Queensland police say the man remained in his tinny after the whale hit him in waters near Coolangatta
A man has suffered serious injuries after being struck by a whale while in a tinny in waters near the border of Queensland and New South Wales.
Jetski riders off the coast of Coolangatta called emergency services just before 9am on Sunday when a whale reportedly collided with the man in his boat.
Continue reading...Party threatens legal action against NSW electoral commission after requests for deadline extension rejected
The New South Wales Liberal party has accused the state’s electoral commission of breaching regulations and says it will be left with “no other option” than to take legal action if it isn’t given more time to nominate all its council candidates.
But the acting electoral commissioner, Matthew Phillips, on Sunday rejected the party’s second request for an extension. He said he did not consider it a “realistic possibility” that Liberal HQ could have been unaware of the nomination deadline, and added it would “not be appropriate” to change the election process.
Continue reading...Man in his 60s killed in incident involving on-duty Tasmania police officer in town of Lady Barron
The death of a volunteer firefighter struck by a police car on Flinders Island will have an impact on the whole community, a senior officer says.
Tasmania police say the man was on foot when he was hit by the police vehicle driven by an on-duty officer on Saturday night.
Continue reading...But the loans are only available to those who already have or are approved for a Westpac home or investment loan of at least $150,000
The Albanese government has pumped $160m into a major bank fund that offers discounted loans to pay for energy efficient upgrades to homes.
The investment was announced on Sunday as part of the household energy upgrades fund in last year’s federal budget.
Continue reading...Michele Bullock keeps telling us productivity is flatlining. How it changes may well determine if the Reserve Bank will tolerate wage rises beyond 3%
If the Reserve Bank’s GDP forecasts about the Australian economy are right, we should be close to a nadir with a sustainable upswing on the way – provided we can get more efficient at what we do.
Productivity growth – a concept that quickens the pulse of economists and almost nobody else – has slowed in Australia and most other developed nations for years.
Continue reading...Victoria police said 20 protesters were outnumbered by 150 from another group, which hurled ‘water balloons at the speakers’
Projectiles were thrown at speakers and one person arrested as protesters and counter-protesters faced off outside Parliament House in Melbourne on Saturday.
About 20 people initially attended the planned #WomenWILLSpeak rally that commenced at about 11am, Victoria police said in a statement.
Continue reading...Divers demand end to fishing of rays after mutilated carcasses discovered at Chowder Bay on Sydney’s north shore
Jayne Jenkins found the sandy floor of Chowder Bay on Sydney Harbour a mess of fishing lines, hooks and ray carcass, last Saturday morning.
Fins had been chopped from two bull rays, the diver told Guardian Australia. One had a big split across its head – Jenkins identified it as Stumpy, a well known ray that had its tail chopped off in previous years.
Continue reading...State’s electoral commission receives request from NSW Liberal president after party failed to lodge nominations for more than 130 council candidates
The New South Wales Liberal party has demanded a week-long extension to lodge nominations for more than 130 council candidates after the party missed the deadline in a “monumental stuff-up”.
The NSW Liberal party president, Don Harwin, sent a letter to the NSW electoral commission overnight after the party’s head office missed the Wednesday noon deadline to lodge the necessary paperwork to nominate all of its candidates for the local government elections on 14 September.
Continue reading...Announcement comes after musicians passed vote of no confidence in senior management over cancellation of Jayson Gillham’s performance
The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra’s policies will undergo an independent review after the decision to cancel a performance by acclaimed pianist Jayson Gillham shortly after he made comments on the killing of journalists in Gaza.
It comes after the orchestra’s musicians passed a vote of no confidence in their senior management on Friday over the cancellation of Gillham’s performance, according to a letter sent by staff to the board seen by Guardian Australia.
Continue reading...Independent now has ‘surprise’ backing of Liberal elder statesman and departing Hornsby mayor Philip Ruddock
While many of his former colleagues were furious this week, local councillor Nathan Tilbury has been feeling pretty happy as a former Liberal.
Two days before the party failed to nominate more than 130 candidates for next month’s New South Wales local government elections, Tilbury handed in his resignation.
Continue reading...Dr Adi Paterson’s statements are apparently at odds with the group’s official position, which says nuclear is needed to tackle the climate crisis
The chair of a leading Australian nuclear advocacy group has called concerns that carbon dioxide emissions are driving a climate crisis an “irrational fear of a trace gas which is plant food” and has rejected links between worsening extreme weather and global heating.
Several statements from Dr Adi Paterson, reviewed by the Guardian, appear at odds with statements from the group he chairs, Nuclear for Australia, which is hosting a petition saying nuclear is needed to tackle an “energy and climate crisis”.
Continue reading...Inquest reveals how Gareth Train went from ‘keyboard warrior’ to killer, and radicalised his wife and brother
Gareth Train was, by many accounts, a deeply unimpressive and unpleasant person.
He was arrogant, prone to anger and had low self-esteem. He was paranoid, narcissistic and emotionally primitive, the Queensland coroner’s court heard this week. One witness described him as a “keyboard warrior”; he believed in baseless conspiracy theories so strongly they took over his life, the inquest heard.
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Continue reading...Treasurer says Australia must choose ‘high road’ as fallout from opposition leader’s position on visa-holders from Gaza rumbles on
The treasurer, Jim Chalmers, has accused Peter Dutton of deliberately stirring up division on visa-holders from Gaza, as the opposition rejected an independent MP’s description of him as “racist” and called the label “disgraceful”.
In an interview for the Australian Politics podcast, Chalmers said he remains worried about community division and suggested Dutton’s comments – that all visa-holders from Gaza posed a national security risk – were not designed to improve it.
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Continue reading...Pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 was infested with thousands of parasitic nematodes that may have eaten away at its blowhole
A vial of white parasitic worms left for decades in a Tasmanian museum may help solve a timeless mystery: why do whales strand themselves on beaches?
The worms were collected from the blowhole of a pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 and then stored in Launceston’s Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery.
Continue reading...Reporters Christopher Knaus and Lorena Allam win outstanding consumer affairs category at Kennedy Foundation awards for excellence in journalism
Guardian Australia reporters Christopher Knaus and Lorena Allam have won an award for a series of stories that revealed the government-run controversial debit pay system was being used as a vehicle for economic abuse.
The reporters won the outstanding consumer affairs category at this year’s Kennedy Foundation awards for excellence in journalism.
Continue reading...Hundreds gather at Emerald Lakes to remember Emmanuel College schoolgirl after she was allegedly murdered by her mother
Hundreds of people have gathered at a candlelight vigil to remember Sophie Wang after the 10-year-old was allegedly killed by her mother on Queensland’s Gold Coast.
Mourners paid tribute at Emerald Lakes on Friday afternoon after the community was left reeling by the tragedy.
Continue reading...‘MPower’ would be Australia’s largest scheme of its kind – with neighbouring councils invited to join in
Melbourne residents and business owners could have their electricity bills slashed by hundreds of dollars each year in a radical plan proposed by the city’s lord mayor.
Nick Reece has pledged to facilitate Australia’s largest community-led bulk purchasing scheme for renewable energy if he is re-elected.
Continue reading...Palaszczuk, who retired from politics in December after almost nine years as QLD premier, will serve a three-year term as a non-executive director. Follow today’s news headlines live
‘We have to have a constant reminder’
The committee also called for a culturally appropriate and nationally significant recognition and remembrance of murdered and disappeared First Nations women and children. Dorinda Cox said this would be “significant” if the government accepted the recommendation:
It would … have some permanent features to remind us the role that history has played for missing and murdered or disappeared women and children and First Nations women and children in this country, because there’s a story there that needs to be told, and we have to have a constant reminder.
Like we do … with the Australian war memorial of the safety that we have as a country, but also that this part of our history – this is now ingrained in and sketched into. And if we want to continue to work on this and continue to maintain safety for women and children and the most vulnerable, which is First Nations – as we know, we’re in an emergency for all women, but First Nations women and children are at the front of that – we have to have some permanent features, otherwise we become invisible.
What we hear too often is that this is a state and territory problem. States are responsible for their police forces, in particular … We have to centre our approaches and our outcomes in [addressing these issues] and we have to look at the culture of the organisations, such as police.
There’s lots of reporting on the media in relation to the attitudes of police across Australia, and that has to get better, but we have to have a measure against that – we can’t just put in the attorney general [to] have a chat to the police ministers, and nothing changes … Because if we don’t look at this in a way of wanting change, nothing ever changes.
Continue reading...Retired Liberal MP Steve Irons and Tasmanian senator Wendy Askew due in WA supreme court witness box on Friday
A federal senator and a retired former assistant minister are set to testify in the high-profile defamation between Linda Reynolds and her former staffer Brittany Higgins.
Senator Reynolds is suing Higgins over a series of social media posts containing alleged mistruths that she believes damaged her reputation.
Information and support for anyone affected by rape or sexual abuse issues is available from the following organisations. In Australia, support is available at 1800Respect (1800 737 732). In the UK, Rape Crisis offers support on 0808 500 2222. In the US, Rainn offers support on 800-656-4673. Other international helplines can be found at ibiblio.org/rcip/internl.html
Continue reading...Aaron Govendir originally told police his Dover Heights home had been broken into and he was knocked unconscious, but police have new allegations on wife’s cold-case killing
Twenty-six years ago, Aaron Govendir told police his home had been broken into and he was knocked unconscious before his wife was bludgeoned to death.
But detectives allege the story was a lie and the now-elderly man murdered his wife Denise before staging an apparent car theft in a bid to cover up his crime.
In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and the national family violence counselling service is on 1800 737 732. In the UK, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 and the domestic abuse helpline is 0808 2000 247. In the US, the suicide prevention lifeline is 988 and the domestic violence hotline is 1-800-799-SAFE (7233). Other international helplines can be found via www.befrienders.org
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