Australia news as it happened: Mushroom cook Erin Patterson sentenced to life in prison; Second officer killed in Porepunkah shooting farewelled

Thanks for reading the national news blog. This is where we’ll end today’s coverage. We’ll be back tomorrow with more live coverage.

To conclude, here’s a look back at the day’s major stories:

• Liberal powerbroker Alex Hawke has made a public call for Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to apologise for her comments about Indian immigration, as the saga threatens to engulf the opposition for a second week and exposes broader infighting in the party.
• One of Victoria’s most notorious killers, triple mushroom murderer Erin Patterson, sat with her eyes closed as a judge delivered a damning assessment of her crimes, and sentenced her to life in prison – with a non-parole period of 33 years – more than two years after the deaths of Don and Gail Patterson, and Heather Wilkinson.
• Thousands of mourners farewelled Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson in Melbourne, after he was fatally shot alongside his colleague in Victoria’s north-east last month. Police have now spent two weeks searching for alleged gunman Dezi Freeman.
• Bruce Lehrmann has launched a legal challenge against the national corruption watchdog in the Federal Court.
• In world news, two children were found at a remote bush camp in New Zealand following an intense search of the area, after their fugitive father was shot dead by police south of Auckland this morning.
• A shooting attack on the outskirts of Jerusalem has injured at least 15 people.

Thanks again for joining us. This is Cassandra Morgan, signing off.

A shooting attack in Jerusalem has injured at least 15 people, according to police and Israel’s paramedic service, Magen David Adom.

Paramedics said six people are in a serious condition.

Police said the attackers were “neutralised” soon after the shooting began. It’s currently just after 10.30am in Jerusalem.

AP

National Party senator Bridget McKenzie has brushed aside questions about National-turned-Liberal defector Jacinta Namipijinpa Price as “Liberal Party shenanigans”, in which the junior Coalition partner has no role.

“I’ll leave any commentary about the Liberal Party shenanigans to the Liberal Party,” she said when asked about Price at a doorstop in Launceston today.

She noted only that her party is proudly led in NSW by Gurmesh Singh. “He’s our deputy leader,” McKenzie said.

Asked if the National Party felt “insulated from those Liberal Party shenanigans”, McKenzie would only say: “We don’t think that denigrating one part of our migrant community over another is helpful or useful to our future.”

She would not criticise Price directly.

Liberal powerbroker Alex Hawke has repeated his call for senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price to apologise for her comments about Indian immigration, suggesting they have sparked racism towards multiple communities.

Staying with Hawke’s appearance on ABC Afternoon Briefing, the Coalition spokesman for industry and innovation said he had heard from different communities around Australia – “also the South Asian community, not just the Indian community” – there was “more targeting of them since these comments were made”.

“There is a role here, a real leadership role, for Jacinta to play in walking this back a bit further, and just saying … to her own supporters, ‘I never meant to obviously say that’,” Hawke said.

“I believe she didn’t but the heat is still there. It’s, if anything, getting a little bit worse, no doubt fed with fuel from the Labor Party taking political advantage, which isn’t helping social cohesion.”

When asked what he would think of the Liberal Party as a punter in the current political climate, Hawke said: “I’d probably be backing in my judgment at the election that you re-elected the government.

“That’s what happens when you give a big majority to the government, and you say to an opposition, ‘Go get your stuff sorted out’. You expect them to go away and get their stuff sorted out.”

As we reported earlier, thousands of police officers and mourners gathered in Melbourne today for the funeral of slain officer Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson, who was on the cusp of retirement when he was killed on duty.

Thompson was shot and killed by alleged gunman Dezi Freeman on August 26, while executing a warrant, alongside his colleague, Senior Constable Vadim de Waart-Hottart, whose funeral was last week.

Thompson’s partner of six years, fellow police officer Lisa Thompson, told mourners how much he had changed her life, while colleague Paul Campbell said his friend – who was “loyal to a fault” – worked “until the very end”.

Reporters and photographers attended the funeral today, and we have since updated our gallery of photos from the event, which you can find below.

Australians fed up with flight delays and cancellations are set to win new rights, with the federal government leaving the door open for refunds under a landmark aviation consumer protection scheme.

Transport Minister Catherine King today opened public consultation on the “Australian-first” reforms, which would set national standards for how airlines must treat passengers when flights are disrupted.

“For the first time, Australia will have a national aviation consumer protection regime with enforceable standards that airlines and airports must meet,” King told journalists in Melbourne.

“When your flight is delayed, you’ll be entitled to a prompt refund so you can make a decision about what to do next. And if your baggage goes missing, passengers will get proper redress – not just a brush-off.”

The minister flagged that cash compensation remained an option for those customers whose flights are delayed or cancelled due to reasons under an airline’s control.

Read the full story from David Swan and Elias Visontay here.