Australia news live: Nine reporter shot by rubber bullet says she has ‘big old bruise’

Lauren Tomasi says she has a ‘bloody big old bruise’ after rubber bullet hit

Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi described her experience at the immigration protest in LA yesterday, saying a rubber bullet had left quite the mark on her leg. Tomasi told Nine’s Today:

I have a bit of a bloody big old bruise and it’s a little bit sore, but I am all OK …

Police started pushing their way up the street. They’d begun firing teargas canisters and those rubber bullets, and we moved on to the sidewalk, really tried to stay out of the way. What you saw that report was at the end of that live [cross] off to the side of the road … I was really focused on the camera and, you know, finishing that report, telling what was happening. Yeah, and I got hit. Jimmy scooped me up and we made our way out of there as quickly as possible.

Tomasi was caught in the crossfire as the LAPD fired rubber bullets at protesters in the heart of Los Angeles on Monday. Photograph: 9News

Tomasi said she was in a group of media at the protest and had been listening to the Los Angeles police department orders during their coverage.

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Everything you need to know about Australia’s new home battery subsidy

The Guardian dug into the subsidy last month, from eligibility to cost, and how households and businesses can take advantage of the program. You can find out more here:

Australians could save hundreds on power bills each year if more households embrace solar batteries

Australia could slash $4bn a year off power bills by the end of the decade if households embrace solar batteries in larger numbers, a report forecasts.

AAP reports the Climate Council issued the prediction on Tuesday, finding the savings were possible if half of all homes with solar panels installed added batteries by 2030.

The report comes amid heightened demand for home batteries after the announcement of a $2.3bn federal government scheme to subsidise their purchase by 30% from July. Electricity bill savings could rise from $1,500 with solar panels to $2,300 a year after installing a battery, the Climate Council said.

Tasmanians face another election: How did we get here?

After a week of drama, the political future of Tasmania could look starkly different by the end of Tuesday. So how did we get here?

On Tuesday last week, the state opposition leader, Dean Winter, surprised many by moving a motion of no confidence in the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff. The motion was tabled at the end of a budget supply speech.

Could an election be avoided? Potentially. The governor, Barbara Baker, is not obliged to accept Rockliff’s request. She could adopt two alternatives.

Read about them here:

No update so far on the entangled whale, but rescuers on the lookout

The Organisation for the Rescue and Research of Cetaceans (Orrca) said they have not yet spotted the humpback whale entangled in a drumline that has been dragging a buoy along the NSW coastline.

Orrca said its members and other volunteers were trying to spot the whale this morning in hopes of providing aid.

Tomasi says she doesn’t want to be part of the story in LA protests

Tomasi says she feels a bit embarrassed becoming part of the story while covering the US immigration protests. She told Today:

I feel embarrassed, quite frankly. I really don’t want to be the story as part of this. We were just on the ground trying to do our job. I was there, you know, Jimmy and I were doing our best to bring to Australia what is unfolding on the streets of LA.

And it’s a really unfortunate thing that has happened. And I think, you know, as a journalist, we want to be there telling the story. And I think, you know, it’s a really crappy thing that’s happened. But I really don’t want to be the story.

Lauren Tomasi says she has a ‘bloody big old bruise’ after rubber bullet hit

Nine reporter Lauren Tomasi described her experience at the immigration protest in LA yesterday, saying a rubber bullet had left quite the mark on her leg. Tomasi told Nine’s Today:

I have a bit of a bloody big old bruise and it’s a little bit sore, but I am all OK …

Police started pushing their way up the street. They’d begun firing teargas canisters and those rubber bullets, and we moved on to the sidewalk, really tried to stay out of the way. What you saw that report was at the end of that live [cross] off to the side of the road … I was really focused on the camera and, you know, finishing that report, telling what was happening. Yeah, and I got hit. Jimmy scooped me up and we made our way out of there as quickly as possible.

Tomasi said she was in a group of media at the protest and had been listening to the Los Angeles police department orders during their coverage.

Greens senator says ‘pot shot’ at Australian journalist needs to be raised ‘at the highest levels’

Greens senator Nick McKim said the Australian government needed to raise the shooting of a Nine reporter with a rubber bullet in Los Angeles “at the highest levels”, calling it “completely unacceptable”. McKim told Nine this morning:

The fact that you’ve got someone in uniform who appears to take a deliberate pot shot at an Australian journalist, that is completely unacceptable and that needs to be raised at the highest levels, whether that’s PM to president or at a foreign affairs minister level.

Thorpe points to Guardian Australia investigation into prison hanging points

Lidia Thorpe also pointed to a Guardian investigation that found a staggering 57 Australians had killed themselves in the past two decades using hanging points in prisons that authorities knew about but failed to remove.

In a five-month review of 248 hanging deaths in Australian jails, Guardian Australia identified 19 correctional facilities where inmates died after governments and authorities failed to remove known ligature points within cells.

In many cases, this was despite repeated and urgent warnings from coroners to do so.

Read more here:

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Indigenous Australians can call 13YARN on 13 92 76 for information and crisis support. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Lidia Thorpe says PM should ‘step in’ after recent Indigenous deaths in custody

Independent senator Lidia Thorpe called on the federal government to intervene after multiple deaths of Indigenous people in police custody in recent days, saying each report had an ongoing impact on communities across the country. An Indigenous man died in police custody in Darwin on Saturday, just a week after a young Aboriginal man died after he was restrained by police at a supermarket in Alice Springs.

Thorpe told RN Breakfast the deaths required intervention from the federal government:

It’s just so real and the grief-stricken families and communities, it’s ongoing trauma, and every death in custody has such an impact on our families and communities …

We need federal leadership. We need the feds to step in here. We need the prime minister to come out. He came out on vaping. He came out on social media to stop kids from accessing social media. He called the states and territories to account for those issues. So he needs to do the same for deaths in custody.

Some tips from CPA Australia about spotting tax scams

It’s getting harder to distinguish between legitimate and scam messages, but the group has some tips:

Look for grammatical errors or strange language, including American spellings.

The ATO does not use hyperlinks in unsolicited SMS messages – if you see one, treat it as a scam.

Check the email address sending financial messages – anything unusual is a red flag. That could include subtle anomalies like an extra letter or rogue number.

Beware of any unexpected requests for personal information, especially with a call for urgency.

You can always contact the ATO or your bank with any concerns – but call them yourself.

Accounting group issues warnings of tax scams before EOFY

CPA Australia, the country’s largest accounting body, warned Australians to be wary of a “deluge” of scam activity in the final weeks before the end of financial year on 30 June. The biggest increase in reported scam losses this year comes from phishing scams, where scammers impersonate government agencies and financial institutions like banks.

CPA Australia warned people to be wary of messages that try to “trick individuals to click the link to see ‘official government correspondence’ or for an ‘update regarding your benefits’,” among others.

Jenny Wong, the group’s tax lead, said in a statement:

Scammers take advantage of any situation, and at tax time that means targeting unsuspecting individuals through unsolicited messages claiming to be the ATO or another reputable organisation.

Nine reporter shot by rubber bullet in LA says she’s ‘a bit sore’ but OK

Nine News correspondent Lauren Tomasi said she is OK, albeit a “bit sore”, after she was hit by a projectile while covering immigration protests in Los Angeles yesterday. She took to social media to thank those who had shared messages of support after the incident:

Hey there. Thanks for all your messages – I’m a bit sore, but I’m okay. Important we keep on telling the stories that need to be told. Here’s our report on what unfolded in Los Angeles.

You can read more about the protests and Tomasi’s coverage here:

Tasmanian Greens leader says Labor ‘deluded’ if it doesn’t work with crossbench

Rosalie Woodruff, leader of the Tasmanian Greens, said she hasn’t spoken to Dean Winter, the state’s Labor party leader, as Tasmania looks likely to enter another election campaign following a vote of no confidence in the premier, Jeremy Rockliff.

Woodruff said she was very disappointed after the Greens offered to work on supply and confidence with Labor towards a minority government, but she said “Dean Winter hasn’t picked up the phone”. She told RN Breakfast:

It’s a bad sign from a Labor leader … If he doesn’t want to talk with the Greens or the crossbench, he’s deluded about what’s going to happen after an election because, in all likelihood, Tasmanians will not be delivering a majority Liberal or Labor government.

They have to get used to working collaboratively across the parliament with the people Tasmanians elected.

Woodruff said she believed the Greens and Labor still had a lot in common and she remained “very confident” there was an opportunity to strike a balance between the two.

These people have got to get used to talking, that’s the first step.