Afternoon Update: Turnbull says Aukus deal ‘mugged by reality’; politicians defend trips to Melbourne during the Cup; and return of the mysterious monolith
Welcome, readers, to the Afternoon Update.
Former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has not minced words when it comes to the Aukus submarine deal.
Turnbull said Australia had been “mugged by reality” after a draft Pentagon budget indicated it would halve the number of submarines built next year, including producing just one Virginia-class nuclear submarine.
Under the agreement, submarine production was supposed to increase, with Australia originally granted access to three Virginia-class nuclear submarines from the US in the 2030s. The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and the defence minister, Richard Marles, have both played down concerns around the US budget announcement.
Top news
Melissa Hoskins’ husband charged | Rohan Dennis, the husband of the former Olympic cyclist, has faced court for the first time after allegedly striking her with his car and causing her death. Police allege Dennis recklessly struck the 32-year-old mother of two with his car in front of their home in Medindie, in Adelaide’s inner north, on 30 December.
Hunter Valley bus crash driver Brett Button ‘truly sorry’ | Brett Button, the bus driver accused of causing one of Australia’s deadliest crashes, said there was not a day or night he doesn’t think about the families of those killed or injured in last year’s crash. The 59-year-old had been ordered to attend court for the first time since he appeared in Cessnock local court, charged over the deaths of 10 people and injuring 25 others last June.
Severe WA weather hampers search for missing people | The group – which includes four children and two elderly drivers – left Kalgoorlie on Sunday and were travelling in two vehicles to the Tjuntjuntjara Aboriginal community. Police released images of the 1986 White Toyota LandCruiser and 2005 Mitsubishi Triton the group were travelling in, and have urged residents and locals with information to contact authorities.
Politicians defend taxpayer-funded trips | Four federal politicians have defended taxpayer-funded trips that allowed them to attend the 2022 Melbourne Cup, costing more than $5,000 in accommodation and transport.
Boeing whistleblower found dead | A former quality manager at Boeing who became a prominent whistleblower and raised concerns over the planemaker’s production line has been found dead. The Charleston police department is investigating. “We understand the global attention this case has garnered, and it is our priority to ensure that the investigation is not influenced by speculation but is led by facts and evidence,” it said.
AFP officers mistakenly handcuffed and arrested Iraqi refugee | Australian federal police agents mistakenly handcuffed an Iraqi refugee on strict visa conditions due to bad intelligence, the agency has confirmed. Nahi Al Sharify said he was half-dressed when the armed officers arrived at his home about 4pm and rang the bell.
Return of the mysterious silver monolith | When Craig Muir spotted an object while hiking the summit of a hill, he thought he was having a close encounter of the third kind. However, while (apparently) not a UFO, the shiny, silver monolith in a muddy patch of Powys uplands was strikingly mysterious.
Cat in a vat | It could be the opening scene from a new Marvel film. Residents of a Japanese city have been warned not to approach or touch a missing cat that appears to have fallen into a vat of toxic chemicals before scampering off.
Sharon Stone names and shames producer | Sharon Stone has disclosed the identity of the film producer who she claims demanded she sleep with her co-star in the 1993 film Sliver to improve his acting performance. The actor alleged that Robert Evans, the Hollywood mogul who headed production at Paramount and died in 2019, told her to have sex with William Baldwin.
In video …
Drone video shows parts of Australia’s largest sheep station underwater in WA floods
Record Western Australian rainfall has closed the Eyre Highway that links Perth to the eastern states and flooded outback stations, including Australia’s largest operating sheep station Rawlinna. Parts of WA experienced more than half a year’s rain in 24 hours over the weekend, with more than 155mm of rain recorded at Rawlinna.
What they said …
***
“We are not broken, we don’t need to be fixed.” – Sydney MP Alex Greenwich
Gay conversion practices could soon be banned across New South Wales after the state government announced it would introduce landmark legislation into the state parliament this week.
The legislation would make LGBTQ+ conversion practices illegal and is expected to be widely supported across the parliament after commitments from both major parties and a number of crossbench members before the 2023 state election.
In numbers
New data collected by the Australian Criminal Intelligence Commission has shed light on the drug habits of Australians. More than 16.5tn of the “big four” – methamphetamine, cocaine, heroin and MDMA – were consumed in the year ending August 2023, a 17% increase from the last reporting period.
Before bed read
How did Norway become the electric car superpower? Oil money, civil disobedience – and Morten from a-ha
More than 90% of new cars sold in Norway are electric. And it all started with some pop stars driving around in a jerry-built Fiat Panda.
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: DOL. You have five goes to get the longest word including the starter word. Play Wordiply.
Sign up
If you would like to receive this Afternoon Update to your email inbox every weekday, sign up here. And start your day with a curated breakdown of the key stories you need to know. Sign up for our Morning Mail newsletter here.
