Australia news live: unverified video appears to show Australian captured by Russia; NSW to consider racial hatred laws
Unverified video appears to show Oscar Jenkins alive in Russian captivity
An unverified video appears to show Australian man Oscar Jenkins alive in Russian captivity, after he was feared dead at one point.
In the video, uploaded to YouTube, a man behind the camera says it is 17 January 2025, before Jenkins identifies himself:
My name is Oscar Jenkins … I am 32 years old … I come from Australia.
The man behind the camera says Jenkins is a prisoner of war from the 66th Mechanised Brigade of the armed forces of Ukraine. Jenkins said he feels weak and has lost a lot of weight, and also has a broken arm.
The man behind the camera puts to him, “the information about your death is not right?” to which Jenkins replies, “correct.” The man behind the camera then asks Jenkins to remove his beanie and says:
Everything is okay, he is alive, and I think he will [be] better.
Guardian Australia has not independently verified the video. You can view it in full below, but please be warned it may be distressing to watch:
Key events
NSW government to introduce legislation strengthening racial hatred laws
People making racist remarks publicly could spend up to two years in jail and cop a fine of over $10,000 under tough new laws in NSW, AAP reports.
Amid escalating antisemitic graffiti and vandalism incidents in Sydney, the Minns government is introducing a racial hatred incitement offence to the Crimes Amendment in parliament today. The state’s attorney general Michael Daley said:
Racial hatred is unacceptable – and under this new legislation, it will be a crime to publicly and intentionally incite racial hatred. It is important for members of our community to be protected from conduct that causes them to fear for their safety, or to fear harassment, intimidation or violence.
The legislation will make it a crime to intentionally and publicly incite hatred towards another person, or group of people, on the grounds of race.
The bill will establish a new section, 93ZAA of the Crimes Act 1900, with a maximum penalty for an individual of two years behind bars, fines of up to $11,000, or both, while corporations can face fines of $55,000. The proposed offence stipulates that it must be a public act, and that it intentionally incites hatred based on race.
The government maintains freedom of political speech will be protected and makes an exception “for directly referencing religious texts during religious teachings.”
Welcome
Emily Wind
Good morning, and welcome back to the Australia news live blog. I’m Emily Wind and I’ll be taking you through our rolling coverage for most of today.
The New South Wales government will today introduce a racial hatred incitement offence amendment to the Crimes Act, in response to a number of antisemitic attacks in the state. As AAP reports, people making racist remarks publicly could spend up to two years in jail and cop a fine of more than $10,000 under the tough new laws.
The Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to cut the official cash rate today, raising hopes among mortgage holders that the era of high interest repayments will finally start to unwind. The official announcement is due at 2.30pm AEDT – so stay tuned.
Also, an unverified video online appears to show Australian man Oscar Jenkins, who was captured in Russia and at one point feared dead. We’ll have more on this shortly.
As always, you can reach out with any tips, questions or feedback via email: emily.wind@theguardian.com. Let’s get started.
