Crowds gather at Marvel Stadium ahead of Modi rally

Members of Australia’s Indian community are streaming into Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium ahead of a huge rally event to honour Narendra Modi.

The Indian prime minister is in Melbourne for a three-day visit, marking his first trip to Australia in three years.

Performances of dances and drumming are entertaining the crowd as they line up to enter the free event.

Outside Marvel, a small group of protesters are holding signs which read: “Stop Modi’s Human Rights Abuses”.

Ahead of Modi’s visit, human rights organisation Amnesty International urged the Albanese government to raise India’s human rights record in the bilateral talks.

It called for Australia to encourage India to ensure journalists and human rights advocates could work free from intimidation and address discrimination of religious and ethnic minorities.

Organisers for the “Melbourne Meets Modi” event have estimated more than 20,000 people are expected to attend.

Hanson-Young says laws governing telcos ‘not fit for purpose’

Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young says the laws governing phone companies “are just not fit for purpose”.

Speaking on Afternoon Briefing, Hanson-Young said:

In the energy space, there are rules and laws that require energy companies to provide reliable services to their customers, to households, to businesses.

There is nothing like that that is in the law that requires mobile phone companies to ensure they actually deliver a reliable service to their customers…

They put their profits first and they put the public last.

Doctor who filmed staff in hospital toilets pleads guilty to 13 charges

A junior doctor who secretly filmed staff in hospital toilets has pleaded guilty to 13 charges, AAP reports.

Ryan Yi Cho, 29, entered the pleas in Melbourne magistrates court on Thursday morning, a year after he was first charged.

He admitted concealing a phone in a mesh bag inside staff toilets at the Austin Hospital, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Police say the material found on the phone showed staff using the toilet or shower facilities, with their genital and anal areas exposed.

Cho was initially charged and remanded in custody in July 2025 on five charges but he successfully applied for bail in the supreme court in August.

In the ensuing months, police laid hundreds of additional charges, with the total reaching 910.

But after a plea deal with prosecutors, Cho on Thursday pleaded guilty to 13 rolled-up offences including producing an intimate image, installing a device and stalking.

Magistrate Michelle Mykytowycz found the evidence was sufficient to support a conviction and she ordered the case be uplifted to the Victorian County Court.

Cho only spoke during the brief hearing to confirm his guilt and that he understood his continuing bail conditions, which included not being allowed to attend a hospital unless there is an emergency.

He will face the County Court in November for a three-day plea hearing, where his victims are expected to read statements to the court.

His registration as a medical practitioner remains suspended and he cannot practise anywhere in Australia.

SBS news director says ‘we neither accept or reject’ controversial IHRA definition of antisemitism

Amanda Wicks, the director of news and current affairs at SBS, is now giving evidence at the antisemitism royal commission.

Wicks said that the SBS has not adopted the controversial IHRA definition because the independent broadcaster does not adopt definitions from third parties, but it is included as part of reference material provided to staff.

She said:

We broadly say that antisemitism is prejudice or discrimination against Jewish people, and then we do, as you mentioned, give extensive reference documents to our team, with the IHRA definition front and center as a significant document to provide context and understanding about the different perspectives of antisemitism.

Wicks said that “when it comes to this particular definition, we neither accept it or reject it” but “acknowledges that it is an important definition recognised by many”.

She continued:

We are only ever reporting on antisemitism when it is determined to be such by police, the legal system, the community itself, so we are attributing that to someone. We’re never in a position where something happens and we will need a definition, and we determine as SBS that that is antisemitic.

Earlier, during Jillian Segal’s evidence, Segal criticised SBS’s style guide as not understanding “modern-day antisemitism” because it states that criticism of Israel’s policies or conduct is different from prejudice against Jewish people.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster asked Wicks about Segal’s concerns that “unfairly negative coverage of the state of Israel” can drive antisemitic beliefs and behaviors.

Wicks responded:

Being critical of Israel doesn’t necessarily mean you are antisemitic, but it is possible.

Gout Gout to miss World U20 Championships due to hamstring injury

Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout has pulled out of the 2026 World Athletics U20 Championships and will be sidelined for the rest of the year after suffering a serious hamstring tear.

The 18-year-old had set his sights on becoming a 200m under-20 world champion in August but will now have to wait until next season for his next shot after announcing the shock injury news in a social media post.

Gout said on Instagram:

Unfortunately I suffered an injury to my left hamstring last night at training in Brisbane.

I received this morning the MRI report, unfortunately the news is not good and I will not be able to compete in Eugene at the World U20 championships next month.

Gout revealed that the scans had shown a grade three tear with more than 8cm of his hamstring affected.

Read more from my colleague, Martin Pegan:

SBS ‘always offers a balanced view’, director of audio and language content tells antisemitism inquiry

David Hua, director of audio and language content at SBS, has just wrapped up giving evidence at the antisemitism royal commission.

Hua said that SBS had a part-time producer who delivered news for its Hebrew speaking audience and that after 7 October this role increased to full-time.

He said there was a further increase in resources after the Bondi terror attack, noting that Australia has about 11,000 Hebrew speakers according to the 2021 census.

Asked about the suggestion that “not enough is being done by SBS in terms of presenting a balanced view from the point of view of resourcing” Hua responded:

[The SBS] always offers a balanced view across all of our services. It’s not like one service exists to counterbalance or counteract another service. That’s not the way in which our codes and our guidelines work, and nor our editorial and community approach. Every service is expected to adhere to the codes and guidelines.

With regards to resourcing, there’s always a case for improvement and increase in what it is that we can do across our services.

ABC ombudsman tells antisemitism inquiry broadcaster has received ‘huge amount of organised campaigns’ of complaints

Returning to the antisemitism royal commission, where Fiona Cameron, the ABC’s ombudsman, has just given evidence.

Cameron has said the ABC has been subject to a “huge amount of organised campaigns where the complaint is identical and or very much similar”.

She said:

What we’ve seen in my most recent board report, is a definite trend towards campaign complaints that are arguing that the coverage of the Israel Middle East conflict is pro-Palestine.

This comes, if not daily, weekly, and we’re talking about 50 to 150. I think I can count about a dozen campaigns in the last six months have attracted that many complaints.

Cameron also spoke about the ABC’s current oversight model after Jillian Segal urged in earlier evidence that “independent group of people” act as additional examiners to Cameron’s role by monitoring the ABC’s reporting on Israel and Palestine.

Cameron said the benefit of how the ABC’s current oversight model works is that it’s “robust and timely”.

She said:

You can complain to me today about a breach of privacy or a concern about privacy, and I will talk to someone in the news division and say, ‘Do you think you should do something about that?’ And if they do, they will.

Cameron said that the ABC can be slow to correct and clarify and often that is because the broadcaster is searching for every instance where the mistake has been made and “they’re looking to do the right thing”.

She said:

The instance of the 14,000 babies was slow, but there are other instances like theal-Ahli Arab hospital explosion that has also been discussed here that were actually very fast.

Minns on Telstra outage: ‘We expect it not to happen again’

The NSW premier, Chris Minns, says he expects yesterday’s Telstra outage “not to happen again” following major disruptions to regional train lines in the state.

Trains on the Hunter and Southern Highlands lines were out of service for more than 24 hours from yesterday morning until this morning.

Asked about the outage at a press conference in the Hunter this afternoon, Minns said:

We expect it not to happen again. You know, we buy a service from Telstra, we expect that service to be provided for our services, for essential services like hospitals and public transport.

When they’re not, we’re unhappy about it, but we’ve received assurances from Telstra that they’re working on it. I don’t know the specifics of why this happened, but certainly we don’t want a repeat of it, because it knocked a lot of people around yesterday, disrupted an enormous amount of public transport, and people expect to get to and from work.

Modi hails nuclear energy agreement between ‘two vibrant democracies’

The Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, is now delivering his remarks, after the announcement of a major uranium deal with Australia.

India and Australia are two vibrant democracies. Two multicultural societies, and two important … powers.

… These similarities between us and our common worldview inspire us to continue moving forward together with deep mutual trust.

We have signed an important agreement today on nuclear energy.

This will pave the way for uranium supplies from Australia to India and give our clean energy objectives fresh momentum.

That’s all from me. Ima Caldwell will take the reins from here. Take care.

Liddle responds to questions over claimed SA death during Telstra outage

Liberal senator Kerrynne Liddle has stood by her post claiming an elderly South Australian had died yesterday after being unable to reach emergency services due to the Telstra outage.

In a statement this afternoon, the senator said her office advised the family of the person to contact South Australian police and “the grieving family did that today”.

State police said they are “not aware of any death in South Australia today as a result of the Telstra nationwide outage”. The statement stands as of the time of writing.

South Australia’s police minister, Michael Brown, said “if people are going to make claims publicly, they need to be able to back them up”.

Liddle said she was “disappointed” Brown “chose to front the media and question my integrity in this process”.

Liddle’s statement continued:

Amid much public interest I prioritised the privacy of the family during this time. I stand with them.

Reporting suggests Australians were still unable to get through to Triple Zero overnight due to ongoing issues with the Telstra network. That is completely unacceptable.

Anyone impacted by this outage should tell their story to Telstra, Minister Anika Wells and to relevant authorities.

Our thoughts remain with the family.

Read more:

ABC says adopting IHRA definition of antisemitism would conflict with independence

Returning to the antisemitism royal commission, where Gavin Fang, the editorial director of the ABC, was speaking about the ABC’s decision to not adopt the controversial IHRA definition.

Fang said the broadcaster adopting a definition of antisemitism that is contested would conflict with its independence. He said:

We understand the importance of getting this right and the deeply held views in the community about this issue, and I accept that the IHRA definition and its examples may be useful in some organisations and in government and in other places.

My advice has related to the application of that type of definition in an editorial policy setting. So, how that would relate to our content. The IHRA definition, or the examples in the definition in particular, are contested, and it is important for us to maintain not just our independence, but the perception of independence.

It’s my view, and has been my advice, that adopting a definition that is contested would not help us with both our perception of independence and our independence more broadly, and that our current framework, as it relates to our editorial policies, is effective in doing that.

ABC editorial director says current oversight body ‘already has the power’ to review ABC content

Returning to the antisemitism royal commission, where Gavin Fang, the editorial director of the ABC, is responding to Jillian Segal’s earlier comments before the commission.

Fang has said he doesn’t agree that the ABC disproportionately platforms “anti-Israel voices” after Jillian Segal raised this as a concern in her evidence earlier this morning:

I don’t agree. I think that in all of our reporting our goal is to meet our standards and to be accurate, to be impartial.

We seek to, we’re relevant, hear from affected parties on a variety of sides of the conflict, and that means hearing from both Palestinians and from Israelis, from hearing from government sources and from non-government, and from hearing from people that have a relevant perspective to be included in the story, so that Australians can understand what’s accurately what’s happening.

Fang has said the ABC’s independent ombudsman that oversees the ABC is “functioning effectively” after being asked about Segal’s recommendation for an additional external oversight committee:

I think that one of the important aspects of the public broadcaster is its independence, and I think that’s really critical. But I think current structures, which involve an ombudsman that is separate to the content teams that report to the board, is functioning effectively, and there is additional oversight from the Acma.

I’m not sure how another oversight body might function in addition to that existing oversight body, which already has the power to review and to examine the ABC’s content.

He also noted that Acma also has the power to ask the ombudsman to do a broad-ranging investigation on the broadcaster’s reporting. This can also be requested by the board.

Segal is advocating for a structure in which an “independent group of people” can examine the ABC’s reporting on Israel and Palestine.

Earlier, Segal said she didn’t have any criticisms of how the ABC’s complaints system is currently handled by its ombudsman.

Segal: Broadcasters’ assertion that criticism of Israel does not equal criticism of Jewish people misunderstands ‘modern-day antisemitism’

Returning to the antisemitism royal commission: Jillian Segal was asked about the ABC’s ombudsman finding that its reporting of a mistaken figure by a UN official that 14,000 babies would die in 48 hours was not an issue of balance.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster asked: “Do you accept the incident does not suggest a lack of balance on the part of the ABC?”

Segal responded:

I think balance is a very complicated story, isn’t it? Because they don’t say every story has to be balanced, it’s the total picture that has to be balanced, and they look at different stories at different times.

So I think that if you wanted balance after that negative story, should there have been a very positive story about what was being done positively in the Middle East to feed children? I’m not saying that, but I just find it very hard to comment on balance. It was inaccurate.

Segal said the SBS style guide which states that criticism of Israel’s policies or conduct is different from prejudice against Jewish people showed that the broadcaster does not understand “modern-day antisemitism”.

She referred to that “modern-day understanding” as being the conflation of Jewish identity with the state of Israel. She said:

That’s not to say that there shouldn’t be criticisms of Israel, but to specifically say any anti-Israel criticism is not the same as antisemitism is a rather broad statement, in my opinion.

Lancaster then asked: “You accept, as I understand it from your own statement, that there can be criticism of Israel with an antisemitic character.”

Segal responded:

Absolutely … If I was to rewrite this definition, I would say, whilst anti-Israel criticism is not the same as antisemitism, as per the IHRA definition, there are some instances where it amounts to the same thing.

‘I think customers can trust the triple zero system’, Telstra CFO says

Telstra’s CFO, Michael Ackland, said no system is immune to issues, but Australians should still trust the triple zero network:

I think customers can trust the triple zero system. It is a very robust system.

No system is completely immune from impacts and outage. We take this obligation incredibly seriously. We invest heavily in the resilience and redundancy of our system.

It is unacceptable what has happened and our focus is on how we addressed it.

He said they would work through compensation plans at a later time.

Ackland said “one [missed triple zero] call is unacceptable … which is why we have the welfare check process in place so we are rapidly as possible following up with people whenever there is a failed call”.

He wouldn’t say it was a “Y2K”-esque issue that caused the outages, but said there was a glitch in Telstra software that reset a GPS timer and led to the network turmoil.

Expert fears spread of bird flu to mainland wildlife

AAP reports Australia’s bird flu tally may climb to double figures as infections in migratory seabirds mount, triggering warnings of a potential wildlife crisis.

Eight H5 cases have been confirmed to date with another four suspected infections found across two states, placing authorities on high alert.

All the cases involve migratory birds but experts have warned Australia must be prepared for the potential “devastating” impact on local wildlife.

'‘It’s extremely nerve‑wracking,” Invasive Species Council’s Dr Carol Booth told AAP. “We’re very concerned that the next report will be of mainland wildlife being infected.”

There was a “bit of room for hope” considering native wildlife had not yet been impacted, she said.

A second infection has been confirmed in South Australia, adding to the five cases in Western Australia and another in NSW, according to federal authorities.

Four suspect cases - two each in WA and SA - are under investigation, taking the potential national total to 12.

Segal criticises ABC Gaza coverage as being ‘more negative than positive about Israel’

Jillian Segal has said the ABC is adding to the conflation of Jewish identity with the state of Israel by “putting stories on the record that are more negative than positive about Israel, and not covering the other side”.

She said:

Somebody needs to do a review of the holistic reporting of a major issue like the war, because my contention is that we are dealing with this new form of antisemitism … and if we have our trusted media, for all the reasons that I’ve described, perhaps not being as accurate as it should be about the Middle East, and putting stories on the record that are more negative than positive about Israel, and not covering the other side, we are adding to the conflation, and we should do something about that.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster asked: “Can that truly be considered to be a problem that the broadcaster created by reporting on the event?”

Segal responded:

Well, as I just illustrated, yes, clearly, if Israel has misconducted itself, then accurate reporting, it is what it is. But if the reporting is not accurate, then I think the broadcaster has some responsibility.

Segal tells royal commission she has no complaints with ABC complaints system, but external oversight is ‘gold standard’

Returning to the antisemitism royal commission, where Jillian Segal is currently giving evidence and advocating for increased monitoring of the ABC and SBS.

Segal has been asked if she has any criticisms about the way the ABC’s complaints system is currently handled by an internal ombudsman.

She responded that she did not.

She was then asked by counsel assisting Richard Lancaster about instances where the ombudsman had reviewed complaints and identified breaches in standards or led to the ABC to change its policies.

One of these instances included the main issue Segal raised about ABC’s reporting before the commission today. This was a report about a UN official telling the BBC during a radio broadcast that 14,000 babies would die in 48 hours if Israel did not allow aid into Gaza, a figure which was later corrected by the UN and the BBC.

The ABC’s ombudsman found that its reporting of this figure had breached editorial standards because it was capable of being verified.

Lancaster asked:

Doesn’t that suggest the ombudsman function is operating effectively at the moment?

Segal responded that while the internal ombudsman was important, “it’s the gold standard” in any industry to also have an external ombudsman.

Earlier in the inquiry, Virginia Bell AC asked Segal:

How is it, in your view, consistent with promoting the trust in the ABC as independent if people know that there is a monitoring committee, whatever you want to call it, that has been selected to represent particular views?

Segal responded:

It could be that the committee doesn’t have particular views … as long as they are people who are aware of the an understanding of modern-day antisemitism and modern-day hatreds.

Thousands call for Bolte Bridge ‘Pam the Bird’ to stay

A graffitied cartoon bird at the centre of a nine-hour police standoff should be preserved rather than removed, according to an online petition with more than 4,000 signatures.

AAP reports Jack Gibson-Burrell was arrested on Tuesday after allegedly scaling and spray-painting Melbourne’s Bolte Bridge with a giant cartoon bird, sparking a long police standoff and traffic chaos.

Almost nine hours after the standoff began, Gibson-Burrell surrendered peacefully and was taken into custody just before midday.

A GetUp petition calling for authorities to keep Pam the Bird on the side of the bridge already gathered 4,320 signatures on Thursday morning. Eric Giordmaina, the organiser, said:

While graffiti is often associated with vandalism, every now and then something appears that transcends a simple spray can on concrete. ‘Pam the Bird’ has quickly become one of those rare pieces.

In just a short time, she’s become a talking point, a landmark, a social media favourite, and a reminder that Melbourne’s personality isn’t built solely by architects and politicians.

Gibson-Burrell was charged with 13 offences over Tuesday’s stunt including burglary, criminal damage, conduct endangering life and conduct endangering serious injury. Read more here:

ARTC confirms train services are ‘progressively returning to normal’

Train services are progressively returning to normal following the restoration of the Telstra 4G network, according to the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC).

Freight and passenger train services are resuming, with the National Train Communications System now functioning reliably. An ARTC spokesperson said:

Priority is being given to the staged return of key passenger services, including metropolitan and regional services in New South Wales, V/Line services in Victoria and interstate passenger services, recognising that individual operators require time to position trains and crews before normal timetables can resume.

Segal tells royal commission she does not believe ABC and SBS have ‘full understanding’ of antisemitism according to IHRA definition

Jillian Segal is continuing to give evidence to the royal commission about her recommendation for the government to monitor the ABC and SBS’s reporting.

Segal was asked how the public broadcaster applying the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) working definition of antisemitism to its reporting would impact “the extent to which the ABC covered the Gaza hostilities”.

She responded that it wouldn’t affect the “extent of the reporting” but it would “enable the reporters to understand better” the conflation of Jewish identity with the state of Israel.

She said:

The reporting, I think, has to be an understanding just of that type of antisemitism. I just don’t believe that they have a full understanding of that.

The royal commission announced in February that the inquiry would apply the IHRA working definition of antisemitism.

The controversial IHRA definition, which is used by many groups, including in Australia, defines antisemitism as “a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews”.

It has been criticised by some, including sections of the Jewish and Palestinian communities, for seeming to conflate criticism of Israel with antisemitism.

Albanese greets Indian PM Modi

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, welcomed India’s Narendra Modi in Melbourne this morning. You can read more about the visit here:

Trains resume on regional NSW lines

Trains have now resumed on two regional NSW lines affected by yesterday’s Telstra outage.

In an update just after 10am, the NSW transport management centre said trains had restarted between Campbelltown, Moss Vale and Goulburn on the Southern Highlands line.

They are also are running again between Newcastle Interchange, Maitland/Telarah, Scone and Dungog on the Hunter line.

“Buses may continue to supplement some trains,” said the updates.

Telstra says ‘good progress’ on triple zero issues, encourages people to ‘immediately retry’ if experiencing problems

Telstra just put out a new update, urging people who face difficulties connecting to triple zero to “immediately retry your call”.

The company said:

Overnight, our team have made good progress reducing the occurrence of the subsequent Triple Zero calling error by approx. 90%. and will continuing work to eliminate this issue entirely.

If you experience any issues calling Triple Zero, please immediately retry your call. We have seen good success of calls connecting on retry.

Our welfare checks process remains in place where a call does not connect successfully.

SA police provide update on Telstra triple zero issues

South Australia police say they have been advised by Telstra that a small number of calls to triple zero are failing to connect.

But to date, Telstra has not escalated any welfare checks to SA police related to the outage. Officials said:

Telstra advise that in these cases, when you call Triple Zero you will receive an error message and your phone will try to connect to an alternative mobile network which can take up to 90 seconds. …

We remain in regular contact with Telstra and will respond swiftly should any information or requests be received.

Regional NSW trains still affected by outage but services to resume ‘progressively’

Trains on two regional lines in NSW continue to be affected by yesterday’s outage.

This morning, buses are still replacing trains between Campbelltown and Moss Vale/Goulburn on the Southern Highlands line and between Newcastle Interchange and Maitland/Telarah, Scone and Dungog on the Hunter Line.

The lines are affected by the outage across the network operated by the Australian Rail Track Corporation (ARTC) which includes interstate services like the The Ghan between Adelaide and Darwin, as well as XPT services which connect Sydney to the ACT, Melbourne and Queensland.

In an update this morning ARTC said rail services are “progressively returning to operation across affected networks following confirmation that safety-critical communications can be reliably established”.

Guardian Australia understands some services in NSW could resume as soon as this morning.

V/Line could return this afternoon, following backup comms issue

The chief executive of V/Line, William Tieppo, said regional Victorian rail services could potentially resume before the afternoon peak, but has not committed to a time when services will resume.

As we reported this morning, there has been commuter chaos on the regional lines since yesterday morning, despite Telstra resolving its initial outage issues mid-morning yesterday.

The reason why trains have yet to return is, Tieppo told reporters, because Telstra’s 4G network was interfering with the backup satellite phones used in the trains when the mobile network is unavailable.

He said:

Overnight, Telstra were able to undertake some repair programming to stabilise the network, and that involved making sure that the 4G train radio system was talking correctly and integrated correctly with the satellite phones, which are our backup system in the train.

He said V/Line needed to have confidence that the repair has worked, and 33 tests had been conducted. He said the testing will be done in the next couple of hours, but could not commit to when services will resume.

We’re hoping to get afternoon peak up and running. And we’ll just wait and see and we’ll provide updates as we get confirmation from Telstra and ARTC [Australian Rail Track Corporation] that we’re right to go.

The ARTC said in a statement on Thursday morning that yesterday’s Telstra outage disrupted the national train communications system that allows train drivers to communicate directly with the network control centre over Telstra’s 4G.

Henderson wouldn’t say how many times she tried to call the triple zero network, only that she “couldn’t get through” in her initial two calls.

SBS highlights role of media in social cohesion before royal commission

SBS has “unequivocally” condemned antisemitism and highlighted “the vital role trusted, independent public service media plays in strengthening social cohesion” ahead of its executives appearing at the royal commission today.

The commission has heard complaints about how the ABC and SBS have covered the Middle East war. Both public broadcasters have stood by their coverage.

In a statement, SBS said its purpose was “to inspire all Australians to explore, respect and celebrate our diverse world, and in doing so, contribute to a cohesive society”:

SBS has invested significantly in reporting and programming that helps Australians better understand antisemitism and its impacts, with content available in more than 60 languages. Across all our platforms and services, we represent Jewish Australian stories and perspectives in a way that is respectful, accurate and inclusive.

Committee of medical experts to hold first meeting over NDIS changes

A group of medical and clinical assessment experts chosen by the federal government to determine how the NDIS will assess functionality for Australians with disability will meet for the first time today.

The technical advisory group, revealed last night, will contain experts from a range of backgrounds including disability research, psychiatry, health statistics, law and paediatrics.

Together, the group will develop the evidence-based assessment framework for functional capacity that will ultimately determine who can access the NDIS when it is introduced from 2028. It will also advise on assessment tools, evidence requirements and test and validate the chosen approach.

The NDIS and health minister, Mark Butler, and ACT disability minister, Suzanne Orr, will co-convene the group’s meetings while the co-chairs Prof Christine Imms and health department deputy secretary, Mary Wood, will lead the meetings.

Butler said:

This is about getting access reform right – technical expertise going hand-in-hand with the lived experience of people with disability, to secure the future of the NDIS for generations to come.

Shadow minister defends test calls to triple zero made by opposition’s communications spokesperson

Anne Webster, the shadow minister for regional communications, is speaking now on RN.

She wouldn’t say whether it was reasonable for the opposition’s communications spokesperson, senator Sarah Henderson, to make test calls on the triple zero network yesterday. Henderson defended herself yesterday, saying she was “doing my job” and wouldn’t apologise for it.

Webster said:

I mean, she’s the shadow minister. She needs to know whether it works or doesn’t work. … I would have thought that it was reasonable.

But I would also suggest to you … that if people are worried, if they have an ongoing health issue, for example, or they’ve had issues trying to get through to triple zero in the past, that they want to know that that is going to be accessible.

She said people were a “curious set of beings” and would want to know if triple zero worked.

‘Full investigation’ will come amid Telstra outage, minister says

Tim Ayres, the federal minister for industry and innovation, said there would be a “full investigation” into the Telstra outages.

Ayres spoke to RN Breakfast, saying there were still “some challenges persisting” in the Telstra network:

Obviously we’re very concerned about passenger rail services in Victoria and New South Wales and monitoring the situation very closely in relation to triple zero calls in particular. There’s been some progress made. But Telstra’s obviously scrambling to fix all of these issues.

There’ll be a full investigation in due course by the proper authority, ACMA. But right now the communications minister is on deck dealing with these challenges.

He said the investigation will determine any potential fine or penalty for Telstra, but right now the “focus has to be on recovery from this fault”.

I mean, it goes without saying, communications and digital infrastructure is part of the lifeblood of the economy. Each of these operators has responsibilities here. The framework is there to manage those, to make sure we’ve got a transparent investigative framework and to apply penalties where it’s necessary.

Communication minister says no reported ‘adverse outcomes’ from Telstra triple zero issues

Anika Wells, the communications minister, said she has not heard of any “adverse outcomes” linked to any Telstra customers failing to connect to triple zero.

Wells spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying Telstra needed to account for “how and why” the outage occurred, because Australians should expect triple zero as“ a baseline service from their telco”. The minister said Australians were overwhelmingly still able to call triple zero yesterday, but added:

There are instances where the triple zero custodian has observed they have not been working, where Telstra has observed they have not been working, and that’s where welfare checks are taking place and continue to take place.

Wells maintained that there was “no evidence” to suggest any cyber-attack and it was “irresponsible” for parliamentarians to speculate about one without “any evidence”.

Telstra says ‘secondary’ triple zero issue reduced by 90%

Just an update on the earlier news we reported regarding a secondary issue affecting people being able to call triple zero after yesterday’s outage.

The telco this morning said the occurrence of this error has reduced by 90% as of 6.30am AEST today, and the company is working to eliminate the issue entirely.

Telstra is expected to provide more updates throughout today.

Andrew Hastie rejects One Nation vision of ‘monoculture’

Liberal frontbencher Andrew Hastie has said he believes he is in a “very good position” within the party to fight back against the existential threat of One Nation.

He told ABC’s 7.30 that he rejects Pauline Hanson’s calls for “monoculturalism”, accusing One Nation of being “focused on a hostile takeover of the centre right”.

I sit with most reasonable Australians somewhere in the centre. I think there is a third way. We’re all signed up to the Australian project. I think immigration has happened, that’s a reality.

It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what colour your skin is, if you sign up to our shared language, which is English, our shared institutions, like parliament, and the rule of law or our judiciary, and if you sign up to our shared symbol, the Australian national flag, you’re Australian.

Victoria’s V/Line regional train network is still suffering the after-effects of yesterday morning’s Telstra outage.

According to an update early this morning, passenger services are still not operating – and that includes this morning’s peak services.

The notice, from 5.30am, adds:

We advise passengers to please defer non-essential V/Line travel. We acknowledge this has been inconvenient to many people and thank passengers for their patience as work continues to safely restore services.