AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 18 at 1630
Legal: Haines (ORANGE)
The police investigation into the death of an Indigenous teenager on train tracks nearly four decades ago was hindered by racism and deeply flawed, a coroner has found.
The body of Mark Haines, a proud Gomeroi teenager, was discovered on tracks outside Tamworth, in northern NSW, on the morning of January 16, 1988.
A stolen Holden Torana was found crashed nearby.
The police initially ruled that the 17-year-old had laid down on the tracks either deliberately or in a dazed state, while an autopsy determined he died from a traumatic head injury.
His family long suspected foul play and believed the police investigation would have been different if Mark was non-Indigenous.
After a smoking ceremony on the steps of Tamworth court house on Thursday morning, Deputy State Coroner Harriet Grahame found there were serious problems with the initial police investigation.
Legal: US Mangione (NEW YORK CITY)
Luigi Mangione, the man accused of assassinating a health insurance executive in a carefully executed plot, could have a hard time convincing jurors at his murder trial that he suffered a mental health breakdown, legal experts say.
Mangione is accused of fatally shooting UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson outside a hotel in Midtown in December 2024.
Defence lawyers indicated on Wednesday that Mangione plans to mount a type of legal defence that allows jurors to downgrade murder charges to manslaughter if they believe a defendant lost control of their actions due to an "extreme emotional disturbance".
But allegations Mangione meticulously planned the assassination and concealed his identity as he led law enforcement on a five-day manhunt could cut against an argument that he lost control of his actions, according to former Manhattan state prosecutor Gary Galperin.
Migration (CANBERRA)
Annual migration levels have fallen slightly in Australia but still remain above budget forecasts.
Figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Thursday revealed net overseas migration in 2025 came in at 301,000 people.
The figures were down a fraction from the 306,000 in 2024, while the federal budget released on May forecast migration will fall to 295,000 in the year to June.
The timing of the data follows a debate surrounding migration levels, with the coalition criticising the government for underestimating the numbers and One Nation calling for a more dramatic cut to the rate.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers said the migration rate had fallen by almost 50 per cent from peaks experienced after the COVID pandemic.
"Migration was surging when we came to office and it has now moderated substantially," he said in a statement.
Legal: Vlassakis (ADELAIDE)
A new review must be held to decide whether Snowtown serial killer James Vlassakis is released on parole, a court has ordered.
A decision to block his parole was set aside by South Australia's Court of Appeal on Thursday and the Parole Board's decision to free him was reinstated.
But Parole Administrative Review Commissioner Michael David KC has been ordered to review the case again and Vlassakis remains in custody.
Last August, the Parole Board agreed to release Vlassakis, who pleaded guilty to four of the 11 murders between 1992 and 1999, but Attorney-General Kyam Maher requested a review of the decision.
Mr David subsequently found the board underestimated the effect of the gravity of Vlassakis's criminal behaviour and releasing him would be a risk to the community.
Pram (MELBOURNE)
A tight-knit community is reeling after a kindergarten student and her baby brother were killed when a SUV collided with a pram shortly after school pick-up.
The girl and her brother have been identified as Katherine, 5, and Harry, aged 14 months - the only two children of 33-year-old mother Sok Ram.
The children were struck by the vehicle while crossing a street with their mother in Cabramatta, in Sydney's southwest, about 3.15pm on Wednesday.
Katherine was in her first year of kindergarten and had just been picked up after receiving an award, according to an online fundraiser on the family's behalf.
The children's lives were taken in a "split second", the man behind the fundraiser, Patrick Te, said.
"As they were crossing the road together, heading back to the car, an oncoming vehicle suddenly struck both Katherine and the pram where Harry was sitting," he said.
Tax (CANBERRA)
An existing capital gains tax concession for small businesses will be expanded and a new concession will be introduced as Labor tries to ease the blowback from its budget tax changes.
One of four existing small business capital gains concessions, the 50 per cent active asset reduction, will be extended to all businesses with a turnover up to $10 million per year.
The existing threshold was $2 million.
It is the most widely used of the four such concessions used by small businesses and will be eligible to 2.7 million existing small businesses as a result of the change, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Thursday.
"We're also proposing to introduce a new innovative business tax concession for startups and will release the consultation paper on the startup sector later this morning," he told reporters in Sydney.
One Nation (CANBERRA)
Migrants would be free to speak their own languages at home but should be "Australians first", One Nation has declared, after the party's leader called for a monoculture.
A day after Pauline Hanson's first address to the National Press Club, One Nation MP David Farley said new arrivals needed to be Australians first and put their ethnicity or creed second.
"They can be an Australian migrant, or an Australian-Italian, Australian-Greek, or an Australian-African. They're not African-Australians, they're Australians first," he told ABC Radio on Thursday.
Mr Farley said he wasn't concerned about people speaking other languages at home, but argued that to assimilate into Australia, migrants needed to speak English.
"There'll be times when they're bringing family and friends into the country on holidays etcetera, where that is adaptable ... but the reality is we've adapted English as a language, that's the Australian language," he said.
Electricity (CANBERRA)
Retailers could be forced to come clean on the number of customers charged too much for their loyalty features after a comprehensive review of the electricity pricing system.
Tackling the "loyalty tax" was one of the goals of a self-initiated review by Australia's electricity rule-maker aimed at bringing the electricity pricing framework into the modern era.
The Australian Energy Market Commission also has a blueprint to reform network tariffs to ensure households with solar and batteries are both properly rewarded and supporting the grid, and renters and other customers without such kit are not overpaying.
Disengaged electricity customers ending up on uncompetitive offers after their attractive introductory deals lapse has been a long-standing bugbear.
The AEMC wants to "shine a light" on the problem to nudge more consumers to switch, including forcing retailers to notify long-term customers of foregone savings.
In finance ...
Iran (EVIAN-LES-BAINS)
US President Donald Trump has defended his interim agreement with Iran, saying it has averted a global economic catastrophe while warning the United States could launch new attacks if Iran fails to honour its commitments.
Speaking at the close of a G7 summit in France, Trump also said maritime traffic in the Strait of Hormuz had risen sharply since the truce was announced three days ago and expressed hope it could mark the start of a wider peace across the Middle East.
"So the one thing I didn't want to see is, I didn't want to see economic catastrophe. If you kept this going, that could have happened," Trump said.
He thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping and Russian President Vladimir Putin for being "neutral" during the conflict, saying they had not thwarted his efforts to curb Iran's nuclear ambitions.
Qantas (TOULOUSE)
Qantas has announced London as the first destination for the world's longest non-stop commercial flight, a roughly 20-hour trip from Sydney eliminating the traditional stopover on the "Kangaroo Route".
The Australian carrier plans to start selling tickets in February and launch the flights in October 2027, CEO Vanessa Hudson told an event in Toulouse, France.
The flights are part of the airline's "Project Sunrise" initiative, which will also serve New York using modified Airbus A350-1000ULR jets capable of flying up to 22 hours with 238 passengers on board.
Each aircraft will be configured with 238 seats across four cabins - First Class, Business, Premium Economy and Economy - and will be fitted with an additional 20,000-litre fuel tank to the A350 that will enable it to fly over 16,000km for up to 22 hours non-stop.
In entertainment ...
Legal: Henderson (MELBOURNE)
Kyle Sandilands says he is relieved to have settled his multimillion dollar legal fight with his former employer, as ex-co-host Jackie "O" Henderson gears up for another day in court.
In an ASX announcement on Wednesday, ARN media said it would pay Sandilands $12 million, with $3 million payable as soon as July.
The figure is well below the $85 million the shock jock sought after he and his fellow KIIS FM co-host were sacked following an on-air row.
But Sandilands said he was relieved to put the ordeal behind him when approached by reporters outside his home on Wednesday.
"It's quite daunting to have that hanging over your head," he said.
"I could have dragged it on for like a year and a half."
Obit Dreesen (LOS ANGELES)
Tom Dreesen, who along with partner Tim Reid formed one of America's first interracial stand-up comedy duos and later spent years as Frank Sinatra's opening act, has died at age 86.
Dreesen died on Wednesday at his home in Los Angeles, according to publicist Lori De Waal.
A cause of death was not provided.
After meeting in Chicago, Dreesen and Reid, who is Black, formed Tim and Tom in 1969.
Against a backdrop of simmering racial tension, they used humour to address social issues and promote understanding between audiences of different backgrounds.
They worked together until the mid-1970s.
Reid went on to solo success playing DJ Venus Flytrap on the popular TV sitcom WKRP in Cincinnati, where Dreesen was a guest star.
In sport ...
WC26 Aust (OAKLAND)
The Socceroos have spent months listening to Americans talk the talk.
Now they can finally get their chance to answer the way they want to.
Australia have been talked down and written off over and over again since they were drawn in the same group as the United States back on December 6.
But all of a sudden, after stunning Turkey 2-0, the Socceroos' clash with the co-hosts at Seattle Stadium on Friday (5am Saturday AEST) could all but determine who tops Group D.
There are high stakes all round, but there are bragging rights too.
"I'm really excited for the US game," defender Jordan Bos told AAP ahead of the tournament.
"Because I've heard a lot of chatter and stuff like that.
Gol Open Aust (SYDNEY)
A turning-point adrenaline rush has milestone man Adam Scott believing he can once again challenge for a career-fulfilling second golf major.
Scott enters the US Open starting on Thursday night (AEST) as somewhat of a sentimental favourite in his extraordinary 100th major championship appearance.
Australia's former world No.1 is second only to legend Jack Nicklaus for excellence and longevity but remains more focused on shedding his one-major wonder status than celebrating his crazy feat.
Scott went agonisingly close last year to adding an elusive second major to his iconic 2013 Masters triumph when he snared a share of the third-round lead and playing in the final group on Sunday.
He was right in the mix on the back nine before fading, but believes the experience will stand him in good stead to contend at the famed and treacherous Shinnecock Hills layout on New York's Long Island.
Ends Bulletin
Rolling News Desk inquiries : 02 9322 8611
