What we learned today, Friday 22 May
That’s where we’ll leave things this evening. Thanks for reading. I hope you have a great weekend, wherever you are. Here are our top stories from today:
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A 52-year-old Victorian police officer, Matt Paton, was confirmed to have died on the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, while he was on holiday in Peru with his wife, Jane. Mike Bush, the chief commissioner of Victoria police, said Paton would be remembered “for his selflessness, amazing sense of humour, extreme kindness and inclusion of all”.
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The senior federal government MP Tanya Plibersek, labelled the behaviour by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir towards humanitarian activists as “shameful” and “disgraceful”, as Australians who were on the Gaza flotilla alleged they were abused.
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Guzman y Gomez announced its sudden departure from the US, with all of its American stores to close, after failing to establish itself in a market already rich with Mexican food.
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We brought you the news that One Nation’s rapid expansion of local branches across the country is in disarray, and that the party’s new branches and members will be subject to strict gag orders.
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Housing advocates urged federal MPs to ignore fear mongering and pass Labor’s negative gearing and capital gains tax changes, which they described as “long overdue”.
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Meanwhile Labor MPs told Guardian Australia they expected the government would agree to capital gains tax concessions for startup businesses.
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And Network 10 announced it had axed reality show I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, hosted by Julia Morris and Robert Irwin, after 12 seasons.
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Gun licence held by Tasmanian man who killed police officer suspended in 2016 on mental health grounds
Here’s some more from that AAP report on Leigh Geoffrey Sushames’ sentencing hearing.
Crown prosecutor Daryl Coates SC told the court today that Sushames had avoided contact with bank representatives who went to his home, prompting the courts and police to become involved.
Sushames had previously held a gun licence which was suspended in 2016 due to information police had acquired about his mental health.
His lawyer Greg Richardson told the court his client had suffered an abusive childhood leading to intense religious beliefs and was suffering from undiagnosed post-traumatic stress disorder.
He also experienced psychotic episodes as a result of using cannabis.
The incident was the first fatal shooting of an officer in Tasmania for more than a century.
Smith, who had served for 25 years, was farewelled with full ceremonial police honours and a street procession.
Being told of Smith’s death at a local police station felt like a terrible dream, his older brother, Christopher Smith, told the court, saying:
There are no more phone calls and there is no more dropping in for a quick cuppa. This hole in my life can never be filled.
The hurt and sadness never goes away but I feel so proud to be your brother.
Sushames will be sentenced on 26 June.
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Tasmanian man who killed police officer said ‘no one is going to take my house off me’ before fatal shooting, court hears
A man who shot dead a police officer who was attempting to repossess his home had earlier told a friend “I will kill them, no one is going to take my house off me”.
A sentencing hearing in the supreme court of Tasmania in Burnie today was told Leigh Geoffrey Sushames had stopped paying his mortgage in 2016 because of the belief God would “sort it out”.
Sushames, 47, hid behind a blue Ford Falcon, holding a rifle, in the carport of his rural property in northwest Tasmania on 16 June 2025, as two officers approached, the court was told.
He had been told 12 days earlier by police they would be returning to follow through on a court’s repossession order over outstanding mortgage payments spanning years.
Sushames was first spotted behind the car by Const Keith Smith, 57, who asked him how he was.
Sushames replied “not good” before standing up and fatally shooting Smith from less than 2 metres away, first in the back and a second time in the head.
Const Smith’s colleague Sgt Gavin Rigby ran into bushland before radioing for help from three special operations officers who were stationed further from the house.
They fired towards Sushames, hitting him on the hand and disarming him.
Sushames pleaded guilty to murder in January and has also entered pleas of guilty to attempted murder and aggravated assault.
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NSW police watchdog receives record number of complaints following Herzog protest
The NSW police watchdog says it has received at least 800 complaints as part of the investigation into alleged police brutality at the 9 February Sydney protest against Isaac Herzog’s visit, the “greatest number of complaints on one topic in the commission’s history”.
The chief commissioner of the Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc), Peter Johnson SC, has also told a NSW parliamentary committee police have become “overly defensive” in response to requests for information in its investigations, describing the relationship between the agencies as “difficult”.
He said:
I have to say in an area where there are two public agencies and where there would be an expectation in the community of an open approach it is difficult to understand why the – at times – very technical, and in our view erroneous, approach is taken on a range of issues.
It adds to the length of time that the work has to be done by us, by the police.
It is not in the interests of anyone, including police officers, who may be the subject of complaints. It’s certainly not in the interests of members of the public who may have issues they’ve raised with us.
In a statement, Greens MLC Sue Higginson, a committee member on the inquiry, said she was “seriously concerned” by the comments, saying “where police officers have committed crimes, used excessive force and engaged in misconduct against the community, the leadership should ensure the Lecc has full access to the evidence they need”.
NSW police have been contacted for comment.
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Hi, I hope you’re having a nice Friday. I’ll take you through the rest of the day’s news.
That’s all from me. Catie McLeod will take things from here. Have a nice weekend!
Petrol prices set to rise again if strait remains closed, CBA says
Petrol prices could jump by about 50 cents per litre if the strait of Hormuz remains closed for another month, CBA analysis suggests.
Vivek Dhar, head of commodities research at the bank, laid out the “stark” difference in potential outcomes for the global oil shock.
On the one hand, a US-Iran deal over the next month that re-opens shipping through the strait could see the global Brent oil price drop to $US80 a barrel by the end of the year, from $US104 today.
“Such an outcome though would depend on the speed that oil flows through the strait of Hormuz can return to prewar levels,” Vivek said.
But if the status quo persists, then the alternative scenario could push global oil and refined fuel inventories down to “worryingly low” levels by mid-June to mid-July.
At that point, Dhar believes oil prices would need to rise to about $US150 a barrel.
Each $US1 change in the global oil price translates to a roughly 1 cent change in Australian petrol prices, usually with a lag of one to two weeks.
At about $1.85 for a litre of unleaded now – including the 26-cent fuel excise reduction and the GST relief – the price could jump to $2.35 in a month’s time.
The fuel excise cut is due to end on 30 June.
And if the strait is still shut by September, then the global oil price could climb to about $US200 a barrel, Dhar said, adding a further 50 cents to pump prices.
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Paton’s family says they are ‘shattered’ by the loss
Paton’s family released a statement after his death, saying:
It seems surreal at the moment – everyone is bereft. Family was the most important thing to Matt.
He was dedicated to his family including his wife of 31 years and their three children. He adored his family. And we adored him.
Matt had always wanted to travel to Peru … He was always up for an adventure and to learn something and to experience something new.
The family said Paton was posting videos over the last week of his trip, sharing images of his travels with his colleagues.
He wanted to have a career where he was doing something that he could be proud of, which is why he joined Victoria Police later in life.
He really thought that he was doing something worthwhile. We were incredibly proud of him – the work he was doing, including with recruits at the police academy. He loved being an educator.
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Australian who died in Peru on Inca Trail identified as Victoria police officer
Victoria police has identified a man who died on the Inca Trail in Peru as a sergeant on the force.
Officials said Matt Paton, 52, was on holiday with his wife, Jane, in Peru and on the way to Machu Picchu. His body was found this morning, Australian time. Victoria police said:
His passion for teaching recruits led to a number of other roles including facilitating training for police responding to mental health events. He was recently selected for a senior sergeant position and was due to commence in the role next month.
A proud Queenslander, he was a passionate follower of the Maroons and Brisbane Lions. Matt loved travelling, exploring historic sites and cultures.
Mike Bush, the chief commissioner of Victoria police, said Paton served with distinction for 16 years and would be remembered “for his selflessness, amazing sense of humour, extreme kindness and inclusion of all”.
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Fifty patients hospitalised in the NT with diphtheria during outbreak
A Northern Territory Health spokesperson told Guardian Australia that as of Friday there have been 162 cases of diphtheria reported in the Northern Territory since January. That includes 49 respiratory cases and 113 cutaneous (skin) cases, with more than 230 cases total in the outbreak affecting the NT, WA, Queensland and South Australia. Most cases are in Indigenous adults.
There have been 50 patients hospitalised with diphtheria and possible other health conditions since January. There are usually six or fewer hospitalisations from the highly contagious bacterial infection each year. Respiratory diphtheria is particularly dangerous.
Of the 50 hospitalisations, four were admitted to the intensive care unit in Territory hospitals, which may be required for observation when administering diphtheria antitoxin treatment. Six people remain in hospital.
It marks the largest outbreak in decades. People are urged to get vaccinated and to get their booster shots, recommended every five years for Indigenous people and certain groups such as health workers.
Read more:
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Defence ‘not well-placed’ to extend ageing submarines, report finds
The defence department is “not well-placed” to demonstrate it can extend the life of Australia’s ageing submarine fleet, potentially leaving the nation with a crucial capability gap after cost overruns and delays, a damning audit has found.
AAP reports the Australian National Audit Office released a report on Friday into the “life-of-type extension” plan for the navy’s Collins-class submarines, designed to get an extra decade of service out of them before the arrival of nuclear-powered boats.
The 1980s-designed Collins would have started to be retired from service in 2026, but the cancellation of the $90bn French submarine program for the AUKUS deal means Australia won’t get new submarines until the early 2030s, should the project go to plan.
The auditor-general found Defence’s planning and implementation of the Collins-class extension was not managed in a comparable way to “its complexity, risk profile and strategic purpose”.
The report found since the system and detailed design contract was awarded in February 2022, it has changed 53 times, increasing by $688m to more than five times its original value.
As of May, Defence was not on track to install the planned upgrades on the first submarine in June this year as planned.
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Tim Wilson on the Liberals’ economic vision – Australian Politics podcast
In his biggest address so far, shadow treasurer Tim Wilson described the federal budget as an “economic earthquake” at the National Press Club this week.
He speaks with political editor Tom McIlroy about Paul Keating’s criticism of the Coalition’s response to Labor’s tax reforms, and defends Angus Taylor’s controversial migration policy – which links housing completion and restricts access to welfare support.
Take a listen:
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Australian tourist dies hiking Inca Trail in Peru, local media reports
An Australian tourist has died after falling from the Inca Trail on the way to Machu Picchu in Peru, according to Andina, the country’s national news agency.
Andina reports Matthew Cameron Paton, 53, had arrived in the region with his wife 12 days ago before heading to the trail for a four-day journey. He was reported missing on Wednesday, the ABC adds, before his body was found.
It’s believed he fell about 300 meters into a hard-to-reach area along the trail.
The Guardian has reached out to Dfat and Peruvian police for further details.
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Aussie shares up despite mixed signals from Iran talks
Australia’s share market continues to recover on optimism about a potential peace deal between the United States and Iran, despite division remaining on key issues, AAP reports.
The S&P/ASX200 was up 0.48% by midday on Friday, while the broader All Ordinaries rose 0.51%.
ASX-listed miners were doing some heavy lifting heading into the weekend, with materials up 1.4% and strong leads from BHP and Rio Tinto. Mexican-themed fast food chain Guzman Y Gomez rocketed more than 14% higher after calling off its US expansion because it failed to meet its financial targets.
The Australian dollar was buying US71.38 cents, up from US71.13 cents on Thursday at 5pm.
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Man mentioned in Brisbane court over alleged AK-47 threat to mosque
A man accused of storming a mosque and threatening to shoot worshippers with an AK-47 assault rifle has had his matter mentioned in court, AAP reports.
Louis Francesco Rapisarda, 33, of Mitchelton, did not appear in Brisbane magistrates court on Friday for the first mention of charges of creating a public nuisance and disturbing a place of worship.
Police allege Rapisarda went to the Masjid Taqwa mosque at Bald Hills on 10 May and made verbal threats, telling worshippers he had an assault rifle in his vehicle outside.
He’s accused of entering the mosque shortly before 11am and making the threat before he was chased off the grounds by members of the congregation.
No one was physically injured.
Rapisarda, a care support worker, did not enter a plea and was ordered not to attend the mosque or Mitchelton Presbyterian church. His matter was adjourned until 19 June.
Muslim leaders said the case was part of a growing wave of intimidation, abuse and violence targeting mosques and Islamic institutions.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils said the incident was “frightening” for worshippers and formed part of a “disturbing national pattern of threats, intimidation and violence” against Muslim communities.
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Risk of snakebites increasing as reptiles adapt to changing world, study finds
The risk of snakebites is increasing across the world as reptiles shift their habitats to cope with rising temperatures and growing human pressures, a study of venomous snakes has found.
Spitting cobras in Africa, vipers in Europe and South America, cottonmouth moccasins in North America and kraits in Asia are coming into greater contact with people as a result of climate disruption and landscape change, according to the research, which was led by the World Health Organization.
This trend is forecast to become more pronounced in the coming decades as snakes – like many other species – adjust their range to escape hotter conditions.
Most species will suffer a decline of habitat, but a significant number of the deadliest snakes are likely to spread more widely, taking them into areas where they have not been seen before and potentially affecting billions of people.
Read more here:
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State Library of New South Wales still reeling from cybersecurity incident
A crippling cybersecurity incident at the State Library of New South Wales has entered its fourth week, following the detection of suspicious activity in its digital systems last month.
The prolonged digital blackout has paralysed the library’s public-facing services, locking researchers, academics and students out of historical archives, digital collections and subscription databases.
In a statement tracking the disruption on its website, the library confirmed that Cyber Security NSW had been called in to investigate.
“As soon as we became aware of suspicious activity in our catalogue on 27 April, we took immediate action to secure library systems, including shutting down access to the member portal as an additional precautionary measure,” it said.
Following a comprehensive investigation supported by incident response specialists, we have found no evidence that personal information or the integrity of catalogue records has been compromised.
While the virtual library remains heavily restricted, the State Library’s physical buildings, reading rooms and public galleries in Sydney remain open to the public during normal operating hours.
The library has issued an apology to its users for the ongoing disruption and said that technical teams continued to work “around the clock” to bring core operations back online, hopefully by 29 May, a full month after the external interference was detected.
The Guardian has sought comment from the library and Cyber Security NSW.
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Ten’s I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here! cancelled after 12 seasons
Network 10 has axed reality show I’m a Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here!, hosted by Julia Morris and Robert Irwin, after 12 seasons.
The network confirmed the decision to trade publication Mediaweek today, saying that:
We have made the decision to rest I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here! in 2027 as we focus on offering our audience a range of content on all platforms.
We look forward to working with Julia Morris and Robert Irwin on other projects.
First launched in Australia in 2015, contestants have included influencer Abbie Chatfield, chef Colin Fassnidge and singer Paulini, but the local version has never reached the heights of popularity it has in the UK.
The hosts both commented on the decision, with Morris saying:
I’m A Celebrity and our whole jungle family who make this show have made it the best working experience of my lifetime. I have loved every moment and will be forever grateful to Beverley and the whole team at Network 10 for not only believing in this show but nurturing it for 12 years. And to our jungle family watching from home, we love you.
Her co-host, Irwin, said:
I want to express what an absolute privilege it has been to work on this show for the past three seasons. I grew up watching this show as so many Aussies do, so to be part of the fantastic team that make this series a reality felt like a dream come true.
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Labor MPs expect eventual concessions for startups after backlash to CGT changes
Labor MPs expect the government will agree to capital gains tax concessions for startup businesses after a meme-fuelled backlash to the budget, with some wary that scare campaigns could “get out of hand” without clearer explanation of the changes from Anthony Albanese and Jim Chalmers.
Guardian Australia spoke to a number of Labor MPs nationwide. Speaking on condition of anonymity, several MPs said they were keen to see change on CGT, with some engaging directly with Chalmers’ office.
“If an unintended consequence has caused a headache, let’s fix it,” one Labor MP said about the CGT changes, which have dominated media headlines all week.
But several Labor MPs say they believe the government will eventually decide on some kind of concessional treatment for startups, in recognition of the unique settings of such businesses and concerns about how the new cost-base inflation model would affect them in ways that other businesses would not.
Read more here:
Continued from previous post …
The Labor opposition recently referred Mander to the Queensland crime and corruption commission over a separate claim, that the two ministers had failed to declare a conflict of interest created by the relationship.
The premier was repeatedly asked, at a press conference on Friday morning, if he trusts his minister.
“He has assured me he has done the right thing … the matter is being investigated by the AFP and, I assure you, at the end of it I will make a decision based on what the AFP says, and what happens during that process,” Crisafulli said, in a press conference this morning.
Asked again whether he trusted the minister, the premier said: “he’s assured me that he’s been truthful, and now it’s up to the AFP to investigate that”.
Crisafulli said the conflict of interest claim would also be “tested” as a result of the police referral.
I want them tested across all of those bodies … but the standard of accountability will be there.
Crisafulli wouldn’t say if there will be a reshuffle as a result of the move, but predicted the federal police would move to resolve the matter quickly.
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Queensland premier says he wasn’t warned before minister’s referral to AFP
The Queensland premier revealed he was taken by surprise by the news that his Olympics minister had been referred to the Australian federal police, because Tim Mander didn’t warn him.
Mander reportedly received the news of his police referral on Wednesday night, while in New Zealand. He then spoke at length with his lawyer.
But the minister didn’t communicate the news with him, premier David Crisafulli said.
Crisafulli said he was in a budget meeting on Thursday, around lunchtime, when a staff member passed him a note to inform him of Mander’s AFP referral.
Asked why Mander didn’t tell him earlier, the premier said: “He stepped aside, so I would suggest to you there’s been a consequence for him.”
Mander stood down yesterday over claims he misled the Australian electoral commission about where he lived.
The former Scripture Union head was allegedly enrolled to vote at the home of a staffer, after moving out of his home, due to having an affair with fellow minister Amanda Camm.
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One Nation leads Labor and Coalition as voters sour on budget
One Nation has outpolled both the Labor and Coalition in a new poll from Capital Brief and DemosAu.
The poll puts One Nation’s primary support at 28%, compared with Labor’s 26%, the Coalition on 23%, and the Greens on 13%. The poll has a margin of error of 3.6%.
The numbers show crumbling support for the major parties – Labor got 34.6% of the primary vote in the 2025 federal election and the Coalition received 31.8%. One Nation got just 6.4% and didn’t win any seats.
“We can no longer speak of One Nation as a minor party” says Dr Luke Mansillo, a political scientist at the University of Sydney.
George Hasanakos, head of Research at DemosAU, said if the poll results were reproduced at an election, the most likely outcome would be a hung parliament.
He said the government’s release of the 2026 federal budget on 12 May had not provided the political lift Labor needed, with voters broadly negative on the budget.
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Feral horse numbers surge in Kosciuszko national park
Feral horse numbers in the Kosciuszko national park have surged, with new survey data estimating populations climbed by thousands after the New South Wales government paused aerial culling in 2025.
Conservation advocates say the rebound in numbers demands an urgent rethink of retention zones that allow thousands of horses to remain in the park.
The government’s annual survey of feral horse populations, released Friday, estimated there were between 6,476 and 16,411 feral horses in the national park in late 2025.
This is a sharp increase on the previous year – the first survey after aerial shooting of horses resumed – when numbers dropped to an estimated 2,131-5,639 horses.
Read more here:
Pauline Hanson announces Norway-inspired gas policy
In case you missed it last night:
One Nation has vowed to replace the contentious offshore gas profits tax and acquire 30% equity stakes in new ventures under an interventionist policy designed to extract “vastly greater returns” for Australian taxpayers from the resource.
The proposal for the commonwealth to co-own gas projects drew a mix of criticism and cynicism from the government, industry and the Coalition, which accused One Nation of importing ideas from Venezuela.
Pauline Hanson used a speech to a major gas industry conference in Adelaide on Thursday to detail a policy first flagged on the night of One Nation’s win in the Farrer byelection.
Hanson said the public was “rightly unhappy” and “public unrest is building” about the return to taxpayers from the Australian oil and gas sector, voicing the same concerns as the broad coalition of groups campaigning to replace the petroleum resource rent tax (PRRT) with a 25% export levy.
Read more here:
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Guzman y Gomez suddenly leaves the US market
Guzman y Gomez, the Mexican-themed fast food chain, is pulling out of the United States in a spectacular turnaround on its American market ambitions, AAP reports.
The decision was made because the financial performance of the US business was not acceptable or meeting targets.
“I have always been confident in the differentiation of our food and guest experience, however this was not translating to an improvement in sales momentum,” founder and co-chief executive Steven Marks said.
Guzman’s US experiment lasted about six years, after it opened its first store in Chicago in January 2020.
“I realised this was going to take significantly more time and capital than we had expected,” Marks said.
Guzman on Friday reiterated that its Australian operation was still growing strongly.
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Victoria police investigating fire at car dealership in Melbourne
Victoria police are investigating the latest suspicious fire, at a car dealership in Richmond overnight.
Police believe up to three offenders smashed their way into the business at around 11.20pm on Thursday night. Once inside, they allegedly used accelerant to light the fire before fleeing.
Two cleaners inside at the time were able to escape without injury. The building sustained minor damage.
A crime scene has been established, and police are appealing for anyone with footage or knowledge of the incident to contact them.
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Parramatta Powerhouse museum takes flight with inaugural exhibition
The first items to go on display at a highly-anticipated museum have been installed, including a replica of the first Qantas plane, AAP reports.
A skilled group of technicians have manoeuvred the plane and two other pioneering aircraft into place in Parramatta Powerhouse’s largest exhibition space after construction wrapped in April.
The maiden exhibition, Task Eternal, will explore humanity’s quest to overcome gravity and take to the skies and will open to the public, along with the rest of the museum, later in the year.
The Qantas Avro 504K aircraft – weighing more than 760kg and measuring nine metres long with a wingspan of 11 metres – will feature alongside 3000 other objects.
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Three charged with murder in Sydney after man dies from fall
Three people have been charged with murder after a man died after a fall in Sydney’s north-west last week.
NSW police said emergency services were called to a unit complex in Castle Hill on 17 May amid reports a man had been shouting from a balcony. On arrival, officers found the man, 44, suffering serious injuries in a garden outside the building.
The man was treated by paramedics at the scene but could not be revived.
After inquiries, police arrested two men, 38 and 30, and a woman, 34. All three have been charged with murder. They have all been refused bail and will appear in court today.
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Public transport use back to normal in NSW
New South Wales residents have stopped switching to public transport as the fuel price spike fades.
The state government had flagged a spike in public transport use amid high petrol and diesel costs. Data from Transport for NSW showed average daily trips surged in April.
There were about 2.1m trips a day throughout April 2025, but there were 2.3m a trips a day by mid-April 2026. Trips rose across trains, metro services, buses, light rail and ferries.
The 10% uplift is significant considering NSW did not cut its fares. In Victoria, where public transport is free until the end of May, public transport use was 20% higher in April.
However, while Victoria’s uplift was expected to endure, NSW’s has eased. Fuel costs fell over April, with unleaded in Sydney averaging 242 cents a litre at the month’s start but 182 cents at its end, according MotorMouth. It now costs 187.7 cents a litre.
Network use has also dropped in NSW, with daily trips falling to 2.2m last week, the same as in the equivalent week last year. While train trips are still slightly higher, average daily bus use in NSW is now lower than it was a year ago.
Plibersek says behaviour by Ben-Gvir ‘disgraceful’ as Greens call for stronger response
Tanya Plibersek, minister for social services, said the behaviour by Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir was “shameful” and “disgraceful”.
Plibersek, speaking to RN Breakfast, had this to say:
I think it was absolutely disgraceful behaviour and I’m very pleased to say that the foreign minister has said that in the strongest terms to the Israeli government. Our Australian ambassador in Israel has made the position of the Australian government very clear that this behaviour is completely unacceptable.
Greens senator Nick McKim went a step further, telling RN:
That is abhorrent treatment of people by a senior figure in the Israeli government. People are being degraded. They’re having their human rights abused. It is effectively a form of torture. And the simple fact is that Israel is now a rogue state. They’re kidnapping people, including Australian citizens, from international waters on the high seas. It’s basically an act of piracy …
I mean, this demands the strongest possible response from our prime minister and our foreign minister. A far, far stronger response than they’ve delivered to date.
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Father of Australian on flotilla detained by Israel rejects ambassador’s claim no one harmed
Also last night, Chris O’Connor, father of Neve O’Connor, one of the 11 Australians that was on the humanitarian flotilla to Gaza that was detained by Israel, rejected Israel’s ambassador to Australia’s claim that those detained in flotillas have not been harmed.
O’Connor told ABC’s 7.30 he had not spoken to Neve since before the flotilla was intercepted but alleged the first time his daughter was taken hostage “she was beaten”, subjected to psychological torture and hospitalised.
And as she said to me – the beatings were not bad compared to what happened to men of colour that she saw, and she heard the screams.
O’Connor said it was the Israeli Defence Force behind the alleged attacks. He said:
She said she was kneed in the face.
She was punched in the ribs.
She was dragged across the outdoor area.
The psychological torture she had was being in a stress position for many hours.
They were sprayed with water and were subject to hypothermic conditions overnight, because it was very cold in the containers.
O’Connor said the claims made by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Dr Hillel Newman, that flotilla detainees were not mistreated had been countered by video testimony.
So no, I absolutely reject that.
Updated
Israel’s ambassador tells ABC 'no one was harmed' on flotilla
Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Dr Hillel Newman, claimed last night no one taken into custody from humanitarian aid flotillas headed to Gaza were harmed, after a far-right Israeli minister posted a video of himself abusing bound activists captured drew widespread condemnation.
The footage showed Israel’s national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, waving an Israeli flag and mocking and taunting the detainees.
Newman said on ABC’s 7.30 Thursday night the actions of Ben-Gvir “have been condemned from wall-to-wall – from the leadership of the entire state of Israel” but as the election processes were beginning to get under way in Israel, he would not say whether Ben-Gvir would be fired.
While condemning the incident, Newman claimed those detained from the flotilla weren’t being mistreated. He said:
No one, out of the 400 plus people that were on the flotilla, no one was harmed.
The interception itself was done with great sensitivity by the state of Israel, by our security forces.
He rejected claims of violence and sexual abuse towards those who had been detained from flotillas in the past:
There are many accusations which are thrown out there … which are untrue.
Updated
Australian onboard flotilla says group was treated ‘really poorly’ after detention by Israel
All of the activists travelling aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla who were detained by Israeli authorities this week have been released from detention and are now in Istanbul.
A statement from the flotilla’s Australian delegation said 428 people, including 11 Australians, were free after spending about 80 hours in detention. The Australians were undergoing examinations at a hospital and will meet with lawyers in the coming days before their return to Australia.
Zack Schofield, one of the Australians onboard, said the group was taken to prison and “treated really poorly”:
Many of us haven’t eaten for days. We were denied water for two days. … But it is nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians in the occupied territories every single day. …
The message to our Australian government is that they need to cut ties with Israel. We need to cancel the alliance, stop sending them weapons parts, stop giving them political support.
Updated
Good morning
Good morning and welcome to Friday, we’ve made it. It’s Nick Visser here again to take you through the day’s news. Here’s what’s on deck:
The 428 activists aboard the Global Sumud Flotilla, including 11 Australians, have now been released by Israeli authorities after they were detained earlier this week. One of those Aussies said they were in custody for about 80 hours and denied food and water, “but it is nothing compared to what happens to Palestinians”.
Public transport use is back to normal in NSW after the spike in fuel prices fades. At the height of the crisis, trips across trains, metro services, buses, light rail and ferries lifted by about 10%. In Victoria, where public transport is free, use was 20% higher.
We’ll have more soon. Stick with us.
