The website is part of the SA Museum’s “Reawakening Aboriginal Languages” project and would allow members of the public to access language materials at any time, regardless of their location.
Another $2 million would be spent over five years to complete the Kaurna ancestral remains repatriation program and to extend the program to other First Nations.
“I’m very proud that we were recently able to lay to rest respectfully and with dignity the remains of Kaurna ancestors that were previously held away from the country that means so much to their people and culture,” Premier Steven Marshall said.
“This world-leading pilot is the first phase of an outstanding project that will have a profound effect on the lives of many, many people – and I’m looking forward to extending the project to other First Nations.”
It comes after the Marshall Government over the weekend pledged to make permanent its real-time fuel pricing scheme, which is currently on a two-year trial and requires all fuel outlets in South Australia to report any price changes to a database 30 minutes before they come into effect.
Meanwhile, Labor has reiterated warnings of an ambulance ramping “crisis”, after the SA Ambulance Service on Monday declared a “code white” for the entire Adelaide metropolitan area, meaning delayed responses to emergency cases.
“This is literally life and death,” Labor’s shadow treasurer Stephen Mullighan said this morning.
“While Steven Marshall and (Treasurer) Rob Lucas obsess about the cost of fixing the health system, they ignore the cost of not investing in the health system.”
This afternoon SAAS once again declared Opstat White, meaning delayed responses to emergency cases.
A crew was ramped for 1.5 hours at the RAH with a Covid positive patient, as temperatures surpassed 35 degrees on the ramp.
Ramping has reached record levels under Marshall. pic.twitter.com/aYpY0KXwVi
— Ambulance Employees Association (SA) (@aeasa1981) March 14, 2022
The Opposition also spent the weekend announcing a $181.65 million package to build and renovate public housing, $37.7 million to double the state government cost of living concession and a pledge to develop a new autism strategy for public schools.
The Liberals’ say their election promises would cost $288 million – $118 million of which is operating expenditure and $170 million is investing expenditure.
Nearly $700 million of Liberal election commitments were budgeted before caretaker mode or through previously allocated funding.
Throughout the campaign, the Liberals have attacked Labor’s policy costs, reiterating warnings of a “reckless spending spree” in the billions of dollars.
Costings are traditionally released by political parties a couple of days before polling day.
Labor says its policies are fully costed, but has deferred releasing details until later in the election campaign.
“We’ll be doing it this Thursday,” Labor leader Peter Malinauskas said.
Risks for Morrison in SA election result
Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Premier Steven Marshall during the state election campaign. Photo: Tony Lewis/InDaily
As South Australians go to the polls this weekend, federal political strategists will be scrutinising trends and issues.
A loss for Premier Steven Marshall would run counter to the trend which has seen every incumbent state and territory government facing COVID-era elections returned, many with thumping majorities.
It would leave the national cabinet table with just two state and territory Liberal leaders – NSW and Tasmania – to Labor’s six.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison is weighing up the timing of a federal election, widely expected to be held on May 14.
He has been eager to provide millions of dollars in support for SA’s manufacturing industry, and talk up the opportunities in the defence sector.
But a Roy Morgan poll taken this month gave Anthony Albanese’s federal Labor team 52.5 per cent of the two-party preferred vote in SA, up almost two points on the 2019 federal election result.
On his trips to Boothby – a key marginal South Australian seat – Albanese has underlined Labor’s commitment to key road projects, clean energy, lifting wages, improving child care and overcoming the skillxjmtzyws crisis.
A closely watched factor will be the strength of the vote for independents and minor parties, which will play a key role in the SA Senate race.
Independent senator Rex Patrick and Centre Alliance’s Stirling Griff are up for re-election and could see themselves out of a job if either the Greens vote picks up (it doubled in 2019) or the major party vote strengthens.
The Greens are running economist and jobs expert Barbara Pocock as the lead candidate and is hopeful of adding a number to their ranks alongside high-profile SA senator Sarah Hanson-Young.
The Liberals have tended to get a higher Senate vote in SA than Labor, outpolling the ALP by around 10 percentage points in the past three federal elections.
SA unions reject nuclear waste dump
South Australia’s unions have unanimously backed a motion to support Traditional Owners in their fight against a proposed nuclear waste dump on Eyre Peninsula.
The federal government announced in November that it had acquired a 211-hectare agricultural site in Napandee, 24 kilometres west of Kimba, for a National Radioactive Waste Management Facility.
The site will consolidate low and medium level radioactive medical waste that is currently stored in more than 100 locations across the country.
There is no start date for construction on the project, which is now under the management of the Australian Radioactive Waste Agency, but the facility is expected to be in place for more than 100 years.
In December, the Barngarla Traditional Owners filed for a judicial review of the site selection process in the Federal Court, saying they weren’t properly consulted by the government before their land was chosen to store nuclear waste.
SA Unions Secretary Dale Beasley said the South Australian labour movement supported the Barngarla people in their opposition to the government.
“South Australian unions are completely united in their support of the Barngarla Traditional Owners and their opposition to the proposed nuclear waste site at Kimba,” he said.
“It is simply extraordinary that the federal government would seek to impose a nuclear waste dump on South Australia with inadequate consultation, long term planning and against the wishes of Traditional Owners.
“Aside from being fiercely opposed by the Barngarla Traditional Owners, there are very real concerns around the safety and security of the nuclear waste and its transport 1,700km across Australia to be stored at Kimba.”
SA Labor also opposes the nuclear waste dump being built in Kimba.
But federal resources minister Keith Pitt said in November that the government extended public consultation and had concluded that Napandee had “all of the right geological requirements” to store radioactive medical waste.
“If we are going to use this technology, it produces low-level radioactive waste and we have to deal with it and store with it – this is the best option on the table,” he said at the time.
Australia seeks MH17 action against Russia
Australian Foreign Minister Marise Payne. Photo: Lukas Coch/AAP
Australia will seek “justice and accountability” for the victims of downed Malaysian Airlines flight MH17, launching legal action against Russia over the incident.
The legal proceedings have been made alongside the Netherlands in the International Civil Aviation Organisation in a bid to bring Russia back to the negotiating table for reparations.
The flight was shot down over eastern Ukraine in July 2014, killing all 298 people on board, including 38 Australians.
Foreign Minister Marise Payne said the action was necessary to hold Russia to account for the downing of the flight.
“Russia to date has refused to acknowledge and take responsibility for its clear role in this horrific incident,” Payne told reporters in Sydney on Monday.
“We have always said that all legal options were on the table.”
🇦🇺 & 🇳🇱 today initiated legal proceedings against Russia in @ICAO for the downing of #MH17. We continue our pursuit for truth, justice & accountability for the 298 victims. Russia must be held to account for its egregious violations of international law. https://t.co/DMMW8UudIw pic.twitter.com/Hw1ftS7ecV
— Marise Payne (@MarisePayne) March 14, 2022
As part of the legal action, Australia and the Netherlands are seeking a declaration that Russia broke the international civil aviation convention, also known as the Chicago Convention.
The two nations are also seeking to bring Russia back to negotiations on compensation over the incident.
Negotiations between Australia, the Netherlands and Russia on MH17 broke down when Russia walked away from talks in October 2020 and did not return, despite repeated attempts from the other two nations.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Russia’s refusal to take responsibility over the incident was unacceptable.
“(The) joint action by Australia and the Netherlands is a major step forward in both countries’ fight for truth, justice and accountability for this horrific act of violence,” he said.
“The Australian government will pursue every available avenue to ensure Russia is held to account so this horrific act never happens again.”
The legal action will be on top of proceedings taken by the Netherlands against four suspects for their individual involvement in the downing of the flight.
Australia and the Netherlands will rely on “overwhelming” evidence the flight was brought down by a Russian missile over eastern Ukraine in an area that was under the control of Russian-backed separatists.
The countries say the evidence showed the missile belonged to Russia and could only have been fired by a Russian crew.
The legal action comes after multiple western nations instituted sweeping sanctions against Russia over its invasion of Ukraine.
“Russia’s unprovoked and unjustified invasion of Ukraine and the escalation of its aggression underscores the need to continue our enduring effort to hold Russia to account for its blatant violation of international law and the UN Charter,” Morrison said.
Labor leader Anthony Albanese said the opposition would offer bipartisan support to the legal proceedings.
He said Australia owed it to the victims to deliver accountability to Russia.
“This joint action with the Netherlands is an important step forward in this fight,” he said in a joint statement.
“The illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine has shown us the contempt Russia holds for international law. It must be held to account for its shameful actions.”
Court to rule on climate duty of care
The Australian government is set to learn whether it has won its fight to overturn a legal decision finding it owes the country’s children protection from harm caused by climate change.
Eight high school students took Environment Minister Sussan Ley to court in 2020, seeking to block an expansion of the Vickery coal mine near Gunnedah in NSW, which is expected to produce an additional 100 million tonnes of carbon emissions.
A Federal Court judge in May 2021 knocked back their application for an injunction over the expansion.
Ley has since approved it and two other coal mine projects.
But Justice Mordecai Bromberg did rule that Ley has a duty of reasonable care to not cause the children personal injury when exercising her legislative decision-making powers regarding the mine.
It was lauded as a landmark win that would open an avenue for legal challenges to the government’s future decisions on coal projects.
However, Ley soon after announced she would appeal the finding.
In a hearing before the full Federal Court bench in October, the government’s solicitor argued the Environmental Protection Act does not apply to environmental issues broadly, but only to really specific circumstances.
Justice Bromberg’s finding was also legal overreach, it was argued, with decisions about mining approvals belonging to the executive arm of government – ministers of the day – not the judiciary.
A student rally has been organised outside the Federal Court in Sydney as the full bench – Justices James Allsop, Jonathan Beach and Michael Wheelahan – hands down its judgment at 10.15am on Tuesday.
However, both parties will have the option to appeal that decision in the High Court
Advances slower than expected: Putin ally
Citizens clearing rubble from a street in Donetsk after a short-range ballistic missile shot down over the city. Photo: Valentin Sprinchak/TASS/Sipa USA
One of President Vladimir Putin’s closest allies says Russia’s military operation in Ukraine has not all gone as quickly as the Kremlin had wanted, the strongest acknowledgement yet from Moscow that its invasion is not going to plan.
It comes as Russian officials blame a Ukrainian missile for killing at least 20 people in the capital of the Donetsk region – a claim Ukraine has denied.
Viktor Zolotov, chief of Russia’s national guard and a member of Putin’s security council, said progress had been slower than expected, blaming what he called Ukrainian nationalist forces hiding behind civilians.
“I would like to say that yes, not everything is going as fast as we would like,” Zolotov said in comments posted on the National Guard’s website.
“But we are going towards our goal step by step and victory will be for us.”
The United States and its European allies have cast Putin’s invasion as an imperial-style land grab that has so far been poorly executed because Russia underestimated Ukrainian resistance.
Ukraine, which says it is fighting for its survival, denies Russian claims that its forces have used civilians as shields in battle and has accused Russia of war crimes for killing civilians.
Zolotov has been at Putin’s side since before the turn of the century, running the Kremlin leader’s personal security for 13 years.
Since 2016 he has headed up the National Guard force, which reports directly to Putin and has deployed troops in Ukraine.
His comments, made at a church service led by Orthodox Patriarch Kirill on Sunday, deviated from those of the Kremlin and Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu who say Russia’s operation in Ukraine will be completed on time and in full.
The Kremlin said on Monday that the operation was going to plan but that its army might change tack and look to seize full control of major cities.
