Key events
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Thank you to Martin Farrer for kicking off the blog this morning. I’ll be updating you from here – let’s go.
Child raised alarm after couple found dead at a home
A nine-year-old girl raised the alarm before a married couple were found dead with gunshot wounds inside a home, police say.
The child alerted a family member who called police, with officers later discovering the “traumatising” scene in far north Queensland, Australian Associated Press reports.
“I have not previously been exposed to anything like this before,” Det Acting Insp Alina Bell told reporters in Cairns yesterday.
Police responded to a welfare check and arrived at a home in Mount Sheridan in Cairns at about 7.15pm on Tuesday.
They found a husband and wife – both aged 41 – dead in different rooms inside the home with gunshot wounds.
“We do not believe she was present or witnessed any of the incident that occurred,” Bell said of the girl.
“However that still doesn’t take away from how traumatising that will be for that child and the family members and friends moving forward.”
The child had been “alerted to the incident occurring” before reaching out to family members and neighbours, police said.
“That triple zero call occurred as a result of another family member calling us,” Bell said.
The married couple did not have a domestic violence or mental health history and were not known to police, she said.
Multiple firearms were located in the home, all registered to the husband.
Tasmanian government to hand down budget
Asset sales could be on the cards as a Tasmania’s Liberal government tries to reel in ballooning debt and deficit as well as fund its AFL dream, Australian Associated Press reports.
Tasmania’s treasurer, Guy Barnett, will hand down his maiden budget today, six months after taking over when his predecessor resigned over a ferry delivery saga.
Updated estimates for 2024/25, released in February, showed deficit for the financial year would rise from $793m to $1.2bn.
It also predicted net debt to reach $9.6bn by 2027/28, up from the previously slated $8.6bn.
Barnett recently refused to rule out the sale of state-owned companies, after the government commissioned a report to investigate potential privatisations.
The budget would contain a “very clear” path to surplus, Barnett said, despite the fact projected surpluses had been pushed back in recent years.
The estimated price tag for a new Hobart stadium, a condition of the Tasmania Devils entering the AFL, has risen from $755m to $945m.
The government is relying on borrowings to make up the difference, after pledging to “cap” its contribution to the project at $375m.
A larger spend is also needed to build the team’s high performance centre, which has blown out from $70m to $115m.
Costs have risen for a new port to berth delayed Spirit of Tasmania vessels in Devonport, with the latest figure up $188m to $493m.
Former treasurer Michael Ferguson, who was the minister responsible for the project, dropped his portfolios because of delays to the ships’ delivery.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the best early stories and then your morning blogger will take over.
It’s official – working from home is not to blame for the sharp drop in productivity in the wake of the pandemic, according to a report by the Productivity Commission today. Instead the commission points out that because people generally worked fewer hours during the lockdowns, when everybody started going back into the office when the pandemic ended productivity fell.
Rising debt, the ferry debacle and the ongoing question of a new AFL stadium hang over Tasmania’s finances as the Liberal government hands down the state budget this morning. Forecasts show the deficit could blow out to nearly $10bn by 2027/28, meaning that asset sales could be on the cards. We have more details coming up.
A nine-year-old girl raised the alarm before a married couple was found dead by police with gunshot wounds inside a home in Cairns. The child alerted a family member who called police, with officers later discovering the “traumatising” scene. More coming up.
