The shooting triggered a five-hour search for the gunman, including Star Group officers doing a sweep of nearby houses.
The elderly victim remains in a stable condition at the Royal Adelaide Hospital. Police say he knew the deceased.
A woman from the same address, a relative of the victim, was also admitted to hospital suffering from shock.
In a statement overnight, police said they were preparing a report for the Coroner.
New desalination plant mooted for state’s north
A desalination plant could be built in the Upper Spencer Gulf to ease reliance on existing water sources used by miners in the state’s north.
Premier Steven Marshall and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce have announced $15 million in funding for a business case to explore the idea.
BHP and Adelaide-based company Oz Minerals have backed the plan, saying it would make their operations “more sustainable”.
The governments say building a desalination plan would ease reliance on the Great Artesian Basin and the River Murray.
They also predict that if it gets the go-ahead, the desalination plant would create 8000 construction jobs and 6000 jobs once operational.
Marshall said the Northern Water Supply project had the potential to create “thousands of jobs throughout South Australia”.
“This project is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to secure a brighter future for South Australia and create jobs in an environmentally sustainable way,” Marshall said in a statement overnight.
BHP asset president Dr Jennifer Purdie said the plan would help continue copper production in the future.
“We are taking action to reduce water use across our operations, and partnering with others in the communities and creating opportunities for future investments and jobs.”
BHP operates the Olympic Dam copper, gold and uranium mine while Oz Minerals mines copper and gold at Carrapateena and Prominent Hill.
Eyre Peninsula set to cop more heavy rainfall
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued another severe weather warning for heavy rainfall across the Lower and Eastern Eyre Peninsxjmtzywula this morning, with the State Emergency Service telling residents to remain vigilant for potential flash flooding.
After a spate of summer storms across South Australia’s regions prompted a major emergency declaration last month, the Bureau has again warned that it is anticipating six-hourly rainfall totals across the Eyre Peninsula between 30 to 50mm this morning.
Wudinna, Cleve, Cummins and Tumby Bay are among the areas potentially affected.
Cummins Airport has received 11.6mm of rain since 4pm yesterday while Cleve recorded 5.4mm overnight, according to the Bureau.
Rain is expected to ease in the afternoon although the thunderstorms may lead to flash flooding in the early hours of Wednesday, the Bureau warned.
Earlier on Tuesday, the SES urged residents on the western Eyre Peninsula to stay alert and said the SES was operating at a “heightened level of preparedness”.
“Where possible, stay on main roads with hard surfaces, as unsealed roads may become impassable, and people run the risk of becoming stranded,” SES state duty officer Dave O’Shannessy said.
“Regardless of the surface type, we remind people to never walk, ride or drive through floodwater.
“Although we’re not expecting to see the amount of rain experienced in early February, there is still the possibility of some heavy falls and we’re asking people to remain vigilant, drive to the conditions and not take unnecessary risks.’’
New enterprise agreement for hospital cleaners
South Australia’s hospital cleaning workers and disability services staff have voted in favour of a new enterprise agreement, signalling the conclusion of a long-running industrial dispute.
Cleaning workers and support staff took industrial action, including “cleaning bans”, on April 21 last year after negotiations with the State Government over a new enterprise bargaining agreement fell through.
The staff, numbering more than 6500 people and represented by the United Workers Union, were seeking a pay rise and commitment from the State Government to maintain current employment conditions.
The new enterprise agreement put forward by the State Government offers 4x annual increases of between $21 a week, increasing to $22.50 a week by 2024, along with two one-off $500 payments this year.
Around 94 per cent of the UWU’s members voted in favour of the new agreement, according to Treasurer Rob Lucas, who welcome the “sensible conclusion” to negotiations.
“The Marshall Government values the important work of the thousands of weekly paid staff in our hospitals and disability sector and this agreement ensures they will continue to be paid fairly for that work, Lucas said.
The agreement will now go to the SA Employment Tribunal for ratification.
US wants ‘verifiable’ de-escalation
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken says the United States continues to hold fears over Russia’s ability to launch an invasion of Ukraine, despite Vladimir Putin announcing a drawback in troops at the border.
Blinken spoke to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov by phone after Russia said some of its troops were returning to base after exercises near Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin said he was willing to continue talks.
But Western nations are yet to confirm they have observed a reduction in Russia’s build-up of some 130,000 troops near its border with Ukraine.
Blinken told Lavrov that Washington was committed to pursuing a diplomatic solution to “the crisis Moscow has precipitated” and looks forward to Russia’s written response to US and NATO papers on European security, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said in a statement.
“Secretary Blinken reiterated our ongoing concerns that Russia has the capacity to launch an invasion of Ukraine at any moment and emphasised the need to see verifiable, credible, meaningful de-escalation,” Price said.
Lavrov stressed the need to continue working together and called for pragmatic dialogue on security, but told Blinken that “aggressive rhetoric” inflated by Washington was unacceptable, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Prince Andrew settles ahead of sex trial
Prince Andrew and his accuser Virginia Giuffre have reached an out-of-court settlement in the civil sex claim filed against him in the US.
In a letter submitted to the United States District Court on Tuesday, Giuffre’s lawyer David Boies wrote jointly with Andrew’s lawyers to say that the parties had “reached a settlement in principle”.
Court documents show the Duke will make a “substantial donation to Ms Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights”.
Andrew has also pledged to “demonstrate his regret for his association with Epstein” by supporting the “fight against the evils of sex trafficking, and by supporting its victims”.
Buckingham Palace has declined to comment.
Giuffre, also known as Virginia Roberts, made the claim against Andrew for damages in her home country of the US, claiming she was trafficked by Jeffrey Epstein, Andrew’s friend, to have sex with the royal when she was 17, a minor under US law.
An attachment to the letter announcing the settlement gave brief details of the agreement between Andrew and Giuffre but indicated the sum would not be disclosed.
It read: “Virginia Giuffre and Prince Andrew have reached an out of court settlement.
“The parties will file a stipulated dismissal upon Ms Giuffre’s receipt of the settlement (the sum of which is not being disclosed).
“Prince Andrew intends to make a substantial donation to Ms. Giuffre’s charity in support of victims’ rights.
“Prince Andrew has never intended to malign Ms. Giuffre’s character, and he accepts that she has suffered both as an established victim of abuse and as a result of unfair public attacks.
