News live: fears highly contagious strain of H5 bird flu infected elephant seals on remote Australian island

12.51am BST Which departments are the most and least trustworthy according to the public? Just 71% of Australians that voted on election day had trust in the processes of the Australian Electoral Commission – according to the government’s yearly scorecard of trust and satisfaction in the Australian public service. Despite record levels of voter enrolment, overall trust and satisfaction of the AEC is 75% – lower than at the last election where it was 86% (however, the report notes the two figures aren’t directly comparable due to recent methodology changes). Australians trust the Department of Foreign Affairs, Medicare and the Pharmaceutical Benefits scheme the most (each scoring over 80% in trust and satisfaction), while the national disability insurance scheme (NDIS), Centrelink and child support services had the lowest trust scores of 66%, 65% and 62% respectively. Overall trust in the public sector is 62%, and improvement from last year’s score of 58%. The report also found more men (66%) trust public services over women (59%), and more Australians living in metropolitan areas (65%) trust public services than Australians living in regional areas (56%). Minister for the public service, Katy Gallagher, said there have been steady improvements in the public service: These results show we’re making progress, and we’ll keep working to maintain and strengthen that trust. 12.27am BST NSW government will move to lift cap on major events at Royal Randwick Racecourse The NSW government will move to allow up to 10 major cultural events at Royal Randwick Racecourse every year, in addition to race days, in what it says will be a “major boost” to the economy and city vibrancy. The Minns government said the events, which will host between 5,000 and 15,000 people, are expected to inject more than $19m into the state economy and “transform the iconic venue into a year-round destination for concerts, cultural festivals, exhibitions, and community gatherings – giving locals and visitors more reasons to enjoy world-class entertainment in the city”. The racecourse had previously been limited to a single culture event of more than 5,000 people. The NSW government has also lifted concert caps at the Sydney Cricket Ground and in Centennial Park. The first events at the Randwick site are expected from late 2026. The NSW premier, Chris Minns, said in a statement: Sydney is a global city – it should be buzzing not just on our premier race days, but all year round. By unlocking this iconic venue to host more events, Royal Randwick is helping drive new life back into our city, supporting jobs, local businesses, and fun. Updated at 12.37am BST 11.57pm BST Victoria police investigating burglary at home of Gold Walkley-winning journalist Nick McKenzie Police are investigating a burglary at the home of Nick McKenzie, a prominent investigative journalist who has won 20 Walkley awards. The Age, where McKenzie works, said it was working closely with authorities in an effort to respond to the “concerning incident”. Patrick Elligett, the editor of the Age, said in a statement to the paper: Any effort to silence or intimidate a reporter is an outrageous attack on the freedom of the press, and we condemn it in the strongest terms. Victoria police said detectives, with assistance from Taskforce Hawk, are “investigating a burglary at a residential address in the northern suburbs” of Melbourne that took place last week. The force added: It is believed an offender gained access to the roof of the residential property, tampering with the CCTV cables some time on Wednesday 15 October. Nobody was home at the time of the incident. Police have appealed to the public for information. Updated at 12.00am BST 11.37pm BST Defamation case involving Rebel Wilson to get first mention A defamation case involving Rebel Wilson is expected to get its first mention in court today with the Australian actor and comedian accused of defaming an up-and-coming actor, Australian Associated Press reports. The actor Charlotte MacInnes appeared in Wilson’s directorial debut, The Deb, a musical about a country town debutante ball, which was screened at the Toronto International Film festival in September 2024 but which has not been seen since. MacInnes is suing Wilson for defamation over comments made on social media in July 2024. Wilson claimed on Instagram that MacInnes had told her she had been subjected to inappropriate conduct by a producer who asked to bathe with her. MacInnes has denied the allegations. MacInnes also claims Wilson said that MacInnes had been given a job by the producer and secured a record deal. The defamation case is set to hit the federal court for the first time today, a month after MacInnes lodged proceedings. Wilson is defending the case. Updated at 11.41pm BST 11.17pm BST Three men in alleged ‘kill crew’ charged with kidnap and murder of Sydney mother Three men accused of being part of a “kill crew” have been charged after a mother was brutally kidnapped and murdered, AAP reports. The body of Thi Kim Tran, 45, was found in a burned-out car in Beverly Hills in Sydney’s south-west on 17 April. The men – aged 20, 21 and 32 – have each been charged with murder and other offences, including conspire and agree to murder any person. A fourth man, 29, was charged in August with murder and wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm over the attack police and remains before the court. Updated at 11.36pm BST 11.01pm BST Scientists see elephant seals with signs of H5 bird flu on sub-Antarctic island Australian scientists recently observed signs consistent with H5 avian influenza, or bird flu, in elephant seals during a voyage to Heard Island in the sub-Antarctic. The Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) said officials had not made a confirmed detection of bird flu but said the findings “reinforces the need for Australia to remain focused on preparing for an outbreak”. Australia is the only continent that does not have the highly contagious strain of H5 bird flu. DAFF said if the cases on Heard Island, more than 4,000km south-west of Perth, are confirmed, they would not “substantially increase the risk to Australia”. DAFF said in a statement: Scientists observed unusual levels of mortality in elephant seals on Heard Island in recent days. There were no observations of unusual levels of mortality in other species present on the island, including penguins and other seabirds. Seeing signs consistent with H5 bird flu in wildlife on Heard Island is not unexpected. It will take several weeks to get results from samples that were collected from wildlife. Updated at 11.24pm BST 10.39pm BST Tertiary education union condemns job cuts at UTS The National Tertiary Education Union has condemned “heartbreaking” job cuts at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS) after the institution confirmed it would slash more than 370 roles. In an email to staff on Thursday, the vice-chancellor of UTS, Prof Andrew Parfitt, said the university’s proposals in their current form would lead to the loss of 344 FTE roles and 32.7 casual academics, with savings of $85m. Initially 400 full-time equivalent (FTE) roles were flagged to be cut. The president of the NTEU, Dr Alison Barnes, said the restructure at UTS was a “prime example” of why the federal government’s recently announced governance reform into universities was needed. These unjustified cuts will cause major long-term damage to UTS and the community its meant to serve. It’s a heartbreaking assault on a university. It’s staggering to think about what’s at stake: courses, subjects and so much irreplaceable expertise. Parfitt said the university was faced with making “difficult decisions” to ensure financial savings and it had taken a “considered approach” to reviewing how it best delivered on its core commitment to public education. Updated at 10.54pm BST 10.20pm BST Emergency management minister says this week’s wild weather a ‘wake-up call’ before bushfire season Kristy McBain, the minister for emergency management, said the extreme heat and damaging winds seen around the country this week were a “wake-up call” about the threat of bushfires as we head into summer. McBain spoke to RN Breakfast this morning, saying: Obviously Wednesday was a real wake-up call for those across New South Wales and Queensland with really hot, dry conditions and a number of bushfires that did spark earlier this week. We ask that people plan and prepare for the season ahead. Make sure you’ve got your emergency plan in place, that you can assist people who may be more vulnerable in your community preparing for what may take place and just heeding those warnings from our emergency services. She noted the government had invested $50m in the national aerial firefighting fleet, which are positioned across the country in case of a bushfires. Updated at 10.31pm BST 9.59pm BST Opposition says Australia already ‘very hard’ place to do business and revamped environmental laws would make it harder Andrew Bragg, the shadow minister for productivity, said the Coalition is “open-minded” but did not support any effort to make investment or business harder in Australia, which could include plans to revamp national environmental laws. Related: Labor needs to bow to Liberals or Greens or its environment law revamp is dead Bragg spoke to RN Breakfast after the opposition leader, Sussan Ley, called proposals to overhaul the laws a “red light” for jobs and a “handbrake” on investment. He said: I think we’re open-minded but the reality is that the government says that they are focused on trying to improve productivity, and to cut red tape and cut green tape, but we don’t see any tangible outcomes here. If the legislation is going to propose new bureaucracies, new agencies, I just think it’s going to make it so much harder to get things done in this country. I mean, it’s a very hard country to do business in. And so one of the main issues with EPBC is that it duplicates state-based regulations. So if you want to do something in this country, you’ve got to get a state approval, a federal approval. Updated at 10.21pm BST 9.40pm BST Pedestrian dies in Sydney after allegedly being hit by e-bike A pedestrian in Sydney has died after he was allegedly struck by an e-bike earlier this week. NSW police said emergency services were called to the suburb of Toongabbie just before 10pm on Wednesday. On arrival, authorities found a man, 65, with injuries and were told the rider of the e-bike had allegedly left the scene. The older man was treated by paramedics and taken to Westmead hospital in critical condition but he died yesterday. Police later arrested the alleged rider of the bike, a man, 45, in the suburb of Seven Hills. He was taken to the police station and has since been released without charge, pending further inquiries. Updated at 10.54pm BST 9.23pm BST Dramatic slow-motion snake bites reveal clues about how fangs and venom kill prey Venomous snakes must strike fast to sink their fangs in prey before they startle – as quickly as 60 milliseconds when hunting rodents. New research has captured – in slow-motion footage – the differences in how venomous serpents bite their targets. Interactive Scientists studied 36 species of venomous snake, filming them at 1,000 frames a second as they struck an object made of ballistic gel that resembled the structure of human skin and muscle. The study, published in the Journal of Experimental Biology, documented the bites of three snake families: vipers, elapids and colubrids. Read more: Related: Gone in 60 milliseconds: dramatic slow-motion snake bites reveal clues about how fangs and venom kill prey Updated at 10.15pm BST 9.13pm BST Good morning, we’ve made it to Friday. Nick Visser here to take over the blog. Let’s get to it. 9.01pm BST The workplace tribunal system is being swamped by an “unsustainable” number of unfair dismissal claims as employers blame workers trying to win payouts rather than settle grievances. Citing figures from the Fair Work Commission, the Fin Review reports this morning that the number of unfair dismissal claims is now 27% higher than five years ago. “This is unsustainable within our current operational, performance and funding structure,” the commission’s president, Justice Adam Hatcher, told an industry event earlier this month. Employers say the rise is being driven by employment lawyers who are using broad unfair dismissal claims to seek payouts from companies through the tribunal system rather than through courts. Employers want the government to reform the law to reduce the number of vexatious claims. 8.41pm BST Police to resume search for body in infamous cold case of Indigenous child killed in 1990 Detectives from the NSW homicide squad investigating the murder of Colleen Walker-Craig from Bowraville in 1990 have begun a two-day search for her remains. Colleen was just 16 when she was last seen in Bowraville in September 1990. Her family reported her missing, and her weighted down clothes were later found in the Nambucca River. Although Colleen’s body has never been found, the NSW coroner found she had died and had most likely been murdered. She was one of three Indigenous children killed over a five-month period in 1990. The remains of two of the children – Evelyn Greenup, 4, who was Colleen’s cousin, and Clinton Speedy-Duroux, 16 – were discovered within months. The three alleged murders were originally investigated separately before being linked by the homicide squad. Detectives returned to Bowraville a year ago to continue the search for Colleen. Related: ‘Now is the time’: NSW homicide detectives return to Bowraville almost 35 years after children murdered According to a police statement on Friday strike force investigators – with assistance from Marine Area Command – will commence a water search in parts of the Nambucca River in both Bowraville and Macksville today and tomorrow A $1m reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for Colleen’s murder remains in place, as well as for information leading to the location and recovery of Colleen’s remains. Anyone with information about this incident is urged to contact Crime Stoppers: 1800 333 000 or nsw.crimestoppers.com.au. Updated at 9.46pm BST 8.30pm BST Welcome Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I’m Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then it will be Nick Visser with the main action. NSW police are resuming the search today in an infamous cold case murder investigation: they will be combing the Nambucca River in Bowraville for the remains of Colleen Walker-Craig, one of three Indigenous children killed over a five-month period in 1990. Also today: the workplace tribunal system is being swamped by an “unsustainable” number of unfair dismissal claims as employers blame workers trying to win payouts rather than settle grievances, according to reports. And we’re likely to hear more in the political tug-of-war over Labor’s proposed new environment laws.