Australian news and politics recap June 2: Greens Senator Dorinda Cox leaves party to join Labor

Federal Resources Minister Madeleine King said it was “disappointing” UNESCO didn’t list Aboriginal rock carvings near the North West Shelf as heritage, but vowed to keep pushing for the acknowledgement.

She said the Federal Government would be pursuing “anomalies” in relation to UNESCO’s decision.

“It’s a draft decision and it’s disappointing. I think there are anomalies that we’ll be pursuing with the World Heritage Centre in relation to that,” she told ABC radio on Monday.

“I suppose it’s disappointing that the voices of the Traditional Owners have not been heard in the discussion by UNESCO. But that’s our job to make sure that now happens and is reflected in further discussions by the World Heritage Centre.”

After the shock move to give evidence herself, Erin Patterson will return to the witness box on Tuesday.

On Monday, she details meeting Simon Paterson and the early years of their relationship.

She also shared details on a “separation” the couple went through after the birth of their first child, with Ms Patterson saying it lasted “two to three months”.

Ms Patterson will return to the stand at 10.30am AEST on Tuesday.

Ms Patterson has told the court how she and Simon Patterson went on a trip to Africa before coming back to Australia, landing in Perth.

The couple decided to “put down roots”, with Ms Patterson then falling pregnant.

Ms Paterson described the birth of her son as “very traumatic”, saying her son “wouldn’t come out” and at one point, doctors “lost his heartbeat”.

Ms Paterson confirmed she then had an emergency caesarean.

Ms Patterson has told the court how she and Simon Patterson became engaged in 2007.

She said Don and Gail Patterson were the first to learn of the news.

Ms Patterson said her parents did not attend their wedding at the Korumburra Baptist Church as they were “in Russia on a train”.

After they were wed, the two went on a road trip throughout Australia as their honeymoon.

Ms Patterson has told the court that she was an atheist, but after attending church with her then partner Simon Patterson, her views changed thanks to a “religious experience”.

Ms Patterson joined Simon at the Korumburra Baptist Church, attending a service led by Pastor Ian Wilkinson, the man who survived the alleged triple murder lunch.

On that visit, Ms Patterson said: “I had what can be best described as like a spiritual experience.”

“I’d been approaching religion as an intellectual exercise up until that.

“Does it make sense? Is it rational?

“But I had what I would call a religious experience there and it quite overwhelmed me.”

Ms Patterson told the court she has had ongoing battles with her self-esteem throughout her adult life, explaining it was mainly to do with her “weight”.

“I had been fighting a never-ending battle of low self-esteem most of my adult life,” she said.

“The further inroads I made into being middle-aged, the less I felt good about myself, I suppose.

“Put on my weight, could handle exercise less.”

Ms Patterson told the court that from July 2023, she had felt “space” between her and her family.

“I had felt for some months that my relationship with the wider Patterson family, particularly Don and Gail, had a bit more distance or space put between us; we saw each other less,” she said.

“Perhaps I wasn’t being invited to so many things.

“From the start of the year to July, we mainly just related on logistical things like church, the streaming, the kids.”

Ms Patterson said her relationship with Simon Patterson was “functional”.

Erin Patterson has described the creation of the home where the alleged triple murder took place when her family gathered for a beef wellington lunch.

“Simon and I were involved through the whole design process,” she told the court.

Ms Patterson explained she drew the initial design on Microsoft Paint, before builders told her changes needed to be made.

“I saw it as the final house, meaning I wanted it to be a house where the children would grow up, where, when they moved away for uni or work, they could come back and stay whenever they want, bring their children, and I’d grow old there. That’s what I hoped.”

Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson has taken her seat in the witness stand to give evidence in her trial.

Ms Patterson, who has been present each day for her trial, was seen in a long-sleeved shirt.

She is sitting in front of a computer screen that will show her evidence when it is mentioned.

She gave the court her full name, “Erin Trudi Patterson”, and confirmed she would tell the “whole truth” in her evidence.

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Accused triple murderer Erin Patterson will give evidence at her trial, her defence has just confirmed.

After the prosecution closed their case, Ms Patterson’s lawyer, Colin Mandy SC said: “The defence will call Erin Patterson.”

Before Ms Patterson, 50, took the stand, the judge put the court on a brief afternoon break.

Ms Patterson has pleaded not guilty.