As it happened: Hanson bars media outlets from Melbourne press conference over ‘character assassination attempts’; Bird flu cases continue to rise

Protesters have gathered tonight outside a venue in Hawthorn East, where Pauline Hanson is attending a Melbourne fundraising event for One Nation.

Police in riot gear were on hand as a large crowd chanting and holding signs demonstrated outside the venue.

One banner held by protesters said “Unite to fight the right” and “Campaign against racism and fascism”.

Thanks for reading our national news blog for today, Monday, August 3. This is where we will end the live updates.

Here’s a brief look back on some of the major stories we covered today:

• One Nation: Pauline Hanson barred The Age, the ABC and The Guardian from her Melbourne press conference this morning, with new state leader Warren Pickering threatening legal action against journalists for “character assassination attempts”. Hanson said she was proud to announce Pickering, One Nation’s Victorian president, to run as the party’s leader in the Victorian upper house.

• Bird flu: Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt warned Australians to expect more mass mortality events in Australian wildlife caused by H5N1 bird flu. There are now 74 confirmed cases of the strain in Australia, according to the Department of Agriculture.

• Media and tech: Nine and News Corp criticised the federal government’s late changes to its News Bargaining Incentive, warning the revised scheme risks weakening the pressure on tech platforms to pay for Australian journalism. The government confirmed that it would narrow the charge to digital advertising revenue while lifting the rate from 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent, and require platforms to strike deals with at least six publishers.

• Victoria: Three men who allegedly used a vehicle to run over wombats in south Gippsland face up to 18 months in jail, after being charged with several offences. The Conservation Regulator in Victoria is accusing two 20-year-old men and a 23-year-old man from south Gippsland of deliberately running over wombats on public land in the Walkerville area in late 2024.

• Disasters: And overseas, heavy rain and floods battered parts of southern India over the weekend, killing at least 11 people and displacing thousands in the state of Kerala, and setting off a landslide that killed at least three people in neighbouring Karnataka, authorities and news reports said.

We’ll be back with live news coverage again tomorrow.

Myanmar’s detained former leader Aung San Suu Kyi met a representative of the International Committee of the Red Cross on Monday, a spokeswoman for the Myanmar government said, as regional countries press for access to the 81-year-old.

The Nobel Peace Prize winner has been in detention since February 2021 when an elected civilian government led by her was ousted by Myanmar’s military in a dawn coup, plunging the impoverished South-East Asian nation into turmoil.

Since then, Suu Kyi’s exact whereabouts and health have been difficult to determine. No foreign leader or envoy has publicly met her.

On Monday, Suu Kyi met Arnaud de Baecque, Red Cross resident representative to Myanmar, in the capital, Naypyitaw, government spokeswoman Khine Khine Soe said in a message via Telegram.

The Red Cross later confirmed a delegate visited Suu Kyi and had the opportunity to speak to her in private.

Myanmar’s military-backed administrations have repeatedly claimed that Suu Kyi is in good health, even as international pressure has grown on Myanmar’s government to allow independent verification of her wellbeing.

Reuters

Nationals leader Matt Canavan says he doesn’t agree with Pauline Hanson’s decision to exclude certain media outlets from a press conference in Melbourne this morning.

“I don’t like it,” Canavan told the ABC’s Afternoon Briefing just now. “I’m here on the ABC. I think as a public representative, I should make myself accessible to the public and to all types of media, whether I always agree with them or don’t agree with them or what have you.”

Hanson earlier today barred The Age, the ABC and The Guardian from her Melbourne press conference, and new state leader Warren Pickering threatened legal action against journalists for “character assassination attempts”.

“I think it’s also just an important test as well,” Canavan said. “Every election should be somewhat of a litmus test, should be a test of fire, if you like, because … whether you’re the premier or prime minister or minister, you’re in very difficult situations.

“If you can’t cop a few tough questions from some assertive media, perhaps you’re not suited for the role.

“It’s a good test to see how potential elected representatives go under fire, which they’ll often find themselves in in serious roles.”

Topeka, Kansas: Wildfires in eastern Washington state forced the evacuation of 60,000 people in the Spokane area while destroying at least 600 homes, businesses and other structures, authorities said on Sunday (Washington time).

The fires in and around Spokane, the state’s second-largest city, burnt about 21 square kilometres over the weekend and were among dozens of wildfires across the western US that stretched the ability of federal, state and local agencies to fight them.

A total of about 1000 square kilometres has burnt across the state, and some of the fires, including those in the Spokane area, have not been contained.

Fire and law enforcement officials said there had been no reports of injuries or people unaccounted for, but they stressed it was early in the response effort.

Officials also said the evacuees in Spokane included patients at its US Veterans Affairs hospital.

Read the full story here.

Three men who allegedly used a vehicle to deliberately run over wombats in south Gippsland have been charged and face up to 18 months in jail if convicted.

The Conservation Regulator in Victoria has charged two 20-year-old men and a 23-year-old man from south Gippsland with hunting protected wildlife and animal cruelty. They are accused of deliberately running over wombats on public land in the Walkerville area in late 2024.

The men have been charged under the Wildlife Act (1975) and the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act (1986). An offence of hunting protected wildlife carries a maximum penalty of $10,455 and six months’ imprisonment, while animal cruelty offences carry a maximum penalty $52,275 and 12 months’ imprisonment.

Separately, a 20-year-old man is facing charges over alleged conduct at Venus Bay in 2025 that led to the deaths of nine wombats.

The Conservation Regulator investigates wildlife crime and prosecutes alleged offenders, supported by reports from the community.

Anyone with information is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.

Kochi, India: Heavy rain and floods battered parts of southern India over the weekend, killing at least 11 people and displacing thousands in the state of Kerala, and setting off a landslide that killed at least three people in neighbouring Karnataka, authorities and news reports said.

In Kerala, the death toll in rain-related incidents rose to 11 by Sunday and nearly 7700 people were evacuated to about 275 relief camps across the state, a government minister said.

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan said he would meet district officials to review relief camp arrangements. On Sunday, he said clean-up operations had begun in flood-affected areas.

Kerala is likely to experience strong winds and moderate rainfall in some areas on Monday, the state’s disaster management authority said.

Heavy rains also forced closures of many schools across the state, while the government postponed a state-level teacher recruitment exam.

In the northern neighbouring state of Karnataka, heavy rains triggered a landslide that killed a couple and their son on Saturday, newspaper The Hindu reported.

Reuters