In this bulletin;
- Channel 10 agrees to pay journalist Lisa Wilkinson $1.15 million to cover her court costs;
- Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie defends Coalition's plan to cut public service jobs;
- And in rugby, the Jilaroos to face England for only the fourth time in Test match history.
After a long dispute Channel 10 has agreed to pay journalist Lisa Wilkinson $1.15 million to cover her costs in Bruce Lehrmann's defamation case.
The Federal Court approved this amount on Monday afternoon after months of disagreement over how much the network should pay Ms Wilkinson for her separate legal representation.
However, the agreed figure was far below the initial $1.8 million Ms Wilkinson says she had been forced to spend on the case.
In April, Justice Michael Lee dismissed the defamation trial brought by Mr Lehrmann over a 2021 report on the Project where Brittany Higgins claimed he had sexually assaulted her in Parliament house.
The judge found Lehrmann had not been defamed and that, on the balance of probabilities, Ms Higgins' statements were substantially true.
Lehrmann has appealed his defamation loss with a hearing yet to be scheduled.
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Nationals Senator Bridget McKenzie has defended the Coalition's plan to cut public service jobs to fund the $8.5 billion Medicare plan proposed under Labor.
After revealing he would match Labor's $8.5 billion plan to boost Medicare, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said his pledge would be funded by axing tens of thousands of jobs in the public service.
Senator McKenzie told reporters the Coalition do not plan to cut any frontline services essential for primary health care needs.
"We've made that commitment, we're unequivocal about that. We know that there is enough opportunity within the Australian public Service to find the savings to pay for our primary healthcare policy, which includes reinstating half a billion dollars of mental healthcare cuts under Labor."
Labor Minister for Employment Murray Watt says public service cuts will severely delay processes.
Services Australia's latest quarterly data shows Labor's decision to hire more staff had significantly reduced processing times for the aged pension, parental leave and Medicare enrolments.
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The head of one of Australia's most prominent literary events has quit, citing issues around its coverage of the war in Gaza.
Kathy Shand, who is a prominent member of the Jewish-Australian community, was the chair of the Sydney Writers' Festival for two years before she has handed in her resignation to its board.
Addressing the board on which she served for 12 years , Ms Shand said she was concerned the event lacks diversity of opinions on issues including the Middle East conflict.
The Sydney Writers’ Festival board has responded in a statement, defending the range of views and speakers to be presented at the upcoming event, which it says will include Jewish and Palestinian thought leaders.
The festival will be held from the 19th to 27th of May.
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New planning rules in Victoria will give automatic approval to townhouse developments up to three storeys, in a push to get more young people into Australia's tight housing market.
On Tuesday Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan revealed a plan to speed up planning approval for duplexes, townhouses and low-rise apartments.
Ms Allan says she wants to see an even growth in the number of homes built across Victoria and has made major reforms to the planning system.
"I want Victoria to be the townhouse capital of Australia. Townhouses, like the ones we can see here in Brunswick. These are great options, great options and this is all part of -- not only do we have to build more homes, we've got to build a mix of different homes."
On Monday, Ms Allan issued a warning to councils that the state government would intervene if they failed to unlock space for new homes.
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And in rugby,
The Jillaroos' Ali Brigginshaw has warned Australia that England will be more aggressive than their traditional foes New Zealand in the one-off test match in Las Vegas.
The Jillaroos are facing England for only the fourth time in Test match history and for the first time since the formation of the NRL Women's team.
Tamika Upton, Keeley Davis and Yasmin Clydsdale are among the key Australian players set to face England for the first time.
Ms Brigginshaw says she remembers the 2013 World Cup Clash with England as particularly aggressive, with two English players sent off field.
