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NSW MP Gareth Ward taken into custody to await sentencing after conviction for sexually abusing two young men
Anne Davies
The disgraced New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been remanded in custody to await sentencing after he was convicted last week for serious sex offences involving two young men.
Justice Kara Shead said she was “unpersuaded” that Ward, because of his profile or disabilities, cannot be managed in a custodial setting.
The MP for Kiama, aged 43, had been permitted to remain on bail after last week’s verdict under strict bail conditions requiring him to remain at either his residence on the south coast or his flat in Sydney.
The prosecutor, Monika Knowles, applied to the NSW district court today to have Ward jailed, noting that due to the seriousness of the crimes that Ward has been convicted of there was virtually no chance he would avoid a custodial sentence when sentencing took place.
On Friday a jury found Ward guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse without consent. The lesser convictions carry a maximum penalty of five years and the more serious rape conviction a maximum penalty of 14 years.
Ward’s barrister, Edward Anderson, had argued Ward was at particular risk due to his high profile as a politician.
He also expressed concern about whether his visual impairment due to his albinism would put him at risk. Ward is close to legally blind and requires technological support to read and write.
Shead said there were procedures in place to ensure that his devices could be required.
Ward is due to be sentenced on 19 September.
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Josh Butler
Google scraps Parliament House event amid debate on under-16s social media ban
Google has scrapped at the last minute a major showcase event in Parliament House on the day the Labor government decided to include YouTube in its social media ban.
As we reported on the weekend, the “Google at Parliament House” event was to go ahead tonight, with popular YouTube creators and Australian band the Rubens among the entertainment.
A large number of politicians and staffers attend the event each year. The event was being put together inside parliament’s Great Hall today – passersby could hear the musicians sound-checking.
But in an email to attenders this afternoon, Google said the event would be postponed.
“Out of respect for grieving families who have gathered in Parliament House today, we have decided to postpone the annual Google at Parliament House event,” the email read.
It continued:
We apologise for the late notice, and appreciate your understanding. We will be in touch with a new date as soon as possible.
It appeared to be a reference to the families involved in the 36 Months campaign who Anthony Albanese and the communications minister, Anika Wells, met today and who had been pushing for the under-16s social media ban after their children lost their lives following issues with social media like bullying.
Read more here:
Groom among six injured in minibus crash on way to wedding
A groom on the way to his wedding is among six people injured in a Hunter Valley minibus collision this morning.
New South Wales police said the 56-year-old was with four male wedding guests when the minibus he was travelling in collided on Mount View Road and veered down an embankment shortly after 10.30.
The groom was seriously injured and taken by air to John Hunter hospital. A member of his wedding party was also seriously injured, the Hunter Valley district commander, Supt Steve Laksa, told reporters.
The four other minivan occupants were taken to the same hospital, where the male driver underwent mandatory blood and alcohol testing.
An investigation by crash investigators was under way.
Andrew Messenger
Brisbane Olympics swimming venues to cost taxpayers $1.2bn
A new national aquatic centre plus another swimming project planned for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics will cost the taxpayer $1.2bn.
The aquatic centre – to be built in central Brisbane – will be the long-term home for four swimming sports and host 25,000 spectators during the Games.
The Games Independent Infrastructure and Coordination Authority interim CEO, Nick Elliott, revealed the estimate at a state parliamentary estimates hearing. It also includes an upgrade of the Chandler pool, he said.
All games venues are to be built within a $7.1bn cap, according to the state government. Government witnesses confirmed that the figure included any debt financing through public-private partnerships.
The largest venue, a new stadium at Victoria Park, is budgeted to cost $3.785bn alone. A project validation report for it is due to be completed next year, Elliott said.
Read more here:
Josh Taylor
‘No black skivvies’ in Wiggles HQ lobbying against YouTube under-16s ban
Management for the Wiggles have responded to the communications minister, Anika Wells, claiming she was lobbied to keep YouTube out of the under-16s social media ban by “black skivvies” in Wiggles management, saying they don’t wear black skivvies.
Wells mentioned in a press conference earlier today it wasn’t individual Wiggles, but “it was the black skivvies, it was Wiggles Inc, it was Wiggles management”.
In a response provided to Guardian Australia, a Wiggles HQ spokesperson said “there are no black skivvies worn at Wiggles HQ”.
The group was not paid by YouTube to lobby on their behalf to stay out of the ban, with Wiggles HQ stating it was providing an “independent perspective” to Wells on the ban as children’s content creators:
Video platforms like YouTube, when used to watch trusted children’s programs, function differently to social media. Millions of Australian parents (including Minister Wells) and their children watch The Wiggles on YouTube much like they would on smart TVs, not as part of a social media feed.
Thank you, Krishani Dhanji. I’m Daisy Dumas, here to keep you company for the remainder of the afternoon. Let’s get going.
Krishani Dhanji
A big thanks for following along on the blog with me today, I’ll leave you with the lovely Daisy Dumas for the rest of the afternoon.
I’ll see you here first thing tomorrow morning – with plenty of caffeine in hand!
Sarah Basford Canales
Hanson-Young says government must legislate a duty of care for big tech
It’s “delulu” to believe big tech companies will do the right thing about the government’s under-16s social media ban without being legally required to, the Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says.
At a press conference shortly before question time, the Greens’ communications spokesperson urged the federal government to legislate a duty of care for social media companies, noting users could still view content on social media sites without logging in.
The idea that there’s going to be two classes of safety is ridiculous. The companies need to be legally held responsible. So the first thing is a duty of care, requiring these companies to uphold a duty of care to their customers, to their users.
The second thing is to make sure they’re licensed so that that duty of care is enforceable. Just hoping that these big social media companies will do the right thing is delusional. It’s delulu to think that Google will just do the right thing. They need to be forced to do it.
Tl;dr: here’s what we learned in question time today
Before question time could properly start, a small group of protesters were shouting “sanction Israel now” up in the public gallery. They were promptly escorted out by security.
The opposition started again on bulk-billing rates today, but then put several questions to Chris Bowen on energy prices increasing. He said the latest inflation data shows energy inflation has started going down – which didn’t satisfy those on the opposite side of the chamber, who argue that households are still paying huge bills.
Tony Burke provided an update to the house on the work of police investigating the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue in Melbourne, which happened in December last year.
And Dai Le asked why the government hasn’t yet scrapped or amended the Job-ready Graduates scheme – the government wouldn’t say.
NSW MP Gareth Ward taken into custody to await sentencing after conviction for sexually abusing two young men
Anne Davies
The disgraced New South Wales MP Gareth Ward has been remanded in custody to await sentencing after he was convicted last week for serious sex offences involving two young men.
Justice Kara Shead said she was “unpersuaded” that Ward, because of his profile or disabilities, cannot be managed in a custodial setting.
The MP for Kiama, aged 43, had been permitted to remain on bail after last week’s verdict under strict bail conditions requiring him to remain at either his residence on the south coast or his flat in Sydney.
The prosecutor, Monika Knowles, applied to the NSW district court today to have Ward jailed, noting that due to the seriousness of the crimes that Ward has been convicted of there was virtually no chance he would avoid a custodial sentence when sentencing took place.
On Friday a jury found Ward guilty of three counts of indecent assault and one count of sexual intercourse without consent. The lesser convictions carry a maximum penalty of five years and the more serious rape conviction a maximum penalty of 14 years.
Ward’s barrister, Edward Anderson, had argued Ward was at particular risk due to his high profile as a politician.
He also expressed concern about whether his visual impairment due to his albinism would put him at risk. Ward is close to legally blind and requires technological support to read and write.
Shead said there were procedures in place to ensure that his devices could be required.
Ward is due to be sentenced on 19 September.
Sarah Basford Canales
Labor ‘looking at’ NT funding in response to reintroduction of spit hoods, minister says
The federal government is “looking at” commonwealth funding arrangements with the Northern Territory in response to the reintroduction of spit hoods for 10-year-old incarcerated children, the Indigenous affairs minister, Malarndirri McCarthy, says.
In Senate question time, the independent senator Lidia Thorpe asked the minister whether action would be taken against states and territories that reintroduce measures, including spit hoods and restraint chairs.
The use of spit hoods across the country ceased after Australia formally endorsed a United Nations protocol against torture and inhumane punishments in 2017.
McCarthy conceded it was “very tough”, given there were “no actual penalties in that agreement” for those who choose not to follow it.
She said she was considering a call by some NT land councils to restrict commonwealth funding in response to the decision made by the territory’s Country Liberal party government.
McCarthy said:
The difficulty here, Senator Thorpe, is that nearly 80% of the Northern Territory budget comes from the commonwealth, so we have to be responsible in our response to the Northern Territory, but we also have to be responsible to all citizens of the Northern Territory, who receive that, and I am looking at those numbers, and I am looking at those links in terms of the federal agreements, but not just for the Northern Territory. This also has to be about the federal agreements and the communications that we have with all states.
The minister said attorneys general from around the country would discuss the issue next month in a meeting.
