news

Tuesday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Accused ‘Evil 8’ paedophile claims he had “some doubts” about victim’s age.

A man accused of being part of the so-called “Evil 8” paedophile ring accused of abusing a 12-year-old girl has claimed he had “some doubts” when her father told him she was “about 17 or 18”.

Troy Phillip Milbourne, 41, pleaded guilty to seven charges including indecent dealings with a child under 13 and sexual penetration of a child under 13.

Western Australia’s Bunbury District Court was told Milbourne was one of several men who responded to an online advertisement posted by the girl’s father, WA Today reported.

 

After meeting the victim’s father he visited the family’s house where he engaged in several indecent acts with the girl, according to prosecutors.

Milbourne’s defence lawyer Simon Freitag told the court he had proceeded despite his initial doubts after being coaxed by the girl’s father.

“My client instructs me he had some doubts but ultimately trusted what her father said,” Mr Freitag said.

He is due to be sentenced on Monday.

2. Protestors face off outside ABC studios as Pauline Hanson appears on Q&A.

As controversial senator-elect Pauline Hanson sat behind the panel on ABC’s Q&A program last night, protesters clashed with each other and later police outside on the street.

Around 100 protesters gathered outside ABC headquarters in Sydney, according to the Sydney Morning Herald, with some carrying pro-Pauline signs and placards while other held a counter-protest.

On one side signs read,”welcome back Pauline” and “multiculturalism has utterly failed” while on the other protesters called for the One Nation supporters to “please explain” and “stand with Muslims against racism”.

ADVERTISEMENT

At least a dozen people were handcuffed by police and it’s believed at least six arrests were made.

Meanwhile, inside the studio Hanson was asked to defend her anti-Islam stance by fellow panel members and questioners and was shocked to discover Labor senator Sam Dastyari is, in fact, a Muslim.

3. Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull rejects calls to ban Muslim immigration as he spruiks new cabinet.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has dismissed calls from TV presenter Sonia Kruger to stop Muslim immigration to Australia because of Islamic terrorism.

Speaking late yesterday, Turnbull said Australian immigration policies would stand.

“As you know Australia has a non-discriminatory immigration program and a non-discriminatory humanitarian program, and has done for many, many years,” he said, according to the Daily Mail.

“That is not going to change”.

Meanwhile the PM yesterday announced a new, expanded ministry of 23, the largest in over 40 years.

It was a reshuffle that rewarded his backers, gave little ground to conservatives in the Coalition and sent women’s representation at the highest levels of Australian government backwards.

Key conservative figures Eric Abetz and Kevin Andrews were left warming the backbench, alongside former PM Tony Abbott, who they had been pushing to return to a frontbench role.

Christopher Pyne was among the big winners, becoming minister of defence industry, an important portfolio for sub-building South Australia.

Greg Hunt received a cabinet promotion and Josh Frydenberg was also rewarded.

Kelly O’Dwyer has small business taken from her portfolio, and with an increase in ministers, but no increase in women, female representation went backwards.

ADVERTISEMENT

4. The mother and baby who plunged to their deaths on Bourke St have been identified.

The grieving family of the a mother and four-month-old who died after falling from a high-rise balcony in Melbourne’s CBD last week are preparing to send their bodies back to India.

Supraja Srinivas, 31, is thought to have taken her own life and that of her son Shrihan, according to the Age.

Ms Srinivas and her son were found in an internal courtyard of the 29-storey City Point apartment building near the corner of Bourke and Spencer streets around 10.30 on Thursday.

Her distressed husband collapsed at the scene and was admitted to hospital.

5. Missing Melbourne mum Karen Ristevski and husband were reportedly in serious debt before her disappearance.

Karen Ristevski has been missing since Wednesday, June 29. There’s been no trace of the Melbourne mum since she reportedly left her home in the morning and never returned.

There’s been no activity on her bank account or mobile phone, and police hold grave fears for her wellbeing.

Her family has been under the microscope since her disappearance was made public, with a journalist asking her husband point blank at a press conference last week if he killed his wife.

Now, reports have emerged that the family was drowning in debt, going back a decade, following the collapse of a family business with more than $600,000 owing.

The Australian reports one creditor even placed a caveat on their family home in Avondale Heights in February.

Her husband, Borce Ristevski told police the last time he saw his wife was at around 10am on the day she disappeared.

He said she left the family home for a walk to ‘clear her head’ after an argument about finances, according to the Daily Mail.

6. More than 20 people injured in train axe attack.

German media are reporting that over 20 passengers on a train have been injured after a man with an axe went on a rampage, according to the BBC.

A police operation is underway in the southern German city of Wurzburg, as media report that the suspect appears to have been shot.

 Details on the situation are scant, as it is still emerging.

Do you have a story to share with Mamamia? Email us news@mamamia.com.au