A 1929 Taege car was saved when firefighters drove it from a burning shed.

About 50 firefighters battled for hours to stop the blaze spreading through the site.

Priya's parents wanted to prevent what happened to them from happening to any other family going through an unimaginable.

Priya was born prematurely at not even 25 weeks old in June 2024, and died just 42 days later.

Her grieving parents' situation was made worse when the company Priya's mum* had worked at for 11 years cancelled her three months of pre-approved paid parental leave.

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She was offered a month of personal leave while her husband, Chris Breen, was able to take his full parental leave entitlement. 

Sadly, what her company did was technically legal. 

What started as an online petition became legislation this week after Baby Priya's Bill passed federal parliament, preventing workplaces from cancelling paid parental leave if an employee experiences stillbirth or infant loss.

Priya's mum said she felt a vast range of emotions, from being relieved parliament had voted in support, to being sad because her advocacy had been a way to love and demonstrate her love to Priya.

"Her name is law," she told 9news.com.au.

"There were moments in my life where I felt her life was not validated by others, and to have her name as law and her light shine on forever is something I am so grateful for.

"She lived on earth for only 42 days, but her love, light, and essence will live on forever through Baby Priya's Bill."

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Priya's mum said a part of her knew her situation would "hit a nerve" with Australians, while Breen said the support they received had "overwhelmed" them. 

"It's not just about grieving parents, it's a woman's issue as well," Priya's mum said. 

More than 17 months on from Priya's death, the pair continue to make time to remember her every Sunday at the time she passed away.

"Priya has left a lasting impact on me. She is a part of me, and I may not be able to carry her in my arms, but I carry her in my heart and always will. She made me a mother, and for that I will forever be grateful to her," Priya's mum said.

"Memory is a strange thing, and sometimes the strongest memories of Priya come when I am not intentionally thinking about her at all," Breen said. 

Now that their fight is over, Priya's parents are looking forward to some much-needed rest.

"I started my advocacy work about eight months into her passing, and so now I am going to take this time to think of her, love her, grieve her, and just be," Priya's mum said.

"We are looking forward to the summer holidays, relaxing, spending time with family and doing the things we enjoy," Breen said. 

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Priya's mum hurt by 'derogatory' comments

Employment and Workplace Relations Minister Amanda Rishworth welcomed the bill, saying it filled an "inconsistency" in the previous legislation.

"This is a good day for parents, and I hope not only gives people rights in this circumstance but brings out of the shadows a conversation about stillbirth and early death," she said at a press conference.

While the bill was largely supported by all sides of parliament, a small minority of the opposition, including Andrew Hastie, Barnaby Joyce, and Henry Pike, argued the law could be used by those who have had a late-term abortion.

Priya's mum said she was hurt by the "derogatory" comments.

"I am deeply disappointed by some over the past few days who have tried to turn Priya's Bill into something it is not," she said.

"Their words were hurtful, and it was shocking to see the discussion take such an absurd direction."

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Opposition Leader Sussan Ley today criticised the comments from members within the Coalition, labelling them as "insensitive".

"Losing a baby is one of the most difficult things that can ever happen to a mother and to a family. And as a mother and a grandmother, this is very personal," she told ABC.

Priya's mum said: "Politicians like this should not be in parliament."

*Priya's mum has asked not to be named. 

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A senior federal bureaucrat who dismissed her own department's cybersecurity advice and ordered a trove of parliamentary emails be released to a private company previously hacked by Russian criminals says she believed the risk assessment was "overrated".

Jaala Hinchcliffe, the Parliamentary Services secretary, has conceded she should have sought advice from the clerk of the Senate before instructing her department to send hundreds of thousands – possibly millions – of emails and documents to a third party.

Hinchcliffe is now facing calls from the federal opposition for her conduct to be investigated.

READ MORE: Sensitive parliamentary documents handed to private company against risk advice

And she has been instructed by parliament's presiding officers to retrieve the data for safe storage in parliament.

As revealed by 9News, the Sydney Morning Herald and The Age last week, federal politicians are deeply concerned that their confidential communications may have been compromised.

Hinchcliffe was advised in September last year that giving a private contractor full administrator rights to the department's entire computer network posed an "extreme" risk of unlawful disclosure of sensitive information, including matters of national security.

There was particular concern among Department of Parliamentary Services (DPS) cybersecurity experts about handing the data to law firm HWL Ebsworth, given the company had been the victim of a massive cyberattack in April 2023 by a Russian-based ransomware group which stole 3.6TB of data.

She ordered the IT department to grant access anyway.

"I was of the view that the draft risk assessment that had been given to me had been overrated," Hinchcliffe told a parliamentary committee, saying the law firm had assured the department it had upgraded its security protocols.

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The released data was analysed by TransPerfect, which had been subcontracted by HWL Ebsworth to find information to support an investigation into potential wrongdoing by senior DPS colleagues, including former DPS Secretary Rob Stefanic.    

All up, 170GB of parliamentary data was released from Parliament's computer network under Hinchcliffe's orders. Based on the average size of a plain-text email, up to two million emails may be contained in the cache.

Hinchcliffe has been told by parliament's presiding officers, Senate President Sue Lines and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Milton Dick, to retrieve the emails from HWL Ebsworth.

Lines said she was "uncomfortable" about so much parliamentary data being held by a third party, especially when some of the material may be subject to special legal protection and immunity under so-called parliamentary privilege.

"To satisfy all of us who are parliamentarians, and a potential issue of privilege, the data is best held here," she told the Senate Finance and Public Administration Legislation Committee.

"It's of concern to me, so bringing it back here takes that concern away.

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"The speaker and I have been talking about this and we believe the data is best held in the parliament under the supervision of the clerks because that is what the parliamentarians expect."

The DPS data was taken out of parliament in three tranches – 299.7MB in June last year, 32.63GB in August last year and 136.95 GB in a "bulk extract process" over two days conducted by TransPerfect in late October/early November of last year.

Asked by Liberal senator James Paterson if she had sought advice on parliamentary privilege, Hinchcliffe said she had not, saying she had based her decision on "first principles" that MPs and senators' data would not be handed to an investigation being overseen by barrister Dr Fiona Roughley.

"But I concede, given the concerns raised in this committee, that it would have been beneficial for me to have sought advice from the (Senate) clerk which I did not do," Hinchcliffe said.

Paterson responded: "Did you really prefer your own judgment over the clerk's judgment about the risk of parliamentary privilege?"

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She replied: "Senator, I've conceded that I didn't seek the advice of the clerks and that it would've been better placed if I had."

Liberal senator Jane Hume said she was deeply concerned that the Senate president was not informed of the data extraction until after it had occurred, despite IT's risk assessment.

"I would have thought that this would constitute further investigation as a potential breach of the department's code of conduct," Hume told the committee.

Lines said she would consider strengthening data handling protocols, "to make sure there is an oversight in place".

Asked by Hume if she retained confidence in Hinchcliffe, Lines said: "Yes I do."

Hume said she would formally request the Senate president seek advice from the Australian Public Service commissioner about whether Hinchcliffe had breached the department code of conduct.

Hume said she would also seek to hold an inquiry into potential breaches of parliamentary privilege.

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A Perth football club has been suspended from its league for two years after a player dressed up as late physicist Stephen Hawking viewing fake child abuse material.

The player was in a wheelchair with a mock-up of a communication system that had doctored images of a fake pornographic website on it as part of the Osborne Park Football Club's "Silly Sunday" end-of-season celebrations at Robinson Reserve in August.

Stirling Mayor Mark Irwin said council staff were "very distressed" to find the discarded costume during a routine inspection of the headquarters a couple of days later and reported the matter.

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The Perth Football League has now announced that the club will be unable to compete for two seasons after ruling the incident a severe breach of its integrity standards.

"At a club-sanctioned event, offensive material was displayed depicting a doctored image of a child in a pornographic context," Perth Football League boss Andrew Dawe said.

"Senior club officials were present but failed to act.

"A two-year suspension reflects the severity of the breach, and gives the club time to rebuild governance capability, re-engage with the City of Stirling to see if they can find a home for the club and time to demonstrate considerable reform before the possibility of returning to the competition."

The suspension will begin in two weeks, but the club has that time to appeal the decision.

WA Police investigated the costume and found "no criminality".

The City of Stirling has, however, chosen to evict the club from its headquarters, arguing that it breached the behaviour clause in the lease agreement.

"Survivors of child abuse talking to us about the impact it has on them, I don't think any of them would find this a joke, or find it funny, or find that there is a level of this that is acceptable in our community," Irwin told reporters.

"I don't believe there is any way of explaining how this is okay."

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Osborne Park Football Club president Jeremy LaBianca issued a statement in early October saying the player had only used photos of himself and nobody else in the fake material.

"It was an offensive and incredibly distasteful costume, I am in no way trying to dispute that or defend the decision," he said.

"The allegation of child pornography hits me really hard – as it does for many members of our community who are parents, own businesses and/or have public-facing roles."

LaBianca had earlier said he was "really embarrassed that we allowed this to happen and that we didn't intervene on the day".

9News understands that the player involved is also embarrassed by his behaviour and apologises for any distress caused.

He is also upset with the impact of his actions on the club. 

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

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Voters have dealt a stinging rebuke to Donald Trump today, even though the president wasn't on the ballot.

In elections for major offices across the country, Democrats have defeated Republicans.

Democrats have made the unpopular president the centrepiece of their campaign, and it has paid off.

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In Virginia, Democrat Abigail Spanberger won comfortably over Republican Winsome Earle-Sears – becoming that state's first female governor.

"Tonight, we sent message," Spanberger said in her victory speech.

"We sent a message to the whole world that in 2025 Virginia chose pragmatism over partisanship. We chose our Commonwealth over chaos."

Meanwhile in New Jersey, Democrat Mikie Sherrill beat Republican Jack Ciattarelli for the governor's mansion.

And despite Donald Trump's late endorsement of his opponent Andrew Cuomo, Zohran Mamdani has won comfortably in New York City.

The 34-year-old is the youngest mayor in the city for more than a century, and the first Muslim elected to the top job.

Turnout in the Big Apple was the highest it has been since 1969, with a surprisingly high number of young voters casting a ballot.

Exit polling has confounded expectations after the 2024 results showed Hispanic, black and younger male voters turning conservative.

Those demographic groups have swung hard towards the Democrats.

In the race for mayor of Cincinnati, Democrat Aftab Pureval has absolutely trounced JD Vance's half-brother Cory Bowman.

And while the race for Public Service Commissioner is hardly an event that draws voters to the polls in Georgia, the Democrats' comfortable win there will have Republicans anxious over what used to be one of their most reliable states.

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Democrats haven't won an election for the role since 2006.

"Tonight's results are a repudiation of the Trump agenda," Democratic Senate Leader Chuck Schumer said in a statement. 

"The cruelty, chaos, and greed that define MAGA radicalism and are skyrocketing costs were firmly rejected by the American people."

The president meanwhile, responded to the results with an all-caps post on Truth Social.

"'TRUMP WASN'T ON THE BALLOT, AND SHUTDOWN, WERE THE TWO REASONS THAT REPUBLICANS LOST ELECTIONS TONIGHT,' according to Pollsters," Trump wrote.

Meanwhile in California, voters have taken the extraordinary step of overturning an independently drawn congressional map in favour of a gerrymander.

In response to the Texas legislature redrawing their districts to give Republicans five extra seats, California set out to do likewise.

But this required a referendum, which is on track to pass in a landslide.

READ MORE: New poll spells out Australians' falling out with Trump's US

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A cloud is lingering over the family of a murdered bank teller as a man serving life behind bars challenges DNA evidence used in the notorious case.

Stephen Wayne "Shorty" Jamieson, 59, was convicted in 1990 and sentenced to life in prison for leading a gang of youths in the 1988 abduction, rape and murder of Janine Balding.

Long claiming he was the victim of mistaken identity and had been confused with another "Shorty", Jamieson has been fighting for further DNA testing he claims could clear his name, taking the matter to the NSW Supreme Court.

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The further inquiry had to come to a conclusion for the sake of Balding's family, the detectives that investigated the bank teller's murder and the community, Justice Ian Harrison said as the case returned to court today.

"The resolution of this issue, whatever it is, is important," the judge said.

"Once having been raised, there is … a cloud hanging over these matters."

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The matter had to be dealt with following the law so some certainty could prevail, Justice Harrison said.

Jamieson watched silently by audio-visual link from Goulburn Prison as the judge spoke.

His barrister Richard Wilson SC said NSW Police had agreed to provide further information and conduct additional DNA testing.

That followed Justice Harrison ruling in February police could be asked to conduct testing on a certain area of a bandana used to gag Balding.

Jamieson contends this item of clothing could implicate a 63-year-old man who went by the same nickname: Mark "Shorty" Wayne Wells.

Wells' DNA profile had been obtained by NSW Police from Queensland authorities.

The 63-year-old has denied any involvement in the rape or murder and has never been charged over the crime.

The DNA testing would be expanded to include other areas of the bandana as well as other items connected with the crime, Wilson said.

The public defender noted there may not be conclusive results from the tests given the age of the incident and the fact Balding's body was found in a body of water.

The state government and police agreed the matter should be resolved soon.

But it was difficult to know exactly when the testing would be completed, the judge was told.

Balding's murder shocked the nation in its brutality after the bank teller was grabbed from a Sydney train station by the gang of homeless youths, who repeatedly raped her.

The 20-year-old was bound, gagged and thrown over a fence before being held underwater in a dam until she drowned.

The matter will return to court on December 17.

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

Lead guitarist of Australia-based New Zealand rock band Dragon, Robert Taylor, has died, his former bandmate has revealed.

Taylor was the lead guitarist for the band during arguably its most prominent period in the late 1970s, playing on hits like Are You Old Enough and April Sun in Cuba.

The band's drummer during much of that same period, Kerry Jacobson, took to social media to share the "unexpected and devastating news" of Taylor's death.

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Jacobson said the "irreplaceable" Taylor was his "mentor", "partner in crime", "musical comrade", and a "dear friend of decades".

"Many admired his songwriting and his musical talent and, after all these years people would still speak to me with great reverence of his talent and contribution to Australian music," he wrote.

"I admired his loyalty, I treasured his mateship, I valued his consistency and I absolutely loved it when often the phone would ring and he was up for a chat."

READ MORE: Mum joked as six-year-old daughter died from neglect, court hears

The New Zealand-born Taylor played with Dragon from 1974 to 1979, and then again from 1982 to 1985.

"He had a dry wit, was a keen observer and had a memory like a razor but mostly he was just one of the good ones," Jacobson said.

"That's what has stuck in my head today, 'he was one of the good ones' and I think that sums it up. I will miss him terribly."

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Up to 20 per cent of Australian households are skipping meals or going days without eating, a new report has found.

One in five Aussie households admitted to missing meals, whilst 3.5 million said they had experienced food insecurity in the last year, according to Foodbank's Hunger Report for 2025.

The Australian Government defines food insecurity as anxiety or uncertainty about the quality or access to food, or where meals are missed or inadequate from a nutritional standpoint.

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The concerning numbers are a small increase from last year, with renters and families feeling the pinch especially.

Almost half of all renters reported experiencing some sort of food insecurity, with 30 per cent saying they have had to skip meals.

The number of two-parent households with children struggling with food jumped to 39 per cent.

A staggering 68 per cent of single-parent households reported struggling for food.

Of these responders, 46 per cent said their food insecurity was severe.

Reasons for rising food insecurity include changes to living arrangements, natural disasters, and rising living expenses.

Aussies have also revealed the measures they are resorting to as cost-of-living pressures continue to bite.

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This includes cutting back on foods high in protein or on fresh produce, which has a significant impact on human health.

Nearly 30 per cent of people with severe food insecurity admitted they used buy now pay later apps or credit cards to pay for groceries, while 12 per cent said they have been forced to move to lower cost accommodation.

Experts say urgent action needs to be taken to fix a problem affecting millions of Aussies in the short-term and for years to come.

"For millions of Australians, the basics of life, food, shelter and security are still far from guaranteed in spite of what we hear about economic improvement," Foodbank chief executive and former politician Kylea Tink said.

"Greater investment in food relief, combined with action on the underlying causes of hunger including housing affordability, income inequality, and tax policy, is essential."

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One local New South Wales council is offering residents a free Aussie flag to help celebrate on January 26 – and the mayor says he's "surprised" at the publicity it gets.

Late in October, Maitland Mayor Philip Penfold announced that submissions would open in November for residents to put their hand up for a free Australian flag, in the lead-up to Australia Day celebrations.

There are two options – one flag suitable for flying from a flagpole, and another flag with a bracket-and-pole kit that can be installed to hang off the side of a house.

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https://omny.fm/shows/ben-fordham-full-show/free-flags-local-council-restoring-pride-in-australia-day/embed

The flags are intended for display on private residences.

Penfold told 2GB's Ben Fordham it was the second year the council had put forward the offer, after it proved massively popular the first time around.

"We want Maitland residents to know they can be proud of their flag, of their country, and we're doing our little bit to promote that," he said.

READ MORE: Mum joked as six-year-old daughter died from neglect, court hears

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"I wonder why we're a country now why we're a country now where it's controversial to promote flying your own flag."

He said he regretted that "unfortunately" the demand was expected to outstrip the $5000 to $10,000 budget allocated to the initiative, but that the council was determined to help people celebrate Australia Day.

"It's a small token gesture, but it means a lot to a lot of people," he said.

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January 26 marks the landing of the First Fleet at Sydney Cove, about a week after its arrival in Botany Bay.

It has often – though not always – been the day chosen to celebrate the British arrival in Australia, or Australian nationality and identity, and was first declared a public holiday in 1818, though differences existed between the colonies and later the states and territories.

It became an officially fixed national public holiday in 1994 but by then the date had been consistently marked in some way for decades.

There has been longstanding opposition to January 26 as Australia's national day, headed by Indigenous people and organisations who see it as "Invasion Day" and a day of mourning.

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