Australia news live: data hack on Victorian public schools; SA premier defends criticism of Randa Abdel-Fattah

Peter Malinauskas says he has done what he thinks ‘is right’ in his handling of the Adelaide writers’ week fall-out. Follow updates liveGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastThe South Australian premier, Peter Malinauskas, says his criticism of Palestinian writer and academic Randa Abdel-Fattah is “not about politics” but “examining your conscience and doing what you think is right, consistent with a few basic principles”.On Wednesday, lawyers acting for Abdel-Fattah served a formal concerns notice for defamation on the premier, suggesting the fallout from her cancellation from the 2026 event – which is itself is now cancelled – is far from over.Ms Randa Abdel-Fattah will do what she will do and she’s entitled to take whatever action she likes but my responsibilities is to make sure that particularly in a time like this post-Bondi, we aren’t escalating tensions in this country unnecessarily and more than that, when we express opinions we’re able to do so respectfully.The safety and privacy of students is our top priority, we have identified the point of the breach and have put safeguards in place, including the temporary disabling of systems to ensure no further data is able to be accessed.
There is no evidence to suggest that the data accessed has been released publicly or shared with other third parties. Continue reading...