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A very big thank you to Martin for starting us off this morning. You have Amy Remeikis with you for most of the day now.
It's going to be a big day, so let's get into it.
Gun register is next step for Howard's reforms, Albanese to say
Anthony Albanese will say today that a national firearms register is the "next step" for gun reform started by John Howard after the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.
The prime minister will make the remarks in a speech at a ceremony today as a letter to his predecessor from a man, Walter Mikac, who lost three loved ones in the shootings enters the National Museum.
Albanese describes Mikac's first letter "in ordinary blue Biro, on foolscap paper" - dated 7 May 1996, nine days after the massacre - as "one of the most extraordinary things I have ever read". He says, in an advance copy of the speech:
The opening sentence alone stands as a monument to the grace and bravery of a truly great Australian. And I quote: "Dear Mr Howard, as the person who lost his wife and two beautiful daughters at Port Arthur, I am writing to you to give you the strength to ensure no person in Australia ever has to suffer such a loss."
The opening sentence alone stands as a monument to the grace and bravery of a truly great Australian.
And I quote: "Dear Mr Howard, as the person who lost his wife and two beautiful daughters at Port Arthur, I am writing to you to give you the strength to ensure no person in Australia ever has to suffer such a loss."
Here's our full story:
Related:National gun register the 'next step' for reform that John Howard started, Anthony Albanese says
Good morning and welcome to our rolling news coverage in what's already been a pretty tumultuous session - and we've only had two days. I'm Martin Farrer and I'll get straight into the overnight stories before Amy Remeikis takes the controls.
Lidia Thorpe has promised to make another statement today after withdrawing allegations last night that she made yesterday afternoon in parliament accusing her Senate colleague David Van of harassment and sexual assault. Thorpe made the initial claims - which the Liberal politician immediately and vehemently denied - under parliamentary privilege as Van was speaking about respect in parliament. But she returned to the chamber to withdraw the remarks last night to comply with Senate standing orders.
With the Coalition still trying unapologetically to damage Labor over the Brittany Higgins case, there has been another twist in the story, with Lisa Wilkinson lodging an official complaint with the Seven Network about a Spotlight program that featured an interview with Bruce Lehrmann and about a separate segment on morning television. The TV star alleges the broadcasts breached commercial television standards. Although the exact nature of the complaint is not clear it could relate to concerns that Seven appeared to have improperly used evidence from Lehrmann's trial in the Spotlight program.
And while we're on the media, another big talking point this morning is an expected announcement by the ABC of up to 100 job cuts. Our media correspondent Amanda Meade understands that some ABC staff have been notified of meetings with management and the managing director, David Anderson, will be making an announcement about job cuts before the end of the financial year. Again, we'll have the news in the blog as soon as it happens.