1. Bizarre scenes unfold in Parliament as Pauline Hanson accused of sexual harassment.
It appears Michelle Obama has received a reality check from her mum following her appearance at the Grammys.
The former first lady took to Instagram on Wednesday to share a text exchange with mother Marian Robinson.
Obama had received a standing ovation opening Sunday’s awards show with Alicia Keys, Lady Gaga, Jennifer Lopez and Jada Pinkett Smith.
Robinson wrote: “I guess you were a hit at the Grammys”.
Obama asked if her mother had watched.
Mum replied she saw it, and then asked if her daughter had met “any of the real stars”.
Mother and daughter then quibbled over whether Obama had told her she would be on.
Obama ended the exchange by writing “And I AM A real star…by the way…”
Her mother replied, “Yeah.”
4. Qld mum convicted over genital mutilation.
A Queensland woman has been found guilty of arranging her two daughters to have their genitals mutilated in Somalia.
The woman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, denied she had taken the girls, then aged 12 and nine, to her birth nation in April 2015 to undergo the procedure.
She was convicted by a Brisbane District Court jury on Wednesday of two counts of removing a child from the state for female genital mutilation (FGM).
The jury deliberated for about 90 minutes before reaching their verdict.
The trial heard the woman, who had undergone a similar procedure as a girl, had her daughters endure FGM a few days after arriving in Somalia.
One of the girls was called inside from playing outside her grandmother’s house and had no idea what was about to happen when she had the painful procedure.
She was conscious throughout and it caused pain for days. Her sister was also subjected to the procedure, also with their mother by her side.
“(Their mother) had them in her care for the entire time. She was there when they were mutilated not long after they arrived in Somalia,” crown prosecutor Dejana Kovac said.
“She extended the trip to give them time to heal before returning to Australia.”
The family returned to their home in the Logan area, south of Brisbane, seven months later. Then the girls’ stepsister tipped off child safety services.
The girls told Queensland police about their experiences, leading to the charges against their mother.
Pediatrician Ryan Mills, who examined the girls, told the court the flattening of their clitoral hoods and discolouration of associated skin was “abnormal” and unlikely to be a “natural variation”.
“(The abnormalities) could be explained or are consistent with, in medical terms, genital mutilation,” he testified.
He said there was no therapeutic reason for the procedure.
Defence barrister Patrick Wilson said key medical evidence could have been interpreted differently by doctors not familiar with the case.
In a police interview, the woman said their trip had been to visit her mother and she’d done “nothing” in relation to a genital mutilation procedure.
Whatever had happened to the girls was “from God”, she said.
Asked by Justice Leanne Clare if there was any reason why sentencing should not be passed down, the woman, through an interpreter, said she had cancer and back problems.
She was granted bail and will be sentenced at a later date.
5. Commission hears of ‘extreme’ aged care case.
The royal commission into aged care has heard of the shocking treatment of an elderly patient given Panadol despite suffering ongoing pain from a severe genital wound.
Details of the man’s condition were given on Wednesday by counsel assisting Paul Bolster as he read information provided by an agency nurse sent to an unnamed aged care facility.
The nurse told how the man could not speak after suffering a stroke yet his GP had not been informed of his injury and pain caused by a urinary catheter.
“I am still horrified to this day,” the nurse said, instigating an urgent review of the man’s case.
The nurse said “I am blown away” that staff had not reported the development of the man’s wound.
“More educated staff had not looked at the source of his pain,” the nurse said.
Mr Bolster described the man’s case as extreme but said it was an example of how things can fall down.
Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation national secretary Annie Butler said such problems should be picked up and properly managed at staff handovers.
But she said members were telling the federation handover was an area of great concern amid high workloads.
“It’s one of the areas that tends to get missed and sometimes it’s not even allowed,” she said.
Top Comments
this 'new' thing of pauline isnt that new. rumours were rife 20 years ago about her wanting to get hers where and when she could and tried to use her position to get her way
She infamously slept with David Oldfield.
obv theres that but she was rumoured to be trying to get it by her position. the oldfield was a two way street the rumours about using her position show a darker side of her sexuality
1 - Those kooky old extreme-right types get up to some mischief don't they ?
I've always thought of politics as a "nice little earner" for some people - particularly the crackpots who somehow manage to creep into parliament.
They're obviously a reflection of their supporters ie. NOT us...........lol
4 - FGM is a cultural and religious form of child abuse which must NEVER be tolerated in Australia or anywhere else.
Of course "God" is usually evoked by these criminals but I have to wonder just what it is that these cruel zealots are actually praying to.
Removing those poor little girls from that family to a place of safety has to be a priority.
You think Pauline is extreme-right? Im a moderate conservative and I vote for her.
well youre a moderate tory who votes a long, loooonnnng way away from moderate
If you vote for Hanson you are the polar opposite of a moderate conservative. You are ultra far right. You don't seem to understand what moderate means.
She's the Australian version of the blind nationalism that in the Middle East goes by names like "ISIS" and "The Taliban."