Law & order

Frank Baarda. Living in Yuendumu and having followed the Death in Custody saga, I was looking forward to the Coroner's report. I was not disappointed. A friend forwarded me the pdf, all 683 pages of it … In case you missed it, here are photos of the edged weapon and the stab-wound.

Clarence Valley fishos are concerned the draft Mulloway Harvest Strategy could be extreme and potentially impact tourism but the community has until July 31 to make its feelings heard ... there are fears the Harvest Strategy could prevent taking any Mulloway.

"It matters because, as of December 2022, governments held over 2.5 million megalitres, which is 2,505 gigalitres, of water licences across New South Wales, yet there is no central, transparent record of what has been done with it. There is no way to track trades": Helen Dalton, Member for Murray.

The family of former Hay student Alicia Little have launched an appeal for co-operation between courts across state borders. The family says the Justice for Alicia Little Campaign focuses on urging Australian authorities to work together to roll out a national domestic violence offender database.

Hugh Schuitemaker. One of the Riverland's major irrigation trusts has been left unable to make water trades due to new market reforms. Renmark Irrigation Trust (RIT) has advised new regulations under the Federal Government's water market reform would restrict it from facilitating any water trades of allocation or entitlement between customers for now.

Christine Webster. The owners of a Mount Mary property, who were told by Mid Murray Council they were breaking the law by living on their vacant land in a motorhome and bus, have left the area in frustration ... Mr King believes he and his friend have a right to live on the property in their registered bus and motorhome.

The Nationals' Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, has slammed new legislation proposed by the Allan Labor Government that would allow government officials and transmission companies to enter private farmland without consent, and hit landholders with steep fines if they object.

Member for Cootamundra, Steph Cooke has introduced the Biodiversity Conservation and Local Land Services Legislation Amendment (Broombush and Blue Mallee Coppicing) Bill 2025 to the NSW Parliament. The bill seeks to amend the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 and the Local Land Services Act 2013 to enable the lawful coppicing of broombush and blue mallee in the Bland Shire...

The illegal importation of 62 tonnes of pork and other animal protein from Thailand into Australia proves the urgent need for increased funding and resources for frontline biosecurity services ... a District Court judge sentencing her to a 24-month intensive corrections order and 150 hours of community service ... “The two cases demonstrate that food smugglers can get away with breaching our biosecurity laws too easily and for too long before being found out, and face too small a punishment”: CA Chief Executive, Dr Chris Parker.

Stakeholders call for local government reforms. Many local councils in the MacKillop electorate are facing serious financial strain, struggling to meet community demands while navigating complex partnerships with state and federal governments under the Local Government Act 1999.

Some of Western Australia's most unique reptiles have been rescued from smugglers who were attempting to send them interstate through Perth Airport. In one case, a package containing eight live bobtail lizards destined for Sydney was intercepted, resulting in a $2,500 fine.

Close to 50 names are inscribed on the Truck Driver’s Memorial Wall in South Grafton, a local monument situated alongside the Big River Way ... many expressing their horror via social media at the shocking volumes of rubbish including discarded shopping trolleys, dirty clothing, and general household waste, littering the site.

The Crisafulli Government’s 2025-26 Budget lays the foundation for the fresh start Queenslanders voted for, addressing Labor’s youth crime, health, housing and cost of living crises. The Budget focuses on making Queensland safer, delivering a place to call home for more Queenslanders, driving down cost of living pressures for families…

There is much discussion, usually futile, about the social aspects of law and order. Here is a look at the flood of public funds unleashed by an individual's action.

A Queensland man, 63, is scheduled to face Cairns Magistrates Court today (18 June, 2025) charged with allegedly producing child abuse material in the Philippines. Australian Border Force (ABF) officers searched the man’s phone after he returned to Australia on an international flight at Cairns Airport on 25 December, 2024. 

Joe Lauria. The Australian government whistleblower David McBride is headed back to jail with no end of incarceration in sight. He is serving nearly six years for leaking documents to the media exposing Australian war crimes in Afghanistan. A three-judge panel at the Supreme Court in Australia's capital on 28th May spent less than one minute dismissing all appeals by David McBride ...

A large number of people from Lajamanu and from Yuendumu, the home town of Kumanjayi White who died in custody on May 27, came to Alice Springs to attend a vigil, to march and mourn ... Coles staff welcomed into the store several small groups of men and women to aisle four – “chocolate, juice, lollies” – where the confrontation had taken place a short time before Kumanjayi’s death.

The Australian Taxation Office (ATO), with support from Victoria Police, has seized and destroyed over 20 tonnes of illicit tobacco from a property North-East of Shepparton, Victoria. On Thursday 5 June a search warrant revealed a mature tobacco crop spanning nearly 6 acres, the equivalent of approximately 456 tennis courts.