Prime Minister Anthony Albanese downplays reports Papua New Guinea is in talks with China on a potential security deal; administrative error blamed for missing cabinet papers on Australia's involvement in the Iraq War; and in sport, Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva handed four-year ban for doping.
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TRANSCRIPT
- Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has downplayed reports Papua New Guinea is in talks with China on a potential security deal
- Administrative error blamed for missing cabinet papers on Australia's involvement in the Iraq War
- In sport, Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva handed a four-year ban for doping
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has downplayed reports that Papua New Guinea is in early talks with China on a potential security and policing deal.
It comes weeks after deadly riots in the capital, Port Moresby.
Speaking a press conference in Townsville, Mr Albanese says Papua New Guinea makes its own decisions as a sovereign nation and he says the country has "no closer friend than Australia".
He says Australia remains "the security partner of choice for Papua New Guinea".
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A review has found cabinet documents relating to Australia's involvement in the Iraq War were not handed over to the National Archives due to "administrative error" and "internal systemic issues".
The cabinet documents were due to be released to the public on January 1, but it was revealed 78 documents were not handed over. Thirteen documents related to the Iraq War.
The review was led by former director-general of security Dennis Richardson.
It concluded that the COVID pandemic made the existing systemic issues worse, with issues such as inconsistent understanding among staff of their archival obligations and having no staff with record management experience.
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The police officer at the wheel of an unmarked police car involved in a fatal collision with an Indigenous teenager will be referred to prosecutors for potential criminal charges.
Jai Kalani Wright has been described by family members as bright, funny, very happy and the life of the party.
The 16-year-old suffered critical head injuries when he collided with Sergeant Benedict Bryant's car, throwing him from a trail bike in Sydney on February 2022.
He died the following day at Prince Alfred Hospital.
NSW State Coroner Teresa O'Sullivan has halted an inquest into his death and referred the matter to the Department of Public Prosecutions.
The family of Jai Wright say they welcome the referral. In a statement, the family says it has given them hope that justice is served.
At least 558 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have died in custody and police operations in the 30 years since a royal commission on the issue.
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Leading vacuum retailer Godfreys Group has gone into voluntary administration.
More than 50 stores are set to close across Australia and New Zealand in the next fortnight... costing almost a third of jobs, across its 600- strong workforce.
Three partners of PricewaterhouseCoopers Australia have been appointed as voluntary administrators of Godfreys' Australian entities, with two PwC partners from New Zealand appointed over its New Zealand subsidiary.
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Airline passengers in Australia are paying up to double for fares on domestic air routes where competition is absent.
The data has been presented by Assistant Minister for Competition Andrew Leigh in a speech to the Chifley Research Centre in Melbourne.
He says early findings of the Competition Taskforce, set up last year, shows competition exerted "significant" downward pressure on airfares.
"It takes the threat of another airline entering or the knowledge that another airline will soon enter. So the benefits of competition flow as soon as the monopoly player realises that they don't have the game to themselves. That's very much something we might expect to see in other industries as well."
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Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva has been handed a four-year doping ban.
The suspension was confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a long-running case.
Valieva became a global star as a 15-year-old at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
She was the first female skater to land a quadruple jump - helping Russia win team gold
But Valieva was later banned for testing positive before the Games.
When Russian authorities cleared her, the World Anti-Doping Agency took legal action.
Olivier Niggli is the director-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency.
"It has been a long case. And we acknowledge it took a long time to get involved. But we had to appeal this case from a decision initially to basically clear the athletes of any fault. And we felt that it was unfair to the other athletes who were partaking in this competition. And CASS has agreed with out position which we are pleased with."
Olympic bosses are now expected to confirm that Russia has been stripped of the gold, with Team USA declared winners instead.
Valieva's ban will end shortly before the next Winter Olympics in 2026.
