What we learned today, Monday 26 May
And that’s where we’ll leave you this evening. Here’s a snapshot of what we learned today:
More than 12,000 people remain isolated by the extreme weather that has caused widespread flooding in New South Wales.
Seventy Australian defence force personnel will be on the ground in flood disaster zones in the state from tomorrow.
Anthony Albanese has said it is “outrageous” and “completely unacceptable” that Israel is blockading food and supplies from entering Gaza.
The chair of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, has said the federal election was a “win for rational decision-making and rational policy”.
Nationals leader David Littleproud has contradicted his deputy, Kevin Hogan, saying the minor party will review its position on policies for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser has said his party had developed a “false sense of confidence” before the election around Anthony Albanese’s poor performance on some issues.
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has called his party’s split from its coalition with the Liberal party last week “a shocker”.
Labor candidate Basem Abdo, son of Palestinian refugees, has won the Melbourne seat of Calwell.
The AEC will do a partial recount in the seat of Goldstein, following a request for a full recount by the incumbent, independent MP Zoe Daniel.
The indebted private healthcare provider Healthscope, operator of Sydney’s embattled Northern Beaches hospital, has fallen into receivership.
The federal government-owned defence housing company has been fined $18,780 for unlawful land clearing at the site of a controversial defence housing development in Darwin.
And Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has announced the snap enforcement of a previously flagged ban on machete sales in the state.
Thanks so much for your company. We’ll be back with you bright and early tomorrow for another day of live news and politics. See you then.
Updated
Two men charged after suspected looting in wake of floods
Two men have been arrested on suspicion of looting in the aftermath of floods on the NSW mid-north coast.
On Sunday, police stopped a 20-year-old man in Taree who was “allegedly found picking through property in the street”, a NSW police statement said.
They allege the man had two hunting knives, first aid kits, a defibrillator, “several fishing rods and other medical items and tools” in his possession when he was arrested. He was charged with goods in personal custody suspected being stolen, and custody of knife in public place.
Separately, police said they stopped and searched a 4WD in Tareeabout 10.40pm on Sunday. They allege they found “personal documents, tools and a knife” in the vehicle. They charged the 29-year-old male driver with goods in personal custody suspected being stolen, custody of knife in a public place, licence expired within the last two years, and stealing.
Deputy commissioner Peter Thurtell said in a statement on Monday:
We have additional police on the ground and if we find anyone taking advantage of this community, we’ll throw the book at them.
The impact of this weather event has been unimaginable and to think they now have to be concerned about hanging on to whatever property they have left is a disgrace.
Stealing from people vulnerable during hard times like these is un-Australian.
Det Insp Natalie Antaw said:
We encourage the public to report any suspicious behaviour to police as soon as possible so that we can take action.
I’d also like to remind people that taking any goods that are not yours, no matter where they are found, is an offence – even if the items have been moved from their original place by flood waters.
Updated
Littleproud says Nationals will review net zero policy, contradicting deputy
Nationals leader David Littleproud has contradicted his deputy, saying the minor party will review its position on policies for net zero carbon emissions by 2050.
After days of turmoil within the Coalition, Littleproud told Sky News he was relaxed about speculation his leadership could be challenged over the temporary split with the Liberals last week and denied the Nationals were divided on net zero.
Littleproud said:
We’ve got a party room position on this but obviously during this period of parliament, like in the last period, we’ll continue to review some of those policies, including net zero.
I think we’ve got to understand that the world is finding it increasingly more difficult to achieve net zero by 2050 and the serious economic impact.
Littleproud said a sensible energy mix was needed in Australia.
Deputy leader Kevin Hogan had told ABC TV on Sunday that the Nationals’ position on net zero climate policies was settled.
“The Nationals support net zero [by] 2050,” he said, stressing the policy had been in place for seven years and “that’s not up for review or being changed”.
Queensland senator Matt Canavan promised to keep fighting net zero policies at the weekend, calling Australia’s commitments under the Paris climate agreement “crazy”.
He told Sky:
We haven’t had this debate yet. We haven’t adopted a position on net zero since the election as the Nationals party room so a leader cannot take that forward without the authority of the room.
Updated
Defence Housing Australia fined for unlawfully clearing land in Darwin
The federal government-owned defence housing company has been fined $18,780 for unlawful land clearing at the site of a controversial defence housing development in Darwin.
The infringement notice, issued on 1 April, has prompted environment groups that have campaigned against the development at Lee Point to call on the new environment minister, Murray Watt, to revoke Defence Housing Australia’s (DHA’s) environmental approval.
The fine was issued following an investigation by the federal environment department.
It found DHA had conducted habitat clearing outside of the stages of the development it had been approved to commence before it had met a condition to have a construction environmental management plan in place.
The executive director of the Environment Centre NT, Dr Kirsty Howey, said the fine was “little more than a slap on the wrist and shows how profoundly broken our environmental laws are”. Howey said:
Minister Murray Watt must act to stop any further destruction at this site and fix our environment laws to stop species extinction once and for all.
Brittany Hayward-Brown, convener for Birdlife Top End, said:
The trust of the community in DHA has been destroyed. If they cannot follow the rules set in place by regulators to protect bird populations at Lee Point, then they should not be permitted to engage in any further destruction.
Guardian Australia has approached Watt and Defence Housing Australia for comment.
In a statement to the ABC today, DHA said it “takes compliance matters seriously and is committed to ensuring strict adherence with approvals across all development projects”.
A DHA spokesperson said:
The infringement was issued following DHA clearing a small area between 30 April and 2 May 2024 that was not in compliance with its Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 conditions at the time.
This infringement notice does not affect the validity of DHA’s environmental approvals.
Updated
SA senators named after counting wraps up
More election results: the Australian Electoral Commission has announced the count has been completed for South Australia’s Senate representatives. In order of their election, they are:
Marielle Smith – Australian Labor party
Alex Antic – Liberal party
Karen Grogan – Australian Labor party
Anne Ruston – Liberal party
Sarah Hanson-Young – Australian Greens
Charlotte Walker – Australian Labor party
Updated
AEC says why it decided against full Goldstein recount
The Australian Electoral Commission decided not to conduct a full recount of the Melbourne seat of Goldstein, despite independent candidate Zoe Daniel requesting it, because it was confident the preference distribution was “thorough” during the later part of the count, AEC spokesperson Evan Ekin-Smyth has said.
Speaking to ABC Afternoon Briefing, Ekin-Smyth said:
Given there was a little movement in the late part of that full distribution of preferences, we think it is fair enough to do a recheck of first preferences for those top two candidates.
He said the margin of 260 votes between Daniel and Liberal candidate Tim Wilson was “reasonable”, and that while in the context of 118,000 voters it seemed very small, it would still be unlikely to shift much with the odd ballot being challenged here and there.
Ekin-Smyth continued:
So pending any form of error in the fresh scrutiny process, which was our mandatory second count we did count during the standard count, you would think it would be relatively difficult [to change the margin substantially] but absolutely it is important to go through this legislative process.
Daniel did request a full recount, Ekin-Smyth said, but the AEC did not accept that request.
We think a partial recount [is warranted] because of how confident we are in our distribution of preferences. That process finalised on Saturday was very thorough, we’re just going one step further to ensure there is confidence for us and the candidates and voters. The public enjoys the fact the AEC is thorough when it comes to the count and that is what we are doing.
Updated
Erin Patterson named suburbs where she might have bought dried mushrooms, court told
More from Erin Patterson’s trial: Sally Ann Atkinon says that during a phone call with Patterson on 3 August, the accused mentioned the suburb Glen Waverley for the first time when trying to determine where she had purchased dried mushrooms for the beef wellington.
The Department of Health official says Patterson named the suburbs Oakleigh, Clayton or Glen Waverley while trying to narrow down where the Asian grocer was located.
Atkinsons says previously Patterson had mentioned Mount Waverley but not Glen Waverley.
The court has adjourned for the day. The trial will resume at 10.30am on Tuesday.
Updated
Kean wants ‘ambitious’ and ‘achievable’ emissions targets
The Climate Change Authority has been commissioned to advise the government on a 2035 target and plans to cut emissions from electricity and energy, transport, industry and waste, agriculture and land, resources and buildings.
In a consultation paper released last year, the authority nominated a 65-75% cut compared with 2005 levels based on an initial assessment of scientific, economic, technological and social evidence.
Kean said on Monday he wanted to make sure the target the authority recommended to the government was “science aligned”, “ambitious” and “achievable”. He said:
Energy and electricity will do the bulk of the heavy-lifting towards the ambition that we desire to have.
So on any scenario, any number – and we’ve consulted on between 65% and 75% – energy and electricity is the swing arm to getting those deep cuts into our emissions.
Matt Kean says election was 'win for rational policy'
The chair of the Climate Change Authority, Matt Kean, has said the federal election was a “win for rational decision-making and rational policy” and the authority has been consulting on a potential 2035 emissions reduction target of between 65% and 75%.
Kean, a former NSW Liberal energy minister, told a webinar organised by news website the Energy that “the Australian public clearly chose the rational path, which is also the cheapest path, and also the path that lets us decarbonise the economy”. He said:
This election result was a win for rational decision-making and rational policy.
And clearly there was a fork in the road when it came to the choices that Australians were presented with when it came to the energy transition and the transition of our broader economy.
Under one path, one party was saying we’re going to delay the transition to net zero until 2048 when we might install some nuclear reactors.
He said the election outcome was a “win for evidence, engineering and science” and “I think clearly the government has a mandate to get on with this energy transition”.
Updated
Health official says Patterson denied foraging for mushrooms, court hears
A Department of Health official says Erin Patterson denied foraging for mushrooms when questioned about the fateful beef wellington lunch.
Sally Ann Atkinon has recounted to Patterson’s triple murder trial a conversation she had with the accused on 2 August while a child protection worker was conducting a home visit.
She says during the conversation Patterson told her water, tea and coffee were the only drinks served at the lunch. Patterson said the milk was from Woolworths in Leongatha, Atkinson says.
Atkinson says Patterson told her the Asian grocery store where she had purchased the dried mushrooms was likely to be in a shopping strip, rather than a shopping centre, in Oakleigh or Clayton.
She says Patterson told her the mushrooms had not been used in a previous pasta meal because they had a “funny” smell. Atkinson says this is different to what Patterson had previously told her in the initial conversation. Atkinson says:
The initial conversation seemed to indicate she’d use some of them in the first dish.
She says when asked if she had foraged mushrooms, Patterson said “no”.
Updated
Patterson said it was ‘hard to pinpoint an exact day I bought this or that’, court hears
Atkinson also texted Patterson on 2 August at 1.44pm asking what time of day she bought the ingredients on Friday before the lunch. Atkinson wrote:
Councils are looking at when the supermarket receives deliveries and storage etc, time of shopping would help with their investigation.
Patterson replied on 2 August at 2.44pm.
Hi Sally. I’m not sure exactly what time of day. I went a few times last week and I know I got some of the ingredients on maybe Wednesday or Thursday (I know I bought some discounted eye fillet steaks one time on one of those two days) and then I went back one either Thursday or Friday and bought a couple more but they weren’t discounted, just normal price. And I bought the rest of the ingredients at one of those shopping trips. I often go daily or every second day to pick up a bag or two and get what I need as I go so it’s hard to pinpoint an exact day I bought this or that but I know I bought all of it at some stage last week on Wednesday, Thursday or Friday.
Atkinson says Patterson had previously told her she bought the ingredients for the lunch on Friday.
Updated
Health official asked Erin Patterson for details on lunch, texts show
The jury in Erin Patterson’s murder trial have been shown text messages between the accused and a Victorian Department of Health official.
Sally Ann Atkinson,, the official, was investigating a potential death cap mushroom poisoning after guests at Patterson’s lunch fell ill, the court has heard.
Jurors are shown a text message Atkinson sent Patterson on 1 August – three days after the beef wellington lunch – at 3.50pm after making unsuccessful attempts at reaching her.
In the message, Atkinson says she requires information about what drinks were served at the lunch, the types of shallots purchased and a “basic description of the packaging of the mushrooms from the Asian grocer” including weight and size of packaging.
Atkinson also asked Patterson to think of the names of the roads she parked on or near when she purchased the dried mushrooms.
The court is shown text messages between Atkinson and Erin.
Patterson replied the same day, 1 August, at 4.08pm:
Hi Sally. Sure I will try to get that information all to you as soon as possible. I’m just dealing with trying to manage and look after the kids in the hospital here and a bit snowed under trying to manage that. I’ll get this info to you as soon as possible but I’ve just been in a couple of meetings with people at the hospital when you’ve been trying to call.
Updated
Liberals need to focus on ‘vast middle of Australia’ – Leeser
Asked if the Liberal party has lurched too far to the right, Liberal MP Julian Leeser says his view is that the party should focus on “the vast middle of Australia”.
I think we need to constantly keep in mind: who are the people we represent and we want to represent?
I think key to that is families in the suburbs and small-business people, among others, and when we are focused on the needs and concerns of families and small businesses – based on our enduring values of individual freedom, of personal responsibility, of strong defence, strong families – I think these are the sorts of values that can guide us well in the future.
Leeser said it was easy in opposition to “get distracted” and the party needed to focus on “the things that unite us and connect us with the voters we need to win”.
Updated
Julian Leeser says Liberals had ‘false sense of confidence’
Liberal MP Julian Leeser has said his party lost the federal election because it “did not produce a suite of policies that address the fundamental concerns they had about cost of living”.
Speaking to ABC’s Afternoon Briefing today, he said the party had developed a “false sense of confidence” around Anthony Albanese’s poor performance on some issues, including the voice to parliament and on responding to antisemitism in Australia.
The party’s failure to address young people, women and multicultural communities also contributed to their loss, he said.
Leeser said:
We have fundamental lessons we did not take from the previous campaigns, outlined in a report, which talked about the need to focus on young people, on women, multicultural communities, and I don’t think we did enough to focus our policy offerings on that. And the third key thing is I don’t think we have necessarily our campaign structure, our campaign professionals and activists on the ground, as developed as they could be.
In large parts of Australia there is not a presence of our party and [that] makes the opportunity of winning seats with excellent candidates – even if you have an excellent policy platform – much harder. And we don’t have a good pipeline, like the Labor party does, for activists and campaigners, and I think those are real structural issues we need to address.
Updated
More than 12,000 people still isolated after NSW floods, SES says
There are thousands of workers and volunteers on the ground today with the NSW State Emergency Service after the devastating floods.
The SES has responded to more than 7,700 incidents, including 794 flood rescues.
More than 5,000 damage assessments have been completed.
SES officials are working to get critical supplies to more than 12,000 people who remain isolated by the extreme weather.
Sixty-nine warnings remaining place across the region, but officials are working to de-escalate those as they can to allow people to return home.
Helicopters and high-clearance vehicles have been dropping off grocery supplies and medical needs to flooded communities today.
“Locally led groups assisting in clean-up operations like this will ensure communities are resilient into the future and can support each other in the long-term recovery,” Jihad Dib, the minister for emergency services, said in a statement.
Updated
Back to Erin Patterson’s trial
A Department of Health official says Patterson told her she wanted to make something “fancy” for her guests at the deadly beef wellington lunch.
Sally Ann Atkinson is giving evidence in the courtroom in Morwell. At the time of the lunch, she was working in a department team focused on gastro-type illnesses.
On 31 July 2023 – two days after the lunch – Atkinson received a possible disease notification about suspected death cap mushroom poisoning via Dr Conor McDermott at the Austin hospital, the court hears.
Atkinson says she spoke to Patterson while she was in hospital on 1 August – three days after the lunch. She said Patterson told her it was beef wellington with mashed potatoes, beans and gravy from a packet.
She says Patterson told her she had not cooked a beef wellington before and wanted to make something “fancy”.
Patterson told Atksinon the majority of ingredients were bought from Woolworths while dried mushrooms had been purchased from an Asian grocer in April 2023, the court hears.
Atkinson says Patterson told her the mushrooms from an Asian grocer had been purchased dried and were then stored in a Tupperware container.
Updated
Dfat assisting Australian detained in Bali on drug charges
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing assistance to an Australian man arrested in Bali on drug charges. In a brief statement, a spokesperson for the department said it couldn’t say much more at this stage.
News Corp reported that an Australian man had been arrested in Bali for allegedly trying to smuggle 1.8kg of cocaine into Indonesia, after allegedly receiving packages in the mail.
“The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is providing consular assistance to an Australian detained in Bali,” the spokesperson told Guardian Australia via email.
Owing to our privacy obligations we are unable to provide further comment.
Updated
Home auctions spiking already after RBA rate cut
Auction clearance rates jumped immediately after the Reserve Bank’s second interest rate cut of the year, in a sign home buyers are regaining confidence, the Australian Associated Press reports.
The volume of auctions held in capital cities surged more than 40% to 2,512 last week, with 71.3% reported as sold, according to property data analytics firm Cotality.
That’s the second-highest preliminary clearance rate in 2025.
Strength in the Melbourne market underpinned the recovery, with almost three-quarters of homes under the hammer recording a successful auction. Meanwhile, Sydney’s preliminary clearance rate passed 70% for the first time in 10 weeks.
While buyer confidence improved, sellers’ expectations are in many cases still above what the market is willing to pay.
Updated
PM sends army to help NSW floods clean-up
Seventy Australian defence force personnel will be deployed to the New South Wales mid-north coast to assist with the cleanup from the devastating floods.
The troops will be on the ground from Tuesday alongside the veteran-led Disaster Relief Australia, helping to clear debris, reopen roads and conduct welfare checks on residents in the flood zone.
Anthony Albanese announced the ADF deployments as the massive cleanup operation began for communities across the region.
“Unfortunately we are getting far too much experience in dealing with extreme weather events,” the prime minister told a press conference inside the national situation room in Canberra.
Read more:
Updated
I’ll now pass over the blog to my colleague Nick Visser. Have a good afternoon!
Updated
Healthscope says it's 'business as usual' and no hospitals will close
The head of private healthcare provider Healthscope has sought to reassure patients that it’s “business as usual” and hospitals are not at risk of closing.
Tino La Spina, speaking at a press conference at the John Faulkner private hospital in Melbourne, which Healthscope operates, insisted: “There will be no hospital closures, there will be no redundancies.”
La Spina, a former airline executive who joined as Healthscope’s CEO about three months ago, said:
We have announced today the holding companies of Healthscope Operations have entered into receivership, essentially a process whereby the lenders can be, can oversee the sales process that the company has already started. My key message is: it’s business as usual for Healthscope in all its 37 hospitals.
Updated
Labor expects Healthscope to minimise hospital disruption – Butler
Health minister Mark Butler has responded to news of the collapse of Healthscope into receivership, calling the development “highly distressing to the patients, staff and local communities that depend on Healthscope’s services”.
Butler said
While Healthscope have announced they will remain operating as normal with no change to patient care or staffing, this will still be difficult for the hospital’s employees and their patients.
As Healthscope have today stated, if you have a planned procedure in one of their hospitals, it will go ahead.
Throughout this process the government has been meeting regularly with Healthscope and we have clear expectations the hospital group, lenders and landlords to act cooperatively and deliver the least disruptive outcome for patients, staff and the broader health system.
Butler said the government has met with the administrator and the receiver to outline our priorities and expectations, and said he expects “all parties to continue to put patient care and workers as their priority”.
We expect that these hospitals remain a critical part of our healthcare system. The government does not want any of these important assets to be put in jeopardy to satisfy international investors.
Butler added:
As the government has said all along, there will be no taxpayer bailout. We remain steadfast in our view that an orderly sales process that maintains the integrity of the entire hospital group will provide the best outcome for patients, staff, landlords and lenders.
Updated
Receivers appointed at embattled hospital operator Healthscope
The indebted private healthcare provider Healthscope, operator of Sydney’s embattled Northern Beaches hospital, has fallen into receivership after its lenders withdrew support.
Healthscope, backed by global investment firm Brookfield, had been renegotiating its finances with lenders after accruing $1.6bn in debt and defaulting on various lease payments.
The private hospital owner said in a statement that its 37 hospitals would remain open and operating on a business-as-usual basis with no impact on staff, doctors or patient care.
Restructuring firm McGrathNicol has been appointed to sell the business. It has been provided with a new $100m funding package by financier Commonwealth Bank to support operations during the sale process.
“Our immediate focus is to engage constructively with all key stakeholders to ensure uninterrupted operation of Healthscope hospitals and continuity of best practice standards of patient care,” McGrathNicol partner Keith Crawford said.
Receiverships are used by creditors to sell or reorganise assets to recoup debts.
Healthscope chief executive Tino La Spina said:
The receivers and management share the same goal of maintaining our market-leading standards of patient care and protecting the business, the hospitals and our amazing people.
Concerns over patient care at the Healthscope-run Northern Beaches hospital have sparked criticism of public-private partnerships in the health sector.
Updated
Chinese envoy blasts Australian plan to buy back Darwin port
China’s ambassador in Australia has condemned a push to block a Chinese company running a strategically important Australian shipping port, calling it “ethically questionable”.
The Landbridge group was granted a 99-year lease on the northern port of Darwin in 2015, a widely criticised decision that led to stricter scrutiny of major infrastructure sales.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese last month said the port should be “in Australian hands” and vowed to buy back control of the “strategic asset”.
But ambassador Xiao Qian urged Canberra to honour its contract with Landbridge, a sprawling energy and infrastructure firm increasingly setting its sights beyond China.
“Such an enterprise and project deserves encouragement, not punishment,” he said, according to a transcript published on the Chinese embassy’s website over the weekend.
“It is ethically questionable to lease the port when it was unprofitable and then seek to reclaim it once it becomes profitable.”
Albanese had criticised Australia’s former conservative government for “flogging off” the port to “a company with links to the Chinese government”.
AFP
Updated
Couple reunited with calf amid deluge
As New South Wales man Dan Patch speaks with a reporter, his partner Heather Middleton finds their calf wandering around their flood-stricken property.
The couple had been evacuated from their Ghinni Ghinni property the week earlier as a deadly deluge hit parts of the state and were forced to leave behind their livestock.
Updated
Son of Palestinian refugees projected to win Calwell for Labor
Earlier we brought you news that electoral analysts Ben Raue and Antony Green have called the Melbourne seat of Calwell for Labor candidate Basem Abdo.
Born in Kuwait to Palestinian parents – his father left a village in the occupied West Bank after the Six Day War in 1967 – Abdo’s family sought refuge in Jordan during the Gulf War before migrating to Australia in 1991.
He has previously spoken of how his father was trained as an electrical engineer but couldn’t find a job in that field in Australia.
“I have always had that instilled in me – a deep appreciation for the dignity of work and the impact that social and economic displacement has on people. I think it can be tackled by governments,” Abdo said last year.
“That’s a strong part of what has driven me within the movement,” he said of his position in Labor.
You can read more about Abdo here:
Updated
Police allege rival gangs planned Melbourne shopping centre fight
Victoria police deputy commissioner David Clayton is holding a press conference on the alleged fight between rival groups that forced Northland shopping centre into lockdown at the weekend.
He says “police completely understand the concern and fear created by the incident” and noted it was “not very commonplace in Victoria”.
Clayton says officers arrived “within minutes” of the altercation breaking out and that it involved two groups of four individuals. He says it was a “planned fight between two rival youth gangs” and confirmed “no innocent bystanders” were hurt during the incident.
A 16-year-old boy and a 15-year-old boy, allegedly the “primary offenders”, were arrested at the scene. Both have since been charged with affray, intentionally causing injury and possession and use of a controlled weapon. They were remanded to appear at the children’s court this afternoon.
A 20-year-old man remains in hospital with serious head injuries, while two additional arrests were made this morning - a 20-year-old man from Thornbury and an 18-year-old man from Bundoora, who are currently being interviewed.
Clayton says:
These people and the gangs that they align themselves with are well known to police, especially our investigators from Operation Alliance. As such, we’ve already identified all of those who were involved, with more arrests imminent. So I urge anybody who was involved to hand themselves in to police.
Police allege a total of four machetes were used and three were seized by officers.
Clayton says general duties police are engaging with shopping centre management and store owners to “provide reassurance” today.
And thank them for their support yesterday, particularly the many shopkeepers and staff who assisted in keeping the community calm and safe during that frightening experience.
Updated
Protester shouts at judge in Erin Patterson murder trial
We’ll be bringing you live updates from Erin Patterson’s triple murder trial, which has entered its fifth week.
Shortly before midday, a protester seated just in front of Patterson leapt to his feet and shouted at Justice Christopher Beale, asking how he can be a judge. The man was marched swiftly from the court by Detective Leading Senior Constable Stephen Eppingstall.
Patterson, 50, faces three charges of murder and one charge of attempted murder relating to a beef wellington lunch she served at her house in Leongatha, in regional Victoria, on 29 July 2023. She has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Updated
Windfarm project cancelled by Queensland government
The Queensland government has killed a billion-dollar, 450 megawatt windfarm project near Rockhampton.
The project was approved in December. But planning minister Jarrod Bleijie called it in for reassessment earlier this year and cancelled it last week.
He said about 88% of local residents opposed the Moonlight Range windfarm in submissions to the planning process. Bleijie said he was concerned about planned clearing of native vegetation and a lack of off-site workers’ accommodation.
It would have required clearing about 430 hectares of regulated vegetation in an area that has been “heavily impacted by historical land clearing, primarily for cattle grazing”, according to its environmental impact statement.
The premier, David Crisafulli, said his government would back renewable energy “if they back their commitments”:
We want renewable energy projects to drive a balance in our energy mix. They have to treat communities with respect and decency, and they have to be there for the long term in supporting those communities.
Meanwhile, the Queensland Conservation Council’s senior campaigner, Stephanie Gray, said the state government was “sending a lot of mixed signals to the clean energy sector by revoking this approval”.
Effectively, they’re sending the signal that Queensland is closed for clean business.
Updated
Impact of floods ‘heartbreaking’
The New South Wales Reconstruction Authority’s chief executive, Mal Lanyon, says support is available to people unable to move back into their damaged homes.
He toured some of the regions damaged by the flooding and provided this statement:
What I have seen is heartbreaking. To see people’s possessions on sidewalks, to see the impact on dairy cattle, to see the impact right across this region is really difficult.
We understand a number of people who haven’t had access to their homes are starting to go home. I also know that some of those people will go home and find that their house is not suitable to live in at the moment. Support is available.
Updated
NSW north-east has 384 uninhabitable homes after flooding, SES says
The NSW SES commissioner, Mike Wassing, has provided an update on how many buildings have been damaged by flooding in the state’s north-east:
In terms of damages, we are talking in the order of 572 uninhabitable dwellings. Of that 572 [dwellings] 384 of those are homes. That figure is primarily based on damage assessments that we have seen around the Taree, Wingham and Glenthorne areas and we’ll see that figure rise.
Updated
Melbourne seat of Calwell called for Labor
Electoral analysts Ben Raue and Antony Green have called the Melbourne seat of Calwell for Labor candidate Basem Abdo.
As Raue wrote earlier this month, the vote count in Calwell has been one of the most complex in Australian history. This was due to a record number of votes for minor parties and independents, which placed the preferential voting system under strain.
Shortly before midday, Raue posted this alert on his blog:
The Greens preferences have been distributed and we can call this as Labor retain.
Green posted this short statement on social media a few minutes later:
More than two-thirds of preferences flowed to Labor on the exclusion of the Greens candidate leaving Labor the clear victor in the battle for Calwell.
Here’s some background on why this count took so long:
Updated
Man charged with recklessly beating a kangaroo to plead not guilty
A man accused of dragging a live kangaroo by its neck from the back of a car will fight his animal cruelty charges.
Michael Holmes has been charged with recklessly beating and causing prolonged suffering, and aggravated animal cruelty after the seriously injured kangaroo was found in the NSW Snowy Mountains region, about 35km north-west of Canberra.
The 61-year-old’s lawyer entered not guilty pleas to both charges at Queanbeyan local court on Monday. “Looking at the charges, I expect it to be a brief matter,” magistrate Roger Clisdell said.
Police allege the Bywong man tied the adult, female kangaroo to his car on the afternoon of 13 April and dragged it 400 metres from a property to the road.
A woman discovered the animal soon after down an embankment, still alive with a rope tied around its neck.The kangaroo had suffered severe lacerations to its rib and hip area.
A local rescue organisation picked up the animal from Bywong and took it to nearby Bungendore. But it died before police arrived.
AAP
Updated
More on Sydney shooting
A man who was shot through the windscreen of a car on Sunday afternoon in what police believe is the latest escalation in Sydney’s gang wars is not expected to survive.
On Sunday, the alleged offenders, who were driving a Mercedes, fired several shots into a Toyota Hilux on Woodville Road in Granville. They hit the driver and front seat passenger – a 25 year-old man who is in a stable condition, and the 32 year old man who is in a critical condition and underwent surgery.
“My information from medical staff that’s been relayed to me is that he’s not expected to survive,” detective superintendent Jason Box, told reporters on Monday, when updating the condition of the 32-year-old.
“It was a targeted and directed attack at these people.
“The offenders have approached the vehicle, and from what I can see thus far, there’s one shooter or potentially two that have fired at the vehicle. There were a large number of people on the road.”
Police said there were two men – aged 28 and 26 – who were also inside the Toyota and were uninjured. However the pair were later arrested and charged with possessing an unauthorised pistol after a gun was found in the car. Both men have been refused bail and are due to appear before Parramatta local court on Monday.
Police are also investigating whether a Mercedes that was set on fire and destroyed on Sherwood Street, Merrylands west, is connected to the shooting incident.
Box, after being asked by a reporter on Monday if he was worried Sydney is in a period of escalating gang violence, said: “There’s been a number of shootings recently … and State Crime Command and the regional areas are putting numerous resources into this.
“There’s been other occasions where organised crime have committed similar offences, and police have been very productive and proactive in stopping this, and our responses will not just be to the shooting. We’re also very proactive in disruptive measures, preventative measures”
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AEC to conduct partial recount in Goldstein
The Australian Electoral Commission will do a partial recount in the seat of Goldstein, following a request for a full recount by independent MP and incumbent, Zoe Daniel.
At the end of the full distribution of preferences, the margin was 260 votes in favour of former MP and Liberal challenger Tim Wilson.
The AEC said Daniel’s request for a recount was instructive but not “determinative”, in its decision to grant a partial recount, which it estimates could take up to four days, depending on how many of the votes are challenged by scrutineers.
The partial recount will be limited to an examination of all first-preference ballot papers for Wilson and Daniel as well as all informal ballot papers. It won’t include repeating the complete distribution of preferences.
The partial recount will begin on Wednesday.
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Brooke Bellamy addresses plagiarism claims in first video since allegations
Brisbane baker and online influencer Brooke Bellamy has spoken out for the first time since she was accused of plagiarism by RecipeTin Eats cookbook author Nagi Maehashi.
The Bake with Brooki author shared an Instagram reel on Saturday addressing the allegations and her break from social media, saying the recipes in her cookbook are all “inspired by somewhere or someone”.
“Since opening my bakery three years ago and sharing my life online, I’ve never had such a long break between videos,” she said, adding the biggest influence on her baking is her mum’s cooking.
“While all of these recipes are personal to me, I cannot say that I have invented the cookies, cupcakes, brownies or cakes in the recipe book. They are all inspired by somewhere or someone,” she said.
Bellamy was accused of copying Nagi Maehashi’s caramel slice and baklava recipes in her bestselling book. Bellamy and her publisher Penguin Random House deny the claims.
The Brooki Bakehouse owner said she “never subscribed to be a part of a narrative that pits two women against each other especially in the same industry”.
“I think there’s room for everyone, especially more women in business,” she said in the Instagram reel.
Commenters on the Instagram reel were divided; some called for Bellamy to apologise, others showed their support for the influencer.
Earlier this month Maehashi won the illustrated book of the year at the Australian Book Industry awards, beating Bellamy who was also nominated.
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Man injured in Sydney shooting not expected to survive
A man injured in a shooting in Sydney on Sunday is not expected to survive, police have said, as they investigate potential organised crime links.
Police are probing possible links between a double shooting on a busy suburban street and a car fire, as they piece together the events leading up to both incidents.
Officers were called to the incident at about 5.10pm, where they found two men with multiple gunshot wounds near two others who were uninjured. The injured men were taken to hospital.
Police were then called to a street about 4.7km from the shooting scene after receiving reports of a car fire and arrived to find a vehicle and a nearby tree alight. Investigations are under way into whether the two incidents are linked.
A 32-year-old was the most severely injured of the two. At a press conference on Monday morning, Det Supt Jason Box said he was not expected to survive.
Box said police believe at least seven bullets were fired in the incident. He also said the vehicle discovered burned out appeared to have had license plates which did not match its registration.
Box said police were now investigating potential organised crime links to the incident.
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Police release footage of Sydney childcare fire
New South Wales police have made public previously unreleased CCTV vision as investigations continue into a suspicious fire and graffiti at an eastern suburbs childcare centre earlier this year.
Just after 12am on Tuesday 21 January, emergency services were called to a childcare centre on Storey Street, Maroubra, after reports of a fire. The blaze was extinguished; however, the building sustained extensive damage.
The childcare centre – which is located a short distance from a synagogue – had its fence spray painted with the words “f*** the jews”. The incident occurred during a series of broader antisemitic incidents across Sydney.
As inquiries are ongoing, detectives have released vision and an image of a vehicle and two men they believe may be able to assist with their inquiries.
The men are both described as being of medium build, about 180cm tall, with facial hair and were both wearing dark-coloured hooded jumpers at the time, police said.
“The vehicle is described as a black Audi sedan. It is believed to have travelled on M5 from Fairford Road before the incident and on the M5 following the incident, where it’s believed to have exited the motorway at Kingsgrove Road,” police said. It was later located in Kingsgrove and seized by police for forensic examination.
Anyone with information, including dashcam, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
You can see the video here:
Updated
Greens senator repeats call for Australia to end contracts with Israeli arms companies
Greens senator David Shoebridge has repeated his call for the Albanese government to end defence’s multi-million dollar contracts with two Israeli arms companies and their subsidiaries, in response to the Netanyahu government’s limiting of food and aid to Gaza.
On Monday morning, Anthony Albanese criticsed the Israeli government and said “it is outrageous that there be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza. We’ve made that very clear by signing up to international statements.”
Shoebridge said if the Albanese government wanted to send a strong message of condemnation to Netanyahu’s government it would end its financial support for arms companies Elbit and Rafael and subsidiaries, which have several ongoing contracts with the government.
Contract data shows the companies are providing a range of services to defence, including work on “weapons systems”. Here’s Shoebridge:
“The clearest way for Labor to show Australia’s condemnation of the abhorrent behaviour of the Netanyahu government would be to cancel the more than $1bn of weapons contracts signed with Israeli companies.
“Most countries can shrug off harsh tweets and strongly worded letters. They start paying attention when billion-dollar contracts are cancelled, and that needs to start happening right now with the Israeli arms industry.”
Last week, the Australian Council of Trade Unions called on the Albanese government to introduce “targeted sanctions” to “achieve a permanent ceasefire and pressure the Israeli government to stop its military operations in Gaza”.
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A Sydney man will face court after allegedly producing a firearm during a road-rage incident.
Police began investigating the incident after a report that a “man allegedly held a firearm outside the window of a moving vehicle on Cowpasture Road, Abbotsbury” at about 1pm on Sunday.
Following inquiries, police executed a search warrant about 9.30pm at a house in Cecil Hills. There, they located and seized a replica firearm.
A 58-year-old man was arrested at the scene and was taken to Fairfield Police Station, where he was charged with possess unauthorised firearm, and armed with intent commit indictable offence.
The man was refused bail to appear before Fairfield Local Court today.
Barnaby Joyce on Nationals’ split from Coalition: ‘It was a complete shocker’
Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has called his party’s split from its coalition with the Liberal party last week “a shocker”.
Joyce, talking on Sunrise, said:
“I wasn’t thinking much at all. I was watching it on television. It was a shocker. But you know, hopefully everything calms down. Look, you can think of all these really clever lines you’re gonna say on air. There is no clever line about this. It was a complete shocker.”
Amid speculation about Nationals leader David Littleproud’s future, Joyce said he would not run for the leadership, but when asked about former leader Michael McCormack making a tilt, said: “If he decides to go for the leadership, it’s his right to go for it.”
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Albanese says Israel’s limiting of aid to Gaza ‘completely unacceptable’
Anthony Albanese has labelled Israel’s limiting of aid into Gaza as “completely unacceptable”.
The prime minister said:
“It is outrageous that there be a blockade of food and supplies to people who are in need in Gaza. We’ve made that very clear by signing up to international statements.”
He added:
“We find Israel’s excuses and explanations completely untenable and without credibility. People are starving, and the idea that a democratic state withholds supply is an outrage. Now, that is my clear position. It’s one I’ve indicated clearly and directly to the Israeli government, it’s one that we’ll continue to be a part of international statements.”
Albanese was asked if he had contacted the UK or Canadian leaders about joining their threat for concrete action against Israel. He replied that that statement was from G7 nations, and reiterated that Australia has instead joined a broader statement from 23 foreign ministers, also issued last week.
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70 defence force personnel to be deployed to flood zones
Anthony Albanese has announced that 70 Australian Defence Force personnel will be on the ground in flood disaster zones in New South Wales from tomorrow.
On Monday morning, the prime minister said the presence of the ADF brings “enormous confidence” to disaster-affected communities.
Defence minister Richard Marles said the 70 ADF personnel would have skills to help with recovery and clean-up, specifically in route clearing. They will also conduct door-knocking, and will provide limited light engineering capability.
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More details on Victoria’s machete ban
According to the premier’s media release, retailers will be told to remove machetes from shop shelves at midday on Wednesday and to store the excess stock in a safe location until the amnesty scheme begins on 1 September.
From that date, machetes will be classified as a prohibited weapon in Victoria. Exemptions will be available only for legitimate uses, such as agricultural work.
An amnesty period will run from 1 September to 30 November, allowing Victorians to safely surrender machetes at 40 designated police stations across the state without facing penalties.
After the amnesty ends, anyone found in possession of a machete could face up to two years in prison or fines exceeding $47,000.
Allan is under pressure to explain why she didn’t ban sales of machetes earlier and why Victorians have to wait until 1 September for the ban to come into effect.
She says that in March, police told her a six-month implementation period was required. She goes on:
“In March, we made it absolutely clear that these dangerous weapons had no place on our streets ... Moving to introduce that machete ban from the 1st of September was based on the advice from Victoria Police and agencies that that was the quickest way, that was the safest way that we could bring about a ban on these dangerous weapons. And as the minister indicated, it took the United Kingdom 18 months to bring about a ban on machetes – well, we weren’t going to have that time frame. We wanted it done as quickly as possible, as safely as possible.
However, after Sunday’s incident, Allan says she was informed about the powers already available under commonwealth consumer laws:
“When the incident yesterday occurred, and the minister and I had discussions yesterday, and we were briefed that we have these powers to bring about choking the supply immediately, we have moved immediately.
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Energy regulator confirms maximum electricity prices for 2025-26
Energy regulators have confirmed their final determinations for the maximums that companies can charge for electricity in 2025-26.
The default market offer, or DMO, is the legislated maximum for electricity prices, and acts as a safety-net price for household and small business customers. While consumers can shop around for cheaper rates, companies cannot charge above the DMO.
The Australian Energy Regulator (AER) has determined that from 1 July 2025, residential customers on standing offer plans will experience increases of 0.5% to 3.7% in south-east Queensland, 2.3% to 3.2% in SA and 8.3% to 9.7% in New South Wales. Small business customers on standing offer plans will experience increases of 0.8% to 8.5%, depending on the region.
AER chair Clare Savage said it was a difficult decision. “We know this is not welcome news for consumers in the current cost-of-living environment,” she said. “Sustained pressures across almost all components of the DMO have driven these price rises, with wholesale and network costs rising in most jurisdictions between 1% and 11%, and retail costs between 8% and 35% compared with last year.”
In Victoria, the Essential Services Commission has determined that, for domestic customers, changes to annual prices will vary, dropping by $26 in one distribution zone but increasing by between $4 and $90 in others, compared with 2024-25. The average across the five zones is a $20 (1%) increase on last year. For small businesses, the average across the five zones is a $90 (3%) increase on last year.
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Interim machete ban to last until 1 September, when law banning sales comes into effect
Some more details on the Victorian machete ban.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has just announced the government will use extraordinary powers to ban the sale of machetes from Wednesday, following an incident at Northland at the weekend.
The ban will come into effect from 12pm on Wednesday, and uses commonwealth consumer laws, which allow a state minister to introduce an interim ban on the sale of certain goods.
The interim ban will include machetes, which are broadly described as a cutting edge knife with a blade of more than 20cm. The interim sale ban does not include knives primarily used in kitchens.
It will end on 1 September, when the government’s laws banning machete sales comes into effect.
Allan says:
“The community shouldn’t have to deal with these weapons in their shopping centres. Neither should our police.”
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Victoria to ban machete sales from Wednesday
Victorian premier Jacinta Allan has announced the snap enforcement of a previously flagged ban on machete sales in the state, after the Northland shopping centre went into lockdown on Sunday after a fight allegedly involving “rival groups” and a machete.
On Monday morning, Allan said the ban, first announced in March as part of work to provide Victoria police with expanded knife-search powers, would be swiftly brought into effect from midday on Wednesday.
Allan said:
“Those knives are dangerous weapons. They have no place on our streets anywhere and that is why I will introduce as many laws to get these dangerous knives off the streets.”
She added:
“Under consumer powers, using these powers, Victoria will be banning machetes from being sold anywhere in the state. We can do this now. We can move to bring about this ban on the sale of machetes as we move quickly and safely with Victoria Police on bringing about that Australian-first machete ban.”
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Poll suggests Australians want more action on Israel
Australians want the government to do more to pressure Israel into delivering more aid to Gaza, polling from Oxfam suggests.
In the poll, conducted by YouGov, 82% of respondents felt that “the prevention of food, medicine and water reaching civilians in Gaza is unjustified”, while 67% believed that “the Australian government should do more to support civilians being able to access food, water and medicine in Gaza”.
The humanitarian crisis in Gaza has intensified in recent weeks since Israel announced a halt to aid, with only a trickle of trucks carrying food allowed to enter the territory in the past week.
While Oxfam Australia and other groups who commissioned the polling welcomed foreign minister Penny Wong’s presence on a joint statement of 22 other countries last week calling on Israel to return to full levels of aid into Gaza, the charity believes more pressure is needed. Chrisanta Muli, Oxfam Australia’s acting chief executive, said
With a massive amount of lifesaving aid still stalled at Gaza’s gates, the tiny flow we’ve seen so far represents a drop in an ocean of need. Australians want their Government to take a stronger stance to halt the devastating destruction of Gaza and its people. They are clearly saying, ‘The status quo is untenable’.
You can read more about concerns for famine in Gaza here:
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Sydney trains fare-free day commences after chaotic week
Train users in Sydney will enjoy a welcome difference in their morning commute this morning, with a fare-free day in place as a gesture from the government to apologise after several days of chaos across the network last week.
Opal card readers will be switched off for all train and metro services – including airport link trains – and commuters will not need to tap on. The fare-free day does not extend to regional travel services, nor buses, light rail, ferries within Sydney.
The fare-free day was announced last week after a live wire with enough voltage to instantly kill a human fell on the top of a train on Tuesday, trapping 300 passengers on board and grinding all heavy rail lines, bar one, to a halt.
Due to a central vulnerability in Sydney’s rail network, the incident led to almost 48 hours of widespread outages and delays, with workers advised to work from home to alleviate pressure on the network.
You can read more about the incident and the vulnerability of Sydney’s rail network here:
Updated
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Elias Visontay here bringing you news updates from overnight and this morning.
The New South Wales police minister, Yasmin Catley, is “horrified by the level of violence” seen on Sydney streets after a double shooting in the heart of Parramatta on Sunday evening. Officers were called to the incident at about 5.10pm, where they found two men with multiple gunshot wounds, near two others who were uninjured. The injured men were taken to hospital.
Police were then called to a street about 4.7km from the shooting scene after receiving reports of a car fire and arrived to find a vehicle and a nearby tree alight. Investigations are under way into whether the two incidents are linked.
Meanwhile, the Bureau of Meteorology has issued broad warnings for damaging winds across swathes of southern Australia. In Victoria, the Bureau has warned that north-westerly winds are strengthening ahead of a cold front bringing damaging to winds about elevated parts of the state on Monday morning. The risk of damaging winds is expected to become more widespread in western and central parts of the state during the day today, particularly with showers and thunderstorms. The warning follows a 122km/h wind gust being detected at Mount William at 11:58 pm last night.
Authorities are also warning of “damaging, possibly destructive winds” developing over South Australia. A vigorous cold front is crossing central parts of the South Australian coast and will move over eastern inland areas during the morning, the Bureau said, with north-westerly winds to then strengthen ahead of the front before shifting more westerly behind it. Destructive winds are classified as those measured above 125km/h.
