Police in the state of New South Wales have announced they are investigating the deaths of two men in the state's north. According to police, the body of the first man was found on 13 September on a property in Gurranang, near Grafton, at 28 Summerland Way. The man was subsequently identified as a 79-year-old.
Meanwhile, political developments are unfolding in the federal parliament. The leader of the Greens, Larissa Waters, has announced she is stepping down from the party leadership due to ill health. She stated that she had been managing a pre-existing kidney condition, but her health had 'deteriorated significantly in recent months'. She highlighted that the prognosis for recovery was positive, but the pressure of leadership was diverting her from focusing on her own health. A party room meeting will be held next week to elect her successor. Potential candidates for the leadership include deputy leader Mehreen Faruqi, as well as senators Sarah Hanson-Young, David Shoebridge, and Nick McKern.
At the same time, the One Nation party is facing instability in its membership. More than half of the party's representatives elected to state or federal parliaments have left the party before the end of their term. Of the 51 people elected under the banner of Pauline Hanson, 28 have resigned during their term or have been expelled. One Nation won 6 per cent of the vote in the 2025 federal election, but is currently seeing support above 30 per cent in some polls.
The first of the year's specimens of the endangered bogong moth have appeared in Canberra. A small number of these moths have arrived at the parliament building, marking the first recorded sightings of the species in what is a clear resurgence. Large swarms of bogong moths have been reported across New South Wales.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Dfat) has announced it is providing consular assistance to the family of Jordan Yapa, a man from Melbourne who remains missing after setting off on a difficult trek in Peru. The department stated that due to privacy obligations, it could not provide further comment. According to a GoFundMe page set up by the man's friends and family, the 30-year-old man was due to return from the ten-day trek on 23 September, but has not checked back into the hostel in Lima. The family and friends are paying for private search teams to assist in the man's search, and are organising the arrival of additional teams to the area to cover a wider area.
