What we learned: Wednesday 19 March
We will wrap up the live blog here for the evening. Here’s what made the news:
The shadow treasurer Angus Taylor has said it is not the Coalition policy to hold a referendum on deporting dual citizens if it wins the election, but several of his colleagues have not ruled it out.
The Coalition, however, has floated the idea of adding a question to the citizenship test around antisemitism.
Deputy prime minister Richard Marles said the Gaza ceasefire breakdown is “very disappointing” and Australia wanted to “see the entire terms of the ceasefire fulfilled”.
The Coalition is promising to fast-track a decision on Woodside’s North West Shelf gas extension if it wins the upcoming federal election.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, labelled the announcement a thought bubble.
The embattled billionaire founder of software firm WiseTech Global, Richard White, made “incomplete” disclosures to the company about the nature and length of personal relationships, according to a board-ordered review into his conduct.
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, issued a short statement hitting back at a report in the Herald Sun, which alleged the police commissioner and deputy commissioner were removed from their roles last month due to a conspiracy.
North Queensland has endured substantial rainfall through the course of Wednesday.
Factcheckers will be in operation on posts on Facebook and Instagram during the Australian federal election this year, with the move to ditch factcheckers limited to the US for now.
Until tomorrow, enjoy your evening.
Judge orders Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson to pay own costs in Bruce Lehrmann defamation case
Justice Michael Lee ordered Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson pay their own costs as he ended a long-running dispute over the legal costs incurred by the defence in the defamation brought by Bruce Lehrmann.
Ten has already agreed to pay $1.15m to Wilkinson for her own legal representation but the outstanding costs incurred by both parties in the costs dispute came before the federal court today.
Lee said he will “make no orders as to cost”. “I’m not going to have any further disputation,” he said.
“I do not find either party acted unreasonably, but this is not the same as concluding each party acted equally reasonably in engaging with the process, given the nature of the dispute, this is regrettable,” Lee said.
“It took so long for Ms Wilkinson to make an offer, which, even when it came would, even if accepted, had perpetuated an aspect of disputation.”
Lee said he wanted to spare “both myself and the court being required to have any further involvement at this stage of the judicial hierarchy” and declared the matter settled.
Updated
