The Northern Territory government is removing a protection introduced to avoid a repeat of the Stolen Generation as part of sweeping reforms to the child protection system.

The draft legislation was revealed alongside details of a major review into the Territory’s child protection system, announced in the wake of the high-profile death of five-year-old Kumanjayi Little Baby in Alice Springs.

It has been condemned by a coalition of 330 First Nations and justice organisations, who say the Territory government is promoting a narrative that is “dangerous, ignorant, and wrong”.

The NT minister for child protection, Robyn Cahill, told reporters that former New South Wales police commissioner Karen Webb will lead that review, alongside NT public servant Greg Shanahan.

The alleged killing of the Warlpiri child has prompted nationwide mourning and calls to review the conditions in Alice Springs town camps, the child protection system and custodial systems in the NT, even as her mother has repeatedly asked that her child’s death not be used for political reasons.

A 47-year-old man who is not related to the child or connected to her care has been charged with murder and two other offences, but is yet to face court in person or enter a plea.

Cahill told reporters on Wednesday that she had been working on changes to the Care and Protection of Children Act for a year.

“I have made it clear on multiple occasions that I will not be a minister who abandons yet another generation of territory kids,” she said. “The reality is that we have kids in really difficult situations and for a long time people have been paralysed by the fear that they’ll be accused of doing that.”

The amendments erode the Aboriginal child placement principle, a national framework that has been enshrined in legislation since the 1980s in response to the forced removal of Indigenous children through the Stolen Generation. It will be replaced with a new universal principle.

In a joint statement with 330 other organisations, Aboriginal Peak Organisations Northern Territory (APO NT) and SNAICC, the peak body for First Nations children, said they oppose any legislative changes that would remove or dilute the Aboriginal child placement principle and Aboriginal concepts of kinship; makes it easier for Aboriginal children to be removed; makes it more difficult for Aboriginal children to be placed in kinship care; and makes it more difficult for Aboriginal children to be reunifed with family or return to Country.

They said lowering the threshold for removing children and fast-tracking long-term placements will “deepen an already devastating crisis, with consequences for generations of Aboriginal Territorians”; and that abolishing the Aboriginal child placement principle “is a race-based attempt to blame Aboriginal families for conditions created by government failure and moves us further from Closing the Gap targets”.

“We strongly reject the NT Government’s deliberate portrayal of Aboriginal families, communities, and culture as a risk to children’s safety,” APO NT chief executive, Theresa Roe, said.

Cahill said the amendments were designed to protect children from ongoing harm, minimise the extensive number of placements vulnerable children are exposed to and provide stability and permanency.

“The ongoing cycle of harm, risk and uncertainty needs to be addressed and the only way to achieve that is to put the basic human rights of a child’s safety before anything else,” she said. “Under these amendments there will be more consistent support and better outcomes for both children and their families.

“Every child matters regardless of where they come from, their race or religion. I am not prepared to turn a blind eye and abandon another generation of families and children.”

Cahill said Family Responsibility Agreements – aimed at addressing child welfare concerns or antisocial behaviour before formal statutory intervention – will be strengthened and expanded to encourage parents and families to remain responsible and accountable.

“This is a legislated framework for early but reasonable intervention after every effort is made to keep families together,” Cahill said. “Where it is safe to do so we want children with their families, but where it is not, we will act decisively to give children the permanency, stability and care they deserve.”

The child protection review has also been denounced by First Nations children’s advocates and legal services, who have urged the Country Liberal party government to widen the scope to include other departments that influence the safety of Indigenous children, including housing, health and corrections.

The federal minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, encouraged Cahill to listen to the NT children’s commissioner and national children’s commissioner. “I do think they are very much experts in this space,” she said.

Charges laid under a now defunct law against people who attended a Sydney protest against Isaac Herzog will be dropped, police have confirmed, but it remains unclear how many of the 30 protesters charged the decision affects.

The New South Wales police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, said on ABC Radio on Wednesday morning that, pending a review, police would drop charges laid under the public assembly restriction declaration (Pard) law. That law was in force during the February protest at Sydney’s town hall against the Israeli president’s visit to Australia and was cited by police as the reason a march could not go ahead.

Last month, the court of appeal struck down the Pard law, ruling in favour of the Palestine Action Group and Blak Caucus, and finding giving police the power to restrict all protests for a period of 90 days after a terrorist attack was unconstitutional. The law was introduced after December’s Bondi beach terror attack, in which 15 people were killed and more than 40 injured when two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish celebration of Hanukah at a park.

Lanyon said on Wednesday that police were also investigating if directions given under a separate “major events” declaration, which gave police expanded move on and search powers, were lawful.

The premier, Chris Minns, had said in the wake of the Pard being struck down that because the anti-Herzog protest was also covered by a major events declaration charges would still stand for those who did not comply with police directions.

The 30 protesters charged face various offences that fall outside the Pard or major events declaration, including assault police officer, behave in an offensive manner, and throwing an object. Lawyers have indicated that it is unclear whether charges of failing to comply with a direction fell under the Pard law or not.

In Downing Centre local court on Wednesday, 14 of the protesters had their matter adjourned to make way for the review of the charges laid under the Pard.

Lawyer Osman Samin, who is acting for five of those protesters, told the court: “The Pard has fallen over and that might have consequences for a number of these prosecutions, so I understand the police will be reviewing these matters to determine whether they proceed from this point onwards.”

The police prosecutor then told the court that there were “further reasons” for the review, including “considerations to other challenges in relation to other acts”.

The Palestine Action Group has indicated that it may challenge the constitutional validity of the major events declaration, which was in force for the duration of Herzog’s visit and is typically used for major sporting or music events. A major events declaration may limit civil liability claims against police.

Outside court, Nick Hanna, who is representing four of the protesters and has been calling for all the charges to be withdrawn, said he hoped they would be in due course.

He said it remains unclear what police intend to do for the charges that are not relevant to the Pard, but said attempts to “untangle” who was charged under the Pard was an “artificial exercise”.

“The simple reality is that the police crackdown was, in no small part, due to the police refusing to facilitate the peaceful march from town hall to Parliament House, and that refusal was based almost entirely, if not entirely, on the existence of that part,” Hanna said.

The full bench in the court of appeal found in its ruling on the Pard that restricting all protests in order to protect social cohesion was not a “constitutionally legitimate purpose”.

Legal experts have said the landmark judgment could have far-reaching consequences by limiting future attempts by the government to control speech and protests on the basis of “social cohesion”.

The voters of New South Wales woke up in a communist state on Wednesday – at least according to the Daily Telegraph, which claimed that “Lying Jim” Chalmers was cackling like the devil as he gouged them with big taxes in the federal budget.

To underline this apparent sharp turn to the left, the Tele added a red hammer and sickle and used a red background.

“In the most radical redistribution of wealth since the Whitlam era, the Treasurer’s fifth budget last night locked in a major broken election promise by slashing negative gearing and the capital gains tax discount,” the Sydney tabloid said.

In Victoria, the treasurer was portrayed a deathly shade of blue as “The Jim Reaper”. The coffin theme was embraced by the Herald Sun as election promises were “dead and buried” and investors were given “last rites”. The Hun continued the Tele’s communist theme by referring to “old school Labor wealth redistribution”.

The Courier-Mail went for the jugular, accusing the treasurer of a flat-out fib with the headline “Jim’s Guide to Lying: Labor’s guide to broken promises and the secret plan for defending it”.

The Australian offered a pink hue and a counter-culture vibe as the broadsheet turned to a 54-year-old classic book, The Joy of Sex, to sell its message that the budget was just a $77bn tax grab. But would anyone under the age of 60 get the reference of “The Joy of Tax” or the “Chalmers Sutra” in the Johannes Leak cartoon? The Oz agreed with the Murdoch tabloids that Chalmers was waging “class warfare” in the 21st century.

The Nine-owned Sydney Morning Herald was more balanced than any of the Murdoch papers, giving credit to Labor for uplifting first home buyers and workers with an illustration of hot air balloons lifting these two groups, while “bursting Boomers’ bubbles” with sinking hot air balloons.

The Age focused on the loss of tax breaks for investors, with the prime minister and treasurer juggling the economy in a tiny row boat on an open choppy sea.

Thankfully, Sky News Australia and the Daily Mail gave us the update we all needed. What did Chalmers’ wife Laura wear to watch Jim deliver the budget this year, and would it annoy anyone?

Laura Chalmers “opted for her cheapest budget night outfit yet, forgoing her usual designer wardrobe in favour of a modest dress from Zara”, Sky reported.

“The magazine editor wore an elegant brown midi dress from the high-street giant, complete with gold buttons, pockets, and a cinched-in waist.

“Ms Chalmers also kept her accessories to a minimum, pairing the sleeveless dress with nude court heels, a gold bangle, and a Garmin Lily 2 smartwatch with a tan leather band.”

The Daily Mail summed it up with its signature long headline: “Laura REALLY read the room: Jim Chalmers’ wife wears her cheapest budget outfit yet – after previously sparking fury with the staggering cost of her dress.”

The backstory: “Back in 2024, Ms Chalmers attracted heavy criticism for wearing an $899 yellow Carla Zampatti dress and a matching $999 jacket.”

Three years after police fatally Tasered an aged care resident, an inquest could save lives by improving training for first responders dealing with aggressive dementia patients.

Then-senior constable Kristian James Samuel White fired his Taser at 95-year-old Clare Nowland after being called to Yallambee Lodge nursing home in Cooma in southern New South Wales on 17 May 2023.

Emergency services arrived after Nowland grabbed two serrated steak knives from the facility’s kitchen and refused to give them up.

The 48kg great-grandmother, who had symptoms of dementia, fell and hit her head after being struck by the Taser’s barbs.

She did not regain consciousness and died in hospital a week later after a brain bleed.

The elderly woman’s death “rocked her family, the local community and the broader NSW community to its core”, counsel assisting Sophie Callan SC said as the inquest started on Wednesday.

Nowland was described as an extremely generous woman who carried out charitable work and pursued a range of interests including golfing and travel until her late 80s.

“It is our hope this inquest might provide some solace [to Nowland’s family] in answering outstanding questions,” Callan told a court in Queanbeyan.

State coroner Teresa O’Sullivan will examine systemic issues that existed prior to the Tasering incident and will focus on dementia care and training for aged care staff, police and ambulance officers.

It was an opportune time to make recommendations that would save lives given Australia’s ageing population, Callan said.

One in four people over the age of 80 had dementia, the court heard.

It was anticipated the number of people with dementia would double in the next 20 years, leading to more than 4% of the population living with the condition.

The three-day inquest is expected to hear evidence from experts that Nowland’s care and treatment by staff at Yallambee Lodge was reasonable.

Callan said the situation confronting White as Nowland stepped towards him and his partner with a knife was not exceptional enough to warrant shooting her with a Taser.

At the time of the incident, neither NSW police nor NSW ambulance officers were put through training that specifically dealt with responding to incidents involving people with dementia, she told the court.

In 2024, ambulance officers were taught how to respond to a dementia patient wielding a spatula in an aged care facility, O’Sullivan heard.

There may also be improvements in how police and ambulance officers cooperate and communicate together when dealing with these types of situations, Callan said.

A NSW supreme court jury found White guilty of manslaughter in November 2024.

He was sentenced to a two-year good behaviour bond in March 2025, a decision that was later upheld by the NSW court of criminal appeal.

During the two-minute and 40-second encounter at Yallambee Lodge, White drew his stun gun and pointed it at Nowland for a minute before saying “nah, bugger it” and discharging the weapon at her chest.

The 36-year-old Cooma man was removed from the force in December 2024.

He took action against NSW police in the Industrial Relations Commission to regain his position but dropped that bid in August.