Albanese backs Queensland premier’s opposition to nuclear power as early voting in state election opens

PM says Steven Miles’s plan to hold plebiscite on nuclear if Labor wins 26 October poll is a ‘matter for Queensland’ but he supports the stance

Anthony Albanese has backed Steven Miles’s opposition to nuclear power while joining the Queensland premier on the first day of pre-poll voting in the state election.

At a joint press conference in the Gold Coast on Monday, the prime minister was asked about Miles’s plan to hold a plebiscite on nuclear if Labor wins this month’s poll.

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Adelaide launches bid to host Cop31 climate conference in 2026

Peter Malinauskas says South Australia’s renewable energy credentials make it a logical host for UN’s annual climate summit

South Australia has launched a bid to host a major UN climate conference in 2026 in Adelaide, with the premier, Peter Malinauskas, declaring it would draw more than 30,000 people and could be worth $500m to the state.

Australia is vying with Turkey to host the year-ending climate summit known as Cop31, with a decision expected next month at this year’s conference in Azerbaijan. The Albanese government’s existing bid is that it would co-host the event with Pacific nations.

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Alleged Pinochet agent turned Bondi nanny Adriana Rivas launches last-ditch appeal to block extradition to Chile

Rivas, who is accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper, launches challenge in the federal court

A former Bondi nanny and cleaner accused by Chile of being a torturer and kidnapper for Pinochet’s military dictatorship in the 1970s has launched a last-ditch legal appeal to avoid extradition.

Adriana Rivas, 70, has been in prison in Australia since 2019, when she was arrested on an extradition request from Chile – seeking her for trial on seven counts of aggravated kidnapping relating to the disappearance, and presumed murder, of seven members of Chile’s communist party who disappeared in 1976.

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Dfat says it has told Israel ‘unacceptable’ targeting of UN personnel in Lebanon must cease – as it happened

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Jacinta Nampijinpa Price on Voice referendum, one year on

The shadow minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, was on ABC News Breakfast earlier on the first anniversary of the Voice referendum.

We have been calling for an inquiry into statutory authorities for the last 18 months, which we believe need to be looked at closely because of their failures to ... well, not all statutory authorities, but some, in terms of their failures of how they’re supposed to serve the interests of those that they are supposed to represent.

And this has been ongoing now and something that the Albanese Government has continued to ignore. But those voices – especially of Traditional Owners – that I have been speaking to, are growing louder, with more concern. And, really, there is a need to fix the structures that currently exist, and it begins with an inquiry.

There’s no evidence at all that current laws led by the Albanese government are stifling businesses from employing people. In fact, we’ve actually created nearly 1 million jobs since coming to office a bit over two years ago … So unfortunately, for some of the leading business groups calling for this, the evidence of what’s going on in the economy just doesn’t back up their wish list.

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Minns backs LGBTQ+ reforms but students and teachers at religious schools could still face discrimination

Independent Alex Greenwich says ‘heartbreaking’ to lose his proposed laws governing treatment of gay students and teachers but ‘it’s not over’

Transgender people in New South Wales could soon be able to change their sex on their birth certificates without getting surgery, but gay teachers will still be able to be fired from some schools after a watered-down proposal received the premier’s support.

The premier, Chris Minns, will this week ask the Labor caucus to back independent MP Alex Greenwich’s equality bill after a raft of amendments were made, including dropping changes to the Anti-Discrimination Act governing schools.

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Spit hoods to be used on Northern Territory children again as ban ends, police chief confirms

Controversial devices were barred by former Labor government but will return to watch houses after tough-on-crime CLP’s election win

Spit hoods will again be used to restrain children in the Northern Territory, the police commissioner has confirmed.

The controversial devices were banned in NT youth detention centres following a landmark royal commission established in 2016 and were subsequently eliminated in South Australia and New South Wales in all custodial settings.

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‘No settlement to the original grievance’: voice champions give rallying cry for unity in Australia

‘Our mob across the country wanted structural reform', Pat Anderson told online audience; ‘that’s what we’re still fighting for,’ Prof Megan Davis said

A key proponent of the Indigenous Voice to parliament, rejected at a referendum a year ago, has challenged Australians to be “bigger and wider – to be grand” and to forge from that bruising experience “an authentic Australian nation”.

Pat Anderson’s rallying cry on the eve of the anniversary came at the close of an hour-long online event for key ‘Yes’ advocates to reflect, lament and commit to “stay true to Uluru”.

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‘I felt like a bird god’: why comedian Geraldine Hickey is excited for this year’s Aussie Bird Count

The keen birdwatcher encourages others to take 20 minutes out of their day, describing the experience as ‘meditative’

In early October the comedian Geraldine Hickey went looking for tawny frogmouths, a charismatic bird with a frog-like beak and mottled feathers.

“They’re a good-looking bird,” Hickey says, though it hasn’t yet appeared in her annual bird calendar, a project she started as a “lockdown thing” that has gained its own dedicated audience.

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Accidental vet email further evidence of euthanasia of healthy greyhounds in Victoria

As more cases of dogs being unnecessarily euthanised are revealed, activists want stricter reporting requirements for the racing industry

It was an accidental email that confirmed what many animal activists fear is a widespread issue in Victoria’s greyhound racing industry: young, healthy dogs being euthanised.

In July, clinic notes from a vet intended for a greyhound trainer were mistakenly sent to a rehoming group that had recently been to the same vet for treatment of a rescue dog.

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Business Council blames slow local decision-making for feeding Australia’s housing supply crisis

Peak business body proposes deadlines to ‘speed up’ local councils, saying delays are making developers reluctant to invest

Local councils would be forced to set deadlines for deciding on housing development applications and lose approval rights if they cannot stick to them, under a proposal from the national peak body representing big business.

The Business Council of Australia (BCA) is urging state governments to force local councils to consult housing development proponents and set agreed deadlines, case by case, for ruling on their applications – then be held accountable for meeting them.

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Republican debate flares ahead of King Charles’ first visit to Australia as head of state

Republic movement hopes to reignite conversation, but monarchist league says current constitution ‘best protects our democracy’

Debates around Australia’s continued future under the British monarchy have flared ahead of King Charles’ first visit to the country since he ascended the throne.

Charles and Queen Camilla will arrive in Australia on 18 October, with stops in Sydney and Canberra during their six-day visit.

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Steven Miles bats away accusations of pinching policies from Greens ahead of Queensland polls opening

State premier announces free state primary school lunches at campaign launch after revealing plan for state-owned health clinics

Premier Steven Miles has warded off allegations of plagiarism from the Greens for a signature free school lunch policy announced at Sunday’s election campaign launch.

The Labor leader promised a free lunch for every Queensland state primary school student, the day before polls open in the state’s election. It came just a day after he unveiled a policy of state-owned, privately run GP clinics.

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One in 10 Australian parents struggling to afford vaccinations for children

Biggest obstacle to improving immunisation rates are practical difficulties families face, according to national vaccination survey

One in 10 Australian parents are struggling to afford the costs of vaccinating their children, according to a nationally representative survey conducted earlier this year.

The national vaccination insights project surveyed 2,000 Australian parents of children under five between March and April, and found the biggest barrier to turning declining vaccination rates around were the practical difficulties parents face.

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More Australians being ‘priced out’ of homes by big rent hikes, advocates fear

Renters in some cities forced to spend on average nearly $15,000 more a year on rent since the Covid pandemic, analysis reveals

Renters in Australian capital cities are on average spending nearly $15,000 more a year to rent a house since the pandemic, analysis has revealed.

Research from the advocacy organisation Everybody’s Home showed on average renters in capitals are paying $14,700 more annually to rent a house, and $9,600 more to rent a unit compared with 2020.

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King Charles won’t stand in the way if ‘Australia wants to become a republic’

Charles said to be adopting ‘anti-confrontational approach’ to republican campaigners before visit

King Charles has said he will not stand in the way if Australia wishes to replace him as the country’s head of state, it has been reported.

Ahead of his visit later this month, the king is said to be adopting an “anti-confrontational approach” to Australian republican campaigners, the Daily Mail reported.

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Victoria police officer suspended over alleged Nazi salutes and ‘Heil Hitler’ comments

The female sergeant, a veteran of 40 years in the force, allegedly made banned gesture on Tuesday and Wednesday in front of colleagues

The Victoria police chief commissioner has apologised to the Jewish community after a veteran sergeant allegedly performed a Nazi salute to colleagues at the police academy twice this week.

The 65-year-old woman was suspended with pay on Friday evening while police launched a criminal investigation into the alleged incidents, which included her allegedly saying “Heil Hitler” on both occasions, Shane Patton said.

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NSW man allegedly stabs victim with scissors, gets shot and then swims away from police

Police spotted alleged stabber in Murrumbidgee River but he swam to an island and climbed a tree, where he stayed for 12 hours

Being shot has not stopped an alleged stabber from trying his luck and swimming away from police in regional New South Wales.

The 33-year-old’s aquatic escape across the Murrumbidgee River followed his alleged stabbing of a man in Wagga Wagga.

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Dome of sweltering NT heat set to spread across vast swathes of Australia

Country’s south will likely bask in temperatures up to 8C hotter than normal next week and the balmy weather could trigger thunderstorms, BoM says

Much of Australia’s south will likely bask in temperatures up to 8C hotter than normal next week, which could trigger an increased risk of thunderstorms over wide areas.

A dome of heat that has put parts of the Northern Territory under heatwave warnings is set to spread east and west in the coming days, before moving south by the middle of next week, the Bureau of Meteorology said.

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International arrest warrant issued for former Wallabies star Rocky Elsom

Ex-Australia rugby captain has been sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, lawyer says

An international arrest warrant has been issued against the former Australia rugby captain Rocky Elsom who was sentenced in his absence to five years in prison by a French court for misuse of corporate assets, a lawyer in the case told AFP.

Charges were brought after Elsom’s spell as president of French club Narbonne between 2015 and 2016.

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Victorian Liberals had been bracing for a leadership spill. Now voters have thrown John Pesutto a lifeline

Some in the party were concerned the Moira Deeming defamation trial had aired too much dirty laundry – but new polling suggests voters are focused elsewhere

There may have been only one person on Spring Street revelling in the latest polling data: John Pesutto.

Just days ago, the leader of the Victorian Liberal party was bracing for a potential leadership challenge. But the figures published in the Herald Sun on Thursday paint a hopeful picture for him and the Coalition, which has overtaken Labor and is in an election-winning position for the first time in seven years.

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