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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
National
Mostafa Rachwani, Emily Wind and Martin Farrer (earlier)

Australia ‘horrified’ by Gaza humanitarian catastrophe – as it happened

Jesse Baird Luke Davies Asio Mike Burgess Australia
Penny Wong
Penny Wong says Australia will announce further humanitarian assistance to Gaza in the coming days. Photograph: Mike Bowers/The Guardian

What we learned: Friday 01 March

And with that, I am going to put the blog to bed. Before we go, let’s recap the big headlines:

  • The Australian government has said it is “horrified” by the catastrophe in Gaza and has signalled plans to announce extra humanitarian assistance in coming days.

  • The head of Asio, Mike Burgess, defended his decision not to name the former Australian politician alleged to have “sold out their country, party and former colleagues” after being recruited by spies for a foreign regime.

  • Sussan Ley has said she stands by the Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare labelled “grubby”.

  • The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has discussed a global tax on billionaires at the G20 meeting in Brazil.

  • The Australian housing market lifted in all but one capital city, with expectations of rate cuts later this year boosting confidence.

  • The Victorian Labor senator Linda White has died after a short illness.

  • A body has been found in a Lake Macquarie unit after a fire broke out yesterday.

  • Australians facing emergencies weren’t able to speak to trained triple zero call-takers for more than an hour due to an issue at Telstra.

  • Sydney’s Mardi Gras organisers have acknowledged the grief and pain felt by the city’s queer community ahead of tomorrow’s parade following the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

  • The weather bureau has warned against people describing natural disasters as “one-in-100-year events”, saying the term was misleading.

Updated

Leonardo DiCaprio calls for end to Australian native forest logging in Facebook post

The actor Leonardo DiCaprio has taken to Facebook to call for an end to native forest logging, also slamming the Queensland government for dodgy carbon accounting.

The call comes after the Tasmanian premier, Jeremy Rockliff – who faces the electorate later this month – announced plans to open 40,000 hectares of protected forest to logging this week. The industry was banned from the area under the 2011 Tasmanian forests agreement, which ended decades of conflict.

“An independent study has found that the national carbon accounting system of Australia may be significantly underreporting deforestation in Queensland.

“In Queensland, where roughly 44% of the national cattle herd grazes and the majority of land clearing has occurred, officials have recorded deforestation at almost twice the rate of the national system used to calculate industry emissions.

“The Australian government has promised that it will prevent any new extinctions. Conservationists continue to encourage them to uphold their zero-extinction commitment.

“The only way to protect the hundreds of threatened Australian forest species, is to end native forest logging across Australia and Tasmania. Australia has the highest rate of mammalian extinctions in the world.”

He posted a similar message on Instagram.

The research, by UQ senior lecturer Martin Taylor, suggested a miscounting of deforestation in Queensland “brings Australia’s emissions reporting into question”.

Queensland conservation council campaigner Natalie Frost invited DiCaprio to come to the sunshine state “to see first-hand the impact of deforestation on our iconic koalas”.

“Deforestation in Queensland is having a devastating impact on our iconic plants and animals including the koala which is now listed as Endangered under federal and state nature laws,” she said.

DiCaprio, who starred in the green-themed film Don’t Look Up, has long been an advocate of environmental causes.

Updated

I just return to the press conference with communications minister Michelle Rowland, where she said Meta’s move was a “threat” to journalism.

She said the government is taking the decision “seriously” and that it will have an impact on Australian news media:

It is a threat and it is one that we take very seriously.

It is of great concern. There are significant revenue impacts that are involved here and even though we know that these commercial deals are confidential, we are aware of reports that it is some $200m that will be impacted here.

That does have an impact on Australia’s news media at a time when it has been under increasing stress from the digital platforms in particular and other matters as well.

Not yet clear whether ‘additional urgent funding’ for Gaza will include reinstating UNRWA funding

Let’s take stock of the part of Penny Wong’s statement that Australia “is providing $46.5m in humanitarian assistance” and that additional urgent support will be announced soon.

This $46.5m is the subtotal of announcements made to date, including the mid-January announcement of $6m for the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Disbursement of this $6m was paused “temporarily” in late January, in line with more than 10 countries including the US and the UK, after allegations raised by Israel that 12 UNRWA staff may have been involved in the 7 October attacks.

There has been mounting political pressure for Australia to reinstate the funding, with many crossbenchers in both houses of parliament this week arguing the humanitarian crisis in Gaza was increasingly dire and UNRWA operations were at risk of collapse. The Guardian reported today that UN investigators had yet to receive any evidence from Israel to support the claims though they expected some material to be forthcoming “shortly”.

Wong’s statement is not explicit on whether the “additional urgent support” to be announced in “coming days” includes reinstatement of UNRWA funding, or whether it may rely on other channels to deliver desperately needed aid to the people of Gaza.

Wong’s staff met on Tuesday with Tom White, the director of UNRWA affairs in Gaza, to discuss the “acute humanitarian situation” in the besieged territory. It is understood Wong’s staff used the meeting to reiterate the minister’s message that UNRWA “does vital work” but also indicated that Australia “needs to have confidence that assistance is getting to those who need it”.

Updated

More urgent humanitarian assistance for Gaza to be announced in coming days, Penny Wong says

The Australian government has said it is “horrified” by the catastrophe in Gaza and has signalled plans to announce extra humanitarian assistance in coming days.

Gaza health officials reported that more than a hundred Palestinians were killed in the early hours of Thursday when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire.

Israel’s military denied shooting into large crowds of hungry people and said most were killed in a crush or run over by trucks trying to escape, although it confirmed that its soldiers fired at a group that moved away from the trucks and threatened a checkpoint.

The Australian foreign minister, Penny Wong, said in a statement this afternoon:

Australia is horrified by today’s catastrophe in Gaza and the ongoing humanitarian crisis that has led to it.

These events underscore why for months Australia has been calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza.

Civilians must be protected. Humanitarian aid much reach civilians in desperate need.

Australia is providing $46.5 million in humanitarian assistance, for food, water, medicine and shelter. Additional urgent support will be announced in coming days.

I have instructed my department to express Australia’s views directly to the Israeli ambassador.

Updated

Australia sweats through third-hottest summer on record, BoM says

The end of summer means a lot of stats are coming about the weather, including the fact it was Australia’s third hottest on record (going back to 1910).

That ranking, as it happens, applied to maximums, minimums and mean temperatures. Here’s the latter chart and map, with means averaging out the daytime and night readings:

It’s worth highlightly the minimums given how warm many of the nights were – with few exceptions around the nation:

Rainfall will be a memory of this past summer for many, too. Across the country, we collected about 19% more than is typical for this time of the year:

People might say, “what about El Niño?” Well, El Niños tend to have their biggest effect in the spring (which was very dry across much of the east) and less so during summer.

That said, conditions started to dry out a bit in February:

The drying out was most notable in Victoria, the scene of recent severe bushfires. In fact, rainfall was about a third of the usual for February – though that tends not to be a very wet month anyway.

The outlook for autumn is pointing to odds strongly favouring a drier-than-average season for most of the country, according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s latest outlooks:

Temperatures, too, have the odds strongly pointing to warmer-than-average conditions for most of Australia. Here’s how they stack up for maximums:

With climate change, of course, it’s hard to spot a season that is cooler than the 1961-90 average that the bureau uses. That’s not to say there won’t be days that are colder than usual – almost certainly there will be – but the odds are stacking up in one direction for much of the planet. Alas.

Updated

Meta ending news deals a ‘dereliction of responsibility’, assistant treasurer says

The assistant treasurer, Stephen Jones, is also at this press conference, and has addressed Meta’s content decision, saying the government will do everything it can to keep them paying Australian media companies.

He said Meta’s decision was a “dereliction of its responsibilities” and that the government will back Australian journalism:

Earlier today, Meta advised that it no longer intends to pay for the news media content that is published on its website. The government takes the view that this is a dereliction of its responsibility to Australia.

We’re deeply disappointed and we’ve advised all of the publishers today that the government will be taking all of the steps available to us under the news media bargaining code, from the prime minister to every minister in his government.

We want to make it quite clear: we’re backing Australian journalism and to back Australian journalism means we have to have a viable news industry here in Australia. We have to ensure that people who use content are paying for it.

We’re not talking about some plucky little startup … we’re talking about one of the world’s largest and most profitable companies.

Updated

Communications minister addresses Telstra triple zero outage

The minister for communications, Michelle Rowland, has just stepped up to speak to the media, and has addressed the Telstra triple zero outage, and the person who died before ambulances could reach him.

Rowland said the Australian Communications and Media Authority were undertaking an “initial assessment” of the situation, specifically looking at Telstra’s “compliance with regulatory obligations.”

She added that the government was saddened by the news of the death, and said her thoughts are with their family and friends.

I also wanted to make a comment on the outage of the Telstra triple zero service. The top priority of the Albanese government is keeping Australians safe and we know that the availability of triple zero call transfers were impacted today between 3.30am and 5am.

Of the at least 494 calls that were impacted, 148 of them were not able to be transferred to emergency services and information was relayed manually to enable that to occur.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is undertaking an initial assessment of Telstra’s compliance with its regulatory obligations. The government understands that one of the impacted callers to triple zero has passed away. We are deeply saddened and our thoughts are with their family and friends.

We have sought information from Telstra, who is the designated emergency call person, to understand the full impact of the disruption. The Acma will continue its inquiries on this point. We are happy to take questions.

Updated

Telstra CEO apologises to family of patient who died after triple zero call unable to be transferred

Telstra has apologised for a technical issue that meant Australians weren’t able to speak to trained triple zero call takers for more than an hour, AAP reports.

The telco receives all triple zero calls before transferring them to local emergency services but it was unable to do so between 3.30am and 5am AEDT on Friday.

It received 494 calls during that time and was unable to transfer 148 immediately, the chief executive, Vicki Brady, told reporters in Sydney.

She said Telstra was aware of a call to triple zero about a person who suffered a cardiac arrest and died.

“I just first offer my deepest apology to the family of that person and in fact anyone who was impacted in those 90 minutes,” she said.

Brady said she had not yet spoken to the family.

“I haven’t yet had a chance and (it is) not appropriate yet to reach out to that family but clearly we don’t yet understand how much the delay was and how much that impacted,’’ she said.

“But obviously it’s unacceptable if there was any delay in getting that call through.”

The Victorian Ambulance Union secretary, Danny Hill, described the incident as distressing for everyone involved as the person who rang triple zero later received a call back after the patient died.

“It wasn’t a successful resuscitation effort, the patient passed away,” Hill told ABC radio.

Updated

Federal government should offer states financial incentives to meet housing targets, NSW treasurer says

The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, has urged the federal government to fast-track housing reforms, saying it would help the state government deliver more housing faster.

Speaking at budget estimates on Friday, Mookhey said the federal government should push through the financial incentives for states to build more houses.

Under the proposed agreement, states and territories have to deliver a combined 1.2m homes over five years, with the federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, offering $3bn that will be paid out from 2028.

Mookhey said he welcomed that Chalmers put “money on the table”, but wanted to see more done to support states in meeting their housing targets.

As often is the case with the commonwealth, their intention [doesn’t] necessarily follow through with execution and I think they will execute their policy a lot better by taking up my suggestion to pay the payments earlier.

I make the point to the commonwealth, and I make the point today, should they give us that money earlier, we’re in a better position to deliver the housing faster.

Updated

Good afternoon, Mostafa Rachwani to bring you the rest of the day’s news.

Many thanks for joining me on the blog today, Mostafa Rachwani will be here to take you through the rest of today’s news. Take care, and have a great weekend.

Severe thunderstorms possible for eastern NSW over weekend, widespread showers for NT and Kimberley

The Bureau of Meteorology has published this national weather forecast for the weekend ahead:

Updated

Government should designate Meta under news media bargaining code, Greens say

The government should force Facebook under the news media bargaining code, according to the Greens, who say the social media giant “cannot be allowed to bully users, journalists and democratically elected governments”.

Sarah Hanson-Young was responding to news that Meta wouldn’t renew news deals under the bargaining code, the company saying it would “deprecate” its news tab in countries including Australia.

The Greens senator called the news “a huge blow to public interest journalism in this country”, and urged the government to immediately move to designate Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code.

A big tech company like Meta cannot be allowed to bully users, journalists and democratically elected governments by deciding which laws of the land they will choose to comply with.

The News Media Bargaining Code was legislated to ensure that platforms like Facebook are not able to profit off the sharing of news content without paying a fair price for it.

The Minister has the power to designate Meta under the News Media Bargaining Code and with this announcement today it’s clear that this needs to happen immediately. The News Media Bargaining Code should also be strengthened to ensure that a diversity of publishers, especially independent media, are included in future platform deals.

We need strong regulation of big tech companies that are making huge profits and have a massive influence on our democracy. The Government must stand up to Meta and designate them under the News Media Bargaining Code.

Updated

Australia marks third hottest summer on record

Meteorologist Ben Domensino from Weatherzone is reporting that Australia has recorded its third hottest summer on record.

This summer had a mean temperature anomaly that was 1.08°C above the 1991-2020 average, he said.

The only warmer summers were 2019-20 (+1.29°C) and 2018-19 (+1.56°C).

Updated

Ambulances dispatched during triple zero outage did not know details of emergencies

Earlier, the Victorian Ambulance Union secretary, Danny Hill, said emergency crews were dispatched to cases without knowing the details of the emergencies.

One particularly distressing case involved a person who rang triple zero to report someone having a cardiac arrest, who later received a call back after the patient had died, he said. (We have more details on this earlier in the blog).

Speaking to the media this afternoon, the Telstra chief, Vicki Brady, said she had been advised of this incident and offered her “deepest apologies” to the family.

We have been advised that one of those calls involved a person who had suffered a cardiac arrest and sadly, that person subsequently passed away.

Can I just, first, offer my deepest apologies to the family of that person and in fact, to anyone who was impacted in those 90 minutes in the early hours of this morning as they called triple zero.

I fully appreciate were members of the public need to use triple zero, it is an emergency situation. And as I’ve said, we take our responsibilities incredibly highly in terms of been able to answer those calls as they come in.

Brady said she is committed to a “swift, thorough and forensic” investigation and that Telstra will share the findings as this is completed.

Updated

Telstra still investigating cause of triple zero outage, CEO says

Vicki Brady said the telco is still investigating what actually caused the service to “not work as intended”.

As I said, we followed our backup processes exactly as they are designed but it is clear already from our review that there are improvements that we can make in these processes …

This investigation will focus both on what caused the service not to work as intended across those 90 minutes in the early hours of this morning, but also to look at the backup process and system to see what improvements can be made.

Updated

148 Triple Zero calls unable to get through to operators during outage, Telstra CEO says

The Telstra CEO, Vicki Brady, has been speaking to the media following a nationwide Triple Zero outage between 3.30am and 5am earlier today.

We had more detail on this earlier in the blog here.

Brady said a “technical incident” this morning caused the outage, meaning the telco was unable to transfer Triple Zero calls on to emergency services

In the period of this incident which ran from 3:30am this morning through to 5am, we received 494 Triple Zero calls. As those calls arrived with our agents there was no calling line identification on those inbound calls. As a result, we had to implement manual procedures. So, of those 494 calls, 148 were not able to be immediately transferred to emergency service operators.

Under our business continuity plans, which we immediately implemented, our teams took down details which were then manually sent through to emergency services so that they could call back and contact the people dialling Triple Zero.

We have, from 5am, had the Triple Zero service running stably and we have extra monitoring in place at the moment.

Updated

Cause of Rockdale sinkhole remains unknown

AAP has more details on the sinkhole in Rockdale, in Sydney’s south (we covered this earlier in the blog here):

Workers have been evacuated from a roadway tunnel project in Sydney’s south after a sinkhole caused a nearby building to partially collapse.

A multi-agency operation is under way at Rockdale, where crews are working to determine the extent of the instability, which has so far caused a two-level office block to sag in the middle.

The cause of the sinkhole is unknown and workers in the M6 tunnel project below will not return underground until it is deemed safe.

The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, said there had been an engineering challenge with the tunnelling works and experts were on the scene:

I know the builders of the road regarded that part as one of the most tricky because it’s the closest to the surface at only 16 metres, whereas a lot of the rest of the project could be up to 60 metres underground.

The roads minister, John Graham, said the first priority for crews would be to secure the site and then determine the cause.

Updated

Falling letters, shop traffic weighs down Australia Post

Australia Post has telegraphed the need to downsize its retail network as losses in its letter business continue to stack up amid changing consumer habits, AAP reports.

Despite an improved earnings result for the six months to 31 December, the commonwealth-owned postal delivery service anticipates ongoing full-year losses, threatening the long-term financial sustainability of the business, unless further reforms are implemented.

Group profit before tax was up $33.6m, a 42% increase on the same period the year prior, in part due to a record peak period with almost 100m parcels delivered across Australia.

But the letters business recorded a $182.1m loss for the half, as letter volumes fell 11.9%. A statement from AusPost says:

The continuing structural decline of the letters business is unstoppable, with Australians now receiving on average just two letters per week.

Over-the-counter transactions fell by 4.1% for the half, with the CEO, Paul Graham, flagging a downsizing of AusPost’s retail network will be necessary.

Despite the green shoots, there are still fundamental structural challenges confronting Australia Post as letters use continues to decline and fewer customers utilise our retail network.

The new delivery model we are trialling will help address the decline in our letters business, but our outsized retail network will need to be addressed.

Updated

Penny Wong pays tribute to ‘loyal friend and colleague’ Linda White

Leader of the government in the Senate, Penny Wong, has paid tribute to the late Victorian senator Linda White.

Wong said she always valued the “wise counsel” of White, her “loyal friend and colleague”.

She was respected for her courage, her intellect and her wit.

In spite of all she achieved, Linda had so much more to contribute.

My thoughts today are especially with Linda’s family, her staff, and all of her comrades at the Australian Services Union.

Wong flagged that the Senate will schedule a condolence motion for a future sitting day “to ensure Linda’s contribution can be appropriately recognised by her colleagues across the chamber.”

Updated

‘We have to get better as a nation’: BOM chief

More from the Senate inquiry into Australia’s disaster resistance:

Bureau of Meteorology CEO, Andrew Johnson, said while the organisation had to walk a fine line with the levels of warnings to the public before natural disasters, the number of severe weather events would only increase.

We have to get better as a nation. Everybody’s involved in this situation, because it’s not going to decrease, the risks and uncertainties are increasing in a changing climate.

We know that floods are going to happen more often, they’re going to be large, we can do everything we can to provide as much advanced warning as possible.

Following severe flooding and storms in northern Australia, Dr Johnson said the bureau was undergoing “a lot of soul searching” on how the risk of weather events could be better communicated to the public.

- AAP

Updated

One-in-100-year disaster labels misleading: BOM chief

The weather bureau has warned against people describing natural disasters as “one-in-100-year events”, saying the term was misleading, AAP reports.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s chief executive Andrew Johnson told a Senate inquiry into Australia’s disaster resilience that while the phrase was often used to convey the severity of incidents like floods, it led to a false sense of security.

Could this country please stop referring to weather events as one-in-100, one-in 1000, one-in-10,000? It confuses the community, it’s very, very poorly understood.

These are complex, statistical engineering constructs that mislead the community ... they’re often used as a shorthand way of trying to communicate risk.

They are technically very difficult for the average citizen to understand.

He indicated unprecedented levels of natural disasters had made the job more difficult, with new relationships between the ocean, atmosphere, land and ice, causing the baseline to change.

Our numerical weather prediction systems training ... is adapting to those new realities. We are seeing things happen that, certainly since Federation, in the modern experience, we haven’t seen in this country.

While the bureau was looking to upgrade its gauges and detection methods to be more accurate, Dr Johnson indicated replacing the entire network would take a long time.

To do all the gauges, the literally hundreds and hundreds of gauges that need to be done, we sort of have to average two new ones every week for 10 years, it’s a huge effort.

Updated

NSW police announce ‘operation Mardi Gras 2024’ ahead of tomorrow night’s parade

In a statement, police said the “high visibility operation” will involve general duties officers assisted by specialist units. Assistant commissioner Anthony Cooke said:

Police have been working closely with parade organisers and the LGBTIQA+ community to ensure a safe environment for all those participating in and supporting the event.

We are urging those supporting the event to plan your night ahead of time; know how you are getting into the city, what you’re doing at the parade and how you’re getting home.

Transport for NSW coordinator general, Howard Collins, said with major road closures in place from 3pm for the parade, public transport is the best way to get into the city for the festivities.

There will be hundreds of additional trains, buses and light rail services running, including more late-night services, to get you into the city and back home again.

NSW Ambulance assistant commissioner Brian White added that paramedics will be attending Mardi Gras and the community should not hesitate to reach out if they need medical assistance, and to always call Triple Zero (000) in an emergency.

Updated

Chris Minns defends response to war in Gaza: ‘I’m worried about the loss of life’

After a week of being criticised and having his invitations rejected, the NSW premier, Chris Minns, has come out swinging in defence of his response to the war in Gaza.

The premier’s annual iftar dinner, held during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, was cancelled yesterday after peak Muslim bodies said they would not attend over the premier’s response to the violence in Gaza.

Minns has previously criticised pro-Palestine rallies and their cost to police, and decided to light the sails of the Opera House in support of Israel last October.

This month, he criticised Labor MPs for making comments about Gaza, saying they should run for federal politics if they want to express strong views on international affairs.

But at a presser today, Minns insisted he had previously spoken about the loss of Palestinian life in Gaza:

Firstly, obviously, we’re not going to go ahead with the dinner if the attendees don’t want to come or won’t be coming.

But that’s not because the government doesn’t care or isn’t interested or isn’t prepared to invest when it comes to that community.

I’ve repeatedly spoken about the loss of life, particularly innocent civilian loss of life amongst the Palestinian community in the Middle East. I’ve said that over and over again, and I’m happy to repeat it here today.

Like the community, I’m worried about the loss of life there.

But my responsibilities [are] about safety and peace in New South Wales.

Updated

Four children arrested in Victoria in relation to investigation into tobacco dispute

The Viper taskforce and the Eastern and Southern Metro Regional crime squads have today announced the arrests of two 16-year-olds, a 15-year-old and a 14-year-old, after warrants were executed simultaneously at 7am.

Investigators will interview the four children in relation to an aggravated burglary in Wonga Park, as well as two arson attacks at a Mill Park restaurant and a tobacconist in Ballarat last week.

Detective inspector Graham Banks from Taskforce Lunar said:

We’re hopeful that today’s arrests will provide us with further avenues of enquiry in these investigations.

Updated

Here are some photos from Fire and Rescue NSW of the sinkhole in Rockdale, south Sydney, which multiple agencies are responding to:

Updated

More on Rockdale partial building collapse

A Fire and Rescue NSW spokesperson has provided more information about the partial building collapse at Rockdale. Speaking to the media, he said:

We have established an exclusion zone around the building. We are confident that it is contained within that exclusion zone.

The building is approximately 200m long and it’s a small section that has been impacted.

In an unrelated section approximately 10 people working here were evacuated, but the building of concern, there was no one working in that office this morning when we arrived.

Updated

Location tracking app plots path to profit

Family tracking app Life360 has edged closer to profitability after growing its active user numbers to 61.4m, which includes a growing cohort of Australians.

The app, which uses GPS to track and share driving speeds and location details, is marketed as a way to keep family members safe, but has also raised privacy concerns over potential misuse.

It now has 1.9m active monthly users in Australia, up from 1.4m a year ago. Its largest customer base is in the US, where it is headquartered.

The San Francisco-based company, which is listed on the ASX, recorded a $US28.2m net loss for calendar 2023, a significant improvement on the $US91.6m loss recorded the previous year.

Its revenue increased by one-third to US$305m during 2023.

Shares in Life360 surged more than 30% after the calendar year results were released. It’s not unusual for tech companies to run at a loss while they try to build market share.

The company also has hardware-tracking devices that users can attach to items like their keys, pet collars or bicycles.

Some US tech companies choose to list outside of the US so that they can more easily stand out to investors, rather than getting lost in the thousands of companies included on the Nasdaq.

Clover Moore on tomorrow night’s Mardi Gras: ‘I know the community is hurting’

Sydney’s Mardi Gras organisers have acknowledged the grief and pain felt by the city’s queer community ahead of tomorrow’s parade following the alleged murders of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.

At a press conference this morning, Mardi Gras co-chair Brandon Bear said Mardi Gras has “always been a lot of things to a lot of people” and there have been situations in the past “where we have come together to celebrate but also come together to mourn, to create change”.

For some people this will be a more sombre event, for some people they might choose to sit this one out.

Sydney’s lord mayor, Clover Moore, acknowledged the grief and tensions in the LGBTQ+ community:

I know the community is hurting, and I sincerely hope tomorrow night provides a safe environment to come together, to grieve together, to support each other’s resilience and to celebrate the power and the joy of Mardi Gras and its achievements over 46 years.

Moore defended a decision by festival organisers to allow NSW police officers to march in the parade in plain clothes after initially disinviting the force earlier this week:

We’ve come a long way and we don’t want to go back and I think it was a great thing that the police came to the parade and I think they should stay there.

Updated

20 people evacuated following partial building collapse in Sydney's Rockdale

Around 20 people were evacuated from a building in Rockdale, in Sydney’s south, after a building partially collapsed early this morning.

Fire and Rescue NSW said a section of the ground has subsided, causing a large two-level office block in an industrial park to sag in the middle and appear unstable.

20 firefighters and six trucks responded to the incident on West Botany Street around 6.30am. A multi-agency operation is now under way at the site, FRNSW said in a statement.

Firefighters are using laser monitoring equipment to detect any further movement in the affected building. FRNSW experts are working with “colleagues across government and industry” to assess the extent of the collapse and establish the cause.

Engineers are also determining a plan on how to shore up the building.

An exclusion zone is currently in place and the community is urged to avoid the area; however, at this stage, all roads and public footpaths in the area remain open.

Updated

Paramedics say triple zero outage caused ‘complete chaos’

Here’s more on the triple zero outage, via AAP:

Paramedics described the incident as “complete chaos”, Victorian Ambulance Union secretary Danny Hill said.

We’ve had issues with incorrect routing of calls from Telstra to the wrong control room, particularly in cross border areas.

He claimed crews were dispatched to cases without knowing the details of the emergencies.

Hill said one particularly distressing case involved a person who rang triple zero to report someone having a cardiac arrest, who later received a call back after the patient had died.

It wasn’t a successful resuscitation effort, the patient passed away.

About an hour after that, after the crew had originally arrived and had been there working on the patient, they received a phone call saying do you still need an ambulance?

Hill said it was upsetting for everyone involved.

Quite distressing for the call taker, because what they were tasked with doing was calling up a lot of the cases where they think there may have been a delay to see if they still needed an ambulance.

Updated

Nationwide triple zero outage caused by Telstra issue

Australians facing emergencies weren’t able to speak to trained triple zero call-takers for more than an hour, due to an issue at Telstra, AAP reports.

The telco receives all triple zero calls, however it was unable to then transfer them on to emergency services on Friday for an unknown reason. The company said in a statement:

An issue early this morning affected calls and associated data being transferred to emergency service operators. It was fixed within 90 minutes.

Our team of call takers switched to our backup process, which meant the details of callers were sent manually to emergency services to be called back.

The telco said it is investigating the cause of the problem and closely monitoring the system. The issue occurred between 3.30am-4.45am today, according to Triple Zero Victoria.

Communications minister Michelle Rowland said reports of Australians unable to reach emergency services were deeply concerning. A spokesperson for the minister said:

The federal government has urgently sought information from Telstra as Emergency Call Person to understand the full extent and impact of the outage.

Communication Workers Union representative Sue Riley said Telstra’s call takers captured as much information as they could before emailing information to emergency services.

Updated

Body found in Lake Macquarie unit in NSW after fire

A body has been found in a Lake Macquarie unit after a fire broke out yesterday.

Around 4.10am on Thursday, emergency services responded to reports of a fire at a unit block on Railway Street in Teralba.

Fire and Rescue NSW crews worked to extinguish the blaze, but the unit sustained significant damage.

A body, which is yet to be formally identified, was located during an initial search of the unit overnight.

Officers from the Lake Macquarie police district and the state crime command’s arson unit have commenced inquiries into the incident and the cause of the fire, which are ongoing.

Updated

Tanya Plibersek on death of senator Linda White: ‘a very sad day for our Labor family’

Tributes are continuing to flow following the death of Victorian Labor senator Linda White overnight.

Environment minister Tanya Plibersek said it is a “very sad day for our Labor family”.

Above all else, Linda White was a proud unionist. She was a champion for fairness and justice. And she was a brilliant Labor woman. Thinking of her family, friends and all who loved her. She will be deeply missed by us all.

President of the Senate, Sue Lines, said she is devastated at the loss of her “dear friend”.

We have lost a woman of integrity, intellect, humour & loyalty. Our friendship spanned 30 years. RIP Linda. Sending much love to Linda’s family & friends.

And assistant minister to the PM, Patrick Gorman, said White was an “incredible servant and leader within the Labor party”.

I first got to know her through her union leadership and the ALP national executive. Then had the privilege of working with her in parliament. We will miss her greatly.

Updated

Australia’s humanitarian organisations respond to reports more than a hundred Palestinians killed overnight in Gaza

The incident reportedly happened when desperate crowds gathered around aid trucks and Israeli troops opened fire.

Sally Thomas, the humanitarian emergencies lead at Caritas Australia, said:

However events unfolded on Thursday morning, what is clear is that lifesaving humanitarian aid is no longer being safely and effectively delivered into Gaza, and that a mass starvation event is imminent … These innocent civilians need and deserve political action that precipitates a ceasefire as it is the only way to stabilise Gaza enough to deliver lifesaving aid, preventing tens of thousands more deaths.

Meanwhile Jason Lee, the country director for Save the Children Australia, said there must be an “immediate, impartial investigation” into what happened:

Children and families have been forced to take desperate measures to survive. Now, while waiting to get what they can to keep their families alive, people are killed and injured – with nowhere to go for effective medical treatment as health facilities have been decimated after nearly five months of bombardment. We need a definitive ceasefire immediately.

Updated

ACTU’s Sally McManus: ‘Linda White was a fierce advocate for working people, dedicated and incredibly hard working’

Sally McManus, secretary of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, has paid tribute to the late Victorian senator Linda White.

McManus worked with White at the Australian Services Union for decades. She wrote on X:

[White] was a fierce advocate for working people, dedicated & incredibly hard working. Aviation workers benefitted enormously from her leadership as well as winning equal pay for community workers. Rest in peace.

Updated

Bill Shorten to Peter Dutton: ‘politicians should not play prosecutor’

Earlier this morning, opposition leader Peter Dutton and government services minister Bill Shorten went head-to-head over whether an ex-politician who Asio says aided foreign spies should be named.

You can read all the details on this from Daniel Hurst below:

Speaking on the Today show, Dutton continued to argue the person should be named. Shorten went on to accuse him of “playing in the traffic” over this issue:

On one hand, [Dutton] says [Asio head] Mike Burgess should name the politician, but on the other hand, he won’t do it himself. I will stick with how Mike Burgess wants to handle the matter …

Shorten also argued that Dutton has a “Pavlovian response” and “wants to immediately go to the blame issue”.

[Yesterday] he basically used the parliament to prosecute some individual detainee who had been released by the high court, and he accused him all manner of things. But the problem is they got the wrong guy. So, I think just periodically, politicians should not play prosecutor. Let’s sit back, let the experts pursue what they want to do.

Dutton responded by saying Shorten has passed judgement on Albanese in the past and shouldn’t be “throwing stones from your glass house”. Shorten then accused Dutton of having “more deflections than Wonder Woman”.

So, I guess it’s another standard day in Australian politics.

Updated

Coalition’s Simon Birmingham on Linda White: ‘the Senate has lost a determined and passionate sitting senator far too soon’

The opposition has also paid tribute to Linda White, following news that she has died overnight.

Leader of the opposition in the Senate, Simon Birmingham, said the Coalition extends its sympathy to the family and friends of White, as well as her staff and colleagues across the union movement and Labor party.

He noted that during her first speech, White promised that no one in the Senate would be left wondering what she thought: “that people will always know where she stands and know that she is not afraid of saying what’s on her mind”.

Senator White lived up to that promise, Linda was never one to take a backwards step and was a determined advocate for her beliefs. She campaigned across a wide range of areas reflecting her deep life-long commitment to social justice, especially for women …

The Senate has lost a determined and passionate sitting senator far too soon. A senator who clearly had much more to contribute, but who will be remembered with respect by those who had the privilege to serve with her.

Liberal MP for Menzies Keith Wolahan expressed his deepest sympathies to White’s family and colleagues in a post to X:

We worked very closely together on the final form of the NACC. I found her to be principled, fair, and hard working - a patriot of her party and our democracy. She made a difference and will be missed.

Updated

The prime minister has shared his full statement following the death of Victorian Labor senator Linda White.

Australian Services Union pays tribute to Linda White as one of its ‘great warriors’

In a statement, the ASU said White was a “torch bearer for equality, justice and a fairer society” and an “irreplaceable part of our union family” who they will deeply miss.

Linda’s influence extends to thousands, if not millions of Australians, who never had the privilege of knowing her.

They noted her work in fighting for Ansett workers following the airline’s collapse, the fight for equal pay under the “only successful equal pay case under the Fair Work Act”, as well as unequal retirement outcomes for women.

We wish Linda could have taken up this fight for longer. However, we are so fortunate to have had Linda in our lives for as long as we did, and that she dedicated so much of her life to building up the next generation of activists and change makers.

Her strength, smarts and determination for equality will live on through them.

Our thoughts are with Linda’s family, friends and comrades at this extraordinarily difficult time. In particular, we send our heartfelt condolences to her brother Michael, of whom she was so proud.

Updated

Anthony Albanese: ‘It’s just so sad because Linda White had so much more to give’

Albanese continues:

This will be particularly tough for the Victorian Labor family. To lose two women in their prime within three months of each other is beyond belief. It’s just so sad because Linda White had so much more to give.

She was so enthusiastic about her position in the Senate and making a difference. She made it very clear when I spoke to her and encouraged her to run for the Senate position that she wasn’t interested in filling a front bench role in the future. She wanted to play a role in committees, in bringing her legal expertise, her commitment in the Labor movement, her commitment to women and young people, her commitment to fairness in the workplace, to the decision making body in our great democracy, the Australian parliament.

Updated

Albanese: Linda White ‘was always up against it, championing for something better’

The prime minister continued to pay tribute to Linda White, and reflected on her achievements:

Linda made a difference, [her] early professional life was sign enough. She was always up against it, championing for something better. Student Society president at the then-largely male Melbourne Law School. A young lawyer playing her part in tackling injustices, only just beginning to be fully confronted, including corruption in the police force and child sex abuse in the clergy. She rose from a rank and file activist to assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union. When you look back at the ASU’s proud record, Linda’s legacy is everywhere …

Yet as Linda put it herself, the smaller things mattered just as much – what she termed hard, day-to-day work of unionism which binds us together in solidarity. Linda was an invisible servant of the administration of the Australian Labor party federally and here in Victoria. Through the good times and the hard. The longest-ever serving female member of the ALP national executive.

Updated

Albanese on Linda White: ‘a beloved friend, a valued colleague, a dedicated parliamentarian’

In Melbourne, Anthony Albanese is back without the Labor campaigners to make a short statement following the death of Victorian senator Linda White overnight.

He says:

All of our hearts in the Labor family have broken at the passing of Senator Linda White last evening. Linda was formidable.

A beloved friend, a valued colleague, a dedicated parliamentarian and through all her efforts in the wider Labor movement, a devout supporter of working Australians.

Updated

Tributes for Victorian Labor senator Linda White

Tributes have begun to pour in for the late Victorian Labor senator Linda White.

The Greens senator David Shoebridge described his Senate colleague as a “fundamentally decent, honest, empathetic and intelligent force for good”.

Shoebridge said on X/Twitter:

Right now I’m remembering all the good she did, the principles she held and thinking of her friends, family and colleagues.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, spoke in Dunkley a short while ago but has yet to make a statement on White’s death.

Updated

Tony Burke pays tribute to Linda White

The employment minister, Tony Burke, has paid tribute to Victorian senator Linda White, saying she leaves an “extraordinary legacy for working people in Australia”.

Linda campaigned for years in the union movement for paid family and domestic violence leave. As a senator she helped make it law so no one would have to choose between safety and pay.

White joined the upper house after the 2022 federal election. The Victorian senator announced in February she would take leave to deal with health issues.

Updated

PM says it is ‘extraordinary’ that Sussan Ley, hasn’t deleted her tweet

We had more around this earlier in the blog here.

Speaking in Melbourne, Albanese said:

Yesterday showed the problem – if you are just negative, if you just run fear campaigns [and] don’t worry about the facts, but you just shoot from the hip, get out there [and] run a fear campaign. If you look at the questions that were asked in parliament yesterday, it says everything about the problem with this 24-hour news cycle, where you just have a fear campaign about everything and a solution for nothing.

Ley’s tweet remains live.

Updated

Circling back to Anthony Albanese’s press conference in Melbourne, where he has also made a veiled dig at the opposition:

One of the differences between Jodie Belyea and the other candidates in this byelection is that she’ll be a voice in government. Someone who can get things done as a voice in my government. Not just be another bloke, sitting behind all the other blokes … opposing everything, being negative about everything [and] running fear campaigns.

Updated

Victorian Labor senator Linda White has died

The Victorian Labor senator Linda White has died after a health battle, Guardian Australia has learned. The Labor left senator announced in February she would be taking leave to deal with some health issues. The exact cause remains unclear.

White joined the Senate in 2022 after a career working as a solicitor and as the assistant national secretary of the Australian Services Union between 1995 to 2020.

We’re expecting the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, to make a statement at his press conference in Dunkley this morning.

Updated

PM says Peta Murphy ‘recruited’ Jodie Belyea to Labor party

Anthony Albanese is also speaking about Peta Murphy’s legacy. Her death late last year from cancer is why voters in Dunkley are heading back to the polls on Saturday.

The prime minister says:

Peta Murphy, one of the things that she did – an extraordinary act of selflessness – that said everything about who she was. She knew that she wasn’t well and recruited Jodie to the Labor party.

She encouraged Jodie to stand as a candidate.

We wish and this local community wishes that the byelection was not happening because Peta Murphy, at age 50, has gone from us far too soon. She had so much more to give, I have no doubt she would have been a future cabinet minister. An extraordinary capacity to deliver for this local community, to deliver on such a broad range of issues.

Updated

Labor candidate Jodie Belyea makes pitch before Dunkley byelection

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is at Jubilee stadium with his candidate for the Dunkley byelection, Jodie Belyea.

Surrounded by Labor supporters, Belyea is up first:

We are at Jubilee Park Stadium, a place that Peta [Murphy] championed and delivered on. This is an incredible facility. Peta was a strong, wise and confident woman that represented our community. She delivered for Dunkley, and I asked the people of Dunkley to vote for me, because I too will deliver for Dunkley. I will be a strong, local, confident representative for the people of this great community.

Updated

Here are some more shots from the campaign trail in Dunkley, before tomorrow’s byelection, thanks to our reporter Benita Kolovos:

The prime minister is speaking to the media now from Melbourne – we’ll bring you the latest in a moment.

Updated

Sophie Scamps calls for Gaza ceasefire and for UNRWA funding to be reinstated

The independent MP for Mackellar, Sophie Scamps, has also called for the government to reinstate its funding for UNRWA, to provide humanitarian aid to Palestinians.

David Pocock made similar calls earlier this morning. This comes as health authorities in Gaza said the IDF fired on people waiting for aid near Gaza City on Thursday, killing 104 Palestinians and wounding 280.

Scamps wrote on X this morning:

The situation in Gaza is beyond horrific.

People in Gaza are starving as aid can’t get [through] – of course there’s a stampede for food. The devastation must stop!

She also called for a ceasefire.

Updated

All the political focus will be on Dunkley today, before tomorrow’s byelection.

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has shared a photo from a local coffee shop, ahead of what will be a day of campaigning:

The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has already spoken to the media from Dunkley this morning (Benita Kolovos brought us this earlier in the blog).

Updated

RBA invites submissions for redesigned $5 note

The Reserve Bank has launched its public campaign seeking community input on a redesigned $5 banknote to honour the culture and history of First Nations peoples.

The new design will replace the portrait of the late Queen Elizabeth II, while the other side of the banknote will still feature the Australian parliament.

The RBA said it is engaging directly with First Nations organisations in every state and territory to encourage submissions.

It is also seeking input from the broader community, with ideas to be lodged online by the end of April.

The RBA’s assistant governor for business services, Michelle McPhee, said:

Involving the public in this process is vital, and by actively engaging First Nations communities we can better capture themes that tell our nation’s story.

Updated

Peter Dutton defends question time attack over high court decision

Opposition leader Peter Dutton has doubled down on his decision to launch a question time attack on the Albanese government, despite Victoria police moving to withdraw assault charges against a man released due to the high court’s ruling on indefinite detention.

(You can read the full story on this from Paul Karp below).

Speaking in Dunkley this morning, Dutton said he was relying on media reports at the time:

I think when you are relying on advice from the police authorities, from a statement that had been issued or from media reports that had been confirmed by the minister responsible, I think it’s entirely reasonable that you would make the points that we made yesterday, and I guess the general point that we’re making is that the Albanese government’s released 149 people, hardened criminals, from immigration detention.

A reminder that these people were released after a high court decision, which any government of the day would be required to follow.

Updated

Liberal candidate for Dunkley makes pitch before byelection

It’s bright and early in Frankston but the two major parties aren’t wasting a minute ahead of the byelection in Dunkley tomorrow.

First up is the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, who is at an event with his candidate, Nathan Conroy, and a group of supporters clad in Liberal T-shirts.

Conroy says they are four major issues for the outer Melbourne electorate – cost of living, community infrastructure, housing and crime. He says:

Tomorrow, the good people of Dunkley are going to cast their ballot, they’re going to send a message to the Labor government [and] they’re going to support me. I am going to be a champion, I’m going to fight for you. I am the underdog but Australia loves an underdog, and I am going to come out hopefully as the next representative for Dunkley because we need to put Frankston City and Mornington Peninsula on the map.

We need more infrastructure, [to] reduce crime, and people want a mortgage reduction, so we need a strong economy with lower inflation. I’m asking the people of Dunkley, good people of Dunkley, to back an underdog to be their next representative and take this fight to Canberra.

The prime minister and Labor’s candidate will be up later today.

Updated

Pocock to lobby for ceasefire in Gaza and restoration of UNRWA funding

Independent senator David Pocock says he will continue pressing the federal government to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, restore funding to UNRWA, for hostages to be released and to help get aid to people “who are now literally starving”.

This comes as health authorities in Gaza said the IDF fired on people waiting for aid near Gaza City on Thursday, killing 104 Palestinians and wounding 280.

Speaking about Australia’s decision to pause funding to UNRWA (more context on this here), Pocock said there were serious allegations that warranted investigation but it has “been a month now”.

In the meantime, we have got half a million people starving. As a middle power, we need to step up our diplomacy and our support. The money that was allocated in the last budget needs to go. Yesterday I joined a big section of the crossbench on writing to Penny Wong, asking her to restore that funding.

Updated

Two people arrested after rural Air Wing follow

A man and a woman have been arrested after being followed by Victorian air wing police from Avalon to Larralea – 125km – overnight.

Air wing first spotted a vehicle allegedly driving erratically on the Princess Highway in Avalon around 10.20pm on Thursday. With assistance from police on the ground, the car was located in Hamlyn Heights and followed by two helicopters through rural western suburbs.

The car stopped at a property on Ettrick Estate Road in Larralea. There were no injuries.

A 37-year-old man and a 32-year-old woman, both from Larralea, were arrested at the scene and are assisting police with their enquiries.

Sussan Ley stands by Dunkley byelection tweet that Jason Clare calls ‘grubby’

Both sides of politics are pulling out all the stops as the Dunkley byelection goes down to the wire.

Speaking on Sunrise this morning, the education minister, Jason Clare, and the deputy opposition leader, Sussan Ley, went head-to-head over a tweet she published last night.

The widely-condemned tweet followed assault charges being laid against a man who was released due to the high court’s ruling on indefinite detention last year. But just hours later, Victoria police moved to withdraw the charges and commander Mark Galliott apologised for the error.

You can read the full story from Paul Karp below:

Despite the charges being withdrawn, Ley’s tweet remains live, and links the arrest to the Dunkley byelection.

On Sunrise this morning, Clare said that Peta Murphy – whose death triggered the byelection – would be “disgusted” by Ley and her tweet. He said:

You should delete the tweet… This is a classic example of why women aren’t joining the Liberal party and why they’re not voting for the Liberal party, because of that classic, desperate, grubby political scare campaign we saw from the Liberal party yesterday.

I don’t know, really, you must wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and think, after 25 years of being a member of parliament, is this what I’ve become? I’m reduced to putting out tweets like this?

Ley defended herself and said she is “not taking instructions” from Clare.

Anyone who watched question time during this week and saw your hopeless immigration minister unable to demonstrate that he even knows where his criminals [are], what they’re doing, who’s monitoring them and whether the community is safe, would probably not agree with what you’ve just said.

Updated

TGA moves to prevent pharmacies making off-brand Ozempic replicas

The Therapeutic Goods Association (TGA) has moved to stop pharmacies from making off-brand replicas of popular weight loss and diabetes medications such Ozempic.

The move was announced in a highly technical press release last night, which says it will begin a targeted consultation process on the way forward:

While the expansion of the scale of manufacture of compounded goods in Australian pharmacies reflects international trends, public health and safety concerns have emerged around the complexity and commercial scale of some compounding of extemporaneously prepared GLP-1 RAs, which are sterile medicines containing high-risk active substances.

The consultation is an opportunity for identified stakeholders to provide their views on the proposed amendments and advise of any potential unintended consequences. The TGA will consider all responses in determining its next steps. A final decision will be progressed by June 2024.

Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists, or GLP-1 RAs, are typically used to treat type 2 diabetes. Ozempic – which acts as a GLP-1 RA – is increasingly being used to reduce people’s appetite and, in-turn, lose weight.

But there have been increasing health concerns around its misuse. You can read more from our medical editor Melissa Davey last year:

Updated

Cause of Dereel fire investigated

Here is more from AAP on the Victorian bushfires:

Investigators were also looking into the cause of another fire at Dereel, about 30km south of Ballarat, which ignited on Wednesday during extreme conditions and threatened more than 100 homes.

It was being treated as suspicious given there was no dry lightning in the area, or machinery operating at the time.

Updated

Crews to keep watch over fire ahead of more danger

Firefighters will keep a close eye on a massive blaze in Victoria’s west, AAP reports. The more than 22,000ha Bayindeen fire, west of Ballarat, was contained yesterday – a week after it started.

Residents of nearby communities including Amphitheatre, Avoca, Bayindeen, Beaufort, Elmhurst, Raglan and Waterloo were told it was safe to return, although authorities warned of continued localised fire and smoke.

The Country Fire Authority deputy chief, Garry Cook, said while some firefighters were stood down yesterday, crews would continue to monitor the Bayindeen blaze for any flare-ups. He told AAP:

You can have a tree that might smoulder a kilometre in from the edge and it might flare up there. Sometimes, you’ll get root systems in old stumps and things like that [that will] smoulder under the ground and then they’ll re-emerge in a couple of weeks.

That’s why we’ll continue to have patrols and not leave that fire unattended in any way, shape or form. To say that 20,000ha will be completely extinguished is just not something we could actually achieve.

Impact assessments for the blaze were completed, with six homes destroyed.

Updated

Good morning everyone, and happy Friday. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off – I’m Emily Wind, and I’ll bring your our live coverage on the blog today.

See something that needs attention? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.

Let’s get started.

Property prices rise again

The Australian housing market found a new gear last month and lifted in all but one capital city, with expectations of rate cuts later this year boosting confidence, Australian Associated Press reports.

Home prices recorded a subtle acceleration at the national level, lifting 0.6% in February after a 0.4% increase in January, according to figures from research firm CoreLogic.

The property market was gaining strongly for much of 2023 but, towards the end of the year, the pace of growth was starting to slow and performance diverged between regions and cities.

In February, Perth, Adelaide and Brisbane still grew the fastest over the month – up 1.8%, 1.1% and 0.9% respectively – but Sydney and Melbourne also had stronger months.

Sydney home prices lifted 0.5% after a few weaker months and while the 0.1& improvement for Melbourne was modest, it followed a three-month stint of negative monthly movements.

The only capital city to record a decline was Hobart, which fell 0.3%.

Despite the broad-based growth, the 0.6% lift in national home prices in February remains well below the peak 1.3% monthly increase recorded in the national index in May 2023.

CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said housing values had been “more than resilient” in the face of high interest rates and cost of living pressures.

He said the persistent imbalance between supply and demand largely explained the endurance of the housing upswing, with returning confidence possibly also playing a role.

Updated

Chalmers discusses discusses global tax on billionaires at G20 meeting

G20 ministers meeting in Brazil – including the treasurer, Jim Chalmers – are exploring plans for a global minimum tax on the world’s 3,000 billionaires, writes Richard Partington, our London economics correspondent.

Aiming to build on the cooperation that resulted in a 15% global minimum tax on multinational companies, which came into effect in January, the plan is being promoted under Brazil’s presidency of the G20 before a summit of world leaders in Rio de Janeiro in autumn.

The economist Gabriel Zucman has been invited by the Brazilian government to kickstart the G20 talks today.

The EU Tax Observatory, a Paris-based thinktank led by Zucman, set out a mechanism for a global wealth tax in a report last year. It called for a 2% annual levy on the wealth of the world’s richest individuals as the starting point for a global minimum tax.

Read Richard’s full story here:

Updated

Silent vigil to be held for Jesse Baird and Luke Davies

Grieving friends, family and community members will honour the lives of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies at a silent vigil in Sydney today, Australian Associated Press reports.

The bodies of Davies, 29, and Baird, 26, were found inside surfboard bags at the fence line of a rural property in Bungonia near Goulburn, about 200km south-west of the city, on Tuesday.

NSW police officer Beau Lamarre-Condon, 28, is in custody after being charged with killing the couple at Baird’s home in Paddington on 19 February.

A Friday night vigil, organised with the permission of the couple’s families, will be held in Darlinghurst.

The vigil will take place on the eve of the Mardi Gras parade, where organisers are expected to recognise the couple.

Qantas will honour Davies on its parade float while the AFL is expected to announce a tribute for Baird who umpired 62 games, including two finals, in coming weeks.

Updated

Asio chief defends decision not to name 'sell-out' politician

The head of Asio, Mike Burgess, has defended his decision not to name the former Australian politician alleged to have “sold out their country, party and former colleagues” after being recruited by spies for a foreign regime.

Burgess sparked an intense round of political intrigue after airing the allegations in his annual threat assessment speech on Wednesday night. Some current and former MPs called for the individual to be named or at least for some further details to be disclosed to avoid sullying the reputation of others.

In a statement issued on Thursday night, Burgess said he could “understand the interest in Asio providing more details about the individual mentioned in a case study” in his speech, but added:

It is an historic matter that was appropriately dealt with at the time. The individual is no longer of security concern.

In this case, while we want the foreign intelligence service to know its cover is blown, we do not want it to unpick how we discovered its activities.

Burgess said Australia’s democracy remained robust with free elections and “the overwhelming majority of our politicians remain thoroughly resistant to even the most sophisticated and subtle approaches”.

Updated

Welcome

Good morning and welcome to our end-of-week rolling news blog. I’m Martin Farrer, bringing you the overnight headlines before Emily Wind takes the helm.

The growing influence of a secretive firm on the political debate in Australia is revealed today by documents showing it claimed almost $135,000 in taxpayer funding from Coalition politicians to help shape their messaging on issues such as the Indigenous voice to parliament. Whitestone Strategic is a political consultancy group that helps conservative politicians pump out messages on social media, an investigation using freedom of information laws has revealed.

The Asio boss, Mike Burgess, has defended his decision not to name the former politician whom he said had “sold out” their country to a foreign spy network. Burgess said the matter was historic, had been dealt with at the time and that the person was no longer a security risk. It comes after some current and former MPs called for more details to be disclosed to avoid sullying the reputation of others. More coming up.

The ban on imported vapes begins today but a New Zealand online vape seller is taunting Anthony Albanese’s government, telling customers “we have no intention of stopping” vape shipments because of “one twat in Canberra”, presumably a rude reference to the federal health minister, Mark Butler, who has fronted the reforms. Some experts fear that doctors are not ready for a rush of patients seeking prescriptions for vapes as the government crackdown makes them harder to buy.

And a silent vigil today will honour the lives of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies. More on that in a few minutes.

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