A body found next to an abandoned ute 50km north-west of Lake Cargelligo is believed to be a gunman suspected of killing his pregnant former partner in remote New South Wales. A large-scale manhunt for 37-year-old Julian Ingram has been under way since January when he allegedly shot Sophie Quinn, her new boyfriend. her aunt in Lake Cargelligo, about 450km west of Sydney. Ingram was last seen driving a Ford Ranger ute with council signage from the town on 22 January.
The police said in a statement a short time ago that a man’s body. understood to be Ingram, was discovered beside an abandoned ute 50km north-west of Lake Cargelligo.
Assistant police commissioner Andrew Holland will address the media at 5.30pm.
We will wrap up the live blog here on budget day eve. This is what made the news:
Anthony Albanese said the Farrer byelection was “devastating” for Angus Taylor. his Liberal party, criticising the Coalition for adopting One Nation “lite” policies, and preferencing their candidate.
Barnaby Joyce says One Nation is on the up. up, and will “go for government” but will not go into coalition with the Liberal and National parties.
Ted O’Brien, the shadow foreign minister. former deputy leader under Sussan Ley, said the Liberal party will learn the lessons of Saturday’s byelection loss – but that won’t involve looking towards a coalition with One Nation.
The NSW premier. Chris Minns, says Labor will be under pressure in some seats from One Nation at the March 2027 state election, after the party’s historic victory in the federal byelection in Farrer.
LNP MP Colin Boyce now says he is “ absolutely committed to the National party” despite telling Guardian Australia over the weekend. he was reconsidering his political future after the Farrer byelection result.
Tim Wilson is trying to pin the government down on breaking its promises not to touch negative gearing. capital gains tax discounts, accusing Anthony Albanese of “deceit and betrayal” of voters.
Tomorrow night’s federal budget will include $500m in new funding for faster approvals for housing, energy. critical minerals projects, part of changes to national environment laws.
The Greens leader. Larissa Waters, says the “time for tinkering is long gone” as she demands ambitious reform to fix the housing crisis in Tuesday’s budget.
The body believed to be. of alleged Lake Cargelligo triple murder Julian Ingram has been found next to a Ford Ranger 100km north of the NSW town.
Five Australians. one New Zealander will quarantine for at least three weeks in Perth when they arrive back in Australia from a cruise ship struck with Hantavirus infections.
Top Australian law firm, MinterEllison, has cut nearly a third of its graduate positions, citing artificial intelligence.
The local share market has slipped after the US rejected Iran’s latest peace proposal to end the Middle East war.
Rising fuel prices have hit Australia Post, with the service setting a 19.5% surcharge for the month of June.
We’ll be back again tomorrow with all the news from the Albanese government’s latest budget.
Tuesday’s budget will include more than $59m in new funding to help young Australians access securing housing.
The funding will go to community housing providers to help house young people on Youth Allowance or Abstudy, payments which are less than Jobseeker, the age pension. disability support pension.
As a result. young people are now one of the groups most at risk of homelessness in Australia, with 19- to 24-year-olds experiencing the highest homelessness rate of any age cohort.
The social services minister, Tanya Plibersek, said the funding would help as many as 4,000 people per year by 2028-29. “When a young person has a safe place to live, everything else becomes more possible – education, health,. stable employment,” she said.
double quotation mark This investment is about unlocking safe. secure housing for vulnerable young Australians so they have the solid foundation they need to build strong, secure and independent lives.
Police address media after finding body in search for Julian Ingram
Assistant police commissioner Andrew Holland is addressing media in Dubbo.
He said a male body in a “very decomposed state” was found about 100km north-west of Lake Cargelligo, next to a white Ford Ranger utility that was last seen being driven by Julian Ingram after the alleged triple murder of his pregnant former partner. two others.
Holland said there was a firearm next to the body, which police believe is Ingram’s,. that the body has yet to be formally identified.
double quotation mark The families have been advised by police that it could be Mr Ingram.
Obviously, as I said before, it’s yet to be formally identified,. we believe with the identification at the scene that we’ve located, the clothing that the deceased is wearing, I would lead us to believe that it is him.
The body was found at the Round Hill nature reserve, between Mount Hope and Lake Cargelligo. The body was found by the National Parks. Wildlife Service who were carrying out feral animal eradication in the area when they found the abandoned vehicle, Holland said.
Ingram’s driver licence was found in the vehicle, he said,. clothing on the body also matched that worn by Ingram. Holland said the news would be a relief for not only the investigators, but the family of the victims. the people of Lake Cargelligo.
AEC likely to declare Farrer in late May
The Australian Electoral Commission has said that despite the Farrer byelection result not being in doubt. the official result will not be declared by the AEC until final counting is finished, most likely in the last week of May.
The electoral commissioner, Jeff Pope, said there are still a large number of postal votes remaining,. a broad spread of first preference votes in the election.
double quotation mark We’ve calculated the current figures against the various tests for official poll declarations,. it looks like a full distribution of preferences will have to occur prior to the declaration.
This is not uncommon – it was the case for more than half of all 150 seats in the 2025 federal election. for the Fadden byelection in 2023.
Under the law we must wait until 22 May for final postal votes to be received. all admitted votes are required to be in our possession prior to doing the full distribution of preferences.
We’re acutely aware that the successful candidate will want to take their seat as soon as they can. once that postal vote deadline has passed, we’ll move as quickly as it is possible to do so.
It means One Nation’s David Farley is unlikely to take his seat in parliament until after the winter break.
A body found next to an abandoned ute 50km north-west of Lake Cargelligo is believed to be a gunman suspected of killing his pregnant former partner in remote New South Wales. A large-scale manhunt for 37-year-old Julian Ingram has been under way since January when he allegedly shot Sophie Quinn, her new boyfriend. her aunt in Lake Cargelligo, about 450km west of Sydney. Ingram was last seen driving a Ford Ranger ute with council signage from the town on 22 January.
The police said in a statement a short time ago that a man’s body. understood to be Ingram, was discovered beside an abandoned ute 50km north-west of Lake Cargelligo.
Assistant police commissioner Andrew Holland will address the media at 5.30pm.
Nationals leader says he doesn’t develop policies based on other parties
Nationals leader Matt Canavan said he hasn’t developed his political positions on what other parties are doing. in response to whether the conservative parties could be seen as One Nation-lite following the Farrer by-election.
He told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that he disagrees with One Nation, for example on increasing taxes on the resources sector,. pointed to previous comments from Pauline Hanson about muslims as a point he disagreed with.
double quotation mark I have also said many times I do not want to divide this country into different groups. tribes as Pauline has sought to do from time to time, why I don’t join One Nation, I joined the Liberal and National Party because I want to reunite this country, I think there are great Australians from all walks of life.
He said Hanson’s comments were “a terrible thing to say about a group of people”
double quotation mark Pauline has said those things, her own party disagreed with her. Barnaby Joyce [has] disagreed, Barnaby has been gagged; he can’t tell the truth now because he has a boss and Pauline tells them what to do.
He said Joyce “looks sad” because he doesn’t like working for a boss.
When told that Joyce looked happy after the by-election, Canavan said “that’s for the cameras”.
Royal Australasian College of Physicians under investigation by charities regulator
One of Australia’s oldest medical colleges is being investigated by the charities regulator, after months of infighting that has been described as “a royal mess”. “absolute shitshow” by frustrated doctors.
Months of turmoil at the Royal Australasian College of Physicians culminated in police being called to an extraordinary general meeting in Sydney on 22 April.
The RACP was last week notified that the Australian Charities. Not-for-profits Commission intended to investigate it, according to internal RACP correspondence seen by Guardian Australia.
An email to RACP staff on Thursday said “the scope of this investigation is not yet known”, but added:
double quotation mark We are now preserving all material that may be relevant to the investigation.
Staff were directed to preserve material relating to compliance with the ACNC’s governance standards. as well as any documents relating to the 22 April meeting to which police were called. It added:
double quotation mark Failure to comply with this directive may expose the college to adverse consequences, including fines. other court orders.
A spokesperson for the charities regulator said:
double quotation mark By law the ACNC cannot speak publicly about the circumstances of any charity. apart from referring to information published on the Charity Register, or unless an exception applies in limited circumstances.
The RACP was contacted for comment.
A top Australian law firm has cut nearly a third of its graduate positions, citing artificial intelligence.
MinterEllison. one of the biggest firms in the country, has hired just 72 graduates for 2025-26, from 104 the previous year. The Australian Financial Review first reported the cuts today.
The firm’s chief people officer. Rachel Banks, said the cuts reflected AI-generated efficiency, not a fall in client demand for legal services, which was still strong. She said:
double quotation mark Responsible use of AI is improving efficiency in some of the more routine work graduates traditionally start on. while demand continues to shift towards complex matters
Banks told Guardian Australia demand. technology would keep changing MinterEllison’s graduate hiring but the firm would keep an “absolute” commitment to developing new lawyers.
double quotation mark Investing in our people is a high priority at MinterEllison. That is not changing. What AI does change is how people learn, how they’re supported, and where they add the most value. We’re focused on making sure every graduate we bring in gets the best possible foundation: strong legal training, real client exposure,. the skills to thrive in an AI-enabled environment.
We’ll continue to adjust intake as client demand. technology evolve, but our long-term commitment to developing the next generation of outstanding lawyers is absolute.
Of five top Australian firms cutting graduate hiring this year. MinterEllison was the only one to have publicly linked the decision to AI.
O’Neil ‘terrified’ at prospect of Coalition relying on One Nation support to form government
Turning to the Farrer byelection, the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, tells ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that she is “absolutely horrified” that a political space for One Nation “has been opened up by the total chaos. dysfunction in the Liberal and National party”.
double quotation mark The fact we have voters saying One Nation is a real option for them, I think that is incredibly sad. Angus Taylor and Matt Canavan have to stand up and work out how they can get their act together so this problem does not continue.
She said people are feeling pessimism about what mainstream politics can offer them,. it “terrifies” her that the Farrer numbers show it will not be possible for a future Liberal and National government without One Nation.
Housing minister flags ‘serious intergenerational issues’ ahead of federal budget
Ahead of the budget tomorrow, where changes to negative gearing. capital gains tax are expected, the housing minister, Clare O’Neil, said supply is the biggest problem with housing in Australia, but it was not the only problem. She told ABC’s Afternoon Briefing that there are “serious intergenerational issues” with housing, with a younger generation facing very different housing challenges to their parents. grandparents.
double quotation mark We want to see them get ahead and preferably in their own homes.
O’Neil said the government is focused on making housing more affordable,. for young people to be in a position to access it.
double quotation mark I will not foreshadow what is in the budget tomorrow but I can say a big focus of our government is trying to make sure housing is more affordable. young people are in a position to get access to it.
Our main focus is on supply, but we also have to think about equity. making sure young people have an opportunity to get into a home.
Asked whether the situation had changed much in the past two years, after the government ruled out changes to CGT. negative gearing at the last election, O’Neil said it had been building for the past 40 years, and people will look at what is in the budget and if this is the right reform at the right time.
double quotation mark I fiercely believe the answer is yes.
She said housing is a principal focus of this term of government. it will be laid out in the budget tomorrow.
Hantavirus ‘a very different beast’ than Covid-19, Butler says
Staff on the repatriation flights for the Australians on the hantavirus-affected ship will have “very high levels of protection”. advice to those travelling on board on quarantine or isolation requirements will be given once arrangements are put in place, the health minister, Mark Butler, says.
He said none of the Australians returning to Australia have symptoms of hantavirus at this stage.
Asked whether the report on the Covid pandemic stating people would be less likely to accept “heavy handed” government responses such as lockdowns was in his mind when making these decisions. Butler said Covid was a very different type of virus to hantavirus.
double quotation mark I mean. I think all of the public health advice about this virus is that it is not a virus with pandemic potential.
I mean, transmission is very difficult human to human.
But that does not mean that there is not a risk of transmission.
And as you’ve seen. three deaths from eight cases, transmission of this virus can have very, very serious, including deadly consequences.
So. you know, I’m not really seeing these two things as analogous – that coronavirus-based pandemic is a very different beast to deal with than this risk.
We’re assessing this risk on its own merits and based on public health advice.
The health minister. Mark Butler, is holding a press conference on the Australians being repatriated from the hantavirus-affected cruise ship MV Hondius from the Canary Islands.
He said five Australians were passengers on the ship. along with one New Zealander who will be covered by the repatriations.
He said the new Australian Centre for Disease Control has been coordinating federal. state governments for repatriation, with flights still in the process of being finalised.
Three of the five Australians are residents of New South Wales, and the other two are from Queensland.
Butler said national quarantine arrangements will list the hantavirus as a listed human disease under the Biosecurity Act in the next 24 hours.
Those returning to Australia will be subject to quarantine at the Bullsbrook Centre for National Resilience just north-east of Perth. next to RAF Base Pearce, which is where the flight will return to Australia.
The centre is owned and operated by the federal government, in partnership with WA Health.
There will be a quarantine period of three weeks, which is short of the 42-day potential incubation period for Hantavirus,. Butler said that further advice will be sought from chief health officers on what arrangements should take place beyond the initial three weeks.
double quotation mark I want to stress that our primary responsibility as a government, obviously, is to keep our community safe. healthy.
We also have a responsibility to those passengers to bring them home. to protect them from any risk, no matter how small, of potentially transmitting the virus without knowing it.
And these arrangements discharge those responsibilities.
Instructure CEO apologises following hack of Canvas education platform
On Friday in the live blog, we reported that dozens of schools. universities in Australia had been affected by a hack on the Canvas education platform, with some universities such as RMIT and UTS giving assignment extensions while the platform was taken offline.
The service was restored over the weekend and Instructure chief executive, Steve Daly, has apologised for the disruption.
double quotation mark Over the past few days, many of you dealt with real disruption. Stress on your teams. Missed moments in the classroom. Questions you couldn’t get answered. You deserved more consistent communication from us, and we didn’t deliver it. I’m sorry for that.
Daly said the unauthorised access included access to data including usernames, email addresses, course names, enrolment information and messages.
He apologised for not speaking publicly earlier, saying the company wanted to “get the facts right” first. the balance was wrong:
double quotation mark We focused on fact-finding and went quiet when you needed consistent updates. You’ve been clear about that, and it’s fair feedback. We will change that moving forward.
Instructure will now keep live an incident update page, promising more updates and a forensics report. Daly said Canvas is now fully operational and safe to use.
Thank you all so much for following along with me on the blog today! I’ll leave you with the excellent Josh Taylor to take you through the afternoon.
I’ll see you back here tomorrow to take you through all the key numbers of the budget.
Flotilla to Gaza reaches Turkish waters with 10 Australians onboard
Ten Australians are onboard a Global Sumud Flotilla that has crossed international waters from multiple ports to merge into a group of 60 boats in Turkey. as part of an attempt to break Israel’s maritime blockade of the Gaza Strip to deliver humanitarian aid.
It comes after 22 boats were intercepted off the coast of Crete earlier this month. About 175 activists were taken off the ships by the Israel Defense Forces. released in Greece, including six Australians, while two were transported to Israel and released after six days.
Among those Australians onboard the current flotilla, which is stationed off the coast of Marmaris according to a live tracker, are Neve O’Connor, Zack Schofield. Surya McEwen, who were part of the fleet that was intercepted by Israel.
Lawyer Greg Barns alleged international law had been “repeatedly violated” by the capture. detention of supporters of Palestine in international waters far from Gaza.
Schofield. who was held for two days by Israeli forces, said “if Australians want to live in a fair world, we have to stand up for fairness”.
double quotation mark We have to take risks for others, no matter their religion or place of birth. As long as I’m able, I’ll keep sailing to Gaza despite the risks of violence from our allied state. I’m willing to face a beating if it means a chance of getting food. medicine to ordinary people being bombed in their tents, shot at aid sites, and starved.
The Israeli foreign ministry and the Israeli embassy were approached for comment.
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