TRANSCRIPT
- An investigation launched into the decision not to pursue public officials involved in Robodebt
- Hungary fined for failing to improve its handling of migrants and asylum seekers,
- Wimbledon announces the largest amount of prize money ever offered at a Grand Slam.
An independent investigator is to examine a controversial decision by the National Anti-Corruption Commission not to pursue six public officials involved in the Robodebt saga.
The NAAC Inspector is appointed by the Governor-General and is independent from the Australian Government and from the Commission.
Gail Furness says she has received about 900 complaints regarding the Commission's announcement it won't commence corruption investigations into the illegal debt recovery scheme.
The scheme, known as Robodebt, took more than $750 million from vulnerable Australians receiving welfare payments, and was linked to several suicides.
Earlier this month the NAAC announced it would not investigate six officials who were involved.
It cited parallel investigations by the Public Service and the fact they had been investigated during the Robodebt royal commission - despite the royal commisison itself referring the individuals to the NAAC.
Ms Furness said she will deliver her findings "in due course".
Thousands of migrants hoping to enrol in Australian universities will no longer be able to apply for the relevant visa.
From the 1st of July, people on temporary graduate, visitor, maritime crew and other visas will not be able to apply for a student visa while they are in Australia.
The Department of Home Affairs says applicants "genuinely intending" to pursue studies will still be able to apply for a visa from outside Australia.
The change is aimed at clamping down on "visa hopping", which the department claims has contributed to a growing cohort of what it calls "permanently temporary" former international students in Australia.
Education Minister Jason Clare explains.
"What's happening here is the system's been manipulated or abused as a backdoor just to work here. And so we've closed that loophole. What Claire O'Neil has announced here is about effectively tackling another issue where students will come get a degree, then work with the benefit of a graduate, Visa, and then when that visa's about to expire, enrol in another course."
Real estate data company CoreLogic says home prices in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide are growing much faster than in cities such as Melbourne and Hobart.
The report from the company says home values nationally have risen by more than 35 per cent since the pandemic kicked off in 2020 but growth has not been spread evenly.
Price growth across hotspots Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide has vastly outpaced gains posted in other urban centres, including Hobart, Melbourne, Canberra, Darwin and Sydney.
Perth has posted a 62.6 per cent increase in property values in that time, compared to an 11.2 per cent bump in Melbourne.
Lawyers say Aboriginal women are being wrongfully accused of family violence by police, who often mistake victims for perpetrators.
In Victoria, the Yoorrook Justice Commission has heard women are 45 times more likely to experience family violence than men.
But Juergen Kaehne, of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, says the misidentification of female victim-survivors as aggressors is widespread - and especially prevalent in regional areas.
He told the Commission it is a systemic issue of bias within Victoria Police.
"So the man rings the police with a scratch on his face and says, look what she did. She's hysterical in the background there. And so the police pick him as the person in need of protection. And if there are children, there also the children, and it destroys the family because they make an application."
Most Aboriginal women in Victoria, including 85 per cent in Melbourne, have non-Indigenous partners.
Europe's top court has fined Hungary A$325 million for failing to improve its handling of migrants and asylum seekers.
The European Court of Justice has found the country flouted the terms of a 2020 judgement, which ordered Hungary to allow asylum applicants to stay in the country while their claims were being processed.
Under current legislation, people can only submit requests for asylum from outside Hungary's borders at its embassies in neighbouring Serbia or Ukraine.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban says the decision is outrageous and unacceptable.
Hungary is also required to pay a daily fine of A$1.62 million [[1 million euros]] until it fully implements the measures.
To tennis, and
Wimbledon will offer a record 50 million pounds - more than 96 million Australian dollars - in prize money this year, with singles champions taking home 2.7 million each.
It's the largest prize ever offered by a Grand Slam.
All England Lawn Tennis Club chair Deborah Jevans says they've also invested heavily in the facilities and services.
"The total prize money funds for this year's championships will be 50 million pounds, a very healthy increase of 11.9 per cent, or 5.3 million pounds, on 2023."
Wimbledon's grass court Grand Slam runs from July 1st to 14th.
