TRANSCRIPT:
- The major party leaders head to Western Australia as their election campaigns continue;
- The United States fires the commander of its base in Greenland;
- Australia's Alex de Minaur achieves a rare double bagel at Monte Carlo.
Western Australia has been in the political spotlight today, with both major party leaders taking their election campaigns to Perth, cementing their pitches to voters before a raft of public holidays and pre-poll centres open on April 22.
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton has met with star boxer Danny Green and Stop the Coward Punch chair Justin Manolikos in the marginal electorate of Swan, pledging $1.5 million to support their anti-violence campaign.
He's also brushed off speculation about his campaign being closely modelled on Donald Trump's US rhetoric, after Jacinta Price earlier today said the Coalition wanted to make Australia great again.
REPORTER: "Do you back your senator's comment this morning?"
DUTTON: "I want to get rid of a bad government, that's what I want to do. The biggest influence of my political life has been John Howard. I'm incredibly proud of what Jacinta has done in saving our country from the Voice, because that would have destroyed the social fabric of our country."
Meanwhile, the Prime Minister has brought fiance Jodie Haydon on this leg of the campaign, taking a ferry ride along the Swan River and announcing a raft of targeted support to the state including urgent care clinics, protecting the share of the GST and backing the passenger rail line Metronet.
He's defended himself against accusations he is growing cocky as the second week of the campaign comes to an end.
"I take nothing for granted. We've had - there are a range of things they're trying to distract from their own campaign. The fact that we have gone through the firsty couple of weeks of the campaign without changing our policies - our key policies - every day is a key contrast which is there."
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This weekend marks a year since a mass stabbing incident at the Bondi Westfield shopping centre in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
Sixteen people were attacked at random, with six being killed.
Muhammad Taha was a security guard on duty that day who survived the attack, but spent time in hospital recovering from the incident.
He has told SBS Urdu he still feels unsafe and is seeking help for the trauma he went through.
"I am getting sessions every week. And I'm not feeling mentally well. But ya - it's a part of life we have to manage and get over it - with the passage of time."
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Australian judge Robert French has stepped down from Hong Kong's highest court.
The former Chief Justice of Australia's High Court says while he respects Hong Kong and the integrity and independence of the remaining foreign judges, he believes the role of the non-permanent justices on the Court of Final Appeal has become increasingly anachronistic and cosmetic.
The number of foreign judges on the court [[of Final Appeal]] has fallen from about 13 to five in recent years, with some raising concerns at the imposition of a sweeping national security law.
The security crackdown has fanned international criticism of a perceived erosion of the rule of law in the financial hub.
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Western leaders have pledged military aid of more than $23 billion US dollars [[more than $37 billion AUD]] to Ukraine, as doubts linger about Russia's willingness to engage in peace talks.
The Russian President has met with the White House envoy to discuss a peace deal, but the Kremlin has so far refused to sign.
But European Defence Ministers at the 27th Ukraine Defence Contact Group meeting in Brussels say they are committed long-term to the resources Ukraine needs to defeat Moscow.
U-K Defence Secretary John Healey says it's too important to back away from.
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The commander of a US Space Force base in Greenland has been fired following a visit by Vice President JD Vance.
The Pentagon says Colonel Susan Myers was fired due to a loss of trust and confidence, with spokesperson Sean Parnell writing on X that actions to undermine the chain of command or subvert Donald Trump's agenda would not be tolerated.
Her dismissal follows publication of an email she wrote that questioned the VP's assertions during his March visit.
Vance had accused Denmark of failing to protect Greenland from aggressive incursions from Russia and China.
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Australia has welcomed the return of 36 First Nations ancestors from the United Kingdom in a ceremony hosted by the Natural History Museum in London.
The remains have been handed back to their communities, all of them in Queensland.
But while repatriations are happening more frequently - there are calls from Aboriginal leaders for the British government to provide increased assistance so more remains can be brought back to country.
Wuthathi man Keron Murray has told NITV that there are thousands more ancestors still held in British museums.
"It's all funded through Australia. Certain other things, but the British government also have to pitch in, and there needs to be a more holistic approach for repatriation. Not just for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ancestors, but those Indigenous peoples who was taken from all over the world."
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To sport,
Australian tennis star Alex de Minaur has stunned the tennis world with his first 'double bagel' at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
A double bagel is a score of 6–0, 6–0, meaning that the player won all six games in a row - twice - to win the match.
The 26 year old's defeat of Grigor Dimatrov in 44 minutes means he has powered into the semi-finals, where he wil face Italy's Lorenzo Musetti.
