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SENATOR TRISH CROSSIN PASSES AWAY 

At the age of 70, former Labour Senator Trish Crossin has passed away following a heart attack on a flight home from the US, where she had celebrated her 70th birthday. Senator Crossin was a school teacher in Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory before entering the Senate in 1998 as the first female to represent the Northern Territory. 

 

Senator Trish Crossin in Parliament | Source: ABC

 

Senator Crossin was re-elected for a whopping five terms and was forced to retire in 2013 following a captain’s pick by Prime Minister Julia Gillard, which made her seat impossible to cling to. In Australia’s Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory, Senators are elected every election, whereas States elect half of their Senators each election. Minister for Foreign Affairs and Leader of the Government in the Senate, Senator Penny Wong, described Senator Crossin as “a resolute advocate for First Nations communities and regional Australia.” 

 

Senator Wong continued with a recount of Senator Crossin’s entry into the Senate “In her first speech in 1998, she thanked the Yolngu people in their own language, giving 'a public undertaking to work hard to represent them and to continue to respect and acknowledge their rights', She was also a fierce unionist and feminist, and a co-sponsor of the first marriage equality bill in the Senate." 

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VICTORIAN MINISTERIAL RESHUFFLE AHEAD OF ELECTION

Premier of Victoria, Jacinta Allan, has been forced to reshuffle her cabinet after three Ministers announced their intention to resign at the upcoming election and opted not to continue as ministers until the November election. The Minister for Health, Mary Anne-Thomas, Minister for Government Services, Danny Pearson and Minister for Water, Gayle Tierney, all announced their resignations from the ministry and that they will not contest their seats.  

 

Premier Jacinta Allan | Source: ABC

 

Their successors are Paul Edbrooke, Michaela Settle, Luba Grigorovitch and Paul Hamer. The fifth potential contender, Tim Richardson, will now take on the role of Cabinet Secretary. There has been a level of scepticism regarding the longevity of the Allan Labour government and whether they are likely to be given the honour of a fourth term, with the Premier using this re-shuffle to demonstrate a “new” government. 

 

Opinion polls currently have their future in doubt, with Labour currently on 28%, the Liberal National coalition on 38% and a rising One Nation vote expected to upset the usual two-party contest. This will be a state to watch. 

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BALLOT PAPERS FOUND IN SOUTH AUSTRALIAN SEAT

The Electoral Commission of South Australia recently announced that more than 600 ballot papers had been discovered in the electorate of Stuart, which were for the electorate of Narungga, won by One Nation’s Chantelle Thomas by 58 votes. 

 

Chantelle Thomas | Source: ABC

 

The Electoral Commission advised that they had contacted all candidates in the electorate of Narungga to advise them of this discovery. Later, it was determined that all except for 81 ballot papers were for the electorate they were found in. The 81 ballot papers for Narungga were counted, and the result increased One Nation’s margin from 58 votes to 74 votes and cemented Chantelle Thomas’ claim on the seat. The Electoral Commission and the South Australian government have both claimed to be launching independent reviews into the incident. 

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LIVERPOOL COUNCIL BY-ELECTION

A by-election took place on Saturday, 18th April 2026 in the Liverpool Council’s South ward to replace Councillor Betty Green, who resigned recently from both the position of Deputy Mayor and a councillor, which forced the by-election to be held. Councillor Green cited health reasons for her resignation. 

 

Mayor Mannoun (Left) with Betty Green (Right) | Source: Liverpool City Council

 

Councillor Green stated, “My husband and family have stood by me in all my years at work and in my council work.  I could not have done this without their backing and encouragement. It was a great honour to be elected Deputy Mayor, and I took great pleasure advocating for Liverpool during my term of office. From my experience in working with the community and key stakeholders, I have learned that listening, working cooperatively, and collaborating to solve complex problems leads to better outcomes. Throughout my professional and voluntary career spanning three decades, fairness, equity and social justice have always been at the heart of my work with and for the community”. 

 

Zeli Munjiza | Source: Facebook

 

The resulting by-election was won by Labour’s Zeli Munjiza with approximately 34.6% of the vote, and Councillor Green’s role of Deputy Mayor was won by Independent Councillor Peter Harle. 

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NEWCASTLE HAS A NEW LORD MAYOR

On Saturday, 18th April 2026, the people of the City of Newcastle returned to the polls in a by-election triggered by the resignation of Lord Mayor Ross Kerridge, who resigned in February due to health concerns associated with his cancer treatment. 

 

The front runners appeared to be Labour’s Declan Clausen, Greens Councillor Charlotte McCabe, Independent Gavin Morris and Liberal’s Jenny Barrie. Clausen, McCabe and Barrie are all sitting Councillors; it became clear their biggest competitor was the Independent candidate, Gavin Morris, who had received the endorsement of outgoing Lord Mayor, Ross Kerridge. 

 

Gavin Morris with supporters on election night | Source: Newcastle Herald

 

The result of the by-election was a thumping victory for Independent Gavin Morris, who was successful in obtaining 50% of the primary vote. Morris’ campaign was filled with videos of the former weatherman conducting weather reports on his social media platforms. 

 

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PALAU LEADER HAS FIRST STATE VISIT TO NEW ZEALAND

President of Palau Surangel Whipps Jr will become the first Palauan President to conduct a state visit to New Zealand and will meet with Prime Minister Christopher Luxon during his visit. Prime Minister Luxon stated, “As consecutive Forum hosts, we want to make the most of the next two years. The Forum provides an important opportunity to work with partners and ensure their support reflects priorities set by Pacific countries.” 

 

President Whipps Jr | Source: RNZ

 

President Whipps will be welcomed at Government House in Auckland by Governor-General Dame Cindy Kiro, and it is expected that multiple meetings with Cabinet ministers will take place during President Whipps’ visit. 

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ANOTHER DEVASTATING POLL FOR AN EMBATTLED PM 

Prime Minister Christopher Luxon is facing new calls for him to resign over yet another poll showing his party, National, slumping to just 30% of the projected vote should an election be held today. This is the worst result since Christopher Luxon became leader in 2021. In contrast, Labour, led by Chris Hipkins, has risen in the polls by 5% to a projected total of 37%. If this result were replicated at the election, the coalition currently in power would be unable to govern.  

 

Prime Minister Luxon | Source: NZ Herald

 

When converted to seat counts, the coalition would hold 58 seats, and the Labour, Greens, and Te Pati Maori parties would govern with 66 seats. These parties have been dubbed “the centre-left bloc” in recent times. This will spell election devastation to the government if this result comes to fruition. This will be an interesting week for the Prime Minister, who has so far not indicated he will resign. 

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WHO ARE VIVA LA DIRT LEAGUE?

Viva La Dirt League, consisting of three gentlemen who post sketches often based in an electronics store called “PlayTech”. The three founding members are Adam King, Alan Morrison and Rowan Bettjeman. These New Zealand-born internet stars have a relatively lower audience in their home country but are massive internationally. 

 

Viva La Dirt League | Source: RNZ

 

Adam King spoke to RNZ recently and stated that “We went to Germany recently and wow, every time we went out for dinner, we'd be in the restaurant and we'd have multiple people come over and say hi or we'd be walking down the street and just constantly being stopped by people.” King also spoke about their vision for a studio for permanent sets, which were funded by a Kickstarter that raised $4.5 million instead of their target of $500,000. 

 

King also said that “Here at Viva La Dirt League, we, a lot of us, us boys, the rest of our actors, a lot of our crew have struggled with mental health in the past or is currently to this day. It’s something we talk about a lot around here. We've done a good 10 or 11 mental health sketches over the past five or six years, and they've been very well received by the audience. There's no one saying, “Oh, you can't say depression there, or you can't say that there, or you can't say that person needs to eat an apple and smile”. You know, we can still create the videos the exact way that we want. I don't really think anyone in the audience has critiqued us for taking government money to make more mental health comedy videos.” 

 

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SOLOMON ISLANDS PARLIAMENT IN LIMBO 

Making news in the Solomon Islands is the gridlock currently facing the nation’s Parliament. This is due to Prime Minister Manele not convening parliament amid the opposition claiming to now hold a majority in the Parliament. 

 

Prime Minister Manele | Source: RNZ

 

A court recently ruled that Prime Minister Manele was required to convene parliament and face a motion of no confidence within three days beginning 15th April 2026; however, on 16th April 2026, the Governor-General has refused to convene parliament due to an appeal being lodged on the High Court decision by the government led by Jeremiah Manele and a stay of execution is currently in effect which suspends the enforcement of the High Court judgement.  

 

Governor-General Sir David Tiva Kapu has advised that “I will exercise my powers to convene parliament at the appropriate date and time” amid calls from the opposition for the Governor-General to utilise his powers to convene Parliament on Friday. 

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MARSHALL ISLANDS REDUCES OPERATING HOURS AMID FUEL CONCERNS 

In a move to save energy and reduce the strain on Marshalls Energy Company and its resources, the government has directed all non-essential government services to close at 3pm over the next 90 days. The declaration of the emergency order stated that “Compliance with the 90-Day Emergency Electricity Savings Policy is mandatory. The National Energy Authority will monitor the monthly MEC baseline reports to verify progress toward the 30 per cent reduction goal." 

 

Majuro Hospital | Source: RNZ

 

Various exemptions are in effect for essential services like schools, hospitals and the College of the Marshall Islands. Secretary of Health Francyne Wase-Jacklick stated, “Outpatient, maternal child health, immunisation, public health programs, and rehab services will continue as usual, with only internal adjustments to reduce energy use where possible."