Body of missing five-year-old found near Alice Springs as police hunt man of interest

Northern Territory police discovered the body of a young child in the search for a five-year-old who was last seen after being put to bed on Saturday night. The remains were located about 5km south of the Old Timers Camp in Alice Springs; police warned the discovery is deeply distressing and that they will be limited in what they can share as the investigation continues.

Authorities are treating the case as a homicide investigation and have named 47‑year‑old Jefferson Lewis as a person of interest. Police have made it clear their priority is to find him, have urged his family not to assist him, and warned they will pursue him if necessary.

While the NT investigation dominated headlines, political and public-safety debates were unfolding elsewhere. The Bondi royal commission recommended states prioritize a national gun buy-back; Queensland’s government promptly rejected that particular prescription, backing instead better interstate information sharing and tighter background checks.

Queensland’s police minister said his government will keep opposing a national buy-back and pointed to recent state laws aimed at keeping firearms out of criminals’ hands. Critics say the new laws include controversial hate-speech measures and leave Australia with what some groups call relatively weak firearms reforms.

In New South Wales, the premier said the state will implement the Bondi recommendations and take responsibility for failures to protect the public, promising law and cultural changes even if some measures prove unpopular. The NSW police commissioner echoed a commitment to adopt any recommendations that affect policing.

The City of Sydney moved to seek an inquest after the death of rough sleeper Bikram Lama, whose body was found near St James Station and reportedly went unnoticed for up to a week. Support workers say the case highlights gaps in services for visitors, temporary residents and people with expiring visas — a grim reminder that some people remain invisible until it’s too late.

In a privacy knot, Townsville University Hospital has not been able to trace who photographed a hard‑copy birth register that contained sensitive details. An anti‑abortion activist who posted the material claimed a “whistleblower” provided it and used an unverified image of a foetus in campaigns; the hospital audited access, reviewed rosters and CCTV, worked with regulators and has moved to a secure electronic system while investigations continue.

And in slightly less tragic but still awkward institutional news: Channel Nine announced 20 jobs will go as it replaces 120 newsroom systems with a much smaller set of new technology and trims separate program titles from around 100 to nine. Management calls it a bold, multi‑year transformation; affected staff will be offered voluntary redundancy in a staged rollout.

From a very raw police inquiry in Alice Springs to political rows over guns, a privacy breach that should never have happened and a newsroom trying to carry fewer tech suitcases, the week is a study in institutions under strain — scrambling, promising fixes, and occasionally tripping over their own good intentions.