Emergency services recover bodies of children, aged five and seven, at Floyd Bay in Lansvale
A woman and two children, aged five and seven, have died after being seen in distress in waters in Sydney’s south-west.
Emergency services were called to a boat ramp at Floyd Bay on the Georges River in Lansvale on Saturday morning after a woman and two children were seen in the water in distress.
Continue reading...Storms and showers predicted to linger around Australia’s east coast over the weekend
Damaging conditions are due to ease after days of wild weather but the risk remains of major thunderstorms.
Residents in Queensland’s Wide Bay and surrounding land areas have been put on alert for a risk of severe thunderstorms with damaging winds and large hail on Saturday.
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Continue reading...NSW Maritime executive director says balls appear to be made up of fatty acids, chemicals found in cleaning and cosmetic products, and fuel oil
A baffling tar ball emergency that closed major beaches in Sydney’s eastern suburbs appears to be over.
The remaining beaches closed to bathers at Coogee, Maroubra and Clovelly have been cleared to reopen on Saturday after Bondi and several others reopened on Friday.
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Continue reading...Lowering voltage about 5% could lower emissions and save customers on the national electricity market around $110 a year, research shows
Ever wondered why your trusty toaster abruptly failed or your widescreen TV suddenly went on the fritz, far too early in the life of the appliance?
Excessively high voltage levels might be to blame for their premature demise, energy experts say.
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Continue reading...Exclusive: CEO Will Hayward calls comments ‘appalling’ and that he would ‘no longer be publishing his work’
Crikey’s correspondent-at-large Guy Rundle has been sacked after he sent a text to ABC Radio saying sexual assault complaints have gone up because “every grope is now a sexual assault”.
Guardian Australia understands the ABC told the publisher of Crikey, Private Media, that the message was one of dozens of “inflammatory” texts sent by the writer on a variety of topics in recent months to the RN Breakfast show, hosted by Patricia Karvelas. The sexual assault text is the first one Karvelas has read out on air along with his name.
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Continue reading...Hopeful Republicans are calling it the ‘farewell tour’, as the king toes the tried and tested constitutional line
As the king arrives in Australia for the first time as head of state, republican rumblings are once more on the media radar.
Will it be, as the Australian Republic Movement (ARM) optimistically opines, the monarchy’s “farewell tour”?
Continue reading...Amid a downpour at Sydney airport, the monarch arrives with Queen Camilla for a five-day visit
Minutes after a drenching downpour came to an end at Sydney airport, King Charles and Queen Camilla stepped on to Australian soil for their first visit as reigning monarchs.
The five-day trip is the couple’s first Australian visit since the King ascended to the throne in 2022 and the first by a reigning monarch since his mother Queen Elizabeth toured the country in 2011.
Continue reading...Witnesses said Craig Laidley had almost reached safety when a wave dragged the 56-year-old back into heavy seas
Friends and family of Australian man Craig Laidley have paid tribute to a “hero” who drowned saving someone he didn’t know.
His body was found in Bali on Friday, two days after he was swept out to sea while assisting a struggling swimmer.
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Continue reading...Hail swath estimated at 120 miles damages crops in western Victoria as winds break windows and rip tiles from roofs
On Wednesday, the Australian state of Victoria was hit by thunderstorms. The town of Casterton was particularly badly affected, receiving 21mm of rain in just 30 minutes, followed by large hailstones.
Vehicles and properties were severely damaged, with reports of broken windows and tiles blown off roofs due to strong winds.
Continue reading...NRL, AFL and betting companies intensified efforts to try to influence PM in lead-up to finals
Newly released documents show how in the lead-up to footy finals the NRL, AFL and major wagering companies accelerated and intensified their efforts to directly lobby the prime minister’s office to influence a proposed gambling ad ban.
The gambling industry’s peak body sought to bypass the responsible minister and discuss ad ban issues directly with Anthony Albanese, according to documents tabled in parliament on Friday, which revealed details of letters, emails and meeting agendas and memos.
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Continue reading...Waverley council says no remaining evidence of the debris could be found at Bondi, Bronte and Tamarama beaches. Follow today’s news live
Max Chandler-Mather continued, and told ABC News Breakfast:
I would argue in this instance in the context of one of the worst housing crises we have seen in generations … now is precisely the time where we need more than tinkering around the edges and we need substantial change.
There is a building consensus we need to scrap these tax handouts. Increasingly the biggest barrier is a prime minister [who has just] gone through multiple days of scandal for buying another property and being a property investor.
So I think there’s a real moment here the government should seize to make real substantial change to the lives of hundreds of thousands of renters, and the bottom line is the Greens are ready and willing to work with Labor to do it.
Continue reading...Man charged with dangerous driving after girl allegedly struck by a vehicle in Endeavour Hills
A three-year-old girl has died in hospital after being hit by a car on a major thoroughfare in Melbourne’s south-east on Thursday.
Emergency services were called to Heatherton Road, near the intersection of James Cook Drive, in Endeavour Hills about 8.30am on Thursday, following reports a child had been struck by vehicle.
Continue reading...Parliamentary analysis shows benefit of change, party says, and calls Anthony Albanese ‘biggest blocker’ to change
More than a quarter of a million renters could own their own homes if Labor revived dumped plans to wind back generous tax breaks for residential property investors, new analysis shows.
A Parliamentary Library analysis of NSW Treasury modelling and census data, commissioned by Greens MP Max Chandler-Mather, found home ownership would rise by 4.7%, or 292,902 more owner-occupier houses, if negative gearing and capital gains tax discounts were wound back.
Continue reading...Sydney and Canberra are on the royal couple’s itinerary, with opportunities for the public to see them between official functions
King Charles and Queen Camilla have touched down in Australia for the couple’s first visit to the country since Charles became its reigning monarch.
They were last in Australia in 2018, when then Prince Charles opened the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast. This shorter, more compact tour will take in just Canberra and Sydney, with dozens of engagements packed into the pair’s four days on the ground.
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Continue reading...But wholesale prices are down by 25% compared with the June quarter in New South Wales, down 9% in Victoria and down 12% in Tasmania
Wholesale power prices across much of eastern Australia were sharply higher in the September quarter from a year earlier because of increased reliance on gas, hydro and batteries, the Australian Energy Regulator said in its quarterly report.
Average prices ranged from $114/megawatt-hour in Queensland to $201/MWh in South Australia. The biggest year-on-year increases were in Tasmania, with prices up 290%, Victoria’s increasing 114% and SA’s 76% higher.
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Continue reading...Tribunal cancelled Jonathon Walker’s registration after it found ‘evidence of coercion’ towards vulnerable patient
Melbourne psychologist Jonathon Walker, who coerced a young, vulnerable client and moved her into his home after they began an intimate relationship, has had his registration as a health worker cancelled.
The Victorian civil and administrative tribunal (Vcat) also disqualified Walker from reapplying for registration as a psychologist or any other health practitioner for five years, and in its decision Vcat said Walker had limited insight into his misconduct.
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Continue reading...One person has died and a second is in a critical condition after a bus and multiple cars collided
One person has died and another is in a critical condition after multiple cars and a bus collided on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
New South Wales police said emergency services were called to the bridge at about 1.40pm on Thursday, following reports of the multi-vehicle crash. They found three cars and a bus had collided.
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New polling from the Australia Institute shows that Australians view the supermarkets as “public enemy No 1” in the cost of living crisis.
The Australia Institute’s Centre for Future Work surveyed 1,014 voters, and 83% said supermarkets deserve some blame – or a great deal of blame – for the soaring cost of living.
Australians are pointing the finger squarely at supermarkets as public enemy No 1 in the cost-of-living crisis … More people blame supermarkets for the cost-of-living crunch than governments or banks.
The public’s appetite for increased supermarket competition is unmistakable. Nearly two-thirds of voters see it as crucial for alleviating cost-of-living pressures … There’s likely to be political rewards for taking actions that increase supermarket competition.
Continue reading...Nine board commits to implementing all recommendations for a ‘reset of culture’
Nine Entertainment has a systemic issue with the abuse of power and authority, bullying, discrimination and sexual harassment across the company, an independent report has found.
“Driving these behaviours is a lack of leadership accountability; power imbalances; gender inequality and a lack of diversity; and significant distrust in leaders at all levels of the business,” the company said in a statement after receiving the report on Thursday.
The Nine board has apologised to affected staff and pledged to implement all 22 recommendations in the report for a “reset of culture at Nine”.
Elizabeth Lee gave one-fingered salute to reporter after leaders’ debate with chief minister Andrew Barr
The ACT Liberal leader, Elizabeth Lee, has apologised for raising her middle finger at a journalist after a heated news conference days out from the territory election, explaining it as a “moment of frustration” on the campaign trail.
The moment, captured by cameras at the news conference as the opposition leader walked off, was branded “extraordinary” by the deputy prime minister, Richard Marles.
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