Australia news as it happened: PM meets Pope Leo XIV; Former US president Joe Biden diagnosed with cancer

To NSW now, where a control room operator during the Bondi Westfield stabbing attack has been described as not “match fit” by an international counter-terrorism expert, who said she was “the wrong person at the wrong time” in the high-pressure job.

A coronial inquest also listened to a harrowing triple zero call made 10 minutes after Joel Cauchi began his knife rampage, in which the operator passed on “mixed-up” and confusing information to police.

Monday marked the opening of the fourth week of evidence in the Lidcombe Coroner’s Court. Psychological and security are experts expected to reflect on the horrific mass stabbing and response over coming days.

The first was international British counter-terrorism expert Scott Wilson, who was tasked with reviewing the security response.

Much evidence has been heard about the competence of a control room operator, known only as CR1 by court order, who was watching the Westfield’s cameras on the day of the attack.

Cauchi had turned his military knife first on Dawn Singleton at 3:33pm and then Jade Young seconds later on 13 April 2024.

But against protocol, CR1 had stepped out of the room 40 seconds before Cauchi began his attack.

Read more of Perry Duffin’s reporting about the inquest here.

Struggling pizza giant Domino’s is on the hunt for a new chief executive of its Australian business after the resignation of Kerri Hayman, who has been in the role for nine months.

Hayman was announced as Domino’s Australia’s new chief executive in August last year, when she told this masthead that improving the pizza business from the inside out would be her legacy.

“This is the right time for me to take the next step in my journey,” Hayman said in a statement to the ASX.

“Domino’s is now entering a new chapter, with a clear ‘recipe for growth’ in place for Australia and New Zealand. With the business well positioned for the future, I feel confident this is the right time for me to open a new chapter of my own.”

The abrupt departure marks further leadership turmoil for the company. Hayman’s brother Don Meij, a long-standing former chief executive, held the role of group chief executive for 22 years.

Meij handed the reins to his sister so he could focus, as Global CEO, on international markets, where low-cost pizzas have been failing to take off with some Asian and European customers. Meij stepped down from the global CEO role in November and was replaced by board adviser and former Coca-Cola executive Mark van Dyck.

You can read more from Jessica Yun here.

The newly elected deputy Nationals leader has said that his party would “absolutely” consider walking away from an agreement with the Coalition, if they felt the move would better serve their constituents.

Kevin Hogan said on ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that his top priority was representing the interests of regional Australians.

“There are certain negotiations we have had with the Liberal Party that we do not want to go back to square one on … [like] the Australia Future Fund,” Hogan said.

“Our intention is to [remain aligned]. But would we walk away if we felt we were selling out our regional communities? Absolutely.”

Hogan said that the Nationals would negotiate to retain the frontbench spot belonging to Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, despite her defection to the Liberal Party.

Hogan also backed the remarks on nuclear by Nationals leader David Littleproud, calling it an integral part of Australia’s path to net zero.

“There are many examples of private companies, and private money, invested in nuclear. We see Amazon, we see Google … they need an enormous amount of energy. AI now needs an enormous amount of energy,” Hogan said.

“We think we do need to keep nuclear as a parameter with our net zero 2050 push … Nuclear is a big part of almost every Western country except Australia.”

A federal electorate-sized bloc of overseas votes has helped determine the results of close seats as expatriates and tourists cast their ballots at near record levels at the May 3 election.

Data from the Australian Electoral Commission reveals more than 75,000 people voted overseas, casting ballots everywhere from Alofi on Niue to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia.

The commission had 111 polling centres in a record 83 countries for the election.

The single largest number of votes were cast in London – 15,747. Australia House has traditionally been the largest overseas polling booth, with people lining up to participate.

Across the English Channel, more than 12,500 Australians voted in other parts of Europe. The largest polling centres on the Continent were Paris (2043), Berlin (1700), The Hague (1130), Rome (838), Madrid and Denmark (811 each).

You can read more from Shane Wright, and use our interactive map, here.

Qantas should be forced to pay the maximum penalty of $121 million for illegally outsourcing the roles of 1800 ground workers, to send a strong message to all companies, a union says.

Justice Michael Lee is set to decide the penalty Qantas must pay after three days of hearings that began in the Federal Court in Sydney today.

Outside court, Transport Workers’ Union national secretary Michael Kaine said the hearing was the beginning of the end of “a protracted, brutal, distressing set of litigation” that started after Qantas sacked the workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

Last October, Lee ordered Qantas to pay $120 million to the workers as compensation for their economic loss, pain and suffering, and the TWU is seeking that he impose the maximum penalty of $121 million.

“We have to send a very strong, clear signal to Qantas and every other company in Australia that this can never, ever happen again to any Australian worker,” Kaine said.

In court, Qantas chief people officer Catherine Walsh told Lee that “hopefully you’ll see from the size of the compensation payment that, in fact, we are very sorry”.

“We do wish for the workforce that was impacted to be properly remediated and the compensation that has been agreed could go some way to deal with that,” she said.

The compensation payments will start flowing to workers by the end of May, with a base payment of $10,000 for all workers.

AAP

An independent MP challenger has edged ahead of the Liberal candidate in the NSW electorate of Bradfield, as a full recount of votes looks increasingly likely.

Independent Nicolette Boele currently leads Gisele Kapterian by 40 votes, according to the Australian Electoral Commission (AEC). As of 3.10pm 268 more envelopes were waiting to be counted.

A spokesperson for the AEC told this masthead that counting in Bradfield was expected to take up most of the week.

“All outstanding ballot papers will be opened and added to the count … on Monday, before we begin the full distribution of preferences,” the spokesman said on Friday.

If the final margin is fewer than 100 votes, a full recount will be triggered, according to AEC guidelines. If that happens an official declaration could come as late as next month.

Independent MP Monique Ryan has called for the Albanese government to urgently reconsider its tax on super balances over $3 million, warning it could penalise younger Australians.

The Kooyong MP labelled Labor’s policy, which it took the election, as “tax by stealth” and said there instead needed to be broader reform.

“We need the government to urgently address intergenerational inequity with meaningful tax reform,” Ryan said in a media release today. “We need to broaden our tax base and take the tax burden off young wage-earners.”

Ryan said the government’s plan to tax unrealised gains would reduce investment – including in start-ups – and could see investors pulling money out of super and into property where they could drive up house prices.

She also said the tax, which would currently affect only 0.5 per cent of Australians, needed to be indexed to avoid disproportionately penalising younger Australians in the future.

“The lack of indexation means that it could affect all Gen Z Australians by the time they turn 60,” she said.

Ryan also slammed the Liberal Party for abstaining from a motion put up by the crossbench to index the super tax threshold and failing to talk about the issue during the recent election campaign.

The rift between the Liberal and Nationals parties over their commitment to nuclear energy won’t just determine the energy policy the Coalition takes to the next election, it could either lock in or blow up Australia’s bipartisan support for reaching net zero emissions by 2050.

A split between the parties over nuclear would not just affect policy, it would force about nine senior Nationals to forgo about $58,415 a year in salary.

If the Coalition splits, the Nationals would separate from the Liberals and exit the official federal opposition and the official positions that come with it.

About nine or so Nationals MPs would be entitled to be selected as shadow ministers under the rule that divides official positions between the Coalition partners – based on their number of seats – which is unusually high this year for the junior party following the Liberals’ election wipeout.

The ongoing commitment to nuclear and net zero policies is a live debate within the Coalition. Former opposition leaders Scott Morrison and Peter Dutton took a net zero commitment to the past two elections.

Still, both the Liberal and Nationals party rooms are debating whether they will remain committed to net zero, while the Nationals have already signalled their continued commitment to nuclear.

You can read more of Mike Foley’s analysis here.