Your afternoon Briefing

WA Nationals withdraw support for Joyce, Shorten says he is unaware of any ALP sex scandals and NZ flights are cancelled.

Good afternoon, readers. The WA Nationals have withdrawn their support for Barnaby Joyce, Bill Shorten says he is not aware of any ALP frontbenchers sleeping with their staff and Air New Zealand has cancelled all flights in and out of Wellington.

Deputy PM Barnaby Joyce at a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra. Picture Kym Smith

WA Nationals abandon Joyce

WA Nationals have told Barnaby Joyce he no longer has their support, saying his position is “no longer tenable”.

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Labor opposition leader Bill Shorten spoke at a town hall meeting at Currajong state school. Picture: Zak Simmonds

Shorten ‘not aware’ of sex scandals

Bill Shorten says he is not aware of any Labor frontbenchers sleeping with their employees, after Cory Bernardi claimed Barnaby Joyce was not the only Turnbull government minister who had been having sex with their staff.

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(FILES) This file photo taken on December 5, 2003 shows an Air New Zealand Boeing 737 sitting at a departure gate while an Australian Qantas Boeing 747-400 takes-off from Auckland Airport in Auckland. Thousands of airline passengers were stranded in Auckland on September 18, 2017 after a pipeline leak cut jet fuel supplies to New Zealand's largest airport, forcing planes to remain grounded, authorities said. / AFP PHOTO / Dean TREML

NZ battered by storm

Air New Zealand has cancelled all flights in and out of Wellington, and the southern city of Christchurch has declared a state of emergency as the remnants of tropical cyclone Gita pummel the country.

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Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction and Matthew Parris.

#MeToo is all wrong

For years Matthew Parris was harassed by a woman, but he never thought of himself as a victim. Here he explains why #MeToo is deeply un-feminist.

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TOPSHOT - France's Gabriella Papadakis and France's Guillaume Cizeron compete in the ice dance short dance of the figure skating event during the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at the Gangneung Ice Arena in Gangneung on February 19, 2018. / AFP PHOTO / Roberto SCHMIDT

Shattering impact of ‘nipplegate’

What started as an amusing wardrobe malfunction has taken a serious turn, potentially costing French competitors Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron a gold medal.