Author Adam Johnson criticises Waverley council saying ‘reality is often upsetting’ while Palestinian group says libraries should hold ‘challenging’ books
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A Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.
Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach.
Continue reading...Author Adam Johnson criticises Waverley council saying ‘reality is often upsetting’ while Palestinian group says libraries should hold ‘challenging’ books
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A Sydney library has removed a book critical of Israel called How to Sell a Genocide, following a complaint reportedly from a survivor of the Bondi beach terror attack.
Waverley library at Bondi Junction is in the same council area as Bondi beach.
Continue reading...The new measure falls short of calls for gambling ads to move to an opt-in model, or for an outright ban
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The Labor government has pledged a new single-service opt-out register for gambling ads – an idea similar to the Do Not Call register for spam calls – as part of amendments to its wagering ad bill, as well as restrictions on inducements and limiting commissions for agents.
The communications minister, Anika Wells, has also confirmed gambling companies will face a new levy to pay for the register, a beefed-up measure to curb wagering ads, after concerns were raised through a Senate inquiry that people would struggle to find or complete individual opt-out options on each online service.
Continue reading...Legislation for plan passed parliament earlier this year and is set to commence in NSW from November. Follow live updates
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Pauline Hanson says she is opposed to a major gun buyback being announced by Anthony Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, in Sydney shortly.
Legislation for the plan passed parliament earlier this year, part of the response to the Bondi beach terror attack. It will be run in two phases, with the cost split 50:50 between the federal and NSW governments.
A different gun is for a different purpose, and you have to understand guns. I’ve got my own gun license, so I understand these people.
Continue reading...‘There’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness,’ Tyron Whitten says on YouTube show
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One Nation senator Tyron Whitten has claimed parents supporting their children who identify as transgender are engaging in “child abuse”, telling a fringe YouTube show: “there’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness”.
Guardian Australia has unearthed several incendiary comments from Whitten and fellow One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and her longtime lieutenant Malcolm Roberts, about transgender Australians.
Continue reading...Greens say Labor’s reform set to ‘rip life-changing supports away from disabled people instead of raising additional revenue through taxing gas exports’
Cross-benchers have slammed the Albanese government’s proposed overhaul of the NDIS as going “too far, too fast” as the changes to curb the growth of the $52bn program appear set to pass the parliament as early as next week.
The Greens and independent ACT senator, David Pocock, delivered scathing assessments of the bill they warn will enable blunt and indiscriminate cuts to individual budgets supporting more than 770,000 Australians with disabilities in a final Senate inquiry report released on Friday afternoon.
Continue reading...Exclusive: The videos, filmed at anti-One Nation rallies, were posted to party’s social pages and appear to be endorsed by Pauline Hanson
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The owners of a progressive social media page have accused One Nation of impersonating them at anti-Pauline Hanson rallies while shooting a series of “undercover” videos.
Hanson’s party has recently published a string of videos with a young male host attending leftwing protests. In the clips – published on pages owned by One Nation and Hanson on Instagram, TikTok and X – a party staffer seeks to embarrass protesters in filmed interviews.
Continue reading...Rio Tinto makes power supply deal with federal and NSW government to cut emissions and decarbonise, preventing potential closure
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Resources giant Rio Tinto says Australia’s largest aluminium smelter will run entirely on renewable energy by 2033 after it struck a $2.5bn subsidy deal with the federal and New South Wales governments to prevent a potential closure.
The deal – announced by Anthony Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, at the Tomago smelter near Newcastle on Thursday – is for a 10-year below-market power supply guarantee that begins after the facility’s existing coal-focused electricity contract with AGL ends in December 2028.
Continue reading...High schoolers join university walkouts in major cities and several smaller locations amid urge to ‘stand up against the far right’
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Calls for striking students to stay in school are unlikely to deter thousands across the country preparing to take part in a major walkout in protest against Pauline Hanson.
High schoolers have begun joining the coordinated university union protests taking place in every major city and several smaller locations across the country on Thursday afternoon.
Continue reading...One Nation MP says failed WA candidate’s comments describing same-sex attraction as a mental illness are ‘highly offensive’
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Barnaby Joyce has defended One Nation as “one of the gayest parties in Australia” after comments surfaced from one of its failed candidates describing same-sex attraction as a mental illness.
The former National turned One Nation MP was asked to respond to a series of homophobic comments made by a former Western Australian legislative council candidate for One Nation in a video last month, as first reported by ABC on Wednesday afternoon.
Continue reading...Angus Taylor and other Coalition members not supporting shadow housing minister’s target migration numbers, which would be the lowest figures since the mid-2000s
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The Liberal senator Andrew Bragg has stood by his proposal to lower net migration to 180,000 a year in a wide-ranging speech where he lamented not stopping the Morrison government’s “madness” – even as colleagues side-stepped supporting the target figure publicly.
The opposition frontbencher said a housing “shortfall” – comparing the number of dwellings against population size – could be rectified if the net overseas migration (Nom) target was set at 180,000 or under over four years.
Continue reading...This blog is now closed
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Coalition demands NDIS changes focus on fraud, corruption
Liberal frontbencher Tim Wilson also called on the government to focus more on fraud and corruption issues in the NDIS, as the Coalition and Labor negotiate on changes to the disability scheme.
We have people who are awarding either packages to people when they shouldn’t be used, we’re having people taking advantage of the system and we know this is being exposed.
And so as a consequence we’ve seen this massive growth continue to go on and we need to make sure that that’s the focus, not the targeting of the clients. You know, if you go out to voters in Australia, there are a lot of people who are on disability support packages who are very nervous about their future and it’s because of how this government has looked at reforms and they feel like they’re being targeted, not the fraudsters.
We’re not wowsers, we do believe in protecting children, particularly from harm.
Under the government’s proposed bill, it doesn’t limit the capacity to advertise to children and that’s something that I’m concerned about, making sure that we’ve got the measures that are consistent, appropriate, and also reflecting the changing nature of technology
Continue reading...Sources say Albanese government willing to tighten rules on betting inducements but less likely to budge on TV and online advertisements
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The Albanese government is prepared to tighten rules on gambling inducements, but is less likely to budge on advertising rules, as negotiations continue on wagering legislation, which so far has lacked the support needed to pass parliament.
Federal Labor is open to considering amendments to its legislation from the Coalition when MPs return to Canberra this week, sources say.
Continue reading...Former Republican state congressman, who once argued Christianity and capitalism should merge, confirmed by US Senate to fill long-vacant role
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Former Virginia congressman David Brat has been confirmed by the US Senate to be the next US ambassador to Australia, after the role had been left vacant for 18 months.
Brat’s confirmation was among more than 70 votes pushed through the Senate by Republicans on Friday, Washington time, before the summer recess.
Continue reading...Energy minister says Australian households and energy reliability will be protected by new federal legislation
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The energy minister, Chris Bowen, says the federal government will override state governments that oppose new national rules on datacentres, with commonwealth legislation forcing new AI datacentres to be powered by renewable energy and banning those fuelled by gas.
Bowen said he expected his counterparts in Queensland and the Northern Territory – who had protested against the new federal rules at a meeting last week – to be unhappy with the move, but said the Albanese government was committed to powering the AI revolution with renewable energy.
Continue reading...The former Liberal finance minister was questioned by Icac counsel assisting, Peggy Dwyer, on Tuesday
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The bombshell came in the last five minutes of former finance minister and rightwing powerbroker Damien Tudehope’s examination before the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac).
At 3.30pm on Tuesday, Tudehope was shown an email which he sent in February 2023, attaching a leaked draft parliamentary report into branch stacking in the Hills area by the Reformers, the shadowy group at the centre of Icac’s Operation Rosny.
Continue reading...Education minister Jason Clare says the results showed ‘real challenges’ but numeracy scores were heartening
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Reading and writing scores are going backwards for almost every age group in Australia’s national standardised school tests, with one in three students still failing to meet Naplan benchmarks.
This year’s tests were taken in March by 1.2 million students across years 3, 5, 7 and 9 to measure literacy and numeracy proficiency, with results released on Wednesday by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (Acara).
Continue reading...National Foreign Trade Council ‘disappointed’ at move to expand News Bargaining Incentive but Australian experts say government is not going far enough
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A major US trade body has rubbished the Albanese government’s plan to make more big tech platforms pay for Australian journalism, issuing a veiled warning about how Donald Trump may respond to the “deteriorating trend”.
The National Foreign Trade Council said it was “disappointed” at the Australian government’s move to expand its News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) to take in Microsoft’s LinkedIn, amid trade tensions between Washington and Canberra including newly increased tariffs on Australian goods.
Continue reading...Petrol now costs more than $1.90 a litre in every capital city, with diesel expected to exceed $2.40 a litre
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Petrol prices could surpass $2 a litre and diesel $2.40 in coming days, after the government’s 16-cent discount ends on Sunday.
The 32-cent per litre reduction in fuel excise, introduced in March at the peak of the fuel price spike, was halved to 16 cents in July.
Continue reading...Former leader shows support for new Victorian premier while paying tribute to Jacinta Allan
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Daniel Andrews has thrown his support behind Victoria’s new premier, Ben Carroll, saying he has what it takes to win November’s state election.
In a rare public statement on Wednesday, the former premier also paid tribute to Jacinta Allan, whom he handpicked to replace him as Labor leader when he resigned in September 2023.
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