Daily News Roundup

 

THURSDAY, JUNE 11 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison has demanded an end to further Black Lives Matter protests, saying action planned for coming days is “completely unacceptable” and demonstrators at future events should be charged.

Mr Morrison has previously opposed Australians’ attendance at protests, telling them not to go on health grounds.

But the Prime Minister ramped up his rhetoric against mass protests against Indigenous incarceration rates and deaths in custody, accusing protesters of setting back efforts to lift coronavirus restrictions, reports the ABC.

“Certainly, any further action on this front would be absolutely unacceptable,” he said.

“The double standards that [protesters] allowed themselves to perpetrate by turning up has offended, rightly I think, Australians right across the country.

“The way that it was done and the suggestion that they might do it again risks public support for even the issue they raise.”

Mr Morrison said protesters who attended rallies in breach of public health orders should face charges.

“I really do think they should, you can’t have a double standard here,” he said.

“I think the issues last weekend were very difficult, but I think people carrying it on now, it’s not about that.”

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NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing in America, has banned the Confederate Battle Flag from its races and properties, formally distancing itself from what has been a familiar sight at stock car events for more than 70 years.

The move comes amid social unrest around the globe following the death in police custody of George Floyd, an unarmed black man in Minneapolis.

Protests have hit the nation for days and Confederate monuments are being taken down across the South — the traditional fan base for NASCAR.

Bubba Wallace, NASCAR’s lone black driver, called this week for the banishment of 

On Wednesday, NASCAR obliged.

“The presence of the confederate flag at NASCAR events runs contrary to our commitment to providing a welcoming and inclusive environment for all fans, our competitors and our industry,” NASCAR said in a statement.

“Bringing people together around a love for racing and the community that it creates is what makes our fans and sport special.

“The display of the Confederate flag will be prohibited from all NASCAR events and properties.”

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A teenage boy who spent two nights lost in the bush in near-freezing conditions at Mount Disappointment, north of Melbourne, has spent the night in hospital after being reunited with his family.

William Callaghan remains in Melbourne’s Royal Children’s Hospital because doctors believe he may have an insect stuck in his ear.

Speaking outside the hospital this morning, his mother Penny Callaghan said her son may also need to have a cast fitted for a suspected broken foot

Ms Callaghan said an ear, nose and throat specialist would attempt to remove the insect from Will’s ear today.

“There are difficulties with that because he’s not going to be compliant,” Ms Callaghan said.

“He doesn’t understand what’s going on, why people are trying to touch him and poke him and prod him.”

William, who is 14, has autism and is non-verbal.