Speaker 1: This is Gabriella Power with your News 24 update. Victoria
Speaker 1: Premier Ben Carroll has announced a secret 1% transport levy
Speaker 1: has been scrapped. It was called a rail improvement charge
Speaker 1: in meetings invoked in part to fund the suburban rail link.
Speaker 1: The Herald Sun reports both the Andrews and Allen governments
Speaker 1: chose to keep news of the charge quiet. The Premier
Speaker 1: reversed the decision this morning.
Speaker 2: I'm a Premier who levels with Victorians. And I'm going
Speaker 2: to level with Victorians today. I will abolish the rail
Speaker 2: improvement charge. There'll be a proper cabinet process to come.
Speaker 2: But it's my intention and the Treasurer's intention to abolish
Speaker 2: that charge.
Speaker 1: Opposition leader Jess Wilson has told News24 Premier Carroll was
Speaker 1: public transport minister when the charge was invoked. The completion
Speaker 1: of public hearings for the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism has
Speaker 1: prompted a mixed reaction. There are calls for it to
Speaker 1: be extended. When wrapping up the inquiry, Royal Commissioner Virginia
Speaker 1: Bell was confident sufficient evidence has been heard.
Speaker 3: I am satisfied that I am currently in a position
Speaker 3: to give a full and fair account of the term
Speaker 3: of reference which asks whether, in relation to the Bondi-Harnaker
Speaker 3: attack our intelligence and our law enforcement agencies operated or
Speaker 3: performed to maximum effectiveness.
Speaker 1: Former Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard led parts
Speaker 1: of the Jewish community in suggesting key witnesses were omitted.
Speaker 1: The Executive Council of Australian Jury believes the Commission had
Speaker 1: succeeded in providing an insight into lived Jewish experiences. Queensland
Speaker 1: will be free to continue using gas and coal to
Speaker 1: power data centres, despite the Prime Minister pushing states towards
Speaker 1: renewable energy. Anthony Albanese says national standards will be developed
Speaker 1: for new data centres, but states and territories will retain
Speaker 1: control over how they're powered. Queensland Premier David Crisafulli has
Speaker 1: rejected an exclusively renewable approach, arguing reliability must come first.
Speaker 1: The federal government says the new standards will also address
Speaker 1: water use, local communities and Australia's data sovereignty. The alleged
Speaker 1: mastermind behind the 9-11 terror attacks in the United States
Speaker 1: is to stand trial in June 2028, 27 years after
Speaker 1: the atrocities took place. A military judge has ruled the
Speaker 1: long-awaited trial of Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and three alleged co-conspirators
Speaker 1: will be held in two years' time. They were captured
Speaker 1: in 2003 and have been held at the US Naval
Speaker 1: Base in Guantanamo Bay in Cuba since. He is the
Speaker 1: self-proclaimed mastermind of the 9-11 attacks on September 11, 2001,
Speaker 1: that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people. At least
Speaker 1: seven people are dead and nine people are missing after
Speaker 1: a fire at a gas plant in Russia. The incident
Speaker 1: has occurred in Russia's far eastern region of Amur, which
Speaker 1: borders China. The plant says the fire has been brought
Speaker 1: under control after breaking out on Tuesday. Initial reports suggest
Speaker 1: that six of the deceased, alongside all those missing, are
Speaker 1: Chinese nationals. The plant is reported to be one of
Speaker 1: the largest petrochemical facilities in the world. Be the first
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Speaker 1: all the news on the go.