Australian passenger on Singapore Airlines flight says wife has severe spinal injury
Australian man Keith Davis, who was onboard the Singapore Airlines flight that hit extreme turbulence this week, has spoken to the Today Show live from his hospital bed in Bangkok.
Talking just earlier, Davis said he looked “a lot worse” than he was, with “pretty superficial lacerations and a hell of a lot of swelling and bruising”. But his wife was in a much worse condition.
She’s had a severe spinal injury … and she has no sensation from her waist down…
You just don’t expect this. We’ve had a fantastic holiday in the UK [and] we’re, you know, one more flight away, nearly home. And this comes along. I mean, these things happen. But who expects this?
Davis said the aim was to get his wife into a stable enough condition so she was fit to fly for a medical evacuation.
She’s been conscious all the way through, which is a blessing. She’s never lost consciousness, you know, she doesn’t have a brain injury [and] she’s got all of her wits about her. She’s strong and we just want to get home.
Key events
Hugh de Kretser appointed new head of rights watchdog
The Australian Human Rights Commission has appointed Hugh de Kretser as the new president, to begin his five-year term on 30 July.
De Krester will succeed Emeritus Prof Rosalind Croucher, who will depart at the end of July following a seven-year term.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, announced the appointment of de Kretser today after an open merit selection process. Croucher said:
For over 20 years [de Krester] has been a dedicated and effective advocate for positive change for people and communities whose human rights are at risk.
I look forward to handing the baton to Mr de Kretser as he takes the commission into its next phase in its critical role of protecting and promoting human rights in Australia.
De Krester is currently CEO of the Yoorrook Justice Commission. Prior to that he was the executive director of the Human Rights Law Centre and executive officer of the Victorian Federation of Community Legal Centres.
De Kretser has served as a commissioner of the Victorian Law Reform Commission and a director of the Sentencing Advisory Council.
Queensland bans rent bidding
Rental bidding has officially been outlawed in Queensland and price rises will only occur annually after major reforms were passed in the state.
Andrew Messenger reported earlier this week that Queensland’s Labor government would move to ban all forms of rent bidding, as part of a package of reforms for renters. You can read all the details around this below:
The state’s housing minister, Meaghan Scanlon, has said in a statement:
These reforms are about making renting fairer, safer and easier. It means renters won’t have to bid more than advertised to secure a rental, that they’ll have their privacy protected and a new code of conduct will stamp out unprofessional practices.
The changes come after Brisbane became Australia’s third most expensive city, with a 0.9% rental vacancy rate in the March quarter.
– with AAP
Singapore Airlines apologises to injured Australians
Elias Visontay
A Singapore Airlines spokesperson said the airline had apologised to Keith Davis and his wife, and were making arrangements for their family members to travel to Bangkok to be with them.
Singapore Airlines apologises to Mr Keith Davis and his wife, and is providing them with the necessary support and assistance they need during this difficult time… We remain committed to supporting all passengers and crew members who were on board SQ321, as well as their family members and loved ones.
Watch: Australian man Keith Davis in hospital following Singapore Airlines flight
Throughout the morning we’ve brought you some interviews with Australian man Keith Davis, who is in an Bangkok hospital with his wife following the deadly Singapore Airlines flight SQ321.
Here is a video of him speaking inside the hospital:
Since the video was recorded, Davis has told Australian media that the CEO of Singapore Airlines met with him in a “a really great and positive step”. You can scroll back through the blog to read more from Davis.
Melbourne collector set to be charged over alleged theft of $60k worth of vinyl
A Melbourne music collector has been accused of stealing more than $60,000 worth of vinyl records, AAP reports.
The 33-year-old North Melbourne man visited CBD electronic stores at least 13 times over the past four months and made off with a handful of LP records, police alleged.
Unique or popular LPs can sell for hundreds of dollars and often appreciate in value over time, especially when unopened or in mint condition.
Police allege that they identified the man through CCTV footage at a store on La Trobe Street on Wednesday.
More than 400 records were allegedly seized in a subsequent raid on a North Melbourne home, along with a small amount of heroin and marijuana.
The man is expected to be charged on summons, with investigators still investigating whether record thefts in nearby suburbs are linked.
More details on NSW flu surge
Just circling back to earlier news that NSW is now seeing 400 flu cases a day:
NSW health minister Ryan Park’s office has confirmed that in comparison, last week the state was seeing 280 cases a day.
The state’s latest surveillance report for Covid-19 and influenza, issued yesterday, said:
Even though admissions from emergency departments for influenza remain low, test positivity, which is a key indicator of activity, has increased to 7.3%. It is likely that there will be a substantial increase in influenza over the next few weeks. Measures of RSV continue to show a high level of activity, although there has been some decline in the youngest children and test positivity has started to decline.
The data also shows that influenza-like presentations at emergency departments usually start to rise steeply in late May and early June, meaning this is the time to get the flu jab.
Sarah Basford Canales
Birmingham suggests opposition may double down on calls to cut ICC ties if warrants go ahead
The shadow foreign affairs minister, Simon Birmingham, says Australia’s future engagement with the international criminal court (ICC) should hinge on whether it decides to grant arrest warrants against Israeli leaders, including prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Earlier this week, the court’s chief prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he was seeking arrest warrants against Netanyahu, and Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and three senior Hamas officials for the atrocities committed during the group’s 7 October attack.
While the Australian government’s official stance has been to respect the ICC’s independence before making an official statement, the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has called the announcement to target Israel’s leadership “anti-semitic”, urged the Labor government to pressure the ICC into reversing the decision and suggested cutting ties with the international tribunal.
Birmingham indicated to Sky News this morning the opposition may double down on calls to cut ties with the ICC if it goes ahead with granting the arrest warrants.
Now there is obviously another stage to go before we get to the point where proceedings move into territory that will be deeply, deeply concerning. And we obviously reject the type of moral equivalence the ICC has sought to draw already. But let’s see what this next stage does bring in terms of decisions that may or may not have to be made about our future engagement with the ICC.
Man accused of importing cocaine on flight to Melbourne
A Spanish-Bolivian dual national has been charged with allegedly importing about 4kg of cocaine onboard a flight to Melbourne, hidden inside their luggage.
The man, 56, faced Melbourne magistrates court on Tuesday, charged with possessing and importing a border-controlled drug – cocaine. He was remanded in custody and is expected to reappear in court on 13 August.
According to a joint statement from the Australian federal police and Border Force, the man landed at Melbourne international airport on Monday after arriving from Doha, Qatar.
ABF officers allegedly discovered about 4kg of a substance – which later tested positive as cocaine – concealed in the lining of two suitcases. The matter was referred to the AFP and the man was arrested in the terminal.
The cocaine has an estimated street value of $1.3m and had the potential to equate to 20,000 individual street deals, the joint statement said.
The man was charged with one count of importing a border-controlled drug, namely cocaine, in a commercial quantity, and one count of possessing a border-controlled drug, unlawfully imported, namely cocaine, in a commercial quantity.
The maximum penalty for these offences is life imprisonment.
More than 400 NSW flu cases recorded daily
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, said the state was seeing more than 400 cases of influenza a day.
He has urged people to ensure they’re up to date on their flu vaccination, saying:
We’re seeing over 400 cases of influenza a day. It means that winter is certainly upon us and it means that we all need to take those necessary precautions, including – importantly – going and getting our flu vaccination and making sure we’re up to date.
Australian Border Force patrols burning illegal fishing boats
Illegal fishing vessels entering Australian waters are being destroyed in an effort to protect marine life from poaching, AAP reports.
Dozens of Indonesian fishing boats have been set alight by Australian Border Force (ABF) patrols in recent weeks, the Operation Sovereign Borders commander, Rear Admiral Brett Sonter, said.
More than 200 boats were seized, 48 sunk and 1,000 fishermen apprehended in two operations in Australia’s north, he told Seven News.
Border Force has teamed up with the Indonesian navy to tackle the problem.
Cabinet minister Jason Clare warned against the practice, telling Sunrise today:
Illegal fishing is a serious thing. Anyone coming into our backyard and stealing things out of your backyard is serious.
The only way to stop it is to burn their boats, send a message that if you do this, you will lose the most valuable thing you have got: your boat.
Deputy Liberal leader Sussan Ley backed the operations and said she was “very concerned about illegal fishing”. Ley also raised concerns about the boats being used by people smugglers.
‘Horrifying’: Australian describes experience aboard Singapore Airlines flight SQ321
Keith Davis recounted the traumatic experience he had onboard the Singapore Airlines flight earlier this week.
Davis said it was not accurate to label the incident “a spot of turbulence” because in an “absolute instant [they were] on the ceiling”.
We’re talking literally seconds – there’s no announcement, we did not see any indication at all, we just fell into a huge hole and we’re free-falling.
[We went] straight up into the ceiling, I went headfirst. We were in the middle section so I was dead centre and I went up through all the vents and masks and things.
Unfortunately for Kerry she hit the luggage doors and instead of landing back into the seat area, she fell flat straight into the aisle and from that moment, she didn’t move. That’s where she remained for the rest of the flight. It was really horrifying.
Davis recounted checking to see that she was breathing and could communicate:
It was pretty horrifying but there was so much else going on and unfortunately the gentleman who passed away was immediately in front of us [and] the young gentleman who was sitting next to me [was] applying CPR instantly.
Australian woman injured on Singapore Airlines flight could be medically evacuated in ‘weeks’
Keith Davis, an Australian man injured on the Singapore Airlines flight that hit severe turbulence earlier this week, just spoke with ABC News Breakfast from Bangkok hospital.
Davis spoke to the Today Show earlier and explained that his wife, Kerry, was in intensive care with a severe spinal injury.
Speaking to the ABC, Davis said they were hopeful she would be ready to fly “in weeks” for a medical evacuation to Australia:
Coordination has happened now with Singapore Airlines, it’s been a bit of a sea change [since] yesterday afternoon, they’ve come on board … I met with the CEO from Singapore Airlines yesterday and that was a really great and positive step and they’ve just reaffirmed their commitment to us and support whilst we’re here at the hospital and the ongoing in terms of getting back to Australia.
Amanda Meade
David Marr to replace Phillip Adams as host of Late Night Live after three decades
Veteran journalist, author and broadcaster David Marr will replace Phillip Adams as the host of Radio National’s Late Night Live when Adams leaves the role after 33 years next month.
Adams, who turns 85 in July, is retiring early due to poor health.
Marr, a former Guardian Australia contributor, is a Walkley Award-winning writer who has edited the National Times. The 76-year-old is a former host of Media Watch and was an investigative journalist at Four Corners. He said:
I’m honoured and terrified. It’s going to be a ball.
You can read the full story below:
Queensland court finds Elon Musk’s X bound by state’s vilification laws
Eden Gillespie
A Queensland court has delivered a historic judgement that social media company X is bound by the state’s vilification laws.
The landmark ruling from the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal (QCAT) this week found the court has jurisdiction over Twitter Australia Holdings Pty Limited and X Corp.
It comes after the Australian Muslim Advocacy Network (Aman) accused the companies of failing to take action against accounts that incite hatred on the platform.
Aman argued that as a publisher, X was responsible for content posted by a far-right account that has been cited in the manifesto of the extremist who killed 77 people in Norway in 2011.
The network said that despite multiple requests, X refused to delete the account and replies to its posts that “vilify” Muslims. These included comments such as “Ramadan means killing infidels” and claims that the Qur’an should be referred to as the “terrorist handbook”.
A spokesperson for Aman said the decision would have a positive significance for many communities affected by hate speech.
This is the first such legal victory against a social media company under Australian vilification laws, which will have consequences for all social media companies operating in Australia.
Protections in Australia do apply to social media companies, and hate speech is governed by clear standards, not corporate discretion.
Now that jurisdiction is established, QCAT will later make a finding of whether the content is considered hate speech or vilification under the state’s laws.
Twitter has the legal right to appeal against the court’s initial decision.
‘A lot more work to do to keep women safe’ – Gallagher
ABC News Breakfast host Bridget Brennan asked specifically about rates of violence in the Northern Territory, which has “one of the highest homicide rates in the world” but only gets “around 2% of the federal [funding] pie”.
Katy Gallagher said this was “absolutely” something she was aware of, responding:
In different parts of the territory there is a lot more resources going into community-led responses to violence. There’s big work under way in Alice [Springs], for example, with the community, and we’ve been getting a bit of pushback on it [such as] ‘you announce money, and is it going and is it helping?’ Part of the work we’ve been trying to do is make sure we work with the community about what works for them.
There’s more to do. We’ve got a First Nations action plan that sits under the national plan, developed with First Nations communities. And we’ve got to recognise that what works in one part of Australia might not work in another part. More and more we’re learning that specialised responses for First Nations communities is really important. There’s a lot of work going into that but again, I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t a lot more work to do to make sure that women and girls are safe right across the country.
Katy Gallagher on combating domestic violence and Labor’s 10-year plan
The minister for women, Katy Gallagher, was asked about measures to tackle violence against women, including the government’s 10-year plan, while on ABC News Breakfast.
She was asked whether she can understand people’s “anger … frustration [and] exasperation about things not changing and changing quickly”. Gallagher responded:
I feel that and I think every member of the government feels that too.
The thing about the national plan which is kind of new is that it’s bringing together all of the governments under the same plan with the same priorities and it’s being informed by two years of consultations, and led by victim survivors about what they think will help …
I think people find it difficult to make a practical link from a national plan to what is actually happening on the ground, but it means that all the governments of Australia are pulling in the same direction, set the same priorities and make the investments under that framework…
But, again, you know, it’s so frustrating that we continue to see levels of violence that we see in the community [and] more and more. We’ve got to focus on … the early intervention before things get to a crisis level – and that’s not just for women, that’s for men and boys as well.
