Australia news LIVE: NSW Police investigate ‘potential terrorist attack’ after caravan of explosives found in Sydney; RFK Jr. grilled in Senate hearing

Sam “The Punisher” Abdulrahim has been farewelled by family and friends in Melbourne’s north this morning, after the underworld figure was shot dead in an organised killing on Tuesday.

Abdulrahim’s immediate family were among the first to arrive, before a hearse carrying a golden casket arrived at about 10.30am, with six men carrying the casket into the Alawi Islamic Association of Victoria Centre during the ceremony.

Police officers are patrolling the streets near the community centre, though there is no visible presence outside the venue.

Abdulrahim, the Melbourne underworld’s most-hunted man, was killed by up to four assailants in a hotel car park on Tuesday.

You can read more about Abdulrahim’s farewell here.

Liberal MP Julian Leeser – whose electorate includes Dural – has called for NSW Premier Chris Minns and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to give more details on the caravan filled with explosives.

Speaking on ABC News, Leeser said the community deserved to know as early as possible.

“I think that the police need to allow the community to find out about these investigations at the earliest possible occasion and that’s a matter for judgement for the police and ultimately a responsibility of the premier,” he said.

“I echo the comments of my leader, Peter Dutton. We also want to know when the prime minister and senior ministers at the federal level knew about this and what, indeed, they have done in this space.”

Leeser rejected comments from the Jewish Council of Australia’s Sarah Schwartz suggesting that the Coalition were exploiting the rise in antisemitism, saying they have instead been “pushing the federal government to act”.

“The federal government needs to be responsible for the fact that it has not done everything in its power.”

It comes after NSW Police Commissioner Karen Webb shared that the antisemitic graffiti incident in the Sydney suburb of Maroubra was one of three such incidents overnight, with buildings in the neighbouring Eastgardens and Eastlakes also subject to the attacks.

You can read rolling coverage of the Dural caravan discovery here.

Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones will leave politics after announcing he would not contest his seat of Whitlam at the upcoming federal election.

Jones entered parliament in 2010, after working as national secretary of the Community and Public Sector Union.

He is the fourth departure from the federal government, joining Bill Shorten, Linda Burney and Brendan O’Connor as those exiting politics this parliamentary term.

You can read more about Jones’ resignation here.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said he and other parliamentary colleagues will be briefed on the discovery of explosives in a Dural caravan today, after the development was made public yesterday afternoon.

Appearing on ABC’s News Breakfast this morning, Chalmers condemned the antisemitism “which is unfortunately becoming a feature all too frequently in our communities”, but was reluctant to weigh into the decision to keep the caravan discovery secret for 10 days.

“I don’t like to go into the processes that are available and the briefings that are available to prime ministers and premiers, I think there is good reason to be cautious and conservative about that,” Chalmers said.

“I will have the opportunity to be briefed on these developments with other colleagues today. I’ll let the prime minister and the premier talk to the sorts of briefings that are available to them.”

Chalmers wouldn’t say if the caravan discovery would trigger another snap meeting of national cabinet, saying such a decision was “in the hands” of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

It comes less than two weeks after Albanese and leaders from the states and territories met to discuss a co-ordinated response to rising levels of antisemitic attacks across the country.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Richard Marles said he enjoyed a “very warm” conversation with newly appointed US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, who was confirmed to the role by the US Senate last week with the smallest possible margin.

Hegseth rejected allegations of sexual assault and aggressive drunkenness put to him in a fiery Senate confirmation hearing last week, where he also faced claims of infidelity. He required the tie-breaking vote of Vice-President J.D. Vance for his nomination to be confirmed.

While refusing to go into detail about the meeting, Marles told ABC Radio National that Hegseth was “very positive” about the AUKUS security deal, and noted a “sense of common purpose” between the two leaders.

“From my point of view, what was really clear in the words of secretary Hegseth to me, was an intention to maintain American leadership in the world in terms of supporting a rules-based order,” Marles said.

“I think Australians can have a sense of confidence that the alliance is going to be maintained in the way you would expect between this government and the Trump administration.

“We live in a world where there are any challenges that are understood by those in the Trump administration, and they mean to maintain American leadership in the world, and that is a very good thing.”

Marles and Hegseth both expressed an interest in speaking in-person, with work to co-ordinate a meeting already underway.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has bristled at questions about when he was briefed about the caravan packed with powerful explosives, saying he does not go into operational matters.

NSW Police kept the domestic terrorism plot from the public despite being discovered in Dural 10 days earlier, which Albanese said was necessary.

“The facts have been put out there. Now, I receive regular briefings from our national security agencies and from the Australian Federal Police. I’ve certainly discussed the issue with the Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns; New South Wales Police have people in custody,” Albanese told ABC Sydney.

“I don’t go into operational details. The important things here are two things. One is that the priority must be keeping Australians safe. And in this case, this incident has been discovered, people have been held to account about ongoing investigations. And that’s the second thing that needs to happen, is that the job of politicians is to support our security agencies.”

Minns has said the call to keep the discovery of the caravan secret was the “right decision”, saying he won’t commit to issuing a media release once a counter-terrorism investigation commences.

“The primary reason for that is not to be covert or hide it from the public. It’s so that the criminals don’t know what the NSW Police are doing in terms of their inquiries,” he said.

“We will release as much information to the public as soon as possible, unless it compromises the police inquiry.”

You can read rolling coverage of the Dural caravan discovery here.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers has said the federal government is “not getting carried away” by the encouraging inflation update released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Wednesday, which found that headline inflation fell to 2.4 per cent in the December quarter while the underlying figure slipped to 3.2 per cent.

Chalmers refused to be drawn on how the inflation figures might influence the timing of the federal election, due by May, telling Today that that would be a matter for Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

“My focus has been on inflation, and what we saw yesterday was very welcome,” Chalmers said.

“It was really encouraging because we made more substantial and sustained progress on every measurable front when it comes to inflation. And we’re encouraged by that, not because we think that these cost of living pressures have disappeared, but because they are easing.”

The inflation figures have accelerated calls by some economists for the Reserve Bank to cut interest rates at its next meeting on February 17 and 18.

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies have reported a fresh graffiti attack at the Mount Sinai College in Sydney’s eastern suburbs overnight, with a nearby home also targeted by vandals.

It comes as police continue to investigate the discovery of explosives in a caravan found in Sydney’s north-west.

The buildings in Maroubra are near the Only About Children childcare centre, which last week was the target of a firebombing. While the childcare centre has no specific link to the Jewish community, an anti-Jewish slur was painted on a wall inside.

The building was unoccupied at the time and no arrests have been made.