Australia news live: fresh Dezi Freeman search focused on finding body or evidence, police say; Canavan hopes Joyce will ‘see the light’ and return to Nationals | Australia news

Police in Victoria have cleared bushland, flown drones and traversed caves as part of its latest search to uncover Dezi Freeman, who is accused of shooting dead two policemen in Porepunkah in August.

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In a statement, police said:

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Detectives from Taskforce Summit, supported by specialist resources, have this last week undertaken a targeted search of the Mount Buffalo national park as part of the ongoing search for wanted fugitive Desmond Freeman.

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The extensive search involved a number of units from across Victoria police including local members from eastern region, search and rescue, critical incident response team (CIRT), drone unit and the dog squad as well as two New South Wales police force cadaver dogs.

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Police have spent five days systematically searching 0.886 km2 in thick bush and heavy terrain, conducting line searches and clearing caves.

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No trace of Freeman has been located at this time.

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The area was previously searched on 12 September, police said, with the purpose of locating an “active armed offender”, but the search this week “focused on identifying and locating evidence or the body of Freeman”.

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The homicide squad continues to lead the investigation into the murders of Detective Leading Senior Constable Neal Thompson and Senior Constable Vadim De Waart-Hottart.

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A reward of m remains for information leading to Freeman’s arrest.

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Assistant commissioner Martin O’Brien said:

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The devastating loss of Neal and Vadim has struck at the heart of Victoria police and had an enormous impact on the Porepunkah community.

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I want to reaffirm to the community that Victoria police remains committed to doing everything we can – using every available resource and the necessary capabilities – to locate Desmond Freeman.

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We will continue to conduct targeted searches such as this one based on intelligence.

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You can read more on the ongoing search for Freeman here:

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Nationals senator Matt Canavan hopes Barnaby Joyce will “see the light” and come back to the party to continue their crusade against net zero, AAP reports.

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The now-independent maverick MP announced his resignation from the Nationals after 30 years with “a heavy heart” last week.

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His Nationals’ colleagues had worked for weeks to convince their former leader to stay in the party, and it appears the fight isn’t over for Canavan who said Joyce would be a “prodigal son” if he returned:

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He hasn’t signed for another team so I hold out hope he’ll come back, he’ll see the light and come back to his natural home of the Nationals Party. …

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I’ll keep doing what I can to convince him to rejoin our team … I’m already fattening the calves.

n

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The Victorian government will deliver a 0m operating surplus this financial year, an 0m improvement from when the budget was handed down in May, with the state’s debt also forecast to marginally improve.

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The treasurer, Jaclyn Symes, on Friday released the midyear budget update, which showed the 2025-26 operating surplus is 0m, compared with the 0m forecast in May.

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Net debt is forecast to rise to 2bn by 2028-29, a bn improvement on the 4bn figure in the budget.

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The Victorian government will rake in 9.8bn in revenue this financial year, compared with the 8.3bn it forecast in May. Its expenses bill will be 9bn, compared to 7.7bn in May.

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Symes will be holding a press conference shortly.

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