ABC Reporters Denied Entry to One Nation Press Conference in Albury
Reporters from the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) were denied entry to a One Nation press conference held earlier this morning in Albury, an incident that independent Michelle Milthorpe described as "quite rude."
The right-wing populist party’s leader, Pauline Hanson, appeared alongside local candidate David Farley and One Nation MP Barnaby Joyce at their campaign headquarters in central Albury on Friday morning for the event.
While journalists from The Australian and The Daily Telegraph were permitted to attend and question the politicians, Australia has learned that ABC reporters were explicitly told they were not allowed to enter.
During the small press conference, Hanson took three questions, including inquiries about immigration and the location of her election night campaign after a last-minute change in venue booking.
This afternoon, Michelle Milthorpe was asked to comment on the incident:
"It’s sort of a missed opportunity for them, really, isn’t it? … it’s quite rude actually, to kick people out. I think it’s really important that you give everyone an opportunity to hear your message, and I’m very sorry that that happened."
That’s all from me! The great Caitlin Cassidy will take over from here. Enjoy your Friday arvo.
Schools and Universities Platform Hit by Cyber-Attack
Canvas, an online platform widely used by schools and universities across Australia, experienced a cyber-attack this week. One university responded by granting students an extension while disabling student logins as a precautionary measure.
Instructure, the company behind Canvas, was targeted earlier this month in a cyber-attack that exposed names, emails, and school names, though authorities confirmed no financial information was compromised.
The platform serves over 200 million users worldwide across 9,000 institutions.
Although Canvas was restored earlier this week, technology news site Bleeping Computer reported that the hacker group ShinyHunters, which claimed responsibility for the attack, targeted several login portals for schools in the United States.
The Queensland government announced on Thursday that schools in the state were in the process of notifying families and teachers. Meanwhile, the Tasmanian education department stated on Friday morning that it was urgently seeking updates from Instructure as Canvas remained offline.
Instructure has been contacted for comment. According to the company’s status page, Canvas was back online for "most users" as of Friday afternoon.
The University of Technology Sydney (UTS) confirmed on Friday that it had disabled access to the system as a precaution, granting extensions for assessments due on Friday until Monday, 11 February.
Queensland’s Electric Bike and Scooter Debate Continues
A parliamentary committee in Queensland has recommended that the state government abandon plans for a blanket 10 km/h speed limit for electric bikes and scooters on shared pathways.
However, the committee, controlled by members of the Liberal National Party (LNP) government, supported controversial proposals requiring riders to hold licences and effectively banning riders under the age of 16.
The committee had been reviewing draft legislation that faced broad opposition from groups including ride-share operators, food delivery services, and cycling advocates.
In a report tabled on Friday, the committee proposed several amendments. The most notable was to remove the blanket 10 km/h speed restriction on footpaths and bicycle paths, suggesting instead that the limit apply only to "footpaths in high pedestrian areas." Riders would still be required to maintain a speed of no more than 15 km/h when within 10 meters of pedestrians on shared paths.
The committee’s report acknowledged "considerable discussion" regarding proposed licensing requirements but recommended retaining them due to "medical evidence indicating a higher risk among those under 16 years of age who may not yet have the cognitive or motor skills required to safely operate e-mobility devices in dynamic environments."
It also recognized the need for licence exemptions in certain cases, such as individuals with disabilities unable to obtain a driving licence but capable of safely operating an e-bike.
Opposition Labor members of the committee indicated their intention to oppose the bill, describing it as "unnecessarily burdensome and restrictive on users, creates layers of ambiguity and financial and legal risk for retailers and businesses, and greatly jeopardises the uptake of alternative transport to cars in the middle of a fuel affordability crisis that shows no signs of abating."
Macquarie Bank Plans Continued Growth in Home Loan Market
Following a strong financial result, Macquarie Bank plans to continue expanding its share of Australia’s mortgage market.
Macquarie reported adding nearly $40 billion in home loans to its portfolio in the year to March, bringing its total to $181.3 billion. This growth accelerates from less than $30 billion added the previous year.
Over the past five years, the bank has doubled its mortgage market share to approximately 7%, while Australia’s four largest banks have lost market share.
Macquarie’s chief executive, Shemara Wikramanayake, told reporters:
"We have been able to patiently, slowly, grow up a little bit every year … We’ve been finding that we’re getting more and more volume of applications, interest, et cetera. I think we’re happy to continue at that very considered pace, as long as we can deliver the returns for shareholders."
The bank reported that 38% of its loan portfolio was to investors and that interest-only loans comprised 20% of the total.
While other banks have noted declining customer interest in home loans amid rising interest rates and a slowing housing market, Wikramanayake said Macquarie’s higher-income customers have maintained their interest and have not fallen behind on mortgage payments:
"We tend to be able to select the quality credit because we’re a small player and we get far more applications than we can take on every year. We focus on those people that have good postcodes, have good income, low loan [to] value ratio … We are still seeing the same appetite we have been seeing."
Woman Charged with Murder in Queensland Man’s Disappearance
A 71-year-old woman has been charged with murder in connection with the disappearance of Wayne Pedro Morseu, a man from Mackay, according to AAP reports.
The woman faces one count of murder and one count of interfering with a corpse after Morseu was reported missing in November.
Concerns arose after Morseu had not been seen or contacted anyone for several weeks. In March, police stated they believed he died at his home in September.
Authorities allege that Morseu’s body remained in his unit for some time before being moved by someone involved in his death.
The woman charged was known to Morseu and was scheduled to appear before Mackay Magistrates Court on Friday.
Macquarie Executive Earns $35 Million, Surpassing CEO’s Pay
Simon Wright, head of Macquarie’s commodities and global markets division, earned over $35 million in the past 12 months, exceeding the remuneration of the company’s chief executive.
Wright’s $35.4 million pay was primarily derived from a profit-sharing arrangement after his division’s earnings grew by nearly 50% amid volatile global energy markets.
CEO Shemara Wikramanayake received $26.5 million, which remains one of the largest executive pay packages in Australia.
The difference in pay reflects Macquarie’s performance-based compensation model, where the CEO is not always the highest-paid employee.
Overall, three Macquarie executives earned more than $20 million, and three others received pay packages exceeding $10 million.
The global investment bank and asset manager reported a $4.85 billion annual profit for the 12 months ending 31 March, marking its second-largest annual result.
Richard Lewer’s Portrait of Iluwanti Ken Wins 2026 Archibald Prize
Richard Lewer has been awarded the 2026 Archibald Prize for his portrait of Pitjantjatjara elder, traditional healer, and senior artist Iluwanti Ken.
The New Zealand-born, Melbourne-based artist, a six-time Archibald finalist, was announced as the winner of the $100,000 prize at the Art Gallery of New South Wales on Friday. The judging panel, composed of the gallery’s trustees, selected the work unanimously from 59 finalists chosen from 1,034 entries.
In his acceptance speech, Lewer remarked:
"The best thing about winning this award is I’ll never be referred to as ‘Richard Lewer, the six- or seven-time finalist of the Archibald’, which is good because I was getting kind of sick of it. But I don’t know if there’s anything different with this painting or the other paintings or whatever. I think this is the right time, the right painting."
Research and Development Spending in Higher Education Returns to Pre-Covid Levels
New data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reveals that research and development (R&D) spending in higher education has returned to pre-Covid levels.
Expenditure on R&D by higher education institutions reached $16.4 billion in 2024, a 17% increase over 2022 figures, marking the highest growth rate since 2012.
Tom Lay, head of business statistics at the ABS, stated that spending had reached its "highest level since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in 2022."
"This recovery was supported by the return of international students increasing university revenue streams and staffing levels."
The increase was largely driven by a $1 billion rise (17%) in labour costs, as more research funding enabled universities to hire additional academic staff.
Lay noted that many universities also implemented their first pay increases since deferring raises during the pandemic, and labour laws contributed to transitioning casual roles to permanent positions.
"Higher education spending as a share of GDP has increased from 0.54% in 2022 to 0.59% in 2024. This is the first increase for this sector since 2018 and reflects a return to more normal operations."
