Whitehaven Coal faces rare shareholder action over mining plans and CEO’s $7m bonus

Australian miner paying ‘massive bonuses’ for ‘steamrolling ahead with an outdated and unacceptably risky coal growth strategy’, activists say

Whitehaven Coal, one of Australia’s biggest coal producers, faces a rare “second strike” from shareholders this week as climate activists seek to draw attention to the miner’s plans to ramp up volumes and resulting carbon emissions.

The ASX-listed company received a 41% vote against its executives’ remuneration report at last year’s annual general meeting. A vote of at least 25% at this year’s AGM on Wednesday would force a motion to spill Whitehaven’s board.

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‘Needle in a haystack’: how a six-day search for a missing woman in rugged Kosciuszko ended in relief

Lovisa Sjoberg had suffered a snake bite, dehydration and a rolled ankle in the days she spent lost in the Snowy Mountains – and was ‘pretty fortunate’ to be alive

The alarm was raised by a car hire company.

Lovisa Sjoberg, known as Kiki, had hired a grey Mitsubishi Outlander and driven it out to the Kosciuszko national park, where she was known to go hiking and take photographs of brumbies.

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Australia news live: Dutton says he ‘respects’ Crisafulli’s rejection of nuclear power but will push for a ‘mature conversation’

Earlier this morning, David Crisafulli said it was still a ‘no’ to any nuclear proposal, and Dutton said he ‘respected’ that. Follow the day’s news live

Employment minister Murray Watt has refused to comment on reports Anthony Albanese used his membership in Qantas’s chairman’s lounge to solicit flight upgrades when he was transport minister and opposition leader.

Watt was on RN Breakfast, where he refused to be drawn on what he called “unsourced claim by a journalist” that Albanese would reach out directly to former Qantas CEO Alan Joyce directly about his travel.

If you have a look at Peter Dutton behaviour, for example, several upgrades from the Qantas and other airlines, he’s had free flights paid for by Gina Rinehart.

I really would wonder whether it’s wise for the opposition to start calling this kind of stuff into question.

We obviously spend an enormous amount of time at airports. I think this week, I’m going to be in about three or four different cities, flying from place to place. And it is helpful from time to time, to be able to have private meetings or private environments, to be able to have teams meetings with your office, which I do every time I fly.

We want Labor to negotiate like we did in the previous housing legislation, where we not only improved and passed Labour’s housing legislation, but we got $3bn to start building public and community housing.

I think this is part of the message that we’re trying to give to the government. We are up for negotiation.

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John Farnham opens up about his ‘abusive’ and ‘sexually aggressive’ first manager

In his new memoir The Voice Inside, the Australian singer says Darryl Sambell drugged him, controlled what he ate and punished him for rejecting his advances

John Farnham has opened up for the first time about his “abusive” relationship with his first manager, Darryl Sambell, accusing him of being “sexually aggressive” towards him and controlling what he sang, wore and ate.

In his new memoir, The Voice Inside, published in Australia on Wednesday, the 75-year-old singer reveals the extent of Sambell’s abuse for the first time, writing that he “used me like a piece of meat”.

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Labor lost Queensland election partly because it was obsessed with the Greens, Chandler-Mather says

Greens housing spokesperson argues that lesson for federal Labor is if PM spends next six months fighting party ‘he’s going to hand the keys to Peter Dutton’

The Greens’ federal housing spokesperson, Max Chandler-Mather, says the Queensland election result shows federal Labor needs to drop its “deep hostility” to the minor party – or risk losing next year’s national poll.

The Liberal National party’s victory at the weekend – its first majority in almost a decade – relied upon gains from Labor in regional areas, including heartland seats in central and north Queensland.

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Corporations using ‘ineffectual’ carbon offsets are slowing path to ‘real zero’, more than 60 climate scientists say

Pledge signed by experts from nine countries reflects concerns that offsets generated from forest-related projects may not have cut emissions

Carbon offsets used by corporations around the world to lower their reportable greenhouse gas emissions are “ineffectual” and “hindering the energy transition”, according to more than 60 leading climate change scientists.

A pledge signed by scientists from nine countries, including the UK, the US and Australia, said the “only path that can prevent further escalation of climate impacts” was “real zero” and not “net zero”.

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High-flying life of Australia’s birds revealed in new detail – thanks to weather radars

Researchers gain deeper understanding of bird migration in study that could have ‘profound’ implications for windfarms

The yearly travel plans of birds up and down Australia’s east coast have been revealed for the first time, using the same tool that tracks the weather – a development experts say could have “profound” implications for conservation as more windfarms are built.

Scientists have used weather radars to show that bird migration across eastern Australia occurs in structured patterns. While many Australian bird species are known to be seasonally migratory, scientists previously did not know to what extent a distinct system existed.

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Woman bitten by snake found alive after week-long search in remote Snowy Mountains

Lovisa Sjoberg hadn’t been seen for almost a fortnight when she was located on Sunday afternoon at Kiandra about 85km south-west of Canberra

A woman missing for more than a week in the Snowy Mountains region has been found alive four days after she was reportedly bitten by a snake.

A search was launched for Lovisa “Kiki” Sjoberg, 48, on Monday 21 October after she was last seen driving a grey SUV in the Kosciuszko national park the previous Tuesday.

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New Queensland premier David Crisafulli vows to legislate ‘adult time for adult crime’ policy by Christmas

LNP leader plans to ‘get cracking’ in majority government but critics have said locking up more children isn’t the answer

Queensland’s incoming premier, David Crisafulli, and his deputy, Jarrod Bleijie, will be sworn in as an interim cabinet of two so the LNP can “get cracking” with governing, the party’s leader says.

“We’ve got to get to work,” Crisafulli said on Sunday after securing majority government.

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Labor accuses Peter Dutton of trying to ‘force nuclear energy on Queenslanders’

Nationals MP Keith Pitt claims Coalition would have mandate if it won federal election despite opposition to nuclear power from state’s incoming LNP government

A senior federal Labor minister has accused Peter Dutton of trying to “force nuclear energy on Queenslanders” following the LNP’s state election win after which a Coalition MP claimed the federal party would forge ahead with its power plan.

The federal Nationals MP for Hinkler, Keith Pitt, on Sunday said the Coalition would have a mandate to press ahead with its nuclear policy if Dutton won the next election.

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Crisafulli makes first speech as premier-elect; trucks deliver food aid to western NSW after power outages – as it happened

The LNP leader again thanked unsuccessful candidates from both sides before declaring he would get to work quickly. This blog has now closed

A look at ‘incredibly expressive and very flirtatious’ Maratus spiders

Australian Maratus spiders, which measure 3-5mm, are known as “peacock spiders” because of the extravagant colourings they display during courtship rituals and combat.

They’re incredibly expressive and very flirtatious. The male wants to get all the attention of the female, like birds of paradise.

That’s not talking about net zero. That’s talking about actual emissions reductions as a total.

So what’s the proposal? Are you intending to wipe out the cattle herd, are you going to reduce traffic by 75%?

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Australia rejects visa application by rightwing US pundit Candace Owens

Immigration minister Tony Burke says Owens ‘has the capacity to incite discord in almost every direction’ ahead of planned November speaking tour

Australia has rejected far-right provocateur Candace Owens’ visa application ahead of a planned national speaking tour, with the immigration minister, Tony Burke, saying she had the “capacity to incite discord”.

The US conservative influencer and podcast host, who has advanced conspiracy theories and antisemitic rhetoric including minimising Nazi medical experiments in concentration camps, will be blocked from coming to Australia after the federal government voiced alarm about her record.

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LNP will need to show Brisbane voters it can be a moderate government if it’s to stay in power

The party won decisively in the regions but was rejected by the city, which was scared off by the hard-right social views of some candidates

The story of the Queensland election is the story of Mackay and Mansfield.

The voters of Mackay stuck with Labor during the landslide loss to Campbell Newman’s Liberal National party in 2012. They voted for the party in the “Adani election” of 2017, at the nadir of the state’s climate wars.

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David Crisafulli claims LNP victory in Queensland election ending Labor’s decade-long reign

Outgoing premier Steven Miles concedes he cannot form majority government despite a last-minute vote surge

David Crisafulli has claimed victory for the Liberal National party in the Queensland election after a campaign that focused heavily on a series of hardline crime promises.

The election marks the end of Labor’s decade-long reign in Queensland and is only the second time the Liberal or National parties have won a state poll since 1989.

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David Crisafulli has narrowly won the Queensland election but the real fight has only just begun

With a very narrow majority to protect, Crisafulli will have no wriggle room to tolerate internal dissent – and that’s already begun

David Crisafulli will almost certainly cobble together enough seats to become Queensland’s new premier. He now looks set to become only the second Liberal or National to win a state election since 1989.

And yet election night doesn’t feel euphoric for the LNP.

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Belimbla Park plane crash: three people killed after mid-air collision in Sydney’s south-west

NSW police say two crime scenes secured after reports two light planes collided near Oakdale

Three people are dead after two light planes collided in mid-air before crashing in Sydney’s south-west.

NSW police confirmed the fatal crash occurred at about 11.50am on Saturday, at Belimbla Park, near Oakdale.

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Police find vapes worth $8m after being called to Melbourne warehouse robbery

About 200,000 e-cigarettes found in Box Hill South after officers were told of reported burglary on Thursday

Victorian police called to an early morning break-in this week found something unexpected: about 200,000 illegal vapes worth $8m.

The vapes were found in a warehouse in Melbourne’s outer east after officers responded to reports of a commercial robbery, police said in a statement on Saturday.

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‘It was awful’: Annie’s worst fears came true after she accused her police officer partner of DV

Since 2017 in NSW, 120 officers have been charged with domestic violence offences. But advocates believe many victims are too scared to report

Annie* was in a relationship with a police officer for more than a decade. During that time, she says, he was manipulative and assaulted her.

When she finally got the courage to report her allegations of domestic violence to the police, a different command to where her partner worked investigated it. But then she realised that some of the officers in that command knew him.

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Albanese government pauses controversial debt recovery method until appeal resolved

Legality of income apportionment has been under question for years but social services says it is confident system is lawful

The Department of Social Services will pause work on recovering debts using its income calculation method while it awaits the outcome of an appeal against an administrative appeals tribunal (AAT) decision in the federal court.

The legality of income apportionment – where a recipient’s job income is divided over fortnightly periods in order to calculate support payments – has been under question for years.

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Popular Sydney beaches among quarter of NSW swimming spots polluted with faecal matter in past year

Shelly beach, Bronte, Coogee and Malabar among those rated ‘poor’ as swimmers urged to check water quality online

More than a quarter of New South Wales’ favourite swimming spots have been polluted by faecal matter over the past year including Sydney’s Coogee, Bronte and Malabar beaches.

With the Bureau of Meteorology predicting a wet summer, the government has urged swimmers to check its online water quality monitor for updates after its annual state of the beaches report found 28% of the 218 tracked sites experienced pollution.

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