Two more men charged with murder after death of Baghsarian
Two men have been charged with murder following the death of Chris Baghsarian, 85, who police say was mistakenly kidnapped from his home in February.
NSW police said they executed a search warrant in the Sydney suburb of Shalvey on Tuesday morning, where they arrested a 19-year-old man. A short time later, they arrested another man, 21, in Silverwater.
Both have since been charged with murder and taking or detaining in company with the intent to ransom, occasioning actual bodily harm. They were refused bail and will appear before local court today.
Four other people have previously been charged in connection with Baghsarian’s death. They remain before the courts.
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Updated at 19.18 EDT
Key events
Eva Corlett
A rat sighting in New Zealand can trigger an urgent response. Meet the ‘ghostbusters’ hunting them down
In many places around the world, discovering a rat in your garden would barely register a second thought.
But in parts of New Zealand, a single rat, possum or stoat can trigger an urgent response, as the country embarks on a world-leading project to eradicate introduced predators by 2050 to save its unique wildlife from further decimation.
A team member of the Predator Free Wellington Rat eradication program. Photograph: Tim Sutton/Predator Free Wellington
Wellington resident Davin Hall knows first hand. In March he noticed large tunnels cutting through the compost bin at his home. He suspected a rat and after two weeks of trying to catch the pest, he called in the cavalry: a team of pest-catchers who will try all methods possible to hunt down and kill a single rat.
“It’s kind of like this idea of Ghostbusters,” says James Willcocks, project director at Predator Free Wellington, which hunts down pests in the New Zealand capital.
Read more here:
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Just a heads up that Pauline Hanson will speak at the National Press Club in Canberra today, starting at 12.30pm.
Political blogger extraordinaire Krishani Dhanji will step in and be with you for commentary on her remarks.
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Albanese says watching State of Origin tonight ‘much more fulfilling’ than Hanson at Press Club
Anthony Albanese was asked if One Nation was ready to govern amid a surge in polling and ahead of Pauline Hanson’s address to the National Press Club today.
The prime minister had this to say:
double quotation markOne thing that we know is that the questions that I hope are asked at the Press Club, is why is it that One Nation is opposed to all of the cost-of-living measures that my government has put in place. …
Well, what we’ve done in difficult economic circumstances is to make sure that we continue to prioritise cost-of-living measures. That’s what good government looks like.
When asked if he would tune in, Albanese said he had a “busy day” ahead.
double quotation markI’ll leave that to the media … I’ll be watching the State of Origin tonight. And I’m sure that will be much more fulfilling.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 20.57 EDT
Albanese says deal with childcare workers will help fill ‘massive vacancies’ in early learning
Anthony Albanese is speaking about an agreement to extend an increase in salaries for childcare workers by 15% for another 18 months. He said the increase would help deal with “massive vacancies in early learning”.
The prime minister said:
double quotation markPeople were leaving the sector because they couldn’t afford to stay in the sector. Even though they loved the work, these workers here, and every centre I’ve been into right around Australia, what I do is I meet workers who are so proud. …
Combined with minimum wage increases, a typical full-time educator will earn around $255 more a week than before these changes. That’s a real difference. That makes an enormous difference to people’s quality of life in the sector.
Jason Clare, the education minister, said one of the benefits of having more full-time staff in a centre would be stability:
double quotation markYou don’t have people moving in and out, being at a different centre every day.
Child drawing at a childcare centre. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 21.15 EDT
Krishani Dhanji
One Nation’s health policies based on misconceptions and may cost the taxpayer, experts warn
Medical experts have blasted One Nation’s health policies, saying they do not make sense, are based on misconceptions and could cost taxpayers more money while leaving vulnerable Australians without access to care.
The party has promised to withdraw Australia from the World Health Organization and to scrap regulator the Therapeutic Goods Administration, rolling its “essential functions” into the health department. It has also proposed adding photo ID to Medicare cards.
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
The Grattan Institute health program director, said some of the policies looked like mistakes.
Breadon pointed out that the TGA was already part of the health department.
“Targeting an agency that is majority funded through cost recovery [fees and charges to pharmaceuticals], not through taxpayer funding, also doesn’t make a lot of sense,” he said. “So that really doesn’t stand up to even a very small amount of scrutiny.
double quotation markIt just looks to me like an error.
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Updated at 20.26 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Victoria premier asked about US weapons stockpile in the state
Returning to Victorian premier Jacinta Allan’s press conference earlier this morning. She’s been asked about the US military’s plan for a permanent, war-ready weapons stockpile for its Marine Corps in the state.
When asked if she was aware of the plan, Allan said:
double quotation markI’ll need to take some advice on that.
Pressed on whether the stockpile could put Victoria at risk from other countries in the region, she said:
double quotation markI don’t think you could necessarily extrapolate that from, if that scenario was to come about, we have already here in Victoria, and indeed in [and] around the country, we have many partnerships through the defence industry sector with other countries, companies, whether it’s the US, whether it’s South Korea with Hanwha down at Avalon, so these arrangements are not necessarily unusual, but we would get some advice on that.
Allan said questions were best put to the federal government.
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Updated at 20.13 EDT
Dfat lowers travel advice for slate of Middle Eastern countries after US-Iran deal, but still ‘high threshold’
The Australian government has lowered its travel advice for a slate of Middle Eastern countries, including Bahrain, Israel, Kuwait, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates from Level 4: do not travel, to Level 3: reconsider your need to travel. Some parts of Israel remain at a do not travel warning.
The changes come after a deal between the US and Iran to end the conflict in the region, with Australia encouraging all parties involved to “pursue a durable and lasting peace”.
Still, Dfat notes that the situation there could deteriorate with little warning, saying in a statement:
double quotation markLevel 3 remains a high threshold. We continue to urge Australians to postpone non-essential travel. ‘Reconsider your need to travel’ also means ‘reconsider your need to transit’. If you need to transit these locations, stay as short a time as possible and eliminate unnecessary activities.
Many travel insurance policies do not cover travel to regions that include a travel warning in the level 3 or level 4 range.
Aside from the listed countries above, Dfat continues to advise do not travel to Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria and Yemen, and reconsider your need to travel to Jordan, Oman and Saudi Arabia.
An aircraft being refuelled. Photograph: Rula Rouhana/ReutersShare
Updated at 19.53 EDT
Benita Kolovos
Victorian government introduces life sentences for ‘evil’ youth crime recruiters
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference to announce new laws will be introduced to parliament today that will impose life sentences on crime figures who use children to carry out crimes such as arson and carjackings.
The bill creates a new aggravated offence of recruiting a child to commit a serious crime, which carries a life sentence. The legislation also removes the requirement for the offender to know that the child was underage.
It comes after the government increased the maximum penalty for child recruitment from 10 to 15 years in November last year. She said:
double quotation markHiring kids to do their dirty work is just pure evil, and Victorians are rightly horrified by the behaviour of organised crime figures who are using kids, particularly some with intellectual disabilities, to carry out crimes, particularly in the area of arson.
So today we are introducing legislation into the Victorian parliament to create a new aggravated offence of recruiting children to commit serious crimes, and perpetrators of these crimes will be facing life in prison. This offence will apply whether the crime has been carried out or not.
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Joel Carrett/AAPShare
Updated at 19.59 EDT
Two more men charged with murder after death of Baghsarian
Two men have been charged with murder following the death of Chris Baghsarian, 85, who police say was mistakenly kidnapped from his home in February.
NSW police said they executed a search warrant in the Sydney suburb of Shalvey on Tuesday morning, where they arrested a 19-year-old man. A short time later, they arrested another man, 21, in Silverwater.
Both have since been charged with murder and taking or detaining in company with the intent to ransom, occasioning actual bodily harm. They were refused bail and will appear before local court today.
Four other people have previously been charged in connection with Baghsarian’s death. They remain before the courts.
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Updated at 19.18 EDT
Childcare workers avoid major pay cut as government funds $3.6bn retention payment extension
Krishani Dhanji
The government will spend another $3.6bn to extend funding for a critical pay rise for 60,000 childcare educators, due to expire later this year, avoiding a major pay cut for the industry, following sustained pressure from the sector.
Labor said the funding for a 15% increase in childcare salaries will be tied to providers limiting their fee increases.
The decision comes weeks before a union coordinated walk off of up to 20,000 childcare workers across the country. The united workers union had warned staff were facing a pay cut of between 4% and 15% cut if the government did not extend the payment.
Labor promised educators a 15% pay rise over two years in 2024 also at the cost of $3.6bn, which it hoped would align with a staged pay rise for the sector under the Fair Work Commission’s gender undervaluation decision. But the commission rejected a push to front-load the increases meaning the government has had to fund the gap.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese says:
double quotation mark[Early educators] do incredibly important work and they deserve to be fairly paid for it.
Only childcare centres who agree to limit their fees for parents will be eligible to receive funding for this wage increase for workers.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 19.21 EDT
Shadow treasurer says most Australians won’t see RBA decision as ‘good news’
Tim Wilson, the shadow treasurer, said the RBA decision yesterday to leave interest rates on hold would not be seen as “good news” by many Australian households still struggling with the high cost of living.
Wilson spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying the government needed to “take pressure out of the economy” and stop inflation so interest rates can be cut once more. He went on:
double quotation markMy much bigger concern on the current trajectory is that the Treasury is trying to crash the economy, which is only going to lead to higher unemployment. And of course, it doesn’t even mean that interest rates will go down …
If you want to build out the future of the economy, encourage [and] incentivise growth, and most importantly, get a pathway so all Australians look to the future with hope and confidence.
Shadow treasurer Tim Wilson. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Wilson said everyone was waiting to see how the temporary Iran deal will play out when it comes to the global economy, and if the cut to the fuel excise in Australia should continue, but “we’re all cautious for a reason”.
double quotation markWhat we don’t want is the government to give money back to Australians with one hand, then just take it in inflation with another, which will mean not just inflation, less in your red basket at the supermarket, less at the trolley, but also, of course, higher interest rates as well.
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Updated at 19.23 EDT
Kyle Sandilands to start his own show and share revenue with ARN
Amanda Meade
ARN Media told the ASX this morning it had entered a binding settlement with Kyle Sandilands, which terminated all claims and counter claims in the federal court.
The agreement includes $1.5m in advertising for Sandilands’ new independent broadcast in return for the radio host sharing 19.9% of any revenue for three years with ARN Media.
The financial agreement means Sandilands has severed all ties with ARN, and will not be able to appear on any radio stations which compete with Kiis FM for nine months, the company told the ASX.
Sandilands and his co-host on Kiis FM’s Breakfast Show, Jackie “O” Henderson, took separate legal action against ARN after the company terminated their 10-year contracts a year in.
Sandilands and Henderson were seeking $85m and $82m respectively, and a date had been set down for a lengthy and costly trial.
While the Sandilands matter has been settled the company announced the Henderson proceedings remain ongoing.
double quotation markThe settlement agreement provides for the full and final resolution of all claims and counterclaims between the parties, including those relating to the previously announced Federal Court proceedings.
ARN said it had agreed to pay Sandilands a cash settlement sum of $12.09m with $3m payable in July 2026 and the balance payable monthly until June 2029.
double quotation markMr Sandilands has advised ARN that he intends to pursue independent media opportunities. As part of the settlement, ARN will provide Mr Sandilands with advertising services on ARN’s partner platforms of $1,500,000 over the next three years.
Kyle Sandilands. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAPShare
Updated at 19.14 EDT
Coogee shark victim Gofundme raises $340,000 as swimmer drowns at Manly
A massive wave of community support continues to build for Coogee shark attack survivor Leah Stewart, with a Gofundme campaign surging past $340,000 within just two days of its launch.
The mobilisation of funds comes as Sydney’s coastline continues to face a grim week, with a fresh tragedy on the Northern Beaches yesterday.
A man died after being pulled from the water at Shelly Beach at Manly yesterday afternoon.
Emergency services were called following reports two swimmers had been caught in a rip and then pulled from the water with one man unconscious.
Police officers and NSW Ambulance paramedics commenced CPR on a man in his 40s, before he was taken to hospital in a critical condition, where he later died. The other swimmer, a 20-year-old man, was uninjured.
It is believed the deceased man is a US national and was spear fishing.
A report will be prepared for the coroner.
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Updated at 19.13 EDT
