Team working through documents including more than 56,000 pages of information Australian federal police downloaded from Higgins’ phone
Lawyers for Liberal senator Linda Reynolds are poring over tens of thousands of pages of potential evidence taken from Brittany Higgins’ phone.
The former defence minister, who plans to retire from politics at the next election, is suing her former political staffer over a series of social media posts she says damaged her reputation.
Continue reading...All 14 adult members of Toowoomba sect the ‘Saints’ are on trial for the death of the eight-year-old girl in 2022
Elizabeth Struhs’ father, Jason, told a coronial counsellor he “wouldn’t bury a bag of bones” and said he didn’t believe in funerals, after his eight-year-old daughter died, a Queensland court heard on Monday.
Later, the father of one of the members of the Toowoomba religious group now on trial for the death of Elizabeth told the court he had warned his son he’d joined a “cult”.
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Treasurer Jim Chalmers has warned about what he calls the “normalisation of extremism” in politics in the wake of the attempted assassination of former United States president Donald Trump at the weekend.
In a round of television and radio interviews this morning to spruik the tax cuts now being delivered in Australians’ tax returns, Chalmers also spoke about the Trump rally in Pennsylvania that injured the former president and left one attendee dead and two others critically injured before the alleged shooter was shot and killed.
We need to be able to disagree in a peaceful way.
We can’t let extremism and polarisation and violence be the norm in our politics. Democracies are supposed to help mend and moderate our differences, not magnify and horrify them. And unfortunately, what we’re seeing with what feels like increasing regularity, is the ugliness and the polarisation and extremism in politics.
There is a role obviously for peaceful protests and looking for consensus in our country doesn’t always mean looking for unanimity – there will always be a range of views. But I think if you look around the world and you look around the democratic world, then you can see that politics is getting uglier, more violent, more polarised in extreme ways, and these are very troubling developments.
We’ve got a big choice to make as democratic societies, we’ve got an opportunity here to step back from the normalisation of that violence, to make sure that we disagree in civil ways and not in violent ways, and that we settle our difference with votes not violence.
Continue reading...Prime minister doesn’t want to see interaction with public reduced but admits he is concerned about ‘escalation of rhetoric in some of our political debate’
It would be a “tragedy” if Australian politicians were forced to withdraw from the public and rely more heavily on security, Anthony Albanese has said, after an assassination attempt on Donald Trump prompted a focus on the safety of federal MPs.
Some politicians say they have been concerned about increasing harassment and violent acts targeting MPs, while others argue against boosting security. However, some experts believe it is time to rethink the safety arrangements for elected members in Australia.
Continue reading...Federal workplace minister Tony Burke has asked for advice on the extent of powers following claims of criminal links within construction division of union
All options are on the table when it comes to tackling allegations of links between the construction union and organised crime, the federal workplace relations minister says.
Tony Burke has asked his department to advise him on ministerial powers to respond to reports alleging bikies were acting as union delegates and other links between construction projects and organised crime.
Continue reading...Anthony Albanese says he is relieved to hear Donald Trump is safe after shooting at campaign rally in Pennsylvania
Anthony Albanese says he is “relieved” that former US president Donald Trump is safe after a shooting at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania, calling the incident an “inexcusable attack”.
The Australian prime minister said there was “no place for violence in the democratic process” as other politicians decried the assassination attempt four months out from the US presidential election.
Continue reading...Letter urges environment minister to investigate alleged breaches at Doongmabulla Springs
There is growing concern that a culturally significant and nationally important wetland is under threat from Adani’s controversial coalmine in Queensland, with an Indigenous group demanding the government investigate alleged breaches of the conditions that protect the site.
Scientists say drops in water levels in bores around the Doongmabulla Springs have been detected hundreds of times since mining started, and allege hydrocarbons associated with coal have been found in bores and the springs themselves.
Continue reading...Prime minister’s comments come as embassy claims agency bosses were trying to fuel ‘anti-Russian paranioa’
Anthony Albanese has told Russia to “back off” after its embassy accused Australia’s security heads of fuelling “anti-Russian paranoia” over the arrest of two alleged spies accused of trying to access classified defence information.
The Russian-born Australians – including one who is an army private – were arrested over an alleged spying scheme targeting the defence department, with authorities emphasising concerns over espionage and foreign interference.
Continue reading...BoM says most severe impacts expected on Sunday and Monday, with warnings of flash flooding in Tasmania
An intensifying low pressure system off Australia’s south-east is bringing frigid temperatures to large parts of the country’s south and a chance of snow as far as northern New South Wales.
The Bureau of Meteorology (Bom) was carefully monitoring the system on Saturday, which was expected to move from the NSW coast towards Tasmania, intensifying as it goes.
Continue reading...Firefighters called to Donvale home at about 3.46am Saturday found the house fully engulfed in flames
Two people have been killed after a home in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs went up in flames.
Fire crews were called to a Donvale home, about 20km east of Melbourne’s CBD, at about 3.46am on Saturday, after reports that a house was on fire.
Continue reading...Donations grew dramatically after Australia’s black summer but animal carers say they didn’t receive enough
Australia’s largest wildlife rescue organisation faces a landmark vote on Sunday, as members unhappy with the distribution of donations after the black summer bushfires attempt to change its constitution.
The income of the Wildlife Information, Rescue and Education Service (Wires), based in NSW, ballooned from $3m to more than $100m thanks to the success of its fundraising campaign after the catastrophic fires of 2019-20, which burned millions of hectares of land and reportedly killed or displaced 3 billion animals.
Continue reading...Exclusive: Researchers say authorities will miss many kids in disadvantaged households if they only target lower-income areas
Up to 40% of disadvantaged children live in middle-to-high income areas, research commissioned by the government has found, making it critical to identify the range of factors associated with disadvantage – not just location.
About 22% of Australian children start school developmentally vulnerable, meaning they lack the experiences and environments needed to thrive for preventable reasons. This rises to 33% of children in the most disadvantaged communities.
Continue reading...Controversial figure will step down from role as Victorian branch secretary after 12 years
Anthony Albanese has slammed John Setka, saying he “has no legitimate place in the Labor movement” after the powerful union figure resigned as secretary of the Victorian branch of the CFMEU.
The prime minister’s comments came after reports were published on Saturday by Nine newspapers into alleged criminal links within the construction industry and the union.
Continue reading...Queensland supreme court also told trial is ‘religious persecution’ by leader of group accused of killing eight-year-old
The leader of a religious group accused of killing an eight-year-old girl by withholding her medication has claimed the trial was “religious persecution” and they acted reasonably under their faith.
Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, was the leader of a Christian group that called itself the Saints and is on trial for murder along with the girl’s father, Jason Richard Struhs, 52, in the Brisbane supreme court.
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Married couple allegedly intended to hand defence force material to Russia, AFP chief says
Reece Kershaw says the AFP arrested the pair – a married couple – yesterday morning at their Everton Park home in Brisbane.
The counter foreign interference taskforce, which includes AFP, Asio and other commonwealth partners, has dedicated significant resources and capability to Operation Bergazada.
The AFP will allege the individuals worked together to access Australian defence force material that related to Australia’s national security interests.
Continue reading...Peak medical groups say the decision aligns with current evidence. The device is the longest-acting hormonal contraceptive available in Australia
Women can rely on their Mirena intrauterine device to prevent pregnancy for up to eight years, the medicines regulator has decided, making it the longest-acting hormonal contraceptive available in Australia.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration’s decision includes existing devices.
Continue reading...Australian National University cites change in community sentiment around deriving revenue from weapons manufacturers
The Australian National University (ANU) is launching a review into its investment portfolio, acknowledging “changing expectations” in the community around deriving revenue from weapons manufacturers.
It follows an announcement by the University of Sydney to hold a similar review after weeks of lobbying from pro-Palestine student encampments.
Continue reading...Ipswich West’s LNP representative informed of his microvascular ischemic disease the day he was sworn in
A 52-year-old Queensland MP has announced his resignation from state parliament after being diagnosed with a brain disease that leads to early-onset rapid developing dementia.
Ipswich West LNP MP, Darren Zanow, has announced his imminent retirement after he was diagnosed with microvascular ischemic disease.
Continue reading...Sydney man David Fisk, his Philippine-born partner Lucita Cortez and her relative discovered with hands and feet tied at Lake Hotel in Tagaytay
The family of two Australians found dead at a luxury hotel in the Philippines alongside a Filipina relative say they are praying “for answers and the truth in this horrific matter”.
The bodies were discovered with their hands and feet tied in a room at the Lake Hotel in Tagaytay, a resort city south of the nation’s capital.
Continue reading...As Saturday after Saturday gets wiped out by bad weather, clubs are drowning in a sea of unplayed fixtures
The first thing Jamie Amendolia’s boys ask him when he picks them up from school every afternoon is the same: “Is training on? Is the game on? Has it been called off? Are we playing?”
Both of his sons, Sebastian, 10, and Alexander, eight, play football at Enfield FC in Sydney’s inner west. They’re footy fanatics. Except both have had their season thrown into chaos by the wet weather that has hit and bogged down Sydney’s weekends for months.
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