Croc wrangler pleads not guilty to perverting justice in helicopter crash trial
Published 28 July 2025, 5:15 am
Celebrity crocodile wrangler Matt Wright has pleaded not guilty to three charges of attempting to pervert the course of justice when he appeared for trial in the Northern Territory Supreme Court. SBS Northern Territory Correspondent Josh van Staden has more.
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ABC News
29 minutes ago
- ABC News
Family violence prevention advocate Kym Valentine wants changes to alcohol delivery laws
For most, a delivery driver's knock at the front door is a welcome arrival of a package eagerly waited for. For people experiencing domestic violence fuelled by alcohol, it can be a different story. "Abuse may be the bomb, alcohol the fuse, but delivery is like the guided missile that is the match," said family violence prevention advocate Kym Valentine. The former Neighbours star wants changes to how alcohol delivery laws operate to help make a difference for people experiencing domestic violence. "I can't tell you the measure of difference [this] would make for people," she said. "This is not a cure all, but this is one of the most powerful and immediate levers the government can pull to reduce the frequency and severity of domestic violence." A recommendation for lawmakers to review existing alcohol legislation was made after a national "rapid review" into preventing violence against women in May 2024. The report also included calls for more regulation of gambling and alcohol industries. If you need help immediately call emergency services on triple-0 All state and territory leaders agreed to review their jurisdictions' relevant laws in September 2024, to take practical steps to speed up action against gender-based violence. South Australia was the first to do so and has proposed changes to alcohol delivery services — something advocates want the rest of the country to follow suit on. The proposed amendments would change the hours when alcohol can be ordered from 8am-10pm to 10am-10pm. It would also add in a two-hour buffer period from ordering alcohol to delivery. This is something which could act as a "circuit breaker" in family and domestic circumstances, according to Ayla Chorley, who is the chief executive officer of the Foundation for Alcohol Research & Education. Ms Chorley said these changes were "common sense" measures. "We're at a crisis point with family and domestic violence in this country, and what that means is that we have to look at all options," she said. "This is just one of the levers that state and territory governments can consider and can pull at this point in time." Ms Chorley said there were some concerns about the influence of "very powerful" alcohol lobby groups. "We have no doubt that they are pushing very much for these reforms to be weakened," she said. She said it was important for SA to lead with its proposed legislative changes and "send a message" to other states and territories. In a statement, South Australia's Consumer and Business Affairs Minister Andrea Michaels said SA was the "leading the nation" with these reforms. "We were the first state to release a draft bill for consultation," she said. Ms Michaels said consultation had closed and feedback from all stakeholders was being considered, ahead of the bill being introduced to parliament later this year. With the state election being held in March 2026, the amendments will need to pass before then, otherwise, like all legislation which does not pass before the parliament is dissolved, it will lapse. Executive director of peak body Alcohol Beverages Australia, Alistair Coe, said it was important that any changes made were targeted and "fit for purpose". "It's been quite a few years since the liquor laws in South Australia were reviewed, so we very much welcome this review," he said. "We want to make sure that the measures that are taken are evidence based and do exactly what is intended. "We certainly don't want to disadvantage the vast majority of people that drink alcohol responsibly and also order alcohol responsibly." Mr Coe said the alcohol industry did not support the two-hour delivery buffer. "The two-hour delivery window is very convenient for many people," he said. "It's important to note that convenience does not equal harm." For Ms Valentine, she wants to see South Australia take a strong stance which can be followed by other states and territories. She urged the premiers and chief ministers who agreed to review alcohol laws to act. "Live up to what you promised," she said. "Lives actually depend on you fulfilling the promise that you made."
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Finding backpacker's remains 'not impossible' decades after outback murder
Decades after his murder, the search for British backpacker Peter Falconio is not over. Investigators had long hoped the man convicted of fatally shooting the 28-year-old and assaulting his girlfriend would reveal the location of his remains. Those hopes were extinguished when Bradley John Murdoch died of terminal throat cancer in an Alice Springs Hospital earlier this month. But, a cold case forensics expert tells the ABC, that is not enough to quash the goal of finding Peter's remains and delivering answers to his family. "I think the biggest challenge is with where Peter was killed, [because] it is so remote,' says Angela Williamson, a University of Queensland graduate. Dr Williamson now works to solve cold cases, having previously managed major forensic programs for the US Department of Justice and at America's largest private forensic DNA laboratory. She has worked on multiple high-profile cases, from the abduction of Daniel Morcombe to identifying Samuel Little, the most prolific serial killer in American history. She has also worked with the US National Center for Missing and Exploited Children and oversaw the Sexual Assault Kit Initiative, a program focused on untested DNA samples taken from sexual assault victims. "How many stories do you read where someone was out walking their dog or running and they find a body?" she says. "It's actually really common over here. That's how a lot of older cases are solved, or when there's construction, digging. By July 2001, Peter Falconio and 27-year-old Joanne Lees had been together for several years. Their arrival in Sydney in January 2001 marked the latest stop on a world trip celebrating Falconio's university graduation. There, they purchased an orange Kombi van and set off. Their route would have taken them through Canberra, Melbourne, Adelaide, Alice Springs and on to Darwin, according to court documents. From there, they planned to go to Cairns, Brisbane and New Zealand. Almost three weeks into the trip on July 14, they left Alice Springs and headed north on the Stuart Highway. They stopped to watch the sunset at Ti-Tree, the next town on their journey, 193 kilometres away. About 8pm they noticed another vehicle was following them — the driver, later identified as Murdoch, motioned for them to pull over. Falconio did so, got out, and walked to the rear of the car, and spoke to Murdoch, who said he had seen sparks coming from the exhaust. Falconio came back, asked Ms Lees to rev the engine, and returned to the rear. Ms Lees heard a bang, "like a car backfiring". Peter Falconio was never seen again. Bradley John Murdoch was later convicted and sentenced to life in prison for the murder of Mr Falconio and the attempted kidnapping of Ms Lees. Despite repeated appeals for information and attempts to elicit information from Murdoch, he died without ever revealing where Peter Falconio was left. In 2005, a court heard he had put Mr Falconio's body into his ute before dumping it somewhere between Alice Springs and Broome. The Northern Territory Police Force has announced a $500,000 reward for any tip that leads to the recovery of his remains. "[We remain] committed to resolving this final piece of the investigation," they said in a statement announcing Murdoch's death. The next question for investigators, Dr Williamson says, concerns how the body was disposed of. "Was it what we call a surface deposit? Was he literally just dumped somewhere?" she says. "Then you have the harsh Australian sun, which will weather the bones. You could have … animal predation and the scattering of remains, which could be a factor as well. "Now if he's buried, that could be harder because, it's my understanding that [Murdoch] drove from the abduction site all the way back to Broome. Police searched the area where the Kombi van stopped, to no avail. Murdoch took the van with him when he fled the scene following Ms Lees making a run for it and hiding in scrubland. The next morning, it was found a kilometre south along the Stuart Highway, parked "about 104 metres, or a little further, off the road". There was no blood inside. DNA samples were found on the gearstick which were linked to Murdoch. After leaving the van, according to court documents, Murdoch drove to a truck stop in Alice Springs. A CCTV camera showed him arriving at 12.38am and leaving at 12.50am. He then drove to Broome, where he told a friend he had taken a "route which did not take him in the vicinity" of either Alice Springs or where the attack occurred. "The police … will generally have very good intelligence on [Murdoch]," Dr Williamson says. "Knowing his lifestyle, and then talking to … family members, friends or associates, where did he frequently drive to and from? "Did he have a favourite place he liked to go fishing, or did he go shooting? Were there [areas] he would travel to frequently? "And those would be the areas you would look at first." Friends of Murdoch in court described him changing his appearance after returning to Broome, suddenly "completely clean-shaven". Other acquaintances said the appearance of his vehicle also changed in that time. Unveiling the increased reward earlier this year, Acting Commander Mark Grieve said police believed some might still have information. "There may be someone out there that he's confided in — whether that's family and friends — we just don't know," he said. At the time, Murdoch was in palliative care in Alice Springs Hospital, having been diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019. The confidence police have shown in the likelihood of finding Mr Falconio, Dr Williamson says, may mean they have "a lot more information" than what has been made public. "I think back to the Daniel Morcombe case … it almost seemed like a needle in a haystack," she says. Thirteen-year-old Daniel Morcombe disappeared from a bus stop on the Sunshine Coast in December 2003. His remains were found in a rugged area of the Glass House Mountains in 2011, when searchers crawled on their hands and knees in dirt and mud. "But they had enough information to know where they needed to search," Dr Williamson says. "And even though that area had flooded, they were still able to find some of Daniel's remains. "So there's usually a lot more information that the police are privy to than what's released. "It's telling people who maybe know a little bit more … we're not going to stop searching. "If you have a hunch that someone helped him move Peter's body … [so] are they working that angle? "Are they trying to see if they can broker a deal with that individual? "So you don't know those inner workings, and the public is like, we need to know this. Why? If you're not working the case, you do not." In a statement to the ABC, Mr Falconio's parents, Luciano and Joan Falconio, spoke of a "weight" being lifted after hearing of Murdoch's death. "[Our] family's future with Peter was cruelly taken away," they said. "We didn't have much faith, but we were hoping Bradley John Murdoch would reveal where Peter was before he died. "But even now we still hold out hope that his remains will be found." While court documents referenced a need for "closure" for both Ms Lees and the Falconio family, Dr Williamson warned against using those terms. "I am always hesitant to use the word closure," she says. "Even when you find someone's body or you convict someone for killing that individual, is that closure? "It's such a personal word, and it's such a personal concept to the people involved, to the family members, to the friends. "It's often not really closure because that person is still gone." Instead, she says, she prefers to focus on delivering answers and a sense of justice to families. "I hope his family … are all getting ongoing trauma support, we call it victim advocacy and family advocacy," she says. "If and when [Peter's] body is found, they will need a lot because [with] anything traumatic that happens to you, you kind of processed it at the time. "You go through a certain stage of healing. But then when it comes back to light, then it's a whole other thing you have to deal with. "It can be very traumatic." The former NT Police officer who led the investigation into the murder told ABC News Breakfast earlier this month she was "not surprised, but disappointed" at the lack of answers from Murdoch. "Bradley's prolonged refusal to cooperate with police and provide the information that we needed to locate Peter's remains [resulted] in … prolonged family agony by the Falconio family," former police officer Colleen Gwynne said. "I've pretty much always said that I don't think that he will ever speak to police. "[His way] to gain some control was to never cooperate, and to have that power over the Falconio family by not disclosing any details of what he did with Peter to allow us to narrow that search." Acting Commander Grieve said in June that the murder had "never gone away" for both police and the general public. In 2016, the Northern Territory introduced new "no body, no parole" legislation in an attempt to force Murdoch to speak to police. For those still looking for those answers, Dr Williamson says, Murdoch's death may mean an added drive to bring Mr Falconio home to his family. "We do this work because we want to help people, we want to provide answers, we want to bring people home," she says. "They need to be home. "It really hit me when I was working on children's cases. These were children without a name, that were in an unmarked grave, or in a box at a medical examiner's officer. "This was a child, they needed their name back, they needed to go home. "The honour of knowing that you helped give these answers and to give some kind of resolution to the families, it's pretty amazing. "Everyone is missed by somebody.
ABC News
an hour ago
- ABC News
Authorities aware of concerns about mother's drug use in months before baby died, coroner finds
Queensland child safety authorities were aware of concerns about a mother's drug use in the months before her baby starved to death while she was on a drug binge, a coroner has found. Warning: The following story contains content which may distress. In June 2019, the eight-month-old boy was left in a cot and not checked again for about 21 hours while his mother and her partner were doing drugs for three days. The baby had received 'no or minimal' food or fluid during that time. His cause of death was severe acute dehydration and acute malnutrition. A forensic paediatric review said the hour before his death 'would have been extremely distressing physically and emotionally'. The baby's mother and her former partner were originally charged with murder but have since pleaded guilty to his manslaughter. As part of a coronial investigation, Coroner Ainslie Kirkegaard examined the 'adequacy' of the Department of Child Safety's response to known concerns about the mother's ability to care for the baby in the lead up to his death. In February 2019, authorities received two separate notifications about concerns over her ability to meet the child's medical needs. The baby was assessed as being "at risk of neglect due to inadequate basic care and emotional harm," the findings said. The next month, authorities received more information about concerns for the baby. Those included the mother's drug-taking, mental health, history of domestic and family violence and financial poverty. In early April, Child Safety launched an Investigation and Assessment (I&A) which ultimately found the child was "in need of protection". The coronial findings said there was a delay of about six weeks between the notification in February and the I&A in April. The baby was highly vulnerable due to his age and lack of visibility in the community, "so an urgent departmental response was required," the findings said. Then, between mid-April and May, there was a "lapse in departmental action" because the allocated child safety officer took leave. The case wasn't reallocated because that officer had already started the process, sighted the child, and assessed there were "no immediate harm indicators". 'While the [baby's] teenage aunt and [neighbours] observed the consequences of [the mother's] increasing drug use on her ability to care for her children, this information was not available to [authorities],' Coroner Kirkegaard said. "Delay commencing the I&A and a lapse during this phase due to the child safety officer's emergent leave without the case being reallocated, meant plans for [the mother] to undergo urine drug screening were not implemented. Around May, the baby's aunt — who was 17-years-old — began spending more time at the family's unit to make sure the child was taken care of. She bought food for the baby and got up during the night to attend to him. Child safety officers visited the mother at home in late May and discussed an Intervention with Parental Agreement (IPA) — where the department works with a parent to meet the child's needs — which the mother agreed to a few days later. An internal department review team found the decision to leave the child in her care and start an IPA was "appropriate", given "the absence of any immediate harm indicators" and the mother being assessed as willing and able to work with authorities. "That said, there was some concern about her ability to engage on a medium to long-term basis given her history of avoiding or disengaging with services," the coroner's findings said. That findings said there were "missed opportunities" for child safety officers to "record observations" of the boy's physical appearance, speak with the mother about his eating routine and "sight" formula. Child safety officers involved with the family did not observe any signs of substance use by the mother during their engagement with her over April to June, the findings said. Coroner Kirkegaard said they also did not identify the emerging pattern of her disengagement with them after 31 May as indicative of her drug use. On June 3 — just weeks before the baby's death — child safety officers completed an assessment of the mother's strengths and needs. That assessment identified "drug use, domestic violence and mental health as priority areas of concern at that time". On June 7, officers visited the family's home, but a man answered the door saying the mother was not well, and the child was not sighted. Six days later, officers tried to contact the mother to organise a home visit, but she did not answer the call. The Child Death Review Panel looked at the case and said that six-day delay was "inadequate". Officers went back to the home on June 17 for an announced home visit. "It transpires that [the mother] had tried to cancel the visit that morning but when the child safety officer insisted the visit needed to go ahead, [she] said she was at her neighbour's unit and asked that the visit take place there," the findings said. "She said her neighbour was supporting her with the [baby]. "In truth, there were dog faeces in [the] unit which she did not want child safety officers to see." The findings said it was during that visit when the mother agreed to drug screening. The child safety officers who visited the family that day also told the internal departmental review team that the child "did not appear malnourished to them". According to the findings, the Child Death Review Panel considered the mother's "non-engagement throughout the IPA should have been considered more thoroughly and triggered more intrusive intervention". The baby died on June 21. Coroner Kirkegaard found his cause of death was severe acute dehydration and acute malnutrition. She said the baby's "utterly tragic death" illustrated the "ongoing challenge for child safety and other agencies supporting families where parents have problematic substance use". She said it was "vital" for frontline officers to be equipped with adequate training and support to identify substance use and understand the risk of harm to children and infants. Coroner Kirkegaard also added she strongly encouraged the current Commission of Inquiry into Queensland's child safety system "to closely examine Child Safety's resourcing to provide early assertive intervention for families like that of this vulnerable infant". She closed the investigation. Her findings did not detail why an inquest would not be held into the baby's death. The Department of Justice has been contacted for comment. Asked about the non-inquest findings, a spokeswoman for the Department of Child Safety said the Child Protection Act prevented them from talking about individual cases, 'however when there are failing and weaknesses, we will not shy away from making changes'. She said, since 2019, the department has strengthened its responses to vulnerable infants, including by updating its practice guidelines regarding high-risk infants. It has also established an alcohol and other drugs' state-wide practice leader to assist with how risks are assessed when parents or children are using alcohol or drugs.
