Afternoon Update: new search for Samantha Murphy; devastating Great Barrier Reef damage; and when parents are bad sports
Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
Victorian police have renewed their search for the body of missing Ballarat woman Samantha Murphy, with new intelligence leading investigators to the Enfield state park on Thursday.
Police are undertaking a “significant search” of the area, located about 25km south of Ballarat, on account of “intelligence derived from a number of sources”.
Members of the public have been asked to refrain from joining the search, which will include investigators from the search rescue squad, the mounted branch, dog squad, the public order response team and motorcyclists.
Murphy, 51, was last seen more than two months ago, when she left her Ballarat East home to go for a run. Last month, police charged 22-year-old Patrick Stephenson with Murphy’s murder after arresting him in the nearby farming town of Scotsburn.
Top news
Barrier Reef suffering ‘most severe’ coral bleaching on record | Concern that the Great Barrier Reef may be suffering the most severe mass coral bleaching event on record has escalated, after a conservation group released footage showing damage up to 18 metres below the surface.
US and Japan announce new military agreements | Joe Biden and Fumio Kishida, the Japanese prime minister, have announced a new era of military cooperation during the pomp and pageantry of a White House state visit aimed at countering China. The US president said the two nations’ forces will cooperate on a joint command structure and, along with Australia, will develop a new air missile defence network.
Low turnout for Cook byelection concerns AEC | The Australian Electoral Commission is urging all voters in the Cook electorate to vote in this Saturday’s byelection as it expressed concern over low turnout in Scott Morrison’s former electorate. About 18,447 people had cast an early vote up to 10 April, compared to 21,143 votes cast in Cook at the same stage in the 2023 referendum. “The numbers we’re seeing make us worry about low participation,” said the commissioner, Tom Rogers.
Australians’ spending softened after Taylor Swift splurge | Australians had another “soft” spending month in March, with event outlays almost halving from February when numbers were buoyed up by Taylor Swift concert spending. Recreation spending sank 6.8% for the month. Spending on functions and events retreated 42%, reversing part of February’s 115% spike that had been propelled by Swift’s seven performances in Melbourne and Sydney.
Proposed $4bn pumped hydro project could power a third of Sydney’s households by 2031 | Zen Energy, an energy retailer, announced on Thursday it had signed an agreement with the state-owned Water NSW to build a reservoir at Nattai on the escarpment about 400m above Lake Burragorang on Sydney’s south-west fringe.
Police execute largest seizure of pharmaceutical drugs in NSW history | A man has been charged after 722kg of Alprazolam, or “Xanax”, were seized in western Sydney – the NSW police force’s largest single seizure of pharmaceutical drugs. The haul had an estimated street value of $12m.
Kyiv scraps demobilisation plan for long-serving soldiers | Ukrainian lawmakers have sparked anger by scrapping a clause in a draft law that would have given soldiers who have spent long periods fighting on the frontlines a chance to return home. “The offensive continues along the entire frontline. And currently it is impossible to weaken the defence forces,” said Ukraine’s defence ministry spokesperson, Dmytro Lazutkin.
One dead and five injured in Washington DC shooting, police say | Details remain sparse but officials confirmed that a man was pronounced dead at the scene and five others, including a nine-year-old and a 12-year-old, were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
China meddled in past two elections, alleges Canada | In sworn testimony before a commission conducting a public inquiry into alleged foreign interference in the 2019 and 2021 Canadian elections, the country’s PM, Justin Trudeau, asserted the elections were “free and fair … despite attempts by foreign states to interfere”.
In pictures
Cheap coal, cheap workers, Chinese money: Indonesia’s nickel success comes at a price
Jakarta hopes the nickel industry is the ticket to becoming a developed nation. But there are fears the toll on the environment – and people’s lives – will be too high, writes Per Elinder Liljas in a brand new photo essay.
What they said …
***
“We have unlimited potential, but we do not have unlimited time.” – Anthony Albanese
The prime minister has revealed the specifics behind the Future Made in Australia Act. During his anticipated speech at the Queensland Media Club, Albanese detailed the key principles that would guide the act which he hopes will provide Australia with “sharper elbows when it comes to marking out our national interest”.
The WWF-Australia has welcomed the plans as “a step in the right direction”, with further support from the Climate Council.
In numbers
Real estate platform Domain has reported the steepest quarterly hikes in rent prices in 17 years. Advertised house rents rose 5%, with units also up a solid 3.3% to land on a new record median asking price of $620.
Domain’s chief of research and economics, Nicola Powell, said the rental market usually experienced intense churn in the first quarter, but limited supply and high demand has intensified this:
Before bed read
Watch the shouting! How parents’ sideline behaviour can strip the fun out of children’s sport
Ask yourself: would I like these comments or find them helpful if I was playing?
Daily word game
Today’s starter word is: TRAT . 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.
