Australia news LIVE: Littleproud survives Nationals leadership challenge; police reveal ‘strong belief’ Dezi Freeman is dead amid search for body in Victoria’s High Country
Perth Invasion Day bomb attack could be terrorist act: Premier
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The failed bomb attack on Perth’s Invasion Day rally last week could be labelled a terrorist attack, and WA Premier Roger Cook has indicated that Commonwealth authorities may be preparing to make a call on whether the incident was an act of terror in the coming days.
A 31-year-old man, whose name is suppressed, is accused of throwing a home-made bomb into the 2500-strong crowd who had gathered at Forrest Place in the CBD to protest the date of Australia Day.
The device, which was allegedly designed to explode on impact, did not detonate.
A week on, Cook told media this morning that from his point of view, the incident appeared to be a terrorist act, but that there were certain definitions that must be met for it to be formally deemed as such.
“The actual assigning of an act of terror is undertaken by a joint taskforce between Commonwealth and state agencies, and then ultimately the Commonwealth agency is the one that declares whether it is a terrorist attack,” he said.
“We look as bystanders at the circumstances of this horrible act, and you would not be surprised if ultimately the Commonwealth makes that decision.
“I understand that’s in front of them at the moment, and they’ll be making that decision this week.”
Cook said he had spoken with police and event organisers about the incident.
“This is a potentially an act which would have caused a mass casualty event, and because of that, we have to treat it with the utmost serious concern,” he said.
Boyce issues statement after failed leadership spill
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Following a failed leadership spill earlier today, Nationals MP Colin Boyce says it is critical the Coalition is restored.
In a statement released this afternoon, he said he had been calling for reunification “from the start”.
“We must stand up for everyday Australians against an incompetent Labor government whose spending is out of control, whose energy policies are reckless, and whose approach to national security is weak,” he wrote.
“As always, I am committed to the people of Flynn and will continue to advocate for their future as well as the core values of the National Party.”
Ex-ambassador quits UK Labour Party in Epstein fallout
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Peter Mandelson, Britain’s former ambassador to the United States, has resigned from the UK’s ruling Labour Party to avoid causing it “further embarrassment” after the latest revelations about his links to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
Mandelson is facing questions about payments totaling £75,000 (nearly $150,000) made to him and his partner by Epstein in 2003, and attempts to stop the UK from introducing a tax on bankers’ bonuses in 2009 after a request from Epstein.
The disclosures, which include more compromising pictures of Mandelson, came in the latest release of the Epstein files by the US Department of Justice last week.
Mandelson, 72, was sacked by Prime Minister Keir Starmer as ambassador to Washington in September after the depth of his friendship with Epstein was revealed. Starmer concluded that Mandelson hadn’t been upfront about the relationship in the vetting process for the post.
Mandelson, who is still a Lord in the UK parliament’s upper house, told the Press Association he had written on Sunday evening to the general secretary of the Labour Party, Hollie Ridley, to say he was resigning his party membership.
His departure draws the curtain down on one of the party’s most influential political figures of the past 30 years. First appointed as director of communications in 1985, he became one of the key figures behind New Labour, the business-friendly incarnation of the party under Tony Blair that was in power from 1997 to 2010.
“I have been further linked this weekend to the understandable furore surrounding Jeffrey Epstein and I feel regretful and sorry about this,” Mandelson wrote. “Allegations which I believe to be false that he made financial payments to me 20 years ago, and of which I have no record or recollection, need investigating by me.
“While doing this, I do not wish to cause further embarrassment to the Labour Party, and I am therefore stepping down from membership of the party.”
Bloomberg
Rural water supplies struggling to cope after heatwave
By Stephanie Gardiner
A rural community is relying on bottled drinking water after extreme temperatures cut the town supply, amid calls for greater awareness about the toll of heatwaves.
The town of Coonamble, in northwest NSW, experienced a week of temperatures above 40C during the recent inland heatwave, which also hit parts of Queensland and South Australia.
Deputy mayor Steven Butler said the town’s reservoirs and filtration system could not cope with high demand for water after the mercury soared above 46C on January 26.
Water reserves, drawn from Great Artesian Basin bores, became too low to conduct the regular flushes required for drinking water, sparking a boil notice and tight restrictions on household use.
The council has offered residents, schools, aged care homes, health centres and pubs free bottled water until Friday, while the town’s reservoirs are replenished and the filtration system comes back online.
Reservoir levels were also low in Narromine, which draws its water from bores, after the heatwave.
The small town west of Dubbo was subject to temporary extreme water restrictions after one of its bore pumps failed.
Water security has been identified as a pressing issue across much of country Australia, including WA’s Wheatbelt, the Eyre Peninsula in SA, central Queensland and western NSW, according to Infrastructure Australia’s regional research (https://www.infrastructureaustralia.gov.au/regional-strengths-map).
The federal government’s State of the Environment report (https://soe.dcceew.gov.au/urban/pressures/climate-change) also recognised heatwaves placed significant stress on water infrastructure.
Water Minister Murray Watt has announced millions in funding for several rural water projects in recent months, including in regions identified as having water security concerns.
AAP
Pratts, Lowys, Lindsay Fox, Hemmes among big political donors
By James Massola
Unions, resources companies and some of Australia’s wealthiest individuals are among the big donors to Australia’s major political parties.
Details of the donations released on Monday by the Australian Electoral Commission reveals that the Mining & Energy Union ($3 million), United Workers Union ($1 million), the Plumbers Union ($500,000) and the Australian Manufacturing Workers’ Union ($373,881) were the four unions which gave the most money to Labor.
Among private individuals, Pratt Holdings gave $2 million to Labor and another $1 million to the Liberal Party, while trucking magnate Lindsay Fox’s Fox Group gave $500,000 to both Labor and the Liberal Party.
The biggest single donor to the Liberals was Oryxium Investments, a Lowy family investment vehicle, which gave $1.8 million.
Food delivery company DoorDash gave the Liberals $785,000, Meriton Property Services donated $500,000, and Justin Hemmes – who controversially hosted a Liberal Party fundraiser for Peter Dutton in Sydney (https://www.theage.com.au/politics/federal/dutton-lashed-for-leaving-queensland-ahead-of-cyclone-for-billionaire-s-fundraiser-20250306-p5lhca.html) while Dutton’s hometown of Brisbane endured severe flooding – gave $250,000 through his company Hemmes Trading.
The largest donation to the Nationals, aside from sizeable donations from the Queensland Liberal National Party, was $50,000 from the Minerals Council of Australia and $44,000 from Coal Australia.
And for the Greens, mathematician and high-end gambler Duncan Turpie once again was near the top of the donations list, with $500,000 to the national and Queensland divisions of the party.
The Communications, Electrical and Plumbing union gave the Greens $600,000, as well as $814,000 to Labor and $150,000 to the Legalise Cannabis Party. Tech entrepreneur turned climate campaigner Norman Pater donated $300,000, and Caroline Le Couteur, a former ACT MP and investor, gave $300,000.
ABC host James Valentine retires amid cancer battle
By Calum Jaspan
ABC Sydney radio presenter James Valentine has retired from the broadcaster as he continues to battle a second cancer diagnosis in two years, and says it’s time for a fresh host to “have a go at this marvellous shift” in the afternoons.
“It’s time to go,” he told the station’s listeners in a pre-recorded segment on Monday afternoon, after decades with the ABC.
The veteran broadcaster, who has been off-air for six months battling omentum cancer, returned to the airwaves on Monday during fill-in host James O’Loughlin’s show.
“It’s James Valentine here back in Afternoons, how comfy that feels. Look, I do have an announcement to make, and it’s, it’s sad news. It’s definitely sad for me,” Valentine said.
“I won’t be coming back this year to the microphone and to the Afternoons program. It’s time for me to retire. This decision has been hard for me to make, but look, I think my health is giving me a pretty clear message that it still might be a while until I could return and resume broadcasting.”
Read more here (https://www.theage.com.au/business/companies/abc-host-james-valentine-retires-amid-cancer-battle-20260202-p5nyw4.html) .
Man charged with murdering three-week-old baby
By Julius Dennis
Queensland police have charged a man with murdering a three-week-old baby boy who died from his injuries in a Brisbane hospital.
The baby was taken to the Queensland Children’s Hospital in a critical condition on July 18, 2024.
He died four days later in the hospital.
Detectives from Logan, south of Brisbane, recently received medical testing results that allegedly indicated the baby boy died from internal injuries.
Police today charged a 25-year-old man with murder.
Read the full story here (https://www.theage.com.au/national/queensland/brisbane-man-charged-with-murdering-three-week-old-baby-20260202-p5nyvy.html) .
Nationals leadership challenge fails
By Nick Newling
The leadership challenge by rogue Nationals MP Colin Boyce against leader David Littleproud has failed, party whip Michelle Landry has confirmed.
The move was widely expected to fail after no other Nationals MPs said they supported Boyce’s push.
Landry did not provide details on how many people voted for and against the motion.
Landry also confirmed that the party had yet to discuss MP Darren Chester’s motion on reuniting the Coalition.
Nationals MPs arrive ahead of leadership challenge
By Nick Newling
Nationals MPs are arriving at a party room meeting in which backbencher Colin Boyce will challenge leader David Littleproud’s position.
Boyce has acknowledged the challenge is likely to be unsuccessful after no other members of the party backed the move.
Littleproud arrived alone at the meeting shortly before 2pm, smiling with no jacket and his sleeves rolled up. Moments later Boyce arrived alone.
Albanese’s MAFS comparison criticised
By Nick Newling
Liberal MP Aaron Violi has criticised Prime Minister Anthony Albanese for comparing the Coalition to the reality television show Married at First Sight, saying the government had failed to protect Australians from cost-of-living pressures.
“The fact the prime minister again goes to the personal attack at a time when Australians are struggling with [the] cost of living,” Violi told Sky News this afternoon.
“At a time when interest rates will go up tomorrow, according to every credible economist, which is completely the fault of this government, he’s making personal insults and jokes. [It] says a lot about him as a prime minister, more than anybody else. We need to focus on the issues that matter.”
During a televised address to the Labor caucus this morning, Albanese said of the Coalition: “We’ll allow them to engage in their, their bizarre behaviour. I note that Married at First Sight begins tonight, and it’s a bit, it’s a bit like that with the relationships on the other side. You know they’re going to end badly. You know there’s going to be cheating involved, and they’re going to be not truthful to each other.”
Violi said the government had failed Australian voters in its management of inflation and cost-of-living concerns, and the opposition was focused on resolving those issues.
When asked whether Sussan Ley would still be the opposition leader at the end of the week, Violi said: “Sussan was democratically elected by the party room. We’ve got a party room tomorrow. I’m expecting that we will focus on holding this bad government to account.”
