Sunday'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. Tony Abbott’s final drinks as PM to be funded by taxpayers.

Discussions at Senate estimates, this week, have confirmed that Australian taxpayers will pick up the tab on former Prime Minister, Tony Abbott’s, final drinks at Parliament House.

Ongoing controversy has stemmed from a “wild party” that occurred the night of Abbott’s disposal as Prime Minister, which also caused damage to a marble table in the Prime Minister’s office.

Whilst Abbott has stated that he will cover the estimated $1,000 in damage incurred to the table, he has not offered to pay for the alcohol supplied at his party.

The Daily Telegraph reports that the former PM began the night with his official wine collection that was being stored at Parliament House during renovations at the Lodge. The wine collection is paid for by taxpayers money.

Jamie Briggs, now the Minister for Cities and the Built Environment, was brought into Parliament House by a wheelchair the day after Abbott’s removal as PM. Despite initially claiming that injuries to his ACL were caused by running, Briggs has confirmed that were sustained at Abbott’s infamous party.

However, he did deny any reports of Abbott, or any other members dancing on tables.

“Some of the reports about dancing on tables and so forth are just wrong. How the table broke I actually don’t know, I wasn’t there, I don’t have a piece of the table in my office.

“I had, at that point, limped back to my office, if I can put it that way.”

2. Drug addicts using baby changing rooms to “shoot up”.

The Daily Telegraph is reporting that guards are now having to patrol baby changing rooms after an influx of ice users shooting up in shopping centres.

One mum, Lorena Ifran, who shops at the Broadway Shopping Centre in Sydney, alleged that she saw “blood everywhere” in a parents’ room, supposedly after a drug addict had been in there.

She claims that she doesn’t use the changing rooms as Broadway, also after reading a number of other parents’ complaining about the conditions caused by drug use.

A spokesperson for Broadway shopping centre has confirmed that the “misuse” of parents’ room are causing ongoing issues for the centre.

“We have significantly increased our security presence in that area to mitigate the risk of such things happening, however, we have been unable to completely eliminate it,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson also confirmed that the centre is using CCTV throughout the centre, with regular security patrols occurring 24/7.

A local inspector for the area has stated that no one is “immune” to scourge of drug use, but the shopping centres have been proactive in addressing the concerns.

3. Hurricane Patricia has weakened off the Mexican coast.

At 6:15pm local time on Friday evening, Hurricane Patricia hit the Western coast of Mexico, with torrential rain and winds of up 266 kilometres per hour.

However, ABC is reporting that the category 5 storm was downgraded to a tropical storm by early Saturday morning.

Patricia caused chaotic scenes in some areas, but left many areas that were expected to be affected by the hurricane, untouched. A resort in Puerto Vallarta experienced minor flooding in parts, but had many tourists returning to their hotel rooms on the same night the hurricane hit.

Manger of the Posadas de Roger hotel, Dario Pomina, said “Things are more or less okay,” while a local joked that he had seen bigger waves on normal days.

Mexican President, Enrique Pena Nieto, said in a televised appearance: “The initial reports confirm that damage has been less than would be expected of a hurricane of this magnitude, but we cannot lower our guard yet.”

There are concerns that further flash flooding and landslides could be caused as the hurricane travels inland. The government has alerted the public that with the ash from the nearby and recently active Colima volcano, large rainfall could combine to cause extremely dangerous and destructive mudflows.

No deaths have yet been reported.

4. Memorial for Sydney Siege victims has been delayed.

The NSW Government has announced that the unveiling of the permanent memorial for the two victims of the siege at Martin Place, Katrina Dawson and Tori Johnson, will be delayed for an indefinite period of time.

The memorial was initially planned to be ready either before or on the first anniversary of the event.

The Premier, Mike Baird, attributes the delay to thorough consultation with Dawson and Johnson’s families, ensuring that the memorial is appropriately planned, and not rushed.

“I said many times that Tori Johnson and Katrina Dawson will live forever in the heart of Sydney, and the permanent memorial will ensure that,” said the Premier.

“But we must do it properly, compassionately and entirely in partnership with the two grieving families. It must happen at a pace and in a manner they are comfortable with.”

The Sydney Morning Herald reports that a number of other factors contributed to the delay, including renovations of Martin Place and the date of the siege occurring on the mother of Katrina Dawson’s birthday.

The memorial is expected to include a garden and will focus on preservation of the thousands of messages left in Martin Place by members of the public.

5. “Homeless of Melbourne”: sharing the stories of individuals experiencing homelessness to breakdown the stigma.

Nick Pearce and Marcus Crook are a Melbourne duo who are changing the face of homelessness by sharing the stories of people experiencing homelessness.

What initially started as Crook asking questions of the homeless during his lunch breaks, has now turned into a Facebook page with almost 30,000 followers, as well as a pop-up and online store.

One of the stories shared on the Facebook page is the story of Lisa, aged 27:

“He bashed my teeth out, and when I went to the hospital they asked me whether I wanted to charge him. I never thought he’d get charged for it, I thought he’d get off and just flog me again.

“I’ve been on the streets for ten days. Once he was locked up I was kicked out of his house. The police changed the locks and everything.

“A couple of weeks ago I only looked at it from one point of view. I thought that people who lived on the streets were on drugs or drunks and that they should just get a job. I never thought it could happen so easily.

“Sometimes people will stand there, and they’ll just look down at you. Someone laughed at me the other day, and it crushed me. I couldn’t sit there anymore. I folded my sign and gave up for the day.

“If people just smiled as they walked past it would help. They don’t even need to stop and chat. Just because someone’s on the street, it doesn’t mean they stop being human.”

The pop-up store, HoMie, is located in Melbourne Central and sells clothes that helps to purchase homeless individuals essential items.

If you would like to visit their Facebook page, click here or the website, here.

Do you have a news tip? We’d love to hear it. E-mail us at: news@mamamia.com.au

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