Health News at Your Fingertips

An unsavoury ending to the extraordinary Press Club speeches from Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins, with a small number of anti-vaccine protesters deciding to picket outside the building towards the end of the event.

Around 30 protesters – several wearing the Australian flag as capes or waving their ‘red ensign’ flags – stood outside the National Press Club, some singing songs in opposition to vaccine mandates.

Several black Comcars were parked at the area, ready to ferry politicians from the speech back to Parliament House.

The protesters quickly moved on, and voiced plans to then head next to The Lodge. It’s unclear why they decided to come to the Press Club in the first place, but some demonstrators had attempted to picket outside various radio and TV stations across Canberra earlier on Wednesday.

A Victorian parliamentary inquiry is set to investigate the influence of the far-right in the state, following a push by the Greens.

The Legal and Social Issues Committee on Wednesday confirmed they will hold an inquiry exploring:

• The rise of far-right extremist movements in Victoria.
• Their methods of recruitment and communication.
• How the pandemic has affected the growth of far-right extremism in Victoria.
• The risks their plans and actions pose to Victoria, especially to Victoria’s multicultural communities.
• The violent potential of these movements, including the potential for targeted violence against politicians and public figures.
• The links between far-right extremist groups, other forms of extremism, radical populist right and anti-vaccine misinformation groups.
• What steps need to be taken in Victoria to counter these far-right extremist groups.

Leader of the Victorian Greens, Samantha Ratnam, said the pandemic had exacerbated far-right groups’ influence in the state:

There should be no place for far-right extremism in Victoria. Yet at the beginning of last year, we saw white supremacists openly gathering in regional Victoria. And throughout the pandemic, we’ve seen these groups play into the genuine fears and anxieties of Victorians in an attempt to mobilise and grow their movement.

Our inquiry will investigate the rise of these movements in Victoria and what we need to do to counter them, for the safety of all Victorians, especially multicultural communities. History has shown us what happens when we don’t act quickly.

The committee will report back to parliament by 31 May.

Independent MP Helen Haines was in the lower house earlier explaining that she can’t support the religious discrimination bill, explaining it is “not just a shield against discrimination on religious belief – it also creates many swords”.

Haines said she was particularly concerned about the statement of belief clause, which she calls a “monumental steamroll of our anti-discrimination laws”.

She said:

It’s a step too far. I acknowledge there are some safeguards, such as the statement having to be made in good faith, but it is unclear to me how far this rollback will go.

Haines commits to “reassess this bill if it comes to the house in a better form” after Senate amendment, but warns “it will take a lot” to win her support.

Haines said the government amendments to the Sex Discrimination Act do not provide enough protection against LGBTQ+ teachers and students, because they will still “proactively” be able to discriminate with the exception of expelling gay students.

Gambling harm is being overlooked in police investigations and coronial processes in possible cases of suicide, and tighter regulation is needed in Australia – including a ban on gambling advertising – to help prevent gambling-related deaths, a new report has found.

The paper, Gambling and Suicide Prevention: A road map for change, released by Suicide Prevention Australia and Financial Counselling Australia today, draws on personal testimony from families who had lost loved ones to suicide, from those who have experienced gambling-related harm, and consultation with state coroners and members of the police force, as well as banks, gambling companies, counsellors and more.

Lauren Levin, director of policy and campaigns at Financial Counselling Australia, said:

Every gambling financial counsellor I speak to knows of people who had taken their lives because of gambling. I quietly heard the same from those working in the gambling industry. We all know that it’s happening, but no-one talks about it.

Often the grieving families bear the burden of society’s shame and keep the deaths quiet. But the shame is not theirs. The shame rests on those that allow Australia to have the highest rate of gambling losses per capita in the world without proper gambling regulation.

The report calls for police and coroners to “consciously look for problematic gambling as a contributing factor” in their investigations of an unexplained death, and to change their systems to record that information.

Banks should also act to reduce gambling harm, including banning debt-funded gambling (with credit cards, for instance), and gambling companies themselves should establish “proactive harm minimisation, staff training and operational protocols”, the report says.

An urgent review into current gambling regulation and the establishment of “a coherent, adequately funded, national regulatory structure” is necessary – including a ban on gambling advertising, Levin said.

Advertising is a major contributor to gambling harm. People trying to stop can’t get away from it. Children and young people are getting damaged from the normalisation of gambling. It has to stop. We did it with tobacco.

We need government to step up. The fix is not a bit of tinkering. The fix is a cohesive gambling harm prevention plan. The gambling suicide problem is not going away. It is growing. We are calling on our political leadership to commit to a comprehensive gambling plan before the election, and beyond. Lives literally depend on it.

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14 and Gambling Helpline is 1800 858 858