1. Greens health spokesperson Senator Richard Di Natale has been on the receiving end of a online hate campaign, after he moved a motion calling for the Australian Vaccination Network be “immediately disbanded”. The motion was unanimously passed in the Senate. According to News Ltd, one email accused the Senator of “chemical rape” and the “torture of defenseless infants and countless other innocent victims besides”.
The Greens Party is also concerned that the leader of the AVN, Greg Beattie, may have recorded a phone conversation with Senator Di Natale without telling him. The Senator explained that “in the past [some of] the AVN have engaged in all sorts of behaviour, including harassing the families of children who have died from preventable diseases, used AVOs to silence critics, called doctors terrorists, and compared vaccination to rape.”
You can read more about some of the AVN’s bullying tactics here.
2. Ten Australian Defence Force Academy cadets have been suspended (and up to 20 are under investigation) after a drunken pub crawl last month, where cadets were encouraged to participate in hazing rituals including drinking urine and having intercourse with a sex worker.
3. The parents of a four-year-old Queensland girl who died after swallowing a lithium battery have warned other parents to be vigilant. “Sadly, what occurred could have happened to anyone with small children and we sincerely hope this tragedy will act as a warning to all parents,” Brad and Andrea Steer said in a statement published by News Limited papers. They described their daughter Summer as a “little pocket rocket” who was constantly on the go.4. New rules that require major mobile phone service providers to provide more detailed information about the costs of using mobile phones overseas, will be announced by Communications Minister Anthony Albanese today. In the past, Australian travellers have been hit with mobile phone bills costing thousands of dollars, after trying to use their phone for only a limited time outside the country. The new rules will come into effect on September 27.