Jo Haylen has stepped down as NSW transport minister over the use of her taxpayer-funder driver for private events, with the premier saying she's "paid a high price".

Haylen has been under fire over the revelations that she used a ministerial driver to attend a private lunch at Brokenwood Winery in the Hunter Valley on January 25.

She today apologised and said she would step down from the portfolio.

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"As I said on Sunday, I've made some mistakes, people aren't perfect, I did not break the rules but I acknowledge that's not the only test here," she said.

"I've let the public down, and I'm very sorry for that.

"We were elected to be better than the last government.

"This morning I've told the premier that I will resign my position as minister for transport."

Details emerged earlier this week that Haylen had used her ministerial driver to travel 446km from Sydney to her holiday house at Caves Beach.

The driver also took her and Housing Minister Rose Jackson, along with their husbands and two friends, to the private lunch at Brokenwood Winery in the Hunter Valley the day before Australia Day.

The driver waited three hours for them to finish eating before dropping them back to Caves Beach and returning to Sydney over 13 hours later. 

The transport minister said she would foot the $750 bill for the trip.

Since the first revelations about the winery trip, further claims have been made about Haylen's use of the driver, including to take her children to Saturday sport.

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She admitted today that she had also used her driver for a second trip to the Hunter Valley but under different circumstances. 

"I did take a trip last year with my husband to the Hunter Valley, it was not the same circumstances as the 25th of January, I was working that day," Haylen said. 

"I do want to acknowledge the use of my personal driver was an error in judgement by me.

"My mistakes are now causing my government damage."

Haylen will still retain her role as the Member for Summer Hill.

Earlier today, Premier Chris Minns called Haylen's actions "indefensible", but said he wouldn't fire her from the transport portfolio.

He later released a statement addressing the resignation and policy changes around ministerial drivers.

"This morning, Minister Haylen advised me that she intends to resign as the Minister for Transport, and I have accepted her resignation," he said.

"While this was clearly an error of judgement, there are also too many grey areas where private and public uses blur.

"Jo has paid a high price for that.

"I want to thank Jo for her service to the people of New South Wales.

"The best way to fix this is to change the rules, and that is what I have done today… All Ministers must comply with the policy which will take effect immediately."

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The changes mean ministerial drivers can now only be able to be used for official business or private purposes "if the use is incidental to the discharge of the Minister's official duties".

Haylen was appointed transport minister after Labor's win in the March 2023 election.

The recent controversy is not the first time Haylen has come under fire.

It emerged in August 2023 that Haylen had picked former Labor staffer Josh Murray for transport secretary after her office intervened to add him to the list of candidates.

Documents uncovered last year showed Haylen had passed over senior transport executive Benedicte Colin, who was found to be "highly suitable" for the position, in favour of Murray.

The tight-knit community of Ballarat is still grappling with the loss of missing mum Samantha Murphy as family and friends mark the grim milestone of one year since her disappearance.

Murphy, 52, went missing while on a run in the Canadian Forest on February 4, 2024, and while a murder charge has been laid, her body has never been found.

Ballarat mayor Tracey Hargreaves said locals have felt the impact of Murphy's shock disappearance and alleged murder far and wide.

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"On behalf of the City of Ballarat and its residents, we want to express our deepest sympathy and support to the family of Samantha Murphy during this incredibly difficult time," Hargreaves said in a statement to 9news.com.au.

"The disappearance of Samantha has profoundly affected our close-knit community, and we continue to stand together in solidarity with Samantha's friends and family."

Hargreaves said she has been buoyed by the community support offered to Murphy's loved ones as police investigate the whereabouts of the missing woman's remains.

The tragic loss has seen the Ballarat community rally against violence.

"In the past 12 months we have seen Ballarat come together and in the face of challenging circumstances," Hargreaves added.

"I am extremely proud to see the community's response as we all work together to take a stand against gender-based violence."

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Murphy left her home on Eureka Street in Ballarat East at around 7am to go for a run on February 4 last year.

When she failed to return home, where she was expected to attend a brunch, an investigation into her disappearance was launched.

On March 6, 2024, a now 23-year-old man was arrested and charged with one count of murder.

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Ballarat man Patrick Orren Stephenson has pleaded not guilty to murder over the disappearance of Murphy, electing to fast-track his trial.

Police this week reaffirmed their vow to locate Murphy's body one year on.

The search for her remains has spanned Enfield State Park, Canadian Forest and Buninyong Bushland Reserve and has involved Missing Person Squad officers, the dog squad, the mounted branch, search and rescue, air wing, SES, the AFP, local police and detectives.

TIMELINE: How the investigation into disappearance of Samantha Murphy unfolded

"Since Samantha's disappearance, police have worked tirelessly to locate her. While nothing can erase their grief and loss, being able to return Samantha to her family has always been incredibly important to us," Detective Inspector Dave Dunstan said on Sunday.

"We also know that Samantha's death has had an enormous impact on the Ballarat community, as well as the wider Victorian community.

"I want to reaffirm to the community that the Missing Persons Squad remains committed to doing everything we can to locate Samantha – while a year has passed, we still believe we can locate her."

Dunstan said the search this year will now widen to the Ballarat area, including new areas tipped off from sources.

In May, her phone and wallet were discovered on the edge of a dam, roughly five kilometres south of where her phone last pinged a tower.

"I think people need answers," Councillor Samantha McIntosh told 9News.

"The family need answers. Sam's friends need answers."

Anyone with information is urged to contact police or Crime Stoppers.

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People in several towns in Victoria's south-west have been advised to "monitor conditions" as firefighters continue to battle an out-of-control bushfire in the Grampians.

Authorities initially urged residents of Mirranatwa to "leave immediately" overnight, but the emergency warning has since been downgraded to a watch and act.

Fire crews have spent the past three days battling tough weather conditions, with the state recording 500,000 lightning strikes during a severe thunderstorm on Sunday night.

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Deputy Incident Controller Ben Matthews expected the watch and act warnings to remain in place for towns within and near the Grampians for some time.

The warning applies to Cavendish, Mona Park, Mooralla, Big Cord, Mirranatwa, Strachans, Victoria Point and Victoria Valley.

"The threat is reduced, but the situation can change at any time. You must monitor conditions and be ready to act," the warning said.

Those who were able to leave and have no other place to stay, are urged to travel to the Hamilton Emergency Relief Centre at 113 Brown Street, Hamilton, which is open from 9am to 7pm but has a phone number for out-of-hours service.

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It comes as a fire burning in the Little Desert National Park intensified following strong winds.

"The fire was initially contained, but the fire had some significant wind gusts, caused by thunderstorms.," Matthews said.

"This came very close to the township of Goroke."

A watch and act alert remains current for Goroke, Kaniva, Lawloit, Miram South and Peronne.

The fire has grown to 83,000 hectares.

Three firefighters battling the blaze yesterday were forced to flee after their firefighting ute became engulfed in flames.

Emergency management commissioner Rick Nugent confirmed yesterday that the crew managed to escape the vehicle before it was totally engulfed.

READ MORE: Homes, fire truck scorched as crews battle fires in tough conditions

Another hot day is expected to trouble firefighters battling blazes around the state, with tops of up to 35 degrees after a warm night.

But a cool change is anticipated to sweep through mid-afternoon.

More thunderstorms are also expected around the state after hundreds of homes were battered and damaged yesterday.

One, in Taylors Lakes, Melbourne, caught alight after a lightning strike yesterday morning.

But it was Geelong which bore the brunt of the damage, at the epicentre of a major storm.

The SES received about 950 calls for assistance during the storms yesterday, with about half of those coming from Geelong.

Images showed houses with trees fallen on them and others with their roofs ripped off, after 80km/hr winds were recorded.

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The Princess of Wales has shared a new photo of herself taken by her youngest son to mark World Cancer Day.

A dire shortage of infantry troops and supply routes coming under Russian drone attacks are conspiring against Ukrainian forces in Pokrovsk, where decisive battles in the nearly three-year war are playing out — and time is running short.

Ukrainian troops are losing ground around the crucial supply hub, which lies at the confluence of multiple highways leading to key cities in the eastern Donetsk region as well as an important railway station.

Moscow is set on capturing as much territory as possible as the Trump administration is pushing for negotiations to end the war and recently froze foreign aid to Ukraine, a move that has shocked Ukrainian officials already apprehensive about the intentions of the new US president, their most important ally. Military aid has not stopped, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

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Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk said that Russian forces switched tactics in recent weeks, attacking their flanks instead of going head-on to form a pincer movement around the city. With Russians in control of dominant heights, Ukrainian supply routes are now within their range. Heavy fog in recent days prevented Ukrainian soldiers from effectively using surveillance drones, allowing Russians to consolidate and take more territory.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian commanders say they do not have enough reserves to sustain defence lines and that new infantry units are failing to execute operations. Many pin hopes on Mykhailo Drapatyi, a respected commander recently appointed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy as ground forces chief, to shift the dynamic and counterattack.

"The war is won by logistics. If there is no logistics, there is no infantry, because there is no way to supply it," said the deputy commander of the Da Vinci Wolves battalion, known by the call sign Afer.

"(Russians) have learned this and are doing it quite well."

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Poor weather at worst time

A combination of factors led Kyiv to effectively lose the settlement of Velyka Novosilka this past week, their most significant gain since seizing the city of Kurakhove in the Donetsk region last month.

Scattered groups of Ukrainian soldiers are still present in Velyka Novosilka's southern sector, Ukrainian commanders said, prompting criticism from some military experts who questioned why the higher command did not order a full withdrawal.

The road-junction village is 15km from the neighbouring Dnipropetrovsk region, where authorities have begun digging fortifications for the first time since Russia's full-scale invasion in February 2022, anticipating further Russian advances.

Russia amassed a large number of infantry around Velyka Novosilka, soldiers there said. As heavy fog set in in recent days, Ukrainian drones "barely worked" to conduct surveillance, one commander near Pokrovsk told The Associated Press. Long-range and medium-range surveillance was impossible, he said. He spoke on condition of anonymity in order to speak freely about sensitive military matters.

"Because of this, the enemy was amassing forces … taking up positions, digging in. They were very good at it," he said.

It was at that fateful moment that Russian forces launched a massive attack: Up to 10 columns of armoured vehicles, each with up to 10 units, moved out from various directions.

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Ukrainian logistics in peril

Key logistics routes along asphalted roads and highways are under direct threat from Russian drones as a result of Moscow's recent gains, further straining Ukrainian troops.

Russian forces now occupy key dominant heights around the Pokrovsk region, which allows them to use drones up to 30km deep into Ukrainian front lines.

The Pokrovsk-Pavlohrad-Dnipro highway is "already under the control of Russian drones," said the commander at Pokrovsk's flanks. Russian forces are less than 4km away and are affecting Ukrainian traffic, he said. "Now the road is only 10 per cent of its former capacity," he said.

Another paved highway, the Myrnohrad-Kostyantynivka road, is also under Russian fire, he said.

This also means that in poor weather, military vehicles, including armoured personnel carriers, tanks and pickup trucks, have to trudge through the open fields to deliver fuel, food and ammunition, as well as evacuate the wounded.

In a first-aid station near Pokrovsk, a paramedic with the call sign Marik said evacuating wounded soldiers once took hours, now it takes days.

"Everything is visible (by enemy drones) and it is very difficult," he said.

New recruits are unprepared

Ukrainian soldiers in Pokrovsk said shortages of fighting troops are "catastrophic" and challenges are compounded by newly created infantry units that are poorly trained and inexperienced, putting more pressure on battle-hardened brigades having to step in to stabilize the front line.

Afer, the deputy commander, complained that new recruits are "constantly extending the front line because they leave their positions, they do not hold them, they do not control them, they do not monitor them. We do almost all the work for them."

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A night of celebration ended in Sam Kerr crawling out of the broken back window of a taxi, then being arrested for racially aggravated abuse of a London police officer, causing "harassment, alarm or distress," a UK court has been told.

Jurors watched footage of the Australian women's football captain telling officers she and partner Kristie Mewis feared they were being kidnapped after the driver refused to let them out of his cab following a row over compensation for vomit in the back of his vehicle.

Kerr was recorded twice calling police constable Stephen Lovell "f—— stupid and white," and insisting on going to court rather than pay for the window, leading to her being arrested.

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The incident, which took place in in the early hours of January 30, 2023, came after Kerr had been out with US international Mewis celebrating a hat-trick scored by Kerr in a Chelsea victory.

Both were described by police witnesses as "inebriated, emotional" and in a "distressed state".

Grace Forbes, counsel for the Matildas skipper, told Kingston Crown Court there was no intention to "cause harassment, alarm or distress to PC Lovell", and even if that charge was made, it was not racially aggravated.

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"Samantha Kerr did not feel hostile to this officer because he is white, the words, however poorly expressed, were a comment on positions of power, privilege, and how things might colour perception," she said.

The maximum penalty under UK law is 26 weeks in jail.

Kerr, who has pleaded not guilty, sat in the dock wearing all black as KC Bill Emlyn Hughes laid out the prosecution case which included a video lasting about 30 minutes made up of body-worn-camera recordings from one of PC Lovell's colleagues.

During it, Kerr and Mewis are seen arguing with PC Lovell and his colleagues, at times becoming abusive and also crying as they explain they thought the driver was kidnapping them and feared they would be raped, which is why they were trying to break the window to escape.

"I hate to break it to you, but when a male is driving a f—— car, for us, for two women, it's f—–, it's f—— scary," says Kerr.

On several occasions they reference the rape and murder of Sarah Everard, 33, who had been abducted in London by then-serving police officer Wayne Couzens in 2021.

"This taxi driver held me and her hostage for about 15 minutes," adds Kerr, now 31.

"I was like, 'Please, let us out and I will pay whatever you want'.

"We were begging to get out of there. We were trying to escape – we were trapped.

"You have to understand the emergency that both of us felt. What do you expect us to do as women in that situation?"

In the video PC Lovell says that while he understands their fears, they were hypothetical and "did not happen" while the damage to the taxi "did happen".

He offers them two options: pay the fare, the cleaning fee and for the window damage, which totalled just under $2000; or be arrested, charged with criminal damage, and state their case in court.

"I'll take option two," says Kerr, who a few moments earlier had said: "I'm not paying some dodgy c—- window. I will sit here until four in the morning and get the Chelsea lawyers on this. I am not backing down."

She then calls Lovell "f—— stupid and white".

Kerr is then placed under arrest for criminal damage and racially aggravated public order.

Kerr and Mewis subsequently paid for the damage and that element was dropped.

The West Australian's parents Roger and Roxanne and brother Levi have flown over from Perth and were in court.

Due to the media interest, they were surrounded by British and Australian reporters in the public gallery.

The trial, which is due to last four days, resumes on Tuesday with Kerr expected to give evidence.

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Denmark’s prime minister insisted on Monday that Greenland is not for sale and called for a robust response from her European Union partners should US President Donald Trump press ahead with his threat to take control of the island.

“I will never support the idea of fighting allies. But of course, if the US puts tough terms on Europe, we need a collective and robust response,” Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters in Brussels as EU leaders gathered for defence talks.

Greenland, home to a large US military base, is an autonomous territory of Denmark, a long time US ally.

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Last month, Trump left open the possibility that the American military might be used to secure Greenland, as well as the Panama Canal.

“We need Greenland for national security purposes,” he said.

Frederiksen said she has “great support” from her EU partners on the fact “that everybody has to respect the sovereignty of all national states in the world, and that Greenland is today a part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It’s part of our territory and it’s not for sale.”

She acknowledged US concerns about security in the Arctic Region, where Russia and China have been increasingly active.

“I totally agree with the Americans that the High North, that the Arctic region is becoming more and more important when we are talking about defence and security and deterrence,” Frederiksen said, adding that the US and Denmark could have “stronger footprints” in Greenland, in security terms.

“They are already there and they can have more possibilities,” she said, underlining that Denmark itself can also “scale up” its security presence.

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“If this is about securing our part of the world, we can find a way forward,” Frederiksen said.

Last week, her government announced a roughly 14.6 billion kroner ($AUD3.25 billion) agreement with parties including the governments of Greenland and the Faeroe Islands to “improve capabilities for surveillance and maintaining sovereignty in the region.”

It would include three new Arctic naval vessels, two additional long-range surveillance drones and satellite capacity, the Defence Ministry in Copenhagen said.

Frederiksen's remarks came as EU leaders met for defence talks but with no clear sign yet from Trump about how he intends to try to end Russia’s war on Ukraine.

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The Europeans fear that any attempt to pull together a quick deal would not be favourable to Ukraine.

UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer and NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte were set to join the bloc’s 27 leaders at a self-styled “retreat” at Egmont Place in the Belgian capital.

The summit agenda focuses on EU-US cooperation, military spending and ramping up Europe’s defense industry.

The meeting comes as Europe’s biggest land conflict since World War II approaches its third anniversary, and with confidence in Trump shaky as he threatens his allies with tariffs.

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Trump already slapped duties on European steel and aluminium during his first term.

“We were listening carefully to those words, and of course we are preparing also on our side," EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said.

But, she underlined, "there are no winners in trade wars. If … the US starts a trade war, then the one laughing on the side is China. We are very interlinked.”

Staff of the US Agency for International Development were instructed to stay out of the agency’s Washington headquarters on Monday, according to a notice distributed to them, after billionaire Elon Musk announced President Donald Trump had agreed with him to shut the agency.

USAID staff said they also tracked more than 600 employees who reported being locked out of the agency’s computer systems overnight.

Those still in the system received emails saying that “at the direction of Agency leadership” the headquarters building “will be closed to Agency personnel on Monday, Feb 3.”

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The developments come after Musk, who's leading an extraordinary civilian review of the federal government with the Republican president's agreement, said early on Monday that he had spoken with Trump about the six-decade US aid and development agency and “he agreed we should shut it down.”

“It became apparent that its not an apple with a worm it in,” Musk said in a live session on X Spaces early on Monday.

“What we have is just a ball of worms. You’ve got to basically get rid of the whole thing. It’s beyond repair.”

“We’re shutting it down,” he said.

Musk, Trump and some Republican lawmakers have targeted the US aid and development agency, which oversees humanitarian, development and security programs in some 120 countries, in increasingly strident terms, accusing it of promoting liberal causes.

Over the weekend, the Trump administration placed two top security chiefs at USAID on leave after they refused to turn over classified material in restricted areas to Musk’s government-inspection teams, a current and a former US official told The Associated Press on Sunday.

Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, known as DOGE, earlier carried out a similar operation at the Treasury Department, gaining access to sensitive information including the Social Security and Medicare customer payment systems.

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The Washington Post reported that a senior Treasury official had resigned over Musk’s team accessing sensitive information.

Democratic lawmakers have protested the moves, saying Trump lacks constitutional authority to shut down USAID without congressional approval and decrying Musk's accessing sensitive government-held information through his Trump-sanctioned inspections of federal government agencies and programs.

USAID, whose website vanished on Saturday without explanation, has been one of the federal agencies most targeted by the Trump administration in an escalating crackdown on the federal government and many of its programs.

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“It’s been run by a bunch of radical lunatics. And we’re getting them out,” Trump said to reporters about USAID on Sunday night.

Musk's and Trump's comments came with Secretary of State Marco Rubio out of the country, in Central America, on his first trip abroad in office.

Rubio has not spoken publicly about any plans to shut down USAID.

The Trump administration and Rubio have imposed an unprecedented freeze on foreign assistance that has shut down much of USAID’s aid programs worldwide — compelling thousands of layoffs by aid organisations — and ordered furloughs and leaves that have gutted the agency’s leadership and staff in Washington.

Peter Marocco, a returning political appointee from Trump’s first term, was a leader in enforcing the shutdown.

USAID staffers say they believe that agency outsiders with visitors' badges asking questions of employees inside the Washington headquarters are members of Musk’s DOGE team.

Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren said in a post on Sunday that Trump was allowing Musk to access people’s personal information and shut down government funding.

“We must do everything in our power to push back and protect people from harm,” the Massachusetts senator said, without giving details.

Premiers from states on opposite sides of the country have promised those behind antisemitic will be punished, after more graffiti was uncovered.

NSW Premier Chris Minns today vowed to "throw the book" at those behind a spate of incidents in Sydney as Western Australia Premier Roger Cook accused the culprits in his state of trying to "sow division and hatred in our community".

On a federal level, the government today imposed sanctions against an online neo-Nazi network amid reports of an independent push to beef up hate speech laws.

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Minns vowed to take action amid multiple incidents across Sydney's east over the past few months.

Last weekend, cars, homes and garages were defaced. Police are also hunting three young men who threw eggs at a group of women in a suspected targeted attack.

"If you've committed this offence, we are going to throw the book at you," Minns said.

A caravan filled with explosives was discovered in Sydney's north-west last week, and is being investigated by the counter-terrorism team.

This morning locals in Bondi responded in prayer with a steely determination to rally on.

"We can't be afraid. On our own land, in our own backyard, there's zero tolerance for it, and we won't be afraid," Dovi Meyer said.

READ MORE: Cars and property defaced with antisemitic graffiti, women egged in Sydney's east

"We can't be afraid. On our own land, in our own backyard, there's zero tolerance for it, and we won't be afraid," Dovi Meyer said.

The hate continues to spread in other parts of the nation with antisemitic graffiti reported in Byron Bay and Perth.

The residents of a home in Langford in the WA capital's south-east found a swastika painted by their driveway on Friday in what they believed was a random attack.

An antisemitic message scrawled on a bus stop in Dianella labelled Labor "Nazis".

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WA Premier Roger Cook accused the culprits of trying to "sow division and hatred in our community".

An investigation remains under way into neo-Nazi graffiti scrawled on walls and signs in Dalkieth at the weekend.

"We know that the police intelligence unit are on top of this – they have a number of leads that they are pursuing and they will stop at nothing until these thugs are apprehended," Cook said.

WA Liberal leader Libby Nettam said, "What we must all do is ensure that there is no place for antisemitism in any form across our society".

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From next month, displaying a Nazi symbol and performing a salute will attract a maximum fine of $24,000 and up to five years behind bars under new WA laws.

Meanwhile, Terrorgram, an online network for neo-Nazi advocates promoting white supremacy and racially motivated violence, was today banned by the federal government.

Anyone convicted could be jailed for up to 10 years for using or dealing with the platform.

Independent MP Allegra Spender will reportedly today put a proposal to parliament calling on both major parties to strengthen draft laws criminalising incitement to violence – but not serious vilification.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that the crossbench proposal would impose criminal penalties on people who promote hatred over race, religion, gender and other factors.

EXCLUSIVE: A widow and grandmother has escaped her burning home in Brisbane's south with just seconds to spare.

Dianne Walsh said brave neighbours ran into the flames, pulling her and her son to safety.

"There was loud explosions, the tyres were going, and then it all happened. The neighbour on the bottom side came and got me and made sure that I was okay," she said.

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" … We've got some really good neighbours."

Walsh, who has lived at the home for 22 years said when the fire caught hold she grabbed what she could.

"USB sticks with the grandchildren's photos on it, I grabbed what I could of those in the dark," she said.

With her home destroyed and unliveable Dianne has been left devastated.

'My husband passed away there in 2008, I've raised children and grandchildren (there) … totally devastated, I haven't slept yet, I just can't," she said.

"I'm a diabetic too, all my medication is back at the house as well."

Her son's work vehicle was also destroyed.

Queensland Fire Department's Tom Simpson said the home was unliveable.

"There's significant water and smoke damage throughout the structure, so currently it's not liveable," he said.

Fire crews managed to stop the blaze from spreading to neighbouring homes.

"They were confronted with a weather event at the same time, pushing smoke and flames into the structure," he said.

It's understood fire investigators believe the blaze was the result of a mechanical fault in a truck parked in the driveway, which spread to a second vehicle and then the home.