Is Ley worried Andrew Hastie is going for her job?
During Ley’s presser earlier, a reporter asked if she was worried Andrew Hastie was going for her job. The opposition leader had a terse reply:
No. I’m not.
Hastie has maintained he is a “team player” and that he supports Ley’s leadership. The Western Australian MP said his firm stance on abandoning net zero was just part of his effort to be “a little bolder” on policy.
Asked about Hastie’s recent social media posts that migration was making Australians feel like “strangers in their own homes”, Ley said any strain on infrastructure had “nothing to do with any migrant or migrant community”, but said there as a “reprehensible failure of government” to develop projects that Australians “deserve”.
A reporter also asked the leader if Hastie’s remarks were helpful to the Coalition. Ley replied:
I’m very confident all of my colleagues are expressing strongly held views and they do that in many ways.
Key events
Multiple people arrested in Melbourne CBD after police pursuit
Victoria police arrested a number of people in the Melbourne CBD this afternoon after a pursuit.
Police said in a statement they would provide more information when it comes to hand, but added “there have been no injuries during the incident and there is no threat to the community”.
Aerial footage obtained by the ABC appeared to show a white car stopped near tram tracks near the city’s Bourke Street Mall.
Eva Corlett
Dismay in New Zealand after government fails to recognise Palestinian statehood
Opposition parties, Palestinian groups and a former prime minister have expressed dismay over New Zealand’s decision not to recognise Palestinian statehood, saying it places the country on the wrong side of history and puts it at odds with its traditional allies.
Last week, the UK, Canada, Australia and others formally declared their recognition of statehood ahead of a special UN conference in New York. As of this month, 157 of the 193 UN member countries have recognised a Palestinian state.
It had been anticipated that the New Zealand coalition government would follow suit, particularly in light of previous comments from prime minister Christopher Luxon and other senior ministers that recognising statehood would be a matter of “when, not if”.
But during his address to the UN general assembly on Saturday, foreign affairs minister Winston Peters said while New Zealand was committed to a two-state solution, it would not yet recognise the state of Palestine.
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Three charged with murder in WA after missing man’s body found in bushland
Two men and a woman have been charged with murder after the body of a missing 33-year-old man was found in bushland during an intensive police search, AAP reports.
Police deemed the disappearance of Jayden Stewart Selfe suspicious and launched an intensive search of a bush area and a residential property in Perth for clues. Officials said they had “grave concerns” for Selfe’s welfare and believed his last known contact with people known to him was in May 2025.
Police said Monday they had found Selfe’s body after a two-week search.
A 42-year-old man from Banksia Grove, a 40-year-old man from Attadale and a 39-year-old woman also from Attadale have been charged with murder.
They have been remanded in custody to appear before Perth magistrates court on Monday.
Chalmers backs communications minister’s trip to New York
Chalmers hit back at opposition leader Sussan Ley’s criticisms that communications minister Anika Wells travelled to New York during Albanese’s visit to the UN general assembly.
Anyone who knows minister Wells knows that she would have been taking her responsibilities in the Optus matter very seriously at the same time as she advanced on the global stage our world-leading new regime to protect kids in social media.
It’s possible to do both of those things at once, and that’s what Anika has been doing.
It’s not surprising that the opposition leader will be playing politics with something like this.
Chalmers says government is holding Optus to account after triple-zero outages
Chalmers was asked about the latest string of triple-zero outages after Optus said this morning nine calls in the Dapto region of NSW failed. The telco said an issue with a mobile phone tower affected calls made between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday.
Chalmers said:
Optus is accountable for the outage that we saw on the 18th of September, and also what’s happened with the tower in New South Wales. The government’s holding it to account. We have directed ACMA, the communications watchdog, to investigate.
This can’t happen again. This is an absolutely shocking failure from Optus, and the most appropriate course of action for the government to take to get to the bottom of this is to ask ACMA to conduct a very thorough investigation.
Chalmers added Australians shouldn’t lose faith in the triple-zero system, saying the government will sort out what went wrong.
Chalmers says Australians should be ‘proud’ after final budget outcome shows $17bn improvement over pre-election outlook
Treasurer Jim Chalmers and finance minister Katy Gallagher are speaking about the release of the final budget outcome, which shows a deficit of $10bn. That’s more than $17bn better off than the forecast at the pre-election outlook.
Chalmers said:
We’ve been able to achieve this outcome because we have found savings, we’ve shown restraint, we’ve banked upward revisions to revenue, we’ve kept unemployment low, we’ve got real wages growing again, and you can see the dividends of all of that in the final budget outcome.
This gives us one of the strongest budgets and economies in the G20. Australians should be proud of the progress that we’ve made in our budget and in our economy – but we acknowledge, as a government, that there is more work to do.
Bad Bunny to headline Super Bowl half-time show
Puerto Rican superstar Bad Bunny will headline next year’s Super Bowl half-time show in northern California.
The event, on 8 February, is watched by millions. Last year’s half-time festivities, featuring Kendrick Lamar, drew an audience of 133.5m people.
Bad Bunny said in a statement:
What I’m feeling goes beyond myself. It’s for those who came before me and ran countless yards so I could come in and score a touchdown … this is for my people, my culture, and our history. Ve y dile a tu abuela, que seremos el HALFTIME SHOW DEL SUPER BOWL.
The Latin artist is bringing his world tour to Australia early next year, with two shows in Sydney on 28 February and 1 March.
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Is Ley worried Andrew Hastie is going for her job?
During Ley’s presser earlier, a reporter asked if she was worried Andrew Hastie was going for her job. The opposition leader had a terse reply:
No. I’m not.
Hastie has maintained he is a “team player” and that he supports Ley’s leadership. The Western Australian MP said his firm stance on abandoning net zero was just part of his effort to be “a little bolder” on policy.
Asked about Hastie’s recent social media posts that migration was making Australians feel like “strangers in their own homes”, Ley said any strain on infrastructure had “nothing to do with any migrant or migrant community”, but said there as a “reprehensible failure of government” to develop projects that Australians “deserve”.
A reporter also asked the leader if Hastie’s remarks were helpful to the Coalition. Ley replied:
I’m very confident all of my colleagues are expressing strongly held views and they do that in many ways.
Ley says latest Optus outage shows need for urgent inquiry into ‘entire triple-zero ecosystem’
Opposition leader Sussan Ley issued a call for an independent inquiry into the “entire triple-zero ecosystem” after Optus reported another outage in NSW that saw multiple call failures in NSW yesterday.
Ley spoke to reporters in Albury, NSW a moment ago, criticising the communications minister, Anika Wells, who was in New York last week accompanying prime minister Anthony Albanese as he visited the UN general assembly. Ley said:
The Optus crisis is getting worse here in Australia. We have had three catastrophic failures and we are calling for an independent inquiry into the whole triple-zero ecosystem.
It isn’t good enough that the minister responsible was swanning around in New York, was absent and appears missing in action on this critical matter where Australians who are relying on 000 have lost their lives and communities everywhere are desperately looking for answers.
Ley said the entire triple-zero system needed an inquiry, saying Australians deserved answers after multiple outages:
The entire triple-zero ecosystem needs an urgent inquiry, not just by the regulator, not just this tip-toeing around by the government, not this ‘too-late to actually explain what’s going on’ attitude that this minister has. But to stand up there and fight for Australians who deserve answers.
NSW domestic violence offenders could be forced to report dating app profiles and activity to police
High-risk domestic violence offenders in New South Wales may be forced to inform police when they use dating apps under new protections for abuse survivors, AAP reports.
The courts have been given the power to impose serious domestic abuse prevention orders to restrict the behaviour of perpetrators in NSW for up to five years.
These powers have just come into effect but were part of a package of domestic violence reforms that passed the NSW parliament a year ago.
Conditions could include scheduled reporting to a police station and requirements to notify police when they begin new intimate relationships or create and use dating profiles.
The orders apply to offenders convicted of two or more domestic violence offences that carry maximum jail terms of at least seven years, and people who have been charged with a serious domestic violence offence against a relative or a current or former intimate partner – even if they’re acquitted.
People found to be in breach of these orders can be fined $33,000 or face a prison term of up to five years.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Lifeline 13 11 14
Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491
Eva Corlett
Threatened kārearea falcon wins New Zealand’s 2025 bird of the year
New Zealand’s fastest bird, capable of flying 200km/h in its pursuit of prey, has been crowned bird of the year – a long-running annual competition that has previously been a lightning rod for scandal and hijinks.
The threatened kārearea is New Zealand’s only falcon. It is small and tawny, with impressive talons and large dark eyes. Kārearea are powerful aerial hunters and watch other birds, lizards or small mammals – sometimes larger than themselves – from a high vantage point before diving at high speed to snatch their prey.
There are between roughly 5,000 to 8,000 kārearea left, according to the Department of Conservation. They live in forests around the country and nest on the ground, typically under boulders or fallen trees. The birds are “very vulnerable” to predation by introduced mammals such as cats, hedgehogs and stoats who feast on their ground-dwelling eggs, Emma Blackburn, the chair of the Karearea Falcon Trust said
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Eight skydivers leapt from a plane minutes before it crashed this weekend, killing the pilot
Eight skydivers leapt out of a light plane minutes before it crashed and killed experienced pilot Paul Smith, AAP reports.
The light plane crash landed in thick bush near Moruya airport on the NSW south coast on Saturday afternoon, with Smith the only remaining occupant of the aircraft. The 54-year-old pilot and skydiving instructor died at the scene.
The crash happened roughly two minutes after the skydivers exited the plane at roughly at 14,000 feet to start their descent.
All eight landed safely within the airport grounds.
Det Insp Justin Marks said yesterday:
[Smith] was a very well respected, very experienced, and very well liked local resident. The death or sudden death of anyone in a small community is very tragic.
Petra Stock
How will a new long-duration battery change Australia’s energy grid?
Australia’s longest duration battery will come online this year, a major milestone as the power grid charges towards a mostly renewable energy future.
When fully charged, the Limondale battery in south-west New South Wales will be able to pump 50MW of power back into the grid over eight hours.
But what is a long-duration battery, and why does it matter? And can it help with rare and unpredictable periods of renewable shortage, known as “dunkelflaute”?
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NSW police not informed of latest Optus outage until welfare check sought
Josh Taylor
NSW police were first informed of the latest Optus triple zero outage when the telco asked police to do a welfare check on those in the Dapto area.
Optus confirmed overnight that an issue with a mobile phone tower in Dapto had affected calls in the area between 3am and 12.20pm on Sunday, including nine triple-zero call failures.
A spokesperson for NSW police confirmed the first they were informed of the outage was when Optus made the request to conduct welfare checks on those who had attempted to dial triple zero. The spokesperson said:
On the morning of Sunday 28 September, NSWPF received a request from Optus to conduct welfare checks on a number of callers in the Dapto area that had attempted to contact Triple Zero and were unable to connect.
Four welfare checks were referred to police. None required an emergency services response and no further police action was required.
Optus has had opt-in real-time notifications for outages for emergency services since the end of June, ahead of mandatory notifications coming in November. The company previously argued providing such notifications would be a “huge burden”.
Optus was approached for comment.
Snoop Dogg heads to Sydney for DJ gigs after AFL grand final
Snoop Dogg gave Sydneysiders a taste of his DJing abilities this weekend after his appearance at the AFL grand final.
Snoop had two sets booked as Snoopadelic, one late Saturday night at the Bella Vista hotel in north-west Sydney on Saturday, and another at the Greenwood hotel in North Sydney yesterday.
The Saturday gig reportedly didn’t kick off until after 2am, leaving some fans who booked expensive tickets frustrated. But footage from Sunday shows a packed venue as the rapper sang his song Drop It Like It’s Hot and rapped over tracks from Journey and Akon.
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Opposition says triple zero outages ‘putting Australian lives at risk’
Melissa McIntosh, the shadow communications minister, said the string of outages on the triple zero network was putting Australian lives “at risk”, saying the government had an obligation to ensure the network was “always fully operational”.
McIntosh responded to reports Optus had another outage in the NSW Illawarra region yesterday, with nine calls to triple zero not going through. Police have since confirmed those callers are all OK. She said in a statement:
The Government has a responsibility to ensure the triple zero network is always fully operational, and when there is a fault communities must be notified immediately – not after the fact. …
While Anthony Albanese and Communications Minister, Annika Wells [sic] have been overseas at taxpayers expense, we have a crisis unfolding here at home that is being ignored. On behalf of the Coalition, I am calling for an urgent, independent investigation, into not just Optus but the full triple zero ecosystem.
Australians must have confidence they can call Triple Zero, our most essential telecommunications service, when they need it.
