ASYLUM SEEKERS INTERCEPTED

Malaysian authorities have intercepted more than 130 Sri Lankan people aboard a tanker, believed to be seeking asylum in Australia and New Zealand.

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that the Royal Malaysian Police, in co-operation with Malaysian Maritime Enforcement and government legal officers, intercepted 98 men, 24 women and nine children off the coast of Tanjung Gemuk last Tuesday, and, as the country is not party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, will charge an undefined number of men for “illegally entering or exiting Malaysia”.

Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton and opposition spokesperson Shayne Neumann have since used the arrests to attack each other and people smugglers, although they have been less quick to address news of a child being treated for suicidal ideation after six years on Nauru, or a Sydney man entering day 30 of a hunger strike after five years in detention.

‘BOILED ALIVE’

Australia’s maritime union join has called for a temporary suspension of live exports after new whistleblower footage emerged of Awassi Express crew cleaning up decomposing, “boiled alive” sheep carcasses.

The Guardian reports that the Maritime Union of Australia’s national secretary, Paddy Crumlin, has backed calls for a temporary ban after footage leaked to Fairfax brought to light the “living hell” that both animals and the workers cleaning up their decomposing bodies endure.

GIRAFFE KILLS MAN

A South African filmmaker on assignment at a Johannesburg wildlife facility has been killed by a giraffe.

The ABC reports that Carlos Carvalho, on set of a feature at Glen Afric farm in Broederstoom, was struck when a nearby giraffe swung its neck and knocked him over. Filming agency Callacrew reports that while Carvalho was flown to a Johannesburg hospital, he later died from injuries.

THEY REALLY SAID THAT?

France expresses its firm disapproval of President Trump’s comments about the Paris attacks on November 13, 2015 and demands that the memory of the victims be respected. Every country freely decides on its own laws on carrying firearms … France is proud to be a country where acquiring and carrying firearms is strictly regulated.

The French Foreign Office

Both France and England do their best at diplomacy in the face of a grown man openly mimicking the 2015 Paris massacre and advocating handguns as a solution to London stabbing attacks.

CRIKEY QUICKIE: THE BEST OF YESTERDAY

Banking crisis exposes our tendency to disequilibriumBernard Keane

“The last three weeks have crystalised a regulatory and accountability crisis for financial services: AMP lying to the regulator, that regulator admitting to enfeeblement, chairs and CEOs forced out, the CBA’s culture damned by another regulator, its board and remuneration policies savaged, financial planning regulation exposed as a joke, speculation about the end of vertical integration. The dreaded phrase ‘burning platform’ has been used about Australian banking.”

Happy 200th birthday, Marx, you wonderful, misunderstood shit-stirrer!Helen Razer

“May 5, 1818, is the birthdate of Karl Heinrich Marx. This is a fact the Marxist remembers, but one seldom proper for her to publicly relay. After all, Crikey is not an On-This-Day type of publication and Marx was hardly a Happy Birthday type of chap. Still, you only turn 200 once. So hats off to you, Charlie, and let’s say no to candles. We will wait for history to extinguish the delusion that all you wrote was ‘wrong’.”

Kerry Stokes shows you can never be too rich to ask for government moneyGlenn Dyer

“Is the business empire of Kerry Stokes hard-up and in need of the odd million dollars of help from Canberra? Yes, apparently; $6 million to be precise. Kerry’s a billionaire who always has his hand out for government help, whether cash (such as the dropping of TV licence fees for Seven and the rest of the TV industry), legislative changes (such as freeing up media control and ownership laws) and most recently a $6 million handout for his energy associate company, Beach Energy, with all the trappings of corporate welfare.”

READ ALL ABOUT IT

Heartbroken family of Clinton Wauchope pleads for justice system overhaul ($)

‘It’s magic’: Families, advocates celebrate lifesaving drug announcement

South Australia to receive 18-billion in federal budgets for roads and rail including 14 billion for South Rd upgrade ($)

Scott Watters blasts Fremantle over handling of Ross Lyon allegations

Investor saves jobs at Norske Skog paper mills including tasmania’s Boyer Plan ($)

North Queensland Cowboys’ Scott Bolton charged with alleged indecent assault at Bondi

Four women returning from line dancing function die in horror weekend on Victoria’s roads

Morrison locks in tax-to-GDP limits ($)

North Korea says US ruining mood of detente before nuclear talks

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani warns US would ‘regret’ pulling out of nuclear deal

WHAT’S ON TODAY

Canberra

  • United States Army Pacific Commander, General Robert Brown, will deliver a keynote speech on “Assuring Peace and Stability in the Indo-Pacific Through Multi-Domain Operations and Mateship” at the Australian Strategic Policy Institute’s 2018 Gala Dinner. Speakers will also include incoming Chief of the Australian Defence Force, Lieutenant General Angus Campbell.

  • Joint standing committee on treaties will examine the Trans-Pacific Partnership 11 deal, ahead of the enabling laws being introduced, as well as the Timor Treaty and Peru free trade agreement.

Sydney

  • John Boehner, the 53rd Speaker of the US House of Representatives, will speak on “Tax policy and trade wars: Implications for Australia” at a CEDA event.

  • Start of the second upper house inquiry hearing into the Windsor Bridge replacement project, to be chaired by Robert Brown from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party and featuring an appearance from Community group ‘Community Action for Windsor Bridge’.

  • Day one of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists’ (ANZCA) four-day Annual Scientific Conference, where more than 2500 local and international anaesthetists, pain specialists and other medical practitioners will discuss clinical and scientific advances.

  • NRMA CEO Rohan Lund will launch a new petrol cost-saving initiative.

Melbourne

  • The Tongberang’i Ngarrga crew will run the opening night party of Melbourne Knowledge Week, celebrating the Kulin Nations’ ongoing connection to country. It all goes down in the futuristic festival hub.

  • Abuse campaigner and survivor Dassi Erlich will deliver a keynote speech at the National Council of Jewish Women of Australia Victoria Inc.

  • The new Rosanna train station will open after two level crossings were removed as part of the works.

Brisbane

  • Thousands of Queensland union and community members are expected to attend the Labour Day march, including QCU General Secretary Ros McLennan and ACTU Secretary Sally McManus.

Darwin

  • Protestors will attend a “Change the Rules” rally during the Northern Territory’s Labour Day.

Townsville, Queensland

  • Labor’s Anthony Albanese and local federal MP Cathy O’Toole will discuss need for investment in north Queensland ahead of the federal budget.

Hobart

  • Tasmania’s Anglican Bishop will release a preliminary list of properties proposed for sale as part of the state-based redress scheme for sexual abuse survivors.

Adelaide

  • Final day of the the ‘Fearless Girls. Strong Women: 2018 Biennial Educators Conference’, a three-day event for girls’ school educators from across Australasia.

Perth

  • First Supreme Court hearing into the murder of Annabelle Chen. Ah Ping Ban and Tiffany Yiting Wan have pleaded not guilty to the murder of Chen, whose body was found inside a suitcase in the Swan River.

  • The West Coast Eagles will visit school education support centres to conduct football and classroom activities, with forward Jack Darling to lead the group at Sacred Heart College in Sorrento.

Auckland, NZ

  • Former US secretary of state and presidential candidate Hillary Clinton is in New Zealand as part of her speaking tour.

THE COMMENTARIAT

Price to pay to maintain Melbourne’s famous cafe scene — Anonymous (The Age): “The pitchforks are out for Melbourne’s cafe industry. A cafe in Northcote has been bruised by a social media campaign and a union protest after some staff were told not to come back to work after they complained about under-award wages.”

Time to take stock of Australia’s fuel security — Josh Frydenberg (Sydney Morning Herald):  “As the world’s eighth largest energy producer, Australia’s fuel supplies have proved to be remarkably reliable and resilient over the last four decades. The last significant disruption was in the 1970s with the OPEC oil crisis. But since then, much has changed both domestically and internationally, requiring a reassessment of Australia’s liquid fuel security.”

HOLD THE FRONT PAGE