Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles, whose electorate covers Geelong, spoke to media on election night wearing a Cats scarf — making it clear who he was backing in the all-important Geelong v Collingwood clash on the same night.

He ended up going three for three by winning his seat, his party winning the election, and of course his beloved Cats beating Collingwood 90-87 in a nail-biter.

9
The number of years it took for Katie Ledecky to break her own world record in the 800m freestyle. The 28-year-old swam the distance in 8 minutes and 4.12 seconds, shaving 0.67 seconds off the record she set at the Rio Olympics in 2016. Ledecky has won four Olympic gold medals in the event. 

"I can't remember the last time a team got penalised with the ball but... we played some dumb footy tonight."
Melbourne Storm halfback Cameron Munster after his side’s golden point loss to the Canberra Raiders on Sunday night. The penalty Munster was referring to saw the Storm stripped of a field goal kicked by Ryan Papenhuyzen because lock Trent Loiero had elbowed a Raider earlier in the play. The Raiders have now won five consecutive matches and are second on the NRL ladder, with the Storm slipping into fourth spot.

Australian swimmer Murray Rose won six Olympic medals (four gold, one silver, one bronze). In 1956, he became the first man to swim the 1500m freestyle in under 18 minutes. The current record is 14 minutes 30.67 seconds, set at the Paris Olympics by U.S. swimmer Bobby Finke. 

⛳ The world’s number one men’s golfer, Scottie Scheffler, claimed his first PGA Tour title of the year at The CJ Cup Byron Nelson. Scheffler finished the tournament 31 shots under par, eight shots ahead of second-placed South African Erik van Rooyen. Scheffler made his PGA Tour debut at the tournament 11 years ago, when he was still in high school. He said: "We have a lot of great memories as kids coming to watch this tournament. I just dreamed to be able to play in it, and it's more of a dream to be able to win it."

🎾 World number one Aryna Sabalenka won a third straight Madrid Open, defeating Coco Gauff in straight sets (6-3, 7-6) in the final. The match marked her fourth consecutive final in the lead-up to the French Open later this month. In the men’s final, 14th seed Casper Ruud beat sixth seed Jack Draper in three sets (7-5, 3-6, 6-4). It is Ruud’s first Masters 1000 title. 

🏉 Australia’s women’s rugby sevens side has fallen short of a World Championship, losing to New Zealand 31-7 in the final of the Los Angeles SVNS. Two-time Olympic champions New Zealand were far too good and are favourites to defend their Olympic title on the same pitch at LA2028. Australia's men’s team finished sixth, losing to France 33-7 in the fifth-placed play-off.

Australian Formula One driver Oscar Piastri won the Miami GP on Sunday afternoon in Florida. The victory was Piastri’s fourth this season, and extends his lead over teammate Lando Norris in the Drivers Championship to 16 points. Red Bull’s Max Verstappen is third, 32 points behind the Aussie. 

On Saturday, Norris had the better of Piastri in the Sprint with the McLaren duo finishing first and second. Then, both of them were beaten in Qualifying by four-time defending world champion Verstappen, with Norris finishing second fastest and Piastri in fourth.

When it came to the actual race, Piastri showed remarkable poise to work through the field and ultimately beat Norris by 4.6 seconds. Mercedes' George Russell finished third, more than 37 seconds behind Piastri, the huge margin showing the superiority of McLaren’s car at this stage of the season.

Piastri said: "I won the race that I really wanted to. Yesterday was a tricky day. Obviously the Sprint was what it was, but Qualifying was probably one of my trickiest sessions of the year. To come away with a win still on Sunday is an impressive result.”

Norris said: "We were up the road so it was a good feeling. Oscar drove well, Max put up a good fight as always and I paid the price but it’s the way it is."

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The Tasmanian Government has decided to build the new stadium for its AFL team without relying on the private sector. Instead, the stadium, to be built at Macquarie Point in Hobart, will be financed through $630 million of existing funding and extra borrowings. 

Former federal Senator for Tasmania and current state MP Eric Abetz announced on Monday that the state Government had decided not to take on private funding to build the stadium. 

Previously, Abetz had said the project could be financed through a public-private partnership model. 

He said today that a public-private partnership model “would cost the taxpayer more, take longer to implement and take away from the asset being owned by and for the Tasmanian people.”

Instead, the stadium will be paid for by the state and federal governments and the AFL, as well as by taking on debt through a state government-managed development company

That debt will be paid off by selling land around the stadium to private developers.  

Tasmania’s Liberal Government, led by Premier Jeremy Rockliff, has been accused of breaking a promise to its taxpayers that the project would cost no more than the $375 million already committed to the project. 

Shadow Treasurer Josh Willie said Rockliff has “lied to Tasmanians,” adding: “The Premier promised Tasmanian government [spending] on the Macquarie Point stadium would be capped at $375 million and ‘not one red cent more’, and repeated the commitment more than 100 times.”

Legislation needs to be passed through the Tasmanian Parliament for the plan to go ahead.

The Liberals are in minority government in Tasmania, which means they will need to negotiate with independents and minor parties to pass the legislation. 

 The Tasmania Devils football club is slated to join the AFL ahead of the 2028 season.