Australia news LIVE: Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s visit inflaming tensions; Bill Gates denies ‘false’ Epstein accusations as ex-wife speaks on latest tranche of files

February 4, 2026
7:47 pm

Good morning and welcome to our national news live blog for Thursday, February 5. My name is Emily Kaine, and I’ll be helming our coverage this morning. Here’s what is making news today.

The Liberals and Nationals remain split as Nationals leader David Littleproud is fast running out of time to accept the terms of Liberal leader Sussan Ley’s deal to reform the Coalition. Ley has given Littleproud until the end of this week to agree to the conditions and reform the Coalition, or risk a permanent split.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog’s upcoming visit to Australia has continued to inflame tensions within the Labor Party, as protest and advocacy groups have urged Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to rescind his invitation to Herzog. Yesterday during question time, Labor MP Ed Husic said he was “not comfortable” with the visit. Herzog is set to touch down in Australia on Sunday.
Billionaire philanthropist Melinda French Gates said fresh allegations related to her ex-husband, tech billionaire Bill Gates, in the latest instalment of the Epstein files are “beyond heartbreaking”. Speaking to NPR’s Wild Card podcast on Tuesday, French Gates said the allegations contained in the latest tranche of documents, released by the US Justice Department, had rekindled memories of a difficult time in her life. Bill Gates has said he regrets his relationship with Epstein.
Australia should be willing to risk a backlash from Beijing by deepening defence and economic ties with the self-governing island of Taiwan, a group of leading foreign affairs and national security experts has urged. Most of the experts agreed that the Australia-Taiwan relationship is underdeveloped and falling behind that of like-minded nations such as Japan.
Mogul skiers Jakara Anthony and Matt Graham will be the Australian flag-bearers for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Australian chef de mission Alisa Camplin announced the appointment at a ceremony in Livigno – the location of the freestyle skiing and snowboard events for the Games – on Wednesday morning (Wednesday night AEDT). The Games kick off this week.