AAP Rolling News Bulletin for June 23 at 0530
Memorial (CANBERRA)
As the Australian War Memorial raises the curtain on a major new gallery and space, the presence of alleged war criminal Ben Roberts-Smith will cast a long shadow.
All living Victoria Cross recipients have been invited to attend Tuesday evening's official opening of the memorial's atrium and Anzac Hall, a gallery that focuses mainly on Australia's commitments to the Middle East, Afghanistan and peacekeeping operations.
Judge Susan Horan earlier in June permitted Roberts-Smith to attend the opening, which required a bail variation.
The decorated soldier is accused of murdering or ordering the murders of five unarmed detainees while deployed in Afghanistan between 2009 and 2012.
Judge Horan barred Roberts-Smith from discussing the cases against himself or fellow accused war criminal Oliver Schulz.
Federal (CANBERRA)
A final report into huge cuts to the National Disability Insurance Scheme is likely to be delayed for a third time.
A snap parliamentary inquiry's final report on changes to the $56 million scheme is due to be tabled on Tuesday after two extensions were granted.
However, an interim version is expected to be tabled instead, sources close to the matter told AAP.
The government hopes to use the fortnight before parliament's winter break to get the controversial bill through parliament after the report lands, requiring deals with both the coalition and the Greens.
The proposed NDIS overhaul would boot 160,000 people from the scheme to rein in spending and leave thousands more with less funding.
At the same time, sweeping changes to the capital gains tax and negative gearing have not been well-received by voters, with polls showing support for Labor continues to drop.
Flu (MELBOURNE)
The detection of a deadly strain of bird flu in Australia could have considerable impacts on the poultry industry and broader agricultural sector.
Two birds in Western Australia have tested positive for the H5N1 virus, with some major producers locking down farms as a precaution, despite no cases being detected in commercial operations.
It was different from past bird flu strains Australia had faced because the virus had caused significant damage overseas, Australian National University expert Robyn Alders said.
"The impacts are considerable, both in terms of agriculture but there are concerns for the poultry industry," Dr Alders said.
"We are aware that the H5N1 is causing significant infection and productivity losses to the dairy industry in the US.
"There have been some evidence in wild pigs out of Canada."
BudgetQld (BRISBANE)
An Olympic‑sized balancing act looms for a state government as it ramps up its 2032 Games preparation.
Queensland's Liberal National government has vowed to use Tuesday's state budget to keep the Brisbane Games on track as it bankrolls a massive Olympic construction program.
"We're seizing the generational opportunity presented by the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games to create legacy infrastructure for all Queenslanders that will drive tourism and support grassroots sports throughout the state," Treasurer David Janetzki told AAP.
"After 1200 days of delay and mayhem under the former government, we're getting on with the job of delivering the Games."
The government must balance short‑term relief with long‑term financial risks, University of Queensland Business School professor Shaun Bond said.
"This budget tries to walk a tightrope between easing cost‑of‑living pressure now and not spooking markets with the scale of its debt," he told AAP.
BudgetNSW (SYDNEY)
Tolls, trains, schools and hospitals are all slated for an upgrade in a cautious state budget intent on delivering services in rocky economic times.
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will deliver his fourth, and potentially last, budget on Tuesday ahead of the March 2027 election.
"We're determined to use Tuesday's budget to build a state working families can afford," he told reporters on Monday.
"We understand that people are under such pressure ... they expect us to provide help for today but to build for tomorrow."
Rising interest rates, a stalled property market and the fallout from the war in the Middle East have further slowed an already sluggish Australian economy.
The treasurer wants to keep a tight grip on the purse strings, touting the mantra of "relief and reform", but the opposition says it is too timid and vision is needed.
Iran (BURGENSTOCK)
US Vice President JD Vance says talks with Iranian officials in Switzerland have laid a "good foundation" for a final peace deal despite tensions over the Strait of Hormuz and Lebanon.
The two sides, trying to build on an interim deal signed last week, agreed to a road map towards a permanent agreement within 60 days at the talks in the Swiss mountain resort of Burgenstock, mediators Pakistan and Qatar said.
They also agreed on a mechanism to end fighting in Lebanon between US ally Israel and Iran-aligned Hezbollah, and opened a communications line to help ensure safe passage for commercial ships through the strait, a vital global oil supply route.
Vance said Iran had agreed to allow in nuclear inspectors, and to establish mechanisms to handle its assets frozen abroad and manage ceasefires.
Legal: Ahmad (MELBOURNE)
An accused "ISIS bride" who returned after a decade in war-torn Syria has indicated her wish for a small and peaceful life, agreeing to avoid mosques if she were to be released back into the community.
Kawsar Ahmad, who has been charged with slavery offences after she and other family members of former Islamic State fighters returned to Australia in May, appeared in Melbourne Magistrates Court for the second day of her bail hearing.
The 54-year-old grandmother is the mother of fellow alleged "ISIS bride" Zeinab Ahmad, 31, who was refused bail on Wednesday.
A letter from Kawsar Ahmad's former mosque in Preston was submitted to the court on Monday indicating support for her to stay away if she were to be conditionally released.
UK Starmer (LONDON)
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer is expected to set out a timetable for his departure and usher in an orderly transfer of power to rival Andy Burnham, paving the way for Britain's seventh leader in a decade.
Less than two years after Starmer won a landslide election victory that promised to end Britain's chaotic politics, one source said the prime minister had spent the weekend considering whether to step aside or fight a leadership contest.
Skills Minister Jacqui Smith told Times Radio early on Monday she would have liked Starmer to stay on but he had been weighing what was best for the country, due to the "pressure that is being brought upon him".
The threat to Starmer, which has been building for months, increased sharply on Friday when Burnham, the Greater Manchester mayor, decisively won a parliamentary election to return to Westminster, beating a candidate from Nigel Farage's Reform UK party, which has led national opinion polls for more than a year.
In finance ...
Metcash (SYDNEY)
Food and liquor sales have picked up and there are signs a national crackdown on illegal smoking products is working, a leading retail supplier says.
Metcash, which supplies goods to 6,500 independent stores including IGA, Mitre 10, Bottle-O and Cellarbrations, says trading was down in May as consumer sentiment softened in response to geopolitical uncertainty and cost-of-living pressures.
But food and liquor sales bounced back well in June, recovering to the same growth levels of 2025/26, chief executive Doug Jones told a results briefing on Monday.
Trading overall for the first seven weeks of Metcash's new financial year, which began May 1, had been steady, he said.
Total sales were up 1.9 per cent, with food sales climbing 1.6 per cent, liquor sales rising 1.3 per cent and hardware sales increasing 5.8 per cent.
Obit Greenspan (WASHINGTON, D. C.)
The US Federal Reserve has expressed "deep sadness" at the death of former Fed chairman Alan Greenspan at the age of 100.
His wife of 29 years, NBC news correspondent Andrea Mitchell, said in a statement that he died of complications from Parkinson's disease.
"Alan passed away at our home this morning at the age of 100 from complications of Parkinson's disease," Mitchell wrote on NBC's website.
"He was a giant of a man who helped shape the US economy for decades under presidents of both parties but was always honest in acknowledging his mistakes," she said.
The Fed praised his service, which included heading the Fed during the 2008 market crash.
"During his 18 years as chairman, he guided the Federal Reserve through periods of significant economic expansion as well as periods of considerable stress," the US central bank said in a statement.
In entertainment ...
Adele (LONDON)
Adele is reportedly preparing to make a huge comeback two years after taking a break from music.
The 38-year-old pop superstar stepped out of the spotlight in November 2024 as she wrapped up her Las Vegas residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace.
However, a new report suggests she has left her home in Los Angeles and flown to London, where she has been spotted at Church Studios in Crouch End, North London - the venue owned by producer Paul Epworth where she recorded parts of her 2015 album 25.
A source told The Sun newspaper the singer had been busy writing and recording new music there.
"Adele is spending at least a fortnight in London writing and recording music," the source told the newspaper.
Payne (LONDON)
Liam Payne's son Bear will inherit the late British singer's multi-million dollar estate.
New probate documents have confirmed the tragic One Direction star's fortune will pass to his only child following his death in Argentina from a hotel balcony fall in 2024.
The former One Direction singer, who died aged 31 after falling from his third-floor room at the Casa Sur Hotel in Buenos Aires on 16 October 2024, left no will.
But under UK intestacy rules, his son Bear, now nine, was always expected to inherit the estate because Liam was not married or in a civil partnership at the time of his death.
Newly released British High Court documents revealed on Sunday by the Daily Mail now allow parts of the estate to be used for Bear's benefit before he reaches adulthood.
In sport ...
Wim Aust (LONDON)
There were four winners and two losers as Australia's hopefuls began Wimbledon qualifying on a sweltering day in Roehampton, south west London.
Dane Sweeney, Tristan Schoolkate, Chris O'Connell and Bernie Tomic were the victors, the first three of those living up to being seeded 11, 28 and 32 respectively.
However, James McCabe and Alex Bolt are out.
Tomic now plays O'Connell with the winner one match away from a place in the main draw.
Tomic, a Wimbledon quarter-finalist 15 years ago aged 18, defeated Japan's Kaichi Uchida 6-3 6-2. O'Connell, fresh from winning his first grass-court event, the Nottingham Open, on Saturday, beat Joel Schwaerzler of Austria 7-6 (7-3) 6-4.
Schoolkate defeated local wildcard Johannus Monday 7-5 6-3 and will next meet another Briton, Dan Evans. The 36-year-old former world No. 21 is trying to reach his final Wimbledon the hard way after criticising the organisers' decision not to hand him a wildcard. He has announced he will retire after the championships.
Com26 Ath (MELBOURNE)
Australian sprint sensation Eddie Nketia is talking up his potential to run even faster at the Commonwealth Games after a succession of eye-catching times.
Nketia will make his Australian debut in Glasgow after switching late last year from New Zealand. He is one of the headline names in the 86-athlete track and field team named on Monday.
The 25-year-old's performances in the last few months have featured a wind-assisted 9.74 seconds for the blue-riband 100m. The Commonwealth Games record is Usain Bolt's 9.88 seconds, set at Glasgow in 2014.
Bolt set the world record of 9.58 in 2009.
Asked at the team announcement if he can run faster, Nketia replied: "I would love to - I want to run as fast as I can. If we can get a 9.6, we get a 9.6, if we can get the world record, we get the world record.
Ends Bulletin
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