Category Archives: Australia news

Cults, setups and rumours: years after their downfalls, former NSW Liberal MPs are exacting revenge

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David Elliott and Eleni Petinos believe they were brought down by their own party. The Icac hearing has given them a chance to set the record straight

Revenge, they say, is a dish best served cold.

It’s been almost four years since the former New South Wales MP, David Elliott, announced that he would not seek preselection for a seat in the Hills in greater Sydney after his own seat was abolished. He had realised that, thanks to branch stacking in his area, he stood no chance of securing another.

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Former Liberal MP condemns Coalition for backing gambling reforms that ‘let down’ vulnerable Australians

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Jenny Ware, member of inquiry that recommended wagering advertising ban, says ‘public health crisis’ demands stronger response from major parties

The former Liberal MP Jenny Ware has condemned her one-time Coalition colleagues for backing Labor’s gambling legislation, claiming “vulnerable Australians have been let down”, as the parliament failed to back a full ban on wagering ads.

Ware, a member of the Peta Murphy-led inquiry in 2023 that recommended entirely ending wagering advertising and inducements, called gambling a public health crisis that demanded a much stronger response from both sides of politics.

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‘You have got to go’: former NSW minister tells Icac ‘something strange at play’ when she was sacked by Perrottet

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Eleni Petinos tells inquiry her sacking as a minister in Dominic Perrottet’s government was potentially motivated by her reluctance to get rid of the building commissioner

The former New South Wales fair trading minister Eleni Petinos has given evidence at a corruption inquiry that she may have been used by fellow Liberals to try to get rid of the building commissioner David Chandler, recounting numerous attempts in 2022 to persuade her he was “dodgy” and should be sacked.

She has also told the Independent Commission Against Corruption (Icac) inquiry that her subsequent sacking as a minister in the Dominic Perrottet government in July 2022 – allegedly for bullying staff – was unfair and potentially motivated by her reluctance to sack the building commissioner.

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From ‘elation’ to ‘terrible news’ in 10 minutes: how the confusion over missing bushwalker Lily Hooper unfolded

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The 18-year-old’s body was found in Nattai national park on Thursday – but initial police messages indicated she was alive

Police have blamed dense bushland and radio confusion for wrongly reporting to 18-year-old Lily Hooper’s parents, the New South Wales premier and the media that the missing bushwalker had been found alive.

Hooper had last been seen on 12 August after leaving home for a hike in the rugged bushland of Nattai national park, 90km south-west of Sydney. She was reported missing that night, triggering a multi-agency search involving nearly 1,000 people, including hundreds of volunteers.

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Drug-dealing, makeshift weapons and a ‘culture of fear’ at Villawood detention centre, report warns

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Prolonged detention of children, insufficient staffing and hazardous damage to buildings are among the ombudsman’s concerns

Drugs are being openly dealt inside Villawood detention centre; makeshift weapons are being manufactured amid intimidation, standover tactics and a “culture of fear”; people are sleeping outside under CCTV cameras for their own safety; and children are being kept from going to school, a scathing report from the independent monitor has found.

The commonwealth’s National Preventive Mechanism issued the report based on a three-day visit in March this year. A total of 428 people were held in Villawood at the time, including children. Some 78 beds were offline because of damage still not repaired from a fire three years ago.

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Erin Patterson appeal live: prosecutors to seek life in prison without parole for triple murderer

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Victorian court of appeal also to consider whether triple murder and attempted murder convictions should be quashed

McWilliams is arguing against Patterson’s third ground of appeal.

On this ground, Patterson’s legal team argue the trial judge, Justice Christopher Beale, erred in ruling that photos and videos related to mushrooms and found on an SD card in Patterson’s home was inadmissible.

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Three boys charged over alleged rape of teenage girl in Sydney home

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The 17-year-olds were charged over an alleged attack in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday

Three teenage boys have been charged over the alleged rape of a 17-year-old girl at a home in Sydney’s south-west on Saturday.

The three 17-year-old boys were arrested on Wednesday after the girl was allegedly attacked.

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Peta Murphy called for gambling reform three years ago. Her husband says Labor’s changes fall ‘well short’

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The government’s gambling ad changes are expected to pass the Senate on Wednesday night or Thursday morning with the Coalition’s support

The husband of the late Labor MP Peta Murphy has said the government’s gambling reform “falls well short” of what she called for in 2023, lamenting that its shortcomings were due to the “considerable lobbying power” of the wagering, sporting and media industries.

Rod Glover said he had “mixed emotions” about Labor’s reforms, which are expected to pass parliament by Thursday, praising Anthony Albanese and minister Anika Wells for changes he said would reduce harms. But he said reform had taken too long and could have gone even further in meeting Murphy’s recommendations, which called for a full ban on gambling ads and inducements.

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PBS should fund drug to treat breast cancer, endometriosis and gender dysphoria, experts recommend

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Triptorelin, already listed for prostate cancer, should have unrestricted use, the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee says

The federal government should fund treatment for thousands of women with breast cancer or endometriosis, and children with gender dysphoria, according to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme’s advisory committee.

The committee met urgently in July in response to AstraZeneca’s announcement it would remove Zoladex from the market, risking leaving more than 7,500 women with breast cancer without an alternative treatment.

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Controversial NDIS bill passes Senate with ‘substantial’ amendments as Labor and Coalition strike deal

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David Pocock says legislation still includes ‘indiscriminate cut’ impacting thousands of participants but will pass lower house on Wednesday

The government’s controversial NDIS bill will pass after “substantial” amendments were agreed to in a deal between Labor and the Coalition, with some of the changes attracting heavy criticism from the Greens, the ACT senator David Pocock and the disability community.

Sixty-three government amendments across both houses were introduced as part of backroom deals to pass the bill in the upper house on Tuesday night, the NDIS ministers, Mark Butler and Jenny McAllister, revealed.

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Sydney Swans coach ‘extremely disappointed’ as club faces call on standing down players linked to alleged sexual assault

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  • Police investigation into alleged sexual assault at hotel continues

  • No arrests or charges laid; club is ‘working through everything’

Victoria police confirmed an investigation into an alleged sexual assault sparked by an incident allegedly involving Sydney Swans players is continuing, but no arrests or formal interviews have taken place and no charges have been laid.

Swans players Isaac Heeney, Chad Warner, James Jordon and Riley Bice were reportedly questioned by detectives in relation to an alleged incident at the Pullman Hotel early on Monday morning, however there is no confirmation they were directly involved.

Australian Associated Press contributed to this report

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Melbourne’s Armenian-Lebanese eatery Zareh named Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant of the year

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Previous winners of the award have included Saint Peter, Attica, Orana by the late Jock Zonfrillo, and Quay

Armenian-Lebanese eatery Zareh has been named Gourmet Traveller’s restaurant of the year, in a category of the annual industry awards that has historically been dominated by European-leaning cuisine and fine-dining establishments.

The restaurant’s menu pulls from the Armenian, Egyptian and Lebanese backgrounds of co-owners Tom Sarafian and Jinane Bou-Assi: aish baladi (Egyptian flatbread) is made with flour milled in the Mornington Peninsula; kafta nayyah comprises raw minced lamb from Tasmania and Victoria; hummus is crowned with spanner crab.

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Labor pledges opt-out register for online gambling ads akin to Do Not Call register for spam calls

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The new measure falls short of calls for gambling ads to move to an opt-in model, or for an outright ban

The Labor government has pledged a new single-service opt-out register for gambling ads – an idea similar to the Do Not Call register for spam calls – as part of amendments to its wagering ad bill, as well as restrictions on inducements and limiting commissions for agents.

The communications minister, Anika Wells, has also confirmed gambling companies will face a new levy to pay for the register, a beefed-up measure to curb wagering ads, after concerns were raised through a Senate inquiry that people would struggle to find or complete individual opt-out options on each online service.

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Ralph Carr in ‘living hell’ after being convicted of rape, Victorian court hears

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Lawyer for the entertainment industry and AFL figure says his career is ‘destroyed’ following conviction

Entertainment industry and AFL figure Ralph Carr says he is in “living hell” and has been “destroyed” after being convicted of rape, a Victorian court has heard.

Carr was convicted of two counts of rape and one count of sexual assault after a trial in the county court of Victoria last month.

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Nazi artefacts still being sold online years after trade outlawed across Australia

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One seller says second world war memorabilia containing banned Nazi symbols is legal under exemptions to the laws

Nazi artefacts bearing prohibited symbols are being openly sold in Australia three years after the federal government made it illegal to do so, with vendors saying they are doing so for “educational” reasons.

The government in 2023 outlawed the display and trade of items bearing the Nazi Hakenkreuz (swastika) and double-sig rune that was the logo of the Schutzstaffel (SS), after multiple states passed similar laws that banned the display of Nazi symbols and the performance of the Nazi salute.

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Logies 2026: Sam Pang wins gold and Sam Neill wins posthumous best actor at Australia’s TV awards

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Neill won for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer, at a ceremony dominated by wins for the ABC

Sam Neill has won a posthumous best actor award at Australia’s biggest television awards, the Logies, with comedian Sam Pang taking home the night’s top honour, the Gold Logie award for most popular personality.

Neill, who died in July, won his posthumous Logie for best lead actor in a drama, for his performance in legal thriller The Twelve: Cape Rock Killer. His close friend, the actor Heather Mitchell, accepted the award on his behalf.

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Deepfake Anthony Albanese used in celebrity scams duping Australians out of $7.4m, Asic warns

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Australia’s corporate watchdog says PM is the figure most commonly used in deepfakes to promote phony investment opportunities

There has been a steep rise in scammers luring victims into phony investment opportunities using deepfakes of celebrities and politicians, Australia’s corporate watchdog has warned.

And Anthony Albanese is the figure most commonly co-opted.

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Australia news live: Pauline Hanson opposes major gun buyback agreed in wake of Bondi terror attack

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Legislation for plan passed parliament earlier this year and is set to commence in NSW from November. Follow live updates

Pauline Hanson says she is opposed to a major gun buyback being announced by Anthony Albanese and the NSW premier, Chris Minns, in Sydney shortly.

Legislation for the plan passed parliament earlier this year, part of the response to the Bondi beach terror attack. It will be run in two phases, with the cost split 50:50 between the federal and NSW governments.

A different gun is for a different purpose, and you have to understand guns. I’ve got my own gun license, so I understand these people.

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One Nation senator says parents who support their trans children are engaging in ‘child abuse’

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‘There’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness,’ Tyron Whitten says on YouTube show

One Nation senator Tyron Whitten has claimed parents supporting their children who identify as transgender are engaging in “child abuse”, telling a fringe YouTube show: “there’s male, there’s female, and then there’s mental illness”.

Guardian Australia has unearthed several incendiary comments from Whitten and fellow One Nation senators Pauline Hanson and her longtime lieutenant Malcolm Roberts, about transgender Australians.

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First Australian death of little penguin with H5 bird flu confirmed on Phillip Island

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Authorities confirm first Australian death of species found with virus near where it attracts crowds to a ‘penguin parade’

Australia’s first case of the deadly H5 bird flu in a little penguin has been confirmed on Victoria’s Phillip Island, only days after the state government announced it would begin vaccinating the species.

Confirmation of the virus in the little penguin will spark a race to vaccinate thousands of birds, with the government announcing on Saturday it would begin the rollout on Monday.

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