Hello to you. It's Thursday, March 17 and you're reading The Loop, a quick wrap-up of today's news.
Let's start here
Labor senator Kimberley Kitching told a parliament-employed workplace trainer she was being bullied by Senate Labor colleagues, according to multiple ALP sources.
Several of Senator Kitching's colleagues told the ABC that the 52-year-old, who died from a suspected heart attack a week ago, cited the alleged bullying when she was undergoing workplace education on November 5 last year.
A version of events has been relayed to the ABC by multiple Labor sources in whom Senator Kitching confided — men and women — who claim the Victorian senator was being bullied, ostracised and isolated by the ALP's Senate leadership, which comprises senators Penny Wong, Kristina Keneally and Katy Gallagher.
It is not known whether Senator Kitching made any formal steps towards making an official complaint, although one of her female Labor caucus colleagues told the ABC Senator Kitching would have feared retribution, and shared her concern that the complaints structure in Parliament was "overly litigious and would not deliver the outcomes".
What else is going on
- Monthly Bureau of Statistics figures estimate that 77,400 extra people were employed in February, taking unemployment down from 4.2 to 4 per cent, and hours worked have also rebounded after the Omicron wave of absences saw working hours plummet in January. But employers are still struggling to find skilled staff
- Fox Sports journalist Tom Morris has been stood down after a recording of him making misogynistic comments about a female colleague was leaked online. It comes just after Western Bulldogs coach Luke Beveridge issued a formal apology to Morris after this outburst in a press conference in the wake of Wednesday night's loss to Melbourne:
News alerts you might have missed
- Election results in multiple NSW council areas have been voided after the Electoral Commission's system crashed during local government elections
- "Amazing bloke": Australian cricketing royalty have turned out in full force to farewell former Test wicketkeeper Rod Marsh at Adelaide Oval
Today's the day to sign up for ABC News mobile alerts. Head to the ABC News app homepage ➡️ Settings ➡️ Notifications and tailor your alerts to what you want to know.
What Australia has been searching for online
- Secret Sounds. The festival organisers have announced massive Flood Aid fundraising gigs featuring Bernard Fanning, Wolfmother, Dune Rats, The Rubens and Flume among others, saying "every cent raised" will go directly to flood-affected communities.
- Kanye West. Instagram has restricted the 44-year-old rapper's Instagram account, which is followed by more than 15 million people, over violations of the social media platform's policy on hate speech and bullying (but didn't disclose which of his posts infringed on the rules).
One more thing
A New Zealand couple who thought they had uncovered the world's largest potato have been told it's not a potato after all.
After months of submitting photos and paperwork, Colin and Donna Craig-Brown were told by Guinness World Records that what they believed to be a potato is in fact a gourd tuber, as confirmed by scientific testing.
Mr Craig-Brown says when he found it, it looked and tasted like a potato (despite admitting he didn't know what a gourd tuber tasted like).
The existing Guinness record for the world's largest potato is from Britain, found in 2011, and weighed in at just under 5kg.
You're up to date
See you again soon.
ABC/wires
