Australia news live: Moira Deeming criticises ‘remorseless campaign’ to discredit her after winning defamation case against John Pesutto | Australia news

Jordyn Beazley

Former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon appears in court

The former NSW Liberal MP Rory Amon – who has been charged with sexual offences against a teenage boy – appeared in court today, where a date was set for a case conference.

After his case was briefly heard at Sydney’s Downing Centre, the magistrate set the case conference between the parties – which will see the defence and prosecution negotiate and prepare for a potential trial – on 17 February. The matter will return to court on 27 February.

Amon did not respond to questions from the media as he exited the court with his defence team.

Amon, 35, was the member for Pittwater in Sydney’s northern beaches when he was arrested, and later granted bail, in August. He was also the shadow assistant minister for transport and roads, infrastructure and youth.

He stepped down from parliament after he was charged, saying the nature of the allegations meant he was unable to “fully represent my community”. He has denied all the charges.

Amon was charged with five counts of sexual intercourse with a person aged over 10 and under 14, two counts of attempted sexual intercourse with a child over 10 and under 14, two counts of indecent assault on a person under 16, and committing an act of indecency with a person under 16.

Josh Taylor

Deeming says she has ‘every right to be’ in Liberal party

Moira Deeming said she has “every right to be” in the Liberal party as she did “nothing wrong” with the accusations “just disproven in court”.

I’m perfectly capable of being a professional. I was a teacher. I can work with people. It’s not about us. It shouldn’t even be about our relationships. We’re supposed to be here to serve Victorians. You know, if you can’t be professional enough to put everything aside and serve Victorians, then you shouldn’t be in parliament.

Deeming said the defamation judgment against Liberal leader John Pesutto was “very cathartic” but it should not have come to that.

This could have all been avoided. I don’t understand the decisions that were made that led to this outcome. I had no other way to defend myself and to have these things retracted. I was never the aggressor. All I did was defend myself. Apparently, all I did wrong was refused to defame innocent women without any evidence. But I would have thought that’s the right thing to do.

You know, I refuse to give up my principles and my advocacy for child safeguarding, and I would have thought that’s the right thing to do. I was pressured to resign, and why would I do that? The members wanted me as their representative. I never did anything wrong. I always acted in good faith.

She said she would be willing to serve in the Liberal party.

Moira Deeming holds press conference after winning defamation case against John Pesutto

Benita Kolovos

Moira Deeming is holding a press conference at parliament after she’s had a win in court against opposition leader John Pesutto. She begins by saying:

This judgment is a public acknowledgment that there was never any justification, legal, moral or political for what was done to me and to my family. Not one Liberal party value was honoured or furthered in Victoria by this relentless and remorseless campaign to discredit me and everybody who stood by me, but I was never going to let it go unchallenged in this state.

Josh Butler

Greens urge government to rule out ‘exporting’ gambling ads to PNG amid NRL deal

The Greens have urged the government to rule out “exporting” gambling ads into Papua New Guinea as part of the major deal to bring a PNG rugby league team to life.

As we brought you earlier, the government is pumping hundreds of millions into PNG’s bid to join the national rugby league, with funding for the team, the licence fee to join the NRL, and upgrades to facilities and stadiums.

Sarah Hanson-Young said in a statement the deal shouldn’t lead to sports betting ads on Australian TV being beamed into the Pacific.

Sports betting and gambling ads are killing the spirit of sport. Australian sport lovers overwhelmingly want gambling ads banned and parents want their kids protected from the harms of gambling grooming.

The Australian government and NRL boss Peter V’landys should rule out exporting gambling ads to the Pacific.

The Albanese government has softened on its pledge to reform gambling ads, punting a promised reform package into next year. It is unclear what form the government’s final reforms might take, but the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, has appeared to oppose a full gambling ad ban as proposed by late Labor MP Peta Murphy.

Hanson-Young continued:

The gambling lobby sucks billions of dollars out of the pockets of vulnerable families and communities. Without a strong ban on gambling ads, the parasites in the gambling industry will be looking to do the same in the Pacific.

Peter Hannam

Fall in jobless rate dims interest rate cut hopes, sends dollar higher, stocks down

The financial markets viewed the November labour market numbers (see earlier post) as reducing the chance of a near-term interest rate cut from the RBA.

The drop in the unemployment rate to 3.9%, the lowest in eight months, was one surprise for investors and pundits.

The nearly 36,000 extra jobs added for the month – including 52,600 full-time roles – was also on the high side. An extra 10,000 or so in a labour market of 14.5m is in itself not a huge miss by economists.

The drop to 67% in the participation rate (the share of those who could be employed who are looking for work) is a bit worse than the 67.1% rate, so that’s not really good for those hoping to be able to point to a loosening labour market.

The dollar jumped about a quarter of a US cent on the news to 64.1 US cents was an indication that investors were less confident of an early RBA rate cut. Stocks skidded by about half a percent, giving up their gains for the day. Higher borrowing costs than anticipated would squeeze predicted profits.

Sarah Basford Canales

James Paterson condemns Wong’s defence against Netanyahu comments

The shadow home affairs minister, James Paterson, has condemned Penny Wong’s defence against critical comments by Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, as “reckless” and “callous”.

After the arson attack against a Melbourne synagogue on Friday, Netanyahu accused the Australian government on social media of holding an “anti-Israel sentiment” in its recent votes at the UN, linking them to the attack. He wrote on X:

It is impossible to separate the reprehensible arson attack from the federal government’s extreme anti-Israeli position.

Wong hit back in a speech on Monday night saying it was not antisemitic to “expect that Israel should comply with the international law that applies to all countries”. She added:

Australia can’t pick and choose which rules we are going to apply. We expect Russia to abide by international law and end its illegal full-scale war on Ukraine. We expect China to abide by international legal decisions in the South China Sea. We also expect Israel to abide by international law.

Paterson told 2CC radio this morning the speech was “reckless in its nature and callous in its timing”.

In the middle of a domestic terrorism crisis targeting the Jewish community, to compare the only Jewish state to the authoritarian states of Russia and China was an incredibly dangerous and irresponsible thing to do and I fear will give further licence and further encouragement to people targeting the Jewish community. Because antisemites draw no distinction between the state of Israel and the Jewish community living here in Australia, and it is very dangerous to give them encouragement, as the foreign minister has done.

As we reported earlier, Australia today joined with more than 150 countries at the United Nations to demand that Israel reverse its ban on the Palestinian aid agency Unrwa and to call for an immediate and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.

Australia’s unemployment rate drops to 3.9%, lowest since March

Peter Hannam

Australian employers added more staff than expected last month and fewer people were hunting for work, pushing the unemployment rate down to 3.9%.

The economy added a net 35,600 jobs for the month, slightly better than the 25,000 more jobs expected by economists.

The jobless rate’s decline from 4.1% in October was also better than expected. Pundits had predicted it would rise to 4.2%.

Fewer people were looking for work, though, with the participation rate easing to 67%, contributing to the fall in the unemployment rate for November.

Peter Hannam

Australia’s unemployment rate has dropped to 3.9%, its lowest since March. We’ll have more in a moment.

Tory Shepherd

First edition copy of ‘A Voyage to Terra Australis’ sells for nearly quarter of a million dollars

A rare first edition of Matthew Flinders’ account of the first circumnavigation of Australia, A Voyage to Terra Australis, has sold in London for almost quarter of a million dollars.

Auction house Christie’s described it as a “monumental work” and “the most outstanding book on the coastal exploration of Australia”.

Flinders completed the trip in 1810, when he returned to London after almost seven years in captivity in Mauritius. Christie’s said:

In the last few months of his life, while increasingly ill with a bladder complaint, Flinders laboriously corrected proofs of his Voyage until it was finally ready for publication in July 1814.

The traditional account holds that the finished book was delivered to Flinders the day before he died, by which time he was already unconscious, so his wife ‘took the volumes and laid them upon his bed, so that the hand that fashioned them could touch them’.

However, recent biographies agree that he was aware of the finished product. Indeed, a letter from his wife confirms that ‘he lived just to know, the work over which his life had been spent was laid before the world, for he left this earthly scene of things, a few days after its publication’.

In the same lot, Flinder’s own copies of explorer George Vancouver’s Voyage and botanist Jacques-Julien Houtou de Labillardiere’s book on the d’Entrecasteaux expedition in search of La Pérouse, both “almost certainly” taken by Flinders on the HMS Investigator, were sold for AUD$176,000 and $75,500 respectively.

A writing slope – an angled box used as a desk – was also sold for $70,500.

Benita Kolovos

Calls for Pesutto to resign after Deeming defamation judgment

I’ve been standing by for a press conference by exiled Liberal MP Moira Deeming, who’s just had a huge win in court against the state opposition leader, John Pesutto.

We’re yet to hear from Pesutto but there have already been calls for him to resign from the deputy premier, Ben Carroll. The former Liberal MP for Kew, Tim Smith, has also called for Pesutto’s resignation.

We’ve just heard from the Deeming camp that her press conference has been delayed an hour until 12.15pm, as she consults with lawyers.