Category Archives: Australia news

Australia politics live: Catherine King alleges to parliament a Liberal backbencher filmed conversation between them on a GoPro

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Infrastructure minister Catherine King has asked for the issue to be referred to the parliament’s powerful privileges committee. Follow today’s news live

New South Wales MPs condemned for ‘part-time’ parliamentary year

Scores of NSW MPs will earn the equivalent of more than $10,000 per sitting week in 2025 after a bid to increase the year’s 16-week calendar was rejected, AAP reports.

To do this, government MPs have to turn up to parliament and discuss matters. Voters won’t be happy that government MPs would prefer to hide in their electorate offices rather than turning up to parliament, where they face scrutiny.

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Anti-Israel vandalism in Sydney’s eastern suburbs ‘disturbing’, Anthony Albanese says

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Vehicle set on fire in Woollahra and 10 cars vandalised with slogans ‘fuck Israel’ and ‘PKK coming’

A vehicle has been set on fire and 10 cars have been vandalised with anti-Israel graffiti in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, sparking outrage and condemnation from politicians including the prime minister.

New South Wales police said they had discovered the graffiti on the cars and the door of an apartment complex in Woollahra after they were alerted to the blaze about 12.30am on Thursday.

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Australia hoped hosting a Cop climate summit was a done deal. But one nation still stands in the way

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Despite a diplomatic push from Chris Bowen and Anthony Albanese, Turkey won’t back down on its bid to host Cop31

Australia’s plan to host a major UN climate summit in 2026 has hit a Turkish roadblock. It is unclear how long it will last.

The Albanese government had expected that its bid to co-host the Cop31 summit in partnership with Pacific island nations – a Labor promise since before it won power in 2022 – would be agreed by now, as the UN climate talks in the Azerbaijani capital of Baku approach their final stages.

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Final hours of missing Melbourne woman Isla Bell’s life captured by CCTV, police allege

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Nineteen-year-old last seen leaving her Brunswick home in October and remains yet to be formally identified have been found in Dandenong

The final hours of missing teen Isla Bell’s life have been captured on CCTV in the Melbourne apartment building of her alleged killer, according to court documents.

The documents released by the court on Wednesday afternoon detail how the 19-year-old allegedly ended up at Marat Ganiev’s St Kilda East apartment on 7 October.

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Police suspect arson behind overnight fire that destroyed Melbourne’s Lux nightclub

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About 50 firefighters and 15 fire trucks called to battle blaze at venue in Chapel Street, South Yarra

A Melbourne nightclub has been razed after a suspicious fire broke out in the middle of the night.

Lux nightclub on Chapel Street in South Yarra was engulfed in flames early on Thursday, with about 50 firefighters and 15 fire trucks called to battle the blaze.

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Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly wants powers over schools’ Indigenous history curriculum

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Co-chair says treaty will not outline specific changes to syllabus but is ‘more about saying this is the role that First Peoples will play’

Victoria’s First Peoples’ Assembly wants decision-making powers over how the state’s Indigenous history is taught in schools but says a treaty will not outline specific changes to the curriculum.

The assembly – the state’s democratically elected Indigenous body – will begin nation-first treaty talks with the Allan government in the coming days. A state-wide treaty – the first of its kind in Australia – will tackle problems affecting First Nations Victorians.

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Uber to limit surge pricing and commuters urged to work from home amid Sydney train shut down

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Government to meet union officials again on Thursday after a Wednesday meeting didn’t resolve the industrial dispute

Sydney’s trains are set to shut down this weekend after an emergency meeting between rail unions and the New South Wales premier on Wednesday produced no solutions.

The government will meet leaders from the Rail, Tram and Bus Union again on Thursday in a final bid to avert industrial action from train staff, which would see trains stop running across the city on Friday, Saturday and into Sunday.

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Labor bill could lead to lengthy detention of migrants before deportation to countries paid to take them, committee warns

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Bipartisan human rights committee says there could be a ‘significant intervening period’ before non-citizens are accepted by other countries

The human rights committee has warned the Albanese government’s migration bill could result in lengthy spells in detention before non-citizens are deported to countries paid to take them.

In a report tabled on Wednesday the bipartisan committee, chaired by Labor MP Josh Burns, threw up significant roadblocks to the controversial bill and also queried the move by the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, to reimpose ankle bracelets and curfews on those released from immigration detention.

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Victoria to build $370m state-owned solar farm and battery in state’s west

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Jacinta Allan says project will be able to power more than 51,000 homes and include 119MW solar facility and 100MW two-hour battery

The Victorian government will spend $370m to build a massive solar and battery farm able to power more than 50,000 homes, which it says will be the first state government-owned energy project since the electricity grid was privatised in the 1990s.

Jacinta Allan announced the new project in Horsham, in Victoria’s west, which is the second investment made by the government-owned State Electricity Commission.

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Dutton’s position on international student caps ‘utterly reckless’, Giles says – as it happened

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Oxfam reacts to Australia’s Cop29 pledge

Oxfam Australia has welcomed the government’s Cop29 pledge of $50m towards a global loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown.

If climate change losses and damages are not included in the new global climate finance goal, the new fund for responding to loss and damage risks becoming an empty vessel.

The danger is that developed country governments will prioritise meeting the new and ambitious climate finance goal, and will not prioritise a fund that doesn’t count towards it.

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Australian women to get home self tests for chlamydia and gonorrhoea – but experts urge caution

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People with genital or pelvic symptoms may feel a sense of false reassurance with a negative result, sexual health expert warns

With rates of some sexually transmitted infections in Australia on the rise, women will soon be able to test themselves for chlamydia and gonorrhoea at home – but sexual health experts have urged caution.

Australia’s drugs regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), has approved the rapid home test for sale, and it is expected to be available in pharmacies from 13 December, with a recommended retail price of $24. The test involves taking a vaginal swab, which is then placed in a container with testing solution.

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‘Every parent’s nightmare’: family of Melbourne teen fighting for life after feared methanol poisoning hopes for answers

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Parents ‘want to ensure no other family’ feels same anguish as Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles remain in Thai hospitals

The family of one of two teenagers fighting for life in hospital after a suspected methanol poisoning incident in Laos hope authorities work out exactly what happened “as soon as possible”.

Melbourne friends Bianca Jones and Holly Bowles, both aged 19, had been staying at a hostel in Vang Vieng, north of the Laos capital Vientiane, when they fell critically ill last week.

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Heatwave forecast for south-eastern Australia triggers energy supply and fire danger warnings

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Coming hot weather prompts Australian Energy Market Operator to predict shortfall in electricity supplies for NSW and Queensland

South-eastern Australia will endure its first big heatwave of the season in the coming days, elevating fire risks and potentially straining the power grid in some states.

Dean Narramore, a senior Bureau of Meteorology forecaster, said day and night temperatures would be as much as 8-14C hotter than usual for this time of year.

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Paris agreement is working, Australian minister tells Cop29, but much deeper cuts needed by 2035

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Chris Bowen also pledges A$50m to a fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown

The Australian climate change minister, Chris Bowen, has declared the landmark Paris agreement “is working” as it had brought the world back from “the brink of catastrophic 4C warming”, but argued countries must set the most ambitious emissions targets possible for 2035 to limit worsening global heating.

Giving Australia’s national statement on the conference floor at the Cop29 summit in Azerbaijan, he also pledged A$50m (US$32.5m) towards a global loss and damage fund to help the world’s most vulnerable people to repair the damage from climate breakdown. The funding was welcomed by climate campaigners, who said it was “the right thing to do”.

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Thousands complain over way super funds handle and pay out death and disability claims

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Data from the financial watchdog strongly supports Asic’s claim ‘there is a systemic issue’ across the superannuation sector, advocate says

More than 5,000 people have lodged complaints with a financial watchdog about how the 10 largest superannuation funds have handled death and group insurance claims over four years.

Complaints to the Australian Financial Complaints Authority (Afca) about the entitlements – a lump sum provided to a member’s family when they die – have increased each year since 2020/21. They rose from 921 to 1,048, then 1,459 and 1,611.

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‘Quishing’, ‘vishing’ and AI scams – the new cybercriminal techniques duping Australians

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Australian Signals Directorate sounds alarm on ‘shifting tactics’ by state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals, and targeting of critical infrastructure

Cybercriminals are using fake QR codes or sophisticated artificial intelligence scams to trick Australians into giving up their private details or downloading dangerous files, the nation’s signals intelligence agency has warned, as fraudsters take advantage of the technology’s popularity.

The Australian Signals Directorate also sounded the alarm on the “shifting tactics” of state-sponsored hackers and cybercriminals, who they said are burrowing into computer systems of businesses and other organisations and then sitting quietly to avoid detection until they choose to strike.

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Gender pay gap data reveals Australia’s female CEOs paid $170,000 less than men on average

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But new data shows 3% increase in men taking primary carer parental leave – the largest annual increase since records began

Female CEOs in Australia are paid an average of $170,000 less than their male counterparts – a gender pay gap of 25% – according to government figures.

The pay gap among CEOs was published as part of the national pay gap scorecard for the first time this year, after legislative changes introduced last year.

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Guardian Australia wins Walkley innovation award for Gaza interactive

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Story showcasing text messages between Palestinian friends at start of Israel-Gaza war claims gong at 69th annual awards

Guardian Australia has claimed an award for innovation at the 69th annual Walkley awards for excellence in journalism.

At the awards evening in Sydney on Tuesday, a team of Rafqa Touma, Ariel Bogle, Mostafa Rachwani, Nick Evershed, Andy Ball, Christelle Basil and Shelley Hepworth claimed the category for digital media innovation for the Leaving Gaza interactive.

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Australia plan Indigenous team for ‘very special game’ against Lions

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  • Tour slot vacant after Melbourne Rebels demise
  • ‘We have some great talent with First Nations heritage’

The British and Irish Lions could face a team with Indigenous and Pacific heritage during their 2025 tour, according to the chief executive of Rugby Australia. Phil Waugh said discussions were under way with the Lions for the match to fill the gap in the tour schedule due to the Melbourne Rebels going into administration.

“We have some great talent with First Nations heritage,” he told the Sydney Morning Herald, saying the team would be made up of players from the remaining Super Rugby teams. “It was a matter of how do we will pull those ideas together to make a very special game in a massive tour?

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Australia politics live: Dutton calls Labor’s international student caps bill ‘a dog’s breakfast’; RBA fuels expectations for February interest rates cut

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First investment announced as part of National Reconstruction Fund

The science and industry minister, Ed Husic, was on ABC News Breakfast to discuss the government’s first investment via the National Reconstruction Fund – $40m to a Toowoomba mineral processing factory.

The difference in terms of what the [NRF] does is it provides loans, equity, and guarantees to firms that are [working across] seven priority areas to expand and grow their operations.

Given the sizes of the investments, it does take more time to be able to go through to shape up what the investment will look like, how big it’ll be, over what term, the rate of return – because the other important thing to stress to viewers is – this is not about handing out grants, and certainly not doing it on the basis of political colour-coded spreadsheets as we saw with the last government.

In fact, the social media users were less likely to have a negative attitude towards Jewish and Muslim people, irrespective of where they were on the political spectrum.

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