With the announcement of a Royal Commission now all but confirmed, Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has reiterated the need for broad terms of reference and at least one disabled commissioner to ensure that the lived experiences of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of disabled people in institutional and residential settings is properly understood and investigated.
Senator Steele-John said he was glad to see the Government using the draft Terms of Reference he’d written and sent to the Prime Minister on Friday 15 February as the basis for consultation with stakeholders, particularly the inclusion of a focus on exploitation.
“Today, my community is waiting in hopeful anticipation for news that the road to justice is sealed,” he said.
“But, it seems like finally our calls for a broad Royal Commission to be led by by disabled people are being taken seriously.
“Let us never forget that disabled people are subjected to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect not only in institutions but in our homes, workplaces, where we learn and where we receive services and support, and that the perpetrators of these crimes are often known to survivors not simply paid to help or support them.
“After 5 years of immense pressure from the disability rights movements and from the Greens, we are finally seeing the beginning of an opportunity for justice.”
A copy of the letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Friday 15 February 2019, including the draft Terms of Reference, can be found on the Australian Greens website.
Attempted murder charge after alleged aggravated break-in – Windale
A man has been charged after another man was stabbed during an alleged aggravated break-in at Windale early yesterday.
About 1.40am (Friday 8 March 2019) a man allegedly forced entry to a home on Lowana Crescent while a 49-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman, and three children aged – six, 13 and 16 – were asleep.
The man, believed to be armed with a knife, entered the bedroom of the home and allegedly stabbed the man to the face and chest. He then fled the scene.
Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District attended and commenced investigations.
The injured man was treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics, before being taken to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition.
Police believe the incident was targeted.
Following inquiries, police arrested a 36-year-old man in Adamstown, about 8.20am yesterday (Friday 8 March 2019).
The man was taken to Belmont Police Station where he was charged with cause wounding grievous bodily harm with intent to murder and contravene apprehended violence order (personal) (x2).
He was refused bail to appear at Newcastle Bail Court today (Saturday 9 March 2019) where he was again refused bail to appear in Belmont Local Court on 13 March 2019.
STOPPING DRIVERS FROM FEELING THE PINCH
The highly successful pinch point removal program will be expanded under the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government to remove even more known bottlenecks and keep drivers moving on roads across the State.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Minister for Roads Melinda Pavey said the $450 million investment to remove 12 pinch points is only possible because of the NSW Liberals & Nationals Government’s strong economic management.
“We are making this investment to keep our roads moving so drivers can spend less time sitting in traffic and more time doing what they need to or what they enjoy,” Ms Berejiklian said.
“We will leave no stone unturned in our efforts to ease congestion, whether it is through proven methods such as eliminating pinch points or new technology such as drones.
“Congestion costs Sydney around $6 billion each year and this is a critical long-term investment in our future, which can only be made because we have worked hard to repair our economy and the budget.”
Mrs Pavey said $25 million will also be invested in drone technology and virtual messaging so more of the road network can be monitored in real time and incidents can be reported and cleared faster.
“New traffic technologies will decrease congestion and provide more efficient trips for drivers across the existing road network,” Mrs Pavey said.
Pinch Points to be upgraded include:
- Pennant Hills Road / Carlingford Road, Carlingford;
- Pennant Hills Road, between M2 Motorway and Woodstock Avenue, Carlingford (Southbound);
- Traffic lights at Intersection of Baker Street and Pennant Hills Road, Carlingford;
- Forest Road and Stoney Creek Road, Beverly Hills;
- Forest Road at Boundary Road and Bonds Road, Peakhurst;
- The Horsley Drive / Polding Street, Fairfield;
- Henry Lawson Drive at Rabaul Road and Haig Avenue, Georges Hall;
- Linden Street, between River Road and The Grand Parade, Sutherland;
- Cumberland Highway at Horsley Drive, Smithfield;
- The Horsley Drive at Nelson Street, Fairfield;
- Princes Highway at Bates Road, Kareela; and
- Victoria Road, West Ryde at the rail bridge between West Parade and Hermitage Road.
ONLY THE NSW LIBERALS & NATIONALS WILL BUILD FOR THE FUTURE
The people of NSW have a clear choice at the election.
A NSW Liberals & Nationals Government that is committed to building the state’s future and providing opportunity for all, or a Labor Party that wants to cut, cancel and cripple NSW.
The Leader of the Opposition isn’t good at telling the truth, but the one thing he says which you can believe is that he will cut infrastructure projects and increase taxes, which will cripple the economy, cost jobs and take NSW backwards.
The choice is clear – world class schools, hospitals, public transport, roads, cultural and sporting facilities – or a Labor Party that says NSW doesn’t deserve the best.
I want the best schools, the best hospitals, the best roads, the best public transport system – and the best stadiums. The people of NSW deserve nothing less.
Unlike the Leader of the Opposition, I won’t settle for second best.
This is a return to type by the Labor Party – only Labor could be proud of going to an election with policies to cancel projects.
Labor wants to cancel the South West Metro, the F6 extension, Western Harbour Tunnel and we know they don’t support the M4 and M5 extensions.
The community will remember what NSW was like under Labor – NSW was last, the slowest economic growth, high unemployment and nothing being built.
This Government has worked hard to manage the budget and deliver a strong economy.
Good governments are able to do many things at once.
It has taken this Government to deliver metro rail to Sydney, extend the M4, duplicate the M5, build new schools and hospitals across the State in places like Campbelltown, Blacktown, Dubbo, Tamworth and Gosford.
When Labor was in government, they put them all in the too hard basket because they didn’t have the will or the funds. They don’t deserve another chance.
Of course Labor think it’s a choice between schools, hospitals or stadiums – because they were so incompetent they couldn’t manage the budget so they never had the opportunity to build like we have.
I’m proud to stand on our record of delivery for this state and a vision for making NSW the best it can be.
Gladys Berejiklian
Underworld mugshots on display at Museum
Haunting mugshots of Sydney’s bosses, plotters, bruisers and petty criminals of the 1920s – some with felonious links to Newcastle and the Hunter – will be on display at Newcastle Museum from today.
UNDERWORLD: Mugshots from the Roaring Twenties investigates the life and times of Sydney’s seedy underworld during the 1920s – a time most remember for jazz, Art Deco, glitz and glamour.
Criminal Rose Engebritsen 14 November 1925. Credit: NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive,
Sydney Living Museums
But the age had a much more sinister undertone when gangs, guns and violence played a major role.
Criminal Rose Engebritsen, it’s understood, worked in Newcastle as a singer. Although ‘Deported from America’ is noted under a photograph of her kept by police, a woman with the same name was advertised as singing during a film screening in Newcastle.
Snowy Cutmore, who had connections with horse racing at Cessnock, was a gunman, a sly-grog seller and housebreaker with multiple convictions for assault. His death at the hands of another gangster, Squizzy Taylor, were chronicled in The Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder in 1927.
These local examples of life in the ‘Roaring Twenties’, as they were known, were part and parcel of the brave new world many people were living in post-World War One.
John D ‘Snowy’ Cutmore, 5 July 1922. Credit: NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive, Sydney Living Museums
“These fascinating tales of real-life events occurred during an era of lax law enforcement and a rise in criminal activity,” Newcastle Museum Director Julie Baird said.
“Each of the 130 candid and compelling mugshots taken by NSW Police between 1920 and 1930 offers its own poignant look at a period which saw criminals cash in on illegal markets thanks to advances in new technology.”
“The striking detail and expressions present on the faces of the photographed, the clothes they’re wearing and the locations they’re shot are so different to any mugshot taken today. It’s a fascinating exhibition and one the museum is very much looking forward to displaying.”
Augustine ‘Gus’ Gracey and Edgar ‘Eddie’ Dalton circa 1920. Credit: NSW Police Forensic Photography Archive,
Sydney Living Museums
Exhibition Curator Nerida Campbell said the exhibition explored the dark side of the Roaring Twenties where “you’ll meet the bosses, plotters, bruisers and petty crims who ruled Sydney’s mean streets.”
“The photography in this exhibition is amazing,” she said.
“The mugshots taken by Sydney police are unlike any you’ll see anywhere in the world; They’re candid, and compelling, and the stories behind the people in them are amazing.
“Stories of people struggling with bad choices, stories of people possibly in the wrong place at the wrong time and the dyed-in-the-wool criminals who wouldn’t change even if they could.”
Reproduced from glass plate negatives, the images retain a high-quality level of clarity almost a century after they were taken.
The exhibition will be on display from today until 30 June. For more information on the exhibition, visit the Newcastle Museum exhibition page at http://www.newcastlemuseum.com.au/Exhibitions/Exhibitions/UNDERWORLD
Disability community "waiting in hopeful anticipation" for news that the road to justice is sealed: Steele-John
With the announcement of a Royal Commission now all but confirmed, Australian Greens Disability Rights spokesperson Senator Jordon Steele-John has reiterated the need for broad terms of reference and at least one disabled commissioner to ensure that the lived experiences of violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect of disabled people in institutional and residential settings is properly understood and investigated.
Senator Steele-John said he was glad to see the Government using the draft Terms of Reference he’d written and sent to the Prime Minister on Friday 15 February as the basis for consultation with stakeholders, particularly the inclusion of a focus on exploitation.
“Today, my community is waiting in hopeful anticipation for news that the road to justice is sealed,” he said.
“But, it seems like finally our calls for a broad Royal Commission to be led by by disabled people are being taken seriously.
“Let us never forget that disabled people are subjected to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect not only in institutions but in our homes, workplaces, where we learn and where we receive services and support, and that the perpetrators of these crimes are often known to survivors not simply paid to help or support them.
“After 5 years of immense pressure from the disability rights movements and from the Greens, we are finally seeing the beginning of an opportunity for justice.”
A copy of the letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Friday 15 February 2019, including the draft Terms of Reference, can be found on the Australian Greens website.
Senator Steele-John said he was glad to see the Government using the draft Terms of Reference he’d written and sent to the Prime Minister on Friday 15 February as the basis for consultation with stakeholders, particularly the inclusion of a focus on exploitation.
“Today, my community is waiting in hopeful anticipation for news that the road to justice is sealed,” he said.
“But, it seems like finally our calls for a broad Royal Commission to be led by by disabled people are being taken seriously.
“Let us never forget that disabled people are subjected to violence, abuse, exploitation and neglect not only in institutions but in our homes, workplaces, where we learn and where we receive services and support, and that the perpetrators of these crimes are often known to survivors not simply paid to help or support them.
“After 5 years of immense pressure from the disability rights movements and from the Greens, we are finally seeing the beginning of an opportunity for justice.”
A copy of the letter sent to Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten on Friday 15 February 2019, including the draft Terms of Reference, can be found on the Australian Greens website.
Greens launch women’s policy: $5.3billion to end alleged epidemic of domestic violence
The Greens have today announced their plan for equality for women which includes $5.3billion over 10 years to more adequately address the epidemic of family and domestic violence.
“The comprehensive suite of initiatives, designed to ensure women are safe, valued and treated as equals in private and public life, show the scale of work that needs to be done level the playing field for Australian women and girls,” Greens spokesperson for women Senator Larissa Waters said.
“Ten women have been killed in Australia this year already, after 69 last year, and yet the government has only committed $328million over three years towards tackling this crisis.
“The Greens are actually serious about ending violence against women. That’s why we have a fully costed plan to give $5.3billion over ten years, with $2.2 billion in the first four years, to ensure no DV survivor is turned away from crisis, support and housing services when they need help and that primary prevention programs are delivered to stop violence before it starts. This is the funding commitment it is going to take.”
The Greens will also create a $200 million Survivor Grant fund which will give up to 50,000 survivors of family and domestic violence, grants of up to $4000.
“The Survivor Grant fund will help approximately 1000 survivors of DV a month,” Senator Waters said.
“Money should not be a barrier to escaping violence whether it’s rent and housing costs, affording the basics like food and clothing, medical, health and wellbeing needs, we must support survivors to keep them safe.
“The Greens will also legislate for 10 days’ paid FDV leave so no woman has to choose between getting paid and being safe.”
The Greens policy for closing the gender wage gap will also improve economic security for women and in turn, reduce one of the main drivers of DV.
“Women deserve equal pay for equal work which is why we will set gender pay equality as an objective of awards and the Fair Work Act,” Senator Waters said.
“We will also legislate to ban ‘pay gag clauses’, which is a bill I’ve introduced previously to create transparency in organisations which is a critical factor in closing the gender wage gap.
“We want the paid parental leave arrangements extended to six months and affordable and accessible early childhood education so kids can get the best start and parents have financial security to give them that.
“Unpaid caring work is also significantly undervalued and so the Greens will task the Productivity Commission with investigating how best to value it. Women do the majority of the caring roles and retire with half the super balance of men – this is unacceptable and consideration of caring credits is the first steps to ensuring carers are properly valued.”
Other aspects of the Greens equality for women policy include:
- making abortion safe, accessible, legal and free in all public hospitals with funding for hospitals to perform abortions;
- addressing the housing and homelessness crisis for older women;
- keeping women safe from harassment and discrimination at work, online and on the street;
- improving global equality for women through our development program;
- making workplaces more family friendly; and
- ensuring fairer superannuation for casual, part-time and low-income workers.
For the full policy: greens.org.au/women
Greens challenge Labor to ‘walk the walk’ on living wage
Greens employment and workplace relations spokesperson Adam Bandt MP today said that Labor is talking big on inequality but won’t back it up with action. Mr Bandt said the Greens will seek to amend Labor’s industrial relations legislation in the Senate to ensure the minimum wage is at least 60% of median earnings.
“We need to change the law so that if you work full-time, you’re not in poverty.
“Just like their position on Newstart, where Labor says the rate is too low but refuses to back the Greens’ call to lift it by $75 per week, Labor’s talk about inequality means nothing without action.
“When Labor is in government and puts its industrial relations legislation to Parliament, the Greens will amend it in the Senate to ensure the minimum wage is at least 60% of median earnings.”
“The Greens have led the push in Parliament to make the minimum wage 60% of the full time median wage. It’s time Labor followed our lead.
Cybercrime Squad and AUSTRAC remind digital currency exchanges of reporting obligations
The NSW Police Force and the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) are reminding digital currency exchange providers to be aware of their obligations following amendments to Commonwealth legislation last year.
In April 2018, amendments to the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 were introduced, which included expanding the scope of the Act to include regulation of digital currency exchange providers.
These changes included registering with AUSTRAC, verifying customer identity, reporting suspicious matters and over-threshold cash transactions; and complying with record-keeping requirements.
AUSTRAC National Manager for Regulatory Operations, Dr Nathan Newman, said AUSTRAC worked closely with digital currency exchange providers to prepare them for these laws, which are in place to protect industry from criminal exploitation and in turn, the Australian community.
“Digital currency exchange providers have had adequate time and opportunity to comply with these new laws and AUSTRAC has already refused the registration of two digital currency exchange providers. We continue to actively monitor the sector’s compliance,” Dr Newman said.
“It’s important that digital currency exchange providers meet their obligations, so we can identify any instances of criminal activity using their services to launder money, fund terrorism or commit other serious crimes.”
Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matt Craft, said this is a timely reminder to those who deal in digital currencies to ensure they are meeting their obligations.
“While cash is still ‘king’, digital currencies are fast becoming the preferred choice for organised criminal networks involved in money laundering, funding terrorism, and cybercrimes,” Det Supt Craft said.
“These amendments were implemented to ensure digital currencies were being monitored in the same ways as cash exchanges and transfers.
“Any information about illicit activity by digital currency exchange providers that is provided to our squad – whether related to organised crime, terrorism, or technology-enabled crime – will be actively pursued in partnership with AUSTRAC.
“Let this be a warning to digital currency exchange providers: if you fail to comply with your obligations, your actions will not go unnoticed.”
Det Supt Craft added that an increase in popularity of Dark Net marketplaces will also mean increased targeting by law enforcement.
“Given the perceived anonymity of the Dark Net, Australian criminal groups are starting to favour the online environment to conduct illicit business,” Det Supt Craft said.
“With police and our partners proactively targeting this space, I’ll assure these networks that their anonymity is no longer guaranteed.”
More information about digital currency exchange providers’ obligations under the Act is available at: http://www.austrac.gov.au/digital-currency-exchange-providers
Man critical after aggravated break-in – Windale, near Lake Macquarie
Police are appealing for public assistance after a man was stabbed during an aggravated break-in in Windale this morning.
About 1.40am (Friday 8 March 2019) a man has forced entry into the rear window of a home on Lowana Crescent, Windale, while a 49-year-old man, a 37-year-old woman, and three children aged – six, 13 and 16 were asleep.
The man believed to be armed with a knife, entered the bedroom of the home and allegedly stabbed the 49-year-old male occupant to the face and chest.
The armed man fled the scene on foot running towards Merrigum Street.
Officers from Lake Macquarie Police District attended and commenced investigations.
The male occupant was treated at the scene by NSW Ambulance paramedics, before being taken to John Hunter Hospital in a critical condition.
Police believe the incident was targeted.
A 36-year-old man from Valentine is currently assisting police with inquiries.