Australia news live: Sydney trains delayed and cancelled amid industrial action; more wild weather for south-east Queensland

City network faces ‘challenging period’ between now and New Year’s Eve; Victorian Liberal MPs will decide whether Moira Deeming should be allowed back. Follow the day’s news headlines live

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Should sanctions against Syria be removed now Assad regime has fallen?

Moving to the Middle East, Simon Birmingham was asked whether sanctions Australia has had in place against Syria since 2011 should be reviewed now the Assad regime has fallen?

I wouldn’t rush to prejudge those conclusions that Australia would wish to see in Syria – a situation where all minorities, all peoples, have their rights protected, where Syria engages responsibly, not only with its own population in terms of their rights, but also with its neighbours … [If there are] strong steps in those directions … of course sanctions should be removed.

What we’ve seen Coalition do is develop independent economic modelling that’s been released – and yes, like all economic modelling, it has people who will criticise and analyse it …

It absolutely is.

I don’t have a piece of paper in front of me that tells you the tonnage or weight of the size of waste. Not denying the fact that there is waste that comes from a nuclear power plant, [but it] is waste that is eminently manageable and sensible for a country like Australia …