TRANSCRIPT
Welcome to SBS News In Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
The heartbroken families of Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles are calling on the public to help cover increasing costs to bring their daughters' bodies home after their deaths from methanol poisoning in Laos.
The 19-year-olds from Melbourne are among six foreign tourists who died in a suspected mass drink-spiking event in the Southeast Asian nation.
Their families want to raise awareness about methanol poisoning and have started a GoFundMe in their daughters' memory.
The page has raised more than $135,000 as of Monday morning.
Bianca Jones' father, Mark Jones, says the family is incredibly grateful for the support that has been shown to them.
"We can't have the passing of our daughter - our daughter's life - not lead to change to protect others. Young men and women should be able to travel and to create their own life experiences and be safe. We will forever miss our beautiful girl. And hope her loss of life has not been in vain."
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One of the most senior women in government is launching legal action in the federal court over allegations she was ousted from her job after making a complaint about bullying.
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles’ chief of staff, Jo Tarnawsky, went public with the claims in October, claiming she has been locked out of her office since May.
She says she is lodging the legal proceedings due to a lack of action from the government.
"Six weeks ago, I spoke out publicly to reveal what was happening to me behind closed doors. As far as I know, there has been no investigation into the behaviours I reported, nor regarding the actions taken by the deputy prime minister against me. But if the government won’t hold its own poor behaviour to account, then I will ask the courts to do that."
The legal action is being brought against the federal government, Mr Marles and the prime minister’s chief of staff Tim Gartrell.
Ms Tarnawsky has not claimed that Richard Marles or Mr Gartrell perpetrated the alleged bullying.
Mr Marles previously told parliament he felt "deeply sad" about the situation, but could not comment further due to legal processes.
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The Northern Territory Minister for the Prevention of Domestic Violence, Ms Robyn Cahill, says the Territory government will be looking very closely at the findings of a landmark inquiry into the deaths of four Aboriginal women who were killed by their partners.
For the past 18 months, coroner Elisabeth Armitage has heard from 95 witnesses and examined the response by police and the NT government into the deaths of Kumanjayi Haywood, Ngeyo Ragurrk, Kumarn Rubuntja, and Miss Yunupingu.
Her recommendations will be handed down today.
Since 2000, 81 women in the NT have died as a result of domestic violence, 93 per cent of them Aboriginal.
Minister Cahill says she will be considering very seriously about what can be done differently.
"I think one of the key areas is that we're focusing often on the outcomes of the behaviour. And what I would like to do is to turn things around and focus on why these things are happening. What I can guarantee is that we will very closely review those findings. We will discuss them across the Territory. We will look at how we can improve on what has been happening."
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The final sitting week for the year will have a housing focus with Labor's two key housing policies to be brought for final votes in the Senate.
The Help to Buy shared equity scheme would see the government lend up to 40 per cent of the cost of a house to eligible buyers whilst the Build to Rent bill offers tax concession to incentivise developers to build affordable rentals.
The two housing bills have struggled to attract the support of the opposition or the Greens, with Labor knocking back fresh demands from the latter.
Housing Minister Clare O'Neil says she hopes the bills will pass this week.
"We want to see these bills get through the parliament, because there is a housing crisis on foot which is affecting the lives of millions of people. Our Parliament can do more about this, and we want that to happen this week with the passage of these two bills."
That was SBS News In Easy English. I'm Catriona Stirrat.
