What we learned: Sunday 25 August
We’re going to wind down our live blog coverage shortly. Here’s what’s been keeping us busy today:
In Tasmania, it has been a busy day of political bargaining as two former Jacqui Lambie Network MPs negotiate a new deal to guarantee supply and confidence to the state’s minority Liberal government.
The Northern Territory’s new leader says she will tackle crime in the territory after Labor suffered a devastating defeat. The chief minister elect, Lia Finocchiaro, is the first woman to lead the Country Liberal party in the role.
The number of deaths from drug overdoses in Australia has almost doubled in the last 20 years, with more than 42,000 Australians dying from overdose since 2002, according to a new report.
Bill Shorten said reforms to the NDIS have been hijacked by “misinformation being peddled by the extremists”. He also said the scheme was riddled with “rorts and shonks”.
Engadine in Sydney’s south saw a car collision followed by a multiple alleged stabbing attack in which four people were injured. Police said the alleged attacker stabbed his female partner with a box cutter while driving the car.
Finally, severe thunderstorms are forecast to impact parts of South Australia, Victoria and New South Wales, with weather warnings issued across the country’s south and south-east.
Thank you for joining us this Sunday. Stay safe.
Updated
Ex-Jacqui Lambie MPs commit to ‘providing the certainty and stability Tasmania deserves’ in joint statement
Back to Tasmania, where it has been a busy day of political bargaining.
Two former Jacqui Lambie Network MPs are negotiating a new deal to guarantee supply and confidence to the state’s minority Liberal government, reports AAP.
Braddon MP Miriam Beswick and Bass MP Rebekah Pentland will sit as independents in the lower house after being expelled on Saturday by the network founded by Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie.
The pair are among the cross-benchers premier Jeremy Rockliff’s minority Liberal government relies on to stay in power after the March election.
In a bid to assuage fears of the Rockliff government collapsing, Beswick and Pentland issued a joint statement on Sunday.
“We are committed to providing the certainty and stability Tasmania deserves,” they said.
“We will continue to offer the Rockliff government supply and confidence … We’ll sign a new agreement with the premier in the coming days and share that agreement publicly once it’s finalised.”
Updated
Prepare to leave: fast-moving bushfire in Queensland’s south-east
While Victoria and parts of southern Australia prepare for severe storms, the Queensland Fire Department has upgraded a bushfire notice in the Pikedale Road area from “stay informed” to “prepare to leave”.
Residents near Pikedale Road, McDougall Road, Glenvale Road and the New England Highway are being warned that a fast-moving fire is burning on Pikedale Road and the New England Highway.
“It is travelling towards Pikedale Road. Conditions could get worse quickly. Firefighters are working to contain the fire. You should not expect a firefighter at your door.”
Temperatures in parts of Queensland are above average today, with 25.4C recorded in Brisbane at 3pm.
PREPARE TO LEAVE - Pikedale Road (The Glen) - Multiple Warnings - fire as at 3:05pm Sunday, 25 August 2024
— Queensland Fire Department (@QldFireDept) August 25, 2024
For all current warnings, updates and mapping go to https://t.co/J7gghFTxkA pic.twitter.com/i4ZdDFX5sA
Updated
Damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall to batter Victoria, warns BoM
The Bureau of Meteorology has issued another severe thunderstorm warning for Victoria, with residents in western and central parts of the state told to prepare for damaging winds, large hailstones and heavy rainfall. Take care.
⚠️ Severe Thunderstorm Warning has been issued for parts of western and central Victoria. For more information see https://t.co/HLs2UYFQyQ ⚠️ pic.twitter.com/t7BihtOopG
— Bureau of Meteorology, Victoria (@BOM_Vic) August 25, 2024
Updated
Woman allegedly stabbed by man in DV attack in moving vehicle in critical condition
Back to Engadine, where police are piecing together a dramatic series of events that led to six people being injured in a car crash and alleged box cutter stabbing attack. NSW Health and police have confirmed:
A man and woman were taken to hospital with injuries sustained in the vehicle collision.
Another driver, the alleged attacker, 58, has self-inflicted stab wounds and is in a serious but stable condition in Liverpool hospital.
His partner and passenger, a 48-year-old woman, was taken to St George’s hospital with multiple stab wounds and is in a critical condition.
A male bystander who tried to help sustained abdominal wounds and is in a stable condition.
A male police officer has a large laceration to his wrist and is in a stable condition.
Updated
Decision to leave gender identity question off census ‘devastating and baffling’, say LGBTQ+ advocates
LGBTQ+ advocacy groups have responded to a Sky News report today claiming the next census will not include a question relating to gender identity.
The report said there had been a proposal for the 2026 census to ask the question, “Has your identity or gender changed” since the last census. That proposal was allegedly dumped, Sky News reported.
Advocacy groups have responded today saying they feel “betrayed” by the Australian Bureau of Statistics’ decision, which means figures for gender-diverse Australians won’t be collected by another census.
The Equality Australia’s chief executive, Anna Brown, said:
Our communities will continue to feel invisible and demeaned because the federal government hasn’t taken this opportunity to finally reflect the diversity of Australia and gather crucial information about the kinds of services people need.
The head of LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, Nicky Bath, described the decision as “devastating and baffling”.
This is a devastating and baffling decision that will retain the significant data gaps needed to address the pervasive health and wellbeing disparities that we continue to live with. It also means that accurate data will not be collected on LGBTIQ+ families.
Guardian Australia has contacted the ABS for a response.
Updated
Engadine alleged knife attack ‘definitely domestic-related’, say police
Staying with details from this morning’s Engadine car crash and alleged stabbing attack.
A 58-year-old man allegedly attacked his female partner with a box-cutter in a moving car. Supt Donald Faulds said it was “definitely domestic-related”.
He said there were “no apprehended violence orders between the two”.
He told reporters that onlookers who rushed to help in what they believed to be a “normal” vehicle collision had done “amazing work”.
They’ve turned up thinking it was a normal motor vehicle accident, so they’ve gone to render assistance to both people, and then they were faced with a male armed with a box cutter. Quite frightening but very brave from those people’s behalf.
Updated
Man allegedly stabbed woman in a moving vehicle before crashing and attacking two more people and himself with knife, say police
Details of a frenzied and frightening alleged stabbing attack in south Sydney this morning are emerging as police release further information.
A man, 58, was arrested after allegedly stabbing three people when the vehicle he was in crashed on Princes Highway in Engadine. He also sustained critical self-inflicted wounds.
It is understood the man allegedly attacked the woman with whom he was in a relationship while the car was moving.
Supt Donald Faulds told reporters:
We believe the female was being assaulted in the car while the male was driving the vehicle.
A number of witnesses mentioned the car was driving quite erratically at the time. We believe that’s when the assault was occurring in the car.
Updated
Man allegedly stabbed woman and himself in attack that injured six people in South Sydney, say police
Six people were injured in a car collision and multiple alleged stabbings in Sydney’s south this morning, police have confirmed.
Two people were injured in the collision, while four people allegedly sustained stab wounds, including self-inflicted ones by an alleged attacker, a 58-year-old man.
The alleged attacker and a woman, 48, in one car were in a relationship, Supt Donald Faulds, commander at Sutherland Shire police, told reporters. The woman was allegedly stabbed multiple times.
They are both in a critical condition.
The alleged attacker, who is known to police, was arrested.
Updated
Severe thunderstorms forecast across Melbourne, most of Victoria, BoM updates
The Bureau of Meteorology has updated its severe weather warning in Victoria. Severe thunderstorms are expected across Melbourne and much of the state, the bureau says.
Damaging weather is also expected in southern New South Wales as the day progresses. We’ll keep you updated.
Severe Weather Update: Severe #thunderstorms for #Melbourne & much of #Victoria today, possible across broader parts of the south-east. Video current: 1pm AEST 25 August 2024.
— Bureau of Meteorology, Australia (@BOM_au) August 25, 2024
Latest forecasts & warnings: https://t.co/4W35o8iFmh or the BOM Weather app. pic.twitter.com/QuXaG7Aib6
Updated
Police to give update on south Sydney alleged stabbings and crash about 2pm
NSW police will deliver an update about the multiple alleged stabbings and two-vehicle crash that forced the closure of a major highway in Sydney’s south this morning.
Four people were injured and a man Tasered by police, with onlookers describing a frenzied scene before his arrest in Engadine.
We’re expecting more details to be released after 2pm and will keep you informed.
Updated
Severe storms hit SA, Victoria and southern NSW
Severe storms that could bring damaging winds and hail have begun to hit parts of South Australia, Victoria and southern New South Wales.
The Bureau of Meteorology is warning people in Melbourne and other parts of Victoria that storms could be at their most dangerous mid this afternoon, and to take precautions.
Senior meteorologist Miram Bradbury said the storm risk across most of Melbourne would increase from about midday.
“The peak period for storms [in Melbourne] will be mid- to late-afternoon and pushing into the evening,” Bradbury said.
Bradbury said trough and cold front, moving from South Australia towards Victoria, is likely to bring widespread severe thunderstorms to three capitals – Adelaide, Melbourne and, to a lesser extent, Canberra.
Storms have already hit Adelaide, north and western Victoria, Melbourne and parts of western and inland New South Wales.
Updated
Former Jacquie Lambie MPs make deal to keep Tasmania’s minority Liberal government in power
Tasmania’s minority Liberal government looks set to cling to power, with two newly independent MPs poised to ink a new deal with the premier, Jeremy Rockliff.
The former Jacquie Lambie Network MPs have said they would sign a new agreement guaranteeing supply and confidence to Tasmania’s minority government.
Braddon MP Miriam Beswick and Bass MP Rebekah Pentland will sit as independents in the lower house after being expelled on Saturday by the network founded by Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie.
The pair are among crossbenchers Rockliff’s minority Liberal government relies on to stay in power after the March election.
In a bid to assuage fears of the Rockliff government collapsing, Beswick and Pentland issued a joint statement on Sunday.
“We are committed to providing the certainty and stability Tasmania deserves,” they said.
“We will continue to offer the Rockliff government supply and confidence.
“We’ll sign a new agreement with the premier in the coming days and share that agreement publicly once it’s finalised.”
Rockliff said he would make the new arrangement work.
“I pledged to work with the parliament that the Tasmanian people elected,” he said. “That’s what I have done, and will continue to do.
“I will not resile from this, no matter how hard it gets or whatever challenges are thrown my way.”
Beswick and Pentland “squandered” a golden opportunity to hold the government to account, their former party said.
“[They] have made it clear that they no longer represent the Jacqui Lambie Network’s values of accountability, transparency and integrity,” the party said.
Lyons MP Andrew Jenner will remain in the party.
Beswick denied her values had changed.
“Our relationship with Jacqui has unfortunately deteriorated over the past few months, and it’s now best if we represent our electorates as independents,” she said.
Pentland said the pair rejected assertions they no longer stand for accountability, transparency and integrity as “they’ll continue to guide every decision we make”.
The Tasmanian Labor opposition leader, Dean Winter, said his party had been “expecting the implosion” of the party, also known as JLN.
“Jeremy Rockliff has been talking up minority government, but the stability he promised is already gone,” he said.
One condition of JLN’s agreement to prop up the Liberal government, in power since 2014, was a deal for an independent report into the state’s finances.
Economist Saul Eslake’s analysis painted a bleak picture of the state’s budget and found the Liberal government was “entirely to blame” for the state’s economic deterioration.
He estimated net debt would rise to more than $16bn in 2034/35, more than 25% of gross state product, unless tax reform was implemented.
The report is looming large over parliament’s return in a fortnight, with the government due to respond when the budget is delivered on 12 September.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Triple Zero in NSW expanded to include live stream and text
People in New South Wales calling Triple Zero can now provide more accurate information by livestreaming or texting dispatchers using a new tool that can translate 150 languages.
The statewide rollout of BluLink allows Triple Zero callers to provide police with GPS coordinates, live video streaming, digital media uploads and text messages via a link from emergency dispatchers.
The internet-based media platform can help police confirm the exact location of an emergency and allow the public to send live vision to police of crimes and emergencies as they unfold.
The information will help emergency services dispatch the appropriate resources by allowing police to better triage incidents and support subsequent investigations.
About four in five Triple Zero calls come from mobile phones.
BluLink has already helped in more than 8000 incidents during a year-long trial and was used by investigators to collect and sort through footage of the mass stabbing at Bondi Junction in April.
In another case, two teenage brothers lost in the Blue Mountains after crashing their trail bikes were rescued 45 minutes after their location in an area with poor reception was sent to police.
“BluLink is an innovative way in which further information can be provided to us during a triple-zero call, which assists us in enhancing our policing response,” the NSW Police technology commander, assistant commissioner Stacey Maloney, said on Sunday.
– Australian Associated Press
Updated
Severe thunderstorm warning for Victoria
The Bureau of Meteorology says most of Victoria should be alert for possible severe thunderstorms, destructive winds and large hail.
It warned people to be aware of potential hazards, including damaged buildings, debris and fallen trees or power lines.
Updated
From 2GB reporter Clinton Maynard at Engadine:
Police officer stabbed, man in custody after running from the scene of this crash in Engadine. Two others injured. @2GB873 pic.twitter.com/YoMdAbV3ka
— Clinton Maynard (@ClintMaynard2GB) August 25, 2024
Updated
No threat to community after alleged south Sydney stabbing and car crash, say police
The NSW police minister, Yasmin Catley, says there is no ongoing risk to the community after a car crash and alleged stabbing in Sydney suburb Engadine.
Catley told reporters:
That investigation is under way [and] I’ve been advised that the person of interest has been arrested.
There is no threat to the community. I want the community to know there is no threat whatsoever.
Updated
Albanese government quiet on reports Jim Chalmers will visit China next month
Discussions over an upcoming state visit between Australia and China are under way after the Nine newspapers reported the treasurer, Jim Chalmers, could visit Beijing next month.
The Chinese Premier Li Qiang visited Australia in June – the first time a Chinese premier had done so in seven years. During the trip, the leaders signed a memorandum of understanding to re-establish strategic economic cooperation. Under the agreement, trips would be held annually alternating between Australia and China.
The Nine newspapers reported Chalmers could visit the Chinese capital in early September as China’s economy slows.
Asked to confirm the report on Sky News this morning, the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles, offered little insight.
Look, I can’t confirm that. But as I say, we’ve sought to normalise the relationship with China. We continue to do that. They are our largest trading partner and there is much that we can cooperate on in relation to our economy. We will continue to disagree with China where we must.
Updated
Four people including police officer injured after car crash and alleged stabbing in Sydney
The NSW police have issued a statement on the situation in Engadine. Four people, including a police officer, have been allegedly injured.
From the police:
Emergency services are responding to an incident at Engadine where four people – including a police officer – have been injured following a crash and [alleged] stabbing a short time ago.
Multiple calls were made to Triple Zero (000) after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection of Princes Highway and Old Bush Road about 9am (Sunday 25 August 2024).
Officers attached to Sutherland Shire Police Area Command arrived to find a man – who [allegedly] appeared to be suffering stab wounds – allegedly running from the crash scene. He was taken into custody with the deployment of a Taser.
A male police officer [allegedly] suffered a serious laceration to his left wrist believed to have been incurred during the arrest.
A woman – understood to be a passenger in the crashed vehicle – has [allegedly] been found also suffering multiple wounds.
A fourth person has been found injured. It’s unclear at this time what that person’s involvement is in this incident.
All four are being treated by NSW Ambulance paramedics.
The Princes Highway is closed in both directions. Drivers are urged to avoid the area.
More information will be provided when confirmed.
Updated
‘Serious’ situation under way in Sydney’s south, police say
A major police response is under way in Engadine, south of Sydney, where reports of a alleged stabbing and vehicle collision have closed the Princes Highway in both directions.
NSW Police could not confirm further details but said the situation was “serious”.
We’ll bring you more information as soon as we have it.
Updated
Shorten vows NDIS will no longer be ‘easy ride’ for service providers
And, a last dip into minister Bill Shorten’s self-confessed “passionate” appearance on Insiders: he said a flood of claims had landed before changes to the NDIS came into effect:
Some of the people who have been living high on the hog, some of the service providers and some of the intermediaries – and there are very good providers and intermediaries, let me say, before they bomb me with their texts – this won’t be the easy ride that there once was with lack of scrutiny, and so we have been flooded with claims that have increased the number by 100%.
It is taking [a] long time to process them because we are getting a whole lot of extra claims because people realise it is the end of the free drink, but all that will trend down in the next quarter.
Commenting on Gaza and security checks on visa applicants, he said Labor was “just following the procedures” when it came to character tests:
I don’t think supporting Hamas is worth supporting, but … I’ve never had the misfortune to live under a terrorist regime … If you lived in Gaza and you had to do a survey [on which your food depends] and say, ‘Do you support Hamas?’ I don’t know what you would do, David, but you would probably weigh up the interests of your family.
The reality is that 7,100 visa applications have been rejected. Of the 2,900 or so which have been accepted, 1,300 people have come to Australia. We are just following the procedures and rules which have been set in place.
Updated
Shorten refuses to ignore ‘rorts and shonks’ plaguing NDIS, he says
Bill Shorten, the NDIS minister, says the reforms to the scheme are about telling the truth.
My obligation is to everyone doing the right thing on the scheme. The dilemma with this reform is as simple as this: We just need to tell the truth. The truth is this scheme is very good, it’s the best in the world and we are investing more in people with disability. The truth is also: it is not working properly for some people, so we need better decision-making and there are rorts and shonks going on, and just because some people don’t want me to talk about it, I will.
Changes around the registrations of providers addressed other failures of the incumbent system, he told the ABC.
What’s wrong with asking that everyone who is driving someone that we see their driver’s licence and they have car insurance? What’s wrong with asking if you are going to work with children, that you have a working with children check? In fact, what is wrong with asking, ‘Are you a real person and do you exist?’
Updated
NDIS reforms hijacked by ‘misinformation being peddled by extremists’: Bill Shorten
Bill Shorten says reforms to the NDIS have been hijacked by “misinformation being peddled by the extremists”.
Speaking with ABC’s David Speers, he said the Greens had caused “misinformation and anxiety-raising” by opposing the changes that he said were designed to safeguard the system from “rorts and shonks”.
A guideline list of what participants can and cannot claim on the scheme has now become a list with the force of regulation behind it, he said.
The greatest fiction that I’ve heard is that somehow this government has invented a list as to what you can spend your money on. There has always been a list.
He said that “one of the problems with the NDIS is that you practically need a PhD in its language, such a jargon-heavy issue.”
Updated
Shorten says NDIS changes will not lead to less choice and control as feared
Bill Shorten, the NDIS minister, says the changes to the disability support scheme will not give participants less choice and control, as some fear.
He told ABC Insiders that more people will be on the scheme “this week than there were last week. We will invest more in people with disability on the scheme this week than last week.”
What we will see with this legislation is returning the scheme to its original intent. The reality is that for nine years before I became the minister, people with disability were a secondary consideration in the NDIS. The scheme is changing lives.
There are too many service providers who are rorting and overcharging. That is not the majority of service providers, but the reality is there were some individuals making a lot of money out of the scheme and outcomes and needs of people with disability were being ignored.
Those in the sector are watching closely after the bill was signed off by the House of Representatives on Thursday, with states and territories signing with the federal government on the reforms, which are designed to trim ballooning costs.
The reforms are designed to rein in the cost of the federal scheme, but onlookers called them a “betrayal” and said there was “heartbreak” in the disability community.
The final law, after nearly 100 amendments, will change the way participants receive plan budgets and give more powers to the head of the agency in charge of the scheme to prevent top-up payments on a participant’s budget.
Updated
After unseasonably warm weather in New South Wales, the Bureau of Meteorology is warning of damaging winds in some parts of the state.
Severe winds are this afternooon forecast in parts of the Snowy Mountains, South Coast, Illawarra and Southern Tablelands.
⚠️Severe Weather Warning is current for parts of the Snowy Mountains, South Coast, Illawarra and Southern Tablelands. Winds will increase later today and ease on Monday. Further windy weather is forecast throughout the week 🌬️
— Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales (@BOM_NSW) August 24, 2024
Updates at https://t.co/Ss766eSCrL or on the app pic.twitter.com/PHBZYnpx0D
Annual drug overdose deaths exceed road toll: report
The number of deaths from drug overdoses in Australia has almost doubled in the last 20 years, with more than 42,000 Australians dying from overdose since 2002, according to a new report.
There were 2,536 deaths from overdose in Australia in 2022, the most recent year for which statistics are available, up from 2,277 the previous year. The number of people who die from overdose exceeds the annual road toll, according to the report from the Penington Institute.
Opioids continue to be the most common drug type associated with unintentional deaths, contributing to nearly half of such deaths. Unintentional deaths involving heroin have increased by more than 400% from 2002 to 2022. About three-quarters of drug-induced deaths (73%) are caused by a combination of drugs in the system.
“Since the turn of the century more than 42,000 Australians have died from drug overdose. That is almost enough people to fill the SCG,” said John Ryan, the CEO of the Penington Institute.
“I’m tired of seeing overdose numbers in this country rise year upon year,” he said.
Governments have shown a capacity to take action to reduce deaths relating to some drugs – drink driving rules, plain-label tobacco packaging – but the inaction around reducing overdose is deplorable. We simply must come up with a national strategy to counter overdose, and we must do it now. Enough is enough.
Updated
Nine bushwalkers rescued in Blue Mountains
Nine bushwalkers have been rescued in two separate multi-agency operations in the Blue Mountains overnight.
New South Wales emergency services were called to Wentworth Falls at about 6.30 on Saturday evening after reports five teenage boys, aged 15 and 16, had become lost while bushwalking in the Blue Mountains national park.
A command post was established by police officers and with the assistance of the rescue and bomb disposal unit and PolAir, police entered bushland and were able to find them.
The boys were assisted out of the bush and treated by paramedics for minor injuries at about 10:30pm.
A separate multi-agency search launched in bushland near Beauchamp Falls, Blackheath, at about 7.30pm after reports four men, aged in their 20s, had also become lost while bushwalking.
The group activated a personal locator beacon which enabled PolAir to locate them swiftly.
The men were walked out of the bush just before midnight and were assessed by paramedics.
Updated
We’ll be bringing you Bill Shorten’s interview on the ABC’s Insiders program to you shortly.
The minister is expected to elaborate on how this week’s deal with states and territories and new legislation that passed through parliament may effect the NDIS and who may be eligible to make claims under the scheme.
More to come.
Updated
Over to Tasmania, where the premier vows to make governing work “no matter how hard it gets” despite a major fracture in the balance of power keeping the Liberals in charge.
Two MPs from the Jacqui Lambie Network on Saturday parted ways with the party to serve as independents in Tasmania’s lower house, reports AAP.
Miriam Beswick and Rebekah Pentland are among crossbenchers Jeremy Rockliff’s minority Liberal government relies upon to stay in power, and he has promised to continue so as to avoid another election and maintain business confidence.
In a statement on Saturday afternoon, Rockliff said he would make it work, saying he was committed to stability and certainty.
“I pledged to work with the parliament that the Tasmanian people elected,” he said.
That’s what I have done, and will continue to do.
I will not resile from this, no matter how hard it gets or whatever challenges are thrown my way.
Beswick and Pentland have “squandered” a golden opportunity to hold the government to account, their former party said in a statement.
“(They) have made it clear that they no longer represent the Jacqui Lambie Network’s values of accountability, transparency and integrity,” the party said.
The two MPs said they were “no longer aligned” with the network founded by Tasmanian senator Jacqui Lambie, while Beswick denied her values have changed.
“Our relationship with Jacqui has unfortunately deteriorated over the past few months and it’s now best if we represent our electorates as independents,” she said.
Ms Pentland said the pair reject assertions they no longer stand for accountability, transparency and integrity as “they’ll continue to guide every decision we make”.
New NT chief minister pledges to restore ‘our lifestyle’
The Country Liberal party says it will get to work tackling crime after its a resounding win in the Northern Territory election, AAP reports.
Labor suffered a devastating defeat with a swing of 12.3 per cent to the CLP on a two-party preferred basis, with the ALP gaining just 25.9 per cent of the primary vote.
The chief Minister, Eva Lawler, was ousted in her seat of Drysdale.
The chief minister elect, Lia Finocchiaro, the first woman to lead the CLP in the role, said the hard work on behalf of all Territorians would begin on Sunday in “the start of a new day and a new chapter”.
“I will meet with the police commissioner and the chief executive of the chief minister and cabinet to start the work that must immediately begin to make the territory safe,” she said in her acceptance speech.
“We will do whatever it takes. We will do whatever it takes to restore community safety.”
Finocchiaro said her party would get to work on delivering its plan to reduce crime, rebuild the economy and restore “our lifestyle.”
And we will not let you down.
Labor will now turn its mind to finding a new leader.
“Every day I drove into work I would pinch myself and say this is an honour,” Lawler said.
I would have liked longer … It is now up to Labor in opposition to rebuild and look forward, but also to listen to what Territorians have said. That is politics.
Updated
Good morning
Welcome to the Guardian’s Sunday news blog.
We’ll kick off this morning with the fallout from the election in the Northern Territory, where the Country Liberal party is now in power after resoundingly ousting Labor.
In Tasmania, unrest in the ranks of Jacqui Lambie’s party has served a major governing challenge to the premier, Jeremy Rockliff.
Let’s get going.
