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A judge has rejected the possibility that Lynette Dawson abandoned her husband and children to vanish without a trace, instead finding that she died around January 8, 1982.
While yet to say whether Chris Dawson is guilty of murdering his wife, Justice Ian Harrison rejected claims Mrs Dawson had been seen alive after January 1982 or that she had contacted her husband.
"The whole of the circumstantial evidence satisfies me that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she died on or about 8 January 1982 and that she did not voluntarily abandon her home," the judge said on Tuesday.
Mrs Dawson had a strong attachment to her husband and daughters, was no "shrinking violet", and had limited funds to support herself. This led the judge to completely reject the proposition she had abandoned the home with only the clothes on her back.
"The proposition is ludicrous," the judge said.
The keenly awaited judgment is being delivered seven weeks after a lengthy trial in which Dawson, now 74, was accused of murdering his wife and disposing of her body so the then-teacher could have an unfettered relationship with his former student and babysitter, JC.
Mrs Dawson's body has never been found.
In his reasons, read out to two packed courtrooms in the NSW Supreme Court, Justice Harrison found that Dawson lied about phone calls he allegedly received from his wife after her disappearance.
The judge also rejected any sightings of Mrs Dawson alive and well after January 1982 as either fabrications, unreliable, frail or vague.
"None of the alleged sightings were genuine sightings of Lynette Dawson," he said.
Evidence by JC that Dawson had driven up to Southwest Rocks to pick her up from a holiday on January 11, 1982 was accepted by the court.
"Lyn's gone. She's not coming back. Come back to Sydney and help me look after the children and be with me," Dawson said to JC over the phone before he drove up from Sydney to collect her.
JC's evidence was mostly truthful and reliable, Justice Harrison said in rejecting allegations by Dawson that she had been corrupted by an acrimonious custody battle between them.
JC and the former Newtown Jets rugby league player married in 1984 and separated in 1990.
However, Justice Harrison dismissed claims by JC that Dawson had driven her somewhere in 1981 while she was still in high school to find a "hitman" to kill his wife.
It was improbable Dawson would have told a young impressionable JC of this alleged plan at the time, the judge said.
Dawson has always denied any involvement in his wife's disappearance.
The judgment continues.
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Star Entertainment must wait a month for the outcome of damning public hearings into the gambling giant's Queensland operations.
After three days of testimony in Brisbane, public hearings into Star's suitability to hold a casino licence have concluded.
Counsel assisting Jonathan Horton QC told the final day of submissions on Monday the casino operator had committed a raft of questionable operational errors.
The inquiry was told that the casino repeatedly allowed banned high rollers to gamble at Queensland venues in breach of its exclusion policies.
Star also 'pursued' high rollers to visit its Queensland operations, playing for them to travel by private jet and stay in luxury accommodation for free as banned southern players hit the tables in Queensland.
Case studies outlined in the hearing revealed Star allowed patrons banned from casinos in NSW and Victoria, and linked to the Italian mafia, to gamble in its Queensland venues for years.
One man became one of the top 10 players at the Star Gold Coast after being banned from Crown Melbourne in 2014 and The Star, Sydney, by NSW police seven months later.
Another case study, Person 1, was banned from The Star Sydney in 2007 due to alleged involvement in criminal activities but gambled millions of dollars at the Gold Coast's Star casino.
Mr Horton said that of the 768 people banned from NSW casinos, 36 were later allowed to play the tables in Queensland.
"On that topic, we say the errors placed in serious jeopardy the integrity of Queensland casino operations," Mr Horton said.
"The errors place in serious jeopardy the integrity of Queensland's casino operations," Mr Horton said.
Counsel for Star Entertainment argued the company's advice was it did not have grounds to ban interstate gamblers.
"The understanding, based on legal advice at the time ... was we could not use the NSW exclusion to justify a Queensland exclusion," Gareth Beachem said.
"The failure to immediately exclude somebody in Queensland was not based on some perception that there might have been better information around, but on the fact that the lawyers would say that that piece of evidence wasn't admissible in court to use in Queensland to justify an exclusion."
Mr Beachem said that because the interstate ban was inadmissible, the onus fell on Star to "find some other evidence" to exclude patrons.
Star's anti-money laundering general manager says that person would have been banned under the company's current policies.
The probe also heard the casino operator allowed China UnionPay cardholders to withdraw cash to bet at its Brisbane and Gold Coast casinos but recorded those transactions as "hotel purchases" with National Australia Bank.
Using debit cards for gambling isn't illegal in Queensland, but the Chinese lender prohibits the practice.
Judge Robert Gotterson will report to the attorney-general by September 30.
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Taylor Swift has taken home the top prize at the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards before closing out the show with a surprisingly big announcement - her new album.
"I thought it would be a fun moment to tell you that my new album comes out October 21," said Swift after winning video of the year for her project All Too Well: The Short Film (10 minute version), which claimed best long form video. "I will tell you more at midnight."
Swift said on social media her upcoming 10th studio album would be called Midnights, which she says will involve "stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout my life".
The pop star's reveal came at the end of her acceptance speech where she praised the other women in the category, which included Doja Cat and Olivia Rodrigo.
"I know with every second of this moment that we wouldn't be able to make this short film if it weren't for you - the fans," she said. "I wouldn't be able to re-record my albums if it wasn't for you. You emboldened me to do that."
Rapper Jack Harlow made his mark throughout the entire show. He kicked off his performance inside a mock airplane walking down the aisle while performing his hit song First Class, which samples Fergie's Glamorous.
The rapper joined Fergie onstage - who wore a sparkling silver dress with the red words First Class - while she sang her 2006 jam.
During the show, Johnny Depp made a surprise appearance as the Moon Man nearly three months after the verdict in his defamation trial with his former wife Amber Heard.
The 59-year-old actor floated from the ceiling while wearing the iconic astronaut outfit with his face digitally inserted into the helmet.
"And you know what? I needed the work," Depp told the audience at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey on Sunday night.
Lizzo had Taylor Swift dancing out of her seat while she performed her new single 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready). She won an award for video for good for About Damn Time.
Harlow, in addition to performing and winning awards, joined LL Cool J and Nicki Minaj as the show's hosts.
Minaj performed a medley of her career's biggest hits from Roman's Revenge, Chun-Li, Moment 4 Life, Beez in the Trap, Anaconda and Super Bass.
After her set, the rapper accepted the show's Video Vanguard award, which MTV has said she's receiving for her artistry, barrier-breaking hip-hop and status as a global superstar.
During her acceptance speech, Minaj paid tribute to other music icons such as Whitney Houston, Lil Wayne and Kanye West. She spoke about the importance of mental health.
"I wish people took mental health seriously, even when you think they have the perfect lives," said Minaj, who later won best hip-hop for her song Do We Have a Problem? featuring Lil Baby.
Harry Styles won album of the year for Harry's House. He was unable to attend the awards due to his show at Madison Square Garden in New York.
Bad Bunny won artist of the year and performed his hit Titi Me Pregunto from Yankee Stadium.
Eminem and Snoop Dogg brought the metaverse to the VMAs as the duo performed From the D 2 The LBC, which was featured on Eminem's greatest hits album Curtain Call 2.
The Red Hot Chili Peppers took the stage as the recipients of the Global Icon award after being introduced by Cheech & Chong as their favourite band of all time.
The band performed several songs and their drummer Chad Smith dedicated the award to Taylor Hawkins, the late Foo Fighters drummer who died early this year.
Madonna, who is the most awarded artist in MTV history with 20 wins, became the only artist to receive a nomination in each of the VMAs five decades. She earned her 69th nomination for her 14th studio album Madame X.
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Cheaper child care, medicine and power will spark Labor's light on the hill, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says.
The 31st prime minister reflected on his first 100 days in office during a speech to the National Press Club on Monday, ahead of the government hosting its marquee jobs and skills summit later in the week.
Mr Albanese said reform and renewal will characterise the next phase of Australia's recovery from the pandemic as his government moves to implement election commitments.
"Frankly, the only way to change (trust in government) is to deliver on what matters to the Australian people - cheaper medicine, cheaper child care, more affordable housing, more renewable energy to bring down power bills," he said.
Mr Albanese again ruled out changes to legislated tax cuts, despite in the past opposing the measures which benefit some of Australia's highest income earners.
The third tranche of cuts will abolish the 37 per cent tax bracket, start the top 45 per cent bracket from $200,000 and cut the 32.5 per cent rate to 30 per cent for all incomes between $45,000 and $200,000.
"I said at the time it wasn't wise to consider in 2019 exactly what the economy would look like in 2024-25," he said.
"But the parliament made a decision ... and we made a decision we would stand by that legislation rather than relitigate it, and we haven't changed our opinion."
Given the glaring hole in the budget due to the pandemic, the government will instead look to make up the fiscal shortfall by growing the economy through industrial relations and social reforms to boost workforce participation.
This includes increasing female participation in the workforce by including equal pay in the Fair Work Act objectives, providing paid domestic violence leave and expanding childcare access and affordability.
Success will be measured by the narrowing of the gender pay gap, he said.
But Mr Albanese acknowledged the government only had so many levers to pull when asked about wiping HECS debt or making some university courses free, after Victoria announce free degrees for nurses and midwives.
"We have our own initiatives as well. Fee-free TAFE, the additional university places aimed at areas of skills shortage" he said.
"So, the different levels of government have to pull the levers that are available to them."
The Labor government will aim to use industrial relations reforms stemming from the summit to "arm people with every chance to fulfil their potential", according to the prime minister.
"We are focused on building a fair-wage, strong-growth, high-productivity economy," he said.
"I see it in phases. We've been through the pandemic response, we are in the middle of the recovery and reform will be the key to renewal.
"That better future remains our light on the hill."
The summit will take place at Parliament House on Thursday and Friday.
The government will move to legislate some of its pledges, such as the changes to the Fair Work Act, this year while other reforms stemming from the summit will be considered alongside the subsequent employment white paper.
"We're hopeful, if this week near consensus emerges from the discussions on Thursday and Friday, then we would look at change in an expedient fashion," he said.
Nationals leader David Littleproud said the first few months of the Albanese government showed worrying signs of things to come, particularly in the agriculture sector.
He singled out the response to foot and mouth disease (FMD) and the scrapping of the agriculture visa as major concerns.
"Australian farmers are rightly worried by this new government from what they've done in just 100 days, which is eroding confidence in an industry that is crucial to Australia's prosperity," he said.
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