Wednesday's news in under 5 minutes.

We’ve rounded up all the latest stories from Australia and around the world – so you don’t have to go searching.

1. Father meticulously planned murder-suicide of his family.

Darren Milne had meticulously planned the murder of his wife and two young children, and his own suicide, when he drove the family car into a tree on the New South Wales Central coast last year.

Milne, an engineer, wrote detailed notes about his plan, including plans to disable the car’s airbags and remove an incriminating dash cam.

Milne’s wife, Susana Estevez Castillo, 39, and their son Liam Milne, 11, both died in the horror smash, but their youngest son, Benjamin, 7, survived.

Susana was pregnant at the time.

A detailed note made months before the deaths revealed Milne believed his  family had to die because there was “too much conspiring” against them and that it was a “good time to go — it is only going to get tougher as time goes on”.

The weight of the evidence has prompted coroner David Day to single Milne’s actions out as among the worst examples of murder-suicide in his coronial report into the family’s deaths.

The report, released yesterday, says “the actions of Darren Milne should attract more than the usual disapproval attached to murder and suicide” and finds that Milne did not consider there could have been survivors from the crash, News.com.au reports.

Or, that the boys could have survived, and be seriously injured by the crash.

“He assumed successful execution of his plan without regard to the possibility that the front seat occupants, he and Susana may not survive, but that one or both the rear-seat passengers would survive, terribly injured, severely disabled or otherwise, or worse, be conscious, trapped inside the cabin when the car caught fire,” the coroner said.

Benjamin is now living with his mother’s family in the United Kingdom.

2. Sydney Siege: Tori Johnson’s mum lashes out at police.

The mother of Lindt Cafe manager Tori Johnson, killed by Man Horin Monis during the Sydney Siege in late 2014, has lashed out at a senior police officer at the inquest.

Tori’s parents, Rosie Connellan and Ken Johnson, stormed out of the inquest after hearing a police forward commander say  Monis had the same rights as the hostages he took.

Ms Connellan yelled at the commander, a senior police officer who cannot be identified, “you’re an absolute disgrace” as she walked out.

The exchange was sparked by comments made under cross examination, when the commander described the process of trying to get Monis out of the cafe as a “high stakes game”.

The ABC has more.

3. Furor as Sydney girls school reportedly bans use of ‘girls’ and ‘ladies’ to refer to students.

Cheltenham Girls High in Sydney’s north-west has reportedly banned the use of “girls”, “ladies” and “women” and asked all staff to use “gender neutral” terms to refer to students.

The Daily Telegraph reports that staff were told of the decision at a recent staff meeting, where they were also told not complying with the policy would be a breach of human rights.

New South Wales education minister Adrian Piccoli is reportedly investigating the “ban”, said to a consequence of the Safe Schools anti-bullying program and an attempt to make transgender students more comfortable.

“I have asked the ­department to investigate these complaints promptly, in accordance with departmental policy,” Piccoli said.

“All schools are required to conform with federal government guidelines. I am advised all schools are following these guidelines. I have asked the secretary to confirm this is the case at all schools, including Cheltenham Girls High School.”

4. Tara Costigan was fleeing abusive partner when she was ‘struck down’ by an axe, sister says.

The day before Tara Costigan was murdered by her ex-partner Marcus Rappel, she took out an AVO against him.

It wasn’t enough.

The new mother, who gave birth to daughter Ayla just seven days earlier, was killed when Rappel attacked her with an axe.

Now her sister, Rikki Schmidt, has revealed her own memories of the attack.

“He was just screaming. He was yelling. He wasn’t saying anything at all,” Schmidt, who was also injured in the attack, has told the ABC.

“He didn’t even shut his door or shut off his car. When I saw his face I knew that he was a completely different person,” she said.

“He wasn’t the person that I knew. [His face looked like] pure evil.”

Rappel has previously pleaded guilty to Costigan’s murder and this week he also pleaded guilty to the grievous bodily harm of Schimdt.

5. Pauline Hanson blames Tony Abbott and John Howard for 2003 jail term.

New Queensland Sentor-elect Pauline Hanson has revealed she blames former Liberal Prime Ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard for her 2003 conviction and jail term for political corruption.

The conviction was later quashed.

Speaking in a new documentary, Hanson fights back tears as she talks about the events of the early 2000s that led to her stint behind bars.

“It took me a long time to get over it. I blame Tony Abbott [and] John Howard for my imprisonment and no one will ever change my opinion about that,” she says.

Hanson says she was placed on suicide watch on her first night in the Wacol Women’s prison.

Hanson and her adviser David Ettridge were found guilty of fraudulently registering the One Nation Party.

Hanson was also found guilty on charges of fraudulently obtaining about $500,000 in electoral funding.

She was sentenced to three years in jail but after serving 11 weeks she was  released, along with Ettridge, after their convictions were overturned on appeal.

“They just threw one court case at me after another,” she says in the film.

“It was a sham. The whole thing was an absolute political witch-hunt to destroy me.

“I just felt everything was stripped away from me and how the people perceived me but I think what was more important is what my kids went through.”

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