Australia news live: Taylor says he doesn’t agree with Hanson’s anti-Muslim comments but won’t say if she should apologise

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Guzman y Gomez halves in value in a year

Fast food company Guzman y Gomez has lost half its market value in the last year, after releasing underwhelming profit results today that sent its share price plunging to a new record low.

GYG’s still-struggling US expansion ran at an $8.3m loss in the last six months of 2025, worse than the $5m loss over the same period in 2024, on GYG’s EBITDA basis.

That dragged the whole company’s underlying earnings below expectations in the last six month of 2025, to $33m.

The Australasian operations made $41.3m on GYG’s EBITDA basis, above expectations, but its performance in 2026 so far was not as strong as analysts expected.

Shares in the company have slid more than 10% this morning, dragging its market value to less than $1.9bn. It had been worth almost $4bn when it debuted on the ASX on 21 February

The company’s overall sales are rising, up to $681.8m over the half-year, from nearly $578m in the second half of 2024.

The company has told investors it plans to open 32 new Australian restaurants over the year to June, with a total of 108 in planning – most of which are drive-thru. The US branch is still set to run at a loss in coming months.

Guardian Australia’s Jonathan Barrett explored the risks GYG was facing back in 2024, with analysis that remains prescient today:

Progress on tackling lead contamination in Broken Hill has ‘slowed in recent years’, report finds

Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an “urgent public health priority” but progress has “slowed in recent years”, NSW’s chief scientist and engineer says.

Prof Hugh Durrant-Whyte’s report into the health and environmental impacts of lead contamination in Broken Hill was made public on Thursday, and acknowledged the issues highlighted in it have been documented in prior studies but “previous recommendations remain unimplemented.”

Guardian Australia last year revealed the state’s environment watchdog buried a report on lead in children’s blood to placate mining companies for several years, and separately that NSW Health resisted lower blood lead guidelines.

In his report, Durrant-Whyte’s wrote to the premier’s department:

While some progress has been made in reducing environmental lead levels and community exposure, improvements have slowed in recent years. Aboriginal children remain disproportionately affected, with comparatively higher exposure risks. …

In short, we found that a centralised, coordinated approach deploying timely, evidence-based decision making is required to reduce BLL [blood lead levels] in the children of Broken Hill. ...

Addressing elevated blood lead levels of children in Broken Hill is an urgent public health priority.

Police watchdog anticipates some hearings into Sydney protest will be public

The police watchdog anticipates some of the hearings into alleged police misconduct at Sydney’s anti-Herzog rally will be held publicly.

The Law Enforcement Conduct Commission (Lecc) said in an update about the investigation on Friday that it’s expected to take some time to go through the “substantial volume of material” from both the public and the NSW police force.

Lecc said:

The timing and progress of the investigation, including the timing of hearings, will depend upon assessment of the material to be obtained in the present phase of the investigation.

It is anticipated that at least some of those hearings will be held in public.

Taylor says he doesn’t agree with Hanson's recent remarks about Muslims

Taylor was asked about comments by a Sydney mayor this morning saying Pauline Hanson should be charged for her recent remarks on Muslims.

He said:

What I’ll say is I don’t agree with Pauline Hanson and what she said. What I believe in is that people who don’t adopt and believe in our core values shouldn’t come to our shores … whatever their race or religion.

I’ll always distance myself from people who think this is about anything other than protecting our life and focusing on our core values.

If people want to come to our country, no matter religion and they don’t believe what we believe then we should shut the door on them.

Taylor is repeating many of the points he made earlier in the week, claiming the Albanese government hasn’t answered questions about how many passports have been issued.

The government has maintained Australian officials have abided by Australian law, issuing travel documents to Australian citizens. But Albanese and home affairs minister Tony Burke have both said the country is not assisting and will not help with any repatriation efforts.

Taylor also responded to questions about the children stuck in Syria, saying there was no proposal to separate the kids from their parents. He added “real questions” remain about any “radicalisation” that may have occurred with those children.

Taylor maintains Labor government should ‘shut the door’ to Australians in Syria

Opposition leader Angus Taylor is speaking at a press conference in Melbourne after a visit to the Adass Israel synagogue. The synagogue was subject to an arson attack in December 2024.

Taylor is speaking about the attack and the devastating terror attack at Bondi Beach last year. Taylor said:

If we are to protect way of life, we need to shut door on Islamic extremism in this country. We need to shut the door people who want to come to this country bringing hate and violence from another part of the world to our shores.

He went on to say the Albanese government should do more to restrict Australians stuck in Syria from reentering Australia:

These people should not be coming … the door must be shut. Labor has many levers at its disposal to shut the door.

The Australian people want to see our way of life protected, and we will do need to do to make sure that happens.

Palestinian, gun control groups not called to speak on Queensland’s Bondi bill

No Palestinian or gun control groups have been invited to speak on Queensland’s Bondi legislation during its parliamentary committee inquiry.

The legislation was in the works for nearly two months before being made public last Tuesday. The state government set just seven days for public submissions and only two days for public hearings, one of them in Townsville, half from members of the local community. More than 400 individuals and groups have made a submission on the bill.

Several different gun groups were invited to speak, including the Shooters Union Australia, the North Queensland Rifle Association and the Sporting Shooters Association of Australia twice.

Alannah and Madeline foundation senior advocacy adviser, Stephen Bendle, said he had asked for a chance to speak, but was refused without explanation on Wednesday night.

“We thought it was outrageous that the only people talking about firearms at that inquiry were two of the largest members of the gun lobby,” Bendle said.

We felt this reinforced that the government had bent the knee to the gun lobbyists and refused to make any concessions, to make any restrictions on firearms following Bondi.

He said: “I don’t think the government wanted to be criticised”.

Remah Nahi from Justice for Palestine Meanjin said the decision not to hear from them was “discrediting”.

The bill’s gun control elements have been criticised as weak, and multiple different religions, unions, and legal groups have criticised its provisions permitting the attorney general to ban particular expressions as an attack on free speech and freedom of religion.

Americans generally view the Epstein case as an example of wealthy and powerful people rarely being held accountable and believe the US government is still hiding information about Epstein’s clients, according to Reuters/Ipsos polling.

“We are trailing too far behind in justice, especially when we are sitting on the mountains of information that we have,” Amanda Roberts said. “The world is looking at us to do the right thing here.“

Learning of the arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor had brought “a mixed bag of emotions,” the sister-in-law of Epstein accuser Virginia Giuffre said:

Initially we were … screaming, at one point at 3am. And then it just hits you – that gut punch of the fact that she’s not here to see this.

Virginia Giuffre’s brother reacts to Andrew’s arrest

The brother of one of Jeffrey Epstein’s most prominent accusers reacted to the Thursday arrest of Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor on suspicion of misconduct in public office, saying he hoped it marked the start of the collapse of a “house of cards” around late convicted US sex offender Jeffrey Epstein, Reuters reports.

In an interview with Reuters, Sky Roberts – whose sister Virginia Giuffre took her own life in Australia in April – and his wife urged the US justice department to take action against others implicated by their association with Epstein.

“This is where the house of cards starts falling,” Sky Roberts said in a joint interview with Amanda Roberts.

In 2022, the king’s brother settled a civil lawsuit brought in the US by Giuffre, who accused him of sexually abusing her when she was a teenager at properties owned by Epstein or his associates.

The arrest is not related to this or any other allegation of sexual impropriety.

Mountbatten-Windsor, the second son of the late Queen Elizabeth, has always denied any wrongdoing in relation to Epstein, and said he regrets their friendship.

‘Hope is fading’ in search for Chris Baghsarian, but police ‘won’t give up trying to find him alive’

Marks said the home believed to have held Baghsarian was a “suspicious house” among other homes in the area.

Inside, officers found evidence consistent with images and video of Baghsarian. Marks said:

We haven’t found Mr Baghsarian and that is our main focus, to recover Mr Baghsarian and bring him home safely to his family and get him the medical treatment that he requires.

It has been seven days now, so hope is fading. We have grave concerns for his safety. But we won’t give up trying to find him alive.

House in Dural, NSW, believed to be used to hold kidnapped 85-year-old Chris Baghsarian

NSW police are holding a press conference into the kidnapping of Chris Baghsarian, an 85-year-old man missing since he was abducted by mistake.

Detective acting supt Andrew Marks said officers executed a search warrant on a property in Dural, where investigators now believe Baghsarian was held for some time. He said:

We have had a significant progress, progression in the investigation, whereby we believe we have found the location where Mr Baghsarian was kept for some time. That location is in Dural.

Police yesterday afternoon were able to identify that location and a quick search of the property did not locate Mr Baghsarian.

Marks appealed to those in the Dural area to come forward if they have seen anything.

Even if you think it is insignificant information, let us be the judge of that and we will take that information and investigate that thoroughly.

Fashion week has made moves to boost diversity and inclusivity

In recent years, Australian fashion week has made moves to become more diverse and inclusive, including championing First Nations designers, and experimenting with public ticketing to what was once an industry-only event.

The Australian Fashion Council (AFC) has also confirmed the return of former Harpers’ Bazaar Australia editor and AFC co-founder Kellie Hush as fashion director for the event, overseeing designer and industry relations.

Last year, the NSW government announced its first fashion sector strategy.

Minister for jobs and tourism Steve Kamper said:

As the nation’s fashion capital this is exactly the kind of bold, iconic experience we want to see in Sydney – there is no better example of our city’s unique combination of natural wonder and cultural vibrancy than fashion week on the harbour, at one of our most recognisable cultural institutions.

Australian fashion week moves to Sydney’s MCA

After more than a decade at cultural precinct Carriageworks, Australian fashion week has announced a change of location. Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art (MCA) is set to be the central hub for this year’s event, which will take place 11-15 May. The new Harbourside setting will surely invoke nostalgia for those who remember the event’s mid-00s heyday, when shows were held a stone’s throw away from the MCA, at the Overseas Passenger Terminal.

Both fashion week and Australia’s fashion industry more broadly have faced stiff headwinds since those glitzy days, as the rise of e-commerce and lately ultrafast fashion; alongside sharply rising manufacturing costs and increased competition from international brands has lead many of the labels that once headlined the event to shut shop.

The future of fashion week was further imperilled last year, when US owner IMG announced they were withdrawing from the event. This lead to a quick-turnaround resurrection by the Australian Fashion Council (AFC), with financial support from Destination NSW and the City of Sydney.

In a statement, AFC executive chair Marianne Perkovic said:

Bringing Australian Fashion Week to the Museum of Contemporary Art marks an exciting new chapter for the event and for Australian fashion more broadly. The MCA provides an iconic Sydney backdrop that reflects the creativity, cultural relevance and global outlook of our designers, while enabling a more open, connected and internationally compelling format.

Four charged after former NRL star Matt Utai shot outside Sydney home

NSW police have charged four people after a 44-year-old man, identified in media reports as former NRL star Matt Utai, was shot outside a home in Sydney’s south-west earlier this week.

Officers said strike forces executed six search warrants across Sydney on Thursday, during which they seized three vehicles, 1kg of cocaine, weapons and electronics and clothing related to an investigation.

Multiple men were arrested, including an 18-year-old, charged with participation in a criminal group, among other charges; a man, 19, who faces similar charges; a man, 19; charged with accessory after the fact in a shooting with the intent to murder, among other charges; and a boy, 16, charged with accessory after the fact in a shooting with the intent to murder, among other charges.

The 18-year-old was granted conditional bail, but the three others have been refused bail. All will appear in court in the coming days.

Andrew’s arrest ‘a fall from grace’, federal minister says

The health minister, Mark Butler, says Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor’s arrest is a “fall from grace”, sentiments echoed by the deputy Liberal leader, Jane Hume.

Speaking on a panel on Channel Seven’s Sunrise this morning, the pair were asked about the arrest in the UK on suspicion of misconduct in public office. Butler said “the law must follow its course”.

“There’s not much we can appropriately say about the potential for charges, but what a fall from grace. A man we knew for decades as Prince Andrew, his royal highness, is now just ‘a man in his 60s from Norfolk’,” Butler said.

I think all of our thoughts as human beings, not members of government or the opposition, all of our thoughts as human beings go to the girls and the women who were caught up in this hideous network of powerful men that Jeffrey Epstein pulled together, and we’re starting to see some accountability for those awful, awful years.

Hume, elected last week as the deputy to Angus Taylor, was asked if he should immediately abdicate from the line of succession in the British monarchy.

“Well, that’s really a conversation for the monarch himself. Look, I’d support Mark [Butler]’s comments here. I think that this is an extremely disturbing fall from grace that we’ve seen from Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor,” Hume said.

The misconduct in public office is a very serious allegation. We should let the full course of the law take its place but it’s also a reminder that nobody is above the law.

Mayor of Sydney council says Hanson should face charges over her comments on Muslims

Bilal El-Hayek, the mayor of Canterbury Bankstown council in Sydney, said One Nation’s Pauline Hanson should be held accountable for her comments about Muslims in recent days.

El-Hayek spoke to the ABC as the country’s Muslims take part in the holy month of Ramadan, which began on Wednesday and runs through March. At the same time, Lakemba mosque, one of the country’s largest, has faced a series of threats in recent weeks, prompting a police investigation.

El-Hayek told the ABC that Hanson should face charges for her comments targeting Muslims:

I’m not going to skirt around the issue: Pauline Hanson should be charged. It’s an open and shut case. What she said was highly inflammatory.

When you look at the hate speech laws, they’re quite clear. There is specific reference made of public incitement of hatred, discrimination or violence against protected groups based on race, religion or gender. Clearly, her target was clearly the Muslim people. And I have no doubt that her remarks will incite someone.

Funding changes threaten the cultural future of Melbourne, arts workers say

Late last year, there was a palpable tension among Victorian arts organisations. Rumours were that one of the most important arts funding rounds was going to be a bloodbath.

They were right.

A week before Christmas, longstanding arts organisations received phone calls from Creative Victoria, the state’s arts funding agency. Some were told their funding would be drastically reduced. Others had it cut completely after decades.

Morale has cratered in the state’s largest cultural institutions as the effects of the Silver review and the government’s budget crisis rippled through in staff cuts and restructures.

Read more here:

Aussie star, 16, soars into Olympic ski halfpipe final

Australia’s golden Winter Olympics could conclude with a medal-winning flourish after the sensational Indra Brown roared into the final of the women’s freeski halfpipe less than a month since she celebrated her 16th birthday, AAP reports.

One of the breakout stars of the winter sport season, the youngest member of the Aussie team showed no apparent nerves on her Olympic debut in Livigno as she qualified for Saturday’s final in fourth place.

With Canada’s third-placed former champion Cassie Sharpe having a bad fall on her second run and being put on a snow stretcher, it didn’t appear likely she would be fit for Saturday’s final even though there was relief all round as she waved to the crowd while being taken off the pipe.

It’s possible that Melbourne teenager Brown, who’s only had four World Cup outings with three of them ending up with her celebrating on the podium, could go into the 12-woman final as third-best qualifier.

She is Australia’s last realistic shot at a medal and would take the tally to a record-extending seven, including currently three golds, if she was to make the podium again.