Lehrmann appeal adjourns for early lunch break after judge rejects requests from his lawyer to end day early
Adeshola Ore
Bruce Lehrmann’s federal court appeal has adjourned for an early lunch break after multiple requests from his lawyer for the court to finish for the day.
As she rose to begin her scheduled reply, Zali Burrows repeatedly asked the full federal court to adjourn for the day, saying she needs further time to address matters that arose yesterday. Burrows said:
I’m instructed that there’s been some assertions made in respect to the transcript which may not be correct. We need this time to check this as well.
Burrows says “quite a few matters” arose yesterday afternoon which she wants to address.
But Justice Michael Wigney said the court was “inclined” for her to commence her reply immediately. He says nothing that occurred this morning could affect her ability to respond to the proper appeal, not the qualified privilege matter.
We recognise the difficult position you’re in but really it’s important that this matter be concluded as soon as possible and certainly within the three days allocated.
Burrows began her reply by asking for clarification about a question Justice Craig Colvin asked on Wednesday about a ground in Lehrmann’s appeal.
Barrows said her client was challenging Justice Michael Lee’s “underlying findings” in his April 2024 judgment.
Asked by Justice Michael Wigney what “underlying findings” Burrows challenged, she said there were “a few” and she wanted to address this later.
Wigney said this was a “central issue” in the appeal and asked if Burrows understood the reference to the “underlying facts”. He said it was not apparent from Burrows’ written submission that she challenged any of these facts.
Wigney then agreed to Burrows’ request for an early lunch break and said the federal court would adjourn until 2.15pm.
Key events
Luca Ittimani
Whitehaven Coal CEO promises investors ‘bright future’ after profit pressure
Whitehaven Coal has recorded surging revenue, and emissions, after taking over two mines in Queensland, telling investors rising coal demand will support further expansion.
The new mines saw coal production rise to 39 Mt in the year to June, up from 24.5Mt the previous year, though falling coal prices meant revenue overall only rose from $3.8bn to $5.8bn and went backwards for Whitehaven’s New South Wales operations.
Production costs also surged, halving annual underlying profits to $319m and cutting the year’s total dividend to 15c per share, down from 20c over 2023-24.
The share price slipped 3% after the company’s annual report was published this morning but recovered after an investor call where Paul Flynn, Whitehaven’s managing director and chief executive, told investors rising Chinese demand was set to boost sales, prices and profit margins:
These scenarios just point to a bright future.
Chief financial officer, Kevin Ball, told investors Whitehaven hoped to “under-promise and overdeliver” on its projections of lower costs and slightly lower production, with rain the only bad news on the horizon.
Unmentioned in the call was the surge in Whitehaven emissions in its first full year of operating the two Queensland mines, up from 1.3 Mt CO2-e to 2.2Mt CO2-e combined scope 1 and scope 2 emissions.
CommBank home loan applications soar after rate cuts
Luca Ittimani
Commonwealth Bank has reported a surge in hopeful homebuyers looking for loans after interest rate cuts, which have together boosted a $200,000-income household’s borrowing capacity to over $1m.
The Reserve Bank’s first two rate cuts in February and May delivered CBA a 12% jump in pre-approval applications in June and July, compared to the same two months in 2024. First home buyers have been squeezed out by surging prices but kept pace, with an 11% jump.
New South Wales and Queensland saw outsized jumps in applications, up 25% and 19% respectively, while Victorian interest stayed relatively flat, CBA said.
Pre-approval applications point forward to more home loans and purchases. The first half of 2025, including the first two rate cuts, saw CBA home loans rise 2%, according to its mid-year report.
With a third cut in August, variable home loan rates around the country have fallen by about 0.75% on average, which CBA calculates has increased borrowing capacity by about 7%. That allows households with $150,000 to now borrow an extra $40,000, while a combined $200,000 income’s loan size has leapt $66,000 to over $1m.
Natasha May
Midwifery numbers won’t be cut but discussions at RPA ongoing, NSW minister says
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, has promised no midwifery jobs in the state will be lost despite workforce planning at Sydney’s Royal Prince Alfred hospital threatening to cut 20 full-time roles.
After protests in July, the proposed cuts were paused. Animal Justice Party MLC Emma Hurst told NSW budget estimates the community still hadn’t been provided with any updates since then, and asked the minister if he was able provide an update on whether those midwifery staff cuts will go ahead.
Park replied:
I want to be very clear on this, no jobs will be lost as a result of that workforce planning. But those discussions are still taking place and are ongoing …
So no intention to make any cuts in relation to midwifery numbers. What I’ve got to do is make sure that we will deliver those midwifery, maternal, antenatal, postnatal, birthing services where people are having children. So obviously, there are parts of our state where we have big population growth and … therefore women are having more births than in other parts of the state.
Lehrmann appeal adjourns for early lunch break after judge rejects requests from his lawyer to end day early
Adeshola Ore
Bruce Lehrmann’s federal court appeal has adjourned for an early lunch break after multiple requests from his lawyer for the court to finish for the day.
As she rose to begin her scheduled reply, Zali Burrows repeatedly asked the full federal court to adjourn for the day, saying she needs further time to address matters that arose yesterday. Burrows said:
I’m instructed that there’s been some assertions made in respect to the transcript which may not be correct. We need this time to check this as well.
Burrows says “quite a few matters” arose yesterday afternoon which she wants to address.
But Justice Michael Wigney said the court was “inclined” for her to commence her reply immediately. He says nothing that occurred this morning could affect her ability to respond to the proper appeal, not the qualified privilege matter.
We recognise the difficult position you’re in but really it’s important that this matter be concluded as soon as possible and certainly within the three days allocated.
Burrows began her reply by asking for clarification about a question Justice Craig Colvin asked on Wednesday about a ground in Lehrmann’s appeal.
Barrows said her client was challenging Justice Michael Lee’s “underlying findings” in his April 2024 judgment.
Asked by Justice Michael Wigney what “underlying findings” Burrows challenged, she said there were “a few” and she wanted to address this later.
Wigney said this was a “central issue” in the appeal and asked if Burrows understood the reference to the “underlying facts”. He said it was not apparent from Burrows’ written submission that she challenged any of these facts.
Wigney then agreed to Burrows’ request for an early lunch break and said the federal court would adjourn until 2.15pm.
Man rescued from flood waters south-west of Sydney
Penry Buckley
Platz says rescue operations have included the search for two men who are missing after a car drove into the Macdonald River near St Albans, north of Sydney, as we reported earlier.
They also include the rescue of a man at Douglas Park, south-west of Sydney, earlier this morning.
In this particular instance, a man was travelling through some flooded waters. The water had reached the headlights of his vehicle, and New South Wales SES volunteers attended and were able to rescue him through a tethered approach.
Penry Buckley
NSW SES responds to more incidents as roads close and communities watch flood advisories
The NSW SES and the Bureau of Meteorology are giving a joint press conference about the flood risk from today’s continued heavy rainfall.
NSW SES assistant deputy commissioner Debbie Platz said the SES has now responded to more than 500 incidents, including five flood rescues.
Platz said the weather system is now affecting “most of the east coast of NSW and into the north-west area of the state”.
We are starting now to see road closures across many parts of NSW, and these road closures are going to cause isolation to many communities. So again, we urge everybody in NSW, in these impacted areas, to monitor our website very closely to see what is going to impact you.
Caitlin Cassidy
Pocock says ANU’s leadership has taken ‘sledgehammer’ to the university
Pocock accused the ANU’s management of taking a “sledgehammer” to the institution. Addressing the rally, Pocock said he would “continue to fight” alongside students and staff to push for change:
We have to continue to push for better governance, for more transparency, and for a way forward that actually takes into account the students and staff here and the very people who have built this university …
It’s been really hard to watch the way that council and senior leadership have gone about the so-called proposals, and the way that they’ve taken a sledgehammer to this university.
Earlier this month, Pocock called for ANU’s chancellor, Julie Bishop, to step aside until an ongoing review by the regulator into the university council’s culture and oversight of its financial position was completed.
A spokesperson for ANU said it acknowledged implementing widespread change was “significant to our operations, our services, and most critically of all, our people and the fabric of our campus” but did not comment on requests for Bishop to step aside.
All future changes under Renew ANU will be achieved without involuntary redundancies, and no further change plans will be released in 2025. We know this period of transformation hasn’t been easy and we thank and acknowledge the work and dedication of our community to support ANU during this time of change.
Caitlin Cassidy
David Pocock fronting student-led rally at ANU against job cuts
Independent senator for the ACT, David Pocock, is fronting a student-led rally at the Australian National University ANU today protesting against job cuts and ongoing restructuring at the embattled institution.
The protest, which kicked off at 11am on ANU’s Kambri Lawns, comes after the university announced on Wednesday there would be no further involuntary redundancies as management seeks to find $250m in annual savings. Students will be calling for ANU to cease going ahead with the existing proposed job cuts, estimated at about 130 by the National Tertiary Education Union, and for the government to commit to more funding for higher education.
Last month, about 100 students gathered to protest against the proposed changes, which include the disestablishment of the Australian National Dictionary Centre, the Centre for European studies, the Humanities Research Centre and the ANU School of Music.
A spokesperson for ANU said they knew it had been a “challenging period of change” in the community and implementing “change of this scale is significant to our operations, our services, and most critically of all, our people and the fabric of our campus”.
The university has reached an important milestone by achieving $59.9m in savings to date towards the salary reduction target of $100m. This brings us a step closer to returning the university to a financially sustainable footing.
‘This is not question time’: Chalmers clashes with O’Brien at economic reform summit
Tom McIlroy
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, and the Coalition frontbencher Ted O’Brien have clashed at the government’s economic reform roundtable, in a debate about Labor’s spending commitments in the federal budget.
Thursday is the final day of the roundtable event, and discussions are focused on budget sustainability and tax reform. Speakers including Treasury boss, Jenny Wilkinson, and the Grattan Institute chief executive, Aruna Sathanapally, are addressing the meeting.
Outside the cabinet room, O’Brien said he told Chalmers should set spending limits for the new parliamentary term, and stop adding to the budget deficit:
I set a test for the treasurer today to stop the spending spree, which starts with the introduction of quantifiable fiscal rules.
O’Brien did not elaborate on the debate but participants said the back and forth was heated, before Chalmers told O’Brien “this is not question time”.
The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, intervened in the back and forth and suggested the meeting should return to possible reform options going forward.
Speaking during a break in the roundtable, the ACTU secretary, Sally McManus, said participants wanted Chalmers and O’Brien to stick to the meeting agenda and avoid a political fight in the cabinet room. She said that behaviour was better suited to parliament:
There was a bit of a political exchange that went on that felt a bit like question time.
It was like, ‘OK, guys, you can do that in question time, the rest of us here don’t really get to do that’.
Adeshola Ore
Chrysanthou says Lee failed to take into account Higgins’ contemporaneous complaints
Sue Chrysanthou SC, says Justice Michael Lee’s criticism of the program’s allegation of a political cover-up of the alleged rape failed to take into account Brittany Higgins’ contemporaneous complaints.
She says material issued by the prime minister’s office in 2021 also confirmed “most of what Ms Higgins” said regarding her contemporaneous complaints about the alleged rape.
Chrysanthou says by the time of broadcast, Lisa Wilkinson and her producer Angus Llewellyn had “no doubt” that there were contemporaneous complaints to the police, to the minister (Linda Reynolds) and to the rape crisis centre about the allegation:
They had given Mr Lehrmann an opportunity to deny that that had occurred. As a matter of caution they didn’t name him, given they didn’t hear back from him, and that wasn’t the point of their story anyway.
Adeshola Ore
Chrysanthou says Wilkinson was convinced Lehrmann would respond to questions
Sue Chrysanthou SC, says Lisa Wilkinson understood her producer Angus Llewellyn had sent questions to Bruce Lehrmann about the rape allegation three days before the program was aired on 15 February 2021.
Chrysanthou says her client was not part of the decision about the timing of the questions sent to Lehrmann:
She was so convinced that he might respond, she was preparing interview questions.
In my client’s mind, she’s sitting there in her makeup chair, drafting interview questions in case Mr Lhermann decides to speak. That was her state of mind.
Chrysanthou says Wilkinson, who agreed in the witness box there were no issues on the timing of questions sent to Lehrmann, had “no power to change it.”
Chrysanthou says no one else who was sent questions, including “busy ministers” and “political operatives”, complained about the timeframe to respond:
The “factual dispute” is that Lehrmann claims he did not see the questions before broadcast.
This was the one issue, uncorroborated by any document, that the trial judge accepted Mr Lehrmann on.
Penry Buckley
More ‘watch and act’ alerts issued for NSW amid heavy rainfall
The NSW SES has issued additional “watch and act” warnings for communities across northern NSW and the Central Coast.
Residents of Yarramalong, 36km north of Gosford, have now been warned moderate to heavy rainfall could cause flooding along the Wyong River.
In the last hour, additional watch and act warnings have been issued for the north-central town of Gunnedah, and the Tamworth suburb of Calala, with residents of both told to prepare to isolate.
They join an existing “warning and act” warning for Goangra, where heavy rainfall brings the risk of flooding on the Namoi River.
The NSW SES now has 33 warnings in place across the state.
Unions chief says agreement with tech industry on use of creative content in AI a ‘breakthrough’
Patrick Commins
Unions and the leading tech industry lobby group have agreed to work together on a model for payment for the use of creative content in training artificial intelligence.
Speaking to reporters this morning at the sidelines of the third and final day of the economic reform roundtable, Sally McManus, the secretary of the ACTU, described yesterday’s agreement with the Tech Council of Australia as a “breakthrough”:
There was discussion with the Tech Council and ACTU about wanting to address the issue of paying creatives, journalists and academics for their data (and) their creative work that they do.
That’s quite a significant shift, and it’s one we really welcome.
McManus said tech companies were already “rushing ahead’ in their exploitation of content to train large language models.
They’ll be crawling all your data. And people whose livelihoods depend on their creative output deserve not to have that stolen from them.
And so we’re committed to doing everything we can to address that. It was, I think, a big thing for the Tech Council to step up and say, ‘This is something we’re prepared to work on with you.
McManus said that she continued to advocate for an overarching AI act to address the potential risks from the technology, but that business groups remained opposed to such a measure.
Still, there was more commonality on the broader challenges of AI than she anticipated going into yesterday’s sessions.
None of us want to see AI used in a way that’s going to destroy jobs. None of us want to see AI leading to the, you know, theft, as is happening now, of the work of creatives and journalists and also academics.
The Tech Council has been approached for comment.
Lehrmann appeal: Sue Chrysanthou says Lee was ‘distracted by the so-called cover-up’
Adeshola Ore
Bruce Lehrmann is appealing Justice Michael Lee’s April 2024 judgment, which found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed by Lisa Wilkinson and Network 10 when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins in 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.
Sue Chrysanthou SC, for Wilkinson, says Lee was “distracted by the so-called cover-up” alleged in the broadcast. She said:
The reason we lost section 30 is because His Honour could not accept that enough was done on this so called corrupt conduct of cover-up.
Chrysanthou said Lee concluded the Network 10 broadcast demonstrated the allegation of rape was the “minor theme” while the alleagtion of a cover-up was the “major theme.”
Chrysanthou says this is an acceptance of the fact the program was “not really about Mr Lehrmann”.
The appeal, expected to finish on Friday, is before the federal court’s full court of justices, Michael Wigney, Craig Colvin and Wendy Abraham.
More on the men missing from a vehicle that crashed into a river north of Sydney
NSW police say police divers are on scene and will begin a search for two men missing after a car drove into a river north of Sydney late last night. The accident took place about 20km north of Wisemans Ferry.
One of the missing men is in his 20s and the other is in his 50s. Another man in his 20s was able to escape the vehicle. Police say they believe the trio are a father and his two sons.
Natasha May
NSW minister says inquiry into health system in western Sydney not necessary
Carter pushed Park on whether he would support an inquiry into the health system in western Sydney. Park said he did not because his government had already initiated a royal commission – the special commission of inquiry into healthcare funding.
Park outlined what was being done for western Sydney, but acknowledged there is “more work to do”:
One, we are rolling out ratios of that hospital, resulting in a significantly increased number of staff.
Two, we are expanding beds at both Mount Druitt and Blacktown to the tune of $120 million investment 60 increases in beds between both hospitals.
Three we will continue to focus on the patient experience at that and other western Sydney hospitals as a result of that investment, with more to do and a lot more improvement to go. We have seen significant improvements in the performance at Blacktown hospital. But there is more work to do.
Natasha May
Claim patient ‘too scared’ to return to Blacktown hospital out of fear they would die there, NSW budget estimates hears
The NSW health minister, Ryan Park, is appearing before budget estimates this morning and questions kicked off around the state of Blacktown hospital.
Opposition MLC Susan Carter asked Park about what has been done since patients were photographed sleeping on the floor of the hospital in September last year.
Park said on-time treatment has gone up from one in six patients being treated on time back in March 2023, roughly about 16.5%, “under us, most recent data says one in two being treated on time, roughly around 44%”.
Carter asked about a resident called Patrick who she said emailed his office on Monday:
This week he was forced to wait for 38 hours and 17 minutes in Blacktown emergency department. He wasn’t fed. He saw patients sleeping on the floor of the emergency department. He’s now too scared to turn up at Blacktown hospital because he fears that he will die there.
Here’s a visual of the current state of flood advisories across NSW from the Bureau of Meteorology:
A major flood warning is in place for the Namoi River and a moderate flood warning for the Peel River, including at Tamworth, Manilla, Carroll Gap, Gunnedah and Goangra.
Netanyahu says Albanese’s reputation ‘forever tarnished’
Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed Anthony Albanese in a new interview with Sky News. The Israeli leader expanded on his criticism of Australia’s decision to recognise a Palestinian state in quotes teased from the interview, set to air in full later today. Netanyahu said:
I’m sure he has a reputable record as a public servant, but I think his record is forever tarnished by the weakness that he showed in the face of these Hamas terrorist monsters.
When the worst terrorist organisation on Earth … when these people congratulate the prime minister of Australia, you know something is wrong.
The full interview airs at 8pm tonight.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu:
History will remember Albanese for what he is: A weak politician
who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia’s Jews.— Prime Minister of Israel (@IsraeliPM) August 19, 2025
