TRANSCRIPT
- Tasmania appears to have a hung parliament.
- Russia arrests 11 suspects after shooting rampage kills at least 133 people.
- Daniel Ricciardo has been eliminated in the Grand Prix's Q1.
Tasmania appears to have elected a hung parliament, with the nation's only Liberal government facing the prospect of power-sharing negotiations with minor parties and independents.
Early counting indicates the Liberals, who have been in power since 2014, will pick up more seats than Labor but not the 18 of 35 required for majority.
Despite those indications, Liberal leader Jeremy Rockliff has claimed victory.
"We will now work with the parliament that Tasmanians voted for today and I will seek a new government, to form a new government to give Tasmanians the certainty and the stability they deserve and to deliver our 2030 strong plan."
Opposition leader Rebecca White has told Labor supporters there's a lot that's unclear about the result, but she believes it's clear Tasmanians have rejected the Liberals.
"The final make up of this parliament will not be known for some time. But it is clear that Jeremy Rockcliff will not be in a position to do so (form government) without the support of at least four members of the cross-bench. I want to recognise that tonight will be a difficult one for him having called an early election demanding stability, and instead the Liberal party have seen a massive drop in their primary vote."
The island state went to the polls more than a year early, after the Liberal government spent about eight months in minority when two MPs defected to the cross-bench.
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Russia's Federal Security Service says it has arrested 11 people after a shooting rampage in a concert hall near Moscow that killed at least 133 people.
President Vladimir Putin says those detained include four suspected gunmen, who the security service alleges have links with Ukraine.
"All four direct perpetrators of the terrorist attack, all those who shot and killed people, were found and detained. They tried to hide and were moving towards Ukraine, where, according to preliminary data, a passage was prepared for them on the Ukrainian side to cross the state border."
Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak has denied any Ukrainian involvement.
IS has claimed the attack, in which gunmen opened fire with automatic weapons at the Crocus City Hall before setting it alight.
At least 133 people have been reported dead and more than 100 are injured.
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Former New South Wales transport minister Andrew Constance has won pre-selection to represent the Liberal Party in the seat of Gilmore at the next federal election.
Mr Constance, who was also the MP for the south coast electorate of Bega for 19 years, defeated local lawyer Paul Ell by 11 votes, with branch members casting their ballots in Nowra.
He now faces a rematch with Labor incumbent Fiona Phillips, who defeated him by fewer than 400 votes in the May 2022 federal election despite a 13 per cent swing to the Liberals.
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Police in Western Australia say they're investigating several fires lit earlier this month which threatened lives and homes and forced residents to evacuate.
The cause of the fires south-east of Perth is being treated as suspicious.
Police are calling for public help offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of an alleged arsonist.
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And in Formula One racing,
Australian Daniel Ricciardo has been left disappointed at the Grand Prix in Melbourne after being eliminated in qualifying round one ((Q1)) for the first time at Albert Park.
Ricciardo surged into the top ten near the end of the session and seemed certain to continue his impressive record of never qualifying lower than 15th in Melbourne.
But he was ruled to have exceeded track limits and was pushed back to start from 18th place.
He says he's still processing the moment race engineer Pierre Hamelin told him the time had to be deleted.
“I wouldn’t even say it sunk in when it happened. Pierre told me and I kind of knew what it meant, but I don’t know – even now I don’t think it’s fully sunk in because... the lap, I knew Turn 4, I was fighting it and I knew I washed a little bit wider, obviously. But it happens and then you think about the next corner. So I nearly forgot about it."
