Students at three Adelaide schools have been forced to hide in cupboards and on the floor as they were plunged into lockdown.

Gleeson College, Golden Grove High School, and Pedare Christian College in the city's north-east were forced to abandon their lessons just after midday today when police asked Golden Grove High School to enter lockdown as a precaution.

Police were searching for a "suspicious man", so the other schools also locked themselves down due to their close proximity to the presumed danger zone.

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Photos and videos sent to 9News show students being forced to hide in cupboards in some cases, with alarms going off and police walking through Golden Grove High School.

Some parents like Adreena Axisa said their children sent them messages, unsure and afraid of what might happen.

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"He said, 'Hey mum, I love you so much, we are in lockdown and I am hiding in a closet, I have no idea what's going on'," she said.

"[It] absolutely scared the hell out of me.

Kate Nash received a similar message from her daughter.

"I just got a message from my daughter saying, 'We are in lockdown mum. Don't know what's going on, there's cops everywhere'," she said.

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After dozens of officers combed the area, the true cause of the panic was revealed.

9News understands the "suspicious man" was actually a staff member innocently carrying a toy gun.

There is no suggestion of wrongdoing on the part of the staff member.

Police conducted a final search of the area, before allowing the schools to reopen and classes to resume as normal in the afternoon.

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There are investigations into whether the international dance troupe Shen Yun was the target of a bomb threat that forced the evacuation of the prime minister's Canberra residence.

Anthony Albanese was evacuated from The Lodge yesterday following an "alleged security incident" that may have stemmed from the Chinese Communist Party's escalating campaign against a banned religious group.

The classical dance group Shen Yun is not the most obvious fomenter of political dissent but it's a prime target of the party because of its links to the the long-persecuted Falun Gong.

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Albanese was caught up in China's harassment via threatening emails to the dance group.

"Large quantities of nitroglycerin explosives have been placed around the Australian Prime Minister's residence in Canberra," one email read.

"If you proceed with the performance, the Lodge will be blown into ruins and blood will flow like a river."

An Australian Federal Police search of The Lodge and its surrounds found it was a hoax, however, Anthony Albanese was evacuated as a precaution.

"We shouldn't allow such hate crimes and foreign interference continue in Australia by the Chinese Communist Party," Lucy Zhao from the Falun Dafa Association of Australia said.

Finance Minister Katy Gallagher said the threats "will be taken seriously by the police".

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Threats to Australian politicians are on the rise, with almost 1000 last year, as security authorities fear that authoritarian nations, including China, are increasingly projecting their own internal political hostilities onto our shores.

Opposition Leader Angus Taylor labelled the incident "unacceptable" as he called for "a united front".

Shen Yun's performance tonight in the Gold Coast will go ahead with extra security.

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A police dog team tracked and arrested him near Fraser’s Gully.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced he wants to extend a touted east-coast high-speed rail project to Melbourne.

The PM raised the pie-in-the-sky concept while speaking in Melbourne today, after his government yesterday announced $230 million in preliminary funding for a high-speed rail project linking Sydney and Newcastle.

The massive infrastructure development would connect Newcastle to the Sydney CBD in one hour, link the Central Coast to the capital in half an hour and add billions to the economy, according to a business case spruiked by the government.

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Albanese wants the project to be "shovel ready" in two years.

Today, the PM revealed he wants the train line extended all the way to Brisbane and Melbourne – with superfast travel between the two biggest cities.

"Yesterday, we announced that we would be taking the first stage of this project, Newcastle to Sydney, into design and development," Albanese said in his address to the Future Victoria Summit.

"But let me be clear: for high-speed rail to deliver its full economic and national benefits, it cannot terminate at Sydney.

"Australia is the only inhabited continent on earth that doesn't already have high-speed rail. And Melbourne to Sydney is one of the busiest flight corridors in the world."

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Albanese accepted he "will not be the Prime Minister when High Speed Rail is finished"

But he said he was "determined to be the Prime Minister who starts it".

The government has not revealed how much it would cost, nor how long it would take, to extend the network to Melbourne.

The current leader is not the only PM to pitch the idea, with the concept floated several times over the last couple of decades.

John Howard first gave legs to the idea back in 1998 following a strong community push.

But the sod has never been turned on a high-speed rail network, with some think tanks and experts, including the Grattan Institute, believing such a project is not suitable for Australia.

"While a bullet train may be a captivating idea, it's not realistic for Australia," Marion Terrill from the Grattan Institute wrote in a 2020 report, suggesting rail renovations to improve speed more modestly as a better alternative.

"Our population is small and spread over vast distances; the countries most like us – Canada and the US – don't have bullet trains either."

Albanese used his first term as prime minister to establish the High Speed Rail Authority to plan to build a network connecting Brisbane, Sydney, Canberra and Melbourne, as well as Newcastle and Central Coast regional lines.

An evaluated business case has proposed construction start by 2027 and completion by 2042.

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Former Victorian CFMEU boss John Setka has been arrested for the second time in months over allegedly harassing messages sent to a CFMEU administration official.

Setka was arrested at his home today and charged with using a carriage service to harass and committing an indictable offence whilst on bail.

Investigators will allege the 61-year-old sent a harassing message to a CFMEU Administration staff member on Christmas Day last year.

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The additional charges come months after Setka was initially charged with seven counts of using a telecom communications device to menace, harass and offend, on November 12, 2025.

On December 5 he was further charged with two counts of using a telecom communications device to offend.

The ex-union boss quit the CFMEU in July 2024 following explosive allegations of criminal conduct made in a joint investigation by 60 Minutes and The Age.

He has always denied all allegations of misconduct.

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The CFMEU was plunged into administration by the federal government one month after Setka's resignation following claims of bikie and organised crime figures infiltrating the union.

Barrister Mark Irving KC was appointed as the union's administrator to oversee its financial, legal and business affairs.

The union could remain under administration for up to five years.

Setka has been bailed to appear at Melbourne Magistrates' Court on June 3, 2026. 

Speaking to The Age in relation to today's charges, Setka denied sending a harassing message on Christmas Day.

"People should just toughen up and drink a bit of concrete and harden up a bit…it is the building industry," Setka said.

Anyone with information about these incidents is urged to contact Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000 or submit an online confidential report at www.crimestoppersvic.com.au

Carl Philipp, in a rage over disputed child support payments, set a car and house on fire.

An Australian working in the United States has been jailed for more than seven years after selling stolen secrets to a buyer with connections to the Russian government.

Peter Williams, 39, admitted to selling eight pieces of critical software and information related to cybersecurity to a Russian broker in return for $US4 million ($5.6 million), which he used to buy jewellery, watches, homes and luxury holidays.

The tools were cyber-exploit components, meaning they can be used to identify weaknesses in technological systems, or to infect them with viruses.

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These components could have given the buyer access to millions of digital devices within the US.

It is not known whether Russia or any other foreign government gained access to these materials and used them in a malicious way.

Williams was working as the general manager of Trenchant, an intelligence firm owned by US defence contractor L3Harris Technologies at the time of the thefts.

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The US Department of Justice claims Williams' crimes cost his former employer $US35 million.

"Peter Williams stole a US defence contractor's trade secrets about highly sensitive cyber capabilities and sold them to a broker whose clients include the Russian government, putting our national security and countless potential victims at risk," FBI counterintelligence and espionage division assistant director Roman Rozhavsky said.

Williams had previously pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of trade secrets in October and entered a plea agreement with prosecutors to get a lighter sentence. The maximum penalty can be up to 10 years imprisonment.

As well as sentencing Williams to 87 months jail, US District Court Judge Loren AliKhan ordered him to forfeit $US1.3 million in cash, as well as cryptocurrency, properties, and other items purchased with the proceeds of the sales.

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She claimed Williams' offending impacted both the USA and Australia.

"Mr Williams acknowledges that his actions caused harm to the intelligence communities, both in the US and Australia," she said.

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More than 600 people attended the kiwifruit marketer’s Momentum Conference today.

Sydney's current measles outbreak is continuing to grow after two more cases of the disease were confirmed by health authorities.

One of the new cases was confirmed to have been acquired from one of the exposure sites in the city, with NSW Health urging people to be on the lookout for symptoms of the highly infectious disease.

"The other case had recently returned from South East Asia where there are ongoing outbreaks of measles in several countries," the statement from NSW Health said.

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A total of 21 measles cases have now been confirmed in NSW since January 1.

The new exposure warnings date from Wednesday, February 18, to Saturday, February 21, meaning some people who visited the exposure sites may have to monitor for symptoms until March 11.

Eight new exposure sites have been confirmed, including several locations in the CBD and Inner West.

These include Rivaereno Gelato in Barangaroo between 7.40pm to 8.30pm on Thursday, February 19, and The Stinking Bishops Restaurant & Deli in Newtown between 7pm to 9pm on Friday, February 20.

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New exposure sites have also been declared in Lismore in the state's north, in addition to several current exposure sites in Western Sydney.

The new cases come after an alert was issued for two flights that landed and departed from Sydney Airport this weekend, one inbound from Indonesia, and one Jetstar flight to Melbourne.

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Symptoms of measles, which include fever, runny nose, cough, and a red, blotchy rash after three to four days, can take up to 18 days to appear.

NSW Health Director of Communicable Diseases Dr Christine Selvey urged residents to stay up to date with their vaccinations.

The measles, mumps, and rubella vaccine is free for anyone born after 1965 who hasn't had the recommended two doses.

"This is especially important before overseas travel, as measles outbreaks are occurring in several regions of the world at the moment," she added.

A full list of the current exposure sites can be found on the NSW Health website.

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A counter-terrorism expert warns of ‘young white men’ being targeted online.