What we learned; Monday 27 January
It’s time to wrap up the day’s live news coverage. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy:
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton released Holocaust memorial statements, referencing the spate of antisemitic incidents in Australia and around the world.
The leader of the opposition said that a “safety crisis” was engulfing Australia and that extremist attacks had no place in the country.
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, denounced the Coalition for what he said were “grotesque” attempts to politicise the Holocaust or antisemitism.
Police arrested a 43-year-old man in connection with the vandalism of the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance in central Sydney.
The Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring two weather systems off the coast of Queensland that have the potential to become tropical cyclones.
Agencies also warned of immediate fire risk as strong winds and high temperatures collided in parts of Victoria and inland NSW.
The prime minister said Grace Tame’s “Fuck Murdoch” T-shirt was disrespectful – and was designed to get attention.
He also said Sussan Ley’s remarks comparing the arrival of the First Fleet with the colonisation of Mars were “very strange”.
Thank you for joining us this Australia Day public holiday – we’ll be back with our rolling news coverage bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
A man has died after being found with injuries in south Sydney
New South Wales Police said that about 12.20pm on Monday, emergency services were called to Maloney Street, Eastlakes, after reports an injured man had been found on a footpath.
NSW police said:
NSW Ambulance paramedics assisted the man; however, he died at the scene. He is yet to be formally identified.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the man’s death has commenced by officers from South Sydney Police Area Command, which will be assisted by State Crime Command’s Homicide Squad.
Any witnesses or anyone who has information is urged to contact South Sydney police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Updated
Authorities issue Little Desert national park evacuation warning
Victoria’s emergency warning service VicEmergency has issued a Watch and Act – Leave Now for the entire Little Desert national park in the state’s Wimmera Mallee region. Communities in nearby Minimay and Peronne were also advised to leave now.
According to the alert:
There are multiple fires in the Little Desert national park that are not yet under control.
The fires are travelling in a southerly direction towards private land south of the Little Desert.
Visitors and campers should leave the park now.
Areas south of Little Desert: Duchembegarra, Goroke, Grass Flat, Gymbowen, Minimay, Mitre, Neuarpurr, Nurcoung, Peronne were advised to stay informed and monitor conditions.
A Watch and Act – Leave Now warning was also in place for Barunah Park, Corindhap, Rokewood, Shelford, Warrambine, (approximately 40km south of Ballarat).
According to the alert:
There is a grassfire at Rokewood that is not yet under control.
This grassfire is travelling from Paynes Bridge Road in a south-easterly direction towards Shelford.
People in Chocolyn and Weerite near Camperdown in Victoria’s Colac-Otway region as well as Altona, Altona Meadows and Point Cook were also advised to stay informed and monitor conditions due to grass fires.
Updated
Murray Watt says the Coalition has spent all of January “arguing about culture wars” and defended Anthony Albanese’s sentiments over Sussan Ley’s comparison of the arrival of the First Fleet with the colonisation of Mars.
Speaking with the ABC, the Labor minister said:
I think what the prime minister had to say today was entirely valid, and it just shows yet again, that Peter Dutton and his most senior members are always more interested in fighting culture wars than actually providing policies that will help the Australian people when they need that assistance.
Over the last two-and-a-half years from Peter Dutton and the Coalition, we’ve seen culture war after culture war. They spend the entire month of January and half of December arguing about culture wars in the lead up to Australia Day, all as a way of avoiding talking about what they’re going to do to assist people.
Also speaking with the ABC, Jane Hume defended Ley’s message, if not its exact framing.
The Liberal senator said:
The analogy was about that drive and endeavour that Australians have for a prosperous and successful nation. Whether or not it was a clumsy analogy, that is for others to say. It was not my analogy, it was not my speech, but the speech was about Australia Day and about Australians, and for the prime minister to latch on to one analogy rather than the sentiment demonstrates the fact that he does not take Australia Day seriously, as the Coalition do.
This is a really important day for us.
Updated
Chalmers won’t respond to question on Ley’s First Fleet comments
Staying with Jim Chalmers on the ABC, where the treasurer has refused to “take the bait” on Sussan Ley’s comparison of the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s efforts to build a colony on Mars.
Honestly, if I focus my time and energy on crazy stuff that Sussan Ley says, I wouldn’t get anything else done.
I think the maddest thing Sussan Ley has said was when she was asked a year ago … whether the Coalition would roll back Labor’s tax cuts for every taxpayer. She said that was absolutely their position, and so I can’t focus on mad staff that Sussan Ley says from time to time.
He said the comment was “designed to provoke a response” but that he would not “take the bait”.
Updated
Treasurer touts cost-of-living response on ABC
On the first day of her new role as presenter of the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing, Patricia Karvelas has quizzed Jim Chalmers about analysis by Labor that has found some households would be $7,200 worse off without the government’s cost-of-living measures.
The treasurer said:
Now, we know that the Liberal party that Peter Dutton leads would prefer wages to be lower, they said it is a deliberate design feature of the economic policy.
We know that Peter Dutton called for an election, trying to stop the tax cuts for every Australian taxpayer, and we know that he opposed two rounds of energy bill relief – so I think it is entirely within our rights to point out the people that they would have been thousands of dollars worse off he had his way and they will be worse still if he wins the next election.
He said that Dutton’s “nuclear insanity” would push up electricity prices.
Updated
PM says nation ‘needs to work together’ to tackle antisemitism
Staying with Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton in Perth on the 80th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camp in Auschwitz.
The prime minister said:
We need to work together as a nation to stamp out any form of antisemitism.
The leader of the opposition said:
I hope the Jewish community knows that 99% of Australians support them and the hatred expressed online, the vile views we hear from some at University campuses, just has no place for us.
I hope that every Australian child, every schoolchild has the opportunity and we have mandated a requirement with the schools for Australian schoolchildren to attend the Holocaust Museum so that education can take place and so that our country can be an exemplar of standing up against antisemitism.
Updated
Peter Dutton says extremist groups causing ‘safety crisis’ in Australia
Speaking with media in Perth, the leader of the opposition said there was “absolutely” a rise in white supremacist activity in Australia.
It is a disgrace, an abomination, and anybody who’s spewing hatred, whether it is the Greens or the white supremacists or the neo-Nazis, they have no place in our society at all. We are a tolerant community, and I think I demonstrated as home affairs minister, that we have zero tolerance for the activities of these extremist groups.
It’s clearly on the rise. When you speak to Holocaust survivors who have been here living peacefully having created a life for themselves here since the end of the second world war, and they are now say they feel unsafe in our country, and that demonstrates to all Australians that we have a serious problem that needs to be fixed and we are absolutely dedicated to fixing it.
As we said right from the time of the attack on October 7, we have zero tolerance for antisemitism and racism and hatred and we have demonstrated that not just with words but action.
We want to have in place a regime of minimum mandatory sentencing for acts of antisemitism and that should be a very clear message to others who are thinking about partaking in if these acts of hatred, they should think twice about it.
Updated
Man arrested after ‘despicable’ defacing of Police Wall of Remembrance in Sydney
Speaking with the media on Monday afternoon, police minister Yasmin Catley said a 43-year-old man was in custody.
The NSW police commissioner, Karen Webb, said that police patrolling in Glebe at midday yesterday “came across this despicable damage”.
Following that, an investigation was commenced and thankfully a short time ago, officers arrested a man at Glebe and he is currently in custody at Day Street police station.
We will wait for him to be interviewed and hopefully he will be before the court for [allegedly] damaging what is a very special place for police officers. This wall names police officers over 160 years who have lost their lives on duty. To have it damaged, and this way, is like sacrilege to police officers and we’re very pleased that someone will now be before the court.
Unfortunately, looking the damage, it will not be that quickly fixed and to all those families are police officers whose names appear on this wall, can I say we are thinking of you and we will be with you until this gets fixed.
We will have further information in relation to this man’s charge when it is available but I am very pleased with the swift action to arrest [the alleged perpetrator].
Catley warned would-be vandals that they would be prosecuted.
“If you are out committing these sorts of attacks, then I say to you, be careful because you will end up in the clink,” she said.
Updated
Five-year heat record possible for Melbourne
If Melbourne temperatures climb above 40C – as forecast – it would be the city’s hottest January day in five years, according to Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist Miriam Bradbury.
The last time we had a 40 degree plus day in Melbourne was back in February 2023. And the last time we had a 40C day in January, we have to go all the way back to 2020.
If we do get above 40 degrees today, it will be the hottest January day in five years.
Melbourne was 38.2C at 2:25pm, and forecast to hit 41C before a late cool change.
Updated
Thank you, Steph Convery.
Over to Queensland, where the Bureau of Meteorology is monitoring two weather systems off the state’s coast, with one posing a 25% chance of developing into a tropical cyclone.
The two risk areas are in the Gulf of Carpentaria and off the north east coast, said the bureau’s senior meteorologist, Angus Hines, with both showing signs of potential tropical cyclone development.
He said the cyclone “risk continues to climb”, with the eastern system the more likely to gain momentum from Thursday and into the weekend.
It is “showing stronger signs” of tropical cyclone development, with a 25% chance of becoming a cyclone from Sunday onward. 25% represents a moderate risk, while over 50% is a high risk.
The other has a 10% chance of cyclone development. Hines said it was very unlikely both systems will develop into cyclones, with one likely to accelerate while the other diminishes.
“There’s still plenty of days for us to analyse the data coming in,” he said.
Multiple scenarios could still occur in the intervening time, he said.
I’m going to pass you over now to the very capable hands of my colleague, Daisy Dumas, who will guide you through the rest of this public holiday news day. Look after yourselves, folks.
Skyhooks band member announces tour cancellation
Bob “Bongo” Starkie, a member of the Australian band Skyhooks, which had its heyday in the 1970s, has been diagnosed with aggressive leukaemia.
In a statement sent to media this afternoon, Starkie said he checked himself into hospital last Friday due to health concerns, and a diagnosis of leukaemia was the result.
Upcoming “Bob ‘Bongo’ Starkie’s Skyhook Shows,” including two as part of Sydney’s Rock the Harbour in February, will be cancelled. Punters who bought tickets are advised to contact their point of sale for information about rescheduling and refunds.
Starkie said:
This has come as a shock to me and my family. Life has been generous to me up until now, but sometimes you draw the short straw. I apologize for any inconvenience; it stresses me to cancel the shows. I’ve been feeling on top of the world with the addition of Sasha in the band, but the situation makes it impossible for the shows to continue at this time.
Updated
Treasurer says weak Australian dollar not ‘a reflection on our own economy’
Chalmers touches on the recent weakness of the Australian dollar, which has been hovering between US61c and US63c in the past few weeks, noting that it is “a reflection of what is going on around the world more so than a reflection on our own economy”.
The Reserve Bank, when they make their next decision on interest rates, will “consider all of the data that they have on the economy”, he says.
Updated
Jim Chalmers defends Labor’s record on inflation
The federal treasurer, Jim Chalmers, is speaking to media in Queensland this afternoon. It is essentially part of Labor’s election pitch – the gist is that inflation has gone down, that if it is down on Wednesday, when we see the next set of numbers, then that was a consequence of the Labor government’s work but under the Coalition it will be the opposite.
Chalmers says:
Any headline inflation with a two in front of it shows that inflation has more than halved since we came to government. Any headline inflation number with a two in front of it shows that the inflation rate is within the Reserve Bank’s target band. Any progress on underlying inflation is welcome as well. This is a substantial, sustained progress that Australia has made when it comes to the fight against inflation.
Australia has got inflation down and wages up, unemployment low and created 1.1 million jobs under this Albanese Labor government. We also know that Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off if Peter Dutton had his way, and they would be worse off, still, if he wins the next election. Because of the position that Peter Dutton has taken on tax cuts, energy bill relief, and on wages, we know that Australians would be thousands of dollars worse off if he had his way. And those household budgets are at further risk if he wins the next election.
Updated
This comment piece from George Taleporos, on Neale Daniher’s receipt of the 2025 Australian of the Year award and the conversation we need to have around the NDIS, is worth a read this afternoon. Here’s a sample:
[Despite] its transformative impact, the national dialogue around the NDIS has become alarmingly negative. Media headlines are dominated by stories of cost blowouts, fraud and inefficiencies, overshadowing the real stories of lives changed and opportunities created. This persistent focus on the scheme’s financial cost has contributed to a public discourse that too often portrays people with disabilities as financial burdens and the NDIS as an unnecessary and out of control strain on taxpayers and our economy.
The consequences of this narrative are dire. People with high and complex needs are already experiencing the impact of this negative rhetoric … NDIS supports are not luxuries – they are necessities such as wheelchairs, support to get out of bed, to have a shower, to survive. Without adequate funding, people are forced into unsafe living arrangements, such as group homes, where incidents of abuse and neglect are far too common. The emphasis on cutting costs fails to acknowledge the human toll of inadequate support and the systemic challenges faced by those who rely on the NDIS.
Daniher’s platform as Australian of the Year presents a unique opportunity to change this conversation.
Read the full article here:
Updated
Ellie Smith says the reason she decided to try to unseat Peter Dutton in his Brisbane electorate is simple.
For me it was just about having a local MP who reflects our community. It just kind of didn’t make sense to me that we had an MP that was so divisive.
If she does it, it will be a first. Just seven Australian opposition leaders have lost their seat at an election – all of them at state and territory level.
But then again, nobody thought it was possible to defeat the Coalition in the federal electorates of Kooyong, Warringah, Goldstein, Curtin or Wentworth before the so-called teal wave emerged as a political force in Australia.
But Smith, an environmental consultant, says she is in the fight for the Brisbane seat of Dickson to win it.
But please, don’t call her a teal; she’s a community independent, Queensland-style.
Read more about Smith’s campaign here:
Man charged after reports of inappropriate behaviour at Sydney beach
NSW police have charged a man after he was arrested after reports of inappropriate behaviour on a beach in Sydney’s east on Australia Day.
In a statement, NSW police said:
About 3.40pm Sunday 26 January 2025, officers attached to eastern suburbs police area command were called to Bronte Beach, Bronte, following reports of inappropriate behaviour.
Police arrived and arrested a 63-year-old man before taking him to Waverly police station.
He was charged with three counts of intentionally record intimate image without consent and three counts of behave in offensive manner in/near public place/school.
The man was refused bail and is due to appear at Parramatta local court today.
Updated
Severe thunderstorms possible in Victoria and NSW
In addition to the hot weather forecast for much of the country, the Bureau of Meteorology has flagged the potential for severe thunderstorms in parts of Victoria and New South Wales.
Storm activity had already been observed in parts of Victoria, according to the bureau, with severe storms possible in the state’s central and eastern districts.
In NSW, severe thunderstorms could impact western Sydney along with the southern and central ranges.
Storms were also possible across broad areas of Queensland and eastern South Australia.
Updated
Extreme fire danger to worsen in Victoria
Extreme fire danger in parts of Victoria is to rise throughout the day as high winds combine with very hot conditions.
The CFA’s state agency commander, David Harris, told the ABC that firefighting efforts were currently focusing on Wimmera, Mallee and south-west areas.
He said:
The winds are going to be problematic. They are increasing from north-west through the afternoon and as the wind change comes through this afternoon, we are going to see wind gusts up to 70km/h with that wind change from the south-westerly direction.
That could mean some difficulty for firefighters in trying to suppress fires. That is why the total fire ban is in place.
He said the Grampians national park fire had been burning for 40 days and was contained.
Updated
PM says Grace Tame’s T-shirt was ‘disrespectful’ to Australian of the Year event
Anthony Albanese said a T-shirt that read “Fuck Murdoch”, worn by the 2021 Australian of the Year, Grace Tame, when she was greeted by the prime minister at the event for recipients of this year’s awards on Saturday, was “disrespectful of the event and of the people who that event was primarily for”.
Albanese said:
It was clearly designed to get attention. I don’t intend to add to that attention because I do think that it takes away from what the day should be about – which is the amazing people who were nominated as Australians of the Year.
Updated
PM says Sussan Ley comparing the First Fleet to SpaceX was ‘very strange’
The prime minister has responded to Sussan Ley’s comments yesterday, in an Australia Day address, in which she compared the arrival of the First Fleet to Elon Musk’s SpaceX seeking to reach Mars.
“I thought when someone said that to me yesterday they were making it up,” Anthony Albanese said.
He continued:
This is the second most senior person in the Coalition – the deputy leader of the Coalition has suggested that there is an analogy here.
Well, there weren’t people – there aren’t people that we know of on Mars. Australia was not terra nullius when Captain Phillip and the First Fleet came through Sydney Cove.
And I thought that was a very strange analogy to draw, and one that was disrespectful of the fact that there were people here. Of course First Nations people here for tens of thousands of years and that we have a great privilege of sharing this continent with the oldest continuous culture on Earth.
You can read more about Ley’s comments here:
Updated
Albanese says WA Labor a ‘stark contrast’ to Coalition
Albanese has called the Coalition in WA “a rabble” as he reiterates his support for Cook’s state Labor party before the WA state election.
Albanese said:
[WA Labor] stands in stark contrast with the Coalition. The Coalition are a rabble here as well. You got the situation in Moore where they have got a bloke who was the member for Stirling, then wanted to be the member for Cowan, and then knocked off the member for Moore to try to get back into the House of Representatives and the sitting member for Moore who used to be a Liberal, who was endorsed by Peter Dutton, didn’t seem to count for much, is running as an independent. It is chaos here.
Updated
PM says antisemitism must be ‘opposed in all its forms’
Albanese continues to talk about the rise of far-right extremism. In response to a question about why those groups are attracting more attention, he said:
We need to call it out. That’s the first thing that occurs. There is, of course, some evil forces that seek to divide and seek to point towards people who don’t look like them or have the same faith as them and say, ‘this is the reason for your lot in life’ to try to promote hatred. Tragically that is occurring. We know that the director general, Mike Burgess, has warned of this.
Labor will commit $2m for the upgrade of the WA Holocaust Education Centre, Albanese said, along with a new $4.4m for a national centre for Holocaust education.
It’s important that any antisemitism be opposed in all of its forms and it’s important here in Australia.
Updated
Albanese says there is no place for ‘hateful ideology’ after Adelaide arrests
Albanese was asked by a reporter about the arrests of 16 members of a far-right organisation in Adelaide yesterday.
Albanese said there is “no place for this hateful ideology here in Australia or, indeed, anywhere else”.
He said:
They were horrific scenes yesterday, to have people openly identifying as neo-Nazis and fascists. White supremacists marching through the street. I congratulate the South Australian police on the action they took.
Mike Burgess, the head of Asio, has been warning for some time about the rise of far-right groups in Australia. It’s a phenomenon, unfortunately, we have seen in other parts of the industrialised world as well. There is no place for this hateful ideology here in Australia or indeed anywhere else.
Today, of all days, when we commemorate 80 years since the liberation of Auschwitz- Birkenau concentration camp from the Nazis, from the atrocities that occurred during the Holocaust which cost 6 million lives, today of all days, the fact that that footage that I saw this morning, I was travelling yesterday, I was in Canberra, then Sydney, then travelled across to here, I was – I was shocked by that.
Updated
The Western Australian premier, Roger Cook, has taken the mic, saying that last week he announced a re-elected WA Labor government would expand the Kwinana freeway through to the city “as an important part of de-constraining a real chokepoint for 100,000 commuters that use that line, that road, every day”.
Cook said:
And so without the hint of conflict of interest, we announced that we would be funding that to the tune of $350m. Today’s announcement by the feds means that we are now in a position to step forward with that project immediately and as soon as possible.
WA is an export state. We are a trade exposed state, and making sure we have transport corridors to our ports is an important part of ensuring that we can continue to be competitive as we trade with our south-east Asian trading partners but also we want to see those transport corridors developed for our future ports.
Westport is an important part of our vision for the state, which is about making sure that come the 2030s we will see Westport come to life, which will set the state up for the future, making sure that we have a state-of-the-art container and bulk terminal facility which can serve the state for generations to come.
Updated
Albanese announces upgrade to Kwinana freeway in WA
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is in Western Australia today to announce a $700m upgrade to the Kwinana freeway.
He’s speaking to the media right now about the project. He says:
This widening of the Kwinana freeway will be great for the [Fremantle] Port but it will also be good for people getting to and from work, commuting throughout this great growing city of Perth, and that’s why the partnering between us and the WA government of $350m each for this $700m project will create jobs in the short term, will make it easier to commute around Perth in the medium term and in the long term will make such an enormous difference to the WA and the national economy.
We have already funded through $33.5m for the planning work and other work to be done to identify the infrastructure needs associated with the port, but this is a great announcement. My government is backing WA as we always do and this announcement today is about building Australia’s future and Western Australia is a key part of that.
Updated
Temperatures surge past 40C at Birdsville and Moomba by mid-morning
With hot and dry conditions forecast across much of south-eastern Australia today, the Bureau of Meteorology expected several inland towns near the South Australian, Queensland and New South Wales borders to reach temperatures in the mid-40s today.
A top of 46C was forecast for Birdsville, in western Queensland, with the tiny outback town already at 40.8C by mid-morning. The town holds the all-time record for the state’s hottest temperature – 49.5C in 1972.
Moomba, in north-east South Australia has a forecast maximum of 45C, and had already reached 41.5C by 10.30am.
Meanwhile, in NSW, the town of Tibooburra – home to 95 people at the last census – was forecast for 44C, and had already reached 39.3C by mid-morning. The NSW town of Smithville, located closer to Adelaide than Sydney, had recorded the hottest temperature for the state so far, at 39.6C.
At the time of writing, the highest recorded temperatures in other states included:
Jervois, NT – 38.8C by 9.20am.
Hopetoun, Vic – 37.4C at 10.47am.
Gudai-Darri Mine in WA – 37.2C at 7.59am.
Low Rocky Point, Tas – 28C at 10.55am.
Updated
Woman charged with murder of boy in Townsville
A woman has been charged with the murder of a boy who was in her care inside what police describe as a “normal suburban” house in the suburbs of Townsville.
The woman and the boy shared “loose family connections” and her own children were also present at the time of the alleged killing, Detective Senior Sergeant Dave Miles told press Monday morning.
The boy was dead when emergency services arrived at the crime scene after 7pm on Saturday night, having suffered a significant and obvious head injury, apparently caused by a weapon, Miles said.
Police believe his injuries were inflicted within a period of eight hours before their arrival but are awaiting the results of an autopsy for further details about when and how he was allegedly murdered.
The woman was arrested at the home and is to face Townsville magistrates court on Monday.
Updated
Total fire ban in parts of Victoria
A reminder for those in Victoria’s Mallee, Wimmera, south west, central and north central regions that there is a total fire ban in force today due to the hot and dry conditions and gusty winds, which are expected to reach 70-80km per hour.
The Country Fire Authority chief officer, Jason Heffernan, said in a statement last night that the conditions would “make it difficult for firefighters to suppress a fire should one start”.
We’re asking people to follow the strict conditions associated with the total fire ban declaration. Understand the how the increased fire risk will impact you and ensure your fire plan covers all possible contingencies.
At the moment, the Vic Emergency website shows two grassfires burning (one in Long Forest, and one in Altona) but both are at low advice level.
Updated
The Grampians globe-pea, a critically endangered wiry shrub, had finished flowering and was fruiting when fires tore through its home in the Grampians national park, in western Victoria. The spiny plant with vibrant orange and yellow flowers is extremely rare and restricted to a handful of sites, including areas within the 76,000ha that burned over December and January.
Finding the globe-pea will be a priority when a plant rescue mission led by Royal Botanic Gardens Victoria heads to the Grampians to search for survivors and signs of life amid the charred landscape.
“We do not yet know the extent of the damage,” says the RBGV director and chief executive, Chris Russell, adding that the work of creating backup populations of species before they are “lost forever” is urgent and ongoing, as climate change causes “disruption to the whole system”.
Along with the state’s environment department and local community groups, the RBGV is increasing its conservation efforts in the Grampians, known as Gariwerd to Indigenous peoples, after recent bushfires.
What happens next is critical.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Jane Hume rejects Dreyfus’ attack on ‘attempts to politicise the Holocaust’
Liberal senator Jane Hume has responded to attorney general Mark Dreyfus’ comments earlier, which implied the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, had been “politicising” the Holocaust and antisemitism.
Speaking to Sky News, Hume said:
Antisemitism is grotesque … We’ve seen 15 months, here in Australia, where antisemitism has been on the rise. Where has Mark Dreyfus been all this time? He’s been part of a government which has seen the greatest rise in antisemitism that this country has ever seen.
For Mark Dreyfus to come out 15 months later and say that the problem is politicisation is nonsense. He did say one thing, that antisemitism shouldn’t be an issue of left or right, that’s exactly right, and had the left dealt with this problem earlier on, had it dealt with it appropriately now, it wouldn’t have been a problem in Australia.
Updated
On 22 January, Gina Rinehart said: “If we are sensible, we should set up a Doge [Department of Government Efficiency] immediately, reduce government waste, government tape and regulations.”
Mere days later, on 25 January, Peter Dutton appointed Jacinta Nampijinpa Price as the shadow minister for government efficiency (Smoge?), describing her new job as to cut “wasteful spending”.
Correlation isn’t causation, but the political and narrative threads connecting Dutton’s Coalition opposition to Donald Trump’s American presidency and his mega-billionaire offsider Elon Musk grow more numerous by the day.
Leading up to a cost-of-living election, the change makes sense; after Price helped defeat Labor’s referendum on an Indigenous voice, the new role puts a strong media performer in the spotlight.
The links only grew when Dutton pointed a finger at, as his first example of “wasteful spending that is out of control”, the “36,000 additional Canberra public servants employed under this government”.
Read the full analysis here:
For people with disability, the end of 2024 was a rollercoaster.
New legislation for the National Disability Insurance Scheme started coming into effect in October, with new lists of what can and cannot be funded, changes to early intervention requirements and more, already altering the way 646,000 people receive support from the $35bn program.
The reforms are not yet complete, though, and March is shaping up to be crunch time: that’s when consultation is expected on things such as the support-needs assessment tool – a framework for determining a person’s impairments and how much public money should be allocated to them. But the timelines are so tight, and the space for consultation so narrow, that advocates say the promised co-design on critical parts of the new system is all but impossible.
So-called “foundational supports”, to be provided by the states and territories and agreed upon by national cabinet more than a year ago, are supposed to be in place by 1 July. But despite the new legislation already restricting access and support to the NDIS, there is very little agreement on what those foundational supports actually are, let alone the architecture in place to provide them.
Throw in a new NDIS minister and a looming federal election, and anxieties in the sector are high.
Making it worse is the undercurrent of palpable fear from people with a disability that they will receive a letter from the National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) telling them they may no longer be eligible for the scheme that has been a salvation for many – and which they were told would be for life.
Read the full story here:
Updated
Minns ‘appalled’ by police monument vandalism
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has been speaking to 2GB radio about the vandalism to the police monument in Sydney’s Domain.
Minns said:
I’m just so appalled by it. I can’t believe someone should be so heartless that they could do this.
In response to the suggestion that CCTV be installed around public monuments and memorials, Minns said that there was some, but he’d have to “look at that and ensure that we’ve got … the appropriate level in place”.
He continued:
It’s also about, I guess, community standards. Look, it’s a big city. There’s some bad people that live in it. I am appalled by this. I just can’t believe someone would be so heartless to do it in such a special part of the city. We deliberately put the police memorial in the middle of Sydney in the Domain. It’s not parked away in the back lots somewhere, because it needs to be said that if someone loses their life serving the people of NSW, they won’t be forgotten.
Updated
BoM warns of extreme fire danger and risk of ‘uncontrollable’ fires
More on the weather now, and it’s not just Victoria that’s going to be feeling the heat today. There will be very hot and windy conditions across much of south-eastern Australia, Dean Narramore, meteorologist from the Bureau of Meteorology, said this morning.
The hottest temperatures are expected in northern and eastern parts of South Australia and western New South Wales, and into far-north western Victoria. That’s where we are likely to see temperatures in the low to mid 40s. Areas such as Birdsville and Broken Hill could hit 45C or 46C.
There will be extreme fire danger through parts of east and South Australia, as well as western and central Victoria, with a dry lightning threat as well.
Narramore said:
That does include the Mount Lofty Ranges in South Australia and the Melbourne metropolitan area as well. So that means that if any fires do get going in these extreme areas today, they’re likely to be uncontrollable and uncontainable.
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Fourteen women over the age of 55 were allegedly killed in domestic violence-related homicides last year, according to a tally kept by the online feminist group Destroy the Joint. When the Australian Bureau of Statistics releases its data for the year, this number could well increase.
In 2023, according to ABS data, there were 28 women over the age of 55 allegedly killed in domestic violence related homicides, roughly a third of all such alleged homicides.
Experts have called it a “silent crisis”: older women who are killed by family violence but whose deaths rarely get as much attention as those of younger women, and whose experiences do not figure sufficiently in government responses to violence against women.
Catherine Barrett, the director of Celebrate Ageing, says:
There’s a matricide of older women [and] people aren’t even noticing, there’s no outcry. There’s silence … It’s just being missed.
A Guardian analysis of government data has found that in the 10 years to 2023, nearly 200 women over the age of 55 were allegedly killed in family violence related homicides, suggesting older women could be at dual risk – from partners and from their children, especially their sons.
Read the full story here:
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Dreyfus denounces ‘attempts to politicise the Holocaust or antisemitism’
The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, has taken a veiled swipe at the federal opposition in statements made from Poland on Sunday.
Dreyfus and the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, are in Krakow to attend the service marking the liberation of Auschwitz, which will take place early Tuesday morning, Australian time. (That ceremony will also be attended by King Charles.)
About 1.1 million people were murdered in the concentration camp before it was emancipated on 27 January 1945.
Dreyfus told reporters on Sunday:
My great-grandmother, Ida Ransenberg, then aged 60, was murdered at Auschwitz on the 14th of October, 1942.
We’re at this commemoration to acknowledge the magnificent contribution that’s been made by Jews to our own Australian community, including the very many survivors of the Holocaust who found their way to Australia, particularly after the war.
Dreyfus said it was important to “reject attempts to politicise the Holocaust or to politicise antisemitism”.
The opposition leader, Peter Dutton, has repeatedly criticised the government for its handling of antisemitism and has suggested those who commit terrorism offences or display hate symbols be sentenced to mandatory jail time, despite concerns from legal experts.
– With AAP
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NSW police minister says wall of remembrance vandals are ‘cowards’
The NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, has released a strong statement on the damage to the police memorial, saying the people who vandalised the monument are “cowards”:
Over the weekend, the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance was significantly damaged with disgusting graffiti etched into it.
This is a sacred site, which honours officers killed in the line of duty. For it to be defaced is the lowest of acts.
Our police officers sacrifice their personal safety every day for our state – for that they should be celebrated, not subjected to vile attacks.
Police are investigating and will leave no stone unturned in order to identify and arrest the cowards responsible.
Anyone with any information or video must contact Crime Stoppers.
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More on that vandalism of the police monument in Sydney’s Domain
NSW police are investigating what they say is significant damage to the NSW Police Wall of Remembrance, which was erected in memory of police officers killed in the line of duty.
Police believe the vandalism took place at about 3.15am on Saturday, and was seen by on-duty officers around midday on Sunday. A crime scene has been established and the City of Sydney is assisting with remedial and repair works.
The premier, Chris Minns, released a statement on the incident this morning. Here it is in full:
I’ve been made aware that the police monument in the Domain has been significantly vandalised.
This is disgusting behaviour. Police put themselves in danger every day in the service of our state.
To deface a memorial that commemorates police officers who have served the State, and those who have lost their lives whilst on duty is lower than low.
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Peter Dutton says Holocaust education an important mission
In his statement for International Holocaust Day, Peter Dutton, the opposition leader, drew parallels between current antisemitism and the Holocaust.
The weight of history will be especially felt by survivors and their families this International Holocaust Remembrance Day with 2025 marking the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau.
In the magnitude of antisemitism which is plaguing western democracies today – including Australia – many citizens who have read about the history and horrors of the Holocaust have, for the first time, grasped how that catastrophe eventuated. They have seen, with their own eyes, a type of hate that, if left unchecked, unleashes greater evils.
Dutton will be in Perth on Monday to confirm a pledge of $2m for the Holocaust Institute of Western Australia.
He said of the announcement:
Educating Australians about atrocities of the Holocaust and the October 7 attacks is an important mission that deserves support.
By gaining awareness of the persecution and atrocities committed against Jews, Australians will have a better understanding of why there is no place for antisemitism in our community.
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Albanese and Dutton release Holocaust memorial statements
Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton have both released statements overnight on International Holocaust Day, referencing the recent spate of antisemitism in Australia and globally.
The prime minister said the world “cannot allow the Holocaust to recede into history”:
It was a pitiless and unrelenting act of cruelty that was long in the planning, cold in its calculation, and carried out on a scale that falls across the decades like a terrible shadow.
The devastation felt when witnessing the horror, destruction and brutality inflicted by Hamas on October 7 is reminiscent of the dark and painful stories of the past. For the Australian Jewish community, those are the stories of their families.
Albanese said Jewish Australians “are integral to the story of Australia”.
We embraced the Jewish community then, and we embrace you now.
Tragically, we are not yet free of antisemitism. It stands in vile opposition to all we are as a nation and all that we have built – together – over generations. We will not tolerate it in any form. It has no place in our nation, and we will combat it with the full force of our laws and with total commitment from every level of government.
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Welcome
Good morning. Welcome to this public holiday Monday news liveblog. I’m Stephanie Convery and I’ll be with you right through until early afternoon.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has described vandalism to the police monument in Sydney’s Domain over the weekend as “disgusting behaviour”. He said in a statement this morning that the vandals, who appear to have damaged and graffitied the monument, are “lower than low”.
Meanwhile, the NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, has said police are investigating and “will leave no stone unturned” to find the culprits.
We’ll bring you more on that shortly.
And Victorians are expecting to swelter through the public holiday, with temperatures between 12 and 14C above average and maximum temperatures reaching up to 45C in parts of the state. Melbourne is expecting to hit 41C by late afternoon. There are total fire bans in place in many parts of the state, and thunderstorms developing later in the day.
Grab a coffee and let’s find out what’s happening around the country.
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