Australia news live: Turnbull says Murdoch campaigned against him for 2022 Abbott return; cyclone leaves WA town ‘flattened’

7.42pm EDT 19:42

Australian defence force troops are slowly withdrawing from flood-hit NSW after three weeks spent helping residents, AAP report.

Hundreds of ADF troops helped thousands of people with the clean-up from last month’s catastrophic floods. At its peak, around 850 army, navy and air force personnel were assigned to the operation, supporting recovery efforts in and around Grafton, Coffs Harbour, Nambucca, Kempsey, Port Macquarie, Taree and the Hawkesbury Nepean.

Commander of the ADF joint task group for NSW, Brigadier Mick Garraway, said it had been “an enormous privilege to be able to help out in some small way”.

The Australian defence force emergency support team members help clear flood damage near Taree on 29 March. Photograph: Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Updated at 8.26pm EDT

7.33pm EDT 19:33

NSW government ‘crumbled’ to News Corp demands, Malcolm Turnbull says

Amanda Meade

Former PM Malcom Turnbull has told the media diversity inquiry he wants to talk about the dominance of the Murdoch media in Australia and how it is a “real threat to our democracy”.Media has become so partisan and divided that we now have the ability for people to live in an “echo chamber” in their own silo, Turnbull said, echoing comments made by Kevin Rudd last month at the same inquiry.

Turnbull said the attack on the Capitol in the US “underlines the divisions in America” that have been promoted by rightwing media “narrowcasting”, led by the Murdoch media.

In Australia, News Corp has evolved into a political party with only one member and is used in a partisan way against Muslims and to promote climate change denial, he said.

Turnbull said News Corp puts pressure on politicians who are then intimidated by the power of the newspapers they publish.

The NSW government asked me to chair a committee to advise on zero admissions and a “ferocious campaign” was launched by the Daily Telegraph and they “crumbled”, he said.The “saddest thing of it all” was the way the NSW minister for environment Matt Keane had to then be quoted in the Daily Telegraph to say News Corp had nothing to do with it, like a fake confession after being beaten by police, he said.

Chaired by Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young, the inquiry was sparked by Rudd’s Murdoch petition which attracted 100,000 signatures.

Former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull appears on video link before a Senate inquiry into media diversity in Australia on Monday. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 7.59pm EDT

7.22pm EDT 19:22

Australia Post appoints Woolworths executive Paul Graham as new CEO

Australia Post has appointed Paul Graham as its new chief executive, five months after Christine Holgate left over a luxury watch expenses scandal.

Graham will join the organisation from Woolworths Group, where he’s in charge of supply chains.

He has worked in digital marketing and retail across Australia, Europe and Asia for 40 years, including as a senior executive at Deutsche Post DHL.

“Paul has a demonstrated track record of delivering results in large, complex organisations and is a proven leader managing large teams,” Australia Post chairman Lucio Di Bartolomeo said on Monday.

Graham will start in the role in September, AAP report.

Last week, Holgate said in a senate inquiry that she never agreed to stand aside, and alleged that Di Bartolomeo lied about the saga.

Di Bartolomeo said that phone records would back his version of events, and said Holgate “agreed to stand aside”.

Updated at 7.34pm EDT

7.12pm EDT 19:12

Cyclone Seroja downgraded to tropical low

Tropical Cyclone Seroja has damaged property and caused power outages in Western Australia after the category three storm hit the state last night.

Seroja made landfall south of Kalbarri at about 8pm AWST on Sunday as a category three storm, bringing wind gusts of up to 170km/h at the centre as it reached land.

The fast-moving storm weakened to a category two system as it pushed inland towards Dalwallinu in a south-east direction at more than 60km/h.

Reports of property damage and power outages in Kalbarri and Geraldton started surfacing as the storm’s force was felt and residents took shelter by candlelight.

The now ex-cyclone was expected to continue to weaken through Monday before moving offshore off the south coast in the afternoon.

More details of the devastation are likely to become apparent this morning.

Read the full story here:

Updated at 7.21pm EDT

6.47pm EDT 18:47

News Corp controls nearly 60% of print media in Australia – new report

Ahead of today’s ongoing Senate inquiry into media diversity, a new report, commissioned by GetUp, has found that “our media is more concentrated than ever”.

News Corp controls 59% of metro and national print media markets by ownership – up from 25% in 1984, according to the report, authored by Benedetta Brevini and Michael Ward from the University of Sydney.

News Corp also earns 40% of total Australian television revenues.

And three companies together (News Corp, Nine and Southern Cross Media) control 90% of metro radio licenses.

Brevini, an associate professor of communication, said this represented “unmatched levels of media concentration”.

“Australia is in a media emergency and immediate action must be taken to safeguard our democracy.

“This alarming level of media concentration is compounded by a systemic lack of transparency and public accountability is plaguing our media sector.”

An Extinction Rebellion environmental protest against Rupert Murdoch and News Corporation in Melbourne on 25 March. Photograph: James Ross/AAP

Updated at 7.03pm EDT

6.32pm EDT 18:32

NSW police rejected Skype interview and SA police statement from Porter accuser

New South Wales police passed up an offer by South Australian police to take a statement alleging sexual assault against Christian Porter – apparently without putting the option to the alleged victim – new documents reveal.

The police also rejected a request from Porter’s accuser to take her statement via Skype and alternatives were not pursued because the alleged victim seemed “resigned” to Covid-19 interruptions to travel delaying it until September.

Paul Karp has the story:

6.16pm EDT 18:16

Lyle Shelton to replace Fred Nile in NSW parliament

The former head of the Australian Christian Lobby, Lyle Shelton, has been picked by NSW MP Fred Nile to replace him in state parliament when the latter retires.

Nile, the founder of the Christian Democratic party, announced late last night that he would retire this November from his role as a member of the Legislative Council.

Nile recommended that Shelton, one of the leaders of the no campaign during the same-sex marriage postal plebiscite, take his place and this was “unanimously” approved by the party’s state board.

“The need for unashamedly Christian voices in public life has only increased in recent years and I can think of no one better than Mr Shelton to carry this forward,” Nile said.

Shelton said he was “honoured that Rev Nile and the CDP state board have recommended that I succeed him in the NSW parliament and lead the party into the future”.

After leaving the ACL in 2018, Shelton worked as the federal communications director of Cory Bernardi’s Australian Conservatives, which was deregistered a year later by Bernardi after winning no seats at the federal election.

Nile was first elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 1981 and is the longest-serving current sitting member of the parliament.

Lyle Shelton (pictured) will replace Fred Nile in the NSW parliament when Nile retires in November. Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Updated at 6.21pm EDT

6.01pm EDT 18:01

No timeline for Covid vaccine rollout, Morrison concedes

There is no longer any set timeline for all Australians to receive their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, Scott Morrison has said.

Previously, the prime minister had set a target that all Australians would receive their first dose by October. The government also aimed for 4 million doses by the end of March, but this was later revised to the end of April, and we are behind both targets.

AAP reports that approximately 1.1m doses have been administered, but Morrison has refused to set a target for the rollout.

“The government has … not set, nor has any plans to set any new targets for completing first doses,” he said.

“While we would like to see these doses completed before the end of the year, it is not possible to set such targets given the many uncertainties involved.”

The vaccine program has been hit with delays due to international supply issues, natural disasters such as the NSW floods, and errors – with many GPs offices complaining of poor organisation.

Late last week, the rollout was further delayed with the recommendation from the Australian Technical Advisory Group on Immunisation (Atagi) that Pfizer was prefered to AstraZeneca for people under 50 due to the risk of rare blood clots.

Scott Morrison meets CSL staff working on the Covid AstraZeneca vaccine during a tour of the company’s facility in Melbourne on 26 March. Photograph: Andrew NHenshaw/AAP

Australia has a contract for 20m doses of Pfizer, but not all of it has arrived – and recently announced a further 20m will arrive, but not before the final quarter of the year.

Read the full story here:

Updated at 6.24pm EDT

5.49pm EDT 17:49

Ben Roberts-Smith to continue in Seven Network job

Former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith will continue in his role at the Seven Network, according to a statement issued by the channel late last night.

Last night Nine’s 60 Minutes and Nine Newspapers published a series of joint reports about the former Victoria Cross recipient – who is suing Nine and reporter Nick McKenzie for defamation.

“Mr Roberts-Smith denies that he has engaged in any unlawful conduct and he will not be intimidated by Mr McKenzie or Nine into not continuing with the Federal Court proceedings against them,” the statement said.

Roberts-Smith will continue as Seven’s Queensland managing director, the channel said:

Insofar as most of the material aired is old, Seven notes that it is before the federal court and the court process should be respected. Insofar as new allegations are made they do not appear to be supported by evidence.

In the circumstances Seven does not need to reconsider its position concerning Mr Roberts Smith and him continuing in his position.

Ben Roberts-Smith. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAP

Updated at 6.35pm EDT

5.38pm EDT 17:38

Good morning everyone, and welcome back to our Australian news live blog. It’s Monday, and it’s Naaman Zhou here with you.

The Seven Network has issued a statement that it will not stand down former soldier Ben Roberts-Smith after a piece aired last night on Nine’s 60 Minutes and published in the Sydney Morning Herald and the Age.

“Seven Network notes the denial by its Seven Queensland Managing Director Ben Roberts Smith VC of the allegations aired by Nine on 60 Minutes last night and as further published in the Nine newspapers,” the channel said.

“As most of the material aired is old, Seven notes that it is before the Federal Court and the court process should be respected. Insofar as new allegations are made they do not appear to be supported by evidence.”

Elsewhere, Scott Morrison has said the government will no longer set any date target for vaccinations after the pace of our rollout was thrown further into uncertainty last week.

Stay with us for all the latest as it happens.

Updated at 6.13pm EDT