Category Archives: Australia news

‘We’ve got a responsibility’: Queensland truth-telling head vows to complete inquiry despite premier’s plan to scrap it

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Commission chair reopens submissions and says report will be finished and tabled in parliament

The head of Queensland’s Indigenous truth-telling and healing commission has vowed to complete the inquiry, defying the government’s plan to eliminate it.

The chairperson, Josh Creamer, restarted the historic inquiry on Friday, 23 days after the new premier, David Crisafulli, ordered it to halt work.

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David Crisafulli promised to set serious KPIs for his ministers. Are they worth the paper they’re printed on?

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Queensland’s new premier vowed to sack cabinet members who didn’t meet public targets. A month in, accountability questions are being raised

David Crisafulli staked his government’s success – and his own future – on meeting targets.

During last month’s election he vowed to resign if crime figures didn’t decline and to sack ministers who couldn’t deliver on key performance indicators (KPIs) set for each portfolio.

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More than 80,000 at risk of deportation from Australia under Labor bill likened to UK’s failed Rwanda plan

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Bill gives authority to federal government to pay third countries to accept unlawful non-citizens on a removal pathway

More than 80,000 people are susceptible to deportation from Australia to third countries paid to take them under Labor’s new bill which has been likened to the UK’s failed Rwanda deportation plan.

At a Senate inquiry hearing on Thursday, home affairs department officials confirmed that the migration amendment bill could affect far more people than those released from immigration detention by the high court but insisted it did not expand the cohort of those eligible for removal.

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An estimated 75,400 people with no valid visa in the Australian community.

4,452 people on bridging visa E, so they can make “acceptable arrangements to depart Australia”.

986 people in immigration detention.

193 in community detention.

246 on bridging visa R, released as a result of the high court’s NZYQ ruling that indefinite detention is unlawful.

A further 96 people on BVRs that predated that decision.

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Thanasi Kokkinakis and doubles pair inspire Australia to Davis Cup win over USA

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  • Doubles pair Jordan Thompson and Matt Ebden seal victory
  • Italy or Argentina await in semi-final

Inspired captaincy, a nail-biting underdog’s win for Thanasi Kokkinakis and good old-fashioned Australian doubles pedigree has powered Australia into the semi-finals of the Davis Cup in Spain.

Lleyton Hewitt outduelled his USA counterpart Bob Bryan in the key captaincy decisions of their quarter-final tie in Málaga on Thursday as Australia defeated the Americans 2-1 in the battle between the two nations who have won the men’s “World Cup of tennis” more than any other.

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British mining executives held in Mali released after $160m deal to settle tax dispute

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Resolute Mining chief executive Terence Holohan and two other employees had been detained since 9 November

Three British mining executives who had been detained by the government of Mali have been released and are “safe and well”, days after agreeing to pay $160m to settle a tax dispute.

Resolute Mining, an Australian company, said on Thursday its chief executive, Terence Holohan, and two other employees, who had been held in the country since 9 November, have been released.

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New law introduced to block legal challenge to An0m organised crime bust

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People charged after the AFP sting against the encypted app claim the information was not obtained lawfully

The Albanese government will attempt to block legal challenges by people charged after an elaborate Australian Federal Police sting using the encrypted An0m application.

The attorney general, Mark Dreyfus, introduced laws to prevent any legal challenge to Operation Ironside on Thursday, despite special leave already being granted to the high court for an appeal by people charged in South Australia as a result of the sting.

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Melbourne teen Bianca Jones dies in hospital after methanol poisoning in Laos

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A New Zealand citizen is also ill, while a US citizen has died following a suspected mass poisoning event in the town of Vang Vieng

Melbourne teen Bianca Jones has died from methanol poisoning in a Thai hospital, a week after the Melbourne teen and her best friend fell ill while travelling in neighbouring Laos.

Anthony Albanese confirmed the 19-year-old’s death on Thursday, after her parents travelled to Thailand to be with her.

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NSW government bid to prevent Rising Tide protest in Newcastle harbour invalid, court finds

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Four-day exclusion zone an improper use of Marine Safety Act, judge rules, despite ‘skilful’ submission from transport minister Jo Haylen

The New South Wales supreme court has set aside a Minns government decision to cut off access to Newcastle harbour to try to prevent a four-day climate protest.

The court found the notice was invalid after hearing an urgent application from climate activist organisation Rising Tide on Thursday.

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Mineral Resources boss Chris Ellison tells shareholders ‘I hate what I’ve done’ after scandals rock company

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Perth businessman tells AGM he made ‘error in judgment’ as company’s executive pay plans are voted down

Embattled mining billionaire Chris Ellison has told shareholders he can’t stress enough “how much I hate what I’ve done” after a series of scandals engulfed the company he leads, Mineral Resources.

The Perth businessman has previously acknowledged he failed to disclose revenue generated by overseas entities to tax authorities earlier in his career. A company investigation later found he had also used business resources for his personal benefit.

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Sydney train strike: chaotic shutdown averted after 11th-hour crisis talks with union

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NSW government caves to rail union demands to prevent workers striking

A chaotic two-day shutdown of Sydney’s train network has been averted at the 11th hour after the state government caved to rail union demands to run 24-hour services to prevent workers striking.

However, the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns, has warned that despite securing a two-week hiatus on industrial action amid tense negotiations with rail unions over a new pay deal, there is no guarantee that the threat of a city-wide rail shutdown will not recur in a fortnight.

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‘Resurgence’ in China aid to Pacific amid tussle with US for influence

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Thinktank’s report says Beijing has emerged from Covid-induced lull with a ‘more competitive, politically targeted model’ of engagement in the region

China has renewed efforts to curry favour in Pacific island nations, a new report has found, after charting a “resurgence” in Beijing-backed aid and infrastructure funding.

Over the past decade, China has lavished billions of dollars on Pacific island nations, part of ongoing efforts to build influence in competition with the US and its allies.

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Attempt to prevent NSW climate protest overturned – as it happened

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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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