Key Points
- Inquiry hears fake caravan terror plot linked to organised crime
- Dutton admits party got it wrong on work from home policy
- Belgian cycling champion makes record third win at major tour
TRANSCRIPT
New South Wales deputy police commissioner David Hudson says 14 incidents that have targeted the Jewish community in recent months are connected to a common source involving links to organised crime.
Mr Hudson has been giving evidence on the first day of public hearings as part of an inquiry into the discovery of an explosives-laden caravan in Sydney's northwest in January.
He says it was not until 21 February - a month after police first received the tip-off that they were able to confirm that the incident was a fake terrorism plot with ties to organised crime.
He says that then allowed them to find links between a series of attacks on cars and property in Sydney's eastern suburbs.
A taskforce set up in December 2024 to track hate crimes has recorded at least 700 incidents - targeting both the Jewish and Muslim community.
He says the volume of high-profile attacks has decreased since police last month made arrests and did raids, as part of the taskforce.
"Since the second of February when we started making initial arrests, in relation to Pearl. Making arrests along that pathway and identifying individuals through Pearl, the links to those jobs became more apparent because of that. Because of the cessation of incidents as we were arresting offenders. But certainly since the 10 of March there hasn't anything that has fitted the criteria od Strike Force Pearl - the terms of reference to be captured under that investigation since the second of February."
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Coalition leader Peter Dutton is campaigning in Adelaide, in his first stop in the South Australian capital since the federal election was called over a week ago.
In a policy reversal, the Coalition say it is now clarifying it will be abandoning its policy to end work-from-home arrangements for public servants and change its plan to sack 41,000 federal government employees.
Instead of pursuing job cuts through forced redundancies, the federal public service would be downsized through natural attrition.
Mr Dutton criticised his political opponents for making a big deal over the shift.
“I have apologised for the decision we took in relation to work from home. It only applied to Canberra. Labor has run this scare campaign and I think we bring an end to that today. We strongly support flexible workplace arrangements, and it never had any application to any part of the economy except the public service in Canberra but that is not how Labor portrayed it. I think we are seeing a lot of scare campaigning in this election campaign from Labor because they don’t have a positive story .”
Mr Dutton used his visit to Adelaide to announce a major infrastructure pledge - committing $840 million into a heavy vehicle bypass around the Adelaide Hills to reduce congestion.
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Australians are being reminded that the deadline to enrol to vote - or update your details on the electoral roll - ends in coming hours: at 8pm local time in your location in Australia.
Voting is compulsory for Australian citizens aged 18 years and over.
Australia’s enrolment rate for this election will be a record high, with around 98 per cent of all eligible Australians enrolled.
Australian Electoral Commissioner Jeff Pope says around 400,000 people have enrolled to vote or updated their details on the roll in the last week.
The federal election has been set for Saturday, May 3.
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Senior officials in the Trump administration say whether US President Donald Trump is open to negotiations on the new tariffs announced last week - is up to him.
US officials say more than 50 countries have reach out for talks in a bid for concessions and exemptions.
Mr Trump has insisted his policies will never change. He posted on social media: "WE WILL WIN. HANG TOUGH, it won’t be easy."
The higher rates are set to be collected beginning Wednesday, ushering in a new era of economic uncertainty with no clear end in sight.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told NBC's Meet the Press any decision on the permanency of the tariffs is one for the President.
"He's created maximum leverage for himself. And more than 50 countries have approached the administration about lowering their non-tariff trade barriers, lowering their tariffs, and stopping currency manipulation. And they've been bad actors for a long time, and it's not the kind of thing you can negotiate away in days or weeks."
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In cycling, Lotte Kopecky has become the first ever female rider to win the Tour of Flanders three times.
The Belgian cyclist launched her sprint with just over 200 metres to go, crossing the finish line with a time of 4 hours, 24 minutes, and 34 seconds.
Pauline Ferrand-Prévot and Liane Lippert rounded out the podium.
Defending champion Elisa Longo Borghini had to abandon the race after a crash.
Kopecky says there was a point in the race where she felt confident about winning.
“Good. It was a crazy race with a lot of crashes in the beginning. I was pretty nervous - and I didn't have the best legs in the beginning but yeah, I tried to stay calm and I knew that after a few climbs my legs felt better and better. And then I know at the end that I have a pretty good shot, so yeah, pretty confident, actually."
