Australia news LIVE: Iran president in helicopter crash, voters favour migration cuts

Stepping away from politics and one of Australia’s most influential chefs, Kylie Kwong, is closing her Sydney restaurant and stepping away from professional kitchens after 30 years at the forefront of the dining industry.

Lucky Kwong, her Australian-Cantonese eatery in South Eveleigh, will shut at the end of June, and she will take a break to “relax and reflect”.

“For all the many challenges that come with being in the hospitality industry, I consider myself fortunate for I have had far more positive experiences than negative,” Kwong says.

Kwong, who did her apprenticeship with Neil Perry at Rockpool in 1994, can be credited with pioneering a new genre of cuisine that became internationally lauded.

Inspired by a 2010 talk by rock star international chef Rene Redzepi, from Copenhagen’s Noma, Kwong began weaving Australian native ingredients into the home-style Cantonese cooking she was serving at her first restaurant, Billy Kwong.

A coroner will today make a finding into one of Queensland’s highest profile cold cases – the disappearance of Sharron Phillips.

It is a crime that has haunted south-east Queensland for nearly four decades.

The last anyone heard from 20-year-old Phillips was late at night on May 8, 1986. After her car ran out of petrol, she phoned her boyfriend, Martin Balazs, about 11pm from a phone box at Wacol, about 18 kilometres south-west of Brisbane’s CBD.

The case produced hundreds of leads, some tenuous, others more detailed. No one was charged and Phillips’ body has not been found.

In 2017, detectives named Brisbane taxi driver Raymond Peter Mulvihill, who died of cancer in 2002, as the suspect who would have been charged with her murder.

He was placed at the Wacol scene by his son, Ian Seeley, who said his conscience forced him to contact police the day after he read a story by this masthead about the cold case in May 2016.

Then-attorney-general Yvette D’Ath ordered a new inquest into Phillips’ disappearance in 2017. Queensland Coroner Terry Ryan will deliver his findings this morning.

NSW Premier Chris Minns is at Bossley Park High School this morning where he is expected to speak at a media conference at 9.30am.

You can watch the press conference live below.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed his government is expecting two new Boeing jets, as they were told some time ago the jets would arrive but have been delayed.

Reports in The Australian this morning say taxpayers will pay $450 million for two new Boeing 737 business jets to ferry Albanese, the Governor-General and key government ministers.

Asked whether the government has purchased two new Boeing jets on ABC Brisbane, Albanese confirmed this has been a project underway for some time.

“The former government purchased some Boeing jets some time ago, when they were in government, I think actually it goes back to the Turnbull government and they are yet to be delivered,” he said.

Asked again if the government was expecting the two new Boeing jets, Albanese confirmed they were waiting.

“We are, we’ve been expecting them and we were told they’d be delivered some time ago, they haven’t been,” he said.

Australia’s two major airlines have backflipped and given conditional approval to an industry-wide aviation ombudsman who would deal with passenger complaints and refunds.

An Aircraft Noise Ombudsman already exists to regulate and deal with complaints, but the aviation green paper prepared for federal Transport Minister Catherine King and released last September examined the need for either a passenger bill of rights or a strong ombudsman to oversee the sector and deal with complaints about airlines from customers.

King has previously said the aviation white paper, due to be released mid-2024, would “include consideration of how we can better protect the interests of consumers, whether that be a stronger ombudsman model or other measures implemented in overseas jurisdictions”.

Australia’s airlines have endured sustained criticism for their performance in recent years, with Qantas recently admitting it had advertised and sold tickets on already cancelled flights to tens of thousands of consumers. It recently reached a $120 million settlement, comprising both penalties and compensation, with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of having a vibe, not a policy.

Speaking on ABC News Radio, Albanese said in the three budget replies delivered by Dutton, none of the policies are costed.

“He has a vibe, not a policy and with like all of us, the so-called announcements that he’s made, when you look at the details … there’s no costings, no understanding about impact on the economy,” Albanese said.

“Everything from nuclear reactors where they’ll be, where they won’t say who will pay for them, where they won’t say what the economic cost will be to taxpayers or to the national economy.

“This is an opposition that have had three budget replies and not put out a single costed policy on any issue whatsoever.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has accused Labor of having a “cult-like desire” for Australia to run on windmills.

During a panel discussion on Seven’s Sunrise with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, the pair took questions on how well the budget was received by voters.

Plibersek spruiked stage 3 tax cut reforms, the $300 energy rebate, wiping $3 billion off student debt and increasing rent assistance.

“We are absolutely focused on bringing down inflation and helping with the cost of living. This budget does both of those things,” Plibersek said.

Joyce argued back, accusing Plibersek and the government of failing to effectively tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

“Tanya says, ‘oh we’re dealing with the cost of living’ and that really just annoys people because they say ‘well you’re not dealing with it when I pay the groceries’,” he said.

Interrupting Joyce’s argument, Plibersek asks “well what’s your plan for the cost of living?”

Joyce responds: “straightaway [we’re] not going to have this insane desire, cultish desire, a cult-like desire to turn the whole world, have Australia running on windmills, it’s just insane and while you’re stuck [on that] coal is going to continue to go through the roof.”

An over height truck has shut down city bound lanes of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, with all traffic diverted to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Just before 8am the truck attempted to drive through the tunnel which has a 4.4 metre height limit. The over height truck triggered the detectors inside the tunnel, shutting down all lanes.

Over height trucks in tunnels has become an ongoing battle for the state government after a slew of incidents last year, including one instance where an over height truck shut down the Domain Tunnel, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Penalties have increased with on-the-spot fines over $4000 and demerit points doubled to 12.

The University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor Mark Scott will meet with pro-Palestinian protesters who have been encamped on his university’s lawns for several weeks, saying he wants to do everything possible to avoid “going down the United States route”.

Scott said he was sorry to students and staff who reported feeling unsafe at the university, and that “it’s very possible to work your way around University and not be confronted by the encampment”.

Last week, 2GB’s Ben Fordham reported “masked protestors” had entered a tutorial and refused to leave, in a scene Scott conceded was “totally unacceptable”.

He said had personally apologised to Professor Peter Morgan, whose tutorial was interrupted, and promised to take “full disciplinary action” against those responsible.

“But peaceful protest has been part of the culture of this university, and other universities, for hundreds of years,” he said.

“I’m not saying that the time won’t come when we will talk with police about the encampment, but there are lines that need to be crossed as far as, I suppose, violence or a widespread breach of codes of conduct that we have.

“At the moment, we we monitor it, we don’t think we’re at that point. And again I’d point … to the experience of the United States: clearing away of encampments does not guarantee safety, or less violence. What it did in the United States was it increased violence, it increased antisemitism. You had universities shut down, universities that couldn’t do graduations. We’ve had 20 graduations here in the last couple of weeks. So we are doing our best to deescalate tensions to manage the tensions in what is clearly a very complicated time.”

Politicians, chiefs of staff and others working at Parliament House could be fined up to $3 million or jailed for up to 15 years if they don’t report a worker’s complaint of sexual harassment, assault, discrimination or bullying to a powerful new body being created to investigate misconduct allegations.

A staff consultation document leaked to this masthead says employers would have to report allegations to a parliamentary standards commission even without staff consent if a claim were about something that could pose further workplace risk. This contradicts recommendations elsewhere for a complainant-focused approach when assault or bullying allegations are raised.

The document comes more than two years after an independent inquiry in the wake of former staffer Brittany Higgins’ revelation she had been raped in a minister’s office found parliament had a “revolting and humiliating” workplace culture.

A bipartisan parliamentary leadership taskforce, led by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, is drafting legislation for the much-delayed Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, which it is hoped will begin operations by October.

Stepping away from politics and one of Australia’s most influential chefs, Kylie Kwong, is closing her Sydney restaurant and stepping away from professional kitchens after 30 years at the forefront of the dining industry.

Lucky Kwong, her Australian-Cantonese eatery in South Eveleigh, will shut at the end of June, and she will take a break to “relax and reflect”.

“For all the many challenges that come with being in the hospitality industry, I consider myself fortunate for I have had far more positive experiences than negative,” Kwong says.

Kwong, who did her apprenticeship with Neil Perry at Rockpool in 1994, can be credited with pioneering a new genre of cuisine that became internationally lauded.

Inspired by a 2010 talk by rock star international chef Rene Redzepi, from Copenhagen’s Noma, Kwong began weaving Australian native ingredients into the home-style Cantonese cooking she was serving at her first restaurant, Billy Kwong.

A coroner will today make a finding into one of Queensland’s highest profile cold cases – the disappearance of Sharron Phillips.

It is a crime that has haunted south-east Queensland for nearly four decades.

The last anyone heard from 20-year-old Phillips was late at night on May 8, 1986. After her car ran out of petrol, she phoned her boyfriend, Martin Balazs, about 11pm from a phone box at Wacol, about 18 kilometres south-west of Brisbane’s CBD.

The case produced hundreds of leads, some tenuous, others more detailed. No one was charged and Phillips’ body has not been found.

In 2017, detectives named Brisbane taxi driver Raymond Peter Mulvihill, who died of cancer in 2002, as the suspect who would have been charged with her murder.

He was placed at the Wacol scene by his son, Ian Seeley, who said his conscience forced him to contact police the day after he read a story by this masthead about the cold case in May 2016.

Then-attorney-general Yvette D’Ath ordered a new inquest into Phillips’ disappearance in 2017. Queensland Coroner Terry Ryan will deliver his findings this morning.

NSW Premier Chris Minns is at Bossley Park High School this morning where he is expected to speak at a media conference at 9.30am.

You can watch the press conference live below.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has confirmed his government is expecting two new Boeing jets, as they were told some time ago the jets would arrive but have been delayed.

Reports in The Australian this morning say taxpayers will pay $450 million for two new Boeing 737 business jets to ferry Albanese, the Governor-General and key government ministers.

Asked whether the government has purchased two new Boeing jets on ABC Brisbane, Albanese confirmed this has been a project underway for some time.

“The former government purchased some Boeing jets some time ago, when they were in government, I think actually it goes back to the Turnbull government and they are yet to be delivered,” he said.

Asked again if the government was expecting the two new Boeing jets, Albanese confirmed they were waiting.

“We are, we’ve been expecting them and we were told they’d be delivered some time ago, they haven’t been,” he said.

Australia’s two major airlines have backflipped and given conditional approval to an industry-wide aviation ombudsman who would deal with passenger complaints and refunds.

An Aircraft Noise Ombudsman already exists to regulate and deal with complaints, but the aviation green paper prepared for federal Transport Minister Catherine King and released last September examined the need for either a passenger bill of rights or a strong ombudsman to oversee the sector and deal with complaints about airlines from customers.

King has previously said the aviation white paper, due to be released mid-2024, would “include consideration of how we can better protect the interests of consumers, whether that be a stronger ombudsman model or other measures implemented in overseas jurisdictions”.

Australia’s airlines have endured sustained criticism for their performance in recent years, with Qantas recently admitting it had advertised and sold tickets on already cancelled flights to tens of thousands of consumers. It recently reached a $120 million settlement, comprising both penalties and compensation, with the Australian Consumer and Competition Commission.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has accused Opposition Leader Peter Dutton of having a vibe, not a policy.

Speaking on ABC News Radio, Albanese said in the three budget replies delivered by Dutton, none of the policies are costed.

“He has a vibe, not a policy and with like all of us, the so-called announcements that he’s made, when you look at the details … there’s no costings, no understanding about impact on the economy,” Albanese said.

“Everything from nuclear reactors where they’ll be, where they won’t say who will pay for them, where they won’t say what the economic cost will be to taxpayers or to the national economy.

“This is an opposition that have had three budget replies and not put out a single costed policy on any issue whatsoever.”

Nationals MP Barnaby Joyce has accused Labor of having a “cult-like desire” for Australia to run on windmills.

During a panel discussion on Seven’s Sunrise with Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, the pair took questions on how well the budget was received by voters.

Plibersek spruiked stage 3 tax cut reforms, the $300 energy rebate, wiping $3 billion off student debt and increasing rent assistance.

“We are absolutely focused on bringing down inflation and helping with the cost of living. This budget does both of those things,” Plibersek said.

Joyce argued back, accusing Plibersek and the government of failing to effectively tackle the cost-of-living crisis.

“Tanya says, ‘oh we’re dealing with the cost of living’ and that really just annoys people because they say ‘well you’re not dealing with it when I pay the groceries’,” he said.

Interrupting Joyce’s argument, Plibersek asks “well what’s your plan for the cost of living?”

Joyce responds: “straightaway [we’re] not going to have this insane desire, cultish desire, a cult-like desire to turn the whole world, have Australia running on windmills, it’s just insane and while you’re stuck [on that] coal is going to continue to go through the roof.”

An over height truck has shut down city bound lanes of the Sydney Harbour Tunnel, with all traffic diverted to the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Just before 8am the truck attempted to drive through the tunnel which has a 4.4 metre height limit. The over height truck triggered the detectors inside the tunnel, shutting down all lanes.

Over height trucks in tunnels has become an ongoing battle for the state government after a slew of incidents last year, including one instance where an over height truck shut down the Domain Tunnel, bringing traffic to a standstill.

Penalties have increased with on-the-spot fines over $4000 and demerit points doubled to 12.

The University of Sydney’s vice-chancellor Mark Scott will meet with pro-Palestinian protesters who have been encamped on his university’s lawns for several weeks, saying he wants to do everything possible to avoid “going down the United States route”.

Scott said he was sorry to students and staff who reported feeling unsafe at the university, and that “it’s very possible to work your way around University and not be confronted by the encampment”.

Last week, 2GB’s Ben Fordham reported “masked protestors” had entered a tutorial and refused to leave, in a scene Scott conceded was “totally unacceptable”.

He said had personally apologised to Professor Peter Morgan, whose tutorial was interrupted, and promised to take “full disciplinary action” against those responsible.

“But peaceful protest has been part of the culture of this university, and other universities, for hundreds of years,” he said.

“I’m not saying that the time won’t come when we will talk with police about the encampment, but there are lines that need to be crossed as far as, I suppose, violence or a widespread breach of codes of conduct that we have.

“At the moment, we we monitor it, we don’t think we’re at that point. And again I’d point … to the experience of the United States: clearing away of encampments does not guarantee safety, or less violence. What it did in the United States was it increased violence, it increased antisemitism. You had universities shut down, universities that couldn’t do graduations. We’ve had 20 graduations here in the last couple of weeks. So we are doing our best to deescalate tensions to manage the tensions in what is clearly a very complicated time.”

Politicians, chiefs of staff and others working at Parliament House could be fined up to $3 million or jailed for up to 15 years if they don’t report a worker’s complaint of sexual harassment, assault, discrimination or bullying to a powerful new body being created to investigate misconduct allegations.

A staff consultation document leaked to this masthead says employers would have to report allegations to a parliamentary standards commission even without staff consent if a claim were about something that could pose further workplace risk. This contradicts recommendations elsewhere for a complainant-focused approach when assault or bullying allegations are raised.

The document comes more than two years after an independent inquiry in the wake of former staffer Brittany Higgins’ revelation she had been raped in a minister’s office found parliament had a “revolting and humiliating” workplace culture.

A bipartisan parliamentary leadership taskforce, led by Minister for Women Katy Gallagher, is drafting legislation for the much-delayed Independent Parliamentary Standards Commission, which it is hoped will begin operations by October.