TRANSCRIPT
- Police discover human remains near Goulburn while searching for the bodies of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies
- Scott Morrison delivers his last speech to parliament
- The Matildas a game away from qualifying for the Olympics
Police have discovered human remains while searching for the bodies of Sydney couple Jesse Baird and Luke Davies.
The remains were discovered on a property at Bungonia near Goulburn.
The New South Wales Police Commissioner is Karen Webb.
"This afternoon, detectives attached to Strike Force Ashfordby have located a second crime scene in Bungonia, which is a separate location to the scene that they had been searching yesterday and earlier, and at that location, we believe we have located two bodies. The families have been informed and crime scene detectives have just arrived on scene at that location now."
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Senior police will meet with Mardi Gras organisers to try to reverse a decision to bar a uniformed contingent from marching in Sydney's annual gay and lesbian festival.
New South Wales Police Commissioner Karen Webb says she was surprised at the Mardi Gras board decision on Monday night, which followed a serving officer being charged with the murders of two men.
In a statement, Mardi Gras board say the request that police do not march in the parade is related to a wish to create a space to protest, celebrate, and advocate for equality, as well as to honour and grieve those who have died.
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Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told ABC Radio Melbourne, it is a time of grieving for the LGBTIQ+ community.
"It has been very good that the police have marched (in Mardi Gras in the past). It has come a long way to understand that the queer community in Sydney, in particular, are grieving what is an enormous tragedy."
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Former prime minister Scott Morrison has delivered his final speech to parliament, ahead of his retirement from politics.
In January, he announced he would step away from a 16-year career politics in February for a job in the corporate sector.
In his valedictory speech to the House of Representatives, he says he is proud of his legacy, including how he responded to the pandemic as prime minister.
"Our plan was not just about saving lives, but to save livelihoods as well. And this was achieved with Australia merging with one of the strongest economies through COVID. Our historic economic response kept 700,000 businesses in business. It kept more than a million Australians in work. And despite these unpredicted outlays, Australia was one of just nine countries to retain our AAA credit rating. Our response was timely. It was targeted. And we responsibly retired measures as soon as it was prude to do so."
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Another statue of Captain James Cook has been toppled in Melbourne.
The City of Melbourne says CCTV captured four people cutting down the statue at 3.45am on Monday.
The council has provided the footage to Victoria Police and is assessing the damage to the statue to consider if it can be repaired.
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In football, Matildas stand-in captain Steph Catley says she has no concerns about the Melbourne stadium pitch the team will be playing on tomorrow to book a spot for the Paris Olympics.
On Saturday, the Matildas won 3-nil against Uzbekistan and the game in Melbourne - also against Uzbekistan - is the team's chance to seal Olympic qualification.
Matildas coach Tony Gustavsson says the pitch needs more water to get a fast surface for fast football.
He says the team has been focused on recovery to ensure they can perform at their best.
"There is never going to be an optimal circumstance when you fly that much and you have jet lag and you have the different temperature as such. I know one thing and that is these players never complain. No matter what is thrown at them. They go out there and give it a 100 per cent. From 100 means, meaning no matter what they have, they are going to give that 100 that they have do. And I know they are going to do that tomorrow as well."
