Australia information stay: Victoria police officer charged with assault after allegedly punching and kicking handcuffed teen; embattled builders Bathla given 12-month lifeline | Australia information
Victorian police officer charged with assault after teenager allegedly kicked and punched throughout arrest
A Victorian police officer has been charged with assault following an investigation by the state’s impartial corruption watchdog.
The senior constable was charged after a investigation into allegations the officer used extreme pressure towards an 18-year-old throughout an arrest in Ballarat in October 2025.
It is alleged the officer punched and kicked {the teenager} a number of instances whereas they had been handcuffed and compliant.
The officer is predicted to seem earlier than a magistrates’ courtroom subsequent month.
Key occasions
124-bottle wine assortment valued at $92,900 amongst AFP confiscates belongings linked to crime
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) has confiscated greater than $2.5 million price of belongings allegedly bought with the proceeds of crime, following a decade-long investigation.
The investigation started in 2016, after Queensland Police alerted federal authorities to a wine assortment, a ship and a trailer seized throughout search warrants.
The confiscated belongings embody two homes, the sale proceeds from a 3rd property, a 124-bottle wine assortment valued at $92,900, and two boats and a trailer.
The belongings had been linked to a 44-year-old Queensland man and his 43-year-old de facto companion, who allegedly transferred properties into the names of relations and shut associates earlier than declaring chapter in July 2015.
The man was convicted in April 2020 after being discovered responsible of a number of offences, together with trafficking harmful medicine and was sentenced to 17 years and 6 months in jail.
Later the yr, authorities obtained orders within the Queensland Supreme Court to acquire the 2 homes and a Riva Ferrari boat and trailer.
Prosecutors alleged in courtroom that the transferred properties and different belongings had been initially purchased with, or later funded partly by, the proceeds of the person’s prison exercise.
Court provides developer Bathla 12-month lifeline to forestall whole collapse
Catie McLeod
The directors of the embattled Bathla Group have been given a 12-month reprieve to seek out the cash to maintain the Sydney-based property growth firm afloat.
Bathla – considered one of Australia’s largest property builders – went into voluntary administration on 25 August, weighed down by nearly $3.6bn in debt, leaving 1000’s of shoppers in limbo, some with semi-complete houses they’d purchased off the plan.
The insolvency advisory Teneo, which was appointed as Bathla’s administrator final month, despatched out a press launch a short while in the past saying the New South Wales supreme courtroom had permitted an extension to Bathla’s administration till 13 September 2027.
The courtroom’s choice means Bathla received’t be instantly pressured into liquidation, however it nonetheless leaves Teneo scrambling to seek out the funds to pay collectors to whom the corporate owes cash, in addition to its personal employees and the contractors for its many tasks.
In an announcement, Teneo mentioned:
The extension offers the directors with enough time to progress the supply of development tasks already underway, topic to securing the required funding to take care of a minimal viable working construction.
Teneo’s Stephen Longley mentioned the 12-month extension mirrored the scale of Bathla’s development portfolio and the “various levels of completion” throughout its tasks. He mentioned:
We have taken a cautious strategy to the timeframe to make sure there’s enough time to progress and full tasks in an orderly method …
The extension provides us the time wanted to progress tasks in direction of completion, however that consequence stays depending on securing additional lender assist to take care of crucial central capabilities at Bathla.
Locking on this funding is due to this fact a right away precedence and discussions are persevering with.
Teneo mentioned it will present additional updates to clients, staff, collectors, subcontractors and different stakeholders because the administration progresses.
Possible shark incident at widespread Perth seashore
Emergency companies have been known as to a attainable shark-related incident at Sorrento seashore in Perth’s north.
The Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development mentioned it acquired reviews of a attainable shark-related incident within the water on the City of Joondalup seashore at about 10.15am on Friday.
Emergency companies, together with Water Police, the Police Air Wing and ambulances, had been deployed to the scene.
Western Australia police mentioned they would offer extra data as soon as that they had established the circumstances of the incident.
Victorian police officer charged with assault after teenager allegedly kicked and punched throughout arrest
A Victorian police officer has been charged with assault following an investigation by the state’s impartial corruption watchdog.
The senior constable was charged after a investigation into allegations the officer used extreme pressure towards an 18-year-old throughout an arrest in Ballarat in October 2025.
It is alleged the officer punched and kicked {the teenager} a number of instances whereas they had been handcuffed and compliant.
The officer is predicted to seem earlier than a magistrates’ courtroom subsequent month.
Achol Arok
Good afternoon!
Thanks to Stephanie Convery for being our guiding mild this morning. I’ll be with you for the remainder of the day.
Stephanie Convery
That’s all from me right now – I’ll move you over now to the inimitable Achol Arok who will take you thru the remainder of your Friday afternoon.
Luca Ittimani
AI corporations need proper to make use of huge quantities of worldwide and Australian content material, authorities says
AI firms have dominated out coaching fashions in Australia with out reforms to copyright legal guidelines as a result of the quantity of native and world information they wish to course of is just too huge to do particular person offers, the lawyer normal’s division has confirmed.
The authorities has made its first wide-ranging feedback on copyright negotiations at a parliamentary committee listening to right now.
Jenna Priestly, assistant secretary, mentioned rights holder teams claimed AI firms might make a “comparatively small quantity” of offers underneath present guidelines, to entry loads of materials to coach their fashions on.
But AI firms have advised the division they received’t practice right here underneath present copyright guidelines. Priestly mentioned:
What we’ve heard from them is that as a result of the magnitude of copyright materials they should use for this coaching is so giant, it’s virtually, I suppose, unimaginable to … strike the variety of voluntary offers that they would wish to have the ability to handle their authorized danger.
Priestly mentioned copyright applies within the nation the place exercise happens, implying any native reform would have an effect on firms’ entry to overseas-made content material.
As Australia’s copyright framework protects not solely copyright materials that’s Australian in origin, however worldwide, I believe it is a reasonably large quantity that [companies] would wish to go and strike offers with.
Priestly mentioned the federal government late final yr consulted on giving AI firms the total authorized proper to entry content material that wouldn’t have let rightsholders choose out of their materials being utilized in AI coaching. The authorities has moved to contemplating a narrower information coaching authorisation in response to suggestions and has not made selections on its reform plans, she mentioned.
Achol Arok
Runaway Tasmanian satan again in her sanctuary after weeks on the unfastened
A runaway Tasmanian satan named Mary has returned to her house at Paradise Country on the Gold Coast after spending weeks on the unfastened.
Mary escaped from her enclosure on the theme park in June and spent a number of months in restoration after being discovered.
The marsupial has spent current months exploring the wildlife park and can quickly return to the general public exhibit, the place she will be able to work together with guests.
Paradise Country curator of wildlife, Lauren Mousley, mentioned:
It has been a protracted highway to restoration for Mary, however we’re extremely happy to see her again exploring her habitat so confidently.
Throughout her restoration, Mary has defied all the chances, along with her enhancements being phenomenal, and we are able to’t wait to welcome visitors to the park to observe because the mischievous Mary explores.
Our workforce have been so devoted in supporting Mary all through her restoration and it’s superb to see their reactions when she took her first steps again into the habitat.
BoM updates web site with new rain radar options
The Bureau of Meteorology has made some modifications to the best way its web site exhibits rain radar, a yr after it launched an unpopular new website design for which it later apologised.
The new replace, which went stay on Friday, contains the addition of radar places, radar fast hyperlinks, modifications to how rainfall is displayed and “radar vary rings”, which the Bureau says “present a visible measurement information to how far rainfall is from acquainted landmarks and places.”
There are additionally new options that the Bureau says are designed to really feel extra like “the outdated radar view”.
In an announcement right now, the Bureau mentioned rain was “higher detected and extra precisely displayed on the climate map”, with greater definition and element when very mild to reasonable rainfall is noticed and when information from overlapping radars is used.”
Each radar additionally had a singular URL.
Bureau of Meteorology CEO Dr Stuart Minchin mentioned in right now’s assertion that the updates had been in response to neighborhood suggestions:
We know the way a lot worth the neighborhood locations on their native rain radar, so we’ve listened to suggestions and made these updates that will help you get to your native radar sooner and estimate how far-off rain is.
There are extra updates deliberate for later this yr, together with some modifications to Australian locations with dual-names.
We encourage the neighborhood to proceed to share their web site suggestions, and we are going to reply with enhancements and changes.
Achol Arok
Australian style retailer Cue Clothing Co to shut 5 shops
Long-time Australian style retailer Cue Clothing Co, which operates Cue and Veronika Maine, will shut 5 bodily shops throughout Australia.
The 5 shops are Woden Cue, Parramatta Cue, Mosman Veronica Maine, Melbourne Central Cue and Armadale Cue.
The Sydney-based firm, established in 1968, entered voluntary administration earlier this week after failing to discover a purchaser for the struggling commerce.
In an announcement, directors FTI Consulting mentioned:
A troublesome choice has been made to shut 5 shops throughout the community, which the Receivers consider is in one of the best curiosity of the companies as a going concern.
No concessions are included within the closures. The Receivers will discover alternatives to re-deploy employees throughout the community the place attainable.
Douglas Smith
Child safety roundtable anticipated subsequent week
A nationwide roundtable on Australia’s youngster safety system is predicted to be held in Perth on the finish of subsequent week, following calls from Indigenous leaders and federal politicians.
Earlier this week, reporting by The Australian uncovered a number of failings by Western Australia’s youngster safety division in addressing reviews of uncared for First Nations youngsters dwelling unsupervised and in squalor in Port Hedland.
Lawyer and human rights advocate, Kurin Minang Noongar lady Hannah McGlade was first to name for a nationwide roundtable, which has been backed by the impartial senator for Victoria Lidia Thorpe, who mentioned:
What has occurred in Western Australia is horrific. We want actual motion to maintain youngsters protected.
We can not settle for the established order, which is seeing youngsters throughout the nation uncovered to excessive danger and hurt inside these techniques.
I assist Dr Hannah McGlade’s name for an pressing roundtable of Aboriginal leaders working in youngster and household security.
We additionally want a federal inquiry to carry the Albanese authorities to account. We are seeing failures in youngster safety techniques nationwide, and the Albanese authorities is failing to behave.
Minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, is predicted to announce that the roundtable will probably be held in Perth on Friday subsequent week.
The Guardian understands the roundtable will take steps to handle calls from Indigenous leaders for a whole overhaul of kid safety.
The authorities may also talk about the way it can act on previous suggestions, findings and insurance policies which are already accessible.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland police union pushed for modifications to definition of sufferer of home violence
The Queensland police union has pushed for the modifications to the definition of sufferer of home violence, so as to scale back paperwork for officers coping with home violence callouts.
In a Wednesday press convention, normal president Shane Prior mentioned the union wished home violence to solely apply to folks in a romantic partnership, and to not embody, for example, violence by grownup youngsters towards their mother and father.
That change hasn’t been included within the invoice, however Prior mentioned he was nonetheless pushing for it:
I definitely don’t cease once I’m advised no the primary time. No means not proper now. So what I’m going to be specializing in is ensuring that we ship for police on this state.
AI is enabling international interference and hackers, house affairs division says
Luca Ittimani
Australia faces rising menace from abroad businesses’ and hackers’ use of AI and doesn’t have the monitoring instruments that AI firms can use, house affairs division officers say.
Kira Spencer, a deputy secretary, has advised a parliamentary committee a key danger for Australia is AI in “data operations”, that are safety businesses’ use of deception and psychological warfare. She mentioned:
AI’s faster, simpler, nastier. And it allows it to be far more reasonable and so the language is best. If you’re taking a look at focused international interference, they scroll all of your parliamentary speeches, your social media profiles, all the pieces about you to allow them to discover a actually focused technique to have interaction with you and make it extra doubtless that you’ll have interaction again.
Spencer mentioned some AI firms had been in a position to observe false communications from state actors however the authorities couldn’t match the businesses’ large-scale instruments.
Officials additionally mentioned AI made it “simpler, sooner, cheaper” for malicious actors to hack Australia’s key techniques.
Part of the argument for Australia to usher in AI firms to coach AI right here is that legislation enforcement might higher handle threats or legislation breaches. Fergus Hanson, head of the Office of AI, advised the committee:
If you’ve bought an AI coaching agency bodily positioned right here, it allows a distinct kind of collaboration, for instance legislation enforcement cooperation. So if there’s a menace to Australians’ lives, by way of misuse of these platforms … This simply invitations a distinct degree of collaboration which you can have, that isn’t attainable if you happen to don’t have the businesses essentially positioned in your jurisdiction.
Andrew Messenger
Queensland to permit on-the-spot DV orders to be issued towards victims
Queensland police will be capable to concern on-the-spot home violence safety orders towards victims of home violence, underneath new laws tabled yesterday.
The laws eliminates all exemptions to the state’s police safety path system, and makes them the only different to the civil DVO system accessible to police. Police will probably be now be capable to concern them on behalf of different police, or towards youngsters.
It additionally permits so-called “cross orders” – a path towards each folks in a relationship – “in distinctive circumstances”, the place the officer can not establish the sufferer or offender. According to paperwork tabled with the invoice:
Cross functions and cross orders are utilized by perpetrators as a method of continuous to regulate, intimidate and terrify victims.
Experts have warned of potential police misuse of the brand new system, as a result of there’s much less oversight. Police have been repeatedly discovered to have routinely misidentified perpetrators and victims by a string of inquiries, usually resulting from a tradition of disbelieving feminine victims.
The laws is designed to make the system extra environment friendly, by lowering the paperwork police are required to finish for a safety order.
