Albanese hits hustings ahead of NSW election day – as it happened

And that’s where we will leave the blog for Friday.

Here’s what made the news today:

• NSW premier Dominic Perrottet and opposition leader Chris Minns did their final dash around the state and pitched to voters why they should be in government ahead of tomorrow’s state election.

• The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, made an appearance campaigning for Labor candidate Karen McKeown in the ultra-marginal seat of Penrith.

• Liberal senator Sarah Henderson has cried during a debate over banning the Nazi salute in the Senate on Friday after Labor minister Murray Watt made comments about Henderson reportedly urged Victorian Liberal leader John Pesutto not to proceed with his attempt to expel Moira Deeming from the Liberal party after Deeming attended an anti-trans rally where extremists performed Nazi salutes.

• Minister for Indigenous Australians, Linda Burney, says the solicitor general’s advice endorses the government’s wording on the proposed change to the constitution for an Indigenous voice to parliament.

We’ll be back with you again in the morning, but until then, I hope you have a good Friday night.

It’s a start.

And here is my colleague Amanda Meade’s Weekly Beast column on what’s been happening in the media this week.

Ban on transgender athletes ‘discriminatory’, advocates say

Blanket bans on transgender women athletes risks violating fundamental human rights principles, Australian human rights groups warn.

AAP reports the caution comes on the heels of a vote from the World Athletics Council banning transgender women from female events in elite track and field competitions.

Equality Australia CEO Anna Brown said the new regulations announced early on Friday risked violating international human rights principles of non-discrimination.

The new regulations will cut in half the testosterone level allowed for athletes with differences in sex development that could keep them from competing in female events.

“Intersex variations in the female population are a naturally occurring part of our physical diversity,” Brown said.

The ban follows a similar decision taken by other sports, including swimming last year, to bar athletes who have transitioned from male to female after undergoing male puberty.

Trans Justice Project director Jackie Turner called the move a political decision to give anti-trans lobbyists what they want, rather than doing what is right.

World Athletics noted in a statement there were currently no transgender athletes competing at international level and consequently no athletics-specific evidence of the impact these athletes would have on the fairness of female competition in athletics.

Turner said the discriminatory ban set a dangerous precedent and was not supported by the latest scientific research.

“The fact is that women’s bodies, like all human bodies, are diverse,” she said.

Defending the ban, World Athletics president Sebastian Coe said the decision to exclude transgender women who had gone through male puberty was based on the overarching need to protect the female category.

National lobby and advocacy group Just.Equal Australia called for a case-by-case approach, saying trans and intersex women are now being ostracised from sport.

“Simply using testosterone as the only measure to determine participation is simplistic, discriminatory and fails to consider all aspects of the situation,” spokeswoman Sally Goldner said.

The rules come into effect 31 March.

24 Mar 202301.59 EDT

Christopher Knaus

The former Liberal staffer Bruce Lehrmann told the tobacco giant he lobbied for that the public revelation of rape allegations against him had “not hindered the relations within my political network” and said he was still able to influence federal policy to “further the business financially”, documents show.

Australia-UK free trade pact moves closer

The free trade pact between Australia and Britain set to cut taxes on a range of goods has cleared a major hurdle, AAP reports.

UK legislation to bring the agreement into effect has received royal assent, paving the way for the British and Scottish parliaments to implement the final piece of legislation needed to complete the process.

The Australia-UK free trade agreement needs to be ratified by both nations’ parliaments. Australia’s parliament ratified the pact at the end of last year.

Trade minister Don Farrell said the agreement would benefit Australian exports and consumers with tariffs to be cut on 99% of goods sent to the UK, which are worth some $9.2bn.

“This outcome provides significant commercial opportunities for our farmers, our food producers, including for beef, sheep, meat, wine, dairy, rice and sugar exports,” he told parliament on Friday.

“The agreement will provide a level playing field for Australian services suppliers.

“When implemented, the agreement will help to lower the cost of living pressures.”

Farrell did not reference China directly, but said Australia had become over-reliant “on a single market for our exports”.

“To overcome this predicament the Albanese Labor government is actively progressing a trade policy agenda that creates more opportunities for Australian businesses to gain new market access into major markets,” he said.

The bilateral agreement was the first trade pact Britain negotiated after it left the European Union.

24 Mar 202301.39 EDT

Melissa Davey

Organisations and executives with known links to big tobacco and vaping companies have failed to declare them in submissions to a major government consultation on vaping reforms aimed at protecting children from nicotine addiction.

24 Mar 202301.24 EDT

Tamsin Rose

The NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, has made his final media-accompanied stop of the campaign in his rival’s seat of Kogarah.

Despite being held by opposition leader Chris Minns, the Hurstville pre-poll reception was the warmest the premier received all day.

Voters took selfies and shook hands with Perrottet and Liberal candidate Craig Chung.

When asked if he had a genuine chance of turning the seat held by Labor on a 0.1% margin, Perrottet said:

All I know is that Craig is a great champion for his local area and I believe with his strength of character that he’ll make a great local member.

24 Mar 202301.11 EDT

Tory Shepherd

Greens demand answers from government on radioactive waste

The Greens went hard in Senate question time on the nuclear-powered submarines to be acquired under the Aukus deal, asking where the high level radioactive waste would be stored (the government hasn’t decided yet) and highlighting that the Virginia class submarines Australia will acquire hold 200kg of highly enriched uranium.

“That’s nuclear weapons grade uranium,” senator David Shoebridge said, asking how that was in line with Australia’s commitment to nuclear non-proliferation. It is, Labor’s Don Farrell (who was pretty much the only Labor person speaking for the whole session) said. And Farrell did a little switcheroo and turned the answer into an attack on the Liberal party for not making any submarine decisions themselves.

He also said the high-level waste would not be stored at the national radioactive waste facility, which is for low and medium level waste.

There was a short song and dance about TikTok, but nothing new emerged.

The opposition focused on cost of living, power prices, and suspension of standing orders motions so they could attack the government for “broken promises”.

Meanwhile, One Nation’s Malcolm Roberts brought the weird, wondering whether the phrase “First Nations” was insulting because it was imported from Canada by “city-based white-skinned activists”. That was just after he wondered whether a First Nations ambassador meant the government recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sovereignty.

Another highlight was Liberal senate leader Simon Birmingham declaring Farrell was less smallgood, more turkey, and crying “gobbledygook” a few times.

When the House of Reps is away, the Senators get pups.

The Greens are calling on the Albanese government to disclose how much uranium would be carried on the Virginia class submarines Australia will be buying under the Aukus agreement.

Greens defence spokesperson David Shoebridge said the government refused to answer a question on the amount in the Senate on Friday.

The Albanese government is either astonishingly ignorant or dangerously secretive about its plans to put hundreds of kilograms of weapons-grade uranium on board Virginia class submarines in Australian ports.

It is increasingly clear that the government has no plan to deal with the weapons-grade uranium carried on submarines in our waters, which will then be buried in some unspecified location in Australia.

24 Mar 202300.31 EDT

Perrottet makes last-minute pitch for votes

Tamsin Rose

The NSW premier Dominic Perrottet has continued his tour of Sydney, making stops in the electorates of Holsworthy and East Hills.

He appeared alongside the candidates with his wife, Helen, and daughter, Celeste, in tow.

Next stop is Chris Minns’s super marginal seat of Kogarah.

There’s a pretty tired mood on the bus as the end of the campaign draws near.

24 Mar 202300.22 EDT

Albanese hits the hustings for NSW election

Michael McGowan

Prime minister Anthony Albanese has appeared on the hustings for the final day of campaigning ahead of the New South Wales election, making a stop in the key marginal seat of Penrith.

Albanese appeared with Labor’s candidate in the seat, Karen McKeown, who is seeking to win the seat from former deputy Liberal leader Stuart Ayres. It is held on a wafer-thin 0.6% margin. He is expected to make a stop in another western Sydney battleground, Riverstone, later on Friday.

Albanese has been a regular visitor on the campaign trail, appearing with Labor leader Chris Minns on a number of occasions, including in Balmain last week.

It’s a stark contrast to opposition leader Peter Dutton, who has been missing in action throughout the campaign.

Asked about Dutton’s absence on Friday, the premier, Dominic Perrottet, who was also in Penrith, quipped that he didn’t “need a wingman”.

Earlier on Friday Albanese said Minns would make “an outstanding premier”.

But, in keeping with a campaign in which both leaders have avoided personal attacks, Albanese said he also got on with the Coalition leader.

He said:

They’re good human beings. I have a good relationship with both of them and I like both of them.

The problem is that Dominic Perrottet’s government is a shambles. The Liberals are too busy fighting each other and fighting the Nationals.

While polls have tightened in the final weeks of the campaign, Labor is widely expected to return to government after 12 years in opposition despite needing nine seats and a uniform swing of about 6.5% to form a majority government.

24 Mar 202300.12 EDT

Natasha May

Thanks for your attention this Friday. Josh Taylor will see you through the rest of today’s news. Have a great weekend!

There were 2,888 new cases in the weekly reporting period, and five people are in intensive care.

The prime minister is in Penrith this afternoon campaigning for Labor ahead of the state election tomorrow. The Labor candidate for the seat, Karen McKeown, is facing off against the incumbent Liberal, Stuart Ayres, who holds the seat on the tightest of margins, 0.6%.

Read more about the other seats to watch in the NSW race here:

A woman has been found safe and well, following search and rescue efforts at Currumbin beach in Queensland.

Police were called to an area off Currumbin beach, near Elephant Rock, just before 9:30pm Tuesday, after a man told people nearby that he had seen a woman being swept off rocks into the water.

Police have issued a statement today, saying:

Those people contacted police; however the man was not present when officers arrived, and no information was provided as to the woman’s identity.

A large-scale land, air and sea search ensued over the next few days involving Water Police, shore line searches, divers, jetskis and PolAir. Surf Life Saving Queensland also assisted in the search.

Investigations to locate the man and subsequent public appeals resulted in the woman being identified safe and well around 11am this morning.

Investigations continue to locate the man.