Category Archives: Australia news

ACM to brief staff after co-owner Antony Catalano charged with assault of a woman

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Australian Community Media says employee ‘wellbeing’ top priority amid ‘shock and deep concern’ over 59-year-old’s charges

Australian Community Media will hold a staff meeting on Monday afternoon to share the regional media group’s response to the arrest of its part-owner Antony Catalano who is facing charges of assault of a woman.

On Sunday the board and executive leadership team of ACM distanced itself from the 59-year-old newspaper mogul, saying they were “shocked and deeply concerned” about the charges.

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Australian soldiers’ bodies ‘very likely’ disturbed by Israeli bulldozing at Gaza cemetery, senator says

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David Pocock’s comments come as new photos show scale of damage and government official says its ‘quite possible’ bodies disturbed

The bodies of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have “very likely” been disturbed, the independent senator David Pocock says, as new photos tendered to parliament show widespread damage of graves by Israeli bulldozers.

About 146 of the 263 graves of Australian soldiers buried in Gaza have been damaged, Senate estimates heard last week.

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Queensland police sued after officer caught describing Indians as ‘perverts’ while investigating rideshare driver

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Exclusive: Racial discrimination alleged after police withdrew indecent act charge a year after officer was recorded talking about ‘fucking Indians’

  • WARNING: this article contains offensive language

Queensland police investigated a Punjabi man for a year – over charges that were eventually withdrawn – despite knowing one of the arresting officers had been caught on camera describing Indians as a “bunch of fucking perverts”.

The rideshare driver named Singh, who asked that his first name not be used because of the distress caused by the case, has now launched legal action against the force due to the alleged racial discrimination he suffered during the investigation that led to him being charged with committing an indecent act, according to his statement of claim.

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Queensland arts minister ignored recommendation that new theatre be named after poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal

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Exclusive: Queensland Performing Arts Centre board nominated Oodgeroo as preferred name in 2024 but it was not one of four options put to public vote by LNP

A Queensland government minister intervened to ensure that a new theatre would not be named after the Aboriginal poet Oodgeroo Noonuccal, overriding the theatre’s board, according to documents obtained under right to information laws.

The late artist’s name is also set to be stripped from a state electorate, in draft electoral boundaries released by the state’s redistribution commission this week. The Liberal National party lobbied for the change.

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NSW to crack down on property underquoting, forcing sellers to publish price guides on all listings

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Underquoting and ‘dummy bidding’ will attract fines of $110,000 in bid to create a ‘fair property market’

The New South Wales government will introduce new laws this week to force property sellers to publish a price guide on all advertising, and impose a fivefold increase to fines for underquoting real estate agents.

The government says the draft laws, first flagged last year, are aimed at cracking down on agents providing misleading price estimates on property listings, a practice often used to inflate interest.

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Danish royals Frederik and Mary begin six-day Australia tour with visit to rain-soaked red centre

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Royal trip includes stops in Canberra, Melbourne and Hobart and aims to deepen trade ties

Denmark’s King Frederik and Queen Mary have ended the first leg of their Australian visit with a sunrise trek to a famous Uluru watering hole.

The royal couple walked to Muṯitjulu waterhole in Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa national park with traditional owners on Sunday morning. The culturally significant site is one of the few permanent water sources around the sandstone monolith and a regular attraction for visiting dignitaries.

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‘Cannot wait until December’: Dennis Richardson calls for urgency over Bondi attack failures after quitting inquiry

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Former spy chief says recommendations regarding intelligence agencies shouldn’t wait for royal commission’s final report

Improvements to public safety and intelligence in the wake of the Bondi terrorist attack “cannot wait until December”, former spy chief Dennis Richardson has said just days after he sensationally quit the antisemitism royal commission.

“You cannot leave matters that go to public safety till the end of the year, particularly when you have a small section of the community living in such fear,” Richardson told an ABC podcast.

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Melbourne to finally get Myki-less public transport on Monday – but only on four train lines

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Commuters on Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour lines will be first to test tap-and-go technology

Melbourne is finally poised to join other Australian cities in the tap-and-go era, with the state government confirming public trials for contactless credit and debit card payments will launch for suburban rail commuters on Monday.

Commuters on the Craigieburn, Upfield, Ballarat and Seymour lines will be the first to test the technology, allowing them to bypass the physical Myki card in favour of paying via a debit or credit card, smartphone or smartwatch.

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Halal certifier accused rival of Islamic extremism links – then signed contract to replace them, court hears

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Accusations were false and primary cause of major meat supplier ‘panicking’ and cancelling contract, Victorian judge finds on balance of probabilities

A halal certifier wrongly accused a rival of being connected to Islamic extremism to secure the business of a major meat supplier, a Victorian court has found.

The Victorian county court ruled that the Islamic Co-ordinating Council of Victoria (ICCV) suffered from malicious or injurious falsehood when Midfield Meats cancelled a lucrative halal certification contract primarily because its managing director was told the Australian federal police were investigating the certifier for financing terrorism.

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‘We’re living in an Orwellian nightmare’: Grace Tame calls Anthony Albanese a ‘coward’ in scathing critique

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In an essay for Crikey, the former Australian of the Year says the PM is a ‘turncoat’ who is ‘capitulating to foreign powers’ amid the US-Israel war on Iran

Grace Tame has said “we’re living in an Orwellian nightmare” in a scathing critique of the prime minister and his government’s position on the war in the Middle East.

In an essay published in Crikey on Friday, the advocate for sexual abuse survivors and human rights activist accused Anthony Albanese of being a “coward” and a “turncoat” for refusing to condemn the US-Israel strikes on Iran.

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Former Iranian diplomat was granted asylum in Australia after defecting

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Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s former charge d’affaires in Canberra, sought protection in 2023, government source confirms

One of Iran’s former top diplomats in Australia has defected from the theocratic regime, with the revelations only coming to light this week after six members of the Iranian women’s football squad were granted protection.

London-based news outlet Iran International, which is not tied to the Islamic Republic’s regime, reported on Friday that Mohammad Pournajaf, Tehran’s charge d’affaires in Canberra until at least 2023, had applied for asylum. Another Iranian diplomat had applied for asylum in Denmark, the outlet reported.

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Iraqi official urges Australia to take back alleged IS fighters during meeting with ambassador

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Iraq’s national security adviser Qassim al-Araji says he told Australian ambassador that countries should repatriate prisoners

A senior Iraqi government official has implored Australia to repatriate a group of suspected Islamic State fighters, raising the issue with Canberra’s top diplomat in Baghdad just weeks after the detainees were transferred out of Syria.

In a post on X, Iraq’s national security adviser, Qassim al-Araji, said he met with ambassador Glenn Miles last week, and told him that foreign detainees should be returned to their home countries. This is despite such a task being made more difficult by growing instability in the region, caused by the war in Iran.

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Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

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Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised

Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.

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Queensland’s ‘from the river to the sea’ laws likened to Bjelke-Petersen era anti-protest regime

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Health minister Tim Nicholls corrects claim alleged Bondi terror attack gunman Naveed Akram used controversial phrase, as laws roundly criticised

Police arresting pro-Palestinian protesters for using the phrase “from the river to the sea” had “all the hallmarks of an authoritarian police state”, according to a Greens MP, amid widespread backlash against Queensland’s new hate speech laws.

The controversial laws went into effect yesterday after passing a vote in parliament last week.

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SA Liberals dump candidate who said homosexuality ‘opens up demonic realms’ after initially standing by him

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Party leader Ashton Hurn confirms Carston Woodhouse will not run for Liberals in SA’s state election, but says ‘people are entitled to have their views’

A Liberal candidate in South Australia’s upcoming state election has been dumped after his “shocking and extreme” views on abortion, same-sex marriage, gender transitioning and feminism were aired by his Labor rival.

The leader of the SA Liberals, Ashton Hurn, on Wednesday stood by Carston Woodhouse, who had been running for the seat of Wright in Adelaide’s north, after his appearances on the evangelical Christian podcast ElijahFire surfaced.

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SA Liberals dump candidate who said homosexuality ‘opens up demonic realms’ after initially standing by him

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Party leader Ashton Hurn confirms Carston Woodhouse will not run for Liberals in SA’s state election, but says ‘people are entitled to have their views’

A Liberal candidate in South Australia’s upcoming state election has been dumped after his “shocking and extreme” views on abortion, same-sex marriage, gender transitioning and feminism were aired by his Labor rival.

The leader of the SA Liberals, Ashton Hurn, on Wednesday stood by Carston Woodhouse, who had been running for the seat of Wright in Adelaide’s north, after his appearances on the evangelical Christian podcast ElijahFire surfaced.

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Robodebt was the great test of Australia’s accountability mechanisms – and they failed

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The final report into the Centrelink debt recovery process that wreaked havoc on the vulnerable is not the full-stop many wanted. It has not restored the trust that was so fundamentally broken

The whistleblower’s message landed just before Christmas.

It was 2016, now a distant memory.

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‘Naming them is not justice’: robodebt victims feel let down by findings of corruption watchdog

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Nacc report into unlawful scheme found two senior public servants engaged in corrupt conduct but declined to refer them for charges in what victims call a ‘massive letdown’

The mother of a robodebt victim who took his own life says she feels “sheer frustration” at the findings of a report on potential corruption related to the unlawful income averaging scheme.

Wednesday’s release of a 445-page report from the National Anti-Corruption Commission examined the actions of five former public servants and the former prime minister Scott Morrison. The report found two senior public officials to have engaged in corrupt conduct, but they will not be referred for charges.

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Payman, Thorpe and Faruqi demand Labor change parliamentary rules to counter ‘overt’ racism

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Exclusive: independent and Greens senators ask president to set up inquiry and anti-racism training for politicians to prevent bigotry ‘corroding democracy’

Increasingly ugly abuse in federal parliament has prompted a group of independents and the Greens to call for an urgent intervention from Labor to change the rules, warning that allowing racism and bigotry to “fester” is corroding democracy.

Guardian Australia can reveal independents, Fatima Payman and Lidia Thorpe, and the Greens’ Mehreen Faruqi are demanding Senate president Sue Lines take the problem seriously with a new inquiry and mandatory anti-racism training for politicians.

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Australian governments subsidising fossil fuel use by more than $30,000 a minute, analysis finds

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Australia Institute data finds state and federal subsidies for coal, gas and oil products increased 10% in past year, growing at a faster pace than funding to NDIS

Australian federal and state government subsidies that encourage fossil fuel use and help drive the climate crisis will reach $16.3bn this year after leaping by nearly 10%, according to a new analysis.

It found federal and state governments will pay or forgo the equivalent of $31,020 each minute in 2025-26 to subsidise companies producing and using coal, gas and especially oil, mostly in the form of diesel.

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