What we learned: Friday 28 November
With that, we will wrap the blog for the evening and the week. Thanks so much for your company today.
Here’s a look at what made headlines:
Have a great evening.
Updated at 01.16 EST
Key events
Show key events only
Please turn on JavaScript to use this feature
Jonathan Barrett
Charcoal chicken chain El Jannah reportedly sold to US private equity firm
El Jannah has reportedly been sold to a US-headquartered private equity firm in a deal worth about $1bn.
The Australian Financial Review reported today that General Atlantic won the tightly contested auction for the Lebanese charcoal chicken chain, beating several other major investment firms including Goldman Sachs Asset Management.
A spokesman for General Atlantic said the company did not have any “additional guidance at this stage”.
El Jannah created a strong foothold in Sydney’s south-west, before expanding. It now has 50 stores spread across NSW, Victoria and the ACT.
Private equity operators tend to view fast food chains favourably because they can be expanded quickly, and tend to grow even during economic downturns.
The owner would then typically sell the business to a new owner, or list it on the stock exchange, to cash in on their investment.
The AFR reported that the New York-headquartered firm had bought the business “for a sale price of almost $1bn”.
Updated at 01.13 EST
Nationals MP likens Barnaby Joyce’s departure to ‘Greek tragedy’
The Nationals MP Michael McCormack is on the ABC and has likened Barnaby Joyce’s departure from the party and “almost a Greek tragedy”.
While speaking to Afternoon Briefing, McCormack quickly put things into perspective and made it clear what he thinks is the real tragedy:
Well, it is a saga, isn’t it? You mention the word tragedy, it is almost a Greek tragedy, isn’t it? It just goes on and on and while it goes on and on we are not talking about things that matter to most Australians and that is the soaring power prices. That is the cost of living crisis. That is the fact that many Australians won’t be able to food on the table or presents under the tree this Christmas. That is a tragedy. It truly is.
Barnaby Joyce (right) with Nationals MPs Michael McCormack and Flynn Colin Boyce in parliament on Thursday. Photograph: Lukas Coch/AAPShare
Updated at 01.03 EST
Amanda Meade
Judgment in Lehrmann defamation appeal to be handed down next week
The judgment in Bruce Lehrmann’s appeal of his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson will be handed down on Wednesday 3 December.
Lehrmann is appealing Justice Michael Lee’s April 2024 judgment, which found the former Liberal staffer was not defamed when The Project broadcast an interview with Brittany Higgins in 2021 in which she alleged she was raped in Parliament House.
Justice Michael Wigney will deliver the judgment on behalf of the full court and will read a summary of reasons.
During the three-day appeal hearing in August, Lehrmann’s lawyer Zali Burrows apologised to the court for her client’s failure to appoint an experienced barrister.
Lehrmann’s case is that he was denied procedural fairness because Lee’s findings about the alleged rape differed from the one alleged by Ten and Wilkinson. Burrows said Lehrmann was not given a chance to respond to that version of the rape.
Ten’s barrister Matt Collins KC told the court Lehrmann’s grounds of appeal are “misconceived” and “a distraction, in our respectful submission”:
Because, at the end of the day, this was a defamation case, not a rape case.
Bruce Lehrmann with lawyer Zali Burrows outside court in August. Photograph: Steve Markham/AAPShare
Updated at 00.20 EST
Base closures are a ‘catastrophe’ for regional Qantas workers, union says
Qantas says it is dedicated to serving country Australia despite shutting bases and skyrocketing costs, amid fears the aviation industry is in crisis.
QantasLink has announced its bases in Canberra, Hobart and Mildura will shut from April 2026, in the wake of Rex falling into voluntary administration and budget airline Bonza collapsing.
The regional arm of Qantas fronted a Senate inquiry to explain the decision in a sometimes heated hearing at Parliament House on Friday.
Chief executive Rachel Yangoyan said:
While at times we need to make tough decisions to ensure the sustainability of our operations, we are as committed as ever to investing in the future of regional Australia.
Flight Attendants’ Association of Australia federal secretary Teri O’Toole said the union helped staff at the three bases secure financial packages to relocate, commute or leave.
Money cannot replace a parent at a dinner table, it cannot replace lost time with an elderly parent.
This closure strips regional Australia of skilled jobs and forces loyal staff to make an impossible choice between livelihood and their loved ones.
We ask the committee to recognise that even with this support for regional workers, a business efficiency measure often remains a personal catastrophe.
– AAP
Updated at 00.28 EST
Monash University has just issued a statement in response to its settlement with the National Tertiary Education Union:
The university will undertake a proactive remediation program to identify and compensate affected sessional staff who were required to perform scheduled student consultation and were not already separately paid.
To support this resolution, and to resolve the matter without the need for further legal proceedings or any penalty hearing, the University will pay $450,000 to the NTEU.
The parties are committed to moving forward constructively in implementing the agreed commitments.
Monash is committed to paying our staff accurately, in line with our Enterprise Agreement and employment obligations.
ShareMonash University to pay compensation to thousands of underpaid casual staff
Monash University will pay back thousands of casual staff who were underpaid over almost a decade after reaching a settlement with the National Tertiary Education Union.
In return for the union not proceeding with proceedings in the federal court, the NTEU says Monash will pay compensation to casual teaching associates worth “eight-figures”.
In a statement, the union said the university would pay it $450,000 in lieu of any penalties that may have been imposed as part of court proceedings.
NTEU Victorian Secretary Sarah Roberts said the settlement had come after a long-running campaign.
This victory belongs to every casual academic who has felt the devastating consequences of wage theft.
Monash fought us every step of the way – even trying to retrospectively change its own enterprise agreement to avoid their obligations – but justice has prevailed.
The scale of this landmark settlement reveals the truth about Australian universities: systemic wage theft underpins their business models. This stops now.
Updated at 00.56 EST
Some more details from the public place shooting in Sydney’s west
NSW police held a press conference a few minutes ago to discuss the public place shooting that left one man dead.
The victim is a man in his 20s, and police currently have two people – a man in his late teens and another in his early 20s – in custody. No charges have been laid so far.
Supt Brendan Gorman said all three men were known to police, but said an investigation into the matter had just begun and there was no further information. Gorman praised officers who responded to the scene “within seconds” of the shooting:
Anyone with any information or any dashcam footage is encouraged to contact NSW police force.
Updated at 23.52 EST
NSW Health warning over high dose MDMA tablets and ketamin
NSW Health has issued a public health warning after discovering a dangerous batch of MDMA tablets with high dosages and ketamin.
Authorities are concerned the substances are still in circulation and will be available at the Hypersonic festival at Sydney showgrounds on Saturday:
The first warning concerns multiple MDMA (ecstasy) tablets and capsules containing a higher dose than usually circulates in tested community samples.
Ketamine-like substances, or analogues, have also been detected in white powder and crystalline matter. Both substances were detected by the NSW government’s drug checking trial at last weekend’s Strawberry Fields event in Tocumwal, in Southern NSW.
NSW Health’s chief addiction medicine specialist, Dr Hester Wilson, has also raised concerns about the impact of these drugs given warm temperatures expected in Sydney this weekend.
High doses of MDMA can cause severe agitation, raised body temperature, seizures or fits, irregular heart rhythm and death.
Hot environments, such as at music festivals, increase the risk of harm from MDMA. Taking a break from dancing, seeking shade and drinking water are important measures to reduce the risk of overheating.
At music festivals there are experienced onsite medical providers and teams of well-trained peer volunteers from programs such as DanceWize NSW who are ready to support you at many major festivals. Other event staff are also trained to help patrons.
Updated at 23.24 EST
Nick Visser
That’s all from me. Henry Belot will take things over from here. Enjoy your weekends!
Some more details from the public place shooting in Sydney’s west
NSW police held a press conference a few minutes ago to discuss the public place shooting that left one man dead.
The victim is a man in his 20s, and police currently have two people – a man in his late teens and another in his early 20s – in custody. No charges have been laid so far.
Supt Brendan Gorman said all three men were known to police, but said an investigation into the matter had just begun and there was no further information. Gorman praised officers who responded to the scene “within seconds” of the shooting.
“Anyone with any information or any dashcam footage is encouraged to contact NSW police force,” he added.
Sussan Ley is ‘still up for the job’ of opposition leader – Australian Politics podcast
Ever since she was elected opposition leader, Sussan Ley has faced strong criticisms from within her party and across the parliament. Some commentators even predicted she’d be out of the job already.
But she has made it to the last sitting week of parliament for the year. On the other side of the aisle, the Albanese government managed to meet their own deadline to legislate changes to outdated nature laws – by settling on a deal with the Greens.
Political editor Tom McIlroy speaks to Ley about her disappointment about the long awaited reforms, Barnaby Joyce resigning from the Nationals and why she thinks “it’s never been about me”.
Take a listen:
Fire and Rescue NSW responds to 100th e-bike battery fire this year
Fire and Rescue NSW says it has responded to 100 lithium-ion battery fires involving e-bikes this year so far.
Officials said a fast-moving blaze “tore through” a two-storey terrace in Sydney’s Redfern early Friday morning. Firefighters arrived to find “intense flames erupting from the ground floor and pushing up over the second-storey balcony”.
The fire was brought under control in about 30 minutes.
Initial investigations suggest the fire likely originated from an e-bike fitted with a lithium-ion battery.
Fire and Rescue NSW issued renewed advice for safety after the blaze, saying users of such devices should always use the correct charger; only use e-bikes and e-scooters from reputable retailers; never charge batteries overnight or while you’re asleep; and that the should not modify the batteries or devices to increase speed or range.
REDFERN | ***VISION ALERT*** 100th e-bike battery fire sparks terrace blaze. Fire and Rescue NSW (FRNSW) has responded to its 100th lithium-ion battery fire involving an e-bike this year, after a fast-moving blaze tore through a two-storey terra… https://t.co/MCdoxg41T2
— Fire and Rescue NSW (@FRNSW) November 28, 2025Share
Updated at 23.50 EST
Adeshola Ore
Apan launch anti-Palestinian racism nationwide register
A Palestinian advocacy group is launching a national register to document anti-Palestinian racism.
The Australian Palestinian Advocacy Network’s dual-language national website will go live on Sunday. The website will be available in English and Arabic.
It comes after the Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia, Aftab Malik, in September called an inquiry into anti-Palestinian racism. Malik said anti-Palestinian racism should not be “absorbed by Islamophobia” but noted there appeared to be a connection between the two.
Nasser Mashni, president at Apan, said the register would give people a “safe place” to report their experience and help push for action against racism.
Apan president Nasser Mashni speaking in Melbourne in August. Photograph: Con Chronis/AAPShare
Updated at 23.55 EST
Man dies after shooting in public place in Sydney’s west
A man has died after a public place shooting in western Sydney.
As we reported earlier in the blog, New South Wales police have been responding after the shooting in the suburb of Blacktown and established a crime scene.
Police now say they arrived and found a man with gunshot wounds to his neck, chest and leg on arrival. The man was treated by paramedics, but died at the scene.
At the same time, officers tried to stop a vehicle in the area that was allegedly attempting to leave the scene. The car did not stop and police began a pursuit, which ended when the car crashed a short time later.
Two occupants ran from the scene and were arrested a short time later. They have been taken to Blacktown police station. No details about any pending charges were available.
Updated at 22.17 EST