TRANSCRIPT
- The Nationals leader urges Barnaby Joyce to stay with the party
- The UN aid chief says mobilising aid in Gaza is a massive task
- Australian Jack Miller set to compete in the Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix
Nationals leader David Littleproud is urging Barnaby Joyce to stay, amid speculation he is set to defect to One Nation.
Mr Joyce announced on Saturday he plans to leave the party, saying he won't contest his seat of New England in 2028.
In a message to branch members, the former Nationals leader says his relationship with the party's leadership has "irreparably broken down".
One Nation leader Pauline Hanson says she encourages Mr Joyce to join her party, saying she believes "he is more aligned with One Nation" right now than the Nationals.
Speaking on Channel Nine's Today show, Mr Littleproud says he wants Mr Joyce to stay with the party.
"And he has left all his options open. We want him to stay in the Nationals party. I think he has a contribution to make between now and when he retires. We have got some big decisions to make. Decisions to make around net zero - how we address those sorts of challenges and have a practical solution. Not just be part of a protest party. But the Nationals are a party of government. And we have to have solutions to take to the Australian people."
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The United Nations' aid chief Tom Fletcher has visited the Gaza Strip to assess the task of scaling up aid after a ceasefire went into effect more than a week ago.
Relief agencies have called for the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to be reopened to speed the flow of food, fuel and medicines.
Inspecting a water treatment plant north of Gaza City, Mr Fletcher says the U-N and aid agencies have a mammoth task ahead of them.
"We've got to get the power back on, so we can start to get the sanitation system back in place. We have a massive 60-day plan now to surge in food, feed, get a million meals out there a day, start to rebuild the health sector, bring in tents for the winter, get hundreds of thousands of kids back into school. But this is a massive, massive job ahead of us. But we owe it to the people here who've been through so much."
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In Australia, communities are preparing to celebrate the Diwali festival of lights.
The occasion is marked by more than a billion people around the world, including diaspora communities in Australia.
Laura-Jane Phoenix Singh told SBS Punjabi it is an important time to spend with loved ones.
"Lighting the diyas, but also going to Mela eating, sharing food either with our friends or our family. It means going to Gurdwara. It's talking about the history and what that looks like for our children and for us as a family."
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Lawyers for Julian Assange have asked Spain to hand a 20-year jail sentence to the man who led the security company hired by Ecuador’s government to guard the Wikileaks founder, while he was living in the Ecuadorian embassy in London - between 2015 and 2018.
David Morales is facing new legal proceedings and is accused of discovery and disclosure of secrets, bribery, money laundering and illegal possession of weapons.
He is awaiting trial in Spain.
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In motor sports, Australian Jack Miller has qualified on the front row for today's Australian Motorcycle Grand Prix.
He is the first local MotoGP rider since the legendary Casey Stoner in 2012 to achieve that feat [[feet]].
In the qualifying session on Saturday, Frenchman Fabio Quartararo set a lap record to claim pole, pipping in-form Italian Marco Bezzecchi in second.
Miller took third place.
He says it was a satisfying feeling.
"I'm really happy with how things are going. You know we were able to get it a little bit more stable without compromising anywhere else. It took me a good two laps sort of going steady and really just try and work the rear tyre - and I was able to find the backend of Fabio - and throw the lasso around."
With up to 4 millimetres of rain and damaging winds forecast for Phillip Island today, the start time of the race has been pushed back to 3pm.
