Mixed reactions follow the date announcement for the Indigenous Voice referendum; Gabon's President calls for help following coup attempt; And in football, Sydney FC through to the quarter final in the Australia cup.
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TRANSCRIPT
- In this bulletin;
- Mixed reactions follow the date announcement for the Indigenous Voice referendum;
- Gabon's President calls for help following coup attempt;
- And in football, Sydney FC through to the quarter final in Australia cup.
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Mixed reactions have followed the announcement of the referendum date for the Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
For the referendum to be successful, it will need support from most Australians across the whole country and most voters in at least four states.
These Yes voters believe a Voice to Parliament will result in better outcomes for Indigenous Australians in the legal system, health care, and land rights.
Woman: "I'm going to vote yes."
Reporter: "And why are you voting yes?"
Woman: "Because I think it's a start. There's a lot of work that needs to be done, but that's a start and I don't want it stop there. Aboriginal deaths in custody, the gap between health between Aboriginal people and other Australians, where do you want me to finish? It's just huge."
These No voters say that the Voice is unclear and that constitutional recognition for Indigenous Australians is unnecessary.
"I'm going to vote no. It's not very clear how it will actually work, and like what it's actually for. I don't really think that one certain group of Australians need a specific voice to Parliament over every other Australian."
You can find comprehensive information about the referendum visiting the SBS Voice Referendum portal at www.sbs.com/voicereferendum.
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Gabon's President Ali Bongo has made an appeal for help after the country's army launched a coup and put him under house arrest.
He appeared on television after army officers went on TV to say they had taken power.
The army officers say they annulled the results of last weekend's election in Gabon in which Mr Bongo was declared the winner.
Gabon's opposition claimed the poll was fraudulent.
The army officers also said they had arrested one of Mr Bongo's sons for treason.
The 64-year-old president, whose family has maintained power for 55 years, made this appeal for assistance.
"I'm to send a message to all the friends that we have all over the world to tell them to make noise, to make noise. For the people here have arrested me and my family, my son is somewhere. My wife is in another place and I'm at the residence right now. I am in the residence, nothing happening, nothing is happening. I don't know what's, what's going on. "
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Hurricane Idalia has brought torrential rain and threats of flash flooding to southeast Georgia after slamming into Florida.
Authorities in Florida are carrying out damage assessments in the hardest-hit areas as water rescues of trapped residents are underway in southern Georgia.
President Joe Biden says he is working closely with governors to ensure adequate rescue and recovery support is provided.
"Federal teams on the ground are going to continue to work with the first responders in Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina to get people to safety. You've all been reporting this and seeing it on television or number of rescues already taken place as I walked out of my office a moment ago, to begin to recover from the impacts of the storm. I lead each governor I spoke with no, if there's anything, anything the state's need right now. I'm ready to mobilize that support of what they need. I don't think anybody can deny the impact of a climate crisis."
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A parliamentary inquiry has revealed that the rental crisis is driving a growing number of Australians into homelessness, particularly people from marginalised communities.
Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin says that the number of people accessing services increased by 7.5 per cent since December 2022, with 83 per cent of those of those 96,000 experiencing housing or financial crisis.
Ms Colvin says record low rental vacancies have worsened hardships for vulnerable minorities.
"When we have, you know, 20 or 40 or 50 households competing for a single rental. The competition isn't just about price. So discrimination also plays a role in the rental market, and that particularly impacts young people, Aboriginal families, people with disabilities, single parents, they all face rental market discrimination and the very low vacancy rates just kind of supercharging that discrimination and making it almost impossible for marginalised communities to get housing. "
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And in football,
Sydney FC and Western United are both through to the Australia Cup quarterfinals with 2-0 victories over APIA Leichardt and Gold Coast Knights, respectively.
Heidelberg United, which defeated Mount Druitt Town Rangers 3-0 at Popondetta Park on Wednesday, joined them in the final eight.
The Sky Blues took the lead in the 54th minute at Leichardt Oval, and they never looked back against the hosts.
Patrick Wood then added another eight minutes later to secure their track through to the next round.
In the quarterfinals, Sydney will face Western United.
