Category Archives: Australia news

Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis says he never wanted to hurt wife Melissa Hoskins and attacks media’s ‘false narrative’

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Dennis, whose car fatally struck Hoskins in 2023, wrote on Instagram ‘I have ALWAYS been against any sort of abuse against women’

The Olympic cyclist Rohan Dennis has lashed out at journalists on social media, saying they created a “false narrative” about him after his wife’s 2023 death.

“The narrative which the media ran with was clear,” the former professional cyclist wrote on Instagram late on Monday night. “They wanted me to look like the husband who abused his wife.”

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Children to get free flu vaccine via nasal spray in NSW, with minister spruiking ‘needle-free alternative’

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NSW follows Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia in offering free treatments for kids four and under, saving up to $70

Hundreds of thousands of children will be able to access a painless, needle-free flu vaccination for free as governments attempt to curb falling vaccine rates.

New South Wales has become the latest state to offer a nasal spray flu vaccine to children for free, following Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia.

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Using AI to speed up Australia’s environmental approvals risks ‘robodebt-style’ failures, scientists say

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Conservationists say move could push species closer to extinction and clearer environmental rules are needed instead

Conservationists and scientists have warned a mining lobby proposal to use artificial intelligence to speed up national environmental approvals could generate “robodebt-style” failures, putting threatened species at further risk.

The Minerals Council of Australia has asked the government to spend $13m to trial the use of AI to help companies prepare applications and help the federal government make decisions.

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Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila could hit far north Queensland three weeks after Narelle tore through

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While path and strength of storm remain uncertain, BoM warns Cape York could again take direct hit if cyclone makes landfall

Another cyclone may hit the Queensland coast just over three weeks after the same area was smashed by Severe Tropical Cyclone Narelle, the Bureau of Meteorology says.

But a meteorologist warned forecasts predicting the path and strength of Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila remained uncertain, with the storm likely to make landfall over the weekend.

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‘I just legged it’: teenage shark bite victim recalls lucky escape while surfing in South Australia

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Oliver Tokic-Bensley, 16, says he had been in the water mere minutes when a shark bit his foot

A teenage surfer bitten by a shark at a South Australian beach has described how he “flicked it off” and “legged it back to shore”.

Oliver Tokic-Bensley, 16, was bitten on his foot while surfing on Good Friday near his family beach house at Middleton, 80km south of Adelaide.

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Track current petrol and diesel prices, service station outages and shipments – Australia’s fuel crisis in charts

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How much fuel does Australia have left today, and when could we run out? Check how much petrol and diesel prices have risen near you in Sydney, Melbourne and across the country since the US and Israel’s war on Iran began in late February

Hundreds of service stations across Australia have run empty, fuel prices are elevated and oil shipments have been cancelled.

Australia is battling a fuel crisis as Iran’s closure of the strait of Hormuz continues to bite. The federal government has released fuel reserves, cut fuel excise taxes and rolled out a national fuel security plan.

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Man’s body found after being swept away in outback flood waters

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Three-day search effort ends after 65-year-old disappeared near Innamincka in remote north-eastern South Australia on Easter Saturday

Police have found the body of a 65-year-old man who was swept into flood waters in South Australia’s far north.

The man – identified only as Tony by South Australia police – disappeared about 12.30pm on Saturday, sparking a three-day search effort.

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Aboriginal child moved 1,700km from remote NT community should be returned, family court rules

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Judge says boy should go back to his community to learn about stories and rituals ‘that can only be taught on country’

An Aboriginal child who was moved 1,700km from his remote Northern Territory community should be returned to ensure he can experience his culture, the family court has found.

The boy, known as X in the court proceedings, was born in 2016, when his mother was in prison. She did not take part in the court proceedings, and the man believed to be the boy’s father only took a limited part in the case.

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They’re in clouds, electric sockets and even on toast. Why do humans see faces in everyday objects?

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Human brains are designed to detect faces as quickly as possible, which can lead to the perception of ‘false faces’

Faces: we see them in clouds, electrical outlets and even a $28,000 toasted sandwich said to look like the Virgin Mary.

Known as face pareidolia, seeing faces in inanimate objects or patterns of light and shadow is a common phenomenon.

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Man arrested attempting to board international flight at Melbourne airport charged with murdering woman

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Murder charge laid after missing woman’s body discovered in Victorian town of Little River, near Melbourne

A man has faced court accused of murder after he was arrested while trying to board an overseas flight.

Allan Keys, 67, was arrested at Melbourne International Airport on Friday afternoon before he stepped onto the overseas-bound plane, Victoria police said.

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Bilby boom: breeding trial to reintroduce species to Mallee Cliffs national park shows signs of success

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Fifty ‘founder’ bilbies were released in fenced breeding area in 2019 with the aim of establishing first wild population there in a century

Efforts to reintroduce bilbies in the far south-west of New South Wales are showing signs of success, with numbers climbing to almost 2,000, seven years after the first breeding trial at Mallee Cliffs national park.

Fifty “founder” bilbies, including 30 from Thistle Island off the coast of South Australia, were released in a fenced breeding area in 2019 with the aim of establishing a wild population in the Mallee Cliffs habitat for the first time in a century.

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Confidential report found former home affairs boss Michael Pezzullo was ‘reckless’ in engagement with Liberal powerbroker

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Previously unreleased report obtained via freedom of information battle says Pezzullo exceeded ‘boundaries of normal public service practice’

The former head of the Department of Home Affairs’ engagement with a Liberal powerbroker was “reckless”, “ill-advised” and beyond the boundaries of normal public service practice, a previously unreleased confidential report found.

The independent probe led to the sacking of Michael Pezzullo as secretary of the Department of Home Affairs in November 2023 after it concluded he had breached the government’s code of conduct at least 14 times. This included using his power for personal benefit.

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Victoria police arrest two people as part of Dezi Freeman investigation

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Man and woman released pending further enquiries after arrests at separate properties in state’s north-east on Saturday morning

Two people have been arrested as part of the investigation into how Porepunkah fugitive Dezi Freeman was able to survive on the run for seven months before he was shot dead on Monday.

A man and a woman were arrested at separate properties in north-east Victoria on Saturday morning around 7am, before being later released.

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Sydney councils fear new datacentres could cause blackouts, block housing and affect locals’ health

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Datacentres ‘directly competing’ with possible residential builds near public transport, one council tells NSW inquiry, amid growing concerns

Datacentre developments are crowding out opportunities for housing and job-rich industries across Sydney, a New South Wales inquiry has heard, with one local council reporting a rise in blackouts linked to the industry’s expansion.

Several Sydney councils, all facing an influx of datacentre developments, have raised concerns about the health, environmental and amenity impacts on their local communities in submissions to the state’s datacentre inquiry.

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Nine charged over alleged conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and meth via ‘mother ship’ in Australian waters

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Police allege drugs were to be collected from a drop zone in Bass Strait and distributed across the nation using trucking connections

When a commercial trawler sank off Victoria with four crew members needing rescuing, police became suspicious about an alleged drug trafficking operation.

Nine men are accused over a conspiracy to import tonnes of cocaine and methamphetamine before distributing the drugs across Australia using trucking connections.

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Two NSW teenagers charged over violent extremist material allegedly linked to terror

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Police say they found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist references

Two New South Wales teenagers have been charged with allegedly possessing violent extremist material after police searched one of their homes and found a ballistic-style vest, several notebooks and literature they allege contained extremist references.

The Australian federal police and NSW police released a statement on Friday morning confirming the boys, aged 15 and 16 and both from Moree in northern NSW, had been charged with possession of alleged extremist material after a joint counterterrorism investigation.

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‘Letting the algorithm rip’: no legal basis for lack of human override of aged care funding tool, inquiry hears

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Department says it’s received 834 requests for a review of tool’s assessments since it launched in November

There appears to be no legal barrier for a human to override a controversial algorithm that determines financial support for elderly Australians, a Senate inquiry has heard, despite government assessors being banned from doing so.

The Integrated Assessment Tool (IAT), introduced in November as part of aged care Support at Home reforms, is used to assess eligibility and assign funding levels for aged care services.

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Moira Deeming to secure top spot on Victorian Liberal ticket

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Reversal of fortune comes just one week after she was dumped in favour of Dinesh Gourisetty, who then withdrew his nomination

Moira Deeming will secure a top spot on the Victorian Liberal party’s upper house ticket unopposed – less than a week after members voted to dump her – after the withdrawal of candidates from a re-run ballot.

Deeming was on Sunday ousted from the number one spot for the western metropolitan region by Dinesh Gourisetty.

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Alleged Bondi terrorist Naveed Akram denied suppression order over identities of family members

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Lawyers for accused had argued names of family members should be suppressed due to fears for their mental and physical safety

The alleged Bondi attacker has been denied a suppression order over his family member’s names and home and work addresses after a collective of media organisations won a challenge against the bid.

In the Downing Centre local court on Thursday, judge Hugh Donnelly decided to deny the request for a 40-year suppression order, ending an interim suppression order that was granted for Naveed Akram’s mother, brother and sister in early March which banned the publication of their names and addresses.

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Calm weather forecast for most of Australia over Easter weekend while Bom watches for possible cyclone

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The Bureau of Meteorology says a blend of fine days and showers expected for most capital cities over the coming days

Many Australians can expect mild temperatures and a chance of showers over the Easter weekend, while meteorologists predict a cyclone will form in the Coral Sea from Saturday evening.

The Bureau of Meteorology has forecast a blend of fine days and showers for most capital cities over the coming days.

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