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Brad Pitt's skirt has a hidden agenda.
Lizzo covers the new issue of Elle UK, which features a stunning photoshoot and insight into her new music. But it’s her comments about her body and social media that really deserve the most attention.
Plus, Brad Pitt is on a promotional tour for his new movie and his latest outing saw him sport a (wrinkled) skirt. The pictures have launched a slew of jokes and opinions and a very valid conversation about gender-fluid dressing, but we think there’s a hidden agenda behind this new look.
And we’re joined by The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Kyle Richards to talk about the new season of the hit franchise, the toll reality TV takes on her life behind the scenes, and what to expect from upcoming episodes.
Get The Spill in your ears now!
Evening Headlines: Calls for Australia to close border with Indonesia.
Do you find the news cycle overwhelming? Depressing? Confusing? Boring? Endless? Then you need The Quicky. Mamamia's daily podcast that gets you up to speed on the top stories.
Listen to tonight's episode of The Quicky below:
Australia's Eleanor Patterson wins gold.
A HUGE congrats to Eleanor, who overnight won gold in the women's high jump at the world athletics championships.
The Aussie equalled the national record of 2.02 metres to top the podium, and is the first Australian to win the event at a world championships or Olympics.
It is our second medal of the world championships, Nina Kennedy collected bronze in the women's pole vault final.
Coercive control to become a crime in NSW, and all the news you need to know this morning.
Morning all,
Here are the top five news stories you need to know today, Thursday, July 21.
1. Coercive control to become a crime in NSW, as DV leave becomes priority for Albanese govt.
NSW is a step closer to making coercive control a crime in intimate partner relationships, with perpetrators facing up to seven years in jail.
A draft of the landmark bill has been released by Attorney-General Mark Speakman for public comment, ahead of its introduction to parliament.
Last year the government committed to outlawing the historically overlooked form of intimate abuse known as coercive control as part of its response to a parliamentary inquiry.
"Coercive control is complex, is insidious and causes untold harm for its victims," Speakman said yesterday. "Creating a stand-alone offence will strengthen our criminal justice system's responses to abuse."
The new law will create an offence to carry out repeated abusive behaviours to a current or former intimate partner and carry a sentence of up to seven years in jail.
Today marks a major milestone towards criminalising coercive control in NSW with the release of a draft bill.
— Natalie Ward (@natwardmlc) July 20, 2022
The Perrottet Government's focus on addressing domestic and sexual violence is backed by more than $100M towards women's safety measures in the most recent budget. pic.twitter.com/cF7AoH20Pi
Meanwhile, introducing paid family and domestic violence leave will be one of the first priorities of the federal government when the new parliament meets next week.
The government's proposed laws will allow any Australian worker to access 10 days paid family and domestic violence leave.
2. WA government moves boys to adult prison.
A group of 17 boys in Western Australia have been moved from youth detention to an adult prison with no timeline set for their return.
WA's justice department confirmed the boys, aged as young as 14 and mostly Indigenous, were relocated yesterday from Perth's Banksia Hill detention centre to a standalone facility at the nearby Casuarina maximum-security prison.
#BREAKING The WA Government has this afternoon moved 17 Children to Maximum Security Adult Prison in Casuarina.
— Social Reinvestment WA (@SocialRWA) July 20, 2022
We need a plan so we NEVER send Children to adult prison again. We need the Government to commit to reforming our broken system. #PerthNews pic.twitter.com/Q9u3WRk93i
Officials say the detainees have been destroying property, escaping from their cells, assaulting staff and harming themselves. They have promised the boys will be kept away from adult prisoners in safe and secure units while repair works are completed at Banksia Hill.
But advocates have called for urgent reform amid a spate of self-harm incidents and after an independent inspector found some boys were spending as little as one hour per day outside of their cells in violation of their human rights.
About 600 past and present detainees have signed up for a planned class action led by Levitt Robinson Solicitors, alleging they suffered inhumane treatment, were excessively restrained and denied access to education.
Department of Justice director-general Adam Tomison said authorities were "left with no option" amid unprecedented destruction and attacks on staff. The department said detainees would be regularly assessed and return to Banksia Hill "as soon as practicable".
3. PM defends lack of mask mandates over mental health concerns.
The prime minister says mental health considerations have been a key factor in decisions by health officials to not reintroduce mask mandates.
Speaking to The Project last night, Anthony Albanese defended the government’s reluctance to introduce mandates, despite growing case numbers and calls for greater mask use in public areas.
"There are two things at play. One is mental health considerations ... the imposition of controls on people's behaviours has an impact of people's health, that's just a reality," he said.
"Particularly young people, we're seeing an increasing problematic increase in incidents of severe consequence when it comes to young people's health."
Prime Minister @AlboMP explains if he is comfortable with the state governments' responses as Covid cases rise, and why the government is not continuing the cut to the petrol excise.#TheProjectTV pic.twitter.com/JCEZMOCpyz
— The Project (@theprojecttv) July 20, 2022
The prime minister said the large take up of COVID-19 vaccinations, as well as anti-viral treatments, were the second factor in the health advice.
"The big difference between now and say a year or 18 months ago, is the level of vaccinations which are out there, that is making an enormous difference," he said.
"Whilst the numbers of people who are getting infected by COVID are expected to peak in coming weeks and then go down towards September ... the consequences are less, because if you are vaccinated, you have a level of protection which is there."
While mask mandates have been put in place in some high-risk settings, such as public transport in certain jurisdictions, Albanese said in many cases people weren't wearing masks in those locations.
There were more than 53,000 new virus cases reported on Wednesday, along with 90 deaths.
4. Victorian man pleads guilty after assaulting police officer with a baseball bat.
A 50-year-old Victorian man has admitted to attacking two police officers, after they requested a teenager put a mask on during one of the state's COVID-19 lockdowns.
Steven John Cleary pleaded guilty to several charges in Warrnambool yesterday, including assaulting an emergency worker on duty and intentionally causing injury.
In disturbing police body-camera footage shown to the court, Senior Constable Rowan Baldam and Constable William Ringin could be seen questioning a teenage boy about why he wasn’t wearing a mask during COVID-19 restrictions in October last year.
Two Victorian police officers have revealed they thought they were going to die in a brutal lockdown ambush. Bodycam vision shows how they were attacked with a baseball bat when they asked a teenager why he wasn't wearing a mask. https://t.co/Qv9wpU1ufo #7NEWS pic.twitter.com/ueH5ptRwLy
— 7NEWS Australia (@7NewsAustralia) July 20, 2022
Cleary then pulled over in his car and approached the officers with a baseball bat, before repeatedly striking Senior Constable Baldam in the head.
Constable Ringin managed to grab the bat from Cleary's hands despite being repeatedly punched by the teenager.
"I am convinced that without his intervention - I would have been beaten to death," Senior Constable Baldham told the judge.
Cleary will be sentenced on Friday.
5. Mother in custody after three kids killed in WA house fire.
In case you missed it, yesterday we reported a mother is in police custody and helping with inquiries after her three children died in a house fire in Port Hedland in Western Australia's Pilbara region.
The bodies of the children, aged 10, seven and five months, were found inside the house by firefighters who responded to the blaze on Anderson St around 4.45pm on Tuesday.
Acting Deputy Police Commissioner Allan Adams said their mother was with police and homicide detectives were on their way to Port Hedland. The fathers of the children have been notified of their deaths.
"The mother is seeking medical attention at the moment as a result of the fire," Adams told reporters yesterday.
"The investigators, when they arrive, will make those determinations as to the next phase of the investigation in respect to the mum."
Teddies and flowers have been left at the scene of a tragic house fire that killed three kids aged 10, 7 and five months old in Port Hedland yesterday @westaustralian #perthnews pic.twitter.com/sPtsCL5jRy
— Shannon Hampton (@ShannonHampton_) July 20, 2022
Adams said the fire had taken about 30 minutes to bring under control. Formal identification of the children has not yet taken place.
Premier Mark McGowan said it was a terrible tragedy.
"Three children losing their lives is incredibly sad," he told reporters. "Our thoughts go to them but also all those people affected, their family and the first responders who had to deal with the terribly distressing situation in Hedland overnight."
That's everything you need to know this morning.
- With AAP.
$500,000 a year: The cushy jobs reserved for ex pollies.
Last month, public outrage exploded when it was revealed that former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro was appointed to a $500,000 a year taxpayer funded trade job in New York that he created while in parliament.
He subsequently was forced to give up the role after two inquiries were launched looking into how he got the job, both of which remain ongoing.
The Quicky speaks to an Australian politics expert to find out how often ex pollies are given these plum roles, and if the public has any recourse to stop them.
READ:
What women were talking about on Wednesday
What women were talking about on Tuesday
What women were talking about on Monday
Feature Image: Channel 10/Channel 7/Getty.