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AAP Rolling News Bulletin for November 15 at 1800

Loneliness (SYDNEY) Younger and older Australians are disproportionately lonely and face increasingly poor health and higher mortality. Loneliness is of epidemic proportions with at least one in three Australians reporting the experience, a parliamentary inquiry heard on Friday. Ending Loneliness Together CEO Michelle Lim said those aged 18 to 24, the elderly and people in remote areas are disproportionately affected with the pressing public heath concern, spawning a host of health problems. "Loneliness is bad for health and wellbeing, but when we actually have those persistent states, or more chronic states, that's where we actually exacerbate our incidence of high mortality and increase our risk to developing future health problems," she told a panel of researchers, mental health experts and policy advocates.

Legal: Loughnane (MELBOURNE) A mother is living in pain every day after her daughter was murdered by an abusive partner and then discarded in bushland. Maryam Hamka's killer, who took almost two years to lead police to her remains, continues to claim she died from a drug overdose. Susan Iramiyan described her grief in a statement to the Supreme Court in Melbourne on Friday, as her 36-year-old daughter's murderer Toby Loughnane faced a pre-sentence hearing. The 44-year-old was in June found guilty Ms Hamka's murder in April 2021 after a jury rejected his claims she had died of a drug overdose. Loughnane had already admitted dumping Ms Hamka's body in a shallow grave at Cape Schanck, having led investigators to her remains in August 2023.

Legal: Sukkar (SYDNEY) A man who killed two people in a horrific crash on a major Sydney bridge was warned by police about speeding just 10 days earlier in the same area, a court has been told. Adeeb Sukkar, 42, was convicted of two counts of dangerous driving occasioning death after pinning two people between their damaged cars while on his way to a casino. Amy Lim, 25, and Hongyi Zhang, 40, had stopped to exchange details on the inner-city Anzac Bridge following a minor prang shortly before midnight on December 2, 2022. Sukkar was driving over the speed limit before he slammed his car into the back of Ms Lim's vehicle, crushing both her and Mr Zhang between their damaged cars. Both died from their injuries before paramedics could arrive on the scene.

COP29 Aust (CANBERRA) A new climate program will combine private capital and Australian aid to spur climate action in some of the world's most vulnerable regions. Foreign Minister Penny Wong said the package announced at the COP29 climate conference on Friday would boost the efforts of businesses across the Pacific, Southeast Asia and South Asia. The $126 million top-up to existing aid will offer cheap finance for climate projects, and comes as Australia gets set to co-chair negotiations where other rich nations are being asked to put more money on the table. "The Climate Catalyst Window will unlock the potential of climate-focused businesses to help drive the climate action our region has been asking for," Senator Wong said. "We're also ensuring we are getting maximum value for Australia's development assistance in projects that matter to Australians and our region," she said.

Legal: White (SYDNEY) Tasering a person who is armed with a knife is generally an appropriate action for police but might not be suitable in every instance, an officer's trial over the death of an elderly woman has been told. Senior Constable Kristian White fired his stun gun at Clare Nowland, 95, in a treatment room at Yallambee Lodge aged-care home in the southern NSW town of Cooma during the early hours of May 17, 2023. The great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia and was holding a knife at the time, fell backwards, hitting her head and died a week later in hospital. White is facing a trial in the NSW Supreme Court after pleading not guilty to manslaughter. NSW Police operational safety instructor William Watt on Friday said officers were trained that a subject armed with a knife presented a significant threat.

Supermarkets (MELBOURNE) Woolworths and Coles will fight class action lawsuits brought over claims they deceived customers through misleading promotions on everyday products. Law firm Gerard Malouf and Partners has lodged two class action suits against the supermarket giants in the Federal Court, alleging they breached Australian consumer law through misleading promotional discounts on hundreds of items. Both Coles and Woolworths on Friday told shareholders they would defend themselves against the class actions. "Woolworths Group intends to defend the class action proceedings," the supermarket said on the ASX. The fresh lawsuits follow legal action by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's (ACCC) against the two supermarket giants. "Coles announced on 23 September 2024 that it is defending the ACCC proceedings, and also intends to defend the proceedings commenced by Gerard Malouf & Partners," Coles said in its announcement.

Centrelink (CANBERRA) An anti-corruption watchdog boss has apologised but refuses to resign after being found to have engaged in misconduct over the robodebt scandal. A report in October found National Anti-Corruption Commissioner Paul Brereton hadn't adequately excused himself from a decision not to investigate six referrals from the robodebt royal commission over the illegal scheme. "I've accepted that viewed through the lens of the legal notion of apprehended bias I've been found to have made a mistake for which I've taken sole responsibility," the commissioner told a National Public Sector Governance Forum in Adelaide on Friday. "Given the need to ensure that there's public confidence in the process, we decided that the original decision should be reconsidered by an eminent, independent person, and in this way, the mistake will be rectified.

Legal: Speirs (ADELAIDE) Former South Australian Liberal leader David Speirs has made a brief first court appearance after being charged with supplying drugs. Speirs, 39, has been embroiled in controversy since he quit the leadership on August 8, declaring that he had "just had a gutful" of leadership speculation and did not have the energy to keep fighting. Facing two counts of supplying a controlled substance from August 2-3 and on August 9, his bail was varied in Christies Beach Magistrates Court on Friday to allow him to travel overseas. Prosecutors agreed that his passport be returned to him but he must lodge his itinerary with police, pay a $15,000 surety with a guarantor for another $15,000. No details of his destination were given in court, but he was ordered to report to police on his return and hand back his passport on his return from overseas.

In finance ...

Mirvac (SYDNEY) Property giant Mirvac Group sees green shoots emerging and positive sentiment starting to return after a challenging year in Australian real estate, as Lendlease also expresses optimism for the future. Mirvac chief executive and managing director Campbell Hanan told the company's annual general meeting on Friday it recently sold two office assets in Sydney for about book value. "This along with increased transactional activity is a good sign that office valuations are beginning to stabilise," Mr Hanan said. There had also been an uptick in activity across Mirvac's residential business with the recent launches of two planned communities in western Sydney attracting strong interest, master-planned communities in Brisbane and Perth trading well and an encouraging uptick of activity in Melbourne, he said.

Markets Aust (SYDNEY) The local share market is on track for its second day of gains, with every sector except health care in the green at lunchtime. At noon AEDT on Friday, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 41 points, or 0.5 per cent, to 8,265.0, while the broader All Ordinaries had ga