Daniel Duggan’s family to challenge extradition to US in federal court – as it happened

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Key events

What we learned: Tuesday 14 January

That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today, but first let’s recap the main events:

The blog will be back bright and early tomorrow morning.

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Ben Doherty

US indictment alleges Duggan trained Chinese fighter pilots, which he denies

Following on from that last post about former US marine pilot Daniel Duggan launching a court challenge fighting his extradition to the United States:

Duggan is now being held in prison in Wellington, in the central west of NSW. He was arrested in October 2022 in Orange, where he had been living with his family.

Duggan cannot be extradited while he has a legal challenge before the courts.

In December, Australia’s attorney general Mark Dreyfus said a NSW magistrate had found Duggan was eligible for surrender to the US. Dreyfus said:

Mr Duggan was given the opportunity to provide representations as to why he should not be surrendered to the United States.

In arriving at my decision, I took into consideration all material in front of me.

The US is seeking the extradition of Duggan on charges of arms trafficking and money laundering arising from his alleged training of Chinese fighter pilots more than a decade ago. The allegations have not been tested in court.

A US indictment alleges he taught Chinese fighter pilots to land jets on aircraft carriers – known as “carrier-arrested landings” – in defiance of arms trafficking laws. The indictment details payments Duggan allegedly received in 2011 and 2012 for training Chinese fighter pilots at a test flight academy “based in South Africa, with a presence in the People’s Republic of China”.

The father of six – whose children are all Australian citizens – faces a potential 60-year prison term if convicted in the US.

Duggan, who has no criminal history anywhere in the world, has faced significant isolation in prison, having been classified as a high-risk inmate. He has consistently denied the allegations against him as politically motivated, and has claimed the indictment is filled with “half-truths, falsehoods and gross embellishments”.

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Daniel Duggan’s family to challenge extradition to US in federal court

Ben Doherty

Ben Doherty

Former US marine pilot Daniel Duggan has launched a court challenge fighting his extradition to the United States.

Duggan, a naturalised Australian citizen, is wanted by the US over allegations he trained Chinese fighter pilots, in defiance of arms embargos, more than a decade ago.

In December, Australia’s attorney general agreed to surrender the 56-year-old to the US.

But Duggan’s family, which has campaigned relentlessly for his release and described the allegations against him as baseless and politically motivated, has now lodged an appeal in the federal court.

In a video statement, Duggan’s wife Saffrine said his family had no choice but to pursue legal action. Saffrine Duggan said:

We have been forced to resort to court action today because the government has not been transparent about this case, despite Dan being locked up in maximum-security prison for the past 26 months with no Australian charges.

Dan is exercising his rights as an Australian citizen to due process under Australian law.

We are an Australian family and we deserve a fair go.

Former US Marines pilot Daniel Duggan and his wife. Photograph: Warwick Ponder/Reuters
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Caitlin Cassidy

Caitlin Cassidy

University of Wollongong to cut 91 full-time positions

The university aims to find $21m in savings amid a volatile economic climate facing the higher education sector.

On Tuesday, the university announced its final cost cutting measures after a $35m drop in revenue last year, attributed in part to federal government changes to its migration policy.

Interim vice-chancellor and president of the UoW, professor John Dewar, said while a challenging financial outlook for the university would continue to hit future budgets, a number of courses previously up for the chopping block would continue.

Some disciplines originally proposed for closure will now be retained through staffing and curriculum changes, including Human Geography and some teaching in Earth Sciences, French, Spanish and English Language and Linguistics.

The Final Change Plan achieves $21m in recurrent savings resulting from a reduction of 91.6 full-time equivalent positions. To date, voluntary redundancies have been accepted for around three-quarters of those positions. Change is never easy, but it is essential to secure UoW’s future.

Of the 25 disciplines planned to be axed, four will close: Cultural Studies, Japanese, Mandarin and Science and Technology Studies.

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Survivors of Rottnest Island seaplane crash issue statement

Jeremy and Patricia Connor spoke of their gratitude and offered their sympathy for those who died in the crash.

The privately owned seaplane was carrying seven people when it crashed into the sea off Western Australia’s popular tourist site Rottnest Island on 7 January, leaving three people dead.

The 63-year-old man and 65-year-old woman from Perth who were airlifted to hospital with injuries after the crash have said in a statement:

Our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with our fellow passengers, their families and friends. We will be eternally grateful that ourselves and others were able to reach safety.

Looking forward, we know that it could have been an even more tragic outcome and we sincerely hope that everyone can overcome what happened and heal as time goes by.

Similarly, our thoughts and deepest sympathy are with the pilot, his family, friends and colleagues. We will never forget and will always be grateful that his demonstration of how to open the emergency exit was a critical factor in our survival.

And we would like to personally thank and express our gratitude for the generous assistance and support that we have received from so many people.

In their statement, they went on to thank “members of the public who immediately responded and came to the scene in their boats to selflessly assist in the rescue and transfer the injured to shore.”

They also thanked the medical staff, rangers and volunteers at the Rottnest Island Medical Centre who provided immediate support after the incident, the RAC Rescue Helicopter Crew who airlifted them to Fiona Stanley hospital, the medical staff at Fiona Stanley hospital, as well as WA Police and Australian Transport Safety Bureau personnel involved in investigations.

All of you, without exception, were outstanding and you provided an incredibly generous and professional response that made an enormous difference and means so much to us. Thank you to all of you for everything that you did.

Part of the seaplane wreckage pulled ashore on Rottnest Island on 7 January. Photograph: AP
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Sydney Water say there has been normal operations in their plants following the closure of nine beaches in Northern Sydney due to more mystery grease balls being found:

Sydney Water can confirm there have been no issues with the normal operations of the Warriewood, North Head, Bondi, Malabar, and Cronulla Water Resource Recovery plants.

We comply with our licences as set by the NSW Environment Protection Authority (EPA) and only discharge compliant wastewater during normal operations. Sydney Water is continuing to work with the EPA to investigate the cause of the grease balls.

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Emily Wind

Emily Wind

Charges laid over two separate suspicious Bondi fires

Police have laid charges over two separate suspicious fires in Bondi last year.

In the first incident, around 2am on 17 October, two men allegedly poured accelerant under the front door of a business near Bondi Beach before igniting it and fleeing. The fire self-extinguished, but caused significant damage to the premises.

After inquiries, a 31-year-old man was arrested at a home in Jannali on 18 October and charged, next due to appear at Sutherland local court on 21 January. A second man, 37, was arrested at a correctional facility on 12 December and charged, next due to appear at Waverley local court on 22 January.

In the second separate incident, police responded to reports of a fire on 20 October at a Jewish business in Bondi, Lewis’ Continental Kitchen. It was found well alight and then extinguished by firefighters, with no injuries reported among the residents, who were evacuated.

Detectives said that two men – allegedly with their faces concealed and armed with a sledgehammer – attended Campbell Parade at Bondi Beach just after 2am on 15 October, fleeing after they were seen by a security guard who contacted police.

This morning, detectives arrested a 40-year-old at Riverstone police station, charged in relation to both alleged incidents. A second man, 26, was also arrested at a home in Bardia today and charged in relation to the alleged 15 October incident.

Both men were refused bail with the older man due to appear at Waverley local court today, and the younger to appear at Campbelltown local court.

Police are understood to still be investigating possible motives for each alleged incident.

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Greens MP calls for Sydney Water disclosures over waste discharges

As nine Northern Sydney beaches have closed due to more mystery balls washing up – similar to the human waste found on beaches in the Eastern Suburbs last year – NSW Greens MP and spokesperson for the environment Sue Higginson says the problem must be addressed by the Environment Protection Authority and Sydney Water:

The repeated discharge of sewage material on to Sydney beaches in recent months is a deep sign that there is a systemic failure in Sydney’s wastewater management. We know that Sydney loses significant amounts of water through cracked and damaged pipes, it’s time for Sydney Water to tell the public how much sewage is leaking into our environment. If they don’t know, why don’t they don’t know, because they should know.

Sydney Water has admitted that the human waste on beaches in Sydney’s east last year may have absorbed wastewater discharges indicating that our current treatment systems are not fit for purpose and the question remains, how much waste products are discharged by Sydney Water as part of their ‘normal operations’?

We need to have a serious conversation about the accountability of utilities like Sydney Water, and we must do better when it comes to taking responsibility for subjects like where our crap goes. The environment cannot afford for us to just shrug and accept human waste turning up on beaches that are in regular use.

Read more about the latest beach closures here:

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Elias Visontay

Elias Visontay

Qantas head of operations explains delays caused by falling SpaceX debris

Qantas says it has been forced to delay several of its flights to South Africa at the last minute due to warnings of falling debris from Elon Musk’s SpaceX rockets re-entering Earth.

The head of Qantas’s operations centre, Ben Holland, said there was often little advance notice of where the rockets would fall over the southern Indian Ocean – the re-entry zone chosen by the space company due to its remoteness – causing the airline to delay flights on its Sydney-Johannesburg route.

Read more here:

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Thanks Emily! And good afternoon everyone.

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Emily Wind

Emily Wind

Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, I’ll hand over to Natasha May to take you through the rest of today’s rolling coverage. Take care.

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The Bureau of Meteorology has issued a severe weather update, with storms set to continue in the east with a cold front due tomorrow:

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Nine of Sydney’s northern beaches closed

Here’s the full story from Catie McLeod, on the closures due to ball-shaped debris washing ashore:

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