Category Archives: Australia news

Ben Roberts-Smith denies war crimes allegations – As it happened

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Defence Minister Richard Marles says the success of Australia’s alliance with the United States should not be measured against a single president or federal government in Canberra, insisting the longstanding ties will endure.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticised Australia for not assisting with the war in Iran, while federal Labor, including Marles and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, say the White House has not made any specific request for assistance.

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Australia’s coalmine emissions are increasing. Is this how a major policy to cut climate pollution is meant to work?

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The Albanese government overhauled policy and promised significant pollution cuts – but carbon offsets are still being used as an excuse

Is this how a national scheme to cut climate pollution is supposed to work?

Australian government data released this week shows emissions from Australian coalmines increased last financial year. About 80% of the coalmines pumped more into the atmosphere than their government-imposed limit.

Sign up to get climate and environment editor Adam Morton’s Clear Air column as a free newsletter

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‘Independent’ group Energy for Australians that ran anti-Labor ads received more than $1m from coal lobby

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Coal Australia denies its donations to the ‘community-driven association’ amount to astroturfing, but critics accuse the group of misleading the public

An “independent, community-driven association” that ran anti-Labor adverts during the last federal election was entirely funded by a coal industry lobby group, the Guardian can reveal.

Energy for Australians accepted more than $1m from Coal Australia – a group advocating for coal whose members include major miners Yancoal, Peabody, New Hope and Whitehaven.

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Jacinta Allan wants voters to see Victoria’s 12-year-old Labor government as ‘new and united’. Can she cling to power?

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With a reshuffled cabinet, the premier is hoping to quell leadership rumblings as her party seeks an unprecedented fourth term

As the Victorian premier, Jacinta Allan, stood alongside the fresh faces in her reshuffled cabinet on Wednesday, she attempted to send her increasingly jaded electorate a blunt message: despite its 12 years in power, her government is – apparently – new.

In her opening four-minute preamble to reporters, Allan - whose Labor government will in November seek an unprecedented fourth term - repeated the word 17 times. In one sentence alone, she referred to her “new cabinet”, “new portfolios”, “new solutions” and “new areas that are going to drive this government forward”.

Benita Kolovos is Guardian Australia’s Victorian state correspondent

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NSW should think twice before banning ‘globalise the intifada’ after court struck down anti-protest law, legal expert says

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Another lawyer says ruling ‘puts brakes on the Minns government’s ability to use executive power to minimise people’s rights to protest’

The Minns government should think twice before imposing an outright ban on the phrase “globalise the intifada” in the wake of a landmark finding that could limit attempts to control speech and protests, a leading constitutional expert has said.

New South Wales’ highest court ruled in favour of the Palestine Action Group and Blak Caucus on Thursday, striking down an anti-protest law introduced after the Bondi beach terror attack that gave police the power to restrict marches, including the anti-Herzog rally in February.

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US Live Nation and Ticketmaster verdict triggers calls for Australian investigation into ticketing rules

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One insider estimates Australians pay A$10 in fees per ticket, with fans bearing the burden of monopolised music tour schedules and inflated artist values

Australia is being urged to improve ticketing transparency after a US federal court found Live Nation Entertainment had a harmful monopoly over big concert venues.

This week, a New York jury found the global entertainment giant and its subsidiary Ticketmaster liable for systematically stifling competition to extract excessive profits from concertgoers. The jury identified a baseline overcharge of US$1.72 for every ticket sold by Live Nation since 2010 – totalling an additional US$595m in 2025 alone.

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Ben Roberts-Smith released from prison on bail after being charged with five counts of war crime murder

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Former SAS corporal granted bail ahead of potential trial on charges relating to alleged killing of civilians in Afghanistan

Ben Roberts-Smith has been granted bail under strict conditions while he awaits a potential trial on alleged war crimes.

The Victoria Cross recipient, once Australia’s most lionised soldier, faces five charges of war crime murder over allegations he killed unarmed civilians during his service with the Australian SAS in Afghanistan.

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Albanese’s visits to key allies have borne early fruits of fuel and fertiliser but ‘resilience’ is on the budget agenda

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The prime minister has weathered the crises – for now – and there is a growing recognition that Australia is too vulnerable to world events

Anthony Albanese’s fuel diplomacy tour of Asia has already started paying dividends, but the real test could still be to come.

After last week’s rush to Singapore and pulling forward a planned visit, the prime minister dashed back to Australia from Malaysia on Thursday, to survey the damage at one of the nation’s only remaining fuel refineries. The hastily arranged trips, were to show a leader on the job; to demonstrate Albanese’s attention to the fuel crisis.

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Australia news live: refinery fire will not lead to tougher fuel restrictions, PM says, though petrol production down by 40% at plant

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Australia secures extra fertilizer and 100m extra litres of fuel, PM says

Albanese has also provided an update on Australia’s talks with its allies in Asia to shore up imports of fuel and other goods affected by the effective closure of the Strait of Hormuz.

The advice that we have received today is that 80% of diesel production is continuing, 80% of aviation fuel is continuing, ongoing.

It has been slowed down just slightly because of the circumstances which are there, but 60% of petrol production [is] proceeding today as well.

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‘One of the dumbest crimes ever’: car-share firms remove fuel cards from Melbourne vehicles after spate of thefts

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Users of share cars will need to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket

Australia’s two biggest car-share companies, GoGet and Flexicar, have removed fuel cards from their Melbourne vehicles after a spate of break-ins and thefts that a senior GoGet executive described as “one of the dumbest crimes ever”.

The change will force users of share cars to pay for fuel themselves before seeking reimbursement, leaving them temporarily out of pocket amid record-high fuel prices caused by the US-Israel war on Iran.

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Australia fuel watch tracker: check current petrol and diesel prices, service station outages and shipments – in charts

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How much fuel does Australia have left today, and when could we run out? Track how much petrol and diesel prices have risen near you in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country.

The federal government has released fuel reserves, cut fuel excise taxes and rolled out a national fuel security plan as Australia battles a fuel crisis.

While we know there have been outages and price increases, it can be difficult to get a full picture of what is happening – this is partly due to the thousands of independent businesses and different governments involved. We have brought together the latest data on prices, outages and oil tanker deliveries.

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Gina Rinehart has been forced to share her riches. But will she fight on or end the family feud?

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A 15-year court battle costing millions of dollars ended in a partial defeat for the tycoon. Will she now bury the hatchet or double down and keep fighting her children and rivals?

Gina Rinehart does not like to lose.

Engaged in bitter legal battles for most of the past 35 years, Australia’s richest person has shown her propensity to fight tooth and nail to retain control of her family’s iron ore empire – and the riches that flow from it.

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Gina Rinehart’s son says he wants to be a ‘united family’ in olive branch to mother after court ruling

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John Hancock welcomes findings on ownership of mines and companies although judge says dispute should be determined in private arbitration

Gina Rinehart’s son has said he wants to reunite his family after a landmark court case left a long-running feud over ownership of mines and companies unresolved.

The Western Australian supreme court on Wednesday found Rinehart’s children were at one point set to inherit 49% of her company and said their ownership claims should be determined in separate proceedings.

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Queensland ebike laws could cripple Uber Eats, DoorDash and shared e-vehicle schemes, industry warns

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Food delivery services say the proposed laws will affect their workers, while shared e-vehicle schemes claim the laws could make them uninsurable

Legislation that would crack down on ebikes and e-scooters in Queensland could curtail food delivery services and potentially end shared e-vehicle schemes, industry figures warn.

The proposed laws would set an age limit of 16 on ebikes and e-scooters, require users to obtain a driver’s licence, and set a limit of 10km/h on almost all cycle lanes.

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‘Meeting of two worlds’ as Prince Harry joins Wiggles and Australian football stars to put men’s mental health in spotlight

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Second day of ‘faux-royal’ tour sees Duke of Sussex speak candidly about challenges of new fatherhood as amused football fans watch on

It was an unusual sight. As a group of children were rocking out to the Wiggles, Prince Harry kicked a football on Whitten Oval in Melbourne, home of Australian rules team the Western Bulldogs.

“Just a regular Wednesday,” a member of the crowd, dressed mainly in suits and from the advocacy and academic fields, said.

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Labor’s controversial algorithm tool for aged care under investigation by ombudsman

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Exclusive: It follows numerous complaints made to Guardian Australia, politicians and advocacy organisations about the Integrated Assessment Tool

The commonwealth ombudsman is investigating the government’s algorithm-based aged care assessment tool, which has been described by assessors as “cruel” and “inhumane” in its determination of home support funding for elderly Australians.

It follows hundreds of complaints made to Guardian Australia, politicians and advocacy organisations about the Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), made mandatory in November by the Albanese government as part of aged care reforms.

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NSW promises more fast chargers and electric trucks in revamped EV policy

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Premier Chris Minns says policy will give road users a ‘real alternative’ that’s cheaper than petrol

Electric truck development and building more stations to charge them will be core pillars of a state’s revamped electric vehicle strategy designed to ease the pressure of rising fuel costs.

The New South Wales government unveiled its 2026 EV strategy on Tuesday in an effort to give confidence to motorists hesitant about switching from their increasingly pricey petrol cars.

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Uber adds fuel surcharge for non-EV fares in Australia amid petrol price rises

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Trips in electric vehicles will be exempt from the temporary fee of 5 cents a kilometre, rideshare firm says

Uber customers in Australia will be charged a fuel surcharge for almost two months from Wednesday unless they ride in an electric vehicle.

Trips in petrol, diesel and hybrid vehicles will attract an extra fee of 5 cents a kilometre from 15 April to 8 June, Uber announced on Monday.

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Is Gout Gout faster than Usain Bolt? Australian sprinter sets sights on Jamaican great’s 200m record

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Coach believes there’s no limit to 18-year-old’s talent while athlete himself says he’s ‘ready for more’

Having cracked the 20-second barrier with a sizzling run over 200m – and in the process fulled comparisons with the great Usain Bolt – the question now is, how fast can Gout Gout go?

“How long’s a piece of string?” said Gout’s coach and mentor, Di Sheppard, after he clocked 19.67sec at the Australian championships in Sydney on Sunday.

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Susan Coyle to be first woman to lead Australian army in ‘deeply historic moment’

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Appointment part of senior defence changes as navy chief Mark Hammond promoted to chief of defence force

Lt Gen Susan Coyle, an officer of more than three decades standing, will become the first woman to lead the Australian army.

Coyle has been announced as the new chief of army, with her term beginning in July.

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