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In this bulletin;
- US and European ministers hold high level talks over reaching a ceasefire in Ukraine;
- Labor and Liberal ministers grilled on negative gearing and housing;
- And in sport, Collingwood inflicts the first defeat of Brisbane's Premiership defence.
United States and European officials have met in Paris in an effort to plead Ukraine's case for a ceasefire as the US rhetoric shifted towards minimising Russian responsibility for the conflict.
The talks were held at France's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and included foreign ministers from Britain, France and Germany.
The diplomacy reflects Europe's mounting concern over the US administration's warming attitude towards Moscow, after the failure so far of Trump's efforts to secure a ceasefire in the three-year-old war.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed this sentiment just prior to the talks.
"I believe that Mr. Witkoff has adopted the strategy of the Russian side. I believe that it is very dangerous, because he consciously or unconsciously, I don’t know, is spreading Russian narratives."
Meanwhile, French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot welcomed signs of cooperation between Europe, the US and Ukraine.
“The new thing, if I may say so, is that today, in Paris, the United States, Ukraine, and the Europeans have come together around the same table to discuss together the next steps in the efforts we all want to make to achieve a ceasefire in Ukraine as quickly as possible, allowing us to begin discussions towards a just and lasting peace."
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Housing Minister Clare O'Neil and the Opposition's housing spokesperson Michael Sukkar held a fierce debate on increasing housing supply and negative gearing.
This is the third debate on housing between Ms O'Neil and Mr Sukkar this week, as housing policy continues to be the top issue on the election agenda for both major parties.
Ahead of the debate, Labor was pressured by the Coalition to clarify its stance on negative gearing tax, after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dodged a question about Treasury modelling changes to the policy during the leadership debate on Wednesday night.
Asked by the ABC's Sarah Ferguson, Ms O'Neil doesn't confirm if Labor will consider reforms on the tax.
"I'm not going to get into the details of it, but what I will tell you, Sarah, is that I think the real outrage here would be that a government didn't look at every option, given how bad things are for housing in our country today. And indeed, we know Malcolm Turnbull revealed today that former Liberal government looked into the option too."
Meanwhile, Mr Sukkar has deflected the question about the Coalition's target number of new homes it will build if it wins the election. Labor has promised to build 1.2 million new homes if re-elected.
"We will build more home than Labor, I think there's no doubt about that. If we are given the great honour of forming government, there will be a big mess to clean up from Labor, and we will make that assessment time, but what I won't do is be dishonest like the Labor party, and make commitment that we just know they are not going to meet."
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The New South Wales government says a damning report into a Sydney hospital confirms its decision to try and move away from a public-private hospital model.
The report by the state's auditor-general accuses the operator of the Northern Beaches Hospital of failing to meet healthcare standards and not taking action to stop clinical safety risks.
It follows the deaths of two children who faced long waits before being treated, and finds partnerships created a tension between clinical outcomes and profits.
Health Minister Ryan Park says the report lays bare the flaws of a public-private model.
"It is the exact reason why a piece of legislation currently sits in the parliament to be debated when we return to try and prevent this type of model happening ever again. Now, as we work through this report and the recommendations which we accept in full, it will form part of the discussion of the taskforce that the treasurer and I have established to try and see if we can pull back the public component of this hospital."
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And in sport...
Collingwood has brutally defeated Brisbane and secured its fifth-straight win this season, leading the game with points almost twice than Brisbane.
Magpies won the game with 105 to 53 against the Lions, making the game the first defeat of the Lions' AFL premiership defence.
Nick Daicos made 38 touches throughout the game, leading the Magpies to victory in front of a sell-out crowd of over 34,000 audiences.
Jordan De Goey also made a successful return from injury, scoring two goals.
