Category Archives: Australia news

Paedophile teacher William ‘Rob’ Gilfillan sentenced for sexual offences against two Victorian schoolgirls in the 1980s

Posted on by

Former PE teacher will serve time for crimes perpetrated at Traralgon high school in Gippsland concurrently with prior 48-year sentence

A former physical education teacher serving Australia’s longest sentence for child sexual abuse offences against his daughter has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years for “brazen and forcible” sexual crimes against two schoolgirls in his care in the 1980s.

In December, William “Rob” Gilfillan was found guilty of indecent assault of a person under 16 and sexual penetration of a child under 16. The five counts against two victims took place at Traralgon high school in Gippsland, Victoria.

Continue reading...

RBA interest rates: Reserve Bank holds official cash rate at 4.35% as economy slows and unemployment rises

Posted on by

Reserve Bank of Australia decision on Tuesday comes after three consecutive cash rate hikes this year

The Reserve Bank has warned it is ready to raise interest rates further despite leaving its official interest rate on hold at 4.35%.

The widely expected decision on Tuesday will bring little relief to mortgage holders, already strained by the RBA’s three consecutive rate hikes earlier in 2026.

Continue reading...

Brisbane teenager allegedly plotted terror attacks on Liberal party targets, court hears

Posted on by

Teenager denies planning attacks on party figures and Labour Day march after allegedly being influenced by the Unabomber

A Brisbane private schoolboy allegedly plotted terrorist attacks against the Liberal party and Brisbane’s Labour Day march in 2024 after being influenced by the Unabomber.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was 16 in 2024 when he was arrested by counter-terrorism police.

Continue reading...

‘Life-changing’ injuries: family reels from ‘tragic situation’ as Coogee shark attack victim loses arm

Posted on by

The family of Leah Stewart is braced for more bad news and the impact on her 18-month-old daughter

The family of the woman critically injured in Saturday’s horrific shark attack at Coogee beach is still coming to terms with the catastrophic scope of her injuries and the heartbreaking impact on her toddler.

Leah Stewart, a 35-year-old primary school teacher, mother and dedicated ocean swimmer, remained on life support in the intensive care unit at St Vincent’s hospital after being mauled by a suspected 3.5-metre great white shark.

Continue reading...

Fashion goals: Socceroos trade kit bags for it-bags as they level up off-field style

Posted on by

Australia stepped off the team bus in suits and holding designer pouches, showing they’ve come ‘a long way from a Country Road bag on the side of the field’

As suited and booted Socceroos stepped off the bus in Vancouver and towards a 2-0 victory against Turkey, many dangled designer pouches. Tete Yengi and Mo Touré carried what appeared to be Goyard, the it-bag of choice for athletes world wide. Burberry checks and monograms from Louis Vuitton and Dior were also spotted.

“They’ve come a long way from a Country Road bag on the side of the field,” said Benjamen Judd, Esquire Australia’s head of content.

Continue reading...

Pakistani police officer arrested over shooting death of ‘happy, bubbly, friendly’ Australian girl Hania Ahmed

Posted on by

Punjab police said an officer mistakenly opened fire at the Ahmed family, who were victims of a robbery at Chakwal

A Pakistani police officer has been stood down and arrested after mistakenly shooting dead a young Australian girl who was on holiday with her family.

Australian-born Hania Ahmed and her family were visiting a relative at Chakwal, in Pakistan’s Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car late on Wednesday night (local time).

Continue reading...

Father may have thrown daughter into Parramatta River in suspected murder-suicide, police say

Posted on by

NSW police say suicide note and ‘other evidence’ suggest six-year-old’s death was an act of domestic violence

A suicide note has been located after the bodies of a young girl and her father were pulled from the Parramatta River on Saturday.

The six-year-old may have been deliberately thrown in the water by the man from a hired boat in what police believe was a horrific act of domestic violence.

Continue reading...

NSW lifts drone ban over Sydney beach after shark attack – as it happened

Posted on by

This blog is now closed

The Senate will deliver its report from the NDIS inquiry on Tuesday. Butler doesn’t directly answer a question about whether or not he is willing to make any significant changes to the legislation the government has put forward.

He says:

Look, the direction of travel I think is an important one for us to follow through. This largely reflects reviews and insights that we’ve gathered over the last three years since the independent review was done of the NDIS in 2023 and endorsed by all governments at national Cabinet later that year.

I’m utterly convinced this is the right plan for the NDIS… I’m not saying there won’t be any change. We heard ideas from the crossbench in the debate in the House of Representatives. I’ve very much heard that people want greater reassurance about what won’t change because of the reforms we’re putting in place.

We have to constrain that growth. Without reforms it would grow to $20 billion by the end of the decade and that’s simply not a sustainable position.

It’s also allowed us, as I said, to protect the core supports people rely upon for that safety that was part of your introduction.

Continue reading...

Angus Taylor using NDIS cuts as ‘pawn in bigger chess game’, Mark Butler warns

Posted on by

Opposition and Greens could team up to extend inquiry into changes but health minister ‘utterly convinced’ federal government’s plan is right

Mark Butler has doubled down on his plans to pass contentious NDIS changes as early as this month, warning the opposition against using the bill as a “pawn in a bigger chess game” as they consider a potential deal with the Greens.

The Coalition and the Greens have criticised Labor’s truncated timeline to pass NDIS, negative gearing and capital gains changes, and have signalled they could team up against the government in the Senate to extend inquiries into the bills.

Continue reading...

Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam to quit politics, says leadership spill ‘started to really wear on me’

Posted on by

Tasmanian senator says he feels he is ‘letting down the team’ but needs to prioritise family

Liberal frontbencher Jonno Duniam will quit politics before the end of the year, in another major blow to the struggling Coalition as it experiences its lowest levels of popularity in decades.

The Tasmanian senator, who was elected to parliament in 2016 and is seen as one of the Liberals’ best talents, said it was an “extremely difficult decision to make” but one he had been considering for “quite some time” to spend more time with family.

Continue reading...

Australian girl killed in Pakistan after reportedly being shot by police

Posted on by

Nine-year-old visiting relatives in Punjab province when police opened fire on car, local media report

A nine-year-old Australian girl has been killed and two of her family members injured after reportedly being shot by police in Pakistan.

The family were visiting a relative in Chakwal, in Punjab province, when they were robbed while in their rental car on Wednesday night local time, Pakistani English-language news outlet Dawn reported.

Continue reading...

‘There was a lot of blood in the water’: paddleboarder rescues woman after ‘shocking’ Coogee shark attack

Posted on by

Charlie Verco managed to grab hold of the woman and bring her back to shore after the Sydney shark attack on Saturday

Elite paddleboarder Charlie Verco has only seen one shark bigger than the one he saw on Saturday at Sydney’s Coogee beach.

The North Bondi athlete was training for July’s world championships in Hawaii on Saturday morning when he heard a swimmer shouting “shark”.

Continue reading...

Woman in critical condition after shark attack at Coogee beach

Posted on by

A woman in her 30s has been transported to hospital with arm and leg injuries and beaches in Sydney’s east have been closed after the attack

A woman in her 30s is in a critical condition after being bitten by a large shark at Coogee beach on Saturday, with a witness describing the scene at the popular Sydney beach as “shocking”.

A spokesperson for New South Wales Ambulance said the woman suffered arm and leg injuries and had been taken by road to St Vincent’s hospital.

Continue reading...

Antarctica’s west coast missing an area of sea ice the size of France as temperatures peak 20C above average

Posted on by

Exclusive A vast area of the Bellingshausen Sea should be covered by sea ice by now, with one expert calling the loss of ice ‘depressing’

Antarctica’s west coast is missing an area of winter sea ice the size of France, sparking concerns for threatened penguins other marine life and global sea levels.

One expert said the loss of ice in the Bellingshausen Sea was “depressing” and the failure of ice to form could have intensified a heatwave over the continent’s peninsular last week that saw daytime temperatures peak at 15.4C which is more than 20C above average.

Continue reading...

NDIS changes ‘retrogressive’ and out of step with review, MPs say

Posted on by

Report by Labor-led joint human rights committee says cuts to the $50bn scheme could limit support for those in need

Sweeping changes to the NDIS appear “retrogressive” and lack alignment with a landmark independent review to improve the $50bn-a-year scheme, a Labor-led committee has found.

The 57-page scrutiny report from the joint human rights committee, released on Friday, examined the proposed changes under the Albanese government ahead of a separate report due next week by a Senate inquiry. The Labor-chaired committee questioned the human rights implications of winding back access for more than 200,000 participants in the coming years, which could leave many without sufficient disability support.

Continue reading...

Man charged with kidnap and murder of Sydney woman whose body has not been found

Posted on by

Woman, 58, was last heard from Monday afternoon and her car was found the next day

A man has been charged over the alleged kidnapping and murder of a woman whose body is yet to be found.

Police have been investigating the disappearance of a 58-year-old woman who failed to returned to her home in Sydney’s north-west on Tuesday.

Continue reading...

Twenty-five anti-Isaac Herzog protesters to face joint trial in Sydney

Posted on by

New South Wales police commissioner Mal Lanyon is among witnesses expected to appear at the six-week trial in July next year

Twenty-five people who were charged after they protested against the visit of the Israeli president will face a six-week joint trial in July next year.

The protesters had their matters heard before Downing centre local court on Thursday after their lawyers made a successful application for the joint hearing, arguing there were common legal issues across the cases.

Continue reading...

Escaped prisoner who fled brother’s funeral believed to be in Melbourne, police say

Posted on by

Orijol Rukaj was on pallbearer duties when he evaded corrections staff – and has been on the run for the six weeks since

Police say it was a busy funeral – with about 300 people gathering at a Melbourne cemetery on Anzac Day to farewell the brother of Orijol Rukaj.

Before assuming his duties as a pallbearer, Rukaj was escorted to the Keilor East service by corrections staff. But corrections staff didn’t bring him back to prison.

Continue reading...

One Nation’s ‘incredibly sloppy’ financial reports reveal more than $1m in missing or worthless assets

Posted on by

Exclusive: Financial returns, obtained by the Guardian, are ‘very poor and unprofessional’ and call into question party’s fitness to govern, expert says

• Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast

Pauline Hanson’s One Nation party reported more than $1m in missing and worthless assets in more than six years of filed financial reports, Guardian Australia can reveal.

The financial returns lodged by One Nation with the Office of Fair Trading in Queensland from 2016 to 2022 have been criticised by a leading expert in financial accounting as “sloppy and unprofessional”.

Continue reading...

Hannah Thomas: NSW admits to police ‘battery and false imprisonment’ of pro-Palestine protester

Posted on by

State admits former Greens candidate entitled to damages and agrees to pay medical costs, but denies malicious prosecution and malfeasance in public office

The state of New South Wales has admitted that a police officer punched Hannah Thomas in the eye while holding a torch at a pro-Palestine protest – and it has offered to pay her medical costs.

Court documents seen by Guardian Australia reveal the state has admitted to false imprisonment and battery in its defence to a civil action launched by the former Greens candidate in October.

Continue reading...