Sky News rebrands as News24
Sky News Australia has announced that it will become News24 later this year after losing the rights to its current name.
The News Corp platform has been forced to rebrand as it loses the rights to the name Sky News in December when a 10-year deal with UK Sky News expires. The company had been waiting for regulatory approval after requesting trademarks on six different brand names.
On Friday, the day after the station’s 30th anniversary of operations, the rebrand was revealed in a statement from its chief executive, Paul Whittaker. Whittaker said:
Forged from decades of journalistic excellence, News24 is not simply a new name — it is a statement of intent for the future of trusted, fearless storytelling. …
By adopting the “News” script, News24 creates a visible connection to a century of journalistic excellence established by Sir Keith and Rupert Murdoch … While our name is changing, our brand of news isn’t.
Whittaker said the network had also unveiled its new “state-of-the-art” broadcast headquarters at News Corp Australia’s Sydney HQ, at a launch attended by Anthony Albanese and Chris Minns.
The broadcaster would later this year launch a “refreshed” on-air look and a new website and app, titled News24.com.au, Whittaker said.
Whittaker’s statement did not mention that ABC News, the public broadcaster’s 24-hour channel and Sky’s main competitor, was launched as News 24. He also did not address the more esoteric online outlet 24 News Australia, which a few months ago began covering Australian news in Malayalam, the language spoken in the south Indian state Kerala.
Sky was careful to prevent the rebrand from leaking, as you can read here:
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What we learned, Friday 20 February
Thanks for staying with our live coverage of today’s breaking news. We’ll wrap the blog there. Have a good weekend. Here were the day’s top stories:
Barnaby Joyce said he was not aware that the Australian federal police had “received reports of a crime” relating to Pauline Hanson’s comments about Muslims.
Sky News Australia announced it would rebrand as News24.
The former republican movement head, Craig Foster, said the former prince Andrew’s arrest should “spark a national conversation” about the monarchy.
Angus Taylor said he did not agree with Pauline Hanson’s remarks about Muslims this week. He also said Australia needed to “get that net zero ideology out of our system”.
Fast food company Guzman y Gomez has halved in value in the last year, with shares falling further today.
Police said “hope is fading” in their search for Chris Baghsarian but they “won’t give up trying to find him alive”.
Four people have been charged after the former NRL star Matt Utai was shot outside his Sydney home.
New South Wales will introduce a minimum age to ride an ebike.
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Why no republic referendum after Andrew’s arrest?
A Labor minister has said the former prince Andrew’s arrest will not prompt a referendum on a republic because the government is focused on Australians’ other priorities.
Anthony Albanese ruled out a new referendum today, speaking exclusively to Guardian Australia. Read the full story here or listen to the podcast, linked earlier in this blog:
Albanese’s defence industry minister, Pat Conroy, has shed more light on the government’s reasoning for ruling out a referendum. He told the ABC
Our priority is on the priorities of the Australian people …
I am a proud republican. I come from an Irish Catholic background. I voted yes to republic in 1998, but when I am at street stalls in my electorate of Shortland, that’s not what people are focused on.
They are focused on investment in healthcare, support for cost of living, defence future and investing in manufacturing. So I think that’s what we’re going to focus on: listening to the people and acting on their priorities.
Barnaby Joyce says he’s not aware of crime reports after Hanson comments
Barnaby Joyce has appeared to distance himself from his party leader, Pauline Hanson, who has been criticised for refusing to back down from inflammatory comments made about Muslims within Australia.
On Sky News on Monday night, Hanson discussed the thwarted attempts by Australian women and children stuck in Syria to return home. She accused the group of hating westerners, saying: “You say, ‘Well, there’s good Muslims out there.’ How can you tell me there are good Muslims?” she said.
On ABC’s Afternoon Briefing today, host Patricia Karvelas asked the former Nationals MP whether he agreed that there are plenty of good Muslim people.
Joyce responded:
Of course I think there are Muslims who are very good people.
Joyce said he was not aware that the Australian federal police had “received reports of a crime” relating to the comments.
Guardian Australia reported on Friday afternoon the federal police were aware of the comments but did not say whether they had begun a criminal investigation, only that they would have more to say “at an appropriate time”.
You can read more here:
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Listen now: PM on ex-prince Andrew – Australian Politics podcast
As we reported earlier, Anthony Albanese has said the ex-prince Andrew has had an extraordinary fall from grace but that won’t prompt another referendum on a republic.
You can now listen to Albanese’s full comments on Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor, Pauline Hanson, and Syrian camp detainees on the Australian Politics podcast, speaking to Guardian Australia’s political editor Tom McIlroy.
Listen here:
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Prisoner released two months early due to misread court documents
Police have urged a Northern Territory prisoner to turn himself in after he was mistakenly released two months early when corrections staff misread court documents.
The 52-year-old, Clinton Daylight, was mistakenly released on Wednesday due to “incorrect interpretation of a notice of suspended sentence”, according to police’s preliminary investigations.
Daylight was last seen at the Darwin Bus Exchange at 4:30pm that afternoon, police said. Department of corrections staff noticed and reported the mistake on Thursday afternoon. A police statement said:
The error was identified during routine warrant reconciliation processes, and immediate steps were taken once it was detected. A full internal review is underway to determine how this occurred.
Police have advised the public not to approach him if he is seen. Officers and corrections staff are searching for Clinton, police said, adding:
He is urged to return himself into custody as soon as possible.
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Government still considering Trump’s invitation to Gaza board
Pat Conroy, the minister for defence industry, has said the govenrment is still considering Donald Trump’s invitation to a board of peace for Gaza.
Overnight at a Board of Peace event, Trump said some countries – namely Nato allies – were “playing a little cute” by deciding to not join the Trump-led board.
Australia has not yet accepted Trump’s invitation to join the board. Conroy has told the ABC:
We are still considering the offer from President Trump, and when there’s a decision made, we will let people know.
Asked why Australia had delayed making a decision, Conroy pushed back.
I would reject the assertion of the timeliness of that. We’re going through in a reasonable way as you would expect a mature adult government to do that, that is what the citizens of Australia want us to do, that is why they returned us.
Trump has also said the US government expects the chance of a nuclear deal with Iran will be clear within “probably 10 days”. News outlets have simultaneously reported the US military is readying for strikes on Iran.
Conroy did not express concern over the prospect of a US strike, saying the government was watching the negotiations between the US and Iran.
What alarms me is the world getting more nuclear weapons so we urged the parties to preserve this issue peacefully and our desires and negotiations are as full and then have no further nuclear proliferation.
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QBE insurer profit bump hides climate risks, says super fund
An ethical super fund has claimed QBE’s surging profits and $2.5bn rise in market value relies on a “false sense of security” about climate risk.
QBE today saw its market value surge 8%, adding $2.5bn to reach a $32.7bn valuation. It released its results for calendar year 2025, showing profits surged to $2.1bn, from less than $1.8bn in 2024.
The Australian-based global insurer’s premiums rose more 7% overall, or 8% after stripping out areas it no longer insures, on a gross written measure.
Australian Ethical, a super fund and major investor, has called for QBE to overhaul its coverage policies, amid criticism the insurer can underwrite fossil fuel projects without restriction.
QBE’s annual report today did not specifically address those concerns, though it did identify climate change as a top risk. A QBE spokesperson last year said the insurer regularly assessed material risks including global heating.
Australian Ethical’s Amanda Richman warned last year that QBE “was not joining the dots” between support for fossil fuel projects and the need to reduce climate risks. Richman said today:
What investors care about and what we need to know is the impact of climate change on QBE’s headline growth and profit margins. They still have not disclosed this.
They’ve reported strong profits now, but are giving investors a false sense of security because a lot of it comes from exiting markets highly exposed to climate risk, which is a sign that climate risk is already restraining growth.
Read about the context here:
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Measles warnings grow in Melbourne
More sites around Melbourne have been exposed to measles, the Victoria’s chief health officer has warned.
Victoria has counted 49 measles public exposure incidents across 39 sites in the last month. The chief health officer has identified seven this week alone:
On Monday, Craigieburn’s medical and dental centre.
On Monday and Tuesday, Clyde North’s Myhealth medical centre
On Wednesday, Jetstar Flight JQ505 from Sydney to Melbourne, then Melbourne’s Tullamarine airport’s terminal 4.
On Wednesday, Casey hospital’s paediatric emergency department in Berwick.
On Wednesday, Carnegie’s urgent care clinic at Carnegie Central medical clinic.
The full list of sites and incidents can be found here.
Anyone who has visited an exposure site during the dates and times specified on the list should monitor for symptoms of measles, the health officer said.
A global increase in measles cases has spread to Australia through international and interstate travel. Read more about why cases are rising and what you can do here:
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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price addresses Advance’s $355-a-ticket conference
Rightwing lobby group Advance is hosting a conference today in Sydney where it’s invited a host of talking heads for the very non-elite price of $355 per person for the day ($660 if you want to spend your Saturday there too).
So far, punters have heard from the recently elevated shadow skills minister, Jacinta Nampijinpa Price (who was once officially Advance’s ambassador) and some financial backers, but the former prime minister Tony Abbott is due to deliver his sermon on ending “mass immigration across the Anglosphere” shortly. Other politicians expected to speak over the two days include firebrand South Australian senator Alex Antic, and Victorian MP Moira Deeming.
Coincidentally, the conference’s platform is centring on two issues dominating debate among the federal Liberals – ending so-called “mass” immigration and stopping net zero.
There’s no stream of the talkfest, so if you’re interested in staying across the event, you’ll just have to trust the lobby group’s social media posts.
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Monarchist League says Andrew arrest won’t spark second Republic referendum
Australian Monarchist League spokesperson Alexander Voltz says the arrest of ex-prince Andrew won’t spark a second republic referendum.
Voltz said:
I don’t think so. I think this will blow over. And, you know, I also think more broadly, people will see Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor being arrested, and I don’t know if their first thought will be about monarchy and republic. I think their first thought will be about the Epstein files.
Asked if the arrest of the prince for misconduct in public office would discredit the monarchy, he said Andrew was no longer a working royal. He said blaming the rest of the royal family for Andrew’s alleged behaviour was “guilt by association”.
He said the issue is likely to become more salient, but that it won’t shift public opinion away from the monarchy.
I think that they will be able to draw a distinction between a personal scandal and then the actual technical operation of constitutional monarchy in this country.
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AFR and The Age to stop print distribution in Tasmania
The Australian Financial Review and The Age will no longer be printed and distributed in Tasmania, Nine Entertainment has confirmed.
The decision means the national financial daily will soon be unavailable in two states, following a 2024 decision to stop printing in Western Australia.
“As our publishing digital-first strategy strengthens and our products become more sophisticated, Tasmanian readers are increasingly transitioning to The Age and The Australian Financial Review via our digital platforms,” a spokesperson for Nine told Guardian Australia.
Nine has absolutely no plans to stop printing and distributing in other locations.
Nine says more than 90% of subscribers in Tasmania now access digitally and the cost of production and distribution is no longer sustainable.
The Age and the AFR briefly published articles online earlier this week announcing the decision, but later killed the stories.
It’s the second time Nine has considered saving printing costs in the Apple Isle, but this time the decision has stuck. In 2022, the publisher said rising paper costs was behind the decision to stop printing in Tasmania, but the decision was reversed after an outcry from newsagents.
Newsagents said they will lose about $2,000 a month without paper copies of the newspapers to sell. Nine’s spokesperson said:
We are confident this decision will have minimal impact on local newsagents, with Nine’s printed mastheads contributing just a small fraction of our Tasmanian reach.
Thanks Nick Visser for keeping us up to date this week. I’ll be with you for the rest of today’s live news.
That’s all from me, Luca Ittimani will guide you into the weekend. Take care, and thanks for sticking with us.
Offshore gas field in WA could lead to mass coral deaths, analysis suggests
Analysis by a leading climate scientist suggests opening up a contentious WA offshore gas field could lead to the death of almost 30m coral colonies on the Great Barrier Reef due to its impact on global heating.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) is calling for the government to consider this as it assesses whether Woodside’s Browse development should go ahead.
The environment group has written to the minister requesting he review the scope of the project’s assessment to factor in the analysis prepared by Prof Sarah Perkins-Kirkpatrick from the Australian National University.
At present, federal assessment of the Browse project is limited to local impacts, including the threat to endangered pygmy blue whales and dusky sea snakes at nearby Scott Reef.
The ACF chief executive, Adam Bandt, said:
This new information could be a gamechanger.
We believe Minister [Murray] Watt should widen his assessment of Woodside’s Browse proposal to take account of the project’s impact on the Great Barrier Reef – a world heritage site and ‘matter of national environmental significance’.
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Up up prices gave shoppers bang for buck, court told
Coles wanted to give customers value for money by offering products at “down down” rates when they were in fact higher than original prices, a court has been told.
AAP reports Coles is defending claims by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission that it deliberately misled customers during the “down, down” campaign that first launched in 2010.
Under the scheme, the price of a jar of Coles-brand quince paste was raised to $4.50 from $3 for four weeks before being reduced to $3.15.
The ACCC alleges the supermarket giant deliberately raised prices on thousands of everyday items, before offering discounts at prices higher or equal to the original shelf price across 15 months.
It claims that the “down down” campaign duped shoppers into thinking they were getting a bargain.
On Thursday, the supermarket giant admitted to strong-arming suppliers, threatening to strip products from shelves if they did not accede to the retailer’s demands.
Internal emails showed Ed McCutchan, a Coles group category manager, argued for the price of the paste to be held at $4.50 for two weeks instead of four before being cut to the “down down” price.
Garry Rich SC, for the ACCC, put it to McCutchan in Melbourne’s federal court on Friday that he wanted the paste to be sold on the new “down down” price as soon as permitted.
“Yes, I wanted to continue offering value to customers on that ticket,” McCutchan said.
“You could have sold the quince paste to customers on a white ticket price of $3.15 and delivered the same value to customers, correct?” said Rich.
“Yes,” replied McCutchan.
Rich then suggested the “down down” promotion was more effective in generating sales than other mechanisms, to which McCutchan agreed.
“And do you agree with me that the reason the down down mechanic was more effective is that the down down tickets told customers that they were getting a discount?” Rich asked.
“That would be one of the reasons,” McCutchan replied.
Asked what the other reasons were, he said there was more “real estate” on shelves for “down down” tickets, drawing shoppers’ eyes to the item supposedly on sale.
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Plibersek says parents of children stuck in Syria face responsibility for their plight
The senior Labor minister Tanya Plibersek delivered some of the strongest criticism yet of the women who took their children to the Middle East during the rise of Islamic State, AAP reports.
A group of 34 women and children linked to Australians who travelled to the Middle East to fight for IS have been trying to travel home from a Syrian refugee camp in recent days.
Plibersek told reporters in Melbourne earlier today:
Taking children into a war zone like this is child abuse.
It is important to understand the responsibility that these parents took in making this decision.
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Shadow defence minister says past visa decisions show immigration standards ‘too low’
Returning to the opposition press conference earlier this morning for a moment, shadow defence minister, James Paterson, has said Australia’s decision to grant a visa to the daughter of a senior military figure in Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps shows immigration standards are “too low”.
The Australian reported this week that the woman had been granted a student visa in February 2024, followed by a permanent visa eight months later, despite her father featuring on the sanctions list since 2012.
This morning, Paterson used the example to attack the Labor government’s record on immigration. He said:
This is yet another example of how standards for immigration on Labor’s watch have been too low, and why Angus has been calling for standards to lift.
A spokesperson for the Department of Home Affairs said it could not comment on individual cases but said visa applications were considered on an individual basis against legal requirements:
The Department of Home Affairs works with law enforcement and intelligence partners to cancel or refuse visas of non-citizens who are at risk to Australia’s national security. To be granted a visa, all applicants must meet all legal requirements, including health, character and security criteria.
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Republic movement responds to ex-prince Andrew’s arrest
The Australian Republican Movement has weighed in on the arrest of ex-prince Andrew.
Co-chair Nathan Hansford said the group “won’t speculate on legal matters that sit with UK authorities and the courts”, adding:
But the broader point for Australia is straightforward: our head of state should not be determined by heredity, or by events in another country. This isn’t about any one person – and it isn’t about a king or queen, or someone in line to become one.
It’s about Australia completing the final step to full independence: an Australian as head of state, chosen by Australians, accountable to Australians. That’s what a confident, fully independent country looks like.
That’s the conversation the Australian Republic Movement is leading – a forward-looking debate about Australia’s future, and the leaders Australians choose to shape it.
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Australians for Constitutional Monarchy convener says Andrew should be removed from line of succession
Australians for Constitutional Monarchy head David Flint says ex-prince Andrew should be removed from the line of succession.
Flint led the monarchist group during the 1999 referendum and remains its convener. He said:
He’s not going to succeed. He’s eighth in line, and you’d have to have a major calamity for seven people to pass away before him. Some of them are very young. But I think as a matter of propriety, it’s inappropriate to have him there.
Flint said it was difficult to amend the relevant legislation to change the order of succession, because it requires all 15 realms of the Commonwealth to agree to do so. It was last amended in 2011.
Andrew is no longer a prince after being stripped of many of his titles in October last year, but remains in the line of succession.
But he said Andrew’s arrest wouldn’t be a boon for the republican movement.
I don’t think people are going to think deeply about it, like they’re thinking about the cost of living or housing or those things which really affect them, and the number of people who think about it deeply will be quite small. I just don’t think it’s going to be significantly damaging to the monarchy.
Updated
What has Donald Trump said about former prince Andrew’s arrest?
Australian PM says former prince Andrew has suffered ‘extraordinary fall’ but that won’t prompt another republic referendum
Anthony Albanese has described Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest as an “extraordinary fall from grace”, but says the latest crisis facing the British royal family won’t prompt another referendum on Australia becoming a republic.
In his first comments about the arrest, Albanese told the Guardian’s Australian Politics podcast that Mountbatten-Windsor had lived a life of absolute privilege.
“These are very serious allegations, and because they will be, no doubt, the subject of court action, I’m limited in what I can say,” the prime minister said.
But people will be following the detail here. This appears to be about [classified] documents, and whether they were inappropriately forwarded on to someone who wasn’t eligible. But, of course, there’s the bigger issue as well when it comes to Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor. No doubt, we will wait and see where this all goes.
Read more:
UniSuper accused of greenwashing after quietly reducing environmental element of investment option
A major Australian super fund has been accused of greenwashing after it continued to badge an investment option as “sustainable” despite quietly halving its environmental criteria.
UniSuper, which invests $158bn on behalf of 670,000 members, promotes its Global Environmental Opportunities option as a portfolio “selected on the basis of environmental considerations”.
Initially the option invested only in companies and assets that derive at least 40% of their revenue from “environmental themes” such as alternative energy, energy efficiency and “green building”. The fund also applied “negative screens”, excluding investments on the basis of exposure to products such as fossil fuels or weapons.
In March 2025 UniSuper reduced the threshold to 20%, and the Global Environmental Opportunities option now lists several technology companies, including Microsoft and Nvidia, among its top investments.
Read more here:
Virginia Giuffre’s brother and sister-in-law react to arrest of former prince Andrew
The relatives of the late Virginia Giuffre, who claimed she was trafficked to Britain to have sex with the former prince Andrew in 2001 at the age of 17, say they feel vindicated after his arrest on Thursday.
Mountbatten-Windsor was arrested and held for hours by British police on suspicion of misconduct in public office over allegations he shared confidential material with the convicted child sex offender Jeffrey Epstein while he was UK trade envoy.
Mountbatten-Windsor has always denied any wrongdoing or accusations against him.
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Former Republican movement head Craig Foster says Andrew arrest should ‘spark a national conversation’ about the monarchy
Former chair of the Australian Republican Movement and ex-Socceroo Craig Foster says the arrest of ex-prince Andrew should “spark a national conversation” about the monarchy.
“It should spark a national conversation about the standards we will accept, how we want to see ourselves, be seen in the world, and particularly what we want our next generation of Aussies, in all of our beautiful diversity, to understand as our value set,” he said.
Foster said Australians dissatisfied with Andrew’s alleged behaviour should “join the movement for an Australian head of state, and let the royals’ conduct reflect only on themselves”.
Foster stepped down as chair of the body in 2024.
“No Australian could possibly support what we have seen,” he said.
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Coroner unsure if burrito bowl death was preventable
Continuing from our last post: AAP reports that a coroner could not determine whether a 17-year-old boy who suffered a severe allergic reaction to a home-delivered meal would have survived if he was given adrenaline sooner.
An inquest into James Tsindos’ death was held in October 2024 and coroner Sarah Gebert on Friday delivered her findings. She determined while James might have survived if he was administered the third dose of adrenaline sooner, she could not be certain.
Gerbert noted a panel of experts had reviewed the case and had differing opinions on James’ ultimate prognosis, saying she could not side with a particular expert on whether James’ death was preventable.
“I express my regret to the family that I am unable to do so,” she said.
Gerbert made eight recommendations, including that the Department of Health update its guidelines around anaphylaxis management.
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Coroner reports on teenager’s burrito bowl death
A coroner has handed down her findings into the death of a 17-year-old boy who suffered a severe allergic reaction from a burrito bowl delivered to his home, AAP reports.
James Tsindos experienced anaphylaxis on the afternoon of 27 May 2021, after eating a burrito bowl ordered off the now-defunct Deliveroo app. The meal contained a sauce made from cashews and James began experiencing allergy symptoms, including swollen lips, nausea, tingling in the throat and abdominal cramps.
His father called an ambulance and paramedics arrived at their Brighton home, in Melbourne’s south-east, about 2.50pm. James received two doses of adrenaline five minutes apart and he was transferred to the nearby Holmesglen private hospital as a precaution.
As he arrived at the hospital about 3.44pm, he told the paramedics he was “wheezy” and he used his asthma puffer. At 4.10pm, James’ condition deteriorated and he was administered a third dose of adrenaline but he still had trouble breathing.
He was transferred to the resuscitation ward and within a minute became unresponsive before entering cardiac arrest. Doctors and nurses tried to resuscitate James and he was transferred to The Alfred but never recovered. His life support was turned off on 29 May.
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Guzman y Gomez halves in value in a year
Fast food company Guzman y Gomez has lost half its market value in the last year, after releasing underwhelming profit results today that sent its share price plunging to a new record low.
GYG’s still-struggling US expansion ran at an $8.3m loss in the last six months of 2025, worse than the $5m loss over the same period in 2024, on GYG’s EBITDA basis.
That dragged the whole company’s underlying earnings below expectations in the last six months of 2025, to $33m.
The Australasian operations made $41.3m on GYG’s EBITDA basis, above expectations, but its performance in 2026 so far was not as strong as analysts expected.
Shares in the company have slid more than 10% this morning, dragging its market value to less than $1.9bn. It had been worth almost $4bn on 21 February 2025.
The company’s overall sales are rising, up to $681.8m over the half-year, from nearly $578m in the second half of 2024.
The company has told investors it plans to open 32 new Australian restaurants over the year to June, with a total of 108 in planning – most of which are drive-thru. The US branch is still set to run at a loss in coming months.
Guardian Australia’s Jonathan Barrett explored the risks GYG was facing back in 2024, with analysis that remains prescient today:
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Progress on tackling lead contamination in Broken Hill has ‘slowed in recent years’, report finds
Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an “urgent public health priority” but progress has “slowed in recent years”, NSW’s chief scientist and engineer says.
Prof Hugh Durrant-Whyte’s report into the health and environmental impacts of lead contamination in Broken Hill was made public on Thursday, and acknowledged the issues highlighted in it have been documented in prior studies but “previous recommendations remain unimplemented.”
Guardian Australia last year revealed the state’s environment watchdog buried a report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies for several years, and separately that NSW Health resisted lower blood lead guidelines.
In his report, Durrant-Whyte’s wrote to the premier’s department:
While some progress has been made in reducing environmental lead levels and community exposure, improvements have slowed in recent years. Aboriginal children remain disproportionately affected, with comparatively higher exposure risks. …
In short, we found that a centralised, coordinated approach deploying timely, evidence-based decision making is required to reduce BLL [blood lead levels] in the children of Broken Hill. ...
Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an urgent public health priority.
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Police watchdog anticipates some hearings into Sydney protest will be public
The police watchdog anticipates some of the hearings into alleged police misconduct at Sydney’s anti-Herzog rally will be held publicly.
The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) said in an update about the investigation on Friday that it’s expected to take some time to go through the “substantial volume of material” from both the public and the NSW police force.
Lecc said:
The timing and progress of the investigation, including the timing of hearings, will depend upon assessment of the material to be obtained in the present phase of the investigation.
It is anticipated that at least some of those hearings will be held in public.
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Taylor says he doesn’t agree with Hanson's recent remarks about Muslims
Taylor was asked about comments by a Sydney mayor this morning saying Pauline Hanson should be charged for her recent remarks on Muslims.
He said:
What I’ll say is I don’t agree with Pauline Hanson and what she said. What I believe in is that people who don’t adopt and believe in our core values shouldn’t come to our shores … whatever their race or religion.
I’ll always distance myself from people who think this is about anything other than protecting our life and focusing on our core values.
If people want to come to our country, no matter religion and they don’t believe what we believe then we should shut the door on them.
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Taylor is repeating many of the points he made earlier in the week, claiming the Albanese government hasn’t answered questions about how many passports have been issued.
The government has maintained Australian officials have abided by Australian law, issuing travel documents to Australian citizens. But Albanese and home affairs minister Tony Burke have both said the country is not assisting and will not help with any repatriation efforts.
Taylor also responded to questions about the children stuck in Syria, saying there was no proposal to separate the kids from their parents. He added “real questions” remain about any “radicalisation” that may have occurred with those children.
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Taylor maintains Labor government should ‘shut the door’ to Australians in Syria
Opposition leader Angus Taylor is speaking at a press conference in Melbourne after a visit to the Adass Israel synagogue. The synagogue was subject to an arson attack in December 2024.
Taylor is speaking about the attack and the devastating terror attack at Bondi Beach last year. Taylor said:
If we are to protect way of life, we need to shut door on Islamic extremism in this country. We need to shut the door people who want to come to this country bringing hate and violence from another part of the world to our shores.
He went on to say the Albanese government should do more to restrict Australians stuck in Syria from reentering Australia:
These people should not be coming … the door must be shut. Labor has many levers at its disposal to shut the door.
The Australian people want to see our way of life protected, and we will do need to do to make sure that happens.
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Palestinian, gun control groups not called to speak on Queensland’s Bondi bill
No Palestinian or gun control groups have been invited to speak on Queensland’s Bondi legislation during its parliamentary committee inquiry.
The legislation was in the works for nearly two months before being made public last Tuesday. The state government set just seven days for public submissions and only two days for public hearings, one of them in Townsville, half from members of the local community. More than 400 individuals and groups have made a submission on the bill.
Several different gun groups were invited to speak, including the Shooters Union Australia, the North Queensland Rifle Association and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia twice.
Alannah and Madeline foundation senior advocacy adviser, Stephen Bendle, said he had asked for a chance to speak, but was refused without explanation on Wednesday night.
“We thought it was outrageous that the only people talking about firearms at that inquiry were two of the largest members of the gun lobby,” Bendle said.
We felt this reinforced that the government had bent the knee to the gun lobbyists and refused to make any concessions, to make any restrictions on firearms following Bondi.
He said: “I don’t think the government wanted to be criticised”.
Remah Nahi from Justice for Palestine Meanjin said the decision not to hear from them was “discrediting”.
The bill’s gun control elements have been criticised as weak, and multiple different religions, unions, and legal groups have criticised its provisions permitting the attorney general to ban particular expressions as an attack on free speech and freedom of religion.
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Americans generally view the Epstein case as an example of wealthy and powerful people rarely being held accountable and believe the US government is still hiding information about Epstein’s clients, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.
“We are trailing too far behind in justice, especially when we are sitting on the mountains of information that we have,” Amanda Roberts said. “The world is looking at us to do the right thing here.“
Learning of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had brought “a mixed bag of emotions,” the sister-in-law of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre said:
Initially we were … screaming, at one point at 3am. And then it just hits you – that gut punch of the fact that she’s not here to see this.
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Virginia Giuffre’s brother reacts to Andrew’s arrest
The brother of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers reacted to the Thursday arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office, saying he hoped it marked the start of the collapse of a “house of cards” around late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reports.
In an interview with Reuters, Sky Roberts – whose sister Virginia Giuffre took her own life in Australia in April – and his wife urged the US justice department to take action against others implicated by their association with Epstein.
“This is where the house of cards starts falling,” Sky Roberts said in a joint interview with Amanda Roberts.
In 2022, the king’s brother settled a civil lawsuit brought in the US by Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager at properties owned by Epstein or his associates.
The arrest is not related to this or any other allegation of sexual impropriety.
Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and said he regrets their friendship.
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‘Hope is fading’ in search for Chris Baghsarian, but police ‘won’t give up trying to find him alive’
Marks said the home believed to have held Baghsarian was a “suspicious house” among other homes in the area.
Inside, officers found evidence consistent with images and video of Baghsarian. Marks said:
We haven’t found Mr Baghsarian and that is our main focus, to recover Mr Baghsarian and bring him home safely to his family and get him the medical treatment that he requires.
It has been seven days now, so hope is fading. We have grave concerns for his safety. But we won’t give up trying to find him alive.
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House in Dural, NSW, believed to be used to hold kidnapped 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian
NSW police are holding a press conference into the kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian, an 85-year-old man missing since he was abducted by mistake.
Detective acting supt Andrew Marks said officers executed a search warrant on a property in Dural, where investigators now believe Baghsarian was held for some time. He said:
We have had a significant progress, progression in the investigation, whereby we believe we have found the location where Mr Baghsarian was kept for some time. That location is in Dural.
Police yesterday afternoon were able to identify that location and a quick search of the property did not locate Mr Baghsarian.
Marks appealed to those in the Dural area to come forward if they have seen anything.
Even if you think it is insignificant information, let us be the judge of that and we will take that information and investigate that thoroughly.
Fashion week has made moves to boost diversity and inclusivity
In recent years, Australian fashion week has made moves to become more diverse and inclusive, including championing First Nations designers, and experimenting with public ticketing to what was once an industry-only event.
The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) has also confirmed the return of former Harpers’ Bazaar Australia editor and AFC co-founder Kellie Hush as fashion director for the event, overseeing designer and industry relations.
Last year, the NSW government announced its first fashion sector strategy.
Minister for jobs and tourism Steve Kamper said:
As the nation’s fashion capital this is exactly the kind of bold, iconic experience we want to see in Sydney – there is no better example of our city’s unique combination of natural wonder and cultural vibrancy than fashion week on the harbour, at one of our most recognisable cultural institutions.
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Australian fashion week moves to Sydney’s MCA
After more than a decade at cultural precinct Carriageworks, Australian fashion week has announced a change of location. Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is set to be the central hub for this year’s event, which will take place 11-15 May. The new Harbourside setting will surely invoke nostalgia for those who remember the event’s mid-00s heyday, when shows were held a stone’s throw away from the MCA, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.
Both fashion week and Australia’s fashion industry more broadly have faced stiff headwinds since those glitzy days, as the rise of e-commerce and lately ultrafast fashion; alongside sharply rising manufacturing costs and increased competition from international brands has lead many of the labels that once headlined the event to shut shop.
The future of fashion week was further imperilled last year, when US owner IMG announced they were withdrawing from the event. This lead to a quick-turnaround resurrection by the Australian Fashion Council (AFC), with financial support from Destination NSW and the City of Sydney.
In a statement, AFC executive chair Marianne Perkovic said:
Bringing Australian Fashion Week to the Museum of Contemporary Art marks an exciting new chapter for the event and for Australian fashion more broadly. The MCA provides an iconic Sydney backdrop that reflects the creativity, cultural relevance and global outlook of our designers, while enabling a more open, connected and internationally compelling format.
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Four charged after former NRL star Matt Utai shot outside Sydney home
NSW police have charged four people after a 44-year-old man, identified in media reports as former NRL star Matt Utai, was shot outside a home in Sydney’s south-west earlier this week.
Officers said strike forces executed six search warrants across Sydney on Thursday, during which they seized three vehicles, 1kg of cocaine, weapons and electronics and clothing related to an investigation.
Multiple men were arrested, including an 18-year-old, charged with participation in a criminal group, among other charges; a man, 19, who faces similar charges; a man, 19; charged with accessory after the fact in a shooting with the intent to murder, among other charges; and a boy, 16, charged with accessory after the fact in a shooting with the intent to murder, among other charges.
The 18-year-old was granted conditional bail, but the three others have been refused bail. All will appear in court in the coming days.
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Andrew’s arrest ‘a fall from grace’, federal minister says
The health minister, Mark Butler, says Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is a “fall from grace”, sentiments echoed by the deputy Liberal leader, Jane Hume.
Speaking on a panel on Channel Seven’s Sunrise this morning, the pair were asked about the arrest in the UK on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Butler said “the law must follow its course”.
“There’s not much we can appropriately say about the potential for charges, but what a fall from grace. A man we knew for decades as Prince Andrew, his royal highness, is now just ‘a man in his 60s from Norfolk’,” Butler said.
I think all of our thoughts as human beings, not members of government or the opposition, all of our thoughts as human beings go to the girls and the women who were caught up in this hideous network of powerful men that Jeffrey Epstein pulled together, and we’re starting to see some accountability for those awful, awful years.
Hume, elected last week as the deputy to Angus Taylor, was asked if he should immediately abdicate from the line of succession in the British monarchy.
“Well, that’s really a conversation for the monarch himself. Look, I’d support Mark [Butler]’s comments here. I think that this is an extremely disturbing fall from grace that we’ve seen from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” Hume said.
The misconduct in public office is a very serious allegation. We should let the full course of the law take its place but it’s also a reminder that nobody is above the law.
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Mayor of Sydney council says Hanson should face charges over her comments on Muslims
Bilal El-Hayek, the mayor of Canterbury Bankstown council in Sydney, said One Nation’s Pauline Hanson should be held accountable for her comments about Muslims in recent days.
El-Hayek spoke to the ABC as the country’s Muslims take part in the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Wednesday and runs through March. At the same time, Lakemba mosque, one of the country’s largest, has faced a series of threats in recent weeks, prompting a police investigation.
El-Hayek told the ABC that Hanson should face charges for her comments targeting Muslims:
I’m not going to skirt around the issue: Pauline Hanson should be charged. It’s an open and shut case. What she said was highly inflammatory.
When you look at the hate speech laws, they’re quite clear. There is specific reference made of public incitement of hatred, discrimination or violence against protected groups based on race, religion or gender. Clearly, her target was clearly the Muslim people. And I have no doubt that her remarks will incite someone.
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Funding changes threaten the cultural future of Melbourne, arts workers say
Late last year, there was a palpable tension among Victorian arts organisations. Rumours were that one of the most important arts funding rounds was going to be a bloodbath.
They were right.
A week before Christmas, longstanding arts organisations received phone calls from Creative Victoria, the state’s arts funding agency. Some were told their funding would be drastically reduced. Others had it cut completely after decades.
Morale has cratered in the state’s largest cultural institutions as the effects of the Silver review and the government’s budget crisis rippled through in staff cuts and restructures.
Read more here:
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Aussie star, 16, soars into Olympic ski halfpipe final
Australia’s golden Winter Olympics could conclude with a medal-winning flourish after the sensational Indra Brown roared into the final of the women’s freeski halfpipe less than a month since she celebrated her 16th birthday, AAP reports.
One of the breakout stars of the winter sport season, the youngest member of the Aussie team showed no apparent nerves on her Olympic debut in Livigno as she qualified for Saturday’s final in fourth place.
With Canada’s third-placed former champion Cassie Sharpe having a bad fall on her second run and being put on a snow stretcher, it didn’t appear likely she would be fit for Saturday’s final even though there was relief all round as she waved to the crowd while being taken off the pipe.
It’s possible that Melbourne teenager Brown, who’s only had four World Cup outings with three of them ending up with her celebrating on the podium, could go into the 12-woman final as third-best qualifier.
She is Australia’s last realistic shot at a medal and would take the tally to a record-extending seven, including currently three golds, if she was to make the podium again.
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Government says Syria situation ‘distressing’ for children, but lays blame on parents
Murray Watt, the federal environment minister, also spoke to RN, saying the government understands the situation as “distressing” for the children in Syria.
It’s a distressing situation that they’ve been placed in as a result of very bad decisions by their parents. We, of course, from a government perspective, you know, focus more than anything on the safety of Australians, and that explains the basis of our decisions that we’ve made about this group.
I do have sympathy for those children, and our government has sympathy for those children. But the decision to put the children in these situations was made by their parents. That’s something that we can’t change.
Watt maintained that any decision about repatriation comes after coordination with national security agencies.
Coalition maintains ‘anyone’ being repatriated from Syria presents a risk, even children
Jonathon Duniam, the shadow minister for home affairs, spoke this morning about the group of 34 women and children linked to Islamic State fighters who are stuck in Syria.
He was asked on RN if the children in the group should be subject to concern and protection from the Australian government after the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, maintained yesterday no one in the group would be provided any assistance to return.
Duniam said the situation was complex but the country’s security trumped their return:
Anyone being repatriated from this part of the world is indeed a risk when it comes to our security. We cannot ignore the risk associated with individuals, whether they be minors or indeed adults, when it comes to repatriating them here.
And indeed, when it comes to these minors, the temporary exclusion order regime does apply to individuals between the ages of 14 and 17, and some reports suggest that these aren’t just infants, they are indeed inclusive of teenagers who would be more advanced in thinking and beliefs than perhaps a younger child.
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British journalist who interviewed ex-prince Andrew ‘stunned’ by his arrest
Emily Maitlis, a British journalist who interviewed Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor during a disastrous interview in 2019, said on RN Breakfast this morning she is “stunned” at the former prince’s arrest.
Maitlis held the shocking interview in 2019, as the then-prince Andrew tried to explain his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein. The journalist told RN to many his arrest overnight seemed to happen “incredibly quickly”:
I am stunned. I just have to say this doesn’t happen in our country. It is virtually unheard of.
So, to say that this is a crisis moment, I think doesn’t begin to cover it.
Read more about the arrest here:
NSW says ebike safety ‘ a huge challenge to solve’
The New South Wales transport minister, John Graham, said the changes will recognise the reality of ebikes’ popularity while moving towards a safer future.
He said:
We want children outdoors and active but keeping them safe is paramount. I am concerned that we have primary school-aged children trying to control ebikes that in some cases are heavier than them.
The community has spoken against souped-up motorbikes masquerading as ebikes and this new standard makes clear that ebikes must perform like bicycles not motorbikes.
Make no mistake, with more than 750,000 e-bikes on NSW roads, this is a huge challenge to solve.
Read more here:
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NSW to introduce minimum age to ride an ebike
New South Wales will introduce a minimum age to ride an ebike as part of an effort to improve rider safety, the safety of pedestrians and of the wider community.
The minimum age will be between 12 and 16 and come after an expert review by Transport for NSW. Currently, a child of any age can ride an ebike and riders of any age can carry passengers if the bike’s design allows.
The Minns government said the state would also adopt safety and performance standards similar to those in Europe to ensure ebikes act more like bicycles, an effort to remove “high-powered illegal motorbikes masquerading as ebikes” from the streets.
Any ebike deemed to be against the law will be phased out over a three-year transition period to recognise they were bought legally. From 1 March 2029, only ebikes that meet European standards will be road legal in NSW.
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Good morning! Nick Visser here to take over. Let’s see what Friday has in store.
Dural crime scene a 'stronghold' linked to kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian, police say
NSW police said in a statement early this morning that robbery and serious crime squad detectives had “located a crime scene in Dural believed to be linked to the kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian”.
The 85-year-old was taken from his North Ryde home last Friday morning in what police said was a case of mistaken identity. Det Acting Supt Andrew Marks said on Monday that police believed Baghsarian was still alive.
You can read more about the story here:
In their Friday morning statement, police said a Dural property was “believed to have been used as a makeshift stronghold by the kidnappers”, and a search warrant was carried out there at 7pm on Thursday.
The investigation continues, they said, appealing again for public assistance and telling anyone who “may have seen or heard anything relating to the kidnapping or witnessed any sort of suspicious activity in the Dural area since last Friday” to contact police.
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Angus Taylor claims Australians ‘deeply concerned’ about classroom indoctrination
In Angus Taylor’s lengthy interview, Peta Credlin took the new opposition leader to a couple of other culture war issues including school curriculums, where he suggested children shouldn’t be “indoctrinated” in the classroom, and that “Australians are deeply concerned about it”.
I think our education system, our school system and our tertiary system has been drifting on this over a long period of time … we do need to give Australians the assurance that their kids are going to be educated, they’re going to be taught about our wonderful nation, warts and all, but they should be celebrating our country as part of their education, and they shouldn’t be receiving indoctrination.
We’ve heard the word indoctrination before – former Liberal leader Peter Dutton also said kids were being indoctrinated but claimed he had “no proposals” to change it.
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Get net zero ‘out of our system’, Taylor says
Net zero is still dead, if not more dead under Angus Taylor’s Liberal party.
When Sussan Ley announced the party’s commitment to drop net zero in November, she kept the caveat that net zero would still be a welcome outcome if “we can get there with technology, with choice and with voluntary markets”.
Taylor now wants to abandon net zero terminology as a whole, telling Sky News’ Peta Credlin on Thursday night:
I think the starting point is to get that net zero ideology out of our system … We have uranium, we have coal, we have gas, we do have renewables, of course, in people putting solar cells on their roofs at a rapid pace, it’s the mix that’s going to get us the solution.
The government – and experts – have argued that renewables are the cheapest form of electricity.
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Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the best breaking news stories before Nick Visser takes over.
The biggest story overnight was the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor at Sandringham estate, on suspicion of misconduct in public office – you can find our live coverage here and we’ll bring you more developments and reactions throughout the day.
Elsewhere, a group of Australian men suspected of being former IS State fighters are among more than 5,000 detainees transferred from Syria to Iraq, where they potentially face charges that could carry the death penalty.
And in New South Wales, police said early this morning that they have located a crime scene in Dural as investigations continue into the kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian. They will speak to media later this morning – and we’ll bring you more details soon.
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