Man believed to be in his 30s fatally shot by officers outside Manning hospital in Taree on the mid-north coast
A man has been shot dead in a hospital car park after allegedly aiming a gun at police.
Police arrived at Manning hospital in Taree on the New South Wales mid-north coast just before 1pm on Thursday after reports a man had fired shots into the air at a home several kilometres away.
Continue reading...Airline sends support staff to Nadi after reports of assault during a night out in the early hours of 1 January
A suspect known to Fijian police has been questioned over an alleged sexual assault of a Virgin Australia flight crew member amid ongoing investigations.
Fijian authorities were investigating allegations the crew member was assaulted while celebrating New Year’s Eve, and separately, that another crew member was robbed.
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Continue reading...Hadi Nazari, 23, last seen on Boxing Day descending the challenging Hannels Spur track
Hopes are dwindling that a missing hiker will be found alive as experts warn of the rough terrain and scarce water availability.
The 23-year-old hiker, Hadi Nazari, was descending a challenging trail in the Kosciuszko national park about 2.30pm on Boxing Day when he was last seen by friends, who raised the alarm when he did not arrive at the campground where they arranged to meet.
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Continue reading...Buyers looking to move in could benefit from 6.5% drop in market since March 2022 as state claims largest share of first home buyer finance
Owner-occupier buyers in Victoria could benefit from an investor sell-off that has been gathering momentum alongside falling house prices, an expert says.
Data from Victoria’s Department of Families, Fairness and Housing revealed the number of rentals fell by almost 25,000 – or 3.6% – across the state over a year.
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Continue reading...Baby girl born in NSW’s Port Macquarie base hospital at 12.05 belongs to generation Beta, many of whom will live to see 22nd century
A baby girl named Remi, born just minutes into the new year on the NSW midnorth coast, is believed to be the first Australian birth of 2025 – and the first of “generation Beta”.
Tzu-Ling Huang and Liam Walsh had a quiet New Year’s Eve planned at their home in Comboyne, but their daughter surprised them and arrived two weeks early.
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Continue reading...David Jonathan Thackray, who was jailed in New Zealand in 2014, is one of three Australians now subject to such sanctions
An Australian man has been sanctioned by the US treasury department over his alleged involvement in the global narcotics trade.
Australian David Jonathan Thackray and New Zealand national Ho Kai Leung were among 12 individuals and eight entities sanctioned by the department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (Ofac) in an action it said was being taken against “global narcotics traffickers”.
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Continue reading...Footballer who signed a seven-year AFL deal in October has been charged after 30 December incident in Riverina town of Mulwala
Richmond Tigers star Noah Balta has been charged with assault after an incident in country New South Wales.
The AFL club has released a brief statement to confirm a media report that the defender had been charged.
Continue reading...Former Australian prime minister posted a photograph with himself, his wife Jenny and Donald and Melania Trump on X
Former Australian prime minister Scott Morrison has spent New Year’s Eve with US president-elect Donald Trump at his Mar-a-Lago resort.
Morrison posted a photo on X featuring himself and his wife, Jenny, alongside Trump and his wife, Melania, at the Palm Beach, Florida club.
Continue reading...From cheaper energy to recyclable packaging and phasing out Australia Post motorbikes – here’s what has and hasn’t been achieved
An Australian republic, renewable-powered supermarkets, recyclable packaging and the phasing out of Australia Post motorbikes.
These are just some of the promises, targets and predictions that years ago were set for 2025 – which is now finally here.
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100% of packaging to be reusable, recyclable or compostable.
70% of plastic packaging recycled or composted.
50% average recycled content across all packaging.
Phasing out problematic and unnecessary single-use plastic packaging.
Continue reading...Phenomenon known as ‘sea sparkles’ or ‘red tide’ is caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae
Masses of glittering algae have returned to Tasmania’s coastline in a spectacular bloom of bioluminescence that experts say is the largest seen in years.
The phenomenon, known as “sea sparkles” or “red tide”, was caused by masses of noctiluca scintillans, a pink-coloured algae that experts say was beautiful to look at, but considered bad news for the environment.
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Continue reading...These nocturnal events are more spectacular from dark country sky, but they can still be seen from a light-polluted city – and for many, no telescope is needed
Each night an annual parade of constellations passes above our heads but there are always exciting, less frequent events to look out for in the sky. The year 2025 is no exception. The night sky is more spectacular from a dark country sky, but you can see these events even if, like many others, you live in a light-polluted city. For most events you do not need a telescope or binoculars.
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Continue reading...Criminal penalties for employers who deliberately underpay workers have come into effect, including up to 10 years in prison and fines of up to $7.8m
Adrian Thoen, a Commonwealth Bank call centre worker was devastated when he found out he was among thousands of workers at the nation’s biggest bank being underpaid to the tune of $16m.
He was employed on a flexible contract instead of a standard enterprise agreement, with more than 7,000 workers losing out on money and entitlements.
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Continue reading...Woman dies in tubing accident near Toowomba, while another drowns scuba diving near Wave Break Island on the Gold Coast
A woman has died in a New Year’s Day scuba diving accident at a popular Gold Coast swimming spot.
Meanwhile, another woman was found dead on Wednesday after an extensive search following a water tubing accident north-west of Brisbane on New Year’s Eve.
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Continue reading...Melbourne and Sydney fires brought under control, including in Tempe, and stabbings reported in Guildford and the Mornington Peninsula
New Year’s Eve revellers have largely been praised for their behaviour at Australia’s biggest fireworks shows, while officers were kept busy with outbursts of trouble around local fireworks.
More than a million people swarmed the main vantage points around Sydney harbour and hundreds of thousands of Melbourne partygoers were treated to a fireworks and laser spectacular.
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Continue reading...Bigger Austudy and carer allowance payments, higher Medicare safety net thresholds and mandatory corporate reporting on climate also in 1 Jan changes
With the new year comes new policies, laws, taxes and reforms. Here’s everything to know about changes on 1 January, 2025 that could affect you.
Continue reading...Nine tonnes of fireworks are set off around the harbour, while Brisbane and Melbourne also enjoyed shows
Australians have bid farewell to 2024, ringing in the new year with one “world-famous” fireworks display and many others not so famous.
More than a million people rushed to the shores of the Sydney Harbour and hundreds of thousands more to the banks of the Yarra River in Melbourne to watch the midnight displays.
Continue reading...GPs’ peak body is concerned a proposed new medical test for older doctors could force them from the system
Almost 10% of Australia’s GPs are aged over 70, new figures have revealed, with concerns that a proposal to introduce health checks for older doctors may worsen workforce shortages.
According to data from the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), 8.8% of all GPs in Australia – 3,142 of 35,514 practitioners – are over 70, as of 30 June.
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Continue reading...The Howard government sent military personnel to the Middle East well before officially authorising Australia’s involvement
The Howard government avoided disclosing that it had sent military forces to the Middle East months before authorising Australia’s official involvement in the Iraq war in 2003, cabinet records show.
Cabinet documents from 2003 and 2004 released by the National Archives contain the first confirmation of what has been widely discussed in the decades since: the government deployed forces well before officially authorising Australia’s involvement in the war on 18 March 2003.
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Continue reading...John Howard’s government legislated that marriage must be ‘the union of a man and a woman’, but excluded any reference to birth gender
John Howard was given the option of adding extra words to his 2004 Marriage Act amendment that would have limited transgender people’s ability to marry by making eligibility based on gender at birth, but chose not to pursue it.
Cabinet papers from 2004, released by the National Archives, show the Howard government was advised it could go beyond the formal definition of marriage it ultimately enshrined in law, and stipulate that a couple must have been born male and female respectively to be allowed to marry.
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Continue reading...‘Providing an opportunity for people to apply for a visa that will probably never come seems both cruel and unnecessary’, review says
Wait times for visas to bring parents to Australia are so long that nearly 2,300 applicants died before receiving a visa in the last three years, according to the home affairs department.
The department released the data to Senate estimates, revealing that 2,297 parent visa applicants and 87 other family members, such as aged dependent relatives or carers, had died while waiting for a visa.
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