Daily Telegraph News & Politics

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has hinted that a brave Frenchman who faced off  with a rampaging knifeman, who stabbed six people to death in Bondi Junction, on Saturday may jump the queue to become an Australian citizen.  Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci has been threatened with jail time after refusing to answer questions about the supermarket chain’s profitability in a two hour-long standoff with furious senators.  More than half of Queenslanders have witnessed an accident on the Bruce Highway and a whopping one in three people are dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied with the nation’s longest route.  Embattled former player agent Ricky Nixon is facing a slew of fresh criminal charges as he stares down the threat of imminent bankruptcy. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  After one aborted, then abandoned, criminal trial and two successful out of court settlements Bruce Lehrmann was on Monday found to have raped Brittany Higgins.    The Victorian government is pushing for a “substantial ­increase” for workers on minimum and award wages, well ahead of the “economically ­responsible” lift other states want amid warnings too big a rise may drive up inflation.    A new housing “super portfolio” has been created to focus on fixing the South Australia’s housing crisis – and several other key portfolio responsibilities have been switched – as part of Premier Peter Malinauskas’ first cabinet reshuffle.    Queensland Education Minister Di Farmer has bowed to pressure from the teachers’ unions and home education bodies, announcing homeschooling reforms and proposed changes to student suspensions and expulsions are officially on hold. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drug dealing would be virtually impossible for criminals without social media and apps like Meta-owned WhatsApp, with a new study finding 70 per cent of Australians use them to buy illicit substances.    NSW households face paying at least $20 a year extra on their electricity bills after a blowout in the already massive cost of a new privately owned transmission line to the troubled Snowy Hydro 2.0 project.    A young man who was brutally stabbed to death in a suspected drug deal gone wrong in an industrial street was “polite” and “well mannered” when he sought information from residents less than 12 hours before his unsolved murder.    More than half of Queensland’s most hardcore youth offenders are roaming free on the streets – but the minister says more young criminals are locked up than ever. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In a devastating on-air moment, a Channel Seven veteran has announced the tragic death of Sunrise reporter Nathan Templeton.   A $1 billion money laundering and tax evasion syndicate has been busted by the Australian Federal Police, who claim 1200 business were cashing in on the scheme.    Security footage has captured the moments after a 21-year-old Adelaide man was stabbed to death in a “senseless” attack in a quiet industrial street, with police now launching a major murder probe.   Queensland’s construction sector has the lowest rate of female participation of any industry, with insiders saying “toxic masculinity” is locking women out of the sector. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The state government is looking at charging foreigners more to buy property in NSW, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey declaring money from overseas investors should be directed to help “build new homes”.  A large group of Hells Angels bikies charged over a joy ride have appeared in court, prompting a heavy police presence in Adelaide’s CBD.  Double time when it rains, a full month of rostered days off each year, and an extra $1000 a week when working away from home are just some of the sweetheart conditions the Queensland government has struck with the construction unions under its controversial Best Practice Industry Conditions policy.  Melbourne’s world class major sporting events are encouraging workers to take sickies.   See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The man charged with murdering his ex-girlfriend, who was found dead in a burnt-out car near Ballarat, posted a tribute after her death saying he would “forever love you” and allegedly messaged friends claiming she had taken her own life.  The owner of an e-scooter that allegedly set fire to a hotel room, causing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of damage, had taped over the room’s smoke alarm because her vaping had been setting it off too much.  Queensland’s critical housing shortage is being exacerbated by the Miles’ government centrepiece $92bn Big Build pipeline.  Sydney petrol prices have hit their highest levels this year just in time for the school holidays, with economists warning further increases could fuel inflation and impact the potential for interest rate cuts. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Students were shown pictures of adults who had undergone transgender transformation surgery, and incest and bestiality were discussed in an unsupervised  sex-ed session in an Adelaide school.  Former Seven producer Taylor Auerbach says that Bruce Lehrmann was reimbursed by the network for drugs and prostitutes during a night out which prompted him to tell his boss the former political staffer was on the “warpath”.  Indian community leaders and Life Saving Victoria say the state government must urgently invest in multilingual water safety education and swimming lessons to “help save lives” after a series of tragic drownings.  The peak medical body has set in motion crisis talks with surgeons to find solutions to exploding elective surgery lists in regional Queensland. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

  Australia’s next Governor-General will be a female corporate high-flyer with a long history of advocacy on gender, climate and Indigenous issues.    A Queensland pumped hydroelectricity project slated to cut through the world’s platypus capital and furiously opposed by locals could balloon to $18bn – the state’s most expensive project ever.  Bosses at the Seven Network are holding crisis talks on the future of Spotlight as allegations of payments for drugs and prostitutes engulf the current affairs program.    SA Premier Peter Malinauskas has declared this year’s Gather Round sequel will be better than the original as the AFL’s festival of football returns to Adelaide today. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation trial against Network Ten and presenter Lisa Wilkinson has been reopened at the 11th hour after sensational new evidence was presented to the Federal Court.    Parents in Sydney’s booming northwest are being forced to make 90 minute round trips to pick up their children from their catchment primary school after the state failed to deliver any of its promises for education in the area.    An expert says the three people who died after ingesting beef wellington allegedly laced with poisonous fungi may have spent their last moments writhing in pain as the toxins from the death cap mushrooms worked through their bodies.     Organised groups stealing bulk quantities of items to sell on the black market at discounted prices or to exchange for drugs are behind a rise in retail thefts  in South Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A motorcycle rider was killed in a crash during a police chase in Sydney’s inner west yesterday afternoon.  A Caboolture mother claims Queensland Health failed her toddler, who is now brain-damaged and fighting for life in intensive care after contracting the usually harmless hand, foot and mouth disease.  The Victorian Premier’s office is fighting to keep hundreds of documents from Daniel Andrews’ time in office secret in a legal case with ramifications for government transparency.  Adelaide City Council member Jing Li helped enrol 500 new voters in the hotly contested 2020 local government election, according to Freedom of Information documents. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ex-Victoria Police chief commissioner Kel Glare says he is disgusted by footy’s secret “off the books” drug testing regime and called for the resignation of all AFL chiefs who had knowledge of its existence.  The man accused of killing a real estate agent and seriously injuring her co-worker in a random daylight stabbing attack will have his case fast-tracked to South Australia’s highest court.  The number of tobacco stores in local areas could be limited under a new Victorian scheme that would require sellers to obtain licences.  Millions of Australians are moving into share houses, skipping insurance and driving run-down cars to survive the shocking cost of living crisis. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About 100 current AFL players have been granted secret immunity from the AFL’s three-strike drugs policy. More than 90,000 new homes are stuck in the planning system, as young people are forced to flee NSW because they can’t find a place to live. South Australia's average wages have suffered cuts of more than seven per cent in past three years. A turbulent 12 months has wiped $384m off the value of Qantas’s brand.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

An IT worker at a Sydney high school has allegedy been busted with child abuse material after hacking the school’s computers in order to steal his colleagues’ credit card details.  A former Melbourne Football Club doctor has sensationally ­admitted to conducting “off the books” illicit drug tests – ­allegedly authorised by the AFL – to help players evade ­detection on match days.  A bridge collapsed in the US last night after it was struck by a cargo ship, sparking fears of a “mass casualty event” as rescuers desperately searched for people who were on the huge structure when it crashed into a river.  Three people have been confirmed dead after a freak wave capsized a fishing vessel near Spilsby Island, South Australia. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Facebook whistleblower has warned about unregulated access to Meta platforms by Aussie kids. The family of a woman raped and killed by Jonathon Bakewell has called for an urgent inquiry as the killer is released again. Australian schools are facing a chronic shortage of qualified maths teachers. A legal fight over a cancelled Australian Grand Prix concert by Robbie Williams is set for a court showdown within weeks.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Accused triple murderer mushroom cook Erin Patterson has been forced into a protected unit at a women’s maximum security prison alongside pedophile rapist school principal Malka Leifer, as fears mount for the mother of two’s safety.  Video footage of protesters chanting anti-Israeli slogans with loudspeakers at a publicly-funded night markets in Sydney’s southwest have been forwarded to the NSW Police’s Engagement and Hate Crime Unit.  Significant native forest home to endangered koalas would be bulldozed to make way for the QLD government’s controversial Olympic athletics stadium.  The debilitating condition endometriosis which affects up to one in seven women will be investigated by an SA parliament committee. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Millions in compensation will be paid to the ­Indigenous owners of a disused bowling club due to the Western Harbour Tunnel being built underneath it – while thousands of neighbouring property owners won’t receive a cent.  A court has heard that a man accused of repeatedly raping his daughter while she was a pre-teen is the son of a veteran Sydney police officer.  Iconic  Australian vacuuming company Godfreys will be closed for good, after no viable offers to buy the struggling business were made.   Pandas are set to remain a star attraction at Adelaide Zoo after a breakthrough during top-level talks between Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong and her Chinese counterpart, Wang Yi. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Reserve Bank has abandoned talk of more rate hikes, as it `kept the official cash rate steady at a 12-year high of 4.35 per cent.  Harrowing new details have emerged of allegations convicted wife killer Brian Earl Johnston repeatedly raped Kelly Wilkinson just weeks before her murder in Queensland.  Electricity prices for South Australian customers will start to fall from July.  Straight from her Las Vegas residency, Kylie Minogue has touched down in Sydney for a well earnt break. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Population growth fuelled by soaring migration is set to cut the amount of GST revenue coming to NSW by $80 per person next financial year, heaping pressure on the state government to fund hospitals, schools and roads with a decreasing share of Commonwealth cash.  A beloved special forces soldier described by his squad mates as a loyal friend with an “infectious sense of humour” has been farewelled in a heartfelt ceremony.  In Victoria, organised crime figures who use their profits to lash out on yachts, penthouse living and sex workers will pay the price under new Allan Government laws.  And Adelaide’s most famous madam, Stormy Summers, has died, three days short of her 78th birthday. See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Baby Boomers are happily spending during the cost-of-living crisis, while younger generations tighten their purse strings. Regional townships in NSW have been rebranded by the Bureau of Statistics, causing an uproar over the GST carve up. David Speirs has denied a threat to quit as SA Liberal leader if former cabinet minister Anne Ruston lost the top Senate ticket spot. The Victorian government is being urged to set up special tax havens across Melbourne and regional areas to solve the housing crisis.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Australia’s migration intake hit record numbers in January despite the Albanese government’s plan to slow the surge. A union boss is pushing for manslaughter charges to be brought against the owner of the Ballarat Gold Mine. A Chinese tourist has been found guilty of manslaughter over a botched boob job during which a Sydney beauty clinic manager died of an anaesthetic overdose. Plans to transform South Australia into a plant protein pow­er­house have collapsed.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.