1 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,200 Speaker 1: Good morning, Happy Thursday, and welcome to the Daily OS. 2 00:00:06,400 --> 00:00:08,840 Speaker 1: It is the fourth of March. My name is Zara 3 00:00:08,920 --> 00:00:11,600 Speaker 1: Sidler and helping them make sense of today's news is 4 00:00:11,640 --> 00:00:17,160 Speaker 1: Sam Koslowski. Making news today. South Australia decriminalizes. 5 00:00:16,360 --> 00:00:19,200 Speaker 2: Abortion, Texas and Mississippi open. 6 00:00:19,040 --> 00:00:21,279 Speaker 1: Up, some good news about pads. 7 00:00:21,079 --> 00:00:25,240 Speaker 2: And a chat about our Attorney General. Here's today's daily digest. 8 00:00:26,079 --> 00:00:29,840 Speaker 1: Abortion has been decriminalized in South Australia. Under the changes, 9 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,440 Speaker 1: abortion will be treated as a healthcare issue and not 10 00:00:32,520 --> 00:00:35,879 Speaker 1: as a criminal one, in line with other states including Victoria, 11 00:00:36,000 --> 00:00:39,840 Speaker 1: Queensland and New South Wales. South Australian Attorney General Vicky 12 00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,960 Speaker 1: Chapman said that the legislation was a historic day for 13 00:00:43,000 --> 00:00:44,200 Speaker 1: the women of South Australia. 14 00:00:45,680 --> 00:00:47,960 Speaker 2: Our Australian of the Year for this year, Grace Tame, 15 00:00:48,040 --> 00:00:51,040 Speaker 2: has delivered a powerful speech to the National Press Club 16 00:00:51,159 --> 00:00:53,600 Speaker 2: calling on the state and federal governments to implement major 17 00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:57,160 Speaker 2: reforms in the areas of sexual assault and consent. She said, 18 00:00:57,160 --> 00:00:59,960 Speaker 2: it's so important for our nation, the whole world in fact, 19 00:01:00,160 --> 00:01:01,800 Speaker 2: to listen to survivors' stories. 20 00:01:03,400 --> 00:01:06,360 Speaker 1: Next to the US, where the governors of Texas and 21 00:01:06,360 --> 00:01:09,119 Speaker 1: Mississippi have both announced that they will be lifting their 22 00:01:09,120 --> 00:01:12,160 Speaker 1: states mask mandates and rolling back any of their COVID 23 00:01:12,240 --> 00:01:15,840 Speaker 1: nineteen health mandates. Texas Governor Greg Abbott said it is 24 00:01:15,920 --> 00:01:18,840 Speaker 1: now time to open Texas one hundred percent. 25 00:01:19,840 --> 00:01:22,480 Speaker 2: And today's good news. The New South Wales Department of 26 00:01:22,600 --> 00:01:25,679 Speaker 2: Education is going to be trialing a program to distribute 27 00:01:25,760 --> 00:01:29,280 Speaker 2: free pads and tampons to address period poverty in schools. 28 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaker 2: Department Secretary Mark Scott said the department was working on 29 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,920 Speaker 2: the pilot program and we're going to get more details shortly. 30 00:01:37,600 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 2: We're waking up today after one of the most unusual 31 00:01:40,959 --> 00:01:44,880 Speaker 2: days in Australian politics we can remember. The day started 32 00:01:44,920 --> 00:01:48,440 Speaker 2: with a remarkable speech from Australian of the Year Grace 33 00:01:48,480 --> 00:01:51,000 Speaker 2: Tame at the National Press Club in Canberra. We put 34 00:01:51,000 --> 00:01:53,720 Speaker 2: a post up on Instagram about it. It was simply unmissible. 35 00:01:54,080 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 2: Almost straight after Grace Tame finished at the Press Club, 36 00:01:57,960 --> 00:02:00,880 Speaker 2: Christian Porter, the minister accused of raping a woman in 37 00:02:00,960 --> 00:02:04,040 Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight, spoke about the allegations for the first time. 38 00:02:04,640 --> 00:02:06,920 Speaker 2: What we thought we'd do today on the podcast is 39 00:02:07,000 --> 00:02:08,840 Speaker 2: take you through some of the key points of what 40 00:02:08,919 --> 00:02:11,400 Speaker 2: he said and help you understand the backstory. 41 00:02:12,160 --> 00:02:16,280 Speaker 1: So the Attorney General and Industrial Relations Minister Christian Porter 42 00:02:16,360 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 1: got up yesterday and he named himself for the first 43 00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: time as the minister who was alleged to have raped 44 00:02:22,400 --> 00:02:25,120 Speaker 1: the sixteen year old girl in nineteen eighty eight. And 45 00:02:25,440 --> 00:02:28,519 Speaker 1: first up, he made very clear that he was denying 46 00:02:28,600 --> 00:02:31,720 Speaker 1: the claim. He said, from the outset and I quote, 47 00:02:32,160 --> 00:02:34,239 Speaker 1: the things that are being claimed to have happened did 48 00:02:34,280 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: not happen. I can't criticize or mounted offense or cross 49 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:39,800 Speaker 1: examine someone. I'm just not going to do that to 50 00:02:39,840 --> 00:02:41,280 Speaker 1: the family of this poor woman. 51 00:02:41,919 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 2: From there, Christian Porter took on the big issue that 52 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:46,680 Speaker 2: he knew the journalists in the room were going to 53 00:02:46,680 --> 00:02:50,040 Speaker 2: ask him about, and actually preempted the answer. He said 54 00:02:50,160 --> 00:02:52,760 Speaker 2: that he will absolutely not resign. He did say he'd 55 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,079 Speaker 2: take a few weeks off now for mental health leave, 56 00:02:55,600 --> 00:02:58,840 Speaker 2: but ultimately he's going to remain as Australia's Attorney General, 57 00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:01,840 Speaker 2: which is the highest legal position in the country. He 58 00:03:01,880 --> 00:03:03,880 Speaker 2: said that if he stands down from his position as 59 00:03:03,919 --> 00:03:06,920 Speaker 2: Attorney General because of an allegation about something that simply 60 00:03:06,960 --> 00:03:09,960 Speaker 2: did not happen, that's his words, then any person in 61 00:03:09,960 --> 00:03:12,799 Speaker 2: Australia can lose their career, their job their life's work 62 00:03:12,880 --> 00:03:15,919 Speaker 2: based on nothing more than an accusation that appears in print. 63 00:03:16,440 --> 00:03:19,239 Speaker 2: He drilled this point home throughout the journalist's questioning, where 64 00:03:19,240 --> 00:03:22,440 Speaker 2: they were questioning whether he could withstand the public pressure 65 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,760 Speaker 2: in what they called the court of public opinion. 66 00:03:26,280 --> 00:03:28,560 Speaker 1: And while we're on the topic of the media, Attorney 67 00:03:28,600 --> 00:03:32,440 Speaker 1: General Christian Porter also made clear that he believed that 68 00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,600 Speaker 1: the media had not put the claims and the allegations 69 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:39,600 Speaker 1: to him in any substantial form. He said that prior 70 00:03:39,640 --> 00:03:42,320 Speaker 1: to last Friday's story, which was broken by the ABC 71 00:03:42,560 --> 00:03:45,920 Speaker 1: for corners to be exact, and I quote, no one 72 00:03:46,040 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: in law enforcement or the law, or politics or the 73 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: media ever put any substance of any specific allegations to 74 00:03:52,800 --> 00:03:56,040 Speaker 1: me at all. I've been the subject of the most wild, intense, 75 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:59,720 Speaker 1: unrestrained series of accusations I can remember in modern Australian 76 00:03:59,760 --> 00:04:03,520 Speaker 1: per politics. From there, he also equated what was happening 77 00:04:03,960 --> 00:04:07,560 Speaker 1: to that of the former Opposition leader Bill Shorden. And 78 00:04:08,040 --> 00:04:11,040 Speaker 1: there were lots of parallels made during this press conference 79 00:04:11,080 --> 00:04:13,880 Speaker 1: between the experience of the Attorney General and that of 80 00:04:13,920 --> 00:04:14,640 Speaker 1: mister Shorten. 81 00:04:15,160 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 2: So for some context there Bill Shorten, the former Opposition 82 00:04:19,040 --> 00:04:22,560 Speaker 2: leader in twenty fourteen went public after a police investigation 83 00:04:22,720 --> 00:04:26,880 Speaker 2: into a historical rape allegation was wrapped up by police 84 00:04:26,920 --> 00:04:29,080 Speaker 2: because there was no prospects of a conviction. 85 00:04:29,240 --> 00:04:31,880 Speaker 1: And that was the wording of the Office of Public 86 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 1: Prosecutions at the time. 87 00:04:33,800 --> 00:04:35,719 Speaker 2: I got to say, as someone who lives and breathes 88 00:04:35,800 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 2: the news, yesterday was a lot to take in. Where 89 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 2: do we go from here? Zara? 90 00:04:40,680 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: Well, we know that Christian Porter will now take mental 91 00:04:43,279 --> 00:04:46,479 Speaker 1: health leave and that Michaulia Cash will stand in as 92 00:04:46,480 --> 00:04:49,920 Speaker 1: the acting Attorney General. We also know that he said 93 00:04:49,960 --> 00:04:52,960 Speaker 1: that he won't resign, so from here it could be 94 00:04:53,080 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: that an independent inquiry setup and that has been advocated 95 00:04:57,120 --> 00:05:01,240 Speaker 1: by many in both a political and media space. It's 96 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:05,919 Speaker 1: also possible that Porter will engage in defamation proceedings. We 97 00:05:06,000 --> 00:05:09,400 Speaker 1: know that yesterday he engaged a defamation lawyer, so it 98 00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: is possible that we will see some cases arise in 99 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,080 Speaker 1: the following weeks and months to come. 100 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:16,920 Speaker 2: In light of yesterday's events. We spoke to one eight 101 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:19,960 Speaker 2: hundred respect who assured us that their counselors are there 102 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:23,279 Speaker 2: via phone on one eight hundred seven three seven seventy 103 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,640 Speaker 2: three to two or on webchat via their website. You 104 00:05:26,640 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 2: will be listened to and you will be believed. 105 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:32,040 Speaker 1: That's all we have time to chat about today, but 106 00:05:32,120 --> 00:05:35,360 Speaker 1: please take care of yourselves. For updates on this story 107 00:05:35,520 --> 00:05:37,839 Speaker 1: or advice on how to process this type of news, 108 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,320 Speaker 1: you can find us on Instagram at the Daily Odds 109 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: so where over ninety thousand Australians get their news throughout 110 00:05:43,680 --> 00:05:45,719 Speaker 1: the day and we'd love you to become part of 111 00:05:45,760 --> 00:05:47,400 Speaker 1: the community.