☕️ Federal Labor MP charged with assault

And congratulations to everyone who has made it to the final day of Dry July.

May those healthy habits only continue from here. (But if the pub lines are longer this weekend, you know why.)

The quote: “In no way was it my intention to promote violence. My writing is cartoonish and always satirical... I apologise to anyone I’ve offended.”
Filmmaker Kate McGuinness in a statement released through the ABC about an episode of the show ‘Race Around the World’, where she asked if, “when the revolution comes,” viewers were ready to “shove a stick right up Gina Rinehart’s butt hole.” Rinehart’s company Hancock Prospecting called it “appalling”.

The stat: 100+. The number of times former top U.S. infectious disease expert Dr Anthony Fauci invoked his Fifth Amendment right not to answer questions at a Senate hearing into the origins of COVID-19. In his opening statement, Dr Fauci noted that he had appeared at hearings several times on the pandemic, and argued the chair of the Republican-led committee, U.S. Senator Rand Paul, had an “obvious obsession” with calling for his prosecution.

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Federal MP Luke Gosling has been charged by NT Police in relation to an alleged assault of NT Administrator David Connolly at a Thai festival in Darwin on 18 July.

Police said they began investigating the matter last week before arresting Gosling on Thursday morning.

Administrator

Australia’s head of state is King Charles III, who is represented in the country by the Governor-General. Each state has a Governor, who performs a similar role. In the NT, the role is called an Administrator.

Their responsibilities include signing bills into law, honouring citizens with awards such as the Order of Australia, and officiating at ceremonies.

Connolly was sworn in as Administrator in February. Outside the ceremony, around 100 people, including federal and Territory MPs, protested his appointment, chanting: “Not my Administrator.”

The protests followed the resurfacing of Connolly’s now-deleted social media posts, including one that said: “Non-Indigenous have to wait on the system, the Indigenous are fast-tracked, and paid for.”

Connolly later apologised, saying he “never intended to cause offence.” Gosling had previously described the posts as “reprehensible and offensive” when Connolly’s appointment was announced.

Gosling, who has held the Darwin-based seat of Solomon since 2016, represents one of the NT’s two federal electorates, covering almost all of Darwin and Palmerston.

NT Police began investigating Federal Labor MP Luke Gosling last week. On Thursday, police arrested and charged Gosling in relation to the alleged assault of Connolly at a public event on 18 July.

The pair attended Darwin’s Thailand Grand Festival, sponsored by the NT Government and Gosling’s electorate office.

In a statement shared with TDA, Gosling said: “I am cooperating fully with [NT Police’s] inquiries.”

Before his arrest, Gosling denied the allegations, calling them “ridiculous”. He added he has “had no dealings” with Connolly “since congratulating him following the announcement of his appointment late last year.”

Gosling was released on bail and will face court on 1 September.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.

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A Victorian parliamentary inquiry has released its final report into cults and high-control groups.

It follows more than a year of survivor testimony about coercive control, abuse and growing up inside these groups.

The report recommended criminalising group-based coercive control, but deliberately avoided defining what a “cult” actually is.

At the same time as the report was released, the committee behind it accidentally leaked hundreds of personal email addresses, including those of cult survivors.

In Australia, there’s no standard legal definition for a cult. Experts instead point to extreme influence over a person’s daily life.

Any group united by a central belief system can tip into high-control territory, and Australia has seen cases of wellness and lifestyle-based groups operating in this way.

The Victorian inquiry followed years of advocacy from survivors across the state. It heard from survivors, advocacy groups, universities and international cult experts over several months.

Witnesses described being controlled, isolated, and in some cases abused as children inside these groups.

One of the report’s main recommendations is to criminalise group-based coercive control - a form of domestic violence where a person is denied autonomy and independence over time.

The Victorian Law Reform Commission has two years to review legislative options, with group-based coercive control laws targeted for 2029.

The report also recommended:

The committee deliberately chose not to define the word “cult”. It said the term is too imprecise for legislation, and risks unfairly stigmatising legitimate religious and community groups.

Last year, TDA reported on this inquiry and signed up to receive alerts.

On Wednesday, we received a notification that the report had been published. Half an hour later, we received an email saying contact info had been included with the original notification.

TDA understands more than 300 emails were included in the accidental leak, including the details of cult survivors who had provided anonymous testimony to the inquiry. A representative for the inquiry said: “We are reviewing our processes to help prevent a similar incident from occurring in the future.”

Survivor advocate and co-founder of the Australian Cult Survivors Network Clare Heath-McIvor told TDA she was “thrilled” with the report’s recommendations including introducing group-based coercion as a criminal offence.

Shortly after the report’s release, however, Heath-McIvor was contacted by multiple survivors who were involved in the data breach.

“I can’t imagine a cult leader getting that email and not combing through to see who’d ratted on them,” she told TDA.

Jasmine Yuen from the Australian Christian Lobby told TDA the group supports protecting people from genuine abuse, but remains opposed to new laws targeting cults. It argues the state’s existing criminal laws are enough to crack down without infringing on “religious freedom”.

The Victorian Government now has six months to respond to the 39 recommendations from the report.

Reporting by Elliot Lawry.

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According to the World Wildlife Fund, it’s one of the world’s most successful recoveries of an endangered species. WWF has worked with the Nepali Government to help humans live safely alongside tigers, including building warning systems to help people get out of the animals’ way and protect livestock. The country’s government is now planning to build a tiger sanctuary that would both help injured animals and attract tourists.

Reporting by Lucy Tassell.

An Italian man will spend time in prison for fraud after scamming tourists into visiting an “ancient” site made of materials dating back to… 2005.

According to local paper Corriere della Sera, the man told tourists Julius Caesar visited the site, and Shakespeare’s Juliet (as in Romeo and Juliet) had lived in a church there, despite old satellite images showing a distinct lack of ancient structures.

The 69-year-old was sentenced to two years and four months in prison for illegal construction, counterfeiting art, and creating works without authorisation.

Reporting by Emily Donohoe.