Category Archives: Australia news

New chair Kim Williams says ABC should be ‘last broadcaster standing’ and News Corp’s criticism is ‘unbalanced’

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Exclusive: Former News Corp CEO says Murdoch company’s obsession with the public broadcaster is ‘fairly unhinged’ and should largely be ignored

Kim Williams, the current chair of the ABC, wants the organisation to be “the last broadcaster standing” and one of his first acts has been to reverse the board’s decision to start reducing the corporation’s radio networks.

“It is not available to the ABC to simply withdraw a variety of broadcast services, like for example Radio National or ABC Classic or Triple J,” Williams told Guardian Australia. “They are part of our responsibility.”

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Major job provider accused of trying to get jobseeker to sign off on false work invoice

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Woman claims APM threatened to cut off her jobseeker payment after she refused to sign false time sheet. APM denies any wrongdoing

One of the country’s biggest job providers is accused of pressuring a jobseeker to sign a false description of her employment status, an alleged deception which would have triggered a publicly funded payment to the company.

The Victorian woman, who did not want to be named, claims the employment service provider APM asked her to sign paperwork confirming she had worked four weeks when she had actually spent months on sick leave. APM has strongly denied any wrongdoing.

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AFP counter-terrorism operation that targeted 13-year-old with autism cost more than $500,000

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FoI documents reveal the cost of Operation Bourglinster, which was criticised for encouraging a child’s fixation on the Islamic State

An Australian federal police counter-terrorism operation targeting a 13-year-old boy with autism cost more than $500,000, Guardian Australia can reveal.

Documents provided under freedom of information laws show the total cost of Operation Bourglinster, the AFP investigation into a boy known as Thomas Carrick, was $507,087. No further breakdown of the cost was provided.

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Penny Wong condemns Israeli minister’s comments suggesting starvation in Gaza ‘might be justified’

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Australian foreign minister joins UK, Germany and France in condemning comments made by Bezalel Smotrich and repeats calls for ceasefire

Deliberately starving civilians is a war crime, foreign affairs minister Penny Wong has said, joining international condemnation of comments made by the Israeli finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich.

On Wednesday, Smotrich suggested that deliberately starving people in Gaza might be “justified and moral”.

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Man fighting for life after being shot by police outside Queensland hospital

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Police allege officers were threatened by man with a knife at Kingaroy hospital before Friday night’s shooting

A man shot by police outside a Queensland hospital after allegedly confronting them with a knife is in a critical condition.

At about 7.30pm on Friday, five officers attended a call at the Kingaroy hospital, where they were allegedly threatened by a man with a knife, police said.

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Former AFP commissioner Mick Keelty gives up Order of Australia honour six years after Ben Roberts-Smith tip-off

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Federal court judge in last year’s defamation case found Roberts-Smith tried to evade surveillance after Keelty alerted him to pending war crimes investigation in 2018

The former Australian federal police commissioner Mick Keelty has relinquished his Order of Australia honour, six years after he passed information received from serving police officers to Ben Roberts-Smith, alerting him to a pending war crimes investigation.

Keelty retired from the AFP in 2009 after a 35-year law-enforcement career, including eight as AFP commissioner.

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‘Feels quite cruel’: Australians with ADHD scrambling to find medication amid shortage

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Patient says pharmacists she went to were suspicious because Vyvanse is a stimulant, causing her the ‘most dehumanising medical experience’ of her life

Emma* says she was made to feel “like a drug addict” for simply trying to access medication for her ADHD.

When she was prescribed Vyvanse in June, she was relieved to realise she had found a treatment that would make it easier to live with the developmental disorder that affects the brain’s executive functioning.

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It looks like a cross between a koala and a possum – and it’s in big trouble, Australian conservationists say

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Queensland Conservation Council is urging the state government to protect the endangered greater glider population as logging continues

There is “damning evidence” of logging occurring close to endangered greater glider populations, conservationists say as they call on the Queensland government to urgently act on a promise to create a park to protect the species.

Volunteers used drones in July to film logging in St Mary state forest near Maryborough, about three kilometres from where gliders had been seen.

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Riding the rails: a visual guide to the latest stretch of the Sydney Metro

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The $21.6bn extension from Chatswood to Sydenham, crossing under Sydney harbour, is finally on the brink of opening. Join us on a tour

The next stretch of the Sydney Metro, set to open imminently, has been billed as a game-changer for city commuters.

Not only will the Chatswood to Sydenham section of the $21.6bn line drastically cut travel times and introduce a new crossing under Sydney harbour, it’s also set to dictate settlement patterns, with the New South Wales government basing much of its flagship housing policy along the corridor.

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Funds for Palestinian groups in Australia affected by Gaza war given to media outlets instead

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The diverted money was from $25m allocated for Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by Israel-Gaza war

Palestinian advocates say it is “incredibly frustrating” to find out that an Australian government department suggested diverting some promised funding for communities affected by the Israel-Gaza war to media organisations for factchecking.

The government announced last October that it would “support Australian communities affected by the Hamas attacks on Israel and ongoing conflict”, including “$25m to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Inc (ECAJ) and $25m to Australian Palestinian, Muslim and other communities affected by the conflict”.

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Clare O’Neil promises ‘profound and transformative’ investment to ease housing crisis

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As issue becomes major election battleground, housing minister urges Coalition and Greens to ‘be part of the solution’ amid hold-up of bills in parliament

The new housing and homelessness minister, Clare O’Neil, is “intensely concerned” about the plight of renters and has promised “profound and transformative” investment to alleviate the housing crisis.

But with implementation of Labor’s existing $32bn of commitments a priority, O’Neil is offering more continuity than change in her new portfolio, which she inherited from Julie Collins in the July reshuffle.

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Linda Reynolds tells court ‘I wasn’t her counsellor’ as she defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape

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Liberal senator is suing former staffer over social media posts she claims damaged her reputation

Linda Reynolds has told a court that she wasn’t Brittany Higgins’ “counsellor” as she defended her actions after her former staffer’s alleged rape in Parliament House.

The Western Australian Liberal senator has also said she would “still do the same thing today” when asked why she had never offered to listen to Higgins’ experience of the night she was allegedly raped.

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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

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Adelaide festival to post 2024 deficit despite $2.3m boost from SA government

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Spokesperson says losses will be revealed in next month’s financials and the festival has access to reserves to fund next year’s program

Australia’s oldest and most prestigious arts festival made a loss in 2024, despite an injection of $2.3m from the South Australian government six months earlier.

Adelaide festival management confirmed on Friday it will post a deficit, just a week after the unexpected departure of its artistic director.

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Linda Reynolds defends actions following Brittany Higgins’ alleged rape – as it happened

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This blog is now closed.

Budgets running on fumes as car costs outpace inflation

High transport costs are fuelling household budget concerns, AAP reports, with research revealing a surge of more than 10% over the course of a year.

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Large number of buyers interested in Rex despite $500m debt

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As private investors circle, Transport Workers Union urges federal government to take equity stake in airline to secure at-risk jobs and shore up routes

A large number of potential buyers have expressed an interest in regional airline Rex as administrators work to keep the embattled carrier flying while weighed down with $500m in debt.

EY Australia has been appointed to chart a path forward for the five companies in the Rex Group since the airline called in the administrators and grounded its Boeing 737 fleet on major metropolitan routes.

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Furniture is getting really expensive. That doesn’t bode well for the Australian economy

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Annual results underline fears cost-of-living pressures will limit spending – including on side tables and lamps – so much that the economy will shift into reverse

What do sales of six-seat modular sofas and matching buffet tables tell us about the financial health of households and the broader economy? Quite a lot, it turns out. And, according to market professionals, it does not look good.

Annual profit at Sydney-headquartered furniture retailer Nick Scali fell almost 20%, according to results released on Friday. Crucially, sales order growth for the past two months has turned negative, down 1.2% from the prior year.

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Ex-Labor senator Fatima Payman appoints ‘preference whisperer’ Glenn Druery as chief of staff

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Druery says Payman could become the next Senate powerbroker in the mould of Nick Xenophon or Brian Harradine

Fatima Payman has appointed Glenn Druery as her chief of staff, as the political strategist and so-called “preference whisperer” suggests the newly independent senator could become the next Senate powerbroker.

Druery’s involvement with Payman was revealed in July, between the Western Australian senator crossing the floor to vote for a Greens motion in the Senate to recognise Palestine and her decision to quit Labor to sit on the crossbench.

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Aukus pact will turn Australia into ‘51st state’ of the US, says Paul Keating

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Former prime minister argues Australia has made itself a target by aligning with American ‘aggression’ towards China

Australia’s participation in the Aukus defence pact risks handing military control of the country to Washington and becoming the “51st state of the United States”, according to former prime minister Paul Keating.

Speaking on ABC’s 7.30 on Thursday night, Keating argued that Australia had made itself a target for aggression by joining the military alliance with the US and the UK in implicit opposition to China’s growing power in the Asia Pacific region.

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Victoria investigates waste facilities over cheap landscaping soil after asbestos found in NSW

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Exclusive: Victorian Environment Protection Authority launches ‘proactive program’ to investigate potential risks from recycled soil fill

Asbestos found in recycled soil at more than half NSW waste facilities

Victoria’s environment watchdog has launched a compliance blitz of waste facilities that produce cheap landscaping soil after a Guardian Australia investigation revealed systemic problems with similar recycled products in New South Wales.

The Victorian Environment Protection Authority (EPA) said it had begun “a proactive program looking at recovered fines” – the cheap soil or sand substitute made from construction and demolition waste residues after larger recyclable materials are removed.

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NSW closes loophole to stamp out fires caused by substandard lithium-ion batteries in ebikes and scooters

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New rules declaring the popular devices a form of transport mean the batteries must meet strict international product standards

New South Wales is cracking down on the sale of some ebikes and e-scooters in a nationwide first aimed at reducing the scourge of battery-related fires, while pushing for a nationally coordinated approach to the growing problem.

Low quality ebikes and e-scooters have contributed to a spate of fires across the country, with lithium-ion batteries now the fastest growing cause of fires in the state.

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