The top stories on ABC News.
A court has found Queensland water authorities breached their duty of care over the 2011 floods in the state's southeast. The New South Wales Supreme Court has found flood engineers operating the Wivenhoe and Somerset dams were negligent and didn't follow the manual they helped draft. While the court ruled in favour of the negligence claim against the Queensland government and operators, other parts of the case failed. The matter will be back before the court next year to determine damages.
The Federal Opposition says the defeat of a bill aimed at cracking down on unions is a win for working Australians. The coalition was blindsided when One Nation voted against the ensuring integrity law in the Senate last night. Labor leader Anthony Albanese says it was a bad piece of legislation and he's congratulated Pauline Hanson for listening to the arguments against the proposal.
Three men who plotted a Christmas Day terrorist attack in Melbourne in 2016 have been each sentenced to at least 16 years jail. Ahmed Mohamed, Abdullah Chaarani, and Hamza Abbas were convicted by a jury last year for plotting the Islamic State group inspired attack using machetes and bombs. Mohamed and Chaarani were today sentenced to 26 years jail. Abbas was sentenced to 22 years jail with a minimum of 16 years.
Sydney grandmother Maria Exposto has arrived in Sydney from Malaysia after spending almost five years in jail. She was sentenced to the death penalty last year after being caught with drugs at Kuala Lumpur airport in 2014. This week she was released after the courts agreed she was a victim of an online scam.