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Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out to 12 times its original cost – but the CEO says it ‘could have been worse’

New projections by the Snowy Hydro company show tunnelling work is now 65% finished, but the completion date has been pushed back to 2029

The cost of Snowy Hydro 2.0 has blown out to as much as $25bn, with a major reassessment finding the long-delayed renewable energy project will not be completed until the end of the decade.

First touted by the Turnbull government in 2017 with a price tag of $2bn, the cost of the project in the Kosciuszko national park has increased dramatically over time. In 2023 it was revised to almost $13bn, with construction due to completed by the end of 2028.

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© Photograph: Snowy Hydro

© Photograph: Snowy Hydro

© Photograph: Snowy Hydro

Helen Haines has lost both legs after alleged attack but ‘her heart and mind are in good shape’, husband says

Haines is in stable condition. Surgeons tried to save her right leg but both have now been amputated due to injuries

The independent MP Helen Haines has lost both legs but remains in a stable condition, two days after an alleged targeted attack near her electorate office in north-east Victoria.

Haines, the federal MP for Indi, had been in a critical but stable condition after she was struck by a car in Wangaratta on Monday afternoon. Surgeons were trying to save her right leg on Tuesday, but both legs had to be amputated due to the seriousness of her injuries.

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© Photograph: Jay Kogler/Reuters

© Photograph: Jay Kogler/Reuters

© Photograph: Jay Kogler/Reuters

Helen Haines loses leg as surgeons fight to save the other after alleged attack in Wangaratta

Independent MP is in critical yet stable condition after man allegedly did U-turn to strike her twice with his car

The man accused of attacking Helen Haines allegedly made a U-turn before ramming the independent MP twice in an alleged targeted attack near her electorate office, causing her to lose one of her legs.

The member for Indi was airlifted from Wangaratta in northern Victoria to Melbourne’s Alfred hospital for emergency surgery on Monday night.

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© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

© Photograph: Mick Tsikas/AAP

Helen Haines was chatting with locals at a dog park on Monday morning. By the afternoon, she was fighting for her life

19 October 2026 at 22:14

Australia’s politicians have been facing increasing threats and abuse. It can no longer be dismissed as social media noise or harmless comment

Victorian independent MP Helen Haines was at the opening of a dog park in Mansfield on Monday, out and about in the sprawling northern Victorian electorate, talking to locals and moving freely.

Later in the afternoon, at 3.35pm, she was unpacking a car outside her electorate office when a man understood to be known to authorities struck her with his car. He allegedly completed a U-turn when he saw Haines.

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© Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images

© Photograph: Martin Keep/AFP/Getty Images

Former Labor attorney general turned judge Robert McClelland named new anti-corruption boss

McClelland, who served in the Rudd government, named as boss of National Anti-Corruption Commission after Paul Brereton quit in May

Former Labor attorney general and federal court judge Robert McClelland has been named as the new boss of the National Anti-Corruption Commission.

McClelland was the country’s top law officer in the Rudd government, serving from 2007 until 2011. After leaving parliament in 2013, he has served as the deputy chief justice of the federal circuit and family court of Australia since 2018, after being appointed to the court by the former Coalition government in 2015.

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© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

© Photograph: AAP

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