What we learned: Tuesday, 6 January
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening. Here are the major developments of the day:
The NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, has extended restrictions on protests in Sydney for 14 more days due to what he said was the potential for rallies to “cause fear and public safety issues”. The decision will be reviewed again in a fortnight.
South Australia is bracing for the most widespread, severe heatwave conditions across the state since 2021, with temperatures of up to 47C expected in parts of the state and Adelaide to be in the low-40s into Thursday. Parts of Victoria could also reach 46C this week.
Anthony Albanese has softened his language on opposing a royal commission into the alleged Bondi terrorist attack. He said the current priority was recalling federal parliament to “take strong action against hate speech and strengthen the laws we have put in place”, adding the government was examining “everything else required”.
And McDonald’s has quietly launched a legal challenge in Victoria’s Civil and Administrative Tribunal to open a 24-hour takeaway outlet in the inner Melbourne suburb of Northcote, after the local council rejected its planning application.
We’ll be back first thing tomorrow.
Updated
Pink slime found on Tasmanian beaches not harmful, authorities say
A “pink sludge” that sparked fears about an emerging algal bloom is not harmful and has no known links to salmon farming, a state environment department says and AAP reports.
The matter was found along a stretch of Randalls Bay, about 60km south of Hobart, while a similar sludge was seen at other beaches in Tasmania’s south-east.
Testing by the state’s environment department confirmed it as Noctiluca scintillans, a marine plankton that feeds on microscopic diatoms or algae.
This species is different to Karenia cristata, the cause of a harmful algal bloom in South Australia, the department said on Tuesday.
Former Greens leader Bob Brown and anti-salmon farming groups and politicians had raised concerns the pink matter was caused by pollution and linked to nearby salmon farms.
“There is no known link between Tasmanian aquaculture and an increase of Noctiluca scintillans events,” the department said in a statement.
Salmon Tasmania, which represents the state’s major fish farms, said Dr Brown and others owed the public an apology for “alarmist scaremongering”.
Updated
