Tenacious D gig postponed amid call for band to be deported over Trump shooting comment
Further to our post on Tenacious D earlier, Frontier Touring announced a short time ago that the band’s concert tonight in Newcastle had been postponed.
“Frontier Touring regret to advise that Tenacious D’s concert tonight at Newcastle Entertainment Centre has been postponed,” the company posted on Facebook about 3pm.
“Ticket holders are asked to hold onto their tickets until further information is available.”
Key events
Elias Visontay
Toll review urges overhaul to cheapen Sydney commutes
Drivers crossing the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the tunnel underneath should be charged in both directions, a review into the city’s toll roads has urged, as part of an overhaul to simplify pricing and cheapen commutes to and from Western Sydney.
Earlier on Tuesday, the New South Wales Minns government said it would now consider the recommendations from the independent review into tolling it commissioned to tackle so-called “toll mania” in Sydney, but roads minister John Graham indicated introducing northbound tolling on the harbour crossings and southbound tolling for the Eastern Distributor – both currently tolled in only one direction – made sense. “The report makes a strong case … if we’re going to fix the system, everyone’s going to have to help,” Graham said.
In response, acting NSW opposition leader Damien Tudehope said the proposal to toll the roads in both directions – which the government has yet to say if it will adopt as part of its reform plans – constituted a broken promise from Chris Minns’ administration.
“Traffic volume increases are forecast for the M2, M4, M5 East, and M5 South-West, further congesting these busy corridors. The Minns government’s solution to “toll mania” is more tolls, right when families are struggling the most,” Tudehope said.
Meanwhile, the Transport Workers Union (TWU), which represents some truck drivers as well as other delivery workers who use toll roads for work, welcomed the recommendation from the tolling reviewers to make tolls for heavy vehicles cheaper. “This change would offer much-needed financial relief to owner-operators already struggling with the cost of living,’ TWU NSW/QLD state secretary Richard Olsen said.
You can read more about the proposed tolling overhaul here:
Tenacious D gig postponed amid call for band to be deported over Trump shooting comment
Further to our post on Tenacious D earlier, Frontier Touring announced a short time ago that the band’s concert tonight in Newcastle had been postponed.
“Frontier Touring regret to advise that Tenacious D’s concert tonight at Newcastle Entertainment Centre has been postponed,” the company posted on Facebook about 3pm.
“Ticket holders are asked to hold onto their tickets until further information is available.”
Josh Butler
Tenacious D should be deported over Trump comment, senator says
Senator Ralph Babet has demanded the federal government deport American rock band Tenacious D, after one of its members appeared to joke at a Sydney concert about Donald Trump’s attempted assassination.
Tenacious D – made up of the actor Jack Black and his colleague Kyle Gass – are touring Australia at the moment. At the band’s Sydney concert on Sunday, Gass was presented with a birthday cake and told to “make a wish” as he blew out the candles.
Video from the concert shows Gass appearing to say “don’t miss Trump next time”, just hours after the shooting at Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania that left the former president injured.
The band has been heavily criticised online by Trump supporters. Black has publicly criticised Trump previously, and recently appeared at a celebrity fundraiser for Joe Biden.
Babet, the United Australia party senator, released a statement on Tuesday calling for Tenacious D to be ejected from Australia.
I call on the prime minister Anthony Albanese to join me in denouncing Tenacious D, Jack Black and band member Kyle Gass, and I call on the immigration minister Andrew Giles to revoke their visas and deport them immediately.
Two missing swimmers found dead in north Queensland
Two swimmers who went missing earlier this morning near Cairns at a waterfall have been found dead, police have confirmed.
The men, reportedly aged in their 20s, went missing about 9am at Millaa Millaa Falls.
Queensland ambulance service’s far north director, Chris Draper, said earlier that three men in their 20s had jumped from the falls into the water but two had not surfaced.
A spokesperson for Queensland police said a third male had been taken to hospital.
Canberrans use dashcam to dob in dangerous drivers
This is quite interesting: ACT policing have fined 25 drivers since May after members of the public used an online portal to upload dashcam footage of them.
Emily Wind
Thanks for being with me on today’s blog, I’ll handover to Nino Bucci who’ll be here with you for the remainder of the day. Take care!
Body of man located after woman allegedly shot in hand in NSW Riverina
The body of a man has been located in southern New South Wales after a woman was allegedly shot in the hand.
Officers responded to reports of a shooting at Walbundrie in the NSW Riverina region – about 50km north of Albury – this morning, and were told a 68-year-old man allegedly shot a 51-year-old woman in the right hand at the front gate of a property, before driving off.
The woman was treated at the scene and taken to Albury base hospital in a stable condition.
A short time later, the body of a man was located near Kings Bridge Road at Culcairn. He is yet to be formally identified, but police believe it is the 68-year-old man.
Two separate crime scenes have been established and an investigation is under way. A report will be prepared for the coroner, and anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Queensland freezes talks with union as Victorian allegations unfold
Queensland premier Steven Miles says he will not meet with the construction union until allegations put forward in Victoria are formally ruled out in Queensland.
As AAP reports, Miles has instructed the state’s police commissioner, Steve Gollschewski, to liaise with his Victorian counterpart on their investigation and how it may filter north.
There are no current active complaints against the CFMEU in Queensland, the premier said, telling reporters:
He will report back to me the outcomes of that conversation and if there are any matters that should be investigated here in Queensland, then they will be.
I have also spoken to the state secretary of the Labor party and confirmed that while the CFMEU has not donated to the Labor Party for some time, we will not be accepting donations from the CFMEU while … these allegations are being investigated.
The Queensland government would also support a review of the enterprise bargaining agreements if federal workplace relations minister Tony Burke determines that it is appropriate, Miles said.
As we flagged earlier, CFMEU construction workers held protests at Cross River Rail sites across Brisbane after enterprise bargaining agreement negotiations broke down with the project’s lead contractor.
Earlier, we brought you a press conference from Victorian premier Jacinta Allan regarding the state government’s response to allegations against the CFMEU.
You can now read all the details on this from Adeshola Ore below:
National hunt for identity of woman in beach bones find
Authorities nationwide are being asked to check their missing-person records to help solve the mystery case of an unidentified woman whose remains were found on a NSW beach, AAP reports.
As flagged earlier, locals uncovered the buried bones of a woman – believed to be aged in her 50s – in dunes at Jetty Beach in the north-coast town of Coffs Harbour on 18 June, but she remains unidentified.
Superintendent Joanne Schultz has told reporters:
We have obtained a DNA profile, so we’re hoping that might assist us in identifying the person … We’re now reaching out beyond NSW, to look at other missing-persons units across Australia and for them to check their records.
Police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward.
