Received

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has shown glimpses of what he can still achieve in rugby league, piloting Sydney Roosters to a 28-20 win over Parramatta while playing fullback for a concussed James Tedesco.

Tedesco was ruled out of the match in the first half following a high hit from Bailey Simonsson, and Suaalii rose to the challenge to be among the Roosters' best.

The 19-year-old had a hand in the three tries for the Roosters, a week after signing a three-year deal with rugby union for close to $5 million from 2025.

It came in one of his first games at fullback at NRL level, after filling in there once during last year's finals and starring as a No.1 for Samoa in the World Cup.

Canterbury supremo Phil Gould claimed this week that every time Suaalii did anything from now on, it was producing free advertising for rugby.

If that was the case, the 15-man game had plenty to gain out of Allianz Stadium on Thursday night.

Playing at centre to start the game, Suaalii was instrumental in the Roosters' first try when he put them on the attack by stepping past Mitch Moses to break into space before Drew Hutchison scored later in the set.

With the Eels down to 12 men and with Simonsson sin-binned, Suaalii and Luke Keary helped Corey Allan put Daniel Tupou over.

Suaalii's third big involvement came when he swept around to the right and produced a flick pass for Jaxson Paulo to score, after seven straight sets on the Eels' line.

"He did outstandingly well," coach Trent Robinson said.

"Moving position, there are two parts to it.

"How you are going to move in attack with the halves and the forwards? And how are you going to organise the defensive line?

"Some guys look stunned in that position. But he played a lot. On the left, the right and through the middle."

Robinson now faces a call on whether to keep Suaalii at fullback next week against Melbourne with Tedesco sidelined, or put Joey Manu there on his return from suspension.

Simonsson was sin-binned but not sent off for his shot on Tedesco after passing, while the Roosters are without their best player for 11 days through concussion protocols.

"I was expecting a send off. I was ropeable at the time that it wasn't a send off," Robinson said.

"But I looked at it after the game, and I was a bit 50-50 about what I thought when I took some time to have a look at it."

Keary also bagged a double for the Roosters, as their attack flowed nicely through the middle with good ball movement and signs Brandon Smith is starting to settle in.

Parramatta were gutsy after being reduced to 12 men twice in the first half, but they still have just one win from their opening five games.

Clint Gutherson and Moses both pulled off brilliant try-savers in the first half, but they missed Junior Paulo in the middle.

Gutherson briefly put Parramatta back in the game at 16-8 early in the second half off the back of a Will Penisini flick pass, before their last two tries came in the final four minutes.

"Very happy with the effort and fight from the team," Eels coach Brad Arthur said.

"I know it doesn't look like it, one win from five games. But our effort and attitude has been really good."

© AAP 2023

Queensland police will now be able to stop and search people for knives without reasonable suspicion after legislation dubbed Jack's Law passed in state parliament.

The legislative crackdown on knife crime comes after two people were fatally stabbed in separate attacks in the heart of the Surfers Paradise nightclub precinct on the Gold Coast.

In December 2019, 17-year-old Jack Beasley was stabbed to death outside a Surfers Paradise convenience store while on a night out with friends.

Jack was stabbed in the heart after a fight broke out between his mates and a group of five teenagers and he later died in hospital.

Armed and dangerous, his attackers carried their blades on public transport into the heart of the party precinct with deadly results.

Nine months later, 27-year-old Raymond Harris was also fatally stabbed during a Cavill Avenue brawl.

Queensland police can now use metal detection wands to search people for knives on public transport and in nightclub precincts without reasonable suspicion.

Jack Beasley's parents Brett and Belinda were in parliament for the passing of the legislation created in their son's honour.

"We are bloody over the moon," said Mr Beasley in a statement.

"Queensland will be the only state to have these powers and that's fantastic.

"We can't wait to see Jack's Law go Australia-wide because that's our plan."

Mrs Beasley said her family was very appreciative of the government and Queensland Police getting the law over the line.

"Jack's Law is going to save lives and make communities safer," she said.

Officers on the Gold Coast have already been using the powers to undertake random searches using detection wands under a trial in the holiday destination's safe night precincts in which 266 weapons wre seized.

The program will now be extended for two years and expanded to cover all nightclub precincts across the state, as well as all public transport networks.

Trams, buses, trains and ferries, as well as public transport stations, will be included under the new laws.

In a statement Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk thanked the Beasleys for their advocacy and hoped they considered the new law a fitting tribute to their son.

"Already lives have been saved in the Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach Safe Night Precincts by the trial, and more lives will be saved by the extension of the trial," she said

Police Minister Mark Ryan told parliament the trial was embraced by the Gold Coast community who saw it as a positive step in reducing violence.

"If a person chooses to unlawfully carry a knife in a public place then they are putting the community at risk of serious harm," he said.

"It is not often that something so overwhelmingly positive for the broader community can follow something so terrible as the loss of someone's life," Mr Ryan said.

The legislation was backed by the Liberal National Party.

"There is a real issue and for hundreds of weapons to have been detected during this trial, one must ask what might have happened if this wasn't in place," LNP leader David Crisafulli said.

© AAP 2023

A historic step towards a referendum on a voice to parliament has been taken, with a message for the "doubters and wreckers" holding the nation back.

The words to alter the Australian constitution to enshrine an Indigenous voice were presented to federal parliament on Thursday.

Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus introduced the bill, setting the wheels in motion for a referendum later this year.

Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney said the bill's introduction was history in the making and a step towards improving the lives of Indigenous people.

"This referendum is not about politicians and it's not about lawyers," she told reporters.

"It's about the Australian people having a say in the future of our country ... so that we can recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians in our founding document."

While Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was in the chamber for the speech, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was absent.

Mr Dutton has not revealed whether the Liberal Party would support a voice to parliament.

Ms Burney said she hadn't taken much notice of Mr Dutton's absence and the government still had "enormous hope" the Liberals would provide bipartisanship.

"There will always be those that seek to hold us back. Those doubters, those wreckers, they want to hold Australia back," she said.

"Well, we want to take Australia forward more united, more hopeful and more reconciled than ever before."

Ms Burney said the proposed alteration was a simple question to the Australian people and the result of much consultation and hard work.

Mr Dreyfus said in his speech the alteration would rectify more than 120 years of the explicit exclusion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from Australia's constitution.

"Recognition through a voice is neither the beginning nor the end of this story but it is an important new chapter," he told parliament.

"It is now 2023. It is time to accept the generous invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. It is time to listen."

Despite the efforts of successive governments, Mr Dreyfus said steps to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians had not succeeded.

"It is time for a different approach. It is a time to open a new chapter. It is time to listen," he said.

The constitutional change will involve adding three clauses saying:

"There shall be a body, to be called the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice;

"The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice may make representations to parliament and the executive government of the Commonwealth on matters relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

"The parliament shall, subject to this constitution, have power to make laws with respect to matters relating to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice, including its composition, functions, powers and procedures."

The attorney-general said the provision would not impact the ordinary functioning of Australia's democratic system but would enhance democracy.

"It will be a matter for the parliament to determine whether the executive government is under any obligation in relation to representations made by the voice," he said.

The prime minister said he had the words of the Uluru Statement framed in his office.

He said more and more Australians, businesses and charity groups were taking up the invitation to support the Indigenous voice.

"There is goodwill from school groups, community groups, local councils - all want to be a part of this historic, unifying moment - sporting organisations, leaders of every faith in Australia," he said.

"All of these bodies uniting for a better Australia, uniting in a positive way."

© AAP 2023