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TRANSCRIPT
The newly-appointed leader of the Nationals, Matt Canavan, says his party is best placed to represent the people of Farrer in southwestern New South Wales.
A by-election will be held in May after former Liberal leader Sussan Ley resigned as the local member.
Pauline Hanson's One Nation is contesting the seat and her party has performed well in recent polling.
Matt Canavan says he'll be campaigning in the election, emphasising the practical things the Nationals have delivered over the years.
"Pauline has been in politics for more than double the time I've been here and I struggle to point to a single dam, single road, a single hospital that Pauline has delivered in Australia. I can point to swathes of those things with the work I've done with Michelle Landry, Colin Boyce and others in central Queensland. That is ultimately what we're here for. We're here to deliver results. We're here to make peoples lives better and I'll be putting that case to the people of Farrer about how the Nationals party can best do that for people on the ground."
Mr Canavan, a 45-year-old Senator from Queensland, was this morning elected new National Party leader, replacing David Littleproud, who quit yestreday.
He's been in parliament since 2014, and was previously Minister for Northern Australia and Minister for Resources in the Morrison and Turnbull governments.
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United Australia Party boss Clive Palmer says he'll be running for the Liberal-held seat of Fadden.
He's confirmed the U-A-P is running candidates in every seat.
The mining billionaire is promising to mail a copy of his "New Deal" manifesto to every household in the country.
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A study has found almost 60 per cent of Indigenous employees experience racism in Australian workplaces.
The Centre for Indigenous People and Work at the University of Technology surveyed more than 1,100 Indigenous workers and found one in two [[53 per cent]] Indigenous employees still experience race-based comments and assumptions at work.
Only 40 per cent of employees reported that their workplaces were culturally safe.
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The federal government has announced action it claims will protect consumers and shore up Australia's fuel supply in the face of what's happening in the Middle East.
The government will double penalties across the economy for misleading or cartel behaviour by big petrol companies, with the top fine now being 100 million dollars.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission will be tasked with ramping up surveillance on petrol prices, reporting weekly.
The government also says it will work with industry to increase supply to service stations.
Energy Minister Chris Bowen says people should also not try and profiteer from the situation by selling fuel themselves.
"I've seen people who can access fuel buying way too much fuel. I'm seeing it on Facebook Marketplace, and other places, no doubt, I'm sure. That is dangerous. It is not without risk to fill jerry cans and sell them online. And it is a risk to the fuel security as well."
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A technical outage has stopped NAPLAN testing across many public and private schools.
The disruption occurred as students were scheduled to sit the writing component of the annual assessment.
Testing has resumed and the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority [[ACARA]] says students who were unable to complete the test today can attempt it again tomorrow.
NAPLAN moved to online testing in 2022.
Only grade 3 students are allowed to use a pen and paper for the writing component of the test.
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South Australian Police have returned to Oak Park Station in the state's north-east as they continue to investigate the disappearance of Gus Lamont.
The four-year-old was last seen at the family property on the 27th of September.
Police have searched several locations across the property - 45 kilometres south of the remote town of Yunta - for evidence.
Authorities continue to insist Gus' parents are not suspects in their investigation.
Police said two other family members aren't "co-operating" with investigators, while a third has also withdrawn their co-operation.
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The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade says it's providing consular assistance to the family of an Australian detained in Hong Kong.
This week, authorities in Hong Kong detained Ami Hoi Ching Chen over her engagement in mass protests in 2019.
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At least six people are dead after a bus caught fire in western Switzerland.
The fire started in the town of Kerzers about 20 kilometres from the capital, Bern.
It's not yet known what caused the blaze.
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In football, Matildas defender Clare Hunt says North Korea's secrecy won't be an obstacle to Australia's success in the Asian Cup.
The Matildas play North Korea in their quarter-final on Friday night in Perth.
The isolationist approach of North Korea extends to football with none of their players playing outside of the country and little is known of the North Korean domestic football competition.
But Hunt says watching North Korea's three games so far in this tournament should be enough to give the Aussies an idea of what to do.
"Obviously, we are going to analyse the way that they play, and we've seen how they've played throughout the tournament. I think we have enough to prepare, and enough to play against them, and know where their strengths and weaknesses are, and how we might exploit some of those weaknesses to come away with the win."
Defender Steph Catley has now joined her team mates in Perth.
She had to travel separately after suffering a concussion against South Korea, and is in doubt for the game.
