Good afternoon. Brittany Higgins broke down in court today as she testified, in graphic detail, about the night she alleges Bruce Lehrmann raped her.
Higgins claimed Lehrmann had been “handsy” with her at a nightclub prior to going to Parliament House, before describing the alleged sexual assault. Higgins told the defamation trial she was very intoxicated when she arrived at parliament, and that she awoke after feeling a pain in her leg and found Lehrmann on top of her “having sex with me”.
Lehrmann has repeatedly denied sexually assaulting Higgins.
- Inflation rate eases to 4.9% | Inflation eased sharply in October as weak consumer spending made it less likely the Reserve Bank will inflict another interest rate rise on the economy. Economists had expected CPI to come in at 5.2%.
- Australia supports further truce extensions in Gaza | The federal government welcomed the two-day truce extension in Gaza “and supports further extensions”, but stopped short of calling for a permanent ceasefire. Meanwhile, Hamas has invited Elon Musk to visit Gaza to see the “extent of destruction” by Israeli strikes. The invitation comes after the tech billionaire accompanied the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to inspect an Israeli kibbutz that was attacked by Hamas.
- Storm and flood warnings for east coast | The Bureau of Meteorology has warned of a thunderstorm risk for “most of the east coast” today – from south-east Queensland all the way to northern Victoria. The largest impact of the thunderstorms will be felt along the NSW south coast.
- ATO apologises for on-hold tax debt recovery letters | The Australian Taxation Office has paused a letter campaign alerting taxpayers they have historical “on-hold” debts after conceding its communication caused “unnecessary distress”. Thousands of Australians were recently advised they had money owing – ranging from a few cents to thousands of dollars – that might be decades old and would be taken from future refunds.
- Charges upgraded to manslaughter in Clare Nowland death | Sr Const Kristian White, the New South Wales police officer accused of Tasering 95-year-old Clare Nowland who later died, has been charged with manslaughter after advice from the state’s director of public prosecutions. The 33-year-old officer had already been charged with recklessly causing grievous bodily harm, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and common assault after the encounter at the Cooma aged care facility.
- Climate crisis the biggest concern for Australian teenagers | A new survey of almost 20,000 Australians aged 15-19 has found almost half consider climate change and severe weather to be an important concern, ahead of discrimination and the economy.
- Canadian ‘incel’-motivated murder | A Canadian man who used a machete to murder a Toronto massage parlour employee has been sentenced to life in prison for the killing that the judge deemed to be an act of terrorism motivated by the online “incel” subculture.
- Iowa rights groups sue over law banning LGBTQ+ books | Several families are suing to stop Iowa’s new law that bans books from school libraries, forbids teachers from raising LGBTQ+ issues and forces educators in some cases to out the gender identity of students to their parents. Republican lawmakers say the laws are designed to affirm parents’ rights and protect children.*This is an excerpt from today's Afternoon Update newsletter. Sign up here to get the full version delivered to your inbox every weekday.
