Did Harry and Meghan tour Australia to make money – or cosplay a return to royal life?

In Aussie parlance, Meghan and Prince Harry’s whirlwind visit down under was the very definition of a “Claytons” tour.

Claytons in Australia is primarily known as a cultural phrase for a substitute, fake or ersatz version of something, the saying evolving from a 1970s/80s non-alcoholic beverage marketed as “the drink you have when you’re not having a drink”.

Yes, Harry and Meghan are royals. But this was not a royal tour. It was something very different.

You can read more on this story here:

Another arrest at Queensland rally

Another person has been arrested in the streets of Brisbane for chanting pro-Palestinan chants outlawed under new Queensland laws.

As a few hundred protesters prepared to march on parliament, a solitary woman kneeled on Adelaide Street, which was closed to traffic, and repeated the chant in front of a heavy police presence.

She was quickly arrested and taken into a police van.

Fatal collision investigation continues

Victorian police say there is no update on the investigation into a driver who allegedly crashed his car into three people outside a Melbourne convention on Saturday.

The man was under police guard in hospital after the collision near the Melbourne showgrounds, which left one person dead and another in a serious condition.

In a statement on Sunday afternoon, police said there was no update on the case nor plans to address the media later today.

Protester arrested at pro-Palestine rally after high court challenge announced

A man has been arrested for chanting ‘From the River to the Sea’ seconds after a rally in Brisbane began with the announcement that organisers will challenge Queensland’s new laws at the high court.

Dozens of armed police swarmed the man after he chanted the phrase outlawed by the state’s premier, David Crisafulli.

‘From the liver to the brie’: pro-Palestine punsters put Qld laws to test

An Irish nurse from Tamborine Mountain has put Queensland’s ban on two phrases associated with the pro-Palestine movement to the test.

Police in King George Square inspected several posters she made after receiving a report they fell foul of the ban on “globalise the intifada” and “from the river to the sea”, which carries a maximum sentence of two years in jail.

“From the liver to the brie,” one sign read.

“Globalise the insalata,” read another.

“Well played,” said one police officer, calling in others to admire the pun.

It came as a relief to artist Kathy Lambert, her husband, Matthew Lambert, and friend, Christine Martin, all of whom travelled up from the Gold Coast and its hinterland to join today’s pro-Palestine protest for the first time.

“We’ve got kids,” Lambert says. “We don’t want to be arrested. We just really wanted to show how absurd these laws are.

“And we just want an end to the killing.”

Roberts-Smith ended his statement by saying:

This is an unprecedented case, and the public interest is huge, and the media has a job to do, which they should be allowed to do.

But I would ask that the media please allow my family their privacy at this time, particularly my children who have already, unfortunately, suffered through a deliberate, sensational arrest that was made last week and [an] unnecessary spectacle.

I understand this journey will be long.

I understand this journey will be difficult, but I can promise everybody that I have never run from a fight in my life.

I will never give up and I will always be in the fight.

Thank you.

Sorry I won’t be taking questions.

Roberts-Smith continued:

While I was there, I always acted within my values, within my training and within the rules of engagement.

I’d also like to say that I’m extremely proud of all of the men and women that served alongside me in Afghanistan and their service and sacrifice should never be forgotten, particularly those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Many of whom were my friends.

I’d like to thank my partner, Sarah, my beautiful daughters, my mother and father, and all of Sarah’s family for their unwavering support and for standing by me during this difficult time.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the millions of Australians who have reached out to me publicly and privately to offer their support and well wishes.

It means a great deal to me and is extremely humbling.

Qld premier takes ‘vision to drill’ to Brisbane byelection

Queensland’s governing LNP will look to make a byelection in Brisbane something of a referendum on its “vision” to “drill, refine and store our own fuel”, the state’s premier, David Crisafulli, said this morning.

There will be a byelection in the seat of Stafford on 16 May after the death of MP Jimmy Sullivan.

Sullivan, 44, was found dead in his Stafford home unit last week in what police deemed non-suspicious circumstances.

He was elected to parliament as a Labor MP in 2020, but was forced to sit on the cross-bench after being disendorsed by Labor in May 2025.

Crisufulli announced the former Brisbane city councillor Fiona Hammond would again run for Stafford, after she secured a swing of +6.58 to the LNP in the safe Labor seat at the last election.

The premier said the byelection would be a “big opportunity” for voters to contrast his “vision” for fuel self-sufficiency, which included opening up the Taroom trough for oil extraction.

“Right now we are at a junction,” he told reporters. “I want to send a message that never again will we be at the mercy of others when it comes to our own fuel security.”

• In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14 or Kids Helpline is 1800 55 1800. In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123, or email jo@samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, you can call or text the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 988, chat on 988lifeline.org, or text HOME to 741741 to connect with a crisis counsellor. Other international helplines can be found at befrienders.org

Fuel spend slumps, data shows

Australians have slashed their fuel spending for the first time since the start of the Iran war as leaders call for a return to normal oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz, AAP reports.

Tehran has backflipped on a promise to open the key oil-trading waterway, firing on ships attempting to traverse the strait.

Announcing it would close the trading waterway, Iran blamed an ongoing US blockade on its ports, arguing the move breached a temporary ceasefire.

Meanwhile, data from Westpac shows Australians are beginning to spend less on petrol and diesel as a cut to fuel excise flows through to the bowser.

In the past fortnight, spending on fuel dropped 3.8 per cent, according to analysis of debit and credit card transactions.

“Seeing fuel spend fall back is a meaningful shift and suggests the fuel excise cut is landing in household budgets,” Westpac consumer chief Carolyn McCann said.

Body found in burnt out car near border

A body has been found in a burnt out car near the Queensland border with New South Wales.

Emergency services were called to a car and grass fire on the Mount Lindesay Highway at Palen Creek in the Scenic Rim at about 5.40am Sunday morning, Queensland police service said.

“Upon extinguishing the fire, a body was located in the vehicle,” the QPS statement read.

A crime scene was declared with investigations ongoing.

Free RSV vaccinations for older Australians

Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccinations will be free for Australians aged 75 years or older to ensure they are protected from the potentially deadly virus, the federal government has announced.

From 15 May, these Australians, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people aged 60 and over, can receive free vaccination through their preferred local health service including GPs, immunisation clinics, community and Aboriginal health services and participating pharmacies.

The government has invested $445.3 million, to give eligible Australians free access to the vaccine through the National Immunisation Program (NIP), and said that without listing it on the NIP, the vaccination would cost $300. It said:

RSV is a common respiratory virus that can lead to hospitalisation, intensive care and death. Aged care residents are particularly vulnerable due to shared living arrangements and frequent contact with staff and visitors.

The addition of the RSV vaccine on the NIP for older adults complements the Albanese Government’s free RSV vaccine program for mums and babies, free NIP influenza and COVID-19 vaccine programs.

Australia should ‘inject ourselves’ into Hormuz dispute: Littleproud

The former Nationals leader, David Littleproud, has called on the federal government to “interject” Australia into the growing dispute over the strait of Hormuz to avoid a global recession.

Littleproud told Channel 9 such a move would help avoid the worst of the economic and geopolitical fallout from the closure of the waterway.

“President Trump and Iran are playing a high stakes game of chicken... it is important as a good global citizen we do our bit,” Littleproud said on Sunday.

“We need to inject ourselves into this dispute and make sure there is the safe navigation of those tankers through the strait of Hormuz and there is no tariff of $2m per boat.”

Littleproud said such a move could help provide “calm” and “common sense” to the situation around the strait. Before the war, about 20% of global oil supply went through the strait.

He warned a global recession was possible if the strait remained closed, because of massive oil price spikes.

“The reality is until the strait is open we are going to continue to see pressure on prices so it is important we do our bit.”

The extension of free public transport in Victoria is being promoted as a cost of living relief measure, but should it also be seen as an early election policy ahead of the November poll?

Worth reading this analysis from Benita Kolovos that you may have missed on Saturday: it explored how the Labor government, in power for the past 12 years, is trying to position itself as new.

Supanova continues in Melbourne after pedestrian killed, another seriously injured

A comics and gaming convention in Melbourne will continue on Sunday morning, after a person was killed and another seriously injured leaving the event last night.

A car struck pedestrians outside the event at Melbourne showgrounds shortly before 5pm on Saturday, with the driver under police guard in hospital.

In a statement issued later on Saturday night, Supanova organisers said the event would continue with a minute’s silence the following morning. Organisers said:

We here at Supanova Comic Con & Gaming are deeply saddened and distressed by the incident that occurred outside the Melbourne Showgrounds this evening.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those affected by the unspeakable tragedy that has happened on our doorstep.

As the matter is still under police investigation and took place outside the Showgrounds precinct, we do not have any further details at present.

As such, we will not enter into any speculation regarding this appalling situation until all the facts come to light.

Supanova will continue to support all Supa-Fans that come through our doors tomorrow morning, and we will be holding a minute’s silence in sympathy and solidarity of the affected families and friends at 10am before opening our doors to our event.

Murder charge laid after woman’s body found at home

A 25-year-old man will face court after a woman’s body was found at a home.

Emergency services were called to Windale, south-west of Newcastle, after reports of a concern for welfare shortly after 8pm on Saturday.

Officers attached to the Lake Macquarie Police District arrived to find the body of a woman, believed to be aged in her 40s.

Despite the efforts of paramedics, the woman could not be revived.

She has yet to be formally identified.

Investigations are ongoing and a crime scene has been established.

The man was arrested at the scene and taken to Belmont police station where he was charged with murder (domestic violence).

He was refused bail to appear in court on Sunday.