Patrick Bell

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Josh Robertson |Patrick Bell

The retired judge who led an inquiry into the criminal prosecution of Bruce Lehrmann has sought to legally skewer findings that he engaged in "serious corrupt conduct" with journalists, arguing that he could not "commit a contempt of himself". Walter Sofronoff has asked the Federal Court to overturn the ACT Integrity Commission's conclusions that he acted corruptly by giving journalists early access to material, including draft and final versions of his own inquiry report.

1 month ago | abc.net.au | Elizabeth Byrne |Patrick Bell

The Commonwealth has lost a High Court battle over whether it should be liable for compensation of up to $700 million for lost or impaired native title rights over a mining lease on the Gove Peninsula in North East Arnhem Land. The case was begun by the late Dr Yunupingu on behalf of the Gumatj people in 2019, as bauxite mining operations began to wind up and the local people began to look for a future economic base.

2 months ago | abc.net.au | Amy Greenbank |Richard Willingham |Patrick Bell |Jack Hislop

Being chauffeured to wineries and weekend sport on the public purse led to the sudden downfall of a senior NSW minister this week. The ABC set out to discover if there were any other covert ways politicians could have their private travel paid for by the taxpayer, because it hasn't been explicitly prohibited. From chauffeuring pet pooches to a country home to having petrol paid for while on holidays, there were scandals aplenty. Here's what we found about the rules and entitlements where you live.

Jan 8, 2025 | abc.net.au | Patrick Bell

Parents of students attending Catholic and independent secondary schools in the ACT are facing increased school fees in 2025, including some of as much as 15 and 30 per cent compared to last year. Schools have pointed to inflation and changes to government funding models as the main factors behind the increases. The largest increase is at St John Paul II College in Nicholls, where parents of year 10 students will pay a total of $12,068, an increase of 29 per cent on last year.

Dec 5, 2024 | abc.net.au | Patrick Bell

The ACT chief minister has conceded the government should have waited several more days before rolling out the MyWay+ ticketing system for public transport. The new system went live last Wednesday but was soon plagued by a range of problems. Some commuters struggled to tap on and off, while others had difficulty scanning QR codes to register a trip. The introduction of live travel data has also been delayed. Transport Canberra says many of the issues have since been resolved.