Australia news live: Mark Latham ordered to pay Alex Greenwich $100,000 over tweet; Alice Springs search for missing girl enters fifth day

Mark Latham ordered to pay Alex Greenwich $100,000 for homosexual vilification

Jordyn Beazley

A court has found Mark Latham committed unlawful homosexual vilification and sexually harassed independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, ordering him to pay $100,000 in compensation

Greenwich sued former Latham, a former One Nation MP turned independent, in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) last year, alleging a tweet and statements made to media constituted workplace harassment and homosexual vilification under the NSW anti-discrimination act.

On Thursday, NCAT released its judgment, ordering Latham to pay compensation and costs, and to delete within 24 hours any material posted by Latham that vilifies Greenwich on the grounds of his homosexuality.

Alex Greenwich. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi/AAP

It also ordered Latham refrain from any repeated unlawful homosexual vilification of Greenwich.

The case related to a sexually explicit tweet posted on 30 March 2023, which the Ffderal court had previously ruled as defamatory. Greenwich, a vocal advocate for the LGBTQI community, received $140,000 in damages in that case.

Greenwich said in a statement shortly after the NCAT findings were released:

The judgment makes clear that social media is plainly capable of being a vehicle for unlawful vilification, particularly where the conduct is engaged in by a public figure with a large audience. The judgment also makes clear that politicians should be careful when making comments to journalists about others.

This decision sends a clear message: public figures are not above the law, and online platforms are not a space for unlawful vilification.

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Australian sharemarket falling for eighth consecutive day, with Woolworths weighing

The Australian sharemarket is on track to fall eight days in a row as oil prices keep rising.

Investors are losing confidence the US-Israel war on Iran, and its disruption to oil trade, will end soon. Oil prices have risen over the second half of April form close to US$80 a barrel, to to US$109 today, on the west Texas intermediate crude benchmark.

Investors expect that will hit Australian profits, meaning local shares are falling. The all ordinaries is down 0.18% today, to 8,899.8 points.

Big companies’ stocks aren’t falling as much: the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index is down nearly 0.12% to 8,677.3 points. The big banks are all rising, but miners are falling.

Woolworths is down a massive 6.7%, wiping $3bn from its market value. As we reported earlier, the supermarket giant is expecting a hit to food sales throughout 2026.

Woolworths shares had risen nearly 27% since the start of 2026. An RBC Capital Markets analyst, Michael Toner, said that rise appeared much higher this year than was justified by today’s result.

Existing property investors likely to avoid more tax under possible capital gains tax reform

Existing property investors look set to avoid paying more tax under Labor’s mooted changes to CGT in next month’s budget, based on comments from Jim Chalmers in a podcast released today.

The treasurer is widely expected to modify the flat 50% tax discount on profits from the sale of assets held for more than one year, potentially returning to the pre-1999 model where capital gains are adjusted for inflation.

Chalmers told the CommBank View podcast:

Without getting into hypotheticals about policies, what you try and do is to make sure that we recognise the decisions that people have taken in the past …

Even if we went down the path that has been speculated about in those areas [capital gains tax] that you’ve asked me about, people shouldn’t expect there to be this huge amount of new revenue show up over the course of the next few years in the budget.

Read the full story here:

Greens call on Australian government to act after interception of Global Sumud Flotilla

The Greens leader, senator Larissa Waters, has accused Israel of a “shocking breach of international law” after at least five Australians were allegedly intercepted onboard the Global Sumud Flotilla en route to Gaza overnight.

Waters pressed on the Australian government to intervene for the Australians to be released. They have not been heard from since communications were cut off on at least seven boats while attempting to enter Greek waters.

Waters said:

Dfat and the Israeli foreign ministry have been contacted for comment.

Five Australians intercepted on flotilla en route to Israel, activists claim

At least five Australians attempting to enter Greek waters on the Global Sumud flotilla to Gaza have been intercepted by Israeli naval forces, a spokesperson for the fleet told Guardian Australia.

More than 80 boats set sail to Gaza from Italy on Monday in the hope of delivering 500 tonnes of aid and volunteers to the decimated strip, which remains under naval blockade by Israel. Of those, two have been boarded live on CCTV and another five have gone hours without communications.

About 14 Australians are onboard the boats. Those allegedly intercepted include climate activist from Newcastle, Zack Schofield, Dr Bianca Webb Pullman and Sydney student and Wiradjuri, Ngiyampaa and Wailwan man Ethan Floyd, who have allegedly had their phones taken after being followed by a drone overnight.

In a statement, the Global Sumud flotilla said the activists had been “threatened at gunpoint”.

The Flotilla carries ordinary people from 55 countries and nothing but humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza. Its participants are engaged in legally protected activity under international maritime law. There is no legal justification for what occurred tonight.

Earlier, multiple flotilla boats reported radio communications jamming. Military drones and vessels were sighted. An IOF vessel ordered the flotilla to divert aid through Israeli-controlled channels.

Neve O’Connor, a flotilla participant, said in a statement earlier:

We don’t know what’s going on. We’re completely at a loss, our radios have been jammed, there’s drone activity … we’re preparing for interception.

The previous Sumud flotilla in October 2025 resulted in seven Australians being detained by Israel Defense Forces.

Dfat and the Israeli foreign ministry have been contacted for comment.

Mark Latham ordered to pay Alex Greenwich $100,000 for homosexual vilification

A court has found Mark Latham committed unlawful homosexual vilification and sexually harassed independent MP for Sydney, Alex Greenwich, ordering him to pay $100,000 in compensation

Greenwich sued former Latham, a former One Nation MP turned independent, in the NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal (NCAT) last year, alleging a tweet and statements made to media constituted workplace harassment and homosexual vilification under the NSW anti-discrimination act.

On Thursday, NCAT released its judgment, ordering Latham to pay compensation and costs, and to delete within 24 hours any material posted by Latham that vilifies Greenwich on the grounds of his homosexuality.

It also ordered Latham refrain from any repeated unlawful homosexual vilification of Greenwich.

The case related to a sexually explicit tweet posted on 30 March 2023, which the Ffderal court had previously ruled as defamatory. Greenwich, a vocal advocate for the LGBTQI community, received $140,000 in damages in that case.

Greenwich said in a statement shortly after the NCAT findings were released:

The judgment makes clear that social media is plainly capable of being a vehicle for unlawful vilification, particularly where the conduct is engaged in by a public figure with a large audience. The judgment also makes clear that politicians should be careful when making comments to journalists about others.

This decision sends a clear message: public figures are not above the law, and online platforms are not a space for unlawful vilification.

Alice Springs search enters fifth day for allegedly abducted five-year-old Sharon

Northern Territory police say there have been no major developments overnight in the search for the missing five-year-old Sharon, who police believe was taken by 47-year-old Jefferson Lewis from Old Timers Camp, outside of Alice Springs.

The young girl was last seen by her mother at 11.30pm on Saturday. A short time before her disappearance NT police say she was seen with Lewis, who was holding her hand. An arrest order was issued for Lewis on Sunday. Yesterday, police found several items related to the pair including a child’s underwear and a yellow T-shirt that Lewis was last seen wearing.

In a statement to Guardian Australia, authorities confirmed that six of the 20 sq km search zone has been extensively covered on foot, with air support currently scouring the terrain for any signs of Sharon:

A helicopter is in the air now, focusing over the Mt Johns area and nearby bushland, with more air assets deploying today,” NT police said. More than 170 volunteers are assembling for the search.

72 people are on the ground as of a short time ago with the total ground search team yesterday reaching 172 individuals.

Police are encouraging more people, including experienced civilian horse riders, to join the search and comb the rugged bush and scrub in the search and rescue efforts.

The community support the NT Police Force’s Search and Rescue team has received has been overwhelming. Police would like to thank the community for this support as they work to bring Sharon home.

Multiple recommendations will be kept confidential as they could compromise national security

As we noted earlier, multiple recommendations in the interim report will not be made public. Albanese said in a statement:

The interim report contains a small number of classified recommendations which cannot be publicly released because they could compromise sensitive national security information. The government will respond swiftly to these recommendations and Australians will see practical outcomes through a range of policy, program and funding measures.

Higher security at Jewish festivals recommended

The top recommendation from the royal commission’s interim report is that the “procedures adopted by NSW Police in respect of Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those that have a public facing element”.

The report states that, since the 7 October 2023 massacre of Israelis by Hamas, an “increase in the occurrence and reporting of antisemitic incidents has led to a significant increase in contact between relevant NSW Police Commands” and the Jewish safety organisation, Community Security Group NSW – particularly cultural festivals including Purim, Passover, Shavuot, the High Holy Days (Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret), Chanukah and days of cultural significance.

The report notes there is already “substantial engagement” between CSG and police agencies, but that there “may be scope for exploring different modes of collaboration between all parties”.

It suggests potential benefit in working closer, including whether police could start “meeting together regularly with CSG NSW at the operational level, to discuss the threat environment faced by Jewish Australians, planning for upcoming events and receiving CSG assessments and threat information”.

‘We’re acting on it’, Albanese says of interim report recommendations

The prime minister was asked how long it will take to implement the recommendations in the interim report; weeks, months or years. He said the government only received the report this morning and had already convened the national security committee, showing the brisk pace of action:

We’re not sitting back and just reading this document. We’re acting on it.

PM calls for nationally consistent gun reform

Albanese was just asked about the pace of gun reform in the wake of the Bondi attack and resistance from some states and territories. He said:

We support the recommendations, all of them. It will be up to state and territories. Of course, we’ll have to give consideration to the very clear recommendations – there were two of the recommendations that make it clear – that we should progress with nationally consistent gun reform.

I certainly hope that that occurs, and would continue to engage constructively with state and territory governments to say that this is reform, which is necessary.

Too early to tell if there were intelligence failures before Bondi attack: royal commissioner

The interim royal commission report into the Bondi massacre says it has not yet reached any conclusions about intelligence failures or police resourcing before the attack.

In the interim report released on Thursday morning, commissioner Virginia Bell said:

While systemic aspects of the effectiveness of Commonwealth and state intelligence and law enforcement … are addressed in this Interim Report, important issues arising from the Bondi attack, including whether there was any failure to identify and act upon intelligence in the lead up to it, or in the allocation of police resources to the Chanukah event, will be addressed in hearings.

No conclusion in these respects can be reached on a review of the agencies’ documents alone and in the absence of according procedural fairness to any person or agency at risk of an adverse finding.

Bell said it was possible these questions would have to be asked in private hearings:

In light of the nature of the evidence that I anticipate will be led, some hearings will need to be closed to the public (closed hearings).

To the extent that it is possible to adduce evidence touching on intelligence and security matters in public this will be done.

The commission also noted that a submission received just before the finalisation of the interim report proposed improvements to the Criminal Intelligence System, and “will be investigated in the course of hearings”.

Albanese says national security committee agreed to adopt all recommendations relevant to the commonwealth

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, is speaking now in Sydney after the delivery of an interim report from the Bondi royal commission.

“Five months on from the attack, Australia’s Jewish community is still grieving. Still hurting, still craving answers,” he said.

He said the report will help the nation “understand what happened that day, to help us stamp out the hatred that drove the attackers and to ensure that nothing like this ever happens again”.

He said the report found no urgent changes are required to keep Australia safe. But the 14 recommendations included in the interim report would enhance the nation’s counter-terrorism arrangements and capabilities.

Albanese said the national security committee had met this morning and will adopt all of the recommendations that a relevant to the commonwealth.

Bondi terror accused will not be called to give evidence to royal commission, Virginia Bell says

The accused shooter behind the Bondi terror massacre at a Jewish Hanukah festival will not be called to give evidence at the royal commission, commissioner Virginia Bell says, and has indicated that witnesses to the attack may also not feature in her inquiry.

It’s also unlikely the royal commission will – at least in its public hearings or reports – make any findings about the motivation behind the attack.

Her interim report gives some new ideas about her thinking about how the commission will be framed. In the report, Bell writes that her “general principle, … to guide the conduct of the Royal Commission in light of the current criminal proceedings” include not asking the accused to be interviewed or give evidence.

“Persons who are, or who are likely to be, witnesses in the criminal proceedings ought not be interviewed or called to give evidence about the Bondi attack,” Bell wrote.

The Royal Commission ought not, in its public hearings or publicly available report, make findings or comments about the intention and motivation of the shooters. To the extent that it is possible, the Royal Commission should avoid causing or contributing to further publicity that may occasion prejudice to the accused among potential jurors.

Australian counter-terror work ‘could be improved’, royal commission report says

The Bondi royal commission’s interim report says it has heard evidence that police and government agencies had not found “any gap” in legal frameworks that impeded the terror attack being prevented or responded to – but says there is room for improvement.

“No commonwealth or state intelligence or law enforcement agency has suggested that it was prevented from taking prohibitive actions before or on 14 December 2025 by the then current legislative and authorising framework. In these respects, no issue requiring urgent or immediate action has been identified,” the interim report states.

Nonetheless, the review of this considerable body of material by officers with relevant experience and expertise and by Counsel Assisting and me has revealed aspects in which counter-terrorism capability at Commonwealth and state levels could be improved.

Bondi royal commission suggests ‘counter-terror exercise’ for PM, cabinet

The Bondi royal commission’s interim report has been released. We’re reading now, but there are 14 recommendations – including six that are not included in the public version of the report, and kept to a confidential version.

Of the eight which are in the public version, they include recommendations that:

The procedures adopted by NSW police in respect of Operation Jewish High Holy Days should apply to other high risk Jewish festivals and events, particularly those that have a public facing element.

Consideration be given to making the counter-terrorism coordinator’s role full-time.

The Australian government should consider whether national security committee ministers, including the prime minister, should participate in a counter-terrorism exercise, along with all national cabinet members, within nine months of each federal election.

There’s also other recommendations about updating procedures on crisis management, a review of joint counter-terror teams, and calls for state and federal governments to “prioritise efforts to finalise and implement an updated and nationally consistent Firearms Agreement” and “to implement the proposed Gun Buyback Scheme”.