Key Points
- Fugitive Dezi Freeman shot dead by police
- National Cabinet considers plan to fight fuel crisis
- Caster Semanya criticises Olympics' decision on women's events
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TRANSCRIPT
Police have shot dead fugitive gunman Dezi Freeman at a property in northeast Victoria.
No police officers were injured during the incident, which happened after 8:30am today.
Dezi Freeman had been on the run for six months after he allegedly fatally shot Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart on a property in the Victorian town of Porepunkah last year in August.
In a statement, Victoria Police says the state coroner will attend the scene and the investigation will be oversighted by Professional Standards Command, which is standard procedure for a police shooting.
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Victoria's Attorney-General, Sonya Kilkenny, says the state government is being briefed about the police shooting of fugitive Dezi Freeman.
Police say no officers were injured in the incident, and Ms Kilkenny says information is still coming to hand about what happened.
"The main thing is of course our thoughts; our concerns and our support are for the Porepunkah community. And of course, the family of the two police officers who were killed in that tragic incident nearly six months ago. This is a developing situation and we're just being briefed on this at the moment. And further information will follow. And we will be able to say more in due course."
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Work from home measures could be put in place but fuel rationing is not being considered by leaders attending today's national cabinet meeting on the fuel crisis.
Australia's fuel stocks remain at normal levels, but fears of future shortages and price spikes caused by the ongoing blockage of the Strait of Hormuz have spurred users to bulk-buy petrol and diesel, leading to localized shortfalls.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers says rationing is not yet necessary as shipments are arriving, but says the government is open to voluntary work from home measures to save fuel.
"Our objective is to try and avoid the harsher, heavier-handed kind of measures that we have seen in the past. our objective here is to keep people moving. To keep farmers farming and trucks on the road. And to keep our country moving more broadly."
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Opposition leader Angus Taylor, however, says the number one thing he wants to see announced by national cabinet is a cut in the fuel excise.
The fuel-based charge is collected by the federal government - and is calculated per litre of diesel used.
The government has ruled out changing the excise, saying their focus is on increasing supply.
Mr Taylor says halving the fuel excise for three months is a necessary measure.
"Take 26 cents a litre off the fuel excise to provide Australians with the relief they need as they go into Easter, $16 million a day we know that this is costing Australians a day that the government doesn't move on this. We need a cut to the excise immediately."
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Choice consumer group is campaigning to have the federal government make price gouging illegal.
Advocates have criticised the existence of a law that forbids businesses from using market powert to keep prices low but does not make it illegal to keep prices inflated or artificially high - what's called price gouging.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission is monitoring soaring fuel prices for any instances of price gouging.
Choice has welcomed the federal government's recent move to double the penalties for false and misleading conduct and cartel conduct, but advocates say it is time to for a national, economy-wide price gouging ban.
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Experts in digital safety are accusing the major tech platforms - including Apple, Google and Meta and others - of turning a blind eye to widespread exploitation of children on their platforms.
The International Justice Mission is calling on the Australian government to introduce a robust Digital Duty of Care that requires tech companies to detect, disrupt and prevent livestreamed child sexual abuse on their platforms and smart devices.
In the past week, Meta was found liable for harm to child users of its social media platforms in a landmark trial in California, while Europe is now investigating Snapchat over similar concerns.
IJM's child protection director John Tanagho has told an e-safety forum in Canberra that the issue of child sexual exploitation online is so immense, prevention must be a priority.
"They're not using technology to detect live child sexual abuse produced and transmitted by their users, for their users in their video call services. This, despite Australians being the third-largest consumers of live-stream child sexual abuse of Filipino children."
If you or someone you know needs support, contact Lifeline crisis support on 13 11 14, Suicide Call Back Service on 1300 659 467 and Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800 (for people aged 5 to 25). More information is available at beyondblue.org.au and lifeline.org.au.
Anyone seeking information or support relating to sexual abuse can contact Bravehearts on 1800 272 831 or Blue Knot on 1300 657 380.
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To sport now, two-time women's 800-metre Olympic gold medallist, Caster Semenya says she is disappointed by an International Olympic Committee move to block transgender women from competing in women's events at the Games
A 10-page policy document, published last week, outlined restrictions for female athletes such as Semenya, who have medical conditions that result in differences in sexual development.
Semenya, who was assigned female at birth but has testosterone levels higher than the typical female range, has been banned from some competitions, because she refused to follow the rules and take medication to artificially reduce her hormone levels.
Semenya criticised IOC president Kirsty Coventry for the ruling, saying it would cause harm.
"Because we talk about science here. If the science is clear show us who decided and don’t dress that as a lie because it’s a lie and we know because we’ve seen it so if we were to answer or confront Kristy that’s how we are going to respond and we’ll respond strong as we are because it affects women.”
