Key events
Tamsin Rose
NSW government to announce changes to procurement policies
The New South Wales government will announce today changes to policies governing procurement to support more jobs and businesses in the state.
Domestic manufacturing and government procurement minister Courtney Houssos said the reforms would “support our local industries and give them new opportunities to secure a larger slice of the NSW government’s $42bn procurement spend”.
The government will announce its intention to legislate the creation of the Jobs First Commission to oversee and enforce local content measures, including forcing the NSW procurement board to make agencies engage with local suppliers before going to tender for projects worth more than $7.5m and agencies made to explain what happened if a local provider was not selected.
The moves are being welcomed by business and unions alike, with Business NSW chief executive Dan Hunter saying the decision would “supercharge” manufacturing and drive innovation.
Unions NSW Secretary Mark Morey welcomed targets for apprentices and trainees on major projects to “build the skilled workforce of tomorrow”.
Rescuers searching for two people on yacht off NSW
Rescuers are attempting to reach a yacht with two people on board in rough seas off the NSW south coast, AAP reports.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it received a distress beacon alert about midday yesterday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. Media reports named the stricken 19-metre-long yacht as the Spirit of Mateship, which the ABC reports has been in several Sydney to Hobart races.
AMSA said it was dealing with up to five-metre seas and 70-90km/h winds.
Emergency authorities said a rescue was likely to be attempted at first light today if weather conditions allowed. A water police vessel was making its way to the scene.
Two Royal Australian Navy ships and an RAAF C-130J Hercules aircraft were also involved in the rescue operation.
Police had earlier said the yacht “is believed to have sustained a mechanical issue and is taking on water”.
Good morning
Emily Wind
Emily Wind here, signing on for blogging duties. Thanks to Martin for kicking things off! I’ll be with you for most of today, bringing you our rolling coverage.
See something that needs attention? You can get in touch via X, @emilywindwrites, or you can send me an email: emily.wind@theguardian.com.
Let’s get started.
Sarah Basford Canales
Second day of closing arguments in Reynolds-Higgins case
The second day of closing arguments in the defamation trial against Brittany Higgins brought by the ex-defence minister, and her former boss, Linda Reynolds, will begin shortly.
Yesterday Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, said the Liberal senator’s “dogged focus” on events in 2021 and 2022 during the trial demonstrated her focus was not on the three social media posts in 2023 about which she is suing.
Young said the “harm and hurt” Reynolds experienced for the 2023 social media posts was small or nonexistent because, by that point, her reputation had already been “baked in”.
The defence also said Reynolds’ failure to do a welfare check on Higgins was an example of how she mishandled the incident. Young said:
It’s those basic human responses we say are missing from this narrative.
Young also said it was Reynolds that engaged in “persistent” harassment against Higgins. This was demonstrated by three key moments, Young said:
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Reynolds called Higgins a “lying cow” after the allegations became public;
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The senator “repeatedly” backgrounded a columnist at The Australian with confidential documents about Higgins’ commonwealth settlement;
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Her correspondence with Lehrmann’s then barrister, Steven Whybrow, during the 2022 criminal trial in the ACT gave an impression of partisanship.
The hearing is expected to begin slightly earlier today at 9.30am Perth time, starting with the remainder of the defence’s closing arguments.
Reynolds’ lawyer, Martin Bennett, will then begin his closing arguments.
Clean up begins after wild weather leaves one person dead
Extreme weather across three states is expected to ease as the clean-up gets under way after strong winds left a woman dead, homes destroyed and towns on flood watch, AAP reports.
The wind and rain, which started on Sunday night, resulted in the death of a 63-year-old woman after a tree struck a cabin at a holiday park in Moama, on the NSW-Victoria border.
At one point more than 120,000 Victorians were without power, and 660 homes were damaged on Monday after a night of pulsing winds and abnormally high tides.
The Bureau of Meteorology’s senior meteorologist Sarah Scully said that while the worst of the weather had taken place, some damage was still to come.
We’re expecting the winds to gradually ease from the west … and for all of the wind warnings to be cancelled by late (Monday). However, winds of this strength do have the potential to bring down trees, branches that may cause property damage, that may cause power outages and hazardous driving conditions.
Some low-lying properties in Tasmania may become isolated by flood waters and property, and livestock could be at risk from flood waters, according to the bureau.
Evacuation warnings have been issued for residents in the Derwent River, Meadowbank to Macquarie Plains and Styx River at Bushy Park to Macquarie Plains and surrounds.
Welcome
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage. I’m Martin Farrer with the best overnight stories before Emily Wind comes along to take you through the day.
There could be more trouble ahead for the Albanese government after the latest statistics showed the number of Palestinians applying onshore for protection visas has continued to grow, rising from 119 in May to 157 in June and 176 in July. The official statistics will increase pressure on the federal government over its decision to require them to come to Australia on visitor visas first.
Top Australian executives can earn hundreds of times what the average worker brings home. But how much does a teacher, salesperson or an electrician earn? And how does that compare to a federal politician or the boss of an ASX300 company, one of the 300 largest public companies in Australia? We’ve created an interactive quiz to test your best guesses.
Rescuers were attempting to reach a yacht with two people on board in rough seas off the NSW south coast. The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had received a distress beacon alert about midday on Monday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. Media reports named the stricken 19-metre yacht as the Spirit of Mateship. More details soon.
Liverpool city council in western Sydney could be placed into administration after it failed in a court bid to stop the NSW government appointing administrators and holding a public inquiry amid claims of widespread dysfunction. A damning interim report found problems with council’s recruitment processes, procurement irregularities and allegations of a toxic work environment.
And severe weather is expected to ease today after Monday’s wild weather caused power cuts, floods and wind damage across the nation’s south-east. More on the latest soon.