Gina Rinehart and Pauline Hanson spotted dining together overseas
Tory Shepherd
Australia’s richest person, Gina “drill, baby, drill” Rinehart, has been spotted with One Nation’s Pauline “swamped by Asians” Hanson at a restaurant in Thailand.
A video uploaded to TikTok by user Akira Zay appears to show the pair dining with another unidentified woman. It was posted with the caption:
When you’re in Thailand and you spot these two while having a nice lunch.
Guardian Australia has tried to contact the pair to find out what was on the agenda and the menu, with no luck so far.
It’s been a busy time for Rinehart, who has partied with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the US president-elect, Donald Trump, and helped make her own portrait world famous.
Hanson had a typically tumultuous 2024, winning an apology from independent senator Lidia Thorpe (who mistakenly described her as a convicted racist), and losing a bid to pay less to Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi over Faruqi’s successful racial discrimination case. Hanson had tweeted at Faruqi to pack her bags and “piss off back to Pakistan”.
Key events
Grampians national park fire contained after 21 days
After three weeks, the bushfire in the Grampians national park is officially contained.
It began on 17 December after dry lightning started multiple fires in the southern part of the park. With a circumference of 422km, more than more than 76,000 hectares has burned. The fire claimed four homes in Moyston and Mafeking, and 40 outbuildings in surrounding suburbs.
A statement from the State Control Centre said preliminary data shows livestock losses at 775 sheep, one horse, one beef cattle and 1,285 beehives. More than 13,538 hectares of farmland, including 10,053 hectares of pasture, was burnt, and 540km of fencing was damaged.
There is no active or running fire now it is contained, and the perimeter is within control lines. Halls Gap and the Grampians national park remain closed to visitors.
Incident controller Peter West said the fire represents “a significant environmental and social incident and one that deeply affects people connected to the national park, including Traditional Owners, tourism operators and visitors.”
Coinciding with what is typically the busiest season for tourism in the area, the fire has resulted in considerable hardships and financial losses for local businesses and communities.
Declaring the fire contained allows us to begin the process of reopening Halls Gap and areas of the national park.
Firefighters will continue to monitor and patrol the fire; this could still take a number of weeks. It is likely we will still see smoke and small flare-ups in the area, but we will continue to be present to deal with these when and as they arise.
Albanese accuses reporter of reading out question from LNP
The prime minister also accused a reporter of reading out a question sent from the LNP.
At the press conference in Brisbane earlier, a reporter asked whether Labor’s slogan “build back better” was pinched from US president Joe Biden.
Albanese said Labor wasn’t using that slogan, but is using “building Australia’s future”.
It is our slogan, if you like. It’s been there. We’ve done a launch in Adelaide, and then another launch here in Brisbane, where we launched our childcare policy. So I’m not sure which LNP member has sent you that question to ask, but they should pay attention, and you should be cautious about just reading out things that are sent from the LNP government.
PM responds to reports of antisemitic graffiti in Sydney’s east
Anthony Albanese was asked about reports of an antisemitic incident in Sydney’s eastern suburbs overnight.
Responding to this, the PM said there is “no tolerance for antisemitism in Australia, from my government, nor should there be tolerance from anyone else”.
Antisemitism is a scourge, and any event such as this targeting people, who they are, is not the Australian values that I hold dear, and the Australian values that are held dear overwhelmingly by Australians.
Images supplied to News Corp show graffiti on a car reading “fuck the Jews”.
Albanese takes questions from reporters in Queensland
Let’s circle back to Anthony Albanese’s press conference in Queensland, where he has been taking questions from reporters.
Asked if Labor has failed to convince Queensland voters that it has something to offer outside its comfortable seats, the PM said the party’s vote went forward “across just about every seat of this entire state at the 2022 election, compared to where we were [in] 2019.”
On working with state premiers across the country, Albanese said:
I don’t regard premiers as being either Labor or LNP, I regard the Queensland premier as representing the state of Queensland, and I will cooperate with people across the political spectrum, just as I cooperated with Dom Perrottet when he was the minister [sic] for NSW, when we implemented coal and gas price controls, in spite of the opposition of Peter Dutton and his team.
Gina Rinehart and Pauline Hanson spotted dining together overseas
Tory Shepherd
Australia’s richest person, Gina “drill, baby, drill” Rinehart, has been spotted with One Nation’s Pauline “swamped by Asians” Hanson at a restaurant in Thailand.
A video uploaded to TikTok by user Akira Zay appears to show the pair dining with another unidentified woman. It was posted with the caption:
When you’re in Thailand and you spot these two while having a nice lunch.
Guardian Australia has tried to contact the pair to find out what was on the agenda and the menu, with no luck so far.
It’s been a busy time for Rinehart, who has partied with the opposition leader, Peter Dutton, and the US president-elect, Donald Trump, and helped make her own portrait world famous.
Hanson had a typically tumultuous 2024, winning an apology from independent senator Lidia Thorpe (who mistakenly described her as a convicted racist), and losing a bid to pay less to Greens deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi over Faruqi’s successful racial discrimination case. Hanson had tweeted at Faruqi to pack her bags and “piss off back to Pakistan”.
King says investment will bring Bruce Highway up to three-star rating
The infrastructure and transport minister, Catherine King, is also speaking to the media, and said the announcement would “change lives [and] it will save lives”.
Tragically, we saw two people lose their lives not that far from here at the start of this year. Enough is enough. We want to get this road fixed once and for all.
This investment will get this road up to three stars, and what that actually means is you will see more overtaking lanes, you will see a larger central divider, you will see barriers to prevent traffic crossing over lanes, and you will also see straightening out of some of the more dangerous sections and resealing, as well.
This will make a significant difference to road safety but also for productivity, [for] the many trucks that carry freight along the spine of this road.
Bruce Highway funding ‘will save lives’, Albanese says
Anthony Albanese is making an election pitch to voters amid the announcement, saying that the 2025 election will be “a clear choice [between] Labor building Australia’s future, or a Coalition determined to return Australia backwards and costing more under Peter Dutton”.
Someone said to me, ‘Why you are making the first announcement of this year in the electorate of White Bay? It’s not a target seat.’
That’s because I’m determined to represent all Australians regardless of where they live.
The PM said the Bruce Highway is 42% longer than the Pacific Highway and services 62% of Queenslanders.
That is why the figures are quite horrific. Forty-one fatalities on the Bruce Highway in 2024. There’s been two fatalities already in an accident, already this year.
He said today’s announcement of $7.2bn of additional funding for the highway “will save lives”.
Albanese addresses media in Queensland
Anthony Albanese is speaking to reporters in Queensland, detailing a $7.2bn funding injection for the Bruce Highway that was announced earlier this morning.
As Dan Jervis-Bardy reports, the prime minister will be travelling to electorates across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Western Australia to signal the unofficial start of the election campaign.
Albanese introduced paramedic Wayne Sachs, who first approached the government in 2009 to discuss fatalities on the Bruce Highway. Speaking just now, Sachs said:
This announcement today for what they are intending to do throughout all of Queensland, I just cannot really … I’m not sure [what] the proper word [is], but what they are doing by doing this is actually just amazing, just incredible, because they will be saving literally thousands of lives for what they are doing.
It’s a lot of money but [it’s] worth it – you can’t put a price on lives, of course.
Benita Kolovos
Allan holds press conference with Werribee Labor candidate
The premier, Jacinta Allan, held a press conference in Werribee today with the party’s candidate for the seat, John Lister, a local teacher. In a new attack line, she accused the Liberal party of threatening to cut services in the area.
Allan told reporters at Werribee swimming pool:
John used to swim here at this pool as a kid … and is back regularly in his role as a teacher with the school swimming program. As a teacher, as a local CFA volunteer, John is a strong local candidate, who will make a good, strong local Labor member of parliament for this community …
He knows the investments this community needs. He also knows what cuts would do in terms of damaging a community like this one here in Werribee. That’s what the new Liberal leader has already flagged – he’s flagged plans for cuts. With John Lister, we’re going to stand against those cuts and stand for continuing to invest in the Werribee community.
Date set for Werribee byelection
Benita Kolovos
The byelection for the Victorian seat of Werribee, vacated by the state treasurer Tim Pallas, will be held on 8 February.
The speaker, Maree Edwards, has confirmed Pallas, who quit politics late last year, formally resigned today. She has set the byelection for 8 February, which will coincide with another poll in the inner Melbourne seat of Prahran, vacated by former Greens MP Sam Hibbins.
Labor currently holds Werribee by a 9.2% margin but is expecting a closer result at the byelection due to the loss of Pallas, a long-serving MP, and voters’ concerns around the cost of living, state debt and growing pains in the outer western electorate.
But the party will probably be buoyed by the fact that the two elections will be held on the same day, as it will force the Liberals to split its resources. The Liberals are yet to select a candidate for Werribee but has chosen Rachel Westaway, a South Yarra businesswoman, to run in Prahran against the Greens’ Angelica Di Camillo, an environmental engineer.
Former Labor MP Tony Lupton is running as an independent after his former party decided not to field a candidate. On Sunday, he called for the two other candidates to join him in a debate.
Police appeal for information after suspicious death of man in NSW
NSW police are appealing for information after the suspicious death of a 60-year-old man in the state’s south last month.
On 9 December police were called to a fire trail on a rural property at North Nowra, near a gas pipeline clearing, after reports a man was found unconscious.
Paramedics also responded but the man, who suffered serious head injuries, died at the scene.
A crime scene, and Strike Force Bursteed, was established. Police are appealing for a woman who was seen in the area at the time, who may be able to assist with their inquiries, to come forward.
Anyone with information, or dashcam footage, is urged to contact Crime Stoppers.
Cool change and rain bring relief as fires burn
A cool change and rain have brought welcome relief for emergency crews fighting a bushfire that has been burning for weeks, AAP reports.
After a three-day heatwave that sent the mercury above 40C in parts of Victoria, scattered showers were expected throughout today.
Some of those showers dumped 10mm of rain on the Grampians fireground by 9am, with as much as 25mm predicted. A State Control Centre spokesperson said “every little bit helps”.
She said the good news was that over the weekend, despite extreme fire danger predictions, the fire at Halls Gap stayed within containment lines.
A moderate risk-of-fire rating remains in place after days of extreme and high fire danger. Residents near the 2.7 kilometre Moliagul fire were today advised smoke would be visible.
Millions of Australians in Christmas debt: Finder
A survey by comparison site Finder found that millions of Australians have landed themselves in Christmas debt.
The survey of 1,010 people found 8% had an average debt of $1,634 these holidays. Almost half will take up to five months to pay it back, the survey found, while 15% will need more than a year.
It found 11% of Gen X are going into Christmas debt, compared to just 6% of baby boomers.
Finder said a credit card debt of $1,643 on an average purchase rate of 20% could cost hundreds of dollars in interest alone over the course of a year.
Life Saving Victoria attends nearly 200 rescues across weekend
Across the weekend from Friday to Sunday, Life Saving Victoria attended a total of nearly 200 rescues.
Director Kane Treloar spoke with ABC News Breakfast earlier this morning, and said there had tragically been two drownings:
Tragically, two people drowned on Friday. A young boy out in eastern Victoria out in the rivers, and a gentleman down at Rye on Friday. There was a further event on Friday, but that appears to have been a medical episode.
On Saturday, there was also a “significant” incident involving a jetski collision, he said, with crews pulling two children from the water and providing first aid. They were later taken to hospital by ambulance.
Australians nominated for major awards at Golden Globes
The Golden Globes are kicking off in Hollywood today, with a number of Australians up for major awards:
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Nicole Kidman is nominated for best female actor in a film (drama) for Babygirl.
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Guy Pearce is nominated for best male actor in a support role in a film for The Brutalist.
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Cate Blanchett is nominated for best female actor in a television limited series, for Disclaimer.
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In the same category, Naomi Watts is nominated for Feud: Capote vs the Swans.
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Memoir of a Snail, by Australian stop-motion film-maker Adam Elliott, is up for best animated film.
You can read the full list of nominations below, before the awards ceremony begins at 12pm AEDT.
National weather outlook from the Bureau of Meteorology
Here’s a look at the forecast across Australia’s capital cities today – with the hot conditions continuing across much of the country.
According to the Bureau of Meteorology, Perth is expected to reach a top of 38C, while Darwin has a forecast top of 34C. Canberra could reach 33C, Sydney 32C, and Brisbane 29C.
Melbourne has a milder forecast of 21C, as well as Adelaide (24C) and Hobart (20C).
Lambie says Tasmanian voters ‘50-50’ on Albanese and Dutton
Jacqui Lambie was asked about a poll conducted by the Nine papers which found she was the nation’s most likable federal politician.
Asked about the results, Lambie told ABC News Breakfast “I just go out there and do the job”, giving the following advice to others:
I think everybody goes in with good intentions and unfortunately when you belong to the major parties, you’ve got to toe the line and they start to lose their authenticity a little bit. I think from me, be yourself, learn from the job and deliver more and more.
Lambie was also asked how both Anthony Albanese and Peter Dutton were resonating with voters in Tasmania. She said there was a lot happening on a state level with the Liberals, which is “probably not helpful” for the party at a federal level.
I don’t think the state Libs are performing as well as what they should be, and I’m not talking about the premier, I’m talking about his ministers down here. So I think that’s starting to hurt them a little bit … On the ground down here it is about 50/50, I would say.
