Dan Jervis-Bardy
Colin Boyce’s push to topple David Littleproud as Nationals leader has failed.
The Nationals whip, Michelle Landry, confirmed Boyce’s motion to spill the leadership at a party room meeting on Monday was unsuccessful.
Updated at 22.38 EST
Key events
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Natasha May
No local transmission of measles in Australia only due to ‘luck’, expert says
NSW Health are warning there is an increased risk of measles as people continue to return from overseas holidays where there are ongoing outbreaks.
There have been 14 confirmed cases in the state since 1 December.
Prof Catherine Bennett, the chair of epidemiology at Deakin University, says “it’s down to luck now that we aren’t seeing more local transmission.”
Like in the US where a measles outbreak occurred in Texas, Australia has seen a drop in childhood vaccination rates and an expansion of networks in our population less likely to get vaccinated, Bennett says.
What do measles outbreaks overseas mean for Australia? – video
If someone in one of these communities were to become infected with the most infectious virus we know, she says the disease could “move into a community quite quickly”.
“Having pockets or networks in the community where people aren’t vaccinated, that’s the real risk,” Bennett said. She continued:
The chances are increasing all the time [the virus] will find that part of the community where people aren’t vaccinated.
Bennett highlights Australia is watching other countries losing their measles elimination status, as the UK did only days ago.
Updated at 23.42 EST
Amanda Meade
James Valentine to retire from the ABC
Broadcaster and saxophonist James Valentine has told ABC listeners he won’t be returning to host his afternoon program because of his ongoing battle with cancer.
The host of Sydney’s Afternoons for 25 years, Valentine had surgery in 2024 before returning to the airwaves and then leaving again in June after he was diagnosed with omentum cancer, which affects a layer of tissue over the stomach and intestines.
“I won’t be coming back this year to the microphone and the Afternoons program” Valentine said today. “It’s time for me to retire”.
This decision has been hard for me to make but I need to focus on getting better and being with family and friends and making sure I’m giving my health my best shot.
On Friday producer Jen Fleming and Valentine, 64, will present a retrospective of Afternoons.
Valentine spent his early 20s in rock band Models before joining the ABC to host cartoons on ABC TV’s The Afternoon Show. He went on to work across several ABC television programs before moving into radio at 666 ABC Radio Canberra and subsequently the Mornings program in Sydney.
Updated at 23.22 EST
Alleged vandal behind Pam the Bird pleads not guilty to more than 200 offences
The alleged graffiti vandal behind Pam the Bird has pleaded not guilty to more than 200 offences and will fight the charges at trial, AAP reports.
Jack Gibson-Burrell, 22, faced Melbourne magistrates court in person on Monday, wearing red Crocs, when a magistrate decided to send his case to the county court for trial.
He has been charged with 209 offences, including more than a dozen of reckless conduct endangering life or serious injury, criminal damage, theft and aggravated burglary.
A cartoon-like image of Pam the Bird is seen in Melbourne. Photograph: Diego Fedele/AAP
Gibson-Burrell is accused of causing about $700,000 in damage, including to heritage-listed Victorian landmarks where he allegedly sprayed the Pam the Bird tag.
This includes allegations he trespassed into Melbourne’s Flinders Street station in July 2024 and abseiled up its famous clock tower in order to paint the bird on it.
Updated at 23.13 EST
Daisy Dumas
Thank you, Nick Visser. Let’s get going with the remainder of the afternoon’s breaking news.
Nick Visser
That’s all from me, thanks for sticking with us so far. Daisy Dumas will take things from here before handing to Catie McLeod later this arvo.
Updated at 23.04 EST
How Carlos Alcaraz celebrated his Australian Open triumph
Carlos Alcaraz celebrates Australian Open triumph by gaming with brother – video
At only 22, Carlos Alcaraz said it was a “dream come true” to become the youngest man to complete the career grand slam, a record formerly held by Don Budge since 1938, 87 years ago.
He beat Novak Djokovic in four sets on Sunday night in the men’s singles final. There was little fanfare after the match, with Alcaraz saying gaming with his brother and friends was “more than enough” to celebrate the win.
ShareNationals leader David Littleproud survives
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Colin Boyce’s push to topple David Littleproud as Nationals leader has failed.
The Nationals whip, Michelle Landry, confirmed Boyce’s motion to spill the leadership at a party room meeting on Monday was unsuccessful.
Updated at 22.38 EST
Tom McIlroy
GetUp accuses Advance of hypocrisy after ‘grassroots’ group shown to have accepted almost $900,000 from Gina Rinehart
Political campaign group GetUp has accused Advance of hypocrisy after new electoral donations data showed mining magnate Gina Rinehart was a major backer.
Rinehart’s Hancock Prospecting donated almost $900,000 to Advance last financial year, despite Advance claiming to fight “activists and elites”.
GetUp’s Paul Ferris said Advance was “a handful of donors with disproportionate wealth and power attempting to influence our elections.”
All of this from a group that claims to be ‘grassroots’, while clearly taking the vast majority of its funds from millionaires and billionaires.
They can claim to represent regular Australians all they want – but the data shows their true backers are the billionaires. This isn’t grassroots politics. It’s fake, billionaire-funded astroturfing.
Advance executive director Matthew Sheahan said in a statement that the organisation received 52,898 contributions from 15,758 individual donors in 2024-25, claiming 92% of all donations were $150 or less.
Updated at 22.27 EST
Nationals meet to debate Littleproud’s leadership and the future of the Coalition
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Nationals MPs have filed into a meeting in Canberra to debate David Littleproud’s leadership and the future of the Coalition.
As we reported earlier, MPs are scheduled to debate two motions: backbencher Colin Boyce’s attempt to spill the leadership so he can challenge Littleproud for the top job, and Darren Chester’s push to urgently restart talks with the Liberals to reform Coalition.
Nationals leader David Littleproud arrives for a Nationals partyroom meeting at Parliament House. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP
Boyce’s spill motion is widely predicted to fail – the Flynn MP has admitted as much himself.
Guardian Australian understands there is some support for Chester’s motion – including from former leader Michael McCormack.
We’ll have the outcome of both votes as soon as we hear word from the party room.
Updated at 22.28 EST
Josh Butler
Bragg says no need to rush Coalition reunion
Many senior Liberals are speaking of their desire to see the Nationals rejoin the Coalition, but shadow minister Andrew Bragg says there is no need to rush to reunite.
In a press conference, Bragg said the opposition had a “massive challenge” to win back seats in cities and urban areas, and that the Liberals should be “clear-eyed about the challenge”.
“We’ve tried to make it work with the Nats, we’ve tried valiantly over the course of the last six to eight months, and sometimes things don’t work out. We hope that they will in future, but we’re not desperate. And if we go to the election as the Liberal party, then so be it,” he said, adding:
We’re not going to cycle through some desperate phase of saying, ‘please come back’. I mean, that’s not going to happen. That will not be productive, and it would show that we’re not focused on what our goal is, to win back seats – not exclusively, but largely, in urban Australia where most people live.
So I think we should be honest about what we can control and what we can’t control. We’ve tried to make it work. It hasn’t been all that productive so far in this parliament. And so if we go to the next election as the Liberal party, and they go as the National party, then that’s okay.
Updated at 22.05 EST
Grass trees set aflame after South Australia bushfire
An uncontrolled bushfire in South Australia set dozens of grass trees aflame last night as 175 firefighters worked in steep and challenging terrain to try and contain the blaze.
Willunga Country Fire Service said the Deep Creek bushfire quickly scorched a large area, requiring a coordinated firefighting effort from multiple agencies and crews both on the ground and in the air.
Dramatic images show a field of grass trees engulfed in flames as dozens of firetrucks attempted to stop the spread of the fire.
The area is currently subject to a watch and act bushfire warning, urging some in the area to leave now amid potential threats to safety.
The fire was burning in steep and challenging terrain, requiring coordinated efforts from multiple agencies and crews on the ground and in the air.” Photograph: Willunga CFSNearly 175 firefighters were on scene. Photograph: Willunga CFSWillunga CFS joined other local brigades to assist with a bushfire at Deep Creek. Photograph: Willunga CFSShare
Wildlife rescue reminds drivers to stop and check after koala’s miraculous survival
A wildlife rescue in South Australia reminded drivers this weekend to stop and check if you hit an animal, after the incredible story of Axle the koala, who survived a recent run-in with a car.
Southern Koala and Echidna Rescue said the koala is “incredibly lucky to be alive” after being hit with such force that he was “thrown through the grille of a car … and yet, somehow he has come away with only minor injuries”.
Our amazing volunteer rescuers responded just before midnight and carefully worked to free Axle from the car. He was vet-checked today and, aside from a scrape and what we imagine is a very sore head, this brave boy is remarkably okay.
The photos below so the koala trapped inside the vehicle before his rescue.
Huge thank you to the driver who stopped, checked, and called our 24-hour hotline. One phone call truly made all the difference.
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Melissa Davey
Big tobacco gives big to the Nationals
The National party received a combined total of $225,500 from big tobacco companies through a combination of donations and “other receipts” (which includes membership fees, corporate sponsorship, grants, contracts etc) in the 2024-25 financial year.
The Australian Electoral Commission’s annual financial disclosure return information from political parties was published today, and it shows that one month before the federal election, tobacco company Philip Morris Ltd (PMI) increased its donation direct to the Nationals from the previous year significantly, up from $100,000 to $137,500.
The donation also followed PMI’s federal pre-budget submission where the tobacco company called for a Productivity Commission “root-and-branch review into Australia’s tobacco and illicit nicotine market” and for “an immediate freeze in tobacco excise rates”.
Meanwhile, British American Tobacco’s contributions to the Nationals via “other receipts” were $88,000, and was disclosed by Laneway Assets, the body that collects membership fees for the Nationals.
Benita Kolovos
Allan says risks of ‘Liberal National One Nation circus’ are too great
Jacinta Allan also had a crack at the Liberal’s disunity, saying it was proof the party “only have one setting: cut”.
The premier went on:
It’s in their bones. They even cut their leaders: six in seven years. And to avoid the next cut, their current leader is spending this weekend [cozying] up with One Nation.
Allan is referring to the Across Victoria Alliance conference in Horsham, which One Nation’s recruit, Barnaby Joyce, will also be speaking at. She described the event as a “misinformation convention”:
Mark my words: The Liberal National One Nation circus will push her further away from families and further towards the extremes. Liberals are too busy fighting each other to fight for Victorians. They have no solutions – just cuts. That’s their risk.
And this is my question: Who do you trust to invest in the things that really matter to your family: A Labor government, with a record of investment, that fights for change? Or a Liberal government, with a record of cuts, that fights itself? New solutions – or no solutions. Change – or cuts.
Updated at 21.10 EST
Benita Kolovos
Allan tells Labor caucus party must deliver ‘new solutions’
The Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, has tried out a new – yet very familiar – slogan in her first speech to the Labor caucus this year ahead of the November state election.
Victorian Labor MPs gathered to hear from the premier this morning after their annual caucus retreat was cancelled last week due to a national cabinet meeting to finalise a $25bn landmark health and hospital agreement.
In the speech, Allan told MPs the role of a Labor government was to deliver “new solutions” to the “challenges that families are facing” – including rising cost of living, navigating the health system and finding an affordable home in an area they want to live in.
Jacinta Allan. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAP
She also touched on community safety, saying it was the “right decision” to introduce “adult time for violent crime” laws, allowing children who commit serious violent offences to be dealt with by the county court, where they face much longer sentences than the three-year maximum in children’s court.
Allan used “new solutions” seven times in the short speech.
It’s strikingly similar to the “Real solutions for all Victorians” slogan Matthew Guy and the Coalition used at the 2022 election.
ShareVictoria police ‘believe strongly’ Dezi Freeman is dead
Catie McLeod
Victoria police say they “believe strongly” that Dezi Freeman has died and his body is in the Mount Buffalo area.
Adam Tilley, a detective inspector with a taskforce focused on finding the man, has been speaking to reporters in north-east Victoria after the police force launched a new five-day search of the area for Freeman or his remains.
Freeman, also known as Desmond Filby, fled into the bush in August after a fatal confrontation with two police officers at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km north-east of Melbourne. Tilley said today police had found “no proof of life” in their search for Freeman and that:
We are comfortable that we don’t believe he is here alive, however we are keeping an open mind.
We do believe strongly that he is in this area deceased.
Police have said more than 100 officers and volunteers will join a targeted five-day search of Mount Buffalo national park based on “intelligence derived from information police obtained in relation to a gunshot heard a short time after the fatal incident at Freeman’s Rayner Track property” in August.
Tilley said police were exploring “three scenarios”: Freeman is dead in the Mount Buffalo area “either by self-harm or misadventure”, that he has been able to escape the area and is being harboured by a person or people, or that he is on the run unassisted and he just has not been located.
Tilley confirmed cadaver dogs were involved in the search, which he said was expected to take place over 1.3 square kms of terrain – about the size of 52 MCG ovals.
Updated at 20.36 EST