Here's what you need to know this morning:
Court to rule on local election results after computer crash
The NSW Supreme Court is due to decide whether the election of 19 councillors in December's poll should stand, after the government's electronic voting system failed.
The results in 19 seats in the Shellharbour, Kempsey and Singleton local councils are in dispute and could be declared void.
The case has been brought by the NSW Electoral Commission after the iVote system collapsed on polling day, meaning that thousands of votes were not counted.
The Commission submitted that the failure did not affect the result in the majority of councils but a different outcome may have occurred in Shellharbour, Kempsey and Singleton.
Warning to hikers after spate of rescues
Police have issued a warning to bushwalkers to be prepared before heading outdoors after a spate of recent rescues.
The pandemic has prompted increased interest in hiking and the natural environment, but rescue teams said inexperienced walkers were going into the bush without essential equipment and supplies.
At least 22 hikers have been plucked to safety by rescue teams after becoming lost or injured in national parks and bushland areas.
The leader of the Police Rescue team in the Blue Mountains, Sergeant Dallas Atkinson, will today make an appeal for the public to take greater precautions.
Fatal stabbing on Central Coast
A man has died after being stabbed in the chest at Erina on the Central Coast overnight.
Emergency services were called to Karalta Road shortly before 9:00pm.
Paramedics tried to treat the 42-year-old, but he could not be revived.
A crime scene has been established and an investigation is underway.
New witness in Ben Roberts-Smith hearing
Another member of the elite SAS is expected to be called as a witness today, in the high-stakes defamation case of war veteran Ben Roberts-Smith.
Mr Roberts-Smith claims he was defamed by a series of 2018 newspaper reports, which contained allegations of unlawful killings overseas, bullying and domestic violence.
Publisher Nine Entertainment intends to call a second SAS witness today as it seeks to establish a defence of truth.
For the last two days, a first SAS witness has given evidence about a 2009 mission in which he says he saw Mr Roberts-Smith instruct a colleague to shoot an Afghan captive in a compound, and later saw him shoot another Afghan man in the back himself.
Last year Mr Roberts-Smith described those accusations as false.
By-election voting packs to arrive
The NSW Electoral Commission says voting packs are beginning to arrive in people's mail for the upcoming state by-elections.
Four by-elections will take place in Bega, Monaro, Strathfield and Willoughby on February 12.
For the first time, the NSW Electoral Commission is making it possible for all enrolled residents in the districts to vote by mail.
It says the move will help minimise the spread of COVID-19.
The mail ballots will need to be completed by February 12, with the Electoral Commission adding it won't accept postal votes after February 25.
People can still cast their votes in person both before and on election day.
Sydney news: Court to decide whether some results in 19 local council seats should be declared void due to computer crash - ABC News
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