Nunggubuyu woman Selena Uibo is NT Labor’s new leader, with an almost entirely Aboriginal caucus
After a crushing defeat, Territory Labor has appointed the first Aboriginal woman to lead a major party in the nation’s history.
The member for Arnhem, Nunggubuyu woman Selena Uibo, has taken up the top job alongside an almost entirely Aboriginal caucus.
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Continue reading...Office attendance in UK capital similar to levels in Toronto and Sydney, thinktank finds
Workers in London have been slower to return to the office than those in other global cities such as Paris and New York, a report has found.
London was near the bottom of the pack, with office attendance similar to levels in Toronto and Sydney, according to research by the Centre for Cities thinktank, which surveyed employees and employers in six big cities.
Continue reading...Storms in three states is expected to ease today. Follow all the news headlines live
Crews are continuing to restore power to Victorians after strong winds damaged powerlines and left thousands without power.
According to AusNet, there are still 37,500 without power, and according to Citipower and Powercor, there are 17,484 customers still affected.
We have restored power to over 43,063 customers as crews continue repairing the power network that was extensively damaged during last night’s wild weather.
Crews are responding to more than 380 individual faults, replacing power poles, reconnecting fallen powerlines and repairing other electrical infrastructure damaged by trees, branches and other debris.
Continue reading...More than 300 Palestinians applied for onshore protection visas over June and July, home affairs department figures show
The number of Palestinians applying onshore for protection has continued to grow, increasing pressure on the Albanese government over its decision to require them to come to Australia on visitor visas first.
According to home affairs department statistics, the number of Palestinians applying for onshore protection visas increased from 119 in May to 157 in June and 176 in July.
Continue reading...High school students with depression or poor wellbeing are twice as likely to have vaped at some time, survey of 5,000 shows
Australian high school students with symptoms of severe depression or poor wellbeing are twice as likely to have tried vaping, a new study has found.
The study also found one-fifth of students in years 7 and 8 had moderate to severe depression symptoms and demonstrated the need for early intervention targeting both mental health and vaping, experts said.
Continue reading...Bill Jolley says he was ‘a bit surprised at the intensity of the reaction’ after ex-chair Graeme Innes launches petition calling for appointment of blind CEO
A non-blind person leading Vision Australia is “nothing unusual”, its chair has said, as the organisation faces criticism for seeking a new chief executive through internal expressions of interest only.
Bill Jolley’s comments come in the wake of a petition launched by Vision Australia’s founding chair, the former disability discrimination commissioner Graeme Innes, urging the organisation to appoint its first blind chief executive.
Continue reading...Nineteen-metre vessel with two people onboard in rough seas offshore from Nowra, police say
Rescuers were attempting to reach a yacht with two people onboard in rough seas off the New South Wales south coast on Tuesday morning.
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority said it had received a distress beacon alert about midday on Monday from a vessel 185km east of Nowra. Media reports named the stricken 19-metre yacht as the Spirit of Mateship.
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Continue reading...City council alleges cap on scooter numbers ‘systematically exceeded’ by 500 a day but company ‘disagrees’ with claims, saying it is ‘reviewing options’
Brisbane has become the first Australian city to kick out an e-scooter operator, after the council cancelled the licence for Beam to operate over allegations it regularly breached its caps.
The Brisbane city council said it would now seek a replacement e-scooter operator for the city, after an investigation found Beam had “systematically exceeded” its cap on numbers by about 500 a day. The company has denied “assertions” made by council.
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Continue reading...Weather situation overnight in Victoria has led to about 1,900 calls to the SES for assistance. Follow today’s news live
Delays predicted at Melbourne airport amid strike action
Melburnians catching a flight this morning may want to give themselves extra time as severe delays are predicted, with security screeners striking between 6am and 8.30am at the domestic airport.
Continue reading...The 2024 winter was the second hottest on record since weather data collection began in 1910
Australia recorded its hottest August on record, with the national temperature 3C above average, as September kicked off with total fire bans in parts of New South Wales on Monday.
Bureau of Meteorology data showed average temperatures across the nation in August were 3.03C above the long-term average, easily beating the previous 2.56C record set in 2009.
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Continue reading...Tim Costello says ‘I never thought I would see in my lifetime John Howard to the left of Anthony Albanese on an issue’
Gambling reform advocates have blasted the Albanese government for ruling out a national gambling regulator and pushing ahead with a partial TV ad ban only.
The social services minister, Amanda Rishworth, said on Sunday that the recommendation for a national regulator “would involve states and territories handing over their powers to the commonwealth”, confirming that “at this point, that is not in the discussions”.
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Continue reading...Ashley Paul Griffith, 46, convicted of crimes against dozens of children at childcare centres in Brisbane and Italy between 2007 and 2022
Former childcare worker Ashley Paul Griffith has confessed to committing 307 sexual offences against dozens of children under his care in Brisbane and Italy between 2007 and 2022.
Griffith, 46, from the Gold Coast, pleaded guilty to all charges at an arraignment at the Queensland district court on Monday morning.
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In Australia, children, young adults, parents and teachers can contact the Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800, or Bravehearts on 1800 272 831, and adult survivors can contact Blue Knot Foundation on 1300 657 380. The crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. If you or someone you know is impacted 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.
Continue reading...Higgins’ lawyer also tells defamation trial Reynolds was an unreliable witness and harassed Higgins by leaking documents
Linda Reynolds’ engaged in a “campaign of harassment” against her former staffer, Brittany Higgins, and had a “dogged focus” on the “wrong target”, a court has heard.
And Reynolds failed to offer a “basic human response” by following up with Higgins about her welfare after a meeting they had about her rape allegation, Higgins’ lawyer, Rachael Young SC, said.
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Continue reading...The opposition is yet to announce a policy that would create more housing supply, while the Greens put Airbnb in their sights
The Greens and the Coalition are opening up new fronts in the battle over housing policy, as the government continues to struggle to get its agenda through the Senate.
The shadow assistant spokesperson for home ownership, Andrew Bragg, opened the door for a future Coalition government to withhold funding to states and local governments unless house building was accelerated.
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Continue reading...The south-east of the country is taking a battering and there is more to come as a ‘very strong cold front’ moves through on Sunday
Emergency services have warned Victorians to expect more destructive winds as a powerful cold front heads towards Melbourne, while Tasmanian residents and businesses along the Derwent River prepared to evacuate on Sunday, as wild weather batters the south-east of the country.
Victoria’s emergency management commissioner, Rick Nugent, said severe weather had already damaged more than 600 homes and left 35,000 without power, and would continue into the early hours of Monday morning.
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Continue reading...Commonwealth Games Scotland says it could host sporting event for a fraction of the Victorian government’s $6bn estimation
Victorian taxpayers could foot the bill for Scotland to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games using compensation money from dumping the event.
In July last year, the state government announced it would no longer host the 2026 Games, which were set to be held in regional cities, after former premier Daniel Andrews claimed forecast expenses had nearly doubled to at least $6bn.
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Continue reading...The energy minister has been taking every opportunity to undermine the Coalition’s ‘plan’ on nuclear energy. This blog is now closed
Bragg defends NSW Liberal chief’s position after council elections debacle
Finally, Bragg has also defended Liberal party’s NSW president, Don Harwin, staying in his role after the “catastrophic failure” of the division to nominate candidates for local government elections.
I’m more interested in looking at the core competency of the division rather than getting into personality debates.
I don’t see any case for Don to go. I think he’s done a good job as president. I don’t think that having an election for president now inside the New South Wales division would be in the interests of the party, and at the end of the day, people love talking about these things, but the core competencies are on display – you’ve got candidates in the field and you’re raising money.
It’s been my view for a long time that gender identity and sexual orientation are reasonable questions to ask in a modern society. I think the fact the PM has tied himself in knots on this issue shows a great weakness in his own leadership.
Continue reading...It’s the third explanation government ministers have given since last Sunday, while Coalition senator Andrew Bragg says questions are ‘reasonable’
The social services minister has offered up the latest explanation for why proposed questions on gender and sex variations were dumped from the next census, claiming they were too complicated.
In an interview with Sky News on Sunday, Amanda Rishworth gave a new reason for why new questions had been ditched from the census planning, saying the government had been shown “questions that were very complex in the census”.
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Continue reading...Linda Reynolds has argued that social media posts by former staffer contained mistruths that damaged her reputation – which Brittany Higgins denies
Closing arguments in a defamation case brought against Brittany Higgins by her former boss the Liberal senator Linda Reynolds are expected to be heard on Monday.
Reynolds is suing Higgins over social media posts made after the former political staffer alleged she had been raped by her colleague Bruce Lehrmann in the then defence minister’s office in Parliament House.
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Continue reading...Matthew’s* father had no idea his son was even gambling, let alone deep in debt, until he got a terrifying phone call
Vincent* didn’t know his 20-year-old son Matthew* was gambling until he took a phone call from him as he stood on a cliff’s edge after racking up thousands of dollars of debt.
Matthew was crying and revealed a gambling problem which had begun years earlier with online gaming, causing increasing debt. Matthew had opened up to another family member earlier that evening, who made him feel more ashamed, calling him an idiot.
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