Category Archives: Australia news

Documents reveal concerns over US company’s proposed gas fracking in WA’s Kimberley region

Posted on by

Federal environment department says Black Mountain Energy has provided insufficient data as it seeks to drill 20 gas wells in part of world’s largest tropical savanna

The federal government has repeatedly raised concerns about an American company’s bid to frack for gas in Western Australia’s Kimberley region, part of the world’s largest and most intact tropical savanna.

Texas-based Black Mountain Energy, through its subsidiary Bennett Resources, is seeking federal approval to drill 20 gas wells for its Valhalla project west of Fitzroy Crossing.

Continue reading...

‘Osprey cam’ streams life of nesting seabirds perched at tip of 55 metre-long Queensland rainforest canopy crane

Posted on by

Researchers believe the same pair of birds have been mating and nesting in the unusual spot in the Daintree Rainforest for 15 consecutive years

It started by chance – but it should have come as no surprise that two ospreys would pick a hi-tech research facility to make their home.

James Cook University’s 47-metre tall crane towers over the far-north Queensland rainforest canopy, making it the perfect nesting place for the seabird.

Continue reading...

NSW prosecutors launch proceedings against Labor officials accused of disguising donations to Chris Minns

Posted on by

Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee are facing court over allegedly circumventing election funding laws

New South Wales prosecutors have launched proceedings against two state Labor officials after they allegedly disguised donations to Chris Minns during his election campaign almost a decade ago.

On Tuesday, the NSW Electoral Commission revealed the director of public prosecution had begun proceedings against former Labor MP Ernest Wong and restaurateur Jonathan Yee. The commission commenced an investigation in 2019 into a “potential scheme to circumvent” election funding laws during the campaign to elect Minns for the seat of Kogarah.

Continue reading...

Jacinta Allan says Pauline Hanson ‘chooses to barrack for bullies’ over ‘ditch the witch’ billboard

Posted on by

Victorian premier says she will always call out ‘misogynist’ views after One Nation leader says ‘if the shoe fits’

Jacinta Allan has dismissed leadership speculation and says she will continue to call out “sexist, misogynist, hateful” commentary directed at her, despite the One Nation leader Pauline Hanson’s advice to “suck it up, sweetheart”.

On Sunday, the Victorian premier criticised a truck-mounted billboard, which has been travelling around Melbourne for several weeks, featuring AI-generated images of her wearing a black pointed hat alongside the phrase “ditch the witch”.

Continue reading...

Brisbane woman who gave lethal medication to terminally ill husband released on bail after murder charge

Posted on by

David Ronald Mobbs, who had motor neurone disease, had said he didn’t want to live if his illness became intolerable, court hears

A woman who gave a lethal cocktail of medication to her husband who was dying from motor neurone disease has been granted bail after being charged with murder.

Kylie Ellina Truswell‑Mobbs was granted bail on Tuesday after being charged with murdering her 56-year-old husband, who was dying from motor neurone disease.

Continue reading...

ABC began international search to replace Justin Stevens as news director without his knowledge

Posted on by

Hugh Marks confirms ABC secretly engaged recruitment firm and signals sweeping changes at national broadcaster

The ABC managing director, Hugh Marks, has confirmed he secretly engaged a recruitment company to look for a replacement for news director Justin Stevens after the two disagreed over the direction of ABC News.

Marks said Stevens “did not know” he had begun an international search for a new head of news but it was a necessary move because they “couldn’t get agreement on the way forward”.

Continue reading...

Richard Scolyer, cancer researcher and former Australian of the year, dies aged 59

Posted on by

Scolyer, who did pioneering work on immunotherapy, was diagnosed with inoperable brain cancer in 2023

Prof Richard Scolyer, the world-renowned cancer researcher and former Australian of the year, has died at the age of 59.

Scolyer’s family shared a statement the eminent pathologist and melanoma expert penned before his final stages of illness.

Continue reading...

One Nation leader Pauline Hanson tells rally Ben Roberts-Smith is a person ‘I respect and I admire’

Posted on by

Hanson compares former soldier’s prosecution for war crimes to her 2003 jailing for electoral fraud, which was later overturned

The One Nation leader, Pauline Hanson, told a rally in support of Ben Roberts-Smith that the former soldier accused of war crimes is a person “I respect and I admire”, before its organiser called for “an army of civilians” to support him.

About 100 supporters gathered in Rocks Riverside Park in Seventeen Mile Rocks in southern Brisbane on Sunday.

Continue reading...

PM backs upping the volume at Sydney Opera House – ‘I’m a member of the fun faction’ – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Australian borrowing personal loans in record amounts

Australians are borrowing record amounts in personal loans as a long-term buildup in living costs wipes out savings buffers.

Continue reading...

Multiple teens arrested over alleged machete brawl in Melbourne as government says crime laws working

Posted on by

Commuters were forced to run for cover after a group of youths allegedly fought with knives at Flinders Street station on Saturday night

The Victorian government has defended the effectiveness of its machete ban after multiple teens were arrested over an alleged machete brawl in the heart of Melbourne.

Shocked commuters ran for cover after a group of youths – some armed with machetes – brawled at Melbourne’s Flinders Street station concourse on Saturday night.

Continue reading...

Man dies after shark attack off Western Australia coast near Albany

Posted on by

Government department says man was in the water around Michaelmas Island, near Albany, when he was bitten by a suspected 4.5-metre shark

A male diver aged in his 30s has died after being bitten by a shark in Western Australia.

The state’s police force confirmed on Saturday afternoon that the 35-year-old man had died, after being treated by paramedics at the scene for more than two hours.

Continue reading...

Australian snow season begins amid El Niño fears

Posted on by

Webcams showed snow blanketing the ground in some areas. In others, it was patchy or nonexistent

Australia’s snow season has officially begun, with resorts predicting a good season despite climactic threats and the cost-of-living crisis.

Between 20cm and 40cm of snow fell across the Victorian and New South Wales alps before the long weekend, with the falls bolstered by snowmakers.

Continue reading...

Doctor’s ‘grossly irresponsible prescribing’ played direct role in two deaths, Tasmanian coroner finds

Posted on by

Dr David Jackson gave ‘effectively an unlimited supply for a drug binge’ to one addict, inquest finds

A former medical practitioner who was the subject of multiple red flags played a direct role in the deaths of two patients through grossly irresponsible drug prescribing, a coroner has found.

Nicholas Brown, Matthew Winwood, Toni Wiki and Belinda Kemp, who were all drug dependent, died in Tasmania between September 2016 and August 2017.

In Australia, the Opioid Treatment Line is at 1800 642 428 or call the National Alcohol and Other Drug Hotline on 1800 250 015. In the UK, Action on Addiction is available on 0300 330 0659. In the US, call or text SAMHSA’s National Helpline on 988

Continue reading...

Regrettable references and claims of ‘rigged’ election laws: why this week has reignited Jacinta Allan spill rumours

Posted on by

Just months from the Victorian election, the premier’s performance has left some MPs wondering if it’s too late for Labor to change leaders

Jacinta Allan faced three major tests this week. The way she handled them has left some of her colleagues speculating about a possible leadership change just months out from the Victorian election.

The first came on Monday, as the premier responded to a parliamentary inquiry that six months ago recommended sweeping reforms to Victoria’s integrity laws.

Continue reading...

Australian housing was already cooling before the budget – but how cold it gets depends on two key factors

Posted on by

Most economists believe the chronic undersupply of homes will eventually push prices higher once interest rates ease and the tax changes are priced in

The government’s property tax changes have become one of the defining political issues of Labor’s second term, drawing fierce criticism from opponents who argue they represent an “assault on aspiration” that will destroy home values.

In the three weeks after the negative gearing and capital gains tax changes were revealed in the 12 May budget, housing data has begun to show how they may affect Australia’s property market. Here’s what the data shows, and what could happen next.

Continue reading...

One Nation, six farcical explanations and no clearer understanding of its housing policy

Posted on by

Hanson’s party is leading in the polls, but it has a long way to go before being recognised as a serious political outfit

When sent out to do a cleanup job, it usually helps to not make the mess even worse.

It took One Nation six separate attempts over nearly 24 hours to clarify the basic details of their policy on foreign ownership of housing. Between Thursday night and Friday afternoon, the story turned from bizarre to farcical, with attempts to clarify the policy just making the situation murkier as Australians watched:

a Barnaby Joyce interview;

a quick do-over on Sky News on Thursday;

a Pauline Hanson social media update on Friday morning;

a Sean Bell interview, again on Sky, on Friday;

and then a 2GB spot;

before a written press release from Bell on Friday afternoon

Continue reading...

Woman illegally strip-searched by police ‘reasonably thought’ officers would call her a liar, judge says

Posted on by

NSW seeking leave to appeal against successful class action including aggravated damages of $20,000 awarded to woman strip-searched at music festival

The woman awarded $93,000 after an illegal strip-search by NSW police thought until “just before” the trial that she would be called a liar in the proceedings by the officers who conducted the search.

This was despite the officers submitting statements 12 months before her appearance that they had no recollection of the woman or the search, a court was told on Friday.

Lawyers acting for the woman, Raya Meredith, and 6,000 music festivalgoers appeared before the NSW court of appeal on Friday in the final day of a two-day hearing where NSW is seeking leave to appeal after losing a class action over unlawful strip-searches conducted at music festivals between 2018 and 2022.

Continue reading...

‘That’s a bad combination’: why Australia may be in for a slushy snow season

Posted on by

Snow arrives in time for the start of ski season, but climate change and El Niño mean it may not stick around for long, experts say

There was optimism across Australian alpine resorts this week as their social media channels filled with footage of snow flurries that arrived just in time for the opening of the ski season this weekend.

“We couldn’t be more excited,” said the Instagram account of Perisher, the southern hemisphere’s biggest ski resort in Kosciuszko national park in New South Wales, as hands swept the fresh snow from outdoor tables.

Continue reading...

Nauru issues rare statement after whistleblower alleges violent threats against Australia’s non-citizens

Posted on by

Nauran government says its citizens are ‘friendly’ after MP spoke of serious threats allegedly made against former Australian detainees

The Nauruan government has issued a rare statement insisting it is a “friendly” and “welcoming” country after a whistleblower alleged “serious threats of physical violence” were made against a group of non-citizens removed there by the Albanese government.

The unexpected defence, sent shortly after midday Thursday, was mounted hours after independent MP Andrew Wilkie used his three-minute constituency statement to read claims from an anonymous whistleblower familiar with the arrangements of the secretive $2.5bn deal between Australia and Nauru.

Continue reading...

Bondi attack hero Ahmed al-Ahmed charged with assaulting his father

Posted on by

Police allege the 44-year-old lauded for disarming one of the gunmen in December’s attack put his father in a headlock

The Sydney man who disarmed one of the Bondi terror attackers has been charged with assaulting his father.

Ahmed al-Ahmed, 44, is accused of allegedly putting his father in a headlock on 9 March at a house in Bankstown, in the city’s west.

Continue reading...