Australia news LIVE: ACT may prosecute Shane Drumgold over Lehrmann inquiry; PM flags meeting with Xi Jinping

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• 7.05amDutton bypassed Indigenous community safety for grants in Coalition seats
• 6.50amDrumgold and Sofronoff face investigation in Lehrmann inquiry fallout
• 6.35amFive killed after Russian missiles strike city in eastern Ukraine
• 6.20amThis morning’s headlines at a glance

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Dutton bypassed Indigenous community safety for grants in Coalition seats

Peter Dutton blocked high-priority crime prevention grants for Indigenous communities as Home Affairs Minister in favour of less-worthy projects found to have favoured Coalition seats and which included protecting “expensive bowling greens”.

With many polls showing the Voice referendum on track for defeat, Labor has seized on new documents to attack Dutton for rejecting a grant from one of the remote communities he used as an example of a place the Voice to parliament would not fix local crime.

Peter Dutton was accused by the PM of pushing “conspiracy theories” in the referendum campaign.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

The major parties locked horns over the Voice again in parliament on Monday. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, who the opposition labelled “out of his depth” last week, accused Dutton of pushing “conspiracy theories” in the referendum campaign.

New information shows in 2019, the then-home affairs minister bypassed six Indigenous grant applications in the third round of the $184 million Safer Communities Fund when he diverted millions of dollars away from projects ranked high-priority by his department.

Find out more here.

Drumgold and Sofronoff face investigation in Lehrmann inquiry fallout

Back in Australia, the ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold, SC, and Walter Sofronoff, KC, the former judge who led the high-profile inquiry into authorities’ handling of the Lehrmann trial, face investigations that could lead to them both having charges brought against them.

In their interim response to the inquiry’s 839-page report on the “case like no other”, ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury foreshadowed further investigations into Drumgold, who was heavily criticised in the findings, and Sofronoff, who leaked them to select journalists.

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury formally released the report on Monday.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“This should have drawn a line under this matter,” Barr said of the report at a press conference on Monday.

While Sofronoff found the prosecution was properly brought, he said Drumgold had lied to the ACT Supreme Court in the lead-up to the trial, improperly questioned former Coalition minister Linda Reynolds on the stand, and made “scandalous” claims about police conduct.

Rattenbury said the ACT Bar Association would consider Drumgold’s future as a barrister and noted the findings had met the statutory threshold for dismissal for misbehaviour in office.

Read more about the potential investigation here.

Five killed after Russian missiles strike city in eastern Ukraine

Two Russian missile strikes hit the city center of the Ukrainian city of Pokrovsk in the eastern Donetsk region on Monday, killing five people and wounding at least 31 more, Ukrainian officials said.

One of the strikes, which targeted the Ukrainian portion of a region partially occupied by Russia, killed four civilians, and the other killed the deputy head of the regional branch of Ukraine’s State Emergency Service, Ukraine’s Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said in an online statement.

At least 31 people — including 19 policemen, five rescuers and one child — have been wounded in the attack, the official said.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky attends a celebration of the Day of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, amid Russia’s attack.Credit: Reuters

The strikes damaged a hotel, residential buildings and other civilian structures, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an online statement accused Russia of trying to leave nothing but “broken and scorched stones” in eastern Ukraine.

His remarks accompanied footage of a damaged, five-story residential building with one floor partially destroyed.

The deadly attack came just a day after officials from around 40 countries gathered in Saudi Arabia to find a peaceful settlement for the war in Ukraine.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry on Monday denounced the two-day talks in Jeddah as not having “the slightest added value” because Moscow — unlike Kyiv — wasn’t invited.

AP

This morning’s headlines at a glance

Good morning, and thanks for your company.

It’s Tuesday, August 8. I’m Caroline Schelle, and I’ll be anchoring our live coverage for the first half of the day.

Here’s what you need to know before we get started:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he hopes to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping in India next month.
• Amidst distractions and criticisms, supporters of the Voice heard just what they needed from the prime minister at this year’s Garma Festival.
• Peter Dutton blocked high-priority crime prevention grants for Indigenous communities as Home Affairs Minister.
• An inquiry which investigated allegations of misconduct and bullying against a cancer scientist found the federal government should establish a watchdog to police its scientists.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese wore the green and gold in parliament ahead of Matildas match yesterday.Alex Ellinghausen

• The affordability of insurance and the impact of planning rules on flood-prone areas will be the focus of a parliamentary inquiry into the sector.
• The ACT’s chief minister and attorney-general have foreshadowed further investigations into the territory’s top prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, and inquiry chair Walter Sofronoff.
• And in case you didn’t tune in, Australia’s Matildas beat Denmark 2-0 to set up a quarter-final clash with either France or Morocco on Saturday.
• In overseas news, a federal judge tossed out former US president Donald Trump’s countersuit against the writer who won a sex abuse lawsuit against him.

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