Redacted notebooks draw scrutiny at Victoria's Big Build inquiry

The Australian bulletin also covers a bushland rescue, racist road rage and disputed claims that school exam papers were sold online.

Channel: 7NEWS Australia ·

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Missing teen found after six days; Hawthorn road rage; Labor withholding documents | 7NEWS

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0:25Aerial discovery and a helicopter winch rescue lead to a missing teenager's reunion with his mother.
3:47Car park footage captures racist abuse directed at an Asian-Australian couple in Hawthorn.
5:19The Big Build inquiry questions redacted notebooks and delayed text messages, according to the report.
7:15A court update reports proceedings against four men over a fatal Fitzroy drive-by shooting.
7:49Hackers claim exam papers were sold online; the exam authority says investigations have found no evidence of access.
9:00Mitch Marsh declines to revisit past ball-tampering allegations raised by Usman Khawaja's book.

Heavily redacted notebooks and delayed text messages are raising questions about access to evidence at Victoria's Big Build Royal Commission, according to a report from Australia's 7NEWS Australia.

The segment says the state Labor government is withholding key material from the inquiry into major infrastructure projects. Counsel assisting the commission, Chris Young KC, challenges the handling of one notebook passage: "Who authorised the redaction of that section, and on what basis, remains unexplained."

That report begins just over five minutes into a bulletin which opens with the rescue of a teenager after six days lost in rugged Victorian bushland. Reporter Jordy Wright follows the aerial discovery, helicopter winching operation and reunion with the teenager's mother. Acting Inspector Jason Benbow says the teenager had not realised a search was under way and did not know how to get out.

The broadcast then turns to an underground car park in Hawthorn, Melbourne, where footage captures a driver directing racist abuse at an Asian-Australian couple. The report includes an account from the couple's son, Daniel Chen.

A brief court update says three men are to stand trial over a fatal drive-by shooting in Fitzroy, while a fourth faces an accusation of being an accessory to murder.

The bulletin also examines hackers' claims that Victorian Certificate of Education exam papers were compromised and sold online. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority, which oversees curriculum and assessment in the state, says its investigations have found no evidence supporting those claims. Its chief executive, Andrew Smith, says there has been no access to private or personal information or to any VCE exams.

The closing sports segment features Australian cricket captain Mitch Marsh declining to revisit past ball-tampering allegations raised again by Usman Khawaja's book. Asked for his view, Marsh says: "I'm not here to share mine today."