TRANSCRIPT
- Labor claims victory in the Dunkley byelection in Melbourne
- The lives of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies memorialised at the Sydney Mardi Gras parade
- Australia's Hannah Green moves closer to winning the LPGA Tour's Women's World Championship
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has congratulated Labor candidate Jodie Belyea for winning the by-election for the Melbourne seat of Dunkley.
With over 75 per cent of the votes counted, Labor is ahead with 52.5 per cent on the projected two-candidate-preferred count, but the party suffered a swing of 3.8 per cent in favour of the Liberal party.
Mr Conroy says he is proud of what he achieved with his campaign.
"Three good things that came from this campaign is that I got to meet thousands of my community and listen and talk to as many people as possible to learn exactly what the challenges they are facing. The second is that I lost 15 kilos. And the last one is the best news: just before I came up on the stage, my wife whispered in my ear that we are having our second child."
Ms Belyea says she is humbled to be following in the footsteps of the former sitting MP, Peta Murphy, who died from breast cancer in December.
"Peta was a fierce advocate for our community and we miss her everyday. I am not a career politician. I am someone who wants to make a difference for this community and further afield. And I am now going to be your strong local voice in Canberra."
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Attendees at this year's Sydney Mardi Gras say the parade is a beacon for hope, pride and inclusivity.
A moment of silence was held during the parade to honour Jesse Baird and Luke Davies, with a serving police officer facing murder charges over their deaths.
Hundreds of thousands gathered in Sydney's Oxford Street for the parade, featuring more than 200 floats.
Rebbell Barnes was 16 when he was taken to a police station after LGBTIQ+ community members were beaten by officers during the first Sydney Mardi Gras in 1978.
He tells SBS, it is important to keep the event going.
"We still have a long to go with different things. But we've gone a long way since 1978). I am proud with what we're doing. The vibe is fabulous. We all love doing it. We look forward to it every year. One of our 78ers is 90-something - so it needs to keep going for the future, basically. We need to keep it going."
Maori campaigner James was on The Rainbow Mob float.
He says it is the first time he has marched in the parade.
"As a proud Maori Aotearoa Takatāpui, it means a lot. I have been in Australia now for 30-odd years. And this is the first time that I have been invited to march with our brothers. So it means a lot. The future is everything. We need to do the right things for it to be something more sustainable than what the way things are going right now."
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Gaza ceasefire negotiations are due to resume in Cairo today according to two Egyptian security sources cited by Reuters news agency.
Earlier in the week, US President Joe Biden indicated he hoped a ceasefire could be in place by the time of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which starts on the 10th of March.
There has been no immediate comment on the progress of a ceasefire from Israel or Hamas, which have been negotiating via mediators including Egypt and Qatar.
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Britain has joined international calls for an investigation into a large number of Palestinians shot after Israeli troops opened fire near an aid convoy on Thursday.
The health ministry in Gaza says 115 Palestinians were killed by Israeli soldiers while lining up for food rations.
An Israeli source says Israeli troops fired on the crowd because they believed the crowd "posed a threat".
UN spokesman Georgios Petropoulos says he is part of a team that has visited around 200 people who were wounded in the incident and are now receiving treatment at the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City.
"As I speak to you, this hospital is treating more than 200 people that were injured. We have seen people with gunshot wounds. We have seen amputees, and we have seen, children as young as 12 that were injured. Yes. these events cannot be allowed to go on. We need to have safe, secure passage throughout Gaza to reach the people that need humanitarian aid."
Acknowledging the difficulty of getting aid in, United States President Joe Biden says the US will begin airdropping assistance to Gaza and will look for other ways to get shipments in "including possibly a marine corridor".
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In golf, Australia's Hannah Green is in contention to win a fourth LPGA Tour event, after advancing to second place during the third round of the Women's World Championship in Singapore.
Green fired a second straight five-under 67 at Sentosa Golf Club to soar from tied for ninth to outright second, ahead of the final round this weekend.
At eight under, Green trails Japanese leader Ayaka Furue by two shots, after amassing six birdies and dropping her only shot of the round on the par-four 11th hole.
