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25m agoAngus Taylor denies involvement in Icac case
1h agoNew Victorian premier holds first day presser at Kmart
2h agoDan Tehan sidesteps questions on Angus Taylor’s links to Icac inquiry
3h agoKazem Hamad sentenced to life in prison in Iraq
4h agoJacinta Allan the victim of 'vile' sexism, Julia Gillard says
The opposition leader, Angus Taylor, says no payments were made in relation to a growing corruption case involving members of the NSW Liberal party, insisting he is not a party to the proceedings.
During a press conference in Queensland this morning, Taylor was asked about being named as a potential donor to a conservative Liberal group known as the Reformers, now being investigated by the New South Wales corruption watchdog.
During a hearing as part of Operation Rosny on Tuesday, a screenshot of a text message from the Catholic Schools NSW chief executive, Dallas McInerney, was shown in evidence. The screenshot was sent by Robert Assaf, a member of the Reformers, to a group chat that included Dylan Whitelaw in March 2021.
“I want to shake down Angus for 10k,” the message, read aloud at the inquiry, allegedly said. Asked if “Angus” referred to Angus Taylor, the witness and former staffer Dylan Whitelaw said: “I would assume it’s Angus Taylor”.
Taylor is not accused of any wrongdoing.
“I’m not a party to the proceedings. No payment was made,” Taylor said on Wednesday.
Asked if he would agree to appear as a witness, he said no such request had been made and he would not discuss hypotheticals.
“I haven’t been approached by the commission and I’m not going to give a running commentary,” Taylor said.
Higgins legal saga brought to a close with settlement
A workplace lawsuit linked to the Britanny Higgins saga reached a confidential settlement after mediation earlier this month, AAP reports.
Ex-Liberal staffer Fiona Brown, former chief of staff to then-senator Linda Reynolds, launched legal action in 2025, alleging the Commonwealth failed to stop her from becoming embroiled in a political storm following Higgins’ allegations that she was raped by Bruce Lehrmann in Parliament House.
A criminal trial of Higgins’ allegations was abandoned in 2022 due to juror misconduct. Lehrmann has always maintained his innocence. A defamation case launched by Lehrmann against Network Ten found that Higgins was, on the balance of probabilities, raped by her former colleague in the office.
Brown had alleged former prime minister Scott Morrison and senior office staff did not allow her to publicly defend herself against allegations that she had participated in a political cover-up. If the matter was not settled, it would have reached a federal trial in 2027, in which Morrison would be put under oath.
A spokesperson for the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, confirmed a settlement had been reached, and said further comment would be inappropriate “due to privacy considerations, legal professional privilege and confidentiality obligations”.
Victoria premier maintains he is a strong supporter of Airport Rail project
Carroll also said his new cabinet would discuss the $34.5bn Suburban Rail Loop project, which was first announced by Daniel Andrews, championed by Jacinta Allan, and received billions of dollars from the federal government in its May budget.
He would not say whether this would involve reviewing the project:
I’m going to run a disciplined, proper cabinet process.
But he did reiterate that he was a supporter of Airport Rail, which had stalled up until recently. Carroll said:
Everyone knows there’s not a stronger supporter for airport rail … than me … airport rail will electrify the north-west – it is a gamechanger, it’s been talked about for a hundred years. And as premier, I’m very focused on airport rail.
Carroll has already started work on royal commission into the construction sector
The new premier also told reporters he has already asked the Department of Premier and Cabinet to start working on terms of reference for the royal commission into the construction sector he annouced yesterday.
He confirmed the commission will look into the Labor government’s oversight of the Big Build, where corruption is alleged to have occurred.
I said I want exhaustive terms of reference. No stone unturned. Whether it is top-tier contractors, subcontractors, labour hire, government, unions – these will be exhaustive terms of reference.
The new Victorian premier, Ben Carroll, started his first full day in the top job at Kmart Bourke Street – a nod to his first job. He told reporters he spent eight years working at Kmart Airport West, calling them “crucible years”.
But he also recalls memories “of being intimidated, of being abused, of being threatened” in the job. It’s why he’s chosen to bring forward the introduction of legislation his predecessor Jacinta Allan had already committed to: establishing workplace protection orders.
Under the bill, the courts will have the power to ban or limit people’s access to workplaces when they treat frontline workers unacceptably for up to 12 months.
Breaching an order could result in up to two years in prison or a fine of up to $50,000.
The protections apply across all retail businesses and specified train, tram and bus operators. If passed, the scheme will begin on 29 July 2027 to allow further consultation and to ensure vulnerable people aren’t caught up.
This is a big reform, it’s been trialled in the ACT but this is going to be nation-leading and we want to make sure we get this right.
NSW police seize millions in drugs, grenades and ammunition during raid
A young man and woman were arrested after police seized millions of dollars worth of drugs, multiple grenades, ammunition and guns at an alleged safe house.
AAP reports detectives made the find during a raid on a home in Glenfield in Sydney’s south-west on Tuesday morning.
Weapons including six grenades, three semi-automatic assault rifles, four shotguns, a pistol, firearm parts and more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition were allegedly found at the scene.
Six kilograms of cocaine, a kilogram each of methylamphetamine and ketamine, 15kg of cannabis, 1.1kg of heroin and 107 grams of MDMA were also allegedly discovered there.
The man and woman, both 26, were arrested and charged. The man faces 27 offences and was refused bail. The woman was charged with organising/conducting/assisting drug premises and granted conditional bail. Both will appear before the courts.
Significant traffic delays in Sydney this morning
Sydney commuters, some frustrating news if you’re already running late for work:
The M5 corridor is backed up for kilometres heading into the city, with roads closed between Beverly Hills and Mascot due to emergency work in the main tunnel.
Heavy traffic is queued on the artery, with motorists advised to avoid the area and consider other routes.
There’s no forecast yet as to when the motorway will reopen to citybound traffic.
Search to continue for missing infant in South Australia
A search will continue this morning in South Australia for a missing infant in the waters off Port MacDonnell.
The baby has been missing for days after the bodies of a mother and toddler were pulled from the ocean before treacherous cliffs in the small coastal town.
Police have been searching for the infant since Monday. They had to end the effort yesterday afternoon due to severe weather conditions.
Dan Tehan, the shadow minister for energy, didn’t answer any questions this morning after Angus Taylor was named as a potential donor to a conservative Liberal group being investigated by the New South Wales corruption watchdog (Icac).
Taylor is not accused of any wrongdoing. The opposition leader said yesterday the matter should be “allowed to run their course free from political interference or commentary. As such, the leader will not be providing a running commentary on any matters before the commission”.
Tehan was asked if the Icac inquiry risked becoming a distraction for Taylor if he doesn’t clarify his relationship with the group from the hard right faction of the Liberals, known as the “Reformers”. But Tehan told RN Breakfast the focus should remain on the government in power while Icac “does its job”. He said:
Let’s let Icac do its job. And in the meantime, let’s focus on the person who’s running this country.
Specially designed Airbus completes marathon 24-hour flight before joining Qantas fleet
A specially modified Airbus A350 plane touched down in France Tuesday after a record 24-hour test flight from Australia, ahead of it joining Qantas’s fleet next year, Agency France-Presse reports.
Its 23,076-kilometre journey – across three continents and two oceans, and through two sunsets and two dawns – was one of the most-watched flights shown on the Flightradar24 tracking site.
It was also a crucial step before Australian airline Qantas receives its first A350-1000ULR in April next year, to be followed by 11 others for services able to link Australia non-stop to destinations in the United States and Europe.
The ULR in its designation stands for “ultra long distance”, a feat made possible by an additional 20,000-litre rear centre fuel tank being fitted to Airbus’s A350-1000 model.
The flight from Australia to France took precisely 24 hours and 24 minutes.
Angus Taylor’s approval rating crashes and One Nation support plateaus
One Nation’s primary vote has plateaued and Angus Taylor’s approval rating has crashed, according to the latest Guardian Essential poll.
But it is not all smooth sailing for Labor, with Australians rubbishing the government’s handling of the inflation and cost-of-living crisis.
Australians have also shown their reluctance to embrace new AI datacentres, with less than a third saying they’d be happy to have a facility in their local area and sharing concerns about energy demands, water supply, environmental impacts and noise.
The Guardian Essential poll, of 1,060 voters last week, found One Nation’s popularity was continuing to level off, attracting a 25% primary vote, down one point from June’s poll. Meanwhile while Labor’s indicative primary vote ticked up one point to 31%, the Coalition’s vote dropped further, down another point to 22%.
