Welcome, readers, to Afternoon Update.
In submissions to the federal court, released today, Network Ten has argued Bruce Lehrmann should pay all of the network’s legal fees
, known as indemnity costs, and estimated to be $8m. The former Liberal staffer lost the defamation case he brought against Ten and Lisa Wilkinson, with the court finding that on the balance of probabilities Lehrmann raped Brittany Higgins
on a minister’s couch in Parliament House in 2019.
Network Ten told the court that Lehrmann’s decision to sue The Project for defamation was “deliberately wicked and calculated” and an abuse of process. Lehrmann’s submission accepted it was open to the court to order him to pay the costs of the respondents on an indemnity basis, but asked Justice Michael Lee to consider whether he should be compensated for the failure of Ten’s qualified privilege defence in the case.
- PM labels Musk ‘an arrogant billionaire who thinks he is above the law’ | The war of words
between X and the Australian government over the platform’s refusal to delete posts linked to the alleged Sydney church stabbing has escalated today
, with Anthony Albanese calling Musk “a bloke who’s chosen ego and showing violence over common sense”.
- Beau Lamarre’s lawyer suggests murder charges defendable on mental health grounds | John Walford said outside court on Tuesday
that the charges against his client – who is accused of murdering Jesse Baird, 26, and Luke Davies, 29 – could be defendable on mental health grounds. The case was adjourned until 18 June after a brief status hearing on Tuesday.
- Tiny freshwater Snowy Mountains fish faces extinction | Even on its best days, the Yalmy galaxias is hard to find. The small, native freshwater fish is only known to live in a couple of tributaries of the Snowy River in remote and mountainous East Gippsland. It was last seen in March 2023, when a government survey found 20 survivors. Now it’s “on the verge of disappearing for ever”
.
- Victoria scraps plans for safe injecting room | A proposed safe injecting room
in Melbourne’s CBD has been rejected by the Victorian government, with addiction experts warning the decision will “cost lives”. The government concluded “there was no site that could balance the needs of drug users with the broader community”.
- NT government deal to buy Beetaloo Basin gas from US company labelled ‘carbon bomb’ | The Northern Territory government has signed a major deal
to buy fracked gas from the Beetaloo basin south of Katherine a year after it gave the green light for production in the region. Climate and First Nations groups have criticised the deal.
- Man charged with domestic murder was on bail | A man accused of murdering his ex-girlfriend in regional New South Wales while on bail for rape, stalking and cruelty charges against her will remain behind bars. Daniel Billings has been charged with the domestic violence
murder of Molly Ticehurst, 28, whose body was found in a Forbes homes in the early hours of Monday.
- Australian teenager Arisa Trew named action sportsperson of the year | The 14-year-old skateboarding sensation has become the sole Australian to be honoured at the Laureus Awards
after she became the first female skater to land a 720
– two full rotations in mid-air – in competition.
- Australia’s first female astronaut graduates | Katherine Bennell-Pegg graduated from a European Space Agency program on Monday night, after taxpayers spent $466,000 to fund her training. But with Bennell-Pegg unlikely to go to space anytime soon, the spend has prompted some questions
about what Australia is getting in return for that money and the selection process.
Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP
