A neo-Nazi accused of directing supporters to "rhetorically rape" a federal politician will remain behind bars, as federal police crack down on threats and harassment against elected officials.

Joel Davis, 30, appeared before Sydney magistrate Daniel Covington today, when he was denied bail.

The National Socialist Network mouthpiece allegedly used a carriage service to encourage abuse and hate towards independent Wentworth MP Allegra Spender.

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Davis is accused of calling on supporters to "rhetorically rape" the parliamentarian in an encrypted online platform after she condemned the group for holding a rally to "abolish the Jewish lobby" outside the NSW parliament earlier in November.

Representing Davis, Liam McKibbin told the online court hearing his client's pregnant partner was due to give birth to their son.

The pair have planned a home birth with a midwife at their Bondi residence.

Noting the "alleged disturbing conduct," the defence lawyer said it doesn't include a "specific physical threat of violence".

Opposing bail, prosecutor Kristen Wakefield said Davis' South Australian criminal history showed he is bailed to an address there.

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She said he was an unacceptable risk, noting failure to appear, danger posed to community safety, and the alleged offending occurring while on bail.

Wakefield said due to Telegram's wide audience, it would be very difficult for federal police to conduct compliance checks to ensure he wasn't continuing to offend.

Refusing the bail application, Covington said there was an unacceptable risk of Davis committing a serious offence and endangering community safety.

He will next appear before the court online on December 3.

Australian Federal Police National Security Investigations teams have arrested three people, including Davis, in the past week for allegedly harassing or threatening parliamentarians.

They include a Tamworth man, 29, issued a court attendance notice for allegedly sending online threats to an Australian high office holder, in addition to a 32-year-old Victorian man for allegedly using a carriage service to harass a politician.

AFP acting Assistant Commissioner Matthew Gale said 951 referrals had been made in the 2024/2025 financial year over threats to federal politicians.

"The AFP is very concerned, and our national security investigations teams, alongside with our specialist protective command, are working hand in glove with our federal parliamentarians to make sure that we provide them with the assurances and the safety that are required," he told reporters in Canberra.

"Threats against federal parliamentarians is a significant issue for us."

He said there had been year-on-year increases in threats, with a 63 per cent rise over the last four years.

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Former Labor cabinet minister Mark Dreyfus has urged the Albanese government to form a republic and introduce four-year electoral terms.

The former attorney-general, who was demoted to the backbench in Prime Minister Anthony Albanese's second-term cabinet reshuffle, gave a speech on Labor and the Constitution at the Australian National University in Canberra last night.

He spoke highly of the party's long history of pursuing referendums and recognised the Whitlam, Fisher and Hawke governments for their efforts in achieving constitutional change. 

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The Isaacs MP then called on his colleagues to similarly push the boundaries and renew the campaign to establish an Australian republic.

"Australia and Australians have changed in many ways over the past quarter century," he told the audience.

"In my view, it is time, past time, for Australia to break its residual constitutional ties with the United Kingdom and its monarchy."

Establishing a republic would mean an Australian would replace King Charles as the head of state.

It would also make Australia independent from the United Kingdom.

There has been a long push for Australia to become a republic, following a failed referendum on the topic in 1999.

Dreyfus had used his inaugural speech in the House of Representatives when he was elected in 2008 to say he would vote in favour of amending the constitution to establish one.

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Dreyfus last night said Australia's failure to become independent from the monarch would leave early Labor figures "mightily disappointed".

Albanese has refrained from pursuing any more referendums after the failed Voice to Parliament campaign in 2023.

He most recently dismissed calls for a referendum to establish a republic after his private meeting with King Charles in Scotland in September.

"I think I've made it clear that I wanted to hold one referendum while I was prime minister, and we did that," he said at the time.

Albanese added that the monarch was "very interested in Australia". 

Dreyfus acknowledged the party-wide dismay of the failure of the Voice, admitting that it was "one of the greatest disappointments of my public life".

But he said Labor has "never given up" on referendums and hoped that the party could "return to the process of formally amending our constitution".

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Dreyfus also called for the federal government to adopt four-year terms "sooner rather than later".

"All Australian states and territories have adopted four-year terms," he said.

"We are also an outlier in world terms, with just six of 186 nations with active legislatures having three-year terms."

Albanese has supported the "common sense" notion of a four-year national term but said he required bipartisan support.

Former prime minister John Howard earlier this month called on Opposition Leader Sussan Ley to work with Albanese on establishing four-year terms.

"It's ludicrous you've got four-year terms in all the states, but the national parliament doesn't. It's just crazy," he told the ABC.

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Man dressed his victim in a nappy and forced her to suck a dummy before raping her.

A haunting 1940 self-portrait by famed Mexican artist Frida Kahlo sold Thursday for USD $54.7 million (AUD $84.9 million) and became the top-selling work by any female artist at an auction.

The painting of Kahlo asleep in a bed – titled “El sueño (La cama)” or in English, “The Dream (The Bed)” – surpassed the record held by Georgia O’Keeffe’s “Jimson Weed/White Flower No. 1," which sold for USD $44.4 million (AUD $68.9 million) in 2014.

The sale at Sotheby's in New York also topped Kahlo's own auction record for a work by a Latin American artist.

LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Cyclone Fina headed for NT coast

The 1949 painting “Diego and I,” depicting the artist and her husband, muralist Diego Rivera, went for USD $34.9 million (AUD 54.2 million) in 2021.

Her paintings are reported to have sold privately for even more.

The self-portrait is among the few Kahlo pieces that have remained in private hands outside Mexico, where her body of work has been declared an artistic monument.

Her works in both public and private collections within the country cannot be sold abroad or destroyed.

The painting comes from a private collection, whose owner has not been disclosed, and is legally eligible for international sale.

Some art historians have scrutinised the sale for cultural reasons, while others have raised concern that the painting – last exhibited publicly in the late 1990s – could again disappear from public view after the auction.

It has already been requested for upcoming exhibitions in cities including New York, London and Brussels.

The buyer's identity was not disclosed.

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The piece depicts Kahlo asleep in a wooden, colonial-style bed that floats in the clouds.

She is draped in a golden blanket and entangled in crawling vines and leaves.

Above the bed lies a skeleton figure wrapped in dynamite.

Kahlo vibrantly and unsparingly depicted herself and events from her life, which was upended by a bus accident at 18.

She started to paint while bedridden, underwent a series of painful surgeries on her damaged spine and pelvis, then wore casts until her death in 1954 at age 47.

During the years Kahlo was confined to her bed, she came to view it as a bridge between worlds as she explored her mortality.

Before the auction, her great-niece, Mara Romeo Kahlo, celebrated the significance of the upcoming sale during a recent interview with The Associated Press in Mexico City.

“I'm very proud that she's one of the most valued women, because really, what woman doesn't identify with Frida, or what person doesn't?" she said.

"I think everyone carries a little piece of my aunt in their heart.”

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The painting was the star of a sale of more than 100 surrealist works by artists including Salvador Dalí, René Magritte, Max Ernst and Dorothea Tanning.

Kahlo resisted being labeled a surrealist, a style of art that's dreamlike and centres on a fascination with the unconscious mind.

“I never painted dreams,” she once said. “I painted my own reality.”

In its catalog note, Sotheby’s said the painting “offers a spectral meditation on the porous boundary between sleep and death.”

“The suspended skeleton is often interpreted as a visualization of her anxiety about dying in her sleep, a fear all too plausible for an artist whose daily existence was shaped by chronic pain and past trauma,” the catalog notes.

Earlier this week, a Gustav Klimt painting that helped save the life of its Jewish subject during the Holocaust sold at Sotheby's for USD $236.4 million (AUD $366.9 million).

Klimt’s “Portrait of Elisabeth Lederer” became one of the most expensive pieces of artwork ever sold at auction, second only to Leonardo da Vinci's “Salvator Mundi” at USD $450 million ($698.4 million) the record-holder over all and among male artists.

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Unions say pay offers fail to match rising living costs and safety demands.

Tropical Cyclone Fina is slowly approaching the Northern Territory coast and is expected to intensify to a category 2 storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology has warned that Darwin, the Tiwi Islands, Dundee Beach to Warruwi, inland to Batchelor, Cobourg Peninsula, Minjilang, Gunbalanya, Pirlangimpi, Milikapiti and Wurrumiyanga are in the firing line and will feel the impacts of the looming system beginning today and into the weekend.

Gusts of up to 120km/h are occurring and up to 300mm of rainfall is forecast, which is feared to trigger flash flooding in the Tiwi Islands and Warruwi.

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The last time Darwin saw a cyclone of this magnitude was Tropical Cyclone Marcus, which made landfall as a category 2 storm in 2018.

As Fina inches closer, here is everything we know. 

What category cyclone is Fina?

Fina is currently travelling as a category 1 storm after it was downgraded yesterday, carrying damaging winds up to 85km/h with gusts of up to 120km/h.

But the Bureau of Meteorology is forecasting the system will strengthen to category 2 later tonight.

It is forecast to bring destructive winds with gusts up to 164km/h, which can bring down trees and power lines and damage homes. 

Fina will continue travelling as a category 2 when it passes through Darwin this weekend. 

The system is forecast to worsen to a severe tropical cyclone and a category 3 storm as it moves away from the coast to the southern Timor Sea on Sunday afternoon.

The Bureau of Meteorology, however, warns there is a chance that it could reach category 3 earlier, during late today or early tomorrow.

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https://x.com/BOM_au/status/1991627315554431090

Where is Tropical Cyclone Fina now?

Fina was tracked about 85 kilometres north of Minjilang and 295 kilometres north-east of Darwin.

It is slowly travelling south-east towards the Northern Territory coast and is currently over the Cobourg Peninsula. It will hit the Tiwi Islands tonight.

Fina will continue through Darwin and the Van Diemen Gulf tomorrow, with the capital city set to experience the worst of the conditions then.

Emergency Minister Kristy McBain told reporters this afternoon that Fina has slightly changed track.

"At this stage, the cyclone has actually changed track a little. It's due to move into the Van Diemen Gulf but may still impact around Darwin," she said.

The impacts of the storm, however, are already being felt now with showers and winds lashing the Top End. 

What are the warnings in place?

Secure NT has issued an emergency warning for residents in Cape Don to Minjilang to shelter immediately.

Destructive winds, torrential rain and potential flooding may disrupt essential services like water, electricity and gas.

Residents in Darwin, the Tiwi Islands, Dundee Beach to Warruwi, inland to Batchelor, the Cobourg Peninsula, Gunbalanya, Pirlangimpi, Milikapiti and Wurrumiyanga are under a watch and act warning.

There is a heightened level of threat, and those in the area are advised to take action now and enact their household emergency plan.

Those between Wadeye and Dundee Beach should consider what they may need to do if the cyclone threat increases.

The federal government has already activated its emergency response and deployed officials to the region.

Federal and state politicians have also been working to keep remote Indigenous communities informed.

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What is currently closed? 

Darwin Airport is not closed as of yet, but precautionary safety measures are in place across the precinct.

"The safety of those who work at Darwin Airport, the travelling public, and the wider community remains our highest priority," the airport said in a statement. 

Darwin Airport is monitoring the situation and advises passengers to check directly with their airlines for the latest information regarding their flights.

"Airlines will continue to provide the most accurate and timely information," the airport said.

Virgin has cancelled services to and from Melbourne tonight and services to and from Brisbane tomorrow.

The airline is reaching out to affected passengers and advising passengers travelling on Sunday and early next week to monitor the status of their flight. 

All Qantas flights are currently operating as normal today, but the airline is monitoring the evolving situation to reassess operations tomorrow. 

Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro has shut four remote schools today: Mamaruni School, Warruwi School, Milikapiti School and Pularumpi School.

Non-government schools in these areas can be contacted to confirm whether they will be open.

Secure NT said carers of school-aged children and vulnerable residents should now be released to attend to their carer responsibilities.

The ferry between Darwin and the Tiwi Islands is also not running due to the weather.

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How to prepare for a tropical cyclone?

Secure NT urges residents to prepare or enact their household emergency plan, secure loose items, and stay informed.

Every household is advised to have an emergency kit, which should include a battery-operated radio with spare batteries, a torch, a first aid kit, a change of clothes, essential toiletries, blankets and sleeping bags, money, important documents, a mobile phone and non-perishable food.

"Depending on your location, you may need to rely on your kit to get through until the emergency has passed or help arrives," the site reads.

"Ensure that your kit is able to sustain you and each member of your family for 72 hours or more."

Anyone in a life-threatening situation should call Triple Zero.

Authorities have also set up an emergency hotline at 1800 888 901.

The Bureau of Meteorology has up-to-date information on its website here. 

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Dozens of memorabilia pieces from late cricket great Shane Warne's personal collection will soon be showcased to the public in an exhibition at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG).

Warne: Treasures of a Legend will launch on December 16 at the Australian Sports Museum, featuring 48 career memorabilia pieces including Warne's iconic floppy white hat, the famous Gatting Ball and worn Test Match shirts and boots.

Getting a first look at the exhibition, Warnie's son Jackson said the Spin King chose to put most of his most-cherished personal items in storage over the years.

LIVE UPDATES: Tropical Cyclone Fina headed for NT coast

"He would occasionally show it for a poker night or if he was selling the house, but we always used to ask 'why didn't you display it?' and he'd always just used to say, 'they know what I did', and I think that's just shows how humble he was," Jackson said.

"But to now to be able to finally share everything that we've all wanted to share with everybody to be here at the MCG is like a fairy tale.

"Shane was very particular, any time he had something of interest, it'd be wicket, bat, ball, whatever it might be, it was stored away, noted, and llocked away safely."

Warnie's 700th test wicket and his unforgettable dancing stump will also be on display at the exhibition, which runs until August 9 next year.

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But one item that couldn't be included was the ball from Warnie's iconic hattrick against England in 1994.

The whereabouts of the priceless piece of cricket history has left even Warnie's closest circle stumped.

"If you know where it is, please let us know. We've been looking for it," Jackson said.

The cricket legend's dad Keith said his son would be "honoured" to know his treasured sporting keepsakes would be showcased at the MCG.

"He absolutely loves the place, as we all know, it was his playground, you might say, and he'd be very pleased to know that it's gonna be displayed at the MCG," Keith said.

Bookings to see the exhibition are essential and can be made through the Australian Sports Museum website.

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A remorseless paedophile teacher who abused multiple boys over almost three decades has been described by a judge as morally and socially worthless.

Keith Athol Bates-Willie, 71, was found guilty by a jury in August of 14 charges including persistent sexual abuse of a child, indecent assault, rape and aggravated sexual assault.

The abuse occurred between the late 1970s and mid-2000s while Bates-Willie taught at Rosetta High School, Kingston High School and Rosny College in Hobart.

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It took place in multiple school settings including darkrooms, during meditation sessions, stairwells, at Bates-Willie's home and in a spa, as well as on a Bass Strait ferry.

Sentencing judge Stephen Estcourt said Bates-Willie had shown no remorse and caused his victims to relive the abuse during the trial.

"(His) acts upon so many of his students … are the acts of a morally and socially worthless person," Justice Estcourt told the Supreme Court of Tasmania today.

"He did not once look at or acknowledge his victims in court during the reading of victim impact statements.

"He has not acknowledged his crimes and that causes me concern."

Bates-Willie, who was charged in 2022, egregiously called his victims liars and copycats, and accused them of chasing compensation, Justice Estcourt said.

Bates-Willie was jailed for 21 years and won't be eligible for parole for 11 years.

His lawyer Jessie Sawyer urged Justice Estcourt to not hand down a "crushing sentence" partly because her client was likely to die in jail without his loved ones by his side.

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Sawyer also said the early abuse occurred in the context of Bates-Willie only just graduating and when he was "finding his place" as a teacher.

Some of the abuse was at the lower end of the scale and although he was in a position of trust it "wasn't as serious" as being perpetrated by a parent or guardian, Sawyer said.

"I reject that submission out of hand, this is one of the most serious cases I have seen," Justice Estcourt said.

Several members of the public present in the courtroom let out audible gasps during Sawyer's submissions.

The 16 witnesses who gave evidence at the trial had provided overwhelming evidence of guilt on all charges, Justice Estcourt said.

Sawyer said a medical report had found Bates-Willie was at a low risk of re-offending.

Justice Estcourt noted the same report concluded Bates-Willie should avoid contact with anyone under the age of 18.

He has been placed on the sex offender register for the rest of his life.

Readers seeking support can contact Lifeline on 13 11 14 or beyond blue on 1300 22 4636.

Support is available from the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service at 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).

Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.

Some of the men charged with the murder of Zain Taikato Fox in Maketū can now be named.

The road to motherhood can be equally joyful and terrifying, and more often than not, entirely unpredictable.

The median age of a first-time mother has crept up to 32.1 years in Australia for 2024 – up from 29.8 in 2000.

Australian mums Liz Walton and Julie Sweet are outliers of this rising figure after giving birth to their first child in their late 40s.

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