As it happened:People smugglers could exploit visa black ban;Plibersek scales back environment reforms

That’s a wrap.

Thanks for joining us on another busy news day. This is where we will leave today’s live coverage.

Catch up on today’s main headlines below.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said yesterday’s stabbing attack at Wakeley was a sad time for Sydneysiders and all Australians,during an interview on 2GB this afternoon.

Police have since launched an investigation into a riot that erupted outside the church after the attack. The PM agreed any person who attacked police in the aftermath should be met with the full force of the law.

“There is no justification,ever,for turning on the police,” he said. “Our police deserve our thanks and praise every single day.”

Australian Council Of Trade Unions secretary Sally McManus has spoken to ABC Melbourne about the proposed changes to annual leave.

The ACTU and employer groups are considering introducing the right into industry awards to give workers greater flexibility to allow for paid time off.

McManus said factors including “more women in the workforce” and an “ageing population” meant more workers had caring responsibilities.

She said taking twice the leave at half pay could allow employees the flexibility to manage their caring responsibilities and manage other periods,such as school holidays

“Say you’ve got four weeks accumulated leave,you could take it across eight weeks at half the pay,” she explained.

“This is more flexibility that would allow people to have more time off and be secure in their jobs.”

Let’s cross back to an opinion piece on outgoing Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci’s comments today.

A photo finish was needed to decide the winner of the gold medal for the most ridiculous performance at a Senate Inquiry – the contenders being Greens senator Nick McKim for his pertinacious questions on just one particular Woolworths profit measure,or the supermarket chief executive Banducci for refusing to answer.

The sparring deteriorated into an unedifying headbutting contest.

This is because there was no great reveal in the answer – it’s contained in Woolworths’ annual report. And if one can’t be bothered sifting through that 187-page document,a quick Google search will do the trick.

For those not schooled in corporate finance,McKim was doggedly pushing Banducci to publicly state Woolworths’ return on equity in 2023 – which,put simply,is calculated by dividing net profit by the value of its shareholders’ equity.

There is nothing in commercial confidence about it. It isn’t a vital ingredient of Woolworths’ profit-making secret sauce.

So why was McKim so laser-focused on this metric? Because he had become aware that Woolies’ return on equity was two and a half times larger than that of the Australian banks. And he figured that if everyone already thinks the banks are rapacious,then Woolworths must be gouging customers and bear some responsibility for increased instances of “dumpster diving” and families going hungry.

Read more of the opinion piecehere.

Let’s switch to some sports headlines.

Collingwood defender Nathan Murphy was still battling to overcome headaches,migraines and anxiety. Those battles were what prompted him to call time on his AFL career for medical reasons at just 24.

“There’s obviously the constant battle with headaches and migraines and a bit of anxiety as well,which isn’t really me,so when that is having a bit of an impact on not just me but the people around me ... yeah,” Murphy told this masthead today.

Murphy estimates he suffered six concussions while playing AFL and VFL football with the Magpies and 10 overall in his sporting career.

He hasn’t played a game since being concussed in the grand final,and has had at least two brain scans since,with the club organising a second one soon after Melbourne’s Angus Brayshaw retired in February,also due to concussion.

Read morehere.

Some Victorian religious communities will be offered a police presence for the next few days after abishop was stabbed at a church in Sydney’s west last night.

This afternoon,Premier Jacinta Allan said she had spoken to Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Shane Patton and while there was no increased threat level in Victoria,officers had extended their support to religious Assyrian-Australians and other community groups after last night’s incident.

“All of our thoughts are with our friends in Sydney and in NSW,” Allan said. “I do want to echo others who have made a call for calm at this time.

“We need to let NSW Police investigate what’s happened at the Assyrian church last night,and we need to remain calm as we let the police do their work. We can’t let people who want to sow division,sow hatred,cause further hurt in our community.”

The stabbing occurred at the Christ The Good Shepherd Church in Wakeley. NSW police say it was a religiously motivated terrorist attack.

Let’s cross back to politics.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says former Coalition defence industry minister Linda Reynolds has been vindicated by Federal Court Justice Michael Lee’s judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s defamation case.

Lee yesterday found Lehrmann raped his then colleague,Brittany Higgins,in the ministerial office of Reynolds,whom the pair both worked for at the time,in the early hours of March 23,2019.

Reynolds has faced years of criticism about her handling of the allegations,including by Higgins,who has alleged she was the victim of a political cover-up – an assertion Lee debunked.

Speaking to the media in Perth today,Dutton said:“I think Linda Reynolds has absolutely been vindicated.”

“She’s a first-class individual,a person of great honour and integrity,her reputation has been besmirched,and she’s right to pursue the matter on the way that she is,” he said,referring to Reynolds’ defamation suits,which include one against Higgins over social media comments.

“I would’ve thought that off the back of the judgment yesterday,people would be looking to settle the matter against Linda Reynolds,and issuing a full apology to her for the way in which her reputation’s been tarnished,” he said.

A woman is dead and two others are in hospital after allegedly consuming a drink at a health retreat in the regional town of Clunes,near Ballarat,on the weekend.

Victoria Police said detectives and the coroner were investigating the death of a 53-year-old Ringwood North woman who became ill and died in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Two other people were taken to hospital for observation.

Investigators are probing whether a mushroom-based drink was consumed,but have not ruled out other potentially toxic substances.

The death occurred at the Soul Barn,an “alternative and holistic health service” business that operates out of a property on Fraser Street in Clunes,33 kilometres north of Ballarat.

Read morehere.

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That’s it from me,butHannah Kennellywill be leading our live coverage for the rest of the afternoon.

Rooftop solar is now supplying more than 10 per cent of Australia’s electricity,and last year a record 57,000 households installed a storage battery to beat soaring electricity bills.

Solar industry analyst SunWiz reports more than a quarter of a million households nationally have batteries,after the number of installations rose 21 per cent in 2023.

SunWiz managing director Warwick Johnston said the payback period for batteries had shortened significantly because of electricity price rises,despite the devices themselves remaining expensive.

“There’s been considerable growth in the market and that’s reflective of both growing appetite for savings on electricity bills,as well as people seeing all the blackouts that are happening around the place as violent weather becomes more commonplace,and deciding that they want to ensure their electricity supply,” Johnston said.

Here’s the latest on rooftop solar.