Thursday's news
01 Aug 2013
The former registered nurse who pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder over a fire in a Sydney nursing home is set to be sentenced today, Eddie Obeid has vowed to fight ICAC findings, the Rudd Government has announced four years of tobacco excise increases and 40 asylum seekers have arrived in PNG.
Sentencing over Sydney nursing home fire
The former registered nurse who pleaded guilty to 11 counts of murder after lighting fires in a Quaker’s Hill nursing home in Sydney’s west in 2011 will be sentenced today.
Roger Dean, 37, attempted to cover up his theft of painkillers from the nursing home at which he worked by setting two fires there, killing 11 residents. He helped some survivors to escape before telling media gathered outside the nursing home that he had done everything he could to get everyone out of danger.
Prosecutors have argued that he should be jailed for life.
Read more and learn about the victims.
Obeid calls ICAC "a blight", will fight findings
Eddie Obeid labeled ICAC "a blight" when he fronted media outside his Sydney home this morning. After the biggest corruption inquiry in NSW, ICAC ruled that Obeid and fellow former NSW Minister Ian Macdonald acted corruptly, recommending charges be laid.
The cases have been referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions, with Macdonald signaling that he will challenge the ICAC findings in court and Obeid labeling it “a sham inquiry”.
“We look forward to the DPP picking this up and taking it to the Supreme Court. That’s the only way we will be able to bring on the evidence and the truth of what’s behind this,” said Obeid. “We will pursue this through every court of the land to prove that we’re innocent.”
Read more and watch Obeid speak outside his home this morning.
Cigarette excise increases
The government has announced 12.5% annual increases to tobacco excise over the next four years that are expected to funnel $5.3 billion to the federal budget and return it to surplus by 2016-17.
With 2010’s 25 per cent increase in tobacco excise credited for a slide in Labor’s popularity at the time, this announcement could damage Labor’s chances leading into an election.
The Cancer Council says that phasing in price rises so that the cost of a packet of cigarettes is repeatedly increased are more effective at lowering smoking rates than single price increases.
First asylum seekers head to PNG
Forty men from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan are the first asylum seekers to be moved to Manus Island as part of the Federal Government’s controversial ‘PNG solution’. The group arrived on a chartered flight this morning as PNG Prime Minister Peter O’Neill announced the major infrastructure projects Australia would partly fund as part of the deal.
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