What we learned today, Friday 23 June
That’s where we’ll leave the blog for today – thanks so much for joining us. Here is a wrap of the day’s biggest stories:
The Russian government has launched a high court challenge to laws designed to stop it from building a new embassy close to Parliament House in Canberra.
Families in some parts of Sydney where all the local high schools are single-sex will have the option of a co-educational school from 2025, the state government has announced, while others will have to wait until 2027.
Anthony Albanese has said the solicitor general agrees the Senate’s decision to twice delay the $10bn housing Australia future fund constitutes a failure to pass the bill, which is the first step towards a double dissolution election.
The New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has again refuted claims of a “cover-up” by the state’s police force following the Tasering of a 95-year-old grandmother.
Queensland’s police commissioner defended an officer’s actions after “confronting footage” emerged of him repeatedly punching a man involved in a head-on crash in Brisbane’s north.
The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, announced the inaugural national cybersecurity coordinator will be air vice-marshal Darren Goldie.
The Victorian Greens and Liberals have lashed out at the Andrews Labor government for suddenly hiking transport fares amid the cost-of-living crisis.
The Labor premier, Peter Malinauskas, has backed his federal colleagues in rejecting the Greens push for a rent freeze – despite a majority of Australians supporting the idea.
Heavy rainfall has caused flooding across metropolitan Adelaide and the Adelaide Hills.
Updated
More pollies good for democracy, electoral experts say
An increase in the number of politicians would improve democracy but skepticism remains on whether territories should gain more senators, an inquiry has heard, AAP reports.
Electoral experts on Friday discussed the viability of current representation in parliament at a hearing of the committee examining the 2022 federal election.
While opinions differed on whether the territories should gain more senators, there was general agreement on raising numbers in the lower house.
Electoral analyst, Ben Raue, said:
It is good for democracy ... It brings voters closer to their representatives. It gives them more options in parliament, more MPs to express their views.
There’s also advantages for the way that the Senate operates if you were to elect at least seven members per state (at a half-Senate election) in terms of it being less likely to have deadlocks.
