A long-secret inquiry into the cultural and command failures of Australian special forces operators during the war in Afghanistan has found that an “abandonment of curiosity” within the Australian Defence Force’s leadership and an “inversion of authority” within units helped create a culture that allowed alleged war crimes to occur.

The inquiry was commissioned in the wake of the 2020 release of the Inspector-General of the Australian Defence Force Afghanistan Inquiry, which found “credible evidence” of dozens of unlawful killings. It has found deep, systemic cultural problems were rife in the ADF’s Special Air Services regiment (SASR), and that the lack of intervention to correct them indicated “an absence of effective leadership at various levels”.

The full report will not be made public because it contains sensitive evidence from the original Afghanistan inquiry, which has been criticised by some for its finding that responsibility for alleged war crimes sat almost entirely at relatively low ranks, amid a sense that more senior ADF officers should have carried more responsibility for the actions of soldiers under their command. This additional inquiry found an “extreme limitation” in the flow of information from SAS units to higher levels of command at the time in question, which limited what those higher ranks knew.

In general, the report found a pervasive belief among some SAS operators that they were “exceptional” and, as a result, “ordinary norms and standards no longer apply”. But it places some of the blame on both the government and Special Operations Command for fostering the belief that the SAS was “superior” rather than “specialist”, and it criticises the over-deployment of special forces more broadly. Further findings also include some junior officers prioritising “mateship” over “leadership”, and criticised senior officers for knowingly allowing alcohol to be consumed.

Former SAS captain turned Liberal MP Andrew Hastie said he welcomed the release of the report because he believed in “transparency”, especially when recently many important Australian military members such as Ben-Roberts Smith have been prosecuted due to discoveries of their war crimes.

Labor has today pledged a further $893 million to upgrade 25 more roads, as the Coalition also vows to make fixing the state’s roads a top priority if elected.

Of the 25 roads earmarked for repair by a Labor government, 19 would be in regional Victoria. Many of the roads slated for upgrades are in highly contested electorates including Ripon, Morwell and South-West Coast. Labor has previously committed to upgrade 25 other roads in recent weeks, including the Bellarine Link, widening Somerton Road in Melbourne and duplicating Findon Road in Epping.

Premier Ben Carroll told ABC Statewide Mornings the focus on roads was part of his “back to basics approach”, delaying some level crossings, making some savings on the Suburban Rail Loop and bringing forward funds for our local roads.

Carroll said the Coalition in the mid-90s privatised road maintenance, while he is currently prioritising bringing it back in-house to change the status quo and bring road maintenance back in-house, full accountability by the Victorian government.

Owners of the new foldable iPhone are reporting cracks in the device’s screen, as Apple confirmed an issue with a “small number” of units.

Reports of cracks have emerged on Reddit and social media platforms since the handset went on general sale globally on Friday. Experts said there had been too few examples to determine whether there was a more serious problem with Apple’s first foldable device, which retails from $1,999.

One user in Australia even reported that their Duo had cracked within six hours of taking ownership of it and posted their experience on Reddit, describing how they were showing it to a friend, but something around the internal hinge underneath the screen cracked and soon the screen also broke. Another user in Australia posted that they had heard “almost a cracking noise” on their handset, which resulted in a similar screen malfunction.

Apple confirmed some devices had been affected by a display glitch, and advised users to contact AppleCare for replacements. A report by the Bloomberg news service also highlighted similar issues among users in the US and India.