We’ve rounded up all the news from Australia and around the world so you don’t have to go searching.
1. Three shot dead including child near Toowoomba
Three people are dead following a shooting at a house in Biddeston, near Toowoomba .
Police have confirmed they were called to the property in Biddeston by paramedics at 6:55pm last night.
“I can confirm three people are dead from gunshot wounds,” a Queensland Police Media spokesman told
“There is no immediate threat to anyone in the area.”
The Chronicle reports that the deceased are a middle-aged man, his teenage daughter and young son.
According to reports the bodies were discovered by an adult daughter of the middle-aged man who had come to check on the property. It is believed that the three may have been dead for a while.
Detective Inspector Dave Isherwood said that one of the bodies was a child, and that they believed a firearm may be involved.
If you need help please phone Lifeline on 13 11 14.
2. William Tyrell search continues.
NSW Police this morning will continue the search for three-year old William Tyrell’s remains in dense bushland roughly 20,000sq in size – about 20km from where he went missing nearly six months ago.
reports that several objects were recovered during the search.
For more read this post here.
3. Bali 9 execution date looms.
It has been reported that Myuran Sukumaran and Andrew Chan will be sent to the island where they will be executed within the next week.
Bali’s prosecutor Momock Bambang Samiarso told reporters yesterday that while he was still waiting for Jakarta to set the moving date it would be soon. Nine News reports that it is likely the date may be announced today.
Attorney-General HM Prasetyo gave nothing away yesterday saying that the executions would be “this month.”
4. Mother with one-week old baby killed.
A man has appeared in court in the ACT yesterday charged with the brutal murder of his ex-partner.
40-year old Marcus Rappel is accused of murdering 28-year old mother-of-three Tara Costigan on Saturday.
He was also charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm, recklessly inflicting grievous bodily harm, and contravening a protection order.
Tara had given birth to her third child, a daughter, just one week ago.
For more read this post here.
5. Former ACT Chief Minister’s struggle with anorexia.
Former ACT chief Minister Kate Carnell and the current head of the Australian Chamber of Commerce has revealed that she overcame an eating disorder as a teenager.
She told the ABC that her eating disorder had a “financially huge and psychologically huge” impact on her family.
“Imagine a scenario when you’ve got a teenage daughter who’s always been a bit of an overachiever, pretty smart, those sorts of things — and all of a sudden they’re killing themselves in front of your eyes,” she said.
Yesterday Ms Carnell helped launch a report by The Butterfly Foundation that showed that in 2012 eating disorders cost the country $67.9 billion in health costs, including lost productivity by sufferers and their carers, absenteeism and premature deaths.
It affected 913,000 Australians in 2012.
Read the full story here.
If you need help please phone The Butterfly Foundation on 1800 33 4673.
6. Former girl’s school student gives evidence at Knox Royal Commission.
A former student of an elite girls’ school Roseville College has given evidence on the sixth day of the public hearing into Knox Grammar.
Lucy Perry told the commission that former headmaster Dr Ian Paterson indecently assaulted her during rehearsals for the musical, Guys and Dolls, in 1989.
Ms Perry told the Commission “I would describe it as between a pat and a grope,” she said. “He then slid his hand right down to cup my buttocks and touch my genitals outside my clothing.
“I saw Paterson had what I would describe as a creepy look of satisfaction on his face.”
She said that when the students of Knox saw what happened they “cheered” and Dr Paterson “chuckled”.
“I was 15 years old and an old man was touching me where he shouldn’t I will never forget that.”
Ms Perry, now the Chief executive of global women’s charity Hamlin Fistula Ethiopia (Australia), said that she hoped her evidence would help future children, but acknowledged the suffering of the boys sexually abused at Knox Grammar.
“Their stories aren’t similar at all,” she said. “Mine was a very small incident compared to some of the stuff that these students have been through.”
She said her focus now she had given evidence was her work.
“I work for a charity and we have to raise money for the most marginalised women in the world and I’ve got four million bucks to raise before the end of the June and that’s where my focus is.”
7. Primary school punishes students for taking toilet breaks.
Parents of a Victorian primary school have complained after their children were punished for going to the toilet during class.
The Herald Sun reports Bellbridge Primary pupils were “fined” and made to stay late if they needed to visit the toilet during classroom time.
The school runs a “earn and learn” program where students earn pretend money but if they visited the toilet too often they were fined.
One mother told The Herald Sun it was leading to accidents “It’s their basic needs. They get fined, they lose their money, which they save for special things,” she said.
“Some of them have been known to wet themselves.”
The fines ranged from $10 and up to $50 of their “earn and learn” money.
Some students were even held back at recess or lunch as punishment.
Bellbridge Primary principal Debbie Clancy said she has now put a stop to the practice.
“Of course, our students are free to go to the toilet whenever they need — and we would never stop a child from going to the toilet during class time, or penalise them for doing so,” she told the newspaper.
“A small number of classes have deducted points earned in the ‘earn and learn’ system as a way to discourage children from using the toilet during class time,”
“As this does not fit in with our positive approach, this no longer occurs at our school.”
8. Economists predict Reserve Bank will cut interest rate to 2% today.
By Elysse Morgan
Most economists believe the Reserve Bank will cut the cash rate again today but that it is likely to be a tough call.
Last month the Reserve Bank cut the key rate to an historic low of 2.25 per cent and many expect a cut today will take it to 2 per cent.
Recent data shows cracks in the economy, particularly figures released last week showing very weak business investment intentions.
The figures show the long-awaited boost in non-mining business investment remains a long way away, with many economists scaling back their expectations for growth in the December quarter.
Weak employment, inflation and company profit figures add to the compelling argument for another rate cut.
Since February ANZ senior economist Justin Fabo has forecast a cut and said recent data only adds to his case.
“[It] suggests to us that the bank would see little value in waiting for further confirmation of the need for additional stimulus to the economy,” Mr Fabo said.
A version of this story was originally published on ABC and has been republished with full permission.
9. Teen charged over encouraging friend to commit suicide.
Warning: This item contains details of a suicide and may be distressing for some readers.
A teenager in the US is on trial for involuntary manslaughter charges for allegedly sending text messages urging a friend to commit suicide, even after he expressed second thoughts.
17-year old Michelle Carter is alleged to have urged 18-year old Conrad Roy to kill himself even after he sent her text messages saying he was unsure about the act.
Fairhaven police Detective Scott Gordon said in a police report: “Not only did Conrad tell Carter in several of his texts prior to his death that he was scared and didn’t want to leave his family, she continued to encourage him to take his own life, and when he actually started to carry out the act, he got scared again and exited his truck, but instead of telling him to stay out of the truck … Carter told him to ‘get back in.’”
Carter’s lawyer said they denied all charges and that she was an active member of the community raising funds for suicide awareness reports .
If you need help please call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
10. Living alone beneficial for women.
New research from the Australian Institute of Family Studies has found that living alone is linked to social advantage for younger women.
Professor David de Vaus told that in the demographic group of professional women in their 20s and 30s, settling down and having kids is not the only thing on their agenda “In that group, living alone is more of a positive choice.”
The report found that living alone is more common in women than men.
Professor David de Vaus said “The stereotype of living alone is that it’s for the sad and lonely who can’t make a go of relationships – it’s not borne out by the facts.”
12. Miriam Margoyles goes viral.
Miriam Margolyes has been asked on the ABC’s Q&A (alongside Mamamia’s Editor-in Chief Jamila Rizvi) her thoughts on Prime Minister Tony Abbott.
Her answer – in her usual acerbic style has gone viral.
“I think he’s a tit” she said.
Jamila Rizvi’s comment “I think you’re supposed to say ten points to Hufflepuff” delighted social media before Ms Rizvi answered that she felt the Prime Minister was “time-limited….with a hyphen.”
13. Bali Nine duo to be transferred within 48 hours.
By George Roberts for the ABC
Bali’s chief prosecutor says he plans to transfer two Australian drug smugglers out of their Bali prison in the next 48 hours in preparation for their executions.
Momock Bambang Samiarso is charged with the responsibility of transferring Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran to an island prison off Java to face a firing squad.
So far all plans Indonesian officials have announced for the executions have been delayed.
The two Bali Nine members were due to be taken away to the island last month before the move was postponed.
Mr Momock now says he has an order to transfer them this week, and plans to do so tonight or tomorrow night.
The elite police unit BRIMOB, which will handle security, and the prison managers are on standby for when the order comes through.
Lawyers for Chan and Sukumaran are still attempting a legal appeal, but the government was effectively ignoring that, saying nothing could stop the executions.
President Joko Widodo has again lashed out at foreign intervention over the death penalty in Indonesia.
Mr Widodo warned a room full of high school students about the dangers of drugs and reiterated his commitment to show no mercy to drug offenders.
“About drugs, please be careful. Now there are more or less 50 people from our generation who die because of drugs, 50 per day,” he said.
Those figures are disputed, but the president has been using them to justify his tough line on drugs and he rallied students for support.
“Do you agree drug dealers should be punished to death?” he asked the students.
“Agree!” they replied.
A respected local newspaper, Kompas, has published a survey in which 75 per cent of respondents supported the president’s stance on the death penalty and for refusing to back down, despite pressure from foreign countries.
Those who conducted the survey insisted their methodology had a 3.8 per cent margin of error, but they only contacted 1,000 people in 12 cities and only 652 people agreed to be polled.
The survey was hardly representative of Indonesia’s 250 million citizens, but local media has been promoting the government’s so-called war on drugs and over the past decade support for the death penalty has sat around 70 per cent.
A version of this post originally appeared on ABC News and has been republished with permission.
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Top Comments
Laughing so hard I'm dying. GO JAMILA!