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TRANSCRIPT
- Ben Roberts-Smith granted bail
- opposition says Anthony Albanese has not done enough to secure fuel shipments
- Hannah Green is the best-placed Australian at the L-P-G-A tour event
Victoria Cross recipient Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail after more than a week in custody.
The 47-year-old former S-A-S soldier was arrested 10 days ago and charged with the killing of five unarmed civilians in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
He appeared via video link at Sydney’s Downing Centre Local Court today where Judge Greg Grogin granted bail.
The bail application was opposed by prosecutors, who said the charges against Roberts-Smith were gravely serious.
Defence barrister Slade Howell told the court the case would be beset with delays and Roberts-Smith needed to be free to build his defence and comply with national security obligations, adding there was a real possibility Roberts-Smith would be found not guilty.
Roberts-Smith is accused of directly killing two people and being involved in the killing of three others, including allegedly ordering the shooting of a man in Uruzgan Province in 2009.
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Former Home Affairs Secretary Mike Pezzullo has called on the United States government to clarify what kind of support it wants Australia to provide in the Middle East.
U-S President Donald Trump again lashed out at Australia today, saying he was not happy with their lack of support in helping secure the Strait of Hormuz against Iranian threats.
He said Australia was not there when the U-S asked them to be there.
Mr Pezzullo says Mr Trump's meaning is unclear.
"He keeps saying, they didn't do what we asked, so I think the first thing we need to do is clarify, what has been asked for, and secondly, how do we respond? So until we sort out those two questions, it's really hard to make sense of what's going on here."
The Australian government maintains it never received a formal request for military support in the Strait from the U-S.
Premier Jacinta Allan has moved to assure Victorians the state's fuel supply won't be impacted by a fire at an oil refinery in Geelong.
Ms Allan says she spoke with Viva Energy's CEO, who told her there will be an impact on the company's immediate production capacity but diesel production will continue at 80 per cent and petrol at 60 per centThe Premier says the fire comes at a very difficult time during the war in the Middle East but wouldn't commit to an extension of free public transport beyond April.
"I want to make sure that households are supported, to put a meal on their table, to ease pressure on their budgets through free public transport, and we will continue to look at measures to provide support for households as this conflict continues."
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Federal Opposition leader, Angus Taylor, has criticised the Prime Minister's overseas trip saying it's done little to secure extra fuel shipments for the country.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese returned from the overseas trip overnight and went straight to the Victorian refinery where a fire broke out earlier this week.
Speaking in Malaysia yesterday he said he'd secured an additional 100 million litres of diesel imports.
Angus Taylor says it's not enough.
"It was about photos not fuel, he's come back with around a day of fuel, we need a lot more than that, he needs to tell us what shipments are coming that weren't otherwise coming, what they're carrying, how many litres, when they're going to arrive, Australians need transparency and clarity about where they sit with fuel right now."
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Artemis II pilot, Victor Glover, says he's still processing his world-first lunar flyby, almost a week after returning to Earth.
The mission marked the furthest humans have travelled into space, and made Mr Glover the first person of colour to travel beyond low Earth orbit.
His crewmate Christina Koch became the first woman to do the same.
Victor Glover says he wants such milestones to become commonplace, as humans push deeper into the solar system.
"A first is not important if there's not a second, third and a fourth. So, that's really what I want to encourage. Hey, there's some young person out there that whatever part of that you connect to a first person of this, first gender of that. All of that, if we throw so much, let's flood the zone, if we'd throw so many firsts at it, you get to stop counting firsts. That's what's really meaningful to me."
And in golf,
Hannah Green is the best-placed Australian in the L-P-G-A tour event and is tied for 14th, while Japanese player Chizzy Iwai is in the lead.
Iwai completed her first seven holes in 7 under, capped by an eagle on the par-5 16th, before finishing at 9 under for the day.
Hannah Green finished with a five-under-par round on Thursday, while fellow Australian Minjee Lee is at 3 under and in a share for 40th.
