10 or a 15 minute check. It’s not a test, it’s not like NAPLAN, but it’s a tool for teachers to help, to make sure that they know where the children in their classroom are at and whether they need more support. And the next cab off the rank is a numeracy check, a similar sort of check, a tool for teachers to make sure that children are up to speed, where they need to be in Year One when it comes to numeracy adding up and counting.
Now, New South Wales have rolled out a pilot this year for about 169 schools of a check they’ve developed and they’ll roll that out across all public schools next year. We’re going to have a chat tomorrow about whether other states might be willing to pick that up as well next year.
GILBERT: One of the other things I know that’s been out and I’m very interested, I think a lot of parents will be very keenly awaiting this bullying review. Give us an update on where that’s at. Will that be before the ministers tomorrow? Because, as you well know, this is something that everyone’s ultra sensitive about, particularly when you’re talking about social media these days and all the risks inherent with that.
CLARE: I think that’s the big difference between what bullying was like when we were kids at school and what it’s like now. Bullying is cruel. It doesn’t just leave physical scars, it can leave invisible scars that can last a lifetime. And we’re not just talking now about push and shove in the playground or stealing someone else’s lunch money. At its most insidious, we’re talking about people using AI and deepfakes where they might take a photograph of a friend at school or someone at school, cut and paste their face and put it on the naked body of someone else and then splash that across the internet. And the impact of that can be extraordinarily harmful. We’ve seen recent examples of this applied to fellow students, but also to teachers and this review about what we do to tackle bullying in our schools needs to look at that as well as what happens actually in the school grounds. We’re never going to stamp it out entirely, but what this is about is making sure that where we can prevent it, we do. And what are the right responses for schools where there’s evidence of this sort of bullying happening.
GILBERT: And on the issue of childcare centres, there have been reports recently about the mistreatment of children in care. I know that personal phones, for example, have been banned from childcare centres. What other reforms would you look at now off the back of this New South Wales response, led by New South Wales? But are you wanting to make it national and what other things you’re putting in place to ensure kids in childcare are receiving the protection they need as well?
CLARE: Yeah, this is really serious. There’s more than a million families who’ve got their kids in childcare and early education at the moment. And the number one priority is to make sure that their children are safe. This is personal for me. I’m one of those parents who have my children in early education and care.
In response to the arrest of that serial paedophile in Queensland a couple of years ago, we introduced some significant changes, including the banning of personal phones in childcare centres and beefing up, toughening up mandatory reporting, making that a requirement within 24 hours of where a serious event has occurred. But Four Corners had a report earlier this year which exposed some pretty terrifying and horrific examples of abuse in centres. In response to that, we announced that we’ll introduce legislation into the Federal Parliament that’s designed specifically to basically pull the money away from centres that aren’t up to quality standards or stop them from expanding, but also stop some of the bad actors that might be failing kids in childcare from then moving to another part of the care economy like the NDIS.
And when that Four Corners report came out, two more things happened; the national regulator was asked to provide us with advice on what further steps we need to take. And NSW commissioned their own review by a former Deputy Ombudsman of NSW, Chris Wheeler. He delivered his report that was released today that sets out a number of things that we could do better, including more information for parents and beefing up penalties. And Chris Wheeler, as well as the national regulator, Gabrielle Sinclair, will brief ministers on their reports tomorrow so that we can build a roadmap for further steps and more reform to make sure that we keep our kids safe in early education and care.
GILBERT: Yeah, indeed. And I know they’re a minority, but yeah, just ensure the dodgy operators do receive the appropriate penalties. Well, that’s good that that is a focus of that report.
I do want to conclude though, on tertiary education, there’s been a big focus on the salaries of Vice-Chancellors and suggestions that you might end up putting it in the hands of the remuneration tribunal as opposed to leave it up to university boards. What’s your thinking on that? Are you open to that?
CLARE: This is one of the things I’ve asked an expert council on university governance to look at. They’re going to report to education ministers when we meet in October in a couple of months’ time. On its face, it makes sense to me when you think about it when it comes to politicians or judges or public servants, the remuneration tribunal plays a role in setting salaries there. So, it is the sort of thing that does make sense on its face. But we’ll wait to see what this expert panel recommends. We’ve asked them to look at that, as well as wage theft in our universities and ways to improve governance of our universities, full stop. You know, our universities do terrific work and this is all about setting them up..
GILBERT: But it’s a way to ensure Vice-Chancellors pay doesn’t get out of hand.
CLARE: I think that’s right. It’s about meeting community expectations. But it’s just one part of improving the governance of our universities and to be fair to the leaders of our universities I think they get that, and they’re leaning into this reform to make sure that we’re setting our universities up for the future.
We’ve got data that we released yesterday that showed some good news that there are more Aussie students starting a degree at university this year than ever before when you take out those two COVID years, which are a bit of an anomaly. We think that we’re going to need more people in the years ahead to finish school and go to TAFE or go to university. So, more people going to university means universities are going to be even more important in the years ahead than they are today, and we’ve got to make sure that they’re fit for the future.
GILBERT: Education Minister Jason Clare, thanks for making the time ahead of that important roundtable tomorrow with your colleagues. Appreciate it.
CLARE: No worries. Thank you.
Source: New South Wales Community and Justice
Investigation into stolen plaques at Soldiers Memorial Avenue
Thursday, 26 June 2025 – 3:11 pm.
Tasmania Police is calling for public assistance as officers investigate the theft of more than 20 brass plaques from the Soldiers Memorial Avenue at the Queens Domain, Hobart.
The City of Hobart and Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue reported the incident to police on Wednesday afternoon, saying it appears the plaques – which honour fallen World War I Tasmanian soldiers – have been forcibly removed.
Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue President John Wadsley, Tasmania Police Hobart Division Acting Inspector Danny Jackson and City of Hobart Deputy Lord Mayor Zelinda Sherlock inspected the avenue on Thursday.
A/Inspector Jackson hoped members of the public might be able to provide information to find the people responsible and locate the plaques.
“Whilst these plaques don’t have significant monetary value, they have significant value to the families of the people who have been memorialised here and we are very keen to locate the people responsible and have those plaques recovered,” he said.
“It’s appalling that someone would come and take those plaques from here.
“We’re hopeful that someone out there knows something about where these plaques are, or who may be responsible.”
Soldiers Memorial Avenue is a significant heritage site, with more than 530 trees planted to honour Tasmanian soldiers who died in World War I. Each tree is marked with a plaque bearing the name of a fallen soldier.
Mr Wadsley said the Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue had been working for more than 24 years to restore the walk, which was an important site of remembrance for Tasmanian families.
“These are really important places. These represent not only the service of someone who died, but also the love of a family that lost someone,” he said.
Mr Wadsley said the stolen plaques had little monetary value for their brass content but would take about $600 each to replace.
Anyone with information about the theft of the plaques is asked to contact Tasmania Police on 131 444 or report it anonymously to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 or crimestopperstas.com.au. Quote OR778508
CAPTION: Friends of Soldiers Memorial Avenue President John Wadsley, left, with Tasmania Police Acting Inspector Hobart Division Danny Jackson at the site where one of the plaques remembering a fallen soldier is missing. (Picture: Tasmania Police)
