Category Archives: Australia news

Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect wins back-to-back line honours in event marred by two deaths

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  • Third time LawConnect has claimed line honours, after initial success in 2016 as Perpetual Loyal
  • Could take days for overall handicap winner to be decided

A “sombre” LawConnect has delayed celebrations after claiming back-to-back line honour wins in a Sydney to Hobart race marred by the death of two sailors.

The Christian Beck-skippered supermaxi was first across the River Derwent finish line at 2.35am on Saturday in a time of one day, 13 hours, 35 minutes and 13 seconds.

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Swept overboard: Sydney to Hobart sailor’s struggle to survive alone in the ocean at night

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Yacht race claims two crew members’ lives on separate boats, while survivor recounts ‘getting thrown down waves’

The first mayday call came late on Boxing Day.

Just before midnight, there had been an incident onboard the Flying Fish Arctos, a vessel competing in Australia’s most iconic boat race, the Sydney to Hobart yacht race.

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Sydney to Hobart yacht race: LawConnect leads after two deaths in wild weather leave fleet rocked

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  • Supermaxi LawConnect in box seat Friday evening to take line honours for second year running
  • As at 5.30pm, 22 yachts from the 104-strong starting fleet had retired

The Sydney to Hobart yacht race has been left reeling after the deaths of two sailors in wild weather that has forced a fifth of the fleet to retire.

Supermaxi LawConnect was in the box seat on Friday evening to take out line honours for a second year running after rival Master Lock Comanche pulled the pin with mainsail damage.

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Who is Brad Battin? Third time lucky for former police officer who replaces John Pesutto as Victorian Liberal leader

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As leadership spill speculation grew, Battin was widely touted as the top candidate for the embattled opposition leader’s job

For Victorian Liberal MP Brad Battin, the third time proved to be the charm.

After falling short in a 2021 leadership spill against former opposition leader Michael O’Brien, and losing by a single vote to John Pesutto following the Liberals’ 2022 state election defeat, Battin on Friday had the numbers to snatch the leadership.

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Sydney to Hobart yacht race: Two sailors killed in separate accidents during night of wild weather

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One sailor each on yachts Flying Fish Arctos and Bowline died after being struck by the boom, a large pole at bottom of the sail

Two Sydney to Hobart sailors on separate yachts have died at sea amid wild weather conditions that forced line honours favourite Master Lock Comanche to withdraw among mass retirements.

The race will continue as the fleet continues its passage to Constitution Dock, with the first boats expected to arrive later on Friday or early Saturday morning.

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University of Sydney has invested in world’s biggest poker machine maker and global betting giant

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Experts say ‘disappointing’ relationships with gambling industry, including funding for research, should be scrutinised

The University of Sydney has financial stakes in the world’s biggest poker machine manufacturer and a global sports betting giant, both of which have funded its academics and bankrolled specialist gambling research centres.

Documents obtained under freedom of information laws show the university held shares in Aristocrat, and in Entain, which runs the Ladbrokes and Neds brands, between 2021 and early 2024. Shares may have been held before and after this period, beyond the scope of the FoI.

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Birdsville notches up another temperature record as Australia faces more heat before New Year’s Eve

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The town hit 47.2C by mid afternoon, but locals are already well-versed in the art of staying cool

It might have been the hottest place in the country on Boxing Day, but when the tiny outback town of Birdsville hit 47.2C by mid-afternoon, locals were already well-versed in the art of staying cool.

Bureau of Meteorology senior meteorologist, Dean Narramore, said Birdsville was “looking like it’s going to be the hottest in the country,” even though places across the Northern Territory, Western Australia, South Australia and New South Wales had reached the mid 40s.

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Two women fighting for life after suspicious house fire in Townsville

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Investigators appealing for information after blaze erupted around 3am on Boxing Day

Two women are fighting for life after a house fire authorities consider suspicious.

Detectives were investigating the cause of the Boxing Day blaze, which erupted shortly after 3am in Gulliver, a suburb of Townsville.

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Victoria fires live updates: emergency bushfire warnings and road closures in Grampians, Vic; dangerous fire conditions in South Australia and NSW

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Fires burning in Grampians national park, Bullengarook, Creswick and at the Gurdies after residents of Bornes Hill, Moyston and Pomonal ordered to leave. Follow the latest updates live

Authorities in Victoria have issued an emergency warning for a bushfire at Mafeking in the state’s west.

Locals have been told to take shelter immediately.

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Boxing Day sales: crowds flock to stores around Australia in search of bargains

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Shoppers expected to splurge on homewares and beauty products, with retail spending projected to top $1.3bn on Boxing Day

Shoppers have flooded stores to make the most of Boxing Day bargains.

Australians are projected to spend $1.3bn on Boxing Day and a further $2.4bn during the last days of December, Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan research shows.

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Melbourne stabbing: Man arrested after woman found dead at Langwarrin home on Boxing Day

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Homicide squad detectives investigating after 59-year-old found dead at Wood Duck Court in Langwarrin

Police have arrested a 63-year-old man in relation to the death of a woman in Langwarrin in Melbourne’s south-east.

The 59-year-old woman was found about 6:30am on Boxing Day, after emergency services responded to reports that a woman had been stabbed at an address at Wood Duck Court.

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‘We can’t believe it’s real’: Luca Bennett’s parents mourn loss of ‘perfect son’ swept off rocks at NSW beach

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Search operation for 15-year-old moves into ‘recovery phase’ after he went missing at North Avoca Beach on the Central Coast

Tributes are flowing for 15-year-old Luca Bennett as rescue crews scale back a search for the teenager after he was swept off rocks at a popular beach.

Luca went missing about 3pm on Christmas Eve off North Avoca Beach on the New South Wales Central Coast.

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Russia criticises Canberra’s ‘hostile stance’ as it looks into reports Australian fighter captured in Ukraine

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Family and friends hold grave fears for man identified as Oscar Jenkins who was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers in Donbas region

Moscow is looking into reports that the Russian army may have captured an Australian citizen fighting with Ukrainian forces, while a foreign affairs official noted Canberra’s “hostile stance towards Russia” at a briefing.

Family and friends hold grave fears for Australian man Oscar Jenkins who was reportedly captured by Russian soldiers while fighting alongside Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region.

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Two Australian teens convicted under counter-terrorism laws as AFP and Asio warn of ‘early signs of radicalisation’

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Agencies urge parents, teachers and healthcare workers to be vigilant, paying particular attention to gaming sites and messaging platforms

Asio and the AFP have revealed that two Australian teenagers, 16 and 14, have been convicted under the country’s counter-terrorism laws.

The anonymised details of the two unrelated cases were published as part of an unprecedented coordinated plea from security agencies in the Five Eyes countries – Australia, the US, Britain, Canada and New Zealand – for their citizens to do more to stop young people falling prey to radical, violent ideologies.

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McKinsey paid $1.6m to ‘guide’ Australian climate policy despite working for fossil fuel companies

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Guardian Australia was told firm disclosed its private sector work, but it is not known which clients were listed

Consultancy firm McKinsey was paid $1.6m over 11 weeks to “inform” and “guide” Australian energy and climate policy, despite its work for the world’s biggest fossil fuel companies.

The firm, whose links to oil and gas giants are well known, conducted “detailed market, economic and policy analysis” and produced modelling that underpinned “internal energy and climate policy work”.

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Celebrity scam ads still targeting Australians despite tech giants’ crackdowns

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Scammers developing sophisticated new methods will always find loopholes to access lucrative markets, experts say

Scammers are finding loopholes in restrictions brought in by Google and Meta to combat fake celebrity scam ads and experts warn they will be hard to stop while Australia remains a lucrative target for cybercriminals.

On Monday, Meta announced it would require businesses targeting financial advertising at Australians to verify themselves, including through the Australian Securities Investment Commission (Asic), to check they hold an Australian financial services licence.

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Why Christmas Day weather predictions this early in December are basically ‘rubbish’

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Some media outlets are already offering forecasts nearly three weeks out – but the BoM advises people to check in on 18 December

Wondering whether to pack a poncho or sunhat for carols? Locking in plans for a picnic or pool party on 25 December?

Some media outlets are already offering a Christmas Day forecast – nearly three weeks out from the festivities – but is it too early to rely on the festive weather forecast?

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Melbourne billionaire Adrian Portelli faces nine charges over alleged unlawful lottery

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His company Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which operates under the name LMCT+, is facing a further 10 charges

Adrian Portelli is facing nine charges in South Australia of assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery.

His company, Xclusive Tech Pty Ltd, which operates under the name LMCT+, is facing 10 charges for conducting or assisting in the conduct of an unlawful lottery.

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Gallagher warns of robodebt repeat if public service is cut, but denies ‘scare-mongering’

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Finance, women’s and public services minister says Coalition’s promised cuts means ‘failures of systems’

Katy Gallagher has denied running a scare campaign against the Liberals on the possibility the public service would be gutted if the opposition was elected next year, while warning she has “no doubts” the slash-and-burn would lead to another robodebt-style saga.

Several Coalition frontbenchers have ramped up their attacks on federal bureaucracy in recent months, accusing the Albanese government of mismanaging the budget by hiring more than 30,000 people to undertake key service delivery jobs, including in Centrelink and the NDIS.

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Australia news live: Gallagher says she expects Pocock to trump her in ACT Senate race; more ball-shaped ‘debris’ on Sydney beach

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Detectives investigating four separate incidents of children being approached by drivers in white vans in Melbourne

Victoria police detectives are investigating four separate incidents in Melbourne in the last month of children being approached by drivers in white vans.

People like Mr Rogan prey on people’s vulnerabilities: they prey on fear, they prey on anxiety, they prey on all of the elements that contribute to uncertainty in society.

They entrepreneur fantasy outcomes and conspiracy outcomes as being a normal part of social narrative – I personally find it deeply repulsive.

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