Former federal Labor leader Mark Latham has been ordered to pay a fellow state MP the maximum available penalty for vilifying him for his sexuality.

The 65-year-old will be forced to pay Alex Greenwich $100,000 after a tweet directed at him was found to be unlawful sexual harassment.

The sexually explicit tweet from the NSW upper house independent in 2023 has previously been ruled to be defamatory by the Federal Court.

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Latham's tweet came in response to a post quoting Greenwich describing him as a "disgusting human being".

The online sparring match between the two politicians followed violent protests outside a church in Sydney's southwest, where Latham was giving a pre-election speech in March 2023.

The NSW Civil and Administrative Tribunal imposed the maximum penalty due to the extreme abuse Greenwich received and the intense impacts he felt.

It found that Greenwich had suffered extreme psychological damage as a result of Latham's actions.

The tribunal did not order Latham to produce an apology, saying it would be pointless given it would likely not be genuine.

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Greenwich welcomed the decision and said the result was a landmark ruling for LGBTQIA+ rights in the state.

"This decision sends a clear message: public figures are not above the law, and online platforms are not a space for unlawful vilification," the member for Sydney said in a statement.

"The tribunal has made clear that the law does not require anyone to endure unlawful vilification or sexual harassment."

Latham was ordered to remove any material from his social media that vilifies Greenwich based on his homosexuality and to refrain from making any more unlawful vilifying statements.

He is also ordered to pay Greenwich's legal costs.

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Olympic breakdancer Raygun has raised concerns about the state of higher education in Australia weeks after she took a voluntary redundancy from a Sydney university.

Rachael Gunn worked as a lecturer in the faculty of arts at Macquarie University until February.

The competitive breakdancer rose to prominence when she competed at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris and lost all three of her breakdancing battles.

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After the news of her redundancy was made public this week, the academic told The Sydney Morning Herald she felt concerned about university students and staff.

She raised concerns about the student experience, psychosocial hazards facing staff, and spending on buildings, consultants and executive pay.

"We need to have a serious conversation about higher education in this country," Gunn told the newspaper.

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"I'm very worried for my colleagues, I don't think that things are getting better for them."

A Macquarie University spokesperson said they were unable to comment or confirm details about the confidential employment arrangements involving individual staff.

"This is our standard practice for legal and privacy reasons," the spokesperson said.

Since she left her academic job, she has focused on public speaking engagements.

She shared the link to her new public speaking booking website today, telling her followers "it's official".

Gunn's performance at the Olympics became an overnight sensation, attracting the attention of media outlets and audiences around the world, although a large part of the response was unkind.

After her performance was the subject of thousands of social media posts, Gunn took to Instagram with her head held high.

"Don't be afraid to be different, go out there and represent yourself, you never know where that's gonna take you," she wrote at the time.

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Two men have been charged today over allegedly smuggling drugs by drone south of Sydney.

Events began about 11.45pm on Tuesday when police were called to a unit complex on Corrimal Street, Wollongong, after two men were reported acting suspiciously.

Officers found the pair – aged 43 and 24 – allegedly hiding inside the building.

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They told police they'd been searching for a drone that had crashed nearby.

Officers launched a search and found a damaged drone allegedly carrying a dog waste bag containing 66 grams of methylamphetamine.

The men were arrested and an investigation launched.

Yesterday, police raided a home on Cliff Road, Wollongong, and seized a baton, an electronic stun device, 42 grams of methylamphetamine and $4350 in cash.

Officers also found the front door had been modified with metal and several deadbolts to secure the building.

Both men were charged with drug offences and unlawful entry.

Police will allege they were flying the drone to deliver drugs in the area when it crashed.

The men were refused bail when they appeared in court yesterday.

They are scheduled to front court again next month.

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The Trump administration will soon be asking a judge and jury to believe that four digits constitute a death threat.

But if they are successful, it may create an unusual precedent that could land some of the president's backers behind bars.

Former FBI Director James Comey posted an image on Instagram which threatens to put him in jail for ten years.

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The photo showed a series of seashells and pebbles spelling out the numbers "86 47" on the sand.

"86" is an old-fashioned slang for an item that is no longer on a diner menu, and is commonly used to mean "to throw out".

And "47" is often used to describe Donald Trump, as the 47th president of the United States.

Now the Department of Justice is arguing the message was a death threat against Trump.

Republican Senator Thom Tillis thought the charge against Comey was unwise.

"I just think it's another example of where we're going to regret this, because we're setting a fairly low bar," Tillis told CNN.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren called the charge "bogus".

"This would be embarrassing if it wasn't so damaging," she said.

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Soon after the charge was made against Comey, pro-Trump influencer Jack Posobiec praised the decision.

But it was soon pointed out that Posobiec had posted an identical message about Joe Biden in 2022.

"86 46," Posobiec wrote on X, in a message that is still there.

And Dilbert creator Scott Adams wrote in 2024 "The Simulation says it is time to '86' Biden."

Meanwhile, Fox News host Jesse Watters had used "86" numerous times to describe somebody being fired.

Nevertheless, he claimed Comey had "put a hit out on Trump".

Comey said he did not arrange the shells, but took the photo after finding them that way on a beach.

Soon after it was posted he took it down.

"I didn't realise some folks associate those numbers with violence," Comey said.

"I oppose violence of any kind so I took the post down."

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Trump himself challenged the notion that Comey was unaware of the ulterior meaning of the numbers.

"Well if anybody knows anything about crime, they know '86' is a mob term for 'kill 'em,'" Trump said.

"You ever see the movies?"

Trump himself has a long history of making remarks that could be construed as threats of violence.

In a campaign speech in 2016, he appeared to infer that Hillary Clinton could be shot if she wins the presidency.

"If she gets to pick her judges, nothing you can do, folks, although the Second Amendment people, maybe there is. I don't know," Trump said.

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Comey made his first appearance in court today. 

The magistrate judge rebuffed efforts from the Department of Justice to set conditions on Comey's release.

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The traditional 9 to 5 job is slowly becoming a relic of the pre-COVID workplace.

Job cuts and lay-offs on a local and global scale has spooked many Australian workers into the gig economy, with job loss anxiety hitting a five-year high in April, according to the Westpac-Melbourne Institute Consumer Sentiment Index.

Natasha Ciesielski was made redundant twice in the span of eight years.

She wants to avoid this occupational hazard again by trialling a career away from the traditional salaried job.

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The federal government has updated its travel advice for Hong Kong, warning Australians to exercise a high degree of caution when visiting or travelling through the region.

Authorities can request access to personal electronic devices and passwords from anyone in Hong Kong, even if you're only transiting through the airport.

As of last month, it is illegal to refuse to disclose your devices' passwords to the Hong Kong police under the city's broad National Security Law.

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From April 30, it will also be illegal to import alternative smoking products like vapes or possess them in public places, such as the airport.

Hong Kong's security laws can be interpreted broadly and apply to activities outside Hong Kong, including social media posts, the Australian government's Smartraveller website notes in its updated warning.

"The maximum penalty under Hong Kong's national security laws is life imprisonment," the warning reads.

"Citizens of other countries, including Australia, have been arrested, convicted and imprisoned under Hong Kong's security laws."

Authorities in Hong Kong are able to detain a person without charge for up to 16 days and deny them access to a lawyer for up to 48 hours, Smartraveller says.

The warning comes as Australians are flocking to Hong Kong in record numbers. 

In 2025 alone, 469,000 Australians travelled to the destination – a massive 27 per cent surge from the previous year, according to the Hong Kong Tourism Board.

The board attributed this surge to several key factors, including the launch of more direct flights, drawcard events and the city's stopover appeal.

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A "cruel and manipulative" mother who faked her six-year-old son's cancer to secure thousands in donations has been jailed.

In South Australia's District Court today, Judge Geraldine Davison said she refused to accept that gambling and financial difficulties were the root cause of Michelle Bodzsar's offending.

The West Lakes mother, 45, had pleaded guilty to one count of engaging in acts likely to cause harm to her young son and 10 counts of deception.

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She has been in custody since her arrest in December 2024 after being accused of forcing her distressed son to take pseudo medicine while falsely portraying that he had cancer, securing thousands in donations from the community.

"You attribute much of the root cause of this offending to financial difficulties, saying that you felt you were living beyond your means and needed to provide for your family with the latest fashions," Judge Davison said.

"I do not accept that … your offending is far more cruel and manipulative … It was designed as an attention-seeking device."

Her son had sustained an eye injury in a trampoline fall in September 2024 and tests by an ophthalmologist had cleared him.

But she told her husband, Ben Miller, that their son had cancer, and scans had revealed three tumours on his optic nerve, requiring eight rounds of treatment in the form of radiotherapy.

She uploaded social media posts with pictures showing her son with a shaved head, requesting donations to her son's bank account.

Bodzsar had transferred more than $5000 to her account for daily living and also received thousands in cash donations.

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The harm caused to her son was perpetrated on a daily basis by giving him pseudo medication and forcing him to take it "even when he clearly did not want to", the judge said.

"It is a form of child maltreatment and child abuse."

The local school community also experienced shock, betrayal, anger, and a profound sense of shame and embarrassment, the court heard.

"They feel shame for being naive and embarrassed for not spotting the lies earlier," the judge said.

Outside court, Miller said that "no sentence will ever justify what was done to my children".

He was initially arrested but had "absolutely no idea what was going on", the judge said.

"Your crimes have resulted in him losing his job, his career, and being unable to get work because he was on home detention, and no contact with his children for almost seven months," she said to Bodzsar .

Their son was now "angry and sad for no apparent reason" and their daughter was anxious about being abandoned and has been deeply affected, the judge said.

Bodzsar was given a head sentence of four years, three months and 20 days, with a non-parole period of two years and four months, meaning she will be eligible for parole in a year.

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Two people have died and another is fighting for their life after a light plane crashed into an aircraft hangar just north of Adelaide.

South Australia Police chief inspector Andrew McCracken said the DA42 four-seat twin-engine aircraft took off from Parafield Airport after 2pm today and crashed into the Hangar 54 shortly after take-off.

The plane burst into flames and sent thick black smoke into the air.

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A pilot and their passenger died in the crash and a number of airport staff who were inside the hangar at the time were injured.

One person was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital in a life-threatening condition with significant burns to their body.

Two others were taken to the same hospital in a serious condition and another with minor physical injuries.

Four people were taken to Lyell McEwin Hospital for treatment for smoke inhalation and a further two were taken to Modbury Hospital.

The Air Traffic Safety Board will visit the airport tomorrow morning to assist with the investigation.

"A pathologist is on scene, along with major crash staff," McCracken said.

"It is subject to a full investigation and a cordon will remain in place overnight for at least 24 hours as the matter is investigated."

A Metropolitian Fire Service (MFS) spokesperson said almost 60 firefighters were called to the scene and brought the blaze under control in 20 minutes.

The fire significantly damaged the hangar and several planes inside.

The crash also impacted the fire hydrant system at the airport, which left the sprinkler system out of action.

The MFS issued a smoke advice for the Parafield and Mawson Lakes area due to the extent of the smoke.

Parafield is located about 15 to 18 kilometres north of the Adelaide CBD.

It is the second light plane crash in Parafield in a matter of months.

In January, a plane crashed at Parafield Airport as it was about to land.

The pilot and sole occupant walked away from the crash uninjured.

The plane caught fire on impact and flames spread to nearby grass.

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Pamela Cossill, 38, spent the money on gambling and maintaining her household.

Police are speaking with family as they probe the baby’s unexplained injuries.