We brought you the news earlier that 81 unopened ballot papers for the seat of Narungga had been found, weeks after the South Australian election.
Narungga was one of the four lower house seats Pauline Hanson’s One Nation picked up at the 21 March poll, with Chantelle Thomas winning by a wafer-thin margin of 58.
The South Australian electoral commission has now counted those votes and found the outcome has not changed.
In fact, Thomas’s margin has increased from 58 to 74 votes, dashing the hopes of the Liberal candidate, Tania Stock.
Hanson’s rightwing populist party declared victory in the Yorke Peninsula seat on 2 April, after a recount.
NSW mine operator says operations returning to normal after earthquake
Newmont, the company which owns the Cadia gold mine in regional New South Wales, says processing operations are returning to normal following a 4.5-magnitude earthquake on Tuesday evening.
More than 150 workers at the mine were evacuated after the quake hit at 8.19pm on Tuesday at a depth of 5km about 30km south-west of Orange in central west NSW.
Newmont has released a statement today providing an update. The company said there had been no injuries and that:
Inspections indicate that while damage is present to certain underground areas, it is not significant.
Processing operations have been steadily ramped up and are returning to normal throughput.
All surface infrastructure, including tailings facilities and dams, were inspected immediately after the earthquake and no damage has been identified at this time.
The company said, based on current assessments, near-term production was not expected to be affected and it was continuing to assess the site underground to determine the “full recovery timeline and if there will be a longer-term impact to production”.
Newmont said the safety and wellbeing of its workforce “remain our priority” and all safety protocols were activated immediately at the time of the event, including moving underground workers to designated safe areas
The quake’s epicentre was just 3km from the Newmont Cadia goldmine tailings dam, which partially collapsed in 2018. Effects of the quake were felt hundreds of kilometres away.
New appointments to CSIRO and Australia’s nuclear science organisation boards
Turning to something different now, the Albanese government has made two new appointments to the board of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) – Dr Susan Close and Kerryn Coker.
Women will make up 63% of the CSIRO’s board, the government says.
The government has also appointed Emeritus Prof Helen Garnett to the board of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (Ansto).
In a statement announcing the appointments, the government said it was continuing its focus on “improving capability on public sector boards and bringing greater alignment with national economic and strategic priorities across the research and development (R&D) sector”.
The industry, innovation, and science minister, Tim Ayres, said he was delighted by the appointments:
Scientific and industrial research are crucial for making Australia stronger and leadership and governance is fundamental to ensuring our independent public science agencies stay strong, fit for purpose and focussed on Australia’s national science priorities.
The federal government has been repeatedly urged by different organisations to increase funding for R&D.
The appointments come a month after an expert panel convened to review the country’s R&D capabilities handed down its final report, Ambitious Australia, which found the innovation sector needed “bold reform”.
The panel found that as a wealthy nation with “substantial opportunities”, Australia was “not fully harnessing its success to invest in a better future”.
The parents of Ben Roberts-Smith, Len and Sue Roberts-Smith, briefly the left court after a judge ruled that their son could be released on bail after being charged with five counts of the war crime of murder.
The former soldier’s parents, who were sitting in the front row of the courtroom today, were smiling and happy, although they did not give any lengthy statement to the scrum of journalists and TV cameras waiting outside Sydney’s Downing Centre, which followed them down Castlereagh Street.
Sue Roberts-Smith could be heard to say she was relieved by the ruling.
Roberts-Smith’s legal team, who will return to court this afternoon to discuss an interim suppression order on elements of his case, left Downing Centre during the lunch break without making any statement.
The Stafford byelection has been called for 16 May.
Jimmy Sullivan, the MP since 2020, died last week. He held the Queensland seat at the 2024 state election with 55% of the two-party preferred vote.
The Queensland premier, David Crisafulli, announced the writs had been issued for a byelection on Friday morning. He said the party does not yet have a candidate.
We live in incredibly uncertain times. It is vital that this community has representation, it really is. I also think, ahead of our budget in June, it’s important that a community has someone who can be there to advocate on their behalf, regardless of what side of the aisle they sit.
Crisafulli said the byelection was an opportunity for the people of Stafford to back the government’s announcement that it would expedite state planning approvals for a new petrol refinery in Gladstone, as well as new gas and oil mining exploration in western Queensland at the Taroom trough.
It is an opportunity for the people of Stafford to send a message that they do back our plan … for us to control our own destiny, for us to ensure that we have our own fuel supply.
And also to send a message to those like Labor and the Greens who are finding every reason to stand in the way, that that’s not acceptable.
The Guardian Australia environment and climate correspondent Graham Readfearn recently looked at the Taroom trough, if you want to know more:
St Kilda are appealing the nine-match ban given to Lance Collard for allegedly uttering a homophobic comment, AAP has reported, saying the young forward maintains his innocence.
Collard was handed a nine-game ban for uttering an offensive slur in a VFL game, rejecting evidence from the 21-year-old who denied making the offensive remark.
It was the second time in three seasons Collard has been found guilty of using homophobic language in a VFL match. He was banned for six games in 2024 when he admitted to using the same slur on-field.
Collard’s appeal hearing is due to take place next week.
“As a club, we will continue to stand by Lance, who maintains his position of innocence,” the Saints statement read.
This process has had a considerable impact on Lance, and we are committed to ensuring he is not only supported but that his integrity is defended through the appropriate process.
We also recognise and empathise with the impact the ongoing and public nature of this matter has had, particularly on members of the LGBTQIA+ and First Nations communities.
Sports columnist Jonathan Horn weighed in on the situation earlier this week – you can read his take here:
Prince Harry and Meghan meet Bondi terror attack survivors
The Duke and Duchess of Sussex have met survivors of the Bondi beach terror attack as they wind up their Australian tour.
Read more here:
The two members of the Iran football team who remained in Australia after the Women’s Asian Cup are beginning their new lives away from the spotlight.
Fatemeh Pasandideh and Atefeh Ramezanisadeh issued a statement today saying they “respectfully ask” for “privacy and space” as they focus on putting down new roots.
We are elite athletes, and it remains our dream to continue our sporting careers here in Australia. However, we are not yet ready to speak publicly about our experiences.
You can read Jack Snape’s full story here:
Sydney local court judge Greg Grogin has made the ruling that there are “exceptional circumstances” for his release, namely the length of time it will take for his case to go to trial, and the insufficient access provided to potentially sensitive evidence to Roberts-Smith and his legal team if he remains in custody.
Grogin has said the “unacceptable risks” argued by the prosecution have been sufficiently mitigated by the proposed conditions of bail.
You can read Ben Doherty’s full report here:
Ben Roberts-Smith will be released on bail after being charged with alleged war crimes.
New South Wales Health is advising people in Sydney to be alert for signs and symptoms of measles after being notified of a new confirmed case.
The health department issued an alert this morning, saying that a returned traveller – who is suspected to have acquired their infection overseas in south-east Asia, where there are ongoing outbreaks of measles – was diagnosed with the disease.
NSW Health officials said this person visited several locations in Sydney and northern Sydney while unknowingly infectious, including healthcare facilities.
A full list of exposure locations and the times they were visited is available on this map on the NSW Health website.
While health officials say these locations do not pose an ongoing risk, people who attended them should watch for symptoms of measles.
If it has been less than six days since the exposure at these locations and you are pregnant, have a weakened immune system or have an infant who was exposed, you are advised to contact your local Public Health Unit on 1300 066 055.
There is currently an increased risk of measles in NSW, with 43 cases confirmed since 1 January 2026.
Chris Bowen to begin Cop31 climate summit president’s role remotely
Chris Bowen’s role as president for negotiations at the Cop31 climate summit in Turkey later this year will kick off remotely.
With the fuel crisis raging and Bowen giving daily press conferences on the government’s response, the climate change and energy minister said he would not fly to Berlin next week for the Petersberg Climate Dialogue, an annual meeting of representatives from about 40 countries.
A spokesperson for the minister said he “considers his travel carefully” and would not fly for the meeting hosted by the German climate action ministry on Tuesday and Wednesday.
“In this instance he will take advantage of the virtual attendance and continues to engage closely with all his international counterparts.
Australia will also not be represented at ministerial level at the first global conference on transitioning away from fossil fuels in Colombia starting next Friday.
Bowen was named president for negotiations for the Cop31 summit after Australia failed to win the hosting rights. Instead, Turkey and Australia agreed to a unique arrangement in which the former will run and host the two-week event in the Mediterranean resort city of Antalya in November and Australia will take responsibility – in increasingly difficult geopolitical times – for negotiations between representatives from nearly 200 countries.
Hope for Liberals after more ballot papers found in SA seat won by One Nation
There has been some drama in the world of South Australian politics after 81 unopened ballot papers for the seat of Narungga were found, weeks after the election.
Narungga was one of the four lower house seats Pauline Hanson‘s One Nation picked up at the 21 March poll, with Chantelle Thomas winning by a wafer-thin margin of 58.
The South Australian electoral commission will count those votes today and try to work out whether they would have made a difference to the result, offering a (very slender) ray of hope to the Liberal candidate, Tania Stock.
They’ll count them at 11am Adelaide time (we’re a pesky half hour behind AEST), and you wouldn’t think it should take too long. But the commissioner then has to work out whether it’s too close to call.
If so, the result will be off to the court of disputed returns to investigate.
The papers were in a box in an office in the neighbouring electorate of Stuart and while we don’t know exactly what happened yet (it’ll be part of a broader election review and inquiry) no one is suggesting anything untoward.
Fuel prices have continued to ease around Australia, with diesel prices back to $3 a litre or less in most capital cities.
The fire at Viva’s Geelong refinery temporarily reduced petrol and diesel production, which prompted predictions of less supply to terminals in Victoria and soaring petrol prices.
But the Melbourne terminal price, charged to wholesalers, continued to fall this morning, according to the Australian Institute of Petroleum. Wholesale unleaded is below 191 cents a litre in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth. Diesel wholesale prices fell nearly 10 cents across the country today to sit at less than 265 cents a litre in all cities except Darwin – their lowest point in a month.
Those falls mean lower prices at the pump. Unleaded petrol today is averaging less than 210 cents a litre in every capital except Brisbane and Darwin. Diesel is averaging less than 300 cents a litre in every capital except Hobart, where it’s bang on 300 and in Brisbane, at 303.2.
In Geelong, where some service stations are supplied directly from the refinery, retail unleaded petrol prices are down to 210.8 cents a litre on average and diesel is 299 cents, according to MotorMouth.
While we wait for an outcome in Ben Roberts-Smith’s bail hearing in Sydney, let’s get back to some other news of the day.
We’ve now got a sketch from the court this morning of Ben Roberts-Smith, dressed in prison greens and appearing via video link.
The judge, Greg Gogan, has adjourned the court to consider Ben Roberts-Smith’s bail after prosecution and defence arguments closed.
He will return after 12pm to make a ruling.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: theguardian.com
