Category Archives: Australia news

Anyone hoping for lower interest rates any time soon will be dismayed by RBA chief’s media conference

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Governor Michele Bullock makes clear any expectation of interest rate cuts this year ‘not aligned’ with bank’s present thinking

Those hoping for lower interest rates soon – whether stressed borrowers or those in the Albanese government itching for an early election – would have been dismayed by the Reserve Bank of Australia governor Michele Bullock’s media conference on Tuesday.

The RBA board had just wrapped up the eighth meeting under her leadership and considered just two options for its key interest rate: “hold for some time” or another rate hike. A rate cut was not up for discussion.

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Beyond ‘stretch of imagination’ Brittany Higgins fundraising page part of conspiracy to damage Linda Reynolds, court told

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Communications between Higgins and sexual assault survivor advocate subpoenaed during defamation trial as Reynolds’ lawyer accuses former staffer of trying to ‘capture public opinion’

Any communications between Brittany Higgins and sexual assault survivor advocate, Saxon Mullins, over a newly created page to fundraise for Higgins’ legal costs will be handed over to Linda Reynolds’ legal team, a court has heard.

The Western Australian Liberal senator is suing Higgins for a series of social media posts published in July 2023, which she says damaged her reputation.

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Australia news live: Wong ‘deeply concerned’ about escalation in Middle East; RBA interest rate decision due today

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Reserve bank’s two-day August meeting likely to leave key interest rate unchanged for a sixth straight gathering. Follow the day’s news live

Australia will join the US Global Entry program in 2025, creating an easier pathway for the hundreds of thousands of Australians who visit the country each year.

Eligible Australians who sign up for the program would benefit from streamlined and expedited immigration and customs clearance channels on arrival into the US, a statement from the foreign minister, Penny Wong, says.

Joining the Global Entry program is a mark of the closeness and the strength of the relationship between our two countries.

The foundation of the friendship between Australia and United States is the friendship between our people. This program will deepen these links and make it easier to foster greater commercial ties.

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Human remains found inside crocodile in Queensland days after fisherman fell into water

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Remains are believed to belong to NSW man who went missing at Cooktown on Saturday afternoon

Human remains have been located inside a crocodile at Cooktown in far north Queensland after a man went missing at the weekend.

Queensland police said a formal identification process was under way and a report would be prepared for the coroner, but the remains were believed to be those of a missing 40-year-old New South Wales man.

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Queensland Labor plans state-owned petrol stations as it bids for fourth term

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Premier Steven Miles will announce the policy on Tuesday as he tries to win votes for October election

A re-elected Queensland Labor government would set up state-owned petrol stations, cap daily fuel price rises and take over operation of council buses from local government, Steven Miles will announce.

The premier will use Tuesday’s state of the state address hosted by the Committee for Economic Development of Australia to make a populist pitch for a fourth Labor term.

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Flawed Aguer Akech investigation shows why Victoria’s blanket suppression law is not fit for purpose

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Well-meaning law designed to protect children prevents a basic function of investigative journalism – holding people to account

It’s a law that was designed to protect children.

But in one recent case, it also prevents the naming of police officers involved in a botched murder investigation – a prosecution case described by one of Victoria’s most experienced judges as so “extraordinary” she had never seen anything like it.

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NSW moves to outlaw asking tenants to pay for their own background checks on renter ‘blacklists’

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Minns government announces reforms to end practice of rental property platforms soliciting payments from applicants

Rental property application platforms would be prohibited from asking prospective tenants in New South Wales to pay for their own background checks under proposed new laws.

The Minns Labor government on Tuesday announced it would introduce the legislation after feedback from renters who said they were often told that paying these “optional charges” would increase their chance of securing a home.

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Labor criticised for meetings with betting companies ahead of decision on gambling ads

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Crossbenchers are furious at reports the government will propose a cap on television ads instead of a total ban

The government has come under fire for consulting betting, sport and media companies ahead of gambling harm advocates, as it prepares to respond to a plan that would ban all gambling ads.

Crossbenchers are furious over reports Labor will propose a cap on television ads instead of a total ban, with the Greens and independents warning anything short of a blanket ban could be amended by a hostile Senate.

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Linda Reynolds tells defamation trial why Brittany Higgins meeting was held in room where staffer was allegedly raped

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Western Australian senator is suing Brittany Higgins over social media posts she alleges damaged her reputation

Linda Reynolds says she chose to meet with Brittany Higgins in the room her former staffer had allegedly been raped in a few days earlier because it was the only private space available in her ministerial office suite, a court has heard.

The Western Australian senator said she also was not aware of a potential sexual assault allegation at the time, and didn’t notice any “vibes” or “glances” from Higgins, who she acknowledged was “very upset”.

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Australian Conservation Foundation’s X account suspended after apparent ‘report bombing’

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‘I do believe we are being targeted and they are trying to silence us out of this space,’ ACF spokesperson says

The X account of the Australian Conservation Foundation was suspended for more than 24 hours with the charity saying it believes it is being “report bombed by pro-nuclear groups” seeking to remove negative commentary.

The environment charity’s X account @AusConservation was suspended on Sunday morning, sparking outrage among supporters. The account was reinstated late on Monday, but without the charity’s 32,000 followers.

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Crocodile suspected of fatal Queensland attack killed as search continues for missing man

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Rangers euthanise large crocodile believed to have attacked man who went missing while fishing near Cooktown on Saturday

A large crocodile believed to be responsible for a fatal attack on a 40-year-old father in far north Queensland has been euthanised.

Rangers had targeted a crocodile with a distinctive scar near its snout as an extensive search for the NSW man near Cooktown entered a third day.

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ASX loses $160bn in two days as US recession fears prompt sell-off

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Australian share market suffers worst two-day decline since start of pandemic as it tumbles 3.7% on Monday

Australia’s share market has suffered its worst day since the onset of the pandemic as fears of a US recession prompted investors to exit their positions, erasing more than $100bn in value from local stocks.

A sea of red overwhelmed the local market on Monday, with the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index down by 3.7% to 7,649 at the close.

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Australian sushi chain handed record fine for ‘audacious’ underpayment of vulnerable workers

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Staff at Sushi Bay were underpaid more than $650,000 with 163 employees suffering losses ranging from about $50 to just under $84,000, court finds

Record fines have been dished out for the “audacious” underpayment of migrant workers by a once-sprawling Aussie sushi chain.

Sushi Bay group companies were ordered to pay fines totalling $13.7m by the federal court on Monday after it was revealed workers were deliberately denied entitlements including penalty rates and annual leave payments.

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Senator gives evidence at defamation trial – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

For more on this, Daniel Hurst looked into the issue yesterday. A spokesperson for the communications minister, Michelle Rowland, had said the government was “firmly committed to minimising harms from online wagering”.

The government continues to engage with stakeholders regarding the recommendations from the online wagering inquiry as we formulate our response.

I hope that’s not the case. I hope the long consultation is because the government’s actually going to do the right thing and make gambling ads history, just like we did with tobacco. We live in hope it’s not too late, but the rumors are not encouraging.

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Australians shunning petrol-powered cars for hybrid vehicles as bowser prices rise

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Trend also reflects concerns over range and a lack of charging infrastructure affecting purely electric vehicles, experts say

Australians are buying more cars than ever but are increasingly choosing hybrid vehicles over petrol-powered cars due to rising costs at the bowser, new data by the Australian Automobiles Association shows.

Quarterly vehicle sales data released on Monday revealed a further uptick in demand for hybrid vehicles, a trend the industry believes reflects both the rising cost of living, as well as range anxiety and concerns over a lack of charging infrastructure affecting purely electric vehicles.

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Police legally detained 15-year-old terror suspect in hotel without lawyers knowing location, solicitor says

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Ahmed Dib says legal team spent three days trying to find boy who was held with his mother in western Sydney

Asio and federal police officers legally detained a 15-year-old terror suspect in a hotel for multiple days without charge and without his lawyers being aware of his location, his solicitor alleges.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was one of seven people arrested by the Joint Counter Terrorism Team in the aftermath of the high-profile stabbing of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel in April.

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Melbourne surgeon failed to tell patient he invented ‘experimental’ device used to replace jaw joints, court documents claim

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Dr George Dimitroulis, who is being sued in a Victorian court by a former patient, denies any injuries were caused by negligence or the prosthesis

A Melbourne surgeon failed to tell a patient undergoing major jaw surgery that the device she was being implanted was an “experimental” one that he invented, and that he also created the classification system used to diagnose her condition as severe enough to warrant removing her jaw joints, according to documents filed in a Victorian court case accusing him of negligence.

The surgeon, Dr George Dimitroulis, is being sued by a former patient, Bianca*, who alleged in a statement of claim filed to Victoria’s supreme court that he did not fully advise her of the risks before the operation.

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One of Australia’s most expensive commutes becomes the cheapest, as Queensland’s 50c public transport trial begins

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Operators not predicting a large influx of new customers right away, with patronage still well below pre-Covid levels

In an Australian-first trial of super-cheap public transport, Queensland bus, train and ferry fares are set to drop to just 50 cents this week.

Train tickets in the sunshine state had been among the country’s most expensive – up to $31.10 for a single adult paper train ticket.

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‘A total cop-out’ if Albanese government refuses blanket ban on gambling ads, Pocock says

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Betting ads would remain on television but be banned on social media and other digital platforms under intended proposal

The Albanese government has been accused of “a total cop-out” and lacking political courage after reports it is likely to stop short of introducing a blanket ban on gambling advertising.

The independent senator David Pocock said the government appeared to be pursuing a “watered down policy to appease the gambling industry”, while the crossbench MP Zoe Daniel slammed what she saw as a “half-hearted, half-arsed” proposal.

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Albanese endorses ‘principle’ of makarrata but stops short of backing truth and justice commission

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Prime minister’s emphasis on ‘engagement’ appears to differ from more formal truth-telling process advocated by First Nations leaders

Anthony Albanese has endorsed telling the truth about historical and current Indigenous experiences of colonisation in Australia but stopped short of committing to establishing a commission to facilitate the process.

Speaking on ABC TV’s Insiders program at the Garma festival in north-east Arnhem Land, Albanese suggested consulting Indigenous organisations on ways to better address Indigenous disadvantage and boost economic development in their communities fits the definition of the Yolŋu word “makarrata” – coming together after struggle.

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