RUSH HOUR: The stories you need to know today
FORMER Prime Minister Tony Abbott has launched a scathing new attack on Malcolm Turnbull and the Coalition, suggesting they’re losing touch with the public.
- Trump defends Muslim ban
- Three dead in NT floodwater tragedy
- Abbott unleashes on Turnbull
- Mundine to refuse to stand for national anthem
Live: Rush Hour
Just getting back to work from a four-day Australia Day weekend? Fear not, we have plenty of depressing news to match your mood. Dual citizens, including some Australians, are now banned from entering the United States as part of Donald Trump’s whole “Muslims are bad” thing. Elsewhere, Tony Abbott has unleashed on Malcolm Turnbull over the government’s renewable energy target. Hell hath no fury like an ousted Prime Minister. Oh — there’s also a truly sickening story about a two-metre-long tapeworm in here somewhere. Have fun with that.
That’s Rush Hour for the day! Swing by our home page for ongoing news updates.
9.40am
Two words put tennis world in a spin
“I hope to see you next year, but if not, this was a wonderful run here and I can’t be more happy to have won tonight.”
With that single sentence, Roger Federer sent tennis brains everywhere spinning into psychologist mode. “If not”? Care to explain, Roger?
Was Federer hinting at retirement? Was he trying to tell us Sunday night may have been the last time we see him at Melbourne Park? Or was it just something that slipped out amid a flurry of emotions?
Whatever it was, the tennis world was intrigued.
Four-time grand slam champion and Channel Seven commentator Jim Courier wasn’t about to jump behind any wild theories, taking the Fed Express’s quote in a different manner.
“I’m going to interpret that as, ‘If this is my last major win’. Roger Federer loves the game, loves the life. It would be hard to believe he would be going anywhere any time soon. This is not a Pete Sampras, one more major and walking off the stage moment,” Courier said, referring to Sampras’s retirement which occurred after not playing a single match following his 2002 US Open win over Andre Agassi.
“He is guy who has carried the weight of being Roger Federer as if it is a feather. This is a guy who is expected to win for so many years and that kind of stress is, it can be a lot on a player, but he’s always just carried it like it was natural for him, like just a normal thing.
“I assure you, it is not normal. There is very little about Roger Federer that is normal.”
— James Matthey
9.15am
Woman and three-year-old girl found dead in Melbourne home
A woman and a three-year-old girl have been found dead in a home in Melbourne’s north.
Neighbours heard screaming as a man, believed to be the dead woman’s husband, ran out of the house after finding the bodies.
The grim discovery was made at the Ashkanasy Avenue, Pascoe Vale home about 5pm Sunday.
The exact cause of the deaths have not yet been determined, but police say they are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident. The bodies are yet to be formally identified.
“The exact cause of the deaths are yet to be determined but police are not looking for anyone else in connection to the incident at this stage,” a police spokeswoman said.
Neighbour Mohammed Assad, 18, told The Herald Sun he heard the husband’s anguished screams.
“He came home, he walked inside and then came out and just started screaming,” Mr Assad said
The dead woman is believed to come from Nepal.
Other neighbours said the family were quiet and kept to themselves.
— Andrew Koubaridis
8.30am
Aus tech industry condemns US visa change
Australian technology companies have called on the federal government to condemn Donald Trump’s US visa changes, which they say will impact staff.
According to industry group TechSydney, a number of employees in the city’s tech sector are affected by the weekend decision, including dual-nationals working in and visiting the US.
HotelsCombined CEO Hichame Assi, a dual national British-Syrian who moved to Australia in 2008, can’t travel to the US for the next 90 days even though he has a valid visa.
“We employ people of all nationalities, including dual-nationality Australians,” Mr Assi said in a statement on Monday.
“These developments in the US are not only disruptive to our business and our people, they’re very troubling and are creating more tensions at a time when empathy is required.”
— AAP
8.00am
NSW Premier’s new ministry sworn in
NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s new ministry is sworn in at Government House today.
The refreshed cabinet includes seven new faces and new portfolios for counter-terrorism and the controversial WestConnex motorway project.
But the door has been closed on some experienced ministers, including Adrian Piccoli from education, long-serving roads minister Duncan Gay and John Ajaka and Leslie Williams from multiculturalism and early education respectively.
Stuart Ayres will be in charge of the new portfolio overseeing the $16.8 billion controversial motorway project WestConnex.
David Elliot will add the new counter-terrorism portfolio to his corrections and veterans affairs role.
There are three new women in the line-up including Nationals MPs Melinda Pavey and Sarah Mitchell and the Liberals’ member for Mulgoa, Tanya Davies. Veteran MP Brad Hazzard will take over as health minister, replacing Jillian Skinner who quit last week after being given a heads-up about the change.
7.45am
Kim K weighs into Trump Muslim ban debate
Love her or hate her, this is an excellent tweet.
Statistics pic.twitter.com/aSpyFuabct
— Kim Kardashian West (@KimKardashian) January 29, 2017
7.30am
Mundine to remain seated during national anthem
Anthony Mundine has said he will refuse to acknowledge the national anthem before his boxing rematch with Danny Green this Friday.
The athlete said he would have “no choice but to take a seat” when indigenous singer Jessica Mauboy sings the anthem at Adelaide Oval.
“It’s a racist anthem and doesn’t represent our people,” Mundine told The Daily Telegraph. “It’s disrespectful to our people. And this is close to my heart. I like Jessica but it’s not for our people. They are just using her because she is black.”
“First and foremost I want to focus on the fight,” he went on. “I’m not trying to divide people or be controversial but you’ve asked the question and I’m answering it honestly to tell people where I stand. We’re not young and free.
“My people are still being oppressed. Nothing’s changed ... the anthem isn’t right. It’s not for all of Australia. I just can’t stand up for something I don’t believe in.”
Read the full story at The Daily Telegraph.
7.15am
Airbnb boss’ generous offer
Brian Chesky, the CEO and co-founder of Airbnb, has announced the service will offer free housing to anyone affected by Donald Trump’s ban on refugees.
He took to Twitter to share the announcement yesterday.
Airbnb is providing free housing to refugees and anyone not allowed in the US. Stayed tuned for more, contact me if urgent need for housing
— Brian Chesky (@bchesky) January 29, 2017
7.00am
Abbott unleashes on Turnbull
Tony Abbott is once again slamming Malcolm Turnbull’s leadership, accusing the government of treating voters like “mugs” if it refuses to scrap the renewable energy target.
The Former Liberal leader said the Coalition would lose all credibility if it does not rein in the push to generate more renewable energy, The Australian reports.
“The past year has shown us what happens when mainstream parties lose touch with their supporters,” he said in a speech to a Young Liberals conference in Adelaide yesterday. “That was the big lesson of 2016. And heed it we must if we are to make a success of the coming year.
“Labor wants to more than double the renewable energy target to 50 per cent. That means a $50 billion overbuild of unnecessary wind turbines costing each household $5000 — and that’s just for starters.
“But before we get too self-congratulatory, rather than making power less expensive, our own policy is to subsidise Alcoa to keep it in business; our own policy is to lift renewable power from 15 per cent to 23 per cent within four years at the cost of $1000 per household.
“This is where the public are not mugs. We can’t credibly attack Labor merely for being worse than us.
“This is why our first big fight this year must be to stop any further mandatory use of renewable power.”
6.45am
Federer wins grand slam number 18
Roger Federer is a grand slam champion once again, defeating fierce rival Rafael Nadal in an epic Australian Open final.
The Swiss maestro won grand slam number 18 after beating Nadal 6-4 3-6 6-1 3-6 6-3.
It was the fifth time he’s held the trophy aloft at Melbourne Park and the first time he’s played three five-set matches at a grand slam, after earlier epics against Kei Nishikori and Stan Wawrinka.
“I’m out of words … I’d like to thank Rafa on an amazing comeback. I don’t think either one of us thought we were going to be in the finals in Australia when we saw each other at his academy five months ago,” Federer said in the post-match presentation.
“I would have been happy to lose to be honest, the comeback was perfect as it was. There are no draws in tennis but if there was I would have been happy to draw and share it with Rafa, really.”
Read our full Australian Open coverage here.
6.30am
Turnbull ‘pleased’ with Trump call
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has so far been tight-lipped about his phone call with Donald Trump, but it is understood the US president will honour a refugee settlement agreement struck between the two countries under the Obama administration.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Mr Turnbull was “pleased with the outcome” of the 25-minute phone call between the two leaders yesterday.
It was their first conversation since Mr Trump’s inauguration last weekend. The White House said both leaders emphasised the enduring strength and closeness of the US-Australia relationship is critical for peace, stability, and prosperity in the Asia-Pacific region and globally.
6.15am
Three dead in NT floodwater tragedy
Three people are dead after being trapped inside a vehicle that was swept away in floodwaters in the Northern Territory.
Police have recovered the bodies of a 61-year-old male, a 61-year-old female and a 21-year-old male after a crowded troop carrier with 20 people on board attempted to cross the Moyle River, 320 kilometres south-west of Darwin.
The three people were trapped in the vehicle after it became submerged in water. Police divers located the bodies. The 17 survivors escaped from the vehicle and floodwaters and climbed to safety on the river banks.
Police said water was 60cm deep at the crossing at the deepest point, when the vehicle attempted to cross on Friday night. The crossing, which has no river level markings, is considered impassable at 40cm.
Police said the three dead are believed to be locals from the Daly River area. The vehicle was believed to be travelling to Wadeye.
6.00am
Six-foot tapeworm pulled from patient’s mouth
Warning: This story is disgusting. If you’re squeamish and/or about to eat breakfast, skip past it. You’ve been cautioned.
Doctors in India were shocked to remove a six-foot long tapeworm through a patient’s mouth.
According to a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the 48-year-old man had undergone a colonoscopy after he complained of “tolerable” abdominal pain that wouldn’t go away.
While performing the procedure, Doctor Cyriac Phillips discovered part of the worm.
“It was an undulating, moving piece of the worm, “ he said, “This worm segment was confirmation that there was a tapeworm infestation in this patient.”
Following this discovery, doctors performed an endoscopy, a procedure by which a camera is inserted into the patient’s stomach to view the intestines.
There, they found the rest of the lengthy parasite in all its glory.
The man was sedated and the giant worm was pulled out through his mouth with a pair of forceps.
When removed, it measured at a whopping 1.85 metres and was classified as a Taenia solium — a pork tapeworm. The doctor said it took about an hour and 15 minutes to get the whole thing out.
Doctors used medication to kill any remaining eggs, and put the patient and his family on deworming medication for the following six months.
The doctor issued a broader warning about eating at places with poor sanitation, stressing to “cook pork well at home before consumption”.
Pork tapeworms can be caught from uncooked or under-cooked pork and infest the gut. They’re considered especially dangerous due to their ability to migrate to vital organs in the body.
So... ham sandwich, anyone?
5.45am
Trump defends Muslim ban
Donald Trump has defended his temporary ban on travellers from seven predominantly Muslim nations entering the US.
Pre-approved refugees, students and workers holding visas and residency green cards were barred from flights to the US, detained at airports and pulled off flights on Saturday amid national protests.
“It’s not a Muslim ban, but we were totally prepared. It’s working out very nicely. You see it at the airports, you see it all over,” the US president said, according to a White House press pool report.
The President signed an executive order on Friday temporarily suspending the entry of citizens of Iraq, Syria, Sudan, Iran, Somalia, Libya and Yemen into the US for at least 90 days, a move he billed as an effort to make America safe from “radical Islamic terrorists”.
Inside feud that brought Sydney to a halt
Five months of transport disruptions and chaotic commutes were brought to an abrupt halt this week after a fiery fight between the unions and the government.
Driver charged over meat cleaver incident
A man has been charged after reports a driver allegedly wielded a meat cleaver at other drivers on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Commuters warned of further travel chaos
Commuters are being urged to brace for another day of cancellations and delays as the rail union and the NSW government take their fight to court.