As it happened: Nation in day of mourning after death of Queen Elizabeth II; Optus investigating cyberattack

Good afternoon and thanks for reading our live coverage.

Here’s what made headlines today:

• Prime Minister Anthony Albanese paid tribute to Queen Elizabeth II as part of today’s national memorial service in Canberra. He said that while Australia changed much over the past 80 years, the late Queen “stood with us” through “good times and in days of trial and hardship”. Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says the Queen regenerated the monarchy. Today’s official proceedings began with a minute of silence and ended with the Australian Girls Choir singing God Save the King.
• Liberal senator Simon Birmingham called on the Albanese government to act swiftly on Ukraine’s calls for additional military support. Speaking from New York, Foreign Minister Penny Wong flagged that Australia may provide more Bushmasters and drones to Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.
• AFL boss Gillon McLachlan says he wants Indigenous board members at every club in the wake of the Hawthorn scandal.
• And telecommunications giant Optus says customer data has been compromised following a cyberattack.

I’m signing off the blog now, but will be back on deck bright and early Monday morning. Have a lovely evening.

The assistant treasurer has flagged further stress for household budgets following a spike in US interest rates.

In case you missed it earlier today, the US Federal Reserve announced a 0.75 per cent increase in official rates to a target range of 3 to 3.25 per cent. That’s the highest levels in almost 15 years.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

It comes off the back of higher-than-anticipated inflation figures, which have sent shockwaves through share markets.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones has warned that Australia’s economy isn’t immune to international pressures, including from the US.

“There’s no doubt that anything that happens in the US has an impact on us, this is the biggest economy in the world,” he told ABC Radio.

“When they start moving their rates it has an impact on ours, it has an impact on our currency.”

While Australians are expected to face higher interest rates, the alternative path of rampant inflation would be worse for households and businesses, the assistant treasurer said.

“Nothing is going to hurt households and businesses more than galloping inflation. This is pain, we know it’s painful, but it’s necessary.”

AAP

Meanwhile, in Melbourne, anti-monarchy protesters have brought the city to a standstill on Australia’s national day of mourning for Queen Elizabeth II.

Those marching are calling for Aboriginal sovereignty and land rights.

Anti-monarchy protesters outside Melbourne’s Flinders Street. Credit: Getty

Alli Toby, a Gangulu woman from central Queensland and current Geelong resident, said today’s public holiday is “not a day of mourning ... for us”.

“We’re all here to mourn all the people that we’ve lost.”

Protesters chanted “down with the monarchy” and carried signs reading “land rights, not royal rights” and “Blak lives always matter”. The crowd stopped at Flinders Street and the British consulate general office on Collins Street.

Activist and academic Gary Foley, who addressed the crowd twice, said that Australia needs to acknowledge its history of colonisation. But he saw no hope of Australia becoming a republic before a referendum is held on an Indigenous Voice to parliament.

“There’s no way that a referendum will get up if a referendum on Indigenous Voice fails,” he said.

“Progress will never be made until Australians come to terms and understand their own history and face up. That’s not gonna happen in my lifetime.”

There were about 500 people at the protest, according to Victoria Police.

In state news, the NSW city of Lismore is preparing for its third flood of the year after the Bureau of Meteorology warned severe thunderstorms and heavy rain could cause rivers to rise again.

The bureau has issued a moderate flood warning for the Wilsons River at Lismore, on the back of expected heavy rainfall upstream this afternoon and evening.

The heavy rain could spark flash flooding throughout Thursday and into Friday. Lismore, Grafton, Taree and Coffs Harbour are among the areas forecast to be affected.

Read the full story here.

Telecommunications giant Optus has just advised its customers it is investigating a cyberattack.

Customer names, dates of birth, phone numbers, email addresses, and – in some cases – ID document numbers may have been exposed to third parties, according to the company. However, payment details, account passwords, messages and voice calls have not been compromised.

Optus CEO Kelly Bayer Rosmarin has apologised to customers.Credit: Dominic Lorrimer

The Australian Federal Police and regulators such as the Australian Information Commissioner have been notified, the telco says.

Optus chief executive Kelly Bayer Rosmarin said the following in a statement:

We are devastated to discover that we have been subject to a cyberattack that has resulted in the disclosure of our customers’ personal information to someone who shouldn’t see it.

As soon as we knew, we took action to block the attack and began an immediate investigation. While not everyone may be affected and our investigation is not yet complete, we want all of our customers to be aware of what has happened as soon as possible so that they can increase their vigilance.

We are very sorry and understand customers will be concerned. Please be assured that we are working hard, and engaging with all the relevant authorities and organisations, to help safeguard our customers as much as possible.

In other news, only 35 of 230 beached whales are still alive after a mass stranding on Tasmania’s west coast.

Marine conservationists launched a rescue mission on Ocean Beach near Macquarie Harbour, south of Strahan, yesterday.

The whales stranded at Ocean Beach on Tasmania’s west coast. Credit: AP

Incident controller Brendon Clark has since said that, tragically, most of the mammals have died.

“We positioned them overnight, again so that we could assess them this morning, and those ones that have survived – we’ve got approximately 35 surviving animals out on the beach,” he told reporters.

“Unfortunately, we do have a high mortality rate out on this particular stranding.”

Five of the 40 animals rescued overnight have died, with the surviving whales described as being confused and disoriented.

A rescue team of 50 was suspended overnight for safety reasons but resumed operations earlier today.

The stranding is the second in a matter of days after 14 dead sperm whales washed ashore at King Island on Monday.

Changes in weather and water temperatures have been cited as possible causes.

AAP

If you were watching today’s proceedings at Parliament House in Canberra closely, you may have spotted Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney in the crowd.

“There is a huge respect for sorry business, it’s part of Aboriginal culture,” the Labor frontbencher told Radio National earlier today.

Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

“The reverence to the Queen, in my view, falls into the category.”

The day Queen Elizabeth II died was the first day of the working group for a First Nations Voice to parliament and in a mark of respect the group held an informal meeting, she explained.

She also noted the complex relationship between First Nations people and the monarchy.

“You cannot divorce the issues of colonisation from the role of Britain, going back through the ages.”

The rain held out in Canberra for the few hundred people who watched the memorial service on the lawn outside Parliament House.

Michael and Eileen Smith said they came to watch because while most of the focus has been on English memorials for Queen Elizabeth, they wanted to be part of the Australian version.

“Even though we were born in England, we came to Australia to live. This is our home,” Eileen said.

“So it’s nice that we had an opportunity to come together.”

Michael wanted to watch the service because the Queen has always been part of his life.

“I was five when she was crowned in England,” Michael said. “She’s always been the Queen.”

The pair, originally from Yorkshire, said they remember going to street parties when the Queen was crowned.

With no television at the time, Elieen said neighbourhoods got dressed up in their nicest clothes to celebrate.

“It was after the war, so obviously our memories are of when things were tight, in rationing and what was available. But when the streets got together, they all brought what they could and turned on the party.

“It’s little bits of history. And so this, again, is another moment in history.”

The memorial service for the Queen will come to a close soon. Politicians and other officials are leaving floral tributes and the Australian Girls Choir will soon sing God Save the King.

Here’s what Opposition Leader Peter Dutton had to say during his speech earlier:

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton speaks during the service. Credit: Alex Ellinghausen

She didn’t look back on empire. Indeed, she looked with pragmatism, committing herself to championing the Commonwealth. That equal partnership of nations and races, as she described it, built on friendship, loyalty and the desire for freedom and peace. Our Queen knew the path to method lay not in an emphasis on the people serving the monarch - rather, on being a monarch who tirelessly served the people.

Many Australians had the honour to meet the Queen. Many caught a glimpse and exchanged a wave when she toured Australia. Most of us never met her. Yet she was familiar to us all. On our radios, our televisions, our digital devices, she was a constant. A comforting and confidence-inspiring presence. We gravitated to her gentle demeanour, we were drawn to her radiant smile and we were captivated by her wise words. Her dedication to duty rarely saw her down tools in paving the royal road of service. She regenerated the monarchy, leaving an institution immortalised for the future.

It’s now Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s turn to speak during the Queen’s memorial service.

Here’s what he told those gathered at The Great Hall in Parliament House:

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese speaking during today’s service. Credit: Rhett Wyman

Here in Canberra, we are reminded of The Queen’s presence in the life of our nation – and the world of change she witnessed.

In this very room, in 1988, Queen Elizabeth officially declared this building open. Down the hill is the Old Parliament House the Queen’s father opened in 1927.

The House of Representatives in which Prime Minister Menzies fought back tears as he informed the chamber of the death of George VI and the accession of a 25 year old Princess Elizabeth.

The old Senate where the young Queen on her first tour addressed the Australian parliament summoned in her name – one of only a handful of women in the room.

The Lake - now home to Queen Elizabeth II Island - was dry for that first visit. The Australian War Memorial had been open only 13 years, the veterans of the Great War that had inspired its construction were still in their 50s and 60s.

The mint was busily imprinting pounds, shillings and pence with the young sovereign’s profile. Television was two years away.

Britain was our biggest trading partner and our number one source of migration.

That Australia, of 1954, where 7 million people - 70 per cent of the population - turned out to welcome the first sovereign to visit these shores was, in virtually every respect, a different nation in a different world.

Think of the transformation that has re-defined our country since. Through it all – in the good times and in days of trial and hardship - the Queen stood with us.