TRANSCRIPT:
New findings confirm the Australian government spends more money on police responses to illicit drugs than it does on treatment and prevention.
The University of New South Wales report has concluded that almost 65 [[64.3]] percent of the $5.45 billion on Australia's drug response is spent on law enforcement.
Less than 28 [[27.4]] percent is allocated to treatment, while less than 7 percent [[6.7]] is spent on prevention.
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The opposition is calling for Immigration Minister Andrew Giles to release departmental briefings that led him to wrongly claim drones were being used to monitor released immigration detainees.
Minister Giles says he relied on information provided by his department when making the claim in an interview to Sky News.
But it has since been established that it isn't true.
Liberal MP Dan Tehan says the minister should be upfront about what he's been told.
"How can he now have a serious relationship with his department when he's throwing them under the bus on two occasions. He also needs to answer the question, will he provide the advice that he relied on to say that drones were watching these detainees when it now is the point that they weren't being used. Will he show us that advice?"
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A bus driver has been charged over a crash in Brisbane that killed an 18 year old girl.
Police have charged the 70-year-old driver with one count of careless driving causing death.
The crash unfolded during peak hour on March 8 when the bus mounted a kerb and pinned Tia Cameron against a wall in the CBD.
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Guards at Victoria's largest maximum security prison have gone on strike today over a pay dispute.
Up to 100 guards have walked off the job after rejecting a pay offer from prison operator G-4-S.
Wayne Townsend from the Community and Public Sector Union says the increase offered was below cost of living rises.
He also says it does not match the Fair Work Commission's decision on Monday to lift the minimum wage by 3.75 per cent.
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Foreign nationals living in Australia could soon be able to join the country's defence force.
From July, eligible New Zealanders will be able to apply to join the ADF, while permanent residents from the United Kingdom, United States and Canada can do the same from January 2025.
The expectation is then that they become Australians once they've served for 90 days.
Minister for Veteran Affairs Matt Keogh says he believes it's overall a good way to boost defence ranks, and provide a path to citizenship.
"Currently it's about 4400 people that we are down from the projected target for recruitment and that's a deep concern to the government and it's why we've taken a number of steps, including modernising our physical health, and other fitness requirements for joining the defence force that's opening up a pathway for about an additional 2000 people."
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Tourists from Australia are among a group of visitors evacuated from a passenger boat on the Danube River in Germany.
The Australian travellers, as well as tourists from the US and UK, had been stranded since Sunday, with the ship unable to continue its journey because of a flood emergency in Lower Bavaria.
More than 140 people have been safely taken off the ship.
The Australian passengers have been taken to Munich airport by bus to start their early journey home.
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Eight people have reportedly been arrested in Hong Kong over social media posts marking the anniversary of the Tiananmen Square crackdown.
They are the latest to be made under the city's new national security legislation.
The event remains a taboo topic in mainland China.
But Hong Kong pro-democracy activist Isaac Cheng, speaking from London, says marking the 35th anniversary is important.
"I think we have to remind everyone, although the 4th of June massacre have been 35 years, but it never comes to an end. It is not a period, it is only a comma. There’s so much things that keep on happening, including the suppression to us, the mothers (of Tiananmen victims) and the freedom fighters and the people who support democracy."
