Alcohol ban to end for NT remote communities, and what women are talking about tonight.

Remote Indigenous communities and camps will soon be able to choose if they have access to alcohol, after the law ends in July.

As a result, the territory's Labor government has introduced changes to local liquor laws which it says will give communities the option to continue alcohol restrictions for a further two years. This will allow time for the NT government to consult with Indigenous groups about their long-term plan for alcohol management, a spokesman said.

But the NT Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance warns the amendments could be a concern if communities fail to ask the Liquor Licensing department to declare them dry.

“This is a dangerous move that could undo the good results of many of the NT government’s own alcohol reforms,” a spokeswoman said. “If (communities) either do nothing or choose to let takeaway alcohol in, the upshot will be a mix of dry and unrestricted communities that will be impossible to monitor, with alcohol flowing freely between them.”

Former NT Chief Minister Michael Gunner said: “Changes are going to happen, we’re prepared for it. People will be allowed to drink in certain parts of the Northern Territory where they’re currently not allowed to drink… we’re not going to be racist, we’re going to work through that.”

The Commonwealth's alcohol bans came into force during the NT Emergency Response, which is also known as the Intervention, in 2007. They continued under the Commonwealth’s Stronger Futures Act in 2012. The NT government said Aboriginal Territorians weren't adequately consulted about that legislation and it's inconsistent with the principles of self-determination.

With AAP.

'Multiple perspectives': After 15 years, Intervention-era alcohol bans in NT communities are set to end https://t.co/uff32gvhM5

— ABC News (@abcnews) April 6, 2022

Around 20 per cent of Australians admit they risked working while having COVID-19 symptoms in order to make ends meet.

The Australia Institute surveyed 1000 people nationwide in February, with 19 per cent admitting they left their homes “to the detriment of their own health and the health of their colleagues and the broader community”.

That percentage was higher among young employees (29 per cent), who feared they couldn’t work from home, even while sick with the virus, in order to keep their jobs. The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work director Jim Stanford said millions of workers had either used up their paid sick leave or were not entitled to sick pay.

“There is no doubt this has contributed to the epidemic of people attending work with possible COVID symptoms,” he said.

More than a third of employed Australians have no access to statutory paid sick leave entitlements, including casual and self-employed workers. The researchers called for governments to expand sick pay entitlements to cover all workers, including those in casual employment and the self-employed.

With AAP.

Do you find the news cycle overwhelming? Depressing? Confusing? Boring? Endless? Then you need The Quicky. Mamamia’s daily podcast that gets you up to speed on the top stories.

Listen to tonight’s episode of The Quicky below:

This post deals mentions references of sexual assault, and could be triggering for some readers.

Peter Dutton’s defamation victory over a refugee advocate’s six-word tweet has been overturned on appeal in the Federal Court.

A judge ordered Shane Bazzi in December to pay $35,000 in damages and some of Dutton’s legal costs after using Twitter in February to label the defence minister “a rape apologist”.

But the Full Court of the Federal Court on Tuesday allowed Bazzi’s appeal, set aside the December order and dismissed the proceeding. 

Bazzis’ since-deleted post contained a link to a 2019 news article quoting Dutton saying some refugee women on Nauru who complained of rape were “trying it on” in order to come to Australia. Justice Richard White determined that an “ordinary reasonable reader” would have understood Bazzi to be asserting that Dutton was a person who excused rape, and that the attached link supported that characterisation.

The judge also rejected the defence of honest opinion and fair comment on a matter of public interest. This finding was not challenged. The appeal was solely on whether the tweet conveyed the imputation that Dutton excuses rape.

In their reasons for the judgment, Justices Steven Rares and Darryl Rangiah said The Guardian material linked to the tweet centred on allegations of rape. When read with Bazzi’s six words, the reader would conclude that the tweet suggested Dutton was sceptical about the rape claims and in that way was an apologist.

“But that is very different from imputing that he excuses rape itself,” they said.

“It is not sufficient that the tweet was offensive and derogatory. Mr Dutton had the onus to establish, on the balance of probabilities, that the reader reasonably would have understood that the tweet conveyed the imputation that he asserted it. In our opinion, he failed.”

Shane Bazzi wins appeal in defamation case over Peter Dutton tweet https://t.co/w5EA71b5e0

— Guardian news (@guardiannews) May 17, 2022

With AAP.

If this post brings up any issues for you, or if you just feel like you need to speak to someone, please call 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) – the national sexual assault, domestic and family violence counselling service. It doesn’t matter where you live, they will take your call and, if need be, refer you to a service closer to home.

Morning all,

If COVID-19 isn't big on your radar at the moment, you're not alone. 

But while we've all been focusing on an election campaign and cost-of-living crisis, Australia's COVID-19 cases have been bubbling along on an upward trend. 

In fact, our country currently has the highest per capita infection rate in the world excluding the islands of Montserrat, Anguilla and The Falklands. 

Yesterday, I rounded up everything you need to know about our current COVID-19 situation here.

But first, let's get you across the top news stories you need to know this morning, Tuesday May 17.

1. PM not thinking of stepping down as Labor promises medical manufacturing boost.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says he isn't contemplating standing down in the event of a hung parliament or Liberal loss at Saturday's election, despite Labor remaining ahead in the polls. 

"No, that is not something I'm contemplating because I'm not contemplating that being the scenario," Morrison told the ABC's 7.30 report last night.

"I'm focused on one thing and that's ensuring our government continues."

Morrison said he recognised that Australians wanted him to be more inclusive if he gained another term in power.

Prime Minister @ScottMorrisonMP says he is "not getting into the scenario game" about his future if the Coalition loses the federal election: "My scenario ... is not to have a weakened parliament, to not to have a government that has to negotiate for its existence every day."

— abc730 (@abc730) May 16, 2022

Meanwhile, Labor has refocused its efforts on Australia's sovereign manufacturing capabilities, announcing a $1.5 billion medical manufacturing fund.

The medical manufacturing fund will form part of Labor's $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund to shore up medical supply chains, including vaccines.

Labor leader Anthony Albanese says he would also commission the development of a medical manufacturing industry plan to determine how local businesses can secure government contracts.

"Serious countries should make things. Serious countries should be led by builders, not bulldozers, which is how I would lead a future Labor government," Albanese said.

2. Greens lays out priorities at campaign launch as poll nears.

Greens leader Adam Bandt has laid out the priorities for his party should it hold the balance of power after Saturday's election. 

Taking urgent action on climate change, dealing with the cost-of-living crisis and providing justice for Australia's First Nations people by progressing the Uluru Statement from the Heart are among the list of demands.

Bandt will call on the party that wins the federal election to sign US President Joe Biden's Global Methane Pledge, to phase out methane gas. 

"Voters deserve to know what will be on the negotiating table," he said at the Greens national campaign launch in Brisbane last night. 

"Of course we want to see all our policies implemented, but these will be at the top of the list."

Tonight, Adam Bandt will launch our campaign to kick Morrison out and put the Greens in balance of power.

Join us at 6:30pm AEST for our livestream from Brisbane. #ausvotes https://t.co/R5NIpRjV88

— Australian Greens (@Greens) May 16, 2022

The party also wants to address inequality and cost-of-living pressure by wiping student debt and increasing income support above the poverty line.

"We can kick Scott Morrison out and elect a parliament with Greens in the balance of power getting action on the big issues that are facing this country," Bandt said. "The Greens will kick the Liberals out and keep Labor on track."

3. McDonald's to close Russian stores after 30 years, as wounded Ukranian soldiers allowed to leave Mariupol steel works. 

McDonald's will sell its business in Russia after more than three decades in the country, an exit the US fast food giant said was driven by the war in Ukraine.

"The humanitarian crisis caused by the war in Ukraine, and the precipitating unpredictable operating environment, have led McDonald's to conclude that continued ownership of the business in Russia is no longer tenable, nor is it consistent with McDonald's values," a company statement said.

McDonald's said making sure its 62,000 employees in Russia continue to be paid until a deal is finalised.

McDonalds to close all stores in Russia and remove its symbolism from the country https://t.co/rzZa6F38S7

— ABC News (@abcnews) May 16, 2022

Meanwhile, Russia says it has agreed to allow wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the bunkers below the besieged Azovstal steel works in Mariupol to be moved to a medical facility in the Russian-controlled town of Novoazovsk.

Most civilians were allowed to leave the plant this month after the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross brokered a deal with Russia and Ukraine. But Ukrainian fighters from the Azov Battalion, a militia unit, remain at the plant.

"A humanitarian corridor has been opened through which wounded Ukrainian servicemen are being taken to a medical facility in Novoazovsk," the Russian defence ministry said in a statement. 

4. Kids' mental health suffered in lockdowns, study finds. 

Pandemic lockdowns and restrictions adversely affected children and young people, with a rise in self-harm cases admitted to hospitals. 

Research published from the Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society Paediatric Study Group found a marked increase in pediatric intensive care units (PICUs) admissions following deliberate self-harm.

The authors of the study published in the medical journal JAMA Network Open say this coincided with the COVID-19 lockdowns and social restrictions over the past two years.

Of the 813 study patients aged 12 to 17 analysed between January 2015 and June 2021, 230 were admitted during the first 15 months of pandemic from April 2020 to June 2021.

Was #COVID19 associated with an increase in #ICU admissions of children and adolescents with severe deliberate self harm? This Australian national registry-based cohort study found it was 👇https://t.co/fWuRDG3wS6

— ANZICS (@anzics) May 12, 2022

Monash Children's Hospital PICU director Felix Oberender said that while the study was observational and therefore it was not possible to assume causality, the numbers were concerning, and young people's mental health needed to be considered in health policy planning.

"In 2020, I think many of us comforted ourselves thinking at least the kids are okay," he said. What we're seeing now in 2022 is a broad acknowledgement, in fact, that they're not okay."

If you, or a young person you know, is struggling with symptoms of mental illness please contact your local headspace centre here or chat to them online, here. If you are over the age of 25 and suffering from symptoms of mental illness please contact your local GP for a Mental Health Assessment Plan or call Lifeline Australia on 13 11 14.

Kid's Helpline is also available on 1800 551 800.

5. France gets first female PM in 30 years.

French President Emmanuel Macron has appointed former labour minister Elisabeth Borne to be the country's prime minister, the first woman to head the government in three decades. 

The 61-year-old succeeds Prime Minister Jean Castex, who resigned from the post with his government earlier on Monday, a customary move for French governments following a presidential election.

Borne is only the second woman to serve as France's prime minister, after Edith Cresson has previously filled the post, being in office from May 1991 to April 1992.

France's president has appointed Elisabeth Borne as the new prime minister. She becomes the second woman to hold the post in the country. https://t.co/Y0Dxs91SmN

— AP Europe (@AP_Europe) May 16, 2022

And that's it, you're all up to speed. We'll keep you updated with more of the biggest stories throughout the day. 

- With AAP.

With just days to go until the federal election, both the major parties have announced new policies designed to attract the votes of first home buyers. 

The Coalition's plan to allow people to access up to $50,000 of their superannuation to help pay for the deposit on their first home has been deemed particularly controversial. 

The Quicky speaks to a superannuation expert to find out everything you need to know.

READ: 

• What women were talking about on Monday. 

Feature Image: Getty.