Australia news live: ABC apologises after Radio National goes silent; police seize Brett Whiteley art and luxury yacht from crime syndicate
Radio National back after outage
Good news to the radio waves – ABC RN is back across digital and analogue platforms and streaming, more than two hours after it first cut out.
Key events
Seven arrested and man hospitalised after alleged street brawl in western Sydney
Seven people have been arrested following an alleged stabbing brawl in western Sydney this morning.
About 4.15am on Monday, emergency services were called to a road in Green Valley following reports of a brawl. Officers arrived to find a group of people allegedly fighting in the street, including a 29-year-old man – allegedly wearing a balaclava – with a stab wound to his back.
He was treated by paramedics at the scene before being taken to Liverpool hospital under police guard in a serious but stable condition.
Police arrested four women – aged 32, 33, 59 and 19 – and two men – aged 26 and 21 – before taking them to Liverpool police station.
Officers have established a crime scene and detectives have launched an investigation into the incident.
Following initial inquiries, police believe the group allegedly confronted two men – both wearing balaclavas – after they tracked a vehicle allegedly stolen from Mt Prichard earlier this week to Green Valley.
Police have also been told one of the men wearing a balaclava fled the scene before police arrived. No charges have been laid.
Lismore MP to lead flood recovery efforts as Minns reshuffles cabinet
A veteran MP has landed a state cabinet posting and responsibility for leading disaster recovery efforts after becoming a key voice for local communities devastated by floods, AAP reports.
Lismore MP Janelle Saffin will enter the inner circle of NSW premier Chris Minns’ government as part of a reshuffle sparked by a minister’s resignation over her use of a taxpayer-funded car.
Saffin has been a high-profile advocate for the region following record-breaking floods in 2022 that left thousands of homes uninhabitable or damaged. The Labor veteran was first elected to state parliament in 1995 and also served a six-year stint as the federal member for Page.
Saffin has been given a newly created post as recovery minister, and will also take on the portfolios of small business and minister for the north coast.
John Graham has also been permanently given the role of transport minister, leaving him responsible for handling a bitter dispute with rail workers over pay.
Graham has been acting in the role after his predecessor Jo Haylen resigned from the portfolio after using her ministerial car to travel from a holiday home to a winery for lunch and for other private trips.
He will keep his role negotiating with private toll operator Transurban to overhaul pricing on Sydney’s sprawling network of motorways. He will also keep his responsibilities as special minister of state, minister for the arts, minister for music and minister for night-time economy.
Roads will become the responsibility of Jenny Aitchison, whose existing portfolio of regional roads will be absorbed into the ministry.
Federal budget to put cost of living ‘front and centre’ – Gallagher
Cost of living will be “front and centre” of Labor’s budget ahead of the federal election, following scathing reports in News Corp tabloids that suggested the price of groceries had soared under the Albanese government.
Front page headlines across metropolitan New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Tasmania included “aisles be damned – Labor pains at checkout as groceries soar 30%”, “$3000 extra at the shops” and “Albo’s shop of horrors”.
Finance minister Katy Gallagher told reporters in Canberra on Monday that the budget, to be handed down next week, would follow the same path as the previous three delivered with a focus on driving down inflation and helping households.
The fourth Albanese budget will have a higher premium on responsible economic management. Of course, cost of living will be front and centre, making sure that we are supporting households where we can now that we’re seeing inflation come back to the more normal range.
Cabinet minister Tanya Plibersek told Seven’s Sunrise program the government was keeping pressure on the supermarket sector in response to concerns over grocery prices.
We keep saying to those supermarkets they have got to do something at the checkout because families are really feeling those grocery price increases.
We’re proud of the fact that we have brought inflation down from 6%, which we inherited under the Liberals, to just over 2%. But there’s still more to do to make sure that people are feeling a bit of relief at the supermarket checkout.
– with AAP
Search on for man, 23, missing after reportedly falling into Queensland waters
In Queensland, a search and rescue operation is continuing today to attempt to locate a 23-year-old man reported missing from Jindalee boat ramp yesterday.
Emergency services were called just before 5.40am on Monday following reports the man had fallen into the water and failed to resurface.
This morning’s search is focusing on the river and shoreline upstream from Seventeen Mile Rocks.
Search assets include general duties officers conducting foot patrols, water police, Polair and the SES.
Radio National back after outage
Good news to the radio waves – ABC RN is back across digital and analogue platforms and streaming, more than two hours after it first cut out.
Police seize Brett Whiteley art and luxury yacht from crime syndicate
More than $11m in luxury assets – including a yacht, Rolex watches, Cartier jewellery and Brett Whiteley art – has been forfeited to the commonwealth as suspected proceeds of crime after an Australian federal police (AFP) investigation.
The decision in the supreme court of Victoria grew out of AFP-led operation, which focused on a large Middle Eastern organised crime syndicate’s alleged access to firearms, large-scale drug importation activity, extensive wealth and threats to life.
The investigation uncovered significant plots involving alleged drug importations, including how they were planned by syndicate leaders from prison.
It also included an investigation into numerous luxury items owned by syndicate members, which were suspected of being proceeds of crime. They included a luxury yacht worth $800,000, investment funds, original paintings, fine jewellery and properties.
AFP detective superintendent Scott Raven said the seizure was “key to disrupting and deterring serious organised crime across the country”.
Money remains the lifeblood of organised crime and cutting off the flow of ill-gotten finances helps prevent further harm to the community by cutting off revenue and motivation.
Krishani Dhanji
Turnbull says Trump will think ‘who are these dumb guys that agreed to this deal?’
Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull says Donald Trump would “like” the Aukus defence pact because it’s “so bad” for Australia.
Turnbull, whose submarine deal with the French had been torpedoed in favour of the pact with the US and the UK, has just popped up in a corridor at Parliament House.
Asked whether the pact will be secure under the Trump administration, the former PM says Australia has already sent the US $3bn to support their submarine base, but with “no guarantee that we will ever get any submarines”.
The most likely outcome of the August pillar one is that we will end up with no submarines of our own… So we will have lost both sovereignty and security and a lot of money as well.
So people say, will Donald Trump like it? Well, of course he’d like it. It’s such a bad deal for us. His only thing at the back of his mind, he’ll be thinking: who are these dumb guys that agreed to this deal?
Radio National partially returns
ABC Radio National is back on streaming services, however it is still playing apologies and classical music to listeners tuning in the traditional way.
Earlier, RN posted to social media saying it was “aware of an issue which began after 8:00am AEST and is impacting Radio National and other audio services on broadcast and streaming services including ABC listen”.
The ABC apologises for any inconvenience caused and we are working to understand and resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Mass fish kill hits northern NSW amid warning more to come in cyclone’s wake
Members of the public are being urged to help track the extent of a fish kill in a region hit hard by ex-Tropical Cyclone Alfred, AAP reports.
Thousands of fish have been washing up dead or gasping on the banks of the Richmond River at Ballina in northern NSW, according to habitat charity OzFish.
Locals have been warned to brace for more fish kills as the effects of the ex-tropical cyclone continue to wreak havoc a week after it crossed the coast, triggering widespread flooding in northern NSW and south-east Queensland.
A NSW government fisheries spokesperson said an investigation was under way into reports of the kill.
Fisheries staff are liaising with local councils on monitoring water quality and the fish deaths, with several locations impacted. Ongoing fish kills in this region can be expected over the coming days and into next week.
OzFish chief executive Cassie Price said black water containing very low levels of oxygen was likely the cause.
NSW police get ‘bullet and blast resistant’ BearCat vehicles
New South Wales police has unveiled five $3.5m armoured Lenco “BearCat” vehicles to be used to respond to the state’s most dangerous incidents, including tactical operations, counter-terrorism and riots.
The vehicles will transport officers to negotiators during operations where protection from hostile weapon fire and a safe base of operations is required.
One of the nine-tonne BearCats are equipped with an extendable ramp which will allow officers to access multi-storey buildings and aircraft for the first time – an Australian first.
Minister for police and counter-terrorism Yasmin Catley said the custom vehicles would greatly improve the capability of police to disrupt “high-risk situations” across the state.
NSW police commissioner Karen Webb said the vehicles were “about protecting our specialist officers”.
All of these vehicles are bullet and blast resistant and have the capacity to transport hostages or injured personnel.
Man found dead with stab wounds in Sydney
A man in Sydney’s south-west has been found deceased with multiple stab wounds after an alleged concern for welfare call was made.
About 9pm on Saturday, emergency services received a triple zero call at a home in Belmore. On arrival, police found the body of a man – believed to be in his 30s – and a 24-year-old man at the scene.
Initial inquiries alleged a number of stab wounds were found on the deceased man’s body.
The other man was taken to Concord Hospital for further assessment under police guard and later taken to Campsie police station for further inquiries.
The body is yet to be formally identified.
A crime scene has been established and inquiries are continuing.
ABC apologises as Radio National and other services hit by outages
Back to ABC RN, which is still playing silence for this blogger, and the broadcaster has provided an update over the technical difficulties – which have now lasted almost an hour.
In a statement, it told Guardian Australia the outages were also hitting some other audio broadcasting and streaming services.
The ABC is aware of an issue which began after 8:00am AEDT this morning and is impacting Radio National and other audio services on broadcast and streaming services including ABC listen.
The ABC apologises for any inconvenience caused and we are working to understand and resolve the issue as soon as possible.
Pocock launches re-election campaign as ‘safeguard’ if Coalition takes power
Independent senator David Pocock has pitched himself as a politician critical to “safeguarding” action on climate change if opposition leader Peter Dutton wins minority government at the upcoming federal election, AAP reports.
The former rugby union star is vying for a second term as an ACT senator and launched his re-election campaign at Old Parliament House late on Sunday, telling his supporters:
Particularly if we see a Dutton minority government, the Senate will be critical on safeguarding some of the very hard-won gains on things like climate.
Finance minister Katie Gallagher holds the only other ACT Senate spot and until Pocock was elected, the two seats were usually occupied by one representative each from Labor and the Liberals.
Pocock said he was “just getting started” and that standing up to major parties would be a bigger part of his campaign centred around climate, cost of living, housing and health.
Advocate and student Hannah Vardy was announced as his running mate, put forward as a voice for young people.
The fourth-year law, biology and climate science student was part of a campaign for parliament to legislate a duty of care to younger generations regarding climate change action.
Crisafulli to give presser at Gold Coast high school
The Queensland government has just announced that the premier, David Crisafulli, and the minister for education, John-Paul Langbroek, will hold a news conference this morning.
They will be appearing at Helensvale state high school on the Gold Coast at 9.30am local time.
Putting my education hat on – Queensland is the only state or territory that hasn’t signed up to the federal government’s public school funding deal ahead of the federal election.
Previous announcements have seen premiers appearing alongside the federal minister for education, Jason Clare, so it will be interesting to see if we receive an update.
We have now clocked up half an hour of soothing violins and apologies from ABC Radio National or, if you’re an app user like me … silence.
We are still waiting to hear back from the ABC as to what the problem is, but in the meantime, it appears local stations are working as normal.
NSW swelters in up to 39C before cool change
New South Wales was hit with an autumn scorcher on Sunday, with maximum temperatures up to 12 degrees above the March average in Sydney.
That’s according to the Bureau of Meteorology’s Jonathan How, who said many parts of NSW peaked above 35 degrees, particularly across the west and central parts of the state.
Temperatures peaked above 37 degrees in the Sydney CBD, and reached 39.3 at Sydney airport.
Then the cool change arrived. How said:
In Sydney, the temperature dropped eight degrees in just 30 minutes before 1am from 31 degrees to 23 degrees in a short period of time. And many other places across the coast did also see quite a sharp drop in temperature as that strong southerly change pushed through.
We saw that cool change move through Victoria and Tasmania earlier in the day, on Sunday that was associated with a very strong cold front pushing through south eastern parts of the country. We saw plenty of showers, some strong winds, and also a significant drop in temperature across both Tasmania and also Victoria.
How said temperatures would begin to rise again from Tuesday and get “quite warm” by the middle of the week across South Australia, Victoria, Tasmania and southern NSW.
