Category Archives: Australia news

ABC and SBS need ‘oversight’ committee to vet Israel coverage, Jillian Segal tells royal commission

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Antisemitism envoy says public broadcasters, which currently have an ombudsman to handle complaints, need an independent oversight committee

The antisemitism envoy, Jillian Segal, wants a new “oversight” committee to vet the ABC and SBS’s Israel coverage, she told the royal commission on Thursday morning.

Both the ABC and SBS have an independent ombudsman to handle complaints.

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Women and university graduates in Australia most at risk of losing jobs to AI, report finds

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Those with high levels of vocational training, including tradespeople, are least exposed to AI displacement, according to government review

Artificial intelligence has yet to cause widespread job losses but the federal government has warned that telemarketers, advertising staff and accountants are among the occupations “most exposed” to being replaced by the technology.

According to a first-of-its-kind national report, people in the more exposed occupations are more likely to be women and have university qualifications.

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Anika Wells ridicules Angus Taylor and Barnaby Joyce for linking Telstra outage with China

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Kristy McBain criticises shadow communications minister Sarah Henderson for ‘testing’ Triple-zero system during major network blackout

The communications minister, Anika Wells, has accused Barnaby Joyce and Angus Taylor of “going off half-cocked” by raising without evidence the prospect of China having been behind the major Telstra outage affecting millions of Australians nationwide.

The federal emergency management minister, Kristy McBain, also criticised the shadow communications minister, Sarah Henderson, after the Liberal senator said she had “tested” the triple-zero system by making unnecessary calls to the emergency line – which carries a criminal penalty.

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Telstra blames ‘software defect’ for major outage that hit mobiles, trains and triple-zero calls

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Telco said outage was not due to a cyber-attack but warned of scammers calling people claiming to be from Telstra

Telstra has blamed a “software defect” that changed the time servers for a major outage in which thousands of mobile customers were unable to make calls or access data on the country’s largest network on Wednesday morning.

The telco, which powers about 25m mobile services nationwide, confirmed the outage on Wednesday, with all services restored by 4pm AEST.

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Australian house prices are falling but are still almost double what they were a decade ago

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The average dwelling price has risen to more than 17 years of a typical household’s disposable income

House prices have dropped across several Australian capital cities, with major banks predicting falls of 2% to 3% by the end of the year.

But after a decade of accelerating house prices, this wouldn’t make a significant dent in housing affordability.

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‘Accident waiting to happen’: player’s death raises alarm over risk of concrete cricket pitches in Australian rules football

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Concrete-based cricket pitches, like that on which Nathan Fitzgerald received fatal blows to the head, are ‘totally unsafe’, concussion advocate says

Australia must finally deal with a deadly risk that has plagued its native football code for more than 120 years, sports safety advocates say, after the death of a suburban Aussie rules footballer.

Nathan Fitzgerald, a 27-year-old school teacher, died in a Melbourne hospital on Monday after a horror accident on Saturday in which it is believed the Epping reserves grade footballer clashed heads with another player while tackling an opponent and received a second blow to the head as he fell, before striking his head a third time on a concrete-based cricket pitch in the middle of the ground.

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Perth man fighting for life after robot vacuum cleaner explosion

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Lachie Perrem suffered life-threatening injuries after the explosion on Thursday destroyed his share house in Brabham

A Perth man has spent five days fighting for his life after a robot vacuum cleaner explosion set fire to his home.

Lachie Perrem, aged in his 20s, was taken to hospital on Thursday with life-threatening burns from a blaze that left his fiancee and housemates without their home.

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Accused double murderer Beau Lamarre-Condon’s mother granted bail – as it happened

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This blog is now closed

Richard Marles said he doubted China tested the long-range weapon yesterday in response to Anthony Albanese being in the Pacific to sign a new defence alliance with Fiji but said Australia remained deeply concerned by the development. He told ABC News:

At the end of the day, what we’re seeing here is a long-range missile test from China, which China itself has said is nuclear-capable … This is China demonstrating a much greater range in terms of being able to deploy a nuclear weapon.

And ultimately what that is, is deeply destabilising.

Our fundamental issue in relation to China is that we have seen a very dramatic military buildup by China without that strategic reassurance [to our neighbours].

There really isn’t an explanation as to why they are building the capabilities that they are and that is fundamentally destabilising.

I think the system is handling the matter as it should … I think it’s appropriate that the legal process takes its course.

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Extreme high temperatures double young people’s risk of mental health admissions, Australian research shows

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Exclusive University of Sydney study finds heat-related hospital admissions to increase by 6% to 7.7% by the end of the century

Extreme high temperatures in warmer months double the risk of young people being admitted to hospital for a mental health condition, according to research.

The analysis, which looked at 720,000 New South Wales hospital admissions of young people aged up to 24, suggested the climate crisis would aggravate the already declining mental health of young people.

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Higher-earning Australians flocking to 5% first home deposit scheme with some borrowers earning over $200,000

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Exclusive: Economists warn Labor’s removal of caps could be pushing up prices as support flows to people in better financial positions

Most Australian first home buyers are using the government’s 5% deposit scheme, with one in three new participants earning more than the scheme’s previous cap for high income earners.

The influx of high income earners into the first home guarantee program, economists warn, has pushed up property prices by increasing buying capacity for people who would have bought anyway.

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Melbourne teacher dies after head clash during suburban football game

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Epping footballer Nathan Fitzgerald, 27, died in hospital after hitting his head during a game in Lalor, club confirms

A suburban Melbourne footballer has died in hospital after a clash of heads saw him fall to the ground and hit his head on a covered cricket pitch, his club confirmed on Monday night.

High school teacher Nathan Fitzgerald, 27, was taken to Royal Melbourne hospital on Saturday after the incident during an Australian rules football game in Lalor in Melbourne’s north, and was said to be receiving “end of life” care.

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Child protection services contacted before four-year-old’s alleged murder as police investigate cannibalism claim

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Police charge woman with murder after boy’s body was found in a Central Coast home on Saturday

The New South Wales department in charge of child protection received “a number of reports” about a four-year-old child before he was allegedly murdered by his mother, the minister revealed, as she announced a review into how the case was handled.

Kate Washington, the NSW minister for communities and family, announced the independent review into the child’s case on Monday afternoon, two days after police found the preschooler’s body at a home on the Central Coast.

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Anthony Albanese apologises ‘unequivocally’ for podcast comment about Kylie Minogue

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Prime minister picked pop singer in game of ‘shag, marry, date’ on comedy podcast

Anthony Albanese has apologised “unequivocally” for his comments while playing a “shag, marry, date” game on a comedy podcast when he nominated Kylie Minogue for all three categories.

The prime minister issued a statement on Monday morning after receiving criticism at the weekend for his appearance on the Bush Deep podcast with the comedian Nikki Osborne.

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Coal is back in AustralianSuper’s portfolio. What happened to that net zero pledge?

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In 2020 Australia’s biggest super fund dumped its Whitehaven shares. Fast forward to 2026 and it is now the coalminer’s single biggest investor

Almost six years ago, the country’s biggest superannuation fund announced a major policy update: AustralianSuper’s investment portfolio would be subject to a net zero carbon emissions target in line with the Paris agreement.

To make the point, the fund dumped its holdings in the large thermal and metallurgical coalminer Whitehaven Coal.

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Fears Queenslanders could be forced to pay for mine cleanup as LNP reviews environmental ‘red tape’

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Mining minister Dale Last says the state has an ‘enormous opportunity’ to become a global leader in critical minerals

Queenslanders are being warned they could be left to pay for the clean up of abandoned mines if rehabilitation laws are weakened, after the state government announced a bid to cut environmental “red tape” for resources companies.

The state’s treasurer, David Janetzki, and the mining minister, Dale Last, this week announced a review of a scheme that requires resources companies to provide surety to cover remediation and rehabilitation costs when mines close.

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Trump’s $2bn bonanza heralds the rise of political grifters across the west

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With voters embracing leaders who brazenly monetise public office, experts say an ethical code is breaking down

Donald Trump came to office in 2017 after decades of bankruptcies and business failures. Yes, he was rich, but his latest financial disclosure, published this week, suggests he will depart billions richer.

In the first year of his second term, he made more than $2bn from Trump hotels, Trump golf courses, Trump cryptocurrency, Trump watches, Trump cologne, Trump Bibles and more.

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Woman charged with murder after body of four-year-old boy found in Central Coast home

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Police are investigating what happened to a boy who was found with significant arm injuries

A woman has been charged with murder after police found the body of a preschooler at a home on the New South Wales Central Coast.

Police rushed to the home at Wyong after a 32-year-old woman presented to the local police station on Saturday.

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Norfolk Island’s unique corals under triple threat from disease, El Niño and now government-approved dredging

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Exclusive: Most of the island’s corals are likely to be species that have not been formally described by science, researcher says

Scientists fear unique corals that fringe Australia’s remote Norfolk Island could disappear because of a triple threat of disease, El Niño and a federal government plan to dredge a neighbouring shipping channel.

A failure to manage sediment and pollution washing into bays from cattle farming, cleared land along with wastewater has been blamed for widespread disease and outbreaks of algae over the corals.

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Third teenager charged after 15-year-old Melbourne boy allegedly left to die from stab wounds

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Darweish Mohamed was found critically wounded outside Craigieburn community hospital on Wednesday evening

A third teenager has been charged over the fatal stabbing of a 15-year-old boy found outside a Melbourne hospital.

A 14-year-old from Victoria’s Hume area was arrested on Friday evening and was charged with murder, police said.He has been scheduled to appear before a children’s court.

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Cold feet and cooling prices: Australia’s property market is transforming – and first home buyers aren’t biting

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Exclusive: Data shows buyers are not rushing to get into the market, despite lower prices and less competition

First home buyers are starting to step back and investor demand is slumping in all areas except new property, as Australia’s housing market enters a downturn.

Research shows the market is transforming, nearly two months on from a third consecutive interest rate rise and sweeping tax reforms.

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