Category Archives: Australia news

PM accuses Dutton of pulling Liberals further to the right; jail sentence for second Blockade Australia protester – as it happened

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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.

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Mirena IUD does not need to be replaced for eight years, up from five, says TGA

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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.

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ANU launches review into investment portfolio after pro-Palestine protests

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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.

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Queensland state MP Darren Zanow to retire after dementia-causing brain disease diagnosis

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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.

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Family wants answers after ‘horrific’ deaths of Australian couple and relative in Philippine hotel

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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.

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How Sydney’s endless rain is ruining football seasons and breaking young hearts

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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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Australian CEOs made less in 2023-24 but still earned on average 50 times a typical worker’s wage

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Audit also finds CEOs are more likely to be sacked than not get their bonus

Chief executives across Australia’s largest companies are making slightly less money, but are still taking home on average 50 times the pay package of a typical worker.

In its annual audit of CEO pay, the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors (Acsi) found chief executives at the 100 largest listed businesses averaged $5m in the 2023 financial year, down from $5.2m the previous year.

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Documents reveal why Australia voted yes in key UN motion on Palestinian membership

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Exclusive: Internal advice shows Australia never seriously considered voting against resolution to boost status of Palestinian mission, despite positions of US and Israel

It’s an issue that has sparked domestic and international debate and helped fuel the defection of Fatima Payman from the Labor party.

Now, newly obtained internal documents shed light on the Australian government’s conditions for recognising the state of Palestine – and the factors it weighed up before voting “yes” in a highly anticipated UN vote on 10 May.

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Lucrative building contracts for Exclusive Brethren schools awarded to businesses run by church members

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Donations to school building funds are tax deductible, with Brethren-owned businesses across three states the beneficiaries

Schools set up by the Exclusive Brethren sect have spent millions of dollars with businesses owned by church members on major building projects, including to a company majority-owned by the powerful Hales family, a Guardian Australia investigation has found.

The Brethren’s OneSchool Global (OSG) schools are registered charities in Australia and exempt from income tax. The schools also have building funds endorsed for deductible gift recipient status.

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Elizabeth Struhs: members of Toowoomba sect believed eight-year-old would rise from the dead, court hears

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Elizabeth’s father wrote she ‘never said she wanted to stop insulin’, according to messages read to Queensland’s supreme court

Members of a Toowoomba religious sect believed that eight-year-old Elizabeth Struhs would rise from the dead after she died of diabetic ketoacidosis due to the withdrawal of her insulin in 2022, a court has heard.

On Thursday the Queensland supreme court held the second day of a trial of the 14 adult members of the group for her murder and manslaughter.

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Anthony Albanese appeals to western Sydney amid Muslim voting campaigns on Gaza war

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The seats of Blaxland and Watson have higher percentages of Muslim voters than Labor’s 2022 winning margin

Anthony Albanese has appealed to voters in Labor’s heartland seats in western Sydney not to dump the party over the war in Gaza, insisting his MPs are “working hard to deliver” practical improvements.

The leader of the house, Tony Burke, and the education minister, Jason Clare, are among the Labor MPs considered to be vulnerable to campaigns run by new groups known as The Muslim Vote and Muslim Votes Matter.

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Australia news live: religious sect allegedly thought 8-year-old diabetic ‘should not use insulin’, court told; Alice Springs curfew won’t continue

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The curfew declaration will conclude at 12.55pm today, local time. Follow the day’s news live

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, spoke to ABC News Breakfast just earlier as authorities meet to determine whether a three-day curfew on the central Australian town will be extended.

He is “still waiting to hear” whether the curfew will be extended – a decision for the police commissioner. Asked whether he believes it should be extended, Paterson says:

It’s obviously worked in the CBD, but we are hearing that it is pushing crime out into the suburbs. So we’ll wait to see what happens. Ultimately, the community gets to have a breath while there’s extra resources and police in town, so we’ll just wait to see what’s decided …

The curfew is a reaction to events over the past week or so, and we can’t continue to put these in. We need to think about the long-term solutions.

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‘Africa’s most resilient lion’ and his brother filmed making record-breaking swim across dangerous African river

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A team led by an Australian researcher captured the pair swimming about 1.5km after two failed attempts

A record-breaking swim by two lion brothers across a predator-filled African river has been documented by a team led by a researcher from an Australian university.

The two-male lion coalition was filmed crossing the Kazinga Channel in Uganda at night using high-definition heat detection cameras on drones.

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Alice Springs mayor expects ‘double-edged sword’ curfew to be extended

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‘We need to think about the long-term solutions’ to violence, says Matt Paterson

The mayor of Alice Springs, Matt Paterson, says curfews are a “double-edged sword” that must not keep being used, ahead of a possible extension of the town’s three-night lockdown.

A 72-hour stay-at-home order was issued on Monday for the Northern Territory community after a spate of violent incidents, including a brawl involving 80 people and a knife attack on a 42-year-old woman.

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Father charged with three counts of murder after young children killed in Sydney house fire

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Man, 28, facing three domestic violence murder charges and five counts of attempted murder following weekend blaze at Lalor Park

A father has been charged with murder and attempted murder after three of his children died and four more were injured alongside their mother in a house fire in Sydney’s west.

The 28-year-old man was charged with three counts of domestic violence murder, five counts of attempted domestic violence murder and destroying or damaging property with intent to endanger life relating to domestic violence.

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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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Concern over fumes and contaminated runoff as Derrimut chemical factory fire still smoulders in Melbourne

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Fire expected to burn for days as local residents warned to avoid nearby waterways

Residents in Melbourne’s west have been told to avoid lingering fumes and potentially contaminated runoff after a chemical factory fire sent toxic smoke billowing over the city.

Firefighters battled the blaze throughout the day and night after a large explosion at the Derrimut factory on Wednesday morning.

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Anger over delay to end of no-grounds evictions in NSW as renters face ‘perfect storm’

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Premier Chris Minns says government is still ‘grappling’ with issue that has already been outlawed in most states

The New South Wales government has been accused of failing renters by delaying legislation to end no-grounds evictions as demand for legal aid spikes across Sydney.

Despite both major parties pledging to abolish no-grounds evictions in the 2023 election, the government is yet to introduce legislation to implement the much-anticipated reforms.

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Chinese navy destroyer and helicopter shadowed Australian warship during high-profile standoff, documents show

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Exclusive: Australian helicopter was outside Chinese territorial waters when forced to manoeuvre to avoid fighter jet flares in ‘unsafe’ operation

An Australian helicopter was flying south-east of China’s Shandong peninsula but outside its territorial waters when a Chinese fighter aircraft released flares in its path, new documents show.

Guardian Australia can reveal that Australia’s HMAS Hobart warship was also being shadowed by a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) navy destroyer and another Chinese helicopter at the time of the 4 May standoff.

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Booktopia will not fill orders and may not issue refunds, say administrators

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Customers left out of pocket who placed orders have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors

The administrators handling the collapse of Booktopia have announced that orders placed with Australia’s largest online bookseller will not be filled – and there may be no refunds either.

It means out of pocket customers who placed orders prior to the company entering voluntary administration have now become, in effect, unsecured creditors – which voids store credits and gift cards too.

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Religious group accused of killing Elizabeth Struhs believed ‘God would heal’ her, Queensland court hears

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Members of Toowoomba religious group the ‘Saints’ face judge-only trial on murder and manslaughter charges

A religious group accused of killing an eight-year-old girl believed “God would heal” her diabetes after they withheld life-saving insulin, a judge has heard.

The group of six men and eight women, including the girl’s parents, refused to enter pleas to either murder or manslaughter in the Brisbane supreme court on Wednesday.

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