Hundreds paddle out in memory of 12-year-old Sydney shark attack victim
Hundreds of people have participated in a paddle-out in memory of a 12-year-old boy killed after being bitten by a shark last weekend.
Nico Antic sustained critical injuries after he was bitten near a popular swimming spot at Vaucluse in Sydney’s east, and died.
In memory of the 12-year-old, his school, Rose Bay Secondary College, organised a community paddle out at North Bondi.
Here are a few scenes from the shore on Sunday morning:
Key events
Graham Readfearn
Fourth hottest January on record for Australia
Australians lived through the country’s fourth hottest January on record, according to Bureau of Meteorology data, seeing the nationwide temperature 1.9C above average.
Last month was the 24th January in a row where the nation’s mean temperature was above the long term average, calculated between 1961 and 1990.
New South Wales had a stand-out month with the data showing maximum temperatures were the second highest on the bureau’s record that goes back to 1910. Maximums in South Australia were the third highest on record.
Global heating caused mostly by burning fossil fuels has seen Australia warm by 1.5C since 1910.
Australia experienced two heatwaves in January. Last week’s extreme heat brought records tumbling in South Australia and Victoria, with multiple locations recording their highest ever temperatures.
Laneway Festival will host an onsite drug checking service as part of an ongoing trial, it was confirmed on Sunday.
The presence of the service will make Laneway the eleventh festival to participate in the year-long trial when it begins on Sunday, 8 February 2026 at Centennial Park.
The service will be free and anonymous for festival patrons, allowing them to bring a small sample to be checked on-site by qualified health staff.
Participants will be told what was found in the sample and its potency, along with advice for how to reduce risks if they choose to take the substance.
Trained peer workers are available on site to provide tailored guidance about the risks, confidential support and information about additional support services.
NSW Chief Health Officer Dr Kerry Chant said the service is intended to help people make informed decisions to reduce drug-related harm but is not a guarantee of safety.
This trial aims to inform individuals about substances, allowing them to avoid dangerous substances, discard high-risk drugs, make safer and more informed choices and potentially avoid serious health risks.
Our priority is to reduce harm and keep people safe.
The trial comes after the NSW Government’s Drug Summit concluded in December 2024. The Report on the 2024 New South Wales Drug Summit provided a priority action recommending a trial of music festival-based drug testing.
‘It’s not about democracy’: NSW attorney general doubles down on phrase ban
The New South Wales state government remains determined to ban use of the phrase “globalise the intifada” despite most submissions to an inquiry about the move opposing the ban.
When asked about the apparent opposition to the ban during a press conference on Sunday, the NSW attorney general, Michael Daley, contradicted a report that noted community opposition to the ban, saying, “I’m not sure that’s the case.”
Daley noted that the inquiry received 700 submissions, of which 155 are public.
It’s not about democracy. Just because a lot of people want to keep doing something that’s unacceptable doesn’t mean it’s the right thing for a government to do it.
For more on this story, read the past report by Guardian Australia’s Penry Buckley:
Josh Butler
Greens blame government inaction on housing and price gouging for looming rate rise
The Greens claim that Australians are facing an interest rate hike this week, in part, because the government hasn’t done enough to deal with rising housing prices and corporate price gouging.
Greens leader Larissa Waters claims the Labor government should be doing more to manage those issues, in a bid to keep inflation down.
If you’re a mortgage holder or a renter, you face being hit by the RBA to ‘fix’ the government’s ‘inflation problem’. Anyone with a mortgage will be giving more per month to the big banks. Renters are going to cop it as it will trickle down into unfair rent rises.
It’s hard enough right now to get ahead, you shouldn’t be doing it harder. It shouldn’t be on you. This is about choices. The government’s priorities mean that you are copping the pain while banks, energy companies and property investors keep winning.”
She added:
If they’d taken them on, you wouldn’t be getting a rate rise.
Greens’ economic spokesperson Nick McKim went on to say:
This is about political choices, and Labor has chosen to protect corporate profits while ordinary people wear the pain.
If the Reserve Bank increases interest rates the treasurer will wring his hands and pretend he shares people’s pain when in reality he is responsible for increasing pressure on the RBA to raise.
NSW to remove ‘good character’ from being considered at sentencing hearings in nationwide first
Offenders convicted of any crime will no longer be able to rely on glowing character references during sentencing under changes being introduced in New South Wales, in a move supported by survivors of sexual abuse but which others say could limit defendants’ rights.
On Wednesday, the state government will become the first nationwide to introduce legislation to remove “good character” from being considered at sentencing hearings, when judges hear about someone’s prior record, general reputation and any positive contributions to society as mitigating factors.
It follows a recommendation from a NSW sentencing council review released on Sunday, which was commissioned in April 2024 after a campaign by Your Reference Ain’t Relevant to remove good character references during sentencing for child sex offenders.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Penry Buckley:
Victoria flips Metro Tunnel’s ‘big switch’ as new services begin
Sunday marks the day Melbourne’s $15bn Metro Tunnel will begin service in what the Victorian state government is calling “the big switch”.
New timetables with extra services that use the Metro Tunnel – first announced in 2015 and opened in November – will begin from Sunday.
The state government says the services will reduce congestion on the network and will also involve changes to bus routes in regional Victoria and inner-city Melbourne.
‘Changed me’: deputy leader back after cancer fight
The NSW deputy premier is returning to work for the new school year after her second cancer battle in three years.
Prue Car, who is also the minister for education and early learning, went on leave in June after revealing she had been diagnosed with breast cancer.
The 43-year-old mother said it had been a difficult seven months, but she would be back at work on Monday to kick off the new school year.
In a video message on Sunday, she said the experience had “certainly changed me in so many ways”.
What hasn’t changed is my unwavering commitment to deliver for the people of NSW, for this beautiful community I represent here in western Sydney, as well as continuing our program in education.
I can’t wait to get back to work.
Car entered state parliament in 2015 for the western Sydney seat of Londonderry and has been deputy premier since Labor won government in March 2023.
The NSW MP remained deputy premier during her treatment but stepped back from her ministerial duties in education and early learning and western Sydney, handing the reins to fellow minister Courtney Houssos.
It was Car’s second major health battle, having taken leave in 2022 after an unrelated kidney cancer diagnosis.
– AAP
SA Premier Peter Malinauskas expected to enjoy comfortable win at next state election
South Australian Labor is tipped to take the stand in another landslide against the state’s Liberal party.
With the Liberals largely missing in action, Adelaide University emeritus professor of politics Clem Macintyre said the Labor Premier didn’t face much of a challenge.
The opposition party, she said, had been “at sixes and sevens” for most of his term.
The opposition leader, Ashton Hurn, who was thrust into the Liberal leadership in December, months out from the 21 March election, is left to pick up the pieces of a party that failed to recover after Labor turfed them out in 2022, winning 27 lower house seats to 16.
Labor has since gained two more seats at byelections, snaring former premier Steven Marshall’s electorate of Dunstan in 2023 and Black, which was held by his successor, David Spiers, in 2024.
Speirs quit parliament in October 2024 and was convicted on drug supply charges last year.
He was replaced by Vincent Tarzia, who trailed Malinauskas 58% to 19% as preferred premier in October’s DemosAU opinion poll, before he stepped down in December.
Hurn, 35, who is the member for the Barossa Valley seat of Schubert, is now one of five women leaders in the Liberal party at federal, state or territory level.
Macintyre said she expected the election would result in fewer Liberal MPs in the lower house. “Certainly, there’s unlikely to be many, if any, from metropolitan Adelaide,” she said.
Flinders University associate lecturer in public policy Josh Sunman said the oppositions light policy offering stands in contrast to the big announcements offered by Labor.
Though vulnerable on the state debt, ramping in the state’s hospitals and the Premier’s intervention into Adelaide Writers Week, Sunman suggested the Liberals had been unable to capitalise.
An unusual factor in this election is the number of MPs on criminal charges.
In addition to Spiers, three former Liberals-turned-independents found themselves before the courts last year.
The state election will be held on 21 March 2026.
– AAP
Attempted firebomb attack in Sydney’s south west
New South Wales police are investigating after a house was firebombed in south-west Sydney overnight.
Emergency services responded to reports that glass firebombs had been thrown at a Condell Park home shortly after 10.30pm on Saturday night.
Police were informed that two glass bottles, possibly containing petrol, were thrown at the house, causing damage to a window.
The bottles shattered on impact but failed to ignite. A third bottle was found in a bog at the front of the premises and has been seized for forensic examination.
There were no reports of any other structural damage to the house or injuries to any person.
Police believe the attempted attack was targeted.
A crime scene was established and examined by specialist police.
A person on a scooter was seen riding north along Gallipoli Street immediately after the attempted attack.
NSW Greens to move bill to let councils better regulate berry industry as it continues rapid expansion
Cate Faehrmann, a Greens member of the New South Wales legislative council, will move a private member’s bill next week to give councils more power to regulate blueberry and other berry farms, which are expanding throughout the mid-north coast, leading to serious frictions with other landholders.
Separately, the state Labor government is considering an inquiry into alleged worker abuse in the region. Most states regulate labour hire companies, which serve as intermediaries between farmers and seasonal workers, but NSW does not.
Guardian Australia has reported on allegations of underpayment, poor living conditions and exploitation, particularly of workers who arrived on the Pacific Australia Labour Mobility (Palm) scheme but left their employers, often allegedly as a result of worker exploitation.
Faehrmann’s bill aims to address the environmental impact of intensive berry farming.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Anne Davies:
Heat eases in south-east but WA still red hot
The heatwave that brought sweltering temperatures to most of Australia’s southern states has eased, but WA has been warned to brace for more hot weather.
Adelaide is marching towards its driest summer since records began.
With absolutely no rain in January, the city has marked its first dry January since 2019 and just the eighth dating back to 1839.
It has also been an exceptionally hot month in the South Australian capital, with minimum temperatures running 1C above the long-term average and maximums 3.6C above average.
Adelaide’s driest summer was 1905-06 with just 4mm in total, according to Weatherzone.
Only 2.8mm fell in December, so after a rainless January, that stands as the city’s tally for the 2025-26 summer.
That trend is set to continue, with the Bureau of Meteorology predicting another week of dry, warm conditions.
Sunday should give a much-needed reprieve for those affected by the searing heat of last week, before the mercury hovers around 30C for the next seven days.
Parts of NSW and Victoria are also on alert for fires, with authorities issuing a total fire ban in Upper Central West Plains and Eastern Riverina regions and the north-east region, respectively.
Perth residents will probably endure 37C and 39C on Sunday and Monday as their prolonged heatwave tails off.
In its long-range forecast, the bureau predicts warmer days and nights over the coming months, with increased extreme heat risk and no clear wet or dry trend for February to April.
Overall, the next week provides some cooler, calmer conditions for most of Australia’s southeast after a sweltering, record-smashing week where the mercury surged towards 50C.
– AAP
Bushfire smoke blankets Sydney and Central Coast
Fires burning north of Newcastle have caused a blanket of smoke to drift down NSW and across the Central Coast and greater Sydney.
The Rural fire service said bushfires burning at Oyster Cove and Nerong were responsible for the smoke, with authorities expecting it to linger throughout the morning before a wind change breaks it up.
NDIS workers are being stalked, harassed and assaulted while ‘urgent’ safety reforms take three years to enact
In the years he has worked for the National Disability Insurance Agency, Lawrence (not his real name) has narrowly escaped violence on multiple occasions.
He managed to avoid being beaten up at a hospital, was present when an angry NDIS participant threw a table through a glass window at a service centre, and witnessed another participant try to smash glass and run over staff in their power wheelchair.
He has been filmed and livestreamed while doing his job, received death threats, regularly taken calls from distressed participants who have threatened suicide, and had service centres he has worked at locked down or evacuated.
His experiences reflect those heard during a 2023 government-commissioned review into the safety of NDIA staff, conducted by Graham Ashton. It was initiated after a Services Australia staff member was stabbed at a service centre that houses both a Services Australia and an NDIS office.
The review made 36 urgent recommendations to improve the safety and security of frontline NDIA staff.
Guardian Australia can reveal that despite this review being presented to NDIA management in May 2024, it took the government 15 months before it shared it with staff and the union.
For more on this story, read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Kate Lyons:
Mark Butler questions Angus Taylor’s frontbench position after secret Liberal leadership meeting
The federal health minister, Mark Butler, has added his two cents to the internal turmoil within the former Coalition, saying he doesn’t understand how Angus Taylor remains in the shadow cabinet after a secret meeting to discuss a future Liberal leadership challenge.
Speaking to Sky News on Sunday, Butler spruiked the government’s increase to hospital funding after two decades of negotiations with the states and defended its work on the NDIS.
Asked about how things will shake out on Monday, Butler said he expected “it’s going to be a shambles on the other side of the parliament.”
I don’t understand how Angus Taylor is still on the frontbench. I mean he is so obviously putting together a leadership challenge.
At the risk of sounding overenthusiastic about Labor’s good fortune, Butler said he couldn’t predict how events would play out.
There’s a small opposition now of barely 28 members, and that is split right down the middle between Sussan Ley supporters Angus Taylor supporters, so frankly how they’re going to be able to pull all of that mess together to provide, really, the job that they have to do for the Australian people, which is to present an alternative in the parliament to the government, is frankly beyond me.
Hundreds paddle out in memory of 12-year-old Sydney shark attack victim
Hundreds of people have participated in a paddle-out in memory of a 12-year-old boy killed after being bitten by a shark last weekend.
Nico Antic sustained critical injuries after he was bitten near a popular swimming spot at Vaucluse in Sydney’s east, and died.
In memory of the 12-year-old, his school, Rose Bay Secondary College, organised a community paddle out at North Bondi.
Here are a few scenes from the shore on Sunday morning:
Could One Nation be a genuine threat to Australia’s conservative parties?
A week or so out from last year’s federal election, a narrative emerged offering a glimmer of hope for the Coalition’s flailing campaign.
With the popularity of One Nation rising, preferences flowing from Pauline Hanson’s supporters could help the Liberals topple Labor in working-class seats in the outer suburbs and regions.
“Aunty Pauline is now acceptable,” a Liberal insider was quoted as saying in the Australian Financial Review, implying Hanson had become palatable to more voters and her rightwing party an electoral weapon for the Coalition.
The narrative never materialised as the opposition leader Peter Dutton’s suburban strategy spectacularly tanked on polling day.
Nine months on, a One Nation narrative still surrounds the Liberals and Nationals.
But now it tells of a genuine electoral opponent.
After years on the extreme fringes of Australian politics, pollsters and political insiders say financial stress and disillusionment with the major parties – particularly the Coalition – is pushing Hanson’s hardline brand of rightwing populism into the mainstream.
But how far can One Nation go in reshaping the political landscape?
For the answer to that question read the full report by Guardian Australia’s Dan Jervis-Bardy:
Canavan says toppling Ley won’t reunify Coalition
The Liberal and National split would not be resolved by replacing Sussan Ley as Liberal leader, Matt Canavan says.
I don’t think that’s the issue. I’ve worked with Susan very strongly in the past. I think she’s done a good job over the past year.
The Nationals senator said the issue lay elsewhere.
There’s just one problem here, Andrew. And that is, that of course is that if we’re going to be in a coalition with the Liberal party, we have to have put forward who we’d like to serve in the shadow ministry. And as a result of the vote last week and the fallout from that, Sussan Ley said no.
Clarifying later, Canavan said:
I don’t think she should have sacked those people.
Canavan confident Littleproud can survive leadership challenge
Canavan said he understood some people’s concern over the split and their desire to see a reunified Coalition, but added that the break allowed the Nationals to take an informed position on the government’s antisemitism legislation “in less than a week”.
The Senator said he was “still scratching my head about why we had to split” over a “difference of opinion on this particular issue”.
We will continue to work together I’m sure with other people in the parliament. I think it would be best to do so in a coalition.
He said he expected the Nationals leader, David Littleproud, to survive an expected leadership challenge on Monday.
I’m pretty sure he’ll have the confidence of the room tomorrow.
