Townsville man fatally shot by police – as it happened

That is all for today, folks. Thank you for joining us on the blog. Here is a wrap-up:

• A court has agreed to allow the government to seize the house of an online child sex abuser;

• A Townsville man has allegedly been fatally shot by police after he approached a police station with a knife;

• Queensland’s opposition leader has promised to give adult sentences to children for certain crimes if election;

• Police are treating the deaths of three children in a Sydney house fire overnight as a domestic-related multiple homicide;

• Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi has rejected claims the party is exploiting the situation in Gaza for political gain, describing the suggestion as “deeply offensive”;

• Indigenous excellence has been celebrated at the NAIDOC awards in Adelaide on Saturday night;

• Government Services Minister Bill Shorten has defended the prime minister, saying he “didn’t overreact” on Fatima Payman exit;

• Alex de Minaur ‘relieved’ over easy Wimbledon ride after his opponent pulled out with an injury;

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has congratulated his British counterpart, Keir Starmer, on his election win and discussed Aukus, Gaza and Ukraine in their first call.

We will be back tomorrow morning with all the latest.

Auction activity remains stable this weekend

There were 1,747 auctions held this weekend. This is a drop compared to the 2,030 held last week but still a gain on the 1,428 auctions that occurred at the same time last year.

Based on results collected so far, CoreLogic’s summary found that the preliminary clearance rate was 74.7% across the country, which is lower than the 70% preliminary rate recorded last week but well above the 63% actual rate on final numbers.

Across the capital cities:

• Sydney: 545 of 756 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 76.7%

• Melbourne: 467 of 658 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 70.2%

• Brisbane: 95 0f 134 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 78.9%

• Adelaide: 66 of 145 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 84.8%

• Canberra: 28 of 43 auctions with a preliminary clearance rate of 64.3%

• Tasmania: No auctions held.

• Perth: Seven of 11 auctions held.

Tax cuts, rates chatter to play into consumer sentiment

Higher mortgage repayments, rents and other elevated living costs have been dampening spirits and keeping consumer confidence subdued.

The latest survey from Westpac and the Melbourne Institute on Tuesday is unlikely to show much of an improvement in consumer mood, AMP Australia chief economist Shane Oliver said.

[The consumer sentiment index] is likely to remain weak and could fall again following increased talk of another rate hike, although this may be partly offset by high media coverage around the tax cuts.

Stronger-than-expected monthly inflation data for May stirred up speculation interest rates might need to stay elevated for longer or even rise further to tackle persistent price pressures.

The latest retail trade numbers were also on the hot side, although the numbers were likely pushed higher by people taking advantage of early financial year sales rather than consumers feeling compelled to splash out.

Dr Oliver was still of the view interest rates had peaked and the next move would be down, namely because the Reserve Bank of Australia “needed to be very wary of doing too much”.

A check-in on the business sector is also expected on Tuesday when the National Australia Bank releases its monthly survey.

Businesses have been reporting a gradual decline in conditions as the economy slows in response to higher interest rates and global headwinds.

Australian Bureau of Statistics data releases include lending indicators on Monday, the monthly business turnover indicator on Wednesday and overseas arrivals and departures on Friday.

A panel appearance from the RBA’s head of economic research, John Simon, could also contain useful details about the central bank’s view of the economy.

Simon is scheduled to speak at the Australian Conference of Economists in Adelaide on Wednesday.

– AAP

Complex blood cancer on the rise in Australia

The number of Australians being diagnosed with a complex blood cancer is forecast to rise sharply over the next 25 years, new research shows.

By 2043, 80,000 people will have contracted multiple myeloma, an increase of nearly 15 per cent on previous predictions.

Mortality rates are projected to fall by about 27.5 per cent, according to a study led by the Daffodil Centre in a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney.

But, even so, about 28,000 – equivalent to more than one in a thousand of the current population – will die from the disease, the research published in the Medical Journal of Australia found.

Most people – 90 per cent, according to Cancer Council Australia – have multiple lesions at the time of diagnosis, which is why it is most commonly referred to as multiple myeloma.

It is a complex cancer to treat, and little is known about preventing the disease or identifying people at increased risk, study lead author Associate Prof Eleonora Feletto said.

- AAP

6d ago00.47 EDT

Emily Wind

Two bodies recovered from beach in Sydney’s south

Two bodies have been recovered from a beach in Sydney’s south after a search and rescue operation.

Officers began searching Little Bay Beach around 11.10am today following reports of a concern for welfare. A short time later a body was found near the rocks.

Around 1.40pm a second body was also found near the rocks.

Neither person has been formally identified and no further details are known at this stage, New South Wales police said in a statement.

A police operation is still underway in the area and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.

Little Bay Beach is less than 10km south of Coogee.

PNG government minister charged over alleged domestic assault in Sydney

A minister in the Papua New Guinea government has been arrested in Sydney after an alleged domestic assault offence.

Guardian Australia understands that the country’s petroleum minister, Jimmy Maladina, was charged with domestic assault on Saturday after an alleged incident in Bondi.

NSW police said a 31-year-old woman received facial injuries allegedly as the result of an “altercation” with a 58-year-old man who was known to her. The man was arrested and taken to Waverley police station, where he was charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Emily Wind:

6d ago00.21 EDT

Daniel Hurst

Jewish council criticises Mehreen Faruqi’s comments on war memorial vandalism

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has criticised the deputy leader of the Greens, Mehreen Faruqi, over her comments about the recent vandalism of the Australian War Memorial in Canberra with pro-Palestine slogans.

Faruqi told the ABC’s Insiders program today that the Greens supported “peaceful protest”. When pressed by the host, David Speers, on whether it was “OK” for people to target the war memorial, Faruqi said:

I think that talking about some paint on a building rather than rather than what’s happening in Israel …

Speers asked whether it was “a pretty sacred building for a lot of people” and Faruqi replied:

I wouldn’t have done it but I know, I understand that people are angry and people want some way of the government to listen to them.

The co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Peter Wertheim, said in a statement issued this afternoon:

The suggestion that the vandalism of a war memorial was merely ‘a bit of paint’ waves aside the gross disrespect that was shown to our ex-servicemen and women, and particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice that has secured our democracy to this day.

Those who sit in our parliament by virtue of that democracy should be the last people to make excuses for that kind of despicable behaviour.

Police officer’s documents ‘inadvertently left’ on roof of car

A South Australian police officer has “inadvertently left documents” on the roof of a police car in what is being described by state law enforcement as an “unfortunate, innocent oversight”.

SA police confirmed that the documents were left on the roof of a vehicle as it left a suburban police station before they were found by a member of the public and immediately returned.

The documents are said not to contain any sensitive information and were returned to police without the finder reading the material.

In a statement, SA police said:

The incident was an unfortunate, innocent oversight by the officer involved. The officer has admitted their error.

The documents involved do not represent a security risk for police, divulge any police methodology not already in the public arena or compromise any police operations moving forward.

The documents are described as notes, maps, media articles, a tasking incident running sheet and a meeting agenda. They were returned to the officer intact.

Information concerning South Australian police is strictly controlled at law.

The South Australian police commission has not authorised publication of any details that may identify the officer, including their name, rank and location of the incident.

The home of a paedophile has been forfeited to the government after he was convicted of possessing thousands of child abuse images and videos.

The 34-year-old was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment in December after he pleaded guilty to five online child abuse material offences.

The Australian Federal Police’s new Criminal Assets Confiscation Taskforce (CACT) team launched a separate investigation to restrain the offender’s assets.

An application was made to the NT’s supreme court to have the offender’s $375,000 home restrained under the Proceeds of Crime Act and forfeited.

The serious and confronting nature of the offending was considered when launching the action.

It’s the second time a home in Australia associated with online child abuse offences has been forfeited. The first was in South Australia in 2020.

- AAP

Real criminals, fake victims: how chatbots are being deployed in the global fight against phone scammers

A scammer calls and asks for a passcode. Malcolm, an elderly man with an English accent, is confused.

“What’s this business you’re talking about?” Malcolm asks.

Another day, another scam phone call.

This time, Ibrahim, a cooperative and polite man with an Egyptian accent, picks up. “Frankly, I am not too sure I can recall buying anything recently,” he tells the hopeful con artist. “Maybe one of the kids did,” Ibrahim goes on, “but that’s not your fault, is it?”

The scammers are real, but Malcolm and Ibrahim are not. They’re just two of the conversational artificial intelligence bots created by Prof Dali Kaafar and his team. Through his research at Macquarie University, Kaafar founded Apate – named for the Greek goddess of deception.

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Tory Shepherd:

Officers involved in fatal shooting to be interviewed by Ethical Standards Command

Queensland police say a 46-year-old man fatally shot by officers in Townsville approached a police station with a knife.

Police allegedly watched the man approach the station with the weapon.

Officers confronted the man on a footpath outside the station.

Acting Det Supt Jason Brosnan said two officers were involved in the incident.

The officers from inside have responded and challenged him, just in front of the station.

One officer has produced a firearm, the other officer has produced a taser.

Both the taser and firearm have discharged when the male failed to comply with direction.

Two additional officers then left the station to provide support.

Brosnan said the man was not previously known by police.

No witnesses were present, but the officers were wearing body-worn cameras and it was caught on CCTV.

The man’s motivation will form part of the investigation.

The Ethical Standards Command is interviewing the officers involved and a report is being prepared for the coroner.

Ancient asteroid reveals solar system’s secrets

Unique and ancient asteroid fragments brought to Earth by a Nasa spacecraft are helping Australian scientists unlock secrets about the solar system and how life formed.

The tiny samples were harvested by the Osiris-Rex spacecraft in 2023 beyond the moon more than 300m kilometres and several years travel from Earth on the asteroid Bennu.

Planetary scientist Nick Timms described the samples as “relics of the early solar system”.

They’ve been hanging around and not really changed too much since before the planets were formed.

Timms said the particles, which haven’t been contaminated by the Earth’s ecosphere like meteorites, were answering “age-old questions about how we came to be and our place in the cosmos”.

Bennu is remarkable, it’s so close to being exactly the same composition as the sun.

Analyses showed Bennu, which is 4.5bn years old and about 500 metres across, was among the most chemically primitive materials known to humans.

We don’t quite have anything like it in all the thousands and thousands of meteorites that landed on Earth.

The sample has pre-solar grains created before our solar system existed, which can provide a detailed biography of the lives of ancient stars.

Most of the pieces are almost like soil, they could crumble in your hand, they’re very soft.

- AAP

Tesla won’t free up use of its batteries, leaving owners unable to reap full benefits

Australian owners of Tesla batteries could miss out on lucrative revenue streams because the US energy company restricts the devices’ ability to interact locally with third parties, and authorities continue to dither over setting and enforcing standards.

An increasing number of products, from air conditioners to hot water heaters and solar panels, can be controlled remotely, and consumers can sign deals rewarding them for altering power usage during peak load periods, including supplying electricity to the grid.

In many US states, Tesla is required to enable so-called battery interoperability. However, industry participants say the company disables that capability in its main storage product – the $15,000 Powerwall 2 battery – it sells to Australians.

They say federal and state governments should impose US mandates on Tesla and other battery suppliers under the AS4777 connection standard to maximise future benefits to consumers and the grid. Firms restricting utility should be excluded from rebates, such as New South Wales’ subsidy program of as much as $2,400 a battery.

For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Peter Hannam:

Tasmanian timber showcased in Hobart AFL stadium design

Tasmanian timber will be showcased as a major feature of Hobart’s new AFL stadium design.

Concept designs for the Macquarie Point stadium were released on Sunday.

The 23,000-seat roofed stadium planned for the Hobart waterfront site is a condition of Tasmania’s entry into the AFL, slated for 2028.

Sport and Events Minister Nic Street said the government had worked to design a “welcoming, functional and uniquely Tasmanian” multipurpose stadium.

When completed, the stadium will be the largest timber roofed stadium in the world.

While developing this stadium is an important step in realising our dream of seeing our own AFL and AFLW teams running out on our own field, this facility will offer so much more.

The design features a woven-style facade that is based on the roundhouse structure that used to be part of the Hobart Rail Yard at Macquarie Point.

The maritime heritage of the broader area has also been taken into account, and culturally informed under the guidance of Aboriginal community members.

The transparent roof, which is supported by an internal steel and timber frame, provides an opportunity to showcase Tasmanian timber.

That frame will support a fully transparent roof, which will allow light in, support natural turf growth and avoid the need for large light towers.

Tasmania’s Liberal government, which signed the AFL and stadium deal, has pledged to cap the state’s spend at $375m – with private investment to cover overruns.

- AAP