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National weather forecasts
Sticking with the weather, here’s a look at the forecasts across Australia’s capital cities today:
Continue reading...The sunshine state is heading to the polls on 26 October. Can Labor cling to power or will there be an LNP landslide?
Queenslanders will go to the polls on 26 October. Here are five things you should know.
Continue reading...Alliance for Gambling Reform labels gifts an ‘undemocratic opportunity for lobbying’ but MPs defend hospitality as within rules and properly disclosed
Gambling reform campaigners have accused wagering companies of “showering” federal politicians with hospitality as the government considers advertising restrictions, with new data showing betting groups have given numerous free tickets to MPs.
New analysis from the Alliance for Gambling Reform, informed by a new database collecting all federal politicians’ updates to their parliamentary register of interests, shows at least 19 have accepted hospitality from wagering companies to attend major events including the Melbourne Cup, Australian Open, AFL matches and cricket games.
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Continue reading...Labor government has undermined case to co-host 2026 UN climate summit with island nations, Dr Maina Talia declares
Tuvalu’s climate minister says Australia’s decision to approve three coalmine expansions calls into question the country’s claim to be a “member of the Pacific family” and undermines the Australian case to co-host the 2026 UN climate summit with island nations.
Dr Maina Talia said last week’s mine approvals, which analysts say could generate more than 1.3bn tonnes of carbon dioxide across their lifetime once the coal is shipped and burned overseas, was “a direct threat to our collective future”.
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Continue reading...New data also shows auction figures softening while rent rises are at their slowest pace in years
Australia’s housing crisis may be starting to ease with dwelling price rises tapering off and rents increasing at their slowest pace in four years, data groups say.
Property values increased 0.4% in September, close to the 0.3% rise recorded for both the previous two months, CoreLogic reported. PropTrack’s housing index was basically flat, rising just 0.04% for the month.
Continue reading...Mounting deaths in Melbourne’s gangland wars heaped pressure on detectives, court told
Nicola Gobbo was a young and vulnerable barrister “looking for a way out” of dealing with gangland clients like Tony Mokbel when police saw an opportunity, her lawyers claim.
At 25 years old, the youngest woman in Victoria to sign the bar roll, suddenly found herself “neck deep” in the underworld and feared for her personal safety and wellbeing.
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Continue reading...Some question the appointment of an official who has worked on controversial countering violent extremism programs
The Albanese government has announced British Australian public servant Aftab Malik as the special envoy to combat Islamophobia in Australia after months of delays.
But it has also sparked criticism, with some people within the Muslim community calling into question the thinking behind the appointment.
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Continue reading...Federal government warns against importing ‘radical ideologies of conflict’ and threatens to cancel visa of anyone inciting ‘discord’
Victoria police say they have identified six possible criminal incidents relating to weekend protests in Melbourne against Israel’s attacks on Lebanon, after initial suggestions that no offences had been committed.
The AFP confirmed on Monday that it was expecting at least six reports of alleged crimes from their Victorian counterparts involving symbols and chants which are prohibited under federal hate speech law. It also said it would be writing to major news outlets asking for video footage of the protests which could assist in investigations.
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Treasurer raised trade restrictions on lobsters with Chinese leaders
Asked about the trade restrictions on Australian lobsters by China, Jim Chalmers said:
We’ve got a bit more work to do on lobster, but I was able to convey directly to Chinese leaders that we want to see the speedy resolution of those issues.
It’s a really important part of stabilising the relationship, which is full of complexity and full of economic opportunity. And while I was there, the Chinese authorities announced some quite substantial steps when it comes to supporting growth in the Chinese economy. We’ve made it really clear that weakness in the Chinese economy has been a big concern for us. It’s a big part of the global economic uncertainty that we’re dealing with …
If you look at our Treasury forecasts in the budget, we’re anticipating the weakest few years of Chinese growth, really, since that economy opened up in the late 1970s [and] that’s been a big concern for us. We’ve been upfront about that, so any efforts to try and turn that around in China is a good thing for us.
Continue reading...Barrister acting for Bernard Gaynor says board failed to engage with submissions – but counsel for minister of communications suggests some lacked context
The Australian classifications board made a “broadbrush dismissal” of over 500 submissions calling for a ban of the book Gender Queer by labelling those submissions as anti-LGBTQ+, a court has heard.
In July last year, the Classification Board rejected calls to restrict access to a memoir about gender identity that was the target of conservative campaigns to have it banned in the US, and found the content was appropriate for its intended audience.
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Continue reading...FTSE 100 firm turns down fourth offer from the Australian property company REA Group
Rightmove has rejected a £6.2bn takeover offer from REA Group, the Australian real estate firm backed by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp.
The UK property portal told the City on Monday morning that its board had turned down REA’s fourth offer, having concluded it was “unattractive and materially undervalues Rightmove”.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Former Australian PM witnessed ‘shocking act of perjury’ and says MI5 are still trying to hide something
The former Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull has accused the UK government of hypocrisy and concealment over the way it continues to block the release of secret files about the Spycatcher affair.
Before entering politics, Turnbull was a barrister for Peter Wright, a retired senior MI5 intelligence officer who revealed a series of illegal activities by the British security services in his memoir Spycatcher.
Continue reading...Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ 2024 report shows rising out-of-pocket costs hit vulnerable with chronic, complex and mental illnesses hardest
Out of pocket costs to visit general practitioners are higher than ever, a survey from the peak body for GPs has found, along with the first indications in a long time of a boost in GP workforce numbers.
The gap has risen to an average $36.86 for a 20-minute consult in 2024, up from $34.91 last year, according to the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners’ 2024 health of the nation report.
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Continue reading...Treasurer cites lower government spending as the key driver behind the $15.8bn surplus, which is $6bn better than May’s forecast
Jim Chalmers will on Monday reveal a $15.8bn budget surplus in an economic update, more than $6bn higher than predicted at May’s federal budget.
The treasurer says the better-than-forecast budget position has come “entirely” from lower government spending, a detail the treasurer highlights as Labor comes under scrutiny from the opposition and the Reserve Bank over concerns that public expenditure is helping to drive inflation.
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Continue reading...Local Jewish and Palestinian groups are preparing to mark one year since the October 7 attacks
As Palestinian and Jewish groups prepare to mark the first anniversary of the events that triggered the current Israel-Gaza conflict, the Australian government has again condemned the escalating cycle of violence in the Middle East, reiterating demands for a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon.
“We’ve seen so much violence in the Middle East,” the foreign affairs minister, Penny Wong, said on Sunday.
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Continue reading...But the national carrier says contingencies are in place to prevent traveller chaos in capital cities on Monday morning
More than 1,000 Qantas engineers across Australia will walk off the job in industrial action they claim could kick the week off with peak-hour travel chaos, but the airline says it has contingencies in place and is not expecting any disruptions to travel.
Flights between 7am and 9am across three timezones on Monday morning are set to be affected in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth.
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Continue reading...The state’s shadow treasurer, David Janetzki, says general practitioners would be exempt from payroll tax with David Crisafulli as premier
Queensland’s opposition claims visits to the doctor would be cheaper under an LNP government, but Labor said they haven’t explained how they will pay to make GPs exempt from payroll tax.
The shadow treasurer, David Janetzki, announced on Sunday that the party would make general practitioners a special category under the payroll tax act.
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Continue reading...Bridget McKenzie tells Insiders she is working on the opposition’s transport policy ahead of the next federal election – including EV plans
Liberal senator Bridget McKenzie has again left the door open for a Coalition government to level a road user charge against owners of electric vehicles, indicating concern about decreasing fuel excise and the impact on budgets for road repairs.
But the shadow transport minister also said the Coalition wouldn’t follow the US in banning Chinese-made EVs, which put her at odds with comments on Sunday from Nationals colleague, Barnaby Joyce. He invoked last week’s Hezbollah members’ pager explosions in raising his concern about technology he claimed could be made with a “malevolent purpose” by a “totalitarian state”.
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Continue reading...It follows a weekend of wild weather in NSW, where SES responded to 270 calls including two adults and a baby stranded in flood waters near Tweed Heads
A cold front moving across southeast Australia is promising to bring more frosty temperatures through next week after parts of New South Wales and Victoria shivered through a cold, wet and windy spring weekend.
Rain is expected for south-east Queensland, the New South Wales mid and north coasts over the next few days, but not in the quantities seen over the weekend.
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Continue reading...Noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings will also go on the offensive to protect their eggs and young
Australia’s infamous magpies have started to attack – but they’re not the only birds you might fall victim to this swooping season.
Lesser known suspects including noisy miners, butcherbirds and masked lapwings also swoop to protect their eggs and young, typically between August and October.
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