Category Archives: Australia news

CFMEU administrator moves for ‘clean sweep’ of union super fund directors at Cbus

Posted on by

Exclusive: Former national construction union secretary digs in, while ETU suspends Labor and ACTU contributions in protest of ‘trial by parliament’

The administrator of the construction union wants a “clean sweep” of union-appointed board directors on the Cbus industry super fund, prompting two resignations and a plan to sack another former union official.

On Wednesday a spokesperson for the Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union confirmed Rita Mallia, who was sacked from her New South Wales construction president role on Friday, and former ACT secretary, Jason O’Mara, had resigned as member directors of the fund, which is one of Australia’s largest, with $94bn under management.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia overcomes last-minute concerns to secure sweeping Pacific police training plan

Posted on by

Anthony Albanese says it is ‘a Pacific-led initiative’ that reflects the desire of neighbours to ‘stand with each other’

Pacific island leaders have agreed to back a sweeping regional policing plan after Australia and other supporters overcame last-minute concerns the proposal was part of a geopolitical play to exclude China.

But each Pacific nation will decide whether to contribute to the proposed new multinational police unit, which will provide a rapid response to disasters or other major security challenges.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

New peregrine in town: female falcon becomes latest to nest atop Melbourne skyscraper

Posted on by

The cameras that made the falcons a social media phenomenon are rolling again for a new breeding season

For more than three decades, Melbourne’s famed Collins Street peregrine falcons have treated a CBD skyscraper ledge as home.

Now, the cameras that made them a social media phenomenon are again rolling for a new breeding season, with the first egg laid this week.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Gig economy workers could win minimum employment standards under new laws

Posted on by

Transport union will apply for food delivery drivers and couriers to be given superannuation, insurance and a pay safety net

Food delivery riders and parcel couriers could be granted minimum employment standards for the first time, as changes to employment law come into effect.

Independent contractors, including gig economy drivers and riders for companies such as UberEats, Menulog, DoorDash and Hungry Panda, could receive mandated workplace protections including superannuation, personal injury insurance and a safety net on pay to ensure they recover their costs each week, as the Transport Workers Union (TWU) makes landmark applications to the Fair Work Commission on Wednesday.

Continue reading...

‘Impossible’ to make policy for LGBTQ+ community without extra census questions, crossbenchers say

Posted on by

Crossbench MPs demand explanation for government’s decision to drop proposed ABS questions about sexuality, gender diversity from census

Crossbench MPs are seeking an urgent explanation from the Albanese government about why it dumped new topics on sexuality and gender diversity from the next census – a decision that left the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras “deeply concerned and disappointed”.

The move, confirmed by the assistant minister for the Treasury, Andrew Leigh, on Sunday, comes more than a year after the Australian Bureau of Statistics issued its statement of regret over the distress felt by the LGBTQ+ community as a result of being left out of the census.

Continue reading...

Brisbane’s bus rapid transit service to expand to outer suburbs in time for 2032 Olympics

Posted on by

The city’s LNP mayor and the state Labor government have agreed to work together on 22 new stations, including the airport

Brisbane’s Metro bus rapid transit service is set to expand to the outer suburbs of the city in time for the 2032 Olympics in a plan which now has the backing of the Labor state government.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner and premier Steven Miles will on Wednesday jointly announce a “long-term” plan for 22 new stations, expanding the service to Springwood, Capalaba, Carseldine, and the Brisbane airport.

Continue reading...

High-profile Sydney man raped 19-year-old in his home while she was doing an internship with him, court told

Posted on by

The man, who cannot be named, has pleaded not guilty to raping five women

A high-profile Sydney man accused of raping five women raped one 19-year-old woman in his home while she was undertaking an internship with him, a court has heard.

The man, whom Guardian Australia cannot name due to a suppression order, has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges alleged to have occurred over a six-year period against six women on separate occasions.

In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is affected by sexual assault, family or domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT on 1800 737 732 or visit www.1800RESPECT.org.au. In an emergency, call 000. International helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org. The Stop It Now! helpline is 1800 011 800.

Continue reading...

Perth man preyed on 180 children in ‘one of the worst’ sexual extortion cases in history

Posted on by

The 29-year-old man pretended to be a teenage social media celebrity to get sexually explicit content from hundreds of victims

A Perth man has been sentenced to 17 years in prison for coercing 286 victims, including 180 children, into performing sexually explicit acts on camera or video.

The scale of the offending, in which he targeted victims from 20 different countries, makes it one of the worst sexual extortion cases in history, the Australian federal police assistant commissioner David McLean said.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Australia news live: thousands rally in capital cities as CFMEU workers walk off sites; fears of overdose crisis as use of nitazenes grows

Posted on by

Rallies in support of the CFMEU have kicked off across the nation’s capital cities, from Sydney, Melbourne to Brisbane. Follow the day’s news live

Jim Chalmers accuses Liberals of ‘economic insanity’ on potential housing cuts

Jim Chalmers was asked about the $100bn in cuts the Coalition is set to announce today, mostly from Labor initiatives, if it wins the next election. Would this appeal to the electorate?

What we know from what’s in the newspapers today is that they plan billions of dollars to cuts in housing at a time when we’ve got a very severe housing shortage, and this goes with the absolute economic insanity of the Liberals and Nationals. During an extreme housing shortage, they want to swing the axe on billions of dollars in housing funding.

Also this is $100bn they reckon – let’s see the details. They flagged more than three times that amount when it comes to cuts, so let’s hear them come clean on the other cuts. Let’s hear what it means for Medicare and pensions and for the economy more broadly.

Continue reading...

New powers for councils to cap short-term accommodation as Victoria moves to 7.5% ‘Airbnb tax’

Posted on by

State treasurer says levy will help in ‘getting the balance right’ for mix of housing and prioritising long-term rentals

The Victorian government will grant local councils new powers to limit short-stay accommodation as it moves to introduce a 7.5% levy on properties listed on platforms like Airbnb and Stayz.

The Allan government will on Tuesday introduce legislation for its nation-first levy – which some have dubbed the “Airbnb tax” – that will begin on 1 January 2025. Properties that are the owner’s primary residence will be exempt from the short-stay levy, as well as hotels, motels and caravan parks.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Coles profit surges to $1.1bn as shoppers grapple with cost-of-living crisis

Posted on by

Greens accuse company of price-gouging, as supermarket attributes sales boost to seasonal campaigns and rising digital revenue

Coles has posted a surge in revenue from its groceries business and expanded supermarket profit margins to the highest level recorded in the pandemic era, even as shoppers grapple with fast-rising household costs.

The revenue bump underpinned a robust rise in annual profit to $1.1bn. It threatens to draw Australia’s second largest chain back into the public limelight as cost-of-living pressures become a central political issue for the next federal election.

Continue reading...

Crocodile culling an ineffective and expensive way to reduce attacks, Northern Territory study finds

Posted on by

Education campaigns to change human behaviour and relocation of problem reptiles are better ways of managing risk, researchers say

Culling crocodiles is an ineffective and expensive way to reduce attacks on humans, new research has found.

Research published in the journal People and Nature found 91% of crocodile attack victims in the Northern Territory were locals, with human complacency and water-based activities contributing factors.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Albanese government seeks to cap new international student enrolments at 270,000

Posted on by

Labor will also dump a controversial ministerial direction that gave priority to students applying to low-risk institutions

The Albanese government aims to cap new international student enrolments in Australia to 270,000 in 2025 and dump a controversial ministerial direction that gave priority to students applying to low-risk institutions.

In a statement released on Tuesday the education minister, Jason Clare, revealed the details of the proposed national planning level, which would pare university enrolments back to 145,000, or around their 2023 levels.

Continue reading...

Carlton coach Michael Voss makes citizen’s arrest after alleged thief flees Melbourne car crash

Posted on by

‘It was a bit of action,’ AFL coach says after detaining 16-year-old in Hawthorn who allegedly ran from Mercedes that had flipped on to side

Carlton coach Michael Voss has made a citizen’s arrest after seeing an alleged car thief try and flee after they allegedly crashed a stolen car in the Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn.

The AFL coach was at a cafe on Tuesday morning when the Mercedes flipped on its side on a footpath after crashing.

Continue reading...

Jim Chalmers calls Peter Dutton ‘most divisive leader’ in modern Australian history

Posted on by

Treasurer uses John Curtin Oration to accuse opposition leader of deliberately stoking culture wars and division

The treasurer has unleashed a stinging attack on the opposition leader, calling Peter Dutton “the most divisive leader of a major political party in Australia’s modern history”, as he defended the Labor government’s economic performance since coming to office.

Delivering the annual John Curtin Oration in Melbourne, which marks the anniversary of Curtin’s Labor government’s 1943 landslide election victory, Jim Chalmers accused the opposition leader of starting culture wars, dog whistling and dividing Australians “deliberately, almost pathologically”.

Continue reading...

Australia records hottest ever winter temperature with some areas set to be 10C above average

Posted on by

‘What’s really interesting about this warm stretch of weather, is it is going to last for a long time,’ BoM says

Australia has recorded its hottest ever winter temperature, with Yampi Sound in the Kimberley region of Western Australia reaching 41.6C on Tuesday.

The record, which has been provisionally confirmed by the Bureau of Meteorology, and will be officially confirmed by the organisation on Tuesday, exceeds the old national record of 41.2C which was reached at West Roebuck on 23 August 2020.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Zomi Frankcom’s brother calls for those responsible for her death in Israeli airstrike to be prosecuted

Posted on by

Mal Frankcom says he wants people behind strike that killed seven people to be ‘tried and convicted and punished’

The brother of the Australian aid worker Zomi Frankcom, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike, has called for those responsible for his sister’s death to be prosecuted and punished.

Frankcom, a 43-year-old from Melbourne who was working in Gaza with World Central Kitchen, was one of seven people killed in April when a convoy of cars was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Continue reading...

Albanese government rejects Setka’s claim Labor double-crossed him over CFMEU administration as ‘ridiculous’

Posted on by

Construction Forestry Maritime Employees Union members to protest administration in capital city rallies on Tuesday

Labor has emphatically rejected claims by former construction union official John Setka that the Albanese government agreed to let him stand down in return for not putting his union into administration.

The workplace relations minister, Murray Watt, said this was a “ridiculous claim” and rejected as “absolutely fanciful” suggestions Labor had double-crossed him by proceeding to put the union into administration over accusations of criminal misconduct and bikie links against the body.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

Man charged over Sydney stabbing as premier hails bystanders who ‘were able to save someone’s life’

Posted on by

Driver charged with eight offences after allegedly stabbing his partner while driving, leading to car crash in Engadine

The New South Wales premier has said he is “blown away” by bystanders who tried to help after a Sydney driver allegedly stabbed his partner leading to a car collision, saying “ordinary members of the public were able to save someone’s life”.

A 58-year-old man was Tasered and arrested after allegedly stabbing three people at the site of a car collision in Engadine, south of Sydney on Sunday morning. Police allege the man had been attacking his female partner, 48, with a box cutter while driving, leading to a collision with another car.

Sign up for Guardian Australia’s breaking news email

Continue reading...

UN chief to push for more climate change action at Pacific leaders’ summit

Posted on by

António Guterres to attend Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) in Tonga with climate crisis and unrest in New Caledonia among issues to watch

The UN secretary general, António Guterres, will attend a Pacific leaders’ summit this week in Tonga with a focus on climate change in the region, one of the world’s most vulnerable to rising sea levels and temperature changes.

The annual meeting of leaders is the top political decision-making body of the region. The week-long summit culminates in the leaders’ retreat, where key decisions are made, which may include an endorsement of a regional policing initiative promoted by Australia. The future for New Caledonia is among other big issues to be addressed at the Pacific Islands Forum (Pif) which began in Tonga on Monday.

Continue reading...