What we learned today, Wednesday 13 March
Thank you for joining us on the live blog today – here is a wrap of the main news:
Authorities are working to rescue two people trapped under rock after a collapse in a regional Victorian mine.
Aerial searches will resume for seven people who are missing amid flooding in remote Western Australia after severe weather hampered efforts.
The billionaire mining magnate Clive Palmer has vowed to build a vessel “far, far superior than the original” as he unveiled designs for his Titanic II project – again.
The former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said Australia has been “mugged by reality” over the Aukus submarine deal after the US announced it will halve the number of submarines it will build next year.
Four federal politicians have defended taxpayer-funded trips that allowed them to attend the 2022 Melbourne Cup, costing more than $5,000 in accommodation and transport.
The lives of detainees in Australia’s immigration detention centres are controlled by a secret rating system that is opaque and often riddled with errors, a Guardian investigation has found.
The minister responsible for Victoria’s Suburban Rail Loop cannot say how much the underground railway will cost, despite lashing an independent analysis that suggested building and running the first two stages will total more than $216bn.
See you bright and early tomorrow.
Updated
Search to resume for seven people missing in WA floods
The search for seven missing people – including four children – in Western Australia will resume in the next two hours, after delays due to severe weather conditions.
Two vehicles, a beige-coloured Toyota LandCruiser and a white Mitsubishi Triton, were believed to have left Kalgoorlie-Boulder on Sunday between 10am and 2pm, making for Tjuntjuntjara, police said on Tuesday.
Both vehicles contained elderly drivers, with the Mitsubishi Triton also containing five other passengers, four of whom are children aged between seven and 17.
WA police says its air wing and the local Kalgoorlie helicopter and air services have now been deployed to search the vast area between Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Tjuntjuntjara, which are around 650km apart.
The road between the two areas is still dangerous.
Updated
