Key events
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Good morning and welcome to our rolling coverage of all the Australian news that’s fit to read about. I’m Martin Farrer bringing you the best overnight lines before Amy Remeikis takes charge.
New South Wales premier Chris Minns will travel to the site of Sunday’s bus tragedy today amid questions about whether the law needs to change to make wearing seatbelts compulsory for such transport. He told the ABC yesterday:
[If] there’s a recommendation made to us about law changes in relation to safety on buses or coaches or in cars and vans in NSW, we’ll of course take action.
We’ll be following his visit and he is expected to give a media conference later.
The Australian defence force cannot continue to help with natural disasters and defend Australia at the same time, a senior defence chief has told MPs. Air Vice Marshal Stephen Chappell said the “unrelenting tempo” of bushfires, floods, and the pandemic had strained resources, damaged morale and interrupted training, making such duties “unsustainable”.
Debate will continue on the voice referendum. Yesterday the Indigenous Australians minister, Linda Burney, accused the no campaign of importing “American-style Trump politics” into the debate. But prominent yes campaigners say their job is to “keep the faith”.
There may also be reaction today to the news last night that the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds is planning to sue Labor’s Tanya Plibersek over a television interview regarding Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation. Plibersek, the environment minister, confirmed she had received a concerns notice from Reynolds – but also appeared to hint she was considering legal action of her own. A concerns notice is the first step in beginning defamation proceedings.
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