What we learned, Wednesday 14 February
We are going to wrap up the news live blog here for today. Here’s what made the news:
Over 134,000 homes across Victoria are still without power after storms hit parts of the state on Tuesday. Power outages could last weeks.
A 50-year-old dairy farmer in Mirboo North in the south Gippsland area died in yesterday’s storm after being hit by debris, authorities say.
Lawyers representing the ACT government told a court that a columnist at the Australian, Janet Albrechtsen, should not be considered an “advocate” for Bruce Lehrmann who “infected” the head of an inquiry into his failed prosecution with bias.
Ten has been ordered to pay journalist Lisa Wilkinson’s legal fees in the Lehrmann defamation suit. The judgment in the suit is likely to be handed down in March or April, the court heard.
The Sydney Mardi Gras annual Fair Day was cancelled after the park in which it is held joined the growing number of sites in NSW to be discovered to have asbestos-tainted mulch.
Liverpool West public school will also be closed for weeks due to tainted mulch.
We’ll be back tomorrow with the latest in federal politics and news more broadly. Until then, have a safe evening.
Updated
House passes motion urging US and UK to allow Julian Assange to return to Australia
Federal MPs have voted in favour of a motion urging the US and the UK to allow the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange to return to Australia.
A short time ago, the House of Representatives passed the motion with 86 votes in favour and 42 against.
Anthony Albanese and Labor MPs, the Greens and numerous crossbenchers voted in favour of the motion, while Peter Dutton and the Coalition voted against it. Liberal MP Bridget Archer crossed the floor to vote in favour of the motion.
We’ll have the full story soon.
Updated
