Squiz Today – 26 April 2024

The Squiz 

A sharp rise in the number of women being murdered by men – many allegedly known to them – has prompted Domestic Violence Commissioner Micaela Cronin to call an emergency national roundtable on 7 May. Shocking new cases that have made headlines this year underscore the data – 11 more Australian women have been killed so far in 2024 than at the same time last year. Cronin says “tolerance for that is coming to an end” and that “things need to change”. She says stakeholders at the roundtable will review the Federal Government’s National Plan to End Domestic Violence and look at whether policy changes need to be made. “We need to know that the investments and the efforts that government and the community are making are impacting on that target,” she said.

What cases are we talking about?

The death of Molly Ticehurst, a 28yo childcare worker and mum living in Forbes in NSW’s Central West, is one that’s been in the headlines in a big way. Her body was found on Monday and her ex-partner, 29yo Daniel Billings, has been charged with her murder. Billings was out on bail at the time, having already been accused of “3 serious indictable offences” – including sexually assaulting Molly. The NSW Attorney-General Michael Daley is reviewing the circumstances of his release from custody. Meanwhile, 39yo John Torney was charged with assault and causing injury after the body of 49yo Emma Bates was found in the Victorian town of Cobram on Tuesday. And then there’s what has happened in the Ballarat region this year – Samantha Murphy, Rebecca Young and Hannah McGuire were all allegedly killed by men.

So what can be done?

In Molly’s case, her father Tony says if Billings hadn’t been given bail, his daughter would still be alive. “If they’d have kept him in jail as the police wanted, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” he said. And given the connections between several of the accused men and the court system, there have been calls for bail law reform, including from NSW Premier Chris Minns yesterday. He says the system “obviously failed” Molly and that the government has “an obligation to protect victims of crime”. But DV campaigner Rosie Batty doesn’t believe that bail reform is a fix-all, saying victims are “only truly safe if the perpetrator decides to no longer be abusive and violent”. She’s calling for an immediate change to the language we use – she says domestic and family violence situations would be taken more seriously if perpetrators were labelled “intimate partner terrorists”.

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#MeToo overturned

Disgraced Hollywood movie producer Harvey Weinstein has had his original #MeToo rape conviction overturned. Weinstein was acquitted overnight of his 2020 conviction for the sexual assaults of an aspiring actress and a film production assistant by New York’s Court of Appeals. The court found that the former movie mogul didn’t receive a fair trial because the case heard evidence from witnesses of his “former bad behaviour” that didn’t form part of the charges against him. A new trial has been ordered but Weinstein, 72, will stay in jail because he’s serving a separate 16-year sentence for rape in LA. The New York case against Weinstein opened a floodgate for dozens of claims against him, sparking the global #MeToo movement. The 4-3 appeal decision has “devastated” his accusers, and one of the judges criticised her peers for allowing “predators to escape accountability”. 

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Targeting teen terror

Following 13 counter-terrorism raids on Wednesday, 5 teenagers aged between 14-17yo faced court yesterday and remain in custody after being charged with terror offences. They include “possessing or controlling violent extremist material”, “conspiring to engage in … a terrorist act”, and being in “custody of a knife in a public place”. Federal Police Deputy Commissioner Krissy Barrett said the arrests came after a “network” of people sharing a “violent extremist ideology” was uncovered. It’s alleged the teens are associates of the 16yo boy who allegedly stabbed Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in a terrorist attack at a church in southwest Sydney last week, and more raids are expected. Muslim leaders say they’re in “shock” as community organisations were not “asked for any information” – they have raised concerns about the “high-handed approach” from authorities.

An enduring legacy

After 2 days of hiking parts of the Kokoda Track, PM Anthony Albanese and Papua New Guinea’s PM James Marape commemorated ANZAC Day at the Isurava War Memorial, laying wreaths during a dawn service yesterday. Albanese says Oz “will never forget” the help PNG provided to Aussie soldiers during WWII. The trip is the longest by any Aussie leader to our neighbour which might have something to do with our government going all out to cement its strategic relationship with the Pacific nation, which is also being courted by China… Marape says he would be “delighted” for his soldiers to serve in the Aussie Defence Force – an idea that’s been floated by Defence Minister Richard Marles as domestic recruitment remains challenging. Back home, huge crowds attended ANZAC Day services, particularly in Sydney where the march was seen as a moment of unity after the recent stabbing attacks.

A top copper offer

The world’s largest mining company BHP has made what is said to be a $52 billion bid to take over UK-based miner Anglo American to make it the largest global producer of copper. Reports say it could trigger more mergers/acquisitions as companies compete for the metals needed for the energy transition to renewable sources. Experts say Anglo has plans to expand copper to “a million tonnes per year in the next 10 years”. The company is coming off a tough year as its share price fell 12% after prices for some of its key products plunged, and operational challenges forced Anglo to cut production targets, making it vulnerable to a takeover. But it’s not a done deal yet… Anglo’s board says it’s reviewing the proposed buyout but there’s no certainty it will happen.

Will you keep it down?

Following warnings of an imminent “cicada-geddon” earlier this month, residents in one US state have been so deafened by the chirping that they’ve been calling local sheriffs to ask why they can hear sirens or a loud roar. Deputies in Newberry County in South Carolina had to put up a post on Facebook reassuring people that the din was nothing nefarious, but the sound of male cicadas singing to attract a mate after more than a decade of being dormant saying, “Unfortunately, it is the sounds of nature”. Trillions of red-eyed periodical cicadas are emerging from underground in the eastern US this month, whose collective songs can be as loud as jet engines, forcing scientists who study them to wear earmuffs to protect their hearing. And you thought your neighbours were noisy…

If you’re a true crime fan gripped by the alleged ‘mushroom murders’ you can find out more details ahead of the trial in the new podcast The Mushroom Cook which delves into the history of Erin Patterson – the woman at the centre of the deadly lunch in rural Victoria.

If you’ve been hankering for a swashbuckling series about feudal Japan in the 1600s, look no further than Shogun on Disney+, which is fast becoming a hit. Or, something more family-friendly for the holidays is Damsel on Netflix featuring Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown – a teen-friendly twist on a dark fairytale.

And if you are up for a night of binging some great TV/films, what better way to prep an easy dinner than a “chatter platter” which you can pick at throughout? These easy ‘recipes’ – if you can even call them that – make time for more relaxing and less time in the kitchen. 

ABS Data Release – International Trade Prices Indexes, March 

International Chernobyl Disaster Remembrance Day

World Intellectual Property Day 

Birthdays for Melania Trump (1970), Channing Tatum (1980)

Anniversary of:

the Chernobyl nuclear disaster (1986)

the wedding of Prince Albert Duke of York (King George VI) and Queen Elizabeth (1923)