ABC correspondent and camera operator again teargassed and hit by ‘less lethal’ rounds while covering LA protests
Kate Lyons
Lauren Day, the ABC North America correspondent who was teargassed and whose camera operator was shot in the chest with a “less lethal” bullet while covering the LA immigration protests yesterday, says she and her camera operator have been caught in the crossfire yet again today.
Day told Guardian Australia that she and her camera operator had endured a “scary and stressful night and we’ve had some more issues today with getting caught in the crossfire – this time with pepper pellets.”
Pepper pellets are projectiles which burst open on impact, releasing powdered oleoresin capsicum (capsicum spray).
Day said:
It certainly puts you on edge knowing things can turn at any moment and the fact that you’re press is no protection to getting caught up in the chaos.
Day and her camera operator, a freelancer, were hit with teargas while reporting yesterday. Her camera operator was also hit in the chest with a less lethal bullet, but has escaped injury.
He was thankfully wearing a Kevlar vest at the time so was totally uninjured and didn’t even wake up with a bruise. We didn’t see what he was hit by but I’m just grateful whatever it was didn’t strike his neck or face where it might have really done some damage.
“Less than lethal” bullets can cause fatal injuries if they hit people in the neck or face and LAPD officers are instructed not to fire at certain parts of people’s body or at people from too close a range.
After the incidents last night, Day says she was “far more on edge” going back out for another night of reporting.
I’ve reported from the Middle East five times since October 7 and also from Myanmar during the civil war there, so I’m not unfamiliar with risk and conflict in my work, but I never expected the kinds of scenes we’re witnessing in the United States in 2025.
Key events
Lucrative cop scheme contributes to thinner blue line
An early retirement scheme designed for disengaged police has not cut medical exits and might have contributed to a staffing hole within the force.
The NSW auditor general released a report into the mental health and wellbeing of the state’s police, finding increasing psychological injury claims, compensation payouts and medical exits.
Compensation claims totalled about $1.75bn between 2019 and 2024, increasing at nearly 50% year-on-year throughout that period.
A “golden handshake” scheme (the Optional Disengagement scheme) which was established in 2022 prompted 679 police to exit the force, with a lump sum of up to 133 weeks’ pay. It was open to officers who have worked for more than 10 years and the average payout was $203,600.
But the auditor’s report found no evidence the $138m scheme had resulted in the departures of police who were not fit or were unsuited to their roles. Instead of reducing medical separations for psychological reasons after its implementation, they continued to rise. The report said:
Ultimately, it resulted in a financial burden on the NSW police force budget, in conjunction with a reduction in police numbers at a time when there were emerging workforce shortages.
The scheme contributed in part to the current scale of the workforce shortage problem … (it) is an example of an initiative that was not matched to workforce risks.
A lack of understanding about the causes of psychological stress among police was stopping preventative measures being brought in, the report found.
Among four recommendations, the report says the force should investigate the causes of overload and burnout and adjust their policies and practices accordingly.
– AAP
Adam Morton
The wait for a decision on whether Tasmanians will hold an early election continues – and may for some time yet.
For those catching up, the parliament passed a no confidence motion in the Liberal premier, Jeremy Rockliff. Last night he advised the governor, Barbara Baker, to call an early election.
Baker met this afternoon with the opposition leader, Dean Winter, as part of a process that her office described as “giving due consideration to all available options” and “considering advice from a number of sources”. She is yet to make a decision and has said she would meet again with Rockliff before the end of the week.
Winter has issued a statement saying he told Baker what he has been saying publicly – that he “will not be doing a deal with the Greens” to form a minority government.
Labor has just 10 seats in the state’s 35-member lower house. It cannot form government without support on confidence and supply from eight crossbenchers, including five Greens.
The Liberals, who have 14 seats, may avoid an immediate election and keep governing in minority if they replaced Rockliff. Potential alternative leaders include former federal minister Eric Abetz, ex-state treasurer Michael Ferguson and police minister Felix Ellis.
But it is unclear whether a Liberal government under a different premier could secure a durable deal with the crossbench.
So far the parliamentary party has backed Rockliff.
ABC correspondent and camera operator again teargassed and hit by ‘less lethal’ rounds while covering LA protests
Kate Lyons
Lauren Day, the ABC North America correspondent who was teargassed and whose camera operator was shot in the chest with a “less lethal” bullet while covering the LA immigration protests yesterday, says she and her camera operator have been caught in the crossfire yet again today.
Day told Guardian Australia that she and her camera operator had endured a “scary and stressful night and we’ve had some more issues today with getting caught in the crossfire – this time with pepper pellets.”
Pepper pellets are projectiles which burst open on impact, releasing powdered oleoresin capsicum (capsicum spray).
Day said:
It certainly puts you on edge knowing things can turn at any moment and the fact that you’re press is no protection to getting caught up in the chaos.
Day and her camera operator, a freelancer, were hit with teargas while reporting yesterday. Her camera operator was also hit in the chest with a less lethal bullet, but has escaped injury.
He was thankfully wearing a Kevlar vest at the time so was totally uninjured and didn’t even wake up with a bruise. We didn’t see what he was hit by but I’m just grateful whatever it was didn’t strike his neck or face where it might have really done some damage.
“Less than lethal” bullets can cause fatal injuries if they hit people in the neck or face and LAPD officers are instructed not to fire at certain parts of people’s body or at people from too close a range.
After the incidents last night, Day says she was “far more on edge” going back out for another night of reporting.
I’ve reported from the Middle East five times since October 7 and also from Myanmar during the civil war there, so I’m not unfamiliar with risk and conflict in my work, but I never expected the kinds of scenes we’re witnessing in the United States in 2025.
More from Penny Wong on the decision to sanction two Israeli ministers
Wong called the two Israeli cabinet ministers “the most extreme proponents of the unlawful and violent settlement enterprise” this morning. Watch her remarks below:
Victoria man dies from significant burns five months after alleged arson attack
Victoria Police said a man has died after an alleged arson attack in Melbourne in January, five months after he sustained significant burns to his body.
Officials said emergency services responded to a business that was on fire on 15 January about 4.15am, where witnesses said multiple people allegedly poured an accelerant inside before setting it alight. The group then fled the address, with one member “visibly on fire”, police said.
Emergency services later responded to a home where a man, 52, was treated for the burns and taken to the hospital. He spent the past five months receiving medical treatment for the injuries before his death. No one has been arrested in relation to the fire, or another at the same store police believe is linked. Chris Murray, a detective inspector with Victoria Police, said:
This is an incredibly sad turn of events for this man’s family, however it’s important that we are clear that this was a completely avoidable situation.
Over the past two years in particular we have issued repeated warnings about the dangers of fire and the potential for someone to be killed as a direct result of these arson attacks.
Nick Visser
That’s all for me. Jordyn Beazley will be with you later to guide you through the afternoon’s news. Take care.
Benita Kolovos
Victoria orders enough desalinated water to fill MCG ‘320 times’ to help amid drought conditions
Victoria’s water minister, Gayle Tierney, told budget estimates today the government has ordered 50 gigalitres of water from the state’s desalination plant amid the drought in the regions.
Tierney says the order – enough to fill the MCG “320 times” – has cost $34.3m. But the government will subsidise bills, so it will only lead to an increase of about “$1 a month” for an average water customer.
Kate Lyons
More on the growing number of Australian journalists hit by US law enforcement
The number of Australian journalists hit by law enforcement while covering ongoing immigration protests in Los Angeles has climbed, with reporters for Nine, the ABC and the New York Times affected.
Lauren Day, the North America correspondent for the ABC, said she and her crew were teargassed when the protests escalated following a long standoff with police on Monday night local time. The experience was “extremely unpleasant”, she said. She described her experience for the ABC:
All of a sudden, we heard large bangs and the crowd started running. I then felt the unmistakable burn of tear gas – first in my eyes, then in my nose, lips and throat.
It really stings your entire face and makes it difficult to breathe until the point you almost want to throw up.
Read more here:
Luca Ittimani
Fewer strikes in Labor’s first term compared to pre-pandemic predecessors
Anthony Albanese’s government has overseen fewer workplace strikes which affected fewer people than his Labor and Liberal predecessors did before the pandemic, new data suggests.
There have been fewer workplace disputes since Labor was elected in 2022 than there were in the first two terms of the preceding Coalition government, while the disputes that occurred involved fewer employees, on a quarterly average.
The Covid pandemic saw disputes fall steeply during the Coalition’s third term under Scott Morrison, though, so the three-month average number of disputes and affected workers was lower overall through the 2013-2022 period of Liberal prime ministers than it has been under Labor so far.
From July 2022 to March 2025, there have been about 47 disputes involving 16 workers on average each quarter, compared to nearly 48 disputes affecting 19 workers during the Coalition’s first two terms. It’s a slight drop, but still significantly lower than the figures seen under the Rudd-Gillard government of 50 disputes affecting nearly 30 workers on the same quarterly measure.
The slide could seem counterintuitive for a government that has protected and created new rights for workers, though Albanese’s first term also strained federal Labor’s relationships with prominent trade unions.
More working days were lost to disputes during Albanese’s prime ministership than under the Coalition on average, whether or not the 2019-2022 Morrison term is excluded, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics data.
EU ambassador says any effort that addresses Palestinian suffering ‘welcome’ after Israeli sanctions
Gabriele Visentin, the European Union’s ambassador to Australia, was asked about the new joint sanctions unveiled against two top Israeli cabinet minister this morning. He told the National Press Club:
Any effort leading to a relief of the human suffering of the Palestinian population is welcome. The EU position is that humanitarian aid should be allowed in, and to help to overcome the current dire situation of the Palestinian population has to be solved. …
Our position has always been through the years, and continues to be, that the only valuable solution, long-term, lasting solution, is the 2-state solution. This is what we continue to work on and to insist upon.
We have to consider the absolute right of Israel not only to exist, but to defend itself from terrorism – but we also have to guarantee a dignified life to the Palestinians.
Shadow foreign minister wants more information on thought process behind Israeli sanctions
Josh Butler
The shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, says the Coalition wants to know more about why the Labor government enacted sanctions on two Israeli ministers, saying the sanctioning of a key ally was a “very serious development”. Cash said in a statement:
We have not received a briefing about this matter but would expect there to be a very high threshold for this decision. Labor should be clear who initiated this process, on what basis they have done so and who made the decision.
I note the United States, who is leading the ceasefire process, has said this will not help to achieve a ceasefire. It is for the government to explain how this action contributes to the safe return of all remaining hostages held by Hamas, and a lasting peace in the Middle East.
Cash claimed the government had “seemingly lowered the threshold” for imposing Magnitsky-style sanctions, and called for an explanation as to whether a similar standard would be applied to “comments made by officials from other countries”.
This may have serious implications for our international relationships.
EU ambassador says Europe and Australia ‘can and must team up’ to protect democracy
Gabriele Visentin, the EU’s ambassador to Australia, is speaking about trade and the ongoing relationship between Europe and Australia at the National Press Club. Visentin stressed the EU believes “Europe and Australia are more than markets to each other”, adding:
We are more than a set of institutions. Our relationship is about more than the economy. It’s about prosperity. It’s about security. And it’s about democracy. And this is the very moment to stand up for our strengths and values. …
Europe and Australia can and must team up to protect our own rules and values and our democracies, which are strong but should never be taken for granted.
Albanese says he understands flight paths ‘as a Marrickville resident’
The prime minister was speaking from the site of the new airport in western Sydney earlier. He addressed the recent announcements of the airport’s new flight paths, responding to a question about their impacts on some communities by saying they are “fair” and the subject of “enormous community consultation”. Albanese said:
We want to make sure that we maximise the economic opportunity that comes from this airport while minimising any impact of aircraft noise that occurs. That is what we have put forward with these plans.
… As a Marrickville resident, I’m very conscious about these issues. But we have gone to a great deal of trouble to make sure that there is minimum disruption and minimum impact of aircraft noise.
Sydney’s Marrickville, parts of which sit beneath the flight paths for the current airport, is known for loud aircraft noise. Read more about the city’s second airport here:
Amanda Meade
ABC confirms Q+A will be axed after 18 years, with scores of redundancies across public broadcaster
The ABC’s Q+A program has been cancelled after 18 years, the broadcaster has confirmed, amid wider changes that will result in scores of redundancies across the public broadcaster.
The round of changes will fund new programming at the ABC under reforms yet to be announced by the new managing director, Hugh Marks.
Marks, who joined the ABC in March, is set to unveil his first round of reforms at the public broadcaster, which Guardian Australia understands will include at least 80 redundancies.
Read more here:
Benita Kolovos
IVF on the agenda at national meeting of health ministers
The Victorian health minister, Mary-Anne Thomas, confirmed the regulation of private fertility services will be on the agenda when federal and state health ministers meet in Melbourne on Friday.
It follows reports of a second botched embryo implantation by Monash IVF in Victoria, which is now being investigated by the state regulator. Two months earlier, the same company confirmed a similar incident in Queensland where a woman unknowingly gave birth to another couple’s baby due to a similar error.
Thomas says she was looking forward to hearing from the federal health minister, Mark Butler, on a possible national regulator. She said:
I’m always open to ways in which we can improve the quality of care that so many Victorians rely on. When we’re thinking about fertility care, it’s such an emotional rollercoaster for so many families … and I want to ensure that we’ve got regulation that’s fit for purpose and people can have confidence in these private fertility services in which they invest so much money.