That’s it for today, Tuesday 3 September
Here are the main stories of the day:
The federal Liberal party will intervene to forcibly take over the New South Wales division for 10 months after the state party’s council nominations debacle;
The clean up after wild weather across much of Australia’s east coast continues, as flood warnings are downgraded in Tasmania;
Two people were rescued from a yacht off the NSW south coast amid ferocious conditions;
Asio boss, Mike Burgess, says that his comments on the vetting process for people fleeing Gaza have been misrepresented;
The sacked former CFMEU national president, Jade Ingham, launched a legal fund campaign for their high court challenge;
Closing arguments continued in the defamation case brought by Liberal senator Linda Reynolds against Brittany Higgins; and
The Transport Workers Union disbanded its Victorian and Tasmanian branch after an investigation found the branch had “significant operational and cultural problems”.
We will see you back here tomorrow.
Updated
Reynolds’ lawyer quotes Motown song in closing argument
There were “no tears” behind Brittany Higgins’ smile during her time campaigning for the Liberal party in Perth, Linda Reynolds’ lawyer has told the court.
Martin Bennett is running through his closing arguments on Tuesday afternoon and turned to the young staffer’s time in Western Australia in April and May 2019.
Bennett said Higgins’ claims she was often left alone and isolated from her support network while campaigning for the 2019 federal election was a “complete falsification”.
Bennett said the “preposterous” claims were undermined by text messages she sent to her ex-boyfriend, photos of her smiling during campaign events and oral evidence from Reynolds’ witnesses during the trial.
Quoting a 60s Motown song, The Tracks of My Tears, Bennett said there weren’t tears behind Higgins’ smile.
He added Reynolds wasn’t an AFP investigator nor a counsellor, but she was watching Higgins for signs of distress and could not see any.
