TRANSCRIPT
- Both major parties push for victory as polling opens in the Dunkley by-election
- US President Joe Biden says the country will begin aid drops to Gaza
- Former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has been named Premier League manager of the year
Voters are heading to the polls in the by-election for the federal seat of Dunkley today, as both major parties hope for a win in the Victorian electorate.
Analysts have said the vote is too close to call in the seat, held by the Liberals until 2019, but which Labor currently holds by a 6.3 per cent margin.
Cost of living and law and order have featured heavily, with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Peter Dutton both in Melbourne today to support their party candidates.
Mr Dutton, supporting Liberal candidate and Frankston City Council mayor Nathan Conroy, says a swing of more than 3 per cent is bad sign for the government ahead of the next federal election.
Mr Albanese has paid tribute to the late Peta Murphy M-P, whose death triggered the vote, and praised Labor Candidate Belyea's work as a community leader.
"She was a strong supporter of education, including of TAFE and Jodie is someone who attended Chisholm TAFE where I drove past today, an extraordinary facility. It has been made better by having fee-free TAFE, where 350,000 Australians have got the chance to get a trade."
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Victorian firefighters are preparing for a calmer weekend ((Sat 2 March)) as residents return to their homes near a fire zone following dangerous bushfires.
Authorities will now focus on assessing the damage after two bushfires that threatened to destroy homes in the west of the state were contained after an intense firefight on Thursday.
Crews worked to stop blazes at Dereel, about 30 kilometres south of Ballarat, and in Bayindeen to the city's west after strong, hot winds in Wednesday's catastrophic fire conditions fanned the flames, prompting warnings for some residents to shelter indoors.
State Control Centre spokesperson Luke Heggarty has told the ABC more temperate conditions will give crews much-needed rest and allow residents in evacuation centres to return home.
"The focus for this weekend is definitely getting community members back into their communities, and not having to spend the weekend in a relief centre."
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US President Joe Biden says his country is planning a military airdrop of food and supplies into Gaza, after an incident in which Israeli soldiers fired at Palestinians rushing to receive aid.
The US has joined calls for an independent investigation into the incident, but says aid drops would be a supplemental effort as it tries to negotiate a ceasefire agreement in the territory.
Gaza health authorities say Israeli forces have killed more than 100 people trying to reach a relief convoy near Gaza City early on Thursday.
Israel says most of the deaths were caused by people being trampled or run over, but says troops later fired on crowds "in a limited response" after feeling threatened.
Mr Biden says the loss of life in the incident is "heartbreaking".
''People are so desperate that, innocent people got caught in a terrible war, unable to feed their families. And you saw the response when they tried to get aid. And we need to do more. And the United States will do more. In the coming days, we're going to join with our friends in Jordan and others from Friday, airdrops of additional food and supplies."
The U-N estimates 576,000 people are close to famine.
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More than 100 people have been arrested after attending tributes to Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny.
Large numbers of police did not immediately intervene as thousands paid respect outside Mr Navalny's funeral in Moscow, with many joining in chants of "No to war" in Ukraine and calling Russian President Vladimir Putin a "murderer".
But rights monitoring group OVD-Info says police later arrested at least 128 people attending tributes to Mr Navalny in 19 cities across Russia on Friday.
The Kremlin, which has denied state involvement in Mr Navalny's death in an Arctic penal colony on February 16, had previously said any unsanctioned gatherings in support of Mr Putin's fiercest critic would violate the law.
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In football, former Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou has won Premier League manager of the year at the 2024 London Football Awards.
The 58-year-old Australian Tottenham Hotspur coach has beaten the likes of Arsenal's Mikel Arteta and West Ham's David Moyes to the accolade.
Postecoglou took the North London side in June last year, with the team currently sitting fifth in the table despite the loss of star striker Harry Kane and prolonged injury absences for several key players this season.
He was a reluctant recipient of the award on Thursday night, but says he enjoyed the evening, whch also saw Spurs stopper Guglielmo Vicario win goalkeeper of the year.
"It's only February, just into March, and I'm not really sure where that fits in terms of recognition. Having said that, it is an acknowledgement of the work we've done since the start of the year."
