A mass power shutdown across Melbourne's CBD triggered by a burst water main has caused peak-hour chaos in the heart of the city.

Around 10,000 customers in the city's south-east were impacted and dozens of traffic lights in the area went dark after the water flooded a carpark on Little Collins Street, a Citipower spokesperson has confirmed.

The water entered a substation in the basement, resulting in the power being cut in the CBD for safety reasons.

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https://x.com/victraffic/status/2058803582577594825?s=46&t=MXsRfXf2kIIGsKchE0jYnA

The site provides power to around 10,000 people in the south-eastern area of Melbourne's CBD.

According to CitiPower, around 5700 customers were without power as of 5.30pm.

"We have been able to restore power to more than 4000 customers by redirecting power supply from other parts of the network," a spokesperson said.

Up to 40 sets of traffic lights across the city centre, East Melbourne and South Yarra are without power, according to VicTraffic.

Drivers have been warned to stay alert in the impacted suburbs.

Some Metro train lines have also been delayed by the power shut-off.

"Our crews are on site and working to remove the water so they can safely access the zone substation and assess any damage," the spokesperson added.

"We will keep customers updated by SMS and on our website on restoration times."

More to come.

Justice Christine Gordon ruled the Albion St property in Mataura can stay with Bill Elers.

A search has been launched for a man who disappeared while swimming at a beach in Sydney's south.

A man thought to be in his 30s was seen in difficulty about 100 metres offshore at 11am today at Little Bay Beach near Maroubra.

Officers from Eastern Beaches Police Area Command, along with Marine Area Command, PolAir, Marine Rescue NSW, Surf Life Saving NSW and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter, started searching.

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Marine Rescue NSW Inspector Joel Pemberton said the organisation's rescue vessels Botany Hacking 30 and Middle Harbour 30 were deployed.

"Both Marine Rescue NSW vessels are working alongside water police, searching an area from Little Bay Beach to Cape Banks in the south," he said.

"Sea conditions offshore are unfavourable, with a three- to five- metre south-east rolling swell."

A death-defying rescue was performed after a climber fell eight metres while trying to scale an Australian peak.

The woman, in her 40s, was at Mount Buffalo in Victoria's High Country when her gear failed, sending her plunging around two storeys on to a rock ledge.

She was knocked unconscious, had broken ribs and was stranded.

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The Horn is the most prominent peak on the Mount Buffalo plateau in Victoria, at 1723 metres.

Footage shows the delicate rescue by a Helicopter Emergency Medical Service crew unfolding.

A rescuer, MICA Flight Paramedic Shaun Whitmore, was winched out of the helicopter in the precarious feat.

He stabilised the woman, provided splinting and pain relief, and prepared her for rescue in "extremely tight conditions", Ambulance Victoria said.

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She was lifted into the helicopter on a stretcher and taken to ground level in the national park before being flown to the Royal Melbourne Hospital in a stable condition.

The accident happened on March 22 but the footage has just been released.

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Labor MP Glenn Sterle and Nationals counterpart Bridget McKenzie have been caught in a heated moment of name-calling that briefly derailed a Senate committee.

The pair were debating the federal government's actions on the trucking industry and tax during a hearing on rural and regional affairs and transport today.

Sterle, the chair of the hearing, said he would argue with McKenzie on taxes anywhere and threatened to metaphorically "cut" her up.

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"Happy to have that debate with you on any forum… anywhere in Australia because I'll cut you up," Sterle said.

"You'll cut me up?" McKenzie replied.

"Metaphorically, yes, I'll carve you up is what I should say," Sterle clarified after a silent moment.

"Cheers. I'll be writing to (Finance Minister Katy Gallagher) and (Foreign Minister Penny Wong) on that one," McKenzie replied.

The pair continued arguing and Sterle became visibly agitated, asking the minister being questioned to swap seats so he could "educate the ignoramus from the other side".

"Ignoramus, going to carve me up, going to cut me up, anything else?" McKenzie said.

"What a charmer. Ladies, I hope you're listening."

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Sterle continued to hit out at McKenzie, including over a report about the National senator's use of taxpayer-funded travel expenses.

According to The Age, McKenzie billed taxpayers $853.52 for a four-day trip to Tasmania in February 2023, where she also attended her son's wedding.

The room was quiet as Sterle and McKenzie continued to go back and forth for over two minutes until someone suggested the hearing be briefly suspended. 

Returning to the hearing, Sterle said he regretted using those "choice words".

"As you can see, that was the worst of the worst being on display here," he said.

"As frustrations boil over, language is used that shouldn't be used. I regret using some of my choice words, I take that back but I'm very happy to defend what this government has done with sham contracting with the transport industry.

"I will not use that language again, Senator McKenzie, but if you wish to debate me, the offer is still there."

"Respectfully, I will take that up," McKenzie replied.

A foreign state actor has hacked a parliamentarian and three staff members' WhatsApp accounts, leading to the platform being temporarily blocked.

A Department of Parliamentary Services official told a Senate hearing today there was a "targeted phishing activity" on March 6.

They received reports from a parliamentarian and three staffers that their accounts had been compromised.

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"These accounts were on both personal and DPS devices," the official said.

"All the accounts were compromised in the same manner."

The department found a threat actor had requested a verification code to be sent to the victim, received that code and then used that to log in to the account. 

It found evidence that suggested a foreign state actor was behind the phishing campaign. 

"The objective was to take over the accounts, which is what did occur," the official said.

The official did not state what country was behind the attack. 

"There's lots of public reporting of state-sponsored WhatsApp phishing campaigns targeting government officials," the official said, adding the same had happened in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.

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The Guardian has previously reported Russia was behind increasing phishing attacks against UK parliamentarians on platforms like WhatsApp and Signal.

The department issued a temporary block on WhatsApp web services on March 9, which has since been lifted.

According to the official, WhatsApp still has a place for use but urged parliamentarians and staffers to make accounts as secure as possible and avoid sharing confidential information through the platform.

The Senate hearing heard there have been more than 20,000 phishing attempts, 46 detections of malware and 1458 cyber alerts in this latest financial year to March 31.

"I think there are times where we have much higher attempts and times when, obviously, attention is diverted elsewhere," another official said.

Nine.com.au has contacted the Department of Parliamentary Services for further comment.

The National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) chief Paul Brereton has resigned, two years before his posting was due to end.

Brereton was appointed as NACC's inaugural commissioner in July 2023 for a five-year term, however his tenure had been marred by scrutiny over his external work for defence.

The outgoing commissioner's resignation will come into effect on July 6.

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In a statement, Brereton said that while he "resist[s] any suggestion of impropriety", it was time for him to step aside.

"The ongoing focus on matters relating to me personally rather than the commission's work is drawing attention away from the commission's core purpose of strengthening integrity in the Commonwealth public sector, which has always been my primary focus as commissioner," Brereton said.

"I believe that the commission's success is paramount, and not due to any single person.

"While I will continue to resist any suggestion of impropriety, I have decided that it is time, now that the commission is established and functioning with quality staff and good processes, to step aside and allow a new commissioner to lead it into the next phase of its development into a key and respected component of the integrity architecture of the Commonwealth."

Attorney-General Michelle Rowland thanked Brereton for his service and said a new NACC commissioner would be appointed in due course.

"Commissioner Brereton has made an invaluable contribution to the establishment of the NACC as its inaugural commissioner," Rowland said.

When he was appointed commissioner in 2023, Brereton said it was his ambition to have a commission that was "fearless but fair".

Brereton faced months of scrutiny over alleged conflicts of interest related to his ongoing ties to the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and had been investigated for officer misconduct.

He previously served as assistant inspector-general of the ADF, when he delivered the Afghanistan Inquiry Report.

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